“Iaminducedtoacceptyourproposaltemporarily，“shesaid，inavoiceofquerulousprecision，“onaccountofpressingpecuniarycircumstanceswhichwouldnothavehappenedhadmyclaimagainsttheshipownersformydearhusband’slossbeenproperlyraised。I
hopeyoufullyunderstandthatIamunfittedbothbyillhealthandearlyeducationfromdoinganymenialormanualworkinyourhousehold。Ishallsimplyoverseeanddirect。Ishallexpectthatthestipendyouoffershallbepaidmonthlyinadvance。Andasmymedicalmanprescribesacertainamountofstimulationformysystem，Ishallexpecttobefurnishedwithsuchviands——oreven“——
shecoughedslightly——“suchbeveragesasmaybenecessary。Iamfarfromstrong——yetmywantsarefew。“
“EzfarezIamketchin’onandfollowin’ye，ma’am，“returnedProspertimidly，“ye’llheveverythingyewant——jestlikeitwasyerownhome。Infact，“hewenton，suddenlygrowingdesperateasthedifficultiesofadjustingthisunexpectedlyfastidiousandsuperiorwomantohisplanseemedtoincrease，“ye’lljestconsidermeezyer“——Butherehermurkyeyeswerefixedonhisandhefaltered。Yethehadgonetoofartoretreat。“Yesee，“hestammered，withahystericalgrimnessthatwasintendedtobeplayful——“yesee，thisisjestalittlesecretbetwixtandbetweenyouandme；there’llbeonlyyouandmeinthehouse，anditwouldkinderseemtotheboysmorehomelike——ef——ef——youandmehad——youbein’awidder，youknow——akindof——of“——herehissmilebecameghastly——“closerelationship。“
ThewidowofCaptainPottingerheresatupsosuddenlythatsheseemedtoslipthroughhersombreandpreciseenwrappingswithanexposureoftherealMrs。Pottingerthatwasalmostimproper。Herhighcolordeepened；thepupilsofherblackeyescontractedinthelighttheinnocentProsperhadpouredintothem。Leaningforward，withherfingersclaspedonherbosom，shesaid:“Didyoutellthistothemanager？“
“Ofcoursenot，“saidProsper；“yesee，it’sonlyamatter’twixtyouandme。“
Mrs。PottingerlookedatProsper，drewadeepbreath，andthengazedattheabeloneshellsformoralsupport。Asmile，halfquerulous，halfsuperior，crossedherfaceasshesaid:“Thisisveryabruptandunusual。Thereis，ofcourse，adisparityinourages！Youhaveneverseenmebefore——atleasttomyknowledge——
althoughyoumayhaveheardofme。TheSpraggsofMarbleheadarewellknown——perhapsbetterthanthePottingers。Andyet，Mr。
Griggs“——
“Riggs，“suggestedProsperhurriedly。
“Riggs。Excuseme！IwasthinkingofyoungLieutenantGriggsoftheNavy，whomIknewinthedaysnowpast。Mr。Riggs，Ishouldsay。Thenyouwantmeto“——
“Tobemyoldmother，ma’am，“saidProspertremblingly。“Thatis，topretendandlookezefyouwas！Yousee，Ihaven’tany，butI
thoughtitwouldhenicefortheboys，andmakeitmorelikehomeinmynewhouse，efIallowedthatmyoldmotherwouldbecomin’tolivewithme。Theydon’tknowIneverhadamothertospeakof。
They’llneverfinditout！Sayyewill，Mrs。Pottinger！Do！“
Andheretheunexpectedoccurred。Againstallconventionalrulesandallacceptedtraditionsoffiction，IamobligedtostatethatMrs。PottingerdidNOTriseupandorderthetremblingProspertoleavethehouse！Sheonlygrippedthearmofherchairalittletighter，leanedforward，anddisdainingherusualprecisionandrefinementofspeech，saidquietly:“It’sabargain。IfTHAT’S
whatyou’rewanting，myson，youcancountuponmeasbecomingyouroldmother，CeciliaJanePottingerRiggs，everytime！“
AfewdayslaterthesentimentalistJoeWynbrookwalkedintotheWildCatsaloon，wherehiscomradesweredrinking，andlaidaletterdownonthebarwitheveryexpressionofastonishmentanddisgust。“Look，“hesaid，“ifthatdon’tbeatall！Yewouldn’tbelieveit，buthere’sProssyRiggswritin’thathecameacrosshismother——hisMOTHER，gentlemen——in’Frisco；shehevin’，unbeknownsttohim，joinedapartyvisitingthecoast！Andwhatdoesthisblamedfooldo？Why，he’sgoin’tobringher——thatoldwoman——
HERE！Here——gentlemen——totakechargeofthatnewhouse——andspoilourfun。AndtheGod-forsakenidiotthinksthatwe’llLIKEit！“
Itwasoneofthoseraremorningsintherainyseasonwhentherewasasuspicionofspringintheair，andafteranightofrainfallthesunbrokethroughfleecycloudswithlittleisletsofbluesky——
whenProsperRiggsandhismotherdroveintoWildCatcamp。Anexpressionofcheerfulnesswasonthefacesofhisoldcomrades。
Forithadbeenrecognizedthat，afterall，“Prossy“hadaperfectrighttobringhisoldmotherthere——hiswell-knownyouthandinexperiencepreventingthisbalefulperformancefrombeingestablishedasaprecedent。Forthesereasonshatswerecheerfullydoffed，andsomejacketsputon，asthebuggysweptupthehilltotheprettynewcottage，withitsgreenblindsandwhiteveranda，onthecrest。
