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diff --git a/old/52363-0.txt b/old/52363-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 91d3b71..0000000 --- a/old/52363-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9253 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Chicago Princess, by Francis P. Barr - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Chicago Princess - -Author: Francis P. Barr - -Illustrator: Francis P. Wightman - -Release Date: June 18, 2016 [EBook #52363] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHICAGO PRINCESS *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note - - -This Table of Contents was added by the Transcriber and placed in the -Public Domain. - - -CONTENTS - - PAGE - CHAPTER I 1 - CHAPTER II 10 - CHAPTER III 25 - CHAPTER IV 37 - CHAPTER V 52 - CHAPTER VI 59 - CHAPTER VII 77 - CHAPTER VIII 90 - CHAPTER IX 101 - CHAPTER X 109 - CHAPTER XI 124 - CHAPTER XII 132 - CHAPTER XIII 143 - CHAPTER XIV 155 - CHAPTER XV 170 - CHAPTER XVI 180 - CHAPTER XVII 194 - CHAPTER XVIII 202 - CHAPTER XIX 219 - CHAPTER XX 239 - CHAPTER XXI 248 - CHAPTER XXII 264 - CHAPTER XXIII 274 - CHAPTER XXIV 288 - CHAPTER XXV 299 - - - - -A CHICAGO PRINCESS - - - - - A CHICAGO - PRINCESS - - By ROBERT BARR - - Author of “Over the Border,” “The Victors,” “Tekla,” - “In the Midst of Alarms,” “A Woman Intervenes,” etc. - - Illustrated by FRANCIS P. WIGHTMAN - - - [Illustration] - - - New York · FREDERICK A. - STOKES COMPANY · Publishers - - - - - _Copyright, 1904, by_ - - ROBERT BARR - - - _All rights reserved_ - - This edition published in June, 1904 - - - - -A CHICAGO PRINCESS - - - - -CHAPTER I - - -When I look back upon a certain hour of my life it fills me with wonder -that I should have been so peacefully happy. Strange as it may seem, -utter despair is not without its alloy of joy. The man who daintily -picks his way along a muddy street is anxious lest he soil his polished -boots, or turns up his coat collar to save himself from the shower that -is beginning, eager then to find a shelter; but let him inadvertently -step into a pool, plunging head over ears into foul water, and after -that he has no more anxiety. Nothing that weather can inflict will add -to his misery, and consequently a ray of happiness illumines his gloomy -horizon. He has reached the limit; Fate can do no more; and there is -a satisfaction in attaining the ultimate of things. So it was with me -that beautiful day; I had attained my last phase. - -I was living in the cheapest of all paper houses, living as the -Japanese themselves do, on a handful of rice, and learning by -experience how very little it requires to keep body and soul together. -But now, when I had my next meal of rice, it would be at the expense -of my Japanese host, who was already beginning to suspect,--so it -seemed to me,--that I might be unable to liquidate whatever debt I -incurred. He was very polite about it, but in his twinkling little -eyes there lurked suspicion. I have travelled the whole world over, -especially the East, and I find it the same everywhere. When a man -comes down to his final penny, some subtle change in his deportment -seems to make the whole world aware of it. But then, again, this -supposed knowledge on the part of the world may have existed only in my -own imagination, as the Christian Scientists tell us every ill resides -in the mind. Perhaps, after all, my little bowing landlord was not -troubling himself about the payment of the bill, and I only fancied him -uneasy. - -If an untravelled person, a lover of beauty, were sitting in my place -on that little elevated veranda, it is possible the superb view spread -out before him might account for serenity in circumstances which to -the ordinary individual would be most depressing. But the view was an -old companion of mine; goodness knows I had looked at it often enough -when I climbed that weary hill and gazed upon the town below me, and -the magnificent harbor of Nagasaki spreading beyond. The water was -intensely blue, dotted with shipping of all nations, from the stately -men-of-war to the ocean tramps and the little coasting schooners. It -was an ever-changing, animated scene; but really I had had enough of it -during all those ineffective months of struggle in the attempt to earn -even the rice and the poor lodging which I enjoyed. - -[Illustration: “The twinkling eyes of the Emperor fixed themselves on -Miss Hemster.” - - _Page 144_ -] - -Curiously, it was not of this harbor I was thinking, but of another in -far-distant Europe, that of Boulogne in the north of France, where I -spent a day with my own yacht before I sailed for America. And it was a -comical thought that brought the harbor of Boulogne to my mind. I had -seen a street car there, labelled “Le Dernier Sou,” which I translated -as meaning “The Last Cent.” I never took a trip on this street car, -but I presume somewhere in the outskirts of Boulogne there is a suburb -named “The Last Cent,” and I thought now with a laugh: “Here I am in -Japan, and although I did not take that street car, yet I have arrived -at ‘Le Dernier Sou.’” - -This morning I had not gone down to the harbor to prosecute my search -for employment. As with my last cent, I had apparently given that idea -up. There was no employer needing men to whom I had not applied time -and again, willing to take the laborer’s wage for the laborer’s work. -But all my earlier training had been by way of making me a gentleman, -and the manner was still upon me in spite of my endeavors to shake it -off, and I had discovered that business men do not wish gentlemen as -day-laborers. There was every reason that I should be deeply depressed; -yet, strange to say, I was not. Had I at last reached the lotus-eating -content of the vagabond? Was this care-free condition the serenity of -the tramp? Would my next step downward be the unblushing begging of -food, with the confidence that if I were refused at one place I should -receive at another? With later knowledge, looking back at that moment -of mitigated happiness, I am forced to believe that it was the effect -of coming events casting their shadows before. Some occultists tell us -that every action that takes place on the earth, no matter how secretly -done, leaves its impression on some ethereal atmosphere, visible to -a clairvoyant, who can see and describe to us exactly what has taken -place. If this be true, it is possible that our future experiences may -give sub-mental warnings of their approach. - -As I sat there in the warm sunlight and looked over the crowded harbor, -I thought of the phrase, “When my ship comes in.” There was shipping -enough in the bay, and possibly, if I could but have known where, -some friend of mine might at that moment be tramping a white deck, -or sitting in a steamer chair, looking up at terrace upon terrace of -the toy houses among which I kept my residence. Perhaps my ship had -come in already if only I knew which were she. As I lay back on the -light bamboo chair, along which I had thrown myself,--a lounging, -easy, half-reclining affair like those we used to have at college,--I -gazed upon the lower town and harbor, taking in the vast blue surface -of the bay; and there along the indigo expanse of the waters, in -striking contrast to them, floated a brilliantly white ship gradually, -imperceptibly approaching. The canvas, spread wing and wing, as it -increased in size, gave it the appearance of a swan swimming toward me, -and I thought lazily: - -“It is like a dove coming to tell me that my deluge of misery is past, -and there is an olive-branch of foam in its beak.” - -As the whole ship became visible I saw that it, like the canvas, -was pure white, and at first I took it for a large sailing yacht -rapidly making Nagasaki before the gentle breeze that was blowing; -but as she drew near I saw that she was a steamer, whose trim lines, -despite her size, were somewhat unusual in these waters. If this were -indeed a yacht she must be owned by some man of great wealth, for -she undoubtedly cost a fortune to build and a very large income to -maintain. As she approached the more crowded part of the bay, her sails -were lowered and she came slowly in on her own momentum. I fancied I -heard the rattle of the chain as her anchor plunged into the water, and -now I noticed with a thrill that made me sit up in my lounging chair -that the flag which flew at her stern was the Stars and Stripes. It -is true that I had little cause to be grateful to the country which -this piece of bunting represented, for had it not looted me of all I -possessed? Nevertheless in those distant regions an Englishman regards -the United States flag somewhat differently from that of any nation -save his own. Perhaps there is an unconscious feeling of kinship; -perhaps the similarity of language may account for it, because an -Englishman understands American better than any other foreign tongue. -Be that as it may, the listlessness departed from me as I gazed upon -that banner, as crude and gaudy as our own, displaying the most -striking of the primary colors. The yacht rested on the blue waters -as gracefully as if she were a large white waterfowl, and I saw the -sampans swarm around her like a fluffy brood of ducklings. - -And now I became conscious that the most polite individual in the -world was making an effort to secure my attention, yet striving to -accomplish his purpose in the most unobtrusive way. My patient and -respected landlord, Yansan, was making deep obeisances before me, and -he held in his hand a roll which I strongly suspected to be my overdue -bill. I had the merit in Yansan’s eyes of being able to converse with -him in his own language, and the further advantage to myself of being -able to read it; therefore he bestowed upon me a respect which he did -not accord to all Europeans. - -“Ah, Yansan!” I cried to him, taking the bull by the horns, “I was -just thinking of you. I wish you would be more prompt in presenting -your account. By such delay errors creep into it which I am unable to -correct.” - -Yansan awarded me three bows, each lower than the one preceding it, -and, while bending his back, endeavored, though with some confusion, -to conceal the roll in his wide sleeve. Yansan was possessed of much -shrewdness, and the bill certainly was a long standing one. - -“Your Excellency,” he began, “confers too much honor on the dirt -beneath your feet by mentioning the trivial sum that is owing. -Nevertheless, since it is your Excellency’s command, I shall at once -retire and prepare the document for you.” - -“Oh, don’t trouble about that, Yansan,” I said, “just pull it out of -your sleeve and let me look over it.” - -The wrinkled face screwed itself up into a grimace more like that of a -monkey than usual, and so, with various genuflections, Yansan withdrew -the roll and proffered it to me. Therein, in Japanese characters, -was set down the long array of my numerous debts to him. Now, in -whatever part of the world a man wishes to delay the payment of a bill, -the proper course is to dispute one or more of its items, and this -accordingly I proceeded to do. - -“I grieve to see, Yansan,” I began, putting my finger on the dishonest -hieroglyphic, “that on the fourth day you have set down against me -a repast of rice, whereas you very well know on that occasion I did -myself the honor to descend into the town and lunch with his Excellency -the Governor.” - -Again Yansan lowered his ensign three times, then deplored the error -into which he had fallen, saying it would be immediately rectified. - -“There need to be no undue hurry about the rectification,” I replied, -“for when it comes to a settlement I shall not be particular about the -price of a plate of rice.” - -Yansan was evidently much gratified to hear this, but I could see that -my long delay in liquidating his account was making it increasingly -difficult for him to subdue his anxiety. The fear of monetary loss was -struggling with his native politeness. Then he used the formula which -is correct the world over. - -“Excellency, I am a poor man, and next week have heavy payments to make -to a creditor who will put me in prison if I produce not the money.” - -“Very well,” said I grandly, waving my hand toward the crowded harbor, -“my ship has come in where you see the white against the blue. -To-morrow you shall be paid.” - -Yansan looked eagerly in the direction of my gesture. - -“She is English,” he said. - -“No, American.” - -“It is a war-ship?” - -“No, she belongs to a private person, not to the Government.” - -“Ah, he must be a king, then,--a king of that country.” - -“Not so, Yansan; he is one of many kings, a pork king, or an oil king -or a railroad king.” - -“Surely there cannot be but one king in a country, Excellency,” -objected Yansan. - -“Ah, you are thinking of a small country like Japan. One king does for -such a country; but America is larger than many Japans, therefore it -has numerous kings, and here below us is one of them.” - -“I should think, Excellency,” said Yansan, “that they would fight with -one another.” - -“That they do, and bitterly, too, in a way your kings never thought of. -I myself was grievously wounded in one of their slightest struggles. -That flag which you see there waves over my fortune. Many a million of -sen pieces which once belonged to me rest secure for other people under -its folds.” - -My landlord lifted his hands in amazement at my immense wealth. - -“This, then, is perhaps the treasure-ship bringing money to your -Excellency,” he exclaimed, awestricken. - -“That’s just what it is, Yansan, and I must go down and collect it; so -bring me a dinner of rice, that I may be prepared to meet the captain -who carries my fortune.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - - -After a frugal repast I went down the hill to the lower town, and -on inquiry at the custom-house learned that the yacht was named the -“Michigan,” and that she was owned by Silas K. Hemster, of Chicago. So -far as I could learn, the owner had not come ashore; therefore I hired -a sampan from a boatman who trusted me. I was already so deeply in his -debt that he was compelled to carry me, inspired by the optimistic -hope that some day the tide of my fortunes would turn. I believe that -commercial institutions are sometimes helped over a crisis in the same -manner, as they owe so much their creditors dare not let them sink. -Many a time had this lad ferried me to one steamer after another, until -now his anxiety that I should obtain remunerative employment was nearly -as great as my own. - -As we approached the “Michigan” I saw that a rope ladder hung over the -side, and there leaned against the rail a very free-and-easy sailor in -white duck, who was engaged in squirting tobacco-juice into Nagasaki -Bay. Intuitively I understood that he had sized up the city of Nagasaki -and did not think much of it. Probably it compared unfavorably with -Chicago. The seaman made no opposition to my mounting the ladder; in -fact he viewed my efforts with the greatest indifference. Approaching -him, I asked if Mr. Hemster was aboard, and with a nod of his head -toward the after part of the vessel he said, “That’s him.” - -Looking aft, I now noticed a man sitting in a cushioned cane chair, -with his two feet elevated on the spotless rail before him. He also -was clothed in light summer garb, and had on his head a somewhat -disreputable slouch hat with a very wide brim. His back was toward -Nagasaki, as if he had no interest in the place. He revolved an unlit -cigar in his mouth, in a manner quite impossible to describe; but as I -came to know him better I found that he never lit his weed, but kept -its further end going round and round in a little circle by a peculiar -motion of his lips. Though he used the very finest brand of cigars, -none ever lasted him for more than ten minutes, when he would throw it -away, take another, bite off the end, and go through the same process -once more. What satisfaction he got out of an unlighted cigar I was -never able to learn. - -His was a thin, keen, business face, with no hair on it save a tuft -at the chin, like the beard of a goat. As I approached him I saw that -he was looking sideways at me out of the corners of his eyes, but he -neither raised his head nor turned it around. I was somewhat at a loss -how to greet him, but for want of a better opening I began: - -“I am told you are Mr. Hemster.” - -“Well!” he drawled slowly, with his cigar between his teeth, released -for a moment from the circular movement of his lips, “you may thank -your stars you are told something you can believe in this God-forsaken -land.” - -I smiled at this unexpected reply and ventured: - -“As a matter of fact, the East is not renowned for its truthfulness. I -know it pretty well.” - -“You do, eh? Do you understand it?” - -“I don’t think either an American or a European ever understands an -Asiatic people.” - -“Oh, yes, we do,” rejoined Mr. Hemster; “they’re liars and that’s all -there is _to_ them. Liars and lazy; that sums them up.” - -As I was looking for the favor of work, it was not my place to -contradict him, and the confident tone in which he spoke showed that -contradiction would have availed little. He was evidently one of the -men who knew it all, and success had confirmed him in his belief. I had -met people of his calibre before,--to my grief. - -“Well, young man, what can I do for you?” he asked, coming directly to -the point. - -“I am looking for a job,” I said. - -“What’s your line?” - -“I beg your pardon?” - -“What can you do?” - -“I am capable of taking charge of this ship as captain, or of working -as a man before the mast.” - -“You spread yourself out too thin, my son. A man who can do everything -can do nothing. We specialize in our country. I hire men who can do -only one thing, and do that thing better than anybody else.” - -“Sir, I do not agree with you,” I could not help saying. “The most -capable people in the world are the Americans. The best log house I -ever saw was built by a man who owned a brown-stone front on Fifth -Avenue. He simply pushed aside the guides whose specialty it was to -do such things, took the axe in his own hands, and showed them how it -should be accomplished.” - -Mr. Hemster shoved his hat to the back of his head, and for the first -time during our interview looked me squarely in the face. - -“Where was that?” he inquired. - -“Up in Canada.” - -“Oh, well, the Fifth Avenue man had probably come from the backwoods -and so knew how to handle an axe.” - -“It’s more than likely,” I admitted. - -“What were you doing in Canada?” - -“Fishing and shooting.” - -“You weren’t one of the guides he pushed aside?” - -I laughed. - -“No, I was one of the two who paid for the guides.” - -“Well, to come back to first principles,” continued Mr. Hemster, “I’ve -got a captain who gives me perfect satisfaction, and he hires the crew. -What else can you do?” - -“I am qualified to take a place as engineer if your present man isn’t -equally efficient with the captain; and I can guarantee to give -satisfaction as a stoker, although I don’t yearn for the job.” - -“My present engineer I got in Glasgow,” said Mr. Hemster; “and as -for stokers we have a mechanical stoker which answers the purpose -reasonably well, although I have several improvements I am going -to patent as soon as I get home. I believe the Scotchman I have as -engineer is the best in the business. I wouldn’t interfere with him for -the world.” - -My heart sank, and I began to fear that Yansan and the sampan-boy would -have to wait longer for their money. It seemed that it wasn’t my ship -that had come in, after all. - -“Very well, Mr. Hemster,” I said, “I must congratulate you on being so -well suited. I am much obliged to you for receiving me so patiently -without a letter of introduction on my part, and so I bid you good-day.” - -I turned for the ladder, but Mr. Hemster said, with more of animation -in his tone than he had hitherto exhibited: - -“Wait a moment, sonny; don’t be so hasty. You’ve asked me a good many -questions about the yacht and the crew, so I should like to put some to -you, and who knows but we may make a deal yet. There’s the galley and -the stewards, and that sort of thing, you know. Draw up a chair and sit -down.” - -I did as I was requested. Mr. Hemster threw his cigar overboard and -took out another. Then he held out the case toward me, saying: - -“Do you smoke?” - -“Thank you,” said I, selecting a cigar. - -“Have you matches?” he asked, “I never carry them myself.” - -“No, I haven’t,” I admitted. - -He pushed a button near him, and a Japanese steward appeared. - -“Bring a box of matches and a bottle of champagne,” he said. - -The steward set a light wicker table at my elbow, disappeared for a few -minutes, and shortly returned with a bottle of champagne and a box of -matches. Did my eyes deceive me, or was this the most noted brand in -the world, and of the vintage of ’78? It seemed too good to be true. - -“Would you like a sandwich or two with that wine, or is it too soon -after lunch?” - -“I could do with a few sandwiches,” I confessed, thinking of Yansan’s -frugal fare; and shortly after there were placed before me, on a -dainty, white, linen-and-lace-covered plate, some of the most delicious -chicken sandwiches that it has ever been my fortune to taste. - -“Now,” said Mr. Hemster, when the steward had disappeared, “you’re on -your uppers, I take it.” - -“I don’t think I understand.” - -“Why, you’re down at bed-rock. Haven’t you been in America? Don’t you -know the language?” - -“‘Yes’ is the answer to all your questions.” - -“What’s the reason? Drink? Gambling?” - -Lord, how good that champagne tasted! I laughed from the pure, dry -exhilaration of it. - -“I wish I could say it was drink that brought me to this pass,” I -answered; “for this champagne shows it would be a tempting road to -ruin. I am not a gambler, either. How I came to this pass would not -interest you.” - -“Well, I take it that’s just an Englishman’s way of saying it’s none -of my business; but such is not the fact. You want a job, and you have -come to me for it. Very well; I must know something about you. Whether -I can give you a job or not will depend. You have said you could -captain the ship or run her engines. What makes you so confident of -your skill?” - -“The fact is I possessed a yacht of my own not so very long ago, and I -captained her and I ran her engines on different occasions.” - -“That might be a recommendation, or it might not. If, as captain, you -wrecked your vessel, or if, as engineer, you blew her up, these actions -would hardly be a certificate of competency.” - -“I did neither. I sold the yacht in New York for what it would bring.” - -“How much money did you have when you bought your yacht?” - -“I had what you would call half a million.” - -“Why do you say what I would call half a million? What would you call -it?” - -“I should call it a hundred thousand.” - -“Ah, I see. You’re talking of pounds, and I’m talking of dollars. -You’re an Englishman, I suspect. Are you an educated man?” - -“Moderately so. Eton and Oxford,” said I, the champagne beginning to -have its usual effect on a hungry man. However, the announcement of -Eton and Oxford had no effect upon Mr. Hemster, so it did not matter. - -“Come, young fellow,” he said, with some impatience, “tell me all about -yourself, and don’t have to be drawn out like a witness on the stand.” - -“Very well,” said I, “here is my story. After I left Oxford I had some -little influence, as you might call it.” - -“No, a ‘pull,’ I would call it. All right, where did it land you?” - -“It landed me as secretary to a Minister of the Crown.” - -“You don’t mean a preacher?” - -“No, I mean the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and he put me into the -diplomatic service when he found the Government was going to be -defeated. I was secretary of legation at Pekin and also here in Japan.” - -I filled myself another glass of champagne, and, holding it up to see -the sparkles, continued jauntily: - -“If I may go so far as to boast, I may say I was entrusted with -several delicate missions, and I carried them through with reasonable -success. I can both read and write the Japanese language, and I know a -smattering of Chinese and a few dialects of the East, which have stood -me in good stead more than once. To tell the truth, I was in a fair way -for promotion and honor when unfortunately a relative died and left me -the hundred thousand pounds that I spoke of.” - -“Why unfortunately? If you had had any brains you could have made that -into millions.” - -“Yes, I suppose I could. I thought I was going to do it. I bought -myself a yacht at Southampton and sailed for New York. To make a long -story short, it was a gold mine and a matter of ten weeks which were -taken up with shooting and fishing in Canada. Then I had the gold -mine and the experience, while the other fellow had the cash. He was -good enough to pay me a trifle for my steam yacht, which, as the -advertisements say, was ‘of no further use to the owner.’” - -As I sipped my champagne, the incidents I was relating seemed to recede -farther and farther back and become of little consequence. In fact I -felt like laughing over them, and although in sober moments I should -have called the action of the man who got my money a swindle, under the -influence of dry ’78 his scheme became merely a very clever exercise of -wit. Mr. Hemster was looking steadily at me, and for once his cigar was -almost motionless. - -“Well, well,” he murmured, more to himself than to me, “I have always -said the geographical position of New York gives it a tremendous -advantage over Chicago. They never let the fools come West. They have -always the first whack at the moneyed Englishman, and will have until -we get a ship canal that will let the liners through to Chicago direct. -Fleeced in ten weeks! Well, well! Go on, my son. What did you do after -you’d sold your yacht?” - -“I took what money I had and made for the West.” - -“Came to Chicago?” - -“Yes, I did.” - -“Just our luck. After you had been well buncoed you came to Chicago. I -swear I’m tempted to settle in New York when I get back.” - -“By the West I do not mean Chicago, Mr. Hemster. I went right through -to San Francisco and took a steamer for Japan. I thought my knowledge -of the East and of the languages might be of advantage. I was ashamed -to return to England when I found I could make no headway here. I tried -to bring influence to bear to get reinstated in the diplomatic service, -but my brand of statesman was out of office and nothing could be done. -I lived too expensively here at first, hoping to make an impression and -gain a foothold that was worth having, and when I began to economize -it was too late. I took to living in the native quarter, and descended -from trying to get a clerkship into the position of a man who is -willing to take anything. From my veranda on the hill up yonder I saw -this boat come in, like a white-winged sea-gull, and so I came down, -got into a sampan, and here I am, enjoying the best meal I’ve had for a -long time. ‘Here endeth the first lesson,’” I concluded irreverently, -pouring out another glass of champagne. - -Mr. Hemster did not reply for some moments. He was evidently -ruminating, and the end of his cigar went round and round quicker and -quicker. - -“What might your name be?” he said at last. - -“Rupert Tremorne.” - -“Got a handle to it?” - -“A title? Oh, no! Plain Mr. Tremorne.” - -“I should say, off-hand, that a title runs in your family somewhere.” - -“Well; I admit that Lord Tremorne is my cousin, and we have a few -others scattered about. However, there’s little danger of it ever -falling upon me. To tell the truth, the family for the last few years -has no idea where I am, and now that I have lost my money I don’t -suppose they care very much. At least I have seen no advertisements in -the papers, asking for a man of my description.” - -“If you were secretary to the Minister of whatever you call it, I don’t -know but what you’d do for me. I am short of a private secretary just -at the present moment, and I think you’d do.” - -Whether it was the champagne, or the sandwiches, or the prospect of -getting something to do, and consequently being able to pay my way, -or all three combined, I felt like throwing my hat into the air and -uttering a war-whoop; but something of native stolidity counterbalanced -the effect of the stimulant, and I was astonished to hear myself reply -very quietly: - -“It would be folly for a man who had just applied for the position of -stoker to pretend he is not elated at being offered a secretaryship. -It is needless to say, Mr. Hemster, that I accept with alacrity and -gratitude.” - -“Then that’s settled,” said the millionaire curtly. “As to the matter -of salary, I think you would be wise to leave that to me. I have paid -out a good deal of money recently and got mighty little for it. If you -can turn the tide so that there is value received, you will find me -liberal in the matter of wages.” - -“I am quite content to leave it so,” I rejoined, “but I think I ought -in honesty to tell you, if you are expecting a shrewd business man as -your secretary who will turn the tide of fortune in any way, you are -likely to be disappointed in me. I am afraid I am a very poor business -man.” - -“I am aware of that already,” replied Hemster. “I can supply all the -business qualifications that are needed in this new combination. What I -want of you is something entirely different. You said you could speak -more languages than your own?” - -“Yes, I am very familiar with French and German, and have also a -smattering of Spanish and Italian. I can read and write Japanese, -speaking that language and Chinese with reasonable fluency, and can -even jabber a little in Corean.” - -“Then you’re my man,” said my host firmly. “I suppose now you would not -object to a little something on account?” - -“I should be very much obliged indeed if you have confidence enough -in me to make an advance. There are some things I should like to buy -before I come aboard, and, not to put too fine a point to it, there are -some debts I should like to settle.” - -“That’s all right,” commented Hemster shortly, thrusting his hand deep -in his trousers pocket, and bringing out a handful of money which -he threw on the wicker table. “There ought to be something like two -hundred dollars there. Just count it and see, and write me a receipt -for it.” - -I counted it, and, as I did so, thought he watched me rather keenly out -of the corner of his eye. There was more than two hundred dollars in -the heap, and I told him the amount. The Japanese brought up a sheet of -paper headed with a gorgeous gilt and scarlet monogram and a picture of -the yacht, and I wrote and signed the receipt. - -“Do you know anything about the stores in town?” he asked, nodding his -head toward Nagasaki. - -“Oh, yes!” - -“They tell me Nagasaki is a great place for buying crockery. I wish you -would order sent to the yacht three complete dinner sets, three tea -sets, and three luncheon sets. There is always a good deal of breakage -on a sea-going yacht.” - -“Quite so,” I replied. “Is there any particular pattern you wish, or -any limit to the price?” - -“Oh, I don’t need expensive sets; anything will do. I’m not particular; -in fact, I don’t care even to see them; I leave that entirely to you, -but tell the man to pack them securely, each in a separate box. He is -to bring them aboard at half-past five this afternoon precisely, and -ask for me. Now, when can you join us?” - -“To-morrow morning, if that will be soon enough.” - -“Very well; to-morrow morning at ten.” - -I saw that he wished the interview terminated, as, for the last few -minutes, he had exhibited signs of uneasiness. I therefore rose and -said,--rather stammeringly, I am afraid: - -“Mr. Hemster, I don’t know how to thank you for your kindness in----” - -“Oh, that’s all right; that’s all right,” he replied hastily, waving -his hand; but before anything further could be spoken there came up -on deck the most beautiful and stately creature I had ever beheld, -superbly attired. She cast not even a glance at me, but hurried toward -Mr. Hemster, crying impetuously: - -“Oh, Poppa! I want to go into the town and shop!” - -“Quite right, my dear,” said the old man; “I wonder you’ve been so long -about it. We’ve been in harbor two or three hours. This is Mr. Rupert -Tremorne, my new private secretary. Mr. Tremorne, my daughter.” - -I made my bow, but it seemed to pass unnoticed. - -“How do you do,” said the girl hastily; then, to her father, “Poppa, I -want some money!” - -“Certainly, certainly, certainly,” repeated the old gentleman, plunging -his hand into his other pocket and pulling out another handful of the -“necessary.” As I learned afterward, each of his pockets seemed to be a -sort of safe depository, which would turn forth any amount of capital -when searched. He handed the accumulation to her, and she stuffed it -hastily into a small satchel that hung at her side. - -“You are going to take Miss Stretton with you?” he asked. - -“Why, of course.” - -“Mr. Tremorne is cousin to Lord Tremorne, of England,” said the old -gentleman very slowly and solemnly. - -I had been standing there rather stupidly, instead of taking my -departure, as I should have done, for I may as well confess that I -was astounded at the sumptuous beauty of the girl before me, who had -hitherto cast not even a look in my direction. Now she raised her -lovely, indescribable eyes to mine, and I felt a thrill extend to my -finger-tips. Many handsome women have I seen in my day, but none to -compare with this superb daughter of the West. - -“Really!” she exclaimed with a most charming intonation of surprise. -Then she extended a white and slim hand to me, and continued, “I am -very glad to meet you, Mr. Tremorne. Do you live in Nagasaki?” - -“I have done so for the past year.” - -“Then you know the town well?” - -“I know it very well indeed.” - -At this juncture another young woman came on deck, and Miss Hemster -turned quickly toward her. - -“Oh, Hilda!” she cried, “I shall not need you to-day. Thanks ever so -much.” - -“Not need her?” exclaimed her father. “Why, you can’t go into Nagasaki -alone, my dear.” - -“I have no intention of doing so,” she replied amiably, “if Mr. -Tremorne will be good enough to escort me.” - -“I shall be delighted,” I gasped, expecting an expostulation from her -father; but the old gentleman merely said: - -“All right, my dear; just as you please.” - -“Rupert, my boy!” I said to my amazed self; “your ship has come in with -a vengeance.” - - - - -CHAPTER III - - -A stairway was slung on the other side of the yacht from that on which -I had ascended, and at its foot lay a large and comfortable boat -belonging to the yacht, manned by four stout seamen. Down this stairway -and into the boat I escorted Miss Hemster. She seated herself in the -stern and took the tiller-ropes in her hands, now daintily gloved. I -sat down opposite to her and was about to give a command to the men -to give way when she forestalled me, and the oars struck the water -simultaneously. As soon as we had rounded the bow of the yacht there -was a sudden outcry from a half-naked Japanese boy who was sculling -about in a sampan. - -“What’s the matter with him?” asked Miss Hemster with a little laugh. -“Does he think we’re going to desert this boat and take that floating -coffin of his?” - -“I think it is my own man,” I said; “and he fears that his fare is -leaving him without settling up. Have I your permission to stop these -men till he comes alongside? He has been waiting patiently for me while -I talked with Mr. Hemster.” - -“Why, certainly,” said the girl, and in obedience to her order the crew -held water, and as the boy came alongside I handed him more than double -what I owed him, and he nearly upset his craft by bowing in amazed -acknowledgment. - -“You’re an Englishman, I suppose,” said Miss Hemster. - -“In a sort of way I am, but really a citizen of the world. For many -years past I have been less in England than in other countries.” - -“For many years? Why, you talk as if you were an old man, and you don’t -look a day more than thirty.” - -“My looks do not libel me, Miss Hemster,” I replied with a laugh, “for -I am not yet thirty.” - -“I am twenty-one,” she said carelessly, “but every one says I don’t -look more than seventeen.” - -“I thought you were younger than seventeen,” said I, “when I first saw -you a moment ago.” - -“Did you really? I think it is very flattering of you to say so, and I -hope you mean it.” - -“I do, indeed, Miss Hemster.” - -“Do you think I look younger than Hilda?” she asked archly, “most -people do.” - -“Hilda!” said I. “What Hilda?” - -“Why, Hilda Stretton, my companion.” - -“I have never seen her.” - -“Oh, yes, you did; she was standing at the companion-way and was coming -with me when I preferred to come with you.” - -“I did not see her,” I said, shaking my head; “I saw no one but you.” - -The young lady laughed merrily,--a melodious ripple of sound. I have -heard women’s laughter compared to the tinkle of silver bells, but to -that musical tintinnabulation was now added something so deliciously -human and girlish that the whole effect was nothing short of -enchanting. Conversation now ceased, for we were drawing close to the -shore. I directed the crew where to land, and the young lady sprang up -the steps without assistance from me,--before, indeed, I could proffer -any. I was about to follow when one of the sailors touched me on the -shoulder. - -“The old man,” he said in a husky whisper, nodding his head toward the -yacht, “told me to tell you that when you buy that crockery you’re not -to let Miss Hemster know anything about it.” - -“Aren’t you coming?” cried Miss Hemster to me from the top of the wharf. - -I ascended the steps with celerity and begged her pardon for my delay. - -“I am not sprightly seventeen, you see,” I said. - -She laughed, and I put her in a ’rickshaw drawn by a stalwart Japanese, -got into one myself, and we set off for the main shopping street. I -was rather at a loss to know exactly what the sailor’s message meant, -but I took it to be that for some reason Mr. Hemster did not wish his -daughter to learn that he was indulging so freely in dinner sets. As -it was already three o’clock in the afternoon, I realized that there -would be some difficulty in getting the goods aboard by five o’clock, -unless the young lady dismissed me when we arrived at the shops. This, -however, did not appear to be her intention in the least; when our -human steeds stopped, she gave me her hand lightly as she descended, -and then said, with her captivating smile: - -“I want you to take me at once to a china shop.” - -“To a what?” I cried. - -“To a shop where they sell dishes,--dinner sets and that sort of thing. -You know what I mean,--a crockery store.” - -I did, but I was so astonished by the request coming right on the heels -of the message from her father, and taken in conjunction with his -previous order, that I am afraid I stood looking very much like a fool, -whereupon she laughed heartily, and I joined her. I saw she was quite a -merry young lady, with a keen sense of the humour of things. - -“Haven’t they any crockery stores in this town?” she asked. - -“Oh, there are plenty of them,” I replied. - -“Why, you look as if you had never heard of such a thing before. Take -me, then, to whichever is the best. I want to buy a dinner set and a -tea set the very first thing.” - -I bowed, and, somewhat to my embarrassment, she took my arm, tripping -along by my side as if she were a little girl of ten, overjoyed at her -outing, to which feeling she gave immediate expression. - -“Isn’t this jolly?” she cried. - -“It is the most undeniably jolly shopping excursion I ever engaged in,” -said I, fervently and truthfully. - -“You see,” she went on, “the delight of this sort of thing is that we -are in an utterly foreign country and can do just as we please. That is -why I did not wish Hilda to come with us. She is rather prim and has -notions of propriety which are all right at home, but what is the use -of coming to foreign countries if you cannot enjoy them as you wish to?” - -“I think that is a very sensible idea,” said I. - -“Why, it seems as if you and I were members of a travelling theatrical -company, and were taking part in ‘The Mikado,’ doesn’t it? What funny -little people they are all around us! Nagasaki doesn’t seem real. It -looks as if it were set on a stage,--don’t you think so?” - -“Well, you know, I am rather accustomed to it. I have lived here for -more than a year, as I told you.” - -“Oh, so you said. I have not got used to it yet. Have you ever seen -‘The Mikado?’” - -“Do you mean the Emperor or the play?” - -“At the moment I was thinking of the play.” - -“Yes, I have seen it, and the real Mikado, too, and spoken with him.” - -“Have you, indeed? How lucky you are!” - -“You speak truly, Miss Hemster, and I never knew how lucky I was until -to-day.” - -She bent her head and laughed quietly to herself. I thought we were -more like a couple of school children than members of a theatrical -troupe, but as I never was an actor I cannot say how the latter behave -when they are on the streets of a strange town. - -“Oh, I have met your kind of man before, Mr. Tremorne. You don’t mind -what you say when you are talking to a lady as long as it is something -flattering.” - -“I assure you, Miss Hemster, that quite the contrary is the case. I -never flatter; and if I have been using a congratulatory tone it has -been directed entirely to myself and to my own good fortune.” - -“There you go again. How did you come to meet the Mikado?” - -“I used to be in the diplomatic service in Japan, and my duties on -several occasions brought me the honor of an audience with His Majesty.” - -“How charmingly you say that, and I can see that you believe it from -your heart; and although we are democratic, I believe it, too. I always -love diplomatic society, and enjoyed a good deal of it in Washington, -and my imagination always pictured behind them the majesty of royalty, -so I have come abroad to see the real thing. I was presented at Court -in London, Mr. Tremorne. Now, please don’t say that you congratulate -the Court!” - -“There is no need of my saying it, as it has already been said; or -perhaps I should say ‘it goes without saying.’” - -“Thank you very much, Mr. Tremorne; I think you are the most polite man -I ever met. I want you to do me a very great favor and introduce me to -the higher grades of diplomatic society in Nagasaki during our stay -here.” - -“I regret, Miss Hemster, that that is impossible, because I have been -out of the service for some years now. Besides, the society here is -consular rather than diplomatic. The Legation is at the capital, you -know. Nagasaki is merely a commercial city.” - -“Oh, is it? I thought perhaps you had been seeing my father to-day -because of some consular business, or that sort of thing, pertaining to -the yacht.” - -As the girl said this I realized, with a suddenness that was -disconcerting, the fact that I was practically acting under false -pretences. I was her father’s humble employee, and she did not know -it. I remembered with a pang when her father first mentioned my name -she paid not the slightest attention to it; but when he said I was the -cousin of Lord Tremorne the young lady had favored me with a glance -I was not soon to forget. Therefore, seeing that Mr. Hemster had -neglected to make my position clear, it now became my duty to give -some necessary explanation, so that his daughter might not continue -an acquaintance that was rapidly growing almost intimate under her -misapprehension as to who I was. I saw with a pang that a humiliation -was in store for me such as always lies in wait for a man who -momentarily steps out of his place and receives consideration which is -not his social due. - -I had once before suffered the experience which was now ahead of me, -and it was an episode I did not care to repeat, although I failed to -see how it could be honestly avoided. On my return to Japan I sought -out the man in the diplomatic service who had been my greatest friend -and for whom I had in former days accomplished some slight services, -because my status in the ranks was superior to his own. Now that there -was an opportunity for a return of these services, I called upon -him, and was received with a cordiality that went to my discouraged -heart; but the moment he learned I was in need, and that I could not -regain the place I had formerly held, he congealed in the most tactful -manner possible. It was an interesting study in human deportment. His -manner and words were simply unimpeachable, but there gathered around -him a mantle of impenetrable frigidity the collection of which was a -triumph in tactful intercourse. As he grew colder and colder, I grew -hotter and hotter. I managed to withdraw without showing, I hope, the -deep humiliation I felt. Since that time I had never sought a former -acquaintance, or indeed any countryman of my own, preferring to be -indebted to my old friend Yansan on the terrace above or the sampan-boy -on the waters below. The man I speak of has risen high and is rising -higher in my old profession, and every now and then his last words -ring in my ears and warm them,--words of counterfeit cordiality as he -realized they were the last that he should probably ever speak to me: - -“Well, my dear fellow, I’m ever so glad you called. If I can do -anything for you, you must be sure and let me know.” - -As I had already let him know, my reply that I should certainly do so -must have sounded as hollow as his own smooth phrase. - -Unpleasant as that episode was, the situation was now ten times worse, -as it involved a woman,--and a lovely woman at that,--who had treated -me with a kindness she would feel misplaced when she understood the -truth. However, there was no help for it, so, clearing my throat, I -began: - -“Miss Hemster, when I took the liberty of calling on your father this -morning, I was a man penniless and out of work. I went to the yacht -in the hope that I might find something to do. I was fortunate enough -to be offered the position of private secretary to Mr. Hemster, which -position I have accepted.” - -The young lady, as I expected, instantly withdrew her hand from my -arm, and stood there facing me, I also coming to a halt; and thus we -confronted each other in the crowded street of Nagasaki. Undeniable -amazement overspread her beautiful countenance. - -“Why!” she gasped, “you are, then, Poppa’s hired man?” - -I winced a trifle, but bowed low to her. - -“Madam,” I replied, “you have stated the fact with great truth and -terseness.” - -“Do you mean to say,” she said, “that you are to be with us after this -on the yacht?” - -“I suspect such to be your father’s intention.” Then, to my amazement, -she impulsively thrust forth both her hands and clasped mine. - -“Why, how perfectly lovely!” she exclaimed. “I haven’t had a white man -to talk with except Poppa for ages and ages. But you must remember that -everything I want you to do, you are to do. You are to be _my_ hired -man; Poppa won’t mind.” - -“You will find me a most devoted retainer, Miss Hemster.” - -“I do love that word ‘retainer,’” she cried enthusiastically. “It is -like the magic talisman of the ‘Arabian Nights,’ and conjures up at -once visions of a historic tower, mullioned windows, and all that sort -of thing. When you were made a bankrupt, Mr. Tremorne, was there one -faithful old retainer who refused to desert you as the others had done?” - -“Ah, my dear young lady, you are thinking of the romantic drama now, -as you were alluding to comic opera a little while ago. I believe, -in the romantic drama, the retainer, like the man with the mortgage, -never lets go. I am thankful to say I had no such person in my employ. -He would have been an awful nuisance. It was hard enough to provide -for myself, not to mention a retainer. But here we are at the crockery -shop.” - -I escorted her in, and she was soon deeply absorbed in the mysteries -of this pattern or that of the various wares exposed to her choice. -Meanwhile I took the opportunity to give the proprietor instructions -in his own language to send to the yacht before five o’clock what Mr. -Hemster had ordered, and I warned the man he was not to mix up the -order I had just given him with that of the young lady. The Japanese -are very quick at comprehension, and when Miss Hemster and I left the -place I had no fear of any complication arising through my instructions. - -We wandered from shop to shop, the girl enthusiastic over Nagasaki, -much to my wonder, for there are other places in Japan more attractive -than this commercial town; but the glamor of the East cast its spell -over the young woman, and, although I was rather tired of the Orient, -I must admit that the infection of her high spirits extended to my own -feelings. A week ago it would have appeared impossible that I should -be enjoying myself so thoroughly as I was now doing. It seemed as if -years had rolled from my shoulders, and I was a boy once more, living -in a world where conventionality was unknown. - -The girl herself was in a whirlwind of glee, and it was not often -that the shopkeepers of Nagasaki met so easy a victim. She seemed -absolutely reckless in the use of money, paying whatever was asked -for anything that took her fancy. In a very short time all her ready -cash was gone, but that made not the slightest difference. She ordered -here and there with the extravagance of a queen, on what she called -the “C. O. D.” plan, which I afterward learned was an American phrase -meaning, “Collect on delivery.” Her peregrinations would have tired -out half-a-dozen men, but she showed no signs of fatigue. I felt a -hesitation about inviting her to partake of refreshment, but I need not -have been so backward. - -“Talking of comic operas,” she exclaimed as we came out of the last -place, “Aren’t there any tea-houses here, such as we see on the stage?” - -“Yes, plenty of them,” I replied. - -“Well,” she exclaimed with a ripple of laughter, “take me to the -wickedest of them. What is the use of going around the world in a big -yacht if you don’t see life?” - -I wondered what her father would say if he knew, but I acted the -faithful retainer to the last, and did as I was bid. She expressed the -utmost delight in everything she saw, and it was well after six o’clock -when we descended from our ’rickshaw at the landing. The boat was -awaiting us, and in a short time we were alongside the yacht once more. -It had been a wild, tempestuous outing, and I somewhat feared the stern -disapproval of an angry parent. He was leaning over the rail revolving -an unlit cigar. - -“Oh, Poppa!” she cried up at him with enthusiasm, “I have had a -perfectly splendid time. Mr. Tremorne knows Nagasaki like a book. He -has taken me everywhere,” she cried, with unnecessary emphasis on the -last word. - -The millionaire was entirely unperturbed. - -“That’s all right,” he said. “I hope you haven’t tired yourself out.” - -“Oh, no! I should be delighted to do it all over again! Has anybody -sent anything aboard for me?” - -“Yes,” said the old man, “there’s been a procession of people here -since you left. Dinner’s ready, Mr. Tremorne. You’ll come aboard, of -course, and take pot-luck with us?” - -“No, thank you, Mr. Hemster,” I said; “I must get a sampan and make my -way into town again.” - -“Just as you say; but you don’t need a sampan, these men will row you -back again. See you to-morrow at ten, then.” - -Miss Hemster, now on deck, leaned over the rail and daintily blew me a -kiss from the tips of her slender fingers. - -“Thank you so much, retainer,” she cried, as I lifted my hat in token -of farewell. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - - -I was speedily rowed ashore in a state of great exaltation. The -sudden change in my expectations was bewilderingly Eastern in its -completeness. The astonishingly intimate companionship of this -buoyant, effervescent girl had affected me as did the bottle of -champagne earlier in the day. I was well aware that many of my former -acquaintances would have raised their hands in horror at the thought of -a girl wandering about an Eastern city with me, entirely unchaperoned; -but I had been so long down on my luck, and the experiences I had -encountered with so-called fashionable friends had been so bitter, -that the little finicky rules of society seemed of small account when -compared with the realities of life. The girl was perfectly untrained -and impulsive, but that she was a true-hearted woman I had not the -slightest doubt. Was I in love with her? I asked myself, and at that -moment my brain was in too great a whirl to be able to answer the -question satisfactorily to myself. My short ten weeks in America had -given me no such acquaintance as this, although the two months and a -half had cost me fifty thousand dollars a week, certainly the most -expensive living that any man is likely to encounter. I had met a -few American women, but they all seemed as cold and indifferent as -our own, while here was a veritable child of nature, as untrammelled -by the little rules of society as could well be imagined. After all, -were these rules so important as I had hitherto supposed them to be? -Certainly not, I replied to myself, as I stepped ashore. - -I climbed the steep hill to my former residence with my head in the air -in every sense of the word. Many a weary journey I had taken up that -forlorn path, and it had often been the up-hill road of discouragement; -but to-night Japan was indeed the land of enchantment which so many -romantic writers have depicted it. I thought of the girl and thought -of her father, wondering what my new duties were to be. If to-day were -a sample of them then truly was Paradise regained, as the poet has it. -I had told Mr. Hemster that I needed time to purchase necessary things -for the voyage, but this would take me to very few shops. I had in -store in Nagasaki a large trunk filled with various suits of clothing, -a trunk of that comprehensive kind which one buys in America. This was -really in pawn. I had delivered it to a shopkeeper who had given me a -line of credit now long since ended, but I knew I should find my goods -and chattels safe when I came with the money, as indeed proved to be -the case. - -It was a great pleasure to meet Yansan once more, bowing as lowly as if -I were in truth a millionaire. I had often wondered what would happen -if I had been compelled to tell the grimacing old fellow I had no money -to pay him. Would his excessive politeness have stood the strain? -Perhaps so, but luckily his good nature was not to be put to the test. -I could scarcely refrain from grasping his two hands, as Miss Hemster -had grasped mine, and dancing with him around the bare habitation which -he owned and which had so long been my shelter. However, I said calmly -to him: - -“Yansan, my ship has come in, as I told you this morning; and now, if -you will bring me that bill, errors and all, I will pay you three times -its amount.” - -Speechless, the old man dropped on his knees and beat his forehead -against the floor. - -“Excellency has always been too good to me!” he exclaimed. - -I tried to induce good old Yansan to share supper with me; but he was -too much impressed with my greatness and could do nothing but bow and -bow and serve me. - -After the repast I went down into the town again, redeemed my trunk and -its contents, bought what I needed, and ordered everything forwarded -to the yacht before seven o’clock next morning. Then I went to a -tea-house, and drank tea, and thought over the wonderful events of the -day, after which I climbed the hill again for a night’s rest. - -I was very sorry to bid farewell to old Yansan next morning, and I -believe he was very sorry to part with his lodger. Once more at the -waterside I hailed my sampan-boy, who was now all eagerness to serve -me, and he took me out to the yacht, which was evidently ready for an -early departure. Her whole crew was now aboard, and most of them had -had a day’s leave in Nagasaki yesterday. The captain was pacing up and -down the bridge, and smoke was lazily trailing from the funnel. - -Arrived on deck I found Mr. Hemster in his former position in the -cane chair, with his back still toward Nagasaki, which town I believe -he never glanced at all the time his yacht was in harbor. I learned -afterward that he thought it compared very unfavorably with Chicago. -His unlighted cigar was describing circles in the air, and all in all -I might have imagined he had not changed from the position I left him -in the day before if I had not seen him leaning over the rail when I -escorted his daughter back to the yacht. He gave me no further greeting -than a nod, which did not err on the side of effusiveness. - -I inquired of the Japanese boy, who stood ready to receive me with -all the courtesy of his race, whether my luggage had come aboard, and -he informed me that it had. I approached Mr. Hemster, bidding him -good-morning, but he gave a side nod of his head toward the Japanese -boy and said, “He’ll show you to your cabin,” so I followed the youth -down the companion-way to my quarters. The yacht, as I have said, was -very big. The main saloon extended from side to side, and was nearly -as large as the dining-room of an ocean liner. Two servants with caps -and aprons, exactly like English housemaids, were dusting and putting -things to rights as I passed through. - -My cabin proved ample in size, and was even more comfortably equipped -than I expected to find it. My luggage was there, and I took the -opportunity of changing my present costume for one of more nautical -cut, and, placing a yachting-cap on my head, I went on deck again. -I had expected, from all the preparedness I had seen, to hear the -anchor-chain rattle up before I was equipped, and feared for the moment -that I had delayed the sailing of the yacht; but on looking at my watch -as I went on deck I found it was not yet ten o’clock, so I was in ample -time, as had been arranged. - -I had seen nothing of Miss Hemster, and began to suspect that she had -gone ashore and that the yacht was awaiting her return; but a glance -showed me that all the yacht’s boats were in place, so if the young -woman had indulged in a supplementary shopping-tour it must have been -in a sampan, which was unlikely. - -The old gentleman, as I approached him, eyed my yachting toggery with -what seemed to me critical disapproval. - -“Well,” he said, “you’re all fitted out for a cruise, aren’t you? Have -a cigar,”--and he offered me his case. - -I took the weed and replied: - -“Yes, and you seem ready to begin a cruise. May I ask where you are -going?” - -“I don’t know exactly,” he replied carelessly. “I haven’t quite made up -my mind yet. I thought perhaps you might be able to decide the matter.” - -“To decide!” I answered in surprise. - -“Yes,” he said, sitting up suddenly and throwing the cigar overboard. -“What nonsense were you talking to my daughter yesterday?” - -I was so taken aback at this unexpected and gruff inquiry that I fear I -stood there looking rather idiotic, which was evidently the old man’s -own impression of me, for he scowled in a manner that was extremely -disconcerting. I had no wish to adopt the Adam-like expedient of -blaming the woman; but, after all, he had been there when I went off -alone with her, and it was really not my fault that I was the girl’s -sole companion in Nagasaki. All my own early training and later social -prejudices led me to sympathize with Mr. Hemster’s evident ill-humour -regarding our shore excursion, but nevertheless it struck me as a -trifle belated. He should have objected when the proposal was made. - -“Really, sir,” I stammered at last, “I’m afraid I must say I don’t -exactly know what you mean.” - -“I think I spoke plainly enough,” he answered. “I want you to be -careful what you say, and if you come with me to my office, where we -shall not be interrupted, I’ll give you a straight talking to, so that -we may avoid trouble in the future.” - -I was speechless with amazement, and also somewhat indignant. If he -took this tone with me, my place was evidently going to be one of some -difficulty. However, needs must when the devil drives, even if he comes -from Chicago; and although his words were bitter to endure, I was in -a manner helpless and forced to remember my subordinate position, -which, in truth, I had perhaps forgotten during my shopping experiences -with his impulsive daughter. Yet I had myself made her aware of my -situation, and if our conversation at times had been a trifle free and -easy I think the fault----but there--there--there----I’m at the Adam -business again. The woman tempted me, and I did talk. I felt humiliated -that even to myself I placed any blame upon her. - -Mr. Hemster rose, nipped off the point of another cigar, and strode -along the deck to the companion-way, I following him like a confessed -culprit. He led me to what he called his office, a room not very much -larger than my own, but without the bunk that took up part of the -space in my cabin; in fact a door led out of it which, I afterward -learned, communicated with his bedroom. The office was fitted up with -an American roll-top desk fastened to the floor, a copying-press, a -typewriter, filing-cases from floor to ceiling, and other paraphernalia -of a completely equipped business establishment. There was a swivelled -armchair before the desk, into which Mr. Hemster dropped and leaned -back, the springs creaking as he did so. There was but one other chair -in the room, and he motioned me into it. - -“See here!” he began abruptly. “Did you tell my daughter yesterday that -you were a friend of the Mikado’s?” - -“God bless me, no!” I was surprised into replying. “I said nothing of -the sort.” - -“Well, you left her under that impression.” - -“I cannot see, Mr. Hemster, how such can be the case. I told Miss -Hemster that I had met the Mikado on several occasions, but I explained -to her that these occasions were entirely official, and each time I -merely accompanied a superior officer in the diplomatic service. -Although I have spoken with His Majesty, it was merely because -questions were addressed to me, and because I was the only person -present sufficiently conversant with the Japanese language to make him -a reply in his own tongue.” - -“I see, I see,” mused the old gentleman; “but Gertie somehow got it -into her head that you could introduce us personally to the Mikado. I -told her it was not likely that a fellow I had picked up strapped from -the streets of Nagasaki, as one might say, would be able to give us an -introduction that would amount to anything.” - -I felt myself getting red behind the ears as Mr. Hemster put my -situation with, what seemed to me, such unnecessary brutality. Yet, -after all, what he had said was the exact truth, and I had no right to -complain of it, for if there was money in my pocket at that moment it -was because he had placed it there; and then I saw intuitively that -he meant no offence, but was merely repeating what he had said to his -daughter, placing the case in a way that would be convincing to a man, -whatever effect it might have on a woman’s mind. - -“I am afraid,” I said, “that I must have expressed myself clumsily to -Miss Hemster. I think I told her,--but I make the statement subject -to correction,--that I had so long since severed my connection with -diplomatic service in Tokio that even the slight power I then possessed -no longer exists. If I still retained my former position I should -scarcely be more helpless than I am now, so far as what you require is -concerned.” - -“That’s exactly what I told her,” growled the old man. “I suppose you -haven’t any suggestion to make that would help me out at all?” - -“The only suggestion I can make is this, and indeed I think the way -seems perfectly clear. You no doubt know your own Ambassador,--perhaps -have letters of introduction to him,--and he may very easily arrange -for you to have an audience with His Majesty the Mikado.” - -“Oh! our Ambassador!” growled Mr. Hemster in tones of great contempt; -“he’s nothing but a one-horse politician.” - -“Nevertheless,” said I, “his position is such that by merely exercising -the prerogatives of his office he could get you what you wanted.” - -“No, he can’t,” maintained the old gentleman stoutly. “Still, I -shouldn’t say anything against him; he’s all right. He did his best -for us, and if we could have waited long enough at Yokohama perhaps he -might have fixed up an audience with the Mikado. But I’d had enough of -hanging on around there, and so I sailed away. Now, my son, I said I -was going to give you a talking to, and I am. I’ll tell you just how -the land lies, so you can be of some help to me and not a drawback. I -want you to be careful of what you say to Gertie about such people as -the Mikado, because it excites her and makes her think certain things -are easy when they’re not.” - -“I am very sorry if I have said anything that led to a misapprehension. -I certainly did not intend to.” - -“No, no! I understand that. I am not blaming you a bit. I just want -you to catch on to the situation, that’s all. Gertie likes you first -rate; she told me so, and I’m ever so much obliged to you for the -trouble you took yesterday afternoon in entertaining her. She told -me everything you said and did, and it was all right. Now Gertie has -always been accustomed to moving in the very highest society. She -doesn’t care for anything else, and she took to you from the very -first. I was glad of that, because I should have consulted her before I -hired you. Nevertheless, I knew the moment you spoke that you were the -man I wanted, and so I took the risk. I never cared for high society -myself; my intercourse has been with business men. I understand them, -and I like them; but I don’t cut any figure in high society, and I -don’t care to, either. Now, with Gertie it’s different. She’s been -educated at the finest schools, and I’ve taken her all over Europe, -where we stayed at the very best hotels and met the very best people in -both Europe and America. Why, we’ve met more Sirs and Lords and Barons -and High Mightinesses than you can shake a stick at. Gertie, she’s -right at home among those kind of people, and, if I do say it myself, -she’s quite capable of taking her place among the best of them, and she -knows it. There never was a time we came in to the best table d’hôte in -Europe that every eye wasn’t turned toward her, and she’s been the life -of the most noted hotels that exist, no matter where they are, and no -matter what their price is.” - -I ventured to remark that I could well believe this to have been the -case. - -“Yes, and you don’t need to take my word for it,” continued the old -man with quite perceptible pride; “you may ask any one that was there. -Whether it was a British Lord, or a French Count, or a German Baron, -or an Italian Prince, it was just the same. I admit that it seemed to -me that some of those nobles didn’t amount to much. But that’s neither -here nor there; as I told you before, I’m no judge. I suppose they have -their usefulness in creation, even though I’m not able to see it. But -the result of it all was that Gertie got tired of them, and, as she is -an ambitious girl and a real lady, she determined to strike higher, and -so, when we bought this yacht and came abroad again, she determined to -go in for Kings, so I’ve been on a King hunt ever since, and to tell -the truth it has cost me a lot of money and I don’t like it. Not that -I mind the money if it resulted in anything, but it hasn’t resulted in -anything; that is, it hasn’t amounted to much. Gertie doesn’t care for -the ordinary presentation at Court, for nearly anybody can have that. -What she wants is to get a King or an Emperor right here on board this -yacht at lunch or tea, or whatever he wants, and enjoy an intimate -conversation with him, just like she’s had with them no-account -Princes. Then she wants a column or two account of that written up for -the Paris edition of the “New York Herald,” and she wants to have it -cabled over to America. Now she’s the only chick or child I’ve got. -Her mother’s been dead these fifteen years, and Gertie is all I have -in the world, so I’m willing to do anything she wants done, no matter -whether I like it or not. But I don’t want to engage in anything that -doesn’t succeed. Success is the one thing that amounts to anything. The -man who is a failure cuts no ice. And so it rather grinds me to confess -that I’ve been a failure in this King business. Now I don’t know much -about Kings, but it strikes me they’re just like other things in this -world. If you want to get along with them, you must study them. It’s -like climbing a stair; if you want to get to the top you must begin at -the lowest step. If you try to take one stride up to the top landing, -why you’re apt to come down on your head. I told Gertie it was no use -beginning with the German Emperor, for we’d have to get accustomed to -the low-down Kings and gradually work up. She believes in aiming high. -That’s all right ordinarily, but it isn’t a practical proposition. -Still, I let her have her way and did the best I could, but it was no -use. I paid a German Baron a certain sum for getting the Emperor on -board my yacht, but he didn’t deliver the goods. So I said to Gertie: -‘My girl, we’d better go to India, or some place where Kings are -cheap, and practise on them first.’ She hated to give in, but she’s a -reasonable young woman if you take her the right way. Well, the long -and the short of it was that we sent the yacht around to Marseilles, -and went down from Paris to meet her there, and sailed to Egypt, and, -just as I said, we had no difficulty at all in raking in the Khedive. -But that wasn’t very satisfactory when all’s said and done. Gertie -claimed he wasn’t a real king, and I say he’s not a real gentleman. -We had a little unpleasantness there, and he became altogether too -friendly, so we sailed off down through the Canal a hunting Kings, -till at last we got here to Japan. Now we’re up against it once more, -and I suppose this here Mikado has hobnobbed so much with real Emperors -and that sort of thing that he thinks himself a white man like the -rest. So I says to Gertie, ‘There’s a genuine Emperor in Corea, good -enough to begin on, and we’ll go there,’ and that’s how we came round -from Yokohama to Nagasaki, and dropped in here to get a few things we -might not be able to obtain in Corea. The moment I saw you and learned -that you knew a good deal about the East, it struck me that if I took -you on as private secretary you would be able to give me a few points, -and perhaps take charge of this business altogether. Do you think you’d -be able to do that?” - -“Well,” I said hesitatingly, “I’m not sure, but if I can be of any use -to you on such a quest it will be in Corea. I’ve been there on two or -three occasions, and each time had an audience with the King.” - -“Why do you call him the King? Isn’t he an Emperor?” - -“Well, I’ve always called him the King, but I’ve heard people term him -the Emperor.” - -“The American papers always call him an Emperor. So you think you could -manage it, eh?” - -“I don’t know that there would be any difficulty about the matter. Of -course you are aware he is merely a savage.” - -“Well, they’re all savages out here, aren’t they? I don’t suppose he’s -any worse or any better than the Mikado.” - -“Oh, the Mikado belongs to one of the most ancient civilizations in the -world. I don’t think the two potentates are at all on a par.” - -“Well, that’s all right. That just bears out what I was saying, that -it’s the correct thing to begin with the lowest of them. You see I hate -to admit I’m too old to learn anything, and I think I can learn this -King business if I stick long enough at it. But I don’t believe in a -man trying to make a grand piano before he knows how to handle a saw. -So you see, Mr. Tremorne, the position is just this. I want to sail -for Corea, and Gertie, she wants to go back to Yokohama and tackle the -Mikado again, thinking you can pull it off this time.” - -“I dislike very much to disagree with a lady,” I said, “but I think -your plan is the more feasible of the two. I do not think it would be -possible to get the Mikado to come aboard this yacht, but it might be -that the King of Corea would accept your invitation.” - -“What’s the name of the capital of that place?” asked Mr. Hemster. - -“It is spelled S-e-o-u-l, and is pronounced ‘Sool.’” - -“How far is it from here?” - -“I don’t know exactly, but it must be something like four hundred -miles, perhaps a little more.” - -“It is on the sea?” - -“No. It lies some twenty-six miles inland by road, and more than double -that distance by the winding river Han.” - -“Can I steam up that river with this yacht to the capital?” - -“No, I don’t think you could. You could go part way, perhaps, but I -imagine your better plan would be to moor at the port of Chemulpo and -go to Seoul by road, although the road is none of the best.” - -“I’ve got a little naphtha launch on board. I suppose the river is big -enough for us to go up to the capital in that?” - -“Yes, I suppose you could do it in a small launch, but the river is so -crooked that I doubt if you would gain much time, although you might -gain in comfort.” - -“Very well, we’ll make for that port, whatever you call it,” said -Hemster, rising. “Now, if you’ll just take an armchair on deck, and -smoke, I’ll give instructions to the captain.” - - - - -CHAPTER V - - -We had been a long time together in the little office, longer even -than this extended conversation would lead a reader to imagine, and -as I went through the saloon I saw that they were laying the table -for lunch, a sight by no means ungrateful to me, for I had risen -early and enjoyed but a small and frugal breakfast. I surmised from -the preparations going forward that I should in the near future -have something better than rice. When I reached the deck I saw the -captain smoking a pipe and still pacing the bridge with his hands -in his pockets. He was a grizzled old sea-dog, who, I found later, -had come from the Cape Cod district, and was what he looked, a most -capable man. I went aft and sat down, not wishing to go forward and -became acquainted with the captain, as I expected every moment that -Mr. Hemster would come up and give him his sailing-orders. But time -passed on and nothing happened, merely the same state of tension that -occurs when every one is ready to move and no move is made. At last -the gong sounded for lunch. I saw the captain pause in his promenade, -knock the ashes out of his pipe into the palm of his hand, and prepare -to go down. So I rose and descended the stairway, giving a nod of -recognition to the captain, who followed at my heels. The table was -laid for five persons. Mr. Hemster occupied the position at the head -of it, and on his right sat his daughter, her head bent down over -the tablecloth. On the opposite side, at Mr. Hemster’s left, sat the -young lady of whom I had had a glimpse the afternoon before. The -captain pushed past me with a gruff, “How de do, all,” which was not -responded to. He took the place at the farther end of the table. If I -have described the situation on deck as a state of tension, much more -so was the atmosphere of the dining-saloon. The silence was painful, -and, not knowing what better to do, I approached Miss Hemster and said -pleasantly: - -“Good-morning. I hope you are none the worse for your shopping -expedition of yesterday.” - -The young woman did not look up or reply till her father said in -beseeching tones: - -“Gertie, Mr. Tremorne is speaking to you.” - -Then she glanced at me with eyes that seemed to sparkle dangerously. - -“Oh, how do you do?” she said rapidly. “Your place is over there by -Miss Stretton.” - -There was something so insulting in the tone and inflection that it -made the words, simple as they were, seem like a slap in the face. -Their purport seemed to be to put me in my proper position in that -society, to warn me that, if I had been treated as a friend the day -before, conditions were now changed, and I was merely, as she had -previously remarked, her father’s hired man. My situation was anything -but an enviable one, and as there was nothing to say I merely bowed -low to the girl, walked around behind the captain, and took my place -beside Miss Stretton, as I had been commanded to do. I confess I was -deeply hurt by the studied insolence of look and voice; but a moment -later I felt that I was probably making a mountain of a molehill, for -the good, bluff captain said, as if nothing unusual had happened: - -“That’s right, young man; I see you have been correctly brought up. -Always do what the women tell you. Obey orders if you break owners. -That’s what we do in our country. In our country, sir, we allow the -women to rule, and their word is law, even though the men vote.” - -“Such is not the case in the East,” I could not help replying. - -“Why,” said the captain, “it’s the East I’m talking about. All -throughout the Eastern States, yes, and the Western States, too.” - -“Oh, I beg your pardon,” I replied, “I was referring to the East of -Asia. The women don’t rule in these countries.” - -“Well,” said the staunch captain, “then that’s the reason they amount -to so little. I never knew an Eastern country yet that was worth the -powder to blow it up.” - -“I’m afraid,” said I, “that your rule does not prove universally good. -It’s a woman who reigns in China, and I shouldn’t hold that Empire up -as an example to others.” - -The captain laughed heartily. - -“Young man, you’re contradicting yourself. You’re excited, I guess. You -said a minute ago that women didn’t rule in the East, and now you show -that the largest country in the East _is_ ruled by a woman. You can’t -have it both ways, you know.” - -I laughed somewhat dismally in sympathy with him, and, lunch now being -served, the good man devoted his entire attention to eating. As no one -else said a word except the captain and myself, I made a feeble but -futile attempt to cause the conversation to become general. I glanced -at my fair neighbor to the right, who had not looked up once since -I entered. Miss Stretton was not nearly so handsome a girl as Miss -Hemster, yet nevertheless in any ordinary company she would be regarded -as very good-looking. She had a sweet and sympathetic face, and at the -present moment it was rosy red. - -“Have you been in Nagasaki?” I asked, which was a stupid question, for -I knew she had not visited the town the day before, and unless she had -gone very early there was no time for her to have been ashore before I -came aboard. - -She answered “No” in such low tones that, fearing I had not heard it, -she cleared her throat, and said “No” again. Then she raised her eyes -for one brief second, cast a sidelong glance at me, so appealing and so -vivid with intelligence, that I read it at once to mean, “Oh, please do -not talk to me.” - -The meal was most excellent, yet I never remember to have endured a -half-hour so unpleasant. Across the table from me, Miss Hemster had -pushed away plate after plate and had touched nothing. When I spoke to -her companion she began drumming nervously on the tablecloth with her -fingers, as if she had great difficulty in preventing herself giving -expression to an anger that was only too palpable. Her father went on -stolidly with his lunch, and made no effort to relieve the rigor of -the amazing situation. As soon as the main dish had been served and -disposed of, the captain rose, and, nodding to the company, made for -the companion-way. Once there he turned on his heel and said: - -“Mr. Hemster, any orders?” - -Before her father could reply, the young lady rose with an action so -sudden and a gesture of her right hand so sweeping that the plate -before her toppled and fell with a crash to the floor. I noticed Mr. -Hemster instinctively grasp the tablecloth, but the girl marched away -as erect as a grenadier, her shapely shoulders squared as if she was on -military parade, and thus she disappeared into the forward part of the -ship. Miss Stretton looked up at her employer, received a slight nod, -then she, with a murmur of excuse to me, rose and followed the mistress -of the ship. I heard a loud, angry voice, shrill as that of a peacock, -for a moment, then a door was closed, and all was still. Mr. Hemster -said slowly to the captain: - -“I’ll be up there in a minute and let you know where we’re going. We’ve -got all the time there is, you know.” - -“Certainly, sir,” said the captain, disappearing. - -There was nothing to say, so I said nothing, and Mr. Hemster and I sat -out our lonely meal together. He seemed in no way perturbed by what -had taken place, and as, after all, it was no affair of mine, even -if my unfortunate remark regarding the Mikado had been the cause of -it, I said inwardly there was little reason for my disturbing myself -about it. Although the old gentleman showed no outward sign of inward -commotion, he nevertheless seemed anxious that our dismal meal should -draw to a speedy close, for he said to me at last: - -“If you wish for coffee, you can have it served to you on deck.” - -“Thank you,” said I, glad to avail myself of the opportunity to escape. -As I mounted the companion-way I heard him say in firmer tones than I -had known him to use before: - -“Tell my daughter to come here to me,”--a command answered by the -gentle “Yes, sir,” of the Japanese boy. - -I moved the wicker chair and table as far aft as possible, to be -out of earshot should any remarks follow me from the saloon. I saw -the captain on the bridge again, pacing up and down, pipe in mouth -and, hands in pockets. Even at that distance I noticed on his face a -semi-comical grimace, and it actually seemed to me that he winked his -left eye in my direction. The coffee did not come, and as I rose to -stroll forward and converse with the captain I could not help hearing -the low determined tones of the man down in the saloon, mingled now -and then with the high-pitched, angry voice of the woman. As I hurried -forward there next came up the companion-way a scream so terrible and -ear-piercing that it must have startled every one on board, yet nobody -moved. This was followed instantly by a crash, as if the table had been -flung over, which of course was impossible, as it was fastened to the -floor. Then came the hysterical, terrifying half-scream, half-sob of a -woman apparently in mortal agony, and instinctively I started down the -companion-way, to be met by Miss Stretton, who stretched her arms from -side to side of the stairway. The appealing look I had noticed before -was in her eyes, and she said in a low voice: - -“Please don’t come down. You can do no good.” - -“Is anybody hurt?” I cried. - -“No, nobody, nobody. Please don’t come down.” - -I turned back, and not wishing to see the captain or any one else at -that moment, sat down in my chair again. The sobs died away, and then -Mr. Hemster came up the companion-way with a determined look on his -face which seemed to me to say, “Women do not rule after all.” Once on -deck he shouted out to the captain the one word: - -“Corea!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - - -The shouting of those three syllables was like the utterance of a -talismanic word in an Arabian legend. It cleft the spell of inactivity -which hung over officers and crew as the sweep of a scimitar cuts -through the web of enchantment. The silence was immediately broken -by the agitated snorting of a pony-engine, and the rattle of the -anchor-chain coming up. Then the melodious jingling of bells down below -told the engineer to “stand by.” As the snort of the engine and the -rattle of the chain ceased, the crew mustered forward and began to -stow the anchor. Another jingle below, and then began the pulsating of -the engines, while the sharp prow of the yacht seemed slowly to brush -aside the distant hills and set them moving. To a seasoned traveller -like myself there is something stimulating in the first throb of an -engine aboard ship. It means new scenes and fresh experiences. Farewell -Nagasaki and starvation; yes, and sometimes despair. Yet I had a warm -corner in my heart for the old commercial city, with its queer little -picturesque inhabitants, whose keen eye for business was nevertheless -frequently softened by sentiment. - -The man whose sharply uttered words had called up commotion out of the -stillness sank somewhat listlessly into his customary armchair, and -put his feet, crossed, on the rail. There was something in his attitude -that warned me he did not wish his privacy intruded upon, so I leaned -over the opposite rail and steadfastly regarded the receding city. The -big yacht moved smoothly and swiftly over the waters of Nagasaki Bay, -which at that moment glittered dazzlingly in the sunlight. The craft -was evidently well engined, for the vibration was scarcely perceptible, -and somehow it gave one the consciousness that there was a reserve of -power which might be called upon in a pinch. Once clear of Nagasaki -Bay the captain laid her course due west, as if we were to race the -declining sun. I surmised that a safe rather than a quick voyage was -his object, and that he intended to strike through the Yellow Sea and -avoid threading the mazes of the Corean Archipelago. - -Long before the gong sounded for dinner we were out of sight of land. -As I went down the companion stairs I must admit that I looked forward -to the meal with some degree of apprehension, hoping the atmosphere -would be less electric than during luncheon. I need have harboured no -fear; Mr. Hemster, the captain, and myself sat down, but the ladies -did not appear during the meal. Mr. Hemster had little to say, but the -jovial captain told some excellent stories, which to his amazement and -delight I laughed at, for he had a theory that no Englishman could -see the point of any yarn that ever was spun. Mr. Hemster never once -smiled; probably he had heard the stories before, and in the middle -of dinner (such seemed to be the captain’s impolite habit) the -story-teller rose and left us. He paused with his foot on the first -step, as he had done before, turned to the owner, and said: - -“No particular hurry about reaching Corea, is there?” - -“Why?” asked Hemster shortly. - -“Well, you see, sir, I don’t want to run down and sink one of -them there little islands in the Archipelago, and have a suit for -damages against me; so, unless you’re in a hurry I propose to run -a couple of hundred miles west, and then north this side of the -hundred-and-twenty-fifth meridian.” - -“Washington or Greenwich?” asked the owner. - -“Well, sir,” said the captain with a smile, “I’m not particular, so -long as there’s a clear way ahead of me. I once sailed with a Dutchman -who worked on the meridian of Ferro, which is the westernmost point -of the Canary Islands. When I am in home waters of course I work by -Washington, but the charts I’ve got for this region is Greenwich, and -so I say the hundred-and-twenty-fifth.” - -“That’s all right,” replied Hemster seriously. “I thought you were too -patriotic a man to use any meridian but our own, and then I thought -you were so polite you were using Greenwich out of compliment to Mr. -Tremorne here. You pick out the meridian that has the fewest islands -along it and fewest big waves, and you’ll satisfy me.” - -The owner said all this quite seriously, and I perceived he had a sense -of humour which at first I had not given him credit for. - -The captain laughed good-naturedly and disappeared. Mr. Hemster and -I finished our dinner together in silence, then went on deck and -had coffee and cigars. Although he proffered wine and liqueurs he -never drank any spirits himself. I was able to help him out in that -direction, as he once drily remarked. - -It was one of the most beautiful evenings I had ever witnessed. There -was no breeze except the gentle current caused by the motion of the -yacht. The sea was like glass, and as night fell the moon rose nearly -at the full. Mr. Hemster retired early, as I afterward learned was his -custom, but whether to work in his office or to sleep in his bed I -never knew. He seemed to have no amusement except the eternal rolling -of the unlit cigar in his lips. Although there was a good library on -board I never saw him open a book or display the slightest interest in -anything pertaining to literature, science, or art. This is a strange -world, and in spite of his undoubted wealth I experienced a feeling of -pity for him, and I have not the slightest doubt he entertained the -same feeling toward me. - -I went forward after my employer left me, and asked the captain if -outsiders were permitted on the bridge, receiving from him a cordial -invitation to ascend. He had a wooden chair up there in which he sat, -tilted back against the after rail of the bridge, while his crossed -feet were elevated on the forward one, and in this free and easy -attitude was running the ship. Of course there was nothing calling -for exceeding vigilance, because the great watery plain, bounded by -the far-off, indistinct horizon, was absolutely empty, and the yacht -jogged along at an easy pace, which, as I have said, gave one the -impression that much power was held in reserve. I sat on the forward -rail opposite him, and listened to his stories, which were often quaint -and always good. He had been a fisherman on the banks of Newfoundland -in his early days, and his droll characterization of the men he had -met were delicious to listen to. From the very first day I admired the -captain, whose name I never learned, and this admiration increased the -more I knew of him. I often wonder if he is still following the sea, -and indeed I can never imagine him doing anything else. He was able, -efficient, and resourceful; as capable a man as it was ever my fortune -to meet. - -My interest in the captain’s stories came to an abrupt conclusion when -I saw a lady emerge from the companion-way, look anxiously around for -a moment, and then begin a slow promenade up and down the after deck. -I bade good-night to the captain, and descended from the bridge. The -lady paused as she saw me approach, and I thought for a moment she was -about to retreat. But she did not do so. I had determined to speak -to Miss Hemster on the first opportunity as if nothing had occurred. -Ill-will is bad enough in any case, but nowhere is it more deplorable -than on shipboard, because people have no escape from one another -there. I was resolved that so far as I was concerned there should -not be a continuance of the estrangement, which must affect more or -less each one in our company, unless it was the captain, who seemed a -true philosopher, taking whatever came with equal nonchalance. As I -neared the lady, however, I saw she was not Gertrude Hemster, but Hilda -Stretton. - -“It is a lovely evening, Miss Stretton,” I ventured to say, “and I am -glad to see you on deck to enjoy it.” - -“I came up for a breath of fresh air,” she replied simply, with no -enthusiasm for the loveliness of the night, which I had just been -extolling. I surmised instinctively that she preferred to be alone, and -was inwardly aware that the correct thing for me to do was to raise my -yachting-cap and pass on, for she had evidently come to a standstill -in her promenade, to give me no excuse for joining it. But, whether -or not it was the glamour of the moonlight, her face was much more -attractive than it had seemed when, for the first time, I had had a -glimpse of it, and, be that as it may, I say this in excuse for my -persistence. When has a young man ever been driven from his purpose by -the unresponsiveness of the lady he is bold enough to address? - -“If you do not mind, Miss Stretton, I should be very much gratified if -you would allow me to join your evening saunter.” - -“The deck belongs as much to you as it does to me,” was her cold -rejoinder, “and I think I should tell you I am but the paid servant of -its actual owner.” - -I laughed, more to chase away her evident embarrassment than because -there was anything really to laugh about. I have noticed that a laugh -sometimes drives away restraint. It is the most useful of human -ejaculations, and often succeeds where words would fail. - -“A warning in exchange for your warning!” I exclaimed as cheerfully as -I could. “I, too, am a paid servant of the owner of this yacht.” - -“I did not expect to hear the cousin of Lord Tremorne admit as much,” -she replied, thawing somewhat. - -“Well, you have just heard the cousin of his lordship do so, and I may -add on behalf of Lord Tremorne that if he were in my place I know his -candour would compel him to say the same thing.” - -“Englishmen think themselves very honest, do they not?” she commented, -somewhat ungraciously, it seemed to me, for after all I was trying -to make conversation, always a difficult task when there is veiled -opposition. - -“Oh, some Englishmen are honest, and some are not, as is the case with -other nationalities. I don’t suppose a dishonest Englishman would -have any delusions about the matter, and perhaps if you pressed him -he would admit his delinquency. I hope you are not prejudiced against -us as a nation; and, if you are, I sincerely trust you will not allow -any impression you may have acquired regarding myself to deepen that -prejudice, because I am far from being a representative Englishman.” - -We were now walking up and down the deck together, but her next remark -brought me to an amazed standstill. - -“If you possess the candour with which you have just accredited -yourself and your people, you would have said that you hoped I was -not prejudiced against your nation, but you were certain, if such -unfortunately was the case, the charm of your manner and the delight -of your conversation would speedily remove it.” - -“Good gracious, Miss Stretton,” I cried, “do you take me for a -conceited ass?” - -The lady condescended to laugh a little, very low and very sweetly, but -it was an undeniable laugh, and so I was grateful for it. - -“You mistake me,” she said. “I took you for a superior person, that was -all, and I think superior persons sometimes make mistakes.” - -“What mistake have I fallen into, if you will be so good as to tell me?” - -“Well, as a beginning, Mr. Tremorne, I think that if I was an English -lady you would not venture to accost me as you have done to-night, -without a proper introduction.” - -“I beg your pardon. I considered myself introduced to you by Miss -Hemster to-day at luncheon; and if our host had not so regarded it, I -imagine he would have remedied the deficiency.” - -“Mr. Hemster, with a delicacy which I regret to say seems to be -unappreciated, knowing me to be a servant in his employ, did not put -upon me the embarrassment of an introduction.” - -“Really, Miss Stretton, I find myself compelled to talk to you rather -seriously,” said I, with perhaps a regrettable trace of anger in my -voice. “You show yourself to be an extremely ignorant young woman.” - -Again she laughed very quietly. - -“Oh!” she cried, with an exultation that had hitherto been absent from -her conversation; “the veneer is coming off, and the native Englishman -stands revealed in the moonlight.” - -“You are quite right, the veneer is coming off. And now, if you have -the courage of your statements, you will hear the truth about them. On -the other hand, if you like to say sharp things and then run away from -the consequences, there is the saloon, or there is the other side of -the deck. Take your choice.” - -“I shall borrow a piece of English brag and say I am no coward. Go on.” - -“Very well. I came down from the bridge after a most friendly and -delightful talk with the captain, having no other thought in my mind -than to make myself an agreeable comrade to you when I saw you on deck.” - -“That was a very disingenuous beginning for a truthful lecture, Mr. -Tremorne. When you saw me, you thought it was Miss Hemster, and you -found out too late that it was I; so you approached me with the most -polite and artful covering of your disappointment.” - -We were walking up and down the deck again, and took one or two turns -before I spoke once more. - -“Yes, Miss Stretton, you are demoniacally right. I shall amend the -beginning of my lecture, then, by alluding to an incident which I -did not expect to touch upon. At luncheon Miss Hemster received my -greeting with what seemed to me unnecessary insolence. We are to be -housed together for some time aboard this yacht; therefore I came down -to greet her as if the incident to which I have alluded had not taken -place.” - -“How very good of you!” said Miss Stretton sarcastically. - -“Madam, I quite agree with you. Now we will turn to some of your own -remarks, if you don’t mind. In the first place, you said I would not -address an English lady to whom I had not been properly introduced. In -that statement you were entirely wrong. Five years ago, on an Atlantic -liner, I, without having been introduced, asked the Countess of -Bayswater to walk the deck with me, and she graciously consented. Some -time after that, the deck steward being absent, her Grace the Duchess -of Pentonville, without a formal introduction to me, asked me to tuck -her up in her steamer chair; then she requested me to sit down beside -her, which I did, and we entered into the beginning of a very pleasant -acquaintance which lasted during the voyage.” - -“Dear me!” said Miss Stretton, evidently unimpressed, “how fond you are -of citing members of the nobility!” - -“Many of them are, or have been, friends of my own; so why should I not -cite them? However, my object was entirely different. If I had said -that Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Smith were the people in question, you might -very well have doubted that they were ladies, and so my illustration -would have fallen to the ground. You said English ladies, and I have -given you the names of two who are undoubtedly ladies, and undoubtedly -English, for neither of them is an American who has married a member of -our nobility.” - -If ever fire flashed from a woman’s eyes, it was upon this occasion. -Miss Stretton’s face seemed transformed with anger. - -“Sir!” she flashed, “that last remark was an insult to my countrywomen, -and was intended as such. I bid you good-night, and I ask you never to -speak to me again.” - -“Exactly as I thought,” said I; “the moment shells begin to fly, you -beat a retreat.” - -Miss Stretton had taken five indignant steps toward the companion-way -when my words brought her to a standstill. After a momentary pause -she turned around with a proud motion of her figure which elicited my -utmost admiration, walked back to my side, and said very quietly: - -“Pardon me; pray proceed.” - -“I shall not proceed, but shall take the liberty of pausing for a -moment to show you the futility of jumping to a conclusion. Now, try -to comprehend. You said, _English_ ladies. My illustration would have -been useless if the Countess and the Duchess had been Americans. Do you -comprehend that, or are you too angry?” - -I waited for a reply but none came. - -“Let me tell you further,” I went on, “that I know several American -women who possess titles; and if any man in my presence dared to hint -that one or other of them was not a lady I should knock him down if -I could, and if no one but men were about. So you see I was throwing -no disparagement on your countrywomen, but was merely clenching my -argument on the lines you yourself had laid down.” - -“I see; I apologize. Pray go on with the lecture.” - -“Thank you for the permission, and on your part please forgive any -unnecessary vehemence which I have imported into what should be a calm -philosophical pronouncement. When you accuse an Englishman of violating -some rule of etiquette, he is prone to resent such an imputation, -partly because he has an uneasy feeling that it may be true. He -himself admits that nearly every other nation excels his in the arts -of politeness. It is really not at all to his discredit that he fondly -hopes he has qualities of heart and innate courtesy which perhaps -may partly make up for his deficiency in outward suavity of manner. -Now, madam, etiquette is elastic. It is not an exact science, like -mathematics. The rules pertaining to decimal fractions are the same the -world over, but the etiquette of the Court differs from the etiquette -of the drawing-room, and dry-land etiquette differs from the etiquette -on board ship.” - -“I don’t see why it should,” interrupted Miss Stretton. - -“Then, madam, it shall be my privilege to explain. Imagine us cast on -a desert shore. If, for instance, our captain were less worthy than he -is, and ran us on the rocks of Quelpaerd Island, which is some distance -ahead of us, you would find that all etiquette would disappear.” - -“Why?” - -“Why? Because we should each have to turn around and mutually help -the others. Whether I had been introduced to you or not, I should -certainly endeavour to provide you with food and shelter; whereas if -I contracted one of the island’s justly celebrated fevers, your good -heart would prompt you to do what you could for my restoration. Now -a ship is but a stepping-stone between the mainland of civilization -and the desert island of barbarism. This fact, unconsciously or -consciously, seems to be recognized, and so the rules of etiquette on -board ship relax, and I maintain, with the brutal insistance of my -race, that I have not infringed upon them.” - -“I think that is a very capital and convincing illustration, Mr. -Tremorne,” confessed the lady generously. - -Now, look you, how vain a creature is man. That remark sent a glow of -satisfaction through my being such as I had not experienced since a -speech of my youth was applauded by my fellow-students at the Union in -Oxford. Nevertheless, I proceeded stubbornly with my lecture, which I -had not yet finished. - -“Now, madam, I am going to give you the opportunity to charge me with -inconsistency. I strenuously object to the application of the term -‘servant’ as applied to yourself or to me. I am not a servant.” - -“But, Mr. Tremorne, you admitted it a while ago, and furthermore said -that your distinguished cousin would also have confessed as much if in -your place.” - -“I know I said so; but that was before the veneer fell away.” - -“Then what becomes of the candour of which you boasted? Has it gone -with the veneer?” - -“They are keeping each other company on the ocean some miles behind -us. I have thrown them overboard.” - -Miss Stretton laughed with rather more of heartiness than she had yet -exhibited. - -“Well, I declare,” she cried; “this is a transformation scene, all in -the moonlight!” - -“No, I am not Mr. Hemster’s servant. Mr. Hemster desires to use my -knowledge of the Eastern languages and my experience in Oriental -diplomacy. For this he has engaged to pay, but I am no more his servant -than Sir Edward Clark is a menial to the client who pays him for the -knowledge he possesses; and, if you will permit me the English brag, -which you utilized a little while since, I say I am a gentleman and -therefore the equal of Mr. Silas K. Hemster, or any one else.” - -“You mean superior, and not equal.” - -“Madam, with all due respect, I mean nothing of the sort.” - -“Nevertheless, that is what is in your mind and in your manner. By the -way, is your lecture completed?” - -“Yes, entirely so. It is your innings now. You have the floor, or the -deck rather.” - -“Then I should like to say that Silas K. Hemster, as you call him, is -one of the truest gentlemen that ever lived.” - -“Isn’t that his name?” - -“You were perfectly accurate in naming him, but you were certainly -supercilious in the tone in which you named him.” - -“Oh, I say!” - -“No, you don’t; it is _my_ say, if you please.” - -“Certainly, certainly; but at first you try to make me out a conceited -ass, and now you endeavour to show that I am an irredeemable cad. I -have the utmost respect for Mr. Hemster.” - -“Have you? Well, I am very glad to hear it, and I wish to give you a -firmer basis for that opinion than you have been able to form from -your own observation. Mr. Hemster may not be learned in books, but he -is learned in human nature. He is the best of men, kind, considerate, -and always just. He was a lifelong friend of my father, now, alas, no -more in life. They were schoolboys together. It was inevitable that -Mr. Hemster should become very wealthy, and equally inevitable that my -father should remain poor. My father was a dreamy scholar, and I think -you will admit that he was a gentleman, for he was a clergyman of the -Episcopal Church. He was not of the money-making order of men, and, -if he had been, his profession would have precluded him from becoming -what Mr. Hemster is. Although Mr. Hemster grew very rich, it never in -the least interfered with his friendship for my father nor with his -generosity to my father’s child. If I cared to accept that generosity -it would be unstinted. As it is, he pays me much more than I am worth. -He is simple and honest, patient and kind. Patient and kind,” she -repeated, with a little tremor of the voice that for a moment checked -her utterance,--“a true gentleman, if ever there was one.” - -“My dear Miss Stretton,” I said, “what you say of him is greatly to -the credit of both yourself and Mr. Hemster; but it distresses me that -you should intimate that I have failed to appreciate him. He has picked -me up, as I might say, from the gutters of Nagasaki without even a line -of recommendation or so much as a note of introduction.” - -“That is what I said to you; he is a judge of men rather than of -literature and the arts; and it is entirely to your credit that he has -taken you without credentials. You may be sure, were it otherwise, -I should not have spent so much time with you as I have done this -evening. But his quick choice should have given you a better insight -into his character than that which you possess?” - -“There you go again, Miss Stretton. What have I said or done which -leads you to suppose I do not regard Mr. Hemster with the utmost -respect?” - -“It is something exceedingly difficult to define. It cannot be set down -as lucidly as your exposition of etiquette. It was your air, rather -than your manner at luncheon time. It was a very distant and exalted -air, which said as plainly as words that you sat down with a company -inferior to yourself.” - -I could not help laughing aloud; the explanation was absolutely absurd. - -“Why, my dear Miss Stretton, if I may call you so, you never even -glanced at me during luncheon time; how, then, did you get such -extraordinary notions into your head?” - -“One did not need to glance at you to learn what I have stated. Now, -during our conversation you have been frightened--no, that is not the -word--you have been surprised--into a verbal honesty that has been -unusual to you. Please make the confession complete, and admit that in -your own mind you have not done justice to Mr. Hemster.” - -“Miss Stretton, the word you have been searching for is ‘bluff.’ I have -been bluffed into confessions, before now, which in my calmer moments -I regretted. You see I have been in America myself, and ‘bluff’ is -an exceedingly expressive word. And, madam, permit me to say that in -this instance the bluff will not work. You cannot get me to admit that -either by look or tone I think anything but what is admirable of Mr. -Hemster.” - -“Oh, dear, oh, dear!” cried the girl in mock despair. It was really -wonderful how unconsciously friendly she had become after our -tempestuous discussion. “Oh, dear, oh, dear! how you are fallen from -the state of generous exaltation that distinguished you but a short -time ago. Please search the innermost recesses of your mind, and tell -me if you do not find there something remotely resembling contempt for -a man who accepted you--appalling thought!--without even a note of -introduction.” - -“Very well, my lady, I shall make the search you recommend. Now we will -walk quietly up and down the deck without a word being said by either -of us, and during that time I shall explore those recesses of my mind, -which no doubt you regard as veritable ‘chambers of horrors.’” - -We walked together under the bridge, and then to the very stern of the -ship, coming back to the bridge again. As we turned, the lady by my -side broke the contract. - -“Oh!” she cried with a little gasp, “there is Miss Hemster!”--and I saw -the lady she mentioned emerge from the companion-way to the deck. - -“Damnation!” I muttered, under my breath, forgetting for an instant in -whose presence I stood, until she turned her face full upon me. - -“I--I beg your pardon most sincerely,” I stammered. - -“And I grant it with equal sincerity,” she whispered, with a slight -laugh, which struck me as rather remarkable, for she had previously -become deeply offended at sayings much milder than my surprised -ejaculation. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - - -We were sailing due west, so that the full moon partly revealed the -side face of the figure approaching us, and I venture to assert -that the old moon, satellite of lovers, never shone upon anything -more graceful than the vision we now beheld. Man as I was, I knew -intuitively that she was dressed with a perfection far beyond my -powers of description. The partly revealed face wore an expression -of childlike simplicity and innocence, with all of a mature woman’s -exquisite beauty. No frowns now marred that smooth brow; the daintily -chiseled lips were animated by a smile of supreme loveliness. - -“What a perfectly enchanting night!” she cried, as she came to a -standstill before us. “But don’t you think it is a trifle chilly?”--and -a slight shiver vibrated her frame. “But I suppose you have been -energetically walking, and therefore have not noticed the change of -temperature. Oh, Hilda, darling, would you mind running down to my room -and bringing up that light fleecy wrap, which I can thrown over my -shoulders?” - -“I will bring it at once,” replied Miss Stretton, hastening toward the -companion-way. Just as she reached the head of the stair a ripple of -tinkling laughter added music to the night. - -“Dear me, how stupid I am!” cried Miss Hemster, “Why, Hilda, I have it -here on my arm all the time! Don’t bother, darling!” - -Miss Stretton paused for a moment, then said, “Good-night!” and -disappeared down the stairway. - -Man is a stupid animal. I did not know at the moment, nor did I learn -until long after,--and even then it was a lady who told me,--that this -was a sweet dismissal, as effective as it was unperceived by myself. - -Miss Hemster busied herself with the fleecy wrap, whose folds proved -so unmanageable that I ventured to offer my aid and finally adjusted -the fabric upon her shapely shoulders. We began walking up and down the -deck, she regulating her step to mine, and, in the friendly manner of -yesterday afternoon, placing her hand within my arm. - -However, she did not hop and skip along the deck as she had done on -the streets of Nagasaki, although I should have thought the smooth -white boards offered an almost irresistible temptation to one who had -shown herself to be bubbling over with the joy of youth and life. -Notwithstanding the taking of my arm, she held herself with great -dignity, her head erect and almost thrown back, so I expected to be -treated to a new phase of her most interesting character. I was finding -it somewhat bewildering, and hardly knew how to begin the conversation; -but whether it was the springing step, or the smoothness of the deck, -or both combined, it struck me all at once that she must be a superb -dancer, and I was about to make inquiry as to this when she withdrew -her hand rather quickly after we had taken two or three turns up and -down the deck in silence, and said: - -“You are not taking advantage of the opportunity I have been kind -enough to present to you.” - -“What opportunity?” I asked in amazement. - -“The opportunity to apologize to me.” - -“To apologize?” cried I, still more at a loss to understand her -meaning. “Pray, for what should I apologize?” - -She said with great decision and some impatience: - -“How terribly dense you Englishmen are!” - -“Yes, I admit it. We are celebrated as a nation for obtuseness. But -won’t you take pity on this particular Englishman, and enlighten him -regarding his offence. What should I apologize for?” - -“Why, you told my father you were not a friend of the Mikado!” - -“Certainly I told him so. I am not a friend of the Mikado; therefore -why should I claim to be?” - -“Oh!” she cried, with a fine gesture of disdain, “you are trying to do -the George Washington act!” - -“The George Washington act!” I repeated. - -“Certainly. Of course you don’t see that. He could not tell a lie, you -know.” - -“Ah, I understand you. No, I am doing the Mark Twain act. I can tell a -lie, but I won’t.” - -“Not even for me?” she asked, looking up at me with that winning smile -of hers. - -“Ah, when you put it that way I fear I shall be unable to emulate the -truthfulness of either George or Mark.” - -“Now that isn’t so bad,” she said, taking my arm again, which gave me -the hope that I had been at least partially restored to favour. - -“You certainly intimated to me yesterday that you were a friend of the -Mikado.” - -“Then I am to blame; for with equal certainty I had no right to do so.” - -“You said you had seen him several times and had spoken with him.” - -“Yes, but that does not constitute a claim upon His Majesty’s -consideration.” - -“Why, you have only seen me two or three times, and I am sure you know -I’m a friend of yours.” - -“Madam, I am delighted to hear you say so. If the Mikado had made a -similar statement, I should claim him as a friend before all the world.” - -“Then there was another thing you said, and I suppose you’ll go back on -that, too. You said you were a partisan of mine, or, since you are such -a stickler for accuracy, an adherent--I think that was the word--yes, -you were my adherent, or retainer, or something of the sort, such as -we read of in old-fashioned novels, and when you said so, poor little -trustful girl that I am, I believed you.” - -“Indeed, Miss Hemster, you had every right to do so. Should occasion -arise, you will find me your staunch defender.” - -“Oh, that’s all very pretty; but when it comes to the test, then you -fail. You heard what my father said. You must have known I meant you -to claim friendship with the Mikado. Poor father’s as transparent as -glass, and he surely made it as plain as this funnel that I wished you -to claim friendship with the head of the Japanese nation. So, after all -your beautiful promises, the moment you get a chance to back me up, you -do so by going back on me.” - -“My dear Miss Hemster, why did you not give me a hint of your wishes? -If, when we were in Nagasaki, you had but said that you wished me to -proclaim myself the Emperor’s brother, I should have perjured myself on -your behalf like a gentleman.” - -“It happened that I was not on deck when you came aboard, and so did -not see you. But I do think, if you hadn’t forgotten me entirely, you -would have learned at once from my father’s talk what I wished you to -say.” - -“Yes, I see it all now, when it is too late; but as you have remarked, -and as I have admitted, I am extremely dense, and unless a thing is as -plain as the funnel--to use your own simile--I am very apt to overlook -it. Sometimes I don’t see it even then. For instance, when you are -walking by my side, I am just as likely to run into the funnel as to -walk past it.” - -She laughed most good naturedly at this observation, and replied: - -“Oh, you do say things very charmingly, and I will forgive you, even if -you refuse to apologize.” - -“But I don’t refuse to apologize. I _do_ apologize--most abjectly--for -my stupidity.” - -“Oh, well, that’s all right. Perhaps, when everything’s said and done, -it was my own fault in not giving you warning. Next time I want you to -stand by me, I’ll have it all typewritten nice and plain, and will hand -the paper to you twenty-four hours ahead.” - -“That would be very kind of you, Miss Hemster; and, besides, you would -then possess documentary evidence of the stupidity of an Englishman.” - -“Oh, we don’t need to have documentary evidence for that,” she replied -brightly; “but I tell you I was mad clear through when I knew what you -had said to my father. I raised storm enough to sink the yacht.” - -“Did you?” - -“Didn’t I? Why, you _knew_ I did.” - -“I hadn’t the slightest suspicion of it.” - -“Oh, well, you are denser than I thought. And I have been worrying -myself all the afternoon for fear you were offended by the way I told -you to take your seat at the table.” - -“Offended? I shouldn’t have had the presumption to think of such a -thing. Indeed, it was very kind of you to indicate my place. Such -instructions are usually given by the steward.” - -She bestowed a sly, sidelong glance upon me, and there was a somewhat -uncertain smile at the corners of her pretty lips. - -“Is that a little dig at me?” she asked. - -“Nothing of the sort. It was a mere statement of fact.” - -“Sometimes I think,” she said meditatively, more to herself than to me, -“that you are not such a fool as you look.” - -I was compelled to laugh at this, and replied with as much urbanity as -I could call to my command: - -“I am overjoyed to hear that statement. It seems to prove that I am -making progress. Such evidence always encourages a man.” - -“Oh, well,” she said, with a shrug of impatience, “don’t let’s talk any -more about it. I didn’t want to go to Corea, and I _did_ want to return -to Yokohama; so here we are going to Corea. Don’t you think I am a very -good-natured girl to let bygones be bygones so easily?” - -“You certainly are.” - -“Then that’s settled. Tell me what Miss Stretton was talking to you -about.” - -I was somewhat taken aback by this extraordinary request, but replied -easily: - -“Oh, we had not been walking the deck very long, and we discussed -nothing of extreme importance so far as I can remember.” - -“What did she say about me?” - -“I assure you, Miss Hemster, your name was not mentioned between us.” - -“Really? Then what on earth _did_ you talk about?” - -“When I have the good fortune to be in your presence, Miss Hemster, I -confess it seems impossible that I should talk about anyone else than -yourself, nevertheless I should not presume to discuss one lady with -another.” - -The girl jerked away her arm again, and turned to me with a flash in -her eyes that was somewhat disconcerting. - -“Look here, Mr. Tremorne,” she cried, “if you’ve got anything to say -against me, I want you to say it right out like a man, and not to hint -at it like a spiteful woman.” - -“What have I said now?” I inquired very humbly. - -“You know quite well what you have said. But if you imagine I am as -stupid as you admit yourself to be, you’ll get left!” - -“My dear madam,” I ventured; “one of the advantages of having a thick -skin is that a person does not take offence where no offence is meant.” - -“There you go again! You know very well that you were driving at me -when you said that you refused to discuss one lady with another; -because, if you meant anything at all, you meant that I was trying to -do what you couldn’t bring yourself to do; and when you talk of ‘lady’ -and ‘lady’ you are in effect putting Miss Stretton on an equality with -me.” - -“I should never think of doing so,” I replied, with a bow to the angry -person beside me. - -“Is that another?” she demanded. “Oh, you know very well what I mean. -Do you consider Miss Stretton a lady?” - -“My acquaintance with her is of the shortest, yet I should certainly -call her a lady.” - -“Then what do you call me?” - -“A lady also.” - -“Well, if that isn’t putting us on an equality, what is?” - -“I said, madam, that _I_ did not put you on an equality. That was done -by a celebrated document which you often fling in our faces. I refer -to the Declaration of Independence, which, if I remember rightly, -begins--‘All men are created equal,’ and I suppose, as the humourist -puts it, that the men embrace the women.” - -“Miss Stretton is my paid servant,” insisted Miss Hemster, evading the -point; “and, as was said in the opera of ‘Pinafore,’ when one person -has to obey the orders of another, equality is out of the question.” - -“I didn’t think that made any difference in the United States.” - -“But this isn’t the United States.” - -“I beg your pardon, but this is the United States. We are on the high -seas, aboard a steamer that is registered in New York, and so this deck -is just as much a part of your country as is New York itself, and the -laws of the United States would justify the captain in putting me in -irons if he thought my conduct deserved such treatment.” - -“Then you refuse to tell me what you and Miss Stretton were discussing!” - -“My dear madam, if Miss Stretton asked me what you and I were -discussing, I should certainly refuse to inform her. Should I not be -justified in doing so? I leave it to yourself. Would you be pleased if -I repeated our conversation to Miss Stretton?” - -“Oh, I don’t know that I should mind,” replied Miss Hemster mildly, the -storm subsiding as quickly as it had risen; “I have no doubt she told -you that her father was a clergyman, and that my father had borrowed -five hundred dollars from her father to get his start in life. And she -doubtless hinted that her father was the founder of our fortune.” - -“I assure you, Miss Hemster, that she said nothing at all about five -hundred dollars or any other sum. She spoke mostly of your father, and -she spoke very highly of him.” - -“She certainly had every right to do so. My father gave her what -education she has and supported her ever since.” - -I made no comment upon this statement, and my companion veered round a -bit and said brightly: - -“Oh, I see you don’t like me to talk like that, and perhaps I -shouldn’t, but Hilda Stretton is as sly as they make them, and I’ve -no doubt she came on deck just to size you up, while you would never -suspect it.” - -“I venture to think you do the young lady an injustice, Miss Hemster. I -am sure she would have preferred to walk the deck alone, although she -was too polite to say so. I rather fear I forced my company upon her.” - -“Oh, yes, oh, yes; I understand all about that. Such is just the -impression Hilda Stretton would like to make upon a man. Now I am -honest. I came on deck purposely to have a talk with you.” - -“Then I am very much flattered.” - -“Well, you ought to be, and I may say this for you, that you don’t talk -to me in the least as other men do. Nobody has ever dared to contradict -me.” - -“Have I done so? You shock me, for I certainly did not intend to -contradict you.” - -“Why, you have done nothing else, and I don’t think it’s gentlemanly -at all. But we’ll let that go. Now I wish to talk about yourself.” - -“Well, I think we might choose a more entertaining topic.” - -“We’ll talk about Lord Tremorne then.” - -“Hang Lord Tremorne!” - -“Ah, Miss Stretton and you were discussing him then?” - -“Indeed we were not, but I am rather tired of the gentleman. Yet he is -a very good fellow, and I ought not to say ‘Hang him!’ even if I am on -the high seas. I am sure I wish him nothing but good.” - -“If he were to die, would you become Lord Tremorne?” - -“Bless me, no!” - -“Who stands between you?” - -“His three sons, who are very healthy specimens of humanity, I am glad -to say.” - -“Isn’t there ever any possibility of your becoming Lord Tremorne, then?” - -“Oh, there’s a possibility of anything, but no probability. I may say -quite truthfully that no one would be so sorry as I if the probability -occurred.” - -“Don’t you want to have a title?” - -“I wouldn’t give twopence for it.” - -“Really? I thought every one in England wanted a title?” - -“Dear me, no! There are men in England, plain Mr. This or That, who -wouldn’t change their appellation for the highest title that could be -offered them.” - -“Why?” - -“Oh, they belong to fine old families and look upon the newer -aristocracy as upstarts.” - -“It seems funny to talk of old families, for all families are the same -age. We all spring from Adam, I suppose.” - -“Doubtless, but I believe the College of Arms does not admit such a -contention.” - -“Don’t you think family pride a very idiotic thing?” - -“Oh, I don’t know. To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought very much -about it, though I don’t see why we should parade the pedigree of a -horse and be ashamed of the pedigree of a man.” - -“It isn’t the same thing. A horse may have notable ancestors, whereas I -am told that most of your aristocracy sprang from thieves and outlaws.” - -“As far as that goes, some of them are still in the pirate profession, -those who belong to the public companies, for example,--bogus -companies, I mean. I suppose, after all said and done, that the -pedigree of even the oldest family in Europe is as nothing to that of -the Eastern Kings, for this King of Corea that we are going to see -traces his ancestry about as far back as did Pooh-Bah.” - -“Do you think there will be any trouble in getting to see his Corean -Majesty?” Miss Hemster asked with a shade of anxiety in her tone. - -“I am not at all sure, for the etiquette of the Corean Court is -very rigid. A horseman must dismount when he is passing the Palace, -although it is but a ramshackle conglomeration of shabbiness. Every one -admitted to the Presence must prostrate himself before the King.” - -“Well, I shan’t do it,” said the girl confidently. - -“I hope to obtain a relaxation of the rule in the case of a Princess -like yourself, Miss Hemster. If his Majesty should graciously touch -your hand, the law of Corea demands that ever afterward you must wear a -badge as token of the distinction conferred upon you.” - -“Oh, I shall just wear another ring with the arms of Corea on it,--that -is, if Corea has arms,”--said Miss Hemster with vivacity. “I am sure -it is very good of you to take all this trouble for us. And now I must -bid you good-night and thank you for the very pleasant walk we have had -together.” - -With that my lady withdrew her bright presence and disappeared down the -companion-way. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - - -I awoke next morning after a sweet and dreamless sleep that was almost -inspiring. Months and months had passed since I slept in a European -bed, and, although necessity had accustomed me to the habit of a -Japanese mat upon the floor and a block of wood for a pillow, I must -confess that the bed of the West still seemed to me a very paradise of -luxury. There were more patent contrivances about that yacht than I -have ever seen in such small compass before. Of course it had electric -lights everywhere. There was a water-condensing machine, an ice-making -machine, and all the usual fittings that now go to the construction -of a luxurious steamer for sailing in warm latitudes. There was a -bathroom which was Oriental in its splendour and Occidental in its -patent fittings. One could have any sort of bath that one desired. By -simply turning a handle on a dial the great marble basin became filled -with water at any temperature indicated by the figures at which you set -the pointer, from boiling-hot to ice-cold. This was indeed a delight, -and when I came to it from my room in dressing-gown and slippers I -found the Japanese boy there with a cup of delicious tea such as can be -had only in the immediate vicinity of China. On a dainty plate whose -figure work was only partially obscured by a filmy lace napkin were -some finger-lengths and finger-widths of buttered toast. “Rupert, my -boy,” I said to myself, “you have indeed fallen upon your feet!” - -I now knew that I was going to have the pleasantest voyage of my life. -The clouds which yesterday threatened to obscure my acquaintance with -Miss Hemster had cleared away, and although I had surmised that the -young woman was somewhat quick to take offence when one approached -the confines of either ridicule or criticism, yet I was well aware -that no man has a right to inflict conversation that is distasteful -upon any woman, and I thought I had sufficient power over my speech to -prevent further errors in that direction. A most unaccustomed sense of -elation filled me, and, as I tossed about my wardrobe, I came across a -pair of Oxford bags that I had not worn for years. As they were still -spotlessly white, I put them on, with a blazer which gave to the world -the somewhat glaring colors of my college, and, thus gloriously arrayed -with cap on head, I almost imagined myself about to stroll along the -High, once more an extremely young man. - -My costume made quite a sensation at the breakfast-table, and caused -great laughter on the part of our worthy captain, who said the only -thing it reminded him of was a clown in Barnum’s circus. Miss Hemster -was good enough to compliment the outfit, and, after the meal was over, -did me the honour of strolling up and down the deck for nearly an -hour, after which she disappeared below. Silas K. Hemster occupied his -customary place on deck in the wicker armchair, and after his daughter -had deserted me I stood beside him for a few moments, endeavouring to -engage him in conversation, but soon saw that he preferred his own -thoughts, for which preference, to be sure, I could find no fault with -him, for anything I had to say was neither novel nor entertaining. -I was about to go below and select a book from the rather extensive -library when there met me at the head of the companion-way the notes of -the very subdued playing of one of Chopin’s most charming nocturnes. I -paused for a moment at the head of the stair, then descended softly, -saying to myself that Miss Hemster was a most accomplished musician. - -Perhaps I have not stated that at the farther end of the saloon from -the foot of the stairs stood an excellent piano, and at the stairway -end an equally fine American organ. As I descended I soon saw that the -musician was Miss Stretton, who sat with her back toward me, playing -with a touch I have seldom heard equalled even by professionals. -I am very fond of music, so I slipped quietly into a chair and -listened to those divine harmonies divinely played. Miss Stretton -went on from nocturne to nocturne, and I felt somewhat guilty at thus -surreptitiously listening, but resolved that the moment she gave a sign -of ceasing I would steal quietly up the stair again without revealing -my presence. - -Down the passage facing me, that formed a highway from the saloon to -the suites occupied by the ladies, I saw Miss Hemster come out of her -room, and, by the same token, she must have seen me. She advanced a -few steps, then stood still, apparently listening to the music, finally -turned, and re-entered her apartment with a distinct, emphatic slam of -the door. I paid no attention to this, but then was the time for me -to steal on deck again if I had had any wisdom in my head, which I so -frequently must admit I have not. Miss Stretton, absorbed in the music, -presumably had not heard the slam of the door, but a little later Miss -Hemster emerged again, and this time came straight down the passage -and through the saloon, with a swish, swish of silken skirts that -sounded eloquent in anger. I have never heard silk skirts rustle since -then without remembering the occasion I am endeavouring to describe; -yet never before or since have I heard the hiss of silk that actually -swore, if I may be permitted the use of such an expression. - -The young woman marched past me with head erect, and a gleam in her -eyes such as I had seen on one occasion before, but this time fixed -and anything but transient, as the other flash had been. I rose -respectfully to my feet as she passed, but she cast not even a glance -at me, merely pausing for a second at the foot of the stairs to catch -up the train of her magnificent gown, then up the steps she went at a -run. Now I had consciously given the girl no cause of annoyance, but, -the music having ceased suddenly, I turned around and saw Miss Stretton -regarding me with something like dismay in her eyes. - -“How long have you been here?” she asked. - -“Oh, only for a few minutes,” I replied. “Pray go on, Miss Stretton. -I am very fond of music, and not for years have I been privileged to -hear it so well played.” - -“It is very kind of you to say that,” murmured Hilda Stretton, “but I -think I have played enough for one morning.” - -“At least finish the selection you were just now engaged upon,” I -begged. - -“Some other time, please,” she said in a low voice; and I did not urge -her further, for I saw she was frightened. - -“Very well,” I replied, “I shall take that as a promise.” - -She inclined her head as she came down the room, and went up the -stairs, disappearing also on deck, leaving me wondering what all this -disquietude was about. I thought of going on deck myself, but, feeling -slightly resentful at the treatment accorded me by Miss Hemster, I -walked forward, sat down on the piano-stool, and began to drum a few -of the catchy London tunes that ran through my head. I was playing -“Knocked ’em in the Old Kent Road” with little idea of how excellent -an overture it would prove for the act about to be commenced, and was -thinking of the Strand, and the Tivoli, and Chevalier, and Piccadilly -Circus, and the Empire, and Leicester Square, and the Alhambra, when I -was startled by a woman’s appealing voice crying just above a whisper: - -“Oh, don’t, Gertie; please don’t!” - -I turned my head and saw, coming down the stairway, Gertrude Hemster -followed by Hilda Stretton. The latter was evidently almost on the -verge of tears, but the face of the former was shocking to behold. -I could not have believed that a countenance so beautiful was capable -of being transformed into a visage that might have stood model for a -picture of murderous wrath. - -[Illustration: “Will you stop your foolish pounding on _my_ piano?” - - _Page 95_ -] - -“Will you stop your foolish pounding on _my_ piano?” she cried, with a -tremendous emphasis on the first personal pronoun. - -“Madam, I have stopped,” I replied, giving a soft answer that failed to -have the supposed effect. - -“I guess you think you own the yacht and all it contains, don’t you? -Now, I beg to inform you that we don’t allow employees to conduct -themselves as if they were in a bar-room or a drinking-saloon.” - -As she said this, she strode once up and down the length of the room. - -“Madam,” said I, “I beg your pardon, and shall never touch your piano -again. My only excuse is that I have been so accustomed to public -liners, where the piano is free to all, that for the moment I forgot -myself.” - -At this juncture Miss Stretton was so injudicious as to touch the other -on the elbow, apparently trying to guide her into the passage that led -to her room, but Miss Hemster whirled around like an enraged tigress, -and struck her companion a blow that would have landed on her cheek -had not the victim suddenly and instinctively raised an arm to protect -her face. Then with the viciousness of a harridan of Drury Lane Miss -Hemster grasped the shrinking girl by the shoulders, and shook her as a -terrier does a rat, finally forcing her down into a seat by the side -of the table. One girl’s face was as white as paper, and the other’s -nearly purple with rage. I had intended to go up on deck, but paused -for two reasons. First I was afraid of injury to Miss Stretton, and -secondly the struggle took place, if struggle it could be called when -one was entirely passive, in the midst of the only route open to me. - -“You dare to interfere, you little fool,” shrieked Miss Hemster. -“You that are the cause of all the trouble, with your silly little -ditties--tinkle-tinkle-tinkle-tinkle--and I’ll box your ears for you if -you dare stir!” - -“Madam,” said I, “you are possibly so ignorant as not to know that you -were listening to Chopin’s most subtle harmonies.” - -This had exactly the effect I desired, which was to turn her away from -the trembling girl whom she had so harshly misused. - -“Ignorant, you puppy! Have you the gall to apply such language to me, -looking, as you do, like a monkey on a stick; like a doll that one can -buy at the bargain counter.” - -This graphic description of my Oxford blazer was so striking that in -spite of the seriousness of the case I did the one thing I should not -have done,--I laughed. The laugh was like a spark to a powder-mine, and -what made the crisis worse was that the old gentleman in his armchair -on deck, hearing the shrieking voice, came down, his face haggard with -anxiety. - -“Gertie, Gertie!” he cried. I would not like to say the young lady -swore, but she came so near it that there was but tissue paper between -the expression she used and that which an angry fish-wife would have -employed. With the quickness of light she sprang at a large Japanese -vase which temporarily decorated the center of the table. This she -heaved up, and with the skill of a football player flung it squarely at -me. Now, I have had some experience on the football field myself, and -I caught that vase with a dexterity which would have evoked applause -had any enthusiast of the game happened to be present. I suppose my -placing of this huge vase on the top of the piano was the last straw, -or perhaps it was her father coming forward, crying in a grief-shaken -voice, “Oh, Gertie, Gertie, my child, my child!” - -I was so sorry for him that I passed him and would have gone on deck -out of the way, but my purpose was checked by a startling incident. The -young woman had whisked open a drawer. I heard it come clattering to -the floor, for she had jerked it clear from its place; then there was -a scream. Turning quickly around I met the blinding flash of a pistol, -and heard behind me the crash of a splintering mirror. The sound of the -revolver in that contracted space was deafening, and even through the -smoke I saw that my young friend was about to fire again. I maintain -it was not fear for my own life that caused instant action on my part, -but this infuriated creature, who seemed to have become insane in her -anger, faced three helpless, unarmed people, and whatever was to be -done had to be done quickly. I leaped through the air, and grasped -her two wrists with an energetic clutch I daresay she had never -encountered before. - -“Drop that revolver!” I cried. - -“Let go my wrists, you beast,” she hissed in my face. For answer I -raised her arms and brought them down with a force that would have -broken her fingers with the weight of the revolver if she had not let -it go clattering to the floor. - -“You beast, you beast, you beast!” she shrieked at me, as well as -her choking throat would allow utterance. I swung her around a -quarter-circle, then pushed her back, somewhat rudely I fear, until she -sank down into a chair. - -“Now, sit there and cool,” I cried, giving her a hearty shake, so that -she should know how it felt herself. “If you don’t keep quiet I’ll box -your ears.” - -I don’t defend my action at all; I merely state that I was just as -angry as she was, and perhaps a little more so. - -“You brute, let go of my wrists! I’ll kill you for this! Hilda, call -the captain and have this man put in irons. Father, how can you stand -there like a coward and see a beastly ruffian use me in this way?” - -“Oh, Gertie, Gertie!” repeated the father without moving. - -She now burst into a passionate flood of tears, and I released her -wrists, ready, however, to catch them again if she made any motion to -reach the revolver. - -During this fierce if brief contest,--it took less time in happening -than it requires in telling,--Miss Stretton had been seated in the -chair upon which the angry woman had thrust her, and she gazed at -us in open-eyed terror. The old man stood half leaning against the -table, steadying himself with his hands. Miss Hemster’s fit of weeping -was as dramatic as everything else she did. It began with a burst of -very angry and genuine tears, and this storm passed through a gamut -of more or less varying emotions until it subsided into a hysterical -half-sobbing, half-gasping wail which resembled the cry of the helpless -child who had been tyrannized over. It was bogusly pathetic, but I -saw it went straight to the old man’s heart and wrung it with very -real agony, and this mean advantage which I knew she was taking of -the father’s deep love for her increased my scornful contempt for the -creature. His grief was actual enough, and she was quite consciously -playing upon it, although,--wonderful actress that she was,--she -pretended an utter abandon of heart-breaking sorrow. - -As for me, I undoubtedly felt myself the brute she had named me, and -even at that moment,--much more so later,--was shocked to find in -my own nature depths of primeval savagery which had hitherto been -unsuspected. Seeing, however, that the worst of the storm was over, -and that the young woman would make no more attempts at gun-firing, I -replaced the drawer in position and threw into it its scattered former -contents. Then I picked up the revolver, saying: - -“I will keep this, for there is nothing more dangerous than such an -instrument in the hands of a woman who can’t shoot.” - -The effect of this remark on the drooping figure was instantaneous. -She abruptly raised her tear-sodden face, which now became crimson with -a new wave of anger. - -“You gaping baboon,” she cried, “I can shoot a great deal better than -you can!” - -I paid no heed to her, but, advising Mr. Hemster to lock up any other -firearms he might have on board, abruptly left the saloon. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - - -I walked the deck alone, the revolver stuck between my hip and my gaudy -sash, as if I were a veritable pirate, and doubtless my appearance was -not dissimilar to some of those nautical heroes who have been terrors -of the sea. A pirate more dissatisfied with himself never trod a -quarter-deck. If there had been a plank at hand I would willingly have -walked it. It was no comfort that I despised the girl, for I despised -myself a thousand times more. What right had I to interfere? Why had I -not bowed to her when she ordered me away from the piano, and come at -once on deck, without proffering any of my foolish explanations? The -whole disgraceful row had arisen through my contemptible efforts to -justify a situation which allowed of no justification. The piano was -hers, as she truly said, and I had no more right to touch it than I -had to wear her jewellery. My sole desire at first was to get ashore -as soon as anchor was dropped, and never again see either father -or daughter. But a few moments’ reflection showed me the quandary -into which I had brought myself. I was already indebted to the old -gentleman, not only for the money he had advanced to me, but for his -kindness from the very first, which I had repaid by an interference in -his family affairs that made me loathe myself. Never before had I felt -so acutely the sting of poverty. Not even in my starvation days at -Nagasaki had my lack of means borne so heavily upon me. It was utterly -impossible for me to refund a penny of the pounds he had so generously -bestowed upon me. The only requital in my power was that of honest -service to him, and now I had made my stay on the yacht impossible, -when, had I retained a modicum of sanity at the proper moment, I might -have withdrawn with no loss of dignity. Now my own self-respect was -gone, and I had more than justified every bitter taunt she flung at me. - -So, in a very hopeless state of misery and dejection, I walked up -and down the deck until Mr. Hemster himself came quietly up the -companion-way and took his usual place in his wicker chair, setting -his heels upon the rail in front of him, and biting off the end of a -cigar. He gave me no greeting, but this also was usual with him, and -so it meant nothing one way or another. However, I had at last made up -my mind on a course of action, so I strode over to where he sat, and -he looked up at me with what I took to be more of apprehension than -censure in his gaze. It was no matter of wonder to me that he must be -seriously doubting his wisdom in taking on board without recommendation -a stranger who had just proved himself such a brawler. - -“Mr. Hemster,” said I, “an apology is a cheap method of trying to make -amends for what is inexcusable; but I should like to tell you, and I -should like you to believe, how sorry I am for my conduct of a short -time since. I regret to say it is impossible for me to return the money -you have advanced. When I first had the pleasure of meeting you, I -stated to you quite truthfully that I was at the end of my resources, -and of course my prospects have not improved in the mean time, except -in so far as your own favour is concerned, and that, I quite realize, -I have forfeited. From this time until we sight land, I shall live -forward with the crew in the forecastle, and shall not again come aft -except in obedience to your orders. When we reach Corea I am entirely -at your disposal. If you wish me to carry out the project you have in -hand, I shall do so to the best of my ability; if not, I give you my -word I will refund to you the money as soon as I can earn it.” - -“Sit down,” he said very quietly, and when I had done so he remained -silent, gazing over the rail at the distant horizon for what seemed to -me a very long time. Then he spoke, never raising his voice above the -level at which he always kept it. - -“You are a little excited just now,” he said, “and take an exaggerated -view of the matter. Do you think any one on deck heard that -pistol-shot?” - -“I don’t know; I rather imagine not. No one seemed at all on the alert -when I came up.” - -“Well, it sounded as if it would raise all creation down below, but -perhaps it didn’t make such a racket up here. Now, if you went forward -and lived with the crew, what would be the effect? They would merely -say we made it impossible for you to live aft. I suppose by rights I -shouldn’t mind what my crew thinks or says; but I do mind it. We are -in a way a small democracy afloat, one man as good as another. If the -firing were heard on deck, then the captain will be joking about it -at luncheon time, and we’ll know. If it wasn’t, the least said about -it the better. If you don’t like to come to meals, I haven’t a word -to say; you can have them served in your own room. As for the money I -advanced, that doesn’t amount to anything. I am sure you are just the -man I want for what there is to do, and when that’s done it will be -me that’s owing you money. I’m a good deal older than you, and I have -found that in business a man must keep his temper, or he’s going to -give all his adversaries a great advantage over him, and things are cut -so close nowadays that no one can afford to give points to his rival. -I’ve had to control my temper or be a failure, so I controlled it. My -daughter hasn’t had to do that. Instead of blaming her, you should -blame me. It’s my temper she’s got.” - -“My dear Mr. Hemster, I assure you I am blaming neither of you; I am -blaming myself.” - -“Well, that’s all right. It’s a good state of Christian feeling and -won’t do you any harm. Now you said that when we land you are willing -to do anything I ask. Are you willing to do that before we go ashore?” - -“Yes, Mr. Hemster, any command you may lay upon me I shall execute -without question.” - -“Oh, I won’t lay a command on you at all; but I ask as a favour that -you go below, knock at my daughter’s door, and tell her you are sorry -for what has happened. Put it any way you like, or don’t do it at all -if you don’t want to. After all, she is a woman, you know. You and I -are men, and should stand the brunt, even if we are not entitled to it, -and it may make things go a little smoother, perhaps.” - -We are supposed to be an unemotional race, but I confess that the old -man’s mild words touched me deeply, and made it next to impossible for -me to reply to him. But, even so, my own judgment told me that a life -of this desire to make things go smoothly had resulted in building -up a character in his daughter which took an obstreperous advantage -of the kindly old gentleman’s strong affection for her. I arose -without a word, thrust forward my hand to him, which he shook somewhat -shamefacedly, glancing nervously around, fearing there might be -onlookers. I entirely appreciated his reserve, and wished for a moment -that I had not acted upon my impulse, to his visible embarrassment. I -went instantly to the saloon, along the passage, and knocked at the -door of Miss Hemster’s apartment. She herself opened the door, with -what seemed to me to be her usual briskness; but when I looked at her, -I saw her drooping like a stricken flower, head bent, and eyes on the -floor. Scarcely above a whisper, she asked with tremor-shaken voice: - -“Did you wish to see me?” - -“Yes, Miss Hemster,” I replied, nerving myself to the point. “I wish, -since you are good enough to receive me, to apologize most abjectly for -my rudeness to you this morning.” - -She replied in a sad little voice, without looking up: - -“I do not really mind in the least how much you play the piano, Mr. -Tremorne.” - -This was so unexpected a remark, so ludicrously aside from the real -point at issue between us, so far from touching the hideousness of my -culpability, that I looked at the girl, wondering whether or not she -was in earnest. I had not come to get permission to play the piano. -Her attitude, to which no other word than “wilted” so appropriately -applied, continued to be one of mute supplication or dependence. Yet in -the semi-darkness I fancied I caught one brief glance at my face. Then -she leaned her fair head against the jam of the door and began to cry -very softly and very hopelessly. - -I stood there like the awkward fool I was, not knowing what to say; -and finally she completed my desolation by slowly raising her two arms -up toward my face. Since our contest she had removed the striking -costume she then wore, and had put on a white lace fleecy garment that -was partly dressing-gown, partly tea-gown, decorated with fluttering -blue ribbon. This had very wide sleeves which fell away from her arms, -leaving them bare and rounded, pure and white. Her two slender, shapely -hands hung in helpless fashion from the wrists like lilies on a broken -stem. The slow upraising of them seemed to me strange and meaningless, -until the light from the inner room fell upon her wrists, and then the -purport of her action became stunningly clear to me. Around that dainty -forearm, delicately fashioned for the tenderest usage, showed red and -angry the marks of my brutal fingers, silent accusers held up before my -very eyes. Distraught as I was with self-accusation, I could not help -admiring the dramatic effectiveness of the slow motion and resulting -attitude. The drooping girl, with her soft, clinging draperies, her sad -face so beautiful, her contour so perfect, and those soft appealing -hands upraised,--hands that I could not forget had been placed with -impulsive friendliness in mine on the streets of Nagasaki,--and all -this accompanied by the almost silent symphony of quivering sobs that -were little louder than sighs tremulously indrawn, formed a picture -that has never been effaced from my memory. I had rather a man’s -clenched fist had struck me to the ground than that a woman’s open -palm should be so held in evidence against me. I regard that moment -as the most unbearable of my life, and with a cry almost of despair I -turned and fled. For once language had become impossible and utterly -inadequate. - -As I beat this precipitate retreat, was it my over-wrought imagination, -or was it actual, that I heard an indignant word of expostulation, -followed by a low sweet ripple of laughter. Had there been some one -else in the room during this painful interview? I staggered like a -drunken man up to the deck, and then endeavoured to walk it off and -cease thinking. - -Mr. Hemster said nothing to me that day, nor I to him, after I came -on deck again. For an hour I strode the deck with an energy which, if -applied in the right direction, would have driven the yacht faster -than she was going. When the gong sounded for luncheon I went down to -my own room and was served there. After the meal I did not go up on -deck again, but sat on the sofa gloomily smoking. Later I got a novel -from the library, and tried to interest myself in it, but failed. -I felt physically tired, as if I had done a hard day’s work, and, -unsentimental as it is to confess it, I fell asleep on the sofa, and -slept until the gong for dinner aroused me. - -Dinner I also enjoyed in solitary state in my own apartment, then, -under the brilliant cluster of electric lights, tried the novel -again, but again without success. The nap in the afternoon made sleep -improbable if I turned in, so I scarcely knew what to do with myself. I -rather envied Silas K. Hemster’s reticence, and his seeming dislike for -intercourse with his fellows. He was the most self-contained man I had -ever met, preferring the communion of his own thoughts to conversation -with any one. At this crisis of indecision the way was made plain for -me by the youth from Japan. There came a gentle tap at my door, and on -opening it the Japanese boy said respectfully: - -“Sir, Miss Stretton would like to speak with you on deck.” - - - - -CHAPTER X - - -I had flung my much-maligned blazer into a corner, and now I slipped -on an ordinary tweed coat. I found the deck empty with the exception -of Miss Stretton, who was walking up and down in the moonlight, as -she had done the night before, but this time she came forward with a -sweet smile on her lips, extending her hand to me as if we had been old -friends long parted. There was something very grateful to me in this -welcome, as I was beginning to look upon myself as a pariah unfit for -human companionship. Indeed, I had been bitterly meditating on striking -into the Corean wilderness and living hereafter as one of the natives, -about the lowest ambition that ever actuated the mind of man. - -“Have you sentenced yourself to solitary imprisonment, Mr. Tremorne?” - -“Yes. Don’t you think I deserve it?” - -“Frankly, I don’t; but as you did not appear at either luncheon or -dinner, and as the Japanese boy who brought my coffee up here told -me you were keeping to your room, I thought it as well to send for -you, and I hope you are not offended at having your meditation broken -in upon. Prisoners, you know, are allowed to walk for a certain time -each day in the courtyard. I do wish I had a ball and chain for your -ankles, but we are on board ship, and cannot expect all the luxuries of -civilization.” - -Her raillery cheered me more than I can say. - -“Miss Stretton, it is more than good of you to receive an outcast in -this generous manner.” - -“An outcast? Please don’t talk rubbish, Mr. Tremorne! Somehow I had -taken you for a sensible person, and now all my ideas about you are -shattered.” - -“I don’t wonder at it,” I said despondently. - -“Yes, I know you are in the Slough of Despond, and I am trying to pull -you out of it. When I remember that men have ruled great empires, -carried on important wars, subdued the wilderness, conquered the ocean, -girdled the earth with iron, I declare I wonder where their brains -depart to when they are confronted with silly, whimpering, designing -women.” - -“But still, Miss Stretton, to come from the general to the particular, -a man has no right to ill-treat a woman.” - -“I quite agree with you; but, as you say, to come to this particular -incident which is in both our minds, do you actually believe that there -was ill-treatment? Don’t you know in your own soul that if the girl had -received treatment like that long ago she would not now be a curse to -herself and to all who are condemned to live within her radius?” - -“Yet I cannot conceal from myself that it was none of my business. Her -father was present, and her correction was his affair.” - -“Her correction was any one’s affair that had the courage to undertake -it. What had you seen? You had seen her strike me, and thrust me from -her as if I were a leper. Then you saw this girl with the temper of -the--the temper of the--oh, help me----” - -“Temper of the devil,” I responded promptly. - -“Thank you! You saw her take up a deadly weapon, and if she has not -murdered one of the three of us, we have to thank, not her, but the -mercy of God. You did exactly the right thing, and the only thing, and -actually she would have admired you for it had it not been that you -came down to her door and prostrated yourself for her to trample over -you.” - -“Good heavens, Miss Stretton! were you inside that room?” - -“It doesn’t matter whether I was or not. I know that she twisted you -around her little finger, and took her revenge in the only way that was -possible for her.” - -“Ah, but you don’t know the depth of my degradation. She showed me her -wrists, marked by the fingers of a savage, and that savage was myself.” - -“Pooh! pooh! pooh!” cried Miss Stretton, laughing. “Do you think those -marks indicate pain? Not a bit of it. Your grasp of her wrists did not -injure her in the least, and, short of putting handcuffs on them, was -the only method at your disposal to prevent her perhaps killing her -father, a man worth a million such as she, and yet neither he nor you -have the sense to see it. I can inform you that Miss Gertrude’s arm -is sore to-night, but not where you clasped it. She hurt herself more -than she injured me when she struck me. Look at this,”--and she drew -back her sleeve, disclosing a wrist as pretty as that of Miss Hemster, -notwithstanding the fact that one part was both bruised and swollen. -“That is where I caught her blow, and can assure you it was given with -great force and directness. So, Mr. Tremorne, if you have any sympathy -to expend, please let me have the benefit of it, and I will bestow my -sympathy upon you in return.” - -“Indeed, Miss Stretton, I am very sorry to see that you are hurt. I -hoped you had warded off the blow slantingly, instead of getting it -square on the arm like that.” - -“Oh, it is nothing,” said the girl carelessly, drawing down her sleeve -again, “it is merely an exhibit, as they say in the courts, to win -the sympathy of a man, and it doesn’t hurt now in the least, unless I -strike it against something. I ask you to believe that I would never -have said a word about the girl to you if you had not seen for yourself -what those near her have to put up with. You will understand, Mr. -Tremorne, I am but a poor benighted woman who has had no one to talk -to for months and months. I cannot unburden my soul to Mr. Hemster, -because I like him too well; and if I talk to the captain he will -merely laugh at me, and tell funny stories. There is no one but you; so -you see, unfortunate man, you are the victim of two women.” - -“I like being the victim of one of them,” said I; “but am I to infer -from what you have said that, as you don’t speak to Mr. Hemster because -you like him, you speak to me because you dislike me?” - -“What a far-fetched conclusion!” she laughed. “Certainly not. I like -you very much indeed, and even admired you until you used the word -‘abjectly’ down in that passage. That is a word I detest; no one should -employ it when referring to himself.” - -“Then you _were_ in Miss Hemster’s room after all.” - -“I have not said so, and I refuse to admit it. That is hereafter to be -a forbidden topic, and a redeemed prisoner in charge of his gaoler must -not disobey orders. If it were not for me, you would now be in your -room moping and meditating on your wickedness. I have wrestled with you -as if I were a Salvation lass, and so you should be grateful.” - -“Never was a man wallowing in despondency more grateful for the helping -hand of a woman enabling him to emerge.” - -“It is very generous of you to say that, when it was the helping hand -of a woman that pushed you into it.” - -“No, it was my own action that sent me there. I doubt if a man ever -gets into the Slough of Despond through the efforts of any one else. -A lone man blunders blindly along, and the first thing he knows he is -head over ears in the mud,--and serve him right, too.” - -“Why serve him right?” - -“Because he has no business being a lone man. Two heads are better than -one; then, if one is making for the ditch, the helping hand of the -other restrains.” - -“Since when did you arrive at so desperate a conclusion, Mr. Tremorne?” - -“Since I met you.” - -“Well, it is a blessing there was no one to restrain you to-day, or -otherwise somebody might have been shot. There is something to be said -for lack of restraint upon occasion.” - -“Miss Stretton, if I had had a sensible woman to advise me, I am -certain I would never have lost my money.” - -“Was it a large amount?” - -“It was a fortune.” - -“How one lives and learns! I have often heard that women squander -fortunes, but never yet that a woman helped to preserve one.” - -“It is better for a man’s wife to squander a fortune than to allow a -stranger to do it.” - -“Oh, I am not so sure. The end seems to be the same in both cases. I -suppose you have in your mind the woman who would have given you good -advice at the proper time.” - -“Yes, I have.” - -“Then why don’t you ask her now, or is it too late?” - -“I don’t know that she would have anything to do with me; however, -it is very easy to find out. Miss Stretton, will you marry me? I -have nothing particular to offer you except myself, but I think I’ve -reached the lowest ebb of my fortunes, and any change must be toward -improvement.” - -“Good gracious, is this actually a proposal?” - -“If you will be so generous as to regard it as such.” - -The young lady stopped in her promenade, and leaned back against the -rail, looking me squarely in the face. Then she laughed with greater -heartiness than I had yet heard her do. - -“This is most interesting,” she said at last, “and really most amazing. -Why, you must have known me for nearly two hours! I assure you I did -not lend you a helping hand out of the Slough of Despond to imprison -you at once in the Castle Despair of a penniless marriage. Besides, I -always thought a proposal came after a long and somewhat sentimental -_camaraderie_, which goes under the name of courtship. However, this -explains what I have so often marvelled at in the English papers; a -phrase that struck me as strange and unusual: ‘A marriage has been -arranged and will take place between So-and-So and So-and-So.’ Such a -proposal as you have just made is surely an arrangement rather than a -love affair. Indeed, you have said nothing about love at all, and so -probably such a passion does not enter into the amalgamation. If you -were not so serious I should have thought you were laughing at me.” - -“On the contrary, madam, I am very much in earnest, and it is you who -are laughing at me.” - -“Don’t you think I’ve a very good right to do so? Why, we are hardly -even acquainted, and I have no idea what your Christian name is, as I -suppose you have no idea what mine is.” - -“Oh, Hilda, I know your name perfectly!” - -“I see you do, and make use of it as well, which certainly advances -us another step. But the other half of my proposition is true, and I -remain in ignorance of yours.” - -“When unconsciously I went through the ceremony of christening, I -believe my godfathers and godmothers presented me with the name of -Rupert.” - -“What a long time you take in the telling of it. Wasn’t there a Prince -Rupert once? It seems to me I’ve heard the phrase ‘the Rupert of -debate,’ and the Rupert of this, and the Rupert of that, so he seems to -be a very dashing fellow.” - -“He was. He dashed into misfortune, as I have often done, but there all -likeness between us ends.” - -“It seems to me the likeness remains, because the present Rupert is -dashing into the misfortune of a very heedless proposal. But do not -fear that I shall take advantage of your recklessness, which is the -more dangerous when you remember my situation. I sometimes think I -would almost marry the Prince of Darkness to get out of the position I -hold, for I am told he is a gentleman, who probably keeps his temper, -and I am coming to the belief that a good temper is a jewel beyond -price. However, I’m exaggerating again. I do not really need to stay -here unless I wish it, and I remain for the sake of Mr. Hemster, who, -as I told you last night, has always been very kind to me, and for whom -I have a great respect and liking. Besides, I am not nearly so helpless -as perhaps you may imagine. If I went home I could make a very good -living teaching music in the States. So you see I do not need to accept -the Prince of Darkness should he offer his hand.” - -“You mean, _when_ he has offered his hand?” - -She laughed at this, and went on merrily: - -“No, ‘if;’ not ‘when.’ I shall always cherish the proposal of Prince -Rupert, and when the Prince of Darkness makes advances I shall probably -tell him that he is not the first Highness so to honour me. When the -sunlight comes to take the place of the moonlight, we shall laugh -together over this--I can’t call it sentimental episode, shall we term -it, business arrangement? Now, would you mind accepting a little advice -on the subject of matrimony?” - -“I’ll accept your advice if you’ll accept me. Turn about is fair play, -you know. Let us finish one transaction before we begin another.” - -“Transaction is a charming word, Mr. Tremorne, nearly as good as -arrangement; I am not sure but it is better. I thought the transaction -was finished. You are respectfully declined, with thanks, but, as I -assured you, I shall always cherish the memory of this evening, and, -now that the way is clear, may I tender this advice, which I have -been yearning for some hours to give you. You won’t reply. Well, on -the whole I think your attitude is very correct. You could hardly be -expected to jump joyously from one transaction to another, and I really -feel very much flattered that you have put on that dejected look and -attitude, which becomes you very much indeed and almost makes me think -that the precipitancy of my refusal equals the headlong impetuosity of -your avowal. A wiser woman would have asked time for consideration.” - -“Pray take the time, Miss Stretton; it is not yet too late.” - -“Yes, it is. What is done, is done, and now comes my advice. You said -two heads are better than one. That is true generally, but not always, -so I shall present you with an aphorism in place of it, which is that -two purses are better than one, if either contains anything. If one -purse is always empty, and the other is bursting full, the truth of -my adage cannot be questioned. I surmise that your purse and mine -are almost on an equality, but I can assure you that Miss Hemster’s -_portemonnaie_ is full to repletion.” - -“That has nothing to do with me,” I answered curtly. - -“Oh, but it may have, and much. I noticed when you came down to -luncheon yesterday that you are very deeply in love with Miss Hemster.” - -“My dear Miss Hilda,--I claim the right to call you that,--when one -remembers that you never took your eyes from your plate at luncheon I -must say that you have most extraordinary powers of observation. You -thought I was high and mighty toward Mr. Hemster, which was not the -case, and now you assert that I was in love with Miss Hemster, which is -equally beside the fact.” - -“Of course you are bound to say that, and I may add that although I -am offering you advice I am not asking confidences in exchange. I -assert that you fell in love with Miss Hemster during your charming -ramble through Nagasaki; falling in love with a haste which seems to -be characteristic of you, and which totally changes the ideas I had -previously held regarding an Englishman.” - -“Yes, a number of your notions concerning the men of my country were -entirely erroneous, as I took the liberty of pointing out to you last -night.” - -“So you did, but actions speak louder than words, and I form my -conclusions from your actions. Very well, propose to Miss Hemster; I -believe she would accept you, and I further believe that you would -prove the salvation of the girl. Her father would make no objection, -for I see he already likes you; but in any case he would offer no -opposition to anything that his daughter proposed. His life is devoted, -poor man, to ministering to her whims and caprices, so you are certain -of the parental blessing, and that would carry with it, as I have -pointed out, the full purse.” - -“You spoke of the Prince of Darkness just now, Miss Stretton, so I -will appropriate your simile and say that if there were an unmarried -Princess of Darkness I would sooner try my luck with her than with Miss -Hemster.” - -“Oh, nonsense! Miss Hemster is a good-hearted girl if only she’d been -rightly trained. You would tame her. I know no man so fitted to be the -modern Petruchio, and I am fond enough of the drama to say I would like -to see a modern rendering of ‘The Taming of the Shrew.” - -“She’ll never be tamed by me, Miss Stretton.” - -“She has been, Mr. Tremorne, only you spoiled your lesson by your -apology. You must not make a mistake like that again. If you had stood -your ground, preserving a distant and haughty demeanour, with a frown -on your noble brow, pretty Miss Gertrude would soon have come around to -you, wheedling, flattering, and most exquisitely charming, as she well -knows how to be. You could then have caught her on the rebound, as the -novels put it, just, in fact, as I have managed to catch you to-night. -You will be very thankful in the morning that I refused to retain my -advantage.” - -“I shall never be thankful for that, Miss Hilda, and it is equally -certain that I shall never propose to Miss Hemster. If I were a -speculative adventurer I’d venture to wager on it.” - -“Most men who see her, propose to her; therefore you must not imagine -that Gertrude has not been sought after. I should not be at all -certain of your success were it not that every man she has hitherto -met has flattered her, while you have merely left the marks of your -fingers on her wrists and have threatened to box her ears. This gives -you a tremendous advantage if you only know how to use it. I have -read somewhere that there is a law in Britain which allows a husband -to punish his wife with a stick no bigger than his little finger. I -therefore advise you to marry the girl, take something out of the full -purse and buy back the ancestral acres, then go into the forest and -select a switch as large as the law allows. After that, the new comedy -of ‘The Taming of the Shrew,’ with the married pair living happily ever -afterward. You should prove the most fortunate of men, in that you -will possess the prettiest, richest, and most docile wife in all your -island.” - -“I am not a barrister, Miss Stretton, therefore can neither affirm nor -deny the truth you have stated regarding the law of the stick. If, -however, a belief in that enactment has led you to reject my proposal, -I beg to inform you that I have no ancestral acres containing a forest; -therefore I cannot possess myself of a twig of the requisite size -without trespassing on some one else’s timber. So you see you need have -no fear on that score.” - -“I am not so sure,” replied Hilda, shaking her pretty head, “I imagine -there must be a Wife-Beaters’ Supply Company in London somewhere, -which furnishes the brutal Britisher at lowest rates with the correct -legal apparatus for matrimonial correction. I tremble to think of the -scenes that must have been enacted in the numerous strong castles of -Britain which have had new copper roofs put on with the money brought -over by American brides. Girls, obstreperous and untrained, but wealthy -beyond the dreams of avarice, have gone across, scorning the honest -straightforward American man, who in my opinion is the most sincere -gentleman of all the world. These rich but bad-tempered jades have -disappeared within the castle, and the portcullis has come down. Have -we ever heard a whimper from any one of them? Not a whisper even. If -they had married American men there would have been tremendous rows, -ending with divorce cases; but not so when they have disappeared into -the castle. You never hear of an American woman divorcing a lord, and -Lord knows some of those lords are the riff-raff of creation. History -gives us grim pictures of tragical scenes in those old strongholds, but -I shudder to think of the tragedies which must occur nowadays when once -the drawbridge is up, and the American girl, hitherto adored, learns -the law regarding flagellation. The punishment must be exceedingly -complete, for the lady emerges cowed and subdued as the Kate that -Shakespeare wrote about. And how well that great man understood -a wilful and tyrannical woman! Oh, you needn’t look shocked, Mr. -Tremorne. Haven’t you an adage on that benighted island which says ‘A -woman, a dog, and a walnut-tree; the more you beat them the better they -be?’” - -“Great heavens, girl, what an imagination you have! You should -really write a novel. It would be an interesting contribution toward -international love affairs.” - -“I may do so, some day, if music-teaching fails. I should like, -however, to have the confession of one of the victims of an -international matrimonial match.” - -“Which victim? The English husband or the American wife?” - -“The wife, of course. I think I shall wait until you and Miss Hemster -are married a year or two, and then perhaps she will look more kindly -on me than she does at present, and so may tell me enough to lend local -colour to my book.” - -“I can give you a much better plan than that, Miss Stretton. Hearsay -evidence, you know, is never admitted in courts of law, and by the same -token it amounts to very little in books. I am given to understand -that, to be successful, an author must have lived through the events of -which he writes, so your best plan is to accept my offer; then we will -purchase a moated grange in England, and you can depict its horrors -from the depths of experience.” - -“Where are we to get the money for the moated grange? I haven’t any, -and you’ve just acknowledged that you are penniless.” - -“I forgot that. Still, moated granges are always going cheap. They are -damp as a general rule, and not much sought after. We could possibly -buy one on the instalment plan, or even rent it if it came to that.” - -Miss Stretton laughed joyously at the idea, held out her hand, and bade -me a cordial good-night. - -“Thank you so much, Mr. Tremorne for a most interesting evening, and -also for the proposal. I think it very kind of you, for I suppose you -suspect I haven’t had very many. I think we’ve each helped the other -out of the Slough of Despond. So good-night, good-night!” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - - -I was awakened next morning by the roar of the anchor-chain running -out, and found the yacht at a standstill, with the vibration of the -machinery temporarily at an end. On looking out through the porthole I -recognized the town of Chemulpo, which had grown considerably since I -last saw it. Beyond stood the hills of Corea, rising wave upon wave, as -if the land had suffered a volcanic eruption. - -Mr. Hemster and I had breakfast alone together, after which we went on -deck. - -“Now,” said he, “the captain has brought us safely here without running -down an island, and the next move in the game is yours. What do you -propose to do?” - -“I shall go ashore at once, engage ponies and an escort, change a -quantity of silver money into ropes of sek, then I shall make my way as -quickly as possible to the capital.” - -“What are ropes of sek?” asked Mr. Hemster. - -“They are bronze, iron, or copper coins, which are strung on ropes -of straw by means of a square hole in the middle. They are the most -debased currency on earth, and are done up in strings of five hundred -cash. Sek is useful in dealing with the natives, but when I come to -the capital I shall need silver and gold. When I have made arrangements -at Seoul I shall return to Chemulpo and let you know the result.” - -“You told me I could not take the ‘Michigan’ up the river,--what do you -call it,--the Han?--and you were doubtful about the advisability of -using the naphtha launch.” - -“No, the yacht would be sure to run aground before you had gone very -far, and as for the naphtha launch, the Han is rather a treacherous and -very crooked piece of navigation, and if you had to stop half-way we -might be farther from the capital than we are now, with a worse road -ahead of us, and no chance of getting ponies or escort. I strongly -advise you to stay where you are till I return, and meanwhile I’ll find -out more about the river than I know now.” - -To this Mr. Hemster agreed, and, being well provided with the sinews -of war, I went ashore. Chemulpo proved to be quite a commercial town, -and there was no difficulty in my getting everything I wanted. I was -shocked but not surprised to find that the Prime Minister, whom I -formerly knew, and on whose help I had somewhat counted, had been -deposed and beheaded, while all his relatives, male and female, had -been eliminated from human knowledge by death, slavery, or exile. -However, even if this man had remained in office, my best plea with him -would have been money, and as I was well provided with this necessity -I foresaw no obstacle to my purpose. Having had an early start, and -pushing on with more energy than my escort relished, in spite of my -promises of recompense, I reached the capital before the great bell -rang and the gates were closed. - -I had some thought of calling on the British representative, and if I -had done so would doubtless have enjoyed better accommodation for the -night than fell to my lot; but as, the last time I saw him, I was, -like himself, a servant of our Government, I could not bring myself -to acknowledge that I was now merely the hired man of an American -millionaire, as his daughter had so tersely put it. - -Next day I very soon bribed my way to the presence of the then Prime -Minister, and was delighted to find in him a certain Hun Woe, whom I -had previously known in a very much more subordinate capacity. After -our greetings I went straight to the point, and told Hun Woe that I -represented a gentleman and his daughter, now at Chemulpo, who wished -the honour of a private conference with the Emperor. I also mentioned -casually that there was a certain amount of money in this for the Prime -Minister if he could bring about the interview. Hun Woe, with many -genuflections, informed me that the delight of serving me would more -than recompense him for any trouble he was likely to incur, ending his -protestations of deep friendship and regard by inquiring how much of -the needful the gentleman in Chemulpo would be prepared to place on -the table. I replied by naming a sum about one quarter of the amount I -was willing to pay. The Prime Minister’s eyes glittered, and he made -various shrugs of the shoulders and motions with his hands, during the -time that he politely intimated to me his rise in the world since last -I met him. A cash dividend which would have been ample in those days, -he gently hinted, was little less than an insult at the present time. -So far as he was himself concerned, he added, his services were freely -at my disposal, and none of the silver would stick to _his_ fingers; -but, as I must be aware, the Court at Seoul was a most grasping and -avaricious body, and he should need to disburse freely before my object -could be accomplished. - -I sighed and shook my head, rising to leave, regretting it was not to -be my good fortune to add to the wealth of an old friend, whereupon -Hun Woe begged me to be seated again, and, after many declarations of -affectionate esteem, was good enough to name a sum which he thought -might be sufficient to cover all expenses; and as this came to less -than half of what I was willing to dispose of, we speedily reached an -agreement. This haggling at the outset was necessary, not only to save -Hemster his hardly earned money, but also to satisfy the official that -he was driving a shrewd bargain. I accordingly paid the sum in prompt -cash to Hun Woe, and then informed him that if everything went off -to the satisfaction of my employer a further bonus would be awarded -him, depending in size on the celerity and satisfactory nature of the -interview. This delighted the honest Premier, and I must admit that -he conducted the business with an energy and despatch which was as -gratifying as it was unexpected. - -East or West, money is a great lubricator, and, as I have said, I was -well provided. That very afternoon Hun Woe secured me an audience with -His Imperial Majesty, and for the third or fourth time in my life I -stood before the ruler of Corea. I do not know whether he recognized -me or not, but it was quite evident that the scent of gold was in the -air, and the Emperor did not leave it long in doubt that he intended to -acquire as much as might be available of it. By way of introduction, -and to show that I was prepared to do the proper thing, I placed a -heavy bag of the seductive metal on the shabby deal table before him, -begging His Majesty to accept it as an earnest of more to follow. -He poured it out on the table, and gloated over it with a miser’s -eagerness. He had not improved in appearance since last we met. The -seams of dissipation had cut deeply into the royal countenance, and his -little crinkling pig eyes were even more rapacious and cruel than I -remembered them to be. - -The proposal to come aboard the yacht was at once dismissed as -impracticable. His Majesty would not venture away from his capital, -and, above all, he would not risk his precious person on board of -anybody’s steamship, so, on the whole, it was just as well that Mr. -Hemster had not essayed the navigation of the river Han. However, His -Majesty was good enough to inform me that although he would not trust -his royal person to the care of the infidels, yet he would make up for -that by giving so generous a suitor a suite of rooms in the Palace -itself, and my principal would therefore have the honour of being the -guest of Corea, as one might say. I imagined that this would look as -well in the columns of the “New York Herald” as if the Emperor had -gone on board the yacht. I fancied that a few lines, something to the -following effect, would read very acceptably in the Sunday papers of -Chicago, under the head of _Society Notes_: - - “Mr. Silas K. Hemster, of this city, and Miss Hemster, occupy a - suite of rooms in the royal Palace of Seoul, as guests of the - Emperor of Corea.” - -So, all in all, I was more than satisfied with the speedy and -gratifying outcome of my mission to the Corean capital. After retiring -from the royal presence I congratulated the Prime Minister upon his -method of conducting negotiations and gave him a further payment on -account, so that he would not be tempted to falter in well-doing; and -as for Hun Woe himself he looked upon me as the most valuable visitor -that had set foot in Corea for many years. I distributed backsheesh -somewhat indiscriminately among the underlings of the Palace, and early -next morning left the royal precincts on my return to Chemulpo, which -port I reached without any mishap. Possibly never before in the history -of Seoul had business been so rapidly transacted. - -I found Mr. Hemster, as usual, sitting on deck in his accustomed chair, -as if he had no interest in the negotiations I had been conducting. He -listened quietly to my account of the various interviews, and received -without comment the bribery bill I presented to him. He did not appear -to be so tremendously impressed as I had expected with the royal -invitation to visit the Palace, and said he would have preferred to -take up his quarters at the chief hotel in the place, but when I told -him there was not a hotel in the city fit for a white man to sleep in, -he made no demur to the Imperial proposal. It seemed he had visited -Chemulpo during my absence, and in consequence of what he heard there -he now made some inquiry regarding the safety of a stay in the capital. -I told him that as a rule the Coreans were a peaceable people unless -incited to violence by the authorities, and as long as we were willing -to bribe the authorities sufficiently they would take care that the -influx of the newly acquired affluence would not be interfered with. So -he asked me to go to Chemulpo and make arrangements for the transport -of the party next morning. - -I had not seen Miss Hemster on the day I left for Seoul, but she -welcomed my return with her former girlish enthusiasm, just as if -nothing particular had happened. She seemed to have entirely recovered -from her disappointment in not getting to see the Emperor of Japan, -and was now effusively enthusiastic over our coming journey. The young -woman more than made up for her father’s lack of interest in the -royal invitation, and I was asked question after question regarding -the Palace at Seoul, which I feared would disappoint her when she saw -it, because of its dilapidations and general lack of impressiveness. -However, a palace was a palace, she averred, and she further pronounced -the opinion that the news of their residence there would make Chicago -“sit up” when it was cabled over. Miss Stretton sat silent with -downcast eyes during this cross-examination, her intelligent face as -inscrutable as that of the old millionaire himself. I did not get -a word with her that evening, and, as it was drawing late, I had to -return to Chemulpo to make arrangements for the trip the following day, -and so stayed ashore that night. - -We had a beautiful day for our expedition, and rather a jolly trip of -it,--almost, as Miss Hemster said, as if it were a picnic. At Miss -Hemster’s request I rode by her side, with Miss Stretton sometimes with -us, but more often in front, with the old gentleman, who jogged moodily -on, absorbed in his own meditations, saying nothing to anybody. Miss -Hemster chatted very gaily most of the day, but as evening drew on she -became tired of talk and began to look anxiously for the gate of Seoul. -When at last we passed through it she expressed great contempt for the -city of shanties, as she called it, giving somewhat petulant expression -to her disgust at the disillusionment for which I had unsuccessfully -endeavoured to prepare her. Of course by the time we reached the Palace -the ladies were tired out, and, if we had had the slightest notion of -what was before us, anxiety would have been added to fatigue. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - - -We were more comfortable in the royal apartments than might have been -expected. Mr. Hemster had brought his own cook with him, together with -the Japanese boy to wait on us, and he had also taken the precaution -to bring a week’s provisions, so that in spite of the primitive -arrangements of the kitchen placed at our disposal we fared very much -as usual so far as the cuisine was concerned. The officials made no -complaint at this reflection on their hospitality; in fact, they -rather relished our foresight, because, as Hun Woe admitted with great -simplicity, it enabled them to charge our keep to the royal exchequer -and yet incur no expense in providing for us. A system which admits of -collection and no disbursements is heavenly to a Corean official. We -were probably at the outset the most popular party that had ever lodged -in the royal Palace. - -Our first dilemma arose, not through any interference from the officers -of the Court, but because of certain objections which Miss Gertrude -Hemster herself promulgated. The Prime Minister did us great honour in -offering to coach us personally regarding the etiquette that surrounds -the approach to the throne. It seemed that both Emperor and Empress -were to receive us in state, and the moment we came in sight of -their Majesties we were to turn our faces aside, as if dazzled by the -magnificence before us and the glory conferred upon us march a dozen -steps to the left, turn again, march a dozen steps to the right, bowing -extremely low at each evolution, advancing, with great caution and -humility, never more than two steps forward at a time, approaching the -throne by a series of crab-like movements and coming very gradually -forward, zigzag fashion, until we stood with heads humbly inclined -before the two potentates. My translation of all this caused great -hilarity on the part of Miss Hemster, and she quite shocked the genial -Prime Minister by giving way to peal after peal of laughter. After all, -he was a dignified man and did not regard the ceremony as a joke, which -appeared to be the way it presented itself to the young lady. - -“I’m not going through any of that nonsense,” she exclaimed. “Does he -think I intend to make a Wild West show of myself? If he does, he’s -mistaken. I’ll proceed right up to the Emperor and shake hands with -him, and if he doesn’t like it he can lump it. You translate that to -him, Mr. Tremorne.” - -I intimated respectfully to the young woman that Court etiquette -was Court etiquette, and that everything would be much more simple -if we fell in with the ways of the country. This marching and -counter-marching was no more absurd than our own way of shaking hands, -or the Pacific Island method of salutation by rubbing noses. - -“‘When in Rome do as the Romans do,’” I suggested; but this -expostulation had no effect whatever upon the determined young person, -who became more and more set in her own way from the fact that her -father quietly agreed with me. Furthermore, when she learned that there -were no chairs in the Royal reception-room, she proclaimed that her -Japanese attendant must carry a chair for her; because, if the Royal -pair were seated, she insisted on being seated also. I was to tell -“His Nibs,”--by which expression she referred to the smiling Prime -Minister,--that she belonged to sovereign America, and therefore was as -much an Empress in her own right as the feminine Majesty of Corea. - -“Miss Hemster,” said I, “I don’t know whether what you wish can be -accomplished or not; but in any case it is sure to cause considerable -delay, and, furthermore, it will probably cost your father a very large -sum of money.” - -I speedily saw that I would better have preserved silence. The young -lady drew herself up with great dignity and flashed upon me a glance of -withering indignation. - -“Will you oblige me by minding your own business?” she asked harshly. -“Your duty is to obey orders, and not to question them.” - -To this, of course, no reply was possible, so I contented myself by -bowing to her, and, turning to Hun Woe, who stood smiling first at one -and then at the other of us, not understanding even the drift of our -conversation, but evidently growing somewhat uneasy at the tone it was -taking, I translated to him as well as I could what Miss Hemster had -said, softening the terms as much as possible, and laying great stress -on her exalted position in her own country, of which land the Prime -Minister was enormously ignorant. - -Hun Woe became extremely grave; and his smile, unlike that in the -advertisement, at once “came off.” - -“If the strenuous Empress of China,” said I, “arrived at Seoul on a -visit, she would certainly be received by His Majesty as an equal, and -would not need to go through the ceremony of advance which you have so -graphically described. Now this Princess,” I continued, “holds herself -to be of a rank superior to the Empress of China, and is considered of -higher status by her own countrymen.” - -The Prime Minister very solemnly shook his head and seemed much -disquieted. - -“Her father,” I continued earnestly, and in a measure truthfully, -“maintains a much larger fleet than China possesses, and his private -war-ship, now in the waters of Corea, is grander than anything that -empire ever beheld, much less owned. His territories are vast. -Thousands of people,--yes, millions,--pay tribute to him. He has waged -commercial war against those who dared to dispute his authority, and -has invariably defeated them. His revenue exceeds that of the kingdom -of Corea twice over, so is it likely,--I put it to you as man to -man,--that such a potentate will consent to the dozen steps this way, -and the dozen steps that? His only daughter is the Crown Princess, -and will be heiress to all his powers and emoluments. I pray you, -therefore, put this matter in its right light before His Majesty of -Corea, and I can assure you, if you succeed, your own income will be -largely augmented.” - -This speech undoubtedly impressed the Premier, who bowed low to Mr. -Hemster and his daughter time and again as I went on. The girl’s anger -had subsided as quickly as it had risen, and she watched us both -intently, seeming at first to doubt that I translated accurately what I -had been so curtly ordered to say; but as our conversation went on the -increasing deference of the Prime Minister showed that I was at least -doing my best. The old gentleman, too, regarded us shrewdly from under -his bushy eyebrows, but seemed rather tired of the game, as if it were -not worth such a pow-wow. He evidently wished to get the whole thing -over as quickly as possible, and return to the comforts of his yacht, -and in this I entirely sympathized with him. - -The Prime Minister replied that he would present the new facts before -His Majesty, and averred that if they had the same effect upon the -Emperor of Corea as they had produced upon the Prime Minister the -impediment would be speedily removed. He assured me I could count on -his utmost endeavours to find a solution for the unexpected exigency, -and I was well aware that my tale would not decrease in the retelling. -With many and most profound obeisances to the two Western grandees, the -Prime Minister took his departure, and I accompanied him outside, where -I made him a payment on a gold basis. - -The Royal audience had been appointed for two o’clock of the afternoon -on the day succeeding our arrival at Seoul, but this new question that -had arisen caused the ceremony to be postponed, much to my annoyance, -for I knew the habitual delay of these people, especially where -money was in question, and I feared that the inconvenient assumption -of dignity on the part of the young woman might land us in trouble -of which neither she nor her father had the least appreciation. I -communicated my fears of delay and complications to the old gentleman -when I got him alone, hoping he might use his influence with his -daughter to modify what seemed to me her ill-timed assertion of -high rank; but Mr. Hemster, though a resourceful man in every other -direction, always proved a broken reed so far as his daughter was -concerned, and he pathetically admitted his inability to curb either -her actions or her words. - -“All we can do, Mr. Tremorne,” he said, “is to fork over the cash. -Don’t you spare it. I can see very well you are handling this situation -as expertly as a ward politician. You’re all right. If you can talk to -this here King as you talked to his Prime Minister, I think you’ll fix -up the thing in five minutes, and remember this is a game of bluff in -which there is no limit. I don’t restrict you in the cash you spend, so -go ahead.” - -And this indeed proved to be the way out of the muddle, although I -explained to him that too lavish distribution of cash was not without -its own danger. But at this juncture a message arrived to the effect -that the Prime Minister wished to see me, and I at once departed to -learn what had been the outcome of his mediation. I found that he had -made little progress, but by a curious coincidence he put forth the -same suggestion previously offered by Mr. Hemster. He had arranged -a conference for me with the King, and advised me, as Mr. Hemster -had done, to lay it on thick. Hun Woe was somewhat encouraged by the -orders he had received from his royal master in regard to my audience. -The King would receive me entirely alone; not even his Prime Minister -was to be present. From this condition Hun Woe surmised I was to be -successful in my quest, and I was well aware that this unwitnessed -reception of me was as much contrary to Corean customs as was the -proposal Miss Hemster had made. - -I saw his Majesty in one of the private apartments of the Palace, and -speedily realized that he did not care a rap what honours belonged -to Mr. Hemster. The sinister, shifty eyes of his Majesty were filled -with greed. Never was there such a picture of avarice presented to me -as the countenance of the King showed. His claw-like hands had been -withdrawn from the voluminous bell sleeves of his robe of red silk and -yellow gold, and were twitching nervously on the table before him. His -tremulous attitude of uneasy eagerness reminded me of the Miser in the -“Chimes of Normandy.” Impatiently he waved aside the recital touching -the claims of my employer to the most-favoured-monarch treatment, and -gasped out the Corean equivalent for “How much, how much?” - -A tangible object-lesson is better than talk even in the Orient; so, -bringing my eloquence to an abrupt conclusion, I drew from my pocket -another bag of gold, similar in weight to the one I had previously -presented to him, and, seeing he was impatient for touch as well as -for sight, undid the string and poured the stream of shining metal -discs before him on the table. He thrust his vibrant hands among the -coins, and gave utterance to a low guttural sound of satisfaction which -resembled the noise made by a pig thrusting its snout into a trough of -slops, rather than any exclamation I had ever before heard from human -lips. I assured him that no word of all this would be spoken by me, and -promised that as soon as the conference was safely over on the terms -that Miss Hemster and her father had laid down, a similar amount would -be privately paid to his Royal self in an equally secret manner; and -so my mission terminated in a glorious success, and it was arranged -that the reception should take place the next day at two o’clock. The -process was costly, but effective; and effectiveness, after all, was -the main thing. - -I reported my victory to Mr. Hemster and his daughter, and almost -immediately after this the Prime Minister came in to offer his -congratulations. The good man had seen his royal master for a few -moments, and was evidently delighted that everything was going on so -smoothly. It meant money in his pocket, and he was becoming rich with -a celerity which left stock-exchange speculations far in the rear. -He had received his commands regarding next day’s reception, and the -Emperor had been pleased to order that the audience should take place -in the same room where I had seen him, with none of the nobles of the -Court present except the Prime Minister. This was a good example of -his Majesty’s craftiness. The Premier already knew that the etiquette -of the Court was to be put aside for the occasion; but the monarch -had no desire for further witnesses, and was evidently not going to -set a precedent in the realm of Corea that might produce inconvenient -consequences thereafter. - -I had had little opportunity of talking with Miss Stretton since the -night of our walk on deck,--the night of the proposal, as I called it -to myself, as amidst all these negotiations I kept continually thinking -of it. Without exactly avoiding me, Miss Stretton never seemed to be -alone, and although very rarely I caught a glance of her eye I had -no opportunity of private speech with her. She kept very much in the -background and was more than usually quiet and thoughtful. - -We had dinner early that night, somewhere about six o’clock, for -there were neither candles nor lamps in the Palace, and if we waited -until nightfall we had to “grope,” as Mr. Hemster termed it. In spite -of the success of her plans, Miss Hemster was distinctly snappy at -dinner, if I may use such a term regarding a person so beautiful. She -shut me up most effectually when I ventured a little harmless general -conversation, and I think she made Miss Stretton feel more than usual -the bitterness of a dependent’s bread. Mr. Hemster said nothing. I -could see the poor old gentleman was hankering for a daily paper, -and from my soul I felt sorry for him as he listened with the utmost -patience to the querulous fault-findings of his lovely daughter. - -Toward the end of dinner something that was said did not please the -young lady, and she rose abruptly and left the table, with a gesture -of queenly disapproval of us all. Anger appeared to fill her as -electricity fills an accumulator, and until the battery was discharged -we never knew who would suffer the next shock. When the young woman’s -ill-temper had been aroused by my opposition earlier in the day, -perhaps we would have spent a pleasanter evening if it had been allowed -to run its course. But as it was checked by her interest in the -negotiations it now filtered out in very palpable discontent. When Miss -Stretton arose to leave I took the liberty of begging her to remain. - -“I should like very much,” I said, “to show you the light on Nam-san.” - -“And what is the light on Nam-san?” she asked, pausing with her hand on -the back of the chair. - -“Beacons are lighted all along the coast of Corea, on the mountain -tops,” I replied, “so that peak calls to peak, as it were; and the last -one to be lit is that on Nam-san, which is the name of the highest -mountain near Seoul. They kindle it at eight o’clock, and its blazing -up shows that the kingdom of Corea is safe and at peace with the world.” - -“Very well,” said Miss Stretton after a pause; “I will return here -about ten minutes to eight.” - -She was as good as her word, and we took a stroll together in the great -courtyard of the Palace, which is a city within a city. The gates of -the Palace grounds were now closed and guarded, and we could not have -got out into Seoul if we had wished to do so. But it was all very still -and pleasant in the broad square surrounded by the low, strangely -roofed buildings that constituted the Palace. We saw the beacon light -flash out and then die away. I cannot remember that we talked much, -but there was a calm and soothing sense of comradeship between us -that was very comforting. She told me, when I had tried to warn her -against expecting too much on seeing the Emperor next day, that she did -not intend to accompany our party, and I suspected that she had been -ordered to remain away. Moreover I could see that she was very tired of -it all, and, like Mr. Hemster, wished herself back in her own country. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - - -Shortly before two o’clock the next day the Prime Minister came for us, -and conducted us directly to the Presence Chamber, instead of taking us -to the small wooden building, containing a table and some chairs, where -visitors usually had to wait until the Emperor’s messenger arrived with -orders permitting an advance to the throne-room. Our little procession -consisted of four persons,--Mr. Hemster, Miss Hemster, the Prime -Minister, and myself. Hun Woe was visibly uneasy, and I was well aware -that, in spite of the money paid him, he would much rather have been -absent from the ceremony. In Eastern lands it is extremely dangerous -for a Vizier to witness a Sultan’s humiliation, and the Prime Minister -well knew that although the Emperor had permitted the deference due -to him to be temporarily annulled through payment of gold, he might -nevertheless consider it desirable to eliminate the onlooker, so that -no record of this innovation were left on the earth. - -The room into which we were conducted was but indifferently lighted. -It was oblong in shape, and a low divan ran across the farther end of -it. Four very ordinary wooden chairs had been placed midway between the -door and the divan. - -Both the Emperor and the Empress were seated, Oriental fashion, on huge -cushions, and were decked out in a fashion that might be termed tawdry -gorgeousness. I do not know whether the strings of colored gems that -hung around the Empress were real or imitation, but they were barbaric -in size and glitter and number. The Empress, whom I had never seen -before, sat impassive, with eyes half closed, as if she were a statue -of the feminine Buddha. During the whole of the exciting interview she -never moved or showed the slightest sign of animation. - -The Emperor’s ferret-like eyes glanced shiftily over the advancing -party, which came forward, as I might say, in two sections, the three -white people upright, and the Premier bending almost double, working -his way toward the divan by zigzag courses, giving one the odd notion -that he was some sort of wild beast about to spring upon the Emperor -when he arrived at a proper position for the pounce. - -The twinkling eyes of the Emperor, however, speedily deserted the -rest of our party, and fixed themselves on Miss Hemster, who moved -toward him with graceful ease and an entire absence of either fear or -deference. She instantly made good the determination she had previously -expressed, and, gliding directly up to him, thrust forward her hand, -which the Emperor seemed at a loss what to do with. His eyes were -fastened on her lovely countenance, and there broke on his lips a smile -so grim and ghastly that it might well have made any one shudder who -witnessed it. The bending Prime Minister uttered a few words which -informed the Emperor that the lady wished to shake hands with him, and -then his Majesty took his own grimy paws from out of the great bell -sleeves in which they were concealed, and with his two hands grasped -hers. Never did so sweet a hand disappear in so revolting a clutch, -and the young woman, evidently shocked at the contact, and doubtless -repelled by the repulsiveness of the face that leered up at her, drew -suddenly back, but the clutch was not relaxed. - -“Let me go!” she cried breathlessly, and her father took an impulsive -step forward; but before he reached her the Emperor suddenly put forth -his strength and drew the young woman tumbling down to the divan beside -him, grimacing like a fiend from the bottomless pit. Little he recked -what he was doing. With a scream Miss Hemster sprang up, flung out her -right arm, and caught him a slap on the side of his face that sounded -through the hall like the report of a pistol. The Prime Minister, with -a shuddering cry of horror, flung himself on his face, and grovelled -there in piteous pretence of not having seen this death-earning insult -which the Western woman had so energetically bestowed on the Eastern -potentate. Hun Woe’s open palms beat helplessly against the wooden -planks, as if he were in the tremors of dissolution. The active young -woman sprang back a pace or two, and, if a glance could have killed, -the look with which she transfixed his Imperial Majesty would have -brought extinction with it. - -As for the Emperor, he sat there, bending slightly forward, the -revolting grimace frozen on his face, and yet his royal head must have -been ringing with the blow he had received. The Empress sat stolid, as -if nothing had happened, and never moved an eyelid. Then his Majesty, -casting a look of contempt at the huddled heap of clothes which -represented the Prime Minister, threw back his head and gave utterance -to a cackling laugh which was exceedingly chilling and unpleasant to -hear. Meanwhile the young lady seated herself emphatically in one of -the chairs, with a sniff of indignant remonstrance. - -“There,” she said, “I flatter myself I have taught one nigger a lesson -in good manners. He’ll bear the signature of my fingers on his cheeks -for a few hours at least.” - -“Madam,” I said solemnly, “I beg you to restrain yourself. Your -signature is more likely to prove a death-warrant than a lesson in -etiquette.” - -“Be quiet,” she cried angrily to me, turning toward me a face red with -resentment; “if there is no one here to protect me from insult I must -stand up for myself, and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll do it. Do -you think I am afraid of an old hobo like that?” - -The Emperor watched her with narrowing eyes as she was speaking, and -it really seemed as if he understood what she said; for again he threw -back his head and laughed, as if the whole thing was a joke. - -“Madam,” said I, “it isn’t a question of fear or the lack of it, but -merely a matter of common sense. We are entirely in this man’s power.” - -“He daren’t hurt us,” she interrupted with a snap, “and he knows it, -and you know it.” - -“I beg your pardon, Miss Hemster, I know a great deal more of these -people than you do. No Westerner can predict what may happen in an -Eastern Court.” - -“Westerners are just as good as New Yorkers, or Londoners either, for -that matter,” cried the gentle Gertrude, holding her head high in the -air. - -“You mistake me, Miss Hemster; I am speaking of Europeans as well as -of Americans. This Emperor, at a word, can have our heads chopped off -before we leave the room.” - -“Oh, you’re a finicky, babbling old woman,” she exclaimed, tossing her -head, “and just trying to frighten my father. The Emperor knows very -well that if he laid a hand on us the United States would smash his old -kingdom in two weeks.” - -“If you will pardon me, madam, the Emperor is quite ignorant. If he -should determine to have us executed, not all the United States or -Britain and Europe combined could save us. He has but to give an -order, and it will be rigidly obeyed if the heavens fell the moment -after. If you are anxious to give the Emperor your opinion of him, -all I beg of you is that you wait until we’re out of this trap, and -then send it to him on a picture post-card. Whatever action the Powers -might subsequently take would be of no assistance to us--when we are -executed.” - -During this heated conversation the Prime Minister had partly risen to -his hands and knees, although he kept his head hanging down until it -nearly touched the floor. The Emperor had been watching Miss Hemster’s -animated countenance, and he seemed greatly to enjoy my evident -discomfiture. Even though he understood no word of our language, he saw -plainly enough that I was getting the worst of the verbal encounter. -Now the gradual uprising of the Prime Minister drew his attention -temporarily to this grovelling individual, and he spoke a few words to -him which at once raised my alarm for the safety of those in my care. -His Majesty had evidently forgotten for the moment that I understood -the Corean tongue. Hun Woe now rose to his feet, kept his back at an -angle of forty-five degrees, and, without turning around, began to -retreat from the Imperial presence. I at once stepped in his way, and -said to the Emperor that this command must not go forth, whereupon the -Majesty of Corea was good enough to laugh once more. - -“What are you talking about?” demanded Miss Hemster. “You must -translate everything that is said; and, furthermore, you must tell him -that he has to apologize to me for his insult at the beginning.” - -“All in good time, Miss Hemster.” - -“Not all in good time,” she cried, rising from her chair. “If you don’t -do that at once, I’ll go and slap his face again.” - -“Please believe me, Miss Hemster, that you have already done that once -too often. I assure you that the situation is serious, and you are -increasing the danger by your untimely interference.” - -Before she could reply, a roar of laughter from the Emperor, who wagged -his head from side to side and rocked his body to and fro in his glee, -drew my attention to the fact that I had been outwitted. The Prime -Minister, taking advantage of my discussion with Miss Hemster, had -scuttled silently away and had disappeared. I fear I made use of an -exclamation to which I should not have given utterance in the presence -of a lady; but that lady’s curiosity, overcoming whatever resentment -she may have felt, clamoured to know what had happened. - -“His Majesty,” said I, “gave orders to the Prime Minister doubly to -guard the Palace gates, and see that no communication reached the -outside from us. It means that we are prisoners!” - -All this time I had not the least assistance from the old gentleman, -who sat in a most dejected attitude on one of the wooden chairs. I had -remained standing since we entered the room. Now he looked up with -dismay on his countenance, and I was well enough acquainted with him to -know that his fear was not for himself but for his daughter. - -“Will you tell the Emperor,” he said, “that we are armed, and that we -demand leave to quit this place as freely as we entered it?” - -“I think, Mr. Hemster,” said I, “that we had better conceal the fact -that we have arms,--at least until the Prime Minister returns. We can -keep that as our trump card.” - -“Will you please do exactly what my father tells you to,” snapped the -young woman sharply. - -“Hush, Gertrude!” said Mr. Hemster. Then, addressing himself to me: -“Sir,” he added, “do whatever you think is best.” - -I now turned to the Emperor, and made the speech of my life. I began -by stating that Corea had been face to face with many a crisis during -its history, but never had she been confronted with such a situation -as now presented itself. Mr. Hemster, besides being King, in his own -right, of the provision market in Chicago, was one of the most valued -citizens of the United States, and that formidable country would spend -its last sen and send its last man to avenge any injury done to Mr. -Hemster, or the Princess, his daughter. I asserted that the United -States was infinitely more powerful than Russia, China, and Japan added -together, with each of whom he had hitherto chiefly dealt. This alone -would be bad enough, but the danger of the situation was augmented by -my own presence. His Majesty might perhaps be good enough to remember -that the last time I had had the pleasure of meeting him I was an Envoy -of a country which had probably fought more successful battles than -any other nation in existence. Great Britain was also in the habit of -avenging the injuries inflicted on her subjects; and so, if the Emperor -was so ill-fated as to incur the displeasure of these mighty empires, -whose united strength was sufficient to overawe all the rest of the -earth, he would thus bring about the extinction of himself and of his -nation. - -I regret to say that this eloquence was largely thrown away. His -Majesty paid but scanty attention to my international exposition. His -fishy eyes were fixed continually on Miss Hemster, who now and then -made grimaces at him as if she were a little schoolgirl, once going so -far as to thrust out her tongue, which action seemed to strike the -Emperor as exceedingly comic, for he laughed uproariously at it. - -When I had ceased speaking the Emperor replied in a few words, but -without ever taking his eyes from the girl. I answered him,--or, -rather, was answering him,--when Miss Hemster interrupted impatiently: - -“What are you saying? You must translate as you go on. I wish you would -remember your position, Mr. Tremorne, which is that of translator. I -refuse to be kept in the dark in this way.” - -“Gertie, Gertie!” remonstrated her father. “Please do not interfere. -Mr. Tremorne will tell us what is happening all in good time.” - -And now the Emperor himself, as if he understood what was being said, -commanded me to translate to them the terms he had laid down. - -“I shall try to remember my position, Miss Hemster,” I replied; “and, -as his Majesty’s ideas coincide with your own, I have pleasure in -giving you a synopsis of what has passed.” - -Then I related my opening speech to the Emperor, which appeared to -commend itself to Mr. Hemster, who nodded several times in support of -my dissertation on the national crisis. - -“The Emperor,” I continued, “has made no comment upon what I have laid -before him. He tells us we are free to go,--that is, your father and -myself,--as long as we leave you here. Not to put too fine a point to -it, he offers to buy you, and says he will make you the White Star of -his harem, which he seems to think is rather a poetical expression.” - -“Well, of all the gall!” exclaimed Miss Hemster, raising her hands and -letting them fall helplessly into her lap again, as if this gesture -should define the situation better than any words she had at her -command. “You inform His Nibs that I am no White Star Line, and you -tell this mahogany graven image that my father can buy him and his -one-horse kingdom and give them away without ever feeling it. When he -talks of buying, just inform him that in the States down South we used -to sell better niggers than him every day in the week.” - -I thought it better to tone down this message somewhat, and in doing so -was the innocent cause, as I suspect, of a disaster which has always -troubled my mind since that eventful time. I said to the Emperor -that American customs differed from those of Corea. Miss Hemster, -being a Princess in her own rank, of vast wealth, could not accept -any position short of that of Empress, and, as there was already an -Empress of Corea, the union he proposed was impossible. I reiterated my -request that we be allowed to pass down to the coast without further -molestation. - -This statement was received by the Emperor with much hilarity. He -looked upon it merely as an effort on my part to enhance the price -of the girl, and expressed his willingness to turn over to her half -the revenues of the kingdom. He seemed to imagine he was acting in -the most lavishly generous manner, and I realized the hopelessness of -the discussion, because I was face to face with a man who had never -been refused anything he wished for since he came to the throne. His -conceited ignorance regarding the power of other countries to enforce -their demands made the situation all the more desperate. - -At this juncture the crouching Prime Minister returned, made his way -slowly, by means of acute angles, to the foot of the throne, and -informed the Emperor that the guards of the Palace had been doubled, -and had received instructions to allow no living thing to enter or -leave the precincts of the Court. I now repeated to Hun Woe the warning -I had so fruitlessly proffered to the Emperor, but I doubt if the -satellite paid much more attention than his master had done. While in -the presence he seemed incapable of either thought or action that did -not relate to his Imperial chief. He intimated that the audience was -now finished and done with, and added that he would have the pleasure -of accompanying us to our rooms. It seemed strange, when we returned, -to find Miss Stretton sitting in a chair, placidly reading a book which -she had brought with her from the yacht, and the Japanese boy setting -out cups for tea on a small table near her. Miss Stretton looked up -pleasantly as we entered, closing her book, and putting her finger in -it to mark the place. - -“What a long time you have been,” she said; “the conference must have -proved very successful.” - -Miss Gertrude Hemster paced up and down the room as if energetic action -were necessary to calm the perturbation of her spirit. As the other -finished her remark she clenched her little fist and cried: - -“I’ll make that Emperor sit up before I’ve done with him!” - -I thought it more advisable to refrain from threats until we were out -of the tiger’s den; but the reticent example of Mr. Hemster was upon -me, and I said nothing. Nevertheless the young woman was as good as her -word. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - - -The Hemsters had fallen into the English habit of afternoon tea, and, -having finished the refreshing cup, I excused myself and went outside -to learn how strict the cordon around us was kept. I found that the -Prime Minister had done his work well. The gates were very thoroughly -guarded, and short of force there seemed to be no method of penetrating -into the city. I tried bribery, desiring to get a short note through -to the British Consul-General, and, although my bribe was willingly -accepted, I found later that the missive was never sent. - -Rambling around the vast precincts of the Palace, trying to discover -any loophole of escape, I came upon our escort and the ponies which had -brought us from the port to the capital. These had been gathered up in -the city and taken inside. I could not decide at the moment whether -this move on the part of our gaolers strengthened or weakened our -position. The escort was composed of a very poor set of creatures who -would prove utterly valueless if the crisis developed into a contest. -They were all huddled together under a shed, and were very evidently in -a state of hopeless panic. They knew intuitively that things were going -badly with us, and it needed no prophet to foretell that they would -instantly betray us if they got the chance, or cut our throats if they -were ordered to do so. I deeply regretted now that we had not stayed -longer at Chemulpo until we had gathered together an escort composed -entirely of Japanese. Two Japanese followers were among our crowd, and -they now stood apart with the imperturbable nonchalance of their race. -I was aware that I could depend upon them to the death; but the rest -were the very scum of the East, cowardly, unstable as water, and as -treacherous as quicksand. I spoke a few words of encouragement to the -Japanese, patted the ponies, and then returned to Mr. Hemster. I told -him I had endeavoured to send a note to the British representative in -Seoul, and to my amazement found that he did not approve of this move. - -“The fact is, Mr. Tremorne, we have acted like a parcel of fools, -and if this thing ever gets out we shall be the laughing-stock of -the world. I don’t want either the American or the British Consul to -know anything of our position. God helps those who help themselves. I -don’t want to boast at all, but I may tell you I’m a dead shot with a -revolver, and I have one of the best here with me, together with plenty -of cartridges. This expertness with a gun is a relic of my old cowboy -days on the plains, and if these here Coreans attempt to interfere with -me, somebody is going to get hurt. You have another revolver, and if -you are any good with it I guess we’ll have no difficulty in forcing -our way through this flock of sheep. Have you learned whether your two -Japanese can shoot or not? If they can, I’ve got revolvers here for -them, and it seems to me that four of us can put up a bluff that will -carry us through this tight place. If it wasn’t that we have women with -us, I wouldn’t mind the encounter in the least. As it is, we’ll have to -do the best we can, and I propose that we start to-morrow as soon as -the gates are opened.” - -“All right, Mr. Hemster, I believe your diagnosis of the case is -correct. I can trust the Japanese, and I think I may say you can trust -me.” - -A little later in the day, the Prime Minister, accompanied by an -imposing following, came to me, and with much circumlocution made -formal proposal of marriage to Miss Hemster on behalf of the Emperor -of Corea. The misguided man appeared to think that this smoothed -away all difficulty, and that the only question now to be settled -was the amount of money the honoured lady’s father would pay down as -dowry. Hun Woe fatuously ventured to hope that it would be large in -proportion to the elevation in station which awaited the young lady. I -replied that Mr. Hemster considered himself equal in rank, and greatly -superior in wealth and power, to the Emperor of Corea; that he was now -practically held prisoner in the Palace; therefore, if negotiations -were to continue, he must be set free, and allowed to return to his own -battleship, in which I should be happy to carry on the discussion in a -manner which I hoped would prove satisfactory to all parties concerned. - -The Prime Minister replied that what I proposed was impossible. The -Emperor was completely infatuated with Miss Hemster, and only as a -great concession,--due, Hun Woe said, to his own pleadings, which -he hoped would be remembered when settlements were made,--did his -Majesty consent to a marriage. The Prime Minister continued with many -professions of friendship for myself, urging me therefore, as he -pretended to have urged the Emperor, to put myself in a reasonable -frame of mind. He had never known the Emperor so determined in any -course of action before, and lack of compliance on the part of our -company would do no good, and might lead to irretrievable disaster. -The Emperor had resolved, if his offer were refused, to seize the -young lady, and to behead her father, myself, and the whole party who -accompanied her. He therefore trusted humbly that I would not thwart -his efforts toward an amicable understanding. - -I said he must surely have mistaken his instructions; the barbarous -programme he had proposed would shock the civilized world. He answered, -with a shrug of his shoulders, that the civilized world would never -hear of it. I averred he was mistaken in this, telling him I had -already communicated with my Consul, and his reply to this was to -pull from his sleeve the hasty note I had written and bribed the -man at the gate to deliver. This man, he said, had at once brought -the communication to him, and he hoped I would acknowledge the -fruitlessness of further opposition. - -I quickly saw that we were in a predicament, and that it would need all -my diplomacy to find a means of egress. However, I determined first -to impress upon Hun Woe the dangers of the plan he had outlined. If -the Emperor did what he proposed to do, that would bring upon Corea -the irretrievable disaster of invasion by both the United States -and England. It was not possible to keep assassinations secret. -Mr. Hemster’s great steamship was at this moment awaiting him at -Chemulpo. If no one returned, the captain of that boat had orders to -communicate at once with both the British and the American authorities. -I endeavored to flatter Hun Woe by telling him that an official of his -great learning and intelligence must realize what the result would be. -The good man sighed, but in the presence of his _entourage_ apparently -had not the courage to admit that Corea would come badly out of the -encounter. In fact, he said that the Emperor could defend his country -against the combined forces of the world; but whether he believed this -or not, I should hesitate to say. - -I now changed my tactics, and told the Prime Minister that I was merely -Ambassador for Mr. Hemster, and that I would inform him of the offer -the Emperor had made. It was more than likely, I asserted, that the -proposal would be extremely gratifying to him; so we would postpone -further consideration until he had time to think over the matter. -I further suggested that we should have another interview with the -Emperor at the same hour next day, and with this the Prime Minister -joyously concurred. To assist the negotiations he told me that the -Emperor had referred to my objection of an existing Empress, but means -would be found to divorce that august lady, and this he wished me to -place before Mr. Hemster and his daughter. He seemed to imagine that -thus had been removed the last obstacle to the proposed union, and -I said I would put all this in the most favourable light before Mr. -Hemster. The conference which had begun so tempestuously therefore -ended in a calm that was extremely gratifying to the Prime Minister, -who quite evidently hoped that everybody would be reasonable, that the -flow of gold should not cease, and that the contest might end happily. -So, with many gestures and expressions of deep regard for myself and my -companions, the distinguished party withdrew. - -I was anxious to see Mr. Hemster alone, so that I might communicate -to him the result of my interview with the Prime Minister, but this -intention was frustrated. Gertrude Hemster had nothing whatever to -occupy her mind, and the adage informs us that mischief is provided for -all such persons. She was already aware that this gorgeous deputation -had waited upon me, and it required all her father’s persuasion to -keep her from breaking in upon us and learning what was going on. The -curiosity of woman has before now wrecked many promising undertakings, -and this threatened to be the fate of Mr. Hemster’s plan. The young -lady was frank enough to say that she believed me to be playing a -double game; not interpreting correctly the message of the Emperor or -the sayings of the Prime Minister. She refused to incur the risk of -a forced exit from the Palace, and was sure that if the Emperor was -rightly spoken to we would all be allowed to march to the port with -a royal escort and the honours of war. She insisted that if I were -not a coward I would myself brave the dangers of the exit, go to the -American Consulate, and there get an interpreter who would be official, -and also bring the Consul himself. She was not going to be frightened -out of Seoul by a mud-colored heathen like the Emperor, and if only we -had treated him as she had done, there would have been no trouble. - -I must admit that I agreed with the girl so far as calling in the -aid of the American Consul was concerned, and I told her I was quite -willing to force the gate and make a run for it to the little spot -of the United States which existed in Seoul. But her father could be -a determined man when he liked, and this time he put down his foot, -declaring firmly that he would not have the news of this fiasco get -abroad if he could help it. Curiously enough, Mr. Hemster seemed to -have more fear of the yellow press of America than of the yellow man -of Corea. His daughter, however, feared neither, and seemed in fact to -relish the publicity which this episode might give to her. Whether it -was bravery or recklessness on her part, I could not get her to see -that we were in any serious danger; but this did not matter, for on -appeal to her father to postpone the proposed exodus he proved adamant, -and for once the young lady was forced to acquiesce. - -I took the pair of extra pistols, and, with ample ammunition, sought -out the two Japanese members of our party. I found that both of them -had served in the Japanese army and were quite capable of handling -firearms with effect. I then told them to say nothing to their Corean -comrades, but, as soon as the gates were open in the morning, to -bring ponies for the whole party to our door. The manner in which they -carried out this order showed their alertness to the exigencies of the -situation. - -When we all emerged in the morning,--we four white people, our Chinese -cook and Japanese serving-boy,--ten ponies were at our door, two of -them being loaded down with heavy strings of cash which we had not -found occasion to use, because our dealings had been entirely with -higher classes and so we had had to employ silver and gold. But only -one Japanese man was there. When I asked him where the other fellow -was, he replied he was holding a revolver over the huddled heap of -Coreans so that they would not give the alarm. As soon as we were -mounted, he said he would call his comrade, who would instantly respond. - -This proved a very wise precaution, and gave us some valuable minutes -before the Palace was roused. We had arrived at the gates ere the -sleepy guards realized what was upon them, and the first warning the -Palace received of our attempt was the wild firing of the useless -muskets which the guards possessed. We had determined not to shoot, -hoping that the guards would give way when they found we were resolved -to emerge; but their reckless firing, which luckily did no harm to any -of our party, made any further attempt at silence unnecessary, and -lucky it was for us that we were free to fire, because Mr. Hemster -whipped out his revolver at once and shattered the hand of a man who -attempted to close the gates. This wounded creature set up such a howl -that the guards immediately threw down their arms and fled, leaving -the way clear before us. - -Now we were in the main street of Seoul, and if it had not been for Mr. -Hemster’s prohibition I would strongly have advised making directly -for the Consulate of either one nation or the other. However, his -orders were to press on to the western gate before the alarm should -extend through the city. This we did. Now that we were clear of the -royal gates, the guards seemed to have resumed their firearms and were -evidently determined to make the Emperor believe that they had been -extremely valorous, for a regular fusillade greeted our departure -down the main street of Seoul. Whatever commotion the firing may have -aroused in the Palace, it certainly had an extraordinary effect upon -the city itself, for it caused the population to pour in thousands from -the narrow lanes with which this human warren is intersected. There -seemed a danger that we might be stopped by the mere pressure of the -crowd, so I gave the word to whip up our steeds, and we dashed along, -regardless of whom we knocked over. - -Just as we reached the gate on the Chemulpo road the great bell began -to ring, the bell which every night at sunset orders the closing of -the gates. The big doors were being slowly closed as we approached, -and here my two Japanese again gave striking proof of their value. -They dashed forward, and, in spite of the ringing of the bell, ordered -the guards to fling wide the portal, but upon the guards showing some -hesitation, the foremost Japanese at once shot one of them in his -tracks, whereupon the rest fled. We squeezed through, and the Japanese -proposed we should close the gates completely, so that the crowd might -be kept in, but this proved impossible, because they could be fastened -only on the inside, and we had no means of assuring ourselves that the -gates would remain shut. There was therefore nothing for it but a race -for Chemulpo, twenty-six miles away. Before we had gone a dozen yards -the pressure of the crowd opened the gates wide, and the howling mob -poured through like a resistless torrent. - -I now re-arranged my party, asking Mr. Hemster to take the lead, -while the two Japanese and myself fought a retreating battle with the -multitude that followed us. The Corean man is a stalwart individual -with sturdy legs that are almost untiring in a race. While cowards -individually, they become dangerous in the mass, and I continually -urged our people to gallop as hard as they could, with the double -purpose of exhausting all but the most strenuous in our pursuit, and -of preventing the outskirts of the mob on either hand from outflanking -us. For the first three miles or so our revolver-shots kept them at a -respectful distance, but after five or six miles had been accomplished, -and the crowd showed no signs of fatigue, while our ammunition began -to run low, I realized that I must do something to save the rest from -capture. - -Leaving the two Japanese as an efficient rearguard, I galloped forward -to Mr. Hemster, and gave him details of my plan, which I had some -difficulty in getting him to accept. In fact he did accept it only -on my assurance that there was no real danger to myself. Bidding a -hasty farewell to the ladies, I dropped again to the rear. Each of -the Japanese had tethered to his horse’s bridle a rope attached to a -pony carrying our strings of cash. I untied these ponies, and attached -them to my own mount, ordering the Japanese to take the van once more; -and, as they were residents of Chemulpo, and therefore knew the road -perfectly, I told them to lead the party as quickly as they could into -safety, promising them a large additional reward for doing so. - -The rest now galloped on, leaving me standing in the middle of the -road, with three horses under my charge. The bellowing mob seemed -nonplussed by this movement, and, apparently fearing a trap of some -kind, came to a halt. There was not bravery enough among them even to -attack one man at close quarters, although they might have overwhelmed -him by simply moving in bulk upon him. Each of the two led-horses -carried something like twenty thousand sek, strung in ropes of five -hundred each, so knotted that the cash is divided into sections of a -hundred each. I took my pocket-knife and cut off the first knot, and, -grasping the two ends of the string, flung it lasso-wise around my -head, and then let go the cut end, causing the hundred cash to shoot -into the air like the bursting of a sky-rocket. These people, after -all, were merely like children with two dominant qualities, a love of -cruelty, and an unlimited avarice,--possibly avarice has the greatest -hold upon their affections, and this belief was the basis of my -adventure. - -Now ensued the strangest battle that ever was fought by mankind, a -struggle which Mr. Hemster himself should have appreciated because -he had engaged in it time and again in his own country, a battle in -which one man with money stood against the bulk of the people. When -the shower of a hundred cash was flung above the heads of the mob -there ensued one of the wildest struggles it has ever been my fate to -witness. I cut the second knot, and flung the second lot of cash far -to the left, to check the advance of the crowd that way, which it very -effectually did. Then the third knot was severed, and the third lot of -coins went spinning through the air to the right. Even before the first -string was gone, my party had long since disappeared toward the west. -Of course this congregation of heathens could have availed themselves -at once of my whole available stock by merely pressing forward, but -this thought either never occurred to them, or they were too cowardly -to put it into practice. As soon as the flung cash was secured and the -scattered stock picked up, two and two fighting for the possession of -one miserable coin, a shout arose from them which was the cry of Oliver -Twist for “more.” And so I played David against that Goliath of a crowd -until I began to fear that my arm which whirled the sling would become -helpless through exhaustion. - -My idea had been, of course, to put the whip to my horse and make -for the port after my party, but very soon this project proved to be -impossible. I was standing on a slight elevation in the road, and, -in spite of my throwing the coins right and left, the two wings of -this tatterdemalion army gradually enfolded me, and before my fortune -was more than half scattered I found myself completely outflanked -and surrounded. But no one made a dash; there was left a respectable -circular clear space about me, the circumference of which was never -nearer than twenty or thirty feet from where I stood. Moreover I was -thankful to see that even those to the west, who had a free way toward -Chemulpo, did not attempt to break toward the coast. They were all too -eager to get a share of the spoil to mind what became of the rest of -the party, and by the time we had been an hour or more at this flinging -of largesse every individual of them knew that pursuit was hopeless, -and by the same token I knew also that the least danger threatening me -was being carried back to Seoul. The crowd had become riotously good -natured, but I knew their changeableness too well to consider myself -safe on that account. They were as like as not to take me back to Seoul -in a hundred pieces. I began to think seriously of the future when I -came to the last string of cash on the pony beside me. There was still -twenty thousand on the other nag; but, when that was gone, this mob, -which had no sense of gratitude, were as like to cut my throat as not. -So when I came to the last hundred sek on the first pony, scattered -like grape-shot through the air, I took advantage of the struggle that -ensued to remount my own nag. There was at once a howl of rage at this, -especially from those to the west of me, who expected me to attempt -escape in that direction. They stiffened up, and shook fists and -sticks at this supposed intention on my part to cheat them of their -just dues. Never since the Corean kingdom was founded had there been -such a distribution of wealth as was now taking place. Heretofore the -office-holders had accumulated everything in sight, and naturally the -populace was indignant that this enchanting scattering of money should -cease while there was still a horseload of it within reach. I raised my -right hand for silence, and then raised my voice and addressed them: - -“Gentlemen,” said I, “the next hurling of coin takes place at the gates -of Seoul. If you are good enough to march quietly with me, I shall -relieve the tedium of the way by an occasional contribution. So, my -braves, let us get back to the capital.” - -Capital was what they were after, and so with a howl, which was their -nearest approach to a cheer, we set off for Seoul. Tired as my arm was, -I occasionally distributed five hundred cash before and behind me, also -to the right and left, keeping steadily on, however, until the city -was in sight. Then to my dismay, I saw that the great gate was closed. -The mob ahead of me had noticed the barred gate before I did, and set -up a wail like a lot of lost children. Instantly the cash distribution -was forgotten, and panic seized them. They were locked out, and no one -knew what might be happening inside. The tolling of the big bell still -boomed through the air, but only occasionally, bearing some resemblance -to a funeral knell. Because the gate was shut these people had not -reasoning powers enough to surmise that the other gates were shut -also, and in a magic way the huge mob began to dissolve and disappear, -scampering over rocks and stones to find out whether the whole city -was hermetically sealed or not. There was a group of people on the wall -above the gate, and someone had shouted that the northern port was -open. This statement was undoubtedly false, but the official who cried -it evidently thought it was safer to dismiss the mob as he could. In -a few minutes I found myself practically alone, and then was amazed -beyond measure to hear a voice from above the gate call down to me: - -“For Heaven’s sake, Tremorne, is that you?” - - - - -CHAPTER XV - - -I looked up, and saw leaning toward me Wallace Carmichel, the British -Consul-General in Seoul, an efficient man whom I had not met for five -years, when he was in the Embassy at Pekin. At once there flashed -through my mind Mr. Hemster’s desire that I should not mention our -plight to the Consuls of either his country or my own, so I resolved -on the instant to keep to myself, if possible, the mission that had -brought me to the capital. Indeed within the last few minutes the -whole situation had changed. I had no desire to return to Seoul, and -only retreated because I was compelled to do so; but now the way was -perfectly clear between me and Chemulpo on turning my horse around. Yet -Carmichel would think it exceedingly strange if I could not give some -excuse for marching up to the gate of Seoul and marching down again, -like the historical general on the hill. I wished he had remained -at his Consulate, yet there he was, beaming down upon me, so I took -momentary refuge in airy persiflage. - -“Hullo, Carmichel, how goes it? Has the early-closing movement been -adopted in Seoul? It isn’t Saturday afternoon, is it?” - -“No, it isn’t,” he replied, “and if you’ll take the advice of an old -friend, you’ll turn your horse’s head, and make straight back for -Chemulpo. I think we’re in for a rather nasty time here, if you ask me.” - -“I do ask you. What’s wrong?” - -I was anxious to learn whether he knew anything of the escape of our -party in the early morning; but even if he had been told about it, -the Coreans are such unmitigated liars that it is not likely he would -have believed them if he had not himself seen the procession, and I -very much doubted if he had done so, for Carmichel was never afflicted -with the early-rising habit. I was, however, wholly unprepared for his -amazing reply. - -“The Empress of Corea was assassinated last night,” he said. “I imagine -they don’t want the news to spread. The Palace is closed, and all the -gates of the city were shut before I was up this morning. The Court -entourage is trying to pretend that the Empress died a natural death, -but I have it on as good authority as anything can be had in this -mendacious place that the Empress was literally cut to pieces.” - -“Good God!” I cried. “Can that be true?” - -“Anything may be true in this forsaken hole. I heard you had left the -service. Came into a fortune, eh? Lucky devil! I wish I were in your -shoes! This is worse than China, and that was bad enough. I suppose -you are here on private business. Well, take a friend’s advice and get -back. Nothing can be done here for a while, any how.” - -“I’ll take your advice, Carmichel. Is there any message I can carry for -you to Chemulpo?” - -“No, you may tell them what’s happened.” - -“Are you in any danger, do you think?” - -“I don’t think so. Of course, one can never tell what may turn up in -this beastly place. I’ve got the Consulate well guarded, and we can -stand a siege. I heard that there was a mob approaching the town, and -so came up to see what it was all about. Where are you stopping at -Chemulpo?” - -“I have been yachting with a friend of mine, and his craft is in the -harbour there.” - -“Well, if you’ve no business in Seoul, I advise you to get back to the -yacht. You’ll be safer on the sea than in Corea.” - -“I believe you!” - -“How did you come to be in the midst of that Bank Holiday gang, -Tremorne?” asked the Consul, his curiosity evidently rising. - -“Oh, they overtook me, so we came along together.” - -“It’s a wonder they didn’t rob you of all you possess.” - -“I forestalled that by scattering something like twenty thousand sek -among them. I thought I’d be all right when I came to the gate, but was -rather taken aback to find it closed.” - -“Twenty thousand sek! And I suppose you don’t mind throwing it away any -more than a handful of ha’ pence! Lucky beggar! And yachting around the -world with a millionaire friend, I expect. Well, life’s easy for some -people,” said the Consul-General with a sigh. - -I laughed at him, and wondered what he would have said had he known the -truth. - -“Sure you don’t want me to send a guard up from Chemulpo for you?” - -“No, I don’t think our consulate will be the storm-center here. I -rather imagine the tornado will rage around the residence of our -Japanese friends. The Coreans say that a Japanese killed one of the -guards here this morning at the gate, but the Japanese Minister insists -that all of his countrymen in the city are accounted for, and that this -allegation of murder is a lie, which I have not the least doubt it is. -I heard a lot of promiscuous firing this morning before I was up, but -it seemed to me all in the direction of the Palace. They are eternally -raising some shindy here, and blaming it on decent people. I’m sorry to -see you turn back, Tremorne, but a man who isn’t compelled to stay here -is wise to avoid such diggings. If you return you’ll call on me, won’t -you?” - -“Oh, certainly,” said I, gathering up the reins. “So long, Carmichel, -and be as good to yourself as you can.” - -Saying this I turned toward Chemulpo, and reached it very late that -night. The journey was one of the most disagreeable I had ever -taken, for my right arm--I suppose through the straining of the -muscles--became utterly helpless and very painful. It swelled so, -especially at the shoulder, that I feared I should have to cut the -sleeve of my coat. David was more fortunate than I, because he did his -business with one shot: my giant required continual shooting, and now -I was suffering for it. If I had been attacked, I should have found -myself completely helpless; but fortunately the way was clear, and -with my three steeds I came through without mishap. Before going on -board I searched out my two Japanese, and found, as I expected, that -Mr. Hemster had rewarded them with a liberality that took their breath -away. He had paid them for the three horses, which he looked upon as -lost, and now I turned the nags over to them, together with the twenty -thousand sek that was on one of them; so the brave, resourceful little -men had no complaint to make regarding lack of recognition. - -I had not intended to go aboard the yacht that night, but Mr. Hemster -had made the Japs promise to show a flare if any news came of me, and -in the morning he was going to organize an expedition for my rescue. As -soon as I encountered my Japs one of them ran for a torch and set it -afire. It was at once answered by a rocket from the yacht, and before I -had finished my conversation with him I heard the measured beat of the -oars in the water, and found that in spite of his fatigue the kindly -old man himself had come ashore for me. He tried to shake hands, but I -warded him off with my left arm, laughing as I did so, and told him my -right would not be in condition for some time yet. As we rowed out to -the yacht I told him all that had happened, and informed him about the -murder of the Empress, which news my Japanese friends were commissioned -to proclaim in Chemulpo, as I had promised the British Consul. Mr. -Hemster was much affected by this news, and I saw plainly that he -considered his ill-fated expedition to have been the probable cause of -this unfortunate lady’s taking off. - -I was nearly famished when we reached the steamer, for I had had -nothing since early morning but a ham sandwich I had put in my pocket. -The bag of provisions intended for consumption on the way had been -carried by the Chinese cook, and at the moment of parting I had thought -nothing of the commissariat, which was extremely poor generalship on my -part, and an omission which caused me sorrow later in the day. - -Sitting in the boat after my exertions left me so stiff and unwieldy -that one of the sailors had to help me up the side, and, stepping on -deck, I staggered, and would have fallen if he had not caught me. The -waning moon had risen, but the light was not strong. I saw a shadowy -figure make for the companion-way, then stop with a little cry, and run -forward to where I stood. - -“You are wounded, Mr. Tremorne!” she cried. - -“No, Miss Stretton, I am all right, except my arm, and its disablement -is rather a joke than otherwise.” - -“He is wounded, is he not, Mr. Hemster?” appealed the girl, as the old -man came up the gangway. - -“Tut, tut, child! You should have been in bed long ago! He isn’t -wounded, but he’s nearly starved to death through our taking away all -the provisions with us when we deserted him.” - -“Oh, dear!” she cried. “Then you didn’t find the bag.” - -“What bag?” I asked. - -“When we were having lunch Mr. Hemster remembered that you were -unprovided for, so we raised a cairn of stones by the wayside and left -a bag of provisions on top of it, hoping you would recognize it, for -Mr. Hemster felt sure you would win through somehow or other. You would -be extremely flattered, Mr. Tremorne, if you knew what faith he has in -you.” - -I laughed and told her I was glad to hear it. - -“Tut, tut!” said the old man. “Don’t stand idly chattering here when -there’s a first-rate supper spread out for you down below. Away you go. -I must have a word with the captain, for we are off to Nagasaki within -ten minutes, so I shall bid you both good-night.” - -I took it very kindly of the old gentleman to leave us thus alone, and -I have no doubt he thought of his own younger days when he did so. I -wickedly pretended a greater weakness than I actually felt, and so Miss -Stretton kindly supported me with her arm, and thus we went down the -stairway together, where, as the old gentleman had said, I found one -of the most delicious cold collations I had ever encountered, flanked -by a bottle of his very finest champagne. I persuaded Miss Stretton to -sit down opposite me, which, after some demur about the lateness of the -hour, she consented to do, for I told her my right arm was absolutely -helpless, and the left almost equally awkward. - -“So,” I said, “you must prove yourself a ministering angel now.” - -“Ah, that,” she said, “is when pain and anguish wring the brow. As I -understand it, pain and anguish wring the arm. Please tell me how it -happened.” - -Under the deft manipulation of the Japanese boy, the champagne cork -came out with a pop, and, as if it were a signal-gun, there immediately -followed the rattle of the anchor-chain coming up, and almost before my -story was begun, we heard the steady throb-throb of the engine, and it -sent a vibration of thankfulness through my aching frame. - -“You do look haggard and worn,” she said; “and I think I must insist on -regarding you rather in the light of a hero.” - -“Oh, there was nothing heroic in flinging cheap cash about in the -reckless way I did. I was never in any real danger.” - -“I think we have all been in danger, more or less, since we entered -those Palace gates. Although I said nothing I could see from your face -what you were thinking.” - -“Yes, I know of old your uncanny proclivities in mind-reading. Now that -every pulsation of the engine is carrying us farther away from that -plague-spot of earth, there is no harm in saying that I spent some -days and nights of deep anxiety, and that, I assure you, not on my own -account.” - -“I quite believe you,” said the young lady, raising her eyes for a -moment, and gazing down on the tablecloth again. Then she looked -brightly up once more, and said archly: - -“I hope it won’t make you conceited, but I walked the deck to-night -with fear tugging at my heart. I don’t think I ever was so glad in my -life as when I saw the flare, as had been arranged, and knew you were -safe. When I heard you talking to Mr. Hemster in the boat, your voice -floated over the water very distinctly, and I think I breathed a little -expression of gratitude.” - -“Hilda,” said I, leaning across the table, “it is very kind of you to -say that.” - -Here, to my annoyance, the Japanese boy came into the saloon, although -I had told him I had no further need for him that night. He approached -us, and said respectfully, and I am sure somewhat unwillingly: - -“Miss Hemster’s compliments, sir, and she wishes you would stop -chattering here all night long, so that people could get to sleep.” - -Miss Stretton sprang to her feet, a crimson flush coming into her face. - -“Thank Miss Hemster for me,” said I to the Japanese, “and inform her -that we will finish our conversation on deck.” - -“No, no!” cried Hilda peremptorily; “it is terribly late, and it is too -bad of me keeping you talking here when you should be resting. I assure -you I did not intend to remain on deck after I had learned of your safe -arrival.” - -“I know that, Hilda. It was when you saw me stagger that, like the -kind-hearted girl you are, you came forward. Now, do come up on deck -with me, if only for five minutes.” - -“No, no,” she repeated in a whisper. - -Forgetting the condition of my arm, I made an effort to encircle -her. She whisked herself silently away, but, hearing the groan that -involuntarily escaped me when the helpless arm struck the table and -sent an electric spasm of pain to my shoulder, she turned rapidly -toward me with pity in her face. Then, springing forward, she raised -her lips to mine for one infinitesimal fraction of a second, and almost -before the rest of that moment of bliss was passed I found myself alone -in the empty saloon. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - - -Late as it was, I went up on deck, and it was lucky for me I did -so, for I met our bluff old captain, who, when he learned of the -disablement of my arm, said genially that he had a Cape Cod liniment -good for man or donkey, and I was welcome to it in either capacity. He -ordered me down to my stateroom, and followed later with the bottle. -His own gnarled hands rubbed the pungent-smelling stuff on my arm, and -he told me I’d be next to all right in the morning, which prophecy came -true. - -I am sorry that in these voyages to and from Corea we met absolutely no -adventures, picked up no shipwrecked crew, and met no cyclone, so I am -unable to write down any of those vivid descriptions that I have always -admired in Mr. Clark Russell. - -Next morning was heavenly in its beauty and its calm. Nagasaki was the -last civilized address which would receive telegrams, letters or papers -for Mr. Hemster, and the old gentleman was anxious to reach there as -soon as possible. As I have remarked before, he was constantly yearning -for a daily paper. The captain informed me that he had engaged a -“heathen Chinee” as pilot, and so was striking direct from Chemulpo to -Nagasaki, letting the islands take care of themselves, as he remarked. - -I walked the deck, watching eagerly for the coming of Hilda Stretton, -but instead there arrived Gertrude Hemster, bright, smiling, and -beautiful. I was just now regretting lack of opportunity to indulge -in Clark-Russellism, yet here was a chance for a descriptive writer -which proved quite beyond my powers. The costume of Miss Hemster was -bewildering in its Parisian completeness. That girl must have had a -storehouse of expensive gowns aboard the yacht. I suppose this was what -a writer in a lady’s paper would call a confection, or a creation, or -something of that sort; but so far as I am concerned you might as well -expect an elucidation of higher mathematics as an adequate delineation -of that sumptuous gown. All I can say is that the _tout ensemble_ -was perfect, and the girl herself was radiant in her loveliness. She -approached me with a winning smile like that of an angel. - -“I want you to know how I appreciate your bravery. I shall never -forget,--no, not if I live to be a thousand years old,--how grand and -noble you looked standing up alone against that horde of savages. I was -just telling Poppa that the very first reporter he meets, he must give -a glowing account to him of your heroism.” - -I have always noted that when Miss Hemster was in extreme good humour -she referred to the old gentleman as Poppa; on other occasions she -called him Father. The project of giving away my adventures to the -newspapers did not in the least commend itself to me. - -“Good-morning, Miss Hemster,” I said, “I am extremely pleased to see -you looking so well after a somewhat arduous day.” - -“It was rather a trying time, wasn’t it?” she replied sweetly, “and -if I look well it’s because of the dress, I think. How do you like -it?” and she stepped back with a sweeping curtesy that would have -done credit to an actress, and took up an attitude that displayed her -drapery to the very best advantage. - -“It is heavenly,” I said; “never in my life have I seen anything to -compare with it,--or with the wearer,” I added. - -“How sweet of you to say that!” she murmured, looking up at me archly, -with a winning, bird-like movement. A glorified bird-of-paradise she -seemed, and there was no denying it. With a touching pathetic note -in her voice she continued,--very humbly, if one might judge,--“You -haven’t been a bit nice to me lately. I have wondered why you were so -unkind.” - -“Believe me, Miss Hemster,” I said, “I have not intended to be unkind, -and I am very sorry if I have appeared so. You must remember we have -been thrown into very trying circumstances, and as I was probably -better acquainted with the conditions than any one of our party I -always endeavoured to give the best advice I could, which sometimes, -alas, ran counter to your own wishes. It seemed to me now and then you -did not quite appreciate the danger which threatened us, and you also -appeared to have a distrust of me, which, I may tell you, was entirely -unfounded.” - -“Of course it was,” she cried contritely, “but nevertheless I always -had the utmost confidence in you, although you see I’m so impulsive -that I always say the first thing that comes into my head, and that -gives people a wrong idea about me. You take everything so seriously -and make no allowances. I think at heart you’re a very hard man.” - -“Oh, I hope not.” - -“Yes, you are. You have numerous little rules, and you measure -everybody by them. I seem to feel that you are mentally sizing me up, -and that makes me say horrid things.” - -“If that is the case, I must try to improve my character.” - -“Oh, I’m not blaming you at all, only telling you the way it strikes -me. Perhaps I’m altogether wrong. Very likely I am, and anyhow I don’t -suppose it does any good to talk of these things. By the way, how is -your arm this morning?” - -“It is all right, thank you. The captain’s liniment has been magical in -its effect. It was very stupid of me to get my arm in such a condition, -and there is less excuse because I used to be a first-rate cricket -bowler; but somehow yesterday I got so interested in the game that I -forgot about my muscles.” - -“Is it true that the Empress has been murdered?” - -“Yes, I had the news from the British Consul, and I have no doubt of -its accuracy.” - -“How perfectly awful to think that only the day before yesterday we saw -her sitting there like a graven image; indeed she scarcely seemed alive -even then. What in the world did they kill the poor woman for?” - -“I do not know,” I replied, although I had strong suspicions regarding -the cause of her fate. The next statement by Miss Hemster astonished -me. - -“Well, it served her right. A woman in that position should assert -herself. She sat there like a Chinese doll that had gone to sleep. If -she had made them stand around they would have had more respect for -her. Any woman owes it to her sex to make the world respect her. Think -of a sleepy creature like that holding the position of Empress, and yet -making less than nothing of it.” - -“You must remember, Miss Hemster, that the status of woman in Corea is -vastly different from her position in the United States.” - -“Well, and whose fault is that? It is the fault of the women. We demand -our rights in the States, and get them. If this creature at Seoul had -been of any use in the world she would have revolutionized the status -of women,--at least within the bounds of her own kingdom.” - -I ventured to remark that Oriental ideas of women were of a low order, -and that, as the women themselves were educated to accept this state of -things, nothing much should be expected of them. - -“Oh, nonsense!” cried Miss Hemster strenuously; “look at the Empress -of China. She makes people stand around. Then there was Catherine of -Russia, and goodness knows Russia’s far enough behind in its ideas! -But Catherine didn’t mind that; she just walked in, and made herself -feared by the whole world. A few more women like that in the Orient -would bring these heathen people to their senses. It serves this Corean -Queen right when you think of the opportunity she had, and the way she -misused it, sitting there like a great lump of dough strung around -with jewels she could not appreciate, like a wax figure in a ten-cent -show. I have no patience with such animals.” - -I thought this judgment of Miss Hemster’s rather harsh, but experience -had taught me not to be rash in expressing my opinion; so we conversed -amicably about many things until the gong rang for luncheon. I must say -that hers was a most attractive personality when she exerted herself to -please. At luncheon she was the life of the party, making the captain -laugh outrageously, and even bringing a smile now and then to her -father’s grave face, although it seemed to me he watched her furtively -under his shaggy eyebrows now and then as if apprehensive that this -mood might not last,--somewhat fearful, I imagine, regarding what might -follow. I could not help noticing that there was a subtle change in -the old gentleman’s attitude toward his daughter, and I fancied that -her exuberant spirits were perhaps forced to the front, to counteract -in a measure this new attitude. I thought I detected now and then a -false note in her hilarity, but perhaps that may have been a delusion -of my imagination, such as it is. After the captain had gone, toward -the end of the meal, her father seemed to be endeavouring silently to -attract her attention; but she rattled on in almost breathless haste, -talking flippantly to Miss Stretton and myself alternately, and never -once looking toward the head of the table. I surmised that there was -something beneath all this with which I was not acquainted, and that -there was going on before me a silent contest of two wills, the latent -determination of the father opposed to the unconcealed stubbornness -of the daughter. I sympathized with the old man, because I was myself -engaged in a mental endeavour to cause Hilda Stretton to look across at -me, but hitherto without success. Not a single glance had I received -during the meal. At last the old gentleman rose, and stood hesitating, -as if he wished to make a plunge; then, finally, he interrupted the -rattle of conversation by saying: - -“Gertrude, I wish to have a few words with you in my office.” - -“All right, Poppa, I’ll be there in a minute,” she replied nonchalantly. - -“I want you to come _now_,” he said, with more sternness in his voice -than I had ever heard there before. For one brief moment I feared we -were going to have a scene, but Miss Gertrude merely laughed joyously -and sprang to her feet, saying, “I’ll race you to the office then,” and -disappeared down the passage aft almost before her sentence was ended. -Mr. Hemster slowly followed her. - -Hilda Stretton half rose, as if to leave me there alone, then sat down -again, and courageously looked me full in the face across the table. - -“He is too late,” she whispered. - -“Too late for what?” I asked. - -“Too late in exerting parental authority.” - -“Is he trying to do that?” - -“Didn’t you see it?” - -“Well, if that was his endeavour, he succeeded.” - -“For the moment, yes. He thinks he’s going to talk to her, but it is -she who will talk to him, and she preferred doing it this time in the -privacy of the room he calls his office. A moment more, and he would -have learned her opinion of him before witnesses. I am very glad it -did not come to that, but the trouble is merely postponed. Poor old -gentleman, I wish I could help him! He does not understand his daughter -in the least. But let us go on deck and have coffee there.” - -“I was just going to propose that,” I cried, delighted, springing to my -feet. We went up the stair together and I placed a little wicker table -well forward, with a wicker chair on each side of it, taking a position -on deck as far from the companion-way as possible, so that we should -not be surprised by any one coming up from below. The Japanese boy -served our coffee, and when he was gone Hilda continued her subject, -speaking very seriously. - -“He does not understand her at all, as I have said. Since she was a -baby she has had her own way in everything, without check or hindrance -from him, and of course no one else dared to check or hinder her. Now -she is more than twenty-one years of age, and if he imagines that -discipline can be enforced at this late hour he is very much mistaken.” - -“Is he trying to enforce discipline?” - -“Yes, he is. He has foolishly made up his mind that it will be -for the girl’s good. That, of course, is all he thinks of,--dear, -generous-hearted man that he is! But if he goes on there will be a -tragedy, and I want you to warn him.” - -“I dare not interfere, Hilda.” - -“Why not? Haven’t you a very great liking for him?” - -“Yes, I have. I would do almost anything in the world for him.” - -“Then do what I tell you.” - -“What is it?” - -“See him privately in his office, and tell him to leave his daughter -alone. Warn him that if he does not there will be a tragedy.” - -“Tell me exactly what you mean.” - -“She will commit suicide.” - -This statement, solemnly given, seemed to me so utterly absurd that it -relieved the tension which was creeping into the occasion. I leaned -back in my chair and laughed until I saw a look of pained surprise come -into Hilda’s face, which instantly sobered me. - -“Really, Hilda, you are the very best girl in the world, yet it is you -who do not understand that young woman. She is too thoroughly selfish -to commit suicide, or to do anything else to her own injury.” - -“Suicide,” said Hilda gravely, “is not always a matter of calculation, -but often the act of a moment of frenzy,--at least so it will be in -Gertrude Hemster’s case if her father now attempts to draw tight the -reins of authority. He will madden her, and you have no conception of -the depth of bitterness that is in her nature. If it occurs to her in -her next extravagant tantrum that by killing herself she will break -her father’s heart, which undoubtedly would be the case, she is quite -capable of plunging into the sea, or sending a revolver bullet through -her head. I have been convinced of this for some time past, but I -never thought her father would be so ill-advised as to change the -drifting line of conduct he has always held in regard to her.” - -“My dear Hilda, you are not consistent. Do you remember an occasion, -which to tell the truth I am loth to recall, when you said if her -father treated her as I had done her character would be much more -amiable than it now appears to be?” - -“I don’t think I said that, Mr. Tremorne. I may have hinted that if her -father had taken a more strenuous attitude in the past, he would not -have such a difficult task before him in the present, or I may have -said that a husband might tame the shrew. The latter, I believe, would -lead to either a reformation or the divorce court, I don’t quite know -which. Or perhaps even then there might be a tragedy; but it would be -the husband who would suffer, not herself. A man she married might -control her. It would really be an interesting experiment, and no one -can predict whether it would turn out well or ill; but her father -cannot control her because all these years of affectionate neglect are -behind him, years in which he was absorbed in business, leaving the -forming of her character to hirelings, thinking that because he paid -them well they would do their duty, whereas the high salary merely made -them anxious to retain their positions at any cost of flattery and -indulgence to their pupil.” - -“Then, Hilda, why don’t you speak to him about it? You have known -him for more years than I have days, and I am sure he would take it -kindlier from you than from me.” - -“To tell you the truth, I have spoken to him. I spoke to him last night -when we were both waiting for that flare from the shore at Chemulpo. -I could not tell whether my talk had any effect or not, for he said -nothing, beyond thanking me for my advice. I see to-day that it has had -no effect. So now I beg you to try.” - -“But if you failed, how could I hope to succeed?” - -“I’ll tell you why. In the first place because you are the cause of -this change of attitude on the part of Mr. Hemster.” - -“I the cause?” - -“Certainly. He has undoubtedly a great liking for you, in spite of the -fact that he has known you so short a time. In some unexplainable way -he has come to look at his daughter through your eyes, and I think he -is startled at the vision he has seen. But he does not take sufficient -account of the fact that he is not dealing now with a little girl, but -with a grown woman. I noticed the gradual change in his manner during -our stay at the Palace, and it became much more marked on the way back -to Chemulpo, after we had left you alone battling with the savages -of Seoul. You have said you were in no real danger, but Mr. Hemster -did not think so, and he seemed greatly impressed by the fact that -a comparative stranger should cheerfully insist on jeopardizing his -life for the safety of our party, and to my deep anxiety his demeanour -toward his daughter was at first severe and then harsh, for he roundly -accused her of being the cause of our difficulties. I shall pass over -the storm that ensued, merely saying that it took our whole force to -prevent Miss Hemster from returning to Seoul.” - -[Illustration: “Yes, Hilda,” said I, “but not the soul of kissing.” - - _Page 192_ -] - -“Great Heavens!” I exclaimed, “surely that was mere pretence on her -part; sheer bravado.” - -“Not altogether. It was grim determination to do the thing that would -immediately hurt her father, and I do not know what would have happened -if she had escaped from us. It had the instant effect of subduing him, -bringing him practically to his knees before her. So she sulked all the -way to Chemulpo, and I expected that the brief assumption of authority -had ended; but while we were rowing out to the yacht he spoke very -sharply to her, and I saw with regret that his determination was at -least equal to hers. Therefore I spoke to him after she had gone to her -room, and he said very little one way or the other. Now he appears to -think that as he has got her safely on his yacht once more he can bend -her to his will, and I am terrified at the outlook.” - -“Well, it doesn’t look enticing, does it?” - -“No, it doesn’t, so won’t you please talk with him for his own sake?” - -“I’d rather face the Emperor of Corea again, or his amiable subjects in -mass meeting assembled, but I’ll do it for your sake. Oh, yes, and for -his sake, too; I would do anything I could to make matters easy for Mr. -Hemster.” - -“Thank you so much,” said the girl simply, leaning back in her chair -with a sigh of contentment. “Now let us talk of something else.” - -“With all my heart, Hilda. I’ve been wanting to talk of something -else ever since your very abrupt departure last night. Now am I -over-confident in taking your last brief action there as equivalent to -the monosyllable ‘Yes’?” - -The girl laughed and coloured, visibly embarrassed. She darted a quick -glance at me, then veiled her eyes again. - -“The brief action, as you call it, seems rather impulsive now in -the glare of daylight, and was equivalent to much more than the -monosyllable ‘Yes’. Three times as much. It was equivalent to the -trisyllable ‘Sympathy.’ I was merely expressing sympathy.” - -“Was that all?” - -“Wasn’t that more than enough? I have thought since, with shame, that -my action was just a trifle over-bold, and I fear you are of the same -opinion, although too kind-hearted to show it.” - -“My whole thought was a protest against its brevity.” - -“But brevity is the soul of wit, you know.” - -“Yes, Hilda,” said I, leaning forward toward her, “but not the soul -of kissing. If my right arm had not temporarily lost its power you -had never escaped with the celerity you did. ‘Man wants but little -here below,’ and I want that little monosyllable rather than the large -trisyllable. Make me for ever happy by saying you meant it.” - -“For ever is a long time,” she answered dreamily, her eyes partially -closed. - -“_Miss Stretton, will you oblige me by going downstairs; I wish to talk -to Mr. Tremorne._” - -The words, sharp and decisive, cut like a knife, and, starting to -my feet in amazement, I saw that Gertrude Hemster stood before us, -her brow a thundercloud. Turning from her beautiful but forbidding -countenance to see the effect of her peremptory sentence upon my dear -companion, I found the chair empty, and the space around me vacant as -if she had vanished into invisibility through the malign incantation of -a sorceress. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - - -“Will you be seated, Miss Hemster?” I said with such calmness as I -could bring to my command. - -“No, I won’t,” she snapped, like the click of a rifle. - -I don’t know why it is that this girl always called forth hitherto -unsuspected discourtesy which I regret to admit seems to lie very deep -in my nature. I was bitterly angry at her rude dismissal of Hilda -Stretton. - -“Oh, very well; stand then!” I retorted with inexcusable lack of -chivalry, and, that my culpability should be complete, immediately -slammed myself emphatically down into the chair from which I had just -risen. As I came down with a thump that made the wicker chair groan in -protest, the look the lady bestowed upon me must have resembled that of -the Medusa which turned people into stone. - -“Well, you _are_ polite, I must say,” she exclaimed, with a malicious -swish of her skirts as she walked to and fro before me. - -“You so monopolize all politeness on board this yacht,” was my -unmannerly rejoinder, “that there is none of it left for the rest of -us.” - -She stopped in her rapid walk and faced me. - -“You’re a brute,” she said deliberately. - -“You expressed that opinion before. Why not try something original?” - -“Do you think that is a gentlemanly remark to make?” she asked. - -“No, I don’t. Some years of vagabondage coupled with more recent events -have destroyed all claim I ever possessed to being a gentleman.” - -“You admit, then, you are the scum of the earth.” - -“Oh, certainly.” - -Suddenly she flounced herself down in the chair Hilda had occupied, and -stared at me for a few moments. Then she said in a voice much modified: - -“What were you and Miss Stretton discussing so earnestly when I came -up?” - -“Didn’t you hear?” - -“No. I am no eavesdropper, but I know you were talking of me.” - -“Ah, then you didn’t hear.” - -“I told you I didn’t, but I tell you what I suspect.” - -“Then your suspicions are entirely unfounded, Miss Hemster.” - -“I don’t believe it, but I’ll say this for you; however much of a beast -you may be, you are rather unhandy at a lie; so if you wish to convince -me that you are speaking the truth, you must tell me, without taking -time to consider, what you were talking about if you were not talking -of me.” - -All this was uttered at lightning speed. - -“I need no time for consideration to answer that question. We were -talking of ourselves.” - -“What were you saying? Come now, out with it if you dare. I can see by -your face you are trying to make up something.” - -“Really, you underestimate my courage, Miss Hemster. I was asking Hilda -Stretton to do me the honour of marrying me, and she was about to reply -when you cut short a conference so absorbing that we had not noticed -your approach.” - -This explanation seemed to be so unexpected that for a moment the young -woman sat breathless and expressionless. Then she gradually sank back -in her chair with closed eyes, all colour leaving her face. - -Now, I am well aware of the effect the words just written will have on -the mind of the indulgent reader. She will think I’m trying to hint -that the girl, despite her actions, was in love with me. I beg to state -that I am no such conceited ass as the above paragraph would imply. My -wife has always held that Gertrude Hemster _was_ in love with me, but -that is merely the prejudiced view of an affectionate woman, and I have -ever strenuously combated it. The character of Gertrude Hemster has for -long been a puzzle to me, and I can hardly expect the credence of the -reader when I say that I have toned down her words and actions rather -than exaggerated them. But my own theory of the case is this: Miss -Hemster had an inordinate love of conquest and power. I think I should -have got along better with her if I had proposed to her and taken my -rejection in a broken and contrite spirit. That she would have rejected -me, I am as positive as that I breathe. I am equally certain that, -while she would have scorned to acknowledge me as a favoured lover, -she was nevertheless humiliated to know that I had given preference -to one upon whom she rather looked down,--one whom she regarded as a -recipient of her own bounty,--and the moment I made my confession I was -sorry I had done so, for Hilda’s sake. - -It has also been hinted,--I shall not say by whom,--that I was on a -fair way of being in love with Gertrude Hemster if everything had -progressed favourably. I need hardly point out to the reader the utter -erroneousness of this surmise. I do not deny that during the first -day of our acquaintance I was greatly attracted by her, or perhaps I -should say wonderfully interested in her. I had never met any one just -like her before, nor have I since for that matter. But that I was even -on the verge of being in love with her I emphatically deny. I have no -hesitation in confessing that she was the most beautiful woman I have -ever seen, when it pleased her to be gracious. She would certainly have -made a superb actress if Fortune had cast her rôle upon the stage. But, -as I have said, I never understood this woman, or comprehended her -lightning changes of character. I do not know to this day whether she -was merely a shallow vixen or a creature of deep though uncontrolled -passion. I therefore content myself with setting down here, as -accurately as possible, what happened on the various occasions of which -I speak, so that each reader may draw her own conclusions, if indeed -there are any conclusions to be drawn, and I do this as truthfully as -may be, at the risk of some misunderstanding of my own position, as in -the present instance. - -The silence which followed my announcement was at last broken by a -light sarcastic laugh. - -“Really, Mr. Tremorne,” she said, “it is not very flattering to me to -suppose that I am interested in the love affairs of the servants’ hall.” - -I bowed my acknowledgment of this thrust. - -“My statement, Miss Hemster, was not made for your entertainment, or -with any hope that it would engage your attention, but merely as an -answer to your direct question.” - -“So two penniless paupers are going to unite their fortunes!” - -“Penniless, only relatively so; paupers, no.” - -“Nothing added to nothing makes how much, Mr. Tremorne?” - -“Madam, I am an Oxford man.” - -“What has that to do with it?” - -“Much. Cambridge is the mathematical university. I never was good at -figures.” - -“Perhaps that’s why you threw away your money.” - -“Perhaps. Still, the money I threw away yesterday belonged to your -father.” - -“Is that to remind me of the debt I am supposed to owe you?” - -“You owe me nothing. If anybody owes me anything I am certain Mr. -Hemster will discharge the debt with his usual generosity.” - -“Oh, you are counting on that, are you?” - -“We have Biblical assurance, Miss Hemster, of the fact that the -labourer is worthy of his hire. My hire is all I expect, and all I -shall accept.” - -“Well, it is my hope that your term of employment will be as short as -possible; therefore I ask you to resign your position as soon as we -reach Nagasaki. Your presence on this ship is odious to me.” - -“I am sorry for that.” - -“Then you won’t resign?” - -“I say that I am sorry my presence on this ship is odious to you.” - -“You can at once solve the problem by resigning, as I have suggested.” - -“I dispute your right to make suggestions to me. If you want me to -leave the yacht, ask your father to discharge me.” - -“There is always a certain humiliation in abrupt dismissal. If you do -not go voluntarily, and without telling my father that I have asked you -to resign, I shall put Hilda Stretton ashore at Nagasaki with money -enough to pay her passage home.” - -“How generous of you! First-class or steerage?” - -Her face became a flame of fire, and she clenched her hands till the -nails bit the pink palms. - -“You sneaking reptile!” she cried, her voice trembling with anger; “you -backbiting, underhand beast! What lies have you dared tell my father -about me?” - -“You are under some strange misapprehension, Miss Hemster,” I replied, -with a coolness which earned my mental approbation, fervently hoping -at the same time that I might continue to maintain control over my -deplorable temper; “you have jumped at a conclusion not borne out by -fact. I assure you I have never discussed you with your father, and -should not venture to do so.” - -I remembered the moment I had spoken that I had just promised another -lady to do that very thing. What everybody says must be true when they -state that my thoughts are awkward and ungainly, rarely coming up to -the starting-point until too late. I fear this tardy recollection -brought the colour to my face, for the angry eyes of the girl were upon -me, and she evidently misread this untimely flushing. She leaned across -the little wicker table and said in a calm, unruffled voice, marked -with the bitterness of hate: - -“You are a liar.” - -I rose to my feet with the intention of leaving her, but she sprang up -with a nimbleness superior to my own, and before I was aware of what -she was about she thrust her two hands against my breast and plumped -me unexpectedly down into my chair again. It was a ludicrous and -humiliating situation, but I was too angry to laugh about it. Standing -over me, she hissed down at me: - -“You heard what I said.” - -“Perfectly, and I am resolved that there shall be no further -communication between us.” - -“Oh, are you? Well, you’ll listen to what I have to say, or I’ll add -‘coward’ to ‘liar.’ Either you or Hilda Stretton has been poisoning my -father’s mind against me. Which was it?” - -“It was I, of course.” - -“Then you admit you are a liar?” - -“‘All men are liars,’ said the Psalmist, so why should I be an -exception?” - -“You are very good at quoting the Bible, aren’t you? Why don’t you live -up to it?” - -“I should be the better man if I did.” - -“Will you resign at Nagasaki, then?” - -“I shall do exactly what your father orders me to do.” - -“That is precisely the answer I should have expected from a -mud-wallower who came to us from the gutter.” - -“You are mistaken. I lived up on a hill.” - -“Well, I give you warning, that if you don’t leave this yacht you will -regret it.” - -“I shall probably regret the tender memories of your conversation, Miss -Hemster; but if you think to frighten me I beg to point out that it -is really yourself who is in danger, as you might know if experience -taught the class of persons it is said to teach. You have called me a -brute and a beast and all the rest of it, and have partly persuaded -me that you are right. Now the danger to you lies in the fact that -you will go just a step too far on one of these occasions, and then I -shall pick you up and throw you overboard. Now allow me to say that you -have about reached the limit, likewise to inform you that I shall not -resign.” - -I now arose, confronting her, and flung the wicker chair to the other -side of the deck. Then, taking off my hat, I left her standing there. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - - -I am tired of my own shortcomings, and I have no doubt the reader is -also, if she has read this far. I shall therefore make no attempt to -excuse my language toward Gertrude Hemster. The heated conversation -in which we indulged had, however, one effect upon my future course. -I resolved not to say a word to her father against his treatment of -her. Whatever the old gentleman had said to her, it could not have -been cruder or ruder than the language which I had myself employed. -Therefore I felt it would be ludicrous for me to act the part of censor -or adviser. I had shown my own unfitness for either of those rôles. -Besides this, I had been convinced that Hilda Stretton was entirely -mistaken in thinking that the young woman would commit suicide or do -any injury to herself. My summing up of her character led me to the -belief that although she would be quite willing to inflict pain upon -others, she would take good care not to act to her own discomfort. -Seizing the first opportunity that presented itself, I told Miss -Stretton my determination, and, while she did not agree with me, she -made no effort to induce me to forego my resolution. - -The bustle pertaining to our safe arrival at Nagasaki drove all other -subjects from my mind, and I was inclined to think that my recent -troubles and quarrels arose through the well-known activity of -Satan to provide employment for idle hands. We were now busy enough. -There had accumulated at Nagasaki a mass of letters and a bundle of -cablegrams for Mr. Hemster which required his immediate attention, -and in his disposal of these messages I caught a glimpse of the great -business man he really was. However lax he might have proved in his -conduct toward his only daughter, he showed himself a very Napoleon -in the way he faced the problems presented to him, settling momentous -affairs thousands of miles away by the dispatch of a code word or two. - -In all this, so far as my abilities permitted, I was his humble -assistant, and I found myself filled with admiration and astonishment -at his powers of concentration and the brilliancy of his methods. The -little naphtha launch was kept running backward and forward between the -yacht and the telegraph office, and during the long day that followed -our arrival at Nagasaki that roll-top desk was a centre of commercial -activity vastly different in its efficiency from the lazy routine to -which I had been accustomed in the diplomatic service. My own nervous -tension kept me going until the long day had passed, and the time -seemed as but a few minutes. At the end I was as tired as if I had -spent twelve hours continuously on the football field, and for the -first time in my life I realized how men are burnt up in their pursuit -of the mighty dollar. My natural inclination was to doubt whether -the game was worth the candle, but during the progress of the game -there was no question, for it held on the alert every faculty a man -possessed, and I could well believe that it might exert a fascination -that indulgence in mere gambling could never equal. - -Silas K. Hemster himself was like a man transformed; the eyes which I -had hitherto considered dull and uninteresting became aglow with the -excitement of battle. His face was keen, stern, and relentless; I saw -he was an enemy who gave no quarter and expected none. His orders to -me were sharp and decisive, and I no more thought of questioning them -than of offering unsought advice regarding them. He was like an exiled -monarch come again to his throne; for the first time in our brief -acquaintance I had seen the real Hemster, and the sight had given me a -feeling of my own inane inadequacy in the scheme of things here below. -When at last the day was done, his face relaxed, and he leaned back in -his swivel chair, regarding me with eyes that had taken on their old -kindliness. He seemed enlivened rather than exhausted by the contest, -as if he had taken a sip of the elixir of youth. - -“Well, my boy,” he said, “you’re tired out. You look as if you had been -running a race.” - -“That is exactly what I’ve been doing, sir.” - -The old gentleman laughed. - -“Let’s see,” he mused ruminatingly, “did we have lunch or not?” - -“You consumed a sandwich which I placed on your desk, Mr. Hemster, and -I bolted another during one of my rushes for the dispatch-boat.” - -Again he laughed. - -“I had forgotten,” he said, “but we will enjoy our dinner all the more -when we sit down to it. Confess that you’re used up.” - -“Well, sir, I don’t feel just as active as I did in the morning.” - -The old gentleman shook his head with a slow motion that had something -of pity in it. - -“You English have no aptitude for business. It shows the decadent state -of Europe that Britain has held supremacy on that continent for so -long.” - -“I should be sorry, sir, if you took me for a typical example of the -English business man. I doubt if in any respect I am a credit to my -country, still I am not such an idiot as to suppose I shine as a man -of affairs. My training has been against me, even if I had any natural -aptitude for commerce, which I doubt. Still, we are supposed to possess -some creditable captains of industry on our little island.” - -“Supposed! That’s just it, and the supposition holds good until they -are up against something better. Now, if you were in Chicago, and you -wished me to join you in a deal while I was cruising on the coast of -Japan, what would you do?” - -“I should write you a letter explaining the project I had to put before -you.” - -“Quite so. You wouldn’t go to the expense of cabling the whole thing, -would you?” - -“If the scheme was important enough I might go to that cost.” - -The old gentleman held in his hand two or three cable messages which I -had not seen, also a letter or two. - -“Now, here is a man,” he said, “who has hit upon a plan I have often -thought of myself. He has, he tells me, made a combination which -possesses considerable strength, but in order to be impregnable he -needs my co-operation. He cables the points very concisely, and puts -his case with a good deal of power; but that cablegram is merely an -advance agent for himself, expensive as it is. His object is to hold me -at Yokohama until he can arrive. He actually crosses the continent to -San Francisco, and takes the first steamer for Japan. I received his -cablegram at Yokohama, but did not wait for him. I sent off a word or -two myself to Chicago, asking confidential information which I have now -received. Just before we left for Corea I got a telegram from this man -in Yokohama, asking me to wait for him at Nagasaki, which I did not do, -because I wished to impress on the energetic individual that I was not -anxious to fall in with his plan, and I knew that, having come so far, -he would not return without seeing me. Meanwhile I determined to find -out whether his combination is as strong as he said it was, and this -information is now in my possession. Also, I wished on my own account -to make a combine so formidable that whether I gave my adherence to -the one or the other my weight would tip the beam in favour of the one -I joined. This combination also has been completed, and I hold the -balance, of course. Our friend who has come over from Japan probably -does not know that there is any opposition to his scheme, and no one in -the world except yourself and myself and a man in Chicago knows I have -anything to do with the other combine. You see I am just yachting for -pleasure and for health, and am reluctant to touch business at all. -At least, that is the information which I intend to be imparted to -our friend, who is now impatiently awaiting me at the Nagasaki Hotel. -You might think that I should invite him to come aboard my yacht and -talk the matter over, or that I should go ashore and visit him, which -he asks me to do; but I shall do neither. You see I want Mr. John -C. Cammerford to realize that he is not nearly so important in the -commercial affairs of America as he supposes himself to be.” - -“John C. Cammerford!” I cried in amazement. “I think I have met him in -New York, though it may not be the same man.” - -“Well, the name is not a common one, and if you know him, all the -better. I now instruct you to call on him first thing to-morrow -morning. You will notice that I have trusted you fully in this matter -by giving you information which must not leak through to Cammerford. -You will tell him, however, that his combination is not the only one in -the United States, and if I’m to join his he must prove to me that it -is stronger than the opposition. He must give you a list of the firms -he has combined, and he will have to show you the original documents -pertaining to the options he has received. I want to know how long his -options last. They will probably have at least six months’ life, or he -could never have taken this journey to see me. If he satisfies you that -his combination is genuine, and that his options have still several -months to run, then I shall consent to meet him. If he cannot do -this, or if he refuses to do it, I shall send a few cables which will -certainly upset his apple-cart before he reaches San Francisco. You -will not promise anything on my behalf, and I should have no objection -if he imagines that my lack of eagerness in meeting him is caused by -the fact that the other combination appears to me the stronger.” - -“Would you mind my sending to him your card instead of my own? He might -possibly refuse to meet me if I sent in the name of Tremorne.” - -“That’s all right. Use my card if you wish. The main point is that you -get as much information as possible, and give as little in return as -may be. There’s the dinner gong, and I’m quite ready to meet whatever’s -on the table. Come along.” - -Next morning after breakfast I went ashore, and, arriving at the -Nagasaki Hotel, sent up Mr. Hemster’s card to Mr. John C. Cammerford, -and was promptly admitted to his presence. He occupied what I took to -be the finest suite of rooms in the hotel, and had a large table placed -near the principal window of his sitting-room, so that his back was to -the light, which shone full on the face of any visitor who called upon -him. It was quite evident to me that Mr. Cammerford hoped to impress -Silas K. Hemster with the fact that he was carrying on great affairs -right here in Japan similar to those that occupied his attention in -Chicago. The table was littered with papers, and Cammerford sat busily -writing as if every moment was of importance. All his plans for the -impression of a visitor fell to pieces like a house of cards when the -astonished man saw who was approaching him. He sprang to his feet with -a cry of dismay and backed toward the window. From his position I could -not very well read the expression on his face, but it seemed to be one -of fear. - -“I’m expecting another man,” he cried, “you have no right here. Get -out.” - -“I beg your pardon, Mr. Cammerford, I have a right here, and I have -come to talk business.” - -“What are you following me for? Why are you here?” he cried. - -“I am here as the representative of Silas K. Hemster, of Chicago, and -with his permission I sent up his card to you.” - -Gradually his self-possession returned to him, but he took care to keep -the table between himself and me. He indulged in a little cynical laugh. - -“You took me by surprise, Mr. Tremorne. I--I thought perhaps you -intended trying to collect--a--a little account of your own.” - -“No, I came entirely on Mr. Hemster’s behalf. Have I your permission to -be seated?” - -“Certainly. Sit down, sit down,” and, saying this with an effort at -bluff geniality, he placed himself in the chair he had so abruptly -vacated. - -“I thought, as I said before,” he added, with another uneasy laugh, -“that you had some notion of collecting a little money from me. The -last time we met you held a very mistaken view of the business matter -in which we had been associated. I assure you now--you wouldn’t listen -then--that everything done was strictly legal, and no one was more -sorry than I that the deal did not prove as successful as we had both -hoped.” - -“You cover me with confusion, Mr. Cammerford. I have no remembrance -that I ever disputed the legality of the transaction, and I deeply -regret that I seem to have permitted myself at the time to use harsh -language which you are quite justified in deploring. If it is any -comfort to you, I beg to assure you that I look upon the half-million -dollars as irretrievably lost, and at this hour yesterday had no more -idea you were in Japan than you had that I was, if you did me the -honour to think of me.” - -Cammerford gazed doubtfully across the table at me, as if he feared -there was something sinister behind all this show of submission. - -“It was you, then, who sent up Mr. Hemster’s card?” - -“Yes. He asked me to see you.” - -“Why couldn’t he come himself? Is he ill?” - -“No, he never was in better health,” I answered; “but he is exceedingly -busy. I am by way of being his confidential man, and if you can prove -to me that the claims you have made are real, I shall have much -pleasure in arranging an interview between you.” - -“Oh, that’s how the land lies, is it? What do you know of my proposals -to Mr. Hemster?” - -“I have read all your letters and telegrams relating to the matter this -morning; in fact, I have them in my pocket now.” - -“Mr. Hemster seems to repose great trust in you. That is rather -unusual with him. I suppose you have some document to prove that you -are empowered to deal?” - -“As a matter of fact I am not empowered to deal. I am merely the _avant -coureur_ of Mr. Hemster. I sent you up his card, and here are your own -letters, telegrams, and cablegrams. I was told to inform you that since -you have left America another combination which Mr. Hemster considers -nearly if not quite as strong as your own has been put through, and -Mr. Hemster has been invited to join. He is well acquainted with the -person who has effected the second combination, but, as you have just -intimated, Mr. Hemster is not a man to allow personal considerations -to deflect him from the strict business path. If you can show that -your combination is the stronger, I can guarantee that you will have -opportunity of speaking with Mr. Hemster. If not, he sails away -to-morrow in his yacht, and deprives himself of the pleasure of meeting -you, as you happen to be an entire stranger to him.” - -“How am I to show him all this if he refuses to see me?” - -“You are to convince me of two things by exhibiting the original -documents: first, that these firms mentioned in your letters have given -you options; and second, the length of the options,--the date on which -they expire, in fact.” - -“And if I refuse?” said Cammerford, seemingly puzzled and displeased at -the trend of our conversation. - -I rose to my feet and bowed to him. - -“If you refuse,” I said, “that ends my mission. Good-morning to you.” - -“Wait a bit, wait a bit,” cried Cammerford, “sit down, Mr. Tremorne. -This requires a little thought. Please don’t go; just sit down for a -moment. I don’t see how Mr. Hemster can expect me to show my whole hand -to one who, begging your pardon, is a comparative stranger, and one who -will have nothing to do with our transaction. Secrecy is the very soul -of such a deal as I am trying to put through. What guarantee have I -that you will not cable to New York or Chicago full particulars of what -I am asked to tell you.” - -“None whatever, Mr. Cammerford.” - -“Well, that’s not business.” - -“Quite so. Then I shall report your opinion to Mr. Hemster.” - -“What’s his object? Why doesn’t he come and see me himself?” - -“I think I may go so far as to say that he wishes to know whether or -not it is worth his while to meet you. You see, Mr. Cammerford, you -are a stranger to him. He was good enough to hint that if I reported -favourably on your scheme, he would wait over a day or two and go into -the matter with you. As I have said, he is exceedingly busy. I left him -immersed in letters and cablegrams, and all day yesterday we were over -head and ears in matters of rather large importance. If you had been -his Chicago acquaintance who formed the other combine, I imagine he -would have seen you; as it is, he has sent me.” - -“Well, now, look here, Tremorne,” cried Cammerford, with a fine -assumption of honest bluffness, “let us talk as man to man. We’re not -school-boys or sentimental girls. You know as well as I do that there -is not one chance in ten million for my seeing old Hemster if the -choice in the matter lies with you. You are exceedingly polite, and -speak as sweetly as molasses, but I wasn’t born yesterday, and am not -such a darned fool as to suppose you are going to put in a good word -for me.” - -“You are quite right, Mr. Cammerford; I shall put in no good word for -you that I can possibly keep out. Nevertheless I shall report fairly to -Mr. Hemster exactly what you place before me.” - -“Oh, that’s all guff. You’ll knife me because you’ve got the chance to -do it. I quite admit it will be done with smooth talk, but it will be -effective nevertheless.” - -“If you believe that, Mr. Cammerford, I shall make no endeavour to -convince you of the contrary. You will act, of course, as best serves -your own interest. Personally I do not care a halfpenny whether the -great beef combine is formed in the interest of the dear public, or -goes to smash through the non-agreement of its promoters. I fancy you -cannot float such a trust and leave Mr. Hemster out, but you know more -about that than I. Now it’s your next move. What are you going to do?” - -Cammerford leaned across the table, showing me his crafty eyes -narrowing as he seemed trying to find out what my game really was. -I knew exactly where his error lay in dealing with me. He could not -believe that I was honestly trying to serve my employer, and so he -was bound to go wrong in any assumption formed by taking such false -premises for granted. - -“See here, Tremorne, I’m going to talk straight business to you. -Whatever may be our pretences, we are none of us engaged in this for -our health; we want to make money. I want to make money; Hemster wants -to make money; don’t _you_ want to make money?” - -“Certainly,” I replied, “that’s what I’m here for.” - -“Now you’re shouting,” exclaimed Cammerford, an expression of great -relief coming into his face. He thought that at last he had reached -firm ground. “I confess, then,” he went on, “that it is supremely -important I should meet Hemster, and he should be favourably disposed -toward me. It is not likely I should have taken a journey clear from -New York to Nagasaki if there wasn’t a good deal at stake. You see, -I’m perfectly frank with you. You’ve got the drop on me. Just now my -hands are right up toward the ceiling, and I’m willing to do the square -thing. Did you know whom you were going to meet when you left the -yacht?” - -“Yes, I did.” - -“Mr. Hemster mentioned my name to you?” - -“Yes, he did.” - -“Did you tell him anything of our former dealings?” - -“No, I did not.” - -“He does know you lost half a million in the States a while since?” - -“Oh, yes, he knows that, but he doesn’t know you’re the man who got it.” - -“Hang it all, Tremorne; don’t put it that way. I’m not the man who got -it; I lost money as well as you did.” - -“Oh, I beg your pardon; I thought we were talking frankly and honestly -to each other. Well, be that as it may, Mr. Hemster knows I lost the -money, but he doesn’t know you’re the man who was so unfortunate as to -be in the business with me.” - -“Well now, Tremorne, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. You say nothing of -this former company of ours, and if you will report favourably on what -I have to tell you so that old Hemster will come and see me, or allow -me to go to him, I’ll give you two hundred thousand dollars cash as -soon as our deal is completed.” - -“I refuse it.” - -“You don’t trust me?” - -“No, I do not, but I refuse it nevertheless. I should refuse it if you -offered me the money here and now.” - -Cammerford leaned back in his chair. - -“You want to go the whole hog?” - -“I don’t know what you mean,” said I. - -“You want the whole five hundred thousand or nothing. Well, I tell you -at once I can’t afford to give that much. I’ll raise fifty thousand -dollars, and make the total amount two hundred and fifty; but I can’t -go a cent more, and there is no use trying to bluff me.” - -“I am not trying to bluff you, Mr. Cammerford. I should refuse the -bribe if you made it five hundred thousand.” - -“Oh, it’s not a bribe at all, it’s--well, whatever you like to call it. -Restitution if you prefer to put it that way.” - -“It doesn’t matter what it is called, I have come for the purpose of -hearing what you have to say regarding the great beef combine. If you -have nothing to say I shall leave, because, as I told you, Mr. Hemster -has a good deal of work on his hands, and I’m trying to help him.” - -“Well,” said Cammerford, in a hopeless tone of voice, “you are the -darndest fool I ever met in my life.” - -“You are not the first person who has said as much, Mr. Cammerford, -although not in precisely the same language. Now, for the last time, -give me a list of the names of those who are behind you.” - -“I’ll do that if you will promise me not to say anything to old Hemster -about our former relations.” - -“I regret that I cannot make you any such promise, Mr. Cammerford. -It is my duty to lay before Mr. Hemster everything you place before -me, and it is also my duty to warn him that I consider you as big a -scoundrel as you consider me a fool.” - -“That’s plain talk,” said Cammerford, scowling. - -“I intend it to be. Now, without further loss of time, let me see your -documents.” - -For some minutes Cammerford maintained silence, a heavy frown on his -brow, and his eyes fixed on the carpet beneath the table. At last he -muttered, “Well, I’m damned!”--and, taking a bundle of papers from -before him, he slipped off the elastic band, picked out one after -another which he perused with care, then handed them across the table -to me, watching me very narrowly as he did so. I took the papers one by -one and read them over, making a note with my pencil now and then in my -pocket-book. They proved to be exactly what he had said they were in -his letter to Mr. Hemster. I pushed them back toward him again, saying: - -“I see by some of these documents that the option is for six months, -but others make no mention of the time. Why is that?” - -“Because we have bought the businesses and the options are ours for -ever.” - -“Have you anything to prove that?” - -Without further reply he selected several other papers and presented -them to me. These also were satisfactory. - -“I shall report to Mr. Hemster that your position appears to be quite -as strong as you stated it to be, and so I wish you good-morning, Mr. -Cammerford.” - -“Hold your horses a minute,” he cried, seeing me about to arise. “As -you have asked me a whole lot of questions, I’d like you to answer a -few of mine. Who’s in this other combine?” - -“I know nothing of it, except that it is in existence.” - -“Do you imagine it’s a bluff?” - -“I tell you I don’t know. I should think Mr. Hemster is not a man to -engage in bluff.” - -“Oh, isn’t he? That shows how little you know of him. Have you been -with him ever since he left Chicago?” - -“No.” - -“How long have you been in his employ?” - -“That is a private matter, Mr. Cammerford, which concerns no one but -myself and Mr. Hemster. Besides, to tell you the truth, I came here to -receive information, not to impart it; so it is useless to question me -further.” - -“Oh, one more won’t do any harm,” said Cammerford, rising when I had -risen; “do you think old Hemster will consent to see me?” - -“I am almost certain that he will.” - -“Through your recommendation, eh?” - -“No, I shall strongly advise him not to see you.” - -“Well, I’m damned if I understand your game. It’s either too deep or -too mighty shallow for me.” - -“It doesn’t occur to you, Mr. Cammerford, that there’s no game at all, -and therefore there can be neither depth nor shallowness. You are -troubling your mind about what does not exist.” - -“Then I am forced to take refuge in my former assumption, not at all a -flattering one, which is that you’re a fool.” - -“I think that’s the safest position to assume, Mr. Cammerford; so, -finally, good-bye.” - -I left the man standing at the head of the stairs, his hands on the -banister, gazing after me with an expression of great discontent. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - - -When I arrived at the landing I saw the little naphtha launch making a -trip from the yacht to the shore. As it swung to the steps I noticed -that Gertrude Hemster was aboard with her new companion, a Japanese -lady, said to be of extremely high rank, whom the girl had engaged on -the first day of our arrival at Nagasaki, when her father was so deeply -immersed in business. The old gentleman told me later that his daughter -had taken an unfortunate dislike to Miss Stretton, and had very rapidly -engaged this person, who, it was, alleged, could speak Chinese, -Japanese, Corean, and pidgin English. - -In spite of what her father had said, I thought the engaging of this -woman with so many lingual advantages was rather a stroke aimed at -myself than an action deposing Hilda Stretton. I suppose Miss Hemster -thought to give proof that I was no longer necessary as interpreter -on board the yacht. I doubted the accomplishments of the Japanese -high dame, thinking it impossible to select such a treasure on such -short notice, and so the evening before had ventured to address her -in Corean; but she answered me very demurely and correctly in that -language, with a little oblique smile, which showed that she knew why -I had spoken to her, and I saw that I had been mistaken in slighting -her educational capacities. - -I went down the steps and proffered my escort to the young woman, but -she was so earnestly engaged in thanking the crew of the naphtha launch -that she quite ignored my presence. She sprang lightly up the steps and -walked away to the nearest ’rickshaw, followed by the toddling Japanese -creature. The boat’s crew, who were champions of Miss Hemster to a man, -each embued with intense admiration for her, as was right and natural, -may or may not have noticed her contemptuous treatment of me; but after -all it did not much matter, so I stepped into the launch and we set out -for the yacht. - -I found Mr. Hemster immersed in his papers as usual. Apparently he had -never been on deck to get a breath of fresh air since his steamship -arrived in the harbour. - -“Well,” he said shortly, looking up; “you saw Mr. Cammerford?” - -“Yes.” - -“Did he give down or hold up?” - -“He seemed very much startled when he saw me, and I had some difficulty -in getting him to discuss the matter in hand.” - -“Was he afraid you had come to rob him, or did he think he had got me -in a corner?” - -“No. He knew who it was that approached him, but I should have told -you, Mr. Hemster, that this is the man who got my five hundred thousand -dollars some years ago, and he was under the mistaken impression that -I had come to wring some part of it back from him.” - -“Ah, he thought you were camping on his trail, did he? What did you do?” - -“I explained that I was there merely as your representative. He made -some objection at first to showing his hand, as he called it; but -finally, seeing that he could not come at his desired interview with -you unless he took me into his confidence, he did so, although with -extreme reluctance.” - -“Yes, and what were your conclusions?” - -“My conclusions are that his letter to you was perfectly truthful. -He has the following firms behind him on a six months’ option, and -these others have sold their businesses to him outright. His position, -therefore, is all that he asserted it to be,” and with this I placed my -notes before my chief. - -“You are thoroughly convinced of that?” - -“Yes, I am; but of course you will see the papers he has to show, and -may find error or fraud where I was unable to detect either.” - -“All right, I shall see him then.” - -“There is one thing further, Mr. Hemster. He offered me two hundred -thousand dollars, then two hundred and fifty thousand, if I would -conceal from you the fact that he had formerly defrauded me.” - -“Yes, and what did you say?” - -“I refused the money, of course.” - -The old gentleman regarded me with an expression full of pity. - -“I am sorry to mention it, Tremorne, but you are a numskull. Why didn’t -you take the money? I’m quite able to look after myself. It doesn’t -matter in the least to me whether or not the man has cheated everyone -in the United States. If he cheats me as well, he’s entitled to all he -can make. ‘The laborer is worthy of his hire,’ as the good Book says.” - -As I had used this quotation to his daughter, I now surmised that she -had told her father something of our stormy conversation. - -“Quite true, Mr. Hemster, but the good Book also says, ‘Avoid the very -appearance of evil,’ and that I have done by refusing his bribe.” - -“Ah, well, you don’t get anything for nothing in this world, and I -think your duty was to have closed with his offer so long as you told -me the truth about the documents I sent you to search.” - -“He is a man I would have nothing whatever to do with, Mr. Hemster.” - -“There’s where you are wrong. If he happens to possess something I -want, why in the world should I not deal with him. His moral character -is of no interest to me. As well refuse to buy a treatise on the -English language because the bookseller drops his ‘h’s.’ I am very much -disappointed in your business capacity, Mr. Tremorne.” - -“I am sorry I don’t come up to your expectations, sir; but he is a man -whom I should view with the utmost distrust.” - -“Oh, if you are doing business with him, certainly. I view everyone -with distrust and never squeal if I’m cheated. Tell me about this deal -with Cammerford in which you lost your money.” - -I related to him the circumstances of the case, which need not be set -down here. When I had finished Mr. Hemster said slowly: - -“If you will excuse me, Mr. Tremorne, never say that this man swindled -you. Such an expression is a misuse of language. Everything done was -perfectly legal.” - -“Oh, I know that well enough. In fact he mentioned its legality during -our interview this morning. Nevertheless, he was well aware that the -mine was valueless.” - -“What of that? It wasn’t his business to inform you; it was your -business to find out the true worth of the mine. You are simply blaming -Cammerford for your own carelessness. If Cammerford had not got the -money, the next man who met you would; so I suppose he sized you up, -and thought he might as well have it, and, to tell you the truth, I -quite agree with him. Now, if I told you this bag contained a thousand -dollars in gold, would you accept my word for it without counting the -money?” - -“Certainly I would.” - -The old gentleman seemed taken aback by this reply, and stared at me as -if I were some new human specimen he had not met before. - -“You would, eh?” he cried at last. “Well, you’re hopeless! I don’t know -but you were right to refuse his bribe. The money would not do you the -least good if you got it again.” - -“Oh, yes, it would, Mr. Hemster. I should invest it in Government -securities, and risk not a penny of it in any speculation.” - -“I don’t believe you’d have that much sense,” demurred the old -gentleman, turning again to his desk. “However, you have served me -well, even if you have served yourself badly. I will write a letter to -Cammerford and let him know the terms on which I will join his scheme.” - -“You surely don’t intend to do that, Mr. Hemster, without seeing the -documents yourself?” - -“Oh, have no fear; you must not think I am going to adopt your business -tactics at my age. Run away and let Hilda give you some lunch. I shall -not have time for anything but the usual sandwich. My daughter’s -gone ashore. She wants lunch at the Nagasaki Hotel, being tired of -our ship’s fare. I’ll have this document ready for you to take to -Cammerford after you have eaten.” - -Nothing loth, I hurried away in search of my dear girl, of whom I had -caught only slight glimpses since her sudden dismissal by Gertrude -Hemster. I was glad to know that we should have the ship practically -to ourselves, and I flatter myself she was not sorry either. Lunch was -not yet ready, so I easily persuaded her to come upon deck with me, and -there I placed the chairs and table just as they had been at the moment -when Miss Hemster had come so unexpectedly upon us. - -“Now, Hilda,” I began when we had seated ourselves, “I want an answer -to that question.” - -“What question?” - -“You know very well what question; the answer was just hovering on your -lips when we were interrupted.” - -“No, it wasn’t.” - -“Hilda, there was an expression in your eyes which I had never seen -before, and if your lips were about to contradict the message they sent -to me----” - -“Seemed to send to you,” she interrupted with a smile. - -“Was it only seeming, then?” - -“Oh, I don’t know. I’m very much disappointed with myself. I don’t call -this a courtship at all. My idea of the preliminaries to a betrothal -was a long friendship, many moonlight walks, and conversations about -delightful topics in which both parties are interested. I pictured -myself waiting eagerly under some rose-covered porch while the right -person hurried toward me,--on horseback for choice. And now turn from -that picture to the actuality. We have known each other only a few -days; our first conversation was practically a quarrel; we have talked -about finance, and poverty, and a lot of repulsive things of that sort. -If I were to say, ‘Yes,’ I should despise myself ever after. It would -appear as if I had accepted the first man who offered.” - -“Am I the first man, Hilda? I shall never believe it.” - -“I’m not going to tell you. You ask altogether too many questions.” - -“Well, despite your disclaimer, I shall still insist that the right -answer was on your lips when it and you were so rudely chased away.” - -“Well, now, Mr. Tremorne----” - -“Rupert, if you please, Hilda!” - -“Well, now, Prince Rupert, to show you how far astray you may be in -predicting what a woman is about to say, I shall tell you exactly -what was in my mind when the thread of my thought was so suddenly cut -across. There were conditions, provisos, stipulations, everything in -the world except the plain and simple ‘Yes’ you seemed to anticipate.” - -“Even in that case, Hilda, I am quite happy, because these lead to the -end. It cannot be otherwise, and all the provisos and stipulations I -agree to beforehand, so let us get directly to the small but important -word ‘Yes!’” - -“Ah, if you agreed beforehand that would not be legal. You could say -you had not read the document, or something of that kind, and were not -in your right mind when you signed it.” - -“Then let us have the conditions one by one, Hilda, if you please.” - -“I was going to ask you to say no more at present, but to wait until I -get home. I wanted you to come to me, and ask your question then if you -were still in the same mind.” - -“What an absurd proviso! And how long would that be? When shall you -reach your own home?” - -“Perhaps within a year, perhaps two years. It all depends on the -duration of Mr. Hemster’s voyage. Of course it is quite possible that -at any minute he may make up his mind to return. I could not leave him -alone here, but once he is in Chicago he will become so absorbed in -business that he would never miss me.” - -“There is an uncertain quality about that proviso, Hilda, which I don’t -at all admire.” - -“Now, you see how it is,” she answered archly; “my very first -proposition is found fault with.” - -“On the contrary, it is at once agreed to. Proceed with the next.” - -“The next pertains more particularly to yourself. I suppose you have -no occupation in view as yet, and I also suppose, if you think of -marrying, you do not expect to lead a life of idleness.” - -“Far from it.” - -“Very well. I wish that you would offer your services to Mr. Hemster. I -am sure he has great confidence in you, and as he grows older he will -feel more and more the need of a friend. He has had no real friend -since my father died.” - -“You forget about yourself, Hilda.” - -“Oh, I don’t count; I am but a woman, and what he needs near him is -a clear-headed man who will give him disinterested advice. That is a -thing he cannot buy, and he knows it.” - -“I quite believe you, but nevertheless where is the clear-headedness? -He has just asserted that I am a fool.” - -“He surely never called you that.” - -“Well, not that exactly, but as near as possible to it, and somehow, -now that I am sitting opposite to you, I rather think that he is right, -and I have been quixotic.” - -“Now I come to another condition,” Hilda said with some perceptible -hesitation. “It is not a condition exactly, but an explanation. I have -often wondered whether I acted rightly or not in the circumstances, and -perhaps your view of the case may differ from the conclusion at which I -arrived. The one man with whom I should most naturally have consulted -in a business difficulty--Mr. Hemster himself--was out of the question -in this case, so I tried to imagine what my father would have had me -do, and I acted accordingly, but not without some qualms of conscience -then and since. I fear I did not do what an independent girl should -have done, but now that we have become so friendly you shall be my -judge.” - -“You will find me a very lenient one, Hilda; in fact the verdict is -already given: you did exactly right whatever it was.” - -“Sir, you must not pronounce until you hear. We approach now the dread -secret of a woman with a past. That always crops up, you know, at the -critical moment. I think I told you my father and Mr. Hemster were -friends from boyhood; that they went to school together; that their -very differences of character made the friendship sincere and lasting. -My father was a quiet, scholarly man, fond of his books, while Mr. -Hemster cared nothing for literature or art, but only for an outdoor -life and contest with his fellow men. It is difficult to imagine that -one so sedate and self-restrained as Mr. Hemster now seems to be should -have lived the life of a reckless cowboy on the plains, riding like a -centaur, and shooting with an accuracy that saved his life on more -than one occasion, whatever the result to his opponents. Nevertheless, -in the midst of this wild career he was the first, or one of the first, -to realize the future of the cattle business, and thus he laid the -foundation of the colossal fortune he now possesses. I can imagine -him the most capable man on the ranch, and I believe he was well paid -for his services and saved his money, there being no way of spending -it, for he neither drank nor gambled. While yet a very young man an -opportunity came to him, and he had not quite enough capital to take -advantage of it. My father made up the deficit, and, small as the -amount was, Mr. Hemster has always felt an undue sense of obligation -for a loan which was almost instantly repaid. When my father died he -left me practically penniless so far as money was concerned, but with -a musical education which would have earned me a comfortable living. -Shortly after my father’s death the manager of our local bank informed -me that there had been deposited to my order one hundred thousand -dollars’ worth of stock in Mr. Hemster’s great business. Now the -question is, Should I have kept that, or should I have returned it to -Mr. Hemster?” - -“I beg your pardon, Hilda, but there is no question there at all. -Your father, by reason of his most opportune loan, was quite honestly -entitled to a share in the business the creation of which his money had -made possible.” - -“But the sum given to me was out of all proportion to the amount lent. -It is even more out of proportion than the figures I have mentioned -would lead you to suppose, for the interest paid is so great that such -an income could not be produced by four or five times the face value of -the stock. Then Mr. Hemster was under no obligation to have given me a -penny.” - -“Surely a man may be allowed to do the right thing without being -legally bound to do it. I hope you accepted without hesitation.” - -“Yes, I accepted, but with considerable hesitation. Now, I think Mr. -Hemster would be greatly annoyed if he knew I had told you all this. -His own daughter has not the slightest suspicion of it, and I imagine -her father would be even more disturbed if she gathered any hint of the -real state of affairs. Indeed, I may tell you that she has dismissed me -since this Japanese Countess came.” - -“Then we are in the same plight, for the young