The Storyteller

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 8, 21 February 1907, Page 3

The Storyteller

THE DEFECTION OP MRS CAPTAIN

When -young Doctor Marlow6- r 'came Corning, carrying somewhere irr his luggage his hard-earned-shingle, fresh from the paint shop, he little knew what excitement he was going to cause 'in that staid old - .New England town. He might- have guessed, had he been acquainted with the genus of such, places, ,that the mere announcement. weeAs before of the coming to town of a ;.new "doctor— made in the ' Daily" News ' amid such state affairs as Hie painting -, of Tim Roche's house and Martha Cutler's birthday, partywas going to throw the shade all other topics of conversation. For days and days it was wondered | who he was, whence he came, what he looked like, was he married, was -he going to be, was he any good, and what did old Doctor Blake, who had^seen .vast, generations succumb to tlie infliction of his perpetual poultice and pill, think of this young upstart of a boy who was coming with a new. diploma to be his' rival ? ! And so when Dr. Marlowe did alight from the train I on a Sunday evening he discovered -from the nudging _aad whispering that took its course -ami-d the' crowd— which evidently, included -all tine femininity "of the town —that he was the conquering hero of the 'hour,. Involuntarily he glanced at John Murray's- wagon, as if, perchance, it might not be a car, of triumph with , a " brass band hidden somewhere lq' do', hoiio'r to him and his new shingle. "But the wagon drove off with the ' box of boneless codfish it. had come for, the near- , est approach to the town band^was the whistling- of the train in the" distance. The doctor' sailed and. bowed to his audience, -and entered the. station- to arrange for, the removal of his baggage, which now attrae^eij" thef glances of the ladies, and extorted, their surmises as to - whether alkthe taunks contained his clothes or his wife's-'-that is, if he had a wife. ' ' But .the "doctoT" was not prosaic enough to enlighten ■•them upon the point, and grasping his -suit" case he trudged along "the main street till ", he came to the aristocratic old mansion "of Martha Pickering, the relict of" the late Oaptain Pickering, who served so nobly- during the war of the Rebellion. When he was _ alive they were distinguished as Mr. and Mrs. 'Captain tain Pickering, now that he had gone to his" fathers , there was no conceivable reason, to CorrJing folk, why the title she enjoyed should" "be taken away just because the Gaptain had been taken away, and so the -widow-, was ' Mrs. Captain ' to the end of her , many days and beyond that, even on her tombstone. But that is anticipating. Pickering was the first name in the peerage aC Corning; gentry. ' Its had been - lost . in the dim obscurity of history-,-" somewhere about two or three * years after the Captain had come from -battle with a title to bravery, and no one except" the narrow-mind-ed was anxious to" remember thai the Captain', had questionable antecedents, and, as old Tim Murphy, who served under him, testified, had- done . ' morf? mean tricks than . the divil himself.' The Captain in his new dignity— which was made still greater by his 'being elected a selectman and called- upon every Decoration Day to 'give his reminiscences of the war, while" the school' children in white dresses and. patriotic sashes surrounded him in Evergreen Cemetery and sang ' America '—the Captain, I say, soon'" became an honored- personage, with glory enough to terrify even . Abigail Darling, -who called herself' a real daughter of the Revolution, and who was, without "doubt, past her teens, even at that remote period. - — - ■ " The Captain's glory was not dimmed- by his sudden demise. Mrs; Captain still held to. it tenaciously," and poor Abigail, who had hopes or recovering , her vanished heritage when the Captain was . well un^der ground, was doomed - to- disappointment. -Mrs. Captain was still the leader of society, the first of the first families „ whose dictum upon affairs, 'general and particular, religious, social, artistic and, political, w?^ as final as. -the day of doom. / It matte-ed not that her well-worn black silk, .which had done service at -weddings, funerals',- and affairs «©f state for an inde-.-finite period, still clung to the fashion plates of the •fiftiesv It had_ as many reminiscences as an antiquated actress, -and Mrs. .Captain was always eager to be^ its fond interpreter. ■ But, 'leader of society as she was, and was conceded to be even by her younger opponents who aspired to that- vaguely- honorable title, of rank, it was not on account of receptions and big dinners. Mrs. Captain always had a horror, vehemently _ expressed, of such abuses of the talent an-d the

