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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18443-8.txt b/18443-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..142d651 --- /dev/null +++ b/18443-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7291 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Parrot & Co., by Harold MacGrath, +Illustrated by Andre Castaigne + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Parrot & Co. + + +Author: Harold MacGrath + + + +Release Date: May 24, 2006 [eBook #18443] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARROT & CO.*** + + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 18443-h.htm or 18443-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/4/18443/18443-h/18443-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/4/18443/18443-h.zip) + + + + + +PARROT & CO. + +by + +HAROLD MacGRATH + +Author of +"The Best Man," "The Carpet from Bagdad," "The Place of Honeymoons" + +With Four Illustrations in Color + +By André Castaigne + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: The Game of Gossip.] + + + + +A. L. Burt Company +Publishers -------- New York +Copyright 1913 +The Bobbs-Merrill Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I EAST IS EAST + II A MAN WITH A PAST + III THE WEAK LINK + IV TWO DAYS OF PARADISE + V BACK TO LIFE + VI IN THE NEXT ROOM + VII CONFIDENCES + VIII A WOMAN'S REASON + IX TWO SHORT WEEKS + X THE CUT DIRECT + XI THE BLUE FEATHER + XII THE GAME OF GOSSIP + XIII AFTER TEN YEARS + XIV ACCORDING TO THE RULES + XV A BIT OF A LARK + XVI WHO IS PAUL ELLISON? + XVII THE ANSWERING CABLE + XVIII THE BATTLE + XIX TWO LETTERS + XX THE TWO BROTHERS + XXI HE THAT WAS DEAD + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + The Game of Gossip . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + + A Bit of a Lark + + The Battle + + He That Was Dead + + + + +TO + +J. J. CURTIS + + + + +PARROT & CO. + + +I + +EAST IS EAST + +It began somewhere in the middle of the world, between London which is +the beginning and New York which is the end, where all things are east +of the one and west of the other. To be precise, a forlorn landing on +the west bank of the muddy turbulent Irrawaddy, remembered by man only +so often as it was necessary for the flotilla boat to call for paddy, a +visiting commissioner anxious to get away, or a family homeward-bound. +Somewhere in the northeast was Mandalay, but lately known in romance, +verse and song; somewhere in the southeast lay Prome, known only in +guide-books and time-tables; and farther south, Rangoon, sister to +Singapore, the half-way house of the derelicts of the world. On the +east side of the river, over there, was a semblance of civilization. +That is to say, men wore white linen, avoided murder, and frequently +paid their gambling debts. But on this west side stood wilderness, not +the kind one reads about as being eventually conquered by white men; +no, the real grim desolation, where the ax cuts but leaves no blaze, +where the pioneer disappears and few or none follow. The pioneer has +always been a successful pugilist, but in this part of Burma fate, out +of pure admiration for the pygmy's gameness, decided to call the battle +a draw. It was not the wilderness of the desert, of the jungle; rather +the tragic hopeless state of a settlement that neither progressed, +retarded, nor stood still. + +Between the landing and the settlement itself there stretched a winding +road, arid and treeless, perhaps two miles in length. It announced +definitely that its end was futility. All this day long heavy +bullock-carts had rumbled over it, rumbled toward the landing and +rattled emptily back to the settlement. The dust hung like a fog above +the road, not only for this day, but for all days between the big +rains. Each night, however, the cold heavy dews drew it down, cooling +but never congealing it. From under the first footfall the next day it +rose again. When the gods, or the elements, or Providence, arranged +the world as a fit habitation for man, India and Burma were made the +dust-bins. And as water finds its levels, so will dust, earthly and +human, the quick and the dead. + +It was after five in the afternoon. The sun was sinking, hazily but +swiftly; ribbons of scarlet, ribbons of rose, ribbons of violet, lay +one upon the other. The sun possessed no definite circle; a great +blinding radiance like metal pouring from the mouth of a blast-furnace. +Along the road walked two men, phantom-like. One saw their heads dimly +and still more dimly their bodies to the knees; of legs, there was +nothing visible. Occasionally they stepped aside to permit some +bullock-cart to pass. One of them swore, not with any evidence of +temper, not viciously, but in a kind of mechanical protest, which, from +long usage, had become a habit. He directed these epithets never at +animate things, never at anything he could by mental or physical +contest overcome. He swore at the dust, at the heat, at the wind, at +the sun. + +The other wayfarer, with the inherent patience of his blood, said +nothing and waited, setting down the heavy kit-bag and the +canvas-valise (his own). When the way was free again he would sling +the kit-bag and the valise over his shoulder and step back into the +road. His turban, once white, was brown with dust and sweat. His +khaki uniform was rent under the arm-pits, several buttons were gone; +his stockings were rusty black, mottled with patches of brown skin; and +the ragged canvas-shoes spurted little spirals of dust as he walked. +The British-Indian government had indulgently permitted him to proceed +about his duties as guide and carrier under the cognomen of James +Hooghly, in honor of a father whose surname need not be written here, +and in further honor of the river upon which, quite inconveniently one +early morning, he had been born. For he was Eurasian; half European, +half Indian, having his place twixt heaven and hell, which is to say, +nowhere. His father had died of a complication of bhang-drinking and +opium-eating; and as a consequence, James was full of humorless +imagination, spells of moodiness and outbursts of hilarious politics. +Every native who acquires a facility in English immediately sets out to +rescue India from the clutches of the British raj, occasionally +advancing so far as to send a bullet into some harmless individual in +the Civil Service. + +James was faithful, willing and strong; and as a carrier of burdens, +took unmurmuringly his place beside the tireless bullock and the +elephant. He was a Methodist; why, no one could find lucid answer, +since he ate no beef, drank from no common cup, smoked through his fist +when he enjoyed a pipe, and never assisted Warrington Sahib in his +deadly pursuit of flies and mosquitoes. He was Hindu in all his acts +save in his manner of entering temples; in this, the European blood +kept his knees unbended. By dint of inquiry his master had learned +that James looked upon his baptism and conversion in Methodism as a +corporal would have looked upon the acquisition of a V. C. Twice, +during fever and plague, he had saved his master's life. With the +guilelessness of the Oriental he considered himself responsible for his +master in all future times. Instead of paying off a debt he had +acquired one. Treated as he was, kindly but always firmly, he would +have surrendered his life cheerfully at the beck of the white man. + +Warrington was an American. He was also one of those men who never +held misfortune in contempt, whose outlook wherever it roamed was +tolerant. He had patience for the weak, resolution for the strong, and +a fearless amiability toward all. He was like the St. Bernard dog, +very difficult to arouse. It is rather the way with all men who are +strong mentally and physically. He was tall and broad and deep. Under +the battered pith-helmet his face was as dark as the Eurasian's; but +the eyes were blue, bright and small-pupiled, as they are with men who +live out-of-doors, who are compelled of necessity to note things moving +in the distances. The nose was large and well-defined. All framed in +a tangle of blond beard and mustache which, if anything, added to the +general manliness of his appearance. He, too, wore khaki, but with the +addition of tan riding-leggings, which had seen anything but +rocking-horse service. The man was yellow from the top of his helmet +to the soles of his shoes--outside. For the rest, he was a mystery, to +James, to all who thought they knew him, and most of all to himself. A +pariah, an outcast, a fugitive from the bloodless hand of the law; a +gentleman born, once upon a time a clubman, college-bred; a +contradiction, a puzzle for which there was not any solution, not even +in the hidden corners of the man's heart. His name wasn't Warrington; +and he had rubbed elbows with the dregs of humanity, and still looked +you straight in the eye because he had come through inferno without +bringing any of the defiling pitch. + +From time to time he paused to relight his crumbling cheroot. The +tobacco was strong and bitter, and stung his parched lips; but the +craving for the tang of the smoke on his tongue was not to be denied. + +Under his arm he carried a small iron-cage, patterned something like a +rat-trap. It contained a Rajputana parrakeet, not much larger than a +robin, but possessor of a soul as fierce as that of Palladia, minus, +however, the smoothing influence of chivalry. He had been born under +the eaves of the scarlet palace in Jaipur (so his history ran); but the +proximity of Indian princes had left him untouched: he had neither +chivalry, politeness, nor diplomacy. He was, in fact, thoroughly and +consistently bad. Round and round he went, over and over, top-side, +down-side, restlessly. For at this moment he was hearing those +familiar evening sounds which no human ear can discern: the muttering +of the day-birds about to seek cover for the night. In the field at +the right of the road stood a lonely tree. It was covered with +brilliant scarlet leaves and blossoms, and justly the natives call it +the Flame of the Jungle. A flock of small birds were gyrating above it. + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" cried the parrot, imitating the +Burmese bell-gong that calls to prayer. Instantly he followed the call +with a shriek so piercing as to sting the ear of the man who was +carrying him. + +"You little son-of-a-gun," he laughed; "where do you pack away all that +noise?" + +There was a strange bond between the big yellow man and this little +green bird. The bird did not suspect it, but the man knew. The pluck, +the pugnacity and the individuality of the feathered comrade had been +an object lesson to the man, at a time when he had been on the point of +throwing up the fight. + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" The bird began its interminable +somersaults, pausing only to reach for the tantalizing finger of the +man, who laughed again as he withdrew the digit in time. + +For six years he had carried the bird with him, through India and Burma +and Malacca, and not yet had he won a sign of surrender. There were +many scars on his forefingers. It was amazing. With one pressure of +his hand he could have crushed out the life of the bird, but over its +brave unconquerable spirit he had no power. And that is why he loved +it. + +Far away in the past they had met. He remembered the day distinctly +and bitterly. He had been on the brink of self-destruction. Fever and +poverty and terrible loneliness had battered and beaten him flat into +the dust from which this time he had had no wish to rise. He had +walked out to the railway station at Jaipur to witness the arrival of +the tourist train from Ahmadabad. He wanted to see white men and white +women from his own country, though up to this day he had carefully +avoided them. (How he hated the English, with their cold-blooded +suspicion of all who were not island-born!) The natives surged about +the train, with brass-ware, antique articles of warfare, tiger-hunting +knives (accompanied by perennial fairy tales), skins and silks. There +were beggars, holy men, guides and fakirs. + +Squatted in the dust before the door of a first-class carriage was a +solemn brown man, in turban and clout, exhibiting performing parrots. +It was Rajah's turn. He fired a cannon, turned somersaults through a +little steel-hoop, opened a tiny chest, took out a four-anna piece, +carried it to his master, and in exchange received some seed. +Thereupon he waddled resentfully back to the iron-cage, opened the +door, closed it behind him, and began to mutter belligerently. +Warrington haggled for two straight hours. When he returned to his +sordid evil-smelling lodgings that night, he possessed the parrot and +four rupees, and sat up the greater part of the night trying to make +the bird perform his tricks. The idea of suicide no longer bothered +him; trifling though it was, he had found an interest in life. And on +the morrow came the Eurasian, who trustfully loaned Warrington every +coin that he could scrape together. + +Often, in the dreary heart-achy days that followed, when weeks passed +ere he saw the face of a white man, when he had to combat opium and +bhang and laziness in the natives under him, the bird and his funny +tricks had saved him from whisky, or worse. In camp he gave Rajah much +freedom, its wings being clipt; and nothing pleased the little rebel so +much as to claw his way up to his master's shoulder, sit there and +watch the progress of the razor, with intermittent "jawing" at his own +reflection in the cracked hand-mirror. + +Up and down the Irrawaddy, at the rest-houses, on the boats, to those +of a jocular turn of mind the three were known as "Parrot & Co." +Warrington's amiability often misled the various scoundrels with whom +he was at times forced to associate. A man who smiled most of the time +and talked Hindustani to a parrot was not to be accorded much courtesy; +until one day Warrington had settled all distinctions, finally and +primordially, with the square of his fists. After that he went his way +unmolested, having soundly trounced one of the biggest bullies in the +teak timber-yards at Rangoon. + +He made no friends; he had no confidences to exchange; nor did he offer +to become the repository of other men's pasts. But he would share his +bread and his rupees, when he had them, with any who asked. Many tried +to dig into his past, but he was as unresponsive as granite. It takes +a woman to find out what a man is and has been; and Warrington went +about women in a wide circle. In a way he was the most baffling kind +of a mystery to those who knew him: he frequented the haunts of men, +took a friendly drink, played cards for small sums, laughed and jested +like any other anchorless man. In the East men are given curious +names. They become known by phrases, such as, The Man Who Talks, Mr. +Once Upon a Time, The One-Rupee Man, and the like. As Warrington never +received any mail, as he never entered a hotel, nor spoke of the past, +he became The Man Who Never Talked of Home. + +"I say, James, old sport, no more going up and down this bally old +river. We'll go on to Rangoon to-night, if we can find a berth." + +"Yes, Sahib; this business very piffle," replied the Eurasian without +turning his head. Two things he dearly loved to acquire: a bit of +American slang and a bit of English silver. He was invariably changing +his rupees into shillings, and Warrington could not convince him that +he was always losing in the transactions. + +They tramped on through the dust. The sun dropped. A sudden chill +began to penetrate the haze. The white man puffed his cheroot, its +wrapper dangling; the servant hummed an Urdu lullaby; the parrot +complained unceasingly. + +"How much money have you got, James?" + +"Three annas." + +Warrington laughed and shook the dust from his beard. "It's a great +world, James, a great and wonderful world. I've just two rupees +myself. In other words, we are busted." + +"Two rupees!" James paused and turned. "Why, Sahib, you have three +hundred thousand rupees in your pocket." + +"But not worth an anna until I get to Rangoon. Didn't those duffers +give you anything for handling their luggage the other day?" + +"Not a pice, Sahib." + +"Rotters! It takes an Englishman to turn a small trick like that. +Well, well; there were extenuating circumstances. They had sore heads. +No man likes to pay three hundred thousand for something he could have +bought for ten thousand. And I made them come to me, James, to me. I +made them come to this god-forsaken hole, just because it pleased my +fancy. When you have the skewer in, always be sure to turn it around. +I believe I'm heaven-born after all. The Lord hates a quitter, and so +do I. I nearly quit myself, once; eh, Rajah, old top? But I made them +come to me. That's the milk in the cocoanut, the curry on the rice. +They almost had me. Two rupees! It truly is a great world." + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" screamed the parrot. +"_Chaloo_!" + +"Go on! That's the ticket. If I were a praying man, this would be the +time for it. Three hundred thousand rupees!" The man looked at the +far horizon, as if he would force his gaze beyond, into the delectable +land, the Eden out of which he had been driven. "Caviar and truffles, +and Romanée Conti, and Partagas!" + +"Chicken and curry and Scotch whisky." + +"Bah! You've the imagination of a he-goat." + +"All right, Sahib." + +"James, I owe you three hundred rupees, and I am going to add seven +hundred more. We've been fighting this old top for six years together, +and you've been a good servant and a good friend; and I'll take you +with me as far as this fortune will go, if you say the word." + +"Ah, Sahib, I am much sorry. But Delhi calls, and I go. A thousand +rupees will make much business for me in the Chandney Chowk." + +"Just as you say." + +Presently they became purple shades in a brown world. + + + + +II + +A MAN WITH A PAST + +The moonless Oriental night, spangled with large and brilliant stars, +brilliant yet mellow, unlike the crisp scintillating presentment in +northern latitudes, might have served as an illustration of an +air-tight bowl, flung down relentlessly upon this part of the world. +Inside this figurative bowl it was chill, yet the air was stirless. It +was without refreshment; it became a labor and not an exhilaration to +breath it. A pall of suffocating dust rolled above and about the +Irrawaddy flotilla boat which, buffeted by the strong irregular +current, strained at its cables, now at the bow, now at the stern, not +dissimilar to the last rocking of a deserted swing. This sensation was +quite perceptible to the girl who leaned over the bow-rail, her +handkerchief pressed to her nose, and gazed interestedly at the steep +bank, up and down which the sweating coolies swarmed like Gargantuan +rats. They clawed and scrambled up and slid and shuffled down; and +always the bank threatened to slip and carry them all into the swirling +murk below. A dozen torches were stuck into the ground above the +crumbling ledge; she saw the flames as one sees a burning match cupped +in a smoker's hands, shedding light upon nothing save that which stands +immediately behind it. + +She choked a little. Her eyes smarted. Her lips were slightly +cracked, and cold-cream seemed only to provide a surer resting place +for the impalpable dust. It had penetrated her clothes; it had +percolated through wool and linen and silk, intimately, until three +baths a day had become a welcome routine, providing it was possible to +obtain water. Water. Her tongue ran across her lips. Oh, for a drink +from the old cold pure spring at home! Tea, coffee, and bottled soda; +nothing that ever touched the thirsty spots in her throat. + +She looked up at the stars and they looked down upon her, but what she +asked they could not, would not, answer. Night after night she had +asked, and night after night they had only twinkled as of old. She had +traveled now for four months, and still the doubt beset her. It was to +be a leap in the dark, with no one to tell her what was on the other +side. But why this insistent doubt? Why could she not take the leap +gladly, as a woman should who had given the affirmative to a man? With +him she was certain that she loved him, away from him she did not know +what sentiment really abided in her heart. She was wise enough to +realize that something was wrong; and there were but three months +between her and the inevitable decision. Never before had she known +other than momentary indecision; and it irked her to find that her +clarity of vision was fallible and human like the rest of her. The +truth was, she didn't know her mind. She shrugged, and the movement +stirred the dust that had gathered upon her shoulders. + +What a dust-ridden, poverty-ridden, plague-ridden world she had seen! +Ignorance wedded to superstition, yet waited upon by mystery and +romance and incomparable beauty. As the Occidental thought rarely +finds analysis in the Oriental mind, so her mind could not gather and +understand this amalgamation of art and ignorance. She forgot that +another race of men had built those palaces and temples and forts and +tombs, and that they had vanished as the Greeks and Romans have +vanished, leaving only empty spaces behind, which the surviving tribes +neither fill nor comprehend. + + +"A rare old lot of dust; eh, Miss Chetwood? I wish we could travel by +night, but you can't trust this blooming old Irrawaddy after sundown. +Charts are so much waste-paper. You just have to know the old lady. +Bars rise in a night, shift this side and that. But the days are all +right. No dust when you get in mid-stream. What?" + +"I never cease wondering how those poor coolies can carry those heavy +rice-bags," she replied to the purser. + +"Oh, they are used to it," carelessly. + +The great gray stack of paddy-bags seemed, in the eyes of the girl, +fairly to melt away. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed the purser. "There's Parrot & Co.!" He laughed +and pointed toward one of the torches. + +"Parrot & Co.? I do not understand." + +"That big blond chap behind the fourth torch. Yes, there. Sometime +I'll tell you about him. Picturesque duffer." + +She could have shrieked aloud, but all she did was to draw in her +breath with a gasp that went so deep it gave her heart a twinge. Her +fingers tightened upon the teak-rail. Suddenly she knew, and was +ashamed of her weakness. It was simply a remarkable likeness, nothing +more than that; it could not possibly be anything more. Still, a ghost +could not have startled her as this living man had done. + +"Who is he?" + +"A chap named Warrington. But over here that signifies nothing; might +just as well be Jones or Smith or Brown. We call him Parrot & Co., but +the riff-raff have another name for him. The Man Who Never Talked of +Home. For two or three seasons he's been going up and down the river. +Ragged at times, prosperous at others. Lately it's been rags. He's +always carrying that Rajputana parrot. You've seen the kind around the +palaces and forts: saber-blade wings, long tail-feathers, green and +blue and scarlet, and the ugliest little rascals going. This one is +trained to do tricks." + +"But the man!" impatiently. + +He eyed her, mildly surprised. "Oh, he puzzles us all a bit, you know. +Well educated; somewhere back a gentleman; from the States. Of course +I don't know; something shady, probably. They don't tramp about like +this otherwise. For all that, he's rather a decent sort; no bounder +like that rotter we left at Mandalay. He never talks about himself. I +fancy he's lonesome again." + +"Lonesome?" + +"It's the way, you know. These poor beggars drop aboard for the night, +merely to see a white woman again, to hear decent English, to dress and +dine like a human being. They disappear the next day, and often we +never see them again." + +"What do they do?" The question came to her lips mechanically. + +"Paddy-fields. White men are needed to oversee them. And then, +there's the railway, and there's the new oil-country north of Prome. +You'll see the wells to-morrow. Rather fancy this Warrington chap has +been working along the new pipelines. They're running them down to +Rangoon. Well, there goes the last bag. Will you excuse me? The +lading bills, you know. If he's with us tomorrow, I'll have him put +the parrot through its turns. An amusing little beggar." + +"Why not introduce him to me?" + +"Beg pardon?" + +"I'm not afraid," quietly. + +"By Jove, no! But this is rather difficult, you know. If he shouldn't +turn out right . . ." with commendable hesitance. + +"I'll take all the responsibility. It's a whim." + +"Well, you American girls are the eighth wonder of the world." The +purser was distinctly annoyed. "And it may be an impertinence on my +part, but I never yet saw an American woman who would accept advice or +act upon it." + +"Thanks. What would you advise?" with dangerous sweetness. + +"Not to meet this man. It's irregular. I know nothing about him. If +you had a father or a brother on board. . . ." + +"Or even a husband!" laughing. + +"There you are!" resignedly. "You laugh. You women go everywhere, and +half the time unprotected." + +"Never quite unprotected. We never venture beyond the call of +gentlemen." + +"That is true," brightening. "You insist on meeting this chap?" + +"I do not insist; only, I am bored, and he might interest me for an +hour." She added: "Besides, it may annoy the others." + +The purser grinned reluctantly. "You and the colonel don't get on. +Well, I'll introduce this chap at dinner. If I don't. . . . + +"I am fully capable of speaking to him without any introduction +whatever." She laughed again. "It will be very kind of you." + +When he had gone she mused over this impulse so alien to her character. +An absolute stranger, a man with a past, perhaps a fugitive from +justice; and because he looked like Arthur Ellison, she was seeking his +acquaintance. Something, then, could break through her reserve and +aloofness? She had traveled from San Francisco to Colombo, unattended +save by an elderly maiden who had risen by gradual stages from nurse to +companion, but who could not be made to remember that she was no longer +a nurse. In all these four months Elsa had not made half a dozen +acquaintances, and of these she had not sought one. Yet, she was +asking to meet a stranger whose only recommendation was a singular +likeness to another man. The purser was right. It was very irregular. + +"Parrot & Co.!" she murmured. She searched among the phantoms moving +to and fro upon the ledge; but the man with the cage was gone. It was +really uncanny. + +She dropped her arms from the rail and went to her stateroom and +dressed for dinner. She did not give her toilet any particular care. +There was no thought of conquest, no thought of dazzling the man in +khaki. It was the indolence and carelessness of the East, where +clothes become only necessities and are no longer the essentials of +adornment. + +Elsa Chetwood was twenty-five, lithely built, outwardly reposeful, but +dynamic within. Education, environment and breeding had somewhat +smothered the glowing fires. She was a type of the ancient repression +of woman, which finds its exceptions in the Aspasias and Helens and +Cleopatras of legend and history. In features she looked exactly what +she was, well-bred and well-born. Beauty she also had, but it was the +cold beauty of northern winter nights. It compelled admiration rather +than invited it. Spiritually, Elsa was asleep. The fire was there, +the gift of loving greatly, only it smoldered, without radiating even +the knowledge of its presence. Men loved her, but in awe, as one loves +the marbles of Phidias. She knew no restraint, and yet she had passed +through her stirless years restrained. She was worldly without being +more than normally cynical; she was rich without being either frugal or +extravagant. Her independence was inherent and not acquired. She had +laid down certain laws for herself to follow; and that these often +clashed with the laws of convention, which are fetish to those who +divide society into three classes, only mildly amused her. Right from +wrong she knew, and that sufficed her. + +Her immediate relatives were dead; those who were distantly related +remained so, as they had no part in her life nor she in theirs. +Relatives, even the best of them, are practically strangers to us. +They have their own affairs and interests, and if these touch ours it +is generally through the desire to inherit what we have. So Elsa went +her way alone. From her father she had inherited a remarkable and +seldom errant judgment. To her, faces were generally book-covers, they +repelled or attracted; and she found large and undiminishing interest +in the faculty of pressing back the covers and reading the text. Often +battered covers held treasures, and often the editions de luxe were +swindles. But in between the battered covers and the exquisite +Florentine hand-tooling there ranged a row of mediocre books; and it +was among these that Elsa found that her instinct was not wholly +infallible, as will be seen. + +To-day she was facing the first problem of her young life, epochal. +She was, as it were, to stop and begin life anew. And she didn't know, +she wasn't sure. + +There were few passengers aboard. There were three fussy old English +maidens under the protection of a still fussier old colonel, who +disagreed with everybody because his liver disagreed with him. Twenty +years of active service in Upper India had seriously damaged that +physiological function, and "pegs" no longer mellowed him. The quartet +greatly amused Elsa. Their nods were abrupt, and they spoke in the +most formal manner. She was under grave suspicion; in the first place, +she was traveling alone, in the second place, she was an American. At +table there was generally a desultory conversation, and many a barb of +malice Elsa shot from her bow. Figuratively, the colonel walked about +like a porcupine, bristling with arrows instead of quills. Elsa could +have shouted at times, for the old war-dog was perfectly oblivious. +There was, besides, the inevitable German tourist, who shelled with +questions every man who wore brass-buttons, until there was some +serious talk of dropping him astern some day. He had shelled the +colonel, but that gentleman was snugly encased in the finest and most +impenetrable Bessemer, complacency. + +Upon these Irrawaddy boats the purser is usually the master of +ceremonies in the dining-saloon. The captain and his officers rarely +condescended. Perhaps it was too much trouble to dress; perhaps +tourists had disgusted them with life; at any rate, they remained in +obscurity. + +Elsa usually sat at the purser's right, and to-night she found the +stranger sitting quietly at her side. The chair had been vacant since +the departure from Mandalay. Evidently the purser had decided to be +thorough in regard to her wishes. It would look less conspicuous to +make the introduction in this manner. And she wanted to meet this man +who had almost made her cry out in astonishment. + +"Miss Chetwood, Mr. Warrington." This was as far as the purser would +unbend. + +The colonel's eyes popped; the hands of the three maidens fluttered. +Warrington bowed awkwardly, for he was decidedly confused. + +"Ha!" boomed the German. "Vat do you tink uff . . . ." + +And from soup to coffee Warrington eluded, dodged, stepped under and +ran around the fusillade of questions. + +Elsa laughed softly. There were breathing-spells, to be sure. Under +the cover of this verbal bombardment she found time to inspect the +stranger. The likeness, so close at hand, started a ringing in her +ears and a flutter in her throat. It was almost unbelievable. He was +bigger, broader, his eyes were keener, but there was only one real +difference: this man was rugged, whereas Arthur was elegant. It was as +if nature had taken two forms from the same mold, and had finished but +one of them. His voice was not unpleasant, but there were little sharp +points of harshness in it, due quite possibly to the dust. + +"I am much interested in that little parrot of yours. I have heard +about him." + +"Oh! I suppose you've heard what they call us?" His eyes looked +straight into hers, smilingly. + +"Parrot & Co.? Yes. Will you show him off to-morrow?" + +"I shall be very happy to." + +But all the while he was puzzling over the purser's unaccountable +action in deliberately introducing him to this brown-eyed, +golden-skinned young woman. Never before had such a thing occurred +upon these boats. True, he had occasionally been spoken to; an idle +question flung at him, like a bare bone to a dog. If flung by an +Englishman, he answered it courteously, and subsided. He had been +snubbed too many times not to have learned this lesson. It never +entered his head that the introduction might have been brought about by +the girl's interest. He was too mortally shy of women to conceive of +such a possibility. So his gratitude was extended to the purser, who, +on his side, regretted his good-natured recommendations of the previous +hour. + +When Elsa learned that the man at her side was to proceed to Rangoon, +she ceased to ask him any more questions. She preferred to read her +books slowly. Once, while he was engaging the purser, her glance ran +over his clothes. She instantly berated her impulsive criticism as a +bit of downright caddishness. The lapels of the coat were shiny, the +sleeves were short, there was a pucker across the shoulders; the +winged-collar gave evidence of having gone to the native laundry once +too often; the studs in the shirt-bosom were of the cheapest +mother-of-pearl, and the cuff-buttons, ordinary rupee silver. The +ensemble suggested that since the purchase of these habiliments of +civilization the man had grown, expanded. + +Immediately after dinner she retired to her state-room, conscious that +her balance needed readjusting. She had heard and read much lore +concerning reincarnation, skeptically; yet here, within call of her +voice, was Arthur, not the shadow of a substance, but Arthur, shorn of +his elegance, his soft lazy voice, his half-dreaming eyes, his charming +indolence. Why should this man's path cross hers, out of all the +millions that ran parallel? + +She opened her window and looked up at the stars again. She saw one +fall, describe an arc and vanish. She wondered what this man had done +to put him beyond the pale; for few white men remained in Asia from +choice. She had her ideas of what a rascal should be; but Warrington +agreed in no essential. It was not possible that dishonor lurked +behind those frank blue eyes. She turned from the window, impatiently, +and stared at one of her kit-bags. Suddenly she knelt down and threw +it open, delved among the soft fabrics and silks and produced a +photograph. She had not glanced at it during all these weeks. There +had been a purpose back of this apparent neglect. The very thing she +dreaded happened. Her pulse beat on, evenly, unstirred. She was a +failure. + +In the photograph the man's beard was trimmed Valois; the beard of the +man who had sat next to her at dinner had grown freely and naturally, +full. Such a beard was out of fashion, save among country doctors. It +signified carelessness, indifference, or a full life wherein the +niceties of the razor had of necessity been ignored. Keenly she +searched the familiar likeness. What an amazing freak of nature! It +was unreal. She tossed the photograph back into the kit-bag, +bewildered, uneasy. + +Meantime Warrington followed the purser into his office. "I haven't +paid for my stateroom yet," he said. + +"I'll make it out at once. Rangoon, I understand?" + +"Yes. But I'm in a difficulty. I have nothing in change but two +rupees." + +The purser froze visibly. The tale was trite in his ears. + +"But I fancy I've rather good security to offer," went on Warrington +coolly. He drew from his wallet a folded slip of paper and spread it +out. + +The purser stared at it, enchanted. Warrington stared down at the +purser, equally enchanted. + +"By Jove!" the former gasped finally. "And so you're the chap who's +been holding up the oil syndicate all these months? And you're the +chap who made them come to this bally landing three days ago?" + +"I'm the chap." + +It was altogether a new purser who looked up. "Twenty thousand pounds +about, and only two rupees in your pocket! Well, well; it takes the +East to bowl a man over like this. A certified check on the Bank of +Burma needs no further recommendation. In the words of your +countrymen, go as far as you like. You can pay me in Rangoon. Your +boy takes deck-passage?" + +"Yes," returning the check to the wallet. + +"Smoke?" + +"Shouldn't mind. Thanks." + +"Now, sit down and spin the yarn. It must be jolly interesting." + +"I'll admit that it has been a tough struggle; but I knew that I had +the oil. Been flat broke for months. Had to borrow my boy's savings +for food and shelter. Well, this is the way it runs." Warrington told +it simply, as if it were a great joke. + +"Rippin'! By Jove, you Americans are hard customers to put over. I +suppose you'll be setting out for the States at once?" with a curious +glance. + +"I haven't made any plans yet," eying the cheroot thoughtfully. + +"I see." The purser nodded. It was not difficult to understand. +"Well, good luck to you wherever you go." + +"Much obliged." + +Alone in his stateroom Warrington took out Rajah and tossed him on the +counterpane of the bed. + +"Now, then, old sport!" tapping the parrot on the back with the perch +which he used as a baton. Blinking and muttering, the bird performed +his tricks, and was duly rewarded and returned to his home of iron. +"She'll be wanting to take you home with her, but you're not for sale." + +He then opened his window and leaned against the sill, looking up at +the stars. But, unlike the girl, he did not ask any questions. + +"Free!" he said softly. + + + + +III + +THE WEAK LINK + +The day began white and chill, for February nights and mornings are not +particularly comfortable on the Irrawaddy. The boat sped down the +river, smoothly and noiselessly. For all that the sun shone, the +shore-lines were still black. The dust had not yet risen. Elsa passed +through the dining-saloon to the stern-deck and paused at the door. +The scene was always a source of interest to her. There were a hundred +or more natives squatting in groups on the deck. They were wrapped in +ragged shawls, cotton rugs of many colors, and woolen blankets, and +their turbans were as bright and colorful as a Holland tulip-bed. Some +of them were smoking long pipes and using their fists as mouthpieces; +others were scrubbing their teeth with short sticks of fibrous wood; +and still others were eating rice and curry out of little copper pots. +There were very few Burmese among them. They were Hindus, from Central +and Southern India, with a scattering of Cingalese. Whenever a Hindu +gets together a few rupees, he travels. He neither cares exactly where +the journey ends, nor that he may never be able to return; so long as +there is a temple at his destination, that suffices him. The past is +the past, to-morrow is to-morrow, but to-day is to-day: he lives and +works and travels, prisoner to this creed. + +Elsa never strolled among them. She was dainty. This world and these +people were new and strange to her, and as yet she could not quite +dominate the fear that some one of these brown-skinned beings might be +coming down with the plague. So she stood framed in the doorway, a +picture rare indeed to the dark eyes that sped their frank glances in +her direction. + +"No, Sahib, no; it is three hundred." + +"James, I tell you it's rupees three hundred and twelve, annas eight." + +Upon a bench, backed against the partition, almost within touch of her +hand, sat the man Warrington and his servant, arguing over their +accounts. The former's battered helmet was tilted at a comfortable +angle and an ancient cutty hung pendent from his teeth, an idle wisp of +smoke hovering over the blackened bowl. + +Elsa quietly returned to her chair in the bow and tried to become +interested in a novel. By and by the book slipped from her fingers to +her lap, and her eyes closed. But not for long. She heard the rasp of +a camp-stool being drawn toward her. + +"You weren't dozing, were you?" asked the purser apologetically. + +"Not in the least. I have only just got up." + +"Shouldn't have disturbed you; but your orders were that whenever I had +an interesting story about the life over here, I was to tell it to you +instantly. And this one is just rippin'!" + +"Begin," said Elsa. She sat up and threw back her cloak, for it was +now growing warm. "It's about Parrot & Co., I'm sure." + +"You've hit it off the first thing," admiringly. + +"Well, go on." + +"It's better than any story you'll read in a month of Sundays. Our man +has just turned the trick, as you Americans say, for twenty thousand +pounds." + +"Why, that is a fortune!" + +"For some of us, yes. You see, whatever he was in the past, it was +something worth while, I fancy. Engineering, possibly. Knew his +geology and all that. Been wondering for months what kept him hanging +around this bally old river. Seems he found oil, borrowed the savings +of his servant and bought up some land on the line of the new +discoveries. Then he waited for the syndicate to buy. They ignored +him. They didn't send any one even to investigate his claim. Stupid, +rather. After a while, he went to them, at Prome, at Rangoon. They +thought they knew his kind. Ten thousand rupees was all he asked. +They laughed. The next time he wanted a hundred thousand. They +laughed again. Then he left for the teak forests. He had to live. He +came back in four months. In the meantime they had secretly +investigated. They offered him fifty thousand. _He_ laughed. He +wanted two hundred thousand. They advised him to raise cocoanuts. +What do you suppose he did then?" + +"Got some other persons interested." + +"Right-o! Some Americans in Rangoon said they'd take it over for two +hundred thousand. Something about the deal got into the newspapers. +The American oil men sent over a representative. That settled the +syndicate. What they could have originally purchased for ten thousand +they paid three hundred thousand." + +"Splendid!" cried Elsa, clapping her hands. She could see it all, the +quiet determination of the man, the penury of the lean years, his +belief in himself and in what he had found, and the disinterested +loyalty of the servant. "Sometimes I wish I were a man and could do +things like that." + +"Recollect that landing last night?" + +Elsa's gesture signified that she was glad to be miles to the south of +it. + +"Well, he wasn't above having his revenge. He made the syndicate come +up there. They wired asking why he couldn't come on to Rangoon. And +very frankly he gave his reasons. They came up on one boat and left on +another. They weren't very pleasant, but they bought his oil-lands. +He came aboard last night with a check for twenty thousand pounds and +two rupees in his pocket. The two rupees were all he had in this world +at the time they wrote him the check. Arabian night; what?" + +"I am glad. I like pluck; I like endurance; I like to see the lone man +win against odds. Tell me, is he going back to America?" + +"Ah, there's the weak part in the chain." The purser looked +diffidently at the deck floor. It would have been easy enough to +discuss the Warrington of yesterday, to offer an opinion as to his +past; but the Warrington of this morning was backed by twenty thousand +good English sovereigns; he was a different individual, a step beyond +the casual damnation of the mediocre. "He says he doesn't know what +his plans will be. Who knows? Perhaps some one ran away with his best +girl. I've known lots of them to wind up out here on that account." + +"Is it a rule, then, that disappointed lovers fly hither, penniless?" + +The mockery escaped the purser, who was a good fellow in his blundering +way. "Chaps gamble, you know. And this part of the world is full of +fleas and mosquitoes and gamblers. When a man's been chucked, he's +always asking what's trumps. He's not keen on the game; and the +professional gambler takes advantage of his condition. Oh, there are a +thousand ways out here of getting rid of your money when the girl's +given you the go-by!" + +"To that I agree. When do we reach Prome?" + +"About six," understanding that the Warrington incident was closed. +"It isn't worth while going ashore, though. Nothing to see at night." + +"I have no inclination to leave the boat until we reach Rangoon." + +She met Warrington at luncheon, and she greeted him amiably. To her +mind there was something pitiful in the way the man had tried to +improve his condition. Buttons had been renewed, some with black +thread and some with white; and there were little islands of brown +yarn, at the elbows, at the bottom of the pockets, along the seams. So +long as she lived, no matter whom she might marry, she was convinced +that never would the thought of this man fade completely from her +memory. Neither the amazing likeness nor the romantic background had +anything to do with this conviction. It was the man's utter loneliness. + +"I have been waiting for Parrot & Co. all the morning," she said. + +"I'll show him to you right after luncheon. It wasn't that I had +forgotten." + +She nodded; but he did not comprehend that this inclination of the head +explained that she knew the reason of the absence. She could in fancy +see the strong brown fingers clumsily striving to thread the needle. +(As a matter of fact, her imagination was at fault. James had done the +greater part of the repairing.) + +Rajah took the center of the stage; and even the colonel forgot his +liver long enough to chuckle when the bird turned somersaults through +the steel-hoop. Elsa was delighted. She knelt and offered him her +slim white finger. Rajah eyed it with his head cocked at one side. He +turned insolently and entered his cage. Since he never saw a finger +without flying at it in a rage, it was the politest thing he had ever +done. + +"Isn't he a sassy little beggar?" laughed the owner. "That's the way; +his hand, or claw, rather, against all the world. I've had him half a +dozen years, and he hates me just as thoroughly now as he did when I +picked him up while I was at Jaipur." + +"Have you carried him about all this time?" demanded the colonel. + +"He was one of the two friends I had, one of the two I trusted," +quietly, with a look which rather disconcerted the Anglo-Indian. + +"By the actions of him I should say that he was your bitterest enemy." + +"He is; yet I call him friend. There's a peculiar thing about +friendship," said the kneeling man. "We make a man our friend; we take +him on trust, frankly and loyally; we give him the best we have in us; +but we never really know. Rajah is frankly my enemy, and that's why I +love him and trust him. I should have preferred a dog; but one takes +what one can. Besides . . ." Warrington paused, thrust the perch +between the bars, and got up. + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" the bird shrilled. + +"Oh, what a funny little bird!" cried Elsa, laughing. "What does he +say?" + +"I've often wondered. It sounds like the bell-gong you hear in the +Shwe Dagon Pagoda, in Rangoon. He picked it up himself." + +The colonel returned to his elderly charges and became absorbed in his +aged _Times_. If the girl wanted to pick up the riff-raff to talk to, +that was her affair. Americans were impossible, anyhow. + +"How long have you been in the Orient?" Elsa asked. + +"Ten years," he answered gravely. + +"That is a long time." + +"Sometimes it was like eternity." + +"I have heard from the purser of your good luck." + +"Oh!" He stooped again and locked the door of Rajah's cage. "I dare +say a good many people will hear of it." + +"It was splendid. I love to read stories like that, but I'd far rather +hear them told first-hand." + +Elsa was not romantic in the sense that she saw heroes where there were +only ordinary men; but she thrilled at the telling of some actual +adventure, something big with life. Her heart and good will went out +to the man who won against odds. Strangely enough, soldier's daughter +though she was, the pomp and glamour and cruelty of war were detestable +to her. It was the obscure and unknown hero who appealed to her: such +a one as this man might be. + +"Oh, there was nothing splendid about the thing. I simply hung on." +Then a thought struck him. "You are traveling alone?" + +"With a companion." A peculiar question, she thought. + +"It is not wise," he commented. + +"My father was a soldier," she replied. + +"It isn't a question of bravery," he replied, a bit of color charging +under his skin. + +Elsa was amused. "And, pray, what question is it?" He was like a boy. + +"I'm afraid of making myself obscure. This world is not like your +world. Women over here. . . Oh, I've lost the art of saying things +clearly." He pulled at his beard embarrassedly. + +"I rather believe I understand you. The veneer cracks easily in hot +climates; man's veneer." + +"And falls off altogether." + +"Are you warning me against yourself?" + +"Why not? Twenty thousand pounds do not change a man; they merely +change the public's opinion of him. For all you know, I may be the +greatest rascal unhanged." + +"But you are not." + +He recognized that it was not a query; and a pleasurable thrill ran +over him. Had there been the least touch of condescension in her +manner, he would have gone deep into his shell. + +"No; there are worse men in this world than I. But we are getting away +from the point, of women traveling alone in the East. Oh, I know you +can protect yourself to a certain extent. But everywhere, on boats, in +the hotels, on the streets, are men who have discarded all the laws of +convention, of the social contract. And they have the keen eye of the +kite and the vulture." + +To Elsa this interest in her welfare was very diverting. "In other +words, they can quickly discover the young woman who goes about +unprotected? Don't you think that the trend of the conversation has +taken rather a remarkable turn, not as impersonal as it should be?" + +"I beg your pardon!" + +"I am neither an infant nor a fool, Mr. Warrington." + +"Shall I go?" + +"No. I want you to tell me some stories." She laughed. "Don't worry +about me, Mr. Warrington. I have gone my way alone since I was +sixteen. I have traveled all over this wicked world with nobody but +the woman who was once my nurse. I seldom put myself in the way of an +affront. I am curious without being of an investigating turn of mind. +Now, tell me something of your adventures. Ten years in this land must +mean something. I am always hunting for Harun-al-Raschid, or Sindbad, +or some one who has done something out of the ordinary." + +"Do you write books?" + +"No, I read them by preference." + +"Ah, a good book!" He inclined against the rail and stared down at the +muddy water. "Adventure?" He frowned a little. "I'm afraid mine +wouldn't read like adventures. There's no glory in being a stevedore +on the docks at Hongkong, a stoker on a tramp steamer between Singapore +and the Andaman Islands. What haven't I been in these ten years?" with +a shrug. "Can you fancy me a deck-steward on a P. & O. boat, tucking +old ladies in their chairs, staggering about with a tray of +broth-bowls, helping the unsteady to their staterooms, and touching my +cap at the end of the voyage for a few shillings in tips?" + +"You are bitter." + +"Bitter? I ought not to be, with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket." + +"Tell me more." + +He looked into her beautiful face, animated by genuine interest, and +wondered if all men were willing so readily to obey her. + +"It always interests me to hear from the man's own lips how he overcame +obstacles." + +"Sometimes I didn't overcome them. I ran away. After all, the strike +in oil was a fluke." + +"I don't think so. But go on," she prompted. + +"Well, I've been manager of a cocoanut plantation in Penang; I've +helped lay tracks in Upper India; had a hand in some bridges; sold +patent-medicines; worked in a ruby mine; been a haberdasher in the +Whiteaway, Laidlaw shop in Bombay; cut wood in the teak forests; helped +exterminate the plague at Chitor and Udaipur; and never saved a penny. +I never had an adventure in all my life." + +"Why, your wanderings were adventures," she insisted. "Think of the +things you could tell!" + +"And never will," a smile breaking over his face. + +How like Arthur's that smile was! thought the girl. "Romantic persons +never have any adventures. It is to the prosaic these things fall. +Because of their nearness you lose their values." + +"There is some difference between romance and adventure. Romance is +what you look forward to; adventure is something you look back upon. +If many disagreeable occupations, hunger and an occasional fisticuff, +may be classed as adventure, then I have had my run of it. But I +always supposed adventure was the finding of treasures, on land and on +sea; of filibustering; of fighting with sabers and pistols, and all +that rigmarole. I can't quite lift my imagination up to the height of +calling my six months' shovel-engineering on _The Galle_ an adventure. +It was brutal hard work; and many times I wanted to jump over. The +Lascars often got out of trouble that way." + +"It all depends upon how we look at things." She touched the +parrot-cage with her foot, and Rajah hissed. "What would you say if I +told you that I was unconventional enough to ask the purser to +introduce you?" + +The amazement in his face was answer enough. + +"Don't you suppose," she went on, "the picture you presented, standing +on that ledge, the red light of the torch on your face, the bird-cage +in your hand,--don't you suppose you roused my sense the romantic to +the highest pitch? Parrot & Co.!" with a wave of her hands. + +She was laughing at him. It could not be otherwise. It made him at +once sad and angry. "Romance! I hate the word. Once I was as full of +romance as a water-chestnut is of starch. I again affirm that young +women should not travel alone. They think every bit of tinsel is gold, +every bit of colored glass, ruby. Go home; don't bother about romance +outside of books. There it is safe. The English are right. They may +be snobs when they travel abroad, but they travel securely. Romance, +adventure! Bah! So much twaddle has been written about the East that +cads and scoundrels are mistaken for Galahads and D'Artagnans. Few men +remain in this country who can with honor leave it. Who knows what +manner of man I am?" + +He picked up the parrot-cage and strode away. + +"Jah, jah!" began the bird. + +Not all the diplomacy which worldly-wise men have at their disposal +could have drawn this girl's interest more surely than the abrupt rude +manner of his departure. + + + + +IV + +TWO DAYS OF PARADISE + +At first Elsa did not know whether she was annoyed or amused. The +man's action was absurd, or would have been in any other man. There +was something so singularly boyish in his haste that she realized she +could not deal with him in an ordinary fashion. She ought to be angry; +indeed, she wanted to be very angry with him; but her lips curled, and +laughter hung upon them, undecided. His advice to her to go home was +downright impudence; and yet, the sight of the parrot-cage, dangling at +his side, made it impossible for her to take lasting offense. Once +upon a time there had been a little boy who played in her garden. When +he was cross he would take his playthings and go home. The boy might +easily have been this man Warrington, grown up. + +Of course he would come and apologize to her for his rudeness. That +was one of the necessary laws of convention; and ten years spent in +jungles and deserts and upon southern seas could not possibly have +robbed him of the memory of these simple ethics that he had observed in +other and better times. Perhaps he had resented her curiosity; perhaps +her questions had been pressed too hard; and perhaps he had suddenly +doubted her genuine interest. At any rate, it was a novel experience. +And that bewildering likeness! + +She returned to her chair and opened the book again. And as she read +her wonder grew. How trivial it was, after all. The men and women she +had calmly and even gratefully accepted as types were nothing more than +marionettes, which the author behind the booth manipulated not badly +but perfunctorily. The diction was exquisite; there was style; but now +as she read there was lacking the one thing that stood for life, blood. +It did not pulsate in the veins of these people. Until now she had not +recognized this fact, and she was half-way through the book. She even +took the trouble to reread the chapter she had thought peculiarly +effective. There was the same lack of feeling. What had happened to +her since yesterday? To what cause might be assigned this opposite +angle of vision, so clearly defined? + +The book fell upon her knees, and dreamily she watched the perspective +open and divaricate. Full in her face the south wind blew, now warmed +by the sun and perfumed by unknown spices. She took in little sharp +breaths, but always the essence escaped her. The low banks with their +golden haze of dust, the cloudless sky, the sad and lonely white +pagodas, charmed her; and the languor of the East crept stealthily into +her northern blood. She was not conscious of the subtle change; she +only knew that the world of yesterday was unlike that of today. + +Warrington, after depositing Rajah in the stateroom, sought the bench +on the stern-deck. He filled his cutty with purser-loaned tobacco, and +roundly damned himself as a blockhead. He had forgotten all the +niceties of civilization; he no longer knew how to behave. What if she +had been curious? It was natural that she should be. This was a +strange world to her, and if her youth rosal-tinted it with romance, +what right had he to disillusion her? The first young woman in all +these years who had treated him as an equal, and he had straightway +proceeded to lecture her upon the evils of traveling alone in the +Orient! Double-dyed ass! He had been rude and impudent. He had seen +other women traveling alone, but the sight had not roused him as in the +present instance. In ten years he had not said so much to all the +women he had met; and without seeming effort at all she had dragged +forth some of the half-lights of his past. This in itself amazed him; +it proved that he was still weak enough to hunger for human sympathy, +and he of all men deserved none whatever. He had been a fool as a boy, +a fool as a man, and without doubt he would die a fool. He was of half +a mind to leave the boat at Prome and take the train down to Rangoon. + +And yet he had told her the truth. It was not right that a young and +attractive woman should wander about in the East, unattended save by a +middle-aged companion. It would provoke the devil in men who were not +wholly bad. Women had the fallible idea that they could read human +nature, and never found out their mistake until after they were +married. He knew her kind. If she wanted to walk through the bazaars +in the evening, she would do so. If a man followed her she would +ignore the fact. If he caught up with her and spoke, she would +continue on as if she had not heard. If a man touched her, she would +rely upon the fire of her eyes. She would never call out for help. +Some women were just that silly. + +He bit hard upon the stem of his pipe. What was all this to him? Why +should he bother his head about a woman he had known but a few hours? +Ah, why lie to himself? He knew what Elsa, usually quick and +receptive, did not know, that he was not afraid of her, but terribly +afraid of himself. For things ripen quickly in the East, men and +women, souls and deeds. And he was something like the pariah-dog; +spoken kindly to, it attached itself immediately and enduringly. + +He struck the cutty against his boot-heel. Why not? It would be only +for two days. At Rangoon their paths would separate; he would never +see her again. He got up. He would go to her at once and apologize +abjectly. And thus he surrendered to the very devil he had but a +moment gone so vigorously discountenanced. + +He found her asleep in her chair. The devil which had brought him to +her side was thrust back. Why, she was nothing more than a beautiful +child! A great yearning to brother her came into his heart. He did +not disturb her, but waited until five, that grave and sober hour, when +kings and clerks stop work for no logical reason whatever--tea. She +opened her eyes and saw him watching her. He rose quickly. + +"May I get you some tea?" + +"Thank you." + +And so the gulf was bridged. When he returned he set the cup and plate +of cakes on the arm of her chair. + +"I was very rude a little while ago. Will you accept my apologies?" + +"On condition that you will never take your playthings and go home." + +He laughed engagingly. "You've hit it squarely. It was the act of a +petulant child." + +"It did not sound exactly like a man who had stoked six months from +Singapore to the Andaman Islands. But there is one thing I must +understand before this acquaintance continues. You said, 'Who knows +what manner of man I am?' Have you ever done anything that would +conscientiously forbid you to speak to a young unmarried woman?" + +Take care of herself? He rather believed she could. The bluntness of +her question dissipated any doubt that remained. + +"No. I haven't been that kind of a man," simply. "I could look into +my mother's eyes without any sense of shame, if that is what you mean." + +"That is all I care to know. Your mother is living?" + +"Yes. But I haven't seen her in ten years." His mother! His brows +met in a frown. His proud beautiful mother! + +Elsa saw the frown, and realized that she had approached delicate +ground. She stirred her tea and sipped it slowly. + +"There has been a deal of chatter about shifty untrustworthy eyes," he +said. "The greatest liars I have ever known could look St. Peter +straight and serenely in the eye. It's a matter of steady nerves, +nothing more. Somebody says that so and so is a fact, and we go on +believing it for years, until some one who is not a person but an +individual explodes it." + +"I agree with you. But there is something we rely upon far more than +either eyes or ears, instinct. It is that attribute of the animal +which civilization has not yet successfully dulled. Women rely upon +that more readily than men." + +"And make more mistakes," with a cynicism he could not conceal. + +She had no ready counter for this. "Do you go home from Rangoon, now +that you have made your fortune?" + +"No. I am going to Singapore. I shall make my plans there." + +Singapore. Elsa stirred uneasily. It would be like having a ghost by +her side. She wanted to tell him what had really drawn her interest. +But it seemed to her that the moment to do so had passed. + +"Vultures! How I detest them!" She pointed toward a sand-bar upon +which stood several of these abominable birds and an adjutant, solemn +and aloof. "At Lucknow they were red-headed. I do not recollect +seeing one of them fly. But I admire the kites; they look so much like +our eagles." + +"And thus again the eye misleads us. There is nothing that flies so +rapacious as the kite." + +Little by little she drew from him a sketch here, a phase there. She +was given glimpses into the life of the East such as no book or guide +had ever given; and the boat was circling toward the landing at Prome +before they became aware of the time. + +Warrington rushed ashore to find the dry-goods shop. His social +redemption was on the way, if vanity went for anything. It was +stirring and tingling with life again. With the money advanced by the +purser he bought shirts and collars and ties; and as he possessed no +watch, returned barely in time to dress for dinner. He was not at all +disturbed to learn that the inquisitive German, the colonel and his +fidgety charges, had decided to proceed to Rangoon by rail. Indeed, +there was a bit of exultation in his manner as he observed the vacant +chairs. Paradise for two whole days. And he proposed to make the most +of it. Now, his mind was as clear of evil as a forest spring. He +simply wanted to play; wanted to give rein to the lighter emotions so +long pent up in his lonely heart. + +The purser, used to these sudden changes and desertions in his +passenger-lists, gave the situation no thought. But Elsa saw a mild +danger, all the more alluring because it hung nebulously. For years +she had walked in conformity with the cramped and puerile laws that +govern society. She had obeyed most of them from habit, others from +necessity. What harm could there be in having a little fling? He was +so amazingly like outwardly, so astonishingly unlike inwardly, that the +situation held for her a subtle fascination against which she was in +nowise inclined to fight. What had nature in mind when she produced +two men exactly alike in appearance but in reality as far apart as the +poles? Would it be worth while to find out? She was not wholly +ignorant of her power. She could bend the man if she tried. Should +she try? + +They were like two children, setting out to play a game with fire. + +She thought of Arthur. Had he gone the length of his thirty-five years +without his peccadillos? Scarcely. She understood the general run of +men well enough to accept this fact. Whomever she married she was +never going to worry him with questions regarding his bachelor life. +Nor did she propose to be questioned about her own past. Besides, she +hadn't married Arthur yet; she had only promised to. And such promises +were sometimes sensibly broken. There ran through her a fine vein of +mercilessness, but it was without cruelty, it was leavened with both +logic and justice. When the time came she would name the day to +Arthur, or she would with equal frankness announce that she would not +marry him at all. These thoughts flashed through her mind, +disconnectedly, while she talked and laughed. + +It never occurred to her to have Martha moved up from the foot of the +table. Once or twice she stole a glance at the woman who had in the +olden days dandled her on her knees. The glance was a mixture of guilt +and mischief, like a child's. But the glance had not the power to +attract Martha's eyes. Martha felt the glances as surely as if she had +lifted her eyes to meet them. She held her peace. She had not been +brought along as Elsa's guardian. Elsa was not self-willed but +strong-willed, and Martha realized that any interference would result +in estrangement. In fact, Martha beheld in Warrington a real menace. +The extraordinary resemblance would naturally appeal to Elsa, with what +results she could only imagine. Later she asked Elsa if she had told +Warrington of the remarkable resemblance. + +"Mercy, no! And what is more, I do not want him to know. Men are vain +as a rule; and I should not like to hurt his vanity by telling him that +I sought his acquaintance simply because he might easily have been +Arthur Ellison's twin brother." + +"The man you are engaged to marry." + +"Whom I have promised to marry, provided the state of my sentiments is +unchanged upon my return; which is altogether a different thing." + +"That does not seem quite fair to Mr. Ellison." + +"Well, Martha?" + +"I beg your pardon, Elsa; but the stranger terrifies me. He is +something uncanny." + +"Nonsense! You've been reading tales about Yogii." + +"It is a terrible country." + +"It is the East, Martha, the East. Here a man may wear a dress-suit +and a bowler without offending any one." + +"And a woman may talk to any one she pleases." + +"Is that a criticism?" + +"No, Elsa; it is what you call the East." + +"You have been with me twenty years," began Elsa coldly. + +"And love you better than the whole world! And I wish I could guard +you always from harm and evil. Those horrid old Englishwomen . . ." + +"Oh; so there's been gossip already? You know my views regarding +gossip. So long as I know that I am doing no wrong, ladies may gossip +their heads off. I'm not a kitten." + +"You are twenty-five, and yet you're only a child." + +"What does that signify? That I am too young to manage my own affairs? +That I must set my clock as others order? Good soul!" putting her arms +around the older woman. "Don't worry about Elsa Chetwood. Her life is +her own, but she will never misuse it." + +"Oh, if you were only married and settled down!" + +"You mean, if I were happily married and settled down. There you have +it. I'm in search of happiness. That's the Valley of Diamonds. When +I find that, Martha, you may fold your hands in peace." + +"Grant it may be soon! I hate the East! + +"And I have just begun to love it." + + + + +V + +BACK TO LIFE + +The two days between Prome and Rangoon were distinctly memorable for +the subtle changes wrought in the man and woman. Those graces of mind +and manner which had once been the man's, began to find expression. +Physically, his voice became soft and mellow; his hands became full of +emphasis; his body grew less and less clumsy, more and more leonine. +It has taken centuries and centuries to make the white man what he is +to-day; yet, a single year of misfortune may throw him back into the +primordial. For it is far easier to retrograde than to go forward, +easier to let the world go by than to march along with it. Had he been +less interested in Elsa and more concerned about his rehabilitation, +self-analysis would have astonished Warrington. The blunt speech, the +irritability in argument, the stupid pauses, the painful study of +cunning phrases, the suspicion and reticence that figuratively encrust +the hearts of shy and lonely men, these vanished under her warm if +careless glances. For the first time in ten years a woman of the right +sort was showing interest in him. True, there had been other women, +but these had served only to make him retreat farther into his shell. + +If the crust of barbarism is thick, that of civilization is thin +enough. As Warrington went forward, Elsa stopped, and gradually went +back, not far, but far enough to cause her to throw down the bars of +reserve, to cease to guard her impulses against the invasion of +interest and fascination. She faced the truth squarely, without +palter. The man fascinated her. He was like a portrait with following +eyes. She spoke familiarly of her affairs (always omitting Arthur); +she talked of her travels, of the famous people she had met, of the +wonderful pageants she had witnessed. And she secretly laughed at +reproachful conscience that urged her to recall one of those laws Elsa +herself had written down to follow: that which forbade a young +unmarried woman to seek the companionship of a man about whom she knew +nothing. It was not her fault that, with the exception of Martha who +didn't count, they two were the only passengers. This condition of +affairs was directly chargeable to fate; and before the boat reached +Rangoon, Elsa was quite willing to let fate shift and set the scenes +how it would. The first step toward reversion is the casting aside of +one's responsibilities. Elsa shifted her cares to the shoulders of +fate. So long as the man behaved himself, so long as he treated her +with respect, real or feigned, nothing else mattered. + +The phase that escaped her entirely was this, that had he not +progressed, she would have retained her old poise, the old poise of +which she was never again to be mistress. It is the old tale: sympathy +to lift up another first steps down. And never had her sympathy gone +out so quickly to any mortal. Elsa had a horror of loneliness, and +this man seemed to be the living presentment of the word. What +struggles, and how simply he recounted them! What things he had seen, +what adventures had befallen him, what romance and mystery! She +wondered if there had been a woman in his life and if she had been the +cause of his downfall. Every day of the past ten years lay open for +her to admire or condemn, but beyond these ten years there was a +Chinese Wall, over which she might not look. Only once had she +provoked the silent negative nod of his head. He was strong. Not the +smallest corner of the veil was she permitted to turn aside. She +walked hither and thither along the scarps and bastions of the barrier, +but never found the breach. + +"Will you come and dine with me to-night?" she asked, as they left the +boat. + +"No, Miss Innocence." + +"That's silly. There isn't a soul I know here." + +"But," gravely he replied, "there are many here who know me." + +"Which infers that my invitation is unwise?" + +"Absolutely unwise." + +"Tea?" + +"Frankly, I ought not to be seen with you." + +"Why? Unless, indeed, you have not told me the truth." + +"I have told you the truth." + +"Then where's the harm?" + +"For myself, none. On the boat it did not matter so much. It was a +situation which neither of us could foresee nor prevent. I have told +you that people here look askance at me because they know nothing about +me, save that I came from the States. And they are wise. I should be +a cad if I accepted your invitation to dinner." + +"Then, I am not to see you again?" + +The smile would have lured him across three continents. "To-morrow, I +promise to call and have tea with you, much against my better judgment." + +"Oh, if you don't want to come . . ." + +"Don't want to come!" + +Something in his eyes caused Elsa to speak hurriedly. "Good-by until +to-morrow." + +She gave him her hand for a moment, stepped into the carriage, which +already held Martha and the luggage, and then drove off to the Strand +Hotel. + +He stood with his helmet in his hand. A fine warm rain was falling, +but he was not conscious of it. It seemed incredible that time should +produce such a change within the space of seventy hours, a little more, +a little less. As she turned and waved a friendly hand, he knew that +the desolation which had been his for ten years was nothing as compared +to that which now fell upon his heart. She was as unattainable as the +north star; and nothing, time nor circumstance, could bridge that +incalculable distance. She was the most exquisite contradiction; in +one moment the guilelessness of a child, in another, the worldly-wise +woman. Had she been all of the one or all of the other, he would not +have been touched so deeply. If she loved a man, there would be no +silly doddering; the voice of the petty laws that strove to hedge her +in would be in her ears as a summer breeze. For one so young--and +twenty-five was young--she possessed a disconcerting directness in her +logic. So far he observed that she retained but one illusion, that +somewhere in the world there was a man worth loving. His heart hurt +him. He must see her no more after the morrow. Enchantment and +happiness were two words which fate had ruthlessly scratched from his +book of days. + +Mr. Hooghly had already started off toward the town, the kit-bag and +the valise slung across his shoulders, the parrot-cage bobbing at his +side. He knew where to go; an obscure lodging for men in the heart of +the business section, known in jest by the derelicts as The Stranded. + +Warrington, becoming suddenly aware that his pose, if prolonged, would +become ridiculous, put on his helmet and proceeded to the Bank of +Burma. To-day was Wednesday; Thursday week he would sail for Singapore +and close the chapter. Before banking hours were over, his financial +affairs were put in order, and he walked forth with two letters of +credit and enough bank-notes and gold to carry him around the world, if +so he planned. Next, he visited a pawn-shop and laid down a dozen +mutilated tickets, receiving in return a handsome watch, emerald +cuff-buttons, some stick-pins, some pearls, and a beautiful old ruby +ring, a gift of the young Maharajah of Udaipur. The ancient Chinaman +smiled. This was a rare occasion. Men generally went out of his dark +and dingy shop and never more returned. + +"Much money. Can do now?" affably. + +"Can do," replied Warrington, slipping the treasures into a pocket. +What a struggle it had been to hold them! Somehow or other he had +always been able to meet the interest; though, often to accomplish this +feat he had been forced to go without tobacco for weeks. + +There is a vein of superstition in all of us, deny it how we will. +Certain inconsequent things we do or avoid doing. We never walk home +on the opposite side of the street. We carry luck-stones and battered +pieces of copper that have ceased to serve as coins. We fill the +garret with useless junk. Warrington was as certain of the fact as he +was of the rising and the setting of the sun, that if he lost these +heirlooms, he never could go back to the old familiar world, the world +in which he had moved and lived and known happiness. Never again would +he part with them. A hundred thousand dollars, almost; with his simple +wants he was now a rich man. + +"Buy ling?" asked the Chinaman. He rolled a mandarin's ring carelessly +across the show-case. "Gold; all heavy; velly old, velly good ling." + +"What does it say?" asked Warrington, pointing to the characters. + +"Good luck and plospeity; velly good signs." + +It was an unusually beautiful ring, unusual in that it had no setting +of jade. Warrington offered three sovereigns for it. The Chinaman +smiled and put the ring away. Warrington laughed and laid down five +pieces of gold. The Chinaman swept them up in his lean dry hands. And +Warrington departed, wondering if she would accept such a token. + +By four o'clock he arrived at the Chinese tailors in the Suley Pagoda +Road. He ordered a suit of pongee, to be done at noon the following +day. He added to this orders for four other suits, to be finished +within a week. Then he went to the shoemaker, to the hatter, to the +haberdasher. There was even a light Malacca walking-stick among his +purchases. A long time had passed since he had carried a cane. There +used to be, once upon a time, a dapper light bamboo which was known up +and down Broadway, in the restaurants, the more or less famous bars, +and in the lounging-rooms of a popular club. All this business because +he wanted her to realize what he had been and yet could be. Thus, +vanity sometimes works out a man's salvation. And it marked the end of +Warrington's recidivation. + +When he reached his lodging-house he sought the Burmese landlady. She +greeted him with a smile and a stiff little shake of the hand. He owed +her money, but that was nothing. Had he not sent her drunken European +sailor-man husband about his business? Had he not freed her from a +tyranny of fists and curses? It had not affected her in the least to +learn that her sailor-man had been negligently married all the way from +Yokohama to Colombo. She was free of him. + +Warrington spread out a five-pound note and laid ten sovereigns upon +it. "There we are," he said genially; "all paid up to date." + +"This?" touching the note. + +"A gift for all your patience and kindness." + +"You go 'way?" the smile leaving her pretty moon-face. + +"Yes." + +"You like?" with a gesture which indicated the parlor and its contents. +"Be boss? Half an' half?" + +He shook his head soberly. She picked up the money and jingled it in +her hand. + +"Goo'-by!" softly. + +"Oh, I'm not going until next Thursday." + +The smile returned to her face, and her body bent in a kind of kotow. +He was so big, and his beard glistened like the gold-leaf on the Shwe +Dagon Pagoda. She understood. The white to the white and the brown to +the brown; it was the Law. + +Warrington went up to his room. He was welcomed by a screech from the +parrot and a dignified salaam from James, who was trimming the wick of +the oil-lamp. For the last year and a half this room had served as +headquarters. Many a financial puzzle had been pieced together within +these dull drab walls; many a dream had gone up to the ceiling, only to +sink and dissipate like smoke. There were no pictures on the walls, no +photographs. In one corner, on the floor, was a stack of dilapidated +books. These were mostly old novels and tomes dealing with geological +and mathematical matters; laughter and tears and adventure, sandwiched +in between the dry positiveness of straight lines and squares and +circles and numerals without end; D'Artagnan hobnobbing with Euclid! +Warrington was an educated man, but he was in no sense a scholar. In +his hours of leisure he did not find solace in the classics. He craved +for a good blood-red tale, with lots of fighting and love-making and +pleasant endings. + +James applied a match to the wick, and the general poverty of the room +was instantly made manifest. + +"Well, old sober-top, suppose we square up and part like good friends?" + +"I am always the Sahib's good friend." + +"Right as rain!" Warrington emptied his pockets upon the table; silver +and gold and paper. "Eh? That's the stuff. Without it the world's +not worth a tinker's dam. Count out seventy pounds, James." + +"Sixty-seven." + +"Seventy or nothing," declared Warrington, putting his hands down upon +the glittering metals. Rupees and sovereigns never lose their luster +in the East. + +Calmly, then, James took sovereign after sovereign until he had +withdrawn the required sum. "Gold is heavy, Sahib," he commented. + +"Hang it, your hands are steadier than mine!" + +"You go back home?" + +"Yes. Something like home. I am going to Paris, where good people go +when they die. I am going to drink vintage wines, eat truffles and +mushrooms and caviar, and kiss the pretty girls in Maxim's. I've been +in prison for ten years. I am free, free!" Warrington flung out his +arms. "Good-by, jungles, deserts, hell-heat and thirsty winds! +Good-by, crusts and rags and hunger! I am going to live." + +"The Sahib has fever," observed the unimaginative Eurasian. + +"That's the word; fever. I am burning up. Here; go to the boat and +give the purser these six sovereigns. Here are three more. Go to the +Strand and get a bottle of champagne, and bring some ice. Buy a box of +the best cigars, and hurry back. Then put this junk in the trunk. And +damn the smell of kerosene!" + +James raised his hand warningly. From the adjoining room came the +sound of a quarrel. + +"Rupees one hundred and forty, and I want it now, you sneak!" + +"But I told you I couldn't square up until the first of the month." + +"You had no business to play poker, then, if you knew you couldn't +settle." + +"Who asked me to play?" shrilled the other. "You did. Well, I haven't +got the money." + +"You miserable little welcher! That ring is worth a hundred and forty." + +"You'll never get your dirty fingers inside of that." + +"Oh, I shan't, eh?" + +Warrington heard a scuffling, which was presently followed by a low +choking sob. He did not know who occupied the adjoining room. He had +been away for weeks, and there had been no permanent boarders before +that time. He rushed fearlessly into the other room. Pinned to the +wall was a young man with a weak pale face. The other man presented +nothing more than the back of his broad muscular shoulders. The +disparity in weight and height was sufficient to rouse Warrington's +sense of fair play. Besides, he was in a rough mood himself. + +"Here, that'll do," he cried, seizing the heavier man by the collar. +"It isn't worth while to kill a man for a handful of rupees. Let go, +you fool!" + +He used his strength. The man and his victim swung in a half-circle +and crashed to the floor. + +With a snarl and an oath, the gambler sprung to his feet and started +toward Warrington. He stopped short. + +"Good God!" he murmured; and retreated until he touched the foot-board +of the bed. + + + + +VI + +IN THE NEXT ROOM + +"Craig?" Warrington whispered the word, as if he feared the world +might hear the deadly menace in his voice. For murder leaped up in his +heart as flame leaps up in pine-kindling. + +The weak young man got to his knees, then to his feet. He steadied +himself by clutching the back of a chair. With one hand he felt of his +throat tenderly. + +"He tried to kill me, the blackguard!" he croaked. + +"Craig, it _is_ you! For ten years I've never thought of you without +murder in my heart. Newell Craig, and here, right where I can put my +hands upon you! Oh, this old world is small." Warrington laughed. It +was a high thin sound. + +The young man looked from his enemy to his deliverer, and back again. +What new row was this? Never before had he seen the blackguard with +that look in his dark, handsome, predatory face. It typified fear. +And who was this big blond chap whose fingers were working so +convulsively? + +"Craig," said the young man, "you get out of here, and if you ever come +bothering me, I'll shoot you. Hear me?" + +This direful threat did not seem to stir the sense of hearing in either +of the two men. The one faced the other as a lion might have faced a +jackal, wondering if it would be worth while to waste a cuff on so +sorry a beast. Suddenly the blond man caught the door and swung it +wide. + +"Craig, a week ago I'd have throttled you without the least +compunction. To-day I can't touch you. But get out of here as fast as +you can. You might have gone feet foremost. Go! Out of Rangoon, too. +I may change my mind." + +The man called Craig walked out, squaring his shoulders with a touch of +bravado that did not impress even the plucked pigeon. Warrington stood +listening until he heard the hall-door close sharply. + +"Thanks," said the bewildered youth. + +Warrington whirled upon him savagely. "Thanks? Don't thank me, +you weak-kneed fool!" + +"Oh, I say, now!" the other protested. + +"Be silent! If you owe that scoundrel anything, refuse to pay it. He +never won a penny in his life without cheating. Keep out of his way; +keep out of the way of all men who prefer to deal only two hands." And +with this advice Warrington stepped out into the hallway and shut the +door rudely. + +The youth walked over to the mirror and straightened his collar and +tie. "Rum go, that. Narrow squeak. Surly beggar, even if he did do +me a good turn. I shan't have to pay that rotter, Craig, now. That's +something." + +"Pay the purser and get a box of cigars," Warrington directed James. +"Never mind about the wine. I shan't want it now." + +James went out upon the errands immediately. Warrington dropped down +in the creaky rocking-chair, the only one in the boarding-house. He +stared at the worn and faded carpet. How dingy everything looked! +What a sordid rut he had been content to lie in! Chance: to throw this +man across his path when he had almost forgotten him, forgotten that he +had sworn to break the man's neck over his knees! In the very next +room! And he had permitted him to go unharmed simply because his mind +was full of a girl he would never see again after to-morrow. What was +the rascal doing over here? What had caused him to forsake the easy +pluckings of Broadway in exchange for a dog's life on packet-boats, in +squalid boarding-houses like this one, and in dismal billiard-halls? +Wire-tapper, racing-tout, stool-pigeon, a cheater at cards, blackmailer +and trafficker in baser things; in the next room, and he had let him go +unharmed. Vermin. Pah! He was glad. The very touch of the man's +collar had left a sense of defilement upon his hands. Ten years ago +and thirteen thousand miles away. In the next room. He laughed +unpleasantly. Chivalric fool, silly Don Quixote, sentimental dreamer, +to have made a hash of his life in this manner! + +He leaned toward the window-sill and opened the cage. Rajah walked +out, muttering. + + +When it was possible, Elsa preferred to walk. She was young and strong +and active; and she went along with a swinging stride that made obvious +a serene confidence in her ability to take care of herself. She was, +in many respects, a remarkable young woman. She had been pampered, she +had been given her head; and still she was unspoiled. What the +unknowing called wilfulness was simply natural independence, which she +asserted whenever occasion demanded it. + +Tongas cut into her nerves, the stuffy gharry made her head ache, and +the springless phaetons which abound in the East she avoided as the +plague. Elephants and camels and rickshaws were her delight; but here +in Rangoon none of these was available. There were no camels; the +government elephants had steady employment out at MacGregor's +timberyards and could not get leave of absence; while rickshaws were +out of fashion, as only natives and Chinamen rode in them. So Elsa +walked. + +She loved to prowl through the strange streets and alleys and stranger +shops; it was a joy to ramble about, minus the irritating importunities +of guide or attendant. It was great fun, but it was not always wise. +There were some situations which only men could successfully handle. +Elsa would never confess that there had been instances when she had +been confronted by such situations. She could, however, truthfully say +that these awkward moments had always been without endings, as, being +an excellent runner, she had, upon these occasions, blithely taken to +her heels. + +In her cool white drill, her wide white pith-helmet, she presented a +charming picture. The exercise had given her cheeks a bit of color, +and her eyes sparkled and flashed like raindrops. This morning she had +taken Martha along merely to still her protests. + +"It's all right so long as we keep to the main streets," said the +harried Martha; "but I do not like the idea of roaming about in the +native quarters. This is not like Europe. The hotel-manager said we +ought to have a man." + +"He is looking out for his commission. Heavens! what is the matter +with everybody? One would think, the way people put themselves out to +warn you, that murder and robbery were daily occurrences in Asia. I've +been here four months, and the only disagreeable moment I have known +was caused by a white man." + +"Because we have been lucky so far, it's no sign that we shall continue +so." + +"Raven!" laughed the girl. + +Martha shut her lips grimly. Her worry was not confined to this +particular phase of Elsa's imperious moods; it was general. There was +that blond man with the parrot. Martha was beginning to see him in her +dreams, which she considered as a presage of evil. There was also the +astonishing lack of interest in the man who was waiting at home. Elsa +rarely spoke of him. Nobody could tell Martha that chance had thrown +the blond stranger into their society. Somewhere it had been written. +(As, indeed, it had!) How to keep Elsa apart from him was now her vital +concern. She would never feel at ease until they were out of Yokohama, +homeward-bound. + +"I feel like a child this morning," said Elsa. "I want to run and play +and shout." + +"All the more reason why you should have a guardian. . . . Look, +Elsa!" Martha caught the girl by the arm. "There's that man we left +at Mandalay." + +"Where?" + +"Coming toward us. Shall we go into this shop?" + +"No, thank you! There is no reason why I should hide in a +butcher-shop, simply to avoid meeting the man. We'll walk straight +past him. If he speaks, we'll ignore him." + +"I wish we were in a civilized country." + +"This man is supposed to be civilized. Don't let him catch your eye. +Go on; don't lag." + +Craig stepped in front of them, smiling as he raised his helmet. "This +is an unexpected pleasure." + +Elsa, looking coldly beyond him, attempted to pass. + +"Surely you remember me?" + +"I remember an insolent cad," replied Elsa, her eyes beginning to burn +dangerously. "Will you stand aside?" + +He threw a swift glance about. He saw with satisfaction that none but +natives was in evidence. + +Elsa's glance roved, too, with a little chill of despair. In stories +Warrington would have appeared about this time and soundly trounced +this impudent scoundrel. She realized that she must settle this affair +alone. She was not a soldier's daughter for nothing. + +"Stand aside!" + +"Hoity-toity!" he laughed. He had been drinking liberally and was a +shade reckless. "Why not be a good fellow? Over here nobody minds. I +know a neat little restaurant. Bring the old lady along," with a +genial nod toward the quaking Martha. + +Resolutely Elsa's hand went up to her helmet, and with a flourish drew +out one of the long steel pins. + +"Oh, Elsa!" warned Martha. + +"Be still! This fellow needs a lesson. Once more, Mr. Craig, will you +stand aside?" + +Had he been sober he would have seen the real danger in the young +woman's eyes. + +"Cruel!" he said. "At least, one kiss," putting out his arms. + +Elsa, merciless in her fury, plunged the pin into his wrist. It stung +like a hornet; and with a gasp of pain, Craig leaped back out of range, +sobered. + +"Why, you she-cat!" + +"I warned you," she replied, her voice steady but low. "The second +stab will be serious. Stand aside." + +He stepped into the gutter, biting his lips and straining his uninjured +hand over the hurting throb in his wrist. The hat-pin as a weapon of +defense he had hitherto accepted as reporters' yarns. He was now +thoroughly convinced of the truth. He had had wide experience with +women. His advantage had always been in the fact that the general run +of them will submit to insult rather than create a scene. This +dark-eyed Judith was distinctly an exception to the rule. Gad! She +might have missed his wrist and jabbed him in the throat. He swore, +and walked off down the street. + +Elsa set a pace which Martha, with her wabbling knees, found difficult +to maintain. + +"You might have killed him!" she cried breathlessly. + +"You can't kill that kind of a snake with a hat-pin; you have to stamp +on its head. But I rather believe it will be some time before Mr. +Craig will again make the mistake of insulting a woman because she +appears to be defenseless." Elsa's chin was in the air. The choking +sensation in her throat began to subside. "The deadly hat-pin; can't +you see the story in the newspapers? Well, I for one am not afraid to +use it. You know and the purser knows what happened on the boat to +Mandalay. He was plausible and affable and good-looking, and the +mistake was mine. I seldom make them. I kept quiet because the boat +was full-up, and as a rule I hate scenes. Men like that know it. If I +had complained, he would have denied his actions, inferred that I was +evil-minded. He would have been shocked at my misinterpreting him. +Heavens, I know the breed! Now, not a single word of this to any one. +Mr. Craig, I fancy, will be the last person to speak of it." + +"You had better put the pin back into your hat," suggested Martha. + +"Pah! I had forgotten it." Elsa flung the weapon far into the street. + +Once they turned into Merchant Street, both felt the tension relax, +Martha would have liked to sit down, even on the curb. + +"I despise men," she volunteered. + +"I am beginning to believe that few of them are worth a thought. Those +who aren't fools are knaves." + +"Are you sure of your judgment in regard to this man Warrington? How +can you tell that he is any different from that man Craig?" + +"He is different, that is all. This afternoon he will come to tea. I +shall want you to be with us. Remember, not a word of this disgraceful +affair." + +"Ah, Elsa, I am afraid; I am more afraid of Warrington than of a man of +Craig's type." + +"And why?" + +"It sounds foolish, but I can't explain. I am just afraid of him." + +"Bother! You talk like an old maid." + +"And I am one, by preference." + +"We are always quarreling, Martha; and it doesn't do either of us any +good. When you oppose me, I find that that is the very thing I want to +do. You haven't any diplomacy." + +"I would gladly cultivate it if I thought it would prove effectual," +was the retort. + +"Try it," advised Elsa dryly. + +Warrington's appearance that afternoon astonished Elsa. She had +naturally expected some change, but scarcely such elegance. He was, +without question, one of the handsomest men she had ever met. He was +handsomer than Arthur because he was more manly in type. Arthur +himself, an exquisite in the matter of clothes, could not have improved +upon this man's taste or selection. What a mystery he was! She +greeted him cordially, without restraint; but for all that, a little +shiver stirred the tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck. + +"The most famous man in Rangoon to-day," she said, smiling. + +"So you have read that tommy-rot in the newspaper?" + +They sat on her private balcony, under an awning. Rain was +threatening. Martha laid aside her knitting and did her utmost to give +her smile of welcome an air of graciousness. + +"I shouldn't call it tommy-rot," Elsa declared. "It was not chance. +It was pluck and foresight. Men who possess those two attributes get +about everything worth having." + +"There are exceptions," studying the ferrule of his cane. + +"Is there really anything you want now and can't have?" + +Martha looked at her charge in dread and wonder. + +"There is the moon," he answered. "I have always wanted that. But +there it hangs, just as far out of reach as ever." + +"Two lumps?" + +"None. My sugar-tooth is gone." + +Elsa had heard that hard drinkers disliked sweets. Had this been the +Gordian knot he had cut? + +"Perhaps, after all," she said, "you would prefer a peg, as you call it +over here." + +"No, thanks. I was never fond of whisky. Sometimes, when I am dead +tired, and have to go on working, I take a little." + +So that wasn't it. Elsa's curiosity to-day was keenly alive. She +wanted to ask a thousand questions; but the ease with which the man +wore his new clothes, used his voice and eyes and hands, convinced her +more than ever that the subtlest questions she might devise would not +stir him into any confession. That he had once been a gentleman of her +own class, and more, something of an exquisite, there remained no doubt +in her mind. What had he done? What in the world had he done? + +On his part he regretted the presence of Martha; for, so strongly had +this girl worked upon his imagination that he had called with the +deliberate intention of telling her everything. But he could not open +the gates of his heart before a third person, one he intuitively knew +was antagonistic. + +Conversation went afield: pictures and music and the polished capitals +of the world; the latest books and plays. The information in regard to +these Elsa supplied him. They discussed also the problems of the day +as frankly as if they had been in an Occidental drawing-room. Martha's +tea was bitter. She liked Arthur, who was always charming, who never +surprised or astonished anybody, or shocked them with unexpected phases +of character; and each time she looked at Warrington, Arthur seemed to +recede. And when the time came for the guest to take his leave, Martha +regretted to find that the major part of her antagonism was gone. + +"I wish to thank you, Miss Chetwood, for your kindness to a very lonely +man. It isn't probable that I shall see you again. I sail next +Thursday for Singapore." He reached into a pocket. "I wonder if you +would consider it an impertinence if I offered you this old trinket?" +He held out the mandarin's ring. + +"What a beauty!" she exclaimed. "Of course I'll accept it. It is very +kind of you. I am inordinately fond of such things. Thank you. How +easily it slips over my finger!" + +"Chinamen have very slender fingers," he explained. "Good-by. Those +characters say 'Good luck and prosperity.'" + +No expressed desire of wishing to meet her again; just an ordinary +every-day farewell; and she liked him all the better for his apparent +lack of sentiment. + +"Good-by," she said. She winced, for his hand was rough-palmed and +strong. + +A little later she saw him pass down the street. He never turned and +looked back. + +"And why," asked Martha, "did you not tell the man that we sail on the +same ship?" + +"You're a simpleton, Martha." Elsa turned the ring round and round on +her finger. "If I had told him, he would have canceled his sailing and +taken another boat." + + + + +VII + +CONFIDENCES + +That night Martha wrote a letter. During the writing of it she jumped +at every sound: a footstep in the hall, the shutting of a door, a voice +calling in the street. And yet, Martha was guilty of performing only +what she considered to be her bounden duty. It is the prerogative of +fate to tangle or untangle the skein of human lives; but still, there +are those who elect themselves to break the news gently, to lessen the +shock of the blow which fate is about to deliver. + + +"_My dear Mr. Arthur_: + +. . . I do not know what to make of it. His likeness to you is the +most unheard of thing. He is a little bigger and broader and he wears +his beard longer. That's all the difference. When he came on the boat +that night, it was like a hand clutching at my throat. And you know +how romantic Elsa is, for all that she believes she is prosaic. I am +certain that she sees you in this stranger who calls himself +Warrington. If only you had had the foresight to follow us, a sailing +or two later! And now they'll be together for four or five days, down +to Singapore. I don't like it. There's something uncanny in the +thing. What if she did forbid you to follow? There are some promises +women like men to break. You should have followed. + +Neither of us has the slightest idea what the man has done to exile +himself in this horrible land for ten years. He still behaves like a +gentleman, and he must have been one in the past. But he has never yet +spoken of his home, of his past, of his people. We don't even know +that Warrington is his name. And you know that's a sign that something +is wrong. I wonder if you have any relatives by the name of +Warrington? I begin to see that man's face in my dreams. + +I am worried. For Elsa is a puzzle. She has always been one to me. I +have been with her since her babyhood; and yet I know as little of what +goes on in her mind as a stranger would. Her father, you know, was a +soldier, of fierce loves and hates; her mother was a handsome statue. +Elsa has her father's scorn for convention and his independence, +clothed in her mother's impenetrable mask. Don't mistake me. Elsa is +the most adorable creature to me, and I worship her; but I worry about +her. I believe that it would be wise on your part to meet us in San +Francisco. Give my love and respect to your dear beautiful mother. +And marry Elsa as fast as ever you can." + + +There followed some rambling comments on the weather, the rains and the +dust, the execrable food and the lack of drinking-water. The man who +eventually received this letter never reached that part of it. + + +The day of sailing was brilliant and warm. Elsa sat in a chair on the +deck of the tender, watching the passengers as they came aboard. A +large tourist party bustled about, rummaged among the heaps of luggage, +and shouted questions at their unhappy conductor. They wanted to know +where their staterooms were, grumbled about the size of the boat, +prophesied typhoons and wrecks, got in everybody's way, and ordered +other people's servants about. Never before had Elsa realized the +difficulties that beset the path of the personal conductor. Whatever +his salary was, he was entitled to it. It was all he got. No one +thought to offer him a little kindness. He was a human guide-book +which his fares opened and shut how and when they pleased. + +She saw Hooghly standing in the bow. A steamer-trunk, a kit-bag, a +bedding-bag, and the inevitable parrot-cage, reposed at his feet. He +was watching without interest or excitement the stream passing up and +down the gangplank. If his master came, very well; if he did not, he +would get off with the luggage. How she would have liked to question +him regarding his master! Elsa began to offer excuses for her interest +in Warrington. He was the counterpart of Arthur Ellison. He had made +his fortune against odds. He was a mystery. Why shouldn't he interest +her? Her mind was not ice, nor was her heart a stone. She pitied him, +always wondering what was back of it all. She would be a week in +Singapore; after that their paths would widen and become lost in the +future, and she would forget all about him, save in a shadowy way. She +would marry Arthur whether she loved him or not. She was certain that +he loved her. He had a comfortable income, not equal to hers, but +enough. He was, besides, her own sort; and there wasn't any mystery +about him at all. He was as clear to her as glass. For nearly ten +years she had known him, since his and his mother's arrival in the +small pretty Kentuckian town. What was the use of hunting a fancy? +Yes, she would marry Arthur. She was almost inclined to cable him to +meet her in San Francisco. + +That there was real danger in her interest in Warrington did not occur +to her. The fact that she was now willing to marry Arthur, without +analyzing the causes that had brought her to this decision, should have +warned her that she was dimly afraid of the stranger. Her glance fell +upon the mandarin's ring. She twirled it round undecidedly. Should +she wear it or put it away? The question remained suspended. She saw +Craig coming aboard; and she hid her face behind her magazine. Upon +second thought she let the magazine fall. She was quite confident that +that chapter was closed. Craig might be a scoundrel, but he was no +fool. + +A sharp blast from the tender's whistle drew her attention to the +gangplank. The last man to come aboard was Warrington. He appeared in +no especial hurry. He immediately sought James; and they stood +together chatting until the tender drew up alongside the steamer of the +British-India line. The two men shook hands finally. There seemed to +be some argument, in which Warrington bore down the servant. The +latter added a friendly tap on the Eurasian's shoulder. No one would +have suspected that the white man and his dark companion had been +"shipmates," in good times and in bad, for nearly a decade. Elsa, +watching them from her secure nook, admired the lack of effusiveness. +The dignity of the parting told her of the depth of feeling. + +An hour later they were heading for the delta. Elsa amused herself by +casting bits of bread to the gulls. Always they caught it on the wing, +no matter in what direction she threw it. Sometimes one would wing up +to her very hand for charity, its coral feet stretched out to meet the +quick back-play of the wings, its cry shallow and plaintive and +world-lonely. + +Suddenly she became aware of a presence at her side. + +A voice said: "It was not quite fair of you." + +"What wasn't?" without turning her head. She brushed her hands free of +the crumbs. + +"You should have let me know that you were going to sail on this boat." + +"You would have run away, then." + +"Why?" startled at her insight. + +"Because you are a little afraid of me." She faced him, without a +smile either on her lips or in her eyes. "Aren't you?" + +"Yes. I am afraid of all things I do not quite understand." + +"There is not the least need in the world, Mr. Warrington. I am quite +harmless. My claws have been clipped. I am engaged to be married, and +am going home to decide the day." + +"He's a lucky man." He was astonished at his calm, for the blow went +deep. + +"Lucky? That is in the future. What a lonely thing a gull is!" + +"What a lonely thing a lonely man is!" he added. Poor fool! To have +dreamed so fair a dream for a single moment! He tried to believe that +he was glad that she had told him about the other man. The least this +information could do would be to give him better control of himself. +He had not been out in the open long enough entirely to master his +feelings. + +"Men ought not to be lonely," she said. "There's the excitement of +work, of mingling with crowds, of going when and where one pleases. A +woman is hemmed in by a thousand petty must-nots. She can't go out +after dark; she can't play whist or billiards, or sit at a table in the +open and drink and smoke and spin yarns. Woman's lot is wondering and +waiting at home. When I marry I suppose that I shall learn the truth +of that." + +Perhaps it was because he had been away from them so long and had lost +track of the moods of the feminine mind; but surely it could not be +possible that there was real happiness in this young woman's heart. +Its evidence was lacking in her voice, in her face, in her gestures. +He thought it over with a sigh. It was probably one of those marriages +of convenience, money on one side and social position on the other. He +felt sorry for the girl, sorry for the man; for it was not possible +that a girl like this one would go through life without experiencing +that flash of insanity that is called the grand passion. + +He loved her. He could lean against the rail, his shoulder lightly +touching hers, and calmly say to himself that he loved her. He could +calmly permit her to pass out of his life as a cloud passes down the +sea-rim. He hadn't enough, but this evil must befall him. Love! He +spread out his hands unconsciously. + +"What does that mean?" she asked, smiling now. "An invocation?" + +"It's a sign to ward off evil," he returned. + +"From whom?" + +"From me." + +"Are you expecting evil?" + +"I am always preparing myself to meet it. There is one thing that will +always puzzle me. Why should you have asked the purser to pick out +such a tramp as I was? For I was a tramp." + +"I thought I explained that." + +"Not clearly." + +"Well, then, I shall make myself clear. The sight of you upon that +bank, the lights in your face, struck me as the strangest mystery that +could possibly confront me. I thought you were a ghost." + +"A ghost?" + +"Yes. So I asked the purser to introduce you to prove to my +satisfaction that you weren't a ghost. Line for line, height for +height, color for color, you are the exact counterpart of the man I am +going home to marry." + +She saw the shiver that ran over him; she saw his eyes widen; she saw +his hands knot in pressure over the rail. + +"The man you are going to marry!" he whispered. + +Abruptly, without explanation, he walked away, his shoulders settled, +his head bent. It was her turn to be amazed. What could this attitude +mean? + +"Mr. Warrington!" she called. + +But he disappeared down the companionway. + + + + +VIII + +A WOMAN'S REASON + +Elsa stared at the vacant doorway. She recognized only a sense of +bewilderment. This was not one of those childish flashes of rudeness +that had amused, annoyed and mystified her. She had hurt him. And +how? Her first explanation was instantly rejected as absurd, +impossible. They had known each other less than a fortnight. They had +exchanged opinions upon a thousand topics, but sentiment had had no +visible part in these encounters. They had been together three days on +the boat, and once he had taken tea with her in Rangoon. She could +find nothing save that she had been kind to him when he most needed +kindness, and that she had not been stupidly curious, only +sympathetically so. He interested her and held that interest because +he was a type unlike anything she had met outside the covers of a book. +He was so big and strong, and yet so boyish. He had given her visions +of the character which had carried his manhood through all these years +of strife and bitterness and temptation. And because of this she had +shown him that she had taken it for granted that whatever he had done +in the past had not put him beyond the pale of her friendship. There +had been no degrading entanglements, and women forgive or condone all +other transgressions. + +And what had she just said or done to put that look of dumb agony in +his face? She swung impatiently from the rail. She hated abstruse +problems, and not the least of these was that which would confront her +when she returned to America. She began to promenade the deck, still +cluttered with luggage over which the Lascar stewards were moiling. +Many a glance followed the supple pleasing figure of the girl as she +passed round and round the deck. Other promenaders stepped aside or +permitted her to pass between. The resolute uplift of the chin, and +the staring dark eyes which saw but inner visions, impressed them with +the fact that it would be wiser to step aside voluntarily. There were +some, however, who considered that they had as much right to the deck +as she. Before them she would stop shortly, and as a current breaks +and passes each side of an immovable object, they, too, gave way. + +The colonel fussed and fumed, and his three spinster charges drew their +pale lips into thinner paler lines. + +"These Americans are impossible!" + +"And it is scandalous the way the young women travel alone. One can +never tell what they are." + +"Humph! Brag and assertiveness. And there's that ruffian who came +down the river. What's he doing on the same boat? What?" + +Elsa became aware of their presence at the fifth turn. She nodded +absently. Being immersed in the sea of conjecture regarding +Warrington's behavior, the colonel's glare did not rouse in her the +sense of impending disaster. + +The first gong for dinner boomed. Elsa missed the clarion notes of the +bugle, so familiar to her ears on the Atlantic. The echoing wail of +the gong spoke in the voice of the East, of its dalliance, its content +to drift in a sargassa sea of entangling habits and desires, of its +fatalism and inertia. It did not hearten one or excite hunger. Elsa +would rather have lain down in her Canton lounging-chair. The gong +seemed out of place on the sea. Vaguely it reminded her of the railway +stations at home, where they beat the gong to entice passengers into +the evil-smelling restaurants, there to lose their patience and often +their trains. + +The dining-saloon held two long tables, only one of which was in +commission, the starboard. The saloon was unattractive, for staterooms +marshaled along each side of it; and one caught glimpses of tumbled +luggage and tousled berths. A punka stretched from one end of the +table to the other, and swung indolently to and fro, whining +mysteriously as if in protest, sometimes subsiding altogether (as the +wearied coolie above the lights fell asleep) and then flapping +hysterically (after a shout of warning from the captain) and setting +the women's hair awry. + +Elsa and Martha were seated somewhere between the head and the foot of +the table. The personally-conducted surrounded them, and gabbled +incessantly during the meal of what they had seen, of what they were +going to see, and of what they had missed by not going with the other +agency's party. Elsa's sympathy went out to the tired and faded +conductor. + +There was but one vacant chair; and as she saw Warrington nowhere, Elsa +assumed that this must be his reservation. She was rather glad that he +would be beyond conversational radius. She liked to talk to the +strange and lonely man, but she preferred to be alone with him when she +did so. Neither of them had yet descended to the level of trifles; and +Elsa had no wish to share with persons uninteresting and +uncompanionable her serious views of life. Sometimes she wondered if, +after all, she was not as old as the hills instead of twenty-five. + +She began as of old to study carelessly the faces of the diners and to +speculate as to their characters and occupations. Her negligent +observation roved from the pompous captain down to the dark picturesque +face of the man Craig. Upon him her glance, a mixture of contempt and +curiosity, rested. If he behaved himself and made no attempt to speak +to her, she was willing to declare a truce. In Rangoon the man had +been drunk, but on the Irrawaddy boat he had been sober enough. Craig +kept his eyes directed upon his food and did not offer her even a +furtive glance. + +He was not in a happy state of mind. He had taken passage the last +moment to avoid meeting again the one man he feared. For ten years +this man had been reckoned among the lost. Many believed him dead, and +Craig had wished it rather than believed. And then, to meet him face +to face in that sordid boarding-house had shaken the cool nerve of the +gambler. He was worried and bewildered. He had practically sent this +man to ruin. What would be the reprisal? He reached for a mangosteen +and ate the white pulpy contents, but without the customary relish. +The phrase kept running through his head: What would be the reprisal? +For men of his ilk never struck without expecting to be struck back. +Something must be done. Should he seek him and boldly ask what he +intended to do? Certainly he could not do much on board here, except +to denounce him to the officers as a professional gambler. And Paul +would scarcely do that since he, Craig, had a better shot in his gun. +He could tell who Paul was and what he had done. Bodily harm was what +he really feared. + +He had seen Elsa, but he had worked out that problem easily. She was +sure to say nothing so long as he let her be; and with the episode of +the hat-pin still fresh in his memory, he assuredly would keep his +distance. He had made a mistake, and was not likely to repeat it. + +But Paul! He finished his dessert and went off to the stuffy little +smoke-room, and struggled with a Burma cheroot. Paul was a smoker, and +sooner or later he would drop in. There would be no beating about the +bush on his part. If it was to be war, all right; a truce, well and +good. But he wanted to know, and he was not going to let fear stand in +the way. He waited in vain for his man that night. + +And so did Elsa. She felt indignant at one moment and hurt at another. +The man's attitude was inexplicable; there was neither rhyme nor reason +in it. The very fact that she could not understand made her wonder +march beside her even in her dreams that night. She began to feel +genuinely sorry that he had appeared above her horizon. He had +disturbed her poise; he had thrown her accepted views of life into an +entirely different angle, kaleidoscopically. And always that +supernatural likeness to the other man. Elsa began to experience a +sensation like that which attends the imagination of one in the clutch +of a nightmare: she hung in mid-air: she could neither retreat nor go +forward. Just before she retired she leaned over the rail, watching +the reflection of the stars twist and shiver on the smooth water. +Suddenly she listened. She might have imagined it, for at night the +ears deceive. "Jah, jah!" Somewhere from below came the muffled +plaint of Rajah. + +Next day, at luncheon, the chair was still vacant. Elsa became +alarmed. Perhaps he was ill. She made inquiries, regardless of the +possible misinterpretation her concern might be given by others. Mr. +Warrington had had his meals served in his cabin, but the steward +declared that the gentleman was not ill, only tired and irritable, and +that he amused himself with a trained parrakeet. + +All day long the sea lay waveless and unrippled, a sea of brass and +lapis-lazuli; brass where the sun struck and lapis-lazuli in the shadow +of the lazy swells. Schools of flying-fish broke fan-wise in flashes +of silver, and porpoise sported alongside. And warmer and warmer grew +the air. + +Starboard was rigged up for cricket, and the ship's officers and some +of the passengers played the game until the first gong. Elsa grumbled +to Martha. There was little enough space to walk in as it was without +the men taking over the whole side of the ship and cheating her out of +a glorious sunset. Martha grew troubled and perplexed. If there was +one phase of character unknown to her in Elsa it was irritability; and +here she was, finding fault like any ordinary tourist. + +"Where is Mr. Warrington?" + +"I don't know. I haven't seen him since yesterday." Elsa dropped her +book petulantly. "I am weary of these namby-pamby stories." + +"Why, I thought you admired that author." + +"Not to-day at any rate. Silly twaddle." + +Martha's eyes had a hopeless look in them as she asked: "Elsa, what is +the matter?" + +"I don't know, Martha. I believe I should like to lose my temper +utterly. It might be a great relief." + +"It's the climate." + +"It may be. But it's my belief I'm irritable because I do not know my +own mind. I hate the stuffy stateroom, the food, the captain." + +"The captain?" + +"Yes. Nothing seems to disturb his conceit. To-night we sleep on +deck, the starboard side. At five o'clock we have to get up and go +inside again so they can holystone the deck. And I am always soundest +asleep at that time. Doubtless, I shall be irritable all day +to-morrow." + +"Sleep up here on deck?" horrified. + +"That, or suffocate below." + +"But the men?" + +"They sleep on the port side." Elsa laughed maliciously. "Don't +worry. Nobody minds." + +"I hate the East," declared Martha vindictively. "Everything is so +slack. It just brings out the shiftlessness in everybody." + +"Perhaps that is what ails me; I am growing shiftless. When I came on +board I decided to marry Arthur, and have done with the pother. Now I +am at the same place as when I left home. I don't want to marry +anybody. Have you noticed that fellow Craig?" + +"What will you do if he speaks?" + +"I have half a dozen good hat-pins left," dryly. + +"I hate to hear you talk like that." + +"It's the East. . . . There goes that hateful gong again. Soup, +chicken, curry, rice and piccalilli. I am going to live on plantains +and mangosteens. I'm glad we had sense enough to order that distilled +water. I should die if I had to drink any more soda. I wish I had +booked straight through. I shall be bored to death in Japan, much as I +wish to see the cherry-blossom dance. Probably I shan't enjoy +anything. Come; we'll go down as we are to dinner, and watch the +ridiculous captain and his fan-bearer. The punka will at least give us +a breath of fresh air. There doesn't seem to be any on deck. One +regrets Darjeeling." + +Martha followed her young mistress into the dining-saloon; she was +anxious and upset. Where would this mood end? With a glance of relief +she found Warrington's chair still vacant. + +The saloon had an air of freshness to-night. All the men were in drill +or pongee, and so receptive is the imagination that the picture robbed +the room of half its heat. To and fro the punka flapped; the pulleys +creaked and the ropes scraped above the sound of knives and forks and +spoons. + +Elsa ate little