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diff --git a/old/mbman10.txt b/old/mbman10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e0dc10 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/mbman10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1599 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext The Make-Believe Man, by R. H. Davis +#27 in our series by Richard Harding Davis + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Prepared by Don Lainson + + + + + +THE MAKE-BELIEVE MAN + + +I + + +I had made up my mind that when my vacation came I would spend it +seeking adventures. I have always wished for adventures, but, +though I am old enough--I was twenty-five last October--and have +always gone half-way to meet them, adventures avoid me. Kinney +says it is my fault. He holds that if you want adventures you must +go after them. + +Kinney sits next to me at Joyce & Carboy's, the woollen +manufacturers, where I am a stenographer, and Kinney is a clerk, +and we both have rooms at Mrs. Shaw's boarding-house. Kinney is +only a year older than myself, but he is always meeting with +adventures. At night, when I have sat up late reading law, so that +I may fit myself for court reporting, and in the hope that some day +I may become a member of the bar, he will knock at my door and tell +me some surprising thing that has just happened to him. Sometimes +he has followed a fire-engine and helped people from a fire-escape, +or he has pulled the shield off a policeman, or at the bar of the +Hotel Knickerbocker has made friends with a stranger, who turns out +to be no less than a nobleman or an actor. And women, especially +beautiful women, are always pursuing Kinney in taxicabs and calling +upon him for assistance. Just to look at Kinney, without knowing +how clever he is at getting people out of their difficulties, he +does not appear to be a man to whom you would turn in time of +trouble. You would think women in distress would appeal to some +one bigger and stronger; would sooner ask a policeman. But, on the +contrary, it is to Kinney that women always run, especially, as I +have said, beautiful women. Nothing of the sort ever happens to +me. I suppose, as Kinney says, it is because he was born and +brought up in New York City and looks and acts like a New York man, +while I, until a year ago, have always lived at Fairport. Fairport +is a very pretty harbor, but it does not train one for adventures. +We arranged to take our vacation at the same time, and together. +At least Kinney so arranged it. I see a good deal of him, and in +looking forward to my vacation, not the least pleasant feature of +it was that everything connected with Joyce & Carboy and Mrs. +Shaw's boarding-house would be left behind me. But when Kinney +proposed we should go together, I could not see how, without being +rude, I could refuse his company, and when he pointed out that for +an expedition in search of adventure I could not select a better +guide, I felt that he was right. + +"Sometimes," he said, "I can see you don't believe that half the +things I tell you have happened to me, really have happened. Now, +isn't that so?" + +To find the answer that would not hurt his feelings I hesitated, +but he did not wait for my answer. He seldom does. + +"Well," on this trip," he went on, "you will see Kinney on the job. +You won't have to take my word for it. You will see adventures +walk up and eat out of my hand." + +Our vacation came on the first of September, but we began to plan +for it in April, and up to the night before we left New York we +never ceased planning. Our difficulty was that having been brought +up at Fairport, which is on the Sound, north of New London, I was +homesick for a smell of salt marshes and for the sight of water and +ships. Though they were only schooners carrying cement, I wanted +to sit in the sun on the string-piece of a wharf and watch them. I +wanted to beat about the harbor in a catboat, and feel the tug and +pull of the tiller. Kinney protested that that was no way to spend +a vacation or to invite adventure. His face was set against +Fairport. The conversation of clam-diggers, he said, did not +appeal to him; and he complained that at Fairport our only chance +of adventure would be my capsizing the catboat or robbing a +lobster-pot. He insisted we should go to the mountains, where we +would meet what he always calls "our best people." In September, +he explained, everybody goes to the mountains to recuperate after +the enervating atmosphere of the sea-shore. To this I objected +that the little sea air we had inhaled at Mrs. Shaw's basement +dining-room and in the subway need cause us no anxiety. And so, +along these lines, throughout the sleepless, sultry nights of June, +July, and August, we fought it out. There was not a summer resort +within five hundred miles of New York City we did not consider. +From the information bureaus and passenger agents of every railroad +leaving New York, Kinney procured a library of timetables, maps, +folders, and pamphlets, illustrated with the most attractive +pictures of summer hotels, golf links, tennis courts, and boat- +houses. For two months he carried on a correspondence with the +proprietors of these hotels; and in comparing the different prices +they asked him for suites of rooms and sun parlors derived constant +satisfaction. + +"The Outlook House," he would announce, "wants twenty-four dollars +a day for bedroom, parlor, and private bath. While for the same +accommodations the Carteret Arms asks only twenty. But the +Carteret has no tennis court; and then again, the Outlook has no +garage, nor are dogs allowed in the bedrooms." + +As Kinney could not play lawn tennis, and as neither of us owned an +automobile or a dog, or twenty-four dollars, these details to me +seemed superfluous, but there was no health in pointing that out to +Kinney. Because, as he himself says, he has so vivid an +imagination that what he lacks he can "make believe" he has, and +the pleasure of possession is his. + +Kinney gives a great deal of thought to his clothes, and the +question of what he should wear on his vacation was upon his mind. +When I said I thought it was nothing to worry about, he snorted +indignantly. "YOU wouldn't!" he said. "If I'D been brought up in +a catboat, and had a tan like a red Indian, and hair like a +Broadway blonde, I wouldn't worry either. Mrs. Shaw says you look +exactly like a British peer in disguise." I had never seen a +British peer, with or without his disguise, and I admit I was +interested. + +"Why are the girls in this house," demanded Kinney, "always running +to your room to borrow matches? Because they admire your CLOTHES? +If they're crazy about clothes, why don't they come to ME for +matches?" + +"You are always out at night," I said. + +"You know that's not the answer," he protested. "Why do the type- +writer girls at the office always go to YOU to sharpen their +pencils and tell them how to spell the hard words? Why do the +girls in the lunch-rooms serve you first? Because they're +hypnotized by your clothes? Is THAT it?" + +"Do they?" I asked; "I hadn't noticed." + +Kinney snorted and tossed up his arms. "He hadn't noticed!" he +kept repeating. "He hadn't noticed!" For his vacation Kinney +bought a second-hand suit-case. It was covered with labels of +hotels in France and Switzerland. + +"Joe," I said, "if you carry that bag you will be a walking +falsehood." + +Kinney's name is Joseph Forbes Kinney; he dropped the Joseph +because he said it did not appear often enough in the Social +Register, and could be found only in the Old Testament, and he has +asked me to call him Forbes. Having