YetIamafraidthatProsperwasnotperfectlyhappy，eveninthetriumphantconsummationofhisplans。Mrs。Pottinger’ssuddenandbusiness-likeacquiescenceinit，andhersingularlapsefromhergenteelprecision，weregratifyingbutstartlingtohisingenuousness。Andalthoughfromthemomentsheacceptedthesituationshewasfertileinresourcesandfullofprecautionagainstanypossibilityofdetection，hesaw，withsomeuneasiness，thatitscontrolhadpassedoutofhishands。
“Yousayyourcomradesknownothingofyourfamilyhistory？“shehadsaidtohimonthejourneythither。“Whatareyougoingtotellthem？“
“Nothin’，’ceptyourbein’myoldmother，“saidProsperhopelessly。
“That’snotenough，myson。“AnotherembarrassmenttoProsperwashereasygraspofthematernalepithets。“Nowlisten！Youwerebornjustsixmonthsafteryourfather，CaptainRiggsformerlyPottingersailedonhisfirstvoyage。Yourememberverylittleofhim，ofcourse，ashewasawaysomuch。“
“Hadn’tIbetterknowsuthinabouthislooks？“saidProspersubmissively。
“Atalldarkman，that’senough，“respondedMrs。Pottingersharply。
“Hadn’thebetterfavorme？“saidProsper，withhissmallcunningrecognizingthefactthathehimselfwasadecidedblond。
“Ain’tatallnecessary，“saidthewidowfirmly。“Youwerealwayswildandungovernable，“shecontinued，“andranawayfromschooltojoinsomeWesternemigration。Thataccountsforthedifferenceofourstyles。“
“But，“continuedProsper，“Ioughterremembersuthinaboutouroldtimes——runnin’arrantsforyou，andbringin’inthewoodo’frostymornin’s，andyougivin’mehotdoughnuts，“suggestedProsperdubiously。
“Nothingofthesort，“saidMrs。Pottingerpromptly。“Welivedinthecity，withplentyofservants。Justremember，Prosperdear，yourmotherwasn’tTHATlow-downcountrystyle。“
Gladtoberelievedfromfurtherinvention，Prosperwas，nevertheless，somewhatconcernedatthisshatteringoftheidealmotherintheverycampthathadsungherpraises。Buthecouldonlytrusttoherrecognizingthesituationwithherusualsagacity，ofwhichhestoodinrespectfulawe。
JoeWynbrookandCyrusBrewsterhad，asoldermembersofthecamp，purposelylingerednearthenewhousetoofferanyassistanceto“Prossyandhismother，“andhadreceivedabriefandpassingintroductiontothelatter。Sodeepandunexpectedwastheimpressionshemadeuponthemthatthesetwooraclesofthecampretireddownthehillinawkwardsilenceforsometime，neitherdaringtoriskhisreputationbycommentoroversurprise。
Butwhentheyapproachedthecuriouscrowdbelowawaitingthem，CyrusBrewsterventuredtosay，“Struckmeezefthatoldgalwasratherhigh-tonedforProssy’smother。“
JoeWynbrookinstantlyseizedthefataladmissiontoshowtheadvantageofsuperiorinsight:——
“StruckYOU！Why，itwasnomorethanIexpectedallalong！WhatdidweknowofProssy？Nothin’！Whatdidheevertellus’？
Nothin’！Andwhy’？’Cositwashissecret。Lord！ablindmulecouldseethat。Allthisfoolishnessandsimplicityo’hiscomeo’
hisbein’cuddledandpamperedasababy。Then，likeeznot，hewaseitherkidnappedorledawaybysomefeller——andnearlybrokehismother’sheart。I’llbetmybottomdollarhehasbeenadvertisedforaforethis——onlywedidn’tseethepaper。Likeasnottheyhadagentsoutseekin’him，andhejestranintotheirhandsin’Frisco！Ihadakindo’presentimento’thiswhenheleft，thoughIneverletonanything。“
“Ireckon，too，thatshe’skinderafraidhe’llboltagin。Didyenoticehowshekeptwatchin’himallthetime，andhowshedidthebossin’o’everything？Andthere’sONEthingsure！He’schanged——
yes！Hedon’tlookaskeerlessandfreeandfoolishezheuster。“
Heretherewasanunmistakablechorusofassentfromthecrowdthathadjoinedthem。Everyone——eventhosewhohadnotbeenintroducedtothemother——hadnoticedhisstrangerestraintandreticence。Intheimpulsivelogicofthecamp，conductsuchasthis，inthefaceofthatsuperiorwoman——hismother——couldonlyimplythatherpresencewasdistastefultohim；thathewaseitherashamedoftheirnoticinghisinferioritytoher，orashamedofTHEM！Wildandhastyaswastheirdeduction，itwas，nevertheless，voicedbyJoeWynbrookinatoneofimpartialandevenreluctantconviction。
“Well，gentlemen，someofyemayrememberthatwhenIheardthatProssywasbringin’hismotherhereIkicked——kickedbecauseitonlystoodtoreasonthat，beingHISmother，she’dbethatfoolishshe’dupsetthecamp。Therewasn’troomenoughfortwosuchchuckle-heads——andoneof’embeingawoman，shecouldn’tbeshutuporsatuponezwedidtoHIM。Butnow，gentlemen，ezweseesheain’tthatkind，buthigh-tonedandlevel-headed，andthatshe’sgotthegriponProssy——whetherhelikesitornot——weain’tgoin’
tolethimgobackonher！No，sir！weain’tgoin’tolethimbreakherheartthesecondtime！Hemaythinkweain’tgoodenoughforher，butezlongezshe’sciviltous，we’llstandbyher。“