CHAPTER XV
Wherein Mrs. Comstock Faces the Almighty, and Philip Ammon Writes a Letter
Mrs. Comstock and Elnora were finishing breakfast the next morning when they heard a cheery whistle down the road. Elnora with surprised eyes looked at her mother.
"Could that be Mr. Ammon?" she questioned.
"I did not expect him so soon," commented Mrs. Comstock.
It was just sunrise, but the musician was Philip Ammon. He looked stronger than yesterday.
"I hope I am not too early," he said. "I am consumed with anxiety to learn if we have made a catch. If we have, we should beat the birds to it. I promised Uncle Doc to put on my waders and keep dry for a few days yet, when I go to the woods. Let's hurry! I am afraid of crows. There might be a rare moth."
The sun was topping the Limberlost when they started. As they neared the place Ammon stopped.
"Now we must use great caution," he said. "The lights and the odours always attract numbers that don't settle on the baited trees. Every bush, shrub, and limb may hide a specimen we want."
So they approached with much care.
"There is something, anyway!" cried Ammon, who was leading the way.
"There are moths! I can see them!" exulted Elnora.
"Those you see are fast enough. It's the ones for which you must search that will get away. The grasses are dripping, and I have boots, so you look along the path while I take the outside," suggested Ammon.
Mrs. Comstock wanted to hunt moths, but she was timid about making a wrong movement, so she wisely sat on a log and watched Ammon and Elnora to learn how they proceeded. Back in the deep woods a hermit thrush was singing his chant to the rising sun. Orioles were sowing the pure, sweet air with notes of gold, poured out while on wing. The robins were only chirping now, for their morning songs had awakened all the other birds an hour ago. Scolding red-wings tilted on half the bushes. Excepting late species of haws, tree bloom was almost gone, but wild flowers made the path border and all the wood floor a riot of colour. Elnora, born among such scenes, worked eagerly, but to the city man, shortly from a hospital, they seemed too good to miss. He frequently stooped to examine a flower face, paused to listen intently to the thrush or lifted his head to see the gold flash which accompanied the oriole's trailing notes. So Elnora uttered the first cry, as she softly lifted branches and peered among the grasses.
"My find!" she called. "Bring the box, mother!"
Ammon came hurrying also. When they reached her she stood on the path holding a pair of moths. Her eyes were wide with excitement, her cheeks pink, her red lips parted, and on the hand she held out to them clung a pair of delicate blue-green moths, with white bodies, and touches of lavender and straw colour. All about her lay flower-brocaded grasses, behind the deep green background of the forest, while the sun slowly sifted gold from heaven to burnish her hair. Mrs. Comstock heard a sharp breath behind her.
"Oh, what a picture!" exulted Ammon at her shoulder. "She is absolutely and altogether lovely! I'd give a small fortune for that faithfully set on canvas!"
He picked the box from Mrs. Comstock's fingers and slowly advanced with it. Elnora held down her hand and transferred the moths. Ammon closed the box carefully, but the watching mother saw that his eyes were following the girl's face. He was not making the slightest attempt to conceal what he felt.
"I wonder if a woman ever did anything lovelier than to find a pair of Luna moths on a forest path, early on a perfect June morning?" he said to Mrs. Comstock, as he returned the box.
She glanced at Elnora. The girl had gone back to work, and was intently searching the bushes.
"Look here, young man," said Mrs. Comstock. "You seem to find that girl of mine about right."
"I could suggest no improvement," said Ammon. "I never saw a more attractive girl anywhere. She seems absolutely perfect to me."
"Then suppose you don't start any scheme calculated to spoil her!" suggested Mrs. Comstock dryly. "I don't think you can, or that any man could, but I'm not taking any risks. You asked to come here to help in this work. We are both glad to have you, if you confine ourself to work; but it's the least you can do to leave us as you find us."
"I beg your pardon!" said Ammon. "I intended no offence. I admire her as I admire any perfect creation."
"And nothing in all this world spoils the average girl so quickly and so surely," said Mrs. Comstock. She raised her voice. "Elnora, fasten up that tag of hair over your left ear. These bushes muss you so you remind me of a sheep poking its nose through a hedge fence."