' golden moments- bestowed by a munificent Providence. 4>he lived quietly and sparingly— none o! her- guests doubted it— not that "^he" was poor, ah, no;.! she'frowned : •coldly at such an insinuation. 'liie de*r, good" Cap- ' . t*in, she said, had letftr her an" honorable competence to withstand the< ravages of " time, but she. lived humI bly as a % protest against the extravagance of these latter days, when even 'that f Irishman, Maloney, who had made money by nearly being killed in a railroad Jaccident, had bid for social eminence by paying" more for one dinner than would support an ordinary liish family 'for two" years.' 'lhe way that" Mrs. Cap-tain-delivered herself of. this bit of social economy was sufficient to establish her equality with -the bestPhaii-" see that ever lived. - . It was a .shock, therefore, to the rural sensibility when it was le"arned that the great -leader of society had let out her front parlor and spare chamber to the new doctor. The young -ladies who had "commented enthusiastically upon, the doctor's' good looks, his apparent prosperity and other undeniable' qualifications were dumfounded to see ham pass the hotel — where it was presumed he would stay— and enter the aris- .- tocratic abode of Mrs.' Captain ..Pickering, who had been cautiously peeping ..out horn behind her' lace - curtains from the moment v she heard the train f/histling its approach" to the station." ' ' ■ Here was fresh material' for the gossips '..'Mrs. Cap- * lain taking in boarders ! She wasn't so wealthy- after all ! And the} doctor— what could have 'possessed him to go there? Well, he must be a Protestant, even though someone had said that Father Johnson said he was a Catholic. But, bless you, Mrs. Cap- 1 tain would never 'give up her T front parlor and its lustrous hair-cloth set to a Catholic, even if he was a doctor and young and handsome. So that point v was settled, to his credit or" discredit, according to the mind of the observer. - , , The fact that he had no 'P ' or 'Me ' or something as positively Gaelic— and she had never, met*;, supposed there existed .Catholics, with other ■"titles — was sufficient not ' to disturb -her peace'of. mind or cause any doubt to arise when Dr. Pickering, ot~ Boston, her late husband's second cousin, had written to ask her to board his dear friend, Dr. Marlowe. There was no occasion for' a discussion of the subject till the Friday of that week. ' 'From ' the very first the landlady had been won to her boarder. He was amiability itself, e a sy to suit, ready to help her, and above all a good listener, a fact that demonstra- 7 ted his wonderful patience when Mrs. Captain had the" floor, which was about all the time, generally speaking. Friday night was meeting night at the Congregational church, of which the doctor's hostess -was an-an-cient and honorable member. It was always a sacred evening to her, and nothing short of a monument on top of her could keep her away from divine service. It; was necessary for her to have a"double portion of devotion, for the Captain in his day had been known, to himself, as a free-thinker, and to others as an old heathen, despite his honorable rank. And -.this religious disposition she carried after his demise, not that she thought it would better Mm— for somehow she fancied he bad reached the nine choirs after, all .his vagaries and attacks upon things ecclesiastic and ministerial— but because it had become to her a second nature. 'Doctor,' she said, as she opened her parlor door,\ 'you don't for.get Friday night, I hope ?' ' s 1 Friday night ? ' ♦ Yes, Friday night is meeting night, you know. You will cdme with me ? ' She imagined the. sensation she would make entering the church on the arm of the man~ about whom all the town was -talking. . ' \ ' Oh, meeting night? is it ? But, Mrs. Pickering,- I " don't belong to your Church.' " 'Oh, that don't* matter, much. ' I'm- a Congrega--tionalist, but r can stand Baptists or Presbyterians. ■ Lots of 'em come to our church.' " • But I am not 'either Baptist' or Presbyterian. I'm a Catholic' " • « ' A Catholic ! Why, doctor, you astound l me \'* " She sank upon her sofa, for the second time jri its many years of service. -'Why, yes, Mrs. Pickering, didn't you know? I told Dr. Pickering to mention < J,he facti to you, fearing that such a blot on my character . might lead you To reject me, and I fancied he had done so.' - The doctor actually laughed at the woe-begone f ace ' of the woman on the sofa, but she hardly heard him. • She , J w i s thinkin e of the effect such an announcement would have upon her townspeople and co-religionists. Her house, the house that had sheltered Minister j Browne when his own home was burnt, that had been

