leaves you totally cut off - but I can assure you that your father has never signed such a document. As matters now stand, you will some day own Upper Beechview.”
“Unless Wilbur and Zachary get their dirty work across,” growled Harvey. “Well, let them do it - I was right when I termed them leeches.”
“A friendship between you and your father,” purred Pearson, “would effectively frustrate any actions on the part of your brothers.”
“Yes,” countered Harvey, “and if those two were put where they belong, there could never be a chance of dispute. If my father has sent you here, Mr. Pearson, you can take back my ultimatum. Tell him to get rid of Wilbur and Zachary - any way he chooses - before someone else gives them what they deserve. Then my father and I will be reunited; but not so long as those two remain.”
There was a threatening tone to Harvey Chittenden’s voice that made a marked impression upon Walter Pearson. The old lawyer arose and bowed stiffly. His patience was at an end. He made that fact plain.
“You have spoken very vindictively, Harvey Chittenden,” remarked the attorney. “One might infer that it was you who threatened Wilbur and Zachary - not they who threatened you. I shall remember that fact, if I am ever called upon to disclose the affairs of the Chittenden family.”
Harvey Chittenden sprang to his feet. His fists were clenched as he stared at the gray-haired lawyer. Then the animosity died away on his face, and a look of cold calculation replaced it. Without another word, Harvey Chittenden turned and entered the house. Mildred, with a word of regret to Walter Pearson, arose and followed her husband.
THE lawyer got up and started toward the steps. Craig Ware, still retaining his composure, walked with him, speaking in a quiet tone.
“You touched his sore spot, Mr. Pearson,” explained Ware. “You can’t blame him - he’s put up with a lot. At the same time, it would be better for him to curb his feelings -“
A voice interrupted from an upstairs window. Harvey Chittenden was delivering a parting thrust to Walter Pearson, while Mildred, in view beside her husband, was trying to quiet him.
“Remember this” - Harvey’s voice was harsh - “I shall have no more to do with anyone who is connected with my father and my brothers. That includes you, Pearson. Bad luck to the lot of you!”
Harvey said no more. Ware continued to the gate with Pearson. There, the lawyer turned to shake hands with the man who had accompanied him.
“Most unfortunate,” declared Pearson. “You have heard but little, Mr. Ware. There are secrets of the Chittenden family which I alone know. Back before Harvey was born; back when Sidney was disinherited, and Galbraith came into the large estate. Well” - he paused and smiled wanly - “today means nothing. The facts that I could reveal might prove amazing.
“The Chittendens are a vindictive race, Mr. Ware. They have always been outspoken - all except Sidney, who gave up his birthright. Well, it’s in the blood. It can’t be helped. Perhaps, some time, Harvey may feel more lenient toward me. I come out frequently to the golf course. I shall look him up again, perhaps.”
With this final statement, Walter Pearson shrugged his shoulders, and walked through the gate. His departing form dwindled to a pygmy shape in the distance, as he wended his way across the links toward the clubhouse that rested upon the rolling inland hill.
CHAPTER III
INTO THE GROVE
TWO days had past since Walter Pearson had visited Lower Beechview. The first day had been a troubled one for Mildred Chittenden. Never before had she seen Harvey indulge in such an outburst of temper as he had displayed toward the kindly old lawyer. The effects of that fit of anger had remained. For one day, Harvey had grumbled imprecations toward his family and their legal representative.
Now, Harvey had taken on a state of sulkiness. He wanted to be alone, so Mildred had sought the company of Craig Ware. Seated on the lawn, they were looking toward the Sound, and enjoying a pleasant conversation.
Craig Ware was a likable character. His presence pleased Mildred because she felt that Ware fully understood Harvey. To Ware, who had always proven a true friend, Mildred had no hesitancy in expressing her troubles. Thus the chat turned in that direction now.
“You have known Harvey a long while, Craig,” remarked Mildred. “Tell me, does he often act as he has acted during the last few days? We have only been married a few months - scarcely back from our honeymoon - and this is a new and trying experience for me.”
“Well, Mildred,” said Ware, “I’ve been many places, and I’ve met a great many men, but I’ve never known any that could come up to Harvey Chittenden. That’s how much I think of him. Of course, so far as his family is concerned - well - they’re out to get Harvey. This trouble with Pearson was just too bad, that’s all.
“Now, I’ve known Harvey ever since he broke away from home. I’m sort of like a cousin to him. I’ve knocked around ever since I was a kid. Been a showman all my life. Carnivals - circuses - handled all sorts of jobs, and I’ve been pretty near everywhere.
“At the time I met Harvey, he wanted to get plenty far away from home, so I lined him up a job with a steamship company sailing over through the Orient. Used to see him often out in Frisco. Kept track of him all the time.
“He told me when he met you - told me he was going to marry you - and we talked it over. I knew all about his family troubles, but he and I both figured it was wise to open up this place that belonged to him. I was sort of retired for the summer, so I came on to see that everything was made shipshape.”
“And it is shipshape!” declared Mildred admiringly.
“Don’t blame me for that,” laughed Ware. “Lay it on Jessup over there.” He pointed back toward the garage where a tall, rangy man was directing workmen who were mixing cement for the garage entrance, at present nothing but a grassy path.
“JESSUP?” questioned Mildred. “I thought he was just a handy man, whom Harvey hired.”
“That’s what he is,” said Ware, “but he’s a mighty handy man. Used to do contracting work for the steamship company out in San Francisco. When Harvey and I talked over fixing up this place, Harvey said he’d like to get Jessup, who had gone East. So he wrote to Jessup, and signed him up. I just came on to watch Jessup work - that’s about the size of it. He takes orders from me because Harvey told him to, but his real boss is Harvey.”
“Harvey is very pleased with the work,” remarked Mildred. “I remember now that Jessup came into New York several times while we were staying there. He had long conferences with Harvey. Then Harvey came out here to look things over; he said I could see the place when it was ready. You were here at that time, weren’t you, Craig?”
“When Harvey came out from New York? Once. The other times I was up in Boston, gunning for a job this coming season. That’s what I mean when I say Jessup is the fellow who has done the real work. He needs someone to tell him he’s doing a good job - that’s all. You can leave it to him to do the rest.”
Mildred Chittenden was thoughtful. She had come here to Lower Beechview to find a wonderful place that had exceeded all her expectations. She remembered how Harvey had enthused over his short visits to Long Island, but had kept her waiting until all would be ready. Her first sight of Lower Beechview had given her a thrill; then had come unhappiness, because of Harvey’s quarrel with Walter Pearson.
Mildred’s intuition told her that troublesome times lay ahead. She realized now, as never before, the loathing which Harvey held for his brothers, and the animosity which he nourished toward his father. If Wilbur and Zachary felt the hatred toward Harvey that he claimed they did, a clash would prove inevitable.
The grounds hereabout, the shining Sound, the beautiful sky - all were ideal to Mildred. Yet she wished that she and Harvey could be anywhere else but here. The girl repressed an unhappy sigh. She looked at Craig Ware. The showman was reclining comfortably, puffing his pipe, without a care in the world.
“Craig,” pleaded Mildred earnestly, “promise me you will stay here a while - until these matters are settled between Harvey and his family. I” - her voice hesitated - “I am afraid of what may happen. Harvey has displayed a terrible temper. Someone must be here to restrain him. You are his best friend, Craig -“
“It’s all right, Mildred,” replied Ware quietly. “Harvey is over his outburst now. I don’t think the trouble will start again -“