first known him as "Joe," I +occasionally forget. + +"My name is NOT Joe," he said sternly, "and I have as much right to +carry a second-hand bag as a new one. The bag says IT has been to +Europe. It does not say that I have been there." + +"But, you probably will," I pointed out, "and then some one who has +really visited those places--" + +"Listen!" commanded Kinney. "If you want adventures you must be +somebody of importance. No one will go shares in an adventure with +Joe Kinney, a twenty-dollar-a-week clerk, the human adding machine, +the hall-room boy. But Forbes Kinney, Esq., with a bag from +Europe, and a Harvard ribbon round his hat--" + +"Is that a Harvard ribbon round your hat?" I asked. + +"It is!" declared Kinney; "and I have a Yale ribbon, and a Turf +Club ribbon, too. They come on hooks, and you hook 'em on to match +your clothes, or the company you keep. And, what's more," he +continued, with some heat, "I've borrowed a tennis racket and a +golf bag full of sticks, and you take care you don't give me away." + +"I see," I returned, "that you are going to get us into a lot of +trouble." + +"I was thinking," said Kinney, looking at me rather doubtfully, "it +might help a lot if for the first week you acted as my secretary, +and during the second week I was your secretary." + +Sometimes, when Mr. Joyce goes on a business trip, he takes me with +him as his private stenographer, and the change from office work is +very pleasant; but I could not see why I should spend one week of +my holiday writing letters for Kinney. + +"You wouldn't write any letters," he explained. "But if I could +tell people you were my private secretary, it would naturally give +me a certain importance." + +"If it will make you any happier," I said, "you can tell people I +am a British peer in disguise." + +"There is no use in being nasty about it," protested Kinney. "I am +only trying to show you a way that would lead to adventure." + +"It surely would!" I assented. "It would lead us to jail." + +The last week in August came, and, as to where we were to go we +still were undecided, I suggested we leave it to chance. + +"The first thing," I pointed out, "is to get away from this awful +city. The second thing is to get away cheaply. Let us write down +the names of the summer resorts to which we can travel by rail or +by boat for two dollars and put them in a hat. The name of the +place we draw will be the one for which we start Saturday +afternoon. The idea," I urged, "is in itself full of adventure." + +Kinney agreed, but reluctantly. What chiefly disturbed him was the +thought that the places near New York to which one could travel for +so little money were not likely to be fashionable. + +"I have a terrible fear," he declared, "that, with this limit of +yours, we will wake up in Asbury Park." + +Friday night came and found us prepared for departure, and at +midnight we held our lottery. In a pillow-case we placed twenty +slips of paper, on each of which was written the name of a summer +resort. Ten of these places were selected by Kinney, and ten by +myself. Kinney dramatically rolled up his sleeve, and, plunging +his bared arm into our grab-bag, drew out a slip of paper and read +aloud: "New Bedford, via New Bedford Steamboat Line." The choice +was one of mine. + +"New Bedford!" shouted Kinney. His tone expressed the keenest +disappointment. "It's a mill town!" he exclaimed. "It's full of +cotton mills." + +"That may be," I protested. "But it's also a most picturesque old +seaport, one of the oldest in America. You can see whaling vessels +at the wharfs there, and wooden figure-heads, and harpoons--" + +"Is this an expedition to dig up buried cities," interrupted +Kinney, "or a pleasure trip? I don't WANT to see harpoons! I +wouldn't know a harpoon if you stuck one into me. I prefer to see +hatpins." + +The Patience did not sail until six o'clock, but we were so anxious +to put New York behind us that at five we were on board. Our cabin +was an outside one with two berths. After placing our suit-cases +in it, we collected camp-chairs and settled ourselves in a cool +place on the boat deck. Kinney had bought all the afternoon +papers, and, as later I had reason to remember, was greatly +interested over the fact that the young Earl of Ivy had at last +arrived in this country. For some weeks the papers had been giving +more space than seemed necessary to that young Irishman and to the +young lady he was coming over to marry. There had been pictures of +his different country houses, pictures of himself; in uniform, in +the robes he wore at the coronation, on a polo pony, as Master of +Fox-hounds. And there had been pictures of Miss Aldrich, and of +HER country places at Newport and on the Hudson. From the +afternoon papers Kinney learned that, having sailed under his +family name of Meehan, the young man and Lady Moya, his sister, had +that morning landed in New York, but before the reporters had +discovered them, had escaped from the wharf and disappeared. + +"'Inquiries at the different hotels,'" read Kinney impressively, +"'failed to establish the whereabouts of his lordship and Lady +Moya, and it is believed they at once left by train for Newport.'" + +With awe Kinney pointed at the red funnels of the Mauretania. + +"There is the boat that brought them to America," he said. "I +see," he added, "that in this picture of him playing golf he wears +one of those knit jackets the Eiselbaum has just marked down to +three dollars and seventy-five cents. I wish--" he added +regretfully. + +"You can get one at New Bedford," I suggested. + +"I wish," he continued, "we had gone to Newport. All of our BEST +people will be there for the wedding. It is the most important +social event of the season. You might almost call it an alliance." + +I went forward to watch them take on the freight, and Kinney +stationed himself at the rail above the passengers gangway where he +could see the other passengers arrive. He had dressed himself with +much care, and was wearing his Yale hat-band, but when a very +smart-looking youth came up the gangplank wearing a Harvard ribbon, +Kinney hastily retired to our cabin and returned with one like it. +A few minutes later I found him and the young man seated in camp- +chairs side by side engaged in a conversation in which Kinney +seemed to bear the greater part. Indeed, to what Kinney was saying +the young man paid not the slightest attention. Instead, his eyes +were fastened on the gangplank below, and when a young man of his +own age, accompanied by a girl in a dress of rough tweed, appeared +upon it, he leaped from his seat. Then with a conscious look at +Kinney, sank back. + +The girl in the tweed suit was sufficiently beautiful to cause any +man to rise and to remain standing. She was the most beautiful +girl I had ever seen. She had gray eyes and hair like golden-rod, +worn in a fashion with which I was not familiar, and her face was +so lovely that in my surprise at the sight of it, I felt a sudden +catch at my throat, and my heart stopped with awe, and wonder, and +gratitude. + +After a brief moment the young man in the real Harvard hat-band +rose restlessly and, with a nod to Kinney, went below. I also rose +and followed him. I had an uncontrollable desire to again look at +the girl with the golden-rod hair. I did not mean that she should +see me. Never before had I done such a thing. But never before +had I seen any one who had moved me so strangely. Seeking her, I +walked the length of the main saloon and back again, but could not +find her. The delay gave me time to see that my conduct was +impertinent. The very fact that she was so lovely to look upon +should have