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Automotive Engine Valve Recession
This page intentionally left blank
ENGINEERING RESEARCH SERIES

Automotive Engine Valve Recession

R Lewis and R S Dwyer-Joyce

Series Editor
Duncan Dowson

Professional Engineering Publishing Limited,

London and Bury St Edmunds, UK
 First published 2002

This publication is copyright under the Berne Convention and the International Copyright Convention.
All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism, or
review, as permitted under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, no part may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners.
Unlicensed multiple copying of this publication is illegal. Inquiries should be addressed to: The
Publishing Editor, Professional Engineering Publishing Limited, Northgate Avenue, Bury St Edmunds,
Suffolk, IP32 6BW, UK. Fax: +44 (0)1284 705271.

© R Lewis and R S Dwyer-Joyce

ISBN 1 86058 358 X

ISSN 1468-3938
ERS 8

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press Limited, Wiltshire, UK.

The publishers are not responsible for any statement made in this publication. Data, discussion, and
conclusions developed by the Authors are for information only and are not intended for use without
independent substantiating investigation on the part of the potential users. Opinions expressed are those
of the Authors and are not necessarily those of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers or its publishers.
About the Authors

Before going to university, Dr Roger Lewis worked for a year at the Royal Naval
Engineering College in Plymouth, UK. He then studied for his MEng in Mechanical
Engineering at the University of Sheffield between 1992 and 1996. During this time he
was sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. Dr Lewis went on to do his PhD at the
University of Sheffield (1996–1999) as part of the Tribology Research Group. His
research involved the investigation of wear of diesel engine valves and seat inserts.
This work was funded by the Ford Motor Company.
Dr Lewis is now a research associate at the University of Sheffield. He is currently
working on railway wheel wear as part of a European project concerned with the design
of a new hybrid wheel. He is also involved in a Unilever-funded project to investigate
the interaction of abrasive particles and toothbrush filaments in a teeth-cleaning contact.
Professor Rob S Dwyer-Joyce is senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical
Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK. He graduated in 1993 with a PhD from
Imperial College, London, where he studied the wear of rolling bearings and the effects
of lubricant contamination. Before this, he worked for British Gas Exploration and
Production.
Professor Dwyer-Joyce’s research covers a range of tribology projects. His research
group has pioneered the use of ultrasound to look at dry and lubricated engineering
contacts, studied the way contaminated oil limits component life, quantified how
surface damage effects railway track, and investigated aspects of automotive engine
wear. He also teaches a course on the Tribology of Machine Elements to undergraduate
students.
Related Titles

IMechE Engineers’ Data Book – C Matthews ISBN 1 86058 248 6

Second Edition
Design Techniques for Engine D E Winterbone and R Pearson ISBN 1 86058 179 X
Manifolds – Wave Action Methods
for IC Engines
Theory of Engine Manifold D E Winterbone and R Pearson ISBN 1 86058 209 5
Design – Wave Action Methods
for IC Engines
Statistics for Engine Optimization Eds S P Edwards, D M Grove, ISBN 1 86058 201 X
and H P Wynn
International Journal of Engine ISSN 1468/0874
Research
Journal of Automobile Engineering Part D of the Proceedings of ISSN 0954–4070
the IMechE
Other titles in the Engineering Research Series
Industrial Application of T C McAloone ISBN 1 86058 239 7
Environmentally Conscious ISSN 1468–3938
Design (ERS 1)
Surface Inspection Techniques – M L Smith ISBN 1 86058 292 3
Using the Integration of Innovative ISSN 1468–3938
Machine Vision and Graphical
Modelling Techniques (ERS 2)
Laser Modification of the J Lawrence and L Li ISBN 1 86058 293 1
Wettability Characteristics of ISSN 1468–3938
Engineering Materials (ERS 3)
Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics L S Etube ISBN 1 86058 312 1
of Offshore Structures (ERS 4) ISSN 1468–3938
Adaptive Neural Control of M J Randall ISBN 1 86058 294 X
Walking Robots (ERS 5) ISSN 1468–3938
Strategies for Collective C Melhuish ISBN 1 86058 318 0
Minimalist Mobile Robots (ERS 6) ISSN 1468–3938
Tribological Analysis and Design of G Zhu and C M Taylor ISBN 1 86058 203 6
a Modern Automobile Cam Follower ISSN 1468–3938
(ERS 7)
For the full range of titles published by Professional Engineering Publishing contact:
Sales Department
Professional Engineering Publishing Limited
Northgate Avenue
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk, IP32 6BW
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1284 724384 Fax: +44 (0)1284 718692
www.pepublishing.com
Contents

Series Editor’s Foreword xi

Authors’ Preface xiii

Notation xv

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Valves and seats 1
1.2 Valve failure concerns 1
1.3 Layout of the book 3
1.4 References 5

Chapter 2 Valve Operation and Design 7

2.1 Valve operation 7
2.1.1 Function 7
2.1.2 Operating systems 8
2.1.3 Dynamics 9
2.1.4 Operating stresses 12
2.1.5 Temperatures 13
2.2 Valve design 15
2.2.1 Poppet valve design 15
2.2.2 Materials 17
2.3 References 19

Chapter 3 Valve Failure 21

3.1 Introduction 21
3.2 Valve recession 21
3.2.1 Causes of valve recession 22
3.2.2 Wear characterization 26
3.2.3 Reduction of recession 28
3.3 Guttering 29
3.4 Torching 29
3.5 Effect of engine operating parameters 31
3.5.1 Temperature 31
3.5.2 Lubrication 34
3.5.3 Deposits 34
3.5.4 Rotation 34
3.6 Summary 36
3.7 References 36
 Automotive Engine Valve Recession

Chapter 4 Analysis of Failed Components 39

4.1 Introduction 39
4.2 Valve and seat insert evaluation 39
4.2.1 Specimen details 39
4.2.2 Profile traces 40
4.2.3 Visual rating 42
4.3 Lacquer formation on inlet valves 45
4.3.1 Valve evaluation 45
4.3.2 Discussion 46
4.4 Failure of seat inserts in a 1.8 litre, DI, diesel engine 47
4.4.1 Inlet seat insert wear 48
4.4.2 Deposits 50
4.4.3 Misalignment of seat insert relative to valve guide 51
4.4.4 Inlet valve wear 51
4.5 Conclusions 52
4.6 References 53

Chapter 5 Valve and Seat Wear Testing Apparatus 55

5.1 Introduction 55
5.2 Requirements 55
5.3 Wear test methods 56
5.4 Extant valve and seat wear test rigs 56
5.5 University of Sheffield valve seat test apparatus 59
5.5.1 Hydraulic loading apparatus 60
5.5.1.1 Design 60
5.5.1.2 Test methodologies 64
5.5.1.3 Experimental parameters 66
5.5.2 Motorized cylinder head 67
5.5.2.1 Design 67
5.5.2.2 Operation 69
5.5.3 Evaluation of dynamics and loading 69
5.5.3.1 1.8 litre, IDI, diesel engine 70
5.5.3.2 Hydraulic test machine 74
5.6 References 79

