maltham had come to a full stop in front of this absurd dwelling, which was set a little back from the road in a dishevelled enclosure,[74] and as he stood examining in an amused way its various eccentricities he became aware that from one of the lower windows a man was watching him.
this was disconcerting, and he turned to walk on. but before he had gone a dozen steps the front door opened and the man came outside. he was dressed in shabby grey clothes with a certain suggestion of a military cut about them; but in spite of his shabbiness he had the look of a gentleman. he was sixty, or thereabouts, and seemed to have been well set up when he was younger—before the slouch had settled on his shoulders and before he had taken on a good many unnecessary inches about his waist. from where he stood on the veranda he hailed maltham cordially:
"won't yo' come in, suh? i have obsehved youah smiles at my old house heah— no, no, yo' owe me no apology, suh," he went on quickly, as maltham attempted a confused disclaimer. "yo' ah quite justified in laughing, suh, at my foolish fancy—that went wrong mainly because the yankee ca'pentah whom i employed to realize it was a hopelessly damned fool. but it was a creditable sentiment, suh, which led me to desiah to reproduce heah in god[75]fo'saken minnesotah my ancestral home in the grand old state of south cahrolina—the house that my grandfatheh built theah and named eutaw castle, as i have named its pore successeh, because of the honorable paht he bo' in the battle of eutaw springs. the result, i admit, is a thing to laugh at, suh—but not the ideah. no, suh, not the ideah! but come in, suh, come in! the exterioh of eutaw castle may be a failuah; but within it, suh, yo' will find in this cold no'th'en region the genuine wahm hospitality of a true southe'n home!"
maltham perceived that the only apology which he could offer for laughing at this absurd house—the absurdity of which became rather pathetic, he thought, in view of its genesis—was to accept its owner's invitation to enter it. acting on this conclusion, he turned into the enclosure—the gate, hanging loosely on a single hinge, was standing open—and mounted the veranda steps.
as he reached the top step his host advanced and shook hands with him warmly. "yo'ah vehy welcome, suh," he said; and added, after putting his hand to a pocket in search of something that evidently was not there: "ah, i find that i have not my cahd-case about me. yo'[76] must pehmit me to introduce myself: majoh calhoun ashley, of the confedehrate sehvice, suh—and vehy much at youahs."
maltham started a little as he heard this name, and the small shock so far threw him off his balance that as he handed his card to the major he said: "then it was your name that i saw just now in—" and stopped short, inwardly cursing himself for his awkwardness.
"that yo' saw in the little graveyahd, on the tomb of my eveh-beloved wife, suh," the major replied—with a quaver in his voice which compelled maltham mentally to reverse his recent generalizations. the major was silent for a moment, and then continued: "heh grave is not yet mahked fitly, suh, as no doubt yo' obsehved. cihcumstances oveh which i have had no control have prevented me from erecting as yet a suitable monument oveh heh sacred remains. she was my queen, suh"—his voice broke again—"and of a line of queens: a descendant, suh, from a collateral branch of the ancient royal house of sweden. i am hoping, i am hoping, suh, that i shall be able soon to erect oveh heh last resting-place a monument wo'thy of heh noble lineage and of hehself. i am hoping, suh, to do that vehy soon."
[77]
the major again was silent for a moment; and then, pulling himself together, he looked at maltham's card—holding it a long way off from his eyes. "youah name is familiar to me, suh," he said, "though fo' the moment i do not place it, and i am most happy to make youah acquaintance. but come in, suh, come in. i am fo'getting myself—keeping you standing this way outside of my own doah."
he took maltham cordially by the arm and led him through the doorway into a wide bare hall; and thence into a big room on the right, that was very scantily furnished but that was made cheerful by a rousing drift-wood fire. over the high mantel-piece was hung an officer's sword with its belt. on the buckle of the belt were the letters c. s. a. excepting this rather pregnant bit of decoration, the whitewashed walls were bare.
the major bustled with hospitality—pulling the bigger and more comfortable of two arm-chairs to the fire and seating maltham in it, and then bringing out glasses and a bottle from a queer structure of unpainted white pine that stood at one end of the room and had the look of a sideboard gone wrong.
"at the moment, suh," he said apologetically,[78] "my cellah is badly fuhnished and i am unable to offeh yo' wine. but if yo' have an appreciative taste fo' bourbon," he went on with more assurance, "i am satisfied that yo' will find the ahticle in this bottle as sound as any that the noble state of kentucky eveh has produced. will yo' oblige me, suh, by saying when!"
not knowing about the previous wet night, and its still lingering consequences, the promptness with which maltham said "when" seemed to disconcert the major a little—but not sufficiently to deter him from filling his own glass with a handsome liberality. holding it at a level with his lips, he turned toward his guest with the obvious intention of drinking a toast.
"may i have a little water, please?" put in maltham.
"i beg youah pahdon, suh. i humbly beg youah pahdon," the major answered. "i am not accustomed to dilute my own liquoh, and i most thoughtlessly assumed that yo' would not desiah to dilute youahs. i trust that yo' will excuse my seeming rudeness, suh. yo' shall have at once the bevehrage which yo' desiah."
while still apologizing, the major placed[79] his glass on the table and went to the door. opening it he called: "ulrica, my child, bring a pitcheh of fresh wateh right away."
again maltham gave a little start—as he had done when the major had introduced himself. in a vague sub-conscious way he felt that there was something uncanny in thus finding living owners of names which he had seen, within that very hour, scarcely legible above an uncared-for grave. but the major, talking on volubly, did not give him much opportunity for these psychological reflections; and presently there was the sound of footsteps in the hall outside, and then the door opened and the owner of the grave-name appeared.