been her protection. It afforded me no excuse to +follow and spy upon her. With this thought, I hastily returned to +the upper deck to bury myself in my book. If it did not serve to +keep my mind from the young lady, at least I would prevent my eyes +from causing her annoyance. + +I was about to take the chair that the young man had left vacant +when Kinney objected. + +"He was very much interested in our conversation," Kinney said, +"and he may return." + +I had not noticed any eagerness on the part of the young man to +talk to Kinney or to listen to him, but I did not sit down. + +"I should not be surprised a bit," said Kinney, "if that young man +is no end of a swell. He is a Harvard man, and his manner was most +polite. That," explained Kinney, "is one way you can always tell a +real swell. They're not high and mighty with you. Their social +position is so secure that they can do as they like. For instance, +did you notice that he smoked a pipe?" + +I said I had not noticed it. + +For his holiday Kinney had purchased a box of cigars of a quality +more expensive than those he can usually afford. He was smoking +one of them at the moment, and, as it grew less, had been carefully +moving the gold band with which it was encircled from the lighted +end. But as he spoke he regarded it apparently with distaste, and +then dropped it overboard. + +"Keep my chair," he said, rising. "I am going to my cabin to get +my pipe." I sat down and fastened my eyes upon my book; but +neither did I understand what I was reading nor see the printed +page. Instead, before my eyes, confusing and blinding me, was the +lovely, radiant face of the beautiful lady. In perplexity I looked +up, and found her standing not two feet from me. Something pulled +me out of my chair. Something made me move it toward her. I +lifted my hat and backed away. But the eyes of the lovely lady +halted me. + +To my perplexity, her face expressed both surprise and pleasure. +It was as though either she thought she knew me, or that I reminded +her of some man she did know. Were the latter the case, he must +have been a friend, for the way in which she looked at me was kind. +And there was, besides, the expression of surprise and as though +something she saw pleased her. Maybe it was the quickness with +which I had offered my chair. Still looking at me, she pointed to +one of the sky-scrapers. + +"Could you tell me," she asked, "the name of that building?" Had +her question not proved it, her voice would have told me not only +that she was a stranger, but that she was Irish. It was +particularly soft, low, and vibrant. It made the commonplace +question she asked sound as though she had sung it. I told her the +name of the building, and that farther uptown, as she would see +when we moved into midstream, there was another still taller. She +listened, regarding me brightly, as though interested; but before +her I was embarrassed, and, fearing I intruded, I again made a +movement to go away. With another question she stopped me. I +could see no reason for her doing so, but it was almost as though +she had asked the question only to detain me. + +"What is that odd boat," she said, "pumping water into the river?" + +I explained that it was a fire-boat testing her hose-lines, and +then as we moved into the channel I gained courage, and found +myself pointing out the Statue of Liberty, Governors Island, and +the Brooklyn Bridge. The fact that it was a stranger who was +talking did not seem to disturb her. I cannot tell how she +conveyed the idea, but I soon felt that she felt, no matter what +unconventional thing she chose to do, people would not be rude, or +misunderstand. + +I considered telling her my name. At first it seemed that that +would be more polite. Then I saw to do so would be forcing myself +upon her, that she was interested in me only as a guide to New York +Harbor. + +When we passed the Brooklyn Navy Yard I talked so much and so +eagerly of the battle-ships at anchor there that the lady must have +thought I had followed the sea, for she asked: "Are you a +sailorman?" + +It was the first question that was in any way personal. + +"I used to sail a catboat," I said. + +My answer seemed to puzzle her, and she frowned. Then she laughed +delightedly, like one having made a discovery. + +"You don't say 'sailorman,'" she said. "What do you ask, over +here, when you want to know if a man is in the navy?" + +She spoke as though we were talking a different language. + +"We ask if he is in the navy," I answered. + +She laughed again at that, quite as though I had said something +clever. + +"And you are not?" + +"No," I said, "I am in Joyce & Carboy's office. I am a +stenographer." + +Again my answer seemed both to puzzle and to surprise her. She +regarded me doubtfully. I could see that she thought, for some +reason, I was misleading her. + +"In an office?" she repeated. Then, as though she had caught me, +she said: "How do you keep so fit?" She asked the question +directly, as a man would have asked it, and as she spoke I was +conscious that her eyes were measuring me and my shoulders, as +though she were wondering to what weight I could strip. + +"It's only lately I've worked in an office," I said. "Before that +I always worked out-of-doors; oystering and clamming and, in the +fall, scalloping. And in the summer I played ball on a hotel +nine." + +I saw that to the beautiful lady my explanation carried no meaning +whatsoever, but before I could explain, the young man with whom she +had come on board walked toward us. + +Neither did he appear to find in her talking to a stranger anything +embarrassing. He halted and smiled. His smile was pleasant, but +entirely vague. In the few minutes I was with him, I learned that +it was no sign that he was secretly pleased. It was merely his +expression. It was as though a photographer had said: "Smile, +please," and he had smiled. + +When he joined us, out of deference to the young lady I raised my +hat, but the youth did not seem to think that outward show of +respect was necessary, and kept his hands in his pockets. Neither +did he cease smoking. His first remark to the lovely lady somewhat +startled me. + +"Have you got a brass bed in your room?" he asked. The beautiful +lady said she had. + +"So've I," said the young man. "They do you rather well, don't +they? And it's only three dollars. How much is that?" + +"Four times three would be twelve," said the lady. "Twelve +shillings." + +The young man was smoking a cigarette in a long amber cigarette- +holder. I never had seen one so long. He examined the end of his +cigarette-holder, and, apparently surprised and relieved at finding +a cigarette there, again smiled contentedly. + +The lovely lady pointed at the marble shaft rising above Madison +Square. + +"That is the tallest sky-scraper," she said, "in New York." I had +just informed her of that fact. The young man smiled as though he +were being introduced to the building, but exhibited no interest. + +"IS it?" he remarked. His tone seemed to show that had she said, +"That is a rabbit," he would have been equally gratified. + +"Some day," he stated, with the same startling abruptness with +which he had made his first remark, "our war-ships will lift the +roofs off those sky-scrapers." + +The remark struck me in the wrong place. It was unnecessary. +Already I resented the manner of the young man toward the lovely +lady. It seemed to me lacking in courtesy. He knew her, and yet +treated her with no deference, while I, a stranger, felt so +grateful to her for being what I knew one with such a face must be, +that I could have knelt at her feet. So I rather resented the +remark. + +"If the