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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6578.txt b/6578.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..67fc467 --- /dev/null +++ b/6578.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8838 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Man on the Box, by Harold MacGrath + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Man on the Box + +Author: Harold MacGrath + +Posting Date: February 12, 2013 [EBook #6578] +Release Date: September, 2004 +First Posted: December 29, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN ON THE BOX *** + + + + +Produced by Duncan Harold, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Henry E. Dixey in "The Man on the Box."] + +THE MAN ON THE BOX + +by + +HAROLD MACGRATH + +Author of The Grey Cloak, The Puppet Crown + +Illustrated by scenes from Walter N. Lawrence's beautiful production of +the play as seen for 123 nights at the Madison Square Theatre, New York + + + + + +To Miss Louise Everts + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I Introduces My Hero + + II Introduces My Heroine + + III The Adventure Begins + + IV A Family Reunion + + V The Plot Thickens + + VI The Man on the Box + + VII A Police Affair + + VIII Another Salad Idea + + IX The Heroine Hires a Groom + + X Pirate + + XI The First Ride + + XII A Ticklish Business + + XIII A Runaway + + XIV An Ordeal or Two + + XV Retrospective + + XVI The Previous Affair + + XVII Dinner is Served + +XVIII Caught! + + XIX "Oh, Mister Butler" + + XX The Episode of the Stove Pipe + + XXI The Rose + + XXII The Drama Unrolls + +XXIII Something About Heroes + + XXIV A Fine Lover + + XXV A Fine Heroine, Too + + XXVI The Castle of Romance + + + + +_He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, +Who dares not put it to the touch + To win or lose it all._ + + + + +_Dramatis Personae_ + +_Colonel George Annesley_ A retired Army Officer + +_Miss Betty Annesley_ His daughter + +_Lieutenant Robert Warburton_ Lately resigned + +_Mr. John Warburton_ His elder brother, of the War + Department + +_Mrs. John Warburton_ The elder brother's wife + +_Miss Nancy Warburton_ The lieutenant's sister + +_Mr. Charles Henderson_ Her fiance + +_Count Karloff_ An unattached diplomat + +_Colonel Frank Raleigh_ The Lieutenant's Regimental + Colonel + +_Mrs. Chadwick_ A product of Washington life + +_Monsieur Pierre_ A chef + +_Mademoiselle Celeste_ A lady's maid + +_Jane_ Mrs. Warburton's maid + +_The Hopeful_ A baby + +_William_ A stable-boy + +_Fashionable People_ Necessary for a dinner party + +_Celebrities_ Also necessary for a dinner party + +_Unfashionables_ Police, cabbies, grooms, clerks, + etc. + + + +TIME--Within the past ten years. + +SCENE--Washington, D.C., and its environs. + + + + +I + +INTRODUCES MY HERO + + +If you will carefully observe any map of the world that is divided into +inches at so many miles to the inch, you will be surprised as you +calculate the distance between that enchanting Paris of France and the +third-precinct police-station of Washington, D. C, which is not +enchanting. It is several thousand miles. Again, if you will take the +pains to run your glance, no doubt discerning, over the police-blotter +at the court (and frankly, I refuse to tell you the exact date of this +whimsical adventure), you will note with even greater surprise that all +this hubbub was caused by no crime against the commonwealth of the +Republic or against the person of any of its conglomerate people. The +blotter reads, in heavy simple fist, "disorderly conduct," a phrase +which is almost as embracing as the word diplomacy, or society, or +respectability. + +So far as my knowledge goes, there is no such a person as James +Osborne. If, by any unhappy chance, he _does_ exist, I trust that he +will pardon the civil law of Washington, my own measure of familiarity, +and the questionable taste on the part of my hero--hero, because, from +the rise to the fall of the curtain, he occupies the center of the +stage in this little comedy-drama, and because authors have yet to find +a happy synonym for the word. The name James Osborne was given for the +simple reason that it was the first that occurred to the culprit's +mind, so desperate an effort did he make to hide his identity. +Supposing, for the sake of an argument in his favor, supposing he had +said John Smith or William Jones or John Brown? To this very day he +would have been hiring lawyers to extricate him from libel and +false-representation suits. Besides, had he given any of these names, +would not that hound-like scent of the ever suspicious police have been +aroused? + +To move round and round in the circle of commonplace, and then to pop +out of it like a tailed comet! Such is the history of many a man's +life. I have a near friend who went away from town one fall, happy and +contented with his lot. And what do you suppose he found when he +returned home? He had been nominated for alderman. It is too early to +predict the fate of this unhappy man. And what tools Fate uses with +which to carve out her devious peculiar patterns! An Apache Indian, +besmeared with brilliant greases and smelling of the water that never +freezes, an understudy to Cupid? Fudge! you will say, or Pshaw! or +whatever slang phrase is handy and, prevalent at the moment you read +and run. + +I personally warn you that this is a really-truly story, though I do +not undertake to force you to believe it; neither do I purvey many +grains of salt. If Truth went about her affairs laughing, how many more +persons would turn and listen! For my part, I believe it all nonsense +the way artists have pictured Truth. The idea is pretty enough, but so +far as hitting things, it recalls the woman, the stone, and the hen. I +am convinced that Truth goes about dressed in the dowdiest of clothes, +with black-lisle gloves worn at the fingers, and shoes run down in the +heels, an exact portrait of one of Phil May's lydies. Thus it is that +we pass her by, for the artistic sense in every being is repelled at +the sight of a dowdy with weeping eyes and a nose that has been rubbed +till it is as red as a winter apple. Anyhow, if she _does_ go about in +beautiful nudity, she ought at least to clothe herself with smiles and +laughter. There are sorry enough things in the world as it is, without +a lachrymal, hypochondriacal Truth poking her face in everywhere. + +Not many months ago, while seated on the stone veranda in the rear of +the Metropolitan Club in Washington (I believe we were discussing the +merits of some very old product), I recounted some of the lighter +chapters of this adventure. + +_"Eempossible!"_ murmured the Russian attache, just as if the matter +had not come under his notice semi-officially. + +I presume that this exclamation disclosed another side to diplomacy, +which, stripped of its fine clothes, means dexterity in hiding secrets +and in negotiating lies. When one diplomat believes what another says, +it is time for the former's government to send him packing. However, +the Englishman at my right gazed smiling into his partly emptied glass +and gently stirred the ice. I admire the English diplomat; he never +wastes a lie. He is frugal and saving. + +"But the newspapers!" cried the journalist. "They never ran a line; and +an exploit like this would scarce have escaped them." + +"If I remember rightly, it was reported in the regular police items of +the day," said I. + +"Strange that the boys didn't look behind the scenes." + +"Oh, I don't know," remarked the congressman; "lots of things happen of +which you are all ignorant. The public mustn't know everything." + +"But what's the hero's name?" asked the journalist. + +"That's a secret," I answered. "Besides, when it comes to the bottom of +the matter, I had something to do with the suppressing of the police +news. In a case like this, suppression becomes a law not excelled by +that which governs self-preservation. My friend has a brother in the +War Department; and together we worked wonders." + +"It's a jolly droll story, however you look at it," the Englishman +admitted. + +"Nevertheless, it had its tragic side; but that is even more than ever +a secret." + +The Englishman looked at me sharply, even gravely; but the veranda is +only dimly illuminated at night, and his scrutiny went unrewarded. + +"Eh, well!" said the Russian; "your philosopher has observed that all +mankind loves a lover." + +"As all womankind loves a love-story," the Englishman added. "You ought +to be very successful with the ladies,"--turning to me. + +"Not inordinately; but I shall not fail to repeat your epigram,"--and I +rose. + +My watch told me that it was half after eight; and one does not receive +every day an invitation to a dinner-dance at the Chevy Chase Club. + +I dislike exceedingly to intrude my own personality into this +narrative, but as I was passively concerned, I do not see how I can +avoid it. Besides, being a public man, I am not wholly averse to +publicity; first person, singular, perpendicular, as Thackeray had it, +in type looks rather agreeable to the eye. And I rather believe that I +have a moral to point out and a parable to expound. + +My appointment in Washington at that time was extraordinary; that is to +say, I was a member of one of those committees that are born frequently +and suddenly in Washington, and which almost immediately after +registration in the vital statistics of national politics. I had been +sent to Congress, a dazzling halo over my head, the pride and hope of +my little country town; I had been defeated for second term; had been +recommended to serve on the committee aforesaid; served with honor, got +my name in the great newspapers, and was sent back to Congress, where I +am still to-day, waiting patiently for a discerning president and a +vacancy in the legal department of the cabinet. That's about all I am +willing to say about myself. + +As for this hero of mine, he was the handsomest, liveliest rascal you +would expect to meet in a day's ride. By handsome I do not mean perfect +features, red cheeks, Byronic eyes, and so forth. That style of beauty +belongs to the department of lady novelists. I mean that peculiar manly +beauty which attracts men almost as powerfully as it does women. For +the sake of a name I shall call him Warburton. His given name in actual +life is Robert. But I am afraid that nobody but his mother and one +other woman ever called him Robert. The world at large dubbed him Bob, +and such he will remain up to that day (and may it be many years +hence!) when recourse will be had to Robert, because "Bob" would +certainly look very silly on a marble shaft. + +What a friendly sign is a nickname! It is always a good fellow who is +called Bob or Bill, Jack or Jim, Tom, Dick or Harry. Even out of +Theodore there comes a Teddy. I know in my own case the boys used to +call me Chuck, simply because I was named Charles. (I haven't the +slightest doubt that I was named Charles because my good mother thought +I looked something like Vandyke's _Charles I_, though at the time of my +baptism I wore no beard whatever.) And how I hated a boy with a +high-sounding, unnicknamable given name!--with his round white collar +and his long glossy curls! I dare say he hated the name, the collar, +and the curls even more than I did. Whenever you run across a name +carded in this stilted fashion, "A. Thingumy Soandso", you may make up +your mind at once that the owner is ashamed of his first name and is +trying manfully to live it down and eventually forgive his parents. + +Warburton was graduated from West Point, ticketed to a desolate +frontier post, and would have worn out his existence there but for his +guiding star, which was always making frantic efforts to bolt its +established orbit. One day he was doing scout duty, perhaps half a mile +in advance of the pay-train, as they called the picturesque caravan +which, consisting of a canopied wagon and a small troop of cavalry in +dingy blue, made progress across the desert-like plains of Arizona. The +troop was some ten miles from the post, and as there had been no sign +of Red Eagle all that day, they concluded that the rumor of his being +on a drunken rampage with half a dozen braves was only a rumor. +Warburton had just passed over a roll of earth, and for a moment the +pay-train had dropped out of sight. It was twilight; opalescent waves +of heat rolled above the blistered sands. A pale yellow sky, like an +inverted bowl rimmed with delicate blue and crimson hues, encompassed +the world. The bliss of solitude fell on him, and, being something of a +poet, he rose to the stars. The smoke of his corncob pipe trailed +lazily behind him. The horse under him was loping along easily. +Suddenly the animal lifted his head, and his brown ears went forward. + +At Warburton's left, some hundred yards distant, was a clump of osage +brush. Even as he looked, there came a puff of smoke, followed by the +evil song of a bullet. My hero's hat was carried away. He wheeled, dug +his heels into his horse, and cut back over the trail. There came a +second flash, a shock, and then a terrible pain in the calf of his left +leg. He fell over the neck of his horse to escape the third bullet. He +could see the Apache as he stood out from behind the bush. Warburton +yanked out his Colt and let fly. He heard a yell. It was very +comforting. That was all he remembered of the skirmish. + +For five weeks he languished in the hospital. During that time he came +to the conclusion that he had had enough of military life in the West. +He applied for his discharge, as the compulsory term of service was at +an end. When his papers came he was able to get about with the aid of a +crutch. One morning his colonel entered his subaltern's bachelor +quarters. + +"Wouldn't you rather have a year's leave of absence, than quit +altogether, Warburton?" + +"A year's leave of absence?" cried the invalid, "I am likely to get +that, I am." + +"If you held a responsible position I dare say it would be difficult. +As it is, I may say that I can obtain it for you. It will be months +before you can ride a horse with that leg." + +"I thank you, Colonel Raleigh, but I think I'll resign. In fact, I have +resigned." + +"We can withdraw that, if you but say the word. I don't want to lose +you, lad. You're the only man around here who likes a joke as well as I +do. And you will have a company if you'll only stick to it a little +longer." + +"I have decided, Colonel. I'm sorry you feel like this about it. You +see, I have something like twenty-five thousand laid away. I want to +see at least five thousand dollars' worth of new scenery before I +shuffle off this mortal coil. The scenery around here palls on me. My +throat and eyes are always full of sand. I am off to Europe. Some day, +perhaps, the bee will buzz again; and when it does, I'll have you go +personally to the president." + +"As you please, Warburton." + +"Besides, Colonel, I have been reading Treasure Island again, and I've +got the fever in my veins to hunt for adventure, even a treasure. It's +in my blood to wander and do strange things, and here I've been +hampered all these years with routine. I shouldn't care if we had a +good fight once in a while. My poor old dad traveled around the world +three times, and I haven't seen anything of it but the maps." + +"Go ahead, then. Only, talking about Treasure Island, don't you and +your twenty-five thousand run into some old Long John Silver." + +"I'll take care." + +And Mr. Robert packed up his kit and sailed away. Not many months +passed ere he met his colonel again, and under rather embarrassing +circumstances. + + + + +II + +INTRODUCES MY HEROINE + + +Let me begin at the beginning. The boat had been two days out of +Southampton before the fog cleared away. On the afternoon of the third +day, Warburton curled up in his steamer-chair and lazily viewed the +blue October seas as they met and merged with the blue October skies. I +do not recollect the popular novel of that summer, but at any rate it +lay flapping at the side of his chair, forgotten. It never entered my +hero's mind that some poor devil of an author had sweated and labored +with infinite pains over every line, and paragraph, and page-labored +with all the care and love his heart and mind were capable of, to +produce this finished child of fancy; or that this same author, even at +this very moment, might be seated on the veranda of his beautiful +summer villa, figuring out royalties on the backs of stray envelopes. +No, he never thought of these things. + +What with the wind and the soft, ceaseless jar of the throbbing +engines, half a dream hovered above his head, and touched him with a +gentle, insistent caress. If you had passed by him this afternoon, and +had been anything of a mathematician who could straighten out +geometrical angles, you would have come close to his height had you +stopped at five feet nine. Indeed, had you clipped off the heels of his +low shoes, you would have been exact. But all your nice calculations +would not have solved his weight. He was slender, but he was hard and +compact. These hard, slender fellows sometimes weigh more than your men +of greater bulk. He tipped the scales at one hundred sixty-two, and he +looked twenty pounds less. He was twenty-eight; a casual glance at him, +and you would have been willing to wager that the joy of casting his +first vote was yet to be his. + +The princess commands that I describe in detail the charms of this Army +Adonis. Far be it that I should disobey so august a command, being, as +I am, the prime minister in this her principality of Domestic Felicity. +Her brother has never ceased to be among the first in her dear regard. +He possessed the merriest black eyes: his mother's eyes, as I, a boy, +remember them. No matter how immobile his features might be, these eyes +of his were ever ready for laughter. His nose was clean-cut and +shapely. A phrenologist would have said that his head did not lack the +bump of caution; but I know better. At present he wore a beard; so this +is as large an inventory of his personal attractions as I am able to +give. When he shaves off his beard, I shall be pleased to add further +particulars. I often marvel that the women did not turn his head. They +were always sending him notes and invitations and cutting dances for +him. Perhaps his devil-may-care air had something to do with the +enchantment. I have yet to see his equal as a horseman. He would have +made it interesting for that pair of milk-whites which our old friend, +Ulysses (or was it Diomedes?) had such ado about. + +Every man has some vice or other, even if it is only being good. +Warburton had perhaps two: poker and tobacco. He would get out of bed +at any hour if some congenial spirit knocked at the door and whispered +that a little game was in progress, and that his money was needed to +keep it going. I dare say that you know all about these little games. +But what would you? What is a man to do in a country where you may buy +a whole village for ten dollars? Warburton seldom drank, and, like the +author of this precious volume, only special vintages. + +At this particular moment this hero of mine was going over the monotony +of the old days in Arizona, the sand-deserts, the unlovely landscapes, +the dull routine, the indifferent skirmishes with cattle-men and +Indians; the pagan bullet which had plowed through his leg. And now it +was all over; he had surrendered his straps; he was a private citizen, +with an income sufficient for his needs. It will go a long way, +forty-five hundred a year, if one does not attempt to cover the +distance in a five-thousand motor-car; and he hated all locomotion that +was not horse-flesh. + +For nine months he had been wandering over Europe, if not happy, at +least in a satisfied frame of mind. Four of these months had been +delightfully passed in Paris; and, as his nomad excursions had +invariably terminated in that queen of cities, I make Paris the +starting point of his somewhat remarkable adventures. Besides, it was +in Paris that he first saw Her. And now, here he was at last, +homeward-bound. That phrase had a mighty pleasant sound; it was to the +ear what honey is to the tongue. Still, he might yet have been in Paris +but for one thing: She was on board this very boat. + +Suddenly his eyes opened full wide, bright with eagerness. + +"It is She!" he murmured. He closed his eyes again, the hypocrite! + +Permit me to introduce you to my heroine. Mind you, she is not _my_ +creation; only Heaven may produce her like, and but once. She is well +worth turning around to gaze at. Indeed I know more than one fine +gentleman who forgot the time of day, the important engagement, or the +trend of his thought, when she passed by. + +She was coming forward, leaning against the wind and inclining to the +uncertain roll of the ship. A gray raincoat fitted snugly the youthful +rounded figure. Her hands were plunged into the pockets. You may be +sure that Mr. Robert noted through his half-closed eyelids these +inconsequent details. A tourist hat sat jauntily on the fine light +brown hair, that color which has no appropriate metaphor. (At least, I +have never found one, and I am _not_ in love with her and _never_ was.) +Warburton has described to me her eyes, so I am positive that they were +as heavenly blue as a rajah's sapphire. Her height is of no moment. +What man ever troubled himself about the height of a woman, so long as +he wasn't undersized himself? What pleased Warburton was the exquisite +skin. He was always happy with his comparisons, and particularly when +he likened her skin to the bloomy olive pallor of a young peach. The +independent stride was distinguishingly American. Ah, the charm of +these women who are my countrywomen! They come, they go, alone, +unattended, courageous without being bold, self-reliant without being +rude; inimitable. In what an amiable frame of mind Nature must have +been on the day she cast these molds! But I proceed. The young woman's +chin was tilted, and Warburton could tell by the dilated nostrils that +she was breathing in the gale with all the joy of living, filling her +healthy lungs with it as that rare daughter of the Cyprian Isle might +have done as she sprang that morn from the jeweled Mediterranean spray, +that beggar's brooch of Neptune's. + +Warburton's heart hadn't thrilled so since the day when he first donned +cadet gray. There was scarce any room for her to pass between his chair +and the rail; and this knowledge filled the rascal with exultation. +Nearer and nearer she came. He drew in his breath sharply as the corner +of his foot-rest (aided by the sly wind) caught her raincoat. + +"I beg your pardon!" he said, sitting up. + +She quickly released her coat, smiled faintly, and passed on. + +Sometimes the most lasting impressions are those which are printed most +lightly on the memory. Mr. Robert says that he never will forget that +first smile. And he didn't even know her name then. + +I was about to engage your attention with a description of the villain, +but on second thought I have decided that it would be rather unfair. +For at that moment he was at a disadvantage. Nature was punishing him +for a few shortcomings. The steward that night informed Warburton, in +answer to his inquiries, that he, the villain, was dreadfully seasick, +and was begging him, the steward, to scuttle the ship and have done +with it. I have my doubts regarding this. Mr. Robert is inclined to +flippancy at times. It wasn't seasickness; and after all is said and +done, it is putting it harshly to call this man a villain. I recant. +True villainy is always based upon selfishness. Remember this, my wise +ones. + +Warburton was somewhat subdued when he learned that the suffering +gentleman was _her_ father. + +"What did you say the name was?" he asked innocently. Until now he +hadn't had the courage to put the question to any one, or to prowl +around the purser's books. + +"Annesley; Colonel Annesley and daughter," answered the unsuspecting +steward. + +Warburton knew nothing then of the mental tragedy going on behind the +colonel's state-room door. How should he have known? On the contrary, +he believed that the father of such a girl must be a most knightly and +courtly gentleman. He _was_, in all outward appearance. There had been +a time, not long since, when he had been knightly and courtly in all +things. + +Surrounding every upright man there is a mire, and if he step not +wisely, he is lost. There is no coming back; step by step he must go on +and on, till he vanishes and a bubble rises over where he but lately +stood. That he misstepped innocently does not matter; mire and evil +have neither pity nor reason. To spend what is not ours and then to try +to recover it, to hide the guilty step: this is futility. From the +alpha men have made this step; to the omega they will make it, with the +same unchanging futility. After all, it _is_ money. Money _is_ the root +of all evil; let him laugh who will, in his heart of hearts he knows it. + +Money! Have you never heard that siren call to you, call seductively +from her ragged isle, where lurk the reefs of greed and selfishness? +Money! What has this siren not to offer? Power, ease, glory, luxury; +aye, I had almost said love! But, no; love is the gift of God, money is +the invention of man: all the good, all the evil, in the heart of this +great humanity. + + + + +III + +THE ADVENTURE BEGINS + + +It was only when the ship was less than a day's journey off Sandy Hook +that the colonel came on deck, once more to resume his interest in +human affairs. How the girl hovered about him! She tucked the shawl +more snugly around his feet; she arranged and rearranged the pillows +back of his head; she fed him from a bowl of soup; she read from some +favorite book; she smoothed the furrowed brow; she stilled the long, +white, nervous fingers with her own small, firm, brown ones; she was +mother and daughter in one. Wherever she moved, the parent eye followed +her, and there lay in its deeps a strange mixture of fear, and trouble, +and questioning love. All the while he drummed ceaselessly on the arms +of his chair. + +And Mr. Robert, watching all these things from afar, Mr. Robert sighed +dolorously. The residue air in his lungs was renewed more frequently +than nature originally intended it should be. Love has its beneficences +as well as its pangs, only they are not wholly appreciable by the +recipient. For what is better than a good pair of lungs constantly +filled and refilled with pure air? Mr. Robert even felt a twinge of +remorse besides. He was brother to a girl almost as beautiful as yonder +one (to my mind far more beautiful!) and he recalled that in two years +he had not seen her nor made strenuous efforts to keep up the +correspondence. Another good point added to the score of love! And, +alas! he might never see this charming girl again, this daughter so +full of filial love and care. He had sought the captain, but that hale +and hearty old sea-dog had politely rebuffed him. + +"My dear young man," he said, "I do all I possibly can for the +entertainment and comfort of my passengers, but in this case I must +refuse your request." + +"And pray, why, sir?" demanded Mr. Robert, with dignity. + +"For the one and simple reason that Colonel Annesley expressed the +desire to be the recipient of no ship introductions." + +"What the deuce is he, a billionaire?" + +"You have me there, sir. I confess that I know nothing whatever about +him. This is the first time he has ever sailed on my deck." + +All of which perfectly accounts for Mr. Robert's sighs in what +musicians call the _doloroso_. If only he knew some one who knew the +colonel! How simple it would be! Certainly, a West Point graduate would +find some consideration. But the colonel spoke to no one save his +daughter, and his daughter to none but her parent, her maid, and the +stewardess. Would they remain in New York, or would they seek their +far-off southern home? Oh, the thousands of questions which surged +through his brain! From time to time he glanced sympathetically at the +colonel, whose fingers drummed and drummed and drummed. + +"Poor wretch! his stomach must be in bad shape. Or maybe he has the +palsy." Warburton mused upon the curious incertitude of the human +anatomy. + +But Colonel Annesley did not have the palsy. What he had is at once the +greatest blessing and the greatest curse of God--remembrance, or +conscience, if you will. + +What a beautiful color her hair was, dappled with sunshine and shadow! +... Pshaw! Mr. Robert threw aside his shawl and book (it is of no real +importance, but I may as well add that he never completed the reading +of that summer's most popular novel) and sought the smoking-room, +where, with the aid of a fat perfecto and a liberal stack of blues, he +proceeded to divert himself till the boat reached quarantine. I shall +not say that he left any of his patrimony at the mahogany table with +its green-baize covering and its little brass disks for cigar ashes, +but I am certain that he did not make one of those stupendous winnings +we often read about and never witness. This much, however: he made the +acquaintance of a very important personage, who was presently to add no +insignificant weight on the scales of Mr. Robert's destiny. + +He was a Russian, young, handsome, suave, of what the newspapers insist +on calling distinguished bearing. He spoke English pleasantly but +imperfectly. He possessed a capital fund of anecdote, and Warburton, +being an Army man, loved a good droll story. It was a revelation to see +the way he dipped the end of his cigar into his coffee, a stimulant +which he drank with Balzacian frequency and relish. Besides these +accomplishments, he played a very smooth hand at the great American +game. While Mr. Robert's admiration was not aroused, it was surely +awakened. + +My hero had no trouble with the customs officials. A brace of old +French dueling pistols and a Turkish simitar were the only articles +which might possibly have been dutiable. The inspector looked hard, but +he was finally convinced that Mr. Robert was _not_ a professional +curio-collector. Warburton, never having returned from abroad before, +found a deal of amusement and food for thought in the ensuing scenes. +There was one man, a prim, irascible old fellow, who was not allowed to +pass in two dozen fine German razors. There was a time of it, angry +words, threats, protestations. The inspector stood firm. The old +gentleman, in a fine burst of passion, tossed the razors into the +water. Then they were going to arrest him for smuggling. A friend +extricated him. The old gentleman went away, saying something about the +tariff and an unreasonably warm place which has as many synonyms as an +octopus has tentacles. + +Another man, his mouth covered by an enormous black mustache which must +have received a bath every morning in coffee or something stronger, +came forward pompously. I don't know to this day what magic word he +said, but the inspectors took never a peep into his belongings. +Doubtless they knew him, and that his word was as good as his bond. + +Here a woman wept because the necklace she brought trustingly from +Rotterdam must be paid for once again; and here another, who clenched +her fists (do women have fists?) and if looks could have killed there +would have been a vacancy in customs forthwith. All her choicest linen +strewn about on the dirty boards, all soiled and rumpled and useless! + +When the colonel's turn came, Warburton moved within hearing distance. +How glorious she looked in that smart gray traveling habit! With what +well-bred indifference she gazed upon the scene! Calmly her glance +passed among the circles of strange faces, and ever and anon returned +to the great ship which had safely brought her back to her native land. +There were other women who were just as well-bred and indifferent, only +Warburton had but one pair of eyes. Sighs in the _doloroso_ again. Ha! +if only one of these meddling jackasses would show her some disrespect +and give him the opportunity of avenging the affront! + +(Come, now; let me be your confessor. Have you never thought and acted +like this hero of mine? Haven't you been just as melodramatic and +ridiculous? It is nothing to be ashamed of. For my part, I should +confess to it with the same equanimity as I should to the mumps or the +measles. It comes with, and is part and parcel of, all that strange +medley we find in the Pandora box of life. Love has no diagnosis, so +the doctors say. 'Tis all in the angle of vision.) + +But nothing happened. Colonel Annesley and his daughter were old hands; +they had gone through all this before. Scarce an article in their +trunks was disturbed. There was a slight duty of some twelve dollars +(Warburton's memory is marvelous), and their luggage was free. But +alas, for the perspicacity of the inspectors! I can very well imagine +the god of irony in no better or more fitting place than in the United +States Customs House. + +Once outside, the colonel caught the eye of a cabby, and he and his +daughter stepped in. + +"Holland House, sir, did you say?" asked the cabby. + +The colonel nodded. The cabby cracked his whip, and away they rolled +over the pavement. + +Warburton's heart gave a great bound. She had actually leaned out of +the cab, and for one brief moment their glances had met. Scarce knowing +what he did, he jumped into another cab and went pounding after. It was +easily ten blocks from the pier when the cabby raised the lid and +peered down at his fare. + +"Do you want t' folly them ahead?" he cried. + +"No, no!" Warburton was startled out of his wild dream. "Drive to the +Holland House--no--to the Waldorf. Yes, the Waldorf; and keep your nag +going." + +"Waldorf it is, sir!" The lid above closed. + +Clouds had gathered in the heavens. It was beginning to rain. But +Warburton neither saw the clouds nor felt the first few drops of rain. +All the way up-town he planned and planned--as many plans as there were +drops of rain; the rain wet him, but the plans drowned him--he became +submerged. If I were an expert at analysis, which I am not, I should +say that Mr. Robert was not violently in love; rather I should observe +that he was fascinated with the first really fine face he had seen in +several years. Let him never see Miss Annesley again, and in two weeks +he would entirely forget her. I know enough of the race to be able to +put forward this statement. Of course, it is understood that he would +have to mingle for the time among other handsome women. Now, strive as +he would, he could not think out a feasible plan. One plan might have +given him light, but the thousand that came to him simply overwhelmed +him fathoms deep. If he could find some one he knew at the Holland +House, some one who would strike up a smoking-room acquaintance with +the colonel, the rest would be simple enough. Annesley--Annesley; he +couldn't place the name. Was he a regular, retired, or a veteran of the +Civil War? And yet, the name was not totally unfamiliar. Certainly, he +was a fine-looking old fellow, with his white hair and Alexandrian +nose. And here he was, he, Robert Warburton, in New York, simply +because he happened to be in the booking office of the _Gare du Nord_ +one morning and overheard a very beautiful girl say: "Then we shall +sail from Southampton day after to-morrow." Of a truth, it is the +infinitesimal things that count heaviest. + +So deep was he in the maze of his tentative romance that when the cab +finally stopped abruptly, he was totally unaware of the transition from +activity to passivity. + +"Hotel, sir!" + +"Ah, yes!" Warburton leaped out, fumbled in his pocket, and brought +forth a five-dollar note, which he gave to the cabby. He did not +realize it, but this was the only piece of American money he had on his +person. Nor did he wait for the change. Mr. Robert was exceedingly +careless with his money at this stage of his infatuation; being a +soldier, he never knew the real value of legal tender. I know that _I_ +should never have been guilty of such liberality, not even if Mister +Cabby had bowled me from Harlem to Brooklyn. And you may take my word +for it, the gentleman in the ancient plug-hat did not wait to see if +his fare had made a mistake, but trotted away good and hearty. The cab +system is one of the most pleasing and amiable phases of metropolitan +life. + +Warburton rushed into the noisy, gorgeous lobby, and wandered about +till he espied the desk. Here he turned over his luggage checks to the +clerk and said that these accessories of travel must be in his room +before eight o'clock that night, or there would be trouble. It was now +half after five. The clerk eagerly scanned the register. Warburton, +Robert Warburton; it was not a name with which _he_ was familiar. A +thin film of icy hauteur spread over his face. + +"Very well, sir. Do you wish a bath with your room?" + +"Certainly." Warburton glanced at his watch again. + +"The price--" + +"Hang the price! A room, a room with a bath--that's what I want. Have +you got it?" This was said with a deal of real impatience and a hauteur +that overtopped the clerk's. + +The film of ice melted into a gracious smile. Some new millionaire from +Pittsburg, thought the clerk. He swung the book around. + +"You have forgotten your place of residence, sir," he said. + +"Place of residence!" + +Warburton looked at the clerk in blank astonishment. Place of +residence? Why, heaven help him, he had none, none! For the first time +since he left the Army the knowledge came home to him, and it struck +rather deep. He caught up the pen, poised it an indecisive moment, then +hastily scribbled Paris: as well Paris as anywhere. Then he took out +his wallet, comfortably packed with English and French bank-notes, and +a second wave of astonishment rolled over him. Altogether, it was a +rare good chance that he ever came to the surface again. No plan, no +place of residence, no American money! + +"Good Lord! I forgot all about exchanging it on shipboard!" he +exclaimed. + +"Don't let that trouble you, sir," said the clerk, with real +affability. "Our own bank will exchange your money in the morning." + +"But I haven't a penny of American money on my person!" + +"How much will you need for the evening, sir?" + +"Not more than fifty." + +The clerk brought forth a slip of paper, wrote something on it, and +handed it to Warburton. + +"Sign here," he said, indicating a blank space. + +And presently Mr. Robert, having deposited his foreign money in the +safe, pocketed the receipt for its deposit along with five crisp +American notes. There is nothing lacking in these modern hostelries, +excepting it be a church. + +Our homeless young gentleman lighted a cigar and went out under the +portico. An early darkness had settled over the city, and a heavy +steady rain was falling. The asphalt pavements glistened and twinkled +as far as the eye's range could reach. A thousand lights gleamed down +on him, and he seemed to be standing in a canon dappled with fireflies. +Place of residence! Neither the fig-tree nor the vine! Did he lose his +money to-morrow, the source of his small income, he would be without a +roof over his head. True, his brother's roof would always welcome him: +but a roof-tree of his own! And he could lay claim to no city, either, +having had the good fortune to be born in a healthy country town. Place +of residence! Truly he had none; a melancholy fact which he had not +appreciated till now. And all this had slipped his mind because of a +pair of eyes as heavenly blue as a rajah's sapphire! + +Hang it, what should he do, now that he was no longer traveling, now +that his time was no longer Uncle Sam's? He had never till now known +idleness, and the thought of it did not run smoothly with the grain. He +was essentially a man of action. There might be some good sport for a +soldier in Venezuela, but that was far away and uncertain. It was quite +possible Jack, his brother, might find him a post as military attache, +perhaps in France, perhaps in Belgium, perhaps in Vienna. That was the +goal of more than one subaltern. The English novelist is to be blamed +for this ambition. But Warburton could speak French with a certain +fluency, and his German was good enough to swear by; so it will be seen +that he had some ground upon which to build this ambition. + +Heigho! The old homestead was gone; his sister dwelt under the elder +brother's roof; the prodigal was alone. + +"But there's always a fatted calf waiting in Washington," he laughed +aloud. "Once a soldier, always a soldier. I suppose I'll be begging the +colonel to have a chat with the president. There doesn't seem to be any +way of getting out of it. I'll have to don the old togs again. I ought +to write a letter to Nancy, but it will be finer to drop in on 'em +unexpectedly. Bless her heart! (So say I!) And Jack's, too, and his +little wife's! And I haven't written a line in eight weeks. But I'll +make it all up in ten minutes. And if I haven't a roof-tree, at least +I've got the ready cash and can buy one any day." All of which proves +that Mr. Robert possessed a buoyant spirit, and refused to be downcast +for more than one minute at a time. + +He threw away his cigar and reentered the hotel, and threaded his way +through the appalling labyrinths of corridors till he found some one to +guide him to the barber shop, where he could have his hair cut and his +beard trimmed in the good old American way, money no object. For a plan +had at last come to him; and it wasn't at all bad. He determined to +dine at the Holland House at eight-thirty. It was quite possible that +he would see Her. + +My only wish is that, when I put on evening clothes (in my humble +opinion, the homeliest and most uncomfortable garb that man ever +invented!) I might look one-quarter as handsome and elegant as Mr. +Robert looked, as he came down stairs at eight-ten that night. He +wasn't to be blamed if the women glanced in his direction, and then +whispered and whispered, and nodded and nodded. Ordinarily he would +have observed these signs of feminine approval, for there was warm +blood in his veins, and it is proverbial that the Army man is gallant. +But to-night Diana and her white huntresses might have passed him by +and not aroused even a flicker of interest or surprise on his face. +There was only one pair of eyes, one face, and to see these he would +have gladly gone to the ends of the earth, travel-weary though he was. + +He smoked feverishly, and was somewhat troubled to find that he hadn't +quite got his land legs, as they say. The floor swayed at intervals, +and the throbbing of the engines came back. He left the hotel, hailed a +cab, and was driven down Fifth Avenue. He stopped before the fortress +of privileges. From the cab it looked very formidable. Worldly as he +was, he was somewhat innocent. He did not know that New York hotels are +formidable only when your money gives out. To get past all these +brass-buttoned lackeys and to go on as though he really had business +within took no small quantity of nerve. However, he slipped by the +outpost without any challenge and boldly approached the desk. A quick +glance at the register told him that they had indeed put up at this +hotel. He could not explain why he felt so happy over his discovery. +There are certain exultations which are inexplicable. As he turned away +from the desk, he bumped into a gentleman almost as elegantly attired +as himself. + +"I beg your pardon!" he cried, stepping aside. + +"What? Mr. _Warrr_burton?" + +Mr. Robert, greatly surprised and confused, found himself shaking hands +with his ship acquaintance, the Russian. + +"I am very glad to see you again, Count," said Warburton, recovering. + +"A great pleasure! It is wonderful how small a city is. I had never +expect' to see you again. Are you stopping here?" I had intended to try +to reproduce the Russian's dialect, but one dialect in a book is +enough; and we haven't reached the period of its activity. + +"No, I am at the Waldorf." + +"Eh? I have heard all about you millionaires." + +"Oh, we are not all of us millionaires who stop there," laughed +Warburton. "There are some of us who try to make others believe that we +are." Then, dropping into passable French, he added: "I came here +to-night with the purpose of dining. Will you do me the honor of +sharing my table?" + +"You speak French?"