sanctified by. her daily scriptural readings — she' forbore to think, of the many times the- Captain had raised the , roofi with^ other than pious ejaculations — now to be made the retreat of a Catholic ! > ' -- - - .'JDoctor, how -could you deceive me so? Oh fit is terrible, terrible ! . ram disgraced, 1 can't look, dear Mr. Harlowe. in. the face 'again. Oh, you must go; you must/ .-r '•. - . : '"- '-•-. „/■*' - 'With tears and groans, the- sorrowing Mrs. Captain -slammed t|he front door after her -and crossed the street to the "meeting-house, entering -late for the" first .time in ' her life. She paid little attention Tto the service, .. and could not bless the Lord -in i any terms of joy and gladness. It >was the^period of 1 "her affliction, and in • the~ burden of all the hymns she fancied that every voice was shrieking at her, ' Heretic ! ' ' Romanist ! ' ' dirty Irish ! ' If she could have read the' thoughts of many „ she might have found such questions as— ' Mrs. Captain,' where' is the doctor ?' ' Mrs. Captain, why didn't -/he come ? ' ' Mrs.. Captain, how do you like him ? ' and so on. There was only one thing "to be done— she must have, spiritual, advice. She must go to Minister _Harlowe and" tell him all about her defection, weep -out her affliction of spirit, and take- counsel from him as- , to the reparation of the scandal.-' She forgot all about the members of the terrible inquisition who were waiting - for the meeting to be over to ply her with questions, and, heedless of the, remarks that were passed about-, her, being 'more haughty • than ever "on account of 'her boarder-Voh, the ignominy concentrated in "the pro-, nunciation of that word !— she went to " tbj ' minister 'and unburdened her soul to- him. . '-*" J '",• ' To think of it, Mr. Harlowe, he's a Catholic' ' Who's a" Catholic ?. The doctor ? > Why, I know it. What harm ? ' . -.-■•/ / The minister was forced to; laugh, at the .tragedy so « : evident in her- face. ""■ - „. , - : Why/ Mr- Harlowe !'- . She was beginning, to. have .doubts of -his orthodoxy-. 'How- can you laugh \at • -.such a terrib.le -.calamity, and" you the one we all -look to for good- example ?' _ '"- --- - ' ■ 1 Very- weli, Mrs. Pickering, and why not' give an ex- '. ample of religious tolerance ? "You- told me yesterday that . you liked the doctor, he was so .kind.' ' Yes, and he paid me a month in advance. "But it's the money of sin. You should have told me, you " should|--you should — ' thetears were flowing" again — ' but " I'll give it " all back, if it 'breaks my poor heart.' ' Patience, Mrs. Pickering ; the doctor strikes me as an amiable, intelligent young man. If he" was an atheist you wouldn't think of putting him out. "Be not v unchristian to a fellow-Christian.' ~ \ ' Oh, Mr. Harlowe, it does me so much good tohiear you say. that, and I need, the money so bad L' But what- will people say? "But if "you- think it 'is all right, why,, I will -bear my r cross, and pray for his conversion, and perhaps he will see the error .of his ways ' Goodrnightt, Mr. Harlowe.'- — - ' Good-night, Mrs. Pickering. But . I .think .you ..will have a heavy task converting him. Mrs. Captain returned home somewhat -mollified. She^ was determined, to brazen *it" out with carping neighbors, and cast her burden "this time not on the Lord but on the minister. She .regretted the ' scene she had enacted before the doctor, fearing that perhaps he would ' . demand his money back and seek "other quarters, fiut she was loath to go to him and explain that - there was no necessity for him to retreat. He- -saved - her the trouble at breaulast by venturing on the subject himself. ■ ' I suppose I must ,look for other quarters immediately,' he said, looking intently -at- her, and won- ' dering at the smile on her face. - ' No,. indeed, Doctor.. Forgive me, but it ;was such a " surprise. You must stop right here, even if you are a Catholic. Why.t even poor Captain didn't have .. any religion" to- speak of, you know, I never thought ofr, putting him away.' -- •- - ' Indeed !'. . ' . , ' . . " ', The doctor knew it was hot the' fitting reply, but he was* at a loss for something better. »P.He» p . He was'then • in the class with the heathens and publicans" along .with the -Captain.. He siriiled blandly, *and went vigorously at the oatmeal before him. And so the danger of removal passed :wijth only a ' shadow. Mrs. Captain became kinder, if possible, than ' she had been.. Her best- preserves, hitherto reserved for state occasions, were in great danger of being exhausted, so frequently ( were , they employed to tempt the ; appetite of ;bhe doctor, notwithstanding the" fact that the athletic and voracious youth needed no such incentives to demolish -the "'dainty lunch" that. took the ' place of breakfast, dinner; or supper at very short ' notice. x • , •

