"Mrs. Condiment, mum," said the old man, striding into the sitting-
room, "Mrs. Condiment, mum, tell Miss Black to come down from her
room until the storm is over; the upper chambers of this old house
are not safe in a tempest. Well, mum, why don't you go, or send
Pitapat?"
"Major Warfield, sir, I'm very sorry, but Miss Black has not come in
yet," said Mrs. Condiment, who for the last half hour had suffered
extreme anxiety upon account of Capitola.
"Not come in yet! Demmy, mum! Do you tell me she has gone out?"
cried Old Hurricane, in a voice of thunder, gathering his brows into
a dark frown, and striking his cane angrily upon the floor.
"Yes, sir, I am sorry to say she rode out about an hour ago and has
not returned," said Mrs. Condiment, summoning all her firmness to
meet Old Hurricane's "roused wrath."
"Ma'am! You venture to stand there before my face and tell me
composedly that you permitted Miss Black to go off alone in the face
of such a storm as this?" roared Old Hurricane.
"Sir, I could not help it!" said the old lady.
"Demmy, mum! You should have helped it! A woman of your age to stand
there and tell me that she could not prevent a young creature like
Capitola from going out alone in the storm!"
"Major Warfield, could you have done it?"
"Me? Demmy, I should think so; but that is not the question! You--"
He was interrupted by a blinding flash of lightning, followed
immediately by an awful peal of thunder and a sudden fall of rain.
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