--delighted. "It is wonderful. This English has so +many words that mean so many things, that of all languages I speak it +with the least fluency. But it is my deep regret, Monsieur, to refuse +your kind invitation. I am dining with friends." + +"Well, then, breakfast to-morrow at eleven," Warburton urged, for he +had taken a fancy to this affable Russian. + +"Alas! See how I am placed. I am forced to leave for Washington early +in the morning. We poor diplomats, we earn our honors. But my business +is purely personal in this case, neither political nor diplomatic." The +count drew his gloves thoughtfully through his fingers. "I shall of +course pay my respects to my ambassador. Do I recollect your saying +that you belonged to the United States Army?" + +"I recently resigned. My post was in a wild country, with little or +nothing to do; monotony and routine." + +"You limp slightly?" + +"A trifling mishap,"--modestly. + +"Eh, you do wrong. You may soon be at war with England, and having +resigned your commission, you would lose all you had waited these years +for." + +Warburton smiled. "We shall not go to war with England." + +"This Army of yours is small." + +"Well, yes; but made of pretty good material--fighting machines with +brains." + +"Ha!" The count laughed softly. "Bah! how I detest all these cars and +ships! Will you believe me, I had rather my little chateau, my +vineyard, and my wheat fields, than all the orders.... Eh, well, _my +country_: there must be some magic in that phrase. Of all loves, that +of country is the most lasting. Is that Balzac? I do not recall. Only +once in a century do we find a man who is willing to betray his +country, and even then he may have for his purpose neither hate, +revenge, nor love of power." A peculiar gravity sat on his mobile face, +caused, perhaps, by some disagreeable inward thought. + +"How long shall you be in Washington?" asked Warburton. + +The count shrugged. "Who can say?" + +"I go to Washington myself within a few days." + +"Till we meet again, then, Monsieur." + +The count lifted his hat, a courtesy which was gracefully acknowledged +by the American; while the clerks at the desk eyed with tolerant +amusement these polite but rather unfamiliar ceremonies of departure. +These foreigners were odd duffers. + +"A very decent chap," mused Warburton, "and a mighty shrewd hand at +poker--for a foreigner. He is going to Washington: we shall meet again. +I wonder if she's in the restaurant now." + +Meet again? Decidedly; and had clairvoyance shown my hero that night +how he and the count were to meet again, certainly he would have +laughed. + +If I dared, I should like to say a good deal more about this Russian. +But I have no desire to lose my head, politically or physically. Even +the newsboys are familiar with this great young man's name; and if I +should disclose it, you would learn a great many things which I have no +desire that you should. One day he is in Paris, another in Berlin, then +off to Vienna, to Belgrade, or St. Petersburg, or Washington, or +London, or Rome. A few months ago, previous to this writing, he was in +Manchuria; and to this very day England and Japan are wondering how it +happened; not his being there, mind you, but the result. Rich, that is +to say independent; unmarried, that is to say unattached; free to come +and go, he stood high up in that great army of the czar's, which I call +the uncredited diplomatic corps, because the phrase "secret service" +always puts into my mind a picture of the wild-eyed, bearded anarchist, +whom I most heartily detest. + +What this remarkable diplomatic free-lance did in Washington was +honestly done in the interests of his country. A Russ understands honor +in the rough, but he lacks all those delicate shadings which make the +word honor the highest of all words in the vocabularies of the Gaul and +the Saxon. And while I do not uphold him in what he did, I can not +place much blame at the count's door. Doubtless, in his place, and +given his cast of mind, I might have done exactly as he did. Russia +never asks how a thing is done, but why it is _not_ done. Ah, these +Aspasias, these Circes, these Calypsos, these Cleopatras, with their +blue, their gray, their amber eyes! I have my doubts concerning Jonah, +but, being a man, I am fully convinced as to the history of Eve. And +yet, the woman in this case was absolutely innocent of any guile, +unless, a pair of eyes as heavenly blue as a rajah's sapphire may be +called guile. + +Pardon me this long parenthesis. By this time, no doubt, Mr. Robert has +entered the restaurant We shall follow him rather than this aimless +train of thought. + +Mr. Robert's appetite, for a healthy young man, was strangely +incurious. He searched the menu from top to bottom, and then from +bottom to top; nothing excited his palate. Whenever persons entered, he +would glance up eagerly, only to feel his heart sink lower and lower. I +don't know how many times he was disappointed. The waiter ahemmed +politely. Warburton, in order to have an excuse to remain, at length +hit upon a partridge and a pint of Chablis. + +Nine o'clock. Was it possible that the colonel and his daughter were +dining in their rooms? Perish the possibility! And he looked in vain +for the count. A quarter-past nine. Mr. Robert's anxiety was becoming +almost unendurable. Nine-thirty. He was about to surrender in despair. +His partridge lay smoking on his plate, and he was on the point of +demolishing it, when, behold! they came. The colonel entered first, +then his daughter, her hand--on--the--arm--of--the--count! Warburton +never fully described to me his feelings at that moment; but, knowing +him as I do, I can put together a very, respectable picture of the +chagrin and consternation that sat on his countenance. + +"To think of being nearly six days aboard," Mr. Robert once bawled at +me, wrathfully, "and not to know that that Russian chap knew her!" It +_was_ almost incredible that such a thing should happen. + +The three sat down at a table seven times removed from Warburton's. He +could see only an adorable profile and the colonel's handsome but +care-worn face. The count sat with his back turned. In that black +evening gown she was simply beyond the power of adjectives. What +shoulders, what an incomparable throat! Mr. Robert's bird grew cold; +the bouquet from his glass fainted and died away. How her face lighted +when she laughed, and she laughed frequently! What a delicious curve +ran from her lips to her young bosom! But never once did she look in +his direction. Who invented mirrors, the Egyptians? I can not say. +There were mirrors in the room, but Mr. Robert did not realize it. He +has since confessed to me that he hadn't the slightest idea how much +his bird and bottle cost. Of such is love's young dream! (Do I worry +you with all these repetitious details? I am sorry.) + +At ten o'clock Miss Annesley rose, and the count escorted her to the +elevator, returning almost immediately. He and the colonel drew their +heads together. From time to time the count shrugged, or the colonel +shook his head. Again and again the Russian dipped the end of his cigar +into his coffee-cup, which he frequently replenished. + +But for Mr. Robert the gold had turned to gilt, the gorgeous to the +gaudy. She was gone. The imagination moves as swiftly as light, leaping +from one castle in air to another, and still another. Mr. Robert was +the architect of some fine ones, I may safely assure you. And he didn't +mind in the least that they tumbled down as rapidly as they builded: +only, the incentive was gone. What the colonel had to say to the count, +or the count to the colonel, was of no interest to him; so he made an +orderly retreat. + +I am not so old as not to appreciate his sleeplessness that night. Some +beds are hard, even when made of the softest down. + +In the morning he telephoned to the Holland House. The Annesleys, he +was informed, had departed for parts unknown. The count had left +directions to forward any possible mail to the Russian Embassy, +Washington. Sighs in the _doloroso_; the morning papers and numerous +cigars; a whisky and soda; a game of indifferent billiards with an +affable stranger; another whisky and soda; and a gradual reclamation of +Mr. Robert's interest in worldly affairs. + +She was gone. + + + + +IV + +A FAMILY REUNION + + +Warburton had not been in the city of Washington within twelve years. +In the past his furloughs had been spent at his brother's country home +in Larchmont, out of New York City. Thus, when he left the train at the +Baltimore and Potomac station, he hadn't the slightest idea where Scott +Circle was. He looked around in vain for the smart cab of the northern +metropolis. All he saw was a line of omnibuses and a few ramshackle +vehicles that twenty years back might very well have passed for +victorias. A grizzled old negro, in command of one of these sea-going +conveyances, caught Warburton's eye and hailed jovially. Our hero (as +the good novelists of the past generation would say, taking their +readers into their innermost confidences) handed him his traveling case +and stepped in. + +"Whar to, suh?" asked the commodore. + +"Scott Circle, and don't pommel that old nag's bones in trying to get +there. I've plenty of time." + +"I reckon I won't pommel him, suh. Skt! skt!" And the vehicle rattled +out into broad Pennsylvania Avenue, but for the confusion and absurdity +of its architectural structures, the handsomest thoroughfare in +America. (Some day I am going to carry a bill into Congress and read +it, and become famous as having been the means of making Pennsylvania +Avenue the handsomest highway in the world.) + +Warburton leaned back luxuriously against the faded horse-hair cushion +and lighted a cigar, which he smoked with relish, having had a hearty +breakfast on the train. It was not quite nine o'clock, and a warm +October haze lay on the peaceful city. Here were people who did not +rush madly about in the pursuit of riches. Rather they proceeded along +soberly, even leisurely, as if they knew what the day's work was and +the rewards attendant, and were content. Trucks, those formidable +engines of commerce, neither rumbled nor thundered along the pavements, +nor congested the thoroughfares. Nobody hurried into the shops, nobody +hurried out. There were no scampering, yelling newsboys. Instead, along +the curbs of the market, sat barelegged negro boys, some of them +selling papers to those who wanted them, and some sandwiched in between +baskets of popcorn and peanuts. There was a marked scarcity of the +progressive, intrusive white boy. Old negro mammies passed to and fro +with the day's provisions. + +Glancing over his shoulder, Warburton saw the Capitol, shining in the +sun like some enchanted palace out of Wonderland. He touched his cap, +conscious of a thrill in his spine. And there, far to his left, loomed +the Washington monument, glittering like a shaft of opals. Some +orderlies dashed by on handsome bays. How splendid they looked, with +their blue trousers and broad yellow stripes! This was before the Army +adopted the comfortable but shabby brown duck. How he longed to throw a +leg over the back of a good horse and gallop away into the great green +country beyond! + +In every extraordinary looking gentleman he saw some famed senator or +congressman or diplomat. He was almost positive that he saw the +secretary of war drive by in a neat brougham. The only things which +moved with the hustling spirit of the times were the cables, and +doubtless these would have gone slower but for the invisible and +immutable power which propelled them. On arriving in New York, one's +first thought is of riches; in Washington, of glory. What a difference +between this capital and those he had seen abroad! There was no +militarism here, no conscription, no governmental oppression, no signs +of discontent, no officers treading on the rights and the toes of +civilians. + +But now he was passing the huge and dingy magic Treasury Building, +round past the Executive Mansion with its spotless white stone, its +stately portico and its plush lawns. + +"Go slow, uncle; I haven't seen this place since I was a boy." + +"Yes, suh. How d' y' like it? Wouldn' y' like t' live in dat house, +suh?"--the commodore grinned. + +"One can't stay there long enough to please me, uncle. It takes four +years to get used to it; and then, when you begin to like it, you have +to pack up and clear out." + +"It's de way dey goes, suh. We go eroun' Lafayette, er do yuh want t' +see de Wa' Depa'tment, suh?" + +"Never mind now, uncle; Scott Circle." + +"Scott Circle she am, suh." + +The old ark wheeled round Lafayette Square and finally rolled into +Sixteenth Street. When at length it came to a stand in front of a +beautiful house, Warburton evinced his surprise openly. He knew that +his brother's wife had plenty of money, but not such a plenty as to +afford a house like this. + +"Are you sure, uncle, that this is the place?" + +"Dere's de Circle, suh, an' yuh can see de numbuh fo' y'se'f, suh." + +"How much do I owe you?" + +"I reckon 'bout fifty cents 'll make it, suh." + +Warburton gave him a dollar, marveling at the difference between the +cab hire here and in New York. He grasped his case and leaped up the +steps two at a bound, and pressed the bell A prim little maid answered +the call. + +"Does Mr. John Warburton live here?" he asked breathlessly. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Fortunate John!" he cried, pushing past the maid and standing in the +hall of his brother's household, unheralded and unannounced. "Jack!" he +bawled. + +The maid eyed the handsome intruder, her face expressing the utmost +astonishment. She touched his arm. + +"Sir!--" she began. + +"It's all right, my dear," he interrupted. + +She stepped back, wondering whether to scream or run. + +"Hi, Jack! I say, you old henpecked, where are you?" + +The dining-room door slid back and a tall, studious-looking gentleman, +rather plain than otherwise, stood on the threshold. + +"Jane, what is all this--Why, Bob, you scalawag!"--and in a moment they +were pumping hands at a great rate. The little maid leaned weakly +against the balustrade. + +"Kit, Kit! I say, Kit, come and see who's here!" cried John. + +An extraordinarily pretty little woman, whose pallor any woman would +have understood, but no man on earth, and who was dressed in a charming +pink negligee morning-gown, hurried into the hall. + +"Why, it's Bob!" She flung her arms around the prodigal and kissed him +heartily, held him away at arm's length, and hugged and kissed him +again. I'm not sure that Mr. Robert didn't like it. + +Suddenly there was a swish of starched skirts on the stairs, and the +most beautiful woman in all the world (and I am always ready to back +this statement with abundant proofs!) rushed down and literally threw +herself into Mr. Robert's eager, outstretched arms. + +"Nancy!" + +"Bob! Bob! you wicked boy! You almost break our hearts. Not a line in +two months!--How could you!--You might have been dead and we not know +it!"--and she cried on his shoulder. + +"Come now, Nancy; nonsense! You'll start the color running out of this +tie of mine!" But for all his jesting tone, Mr. Robert felt an +embarrassing lump wriggle up and down in his throat. + +"Had your breakfast?" asked the humane and practical brother. + +"Yep. But I shouldn't mind another cup of coffee." + +And thereupon he was hustled into the dining-room and pushed into the +best chair. How the clear women fussed over him, pressed this upon him +and that; fondled and caressed him, just as if the beggar was worth all +this trouble and love and affection! + +"Hang it, girls, it's worth being an outlaw to come to this," he cried. +He reached over and patted Nancy on the cheek, and pressed the young +wife's hand, and smiled pleasantly at his brother. "Jack, you lucky +pup, you!" + +"Two years," murmured Nancy; "and we haven't had a glimpse of you in +two long years." + +"Only in photograph," said the homeless one, putting three lumps of +sugar into his coffee because he was so happy he didn't know what he +was about. + +"And you have turned twenty-eight," said Kit, counting on her fingers. + +"That makes you twenty-four, Nan," Jack laughed. + +"And much I care!" replied Nancy, shaking her head defiantly. I've a +sneaking idea that she was thinking of me when she made this +declaration. For if _I_ didn't care, why should she? + +"A handsome, stunning girl like you, Nan, ought to be getting married," +observed the prodigal. "What's the matter with all these dukes and +lords and princes, anyhow?" + +An embarrassed smile ran around the table, but Mr. Robert missed it by +some several inches. + +Jack threw a cigar across the table. "Now," said he, "where the deuce +did you come from?" + +"Indirectly from Arizona, which is a synonym, once removed, for war." + +Jack looked at his plate and laughed; but Mrs. Jack wanted to know what +Bob meant by that. + +"It's a word used instead of war, as applied by the late General +Sherman," Jack replied. "And I am surprised that a brother-in-law of +yours should so far forget himself as to hint it, even." + +Knowing that she could put him through the inquisition later, she asked +my hero how his leg was. + +"It aches a little when it rains; that's about all." + +"And you never let us know anything about it till the thing was all +over," was Nancy's reproach. + +"What's the use of scaring you women?" Robert demanded. "You would have +had hysterics and all that." + +"We heard of it quick enough through the newspapers," said Jack. "Come, +give us your own version of the rumpus." + +"Well, the truth is,"--and the prodigal told them his tale. + +"Why, you are a hero!" cried Mrs. Jack, clasping her hands. + +"Hero nothing," sniffed the elder brother. "He was probably star-gazing +or he wouldn't have poked his nose into an ambush." + +"Right you are, brother John," Robert acknowledged, laughing. + +"And how handsome he has grown, Nancy," Mrs. Jack added, with an +oblique glance at her husband. + +"He does look 'distangy'," that individual admitted. A handsome face +always went through John's cuirass. It was all nonsense, for his wife +could not have adored him more openly had he been the twin to Adonis. +But, there you are; a man always wants something he can not have. John +wasn't satisfied to be one of the most brilliant young men in +Washington; he also wanted to be classed among the handsomest. + +"By the way, Jack," said my hero, lighting the cigar and blowing the +first puff toward the ceiling, his face admirably set with nonchalance, +"do you know of a family named Annesley--Colonel Annesley?" I knew it +would take only a certain length of time for this question to arrive. + +"Colonel Annesley? Why, yes. He was in the War Department until a year +or so ago. A fine strategist; knows every in and out of the coast +defenses, and is something of an inventor; lots of money, too. Tall, +handsome old fellow?" + +"That's the man. A war volunteer?" + +"No, a regular. Crippled his gun-fingers in some petty Indian war, and +was transferred to the Department. He was a widower, if my recollection +of him is correct; and had a lovely daughter." + +"Ah!" There was great satisfaction evident in this syllable. "Do you +know where the colonel is now?" + +"Not the faintest idea. He lived somewhere in Virginia. But he's been +on the travel for several years." + +Robert stirred his coffee and took a spoonful--and dropped the spoon. +"Pah! I must have put in a quart of sugar. Can you spare me another +cup?" + +"Annesley?" Nancy's face brightened. "Colonel Annesley? Why, I know +Betty Annesley. She was my room-mate at Smith one year. She was in my +graduating class. I'll show you her picture later. She was the dearest +girl! How she loved horses! But why are you so interested?"--slyly. + +"I ran across them coming home." + +"Then you met Betty! Isn't she just the loveliest girl you ever saw?" + +"I'm for her, one and indivisible. But hang my luck, I never came +within a mile of an introduction." + +"What? You, and on shipboard where she couldn't get away?" John threw +up his hands as a sign that this information had overcome him. + +"Even the captain shied when I approached him," said Robert, gloomily. + +"I begin to see," said the brother. + +"See what?" + +"Have a match; your cigar has gone out." + +Robert relighted his cigar and puffed like a threshing-machine engine. + +John leaned toward Nancy. "Shall I tell him, Nan?" + +Nancy blushed. "I suppose he'll have to know sooner or later." + +"Know what?" asked the third person singular + +"Your charming sister is about to bring you a brother-in-law." + +"What?" You could have heard this across the street. + +"Yes, Bobby dear. And don't look so hurt. You don't want me to become +an old maid, do you?" + +"When did it happen?"--helplessly. How the thought of his sister's +marrying horrifies a brother! I believe I can tell you why. Every +brother knows that no man is good enough for a good woman. "When did it +happen?" Mr. Robert repeated, with a look at his brother, which said +that _he_ should be held responsible. + +"Last week." + +Robert took in a long breath, as one does who expects to receive a blow +of some sort which can not be warded off, and asked: "Who is it?" Nancy +married? What was the world coming to, anyhow? + +"Charlie Henderson,"--timidly. + +Then Robert, who had been expecting nothing less than an English duke, +let loose the flaming ions of his righteous wrath. + +"Chuck Henderson?--that duffer?" (Oh, Mr. Robert, Mr. Robert; and after +all I've done for you!) + +"He's not a duffer!" remonstrated Nancy, with a flare in her mild eyes. +(How I wish I might have seen her as she defended me!) "He's the +dearest fellow in the world, and I love him with all my heart!" (How do +you like that, Mr. Robert? Bravo, Nancy! I may be a duffer, true +enough, but I rather object to its being called out from the +housetops.) And Nancy added: "I want you to understand distinctly, +Robert, that in my selection of a husband you are not to be consulted." + +This was moving him around some. + +"Hold on, Nan! Drat it, don't look like that! I meant nothing, dearie; +only I'm a heap surprised. Chuck _is_ a good fellow, I'll admit; but +I've been dreaming of your marrying a prince or an ambassador, and +Henderson comes like a jolt. Besides, Chuck will never be anything but +a first-rate politician. You'll have to get used to cheap cigars and +four-ply whisky. When is it going to happen?" + +"In June. I have always loved him, Bob. And he wants you to be his best +man." + +Robert appeared a bit mollified at this knowledge. "But what shall I do +after that?" he wailed. "You're the only person I can order about, and +now you're going the other side of the range." + +"Bob, why don't you get married yourself?" asked Mrs. Warburton. "With +your looks you won't have to go far nor begging for a wife." + +"There's the rub, sister mine by law and the admirable foresight of my +only brother. What am I good for but ordering rookies about? I've no +business head. And it's my belief that an Army man ought never to wed." + +"Marry, my boy, and I'll see what can be done for you in the diplomatic +way. The new administration will doubtless be Republican, and my +influence will have some weight,"--and John smiled affectionately +across the table. He loved this gay lad opposite, loved him for his own +self and because he could always see the mother's eyes and lips. "You +have reached the age of discretion. You are now traveled and a fairly +good linguist. You've an income of forty-five hundred, and to this I +may be able to add a berth worth two or three thousand. Find the girl, +lad; find the girl." + +"Honestly, I'll think it over, Jack." + +"Oh!" + +Three of the quartet turned wonderingly toward Mrs. Jack. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack. + +"We have forgotten to show Bob the baby!" + +"Merciful heavens!" bawled Robert. "A baby? This is the first time I've +heard anything about a baby,"--looking with renewed interest at the +young mother. + +"Do you mean to tell me, John Warburton, that you failed to mention the +fact in any of your letters?" indignantly demanded Mrs. John. + +"Why--er--didn't I mention it?" asked the perturbed father. + +"Nary a word, nary a word!" Robert got up. "Now, where is this +wonderful he?--or is it a she?" + +"Boy, Bob; greatest kid ever." + +And they all trooped up the stairs to the nursery, where Mr. Robert was +forced to admit that, as regarded a three-months-old, this was the +handsomest little colt he had ever laid eyes on! Mr. Robert even +ventured to take the boy up in his arms. + +"How d'ye hold him?" he asked. + +Mrs. John took the smiling cherub, and the manner in which she folded +that infant across her young breast was a true revelation to the +prodigal, who felt his loneliness more than ever. He was a rank +outsider. + +"Jack, you get me that diplomatic post, and I'll see to it that the +only bachelor in the Warburton family shall sleep in yonder cradle." + +"Done!" + +"How long is your furlough?" asked Nancy. + +"Whom do you think the baby resembles?" asked the mother. + +"One at a time, one at a time! The baby at present doesn't resemble any +one." + +"There's your diplomat!" cried John, with a laugh. + +"And my furlough is for several years, if not longer." + +"What?" This query was general and simultaneous. + +"Yes, I've disbanded. The Army will now go to rack and ruin. I am a +plain citizen of the United States. I expect to spend the winter in +Washington." + +"The winter!" echoed Jack, mockingly dejected. + +"John!" said his wife. John assumed a meek expression; and Mrs. John, +putting the baby in the cradle, turned to her brother-in-law. "I +thought the Army was a hobby with you." + +"It was. I've saved up quite a sum, and I'm going to see a lot of fine +scenery if my leg doesn't give out." + +"Or your bank account," supplemented John. + +"Well, or my bank account." + +"Draw on me whenever you want passage out West," went on the statesman +in chrysalis. + +Whereupon they all laughed; not because John had said anything +particularly funny, but because there was a good and generous measure +of happiness in each heart. + +"Bob, there's a ball at the British embassy tonight. You must go with +us." + +"Impossible!" said Robert. "Remember my leg." + +"That will not matter," said Mrs. John; "you need not dance." + +"What, not dance? I should die of intermittent fever. And if I did +dance, my leg might give out." + +"You can ride a horse all right," said John, in the way of argument. + +"I can do that easily with my knees. But I can't dance with my knees. +No, I shall stay at home. I couldn't stand it to see all those famous +beauties, and with me posing as a wall-flower." + +"But what will you do here all alone?" + +"Play with the kid, smoke and read; make myself at home. You still +smoke that Louisiana, Jack?" + +"Yes,"--dubiously. + +"So. Now, don't let me interfere with your plans for tonight. I haven't +been in a home in so long that it will take more than one night for the +novelty to wear off. Besides, that nurse of yours, Kit, is good to look +at,"--a bit of the rogue in his eye. + +"Bob!"--from both women. + +"I promise not to look at her; I promise." + +"Well, I must be off," said John. "I'm late now. I've a dozen plans for +coast defenses to go over with an inventor of a new carriage-gun. Will +you go with me, while I put you up at the Metropolitan, or will you +take a shopping trip with the women?" + +"I'll take the shopping trip. It will be a sensation. Have you any +horses?" + +"Six." + +"Six! You _are_ a lucky pup: a handsome wife, a bouncing boy, and six +horses! Where's the stable?" + +"In the rear. I keep only two stablemen; one to take care of the horses +and one to act as groom. I'm off. I've a cracking good hunter, if you'd +like a leg up. We'll all ride out to Chevy Chase Sunday. By-by, till +lunch." + +Mr. Robert immediately betook himself to the stables, where he soon +became intimately acquainted with the English groom. He fussed about +the harness-room, deplored the lack of a McClelland saddle, admired the +English curbs, and complimented the men on the cleanliness of the +stables. The men exchanged sly smiles at first, but these smiles soon +turned into grins of admiration. Here was a man who knew a horse from +his oiled hoofs to his curried forelock. + +"This fellow ought to jump well," he said, patting the sleek neck of +the hunter. + +"He does that, sir," replied the groom. "He has never taken less than a +red ribbon. Only one horse beat him at the bars last winter in New +York. It was Mr. Warburton's fault that he did not take first prize. He +rode him in the park the day before the contest, and the animal caught +a bad cold, sir." + +And then it was that this hero of mine conceived his great (not to say +young and salad) idea. It appealed to him as being so rich an idea that +the stables rang with his laughter. + +"Sir?" politely inquired the groom. + +"I'm not laughing at your statement, my good fellow; rather at an idea +which just occurred to me. In fact, I believe that I shall need your +assistance." + +"In what way, sir?" + +"Come with me." + +The groom followed Warburton into the yard, A conversation began in low +tones. + +"It's as much as my place is worth, sir. I couldn't do it, sir," +declared the groom, shaking his head negatively. + +"I'll guarantee that you will not suffer in the least. My brother will +not discharge you. He likes a joke as well as I do. You are not handed +twenty dollars every day for a simple thing like this." + +"Very well, sir. I dare say that no harm will come of it. But I am an +inch or two shorter than you." + +"We'll tide that over." + +"I am at your orders, sir." But the groom returned to the stables, +shaking his head dubiously. He was not thoroughly convinced. + +During the morning ride down-town the two women were vastly puzzled +over their brother's frequent and inexplicable peals of laughter. + +"For mercy's sake, what do you see that is so funny?" asked Nancy. + +"I'm thinking, my dears; only thinking." + +"Tell us, that we may laugh, too. I'll wager that you are up to some +mischief, Master Robert. Please tell," Nancy urged. + +"Later, later; at present you would fail to appreciate the joke. In +fact, you might make it miscarry; and that wouldn't do at all. Have a +little patience. It's a good joke, and you'll be in it when the time +comes." + +And nothing more could they worm out of him. + +I shall be pleased to recount to you the quality of this joke, this +madcap idea. You will find it lacking neither amusement nor denouement. +Already I have put forth the casual observation that from Paris to the +third-precinct police-station in Washington is several thousand miles. + + + + +V + +THE PLOT THICKENS + + +At dinner that night I met my hero face to face for the first time in +eight years, and for all his calling me a duffer (I learned of this +only recently), he was mighty glad to see me, slapped me on the back +and threw his arm across my shoulder. And why shouldn't he have been +glad? We had been boys together, played hooky many a school-time +afternoon, gone over the same fishing grounds, plunged into the same +swimming-holes, and smoked our first cigar in the rear of my father's +barn; and it is the recollection of such things that cements all the +more strongly friendship in man and man. We recalled a thousand +episodes and escapades, the lickings we got, and the lickings others +got in our stead, the pretty school-teacher whom we swore to wed when +we grew up. Nobody else had a chance to get a word in edgewise. But +Nancy laughed aloud at times. She had been a witness to many of these +long-ago pranks. + +"What! you are not going to the ball?" I asked, observing that he wore +only a dinner-coat and a pair of morocco slippers. + +"No ball for me. Just as soon as you people hie forth, off comes this +b'iled shirt, and I shall probably meander around the house in my new +silk pajamas. I shall read a little from Homer--Jack, let me have the +key to that locked case; I've an idea that there must be some robust +old, merry old tales hidden there--and smoke a few pipes." + +"But you are not going to leave Mrs. Warburton and your sister to come +home without escort?" I expostulated. + +"Where the deuce are you two men going?" Robert asked, surprised. +Somehow, I seemed to catch a joyful rather than a sorrowful note in his +tones. + +"An important conference at midnight, and heaven only knows how long it +may last," said Jack. "I wish you would go along, Bob." + +"He can't go now, anyhow," said the pretty little wife. "He has got to +stay now, whether he will or no. William will see to it that we women +get home all right,"--and she busied herself with the salad dishes. + +Suddenly I caught Robert's eye, and we stared hard at each other. + +"Chuck, you old pirate," he said presently, "what do you mean by coming +around and making love to my sister, and getting her to promise to +marry you? You know you aren't good enough for her." + +I confess to no small embarrassment. "I--I know it!" + +"What do you mean by it, then?" + +"Why--er--that is--Confound you, Bob, _I_ couldn't help it, and +besides, I didn't _want_ to help it! And if you want to have it out--" + +"Oh, pshaw! You know just as well as I do that it is against the law to +hit a man that wears glasses. We'll call it quits if you'll promise +that in the days to come you'll let me hang around your hymeneal shack +once in a while." + +"Why, if you put it that way!"--and we were laughing and shaking hands +again across the table, much to the relief of all concerned. + +Dear Nan! I'm not afraid to let the whole world see how much I love +you. For where exists man's strength if not in the pride of his love? + +"What time does the kid get to sleep?" asked Robert. + +"He ought to be asleep now," said Mrs. W. "We shall not reach the +embassy until after ten. We have a reception first, and we must leave +cards there. Won't you be lonesome here, Bobby?" + +"Not the least in the world;"--and Bobby began to laugh. + +"What's the joke?" I asked. + +He looked at me sharply, then shook his head. "I'll tell you all about +it to-morrow, Chuck. It's the kind of joke that has to boil a long time +before it gets tender enough to serve." + +"I'd give a good deal to know what is going on behind those eyes of +yours, Bob." Nancy's eyes searched him ruthlessly, but she might just +as well have tried to pierce a stone wall. "You have been laughing all +day about something, and I'd like to know what about. It's mischief. I +haven't known you all these years for nothing. Now, don't do anything +silly, Bob." + +"Nancy,"--reproachfully--"I am a man almost thirty; I have passed the +Rubicon of cutting up tricks. Go to the ball, you beauty, dance and +revel to your heart's content; your brother Robert will manage to pass +away the evening. Don't forget the key to that private case, Jack,"--as +the women left the table to put the finishing touches to their toilets. + +"Here you are," said Jack. "But mind, you must put those books back +just as you found them, and lock the case. They are rare editions." + +"With the accent on the _rare_, no doubt." + +"I am a student, pure and simple," said Jack, lowering his eyes. + +"I wouldn't swear to those adjectives," returned the scalawag. "If I +remember, you had the reputation of being a high-jinks man in your +class at Princeton." + +"Sh! Don't you dare to drag forth any of those fool corpses of college, +or out you go, bag and baggage." Jack glanced nervously around the room +and toward the hall. + +"My dear fellow, your wife wouldn't believe me, no matter what I said +against your character. Isn't that right, Chuck? Jack, you are a lucky +dog, if there ever was one. A handsome wife who loves you, a kid, a +fine home, and plenty of horses. I wonder if you married her for her +money?" + +Jack's eyes narrowed. He seemed to muse. "Yes, I believe I can do it as +easily as I did fifteen years ago." + +"Do what?" I asked. + +"Wallop that kid brother of mine. Bob, I hope you'll fall desperately +in love some day, and that you will have a devil of a time winning the +girl. You need something to stir up your vitals. By George! and I hope +she won't have a cent of money." + +"Lovable brother, that!" Bob knocked the ash from his cigar and essayed +at laughter which wasn't particularly felicitous. "Supposing I was in +love, new, and that the girl had heaps of money, and all that?" + +"_And all that_," mimicked the elder brother. "What does 'and all that' +mean?" + +"Oh, shut up!" + +"Well, I hope you _are_ in love. It serves you right. You've made more +than one girl's heart ache, you good-looking ruffian!" + +Then we switched over to politics, and Robert became an interested +listener. Quarter of an hour later the women returned, and certainly +they made a picture which was most satisfactory to the masculine eye. +Ah, thou eager-fingered Time, that shall, in days to come, wither the +roses in my beauty's cheeks, dim the fire in my beauty's eyes, draw my +beauty's bow-lips inward, tarnish the golden hair, and gnarl the +slender, shapely fingers, little shall I heed you in your passing if +you but leave the heart untouched! + +Bob jumped to his feet and kissed them both, a thing I lacked the +courage to do. How pleased they looked! How a woman loves flattery from +those she loves! + +Well, William is in front with the carriage; the women are putting on +their cloaks, and I am admiring the luxurious crimson fur-lined garment +which brother Robert had sent to Nancy from Paris. You will see by this +that he was not altogether a thoughtless lad. Good-by, Mr. Robert; I +leave you and your guiding-star to bolt the established orbit; for +after this night the world will never be the same careless, +happy-go-lucky world. The farce has its tragedy, and what tragedy is +free of the ludificatory? Youth must run its course, even as the gay, +wild brook must riot on its way to join the sober river. + +I dare say that we hadn't been gone twenty minutes before Robert stole +out to the stables, only to return immediately with a bundle under his +arm and a white felt hat perched rakishly on his head. He was chuckling +audibly to himself. + +"It will frighten the girls half to death. A gray horse and a bay; oh, +I won't make any mistake. Let me see; I'll start about twelve o'clock. +That'll get me on the spot just as the boys leave. This is the richest +yet. I'll wager that there will be some tall screaming." He continued +chuckling as he helped himself to his brother's perfectos and fine old +Scotch. I don't know what book he found in the private case; some old +rascal's merry tales, no doubt; for my hero's face was never in repose. + +We had left Mrs. Secretary-of-the-Interior's and were entering the red +brick mansion on Connecticut Avenue. Carriages lined both sides of the +street, and mounted police patrolled up and down. + +"I do hope Bob will not wake up the baby," said Mrs. W. + +"Probably he won't even take the trouble to look at him," replied Jack; +"not if he gets into that private case of mine." + +"I can't understand what you men see in those horrid chronicles," Nancy +declared. + +"My dear girl," said Jack, "in those days there were no historians; +they were simply story-tellers, and we get our history from these +tales. The tales themselves are not very lofty, I am willing to admit; +but they give us a general idea of the times in which the characters +lived. This is called literature by the wise critics." + +"Critics!" said I; "humph! Criticism is always a lazy man's job. When +no two critics think alike, of what use is criticism?" + +"Ah, yes; I forgot. That book of essays you wrote got several sound +drubbings. Nevertheless," continued Jack, "what you offer is in the +main true. Time alone is the true critic. Let him put his mark of +approval on your work, and not all the critical words can bury it or +hinder its light. But Time does not pass his opinion till long after +one is dead. The first waltz, dearest, if you think you can stand it. +You mustn't get tired, little mother." + +"I am wonderfully strong to-night," said the little mother. "How +beautifully it is arranged!" + +"What?" we men asked, looking over the rooms. + +"The figures on Mrs. Secretary-of-State's gown. The lace is beautiful. +Your brother. Nan, has very good taste for a man. That cloak of yours +is by far the handsomest thing I have seen to-night; and that bit of +scarf he sent me isn't to be matched." + +"Poor boy!" sighed Nancy. "I wonder if he'll be lonely. It's a shame to +leave him home the very first night." + +"Why didn't he come, then?" Mrs. W. shrugged her polished shoulders. + +"Oh, my cigars and Scotch are fairly comforting," put in Jack, +complacently. "Besides, Jane Isn't at all bad looking,"--winking at me. +"What do you say, Charlie?" + +But Charlie had no time to answer. The gray-haired, gray-whiskered +ambassador was bowing pleasantly to us. A dozen notable military and +naval attaches nodded; and we passed on to the ball-room, where the +orchestra was playing _A Summer Night in Munich_. In a moment Jack and +his wife were lost in the maze of gleaming shoulders and white linen. +It was a picture such as few men, once having witnessed it, can forget. +Here were the great men in the great world: this man was an old +rear-admiral, destined to become the nation's hero soon; there, a +famous general, of long and splendid service; celebrated statesmen, +diplomats, financiers; a noted English duke; a scion of the Hapsburg +family; an intimate of the German kaiser; a swart Jap; a Chinaman with +his peacock feather; tens of men whose lightest word was listened to by +the four ends of the world; representatives of all the great kingdoms +and states. The President and his handsome wife had just left as we +came, so we missed that formality, which detracts from the pleasures of +the ball-room. + +"Who is that handsome young fellow over