war-ships you send over here," I said doubtfully, "aren't +more successful in lifting things than your yachts, you'd better +keep them at home and save coal!" + +Seldom have I made so long a speech or so rude a speech, and as +soon as I had spoken, on account of the lovely lady, I was sorry. + +But after a pause of half a second she laughed delightedly. + +"I see," she cried, as though it were a sort of a game. "He means +Lipton! We can't lift the cup, we can't lift the roofs. Don't you +see, Stumps!" she urged. In spite of my rude remark, the young man +she called Stumps had continued to smile happily. Now his +expression changed to one of discomfort and utter gloom, and then +broke out into a radiant smile. + +"I say!" he cried. "That's awfully good: 'If your war-ships aren't +any better at lifting things--' Oh, I say, really," he protested, +"that's awfully good." He seemed to be afraid I would not +appreciate the rare excellence of my speech. "You know, really," +he pleaded, "it is AWFULLY good!" + +We were interrupted by the sudden appearance, in opposite +directions, of Kinney and the young man with the real hat-band. +Both were excited and disturbed. At the sight of the young man, +Stumps turned appealingly to the golden-rod girl. He groaned +aloud, and his expression was that of a boy who had been caught +playing truant. + +"Oh, Lord!" he exclaimed, "what's he huffy about now? He TOLD me I +could come on deck as soon as we started." + +The girl turned upon me a sweet and lovely smile and nodded. Then, +with Stumps at her side, she moved to meet the young man. When he +saw them coming he halted, and, when they joined him, began talking +earnestly, almost angrily. As he did so, much to my bewilderment, +he glared at me. At the same moment Kinney grabbed me by the arm. + +"Come below!" he commanded. His tone was hoarse and thrilling with +excitement. + +"Our adventures," he whispered, "have begun!" + + +II + + +I felt, for me, adventures had already begun, for my meeting with +the beautiful lady was the event of my life, and though Kinney and +I had agreed to share our adventures, of this one I knew I could +not even speak to him. I wanted to be alone, where I could delight +in it, where I could go over what she had said; what I had said. I +would share it with no one. It was too wonderful, too sacred. But +Kinney would not be denied. He led me to our cabin and locked the +door. + +"I am sorry," he began, "but this adventure is one I cannot share +with you." The remark was so in keeping with my own thoughts that +with sudden unhappy doubt I wondered if Kinney, too, had felt the +charm of the beautiful lady. But he quickly undeceived me. + +"I have been doing a little detective work," he said. His voice +was low and sepulchral. "And I have come upon a real adventure. +There are reasons why I cannot share it with you, but as it +develops you can follow it. About half an hour ago," he explained, +"I came here to get my pipe. The window was open. The lattice was +only partly closed. Outside was that young man from Harvard who +tried to make my acquaintance, and the young Englishman who came on +board with that blonde." Kinney suddenly interrupted himself. +"You were talking to her just now," he said. I hated to hear him +speak of the Irish lady as "that blonde." I hated to hear him +speak of her at all. So, to shut him off, I answered briefly: "She +asked me about the Singer Building." + +"I see," said Kinney. "Well, these two men were just outside my +window, and, while I was searching for my pipe, I heard the +American speaking. He was very excited and angry. 'I tell you,' +he said, 'every boat and railroad station is watched. You won't be +safe till we get away from New York. You must go to your cabin, +and STAY there.' And the other one answered: 'I am sick of hiding +and dodging.'" + +Kinney paused dramatically and frowned. + +"Well," I asked, "what of it?" + +"What of it?" he cried. He exclaimed aloud with pity and +impatience. + +"No wonder," he cried, "you never have adventures. Why, it's plain +as print. They are criminals escaping. The Englishman certainly +is escaping." + +I was concerned only for the lovely lady, but I asked: "You mean +the Irishman called Stumps?" + +"Stumps!" exclaimed Kinney. "What a strange name. Too strange to +be true. It's an alias!" I was incensed that Kinney should charge +the friends of the lovely lady with being criminals. Had it been +any one else I would have at once resented it, but to be angry with +Kinney is difficult. I could not help but remember that he is the +slave of his own imagination. It plays tricks and runs away with +him. And if it leads him to believe innocent people are criminals, +it also leads him to believe that every woman in the Subway to whom +he gives his seat is a great lady, a leader of society on her way +to work in the slums. + +"Joe!" I protested. "Those men aren't criminals. I talked to that +Irishman, and he hasn't sense enough to be a criminal." + +"The railroads are watched," repeated Kinney. "Do HONEST men care +a darn whether the railroad is watched or not? Do you care? Do I +care? And did you notice how angry the American got when he found +Stumps talking with you?" + +I had noticed it; and I also recalled the fact that Stumps had said +to the lovely lady: "He told me I could come on deck as soon as we +started." + +The words seemed to bear out what Kinney claimed he had overheard. +But not wishing to encourage him, of what I had heard I said +nothing. + +"He may be dodging a summons," I suggested. "He is wanted, +probably, only as a witness. It might be a civil suit, or his +chauffeur may have hit somebody." + +Kinney shook his head sadly. + +"Excuse me," he said, "but I fear you lack imagination. Those men +are rascals, dangerous rascals, and the woman is their accomplice. +What they have done I don't know, but I have already learned enough +to arrest them as suspicious characters. Listen! Each of them has +a separate state-room forward. The window of the American's room +was open, and his suit-case was on the bed. On it were the +initials H. P. A. The stateroom is number twenty-four, but when I +examined the purser's list, pretending I wished to find out if a +friend of mine was on board, I found that the man in twenty-four +had given his name as James Preston. Now," he demanded, "why +should one of them hide under an alias and the other be afraid to +show himself until we leave the wharf?" He did not wait for my +answer. "I have been talking to Mr. H. P. A., ALIAS Preston," he +continued. "I pretended I was a person of some importance. I +hinted I was rich. My object," Kinney added hastily, "was to +encourage him to try some of his tricks on ME; to try to rob ME; so +that I could obtain evidence. I also," he went on, with some +embarrassment, "told him that you, too, were wealthy and of some +importance." + +I thought of the lovely lady, and I felt myself blushing +indignantly. + +"You did very wrong," I cried; "you had no right! You may involve +us both most unpleasantly." + +"You are not involved in any way," protested Kinney. "As soon as +we reach New Bedford you can slip on shore and wait for me at the +hotel. When I've finished with these gentlemen, I'll join you." + +"Finished with them!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean to do to +them?" + +"Arrest them!" cried Kinney sternly, "as soon as they step upon the +wharf!" + +"You can't do it!" I gasped. + +"I HAVE done it!" answered Kinney. "It's good as done. I have +notified the chief of police at New Bedford," he declared proudly, +"to meet me at the wharf. I used the wireless. Here is my +message." + +From his pocket he produced a paper and, with great importance, +read aloud: "Meet me at wharf on arrival steamer Patience. Two +well-known criminals on board escaping New York police. Will +personally lay charges against them.