besides fruit. She spoke scarcely a word to Martha, +and none to those around her. Thus, she missed the frown of the +colonel and the lifted brows of the spinsters, and the curious glances +of the tourists. The passenger-list had not yet come from the ship's +press, so Elsa's name was practically unknown. But in some +unaccountable manner it had become known that she had been making +inquiries in regard to the gentleman in cabin 78, who had thus far +remained away from the table. Ship life is a dull life, and gossip is +about the only thing that makes it possible to live through the day. +It was quite easy to couple this unknown aloof young woman and the +invisible man, and then to wait for results. The average tourist is +invariably building a romance around those persons who interest them, +attractively or repellently. They have usually saturated their minds +with impossible impressions of the East, acquired long before they +visit it, and refuse to accept actualities. It would have amused Elsa +had she known the interest she had already created if not inspired. +Her beauty and her apparent indifference to her surroundings were +particularly adapted to the romantic mood of her fellow-travelers. Her +own mind was so broad and generous, so high and detached, that so +sordid a thing as "an affair" never entered her thoughts. + +As she refused course after course, a single phrase drummed incessantly +through her tired brain. She was not going to marry Arthur; never, +never in this world. She did not love him, and this was to be final. +She would cable him from Singapore. But she felt no elation in having +arrived at this determination. In fact, there was a tingle of defiance +in her unwritten, unspoken ultimatum. + +That night Craig found it insupportable in the cabin below; so he +ordered his steward to bring up his bedding. He had lain down for half +an hour, grown restless, and had begun to walk the deck in his +bath-slippers. He had noted the still white figure forward, where the +cross-rail marks the waist. As he approached, Craig discovered his +man. He hesitated only a moment; then he touched Warrington's arm. + +Warrington turned his dull eyes upon his ancient enemy. "So it is you? +I understood you were on board. Well?" uncompromisingly. + +"I've been looking for you. Bygones are bygones, and what's done can't +be undone by punching a fellow's head. I'm not looking for trouble," +went on Craig, gaining assurance. "I am practically down and out +myself. I can't go back to the States for a while. All I want is to +get to Hongkong in peace for the April races. What stand are you going +to take on board here? That's all I want to know." + +"It would give me great pleasure, Craig, to take you by the scruff of +your neck and drop you overboard. But as you say, what's been done +can't be remedied by bashing in a man's head. Well, here you are, +since you ask. If you speak to me, if I catch you playing cards or +auctioneering a pool, if you make yourself obnoxious to any of the +passengers, I promise to give you the finest thrashing you ever had, +the moment we reach Penang. If you don't go ashore there, I'll do it +in Singapore. Have I made myself clear?" + +"That's square enough, Paul," said the gambler resignedly. There +wasn't much money on board these two-by-four boats, anyhow, so he +wasn't losing much. + +Warrington leaned forward. "Paul? You said Paul?" + +"Why, yes," wonderingly. + +"Better go." + +"All right." Craig returned to his mattress. "Now, what made him curl +up like that because I called him Paul? Bah!" He dug a hole in his +pillow and tried to sleep. + +"Paul!" murmured Warrington. + +He stared down at the flashes of phosphorescence, blindly. The man had +called him Paul. After ten years to learn the damnable treachery of +it! Suddenly he clenched his hand and struck the rail. He would go +back. All his loyalty, all his chivalry, had gone for naught. This +low rascal had called him Paul. + + + + +IX + +TWO SHORT WEEKS + +When Elsa stepped out of the companionway the next morning she winced +and shut her eyes. The whole arc of heaven seemed hung with +fire-opals; east, west, north and south, whichever way she looked, +there was dazzling iridescence. The long flowing swells ran into the +very sky, for there was visible no horizon. Gold-leaf and opals, +thought Elsa. What a wonderful world! What a versatile mistress was +nature! Never two days alike, never two human beings; animate and +inanimate, all things were singular. She paused at the rail and +glanced down the rusty black side of the ship and watched the thread of +frothing water that clutched futilely at the red water-line. Never two +living things alike, in all the millions and millions swarming the +globe. What a marvel! Even though this man Warrington and Arthur +looked alike, they were not so. In heart and mind they were as +different as two days. + +She began her usual walk, and in passing the smoke-room door on the +port side she met Warrington coming out. How deep-set his eyes were! +He was about to go on, but she looked straight into his eyes, and he +stopped. She laughed, and held out her hand. + +"I really believe you were going to snub me." + +"Then you haven't given me up?" + +"Never mind what I have or have not done. Walk with me. I am going to +talk plainly to you. If what I say is distasteful, don't hesitate to +interrupt me. You interest me, partly because you act like a boy, +partly because you are a man." + +"I haven't any manners." + +"They need shaking up and readjusting. I have just been musing over a +remarkable thing, that no two objects are alike. Even the most +accurate machinery can not produce two nails without variation. So it +is with humans. You look so like the man I know back home that it is +impossible not to ponder over you." She smiled into his face. "Why +should nature produce two persons who are mistaken for each other, and +yet give them two souls, two intellects, totally different?" + +"I have often wondered." + +"Is nature experimenting, or is she slyly playing a trick on humanity?" + +"Let us call it a trick; by all means, let us call it that." + +"Your tone . . ." + +"Yes, yes," impatiently; "you are going to say that it sounds bitter. +But why should another man have a face like mine, when we have nothing +in common? What right has he to look like me?" + +"It is a puzzle," Elsa admitted. + +"This man who looks like me--I have no doubt it affects you +oddly--probably lives in ease; never knew what a buffet meant, never +knew what a care was, has everything he wants; in fact, a gentleman of +your own class, whose likes and dislikes are cut from the same pattern +as your own. Well, that is as it should be. A woman such as you are +ought to marry an equal, a man whose mind and manners are fitted to the +high place he holds in your affection and in your world. How many +worlds there are, man-made and heaven-made, and each as deadly as the +other, as cold and implacable! To you, who have been kind to me, I +have acted like a fool. The truth is, I've been skulking. My vanity +was hurt. I had the idea that it was myself and not my resemblance +that appealed to your interest. What makes you trust me?" bluntly; and +he stopped as he asked the question. + +"Why, I don't know," blankly. Instantly she recovered herself. "But I +do trust you." She walked on, and perforce he fell into her stride. + +"It is because you trust the other man." + +"Thanks. That is it precisely; and for nearly two weeks I've been +trying to solve that very thing." + +After a pause he asked: "Have you ever read Reade's _Singleheart and +Doubleface_?" + +"Yes. But what bearing has it upon our discussion?" + +"None that you would understand," evasively. His tongue had nearly +tripped him. + +"Are you sure?" + +"Of this, that I shall never understand women." + +"Do not try to," she advised. "All those men who knew most about women +were the unhappiest." + +They made a round in silence. Passengers were beginning to get into +their deck-chairs; and Elsa noted the backs of the many novels that +ranged from the pure chill altitudes of classic and demi-classics down +to the latest popular yarn. Many an eye peered over the tops of the +books; and envy and admiration and curiosity brought their shafts to +bear upon her. It was something to create these variant expressions of +interest. She was oblivious. + +"We stop at Penang?" she asked. + +"Five or six hours, long enough to see the town." + +"We went directly from Singapore to Colombo, so we missed the town +coming out. I should like to see that cocoanut plantation of yours." + +"It is too far inland. Besides, I am a _persona non grata_ there." +As, indeed, he was. His heart burned with shame and rage at the +recollection of the last day there. Three or four times, during the +decade, the misfortune of being found out had fallen to his lot, and +always when he was employed at something worth while. + +Elsa discreetly veered into another channel. "You will go back to +Italy, I suppose. How cheaply and delightfully one may live there, +when one knows something of the people! I had the Villa Julia one +spring. You know it; Sorrento. Is there anything more stunning than +oranges in the rain?" irrelevantly. + +"Yes, I shall go to Italy once more. But first I am going home." He +was not aware of the grimness that entered his voice as he made this +statement. + +"I am glad," she said. "After all, that is the one place." + +"If you are happy enough to find a welcome." + +"And you will see your mother again?" + +He winced. "Yes. Do you know, it does not seem possible that I met +you but two short weeks ago? I have never given much thought to this +so-called reincarnation; but somewhere in the past ages I knew you; +only . . ." + +"Only what?" + +"Only, you weren't going home to marry the other fellow." + +She stopped at the rail. "Who knows?" she replied ruminatingly. +"Perhaps I am not going to marry him." + +"Don't you love him? . . . I beg your pardon, Miss Chetwood!" + +"You're excused." + +"I still need some training. I have been alone so much that I haven't +got over the trick of speaking my thoughts aloud." + +"No harm has been done. The fault lay with me." + +"I used to learn whole pages from stories and recite them to the trees +or to the parrot. It kept me from going mad, I believe. In camp I +handled coolies; none of whom could speak a word of English. I didn't +have James with me at that time. During the day I was busy enough +seeing that they did their work well. When things ran smoothly I'd +take out a book and study. At night I'd stand before my tent and +declaim. I could not read at night. If I lighted a lantern the tent +would become alive with abominable insects. So I'd declaim, merely to +hear the sound of my voice. Afterward I learned that the coolies +looked upon me as a holy man. They believed I was nightly offering +prayers to one of my gods. Perhaps I was; the god of reason. In the +mornings I used to have to shake my boots. Frogs and snakes would get +in during the night, the latter in search of the former. Lively times! +All that seems like a bad dream now." + +"And how is Rajah?" + +"Ugly as ever." + +"Are you going to take him with you?" + +"Wherever I go. Looks silly, doesn't it, for a man of my size to tote +around a parrot-cage? But I don't care what people think. Life is too +short. It's what you think of yourself that really counts." + +"That is one of the rules I have laid down for myself. If only we all +might go through life with that idea! There wouldn't be any gossip or +scandal, then." + +"Some day I am going to tell you why I have lived over here all these +years." + +"I shouldn't, not if it hurts you." + +"On the contrary, there's a kind of happiness in unburdening one's +conscience. I called that day in Rangoon for the express purpose of +telling you everything, but I couldn't in the presence of a third +person." + +"I do not demand it." + +"But it's a duty I owe to myself," he insisted gravely. "Besides, it +is not impossible that you may hear the tale from other lips; and I +rather prefer to tell it myself." + +"But always remember that I haven't asked you." + +"Are you afraid to hear it?" + +"No. What I am trying to convince you with is the fact that I trust +you, and that I give you my friendship without reservations." + +He laid his hand on hers, strongly. "God bless you for that!" + +She liked him because there was lacking in his words and tones that +element of flattery so distasteful to her. Men generally entertain the +fallacy that a woman demands homage, first to her physical appearance, +next to her taste in gowns, and finally to her intellect, when in the +majority of cases it is the other way around. Elsa knew that she was +beautiful, but it no longer interested her to hear men state the fact, +knowing as she did that it was simply to win her good will. + +"Would you like to sit next to me at the table?" + +"May I?" eagerly. + +"I'll have Martha change her chair for yours. Do you speak Italian?" + +"Enough for ordinary conversation. It is a long time since I have +spoken the tongue." + +"Then, let us talk it as much as possible at the table, if only to +annoy those around us." + +He laughed. + +"I was educated in Rome," she added. + +"Are you religious?" + +Elsa shrugged. "At present I don't know just what my religion is. +Scandalous, isn't it? But for many weeks a thousand gods have beset +me. I've got to get back to civilization in order to readjust my +views. At luncheon, then. I am beginning to feel snoozy." + +Craig had been eying the two, evilly. Set the wind in that direction? +An idea found soil in his mind, and grew. He would put a kink, as he +vulgarly expressed it, into that affair. He himself wasn't good enough +for her. The little cat should see. Warrington's ultimatum of the +night before burned and rankled, and a man of Craig's caliber never +accepted the inevitable without meditating revenge, revenge of a +roundabout character, such as would insure his physical safety. The +man could not play fair; there was nothing either in his heart or in +his mind upon which square play could find foothold. There was nothing +loyal or generous or worthy in the man. There is something admirable +in a great rascal; but a sordid one is a pitiful thing. Craig entered +the smoke-room and ordered a peg. At luncheon he saw them sitting +together, and he smothered a grin. Couldn't play cards, or engineer a +pool, eh? All right. There were other amusements. + +That afternoon Martha chanced to sit down in a vacant chair, just out +of the range of the cricketers. She lolled back and idly watched the +batsmen. And then she heard voices. + +"She is Elsa Chetwood. I remember seeing her pictures. She is a +society girl, very wealthy, but something of a snob." + +Martha's ears tingled. A snob, indeed, because she minded principally +her own affairs! + +"They think because they belong to the exclusive sets they can break as +many laws of convention as they please. Well, they can't. There's +always some scandal in the papers about them. There was some rumor of +her being engaged to the Duke of What's-his-name, but it fell through +because she wouldn't settle a fortune on him. Only sensible thing she +ever did, probably." + +"And did you notice who sat next to her at luncheon?" + +"A gentleman with a past, Mr. Craig tells me." + +"I dare say Miss Chetwood has a past, too, if one but knew. To travel +alone like this!" + +Busybodies! Martha rose indignantly and returned to the other side of +the deck. Meddlers? What did they know? To peck like daws at one so +far above them, so divinely far above them! Her natural impulse had +been to turn upon them and give them the tongue-lashing they deserved. +But she had lived too long with Elsa not to have learned +self-repression, and that the victory is always with those who stoop +not to answer. Nevertheless, she was alarmed. Elsa must be warned. + +All Elsa said was: "My dear Martha, in a few days they and their +tittle-tattle will pass out of my existence, admitting that they have +ever entered it. I repeat, my life is all my own, and that I am +concerned only with those whom I wish to retain as my friends. Gossip +is the shibboleth of the mediocre, and, thank heaven, I am not +mediocre." + +While dressing for dinner Elsa discovered a note on the floor of her +cabin. The writing was unfamiliar. She opened it and sought first the +signature. Slowly her cheeks reddened, and her lips twisted in +disdain. She did not read the note, but the natural keenness of her +eye caught the name of Warrington. She tore the letter into scraps +which she tossed out the port-hole. What a vile thing the man was! He +had had the effrontery to sign his name. He must be punished. + +It was as late as ten o'clock when she and Warrington went up to the +bow and gazed down the cut-water. Never had she seen anything so +weirdly beautiful as the ribbons of phosphorescence which fell away on +each side, luminously blue and flaked with dancing starlike particles, +through which, ever and anon, flying-fish, dripping with the fire, spun +outward like tongues of flame. + +"Beautiful, beautiful! This is the one spot on the ship. And in all +my travels I have never seen this before. All silence and darkness in +front of us, and beneath, that wonderful fire. Thanks for bringing me +here. I should not have known what I was missing." + +"Often, when I was stoking, during an hour or so of relief, I used to +steal up here and look down at the mystery, for it will ever be a +mystery to me. And I found comfort." + +"Are you religious, too?" + +"In one thing, that God demands that every man shall have faith in +himself." + +How deep his voice was as compared to Arthur's! Arthur. Elsa frowned +at the rippling magic. Why was she invariably comparing the two men? +What significance did it have upon the future, since, at the present +moment, it was not understandable? + +"There is a man on board by the name of Craig," she said. "I advise +you to beware of him." + +"Who introduced him to you?" The anger in his voice was very agreeable +to her ears. "Who dared to?" + +"No one. He introduced himself on the way up to Mandalay. In Rangoon +I closed the acquaintance, such as it was, with the aid of a hat-pin." + +"A hat-pin! What did he say to you?" roughly. + +"Nothing that I care to repeat. . . . Stop! I am perfectly able to +take care of myself. I do not need any valiant champion." + +"He has spoken to you about me?" + +"A letter. I saw only his name and yours. I tore it up and threw it +overboard. Let us go back. Somehow, everything seems spoiled. I am +sorry I spoke." + +"I shall see that he does not bother you again," ominously. + +They returned to the promenade deck in silence. When Warrington found +Craig the man was helplessly intoxicated. He lay sprawled upon his +mattress, and the kick administered did not stir him. Warrington +looked down at the sodden wretch moodily. + +Craig's intoxication was fortunate for him, otherwise he would have +been roughly handled; for there was black murder in the heart of the +broken man standing above him. Warrington relaxed his clenched hands. +This evil-breathing thing at his feet was the primal cause of it all, +he and a man's damnable weakness. Of what use his new-found fortune? +Better for him had he stayed in the jungle, better have died there, +hugging his poor delusion. Oh, abysmal fool that he had been! + + + + +X + +THE CUT DIRECT + +It was after five in the morning when the deckhands tried to get Craig +to go down to his room. With the dull obstinacy of a drunken man, he +refused to stir; he was perfectly satisfied to stay where he was. The +three brown men stood irresolutely and helplessly around the man. +Every one had gone below. The hose was ready to flush the deck. It +did not matter; he, Craig, would not budge. + +"Leave me alone, you black beggars!" + +"But, Sahib," began one of the Lascars, who spoke English. + +"Don't talk to me. I tell you, get out!" striking at their feet with +his swollen hands. + +Warrington, who had not lain down at all, but who had wandered about +the free decks like some lost soul from _The Flying Dutchman_, +Warrington, hearing voices, came out of the smoke-room. A glance was +sufficient. A devil's humor took possession of him. He walked over. + +"Get up," he said quietly. + +Craig blinked up at him from out of puffed eyes. "Go to the devil! +Fine specimen to order me about." + +"Will you get up peacefully? These men have work to do." + +Craig was blind to his danger. "What's that to me? Go away, all of +you, to the devil, for all I care. I'll get up when I get damn good +and ready. Not before." + +Warrington picked up the hose. + +"Sahib!" cried the Lascar in protest. + +"Be still!" ordered Warrington. "Craig, for the last time, will you +get up?" + +"No!" + +Warrington turned the key, and a deluge of cold salt-water struck Craig +full in the chest. He tried to sit up, but was knocked flat. Then he +rolled over on the deck, choking and sputtering. He crawled on his +hands and knees until he reached the chair-rail, which he clutched +desperately, drawing himself up. The pitiless stream never swerved. +It smacked against the flat of his back like the impact of a hand. + +"For God's sake stop it!" cried Craig, half strangled. + +"Will you go below?" + +"Yes, yes! Turn it away!" sober enough by now. + +Warrington switched off the key, his face humorless, though there was a +sparkle of grim humor in his sleep-hungry eyes. Craig leaned against +the deck-house, shaking and panting. + +"I would I could get at your soul as easily." Warrington threw aside +the hose, and the Lascars sprang upon it, not knowing what the big +blond Sahib might do next. + +Craig turned, venom on his tongue. He spoke a phrase. In an instant, +cold with fury, Warrington had him by the throat. + +"You low base cur!" he said, shaking the man until he resembled a +manikin on wires. "Had you been sober last night, I'd have thrown you +into the sea. Honorless dog! You wrote to Miss Chetwood. You +insulted her, too. If you wish to die, speak to her again." + +Craig struggled fiercely to free himself. He wasn't sure, by the look +of the other man's eyes, that he wasn't going to be killed then and +there. There was something cave-mannish and cruel in the way +Warrington worried the man, shaking him from side to side and forcing +him along the deck. Suddenly he released his hold, adding a buffet on +the side of the head that sent Craig reeling and sobbing into the +companionway. + +"Here, I say, what's the row?" + +Warrington looked over his shoulder. The call had come from the first +officer. + +"A case of drunkenness," coolly. + +"But I say, we can't have brawling on deck, sir. You ought to know +that. If the man's conduct was out of order, you should have brought +your complaint before the captain or me. We really can't have any +rowing, sir." + +Warrington replied gravely: "Expediency was quite necessary." + +"What's this?" The officer espied the soaked bedding. "Who turned the +hose here?" + +"I did," answered Warrington. + +"I shall have to report that to the captain, sir. It's against the +rules aboard this steamship for passengers to touch anything of that +sort." The officer turned and began violently to abuse the bewildered +Lascars. + +"I shouldn't bullyrag them, sir," interposed Warrington. "They +protested. I helped myself. After all, perhaps it was none of my +affair; but the poor devils didn't know what to do." + +The officer ordered the Lascars to take the mattress and throw it on +the boat-deck, where it would dry quickly when the sun rose. Already +the world was pale with light, and a slash of crimson lay low on the +rim of the east. + +"I shouldn't like to be disagreeable, sir," said the officer. "I dare +say the man made himself obnoxious; but I'm obliged to report anything +of this order." + +"Don't be alarmed on my account. My name is Warrington, cabin 78. +Good morning." + +Warrington entered the companionway; and a moment later he heard the +water hiss along the deck. He was not in the least sorry for what he +had done; still, he regretted the act. Craig was a beast, and there +was no knowing what he might do or say. But the hose had been simply +irresistible. He chuckled audibly on the way down to his cabin. There +was one thing of which he was assured; Craig would keep out of his way +in the future. The exhilaration of the struggle suddenly left him, and +he realized that he was dreadfully tired and heart-achy. Still +dressed, he flung himself in his bunk, and immediately fell into a +heavy dreamless sleep that endured until luncheon. + +Shortly after luncheon something happened down in the engine-room; and +the chief engineer said that they would have to travel at half speed to +Penang. In other words, they would not make the port to-day, Sunday, +but to-morrow. Another day with this mysterious tantalizing woman, +thought Warrington. He went in search of her, but before he found her, +he was summoned to the captain's cabin. Warrington presented himself, +mildly curious. The captain nodded to a stool. + +"Sit down, Mr. Warrington. Will you have a cheroot?" + +"Yes, thanks." + +A crackle of matches followed. + +"This fellow Craig has complained about his treatment by you this +morning. I fancy you were rather rough with him." + +"Perhaps. He was very drunk and abusive, and he needed cold water more +than anything else. I once knew the man." + +"Ah! But it never pays to manhandle that particular brand of tippler. +They always retaliate in some way." + +"I suppose he has given you an excerpt from my history?" + +"He says you can not return to the States." + +"I am returning on the very first boats I can find." + +"Then he was lying?" + +"Not entirely. I do not know what he has told you, and I really do not +care. The fact is, Craig is a professional gambler, and I warned him +not to try any of his tricks on board. It soured him." + +"And knowing myself that he was a professional, I gave no weight to his +accusations. Besides, it is none of my business. The worst scoundrel +unhung has certain rights on my ship. If he behaves himself, that is +sufficient for me. Now, what Craig told me doesn't matter; but it +matters that I warned him. A word to any one else, and I'll drop him +at Penang to-morrow, to get out the best way he can. Ships passing +there this time of year are generally full-up. Will you have a peg?" + +"No, thanks. But I wish to say that it is very decent of you." +Warrington rose. + +"I have traveled too long not to recognize a man when I see him. Do +you play cricket?" asked the captain, his gaze critically covering the +man before him. + +"No; I regret I'm not familiar with the game." + +"Ah! Well, drop in any night after ten, if you care to." + +"I shall be glad to accept your hospitality." + +Outside, Warrington mused on the general untruths of first impressions. +He had written down the captain as a pompous, self-centered individual. +One never could judge a man until he came to the scratch. It heartened +him to find that there was a man on board who respected his misfortune, +whether he believed it or not. He sought Elsa, and as they promenaded, +lightly recounted the episode of the morning. + +Elsa expressed her delight in laughter that was less hearty than +malicious. How clearly she could see the picture! And then, the +ever-recurring comparisons: Arthur would have gone by, Arthur would not +have bothered himself, for he detested scenes and fisticuffs. How few +real men she had met, men who walked through life naturally, unfettered +by those self-applied manacles called "What will people say?" + +"Let us go up to the bow," she invited. "I've a little story myself to +tell." + +They clambered down and up the ladders, over the windlass and +anchor-chains which a native was busily painting. A school of porpoise +were frolicking under the cutwater. _Plop_! _plop_! they went; and +sometimes one would turn sidewise and look up roguishly with his +twinkling seal-like eyes. _Plop_! _plop_! Finally all save one sank +gracefully out of sight. The laggard crisscrossed the cutwater a dozen +times, just to show the watchers how extremely clever he was; and then, +with a _plop_! that was louder than any previous one, he vanished into +the deeps. + +"I love these Oriental seas," said Elsa, with her arms on the rail and +her chin resting upon them. She wore no hat, and her hair shimmered in +the sun and shivered in the wind. + +"And yet they are the most treacherous of all seas. There's not a +cloud in sight; in two hours from now we may be in the heart of a +winter storm. Happily, they are rarities along this coast; so you will +not have the excitement of a shipwreck." + +"I am grateful for that. Mercy! Think of being marooned on a desert +island with the colonel and his three spinsters! Proprieties, from +morning until night. And the chattering tourists! Heaven forfend!" + +"You had a story to tell me," he suggested. His heart was hot within +him. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and hold her there forever. +But the barrier of wasted opportunities stood between. How delicately +beautiful she was: Bernini's Daphne. + +"Oh, yes; I had almost forgotten." She stood up and felt for wandering +strands of hair. "I find the world more amusing day by day. I ought +to feel hurt, but I am only amused. I spoke to the colonel this +morning, merely to say howdy-do. He stared me in the eye and +de-lib-erately turned his back to me." + +"The doddering old---" + +"There, there! It isn't worth getting angry about." + +"But, don't you understand? It's all because of me. Simply because +you have been kind to a poor devil, they start in to snub you, you! +I'll go back to my old seat at the table. You mustn't walk with me any +more." + +"Don't be silly. If you return to your chair, if you no longer walk +with me, they'll find a thousand things to talk about. Since I do not +care, why should you?" + +"Can't I make it clear to you?" desperately. + +"I see with reasonable eyes, if that is what you mean. The people I +know, mine own people, understand Elsa Chetwood." + +So her name was Elsa? He repeated it over and over in his mind. + +She continued her exposition. "There are but few, gently born. They +are generous and broad-minded. They could not be mine own people +otherwise. They are all I care about. I shun mediocrity as I would +the plague. I refuse to permit it to touch me, either with words or +with deeds. The good opinion of those I love is dear to me; as for the +rest of the world!" She snapped her fingers to illustrate how little +she cared. + +"I am a man under a cloud, to be avoided." + +"Perhaps that cloud has a silver lining," with a gentle smile. "I do +not believe you did anything wrong, premeditatively. All of us, one +time or another, surrender to wild impulse. Perhaps in the future +there awaits for me such a moment. I cannot recollect the name of +Warrington in a _cause célèbre_," thoughtfully. + +He could only gaze at her dumbly. + +"Don't you suppose there is a vast difference between you and this man +Craig? Could you commit the petty crime of cheating at cards, of +taking advantage of a woman's kindness, of betraying a man's +misfortune? I do not think you could. No, Mr. Warrington, I do not +care what they say, on board here or elsewhere." + +"My name is not Warrington," finding his voice. God in heaven, what +would happen when she found out what his name was? "But my first name +is Paul." + +"Paul. I have had my suspicions that your name was not Warrington. +But tell me nothing more. What good would it do? I did not read that +man's letter. I merely noted your name and his. You doubtless knew +him somewhere in the past." + +"Might there not be danger in your kindness to me?" + +"In what way?" + +"A man under a cloud is often reckless and desperate. There is always +an invisible demon calling out to him: What's the use of being good? +You are the first woman of your station who has treated me as a human +being; I do not say as an equal. You have given me back some of my +self-respect. It throws my world upside down. It's a heady wine for +an abstemious man. Don't you realize that you are a beautiful woman?" + +She looked up into his eyes quickly, but she saw nothing there +indicating flattery, only a somber gravity. + +"I should be silly to deny it. I know that had I been a frump, the +colonel would not have snubbed me. I wonder why it is that in life +beauty in a woman is always looked upon with suspicion?" + +"Envy provokes that." + +She resumed her inclination against the rail again. "After Singapore +it is probable that we shall not meet again. I admit, in my world, I +could not walk upon this free and easy ground. I should have to ask +about your antecedents, what you have done, all about you, in fact. +Then, we should sit in judgment." + +"And condemn me, off-hand. That would be perfectly right." + +"But I might be one of the dissenting judges." + +"That is because you are one woman in a thousand." + +"No; I simply have a mind of my own, and often prefer to be guided by +it. I am not a sheep." + +Silence. The lap-lap of the water, the long slow rise and fall, and +the dartling flying-fish apparently claimed their attention. + +But Warrington saw nothing save the danger, the danger to himself and +to her. At any moment he might fling his arms around her, without his +having the power to resist. She called to him as nothing in the world +had called before. But she trusted him, and because of this he +resolutely throttled the recurring desires. She was right. He had +scorned what she had termed as woman's instinct. She had read him with +a degree of accuracy. In the eyes of God he was a good man, a +dependable man; but he was not impossibly good. He was human enough to +want her, human enough to appreciate the danger in which she stood of +him. He was determined not to fail her. When she went back to her own +world she would carry an unsullied memory of him. But, before God, he +should not have her. + +"Why did you do that?" she asked whimsically. + +"Do what?" + +"Shut your jaws with a snap." + +"I was not conscious of the act." + +"But you were thinking strongly about something." + +"I was. Tell me about the man who looks like me." His gaze roved out +to sea, to the white islands of vapor low-lying in the east. "In what +respect does he resemble me?" + +"His hair is yellow, his eyes are blue, and he smiles the same way you +do." + +He felt the lump rise and swell in his throat. + +"If you stood before a mirror you would see him. But there the +resemblance ends." + +"You say that sadly. Why?" + +"Did I? Well, perhaps I was thinking strongly, too." + +"Is he a man who does things?" a note of strained curiosity in his +tones. Ten years! + +"In what way do you mean?" + +"Does he work in the world, does he invent, build, finance?" + +Mayhap her eyes deceived her, but the tan on his face seemed less brown +than yellow. + +"No; Mr. Ellison is a collector of paintings, of rugs, of rare old +books and china. He's a bit detached, as dreamers usually are. He has +written a book of exquisite verses. . . . You are smiling," she broke +off suddenly, her eyes filling with cold lights. + +"A thousand pardons! The thought was going through my head how unlike +we are indeed. I can hardly tell one master from another, all old +books look alike to me, and the same with china. I know something +about rugs; but I couldn't write a jingle if it was to save me from +hanging." + +"Do you invent, build, finance?" A bit of a gulf had opened up between +them. Elsa might not be prepared to marry Arthur, but she certainly +would not tolerate a covert sneer in regard to his accomplishments. + +Quietly and with dignity he answered: "I have built bridges in my time +over which trains are passing at this moment. I have fought torrents, +and floods, and hurricanes, and myself. I have done a man's work. I +had a future, they said. But here I am, a subject of your pity." + +She instantly relented. "But you are young. You can begin again." + +"Not in the sense you mean." + +"And yet, you tell me you are going back home." + +"Like a thief in the night," bitterly. + + + + +XI + +THE BLUE FEATHER + +Elsa toyed with her emeralds, apparently searching for some flaw. Like +a thief in the night was a phrase that rang unpleasantly in her ears. +Her remarkable interest in the man was neither to be denied nor +ignored. In fact, drawing her first by the resemblance to the man she +wanted to love but could not, and then by the mystery that he had +thrown about his past simply by guarding it closely, it would have been +far more remarkable if she had not been deeply interested in him. But +to-night she paused for a moment. A little doubt, like one of those +oblique flaws that obscured the clarity of the green stones, appeared. +She had always been more or less indifferent to public opinion, but it +had been a careless thoughtless indifference; it had not possessed the +insolent twist of the past fortnight. To receive the cut direct from a +man whose pomposity and mental density had excited her wit and +amusement, surprised her even if it did not hurt. It had rudely +awakened her to the fact that her independence might be leading her +into a labyrinth. She was compelled to admit that at home she would +have avoided Warrington, no matter how deeply sorry she might have +been. His insistent warning against himself, however, served to arouse +nothing more than a subtle obstinacy to do just as she pleased. And it +pleased her to talk to him; it pleased her to trifle with the unknown +danger. + +Something new had been born in her. All her life she had gone about +calmly and aloofly, her head in the clouds, her feet on mountain-tops. +She had never done anything to arouse discussion in other women. +Perhaps such a situation had never confronted her until lately. She +had always looked forth upon life through the lenses of mild cynicism. +So long as she was rich she might, with impunity, be as indiscreet as +she pleased. Her money would plead forgiveness and toleration. . . . +Elsa shrugged. But shrugs do not dismiss problems. She could have +laughed. To have come all this way to solve a riddle, only to find a +second more confusing than the first! + +Like a thief in the night. She did not care to know what he had done, +not half so much as to learn what he had been. Peculations of some +order; of this she was reasonably sure. So why seek for details, when +these might be sordid? + +Singapore would see the end, and she would become her normal self again. + +She clasped the necklace around her lovely throat. She was dressing +for dinner, really dressing. An impish mood filled her with the +irrepressible desire to shine in all her splendor to-night. Covertly +she would watch the eyes of mediocrity widen. Hitherto they had seen +her in the simple white of travel. To-night they should behold the +woman who had been notable among the beauties in Paris, Vienna, Rome, +London; who had not married a duke simply because his title could not +have added to the security of her position, socially or financially; +who was twenty-five years of age and perfectly content to wait until +she met the man who would set to flight all the doubt which kept her +heart unruly and unsettled. + +Into the little mirror above the wash-stand she peered, with smiling +and approving eyes. Never had she looked better. There was unusual +color in her cheeks and the clarity of her eyes spoke illuminatingly of +superb health. The tan on her face was not made noticeable in contrast +by her shoulders and arms, old ivory in tint and as smooth and glossy +as ancient Carrara. + +"You lovely creature!" murmured Martha, touching an arm with her lips. + +"Am I really lovely?" + +"You would be adorable if you had a heart." + +"Perhaps I have one. Who knows?" + +"You are foolish to dress like this." Martha finished the hooking of +Elsa's waist. + +"And why?" + +"In the first place there's nobody worth the trouble; and nobody but a +duchess or a . . ." Martha paused embarrassedly. + +"Or a what? An improper person?" Elsa laughed. "My dear Martha, your +comparisons are faulty. I know but two duchesses in this wide world +who are not dowdies, and one of them is an American. An improper +person is generally the most proper, outside her peculiar environments. +Can't you suggest something else?" + +Martha searched but found no suitable reply. One thing she felt +keenly, a feverish impatience for the boat to reach Singapore where +Elsa's folly must surely end. She believed that she saw more clearly +into the future than Elsa. Some one would talk, and in that strange +inscrutable fashion scandal has of reaching the ends of the earth, the +story would eventually arrive home; and there, for all the professions +of friendship, it would find admittance. No door is latched when +scandal knocks. Over here they were very far from home, and it was +natural that Elsa should view her conduct leniently. Martha readily +appreciated that it was all harmless, to be expressed by a single word, +whim. But Martha herself never acted upon impulse; she first +questioned what the world would say. So run the sheep. + +For years Martha had discharged her duties, if mechanically yet with a +sense of pleasure and serenity. At this moment she was as one pushed +unexpectedly to the brink of a precipice, over which the slightest +misstep would topple her. The world was out of joint. Shockingly bad +wishes flitted through her head. Each wish aimed at the disposal, +imaginary of course, of Warrington: by falling overboard, by being +seized with one of the numerous plagues, by having a deadly fracas with +one of those stealthy Lascars. + +"I wish we had gone to Italy," she remarked finally. + +"It would not have served my purpose in the least. I should have been +dancing and playing bridge and going to operas. I should have had no +time for thinking." + +"Thinking!" Martha elevated her brows with an air that implied that +she greatly doubted this statement. + +"Yes, thinking. It is not necessary that I should mope and shut myself +up in a cell, Martha, in order to think. I have finally come to the +end of my doubts, if that will gratify you. From now on you may rely +upon one thing, to a certainty." + +Martha hesitated to put the question. + +"I am not going to marry Arthur. He is charming, graceful, +accomplished; but I want a man. I should not be happy with him. I can +twist him too easily around my finger. I admit that he exercises over +me a certain indefinable fascination; but when he is out of sight it +amounts to the sum of all this doddering and doubting. It is probable +that I shall make an admirable old maid. Wisdom has its disadvantages. +I might be very happy with Arthur, were I not so wise." She smiled +again at the reflection in the mirror. "Now, let us go and astonish +the natives." + +There was a mild flutter of eyelids as she sat down beside Warrington +and began to chatter to him in Italian. He made a brave show of +following her, but became hopelessly lost after a few minutes. Elsa +spoke fluently; twelve years had elapsed since his last visit to Italy. +He admitted his confusion, and thereafter it was only occasionally that +she brought the tongue into the conversation. This diversion, which +she employed mainly to annoy her neighbors, was, in truth, the very +worst thing she could have done. They no longer conjectured; they +assumed. + +Warrington was too strongly dazzled by her beauty to-night to be +mentally keen or to be observing as was his habit. He never spoke to +his neighbor; he had eyes for none but Elsa, under whose spell he knew +that he would remain while he lived. He was nothing to her; he readily +understood. She was restless and lonely, and he amused her. So be it. +He believed that there could not be an unhappier, more unfortunate man +than himself. To have been betrayed by the one he had loved, second to +but one, and to have this knowledge thrust upon him after all these +years, was evil enough; but the nadir of his misfortunes had been +reached by the appearance of this unreadable young woman. Of what use +to warn her against himself, or against the possible, nay, probable +misconstruction that would be given their unusual friendship? Craig +would not be idle with his tales. And why had she put on all this +finery to-night? To subjugate him? + +"You are not listening to a word I am saying!" + +"I beg your pardon! But I warned you that my Italian was rusty." He +pulled himself together. + +"But I have been rattling away in English!" + +"And I have been wool-gathering." + +"Not at all complimentary to me." + +"It is because I am very unhappy; it is because Tantalus and I are +brothers." + +"You should have the will to throw off these moods." + +"My moods, as you call them, are not like hats and coats." + +"I wish I could make you forget." + +"On the contrary, the sight of you makes memory all the keener." + +He had never spoken like that before. It rather subdued her, made her +regret that she had surrendered to a vanity that was without aim or +direction. Farthest from her thought was conquest of the man. She did +not wish to hurt him. She was not a coquette. + +After dinner he did not suggest the usual promenade. Instead, he +excused himself and went below. + + +They arrived at Penang early Monday morning. Elsa decided that +Warrington should take her and Martha on a personally conducted tour of +the pretty town. As they left for shore he produced a small beautiful +blue feather; he gave it to Elsa with the compliments of Rajah; and she +stuck it in the pugree of her helmet. + +"This is not from the dove of peace." + +"Its arch-enemy, rather," he laughed. "I wish I had the ability to get +as furious as that bird. It might do me a world of good." + +"How long is it since you were here?" + +"Four years," he answered without enthusiasm. He would not have come +ashore at all but for the fact that Elsa had ordered the expedition. + +There was no inclination to explore the shops; so they hired a landau +and rode about town, climbed up to the quaint temple in the hills, and +made a tour of the botanical gardens. + +"Isn't it delicious!" murmured Elsa, taking in deep breaths of the warm +spice-laden air. Since her visit to the wonderful gardens at Kandy in +Ceylon, she had found a new interest in plants and trees. + +She thoroughly enjoyed the few hours on land, even to the powwow +Warrington had with the unscrupulous driver, who, at the journey's end, +substituted one price for another, despite his original bargain. It +was only a matter of two shillings, but Warrington stood firm. It had +of necessity become a habit with him to haggle and then to stand firm +upon the bargain made. There had been times when half an hour's +haggling had meant breakfast or no breakfast. It never entered into +his mind what Elsa's point of view might be. The average woman would +have called him over-thrifty. All this noise over two shillings! But +to Elsa it was only the opening of another door into this strange man's +character. What others would have accepted as penuriousness she +recognized as a sense of well-balanced justice. Most men, she had +found, were afflicted with the vanity of spending, and permitted +themselves to be imposed on rather than have others think that money +meant anything to them. Arthur would have paid the difference at once +rather than have stood on the pier wrangling. As they waited for the +tender that was to convey them back to the ship, Elsa observed a +powerful middle-aged man, gray-haired, hawk-faced, steel-eyed, watching +her companion intently. Then his boring gaze traveled over her, from +her canvas-shoes to her helmet. There was something so baldly +appraising in the look that a flush of anger surged into her cheeks. +The man turned and said something to his companion, who shrugged and +smiled. Impatiently Elsa tugged at Warrington's sleeve. + +"Who is that man over there by the railing?" she asked in a very low +voice. "He looks as if he knew you." + +"Knew me?" Warrington echoed. The moment he had been dreading had +come. Some one who knew him! He turned his head slowly, and Elsa, who +had not dropped her hand, could feel the muscles of his arm stiffen +under the sleeve. He held the stranger's eye defiantly for a space. +The latter laughed insolently if silently. It was more for Elsa's sake +than for his own that Warrington allowed the other to stare him down. +Alone, he would have surrendered to the Berserk rage that urged him to +leap across the intervening space and annihilate the man, to crush him +with his bare hands until he screamed for the mercy he had always +denied others. The flame passed, leaving him as cold as ashes. "I +shall tell you who he is later; not here." + +For the second time since that night on the Irrawaddy, Elsa recorded a +disagreeable sensation. It proved to be transitory, but at the time it +served to establish a stronger doubt in regard to her independence, so +justifiable in her own eyes. It might be insidiously leading her too +far away from the stepping-off place. The unspoken words in those +hateful eyes! The man knew Warrington, knew him perhaps as a +malefactor, and judged his associates accordingly. She thus readily +saw the place she occupied in the man's estimation. She experienced a +shiver of dread as she observed that he stepped on board the tender. +She even heard him call back to his friend to expect him in from +Singapore during the second week in March. But the dread went away, +and pride and anger grew instead. All the way back to the ship she +held her chin in the air, and from time to time her nostrils dilated. +That look! If she had been nearer she was certain that she would have +struck him across the face. + +"There will be no one up in the bow," said Warrington. "Will you go up +there with me?" + +After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. + +The Lascars, busy with the anchor-chains, demurred; but a word and a +gesture from the Sahib who had turned the hose on a drunken man +convinced them that the two would not be in the way. A clatter of +steel against steel presently followed, the windlass whined and +rattled, and Elsa saw the anchor rise slowly from the deeps, bringing +up a blur of muddy water; and blobs of pale clay dripped from the +anchor-flukes. A moment after she felt the old familiar throb under +her feet, and the ship moved slowly out of the bay. + +"Do you know that that man came aboard?" + +"I know it." The wide half-circle of cocoanut palms grew denser and +lower as they drew away. "This is the story. It's got to be told. I +should have avoided it if it had been possible. He is the owner of the +plantation. Oh, I rather expected something like this. It's my run of +luck. I was just recovering from the fever. God knows how he found +out, but he did. It was during the rains. He told me to get out that +night. Didn't care whether I died on the road or not. I should have +but for my boy James. The man sent along with us a poor discarded +woman, of whom he had grown tired. She died when we reached town. I +had hardly any money. He refused to pay me for the last two months, +about fifty pounds. There was no redress for me. There was no +possible way I could get back at him. Miss Chetwood, I took money that +did not belong to me. It went over gaming-tables. Craig. I ran away. +Craig knows and this man Mallow knows. Can you not see the wisdom of +giving me a wide berth?" + +"Oh, I am sorry!" she cried. + +"Thanks. But you see: I am an outcast. To-night, not a soul on board +will be in ignorance of who I am and what I have done. Trust Craig and +Mallow for that. Thursday we shall be in Singapore. You must not +speak to me again. Give them to understand that you have found me out, +that I imposed on your kindness." + +"That I will not do." + +"Act as you please. There are empty chairs at the second-class table, +among the natives. And now, good-by. The happiest hours in ten long +years are due to you." He took off his helmet and stepped aside for +her to pass. She held out her hand, but he shook his head. "Don't +make it harder for me." + +"Mr. Warrington, I am not a child!" + +"To me you have been the Angel of Kindness; and the light in your face +I shall always see. Please go now." + +"Very well." A new and unaccountable pain filled her throat and forced +her to carry her head high. "I can find my way back to the other deck." + +He saw her disappear down the first ladder, reappear up the other, +mingle with the passengers and vanish. He then went forward to the +prow and stared down at the water, wondering if it held rest or pain or +what. + + + + +XII + +THE GAME OF GOSSIP + +During the concluding days of the voyage Elsa had her meals served on +deck. She kept Martha with her continually, promenaded only early in +the morning and at night while the other passengers were at dinner. +This left a clear deck. She walked quickly, her arm in Martha's, +literally propelling her along, never spoke unless spoken to, and then +answered in monosyllables. Her thoughts flew to a thousand and one +things: home, her father, episodes from school-life; toward anything +and everywhere like a land-bird lost at sea, futilely and vainly in the +endeavor to shut out the portrait of the broken man. In the midst of +some imaginary journey to the Sabine Hills she would find herself +asking: What was he doing, of what was he thinking, where would he go +and what would he do? She hated night which, no longer offering sleep, +provided nothing in lieu of it, and compelled her to remain in the +stuffy cabin. She was afraid. + +Early Wednesday morning she passed Craig and Mallow; but the two had +wit enough to step aside for her and to speak only with their eyes. +She filled Craig with unadulterated fear. Never had he met a woman +such as this one. He warned Mallow at the beginning, without +explaining in detail, that she was fearless and dangerous. And, of +course, Mallow laughed and dragged along the gambler whenever he found +a chance to see Elsa at close range. + +"There's a woman. Gad! that beach-comber has taste." + +"I tell you to look out for her," Craig warned again. "I know what I'm +talking about." + +"What's she done; slapped your face?" + +"That kind of woman doesn't slap. Damn it, Mallow, she rammed a +hat-pin into me, if you will know! Keep out of her way." + +Mallow whistled. "Oho! You probably acted like a fool. Drinking?" + +Craig nodded affirmatively. + +"Thought so. Even a Yokohama bar-maid will fight shy of a boozer. I'm +going to meet her when we get to Singapore, or my name's not Mallow." + +Craig laughed with malice. "I hope she sticks the pin into your +throat. It will take some of the brag out of you. Think because +you've got picturesque gray hair and are as strong as a bull, that all +the women are just pining for you. Say, let's go aft and hunt up the +chap. I understand he's taken up quarters in the second-cabin." + +"Doesn't want to run into me. All right; come on. We'll stir him up a +little and have some fun." + +They found Warrington up in the stern, sitting on the deck, surrounded +by squatting Lascars, some Chinamen and a solitary white man, the chief +engineer's assistant. The center of interest was Rajah, who was +performing his tricks. Among these was one that the bird rarely could +be made to perform, the threading of beads. He despised this act as it +entailed the putting of a blunt needle in his beak. He flung it aside +each time Warrington handed it to him. But ever his master patiently +returned it. At length, recognizing that the affair might be prolonged +indefinitely, Rajah put two beads on the thread and tossed it aside. +The Lascars jabbered, the Chinamen grinned, and the chief engineer's +assistant swore approvingly. + +"How much'll you take for him?" + +"He's not for sale," answered Warrington. + +The parrot shrilled and waddled back to his cage. + +"Fine business for a whole man!" + +Warrington looked up to meet the cynical eyes of Mallow. He took out +his cutty and fired it. Otherwise he did not move nor let his gaze +swerve. Mallow, towering above him, could scarcely resist the +temptation to stir his enemy with the toe of his boot. His hatred for +Warrington was not wholly due to his brutal treatment of him. Mallow +always took pleasure in dominating those under him by fear. Warrington +had done his work well. He had always recognized Mallow as his +employer, but in no other capacity: he had never offered to smoke a +pipe with him, or to take a hand at cards, or split a bottle. It had +not been done offensively; but in this attitude Mallow had recognized +his manager's disapproval of him, an inner consciousness of superiority +in birth and education. He had with supreme satisfaction ordered him +off the plantation that memorable night. Weak as the man had been in +body, there had been no indication of weakness in spirit. + +Occultly Warrington read the desire in the other's eyes. "I shouldn't +do it, Mallow," he said. "I shouldn't. Nothing would please me better +than to have a good excuse to chuck you over the rail. Upon a time you +had the best of me. I was a sick man then. I'm in tolerable good +health at present." + +"You crow, I could break you like a pipe-stem." + +Mallow rammed his hands into his coat pockets, scowling contemptuously. +He weighed fully twenty pounds more than Warrington. + +Crow! Warrington shrugged. In the East crow is a rough synonym for +thief. "You're at liberty to return to your diggings forward with that +impression," he replied coolly. "When we get to Singapore," rising +slowly to his height until his eyes were level with Mallow's, "when we +get to Singapore, I'm going to ask you for that fifty pounds, earned in +honest labor." + +"And if I decline to pay?" truculently. + +"We'll talk that over when we reach port. Now," roughly, "get out. +There won't be any baiting done to-day, thank you." + +The chief engineer's assistant, a stocky, muscular young Scot, stepped +forward. He knew Mallow. "If there is, Mr. Warrington, I'm willing to +have a try at losing my job." + +"Cockalorem!" jeered Mallow. Craig touched his sleeve, but he threw +off the hand roughly. He was one of the best rough and tumble fighters +in the Straits Settlements. "You thieving beach-comber, I don't want +to mess up the deck with you, but I'll cut your comb for you when we +get to port." + +Warrington laughed insolently and picked up the parrot-cage. "I'll +bring the comb. In fact, I always carry it." Not a word to Craig, not +a glance in his direction. Warrington stepped to the companionway and +went below. + +The chief engineer's assistant, whistling _Bide Awee_, sauntered +forward. + +Craig could not resist grinning at Mallow's discomfiture. "Wouldn't +break, eh?" + +"Shut your mouth! The sneaking dock-walloper, I'll take the starch out +of him when we land! Always had that high and mighty air. Wants folks +to think he's a gentleman." + +"He was once," said Craig. "No use giving you advice; but he's not a +healthy individual to bait. I'm no kitten when it comes to scrapping; +but I haven't any desire to mix things with him." The fury of the man +who had given him the ducking was still vivid. He had been handled as +a terrier handles a rat. + +"Bah!" + +"Bah as much as you please. I picked you out of the gutter one night +in Rangoon, after roughing it with half a dozen Chinamen, and saved +your wad. I've not your reach or height, but I can lay about some. +He'll kill you. And why not? He wouldn't be any worse off than he is." + +"I tell you he's yellow. And with a hundred-thousand in his clothes, +he'll be yellower still." + +A hundred thousand. Craig frowned and gazed out to sea. He had +forgotten all about the windfall. "Let's go and have a peg," he +suggested surlily. + + +Immediately upon obtaining her rooms at Raffles Hotel in Singapore (and +leaving Martha there to await the arrival of the luggage, an imposing +collection of trunks and boxes and kit-bags), Elsa went down to the +American Consulate, which had its offices in the rear of the hotel. +She walked through the outer office and stood silently at the +consul-general's elbow, waiting for him to look up. She was dressed in +white, and in the pugree of her helmet was the one touch of color, +Rajah's blue feather. With a smile she watched the stubby pen crawl +over some papers, ending at length with a flourish, dignified and +characteristic. The consul-general turned his head. His kindly face +had the settled expression of indulgent inquiry. The expression +changed swiftly into one of delight. + +"Elsa Chetwood!" he cried, seizing her hands. "Well, well! I am glad +to see you. Missed you when you passed through to Ceylon. Good +gracious, what a beautiful woman you've turned out to be! Sit down, +sit down!" He pushed her into a chair. "Well, well! When I saw you +last you were nineteen." + +"What a frightful memory you have! And I was going to my first ball. +You used the same adjective." + +"Is there a better one? I'll use it if there is. You've arrived just +in time. I am giving a little dinner to the consuls and their wives +to-night, and you will add just the right touch; for we are all a +little gray at the temples and some of us are a trifle bald. You see, +I've an old friend from India in town to-day, and I've asked him, too. +Your appearance evens up matters." + +"Oh; then I'm just a filler-in!" + +"Heavens, no! You're the most important person of the lot, though +Colonel Knowlton . . ." + +"Colonel Knowlton!" exclaimed Elsa. + +"That's so, by George! Stupid of me. You came down on the same boat. +Fine! You know each other." + +Elsa straightened her lips with some difficulty. She possessed the +enviable faculty of instantly forming in her mind pictures of coming +events. The little swelling veins in the colonel's nose were as plain +to her mind's eye as if he really stood before her. "Have him take me +in to dinner," she suggested. + +"Just what I was thinking of," declared the unsuspecting man. "If any +one can draw out the colonel, it will be you." + +"I'll do my best." Elsa's mind was full of rollicking malice. + +Contemplatively he said: "So you've been doing the Orient alone? You +are like your father in that way. He was never afraid of anything. +Your mental make-up, too, I'll wager is like his. Finest man in the +world." + +"Wasn't he? How I wish he could have always been with me! We were +such good comrades. They do say I am like father. But why is it, +every one seems appalled that I should travel over here without male +escort?" + +"The answer lies in your mirror, Elsa. Your old nurse Martha is no +real protection." + +"Are men so bad, then?" + +"They are less restrained. The heat, the tremendous distances, the +lack of amusements, are perhaps responsible. The most difficult thing +in the world to amuse is man. By the way, here's a packet of letters +for you." + +"Thanks." Elsa played with the packet, somberly eying the +superscriptions. The old disorder came back into her mind. Three of +the letters were from Arthur. She dreaded to open them. + +"Now, I'll expect you to come to the apartments and have tea at five." + +"Be glad to. Only, don't have any one else. I just want to visit and +talk as I used to." + +"I promise not to invite anybody." + +"I must be going, then. I'm not sure of my tickets to Hongkong." + +"Go straight to the German Lloyd office. The next P. & O. boat is +booked full. Don't bother to go to Cook's. Everybody's on the way +home now. Go right to the office. I'll have my boy show you the way. +Chong!" he called. A bright-eyed young Chinese came in quickly and +silently from the other room. "Show lady German Lloyd office. All +same quick." + +"All light. Lady come." + +"Until tea." + +In the outer office she paused for a moment or so to look at the +magazines and weeklies from home. The Chinese boy, grinning +pleasantly, peered curiously at Elsa's beautiful hands. She heard some +one enter, and quite naturally glanced up. The newcomer was Mallow. +He stared at her, smiled familiarly and lifted his helmet. + +Elsa, with cold unflickering eyes, offered his greeting no recognition +whatever. The man felt that she was looking through him, inside of +him, searching out all the dark comers of his soul. He dropped his +gaze, confused. Then Elsa calmly turned to the boy. + +"Come, Chong." + +There was something in the manner of her exit that infinitely puzzled +him. It was the insolence of the well-bred, but he did not know it. +To offset his chagrin and confusion, he put on his helmet and passed +into the private office. She was out of his range of understanding. + +Mallow was an American by birth but had grown up in the Orient, +hardily. In his youth he had been beaten and trampled upon, and now +that he had become rich in copra (the dried kernels of cocoanuts from +which oil is made), he in his turn beat and trampled. It was the only +law he knew. He was without refinement, never having come into contact +with that state of being long enough to fall under its influence. He +was a shrewd bargainer; and any who respected him did so for two +reasons, his strength and his wallet. Such flattery sufficed his +needs. He was unmarried; by inclination, perhaps, rather than by +failure to find an agreeable mate. There were many women in Penang and +Singapore who would have snapped him up, had the opportunity offered, +despite the fact that they knew his history tolerably well. +Ordinarily, when in Penang and Singapore, he behaved himself, drank +circumspectly and shunned promiscuous companions. But when he did +drink heartily, he was a man to beware of. + +He hailed the consul-general cordially and offered him one of his +really choice cigars, which was accepted. + +"I say, who was that young woman who just went out?" + +The consul-general laid down the cigar. The question itself was +harmless enough; it was Mallow's way of clothing it he resented. +"Why?" he asked. + +"She's a stunner. Just curious if you knew her, that's all. We came +down on the same boat. Hanged if I shouldn't like to meet her." + +"You met her on board?" + +"I can't say that. Rather uppish on the steamer. But, do you know +her?" eagerly. + +"I do. More than that, I have always known her. She is the daughter +of the late General Chetwood, one of the greatest civil-engineers of +our time. When he died he left her several millions. She is a +remarkable young woman, a famous beauty, known favorably in European +courts, and I can't begin to tell you how many other accomplishments +she has." + +"Well, stump me!" returned Mallow. "Is that all straight?" + +"Every word of it," with a chilliness that did not escape a man even so +impervious as Mallow. + +"Is she a free-thinker?" + +"What the devil is that? What do you mean?" + +"Only this, if she's all you say she is, why does she pick out an +absconder for a friend, a chap who dare not show his fiz in the States? +I heard the tale from a man once employed in his office back in New +York. A beach-comber, a dock-walloper, if there ever was one." + +"Mallow, you'll have to explain that instantly." + +"Hold your horses, my friend. What I'm telling you is on the level. +She's been hobnobbing with the fellow all the way down from the +Irrawaddy, so I'm told. Never spoke to any one else. Made him sit at +her side at table and jabbered Italian at him, as if she didn't want +others to know what she was talking about. I know the man. Fired him +from my plantation, when I found out what he was. Can't recall his +name just now, but he is known out here as Warrington; Parrot & Co." + +The consul-general was genuinely shocked. + +"You can't blame me for thinking things," went on Mallow. "What man +wouldn't? Ask her about Warrington. You'll find that I'm telling the +truth, all right." + +"If you are, then she has made one of those mistakes women make when +they travel alone. I shall see her at tea and talk to her. But I do +not thank you, Mallow, for telling me this. A finer, loyaler-hearted +girl doesn't live. She might have been kind out of sympathy." + +Mallow bit off the tip of his cigar. "He's a handsome beggar, if you +want to know." + +"I resent that tone. Better drop the subject before I lose my temper. +I'll have your papers ready for you in the morning." The +consul-general caught up his pen savagely to indicate that the +interview was at an end. + +"All right," said Mallow good-naturedly. "I meant no harm. Just +naturally curious. Can't blame me." + +"I'm not blaming you. But it has disturbed me, and I wish to be alone +to think it over." + +Mallow lounged out, rather pleased with himself. His greatest pleasure +in life was in making others uncomfortable. + +The consul-general bit the wooden end of his pen and chewed the +splinters of cedar. He couldn't deny that it was like Elsa to pick up +some derelict for her benefactions. But to select a man who was +probably wanted by the American police was a frightful misfortune. +Women had no business to travel alone. It was all very well when they +toured in parties of eight or ten; but for a charming young woman like +Elsa, attended by a spinster companion who doubtless dared not offer +advice, it was decidedly wrong. And thereupon he determined that her +trip to Yokohama should find her well guarded. + +"I beg your pardon," said a pleasant voice. + +The consul-general had been so deeply occupied by his worry that he had +not noticed the entrance of the speaker. He turned impatiently. He +saw a tall blond man, bearded and tanned, with fine clear blue eyes +that met his with the equanimity of the fearless. + + + + +XIII + +AFTER TEN YEARS + +The consul-general had, figuratively, a complete assortment of masks, +such as any thorough play-actor might have, in more or less constant +demand, running the gamut from comedy to tragedy. Some of these masks +grew dusty between ships, but could quickly be made presentable. +Sometimes, when large touring parties came into port, he confused his +masks, being by habit rather an absent-minded man. But he possessed a +great fund of humor, and these mistakes gave him laughable +recollections for days. + +He saw before him an exquisite, as the ancient phrase goes, backed by +no indifferent breed of manhood. Thus, he believed that here was a +brief respite (as between acts) in which the little plastic hypocrisies +could be laid aside. The pleasant smile on his high-bred face was all +his own. + +"And what may I do for you, sir?" He expected to be presented with +letters of introduction, and to while away a half-hour in the agreeable +discussion of mutual acquaintance. + +"I should like a few minutes' private talk with you," began the +well-dressed stranger. "May I close the door?" The consul-general, +with a sense of disappointment, nodded. The blond man returned and sat +down. "I don't know how to begin, but I want you to copy this +cablegram and send it under your own name. Here it is; read it." + +So singular a request filled the consul-general with astonishment. +Rather mechanically he accepted the slip of paper, adjusted his +glasses, and read-- + + +"The Andes Construction Company, New York: A former employee of yours +wishes to make a restitution of eight thousand dollars, with interest +to date. He dares not give his name to me, but he wishes to learn if +this belated restitution will lift the ban against his returning to +America and resuming his citizenship. Reply collect." + + +"This is an extraordinary request to make to me, sir." + +"I know it." + +"But why bring it to me?" + +"Could I possibly offer that to the cable operator? Without name or +address? No; I could not do it without being subjected to a thousand +questions, none of which I should care to answer. So I came to you. +Passing through your hands, no one will question it. Will you do this +favor for a poor unfortunate devil?" + +Oddly enough, the other could not get away from his original +impression. The clothes, the way the man wore them, the clarity of his +eyes, the abundant health that was expressed by the tone of the skin, +derided such a possibility as the cablegram made manifest. + +He forced the smile back to his lips. "Are you sure you're not hoaxing +me?" + +"No. I am the victim of the hoax," enigmatically. "If one may call +the quirks of fate by the name of hoax," the stranger added. "Will you +send it?" + +The years he had spent in the consular service had never brought before +him a situation of this order. He did not know exactly what to do. He +looked out of the window, into the hotel-court, at the sky which +presently would become overcast with the daily rain-clouds. By and by +he remembered the man waiting patiently at his elbow. + +"What is your name?" + +"My real name, or the one by which I am known here?" + +"Your real one." + +"I'd rather not give that until I hear from New York." + +"Well, that is reasonable." + +"I am known out here by the name of Warrington." + +Warrington. The puzzlement vanished from the older man's face, and his +eyes became alert, renewing from another angle their investigation of +the stranger. Warrington. So this was the man? He could understand +now. Who could blame a girl for making a mistake when he, a seasoned +veteran, had been beguiled by the outward appearance of the man? +Mallow was right. He was a handsome beggar. + +"I promise to send this upon one condition." + +"I accept without question," readily. + +"It is that you must keep away from Elsa Chetwood, now and hereafter. +You made her acquaintance under false pretenses." + +"I deny that. Not under false pretenses." How quickly things went +about! "Let me tell you how I met her." + +The consul-general listened; he listened with wonder and interest, and +more, with conviction that the young man had been perfectly honest. +But the knowledge only added to his growing alarm. It would not be +difficult for such a man to win the regard of any young woman. + +"And you told her what you had done?" + +"Yes." + +"Your first misstep?" touching the cablegram. + +"My first and only misstep. I was a careless, happy-go-lucky young +fool." The sky outside also had attraction for Warrington. A thousand +times a fool! + +"How long ago did this happen?" + +"Ten years this coming April." + +"And now, after all this time, you wish to go back?" + +"I have wished to go back many times, but never had money enough. I +have plenty now. Oh, I made it honestly," smiling. "In oil, at Prome. +Here's a cutting from a Rangoon paper." + +The other read it carefully. It was romance, romance such as he liked +to read in his books, but which was mighty bewildering to have at his +elbow in actuality. What a life the man must have led! And here he +was, with no more evidence of the conflict than might be discerned in +the manliness of his face and the breadth and depth of his shoulders. +He dropped the cutting, impatiently. + +"Don't you believe it?" + +"Believe it? Oh, this? Yes," answered the consul-general. "What I +can not believe is that I am awake. I can not quite make two and two +equal four." + +"Which infers?" + +"That I can not . . . Well, you do not look like a man who would rob +his employer of eight thousand dollars." + +"Much obliged." + +"Parrot & Co. It's odd, but I recollect that title. You were at +Udaipur during the plague." + +Warrington brightened. "So that's got about? I happened to be there, +working on the prince's railway." + +"I will send the cable at once. You will doubtless hear from New York +in the morning. But you must not see Miss Chetwood again." + +"You will let me bid her good-by? I admire and respect her more than +any other woman. She does not know it, for as yet her soul is asleep; +but she is one of those few women God puts on earth for the courage and +comfort of man. Only to say good-by to her. Here in this office, if +you wish." + +"I agree to that." + +"Thank you again." Warrington rose. + +"I am genuinely sorry for you. If they say no, what will you do?" + +"Go back just the same. I have another debt to cancel." + +"Call in the morning. I'll let you know what the charges are." + +"I forgot. Here are twenty pounds. You can return the balance when I +call. I am very grateful." + +"By the way, there is a man here by the name of Mallow," began the +consul-general. + +"Yes," interrupted Warrington, with a smile which was grim and cruel. +"I expect to call upon him. He owes me something like fifty pounds, +and I am going to collect it." Then he went out. + +The consul-general dropped Mallow's perfecto into the waste-basket and +lighted his pipe. Once more he read the cablegram. The Andes +Construction Company. What a twist, what an absurd kink in the skein! +Nearly all of Elsa's wealth lay bound up in this enormous business +which General Chetwood had founded thirty odd years before. And +neither of them knew! + +"I am not a bad man at heart," he mused, "but I liked the young man's +expression when I mentioned that bully Mallow." + +He joined his family at five. He waved aside tea, and called for a +lemon-squash. + +"Elsa, I am going to give you a lecture." + +"Didn't I tell you?" cried Elsa to the wife. "I felt in my bones that +he was going to say this very thing." She turned to her old-time +friend. "Go on; lecture me." + +"In the first place, you are too kind-hearted." + +"That will be news to my friends. They say I have a heart of ice." + +"And what you think is independence of spirit is sometimes +indiscretion." + +"Oh," said Elsa, becoming serious. + +"A man came into my office to-day. He is a rich copra-grower from +Penang. He spoke of you. You passed him on going out. If I had been +twenty years younger I'd have punched his ugly head. His name is +Mallow, and he's not a savory chap." + +Elsa's cheeks burned. She never would forget the look in that man's +eyes. The look might have been in other men's eyes, but +conventionality had always veiled it; she had never seen it before. + +"Go on;" but her voice was unsteady. + +"Somewhere along the Irrawaddy you made the acquaintance of a young man +who calls himself Warrington, familiarly known as Parrot & Co. I'll be +generous. Not one woman in a thousand would have declined to accept +the attentions of such a man. He is cultivated, undeniably +good-looking, a strong man, mentally and physically." + +Elsa's expression was now enigmatical. + +"There's not much veneer to him. He fooled me unintentionally. He was +quite evidently born a gentleman, of a race of gentlemen. His is not +an isolated case. One misstep, and the road to the devil." + +The consul-general's wife sent a startled glance at Elsa, who spun her +sunshade to lighten the tension of her nerves. + +"He confessed frankly to me this morning that he is a fugitive from +justice. He wishes to return to America. He recounted the +circumstances of your meeting. To me the story appeared truthful +enough. He said that you sought the introduction because of his +amazing likeness to the man you are going home to marry." + +"That is true," replied Elsa. "Uncle Jim, I have traveled pretty much +over this world, and I never met a gentleman if Warrington is not one." +There was unconscious belligerency in her tone. + +"Ah, there's the difficulty which women will never be made to +understand. Every man can, at one time or another, put himself upon +his good behavior. Underneath he may be a fine rascal." + +"Not this one," smiling. "He warned me against himself a dozen times, +but that served to make me stubborn. The fault of my conduct," acidly, +"was not in making this pariah's acquaintance. It lies in the fact +that I had nothing to do with the other passengers, from choice. That +is where I was indiscreet. But why should I put myself out to gain the +good wishes of people for whom I have no liking; people I shall +probably never see again when I leave this port?" + +"You forget that some of them will be your fellow passengers all the +way to San Francisco. My child, you know as well as I do that there +are some laws which the Archangel Michael would have to obey, did he +wish to inhabit this earth for a while." + +"Poor Michael! And if you do not obey these laws, people talk." + +"Exactly. There are two sets of man-made laws. One governs the +conduct of men and the other the conduct of women." + +"And a man may break any one of these laws, twist it, rearrange it to +suit his immediate needs. On the other hand, the woman is always +manacled." + +"Precisely." + +"I consider it horribly unfair." + +"So it is. But if you wish to live in peace, you must submit." + +"Peace at that price I have no wish for. This man Mallow lives within +the pale of law; the other man is outside of it. Yet, of the two, +which would you be quickest to trust?" + +The consul-general laughed. "Now you are appealing not to my knowledge +of the world but to my instinct." + +"Thanks." + +"Is there any reason why you should defend Mr. Warrington, as he calls +himself?" + +The consul-general's wife desperately tried to catch her husband's eye. +But either he did not see the glance or he purposely ignored it. + +"In defending Mr. Warrington I am defending myself." + +"A good point." + +"My dear friend," Elsa went on, letting warmth come into her voice once +more, "my sympathy went out to that man. He looked so lonely. Did you +notice his eyes? Can a man look at you the way he does and be bad?" + +"I have seen Mallow dozens of times. I know him to be a scoundrel of +sorts; but I doubt if bald sunlight could make him blink. Liars have +first to overcome the flickering and wavering of the eyes." + +"He said that." + +"Who, Warrington?" puzzled. + +"He said almost the same thing. Would he say that if he were a liar?" + +"I haven't accused him of being that. Indeed, he struck me as a +truthful young man. But he confessed to me that ten years ago he +robbed his employer of eight thousand dollars. By the way, what is the +name of the firm your father founded?" + +"The Andes Construction Company. Do you think we could find him +something to do there?" eagerly. "He builds bridges." + +"I shouldn't advise that. But we have gone astray. You ought not to +see him again." + +"I have made up my mind not to." + +"Then pardon me for all this pother. I know what is in your heart, +Elsa. You want to help the poor devil back to what he was; but he'll +have to do that by himself." + +"It is a hateful world!" Elsa appealed to the wife. + +"It is, Elsa, dear. But James is right." + +"You'll get your balance," said the guardian, "when you reach home. +When's the wedding?" + +"I'm not sure that I'm going to be married." Elsa twirled the sunshade +again. "I really wish I had stayed at home. I seem all topsy-turvy. +I could have screamed when I saw the man standing on the ledge above +the boat that night. No; I do not believe I shall marry. Fancy +marrying a man and knowing that his ghost was at the same time +wandering about the earth!" She rose and the sunshade described a +half-circle as she spoke. "Oh, bother with it all! Dinner at eight, +in the big dining-room." + +"Yes. But the introductions will be made on the cafe-veranda. These +people out here have gone mad over cock-tails. And look your best, +Elsa. I want them to see a real American girl to-night. I'll have +some roses sent up to you." + +Elsa had not the heart to tell him that all interest in his dinner had +suddenly gone from her mind; that even the confusion of the colonel no +longer appealed to her bitter malice. She knew that she was going to +be bored and miserable. Well, she had promised. She would put on her +best gown; she would talk and laugh and jest because she had done these +things many times when her heart was not in the play of it. + +When she was gone, the consul-general's wife said: "Poor girl!" + +Her husband looked across the room interestedly. "Why do you say that?" + +"I am a woman." + +"That phrase is the City of Refuge. All women fly to it when +confronted by something they do not understand." + +"Oh, but I do understand. And that's the pity of it." + + + + +XIV + +ACCORDING TO THE RULES + +Elsa sought the hotel rickshaw-stand, selected a sturdy coolie, and +asked to be run to the botanical gardens and back. She wanted to be +alone, wanted breathing-space, wanted the breeze to cool her hot +cheeks. For she was angry at the world, angry at the gentle +consul-general, above all, angry at herself. To have laid herself open +to the charge of indiscretion! To have received a lecture, however +kindly intended, from the man she loved and respected next to her +father! To know that persons were exchanging nods and whispers behind +her back! + +It was a detestable world. It was folly to be honest, to be kind, to +be individual, to have likes and dislikes, unless these might be +regulated by outsiders. Why should she care what people said? She did +not care. What made her furious was the absolute stupidity of their +deductions. She had not been indiscreet; she had been merely kindly +and human; and if they wanted to twist and misconstrue her actions, let +them do so. + +She hated the word "people." It seemed to signify all the useless +inefficient persons in the world, massed together after the manner of +sheep and cattle, stupidest of beasts, always wanting something and +never knowing what; not an individual among them. And they expected +her to conform with their ways! Was it necessary for her to tell these +meddlers why she had sought the companionship of a self-admitted +malefactor? . . . Oh, that could not be! If evil were to be found in +such a man, then there was no good anywhere. What was one misstep? +Was it not written that all of us should make one or more? And surely +this man had expiated his. Ten years in this wilderness, ten long +lonely years. How many men would have stood up against the temptations +of this exile? Few, if any, among the men she knew. And they +criticized her because she was sorry for the man. Must she say to +them: "Dear people, I spoke to this man and engaged his companionship +because I was sorry for him; because he looked exactly like the man I +have promised to marry!" It was ridiculous. She laughed. The dear +people! + +Once or twice she saw inwardly the will-o'-the-wisp lights of her soul. +But resolutely she smothered the sparks and bolstered up the pitiful +lie. + +The coolie stopped suddenly. + +"Go on," she said. + +But the coolie smiled and wiped his shaven poll. Elsa gazed at the +hotel-veranda in bewilderment. Slowly she got out of the rickshaw and +paid the fare. She had not the slightest recollection of having seen +the gardens. More than this, it was a quarter to seven. She had been +gone exactly an hour. + +"Perhaps, after all," she thought, "I am hopeless. They may be right; +I ought to have a guardian. I am not always accountable for what I do." + +She dressed leisurely and with calculation. She was determined to +convince every one that she was a beautiful woman, above suspicion, +above reproach. The spirit within her was not, however, in direct +accord with this determination. Malice stirred into life again; and +she wanted to hurt some one, hurt deeply. It was only the tame in +spirit who, when injured, submitted without murmur or protest. And +Elsa, only dimly aware of it, was mortally hurt. + +"Elsa," said Martha, "that frown will stay there some day, and never go +away." + +Elsa rubbed it out with her finger. "Martha, do you recall that tiger +in the cage at Jaipur? How they teased him until he lost his temper +and came smashing against the bars? Well, I sympathize with that +brute. He would have been peaceful enough had they let him be. Has +Mr. Warrington called to-day?" + +"No." + +"Well, if he calls to-morrow, say that I am indisposed." + +Martha evinced her satisfaction visibly. The frown returned between +Elsa's eyes and remained there until she went down-stairs to join the +consul-general and his wife. She found some very agreeable men and +women, and some of her natural gaiety returned. At a far table on the +veranda she saw Craig and Mallow in earnest conversation. + +She nodded pleasantly to the colonel as the head boy came to announce +that dinner was served. Anglo-Indian society had so many twists and +ramifications that the situation was not exactly new to the old +soldier. True, none had confronted him identical to this. But he had +not disciplined men all these years without acquiring abundant +self-control. The little veins in his nose turned purple, as Elsa +prophesied they would, but there was no other indication of how +distasteful the moment was to him. He would surely warn the +consul-general, who doubtless was innocent enough. + +They sat down. The colonel blinked. "Fine passage we had coming down." + +"Was it?" returned Elsa innocently. + +The colonel reached for an olive and bit into it savagely. He was no +fool. She had him at the end of a blind-alley, and there he must wait +until she was ready to let him go. She could harry him or pretend to +ignore him, as suited her fancy. He was caught. Women, all women, +possessed at least one attribute of the cat. It was digging in the +claw, hanging by it, and boredly looking about the world to see what +was going on. At that moment the colonel recognized the sting of the +claw. + +Elsa turned to her right and engaged the French consul discursively: +the vandalism in the gardens at Versailles, the glut of vehicles in the +Bois at Paris, the disappearing of the old landmarks, the old Hotel de +Sevigne, now the most interesting _musée_ in France. Indeed, Elsa +gradually became the center of interest; she drew them intentionally. +She brought a touch of home to the Frenchman, to the German, to the +Italian, to the Spaniard; and the British official, in whose hands the +civil business of the Straits Settlements rested, was charmed to learn +that Elsa had spent various week-ends at the home of his sister in +Surrey. + +And when she admitted that she was the daughter of General Chetwood, +the man to whom the Indian government had cause to be grateful, upon +more than one occasion, for the solidity of his structures, the colonel +realized definitely the seriousness of his crucifixion. He sat stiffer +and stiffer in his chair, and the veins in his nose grew deeper and +deeper in hue. He saw clearly that he would never understand American +women. He had committed an outrageous blunder. He, instead of +dominating, had been dominated by three faultfinding old women; and, +without being aware of the fact, had looked at things from their point +of view. A most inconceivable blunder. He would not allow that he was +being swayed less by the admission of his unpardonable rudeness on +board than by the immediate knowledge that Elsa was known to the +British official's sister, a titled lady who stood exceedingly high at +court. + +"Miss Chetwood," he said, lowering his voice for her ears only. + +Elsa turned, but with the expression that signified that her attention +was engaged elsewhere. + +"Yes?" + +"I am an old man. I am sixty-two; and most of these sixty-two I have +lived roughly; but I am not too old to realize that I have made a fool +of myself." + +Interest began to fill Elsa's eyes. + +"It has been said," he went on, keeping the key, "that I am a man of +courage, but I find that I need a good deal of that just now. I have +been rude to you, and without warrant, and I offer you my humble +apologies." He fumbled with his cravat as if it had suddenly +tightened. "Will you accept?" + +"Instantly." Elsa understood the quality of courage that had stirred +the colonel. + +"Thanks." + +But ruthlessly: "I should, however, like your point of view in regard +to what you consider my conduct." + +"Is it necessary?" + +"I believe it would be better for my understanding if you made a full +confession." She did not mean to be relentless, but her curiosity was +too strong not to press her advantage. + +"Well, then, over here as elsewhere in the world there are standards by +which we judge persons who come under our notice." + +"Agreed. Individuality is not generally understandable." + +"By the mediocre, you might have added. That's the difficulty with +individuality; it refuses to be harnessed by mediocrity, and mediocrity +holds the whip-hand, always. I represent the mediocre." + +"Oh, never!" said Elsa animatedly. "Mediocrity is always without +courage." + +"You are wrong. It has the courage of its convictions." + +"Rather is it not stubbornness, wilful refusal to recognize things as +they are?" + +He countered the question with another. "Supposing we were all +individuals, in the sense you mean? Supposing each of us did exactly +as he pleased? Can you honestly imagine a more confusing place than +this world would be? The Manchurian pony is a wild little beast, an +individual if ever there was one; but man tames him and puts to use his +energies. And so it is with human individuality. We of the mediocre +tame it and harness and make it useful to the general welfare of +humanity. And when we encounter the untamable, in order to safeguard +ourselves, we must turn it back into the wilderness, an outlaw. +Indeed, I might call individuality an element, like fire and water and +air." + +"But who conquer fire and water and air?" Elsa demanded, believing she +had him pocketed. + +"Mediocrity, through the individual of this or that being. Humanity in +the bulk is mediocre. And odd as it seems, individuality (which is +another word for genius) believes it leads mediocrity. But it can not +be made to understand that mediocrity ordains the leadership." + +"Then you contend that in the hands of the stupid lies the balance of +power?" + +"Let us not say stupid, rather the unimaginative, the practical and the +plodding. The stubbornest person in the world is one with an idea." + +"Do you honestly insist that you are mediocre?" + +"No," thoughtfully. "I am one of those stubborn men with ideas. I +merely insist that I prefer to accept the tenets of mediocrity for my +own peace and the peace of others." + +Elsa forgot those about her, forgot her intended humiliation of the man +at her side. He denied that he was an individual, but he was one, as +interesting a one as she had met in a very long time. She, too, had +made a blunder. Quick to form opinions, swift to judge, she stood +guilty with the common lot, who permit impressions instead of evidence +to sway them. Here was a man. + +"We have gone far afield," she said, a tacit admission that she could +not refute his dissertations. This knowledge, however, was not irksome. + +"Rather have we not come to the bars? Shall we let them down?" + +"Proceed." + +"In the civil and military life on this side of the world there are +many situations which we perforce must tolerate. But these, mind you, +are settled conditions. It is upon new ones which arise that we pass +judgment. I knew nothing about you, nothing whatever. So I judged you +according to the rules." + +Elsa leaned upon her elbows, and she smiled a little as she noted that +the purple had gone from his nose and that it had resumed its +accustomed rubicundity. + +"I go on. A woman who travels alone, who does not present letters of +introduction, who . . ." + +"Who attends strictly to her own affairs. Go on." + +"Who is young and beautiful." + +"A sop! Thanks!" + +Imperturbably he continued: "Who seeks the acquaintance of men who do +not belong, as you Americans say." + +"Not men; one man," she corrected. + +"A trifling difference. Well, it arouses a disagreeable word, +suspicion. For look, there have been examples. It isn't as if yours +were an isolated case. There have been examples, and these we apply to +such affairs as come under our notice." + +"And it doesn't matter that you may be totally wrong?" + +His prompt answer astonished her. "No, it does not matter in the +least. Simmered down, it may be explained in a word, appearances. And +I must say, to the normal mind . . ." + +"The mediocre mind." + +"To the normal and mediocre mind, appearances were against you. +Observe, please, that I did not know I was wrong, that you were a +remarkable young woman. My deductions were made from what I saw as an +outsider. On the Irrawaddy you made the acquaintance of a man who came +out here a fugitive from justice. After you made his acquaintance, you +sought none other, in fact, repelled any advances. This alone decided +me." + +"Then you were decided?" To say that this blunt exposition was not +bitter to her taste, that it did not act like acid upon her pride, +would not be true. She was hurt, but she did not let the hurt befog +her sense of justice. From his point of view the colonel was in no +fault. "Let me tell you how very wrong you were indeed." + +"Doubtless," he hastily interposed, "you enveloped the man in a cloud +of romance." + +"On the contrary, I spoke to him and sought his companionship because +he was nothing more nor less than a ghost." + +"Ah! Is it possible that you knew him in former times?" + +"No. But he was so like the man at home; so identical in features and +build to the man I expected to go home to marry. . . ." + +"My dear young lady, you are right. Mediocrity is without imagination, +stupid, and makes the world a dull place indeed. Like the man you +expect to marry! What woman in your place would have acted otherwise? +And I have made my statements as bald and brutal as an examining +magistrate! Instead of one apology I offer a thousand." + +"I accept each and all of them. More, I believe that you and I could +get on capitally. I can very well imagine the soldier you used to be. +I am going to ask you what you know about Mr. Warrington." + +"This, that he is not a fit companion for a young woman like yourself; +that a detractable rumor follows hard upon his heels wherever he goes. +I learned something about him in Rangoon. He is known to the riff-raff +as Parrot & Co., and I don't know what else. All of us on shipboard +learned his previous history." + +"Ah!" She was quite certain of the historian. "And not from +respectable quarters, either." + +"If I had been elderly and without physical attractions?" Elsa inquired +sarcastically. + +"We are dealing with human nature, mediocrity, and not with +speculation. It is in the very nature of things to distrust that which +we do not understand. You say, old and without physical attractions. +Beauty is of all things most drawing. We crowd about it, we crown it, +we flatter it. The old and unattractive we pass by. If I had not seen +you here to-night, heard you talk, saw in a kind of rebellious +enchantment over your knowledge of the world and your distinguished +acquaintance, I should have gone to my grave believing that my +suspicions were correct. I dare say that I shall make the same mistake +again." + +"But do not judge so hastily." + +"That I promise." + +"Did you learn among other things what Mr. Warrington had done?" + +"Yes. A sordid affair. Ordinary peculations that were wasted over +gaming-tables." + +Warrington had told her the truth. At least, the story told by others +coincided with his own. But what was it that kept doubt in her mind? +Why should she not be ready to believe what others believed, what the +man himself had confessed? What was it to her that he looked like +Arthur, that he was guilty or innocent? + +"And his name?" She wondered if the colonel knew that also. + +"Warrington is assumed. His real name is Paul Ellison." + +"Paul Ellison." She repeated it slowly. Her voice did not seem her +own. The table, the lights, the faces, all receded and became a blur. + + + + +XV + +A BIT OF A LARK + +Mallow gave Craig one of his favorite cigars. The gambler turned it +over and inspected the carnelian label, realizing that this was +expected of him. Mallow smiled complacently. They might smoke as good +as that at the government-house, but he rather doubted it. Trust a +Britisher to know a good pipe-charge; but his selection of cigars was +seldom to be depended upon. + +"Don't see many of these out here," was Craig's comment, and he tucked +away the cigar in a vest pocket. + +"They cost me forty-three cents apiece, without duty." The vulgarian's +pleasure lies not in the article itself so much as in the price paid +for it. On the plantation Mallow smoked Burma cheroots because he +really preferred them. There, he drank rye whisky, consorted with his +employees, gambled with them and was not above cheating when he had +them drunk enough. Away from home, however, he was the man of money; +he bought vintage wines when he could, wore silks, jingled the +sovereigns whenever he thought some one might listen, bullied the +servants, all with the childish belief that he was following the +footsteps of aristocracy, hoodwinking no one, not even his kind. "I'm +worth a quarter of a million," he went on. "Luck and plugging did it. +One of these fine days I'm going to sell out and take a whack at that +gay Paris. There's the place to spend your pile. You can't get your +money's worth any place else." + +Paris. Craig's thought flew back to the prosperous days when he was +plying his trade between New York and Cherbourg, on the Atlantic +liners, the annual fortnight in Paris and the Grand-Prix. He had had +his diamonds, then, and his wallet of yellow-backs; and when he had +called for vintage wines and choice Havanas it had been for genuine +love of them. In his heart he despised Mallow. He knew himself to be +a rogue, but Mallow without money would have been a bold predatory +scoundrel. Craig knew also that he himself was at soul too cowardly to +be more than despicably bad. He envied Mallow's absolute fearlessness, +his frank brutality, his strength upon which dissipation had as yet +left no mark; and Mallow was easily forty-five. Paris. He might never +see that city again. He had just enough to carry him to Hongkong and +keep him on his feet until the races. He sent a bitter glance toward +the sea where the moonlight gave an ashen hue to the forest of rigging. +The beauty of the scene did not enter his eye. His mind was recalling +the luxurious smoke-rooms. + +"When you go to Paris, I'd like to go along." + +"You've never let on why they sent you hiking out here," Mallow +suggested. + +"One of my habits is keeping my mouth shut." + +"Regarding your own affairs, yes. But you're willing enough to talk +when it comes to giving away the other chap." + +"You can play that hand as well as I can." Craig scowled toward the +dining-room doors. + +"Ha! There they come," said Mallow, as a group of men and women issued +out into the cafe-veranda. "By gad! she is a beauty, and no mistake. +And will you look at our friend, the colonel, toddling behind her?" + +"You're welcome." + +"You're a fine lady-killer." Mallow tore the band from a fresh cigar +and struck a match. + +"I know when I've got enough. If you could get a good look at her when +she's angry, you'd change your tune." + +Mallow sighed audibly. "Most women are tame, and that's why I've +fought shy of the yoke. Yonder's the sort for me. The man who marries +her will have his work cut out. It'll take a year or two to find out +who's boss; and if she wins, lord help the man!" + +Craig eyed the group which was now seated. Two Chinamen were serving +coffee and cordials. Mallow was right; beautiful was the word. A +vague regret came to him, as it comes to all men outside the pale, that +such a woman could never be his. He poured out for himself a stiff peg +and drank it with very little soda. Craig always fled, as it were, +from introspection. + +"Haven't seen the crow anywhere, have you?" + +"No, nor want to. Leave him alone." + +"Afraid of him, eh?" + +"I'm truthful enough to say that I'm damned afraid of him. Don't +mistake me. I'd like to see him flat, beaten, down and out for good. +I'd like to see him lose that windfall, every cent of it. But I don't +want to get in his way just now." + +"Rot! Don't you worry; no beach-comber like that can stand up long in +front of me. He threatened on board that he was going to collect that +fifty pounds. He hasn't been very spry about it." + +"I should like to be with you when you meet." + +Mallow grinned. "Not above seeing a pal get walloped, eh? Well, you +get a ring-side ticket. It'll be worth it." + +"I don't want to see you get licked," denied Craig irritably. "All I +ask is that you shelve some of your cock-sureness. I'm not so +dead-broke that I must swallow all of it. I've warned you that he is a +strong man. He used to be one of the best college athletes in America." + +"College!" exploded Mallow. "What the devil does a college athlete +know about a dock-fight?" + +"Ever see a game of football?" + +"No." + +"Well, take it from me that it's the roughest game going. It's a game +where you put your boot in a man's face when he's not looking. Mallow, +they kill each other in that game. And Ellison was one of the best, +fifteen years ago. He used to wade through a ton of solid, scrapping, +plunging flesh. And nine times out of ten he used to get through. I +want you to beat him up, and it's because I do that I'm warning you not +to underestimate him. On shipboard he handled me as you would a bag of +salt; damn him! He's a surprise to me. He looks as if he had lived +clean out here. There's no booze-sign hanging out on him, like there +is on you and me." + +"Booze never hurt me any." + +"You're galvanized inside," said Craig, staring again at Elsa. He +wished he knew how to hurt her, too. But he might as well throw stones +at the stars. + +"How would you like to put one over on this chap Ellison?" + +"In what way?" + +Mallow smoked for a moment, then touched his breast pocket +significantly. + +"Not for mine," returned Craig. "Cards are my long suit. I'm no +second-story man, not yet." + +"I know. But supposing you could get it without risk?" + +"In the first place, the bulk of his cash is tied up in letters of +credit." + +"Ah, you know that?" + +"What good would it do to pinch those? In Europe there would be some +chance, but not here where boats are two weeks apart. A cable to +Rangoon would shut off all drawing. He could have others made out. In +cash he may have a few hundreds." + +"All gamblers are more or less yellow," sneered Mallow. "The streak in +you is pretty wide. I tell you, you needn't risk your skin. Are you +game to put one over that will cost him a lot of worry and trouble?" + +"So long as I can stand outside the ropes and look on." + +"He has a thousand pounds in his belt. No matter how I found out. +How'd you like to put your hand on it if you were sure it would not +burn your fingers?" + +"I'd like to, all right. But it's got to be mighty certain. And the +belt must be handed to me by some one else. I've half a wonder if +you're not aiming to get rid of me," with an evil glance at his tempter. + +"If I wanted to get rid of you, this'd be the way," said Mallow, +opening and shutting his powerful hands. "I'm just hungering for a bit +of a lark. Come on. A thousand pounds for taking a little rickshaw +ride. Ever hear of Wong's? Opium, pearls, oils and shark-fins?" + +"No." + +"Not many do. I know Singapore like the lines on my hands. Wong is +the shrewdest, most lawless Chinaman this side of Canton and Macao. +Pipes, pearls and shark-fins. Did you know that the bay out there is +so full of sharks that they have to stand on their tails for lack of +space? Big money. Wong's the man to go to. Want a schooner rigged +out for illicit shell-hunting? Want a man shanghaied? Want him +written down missing? Go to Wong." + +"See here, Mallow; I don't mind his being beaten up; but what you say +doesn't sound good." + +"You fool, I don't want him out of the way. Why should I? But there's +that thousand for you and worry for him. All aboard!" + +"You don't love Parrot & Co. any more than I do." + +"No. I'd sleep better o' nights if I knew he was broken for keeps. +Too much red-tape to put the United States after him. How'd you rig +him?" + +"Faro and roulette. They never tumble. I didn't have anything against +him until he ran into me at Rangoon. But he's stepped in too many +times since. Is this straight?" + +"About lifting his belt? Easy as falling off a log. Leave it to me. +His room is on the first gallery, facing southwest. You can chalk it +up as revenge. I'll take it on as a bit of good sport. Wong will fix +us out. Now look alive. It's after nine, and I'd like a little fun +first." + +The two left the cafe-veranda and engaged a pair of rickshaws. As they +jogged down the road, Warrington stepped out from behind the palms and +moodily watched them until the night swallowed them up. He had not +overheard their interesting conversation, nor had he known they were +about until they came down the steps together. He ached to follow +them. He was in a fine mood for blows. That there were two of them +did not trouble him. Of one thing he was assured: somewhere in the dim +past an ancestor of his had died in a Berserk rage. + +[Illustration: A Bit of a Lark.] + +He had been watching Elsa. It disturbed but did not mystify him to see +her talking to the colonel. Table-chance had brought them together, +and perhaps to a better understanding. How pale she was! From time to +time he caught the flash of her eyes as she turned to this or that +guest. Once she smiled, but the smile did not lighten up her face. He +was very wretched and miserable. She had taken him at his word, and he +should have been glad. He had seen her but once again on board, but +she had looked away. It was best so. Yet, it was as if fate had +reached down into his heart and snapped the strings which made life +tuneful. + +And to-morrow! What would to-morrow bring? Would they refuse? Would +they demand the full penalty? Eight thousand with interest was a small +sum to such a corporation. He had often wondered if they had searched +for him. Ten years. In the midst of these cogitations he saw the +group at the table rise and break up. Elsa entered the hotel. +Warrington turned away and walked aimlessly toward town. For hours he +wandered about, seeing nothing, hearing nothing; and it was long past +midnight when he sought his room, restless and weary but wide awake. +He called for a stiff peg, drank it, and tumbled into bed. He was +whirled away into broken dreams. Now he was running down the gridiron, +with the old thrill in his blood. With that sudden inconceivable twist +of dreams, he saw the black pit of the tramp-steamer and felt the +hell-heat in his face. Again, he was in the Andes, toiling with his +girders over unspeakable chasms. A shifting glance at the old +billiard-room in the club, the letter, and his subsequent wild night of +intoxication, the one time in his life when he had drunk hard and long. +Back to the Indian deserts and jungles. And he heard the shriek of +parrots. + +The shriek of parrots. He sat up. Even in his dream he recognized +that cry. Night or day. Rajah always shrieked when some one entered +the room. Warrington silently slid out of bed and dashed to the door +which led to the gallery. A body thudded against his. He caught hold. +The body was nude to the waist and smelled evilly of sweat and +fish-oil. Something whip-like struck him across the face. It was a +queue. + +Warrington struck out, but missed. Instantly a pair of powerful arms +wound about him, bearing and bending him backward. His right arm lay +parallel with the invader's chest. He brought up the heel of his palm +viciously against the Chinaman's chin. It was sufficient to break the +hold. Then followed a struggle that always remained nightmarish to +Warrington. Hither and thither across the room, miraculously avoiding +chairs, tables and bed, they surged. He heard a ring of steel upon the +cement floor, and breathed easier to learn that the thief had dropped +his knife. Warrington never thought to call out for help. The old +fear of bringing people about him had become a habit. Once, in the +whirl of things, his hand came into contact with a belt which hung +about the other's middle. He caught at it and heaved. It broke, and +the subsequent tinkling over the floor advised him of the fact that it +was his own gold. The broken belt, however, brought the fight to an +abrupt end. The oily body suddenly slipped away. Warrington beheld a +shadow in the doorway; it loomed there a second against the sky-line, +and vanished. He ran to the gallery railing, but it was too dark below +to discern anything. + +He returned to his room, breathing hard, the obnoxious odor of sweat +and fish-oil in his nose. He turned on the lights and without waiting +to investigate, went into the shower-room and stood under the tepid +deluge. Even after a thorough rub-down the taint was in the air. The +bird was muttering and turning somersaults. + +"Thanks, Rajah, old sport! He'd have got me but for you. Let's see +the damage." + +He picked up the belt. The paper-money was intact, and what gold had +fallen he could easily find. He then took up his vest . . . and +dropped it, stunned. The letter of credit for half his fortune was +gone. He sank back upon the bed and stared miserably at the fallen +garment. Gone! Fifty thousand dollars. Some one who knew! Presently +he stood up and tugged at his beard. After all, why should he worry? +A cable to Rangoon would stop payments. A new letter could be issued. +It would take time, but he had plenty of that. + +Idly he reached for the broken cigar that lay at the foot of the bed. +He would have tossed it aside as one of his own had not the carnelian +band attracted his attention. He hadn't smoked that quality of tobacco +in years. He turned it over and over, and it grew more and more +familiar. Mallow's! + + + + +XVI + +WHO IS PAUL ELLISON? + +For some time Warrington sat upon the edge of the bed and studied the +cigar, balanced it upon his palm, as if striving to weigh accurately +Mallow's part in a scrimmage like this. The copra-grower assuredly +would be the last man to give a cigar to a Chinaman. His gifts kept +his coolies hopping about in a triangle of cuffs and kicks and +pummelings. He had doubtless given the cigar to another white man +likely enough, Craig, who, with reckless inebriate generosity, had in +turn presented it to the Oriental. Besides, Mallow was rich. What +stepping-stones he had used to acquire his initial capital were not +perfectly known; but Warrington had heard rumors of shady transactions +and piratical exploits in the pearl zone. Mallow, rich, was Mallow +disposed of, at least logically; unless indeed it was a bit of +anticipatory reprisal. That might possibly be. A drunken Mallow was +capable of much, for all that his knowledge of letters of credit might +necessarily be primitive. + +Pah! The abominable odor of fish still clung. He reached for his pipe +and lighted it, letting the smoke sink into his beard. + +Yet, Mallow was no fool. He would scarcely take such risk for so +unstable and chancely a thing as revenge of this order. Craig? He +hadn't the courage. Strong and muscular as he was, he was the average +type of gambler, courageous only when armed with a pack of cards, +sitting opposite a fool and his money. But, Craig and Mallow together. +. . . He slipped off the label. It was worth preserving. + +With an unpleasant laugh he began to get into his clothes. Why not? +The more he thought of it, the more he was positive that the two had +been behind this assault. The belt would have meant a good deal to +Craig. There were a thousand Chinese in Singapore who would cut a +man's throat for a Straits dollar. Either Mallow or Craig had seen him +counting the money on shipboard. It had been a pastime of his to throw +the belt on the bunk-blanket and play with the gold and notes; like a +child with its Christmas blocks. He had spent hours gloating over the +yellow metal and crackly paper which meant a competence for the rest of +his years. And Craig or Mallow had seen him. + +He looked at his watch; quarter after two. If they were not in their +rooms he would have good grounds for his suspicions. He stole along +the gallery and down the stairs to the office, just in time to see the +two enter, much the worse for drink. Mallow was boisterous, and Craig +was sullen. The former began to argue with the night manager, who +politely shook his head. Mallow grew insistent, but the night manager +refused to break the rules of the hotel. Warrington inferred that +Mallow was demanding liquor, and his inference was correct. He moved a +little closer, still hidden behind the potted palms. + +"All right," cried Mallow. "We'll go back to town for it." + +"I've had enough," declared Craig sullenly. + +"Yah! A little sore, eh? Well, I can't pour it down your throat." + +"Let's cut out booze and play a little hand or two." + +"Fine!" Mallow slapped his thigh as he laughed. "Nice bird I'd be for +you to pluck. Think of something else. You can hit me on the head +when I'm not looking and take my money that way. What do you think I +am, anyhow? The billiard-hall is open." + +Craig shook his head. When Mallow was argumentative it was no time to +play billiards. + +"Bah!" snarled Mallow. "Since you won't drink like a man nor play +billiards, I'm for bed. And just as the fun was beginning!" + +Craig nudged him warningly. Mallow stalked away, and Craig, realizing +that the night was done, followed. + +Warrington had seen and heard enough. He was tolerably sure. It might +have been out of pure deviltry, so far as Mallow was concerned; but +Craig had joined in hope of definite profits. A fine pair of rogues! +Neither of them should be able to draw against the letter. He would +block that game the first thing in the morning. He would simply notify +the local banks and cable to Rangoon. + +He eyed indecisively the stairs and then glanced toward the brilliant +night outside. It would not be possible to sleep in that room again. +So he tiptoed out to the cafe-veranda and dropped into a comfortable +chair. He would hunt them up some time during the day. He would ask +Mallow for fifty pounds, and he sincerely hoped that Mallow would +refuse him. For he was grimly resolved that Mallow should pay for +those half-truths, more damning than bald lies. It was due to Mallow +that he was never more to see or speak to Elsa. He emptied the ash +from his cutty which he stowed away. + +The great heart ache and the greater disillusion would not have fallen +to his lot had Elsa been frank in Rangoon, had she but told him that +she was to sail on the same steamer. He would have put over his +sailing. He would have gone his way, still believing himself to be a +Bayard, a Galahad, or any other of those simple dreamers who put honor +and chivalry above and before all other things. + +Elsa! He covered his face with his hands and remained in that position +for a long while, so long indeed that the coolies, whose business it +was to scrub the tilings every morning at four, went about their work +quietly for fear of disturbing him. + +Elsa had retired almost immediately after dinner. She endeavored to +finish some initial-work on old embroideries, but the needle insisted +upon pausing and losing stitch after stitch. She went to bed and tried +to concentrate her thoughts upon a story, but she could no more follow +a sentence to the end than she could fly. Then she strove to sleep, +but that sweet healer came not to her wooing. Nothing she did could +overcome the realization of the shock she had received. It had left +her dull and bewildered. + +The name echoed and reechoed through her mind: Paul Ellison. It should +have been an illumination; instead, she had been thrust into utter +darkness. Neither Arthur nor his mother had ever spoken of a brother, +and she had known them for nearly ten years. Two men, who might be +twin-brothers, with the same name: it was maddening. What could it +mean? The beautiful white-haired mother, the handsome charming son, +who idolized each other; and this adventurer, this outcast, this +patient, brave and kindly outcast, with his funny parrakeet, what was +he to them and they to him? It must be, it must be! They _were_ +brothers. Nature, full of amazing freaks as she was, had not +perpetrated this one without calling upon a single strain of blood. + +She lay back among her pillows, her eyes leveled at the few stars +beyond her door, opened to admit any cooling breeze. Her head ached. +It was like the computations of astronomers; to a certain extent the +human mind could grasp the distances but could not comprehend them. It +was more than chance. Chance alone had not brought him to the +crumbling ledge. There was a strain of fatalism in Elsa. She was +positive that all these things had been written long before and that +she was to be used as the key. + +Paul Ellison. + +She drew from the past those salient recollections of Arthur and his +mother: first, the day the two had called regarding the purchase of a +house that her father had just put on the market,--a rambling old +colonial affair, her own mother's birth-place. Sixteen: she had not +quite been that, just free from her school-days in Italy. With the +grand air of youth she had betrayed the fact almost instantly, while +waiting for her father to come into the livingroom. + +"Italy!" said Arthur's mother, whom Elsa mentally adopted at once. The +stranger spoke a single phrase, which Elsa answered in excellent if +formal Italian. This led from one question to another. Mrs. Ellison +turned out to be a schoolmate of her mother's, and she, Elsa, had +inherited their very room. What more was needed? + +The Ellisons bought the house and lived quietly within it. Society, +and there was a good deal of it in that small Kentuckian city, society +waited for them to approach and apply for admittance, but waited in +vain. Mrs. Ellison never went anywhere. Her son Arthur was a student +and preferred his books. So eventually society introduced itself. +Persons who ignored it must be interesting. When it became known that +Mrs. Ellison had been the schoolmate of the beautiful and aristocratic +wife of General Chetwood; when the local banker quietly spread the +information that the Ellisons were comfortably supplied with stocks and +bonds of a high order, society concluded that it could do very well +without past history. That could come later. + +When her father died, Elsa became as much at home in the Ellison house +as in her own. But never, never anywhere in the house, was there +indication of the existence of a brother, so like Arthur that under +normal conditions it would have been difficult to tell them apart. +Even when she used to go up to the garret with Mrs. Ellison, to aid her +in rummaging some old trunk, there came to light none of those trifling +knickknacks which any mother would have secretly clung to, no matter to +what depth her flesh and blood had fallen. Never had she seen among +the usual amateur photographs one presenting two