Chapter 6 Experimental Studies on Valve Wear 81

6.1 Introduction 81
6.2 Investigation of wear mechanisms 81
6.2.1 Experimental details 81
6.2.1.1 Specimen details 81
6.2.1.2 Test methodologies 82
6.2.1.3 Wear evaluation 84
6.2.2 Results 84
6.2.2.1 Appearance of worn surfaces 84
6.2.2.2 Formation of wear scars 88
6.2.2.3 Comparison with engine recession data 92

viii
 Contents

6.2.2.4 Lubrication of valve/seat interface 93

6.2.2.5 Misalignment of valve relative to seat 94
6.2.2.6 Effect of combustion load 96
6.2.2.7 Effect of closing velocity 97
6.2.2.8 Valve rotation 100
6.2.2.9 Effect of temperature 102
6.3 Seat insert materials 103
6.3.1 Experimental details 104
6.3.1.1 Valve and seat insert materials 104
6.3.1.2 Specimen details 105
6.3.1.3 Test methodologies 105
6.3.2 Results 106
6.4 Conclusions 111
6.5 References 111

Chapter 7 Design Tools for Prediction of Valve Recession and Solving

Valve Failure Problems 113
7.1 Introduction 113
7.2 Valve recession model 113
7.2.1 Review of extant valve wear models 113
7.2.2 Development of the model 115
7.2.2.1 Frictional sliding 115
7.2.2.2 Impact 120
7.2.2.3 Final model 123
7.2.3 Implementation of the model 124
7.2.4 Model validation 127
7.2.4.1 Engine tests 127
7.2.4.2 Bench tests 129
7.3 Reducing valve recession by design 132
7.4 Solving valve/seat failure problems 132
7.5 References 136

Index 137

ix
This page intentionally left blank
Series Editor’s Foreword

The nature of engineering research is such that many readers of papers in learned
society journals wish to know more about the full story and background to the work
reported. In some disciplines this is accommodated when the thesis or engineering
report is published in monograph form – describing the research in much more
complete form than is possible in journal papers. The Engineering Research Series
offers this opportunity to engineers in universities and industry and will thus
disseminate wider accounts of engineering research progress than are currently
available. The volumes will supplement and not compete with the publication of peer-
reviewed papers in journals.

Factors to be considered in the selection of items for the Series include the intrinsic
quality of the volume, its comprehensive nature, the novelty of the subject, potential
applications, and the relevance to the wider engineering community.

Selection of volumes for publication will be based mainly upon one of the following:
single higher degree theses; a series of theses on a particular engineering topic;
submissions for higher doctorates; reports to sponsors of research; or comprehensive
industrial research reports. It is usual for university engineering research groups to
undertake research on problems reflecting their expertise over several years. In such
cases it may be appropriate to produce a comprehensive, but selective, account of the
development of understanding and knowledge on the topic in a specially prepared
single volume.

Volumes have already been published under the following titles:

ERS1 Industrial Application of Environmentally Conscious Design

ERS2 Surface Inspection Techniques
ERS3 Laser Modification of the Wettability Characteristics of Engineering
Materials
ERS4 Fatigue and Fracture Mechanics of Offshore Structures
ERS5 Adaptive Neural Control of Walking Robots
ERS6 Strategies for Collective Minimalist Mobile Robots
ERS7 Tribological Analysis and Design of a Modern Automobile
Cam and Follower

Authors are invited to discuss ideas for new volumes with Sheril Leich,
Commissioning Editor, Books, Professional Engineering Publishing Limited, or with
the Series Editor.
 Automotive Engine Valve Recession

The present volume, which is the eighth to be published in the Series, comes from the
University of Sheffield and is entitled:

Automotive Engine Valve Recession

by
Dr R. Lewis and Dr R. S. Dwyer-Joyce
The University of Sheffield

This volume follows closely the topic of the previous volume on Automobile Cams and
Followers from the University of Leeds. The coincidence of successive volumes
devoted to the topic of valves in automotive engines is a clear indication of current
interest in these vital engineering components.

In this volume the authors outline the essential features of valve operation and the
potentially serious problems associated with wear and valve recession in automobile
engines since the introduction of lead-replacement and low-sulphur fuels. The authors
then outline an experimental study of valve wear and the development of design tools
carried out in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the University of Sheffield.

The control of gas flow into and out of engine cylinders still presents a major challenge
to the tribologist. The authors consider the fundamental nature of contact and wear
between valves and valve seats and they outline the development of a special apparatus
for the simulation of engine operating conditions. Valve wear and its effect upon engine
performance will continue to be of concern for some time to come.

This latest volume represents a valuable addition to the Engineering Research Series.
It will be of particular interest to students of wear, designers and manufacturers of
reciprocating engines, valve train specialists, and tribologists.

Professor Duncan Dowson

Series Editor
Engineering Research Series

xii
Authors’ Preface

Valve wear has been a serious problem to engine designers and manufacturers for many
years. Although new valve materials and production techniques are constantly being
developed, these advances have been outpaced by demands for increased engine
performance. The drive for reduced oil consumption and exhaust emissions, the
phasing out of leaded petrol, reductions in the sulphur content of diesel fuel, and the
introduction of alternative fuels such as gas all have implications for valve and seat
insert wear.

This book aims to provide the reader with a complete understanding of valve recession,
starting with a brief introduction to valve operation, design, and operating conditions
such as loading and temperature. A detailed overview of work carried out previously,
looking at valve and seat wear, is then given and valve and seat failure case studies are
discussed.

A closer look is then taken at work carried out at the University of Sheffield, UK,
including the development of purpose-built test apparatus capable of providing a
simulation of the wear of valves and seats used in automotive engines. Experimental
investigations are carried out to identify the fundamental valve and seat wear
mechanisms, the effect of engine operating parameters on wear, and to rank potential
new seat materials.

An important aspect of research is the industrial implementation of the results and the
provision of suitable design tools. A design procedure is outlined, which encapsulates
the review of literature, analysis of failed specimens, and bench test work. This
includes a semi-empirical model for predicting valve recession run in an iterative
software programme called RECESS, as well as flow charts to be used to reduce the
likelihood of recession occurring during the design process and to offer solutions to
problems that do occur.

