CHAPTER I A PRESIDENT-ELECT
Quite
aside from its natural characteristics, there is an atmosphere
about
a college town, especially a New England college town, that is
unmistakable. It is not so much actively intellectual as passively
aware of and satisfied with its own intellectuality.The
beautiful little town of Corinth was no exception; from its
tree-shaded village green to the white-columned homes on its
outskirts it fairly radiated a satisfied sense of its own
superiority.Not
that the people were smug or self-conceited. They merely accepted
the
fact that the University of Corinth was among the best in the
country
and that all true Corinthians were both proud and worthy of
it.The
village itself was a gem of well-kept streets, roads and houses,
and
all New England could scarce show a better groomed
settlement.In
a way, the students, of course, owned the place, yet there were
many
families whose claim to prominence lay in another direction.However,
Corinth was by all counts, a college town, and gloried in
it.The
University had just passed through the throes and thrills of one of
its own presidential elections.The
contest of the candidates had been long, and at last the strife had
become bitter. Two factions strove for supremacy, one, the
conservative side, adhering to old traditions, the other, the
modern
spirit, preferring new conditions and progressive
enterprise.Hard
waged and hard won, the battle had resulted at last in the election
of John Waring, the candidate of the followers of the old
school.Waring
was not an old fogy, nor yet a hide-bound or narrow-minded back
number. But he did put mental attainment ahead of physical prowess,
and he did hold by certain old-fashioned principles and methods,
which he and his constituents felt to be the backbone of the old
and
honored institution.Wherefore,
though his election was an accomplished fact, John Waring had made
enemies that seemed likely never to be placated.But
Waring’s innate serenity and acquired poise were not disturbed by
adverse criticism, he was a man with an eye single to his duty as
he
saw it. And he accepted the position of responsibility and trust,
simply and sincerely with a determination to make his name honored
among the list of presidents.Inauguration,
however, would not take place until June, and the months from
February on would give him time to accustom himself to his new
duties, and to learn much from the retiring president.Yet
it must not be thought that John Waring was unpopular. On the
contrary, he was respected and liked by everybody in Corinth. Even
the rival faction conceded his ability, his sterling character and
his personal charm. And their chagrin and disappointment at his
election was far more because of their desire for the other
candidate’s innovations than of any dislike for John Waring as a
man.Of
course, there were some who candidly expressed their disapproval of
the new president, but, so far, no real opposition was made, and it
was hoped there would be none.Now,
whether because of the exigencies of his new position, or merely
because of the irresistible charms of Mrs. Bates, Waring expected
to
make the lady his wife before his inauguration.
“
And
a good thing,” his neighbor, Mrs. Adams, observed. “John Waring
ought to’ve been somebody’s good-looking husband long ago, but a
bachelor president of Corinth is out of all reason! Who’d stand by
his side at the receptions, I’d like to know?”For
certain public receptions were dearly loved by the citizens of
Corinth, and Mrs. Adams was one of the most reception-loving of
all.As
in all college towns, there were various and sundry boarding
houses,
inns and hotels of all grades, but the boarding house of Mrs. Adams
was, without a dissenting voice, acclaimed the most desirable and
most homelike.The
good lady’s husband, though known as “Old Salt,” was by no
means a seafaring man, nor had he ever been. Instead, he was a leaf
on a branch of the Saltonstall family tree, and the irreverent
abbreviation had been given him long ago, and had stuck.
“
Yes,
indeed,” Mrs. Adams asserted, “we’ve never had a bachelor
president of Corinth and I hope we never will. Mrs. Bates is a nice
sweet-spoken lady, a widow of four years standing, and I do say
she’s
just the one for Doctor Waring’s wife. She has dignity, and yet
she’s mighty human.”Emily
Bates was human. Not very tall, a little inclined to plumpness,
with
fair hair and laughing blue eyes, she was of a cozy, home-loving
sort, and her innate good nature and ready tact were
unfailing.At
first she had resisted John Waring’s appeal, but he persisted,
until she found she really liked the big, wholesome man, and
without
much difficulty learned to love him.Waring
was distinguished-looking rather than handsome. Tall and well-made,
he had a decided air of reserve which he rarely broke through, but
which, Emily Bates discovered, could give way to confidences
showing
depths of sweetness and charm.The
two were happily matched. Waring was forty-two and Mrs. Bates half
a
dozen years younger. But both seemed younger than their years, and
retained their earlier tastes and enthusiasms.Also
both were bound up, heart and soul, in the welfare of the
University.
