Anthy and the old Captain as it was to
us. As for Ed Smith, he had so far lost his breath trying to keep up
with Nort that he no longer had the capacity for being surprised at
anything.

I cannot attempt an adequate description of that evening's celebration.
Though we did not know it at the time it brought us to the very climax
and crisis of that period of our lives. It was the glorious end of an
epoch in the history of the _Star_ of Hempfield.

Nort and Fergus had cleaned out the back room of the shop, and a table
was set up in the middle of it with just chairs enough for our own
company, including one stool upon which Tom, the cat, was intermittently
induced to sit by Nort. Dick's cage was hung from the ceiling over the
table, where for a time he seemed quite alive to the importance of the
occasion, but soon went off to sleep on his perch with his head drawn
down among his yellow feathers.

The meal itself came mostly by the hands of Joe Miller, coloured, of the
Hempfield House, who smiled broadly during the entire evening, but the
_piece de resistance_, the crowning glory of the evening, was an
enormous steak which Nort and Fergus, with much discussion and more
perspiration, and not a few smudges and scratches, broiled over the
coals in our office stove. I may say that in the effort to produce these
coals the office was heated all the afternoon to such a temperature that
it drove us all out. I shall not forget the sight of Nort coming in at
the door carrying the triumphant steak, still in the broiler, with
Fergus crouching and dodging along beside him, holding a part of an old
press fly under it to catch any drippings. I remember the look on his
glowing face and the smile he wore! He let the steak slide out of the
broiler, to Harriet's horror, upon the huge hotel platter.

"There!" he exclaimed.

We all cheered wildly, and Joe Miller, with a carving knife in one hand
and a fork in the other, hovered behind, his black face one great smile.

Fergus was quite wonderfully dressed up for the occasion with a very
tall collar and a red necktie, and cuffs that positively would not stay
up, and his attempt to brush his hair had produced the most astounding
storm effects. But he appeared happy, if uncomfortable. As for Harriet,
I have not seen her look so young and pretty for years. It was
altogether a little irregular and shocking to her, but she met it with a
sort of fearful joy.

[Illustration: The old Captain was p