R Lewis and R S Dwyer-Joyce

The University of Sheffield, UK
This page intentionally left blank
Notation

Unless otherwise stated the notation used is as follows:

A Wear area (m2)
b Valve disc thickness (m)
ci Initial valve clearance (m)
e Valve energy (J)
E Modulus of elasticity (N/m2)
f Actuator sinusoidal displacement cycle frequency (Hz)
h Penetration hardness (N/m2)
k Sliding wear coefficient
K Empirically determined impact wear constant
l Valve lift (m)
la Actuator lift (m)
L Initial actuator displacement (m)
m Mass of valve + mass of follower + half mass of valve spring (kg)
n Empirically determined impact wear constant
N Number of cycles
pp Peak combustion pressure (N/m2)
Pc Contact force at valve/seat interface (N)
Pp Peak combustion load (N)
r Recession (m)
RT Room temperature (°C)
Rd Seat insert radius as specified in part drawing (m)
Ri Initial seat insert radius (m)
Rv Valve head radius (m)
s Wear scar width (m)
t Time (seconds)
v Valve velocity (m/s)
va Actuator velocity (m/s)
V Wear volume (m3)
w Seat insert seating face width (m)
wi Initial seat insert seating face width (as measured) (m)
wd Seat insert seating face width as specified in part drawing (m)
W Wear mass (kg)
Wv Work done on valve during combustion in the cylinder (J)
x Sliding distance (m)
y Vertical deflection of valve head under combustion pressure (m)

Greek characters
α Actuator sinusoidal displacement cycle amplitude (m)
β Difference between valve and seat insert seating face angles (°)
δ Slip at the valve/seat insert interface (m)
θ Camshaft rotation (°)

xv
 Automotive Engine Valve Recession

θs Seat insert seating face angle (°)

θv Valve seating face angle (°)
ν Poisson’s ratio
ω Camshaft rotational speed (r/min)

xvi
Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Valves and seats

Valves (shown in-situ in an engine in Fig. 1.1) are used to control gas flow to and from
cylinders in automotive internal combustion engines. The most common type of valve
used is the poppet valve (shown in Fig. 1.2 with its immediate attachments). The valve
itself consists of a disc-shaped head having a stem extending from its centre at one side.
The edge of the head on the side nearest the stem is accurately ground at an angle –
usually 45 degrees, but sometimes 30 degrees, to form the seating face. When the valve
is closed, the face is pressed in contact with a similarly ground seat. It is the contact
conditions and loading at this interface that will have the largest influence on the rate
at which valve and seat wear will occur, so understanding these is a key in determining
the mechanisms that cause valve recession.

Fig. 1.1 Overhead camshaft valve drive

1.2 Valve failure concerns

Valve wear has been a small but serious problem to engine designers and manufacturers
for many years. It has been described as ‘One of the most perplexing wear problems in
internal combustion engines’ [1].

1
 Automotive Engine Valve Recession

VALVE TIP VALVE SPRING RETAINER

(KEEPER) GROOVE(S)

SEATING FACE ANGLE

VALVE GUIDE

VALVE STEM

TH
ID
W
CE
FA
VALVE SEAT INSERT

G
IN
SEATING FACE WIDTH

AT
SE
STEM-BLEND FILLET AREA

VALVE SEATING FACE

HEAD ANGLE

HEAD DIAMETER

Fig. 1.2 Valve and seat insert

Although new valve materials and production techniques are constantly being
developed, these advances have been outpaced by demands for increased engine
performance. These demands include:
● higher horsepower-to-weight ratio;
● lower specific fuel consumption;
● environmental considerations such as emissions reduction;
● extended durability (increased time between servicing).

The drive for reduced oil consumption and exhaust emissions has led to a reduction in the
amount of lubricant present in the air stream in automotive diesel engines, and the effort
to lengthen service intervals has resulted in an increasingly contaminated lubricant. These
changes have led to an increase in the wear of inlet valves and seat inserts.

Lead, originally added to petrol to increase the octane number, was found to form
compounds during combustion that proved to be excellent lubricants, significantly
reducing valve and seat wear. Leaded petrol, however, has now been phased out in the
UK (since the end of 1999). As an alternative, lead replacement petrol (LRP) has been
developed. This contains anti-wear additives based on alkali metals such as
phosphorus, sodium, and potassium. Results of tests run using LRP containing such
additives, however, have shown that, as yet, lead is unchallenged in providing the best
protection. In several countries where LRP has already been introduced, a high

2
 Introduction

incidence of exhaust valve burn has been recorded. In Sweden the occurrence of valve
burn problems has increased by 500 per cent since LRP was introduced in 1992 [2].

The suspected cause of the valve burn problems is incomplete valve-to-valve seat
sealing as a result of valve seat recession (VSR). The occurrence of VSR is blamed on
hot corrosion – an accelerated attack of protective oxide films that occurs in
combustion environments where low levels of alkali and/or other trace elements are
present. A wide range of high-temperature alloys are susceptible to hot corrosion,
including nickel- and cobalt-based alloys, which are used extensively as exhaust valve
materials or as wear-resistant coatings on valves or seats. Materials used for engine
components have always been designed to resist corrosive attack by lead salts. No such
development has taken place to form materials resistant to alkali metals or other
additive chemistries. It is clear that LRP will not provide an immediate solution to the
valve wear issue, which is likely to cause tension between car manufacturers and
owners for some time to come.

The impending reductions in the sulphur content of diesel fuel and the introduction of
alternative fuels, such as gas, will also have implications for valve and seat insert wear.
Dynamometer engine testing is often employed to investigate valve wear problems.
This is expensive and time consuming, and does not necessarily help in finding the
actual cause of the wear. Valve wear involves so many variables that it is impossible to
confirm precise, individual quantitative evaluations of all of them during such testing.
In addition, the understanding of wear mechanisms is complicated by inconsistent
patterns of valve failure. For example, failure may occur in only a single valve
operating in a multi-valve cylinder. Furthermore, the apparent mode of failure may
vary from one valve to another in the same cylinder or between cylinders in the same
engine. An example of such inconsistency is shown in Fig. 1.3. This illustrates exhaust
valve recession values for four cylinders in the same engine (measurements taken on
the cylinder head). The valve in cylinder 1 has recessed to the point where pressure is
being lost from the cylinder, while the other valves have hardly recessed at all.

No hard and fast rules have been established to arrive at a satisfactory valve life. Each
case, therefore, has to be painstakingly investigated, the cause or causes of the problem
isolated, and remedial action taken. In order to analyse the wear mechanisms in detail
and isolate the critical operating conditions, simulation of the valve wear process must
be used. This has the added benefit of being cost effective and saving time.

Based on the wear patterns observed, the fundamental mechanisms of valve wear can
be determined. Once the fundamental mechanisms are understood, a viable model of
valve wear can be developed that will speed up the solution of future valve wear
problems and assist in the design of new engines.

1.3 Layout of the book

Chapters 2 and 3 are review chapters outlining valve function, different operating
systems, the operating environment, and valve design and materials. Valve failure is
also examined in detail, and work on likely wear mechanisms and the effect of engine
operating parameters are described.

3
 Automotive Engine Valve Recession

Fig. 1.3 Recession measurements for exhaust valves in the same 2.5 litre diesel engine
cylinder head

Chapter 4 details the evaluation of failed valves and seat inserts from tests run on
automotive engines. This includes the validation of test rig results, the establishment of
techniques for the evaluation of test rig results, and the provision of information on
possible causes of valve recession.