there, standing at the side of +the Russian ambassador's wife?" asked Nancy, pressing my arm. + +"Where? Oh, he's Count Karloff (or something which sounds like it), a +wealthy Russian, in some way connected with the Russian government; a +diplomat and a capital fellow, they say. I have never met him. ... +Hello! there's a stunning girl right next to him that I haven't seen +before. ... Where are you going?" + +Nancy had dropped my arm and was gliding kitty-corner fashion, across +the floor. Presently she and the stunning girl had saluted each other +after the impulsive fashion of American girls, and were playing +cat-in-the-cradle, to the amusement of those foreigners nearest. A nod, +and I was threading my way to Nancy's side. + +"Isn't it glorious?" she began. "This is Miss Annesley, Charlie; Betty, +Mr. Henderson." Miss Annesley looked mildly curious at Nan, who +suddenly flushed. "We are to be married in the spring," she explained +shyly; and I dare say that there was a diffident expression on my own +face. + +Miss Annesley gave me her hand, smiling. "You are a very fortunate man, +Mr. Henderson." + +"Not the shadow of a doubt!" Miss Annesley, I frankly admitted on the +spot, was, next to Nancy, the handsomest girl I ever saw; and as I +thought of Mr. Robert in his den at home, I sincerely pitied him. I was +willing to advance the statement that had he known, a pair of crutches +would not have kept him away from No. 1300 Connecticut Avenue. + +I found three chairs, and we sat down. There was, for me, very little +opportunity to talk. Women always have so much to say to each other, +even when they haven't seen each other within twenty-four hours. From +time to time Miss Annesley glanced at me, and I am positive that Nancy +was extolling my charms. It was rather embarrassing, and I was balling +my gloves up in a most dreadful fashion. As they seldom addressed a +word to me, I soon became absorbed in the passing scene. I was +presently aroused, however. + +"Mr. Henderson, Count Karloff," Miss Annesley was saying. (Karloff is a +name of my own choosing. I haven't the remotest idea if it means +anything in the Russian language. I hope not.) + +"Charmed!" The count's r's were very pleasantly rolled. I could see by +the way his gaze roved from Miss Annesley to Nancy that he was puzzled +to decide which came the nearer to his ideal of womanhood. + +I found him a most engaging fellow, surprisingly well-informed on +American topics. I credit myself with being a fairly good reader of +faces, and, reading his as he bent it in Miss Annesley's direction, I +began to worry about Mr. Robert's course of true love. Here was a man +who possessed a title, was handsome, rich, and of assured social +position: it would take an extraordinary American girl to look coldly +upon his attentions. By and by the two left us, Miss Annesley promising +to call on Nancy. + +"And where are you staying, Betty?" + +"Father and I have taken Senator Blank's house in Chevy Chase for the +winter. My horses are already in the stables. Do you ride?" + +"I do." + +"Then we shall have some great times together." + +"Be sure to call. I want you to meet my brother." + +"I believe I have," replied Miss Annesley. + +"I mean my younger brother, a lieutenant in the Army." + +"Oh, then you have two brothers?" + +"Yes," said Nancy. + +"The dance is dying, Mademoiselle," said the count in French. + +"Your arm, Monsieur. _Au revoir,_ Nancy." + +"Poor Bobby!" Nancy folded her hands and sighed mournfully. "It appears +to me that his love affair is not going to run very smooth. But isn't +she just beautiful, Charlie? What color, what style!" + +"She's a stunner, I'm forced to admit. Bob'll never stand a ghost of a +show against that Russian. He's a great social catch, and is backed by +many kopecks." + +"How unfortunate we did not know that she would be here! Bobby would +have met her at his best, and his best is more to my liking than the +count's. He has a way about him that the women like. He's no laggard. +But money ought not to count with Betty. She is worth at least a +quarter of a million. Her mother left all her property to her, and her +father acts only as trustee. Senator Blank's house rents for eight +thousand the season. It's ready furnished, you know, and one of the +handsomest homes in Washington. Besides, I do not trust those +foreigners,"--taking a remarkably abrupt curve, as it were. + +[Illustration: "What were you doing off your own box?" "Getting on the +wrong box"--Act I.] + +"There's two Bs in your bonnet, Nancy," I laughed. + +"Never mind the Bs; let us have the last of this waltz." + +This is not my own true story; so I shall bow off and permit my hero to +follow the course of true love, which is about as rough-going a +thoroughfare as the many roads of life have to offer. + + + + +VI + +THE MAN ON THE BOX + + +At eleven-thirty he locked up his book and took to his room the +mysterious bundle which he had purloined from the stables. It contained +the complete livery of a groom. The clothes fitted rather snugly, +especially across the shoulders. He stood before the pier-glass, and a +complacent (not to say roguish) smile flitted across his face. The +black half-boots, the white doeskin breeches, the brown brass-buttoned +frock, and the white hat with the brown cockade. ... Well, my word for +it, he was the handsomest jehu Washington ever turned out. With a grin +he touched his hat to the reflection in the glass, and burst out +laughing. His face was as smooth as a baby's, for he had generously +sacrificed his beard. + +I can hear him saying to himself: "Lord, but this is a lark! I'll have +to take another Scotch to screw up the edge of my nerve. Won't the boys +laugh when they hear how I stirred the girls' frizzes! We'll have a +little party here when they all get home. It's a good joke." + +Mr. Robert did not prove much of a prophet. Many days were to pass ere +he reentered his brother's house. + +He stole quietly from the place. He hadn't proceeded more than a block +when he became aware of the fact that he hadn't a penny in his clothes. +This discovery disquieted him, and he half turned about to go back. He +couldn't go back. He had no key. + +"Pshaw! I won't need any money;"--and he started off again toward +Connecticut Avenue. He dared not hail a car, and he would not have +dared had he possessed the fare. Some one might recognize him. He +walked briskly for ten minutes. The humor of the escapade appealed to +him greatly, and he had all he could do to smother the frequent bursts +of laughter which surged to his lips. He reached absently for his +cigar-case. No money, no cigars. + +"That's bad. Without a cigar I'm likely to get nervous. Scraping off +that beard made me forgetful. Jove! with these fleshings I feel as +self-conscious as an untried chorus girl. These togs can't be very warm +in winter. Ha! that must be the embassy where all those lights are; +carriages. _Allons!_" + +To make positive, he stopped a pedestrian. + +"Pardon me, sir," he said, touching his hat, "but will you be so kind +as to inform me if yonder is the British embassy?" + +"It is, my man," replied the gentleman. + +"Thank you, sir." + +And each passed on to his affairs. + +"Now for William; we must find William, or the joke will be on Robert." + +He manoeuvered his way through the congested thoroughfare, searching +the faces of the grooms and footmen. He dodged hither and thither, and +was once brought to a halt by the mounted police. + +"Here, you! What d'ye mean by runnin' around like this? Lost yer +carriage, hey? I've a mind to run ye in. Y' know th' rules relatin' th' +leavin' of yer box in times like these. Been takin' a sly nip, +probably, an' they've sent yer hack down a peg. Get a gait on y', now." + +Warburton laughed silently as he made for the sidewalk. The first man +he plumped into was William--a very much worried William, too. Robert +could have fallen on his neck for joy. All was plain sailing now. + +"I'm very glad to see you, sir," said William. "I was afraid you could +not get them clothes on, sir. I was getting a trifle worried, too. +Here's the carriage number." + +Warburton glanced hastily at it and stuffed it into a convenient pocket. + +"It's sixteen carriages up, sir; a bay and a gray. You can't miss them. +The bay, being a saddle-horse, is a bit restive in the harness; but all +you have to do is to touch him with the whip. And don't try to push +ahead of your turn, or you will get into trouble with the police. They +are very strict. And don't let them confuse you, sir. The numbers won't +be in rotation. You'll hear one hundred and fifteen, and the next +moment thirty-five, like as not. It's all according as to how the +guests are leaving. Good luck to you, sir, and don't forget to explain +it all thoroughly to Mr. Warburton, sir." + +"Don't you worry, William; we'll come out of this with colors flying." + +"Very well, sir. I shall hang around till you are safely off,"--and +William disappeared. + +Warburton could occasionally hear the faint strains of music. From time +to time the carriage-caller bawled out a number, and the carriage would +roll up under the porte-cochere. Warburton concluded that it would be a +good plan to hunt up his rig. His search did not last long. The bay and +the gray stood only a little way from the gate. The box was vacant, and +he climbed up and gathered the reins. He sat there for some time, +longing intensely for a cigar, a good cigar, such as gentlemen smoked. + +"Seventeen!" came hoarsely along on the wings of the night. "Number +seventeen, and lively there!" + +Warburton's pulse doubled its beat. His number! + +"Skt!" The gray and the bay started forward, took the half-circle and +stopped under the porte-cochere. Warburton recollected that a +fashionable groom never turned his head unless spoken to; so he leveled +his gaze at his horses' ears and waited. But from the very corner of +his eye he caught the glimpse of two women, one of whom was enveloped +in a crimson cloak. He thrilled with exultation. What a joke it was! He +felt the carriage list as the women stepped in. The door slammed to, +and the rare good joke was on the way. + +"Off with you!" cried the pompous footman, with an imperious wave of +the hand. "Number ninety-nine!" + +"Ninety-nine! Ninety-nine!" bawled the carriage man. + +Our jehu turned into the avenue, holding a tolerable rein. He clucked +and lightly touched the horses with the lash. _This_ was true sport; +_this_ was humor, genuine, initiative, unforced. He could imagine the +girls and their fright when he finally slowed down, opened the door, +and kissed them both. Wouldn't they let out a yell, though? His plan +was to drive furiously for half a dozen blocks, zigzag from one side of +the street to the other, taking the corners sharply, and then make for +Scott Circle. + +Now, a lad of six can tell the difference between seventeen and +seventy-one. But this astonishing jehu of mine had been conspicuous as +the worst mathematician and the best soldier in his class at West +Point. No more did he remember that he was not in the wild West, and +that here in the East there were laws prohibiting reckless driving. + +He drove decently enough till he struck Dupont Circle. From here he +turned into New Hampshire, thinking it to be Rhode Island. Mistake +number two. He had studied the city map, but he was conscious of not +knowing it as well as he should have known it; but, true to his nature, +he trusted to luck. + +Aside from all this, he forgot that a woman might appreciate this joke +only when she heard it recounted. To live through it was altogether a +different matter. In an episode like this, a woman's imagination, given +the darkness such as usually fills a carriage at night, becomes a round +of terrors. Every moment is freighted with death or disfigurement. Her +nerves are like the taut strings of a harp in a wintry wind, ready to +snap at any moment; and then, hysteria. With man the play, and only the +play, is the thing. + +Snap-crack! The surprised horses, sensitive and quick-tempered as all +highly organized beings are, nearly leaped out of the harness. Never +before had their flanks received a more unwarranted stroke of the lash. +They reared and plunged, and broke into a mad gallop, which was exactly +what the rascal on the box desired. An expert horseman, he gauged the +strength of the animals the moment they bolted, and he knew that they +were his. Once the rubber-tired vehicle slid sidewise on the wet +asphalt, and he heard a stifled scream. + +He laughed, and let forth a sounding "whoop," which nowise allayed the +fright of the women inside the carriage. He wheeled into S Street, +scraping the curb as he did so. Pedestrians stopped and stared after +him. A policeman waved his club helplessly, even hopelessly. On, on: to +Warburton's mind this ride was as wild as that which the Bishop of +Vannes took from Belle-Isle to Paris in the useless effort to save +Fouquet from the wrath of Louis XIV, and to anticipate the pregnant +discoveries of one D'Artagnan. The screams were renewed. A hand beat +against the forward window and a muffled but wrathful voice called +forth a command to stop. This voice was immediately drowned by +another's prolonged scream. Our jehu began to find all this very +interesting, very exciting. + +"I'll wager a dollar that Nan isn't doing that screaming. The +Warburtons never cry out when they are frightened. Hang it!"--suddenly; +"this street doesn't look familiar. I ought to have reached Scott +Circle by this time. Ah! here's a broader street,"--going lickety-clip +into Vermont. + +A glass went jingling to the pavement. + +"Oho! Nancy will be jumping out the next thing. This will never do." He +began to draw in. + +Hark! His trained trooper's ear heard other hoofs beating on the +iron-like surface of the pavement. Worriedly he turned his head. Five +blocks away there flashed under one of the arc-lights, only to +disappear in the shadow again, two mounted policemen. + +"By George! it looks as if the girls were going to have their fun, +too!" He laughed, but there was a nervous catch in his voice. He hadn't +counted on any policeman taking part in the comedy. "Where the devil +_is_ Scott Circle, anyhow?"--fretfully. He tugged at the reins. "Best +draw up at the next corner. I'll be hanged if _I_ know where I am." + +He braced himself, sawed with the reins, and presently the frightened +and somewhat wearied horses slowed down into a trot. This he finally +brought to a walk. One more pull, and they came to a stand. It would be +hard to say which breathed the heaviest, the man or the horses. +Warburton leaped from the box, opened the door and waited. He +recognized the necessity of finishing the play before the mounted +police arrived on the scene. + +There was a commotion inside the carriage, then a woman in a crimson +cloak stepped (no, jumped!) out. Mr. Robert threw his arms around her +and kissed her cheek. + +"You ... vile ... wretch!" + +Warburton sprang back, his hands applied to his stinging face. + +"You drunken wretch, how dare you!" + +"Nan, it's only I--" he stammered. + +"Nan!" exclaimed the young woman, as her companion joined her. The +light from the corner disclosed the speaker's wrathful features, +disdainful lips, palpitating nostrils, eyes darting terrible glances. +"Nan! Do you think, ruffian, that you are driving serving-maids?" + +"Good Lord!" Warburton stepped back still farther; stepped back +speechless, benumbed, terror-struck. The woman he was gazing at was +anybody in the world but his sister Nancy! + + + + +VII + +A POLICE AFFAIR + + +"Officers, arrest this fellow!" commanded the young woman. Her gesture +was Didoesque in its wrath. + +"That we will, ma'am!" cried one of the policemen, flinging himself +from his horse. "So it's you, me gay buck? Thirty days fer you, an' +mebbe more. I didn't like yer looks from th' start. You're working some +kind of a trick. What complaint, ma'am?" + +"Drunkenness and abduction,"--rubbing the burning spot on her cheek. + +"That'll be rather serious. Ye'll have to appear against him in th' +mornin', ma'am." + +"I certainly shall do so." She promptly gave her name, address and +telephone number. + +"Bill, you drive th' ladies home an' I'll see this bucko to th' +station. Here, you!"--to Warburton, who was still dumb with +astonishment at the extraordinary denouement to his innocent joke. "Git +on that horse, an' lively, too, or I'll rap ye with th' club." + +"It's all a mistake, officer--" + +"Close yer face an' git on that horse. Y' can tell th' judge all that +in th' mornin'. _I_ ain't got no time t' listen. Bill, report just as +soon as ye see th' ladies home. Now, off with ye. Th' ladies'll be +wantin' somethin' t' quiet their nerves. Git on that horse, me frisky +groom; hustle!" Warburton mechanically climbed into the saddle. It +never occurred to him to parley, to say that he couldn't ride a horse. +The inventive cells of his usually fertile brain lay passive. "Now," +went on the officer, mounting his own nag, "will ye go quietly? If ye +don't I'll plug ye in th' leg with a chunk o' lead. I won't stan' no +nonsense." + +"What are you going to do with me?" asked Warburton, with a desperate +effort to collect his energies. + +"Lock ye up; mebbe throw a pail of water on that overheated cocoanut of +yours." + +"But if you'll only let me explain to you! It's all a joke; I got the +wrong carriage--" + +"Marines, marines! D' ye think I was born yestiddy? Ye wanted th' +ladies' sparklers, or I'm a doughhead." The police are the same all +over the world; the original idea sticks to them, and truth in voice or +presence is but sign of deeper cunning and villainy. "Anyhow, ye can't +run around Washington like ye do in England, me cockney. Ye can't drive +more'n a hundred miles an hour on these pavements." + +"But, I tell you--" Warburton, realizing where his escapade was about +to lead him, grew desperate. The ignominy of it! He would be the +laughing-stock of all the town on the morrow. The papers would teem +with it. "You'll find that you are making a great mistake. If you will +only take me to--Scott Circle--" + +"Where ye have a pal with a gun, eh? Git ahead!" And the two made off +toward the west. + +Once or twice the officer found himself admiring the easy seat of his +prisoner; and if the horse had been anything but a trained animal, he +would have worried some regarding the ultimate arrival at the +third-precinct. + +Half a dozen times Warburton was of a mind to make a bolt for it, but +he did not dare trust the horse or his knowledge of the streets. He had +already two counts against him, disorderly conduct and abduction, and +he had no desire to add uselessly a third, that of resisting an +officer, which seems the greatest possible crime a man can commit and +escape hanging. Oh, for a mettlesome nag! There would be no +police-station for him, then. Police-station! Heavens, what should he +do? His brother, his sister; their dismay, their shame; not counting +that he himself would be laughed at from one end of the continent to +the other. What an ass he had made of himself! He wondered how much +money it would take to clear himself, and at the same moment +recollected that he hadn't a cent in his clothes. A sweat of terror +moistened his brow. + +"What were ye up to, anyway?" asked the policeman. "What kind of booze +have ye been samplin'?" + +"I've nothing to say." + +"Ye speak clear enough. So much th' worse, if ye ain't drunk. Was ye +crazy t' ride like that? Ye might have killed th' women an' had a bill +of manslaughter brought against ye." + +"I have nothing to say; it is all a mistake. I got the wrong number and +the wrong carriage." + +"Th' devil ye did! An' where was ye goin' t' drive th' other carriage +at that thunderin' rate? It won't wash. His honor'll be stone-deaf when +ye tell him that. You're drunk, or have been." + +"Not to-night." + +"Well, I'd give me night off t' know what ye were up to. Don't ye know +nothin' about ordinances an' laws? An' I wouldn't mind havin' ye tell +me why ye threw yer arms around th' lady an' kissed her,"--shrewdly. + +Warburton started in his saddle. He had forgotten all about that part +of the episode. His blood warmed suddenly and his cheeks burned. He had +kissed her, kissed her soundly, too, the most radiantly beautiful woman +in all the world. Why, come to think of it, it was easily worth a night +in jail. Yes, by George, he _had_ kissed her, kissed that blooming +cheek, and but for this policeman, would have forgotten! Whatever +happened to him, she wouldn't forget in a hurry. He laughed. The +policeman gazed at him in pained surprise. + +"Well, ye seem t' take it good an' hearty." + +"If you could only see the humor in it, my friend, you'd laugh, too." + +"Oh, I would, hey? All I got t' say is that yer nerve gits me. An' ye +stand a pretty good show of bein' rounded up for more'n thirty days, +too. Well, ye've had yer joke; mebbe ye have th' price t' pay th' +fiddler. Turn here." + +The rest of the ride was in silence, Warburton gazing callously ahead +and the officer watching him with a wary eye to observe any suggestive +movement. He couldn't make out this chap. There was something wrong, +some deep-dyed villainy--of this he hadn't the slightest doubt. It was +them high-toned swells that was the craftiest an' most daring. Handsome +is that handsome does. A quarter of an hour later they arrived at the +third precinct, where our jehu was registered for the night under the +name of James Osborne. He was hustled into a small cell and left to +himself. + +He had kissed her! Glory of glories! He had pressed her to his very +heart, besides. After all, they couldn't do anything very serious to +him. They could not prove the charge of abduction. He stretched himself +on the cot, smiled, arranged his legs comfortably, wondered what she +was thinking of at this moment, and fell asleep. It was a sign of a +good constitution and a decently white conscience. And thus they found +him in the morning. They touched his arm, and he awoke with a smile, +the truest indication of a man's amiability. At first he was puzzled as +he looked blinkingly from his jailers to his surroundings and then back +at his jailers. Then it all returned to him, and he laughed. Now the +law, as represented and upheld by its petty officers, possesses a +dignity that is instantly ruffled by the sound of laughter from a +prisoner; and Mr. Robert was roughly told to shut up, and that he'd +soon laugh on the other side of his mouth. + +"All right, officers, all right; only make allowances for a man who +sees the funny side of things." Warburton stood up and shook himself, +and picked up his white hat. They eyed him intelligently. In the +morning light the young fellow didn't appear to be such a rascal. It +was plainly evident that he had _not_ been drunk the preceding night; +for his eyes were not shot with red veins nor did his lips lack their +usual healthy moisture. The officer who had taken him in charge, being +a shrewd and trained observer, noted the white hands, soft and +well-kept. He shook his head. + +"Look here, me lad, you're no groom, not by several years. Now, what +th' devil was ye up to, anyway?" + +"I'm not saying a word, sir," smiled Warburton. "All I want to know is, +am I to have any breakfast? I shouldn't mind some peaches and cream or +grapes to start with, and a small steak and coffee." + +"Ye wouldn't mind, hey?" mimicked the officer. "What d'ye think this +place is, th' Metropolitan Club? Ye'll have yer bacon an' coffee, an' +be glad t' git it. They'll feed ye in th' mess-room. Come along." + +Warburton took his time over the coffee and bacon. He wanted to think +out a reasonable defense without unmasking himself. He was thinking how +he could get word to me, too. The "duffer" might prove a friend in need. + +"Now where?" asked Warburton, wiping his mouth. + +"T' th' court. It'll go hard with ye if ye're handed over t' th' grand +jury on th' charge of abduction. Ye'd better make a clean breast of it. +I'll speak a word for yer behavior." + +"Aren't you a little curious?" + +"It's a part of me business,"--gruffly. + +"I'll have my say to the judge," said Warburton. + +"That's yer own affair. Come." + +Once outside, Warburton lost color and a large part of his nonchalance; +for an open patrol stood at the curb. + +"Have I got to ride in that?"--disgustedly. + +"As true as life; an' if ye make any disturbance, so much th' worse." + +Warburton climbed in, his face red with shame and anger. He tied his +handkerchief around his chin and tilted his hat far down over his eyes. + +"'Fraid of meetin' some of yer swell friends, hey? Ten t' one, yer a +swell an' was runnin' away with th' wrong woman. Mind, I have an eye on +ye." + +The patrol rumbled over the asphalt on the way down-town. Warburton +buried his face in his hands. Several times they passed a cigar-store, +and his mouth watered for a good cigar, the taste of a clear Havana. + +He entered the police-court, not lacking in curiosity. It was his first +experience with this arm of the civil law. He wasn't sure that he liked +it. It wasn't an inviting place with its bare benches and its motley, +tawdry throng. He was plumped into a seat between some ladies of +irregular habits, and the stale odor of intoxicants, mingling with +cheap perfumery, took away the edge of his curiosity. + +"Hello, pretty boy; jag?" asked one of these faded beauties, in an +undertone. She nudged him with her elbow. + +"No, sweetheart," he replied, smiling in spite of himself. + +"Ah gowan! Been pinching some one's wad?" + +"Nope!" + +"What are you here for, then?" + +"Having a good time without anybody's consent. If you will listen, you +will soon hear all about it." + +"Silence there, on the bench!" bawled the clerk, whacking the desk. + +"Say, Marie," whispered the woman to her nearest neighbor, "here's a +boy been selling his master's harness and got pinched." + +"But look at the sweet things coming in, will you! Ain't they swell, +though?" whispered Marie, nodding a skinny feather toward the door. + +Warburton glanced indifferently in the direction indicated, and +received a shock. Two women--and both wore very heavy black veils. The +smaller of the two inclined her body, and he was sure that her scrutiny +was for him. He saw her say something into the ear of the companion, +and repeat it to one of the court lawyers. The lawyer approached the +desk, and in his turn whispered a few words into the judge's ear. The +magistrate nodded. Warburton was conscious of a blush of shame. This +was a nice position for any respectable woman to see him in! + +"James Osborne!" called the clerk. + +An officer beckoned to James, and he made his way to the prisoner's +box. His honor looked him over coldly. + +"Name?" + +"James Osborne." + +"Born here?" + +"No." + +"Say 'sir'." + +"No, sir." + +"Where were you born?" + +"In New York State." + +"How old are you? And don't forget to say 'sir' when you reply to my +questions." + +"I am twenty-eight, sir." + +"Married?" + +"No, sir." + +"How long have you been engaged as a groom?" + +"Not very long, sir." + +"How long?" + +"Less than twenty-four hours, sir." + +Surprise rippled over the faces of the audience on the benches. + +"Humph! You are charged with disorderly conduct, reckless driving, and +attempted abduction. The last charge has been withdrawn, fortunately +for you, sir. Have you ever been up before?" + +"Up, sir?" + +"A prisoner in a police-court." + +"No, sir." + +"Twenty-five for reckless driving and ten for disorderly conduct; or +thirty days." + +"Your Honor, the horses ran away." + +"Yes, urged by your whip." + +"I was not disorderly, sir." + +"The officer declares that you had been drinking." + +"Your Honor, I got the wrong carriage. My number was seventeen and I +answered to number seventy-one." He wondered if _she_ would believe +this statement. + +"I suppose that fully explains why you made a race-track of one of our +main thoroughfares?"--sarcastically. "You were on the wrong carriage to +begin with." + +"All I can say, sir, is that it was a mistake." + +"The mistake came in when you left your carriage to get a drink. You +broke the law right then. Well, if a man makes mistakes, he must pay +for them, here or elsewhere. This mistake will cost you thirty-five." + +"I haven't a penny in my clothes, sir." + +"Officer, lock him up, and keep him locked up till the fine is paid. I +can not see my way to remit it Not another word,"--as Warburton started +to protest. + +"Marie Johnson, Mabel Tynner, Belle Lisle!" cried the clerk. + +The two veiled ladies left the court precipitately. + +James, having been ushered into a cell, hurriedly called for pen and +ink and paper. At half after ten that morning the following note +reached me: + +"Dear Chuck: Am in a devil of a scrape at the police-court. Tried to +play a joke on the girls last night by dressing up in the groom's +clothes. Got the wrong outfit, and was arrested. Bring thirty-five and +a suit of clothes the quickest ever. And, for mercy's sake, say nothing +to any one, least of all the folks. I have given the name of James +Osborne. Now, hustle. Bob." + +I hustled. + + + + +VIII + +ANOTHER SALAD IDEA + + +When they found him missing, his bed untouched, his hat and coat on the +rack, his inseparable walking-stick in the umbrella-stand, they were +mightily worried. They questioned Jane, but she knew nothing. Jack went +out to the stables; no news there. William, having driven the girls +home himself, dared say nothing. Then Jack wisely telephoned for me, +and I hurried over to the house. + +"Maybe he hunted up some friends last night," I suggested. + +"But here's his hat!" cried Nancy. + +"Oh, he's all right; don't worry. I'll take a tour around the city. +I'll find him. He may be at one of the clubs." + +Fortunately for Mr. James Osborne I returned home first, and there +found his note awaiting me. I was at the court by noon, armed with +thirty-five and a suit of clothes of my own. I found the clerk. + +"A young man, dressed as a groom, and locked up overnight," I said +cautiously. "I wish to pay his fine." + +"James Osborne?" + +"Yes, that's the name; James Osborne,"--reaching down into my pocket. + +"Fine's just been paid. We were about to release him. Here, officer, +show this gentleman to James Osborne's cell, and tell him to pack up +and get out." + +So his fine was paid! Found the money in his clothes, doubtless. On the +way to the cells I wondered what the deuce the rascal had been doing to +get locked up overnight. I was vastly angry, but at the sight of him +all my anger melted into a prolonged shout of laughter. + +"That's right; laugh, you old pirate! I wish you had been in my boots a +few hours ago. Lord!" + +I laughed again. + +"Have you got that thirty-five?" he asked. + +"Why, your fine has been paid," I replied, rather surprised. + +"And didn't you pay it?" + +"Not I! The clerk told me that it had just been paid." + +Warburton's jaw sank limply. "Just been paid?--Who the deuce could have +paid it, or known?" + +"First, tell me what you've been up to." + +He told me snatches of the exploit as he changed his clothes, and it +was a question which of us laughed the more. But he didn't say a word +about the stolen kiss, for which I think none the less of him. + +"Who were the women?" I asked. + +He looked at me for a space, as if deciding. Finally he made a negative +sign. + +"Don't know who they were, eh?"--incredulously. + +He shrugged, laughed, and drew on his shoes. + +"I always knew that I was the jackass of the family, Chuck, but I never +expected to do it so well. Let's get out of this hole. I wonder who can +have paid that fine?... No, that would not be possible!" + +"What would not be?" + +"Nothing, nothing,"--laughing. + +But I could see that his spirits had gone up several degrees. + +"The whole thing is likely to be in the evening papers," I said. He +needed a little worrying. And I knew his horror of publicity. + +"The newspapers? In the newspapers? Oh, I say, Chuck, can't you use +your influence to suppress the thing? Think of the girls." + +"I'll do the best I can. And there's only one thing for you to do, and +that is to cut out of town till your beard has grown. It would serve +you right, however, if the reporters got the true facts." + +"I'm for getting out of town, Chuck; and on the next train but one." + +Here our conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a policeman. + +"A note for _Mister_ Osborne,"--ironically. He tossed the letter to +Warburton and withdrew. + +_Mister_ Osborne eagerly tore open an end of the envelope--a very +aristocratic envelope, as I could readily discern--and extracted the +letter. I closely watched his facial expressions. First, there was +interest, then surprise, to be succeeded by amusement and a certain +exultation. He slapped his thigh. + +"By George, Chuck. I'll do it!" + +"Do it? Now what?" + +"Listen to this." He cleared his throat, sniffed of the faintly scented +paper and cleared his throat again. He looked up at me drolly. + +"Well?" said I, impatiently. I was as eager to hear it as he had been +to read it. I believed that the mystery was about to be solved. + +"'James Osborne, Sir: I have been thinking the matter over seriously, +and have come to the conclusion that there may have been a mistake. +Undoubtedly my groom was primarily to blame. I have discharged him for +neglecting his post of duty. I distinctly recall the manner in which +you handled the horses last night. It may be possible that they ran +away with you. However that may be, I find myself in need of a groom. +Your horsemanship saved us from a serious accident. If you will promise +to let whisky alone, besides bringing me a recommendation, and are +without engagement, call at the inclosed address this afternoon at +three o'clock. I should be willing to pay as much as forty dollars a +month. You would be expected to accompany me on my morning rides.'" + +"She must have paid the fine," said I. "Well, it beats anything I ever +heard of. Had you arrested, and now wants to employ you! What name did +you say?" I asked carelessly. + +"I didn't say any name, Chuck,"--smiling. "And I'm not going to give +any, you old duffer." + +"And why not?" + +"For the one and simple reason that I am going to accept the +position,"--with a coolness that staggered me. + +"What?" I bawled. + +"Sure as life, as the policeman said last night." + +"You silly ass, you! Do you want to make the family a laughing-stock +all over town?" I was really angry. + +"Neither the family nor the town will know anything about +it,"--imperturbably. + +"But you will be recognized!" I remonstrated. "It's a clear case of +insanity, after what has just happened to you." + +"I promise not to drink any whisky,"--soberly. + +"Bob, you are fooling me." + +"Not the littlest bit, Chuck. I've worn a beard for two years. No one +would recognize me. Besides, being a groom, no one would pay any +particular attention to me. Get the point?" + +"But what under the sun is your object?" I demanded. "There's something +back of all this. It's not a simple lark like last night's." + +"Perspicacious man!"--railingly. "Possibly you may be right. Chuck, you +know that I've just got to be doing something. I've been inactive too +long. I am ashamed to say that I should tire of the house in a week or +less. Change, change, of air, of place, of occupation; change--I must +have it. It's food and drink." + +"You've met this woman before, somewhere." + +"I neither acknowledge nor deny. It will be very novel. I shall be busy +from morning till night. Think of the fun of meeting persons whom you +know, but who do not know you. I wouldn't give up this chance for any +amount of money." + +"Forty Dollars a month," said I, wrathfully. + +"Cigar money,"--tranquilly. + +"Look here, Bob; be reasonable. You can't go about as a groom in +Washington. If the newspapers ever get hold of it, you would be +disgraced. They wouldn't take you as a clerk in a third-rate consulate. +Supposing you should run into Jack or his wife or Nancy; do you think +they wouldn't know you at once?" + +"I'll take the risk. I'd deny that I knew them; they'd tumble and leave +me alone. Chuck, I've got to do this. Some day you'll understand." + +"But the woman's name, Bob; only her name." + +"Oh, yes! And have you slide around and show me up within twenty-four +hours. No, I thank you. I am determined on this. You ought to know me +by this time. I never back down; it isn't in the blood. And when all is +said, where's the harm in this escapade? I can see none. It may not +last the day through." + +"I trust not,"--savagely. + +"I am determined upon answering this letter in person and finding out, +if possible, what induced her to pay my fine. Jackass or not, I'm going +to see the thing through." Then he stretched an appealing hand out +toward me, and said wheedlingly: "Chuck, give me your word to keep +perfectly quiet. I'll drop you a line once in a while, just to let you +know how I stand. I shall be at the house to-night. I'll find an +excuse. I'm to go up North on a hunting expedition; a hurry call. Do +you catch on?" + +"I shall never be able to look Nancy in the face," I declared. "Come, +Bob; forget it. It sounds merry enough, but my word for it, you'll +regret it inside of twenty-four hours. You are a graduate of the +proudest military school in the world, and you are going to make a +groom of yourself!" + +"I've already done that and been locked up overnight. You are wasting +your breath, Chuck." + +"Well, hang you for a jackass, sure enough! I promise; but if you get +into any such scrape as this, you needn't send for me. I refuse to help +you again." + +"I can't exactly see that you did. Let's get out. Got a cigar in your +pocket? I am positively dying for a smoke." + +Suddenly a brilliant idea came to me. + +"Did you know that Miss Annesley, the girl you saw on shipboard, is in +Washington and was at the embassy last night?" + +"No! You don't say!" He was too clever for me. "When I get through with +this exploit, Nancy'll have to introduce me. Did you see her?" + +"Yes, and talked to her. You see what you missed by not going last +night." + +"Yes, I missed a good night's rest and a cold bath in the morning." + +"Where shall I say you were last night?" I asked presently. + +Mister James scratched his chin disconcertedly. "I hadn't thought of +that. Say that I met some of the boys and got mixed up in a little game +of poker." + +"You left your hat on the rack and your cane in the stand. You are +supposed to have left the house without any hat." + +"Hat!" He jumped up from the cot on which he had been sitting and +picked up the groom's tile. "Didn't you bring me a hat?"--dismayed. + +"You said nothing about it,"--and I roared with laughter. + +"How shall I get out of here? I can't wear this thing through the +streets." + +"I've a mind to make you wear it. And, by Jove, you shall! You'll wear +it to the hatter's, or stay here. That's final. I never back down, +either." + +"I'll wear it; only, mark me, I'll get even with you. I always did." + +"_I_ am not a boy any longer,"--with an inflection on the personal +pronoun. "Well, to continue about that excuse. You left the house +without a hat, and you met the boys and played poker all night. That +hitches wonderfully. You didn't feel well enough to go to the embassy, +but you could go and play poker. That sounds as if you cared a lot for +your sister. And you wanted to stay at home the first night, because +you had almost forgotten how the inside of a private dwelling looked. +Very good; very coherent." + +"Cut it, Chuck. What the deuce excuse _can_ I give?"--worriedly +lighting the cigar I had given him. + +"My boy, I'm not making up your excuses; you'll have to invent those. +I'll be silent, but I refuse to lie to Nancy on your account. Poker is +the only excuse that would carry any weight with it. You will have to +let them believe you're a heartless wretch; which you are, if you +persist in this idiotic exploit." + +"You don't understand, Chuck. I wish I could tell you; honestly, I do. +The girls will have to think mean things of me till the farce is over. +I couldn't escape if I wanted to." + +"Is it Miss Annesley, Bob? Was it she whom you ran away with? Come, +make a clean breast of it. If it's she, why, that altogether alters the +face of things." + +He walked the length of the cell and returned. "I give up. You've hit +it. You understand now. I simply can't back away; I couldn't if I +tried." + +"Are you in love with the girl?" + +"That's just what I want to find out, Chuck. I'm not sure. I've been +thinking of her night and day. I never had any affair; I don't know +what love is. But if it's shaking in your boots at the sound of her +name, if it's getting red in the face when you only just think of her, +if it's having a wild desire to pick her up and run away with her when +you see her, then I've got it. When she stepped out of that confounded +carriage last night, you could have knocked me over with a paper-wad. +Come, let's go out. Hang the hat! Let them all laugh if they will. It's +only a couple of blocks to the hatter's." + +He bravely put the white hat on his head, and together we marched out +of the police-office into the street. We entered the nearest hatter's +together. He took what they call a drop-kick out of the hat, sending it +far to the rear of the establishment. I purchased a suitable derby for +him, gave him ten dollars for emergencies, and we parted. + +He proceeded to a telegraph office and sent a despatch to a friend up +North, asking him to telegraph him to come at once, taking his chances +of getting a reply. After this he boarded a north-going car, and was +rolled out to Chevy Chase. He had no difficulty in finding the house of +which he was in search. It was a fine example of colonial architecture, +well back from the road, and fields beyond it. It was of red brick and +white stone, with a wide veranda supported by great white pillars. +There was a modern portico at one side. A fine lawn surrounded the +whole, and white-pebble walks wound in and out. All around were thickly +wooded hills, gashed here and there by the familiar yet peculiar red +clay of the country. Warburton walked up the driveway and knocked +deliberately at the servants' door, which was presently opened. (I +learned all these things afterward, which accounts for my accurate +knowledge of events.) + +"Please inform Miss Annesley that Mr. Osborne has come in reply to her +letter," he said to the little black-eyed French maid. + +"Ees Meestaire Osborrrrne zee new groom?" + +"Yes." + +"I go thees minute!" _Hein!