"
Arethusa was silent, staring thoughtfully at the newspaper cuts of a great
Tammany leader and a noted pugilist, which had been labeled as the
principals in the family tragedy.
Aunt Mary turned over another of the many papers received, and scanned its
sensational columns afresh.
"Arethusa," she exclaimed suddenly, "do you know, I bet anythin' I know
what this editor means to insinuate? It just strikes me that he's tryin'
to give the impression that our boy's been drinkin'."
"Perhaps so," Arethusa screamed.
"Well, I don't believe it," said Aunt Mary firmly, "and I ain't goin' to
believe it. And I ain't goin' to pay no five thousand dollars for no
cabman's brains, neither. You write to Mr. Stebbins to compromise on two
or maybe three."
She stopped and bit her lips and shook her head. "I don't see why Jack
grows up so hard," she murmured, half in anger and half in sorrow. "Edward
and Henry never had such times. Oh, well," she sighed, "boys will be boys,
I suppose; an' if this all results in the boy's settlin' down it'll be
money well spent in the end, after all. Maybe--probably--most likely."
The days that followed were anxious days, but at last the cabman rallied
and concluded not to die, and Jack went off yachting with a light heart
and a choice collection of good advice from Mr. Stebbins and Aunt Mary.
Nothing happened to mar his holiday. He ran a borrowed steam launch on to
some rocks with rather heavy consequences to his aunt's exchequer, and
returned from the West Indies so late that she never had a visit from him
at all that summer; but, barring these slightly unwelcome incidents, he
did remarkably well, and when he returned to college in the fall he was
regarded as having become, at last, a stable proposition.
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