Chapter 5 outlines experimental apparatus able to simulate the loading environment

and contact conditions to which the valve and seat insert are subjected in an engine.

Chapter 6 then describes bench test work carried out to investigate the wear
mechanisms occurring in valves and seat inserts. This includes studies on the effect of
engine operating conditions, the effect of lubrication at the valve/seat insert contact,
and the evaluation of potential new seat materials.

Finally, Chapter 7 describes the development of design tools that enable the results of
the review of literature, analysis of failed specimens, and bench test work to be applied
in industry to assess the potential for valve recession and solve problems more quickly.

4
 Introduction

1.4 References
1. De Wilde, E.F. (1967) Investigation of engine exhaust valve wear, Wear, 10,
231–244.
2. Barlow, P.L. (1999) The lead ban, lead replacement petrol and the potential for
engine damage, Indust. Lubric. Tribol., 51, 128–138.

5
This page intentionally left blank
Chapter 2

Valve Operation and Design

2.1 Valve operation

2.1.1 Function
The two main types of internal combustion engine are: spark ignition (SI) engines
(petrol, gasoline, or gas engines), where the fuel ignition is caused by a spark; and
compression ignition (CI) engines (diesel engines), where the rise in pressure and
temperature is high enough to ignite the fuel. Valves are used in these engines to control
the induction and exhaust processes.

Both types of engine can be designed to operate in either two strokes of the piston or
four strokes of the piston. The four-stroke operating cycle can be explained by
reference to Fig. 2.1. This details the position of the piston and valves during each of
the four strokes.

INDUCTION COMPRESSION EXPANSION EXHAUST

Fig. 2.1 Four-stroke engine cycle

7
 Automotive Engine Valve Recession

1. The induction stroke The inlet valve is open. The piston moves down the cylinder
drawing in a charge of air.
2. The compression stroke Inlet and exhaust valves are closed. The piston moves up
the cylinder. As the piston approaches the top of the cylinder (top dead centre – tdc)
ignition occurs. In engines utilizing direct injection (DI) the fuel is injected towards
the end of the stroke.
3. The expansion stroke Combustion occurs causing a pressure and temperature rise
which pushes the piston down. At the end of the stroke the exhaust valve opens.
4. The exhaust stroke The exhaust valve is still open. The piston moves up forcing
exhaust gases out of the cylinder.
2.1.2 Operating systems
In engines with overhead valves (OHV), the camshaft is either mounted in the cylinder
block, or in the cylinder head with an overhead camshaft (OHC).

Figure 2.2 shows an OHV drive in which the valves are driven by the camshaft via cam
followers, push rods, and rocker arms. Since the drive to the camshaft is simple (either
belt or chain) and the only machining is in the cylinder block, this is a cost-effective
arrangement.