_ what a fine-looking young man to make eyes +at on cold nights in the kitchen! + +Warburton sat down and twirled his hat. Several times he repressed the +desire to laugh. He gazed curiously about him. From where he sat he +could see into the kitchen. The French chef was hanging up his polished +pans in a glistening row back of the range, and he was humming a little +_chanson_ which Warburton had often heard in the restaurants of the +provincial cities of France. He even found himself catching up the +refrain where the chef left off. Presently he heard footsteps sounding +on the hardwood floor, which announced that the maid was returning with +her mistress. + +He stood up, rested first on one foot, then on the other, and awkwardly +shifted his new hat from one hand to the other, then suddenly put the +hat under his arm, recollecting that the label was not such as servants +wore inside their hats. + +There was something disquieting in those magnetic sapphire eyes looking +so serenely into his. + + + + +IX + +THE HEROINE HIRES A GROOM + + +Remarkable as it may read, his first impression was of her gown--a gown +such as women wear on those afternoons when they are free of social +obligations, a gown to walk in or to lounge in. The skirt, which barely +reached to the top of her low shoes, was of some blue stuff (stuff, +because to a man's mind the word covers feminine dress-goods generally, +liberally, and handily), overshot with gray. Above this she had put on +a white golfing-sweater, a garment which at that time was just +beginning to find vogue among women who loved the fields and the road. +Only men who own to stylish sisters appreciate these things, and +Warburton possessed rather observant eyes. She held a bunch of freshly +plucked poppies in her hand. It was the second time that their glances +had met and held. In the previous episode (on the day she had leaned +out of the cab) hers had been first to fall. Now it was his turn. He +studied the tips of his shoes. There were three causes why he lowered +his eyes: First, she was mistress here and he was an applicant for +employment; second, he loved her; third, he was committing the first +bold dishonesty in his life. Once, it was on the very tip of his tongue +to confess everything, apologize, and take himself off. But his +curiosity was of greater weight than his desire. He remained silent and +waited for her to speak. + +"Celeste, you may leave us," said Miss Annesley. + +Celeste courtesied, shot a killing glance at the tentative groom, and +departed the scene. + +"You have driven horses for some length of time?" the girl began. + +If only he might look as calmly and fearlessly at her! What a voice, +now that he heard it in its normal tone! "Yes, Madam; I have ridden and +driven something like ten years." + +"Where?" + +"In the West, mostly." + +"You are English?" + +"No, Madam." He wondered how much she had heard at the police-court +that morning. "I am American born." + +"Are you addicted to the use of intoxicants?"--mentally noting the +clearness of the whites of his eyes. + +The barest flicker of a smile stirred his lips. + +"No, Madam. I had not been drinking last night--that is, not in the +sense the officers declared I had. It is true that I take a drink once +in a while, when I have been riding or driving all day, or when I am +cold. I have absolutely no appetite." + +She brushed her cheeks with the poppies, and for a brief second the +flowers threw a most beautiful color over her face and neck. + +"What was your object in climbing on the box of my carriage and running +away with it?" + +Quick as a flash of light he conceived his answer. "Madam, it was a +jest between me and some maids." He had almost said serving-maids, but +the thought of Nancy checked this libel. + +"Between you and some maids?"--faintly contemptuous. "Explain, for I +believe an explanation is due me." + +His gaze was forced to rove again. "Well, Madam, it is truly +embarrassing. Two maids were to enter a carriage and I was to drive +them away from the embassy, and once I had them in the carriage I +thought it would be an admirable chance to play them a trick." + +"Pray, since when have serving-maids beein allowed exit from the main +hall of the British embassy?" + +Mr. Robert was positive that the shadow of a sarcastic smile rested for +a moment on her lips. But it was instantly hidden under the poppies. + +"That is something of which I have no intimate knowledge. A groom is +not supposed to turn his head when on the box unless spoken to. You +will readily understand that, Madam. I made a mistake in the number. +Mine was seventy-one, and I answered number seventeen. I was confused." + +"I dare say. Seventy-one," she mused, "It will be easy to verify this, +to find out whose carriage that was." + +Mr. Robert recognized his mistake, but he saw no way to rectify it. She +stood silently gazing over his shoulder, into the fields beyond. + +"Perhaps you can explain to me that remarkable episode at the carriage +door? I should be pleased to hear your explanation." + +It hard come,--the very thing he had dreaded had come. He had hoped +that she would ignore it. "Madam, I can see that you have sent for me +out of curiosity only. If I offered any disrespect to you last night, I +pray you to forgive me. For, on my word of honor, it was innocently +done." He bowed, and even placed his hand on the knob of the door. + +"Have a little patience. I prefer myself to forget that disagreeable +incident." The truth is, "on my word of honor," coming from a groom, +sounded strange in her ears; and she wanted to learn more about this +fellow. "Mr. Osborne, what were you before you became a groom?" + +"I have not always been a groom, it is true, Madam. My past I prefer to +leave in obscurity. There is nothing in that past, however, of which I +need be ashamed;"--and unconsciously his figure became more erect. + +"Is your name Osborne?" + +"No, Madam, it is not. For my family's sake, I have tried to forget my +own name." (I'll wager the rascal never felt a qualm in the region of +his conscience.) + +It was this truth which was not truth that won his battle. + +"You were doubtless discharged last night?" + +"I did not return to ascertain, Madam. I merely sent for my belongings." + +"You have recommendations?"--presently. + +"I have no recommendations whatever, Madam. If you employ me, it must +be done on your own responsibility and trust in human nature. I can +only say, Madam, that I am honest, that I am willing, that I possess a +thorough knowledge of horse-flesh." + +"It is very unusual," she said, searching him to the very heart with +her deep blue eyes. "For all I know you may be the greatest rascal, or +you may be the honestest man, in the world." His smile was so frank and +engaging that she was forced to smile herself. But she thought of +something, and frowned. "If you have told me the truth, so much the +better; for I can easily verify all you have told me. I will give you a +week's trial. After all,"--indifferently--"what I desire is a capable +servant. You will have to put up with a good deal. There are days when +I am not at all amiable, and on those days I do not like to find a +speck of rust on the metals or a blanket that has not been thoroughly +brushed. As for the animals, they must always shine like satin. This +last is unconditional. Besides all this, our force of servants is +small. Do you know anything about serving?" + +"Very little." What was coming now? + +"The chef will coach you. I entertain some, and there will be times +when you will be called upon to wait on the table. Come with me and I +will show you the horses. We have only five, but my father takes great +pride in them. They are all thoroughbreds." + +"Like their mistress," was Warburton's mental supplementary. + +"Father hasn't ridden for years, however. The groom I discharged this +morning was capable enough on the box, but he was worse than useless to +me in my morning rides. I ride from nine till eleven, even Sundays +sometimes. Remain here till I return." + +As she disappeared Warburton drew in an exceedingly long breath and +released it slowly. Heavens, what an ordeal! He drew the back of his +hand across his forehead and found it moist. Not a word about the fine: +he must broach it and thank her. Ah, to ride with her every morning, to +adjust her stirrup, to obey every command to which she might give +voice, to feel her small boot repulse his palm as she mounted! Heaven +could hold nothing greater than this. And how easily a woman may be +imposed upon! Decidedly, Mr. Robert was violently in love. + +When she returned there was a sunbonnet on her head, and she had pinned +the poppies on her breast. (Why? I couldn't tell you, unless when all +is said and done, be he king or valet, a man is always a man; and if +perchance he is blessed with good looks, a little more than a man. You +will understand that in this instance I am trying to view things +through a woman's eyes.) With a nod she bade him precede her, and they +went out toward the stables. She noted the flat back, the square +shoulders, the easy, graceful swing of the legs. + +"Have you been a soldier?" she asked suddenly. + +He wheeled. His astonishment could not be disguised quickly enough to +escape her vigilant eyes. Once more he had recourse to the truth. + +"Yes, Madam. It was as a trooper that I learned horsemanship." + +"What regiment?" + +"I prefer not to say,"--quietly. + +"I do not like mysteries,"--briefly. + +"Madam, you have only to dismiss me, to permit me to thank you for +paying my fine and to reimburse you at the earliest opportunity." + +She closed her lips tightly. No one but herself knew what had been on +the verge of passing across them. + +"Let us proceed to the stables," was all she said. "If you prove +yourself a capable horseman, that is all I desire." + +The stable-boy slid back the door, and the two entered. Warburton +glanced quickly about; all was neatness. There was light and +ventilation, too, and the box-stalls were roomy. The girl stopped +before a handsome bay mare, which whinnied when it saw her. She laid +her cheek against the animal's nose and talked that soft jargon so +embarrassing to man and so intelligible to babies and pet animals. +Lucky horse! he thought; but his face expressed nothing. + +"This is Jane, my own horse, and there are few living things I love so +well. Remember this. She is a thoroughbred, a first-class hunter; and I +have done more than five feet on her at home." + +She moved on, Warburton following soberly and thoughtfully. There was a +good deal to think of just now. The more he saw of this girl, the less +he understood her purpose in hiring him. She couldn't possibly know +anything about him, who or what he was. With his beard gone he defied +her to recognize in him the man who had traveled across the Atlantic +with her. A highbred woman, such as she was, would scarcely harbor any +kind feelings toward a man who had acted as he was acting. If any man +had kissed Nancy the way he had kissed her, he would have broken every +bone in his body or hired some one to do it. And she had paid his fine +at the police-station and had hired him on probation! Truly he was in +the woods, and there wasn't a sign of a blazed trail. (It will be seen +that my hero hadn't had much experience with women. She knew nothing of +him whatever. She was simply curious, and brave enough to attempt to +have this curiosity gratified. Of course, I do not venture to say that, +had he been coarse in appearance, she would have had anything to do +with him.) + +"This is Dick, my father's horse,"--nodding toward a sorrel, large and +well set-up. "He will be your mount. The animal in the next stall is +Pirate." + +Pirate was the handsomest black gelding Warburton had ever laid eyes on. + +"What a beauty!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, forgetting that grooms +should be utterly without enthusiasm. He reached out his hand to pat +the black nose, when a warning cry restrained him. Pirate's ears lay +flat. + +"Take care! He is a bad-tempered animal. No one rides him, and we keep +him only to exhibit at the shows. Only half a dozen men have ridden him +with any success. He won't take a curb in his mouth, and he always runs +away. It takes a very strong man to hold him in. I really don't believe +that he's vicious, only terribly mischievous, like a bullying boy." + +"I should like to ride him." + +The girl looked at her new groom in a manner which expressed frank +astonishment. Was he in earnest, or was it mere bravado? An idea came +to her, a mischievous idea. + +"If you can sit on Pirate's back for ten minutes, there will not be any +question of probation. I promise to engage you on the spot, +recommendation or no recommendation." Would he, back down? + +"Where are the saddles, Madam?" he asked calmly, though his blood moved +faster. + +"On the pegs behind you,"--becoming interested. "Do you really intend +to ride him?" + +"With your permission." + +"I warn you that the risk you are running is great." + +"I am not afraid of Pirate, Madam," in a tone which implied that he was +not afraid of any horse living. The spirit of antagonism rose up in +him, that spirit of antagonism of the human against the animal, that +eternal ambition of the one to master the other. And besides, I'm not +sure that James didn't want to show off before the girl--another very +human trait in mankind. For my part, I wouldn't give yesterday's rose +for a man who wouldn't show off once in a while, when his best girl is +around and looking on. + +"On your head be it, then,"--a sudden nervousness seizing her. Yet she +was as eager to witness the encounter as he was to court it. "William!" +she called. The stable-boy entered, setting aside his broom. "This is +James, the new groom. Help him to saddle Pirate." + +"Saddle Pirate, Miss Annesley!" cried the boy, his mouth open and his +eyes wide. + +"You see?" said the girl to Warburton. + +"Take down that saddle with the hooded stirrups," said Warburton, +briefly. He would ride Pirate now, even if Pirate had been sired in +Beelzebub's stables. He carefully inspected the saddle, the +stirrup-straps and the girth. "Very good, indeed. Buckles on saddles +are always a hidden menace and a constant danger. Now, bring out +Pirate, William." + +William brought out the horse, who snorted when he saw the saddle on +the floor and the curb on Warburton's arm. + +"There hasn't been anybody on his back for a year, sir; not since last +winter. He's likely to give you trouble," said the boy. "You can't put +that curb on him, sir; he won't stand for it a moment. Miss Annesley, +hadn't you better step outside? He may start to kicking. That heavy +English snaffle is the best thing I know of. Try that, sir. And don't +let him get his head down, or he'll do you. Whoa!" as Pirate suddenly +took it into his head to leave the barn without any one's permission. + +The girl sprang lightly into one of the empty stalls and waited. She +was greatly excited, and the color in her cheeks was not borrowed from +the poppies. She saw the new groom take Pirate by the forelock, and, +quicker than words can tell, Mr. Pirate was angrily champing the cold +bit. He reared. Warburton caught him by the nose and the neck. Pirate +came down, trembling with rage. + +"Here, boy; catch him here," cried Warburton. William knew his +business, and he grasped the bridle close under Pirate's jaws. "That's +it. Now hold him." + +Warburton picked up the saddle and threw it over Pirate's glossy back. +Pirate waltzed from side to side, and shook his head wickedly. But the +man that was to mount him knew all these signs. Swiftly he gathered up +the end of the belly-band strap and ran it through the iron ring. In +and out he threaded it, drawing it tighter and tighter. He leaped into +the saddle and adjusted the stirrups, then dismounted. + +"I'll take him now, William," said James, smiling. + +"All right, sir," said William, glad enough to be relieved of all +further responsibility. + +James led Pirate into the small court and waited for Miss Annesley, who +appeared in the doorway presently. + +"James, I regret that I urged you to ride him. You will be hurt," she +said. Her worry was plainly visible on her face. + +James smiled his pleasantest and touched his hat. + +"Very well, then; I have warned you. If he bolts, head him for a tree. +That's the only way to stop him." + +James shortened the bridle-rein to the required length, took a firm +grip on Pirate's mane, and vaulted into the saddle. Pirate stood +perfectly still. He shook his head. James talked to him and patted his +sleek neck, and touched him gently with his heel. Then things livened +up a bit. Pirate waltzed, reared, plunged, and started to do the _pas +seul_ on the flower-beds. Then he immediately changed his mind. He +decided to re-enter the stables. + +"Don't let him get his head down!" yelled William, nimbly jumping over +a bed of poppies and taking his position beside his mistress. + +"The gates, William! The gates!" cried the girl, excitedly. "Only one +is open. He will not be able to get through." + +William scampered down the driveway and swung back the iron barrier. +None too soon! Like a black shadow, Pirate flashed by, his rider's new +derby rolling in the dust. + +The girl stood in the doorway, her hands pressed against her heart. She +was as white as the clouds that sailed overhead. + + + + +X + +PIRATE + + +On the opposite side of the road there was a stone wall about five feet +in height; beyond this was a broad, rolling field, and farther on, a +barb-wire fence and a boggy stream which oozed its way down toward the +Potomac. Far away across the valley the wooded hills were drying and +withering and thinning, with splashes of yellow and red. A flock of +birds speckled the fleecy October clouds, and a mild breeze sent the +grasses shivering. + +Toward the wall Pirate directed his course. Warburton threw back his +full weight. The effort had little or no effect on Pirate's mouth. His +rider remembered about the tree, but the nearest was many yards away. +Over the wall they went, and down the field. Pirate tried to get his +head down, but he received a check. Score one for the man. Warburton, +his legs stiffened in the stirrups, his hands well down, his breath +coming in gasps, wondered where they would finally land. He began to +use his knees, and Pirate felt the pressure. He didn't like it at all. +Oddly enough, Warburton's leg did not bother him as he expected it +would, and this gave him confidence. On, on; the dull pounding of +Pirate's feet, the flying sod, the wind in his face: and when he saw +the barb-wire fence, fear entered into him. An inch too low, a stumble, +and serious injuries might result. He must break Pirate's gait. + +He began to saw cow-boy fashion. Pirate grew very indignant: he was +being hurt. His speed slackened none, however; he was determined to +make that fence if it was the last thing he ever did. He'd like to see +any man stop him. He took the deadly fence as with the wings of a bird. +But he found that the man was still on his back. He couldn't understand +it. He grew worried. And then he struck the red-brown muck bordering +the stream. The muck flew, but at every bound Pirate sank deeper, and +the knees of his rider were beginning to tell. Warburton, full of rage, +yet not unreasonable rage, quickly saw his chance. Once more he threw +back his weight; this time to the left. Pirate's head came stubbornly +around; his gait was broken, he was floundering in the stream. Now +Warburton used his heels savagely. He shortened the reins and whacked +Mr. Pirate soundly across the ears. Pirate plunged and reared and, +after devious evolutions, reached solid ground. This time his head was +high in the air, and, try as he would, he could not lower his neck a +solitary inch. + +[Illustration: "He's a newspaper man and makes his living by telling +lies."--ACT II.] + +Warburton knew that the animal could not make the barb-wire fence +again, so he waltzed him along till he found a break in the wire. Over +this Pirate bounded, snorting. But he had met a master. Whether he +reared or plunged, waltzed or ran, he could not make those ruthless +knees relent in their pressure. He began to understand what all beasts +understand, sooner or later--the inevitable mastery of man. There was +blood in his nostrils. A hand touched his neck caressingly. He shook +his head; he refused to conciliate. A voice, kindly but rather +breathless, addressed him. Again Pirate shook his head; but he did not +run, he cantered. Warburton gave a sigh of relief. Over the field they +went. A pull to the left, and Pirate wheeled; a pull to the right, and +again Pirate answered, and cantered in a circle. But he still shook his +head discontentedly, and the froth that spattered Warburton's legs was +flecked with blood. The stirrup-strap began to press sharply and +hurtfully against Warburton's injured leg. He tugged, and Pirate fell +into a trot. He was mastered. + +After this Warburton did as he pleased; Pirate had learned his lesson. +His master put him through a dozen manoeuvers, and he was vastly +satisfied with the victory. In the heat of the battle Warburton had +forgotten all about where and what he was; and it was only when he +discerned far away a sunbonnet with fluttering strings peering over the +stone wall, and a boy in leggings standing on top of the wall, that he +recollected. A wave of exhilaration swept through his veins. He had +conquered the horse before the eyes of the one woman. + +He guided Pirate close to the wall, and stopped him, looked down into +the girl's wonder-lit eyes and smiled cheerfully. And what is more, she +smiled faintly in acknowledgment. He had gained, in the guise of a +groom, what he might never have gained in any other condition of life, +the girl's respect and admiration. Though a thorough woman of the +world, high-bred, wellborn, she forgot for the moment to control her +features; and as I have remarked elsewhere, Warburton was a shrewd +observer. + +"Bully, Mr. Osborne!" shouted William, leaping down. "It was simply +great!" + +"There are some bars farther down," said the girl, quietly. "William, +run and open them." + +Warburton flushed slightly. He could not tell how she had accomplished +it, whether it was the tone or the gesture, but she had calmly +reestablished the barrier between mistress and servant. + +"I think I'll put him to the wall again," said the hero, seized by a +rebel spirit. + +He wheeled Pirate about and sent him back at a run. Pirate balked. +Round he went again, down the field and back. This time he cleared the +wall with a good foot to spare. The victory was complete. + +When it was all over, and Pirate was impatiently munching an extra +supply of oats, the girl bade Mr. James to report early the following +morning. + +"I hope I shall please you, Madam." + +"Address me as Miss Annesley from now on," she said; and nodding +shortly, she entered the house. + +To Warburton, half the pleasure of the victory was gone; for not a word +of praise had she given him. Yet, she had answered his smile. Well, he +had made a lackey out of himself; he had no right to expect anything +but forty dollars a month and orders. + +He broke his word with me. He did not return to the house that night +for dinner. In fact, he deliberately sent for his things, explaining +that he was called North and wouldn't have time to see them before he +left. It took all my persuasive oratory to smooth the troubled waters, +and then there were areas upon which my oil had no effect whatever. + +"He is perfectly heartless!" cried Nancy. "He couldn't go to the +embassy, but he could steal away and play poker all night with a lot of +idling Army officers. And now he is going off to Canada without even +seeing us to say good-by. Charlie, there is something back of all this." + +"I'll bet it's a woman," said Jack, throwing a scrutinizing glance at +me. But I was something of a diplomat myself, and he didn't catch me +napping. "Here's a telegram for him, too." + +"I think I'll take the liberty of opening it," said I. I knew its +contents. It was the reply Warburton had depended on. I read it aloud. +It is good to have friends of this sort. No question was asked. It was +a bald order: "Come up at once and shoot caribou. Take first train." + +"Bob's a jackass," was Jack's commentary. I had heard something like it +before, that day. "He'll turn up all right;"--and Jack lit a cigar and +picked up his paper. + +"And Betty Annesley is going to call to-morrow night," said Nancy, her +voice overflowing with reproach. Her eyes even sparkled with tears. "I +did so want them to meet." + +I called myself a villain. But I had given my promise; and I was in +love myself. + +"I don't see what we can do. When Bob makes up his mind to do anything, +he generally does it." Jack, believing he had demolished the subject, +opened his _Morning Post_ and fell to studying the latest phases of the +Venezuelan muddle. + +Nancy began to cry softly; she loved the scalawag as only sisters know +how to love. And I became possessed with two desires; to console her +and to punch Mr. Robert's head. + +"It has always been this way with him," Nancy went on, dabbing her eyes +with her two-by-four handkerchief. "We never dreamed that he was going +into the Army till he came home one night and announced that he had +successfully passed his examinations for West Point. He goes and gets +shot, and we never know anything about it till we read the papers. +Next, he resigns and goes abroad without a word or coming to see us. I +don't know what to make of Bobby; I really don't." + +I took her hand in mine and kissed it, and told her the rascal would +turn up in due time, that they hadn't heard the last of him for that +winter. + +"He's only thoughtless and single-purposed," interposed Jack. + +"Single-purposed!" I echoed. + +"Why, yes. He gets one thing at a time in his brain, and thinks of +nothing else till that idea is worn out. I know him." + +I recalled my useless persuasion of the morning. "I believe you are +right." + +"Of course I'm right," replied Jack, turning a page of his paper. "Do +_you_ know where he has gone?" + +"I think the telegram explains everything,"--evasively. + +"Humph! Don't you worry about him, Nan. I'll wager he's up to some of +his old-time deviltry." + +These and other little observations Jack let fall made it plain to me +that he was a natural student of men and their impulses, and that his +insight and judgment, unerring and anticipatory, had put him where he +is to-day, at the head of a department. + +I left the house about ten o'clock, went downtown and found the +prodigal at a cheap hotel on Pennsylvania. He was looking over some +boots and leggings and ready-made riding breeches. + +"Aha, Chuck, so here you are!" + +"Look here, Bob, this will never do at all," I began. + +"I thought we had threshed all that out thoroughly this morning." + +"I left Nancy crying over your blamed callousness." + +"Nancy? Hang it, I don't want Nancy to waste any tears over me; I'm not +worth it." + +"Precious little you care! If it wasn't for the fact that you have told +me the true state of things, I should have exposed you to-night. Why +didn't you turn up to dinner as you promised? You might at least have +gone through the pretense of saying good-by to them." + +"My dear boy, I'll admit that my conduct is nefarious. But look; Nancy +knows Miss Annesley, and they will be calling on each other. The truth +is, I dare not let the girls see me without a beard. And I'm too far +gone into the thing to back out now." + +"I honestly hope that some one recognizes you and gives you away," I +declared indignantly. + +"Thanks. You're in love with Nancy, aren't you? To be sure. Well, +wouldn't you do anything to keep around where she is, to serve her, to +hear her voice, to touch her hand occasionally, to ride with her; in +fact, always to be within the magic circle of her presence? Well, I +love this girl; I know it now, it is positive, doubtless. Her presence +is as necessary to me as the air I breathe. Had I met her in the +conventional way, she would have looked upon me as one of the pillars +of convention, and mildly ignored me. As I am, she does not know what I +am, or who I am; I am a mystery, I represent a secret, and she desires +to find out what this secret is. Besides all this, something impels me +to act this part, something aside from love. It is inexplicable; fate, +maybe." He paused, went to the window, and looked down into the street. +It was after-theater time and carriages were rolling to and fro. + +"Bob, I apologize. You know a great deal more about feminine nature +than I had given you credit for. But how can you win her this way?" + +He raised his shoulders. "Time and chance." + +"Well, whate'er betide, I can't help wishing you luck." + +We shook hands silently, and then I left him. + +"Father," said Betty Annesley at the dinnertable that same night, "I +have engaged a new groom. He rode Pirate to-day and thoroughly mastered +him." + +"Pirate? You don't say! Well, I'm glad of that. Pirate will make a +capital saddle-horse if he is ridden often enough. The groom will be a +safe companion for you on your rides. Are you too tired to do some +drawing for me to-night?" + +"The fortification plans?" + +"Yes." His eyes wandered from her face to the night outside. How gray +and sad the world was! "You will always love your father, dearie?" + +"Love him? Always!" + +"Whatever betide, for weal or woe?" + +"Whatever betide." + +How easy it was for her to say these words! + +"And yet, some day, you must leave me, to take up your abode in some +other man's heart. My only wish is that it may beat for you as truly as +mine does." + +She did not reply, but stepped to the window and pressed her brow to +the chilled pane. A yellow and purple line marked the path of the +vanished sun; the million stars sparkled above; far away she could see +the lights of the city. Of what was she thinking, dreaming? Was she +dreaming of heroes such as we poets and novelists invent and hang upon +the puppet-beam? Ah, the pity of these dreams the young girl has! She +dreams of heroes and of god-like men, and of the one that is to come. +But, ah! he never comes, he never comes; and the dream fades and dies, +and the world becomes real. A man may find his ideal, but a woman, +never. To youth, the fields of love; to man, the battle-ground; to old +age, a chair in the sunshine and the wreck of dreams! + +"The government ought to pay you well if those plans are successful." +She moved away from the window. + +"Yes, the government ought to pay me well. I should like to make you +rich, dearie, and happy." + +"Why, daddy, am I not both? I have more money than I know what to do +with, and I am happy in having the kindest father." She came around the +table and caressed him, cheek to cheek. "Money isn't everything. It +just makes me happy to do anything for you." + +His arm grew tense around her waist. + +"Do you know what was running through my mind at the embassy last +night? I was thinking how deeply I love this great wide country of +mine. As I looked at the ambassador and his aides, I was saying to +myself, 'You dare not!' It may have been silly, but I couldn't help it, +We are the greatest people in the world. When I compared foreign +soldiers with our own, how my heart and pride swelled! No formalities, +no race prejudice, no false pride. I was never introduced to a foreign +officer that I did not fear him, with his weak eyes, his affected +mannerisms, his studied rudeness, not to me, but to the country I +represented. How I made some of them dance! Not for vanity's sake; +rather the inborn patriotism of my race. I had only to think of my +father, his honorable scars, his contempt for little things, his +courage, his steadfastness, his love for his country, which has so +honored him with its trust. Oh! I am a patriot; and I shall never, +never marry a man whose love for his country does not equal my own." +She caught up her father's mutilated hand and kissed it. "And even now +this father of mine is planning and planning to safeguard his country." + +"But you must not say anything to a soul, my child; it must be a secret +till all is ready. I met Karloff to-day at the club. He has promised to +dine with us to-morrow night." + +"Make him postpone it. I have promised to dine with Nancy Warburton." + +"You had better dine with us and spend the evening with your friend. Do +you not think him a handsome fellow?" + +"He is charming." She touched the bowl of poppies with her fingers and +smiled. + +"He is very wealthy, too." + +Betty offered no comment. + +"What did they do to that infernal rascal who attempted to run away +with you and Mrs. Chadwick?" + +"They arrested him and locked him up." + +"I hope they will keep him there. And what reason did he give the +police for attempting to run away with you?" + +"He said that he had made a wager with some serving-maids to drive them +from the embassy. He claims to have got the wrong number and the wrong +carriage." + +"A very likely story!" + +"Yes, a very likely story!"--and Betty, still smiling, passed on into +the music-room, where she took her violin from its case and played some +rollicking measures from Offenbach. + +At the same time her father rose and went out on the lawn, where he +walked up and down, with a long, quick, nervous stride. From time to +time a wailing note from the violin floated out to him, and he would +stop and raise his haggard face toward heaven. His face was no longer +masked in smiles; it was grief-stricken, self-abhorring. At length he +softly crossed the lawn and stood before the music-room window. Ah, no +fretting care sat on yonder exquisite face, nor pain, nor trouble; +youth, only youth and some pleasant thought which the music had +aroused. How like her mother! How like her mother! + +Suddenly he smote himself on the brow with a clenched hand. "Wretch! +God-forsaken wretch, how have you kept your trust? And how yonder child +has stabbed you! How innocently she has stabbed you! My country! ... My +honor! ... My courage and steadfastness! Mockery!" + + + + +XI + +THE FIRST RIDE + + +The next morning Warburton was shown into a neat six-by-eight, just off +the carriage-room. There was a cot, running water and a wash-stand, and +a boot-blacking apparatus. For the rest, there were a few portraits of +fast horses, fighters, and toe-dancers (the adjective qualifying all +three!) which the senator's sporting groom had collected and tacked to +the walls. For appearance's sake, Mr. James had purchased a cheap +trunk. Everything inside was new, too. His silver military brushes, his +silver shaving set, and so forth and so forth, were in charge of a +safe-deposit storage company, alongside some one's family jewels. The +only incriminating things he retained were his signet-ring and his +Swiss timepiece. + +"Have you had your breakfast, sir?" asked William, the stable-boy. + +"Yes, my lad. Now, as Miss Annesley has forgotten it, perhaps you will +tell me of just what my duties here will consist." + +"You harness, ride and drive, sir, and take care of the metals. I clean +the leathers and carriages, exercise the horses and keep their hides +shiny. If anything is purchased, sir, we shall have to depend upon your +judgment. Are you given to cussing, sir?" + +"Cussing?" repeated Warburton. + +"Yes, sir. Miss Annesley won't stand for it around the stables. The man +before you, sir, could cuss most beautifully; and I think that's why he +was fired. At least, it was one reason." + +Warburton smoothed his twitching mouth. "Don't you worry, William; it's +against my religion to use profane language." + +William winked, there was an answering wink, and the two became friends +from that moment on. + +"I'll bet you didn't say a thing to Pirate yesterday, when he bolted +over the wall with you." + +"Well, I believe I _did_ address a few remarks to Pirate which would +not sound well on dress-parade; but so long as it wasn't within hearing +distance, William, I suppose it doesn't matter." + +"No, sir; I suppose not." + +"Now, what kind of a master is the colonel?" asked Warburton, strapping +on his English leggings. + +"Well, it's hard to say just now. You see, I've been with the family +ever since I was six. The colonel used to be the best fellow _I_ ever +knew. Always looking out for your comfort, never an undeserved harsh +word, and always a smile when you pleased him. But he's changed in the +last two years." + +"How?" + +"He doesn't take any interest in the things he used to. He goes about +as if he had something on his mind; kind of absent-minded, you know; +and forgets to-morrow what he says to-day. He always puts on a good +face, though, when Miss Betty is around." + +"Ah. What night do I have off?"--of a mind that a question like this +would sound eminently professional in William's ears. + +"Sunday, possibly; it all depends on Miss Annesley, sir. In Virginia +nearly every night was ours. Here it's different." William hurriedly +pulled on his rubber boots and gloves, grabbed up the carriage sponges, +and vanished. + +Warburton sat on the edge of his cot and laughed silently. All this was +very amusing. Had any man, since the beginning of time, found himself +in a like position? He doubted it. And he was to be butler besides! It +would be something to remember in his old age. Yet, once or twice the +pins of his conscience pricked him. He _wasn't_ treating Nancy just +right. He didn't want her to cry over his gracelessness; he didn't want +her to think that he was heartless. But what could he do? He stood too +deeply committed. + +He was puzzled about one thing, however, and, twist it as he would, he +could not solve it with any degree of satisfaction. Why, after what had +happened, had she hired him? If she could pass over that episode at the +carriage-door and forget it, _he_ couldn't. He knew that each time he +saw her the memory of that embrace and brotherly salute would rise +before his eyes and rob him of some of his assurance--an attribute +which was rather well developed in Mr. Robert, though he was loath to +admit it. If his actions were a mystery to her, hers were none the less +so to him. He made up his mind to move guardedly in whatever he did, to +practise control over his mobile features so as to avert any shock or +thoughtless sign of interest. He knew that sooner or later the day +would come when he would be found out; but this made him not the less +eager to court that day. + +He shaved himself, and was wiping his face on the towel when Celeste +appeared in the doorway. She eyed him, her head inclined roguishly to +one side, the exact attitude of a bird that has suddenly met a curious +and disturbing specimen of insect life. + +"M'sieu Zhames, Mees Annesley rides thees morning. You will pre_pairre_ +yourself according,"--and she rattled on in her absurd native tongue +(every other native tongue _is_ absurd to us, you know!)-- + + "He is charming and handsome, + With his uniform and saber; + And his fine black eyes + Look love as he rides by!" + +while the chef in the kitchen glared furiously at his omelette souffle, +and vowed terrible things to M'sieu Zhames if he looked at Celeste more +than twice a day. + +"Good morning," said M'sieu Zhames, hanging up his towel. His face +glowed as the result of the vigorous rubbing it had received. + +_"Bon jour!"_--admiringly. + +"Don't give me any of your _bong joors,_ Miss,"--stolidly. "There's +only one language for me, and that's English." + +"_Merci!_ You Anglaises are _so_ conceit'! How you like _me_ to teach +you French, eh, M'sieu Zhames?" + +"Not for me,"--shaking his head. She was very pretty, and under +ordinary circumstances . . . He did not finish the thought, but I will +for him. Under ordinary circumstances, M'sieu Zhames would have kissed +her. + +"No teach you French? _Non?_ Extra_orrd_inaire!" She tripped away, +laughing, while the chef tugged at his royal and M'sieu Zhames whistled. + +"Hang the witch!" the new groom murmured. "Her mistress must be very +generous, or very positive of her own charms, to keep a sprite like +this maid about her. I wonder if I'll run into Karloff?" Karloff! The +name chilled him, somehow. What was Karloff to her? Had he known that +she was to be in Washington for the winter? What irony, if fate should +make him the groom and Karloff the bridegroom! If Karloff loved her, he +could press his suit frankly and openly. And, as matters stood, what +chance on earth had he, Warburton? "Chuck was right; I've made a +mistake, and I am beginning to regret it the very first morning." He +snapped his fingers and proceeded to the right wing, where the horses +were. + +At nine o'clock he led Jane and Dick out to the porte-cochere and +waited. He had not long to loiter, for she came out at once, drawing on +her gauntlets and taking in long breaths of the morning air. She nodded +briefly, but pleasantly, and came down the steps. Her riding-habit was +of the conventional black, and her small, shapely boots were of +patent-leather. She wore no hat on her glorious head, which showed her +good sense and her scorn for freckles and sunburn. But nature had given +her one of those rare complexions upon which the sun and the wind have +but trifling effect. + +"We shall ride north, James; the roads are better and freer. Jane has a +horror of cars." + +"Yes, Miss Annesley,"--deferentially. "You will have to teach me the +lay of the land hereabouts, as I am rather green." + +"I'll see to it that you are made perfectly familiar with the roads. +You do not know Washington very well, then?" + +"No, Miss. Shall I give you a--er--boot up?" He blushed. He had almost +said "leg up". + +She assented, and raised her boot, under which he placed his palm, and +sprang into the saddle. He mounted in his turn and waited. + +"When we ride alone, James, I shall not object to your riding at my +side; but when I have guests, always remember to keep five yards to the +rear." + +"Yes, Miss." If he could have got rid of the idea of Karloff and the +possibilities which his name suggested, all this would have appealed to +him as exceedingly funny. + +"Forward, then!"--and she touched Jane's flank with her crop. + +The weather was perfect for riding: no sun, a keen breeze from the +northwest, and a dust-settled road. Warburton confessed to me afterward +that this first ride with her was one of the most splendid he had ever +ridden. Both animals were perfect saddle-horses, such as are to be +found only in the South. They started up the road at a brisk trot, and +later broke into a canter which lasted fully a mile. How beautiful she +was, when at length they slowed down into a walk! Her cheeks were +flaming, her eyes dancing and full of luster, her hair was tumbled +about and tendrils fluttered down her cheeks. She was Diana: only he +hoped that she was not inclined to celibacy. + +What a mistake he had made! He could never get over this gulf which he +himself had thrust between them. This was no guise in which to meet a +woman of her high breeding. Under his breath he cursed the impulse that +had urged him to decline to attend the ball at the British embassy. +There he would have met her as his own true self, a soldier, a polished +gentleman of the world, of learning and breeding. Nancy would have +brought them together, calls would have been exchanged, and he would +have defied Karloff. Then he chid himself for the feeling he had +against the Russian. Karloff had a right to love this girl, a right +which far eclipsed his own. Karloff was Karloff; a handsome fellow, +wealthy, agreeable; while James was not James, neither was he wealthy +nor at present agreeable. A man can not sigh very well on horseback, +and the long breath which left Warburton's lips made a jerking, hissing +sound. + +"Have you ever ridden with women before. James?" + +"Several times with my major's daughter,"--thoughtlessly. + +"Your major's daughter? Who was your regimental colonel?" + +James bit his lips, and under his breath disregarded William's warning +about "cussing." + +"Permit me, Miss Annesley, to decline to answer." + +"Did you ride as an attendant?" + +"Yes; I was a trooper." + +"You speak very good English for a stable-man." + +"I have not always been a stable-man." + +"I dare say. I should give a good deal to know what you _have_ been. +Come, James, tell me what the trouble was. I have influence; I might +help you." + +"I am past help;"--which was true enough, only the real significance of +his words passed over her head. "I thank you for your kindness." + +If she was piqued, she made no sign. "James, were you once a gentleman, +in the sense of being well-born?" + +"Miss Annesley, you would not believe me if I told you who I am and +what I have been." + +"Are you a deserter?"