lady ordered me to -resign.” - -“And are you going to?” - -“Not likely. She didn’t engage me, and therefore has no standing in the -contract. But, to return to ourselves, which is always the paramount -subject of interest, this dread secret, as you called it, puts an -entirely different complexion on our relations. You must see that. Here -have I been suing you under the impression that you were a helpless -dependent. Now you turn out to be an heiress of the most pronounced -transatlantic type. You once accused me of being dull in comprehension.” - -“I never did.” - -“Well, people do accuse me of that; nevertheless I am brilliant enough -to perceive that this is a transformation scene, and that the dreams -which I have indulged in regarding our relationship are no longer -feasible.” - -Hilda clasped her hands and rested her elbows on the wicker table, -leaning forward toward me with an expression half quizzical, half -pathetic. - -“I never called you dull, Mr. Tremorne----” - -“Rupert, if you please.” - -“----but I did think you slightly original, Rupertus. Now, your talk -of all this making a great difference is quite along the line of -conventional melodrama. I see you are about to wave me aside. ‘Rich -woman, begone,’ say you. You are going out into the world, registering -a vow that until you can place dollar for dollar on the marriage altar -you will shun me. Now I have read that sort of thing ever since I -perused ‘The Romance of a Poor Young Man,’ but I never expected to -encounter in real life this haughty, inflexible, poor young man.” - -“Rich woman, there are many surprises here below, and of course you -cannot avoid your share of them. However, I shall not so haughtily wave -you aside until you have answered that important question with a word -of three letters rather than one of two. I cannot refuse what is not -proffered. So will you kindly put me in a position to enact a haughty -poor young man by saying definitely whether you will marry me or not?” - -“I reply, ‘Yes, yes, yes, yes,’ and a thousand other yes’s, if you wish -them. Now, young man, what have you to say?” - -“I have this to say, young woman, that your wealth entirely changes the -situation.” - -“And I maintain it doesn’t, not a particle.” - -“I will show you how it does. I was poor, and I thought you were poor. -Therefore it was my duty, as you remarked, to go out into the world -and wring money from somebody. That, luckily, is no longer necessary. -Hilda, we may be married this very day. Come, I dare you to consent.” - -“Oh!” she cried, dropping her hands to her side and leaning back in her -creaking chair, looking critically at me with eyes almost veiled by -their long lashes, a kindly smile, however, hovering about her pretty -lips. “You are in a hurry, aren’t you?” - -“Yes, you didn’t expect to clear the way so effectively when you spoke?” - -Before she could reply we were interrupted by the arrival of Mr. -Hemster, who carried a long sealed envelope in his hand. He gazed -affectionately at the girl for a moment or two, then pinched her -flushed cheek. - -“Hilda, my dear,” he said, “I never saw you looking exactly like this -before. What have you two been talking about? Something pleasant, I -suppose.” - -“Yes, we were,” replied Hilda pertly; “we were saying what a nice man -Silas K. Hemster is.” - -The old gentleman turned his glance toward me with something of shrewd -inquiry in it. - -“Hilda,” he said slowly, “you mustn’t believe too much in nice men, -young or old. They sometimes prove very disappointing. Especially do I -warn you against this confidential secretary of mine. He is the most -idiotically impractical person I have ever met. Would you believe it, -my dear, that he was to-day offered two hundred and fifty thousand -dollars if he would merely keep quiet about something he knew which he -thought was his duty to tell me, and he was fool enough to refuse the -good and useful cash?” - -“Please tell Miss Stretton, Mr. Hemster, that the good and useful cash -bore the ugly name of bribe, and tell her further that you would have -refused it yourself.” - -“Oh, I don’t know about that. I don’t want the girl to think me quite -in my dotage yet. Such a sum is not picked up so easily every day on -the streets of Nagasaki, as I think you found out a while ago.” - -“It may be picked up on board a yacht,” said Hilda archly, smiling up -at him. - -“Ah, you’re getting beyond me now. I don’t know what you mean, Hilda,” -and he pinched her cheek again. - -“And now, Mr. Tremorne, I am sorry to send you away again without -lunch, but business must be attended to even if we have to subsist on -sandwiches. How old a man is this Cammerford?” - -“About forty, I should think.” - -“Does he strike you as a capable individual?” - -“Naturally he does. He has proved himself to be much more capable than -I am.” - -“Oh, that’s no recommendation. Well, I want you to take this letter to -him; it is my ultimatum, and you may tell him so. He must either accept -or refuse. I shall not dicker or modify my terms. If he accepts, then -bring him right over to the yacht with you; if he refuses, you tell him -I will have him wiped out before he can set foot in San Francisco.” He -handed me the sealed envelope. - -“You see you were in at the beginning of this business, so I’d like -you to be on hand at the finish. I’m sorry to make an errand-boy of -you, Tremorne, but we are a little distant from the excellent messenger -service of Chicago.” - -I rose at once, placed the envelope in my inside pocket, and said: - -“I shall do my best, Mr. Hemster, although, as you have remarked, I -seem to be little more than a messenger-boy in the negotiations.” - -“Oh, not at all; you’re ambassador, that’s what you are; a highly -honourable position, and I feel certain that as you are not -particularly fond of Cammerford your manner will go far toward showing -him his own insignificance. When he once realizes how powerless he is, -we’ll have no further difficulty with him.” - -I laughed, received a sweet smile from Hilda and a kindly nod from -Hemster, then turned to the gangway and was in the ever-ready naptha -launch a moment later. - -Cammerford was not expecting me, so I had to search for him, and at -last ran him down at the equivalent of the American bar which Nagasaki -possesses for the elimination of loneliness from the children of the -Spread Eagle. - -“Have a drink with me, Tremorne,” cried Cammerford, as genially as if -we were the oldest possible friends. - -“Thanks, no!” I replied. “I’d sooner meet the muzzle of a revolver than -imbibe the alleged American drinks they furnish at this place. You see, -I know the town; besides, I’ve come on business.” - -“Ah, is the old man going to see me, then?” - -“That will depend on your answer to his letter which I have here in my -pocket. May I suggest an adjournment to your rooms in the hotel?” - -“Certainly, certainly,” muttered Cammerford hastily, evidently all -aquiver with excitement and anxiety. - -When we reached his apartments he thrust out his hand eagerly for the -letter, which I gave to him. He ripped it open on the instant, and, -standing by the window, read it through to the end, then, tossing it -on the table, he threw back his head and gave utterance to a peal of -laughter which had an undercurrent of relief in it. - -“I was to tell you,” said I, as soon as I could make myself heard, -“that this document is by way of being an ultimatum, and if you do not -see fit to accept it----” - -“Oh, that’s all right, my dear boy,” he cried, interrupting me. “Accept -it? Of course I do, but first I must tender an abject apology to you.” - -“There is no necessity, Mr. Cammerford,” I protested, “I hope that is -not a proviso in the communication?” - -“No, my dear boy, it is not. I offer the apology most sincerely on my -own initiative. Actually I took you for a fool, but you are a damned -sight shrewder man than I am. I told you when you were here that I -could not get on to your game, but now I see it straight as a string, -and I wonder I was such a chump as not to suspect it before. Tremorne, -you’re a genius. Of course your proper way of working was through the -old man with that cursed high-bred air of honesty which you can assume -better than any one I ever met. That kind of thing was bound to appeal -to the old man because he’s such an unmitigated rogue himself. Yes, my -dear boy, you’ve played your cards well, and I congratulate you.” - -“I haven’t the least idea what you are driving at,” I said. - -“Do you mean to tell me you don’t know what is in this letter?” - -“The letter was delivered to me sealed, and I have delivered it sealed -to you. I have no more notion what it contains than you had before I -handed it to you.” - -“Is that really a fact? Well, Tremorne, you’re a constant puzzle and -delight to me. This world would be a less interesting place if you were -out of it. It is an ever-recurring problem to me whether you’re deep or -shallow; but if you are shallow I’ll say this, that it cuts more ice -than depth would do. Well, just cast your eyes over the last paragraph -in that letter.” He tossed across the final sheet to me, and I read as -follows: - - “The condition under which I shall treat with you is this: You - will place at once in the Bank of Japan, to the order of Rupert - Tremorne, the five hundred thousand dollars you borrowed from him, - together with interest compounded for three years at six per cent. - If, as is likely, you are not in a position to hand over such a - sum, you may pay half the amount into the Bank of Japan here, - and cable to have the other half similarly placed in the First - National Bank of Chicago. The moment I receive cable advice from my - confidential man of business in Chicago that the money is in the - bank there, or the moment you show me the whole amount is in the - bank here, I shall carry out the promises I have made in the body - of this letter. - - “Yours truly, - “SILAS K. HEMSTER.” - -The look of astonishment that doubtless came into my face must have -appeared genuine to Cammerford as he watched me keenly across the -table. I handed the letter back to him. - -“I assure you I know nothing of this proviso.” - -“In that case,” said Cammerford airily, “I hope you will have no -objection to paying me back the money when once you have received it. I -trust that your silk-stockinged idea of strict honesty will impel you -toward the course I have suggested.” - -“I am very sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Cammerford, but circumstances -have changed since I saw you last, and, if you don’t mind, I’ll keep -the money.” - -Cammerford laughed heartily; he was in riotous good humour, and I -suppose his compensation in this trust-forming business would be -so enormous that the amount paid into the bank seemed trifling by -comparison. - -“I should be glad,” said I, rising, “if you would pen a few words to -Mr. Hemster accepting or declining his offer.” - -“Of course I will, dear boy,” he replied, taking the latest pattern of -fountain pen from his waistcoat pocket; “you are the most courteous of -messengers, and I shall not keep you two shakes.” Whereupon he rapidly -scrawled a note, blotted it, sealed it, and handed it to me. - -He arose and accompanied me to the door, placing me under some -temporary inconvenience by slapping me boisterously on the shoulder. - -“Tremorne, old man, you’re a brick, and a right-down deep one after -all. I’m ever so much obliged to you for lending me your money, -although I did not think it would be recalled so soon, and I did not -expect the interest to be so heavy. Still, I needed it at the time, and -put it where it has done the most good. So long, old fellow. You will -imagine yourself a rich man to-morrow.” - -“I imagine myself a rich man to-day, Mr. Cammerford.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - - -On reaching the yacht I went directly to the old gentleman’s office and -handed him Cammerford’s letter, which he tore open, read, and tossed on -the desk. - -“Mr. Hemster,” said I, while an emotion which I had not suspected -myself of possessing caused my voice to tremble a little; “Mr. Hemster, -I don’t know how I can thank you for what you have done for me to-day.” - -“Oh, that’s all right, that’s all right!” he said gruffly, as if the -reference annoyed him. “What you need is a guardian.” - -“I think,” said I, “I have secured one.” - -The old gentleman glanced up at me quickly. - -“Is that so? Well, if the land lays as I have suspected, I congratulate -you. Yes, and I congratulate Hilda also. As for a guardian, you have -chosen a good one, and now don’t begin to thank me over again, but go -and tell her all about it.” - -Thus dismissed, I went to the saloon, and there found the lady of whom -I was in search, and persuaded her to come up on deck with me. In spite -of the vexatious interruption to which we had been forced to submit at -this spot, I had become attached to the locality of the two chairs and -the wicker table. - -“I like this place,” said I, “for its associations, and yet I am -certain, the moment we begin to talk, Mr. Hemster will order me -overboard, or his daughter will tell you to go down below.” - -“There is no immediate danger,” answered Hilda. “Mr. Hemster is busy, -and his daughter has not returned from Nagasaki; I suspect, however, -that you should be down in the office helping your chief, rather than -up here frivolously gossiping with me.” - -“I am obeying orders in being up here. My chief, as you call him, told -me to search you out and tell you all about it.” - -“All about what?” - -“Did you tell Mr. Hemster anything of our conversation after I left?” - -“Not a word. Poor dear, his mind was occupied with other matters. He -talked about you, and fished,--in, oh, such an awkward way,--to find -out what I thought of you. He gave me much good counsel which I shall -ever treasure, and he warned me to beware of fascinating young men, and -not allow myself to become too deeply interested. Indeed I yearned to -let him know that his caution was already too late; but, not being sure -whether that would ease his mind or cause it greater anxiety, I held my -peace. I wish you would tell him. Perhaps I should do it myself, but I -cannot find the exact words, I am afraid.” - -“I’ll tell him with great pleasure. No, to be honest, I have already -told him.” - -“Really, and what did he say?” - -“Oh, he said I needed a guardian, and I informed him I had already -secured one. He twigged the situation in a moment, congratulated me on -my choice, and ordered me to come and tell you all about it.” - -“Tell me all about what? I’ve asked you that before.” - -“Why, about the money with which we are to start housekeeping. Mr. -Hemster estimates that it will amount to something more than half a -million.” - -Hilda sat back in her chair with a remote resemblance to a frown on her -pretty brow. - -“That was what you were discussing with Mr. Hemster, was it?” she said -primly. - -“Of course. Don’t you think it most important?” - -“I suppose it is.” - -“He certainly thought so, and looked on me as very fortunate coming -into such a tidy sum so easily.” - -“Easily! Did he, indeed?” - -“Yes, he’s awfully pleased about it, and so am I.” - -“I am delighted to hear it.” - -“He said you would be, and he regards me as more than lucky, which, to -tell the truth, I acknowledge that I am. You see it was such a complete -surprise. I hadn’t expected anything at all, and to find myself -suddenly the possessor of such a sum, all because of a few words, -seemed almost too good to be true.” - -Hilda was leaning back in her chair; there was no question about -the frown now, which was visible enough, and, as I prattled on, the -displeasure in her speaking eyes became deeper and deeper. - -“All because of a few words!” she murmured, as if talking to herself. - -“Certainly. Plain, simple, straightforward words, yet look what an -effect they had. They practically make me an independent man, even -rich, as I should count riches, although I suppose Mr. Hemster wouldn’t -consider the amount very important.” - -“Probably not, but you seem to look upon the amount as very, very -important,--even of paramount importance, I should say.” - -“Oh, not of paramount importance, of course, but nevertheless I shall -always regard this day as the most fortunate of my life.” - -“Really? Because of the money, I suppose?” - -“Now, Hilda,” I protested, “you must admit that money is exceedingly -necessary.” - -“I do admit it. So Mr. Hemster was more pleased about your getting the -money than anything else?” - -“Oh, I don’t say that, but he certainly was delighted with my luck, -and what true friend wouldn’t be? I am sure my people at home will be -overjoyed when they hear the news.” - -“Because of the money?” reiterated Hilda, with more of irritation in -her tone than I had ever heard there before. - -“Why not? Such a lump of gold is not won every day.” - -“By a few simple words,” suggested Hilda tartly. - -“Exactly. If you choose the psychological moment and use the right -words they form a great combination, I can tell you, and success is -sure to follow.” - -“Deserving man! I think those that called you a fool were mistaken, -don’t you?” - -“Yes, I rather imagine they are, and in fact that has been admitted.” - -“So you and Mr. Hemster have been discussing this money question down -in your office?” - -“Yes, at first, of course. I began about the money at once, and thanked -him sincerely for what he had done.” - -“You were quite right; if it had not been for him there would have been -no money to make you so jubilant.” - -“That’s exactly what I told him. ‘Mr. Hemster’ said I, ‘if it had not -been for your action I should never have got a penny.’” - -“Well,” said Hilda, with a little break in her voice that went right -to my heart and made me ashamed of myself, while the moisture gathered -in her eyes, “and so you and Mr. Hemster at last got to me, and began -to discuss me after the money question had been exhausted. Really, I -suppose I should be thankful to have received so much attention. I wish -I had known that gold occupied so large a space in your thoughts, and -then I should have entered more accurately into particulars. I told you -the amount was two or three times the face value of the stock, but it -is what you say, over half a million, and now if you don’t mind I shall -go downstairs for a while.” - -“I do mind. I want to speak to you, Hilda.” - -“I would rather not talk any more just now. If you are wise you will -say nothing until I have had time to think it all over.” - -“But I never claimed to be wise, Hilda. Sit down again, I beg of you. -Indeed you must, I shall not let you go at this juncture.” - -The flash in her eyes chased away the mist that had veiled them. - -“Sir,” she cried, “you are only making matters worse. If you have any -care for me, say no more until I see you again.” - -“Hilda,” said I, “I can make it all right with you in five minutes. -What will you bet?” - -“If you are jesting, I am tired of it. Can’t you see I don’t want to -talk. Don’t you understand you have said enough? Do be content. I wish -I hadn’t a penny of money, and that I had never told you.” - -I now became aware that I was on the horns of a dilemma; I had gone -too far, as a stupid man will who thinks he is on the track of a joke. -The dear girl was on the verge of tears, and I saw that if I suddenly -proclaimed the jest her sorrow would turn into anger against me, and -my last state might be worse than my first. I had got this joke by the -tail, and the whole dilemma arose through not knowing whether it was -safer to hang on or let go. I quickly decided to hang on. I trusted -to escape by reason of our national reputation for unreadiness, and -determined to stand to my guns and proclaim that all along I had been -speaking of my own fortune and not of hers. My obtuseness she would -pity and forgive, but ill-timed levity and trifling with her most -cherished feelings on this day of all others might produce consequences -I dared not face. - -“Hilda,” I said, with what dignity I could bring to my command, “you -actually seem sorry at my good fortune. I assure you I expected you -would rejoice with me. When I spoke to you this morning I was to all -intents and purposes a penniless man, and yet, as Mr. Hemster himself -informed you, I had but an hour before refused two hundred and fifty -thousand dollars as a bribe. That money was but half of the fortune -which this man Cammerford had previously looted from me. Now, through -a few simple words in the letter Mr. Hemster wrote to him, this man is -going to refund the whole half million, with interest for three years -at six per cent. Therefore, my darling, imagine the delight with which -I learned of this great stroke of good luck. No living person could -assert here or hereafter that I was an impecunious fortune-hunter, -although equally, of course, no person could have convinced you that -your money weighed a particle with me when I asked you to honour me as -you have done. And now, really perhaps I am too sensitive, but it seems -to me that you do not take the news so kindly as I had expected.” - -She swayed a moment, then sank helplessly down into the armchair again. - -“Rupert,” she said, looking across at me with a puzzled pathos in her -eyes that made me ashamed of myself; “Rupert, what are you talking -about? Or am I dreaming? What half million is this you are referring -to? I told you that my fortune was two or three times the hundred -thousand, but I supposed you had found out its real value. Now you seem -to have been speaking of something else.” - -“Hilda,” I cried, with a horror that I hope was well simulated,--Lord -forgive me for the necessity of using it,--“Hilda, you never supposed -for a moment that I was referring to _your_ money?” - -Her troubled face seemed fixed on something intangible in the distance, -as if her mind were trying to recall our conversation, that she might -find some point in what I had said to account for the mistake she -supposed herself to have made. The double meaning of my words was -apparent enough, but of course every sentence I had uttered applied -to her money equally well with my own. Now that enlightenment had -come, her supposed error became obtrusively plain to her. She turned -her puzzled face to me, and her expression melted into one of great -tenderness as she reached forward her two hands and laid her palms on -the back of mine, which rested on the wicker table. - -“Rupert,” she said in a low voice, “will you forgive me? I have deeply -misjudged you.” - -“Hilda,” said I, “would you have forgiven me if I had been in the -wrong?” - -“I would, I would, I would,” she cried, and it was plain that she meant -it, yet I did not dare to risk a full confession. What brutes we men -are after all, and how much we stand in need of forgiveness every day -of our lives! - -“Tell me all about this newly found treasure,” she said, and now I -launched out on fresh ground once more, resolving never to get on -such thin ice again after so narrow an escape. As we talked, the -indefatigable little naphtha launch came alongside, and Gertrude -Hemster appeared at the gangway, followed by her miniature Countess. -Miss Hemster was good enough to ignore us entirely, and, after a few -words to her new companion, disappeared down the companion-way. The -Countess toddled up to where we sat, and, addressing Hilda, said in her -high-keyed Japanese voice: - -“Mees Stretton, the mistress desires your attendance immediately,” and -with that she toddled away again. Hilda rose at once. - -“Don’t go,” I commanded; but she smiled, and held out her hand to me. - -“Isn’t it funny,” she said; “you and I together are equal to one -millionaire, yet we have to dance attendance when called upon, but, -unlike others in bondage, we don’t need to cry, ‘How long, O Lord! how -long?’ do we?” - -“Not on your life, Hilda, as they say in the Wild West. The day of -jubilee is a-coming my dear,” and, in spite of her trying to slip away, -I put my arm around her and drew her toward me. - -“Oh, the captain is looking at us,” she whispered in alarm. - -“The captain is a good friend of ours, and has done the same in his -time, I dare say,” and with that I----. Hilda swung herself free and -fled, red as a rose. On glancing up at the bridge I noticed that the -captain had suddenly turned his back on us. I always did like that -rough man from Cape Cod, who would haunt the bridge during his waking -hours whether the ship had steam up or not. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - - -Next day was the most eventful I had spent on the yacht in spite of all -that had gone before, for a few moments were filled with a peril which -we escaped, as one might say, by a miracle, or more accurately by the -prompt and energetic action of a capable man whom I shall always regard -with deep affection. If Cape Cod has turned out many like him, it is a -notable section of a great country. - -Somewhat early in the morning I paid my third visit to the Nagasaki -Hotel and brought John C. Cammerford with me to the yacht. He told -me he had placed the full amount to my credit in the Bank of Japan, -and said he did not need to do any cabling to America. Mr. Hemster -was closeted with him in his office until the luncheon gong rang, -and the amiable Cammerford was a guest at our table, referring to me -several times as his old friend, and recounting stories that were more -humourous than accurate about my adventures with him in the Adirondack -Mountains and the fishing districts of Canada. I gathered that all the -stories he had ever heard of Englishmen he now fastened on me, relating -them with great gusto as having come within his own cognizance. -Therefore I was delighted to be able to inform him that one of his -anecdotes had appeared in _Punch_ in the year 1854, which he promptly -denied, whereupon I proposed a modest little wager that was accepted by -him under the supposition that I could not prove my assertion. But we -happened to have in the library two volumes of _Punch_ for that year, -which I had frequently thumbed over, and I now confounded him by their -production. I don’t think he minded the money so much as the slight -cast on what he supposed to be a genuine American joke. About three -o’clock the good man left us in a high state of exultation, carried -away by the useful naphtha launch. - -We were all on deck about four o’clock in the afternoon when the event -happened to which I have referred. Hilda and I were sitting in our -chairs by the wicker table, quite boldly in the face of all, for our -engagement was now public property. Gertrude Hemster and the little -Japanese noblewoman were walking up and down the other side of the -deck, and from the snatches of conversation wafted to us it really -seemed as if Miss Hemster were learning Japanese. She had passed the -ignoring phase so far as I was concerned, and had reached the stage -of the icily polite and scrupulously courteous high dame, so that I -quite looked forward to an intimate interview with her later on if this -change continued. The old gentleman occupied his customary armchair -with his feet on the rail, and it is a marvellous thing to record -that during all the excitement he never shifted his position. He said -afterward that it was the captain’s duty to deal with the crisis, and -he had absolute confidence in the captain. This confidence was not -misplaced. - -The harbor of Nagasaki is usually crowded with shipping, and steamers -are continually arriving or departing, consequently they attract but -little attention, for they are generally capably managed. Of course a -yacht swinging at anchor with no steam up is absolutely helpless if -some vessel under way bears down upon her. We were lying broadside on -to Nagasaki. I was so absorbed in my conversation with Hilda that I did -not notice our danger until the captain put a megaphone to his lips and -vehemently hailed an oncoming steamer. Looking up, I saw a huge, black, -clumsy craft steaming right down upon us, and knew in a moment that if -she did not deflect her course she would cut us in two amidships. The -captain, who recognized the nationality of the vessel, although I did -not, roared down to me: - -“What is the Chinese for ‘Sheer off?’” - -I sprang to my feet. “Fling me the megaphone,” I cried. He instantly -heaved it down to me, and a moment later I was roaring through it a -warning to the approaching steamer. But to this not the slightest -attention was paid, nor indeed could I see anyone aboard. The black -brute came on as if she were an abandoned ship without captain or -crew. She appeared to grow up out of the waters; looming tremendous in -size above us, and it did seem as if nothing under Heaven could save -us. However, good luck and the resources of our captain did that very -thing. The good luck assumed the shape of a tug which came tearing -past our stern. The captain by this time was on deck with a coil of -rope with a bowline on its end. Not a word did he say to the flying -tug, but he swung the rope so unerringly that the loop came down like -a flying quoit right on the sternpost of the little vessel. In a flash -the captain had the end he held twisted twice around a huge iron cleat -at our side. - -[Illustration: “I sprang forward and caught her.” - - _Page 251_ -] - -“Lie down, you women, at once,” he roared, bracing his feet against the -cleat and hanging back upon the end of the rope. - -Hilda obeyed instantly, but Miss Hemster, with the Countess clinging -to her, stood dazed, while I sprang forward and caught her, breaking -the fall as much as was possible, all three of us coming down in a -heap with myself underneath. The rope had tightened like a rod, and -had either to break, jerk the tug backward out of the water, or swing -us around, which latter it did, taking the yacht from under us with -a suddenness that instantly overcame all equilibrium, and in a jiffy -we were at right angles to our former position, while the black hulk -scraped harmlessly along our side. Even now no one appeared on the deck -of the Chinese steamer, but after running a hundred yards nearer the -city she slowly swerved around, heading outward again, and I thought -she was about to escape; but instead of that she came to a standstill -a quarter of a mile or so from our position and there coolly dropped -anchor. - -I helped the ladies to their feet again, inquiring if they were hurt, -and Miss Hemster replied with a sweet smile that, thanks to me, she -was not. The Countess showed signs of hysterics with which I could not -deal, therefore I turned my attention to Hilda, who by this time had -scrambled up, looking rather pale and frightened. Mr. Hemster’s chair -had been swung with a crash against the bulwarks, and he had been -compelled to take his feet down from the rail, but beyond that he kept -his old position, chewing industriously at his unlit cigar. The captain -was in a ludicrously pitiable position because of a red-hot Cape Cod -rage and his inability to relieve his feelings by swearing on account -of the ladies being present. Hilda noticed this and cried with a little -quivering laugh: - -“Don’t mind us, captain; say what you want to, and it is quite likely -we will agree with you.” - -The captain shook his huge fist at the big steamer now rounding to her -anchorage. - -“You can say what you please,” he shouted; “that was no accident; it -was intended. That damned,--I beg your pardon, ladies,--that chap tried -to run us down, and I’ll have the law of him, dod-blast-him,--excuse -me, ladies,--if there’s any law in this God-forsaken hole!” - -Mr. Hemster very calmly shoved his chair back to its former -position, and put his feet once more on the rail, then he beckoned -to the captain, and when that angry hero reached his side he said -imperturbably, as if nothing had happened: - -“Captain, there’s no use swearing. Besides, so capable a man as you -never needs to swear. In that half minute you earned ten thousand -dollars, and I’ll make it more if you don’t think it enough.” - -“Nonsense,” protested the captain, “it’s all in the day’s work: a lucky -throw of the rope, that’s all.” - -“Now I see that you want to swear at somebody,” Mr. Hemster went on, -“and suppressed profanity is bad for the system; so I suppose you’ll -prefer to swear at the person mostly to blame. Get into the launch -with Mr. Tremorne here, who will translate for you, because our oaths, -unlike our gold, are not current in every country. Go over to that -black monstrosity; get aboard of her; find out what their game is, and -swear at whoever is responsible. When we know their object we can take -action, either by law, or by hiring some pirate to run her down and see -how she likes it herself. I want to get at the bottom of this business.” - -The upshot was that the captain and I got into the naphtha launch and -made directly for the Chinese steamer. We went around her twice, but -saw not a soul on board, neither was there any ladder alongside by -which we could ascend, or even a rope; so, after calling in vain for -them to throw us a line, the captain, with an agility I should not -have expected of his years and bulk, caught hold of the anchor-chain -and worked himself up over the bow. His head appearing over the rail -must have been a stupefying surprise to the crew, whom he found lying -flat on their faces on deck. I followed the captain up the anchor-chain -route, though in somewhat less effective fashion, until I was at the -captain’s heels. He had thrown one leg across the rail, when he whipped -out a revolver and fired two rapid shots, which were followed by howls -of terror. The crew had sprung to their feet and flashed out knives, -but his quick revolver-shots stopped the attack even before it was -rightly begun. We both leaped over the rail to the deck. The cowardly -crew were huddled in a heap; no one had been killed, but two were -crippled and crawled moaning on the deck; the rest had ceased their -outcry and crouched together with that hopeless air of resignation -to take stolidly whatever fate had in store for them, which is -characteristic of the lower-class Chinese. They expected instant death -and were prepared to meet it with nonchalance. - -“Where is your captain?” I asked them in their own tongue. - -Several of them made a motion of their head toward a low deck-house aft. - -“Go and bring him,” I said to one who seemed rather more intelligent -than the rest. He got on his feet and went into the deck-house, -presently emerging with a trembling man who admitted he was the captain. - -“What did you mean,” I asked him, “by trying to run us down?” - -He spread out his hands with a gesture that seemed to indicate his -helplessness, and maintained that it was all an accident. - -“That is not true,” I insisted, but nothing could budge him from his -statement that the steering-gear had gone wrong and he had lost control -of the ship. - -“Why didn’t you stop the engines when you saw where you were going?” I -asked. - -He had become panic-stricken, he said, and so had the crew. The -engineer had run up on deck, and there was no one to shut off steam. I -knew the man was lying, and told our captain so, whereupon he pressed -the muzzle of his revolver against the other’s forehead. - -“Now question him,” he said. - -I did so, but the captain simply relapsed into the condition of his -crew, and not another word could I get out of him. - -“It’s no use,” I said to our captain, “these people don’t mind being -shot in the least. You might massacre the whole lot, and yet not get -a word of truth out of any one of them previous to their extinction. -Nevertheless, until you kill them they are in some wholesome fear of -firearms, so if you keep the drop on the captain and his men I’ll -penetrate this deck-house and see what it contains.” - -“I wouldn’t do that,” said our captain, “they’re treacherous dogs, I -imagine, and, while afraid to meet us in broad daylight on deck here, -they might prove mighty handy with the knife in the darkness of that -shanty. No, send the captain in and order him to bring out all his -officers, if he’s got any.” - -This seemed practical advice, so, asking our captain to remove his -revolver from the other’s forehead, I said to the latter: - -“How many officers have you?” - -He answered that there were five. - -“Very well, go and bring them all out on deck here.” - -He gave the order to one of the crew, who went into the deck-house -and presently came out with five discouraged-looking Chinese ship’s -officers. There was nothing to be made out of this lot; they simply -stood in a row and glowered at us without answering. Whenever I put a -question to them they glanced at the captain, then turned their bovine -gaze upon me, but never once did one of them open his mouth. - -“Now, captain,” said I, “I propose that we herd this whole mob, -officers and men, into the forecastle. The windlass, anchor-tackle, -and all that will impede them, if they endeavour to take concerted -action. You stand here on the clear deck with your two revolvers and -keep an eye on them. The captain and officers will probably imagine -you understand Chinese, too, so they will give no orders. Then I shall -penetrate into the deck-house, for I am convinced that we have not -yet come upon the responsible man. I don’t believe this fellow is the -captain at all.” - -To all this my comrade agreed, although he still demurred at my -entering the deck-house. I ordered the men forward and then lined -the alleged captain and his officers along the rail near them, and, -while my captain stood by with a revolver in each hand, I, similarly -equipped, went down three steps into the low cabin. It was a dangerous -move if there had been anyone of courage within, for there were no -windows, and what little light penetrated the place came in through the -open door, and that was now largely shut out by the bulk of my body. -Knowing that I was rather conspicuously silhouetted against the outside -glare and formed an easy mark for either pistol or knife, I stepped -down as quickly as possible and then stood aside. I thought at first -the place was empty, but as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom I -saw that a bench ran around three walls and in the further corner was -a huddled figure which I knew. - -“Ah, Excellency Hun Woe!” I cried, covering him with the revolver, “it -is to you then we were to have been indebted for our death.” - -The wretch flung himself on his face at my feet, moaning for mercy. A -Corean never has the nonchalance of a Chinaman when danger confronts -him. - -“Get up from the floor and sit down where you were,” I said; “I want -to have some conversation with you.” Then I went to the door again and -cried to the captain: - -“It’s all right. There is no one here but the Prime Minister of Corea, -and I think I begin to see daylight so far as this so-called accident -is concerned. I want to have a few minutes’ talk with him, so, unless -you hear a pistol-shot, everything is going well.” - -“Good enough,” cried the genial captain, “you play a lone hand for all -it’s worth, and I’ll hold up these hoodlums while you pow-wow.” - -“Now, Hun Woe,” I cried, turning to him, “what is the meaning of this -dastardly trick?” - -“Oh, Excellency,” he moaned, “I am the most miserable of men.” - -“Yes, you are. I admit that, and, furthermore, unless you tell the -truth you are in some danger of your life at this moment.” - -“My life,” he went on,--and I knew he spoke truly enough,--“is already -forfeited. My family and my kinsmen are all in the hands of the -Emperor. Their heads will fall if I do not bring back the white woman -whom the Emperor has chosen for his mate.” - -“But how in Heaven’s name would it have brought back the white woman -if you had run us down and drowned us all?” - -“We have expert swimmers aboard,” he said, “divers brought for the -purpose, who would have saved the white woman, and indeed,” he added -hurriedly, “would have saved you all, but the white woman we would have -brought back with us.” - -“What a hairbrained scheme!” I cried. - -“Yes, Excellency, it is not mine. I but do what I am ordered to do. The -Emperor wished to sink the war-vessel of the American King so that he -might not invade our coasts.” - -“Is it true that the Empress has been murdered?” - -“Ah, not murdered, Excellency; she died of a fever.” - -“She looked anything but feverish when I saw her the day before,” I -insisted. - -“We are all in God’s hands,” said the Prime Minister with a shrug of -resignation, “and death sometimes comes suddenly.” - -“It does indeed in Seoul,” I commented, whereupon the Prime Minister -groaned aloud, thinking probably of his own impending fate and that of -his wife, children, and kinsfolk. - -“Excellency,” he went on with the courage of desperation, “it is all -your fault. If you had not brought that creature to Seoul, I would have -been a happy man to-day. I have always been your friend, and it is said -your country stands by its friends; but that, I fear, is not true. You -can help me now, but perhaps you will not do it.” - -“I admit it is largely my fault, although, like yourself, I was merely -the Prime Minister on our side of the affair. Nevertheless, if there is -anything I can do to help you, Hun Woe, I shall be very glad to do it.” - -He brightened up perceptibly at this, and said eagerly, as if to give -further spur to my inclination: - -“If you do, I will make you a rich man, Excellency.” - -Nothing showed the desperate nature of his case more conclusively than -this offer of money, which is always a Corean’s very last card. - -“I do not want a single sek from you, Hun Woe; in fact I am willing to -give away many thousands of them if it will aid you. Tell me what I can -do for you. I will even go so far as to return with you to Seoul and -beg or bribe the Emperor’s clemency.” - -“That would indeed be useless,” demurred the Prime Minister; “His -Majesty would promise you anything and take what money you liked to -give him; but my body would be dismembered as soon as you were gone, -and all my kinsfolk killed or sent to slavery.” - -I knew this to be an accurate presentation of the case. - -“What, then, can I do for you?” I asked. - -He lowered his voice, his little eyes glittering. - -“There is but one thing to do, and that is to get the white woman on -board this ship.” - -“To kidnap her? That is impossible; you cannot do it here in Japan, and -you could not do it even if the ship were lying in Chemulpo roadstead. -It is a dream of foolishness, and if your Emperor had any sense he -would know it could not be done.” - -“Then,” wailed Hun Woe, “my line is extinguished, and the deaths of -myself and of my relatives lie at your door, who brought the accursed -white woman to Seoul.” - -His lamentations disturbed me deeply, because, for a wonder, he spoke -the truth. - -“I’ll tell you what I will do, Hun Woe, which will be far more -effective than your ridiculous project of kidnapping the young lady. -Has not your Emperor the sense to see, or have you not the courage to -tell him, that if you succeeded in getting Miss Hemster to Seoul you -would bring down on yourselves the whole force of America, and probably -of England as well? Either country could blot Seoul, Palace and all, -off the face of the earth within half an hour of surrounding it, and -they would do it, too, if needs be. You know I speak the truth; why did -you not explain this to the Emperor?” - -“His Majesty would not believe me; his Majesty cares for nothing but -the white woman; so any other plan but that of getting her is useless.” - -“No, it isn’t. So far as you are concerned, Hun Woe, it would be -useless for me to appeal to either the English or the American -authorities. They will never interfere unless one of their own citizens -is in jeopardy, but I can trust the Japanese. I am sure Mr. Hemster -will lend me his yacht, and I will take a party of fearless Japanese -with me to the capital and to the Palace. There will be no trouble. I -shall return with your family and your kinsmen, escort them down to -Chemulpo, and I shall deliver them to you here in Nagasaki. So long as -you remain in Nagasaki you are safe.” - -This brave offer brought no consolation to the Prime Minister of Corea: -he shook his head dolefully, and told me what I already knew, that -a man who fled from Corea to Nagasaki had been nearly murdered here -by Coreans, then, thinking himself more safe under the British flag, -he had escaped to Shanghai, where he was followed and killed in cold -blood, his mutilated remains being taken to Seoul, and there exhibited. -All his relatives and his family had already preceded him into the -unknown. - -“Nothing will suffice,” groaned the Prime Minister, “but the white -woman,--may curses alight on her head!” - -“Do not be so downhearted; my scheme is quite practicable, while yours -is not. Mr. Hemster is the most generous of men, and I am certain he -will see you and your family safe across the Pacific to the United -States, and there I will guarantee no Corean will ever follow you. You -have money enough if you can get your hands on it. Perhaps you have -some here with you now.” - -“Yes,” he replied simply, “I have my whole fortune on board this ship.” - -“There you are. I see you did not intend to return to Corea if you -could not get the white woman.” - -“It was not that. I brought my fortune to give it away in bribes.” - -“And that’s why you offered me a bribe?” - -“Yes, Excellency,” he replied with childlike candour. - -“Well, Hun Woe, take my advice. I think I shall be able to get you all -clear away. You are in command here, and these Chinese would rather -die than split on you, so perhaps, instead of taking Mr. Hemster’s -yacht, we had better stick to this vessel, and I will bring my band -of Japanese aboard. However, keep up your courage until I have seen -Mr. Hemster, and then I will let you know what I am prepared to do. -As this ship is now empty you had better spend your time and money in -Nagasaki filling her with coal. We will go to Corea, get your family -and relatives aboard, and then you can sail direct for San Francisco. -It is a wild project, but with a little courage I make no doubt it -can be carried out, and if you haven’t money enough I can help you. -Indeed, now that I have considered the matter, I shall not ask Mr. -Hemster for his yacht at all. This ship is the very thing. All you -need is plenty of coal and plenty of provisions, and these you can get -at Nagasaki without attracting the least attention. Mr. Hemster could -not accommodate you all on his yacht even if he consented to do so. -Yes, cheer up, my plan is quite feasible, while yours is impossible of -execution. You can no more get the girl than you can get the moon for -the Emperor of Corea.” - -So, telling the Prime Minister that I would call upon him next day and -discuss particulars, I left him there, asked the captain to release the -patient crew and their officers, threw a rope ladder down the side, -and so descended to our waiting naphtha launch, the crew of which had -been rather anxious at the long silence following the two rapid shots; -but they had obeyed orders and stood by without attempting to board. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - - -Silas Hemster was sitting in his wicker chair on deck just as I had -left him, so I drew up another chair beside him and sat down to give -him my report. He listened to the end without comment. - -“What a darned-fool scheme,” he said at last. “There wasn’t one chance -in a thousand of those chumps picking any of us out alive if they had -once destroyed the yacht. Do you think they will attempt it again?” - -“Well, it seems as if I had discouraged old Hun Woe, but a person never -can tell how the Oriental mind works. He stated that the precious plan -emanated from the Emperor, who wished at a blow to destroy your fleet, -as it were, and capture your daughter; but it is more than likely -the scheme was concocted in his own brain. He is just silly enough -to have contrived it, but I rather imagine our good captain overawed -the officers and crew to such an extent that they may be chary of -attempting such an outrage again. When two of us had no difficulty in -holding up the whole company, they may fear an attack from our entire -crew. Still, as I have said, no one can tell what these people will do -or not do. The Prime Minister himself, of course, is in a bad way, and -I should like to enable him to escape if I could.” - -“You intend, then, to carry out the project you outlined to him?” - -“I certainly do, with your permission.” - -“Well, not to flatter you, Tremorne, I think your invasion of Corea at -the head of a band of Japanese is quite as foolhardy as his attempt to -run down the yacht.” - -“Oh, no, Mr. Hemster; the Coreans are a bad people to run away from, -but if you face them boldly you get what you want. They call it the -Hermit Kingdom, but I should call it the Coward Kingdom. A squad of -determined little Japs would put the whole country to flight.” - -“Well, you can do as you like, and I’ll help you all I’m able. Of -course you’re not responsible for the plight of the Prime Minister; -I’m the cause of the mix-up, and if you want the yacht you just take -it, and I’ll stay here in Nagasaki with the womenfolk till you return; -but if I had my way I’d clear out of this section of the country -altogether.” - -“Why not do so, Mr. Hemster. I have entirely given up the notion -of taking the yacht, because the Chinese steamer will be much less -conspicuous and will cause less talk in Chemulpo than the coming -back of the yacht. Of course the Emperor will have spies down at the -port, and it will seem to them perfectly natural for the black ship -to return. Meanwhile, before his Majesty knows what has happened, I -shall be up in Seoul and in the Palace with my Japanese, and I think I -shall succeed in terrorizing the old boy to such an extent that in less -than ten minutes we shall be marching back again with Hun Woe’s whole -family and troop of relatives. ‘Once aboard the lugger’ they are safe, -for Corea has no ship to overtake them, and the whole thing will be -done so suddenly that the Chinese steamer will be half-way across the -Pacific, or the whole way to Shanghai, before the Coreans have made up -their minds what to do. I shall leave with the ship, and have them drop -me at Nagasaki or Shanghai, or whatever port we conclude to make for. -Then I can rejoin the yacht at any port we agree upon.” - -“You appear to think you’ll have no trouble with your expedition, then?” - -“Oh, not the slightest.” - -“Well, you know, we had trouble enough with ours.” - -“Yes, but this is a mere dash of twenty-six miles there and twenty-six -miles back. We ought to be able to do it within a day and a night, and -if old Hun Woe attends rightly to his coaling and his provisioning, all -Corea cannot stop him. I think he is badly enough frightened not to -omit any details that make for his safety.” - -“Very well, we’ll stay right here till you return. I suppose that old -Chinese tub will take some time worrying her way to Corea and back -again, although I’ll confess she seemed to come on like a prairie fire -when she was heading for us. Now I guess everybody is just a little -tired of life on shipboard. I’ve noticed that when a lot of people are -cooped up together for a while things don’t run on as smoothly as they -might sometimes, so I’ll hire a floor in the principal hotel here and -live ashore until we see your Chinese steamer come into the harbour -again. I suppose the captain will prefer to live on the yacht, but the -rest of us will sample hotel life. I’m rather yearning for a change -myself; besides I think my daughter would be safer ashore than on board -here, for one can’t tell, as you said, what these hoodlums may attempt; -and as long as they’re convinced she’s on the yacht we’re in constant -danger of being run down, or torpedoed, or something. Now, you wouldn’t -mind telling my daughter what you’ve told me about the intentions of -this here Prime Minister? She’s rather fond of wandering around town -alone, and I guess she’d better know that until this Chinese steamer -sails away she is in some danger.” - -“I suggest that she shouldn’t go sightseeing or shopping without an -escort, Mr. Hemster.” - -“Well, a good deal will depend on what Gertie thinks herself, as -perhaps you have found out while you’ve been with us.” - -He sent for his daughter, and I placed a third chair for the girl when -she arrived. She listened with great interest to my narration of the -events on board the Chinese steamer, and I added my warning that it -was advisable for her not to desert the frequented parts of Nagasaki, -and never to make any expedition through the town without one or more -masculine persons to protect her. She tossed her head as I said this, -and replied rather cuttingly: - -“I guess I’m able to take care of myself.” - -I should have had sense enough to let it go at that, but I was much -better aware of her peril then even her father was, for I knew -Nagasaki like a well-thumbed book; so I said it was a regular labyrinth -into whose mazes even a person intimately acquainted with the town -might get lost, and as the Prime Minister had plenty of money at his -command, he had the choice of all the outscourings of the nations here -along the port, who would murder or kidnap without a qualm for a very -small sum of ready cash. - -“There is no use in saying anything more, Mr. Tremorne,” put in her -father, definitely; “I’ll see to it that my daughter does not go abroad -unprotected.” - -“Well, Poppa,” she cried, “I like the hotel idea first rate, and I’m -going there right away; but I want a suite of rooms to myself. I’m not -coming down to the public table, and I wish to have the Countess and my -own maid with me and no one else.” - -“That’s all right,” said her father, “you can have what you like. I’ll -buy the whole hotel for you if you want it.” - -“No, I just wish a suite of rooms that will be my own; and I won’t have -any visitors that I don’t invite specially.” - -“Won’t you allow me to visit you, Gertie?” asked the old gentleman with -a quizzical smile. - -“No, I don’t want you or any one else. I’m just tired of people, that’s -what I am. I intended to propose going to the hotel anyhow. I’m just -sick of this yacht, and have a notion to go home in one of the regular -steamers. I’m going right over to the hotel now and pick my own rooms.” - -“Just as you please,” concurred her father. “Perhaps Mr. Tremorne will -be good enough to escort you there.” - -“I have told you that I don’t want Mr. Tremorne, or Mr. Hemster, or Mr. -Anybody-else. If I must have an escort I’ll take two of the sailors.” - -“That will be perfectly satisfactory. Take as many trunks as you want, -and secure the best rooms in the hotel.” - -Shortly afterward Miss Hemster, with her maid and the Countess, left -the yacht in the launch, the mountain of luggage following in another -boat. The launch and the boat remained an unconscionably long time at -the landing, until even Mr. Hemster became impatient, ordering the -captain to signal their return. When, in response to this, they came -back, the officer in charge of the launch told Mr. Hemster that his -daughter had ordered them to remain until she sent them word whether or -not she had secured rooms to her satisfaction at the hotel. Meanwhile -she had given the officer a letter to her father, which he now handed -to the old gentleman. He read it through two or three times with a -puzzled expression on his face, then handed it to me, saying: - -“What do you make of that?” - -The letter ran as follows: - - “DEAR POPPA: - - “I have changed my mind about the hotel, and, not wanting a fuss, - said nothing to you before I left. As I told you, I am tired to - death of both the yacht and the sea, and I want to get to some - place where I need look on neither of them. The Countess, who knows - more about Japan than Mr. Tremorne thinks he knows, has been kind - enough to offer me her country house for a week or two, which is - situated eight or nine miles from Nagasaki. I want to see something - of high life in Japan, and so may stay perhaps for two weeks; and - if you are really as anxious about my kidnapping as you pretend, - you may be quite sure I am safe where I am going,--much more so - than if I had stayed at the hotel at Nagasaki. I don’t believe - there’s any danger at all, but think Mr. Tremorne wants to impress - you with a feeling of his great usefulness, and you may tell him I - said so if you like. Perhaps I shall tire of the place where I am - going in two or three days; it is more than likely. Anyhow, I want - to get away from present company for a time at least. I will send a - message to you when I am returning. - - “Yours affectionately, - “GERTIE.” - -This struck me as a most ungracious and heartless communication to a -father who was devoting his life and fortune to her service. I glanced -up at the old gentleman; but, although he had asked my opinion on this -epistle, his face showed no perturbation regarding its contents. I -suppose he was accustomed to the young woman’s vagaries. - -The letter seemed to me very disquieting. It had been written on board -the yacht before she left, so perhaps the country house visit had -been in her mind for some time; nevertheless there were two or three -circumstances which seemed to me suspicious. It was an extraordinary -thing that a Countess should take what was practically a servant’s -position if she possessed a country house. Then, again, it was no less -extraordinary that this Japanese woman should be able to speak Corean, -of which fact I had had auricular demonstration. Could it be possible -that there was any connection between the engaging of this woman and -the arrival of the Chinese steamer? Was the so-called Countess an -emissary of the Corean Prime Minister? A moment’s reflection caused -me to dismiss this conjecture as impossible, because Miss Hemster had -engaged the Countess on the day she arrived at Nagasaki, and, as our -yacht was more speedy than any other vessel that might have come from -Corea, all idea of collusion between the Corean man and the Japanese -woman seemed far fetched. Should I then communicate my doubts to Mr. -Hemster? He seemed quite at his ease about the matter, and I did not -wish to disturb him unnecessarily. Yet he had handed me the letter, and -he wished my opinion on it. He interrupted my meditations by repeating -his question: - -“Well, what do you make of it?” - -“It seems to me the letter of one who is accustomed to think and act -for herself, without any undue regard to the convenience of others.” - -“Yes, that’s about the size of it.” - -“Has she ever done anything like this before?” - -“Oh, bless you, often. I have known her to leave Chicago for New York -and turn up at Omaha.” - -“Then you are not in any way alarmed by the receipt of this?” - -“No, I see no reason for alarm; do you?” - -“Who is this Countess that owns the country house?” - -“I don’t even know her name. Gertie went ashore soon after we came into -the harbour and visited the American Consul, who sent out for this -woman, and Gertie engaged her then and there.” - -“Isn’t it a little remarkable that she speaks Corean?” - -“Well, the American Consul said there wasn’t many of them could; but -Gertie, after being at Seoul, determined to learn the language, and -that’s why she took on the Countess.” - -“Oh, I see. She stipulated, then, for one who knew Corean?” - -“Quite so; she told me before we left Chemulpo that she intended to -learn the language.” - -“Well, Mr. Hemster, what you say relieves my mind a good deal. If she -got the woman on the recommendation of the American Consul, everything -is all right. The coming of the Prime Minister, and the fact that this -Countess understands Corean, made me fear that there might be some -collusion between the two.” - -“That is impossible,” said Mr. Hemster calmly. “If the Corean Minister -had come a day or two before the Countess was engaged, there might have -been a possibility of a conspiracy between them; but convincing proof -that such is not the case lies in the fact that the Prime Minister -would not then have needed to run us down, which he certainly tried to -do.” - -I had not thought of this, and it was quite convincing, taken in the -light of the fact that Miss Hemster had frequently acted in this -impulsive way before. - -We resolved not to leave the yacht that night, even if we left it -at all, now that Miss Hemster had taken herself into the interior. -Whatever she thought, or whatever her preferences were, I imagine her -father liked the yacht better than a hotel. - -Hilda and I went on deck after dinner and remained there while the -lights came out all over Nagasaki, forming a picture like fairyland or -the superb setting of a gigantic opera. We were aroused by a cry from -one of the sailors, and then a shout from the bridge. - -“That Chinese beast is coming at us again!” - -Sure enough the steamer had left her moorings, rounded inside toward -the city, and now was making directly toward us without a light showing. - -“Get into the boats at once,” roared the captain. - -I hailed Hemster, who was below, at the top of my voice, and he replied -when I shouted: “Come up immediately and get into the small boat.” - -By the time he was on deck I had Hilda in one of the boats, and Mr. -Hemster was beside her a moment later. Two sailors seized the oars and -pushed off. The next instant there was a crash, and the huge black bulk -of the Chinese steamer loomed over us, passing quickly away into the -night. I thought I heard a woman scream somewhere, but could not be -quite sure. - -“Did you hear anything?” I asked Hemster. - -“I heard an almighty crashing of timber. I wonder if they’ve sunk the -yacht.” - -The captain’s gruff voice hailed us. - -“They’ve carried away the rudder,” he said, “and shattered the stern, -but not seriously. She will remain afloat, but will have to go into -dry-dock to-morrow.