ROCKER ARM
VALVE SPRING RETAINER

PUSH ROD SPRING COLLET

VALVE SPRING

CAM FOLLOWER

CAM
VALVE GUIDE
CAMSHAFT

VALVE STEM
VALVE HEAD

VALVE SEAT INSERT

Fig. 2.2 Overhead valve drive

8
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original draft of Magna Charta.
“It’s a corker, all right.”
“I don’t much like the way it ends. It says, right here”—and she bent
forward and pointed to the place under criticism—“it says, ‘Trusting
to your sense of equity, and relying upon a continuance of the
traditional friendship between your state and mine, I am, sir, awaiting
your reply, very respectfully, your obedient servant.’ Now, I wouldn’t
trust to his sense of anything, and that traditional friendship business
is just fluffy nonsense, and I wouldn’t be anybody’s obedient servant.
I decided when I wasn’t more than fifteen years old, with a lot of
other girls in our school, that when we got married we’d never say
obey, and we never have, though only three of our class are married
yet, but we’re all engaged.”
“Engaged?”
“Of course; we’re engaged. I’m engaged to Rutherford Gillingwater,
the adjutant-general of this state. You couldn’t be my private
secretary if I wasn’t engaged; it wouldn’t be proper.”
The earth was only a flying cinder on which he strove for a foothold.
She had announced her engagement to be married with a cool
finality that took his breath away; and not realizing the chaos into
which she had flung him, she returned demurely to the matter of the
letter.
“We can’t change that letter, because it’s signed close to the
‘obedient servant,’ and there’s no room. But I’m going to put it into
the typewriter and add a postscript.”
She sat down before the machine and inexpertly rolled the sheet into
place; then, with Ardmore helping her to find the keys, she wrote:
I demand an imediate reply.
“Demand and immediate are both business words. Are you sure
there’s only one m in immediate? All right, if you know. I reckon a
postscript like that doesn’t need to be signed. I’ll just put ‘W. D.’ there
with papa’s stub pen, so it will look really fierce. Now, you’re the
secretary; you copy it in the copying press and I’ll address the
envelope.”
“Don’t you have to put the state seal on it?” asked Ardmore.
“Of course not. You have to get that from the secretary of state, and I
don’t like him; he has such funny whiskers, and calls me little girl.
Besides, you never put the seal on a letter; it’s only necessary for
official documents.”
She bade him give the letter plenty of time to copy, and talked
cheerfully while he waited. She spoke of her friends, as Southern
people have a way of doing, as though every one must of course
know them—a habit that is illuminative of that delightful Southern
neighbourliness that knits the elect of a commonwealth into a single
family, that neither time and tide nor sword and brand can destroy.
Ardmore’s humility increased as the names of the great and good of
North Carolina fell from her lips; for they were as strange to him as
an Abyssinian dynasty. It was perfectly clear that he was not of her
world, and that his own was insignificant and undistinguished
compared with hers. His spirit was stayed somewhat by the
knowledge that he, and not the execrable Gillingwater, had been
chosen as her coadjutor in the present crisis. His very ignorance of
the royal families of North Carolina, which she recited so glibly, and
the fact that he was unknown at the capital, had won him official
recognition, and it was for him now to prove his worth. The political
plot into which he had been most willingly drawn pleased him
greatly; it was superior to his fondest dream of adventure, and now,
moreover, he had what he never had before, a definite purpose in
life, which was to be equal to the task to which this intrepid girl
assigned him.
“Well, that’s done,” said Miss Jerry, when the letter, still damp from
the copy-press, had been carefully sealed and stamped. “Governor
Osborne will get it in the morning. I think maybe we’d better
telegraph him that it’s coming.”
“I don’t see much use in that, when he’ll get the letter first thing to-
morrow,” Ardmore suggested. “It costs money to telegraph, and you
must have an economical administration.”
“The good of it would be to keep him worried and make him very
angry. And if he told Barbara Osborne about it, it would make her
angry, too, and maybe she wouldn’t sleep any all night, the haughty
thing! Hand me one of those telegraph blanks.”
The message, slowly thumped out on the typewriter, and several
times altered and copied, finally read:
Raleigh, N. C.
The Honourable Charles Osborne,
Governor of South Carolina,
Columbia, S. C.:
Have written by to-night’s mail in Appleweight matter. Your
vacillating course not understood.
William Dangerfield,
Governor of North Carolina.
“I reckon that will make him take notice,” and Miss Jerry viewed her
work with approval. “And now, Mr. Ardmore, here’s a telegram from
Mr. Billings which I don’t understand. See if you know what it
means.”
Ardmore chuckled delightedly as he read:
Cannot understand your outrageous conduct in bond
matter. If payment is not made June first your state’s credit
is ruined. Where is Foster? Answer to Atlanta.
George P. Billings.
“I don’t see what’s so funny about that! Mr. Bassford was walking the
floor with that message when I came to the office. He said papa and
the state were both going to be ruined. There’s a quarter of a million
dollars to be paid on bonds that are coming due June first, and there
isn’t any money to pay them with. That’s what he said. And Mr.
Foster is the state treasurer, and he’s gone fishing.”
“Fishing?”
“He left word he had gone fishing. Mr. Foster and papa don’t get
along together, and Mr. Bassford says he’s run off just to let those
bonds default and bring disgrace on papa and the state.”
Ardmore’s grin broadened. The Appleweight case was insignificant
compared with this new business with which he was confronted. He
was vaguely conscious that bonds have a way of coming due, and
that there is such a thing as credit in the world, and that it is
something that must not be trifled with; but these considerations did
not weigh heavily with him. For the first time in his uneventful life
vengeance unsheathed her sword in his tranquil soul. Billings had
always treated him with contempt, as a negligible factor in the
Ardmore millions, and here at last was an opportunity to balance
accounts.
“I will show you how to fix Billings. Just let me have one of those
blanks.”
And after much labour, and with occasional suggestions from Miss
Jerry, the following message was presently ready for the wires:
Your famous imputation upon my honour and that of the
state shall meet with the treatment it deserves. I defy you
 to do your worst. If you come into North Carolina or bring
legal proceedings for the collection of your bonds I will fill
you so full of buckshot that forty men will not be strong
enough to carry you to your grave.
“Isn’t that perfectly grand!” murmured Jerry admiringly. “But I thought
your family and the Bronx Loan and Trust Company were the same
thing. That’s what Rutherford Gillingwater told me once.”
“You are quite right. Billings works for us. Before I came of age he
used to make me ask his permission when I wanted to buy a new
necktie, and when I was in college he was always fussing over my
bills, and humiliating me when he could.”
“But you mustn’t make him so mad that he will cause papa trouble
and bring disgrace on our administration.”
“Don’t you worry about Billings. He is used to having people get
down on their knees to him, and the change will do him good. When
he gets over his first stroke of apoplexy he will lock himself in a dark
room and begin to think hard about what to do. He usually does all
the bluffing, and I don’t suppose anybody ever talked to him like this
telegram in all his life. Where is this man Foster?”
“Just fishing; that’s what Mr. Bassford said, but he didn’t know
where. Father was going to call a special session of the legislature to
investigate him, and he was so angry that he ran off so that papa
would have to look after those bonds himself. Then this Appleweight
case came up, and that worried papa a great deal. Here’s his call for
the special session. He told Mr. Bassford to hold that, too, until he
came back from New Orleans.”
Ardmore read Governor Dangerfield’s summons to the legislature
with profound interest. It was signed, but the space for the date on
which the law-makers were to assemble had been left blank.
“It looks to me as though you had the whole state in your hands,
Miss Dangerfield. But I don’t believe we ought to call the special
session just yet. It would be sure to injure the state’s credit, and it will
