“Seven locks of hair in a box, all light, for ‘here’s your straw color,
your orange tawny, your French crown color, and your perfect
yellow’ Shakespeare. They look very familiar, and I fancy I know
the heads they thatched.?
“Yes, you all gave me one when I went away, you know, and I
carried them round the world with me in that very box.?
“I wish the heads had gone too. Here’s a jolly little amber god with
a gold ring in his back and a most balmy breath,” continued
Charlie, taking a long sniff at the scent bottle.
“Uncle brought me that long ago, and I’m very fond of it.?
“This now looks suspicious man’s ring with a lotus cut on the stone
and a note attached. I tremble as I ask, who, when, and where??
“A gentleman, on my birthday, in Calcutta.?
“I breathe again it was my sire??
“Don’t be absurd. Of course it was, and he did everything to make
my visit pleasant. I wish you’d go and see him like a dutiful son,
instead of idling here.?
“That’s what Uncle Mac is eternally telling me, but I don’t intend to
be lectured into the treadmill till I’ve had my fling first,” muttered
Charlie rebelliously.
“If you fling yourself in the wrong direction, you may find it hard
to get back again,” began Rose gravely.
“No fear, if you look after me as you seem to have promised to do,
judging by the thanks you get in this note. Poor old governor! I
should like to see him, for it’s almost four years since he came
home last and he must be getting on.?
Charlie was the only one of the boys who ever called his father
“governor,” perhaps because the others knew and loved their
fathers, while he had seen so little of his that the less respectful
name came more readily to his lips, since the elder man in truth
seemed a governor issuing requests or commands, which the
younger too often neglected or resented.
Long ago Rose had discovered that Uncle Stephen found home
made so distasteful by his wife’s devotion to society that he
preferred to exile himself, taking business as an excuse for his
protracted absences.
The girl was thinking of this as she watched her cousin turn the
ring about with a sudden sobriety which became him well; and,
believing that the moment was propitious, she said earnestly: “He
is getting on. Dear Charlie, do think of duty more than pleasure in
this case and I’m sure you never will regret it.?
“Do you want me to go?” he asked quickly.
“I think you ought.?
“And I think you’d be much more charming if you wouldn’t always
be worrying about right and wrong! Uncle Alec taught you that
along with the rest of his queer notions.?
“I’m glad he did!” cried Rose warmly, then checked herself and
said with a patient sort of sigh, “You know women always want
the men they care for to be good and can’t help trying to make
them so.?
“So they do, and we ought to be a set of angels, but I’ve a strong
conviction that, if we were, the dear souls wouldn’t like us half as
well. Would they now?” asked Charlie with an insinuating smile.
“Perhaps not, but that is dodging the point. Will you go?” persisted
Rose unwisely.
“No, I will not.?
That was sufficiently decided and an uncomfortable pause
followed, during which Rose tied a knot unnecessarily tight and
Charlie went on exploring the drawer with more energy than
interest.
“Why, here’s an old thing I gave you ages ago!” he suddenly
exclaimed in a pleased tone, holding up a little agate heart on a
faded blue ribbon. “Will you let me take away the heart of stone
and give you a heart of flesh?” he asked, half in earnest, half in
jest, touched by the little trinket and the recollections it awakened.
“No, I will not,” answered Rose bluntly, much displeased by the
irreverent and audacious question.
Charlie looked rather abashed for a moment, but his natural
lightheartedness made it easy for him to get the better of his own