--looking him squarely in the eye. She saw the +color as it crept under his tan. + +"I have my honorable discharge,"--briefly. + +"I shall ask you to let me see it. Have you ever committed a +dishonorable act? I have a right to know." + +"I have committed one dishonorable act, Miss Annesley. I shall always +regret it." + +She gave him a penetrating glance. "Very well; keep your secret." + +And there was no more questioning on that ride; there was not even +casual talk, such as a mistress might make to her servant. There was +only the clock-clock of hoofs and the chink of bit metal. Warburton did +not know whether he was glad or sorry. + +She dismounted without her groom's assistance, which somewhat +disappointed that worthy gentleman. If she was angry, to his eye there +was no visible evidence of it. As he took the bridles in hand, she +addressed him; though in doing so, she did not look at him, but gave +her attention to her gauntlets, which she pulled slowly from her aching +fingers. + +"This afternoon I shall put you in the care of Pierre, the cook. I am +giving a small dinner on Monday evening, and I shall have to call on +you to serve the courses. Later I shall seek a butler, but for the +present you will have to act in that capacity." + +He wasn't sure; it might have been a flash of sunlight from behind a +cloud. If it was a smile, he would have given much to know what had +caused it. + +He tramped off to the stables. A butler! Well, so be it. He could only +reasonably object when she called upon him to act in the capacity of a +chambermaid. He wondered why he had no desire to laugh. + + + + +XII + +A TICKLISH BUSINESS + + +Pierre was fierce and fat and forty, but he could cook the most +wonderful roasts and ragouts that Warburton ever tasted; and he could +take a handful of vegetables and an insignificant bone and make a soup +that would have tickled the jaded palate of a Lucullus. Warburton +presented himself at the kitchen door. + +"Ah!" said Pierre, striking a dramatic pose, a ladle in one hand and a +pan in the other. "So you are zee new groom? Good! We make a butler out +of you? Bah! Do you know zee difference between a broth and a soup? Eh?" + +The new groom gravely admitted that he did. + +"Hear to me!"--and Pierre struck his chest with a ladle. "I teach you +how to sairve; _I_, Pierre Flageot, will teach a hostler to be a +butler! Bah!" + +"That is what I am sent here for." + +"Hear to me! If zay haf oysters, zay are placed on zee table before zee +guests enter. _V'la_? Then zee soup. You sairve one deesh at a time. +You do _not_ carry all zee deeshes at once. And you take zee deesh, +_so_!"--illustrating. "Then you wait till zay push aside zee soup +deesh. Then you carry zem away. _V'la_?" + +Warburton signified that he understood. + +"_I_ carve zee meats," went on the amiable Pierre. "You haf nozzing to +do wiz zee meats. You rest zee deesh on zee flat uf zee hand, _so_! +Always sairve to zee _right_ uf zee guest. Vatch zat i zay do not move +vhile you sairve. You spill zee soup, and I keel you! To spill zee soup +ees a crime. Now, take hold uf thees soup deesh." + +Warburton took it clumsily by the rim. Pierre snatched it away with a +volley of French oaths. William said that there was to be no "cussing," +but Pierre seemed to be an immune and not included in this order. + +"Idiot! Imbecile! _Non, non! Thees_ way. You would put zee thumb in zee +soup. Zare! You haf catch zat. Come to zee dining-hall. I show you. I +explain." + +The new groom was compelled to put forth all his energies to keep his +face straight. If he laughed, he was lost. If only his old mates could +see him now! The fop of Troop A playing at butler! Certainly he would +have to write Chuck about it--(which he most certainly never did). +Still, the ordeal in the dining-room was a severe one. Nothing he +attempted was done satisfactorily; Pierre, having in mind Celeste's +frivolity and this man's good looks, made the task doubly hard. He +hissed "Idiot!" and "Imbecile!" and "Jackass!" as many times as there +are knives and forks and spoons at a course dinner. It was when they +came to the wines that Pierre became mollified. He was forced to +acknowledge that the new groom needed no instructions as to the varying +temperatures of clarets and burgundies. Warburton longed to get out +into the open and yell. It was very funny. He managed, however, on +third rehearsal, to acquit himself with some credit. They returned to +the kitchen again, where they found Celeste nibbling crackers and +cheese. She smiled. + +"Ha!" The vowel was given a prolonged roll. "So, Mademoiselle, you haf +to come and look on, eh?" + +"Is there any objection, Monsieur?" retorted Celeste in her native +tongue, making handsome eyes at Warburton, who was greatly amused. + +"Ha! if he was hideous, would you be putting on those ribbons I gave +you to wear on Sundays?" snarled Pierre. + +Warburton followed their French without any difficulty. It was the +French of the Parisian, with which he was fairly conversant. But his +face remained impassive and his brows only mildly curious. + +"I shall throw them away, Monsieur Flageot, if you dare to talk to me +like that. He _is_ handsome, and you are jealous, and I am glad. You +behaved horribly to that coarse Nanon last Sunday. Because she scrubs +the steps of the French embassy you consider her above me, _me!_" + +"You are crazy!" roared Pierre. "You introduced me to her so that you +might make eyes at that abominable valet of the secretary!" + +Celeste flounced (whatever means of locomotion that is) abruptly from +the kitchen. Pierre turned savagely to his protege. + +"Go! And eef you look at her, idiot, I haf revenge myself. Oh, I am +calm! Bah! Go to zee stables, cattle!" And he rattled his pans at a +great rate. + +Warburton was glad enough to escape. + +"I have brought discord into the land, it would seem." + +But his trials were not over. The worst ordeal was yet to come. At +five, orders were given to harness the coach-horses to the coupe and +have them at the steps promptly at eight-thirty. Miss Annesley had +signified her intention of making a call in the city. Warburton had not +the slightest suspicion of the destination. He didn't care where it +was. It would be dark and he would pass unrecognized. He gave the order +no more thought. Promptly at eight-thirty he drove up to the steps. A +moment later she issued forth, accompanied by a gentleman in evening +dress. It was too dark for Warburton to distinguish his features. + +"I am very sorry, Count, to leave you; but you understand perfectly. It +is an old school friend of mine whom I haven't seen in a long time; one +of the best girl friends I have ever known. I promised to dine with her +to-night, but I broke that promise and agreed to spend the evening." + +"Do not disturb yourself on my account," replied the man in broken +English, which was rather pleasant to the ear. "Your excellent father +and I can pass the evening very well." + +Karloff! Warburton's chin sank into his collar and his hands trembled. +This man Karloff had very penetrating eyes, even in the dark. + +"But I shall miss the music which I promised myself. Ah, if you only +knew how adorable you are when you play the violin! I become lost, I +forget the world and its sordidness. I forget everything but that +mysterious voice which you alone know how to arouse from that little +box of wood. You are a great artist, and if you were before the public, +the world would go mad over you--as I have!" + +So she played the violin, thought the unhappy man on the box of the +coupe. + +"Count, you know that is taboo; you must not talk to me like +that,"--with a nervous glance at the groom. + +"The groom embarrasses you?" The count laughed. "Well, it is only a +groom, an animal which does not understand these things." + +"Besides, I do not play nearly so well as you would have me +believe,"--steering him to safer channels. + +"Whatever you undertake, Mademoiselle, becomes at once an +art,"--gallantly. "Good night!"--and the count saluted her hand as he +helped her into the coupe. + +How M'sieu Zhames would have liked to jump down and pommel Monsieur le +Comte! Several wicked thoughts surged through our jehu's brain, but to +execute any one of them in her presence was impossible. + +"Good night, Count. I shall see you at dinner on Monday." + +She would, eh? And her new butler would be on duty that same evening? +Without a doubt. M'sieu Zhames vowed under his breath that if he got a +good chance he would make the count look ridiculous. Not even a king +can retain his dignity while a stream of hot soup is trickling down his +spinal column. Warburton smiled. He was mentally acting like a +school-boy disappointed in love. His own keen sense of the humorous +came to his rescue. + +"James, to the city, No.--Scott Circle, and hurry." The door closed. + +Scott Circle? Warburton's spine wrinkled. Heaven help him, he was +driving Miss Annesley to his own brother's house! What the devil was +getting into fate, anyhow? He swore softly all the way to the +Connecticut Avenue extension. He made three mistakes before he struck +Sixteenth Street. Reaching Scott Circle finally, he had no difficulty +in recognizing the house. He drew up at the stepping-stone, alighted +and opened the door. + +"I shall be gone perhaps an hour and a half, James. You may drive +around, but return sharply at ten-thirty." Betty ran up the steps and +rang the bell. + +Our jehu did _not_ wait to see the door open, but drove away, +lickety-clip. I do not know what a mile lickety-clip is generally made +in, but I am rather certain that the civil law demands twenty-five +dollars for the same. The gods were with him this time, and no one +called him to a halt. When he had gone as far away from Scott Circle as +he dared go, his eye was attracted by a genial cigar sign. He hailed a +boy to hold the horses and went inside. He bought a dozen cigars and +lit one. He didn't even take the trouble to see if he could get the +cigars for nothing, there being a penny-in-the-slot machine in one +corner of the shop. I am sure that if he had noticed it, it would have +enticed him, for the spirit of chance was well-grounded in him, as it +is in all Army men. But he hurried out, threw the boy a dime, and drove +away. For an hour and twenty minutes he drove and smoked and pondered. +So she played the violin! played it wonderfully, as the count had +declared. He was passionately fond of music. In London, in Paris, in +Berlin, in Vienna, he had been an untiring, unfailing patron of the +opera. Some night he resolved to listen at the window, providing the +window was open. Yes, a hundred times Chuck was right. Any other girl, +and this jest might have passed capitally; but he wanted the respect of +this particular woman, and he had carelessly closed the doors to her +regard. She might tolerate him, that would be all. She would look upon +him as a hobbledehoy. + +He approached the curb again in front of the house, and gazed wistfully +at the lighted windows. Here was another great opportunity gone. How he +longed to dash into the house, confess, and have done with it! + +"I wish Chuck was in there. I wish he would come out and kick me good +and hearty." + +(Chuck would have been delighted to perform the trifling service; and +he would not have gone about it with any timidity, either.) + +"Hang the horses! I'm going to take a peek in at the side window,"--and +he slid cautiously from the box. He stole around the side and stopped +at one of the windows. The curtain was not wholly lowered, and he could +see into the drawing-room. There they were, all of them; and Miss +Annesley was holding the baby, which Mrs. Jack had awakened and brought +down stairs. He could see by the diffident manner in which Jack was +curling the ends of his mustache that they were comparing the baby with +him. "The conceited ass!" muttered the self-appointed outcast; "it +doesn't look any more like him than it does like me!" Here Miss +Annesley kissed the baby, and Warburton hoped that they hadn't washed +its face since he performed the same act. + +Mrs. Jack disappeared with the hope of the family, and Nancy got out a +bundle of photographs. M'sieu Zhames would have given almost anything +he possessed to know what these photographs represented. Crane his neck +as he would, he could see nothing. All he could do was to watch. +Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they became grave; sometimes they +explained, and their guest grew very attentive Once she even leaned +forward eagerly. It was about this time that our jehu chanced to look +at the clock on the mantel, and immediately concluded to vacate the +premises. It was half after ten. He returned to his box forthwith. (I +was going to use the word "alacrity," but I find that it means +"cheerful readiness.") After what seemed to him an interminable wait, +the front door opened and a flood of light blinded him. He heard +Nancy's voice. + +"I'm so sorry, Betty, that I can't dine with you on Monday. We are +going to Arlington. So sorry." + +"I'm not!" murmured the wretch on the box. "I'm devilish glad! Imagine +passing soup to one's sister! By George, it was a narrow one! It would +have been all over then." + +"Well, there will be plenty of times this winter," said Betty. "I shall +see you all at the Country Club Sunday afternoon. Good night, every +one. No, no; there's no need of any of you coming to the carriage." + +But brother Jack _did_ walk to the door with her; however, he gave not +the slightest attention to the groom, for which _he_ was grateful. + +"You must all come and spend the evening with me soon," said Betty, +entering the carriage. + +"That we shall," said brother Jack, closing the door for her. "Good +night." + +"Home, James," said the voice within the carriage. + +I do not know whether or not he slept soundly that night on his stable +cot. He never would confess. But it is my private opinion that he +didn't sleep at all, but spent a good part of the night out of doors, +smoking very black, strong cigars. + +Celeste, however, could have told you that her mistress, as she +retired, was in a most amiable frame of mind. Once she laughed. + + + + +XIII + +A RUNAWAY + + +Four days passed. I might have used the word "sped," only that verb +could not be truthfully applied. Never before in the history of time +(so our jehu thought) did four days cast their shadows more slowly +across the dial of the hours. From noon till night there was a madding +nothing to do but polish bits and buckles and stirrups and ornamental +silver. He would have been totally miserable but for the morning rides. +These were worth while; for he was riding Pirate, and there was always +that expectation of the unexpected. But Pirate behaved himself +puzzlingly well. Fortunately for the jehu, these rides were always into +the north country. He was continually possessed with fear lest she +would make him drive through the shopping district. If he met Nancy, it +would be, in the parlance of the day, all off. Nancy would have +recognized him in a beard like a Cossack's; and here he was with the +boy's face--the face she never would forget. + +He was desperately in love. I do not know what desperately in love is, +my own love's course running smoothly enough; but I can testify that it +was making Mr. Robert thin and appetiteless. Every morning the impulse +came to him to tell her all; but every morning his courage oozed like +Bob Acres', and his lips became dumb. I dare say that if she had +questioned him he would have told her all; but for some reason she had +ceased to inquire into his past. Possibly her young mind was occupied +with pleasanter things. + +He became an accomplished butler, and served so well in rehearsals that +Pierre could only grumble. One afternoon she superintended the comedy. +She found a thousand faults with him, so many, in fact, that Pierre did +not understand what it meant, and became possessed with the vague idea +that she was hitting him over the groom's shoulder. He did not like it; +and later, when they were alone, Warburton was distinctly impressed +with Pierre's displeasure. + +"You can not please _her_, and you can not please _me_. Bah! Zat ees +vat comes uf teaching a groom table manners instead uf stable manners. +And you vill smell uf horse! I do _not_ understand Mees Annesley; no!" + +[Illustration: "May I go now, Miss?"--ACT II] + +And there were other humiliations, petty ones. She chid him on having +the stirrup too long or too short; the curb chain was rusting; this +piece of ornamental silver did not shine like that one; Jane's fetlocks +were too long; Pirate's hoofs weren't thoroughly oiled. With dogged +patience he tried to remedy all these faults. It was only when they had +had a romping run down the road that this spirit fell away from her, +and she talked pleasantly. + +Twice he ran into Karloff; but that shrewd student of human nature did +not consider my hero worth studying; a grave mistake on his part, as he +was presently to learn. He was a handsome man, and the only thing he +noticed about the groom was his handsome face. He considered it a crime +for a servant to be endowed with personal attractions. A servant in the +eyes of a Russian noble excites less interest than a breedless dog. Mr. +Robert made no complaint; he was very well satisfied to have the count +ignore him entirely. Once he met the count in the Turkish room, where, +in the capacity of butler, he served liqueur and cigars. There was a +certain grim humor in lighting his rival's cigar for him. This service +was a test of his ability to pass through a room without knocking over +taborets and chairs. Another time they met, when Betty and the two of +them took a long ride. Karloff _did_ notice how well the groom rode his +mettlesome mount, being himself a soldier and a daring horseman. +Warburton had some trouble. Pirate did not take to the idea of +breathing Jane and Dick's dust; he wanted to lead these second-raters. +Mr. James' arms ached that afternoon from the effort he had put forth +to restrain Pirate and keep him in his proper place, five yards to the +rear. + +Nothing happened Sunday; the day went by uneventfully. He escaped the +ordeal of driving her to the Chevy Chase Club, William being up that +afternoon. + +Then Monday came, and with it Betty's curious determination to ride +Pirate. + +"You wish to ride Pirate, Miss?" exclaimed James, his horror of the +idea openly manifest. + +"Saddle him for me,"--peremptorily. "I desire to ride him. I find Jane +isn't exciting enough." + +"Pardon me, Miss Annesley," he said, "but I had rather you would not +make the attempt." + +"You had rather I would not make the attempt?"--slowly repeating the +words, making a knife of each one of them, tipped with the poison of +her contempt. "I do not believe I quite understand you." + +He bravely met the angry flash of her eyes. There were times when the +color of these eyes did not resemble sapphires; rather disks of +gun-metal, caused by a sudden dilation of the pupils. + +"Yes, Miss, I had rather you would not." + +"James, you forget yourself. Saddle Pirate, and take Jane back to the +stables. Besides, Jane has a bit of a cold." She slapped her boot with +her riding-crop and indolently studied the scurrying clouds overhead; +for the day was windy. + +Soberly Warburton obeyed. He was hurt and angry, and he knew not what +besides. Heavens, if anything should happen to her! His hopes rose a +bit. Pirate had shown no temper so far that morning. He docilely +permitted his master to put on the side-saddle. But as he came out into +the air again, he threw forward his ears, stretched out his long black +neck, took in a great breath, and whinnied a hoarse challenge to the +elements. William had already saddled Dick, who looked askance at his +black rival's small compact heels. + +"I am afraid of him," said Warburton, as he returned. "He will run away +with you. I did not wholly subjugate him the other day. He pulls till +my arms ache." + +Miss Annesley shrugged and patted Pirate on the nose and offered him a +lump of sugar. The thirst for freedom and a wild run down the wind +lurked in Pirate's far-off gazing eyes, and he ignored the sign of +conciliation which his mistress made him. + +"I am not afraid of him. Besides, Dick can outrun and out jump him." + +This did not reassure Warburton, nor did he know what this comparison +meant, being an ordinary mortal. + +"With all respect to you, Miss Annesley, I am sorry that you are +determined to ride him. He is most emphatically not a lady's horse, and +you have never ridden him. Your skirts will irritate him, and if he +sees your crop, he'll bolt." + +She did not reply, but merely signified her desire to mount. No sooner +was she up, however, than she secretly regretted her caprice; but not +for a hundred worlds would she have permitted this groom to know. But +Pirate, with that rare instinct of the horse, knew that his mistress +was not sure of him. He showed the whites of his eyes and began pawing +the gravel. The girl glanced covertly at her groom and found no color +in his cheeks. Two small muscular lumps appeared at the corners of her +jaws. She would ride Pirate, and nothing should stop her; nothing, +nothing. Womanlike, knowing herself to be in the wrong, she was furious. + +And Pirate surprised them both. During the first mile he behaved +himself in the most gentlemanly fashion; and if he shied once or twice, +waltzed a little, it was only because he was full of life and spirit. +They trotted, they cantered, ran and walked. Warburton, hitherto +holding himself in readiness for whatever might happen, relaxed the +tension of his muscles, and his shoulders sank relievedly. Perhaps, +after all, his alarm had been needless. The trouble with Pirate might +be the infrequency with which he had been saddled and ridden. But he +knew that the girl would not soon forget his interference. There would +be more humiliations, more bitter pills for him to swallow. It pleased +him, however, to note the ease with which Dick kept pace with Pirate. + +As for the most beautiful person in all the great world, I am afraid +that she was beginning to feel self-important. Now that her confidence +was fully restored, she never once spoke to, or looked at, her groom. +Occasionally from the corner of her eye she could see the white patch +on Dick's nose. + +"James," she said maliciously and suddenly, "go back five yards. I wish +to ride alone." + +Warburton, his face burning, fell back. And thus she made her first +mistake. The second and final mistake came immediately after. She +touched Pirate with her heel, and he broke from a trot into a lively +gallop. Dick, without a touch of the boot, kept his distance to a foot. +Pirate, no longer seeing Dick at his side, concluded that he had left +his rival behind; and the suppressed mischief in his black head began +to find an outlet. Steadily he arched his neck; steadily but surely he +drew down on the reins. The girl felt the effort and tried to frustrate +it. In backing her pull with her right hand, the end of her crop +flashed down the side of Pirate's head--the finishing touch. There was +a wild leap, a blur of dust, and Mr. Pirate, well named after his +freebooting sires, his head down where he wanted it, his feet rolling +like a snare-drum, Mr. Pirate ran away, headed for heaven only knew +where. + +For a brief moment Warburton lost his nerve; he was struck with horror. +If she could not hold her seat, she would be killed or dreadfully hurt, +and perhaps disfigured. It seemed rather strange, as he recalled it, +that Dick, instead of himself, should have taken the initiative. The +noble sorrel, formerly a cavalry horse, shot forward magnificently. +Doubtless his horse-sense took in the situation, or else he did not +like the thought of yonder proud, supercilious show-horse beating him +in a running race. So, a very fast mile was put to the rear. + +The girl, appreciating her peril, did as all good horsewomen would have +done: locked her knee on the horn and held on. The rush of wind tore +the pins from her hair which, like a golden plume, stretched out behind +her. (Have you ever read anything like this before? I dare say. But to +Warburton and the girl, it never occurred that other persons had gone +through like episodes. It was real, and actual, and single, and tragic +to them.) + +The distance between the two horses began slowly to lessen, and +Warburton understood, in a nebulous way, what the girl had meant when +she said that Dick could outrun Pirate. If Pirate kept to the road, +Dick would bring him down; but if Pirate took it into his head to vault +a fence! Warburton shuddered. Faster, faster, over this roll of earth, +clattering across this bridge, around this curve and that angle. Once +the sight of a team drawing a huge grain-wagon sent a shiver to +Warburton's heart. But they thundered past with a foot to spare. The +old negro on the seat stared after them, his ebony face drawn with +wonder and the whites of his eyes showing. + +Foot by foot, yard by yard, the space lessened, till Dick's nose was +within three feet of Pirate's flowing tail. Warburton fairly lifted +Dick along with his knees. I only wish I could describe the race as my +jehu told it to me. The description held me by the throat. I could see +the flashing by of trees and houses and fields; the scampering of +piccaninnies across the road; the horses from the meadows dashing up to +the fences and whinnying; the fine stone and dust which Pirate's +rattling heels threw into my jehu's face and eyes; the old pain +throbbing anew in his leg. And when he finally drew alongside the black +brute and saw the white, set face of the girl he loved, I can imagine +no greater moment but one in his life. There was no fear on her face, +but there was appeal in her eyes as she half turned her head. He leaned +across the intervening space and slid his arm around her waist. The two +horses came together and twisted his leg cruelly. His jaws snapped. + +"Let the stirrup go!" he cried. "Let go, quick!" She heard him. "Your +knee from the horn! I can't keep them together any longer. Now!" + +Brave and plucky and cool she was. She obeyed him instantly. There was +a mighty heave, a terrible straining of the back and the knees, and +Pirate was freed of his precious burden. The hardest part of it came +now. Dick could not be made to slow down abruptly. He wanted to keep +right on after his rival. So, between holding the girl with his right +arm and pulling the horse with his left, Warburton saw that he could +keep up this terrible effort but a very short time. Her arms were +convulsively wound around his neck, and this added to the strain. Not a +word did she say; her eyes were closed, as if she expected any moment +to be dashed to the earth. + +But Dick was only a mortal horse. The fierce run and the double burden +began to tell, and shortly his head came up. Warburton stopped him. The +girl slid to the ground, and in a moment he was at her side. And just +in time. The reaction was too much for her. Dazedly she brushed her +hair from her eyes, stared wildly at Warburton, and fainted. He did not +catch her with that graceful precision which on the stage is so +familiar to us. No. He was lucky to snatch one of her arms, thus +preventing her head from striking the road. He dragged her to the side +of the highway and rested her head on his shaking knees. Things grew +dark for a time. To tell the truth, he himself was very close to that +feminine weakness which the old fellows, in their rough and ready +plays, used to call "vapours". But he forced his heart to steady itself. + +And what do you suppose the rascal did--with nobody but Dick to watch +him? Why, he did what any healthy young man in love would have done: +pressed his lips to the girl's hair, his eyes filling and half a sob in +his parched throat. He dolefully pictured himself a modern Antiochus, +dying of love and never confessing it. Then he kissed her hair again; +only her hair, for somehow he felt that her lips and cheeks were as yet +inviolable to his touch. I should have liked to see the picture they +made: the panting horse a dozen rods away, looking at them inquiringly; +the girl in her dust-covered habit, her hair spreading out like seaweed +on a wave, her white face, her figure showing its graceful lines; my +jehu, his hair matted to his brow, the streaks of dust and perspiration +on his face, the fear and love and longing in his dark eyes. I +recollect a picture called _Love and Honor,_ or something like that. It +never appealed to me. It lacked action. It simply represented a fellow +urging a girl to elope with him. Both of them were immaculately +dressed. But here, on this old highway leading into Maryland, was +something real. A battle had been fought and won. + +Fainting is but transitory; by and by she opened her eyes, and stared +vaguely into the face above her. I do not know what she saw there; +whatever it was it caused her to struggle to her feet. There was color +enough in her cheeks now; and there was a question, too, in her eyes. +Of Warburton it asked, "What did you do when I lay there unconscious?" +I'm afraid there was color in his face, too. Her gaze immediately roved +up the road. There was no Pirate, only a haze of dust. Doubtless he was +still going it, delighted over the trouble he had managed to bring +about. Warburton knelt at the girl's side and brushed the dust from her +skirt. She eyed him curiously. I shan't say that she smiled; I don't +know, for I wasn't there. + +Meanwhile she made several futile attempts to put up her hair, and as a +finality she braided it and let it hang down her back. Suddenly and +unaccountably she grew angry--angry at herself, at James, at the +rascally horse that had brought her to this pass. Warburton saw +something of this emotion in her eyes, and to avoid the storm he walked +over to Dick, picked up the reins, and led him back. + +"If you will mount Dick, Miss," he said, "I will lead him home. It's +about five miles, I should say." + +The futility and absurdity of her anger aroused her sense of the +ridiculous; and a smile, warm and merry, flashed over her stained face. +It surprised her groom. + +"Thank you, James. You were right. I ought not to have ridden Pirate. I +am punished for my conceit. Five miles? It will be a long walk." + +"I shan't mind it in the least," replied James, inordinately happy; and +he helped her to the saddle and adjusted the left stirrup. + +So the journey home began. Strangely enough, neither seemed to care +particularly what had or might become of Pirate. He disappeared, +mentally and physically. One thing dampened the journey for Warburton. +His "game leg" ached cruelly, and after the second mile (which was +traversed without speech from either of them), he fell into a slight +limp. From her seat above and behind him, she saw this limp. + +"You have hurt yourself?" she asked gently. + +"Not to-day, Miss,"--briefly. + +"When he ran away with you?" + +"No. It's an old trouble." + +"While you were a soldier?" + +"Yes." + +"How?" + +He turned in surprise. All these questions were rather unusual. +Nevertheless he answered her, and truthfully. + +"I was shot in the leg by a drunken Indian." + +"While on duty?" + +"Yes." Unconsciously he was forgetting to add "Miss", which was the +patent of his servility. And I do not think that just then she noticed +this subtraction from the respect due her. + +It was eleven o'clock when they arrived at the gates. She dismounted +alone. Warburton was visibly done up. + +"Any orders for this afternoon, Miss?" + +"I shall want the victoria at three. I have some shopping to do and a +call to make. Send William after Pirate. I am very grateful for what +you have done." + +He made no reply, for he saw her father coming down the steps. + +"Betty," said the colonel, pale and worried, "have you been riding +Pirate? Where is he, and what in the world has happened?"--noting the +dust on her habit and her tangled hair. + +She explained: she told the story rather coolly, Warburton thought, but +she left out no detail. + +"You have James to thank for my safety, father. He was very calm and +clear-headed." + +_Calm and clear-headed!_ thought Warburton. + +The girl then entered the house, humming. Most women would have got out +the lavender salts and lain down the rest of the day, considering the +routine of a fashionable dinner, which was the chief duty of the +evening. + +"I am grateful to you, James. My daughter is directly in your care when +she rides, and I give you full authority. Never permit her to mount any +horse but her own. She is all I have; and if anything should happen to +her--" + +"Yes, sir; I understand." + +The colonel followed his daughter; and Warburton led Dick to the +stables, gave his orders to William, and flung himself down on his cot. +He was dead tired. And the hour he had dreaded was come! He was to +drive her through the shopping district. Well, so be it. If any one +exposed him, very good. This groom business was decidedly like work. +And there was that confounded dinner-party, and he would have to limp +around a table and carry soup plates! And as likely as not he would run +into the very last person he expected to see. + +Which he did. + + + + +XIV + +AN ORDEAL OR TWO + + +Mr. Robert vows that he will never forgive me for the ten minutes' +agony which I gratuitously added to his measure. It came about in this +wise. I was on my way down Seventeenth Street that afternoon, and it +was in front of a fashionable apartment house that I met him. He was +seated on his box, the whip at the proper angle, and his eyes riveted +on his pair's ears. It was the first time I had seen him since the day +of the episode at the police-station. He was growing thin. He did not +see me, and he did not even notice me till I stopped and the sound of +my heels on the walk ceased. Arms akimbo, I surveyed him. + +"Well?" I began. I admit that the smile I offered him was a deal like +that which a cat offers a cornered mouse. + +He turned his head. I shall not repeat the word he muttered. It was +very improper, though they often refer to it in the Sabbath-schools, +always in a hushed breath, however, as though to full-voice it would +only fan the flames still higher. + +"What have you to say for yourself?" I went on. + +"Nothing for myself, but for you, move on and let me alone, or when I +get the opportunity, Chuck, I'll punch your head, glasses or no +glasses." + +"Brother-in-law or no brother-in-law." + +"Chuck, will you go on?"--hoarsely. "I mean it." + +I saw that he did. "You don't look very happy for a man who has cracked +so tremendous a joke." + +"Will you go along?" + +"Not till I get good and ready, James. I've told too many lies on your +account already not to make myself a present of this joyful reunion. +Has Miss Annesley any idea of the imposture?" + +He did not answer. + +"How did you like waiting in Scott Circle the other night?" + +Still no answer. I have half an idea that he was making ready to leap +from his box. He ran his fingers up and down the lines. I could see +that he was mad through and through; but I enjoyed the scene +nevertheless. He deserved a little roasting on the gridiron. + +"I am given to understand," I continued, "that you act as butler, +besides, and pass the soup around the table." + +Silence. Then I heard a door close, and saw a look of despair grow on +his face. I turned and saw Miss Annesley and Mrs. Chadwick coming down +the steps. + +"Why, how do you do, Mr. Henderson? Mrs. Chadwick." + +"I have already had the pleasure of meeting this famous young orator," +purred Mrs. Chadwick, giving me her hand. She was a fashionable, not to +say brilliant, _intrigante_. I knew her to have been concerned +indirectly with half a dozen big lobby schemes. She was rather wealthy. +But she was seen everywhere, and everywhere was admired. She was as +completely at home abroad as here in Washington. She was a widow, +perhaps thirty-eight, handsome and fascinating, a delightful +_raconteur_, and had the remarkable reputation of never indulging in +scandal. She was the repository of more secrets than I should care to +discover. + +I recall one night at a state function when she sat between the French +ambassador and that wily Chinaman, Li Hung Chang. She discoursed on +wines in French with the ambassador and immediately turned to the +Chinaman and recited Confucius in the original Chinese. Where she had +ever found time to study Chinese is a mystery to every one. The +incident made her quite famous that winter. Brains are always tolerated +in Washington, and if properly directed, push a person a good deal +further than wealth or pedigree. Washington forgives everything but +stupidity. + +Not until recently did I learn that at one time Karloff had been very +attentive to her. His great knowledge of American politics doubtless +came to him through her. + +"Where are you bound?" asked Miss Annesley. + +"I am on the way to the War Department." + +"Plenty of room; jump in and we shall drop you there. James, drive to +the War Department." + +Ordinarily I should have declined, as I generally prefer to walk; but +in this instance it would be superfluous to say that I was delighted to +accept the invitation. I secretly hugged myself as I thought of the +driver. + +"How is Miss Warburton?" asked Miss Annesley, as she settled back among +the cushions. + +"Beautiful as ever," I replied, smiling happily, + +"You must meet Miss Warburton, Grace,"--speaking to Mrs. Chadwick, who +looked at me with polite inquiry. "One of the most charming girls in +the land, and as good as she is beautiful. Mr. Henderson is the most +fortunate of young men." + +"So I admit. She was greatly disappointed that you did not meet her +younger brother." First shot at the groom. + +"I did expect to meet him, but I understand that he has gone on a +hunting expedition. Whom does he resemble?" + +"Neither Nancy nor Jack," I said. "He's a good-looking beggar, though, +only you can't depend upon him for five minutes at a time. Hadn't seen +the family in more than two years. Spends one night at home, and is off +again, no one knows where. Some persons like him, but I like a man with +more stability. Not but what he has his good points; but he is a born +vagabond. His brother expects to get him a berth at Vienna and is +working rather successfully toward that end." I wondered how this bit +of news affected the groom. + +"A diplomat?" said Mrs. Chadwick. "That is the life for a young man +with brains. Is he a good linguist?" + +"Capital! Speaks French, German, and Spanish, besides I don't know how +many Indian sign-languages." Now I was patting the groom on the back. I +sat facing the ladies, so it was impossible to see the expression on +his face. I kept up this banter till we arrived at the Department. I +bade the ladies good day. I do not recollect when I enjoyed ten minutes +more thoroughly. + +An hour in the shopping district, that is to say, up and down +Pennsylvania Avenue, where everybody who was anybody was similarly +occupied, shopping, nearly took the spine out of our jehu. Everywhere +he imagined he saw Nancy. And half a dozen times he saw persons whom he +knew, persons he had dined with in New York, persons he had met abroad. +But true to human nature, they were looking toward higher things than a +groom in livery. When there was no more room for bundles, the women +started for Mrs. Chadwick's apartments. + +Said Mrs. Chadwick in French: "Where, in the name of uncommon things, +did you find such a handsome groom?" + +"I _was_ rather lucky," replied Miss Annesley in the same tongue. +"Don't you see something familiar about him?" + +Warburton shuddered. + +"Familiar? What do you mean?" + +"It is the groom who ran away with us." + +"Heavens, no!" Mrs. Chadwick raised her lorgnette. "Whatever possessed +you?" + +"Mischief, as much as anything." + +"But the risk!" + +"I am not afraid. There was something about him that appeared very much +like a mystery, and you know how I adore mysteries." + +"And this is the fellow we saw in the police-court, sitting among those +light o' loves?" Mrs. Chadwick could not fully express her surprise. + +"I can't analyze the impulse which prompted me to pay his fine and +engage him." + +"And after that affair at the carriage-door! Where is your pride?" + +"To tell the truth, I believe he did make a mistake. Maybe I hired him +because I liked his looks." Betty glanced amusedly at the groom, whose +neck and ears were red. She laughed. + +"You always were an extraordinary child. I do not understand it in the +least. I am even worried. He may be a great criminal." + +"No, not a great criminal," said Betty, recollecting the ride of that +morning; "but a first-class horseman, willing and obedient. I have been +forced to make James serve as butler. He has been under the hands of +our cook, and I have been watching them. How I have laughed! Of all +droll scenes!" + +So she had laughed, eh? Warburton's jaws snapped. She had been +watching, too? + +"I rode Pirate this morning--" + +"You rode that horse?" interrupted Mrs. Chadwick. + +"Yes, and he ran away with me in fine style. If it hadn't been for the +new groom, I shouldn't be here, and the dinner would be a dismal +failure, with me in bed with an arm or leg broken. Heavens! I never was +so frightened in all my life. We went so fast against the wind that I +could scarce breathe. And when it was all over, I fainted like a ninny." + +"Fainted! I should have thought you would. _I_ should have fallen off +the animal and been killed. Betty, you certainly have neither +forethought nor discretion. The very idea of your attempting to ride +that animal!" + +"Well, I am wiser, and none the worse for the scare.... James, stop, +stop!" Betty cried suddenly. + +When this command struck his sense of hearing, James was pretty far +away in thought. He was wondering if all this were true. If it was, he +must make the best of it; but if it was a dream, he wanted to wake up +right away, because it was becoming nightmarish. + +"James!" The end of a parasol tickled him in the ribs and he drew up +somewhat frightened. What was going to happen now? He was soon to find +out. For this was to be the real climax of the day; or at least, the +incident was pregnant with the