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - - -The Chinese steamer, if indeed it were she, although we could not be -sure in the darkness, had sent us to the hotel when we had made up our -minds not to go. We in the boat hovered near the yacht long enough for -the captain to make a hurried examination of the damage. The wreck -certainly looked serious, for the overhang of the stern had been -smashed into matchwood, while the derelict rudder hung in chains like -an executed pirate of a couple of centuries agone. It was impossible at -the moment to estimate with any degree of accuracy the extent of the -disaster. The captain reported that she was not leaking, and therefore -her owner need have no fear that she would sink during the night. -The rudder had certainly been carried away, and probably one of the -propellers was damaged. In any case the yacht would have to go into -dry-dock; so, being satisfied on the score of immediate safety, Mr. -Hemster gave orders to pull ashore, and thus we became guests of the -Nagasaki Hotel. - -Next morning the Chinese steamer was nowhere in sight, so it was -reasonably certain she had been the cause of our misfortune. The yacht -rode at its anchorage, apparently none the worse so far as could be -seen from the town. Before noon the craft was in dock, and we learned -to our relief that her propellers were untouched. She needed a new -rudder, and the rest was mere carpenter work which would be speedily -accomplished by the deft Japanese workmen. Mr. Hemster had his desk -removed to a room in the hotel, and business went on as before, for -there were still many details to be settled with Mr. John C. Cammerford -before he proceeded toward San Francisco. I think we all enjoyed the -enlarged freedom of residence on shore, and the old gentleman said that -he quite understood his daughter’s desire to get away from sight of sea -or ship. It struck me as remarkable that he was not in the slightest -degree alarmed for the safety of his daughter, nor did he doubt for a -moment her assertion that she was going to stop at the country house -of the Countess. On the other hand I was almost convinced she had been -kidnapped, but did not venture to display my suspicions to her father, -as there seemed no useful purpose to be served by arousing anxiety -when my fears rested purely on conjecture. Of course I consulted -confidentially with Hilda, but a curious transformation had taken place -in our several beliefs. When she spoke of the probability of the girl’s -committing suicide or doing something desperate, I had pooh-poohed her -theory. We had each convinced the other, and I had adopted her former -view while she had adopted mine. She had heard no scream on the night -of the disaster, and regarded it as a trick of my imagination. - -But what made me more uneasy was the departure of the Prime Minister. -His fears for himself and family were genuine enough, and he was not -likely to abandon a quest merely because his first effort had failed. -It meant death to him if he returned to Seoul without the girl, so, if -he had not captured her, it seemed incredible that he should return -the same night without a single effort to accomplish his mission. -The second,--and, as far as he knew, successful,--essay to sink the -yacht, must have been to prevent pursuit. He was probably well aware -that the yacht was the fastest steamer in the harbour, and, if it -were not disabled, would speedily overhaul him. He also knew that his -officers and crew were no heroes, and that with half-a-dozen energetic -Japanese in addition to our own crew we could capture his steamer on -the high seas without the slightest effort being put forth to hinder -us. He had now a clear run to Chemulpo, and, however resolute we were, -there was no possibility of our overtaking him. I had offered him my -assistance, which he had accepted in a provisional sort of way, yet -here he had disappeared from the scene without leaving word for me, -and apparently had returned to the land where his fate was certain if -he was unsuccessful. Of course, he might have made for Yokohama or -Shanghai, but I was convinced, after all, that he cared more for the -safety of his family than for his own, and indeed, if he was thinking -only of himself, he was as safe in Nagasaki as elsewhere. I could -therefore come to no other conclusion than that the girl was aboard the -Chinese steamer and was now a prisoner on her way to Seoul, but of this -I could not convince Hilda Stretton, and Mr. Hemster evidently had no -misgivings in the matter. - -Obviously the first thing to do was to learn the antecedents of the -so-called Japanese Countess, and with this intent I called at the -American Consulate. The official in charge received me with the -gracious good-comradeship of his nation, and replied with the utmost -frankness to my questions. He remembered Miss Hemster’s visit of a few -days before, and he assured me that the Countess was above suspicion. -As for her knowledge of Corean, that was easily accounted for, because -her late husband had been a Japanese official at Seoul a dozen years -or so ago, and she had lived with him in that city. Corea, indeed, had -been in a way the cause of the Countess’s financial misfortunes. Her -husband, some years before he died, had invested largely in Corean -enterprises, all of which had failed, and so left his wife with -scarcely anything to live upon except the country house, which was so -remote from Nagasaki as to be unsalable for anything like the money he -had expended upon it. Exactly where this country house was situated -the United States Consul professed himself ignorant, but said he would -endeavour to find out for me, and so genially asked me to take a drink -with him and call a few days later. - -This conversation did much to dissipate my doubts. Of course, without -Mr. Hemster’s permission I could not tell the Consul the full -particulars of the case, or even make any reference to them. So far as -that courteous official knew, I was merely making inquiries on behalf -of Mr. Hemster about the woman engaged to be his daughter’s companion, -and about the country house which the girl had been invited to visit. -The Consul assured me that everything was right and proper, and that -Miss Hemster would get a glimpse of the inner life of the Japanese -not usually unfolded to strangers, and thus my reason was convinced, -although my instinct told me there was something unaccountable in all -this. The scream I had heard simultaneously with the crashing of the -collision might of course have been the shrill shriek of one of the -Chinese sailors, but at the time it had sounded to me suspiciously -like the terrified exclamation of a woman. Then, again, the action of -the Prime Minister remained as unaccountable as ever, unless my former -theory proved correct. However, I got the name of the Countess, which -none of us who remained had known before, and I promised to return and -learn the situation of the country house. My visit, on the whole, was -rather reassuring; for, after all, there was little use in attaching -too much importance to the actions of any Corean, even though he were -Prime Minister of that country; so the problem began to appear to be a -self-conjured one, and I gradually came to recognize that I had been -troubling myself for nothing. - -The week that followed was one of the most delightful in my existence. -The captain was superintending the repairs on the yacht, and the -intricacies of Mr. Hemster’s business activity were such that I could -not be of much assistance to him; so there was practically nothing to -do but to make myself agreeable to that dear girl, Hilda, to whom I -showed whatever beauties Nagasaki possessed, and surely no one knew the -town better than I did. She took a vivid interest, not only in the -place, but also in my own somewhat doleful experience there in former -and less happy times, not yet remote, the recital of which experiences -rendered the present all the more glorious by contrast. - -On our tenth day ashore Hilda told me that the old gentleman was -beginning to worry because he had heard nothing from his daughter, and -Hilda herself expressed some uneasiness because of the long silence. -This aroused all my old doubts, and I called a second time on the -American Consul. He told me that the information I sought had been -in hand several days. The villa was called “The House of the Million -Blossoms,” and it was situated nearly ten miles from Nagasaki. He -produced a sketch map, drawn by himself, which he said would guide me -to the place, so I resolved to visit it without saying a word to anyone. - -I found the villa of the Blossoms without the least difficulty, and a -most enchanting spot it appeared to be. Situated inland, at the bottom -of a sheltered valley, through which ran a trickling stream, the place -had evidently been one of importance in its day; but now the entrance -lodge showed signs of dilapidation, and the plantation itself was so -marvellously overgrown as to be almost a wilderness, with foliage too -thick for me to see anything of the house itself. The custodian of -the lodge received me with great urbanity but no less firmness. He -confessed that the ladies were there, but added that he had strict -orders to allow no one to enter or even to approach the house. I asked -him to take my card to the stranger lady, and, although at first he -demurred, I overcome his reluctance by an urbanity which I flatter -myself was a stage imitation of his own, and, what was more to the -purpose, I induced him to accept a present in the coinage of the realm. -Nevertheless he securely barred the gate and left me outside, showing -that his trust in my good faith was either very weak, or that his -politeness was confined to the flowery language of his country. After a -long absence he returned, and handed to me a folded sheet of note paper -which I recognized as belonging to the stationery of the yacht. It bore -these words in English, and in Miss Hemster’s handwriting: - - “I wish to remain here in seclusion, and I consider it very - impertinent of you to have sought me out. I am perfectly happy - here, which I was not on board the yacht, and all I wish is to - be left alone. When good and ready I will write to the yacht and - to the Nagasaki Hotel. Until that time it is useless for you to - intrude.” - -This was definite enough, and I turned away angry with myself for -having played the busybody, not knowing enough to attend to my own -affairs. I had intended to tell the young woman of the accident to the -yacht, making that in some way the excuse for my visit; but in the -face of such a message I forgot all about the information I desired to -impart, and so returned in a huff to Nagasaki. This message set at rest -all thoughts of kidnapping, although it left my honoured friend Hun -Woe’s precipitate departure as much a mystery as ever. - -On my arrival at the hotel I showed the note to Hilda, who averred -there could be no doubt about its genuineness, and she asked my -permission to give it to Mr. Hemster to allay his rapidly arising -anxiety, which mission it certainly performed as completely as it had -snubbed me. - -Next day the yacht was floated and appeared none the worse for the -collision. The captain took her out to the anchorage, and so we waited -several days to hear from the girl, but no word came. Finally her -father wrote a letter to her, beseeching some indication of her plans, -and this was sent by messenger to the House of the Million Blossoms. -The old gentleman had become exceedingly tired of Nagasaki, and very -evidently did not know what to do with himself. The messenger returned, -but brought no answer. He said the man at the gate had taken in the -letter, and brought out the verbal message that the lady would write -when she was ready to do so. This was the reverse of satisfactory, and -Mr. Hemster roamed about disconsolately like a lost spirit. Hilda said -he told her that his daughter had never before remained in the same -mind for two days together, and this prolonged country house visit -caused him great uneasiness. He now became infused with the kidnapping -idea, not fearing that she had been taken away to Corea, but believing -that the Japanese were holding her prisoner, perhaps with the idea of a -ransom later on. Finally Mr. Hemster determined to visit the House of -the Million Blossoms himself, and he insisted on Hilda’s accompanying -us, which she did with some reluctance. Never did she believe that this -was other than one of the girl’s prolonged caprices to make us all -anxious, hoping to laugh at us later on for being so. - -At the gateway we were met by the same imperturbable guardian, who was -as obdurate as ever. He would take in any message, he said, but would -not permit us to enter even the grounds. Mr. Hemster sent a letter he -had written at the hotel, and in due time the keeper came out with a -signed note, somewhat similar to the one I had received. It said: - - “DEAR FATHER: - - “Do not worry about me; I am perfectly happy and wish to remain - here a few days longer. - - “Your affectionate daughter, - “G.” - -After reading this he passed it on to Hilda and me in silence. He -got into his ’rickshaw without a word, and we entered ours. The men -tottered along until we were out of sight of the lodge, and then Mr. -Hemster called a halt. He sprang out, and, approaching me, said: - -“Well, Tremorne, what do you make of it?” - -The voice in which his question was put quivered with anguish, and, -glancing at his face, I saw it drawn and haggard with an expression -that betokened terror. - -“Oh, there’s nothing to make of it, Mr. Hemster, except that the young -lady, for some reason unknown to me, desires to make you anxious and -has succeeded.” - -“Tremorne,” he said, unheeding this attempted consolation, “look at -this note. It was not written to-day, but weeks ago. It was written on -board the yacht, and so was the one you received, although I did not -notice that at the time. This was written with a stub pen, the same -that she used in sending me the first letter; but this pen she did not -take away with her, nor the ink. My poor girl has been deluded into -writing those letters by some one who had a subtle end to serve. I -cannot fathom the mystery, but I am certain she is not in that house.” - -I sprang down from my ’rickshaw. - -“I’ll soon settle that point,” I cried, “I will crush through the -boundary hedge, and break in the door of the house. If there are any -ladies within they will soon make an outcry, which will reveal their -presence. You wait for me here.” - -To this he at once agreed, and with some difficulty I got into the -thick plantation, through which I made my way until I came to the -house, the first look at which convinced me it was empty. There is -something of desolate loneliness about a deserted house which instantly -strikes a beholder. - -There was no need for me to break in, for one of the windows was open, -and, tip-toeing up on the broad veranda, so that there would be no -chance of the custodian hearing me, I entered a room through this -window, and the whole silent house was at my disposal. - -The interior would have struck a European unacquainted with Japan as -being unfurnished, but I saw that it remained just as the Countess had -left it. On a small table, standing about a foot from the floor, I -saw a note similar to the one that had been handed to me when I first -inquired at the gate, also three long slips of Japanese paper on which -were written instructions in the Japanese language. I read them with -amazement. The first said: - - “This letter is to be given to a young man who calls, and who - speaks Japanese and English.” - -On the next slip: - - “This letter is to be given to an old man who speaks nothing but - English.” - -The third slip bore: - - “This is to be given to a young woman who speaks nothing but - English.” - -There was also a minute description of Mr. Hemster, Miss Stretton, -and myself, so that the man at the gate could make no mistake, which -indeed he had not done. Hilda had not asked for a letter, therefore the -remaining note had not been delivered. - -Whoever concocted the plot had expected a search to be made for the -House of the Million Blossoms, and of course knew that its situation -could easily be found. I put all the documents into my pocket, and now -went out by the public exit, greatly to the amazement of my urbane -friend at the gate. I fear I may be accused of adopting Western -methods, but the occasion seemed to me too serious for dilly-dallying. -I pulled Mr. Hemster’s revolver from my pocket and pointed it at the -man’s head. - -“Now, you scoundrel,” I said in his own tongue, “when did those women -leave here? Answer me truly, or I shall take you prisoner to Nagasaki, -where you will have to face the authorities.” - -I showed him the written instructions I had captured inside the house, -and he saw at once that the game was up. - -“Excellency!” said he, still politely enough, “I am but a poor man and -a hireling. Many days ago a messenger brought me these instructions -and three letters. No lady has been in this house for some years; the -instructions were written by my mistress, the Countess, and I was -compelled to follow them.” - -I saw that the man spoke the truth, and proceeded to cross-examine -him on the motives which he imagined actuated this extraordinary -complication; but he had told me all he knew, and was apparently as -much in the dark regarding the motive as I was myself. I left him -there, and hurried along the road over the hill to the spot where I had -left Mr. Hemster and Hilda. Here I explained the conspiracy so far as -I had discovered it, but the record of my investigation naturally did -nothing to calm the fears of my employer, whose shrewdness had given a -clue to the real situation at the House of the Million Blossoms. There -was nothing to do but get back to Nagasaki as speedily as possible, -and lay the case before the authorities. Hemster seemed suddenly to -have become in truth an old man. We went directly to the hotel, and the -clerk met us in the passage-way. - -“Mr. Hemster,” he said, “this telegram came for you about two hours -ago.” - -The old gentleman tore open the envelope, read the dispatch, then -crushed the paper in his hand. - -“Just as I thought,” he said. “She is in Seoul and has found some way -of communicating with me. Poor little girl, poor little girl.” - -The father’s voice broke momentarily, but he at once pulled himself -together again. - -“Tremorne, tell the captain to get the yacht under way. We will go on -board immediately. We shall want an escort from Chemulpo to Seoul; -can we depend on getting them at the port as we did before, or had we -better bring them from Nagasaki?” - -“I think, sir,” said I, “that it would be well to take a dozen from -here. They are men I can trust, and I shall have them aboard the yacht -before steam is up.” - -“Very well,” he said, decisively, “see to it.” - -I sent a messenger to the captain, then devoted all my energies to the -selecting of my twelve men, taking care that they were properly armed -and provided with rations. I sent them aboard one by one or two by two -in sampans, so that too much attention might not be attracted toward -our expedition. - -This task accomplished, I hurried back to the hotel, and found Mr. -Hemster and Hilda waiting for me. Cammerford was there also, talking in -a low voice very earnestly with the old gentleman, who stood with his -eyes bent on the ground, making no reply to the other’s expostulations -beyond shaking his head now and then. Hilda and I went on ahead to the -landing, the two men following us. To my surprise Cammerford stepped -into the launch and continued talking to the silent man beside him. -When we reached the yacht Mr. Hemster without a word mounted the steps -to the deck. Hilda followed, and Cammerford stood in the launch, a -puzzled expression on his face. After a momentary hesitation he pushed -past me, and ran up the steps. I also went on deck, and by the time I -reached there my chief was already in his wicker chair with his feet -on the rail, and a fresh unlit cigar in his mouth. Cammerford went -jauntily up to him and said with a laugh that seemed somewhat forced: - -“Well, Mr. Hemster, I propose to continue this discussion to Corea.” - -“Just as you please,” replied the old man nonchalantly. “I think we can -make you very comfortable on board.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - - -Now it was full speed ahead and a direct line for Corea. Once in the -open sea, we struck straight through the Archipelago and took our -chances of running down an island, as the captain had said. There was -no dawdling this time, for the engines were run to the top of their -power. As was the case with our former voyages in these waters, the -weather was perfect and the sea smooth. - -Our dinner that night was on the whole a silent festival. The jovial -captain did not come down, and Mr. Hemster sat moodily at the head of -the table, absorbed in thought and doubtless tortured with anxiety. -Cammerford was the only member of the party who endeavoured to make -a show of cheerful demeanour. His manner with women was one of -deferential urbanity, and, as he never ventured to joke with them, -he was justly popular with the sex. I quite envied him his power of -pleasing, which was so spontaneous that it seemed a natural and not an -acquired gift. The man appeared to possess an almost hypnotic power -over his fellow-creatures, and although I believed him to be one of the -most untrustworthy rascals alive, yet I felt this belief crumbling away -under the magnetic charm of his conversation. - -The old gentleman at the head of the table was evidently immune so -far as Cammerford’s fascination was concerned. I surmised that there -had come a hitch in the negotiations between them. There was no trace -of uneasiness in Cammerford’s attitude, and his voice was as mildly -confident as ever. No one would guess that he was practically a -self-invited guest at this board. Our host was completely taciturn, -but the unbidden guest never risked a snub by addressing a direct -question to him, although he airily included Mr. Hemster with the rest -of us within the area of his polite discourse. Hilda was scarcely -more responsive than Mr. Hemster and seemed troubled because he was -troubled, and as I possessed an instinctive dislike for Cammerford -it will be seen that he had a most difficult rôle to play, which he -enacted with a success that would have done credit to Sir Henry Irving -himself. If there was indeed, as I suspected, a conflict between the -elder man and the younger, I found myself wondering which would win, -but such a quiet atmosphere of confidence enwrapped the latter that I -began to fear Mr. Hemster had met his match, in spite of the fact that -he held all the trump cards. Cammerford represented the new school of -financiers, who juggled with billions as a former generation had played -with millions. My sympathies were entirely with Mr. Hemster, but if -I had been a sporting man my bet would have been laid on Cammerford. -I mention this as an instance of the hypnotic power I have referred -to. I knew that Cammerford could not form his gigantic trust and -leave Mr. Hemster out; therefore, as I say, the elder man held the -trumps. Nevertheless the bearing of Cammerford indicated such reserved -assurance that I felt certain he would ultimately bend the old man to -his will, and I watched for the result of this opposition of forces -with the eagerness with which one awaits the climax of an exciting play -on the stage. - -After dinner Hilda came on deck for half an hour or thereabouts, and -we walked up and down together. The excitement of the day and the -uncertainty that lay ahead of us had told heavily on the poor girl, and -I had not the heart to persuade her to remain longer on deck. She was -rather depressed and admittedly weary of the life we were leading. So I -took cowardly advantage of this and proposed we should get married at -the American Consulate as soon as the yacht returned to Nagasaki. Then, -I said, we could make our way to Yokohama and take passage on a regular -liner for San Francisco. - -To this proposal she made no reply, but walked demurely by my side with -downcast eyes. - -“Think of the glories of Chicago at this moment!” I cried -enthusiastically, wishing to appeal to the home feeling. “Dinner -finished; the roar of the traffic in the streets; the brilliancy of the -electric light; the theatres open, and the gay crowds entering therein. -Let us make for Chicago.” - -She looked up at me with a wan little smile, and laughed quietly. - -“You _do_ need a guardian, as Papa Hemster says. I suppose it is about -noon in Chicago at the present moment, and I don’t see why the theatres -should be open at that hour. It is the roar of the wheat pit, and not -of the traffic you are hearing. I fear your visit to Chicago was of the -briefest, for your picture is not very convincing. Still, I confess I -wish I were there now, if you were with me.” Then with a slight sigh -she added, “I’ll accept that guardianship at Nagasaki. Good-night, my -dear,” and with that she whisked away and disappeared before I was -aware of her meditated escape. - -I lit a fresh cigar and continued my promenade alone. As I walked aft -I caught snatches of the musical monotone of Cammerford’s voice. Ever -since dinner time he had been in earnest conversation with Mr. Hemster, -who sat in his usual chair at the stern of the boat. So far as I am -aware, Mr. Hemster was leaving the burden of the talk to the younger -man, who, from the tone of his voice, seemed in deadly earnest. At last -Mr. Hemster got up and threw his cigar overboard. I heard him say: - -“I told you, Mr. Cammerford, that I would not discuss this matter -further until I reached Nagasaki. The papers are all in my desk under -lock and key in the room at the hotel, and that room is closed and -sealed. I’ll say no more about this scheme until I am back there.” - -“And when you are back there, Mr. Hemster, what action are you going to -take?” - -“Whatever action seems to be best for my own interests, Mr. Cammerford.” - -“Well, from most men that reply would be very unsatisfactory. However, -I am glad to say I trust you completely, Mr. Hemster, and I know you -will do the square thing in the end.” - -“I’m glad you think so,” said the old man curtly, as he went down the -stairway. Cammerford stood there for a few moments, then strode forward -and joined me. - -“May I beg a light of you?” he asked, as if he were conferring a favour. - -I don’t care to light one cigar from another, so I struck a match and -held it while he took advantage of the flame. - -“Thanks. Now, Tremorne, I want to talk with you as to a friend. We were -friends once, you know.” - -“True; the kind of friend the celebrated phrase refers to, perhaps.” - -“What phrase?” - -“‘God protect me from my friends,’ or words to that effect.” - -He laughed most genially. - -“That’s one on me,” he said. “However, I look on our score as being -wiped out. Can’t you let bygones be bygones?” - -“Oh, yes.” - -“You see you are in a way responsible. I have turned over the money to -you. Granted I was forced to do so. I claim no merit in the matter, but -I do say a bargain is a bargain. I showed you the old man’s letter to -me, in which he said if I did thus and so by you, he would join me in -the big beef combine. You remember that, don’t you?” - -“Naturally, I shouldn’t soon forget it, or forget the generosity of Mr. -Hemster in writing it.” - -“Oh, generosity is cheap when you are doing it at somebody else’s -expense. Still, I don’t complain of that at all. What I say is this: -I’ve kept my part of the contract strictly and honestly, but now the -old man is trying to euchre me.” - -“I remember also, Mr. Cammerford, that you said Mr. Hemster was a rogue -or dishonest, or something of like effect.” - -“Well, so he is.” - -“In that case, why do you object to being euchred by him?” - -“Well, you see, I had his promise in writing, and I thought I was safe.” - -“You have it in writing still, I presume. If he does not live up to -what he has written, you probably have your recourse at law, for they -say there is no wrong without a remedy.” - -“Oh, that’s all talking through your hat. It isn’t a lawsuit I’m after, -but the co-operation of Mr. Hemster. What chance would I have against a -man of his wealth?” - -“I’m sure I don’t know. What is it you wish from me? Advice?” - -“I wanted to explain the situation that has arisen, and I wish to know -if you have anything to suggest that will lead the old man to do the -square thing?” - -“I have no suggestion to make, Mr. Cammerford.” - -“Supposing he does not keep his promise, don’t you think it would be -fair that the money I expended on the strength of it should be returned -to me?” - -“It does seem reasonable, I admit.” - -“I am glad to hear you say so, and to tell the truth, Mr. Tremorne, it -is just the action I should expect of you.” - -“What action?” - -“The returning of the money, of course.” - -“Bless my soul, you don’t suppose I’m going to return a penny of it, do -you?” - -“Ah, your honesty is theory then, not practice.” - -“My dear sir, my honesty is both theory and practice. The money is -mine. I made you no promises regarding it. In fact, I refused to make -any promise when you offered me half the amount. If I had made any -engagements I should have kept them.” - -“I see. I take it then you do not regard yourself as bound by any -promises the old man made on your behalf?” - -“Certainly not. I knew nothing of the matter until you showed me his -letter.” - -“Your position is perfectly sound, Mr. Tremorne, and I unreservedly -withdraw the imputation I put upon your honesty a moment since. But the -truth is that this amount represents a very serious loss to me. It was -a sprat thrown out to catch a whale, or, rather, a whale thrown out to -catch a shoal of whales. But if I lose the whale and do not catch my -shoal, then I have done a very bad piece of business by coming East. -Through this proposed combine I expected to make several millions. Now, -if you will join in with me, and put your half-million into the pool, -I’ll guarantee that before a month you have doubled it.” - -“You gave me a chance like that once before, Mr. Cammerford.” - -The man laughed heartily as if I had perpetrated a very amusing joke. - -“Oh, yes, but that was years ago. We have both learned a good deal -since.” - -“I certainly have, Mr. Cammerford. I have learned so much that I will -not part with a penny of the money; not a red cent of it, as we say out -West. That sum is going to be safely salted down, and it’s not going to -be salted in a corned-beef tub either. I don’t mind telling you that -I intend to get married upon it at the American Consulate at Nagasaki -before a week is past.” - -“Really? Allow me to congratulate you, my boy. I surmised that was the -way the land lay, and I quite envy you your charming young lady.” - -“Thanks!” - -“But you see, Mr. Tremorne, that makes your money doubly safe. I -noticed that Mr. Hemster is as fond of Miss Stretton as he is of his -own daughter, and if you give me the half million, he’ll see to it that -you make a hundred per cent on it.” - -“I don’t at all agree with you, Mr. Cammerford. To speak with brutal -frankness, if I trusted you with the money which you once succeeded in -detaching from me,--if I trusted you with it again,--he would merely -look upon me as a hopeless fool, and I must say I think he would be -right.” - -John C. Cammerford was a man whom you couldn’t insult: it was not -business to take offence, so he took none, but merely laughed again in -his free-hearted way. - -“The old man thinks I don’t see what his game is, but I do. He is -playing for time. He expects to hold me out here in the East, dangling -this bait before me, until it is too late for me to do anything with my -options. Now, he is going to get left at that game. I have more cards -up my sleeve than he imagines, but I don’t want to have any trouble -with him: I want to deal with him in a friendly manner for our mutual -benefit. I’ll play fair if he plays fair. It isn’t too much to ask a -man to keep his word, is it!” - -“No, the demand doesn’t appear excessive.” - -“Very good. Now, I wish you would have a quiet talk with him. I can -see that he reposes great confidence in you. You have admitted that my -request is an honest one, so I hope you won’t mind just presenting my -side of the case to him.” - -“It is none of my business, Mr. Cammerford. I could not venture to take -such a liberty with Mr. Hemster.” - -“But you admit the old man isn’t playing fair?” - -“I admit nothing of the sort: I don’t know his side of the story at -all. He may have reasons for declining to deal with you, which seem to -him conclusive.” - -“Granted. But nevertheless, don’t you think he should return the money -given on the strength of his promise?” - -“Really I would rather not discuss the matter any further, Mr. -Cammerford, if you don’t mind. I overheard you telling him at the head -of the companion-way that you trusted him completely. Very well, then, -why not continue to do so?” - -Cammerford gave a short laugh that had little of mirth in it: his -politeness was evidently becoming worn threadbare, and I imagine he was -inwardly cursing my obstinacy. There was silence between us for several -minutes, then he said sharply: - -“Is this yarn about the kidnapping of his daughter all guff?” - -“Who told you about it?” I asked. - -“Oh, he did: gave that as the reason he didn’t wish to talk business.” - -“The story is true, and I think the reason is valid. If you take -my advice, you will not talk business with him in the face of his -prohibition until his mind is at rest regarding his daughter.” - -“Well, I guess I’ll take your advice; it seems to be the only thing I’m -going to get out of you. I thought the daughter story was only a yarn -to bluff me from coming aboard the yacht.” - -“It wasn’t, and furthermore, I don’t think you showed your usual -perspicacity in not accepting Mr. Hemster’s intimation that he didn’t -want to be bothered at this particular time.” - -“Oh, well, as to that,” said Cammerford, confidently, “the old man has -been making a monkey of me for some weeks now, and the whole matter -might have been settled in as many hours if he had cared to do so. He -isn’t going to shake me off so easily as he thinks. I’ll stick to him -till he keeps his promise, and don’t you forget it.” - -“All right, I’ll endeavour to keep it in mind.” - -“You won’t be persuaded to try and lure him on to the straight and -narrow path of honesty, Mr. Tremorne?” - -“No, I’m not sure that he’s off it. I have always found him treading -that path.” - -“I see. Well, good-night. When do we reach that outlandish -place,--whatever its name is?” - -“We ought to arrive at Chemulpo some time to-morrow night.” - -“Chemulpo, is it? Well, I wish it was Chicago. So long.” - -“Good-night,” I responded, and with that he left the world to darkness -and to me. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - - -We came to anchor a little after ten the next night. Mr. Hemster was -naturally very impatient, and wished to proceed at once to the capital, -but the customs authorities refused to let us land until daylight. -Cammerford talked very valiantly of forcing our way ashore and going to -Seoul in the darkness in spite of all opposition, and indeed the old -gentleman was rather in favour of such a course; but I pointed out that -our mission might be one of great delicacy, and that it was as well not -to use force unless we were compelled to do so. - -“Even in New York,” said I, “we should not be allowed to proceed up the -harbour after sunset, no matter how anxious we might be to land.” - -This was not thought to be a parallel case, but the old gentleman -suggested that, as he wished no undue publicity, it would be better to -wait until daylight and make our landing with as little ostentation -as possible. I tried bribery, but for once it was ineffective, and -in spite of the fact that I incurred the contempt of the energetic -Cammerford, I counselled less hurry and more speed, though there was -nothing to do but turn in and get a night’s sleep in preparation for -the toilsome journey in the morning. - -I was on deck at daylight and found my Japs had all disappeared except -their leader. He explained to me that he thought it best to get them -ashore during the night unobtrusively in sampans. They would be waiting -for us, he said, two or three miles beyond the port on the Seoul road. -Now our Excellencies might disembark, he added, without attracting any -attention. I complimented the little man on his forethought, and, sure -enough, we found our company just where he said we would. - -The next surprise was that Cammerford also had disappeared. I went down -to his stateroom, but found his bed had not been slept in. The Japs had -seen nothing of him, neither had any of the crew, so our unbidden guest -had departed as he came. - -Hilda was evidently most reluctant to take the journey. She told me she -had seen enough of Seoul to last her a lifetime, but as she found that -Mr. Hemster was most anxious for her to accompany us, she did what she -always had done, and sacrificed her own inclinations in deference to -the wishes of others. - -We had got nearly half way to Seoul when I saw with alarm a large -party, apparently of Corean soldiers, marching westward. They were -easily ten to one as compared with our escort, yet I had not the -slightest doubt our Japs would put them all to flight if they attempted -to bar our way. Taking two of the Japs with me, I galloped on ahead to -learn the intentions of the cavalcade in front. They paused in their -march on seeing us coming up, and their leader galloped forward to meet -me. To my surprise I saw it was the Prime Minister himself. - -“Well, you old scoundrel,” I cried, “your head is still on your -shoulders unfortunately. What’s the meaning of this movement of troops. -Do you think you’re going to stop us?” - -“Oh, no, Excellency, no. I have come to greet you, and offer you the -profound regard of the Emperor himself.” - -“Now, just try to speak the truth for once; it won’t hurt you. You know -very well that you had no word of our coming.” - -“Pardon, most Gracious Excellency, but your white ambassador arrived as -soon as the gates were open this morning.” - -“Our white ambassador! Oh, that’s Cammerford, very likely. So he has -reached the capital, has he?” - -“Yes, Excellency, and has received the honour due.” - -“That ought to be a gorgeous reception. And did he send you to meet us?” - -“No, Excellency, it was the white Princess.” - -“Ah, you villain, you did kidnap her after all. Now if any harm has -come to her, off goes your head, and down goes your pasteboard city.” - -“Ah, Excellency,” said the Prime Minister with a wail of woe, “it was -indeed depths of wickedness, but what was I to do? If I did not bring -her to Seoul, not only was my head lost, but the heads of all my kin; -and now, alas, the Emperor says that if she goes not willingly away he -will yet execute me, and all my family as well. Excellency, it was an -unlucky day when the white Princess came to the Palace. The Emperor is -in fear of his life, and terror reigns in every corner. Yet she would -not go until the King, her father, brought his warship to Chemulpo, and -she demanded to be escorted by the whole court with the honours of an -Empress from the capital to the sea. She was going to make the Emperor -himself come, but he bowed his forehead in the dust, a thing unknown -these ten thousand years in Corea, and so she laughed at him and -allowed him to remain in the Palace. She has made a mock of his Majesty -and his ancestors.” - -“Serves him jolly well right,” said I, beginning to get an inkling of -how the case stood. “Her ancestors fought for liberty, and it is not -likely she is going to be deprived of hers by any tan-bark monarch who -foolishly undertakes the job. Is the lady still at the Palace, Hun Woe?” - -“No, Excellency, she is on her way hither, escorted by the Court, -and riding proudly with her white ambassador. Indeed,” he continued, -looking over his shoulder, “I can see them now, coming over the brow -of that hill. She was so anxious to meet her father that she would not -await your coming.” - -“All right, Hun Woe, you line up your troops on each side of the road, -and see that they bow low when the Princess passes. I shall return and -acquaint the King, her father, with the state of the poll.” - -So saying I wheeled my horse, galloped back, and informed the old -gentleman that everything was all right. He heaved a deep sigh of -relief, and I fancied his eyes twinkled somewhat as I related what -particulars I had gathered of the reign of terror in Seoul since his -daughter’s enforced arrival. - -By the time I had finished my recital the cavalcade to the rear had -passed between the lines of prostrate soldiers. The old gentleman moved -forward to meet his daughter, and she came galloping on her pony and -greeted him with an affectionate abandon that was delightful to see, -although when she flung her arms round his neck she nearly unhorsed -him. Her reception of the rest of us was like that of a school-girl -out on a lark. She seemed to regard her abduction as the greatest fun -that ever was, and was bubbling with laughter and glee. She kissed the -sedate Hilda as if she were an only sister, reproaching herself that -even for a moment she had preferred that little beast of a Countess, as -she called her, to so noble a treasure as Miss Stretton. To me she was -as gracious as if I were her dearest friend. - -“And now, Poppa,” she cried, “shall I make this circus come with us to -Chemulpo? I can do what I please with them; they belong to me.” - -“I don’t think we want that crowd tagging after us, Gertie,” said her -father without enthusiasm. - -“Then, Mr. Tremorne,” she said, “will you order them home again, and -tell ’em to be good for ever after. And oh! I want you to ask the Prime -Minister if I didn’t make that old Emperor kow-tow to me.” - -“He has already admitted that you did, Miss Hemster.” - -“Then that’s all right: I thought they’d try to deny it.” - -I bade an affectionate farewell to Hun Woe, who was as glad to be quit -of me as I was to be rid of him, and we have never seen each other -since. - -I don’t remember ever taking part in a jollier excursion than that -which now set forth towards Chemulpo, which place we reached before -sunset. - -Miss Hemster related her adventures with a gusto and enjoyment that -I never saw equalled. Even her father smiled now and then at the -exuberant humour of her declamation. It seemed that the Countess was in -the pay of the Corean Government, probably as a spy. The Prime Minister -had telegraphed her to win the confidence of Miss Hemster if she could, -and so the Countess had made application to the American Consul and -succeeded even beyond her fondest hopes. There had been no intention -of going to the House of the Million Blossoms, but she had proposed -instead to Miss Hemster a round of visits among the nobility of Japan, -or at least whatever section of them lived near Nagasaki. As this round -was to take some time, and as the Countess proclaimed that it must -be done in strict secrecy, she outlined the writing of the different -letters which her caretaker at the villa would hand to whoever called, -if an investigation was made, as the wily Countess thought was highly -probable, and this scheme proved peculiarly attractive to Miss Hemster -and was accordingly carried out, and the young lady laughed till tears -came into her eyes when I told her how I had been deceived by the -receipt of my letter. - -After landing from the yacht the Countess took Miss Hemster and her -maid to a tea house situated on the shore of the bay, and from the -moment they drank tea there, Miss Hemster and her maid remembered -nothing more until they found themselves on board the Chinese steamer. - -“Did you know about the attempted sinking of the yacht?” I asked. - -“I wasn’t sure,” she said. “I was in a sort of daze: I seemed to have -awakened when they began to take up the anchor, but I was stupid and -headachy. Then there came a crash, and I screamed fit to kill, but -those Chinese brutes put us into the cabin, and after that of course -there was no escape. We did not land at Chemulpo, but somewhere along -the coast. It was a fearful ride into Seoul, but after that I had my -revenge; I made the old Emperor and his Court stand around, I tell you, -for I had a revolver and plenty of cartridges in my trunk, and once I -got them the situation belonged to me.” - -“And where are your trunks, Gertie?” asked her practical father. - -“Oh, they’re stored in Chemulpo. The Emperor wanted me to leave, but -I wouldn’t until you came and I was provided with a proper escort. He -wanted me to go back on the same old Chinese tub, but I told him I’d a -steamer of my own coming.” - -We got the trunks and set sail for Nagasaki once more. The voyage was -a dream of delight. Never did I see Miss Gertrude Hemster, or any -one else for that matter, so admirably charming and considerate of -everyone around her. Mr. Cammerford proved a most devoted cavalier, -and this gave Hilda and me opportunity for converse which we did not -neglect. Gertrude Hemster cheered her father’s heart by telling him -that she was tired of king-hunting and wanted to get back to Chicago. -When we arrived at Nagasaki I made arrangements for our marriage at -the American Consulate. Miss Hemster was most fascinatingly sweet to -Hilda when she heard the news. We all went together to the consulate, -Cammerford asking permission to join our party. When we arrived, -Cammerford, who seemed to be taking a great deal upon himself, said -politely to the Consul: - -“I should think a real American wedding takes precedence over an -international affair, but at any rate I bespoke your services first.” - -The Consul smiled and said such was indeed the case; then, to the -amazement of Hilda and myself, Gertrude, with a laugh, took the -outstretched hand of John C. Cammerford and stood before the official, -who married them according to the laws of the land to which they -belonged. - -“What do you think of this combine, Mr. Hemster?” said Cammerford -with his most engaging smile, holding out his hand to his newly made -father-in-law. - -The old man took it and said quietly: - -“Whoever makes Gertie happy makes me content.” - -Next came the turn of Hilda and myself. - - -THE END - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not -changed. - -Some simple typographical errors were silently corrected. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. - -Page 52: “became acquainted” was printed that way. - -Page 71: “brutal insistance” was printed that way. - -Page 77: “I can thrown” was printed that way. - -Page 182: “a sweeping curtesy” was printed that way. - -Page 258: “hairbrained” was printed that way. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Chicago Princess, by Francis P. 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