--Forbes Kinney." + +As soon as I could recover from my surprise, I made violent +protest. I pointed out to Kinney that his conduct was outrageous, +that in making such serious charges, on such evidence, he would lay +himself open to punishment. + +He was not in the least dismayed. + +"I take it then," he said importantly, "that you do not wish to +appear against them?" + +"I don't wish to appear in it at all!" I cried. "You've no right +to annoy that young lady. You must wire the police you are +mistaken." + +"I have no desire to arrest the woman," said Kinney stiffly. "In +my message I did not mention HER. If you want an adventure of your +own, you might help her to escape while I arrest her accomplices." + +"I object," I cried, "to your applying the word 'accomplice' to +that young lady. And suppose they ARE criminals," I demanded, "how +will arresting them help you?" + +Kinney's eyes flashed with excitement. + +"Think of the newspapers," he cried; "they'll be full of it!" +Already in imagination he saw the headlines. "'A Clever Haul!'" he +quoted. "'Noted band of crooks elude New York police, but are +captured by Forbes Kinney.'" He sighed contentedly. "And they'll +probably print my picture, too," he added. + +I knew I should be angry with him, but instead I could only feel +sorry. I have known Kinney for a year, and I have learned that his +"make-believe" is always innocent. I suppose that he is what is +called a snob, but with him snobbishness is not an unpleasant +weakness. In his case it takes the form of thinking that people +who have certain things he does not possess are better than +himself; and that, therefore, they must be worth knowing, and he +tries to make their acquaintance. But he does not think that he +himself is better than any one. His life is very bare and narrow. +In consequence, on many things he places false values. As, for +example, his desire to see his name in the newspapers even as an +amateur detective. So, while I was indignant I also was sorry. + +"Joe," I said, "you're going to get yourself into an awful lot of +trouble, and though I am not in this adventure, you know if I can +help you I will." + +He thanked me and we went to the dining-saloon. There, at a table +near ours, we saw the lovely lady and Stumps and the American. She +again smiled at me, but this time, so it seemed, a little +doubtfully. + +In the mind of the American, on the contrary, there was no doubt. +He glared both at Kinney and myself, as though he would like to +boil us in oil. + +After dinner, in spite of my protests, Kinney set forth to +interview him and, as he described it, to "lead him on" to commit +himself. I feared Kinney was much more likely to commit himself +than the other, and when I saw them seated together I watched from +a distance with much anxiety. + +An hour later, while I was alone, a steward told me the purser +would like to see me. I went to his office, and found gathered +there Stumps, his American friend, the night watchman of the boat, +and the purser. As though inviting him to speak, the purser nodded +to the American. That gentleman addressed me in an excited and +belligerent manner. + +"My name is Aldrich," he said; "I want to know what YOUR name is?" + +I did not quite like his tone, nor did I like being summoned to the +purser's office to be questioned by a stranger. + +"Why?" I asked. + +"Because," said Aldrich, "it seems you have SEVERAL names. As one +of them belongs to THIS gentleman"--he pointed at Stumps--"he wants +to know why you are using it." + +I looked at Stumps and he greeted me with the vague and genial +smile that was habitual to him, but on being caught in the act by +Aldrich he hurriedly frowned. + +"I have never used any name but my own," I said; "and," I added +pleasantly, "if I were choosing a name I wouldn't choose 'Stumps.'" + +Aldrich fairly gasped. + +"His name is not Stumps!" he cried indignantly. "He is the Earl of +Ivy!" + +He evidently expected me to be surprised at this, and I WAS +surprised. I stared at the much-advertised young Irishman with +interest. + +Aldrich misunderstood my silence, and in a triumphant tone, which +was far from pleasant, continued: "So you see," he sneered, "when +you chose to pass yourself off as Ivy you should have picked out +another boat." + +The thing was too absurd for me to be angry, and I demanded with +patience: "But why should I pass myself off as Lord Ivy?" + +"That's what we intend to find out," snapped Aldrich. "Anyway, +we've stopped your game for to-night, and to-morrow you can explain +to the police! Your pal," he taunted, "has told every one on this +boat that you are Lord Ivy, and he's told me lies enough about +HIMSELF to prove HE'S an impostor, too!" + +I saw what had happened, and that if I were to protect poor Kinney +I must not, as I felt inclined, use my fists, but my head. I +laughed with apparent unconcern, and turned to the purser. + +"Oh, that's it, is it?" I cried. "I might have known it was +Kinney; he's always playing practical jokes on me." I turned to +Aldrich. "My friend has been playing a joke on you, too," I said. +"He didn't know who you were, but he saw you were an Anglomaniac, +and he's been having fun with you!" + +"Has he?" roared Aldrich. He reached down into his pocket and +pulled out a piece of paper. "This," he cried, shaking it at me, +"is a copy of a wireless that I've just sent to the chief of police +at New Bedford." + +With great satisfaction he read it in a loud and threatening voice: +"Two impostors on this boat representing themselves to be Lord Ivy, +my future brother-in-law, and his secretary. Lord Ivy himself on +board. Send police to meet boat. We will make charges.--Henry +Philip Aldrich." + +It occurred to me that after receiving two such sensational +telegrams, and getting out of bed to meet the boat at six in the +morning, the chief of police would be in a state of mind to arrest +almost anybody, and that his choice would certainly fall on Kinney +and myself. It was ridiculous, but it also was likely to prove +extremely humiliating. So I said, speaking to Lord Ivy: "There's +been a mistake all around; send for Mr. Kinney and I will explain +it to you." Lord Ivy, who was looking extremely bored, smiled and +nodded, but young Aldrich laughed ironically. + +"Mr. Kinney is in his state-room," he said, "with a steward +guarding the door and window. You can explain to-morrow to the +police." + +I rounded indignantly upon the purser. + +"Are you keeping Mr. Kinney a prisoner in his state-room?" I +demanded. "If you are--" + +"He doesn't have to stay there," protested the purser sulkily. +"When he found the stewards were following him he went to his +cabin." + +"I will see him at once," I said. "And if I catch any of your +stewards following ME, I'll drop them overboard." + +No one tried to stop me--indeed, knowing I could not escape, they +seemed pleased at my departure, and I went to my cabin. + +Kinney, seated on the edge of the berth, greeted me with a hollow +groan. His expression was one of utter misery. As though begging +me not to be angry, he threw out his arms appealingly. + +"How the devil!" he began, "was I to know that a little red-headed +shrimp like that was the Earl of Ivy? And that that tall blonde +girl," he added indignantly, "that I thought was an accomplice, is +Lady Moya, his sister?" + +"What happened?" I asked. + +Kinney was wearing his hat. He took it off and hurled it to the +floor. + +"It was that damned hat!" he