possibilities of a climax. + +"Colonel, surely you are not going to pass us by in this fashion?" +cried the girl. They were almost opposite the Army and Navy Club. + +"Why, is that you, Miss Betty? Pass you by? Only when I grow blind!" +roared a lion-like voice. "Very glad to see you, Mrs. Chadwick." + +That voice, of all the voices he had ever heard! A chill of +indescribable terror flew up and down my jehu's spine, and his pores +closed up. He looked around cautiously. It was he, he of all men: his +regimental colonel, who possessed the most remarkable memory of any +Army man west of the Mississippi, and who had often vowed that he knew +his subalterns so well that he could always successfully prescribe for +their livers! + +"I was just about to turn into the club for my mail," declared the +colonel. "It was very good of you to stop me. I'll wager you've been +speculating in the shops,"--touching the bundles with his cane. "You +win," laughed Betty. "But I'll give you a hundred guesses in which to +find out what any of these packages contains." + +"Guessing is a bad business. Whatever these things are, they can add +but little to the beauty of those who will wear them; for I presume +Mrs. Chadwick has some claim upon these bundles." + +"Very adroitly worded," smiled Mrs. Chadwick, who loved a silken phrase. + +"We shall see you at dinner to-night?" + +"All the battalions of England could not keep me away from that festive +board," the colonel vowed. (Another spasm for the groom!) "And how is +that good father of yours?" + +"As kind and loving as ever." + +"I wish you could have seen him in the old days in Virginia," said the +colonel, who, like all old men, continually fell back upon the +reminiscent. "Handsomest man in the brigade, and a fight made him as +happy as a bull-pup. I was with him the day he first met your +mother,"--softly. "How she humiliated him because he wore the blue! She +was obliged to feed him--fortunes of war; but I could see that she +hoped each mouthful would choke him." + +"What! My mother wished that?" + +Mrs. Chadwick laughed. The groom's chin sank into his collar. + +"Wait a moment! She wasn't in love with him then. We were camped on +that beautiful Virginian home of yours for nearly a month. You know how +courtly he always was and is. Well, to every rebuff he replied with a +smile and some trifling favor. She never had to lift her finger about +the house. But one thing he was firm in: she should sit at the same +table during the meals. And when Johnston came thundering down that +memorable day, and your father was shot in the lungs and fell with a +dozen saber cuts besides, you should have seen the change! He was the +prisoner now, she the jailer. In her own white bed she had him placed, +and for two months she nursed him. Ah, that was the prettiest love +affair the world ever saw." + +"And why have you not followed his example?" asked Mrs. Chadwick. + +The colonel gazed thoughtfully at his old comrade's daughter, and he +saw pity and unbounded respect in her eyes. "They say that for every +heart there is a mate, but I do not believe it. Sometimes there are two +hearts that seek the same mate. One or the other must win or lose. You +will play for me to-night?" + +"As often and as long as you please,"--graciously. She was very fond of +this upright old soldier, whom she had known since babyhood. + +It was now that the colonel casually turned his attention to the groom, +He observed him. First, his gray eyebrows arched abruptly in surprise, +then sank in puzzlement. + +"What is it?" inquired Betty, noting these signs. + +"Nothing; nothing of importance," answered the colonel, growing +violently red. + +It would not be exaggerating to say that if the colonel turned red, his +one-time orderly grew purple, only this purple faded quickly into a +chalky pallor. + +"Well, perhaps I am keeping you," remarked the colonel, soberly, "I +shall hold you to your promise about the music." + +"We are to have plenty of music. There will foe a famous singer and a +fine pianist." + +"You will play that what-d'-ye-call-it from Schumann I like so well. I +shall want you to play that I want something in the way of memory to +take back West with me. Good-by, then, till to-night." + +"Good-by. All right, James; home," said the girl. James relievedly +touched his horses. + +The colonel remained standing at the curb till the victoria +disappeared. Of what he was thinking I don't know; but he finally +muttered "James?" in an inquiring way, and made for the club, shaking +his head, as if suddenly confronted by a remarkably abstruse problem. + +Further on I shall tell you how he solved it. + + + + +XV + +RETROSPECTIVE + + +Show me those invisible, imperceptible steps by which a man's honor +first descends; show me the way back to the serene altitude of clean +conscience, and I will undertake to enlighten you upon the secret of +every great historical event, tragic or otherwise. If you will search +history carefully, you will note that the basic cause of all great +events, such as revolutions, civil strifes, political assassinations, +foreign wars, and race oppressions, lay not in men's honor so much as +in some one man's dishonor. A man, having committed a dishonorable act, +may reestablish himself in the eyes of his fellow-beings, but ever and +ever he silently mocks himself and dares not look into the mirror of +his conscience. + +Honor is comparative, as every one will agree. It is only in the highly +developed mind that it reaches its superlative state. Either this man +becomes impregnable to the assaults of the angel of the pitch robes, or +he boldly plunges into the frightful blackness which surrounds her. The +great greed of power, the great greed of wealth, the great greed of +hate, the great greed of jealousy, and the great greed of love, only +these tempt him. + +Now, of dishonors, which does man hold in the greatest abhorrence? This +question needs no pondering. It may be answered simply. The murderer, +the thief, and the rogue--we look upon these callously. But Judas! +Treachery to our country! This is the nadir of dishonor; nothing could +be blacker. We never stop to look into the causes, nor does history, +that most upright and impartial of judges; we brand instantly. Who can +tell the truth about Judas Iscariot, and Benedict Arnold, and the host +of others? I can almost tolerate a Judas who betrays for a great love. +There seems to be a stupendous elimination of self in the man who +betrays for those he loves, braving the consequences, the ignominy, the +dishonor, the wretchedness; otherwise I should not have undertaken to +write this bit of history. + +To betray a friend, that is bad; to betray a woman, that is still +worse; but to betray one's country!-to commit an act which shall place +her at the mercy of her enemies! Ah, the ignoble deaths of the men who +were guilty of this crime! And if men have souls, as we are told they +have, how the souls of these men must writhe as they look into the +minds of living men and behold the horror and contempt in which each +traitor's name is held there! + +Have you ever thought of the legion of men who have been thrust back +from the very foot of this precipice, either by circumstances or by the +revolt of conscience? These are the men who reestablish themselves in +the eyes of their fellow-beings, but who for ever silently mock +themselves and dare not look into the mirror of their consciences. + +In this world motive is everything. A bad thing may be done for a good +purpose, or, the other way around. This is the story of a crime, the +motive of which was good. + +Once upon a time there lived a soldier, a gentleman born, a courtier, a +man of fine senses, of high integrity, of tenderness, of courage; he +possessed a splendid physical beauty, besides estates, and a +comfortable revenue, or rather, he presided over one. Above all this, +he was the father of a girl who worshiped him, and not without reason. +What mysterious causes should set to work to ruin this man, to thrust +him from light into darkness? What step led him to attempt to betray +his country, even in times of peace, to dishonor his name, a name his +honesty had placed high on the rolls of glory? What defense can he +offer? Well, I shall undertake to defend him; let yours be the verdict. + +Enforced idleness makes a criminal of a poor man; it urges the man of +means to travel. Having seen his native land, it was only natural that +my defendant should desire to see foreign countries. So, accompanied by +his child, he went abroad, visited the famous capitals, and was the +guest of honor at his country's embassies. It was a delightful period. +Both were as happy as fate ever allows a human being to be. The father +had received his honorable discharge, and till recently had held a +responsible position in the War Department. His knowledge had proved of +no small value to the government, for he was a born strategist, and his +hobby was the coast defenses. He never beheld a plan that he did not +reproduce it on the back of an envelope, on any handy scrap of paper, +and then pore over it through the night. He had committed to memory the +smallest details, the ammunition supplies of each fort, the number of +guns, the garrison, the pregnable and impregnable sides. He knew the +resource of each, too; that is to say, how quickly aid could be +secured, the nearest transportation routes, what forage might be had. +He had even submitted plans for a siege gun. + +One day, in the course of their travels, the father and daughter +stopped at Monte Carlo. Who hasn't heard of that city of fever? Who +that has seen it can easily forget its gay harbor, its beautiful walks, +its crowds, its music, its hotels, its white temple of fortune? Now, my +defendant had hitherto ignored the principality of Monaco. The tales of +terror which had reached his ears did not prepossess him in its favor. +But his daughter had friends there, and she wanted to see them. There +would be dances on the private yacht, and dinners, and teas, and +fireworks. On the third night of his arrival he was joined by the owner +of the yacht, a millionaire banker whose son was doing the honors as +host. I believe that there was a musicale on board that night, and as +the banker wasn't particularly fond of this sort of entertainment, he +inveigled his soldier friend to accompany him on a sight-seeing trip. +At midnight they entered the temple of fortune. At first the soldier +demurred; but the banker told him that he hadn't seen Monte Carlo +unless he saw the wheel go around. So, laughing, they entered the halls. + +The passion for gaming is born in us all, man and woman alike, and is +conceded by wise analysts to be the most furious of all passions and +the most lasting. In some, happily, the serpent sleeps for ever, the +fire is for ever banked. But it needs only the opportunity to rouse the +dull ember into flame, to stir the venom of the serpent. It seems a +simple thing to toss a coin on the roulette boards. Sometimes the act +is done contemptuously, sometimes indifferently, sometimes in the +spirit of fun and curiosity; but the result is always the same. + +The banker played for a while, won and lost, lost and won. The soldier +put his hand into a pocket and drew forth a five-franc piece. He placed +it on a number. The angel in the pitch robes is always lying in wait +for man to make his first bad step; so she urged fortune to let this +man win. It is an unwritten law, high up on Olympus, that the gods must +give to the gods; only the prayers of the mortals go unanswered. + +So my defendant won. He laughed like a boy who had played marbles for +"keeps" and had taken away his opponent's agates. His mind was +perfectly innocent of any wrong-doing. That night he won a thousand +francs. His real first bad step was in hiding the escapade from his +daughter. The following night he won again. Then he dallied about the +flame till one night the lust of his forebears shone forth from his +eyes. The venom of the serpent spread, the ember grew into a flame. His +daughter, legitimately enjoying herself with the young people, knew +nothing nor dreamed. Indeed, he never entered the temple till after he +had kissed her good night. + +He lost. He lost twice, thrice, in succession. One morning he woke up +to the fact that he was several thousand dollars on the wrong side of +the book. If the money had been his own, he would have stopped, and +gone his way, cured. But it was money which he held in trust. He _must_ +replace it. The angel in the pitch robes stood at his side; she even +laid a hand on his shoulder and urged him to win back what he had lost. +Then indeed he could laugh, go his way, and gamble no more. This was +excellent advice. That winter he lost something like fifteen thousand. +Then began the progress of decline. The following summer his losses +were even greater than before. He began to mortgage the estates, for +his authority over his daughter's property was absolute. He dabbled in +stocks; a sudden fall in gold, and he realized that his daughter was +nearly penniless. Ah, had he been alone, had the money been his, he +would have faced poverty with all the courage of a brave man. But the +girl, the girl! She must never know, she must never want for those +luxuries to which she was accustomed. For her sake he must make one +more effort He _must_ win, must, must! He raised more money on the +property. He became irritable, nervous, to which were added sudden +bursts of tenderness which the girl could not very well understand. + +The summer preceding the action of this tale saw them at Dieppe. At one +time he had recovered something between sixty and seventy thousand of +his losses. Ah, had he stopped then, confessed to his daughter, all +would have gone well But, no; he must win the entire sum. He lost, +lost, lost. The crash came in August. But a corner of the vast +Virginian estates was left, and this did not amount to twenty thousand. +Five francs carelessly tossed upon a roulette table had ruined and +dishonored him. The angel of the pitch robes had fairly enveloped him +now. The thought that he had gambled uselessly his daughter's legacy, +the legacy which her mother had left confidingly in his care, filled +his soul with the bitterness of gall. And she continued the merry round +of happiness, purchasing expensive garments, jewelry, furs, the little +things which women love; gave dinners and teas and dances, considered +herself an heiress, and thought the world a very pleasant place to live +in. Every laugh from her was a thorn to him, the light of happiness in +her eyes was a reproach, for he knew that she was dancing toward the +precipice which he had digged for her. + +Struggling futilely among these nettles of despair, he took the final +step. His ruin became definitive. His evil goddess saw to it that an +opportunity should present itself. (How simple all this reads! As I +read it over it does not seem credible. Think of a man who has reached +the height of his ambition, has dwelt there serenely, and then falls in +this silly, inexcusable fashion! Well, that is human nature, the human +part of it. Only here and there do we fall grandly.) + +One starlit night he met a distinguished young diplomat, rich and +handsome. He played some, but to pass away the time rather than to +coquet with fortune. He was lucky. The man who plays for the mere fun +of it is generally lucky. He asks no favors from fortune; he does not +pay any attention to her, and, woman-like, she is piqued. He won +heavily this night; my soldier lost correspondingly heavily. The +diplomat pressed a loan upon his new-found friend, who, with his usual +luck, lost it. + +The diplomat was presented to the daughter. They owned to mutual +acquaintance in Paris and Washington. The three attended the concert. +The girl returned to the hotel bubbling with happiness and the echoes +of enchanting melodies, for she was an accomplished musician. She +retired and left the two men to their coffee and cigars. The +conversation took several turns, and at length stopped at diplomacy. + +"It has always puzzled me," said the soldier, "how Russia finds out all +she does." + +"That is easily explained. Russia has the wisdom of the serpent. Here +is a man who possesses a secret which Russia must have. They study him. +If he is gallant, one day he meets a fascinating woman; if he is +greedy, he turns to find a bowl of gold at his elbow; if he seeks +power, Russia points out the shortest road." + +"But her knowledge of foreign army and naval strength?" + +"Money does all that. Russia possesses an accurate knowledge of every +fort, ship and gun England boasts of; France, Germany, and Japan. We +have never taken it into our heads to investigate America. Till +recently your country as a foe to Russian interests had dropped below +the horizon. And now Russia finds that she must proceed to do what she +has done to all other countries; that is, duplicate her rival's +fortification plans, her total military and naval strength; and so +forth, and so on. The United States is not an enemy, but there are +possibilities of her becoming so. Some day she must wrest Cuba from +Spain, and then she may become a recognized quantity in the Pacific." + +"The Pacific?" + +"Even so. Having taken Cuba, the United States, to protect her western +coast, will be forced to occupy the Philippines; and having taken that +archipelago, she becomes a menace to Russian territorial expansion in +the far East. I do not always speak so frankly. But I wish you to see +the necessity of knowing all about your coast defenses." + +"It can not be done!"--spiritedly. So far the American had only gambled. + +"It can and will be done," smiling. "Despite the watchfulness of your +officials, despite your secret service, despite all obstacles, Russia +will quietly gain the required information. She possesses a key to +every lock." + +"And what might this key be?"--with tolerant irony. + +"Gold." + +"But if the United States found out what Russia was doing, there might +be war." + +"Nothing of the kind. Russia would simply deny all knowledge. The man +whom she selected to do the work would be discredited, banished, +perhaps sent to Siberia to rot in the mines. No, there would be no war. +Russia would weigh all these possibilities in selecting her arm. She +would choose a man of high intellect, rich, well-known in social +circles, a linguist, a man acquainted with all histories and all phases +of life, a diplomat, perhaps young and pleasing. You will say, why does +he accept so base a task? When a Russian noble takes his oath in the +presence of his czar, he becomes simply an arm; he no longer thinks, +his master thinks for him. He only acts. So long as he offers his +services without remuneration, his honor remains untouched, unsullied. +A paid spy is the basest of all creatures." + +"Count, take care that I do not warn my country of Russia's purpose. +You are telling me very strange things." The American eyed his +companion sharply. + +"Warn the United States? I tell you, it will not matter. All Russia +would need would be a dissatisfied clerk. What could he not do with +half a million francs?" The diplomat blew a cloud of smoke through his +nostrils and filliped the end of his cigarette. + +"A hundred thousand dollars?" + +The diplomat glanced amusedly at his American friend. "I suppose that +sounds small enough to you rich Americans. But to a clerk it reads +wealth." + +The American was silent. A terrible thought flashed through his brain, +a thought that he repulsed almost immediately. + +"Of course, I am only speculating; nothing has been done as yet." + +"Then something _is_ going to be done?" asked the American, clearing +his voice. + +"One day or another. If we can not find the clerk, we shall look +higher. We should consider a million francs well invested. America is +rapidly becoming a great power. But let us drop the subject and turn to +something more agreeable to us both. Your daughter is charming. I +honestly confess to you that I have not met her equal in any country. +Pardon my presumption, but may I ask if she is engaged to be married?" + +"Not to my knowledge,"--vastly surprised and at the same time pleased. + +"Are you averse to foreign alliances?" The diplomat dipped the end of a +fresh-lighted cigar into his coffee. + +"My dear Count, I am not averse to foreign alliances, but I rather +suspect that my daughter is. This aversion might be overcome, however." + +What a vista was opened to this wretched father! If only she might +marry riches, how easily he might confess what he had done, how easily +all this despair and terror might be dispersed! And here was a man who +was known in the great world, rich, young and handsome. + +The other gazed dreamily at the ceiling; from there his gaze traveled +about the coffee-room, with its gathering of coffee-drinkers, and at +length came back to his _vis-a-vis_. + +"You will return to Washington?" he asked. + +"I shall live there for the winter; that is, I expect to." + +"Doubtless we shall see each other this winter, then,"--and the count +threw away his cigar, bade his companion good night, and went to his +room. + +How adroitly he had sown the seed! At that period he had no positive +idea upon what kind of ground he had cast it. But he took that chance +which all far-sighted men take, and then waited. There was little he +had not learned about this handsome American with the beautiful +daughter. How he had learned will always remain dark to me. My own +opinion is that he had been studying him during his tenure of office in +Washington, and, with that patience which is making Russia so +formidable, waited for this opportunity. + +I shall give the Russian all the justice of impartiality. When he saw +the girl, he rather shrank from the affair. But he had gone too far, he +had promised too much; to withdraw now meant his own defeat, his +government's anger, his political oblivion. And there was a zest in +this life of his. He could no more resist the call of intrigue than a +gambler can resist the croupier's, "Make your game, gentlemen!" I +believe that he loved the girl the moment he set eyes upon her. Her +beauty and bearing distinguished her from the other women he had met, +and her personality was so engaging that her conquest of him was +complete and spontaneous. How to win this girl and at the same time +ruin her father was an embarrassing problem. The plan which finally +came to him he repelled again and again, but at length he surrendered. +To get the parent in his power and then to coerce the girl in case she +refused him! To my knowledge this affair was the first dishonorable act +of a very honorable man. But love makes fools and rogues of us all. + +You will question my right to call this diplomat an honest man. As I +have said elsewhere, honor is comparative. Besides, a diplomat +generally falls into the habit of lying successfully to himself. + +When the American returned to the world, his cigar was out and his +coffee was stale and cold. + +"A million francs!" he murmured. "Two hundred thousand!" + +The seed had fallen on fruitful ground. + + + + +XVI + +THE PREVIOUS AFFAIR + + +Mrs. Chadwick had completed her toilet and now stood smiling in a most +friendly fashion at the reflection in the long oval mirror. She +addressed this reflection in melodious tones. + +"Madam, you are really handsome; and let no false modesty whisper in +your ear that you are not. Few women in Washington have such clear +skin, such firm flesh, such color. Thirty-eight? It is nothing. It is +but the half-way post; one has left youth behind, but one has not +reached old age. Time must be very tolerant, for he has given you a +careful selection. There were no years of storm and poverty, of violent +passions; and if I have truly loved, it has been you, only you. You are +too wise and worldly to love any one but yourself. And yet, once you +stood on the precipice of dark eyes, pale skin, and melancholy +wrinkles. And even now, if he were to speak... Enough! Enough of this +folly. I have something to accomplish to-night." She glided from the +boudoir into the small but luxurious drawing-room which had often been +graced by the most notable men and women in the country. + +Karloff threw aside the book of poems by De Banville, rose, and went +forward to meet her. + +"Madam,"--bending and brushing her hand with his lips, "Madam, you grow +handsomer every day. If I were forty, now, I should fear for your +single blessedness." + +"Or, if I were two-and-twenty, instead of eight-and-thirty,"--beginning +to draw on her long white gloves. There was a challenge in her smile. + +"Well, yes; if you were two-and-twenty." + +"There was a time, not so long ago," she said, drawing his gaze as a +magnet draws a needle, "when the disparity in years was of no matter." + +The count laughed. "That was three years ago; and, if my memory serves +me, you smiled." + +"Perhaps I was first to smile; that is all." + +"I observe a mental reservation,"--owlishly. + +"I will put it plainly, then. I preferred to smile over your +protestations rather than see you laugh over the possibility and the +folly of my loving you." + +"Then it was possible?"--with interest. + +"Everything is possible ... and often absurd." + +"How do you know that I was not truly in love with you?"--narrowing his +eyes. + +"It is not explanatory; it can be given only one name--instinct, which +in women and animals is more fully developed than in man. Besides, at +that time you had not learned all about Colonel Annesley, whose guests +we are to be this evening. Whoever would have imagined a Karloff +accepting the hospitalities of an Annesley? Count, hath not thy rose a +canker?" + +"Madam!" Karloff was frowning. + +"Count, you look like a paladin when you scowl; but scowling never +induces anything but wrinkles. That is why we women frown so seldom. We +smile. But let us return to your query. Supposing I had accepted your +declarations seriously; supposing you had offered me marriage in that +burst of gratitude; supposing I _had_ committed the folly of becoming a +countess: what a position I should be in to-day!" + +"I do not understand,"--perplexedly. + +"No?"--shrugging. She held forth a gloved arm. "Have you forgotten how +gallantly you used to button my gloves?" + +"A thousand pardons! My mind was occupied with the mystery of your long +supposition." He took the arm gracefully and proceeded to slip the +pearl buttons through their holes. (Have you ever buttoned the gloves +of a handsome woman? I have. And there is a subtile thrill about the +proceeding which I can not quite define. Perhaps it is the nearness of +physical beauty; perhaps it is the delicate scent of flowers; perhaps +it is the touch of the cool, firm flesh; perhaps it is just romance.) +The gaze which she bent upon his dark head was emotional; yet there was +not the slightest tremor of arm or fingers. It is possible that she +desired him to observe the steadiness of her nerves. "What did you +mean?" he asked. + +"What did I mean?"--vaguely. Her thought had been elsewhere. + +"By that supposition." + +"Oh! I mean that my position, had I married you, would have been rather +anomalous to-day." She extended the other arm. "You are in love." + +"In love?" He looked up quickly. + +"Decidedly; and I had always doubted your capacity for that sentiment." + +"And pray tell me, with whom am I in love?" + +"Come, Count, you and I know each other too well to waste time in +beating about the bushes. I do not blame you for loving her; only, I +say, it must not be." + +"Must not be?" The count's voice rose a key. + +"Yes, must not be. You must give them up--the idea and the girl. What! +You, who contrive the father's dishonor, would aspire to the daughter's +hand? It is not equable. Love her honorably, or not at all. The course +you are following is base and wholly unworthy of you." + +He dropped the arm abruptly and strode across the room, stopping by a +window. He did not wish her to see his face at that particular instant. +Some men would have demanded indignantly to know how she had learned +these things; not so the count. + +"There is time to retrieve. Go to the colonel frankly, pay his debts +out of your own pockets, then tell the girl that you love her. Before +you tell her, her father will have acquainted her with his sin and your +generosity. She will marry you out of gratitude." + +Karloff spun on his heels. His expression was wholly new. His eyes were +burning; he stretched and crumpled his gloves. + +"Yes, you are right, you are right! I have been trying to convince +myself that I was a machine where the father was concerned and wholly a +man in regard to the girl. You have put it before me in a bold manner. +Good God, yes! I find that I am wholly a man. How smoothly all this +would have gone to the end had she not crossed my path! I _am_ base, I, +who have always considered myself an honorable man. And now it is too +late, too late!" + +"Too late? What do you mean? Have you dared to ask her to be your +wife?" Had Karloff held her arm at this moment, he would have +comprehended many things. + +"No, no! My word has gone forth to my government; there is a wall +behind me, and I can not go back. To stop means worse than death. My +property will be confiscated and my name obliterated, my body rot +slowly in the frozen north. Oh, I know my country; one does not gain +her gratitude by failure. I must have those plans, and nowhere could I +obtain such perfect ones." + +"Then you will give her up?" There was a broken note. + +The count smiled. To her it was a smile scarce less than a snarl. + +"Give her up? Yes, as a mother gives up her child, as a lioness her +cub. She _has_ refused me, but nevertheless she shall be my wife. Oh, I +am well-versed in human nature. She loves her father, and I know what +sacrifices she would make to save his honor. To-night!--" But his lips +suddenly closed. + +"Well, to-night? Why do you not go on?" Mrs. Chadwick was pale. Her +gloved hands were clenched. A spasm of some sort seemed to hold her in +its shaking grasp. + +"Nothing, nothing! In heaven's name, why have you stirred me so?" he +cried. + +"Supposing, after all, I loved you?" + +He retreated. "Madam, your suppositions are becoming intolerable and +impossible." + +"Nothing is impossible. Supposing I loved you as violently and +passionately as you love this girl?" + +"Madam,"--hastily and with gentleness, "do not say anything which may +cause me to blush for you; say nothing you may regret to-morrow." + +"I am a woman of circumspection. My suppositions are merely +argumentative. Do you realize, Count, that I could force you to marry +me?" + +Karloff's astonishment could not be equaled. "Force me to marry you?" + +"Is the thought so distasteful, then?" + +"You are mad to-night!" + +"Not so. In whatever manner you have succeeded in this country, your +debt of gratitude is owing to me. I do not recall this fact as a +reproach; I make the statement to bear me on in what I have to submit +to your discerning intelligence. I doubt if there is another woman, +here or abroad, who knows you so well as I. Your personal honor is +beyond impeachment, but Russia is making vast efforts to speckle it. +She will succeed. Yes, I could force you to marry me. With a word I +could tumble your house of cards. I am a worldly woman, and not without +wit and address. I possess every one of your letters, most of all have +I treasured the extravagant ones. To some you signed your name. If you +have kept mine, you will observe that my given name might mean any one +of a thousand women who are named 'Grace.' Shall you marry me? Shall I +tumble your house of cards? I could go to Colonel Annesley and say to +him that if he delivers these plans to you, I shall denounce him to the +secret service officers. I might cause his utter financial ruin, but +his name would descend to his daughter untarnished." + +"You would not dare!" the count interrupted. + +"What? And you know me so well? I have not given you my word to reveal +nothing. You confided in my rare quality of silence; you confided in me +because you had proved me. Man is not infallible, even when he is named +Karloff." She lifted from a vase her flowers, from which she shook the +water. "Laws have been passed or annulled; laws have died at the +executive desk. Who told you that this was to be, or that, long before +it came to pass? In all the successful intrigues of Russia in this +country, whom have you to thank? Me. Ordinarily a woman does not do +these things as a pastime. There must be some strong motive behind. You +asked me why I have stirred you so. Perhaps it is because I am neither +two-and-twenty nor you two-score. It is these little barbs that remain +in a woman's heart. Well, I do not love you well enough to marry you, +but I love you too well to permit you to marry Miss Annesley." + +"That has the sound of war. I _did_ love you that night,"--not without +a certain nobility. + +"How easily you say 'that night'! Surely there was wisdom in that smile +of mine. And I nearly tumbled into the pit! I must have looked +exceedingly well... _that night!_"--drily. + +"You are very bitter to-night. Had you taken me at my word, I never +should have looked at Miss Annesley. And had I ceased to love you, not +even you would have known it." + +"Is it possible?"--ironically. + +"It is. I have too much pride to permit a woman to see that I have made +a mistake." + +"Then you consider in the present instance that you have not made a +mistake? You are frank." + +"At least I have not made a mistake which I can not rectify. Madam, let +us not be enemies. As you say, I owe you too much. What is it you +desire?"--with forced amiability. + +"Deprive Colonel Annesley of his honor, that, as you say, is +inevitable; but I love that girl as I would a child of my own, and I +will not see her caught in a net of this sort, or wedded to a man whose +government robs him of his manhood and individuality." + +"Do not forget that I hold my country first and foremost,"--proudly. + +"Love has no country, nor laws, nor galling chains of incertitude. Love +is magnificent only in that it gives all without question. You love +this girl with reservations. You shall not have her. You shall not have +even me, who love you after a fashion, for I could never look upon you +as a husband; in my eyes you would always be an accomplice." + +"It is war, then?"--curtly. + +"War? Oh, no; we merely sever our diplomatic relations," she purred. + +"Madam, listen to me. I shall make one more attempt to win this girl +honorably. For you are right: love to be love must be magnificent. If +she accepts me, for her sake I will become an outcast, a man without a +country. If she refuses me, I shall go on to the end. Speak to the +colonel, Madam; it is too late. Like myself, he has gone too far. Why +did you open the way for me as you did? I should have been satisfied +with a discontented clerk. You threw this girl across my path, +indirectly, it is true; but nevertheless the fault is yours." + +"I recognize it. At that time I did not realize how much you were to +me." + +"You are a strange woman. I do not understand you." + +"Incompatibility. Come, the carriage is waiting. Let us be gone." + +"You have spoilt the evening for me," said the count, as he threw her +cloak across her shoulders. + +"On the contrary, I have added a peculiar zest. Now, let us go and +appear before the world, and smile, and laugh, and eat, and gossip. Let +the heart throb with a dull pain, if it will; the mask is ours to do +with as we may." + +They were, in my opinion, two very unusual persons. + +[Illustration: "Lay the rose on the table"--Act II.] + + + + +XVII + +DINNER IS SERVED + + +"Ha!" + +Monsieur Pierre, having uttered this ejaculation, stepped back and +rested his fat hands on his fat hips. As he surveyed the impromptu +butler, a shade of perplexity spread over his oily face. He smoothed +his imperial and frowned. This groom certainly _looked_ right, but +there was something lacking in his make-up, that indefinable something +which is always found in the true servant--servility. There was no +humility here, no hypocritical meekness, no suavity; there was nothing +smug or self-satisfied. In truth, there was something grimly earnest, +which was not to be understood readily. Monsieur Pierre, having always +busied himself with soups and curries and roasts and sauces, was not a +profound analyst; yet his instinctive shrewdness at once told him that +this fellow was no servant, nor could he ever be made into one. Though +voluble enough in his kitchen, Monsieur Pierre lacked expression when +confronted by any problem outside of it. Here was the regulation +swallow-tail coat and trousers of green, the striped red vest, and the +polished brass buttons; but the man inside was too much for him. + +"_Diable_! you _luke_ right. But, no, I can not explain. Eet ees on zee +tongue, but eet rayfuse. Ha! I haf eet! You lack vot zay call zee real. +You make me t'ink uf zee sairvant on zee stage, somet'ing bettair off; +eh?" This was as near as monsieur ever got to the truth of things. + +During this speculative inventory, Warburton's face was gravely set; +indeed, it pictured his exact feelings. He _was_ grave. He even wanted +Pierre's approval. He was about to pass through a very trying ordeal; +he might not even pass through it. There was no deceiving his colonel's +eyes, hang him! Whatever had induced fate to force this old Argus-eyed +soldier upon the scene? He glanced into the kitchen mirror. He +instantly saw the salient flaw in his dress. It was the cravat. Tie it +as he would, it never approached the likeness of the conventional +cravat of the waiter. It still remained a polished cravat, a worldly +cravat, the cravat seen in ball-rooms, drawing-rooms, in the theater +stalls and boxes, anywhere but in the servants' hall. Oh, for the +ready-made cravat that hitched to the collar-button! And then there was +that servant's low turned-down collar, glossy as celluloid. He felt as +diffident in his bare throat as a debutante feels in her first +decollete ball-gown, not very well covered up, as it were. And, heaven +and earth, how appallingly large his hands had grown, how clumsy his +feet! Would the colonel expose him? Would he keep silent? This remained +to be found out: wherein lay the terror of suspense. + +"Remem_bair_," went on Monsieur Pierre, after a pause, feeling that he +had a duty to fulfil and a responsibility to shift to other shoulders +than his own, "remem_bair_, eef you spill zee soup, I keel you. You +carry zee tureen in, zen you deesh out zee soup, and sairve. Zee +oystaires should be on zee table t'ree minutes before zee guests haf +arrive'. Now, can you make zee American cocktail?" + +"I can,"--with a ghost of a smile. + +"Make heem,"--with a pompous wave of the hand toward the favorite +ingredients. + +"What kind?" + +"Vot kind! Eez zare more cocktails, zen?" + +"Only two that are proper, the manhattan and the martini." + +"Make zee martini; I know heem." + +"But cocktails ought not be mixed before serving." + +"I say, make zee one cocktail,"--coldly and skeptically. "I test heem." + +Warburton made one. Monsieur sipped it slowly, making a wry face, for, +true Gaul that he was, only two kinds of stimulants appealed to his +palate, liqueurs and wines. He found it as good as any he had ever +tasted. + +"Ver' good,"--softening. "Zare ees, zen, one t'ing zat all zee +Americans can make, zee cocktail? I am educate'; I learn. Now leaf me +till eight. Keep zee collect head;"--and Monsieur Pierre turned his +attention to his partridges. + +James went out of doors to get a breath of fresh air and to collect his +thoughts, which were wool-gathering, whatever that may mean. They +needed collecting, these thoughts of his, and labeling, for they were +at all points of the compass, and he was at a loss upon which to draw +for support. Here he was, in a devil of a fix, and no possible way of +escaping except by absolutely bolting; and he vowed that he wouldn't +bolt, not if he stood the chance of being exposed fifty times over. He +had danced; he was going to pay the fiddler like a man. He had never +run away from anything, and he wasn't going to begin now. + +At the worst, they could only laugh at him; but his secret would be his +no longer. Ass that he had been! How to tell this girl that he loved +her? How to appear to her as his natural self? What a chance he had +wilfully thrown away! He might have been a guest to-night; he might +have sat next to her, turned the pages of her music, and perhaps sighed +love in her ear, all of which would have been very proper and +conventional. Ah, if he only knew what was going on behind those +Mediterranean eyes of hers, those heavenly sapphires. Had she any +suspicion? No, it could not be possible; she had humiliated him too +often, to suspect the imposture. Alackaday! + +Had any one else applied the disreputable terms he applied to himself +there would have been a battle royal. When he became out of breath, he +reentered the house to have a final look at the table before the ordeal +began. + +Covers had been laid for twelve; immaculate linen, beautiful silver, +and sparkling cut-glass. He wondered how much the girl was worth, and +thought of his own miserable forty-five hundred the year. True, his +capital could at any time be converted into cash, some seventy-five +thousand, but it would be no longer the goose with the golden egg. A +great bowl of roses stood on a glass center-piece. As he leaned toward +them to inhale their perfume he heard a sound. He turned. + +She stood framed in a doorway, a picture such as artists conjure up to +fit in sunlit corners of gloomy studios: beauty, youth, radiance, +luster, happiness. To his ardent eyes she was supremely beautiful. How +wildly his heart beat! This was the first time he had seen her in all +her glory. His emotion was so strong that he did not observe that she +was biting her nether lip. + +"Is everything well, James?" she asked, meaning the possibilities of +service and not the cardiac intranquillity of the servant. + +"Very well, Miss Annesley,"--with a sudden bold scrutiny. + +Whatever it was she saw in his eyes it had the effect of making hers +turn aside. To bridge the awkwardness of the moment, he rearranged a +napkin; and she remarked his hands. They were tanned, but they were +elegantly shaped and scrupulously well taken care of--the hands of a +gentleman born, of an aristocrat. He could feel her gaze penetrate like +acid. He grew visibly nervous. + +"You haven't the hand of a servant, James,"--quietly. + +He started, and knocked a fork to the floor. + +"They are too clumsy," she went on maliciously. + +"I am not a butler, Miss; I am a groom. I promise to do the very best I +can." Wrath mingled with the shame on his face. + +"A man who can do what you did this morning ought not to be afraid of a +dinner-table." + +"There is some difference between a dinner-table and a horse, Miss." He +stooped to recover the fork while she touched her lips with her +handkerchief. The situation was becoming unendurable. He knew that, for +some reason, she was quietly laughing at him. + +"Never put back on the table a fork or piece of silver that has fallen +to the floor," she advised. "Procure a clean one." + +"Yes, Miss." Why, in heaven's name, didn't she go and leave him in +peace? + +"And be very careful not to spill a drop of the burgundy. It is +seventy-eight, and a particular favorite of my father's." + +Seventy-eight! As if he hadn't had many a bottle of that superb vintage +during the past ten months! The glands in his teeth opened at the +memory of that taste. + +"James, we have been in the habit of paying off the servants on this +day of the month. Payday comes especially happy this time. It will put +good feeling into all, and make the service vastly more expeditious." + +She counted out four ten-dollar notes from a roll in her hand and +signified him to approach. He took the money, coolly counted it, and +put it in his vest-pocket. + +"Thank you, Miss." + +I do not say that she looked disappointed, but I assert that she was +slightly disconcerted. She never knew the effort he had put forth to +subdue the desire to tear the money into shreds, throw it at her feet +and leave the house. + +"When the gentlemen wish for cigars or cigarettes, you will find them +in the usual place, the tower drawer in the sideboard." With a swish +she was gone. + +He took the money out and studied it. No, he wouldn't tear it up; +rather he would put it among his keepsakes. + +I shall leave Mr. Robert, or M'sieu Zhames, to recover his +tranquillity, and describe to you the character and quality of the +guests. There was the affable military attache of the British embassy, +there was a celebrated American countess, a famous dramatist and his +musical wife, Warburton's late commanding colonel, Mrs. Chadwick, Count +Karloff, one of the notable grand opera prima-donnas, who would not +sing in opera till February, a cabinet officer and his wife, Colonel +Annesley and his daughter. You will note the cosmopolitan character of +these distinguished persons. Perhaps in no other city in America could +they be brought together at an informal dinner such as this one was. +There was no question of precedence or any such nonsense. Everybody +knew everybody else, with one exception. Colonel Raleigh was a +comparative stranger. But he was a likable old fellow, full of stories +of the wild, free West, an excellent listener besides, who always +stopped a goodly distance on the right side of what is known in polite +circles as the bore's dead-line. Warburton held for him a deep +affection, martinet though he was, for he was singularly just and +merciful. + +They had either drunk the cocktail or had set it aside untouched, and +had emptied the oyster shells, when the ordeal of the soup began. Very +few of those seated gave any attention to my butler. The first thing he +did was to drop the silver ladle. Only the girl saw this mishap. She +laughed; and Raleigh believed that he had told his story in an +exceptionally taking manner. My butler quietly procured another ladle, +and proceeded coolly enough. I must confess, however, that his coolness +was the result of a physical effort. The soup quivered and trembled +outrageously, and more than once he felt the heat of the liquid on his +thumb. This moment his face was pale, that moment it was red. But, as I +remarked, few observed him. Why should they? Everybody had something to +say to everybody else; and a butler was only a machine anyway. Yet, +three persons occasionally looked in his direction: his late colonel, +Mrs. Chadwick, and the girl; each from a different angle of vision. +There was a scowl on the colonel's face, puzzlement on Mrs. Chadwick's, +and I don't know what the girl's represented, not having been there +with my discerning eyes. + +Once the American countess raised her lorgnette and murmured: "What a +handsome butler!" + +Karloff, who sat next to her, twisted his mustache and shrugged. He had +seen handsome peasants before. They did not interest him. He glanced +across the table at the girl, and was much annoyed that she, too, was +gazing at the butler, who had successfully completed the distribution +of the soup and who now stood with folded arms by the sideboard. (How I +should have liked to see him!) + +When the butler took away the soup-plates, Colonel Raleigh turned to +his host. + +"George, where the deuce did you pick up that butler?" + +Annesley looked vaguely across the table at his old comrade. He had +been far away in thought. He had eaten nothing. + +"What?" he asked. + +"I asked you where the deuce you got that butler of yours." + +"Oh, Betty found him somewhere. Our own butler is away on a vacation. I +had not noticed him. Why?" + +"Well, if he doesn't look like a cub lieutenant of mine, I was born +without recollection of faces." + +"An orderly of yours, a lieutenant, did you say?" asked Betty, with +smoldering fires in her eyes. + +"Yes." + +"That is strange," she mused. + +"Yes; very strange. He was a daredevil, if there ever was one." + +"Ah!" + +"Yes; best bump of location in the regiment, and the steadiest +nerve,"--dropping his voice. + +The girl leaned on her lovely arms and observed him interestedly. + +"A whole company got lost in a snowstorm one winter. You know that on +the prairie a snowstorm means that only a compass can tell you where +you are; and there wasn't one in the troop,--a bad piece of +carelessness on the captain's part. Well, this cub said _he'd_ find the +way back, and the captain wisely let him take the boys in hand." + +"Go on," said the girl. + +"Interested, eh?" + +"I am a soldier's daughter, and I love the recital of brave deeds." + +"Well, he did it. Four hours later they were being thawed out in the +barracks kitchens. Another hour and not one of them would have lived to +tell the tale. The whisky they poured into my cub--" + +"Did he drink?" she interrupted. + +"Drink? Why, the next day he was going to lick the men who had poured +the stuff down his throat. A toddy once in a while; that was all he +ever took. And how he loved a fight! He had the tenacity of a bulldog; +once he set his mind on getting something, he never let up till he got +it." + +The girl trifled thoughtfully with a rose. + +"Was he ever in any Indian fights?" she asked, casually. + +"Only scraps and the like. He went into the reservation alone one day +and arrested a chief who had murdered a sheep-herder. It was a +volunteer job, and nine men out of ten would never have left the +reservation alive. He was certainly a cool hand." + +"I dare say,"--smiling. She wanted to ask him if he had ever been hurt, +this daredevil of a lieutenant, but she could not bring the question to +her lips. "What did you say his name was?"--innocently. + +"Warburton, Robert Warburton." + +Here the butler came in with the birds. The girl's eyes followed him, +hither and thither, her lips hidden behind the rose. + + + + +XVIII + +CAUGHT! + + +Karloff came around to music. The dramatist's wife should play Tosti's +_Ave Maria_, Miss Annesley should play the obligato on the violin and +the prima-donna should sing; but just at present the dramatist should +tell them all about his new military play which was to be produced in +December. + +"Count, I beg to decline," laughed the dramatist. "I should hardly dare +to tell my plot before two such military experts as we have here. I +should be told to write the play all over again, and now it is too +late." + +Whenever Betty's glance fell on her father's face, the gladness in her +own was somewhat dimmed. What was making that loved face so care-worn, +the mind so listless, the attitude so weary? But she was young; the +spirits of youth never flow long in one direction. The repartee, +brilliant and at the same time with every sting withdrawn, flashed up +and down the table like so many fireflies on a wet lawn in July, and +drew her irresistibly. + +As the courses came and passed, so the conversation became less and +less general; and by the time the ices were served the colonel had +engaged his host, and the others divided into twos. Then coffee, +liqueurs and cigars, when the ladies rose and trailed into the little +Turkish room, where the "distinguished-looking butler" supplied them +with the amber juice. + +A dinner is a function where everybody talks and nobody eats. Some have +eaten before they come, some wish they had, and others dare not eat for +fear of losing some of the gossip. I may be wrong, but I believe that +half of these listless appetites are due to the natural confusion of +forks. + +After the liqueurs my butler concluded that his labor was done, and he +offered up a short prayer of thankfulness and relief. Heavens, what +mad, fantastic impulses had seized him while he was passing the soup! +Supposing he _had_ spilled the hot liquid down Karloff's back, or +poured out a glass of burgundy for himself and drained it before them +all, or slapped his late colonel on the back and asked him the state of +his liver? It was maddening, and he marveled at his escape. There +hadn't been a real mishap. The colonel had only scowled at him; he was +safe. He passed secretly from the house and hung around the bow-window +which let out on the low balcony. The window was open, and occasionally +he could hear a voice from beyond the room, which was dark. + +It was one of those nights, those mild November nights, to which the +novelists of the old regime used to devote a whole page; the silvery +pallor on the landscape, the moon-mists, the round, white, inevitable +moon, the stirring breezes, the murmur of the few remaining leaves, and +all that. But these busy days we have not the time to read nor the +inclination to describe. + +Suddenly upon the stillness of the night the splendor of a human voice +broke forth; the prima-donna was trying her voice. A violin wailed a +note. A hand ran up and down the keys of the piano. Warburton held his +breath and waited. He had heard Tosti's _Ave Maria_ many times, but he +never will forget the manner in which it was sung that night. The +songstress was care-free and among persons she knew and liked, and she +put her soul into that magnificent and mysterious throat of hers, And +throbbing all through the song was the vibrant, loving voice of the +violin. And when the human tones died away and the instruments ceased +to speak, Warburton felt himself swallowing rapidly. Then came +Schumann's _Traumerei_ on the strings, Handel's _Largo_, Grieg's +_Papillon_, and a _ballade_ by Chaminade. Then again sang the +prima-donna; old folksy songs, sketches from the operas grand and +light, _Faust_, _The Barber of Seville_, _La Fille de Madame Angot_. In +all his days Warburton had never heard such music. Doubtless he +_had_--even better; only at this period he was in love. The imagination +of love's young dream is the most stretchable thing I know of. +Seriously, however, he was a very good judge of music, and I am +convinced that what he heard was out of the ordinary. + +But I must guide my story into the channel proper. + +During the music Karloff and Colonel Annesley drifted into the latter's +study. What passed between them I gathered from bits recently dropped +by Warburton. + +"Good God, Karloff, what a net you have sprung about me!" said the +colonel, despairingly. + +"My dear Colonel, you have only to step out of it. It is the eleventh +hour; it is not too late." But Karloff watched the colonel eagerly. + +"How in God's name can I step out of it?" + +"Simply reimburse me for that twenty thousand I advanced to you in good +faith, and nothing more need be said." The count's Slavonic eyes were +half-lidded. + +"To give you back that amount will leave me a beggar, an absolute +beggar, without a roof to shelter me. I am too old for the service, and +besides, I am physically incapacitated. If you should force me, I could +not meet my note save by selling the house my child was born in. Have +you discounted it?" + +"No. Why should I present it at the bank? It does not mature till next +Monday, and I am in no need of money." + +"What a wretch I am!" + +Karloff raised his shoulders resignedly. + +"My daughter!" + +"Or my ducats," whimsically quoted the count. "Come, Colonel; do not +waste time in useless retrospection. He stumbles who looks back. I have +been thinking of your daughter. I love her, deeply, eternally." + +"You love her?" + +"Yes. I love her because she appeals to all that is young and good in +me; because she represents the highest type of womanhood. With her as +my wife, why, I should be willing to renounce my country, and your +indebtedness would be crossed out of existence with one stroke of the +pen." + +The colonel's haggard face grew light with sudden hopefulness. + +"I have been," the count went on, studying the ash of his cigar, "till +this night what the world and my own conscience consider an honorable +man. I have never wronged a man or woman personally. What I have done +on the order of duty does not agitate my conscience. I am simply a +machine. The moral responsibility rests with my czar. When I saw your +daughter, I deeply regretted that you were her father." + +The colonel grew rigid in his chair. + +"Do not misunderstand me. Before I saw her, you were but the key to +what I desired. As her father the matter took on a personal side. I +could not very conscientiously make love to your daughter and at the +same time--" Karloff left the sentence incomplete. + +"And Betty?"--in half a whisper. + +"Has refused me,"--quietly. "But I have not given her up; no, I have +not given her up." + +"What do you mean to do?" + +Karloff got up and walked about the room. "Make her my wife,"--simply. +He stooped and studied the titles of some of the books in the cases. He +turned to find that the colonel had risen and was facing him with +flaming eyes. + +"I demand to know how you intend to accomplish this end," the colonel +said. "My daughter shall not be dragged into this trap." + +"To-morrow night I will explain everything; to-night, +nothing,"--imperturbably. + +"Karloff, to-night I stand a ruined and dishonored man. My head, once +held so proudly before my fellow-men, is bowed with shame. The country +I have fought and bled for I have in part betrayed. But not for my +gain, not for my gain. No, no! Thank God that I can say that! Personal +greed has not tainted me. Alone, I should have gone serenely into some +poor house and eked out an existence on my half-pay. But this child of +mine, whom I love doubly, for her mother's sake and her own,--I would +gladly cut off both arms to spare her a single pain, to keep her in the +luxury which she still believes rightfully to be hers. When the fever +of gaming possessed me, I should have told her. I did not; therein lies +my mistake, the mistake which has brought me to this horrible end. +Virginius sacrificed his child to save her; I will sacrifice my honor +to save mine from poverty. Force her to wed a man she does not love? +No. To-morrow night we shall complete this disgraceful bargain. The +plans are all finished but one. Now leave me; I wish to be alone." + +"Sir, it is my deep regret--" + +"Go; there is nothing more to be said." + +Karloff withdrew. He went soberly. There was nothing sneering nor +contemptuous in his attitude. Indeed, there was a frown of pity on his +face. He recognized that circumstances had dragged down a noble man; +that chance had tricked him of his honor. How he hated his own evil +plan! He squared his shoulders, determined once more to put it to the +touch to win or lose it all. + +He found her at the bow-window, staring up at the moon. As I remarked, +this room was dark, and she did not instantly recognize him. + +"I am moon-gazing," she said. + +"Let me sigh for it with you. Perhaps together we may bring it down." +There was something very pleasing in the quality of his tone. + +"Ah, it is you, Count? I could not see. But let us not sigh for the +moon; it would be useless. Does any one get his own wish-moon? Does it +not always hang so high, so far away?" + +"The music has affected you?" + +"As it always does. When I hear a voice like madam's, I grow sad, and a +pity for the great world surges over me." + +"Pity is the invisible embrace which enfolds all animate things. There +is pity for the wretched, for the fool, for the innocent knave, for +those who are criminals by their own folly; pity for those who love +without reward; pity that embraces ... even me." + +Silence. + +"Has it ever occurred to you that there are two beings in each of us; +that between these two there is a continual conflict, and that the +victor finally prints the victory on the face? For what lines and +haggards a man's face but the victory of the evil that is in him? For +what makes the aged ruddy and smooth of face and clear of eye but the +victory of the good that is in him? It is so. I still love you; I still +have the courage to ask you to be my wife. Shall there be faces haggard +or ruddy, lined or smooth?" + +She stepped inside. She did not comprehend all he said, and his face +was in the shadow--that is to say, unreadable. + +"I am sorry, very, very sorry." + +"How easily you say that!" + +"No, not easily; if only you knew how hard it comes, for I know that it +inflicts a hurt,"--gently. "Ah, Count, why indeed do I not love +you?"--impulsively, for at that time she held him in genuine regard. +"You represent all that a woman could desire in a man." + +"You could learn,"--with an eager step toward her. + +"You do not believe that; you know that you do not. Love has nothing to +learn; the heart speaks, and that is all. My heart does not speak when +I see you, and I shall never marry a man to whom it does not. You ask +for something which I can not give, and each time you ask you only add +to the pain." + +"This is finality?" + +"It is." + +"Eh, well; then I must continue on to the end." + +She interpreted this as a plaint of his coming loneliness. + +"Here!" she said. She held in her hands two red roses. She thrust one +toward him. "That is all I may give you." + +For a moment he hesitated. There were thorns, invisible and stinging. + +"Take it!" + +He accepted it, kissed it gravely, and hid it. + +"This is the bitterest moment in my life, and doubly bitter because I +love you." + +When the portiere fell behind him, she locked her hands, grieving that +all she could give him was an ephemeral flower. How many men had turned +from her in this wise, even as she began to depend upon them for their +friendships! The dark room oppressed her and she stepped out once more +into the silver of moonshine. Have you ever beheld a lovely woman +fondle a lovely rose? She drew it, pendent on its slender stem, slowly +across her lips, her eyes shining mistily with waking dreams. She +breathed in the perfume, then cupped the flower in the palm of her hand +and pressed it again and again to her lips. A long white arm stretched +outward and upward toward the moon, and when it withdrew the hand was +empty. + +Warburton, hidden behind the vines, waited until she was gone, and then +hunted in the grass for the precious flower. On his hands and knees he +groped. The dew did not matter. And when at last he found it, not all +the treasures of the fabled Ophir would have tempted him to part with +it. It would be a souvenir for his later days. + +As he rose from his knees he was confronted by a broad-shouldered, +elderly man in evening clothes. The end of a cigar burned brightly +between his teeth. + +"I'll take that flower, young man, if you please." + +Warburton's surprise was too great for sudden recovery. + +"It is mine, Colonel," he stammered. + +The colonel filliped away his cigar and caught my butler roughly by the +arm. + +"Warburton, what the devil does this mean--a lieutenant of mine +peddling soup around a gentleman's table?" + + + + +XIX + +"OH, MISTER BUTLER!" + + +Warburton had never lacked that rare and peculiar gift of immediately +adapting himself to circumstances. To lie now would be folly, worse +than useless. He had addressed this man at his side by his military +title. He stood committed. He saw that he must throw himself wholly on +the colonel's mercy and his sense of the humorous. He pointed toward +the stables and drew the colonel after him; but the colonel held back. + +"That rose first; I insist upon having that rose till you have given me +a satisfactory account of yourself." + +Warburton reluctantly surrendered his treasure. Force of habit is a +peculiar one. The colonel had no real authority to demand the rose; but +Warburton would no more have thought of disobeying than of running away. + +"You will give it back to me?" + +"That remains to be seen. Go on; I am ready to follow you. And I do not +want any dragging story, either." The colonel spoke impatiently. + +Warburton led him into his room and turned on the light. The colonel +seated himself on the edge of the cot and lighted a fresh cigar. + +"Well, sir, out with it. I am waiting." + +Warburton took several turns about the room. "I don't know how the +deuce to begin, Colonel. It began with a joke that turned out wrong." + +"Indeed?"--sarcastically. "Let me hear about this joke." + +M'sieu Zhames dallied no longer, but plunged boldly into his narrative. +Sometimes the colonel stared at him as if he beheld a species of +lunatic absolutely new to him, sometimes he laughed silently, sometimes +he frowned. + +"That's all," said Zhames; and he stood watching the colonel with dread +in his eyes. + +"Well, of all the damn fools!" + +"Sir?" + +"Of all the jackasses!" + +Warburton bit his lip angrily. + +The colonel swung the rose to and fro. "Yes, sir, a damn fool!" + +"I dare say that I am, sir. But I have gone too far to back out now. +Will you give me back that rose, Colonel?" + +"What do you mean by her?"--coldly. + +"I love her with all my heart,"--hotly. "I want her for my comrade, my +wife, my companion, my partner in all I have or do. I love her, and I +don't care a hang who knows it." + +"Not so loud, my friend; not so loud." + +"Oh, I do not care who hears,"--discouragedly. + +"This beats the very devil! You've got me all balled up. Is Betty +Annesley a girl of the kind we read about in the papers as eloping with +her groom? What earthly chance had you in this guise, I should like to +know?" + +"I only wanted to be near her; I did not look ahead." + +"Well, I should say not! How long were you hidden behind that trellis?" + +"A year, so it seemed to me." + +"Any lunatics among your ancestors?" + +Warburton shook his head, smiling wanly. + +"I can't make it out," declared the colonel. "A graduate of West Point, +the fop of Troop A, the hero of a hundred ball-rooms, disguised as a +hostler and serving soup!" + +"Always keep the motive in mind, Colonel; you were young yourself once." + +The colonel thought of the girl's mother. Yes, he had been young once, +but not quite so young as this cub of his. + +"What chance do you suppose you have against the handsome Russian?" + +"She has rejected him,"--thoughtlessly. + +"Ha!"--frowning; "so you were eavesdropping?" + +"Wait a moment, Colonel. You know that I am very fond of music. I was +listening to the music. It had ceased, and I was waiting for it to +begin again, when I heard voices." + +"Why did you not leave then?" + +"And be observed? I dared not." + +The colonel chewed the end of his cigar in silence. + +"And now may I have that rose, sir?"--quietly. + +The colonel observed him warily. He knew that quiet tone. It said that +if he refused to give up the rose he would have to fight for it, and +probably get licked into the bargain. + +"I've a notion you might attempt to take it by force in case I refused." + +"I surrendered it peacefully enough, sir." + +"So you did. Here." The colonel tossed the flower across the room and +Warburton caught it. + +"I should like to know, sir, if you are going to expose me. It's no +more than I deserve." + +The colonel studied the lithographs on the walls. "Your +selection?"--with a wave of the hand. + +"No, sir. I should like to know what you are going to do. It would +relieve my mind. As a matter of fact, I confess that I am growing weary +of the mask." Warburton waited. + +"You make a very respectable butler, though,"--musingly. + +"Shall you expose me, sir?"--persistently. + +"No, lad. I should not want it to get about that a former officer of +mine could possibly make such an ass of himself. You have slept all +night in jail, you have groomed horses, you have worn a livery which no +gentleman with any self-respect would wear, and all to no purpose +whatever. Why, in the name of the infernal regions, didn't you meet her +in a formal way? There would have been plenty of opportunities." + +Warburton shrugged; so did the colonel, who stood up and shook the +wrinkles from his trousers. + +"Shall you be long in Washington, sir?" asked Warburton, politely. + +"In a hurry to get rid of me, eh?"--with a grim smile. "Well, perhaps +in a few days." + +"Good night." + +The colonel stopped at the threshold, and his face melted suddenly into +a warm, humorous smile. He stretched out a hand which Warburton grasped +most gratefully. His colonel had been playing with him. + +"Come back to the Army, lad; the East is no place for a man of your +kidney. Scrape up a commission, and I'll see to it that you get back +into the regiment. Life is real out in the great West. People smile too +much here; they don't laugh often enough. Smiles have a hundred +meanings, laughter but one. Smiles are the hiding places for lies, and +sneers, and mockeries, and scandals. Come back to the West; we all want +you, the service and I. When I saw you this afternoon I knew you +instantly, only I was worried as to what devilment you were up to. Win +this girl, if you can; she's worth any kind of struggle, God bless her! +Win her and bring her out West, too." + +Warburton wrung the hand in his till the old fellow signified that his +fingers were beginning to ache. + +"Do you suppose she suspects anything?" ventured Warburton. + +"No. She may be a trifle puzzled, though. I saw her watching your hands +at the table. She has eyes and can readily see that such hands as yours +were never made to carry soup-plates. For the life of me, I had a time +of it, swallowing my laughter. I longed for a vacant lot to yell in. It +would have been a positive relief. The fop of Troop A peddling soup! +Oh, I shall have to tell the boys. You used more pipe-clay than any +other man in the regiment. Don't scowl. Never mind; you've had your +joke; I must have mine. Don't let that Russian fellow get the inside +track. Keep her on American soil. I like him and I don't like him; and +for all your tomfoolery and mischief, there is good stuff in you--stuff +that any woman might be proud of. If you hadn't adopted this disguise, +I could have helped you out a bit by cracking up some of your exploits. +Well, they will be inquiring for me. Good night and good luck. If you +should need me, a note will find me at the Army and Navy Club." And the +genial old warrior, shaking with silent laughter, went back to the +house. + +Warburton remained standing. He was lost in a dream. All at once he +pressed the rose to his lips and kissed it shamelessly, kissed it +uncountable times. Two or three leaves, not withstanding this violent +treatment, fluttered to the floor. He picked them up: any one of those +velvet leaves might have been the recipient of _her_ kisses, the rosary +of love. He was in love, such a love that comes but once to any man, +not passing, uncertain, but lasting. He knew that it was all useless. +He had digged with his own hands the abyss between himself and this +girl. But there was a secret gladness: to love was something. (For my +part, I believe that the glory lies, not in being loved, but in loving.) + +I do not know how long he stood there, but it must have been at least +ten minutes. Then the door opened, and Monsieur Pierre lurched or +rolled (I can't quite explain or describe the method of his entrance) +into the room, his face red with anger, and a million thousand thunders +on the tip of his Gallic tongue. + +"So! You haf leaf _me_ to clear zee table, eh? Not by a damn! _I_, +clear zee table? _I?_ I t'ink not. I _cook_, nozzing else. To zee +dining-room, or I haf you discharge'!" + +"All right, Peter, old boy!" cried Warburton, the gloom lifting from +his face. This Pierre was a very funny fellow. + +"Pe_taire!_ You haf zee insolence to call me Pe_taire?_ Why, I haf you +keeked out in zee morning, lackey!" + +"Cook!"--mockingly. + +Pierre was literally dumfounded. Such disrespect he had never before +witnessed. It was frightful. He opened his mouth to issue a volley of +French oaths, when Zhames's hand stopped him. + +"Look here, Peter, you broil your partridges and flavor your soups, but +keep out of the stables, or, in your own words, I _keel_ you or _keek_ +you out. You tell the scullery maid to clear off the table. I'm off +duty for the rest of the night. Now, then, _allons! Marche!"_ + +And M'sieu Zhames gently but firmly and steadily pushed the scandalized +Pierre out of the room and closed the door in his face. I shan't repeat +what Pierre said, much less what he thought. + +Let me read a thought from the mind of each of my principals, the final +thought before retiring that night. + +_Karloff_ (on leaving Mrs. Chadwick): Dishonor against dishonor; so it +must be. I can not live without that girl. + +_Mrs. Chadwick:_ (when Karloff had gone); He has lost, but I have not +won. + +_Annesley:_ So one step leads to another, and the labyrinth of dishonor +has no end. + +_The Colonel:_ What the deuce will love put next into the young mind? + +_Pierre_ (to Celeste): I haf heem discharge'! + +_Celeste_ (to Pierre): He ees handsome! + +_Warburton_ (sighing in the _doloroso_): How I love her! + +_The Girl_ (standing before her mirror and smiling happily): Oh, Mister +Butler! Why? + + + + +XX + +THE EPISODE OF THE STOVE-PIPE + + +In the morning Monsieur Pierre faithfully reported to his mistress the +groom's extraordinary insolence and impudence of the night before. The +girl struggled with and conquered her desire to laugh; for monsieur was +somewhat grotesque in his rage. + +"Frightful, Mademoiselle, most frightful! He call me Pe_taire_ most +disrrrespectful way, and eject me from zee stables. I can not call heem +out; he ees a groom and knows nozzing uf zee _amende honorable._" + +Mademoiselle summoned M'sieu Zhames. She desired to make the comedy +complete in all its phases. + +"James, whenever you are called upon to act in the capacity of butler, +you must clear the table after the guests leave it. This is imperative. +I do not wish the scullery girl to handle the porcelain save in the +tubs. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, Miss. There were no orders to that effect last night, however." +He was angry. + +Monsieur Pierre puffed up like the lady-frog in Aesop's fables, + +"And listen, Pierre," she said, collapsing the bubble of the chef's +conceit, "you must give no orders to James. I will do that. I do not +wish any tale-bearing or quarreling among my servants. I insist upon +this. Observe me carefully, Pierre, and you, James." + +James _did_ observe her carefully, so carefully, indeed, that her gaze +was forced to wander to the humiliated countenance of Monsieur Pierre. + +"James, you must not look at me like that. There is something in your +eyes; I can't explain what it is, but it somehow lacks the respect due +me." This command was spoken coldly and sharply. + +"Respect?" He drew back a step. "I disrespectful to you, Miss Annesley? +Oh, you wrong me. There can not be any one more respectful to you than +I am." The sincerity of his tones could not be denied. In fact, he was +almost too sincere. + +"Nevertheless, I wish you to regard what I have said. Now, you two +shake hands." + +The groom and the chef shook hands. I am ashamed to say that James +squeezed Monsieur Pierre's flabby hand out of active service for +several hours that followed. Beads of agony sparkled on Monsieur +Pierre's expansive brow as he turned to enter the kitchen. + +"Shall we ride to-day, Miss?" he asked, inwardly amused. + +"No, _I_ shall not ride this morning,"--calmly. + +James bowed meekly under the rebuke. What did he care? Did he not +possess a rose which had known the pressure of her lips, her warm, red +lips? + +"You may go," she said. + +James went. James whistled on the way, too. + +Would that it had been my good fortune to have witnessed the episode of +that afternoon! My jehu, when he hears it related these days, smiles a +sickly grin. I do not believe that he ever laughed heartily over it. At +three o'clock, while Warburton was reading the morning paper, +interested especially in the Army news of the day, he heard Pierre's +voice wailing. + +"What's the fat fool want now?" James grumbled to William. + +"Oh, he's always yelling for help. They've coddled him so long in the +family that he acts like a ten-year-old kid. I stole a kiss from +Celeste one day, and I will be shot if he didn't start to blubber." + +"You stole a kiss, eh?" said James, admiringly. + +"Only just for the sport of making him crazy, that was all." But +William's red visage belied his indifferent tone. "You'd better go and +see what he wants. My hands are all harness grease." + +Warburton concluded to follow William's advice. He flung down his paper +and strode out to the rear porch, where he saw Pierre gesticulating +wildly. + +"What's the matter? What do you want?"--churlishly. + +"Frightful! Zee stove-pipe ees vat you call _bust!_" + +James laughed. + +"I can not rrreach eet. I can not cook till eet ees fix'. You are tall, +eh?"--affably. + +"All right; I'll help you fix it." + +Grumbling, James went into the kitchen, mounted a chair, and began +banging away at the pipe, very much after the fashion of Bunner's +"Culpepper Ferguson." The pipe acted piggishly. James grew determined. +One end slipped in and then the other slipped out, half a dozen times. +James lost patience and became angry; and in his anger he overreached +himself. The chair slid back. He tried to balance himself and, in the +mad effort to maintain a perpendicular position, made a frantic clutch +at the pipe. Ruin and devastation! Down came the pipe, and with it a +peck of greasy soot. + +Monsieur Pierre yelled with terror and despair. The pies on the rear +end of the stove were lost for ever. Mademoiselle Celeste screamed with +laughter, whether at the sight of the pies or M'sieu Zhames, is more +than I can say. + +James rose to his feet, the cuss-words of a corporal rumbled behind his +lips. He sent an energetic kick toward Pierre, who succeeded in eluding +it. + +Pierre's eyes were full of tears. What a kitchen! What a kitchen! Soot, +soot, everywhere, on the floor, on the tables, on the walls, in the air! + +"Zee pipe!" he burst forth; "zee pipe! You haf zee house full of gas!" + +James, blinking and sneezing, boiling with rage and chagrin, remounted +the chair and finally succeeded in joining the two lengths. Nothing +happened this time. But the door to the forward rooms opened, and Miss +Annesley looked in upon the scene. + +"Merciful heavens!" she gasped, "what has happened?" + +"Zee stove-pipe bust, Mees," explained Pierre. + +The girl gave Warburton one look, balled her handkerchief against her +mouth, and fled. This didn't add to his amiability. He left the kitchen +in a downright savage mood. He had appeared before her positively +ridiculous, laughable. A woman never can love a man, nor entertain +tender regard for him at whom she has laughed: And the girl had +laughed, and doubtless was still laughing. (However, I do not offer his +opinion as infallible.) + +He stood in the roadway, looking around for some inanimate thing upon +which he might vent his anger, when the sound of hoofs coming toward +him distracted him. He glanced over his shoulder... and his knees all +but gave way under him. Caught! The rider was none other than his +sister Nancy! It was all over now, for a certainty. He knew it; he had +about one minute to live. She was too near, so he dared not fly. Then a +brilliant inspiration came to him. He quickly passed his hand over his +face. The disguise was complete. Vidocq's wonderful eye could not have +penetrated to the flesh. + +"James!" Miss Annesley was standing on the veranda. "Take charge of the +horse. Nancy, dear, I am so glad to see you!" + +James was anything but glad. + +"Betty, good gracious, whatever is the matter with this fellow? Has he +the black plague? Ugh!" She slid from the saddle unaided. + +James stolidly took the reins. + +"The kitchen stove-pipe fell down," Betty replied, "and James stood in +the immediate vicinity of it." + +The two girls laughed joyously, but James did not even smile. He had +half a notion to kiss Nancy, as he had planned to do that memorable +night of the ball at the British embassy. But even as the notion came +to him, Nancy had climbed up the steps and was out of harm's way. + +"James," said Miss Annesley, "go and wash your face at once." + +"Yes, Miss." + +At the sound of his voice Nancy turned swiftly; but the groom had +presented his back and was leading the horse to the stables. + +Nancy would never tell me the substance of her conversation with Miss +Annesley that afternoon, but I am conceited enough to believe that a +certain absent gentleman was the main topic. When she left, it was +William who led out the horse. He explained that James was still +engaged with soap and water and pumice-stone. Miss Annesley's laughter +rang out heartily, and Nancy could not help joining her. + +"And have you heard from that younger brother of yours?" Betty asked, +as her friend settled herself in the saddle. + +"Not a line, Betty, not a line; and I had set my heart on your meeting +him. I do not know where he is, or when he will be back." + +"Perhaps he is in quest of adventures." + +"He is in Canada, hunting caribou." + +"You don't tell me!" + +"What a handsome girl you are, Betty!"--admiringly. + +"What a handsome girl you are, Nancy!" mimicked the girl on the +veranda. "If your brother is only half as handsome, I do not know +whatever will become of this heart of mine when we finally meet." She +smiled and drolly placed her hands on her heart. "Don't look so +disappointed, Nan; perhaps we may yet meet. I have an idea that he will +prove interesting and entertaining;"--and she laughed again. + +"Whoa, Dandy! What _are_ you laughing at?" demanded Nancy. + +"I was thinking of James and his soap and water and pumice-stone. That +was all, dear. Saturday afternoon, then, we shall ride to the club and +have tea. Good-by, and remember me to the baby." + +"Good-by!"--and Nancy cantered away. + +What a blissful thing the lack of prescience is, sometimes! + +When James had scraped the soot from his face and neck and hands, and +had sudsed it from his hair, James observed, with some concern, that +Pirate was coughing at a great rate. His fierce run against the wind +the day before had given him a cold. So James hunted about for the +handy veterinarian. + +"Where do you keep your books here?" he asked William. "Pirate's got a +cold." + +"In the house library. You just go in and get it. We always do that at +home. You'll find it on the lower shelf, to the right as you enter the +door." + +It was half after four when James, having taken a final look at his +hands and nails, proceeded to follow William's instructions. He found +no one about. Outside the kitchen the lower part of the house was +deserted. To reach the library he had to pass through the music-room. +He saw the violin-case on the piano, and at once unconsciously pursed +his lips into a noiseless whistle. He passed on into the library. He +had never been in any of these rooms in the daytime. It was not very +light, even now. + +The first thing that caught his attention was a movable drawing-board, +on which lay an uncompleted drawing. At one side stood a glass, into +which were thrust numerous pens and brushes. Near this lay a small ball +of crumpled cambric, such as women insist upon carrying in their +street-car purses, a delicate, dainty, useless thing. So she drew +pictures, too, he thought. Was there anything this beautiful creature +could not do? Everything seemed to suggest her presence. An indefinable +feminine perfume still lingered on the air, speaking eloquently of her. + +Curiosity impelled him to step forward and examine her work. He +approached with all the stealth of a gentlemanly burglar. He expected +to see some trees and hills and mayhap a brook, or some cows standing +in a stream, or some children picking daisies. He had a sister, and was +reasonably familiar with the kind of subjects chosen by the +lady-amateur. + +A fortification plan! + +He bent close to it. Here was the sea, here was the land, here the +number of soldiers, cannon, rounds of ammunition, resources in the +matter of procuring aid, the telegraph, the railways, everything was +here on this pale, waxen cloth, everything but a name. He stared at it, +bewildered. He couldn't understand what a plan of this sort was doing +outside the War Department. Instantly he became a soldier; he forgot +that he was masquerading as a groom; he forgot everything but this mute +thing staring up into his face. Underneath, on a little shelf, he saw a +stack of worn envelopes. He looked at them. Rough drafts of plans. +Governor's Island! Fortress Monroe! What did it mean? What _could_ it +mean? He searched and found plans, plans, plans of harbors, plans of +coast defenses, plans of ships building, plans of full naval and +military strength; everything, everything! He straightened. How his +breath pained him! ... And all this was the handiwork of the woman he +loved! Good God, what was going on in this house? What right had such +things as these to be in a private home? For what purpose had they been +drawn? so accurately reproduced? For what purpose? + +Oh, whatever the purpose was, _she_ was innocent; upon this conviction +he would willingly stake his soul. Innocent, innocent! ticked the clock +over the mantel. Yes, she was innocent. Else, how could she laugh in +that light-hearted fashion? How could the song tremble on her lips? How +could her eyes shine so bright and merry?... Karloff, Annesley! Karloff +the Russian, Annesley the American; the one a secret agent of his +country, the other a former trusted official! No, no! He could not +entertain so base a thought against the father of the girl he loved. +Had he not admired his clean record, his personal bravery, his fearless +honesty? And yet, that absent-mindedness, this care-worn countenance, +these must mean something. The purpose, to find out the purpose of +these plans! + +[Illustration: "A Saint Bernard dog might have done as much."