him constantly; an unreasoning
terror looked from his eyes, and he started and shivered at every sound.
The poor fellow had lost what few wits he had ever possessed, but the
one rational gleam that stayed with him to the end, was his love for his
old master. When he lay dying. Radnor tells me, he roused after hours of
unconsciousness, to call the Colonel's name. I have always felt that
this devotion spoke equally well for both of them. The old man must have
had some splendid traits underneath his crusty exterior to awaken such
unquestioning love in a person of Mose's instinctive perceptions.
Perhaps after all, half idiot though he was, Mose could see clearer than
the rest of us. He now lies in the little family burying-ground on the
edge of the plantation, a stone's throw from the grave of Colonel
Gaylord.

There has never been any further rumor of a ha'nt at Four-Pools, and we
hope that the family ghost is laid forever. The deserted cabins have
been torn down, and the fourth pool dredged and confined, prosaically
enough, within its banks. Its mysterious charm is gone, but it yields,
every season, some fifteen barrels of watercress.

It was the following April--a year from the time of my first
visit--that Terry and I snatched a couple of days from our work,
purchased new frock coats, and served as ushers at Polly's wedding. She
and Radnor have been living happily at Four-Pools ever since, and the
house with a young mistress is a very different place from the house as
it used to be. Marriage and responsibility have improved Radnor
immensely. He has developed from a recklessly headstrong boy into a
keen, rational, upright man; I am sure that Polly has never for a moment
had cause to regret her choice.

When the estate was settled, Radnor, very justly, insisted on breaking
his father's will and giving to Jeff his rightful share of the property.
Jeff has since become middle-aged and respectable. He owns a raisin
ranch in southern California with fifty Chinamen to run it. When he
comes back to Four-Pools Plantation on an occasional visit, he occupies
the guest room.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Four Pools Mystery, by Jean Webster

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