be a lot more fun to catch Foster. I wonder if he took all the state
money with him.”
“Mr. Bassford said he didn’t know and couldn’t find out, for the clerks
in the treasurer’s office wouldn’t tell him a single thing.”
“One should never deal with subordinates,” remarked Ardmore
sagely. “Deal with the principals—I heard a banker say that once,
and he was a man who knew everything. Besides, it will be more fun
to attend to the bonds ourselves.”
He seemed lost in reverie for several minutes, and she asked with
some impatience what he was studying about.
“I was trying to think of a word they use when the government has
war or any kind of trouble. It’s something about a corpse, but I can’t
remember it.”
“A corpse? How perfectly horrid! Can it be possible, Mr. Ardmore,
that you mean the writ of habeas corpus?” The twinkle in his eye left
her unable to determine whether his ignorance was real, or assumed
for his own amusement.
“That’s it,” beamed Ardmore. “We’ve got to suspend it if worst comes
to worst. Then you can put anybody you like into a dungeon, and
nobody can get him out—not for a million years.”
“I wonder where they keep it?” asked Jerry. “It must be here
somewhere. Perhaps it’s in the safe.”
“I don’t think it’s a thing, like a lemon, or a photograph, or a bottle of
ink; it’s a document, like a Thanksgiving proclamation, and you order
out the militia, and the soldiers have to leave their work and
assemble at their armouries, and it’s all very serious, and somebody
is likely to get shot.”
“I don’t think it would be nice to shoot people,” said Jerry. “That
would do the administration a terrible lot of harm.”
“Of course we won’t resort to extreme measures unless we are
forced to it. And then, after we have exhausted all the means at our
command, we can call on the president to send United States
troops.”
He was proud of his knowledge, which had lingered in his
subconsciousness from a review of the military power of the states
which he had heard once from Griswold, who knew about such
matters; but he was brought to earth promptly enough.
“Mr. Ardmore, how dare you suggest that we call United States
troops into North Carolina! Don’t you know that would be an insult to
every loyal son of this state? I should have you know that the state of
North Carolina is big enough to take care of herself, and if any
president of the United States sends any troops down here while I’m
running this office, he’ll find that, while our people will gladly die, they
never surrender.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean anything like that by what I said,” pleaded
Ardmore, frightened almost to tears. “Of course, we’ve got our own
troops, and we’ll get through all our business without calling for help.
I shouldn’t any more call on the president than I’d call on the Czar of
Russia.”
She seemed satisfied with this disclaimer, and produced a diary in
which Governor Dangerfield had noted his appointments far into the
future.
“We’ll have to break a lot of engagements for papa. Here’s a speech
he promised to make at Wilmington at the laying of the corner-stone
of the new orphan asylum. That’s to-morrow, and papa can’t be
there, so we’ll send a telegram of congratulation to be read instead.
Then he was to preside at a convention of the Old Fiddlers’
Association at Goldsboro the next day, and he can’t do that. I guess
we’d better telegraph and say how sorry he is to be delayed by
important official business. And here’s—why, I had forgotten about
the National Guard encampment, that’s beginning now.”
“Do you mean the state militia?” Ardmore inquired.
“Why, of course. They’re having their annual encampment over in
Azbell County at Camp Dangerfield—they always name the camp for
the governor—and father was to visit the camp next Saturday for his
annual inspection. That’s near your county, where your farm is; didn’t
you know that?”
Ardmore was humble, as he always was when his ignorance was
exposed, but his face brightened joyfully.
“You mustn’t break that engagement. Those troops ought to be
inspected. Inspecting his troops is one of the most important things a
governor has to do. It’s just like a king or an emperor. I’ve seen
Emperor William and King Humbert inspect their soldiers, and they
go galloping by like mad, with all the soldiers saluting, and it’s
perfectly bully. And then there have to be manœuvres, to see
whether the troops know how to fight or not, and forced marches and
sham battles.”
“Papa always speaks to the men,” suggested Jerry, a little abashed
by the breadth and splendour of Ardmore’s knowledge. His
comparison of the North Carolina militia with the armies of Europe
pleased her.
“I think the ladies of the royal family inspect the troops too,
sometimes,” he continued. “The queens are always honorary
colonels of regiments, and present them with flags, which is a
graceful thing to do.”
“Colonel Gillingwater never told me that, and he’s the adjutant-
general of the state and ought to know.”
“What’s he colonel of?” asked Ardmore gloomily.
“He was colonel in the Spanish war, or was going to be, but he got
typhoid fever, and so he couldn’t go to Cuba, and papa appointed
him adjutant-general as a reward for his services; but everybody
calls him Colonel just the same.”
“It looks like a pretty easy way of getting a title,” murmured Ardmore.
“I had typhoid fever once, and nearly died, and all my hair came out.”
“You oughtn’t to speak that way of my fiancé. It’s quite impertinent in
a mere private secretary to talk so.”
“I beg your pardon. I forgot that you were engaged. You’ll have to go
to Camp Dangerfield and inspect the troops yourself, and they would
a lot rather have you inspect them than have your father do it.”
“You mustn’t say things like that! I thought I told you your
appointment carried no social recognition. You mustn’t talk to me as
though I was a girl you really know——”
“But there’s no use of making-believe such things when I do know
you!”
“Not the least little tiny bit, you don’t! Do you suppose, if you were a
gentleman I knew and had been introduced to, I would be talking to
you here in papa’s office?”
“But I pretend to be a gentleman; you certainly wouldn’t be talking to
me if you thought me anything else.”
“I can’t even discuss the matter, Mr. Ardmore. A gentleman wouldn’t
lie to a lady.”
“But if you know I’m a liar, why are you telling me these secrets and
asking me to help you play being governor?” and Ardmore,
floundering hopelessly, marvelled at her more and more.
“That’s exactly the reason—because you came poking up to my
house and told me that scandalous fib about meeting papa in New
Orleans. Mr. Bassford is a beautiful liar; that’s why he’s papa’s
secretary; but you are a much more imaginative sort of liar than Mr.
Bassford. He can only lie to callers about papa being engaged, or
write encouraging letters to people who want appointments which
papa never expects to make; but you lie because you can’t help it.
Now, if you’re satisfied, you can take those telegrams down to the
telegraph office; and you’d better mail that letter to Governor
Osborne yourself, for fear the man who’s running the lawn-mower
will forget to come for it.”
The roll of drums and the cry of a bugle broke in upon the peace of
the late afternoon. Miss Jerry rose with an exclamation and ran out
into the broad portico of the state house. Several battalions of a tide-
water regiment, passing through town on their way to Camp
Dangerfield, had taken advantage of a wait in Raleigh to disembark
and show themselves at the capital. They were already halted and at
parade rest at the side of the street, and a mounted officer in khaki,
galloping madly into view, seemed to focus the eyes of the gathering
crowd. He was a gallant figure of a man; his mount was an animal
that realized Job’s ideal of a battle-horse; the soldiers presented
arms as the horseman rode the line. Miss Dangerfield waved her
handkerchief, standing eagerly on tiptoe to make her salutation carry
as far as possible.
“Who is that?” asked Ardmore, with sinking spirit.
“Why, Rutherford Gillingwater, of course.”
“Fours right!” rang the command a moment later, and the militiamen
tramped off to the station.
It was then that Ardmore, watching the crowd disperse at the edge of
the park, saw his caller of the morning striding rapidly across the
street. Ardmore started forward, then checked himself so suddenly
that Miss Jerry Dangerfield turned to him inquiringly.
“What’s the matter?” she demanded.
“Nothing. I have been robbed, as I hoped to be. Over there, on the
sidewalk, beyond the girl in the pink sunbonnet, goes my little brown
jug. That lank individual with the shabby hat has lifted it out of my
room at the hotel, just as I thought he would.”
 CHAPTER VI.
MR. GRISWOLD FORSAKES THE ACADEMIC
LIFE.

