"A man wants ter see ye," she announced, shortly, her hand on the knob.
"Oh, I'm in no shape for play to-night; go back and tell him so."
"Sure, an' it's aisy 'nough ter see thet wid half an eye. But this un
isn't thet koind of a man, an' he's so moighty perlite about it Oi jist
cud n't sind the loikes of him away. It's 'Missus Guffy, me dear
madam, wud ye be koind enough to convey me complimints to Misther
Robert Hampton, and requist him to grant me a few minutes of his toime
on an important matter?' Sure, an' what do ye think of thet?"
"Huh! one of those fellows who had these rooms?" and Hampton rose to
his feet with animation.
The landlady lowered her voice to an almost inaudible whisper.
"It's the Reverend Howard Wynkoop," she announced, impressively,
dwelling upon the name. "The Reverend Howard Wynkoop, the Prasbytarian
Missionary--wouldn't thet cork ye?"
It evidently did, for Mr. Hampton stared at her for fully a minute in
an amazement too profound for fit expression in words. Then he
swallowed something in his throat.
"Show the gentleman up," he said, shortly, and sat down to wait.
The Rev. Howard Wynkoop was neither giant nor dwarf, but the very
fortunate possessor of a countenance which at once awakened confidence
in his character. He entered the room quietly, rather dreading this
interview with one of Mr. Hampton's well-known proclivities, yet in
this case feeling abundantly fortified in the righteousness of his
cause. His brown eyes met the inquisitive gray ones frankly, and
Hampton waved him silently toward a vacant chair.
"Our lines of labor in this vineyard being so entirely opposite," the
latter said, coldly, but with intended politeness, "the honor of your
unexpected call quite overwhelms me. I shall have to trouble you to
speak somewhat softly in explanation of your present mission, so as not
to disturb a young girl who chances to be sleeping in the room beyond."
Wynkoop cleared his throat uneasily, his naturally pale cheeks flushed.
"It was principally upon her account I ventured to call," he explained
in sudden confidence. "Might I see her?"
Hampton's watchful eyes swept the others face suspiciously, and his
hands clinched.
"Relative?" he asked gravely.
The preacher shook his head.
"Friend of the family, perhaps?"
"No, Mr. Hampton. My purpose in coming here is perfectly proper, yet
the request was not advanced as a right, but merely as a special
privilege."