boys. Once she had +come across a photograph of a smooth-faced youth who was in the act of +squinting along the top of an engineer's tripod. Arthur had laughingly +taken it away from her, saying that it represented him when he had had +ambitions to build bridges. + +To build bridges. The phrase awoke something in Elsa's mind. Bridges. +She sat up in bed, mentally keen for the first time since dinner. "I +have built bridges in my time over which trains are passing at this +moment. I have fought torrents, and floods, and hurricanes, and +myself." + +He was Paul Ellison, son and brother, and they had blotted him out of +their lives by destroying all physical signs of him. There was +something inhuman in the deliberateness of it, something unforgivable. + +They had made no foolish attempt to live under an assumed name. They +had come from New York to the little valley in order to leave behind +the scene of their disgrace and all those who had known them. And they +had been extremely fortunate. They were all gently born, Elsa's +friends and acquaintances, above ordinary inquisitiveness, and they had +respected the aloofness of the Ellisons. Arthur was an inveterate +traveler. Half the year found him in Europe, painting a little, +writing a little less, frequenting the lesser known villages in France +and Italy. He let it be understood that he abhorred cities. In the +ten years they had appeared at less than a dozen social affairs. +Arthur did not care for horses, for hunting, for sports of any kind. +And yet he was sturdy, clear-eyed, fresh-skinned. He walked always; he +was forever tramping off to the pine-hooded hills, with his +painting-kit over his shoulders and his camp-stool under his arm. +Later, Elsa began to understand that he was a true scholar, not merely +an educated man. He was besides a linguist of amazing facility, a +pianist who invariably preferred as his audience his own two ears. +Arthur would have been a great dramatist or a great poet, if . . . If +what? If what? Ah, that had been the crux of it all, of her doubt, of +her hesitance. If he had fought for prizes coveted by mankind, if he +had thrown aside his dreams and gone into the turmoil, if he had taken +up a man's burden and carried it to success. Elsa, daughter of a man +who had fought in the great arena from his youth to his death, Elsa was +not meant for the wife of a dreamer. + +Paul Ellison. What was his crime in comparison to his expiation of it? +He had built bridges, fought torrents, hurricanes, himself. No, he was +not a scholar; he saw no romance in the multifarious things he had of +necessity put his hand to: these had been daily matter-of-fact +occupations. A strange gladness seemed to loosen the tenseness of her +aching nerves. + +Then, out of the real world about her, came with startling +distinctness, the shriek of a parrot. She would have recognized that +piercing cry anywhere. It was Rajah. In the next room, and she had +not known that Warrington (she would always know him by that name) was +stopping at the same hotel! She listened intently. Presently she +heard muffled sounds: a clatter of metal. A few minutes later came a +softer tinkle, scurry of pattering feet, then silence. + +Elsa ran to the door and stood motionless by the jamb, waiting, +ethereally white in the moonshine. Suddenly upon the gallery pillars +flashed yellow light. She should have gone back to bed, but a thrill +of unknown fear held her. By and by the yellow light went out with +that quickness which tricks the hearing into believing that the +vanishing had been accompanied by sound. She saw Warrington, fully +dressed, issue forth cautiously, glance about, then pass down the +gallery, stepping with the lightness of a cat. + +She returned hastily to her room, threw over her shoulders a kimono, +and went back to the door, hesitating there for a breath or two. She +stepped out upon the gallery. What had roused him at this time of +night? She leaned over the railing and peered down into the roadway +which in daytime was given over to the rickshaw coolies. She heard the +crunch of wheels, a low murmur of voices; beyond this, nothing more. +But as the silence of the night became tense once more, she walked as +far as Warrington's door, and paused there. + +The gallery floor was trellised with moonlight and shadow. She saw +something lying in the center of a patch of light, and she stooped. +The light was too dim for her to read; so she reentered her own room +and turned on the lights. It was Warrington's letter of credit. She +gave a low laugh, perhaps a bit hysterical. There was no doubt of it. +Some one had entered his room. There had been a struggle in which he +had been the stronger, and the thief had dropped his plunder. (As a +matter of fact, the Chinaman, finding himself closed in upon, had +thrown the letter of credit toward the railing, in hope that it would +fall over to the ground below, where, later, he could recover it.) Elsa +pressed it to her heart as another woman might have pressed a rose, and +laughed again. Something of his; something to give her the excuse to +see and to speak to him again. To-morrow she would know; and he would +tell her the truth, even as her heart knew it now. For what other +reason had he turned away from her that first day out of Rangoon, hurt +and broken? Paul Ellison; and she had told him that she was going home +to marry his brother! + + + + +XVII + +THE ANSWERING CABLE + +Next morning, when it became known among the bankers and foreign +agencies that a letter of credit for ten thousand pounds had been lost +or stolen, there was more than a ripple of excitement. They searched +records, but no loss as heavy as this came to light. Add to the +flutter a reward of two hundred pounds for the recovery of the letter, +and one may readily imagine the scrutinizing alertness of the various +clerks and the subsequent embarrassments of peaceful tourists who +wished to draw small sums for current expenses. Even the managing +director of the Bank of Burma came in for his share of annoyance. He +was obliged to send out a dozen cables of notification of the loss, all +of which had to be paid out of accrued dividends. Thus Warrington had +blocked up the avenues. The marvelous rapidity with which such affairs +may be spread broadcast these days is the first wonder in a new epoch +of wonders. From Irkoutsh to Aukland, from St. Johns to Los Angeles, +wherever a newspaper was published, the news flew. Within twenty-four +hours it would be as difficult to draw against that letter as it would +be to transmute baser metals into gold. + +At half past ten Warrington, apparently none the worse for a sleepless +night, entered the private office of the consul-general who, gravely +and with studied politeness, handed to him an unopened cablegram. + +"I rather preferred to let you open it, Mr. Warrington," he said. + +"Still, it might be something of your own," replied Warrington. He +noted the lack of cordiality, but with passive regret. + +"No cablegram would come to me from the department, especially as the +diplomatic-pouch, as we call the mail-bag, arrives Monday. Open it. I +wish you good luck," a little more kindly. + +"May I sit down?" + +"To be sure you may." + +The consul-general recovered his pen and pretended to become absorbed +in the litter of papers on his desk. But in truth he could see nothing +save the young man's face: calm, unmoved, expressing negligent interest +in what should be the most vital thing in his existence, next to life. +If the man hadn't met Elsa, to her interest and to his own alarm, he +would have been as affable as deep in his heart he wanted to be. A +minute passed. It seemed to take a very long time. He tried to resist +the inclination to turn his head, but the drawing of curiosity was +irresistible. What he saw only added to his general mystification. +The slip of paper hung pendulent in Warrington's hand; the other hand +was hidden in his beard, while his eyes seemed to be studying seriously +the medallion in the Kirmanshah. A fine specimen of a man, mused the +consul-general, incredibly wholesome despite his ten years' knocking +about in this ungodly part of the world. It was a pity. They had +evidently refused to compromise. + +"Bad news?" + +Warrington stood up with sudden and surprising animation in his face. +"Read it," he said. + + +"If Ellison will make restitution in person, yes. + +"ANDES." + + +The consul-general jumped to his feet and held out his hand. "I am +glad, very glad. Everything will turn out all right now. If you wish, +I'll tell Miss Chetwood the news." + +"I was going to ask you to do that," responded Warrington. The mention +of Elsa took the brightness out of his face. "Tell her that Parrot & +Co. will always remember her kindness, and ask her to forgive a lonely +chap for having caused her any embarrassment through her goodness to +him. I have decided not to see Miss Chetwood again." + +"You are a strong man, Mr. Warrington." + +"Warrington? My name is Ellison, Paul Warrington Ellison. After all, +I'm so used to Warrington, that I may as well let well enough alone. +There is one more favor; do not tell Miss Chetwood that my name is +Ellison." + +"I should use my own name, if I were you. Why, man, you can return to +the States as if you had departed but yesterday. The world forgets +quickly. People will be asking each other what it was that you did. +Then I shall bid Miss Chetwood good-by for you?" + +"Yes. I am going to jog it home. I want to travel first-class, here, +there, wherever fancy takes me. It's so long since I've known absolute +ease and comfort. I wish to have time to readjust myself to the old +ways. I was once a luxury-loving chap. I sail at dawn for Saigon. I +may knock around in Siam for a few weeks. After that, I don't know +where I'll go. Of course I shall keep the Andes advised of my +whereabouts, from time to time." + +"Another man would be in a hurry." It was on the tip of his tongue to +tell Warrington what he knew of the Andes Construction Company, but +something held back the words, a fear that Warrington might change his +mind about seeing Elsa. + +"Well, wherever you go and whatever you do, good luck go with you." + +"There are good men in this world, sir, and I shall always remember you +as one of them." + +"By the way, that man Mallow; have you met him yet?" + +The quizzical expression in his eyes made Warrington laugh. "No." + +"I was in hopes . . ." The consul-general paused, but Warrington +ignored the invitation to make known his intentions. + +He shunted further inquiry by saying: "A letter of credit of mine was +stolen last night. I had a tussle in the room, and was rather getting +the best of it. The thug slipped suddenly away. Probably hid the +letter in his loin-cloth." + +"That's unfortunate." + +"In a way. Ten thousand pounds." + +"Good lord!" + +"I have sent out a general stop-order. No one will be able to draw +against it. The sum will create suspicion anywhere." + +"Have you any idea who was back of the thief? Is there any way I can +be of service to you?" + +"Yes. I'll make you temporary trustee. I've offered two hundred +pounds for the recovery, and I'll leave that amount with you before I +go." + +"And if the letter turns up?" + +"Send it direct to the Andes people. After a lapse of a few weeks the +Bank of Burma will reissue the letter. It will simmer down to a matter +of inconvenience. The offer of two hundred is honestly made, but only +to learn if my suspicions are correct." + +"Then you suspect some one?" quickly. + +"I really suspect Mallow and a gambler named Craig, but no court would +hold them upon the evidence I have. It's my belief that it's a +practical joke which measures up to the man who perpetrated it. He +must certainly realize that a letter so large will be eagerly watched +for." + +"I shall gladly take charge of the matter here for you. I suppose that +you will eventually meet Mallow?" + +"Eventually suggests a long time," grimly. + +"Ah . . . Is there . . . Do you think there will be any need of a +watch-holder?" + +"I honestly believe you would like to see me have it out with him!" + +"I honestly would. But unfortunately the dignity of my office forbids. +He has gone up and down the Settlements, bragging and domineering and +fighting. I have been given to understand that he has never met his +match." + +"It's a long lane that has no turning. After all," Warrington added, +letting go his reserve; "you're the only friend I have. Why shouldn't +I tell you that immediately I am going out in search of him, and that +when I find him I am going to give him the worst walloping he ever +heard tell of. The Lord didn't give me all this bone and muscle for +the purpose of walking around trouble. Doesn't sound very dignified, +does it? A dock-walloper's idea; eh? Well, among other things, I've +been a dock-walloper, a beach-comber by force of circumstance, not +above settling arguments with fists, or boots, or staves. No false +modesty for me. I confess I've been mauled some, but I've never been +whipped in a man to man fight. It was generally a scrap for the +survival of the fittest. But I am going into this affair . . . Well, +perhaps it wouldn't interest you to know why. There are two sides to +every Waterloo; and I am going to chase Mallow into Paris, so to speak. +Oh, he and I shall take away pleasant recollections of each other. And +who's to care?" with a careless air that deceived the other. + +"I don't believe that Mallow will fight square at a pinch." + +"I shan't give him time to fight otherwise." + +"I ought not to want to see you at it, but, hang it, I do!" + +"Human nature. It's a pleasurable sensation to back up right by might. +Four years ago I vowed that some day I'd meet him on equal terms. +There's a raft of things on the slate, for he has been unspeakable +kinds of a rascal; beating harmless coolies . . . and women. I may not +see you again. If the letter of credit turns up, you know what to do +with it. I'm keen to get started. Good-by, and thank you." + +A hand-clasp, and he was gone. + +"I wish," thought the consul-general, "I could have told him about the +way the scoundrel spoke of Elsa." + +And Warrington, as he sought the cafe-veranda, wished he could have +told the basic truth of his fighting mood: the look Mallow had given +Elsa that day in Penang. Diligently he began the search. Mallow and +Craig were still in their rooms, doubtless sleeping off the debauch of +the preceding night. He saw that he must wait. Luncheon he had in +town. + +At four o'clock his inquiries led him into the billiard-annex. His +throat tightened a little as he discovered the two men engaged in a +game of American billiards. He approached the table quietly. Their +interest in the game was deep, possibly due to the wager laid upon the +result; so they did not observe him. He let Mallow finish his run. +Liquor had no effect upon the man's nerves, evidently, for his eyes and +stroke were excellent. A miscue brought an oath from his lips, and he +banged his cue upon the floor. + +"Rotten luck," said Warrington sympathetically, with the devil's banter +in his voice. + + + + +XVIII + +THE BATTLE + +Mallow spun around, stared for a moment, then grinned evilly. "Here's +our crow at last, Craig." + +"Speaking of birds of ill-repute, the crow passes his admiration to the +kite and the vulture." Warrington spoke coolly. + +"Hey, boy; the _chit_!" called Mallow. + +"No, no," protested Warrington; "by all means finish the game. I've +all the time in the world." + +Mallow looked at Craig, who scowled back. He was beginning to grow +weary at the sight of Warrington, bobbing up here, bobbing up there, +always with a subtle menace. + +"What's the odds?" said Mallow jovially. + +"Only twenty points to go. Your shot." + +Craig chalked his cue and scored a run of five. Mallow ran three, +missed and swore amiably. Craig got the balls into a corner and +finished his string. + +"That'll be five pounds," he said. + +"And fifty quid for me," added Warrington, smiling, though his eyes +were as blue and hard as Artic ice. + +"I'll see you comfortably broiled in hell," replied Mallow, as he +tossed five sovereigns to Craig. "Now, what else is on your mind?" + +Warrington took out the cigar-band and exhibited it. "I found that in +my room last night. You're one of the few, Mallow, who smoke them out +here. He was a husky Chinese, but not husky enough. Makes you turn a +bit yellow; eh, Craig, you white-livered cheat? You almost got my +money-belt, but almost is never quite. The letter of credit is being +reissued. It might have been robbery; it might have been just +deviltry; just for the sport of breaking a man. Anyhow, you didn't +succeed. Suppose we take a little jaunt out to where they're building +the new German Lloyd dock? There'll be no one working at this time of +day. Plenty of shade." + +For a moment the click of the balls on the other tallies was the only +sound. Craig broke the tableau by reaching for his glass of whisky, +which he emptied. He tried to assume a nonchalant air, but his hand +shook as he replaced the glass on the tabouret. It rolled off to the +floor and tinkled into pieces. + +"Nerves a bit rocky, eh?" Warrington laughed sardonically. + +"You're screeching in the wrong jungle, Parrot, old top," said Mallow, +who, as he did not believe in ghosts, was physically nor morally afraid +of anything. "Though, you have my word for it that I'd like to see you +lose every cent of your damned oil fluke." + +"Don't doubt it." + +"But," Mallow went on, "if you're wanting a little argument that +doesn't require pencils or voices, why, you're on. You don't object to +my friend Craig coming along?" + +"On the contrary, he'll make a good witness of what happens." + +"The _chit_, boy!" Mallow paid the reckoning. "Now, then, come on. +Three rickshaws!" he called. + +"Make it two," said Warrington. "I have mine." + +"All fine and dandy!" + +The barren plot of ground back of the dock was deserted. Warrington +jumped from his rickshaw and divested himself of his coat and flung his +hat beside it. Gleefully as a boy Mallow did likewise. Warrington +then bade the coolies to move back to the road. + +"Rounds?" inquired Mallow. + +"You filthy scoundrel, you know very well that there won't be any rules +to this game. Don't you think I know you? You'll have a try at my +knee-pans, if I give you the chance. You'll stick your finger into my +eyes, if I let you get close enough. I doubt if in all your life you +ever fought a man squarely." Warrington rolled up his sleeves and was +pleased to note the dull color of Mallow's face. He wanted to rouse +the brute in the man, then he would have him at his mercy. "I swore +four years ago that I'd make you pay for that night." + +"You scum!" roared Mallow; "you'll never be a whole man when they carry +you away from here." + +"Wait and see." + +On the way to the dock Warrington had mapped out his campaign. Fair +play from either of these men was not to be entertained for a moment. +One was naturally a brute and the other was a coward. They would not +hesitate at any means to defeat him. And he knew what defeat would +mean at their hands: disfigurement, probably. + +"Will you take a shilling for your fifty quid?" jeered Craig. He was +going to enjoy this, for he had not the least doubt as to the outcome. +Mallow was without superior in a rough and tumble fight. + +Warrington did not reply. He walked cautiously toward Mallow. This +maneuver brought Craig within reach. It was not a fair blow, but +Warrington delivered it without the least compunction. It struck Craig +squarely on the jaw. Lightly as a cat Warrington jumped back. Craig's +knees doubled under him and he toppled forward on his face. + +"Now, Mallow, you and I alone, with no one to jump on my back when I'm +looking elsewhere!" + +Mallow, appreciating the trick, swore foully, and rushed. Warrington +jabbed with his left and side-stepped. One thing he must do and that +was to keep Mallow from getting into close quarters. The copra-grower +was more than his match in the knowledge of those Oriental devices that +usually cripple a man for life. He must wear him down scientifically; +he must depend upon his ring-generalship. In his youth Warrington had +been a skilful boxer. He could now back this skill with rugged health +and a blow that had a hundred and eighty pounds behind it. + +From ordinary rage, Mallow fell into a frenzy; and frenzy never won a +ring-battle. Time after time he endeavored to grapple, but always that +left stopped him. Warrington played for his face, and to each jab he +added a taunt. "That for the little Cingalese!" "Count that one for +Wheedon's broken knees!" "And wouldn't San admire that? Remember her? +The little Japanese girl whose thumbs you broke?" "Here's one for me!" +It was not dignified; but Warrington stubbornly refused to look back +upon this day either with shame or regret. Jab-jab, cut and slash! +went the left. There was no more mercy in the mind back of it than +might be found in the sleek felines who stalked the jungles north. +Doggedly Mallow fought on, hoping for his chance. He tried every trick +he knew, but he could only get so near. The ring was as wide as the +world; there were no corners to make grappling a possibility. + +Some of his desperate blows got through. The bezel of his ring laid +open Warrington's forehead. He was brave enough; but he began to +realize that this was not the same man he had turned out into the +night, four years ago. And the pain and ignominy he had forced upon +others was now being returned to him. Warrington would have prolonged +the battle had he not seen Craig getting dizzily to his feet. It was +time to end it. He feinted swiftly. Mallow, expecting a body-blow, +dropped his guard. Warrington, as he struck, felt the bones in his +hand crack. Mallow went over upon his back, fairly lifted off his +feet. He was tough; an ordinary man would have died. + +[Illustration: The Battle.] + +"I believe that squares accounts," said Warrington, speaking to Craig. +"If you hear of me in America, in Europe, anywhere, keep away from the +places I'm likely to go. Tell him," with an indifferent jerk of his +head toward the insensible Mallow, "tell him that I give him that fifty +pounds with the greatest good pleasure. Sorry I can't wait." + +He trotted back to his rickshaw, wiped the blood from his face, put on +his hat and coat, and ordered the respectful coolie to hurry back to +town. He never saw Mallow or Craig again. The battle itself became a +hazy incident. In life affairs of this order generally have abrupt +endings. + + +And all that day Elsa had been waiting patiently to hear sounds of him +in the next room. Never could she recall such long weary hours. Time +and again she changed a piece of ribbon, a bit of lace, and twice she +changed her dress, all for the purpose of making the hours pass more +quickly. She had gone down to luncheon, but Warrington had not come +in. After luncheon she had sent out for half a dozen magazines. +Beyond the illustrations she never knew what they contained. Over and +over she conned the set phrases she was going to say when finally he +came. Whenever Martha approached, Elsa told her that she wanted +nothing, that she was head-achy, and wanted to be left alone. +Discreetly Martha vanished. + +To prevent the possibility of missing Warrington, Elsa had engaged the +room boy to loiter about down-stairs and to report to her the moment +Warrington arrived. The boy came pattering up at a quarter to six. + +"He come. He downside. I go, he come top-side?" + +"No. That will be all." + +The boy kotowed, and Elsa gave him a sovereign. + +The following ten minutes tested her patience to the utmost. Presently +she heard the banging of a trunk-lid. He was there. And now that he +was there, she, who had always taken pride in her lack of feminine +nerves, found herself in the grip of a panic that verged on hysteria. +Her heart fluttered and missed a beat. It had been so easy to plan! +She was afraid. Perhaps the tension of waiting all these hours was the +cause. With an angry gesture she strove to dismiss the feeling of +trepidation by walking resolutely to her door. Outside she stopped. + +What was she going to say to him? The trembling that struck at her +knees was wholly a new sensation. Presently the tremor died away, but +it left her weak. She stepped toward his door and knocked gently on +the jamb. No one answered. She knocked again, louder. + +"Come in!" + +"It wouldn't be proper," she replied, with a flash of her old-time +self. "Won't you please come out?" + +She heard something click as it struck the floor. (It was Warrington's +cutty which he had carried for seven years, now in smithereens.) She +saw a hand, raw knuckled and bleeding slightly, catch at the curtain +and swing it back rattling upon its rings. + +"Miss Chetwood?" he said. + +"Yes . . . Oh, you've been hurt!" she exclaimed, noting the gash upon +his forehead. A strip of tissue-paper (in lieu of court-plaster) lay +soaking upon the wound: a trick learned in the old days when razors +grew dull over night. + +"Hurt? Oh, I ran against something when I wasn't looking," he +explained lamely. Then he added eagerly: "I did not know that you were +on this gallery. First time I've put up at a hotel in years." It did +not serve. + +"You have been fighting! Your hand!" + +He looked at the hand dumbly. How keen her eyes were. + +"I know!" + +"You do?" inanely. + +"Was it . . . Mallow?" + +"Yes." + +"Did you . . . whip him?" + +"I . . . did," imitating her tone and hesitance. It was the wisest +thing he could have done, for it relaxed the nerves of both of them. + +Elsa smiled, smiled and forgot the substance of all her rehearsals, +forgot the letter of credit, warm with the heat of her heart. "I am a +pagan," she confessed. + +"And I am a barbarian. I ought to be horribly ashamed of myself." + +"But you are not?" + +For a moment their eyes drew. Hers were like dark whirlpools, and he +felt himself drifting helplessly, irresistibly. He dropped his hands +upon the railing and gripped; the illusion of fighting a current was +almost real to him. Every fiber in his body cried out against the +struggle. + +"No, not in the least," he said, looking toward the sunset. "Fighting +is riff-raff business, and I'm only a riff-raffer at best." + +"Rather, aren't you Paul Ellison, brother, twin brother, of the man I +said I was going home to marry?" + +How far away her voice seemed! The throb in his forehead and the dull +ache over his heart, where some of the sledge-hammer blows had gone +home, he no longer felt. + +"Don't deny it. It would be useless. Knowing your brother as I do, +who could doubt it?" + +He remained dumb. + +"I couldn't understand, just simply couldn't. They never told me; in +all the years I have known them, in all the years I have partly made +their home my own, there was nothing. Not a trinket. Once I saw a +camera-picture. I know now why Arthur snatched it from my hand. It +was you. You were bending over an engineer's tripod. Even now I +should have doubted had I not recalled what you said one day on board, +that you had built bridges. Arthur couldn't build anything stronger +than an artist's easel. You are Paul Ellison." + +"I am sorry you found out." + +"Why?" + +"Because I wanted to be no more than an incident in your life, just +Parrot & Co." + +"Parrot & Co.!" + +It was like a caress; but he was too dull to sense it, and she was +unconscious of the inflection. The burning sunshine gave to his hair +and beard the glistening of ruddy gold. Her imagination, full of +unsuspected poetry at this moment, clothed him in the metals of a +viking. There were other whirlpools beside those in her eyes, but Elsa +did not sense the drifting as he had done. It was insidious. + +"An incident," she repeated. + +"Could I be more?" with sudden fierceness. "Could I be more in any +woman's life? I take myself for what I am, but the world will always +take me for what I have done. Yes, I am Paul Ellison, forgotten, I +hope, by all those who knew me. Why did you seek me that night? Why +did you come into my life to make bitterness become despair? The +blackest kind of despair? Elsa Chetwood, Elsa! . . . Well, the consul +is right. I _am_ a strong man. I can go out of your life, at least +physically. I can say that I love you, and I can add to that good-by!" + +He wheeled abruptly and went quickly down the gallery, bareheaded, +without any destination in his mind, with only one thought, to leave +her before he lost the last shreds of his self-control. + +It was then that Elsa knew her heart. She had spoken truly. She was a +pagan: for, had he turned and held out his hands, she would have gone +to him, gone with him, anywhere in the world, lawfully or unlawfully. + + + + +XIX + +TWO LETTERS + +Elsa sang. She flew to her mirror. The face was hers and yet not +hers. Always her mirror had told her that she was beautiful; but up to +this moment her emotion had recorded nothing stronger than placid +content. Now a supreme gladness filled and tingled her because her +beauty was indisputable. When Martha came to help her dress for +dinner, she still sang. It was a wordless song, a melody that every +human heart contains and which finds expression but once. Elsa loved. + +Doubt, that arch-enemy of love and faith and hope, doubt had spread its +dark pinions and flown away into yesterdays. She felt the zest and +exhilaration of a bird just given its freedom. Once she slipped from +Martha's cunning hands and ran out upon the gallery. + +"Elsa, your waist!" + +Elsa laughed and held out her bare arms to the faded sky where, but a +little while since, the sun had burned a pathway down the world. All +in an hour, one small trifling space of time, this wonderful, magical +thing had happened. He loved her. There had been hunger for her in +his voice, in his blue eyes. Presently she was going to make him feel +very sorry that he had not taken her in his arms, then and there. + +"Oh, beautiful world!" + +"Elsa, what in mercy's name possesses you?" + +"I am mad, Martha, mad as a March hare, whatever that is!" She loved. + +"People will think so, if they happen to come along and see that waist. +Please come instantly and let me finish hooking it. You act like you +did when you were ten. You never would stand still." + +"Yes, and I remember how you used to yank my pig-tails. I haven't +really forgiven you yet." + +"I believe it's going home that's the matter with you. Well, I for one +shall be glad to leave this horrid country. Chinamen everywhere, in +your room, at your table, under your feet. And in the streets, +Chinamen and Malays and Hindus, and I don't know what other outlandish +races and tribes. . . . Why, what's this?" cried Martha, bending to +the floor. + +Elsa ran back to the room. She gave a little gasp when she saw what it +was that Martha was holding out for her inspection. It was +Warrington's letter of credit. She had totally forgotten its +existence. Across the face of the thick Manila envelope (more or less +covered with numerals that had been scribbled there by Warrington in an +attempt to compute the interest at six per cent.) which contained the +letters of credit and identification was written in a clerical hand the +owner's name. Martha could not help seeing it. Elsa explained frankly +what it was and how it had come into her possession. Martha was +horrified. + +"Elsa, they might have entered your room; and your jewels lying about +everywhere! How could you be so careless?" + +"But they didn't. I'll return this to Mr. Warrington in the morning; +perhaps to-night, if I see him at dinner." + +"He was in the next room, and we never knew it!" The final hook +snapped into place. "Well, Wednesday our boat leaves;" as if this put +a period to all further discussion anent Mr. Parrot & Co. Nothing very +serious could happen between that time and now. + +"Wednesday night." Elsa began to sing again, but not so joyously. The +petty things of every-day life were lifting their heads once more, and +of necessity she must recognize them. + +She sat at the consul-general's table, informally. There was gay +inconsequential chatter, an exchange of recollections and comparisons +of cities and countries they had visited at separate times; but neither +she nor he mentioned the chief subject of their thoughts. She +refrained because of a strange yet natural shyness of a woman who has +found herself; and he, because from his angle of vision it was best +that Warrington should pass out of her life as suddenly and +mysteriously as he had entered it. Had he spoken frankly he would have +saved Elsa many a bitter heartache, many a weary day. + +Warrington was absent, and so were his enemies. If there was any truth +in reincarnation, Elsa was confident that in the splendid days of Rome +she had beaten her pink palms in applause of the gladiators. Pagan; +she was all of that; for she knew that she could have looked upon +Mallow's face with more than ordinary interest. Never more would her +cheeks burn at the recollection of the man's look. + +She was twenty-five; she had waited longer than most women; the mistake +of haste would never be hers. Nor did she close her eyes to the +future. She knew exactly what the world was, and how it would act. +She was not making any sacrifices. She was not one of those women, +lightly balanced, who must have excitement in order to exist; she +depended upon herself for her amusements. With the man she loved she +would have shared a hut in the wilderness and been happy. One of the +things that had drawn her to Arthur had been his quiet love of the +open, his interest in flowers and forests and streams. Society, that +division of classes, she had accepted, but to it she had never bowed +down. How very well she could do without it! She would go with him +and help him build his bridges, help him to fight torrents and +hurricanes, and to forget. That he had bidden her farewell was +nothing. She would seek him. In her pursuit of happiness she was not +going to permit false modesty to intervene. In her room, later, she +wrote two letters. The one to Arthur covered several pages; the other +consisted of a single line. She went down to the office, mailed +Arthur's letter and left the note in Warrington's key-box. It was not +an intentionally cruel letter she had written to the man in America; +but if she had striven toward that effect she could not have achieved +it more successfully. She cried out against the way he had treated his +brother, the false pride that had hidden all knowledge of him from her. +Where were the charity and mercy of which he had so often preached? +Pages of burning reproaches which seared the soul of the man who read +them. She did not confide the state of her heart. It was not +necessary. The arraignment of the one and the defense of the other +were sufficiently illuminating. + +Soundly the happy sleep. She did not hear the removal of Warrington's +luggage at midnight, for it was stealthily done. Neither did she hear +the fretful mutter of the bird as his master disturbed his slumbers. +Nothing warned her that he intended to spend the night on board; that, +having paid his bill early in the evening, her note might have lain in +the key-box until the crack of doom, so far as he was likely to know of +its existence. No angel of pity whispered to her, Awake! No +dream-magic people tell about drew for her the picture of the man she +loved, pacing up and down the cramped deck of the packet-boat, fighting +a battle compared to which that of the afternoon was play. Elsa slept +on, dreamless. + +When she awoke in the morning she ran to the mirror: all this fresh +beauty she was going to give to him, without condition, without +reservation, absolutely: as Aspasia might have rendered her charms to +Pericles. She dressed quickly, singing lowly. Fate makes us the +happiest when she is about to crush us. + +Usually she had her breakfast served in the room, but this morning she +was determined to go downstairs. She was excited; she brimmed with +exuberance; she wanted Romance to begin at once. + +"Good-morning," she greeted the consul-general, who was breakfasting +alone. + +"Well, you're an early bird!" he replied. "Elsa, you are certainly +beautiful." + +"Honestly?" with real eagerness. + +"Honestly. And how you have gone all these years without marrying a +grand duke, is something I can't figure out." + +"Perhaps I have been waiting for the man. There was no real hurry." + +"Lucky chap, when you find him. By the way, our romantic Parrot & Co. +have gone." + +"Gone?" Elsa stared at him. + +"Yes. Sailed for Saigon at dawn." + +"Saigon," she repeated. + +"And I am rather glad to see him go. I was afraid he might interest +you too much. You'll deny it, but you'll never outgrow the fairy-story +age." + +"Saigon." + +"Good heavens, Elsa, what is the matter?" + +"No, no! Don't touch me. I'm not the fainting kind. Did you know +last night that he was going?" + +"Yes." + +"I shall never forgive you." + +"Why, Elsa . . ." + +"Never, never! You knew and did not tell me. Do you know who Paul +Ellison is? He is the brother of the man at home. You knew he was +stealing away and did not tell me." + +She could not have made the truth any plainer to him. He sat back in +his chair, stunned, voiceless. + +"I am going to my room," she said. "Do not follow. Please act as if +nothing had happened." + +He saw her walk bravely the length of the dining-room, out into the +office. What a misfortune! Argument was out of the question. Elsa +was not a child, to be reasoned with. She was a woman, and she had +come to a woman's understanding of her heart. To place before her the +true angles of the case, the heartless banishment from the world she +knew, the regret which would be hers later, no matter how much she +loved the man . . . He pushed back his chair, leaving his coffee +untasted. + +He possessed the deep understanding of the kindly heart, and his one +thought was Elsa's future happiness. As men go, Warrington was an +honorable man; honorable enough to run away rather than risk the danger +of staying where Elsa was. He was no longer an outlaw; he could go and +come as he would. But there was that misstep, not printed in shifting +sand but upon the granite of recollection. Single, he could go back to +his world and pick up the threads again, but not with a wife at his +side. Oh, yes; they would be happy at first. Then Elsa would begin to +miss the things she had so gloriously thrown away. The rift in the +lute; the canker in the rose. They were equally well-born, well-bred; +politeness would usurp affection's hold. Could he save her from the +day when she would learn Romance had come from within? No. All he +could do was to help her find the man. + +He sent five cablegrams to Saigon, to the consulate, to the principal +hotels: the most difficult composition he had ever attacked. But +because he had forgotten to send the sixth to meet the packet-boat, +against the possibility of Warrington changing his mind and not +landing, his labor was thrown to the winds. + +Meantime Elsa stopped at the office-desk. "I left a note for Mr. +Warrington who has gone to Saigon. I see it in his key-box. Will you +please return it to me?" + +The clerk did not hesitate an instant. He gravely returned the note to +her, marveling at her paleness. Elsa crushed the note in her hand and +moved toward the stairs, wondering if she could reach her room before +she broke down utterly. He had gone. He had gone without knowing that +all he wanted in life was his for the taking. In her room she opened +the note and through blurred vision read what she had so happily +inscribed the night before. "Paul--I love you. Come to me. Elsa." +She had written it, unashamed. + +She flung herself upon the bed, and there Martha found her. + +"Elsa, child, what is it?" Martha cried, kneeling beside the bed. +"Child, what has happened?" + +Elsa sat up, seized Martha by the shoulders and stared into the +faithful eyes. + +"Do you want to know?" + +"Elsa!" + +"Well, I love this man Warrington and he loves me. But he has gone. +Can't you see? Don't you understand? Have you been as blind as I? He +is Paul Ellison, Arthur's brother, his twin brother. And they +obliterated him. It is Arthur who is the ghost, Martha, the phantom. +Ah, I have caused you a good deal of worry, and I am going to cause you +yet more. I am going to Saigon; up and down the world, east and west, +until I find him. Shall I go alone, or will you go with me?" + +Then Martha did what ever after endeared her to the heart of the +stricken girl: she mothered her. "Elsa, my baby! Of course I shall go +with you, always. For you could not love any man if he was not worthy." + +Then followed the strangest quest doubtless ever made by a woman. From +Singapore to Saigon, up to Bangkok, down to Singapore again; to +Batavia, over to Hongkong, Shanghai, Pekin, Manila, Hongkong again, +then Yokohama. Patient and hopeful, Elsa followed the bewildering +trail. She left behind her many puzzled hotel managers and booking +agents: for it was not usual for a beautiful young woman to go about +the world, inquiring for a blond man with a parrot. Sometimes she was +only a day late. Many cablegrams she sent, but upon her arrival in +each port she found that these had not been called for. Over these +heart-breaking disappointments she uttered no complaint. The world was +big and wide; be it never so big and wide, Elsa knew that some day she +would find him. + +In the daytime there was the quest; but, ah! the nights, the +interminable hours of inaction, the spaces of time in which she could +only lie back and think. Up and down the coasts, across islands, over +seas, the journey took her, until one day in July she found herself +upon the pillared veranda of the house in which her mother had been +born. + + + + +XX + +THE TWO BROTHERS + +From port to port, sometimes not stepping off the boat at all, moody, +restless and irritable, Warrington wended his way home. There was +nothing surprising in the fact that he never inquired for mail. Who +was there to write? Besides, he sought only the obscure hotels, where +he was not likely to meet any of his erstwhile fellow passengers. The +mockery and uselessness of his home-going became more and more apparent +as the days slipped by. Often he longed to fly back to the jungles, to +James, and leave matters as they were. Here and there, along the way, +he had tried a bit of luxury; but the years of economy and frugality +had robbed him of the ability to enjoy it. He was going home . . . to +what? Surely there would be no welcome for him at his journey's end. +He would return after the manner of prodigals in general, not +scriptural, to find that he was not wanted. Of his own free will he +had gone out of their lives. + +He fought grimly against the thought of Elsa; but he was not strong +enough to vanquish the longings from his heart and mind. Always when +alone she was in fancy with him, now smiling amusedly into his face, +now peering down at the phosphorescence seething alongside, now +standing with her chin up-lifted, her eyes half shut, letting the +strong winds strike full in her face. Many a "good night" he sent over +the seas. An incident; that would be all. + +His first day in New York left him with nothing more than a feeling of +foreboding and oppression. The expected exhilaration of returning to +the city of his birth did not materialize. So used to open spaces was +he, to distances and the circle of horizons, that he knew he no longer +belonged to the city with its Himalayan gorges and cañons, whose +torrents were human beings and whose glaciers were the hearts of these. +A great loneliness bore down on him. For months he had been drawing +familiar pictures, and to find none of these was like coming home to an +empty house. The old life was indeed gone; there were no threads to +resume. A hotel stood where his club had been; the house in which he +had spent his youth was no more. He wanted to leave the city; and the +desire was with difficulty overcome. + +Early the second morning he started down-town to the offices of the +Andes Construction Company. He was extraordinarily nervous. Cold +sweat continually moistened his palms. Change, change, everywhere +change; Trinity was like an old friend. When the taxicab driver threw +off the power and indicated with a jerk of his head a granite shaft +that soared up into the blue, Warrington asked: + +"What place is this?" + +"The Andes Building, sir. The construction company occupies the top +floor." + +"Very good," replied Warrington, paying and discharging the man. + +From a reliquary of the Dutch, an affair of red-brick, four stories +high, this monolith had sprung. With a sigh Warrington entered the +cavernous door-way and stepped into an "express-elevator." When the +car arrived at the twenty-second story, Warrington was alone. He +paused before the door of the vice-president. He recalled the "old +man," thin-lipped, blue-eyed, eruptive. It was all very strange, this +request to make the restitution in person. Well he would soon learn +why. + +He drew the certified check from his wallet and scrutinized it +carefully. Twelve thousand, eight hundred dollars. He replaced it, +opened the door, and walked in. A boy met him at the railing and +briskly inquired his business. + +"I wish to see Mr. Elmore." + +"Your card." + +Card? Warrington had not possessed such a thing in years. "I have no +cards with me. But I have an appointment with Mr. Elmore. Tell him +that Mr. Ellison is here." + +The boy returned promptly and signified that Mr. Elmore was at liberty. +But it was not the "old man" who looked up from a busy man's desk. It +was the son: so far, the one familiar face Warrington had seen since +his arrival. There was no hand-shaking; there was nothing in evidence +on either side to invite it. + +"Ah! Sit down, Paul. Let no one disturb me for an hour," the young +vice-president advised the boy. "And close the door as you go out." + +Warrington sat down; the bridge-builder whirled his chair around and +stared at his visitor, not insolently, but with kindly curiosity. + +"You've filled out," was all he said. After fully satisfying his eyes, +he added: "I dare say you expected to find father. He's been gone six +years," indicating one of the two portraits over his desk. + +It was not at the "old man" Warrington looked longest. "Who is the +other?" he asked. + +"What? You worked four years with this company and don't recollect +that portrait?" + +"Frankly, I never noticed it before." Warrington placed the certified +check on the desk. "With interest," he said. + +The vice-president crackled it, ran his fingers over his smooth chin, +folded the check and extended it toward the astonished wanderer. + +"We don't want that, Paul. What we wanted was to get you back. There +was no other way. Your brother made up the loss the day after +you . . . went away. There was no scandal. Only a few of us in the +office knew. Never got to the newspapers." + +It was impossible for Warrington to digest this astounding information +at once. His mind could only repeat the phrases: no scandal, only a +few of us in the office knew, never got to the newspapers. For ten +years he had hidden himself in wildernesses, avoided hotels, read no +American newspapers, never called for mail. Oh, monumental fool! + +"And I could have come home almost at once!" he said aloud, addressing +the crumpled check in his hand rather than the man in the swivel-chair. + +"Yes. I have often wondered where you were, what you were doing. You +and your brother were upper-classmen. I never knew Arthur very well; +but you and I were chummy, after a fashion. Arthur was a little too +bookish for my style. Didn't we use to call you Old Galahad? You were +always walloping the bullies and taking the weaker chaps under your +wing. To me, you were the last man in the world for this business. +Moreover, I never could understand, nor could father, how you got it, +for you were not an office-man. Women and cards, I suppose. Father +said that you had the making of a great engineer. Fierce place, this +old town," waving his hand toward the myriad sparkling roofs and towers +and spires. "Have to be strong and hard-headed to survive it. Built +anything since you've been away?" + +"In Cashmir." To have thrown away a decade! + +"Glad you kept your hand in. I dare say you've seen a lot of life." To +the younger man it was an extremely awkward interview. + +"Yes; I've seen life," dully. + +"Orient, mostly, I suppose. Your letter about the strike in oil was +mighty interesting. Heap of money over there, if they'd only let us +smart chaps in to dig it up. Now, old man, I want you to wipe the +slate clear of these ten years. We'll call it a bad dream. What are +your plans for the future?" + +"Plans?" Warrington looked up blankly. He realized that he had made +no plans for the future. + +"Yes. What do you intend to do? A man like you wasn't made for +idleness. Look here, Paul; I'm not going to beat about the bush. +We've got a whopping big contract from the Chinese government, and we +need a man to take charge, a man who knows and understands something of +the yellow people. How about a salary of ten thousand a year for two +years, to begin in October?" + +Warrington twisted the check. Work, rehabilitation. + +"Could you trust me?" he asked quietly. + +"With anything I have in the world. Understand, Paul, there's no +philanthropic string to this offer. You've pulled through a devil of a +hole. You're a man. I should not be holding down this chair if I +couldn't tell a man at a glance. We were together two months in Peru. +I'm familiar with your work. Do you want to know whose portrait that +is up there? Well, it's General Chetwood's, the founder of this +concern, the silent partner. The man who knew kings and potentates and +told 'em that they needed bridges in their backyards. This building +belongs to his daughter. She converted her stock into granite. About +a month ago I received a letter from her. It directly concerned you. +It seems she learned through the consul-general at Singapore that you +had worked with us. She's like her father, a mighty keen judge of +human nature. Frankly, this offer comes through her advices. To +satisfy yourself, you can give us a surety-bond for fifty thousand. +It's not obligatory, however." + +Elsa Chetwood. She had her father's eyes, and it was this which had +drawn his gaze to the portrait. Chetwood; and Arthur had not known any +more than he had. What irony! Ten years wasted . . . for nothing! +Warrington laughed aloud. A weakness seized him, like that of a man +long gone hungry. + +"Buck up, Paul," warned the good Samaritan. "All this kind of knocks +the wind out of you. I know. But what I've offered you is in good +faith. Will you take it?" + +"Yes," simply. + +"That's the way to talk. Supposing you go out to lunch with me? We'll +talk it over like old times." + +"No. I haven't seen . . ." + +"To be sure! I forgot. Do you know where they live, your mother and +brother?" + +"No. I expected to ask you." + +The vice-president scribbled down the address. "I believe you'll find +them both there, though Arthur, I understand, is almost as great a +traveler as you are. Of course you want to see them, you poor beggar! +The Southwestern will pull you almost up to the door. After the +reunion, you hike back here, and we'll get down to the meat of the +business." + +"John," said Warrington, huskily, "you're a man." + +"Oh, piffle! It's not all John. The old man left word that if you +ever turned up again to hang on to you. You were valuable. And +there's Miss Chetwood. If you want to thank anybody, thank her." +Warrington missed the searching glance, which was not without its touch +of envy. "You'd better be off. Hustle back as soon as you can." +Elmore offered his hand now. "Gad! but you haven't lost any of your +old grip." + +"I'm a bit dazed. The last six months have loosened up my nerves." + +"Nobody's made of iron." + +"I'd sound hollow if I tried to say what I feel. I'll be back a week +from to-day." + +"I'll look for you." + +As the door closed behind Warrington, the young millionaire sat down, +scowling at a cubby-hole in his desk. He presently took out a letter +postmarked Yokohama. He turned it about in his hands, musingly. +Without reading it (for he knew its contents well!) he thrust it back +into the cubby-hole. Women were out of his sphere. He could build a +bridge within a dollar of the bid; but he knew nothing about women +beyond the fact that they were always desirable. + +A few monosyllables, a sentence or two, and then, good day. The +average man would have recounted every incident of note during those +ten years. He did not admire Warrington any the less for his +reticence. It took a strong man to hold himself together under all +these blows from the big end of fortune's horn. + +He had known the two brothers at college, and to Paul he had given a +freshman's worship. In the field Paul had been the idol, and popular +not only for his feats of strength but for his lovableness. He +recalled the affection between the two boys. Arthur admired Paul for +his strength, Paul admired and gloried in his brother's learning. +Never would he forget that commencement-day, when the two boys in their +mortar-boards, their beautiful mother between them, arm in arm, walked +across the green of the campus. It was an unforgettable picture. + +Paul was a born-engineer; Arthur had entered the office as a +make-shift. Paul had taken eight-thousand one day, and decamped. +Arthur had refunded the sum, and disappeared. Elmore could not +understand, nor could his father. Perhaps some of the truth would now +come to light. Somehow, Paul, with his blond beard and blonder head, +his bright eyes, his tan, his big shoulders, somehow Paul was out of +date. He did not belong to the times. + +And Elsa had met him over there; practically ordered (though she had no +authority) that he should be given a start anew; that, moreover, she +would go his bond to any amount. Funny old world! Well, he was glad. +Paul was a man, a big man, and that was the sort needed in the foreign +bridge-building. He rolled down the top of his desk and left the +building. He was in no mood for work. + +The evening of the third day found Warrington in the baggage-car, +feeding a dilapidated feather-molting bird, who was in a most +scandalous temper. Rajah scattered the seeds about, spurned the +banana-tip, tilted the water-cup and swashbuckled generally. By and +by, above the clack-clack of wheels and rails, came a crooning song. +The baggage-man looked up from his way-book and lowered his pipe. He +saw the little green bird pause and begin to keep time with its head. +It was the Urdu lullaby James used to sing. It never failed to quiet +the little parrot. Warrington went back to his Pullman, where the +porter greeted him with the information that the next stop would be +his. Ten minutes later he stepped from the train, a small kit-bag in +one hand and the parrot-cage in the other. + +He had come prepared for mistake on the part of the natives. The +single smart cabman lifted his hat, jumped down from the box, and +opened the door. Warrington entered without speaking. The door +closed, and the coupé rolled away briskly. He was perfectly sure of +his destination. The cabman had mistaken him for Arthur. It would be +better so. There would be no after complications when he departed on +the morrow. As the coupé took a turn, he looked out of the window. +They were entering a driveway, lined on each side of which were +chestnuts. Indeed, the house was set in the center of a grove of these +splendid trees. The coupé stopped. + +"Wait," said Warrington, alighting. + +"Yes, sir." + +Warrington went up the broad veranda steps and pulled the old-fashioned +bell-cord. He was rather amazed at his utter lack of agitation. He +was as calm as if he were making a call upon a casual acquaintance. +His mother and brother, whom he had not seen in ten years! The great +oak-door drew in, and he entered unceremoniously. + +"Why, Marse A'thuh, I di'n't see yo' go out!" exclaimed the old negro +servant. + +"I am not Arthur; I am his brother Paul. Which door?" + +Pop-eyed, the old negro pointed to a door down the hall. Then he +leaned against the banister and caught desperately at the spindles. +For the voice was not Arthur's. + +Warrington opened the door, closed it gently and stood with his back to +it. At a desk in the middle of the room sat a man, busy with books. +He raised his head. + +"Arthur, don't you know me?" + +"Paul?" + +The chair overturned; some books thudded dully upon the rug. Arthur +leaned with his hands tense upon the desk. Paul sustained the look, +his eyes sad and his face pale and grave. + + + + +XXI + +HE THAT WAS DEAD + +"Yes, it is I, the unlucky penny; Old Galahad, in flesh and blood and +bone. I shouldn't get white over it, Arthur. It isn't worth while. I +can see that you haven't changed much, unless it is that your hair is a +little paler at the temples. Gray? I'll wager I've a few myself." +There was a flippancy in his tone that astonished Warrington's own +ears, for certainly this light mockery did not come from within. At +heart he was sober enough. + +To steady the thundering beat of his pulse he crossed the room, righted +the chair, stacked the books and laid them on the desk. Arthur did not +move save to turn his head and to follow with fascinated gaze his +brother's movements. + +"Now, Arthur, I've only a little while. I can see by your eyes that +you are conjuring up all sorts of terrible things. But nothing is +going to happen. I am going to talk to you; then I'm going away; and +to-morrow it will be easy to convince yourself that you have seen only +a ghost. Sit down. I'll take this chair at the left." + +Arthur's hands slid from the desk; in a kind of collapse he sat down. +Suddenly he laid his head upon his arms, and a great sigh sent its +tremor across his shoulders. Warrington felt his heart swell. The +past faded away; his wrongs became vapors. He saw only his brother, +the boy he had loved so devotedly, Arty, his other self, his scholarly +other self. Why blame Arthur? He, Paul, was the fool. + +"Don't take it like that, Arty," he said. + +The other's hand stretched out blindly toward the voice. "Ah, great +God, Paul!" + +"I know! Perhaps I've brooded too much." Warrington crushed the hand +in his two strong ones. "The main fault was mine. I couldn't see the +length of my nose. I threw a temptation in your way which none but a +demi-god could have resisted. That night, when I got your note telling +me what you had done, I did a damnably foolish thing. I went to the +club-bar and drank heavily. I was wild to help you, but I couldn't see +how. At two in the morning I thought I saw the way. Drunken men get +strange ideas into their heads. You were the apple of the mother's +eyes; I was only her son. No use denying it. She worshiped you; +tolerated me. I came back to the house, packed up what I absolutely +needed, and took the first train west. It all depended upon what you'd +do. You let me go, Arty, old boy. I suppose you were pretty well +knocked up, when you learned what I had done. And then you let things +drift. It was only natural. I had opened the way for you. Mother, +learning that I was a thief, restored the defalcation to save the +family honor, which was your future. We were always more or less +hard-pressed for funds. I did not gamble, but I wasted a lot. The +mother gave us an allowance of five thousand each. To this I managed +to add another five and you another four. You were always borrowing +from me. I never questioned what you did with it. I would to God I +had! It would have saved us a lot of trouble." + +The hand in his relaxed and slipped from the clasp. + +"Some of these things will sound bitter, but the heart behind them +isn't. So I did what I thought to be a great and glorious thing. I +was sober when I reached Chicago. I saw my deed from another angle. +Think of it; we could have given our joint note to mother's bank for +the amount. Old Henderson would have discounted it in a second. It +was too late. I went on. The few hundreds I had gave out. I've been +up against it pretty hard. There were times when I envied the +pariah-dog. But fortune came around one day, knocked, and I let her +in. I returned to make a restitution, only to learn that it had been +made by you, long ago. A trick of young Elmore's. I shouldn't have +come back if I could have sent the money." + +Arthur raised his head and sat up. "Ah, why did you not write? Why +did you not let me know where you were? God is my witness, if there is +a corner of this world unsearched for you. For two years I had a man +hunting. He gave up. I believed you dead." + +"Dead? Well, I was in a sense." + +"You have suffered, but not as I have. Always you had before you your +great, splendid, foolish sacrifice. I had nothing to buoy me up; there +was only the drag of the recollection of an evil deed, and a moment of +pitiful weakness. The temptation was too great, Paul." + +"How did it happen?" + +"How does anything like that happen? Curiosity drew me first, for at +college I never played but a few games of bridge. Curiosity, desire, +then the full blaze of the passion. You will never know what that is, +Paul. It is stronger than love, or faith, or honor. God knows I never +thought myself weak; at school I was the least impetuous of the two. +Everything went, and they cheated me from the start. Roulette and +faro. Then I put my hand in the safe. To this day I can not tell why. +I owed nothing to those despicable thieves, Craig least of all." + +"Craig. I met him over there. Pummeled him." + +"I didn't act like a man. Some day a comfortable fortune would fall to +the lot of each of us. But I took eight thousand, lost it, and came +whining to you. You don't belong to this petty age, Paul. You ought +to have been a fellow of the Round Table." Arthur smiled wanly. "To +throw your life away like that, for a brother who wasn't fit to lace +your shoes! If you had written you would have learned that everything +was smoothed over. The Andes people dropped the matter entirely. You +loved the mother far better than I." + +"And she must never know," quietly. + +"Do you mean that?" + +"I always mean everything I say, Arty. Can't you see the uselessness +of telling her now? She has gone all these years with the belief that +I am a thief. A thief, Arty, I, who never stole anything save a +farmer's apples. They would have called you a defaulter; that's +because you had access to the safe, whereas I had none." Arthur +winced. "I don't propose to disillusion the mother. I am strong +enough to go away without seeing her; and God knows how my heart +yearns, and my ears and eyes and arms." + +Warrington reached mechanically for the portrait in the silver frame, +but Arthur stayed his hand. + +"No, Paul; that is mine." + +Warrington dropped his hand, puzzled. "I was not going to destroy it," +ironically. + +"No; but in a sense you have destroyed me. Compensation. What +trifling thought most of us give that word! The law of compensation. +For ten years Elsa has been the flower o' the corn for me. She almost +loved me. And one day she sees you; and in that one day all that I had +gained was lost, and all that you had lost was gained. The law of +compensation. Sometimes we escape retribution, but never the law of +compensation. Some months ago she wrote me a letter. She was always +direct. It was a just letter." + +A pause. Arthur gazed steadily at the portrait, while Warrington +twisted his yellow beard. + +"The ways of mothers are mysterious," said the latter, finally. He +wondered if Arthur would confess to the blacker deed, or have it forced +from him. He would wait and see. "The father and the mother weren't +happy. Money. There's the wedge. It's in every life somewhere. A +marriage of convenience is an unwise thing. When we were born the +mother turned to us. Up to the time we were six or seven there was no +distinction in her love for us. But on the day the father set his +choice upon me, she set hers upon you. You'll never know how I +suffered as a boy, when I saw the distance growing wider and wider with +the years. Perhaps the father understood, for he was always kind and +gentle to me. I expect to return to China shortly. The Andes has +taken me back. Sounds like a fairy-tale; eh? I shall never return +here. But did you know who Elsa Chetwood was?" + +"Not until that letter came." + +Neither of them heard the faint gasp which came from behind the +portières dividing the study and the living-room. The gasp had +followed the invisible knife-thrusts of these confidences. The woman +behind those portières swayed and caught blindly at the jamb. With +cruel vividness she saw in this terrible moment all that to which she +had never given more than a passing thought. No reproaches; only a +simple declaration of what had burned in this boy's heart. And she had +almost forgotten this son. A species of paralysis laid hold of her, +leaving her for the time incapable of movement. + +She heard the deep voice of this other son say: + +"Lots of kinks in life. There is only one law that I shall lay down +for you, Arty. You must give up all idea of marrying Elsa Chetwood." + +"It will be easy to obey that. Are you playing with me, Paul?" + +"Playing?" echoed Warrington. + +"Yes. Do you mean to sit there and tell me that you don't know why I +shall never marry her?" + +"Arty, I don't understand what you're talking about." + +Arthur read the truth in his brother's eyes. He smiled weakly, the +anger gone. "Same old blind duffer you always were. I wrote an answer +to her letter. In that letter I told her . . . the truth." + +"You did that?" + +"I am your brother, Paul. I couldn't be a cad as well as a thief. +Yes, I told her. I told her more, what you never knew. I let Craig +believe that I was you, Paul. I wore your clothes, your scarf-pins, +your hats. In that I was a black villain. God! What a hell I lived +in. . . . Ah, mother!" Arthur dropped his head upon his arms again. + +"Paul, my son!" + +It was Warrington's chair that toppled over. Framed in the portières +stood his mother, white-haired, pale but as beautiful as of old. + +"I am sorry. I had hoped to get away without your knowing." + +"Why?" + +"Oh, because there wasn't any use of my coming at all. I'd passed out +of your life, and I should have stayed out. Don't worry. I've got +everything mapped out. There's a train at midnight." + +Arthur stood up. "Mother, I am the guilty man. I was the thief. All +these years I've let you believe that Paul had taken the money. . . ." + +"Yes, yes!" she interrupted, never taking her eyes off this other son. +"I heard everything behind these curtains. You were going away, Paul, +without seeing me?" + +"What was the use of stirring up old matters? Of bringing confusion +into this house?" He did not look at her. He could not tell her that +he now knew what had drawn him hither, that all along he had deceived +himself. + +"Paul, my son, I have been a wicked woman." + +"Why, mother, you mustn't talk like that!" + +"Wicked! My son, my silent, kindly, chivalric boy, will you forgive +your mother? Your unnatural mother?" + +He caught her before her knees touched the floor; and, ah! how hungrily +her arms wound about him. + +[Illustration: He That Was Dead.] + +"What's the use of lying?" he cried brokenly. "My mother! I wanted to +hear your voice and feel your arms. You don't know how I have always +loved you. It was a long time, a very long time. Perhaps I was to be +blamed. I was proud, and kept away from you. Don't cry. There, +there! I can go away now, happy." Over his mother's shoulders, now +moving with silent stabbing sobs, he held out his hand to his brother. +Presently, above the two bowed heads, Warrington's own rose, +transfigured with happiness. + +The hall-door opened and closed, but none of them regarded it. + +By and by the mother stood away, but within arm's length. "How big and +strong you have grown, Paul." + +"In heart, too, mother," added Arthur. "Old Galahad!" + +"You must never leave us again, Paul. Promise." + +"May I always come back?" + +"Always!" And she took his hand and pressed it tightly against her +cheek. "Always! Ah, your poor blind mother!" + +"Always to come back! . . . I am going to China in a little while, to +take up the work I have always loved, the building of bridges." + +"And I am going, too!" It was Elsa, at her journey's end. + +Jealous love is keen of eye. There was death in Arthur's heart, but he +smiled at her. After all, what was more logical than that she should +appear at this moment? Why sip the cup when it might be drained at +once, over with and done with? + +"Elsa!" said the mother, holding Warrington's hand in closer grasp. + +"Yes, mother. Ah, why did you not tell me all?" + +Arthur walked to the long window that opened put upon the garden. +There, for a moment, he paused, then passed from the room. + +"Go to him, mother," said Elsa, wisely and with pity. + +The mother hesitated, pulled by the old and the new love, by the fear +that the new-found could be hers but a little while. Slowly she let +Paul's hand fall, and slower still she followed Arthur's footsteps. + +"I wasn't quite brave enough," he said, when she found him. "They +love. And love me well, mother, for I am the broken man." + +She pressed his head against her heart. "My boy!" But her glance was +leveled at the amber-tinted window through which she had come. + +To Warrington, Elsa was a little thinner, and of color there was none; +but her eyes shone with all the splendor of the Oriental stars at which +he had so often gazed with mute inquiry. + +"Galahad!" she said, and smiled. "Well, what have you to say?" + +"I? In God's name, what can I say but that I love you?" + +"Well, say it, and stop the ache in my heart! Say it, and make me +forget the weary eighteen thousand miles I have journeyed to find you! +Say it, and hold me close for I am tired! . . . Listen!" she +whispered, lifting her head from his shoulder. + +From out the stillness of the summer night came a jarring note, the +eternal protest of Rajah. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARROT & CO.*** + + +******* This file should be named 18443-8.txt or 18443-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/4/18443 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Parrot & Co.</p> +<p>Author: Harold MacGrath</p> +<p>Release Date: May 24, 2006 [eBook #18443]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARROT & CO.***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="The Game of Gossip." BORDER="2" WIDTH="428" HEIGHT="619"> +<H4> +[Frontispiece: The Game of Gossip.] +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +Parrot & Co. +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +By Harold MacGrath +</H2> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +Author of +<BR> +"The Best Man," "The Carpet from Bagdad," "The Place of Honeymoons" +</H3> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +With Four Illustrations in Color +<BR> +By ANDRÉ CASTAIGNE +</H3> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +A. L. BURT COMPANY +<BR> +PUBLISHERS ———— NEW YORK +</H4> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT 1913 +<BR> +THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY +</H5> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">EAST IS EAST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">A MAN WITH A PAST</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE WEAK LINK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">TWO DAYS OF PARADISE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">BACK TO LIFE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">IN THE NEXT ROOM</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">CONFIDENCES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">A WOMAN'S REASON</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">TWO SHORT WEEKS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">THE CUT DIRECT</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">THE BLUE FEATHER</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">THE GAME OF GOSSIP</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">AFTER TEN YEARS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">ACCORDING TO THE RULES</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">A BIT OF A LARK</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap16">WHO IS PAUL ELLISON?</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap17">THE ANSWERING CABLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap18">THE BATTLE</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap19">TWO LETTERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap20">THE TWO BROTHERS</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap21">HE THAT WAS DEAD</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +The Game of Gossip . . . . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-224"> +A Bit of a Lark +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-258"> +The Battle +</A> +</H3> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-304"> +He That Was Dead +</A> +</H3> + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TO +<BR> +J. J. CURTIS +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +PARROT & CO. +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +EAST IS EAST +</H3> + +<P> +It began somewhere in the middle of the world, between London which is +the beginning and New York which is the end, where all things are east +of the one and west of the other. To be precise, a forlorn landing on +the west bank of the muddy turbulent Irrawaddy, remembered by man only +so often as it was necessary for the flotilla boat to call for paddy, a +visiting commissioner anxious to get away, or a family homeward-bound. +Somewhere in the northeast was Mandalay, but lately known in romance, +verse and song; somewhere in the southeast lay Prome, known only in +guide-books and time-tables; and farther south, Rangoon, sister to +Singapore, the half-way house of the derelicts of the world. On the +east side of the river, over there, was a semblance of civilization. +That is to say, men wore white linen, avoided murder, and frequently +paid their gambling debts. But on this west side stood wilderness, not +the kind one reads about as being eventually conquered by white men; +no, the real grim desolation, where the ax cuts but leaves no blaze, +where the pioneer disappears and few or none follow. The pioneer has +always been a successful pugilist, but in this part of Burma fate, out +of pure admiration for the pygmy's gameness, decided to call the battle +a draw. It was not the wilderness of the desert, of the jungle; rather +the tragic hopeless state of a settlement that neither progressed, +retarded, nor stood still. +</P> + +<P> +Between the landing and the settlement itself there stretched a winding +road, arid and treeless, perhaps two miles in length. It announced +definitely that its end was futility. All this day long heavy +bullock-carts had rumbled over it, rumbled toward the landing and +rattled emptily back to the settlement. The dust hung like a fog above +the road, not only for this day, but for all days between the big +rains. Each night, however, the cold heavy dews drew it down, cooling +but never congealing it. From under the first footfall the next day it +rose again. When the gods, or the elements, or Providence, arranged +the world as a fit habitation for man, India and Burma were made the +dust-bins. And as water finds its levels, so will dust, earthly and +human, the quick and the dead. +</P> + +<P> +It was after five in the afternoon. The sun was sinking, hazily but +swiftly; ribbons of scarlet, ribbons of rose, ribbons of violet, lay +one upon the other. The sun possessed no definite circle; a great +blinding radiance like metal pouring from the mouth of a blast-furnace. +Along the road walked two men, phantom-like. One saw their heads dimly +and still more dimly their bodies to the knees; of legs, there was +nothing visible. Occasionally they stepped aside to permit some +bullock-cart to pass. One of them swore, not with any evidence of +temper, not viciously, but in a kind of mechanical protest, which, from +long usage, had become a habit. He directed these epithets never at +animate things, never at anything he could by mental or physical +contest overcome. He swore at the dust, at the heat, at the wind, at +the sun. +</P> + +<P> +The other wayfarer, with the inherent patience of his blood, said +nothing and waited, setting down the heavy kit-bag and the +canvas-valise (his own). When the way was free again he would sling +the kit-bag and the valise over his shoulder and step back into the +road. His turban, once white, was brown with dust and sweat. His +khaki uniform was rent under the arm-pits, several buttons were gone; +his stockings were rusty black, mottled with patches of brown skin; and +the ragged canvas-shoes spurted little spirals of dust as he walked. +The British-Indian government had indulgently permitted him to proceed +about his duties as guide and carrier under the cognomen of James +Hooghly, in honor of a father whose surname need not be written here, +and in further honor of the river upon which, quite inconveniently one +early morning, he had been born. For he was Eurasian; half European, +half Indian, having his place twixt heaven and hell, which is to say, +nowhere. His father had died of a complication of bhang-drinking and +opium-eating; and as a consequence, James was full of humorless +imagination, spells of moodiness and outbursts of hilarious politics. +Every native who acquires a facility in English immediately sets out to +rescue India from the clutches of the British raj, occasionally +advancing so far as to send a bullet into some harmless individual in +the Civil Service. +</P> + +<P> +James was faithful, willing and strong; and as a carrier of burdens, +took unmurmuringly his place beside the tireless bullock and the +elephant. He was a Methodist; why, no one could find lucid answer, +since he ate no beef, drank from no common cup, smoked through his fist +when he enjoyed a pipe, and never assisted Warrington Sahib in his +deadly pursuit of flies and mosquitoes. He was Hindu in all his acts +save in his manner of entering temples; in this, the European blood +kept his knees unbended. By dint of inquiry his master had learned +that James looked upon his baptism and conversion in Methodism as a +corporal would have looked upon the acquisition of a V. C. Twice, +during fever and plague, he had saved his master's life. With the +guilelessness of the Oriental he considered himself responsible for his +master in all future times. Instead of paying off a debt he had +acquired one. Treated as he was, kindly but always firmly, he would +have surrendered his life cheerfully at the beck of the white man. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington was an American. He was also one of those men who never +held misfortune in contempt, whose outlook wherever it roamed was +tolerant. He had patience for the weak, resolution for the strong, and +a fearless amiability toward all. He was like the St. Bernard dog, +very difficult to arouse. It is rather the way with all men who are +strong mentally and physically. He was tall and broad and deep. Under +the battered pith-helmet his face was as dark as the Eurasian's; but +the eyes were blue, bright and small-pupiled, as they are with men who +live out-of-doors, who are compelled of necessity to note things moving +in the distances. The nose was large and well-defined. All framed in +a tangle of blond beard and mustache which, if anything, added to the +general manliness of his appearance. He, too, wore khaki, but with the +addition of tan riding-leggings, which had seen anything but +rocking-horse service. The man was yellow from the top of his helmet +to the soles of his shoes—outside. For the rest, he was a mystery, to +James, to all who thought they knew him, and most of all to himself. A +pariah, an outcast, a fugitive from the bloodless hand of the law; a +gentleman born, once upon a time a clubman, college-bred; a +contradiction, a puzzle for which there was not any solution, not even +in the hidden corners of the man's heart. His name wasn't Warrington; +and he had rubbed elbows with the dregs of humanity, and still looked +you straight in the eye because he had come through inferno without +bringing any of the defiling pitch. +</P> + +<P> +From time to time he paused to relight his crumbling cheroot. The +tobacco was strong and bitter, and stung his parched lips; but the +craving for the tang of the smoke on his tongue was not to be denied. +</P> + +<P> +Under his arm he carried a small iron-cage, patterned something like a +rat-trap. It contained a Rajputana parrakeet, not much larger than a +robin, but possessor of a soul as fierce as that of Palladia, minus, +however, the smoothing influence of chivalry. He had been born under +the eaves of the scarlet palace in Jaipur (so his history ran); but the +proximity of Indian princes had left him untouched: he had neither +chivalry, politeness, nor diplomacy. He was, in fact, thoroughly and +consistently bad. Round and round he went, over and over, top-side, +down-side, restlessly. For at this moment he was hearing those +familiar evening sounds which no human ear can discern: the muttering +of the day-birds about to seek cover for the night. In the field at +the right of the road stood a lonely tree. It was covered with +brilliant scarlet leaves and blossoms, and justly the natives call it +the Flame of the Jungle. A flock of small birds were gyrating above it. +</P> + +<P> +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah—jah—ja-a-a-h!" cried the parrot, imitating the +Burmese bell-gong that calls to prayer. Instantly he followed the call +with a shriek so piercing as to sting the ear of the man who was +carrying him. +</P> + +<P> +"You little son-of-a-gun," he laughed; "where do you pack away all that +noise?" +</P> + +<P> +There was a strange bond between the big yellow man and this little +green bird. The bird did not suspect it, but the man knew. The pluck, +the pugnacity and the individuality of the feathered comrade had been +an object lesson to the man, at a time when he had been on the point of +throwing up the fight. +</P> + +<P> +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah—jah—ja-a-a-h!" The bird began its interminable +somersaults, pausing only to reach for the tantalizing finger of the +man, who laughed again as he withdrew the digit in time. +</P> + +<P> +For six years he had carried the bird with him, through India and Burma +and Malacca, and not yet had he won a sign of surrender. There were +many scars on his forefingers. It was amazing. With one pressure of +his hand he could have crushed out the life of the bird, but over its +brave unconquerable spirit he had no power. And that is why he loved +it. +</P> + +<P> +Far away in the past they had met. He remembered the day distinctly +and bitterly. He had been on the brink of self-destruction. Fever and +poverty and terrible loneliness had battered and beaten him flat into +the dust from which this time he had had no wish to rise. He had +walked out to the railway station at Jaipur to witness the arrival of +the tourist train from Ahmadabad. He wanted to see white men and white +women from his own country, though up to this day he had carefully +avoided them. (How he hated the English, with their cold-blooded +suspicion of all who were not island-born!) The natives surged about +the train, with brass-ware, antique articles of warfare, tiger-hunting +knives (accompanied by perennial fairy tales), skins and silks. There +were beggars, holy men, guides and fakirs. +</P> + +<P> +Squatted in the dust before the door of a first-class carriage was a +solemn brown man, in turban and clout, exhibiting performing parrots. +It was Rajah's turn. He fired a cannon, turned somersaults through a +little steel-hoop, opened a tiny chest, took out a four-anna piece, +carried it to his master, and in exchange received some seed. +Thereupon he waddled resentfully back to the iron-cage, opened the +door, closed it behind him, and began to mutter belligerently. +Warrington haggled for two straight hours. When he returned to his +sordid evil-smelling lodgings that night, he possessed the parrot and +four rupees, and sat up the greater part of the night trying to make +the bird perform his tricks. The idea of suicide no longer bothered +him; trifling though it was, he had found an interest in life. And on +the morrow came the Eurasian, who trustfully loaned Warrington every +coin that he could scrape together. +</P> + +<P> +Often, in the dreary heart-achy days that followed, when weeks passed +ere he saw the face of a white man, when he had to combat opium and +bhang and laziness in the natives under him, the bird and his funny +tricks had saved him from whisky, or worse. In camp he gave Rajah much +freedom, its wings being clipt; and nothing pleased the little rebel so +much as to claw his way up to his master's shoulder, sit there and +watch the progress of the razor, with intermittent "jawing" at his own +reflection in the cracked hand-mirror. +</P> + +<P> +Up and down the Irrawaddy, at the rest-houses, on the boats, to those +of a jocular turn of mind the three were known as "Parrot & Co." +Warrington's amiability often misled the various scoundrels with whom +he was at times forced to associate. A man who smiled most of the time +and talked Hindustani to a parrot was not to be accorded much courtesy; +until one day Warrington had settled all distinctions, finally and +primordially, with the square of his fists. After that he went his way +unmolested, having soundly trounced one of the biggest bullies in the +teak timber-yards at Rangoon. +</P> + +<P> +He made no friends; he had no confidences to exchange; nor did he offer +to become the repository of other men's pasts. But he would share his +bread and his rupees, when he had them, with any who asked. Many tried +to dig into his past, but he was as unresponsive as granite. It takes +a woman to find out what a man is and has been; and Warrington went +about women in a wide circle. In a way he was the most baffling kind +of a mystery to those who knew him: he frequented the haunts of men, +took a friendly drink, played cards for small sums, laughed and jested +like any other anchorless man. In the East men are given curious +names. They become known by phrases, such as, The Man Who Talks, Mr. +Once Upon a Time, The One-Rupee Man, and the like. As Warrington never +received any mail, as he never entered a hotel, nor spoke of the past, +he became The Man Who Never Talked of Home. +</P> + +<P> +"I say, James, old sport, no more going up and down this bally old +river. We'll go on to Rangoon to-night, if we can find a berth." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Sahib; this business very piffle," replied the Eurasian without +turning his head. Two things he dearly loved to acquire: a bit of +American slang and a bit of English silver. He was invariably changing +his rupees into shillings, and Warrington could not convince him that +he was always losing in the transactions. +</P> + +<P> +They tramped on through the dust. The sun dropped. A sudden chill +began to penetrate the haze. The white man puffed his cheroot, its +wrapper dangling; the servant hummed an Urdu lullaby; the parrot +complained unceasingly. +</P> + +<P> +"How much money have you got, James?" +</P> + +<P> +"Three annas." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington laughed and shook the dust from his beard. "It's a great +world, James, a great and wonderful world. I've just two rupees +myself. In other words, we are busted." +</P> + +<P> +"Two rupees!" James paused and turned. "Why, Sahib, you have three +hundred thousand rupees in your pocket." +</P> + +<P> +"But not worth an anna until I get to Rangoon. Didn't those duffers +give you anything for handling their luggage the other day?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not a pice, Sahib." +</P> + +<P> +"Rotters! It takes an Englishman to turn a small trick like that. +Well, well; there were extenuating circumstances. They had sore heads. +No man likes to pay three hundred thousand for something he could have +bought for ten thousand. And I made them come to me, James, to me. I +made them come to this god-forsaken hole, just because it pleased my +fancy. When you have the skewer in, always be sure to turn it around. +I believe I'm heaven-born after all. The Lord hates a quitter, and so +do I. I nearly quit myself, once; eh, Rajah, old top? But I made them +come to me. That's the milk in the cocoanut, the curry on the rice. +They almost had me. Two rupees! It truly is a great world." +</P> + +<P> +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah—jah—jah—ja-a-a-h!" screamed the parrot. +"<I>Chaloo</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +"Go on! That's the ticket. If I were a praying man, this would be the +time for it. Three hundred thousand rupees!" The man looked at the +far horizon, as if he would force his gaze beyond, into the delectable +land, the Eden out of which he had been driven. "Caviar and truffles, +and Romanée Conti, and Partagas!" +</P> + +<P> +"Chicken and curry and Scotch whisky." +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! You've the imagination of a he-goat." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, Sahib." +</P> + +<P> +"James, I owe you three hundred rupees, and I am going to add seven +hundred more. We've been fighting this old top for six years together, +and you've been a good servant and a good friend; and I'll take you +with me as far as this fortune will go, if you say the word." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Sahib, I am much sorry. But Delhi calls, and I go. A thousand +rupees will make much business for me in the Chandney Chowk." +</P> + +<P> +"Just as you say." +</P> + +<P> +Presently they became purple shades in a brown world. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A MAN WITH A PAST +</H3> + + +<P> +The moonless Oriental night, spangled with large and brilliant stars, +brilliant yet mellow, unlike the crisp scintillating presentment in +northern latitudes, might have served as an illustration of an +air-tight bowl, flung down relentlessly upon this part of the world. +Inside this figurative bowl it was chill, yet the air was stirless. It +was without refreshment; it became a labor and not an exhilaration to +breath it. A pall of suffocating dust rolled above and about the +Irrawaddy flotilla boat which, buffeted by the strong irregular +current, strained at its cables, now at the bow, now at the stern, not +dissimilar to the last rocking of a deserted swing. This sensation was +quite perceptible to the girl who leaned over the bow-rail, her +handkerchief pressed to her nose, and gazed interestedly at the steep +bank, up and down which the sweating coolies swarmed like Gargantuan +rats. They clawed and scrambled up and slid and shuffled down; and +always the bank threatened to slip and carry them all into the swirling +murk below. A dozen torches were stuck into the ground above the +crumbling ledge; she saw the flames as one sees a burning match cupped +in a smoker's hands, shedding light upon nothing save that which stands +immediately behind it. +</P> + +<P> +She choked a little. Her eyes smarted. Her lips were slightly +cracked, and cold-cream seemed only to provide a surer resting place +for the impalpable dust. It had penetrated her clothes; it had +percolated through wool and linen and silk, intimately, until three +baths a day had become a welcome routine, providing it was possible to +obtain water. Water. Her tongue ran across her lips. Oh, for a drink +from the old cold pure spring at home! Tea, coffee, and bottled soda; +nothing that ever touched the thirsty spots in her throat. +</P> + +<P> +She looked up at the stars and they looked down upon her, but what she +asked they could not, would not, answer. Night after night she had +asked, and night after night they had only twinkled as of old. She had +traveled now for four months, and still the doubt beset her. It was to +be a leap in the dark, with no one to tell her what was on the other +side. But why this insistent doubt? Why could she not take the leap +gladly, as a woman should who had given the affirmative to a man? With +him she was certain that she loved him, away from him she did not know +what sentiment really abided in her heart. She was wise enough to +realize that something was wrong; and there were but three months +between her and the inevitable decision. Never before had she known +other than momentary indecision; and it irked her to find that her +clarity of vision was fallible and human like the rest of her. The +truth was, she didn't know her mind. She shrugged, and the movement +stirred the dust that had gathered upon her shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +What a dust-ridden, poverty-ridden, plague-ridden world she had seen! +Ignorance wedded to superstition, yet waited upon by mystery and +romance and incomparable beauty. As the Occidental thought rarely +finds analysis in the Oriental mind, so her mind could not gather and +understand this amalgamation of art and ignorance. She forgot that +another race of men had built those palaces and temples and forts and +tombs, and that they had vanished as the Greeks and Romans have +vanished, leaving only empty spaces behind, which the surviving tribes +neither fill nor comprehend. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"A rare old lot of dust; eh, Miss Chetwood? I wish we could travel by +night, but you can't trust this blooming old Irrawaddy after sundown. +Charts are so much waste-paper. You just have to know the old lady. +Bars rise in a night, shift this side and that. But the days are all +right. No dust when you get in mid-stream. What?" +</P> + +<P> +"I never cease wondering how those poor coolies can carry those heavy +rice-bags," she replied to the purser. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, they are used to it," carelessly. +</P> + +<P> +The great gray stack of paddy-bags seemed, in the eyes of the girl, +fairly to melt away. +</P> + +<P> +"By Jove!" exclaimed the purser. "There's Parrot & Co.!" He laughed +and pointed toward one of the torches. +</P> + +<P> +"Parrot & Co.? I do not understand." +</P> + +<P> +"That big blond chap behind the fourth torch. Yes, there. Sometime +I'll tell you about him. Picturesque duffer." +</P> + +<P> +She could have shrieked aloud, but all she did was to draw in her +breath with a gasp that went so deep it gave her heart a twinge. Her +fingers tightened upon the teak-rail. Suddenly she knew, and was +ashamed of her weakness. It was simply a remarkable likeness, nothing +more than that; it could not possibly be anything more. Still, a ghost +could not have startled her as this living man had done. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is he?" +</P> + +<P> +"A chap named Warrington. But over here that signifies nothing; might +just as well be Jones or Smith or Brown. We call him Parrot & Co., but +the riff-raff have another name for him. The Man Who Never Talked of +Home. For two or three seasons he's been going up and down the river. +Ragged at times, prosperous at others. Lately it's been rags. He's +always carrying that Rajputana parrot. You've seen the kind around the +palaces and forts: saber-blade wings, long tail-feathers, green and +blue and scarlet, and the ugliest little rascals going. This one is +trained to do tricks." +</P> + +<P> +"But the man!" impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +He eyed her, mildly surprised. "Oh, he puzzles us all a bit, you know. +Well educated; somewhere back a gentleman; from the States. Of course +I don't know; something shady, probably. They don't tramp about like +this otherwise. For all that, he's rather a decent sort; no bounder +like that rotter we left at Mandalay. He never talks about himself. I +fancy he's lonesome again." +</P> + +<P> +"Lonesome?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's the way, you know. These poor beggars drop aboard for the night, +merely to see a white woman again, to hear decent English, to dress and +dine like a human being. They disappear the next day, and often we +never see them again." +</P> + +<P> +"What do they do?" The question came to her lips mechanically. +</P> + +<P> +"Paddy-fields. White men are needed to oversee them. And then, +there's the railway, and there's the new oil-country north of Prome. +You'll see the wells to-morrow. Rather fancy this Warrington chap has +been working along the new pipelines. They're running them down to +Rangoon. Well, there goes the last bag. Will you excuse me? The +lading bills, you know. If he's with us tomorrow, I'll have him put +the parrot through its turns. An amusing little beggar." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not introduce him to me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Beg pardon?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not afraid," quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"By Jove, no! But this is rather difficult, you know. If he shouldn't +turn out right …" with commendable hesitance. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll take all the responsibility. It's a whim." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you American girls are the eighth wonder of the world." The +purser was distinctly annoyed. "And it may be an impertinence on my +part, but I never yet saw an American woman who would accept advice or +act upon it." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks. What would you advise?" with dangerous sweetness. +</P> + +<P> +"Not to meet this man. It's irregular. I know nothing about him. If +you had a father or a brother on board.…" +</P> + +<P> +"Or even a husband!" laughing. +</P> + +<P> +"There you are!" resignedly. "You laugh. You women go everywhere, and +half the time unprotected." +</P> + +<P> +"Never quite unprotected. We never venture beyond the call of +gentlemen." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," brightening. "You insist on meeting this chap?" +</P> + +<P> +"I do not insist; only, I am bored, and he might interest me for an +hour." She added: "Besides, it may annoy the others." +</P> + +<P> +The purser grinned reluctantly. "You and the colonel don't get on. +Well, I'll introduce this chap at dinner. If I don't.… +</P> + +<P> +"I am fully capable of speaking to him without any introduction +whatever." She laughed again. "It will be very kind of you." +</P> + +<P> +When he had gone she mused over this impulse so alien to her character. +An absolute stranger, a man with a past, perhaps a fugitive from +justice; and because he looked like Arthur Ellison, she was seeking his +acquaintance. Something, then, could break through her reserve and +aloofness? She had traveled from San Francisco to Colombo, unattended +save by an elderly maiden who had risen by gradual stages from nurse to +companion, but who could not be made to remember that she was no longer +a nurse. In all these four months Elsa had not made half a dozen +acquaintances, and of these she had not sought one. Yet, she was +asking to meet a stranger whose only recommendation was a singular +likeness to another man. The purser was right. It was very irregular. +</P> + +<P> +"Parrot & Co.!" she murmured. She searched among the phantoms moving +to and fro upon the ledge; but the man with the cage was gone. It was +really uncanny. +</P> + +<P> +She dropped her arms from the rail and went to her stateroom and +dressed for dinner. She did not give her toilet any particular care. +There was no thought of conquest, no thought of dazzling the man in +khaki. It was the indolence and carelessness of the East, where +clothes become only necessities and are no longer the essentials of +adornment. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa Chetwood was twenty-five, lithely built, outwardly reposeful, but +dynamic within. Education, environment and breeding had somewhat +smothered the glowing fires. She was a type of the ancient repression +of woman, which finds its exceptions in the Aspasias and Helens and +Cleopatras of legend and history. In features she looked exactly what +she was, well-bred and well-born. Beauty she also had, but it was the +cold beauty of northern winter nights. It compelled admiration rather +than invited it. Spiritually, Elsa was asleep. The fire was there, +the gift of loving greatly, only it smoldered, without radiating even +the knowledge of its presence. Men loved her, but in awe, as one loves +the marbles of Phidias. She knew no restraint, and yet she had passed +through her stirless years restrained. She was worldly without being +more than normally cynical; she was rich without being either frugal or +extravagant. Her independence was inherent and not acquired. She had +laid down certain laws for herself to follow; and that these often +clashed with the laws of convention, which are fetish to those who +divide society into three classes, only mildly amused her. Right from +wrong she knew, and that sufficed her. +</P> + +<P> +Her immediate relatives were dead; those who were distantly related +remained so, as they had no part in her life nor she in theirs. +Relatives, even the best of them, are practically strangers to us. +They have their own affairs and interests, and if these touch ours it +is generally through the desire to inherit what we have. So Elsa went +her way alone. From her father she had inherited a remarkable and +seldom errant judgment. To her, faces were generally book-covers, they +repelled or attracted; and she found large and undiminishing interest +in the faculty of pressing back the covers and reading the text. Often +battered covers held treasures, and often the editions de luxe were +swindles. But in between the battered covers and the exquisite +Florentine hand-tooling there ranged a row of mediocre books; and it +was among these that Elsa found that her instinct was not wholly +infallible, as will be seen. +</P> + +<P> +To-day she was facing the first problem of her young life, epochal. +She was, as it were, to stop and begin life anew. And she didn't know, +she wasn't sure. +</P> + +<P> +There were few passengers aboard. There were three fussy old English +maidens under the protection of a still fussier old colonel, who +disagreed with everybody because his liver disagreed with him. Twenty +years of active service in Upper India had seriously damaged that +physiological function, and "pegs" no longer mellowed him. The quartet +greatly amused Elsa. Their nods were abrupt, and they spoke in the +most formal manner. She was under grave suspicion; in the first place, +she was traveling alone, in the second place, she was an American. At +table there was generally a desultory conversation, and many a barb of +malice Elsa shot from her bow. Figuratively, the colonel walked about +like a porcupine, bristling with arrows instead of quills. Elsa could +have shouted at times, for the old war-dog was perfectly oblivious. +There was, besides, the inevitable German tourist, who shelled with +questions every man who wore brass-buttons, until there was some +serious talk of dropping him astern some day. He had shelled the +colonel, but that gentleman was snugly encased in the finest and most +impenetrable Bessemer, complacency. +</P> + +<P> +Upon these Irrawaddy boats the purser is usually the master of +ceremonies in the dining-saloon. The captain and his officers rarely +condescended. Perhaps it was too much trouble to dress; perhaps +tourists had disgusted them with life; at any rate, they remained in +obscurity. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa usually sat at the purser's right, and to-night she found the +stranger sitting quietly at her side. The chair had been vacant since +the departure from Mandalay. Evidently the purser had decided to be +thorough in regard to her wishes. It would look less conspicuous to +make the introduction in this manner. And she wanted to meet this man +who had almost made her cry out in astonishment. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Chetwood, Mr. Warrington." This was as far as the purser would +unbend. +</P> + +<P> +The colonel's eyes popped; the hands of the three maidens fluttered. +Warrington bowed awkwardly, for he was decidedly confused. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" boomed the German. "Vat do you tink uff …" +</P> + +<P> +And from soup to coffee Warrington eluded, dodged, stepped under and +ran around the fusillade of questions. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa laughed softly. There were breathing-spells, to be sure. Under +the cover of this verbal bombardment she found time to inspect the +stranger. The likeness, so close at hand, started a ringing in her +ears and a flutter in her throat. It was almost unbelievable. He was +bigger, broader, his eyes were keener, but there was only one real +difference: this man was rugged, whereas Arthur was elegant. It was as +if nature had taken two forms from the same mold, and had finished but +one of them. His voice was not unpleasant, but there were little sharp +points of harshness in it, due quite possibly to the dust. +</P> + +<P> +"I am much interested in that little parrot of yours. I have heard +about him." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! I suppose you've heard what they call us?" His eyes looked +straight into hers, smilingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Parrot & Co.? Yes. Will you show him off to-morrow?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be very happy to." +</P> + +<P> +But all the while he was puzzling over the purser's unaccountable +action in deliberately introducing him to this brown-eyed, +golden-skinned young woman. Never before had such a thing occurred +upon these boats. True, he had occasionally been spoken to; an idle +question flung at him, like a bare bone to a dog. If flung by an +Englishman, he answered it courteously, and subsided. He had been +snubbed too many times not to have learned this lesson. It never +entered his head that the introduction might have been brought about by +the girl's interest. He was too mortally shy of women to conceive of +such a possibility. So his gratitude was extended to the purser, who, +on his side, regretted his good-natured recommendations of the previous +hour. +</P> + +<P> +When Elsa learned that the man at her side was to proceed to Rangoon, +she ceased to ask him any more questions. She preferred to read her +books slowly. Once, while he was engaging the purser, her glance ran +over his clothes. She instantly berated her impulsive criticism as a +bit of downright caddishness. The lapels of the coat were shiny, the +sleeves were short, there was a pucker across the shoulders; the +winged-collar gave evidence of having gone to the native laundry once +too often; the studs in the shirt-bosom were of the cheapest +mother-of-pearl, and the cuff-buttons, ordinary rupee silver. The +ensemble suggested that since the purchase of these habiliments of +civilization the man had grown, expanded. +</P> + +<P> +Immediately after dinner she retired to her state-room, conscious that +her balance needed readjusting. She had heard and read much lore +concerning reincarnation, skeptically; yet here, within call of her +voice, was Arthur, not the shadow of a substance, but Arthur, shorn of +his elegance, his soft lazy voice, his half-dreaming eyes, his charming +indolence. Why should this man's path cross hers, out of all the +millions that ran parallel? +</P> + +<P> +She opened her window and looked up at the stars again. She saw one +fall, describe an arc and vanish. She wondered what this man had done +to put him beyond the pale; for few white men remained in Asia from +choice. She had her ideas of what a rascal should be; but Warrington +agreed in no essential. It was not possible that dishonor lurked +behind those frank blue eyes. She turned from the window, impatiently, +and stared at one of her kit-bags. Suddenly she knelt down and threw +it open, delved among the soft fabrics and silks and produced a +photograph. She had not glanced at it during all these weeks. There +had been a purpose back of this apparent neglect. The very thing she +dreaded happened. Her pulse beat on, evenly, unstirred. She was a +failure. +</P> + +<P> +In the photograph the man's beard was trimmed Valois; the beard of the +man who had sat next to her at dinner had grown freely and naturally, +full. Such a beard was out of fashion, save among country doctors. It +signified carelessness, indifference, or a full life wherein the +niceties of the razor had of necessity been ignored. Keenly she +searched the familiar likeness. What an amazing freak of nature! It +was unreal. She tossed the photograph back into the kit-bag, +bewildered, uneasy. +</P> + +<P> +Meantime Warrington followed the purser into his office. "I haven't +paid for my stateroom yet," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll make it out at once. Rangoon, I understand?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. But I'm in a difficulty. I have nothing in change but two +rupees." +</P> + +<P> +The purser froze visibly. The tale was trite in his ears. +</P> + +<P> +"But I fancy I've rather good security to offer," went on Warrington +coolly. He drew from his wallet a folded slip of paper and spread it +out. +</P> + +<P> +The purser stared at it, enchanted. Warrington stared down at the +purser, equally enchanted. +</P> + +<P> +"By Jove!" the former gasped finally. "And so you're the chap who's +been holding up the oil syndicate all these months? And you're the +chap who made them come to this bally landing three days ago?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm the chap." +</P> + +<P> +It was altogether a new purser who looked up. "Twenty thousand pounds +about, and only two rupees in your pocket! Well, well; it takes the +East to bowl a man over like this. A certified check on the Bank of +Burma needs no further recommendation. In the words of your +countrymen, go as far as you like. You can pay me in Rangoon. Your +boy takes deck-passage?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," returning the check to the wallet. +</P> + +<P> +"Smoke?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't mind. Thanks." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, sit down and spin the yarn. It must be jolly interesting." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll admit that it has been a tough struggle; but I knew that I had +the oil. Been flat broke for months. Had to borrow my boy's savings +for food and shelter. Well, this is the way it runs." Warrington told +it simply, as if it were a great joke. +</P> + +<P> +"Rippin'! By Jove, you Americans are hard customers to put over. I +suppose you'll be setting out for the States at once?" with a curious +glance. +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't made any plans yet," eying the cheroot thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +"I see." The purser nodded. It was not difficult to understand. +"Well, good luck to you wherever you go." +</P> + +<P> +"Much obliged." +</P> + +<P> +Alone in his stateroom Warrington took out Rajah and tossed him on the +counterpane of the bed. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, then, old sport!" tapping the parrot on the back with the perch +which he used as a baton. Blinking and muttering, the bird performed +his tricks, and was duly rewarded and returned to his home of iron. +"She'll be wanting to take you home with her, but you're not for sale." +</P> + +<P> +He then opened his window and leaned against the sill, looking up at +the stars. But, unlike the girl, he did not ask any questions. +</P> + +<P> +"Free!" he said softly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE WEAK LINK +</H3> + + +<P> +The day began white and chill, for February nights and mornings are not +particularly comfortable on the Irrawaddy. The boat sped down the +river, smoothly and noiselessly. For all that the sun shone, the +shore-lines were still black. The dust had not yet risen. Elsa passed +through the dining-saloon to the stern-deck and paused at the door. +The scene was always a source of interest to her. There were a hundred +or more natives squatting in groups on the deck. They were wrapped in +ragged shawls, cotton rugs of many colors, and woolen blankets, and +their turbans were as bright and colorful as a Holland tulip-bed. Some +of them were smoking long pipes and using their fists as mouthpieces; +others were scrubbing their teeth with short sticks of fibrous wood; +and still others were eating rice and curry out of little copper pots. +There were very few Burmese among them. They were Hindus, from Central +and Southern India, with a scattering of Cingalese. Whenever a Hindu +gets together a few rupees, he travels. He neither cares exactly where +the journey ends, nor that he may never be able to return; so long as +there is a temple at his destination, that suffices him. The past is +the past, to-morrow is to-morrow, but to-day is to-day: he lives and +works and travels, prisoner to this creed. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa never strolled among them. She was dainty. This world and these +people were new and strange to her, and as yet she could not quite +dominate the fear that some one of these brown-skinned beings might be +coming down with the plague. So she stood framed in the doorway, a +picture rare indeed to the dark eyes that sped their frank glances in +her direction. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Sahib, no; it is three hundred." +</P> + +<P> +"James, I tell you it's rupees three hundred and twelve, annas eight." +</P> + +<P> +Upon a bench, backed against the partition, almost within touch of her +hand, sat the man Warrington and his servant, arguing over their +accounts. The former's battered helmet was tilted at a comfortable +angle and an ancient cutty hung pendent from his teeth, an idle wisp of +smoke hovering over the blackened bowl. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa quietly returned to her chair in the bow and tried to become +interested in a novel. By and by the book slipped from her fingers to +her lap, and her eyes closed. But not for long. She heard the rasp of +a camp-stool being drawn toward her. +</P> + +<P> +"You weren't dozing, were you?" asked the purser apologetically. +</P> + +<P> +"Not in the least. I have only just got up." +</P> + +<P> +"Shouldn't have disturbed you; but your orders were that whenever I had +an interesting story about the life over here, I was to tell it to you +instantly. And this one is just rippin'!" +</P> + +<P> +"Begin," said Elsa. She sat up and threw back her cloak, for it was +now growing warm. "It's about Parrot & Co., I'm sure." +</P> + +<P> +"You've hit it off the first thing," admiringly. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, go on." +</P> + +<P> +"It's better than any story you'll read in a month of Sundays. Our man +has just turned the trick, as you Americans say, for twenty thousand +pounds." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, that is a fortune!" +</P> + +<P> +"For some of us, yes. You see, whatever he was in the past, it was +something worth while, I fancy. Engineering, possibly. Knew his +geology and all that. Been wondering for months what kept him hanging +around this bally old river. Seems he found oil, borrowed the savings +of his servant and bought up some land on the line of the new +discoveries. Then he waited for the syndicate to buy. They ignored +him. They didn't send any one even to investigate his claim. Stupid, +rather. After a while, he went to them, at Prome, at Rangoon. They +thought they knew his kind. Ten thousand rupees was all he asked. +They laughed. The next time he wanted a hundred thousand. They +laughed again. Then he left for the teak forests. He had to live. He +came back in four months. In the meantime they had secretly +investigated. They offered him fifty thousand. <I>He</I> laughed. He +wanted two hundred thousand. They advised him to raise cocoanuts. +What do you suppose he did then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Got some other persons interested." +</P> + +<P> +"Right-o! Some Americans in Rangoon said they'd take it over for two +hundred thousand. Something about the deal got into the newspapers. +The American oil men sent over a representative. That settled the +syndicate. What they could have originally purchased for ten thousand +they paid three hundred thousand." +</P> + +<P> +"Splendid!" cried Elsa, clapping her hands. She could see it all, the +quiet determination of the man, the penury of the lean years, his +belief in himself and in what he had found, and the disinterested +loyalty of the servant. "Sometimes I wish I were a man and could do +things like that." +</P> + +<P> +"Recollect that landing last night?" +</P> + +<P> +Elsa's gesture signified that she was glad to be miles to the south of +it. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he wasn't above having his revenge. He made the syndicate come +up there. They wired asking why he couldn't come on to Rangoon. And +very frankly he gave his reasons. They came up on one boat and left on +another. They weren't very pleasant, but they bought his oil-lands. +He came aboard last night with a check for twenty thousand pounds and +two rupees in his pocket. The two rupees were all he had in this world +at the time they wrote him the check. Arabian night; what?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad. I like pluck; I like endurance; I like to see the lone man +win against odds. Tell me, is he going back to America?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, there's the weak part in the chain." The purser looked +diffidently at the deck floor. It would have been easy enough to +discuss the Warrington of yesterday, to offer an opinion as to his +past; but the Warrington of this morning was backed by twenty thousand +good English sovereigns; he was a different individual, a step beyond +the casual damnation of the mediocre. "He says he doesn't know what +his plans will be. Who knows? Perhaps some one ran away with his best +girl. I've known lots of them to wind up out here on that account." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it a rule, then, that disappointed lovers fly hither, penniless?" +</P> + +<P> +The mockery escaped the purser, who was a good fellow in his blundering +way. "Chaps gamble, you know. And this part of the world is full of +fleas and mosquitoes and gamblers. When a man's been chucked, he's +always asking what's trumps. He's not keen on the game; and the +professional gambler takes advantage of his condition. Oh, there are a +thousand ways out here of getting rid of your money when the girl's +given you the go-by!" +</P> + +<P> +"To that I agree. When do we reach Prome?" +</P> + +<P> +"About six," understanding that the Warrington incident was closed. +"It isn't worth while going ashore, though. Nothing to see at night." +</P> + +<P> +"I have no inclination to leave the boat until we reach Rangoon." +</P> + +<P> +She met Warrington at luncheon, and she greeted him amiably. To her +mind there was something pitiful in the way the man had tried to +improve his condition. Buttons had been renewed, some with black +thread and some with white; and there were little islands of brown +yarn, at the elbows, at the bottom of the pockets, along the seams. So +long as she lived, no matter whom she might marry, she was convinced +that never would the thought of this man fade completely from her +memory. Neither the amazing likeness nor the romantic background had +anything to do with this conviction. It was the man's utter loneliness. +</P> + +<P> +"I have been waiting for Parrot & Co. all the morning," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll show him to you right after luncheon. It wasn't that I had +forgotten." +</P> + +<P> +She nodded; but he did not comprehend that this inclination of the head +explained that she knew the reason of the absence. She could in fancy +see the strong brown fingers clumsily striving to thread the needle. +(As a matter of fact, her imagination was at fault. James had done the +greater part of the repairing.) +</P> + +<P> +Rajah took the center of the stage; and even the colonel forgot his +liver long enough to chuckle when the bird turned somersaults through +the steel-hoop. Elsa was delighted. She knelt and offered him her +slim white finger. Rajah eyed it with his head cocked at one side. He +turned insolently and entered his cage. Since he never saw a finger +without flying at it in a rage, it was the politest thing he had ever +done. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't he a sassy little beggar?" laughed the owner. "That's the way; +his hand, or claw, rather, against all the world. I've had him half a +dozen years, and he hates me just as thoroughly now as he did when I +picked him up while I was at Jaipur." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you carried him about all this time?" demanded the colonel. +</P> + +<P> +"He was one of the two friends I had, one of the two I trusted," +quietly, with a look which rather disconcerted the Anglo-Indian. +</P> + +<P> +"By the actions of him I should say that he was your bitterest enemy." +</P> + +<P> +"He is; yet I call him friend. There's a peculiar thing about +friendship," said the kneeling man. "We make a man our friend; we take +him on trust, frankly and loyally; we give him the best we have in us; +but we never really know. Rajah is frankly my enemy, and that's why I +love him and trust him. I should have preferred a dog; but one takes +what one can. Besides …" Warrington paused, thrust the perch +between the bars, and got up. +</P> + +<P> +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah—jah—ja-a-a-h!" the bird shrilled. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, what a funny little bird!" cried Elsa, laughing. "What does he +say?" +</P> + +<P> +"I've often wondered. It sounds like the bell-gong you hear in the +Shwe Dagon Pagoda, in Rangoon. He picked it up himself." +</P> + +<P> +The colonel returned to his elderly charges and became absorbed in his +aged <I>Times</I>. If the girl wanted to pick up the riff-raff to talk to, +that was her affair. Americans were impossible, anyhow. +</P> + +<P> +"How long have you been in the Orient?" Elsa asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Ten years," he answered gravely. +</P> + +<P> +"That is a long time." +</P> + +<P> +"Sometimes it was like eternity." +</P> + +<P> +"I have heard from the purser of your good luck." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" He stooped again and locked the door of Rajah's cage. "I dare +say a good many people will hear of it." +</P> + +<P> +"It was splendid. I love to read stories like that, but I'd far rather +hear them told first-hand." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa was not romantic in the sense that she saw heroes where there were +only ordinary men; but she thrilled at the telling of some actual +adventure, something big with life. Her heart and good will went out +to the man who won against odds. Strangely enough, soldier's daughter +though she was, the pomp and glamour and cruelty of war were detestable +to her. It was the obscure and unknown hero who appealed to her: such +a one as this man might be. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, there was nothing splendid about the thing. I simply hung on." +Then a thought struck him. "You are traveling alone?" +</P> + +<P> +"With a companion." A peculiar question, she thought. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not wise," he commented. +</P> + +<P> +"My father was a soldier," she replied. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't a question of bravery," he replied, a bit of color charging +under his skin. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa was amused. "And, pray, what question is it?" He was like a boy. +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid of making myself obscure. This world is not like your +world. Women over here… Oh, I've lost the art of saying things +clearly." He pulled at his beard embarrassedly. +</P> + +<P> +"I rather believe I understand you. The veneer cracks easily in hot +climates; man's veneer." +</P> + +<P> +"And falls off altogether." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you warning me against yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why not? Twenty thousand pounds do not change a man; they merely +change the public's opinion of him. For all you know, I may be the +greatest rascal unhanged." +</P> + +<P> +"But you are not." +</P> + +<P> +He recognized that it was not a query; and a pleasurable thrill ran +over him. Had there been the least touch of condescension in her +manner, he would have gone deep into his shell. +</P> + +<P> +"No; there are worse men in this world than I. But we are getting away +from the point, of women traveling alone in the East. Oh, I know you +can protect yourself to a certain extent. But everywhere, on boats, in +the hotels, on the streets, are men who have discarded all the laws of +convention, of the social contract. And they have the keen eye of the +kite and the vulture." +</P> + +<P> +To Elsa this interest in her welfare was very diverting. "In other +words, they can quickly discover the young woman who goes about +unprotected? Don't you think that the trend of the conversation has +taken rather a remarkable turn, not as impersonal as it should be?" +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon!" +</P> + +<P> +"I am neither an infant nor a fool, Mr. Warrington." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I go?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. I want you to tell me some stories." She laughed. "Don't worry +about me, Mr. Warrington. I have gone my way alone since I was +sixteen. I have traveled all over this wicked world with nobody but +the woman who was once my nurse. I seldom put myself in the way of an +affront. I am curious without being of an investigating turn of mind. +Now, tell me something of your adventures. Ten years in this land must +mean something. I am always hunting for Harun-al-Raschid, or Sindbad, +or some one who has done something out of the ordinary." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you write books?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I read them by preference." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, a good book!" He inclined against the rail and stared down at the +muddy water. "Adventure?" He frowned a little. "I'm afraid mine +wouldn't read like adventures. There's no glory in being a stevedore +on the docks at Hongkong, a stoker on a tramp steamer between Singapore +and the Andaman Islands. What haven't I been in these ten years?" with +a shrug. "Can you fancy me a deck-steward on a P. & O. boat, tucking +old ladies in their chairs, staggering about with a tray of +broth-bowls, helping the unsteady to their staterooms, and touching my +cap at the end of the voyage for a few shillings in tips?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are bitter." +</P> + +<P> +"Bitter? I ought not to be, with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket." +</P> + +<P> +"Tell me more." +</P> + +<P> +He looked into her beautiful face, animated by genuine interest, and +wondered if all men were willing so readily to obey her. +</P> + +<P> +"It always interests me to hear from the man's own lips how he overcame +obstacles." +</P> + +<P> +"Sometimes I didn't overcome them. I ran away. After all, the strike +in oil was a fluke." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't think so. But go on," she prompted. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I've been manager of a cocoanut plantation in Penang; I've +helped lay tracks in Upper India; had a hand in some bridges; sold +patent-medicines; worked in a ruby mine; been a haberdasher in the +Whiteaway, Laidlaw shop in Bombay; cut wood in the teak forests; helped +exterminate the plague at Chitor and Udaipur; and never saved a penny. +I never had an adventure in all my life." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, your wanderings were adventures," she insisted. "Think of the +things you could tell!" +</P> + +<P> +"And never will," a smile breaking over his face. +</P> + +<P> +How like Arthur's that smile was! thought the girl. "Romantic persons +never have any adventures. It is to the prosaic these things fall. +Because of their nearness you lose their values." +</P> + +<P> +"There is some difference between romance and adventure. Romance is +what you look forward to; adventure is something you look back upon. +If many disagreeable occupations, hunger and an occasional fisticuff, +may be classed as adventure, then I have had my run of it. But I +always supposed adventure was the finding of treasures, on land and on +sea; of filibustering; of fighting with sabers and pistols, and all +that rigmarole. I can't quite lift my imagination up to the height of +calling my six months' shovel-engineering on <I>The Galle</I> an adventure. +It was brutal hard work; and many times I wanted to jump over. The +Lascars often got out of trouble that way." +</P> + +<P> +"It all depends upon how we look at things." She touched the +parrot-cage with her foot, and Rajah hissed. "What would you say if I +told you that I was unconventional enough to ask the purser to +introduce you?" +</P> + +<P> +The amazement in his face was answer enough. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you suppose," she went on, "the picture you presented, standing +on that ledge, the red light of the torch on your face, the bird-cage +in your hand,—don't you suppose you roused my sense the romantic to +the highest pitch? Parrot & Co.!" with a wave of her hands. +</P> + +<P> +She was laughing at him. It could not be otherwise. It made him at +once sad and angry. "Romance! I hate the word. Once I was as full of +romance as a water-chestnut is of starch. I again affirm that young +women should not travel alone. They think every bit of tinsel is gold, +every bit of colored glass, ruby. Go home; don't bother about romance +outside of books. There it is safe. The English are right. They may +be snobs when they travel abroad, but they travel securely. Romance, +adventure! Bah! So much twaddle has been written about the East that +cads and scoundrels are mistaken for Galahads and D'Artagnans. Few men +remain in this country who can with honor leave it. Who knows what +manner of man I am?" +</P> + +<P> +He picked up the parrot-cage and strode away. +</P> + +<P> +"Jah, jah!" began the bird. +</P> + +<P> +Not all the diplomacy which worldly-wise men have at their disposal +could have drawn this girl's interest more surely than the abrupt rude +manner of his departure. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWO DAYS OF PARADISE +</H3> + + +<P> +At first Elsa did not know whether she was annoyed or amused. The +man's action was absurd, or would have been in any other man. There +was something so singularly boyish in his haste that she realized she +could not deal with him in an ordinary fashion. She ought to be angry; +indeed, she wanted to be very angry with him; but her lips curled, and +laughter hung upon them, undecided. His advice to her to go home was +downright impudence; and yet, the sight of the parrot-cage, dangling at +his side, made it impossible for her to take lasting offense. Once +upon a time there had been a little boy who played in her garden. When +he was cross he would take his playthings and go home. The boy might +easily have been this man Warrington, grown up. +</P> + +<P> +Of course he would come and apologize to her for his rudeness. That +was one of the necessary laws of convention; and ten years spent in +jungles and deserts and upon southern seas could not possibly have +robbed him of the memory of these simple ethics that he had observed in +other and better times. Perhaps he had resented her curiosity; perhaps +her questions had been pressed too hard; and perhaps he had suddenly +doubted her genuine interest. At any rate, it was a novel experience. +And that bewildering likeness! +</P> + +<P> +She returned to her chair and opened the book again. And as she read +her wonder grew. How trivial it was, after all. The men and women she +had calmly and even gratefully accepted as types were nothing more than +marionettes, which the author behind the booth manipulated not badly +but perfunctorily. The diction was exquisite; there was style; but now +as she read there was lacking the one thing that stood for life, blood. +It did not pulsate in the veins of these people. Until now she had not +recognized this fact, and she was half-way through the book. She even +took the trouble to reread the chapter she had thought peculiarly +effective. There was the same lack of feeling. What had happened to +her since yesterday? To what cause might be assigned this opposite +angle of vision, so clearly defined? +</P> + +<P> +The book fell upon her knees, and dreamily she watched the perspective +open and divaricate. Full in her face the south wind blew, now warmed +by the sun and perfumed by unknown spices. She took in little sharp +breaths, but always the essence escaped her. The low banks with their +golden haze of dust, the cloudless sky, the sad and lonely white +pagodas, charmed her; and the languor of the East crept stealthily into +her northern blood. She was not conscious of the subtle change; she +only knew that the world of yesterday was unlike that of today. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington, after depositing Rajah in the stateroom, sought the bench +on the stern-deck. He filled his cutty with purser-loaned tobacco, and +roundly damned himself as a blockhead. He had forgotten all the +niceties of civilization; he no longer knew how to behave. What if she +had been curious? It was natural that she should be. This was a +strange world to her, and if her youth rosal-tinted it with romance, +what right had he to disillusion her? The first young woman in all +these years who had treated him as an equal, and he had straightway +proceeded to lecture her upon the evils of traveling alone in the +Orient! Double-dyed ass! He had been rude and impudent. He had seen +other women traveling alone, but the sight had not roused him as in the +present instance. In ten years he had not said so much to all the +women he had met; and without seeming effort at all she had dragged +forth some of the half-lights of his past. This in itself amazed him; +it proved that he was still weak enough to hunger for human sympathy, +and he of all men deserved none whatever. He had been a fool as a boy, +a fool as a man, and without doubt he would die a fool. He was of half +a mind to leave the boat at Prome and take the train down to Rangoon. +</P> + +<P> +And yet he had told her the truth. It was not right that a young and +attractive woman should wander about in the East, unattended save by a +middle-aged companion. It would provoke the devil in men who were not +wholly bad. Women had the fallible idea that they could read human +nature, and never found out their mistake until after they were +married. He knew her kind. If she wanted to walk through the bazaars +in the evening, she would do so. If a man followed her she would +ignore the fact. If he caught up with her and spoke, she would +continue on as if she had not heard. If a man touched her, she would +rely upon the fire of her eyes. She would never call out for help. +Some women were just that silly. +</P> + +<P> +He bit hard upon the stem of his pipe. What was all this to him? Why +should he bother his head about a woman he had known but a few hours? +Ah, why lie to himself? He knew what Elsa, usually quick and +receptive, did not know, that he was not afraid of her, but terribly +afraid of himself. For things ripen quickly in the East, men and +women, souls and deeds. And he was something like the pariah-dog; +spoken kindly to, it attached itself immediately and enduringly. +</P> + +<P> +He struck the cutty against his boot-heel. Why not? It would be only +for two days. At Rangoon their paths would separate; he would never +see her again. He got up. He would go to her at once and apologize +abjectly. And thus he surrendered to the very devil he had but a +moment gone so vigorously discountenanced. +</P> + +<P> +He found her asleep in her chair. The devil which had brought him to +her side was thrust back. Why, she was nothing more than a beautiful +child! A great yearning to brother her came into his heart. He did +not disturb her, but waited until five, that grave and sober hour, when +kings and clerks stop work for no logical reason whatever—tea. She +opened her eyes and saw him watching her. He rose quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"May I get you some tea?" +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you." +</P> + +<P> +And so the gulf was bridged. When he returned he set the cup and plate +of cakes on the arm of her chair. +</P> + +<P> +"I was very rude a little while ago. Will you accept my apologies?" +</P> + +<P> +"On condition that you will never take your playthings and go home." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed engagingly. "You've hit it squarely. It was the act of a +petulant child." +</P> + +<P> +"It did not sound exactly like a man who had stoked six months from +Singapore to the Andaman Islands. But there is one thing I must +understand before this acquaintance continues. You said, 'Who knows +what manner of man I am?' Have you ever done anything that would +conscientiously forbid you to speak to a young unmarried woman?" +</P> + +<P> +Take care of herself? He rather believed she could. The bluntness of +her question dissipated any doubt that remained. +</P> + +<P> +"No. I haven't been that kind of a man," simply. "I could look into +my mother's eyes without any sense of shame, if that is what you mean." +</P> + +<P> +"That is all I care to know. Your mother is living?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. But I haven't seen her in ten years." His mother! His brows +met in a frown. His proud beautiful mother! +</P> + +<P> +Elsa saw the frown, and realized that she had approached delicate +ground. She stirred her tea and sipped it slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"There has been a deal of chatter about shifty untrustworthy eyes," he +said. "The greatest liars I have ever known could look St. Peter +straight and serenely in the eye. It's a matter of steady nerves, +nothing more. Somebody says that so and so is a fact, and we go on +believing it for years, until some one who is not a person but an +individual explodes it." +</P> + +<P> +"I agree with you. But there is something we rely upon far more than +either eyes or ears, instinct. It is that attribute of the animal +which civilization has not yet successfully dulled. Women rely upon +that more readily than men." +</P> + +<P> +"And make more mistakes," with a cynicism he could not conceal. +</P> + +<P> +She had no ready counter for this. "Do you go home from Rangoon, now +that you have made your fortune?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. I am going to Singapore. I shall make my plans there." +</P> + +<P> +Singapore. Elsa stirred uneasily. It would be like having a ghost by +her side. She wanted to tell him what had really drawn her interest. +But it seemed to her that the moment to do so had passed. +</P> + +<P> +"Vultures! How I detest them!" She pointed toward a sand-bar upon +which stood several of these abominable birds and an adjutant, solemn +and aloof. "At Lucknow they were red-headed. I do not recollect +seeing one of them fly. But I admire the kites; they look so much like +our eagles." +</P> + +<P> +"And thus again the eye misleads us. There is nothing that flies so +rapacious as the kite." +</P> + +<P> +Little by little she drew from him a sketch here, a phase there. She +was given glimpses into the life of the East such as no book or guide +had ever given; and the boat was circling toward the landing at Prome +before they became aware of the time. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington rushed ashore to find the dry-goods shop. His social +redemption was on the way, if vanity went for anything. It was +stirring and tingling with life again. With the money advanced by the +purser he bought shirts and collars and ties; and as he possessed no +watch, returned barely in time to dress for dinner. He was not at all +disturbed to learn that the inquisitive German, the colonel and his +fidgety charges, had decided to proceed to Rangoon by rail. Indeed, +there was a bit of exultation in his manner as he observed the vacant +chairs. Paradise for two whole days. And he proposed to make the most +of it. Now, his mind was as clear of evil as a forest spring. He +simply wanted to play; wanted to give rein to the lighter emotions so +long pent up in his lonely heart. +</P> + +<P> +The purser, used to these sudden changes and desertions in his +passenger-lists, gave the situation no thought. But Elsa saw a mild +danger, all the more alluring because it hung nebulously. For years +she had walked in conformity with the cramped and puerile laws that +govern society. She had obeyed most of them from habit, others from +necessity. What harm could there be in having a little fling? He was +so amazingly like outwardly, so astonishingly unlike inwardly, that the +situation held for her a subtle fascination against which she was in +nowise inclined to fight. What had nature in mind when she produced +two men exactly alike in appearance but in reality as far apart as the +poles? Would it be worth while to find out? She was not wholly +ignorant of her power. She could bend the man if she tried. Should +she try? +</P> + +<P> +They were like two children, setting out to play a game with fire. +</P> + +<P> +She thought of Arthur. Had he gone the length of his thirty-five years +without his peccadillos? Scarcely. She understood the general run of +men well enough to accept this fact. Whomever she married she was +never going to worry him with questions regarding his bachelor life. +Nor did she propose to be questioned about her own past. Besides, she +hadn't married Arthur yet; she had only promised to. And such promises +were sometimes sensibly broken. There ran through her a fine vein of +mercilessness, but it was without cruelty, it was leavened with both +logic and justice. When the time came she would name the day to +Arthur, or she would with equal frankness announce that she would not +marry him at all. These thoughts flashed through her mind, +disconnectedly, while she talked and laughed. +</P> + +<P> +It never occurred to her to have Martha moved up from the foot of the +table. Once or twice she stole a glance at the woman who had in the +olden days dandled her on her knees. The glance was a mixture of guilt +and mischief, like a child's. But the glance had not the power to +attract Martha's eyes. Martha felt the glances as surely as if she had +lifted her eyes to meet them. She held her peace. She had not been +brought along as Elsa's guardian. Elsa was not self-willed but +strong-willed, and Martha realized that any interference would result +in estrangement. In fact, Martha beheld in Warrington a real menace. +The extraordinary resemblance would naturally appeal to Elsa, with what +results she could only imagine. Later she asked Elsa if she had told +Warrington of the remarkable resemblance. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy, no! And what is more, I do not want him to know. Men are vain +as a rule; and I should not like to hurt his vanity by telling him that +I sought his acquaintance simply because he might easily have been +Arthur Ellison's twin brother." +</P> + +<P> +"The man you are engaged to marry." +</P> + +<P> +"Whom I have promised to marry, provided the state of my sentiments is +unchanged upon my return; which is altogether a different thing." +</P> + +<P> +"That does not seem quite fair to Mr. Ellison." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Martha?" +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon, Elsa; but the stranger terrifies me. He is +something uncanny." +</P> + +<P> +"Nonsense! You've been reading tales about Yogii." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a terrible country." +</P> + +<P> +"It is the East, Martha, the East. Here a man may wear a dress-suit +and a bowler without offending any one." +</P> + +<P> +"And a woman may talk to any one she pleases." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that a criticism?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, Elsa; it is what you call the East." +</P> + +<P> +"You have been with me twenty years," began Elsa coldly. +</P> + +<P> +"And love you better than the whole world! And I wish I could guard +you always from harm and evil. Those horrid old Englishwomen …" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh; so there's been gossip already? You know my views regarding +gossip. So long as I know that I am doing no wrong, ladies may gossip +their heads off. I'm not a kitten." +</P> + +<P> +"You are twenty-five, and yet you're only a child." +</P> + +<P> +"What does that signify? That I am too young to manage my own affairs? +That I must set my clock as others order? Good soul!" putting her arms +around the older woman. "Don't worry about Elsa Chetwood. Her life is +her own, but she will never misuse it." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if you were only married and settled down!" +</P> + +<P> +"You mean, if I were happily married and settled down. There you have +it. I'm in search of happiness. That's the Valley of Diamonds. When +I find that, Martha, you may fold your hands in peace." +</P> + +<P> +"Grant it may be soon! I hate the East! +</P> + +<P> +"And I have just begun to love it." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BACK TO LIFE +</H3> + + +<P> +The two days between Prome and Rangoon were distinctly memorable for +the subtle changes wrought in the man and woman. Those graces of mind +and manner which had once been the man's, began to find expression. +Physically, his voice became soft and mellow; his hands became full of +emphasis; his body grew less and less clumsy, more and more leonine. +It has taken centuries and centuries to make the white man what he is +to-day; yet, a single year of misfortune may throw him back into the +primordial. For it is far easier to retrograde than to go forward, +easier to let the world go by than to march along with it. Had he been +less interested in Elsa and more concerned about his rehabilitation, +self-analysis would have astonished Warrington. The blunt speech, the +irritability in argument, the stupid pauses, the painful study of +cunning phrases, the suspicion and reticence that figuratively encrust +the hearts of shy and lonely men, these vanished under her warm if +careless glances. For the first time in ten years a woman of the right +sort was showing interest in him. True, there had been other women, +but these had served only to make him retreat farther into his shell. +</P> + +<P> +If the crust of barbarism is thick, that of civilization is thin +enough. As Warrington went forward, Elsa stopped, and gradually went +back, not far, but far enough to cause her to throw down the bars of +reserve, to cease to guard her impulses against the invasion of +interest and fascination. She faced the truth squarely, without +palter. The man fascinated her. He was like a portrait with following +eyes. She spoke familiarly of her affairs (always omitting Arthur); +she talked of her travels, of the famous people she had met, of the +wonderful pageants she had witnessed. And she secretly laughed at +reproachful conscience that urged her to recall one of those laws Elsa +herself had written down to follow: that which forbade a young +unmarried woman to seek the companionship of a man about whom she knew +nothing. It was not her fault that, with the exception of Martha who +didn't count, they two were the only passengers. This condition of +affairs was directly chargeable to fate; and before the boat reached +Rangoon, Elsa was quite willing to let fate shift and set the scenes +how it would. The first step toward reversion is the casting aside of +one's responsibilities. Elsa shifted her cares to the shoulders of +fate. So long as the man behaved himself, so long as he treated her +with respect, real or feigned, nothing else mattered. +</P> + +<P> +The phase that escaped her entirely was this, that had he not +progressed, she would have retained her old poise, the old poise of +which she was never again to be mistress. It is the old tale: sympathy +to lift up another first steps down. And never had her sympathy gone +out so quickly to any mortal. Elsa had a horror of loneliness, and +this man seemed to be the living presentment of the word. What +struggles, and how simply he recounted them! What things he had seen, +what adventures had befallen him, what romance and mystery! She +wondered if there had been a woman in his life and if she had been the +cause of his downfall. Every day of the past ten years lay open for +her to admire or condemn, but beyond these ten years there was a +Chinese Wall, over which she might not look. Only once had she +provoked the silent negative nod of his head. He was strong. Not the +smallest corner of the veil was she permitted to turn aside. She +walked hither and thither along the scarps and bastions of the barrier, +but never found the breach. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you come and dine with me to-night?" she asked, as they left the +boat. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Miss Innocence." +</P> + +<P> +"That's silly. There isn't a soul I know here." +</P> + +<P> +"But," gravely he replied, "there are many here who know me." +</P> + +<P> +"Which infers that my invitation is unwise?" +</P> + +<P> +"Absolutely unwise." +</P> + +<P> +"Tea?" +</P> + +<P> +"Frankly, I ought not to be seen with you." +</P> + +<P> +"Why? Unless, indeed, you have not told me the truth." +</P> + +<P> +"I have told you the truth." +</P> + +<P> +"Then where's the harm?" +</P> + +<P> +"For myself, none. On the boat it did not matter so much. It was a +situation which neither of us could foresee nor prevent. I have told +you that people here look askance at me because they know nothing about +me, save that I came from the States. And they are wise. I should be +a cad if I accepted your invitation to dinner." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, I am not to see you again?" +</P> + +<P> +The smile would have lured him across three continents. "To-morrow, I +promise to call and have tea with you, much against my better judgment." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if you don't want to come …" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't want to come!" +</P> + +<P> +Something in his eyes caused Elsa to speak hurriedly. "Good-by until +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +She gave him her hand for a moment, stepped into the carriage, which +already held Martha and the luggage, and then drove off to the Strand +Hotel. +</P> + +<P> +He stood with his helmet in his hand. A fine warm rain was falling, +but he was not conscious of it. It seemed incredible that time should +produce such a change within the space of seventy hours, a little more, +a little less. As she turned and waved a friendly hand, he knew that +the desolation which had been his for ten years was nothing as compared +to that which now fell upon his heart. She was as unattainable as the +north star; and nothing, time nor circumstance, could bridge that +incalculable distance. She was the most exquisite contradiction; in +one moment the guilelessness of a child, in another, the worldly-wise +woman. Had she been all of the one or all of the other, he would not +have been touched so deeply. If she loved a man, there would be no +silly doddering; the voice of the petty laws that strove to hedge her +in would be in her ears as a summer breeze. For one so young—and +twenty-five was young—she possessed a disconcerting directness in her +logic. So far he observed that she retained but one illusion, that +somewhere in the world there was a man worth loving. His heart hurt +him. He must see her no more after the morrow. Enchantment and +happiness were two words which fate had ruthlessly scratched from his +book of days. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Hooghly had already started off toward the town, the kit-bag and +the valise slung across his shoulders, the parrot-cage bobbing at his +side. He knew where to go; an obscure lodging for men in the heart of +the business section, known in jest by the derelicts as The Stranded. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington, becoming suddenly aware that his pose, if prolonged, would +become ridiculous, put on his helmet and proceeded to the Bank of +Burma. To-day was Wednesday; Thursday week he would sail for Singapore +and close the chapter. Before banking hours were over, his financial +affairs were put in order, and he walked forth with two letters of +credit and enough bank-notes and gold to carry him around the world, if +so he planned. Next, he visited a pawn-shop and laid down a dozen +mutilated tickets, receiving in return a handsome watch, emerald +cuff-buttons, some stick-pins, some pearls, and a beautiful old ruby +ring, a gift of the young Maharajah of Udaipur. The ancient Chinaman +smiled. This was a rare occasion. Men generally went out of his dark +and dingy shop and never more returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Much money. Can do now?" affably. +</P> + +<P> +"Can do," replied Warrington, slipping the treasures into a pocket. +What a struggle it had been to hold them! Somehow or other he had +always been able to meet the interest; though, often to accomplish this +feat he had been forced to go without tobacco for weeks. +</P> + +<P> +There is a vein of superstition in all of us, deny it how we will. +Certain inconsequent things we do or avoid doing. We never walk home +on the opposite side of the street. We carry luck-stones and battered +pieces of copper that have ceased to serve as coins. We fill the +garret with useless junk. Warrington was as certain of the fact as he +was of the rising and the setting of the sun, that if he lost these +heirlooms, he never could go back to the old familiar world, the world +in which he had moved and lived and known happiness. Never again would +he part with them. A hundred thousand dollars, almost; with his simple +wants he was now a rich man. +</P> + +<P> +"Buy ling?" asked the Chinaman. He rolled a mandarin's ring carelessly +across the show-case. "Gold; all heavy; velly old, velly good ling." +</P> + +<P> +"What does it say?" asked Warrington, pointing to the characters. +</P> + +<P> +"Good luck and plospeity; velly good signs." +</P> + +<P> +It was an unusually beautiful ring, unusual in that it had no setting +of jade. Warrington offered three sovereigns for it. The Chinaman +smiled and put the ring away. Warrington laughed and laid down five +pieces of gold. The Chinaman swept them up in his lean dry hands. And +Warrington departed, wondering if she would accept such a token. +</P> + +<P> +By four o'clock he arrived at the Chinese tailors in the Suley Pagoda +Road. He ordered a suit of pongee, to be done at noon the following +day. He added to this orders for four other suits, to be finished +within a week. Then he went to the shoemaker, to the hatter, to the +haberdasher. There was even a light Malacca walking-stick among his +purchases. A long time had passed since he had carried a cane. There +used to be, once upon a time, a dapper light bamboo which was known up +and down Broadway, in the restaurants, the more or less famous bars, +and in the lounging-rooms of a popular club. All this business because +he wanted her to realize what he had been and yet could be. Thus, +vanity sometimes works out a man's salvation. And it marked the end of +Warrington's recidivation. +</P> + +<P> +When he reached his lodging-house he sought the Burmese landlady. She +greeted him with a smile and a stiff little shake of the hand. He owed +her money, but that was nothing. Had he not sent her drunken European +sailor-man husband about his business? Had he not freed her from a +tyranny of fists and curses? It had not affected her in the least to +learn that her sailor-man had been negligently married all the way from +Yokohama to Colombo. She was free of him. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington spread out a five-pound note and laid ten sovereigns upon +it. "There we are," he said genially; "all paid up to date." +</P> + +<P> +"This?" touching the note. +</P> + +<P> +"A gift for all your patience and kindness." +</P> + +<P> +"You go 'way?" the smile leaving her pretty moon-face. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"You like?" with a gesture which indicated the parlor and its contents. +"Be boss? Half an' half?" +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head soberly. She picked up the money and jingled it in +her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Goo'-by!" softly. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'm not going until next Thursday." +</P> + +<P> +The smile returned to her face, and her body bent in a kind of kotow. +He was so big, and his beard glistened like the gold-leaf on the Shwe +Dagon Pagoda. She understood. The white to the white and the brown to +the brown; it was the Law. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington went up to his room. He was welcomed by a screech from the +parrot and a dignified salaam from James, who was trimming the wick of +the oil-lamp. For the last year and a half this room had served as +headquarters. Many a financial puzzle had been pieced together within +these dull drab walls; many a dream had gone up to the ceiling, only to +sink and dissipate like smoke. There were no pictures on the walls, no +photographs. In one corner, on the floor, was a stack of dilapidated +books. These were mostly old novels and tomes dealing with geological +and mathematical matters; laughter and tears and adventure, sandwiched +in between the dry positiveness of straight lines and squares and +circles and numerals without end; D'Artagnan hobnobbing with Euclid! +Warrington was an educated man, but he was in no sense a scholar. In +his hours of leisure he did not find solace in the classics. He craved +for a good blood-red tale, with lots of fighting and love-making and +pleasant endings. +</P> + +<P> +James applied a match to the wick, and the general poverty of the room +was instantly made manifest. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, old sober-top, suppose we square up and part like good friends?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am always the Sahib's good friend." +</P> + +<P> +"Right as rain!" Warrington emptied his pockets upon the table; silver +and gold and paper. "Eh? That's the stuff. Without it the world's +not worth a tinker's dam. Count out seventy pounds, James." +</P> + +<P> +"Sixty-seven." +</P> + +<P> +"Seventy or nothing," declared Warrington, putting his hands down upon +the glittering metals. Rupees and sovereigns never lose their luster +in the East. +</P> + +<P> +Calmly, then, James took sovereign after sovereign until he had +withdrawn the required sum. "Gold is heavy, Sahib," he commented. +</P> + +<P> +"Hang it, your hands are steadier than mine!" +</P> + +<P> +"You go back home?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Something like home. I am going to Paris, where good people go +when they die. I am going to drink vintage wines, eat truffles and +mushrooms and caviar, and kiss the pretty girls in Maxim's. I've been +in prison for ten years. I am free, free!" Warrington flung out his +arms. "Good-by, jungles, deserts, hell-heat and thirsty winds! +Good-by, crusts and rags and hunger! I am going to live." +</P> + +<P> +"The Sahib has fever," observed the unimaginative Eurasian. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the word; fever. I am burning up. Here; go to the boat and +give the purser these six sovereigns. Here are three more. Go to the +Strand and get a bottle of champagne, and bring some ice. Buy a box of +the best cigars, and hurry back. Then put this junk in the trunk. And +damn the smell of kerosene!" +</P> + +<P> +James raised his hand warningly. From the adjoining room came the +sound of a quarrel. +</P> + +<P> +"Rupees one hundred and forty, and I want it now, you sneak!" +</P> + +<P> +"But I told you I couldn't square up until the first of the month." +</P> + +<P> +"You had no business to play poker, then, if you knew you couldn't +settle." +</P> + +<P> +"Who asked me to play?" shrilled the other. "You did. Well, I haven't +got the money." +</P> + +<P> +"You miserable little welcher! That ring is worth a hundred and forty." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll never get your dirty fingers inside of that." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I shan't, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +Warrington heard a scuffling, which was presently followed by a low +choking sob. He did not know who occupied the adjoining room. He had +been away for weeks, and there had been no permanent boarders before +that time. He rushed fearlessly into the other room. Pinned to the +wall was a young man with a weak pale face. The other man presented +nothing more than the back of his broad muscular shoulders. The +disparity in weight and height was sufficient to rouse Warrington's +sense of fair play. Besides, he was in a rough mood himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, that'll do," he cried, seizing the heavier man by the collar. +"It isn't worth while to kill a man for a handful of rupees. Let go, +you fool!" +</P> + +<P> +He used his strength. The man and his victim swung in a half-circle +and crashed to the floor. +</P> + +<P> +With a snarl and an oath, the gambler sprung to his feet and started +toward Warrington. He stopped short. +</P> + +<P> +"Good God!" he murmured; and retreated until he touched the foot-board +of the bed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE NEXT ROOM +</H3> + + +<P> +"Craig?" Warrington whispered the word, as if he feared the world +might hear the deadly menace in his voice. For murder leaped up in his +heart as flame leaps up in pine-kindling. +</P> + +<P> +The weak young man got to his knees, then to his feet. He steadied +himself by clutching the back of a chair. With one hand he felt of his +throat tenderly. +</P> + +<P> +"He tried to kill me, the blackguard!" he croaked. +</P> + +<P> +"Craig, it <I>is</I> you! For ten years I've never thought of you without +murder in my heart. Newell Craig, and here, right where I can put my +hands upon you! Oh, this old world is small." Warrington laughed. It +was a high thin sound. +</P> + +<P> +The young man looked from his enemy to his deliverer, and back again. +What new row was this? Never before had he seen the blackguard with +that look in his dark, handsome, predatory face. It typified fear. +And who was this big blond chap whose fingers were working so +convulsively? +</P> + +<P> +"Craig," said the young man, "you get out of here, and if you ever come +bothering me, I'll shoot you. Hear me?" +</P> + +<P> +This direful threat did not seem to stir the sense of hearing in either +of the two men. The one faced the other as a lion might have faced a +jackal, wondering if it would be worth while to waste a cuff on so +sorry a beast. Suddenly the blond man caught the door and swung it +wide. +</P> + +<P> +"Craig, a week ago I'd have throttled you without the least +compunction. To-day I can't touch you. But get out of here as fast as +you can. You might have gone feet foremost. Go! Out of Rangoon, too. +I may change my mind." +</P> + +<P> +The man called Craig walked out, squaring his shoulders with a touch of +bravado that did not impress even the plucked pigeon. Warrington stood +listening until he heard the hall-door close sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks," said the bewildered youth. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington whirled upon him savagely. "Thanks? Don't thank me, +you weak-kneed fool!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I say, now!" the other protested. +</P> + +<P> +"Be silent! If you owe that scoundrel anything, refuse to pay it. He +never won a penny in his life without cheating. Keep out of his way; +keep out of the way of all men who prefer to deal only two hands." And +with this advice Warrington stepped out into the hallway and shut the +door rudely. +</P> + +<P> +The youth walked over to the mirror and straightened his collar and +tie. "Rum go, that. Narrow squeak. Surly beggar, even if he did do +me a good turn. I shan't have to pay that rotter, Craig, now. That's +something." +</P> + +<P> +"Pay the purser and get a box of cigars," Warrington directed James. +"Never mind about the wine. I shan't want it now." +</P> + +<P> +James went out upon the errands immediately. Warrington dropped down +in the creaky rocking-chair, the only one in the boarding-house. He +stared at the worn and faded carpet. How dingy everything looked! +What a sordid rut he had been content to lie in! Chance: to throw this +man across his path when he had almost forgotten him, forgotten that he +had sworn to break the man's neck over his knees! In the very next +room! And he had permitted him to go unharmed simply because his mind +was full of a girl he would never see again after to-morrow. What was +the rascal doing over here? What had caused him to forsake the easy +pluckings of Broadway in exchange for a dog's life on packet-boats, in +squalid boarding-houses like this one, and in dismal billiard-halls? +Wire-tapper, racing-tout, stool-pigeon, a cheater at cards, blackmailer +and trafficker in baser things; in the next room, and he had let him go +unharmed. Vermin. Pah! He was glad. The very touch of the man's +collar had left a sense of defilement upon his hands. Ten years ago +and thirteen thousand miles away. In the next room. He laughed +unpleasantly. Chivalric fool, silly Don Quixote, sentimental dreamer, +to have made a hash of his life in this manner! +</P> + +<P> +He leaned toward the window-sill and opened the cage. Rajah walked +out, muttering. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +When it was possible, Elsa preferred to walk. She was young and strong +and active; and she went along with a swinging stride that made obvious +a serene confidence in her ability to take care of herself. She was, +in many respects, a remarkable young woman. She had been pampered, she +had been given her head; and still she was unspoiled. What the +unknowing called wilfulness was simply natural independence, which she +asserted whenever occasion demanded it. +</P> + +<P> +Tongas cut into her nerves, the stuffy gharry made her head ache, and +the springless phaetons which abound in the East she avoided as the +plague. Elephants and camels and rickshaws were her delight; but here +in Rangoon none of these was available. There were no camels; the +government elephants had steady employment out at MacGregor's +timberyards and could not get leave of absence; while rickshaws were +out of fashion, as only natives and Chinamen rode in them. So Elsa +walked. +</P> + +<P> +She loved to prowl through the strange streets and alleys and stranger +shops; it was a joy to ramble about, minus the irritating importunities +of guide or attendant. It was great fun, but it was not always wise. +There were some situations which only men could successfully handle. +Elsa would never confess that there had been instances when she had +been confronted by such situations. She could, however, truthfully say +that these awkward moments had always been without endings, as, being +an excellent runner, she had, upon these occasions, blithely taken to +her heels. +</P> + +<P> +In her cool white drill, her wide white pith-helmet, she presented a +charming picture. The exercise had given her cheeks a bit of color, +and her eyes sparkled and flashed like raindrops. This morning she had +taken Martha along merely to still her protests. +</P> + +<P> +"It's all right so long as we keep to the main streets," said the +harried Martha; "but I do not like the idea of roaming about in the +native quarters. This is not like Europe. The hotel-manager said we +ought to have a man." +</P> + +<P> +"He is looking out for his commission. Heavens! what is the matter +with everybody? One would think, the way people put themselves out to +warn you, that murder and robbery were daily occurrences in Asia. I've +been here four months, and the only disagreeable moment I have known +was caused by a white man." +</P> + +<P> +"Because we have been lucky so far, it's no sign that we shall continue +so." +</P> + +<P> +"Raven!" laughed the girl. +</P> + +<P> +Martha shut her lips grimly. Her worry was not confined to this +particular phase of Elsa's imperious moods; it was general. There was +that blond man with the parrot. Martha was beginning to see him in her +dreams, which she considered as a presage of evil. There was also the +astonishing lack of interest in the man who was waiting at home. Elsa +rarely spoke of him. Nobody could tell Martha that chance had thrown +the blond stranger into their society. Somewhere it had been written. +(As, indeed, it had!) How to keep Elsa apart from him was now her vital +concern. She would never feel at ease until they were out of Yokohama, +homeward-bound. +</P> + +<P> +"I feel like a child this morning," said Elsa. "I want to run and play +and shout." +</P> + +<P> +"All the more reason why you should have a guardian.… Look, +Elsa!" Martha caught the girl by the arm. "There's that man we left +at Mandalay." +</P> + +<P> +"Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"Coming toward us. Shall we go into this shop?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, thank you! There is no reason why I should hide in a +butcher-shop, simply to avoid meeting the man. We'll walk straight +past him. If he speaks, we'll ignore him." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish we were in a civilized country." +</P> + +<P> +"This man is supposed to be civilized. Don't let him catch your eye. +Go on; don't lag." +</P> + +<P> +Craig stepped in front of them, smiling as he raised his helmet. "This +is an unexpected pleasure." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa, looking coldly beyond him, attempted to pass. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely you remember me?" +</P> + +<P> +"I remember an insolent cad," replied Elsa, her eyes beginning to burn +dangerously. "Will you stand aside?" +</P> + +<P> +He threw a swift glance about. He saw with satisfaction that none but +natives was in evidence. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa's glance roved, too, with a little chill of despair. In stories +Warrington would have appeared about this time and soundly trounced +this impudent scoundrel. She realized that she must settle this affair +alone. She was not a soldier's daughter for nothing. +</P> + +<P> +"Stand aside!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hoity-toity!" he laughed. He had been drinking liberally and was a +shade reckless. "Why not be a good fellow? Over here nobody minds. I +know a neat little restaurant. Bring the old lady along," with a +genial nod toward the quaking Martha. +</P> + +<P> +Resolutely Elsa's hand went up to her helmet, and with a flourish drew +out one of the long steel pins. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Elsa!" warned Martha. +</P> + +<P> +"Be still! This fellow needs a lesson. Once more, Mr. Craig, will you +stand aside?" +</P> + +<P> +Had he been sober he would have seen the real danger in the young +woman's eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Cruel!" he said. "At least, one kiss," putting out his arms. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa, merciless in her fury, plunged the pin into his wrist. It stung +like a hornet; and with a gasp of pain, Craig leaped back out of range, +sobered. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you she-cat!" +</P> + +<P> +"I warned you," she replied, her voice steady but low. "The second +stab will be serious. Stand aside." +</P> + +<P> +He stepped into the gutter, biting his lips and straining his uninjured +hand over the hurting throb in his wrist. The hat-pin as a weapon of +defense he had hitherto accepted as reporters' yarns. He was now +thoroughly convinced of the truth. He had had wide experience with +women. His advantage had always been in the fact that the general run +of them will submit to insult rather than create a scene. This +dark-eyed Judith was distinctly an exception to the rule. Gad! She +might have missed his wrist and jabbed him in the throat. He swore, +and walked off down the street. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa set a pace which Martha, with her wabbling knees, found difficult +to maintain. +</P> + +<P> +"You might have killed him!" she cried breathlessly. +</P> + +<P> +"You can't kill that kind of a snake with a hat-pin; you have to stamp +on its head. But I rather believe it will be some time before Mr. +Craig will again make the mistake of insulting a woman because she +appears to be defenseless." Elsa's chin was in the air. The choking +sensation in her throat began to subside. "The deadly hat-pin; can't +you see the story in the newspapers? Well, I for one am not afraid to +use it. You know and the purser knows what happened on the boat to +Mandalay. He was plausible and affable and good-looking, and the +mistake was mine. I seldom make them. I kept quiet because the boat +was full-up, and as a rule I hate scenes. Men like that know it. If I +had complained, he would have denied his actions, inferred that I was +evil-minded. He would have been shocked at my misinterpreting him. +Heavens, I know the breed! Now, not a single word of this to any one. +Mr. Craig, I fancy, will be the last person to speak of it." +</P> + +<P> +"You had better put the pin back into your hat," suggested Martha. +</P> + +<P> +"Pah! I had forgotten it." Elsa flung the weapon far into the street. +</P> + +<P> +Once they turned into Merchant Street, both felt the tension relax, +Martha would have liked to sit down, even on the curb. +</P> + +<P> +"I despise men," she volunteered. +</P> + +<P> +"I am beginning to believe that few of them are worth a thought. Those +who aren't fools are knaves." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure of your judgment in regard to this man Warrington? How +can you tell that he is any different from that man Craig?" +</P> + +<P> +"He is different, that is all. This afternoon he will come to tea. I +shall want you to be with us. Remember, not a word of this disgraceful +affair." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Elsa, I am afraid; I am more afraid of Warrington than of a man of +Craig's type." +</P> + +<P> +"And why?" +</P> + +<P> +"It sounds foolish, but I can't explain. I am just afraid of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Bother! You talk like an old maid." +</P> + +<P> +"And I am one, by preference." +</P> + +<P> +"We are always quarreling, Martha; and it doesn't do either of us any +good. When you oppose me, I find that that is the very thing I want to +do. You haven't any diplomacy." +</P> + +<P> +"I would gladly cultivate it if I thought it would prove effectual," +was the retort. +</P> + +<P> +"Try it," advised Elsa dryly. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington's appearance that afternoon astonished Elsa. She had +naturally expected some change, but scarcely such elegance. He was, +without question, one of the handsomest men she had ever met. He was +handsomer than Arthur because he was more manly in type. Arthur +himself, an exquisite in the matter of clothes, could not have improved +upon this man's taste or selection. What a mystery he was! She +greeted him cordially, without restraint; but for all that, a little +shiver stirred the tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck. +</P> + +<P> +"The most famous man in Rangoon to-day," she said, smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"So you have read that tommy-rot in the newspaper?" +</P> + +<P> +They sat on her private balcony, under an awning. Rain was +threatening. Martha laid aside her knitting and did her utmost to give +her smile of welcome an air of graciousness. +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't call it tommy-rot," Elsa declared. "It was not chance. +It was pluck and foresight. Men who possess those two attributes get +about everything worth having." +</P> + +<P> +"There are exceptions," studying the ferrule of his cane. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there really anything you want now and can't have?" +</P> + +<P> +Martha looked at her charge in dread and wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"There is the moon," he answered. "I have always wanted that. But +there it hangs, just as far out of reach as ever." +</P> + +<P> +"Two lumps?" +</P> + +<P> +"None. My sugar-tooth is gone." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa had heard that hard drinkers disliked sweets. Had this been the +Gordian knot he had cut? +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps, after all," she said, "you would prefer a peg, as you call it +over here." +</P> + +<P> +"No, thanks. I was never fond of whisky. Sometimes, when I am dead +tired, and have to go on working, I take a little." +</P> + +<P> +So that wasn't it. Elsa's curiosity to-day was keenly alive. She +wanted to ask a thousand questions; but the ease with which the man +wore his new clothes, used his voice and eyes and hands, convinced her +more than ever that the subtlest questions she might devise would not +stir him into any confession. That he had once been a gentleman of her +own class, and more, something of an exquisite, there remained no doubt +in her mind. What had he done? What in the world had he done? +</P> + +<P> +On his part he regretted the presence of Martha; for, so strongly had +this girl worked upon his imagination that he had called with the +deliberate intention of telling her everything. But he could not open +the gates of his heart before a third person, one he intuitively knew +was antagonistic. +</P> + +<P> +Conversation went afield: pictures and music and the polished capitals +of the world; the latest books and plays. The information in regard to +these Elsa supplied him. They discussed also the problems of the day +as frankly as if they had been in an Occidental drawing-room. Martha's +tea was bitter. She liked Arthur, who was always charming, who never +surprised or astonished anybody, or shocked them with unexpected phases +of character; and each time she looked at Warrington, Arthur seemed to +recede. And when the time came for the guest to take his leave, Martha +regretted to find that the major part of her antagonism was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish to thank you, Miss Chetwood, for your kindness to a very lonely +man. It isn't probable that I shall see you again. I sail next +Thursday for Singapore." He reached into a pocket. "I wonder if you +would consider it an impertinence if I offered you this old trinket?" +He held out the mandarin's ring. +</P> + +<P> +"What a beauty!" she exclaimed. "Of course I'll accept it. It is very +kind of you. I am inordinately fond of such things. Thank you. How +easily it slips over my finger!" +</P> + +<P> +"Chinamen have very slender fingers," he explained. "Good-by. Those +characters say 'Good luck and prosperity.'" +</P> + +<P> +No expressed desire of wishing to meet her again; just an ordinary +every-day farewell; and she liked him all the better for his apparent +lack of sentiment. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-by," she said. She winced, for his hand was rough-palmed and +strong. +</P> + +<P> +A little later she saw him pass down the street. He never turned and +looked back. +</P> + +<P> +"And why," asked Martha, "did you not tell the man that we sail on the +same ship?" +</P> + +<P> +"You're a simpleton, Martha." Elsa turned the ring round and round on +her finger. "If I had told him, he would have canceled his sailing and +taken another boat." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CONFIDENCES +</H3> + + +<P> +That night Martha wrote a letter. During the writing of it she jumped +at every sound: a footstep in the hall, the shutting of a door, a voice +calling in the street. And yet, Martha was guilty of performing only +what she considered to be her bounden duty. It is the prerogative of +fate to tangle or untangle the skein of human lives; but still, there +are those who elect themselves to break the news gently, to lessen the +shock of the blow which fate is about to deliver. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"<I>My dear Mr. Arthur</I>: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +…I do not know what to make of it. His likeness to you is the +most unheard of thing. He is a little bigger and broader and he wears +his beard longer. That's all the difference. When he came on the boat +that night, it was like a hand clutching at my throat. And you know +how romantic Elsa is, for all that she believes she is prosaic. I am +certain that she sees you in this stranger who calls himself +Warrington. If only you had had the foresight to follow us, a sailing +or two later! And now they'll be together for four or five days, down +to Singapore. I don't like it. There's something uncanny in the +thing. What if she did forbid you to follow? There are some promises +women like men to break. You should have followed. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +Neither of us has the slightest idea what the man has done to exile +himself in this horrible land for ten years. He still behaves like a +gentleman, and he must have been one in the past. But he has never yet +spoken of his home, of his past, of his people. We don't even know +that Warrington is his name. And you know that's a sign that something +is wrong. I wonder if you have any relatives by the name of +Warrington? I begin to see that man's face in my dreams. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +I am worried. For Elsa is a puzzle. She has always been one to me. I +have been with her since her babyhood; and yet I know as little of what +goes on in her mind as a stranger would. Her father, you know, was a +soldier, of fierce loves and hates; her mother was a handsome statue. +Elsa has her father's scorn for convention and his independence, +clothed in her mother's impenetrable mask. Don't mistake me. Elsa is +the most adorable creature to me, and I worship her; but I worry about +her. I believe that it would be wise on your part to meet us in San +Francisco. Give my love and respect to your dear beautiful mother. +And marry Elsa as fast as ever you can." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +There followed some rambling comments on the weather, the rains and the +dust, the execrable food and the lack of drinking-water. The man who +eventually received this letter never reached that part of it. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The day of sailing was brilliant and warm. Elsa sat in a chair on the +deck of the tender, watching the passengers as they came aboard. A +large tourist party bustled about, rummaged among the heaps of luggage, +and shouted questions at their unhappy conductor. They wanted to know +where their staterooms were, grumbled about the size of the boat, +prophesied typhoons and wrecks, got in everybody's way, and ordered +other people's servants about. Never before had Elsa realized the +difficulties that beset the path of the personal conductor. Whatever +his salary was, he was entitled to it. It was all he got. No one +thought to offer him a little kindness. He was a human guide-book +which his fares opened and shut how and when they pleased. +</P> + +<P> +She saw Hooghly standing in the bow. A steamer-trunk, a kit-bag, a +bedding-bag, and the inevitable parrot-cage, reposed at his feet. He +was watching without interest or excitement the stream passing up and +down the gangplank. If his master came, very well; if he did not, he +would get off with the luggage. How she would have liked to question +him regarding his master! Elsa began to offer excuses for her interest +in Warrington. He was the counterpart of Arthur Ellison. He had made +his fortune against odds. He was a mystery. Why shouldn't he interest +her? Her mind was not ice, nor was her heart a stone. She pitied him, +always wondering what was back of it all. She would be a week in +Singapore; after that their paths would widen and become lost in the +future, and she would forget all about him, save in a shadowy way. She +would marry Arthur whether she loved him or not. She was certain that +he loved her. He had a comfortable income, not equal to hers, but +enough. He was, besides, her own sort; and there wasn't any mystery +about him at all. He was as clear to her as glass. For nearly ten +years she had known him, since his and his mother's arrival in the +small pretty Kentuckian town. What was the use of hunting a fancy? +Yes, she would marry Arthur. She was almost inclined to cable him to +meet her in San Francisco. +</P> + +<P> +That there was real danger in her interest in Warrington did not occur +to her. The fact that she was now willing to marry Arthur, without +analyzing the causes that had brought her to this decision, should have +warned her that she was dimly afraid of the stranger. Her glance fell +upon the mandarin's ring. She twirled it round undecidedly. Should +she wear it or put it away? The question remained suspended. She saw +Craig coming aboard; and she hid her face behind her magazine. Upon +second thought she let the magazine fall. She was quite confident that +that chapter was closed. Craig might be a scoundrel, but he was no +fool. +</P> + +<P> +A sharp blast from the tender's whistle drew her attention to the +gangplank. The last man to come aboard was Warrington. He appeared in +no especial hurry. He immediately sought James; and they stood +together chatting until the tender drew up alongside the steamer of the +British-India line. The two men shook hands finally. There seemed to +be some argument, in which Warrington bore down the servant. The +latter added a friendly tap on the Eurasian's shoulder. No one would +have suspected that the white man and his dark companion had been +"shipmates," in good times and in bad, for nearly a decade. Elsa, +watching them from her secure nook, admired the lack of effusiveness. +The dignity of the parting told her of the depth of feeling. +</P> + +<P> +An hour later they were heading for the delta. Elsa amused herself by +casting bits of bread to the gulls. Always they caught it on the wing, +no matter in what direction she threw it. Sometimes one would wing up +to her very hand for charity, its coral feet stretched out to meet the +quick back-play of the wings, its cry shallow and plaintive and +world-lonely. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly she became aware of a presence at her side. +</P> + +<P> +A voice said: "It was not quite fair of you." +</P> + +<P> +"What wasn't?" without turning her head. She brushed her hands free of +the crumbs. +</P> + +<P> +"You should have let me know that you were going to sail on this boat." +</P> + +<P> +"You would have run away, then." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" startled at her insight. +</P> + +<P> +"Because you are a little afraid of me." She faced him, without a +smile either on her lips or in her eyes. "Aren't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I am afraid of all things I do not quite understand." +</P> + +<P> +"There is not the least need in the world, Mr. Warrington. I am quite +harmless. My claws have been clipped. I am engaged to be married, and +am going home to decide the day." +</P> + +<P> +"He's a lucky man." He was astonished at his calm, for the blow went +deep. +</P> + +<P> +"Lucky? That is in the future. What a lonely thing a gull is!" +</P> + +<P> +"What a lonely thing a lonely man is!" he added. Poor fool! To have +dreamed so fair a dream for a single moment! He tried to believe that +he was glad that she had told him about the other man. The least this +information could do would be to give him better control of himself. +He had not been out in the open long enough entirely to master his +feelings. +</P> + +<P> +"Men ought not to be lonely," she said. "There's the excitement of +work, of mingling with crowds, of going when and where one pleases. A +woman is hemmed in by a thousand petty must-nots. She can't go out +after dark; she can't play whist or billiards, or sit at a table in the +open and drink and smoke and spin yarns. Woman's lot is wondering and +waiting at home. When I marry I suppose that I shall learn the truth +of that." +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps it was because he had been away from them so long and had lost +track of the moods of the feminine mind; but surely it could not be +possible that there was real happiness in this young woman's heart. +Its evidence was lacking in her voice, in her face, in her gestures. +He thought it over with a sigh. It was probably one of those marriages +of convenience, money on one side and social position on the other. He +felt sorry for the girl, sorry for the man; for it was not possible +that a girl like this one would go through life without experiencing +that flash of insanity that is called the grand passion. +</P> + +<P> +He loved her. He could lean against the rail, his shoulder lightly +touching hers, and calmly say to himself that he loved her. He could +calmly permit her to pass out of his life as a cloud passes down the +sea-rim. He hadn't enough, but this evil must befall him. Love! He +spread out his hands unconsciously. +</P> + +<P> +"What does that mean?" she asked, smiling now. "An invocation?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a sign to ward off evil," he returned. +</P> + +<P> +"From whom?" +</P> + +<P> +"From me." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you expecting evil?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am always preparing myself to meet it. There is one thing that will +always puzzle me. Why should you have asked the purser to pick out +such a tramp as I was? For I was a tramp." +</P> + +<P> +"I thought I explained that." +</P> + +<P> +"Not clearly." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, I shall make myself clear. The sight of you upon that +bank, the lights in your face, struck me as the strangest mystery that +could possibly confront me. I thought you were a ghost." +</P> + +<P> +"A ghost?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. So I asked the purser to introduce you to prove to my +satisfaction that you weren't a ghost. Line for line, height for +height, color for color, you are the exact counterpart of the man I am +going home to marry." +</P> + +<P> +She saw the shiver that ran over him; she saw his eyes widen; she saw +his hands knot in pressure over the rail. +</P> + +<P> +"The man you are going to marry!" he whispered. +</P> + +<P> +Abruptly, without explanation, he walked away, his shoulders settled, +his head bent. It was her turn to be amazed. What could this attitude +mean? +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Warrington!" she called. +</P> + +<P> +But he disappeared down the companionway. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A WOMAN'S REASON +</H3> + + +<P> +Elsa stared at the vacant doorway. She recognized only a sense of +bewilderment. This was not one of those childish flashes of rudeness +that had amused, annoyed and mystified her. She had hurt him. And +how? Her first explanation was instantly rejected as absurd, +impossible. They had known each other less than a fortnight. They had +exchanged opinions upon a thousand topics, but sentiment had had no +visible part in these encounters. They had been together three days on +the boat, and once he had taken tea with her in Rangoon. She could +find nothing save that she had been kind to him when he most needed +kindness, and that she had not been stupidly curious, only +sympathetically so. He interested her and held that interest because +he was a type unlike anything she had met outside the covers of a book. +He was so big and strong, and yet so boyish. He had given her visions +of the character which had carried his manhood through all these years +of strife and bitterness and temptation. And because of this she had +shown him that she had taken it for granted that whatever he had done +in the past had not put him beyond the pale of her friendship. There +had been no degrading entanglements, and women forgive or condone all +other transgressions. +</P> + +<P> +And what had she just said or done to put that look of dumb agony in +his face? She swung impatiently from the rail. She hated abstruse +problems, and not the least of these was that which would confront her +when she returned to America. She began to promenade the deck, still +cluttered with luggage over which the Lascar stewards were moiling. +Many a glance followed the supple pleasing figure of the girl as she +passed round and round the deck. Other promenaders stepped aside or +permitted her to pass between. The resolute uplift of the chin, and +the staring dark eyes which saw but inner visions, impressed them with +the fact that it would be wiser to step aside voluntarily. There were +some, however, who considered that they had as much right to the deck +as she. Before them she would stop shortly, and as a current breaks +and passes each side of an immovable object, they, too, gave way. +</P> + +<P> +The colonel fussed and fumed, and his three spinster charges drew their +pale lips into thinner paler lines. +</P> + +<P> +"These Americans are impossible!" +</P> + +<P> +"And it is scandalous the way the young women travel alone. One can +never tell what they are." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph! Brag and assertiveness. And there's that ruffian who came +down the river. What's he doing on the same boat? What?" +</P> + +<P> +Elsa became aware of their presence at the fifth turn. She nodded +absently. Being immersed in the sea of conjecture regarding +Warrington's behavior, the colonel's glare did not rouse in her the +sense of impending disaster. +</P> + +<P> +The first gong for dinner boomed. Elsa missed the clarion notes of the +bugle, so familiar to her ears on the Atlantic. The echoing wail of +the gong spoke in the voice of the East, of its dalliance, its content +to drift in a sargassa sea of entangling habits and desires, of its +fatalism and inertia. It did not hearten one or excite hunger. Elsa +would rather have lain down in her Canton lounging-chair. The gong +seemed out of place on the sea. Vaguely it reminded her of the railway +stations at home, where they beat the gong to entice passengers into +the evil-smelling restaurants, there to lose their patience and often +their trains. +</P> + +<P> +The dining-saloon held two long tables, only one of which was in +commission, the starboard. The saloon was unattractive, for staterooms +marshaled along each side of it; and one caught glimpses of tumbled +luggage and tousled berths. A punka stretched from one end of the +table to the other, and swung indolently to and fro, whining +mysteriously as if in protest, sometimes subsiding altogether (as the +wearied coolie above the lights fell asleep) and then flapping +hysterically (after a shout of warning from the captain) and setting +the women's hair awry. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa and Martha were seated somewhere between the head and the foot of +the table. The personally-conducted surrounded them, and gabbled +incessantly during the meal of what they had seen, of what they were +going to see, and of what they had missed by not going with the other +agency's party. Elsa's sympathy went out to the tired and faded +conductor. +</P> + +<P> +There was but one vacant chair; and as she saw Warrington nowhere, Elsa +assumed that this must be his reservation. She was rather glad that he +would be beyond conversational radius. She liked to talk to the +strange and lonely man, but she preferred to be alone with him when she +did so. Neither of them had yet descended to the level of trifles; and +Elsa had no wish to share with persons uninteresting and +uncompanionable her serious views of life. Sometimes she wondered if, +after all, she was not as old as the hills instead of twenty-five. +</P> + +<P> +She began as of old to study carelessly the faces of the diners and to +speculate as to their characters and occupations. Her negligent +observation roved from the pompous captain down to the dark picturesque +face of the man Craig. Upon him her glance, a mixture of contempt and +curiosity, rested. If he behaved himself and made no attempt to speak +to her, she was willing to declare a truce. In Rangoon the man had +been drunk, but on the Irrawaddy boat he had been sober enough. Craig +kept his eyes directed upon his food and did not offer her even a +furtive glance. +</P> + +<P> +He was not in a happy state of mind. He had taken passage the last +moment to avoid meeting again the one man he feared. For ten years +this man had been reckoned among the lost. Many believed him dead, and +Craig had wished it rather than believed. And then, to meet him face +to face in that sordid boarding-house had shaken the cool nerve of the +gambler. He was worried and bewildered. He had practically sent this +man to ruin. What would be the reprisal? He reached for a mangosteen +and ate the white pulpy contents, but without the customary relish. +The phrase kept running through his head: What would be the reprisal? +For men of his ilk never struck without expecting to be struck back. +Something must be done. Should he seek him and boldly ask what he +intended to do? Certainly he could not do much on board here, except +to denounce him to the officers as a professional gambler. And Paul +would scarcely do that since he, Craig, had a better shot in his gun. +He could tell who Paul was and what he had done. Bodily harm was what +he really feared. +</P> + +<P> +He had seen Elsa, but he had worked out that problem easily. She was +sure to say nothing so long as he let her be; and with the episode of +the hat-pin still fresh in his memory, he assuredly would keep his +distance. He had made a mistake, and was not likely to repeat it. +</P> + +<P> +But Paul! He finished his dessert and went off to the stuffy little +smoke-room, and struggled with a Burma cheroot. Paul was a smoker, and +sooner or later he would drop in. There would be no beating about the +bush on his part. If it was to be war, all right; a truce, well and +good. But he wanted to know, and he was not going to let fear stand in +the way. He waited in vain for his man that night. +</P> + +<P> +And so did Elsa. She felt indignant at one moment and hurt at another. +The man's attitude was inexplicable; there was neither rhyme nor reason +in it. The very fact that she could not understand made her wonder +march beside her even in her dreams that night. She began to feel +genuinely sorry that he had appeared above her horizon. He had +disturbed her poise; he had thrown her accepted views of life into an +entirely different angle, kaleidoscopically. And always that +supernatural likeness to the other man. Elsa began to experience a +sensation like that which attends the imagination of one in the clutch +of a nightmare: she hung in mid-air: she could neither retreat nor go +forward. Just before she retired she leaned over the rail, watching +the reflection of the stars twist and shiver on the smooth water. +Suddenly she listened. She might have imagined it, for at night the +ears deceive. "Jah, jah!" Somewhere from below came the muffled +plaint of Rajah. +</P> + +<P> +Next day, at luncheon, the chair was still vacant. Elsa became +alarmed. Perhaps he was ill. She made inquiries, regardless of the +possible misinterpretation her concern might be given by others. Mr. +Warrington had had his meals served in his cabin, but the steward +declared that the gentleman was not ill, only tired and irritable, and +that he amused himself with a trained parrakeet. +</P> + +<P> +All day long the sea lay waveless and unrippled, a sea of brass and +lapis-lazuli; brass where the sun struck and lapis-lazuli in the shadow +of the lazy swells. Schools of flying-fish broke fan-wise in flashes +of silver, and porpoise sported alongside. And warmer and warmer grew +the air. +</P> + +<P> +Starboard was rigged up for cricket, and the ship's officers and some +of the passengers played the game until the first gong. Elsa grumbled +to Martha. There was little enough space to walk in as it was without +the men taking over the whole side of the ship and cheating her out of +a glorious sunset. Martha grew troubled and perplexed. If there was +one phase of character unknown to her in Elsa it was irritability; and +here she was, finding fault like any ordinary tourist. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is Mr. Warrington?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. I haven't seen him since yesterday." Elsa dropped her +book petulantly. "I am weary of these namby-pamby stories." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I thought you admired that author." +</P> + +<P> +"Not to-day at any rate. Silly twaddle." +</P> + +<P> +Martha's eyes had a hopeless look in them as she asked: "Elsa, what is +the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know, Martha. I believe I should like to lose my temper +utterly. It might be a great relief." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the climate." +</P> + +<P> +"It may be. But it's my belief I'm irritable because I do not know my +own mind. I hate the stuffy stateroom, the food, the captain." +</P> + +<P> +"The captain?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Nothing seems to disturb his conceit. To-night we sleep on +deck, the starboard side. At five o'clock we have to get up and go +inside again so they can holystone the deck. And I am always soundest +asleep at that time. Doubtless, I shall be irritable all day +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Sleep up here on deck?" horrified. +</P> + +<P> +"That, or suffocate below." +</P> + +<P> +"But the men?" +</P> + +<P> +"They sleep on the port side." Elsa laughed maliciously. "Don't +worry. Nobody minds." +</P> + +<P> +"I hate the East," declared Martha vindictively. "Everything is so +slack. It just brings out the shiftlessness in everybody." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps that is what ails me; I am growing shiftless. When I came on +board I decided to marry Arthur, and have done with the pother. Now I +am at the same place as when I left home. I don't want to marry +anybody. Have you noticed that fellow Craig?" +</P> + +<P> +"What will you do if he speaks?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have half a dozen good hat-pins left," dryly. +</P> + +<P> +"I hate to hear you talk like that." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the East.… There goes that hateful gong again. Soup, +chicken, curry, rice and piccalilli. I am going to live on plantains +and mangosteens. I'm glad we had sense enough to order that distilled +water. I should die if I had to drink any more soda. I wish I had +booked straight through. I shall be bored to death in Japan, much as I +wish to see the cherry-blossom dance. Probably I shan't enjoy +anything. Come; we'll go down as we are to dinner, and watch the +ridiculous captain and his fan-bearer. The punka will at least give us +a breath of fresh air. There doesn't seem to be any on deck. One +regrets Darjeeling." +</P> + +<P> +Martha followed her young mistress into the dining-saloon; she was +anxious and upset. Where would this mood end? With a glance of relief +she found Warrington's chair still vacant. +</P> + +<P> +The saloon had an air of freshness to-night. All the men were in drill +or pongee, and so receptive is the imagination that the picture robbed +the room of half its heat. To and fro the punka flapped; the pulleys +creaked and the ropes scraped above the sound of knives and forks and +spoons. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa ate little besides fruit. She spoke scarcely a word to Martha, +and none to those around her. Thus, she missed the frown of the +colonel and the lifted brows of the spinsters, and the curious glances +of the tourists. The passenger-list had not yet come from the ship's +press, so Elsa's name was practically unknown. But in some +unaccountable manner it had become known that she had been making +inquiries in regard to the gentleman in cabin 78, who had thus far +remained away from the table. Ship life is a dull life, and gossip is +about the only thing that makes it possible to live through the day. +It was quite easy to couple this unknown aloof young woman and the +invisible man, and then to wait for results. The average tourist is +invariably building a romance around those persons who interest them, +attractively or repellently. They have usually saturated their minds +with impossible impressions of the East, acquired long before they +visit it, and refuse to accept actualities. It would have amused Elsa +had she known the interest she had already created if not inspired. +Her beauty and her apparent indifference to her surroundings were +particularly adapted to the romantic mood of her fellow-travelers. Her +own mind was so broad and generous, so high and detached, that so +sordid a thing as "an affair" never entered her thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +As she refused course after course, a single phrase drummed incessantly +through her tired brain. She was not going to marry Arthur; never, +never in this world. She did not love him, and this was to be final. +She would cable him from Singapore. But she felt no elation in having +arrived at this determination. In fact, there was a tingle of defiance +in her unwritten, unspoken ultimatum. +</P> + +<P> +That night Craig found it insupportable in the cabin below; so he +ordered his steward to bring up his bedding. He had lain down for half +an hour, grown restless, and had begun to walk the deck in his +bath-slippers. He had noted the still white figure forward, where the +cross-rail marks the waist. As he approached, Craig discovered his +man. He hesitated only a moment; then he touched Warrington's arm. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington turned his dull eyes upon his ancient enemy. "So it is you? +I understood you were on board. Well?" uncompromisingly. +</P> + +<P> +"I've been looking for you. Bygones are bygones, and what's done can't +be undone by punching a fellow's head. I'm not looking for trouble," +went on Craig, gaining assurance. "I am practically down and out +myself. I can't go back to the States for a while. All I want is to +get to Hongkong in peace for the April races. What stand are you going +to take on board here? That's all I want to know." +</P> + +<P> +"It would give me great pleasure, Craig, to take you by the scruff of +your neck and drop you overboard. But as you say, what's been done +can't be remedied by bashing in a man's head. Well, here you are, +since you ask. If you speak to me, if I catch you playing cards or +auctioneering a pool, if you make yourself obnoxious to any of the +passengers, I promise to give you the finest thrashing you ever had, +the moment we reach Penang. If you don't go ashore there, I'll do it +in Singapore. Have I made myself clear?" +</P> + +<P> +"That's square enough, Paul," said the gambler resignedly. There +wasn't much money on board these two-by-four boats, anyhow, so he +wasn't losing much. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington leaned forward. "Paul? You said Paul?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, yes," wonderingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Better go." +</P> + +<P> +"All right." Craig returned to his mattress. "Now, what made him curl +up like that because I called him Paul? Bah!" He dug a hole in his +pillow and tried to sleep. +</P> + +<P> +"Paul!" murmured Warrington. +</P> + +<P> +He stared down at the flashes of phosphorescence, blindly. The man had +called him Paul. After ten years to learn the damnable treachery of +it! Suddenly he clenched his hand and struck the rail. He would go +back. All his loyalty, all his chivalry, had gone for naught. This +low rascal had called him Paul. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWO SHORT WEEKS +</H3> + + +<P> +When Elsa stepped out of the companionway the next morning she winced +and shut her eyes. The whole arc of heaven seemed hung with +fire-opals; east, west, north and south, whichever way she looked, +there was dazzling iridescence. The long flowing swells ran into the +very sky, for there was visible no horizon. Gold-leaf and opals, +thought Elsa. What a wonderful world! What a versatile mistress was +nature! Never two days alike, never two human beings; animate and +inanimate, all things were singular. She paused at the rail and +glanced down the rusty black side of the ship and watched the thread of +frothing water that clutched futilely at the red water-line. Never two +living things alike, in all the millions and millions swarming the +globe. What a marvel! Even though this man Warrington and Arthur +looked alike, they were not so. In heart and mind they were as +different as two days. +</P> + +<P> +She began her usual walk, and in passing the smoke-room door on the +port side she met Warrington coming out. How deep-set his eyes were! +He was about to go on, but she looked straight into his eyes, and he +stopped. She laughed, and held out her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"I really believe you were going to snub me." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you haven't given me up?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind what I have or have not done. Walk with me. I am going to +talk plainly to you. If what I say is distasteful, don't hesitate to +interrupt me. You interest me, partly because you act like a boy, +partly because you are a man." +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't any manners." +</P> + +<P> +"They need shaking up and readjusting. I have just been musing over a +remarkable thing, that no two objects are alike. Even the most +accurate machinery can not produce two nails without variation. So it +is with humans. You look so like the man I know back home that it is +impossible not to ponder over you." She smiled into his face. "Why +should nature produce two persons who are mistaken for each other, and +yet give them two souls, two intellects, totally different?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have often wondered." +</P> + +<P> +"Is nature experimenting, or is she slyly playing a trick on humanity?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us call it a trick; by all means, let us call it that." +</P> + +<P> +"Your tone …" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes," impatiently; "you are going to say that it sounds bitter. +But why should another man have a face like mine, when we have nothing +in common? What right has he to look like me?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is a puzzle," Elsa admitted. +</P> + +<P> +"This man who looks like me—I have no doubt it affects you +oddly—probably lives in ease; never knew what a buffet meant, never +knew what a care was, has everything he wants; in fact, a gentleman of +your own class, whose likes and dislikes are cut from the same pattern +as your own. Well, that is as it should be. A woman such as you are +ought to marry an equal, a man whose mind and manners are fitted to the +high place he holds in your affection and in your world. How many +worlds there are, man-made and heaven-made, and each as deadly as the +other, as cold and implacable! To you, who have been kind to me, I +have acted like a fool. The truth is, I've been skulking. My vanity +was hurt. I had the idea that it was myself and not my resemblance +that appealed to your interest. What makes you trust me?" bluntly; and +he stopped as he asked the question. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I don't know," blankly. Instantly she recovered herself. "But I +do trust you." She walked on, and perforce he fell into her stride. +</P> + +<P> +"It is because you trust the other man." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks. That is it precisely; and for nearly two weeks I've been +trying to solve that very thing." +</P> + +<P> +After a pause he asked: "Have you ever read Reade's <I>Singleheart and +Doubleface</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. But what bearing has it upon our discussion?" +</P> + +<P> +"None that you would understand," evasively. His tongue had nearly +tripped him. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of this, that I shall never understand women." +</P> + +<P> +"Do not try to," she advised. "All those men who knew most about women +were the unhappiest." +</P> + +<P> +They made a round in silence. Passengers were beginning to get into +their deck-chairs; and Elsa noted the backs of the many novels that +ranged from the pure chill altitudes of classic and demi-classics down +to the latest popular yarn. Many an eye peered over the tops of the +books; and envy and admiration and curiosity brought their shafts to +bear upon her. It was something to create these variant expressions of +interest. She was oblivious. +</P> + +<P> +"We stop at Penang?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Five or six hours, long enough to see the town." +</P> + +<P> +"We went directly from Singapore to Colombo, so we missed the town +coming out. I should like to see that cocoanut plantation of yours." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too far inland. Besides, I am a <I>persona non grata</I> there." +As, indeed, he was. His heart burned with shame and rage at the +recollection of the last day there. Three or four times, during the +decade, the misfortune of being found out had fallen to his lot, and +always when he was employed at something worth while. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa discreetly veered into another channel. "You will go back to +Italy, I suppose. How cheaply and delightfully one may live there, +when one knows something of the people! I had the Villa Julia one +spring. You know it; Sorrento. Is there anything more stunning than +oranges in the rain?" irrelevantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I shall go to Italy once more. But first I am going home." He +was not aware of the grimness that entered his voice as he made this +statement. +</P> + +<P> +"I am glad," she said. "After all, that is the one place." +</P> + +<P> +"If you are happy enough to find a welcome." +</P> + +<P> +"And you will see your mother again?" +</P> + +<P> +He winced. "Yes. Do you know, it does not seem possible that I met +you but two short weeks ago? I have never given much thought to this +so-called reincarnation; but somewhere in the past ages I knew you; +only …" +</P> + +<P> +"Only what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only, you weren't going home to marry the other fellow." +</P> + +<P> +She stopped at the rail. "Who knows?" she replied ruminatingly. +"Perhaps I am not going to marry him." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you love him?… I beg your pardon, Miss Chetwood!" +</P> + +<P> +"You're excused." +</P> + +<P> +"I still need some training. I have been alone so much that I haven't +got over the trick of speaking my thoughts aloud." +</P> + +<P> +"No harm has been done. The fault lay with me." +</P> + +<P> +"I used to learn whole pages from stories and recite them to the trees +or to the parrot. It kept me from going mad, I believe. In camp I +handled coolies; none of whom could speak a word of English. I didn't +have James with me at that time. During the day I was busy enough +seeing that they did their work well. When things ran smoothly I'd +take out a book and study. At night I'd stand before my tent and +declaim. I could not read at night. If I lighted a lantern the tent +would become alive with abominable insects. So I'd declaim, merely to +hear the sound of my voice. Afterward I learned that the coolies +looked upon me as a holy man. They believed I was nightly offering +prayers to one of my gods. Perhaps I was; the god of reason. In the +mornings I used to have to shake my boots. Frogs and snakes would get +in during the night, the latter in search of the former. Lively times! +All that seems like a bad dream now." +</P> + +<P> +"And how is Rajah?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ugly as ever." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going to take him with you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wherever I go. Looks silly, doesn't it, for a man of my size to tote +around a parrot-cage? But I don't care what people think. Life is too +short. It's what you think of yourself that really counts." +</P> + +<P> +"That is one of the rules I have laid down for myself. If only we all +might go through life with that idea! There wouldn't be any gossip or +scandal, then." +</P> + +<P> +"Some day I am going to tell you why I have lived over here all these +years." +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't, not if it hurts you." +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, there's a kind of happiness in unburdening one's +conscience. I called that day in Rangoon for the express purpose of +telling you everything, but I couldn't in the presence of a third +person." +</P> + +<P> +"I do not demand it." +</P> + +<P> +"But it's a duty I owe to myself," he insisted gravely. "Besides, it +is not impossible that you may hear the tale from other lips; and I +rather prefer to tell it myself." +</P> + +<P> +"But always remember that I haven't asked you." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you afraid to hear it?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. What I am trying to convince you with is the fact that I trust +you, and that I give you my friendship without reservations." +</P> + +<P> +He laid his hand on hers, strongly. "God bless you for that!" +</P> + +<P> +She liked him because there was lacking in his words and tones that +element of flattery so distasteful to her. Men generally entertain the +fallacy that a woman demands homage, first to her physical appearance, +next to her taste in gowns, and finally to her intellect, when in the +majority of cases it is the other way around. Elsa knew that she was +beautiful, but it no longer interested her to hear men state the fact, +knowing as she did that it was simply to win her good will. +</P> + +<P> +"Would you like to sit next to me at the table?" +</P> + +<P> +"May I?" eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll have Martha change her chair for yours. Do you speak Italian?" +</P> + +<P> +"Enough for ordinary conversation. It is a long time since I have +spoken the tongue." +</P> + +<P> +"Then, let us talk it as much as possible at the table, if only to +annoy those around us." +</P> + +<P> +He laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"I was educated in Rome," she added. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you religious?" +</P> + +<P> +Elsa shrugged. "At present I don't know just what my religion is. +Scandalous, isn't it? But for many weeks a thousand gods have beset +me. I've got to get back to civilization in order to readjust my +views. At luncheon, then. I am beginning to feel snoozy." +</P> + +<P> +Craig had been eying the two, evilly. Set the wind in that direction? +An idea found soil in his mind, and grew. He would put a kink, as he +vulgarly expressed it, into that affair. He himself wasn't good enough +for her. The little cat should see. Warrington's ultimatum of the +night before burned and rankled, and a man of Craig's caliber never +accepted the inevitable without meditating revenge, revenge of a +roundabout character, such as would insure his physical safety. The +man could not play fair; there was nothing either in his heart or in +his mind upon which square play could find foothold. There was nothing +loyal or generous or worthy in the man. There is something admirable +in a great rascal; but a sordid one is a pitiful thing. Craig entered +the smoke-room and ordered a peg. At luncheon he saw them sitting +together, and he smothered a grin. Couldn't play cards, or engineer a +pool, eh? All right. There were other amusements. +</P> + +<P> +That afternoon Martha chanced to sit down in a vacant chair, just out +of the range of the cricketers. She lolled back and idly watched the +batsmen. And then she heard voices. +</P> + +<P> +"She is Elsa Chetwood. I remember seeing her pictures. She is a +society girl, very wealthy, but something of a snob." +</P> + +<P> +Martha's ears tingled. A snob, indeed, because she minded principally +her own affairs! +</P> + +<P> +"They think because they belong to the exclusive sets they can break as +many laws of convention as they please. Well, they can't. There's +always some scandal in the papers about them. There was some rumor of +her being engaged to the Duke of What's-his-name, but it fell through +because she wouldn't settle a fortune on him. Only sensible thing she +ever did, probably." +</P> + +<P> +"And did you notice who sat next to her at luncheon?" +</P> + +<P> +"A gentleman with a past, Mr. Craig tells me." +</P> + +<P> +"I dare say Miss Chetwood has a past, too, if one but knew. To travel +alone like this!" +</P> + +<P> +Busybodies! Martha rose indignantly and returned to the other side of +the deck. Meddlers? What did they know? To peck like daws at one so +far above them, so divinely far above them! Her natural impulse had +been to turn upon them and give them the tongue-lashing they deserved. +But she had lived too long with Elsa not to have learned +self-repression, and that the victory is always with those who stoop +not to answer. Nevertheless, she was alarmed. Elsa must be warned. +</P> + +<P> +All Elsa said was: "My dear Martha, in a few days they and their +tittle-tattle will pass out of my existence, admitting that they have +ever entered it. I repeat, my life is all my own, and that I am +concerned only with those whom I wish to retain as my friends. Gossip +is the shibboleth of the mediocre, and, thank heaven, I am not +mediocre." +</P> + +<P> +While dressing for dinner Elsa discovered a note on the floor of her +cabin. The writing was unfamiliar. She opened it and sought first the +signature. Slowly her cheeks reddened, and her lips twisted in +disdain. She did not read the note, but the natural keenness of her +eye caught the name of Warrington. She tore the letter into scraps +which she tossed out the port-hole. What a vile thing the man was! He +had had the effrontery to sign his name. He must be punished. +</P> + +<P> +It was as late as ten o'clock when she and Warrington went up to the +bow and gazed down the cut-water. Never had she seen anything so +weirdly beautiful as the ribbons of phosphorescence which fell away on +each side, luminously blue and flaked with dancing starlike particles, +through which, ever and anon, flying-fish, dripping with the fire, spun +outward like tongues of flame. +</P> + +<P> +"Beautiful, beautiful! This is the one spot on the ship. And in all +my travels I have never seen this before. All silence and darkness in +front of us, and beneath, that wonderful fire. Thanks for bringing me +here. I should not have known what I was missing." +</P> + +<P> +"Often, when I was stoking, during an hour or so of relief, I used to +steal up here and look down at the mystery, for it will ever be a +mystery to me. And I found comfort." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you religious, too?" +</P> + +<P> +"In one thing, that God demands that every man shall have faith in +himself." +</P> + +<P> +How deep his voice was as compared to Arthur's! Arthur. Elsa frowned +at the rippling magic. Why was she invariably comparing the two men? +What significance did it have upon the future, since, at the present +moment, it was not understandable? +</P> + +<P> +"There is a man on board by the name of Craig," she said. "I advise +you to beware of him." +</P> + +<P> +"Who introduced him to you?" The anger in his voice was very agreeable +to her ears. "Who dared to?" +</P> + +<P> +"No one. He introduced himself on the way up to Mandalay. In Rangoon +I closed the acquaintance, such as it was, with the aid of a hat-pin." +</P> + +<P> +"A hat-pin! What did he say to you?" roughly. +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing that I care to repeat.… Stop! I am perfectly able to +take care of myself. I do not need any valiant champion." +</P> + +<P> +"He has spoken to you about me?" +</P> + +<P> +"A letter. I saw only his name and yours. I tore it up and threw it +overboard. Let us go back. Somehow, everything seems spoiled. I am +sorry I spoke." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall see that he does not bother you again," ominously. +</P> + +<P> +They returned to the promenade deck in silence. When Warrington found +Craig the man was helplessly intoxicated. He lay sprawled upon his +mattress, and the kick administered did not stir him. Warrington +looked down at the sodden wretch moodily. +</P> + +<P> +Craig's intoxication was fortunate for him, otherwise he would have +been roughly handled; for there was black murder in the heart of the +broken man standing above him. Warrington relaxed his clenched hands. +This evil-breathing thing at his feet was the primal cause of it all, +he and a man's damnable weakness. Of what use his new-found fortune? +Better for him had he stayed in the jungle, better have died there, +hugging his poor delusion. Oh, abysmal fool that he had been! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE CUT DIRECT +</H3> + + +<P> +It was after five in the morning when the deckhands tried to get Craig +to go down to his room. With the dull obstinacy of a drunken man, he +refused to stir; he was perfectly satisfied to stay where he was. The +three brown men stood irresolutely and helplessly around the man. +Every one had gone below. The hose was ready to flush the deck. It +did not matter; he, Craig, would not budge. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave me alone, you black beggars!" +</P> + +<P> +"But, Sahib," began one of the Lascars, who spoke English. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't talk to me. I tell you, get out!" striking at their feet with +his swollen hands. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington, who had not lain down at all, but who had wandered about +the free decks like some lost soul from <I>The Flying Dutchman</I>, +Warrington, hearing voices, came out of the smoke-room. A glance was +sufficient. A devil's humor took possession of him. He walked over. +</P> + +<P> +"Get up," he said quietly. +</P> + +<P> +Craig blinked up at him from out of puffed eyes. "Go to the devil! +Fine specimen to order me about." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you get up peacefully? These men have work to do." +</P> + +<P> +Craig was blind to his danger. "What's that to me? Go away, all of +you, to the devil, for all I care. I'll get up when I get damn good +and ready. Not before." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington picked up the hose. +</P> + +<P> +"Sahib!" cried the Lascar in protest. +</P> + +<P> +"Be still!" ordered Warrington. "Craig, for the last time, will you +get up?" +</P> + +<P> +"No!" +</P> + +<P> +Warrington turned the key, and a deluge of cold salt-water struck Craig +full in the chest. He tried to sit up, but was knocked flat. Then he +rolled over on the deck, choking and sputtering. He crawled on his +hands and knees until he reached the chair-rail, which he clutched +desperately, drawing himself up. The pitiless stream never swerved. +It smacked against the flat of his back like the impact of a hand. +</P> + +<P> +"For God's sake stop it!" cried Craig, half strangled. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you go below?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes! Turn it away!" sober enough by now. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington switched off the key, his face humorless, though there was a +sparkle of grim humor in his sleep-hungry eyes. Craig leaned against +the deck-house, shaking and panting. +</P> + +<P> +"I would I could get at your soul as easily." Warrington threw aside +the hose, and the Lascars sprang upon it, not knowing what the big +blond Sahib might do next. +</P> + +<P> +Craig turned, venom on his tongue. He spoke a phrase. In an instant, +cold with fury, Warrington had him by the throat. +</P> + +<P> +"You low base cur!" he said, shaking the man until he resembled a +manikin on wires. "Had you been sober last night, I'd have thrown you +into the sea. Honorless dog! You wrote to Miss Chetwood. You +insulted her, too. If you wish to die, speak to her again." +</P> + +<P> +Craig struggled fiercely to free himself. He wasn't sure, by the look +of the other man's eyes, that he wasn't going to be killed then and +there. There was something cave-mannish and cruel in the way +Warrington worried the man, shaking him from side to side and forcing +him along the deck. Suddenly he released his hold, adding a buffet on +the side of the head that sent Craig reeling and sobbing into the +companionway. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, I say, what's the row?" +</P> + +<P> +Warrington looked over his shoulder. The call had come from the first +officer. +</P> + +<P> +"A case of drunkenness," coolly. +</P> + +<P> +"But I say, we can't have brawling on deck, sir. You ought to know +that. If the man's conduct was out of order, you should have brought +your complaint before the captain or me. We really can't have any +rowing, sir." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington replied gravely: "Expediency was quite necessary." +</P> + +<P> +"What's this?" The officer espied the soaked bedding. "Who turned the +hose here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I did," answered Warrington. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall have to report that to the captain, sir. It's against the +rules aboard this steamship for passengers to touch anything of that +sort." The officer turned and began violently to abuse the bewildered +Lascars. +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't bullyrag them, sir," interposed Warrington. "They +protested. I helped myself. After all, perhaps it was none of my +affair; but the poor devils didn't know what to do." +</P> + +<P> +The officer ordered the Lascars to take the mattress and throw it on +the boat-deck, where it would dry quickly when the sun rose. Already +the world was pale with light, and a slash of crimson lay low on the +rim of the east. +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't like to be disagreeable, sir," said the officer. "I dare +say the man made himself obnoxious; but I'm obliged to report anything +of this order." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be alarmed on my account. My name is Warrington, cabin 78. +Good morning." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington entered the companionway; and a moment later he heard the +water hiss along the deck. He was not in the least sorry for what he +had done; still, he regretted the act. Craig was a beast, and there +was no knowing what he might do or say. But the hose had been simply +irresistible. He chuckled audibly on the way down to his cabin. There +was one thing of which he was assured; Craig would keep out of his way +in the future. The exhilaration of the struggle suddenly left him, and +he realized that he was dreadfully tired and heart-achy. Still +dressed, he flung himself in his bunk, and immediately fell into a +heavy dreamless sleep that endured until luncheon. +</P> + +<P> +Shortly after luncheon something happened down in the engine-room; and +the chief engineer said that they would have to travel at half speed to +Penang. In other words, they would not make the port to-day, Sunday, +but to-morrow. Another day with this mysterious tantalizing woman, +thought Warrington. He went in search of her, but before he found her, +he was summoned to the captain's cabin. Warrington presented himself, +mildly curious. The captain nodded to a stool. +</P> + +<P> +"Sit down, Mr. Warrington. Will you have a cheroot?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, thanks." +</P> + +<P> +A crackle of matches followed. +</P> + +<P> +"This fellow Craig has complained about his treatment by you this +morning. I fancy you were rather rough with him." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps. He was very drunk and abusive, and he needed cold water more +than anything else. I once knew the man." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! But it never pays to manhandle that particular brand of tippler. +They always retaliate in some way." +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose he has given you an excerpt from my history?" +</P> + +<P> +"He says you can not return to the States." +</P> + +<P> +"I am returning on the very first boats I can find." +</P> + +<P> +"Then he was lying?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not entirely. I do not know what he has told you, and I really do not +care. The fact is, Craig is a professional gambler, and I warned him +not to try any of his tricks on board. It soured him." +</P> + +<P> +"And knowing myself that he was a professional, I gave no weight to his +accusations. Besides, it is none of my business. The worst scoundrel +unhung has certain rights on my ship. If he behaves himself, that is +sufficient for me. Now, what Craig told me doesn't matter; but it +matters that I warned him. A word to any one else, and I'll drop him +at Penang to-morrow, to get out the best way he can. Ships passing +there this time of year are generally full-up. Will you have a peg?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, thanks. But I wish to say that it is very decent of you." +Warrington rose. +</P> + +<P> +"I have traveled too long not to recognize a man when I see him. Do +you play cricket?" asked the captain, his gaze critically covering the +man before him. +</P> + +<P> +"No; I regret I'm not familiar with the game." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! Well, drop in any night after ten, if you care to." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be glad to accept your hospitality." +</P> + +<P> +Outside, Warrington mused on the general untruths of first impressions. +He had written down the captain as a pompous, self-centered individual. +One never could judge a man until he came to the scratch. It heartened +him to find that there was a man on board who respected his misfortune, +whether he believed it or not. He sought Elsa, and as they promenaded, +lightly recounted the episode of the morning. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa expressed her delight in laughter that was less hearty than +malicious. How clearly she could see the picture! And then, the +ever-recurring comparisons: Arthur would have gone by, Arthur would not +have bothered himself, for he detested scenes and fisticuffs. How few +real men she had met, men who walked through life naturally, unfettered +by those self-applied manacles called "What will people say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go up to the bow," she invited. "I've a little story myself to +tell." +</P> + +<P> +They clambered down and up the ladders, over the windlass and +anchor-chains which a native was busily painting. A school of porpoise +were frolicking under the cutwater. <I>Plop</I>! <I>plop</I>! they went; and +sometimes one would turn sidewise and look up roguishly with his +twinkling seal-like eyes. <I>Plop</I>! <I>plop</I>! Finally all save one sank +gracefully out of sight. The laggard crisscrossed the cutwater a dozen +times, just to show the watchers how extremely clever he was; and then, +with a <I>plop</I>! that was louder than any previous one, he vanished into +the deeps. +</P> + +<P> +"I love these Oriental seas," said Elsa, with her arms on the rail and +her chin resting upon them. She wore no hat, and her hair shimmered in +the sun and shivered in the wind. +</P> + +<P> +"And yet they are the most treacherous of all seas. There's not a +cloud in sight; in two hours from now we may be in the heart of a +winter storm. Happily, they are rarities along this coast; so you will +not have the excitement of a shipwreck." +</P> + +<P> +"I am grateful for that. Mercy! Think of being marooned on a desert +island with the colonel and his three spinsters! Proprieties, from +morning until night. And the chattering tourists! Heaven forfend!" +</P> + +<P> +"You had a story to tell me," he suggested. His heart was hot within +him. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and hold her there forever. +But the barrier of wasted opportunities stood between. How delicately +beautiful she was: Bernini's Daphne. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes; I had almost forgotten." She stood up and felt for wandering +strands of hair. "I find the world more amusing day by day. I ought +to feel hurt, but I am only amused. I spoke to the colonel this +morning, merely to say howdy-do. He stared me in the eye and +de-lib-erately turned his back to me." +</P> + +<P> +"The doddering old—-" +</P> + +<P> +"There, there! It isn't worth getting angry about." +</P> + +<P> +"But, don't you understand? It's all because of me. Simply because +you have been kind to a poor devil, they start in to snub you, you! +I'll go back to my old seat at the table. You mustn't walk with me any +more." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be silly. If you return to your chair, if you no longer walk +with me, they'll find a thousand things to talk about. Since I do not +care, why should you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't I make it clear to you?" desperately. +</P> + +<P> +"I see with reasonable eyes, if that is what you mean. The people I +know, mine own people, understand Elsa Chetwood." +</P> + +<P> +So her name was Elsa? He repeated it over and over in his mind. +</P> + +<P> +She continued her exposition. "There are but few, gently born. They +are generous and broad-minded. They could not be mine own people +otherwise. They are all I care about. I shun mediocrity as I would +the plague. I refuse to permit it to touch me, either with words or +with deeds. The good opinion of those I love is dear to me; as for the +rest of the world!" She snapped her fingers to illustrate how little +she cared. +</P> + +<P> +"I am a man under a cloud, to be avoided." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps that cloud has a silver lining," with a gentle smile. "I do +not believe you did anything wrong, premeditatively. All of us, one +time or another, surrender to wild impulse. Perhaps in the future +there awaits for me such a moment. I cannot recollect the name of +Warrington in a <I>cause célèbre</I>," thoughtfully. +</P> + +<P> +He could only gaze at her dumbly. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you suppose there is a vast difference between you and this man +Craig? Could you commit the petty crime of cheating at cards, of +taking advantage of a woman's kindness, of betraying a man's +misfortune? I do not think you could. No, Mr. Warrington, I do not +care what they say, on board here or elsewhere." +</P> + +<P> +"My name is not Warrington," finding his voice. God in heaven, what +would happen when she found out what his name was? "But my first name +is Paul." +</P> + +<P> +"Paul. I have had my suspicions that your name was not Warrington. +But tell me nothing more. What good would it do? I did not read that +man's letter. I merely noted your name and his. You doubtless knew +him somewhere in the past." +</P> + +<P> +"Might there not be danger in your kindness to me?" +</P> + +<P> +"In what way?" +</P> + +<P> +"A man under a cloud is often reckless and desperate. There is always +an invisible demon calling out to him: What's the use of being good? +You are the first woman of your station who has treated me as a human +being; I do not say as an equal. You have given me back some of my +self-respect. It throws my world upside down. It's a heady wine for +an abstemious man. Don't you realize that you are a beautiful woman?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked up into his eyes quickly, but she saw nothing there +indicating flattery, only a somber gravity. +</P> + +<P> +"I should be silly to deny it. I know that had I been a frump, the +colonel would not have snubbed me. I wonder why it is that in life +beauty in a woman is always looked upon with suspicion?" +</P> + +<P> +"Envy provokes that." +</P> + +<P> +She resumed her inclination against the rail again. "After Singapore +it is probable that we shall not meet again. I admit, in my world, I +could not walk upon this free and easy ground. I should have to ask +about your antecedents, what you have done, all about you, in fact. +Then, we should sit in judgment." +</P> + +<P> +"And condemn me, off-hand. That would be perfectly right." +</P> + +<P> +"But I might be one of the dissenting judges." +</P> + +<P> +"That is because you are one woman in a thousand." +</P> + +<P> +"No; I simply have a mind of my own, and often prefer to be guided by +it. I am not a sheep." +</P> + +<P> +Silence. The lap-lap of the water, the long slow rise and fall, and +the dartling flying-fish apparently claimed their attention. +</P> + +<P> +But Warrington saw nothing save the danger, the danger to himself and +to her. At any moment he might fling his arms around her, without his +having the power to resist. She called to him as nothing in the world +had called before. But she trusted him, and because of this he +resolutely throttled the recurring desires. She was right. He had +scorned what she had termed as woman's instinct. She had read him with +a degree of accuracy. In the eyes of God he was a good man, a +dependable man; but he was not impossibly good. He was human enough to +want her, human enough to appreciate the danger in which she stood of +him. He was determined not to fail her. When she went back to her own +world she would carry an unsullied memory of him. But, before God, he +should not have her. +</P> + +<P> +"Why did you do that?" she asked whimsically. +</P> + +<P> +"Do what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut your jaws with a snap." +</P> + +<P> +"I was not conscious of the act." +</P> + +<P> +"But you were thinking strongly about something." +</P> + +<P> +"I was. Tell me about the man who looks like me." His gaze roved out +to sea, to the white islands of vapor low-lying in the east. "In what +respect does he resemble me?" +</P> + +<P> +"His hair is yellow, his eyes are blue, and he smiles the same way you +do." +</P> + +<P> +He felt the lump rise and swell in his throat. +</P> + +<P> +"If you stood before a mirror you would see him. But there the +resemblance ends." +</P> + +<P> +"You say that sadly. Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did I? Well, perhaps I was thinking strongly, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Is he a man who does things?" a note of strained curiosity in his +tones. Ten years! +</P> + +<P> +"In what way do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Does he work in the world, does he invent, build, finance?" +</P> + +<P> +Mayhap her eyes deceived her, but the tan on his face seemed less brown +than yellow. +</P> + +<P> +"No; Mr. Ellison is a collector of paintings, of rugs, of rare old +books and china. He's a bit detached, as dreamers usually are. He has +written a book of exquisite verses.