cried. "It's a Harvard ribbon, all +right, but only men on the crew can wear it! How was I to know +THAT? I saw Aldrich looking at it in a puzzled way, and when he +said, 'I see you are on the crew,' I guessed what it meant, and +said I was on last year's crew. Unfortunately HE was on last +year's crew! That's what made him suspect me, and after dinner he +put me through a third degree. I must have given the wrong +answers, for suddenly he jumped up and called me a swindler and an +impostor. I got back by telling him he was a crook and that I was +a detective, and that I had sent a wireless to have him arrested at +New Bedford. He challenged me to prove I was a detective, and, of +course, I couldn't, and he called up two stewards and told them to +watch me while he went after the purser. I didn't fancy being +watched, so I came here." + +"When did you tell him I was the Earl of Ivy?" + +Kinney ran his fingers through his hair and groaned dismally. + +"That was before the boat started," he said; "it was only a joke. +He didn't seem to be interested in my conversation, so I thought +I'd liven it up a bit by saying I was a friend of Lord Ivy's. And +you happened to pass, and I happened to remember Mrs. Shaw saying +you looked like a British peer, so I said: 'That is my friend Lord +Ivy.' I said I was your secretary, and he seemed greatly +interested, and--" Kinney added dismally, "I talked too much. I am +SO sorry," he begged. "It's going to be awful for you!" His eyes +suddenly lit with hope. "Unless," he whispered. "we can escape!" + +The same thought was in my mind, but the idea was absurd, and +impracticable. I knew there was no escape. I knew we were +sentenced at sunrise to a most humiliating and disgraceful +experience. The newspapers would regard anything that concerned +Lord Ivy as news. In my turn I also saw the hideous head-lines. +What would my father and mother at Fairport think; what would my +old friends there think; and, what was of even greater importance, +how would Joyce & Carboy act? What chance was there left me, after +I had been arrested as an impostor, to become a stenographer in the +law courts--in time, a member of the bar? But I found that what, +for the moment, distressed me most was that the lovely lady would +consider me a knave or a fool. The thought made me exclaim with +exasperation. Had it been possible to abandon Kinney, I would have +dropped overboard and made for shore. The night was warm and +foggy, and the short journey to land, to one who had been brought +up like a duck, meant nothing more than a wetting. But I did not +see how I could desert Kinney. + +"Can you swim?" I asked + +"Of course not!" he answered gloomily; "and, besides," he added, +"our names are on our suitcases. We couldn't take them with us, +and they'd find out who we are. If we could only steal a boat!" he +exclaimed eagerly--"one of those on the davits," he urged--"we +could put our suitcases in it and then, after every one is asleep, +we could lower it into the water." + +The smallest boat on board was certified to hold twenty-five +persons, and without waking the entire ship's company we could as +easily have moved the chart-room. This I pointed out. + +"Don't make objections!" Kinney cried petulantly. He was rapidly +recovering his spirits. The imminence of danger seemed to inspire +him. + +"Think!" he commanded. "Think of some way by which we can get off +this boat before she reaches New Bedford. We MUST! We must not be +arrested! It would be too awful!" He interrupted himself with an +excited exclamation. + +"I have it!" he whispered hoarsely: "I will ring in the fire-alarm! +The crew will run to quarters. The boats will be lowered. We will +cut one of them adrift. In the confusion--" + +What was to happen in the confusion that his imagination had +conjured up, I was not to know. For what actually happened was so +confused that of nothing am I quite certain. First, from the water +of the Sound, that was lapping pleasantly against the side, I heard +the voice of a man raised in terror. Then came a rush of feet, +oaths, and yells; then a shock that threw us to our knees, and a +crunching, ripping, and tearing roar like that made by the roof of +a burning building when it plunges to the cellar. + +And the next instant a large bowsprit entered our cabin window. +There was left me just space enough to wrench the door open, and +grabbing Kinney, who was still on his knees, I dragged him into the +alleyway. He scrambled upright and clasped his hands to his head. + +"Where's my hat?" he cried. + +I could hear the water pouring into the lower deck and sweeping the +freight and trunks before it. A horse in a box stall was squealing +like a human being, and many human beings were screaming and +shrieking like animals. My first intelligent thought was of the +lovely lady. I shook Kinney by the arm. The uproar was so great +that to make him hear I was forced to shout. "Where is Lord Ivy's +cabin?" I cried. "You said it's next to his sister's. Take me +there!" + +Kinney nodded, and ran down the corridor and into an alleyway on +which opened three cabins. The doors were ajar, and as I looked +into each I saw that the beds had not been touched, and that the +cabins were empty. I knew then that she was still on deck. I felt +that I must find her. We ran toward the companionway. + +"Women and children first!" Kinney was yelling. "Women and +children first!" As we raced down the slanting floor of the saloon +he kept repeating this mechanically. At that moment the electric +lights went out, and, except for the oil lamps, the ship was in +darkness. Many of the passengers had already gone to bed. These +now burst from the state-rooms in strange garments, carrying life- +preservers, hand-bags, their arms full of clothing. One man in one +hand clutched a sponge, in the other an umbrella. With this he +beat at those who blocked his flight. He hit a woman over the +head, and I hit him and he went down. Finding himself on his +knees, be began to pray volubly. + +When we reached the upper deck we pushed out of the crush at the +gangway and, to keep our footing, for there was a strong list to +port, clung to the big flag-staff at the stern. At each rail the +crew were swinging the boats over the side, and around each boat +was a crazy, fighting mob. Above our starboard rail towered the +foremast of a schooner. She had rammed us fair amidships, and in +her bows was a hole through which you could have rowed a boat. +Into this the water was rushing and sucking her down. She was +already settling at the stern. By the light of a swinging lantern +I saw three of her crew lift a yawl from her deck and lower it into +the water. Into it they hurled oars and a sail, and one of them +had already started to slide down the painter when the schooner +lurched drunkenly; and in a panic all three of the men ran forward +and leaped to our lower deck. The yawl, abandoned, swung idly +between the Patience and the schooner. Kinney, seeing what I saw, +grabbed me by the arm. + +"There!" he whispered, pointing; "there's our chance!" I saw that, +with safety, the yawl could hold a third person, and as to who the +third passenger would be I had already made up my mind. + +"Wait here!" I said. + +On the Patience there were many immigrants, only that afternoon +released from Ellis Island. They had swarmed into the life-boats +even before they were swung clear, and when the ship's officers +drove them off, the poor souls, not being able to understand, +believed they were being sacrificed for the safety of the other +passengers. So each was fighting, as he thought, for his life and +for the lives of his wife and children. At