Mrs. Bates’ first husband had been one of its prominent professors
and its history and traditions were known and loved by the cheery
little lady.Perhaps
the only person in Corinth who was not pleased at the approaching
nuptials of John Waring and Emily Bates was Mrs. Peyton, Waring’s
present housekeeper. For it meant the loss of her position, which
she
had faithfully filled for ten years or more. And this meant the
loss
of a good and satisfactory home, not only for herself, but for her
daughter Helen, a girl of eighteen, who lived there also.Not
yet had Waring told his housekeeper that she was to be dethroned
but
she knew the notice would come,—knew, too, that it was delayed only
because of John Waring’s disinclination to say or do anything
unwelcome to another. And Mrs. Peyton had been his sister’s school
friend and had served him well and faithfully. Yet she must go, for
the incoming mistress needed no other housekeeper for the
establishment than her own efficient, capable self.It
was a very cold February afternoon, and Mrs. Peyton was serving tea
in the cheerful living-room. Emily Bates was present; an indulgence
she seldom allowed herself, for she was punctilious regarding
conventions, and Corinth people, after all, were critical. Though,
to
be sure, there was no harm in her taking tea in the home so soon to
be her own.The
two women were outwardly most courteous, and if there was an
underlying hostility it was not observable on the part of
either.
“
I
came today,” Emily Bates said, as she took her tea cup from the
Japanese butler who offered it, “because I want to tell you, John,
of some rumors I heard in the town. They say there is trouble
brewing
for you.”
“
Trouble
brewing is such a picturesque phrase,” Waring said, smiling idly,
as he stirred his tea. “One immediately visions Macbeth’s
witches, and their trouble brew.”
“
You
needn’t laugh,” Emily flashed an affectionate smile toward him,
“when the phrase is used it often means something.”
“
Something
vague and indefinite,” suggested Gordon Lockwood, who was Waring’s
secretary, and was as one of the family.
“
Not
necessarily,” Mrs. Bates returned; “more likely something
definite, though perhaps not very alarming.”
“
Such
as what?” asked Waring, “and from what direction? Will the
freshmen make me an apple-pie bed, or will the seniors haze me, do
you think?”
“
Be
serious, John,” Mrs. Bates begged. “I tell you there is a
movement on foot to stir up dissension. I heard they would contest
the election.”
“
Oh,
they can’t do that,” Lockwood stated; “nor would anybody try.
Don’t be alarmed, Mrs. Bates. I’m sure we know all that’s going
on,—and I can’t think there’s any ‘trouble brewing’ for
Doctor Waring.”
“
I’ve
heard it, too,” vouchsafed Mrs. Peyton. “It’s not anything
definite, but there are rumors and hints, and where there’s smoke,
there’s bound to be fire. I wish you’d at least look into it,
Doctor.”
“
Yes,”
agreed Emily Bates, “do look into it, John.”
“
But
how can I?” Waring smiled. “I can’t go from door to door,
saying ‘I’ve come to investigate a rumor,’ can I?”
“
Oh,
don’t be absurd!” Mrs. Bates’ plump little hands fluttered in
protest and then fell quietly to rest in her lap. “You men are so
tactless! Now, Mrs. Peyton or I could find out all about it,
without
any one knowing we were making inquiry.”
“
Why
don’t you, then?” asked Waring, and Mrs. Peyton gave a pleased
smile as the guest bracketed their names.
“
I
will, if you say so.” Emily spoke gravely. “That is what I wanted
to ask you. I didn’t like to take up the matter with any one unless
you directly approved.”
“
Oh,
go ahead,—I see no harm in it.”
“
But,
Doctor Waring,” put in Lockwood, “is it wise? I fear that if Mrs.
Bates takes up this matter she may get in deeper than she means or
expects to, and—well, you can’t tell what might turn
up.”
“
That’s
so, Emily. As matters stand, you’d best be careful.”
“
Oh,
John, how vacillating you are! First, you say go ahead, and then
you
say stop! I don’t mind your changing your opinions, but I do resent
your paying so little attention to the matter. You toss it aside
without thought.”
“
Doctor
Waring thinks very quickly,” said Mrs. Peyton, and Emily gave her a
slight stare.It
was hard for the housekeeper to realize that she must inevitably
lose
her place in his household, and the thought made her a little
assertive while she still had opportunity.
“
Yes,
I know it,” was the reply Emily gave, and went on, addressing
herself to the two men.
“
Persuade
him, Mr. Lockwood. Not of his duty, he never misapprehends that,
but
of the necessity of looking on this matter as a duty.”
“
What
a pleader you are, Emily,” and Waring gave her an admiring bow; “I
am almost persuaded that my very life is in danger!”
“
Oh,
you won’t be good!” The blue eyes twinkled but the rosy little
mouth took on a mutinous pout. “Well, I warn you, if you don’t
look out for yourself, I’m going to look out for you! And that, as
Mr. Lockwood hints, may get you into trouble!”