… You are smiling," she broke +off suddenly, her eyes filling with cold lights. +</P> + +<P> +"A thousand pardons! The thought was going through my head how unlike +we are indeed. I can hardly tell one master from another, all old +books look alike to me, and the same with china. I know something +about rugs; but I couldn't write a jingle if it was to save me from +hanging." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you invent, build, finance?" A bit of a gulf had opened up between +them. Elsa might not be prepared to marry Arthur, but she certainly +would not tolerate a covert sneer in regard to his accomplishments. +</P> + +<P> +Quietly and with dignity he answered: "I have built bridges in my time +over which trains are passing at this moment. I have fought torrents, +and floods, and hurricanes, and myself. I have done a man's work. I +had a future, they said. But here I am, a subject of your pity." +</P> + +<P> +She instantly relented. "But you are young. You can begin again." +</P> + +<P> +"Not in the sense you mean." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet, you tell me you are going back home." +</P> + +<P> +"Like a thief in the night," bitterly. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BLUE FEATHER +</H3> + + +<P> +Elsa toyed with her emeralds, apparently searching for some flaw. Like +a thief in the night was a phrase that rang unpleasantly in her ears. +Her remarkable interest in the man was neither to be denied nor +ignored. In fact, drawing her first by the resemblance to the man she +wanted to love but could not, and then by the mystery that he had +thrown about his past simply by guarding it closely, it would have been +far more remarkable if she had not been deeply interested in him. But +to-night she paused for a moment. A little doubt, like one of those +oblique flaws that obscured the clarity of the green stones, appeared. +She had always been more or less indifferent to public opinion, but it +had been a careless thoughtless indifference; it had not possessed the +insolent twist of the past fortnight. To receive the cut direct from a +man whose pomposity and mental density had excited her wit and +amusement, surprised her even if it did not hurt. It had rudely +awakened her to the fact that her independence might be leading her +into a labyrinth. She was compelled to admit that at home she would +have avoided Warrington, no matter how deeply sorry she might have +been. His insistent warning against himself, however, served to arouse +nothing more than a subtle obstinacy to do just as she pleased. And it +pleased her to talk to him; it pleased her to trifle with the unknown +danger. +</P> + +<P> +Something new had been born in her. All her life she had gone about +calmly and aloofly, her head in the clouds, her feet on mountain-tops. +She had never done anything to arouse discussion in other women. +Perhaps such a situation had never confronted her until lately. She +had always looked forth upon life through the lenses of mild cynicism. +So long as she was rich she might, with impunity, be as indiscreet as +she pleased. Her money would plead forgiveness and toleration.… +Elsa shrugged. But shrugs do not dismiss problems. She could have +laughed. To have come all this way to solve a riddle, only to find a +second more confusing than the first! +</P> + +<P> +Like a thief in the night. She did not care to know what he had done, +not half so much as to learn what he had been. Peculations of some +order; of this she was reasonably sure. So why seek for details, when +these might be sordid? +</P> + +<P> +Singapore would see the end, and she would become her normal self again. +</P> + +<P> +She clasped the necklace around her lovely throat. She was dressing +for dinner, really dressing. An impish mood filled her with the +irrepressible desire to shine in all her splendor to-night. Covertly +she would watch the eyes of mediocrity widen. Hitherto they had seen +her in the simple white of travel. To-night they should behold the +woman who had been notable among the beauties in Paris, Vienna, Rome, +London; who had not married a duke simply because his title could not +have added to the security of her position, socially or financially; +who was twenty-five years of age and perfectly content to wait until +she met the man who would set to flight all the doubt which kept her +heart unruly and unsettled. +</P> + +<P> +Into the little mirror above the wash-stand she peered, with smiling +and approving eyes. Never had she looked better. There was unusual +color in her cheeks and the clarity of her eyes spoke illuminatingly of +superb health. The tan on her face was not made noticeable in contrast +by her shoulders and arms, old ivory in tint and as smooth and glossy +as ancient Carrara. +</P> + +<P> +"You lovely creature!" murmured Martha, touching an arm with her lips. +</P> + +<P> +"Am I really lovely?" +</P> + +<P> +"You would be adorable if you had a heart." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I have one. Who knows?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are foolish to dress like this." Martha finished the hooking of +Elsa's waist. +</P> + +<P> +"And why?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the first place there's nobody worth the trouble; and nobody but a +duchess or a …" Martha paused embarrassedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Or a what? An improper person?" Elsa laughed. "My dear Martha, your +comparisons are faulty. I know but two duchesses in this wide world +who are not dowdies, and one of them is an American. An improper +person is generally the most proper, outside her peculiar environments. +Can't you suggest something else?" +</P> + +<P> +Martha searched but found no suitable reply. One thing she felt +keenly, a feverish impatience for the boat to reach Singapore where +Elsa's folly must surely end. She believed that she saw more clearly +into the future than Elsa. Some one would talk, and in that strange +inscrutable fashion scandal has of reaching the ends of the earth, the +story would eventually arrive home; and there, for all the professions +of friendship, it would find admittance. No door is latched when +scandal knocks. Over here they were very far from home, and it was +natural that Elsa should view her conduct leniently. Martha readily +appreciated that it was all harmless, to be expressed by a single word, +whim. But Martha herself never acted upon impulse; she first +questioned what the world would say. So run the sheep. +</P> + +<P> +For years Martha had discharged her duties, if mechanically yet with a +sense of pleasure and serenity. At this moment she was as one pushed +unexpectedly to the brink of a precipice, over which the slightest +misstep would topple her. The world was out of joint. Shockingly bad +wishes flitted through her head. Each wish aimed at the disposal, +imaginary of course, of Warrington: by falling overboard, by being +seized with one of the numerous plagues, by having a deadly fracas with +one of those stealthy Lascars. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish we had gone to Italy," she remarked finally. +</P> + +<P> +"It would not have served my purpose in the least. I should have been +dancing and playing bridge and going to operas. I should have had no +time for thinking." +</P> + +<P> +"Thinking!" Martha elevated her brows with an air that implied that +she greatly doubted this statement. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, thinking. It is not necessary that I should mope and shut myself +up in a cell, Martha, in order to think. I have finally come to the +end of my doubts, if that will gratify you. From now on you may rely +upon one thing, to a certainty." +</P> + +<P> +Martha hesitated to put the question. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not going to marry Arthur. He is charming, graceful, +accomplished; but I want a man. I should not be happy with him. I can +twist him too easily around my finger. I admit that he exercises over +me a certain indefinable fascination; but when he is out of sight it +amounts to the sum of all this doddering and doubting. It is probable +that I shall make an admirable old maid. Wisdom has its disadvantages. +I might be very happy with Arthur, were I not so wise." She smiled +again at the reflection in the mirror. "Now, let us go and astonish +the natives." +</P> + +<P> +There was a mild flutter of eyelids as she sat down beside Warrington +and began to chatter to him in Italian. He made a brave show of +following her, but became hopelessly lost after a few minutes. Elsa +spoke fluently; twelve years had elapsed since his last visit to Italy. +He admitted his confusion, and thereafter it was only occasionally that +she brought the tongue into the conversation. This diversion, which +she employed mainly to annoy her neighbors, was, in truth, the very +worst thing she could have done. They no longer conjectured; they +assumed. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington was too strongly dazzled by her beauty to-night to be +mentally keen or to be observing as was his habit. He never spoke to +his neighbor; he had eyes for none but Elsa, under whose spell he knew +that he would remain while he lived. He was nothing to her; he readily +understood. She was restless and lonely, and he amused her. So be it. +He believed that there could not be an unhappier, more unfortunate man +than himself. To have been betrayed by the one he had loved, second to +but one, and to have this knowledge thrust upon him after all these +years, was evil enough; but the nadir of his misfortunes had been +reached by the appearance of this unreadable young woman. Of what use +to warn her against himself, or against the possible, nay, probable +misconstruction that would be given their unusual friendship? Craig +would not be idle with his tales. And why had she put on all this +finery to-night? To subjugate him? +</P> + +<P> +"You are not listening to a word I am saying!" +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon! But I warned you that my Italian was rusty." He +pulled himself together. +</P> + +<P> +"But I have been rattling away in English!" +</P> + +<P> +"And I have been wool-gathering." +</P> + +<P> +"Not at all complimentary to me." +</P> + +<P> +"It is because I am very unhappy; it is because Tantalus and I are +brothers." +</P> + +<P> +"You should have the will to throw off these moods." +</P> + +<P> +"My moods, as you call them, are not like hats and coats." +</P> + +<P> +"I wish I could make you forget." +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, the sight of you makes memory all the keener." +</P> + +<P> +He had never spoken like that before. It rather subdued her, made her +regret that she had surrendered to a vanity that was without aim or +direction. Farthest from her thought was conquest of the man. She did +not wish to hurt him. She was not a coquette. +</P> + +<P> +After dinner he did not suggest the usual promenade. Instead, he +excused himself and went below. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +They arrived at Penang early Monday morning. Elsa decided that +Warrington should take her and Martha on a personally conducted tour of +the pretty town. As they left for shore he produced a small beautiful +blue feather; he gave it to Elsa with the compliments of Rajah; and she +stuck it in the pugree of her helmet. +</P> + +<P> +"This is not from the dove of peace." +</P> + +<P> +"Its arch-enemy, rather," he laughed. "I wish I had the ability to get +as furious as that bird. It might do me a world of good." +</P> + +<P> +"How long is it since you were here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Four years," he answered without enthusiasm. He would not have come +ashore at all but for the fact that Elsa had ordered the expedition. +</P> + +<P> +There was no inclination to explore the shops; so they hired a landau +and rode about town, climbed up to the quaint temple in the hills, and +made a tour of the botanical gardens. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't it delicious!" murmured Elsa, taking in deep breaths of the warm +spice-laden air. Since her visit to the wonderful gardens at Kandy in +Ceylon, she had found a new interest in plants and trees. +</P> + +<P> +She thoroughly enjoyed the few hours on land, even to the powwow +Warrington had with the unscrupulous driver, who, at the journey's end, +substituted one price for another, despite his original bargain. It +was only a matter of two shillings, but Warrington stood firm. It had +of necessity become a habit with him to haggle and then to stand firm +upon the bargain made. There had been times when half an hour's +haggling had meant breakfast or no breakfast. It never entered into +his mind what Elsa's point of view might be. The average woman would +have called him over-thrifty. All this noise over two shillings! But +to Elsa it was only the opening of another door into this strange man's +character. What others would have accepted as penuriousness she +recognized as a sense of well-balanced justice. Most men, she had +found, were afflicted with the vanity of spending, and permitted +themselves to be imposed on rather than have others think that money +meant anything to them. Arthur would have paid the difference at once +rather than have stood on the pier wrangling. As they waited for the +tender that was to convey them back to the ship, Elsa observed a +powerful middle-aged man, gray-haired, hawk-faced, steel-eyed, watching +her companion intently. Then his boring gaze traveled over her, from +her canvas-shoes to her helmet. There was something so baldly +appraising in the look that a flush of anger surged into her cheeks. +The man turned and said something to his companion, who shrugged and +smiled. Impatiently Elsa tugged at Warrington's sleeve. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is that man over there by the railing?" she asked in a very low +voice. "He looks as if he knew you." +</P> + +<P> +"Knew me?" Warrington echoed. The moment he had been dreading had +come. Some one who knew him! He turned his head slowly, and Elsa, who +had not dropped her hand, could feel the muscles of his arm stiffen +under the sleeve. He held the stranger's eye defiantly for a space. +The latter laughed insolently if silently. It was more for Elsa's sake +than for his own that Warrington allowed the other to stare him down. +Alone, he would have surrendered to the Berserk rage that urged him to +leap across the intervening space and annihilate the man, to crush him +with his bare hands until he screamed for the mercy he had always +denied others. The flame passed, leaving him as cold as ashes. "I +shall tell you who he is later; not here." +</P> + +<P> +For the second time since that night on the Irrawaddy, Elsa recorded a +disagreeable sensation. It proved to be transitory, but at the time it +served to establish a stronger doubt in regard to her independence, so +justifiable in her own eyes. It might be insidiously leading her too +far away from the stepping-off place. The unspoken words in those +hateful eyes! The man knew Warrington, knew him perhaps as a +malefactor, and judged his associates accordingly. She thus readily +saw the place she occupied in the man's estimation. She experienced a +shiver of dread as she observed that he stepped on board the tender. +She even heard him call back to his friend to expect him in from +Singapore during the second week in March. But the dread went away, +and pride and anger grew instead. All the way back to the ship she +held her chin in the air, and from time to time her nostrils dilated. +That look! If she had been nearer she was certain that she would have +struck him across the face. +</P> + +<P> +"There will be no one up in the bow," said Warrington. "Will you go up +there with me?" +</P> + +<P> +After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. +</P> + +<P> +The Lascars, busy with the anchor-chains, demurred; but a word and a +gesture from the Sahib who had turned the hose on a drunken man +convinced them that the two would not be in the way. A clatter of +steel against steel presently followed, the windlass whined and +rattled, and Elsa saw the anchor rise slowly from the deeps, bringing +up a blur of muddy water; and blobs of pale clay dripped from the +anchor-flukes. A moment after she felt the old familiar throb under +her feet, and the ship moved slowly out of the bay. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know that that man came aboard?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know it." The wide half-circle of cocoanut palms grew denser and +lower as they drew away. "This is the story. It's got to be told. I +should have avoided it if it had been possible. He is the owner of the +plantation. Oh, I rather expected something like this. It's my run of +luck. I was just recovering from the fever. God knows how he found +out, but he did. It was during the rains. He told me to get out that +night. Didn't care whether I died on the road or not. I should have +but for my boy James. The man sent along with us a poor discarded +woman, of whom he had grown tired. She died when we reached town. I +had hardly any money. He refused to pay me for the last two months, +about fifty pounds. There was no redress for me. There was no +possible way I could get back at him. Miss Chetwood, I took money that +did not belong to me. It went over gaming-tables. Craig. I ran away. +Craig knows and this man Mallow knows. Can you not see the wisdom of +giving me a wide berth?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I am sorry!" she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks. But you see: I am an outcast. To-night, not a soul on board +will be in ignorance of who I am and what I have done. Trust Craig and +Mallow for that. Thursday we shall be in Singapore. You must not +speak to me again. Give them to understand that you have found me out, +that I imposed on your kindness." +</P> + +<P> +"That I will not do." +</P> + +<P> +"Act as you please. There are empty chairs at the second-class table, +among the natives. And now, good-by. The happiest hours in ten long +years are due to you." He took off his helmet and stepped aside for +her to pass. She held out her hand, but he shook his head. "Don't +make it harder for me." +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Warrington, I am not a child!" +</P> + +<P> +"To me you have been the Angel of Kindness; and the light in your face +I shall always see. Please go now." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well." A new and unaccountable pain filled her throat and forced +her to carry her head high. "I can find my way back to the other deck." +</P> + +<P> +He saw her disappear down the first ladder, reappear up the other, +mingle with the passengers and vanish. He then went forward to the +prow and stared down at the water, wondering if it held rest or pain or +what. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE GAME OF GOSSIP +</H3> + + +<P> +During the concluding days of the voyage Elsa had her meals served on +deck. She kept Martha with her continually, promenaded only early in +the morning and at night while the other passengers were at dinner. +This left a clear deck. She walked quickly, her arm in Martha's, +literally propelling her along, never spoke unless spoken to, and then +answered in monosyllables. Her thoughts flew to a thousand and one +things: home, her father, episodes from school-life; toward anything +and everywhere like a land-bird lost at sea, futilely and vainly in the +endeavor to shut out the portrait of the broken man. In the midst of +some imaginary journey to the Sabine Hills she would find herself +asking: What was he doing, of what was he thinking, where would he go +and what would he do? She hated night which, no longer offering sleep, +provided nothing in lieu of it, and compelled her to remain in the +stuffy cabin. She was afraid. +</P> + +<P> +Early Wednesday morning she passed Craig and Mallow; but the two had +wit enough to step aside for her and to speak only with their eyes. +She filled Craig with unadulterated fear. Never had he met a woman +such as this one. He warned Mallow at the beginning, without +explaining in detail, that she was fearless and dangerous. And, of +course, Mallow laughed and dragged along the gambler whenever he found +a chance to see Elsa at close range. +</P> + +<P> +"There's a woman. Gad! that beach-comber has taste." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you to look out for her," Craig warned again. "I know what I'm +talking about." +</P> + +<P> +"What's she done; slapped your face?" +</P> + +<P> +"That kind of woman doesn't slap. Damn it, Mallow, she rammed a +hat-pin into me, if you will know! Keep out of her way." +</P> + +<P> +Mallow whistled. "Oho! You probably acted like a fool. Drinking?" +</P> + +<P> +Craig nodded affirmatively. +</P> + +<P> +"Thought so. Even a Yokohama bar-maid will fight shy of a boozer. I'm +going to meet her when we get to Singapore, or my name's not Mallow." +</P> + +<P> +Craig laughed with malice. "I hope she sticks the pin into your +throat. It will take some of the brag out of you. Think because +you've got picturesque gray hair and are as strong as a bull, that all +the women are just pining for you. Say, let's go aft and hunt up the +chap. I understand he's taken up quarters in the second-cabin." +</P> + +<P> +"Doesn't want to run into me. All right; come on. We'll stir him up a +little and have some fun." +</P> + +<P> +They found Warrington up in the stern, sitting on the deck, surrounded +by squatting Lascars, some Chinamen and a solitary white man, the chief +engineer's assistant. The center of interest was Rajah, who was +performing his tricks. Among these was one that the bird rarely could +be made to perform, the threading of beads. He despised this act as it +entailed the putting of a blunt needle in his beak. He flung it aside +each time Warrington handed it to him. But ever his master patiently +returned it. At length, recognizing that the affair might be prolonged +indefinitely, Rajah put two beads on the thread and tossed it aside. +The Lascars jabbered, the Chinamen grinned, and the chief engineer's +assistant swore approvingly. +</P> + +<P> +"How much'll you take for him?" +</P> + +<P> +"He's not for sale," answered Warrington. +</P> + +<P> +The parrot shrilled and waddled back to his cage. +</P> + +<P> +"Fine business for a whole man!" +</P> + +<P> +Warrington looked up to meet the cynical eyes of Mallow. He took out +his cutty and fired it. Otherwise he did not move nor let his gaze +swerve. Mallow, towering above him, could scarcely resist the +temptation to stir his enemy with the toe of his boot. His hatred for +Warrington was not wholly due to his brutal treatment of him. Mallow +always took pleasure in dominating those under him by fear. Warrington +had done his work well. He had always recognized Mallow as his +employer, but in no other capacity: he had never offered to smoke a +pipe with him, or to take a hand at cards, or split a bottle. It had +not been done offensively; but in this attitude Mallow had recognized +his manager's disapproval of him, an inner consciousness of superiority +in birth and education. He had with supreme satisfaction ordered him +off the plantation that memorable night. Weak as the man had been in +body, there had been no indication of weakness in spirit. +</P> + +<P> +Occultly Warrington read the desire in the other's eyes. "I shouldn't +do it, Mallow," he said. "I shouldn't. Nothing would please me better +than to have a good excuse to chuck you over the rail. Upon a time you +had the best of me. I was a sick man then. I'm in tolerable good +health at present." +</P> + +<P> +"You crow, I could break you like a pipe-stem." +</P> + +<P> +Mallow rammed his hands into his coat pockets, scowling contemptuously. +He weighed fully twenty pounds more than Warrington. +</P> + +<P> +Crow! Warrington shrugged. In the East crow is a rough synonym for +thief. "You're at liberty to return to your diggings forward with that +impression," he replied coolly. "When we get to Singapore," rising +slowly to his height until his eyes were level with Mallow's, "when we +get to Singapore, I'm going to ask you for that fifty pounds, earned in +honest labor." +</P> + +<P> +"And if I decline to pay?" truculently. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll talk that over when we reach port. Now," roughly, "get out. +There won't be any baiting done to-day, thank you." +</P> + +<P> +The chief engineer's assistant, a stocky, muscular young Scot, stepped +forward. He knew Mallow. "If there is, Mr. Warrington, I'm willing to +have a try at losing my job." +</P> + +<P> +"Cockalorem!" jeered Mallow. Craig touched his sleeve, but he threw +off the hand roughly. He was one of the best rough and tumble fighters +in the Straits Settlements. "You thieving beach-comber, I don't want +to mess up the deck with you, but I'll cut your comb for you when we +get to port." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington laughed insolently and picked up the parrot-cage. "I'll +bring the comb. In fact, I always carry it." Not a word to Craig, not +a glance in his direction. Warrington stepped to the companionway and +went below. +</P> + +<P> +The chief engineer's assistant, whistling <I>Bide Awee</I>, sauntered +forward. +</P> + +<P> +Craig could not resist grinning at Mallow's discomfiture. "Wouldn't +break, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut your mouth! The sneaking dock-walloper, I'll take the starch out +of him when we land! Always had that high and mighty air. Wants folks +to think he's a gentleman." +</P> + +<P> +"He was once," said Craig. "No use giving you advice; but he's not a +healthy individual to bait. I'm no kitten when it comes to scrapping; +but I haven't any desire to mix things with him." The fury of the man +who had given him the ducking was still vivid. He had been handled as +a terrier handles a rat. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah as much as you please. I picked you out of the gutter one night +in Rangoon, after roughing it with half a dozen Chinamen, and saved +your wad. I've not your reach or height, but I can lay about some. +He'll kill you. And why not? He wouldn't be any worse off than he is." +</P> + +<P> +"I tell you he's yellow. And with a hundred-thousand in his clothes, +he'll be yellower still." +</P> + +<P> +A hundred thousand. Craig frowned and gazed out to sea. He had +forgotten all about the windfall. "Let's go and have a peg," he +suggested surlily. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Immediately upon obtaining her rooms at Raffles Hotel in Singapore (and +leaving Martha there to await the arrival of the luggage, an imposing +collection of trunks and boxes and kit-bags), Elsa went down to the +American Consulate, which had its offices in the rear of the hotel. +She walked through the outer office and stood silently at the +consul-general's elbow, waiting for him to look up. She was dressed in +white, and in the pugree of her helmet was the one touch of color, +Rajah's blue feather. With a smile she watched the stubby pen crawl +over some papers, ending at length with a flourish, dignified and +characteristic. The consul-general turned his head. His kindly face +had the settled expression of indulgent inquiry. The expression +changed swiftly into one of delight. +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa Chetwood!" he cried, seizing her hands. "Well, well! I am glad +to see you. Missed you when you passed through to Ceylon. Good +gracious, what a beautiful woman you've turned out to be! Sit down, +sit down!" He pushed her into a chair. "Well, well! When I saw you +last you were nineteen." +</P> + +<P> +"What a frightful memory you have! And I was going to my first ball. +You used the same adjective." +</P> + +<P> +"Is there a better one? I'll use it if there is. You've arrived just +in time. I am giving a little dinner to the consuls and their wives +to-night, and you will add just the right touch; for we are all a +little gray at the temples and some of us are a trifle bald. You see, +I've an old friend from India in town to-day, and I've asked him, too. +Your appearance evens up matters." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh; then I'm just a filler-in!" +</P> + +<P> +"Heavens, no! You're the most important person of the lot, though +Colonel Knowlton …" +</P> + +<P> +"Colonel Knowlton!" exclaimed Elsa. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so, by George! Stupid of me. You came down on the same boat. +Fine! You know each other." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa straightened her lips with some difficulty. She possessed the +enviable faculty of instantly forming in her mind pictures of coming +events. The little swelling veins in the colonel's nose were as plain +to her mind's eye as if he really stood before her. "Have him take me +in to dinner," she suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"Just what I was thinking of," declared the unsuspecting man. "If any +one can draw out the colonel, it will be you." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll do my best." Elsa's mind was full of rollicking malice. +</P> + +<P> +Contemplatively he said: "So you've been doing the Orient alone? You +are like your father in that way. He was never afraid of anything. +Your mental make-up, too, I'll wager is like his. Finest man in the +world." +</P> + +<P> +"Wasn't he? How I wish he could have always been with me! We were +such good comrades. They do say I am like father. But why is it, +every one seems appalled that I should travel over here without male +escort?" +</P> + +<P> +"The answer lies in your mirror, Elsa. Your old nurse Martha is no +real protection." +</P> + +<P> +"Are men so bad, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are less restrained. The heat, the tremendous distances, the +lack of amusements, are perhaps responsible. The most difficult thing +in the world to amuse is man. By the way, here's a packet of letters +for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks." Elsa played with the packet, somberly eying the +superscriptions. The old disorder came back into her mind. Three of +the letters were from Arthur. She dreaded to open them. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, I'll expect you to come to the apartments and have tea at five." +</P> + +<P> +"Be glad to. Only, don't have any one else. I just want to visit and +talk as I used to." +</P> + +<P> +"I promise not to invite anybody." +</P> + +<P> +"I must be going, then. I'm not sure of my tickets to Hongkong." +</P> + +<P> +"Go straight to the German Lloyd office. The next P. & O. boat is +booked full. Don't bother to go to Cook's. Everybody's on the way +home now. Go right to the office. I'll have my boy show you the way. +Chong!" he called. A bright-eyed young Chinese came in quickly and +silently from the other room. "Show lady German Lloyd office. All +same quick." +</P> + +<P> +"All light. Lady come." +</P> + +<P> +"Until tea." +</P> + +<P> +In the outer office she paused for a moment or so to look at the +magazines and weeklies from home. The Chinese boy, grinning +pleasantly, peered curiously at Elsa's beautiful hands. She heard some +one enter, and quite naturally glanced up. The newcomer was Mallow. +He stared at her, smiled familiarly and lifted his helmet. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa, with cold unflickering eyes, offered his greeting no recognition +whatever. The man felt that she was looking through him, inside of +him, searching out all the dark comers of his soul. He dropped his +gaze, confused. Then Elsa calmly turned to the boy. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, Chong." +</P> + +<P> +There was something in the manner of her exit that infinitely puzzled +him. It was the insolence of the well-bred, but he did not know it. +To offset his chagrin and confusion, he put on his helmet and passed +into the private office. She was out of his range of understanding. +</P> + +<P> +Mallow was an American by birth but had grown up in the Orient, +hardily. In his youth he had been beaten and trampled upon, and now +that he had become rich in copra (the dried kernels of cocoanuts from +which oil is made), he in his turn beat and trampled. It was the only +law he knew. He was without refinement, never having come into contact +with that state of being long enough to fall under its influence. He +was a shrewd bargainer; and any who respected him did so for two +reasons, his strength and his wallet. Such flattery sufficed his +needs. He was unmarried; by inclination, perhaps, rather than by +failure to find an agreeable mate. There were many women in Penang and +Singapore who would have snapped him up, had the opportunity offered, +despite the fact that they knew his history tolerably well. +Ordinarily, when in Penang and Singapore, he behaved himself, drank +circumspectly and shunned promiscuous companions. But when he did +drink heartily, he was a man to beware of. +</P> + +<P> +He hailed the consul-general cordially and offered him one of his +really choice cigars, which was accepted. +</P> + +<P> +"I say, who was that young woman who just went out?" +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general laid down the cigar. The question itself was +harmless enough; it was Mallow's way of clothing it he resented. +"Why?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"She's a stunner. Just curious if you knew her, that's all. We came +down on the same boat. Hanged if I shouldn't like to meet her." +</P> + +<P> +"You met her on board?" +</P> + +<P> +"I can't say that. Rather uppish on the steamer. But, do you know +her?" eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"I do. More than that, I have always known her. She is the daughter +of the late General Chetwood, one of the greatest civil-engineers of +our time. When he died he left her several millions. She is a +remarkable young woman, a famous beauty, known favorably in European +courts, and I can't begin to tell you how many other accomplishments +she has." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, stump me!" returned Mallow. "Is that all straight?" +</P> + +<P> +"Every word of it," with a chilliness that did not escape a man even so +impervious as Mallow. +</P> + +<P> +"Is she a free-thinker?" +</P> + +<P> +"What the devil is that? What do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only this, if she's all you say she is, why does she pick out an +absconder for a friend, a chap who dare not show his fiz in the States? +I heard the tale from a man once employed in his office back in New +York. A beach-comber, a dock-walloper, if there ever was one." +</P> + +<P> +"Mallow, you'll have to explain that instantly." +</P> + +<P> +"Hold your horses, my friend. What I'm telling you is on the level. +She's been hobnobbing with the fellow all the way down from the +Irrawaddy, so I'm told. Never spoke to any one else. Made him sit at +her side at table and jabbered Italian at him, as if she didn't want +others to know what she was talking about. I know the man. Fired him +from my plantation, when I found out what he was. Can't recall his +name just now, but he is known out here as Warrington; Parrot & Co." +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general was genuinely shocked. +</P> + +<P> +"You can't blame me for thinking things," went on Mallow. "What man +wouldn't? Ask her about Warrington. You'll find that I'm telling the +truth, all right." +</P> + +<P> +"If you are, then she has made one of those mistakes women make when +they travel alone. I shall see her at tea and talk to her. But I do +not thank you, Mallow, for telling me this. A finer, loyaler-hearted +girl doesn't live. She might have been kind out of sympathy." +</P> + +<P> +Mallow bit off the tip of his cigar. "He's a handsome beggar, if you +want to know." +</P> + +<P> +"I resent that tone. Better drop the subject before I lose my temper. +I'll have your papers ready for you in the morning." The +consul-general caught up his pen savagely to indicate that the +interview was at an end. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," said Mallow good-naturedly. "I meant no harm. Just +naturally curious. Can't blame me." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not blaming you. But it has disturbed me, and I wish to be alone +to think it over." +</P> + +<P> +Mallow lounged out, rather pleased with himself. His greatest pleasure +in life was in making others uncomfortable. +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general bit the wooden end of his pen and chewed the +splinters of cedar. He couldn't deny that it was like Elsa to pick up +some derelict for her benefactions. But to select a man who was +probably wanted by the American police was a frightful misfortune. +Women had no business to travel alone. It was all very well when they +toured in parties of eight or ten; but for a charming young woman like +Elsa, attended by a spinster companion who doubtless dared not offer +advice, it was decidedly wrong. And thereupon he determined that her +trip to Yokohama should find her well guarded. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg your pardon," said a pleasant voice. +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general had been so deeply occupied by his worry that he had +not noticed the entrance of the speaker. He turned impatiently. He +saw a tall blond man, bearded and tanned, with fine clear blue eyes +that met his with the equanimity of the fearless. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +AFTER TEN YEARS +</H3> + + +<P> +The consul-general had, figuratively, a complete assortment of masks, +such as any thorough play-actor might have, in more or less constant +demand, running the gamut from comedy to tragedy. Some of these masks +grew dusty between ships, but could quickly be made presentable. +Sometimes, when large touring parties came into port, he confused his +masks, being by habit rather an absent-minded man. But he possessed a +great fund of humor, and these mistakes gave him laughable +recollections for days. +</P> + +<P> +He saw before him an exquisite, as the ancient phrase goes, backed by +no indifferent breed of manhood. Thus, he believed that here was a +brief respite (as between acts) in which the little plastic hypocrisies +could be laid aside. The pleasant smile on his high-bred face was all +his own. +</P> + +<P> +"And what may I do for you, sir?" He expected to be presented with +letters of introduction, and to while away a half-hour in the agreeable +discussion of mutual acquaintance. +</P> + +<P> +"I should like a few minutes' private talk with you," began the +well-dressed stranger. "May I close the door?" The consul-general, +with a sense of disappointment, nodded. The blond man returned and sat +down. "I don't know how to begin, but I want you to copy this +cablegram and send it under your own name. Here it is; read it." +</P> + +<P> +So singular a request filled the consul-general with astonishment. +Rather mechanically he accepted the slip of paper, adjusted his +glasses, and read— +</P> + +<BR> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"The Andes Construction Company, New York: A former employee of yours +wishes to make a restitution of eight thousand dollars, with interest +to date. He dares not give his name to me, but he wishes to learn if +this belated restitution will lift the ban against his returning to +America and resuming his citizenship. Reply collect." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"This is an extraordinary request to make to me, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"I know it." +</P> + +<P> +"But why bring it to me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Could I possibly offer that to the cable operator? Without name or +address? No; I could not do it without being subjected to a thousand +questions, none of which I should care to answer. So I came to you. +Passing through your hands, no one will question it. Will you do this +favor for a poor unfortunate devil?" +</P> + +<P> +Oddly enough, the other could not get away from his original +impression. The clothes, the way the man wore them, the clarity of his +eyes, the abundant health that was expressed by the tone of the skin, +derided such a possibility as the cablegram made manifest. +</P> + +<P> +He forced the smile back to his lips. "Are you sure you're not hoaxing +me?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. I am the victim of the hoax," enigmatically. "If one may call +the quirks of fate by the name of hoax," the stranger added. "Will you +send it?" +</P> + +<P> +The years he had spent in the consular service had never brought before +him a situation of this order. He did not know exactly what to do. He +looked out of the window, into the hotel-court, at the sky which +presently would become overcast with the daily rain-clouds. By and by +he remembered the man waiting patiently at his elbow. +</P> + +<P> +"What is your name?" +</P> + +<P> +"My real name, or the one by which I am known here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Your real one." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd rather not give that until I hear from New York." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that is reasonable." +</P> + +<P> +"I am known out here by the name of Warrington." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington. The puzzlement vanished from the older man's face, and his +eyes became alert, renewing from another angle their investigation of +the stranger. Warrington. So this was the man? He could understand +now. Who could blame a girl for making a mistake when he, a seasoned +veteran, had been beguiled by the outward appearance of the man? +Mallow was right. He was a handsome beggar. +</P> + +<P> +"I promise to send this upon one condition." +</P> + +<P> +"I accept without question," readily. +</P> + +<P> +"It is that you must keep away from Elsa Chetwood, now and hereafter. +You made her acquaintance under false pretenses." +</P> + +<P> +"I deny that. Not under false pretenses." How quickly things went +about! "Let me tell you how I met her." +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general listened; he listened with wonder and interest, and +more, with conviction that the young man had been perfectly honest. +But the knowledge only added to his growing alarm. It would not be +difficult for such a man to win the regard of any young woman. +</P> + +<P> +"And you told her what you had done?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Your first misstep?" touching the cablegram. +</P> + +<P> +"My first and only misstep. I was a careless, happy-go-lucky young +fool." The sky outside also had attraction for Warrington. A thousand +times a fool! +</P> + +<P> +"How long ago did this happen?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ten years this coming April." +</P> + +<P> +"And now, after all this time, you wish to go back?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have wished to go back many times, but never had money enough. I +have plenty now. Oh, I made it honestly," smiling. "In oil, at Prome. +Here's a cutting from a Rangoon paper." +</P> + +<P> +The other read it carefully. It was romance, romance such as he liked +to read in his books, but which was mighty bewildering to have at his +elbow in actuality. What a life the man must have led! And here he +was, with no more evidence of the conflict than might be discerned in +the manliness of his face and the breadth and depth of his shoulders. +He dropped the cutting, impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you believe it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Believe it? Oh, this? Yes," answered the consul-general. "What I +can not believe is that I am awake. I can not quite make two and two +equal four." +</P> + +<P> +"Which infers?" +</P> + +<P> +"That I can not … Well, you do not look like a man who would rob +his employer of eight thousand dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"Much obliged." +</P> + +<P> +"Parrot & Co. It's odd, but I recollect that title. You were at +Udaipur during the plague." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington brightened. "So that's got about? I happened to be there, +working on the prince's railway." +</P> + +<P> +"I will send the cable at once. You will doubtless hear from New York +in the morning. But you must not see Miss Chetwood again." +</P> + +<P> +"You will let me bid her good-by? I admire and respect her more than +any other woman. She does not know it, for as yet her soul is asleep; +but she is one of those few women God puts on earth for the courage and +comfort of man. Only to say good-by to her. Here in this office, if +you wish." +</P> + +<P> +"I agree to that." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank you again." Warrington rose. +</P> + +<P> +"I am genuinely sorry for you. If they say no, what will you do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Go back just the same. I have another debt to cancel." +</P> + +<P> +"Call in the morning. I'll let you know what the charges are." +</P> + +<P> +"I forgot. Here are twenty pounds. You can return the balance when I +call. I am very grateful." +</P> + +<P> +"By the way, there is a man here by the name of Mallow," began the +consul-general. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," interrupted Warrington, with a smile which was grim and cruel. +"I expect to call upon him. He owes me something like fifty pounds, +and I am going to collect it." Then he went out. +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general dropped Mallow's perfecto into the waste-basket and +lighted his pipe. Once more he read the cablegram. The Andes +Construction Company. What a twist, what an absurd kink in the skein! +Nearly all of Elsa's wealth lay bound up in this enormous business +which General Chetwood had founded thirty odd years before. And +neither of them knew! +</P> + +<P> +"I am not a bad man at heart," he mused, "but I liked the young man's +expression when I mentioned that bully Mallow." +</P> + +<P> +He joined his family at five. He waved aside tea, and called for a +lemon-squash. +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa, I am going to give you a lecture." +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't I tell you?" cried Elsa to the wife. "I felt in my bones that +he was going to say this very thing." She turned to her old-time +friend. "Go on; lecture me." +</P> + +<P> +"In the first place, you are too kind-hearted." +</P> + +<P> +"That will be news to my friends. They say I have a heart of ice." +</P> + +<P> +"And what you think is independence of spirit is sometimes +indiscretion." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh," said Elsa, becoming serious. +</P> + +<P> +"A man came into my office to-day. He is a rich copra-grower from +Penang. He spoke of you. You passed him on going out. If I had been +twenty years younger I'd have punched his ugly head. His name is +Mallow, and he's not a savory chap." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa's cheeks burned. She never would forget the look in that man's +eyes. The look might have been in other men's eyes, but +conventionality had always veiled it; she had never seen it before. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on;" but her voice was unsteady. +</P> + +<P> +"Somewhere along the Irrawaddy you made the acquaintance of a young man +who calls himself Warrington, familiarly known as Parrot & Co. I'll be +generous. Not one woman in a thousand would have declined to accept +the attentions of such a man. He is cultivated, undeniably +good-looking, a strong man, mentally and physically." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa's expression was now enigmatical. +</P> + +<P> +"There's not much veneer to him. He fooled me unintentionally. He was +quite evidently born a gentleman, of a race of gentlemen. His is not +an isolated case. One misstep, and the road to the devil." +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general's wife sent a startled glance at Elsa, who spun her +sunshade to lighten the tension of her nerves. +</P> + +<P> +"He confessed frankly to me this morning that he is a fugitive from +justice. He wishes to return to America. He recounted the +circumstances of your meeting. To me the story appeared truthful +enough. He said that you sought the introduction because of his +amazing likeness to the man you are going home to marry." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," replied Elsa. "Uncle Jim, I have traveled pretty much +over this world, and I never met a gentleman if Warrington is not one." +There was unconscious belligerency in her tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, there's the difficulty which women will never be made to +understand. Every man can, at one time or another, put himself upon +his good behavior. Underneath he may be a fine rascal." +</P> + +<P> +"Not this one," smiling. "He warned me against himself a dozen times, +but that served to make me stubborn. The fault of my conduct," acidly, +"was not in making this pariah's acquaintance. It lies in the fact +that I had nothing to do with the other passengers, from choice. That +is where I was indiscreet. But why should I put myself out to gain the +good wishes of people for whom I have no liking; people I shall +probably never see again when I leave this port?" +</P> + +<P> +"You forget that some of them will be your fellow passengers all the +way to San Francisco. My child, you know as well as I do that there +are some laws which the Archangel Michael would have to obey, did he +wish to inhabit this earth for a while." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Michael! And if you do not obey these laws, people talk." +</P> + +<P> +"Exactly. There are two sets of man-made laws. One governs the +conduct of men and the other the conduct of women." +</P> + +<P> +"And a man may break any one of these laws, twist it, rearrange it to +suit his immediate needs. On the other hand, the woman is always +manacled." +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely." +</P> + +<P> +"I consider it horribly unfair." +</P> + +<P> +"So it is. But if you wish to live in peace, you must submit." +</P> + +<P> +"Peace at that price I have no wish for. This man Mallow lives within +the pale of law; the other man is outside of it. Yet, of the two, +which would you be quickest to trust?" +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general laughed. "Now you are appealing not to my knowledge +of the world but to my instinct." +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks." +</P> + +<P> +"Is there any reason why you should defend Mr. Warrington, as he calls +himself?" +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general's wife desperately tried to catch her husband's eye. +But either he did not see the glance or he purposely ignored it. +</P> + +<P> +"In defending Mr. Warrington I am defending myself." +</P> + +<P> +"A good point." +</P> + +<P> +"My dear friend," Elsa went on, letting warmth come into her voice once +more, "my sympathy went out to that man. He looked so lonely. Did you +notice his eyes? Can a man look at you the way he does and be bad?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have seen Mallow dozens of times. I know him to be a scoundrel of +sorts; but I doubt if bald sunlight could make him blink. Liars have +first to overcome the flickering and wavering of the eyes." +</P> + +<P> +"He said that." +</P> + +<P> +"Who, Warrington?" puzzled. +</P> + +<P> +"He said almost the same thing. Would he say that if he were a liar?" +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't accused him of being that. Indeed, he struck me as a +truthful young man. But he confessed to me that ten years ago he +robbed his employer of eight thousand dollars. By the way, what is the +name of the firm your father founded?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Andes Construction Company. Do you think we could find him +something to do there?" eagerly. "He builds bridges." +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't advise that. But we have gone astray. You ought not to +see him again." +</P> + +<P> +"I have made up my mind not to." +</P> + +<P> +"Then pardon me for all this pother. I know what is in your heart, +Elsa. You want to help the poor devil back to what he was; but he'll +have to do that by himself." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a hateful world!" Elsa appealed to the wife. +</P> + +<P> +"It is, Elsa, dear. But James is right." +</P> + +<P> +"You'll get your balance," said the guardian, "when you reach home. +When's the wedding?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm not sure that I'm going to be married." Elsa twirled the sunshade +again. "I really wish I had stayed at home. I seem all topsy-turvy. +I could have screamed when I saw the man standing on the ledge above +the boat that night. No; I do not believe I shall marry. Fancy +marrying a man and knowing that his ghost was at the same time +wandering about the earth!" She rose and the sunshade described a +half-circle as she spoke. "Oh, bother with it all! Dinner at eight, +in the big dining-room." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. But the introductions will be made on the cafe-veranda. These +people out here have gone mad over cock-tails. And look your best, +Elsa. I want them to see a real American girl to-night. I'll have +some roses sent up to you." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa had not the heart to tell him that all interest in his dinner had +suddenly gone from her mind; that even the confusion of the colonel no +longer appealed to her bitter malice. She knew that she was going to +be bored and miserable. Well, she had promised. She would put on her +best gown; she would talk and laugh and jest because she had done these +things many times when her heart was not in the play of it. +</P> + +<P> +When she was gone, the consul-general's wife said: "Poor girl!" +</P> + +<P> +Her husband looked across the room interestedly. "Why do you say that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am a woman." +</P> + +<P> +"That phrase is the City of Refuge. All women fly to it when +confronted by something they do not understand." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, but I do understand. And that's the pity of it." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ACCORDING TO THE RULES +</H3> + + +<P> +Elsa sought the hotel rickshaw-stand, selected a sturdy coolie, and +asked to be run to the botanical gardens and back. She wanted to be +alone, wanted breathing-space, wanted the breeze to cool her hot +cheeks. For she was angry at the world, angry at the gentle +consul-general, above all, angry at herself. To have laid herself open +to the charge of indiscretion! To have received a lecture, however +kindly intended, from the man she loved and respected next to her +father! To know that persons were exchanging nods and whispers behind +her back! +</P> + +<P> +It was a detestable world. It was folly to be honest, to be kind, to +be individual, to have likes and dislikes, unless these might be +regulated by outsiders. Why should she care what people said? She did +not care. What made her furious was the absolute stupidity of their +deductions. She had not been indiscreet; she had been merely kindly +and human; and if they wanted to twist and misconstrue her actions, let +them do so. +</P> + +<P> +She hated the word "people." It seemed to signify all the useless +inefficient persons in the world, massed together after the manner of +sheep and cattle, stupidest of beasts, always wanting something and +never knowing what; not an individual among them. And they expected +her to conform with their ways! Was it necessary for her to tell these +meddlers why she had sought the companionship of a self-admitted +malefactor?… Oh, that could not be! If evil were to be found in +such a man, then there was no good anywhere. What was one misstep? +Was it not written that all of us should make one or more? And surely +this man had expiated his. Ten years in this wilderness, ten long +lonely years. How many men would have stood up against the temptations +of this exile? Few, if any, among the men she knew. And they +criticized her because she was sorry for the man. Must she say to +them: "Dear people, I spoke to this man and engaged his companionship +because I was sorry for him; because he looked exactly like the man I +have promised to marry!" It was ridiculous. She laughed. The dear +people! +</P> + +<P> +Once or twice she saw inwardly the will-o'-the-wisp lights of her soul. +But resolutely she smothered the sparks and bolstered up the pitiful +lie. +</P> + +<P> +The coolie stopped suddenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Go on," she said. +</P> + +<P> +But the coolie smiled and wiped his shaven poll. Elsa gazed at the +hotel-veranda in bewilderment. Slowly she got out of the rickshaw and +paid the fare. She had not the slightest recollection of having seen +the gardens. More than this, it was a quarter to seven. She had been +gone exactly an hour. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps, after all," she thought, "I am hopeless. They may be right; +I ought to have a guardian. I am not always accountable for what I do." +</P> + +<P> +She dressed leisurely and with calculation. She was determined to +convince every one that she was a beautiful woman, above suspicion, +above reproach. The spirit within her was not, however, in direct +accord with this determination. Malice stirred into life again; and +she wanted to hurt some one, hurt deeply. It was only the tame in +spirit who, when injured, submitted without murmur or protest. And +Elsa, only dimly aware of it, was mortally hurt. +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa," said Martha, "that frown will stay there some day, and never go +away." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa rubbed it out with her finger. "Martha, do you recall that tiger +in the cage at Jaipur? How they teased him until he lost his temper +and came smashing against the bars? Well, I sympathize with that +brute. He would have been peaceful enough had they let him be. Has +Mr. Warrington called to-day?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, if he calls to-morrow, say that I am indisposed." +</P> + +<P> +Martha evinced her satisfaction visibly. The frown returned between +Elsa's eyes and remained there until she went down-stairs to join the +consul-general and his wife. She found some very agreeable men and +women, and some of her natural gaiety returned. At a far table on the +veranda she saw Craig and Mallow in earnest conversation. +</P> + +<P> +She nodded pleasantly to the colonel as the head boy came to announce +that dinner was served. Anglo-Indian society had so many twists and +ramifications that the situation was not exactly new to the old +soldier. True, none had confronted him identical to this. But he had +not disciplined men all these years without acquiring abundant +self-control. The little veins in his nose turned purple, as Elsa +prophesied they would, but there was no other indication of how +distasteful the moment was to him. He would surely warn the +consul-general, who doubtless was innocent enough. +</P> + +<P> +They sat down. The colonel blinked. "Fine passage we had coming down." +</P> + +<P> +"Was it?" returned Elsa innocently. +</P> + +<P> +The colonel reached for an olive and bit into it savagely. He was no +fool. She had him at the end of a blind-alley, and there he must wait +until she was ready to let him go. She could harry him or pretend to +ignore him, as suited her fancy. He was caught. Women, all women, +possessed at least one attribute of the cat. It was digging in the +claw, hanging by it, and boredly looking about the world to see what +was going on. At that moment the colonel recognized the sting of the +claw. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa turned to her right and engaged the French consul discursively: +the vandalism in the gardens at Versailles, the glut of vehicles in the +Bois at Paris, the disappearing of the old landmarks, the old Hotel de +Sevigne, now the most interesting <I>musée</I> in France. Indeed, Elsa +gradually became the center of interest; she drew them intentionally. +She brought a touch of home to the Frenchman, to the German, to the +Italian, to the Spaniard; and the British official, in whose hands the +civil business of the Straits Settlements rested, was charmed to learn +that Elsa had spent various week-ends at the home of his sister in +Surrey. +</P> + +<P> +And when she admitted that she was the daughter of General Chetwood, +the man to whom the Indian government had cause to be grateful, upon +more than one occasion, for the solidity of his structures, the colonel +realized definitely the seriousness of his crucifixion. He sat stiffer +and stiffer in his chair, and the veins in his nose grew deeper and +deeper in hue. He saw clearly that he would never understand American +women. He had committed an outrageous blunder. He, instead of +dominating, had been dominated by three faultfinding old women; and, +without being aware of the fact, had looked at things from their point +of view. A most inconceivable blunder. He would not allow that he was +being swayed less by the admission of his unpardonable rudeness on +board than by the immediate knowledge that Elsa was known to the +British official's sister, a titled lady who stood exceedingly high at +court. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Chetwood," he said, lowering his voice for her ears only. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa turned, but with the expression that signified that her attention +was engaged elsewhere. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am an old man. I am sixty-two; and most of these sixty-two I have +lived roughly; but I am not too old to realize that I have made a fool +of myself." +</P> + +<P> +Interest began to fill Elsa's eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"It has been said," he went on, keeping the key, "that I am a man of +courage, but I find that I need a good deal of that just now. I have +been rude to you, and without warrant, and I offer you my humble +apologies." He fumbled with his cravat as if it had suddenly +tightened. "Will you accept?" +</P> + +<P> +"Instantly." Elsa understood the quality of courage that had stirred +the colonel. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks." +</P> + +<P> +But ruthlessly: "I should, however, like your point of view in regard +to what you consider my conduct." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it necessary?" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe it would be better for my understanding if you made a full +confession." She did not mean to be relentless, but her curiosity was +too strong not to press her advantage. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, over here as elsewhere in the world there are standards by +which we judge persons who come under our notice." +</P> + +<P> +"Agreed. Individuality is not generally understandable." +</P> + +<P> +"By the mediocre, you might have added. That's the difficulty with +individuality; it refuses to be harnessed by mediocrity, and mediocrity +holds the whip-hand, always. I represent the mediocre." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, never!" said Elsa animatedly. "Mediocrity is always without +courage." +</P> + +<P> +"You are wrong. It has the courage of its convictions." +</P> + +<P> +"Rather is it not stubbornness, wilful refusal to recognize things as +they are?" +</P> + +<P> +He countered the question with another. "Supposing we were all +individuals, in the sense you mean? Supposing each of us did exactly +as he pleased? Can you honestly imagine a more confusing place than +this world would be? The Manchurian pony is a wild little beast, an +individual if ever there was one; but man tames him and puts to use his +energies. And so it is with human individuality. We of the mediocre +tame it and harness and make it useful to the general welfare of +humanity. And when we encounter the untamable, in order to safeguard +ourselves, we must turn it back into the wilderness, an outlaw. +Indeed, I might call individuality an element, like fire and water and +air." +</P> + +<P> +"But who conquer fire and water and air?" Elsa demanded, believing she +had him pocketed. +</P> + +<P> +"Mediocrity, through the individual of this or that being. Humanity in +the bulk is mediocre. And odd as it seems, individuality (which is +another word for genius) believes it leads mediocrity. But it can not +be made to understand that mediocrity ordains the leadership." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you contend that in the hands of the stupid lies the balance of +power?" +</P> + +<P> +"Let us not say stupid, rather the unimaginative, the practical and the +plodding. The stubbornest person in the world is one with an idea." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you honestly insist that you are mediocre?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," thoughtfully. "I am one of those stubborn men with ideas. I +merely insist that I prefer to accept the tenets of mediocrity for my +own peace and the peace of others." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa forgot those about her, forgot her intended humiliation of the man +at her side. He denied that he was an individual, but he was one, as +interesting a one as she had met in a very long time. She, too, had +made a blunder. Quick to form opinions, swift to judge, she stood +guilty with the common lot, who permit impressions instead of evidence +to sway them. Here was a man. +</P> + +<P> +"We have gone far afield," she said, a tacit admission that she could +not refute his dissertations. This knowledge, however, was not irksome. +</P> + +<P> +"Rather have we not come to the bars? Shall we let them down?" +</P> + +<P> +"Proceed." +</P> + +<P> +"In the civil and military life on this side of the world there are +many situations which we perforce must tolerate. But these, mind you, +are settled conditions. It is upon new ones which arise that we pass +judgment. I knew nothing about you, nothing whatever. So I judged you +according to the rules." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa leaned upon her elbows, and she smiled a little as she noted that +the purple had gone from his nose and that it had resumed its +accustomed rubicundity. +</P> + +<P> +"I go on. A woman who travels alone, who does not present letters of +introduction, who …" +</P> + +<P> +"Who attends strictly to her own affairs. Go on." +</P> + +<P> +"Who is young and beautiful." +</P> + +<P> +"A sop! Thanks!" +</P> + +<P> +Imperturbably he continued: "Who seeks the acquaintance of men who do +not belong, as you Americans say." +</P> + +<P> +"Not men; one man," she corrected. +</P> + +<P> +"A trifling difference. Well, it arouses a disagreeable word, +suspicion. For look, there have been examples. It isn't as if yours +were an isolated case. There have been examples, and these we apply to +such affairs as come under our notice." +</P> + +<P> +"And it doesn't matter that you may be totally wrong?" +</P> + +<P> +His prompt answer astonished her. "No, it does not matter in the +least. Simmered down, it may be explained in a word, appearances. And +I must say, to the normal mind …" +</P> + +<P> +"The mediocre mind." +</P> + +<P> +"To the normal and mediocre mind, appearances were against you. +Observe, please, that I did not know I was wrong, that you were a +remarkable young woman. My deductions were made from what I saw as an +outsider. On the Irrawaddy you made the acquaintance of a man who came +out here a fugitive from justice. After you made his acquaintance, you +sought none other, in fact, repelled any advances. This alone decided +me." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you were decided?" To say that this blunt exposition was not +bitter to her taste, that it did not act like acid upon her pride, +would not be true. She was hurt, but she did not let the hurt befog +her sense of justice. From his point of view the colonel was in no +fault. "Let me tell you how very wrong you were indeed." +</P> + +<P> +"Doubtless," he hastily interposed, "you enveloped the man in a cloud +of romance." +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, I spoke to him and sought his companionship because +he was nothing more nor less than a ghost." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! Is it possible that you knew him in former times?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. But he was so like the man at home; so identical in features and +build to the man I expected to go home to marry.…" +</P> + +<P> +"My dear young lady, you are right. Mediocrity is without imagination, +stupid, and makes the world a dull place indeed. Like the man you +expect to marry! What woman in your place would have acted otherwise? +And I have made my statements as bald and brutal as an examining +magistrate! Instead of one apology I offer a thousand." +</P> + +<P> +"I accept each and all of them. More, I believe that you and I could +get on capitally. I can very well imagine the soldier you used to be. +I am going to ask you what you know about Mr. Warrington." +</P> + +<P> +"This, that he is not a fit companion for a young woman like yourself; +that a detractable rumor follows hard upon his heels wherever he goes. +I learned something about him in Rangoon. He is known to the riff-raff +as Parrot & Co., and I don't know what else. All of us on shipboard +learned his previous history." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" She was quite certain of the historian. "And not from +respectable quarters, either." +</P> + +<P> +"If I had been elderly and without physical attractions?" Elsa inquired +sarcastically. +</P> + +<P> +"We are dealing with human nature, mediocrity, and not with +speculation. It is in the very nature of things to distrust that which +we do not understand. You say, old and without physical attractions. +Beauty is of all things most drawing. We crowd about it, we crown it, +we flatter it. The old and unattractive we pass by. If I had not seen +you here to-night, heard you talk, saw in a kind of rebellious +enchantment over your knowledge of the world and your distinguished +acquaintance, I should have gone to my grave believing that my +suspicions were correct. I dare say that I shall make the same mistake +again." +</P> + +<P> +"But do not judge so hastily." +</P> + +<P> +"That I promise." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you learn among other things what Mr. Warrington had done?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. A sordid affair. Ordinary peculations that were wasted over +gaming-tables." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington had told her the truth. At least, the story told by others +coincided with his own. But what was it that kept doubt in her mind? +Why should she not be ready to believe what others believed, what the +man himself had confessed? What was it to her that he looked like +Arthur, that he was guilty or innocent? +</P> + +<P> +"And his name?" She wondered if the colonel knew that also. +</P> + +<P> +"Warrington is assumed. His real name is Paul Ellison." +</P> + +<P> +"Paul Ellison." She repeated it slowly. Her voice did not seem her +own. The table, the lights, the faces, all receded and became a blur. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A BIT OF A LARK +</H3> + + +<P> +Mallow gave Craig one of his favorite cigars. The gambler turned it +over and inspected the carnelian label, realizing that this was +expected of him. Mallow smiled complacently. They might smoke as good +as that at the government-house, but he rather doubted it. Trust a +Britisher to know a good pipe-charge; but his selection of cigars was +seldom to be depended upon. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't see many of these out here," was Craig's comment, and he tucked +away the cigar in a vest pocket. +</P> + +<P> +"They cost me forty-three cents apiece, without duty." The vulgarian's +pleasure lies not in the article itself so much as in the price paid +for it. On the plantation Mallow smoked Burma cheroots because he +really preferred them. There, he drank rye whisky, consorted with his +employees, gambled with them and was not above cheating when he had +them drunk enough. Away from home, however, he was the man of money; +he bought vintage wines when he could, wore silks, jingled the +sovereigns whenever he thought some one might listen, bullied the +servants, all with the childish belief that he was following the +footsteps of aristocracy, hoodwinking no one, not even his kind. "I'm +worth a quarter of a million," he went on. "Luck and plugging did it. +One of these fine days I'm going to sell out and take a whack at that +gay Paris. There's the place to spend your pile. You can't get your +money's worth any place else." +</P> + +<P> +Paris. Craig's thought flew back to the prosperous days when he was +plying his trade between New York and Cherbourg, on the Atlantic +liners, the annual fortnight in Paris and the Grand-Prix. He had had +his diamonds, then, and his wallet of yellow-backs; and when he had +called for vintage wines and choice Havanas it had been for genuine +love of them. In his heart he despised Mallow. He knew himself to be +a rogue, but Mallow without money would have been a bold predatory +scoundrel. Craig knew also that he himself was at soul too cowardly to +be more than despicably bad. He envied Mallow's absolute fearlessness, +his frank brutality, his strength upon which dissipation had as yet +left no mark; and Mallow was easily forty-five. Paris. He might never +see that city again. He had just enough to carry him to Hongkong and +keep him on his feet until the races. He sent a bitter glance toward +the sea where the moonlight gave an ashen hue to the forest of rigging. +The beauty of the scene did not enter his eye. His mind was recalling +the luxurious smoke-rooms. +</P> + +<P> +"When you go to Paris, I'd like to go along." +</P> + +<P> +"You've never let on why they sent you hiking out here," Mallow +suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"One of my habits is keeping my mouth shut." +</P> + +<P> +"Regarding your own affairs, yes. But you're willing enough to talk +when it comes to giving away the other chap." +</P> + +<P> +"You can play that hand as well as I can." Craig scowled toward the +dining-room doors. +</P> + +<P> +"Ha! There they come," said Mallow, as a group of men and women issued +out into the cafe-veranda. "By gad! she is a beauty, and no mistake. +And will you look at our friend, the colonel, toddling behind her?" +</P> + +<P> +"You're welcome." +</P> + +<P> +"You're a fine lady-killer." Mallow tore the band from a fresh cigar +and struck a match. +</P> + +<P> +"I know when I've got enough. If you could get a good look at her when +she's angry, you'd change your tune." +</P> + +<P> +Mallow sighed audibly. "Most women are tame, and that's why I've +fought shy of the yoke. Yonder's the sort for me. The man who marries +her will have his work cut out. It'll take a year or two to find out +who's boss; and if she wins, lord help the man!" +</P> + +<P> +Craig eyed the group which was now seated. Two Chinamen were serving +coffee and cordials. Mallow was right; beautiful was the word. A +vague regret came to him, as it comes to all men outside the pale, that +such a woman could never be his. He poured out for himself a stiff peg +and drank it with very little soda. Craig always fled, as it were, +from introspection. +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't seen the crow anywhere, have you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, nor want to. Leave him alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Afraid of him, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm truthful enough to say that I'm damned afraid of him. Don't +mistake me. I'd like to see him flat, beaten, down and out for good. +I'd like to see him lose that windfall, every cent of it. But I don't +want to get in his way just now." +</P> + +<P> +"Rot! Don't you worry; no beach-comber like that can stand up long in +front of me. He threatened on board that he was going to collect that +fifty pounds. He hasn't been very spry about it." +</P> + +<P> +"I should like to be with you when you meet." +</P> + +<P> +Mallow grinned. "Not above seeing a pal get walloped, eh? Well, you +get a ring-side ticket. It'll be worth it." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't want to see you get licked," denied Craig irritably. "All I +ask is that you shelve some of your cock-sureness. I'm not so +dead-broke that I must swallow all of it. I've warned you that he is a +strong man. He used to be one of the best college athletes in America." +</P> + +<P> +"College!" exploded Mallow. "What the devil does a college athlete +know about a dock-fight?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ever see a game of football?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, take it from me that it's the roughest game going. It's a game +where you put your boot in a man's face when he's not looking. Mallow, +they kill each other in that game. And Ellison was one of the best, +fifteen years ago. He used to wade through a ton of solid, scrapping, +plunging flesh. And nine times out of ten he used to get through. I +want you to beat him up, and it's because I do that I'm warning you not +to underestimate him. On shipboard he handled me as you would a bag of +salt; damn him! He's a surprise to me. He looks as if he had lived +clean out here. There's no booze-sign hanging out on him, like there +is on you and me." +</P> + +<P> +"Booze never hurt me any." +</P> + +<P> +"You're galvanized inside," said Craig, staring again at Elsa. He +wished he knew how to hurt her, too. But he might as well throw stones +at the stars. +</P> + +<P> +"How would you like to put one over on this chap Ellison?" +</P> + +<P> +"In what way?" +</P> + +<P> +Mallow smoked for a moment, then touched his breast pocket +significantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Not for mine," returned Craig. "Cards are my long suit. I'm no +second-story man, not yet." +</P> + +<P> +"I know. But supposing you could get it without risk?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the first place, the bulk of his cash is tied up in letters of +credit." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, you know that?" +</P> + +<P> +"What good would it do to pinch those? In Europe there would be some +chance, but not here where boats are two weeks apart. A cable to +Rangoon would shut off all drawing. He could have others made out. In +cash he may have a few hundreds." +</P> + +<P> +"All gamblers are more or less yellow," sneered Mallow. "The streak in +you is pretty wide. I tell you, you needn't risk your skin. Are you +game to put one over that will cost him a lot of worry and trouble?" +</P> + +<P> +"So long as I can stand outside the ropes and look on." +</P> + +<P> +"He has a thousand pounds in his belt. No matter how I found out. +How'd you like to put your hand on it if you were sure it would not +burn your fingers?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'd like to, all right. But it's got to be mighty certain. And the +belt must be handed to me by some one else. I've half a wonder if +you're not aiming to get rid of me," with an evil glance at his tempter. +</P> + +<P> +"If I wanted to get rid of you, this'd be the way," said Mallow, +opening and shutting his powerful hands. "I'm just hungering for a bit +of a lark. Come on. A thousand pounds for taking a little rickshaw +ride. Ever hear of Wong's? Opium, pearls, oils and shark-fins?" +</P> + +<P> +"No." +</P> + +<P> +"Not many do. I know Singapore like the lines on my hands. Wong is +the shrewdest, most lawless Chinaman this side of Canton and Macao. +Pipes, pearls and shark-fins. Did you know that the bay out there is +so full of sharks that they have to stand on their tails for lack of +space? Big money. Wong's the man to go to. Want a schooner rigged +out for illicit shell-hunting? Want a man shanghaied? Want him +written down missing? Go to Wong." +</P> + +<P> +"See here, Mallow; I don't mind his being beaten up; but what you say +doesn't sound good." +</P> + +<P> +"You fool, I don't want him out of the way. Why should I? But there's +that thousand for you and worry for him. All aboard!" +</P> + +<P> +"You don't love Parrot & Co. any more than I do." +</P> + +<P> +"No. I'd sleep better o' nights if I knew he was broken for keeps. +Too much red-tape to put the United States after him. How'd you rig +him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Faro and roulette. They never tumble. I didn't have anything against +him until he ran into me at Rangoon. But he's stepped in too many +times since. Is this straight?" +</P> + +<P> +"About lifting his belt? Easy as falling off a log. Leave it to me. +His room is on the first gallery, facing southwest. You can chalk it +up as revenge. I'll take it on as a bit of good sport. Wong will fix +us out. Now look alive. It's after nine, and I'd like a little fun +first." +</P> + +<P> +The two left the cafe-veranda and engaged a pair of rickshaws. As they +jogged down the road, Warrington stepped out from behind the palms and +moodily watched them until the night swallowed them up. He had not +overheard their interesting conversation, nor had he known they were +about until they came down the steps together. He ached to follow +them. He was in a fine mood for blows. That there were two of them +did not trouble him. Of one thing he was assured: somewhere in the dim +past an ancestor of his had died in a Berserk rage. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-224"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-224.jpg" ALT="A Bit of a Lark." BORDER="2" WIDTH="426" HEIGHT="609"> +<H4> +[Illustration: A Bit of a Lark.] +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +He had been watching Elsa. It disturbed but did not mystify him to see +her talking to the colonel. Table-chance had brought them together, +and perhaps to a better understanding. How pale she was! From time to +time he caught the flash of her eyes as she turned to this or that +guest. Once she smiled, but the smile did not lighten up her face. He +was very wretched and miserable. She had taken him at his word, and he +should have been glad. He had seen her but once again on board, but +she had looked away. It was best so. Yet, it was as if fate had +reached down into his heart and snapped the strings which made life +tuneful. +</P> + +<P> +And to-morrow! What would to-morrow bring? Would they refuse? Would +they demand the full penalty? Eight thousand with interest was a small +sum to such a corporation. He had often wondered if they had searched +for him. Ten years. In the midst of these cogitations he saw the +group at the table rise and break up. Elsa entered the hotel. +Warrington turned away and walked aimlessly toward town. For hours he +wandered about, seeing nothing, hearing nothing; and it was long past +midnight when he sought his room, restless and weary but wide awake. +He called for a stiff peg, drank it, and tumbled into bed. He was +whirled away into broken dreams. Now he was running down the gridiron, +with the old thrill in his blood. With that sudden inconceivable twist +of dreams, he saw the black pit of the tramp-steamer and felt the +hell-heat in his face. Again, he was in the Andes, toiling with his +girders over unspeakable chasms. A shifting glance at the old +billiard-room in the club, the letter, and his subsequent wild night of +intoxication, the one time in his life when he had drunk hard and long. +Back to the Indian deserts and jungles. And he heard the shriek of +parrots. +</P> + +<P> +The shriek of parrots. He sat up. Even in his dream he recognized +that cry. Night or day. Rajah always shrieked when some one entered +the room. Warrington silently slid out of bed and dashed to the door +which led to the gallery. A body thudded against his. He caught hold. +The body was nude to the waist and smelled evilly of sweat and +fish-oil. Something whip-like struck him across the face. It was a +queue. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington struck out, but missed. Instantly a pair of powerful arms +wound about him, bearing and bending him backward. His right arm lay +parallel with the invader's chest. He brought up the heel of his palm +viciously against the Chinaman's chin. It was sufficient to break the +hold. Then followed a struggle that always remained nightmarish to +Warrington. Hither and thither across the room, miraculously avoiding +chairs, tables and bed, they surged. He heard a ring of steel upon the +cement floor, and breathed easier to learn that the thief had dropped +his knife. Warrington never thought to call out for help. The old +fear of bringing people about him had become a habit. Once, in the +whirl of things, his hand came into contact with a belt which hung +about the other's middle. He caught at it and heaved. It broke, and +the subsequent tinkling over the floor advised him of the fact that it +was his own gold. The broken belt, however, brought the fight to an +abrupt end. The oily body suddenly slipped away. Warrington beheld a +shadow in the doorway; it loomed there a second against the sky-line, +and vanished. He ran to the gallery railing, but it was too dark below +to discern anything. +</P> + +<P> +He returned to his room, breathing hard, the obnoxious odor of sweat +and fish-oil in his nose. He turned on the lights and without waiting +to investigate, went into the shower-room and stood under the tepid +deluge. Even after a thorough rub-down the taint was in the air. The +bird was muttering and turning somersaults. +</P> + +<P> +"Thanks, Rajah, old sport! He'd have got me but for you. Let's see +the damage." +</P> + +<P> +He picked up the belt. The paper-money was intact, and what gold had +fallen he could easily find. He then took up his vest … and +dropped it, stunned. The letter of credit for half his fortune was +gone. He sank back upon the bed and stared miserably at the fallen +garment. Gone! Fifty thousand dollars. Some one who knew! Presently +he stood up and tugged at his beard. After all, why should he worry? +A cable to Rangoon would stop payments. A new letter could be issued. +It would take time, but he had plenty of that. +</P> + +<P> +Idly he reached for the broken cigar that lay at the foot of the bed. +He would have tossed it aside as one of his own had not the carnelian +band attracted his attention. He hadn't smoked that quality of tobacco +in years. He turned it over and over, and it grew more and more +familiar. Mallow's! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap16"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WHO IS PAUL ELLISON? +</H3> + + +<P> +For some time Warrington sat upon the edge of the bed and studied the +cigar, balanced it upon his palm, as if striving to weigh accurately +Mallow's part in a scrimmage like this. The copra-grower assuredly +would be the last man to give a cigar to a Chinaman. His gifts kept +his coolies hopping about in a triangle of cuffs and kicks and +pummelings. He had doubtless given the cigar to another white man +likely enough, Craig, who, with reckless inebriate generosity, had in +turn presented it to the Oriental. Besides, Mallow was rich. What +stepping-stones he had used to acquire his initial capital were not +perfectly known; but Warrington had heard rumors of shady transactions +and piratical exploits in the pearl zone. Mallow, rich, was Mallow +disposed of, at least logically; unless indeed it was a bit of +anticipatory reprisal. That might possibly be. A drunken Mallow was +capable of much, for all that his knowledge of letters of credit might +necessarily be primitive. +</P> + +<P> +Pah! The abominable odor of fish still clung. He reached for his pipe +and lighted it, letting the smoke sink into his beard. +</P> + +<P> +Yet, Mallow was no fool. He would scarcely take such risk for so +unstable and chancely a thing as revenge of this order. Craig? He +hadn't the courage. Strong and muscular as he was, he was the average +type of gambler, courageous only when armed with a pack of cards, +sitting opposite a fool and his money. But, Craig and Mallow together.… He +slipped off the label. It was worth preserving. +</P> + +<P> +With an unpleasant laugh he began to get into his clothes. Why not? +The more he thought of it, the more he was positive that the two had +been behind this assault. The belt would have meant a good deal to +Craig. There were a thousand Chinese in Singapore who would cut a +man's throat for a Straits dollar. Either Mallow or Craig had seen him +counting the money on shipboard. It had been a pastime of his to throw +the belt on the bunk-blanket and play with the gold and notes; like a +child with its Christmas blocks. He had spent hours gloating over the +yellow metal and crackly paper which meant a competence for the rest of +his years. And Craig or Mallow had seen him. +</P> + +<P> +He looked at his watch; quarter after two. If they were not in their +rooms he would have good grounds for his suspicions. He stole along +the gallery and down the stairs to the office, just in time to see the +two enter, much the worse for drink. Mallow was boisterous, and Craig +was sullen. The former began to argue with the night manager, who +politely shook his head. Mallow grew insistent, but the night manager +refused to break the rules of the hotel. Warrington inferred that +Mallow was demanding liquor, and his inference was correct. He moved a +little closer, still hidden behind the potted palms. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," cried Mallow. "We'll go back to town for it." +</P> + +<P> +"I've had enough," declared Craig sullenly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yah! A little sore, eh? Well, I can't pour it down your throat." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's cut out booze and play a little hand or two." +</P> + +<P> +"Fine!" Mallow slapped his thigh as he laughed. "Nice bird I'd be for +you to pluck. Think of something else. You can hit me on the head +when I'm not looking and take my money that way. What do you think I +am, anyhow? The billiard-hall is open." +</P> + +<P> +Craig shook his head. When Mallow was argumentative it was no time to +play billiards. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" snarled Mallow. "Since you won't drink like a man nor play +billiards, I'm for bed. And just as the fun was beginning!" +</P> + +<P> +Craig nudged him warningly. Mallow stalked away, and Craig, realizing +that the night was done, followed. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington had seen and heard enough. He was tolerably sure. It might +have been out of pure deviltry, so far as Mallow was concerned; but +Craig had joined in hope of definite profits. A fine pair of rogues! +Neither of them should be able to draw against the letter. He would +block that game the first thing in the morning. He would simply notify +the local banks and cable to Rangoon. +</P> + +<P> +He eyed indecisively the stairs and then glanced toward the brilliant +night outside. It would not be possible to sleep in that room again. +So he tiptoed out to the cafe-veranda and dropped into a comfortable +chair. He would hunt them up some time during the day. He would ask +Mallow for fifty pounds, and he sincerely hoped that Mallow would +refuse him. For he was grimly resolved that Mallow should pay for +those half-truths, more damning than bald lies. It was due to Mallow +that he was never more to see or speak to Elsa. He emptied the ash +from his cutty which he stowed away. +</P> + +<P> +The great heart ache and the greater disillusion would not have fallen +to his lot had Elsa been frank in Rangoon, had she but told him that +she was to sail on the same steamer. He would have put over his +sailing. He would have gone his way, still believing himself to be a +Bayard, a Galahad, or any other of those simple dreamers who put honor +and chivalry above and before all other things. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa! He covered his face with his hands and remained in that position +for a long while, so long indeed that the coolies, whose business it +was to scrub the tilings every morning at four, went about their work +quietly for fear of disturbing him. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa had retired almost immediately after dinner. She endeavored to +finish some initial-work on old embroideries, but the needle insisted +upon pausing and losing stitch after stitch. She went to bed and tried +to concentrate her thoughts upon a story, but she could no more follow +a sentence to the end than she could fly. Then she strove to sleep, +but that sweet healer came not to her wooing. Nothing she did could +overcome the realization of the shock she had received. It had left +her dull and bewildered. +</P> + +<P> +The name echoed and reechoed through her mind: Paul Ellison. It should +have been an illumination; instead, she had been thrust into utter +darkness. Neither Arthur nor his mother had ever spoken of a brother, +and she had known them for nearly ten years. Two men, who might be +twin-brothers, with the same name: it was maddening. What could it +mean? The beautiful white-haired mother, the handsome charming son, +who idolized each other; and this adventurer, this outcast, this +patient, brave and kindly outcast, with his funny parrakeet, what was +he to them and they to him? It must be, it must be! They <I>were</I> +brothers. Nature, full of amazing freaks as she was, had not +perpetrated this one without calling upon a single strain of blood. +</P> + +<P> +She lay back among her pillows, her eyes leveled at the few stars +beyond her door, opened to admit any cooling breeze. Her head ached. +It was like the computations of astronomers; to a certain extent the +human mind could grasp the distances but could not comprehend them. It +was more than chance. Chance alone had not brought him to the +crumbling ledge. There was a strain of fatalism in Elsa. She was +positive that all these things had been written long before and that +she was to be used as the key. +</P> + +<P> +Paul Ellison. +</P> + +<P> +She drew from the past those salient recollections of Arthur and his +mother: first, the day the two had called regarding the purchase of a +house that her father had just put on the market,—a rambling old +colonial affair, her own mother's birth-place. Sixteen: she had not +quite been that, just free from her school-days in Italy. With the +grand air of youth she had betrayed the fact almost instantly, while +waiting for her father to come into the livingroom. +</P> + +<P> +"Italy!" said Arthur's mother, whom Elsa mentally adopted at once. The +stranger spoke a single phrase, which Elsa answered in excellent if +formal Italian. This led from one question to another. Mrs. Ellison +turned out to be a schoolmate of her mother's, and she, Elsa, had +inherited their very room. What more was needed? +</P> + +<P> +The Ellisons bought the house and lived quietly within it. Society, +and there was a good deal of it in that small Kentuckian city, society +waited for them to approach and apply for admittance, but waited in +vain. Mrs. Ellison never went anywhere. Her son Arthur was a student +and preferred his books. So eventually society introduced itself. +Persons who ignored it must be interesting. When it became known that +Mrs. Ellison had been the schoolmate of the beautiful and aristocratic +wife of General Chetwood; when the local banker quietly spread the +information that the Ellisons were comfortably supplied with stocks and +bonds of a high order, society concluded that it could do very well +without past history. That could come later. +</P> + +<P> +When her father died, Elsa became as much at home in the Ellison house +as in her own. But never, never anywhere in the house, was there +indication of the existence of a brother, so like Arthur that under +normal conditions it would have been difficult to tell them apart. +Even when she used to go up to the garret with Mrs. Ellison, to aid her +in rummaging some old trunk, there came to light none of those trifling +knickknacks which any mother would have secretly clung to, no matter to +what depth her flesh and blood had fallen. Never had she seen among +the usual amateur photographs one presenting two boys. Once she had +come across a photograph of a smooth-faced youth who was in the act of +squinting along the top of an engineer's tripod. Arthur had laughingly +taken it away from her, saying that it represented him when he had had +ambitions to build bridges. +</P> + +<P> +To build bridges. The phrase awoke something in Elsa's mind. Bridges. +She sat up in bed, mentally keen for the first time since dinner. "I +have built bridges in my time over which trains are passing at this +moment. I have fought torrents, and floods, and hurricanes, and +myself." +</P> + +<P> +He was Paul Ellison, son and brother, and they had blotted him out of +their lives by destroying all physical signs of him. There was +something inhuman in the deliberateness of it, something unforgivable. +</P> + +<P> +They had made no foolish attempt to live under an assumed name. They +had come from New York to the little valley in order to leave behind +the scene of their disgrace and all those who had known them. And they +had been extremely fortunate. They were all gently born, Elsa's +friends and acquaintances, above ordinary inquisitiveness, and they had +respected the aloofness of the Ellisons. Arthur was an inveterate +traveler. Half the year found him in Europe, painting a little, +writing a little less, frequenting the lesser known villages in France +and Italy. He let it be understood that he abhorred cities. In the +ten years they had appeared at less than a dozen social affairs. +Arthur did not care for horses, for hunting, for sports of any kind. +And yet he was sturdy, clear-eyed, fresh-skinned. He walked always; he +was forever tramping off to the pine-hooded hills, with his +painting-kit over his shoulders and his camp-stool under his arm. +Later, Elsa began to understand that he was a true scholar, not merely +an educated man. He was besides a linguist of amazing facility, a +pianist who invariably preferred as his audience his own two ears. +Arthur would have been a great dramatist or a great poet, if … If +what? If what? Ah, that had been the crux of it all, of her doubt, of +her hesitance. If he had fought for prizes coveted by mankind, if he +had thrown aside his dreams and gone into the turmoil, if he had taken +up a man's burden and carried it to success. Elsa, daughter of a man +who had fought in the great arena from his youth to his death, Elsa was +not meant for the wife of a dreamer. +</P> + +<P> +Paul Ellison. What was his crime in comparison to his expiation of it? +He had built bridges, fought torrents, hurricanes, himself. No, he was +not a scholar; he saw no romance in the multifarious things he had of +necessity put his hand to: these had been daily matter-of-fact +occupations. A strange gladness seemed to loosen the tenseness of her +aching nerves. +</P> + +<P> +Then, out of the real world about her, came with startling +distinctness, the shriek of a parrot. She would have recognized that +piercing cry anywhere. It was Rajah. In the next room, and she had +not known that Warrington (she would always know him by that name) was +stopping at the same hotel! She listened intently. Presently she +heard muffled sounds: a clatter of metal. A few minutes later came a +softer tinkle, scurry of pattering feet, then silence. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa ran to the door and stood motionless by the jamb, waiting, +ethereally white in the moonshine. Suddenly upon the gallery pillars +flashed yellow light. She should have gone back to bed, but a thrill +of unknown fear held her. By and by the yellow light went out with +that quickness which tricks the hearing into believing that the +vanishing had been accompanied by sound. She saw Warrington, fully +dressed, issue forth cautiously, glance about, then pass down the +gallery, stepping with the lightness of a cat. +</P> + +<P> +She returned hastily to her room, threw over her shoulders a kimono, +and went back to the door, hesitating there for a breath or two. She +stepped out upon the gallery. What had roused him at this time of +night? She leaned over the railing and peered down into the roadway +which in daytime was given over to the rickshaw coolies. She heard the +crunch of wheels, a low murmur of voices; beyond this, nothing more. +But as the silence of the night became tense once more, she walked as +far as Warrington's door, and paused there. +</P> + +<P> +The gallery floor was trellised with moonlight and shadow. She saw +something lying in the center of a patch of light, and she stooped. +The light was too dim for her to read; so she reentered her own room +and turned on the lights. It was Warrington's letter of credit. She +gave a low laugh, perhaps a bit hysterical. There was no doubt of it. +Some one had entered his room. There had been a struggle in which he +had been the stronger, and the thief had dropped his plunder. (As a +matter of fact, the Chinaman, finding himself closed in upon, had +thrown the letter of credit toward the railing, in hope that it would +fall over to the ground below, where, later, he could recover it.) Elsa +pressed it to her heart as another woman might have pressed a rose, and +laughed again. Something of his; something to give her the excuse to +see and to speak to him again. To-morrow she would know; and he would +tell her the truth, even as her heart knew it now. For what other +reason had he turned away from her that first day out of Rangoon, hurt +and broken? Paul Ellison; and she had told him that she was going home +to marry his brother! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap17"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ANSWERING CABLE +</H3> + + +<P> +Next morning, when it became known among the bankers and foreign +agencies that a letter of credit for ten thousand pounds had been lost +or stolen, there was more than a ripple of excitement. They searched +records, but no loss as heavy as this came to light. Add to the +flutter a reward of two hundred pounds for the recovery of the letter, +and one may readily imagine the scrutinizing alertness of the various +clerks and the subsequent embarrassments of peaceful tourists who +wished to draw small sums for current expenses. Even the managing +director of the Bank of Burma came in for his share of annoyance. He +was obliged to send out a dozen cables of notification of the loss, all +of which had to be paid out of accrued dividends. Thus Warrington had +blocked up the avenues. The marvelous rapidity with which such affairs +may be spread broadcast these days is the first wonder in a new epoch +of wonders. From Irkoutsh to Aukland, from St. Johns to Los Angeles, +wherever a newspaper was published, the news flew. Within twenty-four +hours it would be as difficult to draw against that letter as it would +be to transmute baser metals into gold. +</P> + +<P> +At half past ten Warrington, apparently none the worse for a sleepless +night, entered the private office of the consul-general who, gravely +and with studied politeness, handed to him an unopened cablegram. +</P> + +<P> +"I rather preferred to let you open it, Mr. Warrington," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Still, it might be something of your own," replied Warrington. He +noted the lack of cordiality, but with passive regret. +</P> + +<P> +"No cablegram would come to me from the department, especially as the +diplomatic-pouch, as we call the mail-bag, arrives Monday. Open it. I +wish you good luck," a little more kindly. +</P> + +<P> +"May I sit down?" +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure you may." +</P> + +<P> +The consul-general recovered his pen and pretended to become absorbed +in the litter of papers on his desk. But in truth he could see nothing +save the young man's face: calm, unmoved, expressing negligent interest +in what should be the most vital thing in his existence, next to life. +If the man hadn't met Elsa, to her interest and to his own alarm, he +would have been as affable as deep in his heart he wanted to be. A +minute passed. It seemed to take a very long time. He tried to resist +the inclination to turn his head, but the drawing of curiosity was +irresistible. What he saw only added to his general mystification. +The slip of paper hung pendulent in Warrington's hand; the other hand +was hidden in his beard, while his eyes seemed to be studying seriously +the medallion in the Kirmanshah. A fine specimen of a man, mused the +consul-general, incredibly wholesome despite his ten years' knocking +about in this ungodly part of the world. It was a pity. They had +evidently refused to compromise. +</P> + +<P> +"Bad news?" +</P> + +<P> +Warrington stood up with sudden and surprising animation in his face. +"Read it," he said. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"If Ellison will make restitution in person, yes. +</P> + +<P> +"ANDES." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +The consul-general jumped to his feet and held out his hand. "I am +glad, very glad. Everything will turn out all right now. If you wish, +I'll tell Miss Chetwood the news." +</P> + +<P> +"I was going to ask you to do that," responded Warrington. The mention +of Elsa took the brightness out of his face. "Tell her that Parrot & +Co. will always remember her kindness, and ask her to forgive a lonely +chap for having caused her any embarrassment through her goodness to +him. I have decided not to see Miss Chetwood again." +</P> + +<P> +"You are a strong man, Mr. Warrington." +</P> + +<P> +"Warrington? My name is Ellison, Paul Warrington Ellison. After all, +I'm so used to Warrington, that I may as well let well enough alone. +There is one more favor; do not tell Miss Chetwood that my name is +Ellison." +</P> + +<P> +"I should use my own name, if I were you. Why, man, you can return to +the States as if you had departed but yesterday. The world forgets +quickly. People will be asking each other what it was that you did. +Then I shall bid Miss Chetwood good-by for you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I am going to jog it home. I want to travel first-class, here, +there, wherever fancy takes me. It's so long since I've known absolute +ease and comfort. I wish to have time to readjust myself to the old +ways. I was once a luxury-loving chap. I sail at dawn for Saigon. I +may knock around in Siam for a few weeks. After that, I don't know +where I'll go. Of course I shall keep the Andes advised of my +whereabouts, from time to time." +</P> + +<P> +"Another man would be in a hurry." It was on the tip of his tongue to +tell Warrington what he knew of the Andes Construction Company, but +something held back the words, a fear that Warrington might change his +mind about seeing Elsa. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, wherever you go and whatever you do, good luck go with you." +</P> + +<P> +"There are good men in this world, sir, and I shall always remember you +as one of them." +</P> + +<P> +"By the way, that man Mallow; have you met him yet?" +</P> + +<P> +The quizzical expression in his eyes made Warrington laugh. "No." +</P> + +<P> +"I was in hopes …" The consul-general paused, but Warrington +ignored the invitation to make known his intentions. +</P> + +<P> +He shunted further inquiry by saying: "A letter of credit of mine was +stolen last night. I had a tussle in the room, and was rather getting +the best of it. The thug slipped suddenly away. Probably hid the +letter in his loin-cloth." +</P> + +<P> +"That's unfortunate." +</P> + +<P> +"In a way. Ten thousand pounds." +</P> + +<P> +"Good lord!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have sent out a general stop-order. No one will be able to draw +against it. The sum will create suspicion anywhere." +</P> + +<P> +"Have you any idea who was back of the thief? Is there any way I can +be of service to you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I'll make you temporary trustee. I've offered two hundred +pounds for the recovery, and I'll leave that amount with you before I +go." +</P> + +<P> +"And if the letter turns up?" +</P> + +<P> +"Send it direct to the Andes people. After a lapse of a few weeks the +Bank of Burma will reissue the letter. It will simmer down to a matter +of inconvenience. The offer of two hundred is honestly made, but only +to learn if my suspicions are correct." +</P> + +<P> +"Then you suspect some one?" quickly. +</P> + +<P> +"I really suspect Mallow and a gambler named Craig, but no court would +hold them upon the evidence I have. It's my belief that it's a +practical joke which measures up to the man who perpetrated it. He +must certainly realize that a letter so large will be eagerly watched +for." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall gladly take charge of the matter here for you. I suppose that +you will eventually meet Mallow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Eventually suggests a long time," grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah … Is there … Do you think there will be any need of a +watch-holder?" +</P> + +<P> +"I honestly believe you would like to see me have it out with him!" +</P> + +<P> +"I honestly would. But unfortunately the dignity of my office forbids. +He has gone up and down the Settlements, bragging and domineering and +fighting. I have been given to understand that he has never met his +match." +</P> + +<P> +"It's a long lane that has no turning. After all," Warrington added, +letting go his reserve; "you're the only friend I have. Why shouldn't +I tell you that immediately I am going out in search of him, and that +when I find him I am going to give him the worst walloping he ever +heard tell of. The Lord didn't give me all this bone and muscle for +the purpose of walking around trouble. Doesn't sound very dignified, +does it? A dock-walloper's idea; eh? Well, among other things, I've +been a dock-walloper, a beach-comber by force of circumstance, not +above settling arguments with fists, or boots, or staves. No false +modesty for me. I confess I've been mauled some, but I've never been +whipped in a man to man fight. It was generally a scrap for the +survival of the fittest. But I am going into this affair … Well, +perhaps it wouldn't interest you to know why. There are two sides to +every Waterloo; and I am going to chase Mallow into Paris, so to speak. +Oh, he and I shall take away pleasant recollections of each other. And +who's to care?" with a careless air that deceived the other. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe that Mallow will fight square at a pinch." +</P> + +<P> +"I shan't give him time to fight otherwise." +</P> + +<P> +"I ought not to want to see you at it, but, hang it, I do!" +</P> + +<P> +"Human nature. It's a pleasurable sensation to back up right by might. +Four years ago I vowed that some day I'd meet him on equal terms. +There's a raft of things on the slate, for he has been unspeakable +kinds of a rascal; beating harmless coolies … and women. I may not +see you again. If the letter of credit turns up, you know what to do +with it. I'm keen to get started. Good-by, and thank you." +</P> + +<P> +A hand-clasp, and he was gone. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish," thought the consul-general, "I could have told him about the +way the scoundrel spoke of Elsa." +</P> + +<P> +And Warrington, as he sought the cafe-veranda, wished he could have +told the basic truth of his fighting mood: the look Mallow had given +Elsa that day in Penang. Diligently he began the search. Mallow and +Craig were still in their rooms, doubtless sleeping off the debauch of +the preceding night. He saw that he must wait. Luncheon he had in +town. +</P> + +<P> +At four o'clock his inquiries led him into the billiard-annex. His +throat tightened a little as he discovered the two men engaged in a +game of American billiards. He approached the table quietly. Their +interest in the game was deep, possibly due to the wager laid upon the +result; so they did not observe him. He let Mallow finish his run. +Liquor had no effect upon the man's nerves, evidently, for his eyes and +stroke were excellent. A miscue brought an oath from his lips, and he +banged his cue upon the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Rotten luck," said Warrington sympathetically, with the devil's banter +in his voice. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap18"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XVIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BATTLE +</H3> + + +<P> +Mallow spun around, stared for a moment, then grinned evilly. "Here's +our crow at last, Craig." +</P> + +<P> +"Speaking of birds of ill-repute, the crow passes his admiration to the +kite and the vulture." Warrington spoke coolly. +</P> + +<P> +"Hey, boy; the <I>chit</I>!" called Mallow. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," protested Warrington; "by all means finish the game. I've +all the time in the world." +</P> + +<P> +Mallow looked at Craig, who scowled back. He was beginning to grow +weary at the sight of Warrington, bobbing up here, bobbing up there, +always with a subtle menace. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the odds?" said Mallow jovially. +</P> + +<P> +"Only twenty points to go. Your shot." +</P> + +<P> +Craig chalked his cue and scored a run of five. Mallow ran three, +missed and swore amiably. Craig got the balls into a corner and +finished his string. +</P> + +<P> +"That'll be five pounds," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"And fifty quid for me," added Warrington, smiling, though his eyes +were as blue and hard as Artic ice. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll see you comfortably broiled in hell," replied Mallow, as he +tossed five sovereigns to Craig. "Now, what else is on your mind?" +</P> + +<P> +Warrington took out the cigar-band and exhibited it. "I found that in +my room last night. You're one of the few, Mallow, who smoke them out +here. He was a husky Chinese, but not husky enough. Makes you turn a +bit yellow; eh, Craig, you white-livered cheat? You almost got my +money-belt, but almost is never quite. The letter of credit is being +reissued. It might have been robbery; it might have been just +deviltry; just for the sport of breaking a man. Anyhow, you didn't +succeed. Suppose we take a little jaunt out to where they're building +the new German Lloyd dock? There'll be no one working at this time of +day. Plenty of shade." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the click of the balls on the other tallies was the only +sound. Craig broke the tableau by reaching for his glass of whisky, +which he emptied. He tried to assume a nonchalant air, but his hand +shook as he replaced the glass on the tabouret. It rolled off to the +floor and tinkled into pieces. +</P> + +<P> +"Nerves a bit rocky, eh?" Warrington laughed sardonically. +</P> + +<P> +"You're screeching in the wrong jungle, Parrot, old top," said Mallow, +who, as he did not believe in ghosts, was physically nor morally afraid +of anything. "Though, you have my word for it that I'd like to see you +lose every cent of your damned oil fluke." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't doubt it." +</P> + +<P> +"But," Mallow went on, "if you're wanting a little argument that +doesn't require pencils or voices, why, you're on. You don't object to +my friend Craig coming along?" +</P> + +<P> +"On the contrary, he'll make a good witness of what happens." +</P> + +<P> +"The <I>chit</I>, boy!" Mallow paid the reckoning. "Now, then, come on. +Three rickshaws!" he called. +</P> + +<P> +"Make it two," said Warrington. "I have mine." +</P> + +<P> +"All fine and dandy!" +</P> + +<P> +The barren plot of ground back of the dock was deserted. Warrington +jumped from his rickshaw and divested himself of his coat and flung his +hat beside it. Gleefully as a boy Mallow did likewise. Warrington +then bade the coolies to move back to the road. +</P> + +<P> +"Rounds?" inquired Mallow. +</P> + +<P> +"You filthy scoundrel, you know very well that there won't be any rules +to this game. Don't you think I know you? You'll have a try at my +knee-pans, if I give you the chance. You'll stick your finger into my +eyes, if I let you get close enough. I doubt if in all your life you +ever fought a man squarely." Warrington rolled up his sleeves and was +pleased to note the dull color of Mallow's face. He wanted to rouse +the brute in the man, then he would have him at his mercy. "I swore +four years ago that I'd make you pay for that night." +</P> + +<P> +"You scum!" roared Mallow; "you'll never be a whole man when they carry +you away from here." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait and see." +</P> + +<P> +On the way to the dock Warrington had mapped out his campaign. Fair +play from either of these men was not to be entertained for a moment. +One was naturally a brute and the other was a coward. They would not +hesitate at any means to defeat him. And he knew what defeat would +mean at their hands: disfigurement, probably. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you take a shilling for your fifty quid?" jeered Craig. He was +going to enjoy this, for he had not the least doubt as to the outcome. +Mallow was without superior in a rough and tumble fight. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington did not reply. He walked cautiously toward Mallow. This +maneuver brought Craig within reach. It was not a fair blow, but +Warrington delivered it without the least compunction. It struck Craig +squarely on the jaw. Lightly as a cat Warrington jumped back. Craig's +knees doubled under him and he toppled forward on his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Mallow, you and I alone, with no one to jump on my back when I'm +looking elsewhere!" +</P> + +<P> +Mallow, appreciating the trick, swore foully, and rushed. Warrington +jabbed with his left and side-stepped. One thing he must do and that +was to keep Mallow from getting into close quarters. The copra-grower +was more than his match in the knowledge of those Oriental devices that +usually cripple a man for life. He must wear him down scientifically; +he must depend upon his ring-generalship. In his youth Warrington had +been a skilful boxer. He could now back this skill with rugged health +and a blow that had a hundred and eighty pounds behind it. +</P> + +<P> +From ordinary rage, Mallow fell into a frenzy; and frenzy never won a +ring-battle. Time after time he endeavored to grapple, but always that +left stopped him. Warrington played for his face, and to each jab he +added a taunt. "That for the little Cingalese!" "Count that one for +Wheedon's broken knees!" "And wouldn't San admire that? Remember her? +The little Japanese girl whose thumbs you broke?" "Here's one for me!" +It was not dignified; but Warrington stubbornly refused to look back +upon this day either with shame or regret. Jab-jab, cut and slash! +went the left. There was no more mercy in the mind back of it than +might be found in the sleek felines who stalked the jungles north. +Doggedly Mallow fought on, hoping for his chance. He tried every trick +he knew, but he could only get so near. The ring was as wide as the +world; there were no corners to make grappling a possibility. +</P> + +<P> +Some of his desperate blows got through. The bezel of his ring laid +open Warrington's forehead. He was brave enough; but he began to +realize that this was not the same man he had turned out into the +night, four years ago. And the pain and ignominy he had forced upon +others was now being returned to him. Warrington would have prolonged +the battle had he not seen Craig getting dizzily to his feet. It was +time to end it. He feinted swiftly. Mallow, expecting a body-blow, +dropped his guard. Warrington, as he struck, felt the bones in his +hand crack. Mallow went over upon his back, fairly lifted off his +feet. He was tough; an ordinary man would have died. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-258"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-258.jpg" ALT="The Battle." BORDER="2" WIDTH="421" HEIGHT="630"> +<H4> +[Illustration: The Battle.] +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"I believe that squares accounts," said Warrington, speaking to Craig. +"If you hear of me in America, in Europe, anywhere, keep away from the +places I'm likely to go. Tell him," with an indifferent jerk of his +head toward the insensible Mallow, "tell him that I give him that fifty +pounds with the greatest good pleasure. Sorry I can't wait." +</P> + +<P> +He trotted back to his rickshaw, wiped the blood from his face, put on +his hat and coat, and ordered the respectful coolie to hurry back to +town. He never saw Mallow or Craig again. The battle itself became a +hazy incident. In life affairs of this order generally have abrupt +endings. +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And all that day Elsa had been waiting patiently to hear sounds of him +in the next room. Never could she recall such long weary hours. Time +and again she changed a piece of ribbon, a bit of lace, and twice she +changed her dress, all for the purpose of making the hours pass more +quickly. She had gone down to luncheon, but Warrington had not come +in. After luncheon she had sent out for half a dozen magazines. +Beyond the illustrations she never knew what they contained. Over and +over she conned the set phrases she was going to say when finally he +came. Whenever Martha approached, Elsa told her that she wanted +nothing, that she was head-achy, and wanted to be left alone. +Discreetly Martha vanished. +</P> + +<P> +To prevent the possibility of missing Warrington, Elsa had engaged the +room boy to loiter about down-stairs and to report to her the moment +Warrington arrived. The boy came pattering up at a quarter to six. +</P> + +<P> +"He come. He downside. I go, he come top-side?