the edge of the +scrimmage I dragged out two women who had been knocked off their +feet and who were in danger of being trampled. But neither was the +woman I sought. In the half-darkness I saw one of the immigrants, +a girl with a 'kerchief on her head, struggling with her life-belt. +A stoker, as he raced past, seized it and made for the rail. In my +turn I took it from him, and he fought for it, shouting: + +"It's every man for himself now!" + +"All right," I said, for I was excited and angry, "look out for +YOURSELF then!" I hit him on the chin, and he let go of the life- +belt and dropped. + +I heard at my elbow a low, excited laugh, and a voice said: "Well +bowled! You never learned that in an office." I turned and saw +the lovely lady. I tossed the immigrant girl her life-belt, and as +though I had known Lady Moya all my life I took her by the hand and +dragged her after me down the deck. + +"You come with me!" I commanded. I found that I was trembling and +that a weight of anxiety of which I had not been conscious had been +lifted. I found I was still holding her hand and pressing it in my +own. "Thank God!" I said. "I thought I had lost you!" + +"Lost me!" repeated Lady Moya. But she made no comment. "I must +find my brother," she said. + +"You must come with me!" I ordered. "Go with Mr. Kinney to the +lower deck. I will bring that rowboat under the stern. You will +jump into it. + +"I cannot leave my brother!" said Lady Moya. + +Upon the word, as though shot from a cannon, the human whirlpool +that was sweeping the deck amidships cast out Stumps and hurled him +toward us. His sister gave a little cry of relief. Stumps +recovered his balance and shook himself like a dog that has been in +the water. + +"Thought I'd never get out of it alive!" he remarked complacently. +In the darkness I could not see his face, but I was sure he was +still vaguely smiling. "Worse than a foot-ball night!" he +exclaimed; "worse than Mafeking night!" + +His sister pointed to the yawl. + +"This gentleman is going to bring that boat here and take us away +in it," she told him. "We had better go when we can!" + +"Right ho!" assented Stumps cheerfully. "How about Phil? He's +just behind me." + +As he spoke, only a few yards from us a peevish voice pierced the +tumult. + +"I tell you," it cried, "you must find Lord Ivy! If Lord Ivy--" + +A voice with a strong and brutal American accent yelled in answer: +"To hell with Lord Ivy!" + +Lady Moya chuckled. + +"Get to the lower deck!" I commanded. "I am going for the yawl." + +As I slipped my leg over the rail I heard Lord Ivy say: "I'll find +Phil and meet you." + +I dropped and caught the rail of the deck below, and, hanging from +it, shoved with my knees and fell into the water. Two strokes +brought me to the yawl, and, scrambling into her and casting her +off, I paddled back to the steamer. As I lay under the stern I +heard from the lower deck the voice of Kinney raised importantly. + +"Ladies first!" he cried. "Her ladyship first, I mean," he +corrected. Even on leaving what he believed to be a sinking ship, +Kinney could not forget his manners. But Mr. Aldrich had evidently +forgotten his. I heard him shout indignantly: "I'll be damned if I +do!" + +The voice of Lady Moya laughed. + +"You'll be drowned if you don't!" she answered. I saw a black +shadow poised upon the rail. "Steady below there!" her voice +called, and the next moment, as lightly as a squirrel, she dropped +to the thwart and stumbled into my arms. + +The voice of Aldrich was again raised in anger. "I'd rather +drown!" he cried. + +Lord Ivy responded with unexpected spirit. + +"Well, then, drown! The water is warm and it's a pleasing death." + +At that, with a bump, he fell in a heap at my feet. + +"Easy, Kinney!" I shouted. "Don't swamp us!" + +"I'll be careful!" he called, and the next instant hit my shoulders +and I shook him off on top of Lord Ivy. + +"Get off my head!" shouted his lordship. + +Kinney apologized to every one profusely. Lady Moya raised her +voice. + +"For the last time, Phil," she called, "are you coming or are you +not?" + +"Not with those swindlers, I'm not!" he shouted. "I think you two +are mad! I prefer to drown!" + +There was an uncomfortable silence. My position was a difficult +one, and, not knowing what to say, I said nothing. + +"If one must drown!" exclaimed Lady Moya briskly, "I can't see it +matters who one drowns with." + +In his strangely explosive manner Lord Ivy shouted suddenly: "Phil, +you're a silly ass." + +"Push off!" commanded Lady Moya. + +I think, from her tone, the order was given more for the benefit of +Aldrich than for myself. Certainly it was effective, for on the +instant there was a heavy splash. Lord Ivy sniffed scornfully and +manifested no interest. + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, "he prefers to drown!" + +Sputtering and gasping, Aldrich rose out of the water, and, while +we balanced the boat, climbed over the side. + +"Understand!" he cried even while he was still gasping, "I am here +under protest. I am here to protect you and Stumps. I am under +obligation to no one. I'm--" + +"Can you row?" I asked. + +"Why don't you ask your pal?" he demanded savagely; "he rowed on +last year's crew." + +"Phil!" cried Lady Moya. Her voice suggested a temper I had not +suspected. "You will row or you can get out and walk! Take the +oars," she commanded, "and be civil!" Lady Moya, with the tiller +in her hand, sat in the stern; Stumps, with Kinney huddled at his +knees, was stowed away forward. I took the stroke and Aldrich the +bow oars. + +"We will make for the Connecticut shore," I said, and pulled from +under the stern of the Patience. + +In a few minutes we had lost all sight and, except for her whistle, +all sound of her; and we ourselves were lost in the fog. There was +another eloquent and embarrassing silence. Unless, in the panic, +they trampled upon each other, I had no real fear for the safety of +those on board the steamer. Before we had abandoned her I had +heard the wireless frantically sputtering the "standby" call, and I +was certain that already the big boats of the Fall River, +Providence, and Joy lines, and launches from every wireless station +between Bridgeport and Newport, were making toward her. But the +margin of safety, which to my thinking was broad enough for all the +other passengers, for the lovely lady was in no way sufficient. +That mob-swept deck was no place for her. I was happy that, on her +account, I had not waited for a possible rescue. In the yawl she +was safe. The water was smooth, and the Connecticut shore was, I +judged, not more than three miles distant. In an hour, unless the +fog confused us, I felt sure the lovely lady would again walk +safely upon dry land. Selfishly, on Kinney's account and my own, I +was delighted to find myself free of the steamer, and from any +chance of her landing us where police waited with open arms. The +avenging angel in the person of Aldrich was still near us, so near +that I could hear the water dripping from his clothes, but his +power to harm was gone. I was congratulating myself on this when +suddenly he undeceived me. Apparently he had been considering his +position toward Kinney and myself, and, having arrived at a +conclusion, was anxious to announce it. + +"I wish to repeat," he exclaimed suddenly, "that I'm under +obligations to nobody. Just because my friends," he went on +defiantly, "choose to trust themselves with persons who ought to be +in jail, I can't desert them. It's all the more reason why I +SHOULDN'T desert them. That's why I'm here! And I want it +understood as soon as I get on shore I'm going to a police station +and