Miss Osborne had asked Griswold to await the outcome of the day,
and, finding himself thus possessed of a vacation, he indulged his
antiquarian instincts by exploring Columbia. The late afternoon found
him in the lovely cathedral churchyard, where an aged negro,
tending the graves of an illustrious family, leaned upon his spade
and recited the achievements and virtues of the dead. Men who had
been law-makers, others who had led valiantly to battle, and
ministers of the Prince of Peace, mingled their dust together; and
across the crisp hedges a robin sang above Timrod’s grave.
As the shadows lengthened, Griswold walked back to the hotel,
where he ate supper, then, calling for a horse, he rode through the
streets in a mood of more complete alienation than he had ever
experienced in a foreign country; yet the very scents of the summer
night, stealing out from old gardens, the voices that reached him
from open doorways, spoke of home.
As he reached the outskirts of town and rode on toward the
governor’s mansion, his mood changed, and he laughed softly, for
he remembered Ardmore, and Ardmore was beyond question the
most amusing person he knew. It was unfortunate, he generously
reflected, that Ardmore, rather than himself, had not been plunged
into this present undertaking, which was much more in Ardmore’s
line than his own. There would, however, be a great satisfaction in
telling Ardmore of his unexpected visit to Columbia, in exchange for
his friend’s report of his pursuit of the winking eye. He only regretted
that in the nature of things Columbia is a modern city, a seat of
commerce as well as of government, a place where bank clearings
are seriously computed, and where the jaunty adventurer with sword
and ruffles is quite likely to run afoul of the police. Yet his own
imagination was far more fertile than Ardmore’s, and he would have
hailed a troop of mail-clad men as joyfully as his friend had he met
them clanking in the highway. Thus modern as we think ourselves,
the least venturesome among us dreams that some day some turn of
a street corner will bring him face to face with what we please to call
our fate; and this is the manifestation of our last drop of mediæval
blood. The grimmest seeker after reality looks out of the corner of his
eye for the flutter of a white handkerchief from the ivied tower he
affects to ignore; and, in spite of himself, he is buoyed by the hope
that some day a horn will sound for him over the nearest hill.
Miss Osborne met him at the veranda steps. Indoors a mandolin and
piano struck up the merry chords of The Eutaw Girl.
“My young sisters have company. We’ll sit here, if you don’t mind.”
She led the way to a quiet corner, and after they were seated she
was silent a moment, while the light from the windows showed
clearly that her perplexity of the morning was not yet at an end. The
music tinkled softly, and a breeze swept in upon them with faint
odours of the garden.
“I hope you won’t mind, Mr. Griswold, if I appear to be ashamed of
you. It’s not a bit hospitable to keep you outside our threshold; but—
you understand—I don’t have to tell you!”
“I understand perfectly, Miss Osborne!”
“It seems best not to let the others know just why you are here. I told
my sisters that you were an old friend—of father’s—who wished to
leave a message for him.”
“That will do first-rate!” he laughed. “My status is fixed. I know your
father, but as for ourselves, we are not acquainted.”
He felt that she was seriously anxious and troubled, and he wished
to hearten her if he could. The soft dusk of the faintly-lighted corner
folded her in. Behind her the vines of the verandah moved slightly in
the breeze. A thin, wayward shaft of light touched her hair, as though
searching out the gold. When we say that people have atmosphere,
we really mean that they possess indefinite qualities that awaken
new moods in us, as by that magic through which an ignorant hand
thrumming a harp’s strings may evoke some harmony denied to
conscious skill. He heard whispered in his heart a man’s first word of
the woman he is destined to love, in which he sets her apart—above
and beyond all other womenkind; she is different; she is not like
other women!
“It is nearly nine,” she said, her voice thrilling through him. “My father
should have been here an hour ago. We have heard nothing from
him. The newspapers have telephoned repeatedly to know his
whereabouts. I have put them off by intimating that he is away on
important public business, and that his purpose might be defeated if
his exact whereabouts were known. I tried to intimate, without saying
as much, that he was busy with the Appleweight case. One of the
papers that has very bitterly antagonized father ever since his
election has threatened to expose what the editor calls father’s
relations with Appleweight. I cannot believe that there is anything
wrong about that; of course there is not!”
She was controlling herself with an effort, and she broke off her
declaration of confidence in her absent father sharply but with a sob
in her voice.
“I have no doubt in the world that the explanation you gave the
newspapers is the truth of the matter. Your father must be absent a
great deal—it is part of a governor’s business to keep in motion. But
we may as well face the fact that his absence just now is most
embarrassing. This Appleweight matter has reached a crisis, and a
failure to handle it properly may injure your father’s future as a public
man. If you will pardon me, I would suggest that there must be some
one whom you can take into your confidence—some friend, some
one in your father’s administration that you can rely on?”
“Yes; father has many friends; but I cannot consider acknowledging
to any one that father has disappeared when such a matter as this
Appleweight case is an issue through the state. No; I have thought of
every one this afternoon. It would be a painful thing for his best
friends to know what is—what seems to be the truth.” Her voice
wavered a little, but she was brave, and he was aware that she
straightened herself in her chair, and, when wayward gleams of light
fell upon her face, that her lips were set resolutely.
“You saw the attorney-general this morning,” she went on. “As you
suggested, he would naturally be the one to whom I should turn, but
I cannot do it. I—there is a reason”—and she faltered a moment
—“there are reasons why I cannot appeal to Mr. Bosworth at this
time.”
She shrugged her shoulders as though throwing off a disagreeable
topic, and he saw that there was nothing more to be said on this
point. His heart-beats quickened as he realized that she was
appealing to him; that, though he was only the most casual
acquaintance, she trusted him. It was a dictum of his, learned in his
study and practice of the law, that issues must be met as they offer—
not as the practitioner would prefer to have them, but as they occur;
and here was a condition of affairs that must be met promptly if the
unaccountable absence of the governor was to be robbed of its
embarrassing significance.
As he pondered for a moment, a messenger rode into the grounds,
and Miss Osborne slipped away and met the boy at the steps. She
came back and opened a telegram, reading the message at one of
the windows. An indignant exclamation escaped her, and she
crumpled the paper in her hand.
“The impudence of it!” she exclaimed. He had risen, and she now
turned to him with anger and scorn deepening her beautiful colour.
Her breath came quickly; her head was lifted imperiously; her lips
quivered slightly as she spoke.
“This is from Governor Dangerfield. Can you imagine a man of any
character or decency sending such a message to the governor of
another state?”
She watched him as he read:
Raleigh, N. C.
The Honourable Charles Osborne,
Governor of South Carolina,
Columbia, S. C.:
 Have written by to-night’s mail in Appleweight matter. Your
vacillating course not understood.
William Dangerfield,
Governor of North Carolina.
“What do you think of that?” she demanded.
“I think it’s impertinent, to say the least,” he replied guardedly.
“Impertinent! It’s the most contemptible, outrageous thing I ever
heard of in my life! Governor Dangerfield has dilly-dallied with that
case for two years. His administration has been marked from the
beginning by the worst kind of incompetence. Why, this man
Appleweight and his gang of outlaws only come into South Carolina
now and then to hide and steal, but they commit most of their crimes
in North Carolina, and they always have. Talk about a vacillating
course! Father has never taken steps to arrest those men, out of
sheer regard for Governor Dangerfield; he thought North Carolina
had some pride, and that her governor would prefer to take care of
his own criminals. What do you suppose Appleweight is indicted for
in this state? For stealing one ham—one single ham from a farmer in
Mingo County, and he’s killed half a dozen men in North Carolina.”
She paced the corner of the veranda angrily, while Griswold groped
for a solution of the problem. The telegram from Raleigh was
certainly lacking in diplomatic suavity. It was patent that if the
