If
this was true, William Bannister certainly gave them every chance to
get to work upon himself. It was his constant pleasure to clutch
Whiskers to him in a vice-like clinch, to bury his face in his shaggy
back, and generally to court destruction. Yet the more he clutched, the
healthier did he appear to grow, and Mrs. Porter's demand for the dog's
banishment was overruled.
Mrs. Porter retired in dudgeon. She liked to rule, and at No. 90 she
felt that she had become merely among those present. She was in the
position of a mother country whose colony has revolted. For years she
had been accustomed to look on Ruth as a disciple, a weaker spirit whom
she could mould to her will, and now Ruth was refusing to be moulded.
So Mrs. Porter's visits ceased. Ruth still saw her at the apartment
when she cared to go there, but she kept away from the studio. She
considered that in the matter of William Bannister her claim had been
jumped, that she had been deposed; and she withdrew.
"I shall bear up," said Kirk, when this fact was brought home to him.
"I mistrust your Aunt Lora as I should mistrust some great natural
force which may become active at any moment and give you yours. An
earthquake, for instance. I have no quarrel with your Aunt Lora in her
quiescent state, but I fear the developments of that giant mind.
Pages:
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148