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THE GIRL AT COBHURST
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON
1898
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. DR. TOLBRIDGE II. MISS PANNEY III. BROTHER AND SISTER IV. THE HOME V. PANNEYOPATHY VI. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S CALLERS VII. DORA BANNISTER TAKES TIME AND A MARE BY THE FORELOCK VIII. MRS. TOLBRIDGE'S REPORT IS NOT ACCEPTED IX. JOHN WESLEY AND LORENZO DOW AT LUNCHEON X. A SILK GOWN AND A BOTTLE XI. TWO GIRLS AND A CALF XII. TO EAT WITH THE FAMILY XIII. DORA'S NEW MIND XIV. GOOD-NIGHT XV. MISS PANNEY IS AROUSED TO HELP AND HINDER XVI. "KEEP HER TO HELP YOU" XVII. JUDITH PACEWALK'S TEABERRY GOWN XVIII. BLARNEY FLUFF XIX. MISS PANNEY IS "TOOK SUDDEN" XX. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS TOO LARGE XXI. THE DRANES AND THEIR QUARTERS XXII. A TRESPASS XXIII. THE HAVERLEY FINANCES AND MRS. ROBINSON XXIV. THE DOCTOR'S MISSION XXV. BOMBSHELLS AND BROMIDE XXVI. DORA COMES AND SEES XXVII. "IT COULDN'T BE BETTER THAN THAT" XXVIII. THE GAME IS CALLED XXIX. HYPOTHESIS AND INNUENDO XXX. A CONFIDENTIAL ANNOUNCEMENT XXXI. THE TEABERRY GOWN IS DONNED XXXII. MISS PANNEY FEELS SHE MUST CHANGE HER PLANS XXXIII. LA FLEUR LOOKS FUTUREWARD XXXIV. A PLAN WHICH SEEMS TO SUIT EVERYBODY XXXV. MISS PANNEY HAS TEETH ENOUGH LEFT TO BITE WITH XXXVI. A CRY FROM THE SEA XXXVII. LA FLEUR ASSUMES RESPONSIBILITIES XXXVIII. CICELY READS BY MOONLIGHT XXXIX. UNDISTURBED LETTUCE XL. ANGRY WAVES XLI. PANNEYOPATHY AND THE ASH-HOLE XLII. AN INTERVIEWER XLIII. THE SIREN AND THE IRON XLIV. LA FLEUR'S SOUL REVELS, AND MISS PANEY PREPARES TO MAKE A FIRE
THE GIRL AT COBHURST
CHAPTER I
DR. TOLBRIDGE
It was about the middle of a March afternoon when Dr. Tolbridge, givinghis horse and buggy into the charge of his stable boy, entered the warmhall of his house. His wife was delighted to see him; he had not been athome since noon of the preceding day.
"Yes," said he, as he took off his gloves and overcoat, "the Pardell boyis better, but I found him in a desperate condition."
"I knew that," said Mrs. Tolbridge, "when you told me in your note thatyou would be obliged to stay with him all night."
The doctor now walked into his study, changed his overcoat for awell-worn smoking-jacket, and seated himself in an easy chair before thefire. His wife sat by him.
"Thank you," he said, in answer to her inquiries, "but I do not wantanything to eat. After I had gone my round this morning I went back tothe Pardells, and had my dinner there. The boy is doing very well. No, Iwas not up all night. I had some hours' sleep on the big sofa."
"Which doesn't count for much," said his wife.
"It counts for some hours," he replied, "and Mrs. Pardell did notsleep at all."
Dr. Tolbridge, a man of moderate height, and compactly built, with sometouches of gray in his full, short beard, and all the light of youth inhis blue eyes, had been for years the leading physician in and aboutThorbury. He lived on the outskirts of the little town, but the lines ofhis practice extended in every direction i