The Cromptons

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The Cromptons

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Title: The Cromptons
Author: Mary J. Holmes
Release Date: June 27, 2005 [EBook #16138]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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POPULAR NOVELS
BY
MRS. MARY J. HOLMES.
TEMPEST AND SUNSHINE. DARKNESS AND DAYLIGHTS. ENGLISH ORPHANS. HUGH WORTHINGTON. HOMESTEAD ON HILLSIDE. CAMERON PRIDE. 'LENA RIVERS. ROSE MATHER. MEADOW BROOK. ETHELYN'S MISTAKE. DORA DEANE. MILBANK. COUSIN MAUDE. EDNA BROWNING. MARIAN GREY. WEST LAWN. EDITH LYLE. MILDRED. DAISY THORNTON. FOREST HOUSE. CHATEAU D'OR. MADELINE. QUEENIE HETHERTON. CHRISTMAS STORIES. BESSIE'S FORTUNE. GRETCHEN. MARGUERITE. DR. HATHERN'S DAUGHTERS. MRS. HALLAM'S COMPANION. PAUL RALSTON. THE TRACY DIAMONDS. THE CROMPTONS. (_NEW_)

"Mrs. Holmes is a peculiarly pleasant and fascinating writer. Her books are always entertaining, and she has the rare faculty of enlisting the sympathy and affections of her readers, and of holding their attention to her pages with deep and absorbing interest."
Handsomely bound in cloth. Price, $1.00 each, and sent free by mail on receipt of price.
G.W. Dillingham Co., Publishers, NEW YORK.

[Illustration: "Here by this grave I promise all you ask."--Page 39.]

The Cromptons
BY
MARY J. HOLMES
G.W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT 1899, 1901,
By MRS. MARY J. HOLMES.
_All rights reserved._
_The Cromptons. Issued August, 1902._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
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PART I
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE STRANGER AT THE BROCK HOUSE 9
II. THE PALMETTO CLEARING 20
III. THE INTERVIEW 32
IV. HOPING AND WAITING 44
V. MISS DORY 48
VI. THE SERVICES 58
VII. COL. CROMPTON 66
VIII. THE CHILD OF THE CLEARING 80
IX. THE COLONEL AND JAKE 88
X. EUDORA 102

PART II
I. HOWARD CROMPTON TO JACK HARCOURT 115
II. JACK HARCOURT TO HOWARD CROMPTON 122
III. ELOISE 127
IV. THE ACCIDENT 139
V. AMY 149
VI. AT MRS. BIGGS'S 160
VII. RUBY ANN PATRICK 178
VIII. MRS. BIGGS'S REMINISCENCES 189
IX. LETTER FROM REV. CHARLES MASON 199
X. PART SECOND OF REV. MR. MASON'S LETTER 211
XI. SUNDAY CALLS 218
XII. THE MARCH OF EVENTS 227
XIII. GETTING READY FOR THE RUMMAGE SALE 242
XIV. THE FIRST SALE 256
XV. AT THE RUMMAGE 261
XVI. THE AUCTION 271

PART III
I. THE BEGINNING OF THE END 285
II. THE LITTLE RED CLOAK 294
III. ELOISE AT THE CROMPTON HOUSE 304
IV. THE SHADOW OF DEATH 315
V. LOOKING FOR A WILL 323
VI. IN FLORIDA 336
VII. IN THE PALMETTO CLEARING 342
VIII. THE LITTLE HAIR TRUNK 350
IX. WHAT HOWARD FOUND 362
X. HOWARD'S TEMPTATION 371
XI. CONCLUSION 379

Illustrations:
"Here by this grave I promise all you ask."

THE CROMPTONS


CHAPTER I
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PART I
CHAPTER I
THE STRANGER AT THE BROCK HOUSE
The steamer "Hatty" which plied between Jacksonville and Enterprise was late, and the people who had come down from the Brock House to the landing had waited half an hour before a puff of smoke in the distance told that she was coming. There had been many conjectures as to the cause of the delay, for she was usually on time, and those who had friends on the boat were growing nervous, fearing an accident, and all were getting tired, when she appeared in the distance, the puffs of smoke increasing in volume as she drew nearer, and the sound of her whistle echoing across the water, which at Enterprise spreads out into a lake. She had not met with an accident, but had been detained at Palatka waiting for a passenger of whom the captain had been apprised.
"He may be a trifle late, but if he is, wait. He must take your boat," Tom Hardy had said to the captain when engaging passage for his friend, and Tom Hardy was not one whose wishes were often disregarded. "Them Hardys does more business with me in one year than ten other families and I can't go agin Tom, and if he says wait for his friend, why, there's nothing to do but wait," the captain said, as he walked up and down in front of his boat, growing more and more impatient, until at last as he was beginning to swear he'd wait no longer for all the Hardys in Christendom, two men came slowly towards the landing, talking earnestly and not seeming to be in the least hurry, although the "Hatty" began to scream herself hoarse as if frantic to be gone.
"How d'ye, Cap," Tom said, in his easy, off-hand way. "Hope we haven't kept you long. This is my friend I told you about. I suppose his berth is ready?"
He did not tell the name of his friend, who, as if loath to cross the plank, held back for a few more words. Tom gave him a little push at last, and said, "Good-bye, you really must go. Success to you, but don't for