There was nothing for me to do but to follow her.  I greatly disliked going away without saying what I wanted to say, and I would have been willing to speak even at the front door, but she gave me no chance.

“Good-bye,” she said, extending her hand.  It was gloved.  It gave no clasp—­it invited none.  As I could not say the words which were on my tongue, I said nothing, and, raising my cap, I hurried away.

To make up for lost time, Percy drove very rapidly.  “I came mighty near having a fight while you were in the house,” said he.  “It was that boy at the inn.  He’s a queer sort of a fellow, and awfully impertinent.  He was talking about you, and he wanted to know if the bear had hurt you.  He said he believed you were really afraid of the beast, and only wanted to show off before the women.

“I stood up for you, and I told him about Edith’s runaway, and then he said, fair and square, that he didn’t believe you stopped the horse.  He said he guessed my sister pulled him up herself, and that then you came along and grabbed him and took all the credit.  He said he thought you were that sort of a fellow.

“That’s the time I was going to pitch into him, but then I thought it would be a pretty low-down thing for me to be fighting a country tavern-boy, so I simply gave him my opinion of him.  I don’t believe he’d have held the horse, only he thought it would make you get away quicker.  He hates you.  Did you ever kick him or anything?”

I laughed, and, telling Percy that I had never kicked the boy, I thanked him for his championship of me.

CHAPTER XIII

A MAN WITH A LETTER

When my unfortunate bicycle had been started on its way to Waterton, I threw myself into the family life of the Larramies, determined not to let them see any perturbations of mind which had been caused by the extraordinary promptness of the younger son.  If a man had gone with me instead of that boy, I would have had every opportunity of saying what I wanted to say to the mistress of the Holly Sprig.  I may state that I frequently found myself trying to determine what it was I wanted to say.

I did my best to suppress all thoughts relating to things outside of this most hospitable and friendly house.  I went to see the bear with the younger members of the family.  I played four games of tennis, and in the afternoon the whole family went to fish in a very pretty mill-pond about a mile from the house.  A good many fish were caught, large and small, and not one of the female fishers, except Miss Willoughby, the nervous young lady, and little Clara, would allow me to take a fish from her hook.  Even Mrs. Larramie said that if she fished at all she thought she ought to do everything for herself, and not depend upon other people.

As much as possible I tried to be with Mr. Larramie and Walter.  I had not the slightest distaste for the company of the ladies, but there was a consciousness upon me that there were pleasant things in which a man ought to restrict himself.  There was nothing chronic about this consciousness.  It was on duty for this occasion only.