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. That will be all." +</P> + +<P> +The boy kotowed, and Elsa gave him a sovereign. +</P> + +<P> +The following ten minutes tested her patience to the utmost. Presently +she heard the banging of a trunk-lid. He was there. And now that he +was there, she, who had always taken pride in her lack of feminine +nerves, found herself in the grip of a panic that verged on hysteria. +Her heart fluttered and missed a beat. It had been so easy to plan! +She was afraid. Perhaps the tension of waiting all these hours was the +cause. With an angry gesture she strove to dismiss the feeling of +trepidation by walking resolutely to her door. Outside she stopped. +</P> + +<P> +What was she going to say to him? The trembling that struck at her +knees was wholly a new sensation. Presently the tremor died away, but +it left her weak. She stepped toward his door and knocked gently on +the jamb. No one answered. She knocked again, louder. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in!" +</P> + +<P> +"It wouldn't be proper," she replied, with a flash of her old-time +self. "Won't you please come out?" +</P> + +<P> +She heard something click as it struck the floor. (It was Warrington's +cutty which he had carried for seven years, now in smithereens.) She +saw a hand, raw knuckled and bleeding slightly, catch at the curtain +and swing it back rattling upon its rings. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Chetwood?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes … Oh, you've been hurt!" she exclaimed, noting the gash upon +his forehead. A strip of tissue-paper (in lieu of court-plaster) lay +soaking upon the wound: a trick learned in the old days when razors +grew dull over night. +</P> + +<P> +"Hurt? Oh, I ran against something when I wasn't looking," he +explained lamely. Then he added eagerly: "I did not know that you were +on this gallery. First time I've put up at a hotel in years." It did +not serve. +</P> + +<P> +"You have been fighting! Your hand!" +</P> + +<P> +He looked at the hand dumbly. How keen her eyes were. +</P> + +<P> +"I know!" +</P> + +<P> +"You do?" inanely. +</P> + +<P> +"Was it … Mallow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you … whip him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I … did," imitating her tone and hesitance. It was the wisest +thing he could have done, for it relaxed the nerves of both of them. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa smiled, smiled and forgot the substance of all her rehearsals, +forgot the letter of credit, warm with the heat of her heart. "I am a +pagan," she confessed. +</P> + +<P> +"And I am a barbarian. I ought to be horribly ashamed of myself." +</P> + +<P> +"But you are not?" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment their eyes drew. Hers were like dark whirlpools, and he +felt himself drifting helplessly, irresistibly. He dropped his hands +upon the railing and gripped; the illusion of fighting a current was +almost real to him. Every fiber in his body cried out against the +struggle. +</P> + +<P> +"No, not in the least," he said, looking toward the sunset. "Fighting +is riff-raff business, and I'm only a riff-raffer at best." +</P> + +<P> +"Rather, aren't you Paul Ellison, brother, twin brother, of the man I +said I was going home to marry?" +</P> + +<P> +How far away her voice seemed! The throb in his forehead and the dull +ache over his heart, where some of the sledge-hammer blows had gone +home, he no longer felt. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't deny it. It would be useless. Knowing your brother as I do, +who could doubt it?" +</P> + +<P> +He remained dumb. +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't understand, just simply couldn't. They never told me; in +all the years I have known them, in all the years I have partly made +their home my own, there was nothing. Not a trinket. Once I saw a +camera-picture. I know now why Arthur snatched it from my hand. It +was you. You were bending over an engineer's tripod. Even now I +should have doubted had I not recalled what you said one day on board, +that you had built bridges. Arthur couldn't build anything stronger +than an artist's easel. You are Paul Ellison." +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry you found out." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because I wanted to be no more than an incident in your life, just +Parrot & Co." +</P> + +<P> +"Parrot & Co.!" +</P> + +<P> +It was like a caress; but he was too dull to sense it, and she was +unconscious of the inflection. The burning sunshine gave to his hair +and beard the glistening of ruddy gold. Her imagination, full of +unsuspected poetry at this moment, clothed him in the metals of a +viking. There were other whirlpools beside those in her eyes, but Elsa +did not sense the drifting as he had done. It was insidious. +</P> + +<P> +"An incident," she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"Could I be more?" with sudden fierceness. "Could I be more in any +woman's life? I take myself for what I am, but the world will always +take me for what I have done. Yes, I am Paul Ellison, forgotten, I +hope, by all those who knew me. Why did you seek me that night? Why +did you come into my life to make bitterness become despair? The +blackest kind of despair? Elsa Chetwood, Elsa!… Well, the consul +is right. I <I>am</I> a strong man. I can go out of your life, at least +physically. I can say that I love you, and I can add to that good-by!" +</P> + +<P> +He wheeled abruptly and went quickly down the gallery, bareheaded, +without any destination in his mind, with only one thought, to leave +her before he lost the last shreds of his self-control. +</P> + +<P> +It was then that Elsa knew her heart. She had spoken truly. She was a +pagan: for, had he turned and held out his hands, she would have gone +to him, gone with him, anywhere in the world, lawfully or unlawfully. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap19"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XIX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TWO LETTERS +</H3> + + +<P> +Elsa sang. She flew to her mirror. The face was hers and yet not +hers. Always her mirror had told her that she was beautiful; but up to +this moment her emotion had recorded nothing stronger than placid +content. Now a supreme gladness filled and tingled her because her +beauty was indisputable. When Martha came to help her dress for +dinner, she still sang. It was a wordless song, a melody that every +human heart contains and which finds expression but once. Elsa loved. +</P> + +<P> +Doubt, that arch-enemy of love and faith and hope, doubt had spread its +dark pinions and flown away into yesterdays. She felt the zest and +exhilaration of a bird just given its freedom. Once she slipped from +Martha's cunning hands and ran out upon the gallery. +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa, your waist!" +</P> + +<P> +Elsa laughed and held out her bare arms to the faded sky where, but a +little while since, the sun had burned a pathway down the world. All +in an hour, one small trifling space of time, this wonderful, magical +thing had happened. He loved her. There had been hunger for her in +his voice, in his blue eyes. Presently she was going to make him feel +very sorry that he had not taken her in his arms, then and there. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, beautiful world!" +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa, what in mercy's name possesses you?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am mad, Martha, mad as a March hare, whatever that is!" She loved. +</P> + +<P> +"People will think so, if they happen to come along and see that waist. +Please come instantly and let me finish hooking it. You act like you +did when you were ten. You never would stand still." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and I remember how you used to yank my pig-tails. I haven't +really forgiven you yet." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe it's going home that's the matter with you. Well, I for one +shall be glad to leave this horrid country. Chinamen everywhere, in +your room, at your table, under your feet. And in the streets, +Chinamen and Malays and Hindus, and I don't know what other outlandish +races and tribes.… Why, what's this?" cried Martha, bending to +the floor. +</P> + +<P> +Elsa ran back to the room. She gave a little gasp when she saw what it +was that Martha was holding out for her inspection. It was +Warrington's letter of credit. She had totally forgotten its +existence. Across the face of the thick Manila envelope (more or less +covered with numerals that had been scribbled there by Warrington in an +attempt to compute the interest at six per cent.) which contained the +letters of credit and identification was written in a clerical hand the +owner's name. Martha could not help seeing it. Elsa explained frankly +what it was and how it had come into her possession. Martha was +horrified. +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa, they might have entered your room; and your jewels lying about +everywhere! How could you be so careless?" +</P> + +<P> +"But they didn't. I'll return this to Mr. Warrington in the morning; +perhaps to-night, if I see him at dinner." +</P> + +<P> +"He was in the next room, and we never knew it!" The final hook +snapped into place. "Well, Wednesday our boat leaves;" as if this put +a period to all further discussion anent Mr. Parrot & Co. Nothing very +serious could happen between that time and now. +</P> + +<P> +"Wednesday night." Elsa began to sing again, but not so joyously. The +petty things of every-day life were lifting their heads once more, and +of necessity she must recognize them. +</P> + +<P> +She sat at the consul-general's table, informally. There was gay +inconsequential chatter, an exchange of recollections and comparisons +of cities and countries they had visited at separate times; but neither +she nor he mentioned the chief subject of their thoughts. She +refrained because of a strange yet natural shyness of a woman who has +found herself; and he, because from his angle of vision it was best +that Warrington should pass out of her life as suddenly and +mysteriously as he had entered it. Had he spoken frankly he would have +saved Elsa many a bitter heartache, many a weary day. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington was absent, and so were his enemies. If there was any truth +in reincarnation, Elsa was confident that in the splendid days of Rome +she had beaten her pink palms in applause of the gladiators. Pagan; +she was all of that; for she knew that she could have looked upon +Mallow's face with more than ordinary interest. Never more would her +cheeks burn at the recollection of the man's look. +</P> + +<P> +She was twenty-five; she had waited longer than most women; the mistake +of haste would never be hers. Nor did she close her eyes to the +future. She knew exactly what the world was, and how it would act. +She was not making any sacrifices. She was not one of those women, +lightly balanced, who must have excitement in order to exist; she +depended upon herself for her amusements. With the man she loved she +would have shared a hut in the wilderness and been happy. One of the +things that had drawn her to Arthur had been his quiet love of the +open, his interest in flowers and forests and streams. Society, that +division of classes, she had accepted, but to it she had never bowed +down. How very well she could do without it! She would go with him +and help him build his bridges, help him to fight torrents and +hurricanes, and to forget. That he had bidden her farewell was +nothing. She would seek him. In her pursuit of happiness she was not +going to permit false modesty to intervene. In her room, later, she +wrote two letters. The one to Arthur covered several pages; the other +consisted of a single line. She went down to the office, mailed +Arthur's letter and left the note in Warrington's key-box. It was not +an intentionally cruel letter she had written to the man in America; +but if she had striven toward that effect she could not have achieved +it more successfully. She cried out against the way he had treated his +brother, the false pride that had hidden all knowledge of him from her. +Where were the charity and mercy of which he had so often preached? +Pages of burning reproaches which seared the soul of the man who read +them. She did not confide the state of her heart. It was not +necessary. The arraignment of the one and the defense of the other +were sufficiently illuminating. +</P> + +<P> +Soundly the happy sleep. She did not hear the removal of Warrington's +luggage at midnight, for it was stealthily done. Neither did she hear +the fretful mutter of the bird as his master disturbed his slumbers. +Nothing warned her that he intended to spend the night on board; that, +having paid his bill early in the evening, her note might have lain in +the key-box until the crack of doom, so far as he was likely to know of +its existence. No angel of pity whispered to her, Awake! No +dream-magic people tell about drew for her the picture of the man she +loved, pacing up and down the cramped deck of the packet-boat, fighting +a battle compared to which that of the afternoon was play. Elsa slept +on, dreamless. +</P> + +<P> +When she awoke in the morning she ran to the mirror: all this fresh +beauty she was going to give to him, without condition, without +reservation, absolutely: as Aspasia might have rendered her charms to +Pericles. She dressed quickly, singing lowly. Fate makes us the +happiest when she is about to crush us. +</P> + +<P> +Usually she had her breakfast served in the room, but this morning she +was determined to go downstairs. She was excited; she brimmed with +exuberance; she wanted Romance to begin at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Good-morning," she greeted the consul-general, who was breakfasting +alone. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you're an early bird!" he replied. "Elsa, you are certainly +beautiful." +</P> + +<P> +"Honestly?" with real eagerness. +</P> + +<P> +"Honestly. And how you have gone all these years without marrying a +grand duke, is something I can't figure out." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I have been waiting for the man. There was no real hurry." +</P> + +<P> +"Lucky chap, when you find him. By the way, our romantic Parrot & Co. +have gone." +</P> + +<P> +"Gone?" Elsa stared at him. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Sailed for Saigon at dawn." +</P> + +<P> +"Saigon," she repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"And I am rather glad to see him go. I was afraid he might interest +you too much. You'll deny it, but you'll never outgrow the fairy-story +age." +</P> + +<P> +"Saigon." +</P> + +<P> +"Good heavens, Elsa, what is the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, no! Don't touch me. I'm not the fainting kind. Did you know +last night that he was going?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I shall never forgive you." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Elsa …" +</P> + +<P> +"Never, never! You knew and did not tell me. Do you know who Paul +Ellison is? He is the brother of the man at home. You knew he was +stealing away and did not tell me." +</P> + +<P> +She could not have made the truth any plainer to him. He sat back in +his chair, stunned, voiceless. +</P> + +<P> +"I am going to my room," she said. "Do not follow. Please act as if +nothing had happened." +</P> + +<P> +He saw her walk bravely the length of the dining-room, out into the +office. What a misfortune! Argument was out of the question. Elsa +was not a child, to be reasoned with. She was a woman, and she had +come to a woman's understanding of her heart. To place before her the +true angles of the case, the heartless banishment from the world she +knew, the regret which would be hers later, no matter how much she +loved the man … He pushed back his chair, leaving his coffee +untasted. +</P> + +<P> +He possessed the deep understanding of the kindly heart, and his one +thought was Elsa's future happiness. As men go, Warrington was an +honorable man; honorable enough to run away rather than risk the danger +of staying where Elsa was. He was no longer an outlaw; he could go and +come as he would. But there was that misstep, not printed in shifting +sand but upon the granite of recollection. Single, he could go back to +his world and pick up the threads again, but not with a wife at his +side. Oh, yes; they would be happy at first. Then Elsa would begin to +miss the things she had so gloriously thrown away. The rift in the +lute; the canker in the rose. They were equally well-born, well-bred; +politeness would usurp affection's hold. Could he save her from the +day when she would learn Romance had come from within? No. All he +could do was to help her find the man. +</P> + +<P> +He sent five cablegrams to Saigon, to the consulate, to the principal +hotels: the most difficult composition he had ever attacked. But +because he had forgotten to send the sixth to meet the packet-boat, +against the possibility of Warrington changing his mind and not +landing, his labor was thrown to the winds. +</P> + +<P> +Meantime Elsa stopped at the office-desk. "I left a note for Mr. +Warrington who has gone to Saigon. I see it in his key-box. Will you +please return it to me?" +</P> + +<P> +The clerk did not hesitate an instant. He gravely returned the note to +her, marveling at her paleness. Elsa crushed the note in her hand and +moved toward the stairs, wondering if she could reach her room before +she broke down utterly. He had gone. He had gone without knowing that +all he wanted in life was his for the taking. In her room she opened +the note and through blurred vision read what she had so happily +inscribed the night before. "Paul—I love you. Come to me. Elsa." +She had written it, unashamed. +</P> + +<P> +She flung herself upon the bed, and there Martha found her. +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa, child, what is it?" Martha cried, kneeling beside the bed. +"Child, what has happened?" +</P> + +<P> +Elsa sat up, seized Martha by the shoulders and stared into the +faithful eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want to know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I love this man Warrington and he loves me. But he has gone. +Can't you see? Don't you understand? Have you been as blind as I? He +is Paul Ellison, Arthur's brother, his twin brother. And they +obliterated him. It is Arthur who is the ghost, Martha, the phantom. +Ah, I have caused you a good deal of worry, and I am going to cause you +yet more. I am going to Saigon; up and down the world, east and west, +until I find him. Shall I go alone, or will you go with me?" +</P> + +<P> +Then Martha did what ever after endeared her to the heart of the +stricken girl: she mothered her. "Elsa, my baby! Of course I shall go +with you, always. For you could not love any man if he was not worthy." +</P> + +<P> +Then followed the strangest quest doubtless ever made by a woman. From +Singapore to Saigon, up to Bangkok, down to Singapore again; to +Batavia, over to Hongkong, Shanghai, Pekin, Manila, Hongkong again, +then Yokohama. Patient and hopeful, Elsa followed the bewildering +trail. She left behind her many puzzled hotel managers and booking +agents: for it was not usual for a beautiful young woman to go about +the world, inquiring for a blond man with a parrot. Sometimes she was +only a day late. Many cablegrams she sent, but upon her arrival in +each port she found that these had not been called for. Over these +heart-breaking disappointments she uttered no complaint. The world was +big and wide; be it never so big and wide, Elsa knew that some day she +would find him. +</P> + +<P> +In the daytime there was the quest; but, ah! the nights, the +interminable hours of inaction, the spaces of time in which she could +only lie back and think. Up and down the coasts, across islands, over +seas, the journey took her, until one day in July she found herself +upon the pillared veranda of the house in which her mother had been +born. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap20"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWO BROTHERS +</H3> + + +<P> +From port to port, sometimes not stepping off the boat at all, moody, +restless and irritable, Warrington wended his way home. There was +nothing surprising in the fact that he never inquired for mail. Who +was there to write? Besides, he sought only the obscure hotels, where +he was not likely to meet any of his erstwhile fellow passengers. The +mockery and uselessness of his home-going became more and more apparent +as the days slipped by. Often he longed to fly back to the jungles, to +James, and leave matters as they were. Here and there, along the way, +he had tried a bit of luxury; but the years of economy and frugality +had robbed him of the ability to enjoy it. He was going home … to +what? Surely there would be no welcome for him at his journey's end. +He would return after the manner of prodigals in general, not +scriptural, to find that he was not wanted. Of his own free will he +had gone out of their lives. +</P> + +<P> +He fought grimly against the thought of Elsa; but he was not strong +enough to vanquish the longings from his heart and mind. Always when +alone she was in fancy with him, now smiling amusedly into his face, +now peering down at the phosphorescence seething alongside, now +standing with her chin up-lifted, her eyes half shut, letting the +strong winds strike full in her face. Many a "good night" he sent over +the seas. An incident; that would be all. +</P> + +<P> +His first day in New York left him with nothing more than a feeling of +foreboding and oppression. The expected exhilaration of returning to +the city of his birth did not materialize. So used to open spaces was +he, to distances and the circle of horizons, that he knew he no longer +belonged to the city with its Himalayan gorges and cañons, whose +torrents were human beings and whose glaciers were the hearts of these. +A great loneliness bore down on him. For months he had been drawing +familiar pictures, and to find none of these was like coming home to an +empty house. The old life was indeed gone; there were no threads to +resume. A hotel stood where his club had been; the house in which he +had spent his youth was no more. He wanted to leave the city; and the +desire was with difficulty overcome. +</P> + +<P> +Early the second morning he started down-town to the offices of the +Andes Construction Company. He was extraordinarily nervous. Cold +sweat continually moistened his palms. Change, change, everywhere +change; Trinity was like an old friend. When the taxicab driver threw +off the power and indicated with a jerk of his head a granite shaft +that soared up into the blue, Warrington asked: +</P> + +<P> +"What place is this?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Andes Building, sir. The construction company occupies the top +floor." +</P> + +<P> +"Very good," replied Warrington, paying and discharging the man. +</P> + +<P> +From a reliquary of the Dutch, an affair of red-brick, four stories +high, this monolith had sprung. With a sigh Warrington entered the +cavernous door-way and stepped into an "express-elevator." When the +car arrived at the twenty-second story, Warrington was alone. He +paused before the door of the vice-president. He recalled the "old +man," thin-lipped, blue-eyed, eruptive. It was all very strange, this +request to make the restitution in person. Well he would soon learn +why. +</P> + +<P> +He drew the certified check from his wallet and scrutinized it +carefully. Twelve thousand, eight hundred dollars. He replaced it, +opened the door, and walked in. A boy met him at the railing and +briskly inquired his business. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish to see Mr. Elmore." +</P> + +<P> +"Your card." +</P> + +<P> +Card? Warrington had not possessed such a thing in years. "I have no +cards with me. But I have an appointment with Mr. Elmore. Tell him +that Mr. Ellison is here." +</P> + +<P> +The boy returned promptly and signified that Mr. Elmore was at liberty. +But it was not the "old man" who looked up from a busy man's desk. It +was the son: so far, the one familiar face Warrington had seen since +his arrival. There was no hand-shaking; there was nothing in evidence +on either side to invite it. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! Sit down, Paul. Let no one disturb me for an hour," the young +vice-president advised the boy. "And close the door as you go out." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington sat down; the bridge-builder whirled his chair around and +stared at his visitor, not insolently, but with kindly curiosity. +</P> + +<P> +"You've filled out," was all he said. After fully satisfying his eyes, +he added: "I dare say you expected to find father. He's been gone six +years," indicating one of the two portraits over his desk. +</P> + +<P> +It was not at the "old man" Warrington looked longest. "Who is the +other?" he asked. +</P> + +<P> +"What? You worked four years with this company and don't recollect +that portrait?" +</P> + +<P> +"Frankly, I never noticed it before." Warrington placed the certified +check on the desk. "With interest," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The vice-president crackled it, ran his fingers over his smooth chin, +folded the check and extended it toward the astonished wanderer. +</P> + +<P> +"We don't want that, Paul. What we wanted was to get you back. There +was no other way. Your brother made up the loss the day after you … went +away. There was no scandal. Only a few of us in the office +knew. Never got to the newspapers." +</P> + +<P> +It was impossible for Warrington to digest this astounding information +at once. His mind could only repeat the phrases: no scandal, only a +few of us in the office knew, never got to the newspapers. For ten +years he had hidden himself in wildernesses, avoided hotels, read no +American newspapers, never called for mail. Oh, monumental fool! +</P> + +<P> +"And I could have come home almost at once!" he said aloud, addressing +the crumpled check in his hand rather than the man in the swivel-chair. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. I have often wondered where you were, what you were doing. You +and your brother were upper-classmen. I never knew Arthur very well; +but you and I were chummy, after a fashion. Arthur was a little too +bookish for my style. Didn't we use to call you Old Galahad? You were +always walloping the bullies and taking the weaker chaps under your +wing. To me, you were the last man in the world for this business. +Moreover, I never could understand, nor could father, how you got it, +for you were not an office-man. Women and cards, I suppose. Father +said that you had the making of a great engineer. Fierce place, this +old town," waving his hand toward the myriad sparkling roofs and towers +and spires. "Have to be strong and hard-headed to survive it. Built +anything since you've been away?" +</P> + +<P> +"In Cashmir." To have thrown away a decade! +</P> + +<P> +"Glad you kept your hand in. I dare say you've seen a lot of life." +To the younger man it was an extremely awkward interview. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes; I've seen life," dully. +</P> + +<P> +"Orient, mostly, I suppose. Your letter about the strike in oil was +mighty interesting. Heap of money over there, if they'd only let us +smart chaps in to dig it up. Now, old man, I want you to wipe the +slate clear of these ten years. We'll call it a bad dream. What are +your plans for the future?" +</P> + +<P> +"Plans?" Warrington looked up blankly. He realized that he had made +no plans for the future. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. What do you intend to do? A man like you wasn't made for +idleness. Look here, Paul; I'm not going to beat about the bush. +We've got a whopping big contract from the Chinese government, and we +need a man to take charge, a man who knows and understands something of +the yellow people. How about a salary of ten thousand a year for two +years, to begin in October?" +</P> + +<P> +Warrington twisted the check. Work, rehabilitation. +</P> + +<P> +"Could you trust me?" he asked quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"With anything I have in the world. Understand, Paul, there's no +philanthropic string to this offer. You've pulled through a devil of a +hole. You're a man. I should not be holding down this chair if I +couldn't tell a man at a glance. We were together two months in Peru. +I'm familiar with your work. Do you want to know whose portrait that +is up there? Well, it's General Chetwood's, the founder of this +concern, the silent partner. The man who knew kings and potentates and +told 'em that they needed bridges in their backyards. This building +belongs to his daughter. She converted her stock into granite. About +a month ago I received a letter from her. It directly concerned you. +It seems she learned through the consul-general at Singapore that you +had worked with us. She's like her father, a mighty keen judge of +human nature. Frankly, this offer comes through her advices. To +satisfy yourself, you can give us a surety-bond for fifty thousand. +It's not obligatory, however." +</P> + +<P> +Elsa Chetwood. She had her father's eyes, and it was this which had +drawn his gaze to the portrait. Chetwood; and Arthur had not known any +more than he had. What irony! Ten years wasted … for nothing! +Warrington laughed aloud. A weakness seized him, like that of a man +long gone hungry. +</P> + +<P> +"Buck up, Paul," warned the good Samaritan. "All this kind of knocks +the wind out of you. I know. But what I've offered you is in good +faith. Will you take it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," simply. +</P> + +<P> +"That's the way to talk. Supposing you go out to lunch with me? We'll +talk it over like old times." +</P> + +<P> +"No. I haven't seen …" +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure! I forgot. Do you know where they live, your mother and +brother?" +</P> + +<P> +"No. I expected to ask you." +</P> + +<P> +The vice-president scribbled down the address. "I believe you'll find +them both there, though Arthur, I understand, is almost as great a +traveler as you are. Of course you want to see them, you poor beggar! +The Southwestern will pull you almost up to the door. After the +reunion, you hike back here, and we'll get down to the meat of the +business." +</P> + +<P> +"John," said Warrington, huskily, "you're a man." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, piffle! It's not all John. The old man left word that if you +ever turned up again to hang on to you. You were valuable. And +there's Miss Chetwood. If you want to thank anybody, thank her." +Warrington missed the searching glance, which was not without its touch +of envy. "You'd better be off. Hustle back as soon as you can." +Elmore offered his hand now. "Gad! but you haven't lost any of your +old grip." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm a bit dazed. The last six months have loosened up my nerves." +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody's made of iron." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd sound hollow if I tried to say what I feel. I'll be back a week +from to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll look for you." +</P> + +<P> +As the door closed behind Warrington, the young millionaire sat down, +scowling at a cubby-hole in his desk. He presently took out a letter +postmarked Yokohama. He turned it about in his hands, musingly. +Without reading it (for he knew its contents well!) he thrust it back +into the cubby-hole. Women were out of his sphere. He could build a +bridge within a dollar of the bid; but he knew nothing about women +beyond the fact that they were always desirable. +</P> + +<P> +A few monosyllables, a sentence or two, and then, good day. The +average man would have recounted every incident of note during those +ten years. He did not admire Warrington any the less for his +reticence. It took a strong man to hold himself together under all +these blows from the big end of fortune's horn. +</P> + +<P> +He had known the two brothers at college, and to Paul he had given a +freshman's worship. In the field Paul had been the idol, and popular +not only for his feats of strength but for his lovableness. He +recalled the affection between the two boys. Arthur admired Paul for +his strength, Paul admired and gloried in his brother's learning. +Never would he forget that commencement-day, when the two boys in their +mortar-boards, their beautiful mother between them, arm in arm, walked +across the green of the campus. It was an unforgettable picture. +</P> + +<P> +Paul was a born-engineer; Arthur had entered the office as a +make-shift. Paul had taken eight-thousand one day, and decamped. +Arthur had refunded the sum, and disappeared. Elmore could not +understand, nor could his father. Perhaps some of the truth would now +come to light. Somehow, Paul, with his blond beard and blonder head, +his bright eyes, his tan, his big shoulders, somehow Paul was out of +date. He did not belong to the times. +</P> + +<P> +And Elsa had met him over there; practically ordered (though she had no +authority) that he should be given a start anew; that, moreover, she +would go his bond to any amount. Funny old world! Well, he was glad. +Paul was a man, a big man, and that was the sort needed in the foreign +bridge-building. He rolled down the top of his desk and left the +building. He was in no mood for work. +</P> + +<P> +The evening of the third day found Warrington in the baggage-car, +feeding a dilapidated feather-molting bird, who was in a most +scandalous temper. Rajah scattered the seeds about, spurned the +banana-tip, tilted the water-cup and swashbuckled generally. By and +by, above the clack-clack of wheels and rails, came a crooning song. +The baggage-man looked up from his way-book and lowered his pipe. He +saw the little green bird pause and begin to keep time with its head. +It was the Urdu lullaby James used to sing. It never failed to quiet +the little parrot. Warrington went back to his Pullman, where the +porter greeted him with the information that the next stop would be +his. Ten minutes later he stepped from the train, a small kit-bag in +one hand and the parrot-cage in the other. +</P> + +<P> +He had come prepared for mistake on the part of the natives. The +single smart cabman lifted his hat, jumped down from the box, and +opened the door. Warrington entered without speaking. The door +closed, and the coupé rolled away briskly. He was perfectly sure of +his destination. The cabman had mistaken him for Arthur. It would be +better so. There would be no after complications when he departed on +the morrow. As the coupé took a turn, he looked out of the window. +They were entering a driveway, lined on each side of which were +chestnuts. Indeed, the house was set in the center of a grove of these +splendid trees. The coupé stopped. +</P> + +<P> +"Wait," said Warrington, alighting. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington went up the broad veranda steps and pulled the old-fashioned +bell-cord. He was rather amazed at his utter lack of agitation. He +was as calm as if he were making a call upon a casual acquaintance. +His mother and brother, whom he had not seen in ten years! The great +oak-door drew in, and he entered unceremoniously. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Marse A'thuh, I di'n't see yo' go out!" exclaimed the old negro +servant. +</P> + +<P> +"I am not Arthur; I am his brother Paul. Which door?" +</P> + +<P> +Pop-eyed, the old negro pointed to a door down the hall. Then he +leaned against the banister and caught desperately at the spindles. +For the voice was not Arthur's. +</P> + +<P> +Warrington opened the door, closed it gently and stood with his back to +it. At a desk in the middle of the room sat a man, busy with books. +He raised his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Arthur, don't you know me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Paul?" +</P> + +<P> +The chair overturned; some books thudded dully upon the rug. Arthur +leaned with his hands tense upon the desk. Paul sustained the look, +his eyes sad and his face pale and grave. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap21"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +XXI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HE THAT WAS DEAD +</H3> + + +<P> +"Yes, it is I, the unlucky penny; Old Galahad, in flesh and blood and +bone. I shouldn't get white over it, Arthur. It isn't worth while. I +can see that you haven't changed much, unless it is that your hair is a +little paler at the temples. Gray? I'll wager I've a few myself." +There was a flippancy in his tone that astonished Warrington's own +ears, for certainly this light mockery did not come from within. At +heart he was sober enough. +</P> + +<P> +To steady the thundering beat of his pulse he crossed the room, righted +the chair, stacked the books and laid them on the desk. Arthur did not +move save to turn his head and to follow with fascinated gaze his +brother's movements. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Arthur, I've only a little while. I can see by your eyes that +you are conjuring up all sorts of terrible things. But nothing is +going to happen. I am going to talk to you; then I'm going away; and +to-morrow it will be easy to convince yourself that you have seen only +a ghost. Sit down. I'll take this chair at the left." +</P> + +<P> +Arthur's hands slid from the desk; in a kind of collapse he sat down. +Suddenly he laid his head upon his arms, and a great sigh sent its +tremor across his shoulders. Warrington felt his heart swell. The +past faded away; his wrongs became vapors. He saw only his brother, +the boy he had loved so devotedly, Arty, his other self, his scholarly +other self. Why blame Arthur? He, Paul, was the fool. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't take it like that, Arty," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The other's hand stretched out blindly toward the voice. "Ah, great +God, Paul!" +</P> + +<P> +"I know! Perhaps I've brooded too much." Warrington crushed the hand +in his two strong ones. "The main fault was mine. I couldn't see the +length of my nose. I threw a temptation in your way which none but a +demi-god could have resisted. That night, when I got your note telling +me what you had done, I did a damnably foolish thing. I went to the +club-bar and drank heavily. I was wild to help you, but I couldn't see +how. At two in the morning I thought I saw the way. Drunken men get +strange ideas into their heads. You were the apple of the mother's +eyes; I was only her son. No use denying it. She worshiped you; +tolerated me. I came back to the house, packed up what I absolutely +needed, and took the first train west. It all depended upon what you'd +do. You let me go, Arty, old boy. I suppose you were pretty well +knocked up, when you learned what I had done. And then you let things +drift. It was only natural. I had opened the way for you. Mother, +learning that I was a thief, restored the defalcation to save the +family honor, which was your future. We were always more or less +hard-pressed for funds. I did not gamble, but I wasted a lot. The +mother gave us an allowance of five thousand each. To this I managed +to add another five and you another four. You were always borrowing +from me. I never questioned what you did with it. I would to God I +had! It would have saved us a lot of trouble." +</P> + +<P> +The hand in his relaxed and slipped from the clasp. +</P> + +<P> +"Some of these things will sound bitter, but the heart behind them +isn't. So I did what I thought to be a great and glorious thing. I +was sober when I reached Chicago. I saw my deed from another angle. +Think of it; we could have given our joint note to mother's bank for +the amount. Old Henderson would have discounted it in a second. It +was too late. I went on. The few hundreds I had gave out. I've been +up against it pretty hard. There were times when I envied the +pariah-dog. But fortune came around one day, knocked, and I let her +in. I returned to make a restitution, only to learn that it had been +made by you, long ago. A trick of young Elmore's. I shouldn't have +come back if I could have sent the money." +</P> + +<P> +Arthur raised his head and sat up. "Ah, why did you not write? Why +did you not let me know where you were? God is my witness, if there is +a corner of this world unsearched for you. For two years I had a man +hunting. He gave up. I believed you dead." +</P> + +<P> +"Dead? Well, I was in a sense." +</P> + +<P> +"You have suffered, but not as I have. Always you had before you your +great, splendid, foolish sacrifice. I had nothing to buoy me up; there +was only the drag of the recollection of an evil deed, and a moment of +pitiful weakness. The temptation was too great, Paul." +</P> + +<P> +"How did it happen?" +</P> + +<P> +"How does anything like that happen? Curiosity drew me first, for at +college I never played but a few games of bridge. Curiosity, desire, +then the full blaze of the passion. You will never know what that is, +Paul. It is stronger than love, or faith, or honor. God knows I never +thought myself weak; at school I was the least impetuous of the two. +Everything went, and they cheated me from the start. Roulette and +faro. Then I put my hand in the safe. To this day I can not tell why. +I owed nothing to those despicable thieves, Craig least of all." +</P> + +<P> +"Craig. I met him over there. Pummeled him." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't act like a man. Some day a comfortable fortune would fall to +the lot of each of us. But I took eight thousand, lost it, and came +whining to you. You don't belong to this petty age, Paul. You ought +to have been a fellow of the Round Table." Arthur smiled wanly. "To +throw your life away like that, for a brother who wasn't fit to lace +your shoes! If you had written you would have learned that everything +was smoothed over. The Andes people dropped the matter entirely. You +loved the mother far better than I." +</P> + +<P> +"And she must never know," quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I always mean everything I say, Arty. Can't you see the uselessness +of telling her now? She has gone all these years with the belief that +I am a thief. A thief, Arty, I, who never stole anything save a +farmer's apples. They would have called you a defaulter; that's +because you had access to the safe, whereas I had none." Arthur +winced. "I don't propose to disillusion the mother. I am strong +enough to go away without seeing her; and God knows how my heart +yearns, and my ears and eyes and arms." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington reached mechanically for the portrait in the silver frame, +but Arthur stayed his hand. +</P> + +<P> +"No, Paul; that is mine." +</P> + +<P> +Warrington dropped his hand, puzzled. "I was not going to destroy it," +ironically. +</P> + +<P> +"No; but in a sense you have destroyed me. Compensation. What +trifling thought most of us give that word! The law of compensation. +For ten years Elsa has been the flower o' the corn for me. She almost +loved me. And one day she sees you; and in that one day all that I had +gained was lost, and all that you had lost was gained. The law of +compensation. Sometimes we escape retribution, but never the law of +compensation. Some months ago she wrote me a letter. She was always +direct. It was a just letter." +</P> + +<P> +A pause. Arthur gazed steadily at the portrait, while Warrington +twisted his yellow beard. +</P> + +<P> +"The ways of mothers are mysterious," said the latter, finally. He +wondered if Arthur would confess to the blacker deed, or have it forced +from him. He would wait and see. "The father and the mother weren't +happy. Money. There's the wedge. It's in every life somewhere. A +marriage of convenience is an unwise thing. When we were born the +mother turned to us. Up to the time we were six or seven there was no +distinction in her love for us. But on the day the father set his +choice upon me, she set hers upon you. You'll never know how I +suffered as a boy, when I saw the distance growing wider and wider with +the years. Perhaps the father understood, for he was always kind and +gentle to me. I expect to return to China shortly. The Andes has +taken me back. Sounds like a fairy-tale; eh? I shall never return +here. But did you know who Elsa Chetwood was?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not until that letter came." +</P> + +<P> +Neither of them heard the faint gasp which came from behind the +portières dividing the study and the living-room. The gasp had +followed the invisible knife-thrusts of these confidences. The woman +behind those portières swayed and caught blindly at the jamb. With +cruel vividness she saw in this terrible moment all that to which she +had never given more than a passing thought. No reproaches; only a +simple declaration of what had burned in this boy's heart. And she had +almost forgotten this son. A species of paralysis laid hold of her, +leaving her for the time incapable of movement. +</P> + +<P> +She heard the deep voice of this other son say: +</P> + +<P> +"Lots of kinks in life. There is only one law that I shall lay down +for you, Arty. You must give up all idea of marrying Elsa Chetwood." +</P> + +<P> +"It will be easy to obey that. Are you playing with me, Paul?" +</P> + +<P> +"Playing?" echoed Warrington. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Do you mean to sit there and tell me that you don't know why I +shall never marry her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Arty, I don't understand what you're talking about." +</P> + +<P> +Arthur read the truth in his brother's eyes. He smiled weakly, the +anger gone. "Same old blind duffer you always were. I wrote an answer +to her letter. In that letter I told her … the truth." +</P> + +<P> +"You did that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am your brother, Paul. I couldn't be a cad as well as a thief. +Yes, I told her. I told her more, what you never knew. I let Craig +believe that I was you, Paul. I wore your clothes, your scarf-pins, +your hats. In that I was a black villain. God! What a hell I lived +in.… Ah, mother!" Arthur dropped his head upon his arms again. +</P> + +<P> +"Paul, my son!" +</P> + +<P> +It was Warrington's chair that toppled over. Framed in the portières +stood his mother, white-haired, pale but as beautiful as of old. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sorry. I had hoped to get away without your knowing." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, because there wasn't any use of my coming at all. I'd passed out +of your life, and I should have stayed out. Don't worry. I've got +everything mapped out. There's a train at midnight." +</P> + +<P> +Arthur stood up. "Mother, I am the guilty man. I was the thief. All +these years I've let you believe that Paul had taken the money.…" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes!" she interrupted, never taking her eyes off this other son. +"I heard everything behind these curtains. You were going away, Paul, +without seeing me?" +</P> + +<P> +"What was the use of stirring up old matters? Of bringing confusion +into this house?" He did not look at her. He could not tell her that +he now knew what had drawn him hither, that all along he had deceived +himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Paul, my son, I have been a wicked woman." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, mother, you mustn't talk like that!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wicked! My son, my silent, kindly, chivalric boy, will you forgive +your mother? Your unnatural mother?" +</P> + +<P> +He caught her before her knees touched the floor; and, ah! how hungrily +her arms wound about him. +</P> + +<A NAME="img-304"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-304.jpg" ALT="He That Was Dead." BORDER="2" WIDTH="429" HEIGHT="621"> +<H4> +[Illustration: He That Was Dead.] +</H4> +</CENTER> + +<P> +"What's the use of lying?" he cried brokenly. "My mother! I wanted to +hear your voice and feel your arms. You don't know how I have always +loved you. It was a long time, a very long time. Perhaps I was to be +blamed. I was proud, and kept away from you. Don't cry. There, +there! I can go away now, happy." Over his mother's shoulders, now +moving with silent stabbing sobs, he held out his hand to his brother. +Presently, above the two bowed heads, Warrington's own rose, +transfigured with happiness. +</P> + +<P> +The hall-door opened and closed, but none of them regarded it. +</P> + +<P> +By and by the mother stood away, but within arm's length. "How big and +strong you have grown, Paul." +</P> + +<P> +"In heart, too, mother," added Arthur. "Old Galahad!" +</P> + +<P> +"You must never leave us again, Paul. Promise." +</P> + +<P> +"May I always come back?" +</P> + +<P> +"Always!" And she took his hand and pressed it tightly against her +cheek. "Always! Ah, your poor blind mother!" +</P> + +<P> +"Always to come back!… I am going to China in a little while, to +take up the work I have always loved, the building of bridges." +</P> + +<P> +"And I am going, too!" It was Elsa, at her journey's end. +</P> + +<P> +Jealous love is keen of eye. There was death in Arthur's heart, but he +smiled at her. After all, what was more logical than that she should +appear at this moment? Why sip the cup when it might be drained at +once, over with and done with? +</P> + +<P> +"Elsa!" said the mother, holding Warrington's hand in closer grasp. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, mother. Ah, why did you not tell me all?" +</P> + +<P> +Arthur walked to the long window that opened put upon the garden. +There, for a moment, he paused, then passed from the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Go to him, mother," said Elsa, wisely and with pity. +</P> + +<P> +The mother hesitated, pulled by the old and the new love, by the fear +that the new-found could be hers but a little while. Slowly she let +Paul's hand fall, and slower still she followed Arthur's footsteps. +</P> + +<P> +"I wasn't quite brave enough," he said, when she found him. "They +love. And love me well, mother, for I am the broken man." +</P> + +<P> +She pressed his head against her heart. "My boy!" But her glance was +leveled at the amber-tinted window through which she had come. +</P> + +<P> +To Warrington, Elsa was a little thinner, and of color there was none; +but her eyes shone with all the splendor of the Oriental stars at which +he had so often gazed with mute inquiry. +</P> + +<P> +"Galahad!" she said, and smiled. "Well, what have you to say?" +</P> + +<P> +"I? In God's name, what can I say but that I love you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, say it, and stop the ache in my heart! Say it, and make me +forget the weary eighteen thousand miles I have journeyed to find you! +Say it, and hold me close for I am tired!… Listen!" she +whispered, lifting her head from his shoulder. +</P> + +<P> +From out the stillness of the summer night came a jarring note, the +eternal protest of Rajah. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARROT & CO.***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 18443-h.txt or 18443-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/4/18443">http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/4/4/18443</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Parrot & Co. + + +Author: Harold MacGrath + + + +Release Date: May 24, 2006 [eBook #18443] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARROT & CO.*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 18443-h.htm or 18443-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/4/18443/18443-h/18443-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/4/18443/18443-h.zip) + + + + + +PARROT & CO. + +by + +HAROLD MacGRATH + +Author of +"The Best Man," "The Carpet from Bagdad," "The Place of Honeymoons" + +With Four Illustrations in Color + +By Andre Castaigne + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: The Game of Gossip.] + + + + +A. L. Burt Company +Publishers -------- New York +Copyright 1913 +The Bobbs-Merrill Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I EAST IS EAST + II A MAN WITH A PAST + III THE WEAK LINK + IV TWO DAYS OF PARADISE + V BACK TO LIFE + VI IN THE NEXT ROOM + VII CONFIDENCES + VIII A WOMAN'S REASON + IX TWO SHORT WEEKS + X THE CUT DIRECT + XI THE BLUE FEATHER + XII THE GAME OF GOSSIP + XIII AFTER TEN YEARS + XIV ACCORDING TO THE RULES + XV A BIT OF A LARK + XVI WHO IS PAUL ELLISON? + XVII THE ANSWERING CABLE + XVIII THE BATTLE + XIX TWO LETTERS + XX THE TWO BROTHERS + XXI HE THAT WAS DEAD + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + The Game of Gossip . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ + + A Bit of a Lark + + The Battle + + He That Was Dead + + + + +TO + +J. J. CURTIS + + + + +PARROT & CO. + + +I + +EAST IS EAST + +It began somewhere in the middle of the world, between London which is +the beginning and New York which is the end, where all things are east +of the one and west of the other. To be precise, a forlorn landing on +the west bank of the muddy turbulent Irrawaddy, remembered by man only +so often as it was necessary for the flotilla boat to call for paddy, a +visiting commissioner anxious to get away, or a family homeward-bound. +Somewhere in the northeast was Mandalay, but lately known in romance, +verse and song; somewhere in the southeast lay Prome, known only in +guide-books and time-tables; and farther south, Rangoon, sister to +Singapore, the half-way house of the derelicts of the world. On the +east side of the river, over there, was a semblance of civilization. +That is to say, men wore white linen, avoided murder, and frequently +paid their gambling debts. But on this west side stood wilderness, not +the kind one reads about as being eventually conquered by white men; +no, the real grim desolation, where the ax cuts but leaves no blaze, +where the pioneer disappears and few or none follow. The pioneer has +always been a successful pugilist, but in this part of Burma fate, out +of pure admiration for the pygmy's gameness, decided to call the battle +a draw. It was not the wilderness of the desert, of the jungle; rather +the tragic hopeless state of a settlement that neither progressed, +retarded, nor stood still. + +Between the landing and the settlement itself there stretched a winding +road, arid and treeless, perhaps two miles in length. It announced +definitely that its end was futility. All this day long heavy +bullock-carts had rumbled over it, rumbled toward the landing and +rattled emptily back to the settlement. The dust hung like a fog above +the road, not only for this day, but for all days between the big +rains. Each night, however, the cold heavy dews drew it down, cooling +but never congealing it. From under the first footfall the next day it +rose again. When the gods, or the elements, or Providence, arranged +the world as a fit habitation for man, India and Burma were made the +dust-bins. And as water finds its levels, so will dust, earthly and +human, the quick and the dead. + +It was after five in the afternoon. The sun was sinking, hazily but +swiftly; ribbons of scarlet, ribbons of rose, ribbons of violet, lay +one upon the other. The sun possessed no definite circle; a great +blinding radiance like metal pouring from the mouth of a blast-furnace. +Along the road walked two men, phantom-like. One saw their heads dimly +and still more dimly their bodies to the knees; of legs, there was +nothing visible. Occasionally they stepped aside to permit some +bullock-cart to pass. One of them swore, not with any evidence of +temper, not viciously, but in a kind of mechanical protest, which, from +long usage, had become a habit. He directed these epithets never at +animate things, never at anything he could by mental or physical +contest overcome. He swore at the dust, at the heat, at the wind, at +the sun. + +The other wayfarer, with the inherent patience of his blood, said +nothing and waited, setting down the heavy kit-bag and the +canvas-valise (his own). When the way was free again he would sling +the kit-bag and the valise over his shoulder and step back into the +road. His turban, once white, was brown with dust and sweat. His +khaki uniform was rent under the arm-pits, several buttons were gone; +his stockings were rusty black, mottled with patches of brown skin; and +the ragged canvas-shoes spurted little spirals of dust as he walked. +The British-Indian government had indulgently permitted him to proceed +about his duties as guide and carrier under the cognomen of James +Hooghly, in honor of a father whose surname need not be written here, +and in further honor of the river upon which, quite inconveniently one +early morning, he had been born. For he was Eurasian; half European, +half Indian, having his place twixt heaven and hell, which is to say, +nowhere. His father had died of a complication of bhang-drinking and +opium-eating; and as a consequence, James was full of humorless +imagination, spells of moodiness and outbursts of hilarious politics. +Every native who acquires a facility in English immediately sets out to +rescue India from the clutches of the British raj, occasionally +advancing so far as to send a bullet into some harmless individual in +the Civil Service. + +James was faithful, willing and strong; and as a carrier of burdens, +took unmurmuringly his place beside the tireless bullock and the +elephant. He was a Methodist; why, no one could find lucid answer, +since he ate no beef, drank from no common cup, smoked through his fist +when he enjoyed a pipe, and never assisted Warrington Sahib in his +deadly pursuit of flies and mosquitoes. He was Hindu in all his acts +save in his manner of entering temples; in this, the European blood +kept his knees unbended. By dint of inquiry his master had learned +that James looked upon his baptism and conversion in Methodism as a +corporal would have looked upon the acquisition of a V. C. Twice, +during fever and plague, he had saved his master's life. With the +guilelessness of the Oriental he considered himself responsible for his +master in all future times. Instead of paying off a debt he had +acquired one. Treated as he was, kindly but always firmly, he would +have surrendered his life cheerfully at the beck of the white man. + +Warrington was an American. He was also one of those men who never +held misfortune in contempt, whose outlook wherever it roamed was +tolerant. He had patience for the weak, resolution for the strong, and +a fearless amiability toward all. He was like the St. Bernard dog, +very difficult to arouse. It is rather the way with all men who are +strong mentally and physically. He was tall and broad and deep. Under +the battered pith-helmet his face was as dark as the Eurasian's; but +the eyes were blue, bright and small-pupiled, as they are with men who +live out-of-doors, who are compelled of necessity to note things moving +in the distances. The nose was large and well-defined. All framed in +a tangle of blond beard and mustache which, if anything, added to the +general manliness of his appearance. He, too, wore khaki, but with the +addition of tan riding-leggings, which had seen anything but +rocking-horse service. The man was yellow from the top of his helmet +to the soles of his shoes--outside. For the rest, he was a mystery, to +James, to all who thought they knew him, and most of all to himself. A +pariah, an outcast, a fugitive from the bloodless hand of the law; a +gentleman born, once upon a time a clubman, college-bred; a +contradiction, a puzzle for which there was not any solution, not even +in the hidden corners of the man's heart. His name wasn't Warrington; +and he had rubbed elbows with the dregs of humanity, and still looked +you straight in the eye because he had come through inferno without +bringing any of the defiling pitch. + +From time to time he paused to relight his crumbling cheroot. The +tobacco was strong and bitter, and stung his parched lips; but the +craving for the tang of the smoke on his tongue was not to be denied. + +Under his arm he carried a small iron-cage, patterned something like a +rat-trap. It contained a Rajputana parrakeet, not much larger than a +robin, but possessor of a soul as fierce as that of Palladia, minus, +however, the smoothing influence of chivalry. He had been born under +the eaves of the scarlet palace in Jaipur (so his history ran); but the +proximity of Indian princes had left him untouched: he had neither +chivalry, politeness, nor diplomacy. He was, in fact, thoroughly and +consistently bad. Round and round he went, over and over, top-side, +down-side, restlessly. For at this moment he was hearing those +familiar evening sounds which no human ear can discern: the muttering +of the day-birds about to seek cover for the night. In the field at +the right of the road stood a lonely tree. It was covered with +brilliant scarlet leaves and blossoms, and justly the natives call it +the Flame of the Jungle. A flock of small birds were gyrating above it. + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" cried the parrot, imitating the +Burmese bell-gong that calls to prayer. Instantly he followed the call +with a shriek so piercing as to sting the ear of the man who was +carrying him. + +"You little son-of-a-gun," he laughed; "where do you pack away all that +noise?" + +There was a strange bond between the big yellow man and this little +green bird. The bird did not suspect it, but the man knew. The pluck, +the pugnacity and the individuality of the feathered comrade had been +an object lesson to the man, at a time when he had been on the point of +throwing up the fight. + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" The bird began its interminable +somersaults, pausing only to reach for the tantalizing finger of the +man, who laughed again as he withdrew the digit in time. + +For six years he had carried the bird with him, through India and Burma +and Malacca, and not yet had he won a sign of surrender. There were +many scars on his forefingers. It was amazing. With one pressure of +his hand he could have crushed out the life of the bird, but over its +brave unconquerable spirit he had no power. And that is why he loved +it. + +Far away in the past they had met. He remembered the day distinctly +and bitterly. He had been on the brink of self-destruction. Fever and +poverty and terrible loneliness had battered and beaten him flat into +the dust from which this time he had had no wish to rise. He had +walked out to the railway station at Jaipur to witness the arrival of +the tourist train from Ahmadabad. He wanted to see white men and white +women from his own country, though up to this day he had carefully +avoided them. (How he hated the English, with their cold-blooded +suspicion of all who were not island-born!) The natives surged about +the train, with brass-ware, antique articles of warfare, tiger-hunting +knives (accompanied by perennial fairy tales), skins and silks. There +were beggars, holy men, guides and fakirs. + +Squatted in the dust before the door of a first-class carriage was a +solemn brown man, in turban and clout, exhibiting performing parrots. +It was Rajah's turn. He fired a cannon, turned somersaults through a +little steel-hoop, opened a tiny chest, took out a four-anna piece, +carried it to his master, and in exchange received some seed. +Thereupon he waddled resentfully back to the iron-cage, opened the +door, closed it behind him, and began to mutter belligerently. +Warrington haggled for two straight hours. When he returned to his +sordid evil-smelling lodgings that night, he possessed the parrot and +four rupees, and sat up the greater part of the night trying to make +the bird perform his tricks. The idea of suicide no longer bothered +him; trifling though it was, he had found an interest in life. And on +the morrow came the Eurasian, who trustfully loaned Warrington every +coin that he could scrape together. + +Often, in the dreary heart-achy days that followed, when weeks passed +ere he saw the face of a white man, when he had to combat opium and +bhang and laziness in the natives under him, the bird and his funny +tricks had saved him from whisky, or worse. In camp he gave Rajah much +freedom, its wings being clipt; and nothing pleased the little rebel so +much as to claw his way up to his master's shoulder, sit there and +watch the progress of the razor, with intermittent "jawing" at his own +reflection in the cracked hand-mirror. + +Up and down the Irrawaddy, at the rest-houses, on the boats, to those +of a jocular turn of mind the three were known as "Parrot & Co." +Warrington's amiability often misled the various scoundrels with whom +he was at times forced to associate. A man who smiled most of the time +and talked Hindustani to a parrot was not to be accorded much courtesy; +until one day Warrington had settled all distinctions, finally and +primordially, with the square of his fists. After that he went his way +unmolested, having soundly trounced one of the biggest bullies in the +teak timber-yards at Rangoon. + +He made no friends; he had no confidences to exchange; nor did he offer +to become the repository of other men's pasts. But he would share his +bread and his rupees, when he had them, with any who asked. Many tried +to dig into his past, but he was as unresponsive as granite. It takes +a woman to find out what a man is and has been; and Warrington went +about women in a wide circle. In a way he was the most baffling kind +of a mystery to those who knew him: he frequented the haunts of men, +took a friendly drink, played cards for small sums, laughed and jested +like any other anchorless man. In the East men are given curious +names. They become known by phrases, such as, The Man Who Talks, Mr. +Once Upon a Time, The One-Rupee Man, and the like. As Warrington never +received any mail, as he never entered a hotel, nor spoke of the past, +he became The Man Who Never Talked of Home. + +"I say, James, old sport, no more going up and down this bally old +river. We'll go on to Rangoon to-night, if we can find a berth." + +"Yes, Sahib; this business very piffle," replied the Eurasian without +turning his head. Two things he dearly loved to acquire: a bit of +American slang and a bit of English silver. He was invariably changing +his rupees into shillings, and Warrington could not convince him that +he was always losing in the transactions. + +They tramped on through the dust. The sun dropped. A sudden chill +began to penetrate the haze. The white man puffed his cheroot, its +wrapper dangling; the servant hummed an Urdu lullaby; the parrot +complained unceasingly. + +"How much money have you got, James?" + +"Three annas." + +Warrington laughed and shook the dust from his beard. "It's a great +world, James, a great and wonderful world. I've just two rupees +myself. In other words, we are busted." + +"Two rupees!" James paused and turned. "Why, Sahib, you have three +hundred thousand rupees in your pocket." + +"But not worth an anna until I get to Rangoon. Didn't those duffers +give you anything for handling their luggage the other day?" + +"Not a pice, Sahib." + +"Rotters! It takes an Englishman to turn a small trick like that. +Well, well; there were extenuating circumstances. They had sore heads. +No man likes to pay three hundred thousand for something he could have +bought for ten thousand. And I made them come to me, James, to me. I +made them come to this god-forsaken hole, just because it pleased my +fancy. When you have the skewer in, always be sure to turn it around. +I believe I'm heaven-born after all. The Lord hates a quitter, and so +do I. I nearly quit myself, once; eh, Rajah, old top? But I made them +come to me. That's the milk in the cocoanut, the curry on the rice. +They almost had me. Two rupees! It truly is a great world." + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" screamed the parrot. +"_Chaloo_!" + +"Go on! That's the ticket. If I were a praying man, this would be the +time for it. Three hundred thousand rupees!" The man looked at the +far horizon, as if he would force his gaze beyond, into the delectable +land, the Eden out of which he had been driven. "Caviar and truffles, +and Romanee Conti, and Partagas!" + +"Chicken and curry and Scotch whisky." + +"Bah! You've the imagination of a he-goat." + +"All right, Sahib." + +"James, I owe you three hundred rupees, and I am going to add seven +hundred more. We've been fighting this old top for six years together, +and you've been a good servant and a good friend; and I'll take you +with me as far as this fortune will go, if you say the word." + +"Ah, Sahib, I am much sorry. But Delhi calls, and I go. A thousand +rupees will make much business for me in the Chandney Chowk." + +"Just as you say." + +Presently they became purple shades in a brown world. + + + + +II + +A MAN WITH A PAST + +The moonless Oriental night, spangled with large and brilliant stars, +brilliant yet mellow, unlike the crisp scintillating presentment in +northern latitudes, might have served as an illustration of an +air-tight bowl, flung down relentlessly upon this part of the world. +Inside this figurative bowl it was chill, yet the air was stirless. It +was without refreshment; it became a labor and not an exhilaration to +breath it. A pall of suffocating dust rolled above and about the +Irrawaddy flotilla boat which, buffeted by the strong irregular +current, strained at its cables, now at the bow, now at the stern, not +dissimilar to the last rocking of a deserted swing. This sensation was +quite perceptible to the girl who leaned over the bow-rail, her +handkerchief pressed to her nose, and gazed interestedly at the steep +bank, up and down which the sweating coolies swarmed like Gargantuan +rats. They clawed and scrambled up and slid and shuffled down; and +always the bank threatened to slip and carry them all into the swirling +murk below. A dozen torches were stuck into the ground above the +crumbling ledge; she saw the flames as one sees a burning match cupped +in a smoker's hands, shedding light upon nothing save that which stands +immediately behind it. + +She choked a little. Her eyes smarted. Her lips were slightly +cracked, and cold-cream seemed only to provide a surer resting place +for the impalpable dust. It had penetrated her clothes; it had +percolated through wool and linen and silk, intimately, until three +baths a day had become a welcome routine, providing it was possible to +obtain water. Water. Her tongue ran across her lips. Oh, for a drink +from the old cold pure spring at home! Tea, coffee, and bottled soda; +nothing that ever touched the thirsty spots in her throat. + +She looked up at the stars and they looked down upon her, but what she +asked they could not, would not, answer. Night after night she had +asked, and night after night they had only twinkled as of old. She had +traveled now for four months, and still the doubt beset her. It was to +be a leap in the dark, with no one to tell her what was on the other +side. But why this insistent doubt? Why could she not take the leap +gladly, as a woman should who had given the affirmative to a man? With +him she was certain that she loved him, away from him she did not know +what sentiment really abided in her heart. She was wise enough to +realize that something was wrong; and there were but three months +between her and the inevitable decision. Never before had she known +other than momentary indecision; and it irked her to find that her +clarity of vision was fallible and human like the rest of her. The +truth was, she didn't know her mind. She shrugged, and the movement +stirred the dust that had gathered upon her shoulders. + +What a dust-ridden, poverty-ridden, plague-ridden world she had seen! +Ignorance wedded to superstition, yet waited upon by mystery and +romance and incomparable beauty. As the Occidental thought rarely +finds analysis in the Oriental mind, so her mind could not gather and +understand this amalgamation of art and ignorance. She forgot that +another race of men had built those palaces and temples and forts and +tombs, and that they had vanished as the Greeks and Romans have +vanished, leaving only empty spaces behind, which the surviving tribes +neither fill nor comprehend. + + +"A rare old lot of dust; eh, Miss Chetwood? I wish we could travel by +night, but you can't trust this blooming old Irrawaddy after sundown. +Charts are so much waste-paper. You just have to know the old lady. +Bars rise in a night, shift this side and that. But the days are all +right. No dust when you get in mid-stream. What?" + +"I never cease wondering how those poor coolies can carry those heavy +rice-bags," she replied to the purser. + +"Oh, they are used to it," carelessly. + +The great gray stack of paddy-bags seemed, in the eyes of the girl, +fairly to melt away. + +"By Jove!" exclaimed the purser. "There's Parrot & Co.!" He laughed +and pointed toward one of the torches. + +"Parrot & Co.? I do not understand." + +"That big blond chap behind the fourth torch. Yes, there. Sometime +I'll tell you about him. Picturesque duffer." + +She could have shrieked aloud, but all she did was to draw in her +breath with a gasp that went so deep it gave her heart a twinge. Her +fingers tightened upon the teak-rail. Suddenly she knew, and was +ashamed of her weakness. It was simply a remarkable likeness, nothing +more than that; it could not possibly be anything more. Still, a ghost +could not have startled her as this living man had done. + +"Who is he?" + +"A chap named Warrington. But over here that signifies nothing; might +just as well be Jones or Smith or Brown. We call him Parrot & Co., but +the riff-raff have another name for him. The Man Who Never Talked of +Home. For two or three seasons he's been going up and down the river. +Ragged at times, prosperous at others. Lately it's been rags. He's +always carrying that Rajputana parrot. You've seen the kind around the +palaces and forts: saber-blade wings, long tail-feathers, green and +blue and scarlet, and the ugliest little rascals going. This one is +trained to do tricks." + +"But the man!" impatiently. + +He eyed her, mildly surprised. "Oh, he puzzles us all a bit, you know. +Well educated; somewhere back a gentleman; from the States. Of course +I don't know; something shady, probably. They don't tramp about like +this otherwise. For all that, he's rather a decent sort; no bounder +like that rotter we left at Mandalay. He never talks about himself. I +fancy he's lonesome again." + +"Lonesome?" + +"It's the way, you know. These poor beggars drop aboard for the night, +merely to see a white woman again, to hear decent English, to dress and +dine like a human being. They disappear the next day, and often we +never see them again." + +"What do they do?" The question came to her lips mechanically. + +"Paddy-fields. White men are needed to oversee them. And then, +there's the railway, and there's the new oil-country north of Prome. +You'll see the wells to-morrow. Rather fancy this Warrington chap has +been working along the new pipelines. They're running them down to +Rangoon. Well, there goes the last bag. Will you excuse me? The +lading bills, you know. If he's with us tomorrow, I'll have him put +the parrot through its turns. An amusing little beggar." + +"Why not introduce him to me?" + +"Beg pardon?" + +"I'm not afraid," quietly. + +"By Jove, no! But this is rather difficult, you know. If he shouldn't +turn out right . . ." with commendable hesitance. + +"I'll take all the responsibility. It's a whim." + +"Well, you American girls are the eighth wonder of the world." The +purser was distinctly annoyed. "And it may be an impertinence on my +part, but I never yet saw an American woman who would accept advice or +act upon it." + +"Thanks. What would you advise?" with dangerous sweetness. + +"Not to meet this man. It's irregular. I know nothing about him. If +you had a father or a brother on board. . . ." + +"Or even a husband!" laughing. + +"There you are!" resignedly. "You laugh. You women go everywhere, and +half the time unprotected." + +"Never quite unprotected. We never venture beyond the call of +gentlemen." + +"That is true," brightening. "You insist on meeting this chap?" + +"I do not insist; only, I am bored, and he might interest me for an +hour." She added: "Besides, it may annoy the others." + +The purser grinned reluctantly. "You and the colonel don't get on. +Well, I'll introduce this chap at dinner. If I don't. . . . + +"I am fully capable of speaking to him without any introduction +whatever." She laughed again. "It will be very kind of you." + +When he had gone she mused over this impulse so alien to her character. +An absolute stranger, a man with a past, perhaps a fugitive from +justice; and because he looked like Arthur Ellison, she was seeking his +acquaintance. Something, then, could break through her reserve and +aloofness? She had traveled from San Francisco to Colombo, unattended +save by an elderly maiden who had risen by gradual stages from nurse to +companion, but who could not be made to remember that she was no longer +a nurse. In all these four months Elsa had not made half a dozen +acquaintances, and of these she had not sought one. Yet, she was +asking to meet a stranger whose only recommendation was a singular +likeness to another man. The purser was right. It was very irregular. + +"Parrot & Co.!" she murmured. She searched among the phantoms moving +to and fro upon the ledge; but the man with the cage was gone. It was +really uncanny. + +She dropped her arms from the rail and went to her stateroom and +dressed for dinner. She did not give her toilet any particular care. +There was no thought of conquest, no thought of dazzling the man in +khaki. It was the indolence and carelessness of the East, where +clothes become only necessities and are no longer the essentials of +adornment. + +Elsa Chetwood was twenty-five, lithely built, outwardly reposeful, but +dynamic within. Education, environment and breeding had somewhat +smothered the glowing fires. She was a type of the ancient repression +of woman, which finds its exceptions in the Aspasias and Helens and +Cleopatras of legend and history. In features she looked exactly what +she was, well-bred and well-born. Beauty she also had, but it was the +cold beauty of northern winter nights. It compelled admiration rather +than invited it. Spiritually, Elsa was asleep. The fire was there, +the gift of loving greatly, only it smoldered, without radiating even +the knowledge of its presence. Men loved her, but in awe, as one loves +the marbles of Phidias. She knew no restraint, and yet she had passed +through her stirless years restrained. She was worldly without being +more than normally cynical; she was rich without being either frugal or +extravagant. Her independence was inherent and not acquired. She had +laid down certain laws for herself to follow; and that these often +clashed with the laws of convention, which are fetish to those who +divide society into three classes, only mildly amused her. Right from +wrong she knew, and that sufficed her. + +Her immediate relatives were dead; those who were distantly related +remained so, as they had no part in her life nor she in theirs. +Relatives, even the best of them, are practically strangers to us. +They have their own affairs and interests, and if these touch ours it +is generally through the desire to inherit what we have. So Elsa went +her way alone. From her father she had inherited a remarkable and +seldom errant judgment. To her, faces were generally book-covers, they +repelled or attracted; and she found large and undiminishing interest +in the faculty of pressing back the covers and reading the text. Often +battered covers held treasures, and often the editions de luxe were +swindles. But in between the battered covers and the exquisite +Florentine hand-tooling there ranged a row of mediocre books; and it +was among these that Elsa found that her instinct was not wholly +infallible, as will be seen. + +To-day she was facing the first problem of her young life, epochal. +She was, as it were, to stop and begin life anew. And she didn't know, +she wasn't sure. + +There were few passengers aboard. There were three fussy old English +maidens under the protection of a still fussier old colonel, who +disagreed with everybody because his liver disagreed with him. Twenty +years of active service in Upper India had seriously damaged that +physiological function, and "pegs" no longer mellowed him. The quartet +greatly amused Elsa. Their nods were abrupt, and they spoke in the +most formal manner. She was under grave suspicion; in the first place, +she was traveling alone, in the second place, she was an American. At +table there was generally a desultory conversation, and many a barb of +malice Elsa shot from her bow. Figuratively, the colonel walked about +like a porcupine, bristling with arrows instead of quills. Elsa could +have shouted at times, for the old war-dog was perfectly oblivious. +There was, besides, the inevitable German tourist, who shelled with +questions every man who wore brass-buttons, until there was some +serious talk of dropping him astern some day. He had shelled the +colonel, but that gentleman was snugly encased in the finest and most +impenetrable Bessemer, complacency. + +Upon these Irrawaddy boats the purser is usually the master of +ceremonies in the dining-saloon. The captain and his officers rarely +condescended. Perhaps it was too much trouble to dress; perhaps +tourists had disgusted them with life; at any rate, they remained in +obscurity. + +Elsa usually sat at the purser's right, and to-night she found the +stranger sitting quietly at her side. The chair had been vacant since +the departure from Mandalay. Evidently the purser had decided to be +thorough in regard to her wishes. It would look less conspicuous to +make the introduction in this manner. And she wanted to meet this man +who had almost made her cry out in astonishment. + +"Miss Chetwood, Mr. Warrington." This was as far as the purser would +unbend. + +The colonel's eyes popped; the hands of the three maidens fluttered. +Warrington bowed awkwardly, for he was decidedly confused. + +"Ha!" boomed the German. "Vat do you tink uff . . . ." + +And from soup to coffee Warrington eluded, dodged, stepped under and +ran around the fusillade of questions. + +Elsa laughed softly. There were breathing-spells, to be sure. Under +the cover of this verbal bombardment she found time to inspect the +stranger. The likeness, so close at hand, started a ringing in her +ears and a flutter in her throat. It was almost unbelievable. He was +bigger, broader, his eyes were keener, but there was only one real +difference: this man was rugged, whereas Arthur was elegant. It was as +if nature had taken two forms from the same mold, and had finished but +one of them. His voice was not unpleasant, but there were little sharp +points of harshness in it, due quite possibly to the dust. + +"I am much interested in that little parrot of yours. I have heard +about him." + +"Oh! I suppose you've heard what they call us?" His eyes looked +straight into hers, smilingly. + +"Parrot & Co.? Yes. Will you show him off to-morrow?" + +"I shall be very happy to." + +But all the while he was puzzling over the purser's unaccountable +action in deliberately introducing him to this brown-eyed, +golden-skinned young woman. Never before had such a thing occurred +upon these boats. True, he had occasionally been spoken to; an idle +question flung at him, like a bare bone to a dog. If flung by an +Englishman, he answered it courteously, and subsided. He had been +snubbed too many times not to have learned this lesson. It never +entered his head that the introduction might have been brought about by +the girl's interest. He was too mortally shy of women to conceive of +such a possibility. So his gratitude was extended to the purser, who, +on his side, regretted his good-natured recommendations of the previous +hour. + +When Elsa learned that the man at her side was to proceed to Rangoon, +she ceased to ask him any more questions. She preferred to read her +books slowly. Once, while he was engaging the purser, her glance ran +over his clothes. She instantly berated her impulsive criticism as a +bit of downright caddishness. The lapels of the coat were shiny, the +sleeves were short, there was a pucker across the shoulders; the +winged-collar gave evidence of having gone to the native laundry once +too often; the studs in the shirt-bosom were of the cheapest +mother-of-pearl, and the cuff-buttons, ordinary rupee silver. The +ensemble suggested that since the purchase of these habiliments of +civilization the man had grown, expanded. + +Immediately after dinner she retired to her state-room, conscious that +her balance needed readjusting. She had heard and read much lore +concerning reincarnation, skeptically; yet here, within call of her +voice, was Arthur, not the shadow of a substance, but Arthur, shorn of +his elegance, his soft lazy voice, his half-dreaming eyes, his charming +indolence. Why should this man's path cross hers, out of all the +millions that ran parallel? + +She opened her window and looked up at the stars again. She saw one +fall, describe an arc and vanish. She wondered what this man had done +to put him beyond the pale; for few white men remained in Asia from +choice. She had her ideas of what a rascal should be; but Warrington +agreed in no essential. It was not possible that dishonor lurked +behind those frank blue eyes. She turned from the window, impatiently, +and stared at one of her kit-bags. Suddenly she knelt down and threw +it open, delved among the soft fabrics and silks and produced a +photograph. She had not glanced at it during all these weeks. There +had been a purpose back of this apparent neglect. The very thing she +dreaded happened. Her pulse beat on, evenly, unstirred. She was a +failure. + +In the photograph the man's beard was trimmed Valois; the beard of the +man who had sat next to her at dinner had grown freely and naturally, +full. Such a beard was out of fashion, save among country doctors. It +signified carelessness, indifference, or a full life wherein the +niceties of the razor had of necessity been ignored. Keenly she +searched the familiar likeness. What an amazing freak of nature! It +was unreal. She tossed the photograph back into the kit-bag, +bewildered, uneasy. + +Meantime Warrington followed the purser into his office. "I haven't +paid for my stateroom yet," he said. + +"I'll make it out at once. Rangoon, I understand?" + +"Yes. But I'm in a difficulty. I have nothing in change but two +rupees." + +The purser froze visibly. The tale was trite in his ears. + +"But I fancy I've rather good security to offer," went on Warrington +coolly. He drew from his wallet a folded slip of paper and spread it +out. + +The purser stared at it, enchanted. Warrington stared down at the +purser, equally enchanted. + +"By Jove!" the former gasped finally. "And so you're the chap who's +been holding up the oil syndicate all these months? And you're the +chap who made them come to this bally landing three days ago?" + +"I'm the chap." + +It was altogether a new purser who looked up. "Twenty thousand pounds +about, and only two rupees in your pocket! Well, well; it takes the +East to bowl a man over like this. A certified check on the Bank of +Burma needs no further recommendation. In the words of your +countrymen, go as far as you like. You can pay me in Rangoon. Your +boy takes deck-passage?" + +"Yes," returning the check to the wallet. + +"Smoke?" + +"Shouldn't mind. Thanks." + +"Now, sit down and spin the yarn. It must be jolly interesting." + +"I'll admit that it has been a tough struggle; but I knew that I had +the oil. Been flat broke for months. Had to borrow my boy's savings +for food and shelter. Well, this is the way it runs." Warrington told +it simply, as if it were a great joke. + +"Rippin'! By Jove, you Americans are hard customers to put over. I +suppose you'll be setting out for the States at once?" with a curious +glance. + +"I haven't made any plans yet," eying the cheroot thoughtfully. + +"I see." The purser nodded. It was not difficult to understand. +"Well, good luck to you wherever you go." + +"Much obliged." + +Alone in his stateroom Warrington took out Rajah and tossed him on the +counterpane of the bed. + +"Now, then, old sport!" tapping the parrot on the back with the perch +which he used as a baton. Blinking and muttering, the bird performed +his tricks, and was duly rewarded and returned to his home of iron. +"She'll be wanting to take you home with her, but you're not for sale." + +He then opened his window and leaned against the sill, looking up at +the stars. But, unlike the girl, he did not ask any questions. + +"Free!" he said softly. + + + + +III + +THE WEAK LINK + +The day began white and chill, for February nights and mornings are not +particularly comfortable on the Irrawaddy. The boat sped down the +river, smoothly and noiselessly. For all that the sun shone, the +shore-lines were still black. The dust had not yet risen. Elsa passed +through the dining-saloon to the stern-deck and paused at the door. +The scene was always a source of interest to her. There were a hundred +or more natives squatting in groups on the deck. They were wrapped in +ragged shawls, cotton rugs of many colors, and woolen blankets, and +their turbans were as bright and colorful as a Holland tulip-bed. Some +of them were smoking long pipes and using their fists as mouthpieces; +others were scrubbing their teeth with short sticks of fibrous wood; +and still others were eating rice and curry out of little copper pots. +There were very few Burmese among them. They were Hindus, from Central +and Southern India, with a scattering of Cingalese. Whenever a Hindu +gets together a few rupees, he travels. He neither cares exactly where +the journey ends, nor that he may never be able to return; so long as +there is a temple at his destination, that suffices him. The past is +the past, to-morrow is to-morrow, but to-day is to-day: he lives and +works and travels, prisoner to this creed. + +Elsa never strolled among them. She was dainty. This world and these +people were new and strange to her, and as yet she could not quite +dominate the fear that some one of these brown-skinned beings might be +coming down with the plague. So she stood framed in the doorway, a +picture rare indeed to the dark eyes that sped their frank glances in +her direction. + +"No, Sahib, no; it is three hundred." + +"James, I tell you it's rupees three hundred and twelve, annas eight." + +Upon a bench, backed against the partition, almost within touch of her +hand, sat the man Warrington and his servant, arguing over their +accounts. The former's battered helmet was tilted at a comfortable +angle and an ancient cutty hung pendent from his teeth, an idle wisp of +smoke hovering over the blackened bowl. + +Elsa quietly returned to her chair in the bow and tried to become +interested in a novel. By and by the book slipped from her fingers to +her lap, and her eyes closed. But not for long. She heard the rasp of +a camp-stool being drawn toward her. + +"You weren't dozing, were you?" asked the purser apologetically. + +"Not in the least. I have only just got up." + +"Shouldn't have disturbed you; but your orders were that whenever I had +an interesting story about the life over here, I was to tell it to you +instantly. And this one is just rippin'!" + +"Begin," said Elsa. She sat up and threw back her cloak, for it was +now growing warm. "It's about Parrot & Co., I'm sure." + +"You've hit it off the first thing," admiringly. + +"Well, go on." + +"It's better than any story you'll read in a month of Sundays. Our man +has just turned the trick, as you Americans say, for twenty thousand +pounds." + +"Why, that is a fortune!" + +"For some of us, yes. You see, whatever he was in the past, it was +something worth while, I fancy. Engineering, possibly. Knew his +geology and all that. Been wondering for months what kept him hanging +around this bally old river. Seems he found oil, borrowed the savings +of his servant and bought up some land on the line of the new +discoveries. Then he waited for the syndicate to buy. They ignored +him. They didn't send any one even to investigate his claim. Stupid, +rather. After a while, he went to them, at Prome, at Rangoon. They +thought they knew his kind. Ten thousand rupees was all he asked. +They laughed. The next time he wanted a hundred thousand. They +laughed again. Then he left for the teak forests. He had to live. He +came back in four months. In the meantime they had secretly +investigated. They offered him fifty thousand. _He_ laughed. He +wanted two hundred thousand. They advised him to raise cocoanuts. +What do you suppose he did then?" + +"Got some other persons interested." + +"Right-o! Some Americans in Rangoon said they'd take it over for two +hundred thousand. Something about the deal got into the newspapers. +The American oil men sent over a representative. That settled the +syndicate. What they could have originally purchased for ten thousand +they paid three hundred thousand." + +"Splendid!" cried Elsa, clapping her hands. She could see it all, the +quiet determination of the man, the penury of the lean years, his +belief in himself and in what he had found, and the disinterested +loyalty of the servant. "Sometimes I wish I were a man and could do +things like that." + +"Recollect that landing last night?" + +Elsa's gesture signified that she was glad to be miles to the south of +it. + +"Well, he wasn't above having his revenge. He made the syndicate come +up there. They wired asking why he couldn't come on to Rangoon. And +very frankly he gave his reasons. They came up on one boat and left on +another. They weren't very pleasant, but they bought his oil-lands. +He came aboard last night with a check for twenty thousand pounds and +two rupees in his pocket. The two rupees were all he had in this world +at the time they wrote him the check. Arabian night; what?" + +"I am glad. I like pluck; I like endurance; I like to see the lone man +win against odds. Tell me, is he going back to America?" + +"Ah, there's the weak part in the chain." The purser looked +diffidently at the deck floor. It would have been easy enough to +discuss the Warrington of yesterday, to offer an opinion as to his +past; but the Warrington of this morning was backed by twenty thousand +good English sovereigns; he was a different individual, a step beyond +the casual damnation of the mediocre. "He says he doesn't know what +his plans will be. Who knows? Perhaps some one ran away with his best +girl. I've known lots of them to wind up out here on that account." + +"Is it a rule, then, that disappointed lovers fly hither, penniless?" + +The mockery escaped the purser, who was a good fellow in his blundering +way. "Chaps gamble, you know. And this part of the world is full of +fleas and mosquitoes and gamblers. When a man's been chucked, he's +always asking what's trumps. He's not keen on the game; and the +professional gambler takes advantage of his condition. Oh, there are a +thousand ways out here of getting rid of your money when the girl's +given you the go-by!" + +"To that I agree. When do we reach Prome?" + +"About six," understanding that the Warrington incident was closed. +"It isn't worth while going ashore, though. Nothing to see at night." + +"I have no inclination to leave the boat until we reach Rangoon." + +She met Warrington at luncheon, and she greeted him amiably. To her +mind there was something pitiful in the way the man had tried to +improve his condition. Buttons had been renewed, some with black +thread and some with white; and there were little islands of brown +yarn, at the elbows, at the bottom of the pockets, along the seams. So +long as she lived, no matter whom she might marry, she was convinced +that never would the thought of this man fade completely from her +memory. Neither the amazing likeness nor the romantic background had +anything to do with this conviction. It was the man's utter loneliness. + +"I have been waiting for Parrot & Co. all the morning," she said. + +"I'll show him to you right after luncheon. It wasn't that I had +forgotten." + +She nodded; but he did not comprehend that this inclination of the head +explained that she knew the reason of the absence. She could in fancy +see the strong brown fingers clumsily striving to thread the needle. +(As a matter of fact, her imagination was at fault. James had done the +greater part of the repairing.) + +Rajah took the center of the stage; and even the colonel forgot his +liver long enough to chuckle when the bird turned somersaults through +the steel-hoop. Elsa was delighted. She knelt and offered him her +slim white finger. Rajah eyed it with his head cocked at one side. He +turned insolently and entered his cage. Since he never saw a finger +without flying at it in a rage, it was the politest thing he had ever +done. + +"Isn't he a sassy little beggar?" laughed the owner. "That's the way; +his hand, or claw, rather, against all the world. I've had him half a +dozen years, and he hates me just as thoroughly now as he did when I +picked him up while I was at Jaipur." + +"Have you carried him about all this time?" demanded the colonel. + +"He was one of the two friends I had, one of the two I trusted," +quietly, with a look which rather disconcerted the Anglo-Indian. + +"By the actions of him I should say that he was your bitterest enemy." + +"He is; yet I call him friend. There's a peculiar thing about +friendship," said the kneeling man. "We make a man our friend; we take +him on trust, frankly and loyally; we give him the best we have in us; +but we never really know. Rajah is frankly my enemy, and that's why I +love him and trust him. I should have preferred a dog; but one takes +what one can. Besides . . ." Warrington paused, thrust the perch +between the bars, and got up. + +"Jah, jah, jah! Jah--jah--ja-a-a-h!" the bird shrilled. + +"Oh, what a funny little bird!" cried Elsa, laughing. "What does he +say?" + +"I've often wondered. It sounds like the bell-gong you hear in the +Shwe Dagon Pagoda, in Rangoon. He picked it up himself." + +The colonel returned to his elderly charges and became absorbed in his +aged _Times_. If the girl wanted to pick up the riff-raff to talk to, +that was her affair. Americans were impossible, anyhow. + +"How long have you been in the Orient?" Elsa asked. + +"Ten years," he answered gravely. + +"That is a long time." + +"Sometimes it was like eternity." + +"I have heard from the purser of your good luck." + +"Oh!" He stooped again and locked the door of Rajah's cage. "I dare +say a good many people will hear of it." + +"It was splendid. I love to read stories like that, but I'd far rather +hear them told first-hand." + +Elsa was not romantic in the sense that she saw heroes where there were +only ordinary men; but she thrilled at the telling of some actual +adventure, something big with life. Her heart and good will went out +to the man who won against odds. Strangely enough, soldier's daughter +though she was, the pomp and glamour and cruelty of war were detestable +to her. It was the obscure and unknown hero who appealed to her: such +a one as this man might be. + +"Oh, there was nothing splendid about the thing. I simply hung on." +Then a thought struck him. "You are traveling alone?" + +"With a companion." A peculiar question, she thought. + +"It is not wise," he commented. + +"My father was a soldier," she replied. + +"It isn't a question of bravery," he replied, a bit of color charging +under his skin. + +Elsa was amused. "And, pray, what question is it?" He was like a boy. + +"I'm afraid of making myself obscure. This world is not like your +world. Women over here. . . Oh, I've lost the art of saying things +clearly." He pulled at his beard embarrassedly. + +"I rather believe I understand you. The veneer cracks easily in hot +climates; man's veneer." + +"And falls off altogether." + +"Are you warning me against yourself?" + +"Why not? Twenty thousand pounds do not change a man; they merely +change the public's opinion of him. For all you know, I may be the +greatest rascal unhanged." + +"But you are not." + +He recognized that it was not a query; and a pleasurable thrill ran +over him. Had there been the least touch of condescension in her +manner, he would have gone deep into his shell. + +"No; there are worse men in this world than I. But we are getting away +from the point, of women traveling alone in the East. Oh, I know you +can protect yourself to a certain extent. But everywhere, on boats, in +the hotels, on the streets, are men who have discarded all the laws of +convention, of the social contract. And they have the keen eye of the +kite and the vulture." + +To Elsa this interest in her welfare was very diverting. "In other +words, they can quickly discover the young woman who goes about +unprotected? Don't you think that the trend of the conversation has +taken rather a remarkable turn, not as impersonal as it should be?" + +"I beg your pardon!" + +"I am neither an infant nor a fool, Mr. Warrington." + +"Shall I go?" + +"No. I want you to tell me some stories." She laughed. "Don't worry +about me, Mr. Warrington. I have gone my way alone since I was +sixteen. I have traveled all over this wicked world with nobody but +the woman who was once my nurse. I seldom put myself in the way of an +affront. I am curious without being of an investigating turn of mind. +Now, tell me something of your adventures. Ten years in this land must +mean something. I am always hunting for Harun-al-Raschid, or Sindbad, +or some one who has done something out of the ordinary." + +"Do you write books?" + +"No, I read them by preference." + +"Ah, a good book!" He inclined against the rail and stared down at the +muddy water. "Adventure?" He frowned a little. "I'm afraid mine +wouldn't read like adventures. There's no glory in being a stevedore +on the docks at Hongkong, a stoker on a tramp steamer between Singapore +and the Andaman Islands. What haven't I been in these ten years?" with +a shrug. "Can you fancy me a deck-steward on a P. & O. boat, tucking +old ladies in their chairs, staggering about with a tray of +broth-bowls, helping the unsteady to their staterooms, and touching my +cap at the end of the voyage for a few shillings in tips?" + +"You are bitter." + +"Bitter? I ought not to be, with twenty thousand pounds in my pocket." + +"Tell me more." + +He looked into her beautiful face, animated by genuine interest, and +wondered if all men were willing so readily to obey her. + +"It always interests me to hear from the man's own lips how he overcame +obstacles." + +"Sometimes I didn't overcome them. I ran away. After all, the strike +in oil was a fluke." + +"I don't think so. But go on," she prompted. + +"Well, I've been manager of a cocoanut plantation in Penang; I've +helped lay tracks in Upper India; had a hand in some bridges; sold +patent-medicines; worked in a ruby mine; been a haberdasher in the +Whiteaway, Laidlaw shop in Bombay; cut wood in the teak forests; helped +exterminate the plague at Chitor and Udaipur; and never saved a penny. +I never had an adventure in all my life." + +"Why, your wanderings were adventures," she insisted. "Think of the +things you could tell!" + +"And never will," a smile breaking over his face. + +How like Arthur's that smile was! thought the girl. "Romantic persons +never have any adventures. It is to the prosaic these things fall. +Because of their nearness you lose their values." + +"There is some difference between romance and adventure. Romance is +what you look forward to; adventure is something you look back upon. +If many disagreeable occupations, hunger and an occasional fisticuff, +may be classed as adventure, then I have had my run of it. But I +always supposed adventure was the finding of treasures, on land and on +sea; of filibustering; of fighting with sabers and pistols, and all +that rigmarole. I can't quite lift my imagination up to the height of +calling my six months' shovel-engineering on _The Galle_ an adventure. +It was brutal hard work; and many times I wanted to jump over. The +Lascars often got out of trouble that way." + +"It all depends upon how we look at things." She touched the +parrot-cage with her foot, and Rajah hissed. "What would you say if I +told you that I was unconventional enough to ask the purser to +introduce you?" + +The amazement in his face was answer enough. + +"Don't you suppose," she went on, "the picture you presented, standing +on that ledge, the red light of the torch on your face, the bird-cage +in your hand,--don't you suppose you roused my sense the romantic to +the highest pitch? Parrot & Co.!" with a wave of her hands. + +She was laughing at him. It could not be otherwise. It made him at +once sad and angry. "Romance! I hate the word. Once I was as full of +romance as a water-chestnut is of starch. I again affirm that young +women should not travel alone. They think every bit of tinsel is gold, +every bit of colored glass, ruby. Go home; don't bother about romance +outside of books. There it is safe. The English are right. They may +be snobs when they travel abroad, but they travel securely. Romance, +adventure! Bah! So much twaddle has been written about the East that +cads and scoundrels are mistaken for Galahads and D'Artagnans. Few men +remain in this country who can with honor leave it. Who knows what +manner of man I am?" + +He picked up the parrot-cage and strode away. + +"Jah, jah!" began the bird. + +Not all the diplomacy which worldly-wise men have at their disposal +could have drawn this girl's interest more surely than the abrupt rude +manner of his departure. + + + + +IV + +TWO DAYS OF PARADISE + +At first Elsa did not know whether she was annoyed or amused. The +man's action was absurd, or would have been in any other man. There +was something so singularly boyish in his haste that she realized she +could not deal with him in an ordinary fashion. She ought to be angry; +indeed, she wanted to be very angry with him; but her lips curled, and +laughter hung upon them, undecided. His advice to her to go home was +downright impudence; and yet, the sight of the parrot-cage, dangling at +his side, made it impossible for her to take lasting offense. Once +upon a time there had been a little boy who played in her garden. When +he was cross he would take his playthings and go home. The boy might +easily have been this man Warrington, grown up. + +Of course he would come and apologize to her for his rudeness. That +was one of the necessary laws of convention; and ten years spent in +jungles and deserts and upon southern seas could not possibly have +robbed him of the memory of these simple ethics that he had observed in +other and better times. Perhaps he had resented her curiosity; perhaps +her questions had been pressed too hard; and perhaps he had suddenly +doubted her genuine interest. At any rate, it was a novel experience. +And that bewildering likeness! + +She returned to her chair and opened the book again. And as she read +her wonder grew. How trivial it was, after all. The men and women she +had calmly and even gratefully accepted as types were nothing more than +marionettes, which the author behind the booth manipulated not badly +but perfunctorily. The diction was exquisite; there was style; but now +as she read there was lacking the one thing that stood for life, blood. +It did not pulsate in the veins of these people. Until now she had not +recognized this fact, and she was half-way through the book. She even +took the trouble to reread the chapter she had thought peculiarly +effective. There was the same lack of feeling. What had happened to +her since yesterday? To what cause might be assigned this opposite +angle of vision, so clearly defined? + +The book fell upon her knees, and dreamily she watched the perspective +open and divaricate. Full in her face the south wind blew, now warmed +by the sun and perfumed by unknown spices. She took in little sharp +breaths, but always the essence escaped her. The low banks with their +golden haze of dust, the cloudless sky, the sad and lonely white +pagodas, charmed her; and the languor of the East crept stealthily into +her northern blood. She was not conscious of the subtle change; she +only knew that the world of yesterday was unlike that of today. + +Warrington, after depositing Rajah in the stateroom, sought the bench +on the stern-deck. He filled his cutty with purser-loaned tobacco, and +roundly damned himself as a blockhead. He had forgotten all the +niceties of civilization; he no longer knew how to behave. What if she +had been curious? It was natural that she should be. This was a +strange world to her, and if her youth rosal-tinted it with romance, +what right had he to disillusion her? The first young woman in all +these years who had treated him as an equal, and he had straightway +proceeded to lecture her upon the evils of traveling alone in the +Orient! Double-dyed ass! He had been rude and impudent. He had seen +other women traveling alone, but the sight had not roused him as in the +present instance. In ten years he had not said so much to all the +women he had met; and without seeming effort at all she had dragged +forth some of the half-lights of his past. This in itself amazed him; +it proved that he was still weak enough to hunger for human sympathy, +and he of all men deserved none whatever. He had been a fool as a boy, +a fool as a man, and without doubt he would die a fool. He was of half +a mind to leave the boat at Prome and take the train down to Rangoon. + +And yet he had told her the truth. It was not right that a young and +attractive woman should wander about in the East, unattended save by a +middle-aged companion. It would provoke the devil in men who were not +wholly bad. Women had the fallible idea that they could read human +nature, and never found out their mistake until after they were +married. He knew her kind. If she wanted to walk through the bazaars +in the evening, she would do so. If a man followed her she would +ignore the fact. If he caught up with her and spoke, she would +continue on as if she had not heard. If a man touched her, she would +rely upon the fire of her eyes. She would never call out for help. +Some women were just that silly. + +He bit hard upon the stem of his pipe. What was all this to him? Why +should he bother his head about a woman he had known but a few hours? +Ah, why lie to himself? He knew what Elsa, usually quick and +receptive, did not know, that he was not afraid of her, but terribly +afraid of himself. For things ripen quickly in the East, men and +women, souls and deeds. And he was something like the pariah-dog; +spoken kindly to, it attached itself immediately and enduringly. + +He struck the cutty against his boot-heel. Why not? It would be only +for two days. At Rangoon their paths would separate; he would never +see her again. He got up. He would go to her at once and apologize +abjectly. And thus he surrendered to the very devil he had but a +moment gone so vigorously discountenanced. + +He found her asleep in her chair. The devil which had brought him to +her side was thrust back. Why, she was nothing more than a beautiful +child! A great yearning to brother her came into his heart. He did +not disturb her, but waited until five, that grave and sober hour, when +kings and clerks stop work for no logical reason whatever--tea. She +opened her eyes and saw him watching her. He rose quickly. + +"May I get you some tea?" + +"Thank you." + +And so the gulf was bridged. When he returned he set the cup and plate +of cakes on the arm of her chair. + +"I was very rude a little while ago. Will you accept my apologies?" + +"On condition that you will never take your playthings and go home." + +He laughed engagingly. "You've hit it squarely. It was the act of a +petulant child." + +"It did not sound exactly like a man who had stoked six months from +Singapore to the Andaman Islands. But there is one thing I must +understand before this acquaintance continues. You said, 'Who knows +what manner of man I am?' Have you ever done anything that would +conscientiously forbid you to speak to a young unmarried woman?" + +Take care of herself? He rather believed she could. The bluntness of +her question dissipated any doubt that remained. + +"No. I haven't been that kind of a man," simply. "I could look into +my mother's eyes without any sense of shame, if that is what you mean." + +"That is all I care to know. Your mother is living?" + +"Yes. But I haven't seen her in ten years." His mother! His brows +met in a frown. His proud beautiful mother! + +Elsa saw the frown, and realized that she had approached delicate +ground. She stirred her tea and sipped it slowly. + +"There has been a deal of chatter about shifty untrustworthy eyes," he +said. "The greatest liars I have ever known could look St. Peter +straight and serenely in the eye. It's a matter of steady nerves, +nothing more. Somebody says that so and so is a fact, and we go on +believing it for years, until some one who is not a person but an +individual explodes it." + +"I agree with you. But there is something we rely upon far more than +either eyes or ears, instinct. It is that attribute of the animal +which civilization has not yet successfully dulled. Women rely upon +that more readily than men." + +"And make more mistakes," with a cynicism he could not conceal. + +She had no ready counter for this. "Do you go home from Rangoon, now +that you have made your fortune?" + +"No. I am going to Singapore. I shall make my plans there." + +Singapore. Elsa stirred uneasily. It would be like having a ghost by +her side. She wanted to tell him what had really drawn her interest. +But it seemed to her that the moment to do so had passed. + +"Vultures! How I detest them!" She pointed toward a sand-bar upon +which stood several of these abominable birds and an adjutant, solemn +and aloof. "At Lucknow they were red-headed. I do not recollect +seeing one of them fly. But I admire the kites; they look so much like +our eagles." + +"And thus again the eye misleads us. There is nothing that flies so +rapacious as the kite." + +Little by little she drew from him a sketch here, a phase there. She +was given glimpses into the life of the East such as no book or guide +had ever given; and the boat was circling toward the landing at Prome +before they became aware of the time. + +Warrington rushed ashore to find the dry-goods shop. His social +redemption was on the way, if vanity went for anything. It was +stirring and tingling with life again. With the money advanced by the +purser he bought shirts and collars and ties; and as he possessed no +watch, returned barely in time to dress for dinner. He was not at all +disturbed to learn that the inquisitive German, the colonel and his +fidgety charges, had decided to proceed to Rangoon by rail. Indeed, +there was a bit of exultation in his manner as he observed the vacant +chairs. Paradise for two whole days. And he proposed to make the most +of it. Now, his mind was as clear of evil as a forest spring. He +simply wanted to play; wanted to give rein to the lighter emotions so +long pent up in his lonely heart. + +The purser, used to these sudden changes and desertions in his +passenger-lists, gave the situation no thought. But Elsa saw a mild +danger, all the more alluring because it hung nebulously. For years +she had walked in conformity with the cramped and puerile laws that +govern society. She had obeyed most of them from habit, others from +necessity. What harm could there be in having a little fling? He was +so amazingly like outwardly, so astonishingly unlike inwardly, that the +situation held for her a subtle fascination against which she was in +nowise inclined to fight. What had nature in mind when she produced +two men exactly alike in appearance but in reality as far apart as the +poles? Would it be worth while to find out? She was not wholly +ignorant of her power. She could bend the man if she tried. Should +she try? + +They were like two children, setting out to play a game with fire. + +She thought of Arthur. Had he gone the length of his thirty-five years +without his peccadillos? Scarcely. She understood the general run of +men well enough to accept this fact. Whomever she married she was +never going to worry him with questions regarding his bachelor life. +Nor did she propose to be questioned about her own past. Besides, she +hadn't married Arthur yet; she had only promised to. And such promises +were sometimes sensibly broken. There ran through her a fine vein of +mercilessness, but it was without cruelty, it was leavened with both +logic and justice. When the time came she would name the day to +Arthur, or she would with equal frankness announce that she would not +marry him at all. These thoughts flashed through her mind, +disconnectedly, while she talked and laughed. + +It never occurred to her to have Martha moved up from the foot of the +table. Once or twice she stole a glance at the woman who had in the +olden days dandled her on her knees. The glance was a mixture of guilt +and mischief, like a child's. But the glance had not the power to +attract Martha's eyes. Martha felt the glances as surely as if she had +lifted her eyes to meet them. She held her peace. She had not been +brought along as Elsa's guardian. Elsa was not self-willed but +strong-willed, and Martha realized that any interference would result +in estrangement. In fact, Martha beheld in Warrington a real menace. +The extraordinary resemblance would naturally appeal to Elsa, with what +results she could only imagine. Later she asked Elsa if she had told +Warrington of the remarkable resemblance. + +"Mercy, no! And what is more, I do not want him to know. Men are vain +as a rule; and I should not like to hurt his vanity by telling him that +I sought his acquaintance simply because he might easily have been +Arthur Ellison's twin brother." + +"The man you are engaged to marry." + +"Whom I have promised to marry, provided the state of my sentiments is +unchanged upon my return; which is altogether a different thing." + +"That does not seem quite fair to Mr. Ellison." + +"Well, Martha?" + +"I beg your pardon, Elsa; but the stranger terrifies me. He is +something uncanny." + +"Nonsense! You've been reading tales about Yogii." + +"It is a terrible country." + +"It is the East, Martha, the East. Here a man may wear a dress-suit +and a bowler without offending any one." + +"And a woman may talk to any one she pleases." + +"Is that a criticism?" + +"No, Elsa; it is what you call the East." + +"You have been with me twenty years," began Elsa coldly. + +"And love you better than the whole world! And I wish I could guard +you always from harm and evil. Those horrid old Englishwomen . . ." + +"Oh; so there's been gossip already? You know my views regarding +gossip. So long as I know that I am doing no wrong, ladies may gossip +their heads off. I'm not a kitten." + +"You are twenty-five, and yet you're only a child." + +"What does that signify? That I am too young to manage my own affairs? +That I must set my clock as others order? Good soul!" putting her arms +around the older woman. "Don't worry about Elsa Chetwood. Her life is +her own, but she will never misuse it." + +"Oh, if you were only married and settled down!" + +"You mean, if I were happily married and settled down. There you have +it. I'm in search of happiness. That's the Valley of Diamonds. When +I find that, Martha, you may fold your hands in peace." + +"Grant it may be soon! I hate the East! + +"And I have just begun to love it." + + + + +V + +BACK TO LIFE + +The two days between Prome and Rangoon were distinctly memorable for +the subtle changes wrought in the man and woman. Those graces of mind +and manner which had once been the man's, began to find expression. +Physically, his voice became soft and mellow; his hands became full of +emphasis; his body grew less and less clumsy, more and more leonine. +It has taken centuries and centuries to make the white man what he is +to-day; yet, a single year of misfortune may throw him back into the +primordial. For it is far easier to retrograde than to go forward, +easier to let the world go by than to march along with it. Had he been +less interested in Elsa and more concerned about his rehabilitation, +self-analysis would have astonished Warrington. The blunt speech, the +irritability in argument, the stupid pauses, the painful study of +cunning phrases, the suspicion and reticence that figuratively encrust +the hearts of shy and lonely men, these vanished under her warm if +careless glances. For the first time in ten years a woman of the right +sort was showing interest in him. True, there had been other women, +but these had served only to make him retreat farther into his shell. + +If the crust of barbarism is thick, that of civilization is thin +enough. As Warrington went forward, Elsa stopped, and gradually went +back, not far, but far enough to cause her to throw down the bars of +reserve, to cease to guard her impulses