Mrs. Comstock started down the path toward her log again, and as she reached it she called sharply, "Elnora, come here! I believe I have found something myself."
The "something" was a Citheronia Regalis which had just emerged from its case on the soft earth by the log. It climbed up the wood, Its stout legs dragging a big pursy body, while it wildly flapped tiny wings the size of a man's thumb-nail. Elnora gave one look and a cry which brought Ammon.
"That's the rarest moth in America!" he announced. "Mrs. Comstock, you've gone up head. You can put that in a box with a screen cover to-night, and attract a half-dozen, possibly."
"Is it rare, Elnora?" inquired Mrs. Comstock, as if no one else knew.
"It surely is," answered Elnora. "If we can find it a mate to-night, it will lay from two hundred and fifty to three hundred eggs to-morrow. With any luck at all I can raise two hundred caterpillars from them. I did once before. And they are worth a dollar apiece."
"Was the one I killed like that?" gasped Mrs. Comstock.
"No. That was a different moth, but its life processes were the same as this. The Bird Woman calls this the King of the Poets."
"Why does she?"
"Because it is named for Citheron who was a poet, and regalis refers to king. You mustn't touch it or you may stunt wing development. You watch and don't let that moth out of sight, or anything come near it. When the wings are expanded and hardened we will put it in a box."
"I am afraid it will race itself to death," objected Mrs. Comstock.
"That's a part of the game," said Ammon. "It is starting circulation now. When the right moment comes, it will stop and develop its wings. If you watch closely you can see them expand."
Presently the moth found a rough projection of bark and clung with its feet, back down, its wings hanging. The body was an unusual orange red, the tiny wings were gray, striped with the red and splotched here and there with markings of canary yellow. Mrs. Comstock watched breathlessly. Presently she slipped off the log and knelt to get a better view.
"Are its wings growing?" called Elnora.
"They are getting larger and the markings coming stronger every minute."
"Let's watch, too," said Elnora to Ammon.
They came and looked over Mrs. Comstock's shoulder. Lower drooped the gay wings, wider they spread, brighter grew the markings as if laid off in geometrical patterns. They could hear Mrs. Comstock's tense breath and see her absorbed expression.
"Young people," she said solemnly, "if your studying science and the elements has ever led you to feel that things just happen, kind of evolve by chance, as it were, this sight will be good for you. Maybe earth and air accumulate, but it takes the wisdom of the Almighty God to devise the wing of a moth. If there ever was a miracle, this whole process is one. Now, as I understand it, this creature is going to keep on spreading those wings until they grow to size and harden to strength sufficient to bear its body. Then it flies away, mates with its kind, lays its eggs on the leaves of a certain tree, and the eggs hatch tiny caterpillars which eat just that kind of leaves, and the worms grow and grow, and take on different forms and colours until at last they are big caterpillars six inches long, with large horns. Then they burrow into the earth, build a house around themselves from material which is inside them, and lie through rain and freezing cold for months. A year from egg laying they come out like this, and begin the process all over again. They don't eat, they don't see distinctly, they live but a few days, and fly only at night; then they drop off easy, but the process goes on."
A shivering movement went over the moth. The wings drooped and spread wider. Mrs. Comstock fell into soft, awed tones.
"There never was a moment in my life," she said, "when I felt so in the Presence as I do now. I feel as if the Almighty was so real, and so near, that I could reach out and touch Him, as I could this wonderful work of His, if I dared. I feel like saying to Him, 'To the extent of my brain power I realize Your presence, and all it is in me to comprehend of Your power. Help me to learn, even this late, the lessons of Your wonderful creations. Help me to unshackle and expand my soul to the fullest realization of Your wonders. Almighty God, make me bigger, make me broader!'"
The moth climbed to the end of the projection, up it a little way, then suddenly reversed its wings, turning the hidden sides out and dropping them along its abdomen, like a great fly. The outside of the wings thus exposed was far richer colour, more exquisite texture than the under, and they slowly half lifted and drooped again. Mrs. Comstock turned her face to Ammon.