It was a wise . thought to put the blame on the minister. The news 1 leaked out on- Sunday morning, -when the doctor was actually seen . passing the Congregational church and. going to High. Mass at -St. Mi- - chad's. . . That nine days' sensation would- have despatched Mrs. Captain- to the _^ side of lier dear Captain beneath the granity monument- if some neighbors had had their way. How could she do it ? What, was she thinking! of? Questions interminable, n and to all the^same answer': ' I- -- r ' Ask the minister. He ' advised it. Watch me .convert the doctor- !. . " _ ; . To the Catholics of- Co"ning it was no less" a" source of wonder, but. wonder that brought joy-. At las.t they had a Catholic doctor, and for a long time * Dr. Blake -had little to do, so anxious was everybody to meet Dr. Marlowe and talk with -him. But the nine days' wonder passed as all things -mortal, and soon Dr. Marlowe was an established fact in - the life of Uorning. Nor was his popularity restricted to lAs own people. The fact that Mr. Harlowe vouched' for him and declared himself his friend, much ' to the ' ' disgust of Dr. 31ake, added to the weightier ..- fact that Mrs.' Captain, whose- word was law, pronounced-* him the finest youtig man" she ever met— who .knew" more about the Scriptures than she herself, 'no matter what folks said about Catholics never looking into. a' Bible, and' being made to swallow "anything the Pope of Rome gave them— was enough to. ensure .popularity to anybody, let alone a smart, handsome man like this - young Irish doctor. _ Jt was, however, only after an acquaintanceship of three months that Mrs. Captain deli vererd such a fulsoane eu'lqgy in favor of the CbuUchin general and Dr. Marlowe in particular. _ - It certainly demonstrated the ability of the doctor „ to undermine, in such a short time, the bed-rock principles of the Reformation as embodied in, Mrs. Captain, even to the acknowledgment that he wasn't half bad for being a Catholic. Not that she had relin- _ quished her idea of converting him to Congregationalism. That was a thought that grew upon her. Indeed, it was this perseverance that taught her how much the doctor knew of the Scriptures, when he overturned with one text the argument she had spent all the afternoon in formulating. It disconcerted her 'for the moment, and she muttered to herself something about Satan's . ability to quote SciUpWre, but in her heart she acknowledged that it was really hard work to snatch from the burning such a brand as the doctor. But it did not lessen her respect for him, even ■ though she knew he had such idols as a crucifix 'and rosary upon his bureau. The good Lord, she trusted, would show him in time the folly of his ways." The doctor, on the other hand, liked the old lady who constituted herself his guardian, spiritual and temporal. He discovered her* soon for wfiat she was, the soul of kindness and honor. Her religious animosity he knew to be a part of -her existence, the result of prejudices of past generations, and while he smiled at her undisguised attempt to convert him, he let her. argue, knowing that' it gave him an opportunity to " correct impressions which she fancied .to be as true as . the rising sun. r - " 'Do tell ! ' she exclaimed, when, after her lengthy, ' ■harangue about idol worship, he explained "the re(al " meaning of images. - ' Well, Doctor, I've got to be- . hevc you, for I know you wouldn't lie to me, but, you see, you're the' first Catholic I ever talkeld reli- . gion with, and I just always believed what Protes=tants said about your Church. There it is, as I often told the Captain— it's never . too late! to learn:' The war of the: angel of light— that, was Mrs, Captain— against the angel of darkness— <and necessarily that was the doctor— continued in this good-nat-ured missionary spirit. Many of the staid Protestant neighbors looked with not too kindly an eye upon the • i liberal views of their social leader. She was becoming too Irish, they thought, when .they .beheld her time and again mixing up with 'some of the" doctor's Hibernian patients, but it was really high time ".to remonstrate- Mth her when it 1 was the- talk of the town that she went t 0 Mass x with " the - doctor. remonstrate they did. • ■ ' " \ V'K minister ' s w^c was the committee. of one deleg w p ' be the . r>r °P het 's Warning voice, but no nrophet of good or ill ever received a 'greater shock than me same lady, who,,, as soon, as she made known her business, was sent on linkway atr'ain with' such a scat/lung rebuke rinsing; ber oa rs that? she declared to her husband she verily l.elioved" Mrs. Captain was possessed, all on account, of that Irish doctor. ■ Certainly, Mrs. Captain was possessed of something. TJie mif^ster admitted that. She jiad laughed even' at liim when.