against the invasion of +interest and fascination. She faced the truth squarely, without +palter. The man fascinated her. He was like a portrait with following +eyes. She spoke familiarly of her affairs (always omitting Arthur); +she talked of her travels, of the famous people she had met, of the +wonderful pageants she had witnessed. And she secretly laughed at +reproachful conscience that urged her to recall one of those laws Elsa +herself had written down to follow: that which forbade a young +unmarried woman to seek the companionship of a man about whom she knew +nothing. It was not her fault that, with the exception of Martha who +didn't count, they two were the only passengers. This condition of +affairs was directly chargeable to fate; and before the boat reached +Rangoon, Elsa was quite willing to let fate shift and set the scenes +how it would. The first step toward reversion is the casting aside of +one's responsibilities. Elsa shifted her cares to the shoulders of +fate. So long as the man behaved himself, so long as he treated her +with respect, real or feigned, nothing else mattered. + +The phase that escaped her entirely was this, that had he not +progressed, she would have retained her old poise, the old poise of +which she was never again to be mistress. It is the old tale: sympathy +to lift up another first steps down. And never had her sympathy gone +out so quickly to any mortal. Elsa had a horror of loneliness, and +this man seemed to be the living presentment of the word. What +struggles, and how simply he recounted them! What things he had seen, +what adventures had befallen him, what romance and mystery! She +wondered if there had been a woman in his life and if she had been the +cause of his downfall. Every day of the past ten years lay open for +her to admire or condemn, but beyond these ten years there was a +Chinese Wall, over which she might not look. Only once had she +provoked the silent negative nod of his head. He was strong. Not the +smallest corner of the veil was she permitted to turn aside. She +walked hither and thither along the scarps and bastions of the barrier, +but never found the breach. + +"Will you come and dine with me to-night?" she asked, as they left the +boat. + +"No, Miss Innocence." + +"That's silly. There isn't a soul I know here." + +"But," gravely he replied, "there are many here who know me." + +"Which infers that my invitation is unwise?" + +"Absolutely unwise." + +"Tea?" + +"Frankly, I ought not to be seen with you." + +"Why? Unless, indeed, you have not told me the truth." + +"I have told you the truth." + +"Then where's the harm?" + +"For myself, none. On the boat it did not matter so much. It was a +situation which neither of us could foresee nor prevent. I have told +you that people here look askance at me because they know nothing about +me, save that I came from the States. And they are wise. I should be +a cad if I accepted your invitation to dinner." + +"Then, I am not to see you again?" + +The smile would have lured him across three continents. "To-morrow, I +promise to call and have tea with you, much against my better judgment." + +"Oh, if you don't want to come . . ." + +"Don't want to come!" + +Something in his eyes caused Elsa to speak hurriedly. "Good-by until +to-morrow." + +She gave him her hand for a moment, stepped into the carriage, which +already held Martha and the luggage, and then drove off to the Strand +Hotel. + +He stood with his helmet in his hand. A fine warm rain was falling, +but he was not conscious of it. It seemed incredible that time should +produce such a change within the space of seventy hours, a little more, +a little less. As she turned and waved a friendly hand, he knew that +the desolation which had been his for ten years was nothing as compared +to that which now fell upon his heart. She was as unattainable as the +north star; and nothing, time nor circumstance, could bridge that +incalculable distance. She was the most exquisite contradiction; in +one moment the guilelessness of a child, in another, the worldly-wise +woman. Had she been all of the one or all of the other, he would not +have been touched so deeply. If she loved a man, there would be no +silly doddering; the voice of the petty laws that strove to hedge her +in would be in her ears as a summer breeze. For one so young--and +twenty-five was young--she possessed a disconcerting directness in her +logic. So far he observed that she retained but one illusion, that +somewhere in the world there was a man worth loving. His heart hurt +him. He must see her no more after the morrow. Enchantment and +happiness were two words which fate had ruthlessly scratched from his +book of days. + +Mr. Hooghly had already started off toward the town, the kit-bag and +the valise slung across his shoulders, the parrot-cage bobbing at his +side. He knew where to go; an obscure lodging for men in the heart of +the business section, known in jest by the derelicts as The Stranded. + +Warrington, becoming suddenly aware that his pose, if prolonged, would +become ridiculous, put on his helmet and proceeded to the Bank of +Burma. To-day was Wednesday; Thursday week he would sail for Singapore +and close the chapter. Before banking hours were over, his financial +affairs were put in order, and he walked forth with two letters of +credit and enough bank-notes and gold to carry him around the world, if +so he planned. Next, he visited a pawn-shop and laid down a dozen +mutilated tickets, receiving in return a handsome watch, emerald +cuff-buttons, some stick-pins, some pearls, and a beautiful old ruby +ring, a gift of the young Maharajah of Udaipur. The ancient Chinaman +smiled. This was a rare occasion. Men generally went out of his dark +and dingy shop and never more returned. + +"Much money. Can do now?" affably. + +"Can do," replied Warrington, slipping the treasures into a pocket. +What a struggle it had been to hold them! Somehow or other he had +always been able to meet the interest; though, often to accomplish this +feat he had been forced to go without tobacco for weeks. + +There is a vein of superstition in all of us, deny it how we will. +Certain inconsequent things we do or avoid doing. We never walk home +on the opposite side of the street. We carry luck-stones and battered +pieces of copper that have ceased to serve as coins. We fill the +garret with useless junk. Warrington was as certain of the fact as he +was of the rising and the setting of the sun, that if he lost these +heirlooms, he never could go back to the old familiar world, the world +in which he had moved and lived and known happiness. Never again would +he part with them. A hundred thousand dollars, almost; with his simple +wants he was now a rich man. + +"Buy ling?" asked the Chinaman. He rolled a mandarin's ring carelessly +across the show-case. "Gold; all heavy; velly old, velly good ling." + +"What does it say?" asked Warrington, pointing to the characters. + +"Good luck and plospeity; velly good signs." + +It was an unusually beautiful ring, unusual in that it had no setting +of jade. Warrington offered three sovereigns for it. The Chinaman +smiled and put the ring away. Warrington laughed and laid down five +pieces of gold. The Chinaman swept them up in his lean dry hands. And +Warrington departed, wondering if she would accept such a token. + +By four o'clock he arrived at the Chinese tailors in the Suley Pagoda +Road. He ordered a suit of pongee, to be done at noon the following +day. He added to this orders for four other suits, to be finished +within a week. Then he went to the shoemaker, to the hatter, to the +haberdasher. There was even a light Malacca walking-stick among his +purchases. A long time had passed since he had carried a cane. There +used to be, once upon a time, a dapper light bamboo which was known up +and down Broadway, in the restaurants, the more or less famous bars, +and in the lounging-rooms of a popular club. All this business because +he wanted her to realize what he had been and yet could be. Thus, +vanity sometimes works out a man's salvation. And it marked the end of +Warrington's recidivation. + +When he reached his lodging-house he sought the Burmese landlady. She +greeted him with a smile and a stiff little shake of the hand. He owed +her money, but that was nothing. Had he not sent her drunken European +sailor-man husband about his business? Had he not freed her from a +tyranny of fists and curses? It had not affected her in the least to +learn that her sailor-man had been negligently married all the way from +Yokohama to Colombo. She was free of him. + +Warrington spread out a five-pound note and laid ten sovereigns upon +it. "There we are," he said genially; "all paid up to date." + +"This?" touching the note. + +"A gift for all your patience and kindness." + +"You go 'way?" the smile leaving her pretty moon-face. + +"Yes." + +"You like?" with a gesture which indicated the parlor and its contents. +"Be boss? Half an' half?" + +He shook his head soberly. She picked up the money and jingled it in +her hand. + +"Goo'-by!" softly. + +"Oh, I'm not going until next Thursday." + +The smile returned to her face, and her body bent in a kind of kotow. +He was so big, and his beard glistened like the gold-leaf on the Shwe +Dagon Pagoda. She understood. The white to the white and the brown to +the brown; it was the Law. + +Warrington went up to his room. He was welcomed by a screech from the +parrot and a dignified salaam from James, who was trimming the wick of +the oil-lamp. For the last year and a half this room had served as +headquarters. Many a financial puzzle had been pieced together within +these dull drab walls; many a dream had gone up to the ceiling, only to +sink and dissipate like smoke. There were no pictures on the walls, no +photographs. In one corner, on the floor, was a stack of dilapidated +books. These were mostly old novels and tomes dealing with geological +and mathematical matters; laughter and tears and adventure, sandwiched +in between the dry positiveness of straight lines and squares and +circles and numerals without end; D'Artagnan hobnobbing with Euclid! +Warrington was an educated man, but he was in no sense a scholar. In +his hours of leisure he did not find solace in the classics. He craved +for a good blood-red tale, with lots of fighting and love-making and +pleasant endings. + +James applied a match to the wick, and the general poverty of the room +was instantly made manifest. + +"Well, old sober-top, suppose we square up and part like good friends?" + +"I am always the Sahib's good friend." + +"Right as rain!" Warrington emptied his pockets upon the table; silver +and gold and paper. "Eh? That's the stuff. Without it the world's +not worth a tinker's dam. Count out seventy pounds, James." + +"Sixty-seven." + +"Seventy or nothing," declared Warrington, putting his hands down upon +the glittering metals. Rupees and sovereigns never lose their luster +in the East. + +Calmly, then, James took sovereign after sovereign until he had +withdrawn the required sum. "Gold is heavy, Sahib," he commented. + +"Hang it, your hands are steadier than mine!" + +"You go back home?" + +"Yes. Something like home. I am going to Paris, where good people go +when they die. I am going to drink vintage wines, eat truffles and +mushrooms and caviar, and kiss the pretty girls in Maxim's. I've been +in prison for ten years. I am free, free!" Warrington flung out his +arms. "Good-by, jungles, deserts, hell-heat and thirsty winds! +Good-by, crusts and rags and hunger! I am going to live." + +"The Sahib has fever," observed the unimaginative Eurasian. + +"That's the word; fever. I am burning up. Here; go to the boat and +give the purser these six sovereigns. Here are three more. Go to the +Strand and get a bottle of champagne, and bring some ice. Buy a box of +the best cigars, and hurry back. Then put this junk in the trunk. And +damn the smell of kerosene!" + +James raised his hand warningly. From the adjoining room came the +sound of a quarrel. + +"Rupees one hundred and forty, and I want it now, you sneak!" + +"But I told you I couldn't square up until the first of the month." + +"You had no business to play poker, then, if you knew you couldn't +settle." + +"Who asked me to play?" shrilled the other. "You did. Well, I haven't +got the money." + +"You miserable little welcher! That ring is worth a hundred and forty." + +"You'll never get your dirty fingers inside of that." + +"Oh, I shan't, eh?" + +Warrington heard a scuffling, which was presently followed by a low +choking sob. He did not know who occupied the adjoining room. He had +been away for weeks, and there had been no permanent boarders before +that time. He rushed fearlessly into the other room. Pinned to the +wall was a young man with a weak pale face. The other man presented +nothing more than the back of his broad muscular shoulders. The +disparity in weight and height was sufficient to rouse Warrington's +sense of fair play. Besides, he was in a rough mood himself. + +"Here, that'll do," he cried, seizing the heavier man by the collar. +"It isn't worth while to kill a man for a handful of rupees. Let go, +you fool!" + +He used his strength. The man and his victim swung in a half-circle +and crashed to the floor. + +With a snarl and an oath, the gambler sprung to his feet and started +toward Warrington. He stopped short. + +"Good God!" he murmured; and retreated until he touched the foot-board +of the bed. + + + + +VI + +IN THE NEXT ROOM + +"Craig?" Warrington whispered the word, as if he feared the world +might hear the deadly menace in his voice. For murder leaped up in his +heart as flame leaps up in pine-kindling. + +The weak young man got to his knees, then to his feet. He steadied +himself by clutching the back of a chair. With one hand he felt of his +throat tenderly. + +"He tried to kill me, the blackguard!" he croaked. + +"Craig, it _is_ you! For ten years I've never thought of you without +murder in my heart. Newell Craig, and here, right where I can put my +hands upon you! Oh, this old world is small." Warrington laughed. It +was a high thin sound. + +The young man looked from his enemy to his deliverer, and back again. +What new row was this? Never before had he seen the blackguard with +that look in his dark, handsome, predatory face. It typified fear. +And who was this big blond chap whose fingers were working so +convulsively? + +"Craig," said the young man, "you get out of here, and if you ever come +bothering me, I'll shoot you. Hear me?" + +This direful threat did not seem to stir the sense of hearing in either +of the two men. The one faced the other as a lion might have faced a +jackal, wondering if it would be worth while to waste a cuff on so +sorry a beast. Suddenly the blond man caught the door and swung it +wide. + +"Craig, a week ago I'd have throttled you without the least +compunction. To-day I can't touch you. But get out of here as fast as +you can. You might have gone feet foremost. Go! Out of Rangoon, too. +I may change my mind." + +The man called Craig walked out, squaring his shoulders with a touch of +bravado that did not impress even the plucked pigeon. Warrington stood +listening until he heard the hall-door close sharply. + +"Thanks," said the bewildered youth. + +Warrington whirled upon him savagely. "Thanks? Don't thank me, +you weak-kneed fool!" + +"Oh, I say, now!" the other protested. + +"Be silent! If you owe that scoundrel anything, refuse to pay it. He +never won a penny in his life without cheating. Keep out of his way; +keep out of the way of all men who prefer to deal only two hands." And +with this advice Warrington stepped out into the hallway and shut the +door rudely. + +The youth walked over to the mirror and straightened his collar and +tie. "Rum go, that. Narrow squeak. Surly beggar, even if he did do +me a good turn. I shan't have to pay that rotter, Craig, now. That's +something." + +"Pay the purser and get a box of cigars," Warrington directed James. +"Never mind about the wine. I shan't want it now." + +James went out upon the errands immediately. Warrington dropped down +in the creaky rocking-chair, the only one in the boarding-house. He +stared at the worn and faded carpet. How dingy everything looked! +What a sordid rut he had been content to lie in! Chance: to throw this +man across his path when he had almost forgotten him, forgotten that he +had sworn to break the man's neck over his knees! In the very next +room! And he had permitted him to go unharmed simply because his mind +was full of a girl he would never see again after to-morrow. What was +the rascal doing over here? What had caused him to forsake the easy +pluckings of Broadway in exchange for a dog's life on packet-boats, in +squalid boarding-houses like this one, and in dismal billiard-halls? +Wire-tapper, racing-tout, stool-pigeon, a cheater at cards, blackmailer +and trafficker in baser things; in the next room, and he had let him go +unharmed. Vermin. Pah! He was glad. The very touch of the man's +collar had left a sense of defilement upon his hands. Ten years ago +and thirteen thousand miles away. In the next room. He laughed +unpleasantly. Chivalric fool, silly Don Quixote, sentimental dreamer, +to have made a hash of his life in this manner! + +He leaned toward the window-sill and opened the cage. Rajah walked +out, muttering. + + +When it was possible, Elsa preferred to walk. She was young and strong +and active; and she went along with a swinging stride that made obvious +a serene confidence in her ability to take care of herself. She was, +in many respects, a remarkable young woman. She had been pampered, she +had been given her head; and still she was unspoiled. What the +unknowing called wilfulness was simply natural independence, which she +asserted whenever occasion demanded it. + +Tongas cut into her nerves, the stuffy gharry made her head ache, and +the springless phaetons which abound in the East she avoided as the +plague. Elephants and camels and rickshaws were her delight; but here +in Rangoon none of these was available. There were no camels; the +government elephants had steady employment out at MacGregor's +timberyards and could not get leave of absence; while rickshaws were +out of fashion, as only natives and Chinamen rode in them. So Elsa +walked. + +She loved to prowl through the strange streets and alleys and stranger +shops; it was a joy to ramble about, minus the irritating importunities +of guide or attendant. It was great fun, but it was not always wise. +There were some situations which only men could successfully handle. +Elsa would never confess that there had been instances when she had +been confronted by such situations. She could, however, truthfully say +that these awkward moments had always been without endings, as, being +an excellent runner, she had, upon these occasions, blithely taken to +her heels. + +In her cool white drill, her wide white pith-helmet, she presented a +charming picture. The exercise had given her cheeks a bit of color, +and her eyes sparkled and flashed like raindrops. This morning she had +taken Martha along merely to still her protests. + +"It's all right so long as we keep to the main streets," said the +harried Martha; "but I do not like the idea of roaming about in the +native quarters. This is not like Europe. The hotel-manager said we +ought to have a man." + +"He is looking out for his commission. Heavens! what is the matter +with everybody? One would think, the way people put themselves out to +warn you, that murder and robbery were daily occurrences in Asia. I've +been here four months, and the only disagreeable moment I have known +was caused by a white man." + +"Because we have been lucky so far, it's no sign that we shall continue +so." + +"Raven!" laughed the girl. + +Martha shut her lips grimly. Her worry was not confined to this +particular phase of Elsa's imperious moods; it was general. There was +that blond man with the parrot. Martha was beginning to see him in her +dreams, which she considered as a presage of evil. There was also the +astonishing lack of interest in the man who was waiting at home. Elsa +rarely spoke of him. Nobody could tell Martha that chance had thrown +the blond stranger into their society. Somewhere it had been written. +(As, indeed, it had!) How to keep Elsa apart from him was now her vital +concern. She would never feel at ease until they were out of Yokohama, +homeward-bound. + +"I feel like a child this morning," said Elsa. "I want to run and play +and shout." + +"All the more reason why you should have a guardian. . . . Look, +Elsa!" Martha caught the girl by the arm. "There's that man we left +at Mandalay." + +"Where?" + +"Coming toward us. Shall we go into this shop?" + +"No, thank you! There is no reason why I should hide in a +butcher-shop, simply to avoid meeting the man. We'll walk straight +past him. If he speaks, we'll ignore him." + +"I wish we were in a civilized country." + +"This man is supposed to be civilized. Don't let him catch your eye. +Go on; don't lag." + +Craig stepped in front of them, smiling as he raised his helmet. "This +is an unexpected pleasure." + +Elsa, looking coldly beyond him, attempted to pass. + +"Surely you remember me?" + +"I remember an insolent cad," replied Elsa, her eyes beginning to burn +dangerously. "Will you stand aside?" + +He threw a swift glance about. He saw with satisfaction that none but +natives was in evidence. + +Elsa's glance roved, too, with a little chill of despair. In stories +Warrington would have appeared about this time and soundly trounced +this impudent scoundrel. She realized that she must settle this affair +alone. She was not a soldier's daughter for nothing. + +"Stand aside!" + +"Hoity-toity!" he laughed. He had been drinking liberally and was a +shade reckless. "Why not be a good fellow? Over here nobody minds. I +know a neat little restaurant. Bring the old lady along," with a +genial nod toward the quaking Martha. + +Resolutely Elsa's hand went up to her helmet, and with a flourish drew +out one of the long steel pins. + +"Oh, Elsa!" warned Martha. + +"Be still! This fellow needs a lesson. Once more, Mr. Craig, will you +stand aside?" + +Had he been sober he would have seen the real danger in the young +woman's eyes. + +"Cruel!" he said. "At least, one kiss," putting out his arms. + +Elsa, merciless in her fury, plunged the pin into his wrist. It stung +like a hornet; and with a gasp of pain, Craig leaped back out of range, +sobered. + +"Why, you she-cat!" + +"I warned you," she replied, her voice steady but low. "The second +stab will be serious. Stand aside." + +He stepped into the gutter, biting his lips and straining his uninjured +hand over the hurting throb in his wrist. The hat-pin as a weapon of +defense he had hitherto accepted as reporters' yarns. He was now +thoroughly convinced of the truth. He had had wide experience with +women. His advantage had always been in the fact that the general run +of them will submit to insult rather than create a scene. This +dark-eyed Judith was distinctly an exception to the rule. Gad! She +might have missed his wrist and jabbed him in the throat. He swore, +and walked off down the street. + +Elsa set a pace which Martha, with her wabbling knees, found difficult +to maintain. + +"You might have killed him!" she cried breathlessly. + +"You can't kill that kind of a snake with a hat-pin; you have to stamp +on its head. But I rather believe it will be some time before Mr. +Craig will again make the mistake of insulting a woman because she +appears to be defenseless." Elsa's chin was in the air. The choking +sensation in her throat began to subside. "The deadly hat-pin; can't +you see the story in the newspapers? Well, I for one am not afraid to +use it. You know and the purser knows what happened on the boat to +Mandalay. He was plausible and affable and good-looking, and the +mistake was mine. I seldom make them. I kept quiet because the boat +was full-up, and as a rule I hate scenes. Men like that know it. If I +had complained, he would have denied his actions, inferred that I was +evil-minded. He would have been shocked at my misinterpreting him. +Heavens, I know the breed! Now, not a single word of this to any one. +Mr. Craig, I fancy, will be the last person to speak of it." + +"You had better put the pin back into your hat," suggested Martha. + +"Pah! I had forgotten it." Elsa flung the weapon far into the street. + +Once they turned into Merchant Street, both felt the tension relax, +Martha would have liked to sit down, even on the curb. + +"I despise men," she volunteered. + +"I am beginning to believe that few of them are worth a thought. Those +who aren't fools are knaves." + +"Are you sure of your judgment in regard to this man Warrington? How +can you tell that he is any different from that man Craig?" + +"He is different, that is all. This afternoon he will come to tea. I +shall want you to be with us. Remember, not a word of this disgraceful +affair." + +"Ah, Elsa, I am afraid; I am more afraid of Warrington than of a man of +Craig's type." + +"And why?" + +"It sounds foolish, but I can't explain. I am just afraid of him." + +"Bother! You talk like an old maid." + +"And I am one, by preference." + +"We are always quarreling, Martha; and it doesn't do either of us any +good. When you oppose me, I find that that is the very thing I want to +do. You haven't any diplomacy." + +"I would gladly cultivate it if I thought it would prove effectual," +was the retort. + +"Try it," advised Elsa dryly. + +Warrington's appearance that afternoon astonished Elsa. She had +naturally expected some change, but scarcely such elegance. He was, +without question, one of the handsomest men she had ever met. He was +handsomer than Arthur because he was more manly in type. Arthur +himself, an exquisite in the matter of clothes, could not have improved +upon this man's taste or selection. What a mystery he was! She +greeted him cordially, without restraint; but for all that, a little +shiver stirred the tendrils of hair at the nape of her neck. + +"The most famous man in Rangoon to-day," she said, smiling. + +"So you have read that tommy-rot in the newspaper?" + +They sat on her private balcony, under an awning. Rain was +threatening. Martha laid aside her knitting and did her utmost to give +her smile of welcome an air of graciousness. + +"I shouldn't call it tommy-rot," Elsa declared. "It was not chance. +It was pluck and foresight. Men who possess those two attributes get +about everything worth having." + +"There are exceptions," studying the ferrule of his cane. + +"Is there really anything you want now and can't have?" + +Martha looked at her charge in dread and wonder. + +"There is the moon," he answered. "I have always wanted that. But +there it hangs, just as far out of reach as ever." + +"Two lumps?" + +"None. My sugar-tooth is gone." + +Elsa had heard that hard drinkers disliked sweets. Had this been the +Gordian knot he had cut? + +"Perhaps, after all," she said, "you would prefer a peg, as you call it +over here." + +"No, thanks. I was never fond of whisky. Sometimes, when I am dead +tired, and have to go on working, I take a little." + +So that wasn't it. Elsa's curiosity to-day was keenly alive. She +wanted to ask a thousand questions; but the ease with which the man +wore his new clothes, used his voice and eyes and hands, convinced her +more than ever that the subtlest questions she might devise would not +stir him into any confession. That he had once been a gentleman of her +own class, and more, something of an exquisite, there remained no doubt +in her mind. What had he done? What in the world had he done? + +On his part he regretted the presence of Martha; for, so strongly had +this girl worked upon his imagination that he had called with the +deliberate intention of telling her everything. But he could not open +the gates of his heart before a third person, one he intuitively knew +was antagonistic. + +Conversation went afield: pictures and music and the polished capitals +of the world; the latest books and plays. The information in regard to +these Elsa supplied him. They discussed also the problems of the day +as frankly as if they had been in an Occidental drawing-room. Martha's +tea was bitter. She liked Arthur, who was always charming, who never +surprised or astonished anybody, or shocked them with unexpected phases +of character; and each time she looked at Warrington, Arthur seemed to +recede. And when the time came for the guest to take his leave, Martha +regretted to find that the major part of her antagonism was gone. + +"I wish to thank you, Miss Chetwood, for your kindness to a very lonely +man. It isn't probable that I shall see you again. I sail next +Thursday for Singapore." He reached into a pocket. "I wonder if you +would consider it an impertinence if I offered you this old trinket?" +He held out the mandarin's ring. + +"What a beauty!" she exclaimed. "Of course I'll accept it. It is very +kind of you. I am inordinately fond of such things. Thank you. How +easily it slips over my finger!" + +"Chinamen have very slender fingers," he explained. "Good-by. Those +characters say 'Good luck and prosperity.'" + +No expressed desire of wishing to meet her again; just an ordinary +every-day farewell; and she liked him all the better for his apparent +lack of sentiment. + +"Good-by," she said. She winced, for his hand was rough-palmed and +strong. + +A little later she saw him pass down the street. He never turned and +looked back. + +"And why," asked Martha, "did you not tell the man that we sail on the +same ship?" + +"You're a simpleton, Martha." Elsa turned the ring round and round on +her finger. "If I had told him, he would have canceled his sailing and +taken another boat." + + + + +VII + +CONFIDENCES + +That night Martha wrote a letter. During the writing of it she jumped +at every sound: a footstep in the hall, the shutting of a door, a voice +calling in the street. And yet, Martha was guilty of performing only +what she considered to be her bounden duty. It is the prerogative of +fate to tangle or untangle the skein of human lives; but still, there +are those who elect themselves to break the news gently, to lessen the +shock of the blow which fate is about to deliver. + + +"_My dear Mr. Arthur_: + +. . . I do not know what to make of it. His likeness to you is the +most unheard of thing. He is a little bigger and broader and he wears +his beard longer. That's all the difference. When he came on the boat +that night, it was like a hand clutching at my throat. And you know +how romantic Elsa is, for all that she believes she is prosaic. I am +certain that she sees you in this stranger who calls himself +Warrington. If only you had had the foresight to follow us, a sailing +or two later! And now they'll be together for four or five days, down +to Singapore. I don't like it. There's something uncanny in the +thing. What if she did forbid you to follow? There are some promises +women like men to break. You should have followed. + +Neither of us has the slightest idea what the man has done to exile +himself in this horrible land for ten years. He still behaves like a +gentleman, and he must have been one in the past. But he has never yet +spoken of his home, of his past, of his people. We don't even know +that Warrington is his name. And you know that's a sign that something +is wrong. I wonder if you have any relatives by the name of +Warrington? I begin to see that man's face in my dreams. + +I am worried. For Elsa is a puzzle. She has always been one to me. I +have been with her since her babyhood; and yet I know as little of what +goes on in her mind as a stranger would. Her father, you know, was a +soldier, of fierce loves and hates; her mother was a handsome statue. +Elsa has her father's scorn for convention and his independence, +clothed in her mother's impenetrable mask. Don't mistake me. Elsa is +the most adorable creature to me, and I worship her; but I worry about +her. I believe that it would be wise on your part to meet us in San +Francisco. Give my love and respect to your dear beautiful mother. +And marry Elsa as fast as ever you can." + + +There followed some rambling comments on the weather, the rains and the +dust, the execrable food and the lack of drinking-water. The man who +eventually received this letter never reached that part of it. + + +The day of sailing was brilliant and warm. Elsa sat in a chair on the +deck of the tender, watching the passengers as they came aboard. A +large tourist party bustled about, rummaged among the heaps of luggage, +and shouted questions at their unhappy conductor. They wanted to know +where their staterooms were, grumbled about the size of the boat, +prophesied typhoons and wrecks, got in everybody's way, and ordered +other people's servants about. Never before had Elsa realized the +difficulties that beset the path of the personal conductor. Whatever +his salary was, he was entitled to it. It was all he got. No one +thought to offer him a little kindness. He was a human guide-book +which his fares opened and shut how and when they pleased. + +She saw Hooghly standing in the bow. A steamer-trunk, a kit-bag, a +bedding-bag, and the inevitable parrot-cage, reposed at his feet. He +was watching without interest or excitement the stream passing up and +down the gangplank. If his master came, very well; if he did not, he +would get off with the luggage. How she would have liked to question +him regarding his master! Elsa began to offer excuses for her interest +in Warrington. He was the counterpart of Arthur Ellison. He had made +his fortune against odds. He was a mystery. Why shouldn't he interest +her? Her mind was not ice, nor was her heart a stone. She pitied him, +always wondering what was back of it all. She would be a week in +Singapore; after that their paths would widen and become lost in the +future, and she would forget all about him, save in a shadowy way. She +would marry Arthur whether she loved him or not. She was certain that +he loved her. He had a comfortable income, not equal to hers, but +enough. He was, besides, her own sort; and there wasn't any mystery +about him at all. He was as clear to her as glass. For nearly ten +years she had known him, since his and his mother's arrival in the +small pretty Kentuckian town. What was the use of hunting a fancy? +Yes, she would marry Arthur. She was almost inclined to cable him to +meet her in San Francisco. + +That there was real danger in her interest in Warrington did not occur +to her. The fact that she was now willing to marry Arthur, without +analyzing the causes that had brought her to this decision, should have +warned her that she was dimly afraid of the stranger. Her glance fell +upon the mandarin's ring. She twirled it round undecidedly. Should +she wear it or put it away? The question remained suspended. She saw +Craig coming aboard; and she hid her face behind her magazine. Upon +second thought she let the magazine fall. She was quite confident that +that chapter was closed. Craig might be a scoundrel, but he was no +fool. + +A sharp blast from the tender's whistle drew her attention to the +gangplank. The last man to come aboard was Warrington. He appeared in +no especial hurry. He immediately sought James; and they stood +together chatting until the tender drew up alongside the steamer of the +British-India line. The two men shook hands finally. There seemed to +be some argument, in which Warrington bore down the servant. The +latter added a friendly tap on the Eurasian's shoulder. No one would +have suspected that the white man and his dark companion had been +"shipmates," in good times and in bad, for nearly a decade. Elsa, +watching them from her secure nook, admired the lack of effusiveness. +The dignity of the parting told her of the depth of feeling. + +An hour later they were heading for the delta. Elsa amused herself by +casting bits of bread to the gulls. Always they caught it on the wing, +no matter in what direction she threw it. Sometimes one would wing up +to her very hand for charity, its coral feet stretched out to meet the +quick back-play of the wings, its cry shallow and plaintive and +world-lonely. + +Suddenly she became aware of a presence at her side. + +A voice said: "It was not quite fair of you." + +"What wasn't?" without turning her head. She brushed her hands free of +the crumbs. + +"You should have let me know that you were going to sail on this boat." + +"You would have run away, then." + +"Why?" startled at her insight. + +"Because you are a little afraid of me." She faced him, without a +smile either on her lips or in her eyes. "Aren't you?" + +"Yes. I am afraid of all things I do not quite understand." + +"There is not the least need in the world, Mr. Warrington. I am quite +harmless. My claws have been clipped. I am engaged to be married, and +am going home to decide the day." + +"He's a lucky man." He was astonished at his calm, for the blow went +deep. + +"Lucky? That is in the future. What a lonely thing a gull is!" + +"What a lonely thing a lonely man is!" he added. Poor fool! To have +dreamed so fair a dream for a single moment! He tried to believe that +he was glad that she had told him about the other man. The least this +information could do would be to give him better control of himself. +He had not been out in the open long enough entirely to master his +feelings. + +"Men ought not to be lonely," she said. "There's the excitement of +work, of mingling with crowds, of going when and where one pleases. A +woman is hemmed in by a thousand petty must-nots. She can't go out +after dark; she can't play whist or billiards, or sit at a table in the +open and drink and smoke and spin yarns. Woman's lot is wondering and +waiting at home. When I marry I suppose that I shall learn the truth +of that." + +Perhaps it was because he had been away from them so long and had lost +track of the moods of the feminine mind; but surely it could not be +possible that there was real happiness in this young woman's heart. +Its evidence was lacking in her voice, in her face, in her gestures. +He thought it over with a sigh. It was probably one of those marriages +of convenience, money on one side and social position on the other. He +felt sorry for the girl, sorry for the man; for it was not possible +that a girl like this one would go through life without experiencing +that flash of insanity that is called the grand passion. + +He loved her. He could lean against the rail, his shoulder lightly +touching hers, and calmly say to himself that he loved her. He could +calmly permit her to pass out of his life as a cloud passes down the +sea-rim. He hadn't enough, but this evil must befall him. Love! He +spread out his hands unconsciously. + +"What does that mean?" she asked, smiling now. "An invocation?" + +"It's a sign to ward off evil," he returned. + +"From whom?" + +"From me." + +"Are you expecting evil?" + +"I am always preparing myself to meet it. There is one thing that will +always puzzle me. Why should you have asked the purser to pick out +such a tramp as I was? For I was a tramp." + +"I thought I explained that." + +"Not clearly." + +"Well, then, I shall make myself clear. The sight of you upon that +bank, the lights in your face, struck me as the strangest mystery that +could possibly confront me. I thought you were a ghost." + +"A ghost?" + +"Yes. So I asked the purser to introduce you to prove to my +satisfaction that you weren't a ghost. Line for line, height for +height, color for color, you are the exact counterpart of the man I am +going home to marry." + +She saw the shiver that ran over him; she saw his eyes widen; she saw +his hands knot in pressure over the rail. + +"The man you are going to marry!" he whispered. + +Abruptly, without explanation, he walked away, his shoulders settled, +his head bent. It was her turn to be amazed. What could this attitude +mean? + +"Mr. Warrington!" she called. + +But he disappeared down the companionway. + + + + +VIII + +A WOMAN'S REASON + +Elsa stared at the vacant doorway. She recognized only a sense of +bewilderment. This was not one of those childish flashes of rudeness +that had amused, annoyed and mystified her. She had hurt him. And +how? Her first explanation was instantly rejected as absurd, +impossible. They had known each other less than a fortnight. They had +exchanged opinions upon a thousand topics, but sentiment had had no +visible part in these encounters. They had been together three days on +the boat, and once he had taken tea with her in Rangoon. She could +find nothing save that she had been kind to him when he most needed +kindness, and that she had not been stupidly curious, only +sympathetically so. He interested her and held that interest because +he was a type unlike anything she had met outside the covers of a book. +He was so big and strong, and yet so boyish. He had given her visions +of the character which had carried his manhood through all these years +of strife and bitterness and temptation. And because of this she had +shown him that she had taken it for granted that whatever he had done +in the past had not put him beyond the pale of her friendship. There +had been no degrading entanglements, and women forgive or condone all +other transgressions. + +And what had she just said or done to put that look of dumb agony in +his face? She swung impatiently from the rail. She hated abstruse +problems, and not the least of these was that which would confront her +when she returned to America. She began to promenade the deck, still +cluttered with luggage over which the Lascar stewards were moiling. +Many a glance followed the supple pleasing figure of the girl as she +passed round and round the deck. Other promenaders stepped aside or +permitted her to pass between. The resolute uplift of the chin, and +the staring dark eyes which saw but inner visions, impressed them with +the fact that it would be wiser to step aside voluntarily. There were +some, however, who considered that they had as much right to the deck +as she. Before them she would stop shortly, and as a current breaks +and passes each side of an immovable object, they, too, gave way. + +The colonel fussed and fumed, and his three spinster charges drew their +pale lips into thinner paler lines. + +"These Americans are impossible!" + +"And it is scandalous the way the young women travel alone. One can +never tell what they are." + +"Humph! Brag and assertiveness. And there's that ruffian who came +down the river. What's he doing on the same boat? What?" + +Elsa became aware of their presence at the fifth turn. She nodded +absently. Being immersed in the sea of conjecture regarding +Warrington's behavior, the colonel's glare did not rouse in her the +sense of impending disaster. + +The first gong for dinner boomed. Elsa missed the clarion notes of the +bugle, so familiar to her ears on the Atlantic. The echoing wail of +the gong spoke in the voice of the East, of its dalliance, its content +to drift in a sargassa sea of entangling habits and desires, of its +fatalism and inertia. It did not hearten one or excite hunger. Elsa +would rather have lain down in her Canton lounging-chair. The gong +seemed out of place on the sea. Vaguely it reminded her of the railway +stations at home, where they beat the gong to entice passengers into +the evil-smelling restaurants, there to lose their patience and often +their trains. + +The dining-saloon held two long tables, only one of which was in +commission, the starboard. The saloon was unattractive, for staterooms +marshaled along each side of it; and one caught glimpses of tumbled +luggage and tousled berths. A punka stretched from one end of the +table to the other, and swung indolently to and fro, whining +mysteriously as if in protest, sometimes subsiding altogether (as the +wearied coolie above the lights fell asleep) and then flapping +hysterically (after a shout of warning from the captain) and setting +the women's hair awry. + +Elsa and Martha were seated somewhere between the head and the foot of +the table. The personally-conducted surrounded them, and gabbled +incessantly during the meal of what they had seen, of what they were +going to see, and of what they had missed by not going with the other +agency's party. Elsa's sympathy went out to the tired and faded +conductor. + +There was but one vacant chair; and as she saw Warrington nowhere, Elsa +assumed that this must be his reservation. She was rather glad that he +would be beyond conversational radius. She liked to talk to the +strange and lonely man, but she preferred to be alone with him when she +did so. Neither of them had yet descended to the level of trifles; and +Elsa had no wish to share with persons uninteresting and +uncompanionable her serious views of life. Sometimes she wondered if, +after all, she was not as old as the hills instead of twenty-five. + +She began as of old to study carelessly the faces of the diners and to +speculate as to their characters and occupations. Her negligent +observation roved from the pompous captain down to the dark picturesque +face of the man Craig. Upon him her glance, a mixture of contempt and +curiosity, rested. If he behaved himself and made no attempt to speak +to her, she was willing to declare a truce. In Rangoon the man had +been drunk, but on the Irrawaddy boat he had been sober enough. Craig +kept his eyes directed upon his food and did not offer her even a +furtive glance. + +He was not in a happy state of mind. He had taken passage the last +moment to avoid meeting again the one man he feared. For ten years +this man had been reckoned among the lost. Many believed him dead, and +Craig had wished it rather than believed. And then, to meet him face +to face in that sordid boarding-house had shaken the cool nerve of the +gambler. He was worried and bewildered. He had practically sent this +man to ruin. What would be the reprisal? He reached for a mangosteen +and ate the white pulpy contents, but without the customary relish. +The phrase kept running through his head: What would be the reprisal? +For men of his ilk never struck without expecting to be struck back. +Something must be done. Should he seek him and boldly ask what he +intended to do? Certainly he could not do much on board here, except +to denounce him to the officers as a professional gambler. And Paul +would scarcely do that since he, Craig, had a better shot in his gun. +He could tell who Paul was and what he had done. Bodily harm was what +he really feared. + +He had seen Elsa, but he had worked out that problem easily. She was +sure to say nothing so long as he let her be; and with the episode of +the hat-pin still fresh in his memory, he assuredly would keep his +distance. He had made a mistake, and was not likely to repeat it. + +But Paul! He finished his dessert and went off to the stuffy little +smoke-room, and struggled with a Burma cheroot. Paul was a smoker, and +sooner or later he would drop in. There would be no beating about the +bush on his part. If it was to be war, all right; a truce, well and +good. But he wanted to know, and he was not going to let fear stand in +the way. He waited in vain for his man that night. + +And so did Elsa. She felt indignant at one moment and hurt at another. +The man's attitude was inexplicable; there was neither rhyme nor reason +in it. The very fact that she could not understand made her wonder +march beside her even in her dreams that night. She began to feel +genuinely sorry that he had appeared above her horizon. He had +disturbed her poise; he had thrown her accepted views of life into an +entirely different angle, kaleidoscopically. And always that +supernatural likeness to the other man. Elsa began to experience a +sensation like that which attends the imagination of one in the clutch +of a nightmare: she hung in mid-air: she could neither retreat nor go +forward. Just before she retired she leaned over the rail, watching +the reflection of the stars twist and shiver on the smooth water. +Suddenly she listened. She might have imagined it, for at night the +ears deceive. "Jah, jah!" Somewhere from below came the muffled +plaint of Rajah. + +Next day, at luncheon, the chair was still vacant. Elsa became +alarmed. Perhaps he was ill. She made inquiries, regardless of the +possible misinterpretation her concern might be given by others. Mr. +Warrington had had his meals served in his cabin, but the steward +declared that the gentleman was not ill, only tired and irritable, and +that he amused himself with a trained parrakeet. + +All day long the sea lay waveless and unrippled, a sea of brass and +lapis-lazuli; brass where the sun struck and lapis-lazuli in the shadow +of the lazy swells. Schools of flying-fish broke fan-wise in flashes +of silver, and porpoise sported alongside. And warmer and warmer grew +the air. + +Starboard was rigged up for cricket, and the ship's officers and some +of the passengers played the game until the first gong. Elsa grumbled +to Martha. There was little enough space to walk in as it was without +the men taking over the whole side of the ship and cheating her out of +a glorious sunset. Martha grew troubled and perplexed. If there was +one phase of character unknown to her in Elsa it was irritability; and +here she was, finding fault like any ordinary tourist. + +"Where is Mr. Warrington?" + +"I don't know. I haven't seen him since yesterday." Elsa dropped her +book petulantly. "I am weary of these namby-pamby stories." + +"Why, I thought you admired that author." + +"Not to-day at any rate. Silly twaddle." + +Martha's eyes had a hopeless look in them as she asked: "Elsa, what is +the matter?" + +"I don't know, Martha. I believe I should like to lose my temper +utterly. It might be a great relief." + +"It's the climate." + +"It may be. But it's my belief I'm irritable because I do not know my +own mind. I hate the stuffy stateroom, the food, the captain." + +"The captain?" + +"Yes. Nothing seems to disturb his conceit. To-night we sleep on +deck, the starboard side. At five o'clock we have to get up and go +inside again so they can holystone the deck. And I am always soundest +asleep at that time. Doubtless, I shall be irritable all day +to-morrow." + +"Sleep up here on deck?" horrified. + +"That, or suffocate below." + +"But the men?" + +"They sleep on the port side." Elsa laughed maliciously. "Don't +worry. Nobody minds." + +"I hate the East," declared Martha vindictively. "Everything is so +slack. It just brings out the shiftlessness in everybody." + +"Perhaps that is what ails me; I am growing shiftless. When I came on +board I decided to marry Arthur, and have done with the pother. Now I +am at the same place as when I left home. I don't want to marry +anybody. Have you noticed that fellow Craig?" + +"What will you do if he speaks?" + +"I have half a dozen good hat-pins left," dryly. + +"I hate to hear you talk like that." + +"It's the East. . . . There goes that hateful gong again. Soup, +chicken, curry, rice and piccalilli. I am going to live on plantains +and mangosteens. I'm glad we had sense enough to order that distilled +water. I should die if I had to drink any more soda. I wish I had +booked straight through. I shall be bored to death in Japan, much as I +wish to see the cherry-blossom dance. Probably I shan't enjoy +anything. Come; we'll go down as we are to dinner, and watch the +ridiculous captain and his fan-bearer. The punka will at least give us +a breath of fresh air. There doesn't seem to be any on deck. One +regrets Darjeeling." + +Martha followed her young mistress into the dining-saloon; she was +anxious and upset. Where would this mood end? With a glance of relief +she found Warrington's chair still vacant. + +The saloon had an air of freshness to-night. All the men were in drill +or pongee, and so receptive is the imagination that the picture robbed +the room of half its heat. To and fro the punka flapped; the pulleys +creaked and the ropes scraped above the sound of knives and forks and +spoons. + +Elsa ate little besides fruit. She spoke scarcely a word to Martha, +and none to those around her. Thus, she missed the frown of the +colonel and the lifted brows of the spinsters, and the curious glances +of the tourists. The passenger-list had not yet come from the ship's +press, so Elsa's name was practically unknown. But in some +unaccountable manner it had become known that she had been making +inquiries in regard to the gentleman in cabin 78, who had thus far +remained away from the table. Ship life is a dull life, and gossip is +about the only thing that makes it possible to live through the day. +It was quite easy to couple this unknown aloof young woman and the +invisible man, and then to wait for results. The average tourist is +invariably building a romance around those persons who interest them, +attractively or repellently. They have usually saturated their minds +with impossible impressions of the East, acquired long before they +visit it, and refuse to accept actualities. It would have amused Elsa +had she known the interest she had already created if not inspired. +Her beauty and her apparent indifference to her surroundings were +particularly adapted to the romantic mood of her fellow-travelers. Her +own mind was so broad and generous, so high and detached, that so +sordid a thing as "an affair" never entered her thoughts. + +As she refused course after course, a single phrase drummed incessantly +through her tired brain. She was not going to marry Arthur; never, +never in this world. She did not love him, and this was to be final. +She would cable him from Singapore. But she felt no elation in having +arrived at this determination. In fact, there was a tingle of defiance +in her unwritten, unspoken ultimatum. + +That night Craig found it insupportable in the cabin below; so he +ordered his steward to bring up his bedding. He had lain down for half +an hour, grown restless, and had begun to walk the deck in his +bath-slippers. He had noted the still white figure forward, where the +cross-rail marks the waist. As he approached, Craig discovered his +man. He hesitated only a moment; then he touched Warrington's arm. + +Warrington turned his dull eyes upon his ancient enemy. "So it is you? +I understood you were on board. Well?" uncompromisingly. + +"I've been looking for you. Bygones are bygones, and what's done can't +be undone by punching a fellow's head. I'm not looking for trouble," +went on Craig, gaining assurance. "I am practically down and out +myself. I can't go back to the States for a while. All I want is to +get to Hongkong in peace for the April races. What stand are you going +to take on board here? That's all I want to know." + +"It would give me great pleasure, Craig, to take you by the scruff of +your neck and drop you overboard. But as you say, what's been done +can't be remedied by bashing in a man's head. Well, here you are, +since you ask. If you speak to me, if I catch you playing cards or +auctioneering a pool, if you make yourself obnoxious to any of the +passengers, I promise to give you the finest thrashing you ever had, +the moment we reach Penang. If you don't go ashore there, I'll do it +in Singapore. Have I made myself clear?" + +"That's square enough, Paul," said the gambler resignedly. There +wasn't much money on board these two-by-four boats, anyhow, so he +wasn't losing much. + +Warrington leaned forward. "Paul? You said Paul?" + +"Why, yes," wonderingly. + +"Better go." + +"All right." Craig returned to his mattress. "Now, what made him curl +up like that because I called him Paul? Bah!" He dug a hole in his +pillow and tried to sleep. + +"Paul!" murmured Warrington. + +He stared down at the flashes of phosphorescence, blindly. The man had +called him Paul. After ten years to learn the damnable treachery of +it! Suddenly he clenched his hand and struck the rail. He would go +back. All his loyalty, all his chivalry, had gone for naught. This +low rascal had called him Paul. + + + + +IX + +TWO SHORT WEEKS + +When Elsa stepped out of the companionway the next morning she winced +and shut her eyes. The whole arc of heaven seemed hung with +fire-opals; east, west, north and south, whichever way she looked, +there was dazzling iridescence. The long flowing swells ran into the +very sky, for there was visible no horizon. Gold-leaf and opals, +thought Elsa. What a wonderful world! What a versatile mistress was +nature! Never two days alike, never two human beings; animate and +inanimate, all things were singular. She paused at the rail and +glanced down the rusty black side of the ship and watched the thread of +frothing water that clutched futilely at the red water-line. Never two +living things alike, in all the millions and millions swarming the +globe. What a marvel! Even though this man Warrington and Arthur +looked alike, they were not so. In heart and mind they were as +different as two days. + +She began her usual walk, and in passing the smoke-room door on the +port side she met Warrington coming out. How deep-set his eyes were! +He was about to go on, but she looked straight into his eyes, and he +stopped. She laughed, and held out her hand. + +"I really believe you were going to snub me." + +"Then you haven't given me up?" + +"Never mind what I have or have not done. Walk with me. I am going to +talk plainly to you. If what I say is distasteful, don't hesitate to +interrupt me. You interest me, partly because you act like a boy, +partly because you are a man." + +"I haven't any manners." + +"They need shaking up and readjusting. I have just been musing over a +remarkable thing, that no two objects are alike. Even the most +accurate machinery can not produce two nails without variation. So it +is with humans. You look so like the man I know back home that it is +impossible not to ponder over you." She smiled into his face. "Why +should nature produce two persons who are mistaken for each other, and +yet give them two souls, two intellects, totally different?" + +"I have often wondered." + +"Is nature experimenting, or is she slyly playing a trick on humanity?" + +"Let us call it a trick; by all means, let us call it that." + +"Your tone . . ." + +"Yes, yes," impatiently; "you are going to say that it sounds bitter. +But why should another man have a face like mine, when we have nothing +in common? What right has he to look like me?" + +"It is a puzzle," Elsa admitted. + +"This man who looks like me--I have no doubt it affects you +oddly--probably lives in ease; never knew what a buffet meant, never +knew what a care was, has everything he wants; in fact, a gentleman of +your own class, whose likes and dislikes are cut from the same pattern +as your own. Well, that is as it should be. A woman such as you are +ought to marry an equal, a man whose mind and manners are fitted to the +high place he holds in your affection and in your world. How many +worlds there are, man-made and heaven-made, and each as deadly as the +other, as cold and implacable! To you, who have been kind to me, I +have acted like a fool. The truth is, I've been skulking. My vanity +was hurt. I had the idea that it was myself and not my resemblance +that appealed to your interest. What makes you trust me?" bluntly; and +he stopped as he asked the question. + +"Why, I don't know," blankly. Instantly she recovered herself. "But I +do trust you." She walked on, and perforce he fell into her stride. + +"It is because you trust the other man." + +"Thanks. That is it precisely; and for nearly two weeks I've been +trying to solve that very thing." + +After a pause he asked: "Have you ever read Reade's _Singleheart and +Doubleface_?" + +"Yes. But what bearing has it upon our discussion?" + +"None that you would understand," evasively. His tongue had nearly +tripped him. + +"Are you sure?" + +"Of this, that I shall never understand women." + +"Do not try to," she advised. "All those men who knew most about women +were the unhappiest." + +They made a round in silence. Passengers were beginning to get into +their deck-chairs; and Elsa noted the backs of the many novels that +ranged from the pure chill altitudes of classic and demi-classics down +to the latest popular yarn. Many an eye peered over the tops of the +books; and envy and admiration and curiosity brought their shafts to +bear upon her. It was something to create these variant expressions of +interest. She was oblivious. + +"We stop at Penang?" she asked. + +"Five or six hours, long enough to see the town." + +"We went directly from Singapore to Colombo, so we missed the town +coming out. I should like to see that cocoanut plantation of yours." + +"It is too far inland. Besides, I am a _persona non grata_ there." +As, indeed, he was. His heart burned with shame and rage at the +recollection of the last day there. Three or four times, during the +decade, the misfortune of being found out had fallen to his lot, and +always when he was employed at something worth while. + +Elsa discreetly veered into another channel. "You will go back to +Italy, I suppose. How cheaply and delightfully one may live there, +when one knows something of the people! I had the Villa Julia one +spring. You know it; Sorrento. Is there anything more stunning than +oranges in the rain?" irrelevantly. + +"Yes, I shall go to Italy once more. But first I am going home." He +was not aware of the grimness that entered his voice as he made this +statement. + +"I am glad," she said. "After all, that is the one place." + +"If you are happy enough to find a welcome." + +"And you will see your mother again?" + +He winced. "Yes. Do you know, it does not seem possible that I met +you but two short weeks ago? I have never given much thought to this +so-called reincarnation; but somewhere in the past ages I knew you; +only . . ." + +"Only what?" + +"Only, you weren't going home to marry the other fellow." + +She stopped at the rail. "Who knows?" she replied ruminatingly. +"Perhaps I am not going to marry him." + +"Don't you love him? . . . I beg your pardon, Miss Chetwood!" + +"You're excused." + +"I still need some training. I have been alone so much that I haven't +got over the trick of speaking my thoughts aloud." + +"No harm has been done. The fault lay with me." + +"I used to learn whole pages from stories and recite them to the trees +or to the parrot. It kept me from going mad, I believe. In camp I +handled coolies; none of whom could speak a word of English. I didn't +have James with me at that time. During the day I was busy enough +seeing that they did their work well. When things ran smoothly I'd +take out a book and study. At night I'd stand before my tent and +declaim. I could not read at night. If I lighted a lantern the tent +would become alive with abominable insects. So I'd declaim, merely to +hear the sound of my voice. Afterward I learned that the coolies +looked upon me as a holy man. They believed I was nightly offering +prayers to one of my gods. Perhaps I was; the god of reason. In the +mornings I used to have to shake my boots. Frogs and snakes would get +in during the night, the latter in search of the former. Lively times! +All that seems like a bad dream now." + +"And how is Rajah?" + +"Ugly as ever." + +"Are you going to take him with you?" + +"Wherever I go. Looks silly, doesn't it, for a man of my size to tote +around a parrot-cage? But I don't care what people think. Life is too +short. It's what you think of yourself that really counts." + +"That is one of the rules I have laid down for myself. If only we all +might go through life with that idea! There wouldn't be any gossip or +scandal, then." + +"Some day I am going to tell you why I have lived over here all these +years." + +"I shouldn't, not if it hurts you." + +"On the contrary, there's a kind of happiness in unburdening one's +conscience. I called that day in Rangoon for the express purpose of +telling you everything, but I couldn't in the presence of a third +person." + +"I do not demand it." + +"But it's a duty I owe to myself," he insisted gravely. "Besides, it +is not impossible that you may hear the tale from other lips; and I +rather prefer to tell it myself." + +"But always remember that I haven't asked you." + +"Are you afraid to hear it?" + +"No. What I am trying to convince you with is the fact that I trust +you, and that I give you my friendship without reservations." + +He laid his hand on hers, strongly. "God bless you for that!" + +She liked him because there was lacking in his words and tones that +element of flattery so distasteful to her. Men generally entertain the +fallacy that a woman demands homage, first to her physical appearance, +next to her taste in gowns, and finally to her intellect, when in the +majority of cases it is the other way around. Elsa knew that she was +beautiful, but it no longer interested her to hear men state the fact, +knowing as she did that it was simply to win her good will. + +"Would you like to sit next to me at the table?" + +"May I?" eagerly. + +"I'll have Martha change her chair for yours. Do you speak Italian?" + +"Enough for ordinary conversation. It is a long time since I have +spoken the tongue." + +"Then, let us talk it as much as possible at the table, if only to +annoy those around us." + +He laughed. + +"I was educated in Rome," she added. + +"Are you religious?" + +Elsa shrugged. "At present I don't know just what my religion is. +Scandalous, isn't it? But for many weeks a thousand gods have beset +me. I've got to get back to civilization in order to readjust my +views. At luncheon, then. I am beginning to feel snoozy." + +Craig had been eying the two, evilly. Set the wind in that direction? +An idea found soil in his mind, and grew. He would put a kink, as he +vulgarly expressed it, into that affair. He himself wasn't good enough +for her. The little cat should see. Warrington's ultimatum of the +night before burned and rankled, and a man of Craig's caliber never +accepted the inevitable without meditating revenge, revenge of a +roundabout character, such as would insure his physical safety. The +man could not play fair; there was nothing either in his heart or in +his mind upon which square play could find foothold. There was nothing +loyal or generous or worthy in the man. There is something admirable +in a great rascal; but a sordid one is a pitiful thing. Craig entered +the smoke-room and ordered a peg. At luncheon he saw them sitting +together, and he smothered a grin. Couldn't play cards, or engineer a +pool, eh? All right. There were other amusements. + +That afternoon Martha chanced to sit down in a vacant chair, just out +of the range of the cricketers. She lolled back and idly watched the +batsmen. And then she heard voices. + +"She is Elsa Chetwood. I remember seeing her pictures. She is a +society girl, very wealthy, but something of a snob." + +Martha's ears tingled. A snob, indeed, because she minded principally +her own affairs! + +"They think because they belong to the exclusive sets they can break as +many laws of convention as they please. Well, they can't. There's +always some scandal in the papers about them. There was some rumor of +her being engaged to the Duke of What's-his-name, but it fell through +because she wouldn't settle a fortune on him. Only sensible thing she +ever did, probably." + +"And did you notice who sat next to her at luncheon?" + +"A gentleman with a past, Mr. Craig tells me." + +"I dare say Miss Chetwood has a past, too, if one but knew. To travel +alone like this!" + +Busybodies! Martha rose indignantly and returned to the other side of +the deck. Meddlers? What did they know? To peck like daws at one so +far above them, so divinely far above them! Her natural impulse had +been to turn upon them and give them the tongue-lashing they deserved. +But she had lived too long with Elsa not to have learned +self-repression, and that the victory is always with those who stoop +not to answer. Nevertheless, she was alarmed. Elsa must be warned. + +All Elsa said was: "My dear Martha, in a few days they and their +tittle-tattle will pass out of my existence, admitting that they have +ever entered it. I repeat, my life is all my own, and that I am +concerned only with those whom I wish to retain as my friends. Gossip +is the shibboleth of the mediocre, and, thank heaven, I am not +mediocre." + +While dressing for dinner Elsa discovered a note on the floor of her +cabin. The writing was unfamiliar. She opened it and sought first the +signature. Slowly her cheeks reddened, and her lips twisted in +disdain. She did not read the note, but the natural keenness of her +eye caught the name of Warrington. She tore the letter into scraps +which she tossed out the port-hole. What a vile thing the man was! He +had had the effrontery to sign his name. He must be punished. + +It was as late as ten o'clock when she and Warrington went up to the +bow and gazed down the cut-water. Never had she seen anything so +weirdly beautiful as the ribbons of phosphorescence which fell away on +each side, luminously blue and flaked with dancing starlike particles, +through which, ever and anon, flying-fish, dripping with the fire, spun +outward like tongues of flame. + +"Beautiful, beautiful! This is the one spot on the ship. And in all +my travels I have never seen this before. All silence and darkness in +front of us, and beneath, that wonderful fire. Thanks for bringing me +here. I should not have known what I was missing." + +"Often, when I was stoking, during an hour or so of relief, I used to +steal up here and look down at the mystery, for it will ever be a +mystery to me. And I found comfort." + +"Are you religious, too?" + +"In one thing, that God demands that every man shall have faith in +himself." + +How deep his voice was as compared to Arthur's! Arthur. Elsa frowned +at the rippling magic. Why was she invariably comparing the two men? +What significance did it have upon the future, since, at the present +moment, it was not understandable? + +"There is a man on board by the name of Craig," she said. "I advise +you to beware of him." + +"Who introduced him to you?" The anger in his voice was very agreeable +to her ears. "Who dared to?" + +"No one. He introduced himself on the way up to Mandalay. In Rangoon +I closed the acquaintance, such as it was, with the aid of a hat-pin." + +"A hat-pin! What did he say to you?" roughly. + +"Nothing that I care to repeat. . . . Stop! I am perfectly able to +take care of myself. I do not need any valiant champion." + +"He has spoken to you about me?" + +"A letter. I saw only his name and yours. I tore it up and threw it +overboard. Let us go back. Somehow, everything seems spoiled. I am +sorry I spoke." + +"I shall see that he does not bother you again," ominously. + +They returned to the promenade deck in silence. When Warrington found +Craig the man was helplessly intoxicated. He lay sprawled upon his +mattress, and the kick administered did not stir him. Warrington +looked down at the sodden wretch moodily. + +Craig's intoxication was fortunate for him, otherwise he would have +been roughly handled; for there was black murder in the heart of the +broken man standing above him. Warrington relaxed his clenched hands. +This evil-breathing thing at his feet was the primal cause of it all, +he and a man's damnable weakness. Of what use his new-found fortune? +Better for him had he stayed in the jungle, better have died there, +hugging his poor delusion. Oh, abysmal fool that he had been! + + + + +X + +THE CUT DIRECT + +It was after five in the morning when the deckhands tried to get Craig +to go down to his room. With the dull obstinacy of a drunken man, he +refused to stir; he was perfectly satisfied to stay where he was. The +three brown men stood irresolutely and helplessly around the man. +Every one had gone below. The hose was ready to flush the deck. It +did not matter; he, Craig, would not budge. + +"Leave me alone, you black beggars!" + +"But, Sahib," began one of the Lascars, who spoke English. + +"Don't talk to me. I tell you, get out!" striking at their feet with +his swollen hands. + +Warrington, who had not lain down at all, but who had wandered about +the free decks like some lost soul from _The Flying Dutchman_, +Warrington, hearing voices, came out of the smoke-room. A glance was +sufficient. A devil's humor took possession of him. He walked over. + +"Get up," he said quietly. + +Craig blinked up at him from out of puffed eyes. "Go to the devil! +Fine specimen to order me about." + +"Will you get up peacefully? These men have work to do." + +Craig was blind to his danger. "What's that to me? Go away, all of +you, to the devil, for all I care. I'll get up when I get damn good +and ready. Not before." + +Warrington picked up the hose. + +"Sahib!" cried the Lascar in protest. + +"Be still!" ordered Warrington. "Craig, for the last time, will you +get up?" + +"No!" + +Warrington turned the key, and a deluge of cold salt-water struck Craig +full in the chest. He tried to sit up, but was knocked flat. Then he +rolled over on the deck, choking and sputtering. He crawled on his +hands and knees until he reached the chair-rail, which he clutched +desperately, drawing himself up. The pitiless stream never swerved. +It smacked against the flat of his back like the impact of a hand. + +"For God's sake stop it!" cried Craig, half strangled. + +"Will you go below?" + +"Yes, yes! Turn it away!" sober enough by now. + +Warrington switched off the key, his face humorless, though there was a +sparkle of grim humor in his sleep-hungry eyes. Craig leaned against +the deck-house, shaking and panting. + +"I would I could get at your soul as easily." Warrington threw aside +the hose, and the Lascars sprang upon it, not knowing what the big +blond Sahib might do next. + +Craig turned, venom on his tongue. He spoke a phrase. In an instant, +cold with fury, Warrington had him by the throat. + +"You low base cur!" he said, shaking the man until he resembled a +manikin on wires. "Had you been sober last night, I'd have thrown you +into the sea. Honorless dog! You wrote to Miss Chetwood. You +insulted her, too. If you wish to die, speak to her again." + +Craig struggled fiercely to free himself. He wasn't sure, by the look +of the other man's eyes, that he wasn't going to be killed then and +there. There was something cave-mannish and cruel in the way +Warrington worried the man, shaking him from side to side and forcing +him along the deck. Suddenly he released his hold, adding a buffet on +the side of the head that sent Craig reeling and sobbing into the +companionway. + +"Here, I say, what's the row?" + +Warrington looked over his shoulder. The call had come from the first +officer. + +"A case of drunkenness," coolly. + +"But I say, we can't have brawling on deck, sir. You ought to know +that. If the man's conduct was out of order, you should have brought +your complaint before the captain or me. We really can't have any +rowing, sir." + +Warrington replied gravely: "Expediency was quite necessary." + +"What's this?" The officer espied the soaked bedding. "Who turned the +hose here?" + +"I did," answered Warrington. + +"I shall have to report that to the captain, sir. It's against the +rules aboard this steamship for passengers to touch anything of that +sort." The officer turned and began violently to abuse the bewildered +Lascars. + +"I shouldn't bullyrag them, sir," interposed Warrington. "They +protested. I helped myself. After all, perhaps it was none of my +affair; but the poor devils didn't know what to do." + +The officer ordered the Lascars to take the mattress and throw it on +the boat-deck, where it would dry quickly when the sun rose. Already +the world was pale with light, and a slash of crimson lay low on the +rim of the east. + +"I shouldn't like to be disagreeable, sir," said the officer. "I dare +say the man made himself obnoxious; but I'm obliged to report anything +of this order." + +"Don't be alarmed on my account. My name is Warrington, cabin 78. +Good morning." + +Warrington entered the companionway; and a moment later he heard the +water hiss along the deck. He was not in the least sorry for what he +had done; still, he regretted the act. Craig was a beast, and there +was no knowing what he might do or say. But the hose had been simply +irresistible. He chuckled audibly on the way down to his cabin. There +was one thing of which he was assured; Craig would keep out of his way +in the future. The exhilaration of the struggle suddenly left him, and +he realized that he was dreadfully tired and heart-achy. Still +dressed, he flung himself in his bunk, and immediately fell into a +heavy dreamless sleep that endured until luncheon. + +Shortly after luncheon something happened down in the engine-room; and +the chief engineer said that they would have to travel at half speed to +Penang. In other words, they would not make the port to-day, Sunday, +but to-morrow. Another day with this mysterious tantalizing woman, +thought Warrington. He went in search of her, but before he found her, +he was summoned to the captain's cabin. Warrington presented himself, +mildly curious. The captain nodded to a stool. + +"Sit down, Mr. Warrington. Will you have a cheroot?" + +"Yes, thanks." + +A crackle of matches followed. + +"This fellow Craig has complained about his treatment by you this +morning. I fancy you were rather rough with him." + +"Perhaps. He was very drunk and abusive, and he needed cold water more +than anything else. I once knew the man." + +"Ah! But it never pays to manhandle that particular brand of tippler. +They always retaliate in some way." + +"I suppose he has given you an excerpt from my history?" + +"He says you can not return to the States." + +"I am returning on the very first boats I can find." + +"Then he was lying?" + +"Not entirely. I do not know what he has told you, and I really do not +care. The fact is, Craig is a professional gambler, and I warned him +not to try any of his tricks on board. It soured him." + +"And knowing myself that he was a professional, I gave no weight to his +accusations. Besides, it is none of my business. The worst scoundrel +unhung has certain rights on my ship. If he behaves himself, that is +sufficient for me. Now, what Craig told me doesn't matter; but it +matters that I warned him. A word to any one else, and I'll drop him +at Penang to-morrow, to get out the best way he can. Ships passing +there this time of year are generally full-up. Will you have a peg?" + +"No, thanks. But I wish to say that it is very decent of you." +Warrington rose. + +"I have traveled too long not to recognize a man when I see him. Do +you play cricket?" asked the captain, his gaze critically covering the +man before him. + +"No; I regret I'm not familiar with the game." + +"Ah! Well, drop in any night after ten, if you care to." + +"I shall be glad to accept your hospitality." + +Outside, Warrington mused on the general untruths of first impressions. +He had written down the captain as a pompous, self-centered individual. +One never could judge a man until he came to the scratch. It heartened +him to find that there was a man on board who respected his misfortune, +whether he believed it or not. He sought Elsa, and as they promenaded, +lightly recounted the episode of the morning. + +Elsa expressed her delight in laughter that was less hearty than +malicious. How clearly she could see the picture! And then, the +ever-recurring comparisons: Arthur would have gone by, Arthur would not +have bothered himself, for he detested scenes and fisticuffs. How few +real men she had met, men who walked through life naturally, unfettered +by those self-applied manacles called "What will people say?" + +"Let us go up to the bow," she invited. "I've a little story myself to +tell." + +They clambered down and up the ladders, over the windlass and +anchor-chains which a native was busily painting. A school of porpoise +were frolicking under the cutwater. _Plop_! _plop_! they went; and +sometimes one would turn sidewise and look up roguishly with his +twinkling seal-like eyes. _Plop_! _plop_! Finally all save one sank +gracefully out of sight. The laggard crisscrossed the cutwater a dozen +times, just to show the watchers how extremely clever he was; and then, +with a _plop_! that was louder than any previous one, he vanished into +the deeps. + +"I love these Oriental seas," said Elsa, with her arms on the rail and +her chin resting upon them. She wore no hat, and her hair shimmered in +the sun and shivered in the wind. + +"And yet they are the most treacherous of all seas. There's not a +cloud in sight; in two hours from now we may be in the heart of a +winter storm. Happily, they are rarities along this coast; so you will +not have the excitement of a shipwreck." + +"I am grateful for that. Mercy! Think of being marooned on a desert +island with the colonel and his three spinsters! Proprieties, from +morning until night. And the chattering tourists! Heaven forfend!" + +"You had a story to tell me," he suggested. His heart was hot within +him. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and hold her there forever. +But the barrier of wasted opportunities stood between. How delicately +beautiful she was: Bernini's Daphne. + +"Oh, yes; I had almost forgotten." She stood up and felt for wandering +strands of hair. "I find the world more amusing day by day. I ought +to feel hurt, but I am only amused. I spoke to the colonel this +morning, merely to say howdy-do. He stared me in the eye and +de-lib-erately turned his back to me." + +"The doddering old---" + +"There, there! It isn't worth getting angry about." + +"But, don't you understand? It's all because of me. Simply because +you have been kind to a poor devil, they start in to snub you, you! +I'll go back to my old seat at the table. You mustn't walk with me any +more." + +"Don't be silly. If you return to your chair, if you no longer walk +with me, they'll find a thousand things to talk about. Since I do not +care, why should you?" + +"Can't I make it clear to you?" desperately. + +"I see with reasonable eyes, if that is what you mean. The people I +know, mine own people, understand Elsa Chetwood." + +So her name was Elsa? He repeated it over and over in his mind. + +She continued her exposition. "There are but few, gently born. They +are generous and broad-minded. They could not be mine own people +otherwise. They are all I care about. I shun mediocrity as I would +the plague. I refuse to permit it to touch me, either with words or +with deeds. The good opinion of those I love is dear to me; as for the +rest of the world!" She snapped her fingers to illustrate how little +she cared. + +"I am a man under a cloud, to be avoided." + +"Perhaps that cloud has a silver lining," with a gentle smile. "I do +not believe you did anything wrong, premeditatively. All of us, one +time or another, surrender to wild impulse. Perhaps in the future +there awaits for me such a moment. I cannot recollect the name of +Warrington in a _cause celebre_," thoughtfully. + +He could only gaze at her dumbly. + +"Don't you suppose there is a vast difference between you and this man +Craig? Could you commit the petty crime of cheating at cards, of +taking advantage of a woman's kindness, of betraying a man's +misfortune? I do not think you could. No, Mr. Warrington, I do not +care what they say, on board here or elsewhere." + +"My name is not Warrington," finding his voice. God in heaven, what +would happen when she found out what his name was? "But my first name +is Paul." + +"Paul. I have had my suspicions that your name was not Warrington. +But tell me nothing more. What good would it do? I did not read that +man's letter. I merely noted your name and his. You doubtless knew +him somewhere in the past." + +"Might there not be danger in your kindness to me?" + +"In what way?" + +"A man under a cloud is often reckless and desperate. There is always +an invisible demon calling out to him: What's the use of being good? +You are the first woman of your station who has treated me as a human +being; I do not say as an equal. You have given me back some of my +self-respect. It throws my world upside down. It's a heady wine for +an abstemious man. Don't you realize that you are a beautiful woman?" + +She looked up into his eyes quickly, but she saw nothing there +indicating flattery, only a somber gravity. + +"I should be silly to deny it. I know that had I been a frump, the +colonel would not have snubbed me. I wonder why it is that in life +beauty in a woman is always looked upon with suspicion?" + +"Envy provokes that." + +She resumed her inclination against the rail again. "After Singapore +it is probable that we shall not meet again. I admit, in my world, I +could not walk upon this free and easy ground. I should have to ask +about your antecedents, what you have done, all about you, in fact. +Then, we should sit in judgment." + +"And condemn me, off-hand. That would be perfectly right." + +"But I might be one of the dissenting judges." + +"That is because you are one woman in a thousand." + +"No; I simply have a mind of my own, and often prefer to be guided by +it. I am not a sheep." + +Silence. The lap-lap of the water, the long slow rise and fall, and +the dartling flying-fish apparently claimed their attention. + +But Warrington saw nothing save the danger, the danger to himself and +to her. At any moment he might fling his arms around her, without his +having the power to resist. She called to him as nothing in the world +had called before. But she trusted him, and because of this he +resolutely throttled the recurring desires. She was right. He had +scorned what she had termed as woman's instinct. She had read him with +a degree of accuracy. In the eyes of God he was a good man, a +dependable man; but he was not impossibly good. He was human enough to +want her, human enough to appreciate the danger in which she stood of +him. He was determined not to fail her. When she went back to her own +world she would carry an unsullied memory of him. But, before God, he +should not have her. + +"Why did you do that?" she asked whimsically. + +"Do what?" + +"Shut your jaws with a snap." + +"I was not conscious of the act." + +"But you were thinking strongly about something." + +"I was. Tell me about the man who looks like me." His gaze roved out +to sea, to the white islands of vapor low-lying in the east. "In what +respect does he resemble me?" + +"His hair is yellow, his eyes are blue, and he smiles the same way you +do." + +He felt the lump rise and swell in his throat. + +"If you stood before a mirror you would see him. But there the +resemblance ends." + +"You say that sadly. Why?" + +"Did I? Well, perhaps I was thinking strongly, too." + +"Is he a man who does things?" a note of strained curiosity in his +tones. Ten years! + +"In what way do you mean?" + +"Does he work in the world, does he invent, build, finance?" + +Mayhap her eyes deceived her, but the tan on his face seemed less brown +than yellow. + +"No; Mr. Ellison is a collector of paintings, of rugs, of rare old +books and china. He's a bit detached, as dreamers usually are. He has +written a book of exquisite verses. . . . You are smiling," she broke +off suddenly, her eyes filling with cold lights. + +"A thousand pardons! The thought was going through my head how unlike +we are indeed. I can hardly tell one master from another, all old +books look alike to me, and the same with china. I know something +about rugs; but I couldn't write a jingle if it was to save me from +hanging." + +"Do you invent, build, finance?" A bit of a gulf had opened up between +them. Elsa might not be prepared to marry Arthur, but she certainly +would not tolerate a covert sneer in regard to his accomplishments. + +Quietly and with dignity he answered: "I have built bridges in my time +over which trains are passing at this moment. I have fought torrents, +and floods, and hurricanes, and myself. I have done a man's work. I +had a future, they said. But here I am, a subject of your pity." + +She instantly relented. "But you are young. You can begin again." + +"Not in the sense you mean." + +"And yet, you tell me you are going back home." + +"Like a thief in the night," bitterly. + + + + +XI + +THE BLUE FEATHER + +Elsa toyed with her emeralds, apparently searching for some flaw. Like +a thief in the night was a phrase that rang unpleasantly in her ears. +Her remarkable interest in the man was neither to be denied nor +ignored. In fact, drawing her first by the resemblance to the man she +wanted to love but could not, and then by the mystery that he had +thrown about his past simply by guarding it closely, it would have been +far more remarkable if she had not been deeply interested in him. But +to-night she paused for a moment. A little doubt, like one of those +oblique flaws that obscured the clarity of the green stones, appeared. +She had always been more or less indifferent to public opinion, but it +had been a careless thoughtless indifference; it had not possessed the +insolent twist of the past fortnight. To receive the cut direct from a +man whose pomposity and mental density had excited her wit and +amusement, surprised her even if it did not hurt. It had rudely +awakened her to the fact that her independence might be leading her +into a labyrinth. She was compelled to admit that at home she would +have avoided Warrington, no matter how deeply sorry she might have +been. His insistent warning against himself, however, served to arouse +nothing more than a subtle obstinacy to do just as she pleased. And it +pleased her to talk to him; it pleased her to trifle with the unknown +danger. + +Something new had been born in her. All her life she had gone about +calmly and aloofly, her head in the clouds, her feet on mountain-tops. +She had never done anything to arouse discussion in other women. +Perhaps such a situation had never confronted her until lately. She +had always looked forth upon life through the lenses of mild cynicism. +So long as she was rich she might, with impunity, be as indiscreet as +she pleased. Her money would plead forgiveness and toleration. . . . +Elsa shrugged. But shrugs do not dismiss problems. She could have +laughed. To have come all this way to solve a riddle, only to find a +second more confusing than the first! + +Like a thief in the night. She did not care to know what he had done, +not half so much as to learn what he had been. Peculations of some +order; of this she was reasonably sure. So why seek for details, when +these might be sordid? + +Singapore would see the end, and she would become her normal self again. + +She clasped the necklace around her lovely throat. She was dressing +for dinner, really dressing. An impish mood filled her with the +irrepressible desire to shine in all her splendor to-night. Covertly +she would watch the eyes of mediocrity widen. Hitherto they had seen +her in the simple white of travel. To-night they should behold the +woman who had been notable among the beauties in Paris, Vienna, Rome, +London; who had not married a duke simply because his title could not +have added to the security of her position, socially or financially; +who was twenty-five years of age and perfectly content to wait until +she met the man who would set to flight all the doubt which kept her +heart unruly and unsettled. + +Into the little mirror above the wash-stand she peered, with smiling +and approving eyes. Never had she looked better. There was unusual +color in her cheeks and the clarity of her eyes spoke illuminatingly of +superb health. The tan on her face was not made noticeable in contrast +by her shoulders and arms, old ivory in tint and as smooth and glossy +as ancient Carrara. + +"You lovely creature!" murmured Martha, touching an arm with her lips. + +"Am I really lovely?" + +"You would be adorable if you had a heart." + +"Perhaps I have one. Who knows?" + +"You are foolish to dress like this." Martha finished the hooking of +Elsa's waist. + +"And why?" + +"In the first place there's nobody worth the trouble; and nobody but a +duchess or a . . ." Martha paused embarrassedly. + +"Or a what? An improper person?" Elsa laughed. "My dear Martha, your +comparisons are faulty. I know but two duchesses in this wide world +who are not dowdies, and one of them is an American. An improper +person is generally the most proper, outside her peculiar environments. +Can't you suggest something else?" + +Martha searched but found no suitable reply. One thing she felt +keenly, a feverish impatience for the boat to reach Singapore where +Elsa's folly must surely end. She believed that she saw more clearly +into the future than Elsa. Some one would talk, and in that strange +inscrutable fashion scandal has of reaching the ends of the earth, the +story would eventually arrive home; and there, for all the professions +of friendship, it would find admittance. No door is latched when +scandal knocks. Over here they were very far from home, and it was +natural that Elsa should view her conduct leniently. Martha readily +appreciated that it was all harmless, to be expressed by a single word, +whim. But Martha herself never acted upon impulse; she first +questioned what the world would say. So run the sheep. + +For years Martha had discharged her duties, if mechanically yet with a +sense of pleasure and serenity. At this moment she was as one pushed +unexpectedly to the brink of a precipice, over which the slightest +misstep would topple her. The world was out of joint. Shockingly bad +wishes flitted through her head. Each wish aimed at the disposal, +imaginary of course, of Warrington: by falling overboard, by being +seized with one of the numerous plagues, by having a deadly fracas with +one of those stealthy Lascars. + +"I wish we had gone to Italy," she remarked finally. + +"It would not have served my purpose in the least. I should have been +dancing and playing bridge and going to operas. I should have had no +time for thinking." + +"Thinking!" Martha elevated her brows with an air that implied that +she greatly doubted this statement. + +"Yes, thinking. It is not necessary that I should mope and shut myself +up in a cell, Martha, in order to think. I have finally come to the +end of my doubts, if that will gratify you. From now on you may rely +upon one thing, to a certainty." + +Martha hesitated to put the question. + +"I am not going to marry Arthur. He is charming, graceful, +accomplished; but I want a man. I should not be happy with him. I can +twist him too easily around my finger. I admit that he exercises over +me a certain indefinable fascination; but when he is out of sight it +amounts to the sum of all this doddering and doubting. It is probable +that I shall make an admirable old maid. Wisdom has its disadvantages. +I might be very happy with Arthur, were I not so wise." She smiled +again at the reflection in the mirror. "Now, let us go and astonish +the natives." + +There was a mild flutter of eyelids as she sat down beside Warrington +and began to chatter to him in Italian. He made a brave show of +following her, but became hopelessly lost after a few minutes. Elsa +spoke fluently; twelve years had elapsed since his last visit to Italy. +He admitted his confusion, and thereafter it was only occasionally that +she brought the tongue into the conversation. This diversion, which +she employed mainly to annoy her neighbors, was, in truth, the very +worst thing she could have done. They no longer conjectured; they +assumed. + +Warrington was too strongly dazzled by her beauty to-night to be +mentally keen or to be observing as was his habit. He never spoke to +his neighbor; he had eyes for none but Elsa, under whose spell he knew +that he would remain while he lived. He was nothing to her; he readily +understood. She was restless and lonely, and he amused her. So be it. +He believed that there could not be an unhappier, more unfortunate man +than himself. To have been betrayed by the one he had loved, second to +but one, and to have this knowledge thrust upon him after all these +years, was evil enough; but the nadir of his misfortunes had been +reached by the appearance of this unreadable young woman. Of what use +to warn her against himself, or against the possible, nay, probable +misconstruction that would be given their unusual friendship? Craig +would not be idle with his tales. And why had she put on all this +finery to-night? To subjugate him? + +"You are not listening to a word I am saying!" + +"I beg your pardon! But I warned you that my Italian was rusty." He +pulled himself together. + +"But I have been rattling away in English!" + +"And I have been wool-gathering." + +"Not at all complimentary to me." + +"It is because I am very unhappy; it is because Tantalus and I are +brothers." + +"You should have the will to throw off these moods." + +"My moods, as you call them, are not like hats and coats." + +"I wish I could make you forget." + +"On the contrary, the sight of you makes memory all the keener." + +He had never spoken like that before. It rather subdued her, made her +regret that she had surrendered to a vanity that was without aim or +direction. Farthest from her thought was conquest of the man. She did +not wish to hurt him. She was not a coquette. + +After dinner he did not suggest the usual promenade. Instead, he +excused himself and went below. + + +They arrived at Penang early Monday morning. Elsa decided that +Warrington should take her and Martha on a personally conducted tour of +the pretty town. As they left for shore he produced a small beautiful +blue feather; he gave it to Elsa with the compliments of Rajah; and she +stuck it in the pugree of her helmet. + +"This is not from the dove of peace." + +"Its arch-enemy, rather," he laughed. "I wish I had the ability to get +as furious as that bird. It might do me a world of good." + +"How long is it since you were here?" + +"Four years," he answered without enthusiasm. He would not have come +ashore at all but for the fact that Elsa had ordered the expedition. + +There was no inclination to explore the shops; so they hired a landau +and rode about town, climbed up to the quaint temple in the hills, and +made a tour of the botanical gardens. + +"Isn't it delicious!" murmured Elsa, taking in deep breaths of the warm +spice-laden air. Since her visit to the wonderful gardens at Kandy in +Ceylon, she had found a new interest in plants and trees. + +She thoroughly enjoyed the few hours on land, even to the powwow +Warrington had with the unscrupulous driver, who, at the journey's end, +substituted one price for another, despite his original bargain. It +was only a matter of two shillings, but Warrington stood firm. It had +of necessity become a habit with him to haggle and then to stand firm +upon the bargain made. There had been times when half an hour's +haggling had meant breakfast or no breakfast. It never entered into +his mind what Elsa's point of view might be. The average woman would +have called him over-thrifty. All this noise over two shillings! But +to Elsa it was only the opening of another door into this strange man's +character. What others would have accepted as penuriousness she +recognized as a sense of well-balanced justice. Most men, she had +found, were afflicted with the vanity of spending, and permitted +themselves to be imposed on rather than have others think that money +meant anything to them. Arthur would have paid the difference at once +rather than have stood on the pier wrangling. As they waited for the +tender that was to convey them back to the ship, Elsa observed a +powerful middle-aged man, gray-haired, hawk-faced, steel-eyed, watching +her companion intently. Then his boring gaze traveled over her, from +her canvas-shoes to her helmet. There was something so baldly +appraising in the look that a flush of anger surged into her cheeks. +The man turned and said something to his companion, who shrugged and +smiled. Impatiently Elsa tugged at Warrington's sleeve. + +"Who is that man over there by the railing?" she asked in a very low +voice. "He looks as if he knew you." + +"Knew me?" Warrington echoed. The moment he had been dreading had +come. Some one who knew him! He turned his head slowly, and Elsa, who +had not dropped her hand, could feel the muscles of his arm stiffen +under the sleeve. He held the stranger's eye defiantly for a space. +The latter laughed insolently if silently. It was more for Elsa's sake +than for his own that Warrington allowed the other to stare him down. +Alone, he would have surrendered to the Berserk rage that urged him to +leap across the intervening space and annihilate the man, to crush him +with his bare hands until he screamed for the mercy he had always +denied others. The flame passed, leaving him as cold as ashes. "I +shall tell you who he is later; not here." + +For the second time since that night on the Irrawaddy, Elsa recorded a +disagreeable sensation. It proved to be transitory, but at the time it +served to establish a stronger doubt in regard to her independence, so +justifiable in her own eyes. It might be insidiously leading her too +far away from the stepping-off place. The unspoken words in those +hateful eyes! The man knew Warrington, knew him perhaps as a +malefactor, and judged his associates accordingly. She thus readily +saw the place she occupied in the man's estimation. She experienced a +shiver of dread as she observed that he stepped on board the tender. +She even heard him call back to his friend to expect him in from +Singapore during the second week in March. But the dread went away, +and pride and anger grew instead. All the way back to the ship she +held her chin in the air, and from time to time her nostrils dilated. +That look! If she had been nearer she was certain that she would have +struck him across the face. + +"There will be no one up in the bow," said Warrington. "Will you go up +there with me?" + +After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. + +The Lascars, busy with the anchor-chains, demurred; but a word and a +gesture from the Sahib who had turned the hose on a drunken man +convinced them that the two would not be in the way. A clatter of +steel against steel presently followed, the windlass whined and +rattled, and Elsa saw the anchor rise slowly from the deeps, bringing +up a blur of muddy water; and blobs of pale clay dripped from the +anchor-flukes. A moment after she felt the old familiar throb under +her feet, and the ship moved slowly out of the bay. + +"Do you know that that man came aboard?" + +"I know it." The wide half-circle of cocoanut palms grew denser and +lower as they drew away. "This is the story. It's got to be told. I +should have avoided it if it had been possible. He is the owner of the +plantation. Oh, I rather expected something like this. It's my run of +luck. I was just recovering from the fever. God knows how he found +out, but he did. It was during the rains. He told me to get out that +night. Didn't care whether I died on the road or not. I should have +but for my boy James. The man sent along with us a poor discarded +woman, of whom he had grown tired. She died when we reached town. I +had hardly any money. He refused to pay me for the last two months, +about fifty pounds. There was no redress for me. There was no +possible way I could get back at him. Miss Chetwood, I took money that +did not belong to me. It went over gaming-tables. Craig. I ran away. +Craig knows and this man Mallow knows. Can you not see the wisdom of +giving me a wide berth?" + +"Oh, I am sorry!" she cried. + +"Thanks. But you see: I am an outcast. To-night, not a soul on board +will be in ignorance of who I am and what I have done. Trust Craig and +Mallow for that. Thursday we shall be in Singapore. You must not +speak to me again. Give them to understand that you have found me out, +that I imposed on your kindness." + +"That I will not do." + +"Act as you please. There are empty chairs at the second-class table, +among the natives. And now, good-by. The happiest hours in ten long +years are due to you." He took off his helmet and stepped aside for +her to pass. She held out her hand, but he shook his head. "Don't +make it harder for me." + +"Mr. Warrington, I am not a child!" + +"To me you have been the Angel of Kindness; and the light in your face +I shall always see. Please go now." + +"Very well." A new and unaccountable pain filled her throat and forced +her to carry her head high. "I can find my way back to the other deck." + +He saw her disappear down the first ladder, reappear up the other, +mingle with the passengers and vanish. He then went forward to the +prow and stared down at the water, wondering if it held rest or pain or +what. + + + + +XII + +THE GAME OF GOSSIP + +During the concluding days of the voyage Elsa had her meals served on +deck. She kept Martha with her continually, promenaded only early in +the morning and at night while the other passengers were at dinner. +This left a clear deck. She walked quickly, her arm in Martha's, +literally propelling her along, never spoke unless spoken to, and then +answered in monosyllables. Her thoughts flew to a thousand and one +things: home, her father, episodes from school-life; toward anything +and everywhere like a land-bird lost at sea, futilely and vainly in the +endeavor to shut out the portrait of the broken man. In the midst of +some imaginary journey to the Sabine Hills she would find herself +asking: What was he doing, of what was he thinking, where would he go +and what would he do? She hated night which, no longer offering sleep, +provided nothing in lieu of it, and compelled her to remain in the +stuffy cabin. She was afraid. + +Early Wednesday morning she passed Craig and Mallow; but the two had +wit enough to step aside for her and to speak only with their eyes. +She filled Craig with unadulterated fear. Never had he met a woman +such as this one. He warned Mallow at the beginning, without +explaining in detail, that she was fearless and dangerous. And, of +course, Mallow laughed and dragged along the gambler whenever he found +a chance to see Elsa at close range. + +"There's a woman. Gad! that beach-comber has taste." + +"I tell you to look out for her," Craig warned again. "I know what I'm +talking about." + +"What's she done; slapped your face?" + +"That kind of woman doesn't slap. Damn it, Mallow, she rammed a +hat-pin into me, if you will know! Keep out of her way." + +Mallow whistled. "Oho! You probably acted like a fool. Drinking?" + +Craig nodded affirmatively. + +"Thought so. Even a Yokohama bar-maid will fight shy of a boozer. I'm +going to meet her when we get to Singapore, or my name's not Mallow." + +Craig laughed with malice. "I hope she sticks the pin into your +throat. It will take some of the brag out of you. Think because +you've got picturesque gray hair and are as strong as a bull, that all +the women are just pining for you. Say, let's go aft and hunt up the +chap. I understand he's taken up quarters in the second-cabin." + +"Doesn't want to run into me. All right; come on. We'll stir him up a +little and have some fun." + +They found Warrington up in the stern, sitting on the deck, surrounded +by squatting Lascars, some Chinamen and a solitary white man, the chief +engineer's assistant. The center of interest was Rajah, who was +performing his tricks. Among these was one that the bird rarely could +be made to perform, the threading of beads. He despised this act as it +entailed the putting of a blunt needle in his beak. He flung it aside +each time Warrington handed it to him. But ever his master patiently +returned it. At length, recognizing that the affair might be prolonged +indefinitely, Rajah put two beads on the thread and tossed it aside. +The Lascars jabbered, the Chinamen grinned, and the chief engineer's +assistant swore approvingly. + +"How much'll you take for him?" + +"He's not for sale," answered Warrington. + +The parrot shrilled and waddled back to his cage. + +"Fine business for a whole man!" + +Warrington looked up to meet the cynical eyes of Mallow. He took out +his cutty and fired it. Otherwise he did not move nor let his gaze +swerve. Mallow, towering above him, could scarcely resist the +temptation to stir his enemy with the toe of his boot. His hatred for +Warrington was not wholly due to his brutal treatment of him. Mallow +always took pleasure in dominating those under him by fear. Warrington +had done his work well. He had always recognized Mallow as his +employer, but in no other capacity: he had never offered to smoke a +pipe with him, or to take a hand at cards, or split a bottle. It had +not been done offensively; but in this attitude Mallow had recognized +his manager's disapproval of him, an inner consciousness of superiority +in birth and education. He had with supreme satisfaction ordered him +off the plantation that memorable night. Weak as the man had been in +body, there had been no indication of weakness in spirit. + +Occultly Warrington read the desire in the other's eyes. "I shouldn't +do it, Mallow," he said. "I shouldn't. Nothing would please me better +than to have a good excuse to chuck you over the rail. Upon a time you +had the best of me. I was a sick man then. I'm in tolerable good +health at present." + +"You crow, I could break you like a pipe-stem." + +Mallow rammed his hands into his coat pockets, scowling contemptuously. +He weighed fully twenty pounds more than Warrington. + +Crow! Warrington shrugged. In the East crow is a rough synonym for +thief. "You're at liberty to return to your diggings forward with that +impression," he replied coolly. "When we get to Singapore," rising +slowly to his height until his eyes were level with Mallow's, "when we +get to Singapore, I'm going to ask you for that fifty pounds, earned in +honest labor." + +"And if I decline to pay?" truculently. + +"We'll talk that over when we reach port. Now," roughly, "get out. +There won't be any baiting done to-day, thank you." + +The chief engineer's assistant, a stocky, muscular young Scot, stepped +forward. He knew Mallow. "If there is, Mr. Warrington, I'm willing to +have a try at losing my job." + +"Cockalorem!" jeered Mallow. Craig touched his sleeve, but he threw +off the hand roughly. He was one of the best rough and tumble fighters +in the Straits Settlements. "You thieving beach-comber, I don't want +to mess up the deck with you, but I'll cut your comb for you when we +get to port." + +Warrington laughed insolently and picked up the parrot-cage. "I'll +bring the comb. In fact, I always carry it." Not a word to Craig, not +a glance in his direction. Warrington stepped to the companionway and +went below. + +The chief engineer's assistant, whistling _Bide Awee_, sauntered +forward. + +Craig could not resist grinning at Mallow's discomfiture. "Wouldn't +break, eh?" + +"Shut your mouth! The sneaking dock-walloper, I'll take the starch out +of him when we land! Always had that high and mighty air. Wants folks +to think he's a gentleman." + +"He was once," said Craig. "No use giving you advice; but he's not a +healthy individual to bait. I'm no kitten when it comes to scrapping; +but I haven't any desire to mix things with him." The fury of the man +who had given him the ducking was still vivid. He had been handled as +a terrier handles a rat. + +"Bah!" + +"Bah as much as you please. I picked you out of the gutter one night +in Rangoon, after roughing it with half a dozen Chinamen, and saved +your wad. I've not your reach or height, but I can lay about some. +He'll kill you. And why not? He wouldn't be any worse off than he is." + +"I tell you he's yellow. And with a hundred-thousand in his clothes, +he'll be yellower still." + +A hundred thousand. Craig frowned and gazed out to sea. He had +forgotten all about the windfall. "Let's go and have a peg," he +suggested surlily. + + +Immediately upon obtaining her rooms at Raffles Hotel in Singapore (and +leaving Martha there to await the arrival of the luggage, an imposing +collection of trunks and boxes and kit-bags), Elsa went down to the +American Consulate, which had its offices in the rear of the hotel. +She walked through the outer office and stood silently at the +consul-general's elbow, waiting for him to look up. She was dressed in +white, and in the pugree of her helmet was the one touch of color, +Rajah's blue feather. With a smile she watched the stubby pen crawl +over some papers, ending at length with a flourish, dignified and +characteristic. The consul-general turned his head. His kindly face +had the settled expression of indulgent inquiry. The expression +changed swiftly into one of delight. + +"Elsa Chetwood!" he cried, seizing her hands. "Well, well! I am glad +to see you. Missed you when you passed through to Ceylon. Good +gracious, what a beautiful woman you've turned out to be! Sit down, +sit down!" He pushed her into a chair. "Well, well! When I saw you +last you were nineteen." + +"What a frightful memory you have! And I was going to my first ball. +You used the same adjective." + +"Is there a better one? I'll use it if there is. You've arrived just +in time. I am giving a little dinner to the consuls and their wives +to-night, and you will add just the right touch; for we are all a +little gray at the temples and some of us are a trifle bald. You see, +I've an old friend from India in town to-day, and I've asked him, too. +Your appearance evens up matters." + +"Oh; then I'm just a filler-in!" + +"Heavens, no! You're the most important person of the lot, though +Colonel Knowlton . . ." + +"Colonel Knowlton!" exclaimed Elsa. + +"That's so, by George! Stupid of me. You came down on the same boat. +Fine! You know each other." + +Elsa straightened her lips with some difficulty. She possessed the +enviable faculty of instantly forming in her mind pictures of coming +events. The little swelling veins in the colonel's nose were as plain +to her mind's eye as if he really stood before her. "Have him take me +in to dinner," she suggested. + +"Just what I was thinking of," declared the unsuspecting man. "If any +one can draw out the colonel, it will be you." + +"I'll do my best." Elsa's mind was full of rollicking malice. + +Contemplatively he said: "So you've been doing the Orient alone? You +are like your father in that way. He was never afraid of anything. +Your mental make-up, too, I'll wager is like his. Finest man in the +world." + +"Wasn't he? How I wish he could have always been with me! We were +such good comrades. They do say I am like father. But why is it, +every one seems appalled that I should travel over here without male +escort?" + +"The answer lies in your mirror, Elsa. Your old nurse Martha is no +real protection." + +"Are men so bad, then?" + +"They are less restrained. The heat, the tremendous distances, the +lack of amusements, are perhaps responsible. The most difficult thing +in the world to amuse is man. By the way, here's a packet of letters +for you." + +"Thanks." Elsa played with the packet, somberly eying the +superscriptions. The old disorder came back into her mind. Three of +the letters were from Arthur. She dreaded to open them. + +"Now, I'll expect you to come to the apartments and have tea at five." + +"Be glad to. Only, don't have any one else. I just want to visit and +talk as I used to." + +"I promise not to invite anybody." + +"I must be going, then. I'm not sure of my tickets to Hongkong." + +"Go straight to the German Lloyd office. The next P. & O. boat is +booked full. Don't bother to go to Cook's. Everybody's on the way +home now. Go right to the office. I'll have my boy show you the way. +Chong!" he called. A bright-eyed young Chinese came in quickly and +silently from the other room. "Show lady German Lloyd office. All +same quick." + +"All light. Lady come." + +"Until tea." + +In the outer office she paused for a moment or so to look at the +magazines and weeklies from home. The Chinese boy, grinning +pleasantly, peered curiously at Elsa's beautiful hands. She heard some +one enter, and quite naturally glanced up. The newcomer was Mallow. +He stared at her, smiled familiarly and lifted his helmet. + +Elsa, with cold unflickering eyes, offered his greeting no recognition +whatever. The man felt that she was looking through him, inside of +him, searching out all the dark comers of his soul. He dropped his +gaze, confused. Then Elsa calmly turned to the boy. + +"Come, Chong." + +There was something in the manner of her exit that infinitely puzzled +him. It was the insolence of the well-bred, but he did not know it. +To offset his chagrin and confusion, he put on his helmet and passed +into the private office. She was out of his range of understanding. + +Mallow was an American by birth but had grown up in the Orient, +hardily. In his youth he had been beaten and trampled upon, and now +that he had become rich in copra (the dried kernels of cocoanuts from +which oil is made), he in his turn beat and trampled. It was the only +law he knew. He was without refinement, never having come into contact +with that state of being long enough to fall under its influence. He +was a shrewd bargainer; and any who respected him did so for two +reasons, his strength and his wallet. Such flattery sufficed his +needs. He was unmarried; by inclination, perhaps, rather than by +failure to find an agreeable mate. There were many women in Penang and +Singapore who would have snapped him up, had the opportunity offered, +despite the fact that they knew his history tolerably well. +Ordinarily, when in Penang and Singapore, he behaved himself, drank +circumspectly and shunned promiscuous companions. But when he did +drink heartily, he was a man to beware of. + +He hailed the consul-general cordially and offered him one of his +really choice cigars, which was accepted. + +"I say, who was that young woman who just went out?" + +The consul-general laid down the cigar. The question itself was +harmless enough; it was Mallow's way of clothing it he resented. +"Why?" he asked. + +"She's a stunner. Just curious if you knew her, that's all. We came +down on the same boat. Hanged if I shouldn't like to meet her." + +"You met her on board?" + +"I can't say that. Rather uppish on the steamer. But, do you know +her?" eagerly. + +"I do. More than that, I have always known her. She is the daughter +of the late General Chetwood, one of the greatest civil-engineers of +our time. When he died he left her several millions. She is a +remarkable young woman, a famous beauty, known favorably in European +courts, and I can't begin to tell you how many other accomplishments +she has." + +"Well, stump me!" returned Mallow. "Is that all straight?" + +"Every word of it," with a chilliness that did not escape a man even so +impervious as Mallow. + +"Is she a free-thinker?" + +"What the devil is that? What do you mean?" + +"Only this, if she's all you say she is, why does she pick out an +absconder for a friend, a chap who dare not show his fiz in the States? +I heard the tale from a man once employed in his office back in New +York. A beach-comber, a dock-walloper, if there ever was one." + +"Mallow, you'll have to explain that instantly." + +"Hold your horses, my friend. What I'm telling you is on the level. +She's been hobnobbing with the fellow all the way down from the +Irrawaddy, so I'm told. Never spoke to any one else. Made him sit at +her side at table and jabbered Italian at him, as if she didn't want +others to know what she was talking about. I know the man. Fired him +from my plantation, when I found out what he was. Can't recall his +name just now, but he is known out here as Warrington; Parrot & Co." + +The consul-general was genuinely shocked. + +"You can't blame me for thinking things," went on Mallow. "What man +wouldn't? Ask her about Warrington. You'll find that I'm telling the +truth, all right." + +"If you are, then she has made one of those mistakes women make when +they travel alone. I shall see her at tea and talk to her. But I do +not thank you, Mallow, for telling me this. A finer, loyaler-hearted +girl doesn't live. She might have been kind out of sympathy." + +Mallow bit off the tip of his cigar. "He's a handsome beggar, if you +want to know." + +"I resent that tone. Better drop the subject before I lose my temper. +I'll have your papers ready for you in the morning." The +consul-general caught up his pen savagely to indicate that the +interview was at an end. + +"All right," said Mallow good-naturedly. "I meant no harm. Just +naturally curious. Can't blame me." + +"I'm not blaming you. But it has disturbed me, and I wish to be alone +to think it over." + +Mallow lounged out, rather pleased with himself. His greatest pleasure +in life was in making others uncomfortable. + +The consul-general bit the wooden end of his pen and chewed the +splinters of cedar. He couldn't deny that it was like Elsa to pick up +some derelict for her benefactions. But to select a man who was +probably wanted by the American police was a frightful misfortune. +Women had no business to travel alone. It was all very well when they +toured in parties of eight or ten; but for a charming young woman like +Elsa, attended by a spinster companion who doubtless dared not offer +advice, it was decidedly wrong. And thereupon he determined that her +trip to Yokohama should find her well guarded. + +"I beg your pardon," said a pleasant voice. + +The consul-general had been so deeply occupied by his worry that he had +not noticed the entrance of the speaker. He turned impatiently. He +saw a tall blond man, bearded and tanned, with fine clear blue eyes +that met his with the equanimity of the fearless. + + + + +XIII + +AFTER TEN YEARS + +The consul-general had, figuratively, a complete assortment of masks, +such as any thorough play-actor might have, in more or less constant +demand, running the gamut from comedy to tragedy. Some of these masks +grew dusty between ships, but could quickly be made presentable. +Sometimes, when large touring parties came into port, he confused his +masks, being by habit rather an absent-minded man. But he possessed a +great fund of humor, and these mistakes gave him laughable +recollections for days. + +He saw before him an exquisite, as the ancient phrase goes, backed by +no indifferent breed of manhood. Thus, he believed that here was a +brief respite (as between acts) in which the little plastic hypocrisies +could be laid aside. The pleasant smile on his high-bred face was all +his own. + +"And what may I do for you, sir?" He expected to be presented with +letters of introduction, and to while away