have those persons arrested." + + +Rising out of the fog that had rendered each of us invisible to the +other, his words sounded fantastic and unreal. In the dripping +silence, broken only by hoarse warnings that came from no +direction, and within the mind of each the conviction that we were +lost, police stations did not immediately concern us. So no one +spoke, and in the fog the words died away and were drowned. But I +was glad he had spoken. At least I was forewarned. I now knew +that I had not escaped, that Kinney and I were still in danger. I +determined that so far as it lay with me, our yawl would be beached +at that point on the coast of Connecticut farthest removed, not +only from police stations, but from all human habitation. + +As soon as we were out of hearing of the Patience and her whistle, +we completely lost our bearings. It may be that Lady Moya was not +a skilled coxswain, or it may be that Aldrich understands a racing +scull better than a yawl, and pulled too heavily on his right, but +whatever the cause we soon were hopelessly lost. In this +predicament we were not alone. The night was filled with fog- +horns, whistles, bells, and the throb of engines, but we never were +near enough to hail the vessels from which the sounds came, and +when we rowed toward them they invariably sank into silence. After +two hours Stumps and Kinney insisted on taking a turn at the oars, +and Lady Moya moved to the bow. We gave her our coats, and, making +cushions of these, she announced that she was going to sleep. +Whether she slept or not, I do not know, but she remained silent. +For three more dreary hours we took turns at the oars or dozed at +the bottom of the boat while we continued aimlessly to drift upon +the face of the waters. It was now five o'clock, and the fog had +so far lightened that we could see each other and a stretch of open +water. At intervals the fog-horns of vessels passing us, but +hidden from us, tormented Aldrich to a state of extreme +exasperation. He hailed them with frantic shrieks and shouts, and +Stumps and the Lady Moya shouted with him. I fear Kinney and +myself did not contribute any great volume of sound to the general +chorus. To be "rescued" was the last thing we desired. The yacht +or tug that would receive us on board would also put us on shore, +where the vindictive Aldrich would have us at his mercy. We +preferred the freedom of our yawl and the shelter of the fog. Our +silence was not lost upon Aldrich. For some time he had been +crouching in the bow, whispering indignantly to Lady Moya; now he +exclaimed aloud: + +"What did I tell you?" he cried contemptuously; "they got away in +this boat because they were afraid of ME, not because they were +afraid of being drowned. If they've nothing to be afraid of, why +are they so anxious to keep us drifting around all night in this +fog? Why don't they help us stop one of those tugs?" + +Lord Ivy exploded suddenly. + +"Rot!" he exclaimed. "If they're afraid of you, why did they ask +you to go with them?" + +"They didn't!" cried Aldrich, truthfully and triumphantly. "They +kidnapped you and Moya because they thought they could square +themselves with YOU. But they didn't want ME!" The issue had been +fairly stated, and no longer with self-respect could I remain +silent. + +"We don't want you now!" I said. "Can't you understand," I went on +with as much self-restraint as I could muster, "we are willing and +anxious to explain ourselves to Lord Ivy, or even to you, but we +don't want to explain to the police? My friend thought you and +Lord Ivy were crooks, escaping. You think WE are crooks, escaping. +You both--" + +Aldrich snorted contemptuously. + +"That's a likely story!" he cried. "No wonder you don't want to +tell THAT to the police!" + +From the bow came an exclamation, and Lady Moya rose to her feet. + +"Phil!" she said, "you bore me!" She picked her way across the +thwart to where Kinney sat at the stroke oar. + +"My brother and I often row together," she said; "I will take your +place." + +When she had seated herself we were so near that her eyes looked +directly into mine. Drawing in the oars, she leaned upon them and +smiled. + +"Now, then," she commanded, "tell us all about it." + +Before I could speak there came from behind her a sudden radiance, +and as though a curtain had been snatched aside, the fog flew +apart, and the sun, dripping, crimson, and gorgeous, sprang from +the waters. From the others there was a cry of wonder and delight, +and from Lord Ivy a shriek of incredulous laughter. + +Lady Moya clapped her hands joyfully and pointed past me. I turned +and looked. Directly behind me, not fifty feet from us, was a +shelving beach and a stone wharf, and above it a vine-covered +cottage, from the chimney of which smoke curled cheerily. Had the +yawl, while Lady Moya was taking the oars, NOT swung in a circle, +and had the sun NOT risen, in three minutes more we would have +bumped ourselves into the State of Connecticut. The cottage stood +on one horn of a tiny harbor. Beyond it, weather-beaten shingled +houses, sail-lofts, and wharfs stretched cosily in a half-circle. +Back of them rose splendid elms and the delicate spire of a church, +and from the unruffled surface of the harbor the masts of many +fishing-boats. Across the water, on a grass-grown point, a +whitewashed light-house blushed in the crimson glory of the sun. +Except for an oyster-man in his boat at the end of the wharf, and +the smoke from the chimney of his cottage, the little village +slept, the harbor slept. It was a picture of perfect content, +confidence, and peace. "Oh!" cried the Lady Moya, "how pretty, how +pretty!" + +Lord Ivy swung the bow about and raced toward the wharf. The +others stood up and cheered hysterically. + +At the sound and at the sight of us emerging so mysteriously from +the fog, the man in the fishing-boat raised himself to his full +height and stared as incredulously as though he beheld a mermaid. +He was an old man, but straight and tall, and the oysterman's boots +stretching to his hips made him appear even taller than he was. He +had a bristling white beard and his face was tanned to a fierce +copper color, but his eyes were blue and young and gentle. They +lit suddenly with excitement and sympathy. + +"Are you from the Patience?" he shouted. In chorus we answered +that we were, and Ivy pulled the yawl alongside the fisherman's +boat. + +But already the old man had turned and, making a megaphone of his +hands, was shouting to the cottage. + +"Mother!" he cried, "mother, here are folks from the wreck. Get +coffee and blankets and--and bacon--and eggs!" + +"May the Lord bless him!" exclaimed the Lady Moya devoutly. + +But Aldrich, excited and eager, pulled out a roll of bills and +shook them at the man. + +"Do you want to earn ten dollars?" he demanded; "then chase +yourself to the village and bring the constable." + +Lady Moya exclaimed bitterly, Lord Ivy swore, Kinney in despair +uttered a dismal howl and dropped his head in his hands. + +"It's no use, Mr. Aldrich," I said. Seated in the stern, the +others had hidden me from the fisherman. Now I stood up and he saw +me. I laid one hand on his, and pointed to the tin badge on his +suspender. + +"He is the village constable himself," I explained. I turned to +the lovely lady. "Lady Moya," I said, "I want to introduce you to +my father!" I pointed to the vine-covered cottage. "That's my +home," I said. I pointed to the sleeping town. "That," I told +her, "is the village of Fairport. Most of it belongs to father. +You are all very welcome." + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext The Make-Believe Man, by R. H. Davis + |