"Am I an old fool, or do you feel it, too?" she half whispered.
"You are wiser than you ever have been before," answered Ammon. "I feel it, too."
"I also," breathed Elnora.
The moth spread its wings, shivered them tremulously, opening and closing them rapidly. Ammon handed the box to Elnora.
She shook her head.
"I can't take that one," she said. "Let her go."
"But, Elnora," protested Mrs. Comstock, "I don't want to let her go. She's mine. She's the first one I ever found this way. Can't you put her in a big box, and let her live without hurting her? I can't bear to let her go. I want to learn all about her."
"Then watch while we get these on the trees," said Elnora. "We will take her home until night and then decide what to do. She won't fly for a long time yet."
Mrs. Comstock settled on the ground, an elbow on her knee, her chin in her palm, gazing at the moth. Elnora and Ammon went to the baited trees, placing several large moths and a number of smaller ones in the cyanide jar, and searching the bushes beyond, where they found several paired specimens of differing families. When they returned Elnora showed her mother how to hold her hand before the moth so that it would climb upon her fingers. Then they started back to the cabin, Elnora and Ammon leading the way. Mrs. Comstock followed slowly, stepping with great care lest she stumble and jar the moth. Her face wore a look of comprehension; in her eyes was an exalted light. On she came to the blue-bordered pool lying beside her path.
A turtle scrambled from a log and splashed into the water, while a red-wing shouted, "O-ka-lee!" to her. Mrs. Comstock paused and looked intently at the slime-covered quagmire, framed in a flower riot and homed over by sweet-voiced birds. Then she gazed at the thing of incomparable beauty clinging to her fingers and said softly: "If you had known about wonders like these in the days of your youth, Robert Comstock, could you ever have done what you did?"
Elnora missed her mother, and turning to look for her, saw her standing beside the pool. Would the old fascination return? A panic of fear seized the girl. She went back swiftly.
"Are you afraid she is going?" Elnora asked. "If you are, cup your other hand over her for shelter. Carrying her through this air and in the hot sunshine will dry her wings and make them ready for flight very quickly. You can't trust her in such air and light as you can in the cool dark woods."
As she talked she took hold of her mother's sleeve, anxiously smiling a pitiful little smile that Mrs. Comstock understood. Ammon set his load at the back door, returning to hold open the garden gate for Elnora and Mrs. Comstock. He reached it just in time to see them standing together beside the pool. The mother bent swiftly and kissed the girl on the lips. Ammon wheeled and was busily hunting moths on the raspberry bushes when they reached the gate. And so excellent are the rewards of attending your own business that he found a splendid Promethea on a lilac in a corner, a moth of such rare wine-coloured, velvety shades that it almost sent Mrs. Comstock to her knees again. But this one was fully developed, able to fly, and had to be taken into the cabin hurriedly, Mrs. Comstock stood in the middle of the room holding up her Regalis.
"Now, what must I do?" she asked.
Elnora glanced at Philip Ammon. Their eyes met and both of them smiled; he with amusement at the tall, spare figure, with dark eyes and white crown, asking the childish question so confidingly, and Elnora with exultant pride. The girl was beginning to appreciate the greatness of her mother.
"How would you like to sit and see her finish development? I'll get dinner," proposed the girl.
After they had dined, Ammon and Elnora carried the dishes to the kitchen, brought out boxes, sheets of cork, pins, ink, paper for slips and everything necessary for mounting and classifying the moths they had taken. When the housework was finished Mrs. Comstock brought her ruffle and sat near, watching and listening. She remembered all they said that she understood, and when uncertain she asked questions. Occasionally she laid down her work to straighten some flower which needed attention or to go to the garden for a bug for the grosbeak. In one of these absences Elnora said to Ammon, "These replace quite a number of the moths I lost for the man of India. With a week of such luck, I could almost begin to talk college again."
"There is no reason why you should not have the week and the luck," said Ammon. "I have taken moths until the middle of August, though I suspect one is more apt to find late ones in the north, where it is colder than here. The next week is hay-time, but we can count on a few double-brooders and strays, and by working the exchange method for all it is worth, I think we can complete the collection again."