“
What
a contradictory little person it is! In an effort to get me out of
trouble, you admit you will probably get me into trouble. Well,
well,
if this is during our betrothal days, what will you do after we are
married?”
“
Oh,
then you’ll obey me implicitly,” and the expressive hands
indicated with a wide sweep, total subjection.
“
You’ll
find him not absolutely easy to manage,” Mrs. Peyton declared, and
though Emily Bates said no word, she gave a look of superior
managing
power that brought the housekeeper’s thin lips together in a
resentful straight line.This
byplay was unnoticed by large-minded John Waring, but it amused
Lockwood, who was an observer of human nature.Unostentatiously,
he watched Mrs. Peyton, as she turned her attention to the tea
tray,
and noted the air of importance with which she continued her duties
as hostess.
“
Bring
hot toast, Ito,” she said to the well-trained and deferential
Japanese. “And a few more lemon slices,—I see another guest
coming.”She
smiled out through the window, and a moment later a breezy young
chap
came into the room.
“
Hello,
folkses,” he cried; “Hello, Aunt Emily.”He
gave Mrs. Bates an audible kiss on her pretty cheek and bowed with
boyish good humor to Mrs. Peyton.
“
How
do you do, Uncle Doctor?” and “How goes it, Lock?” he went on,
as he threw himself, a little sprawlingly into an easy chair. “And
here’s the fair Helen of Troy.”He
jumped up as Helen Peyton came into the room. “Why, Pinky,” she
said, “when did you come?”
“
Just
now, my girl, as you noted from your oriel lattice,—and came
running down to bask in the sunshine of my smiles.”
“
Behave
yourself, Pinky,” admonished his aunt, as she noted Helen’s quick
blush and realized the saucy boy had told the truth.Pinckney
Payne, college freshman, and nephew of Emily Bates, was very fond
of
Doctor Waring, his English teacher, and as also fond, in his boyish
way, of his aunt. But he was no respecter of authority, and, now
that
his aunt was to be the wife of his favorite professor, also the
President-elect of the college, he assumed an absolute familiarity
with the whole household.His
nickname was not only an abbreviation, but was descriptive of his
exuberant health and invariably red cheeks. For the rest, he was
just
a rollicking, care-free boy, ring leader in college fun, often
punished, but bobbing up serenely again, ready for more
mischief.Helen
Peyton adored the irrepressible Pinky, and though he liked her, it
was no more than he felt for many others and not so much as he had
for a few.
“
Tea,
Mrs. Peyton? Oh, yes, indeed, thank you. Yes, two lemon and three
sugar. And toasts,—and cakies,—oh, what good ones! What a tuck!
Alma Mater doesn’t feed us like this! I say, Aunt Emily, after you
are married, may I come to tea every day? And bring the
fellows?”
“
I’ll
answer that,—you may,” said John Waring.
“
And
I’ll revise the answer,—you may, with reservations,” Mrs. Bates
supplemented. “Now, Pinky, you’re a dear and a sweet, but you
can’t annex this house and all its affairs, just because it’s
going to be my home.”
“
Don’t
want to, Auntie. I only want you to annex me. You’ll keep the same
cook we have at present, won’t you?”He
looked solicitously at her, over a large slice of toast and jam he
was devouring.
“
Maybe
and maybe not,” Mrs. Peyton spoke up. “Cooks are not always
anxious to be kept.”
“
At
any rate, we’ll have a cook, Pinky, of some sort,” his aunt
assured him, and the boy turned to tease Helen Peyton, who was
quite
willing to be teased.
“
I
saw your beau today, Helen,” he said.
“
Which
one?” she asked placidly.
“
Is
there a crowd? Well, I mean the Tyler person. Him as hangs out at
Old
Salt’s. And, by the way, Uncle President,—yes, I am a bit
previous on both counts, but you’ll soon have the honor of being
both President and my uncle,—by the way, I say, Bob Tyler says
there’s something in the wind.”
“
A
straw to show which way it blows, perhaps,” Waring said.
“
Perhaps,
sir. But it’s blowing. Tyler says there’s a movement on foot to
make things hot for you if you take the Presidential chair with
your
present intentions.”
“
My
intentions?”
“
Yes,
sir; about athletics, and sports in general.”
“
And
what are my so-called intentions?”
“
They
say, you mean to cut out sport—”
“
Oh,
Pinckney, you know better than that!”
“
Well,
Doctor Waring, some seem to think that’s what you have in mind. If
you’d declare your intentions now,—”
“
Look
here, Pinky, don’t you think I’ve enough on my mind in the matter
of marrying your aunt, without bringing in other matters till
that’s
settled.”