governor of North Carolina was not tremendously aroused, he was
playing a great game of bluff; and on either hypothesis a prompt
response must be made to his telegram.
“I must answer this at once. He must not think we are so stupid in
Columbia that we don’t know when we’re insulted. We can go
through the side door to father’s study and write the message there,”
and she led the way.
“It might be best to wait and see what his letter is like,” suggested
Griswold, with a vague wish to prolong this discussion, that he might
enjoy the soft glow of the student lamp on her cheek.
“I don’t care what his letter says; it can’t be worse than his telegram.
We’ll answer them both at once.”
She found a blank and wrote rapidly, without asking suggestions,
with this result:
The Honourable William Dangerfield,
Raleigh, N. C.:
Your extremely diverting telegram in Appleweight case
received and filed.
Charles Osborne,
Governor of South Carolina.
She met Griswold’s obvious disappointment with prompt explanation.
“You see, the governor of South Carolina cannot stoop to an
exchange of billingsgate with an underbred person like that—a big,
solemn, conceited creature in a long frock-coat and a shoestring
necktie, who boasts of belonging to the common ‘peo-pull.’ He
doesn’t have to tell anybody that, when it’s plain as daylight. The
way to answer him is not to answer at all.”
“The way to answer him is to make North Carolina put Appleweight
in jail, for crimes committed in that state, and then, if need be, we
can satisfy the cry for vengeance in South Carolina by flashing our
requisition. There is a rule in such cases that the state having the
heaviest indictments shall have precedence; and you say that in this
state it’s only a matter of a ham. I am not acquainted with the South
Carolina ham,” he went on, smiling, “but in Virginia the right kind of a
ham is sacred property, and to steal one is a capital offence.”
“I should like to steal one such as I had last winter in Richmond,” and
Miss Osborne forgot her anger; her eyes narrowed dreamily at an
agreeable memory.
“Was it at Judge Randolph Wilson’s?” asked Griswold instantly.
“Why, yes, it was at Judge Wilson’s, Mr. Griswold. How did you
know?”
“I didn’t know—I guessed; for I have sat at that table myself. The
judge says grace twice when there’s to be ham—once before soup,
then again before ham.”
“Then thanksgiving after the ham would be perfectly proper!”
Miss Osborne was studying Griswold carefully, then she laughed,
and her attitude toward him, that had been tempered by a certain
official reserve, became at once cordial.
“Are you the Professor Griswold who is so crazy about pirates? I’ve
heard the Wilsons speak of you, but you don’t look like that.”
“Don’t I look like a pirate? Thank you! I had an appointment at Judge
Wilson’s office this morning to talk over a case in which I’m
interested.”
“I remember now what he said about you. He said you really were a
fine lawyer, but that you liked to read about pirates.”
“That may have been what he said to you; but he has told me that
the association of piracy and law was most unfortunate, as it would
suggest unpleasant comments to those who don’t admire the legal
profession.”
“And you are one of those tide-water Griswolds, then, if you know
the Randolph Wilsons. They are very strong for the tide-water
families; to hear them talk you’d think the people back in the Virginia
hills weren’t really respectable.”
“It’s undeniably the right view of the matter,” laughed Griswold, “but
now that I live in Charlottesville I don’t insist on it. It wouldn’t be
decent in me. And I have lots of cousins in Lexington and through
the Valley. The broad view is that every inch of the Old Dominion is
holy ground.”
“It is an interesting commonwealth, Mr. Griswold; but I do not
consider it holy ground. South Carolina has a monopoly of that;” and
then the smile left her face and she returned to the telegram. “Our
immediate business, however, is not with Virginia, or with South
Carolina, but with the miserable commonwealth that lies between.”
“And that commonwealth,” said Griswold, wishing to prolong the
respite from official cares, “that state known in law and history as
North Carolina, I have heard called, by a delightful North Carolina
lady I met once at Charlottesville, a valley of humility between two
mountains of conceit. That seems to hit both of us!”
“North Carolina isn’t a state at all,” Miss Osborne declared spitefully;
“it’s only a strip of land where uninteresting people live. And now,
what do you say to this telegram?”
“Excellent. It’s bound to irritate, and it leaves him in the dark as to
our—I mean Governor Osborne’s—intentions. And those intentions
——”
During this by-play he had reached a decision as to what should be
done, and he was prepared to answer when she asked, with an
employment of the pronoun that pleasantly emphasized their
relationship,—
“What are our intentions?”
“We are going to catch Appleweight, that’s the first thing—and until
we get him we’re going to keep our own counsel. Let me have a
telegraph blank, and I will try my hand at being governor.” He sat
down in the governor’s chair, asked the name of the county seat of
Mingo, and wrote without erasure or hesitation this message:
To the Sheriff of Mingo County,
Turner Court House, S. C.:
Make every possible effort to capture Appleweight and any
of his gang who are abroad in your county. Swear in all the
deputies you need, and if friendliness of citizens to
outlaws makes this impossible wire me immediately, and I
will send militia. Any delay on your part will be visited with
severest penalties. Answer immediately by telegraph.
Charles Osborne,
Governor of South Carolina.
“That’s quite within the law,” said Griswold, handing Barbara the
message; “and we might as well put the thing through at a gallop. I’ll
get the telegraph company to hold open the line to Turner Court
House until the sheriff answers.”
As Barbara read the message he saw her pleasure in the quick
compression of her lips, the glow in her cheeks, and then the bright
glint of her bronze-brown eyes as she finished.
“That’s exactly right. I didn’t know just how to manage such a thing,
but I see that that is the proper method.”
“Yes; the sheriff must have his full opportunity to act.”
“And what, then, if the sheriff refuses to do anything?”
“Then—then”—and Griswold’s jaw set firmly, and he straightened
himself slightly before he added in a quiet tone—“then I’m going
down there to take charge of the thing myself.”
“Oh, that is too much! I didn’t ask that; and I must refuse to let you
take any such responsibility on yourself, to say nothing of the
personal danger. I merely wanted your advice—as a lawyer, for the
reason that I dared not risk father’s name even among his best
friends here. And your coming to the office this morning seemed so
—so providential——”
He sought at once to minimize the value of his services, for he was
not a man to place a woman under obligations, and, moreover, an
opportunity like this, to uphold the dignity, and perhaps to exercise
the power, of a state laid strong hold upon him. He knew little
enough about the Appleweight case, but he felt from his slight
knowledge that he was well within his rights in putting spurs to the
sheriff of Mingo County. If the sheriff failed to respond in proper spirit
and it became necessary to use the militia, he was conscious that
serious complications might arise. He had not only a respect for law,
but an ideal of civic courage and integrity, and the governor’s
inexplicable absence aroused his honest wrath. The idea that a mere
girl should be forced to sustain the official honour and dignity of a
cowardly father further angered him. And then he looked into her
eyes and saw how grave they were, and how earnest and with what
courage she met the situation; and the charm of her slender figure,
that glint of gold in her hair, her slim, supple hands folded on the
table—these things wrought in him a happiness that he had never
known before, so that he laughed as he took the telegram from her.
“There must be no mistake, no failure,” she said quietly.
“We are not going to fail; we are going to carry this through! Within
three days we’ll have Appleweight in a North Carolina jail or a flying
fugitive in Governor Dangerfield’s territory. And now these telegrams
must be sent. It might be better for you to go to the telegraph office
with me. You must remember that I am a pilgrim and a stranger, and
they might question my filing official messages.”
“That is perfectly true. I will go into town with you.”
“And if there’s an official coach that everybody knows as yours, it
would allay suspicions to have it,” and while he was still speaking
she vanished to order the carriage.
In five minutes it was at the side door, and Griswold and Barbara,
fortified by the presence of Phœbe, left the governor’s study.
“If they don’t know me, everybody in South Carolina knows Phœbe,”
said Barbara.
“A capital idea. I can see by her eye that she’s built for conspiracy.”
Griswold’s horse was to be returned to town by a boy; and when this
had been arranged the three entered the carriage.
“The telegraph office, Tom; and hurry.”