"You almost make me hope," said Elnora, "but I must not allow myself. I don't truly think I can replace all I lost, not even with your help. If I could, I can't see my way clear to leave mother this winter. I have found her so recently, and she is so precious, I can't risk losing her again. I am going to take the nature position in the Onabasha schools, and I shall be most happy doing the work. Only, these are a temptation."
"I wish you might go to college this fall with the other girls," said Ammon. "I feel that if you don't you never will. Isn't there some way?"
"I can't see it if there is, and I really don't want to leave mother."
"Well, mother is mighty glad to hear it," said Mrs. Comstock, entering the arbour.
Ammon noticed that her face was pale, her lips quivering, her voice cold.
"I was just saying to your daughter that she should go to college this winter," he explained, "but she says she don't want to leave you."
"If she wants to go, I wish she could," said Mrs. Comstock, a look of relief spreading over her face.
"Oh, all girls want to go to college," said Ammon. "It's the only proper place to learn bridge and embroidery; not to mention midnight lunches of mixed pickles and fruit cake, and all the delights of the sororities."
"I have thought a great deal about going to college," said Elnora, "but I never thought of any of those things."
"That is because your education in fudge and bridge has been sadly neglected," said Ammon. "You should hear my sister Polly! This was her last year! Lunches and sororities were all I heard her mention, until Tom Levering came on deck; now he is the leading subject. I can't see from her daily conversation that she knows half as much really worth knowing as you do, but she can beat you miles on fun."
"Oh, we had some good times in the high school," said Elnora. "Life hasn't been all work and study. Is Edith Carr a college girl?"
"No. She is the very selectest kind of a private boarding school girl."
"Who is she?" asked Mrs. Comstock.
Ammon opened his lips.
"She is a girl in Chicago that Mr. Ammon knows very well," said Elnora. "She is beautiful and rich, and a friend of his sister's. Or, didn't you say that?"
"I don't remember, but she is," said Ammon. "This moth needs an alcohol bath to take off the dope."
"Won't the down come, too?" asked Elnora anxiously.
"No. You watch and you will see it come out, as Polly would say, 'a perfectly good' moth."
"Is your sister younger than you?" inquired Elnora.
"Yes," said Ammon, "but she is three years older than you. She is the dearest sister in all the world. I'd love to see her now."
"Why don't you send for her," suggested Elnora. "Perhaps she'd like to help us catch moths."
"Yes, I think Polly in a Virot hat, Picot embroidered frock and three-inch heels would take more moths than any one that ever struck the Limberlost," laughed Ammon.
"Well, you get lots of them, and you are her brother."
"Yes, but that is different. Father was raised in Onabasha, and he loved the country. He trained me his way and mother took charge of Polly. I don't just understand it. Mother is a great home body herself, but she did succeed in making Polly strictly ornamental."
"Does Tom Levering need a 'strictly ornamental' girl?"
"You are too matter of fact! Too 'strictly' material! He needs a darling girl who will love him plenty, and Polly is that."
"Well, then, does the Limberlost need a 'strictly ornamental' girl?"
"No!" cried Ammon. "You are ornament enough for the Limberlost. I have changed my mind. I don't want Polly here. She would not enjoy catching moths, or anything we do."
"She might," persisted Elnora. "You are her brother, and surely you care for these things."
"The argument does not hold," said Ammon. "Polly and I do not like the same things when we are at home, but we are very fond of each other. The member of my family who would go crazy about this is my father. I wish he could come, if only for a week. I'd send for him, but he is tied up in preparing some papers for a great corporation case this summer. He likes the country. It was his vote that brought me here."
Ammon leaned back in the arbour, watching the grosbeak as it hunted food between a tomato vine and a day lily. Elnora set him to making labels, and when he finished them he asked permission to write a letter. He took no pains to conceal his page, and from where she sat opposite him, Elnora could not look his way without reading, "My dearest Edith." He wrote busily for a time and then sat staring out across the garden.