a half-hour in the agreeable +discussion of mutual acquaintance. + +"I should like a few minutes' private talk with you," began the +well-dressed stranger. "May I close the door?" The consul-general, +with a sense of disappointment, nodded. The blond man returned and sat +down. "I don't know how to begin, but I want you to copy this +cablegram and send it under your own name. Here it is; read it." + +So singular a request filled the consul-general with astonishment. +Rather mechanically he accepted the slip of paper, adjusted his +glasses, and read-- + + +"The Andes Construction Company, New York: A former employee of yours +wishes to make a restitution of eight thousand dollars, with interest +to date. He dares not give his name to me, but he wishes to learn if +this belated restitution will lift the ban against his returning to +America and resuming his citizenship. Reply collect." + + +"This is an extraordinary request to make to me, sir." + +"I know it." + +"But why bring it to me?" + +"Could I possibly offer that to the cable operator? Without name or +address? No; I could not do it without being subjected to a thousand +questions, none of which I should care to answer. So I came to you. +Passing through your hands, no one will question it. Will you do this +favor for a poor unfortunate devil?" + +Oddly enough, the other could not get away from his original +impression. The clothes, the way the man wore them, the clarity of his +eyes, the abundant health that was expressed by the tone of the skin, +derided such a possibility as the cablegram made manifest. + +He forced the smile back to his lips. "Are you sure you're not hoaxing +me?" + +"No. I am the victim of the hoax," enigmatically. "If one may call +the quirks of fate by the name of hoax," the stranger added. "Will you +send it?" + +The years he had spent in the consular service had never brought before +him a situation of this order. He did not know exactly what to do. He +looked out of the window, into the hotel-court, at the sky which +presently would become overcast with the daily rain-clouds. By and by +he remembered the man waiting patiently at his elbow. + +"What is your name?" + +"My real name, or the one by which I am known here?" + +"Your real one." + +"I'd rather not give that until I hear from New York." + +"Well, that is reasonable." + +"I am known out here by the name of Warrington." + +Warrington. The puzzlement vanished from the older man's face, and his +eyes became alert, renewing from another angle their investigation of +the stranger. Warrington. So this was the man? He could understand +now. Who could blame a girl for making a mistake when he, a seasoned +veteran, had been beguiled by the outward appearance of the man? +Mallow was right. He was a handsome beggar. + +"I promise to send this upon one condition." + +"I accept without question," readily. + +"It is that you must keep away from Elsa Chetwood, now and hereafter. +You made her acquaintance under false pretenses." + +"I deny that. Not under false pretenses." How quickly things went +about! "Let me tell you how I met her." + +The consul-general listened; he listened with wonder and interest, and +more, with conviction that the young man had been perfectly honest. +But the knowledge only added to his growing alarm. It would not be +difficult for such a man to win the regard of any young woman. + +"And you told her what you had done?" + +"Yes." + +"Your first misstep?" touching the cablegram. + +"My first and only misstep. I was a careless, happy-go-lucky young +fool." The sky outside also had attraction for Warrington. A thousand +times a fool! + +"How long ago did this happen?" + +"Ten years this coming April." + +"And now, after all this time, you wish to go back?" + +"I have wished to go back many times, but never had money enough. I +have plenty now. Oh, I made it honestly," smiling. "In oil, at Prome. +Here's a cutting from a Rangoon paper." + +The other read it carefully. It was romance, romance such as he liked +to read in his books, but which was mighty bewildering to have at his +elbow in actuality. What a life the man must have led! And here he +was, with no more evidence of the conflict than might be discerned in +the manliness of his face and the breadth and depth of his shoulders. +He dropped the cutting, impatiently. + +"Don't you believe it?" + +"Believe it? Oh, this? Yes," answered the consul-general. "What I +can not believe is that I am awake. I can not quite make two and two +equal four." + +"Which infers?" + +"That I can not . . . Well, you do not look like a man who would rob +his employer of eight thousand dollars." + +"Much obliged." + +"Parrot & Co. It's odd, but I recollect that title. You were at +Udaipur during the plague." + +Warrington brightened. "So that's got about? I happened to be there, +working on the prince's railway." + +"I will send the cable at once. You will doubtless hear from New York +in the morning. But you must not see Miss Chetwood again." + +"You will let me bid her good-by? I admire and respect her more than +any other woman. She does not know it, for as yet her soul is asleep; +but she is one of those few women God puts on earth for the courage and +comfort of man. Only to say good-by to her. Here in this office, if +you wish." + +"I agree to that." + +"Thank you again." Warrington rose. + +"I am genuinely sorry for you. If they say no, what will you do?" + +"Go back just the same. I have another debt to cancel." + +"Call in the morning. I'll let you know what the charges are." + +"I forgot. Here are twenty pounds. You can return the balance when I +call. I am very grateful." + +"By the way, there is a man here by the name of Mallow," began the +consul-general. + +"Yes," interrupted Warrington, with a smile which was grim and cruel. +"I expect to call upon him. He owes me something like fifty pounds, +and I am going to collect it." Then he went out. + +The consul-general dropped Mallow's perfecto into the waste-basket and +lighted his pipe. Once more he read the cablegram. The Andes +Construction Company. What a twist, what an absurd kink in the skein! +Nearly all of Elsa's wealth lay bound up in this enormous business +which General Chetwood had founded thirty odd years before. And +neither of them knew! + +"I am not a bad man at heart," he mused, "but I liked the young man's +expression when I mentioned that bully Mallow." + +He joined his family at five. He waved aside tea, and called for a +lemon-squash. + +"Elsa, I am going to give you a lecture." + +"Didn't I tell you?" cried Elsa to the wife. "I felt in my bones that +he was going to say this very thing." She turned to her old-time +friend. "Go on; lecture me." + +"In the first place, you are too kind-hearted." + +"That will be news to my friends. They say I have a heart of ice." + +"And what you think is independence of spirit is sometimes +indiscretion." + +"Oh," said Elsa, becoming serious. + +"A man came into my office to-day. He is a rich copra-grower from +Penang. He spoke of you. You passed him on going out. If I had been +twenty years younger I'd have punched his ugly head. His name is +Mallow, and he's not a savory chap." + +Elsa's cheeks burned. She never would forget the look in that man's +eyes. The look might have been in other men's eyes, but +conventionality had always veiled it; she had never seen it before. + +"Go on;" but her voice was unsteady. + +"Somewhere along the Irrawaddy you made the acquaintance of a young man +who calls himself Warrington, familiarly known as Parrot & Co. I'll be +generous. Not one woman in a thousand would have declined to accept +the attentions of such a man. He is cultivated, undeniably +good-looking, a strong man, mentally and physically." + +Elsa's expression was now enigmatical. + +"There's not much veneer to him. He fooled me unintentionally. He was +quite evidently born a gentleman, of a race of gentlemen. His is not +an isolated case. One misstep, and the road to the devil." + +The consul-general's wife sent a startled glance at Elsa, who spun her +sunshade to lighten the tension of her nerves. + +"He confessed frankly to me this morning that he is a fugitive from +justice. He wishes to return to America. He recounted the +circumstances of your meeting. To me the story appeared truthful +enough. He said that you sought the introduction because of his +amazing likeness to the man you are going home to marry." + +"That is true," replied Elsa. "Uncle Jim, I have traveled pretty much +over this world, and I never met a gentleman if Warrington is not one." +There was unconscious belligerency in her tone. + +"Ah, there's the difficulty which women will never be made to +understand. Every man can, at one time or another, put himself upon +his good behavior. Underneath he may be a fine rascal." + +"Not this one," smiling. "He warned me against himself a dozen times, +but that served to make me stubborn. The fault of my conduct," acidly, +"was not in making this pariah's acquaintance. It lies in the fact +that I had nothing to do with the other passengers, from choice. That +is where I was indiscreet. But why should I put myself out to gain the +good wishes of people for whom I have no liking; people I shall +probably never see again when I leave this port?" + +"You forget that some of them will be your fellow passengers all the +way to San Francisco. My child, you know as well as I do that there +are some laws which the Archangel Michael would have to obey, did he +wish to inhabit this earth for a while." + +"Poor Michael! And if you do not obey these laws, people talk." + +"Exactly. There are two sets of man-made laws. One governs the +conduct of men and the other the conduct of women." + +"And a man may break any one of these laws, twist it, rearrange it to +suit his immediate needs. On the other hand, the woman is always +manacled." + +"Precisely." + +"I consider it horribly unfair." + +"So it is. But if you wish to live in peace, you must submit." + +"Peace at that price I have no wish for. This man Mallow lives within +the pale of law; the other man is outside of it. Yet, of the two, +which would you be quickest to trust?" + +The consul-general laughed. "Now you are appealing not to my knowledge +of the world but to my instinct." + +"Thanks." + +"Is there any reason why you should defend Mr. Warrington, as he calls +himself?" + +The consul-general's wife desperately tried to catch her husband's eye. +But either he did not see the glance or he purposely ignored it. + +"In defending Mr. Warrington I am defending myself." + +"A good point." + +"My dear friend," Elsa went on, letting warmth come into her voice once +more, "my sympathy went out to that man. He looked so lonely. Did you +notice his eyes? Can a man look at you the way he does and be bad?" + +"I have seen Mallow dozens of times. I know him to be a scoundrel of +sorts; but I doubt if bald sunlight could make him blink. Liars have +first to overcome the flickering and wavering of the eyes." + +"He said that." + +"Who, Warrington?" puzzled. + +"He said almost the same thing. Would he say that if he were a liar?" + +"I haven't accused him of being that. Indeed, he struck me as a +truthful young man. But he confessed to me that ten years ago he +robbed his employer of eight thousand dollars. By the way, what is the +name of the firm your father founded?" + +"The Andes Construction Company. Do you think we could find him +something to do there?" eagerly. "He builds bridges." + +"I shouldn't advise that. But we have gone astray. You ought not to +see him again." + +"I have made up my mind not to." + +"Then pardon me for all this pother. I know what is in your heart, +Elsa. You want to help the poor devil back to what he was; but he'll +have to do that by himself." + +"It is a hateful world!" Elsa appealed to the wife. + +"It is, Elsa, dear. But James is right." + +"You'll get your balance," said the guardian, "when you reach home. +When's the wedding?" + +"I'm not sure that I'm going to be married." Elsa twirled the sunshade +again. "I really wish I had stayed at home. I seem all topsy-turvy. +I could have screamed when I saw the man standing on the ledge above +the boat that night. No; I do not believe I shall marry. Fancy +marrying a man and knowing that his ghost was at the same time +wandering about the earth!" She rose and the sunshade described a +half-circle as she spoke. "Oh, bother with it all! Dinner at eight, +in the big dining-room." + +"Yes. But the introductions will be made on the cafe-veranda. These +people out here have gone mad over cock-tails. And look your best, +Elsa. I want them to see a real American girl to-night. I'll have +some roses sent up to you." + +Elsa had not the heart to tell him that all interest in his dinner had +suddenly gone from her mind; that even the confusion of the colonel no +longer appealed to her bitter malice. She knew that she was going to +be bored and miserable. Well, she had promised. She would put on her +best gown; she would talk and laugh and jest because she had done these +things many times when her heart was not in the play of it. + +When she was gone, the consul-general's wife said: "Poor girl!" + +Her husband looked across the room interestedly. "Why do you say that?" + +"I am a woman." + +"That phrase is the City of Refuge. All women fly to it when +confronted by something they do not understand." + +"Oh, but I do understand. And that's the pity of it." + + + + +XIV + +ACCORDING TO THE RULES + +Elsa sought the hotel rickshaw-stand, selected a sturdy coolie, and +asked to be run to the botanical gardens and back. She wanted to be +alone, wanted breathing-space, wanted the breeze to cool her hot +cheeks. For she was angry at the world, angry at the gentle +consul-general, above all, angry at herself. To have laid herself open +to the charge of indiscretion! To have received a lecture, however +kindly intended, from the man she loved and respected next to her +father! To know that persons were exchanging nods and whispers behind +her back! + +It was a detestable world. It was folly to be honest, to be kind, to +be individual, to have likes and dislikes, unless these might be +regulated by outsiders. Why should she care what people said? She did +not care. What made her furious was the absolute stupidity of their +deductions. She had not been indiscreet; she had been merely kindly +and human; and if they wanted to twist and misconstrue her actions, let +them do so. + +She hated the word "people." It seemed to signify all the useless +inefficient persons in the world, massed together after the manner of +sheep and cattle, stupidest of beasts, always wanting something and +never knowing what; not an individual among them. And they expected +her to conform with their ways! Was it necessary for her to tell these +meddlers why she had sought the companionship of a self-admitted +malefactor? . . . Oh, that could not be! If evil were to be found in +such a man, then there was no good anywhere. What was one misstep? +Was it not written that all of us should make one or more? And surely +this man had expiated his. Ten years in this wilderness, ten long +lonely years. How many men would have stood up against the temptations +of this exile? Few, if any, among the men she knew. And they +criticized her because she was sorry for the man. Must she say to +them: "Dear people, I spoke to this man and engaged his companionship +because I was sorry for him; because he looked exactly like the man I +have promised to marry!" It was ridiculous. She laughed. The dear +people! + +Once or twice she saw inwardly the will-o'-the-wisp lights of her soul. +But resolutely she smothered the sparks and bolstered up the pitiful +lie. + +The coolie stopped suddenly. + +"Go on," she said. + +But the coolie smiled and wiped his shaven poll. Elsa gazed at the +hotel-veranda in bewilderment. Slowly she got out of the rickshaw and +paid the fare. She had not the slightest recollection of having seen +the gardens. More than this, it was a quarter to seven. She had been +gone exactly an hour. + +"Perhaps, after all," she thought, "I am hopeless. They may be right; +I ought to have a guardian. I am not always accountable for what I do." + +She dressed leisurely and with calculation. She was determined to +convince every one that she was a beautiful woman, above suspicion, +above reproach. The spirit within her was not, however, in direct +accord with this determination. Malice stirred into life again; and +she wanted to hurt some one, hurt deeply. It was only the tame in +spirit who, when injured, submitted without murmur or protest. And +Elsa, only dimly aware of it, was mortally hurt. + +"Elsa," said Martha, "that frown will stay there some day, and never go +away." + +Elsa rubbed it out with her finger. "Martha, do you recall that tiger +in the cage at Jaipur? How they teased him until he lost his temper +and came smashing against the bars? Well, I sympathize with that +brute. He would have been peaceful enough had they let him be. Has +Mr. Warrington called to-day?" + +"No." + +"Well, if he calls to-morrow, say that I am indisposed." + +Martha evinced her satisfaction visibly. The frown returned between +Elsa's eyes and remained there until she went down-stairs to join the +consul-general and his wife. She found some very agreeable men and +women, and some of her natural gaiety returned. At a far table on the +veranda she saw Craig and Mallow in earnest conversation. + +She nodded pleasantly to the colonel as the head boy came to announce +that dinner was served. Anglo-Indian society had so many twists and +ramifications that the situation was not exactly new to the old +soldier. True, none had confronted him identical to this. But he had +not disciplined men all these years without acquiring abundant +self-control. The little veins in his nose turned purple, as Elsa +prophesied they would, but there was no other indication of how +distasteful the moment was to him. He would surely warn the +consul-general, who doubtless was innocent enough. + +They sat down. The colonel blinked. "Fine passage we had coming down." + +"Was it?" returned Elsa innocently. + +The colonel reached for an olive and bit into it savagely. He was no +fool. She had him at the end of a blind-alley, and there he must wait +until she was ready to let him go. She could harry him or pretend to +ignore him, as suited her fancy. He was caught. Women, all women, +possessed at least one attribute of the cat. It was digging in the +claw, hanging by it, and boredly looking about the world to see what +was going on. At that moment the colonel recognized the sting of the +claw. + +Elsa turned to her right and engaged the French consul discursively: +the vandalism in the gardens at Versailles, the glut of vehicles in the +Bois at Paris, the disappearing of the old landmarks, the old Hotel de +Sevigne, now the most interesting _musee_ in France. Indeed, Elsa +gradually became the center of interest; she drew them intentionally. +She brought a touch of home to the Frenchman, to the German, to the +Italian, to the Spaniard; and the British official, in whose hands the +civil business of the Straits Settlements rested, was charmed to learn +that Elsa had spent various week-ends at the home of his sister in +Surrey. + +And when she admitted that she was the daughter of General Chetwood, +the man to whom the Indian government had cause to be grateful, upon +more than one occasion, for the solidity of his structures, the colonel +realized definitely the seriousness of his crucifixion. He sat stiffer +and stiffer in his chair, and the veins in his nose grew deeper and +deeper in hue. He saw clearly that he would never understand American +women. He had committed an outrageous blunder. He, instead of +dominating, had been dominated by three faultfinding old women; and, +without being aware of the fact, had looked at things from their point +of view. A most inconceivable blunder. He would not allow that he was +being swayed less by the admission of his unpardonable rudeness on +board than by the immediate knowledge that Elsa was known to the +British official's sister, a titled lady who stood exceedingly high at +court. + +"Miss Chetwood," he said, lowering his voice for her ears only. + +Elsa turned, but with the expression that signified that her attention +was engaged elsewhere. + +"Yes?" + +"I am an old man. I am sixty-two; and most of these sixty-two I have +lived roughly; but I am not too old to realize that I have made a fool +of myself." + +Interest began to fill Elsa's eyes. + +"It has been said," he went on, keeping the key, "that I am a man of +courage, but I find that I need a good deal of that just now. I have +been rude to you, and without warrant, and I offer you my humble +apologies." He fumbled with his cravat as if it had suddenly +tightened. "Will you accept?" + +"Instantly." Elsa understood the quality of courage that had stirred +the colonel. + +"Thanks." + +But ruthlessly: "I should, however, like your point of view in regard +to what you consider my conduct." + +"Is it necessary?" + +"I believe it would be better for my understanding if you made a full +confession." She did not mean to be relentless, but her curiosity was +too strong not to press her advantage. + +"Well, then, over here as elsewhere in the world there are standards by +which we judge persons who come under our notice." + +"Agreed. Individuality is not generally understandable." + +"By the mediocre, you might have added. That's the difficulty with +individuality; it refuses to be harnessed by mediocrity, and mediocrity +holds the whip-hand, always. I represent the mediocre." + +"Oh, never!" said Elsa animatedly. "Mediocrity is always without +courage." + +"You are wrong. It has the courage of its convictions." + +"Rather is it not stubbornness, wilful refusal to recognize things as +they are?" + +He countered the question with another. "Supposing we were all +individuals, in the sense you mean? Supposing each of us did exactly +as he pleased? Can you honestly imagine a more confusing place than +this world would be? The Manchurian pony is a wild little beast, an +individual if ever there was one; but man tames him and puts to use his +energies. And so it is with human individuality. We of the mediocre +tame it and harness and make it useful to the general welfare of +humanity. And when we encounter the untamable, in order to safeguard +ourselves, we must turn it back into the wilderness, an outlaw. +Indeed, I might call individuality an element, like fire and water and +air." + +"But who conquer fire and water and air?" Elsa demanded, believing she +had him pocketed. + +"Mediocrity, through the individual of this or that being. Humanity in +the bulk is mediocre. And odd as it seems, individuality (which is +another word for genius) believes it leads mediocrity. But it can not +be made to understand that mediocrity ordains the leadership." + +"Then you contend that in the hands of the stupid lies the balance of +power?" + +"Let us not say stupid, rather the unimaginative, the practical and the +plodding. The stubbornest person in the world is one with an idea." + +"Do you honestly insist that you are mediocre?" + +"No," thoughtfully. "I am one of those stubborn men with ideas. I +merely insist that I prefer to accept the tenets of mediocrity for my +own peace and the peace of others." + +Elsa forgot those about her, forgot her intended humiliation of the man +at her side. He denied that he was an individual, but he was one, as +interesting a one as she had met in a very long time. She, too, had +made a blunder. Quick to form opinions, swift to judge, she stood +guilty with the common lot, who permit impressions instead of evidence +to sway them. Here was a man. + +"We have gone far afield," she said, a tacit admission that she could +not refute his dissertations. This knowledge, however, was not irksome. + +"Rather have we not come to the bars? Shall we let them down?" + +"Proceed." + +"In the civil and military life on this side of the world there are +many situations which we perforce must tolerate. But these, mind you, +are settled conditions. It is upon new ones which arise that we pass +judgment. I knew nothing about you, nothing whatever. So I judged you +according to the rules." + +Elsa leaned upon her elbows, and she smiled a little as she noted that +the purple had gone from his nose and that it had resumed its +accustomed rubicundity. + +"I go on. A woman who travels alone, who does not present letters of +introduction, who . . ." + +"Who attends strictly to her own affairs. Go on." + +"Who is young and beautiful." + +"A sop! Thanks!" + +Imperturbably he continued: "Who seeks the acquaintance of men who do +not belong, as you Americans say." + +"Not men; one man," she corrected. + +"A trifling difference. Well, it arouses a disagreeable word, +suspicion. For look, there have been examples. It isn't as if yours +were an isolated case. There have been examples, and these we apply to +such affairs as come under our notice." + +"And it doesn't matter that you may be totally wrong?" + +His prompt answer astonished her. "No, it does not matter in the +least. Simmered down, it may be explained in a word, appearances. And +I must say, to the normal mind . . ." + +"The mediocre mind." + +"To the normal and mediocre mind, appearances were against you. +Observe, please, that I did not know I was wrong, that you were a +remarkable young woman. My deductions were made from what I saw as an +outsider. On the Irrawaddy you made the acquaintance of a man who came +out here a fugitive from justice. After you made his acquaintance, you +sought none other, in fact, repelled any advances. This alone decided +me." + +"Then you were decided?" To say that this blunt exposition was not +bitter to her taste, that it did not act like acid upon her pride, +would not be true. She was hurt, but she did not let the hurt befog +her sense of justice. From his point of view the colonel was in no +fault. "Let me tell you how very wrong you were indeed." + +"Doubtless," he hastily interposed, "you enveloped the man in a cloud +of romance." + +"On the contrary, I spoke to him and sought his companionship because +he was nothing more nor less than a ghost." + +"Ah! Is it possible that you knew him in former times?" + +"No. But he was so like the man at home; so identical in features and +build to the man I expected to go home to marry. . . ." + +"My dear young lady, you are right. Mediocrity is without imagination, +stupid, and makes the world a dull place indeed. Like the man you +expect to marry! What woman in your place would have acted otherwise? +And I have made my statements as bald and brutal as an examining +magistrate! Instead of one apology I offer a thousand." + +"I accept each and all of them. More, I believe that you and I could +get on capitally. I can very well imagine the soldier you used to be. +I am going to ask you what you know about Mr. Warrington." + +"This, that he is not a fit companion for a young woman like yourself; +that a detractable rumor follows hard upon his heels wherever he goes. +I learned something about him in Rangoon. He is known to the riff-raff +as Parrot & Co., and I don't know what else. All of us on shipboard +learned his previous history." + +"Ah!" She was quite certain of the historian. "And not from +respectable quarters, either." + +"If I had been elderly and without physical attractions?" Elsa inquired +sarcastically. + +"We are dealing with human nature, mediocrity, and not with +speculation. It is in the very nature of things to distrust that which +we do not understand. You say, old and without physical attractions. +Beauty is of all things most drawing. We crowd about it, we crown it, +we flatter it. The old and unattractive we pass by. If I had not seen +you here to-night, heard you talk, saw in a kind of rebellious +enchantment over your knowledge of the world and your distinguished +acquaintance, I should have gone to my grave believing that my +suspicions were correct. I dare say that I shall make the same mistake +again." + +"But do not judge so hastily." + +"That I promise." + +"Did you learn among other things what Mr. Warrington had done?" + +"Yes. A sordid affair. Ordinary peculations that were wasted over +gaming-tables." + +Warrington had told her the truth. At least, the story told by others +coincided with his own. But what was it that kept doubt in her mind? +Why should she not be ready to believe what others believed, what the +man himself had confessed? What was it to her that he looked like +Arthur, that he was guilty or innocent? + +"And his name?" She wondered if the colonel knew that also. + +"Warrington is assumed. His real name is Paul Ellison." + +"Paul Ellison." She repeated it slowly. Her voice did not seem her +own. The table, the lights, the faces, all receded and became a blur. + + + + +XV + +A BIT OF A LARK + +Mallow gave Craig one of his favorite cigars. The gambler turned it +over and inspected the carnelian label, realizing that this was +expected of him. Mallow smiled complacently. They might smoke as good +as that at the government-house, but he rather doubted it. Trust a +Britisher to know a good pipe-charge; but his selection of cigars was +seldom to be depended upon. + +"Don't see many of these out here," was Craig's comment, and he tucked +away the cigar in a vest pocket. + +"They cost me forty-three cents apiece, without duty." The vulgarian's +pleasure lies not in the article itself so much as in the price paid +for it. On the plantation Mallow smoked Burma cheroots because he +really preferred them. There, he drank rye whisky, consorted with his +employees, gambled with them and was not above cheating when he had +them drunk enough. Away from home, however, he was the man of money; +he bought vintage wines when he could, wore silks, jingled the +sovereigns whenever he thought some one might listen, bullied the +servants, all with the childish belief that he was following the +footsteps of aristocracy, hoodwinking no one, not even his kind. "I'm +worth a quarter of a million," he went on. "Luck and plugging did it. +One of these fine days I'm going to sell out and take a whack at that +gay Paris. There's the place to spend your pile. You can't get your +money's worth any place else." + +Paris. Craig's thought flew back to the prosperous days when he was +plying his trade between New York and Cherbourg, on the Atlantic +liners, the annual fortnight in Paris and the Grand-Prix. He had had +his diamonds, then, and his wallet of yellow-backs; and when he had +called for vintage wines and choice Havanas it had been for genuine +love of them. In his heart he despised Mallow. He knew himself to be +a rogue, but Mallow without money would have been a bold predatory +scoundrel. Craig knew also that he himself was at soul too cowardly to +be more than despicably bad. He envied Mallow's absolute fearlessness, +his frank brutality, his strength upon which dissipation had as yet +left no mark; and Mallow was easily forty-five. Paris. He might never +see that city again. He had just enough to carry him to Hongkong and +keep him on his feet until the races. He sent a bitter glance toward +the sea where the moonlight gave an ashen hue to the forest of rigging. +The beauty of the scene did not enter his eye. His mind was recalling +the luxurious smoke-rooms. + +"When you go to Paris, I'd like to go along." + +"You've never let on why they sent you hiking out here," Mallow +suggested. + +"One of my habits is keeping my mouth shut." + +"Regarding your own affairs, yes. But you're willing enough to talk +when it comes to giving away the other chap." + +"You can play that hand as well as I can." Craig scowled toward the +dining-room doors. + +"Ha! There they come," said Mallow, as a group of men and women issued +out into the cafe-veranda. "By gad! she is a beauty, and no mistake. +And will you look at our friend, the colonel, toddling behind her?" + +"You're welcome." + +"You're a fine lady-killer." Mallow tore the band from a fresh cigar +and struck a match. + +"I know when I've got enough. If you could get a good look at her when +she's angry, you'd change your tune." + +Mallow sighed audibly. "Most women are tame, and that's why I've +fought shy of the yoke. Yonder's the sort for me. The man who marries +her will have his work cut out. It'll take a year or two to find out +who's boss; and if she wins, lord help the man!" + +Craig eyed the group which was now seated. Two Chinamen were serving +coffee and cordials. Mallow was right; beautiful was the word. A +vague regret came to him, as it comes to all men outside the pale, that +such a woman could never be his. He poured out for himself a stiff peg +and drank it with very little soda. Craig always fled, as it were, +from introspection. + +"Haven't seen the crow anywhere, have you?" + +"No, nor want to. Leave him alone." + +"Afraid of him, eh?" + +"I'm truthful enough to say that I'm damned afraid of him. Don't +mistake me. I'd like to see him flat, beaten, down and out for good. +I'd like to see him lose that windfall, every cent of it. But I don't +want to get in his way just now." + +"Rot! Don't you worry; no beach-comber like that can stand up long in +front of me. He threatened on board that he was going to collect that +fifty pounds. He hasn't been very spry about it." + +"I should like to be with you when you meet." + +Mallow grinned. "Not above seeing a pal get walloped, eh? Well, you +get a ring-side ticket. It'll be worth it." + +"I don't want to see you get licked," denied Craig irritably. "All I +ask is that you shelve some of your cock-sureness. I'm not so +dead-broke that I must swallow all of it. I've warned you that he is a +strong man. He used to be one of the best college athletes in America." + +"College!" exploded Mallow. "What the devil does a college athlete +know about a dock-fight?" + +"Ever see a game of football?" + +"No." + +"Well, take it from me that it's the roughest game going. It's a game +where you put your boot in a man's face when he's not looking. Mallow, +they kill each other in that game. And Ellison was one of the best, +fifteen years ago. He used to wade through a ton of solid, scrapping, +plunging flesh. And nine times out of ten he used to get through. I +want you to beat him up, and it's because I do that I'm warning you not +to underestimate him. On shipboard he handled me as you would a bag of +salt; damn him! He's a surprise to me. He looks as if he had lived +clean out here. There's no booze-sign hanging out on him, like there +is on you and me." + +"Booze never hurt me any." + +"You're galvanized inside," said Craig, staring again at Elsa. He +wished he knew how to hurt her, too. But he might as well throw stones +at the stars. + +"How would you like to put one over on this chap Ellison?" + +"In what way?" + +Mallow smoked for a moment, then touched his breast pocket +significantly. + +"Not for mine," returned Craig. "Cards are my long suit. I'm no +second-story man, not yet." + +"I know. But supposing you could get it without risk?" + +"In the first place, the bulk of his cash is tied up in letters of +credit." + +"Ah, you know that?" + +"What good would it do to pinch those? In Europe there would be some +chance, but not here where boats are two weeks apart. A cable to +Rangoon would shut off all drawing. He could have others made out. In +cash he may have a few hundreds." + +"All gamblers are more or less yellow," sneered Mallow. "The streak in +you is pretty wide. I tell you, you needn't risk your skin. Are you +game to put one over that will cost him a lot of worry and trouble?" + +"So long as I can stand outside the ropes and look on." + +"He has a thousand pounds in his belt. No matter how I found out. +How'd you like to put your hand on it if you were sure it would not +burn your fingers?" + +"I'd like to, all right. But it's got to be mighty certain. And the +belt must be handed to me by some one else. I've half a wonder if +you're not aiming to get rid of me," with an evil glance at his tempter. + +"If I wanted to get rid of you, this'd be the way," said Mallow, +opening and shutting his powerful hands. "I'm just hungering for a bit +of a lark. Come on. A thousand pounds for taking a little rickshaw +ride. Ever hear of Wong's? Opium, pearls, oils and shark-fins?" + +"No." + +"Not many do. I know Singapore like the lines on my hands. Wong is +the shrewdest, most lawless Chinaman this side of Canton and Macao. +Pipes, pearls and shark-fins. Did you know that the bay out there is +so full of sharks that they have to stand on their tails for lack of +space? Big money. Wong's the man to go to. Want a schooner rigged +out for illicit shell-hunting? Want a man shanghaied? Want him +written down missing? Go to Wong." + +"See here, Mallow; I don't mind his being beaten up; but what you say +doesn't sound good." + +"You fool, I don't want him out of the way. Why should I? But there's +that thousand for you and worry for him. All aboard!" + +"You don't love Parrot & Co. any more than I do." + +"No. I'd sleep better o' nights if I knew he was broken for keeps. +Too much red-tape to put the United States after him. How'd you rig +him?" + +"Faro and roulette. They never tumble. I didn't have anything against +him until he ran into me at Rangoon. But he's stepped in too many +times since. Is this straight?" + +"About lifting his belt? Easy as falling off a log. Leave it to me. +His room is on the first gallery, facing southwest. You can chalk it +up as revenge. I'll take it on as a bit of good sport. Wong will fix +us out. Now look alive. It's after nine, and I'd like a little fun +first." + +The two left the cafe-veranda and engaged a pair of rickshaws. As they +jogged down the road, Warrington stepped out from behind the palms and +moodily watched them until the night swallowed them up. He had not +overheard their interesting conversation, nor had he known they were +about until they came down the steps together. He ached to follow +them. He was in a fine mood for blows. That there were two of them +did not trouble him. Of one thing he was assured: somewhere in the dim +past an ancestor of his had died in a Berserk rage. + +[Illustration: A Bit of a Lark.] + +He had been watching Elsa. It disturbed but did not mystify him to see +her talking to the colonel. Table-chance had brought them together, +and perhaps to a better understanding. How pale she was! From time to +time he caught the flash of her eyes as she turned to this or that +guest. Once she smiled, but the smile did not lighten up her face. He +was very wretched and miserable. She had taken him at his word, and he +should have been glad. He had seen her but once again on board, but +she had looked away. It was best so. Yet, it was as if fate had +reached down into his heart and snapped the strings which made life +tuneful. + +And to-morrow! What would to-morrow bring? Would they refuse? Would +they demand the full penalty? Eight thousand with interest was a small +sum to such a corporation. He had often wondered if they had searched +for him. Ten years. In the midst of these cogitations he saw the +group at the table rise and break up. Elsa entered the hotel. +Warrington turned away and walked aimlessly toward town. For hours he +wandered about, seeing nothing, hearing nothing; and it was long past +midnight when he sought his room, restless and weary but wide awake. +He called for a stiff peg, drank it, and tumbled into bed. He was +whirled away into broken dreams. Now he was running down the gridiron, +with the old thrill in his blood. With that sudden inconceivable twist +of dreams, he saw the black pit of the tramp-steamer and felt the +hell-heat in his face. Again, he was in the Andes, toiling with his +girders over unspeakable chasms. A shifting glance at the old +billiard-room in the club, the letter, and his subsequent wild night of +intoxication, the one time in his life when he had drunk hard and long. +Back to the Indian deserts and jungles. And he heard the shriek of +parrots. + +The shriek of parrots. He sat up. Even in his dream he recognized +that cry. Night or day. Rajah always shrieked when some one entered +the room. Warrington silently slid out of bed and dashed to the door +which led to the gallery. A body thudded against his. He caught hold. +The body was nude to the waist and smelled evilly of sweat and +fish-oil. Something whip-like struck him across the face. It was a +queue. + +Warrington struck out, but missed. Instantly a pair of powerful arms +wound about him, bearing and bending him backward. His right arm lay +parallel with the invader's chest. He brought up the heel of his palm +viciously against the Chinaman's chin. It was sufficient to break the +hold. Then followed a struggle that always remained nightmarish to +Warrington. Hither and thither across the room, miraculously avoiding +chairs, tables and bed, they surged. He heard a ring of steel upon the +cement floor, and breathed easier to learn that the thief had dropped +his knife. Warrington never thought to call out for help. The old +fear of bringing people about him had become a habit. Once, in the +whirl of things, his hand came into contact with a belt which hung +about the other's middle. He caught at it and heaved. It broke, and +the subsequent tinkling over the floor advised him of the fact that it +was his own gold. The broken belt, however, brought the fight to an +abrupt end. The oily body suddenly slipped away. Warrington beheld a +shadow in the doorway; it loomed there a second against the sky-line, +and vanished. He ran to the gallery railing, but it was too dark below +to discern anything. + +He returned to his room, breathing hard, the obnoxious odor of sweat +and fish-oil in his nose. He turned on the lights and without waiting +to investigate, went into the shower-room and stood under the tepid +deluge. Even after a thorough rub-down the taint was in the air. The +bird was muttering and turning somersaults. + +"Thanks, Rajah, old sport! He'd have got me but for you. Let's see +the damage." + +He picked up the belt. The paper-money was intact, and what gold had +fallen he could easily find. He then took up his vest . . . and +dropped it, stunned. The letter of credit for half his fortune was +gone. He sank back upon the bed and stared miserably at the fallen +garment. Gone! Fifty thousand dollars. Some one who knew! Presently +he stood up and tugged at his beard. After all, why should he worry? +A cable to Rangoon would stop payments. A new letter could be issued. +It would take time, but he had plenty of that. + +Idly he reached for the broken cigar that lay at the foot of the bed. +He would have tossed it aside as one of his own had not the carnelian +band attracted his attention. He hadn't smoked that quality of tobacco +in years. He turned it over and over, and it grew more and more +familiar. Mallow's! + + + + +XVI + +WHO IS PAUL ELLISON? + +For some time Warrington sat upon the edge of the bed and studied the +cigar, balanced it upon his palm, as if striving to weigh accurately +Mallow's part in a scrimmage like this. The copra-grower assuredly +would be the last man to give a cigar to a Chinaman. His gifts kept +his coolies hopping about in a triangle of cuffs and kicks and +pummelings. He had doubtless given the cigar to another white man +likely enough, Craig, who, with reckless inebriate generosity, had in +turn presented it to the Oriental. Besides, Mallow was rich. What +stepping-stones he had used to acquire his initial capital were not +perfectly known; but Warrington had heard rumors of shady transactions +and piratical exploits in the pearl zone. Mallow, rich, was Mallow +disposed of, at least logically; unless indeed it was a bit of +anticipatory reprisal. That might possibly be. A drunken Mallow was +capable of much, for all that his knowledge of letters of credit might +necessarily be primitive. + +Pah! The abominable odor of fish still clung. He reached for his pipe +and lighted it, letting the smoke sink into his beard. + +Yet, Mallow was no fool. He would scarcely take such risk for so +unstable and chancely a thing as revenge of this order. Craig? He +hadn't the courage. Strong and muscular as he was, he was the average +type of gambler, courageous only when armed with a pack of cards, +sitting opposite a fool and his money. But, Craig and Mallow together. +. . . He slipped off the label. It was worth preserving. + +With an unpleasant laugh he began to get into his clothes. Why not? +The more he thought of it, the more he was positive that the two had +been behind this assault. The belt would have meant a good deal to +Craig. There were a thousand Chinese in Singapore who would cut a +man's throat for a Straits dollar. Either Mallow or Craig had seen him +counting the money on shipboard. It had been a pastime of his to throw +the belt on the bunk-blanket and play with the gold and notes; like a +child with its Christmas blocks. He had spent hours gloating over the +yellow metal and crackly paper which meant a competence for the rest of +his years. And Craig or Mallow had seen him. + +He looked at his watch; quarter after two. If they were not in their +rooms he would have good grounds for his suspicions. He stole along +the gallery and down the stairs to the office, just in time to see the +two enter, much the worse for drink. Mallow was boisterous, and Craig +was sullen. The former began to argue with the night manager, who +politely shook his head. Mallow grew insistent, but the night manager +refused to break the rules of the hotel. Warrington inferred that +Mallow was demanding liquor, and his inference was correct. He moved a +little closer, still hidden behind the potted palms. + +"All right," cried Mallow. "We'll go back to town for it." + +"I've had enough," declared Craig sullenly. + +"Yah! A little sore, eh? Well, I can't pour it down your throat." + +"Let's cut out booze and play a little hand or two." + +"Fine!" Mallow slapped his thigh as he laughed. "Nice bird I'd be for +you to pluck. Think of something else. You can hit me on the head +when I'm not looking and take my money that way. What do you think I +am, anyhow? The billiard-hall is open." + +Craig shook his head. When Mallow was argumentative it was no time to +play billiards. + +"Bah!" snarled Mallow. "Since you won't drink like a man nor play +billiards, I'm for bed. And just as the fun was beginning!" + +Craig nudged him warningly. Mallow stalked away, and Craig, realizing +that the night was done, followed. + +Warrington had seen and heard enough. He was tolerably sure. It might +have been out of pure deviltry, so far as Mallow was concerned; but +Craig had joined in hope of definite profits. A fine pair of rogues! +Neither of them should be able to draw against the letter. He would +block that game the first thing in the morning. He would simply notify +the local banks and cable to Rangoon. + +He eyed indecisively the stairs and then glanced toward the brilliant +night outside. It would not be possible to sleep in that room again. +So he tiptoed out to the cafe-veranda and dropped into a comfortable +chair. He would hunt them up some time during the day. He would ask +Mallow for fifty pounds, and he sincerely hoped that Mallow would +refuse him. For he was grimly resolved that Mallow should pay for +those half-truths, more damning than bald lies. It was due to Mallow +that he was never more to see or speak to Elsa. He emptied the ash +from his cutty which he stowed away. + +The great heart ache and the greater disillusion would not have fallen +to his lot had Elsa been frank in Rangoon, had she but told him that +she was to sail on the same steamer. He would have put over his +sailing. He would have gone his way, still believing himself to be a +Bayard, a Galahad, or any other of those simple dreamers who put honor +and chivalry above and before all other things. + +Elsa! He covered his face with his hands and remained in that position +for a long while, so long indeed that the coolies, whose business it +was to scrub the tilings every morning at four, went about their work +quietly for fear of disturbing him. + +Elsa had retired almost immediately after dinner. She endeavored to +finish some initial-work on old embroideries, but the needle insisted +upon pausing and losing stitch after stitch. She went to bed and tried +to concentrate her thoughts upon a story, but she could no more follow +a sentence to the end than she could fly. Then she strove to sleep, +but that sweet healer came not to her wooing. Nothing she did could +overcome the realization of the shock she had received. It had left +her dull and bewildered. + +The name echoed and reechoed through her mind: Paul Ellison. It should +have been an illumination; instead, she had been thrust into utter +darkness. Neither Arthur nor his mother had ever spoken of a brother, +and she had known them for nearly ten years. Two men, who might be +twin-brothers, with the same name: it was maddening. What could it +mean? The beautiful white-haired mother, the handsome charming son, +who idolized each other; and this adventurer, this outcast, this +patient, brave and kindly outcast, with his funny parrakeet, what was +he to them and they to him? It must be, it must be! They _were_ +brothers. Nature, full of amazing freaks as she was, had not +perpetrated this one without calling upon a single strain of blood. + +She lay back among her pillows, her eyes leveled at the few stars +beyond her door, opened to admit any cooling breeze. Her head ached. +It was like the computations of astronomers; to a certain extent the +human mind could grasp the distances but could not comprehend them. It +was more than chance. Chance alone had not brought him to the +crumbling ledge. There was a strain of fatalism in Elsa. She was +positive that all these things had been written long before and that +she was to be used as the key. + +Paul Ellison. + +She drew from the past those salient recollections of Arthur and his +mother: first, the day the two had called regarding the purchase of a +house that her father had just put on the market,--a rambling old +colonial affair, her own mother's birth-place. Sixteen: she had not +quite been that, just free from her school-days in Italy. With the +grand air of youth she had betrayed the fact almost instantly, while +waiting for her father to come into the livingroom. + +"Italy!" said Arthur's mother, whom Elsa mentally adopted at once. The +stranger spoke a single phrase, which Elsa answered in excellent if +formal Italian. This led from one question to another. Mrs. Ellison +turned out to be a schoolmate of her mother's, and she, Elsa, had +inherited their very room. What more was needed? + +The Ellisons bought the house and lived quietly within it. Society, +and there was a good deal of it in that small Kentuckian city, society +waited for them to approach and apply for admittance, but waited in +vain. Mrs. Ellison never went anywhere. Her son Arthur was a student +and preferred his books. So eventually society introduced itself. +Persons who ignored it must be interesting. When it became known that +Mrs. Ellison had been the schoolmate of the beautiful and aristocratic +wife of General Chetwood; when the local banker quietly spread the +information that the Ellisons were comfortably supplied with stocks and +bonds of a high order, society concluded that it could do very well +without past history. That could come later. + +When her father died, Elsa became as much at home in the Ellison house +as in her own. But never, never anywhere in the house, was there +indication of the existence of a brother, so like Arthur that under +normal conditions it would have been difficult to tell them apart. +Even when she used to go up to the garret with Mrs. Ellison, to aid her +in rummaging some old trunk, there came to light none of those trifling +knickknacks which any mother would have secretly clung to, no matter to +what depth her flesh and blood had fallen. Never had she seen among +the usual amateur photographs one presenting two boys. Once she had +come across a photograph of a smooth-faced youth who was in the act of +squinting along the top of an engineer's tripod. Arthur had laughingly +taken it away from her, saying that it represented him when he had had +ambitions to build bridges. + +To build bridges. The phrase awoke something in Elsa's mind. Bridges. +She sat up in bed, mentally keen for the first time since dinner. "I +have built bridges in my time over which trains are passing at this +moment. I have fought torrents, and floods, and hurricanes, and +myself." + +He was Paul Ellison, son and brother, and they had blotted him out of +their lives by destroying all physical signs of him. There was +something inhuman in the deliberateness of it, something unforgivable. + +They had made no foolish attempt to live under an assumed name. They +had come from New York to the little valley in order to leave behind +the scene of their disgrace and all those who had known them. And they +had been extremely fortunate. They were all gently born, Elsa's +friends and acquaintances, above ordinary inquisitiveness, and they had +respected the aloofness of the Ellisons. Arthur was an inveterate +traveler. Half the year found him in Europe, painting a little, +writing a little less, frequenting the lesser known villages in France +and Italy. He let it be understood that he abhorred cities. In the +ten years they had appeared at less than a dozen social affairs. +Arthur did not care for horses, for hunting, for sports of any kind. +And yet he was sturdy, clear-eyed, fresh-skinned. He walked always; he +was forever tramping off to the pine-hooded hills, with his +painting-kit over his shoulders and his camp-stool under his arm. +Later, Elsa began to understand that he was a true scholar, not merely +an educated man. He was besides a linguist of amazing facility, a +pianist who invariably preferred as his audience his own two ears. +Arthur would have been a great dramatist or a great poet, if . . . If +what? If what? Ah, that had been the crux of it all, of her doubt, of +her hesitance. If he had fought for prizes coveted by mankind, if he +had thrown aside his dreams and gone into the turmoil, if he had taken +up a man's burden and carried it to success. Elsa, daughter of a man +who had fought in the great arena from his youth to his death, Elsa was +not meant for the wife of a dreamer. + +Paul Ellison. What was his crime in comparison to his expiation of it? +He had built bridges, fought torrents, hurricanes, himself. No, he was +not a scholar; he saw no romance in the multifarious things he had of +necessity put his hand to: these had been daily matter-of-fact +occupations. A strange gladness seemed to loosen the tenseness of her +aching nerves. + +Then, out of the real world about her, came with startling +distinctness, the shriek of a parrot. She would have recognized that +piercing cry anywhere. It was Rajah. In the next room, and she had +not known that Warrington (she would always know him by that name) was +stopping at the same hotel! She listened intently. Presently she +heard muffled sounds: a clatter of metal. A few minutes later came a +softer tinkle, scurry of pattering feet, then silence. + +Elsa ran to the door and stood motionless by the jamb, waiting, +ethereally white in the moonshine. Suddenly upon the gallery pillars +flashed yellow light. She should have gone back to bed, but a thrill +of unknown fear held her. By and by the yellow light went out with +that quickness which tricks the hearing into believing that the +vanishing had been accompanied by sound. She saw Warrington, fully +dressed, issue forth cautiously, glance about, then pass down the +gallery, stepping with the lightness of a cat. + +She returned hastily to her room, threw over her shoulders a kimono, +and went back to the door, hesitating there for a breath or two. She +stepped out upon the gallery. What had roused him at this time of +night? She leaned over the railing and peered down into the roadway +which in daytime was given over to the rickshaw coolies. She heard the +crunch of wheels, a low murmur of voices; beyond this, nothing more. +But as the silence of the night became tense once more, she walked as +far as Warrington's door, and paused there. + +The gallery floor was trellised with moonlight and shadow. She saw +something lying in the center of a patch of light, and she stooped. +The light was too dim for her to read; so she reentered her own room +and turned on the lights. It was Warrington's letter of credit. She +gave a low laugh, perhaps a bit hysterical. There was no doubt of it. +Some one had entered his room. There had been a struggle in which he +had been the stronger, and the thief had dropped his plunder. (As a +matter of fact, the Chinaman, finding himself closed in upon, had +thrown the letter of credit toward the railing, in hope that it would +fall over to the ground below, where, later, he could recover it.) Elsa +pressed it to her heart as another woman might have pressed a rose, and +laughed again. Something of his; something to give her the excuse to +see and to speak to him again. To-morrow she would know; and he would +tell her the truth, even as her heart knew it now. For what other +reason had he turned away from her that first day out of Rangoon, hurt +and broken? Paul Ellison; and she had told him that she was going home +to marry his brother! + + + + +XVII + +THE ANSWERING CABLE + +Next morning, when it became known among the bankers and foreign +agencies that a letter of credit for ten thousand pounds had been lost +or stolen, there was more than a ripple of excitement. They searched +records, but no loss as heavy as this came to light. Add to the +flutter a reward of two hundred pounds for the recovery of the letter, +and one may readily imagine the scrutinizing alertness of the various +clerks and the subsequent embarrassments of peaceful tourists who +wished to draw small sums for current expenses. Even the managing +director of the Bank of Burma came in for his share of annoyance. He +was obliged to send out a dozen cables of notification of the loss, all +of which had to be paid out of accrued dividends. Thus Warrington had +blocked up the avenues. The marvelous rapidity with which such affairs +may be spread broadcast these days is the first wonder in a new epoch +of wonders. From Irkoutsh to Aukland, from St. Johns to Los Angeles, +wherever a newspaper was published, the news flew. Within twenty-four +hours it would be as difficult to draw against that letter as it would +be to transmute baser metals into gold. + +At half past ten Warrington, apparently none the worse for a sleepless +night, entered the private office of the consul-general who, gravely +and with studied politeness, handed to him an unopened cablegram. + +"I rather preferred to let you open it, Mr. Warrington," he said. + +"Still, it might be something of your own," replied Warrington. He +noted the lack of cordiality, but with passive regret. + +"No cablegram would come to me from the department, especially as the +diplomatic-pouch, as we call the mail-bag, arrives Monday. Open it. I +wish you good luck," a little more kindly. + +"May I sit down?" + +"To be sure you may." + +The consul-general recovered his pen and pretended to become absorbed +in the litter of papers on his desk. But in truth he could see nothing +save the young man's face: calm, unmoved, expressing negligent interest +in what should be the most vital thing in his existence, next to life. +If the man hadn't met Elsa, to her interest and to his own alarm, he +would have been as affable as deep in his heart he wanted to be. A +minute passed. It seemed to take a very long time. He tried to resist +the inclination to turn his head, but the drawing of curiosity was +irresistible. What he saw only added to his general mystification. +The slip of paper hung pendulent in Warrington's hand; the other hand +was hidden in his beard, while his eyes seemed to be studying seriously +the medallion in the Kirmanshah. A fine specimen of a man, mused the +consul-general, incredibly wholesome despite his ten years' knocking +about in this ungodly part of the world. It was a pity. They had +evidently refused to compromise. + +"Bad news?" + +Warrington stood up with sudden and surprising animation in his face. +"Read it," he said. + + +"If Ellison will make restitution in person, yes. + +"ANDES." + + +The consul-general jumped to his feet and held out his hand. "I am +glad, very glad. Everything will turn out all right now. If you wish, +I'll tell Miss Chetwood the news." + +"I was going to ask you to do that," responded Warrington. The mention +of Elsa took the brightness out of his face. "Tell her that Parrot & +Co. will always remember her kindness, and ask her to forgive a lonely +chap for having caused her any embarrassment through her goodness to +him. I have decided not to see Miss Chetwood again." + +"You are a strong man, Mr. Warrington." + +"Warrington? My name is Ellison, Paul Warrington Ellison. After all, +I'm so used to Warrington, that I may as well let well enough alone. +There is one more favor; do not tell Miss Chetwood that my name is +Ellison." + +"I should use my own name, if I were you. Why, man, you can return to +the States as if you had departed but yesterday. The world forgets +quickly. People will be asking each other what it was that you did. +Then I shall bid Miss Chetwood good-by for you?" + +"Yes. I am going to jog it home. I want to travel first-class, here, +there, wherever fancy takes me. It's so long since I've known absolute +ease and comfort. I wish to have time to readjust myself to the old +ways. I was once a luxury-loving chap. I sail at dawn for Saigon. I +may knock around in Siam for a few weeks. After that, I don't know +where I'll go. Of course I shall keep the Andes advised of my +whereabouts, from time to time." + +"Another man would be in a hurry." It was on the tip of his tongue to +tell Warrington what he knew of the Andes Construction Company, but +something held back the words, a fear that Warrington might change his +mind about seeing Elsa. + +"Well, wherever you go and whatever you do, good luck go with you." + +"There are good men in this world, sir, and I shall always remember you +as one of them." + +"By the way, that man Mallow; have you met him yet?" + +The quizzical expression in his eyes made Warrington laugh. "No." + +"I was in hopes . . ." The consul-general paused, but Warrington +ignored the invitation to make known his intentions. + +He shunted further inquiry by saying: "A letter of credit of mine was +stolen last night. I had a tussle in the room, and was rather getting +the best of it. The thug slipped suddenly away. Probably hid the +letter in his loin-cloth." + +"That's unfortunate." + +"In a way. Ten thousand pounds." + +"Good lord!" + +"I have sent out a general stop-order. No one will be able to draw +against it. The sum will create suspicion anywhere." + +"Have you any idea who was back of the thief? Is there any way I can +be of service to you?" + +"Yes. I'll make you temporary trustee. I've offered two hundred +pounds for the recovery, and I'll leave that amount with you before I +go." + +"And if the letter turns up?" + +"Send it direct to the Andes people. After a lapse of a few weeks the +Bank of Burma will reissue the letter. It will simmer down to a matter +of inconvenience. The offer of two hundred is honestly made, but only +to learn if my suspicions are correct." + +"Then you suspect some one?" quickly. + +"I really suspect Mallow and a gambler named Craig, but no court would +hold them upon the evidence I have. It's my belief that it's a +practical joke which measures up to the man who perpetrated it. He +must certainly realize that a letter so large will be eagerly watched +for." + +"I shall gladly take charge of the matter here for you. I suppose that +you will eventually meet Mallow?" + +"Eventually suggests a long time," grimly. + +"Ah . . . Is there . . . Do you think there will be any need of a +watch-holder?" + +"I honestly believe you would like to see me have it out with him!" + +"I honestly would. But unfortunately the dignity of my office forbids. +He has gone up and down the Settlements, bragging and domineering and +fighting. I have been given to understand that he has never met his +match." + +"It's a long lane that has no turning. After all," Warrington added, +letting go his reserve; "you're the only friend I have. Why shouldn't +I tell you that immediately I am going out in search of him, and that +when I find him I am going to give him the worst walloping he ever +heard tell of. The Lord didn't give me all this bone and muscle for +the purpose of walking around trouble. Doesn't sound very dignified, +does it? A dock-walloper's idea; eh? Well, among other things, I've +been a dock-walloper, a beach-comber by force of circumstance, not +above settling arguments with fists, or boots, or staves. No false +modesty for me. I confess I've been mauled some, but I've never been +whipped in a man to man fight. It was generally a scrap for the +survival of the fittest. But I am going into this affair . . . Well, +perhaps it wouldn't interest you to know why. There are two sides to +every Waterloo; and I am going to chase Mallow into Paris, so to speak. +Oh, he and I shall take away pleasant recollections of each other. And +who's to care?" with a careless air that deceived the other. + +"I don't believe that Mallow will fight square at a pinch." + +"I shan't give him time to fight otherwise." + +"I ought not to want to see you at it, but, hang it, I do!" + +"Human nature. It's a pleasurable sensation to back up right by might. +Four years ago I vowed that some day I'd meet him on equal terms. +There's a raft of things on the slate, for he has been unspeakable +kinds of a rascal; beating harmless coolies . . . and women. I may not +see you again. If the letter of credit turns up, you know what to do +with it. I'm keen to get started. Good-by, and thank you." + +A hand-clasp, and he was gone. + +"I wish," thought the consul-general, "I could have told him about the +way the scoundrel spoke of Elsa." + +And Warrington, as he sought the cafe-veranda, wished he could have +told the basic truth of his fighting mood: the look Mallow had given +Elsa that day in Penang. Diligently he began the search. Mallow and +Craig were still in their rooms, doubtless sleeping off the debauch of +the preceding night. He saw that he must wait. Luncheon he had in +town. + +At four o'clock his inquiries led him into the billiard-annex. His +throat tightened a little as he discovered the two men engaged in a +game of American billiards. He approached the table quietly. Their +interest in the game was deep, possibly due to the wager laid upon the +result; so they did not observe him. He let Mallow finish his run. +Liquor had no effect upon the man's nerves, evidently, for his eyes and +stroke were excellent. A miscue brought an oath from his lips, and he +banged his cue upon the floor. + +"Rotten luck," said Warrington sympathetically, with the devil's banter +in his voice. + + + + +XVIII + +THE BATTLE + +Mallow spun around, stared for a moment, then grinned evilly. "Here's +our crow at last, Craig." + +"Speaking of birds of ill-repute, the crow passes his admiration to the +kite and the vulture." Warrington spoke coolly. + +"Hey, boy; the _chit_!" called Mallow. + +"No, no," protested Warrington; "by all means finish the game. I've +all the time in the world." + +Mallow looked at Craig, who scowled back. He was beginning to grow +weary at the sight of Warrington, bobbing up here, bobbing up there, +always with a subtle menace. + +"What's the odds?" said Mallow jovially. + +"Only twenty points to go. Your shot." + +Craig chalked his cue and scored a run of five. Mallow ran three, +missed and swore amiably. Craig got the balls into a corner and +finished his string. + +"That'll be five pounds," he said. + +"And fifty quid for me," added Warrington, smiling, though his eyes +were as blue and hard as Artic ice. + +"I'll see you comfortably broiled in hell," replied Mallow, as he +tossed five sovereigns to Craig. "Now, what else is on your mind?" + +Warrington took out the cigar-band and exhibited it. "I found that in +my room last night. You're one of the few, Mallow, who smoke them out +here. He was a husky Chinese, but not husky enough. Makes you turn a +bit yellow; eh, Craig, you white-livered cheat? You almost got my +money-belt, but almost is never quite. The letter of credit is being +reissued. It might have been robbery; it might have been just +deviltry; just for the sport of breaking a man. Anyhow, you didn't +succeed. Suppose we take a little jaunt out to where they're building +the new German Lloyd dock? There'll be no one working at this time of +day. Plenty of shade." + +For a moment the click of the balls on the other tallies was the only +sound. Craig broke the tableau by reaching for his glass of whisky, +which he emptied. He tried to assume a nonchalant air, but his hand +shook as he replaced the glass on the tabouret. It rolled off to the +floor and tinkled into pieces. + +"Nerves a bit rocky, eh?" Warrington laughed sardonically. + +"You're screeching in the wrong jungle, Parrot, old top," said Mallow, +who, as he did not believe in ghosts, was physically nor morally afraid +of anything. "Though, you have my word for it that I'd like to see you +lose every cent of your damned oil fluke." + +"Don't doubt it." + +"But," Mallow went on, "if you're wanting a little argument that +doesn't require pencils or voices, why, you're on. You don't object to +my friend Craig coming along?" + +"On the contrary, he'll make a good witness of what happens." + +"The _chit_, boy!" Mallow paid the reckoning. "Now, then, come on. +Three rickshaws!" he called. + +"Make it two," said Warrington. "I have mine." + +"All fine and dandy!" + +The barren plot of ground back of the dock was deserted. Warrington +jumped from his rickshaw and divested himself of his coat and flung his +hat beside it. Gleefully as a boy Mallow did likewise. Warrington +then bade the coolies to move back to the road. + +"Rounds?" inquired Mallow. + +"You filthy scoundrel, you know very well that there won't be any rules +to this game. Don't you think I know you? You'll have a try at my +knee-pans, if I give you the chance. You'll stick your finger into my +eyes, if I let you get close enough. I doubt if in all your life you +ever fought a man squarely." Warrington rolled up his sleeves and was +pleased to note the dull color of Mallow's face. He wanted to rouse +the brute in the man, then he would have him at his mercy. "I swore +four years ago that I'd make you pay for that night." + +"You scum!" roared Mallow; "you'll never be a whole man when they carry +you away from here." + +"Wait and see." + +On the way to the dock Warrington had mapped out his campaign. Fair +play from either of these men was not to be entertained for a moment. +One was naturally a brute and the other was a coward. They would not +hesitate at any means to defeat him. And he knew what defeat would +mean at their hands: disfigurement, probably. + +"Will you take a shilling for your fifty quid?" jeered Craig. He was +going to enjoy this, for he had not the least doubt as to the outcome. +Mallow was without superior in a rough and tumble fight. + +Warrington did not reply. He walked cautiously toward Mallow. This +maneuver brought Craig within reach. It was not a fair blow, but +Warrington delivered it without the least compunction. It struck Craig +squarely on the jaw. Lightly as a cat Warrington jumped back. Craig's +knees doubled under him and he toppled forward on his face. + +"Now, Mallow, you and I alone, with no one to jump on my back when I'm +looking elsewhere!" + +Mallow, appreciating the trick, swore foully, and rushed. Warrington +jabbed with his left and side-stepped. One thing he must do and that +was to keep Mallow from getting into close quarters. The copra-grower +was more than his match in the knowledge of those Oriental devices that +usually cripple a man for life. He must wear him down scientifically; +he must depend upon his ring-generalship. In his youth Warrington had +been a skilful boxer. He could now back this skill with rugged health +and a blow that had a hundred and eighty pounds behind it. + +From ordinary rage, Mallow fell into a frenzy; and frenzy never won a +ring-battle. Time after time he endeavored to grapple, but always that +left stopped him. Warrington played for his face, and to each jab he +added a taunt. "That for the little Cingalese!" "Count that one for +Wheedon's broken knees!" "And wouldn't San admire that? Remember her? +The little Japanese girl whose thumbs you broke?" "Here's one for me!" +It was not dignified; but Warrington stubbornly refused to look back +upon this day either with shame or regret. Jab-jab, cut and slash! +went the left. There was no more mercy in the mind back of it than +might be found in the sleek felines who stalked the jungles north. +Doggedly Mallow fought on, hoping for his chance. He tried every trick +he knew, but he could only get so near. The ring was as wide as the +world; there were no corners to make grappling a possibility. + +Some of his desperate blows got through. The bezel of his ring laid +open Warrington's forehead. He was brave enough; but he began to +realize that this was not the same man he had turned out into the +night, four years ago. And the pain and ignominy he had forced upon +others was now being returned to him. Warrington would have prolonged +the battle had he not seen Craig getting dizzily to his feet. It was +time to end it. He feinted swiftly. Mallow, expecting a body-blow, +dropped his guard. Warrington, as he struck, felt the bones in his +hand crack. Mallow went over upon his back, fairly lifted off his +feet. He was tough; an ordinary man would have died. + +[Illustration: The Battle.] + +"I believe that squares accounts," said Warrington, speaking to Craig. +"If you hear of me in America, in Europe, anywhere, keep away from the +places I'm likely to go. Tell him," with an indifferent jerk of his +head toward the insensible Mallow, "tell him that I give him that fifty +pounds with the greatest good pleasure. Sorry I can't wait." + +He trotted back to his rickshaw, wiped the blood from his face, put on +his hat and coat, and ordered the respectful coolie to hurry back to +town. He never saw Mallow or Craig again. The battle itself became a +hazy incident. In life affairs of this order generally have abrupt +endings. + + +And all that day Elsa had been waiting patiently to hear sounds of him +in the next room. Never could she recall such long weary hours. Time +and again she changed a piece of ribbon, a bit of lace, and twice she +changed her dress, all for the purpose of making the hours pass more +quickly. She had gone down to luncheon, but Warrington had not come +in. After luncheon she had sent out for half a dozen magazines. +Beyond the illustrations she never knew what they contained. Over and +over she conned the set phrases she was going to say when finally he +came. Whenever Martha approached, Elsa told her that she wanted +nothing, that she was head-achy, and wanted to be left alone. +Discreetly Martha vanished. + +To prevent the possibility of missing Warrington, Elsa had engaged the +room boy to loiter about down-stairs and to report to her the moment +Warrington arrived. The boy came pattering up at a quarter to six. + +"He come. He downside. I go, he come top-side?" + +"No. That will be all." + +The boy kotowed, and Elsa gave him a sovereign. + +The following ten minutes tested her patience to the utmost. Presently +she heard the banging of a trunk-lid. He was there. And now that he +was there, she, who had always taken pride in her lack of feminine +nerves, found herself in the grip of a panic that verged on hysteria. +Her heart fluttered and missed a beat. It had been so easy to plan! +She was afraid. Perhaps the tension of waiting all these hours was the +cause. With an angry gesture she strove to dismiss the feeling of +trepidation by walking resolutely to her door. Outside she stopped. + +What was she going to say to him? The trembling that struck at her +knees was wholly a new sensation. Presently the tremor died away, but +it left her weak. She stepped toward his door and knocked gently on +the jamb. No one answered. She knocked again, louder. + +"Come in!" + +"It wouldn't be proper," she replied, with a flash of her old-time +self. "Won't you please come out?" + +She heard something click as it struck the floor. (It was Warrington's +cutty which he had carried for seven years, now in smithereens.) She +saw a hand, raw knuckled and bleeding slightly, catch at the curtain +and swing it back rattling upon its rings. + +"Miss Chetwood?" he said. + +"Yes . . . Oh, you've been hurt!" she exclaimed, noting the gash upon +his forehead. A strip of tissue-paper (in lieu of court-plaster) lay +soaking upon the wound: a trick learned in the old days when razors +grew dull over night. + +"Hurt? Oh, I ran against something when I wasn't looking," he +explained lamely. Then he added eagerly: "I did not know that you were +on this gallery. First time I've put up at a hotel in years." It did +not serve. + +"You have been fighting! Your hand!" + +He looked at the hand dumbly. How keen her eyes were. + +"I know!" + +"You do?" inanely. + +"Was it . . . Mallow?" + +"Yes." + +"Did you . . . whip him?" + +"I . . . did," imitating her tone and hesitance. It was the wisest +thing he could have done, for it relaxed the nerves of both of them. + +Elsa smiled, smiled and forgot the substance of all her rehearsals, +forgot the letter of credit, warm with the heat of her heart. "I am a +pagan," she confessed. + +"And I am a barbarian. I ought to be horribly ashamed of myself." + +"But you are not?" + +For a moment their eyes drew. Hers were like dark whirlpools, and he +felt himself drifting helplessly, irresistibly. He dropped his hands +upon the railing and gripped; the illusion of fighting a current was +almost real to him. Every fiber in his body cried out against the +struggle. + +"No, not in the least," he said, looking toward the sunset. "Fighting +is riff-raff business, and I'm only a riff-raffer at best." + +"Rather, aren't you Paul Ellison, brother, twin brother, of the man I +said I was going home to marry?" + +How far away her voice seemed! The throb in his forehead and the dull +ache over his heart, where some of the sledge-hammer blows had gone +home, he no longer felt. + +"Don't deny it. It would be useless. Knowing your brother as I do, +who could doubt it?" + +He remained dumb. + +"I couldn't understand, just simply couldn't. They never told me; in +all the years I have known them, in all the years I have partly made +their home my own, there was nothing. Not a trinket. Once I saw a +camera-picture. I know now why Arthur snatched it from my hand. It +was you. You were bending over an engineer's tripod. Even now I +should have doubted had I not recalled what you said one day on board, +that you had built bridges. Arthur couldn't build anything stronger +than an artist's easel. You are Paul Ellison." + +"I am sorry you found out." + +"Why?" + +"Because I wanted to be no more than an incident in your life, just +Parrot & Co." + +"Parrot & Co.!" + +It was like a caress; but he was too dull to sense it, and she was +unconscious of the inflection. The burning sunshine gave to his hair +and beard the glistening of ruddy gold. Her imagination, full of +unsuspected poetry at this moment, clothed him in the metals of a +viking. There were other whirlpools beside those in her eyes, but Elsa +did not sense the drifting as he had done. It was insidious. + +"An incident," she repeated. + +"Could I be more?" with sudden fierceness. "Could I be more in any +woman's life? I take myself for what I am, but the world will always +take me for what I have done. Yes, I am Paul Ellison, forgotten, I +hope, by all those who knew me. Why did you seek me that night? Why +did you come into my life to make bitterness become despair? The +blackest kind of despair? Elsa Chetwood, Elsa! . . . Well, the consul +is right. I _am_ a strong man. I can go out of your life, at least +physically. I can say that I love you, and I can add to that good-by!" + +He wheeled abruptly and went quickly down the gallery, bareheaded, +without any destination in his mind, with only one thought, to leave +her before he lost the last shreds of his self-control. + +It was then that Elsa knew her heart. She had spoken truly. She was a +pagan: for, had he turned and held out his hands, she would have gone +to him, gone with him, anywhere in the world, lawfully or unlawfully. + + + + +XIX + +TWO LETTERS + +Elsa sang. She flew to her mirror. The face was hers and yet not +hers. Always her mirror had told her that she was beautiful; but up to +this moment her emotion had recorded nothing stronger than placid +content. Now a supreme gladness filled and tingled her because her +beauty was indisputable. When Martha came to help her dress for +dinner, she still sang. It was a wordless song, a melody that every +human heart contains and which finds expression but once. Elsa loved. + +Doubt, that arch-enemy of love and faith and hope, doubt had spread its +dark pinions and flown away into yesterdays. She felt the zest and +exhilaration of a bird just given its freedom. Once she slipped from +Martha's cunning hands and ran out upon the gallery. + +"Elsa, your waist!" + +Elsa laughed and held out her bare arms to the faded sky where, but a +little while since, the sun had burned a pathway down the world. All +in an hour, one small trifling space of time, this wonderful, magical +thing had happened. He loved her. There had been hunger for her in +his voice, in his blue eyes. Presently she was going to make him feel +very sorry that he had not taken her in his arms, then and there. + +"Oh, beautiful world!" + +"Elsa, what in mercy's name possesses you?" + +"I am mad, Martha, mad as a March hare, whatever that is!" She loved. + +"People will think so, if they happen to come along and see that waist. +Please come instantly and let me finish hooking it. You act like you +did when you were ten. You never would stand still." + +"Yes, and I remember how you used to yank my pig-tails. I haven't +really forgiven you yet." + +"I believe it's going home that's the matter with you. Well, I for one +shall be glad to leave this horrid country. Chinamen everywhere, in +your room, at your table, under your feet. And in the streets, +Chinamen and Malays and Hindus, and I don't know what other outlandish +races and tribes. . . . Why, what's this?" cried Martha, bending to +the floor. + +Elsa ran back to the room. She gave a little gasp when she saw what it +was that Martha was holding out for her inspection. It was +Warrington's letter of credit. She had totally forgotten its +existence. Across the face of the thick Manila envelope (more or less +covered with numerals that had been scribbled there by Warrington in an +attempt to compute the interest at six per cent.) which contained the +letters of credit and identification was written in a clerical hand the +owner's name. Martha could not help seeing it. Elsa explained frankly +what it was and how it had come into her possession. Martha was +horrified. + +"Elsa, they might have entered your room; and your jewels lying about +everywhere! How could you be so careless?" + +"But they didn't. I'll return this to Mr. Warrington in the morning; +perhaps to-night, if I see him at dinner." + +"He was in the next room, and we never knew it!" The final hook +snapped into place. "Well, Wednesday our boat leaves;" as if this put +a period to all further discussion anent Mr. Parrot & Co. Nothing very +serious could happen between that time and now. + +"Wednesday night." Elsa began to sing again, but not so joyously. The +petty things of every-day life were lifting their heads once more, and +of necessity she must recognize them. + +She sat at the consul-general's table, informally. There was gay +inconsequential chatter, an exchange of recollections and comparisons +of cities and countries they had visited at separate times; but neither +she nor he mentioned the chief subject of their thoughts. She +refrained because of a strange yet natural shyness of a woman who has +found herself; and he, because from his angle of vision it was best +that Warrington should pass out of her life as suddenly and +mysteriously as he had entered it. Had he spoken frankly he would have +saved Elsa many a bitter heartache, many a weary day. + +Warrington was absent, and so were his enemies. If there was any truth +in reincarnation, Elsa was confident that in the splendid days of Rome +she had beaten her pink palms in applause of the gladiators. Pagan; +she was all of that; for she knew that she could have looked upon +Mallow's face with more than ordinary interest. Never more would her +cheeks burn at the recollection of the man's look. + +She was twenty-five; she had waited longer than most women; the mistake +of haste would never be hers. Nor did she close her eyes to the +future. She knew exactly what the world was, and how it would act. +She was not making any sacrifices. She was not one of those women, +lightly balanced, who must have excitement in order to exist; she +depended upon herself for her amusements. With the man she loved she +would have shared a hut in the wilderness and been happy. One of the +things that had drawn her to Arthur had been his quiet love of the +open, his interest in flowers and forests and streams. Society, that +division of classes, she had accepted, but to it she had never bowed +down. How very well she could do without it! She would go with him +and help him build his bridges, help him to fight torrents and +hurricanes, and to forget. That he had bidden her farewell was +nothing. She would seek him. In her pursuit of happiness she was not +going to permit false modesty to intervene. In her room, later, she +wrote two letters. The one to Arthur covered several pages; the other +consisted of a single line. She went down to the office, mailed +Arthur's letter and left the note in Warrington's key-box. It was not +an intentionally cruel letter she had written to the man in America; +but if she had striven toward that effect she could not have achieved +it more successfully. She cried out against the way he had treated his +brother, the false pride that had hidden all knowledge of him from her. +Where were the charity and mercy of which he had so often preached? +Pages of burning reproaches which seared the soul of the man who read +them. She did not confide the state of her heart. It was not +necessary. The arraignment of the one and the defense of the other +were sufficiently illuminating. + +Soundly the happy sleep. She did not hear the removal of Warrington's +luggage at midnight, for it was stealthily done. Neither did she hear +the fretful mutter of the bird as his master disturbed his slumbers. +Nothing warned her that he intended to spend the night on board; that, +having paid his bill early in the evening, her note might have lain in +the key-box until the crack of doom, so far as he was likely to know of +its existence. No angel of pity whispered to her, Awake! No +dream-magic people tell about drew for her the picture of the man she +loved, pacing up and down the cramped deck of the packet-boat, fighting +a battle compared to which that of the afternoon was play. Elsa slept +on, dreamless. + +When she awoke in the morning she ran to the mirror: all this fresh +beauty she was going to give to him, without condition, without +reservation, absolutely: as Aspasia might have rendered her charms to +Pericles. She dressed quickly, singing lowly. Fate makes us the +happiest when she is about to crush us. + +Usually she had her breakfast served in the room, but this morning she +was determined to go downstairs. She was excited; she brimmed with +exuberance; she wanted Romance to begin at once. + +"Good-morning," she greeted the consul-general, who was breakfasting +alone. + +"Well, you're an early bird!" he replied. "Elsa, you are certainly +beautiful." + +"Honestly?" with real eagerness. + +"Honestly. And how you have gone all these years without marrying a +grand duke, is something I can't figure out." + +"Perhaps I have been waiting for the man. There was no real hurry." + +"Lucky chap, when you find him. By the way, our romantic Parrot & Co. +have gone." + +"Gone?" Elsa stared at him. + +"Yes. Sailed for Saigon at dawn." + +"Saigon," she repeated. + +"And I am rather glad to see him go. I was afraid he might interest +you too much. You'll deny it, but you'll never outgrow the fairy-story +age." + +"Saigon." + +"Good heavens, Elsa, what is the matter?" + +"No, no! Don't touch me. I'm not the fainting kind. Did you know +last night that he was going?" + +"Yes." + +"I shall never forgive you." + +"Why, Elsa . . ." + +"Never, never! You knew and did not tell me. Do you know who Paul +Ellison is? He is the brother of the man at home. You knew he was +stealing away and did not tell me." + +She could not have made the truth any plainer to him. He sat back in +his chair, stunned, voiceless. + +"I am going to my room," she said. "Do not follow. Please act as if +nothing had happened." + +He saw her walk bravely the length of the dining-room, out into the +office. What a misfortune! Argument was out of the question. Elsa +was not a child, to be reasoned with. She was a woman, and she had +come to a woman's understanding of her heart. To place before her the +true angles of the case, the heartless banishment from the world she +knew, the regret which would be hers later, no matter how much she +loved the man . . . He pushed back his chair, leaving his coffee +untasted. + +He possessed the deep understanding of the kindly heart, and his one +thought was Elsa's future happiness. As men go, Warrington was an +honorable man; honorable enough to run away rather than risk the danger +of staying where Elsa was. He was no longer an outlaw; he could go and +come as he would. But there was that misstep, not printed in shifting +sand but upon the granite of recollection. Single, he could go back to +his world and pick up the threads again, but not with a wife at his +side. Oh, yes; they would be happy at first. Then Elsa would begin to +miss the things she had so gloriously thrown away. The rift in the +lute; the canker in the rose. They were equally well-born, well-bred; +politeness would usurp affection's hold. Could he save her from the +day when she would learn Romance had come from within? No. All he +could do was to help her find the man. + +He sent five cablegrams to Saigon, to the consulate, to the principal +hotels: the most difficult composition he had ever attacked. But +because he had forgotten to send the sixth to meet the packet-boat, +against the possibility of Warrington changing his mind and not +landing, his labor was thrown to the winds. + +Meantime Elsa stopped at the office-desk. "I left a note for Mr. +Warrington who has gone to Saigon. I see it in his key-box. Will you +please return it to me?" + +The clerk did not hesitate an instant. He gravely returned the note to +her, marveling at her paleness. Elsa crushed the note in her hand and +moved toward the stairs, wondering if she could reach her room before +she broke down utterly. He had gone. He had gone without knowing that +all he wanted in life was his for the taking. In her room she opened +the note and through blurred vision read what she had so happily +inscribed the night before. "Paul--I love you. Come to me. Elsa." +She had written it, unashamed. + +She flung herself upon the bed, and there Martha found her. + +"Elsa, child, what is it?" Martha cried, kneeling beside the bed. +"Child, what has happened?" + +Elsa sat up, seized Martha by the shoulders and stared into the +faithful eyes. + +"Do you want to know?" + +"Elsa!" + +"Well, I love this man Warrington and he loves me. But he has gone. +Can't you see? Don't you understand? Have you been as blind as I? He +is Paul Ellison, Arthur's brother, his twin brother. And they +obliterated him. It is Arthur who is the ghost, Martha, the phantom. +Ah, I have caused you a good deal of worry, and I am going to cause you +yet more. I am going to Saigon; up and down the world, east and west, +until I find him. Shall I go alone, or will you go with me?" + +Then Martha did what ever after endeared her to the heart of the +stricken girl: she mothered her. "Elsa, my baby! Of course I shall go +with you, always. For you could not love any man if he was not worthy." + +Then followed the strangest quest doubtless ever made by a woman. From +Singapore to Saigon, up to Bangkok, down to Singapore again; to +Batavia, over to Hongkong, Shanghai, Pekin, Manila, Hongkong again, +then Yokohama. Patient and hopeful, Elsa followed the bewildering +trail. She left behind her many puzzled hotel managers and booking +agents: for it was not usual for a beautiful young woman to go about +the world, inquiring for a blond man with a parrot. Sometimes she was +only a day late. Many cablegrams she sent, but upon her arrival in +each port she found that these had not been called for. Over these +heart-breaking disappointments she uttered no complaint. The world was +big and wide; be it never so big and wide, Elsa knew that some day she +would find him. + +In the daytime there was the quest; but, ah! the nights, the +interminable hours of inaction, the spaces of time in which she could +only lie back and think. Up and down the coasts, across islands, over +seas, the journey took her, until one day in July she found herself +upon the pillared veranda of the house in which her mother had been +born. + + + + +XX + +THE TWO BROTHERS + +From port to port, sometimes not stepping off the boat at all, moody, +restless and irritable, Warrington wended his way home. There was +nothing surprising in the fact that he never inquired for mail. Who +was there to write? Besides, he sought only the obscure hotels, where +he was not likely to meet any of his erstwhile fellow passengers. The +mockery and uselessness of his home-going became more and more apparent +as the days slipped by. Often he longed to fly back to the jungles, to +James, and leave matters as they were. Here and there, along the way, +he had tried a bit of luxury; but the years of economy and frugality +had robbed him of the ability to enjoy it. He was going home . . . to +what? Surely there would be no welcome for him at his journey's end. +He would return after the manner of prodigals in general, not +scriptural, to find that he was not wanted. Of his own free will he +had gone out of their lives. + +He fought grimly against the thought of Elsa; but he was not strong +enough to vanquish the longings from his heart and mind. Always when +alone she was in fancy with him, now smiling amusedly into his face, +now peering down at the phosphorescence seething alongside, now +standing with her chin up-lifted, her eyes half shut, letting the +strong winds strike full in her face. Many a "good night" he sent over +the seas. An incident; that would be all. + +His first day in New York left him with nothing more than a feeling of +foreboding and oppression. The expected exhilaration of returning to +the city of his birth did not materialize. So used to open spaces was +he, to distances and the circle of horizons, that he knew he no longer +belonged to the city with its Himalayan gorges and canons, whose +torrents were human beings and whose glaciers were the hearts of these. +A great loneliness bore down on him. For months he had been drawing +familiar pictures, and to find none of these was like coming home to an +empty house. The old life was indeed gone; there were no threads to +resume. A hotel stood where his club had been; the house in which he +had spent his youth was no more. He wanted to leave the city; and the +desire was with difficulty overcome. + +Early the second morning he started down-town to the offices of the +Andes Construction Company. He was extraordinarily nervous. Cold +sweat continually moistened his palms. Change, change, everywhere +change; Trinity was like an old friend. When the taxicab driver threw +off the power and indicated with a jerk of his head a granite shaft +that soared up into the blue, Warrington asked: + +"What place is this?" + +"The Andes Building, sir. The construction company occupies the top +floor." + +"Very good," replied Warrington, paying and discharging the man. + +From a reliquary of the Dutch, an affair of red-brick, four stories +high, this monolith had sprung. With a sigh Warrington entered the +cavernous door-way and stepped into an "express-elevator." When the +car arrived at the twenty-second story, Warrington was alone. He +paused before the door of the vice-president. He recalled the "old +man," thin-lipped, blue-eyed, eruptive. It was all very strange, this +request to make the restitution in person. Well he would soon learn +why. + +He drew the certified check from his wallet and scrutinized it +carefully. Twelve thousand, eight hundred dollars. He replaced it, +opened the door, and walked in. A boy met him at the railing and +briskly inquired his business. + +"I wish to see Mr. Elmore." + +"Your card." + +Card? Warrington had not possessed such a thing in years. "I have no +cards with me. But I have an appointment with Mr. Elmore. Tell him +that Mr. Ellison is here." + +The boy returned promptly and signified that Mr. Elmore was at liberty. +But it was not the "old man" who looked up from a busy man's desk. It +was the son: so far, the one familiar face Warrington had seen since +his arrival. There was no hand-shaking; there was nothing in evidence +on either side to invite it. + +"Ah! Sit down, Paul. Let no one disturb me for an hour," the young +vice-president advised the boy. "And close the door as you go out." + +Warrington sat down; the bridge-builder whirled his chair around and +stared at his visitor, not insolently, but with kindly curiosity. + +"You've filled out," was all he said. After fully satisfying his eyes, +he added: "I dare say you expected to find father. He's been gone six +years," indicating one of the two portraits over his desk. + +It was not at the "old man" Warrington looked longest. "Who is the +other?" he asked. + +"What? You worked four years with this company and don't recollect +that portrait?" + +"Frankly, I never noticed it before." Warrington placed the certified +check on the desk. "With interest," he said. + +The vice-president crackled it, ran his fingers over his smooth chin, +folded the check and extended it toward the astonished wanderer. + +"We don't want that, Paul. What we wanted was to get you back. There +was no other way. Your brother made up the loss the day after +you . . . went away. There was no scandal. Only a few of us in the +office knew. Never got to the newspapers." + +It was impossible for Warrington to digest this astounding information +at once. His mind could only repeat the phrases: no scandal, only a +few of us in the office knew, never got to the newspapers. For ten +years he had hidden himself in wildernesses, avoided hotels, read no +American newspapers, never called for mail. Oh, monumental fool! + +"And I could have come home almost at once!" he said aloud, addressing +the crumpled check in his hand rather than the man in the swivel-chair. + +"Yes. I have often wondered where you were, what you were doing. You +and your brother were upper-classmen. I never knew Arthur very well; +but you and I were chummy, after a fashion. Arthur was a little too +bookish for my style. Didn't we use to call you Old Galahad? You were +always walloping the bullies and taking the weaker chaps under your +wing. To me, you were the last man in the world for this business. +Moreover, I never could understand, nor could father, how you got it, +for you were not an office-man. Women and cards, I suppose. Father +said that you had the making of a great engineer. Fierce place, this +old town," waving his hand toward the myriad sparkling roofs and towers +and spires. "Have to be strong and hard-headed to survive it. Built +anything since you've been away?" + +"In Cashmir." To have thrown away a decade! + +"Glad you kept your hand in. I dare say you've seen a lot of life." To +the younger man it was an extremely awkward interview. + +"Yes; I've seen life," dully. + +"Orient, mostly, I suppose. Your letter about the strike in oil was +mighty interesting. Heap of money over there, if they'd only let us +smart chaps in to dig it up. Now, old man, I want you to wipe the +slate clear of these ten years. We'll call it a bad dream. What are +your plans for the future?" + +"Plans?" Warrington looked up blankly. He realized that he had made +no plans for the future. + +"Yes. What do you intend to do? A man like you wasn't made for +idleness. Look here, Paul; I'm not going to beat about the bush. +We've got a whopping big contract from the Chinese government, and we +need a man to take charge, a man who knows and understands something of +the yellow people. How about a salary of ten thousand a year for two +years, to begin in October?" + +Warrington twisted the check. Work, rehabilitation. + +"Could you trust me?" he asked quietly. + +"With anything I have in the world. Understand, Paul, there's no +philanthropic string to this offer. You've pulled through a devil of a +hole. You're a man. I should not be holding down this chair if I +couldn't tell a man at a glance. We were together two months in Peru. +I'm familiar with your work. Do you want to know whose portrait that +is up there? Well, it's General Chetwood's, the founder of this +concern, the silent partner. The man who knew kings and potentates and +told 'em that they needed bridges in their backyards. This building +belongs to his daughter. She converted her stock into granite. About +a month ago I received a letter from her. It directly concerned you. +It seems she learned through the consul-general at Singapore that you +had worked with us. She's like her father, a mighty keen judge of +human nature. Frankly, this offer comes through her advices. To +satisfy yourself, you can give us a surety-bond for fifty thousand. +It's not obligatory, however." + +Elsa Chetwood. She had her father's eyes, and it was this which had +drawn his gaze to the portrait. Chetwood; and Arthur had not known any +more than he had. What irony! Ten years wasted . . . for nothing! +Warrington laughed aloud. A weakness seized him, like that of a man +long gone hungry. + +"Buck up, Paul," warned the good Samaritan. "All this kind of knocks +the wind out of you. I know. But what I've offered you is in good +faith. Will you take it?" + +"Yes," simply. + +"That's the way to talk. Supposing you go out to lunch with me? We'll +talk it over like old times." + +"No. I haven't seen . . ." + +"To be sure! I forgot. Do you know where they live, your mother and +brother?" + +"No. I expected to ask you." + +The vice-president scribbled down the address. "I believe you'll find +them both there, though Arthur, I understand, is almost as great a +traveler as you are. Of course you want to see them, you poor beggar! +The Southwestern will pull you almost up to the door. After the +reunion, you hike back here, and we'll get down to the meat of the +business." + +"John," said Warrington, huskily, "you're a man." + +"Oh, piffle! It's not all John. The old man left word that if you +ever turned up again to hang on to you. You were valuable. And +there's Miss Chetwood. If you want to thank anybody, thank her." +Warrington missed the searching glance, which was not without its touch +of envy. "You'd better be off. Hustle back as soon as you can." +Elmore offered his hand now. "Gad! but you haven't lost any of your +old grip." + +"I'm a bit dazed. The last six months have loosened up my nerves." + +"Nobody's made of iron." + +"I'd sound hollow if I tried to say what I feel. I'll be back a week +from to-day." + +"I'll look for you." + +As the door closed behind Warrington, the young millionaire sat down, +scowling at a cubby-hole in his desk. He presently took out a letter +postmarked Yokohama. He turned it about in his hands, musingly. +Without reading it (for he knew its contents well!) he thrust it back +into the cubby-hole. Women were out of his sphere. He could build a +bridge within a dollar of the bid; but he knew nothing about women +beyond the fact that they were always desirable. + +A few monosyllables, a sentence or two, and then, good day. The +average man would have recounted every incident of note during those +ten years. He did not admire Warrington any the less for his +reticence. It took a strong man to hold himself together under all +these blows from the big end of fortune's horn. + +He had known the two brothers at college, and to Paul he had given a +freshman's worship. In the field Paul had been the idol, and popular +not only for his feats of strength but for his lovableness. He +recalled the affection between the two boys. Arthur admired Paul for +his strength, Paul admired and gloried in his brother's learning. +Never would he forget that commencement-day, when the two boys in their +mortar-boards, their beautiful mother between them, arm in arm, walked +across the green of the campus. It was an unforgettable picture. + +Paul was a born-engineer; Arthur had entered the office as a +make-shift. Paul had taken eight-thousand one day, and decamped. +Arthur had refunded the sum, and disappeared. Elmore could not +understand, nor could his father. Perhaps some of the truth would now +come to light. Somehow, Paul, with his blond beard and blonder head, +his bright eyes, his tan, his big shoulders, somehow Paul was out of +date. He did not belong to the times. + +And Elsa had met him over there; practically ordered (though she had no +authority) that he should be given a start anew; that, moreover, she +would go his bond to any amount. Funny old world! Well, he was glad. +Paul was a man, a big man, and that was the sort needed in the foreign +bridge-building. He rolled down the top of his desk and left the +building. He was in no mood for work. + +The evening of the third day found Warrington in the baggage-car, +feeding a dilapidated feather-molting bird, who was in a most +scandalous temper. Rajah scattered the seeds about, spurned the +banana-tip, tilted the water-cup and swashbuckled generally. By and +by, above the clack-clack of wheels and rails, came a crooning song. +The baggage-man looked up from his way-book and lowered his pipe. He +saw the little green bird pause and begin to keep time with its head. +It was the Urdu lullaby James used to sing. It never failed to quiet +the little parrot. Warrington went back to his Pullman, where the +porter greeted him with the information that the next stop would be +his. Ten minutes later he stepped from the train, a small kit-bag in +one hand and the parrot-cage in the other. + +He had come prepared for mistake on the part of the natives. The +single smart cabman lifted his hat, jumped down from the box, and +opened the door. Warrington entered without speaking. The door +closed, and the coupe rolled away briskly. He was perfectly sure of +his destination. The cabman had mistaken him for Arthur. It would be +better so. There would be no after complications when he departed on +the morrow. As the coupe took a turn, he looked out of the window. +They were entering a driveway, lined on each side of which were +chestnuts. Indeed, the house was set in the center of a grove of these +splendid trees. The coupe stopped. + +"Wait," said Warrington, alighting. + +"Yes, sir." + +Warrington went up the broad veranda steps and pulled the old-fashioned +bell-cord. He was rather amazed at his utter lack of agitation. He +was as calm as if he were making a call upon a casual acquaintance. +His mother and brother, whom he had not seen in ten years! The great +oak-door drew in, and he entered unceremoniously. + +"Why, Marse A'thuh, I di'n't see yo' go out!" exclaimed the old negro +servant. + +"I am not Arthur; I am his brother Paul. Which door?" + +Pop-eyed, the old negro pointed to a door down the hall. Then he +leaned against the banister and caught desperately at the spindles. +For the voice was not Arthur's. + +Warrington opened the door, closed it gently and stood with his back to +it. At a desk in the middle of the room sat a man, busy with books. +He raised his head. + +"Arthur, don't you know me?" + +"Paul?" + +The chair overturned; some books thudded dully upon the rug. Arthur +leaned with his hands tense upon the desk. Paul sustained the look, +his eyes sad and his face pale and grave. + + + + +XXI + +HE THAT WAS DEAD + +"Yes, it is I, the unlucky penny; Old Galahad, in flesh and blood and +bone. I shouldn't get white over it, Arthur. It isn't worth while. I +can see that you haven't changed much, unless it is that your hair is a +little paler at the temples. Gray? I'll wager I've a few myself." +There was a flippancy in his tone that astonished Warrington's own +ears, for certainly this light mockery did not come from within. At +heart he was sober enough. + +To steady the thundering beat of his pulse he crossed the room, righted +the chair, stacked the books and laid them on the desk. Arthur did not +move save to turn his head and to follow with fascinated gaze his +brother's movements. + +"Now, Arthur, I've only a little while. I can see by your eyes that +you are conjuring up all sorts of terrible things. But nothing is +going to happen. I am going to talk to you; then I'm going away; and +to-morrow it will be easy to convince yourself that you have seen only +a ghost. Sit down. I'll take this chair at the left." + +Arthur's hands slid from the desk; in a kind of collapse he sat down. +Suddenly he laid his head upon his arms, and a great sigh sent its +tremor across his shoulders. Warrington felt his heart swell. The +past faded away; his wrongs became vapors. He saw only his brother, +the boy he had loved so devotedly, Arty, his other self, his scholarly +other self. Why blame Arthur? He, Paul, was the fool. + +"Don't take it like that, Arty," he said. + +The other's hand stretched out blindly toward the voice. "Ah, great +God, Paul!" + +"I know! Perhaps I've brooded too much." Warrington crushed the hand +in his two strong ones. "The main fault was mine. I couldn't see the +length of my nose. I threw a temptation in your way which none but a +demi-god could have resisted. That night, when I got your note telling +me what you had done, I did a damnably foolish thing. I went to the +club-bar and drank heavily. I was wild to help you, but I couldn't see +how. At two in the morning I thought I saw the way. Drunken men get +strange ideas into their heads. You were the apple of the mother's +eyes; I was only her son. No use denying it. She worshiped you; +tolerated me. I came back to the house, packed up what I absolutely +needed, and took the first train west. It all depended upon what you'd +do. You let me go, Arty, old boy. I suppose you were pretty well +knocked up, when you learned what I had done. And then you let things +drift. It was only natural. I had opened the way for you. Mother, +learning that I was a thief, restored the defalcation to save the +family honor, which was your future. We were always more or less +hard-pressed for funds. I did not gamble, but I wasted a lot. The +mother gave us an allowance of five thousand each. To this I managed +to add another five and you another four. You were always borrowing +from me. I never questioned what you did with it. I would to God I +had! It would have saved us a lot of trouble." + +The hand in his relaxed and slipped from the clasp. + +"Some of these things will sound bitter, but the heart behind them +isn't. So I did what I thought to be a great and glorious thing. I +was sober when I reached Chicago. I saw my deed from another angle. +Think of it; we could have given our joint note to mother's bank for +the amount. Old Henderson would have discounted it in a second. It +was too late. I went on. The few hundreds I had gave out. I've been +up against it pretty hard. There were times when I envied the +pariah-dog. But fortune came around one day, knocked, and I let her +in. I returned to make a restitution, only to learn that it had been +made by you, long ago. A trick of young Elmore's. I shouldn't have +come back if I could have sent the money." + +Arthur raised his head and sat up. "Ah, why did you not write? Why +did you not let me know where you were? God is my witness, if there is +a corner of this world unsearched for you. For two years I had a man +hunting. He gave up. I believed you dead." + +"Dead? Well, I was in a sense." + +"You have suffered, but not as I have. Always you had before you your +great, splendid, foolish sacrifice. I had nothing to buoy me up; there +was only the drag of the recollection of an evil deed, and a moment of +pitiful weakness. The temptation was too great, Paul." + +"How did it happen?" + +"How does anything like that happen? Curiosity drew me first, for at +college I never played but a few games of bridge. Curiosity, desire, +then the full blaze of the passion. You will never know what that is, +Paul. It is stronger than love, or faith, or honor. God knows I never +thought myself weak; at school I was the least impetuous of the two. +Everything went, and they cheated me from the start. Roulette and +faro. Then I put my hand in the safe. To this day I can not tell why. +I owed nothing to those despicable thieves, Craig least of all." + +"Craig. I met him over there. Pummeled him." + +"I didn't act like a man. Some day a comfortable fortune would fall to +the lot of each of us. But I took eight thousand, lost it, and came +whining to you. You don't belong to this petty age, Paul. You ought +to have been a fellow of the Round Table." Arthur smiled wanly. "To +throw your life away like that, for a brother who wasn't fit to lace +your shoes! If you had written you would have learned that everything +was smoothed over. The Andes people dropped the matter entirely. You +loved the mother far better than I." + +"And she must never know," quietly. + +"Do you mean that?" + +"I always mean everything I say, Arty. Can't you see the uselessness +of telling her now? She has gone all these years with the belief that +I am a thief. A thief, Arty, I, who never stole anything save a +farmer's apples. They would have called you a defaulter; that's +because you had access to the safe, whereas I had none." Arthur +winced. "I don't propose to disillusion the mother. I am strong +enough to go away without seeing her; and God knows how my heart +yearns, and my ears and eyes and arms." + +Warrington reached mechanically for the portrait in the silver frame, +but Arthur stayed his hand. + +"No, Paul; that is mine." + +Warrington dropped his hand, puzzled. "I was not going to destroy it," +ironically. + +"No; but in a sense you have destroyed me. Compensation. What +trifling thought most of us give that word! The law of compensation. +For ten years Elsa has been the flower o' the corn for me. She almost +loved me. And one day she sees you; and in that one day all that I had +gained was lost, and all that you had lost was gained. The law of +compensation. Sometimes we escape retribution, but never the law of +compensation. Some months ago she wrote me a letter. She was always +direct. It was a just letter." + +A pause. Arthur gazed steadily at the portrait, while Warrington +twisted his yellow beard. + +"The ways of mothers are mysterious," said the latter, finally. He +wondered if Arthur would confess to the blacker deed, or have it forced +from him. He would wait and see. "The father and the mother weren't +happy. Money. There's the wedge. It's in every life somewhere. A +marriage of convenience is an unwise thing. When we were born the +mother turned to us. Up to the time we were six or seven there was no +distinction in her love for us. But on the day the father set his +choice upon me, she set hers upon you. You'll never know how I +suffered as a boy, when I saw the distance growing wider and wider with +the years. Perhaps the father understood, for he was always kind and +gentle to me. I expect to return to China shortly. The Andes has +taken me back. Sounds like a fairy-tale; eh? I shall never return +here. But did you know who Elsa Chetwood was?" + +"Not until that letter came." + +Neither of them heard the faint gasp which came from behind the +portieres dividing the study and the living-room. The gasp had +followed the invisible knife-thrusts of these confidences. The woman +behind those portieres swayed and caught blindly at the jamb. With +cruel vividness she saw in this terrible moment all that to which she +had never given more than a passing thought. No reproaches; only a +simple declaration of what had burned in this boy's heart. And she had +almost forgotten this son. A species of paralysis laid hold of her, +leaving her for the time incapable of movement. + +She heard the deep voice of this other son say: + +"Lots of kinks in life. There is only one law that I shall lay down +for you, Arty. You must give up all idea of marrying Elsa Chetwood." + +"It will be easy to obey that. Are you playing with me, Paul?" + +"Playing?" echoed Warrington. + +"Yes. Do you mean to sit there and tell me that you don't know why I +shall never marry her?" + +"Arty, I don't understand what you're talking about." + +Arthur read the truth in his brother's eyes. He smiled weakly, the +anger gone. "Same old blind duffer you always were. I wrote an answer +to her letter. In that letter I told her . . . the truth." + +"You did that?" + +"I am your brother, Paul. I couldn't be a cad as well as a thief. +Yes, I told her. I told her more, what you never knew. I let Craig +believe that I was you, Paul. I wore your clothes, your scarf-pins, +your hats. In that I was a black villain. God! What a hell I lived +in. . . . Ah, mother!" Arthur dropped his head upon his arms again. + +"Paul, my son!" + +It was Warrington's chair that toppled over. Framed in the portieres +stood his mother, white-haired, pale but as beautiful as of old. + +"I am sorry. I had hoped to get away without your knowing." + +"Why?" + +"Oh, because there wasn't any use of my coming at all. I'd passed out +of your life, and I should have stayed out. Don't worry. I've got +everything mapped out. There's a train at midnight." + +Arthur stood up. "Mother, I am the guilty man. I was the thief. All +these years I've let you believe that Paul had taken the money. . . ." + +"Yes, yes!" she interrupted, never taking her eyes off this other son. +"I heard everything behind these curtains. You were going away, Paul, +without seeing me?" + +"What was the use of stirring up old matters? Of bringing confusion +into this house?" He did not look at her. He could not tell her that +he now knew what had drawn him hither, that all along he had deceived +himself. + +"Paul, my son, I have been a wicked woman." + +"Why, mother, you mustn't talk like that!" + +"Wicked! My son, my silent, kindly, chivalric boy, will you forgive +your mother? Your unnatural mother?" + +He caught her before her knees touched the floor; and, ah! how hungrily +her arms wound about him. + +[Illustration: He That Was Dead.] + +"What's the use of lying?" he cried brokenly. "My mother! I wanted to +hear your voice and feel your arms. You don't know how I have always +loved you. It was a long time, a very long time. Perhaps I was to be +blamed. I was proud, and kept away from you. Don't cry. There, +there! I can go away now, happy." Over his mother's shoulders, now +moving with silent stabbing sobs, he held out his hand to his brother. +Presently, above the two bowed heads, Warrington's own rose, +transfigured with happiness. + +The hall-door opened and closed, but none of them regarded it. + +By and by the mother stood away, but within arm's length. "How big and +strong you have grown, Paul." + +"In heart, too, mother," added Arthur. "Old Galahad!" + +"You must never leave us again, Paul. Promise." + +"May I always come back?" + +"Always!" And she took his hand and pressed it tightly against her +cheek. "Always! Ah, your poor blind mother!" + +"Always to come back! . . . I am going to China in a little while, to +take up the work I have always loved, the building of bridges." + +"And I am going, too!" It was Elsa, at her journey's end. + +Jealous love is keen of eye. There was death in Arthur's heart, but he +smiled at her. After all, what was more logical than that she should +appear at this moment? Why sip the cup when it might be drained at +once, over with and done with? + +"Elsa!" said the mother, holding Warrington's hand in closer grasp. + +"Yes, mother. Ah, why did you not tell me all?" + +Arthur walked to the long window that opened put upon the garden. +There, for a moment, he paused, then passed from the room. + +"Go to him, mother," said Elsa, wisely and with pity. + +The mother hesitated, pulled by the old and the new love, by the fear +that the new-found could be hers but a little while. Slowly she let +Paul's hand fall, and slower still she followed Arthur's footsteps. + +"I wasn't quite brave enough," he said, when she found him. "They +love. And love me well, mother, for I am the broken man." + +She pressed his head against her heart. "My boy!" But her glance was +leveled at the amber-tinted window through which she had come. + +To Warrington, Elsa was a little thinner, and of color there was none; +but her eyes shone with all the splendor of the Oriental stars at which +he had so often gazed with mute inquiry. + +"Galahad!" she said, and smiled. "Well, what have you to say?" + +"I? In God's name, what can I say but that I love you?" + +"Well, say it, and stop the ache in my heart! Say it, and make me +forget the weary eighteen thousand miles I have journeyed to find you! +Say it, and hold me close for I am tired! . . . Listen!" she +whispered, lifting her head from his shoulder. + +From out the stillness of the summer night came a jarring note, the +eternal protest of Rajah. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARROT & CO.*** + + +******* This file should be named 18443.txt or 18443.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/8/4/4/18443 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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