“
Going
to be married soon, Uncle Doc?”
“
We
are. As soon as your aunt will select a pleasant day for the
ceremony. Then, that attended to, I can devote my mind and energies
to this other subject. And meanwhile, my boy, if you hear talk
about
it, don’t make any assertions,—rather, try to hush up the
subject.”
“
I
see,—I see,—and I will, Doctor Waring. You don’t want to bother
with those things till you’re a settled down married man! I know
just how you feel about it. Important business, this getting
married,—I daresay, sir.”
“
It
is,—and so much so, that I’m going to take the bride-elect off
right now, for a little private confab. You must understand that we
have much to arrange.”
“
Run
along,—bless you, my children!” Pinky waved a teacup and a
sandwich beneficently toward the pair, as they left the room and
went
off in the direction of the Doctor’s study.The
house was a large one, with a fine front portico upheld by six
enormous fluted columns.One
of the most beautiful of New England doorways led into a wide hall.
To the right of this was the drawing-room, not so often used and
not
so well liked as the more cozy living-room, to the left as one
entered, and where the tea-drinking group now sat.Behind
these two rooms and hall, ran a cross hall, with an outer door at
the
end back of the living-room and a deep and wide window seat at the
other end, behind the drawing-room.Further
back, beyond the cross hall, on the living-room side, was the
dining-room, and beside it, back of the drawing-room was the
Doctor’s
study. This was the gem of the whole house. The floor had been
sunken
to give greater ceiling height, for the room was very large, and of
fine proportions. It opened on to the cross hall with wide double
doors, and a flight of six or seven steps descended to its rug
covered floor.Opposite
the double doors was the great fireplace with high over-mantel of
carved stone. Each side of the mantel were windows, high and not
large. The main daylight came through a great window on the right
of
the entrance and also from a long French window that opened like
doors on the same side.This
French window, giving on a small porch, and the door that opened
into
the cross hall of the house were the only doors in the great room,
save those on cupboards and bookcases.On
the other side of the room, opposite the French window was a row of
four small windows looking into the dining-room. But these were
high,
and could not be seen through by people on the sunken floor of the
study.The
whole room was done in Circassian walnut, and represented the ideal
abode of a man of letters. The fireside was flanked with two facing
davenports, the wide window seat was piled with cushions. The
French
window-doors were suitably curtained and the high windows were of
truly beautiful stained glass.The
spacious table desk was in the middle of the room, and bookcases,
both portable and built in, lined the walls. There were a few good
busts and valuable pictures, and the whole effect was one of
dignity
and repose rather than of elaborate grandeur.The
room was renowned, and all Corinth spoke of it with pride. The
students felt it a great occasion that brought them within its
walls
and the faculty loved nothing better than a session therein.Casual
guests were rarely entertained in the study. Only especial visitors
or those worthy of its classic atmosphere found welcome there. Mrs.
Peyton or Helen were not expected to use it, and Mrs. Bates had
already declared she should respect it as the sanctum of Doctor
Waring alone.The
two made their way to the window seat, and as he arranged the soft
cushions for her, Waring said, “Don’t, Emily, ever feel shut out
of this room. As I live now, I’ve not welcomed the Peytons in here,
but my wife is a different proposition.”
“
I
still feel an awe of the place, John, but I may get used to it.
Anyway, I’ll try, and I do appreciate your willingness to have me
in here. Then if you want to be alone, you must put me
out.”
“
I’ll
probably do that, sometimes, dear, for I have to spend many hours
alone. You know, I’m not taking the presidency lightly.”
“
I
know it, you conscientious dear. But, on the other hand, don’t be
too serious about it. You’re just the man for the place, just the
character for a College President, and if you try too hard to
improve
or reconstruct yourself, you’ll probably spoil your present
perfection.”
“
Well
nothing would spoil
your present
perfection, my Emily. I am too greatly blest,—to have the great
honor from the college,—and you, too!”
“
Are
you happy, John? All happy?”Waring’s
deep blue eyes fastened themselves on her face. His brown hair
showed
only a little gray at the temples, his fine face was not touched
deeply by Time’s lines, and his clear, wholesome skin glowed with
health.If
there was an instant’s hesitation before his reply came, it was
none the less hearty and sincere. “Yes, my darling, all happy. And
you?”
“
I
am happy, if you are,” she returned. “But I can never be happy if
there is a shadow of any sort on your heart. Is there, John? Tell
me,
truly.”
“
You
mean regarding this trouble that I hear is brewing for
me?”
“
Not
only that; I mean in any direction.”
“
Trouble,
Emily! With you in my arms! No,—a thousand times no! Trouble and I
are strangers,—so long as I have you!”