"Have you run out of material so quickly?" asked Elnora.
"That's about it," said Ammon. "I have said that I am getting well as rapidly as possible, that the air is line, the folks at Uncle Doc's all well, and entirely too good to me; that I am spending most of my time in the country helping catch moths for a collection, which is splendid 
"'If you had known about wonders like these in the days of your youth, Robert Comstock, could you ever have done the thing you did?'"
There was a burst of exquisite notes in the maple.
"Put in the grosbeak," suggested Elnora. "Tell her you are so friendly with him you feed him potato bugs."
Ammon dropped the pen to the sheet, bent forward, then hesitated.
"Blest if I do!" he cried. "She'd think a grosbeak was a depraved person with a large nose. She'd never dream that it was a black-robed lover, with a breast of snow and a crimson heart. She don't care for hungry babies and potato bugs. I shall write that to father. He will find it exquisite."
Elnora deftly picked up a moth, pinned it and placed its wings. She straightened the antennæ, drew each leg into position and set it in perfectly lifelike manner. As she lifted her work to see if she had it right, she glanced at Ammon. He was still frowning and hesitating over the paper.
"I dare you to let me dictate a couple of paragraphs," she said.
"Done!" cried Ammon. "Go slowly enough that I can write it."
Elnora laughed softly.
"I am writing this," she began, "in an old grape arbour in the country, near a log cabin where I had my dinner. From where I sit I can see directly into the home of the next-door neighbour on the west. His name is R. B. Grosbeak. From all I have seen of him, he is a gentleman of the old school; the oldest school there is, no doubt. He always wears a black suit and cap and a white vest, decorated with one large red heart, which I think must be the emblem of some ancient order. I have been here a number of times, and I never have seen him wear anything else, or his wife appear in other than a brown dress with touches of white.
"It has appeared to me at times that she was a shade neglectful of her home duties, but he does not seem to see it that way. He cheerfully stays about the sitting room, while she is away having a good time, and sings as he cares for the four small children. I must tell you about his music. I am sure he never saw inside a conservatory. I think he merely picked up what he knows by ear and without vocal training, but there is a tenderness in his tones, a depth of pure melody, that I never have heard surpassed. It may be that I think more of his music than that of some other good vocalists hereabout, because I see more of him and appreciate his devotion to his home life.
"I just had an encounter with him at the west fence, and induced him to carry a small gift to his children. When I see the perfect harmony in which he lives, and the depth of content he and the brown lady find in life, I am almost persuaded to—now this is going to be poetry," said Elnora. "Move your pen over here and begin with a quote and a cap."
Ammon's face had been an interesting study as he took down her sentences. Now he gravely set the pen where she indicated, and Elnora dictated—
Buy a nice little home in the country,
And settle down there for life."
"That's the truth!" cried Ammon. "It's as big a temptation as I ever had. Go on!"
"That's all," said Elnora. "You can finish. The moths are done. I am going hunting for whatever I can find for the grades."
"Wait a minute," begged Ammon. "I am going, too."
"No. You stay with mother and finish your letter."
"It is done. I couldn't add anything to that."
"All right! Sign your name and come on. But I forgot to tell you all the bargain. Maybe you won't send the letter when you hear that. The rest is that you show me the reply to my part of it."
"Oh, that's easy! I wouldn't have the slightest objection to showing you the whole letter."
He signed his name, folded the sheets and slipped them into his pocket.
"Where are we going and what do we take?"
"Will you go, mother?" asked Elnora.
"I have a little work that should be done," said Mrs. Comstock. "Could you spare me? Where do you want to go?"
"We will go down to Aunt Margaret's and see her a few minutes and get Billy. We will be back in time for supper."
Mrs. Comstock smiled as she watched them down the road. What a splendid looking pair of young creatures they were! How finely proportioned, how full of vitality! Then her face grew troubled as she saw them in earnest conversation. Just as she was wishing she had not trusted her precious girl with so much of a stranger, she saw Elnora stoop to lift a branch and peer under. The mother grew content. Elnora was thinking only of her work. She was to be trusted utterly.