he had quietly objected to the bad.- example-. a church member gave in passing her own meeting-house to assist at rites of idolatry.^ r -' ' Idolatry ! ' Why, Mr. Harlowe; it's you. that's , narrow now. Dr. Marlowe is a man,; a real good man - who is proud' of his religion, and says his pray- . ers when he eats, and always is doing good, and - noyer refuses the pool-'.. Why, .he's a 'saint, 'he is, and any Church that can make . such men as my doctor can't T)e very heathenish, so there ! ' The- discomfiture, evinced in the minister's face as he -hurriedly walked away was now. a - source of . amusement to Mrs. Captain. , Formerly it. would have, meant to her ' a sleepless _ night. But, every word she said of _ the doctor was true. - Piety -and" faith were, to him a natural inheritance. He had never deemed it unmanly to be ardent in his" faith. And thus"^ it was that religion entered so deeply into his professional life. It was soon known that . the doctor loved; the poor ; "that he was always at' hojme to themi; always ready" to aid them, and give them careful attention when he knew there was no money coming to him. Mrs. Captain admired this generosity. ■ It preached to her more eloquently than any religious discussion. " Yet it ' alarmed • her,- too. , ','.'' - 'Doctor,' she said' to him one day, 'you're just - killing - yourself. You're losing your appetite. I eat more'n- you do now. Those long night drives will just bury you.' . - *• ' But wMat can a man do ? - If people are sick the "doctor must" go: ? ■ - -- - "* -> : w ' I suppose so, but if you* die some one-, .else'll take your place— that is, in the town,V- not in ; my house, though. Nobody 'll ever"' take^OTtr place here, if ' you die.' . ' . 'Very encouraging, surely,' -laughed -the -doctor, as he -returned to his room. But Mrs. Captain was nearly right, in her prophecy, and that time caaie sooner than she expected. Heavy work and neglect of self, had undermined the doctor's- constitution, and the next morning found him unable to 'leave h\h bed. He bade Mrs. Cap'tairi enter his room when she came to call him as usual, and she looked at him with an ' 1-told-you-so ' glance in , her eye.- . " ' Mrs. Pickering, I'm afraid it's pneumonia: Will you send over to . Dr* Blake ? ' ' Dr. Blake ?^ No, indeed. Ile'cLpnly be Too glad to see you* leave town. I'll telephone to Dr. Bemis, to Pembroke^ It won't take him long to get here..' The doctor laughed at her rejection of Dr. Blake. ' Very well, Dr. Bemis, then, and, -by the w a y, you . might send for Father Johnson. It won'-t*hurt me t - osee him. 'I can mak,e my confession, anyway.' ' Confession, dear me, as if you had anything to .confess. Very well, don't you stir, and we'll have "you all v fixed up in a jiffy. ' . '.--.. The doctor forgot his pains as he listened to her voice at the telephone. . ' Yes, Father' Johnson. That dear boy of mine is sick ; pneumonia— just killed him- - self with charity. He's got something to confess, but I'm sure he never* did a mean trick in his life. Right away ? All. right.' . -* -%"'.• A 'few words to Dr. Bemis -at the .telephone, and she „ returned to the room to put\ things -in readiness for the coming of the priest. She .obeyed, -.minutely, the orders which her patient gave, and prepa r ed the table with the daintiest, linens- which had been labori- ' ou^ly made years beforehand never used since the day they^were first put away : " ' 1 - ■ "I wish" the busybodies of . this town could see Father Johnson coming here,' she said, as she saw , the priest coming up- the front walk. ' I'd be the tialk of the tow"n— for a year.' . ». You might light one of those candles, and meet Father Johnson at the door, if you will, Mrs. Pickering. He may be bringing the Blessed Sacrament.' To Mrs. Captain it seemed almost like participating. in idolatry, but sh^ offered no objection. She • descended the stains with the candle in her hand, -and without a- word conducted the priest to "the "doctor's room and left him there., * " " • N (To be concluded next week.) .