--ACT III] + +He took the handkerchief and hid it in his breast, and quietly stole +away.... A handkerchief, a rose, and a kiss; yes, that was all that +would ever be his. + +Pirate nearly coughed his head off that night; but, it being William's +night off, nobody paid any particular attention to that justly +indignant animal. + + + + +XXI + +THE ROSE + + +On a Wednesday morning, clear and cold: not a cloud floated across the +sky, nor did there rise above the horizon one of those clouds +(portentous forerunners of evil!) to which novelists refer as being "no +larger than a man's hand". Heaven knew right well that the blight of +evil was approaching fast enough, but there was no visible indication +on her face that glorious November morning. Doubtless you are familiar +with history and have read all about what great personages did just +before calamity swooped down on them. The Trojans laughed at the wooden +horse; I don't know how many Roman banqueters never reached the desert +because the enemy had not paid any singular regard to courtesies in +making the attack; men and women danced on the eve of Waterloo--"On +with the dance, let joy be unconfined"; _my_ heroine simply went +shopping. It doesn't sound at all romantic; very prosaic, in fact. + +She declared her intention of making a tour of the shops and of +dropping into Mrs. Chadwick's on the way home. She ordered James to +bring around the pair and the coupe. James was an example of docile +obedience. As she came down the steps, she was a thing of beauty and a +joy for ever. She wore one of those jackets to which several +gray-squirrel families had contributed their hides, a hat whose +existence was due to the negligence of a certain rare bird, and many +silk-worms had spun the fabric of her gown. Had any one called her +attention to all this, there isn't any doubt that she would have been +shocked. Only here and there are women who see what a true Moloch +fashion is; this tender-souled girl saw only a handsome habit which +pleased the eye. Health bloomed in her cheeks, health shone from her +eyes, her step had all the elasticity of youth. + +"Good morning, James," she said pleasantly. + +James touched his hat. What was it, he wondered. Somehow her eyes +looked unfamiliar to him. Had I been there I could have read the secret +easily enough. Sometimes the pure pools of the forests are stirred and +become impenetrable; but by and by the commotion subsides, and the +water clears. So it is with the human soul. There had been doubt +hitherto in this girl's eyes; now, the doubt was gone. + +To him, soberly watchful, her smile meant much; it was the patent of +her innocence of any wrong thought. All night he had tossed on his cot, +thinking, thinking! What should he do? What_ever_ should he do? That +some wrong was on the way he hadn't the least doubt. Should he confront +the colonel and demand an explanation, a demand he knew he had a +perfect right to make? If this should be evil, and the shame of it fall +on this lovely being?... No, no! He must stand aside, he must turn a +deaf ear to duty, the voice of love spoke too loud. His own assurance +of her innocence made him desire to fall at her feet and worship. After +all, it _was_ none of his affair. Had he not played at this comedy, +this thing would have gone on, and he would have been in ignorance of +its very existence. So, why should he meddle? Yet that monotonous query +kept beating on his brain: What _was_ this thing? + +He saw that he must wait. Yesterday he had feared nothing save his own +exposure. Comedy had frolicked in her grinning mask. And here was +Tragedy stalking in upon the scene. + +The girl named a dozen shops which she desired to honor with her custom +and presence, and stepped into the coupe. William closed the door, and +James touched up the pair and drove off toward the city. He was +perfectly indifferent to any possible exposure. In truth, he forgot +everything, absolutely and positively everything, but the girl and the +fortification plans she had been drawing. + +Scarce a half a dozen bundles were the result of the tour among the +shops. + +"Mrs. Chadwick's, James." + +The call lasted half an hour. + +As a story-teller I am supposed to be everywhere, to follow the +footsteps of each and all of my characters, and with a fidelity and a +perspicacity nothing short of the marvelous. So I take the liberty of +imagining the pith of the conversation between the woman and the girl. + +_The Woman:_ How long, dear, have we known each other? + +_The Girl:_ Since I left school, I believe. Where _did_ you get that +stunning morning gown? + +_The Woman_ (smiling in spite of the serious purpose she has in view): +Never mind the gown, my child; I have something of greater importance +to talk about. + +_The Girl: Is_ there anything more important to talk about among women? + +_The Woman:_ Yes. There is age. + +_The Girl:_ But, mercy, we do not talk about that! + +_The Woman:_ I am going to establish a precedent, then. I am forty, or +at least, I am on the verge of it. + +_The Girl_ (warningly): Take care! If we should ever become enemies! If +I should ever become treacherous! + +_The Woman:_ The world very well knows that I am older than I look. +That is why it takes such interest in my age. + +_The Girl:_ The question is, how _do_ you preserve it? + +_The Woman:_ Well, then, I am forty, while you stand on the threshold +of the adorable golden twenties. (Walks over to picture taken eighteen +years before and contemplates it.) Ah, to be twenty again; to start +anew, possessing my present learning and wisdom, and knowledge of the +world; to avoid the pits into which I so carelessly stumbled! But no! + +_The Girl_: Mercy! what have you to wish for? Are not princes and +ambassadors your friends; have you not health and wealth and beauty? +You wish for something, you who are so handsome and brilliant! + +_The Woman_: Blinds, my dear Betty, only blinds; for that is all beauty +and wealth and wit are. Who sees behind sees scars of many wounds. You +are without a mother, I am without a child. (Sits down beside the girl +and takes her hand in hers.) Will you let me be a mother to you for +just this morning? How can any man help loving you! (impulsively.) + +_The Girl_: How foolish you are, Grace! + +_The Woman_: Ah, to blush like that! + +_The Girl_: You are very embarrassing this morning. I believe you are +even sentimental. Well, my handsome mother for just this morning, what +is it you have to say to me? (jestingly.) + +_The Woman_: I do not know just how to begin. Listen. If ever trouble +should befall you, if ever misfortune should entangle you, will you +promise to come to me? + +_The Girl:_ Misfortune? What is on your mind, Grace? + +_The Woman:_ Promise! + +_The Girl:_ I promise. (Laughs.) + +_The Woman:_ I am rich. Promise that if poverty should ever come to +you, you will come to me. + +_The Girl_ (puzzled): I do not understand you at all! + +_The Woman:_ Promise! + +_The Girl:_ I promise; but-- + +_The Woman:_ Thank you, Betty. + +_The Girl_ (growing serious): What is all this about, Grace? You look +so earnest. + +_The Woman:_ Some day you will understand. Will you answer me one +question, as a daughter would answer her mother? + +_The Girl_ (gravely): Yes. + +_The Woman:_ Would you marry a title for the title's sake? + +_The Girl_ (indignantly): I? + +_The Woman:_ Yes; would you? + +_The Girl:_ I shall marry the man I love, and if not him, nobody. I +mean, of course, _when_ I love. + +_The Woman:_ Blushing again? My dear, is Karloff anything to you? + +_The Girl:_ Karloff? Mercy, no. He is handsome and fascinating and +rich, but I could not love him. It would be easier to love--to love my +groom outside. + +(They both smile.) + +_The Woman_ (grave once more): That is all I wished to know, dear. +Karloff is not worthy of you. + +_The Girl_ (sitting very erect): I do not understand. Is he not +honorable? + +_The Woman_ (hesitating): I have known him for seven years; I have +always found him honorable. + +_The Girl:_ Why, then, should he not be worthy of me? + +_The Woman_ (lightly): Is any man? + +_The Girl:_ You are parrying my question. If I am to be your daughter, +there must be no fencing. + +_The Woman_ (rising and going over to the portrait again): There are +some things that a mother may not tell even to her daughter. + +_The Girl_ (determinedly): Grace, you have said too much or too little. +I do not love Karloff, I never could love him; but I like him, and +liking him, I feel called upon to defend him. + +_The Woman_ (surprised into showing her dismay): You defend him? You! + +_The Girl:_ And why not? That is what I wish to know: why not? + +_The Woman:_ My dear, you do not love him. That is all I wished to +know. Karloff is a brilliant, handsome man, a gentleman; his sense of +honor, such as it is, would do credit to many another man; but behind +all this there is a power which makes him helpless, makes him a puppet, +and robs him of certain worthy impulses. I have read somewhere that +corporations have no souls; neither have governments. Ask me nothing +more, Betty, for I shall answer no more questions. + +_The Girl:_ I do not think you are treating me fairly. + +_The Woman:_ At this moment I would willingly share with you half of +all I possess in the world. + +_The Girl:_ But all this mystery! + +_The Woman:_ As I have said, some day you will understand. Treat +Karloff as you have always treated him, politely and pleasantly. And I +beg of you never to repeat our conversation. + +The Girl (to whom illumination suddenly comes; rises quickly and goes +over to the woman; takes her by the shoulders, and the two stare into +each other's eyes, the one searchingly, the other fearfully): Grace! + +The Woman: I am a poor foolish woman, Betty, for all my worldliness and +wisdom; but I love you (softly), and that is why I appear weak before +you. The blind envy those who see, the deaf those who hear; what one +does not want another can not have. Karloff loves you, but you do not +love him. + +(The girl kisses the woman gravely on the cheek, and without a word, +makes her departure.) + +The Woman (as she hears the carriage roll away): Poor girl! Poor, +happy, unconscious, motherless child! If only I had the power to stay +the blow! ... Who can it be, then, that she loves? + +The Girl (in her carriage): Poor thing! She adores Karloff, and I never +suspected it! I shall begin to hate him. + +How well women read each other! + +James had never parted with his rose and his handkerchief. They were +always with him, no matter what livery he wore. After luncheon, William +said that Miss Annesley desired to see him in the study. So James +spruced up and duly presented himself at the study door. + +"You sent for me, Miss?"--his hat in his hand, his attitude deferential +and attentive. + +She was engaged upon some fancy work, the name of which no man knows, +and if he were told, could not possibly remember for longer than ten +minutes. She laid this on the reading-table, stood up and brushed the +threads from the little two-by-four cambric apron. + +"James, on Monday night I dropped a rose on the lawn. (Finds thread on +her sleeve.) In the morning when I looked for it (brushes the apron +again), it was gone. Did you find it?" She made a little ball of the +straggling threads and dropped it into the waste-basket. A woman who +has the support of beauty can always force a man to lower his gaze. +James looked at his boots. His heart gave one great bound toward his +throat, then sank what seemed to be fathoms deep in his breast. This +was a thunderbolt out of heaven itself. Had she seen him, then? For a +space he was tempted to utter a falsehood; but there was that in her +eyes which warned him of the uselessness of such an expedient. Yet, to +give up that rose would be like giving up some part of his being. She +repeated the question: "I ask you if you found it." + +"Yes, Miss Annesley." + +"Do you still possess it?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"And why did you pick it up?" + +"It was fresh and beautiful; and I believed that some lady at the +dinner had worn it." + +"And so you picked it up? Where did you find it?" + +"Outside the bow-window, Miss." + +"When?" + +He thought for a moment. "In the morning, Miss." + +"Take care, James; it was not yet eleven o'clock, at night." + +"I admit what I said was not true, Miss. As you say, it was not yet +eleven." James was pale. So she had thrown it away, confident that this +moment would arrive. This humiliation was premeditated. Patience, he +said inwardly; this would be the last opportunity she should have to +humiliate him. + +"Have you the flower on your person?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Did you know that it was mine?" + +He was silent. + +"Did you know that it was mine?"--mercilessly. + +"Yes; but I believed that you had deliberately thrown it away. I saw no +harm in taking it." + +"But there _was harm."_ + +"I bow to your superior judgment, Miss,"--ironically. + +She deemed it wisest to pass over this experimental irony. "Give the +flower back to me. It is not proper that a servant should have in his +keeping a rose which was once mine, even if I had thrown it away or +discarded it." + +Carefully he drew forth the crumpled flower. He looked at her, then at +the rose, hoping against hope that she might relent. He hesitated till +he saw an impatient movement of the extended hand. He surrendered. + +"Thank you. That is all. You may go." + +She tossed the withered flower into the waste-basket. + +"Pardon me, but before I go I have to announce that I shall resign my +position next Monday. The money which has been advanced to me, +deducting that which is due me, together with the amount of my fine at +the police-court, I shall be pleased to return to you on the morning of +my departure." + +Miss Annesley's lips fell apart, and her brows arched. She was very +much surprised. + +"You wish to leave my service?"--as if it were quite impossible that +such a thing should occur to him. + +"Yes, Miss." + +"You are dissatisfied with your position?"--icily. + +"It is not that, Miss. As a groom I am perfectly satisfied. The trouble +lies in the fact that I have too many other things to do. It is very +distasteful for me to act in the capacity of butler. My temper is not +equable enough for that position." He bowed. + +"Very well. I trust that you will not regret your decision." She sat +down and coolly resumed her work. + +"It is not possible that I shall regret it." + +"You may go." + +He bowed again, one corner of his mouth twisted. Then he took himself +off to the stables. He was certainly in what they call a towering rage. + +If I were not a seer of the first degree, a narrator of the penetrative +order, I should be vastly puzzled over this singular action on her part. + + + + +XXII + +THE DRAMA UNROLLS + + +When a dramatist submits his _scenario_, he always accompanies it with +drawings, crude or otherwise, of the various set-scenes and curtains +known as drops. To the uninitiated these scrawls would look impossible; +but to the stage-manager's keen, imaginative eye a whole picture is +represented in these few pothooks. Each object on the stage is labeled +alphabetically; thus A may represent a sofa, B a window, C a table, and +so forth and so on. I am not a dramatist; I am not writing an acting +drama; so I find that a diagram of the library in Senator Blank's house +is neither imperative nor advisable. It is half after eight; the +curtain rises; the music of a violin is heard coming from the +music-room; Colonel Annesley is discovered sitting in front of the wood +fire, his chin sunk on his breast, his hands hanging listlessly on each +side of the chair, his face deeply lined. From time to time he looks at +the clock. I can imagine no sorrier picture than that of this loving, +tender-hearted, wretched old man as he sits there, waiting for Karloff +and the ignominious end. Fortune gone with the winds, poverty leering +into his face, shame drawing her red finder across his brow, honor in +sackcloth and ashes! + +And but two short years ago there had not been in all the wide land a +more contented man than himself, a man with a conscience freer. God! +Even yet he could hear the rolling, whirring ivory ball as it spun the +circle that fatal night at Monte Carlo. Man does not recall the +intermediate steps of his fall, only the first step and the last. In +his waking hours the colonel always heard the sound of it, and it +rattled through his troubled dreams. He could not understand how +everything had gone as it had. It seemed impossible that in two years +he had dissipated a fortune, sullied his honor, beggared his child. It +was all so like a horrible dream. If only he might wake; if only God +would be so merciful as to permit him to wake! He hid his face. There +is no hell save conscience makes it. + +The music laughed and sighed and laughed. It was the music of love and +youth; joyous, rollicking, pulsing music. + +The colonel sprang to his feet suddenly, his hands at his throat. He +was suffocating. The veins gnarled on his neck and brow. There was in +his heart a pain as of many knives. His arms fell: of what use was it +to struggle? He was caught, trapped in a net of his own contriving. + +Softly he crossed the room and stood by the portiere beyond which was +the music-room. She was happy, happy in her youth and ignorance; she +could play all those sprightly measures, her spirit as light and +conscience-free; she could sing, she could laugh, she could dance. And +all the while his heart was breaking, breaking! + +"How shall I face her mother?" he groaned. + +The longing which always seizes the guilty to confess and relieve the +mind came over him. If only he dared rush in there, throw himself at +her feet, and stammer forth his wretched tale! She was of his flesh, of +his blood; when she knew she would not wholly condemn him . . . No, no! +He could not. She honored and trusted him now; she had placed him on so +high a pedestal that it was utterly impossible for him to disillusion +her young mind, to see for ever and ever the mute reproach in her +honest eyes, to feel that though his arm encircled her she was beyond +his reach.... God knew that he could not tell this child of the black +gulf he had digged for himself and her. + +Sometimes there came to him the thought to put an end to this maddening +grief, by violence to period this miserable existence. But always he +cast from him the horrible thought. He was not a coward, and the +cowardice of suicide was abhorrent to him. Poverty he might leave her, +but not the legacy of a suicide. If only it might be God's kindly will +to let him die, once this abominable bargain was consummated! Death is +the seal of silence; it locks alike the lips of the living and the +dead. And she might live in ignorance, till the end of her days, +without knowing that her wealth was the price of her father's dishonor. + +A mist blurred his sight; he could not see. He steadied himself, and +with an effort regained his chair noiselessly. And how often he had +smiled at the drama on the stage, with its absurdities, its tawdriness, +its impossibilities! Alas, what did they on the stage that was half so +weak as he had done: ruined himself without motive or reason! + +The bell sang its buzzing note; there was the sound of crunching wheels +on the driveway; the music ceased abruptly. Silence. A door opened and +closed. A moment or so later Karloff, preceded by the girl, came into +the study. She was grave because she remembered Mrs. Chadwick. He was +grave also; he had various reasons for being so. + +"Father, the count tells me that he has an engagement with you," she +said. She wondered if this appointment in any way concerned her. + +"It is true, my child. Leave us, and give orders that we are not to be +disturbed." + +She scrutinized him sharply. How strangely hollow his voice sounded! +Was he ill? + +"Father, you are not well. Count, you must promise me not to keep him +long, however important this interview may be. He is ill and needs +rest,"--and her loving eyes caressed each line of care in her parent's +furrowed cheeks. + +Annesley smiled reassuringly. It took all the strength of his will, all +that remained of a high order of courage, to create this smile. He +wanted to cry out to her that it was a lie, a mockery. Behind that +smile his teeth grated. + +"I shall not keep him long, Mademoiselle," said the count. He spoke +gently, but he studiously avoided her eyes. + +She hesitated for a moment on the threshold; she knew not why. Her lips +even formed words, but she did not speak. What was it? Something +oppressed her. Her gaze wandered indecisively from her father to the +count, from the count to her father. + +"When you are through," she finally said, "bring your cigars into the +music-room." + +"With the greatest pleasure, Mademoiselle," replied the count. "And +play, if you so desire; our business is such that your music will be as +a pleasure added.'" + +Her father nodded; but he could not force another smile to his lips. +The brass rings of the portiere rattled, and she was gone. But she left +behind a peculiar tableau, a tableau such as is formed by those who +stand upon ice which is about to sink and engulf them. + +The two men stood perfectly still. I doubt not that each experienced +the same sensation, that the same thought occurred to each mind, though +it came from different avenues: love and shame. The heart of the little +clock on the mantel beat tick-tock, tick-tock; a log crackled and fell +between the irons, sending up a shower of evanescent sparks; one of the +long windows giving out upon the veranda creaked mysteriously. + +Karloff was first to break the spell. He made a gesture which was +eloquent of his distaste of the situation. + +"Let us terminate this as quickly as possible," he said. + +"Yes, let us have done with it before I lose my courage," replied the +colonel, his voice thin and quavering. He wiped his forehead with his +handkerchief. His hand shone white and his nails darkly blue. + +The count stepped over to the table, reached into the inner pocket of +his coat, and extracted a packet. In this packet was the enormous sum +of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in notes of one thousand +denomination; that is to say, one hundred and eighty slips of paper +redeemable in gold by the government which had issued them. On top of +this packet lay the colonel's note for twenty thousand dollars. + +(It is true that Karloff never accepted money from his government in +payment for his services; but it is equally true that for every penny +he laid out he was reimbursed by Russia.) + +Karloff placed the packet on the table, first taking off the note, +which he carelessly tossed beside the bank-notes. + +"You will observe that I have not bothered with having your note +discounted. I have fulfilled my part of the bargain; fulfil yours." The +count thrust his trembling hands into his trousers pockets. He desired +to hide this embarrassing sign from his accomplice. + +Annesley went to a small safe which stood at the left of the fireplace +and returned with a packet somewhat bulkier than the count's. He +dropped it beside the money, shudderingly, as though he had touched a +poisonous viper. + +"My honor," he said simply. "I had never expected to sell it so cheap." + +There was a pause, during which neither man's gaze swerved from the +other's. There was not the slightest, not even the remotest, fear of +treachery; each man knew with whom he was dealing; yet there they +stood, as if fascinated. One would have thought that the colonel would +have counted his money, or Karloff his plans; they did neither. Perhaps +the colonel wanted Karloff to touch the plans first, before he touched +the money; perhaps Karloff had the same desire, only the other way +around. + +[Illustration: "I am simply Miss Annesly's servant."--ACT III.] + +The colonel spoke. + +"I believe that is all" he said quietly. The knowledge that the deed +was done and that there was no retreat gave back to him a particle of +his former coolness and strength of mind. It had been the thought of +committing the crime that had unnerved him. Now that his bridges were +burned, a strange, unnatural calm settled on him. + +The count evidently was not done. He moistened his lips. There was a +dryness in his throat. + +"It is not too late" he said; "I have not yet touched them." + +"We shall not indulge in moralizing, if you please," interrupted the +colonel, with savage irony. "The moment for that has gone by." + +"Very well." Karloff's shoulders settled; his jaws became aggressively +angular; some spirit of his predatory forebears touched his face here +and there, hardening it. "I wish to speak in regard to your daughter." + +"Enough! Take my honor and be gone!" The colonel's voice was loud and +rasping. + +Karloff rested his hands on the table and inclined his body toward the +colonel. + +"Listen to me," he began. "There is in every man the making and the +capacity of a great rascal. Time and opportunity alone are needed--and +a motive. The other night I told you that I could not give up your +daughter. Well, I have not given her up. She must be my wife." + +"Must?" The colonel clenched his hands. + +"Must. To-night I am going to prove myself a great rascal--with a great +motive. What is Russia to me? Nothing. What is your dishonor or my own? +Less than nothing. There is only one thing, and that is my love for +your daughter." He struck the table and the flame of the student-lamp +rose violently. "She must be mine, mine! I have tried to win her as an +honorable man tries to win the woman he loves; now she must be won by +an act of rascality. Heaven nor hell shall force me to give her up. +Yes, I love her; and I lower myself to your level to gain her." + +"To my level! Take care; I am still a man, with a man's strength," +cried the colonel. + +Karloff swept his hand across his forehead. "I have lied to myself long +enough, and to you. I can see now that I have been working solely +toward one end. My country is not to be considered, neither is yours. +Do you realize that you stand wholly and completely in my power?" He +ran his tongue across his lips, which burned with fever. + +"What do you mean?"--hoarsely. + +"I mean, your daughter must become my wife, or I shall notify your +government that you have attempted to betray it." + +"You dishonorable wretch!" The colonel balled his fists and protruded +his nether lip. Only the table stood between them. + +"That term or another, it does not matter. The fact remains that you +have sold to me the fortification plans of your country; and though it +be in times of peace, you are none the less guilty and culpable. Your +daughter shall be my wife." + +"I had rather strangle her with these hands!"--passionately. + +"Well, why should I not have her for my wife? Who loves her more than +I? I am rich; from hour to hour, from day to day, what shall I not plan +to make her happy? I love her with all the fire and violence of my race +and blood. I can not help it. I will not, can not, live without her! +Good God, yes! I recognize the villainy of my actions. But I am mad +to-night." + +"So I perceive." The colonel gazed wildly about the walls for a weapon. +There was not even the usual ornamental dagger. + +A window again stirred mysteriously. A few drops of rain plashed on the +glass and zigzagged down to the sash. + +"Sooner or later your daughter must know. Request her presence. It +rests with her, not with you, as to what course I must follow." Karloff +was extraordinarily pale, and his dark eyes, reflecting the dancing +flames, sparkled like rubies. + +He saw the birth of horror in the elder's eyes, saw it grow and grow. +He saw the colonel's lips move spasmodically, but utter no sound. What +was it he saw over his (the count's) shoulders and beyond? +Instinctively he turned, and what he saw chilled the heat of his blood. + +There stood the girl, her white dress marble-white against the dark +wine of the portiere, an edge of which one hand clutched convulsively. +Was it Medusa's beauty or her magic that turned men into stone? My +recollection is at fault. At any rate, so long as she remained +motionless, neither man had the power to stir. She held herself +perfectly erect; every fiber in her young body was tense. Her beauty +became weirdly powerful, masked as it was with horror, doubt, shame, +and reproach. She had heard; little or much was of no consequence. In +the heat of their variant passions, the men's voices had risen to a +pitch that penetrated beyond the room. + +Karloff was first to recover, and he took an involuntary step toward +her; but she waved him back disdainfully. + +"Do not come near me. I loathe you!" The voice was low, but every note +was strained and unmusical. + +He winced. His face could not have stung or burned more hotly had she +struck him with her hand. + +"Mademoiselle!" + +She ignored him. "Father, what does this mean?" + +"Agony!" The colonel fell back into his chair, pressing his hands over +his eyes. + +"I will tell you what it means!" cried Karloff, a rage possessing him. +He had made a mistake. He had misjudged both the father and the child. +He could force her into his arms, but he would always carry a burden of +hate. "It means that this night you stand in the presence of a +dishonored parent, a man who has squandered your inheritance over +gambling tables, and who, to recover these misused sums, has sold to me +the principal fortification plans of his country. That is what is +means, Mademoiselle." + +She grasped the portiere for support. + +"Father, is this thing true?" Her voice fell to a terror-stricken +whisper. + +"Oh, it is true enough," said Karloff. "God knows that it is true +enough. But it rests with you to save him. Become my wife, and yonder +fire shall swallow his dishonor--and mine. Refuse, and I shall expose +him. After all, love is a primitive state, and with it we go back to +the beginning; before it honor or dishonor is nothing. To-night there +is nothing, nothing in the world save my love for you, and the chance +that has given me the power to force you to be mine. What a fury and a +tempest love produces! It makes an honorable man of the knave, a rascal +of the man of honor; it has toppled thrones, destroyed nations, +obliterated races. ... Well, I have become a rascal. Mademoiselle, you +must become my wife." He lifted his handsome head resolutely. + +Without giving him so much as a glance, she swept past him and sank on +her knees at her father's side, taking his hands by the wrists and +pressing them down from his face. + +"Father, tell him he lies! Tell him he lies!" Ah, the entreaty, the +love, the anxiety, the terror that blended her tones! + +He strove to look away. + +"Father, you are all I have," she cried brokenly. "Look at me! Look at +me and tell him that he lies!... You will not look at me? God have +mercy on me, it is true, then!" She rose and spread her arms toward +heaven to entreat God to witness her despair. "I did not think or know +that such base things were done... That these loving hands should have +helped to encompass my father's dishonor, his degradation! ... For +money! What is money? You knew, father, that what was mine was likewise +yours. Why did you not tell me? I should have laughed; we should have +begun all over again; I could have earned a living with my music; we +should have been honest and happy. And now!... And I drew those plans +with a heart full of love and happiness! Oh, it is not that you +gambled, that you have foolishly wasted a fortune; it is not these that +hurt here,"--pressing her heart. "It is the knowledge that you, my +father, should let _me_ draw those horrible things. It hurts! Ah, how +it hurts!" A sob choked her. She knelt again at her parent's side and +flung her arms around the unhappy, wretched man. "Father, you have +committed a crime to shield a foolish act. I know, I know! What you +have done you did for my sake, to give me back what you thought was my +own. Oh, how well I know that you had no thought of yourself; it was +all for me, and I thank God for that. But something has died here, +something here in my heart. I have been so happy! ... too happy! My +poor father!" She laid her head against his breast. + +"My heart is broken! Would to God that I might die!" Annesley threw one +arm across the back of the chair and turned his face to his sleeve. + +Karloff, a thousand arrows of regret and shame and pity quivering in +his heart, viewed the scene moodily, doggedly. No, he could not go +back; there was indeed a wall behind him: pride. + +"Well, Mademoiselle?" + +She turned, still on her knees. + +"You say that if I do not marry you, you will ruin my father, expose +him?" + +"Yes,"--thinly. + +"Listen. I am a proud woman, yet will I beg you not to do this horrible +thing--force me into your arms. Take everything, take all that is left; +you can not be so utterly base as to threaten such a wrong. +See!"--extending her lovely arms, "I am on my knees to you!" + +"My daughter!" cried the father. + +"Do not interrupt me, father; he will relent; he is not wholly without +pity." + +"No, no! No, no!" Karloff exclaimed, turning his head aside and +repelling with his hands, as if he would stamp out the fires of pity +which, at the sound of her voice, had burst anew in his heart. "I +_will_ not give you up!" + +She drew her sleeve across her eyes and stood up. All at once she +wheeled upon him like a lioness protecting its young. In her wrath she +was as magnificent as the wife of--Aeneas at the funeral pyre of that +great captain. + +"She knew! That was why she asked me all those questions; that is why +she exacted those promises! Mrs. Chadwick knew and dared not tell me! +And I trusted you as a friend, as a gentleman, as a man of honor!" Her +laughter rang out wildly. "And for these favors you bring dishonor! +Shame! Shame! Your wife? Have you thought well of what you are about to +do?" + +"So well," he declared, "that I shall proceed to the end, to the very +end." How beautiful she was! And a mad desire urged him to spring to +her, crush her in his arms, and force upon her lips a thousand mad +kisses! + +"Have you weighed well the consequences?" + +"Upon love's most delicate scales." + +"Have you calculated what manner of woman I am?"--with subdued +fierceness. + +"To me you are the woman of all women." + +"Do you think that I am a faint-hearted girl? You are making a mistake. +I am a woman with a woman's mind, and a thousand years would not alter +my utter contempt of you. Force me to marry you, and as there is a God +above us to witness, every moment of suffering you now inflict upon me +and mine, I shall give back a day, a long, bitter, galling day. Do you +think that it will be wise to call me countess?" Her scorn was superb. + +"I am waiting for your answer. Will you be my wife, or shall I be +forced to make my villainy definitive?" + +"Permit me to take upon these shoulders the burden of answering that +question," said a voice from the window. + +Warburton, dressed in his stable clothes and leggings, hatless and +drenched with rain, stepped into the room from the veranda and quickly +crossed the intervening space. Before any one of the tragic group could +recover from the surprise caused by his unexpected appearance, he had +picked up the packet of plans and had dropped it into the fire. Then he +leaned with his back against the mantel and faced them, or rather +Karloff, of whom he was not quite sure. + + + + +XXIII + +SOMETHING ABOUT HEROES + + +Tick-lock, tick-tock went the voice of the little friend of eternity on +the mantel-piece; the waxen sheets (to which so much care and labor had +been given) writhed and unfolded, curled and crackled, and blackened on +the logs; the cold wind and rain blew in through the opened window; the +lamp flared and flickered inside its green shade; a legion of heroes +peered out from the book-cases, no doubt much astonished at the sight +of this ordinary hero of mine and his mean, ordinary clothes. I have in +my mind's eye the picture of good D'Artagnan's frank contempt, Athos' +magnificent disdain, the righteous (I had almost said honest!) horror +of the ultra-fashionable Aramis, and the supercilious indignation of +the bourgeois Porthos. What! this a hero? Where, then, was his rapier, +his glittering baldric, his laces, his dancing plumes, his fine air? + +Several times in the course of this narrative I have expressed my +regret in not being an active witness of this or that scene, a regret +which, as I am drawing most of these pictures from hearsay, is +perfectly natural. What must have been the varying expressions on each +face! Warburton, who, though there was tumult in his breast, coolly +waited for Karloff to make the next move; Annesley, who saw his +terrible secret in the possession of a man whom he supposed to be a +stable-man; Karloff, who saw his house of cards vanish in the dartling +tongues of flame, and recognized the futility of his villainy; the +girl... Ah, who shall describe the dozen shadowy emotions which crossed +and recrossed her face? + +From Warburton's dramatic entrance upon the scene to Karloff's first +movement, scarce a minute had passed, though to the girl and her father +an eternity seemed to come and go. Karloff was a brave man. Upon the +instant of his recovery, he sprang toward Warburton, silently and with +predetermination: he must regain some fragment of those plans. He would +not, could not, suffer total defeat before this girl's eyes; his blood +rebelled against the thought. He expected the groom to strike him, but +James simply caught him by the arms and thrust him back. + +"No, Count; no, no; they shall burn to the veriest crisp!" + +"Stand aside, lackey!" cried Karloff, a sob of rage strangling him. +Again he rushed upon Warburton, his clenched hand uplifted. Warburton +did not even raise his hands this time. So they stood, their faces +within a hand's span of each other, the one smiling coldly, the other +in the attitude of striking a blow. Karloff's hand fell unexpectedly, +but not on the man in front of him. "Good God, no! a gentleman does not +strike a lackey! Stand aside, stand aside!" + +"They shall burn, Count,"--quietly; "they shall burn, because I am +physically the stronger." Warburton turned quickly and with the toe of +his boot shifted the glowing packet and renewed the flames. "I never +realized till to-night that I loved my country half so well. Lackey? +Yes, for the present." + +He had not yet looked at the girl. + +"Ah!" Karloff cried, intelligence lighting his face. "You are no +lackey!"--subduing his voice. + +James smiled. "You are quite remarkable." + +"Who are you? I demand to know!" + +"First and foremost, I am a citizen of the United States; I have been a +soldier besides. It was my common right to destroy these plans, which +indirectly menaced my country's safety. These,"--pointing to the +bank-notes, "are yours, I believe. Nothing further requires your +presence here." + +"Yes, yes; I remember now! Fool that I have been!" Karloff struck his +forehead in helpless rage. "I never observed you closely till now. I +recall. The secret service: Europe, New York, Washington; you have +known it all along. Spy!" + +"That is an epithet which easily rebounds. Spy? Why, yes; I do for my +country what you do for yours." + +"The name, the name! I can not recollect the name! The beard is gone, +but that does not matter,"--excitedly. + +Warburton breathed easier. While he did not want the girl to know who +he was just then, he was glad that Karloffs memory had taken his +thought away from the grate and its valuable but rapidly disappearing +fuel. + +"Father! Father, what is it?" cried the girl, her voice keyed to agony. +"Father!" + +The two men turned about. Annesley had fainted in his chair. Both +Warburton and Karloff mechanically started forward to offer aid, but +she repelled their approach. + +"Do not come near me; you have done enough. Father, dear!" She slapped +the colonel's wrists and unloosed his collar. + +The antagonists, forgetting their own battle, stood silently watching +hers. Warburton's mind was first to clear, and without a moment's +hesitation he darted from the room and immediately returned with a +glass of water. He held it out to the girl. Their glances clashed; a +thousand mute, angry questions in her eyes, a thousand mute, humble +answers in his. She accepted the glass, and her hand trembled as she +dipped her fingers into the cool depths and flecked the drops into the +unconscious man's face. + +Meanwhile Karloff stood with folded arms, staring melancholically into +the grate, where his dreams had disappeared in smoke. By and by the +colonel sighed and opened his eyes. For a time he did not know where he +was, and his gaze wandered mistily from face to face. Then recollection +came back to him, recollection bristling with thorns. He struggled to +his feet and faced Warburton. The girl put her arms around him to +steady him, but he gently disengaged himself. + +"Are you from the secret service, sir? If so, I am ready to accompany +you wherever you say. I, who have left my blood on many a battleground, +was about to commit a treasonable act. Allow me first to straighten up +my affairs, then you may do with me as you please. I am guilty of a +crime; I have the courage to pay the penalty." His calm was +extraordinary, and even Karloff looked at him with a sparkle of +admiration. + +As a plummet plunges into the sea, so the girl's look plunged into +Warburton's soul; and had he been an officer of the law, he knew that +he would have utterly disregarded his duty. + +"I am not a secret service man, sir," he replied unevenly. "If I +were,"--pointing to the grate, "your plans would not have fed the fire." + +"Who are you, then, and what do you in my house in this +guise?"--proudly. + +"I am your head stable-man--for the present. It was all by chance. I +came into this room yesterday to get a book on veterinary surgery. I +accidentally saw a plan. I have been a soldier. I knew that such a +thing had no rightful place in this house.... I was coming across the +lawn, when I looked into the window. ... It is not for me to judge you, +sir. My duty lay in destroying those plans before they harmed any one." + +"No, it is not for you to judge me," said the colonel. "I have gambled +away my daughter's fortune. To keep her in ignorance of the fact and to +return to her the amount I had wrongfully used, I consented to sell to +Russia the coast fortification plans of my country, such as I could +draw from memory. No, it is not for you to judge me; only God has the +right to do that." + +"I am only a groom," said Warburton, simply. "What I have heard I shall +forget." + +Ah, had he but looked at the girl's face then! + +A change came over Karloff's countenance; his shoulders drooped; the +melancholy fire died out of his face and eyes. With an air of +resignation and a clear sense of the proportion of things, he reached +out and took up the note upon which Annesley had scrawled his signature. + +Warburton, always alert, seized the count's wrist. He saw the name of a +bank and the sum of five figures. + +"What is this?" he demanded. + +"It is mine," replied the count, haughtily. + +Warburton released him. + +"He speaks truly," said the colonel. "It is his." + +"The hour of madness is past," the Russian began, slowly and musically. +The tone was musing. He seemed oblivious of his surroundings and that +three pairs of curious eyes were leveled in his direction. He studied +the note, creased it, drew it through his fingers, smoothed it and +caressed it. "And I should have done exactly as I threatened. There is, +then, a Providence which watches jealously over the innocent? And I was +a skeptic!... Two hundred thousand dollars,"--picking up the packet of +banknotes and balancing it on his hand. "Well, it is a sum large enough +to tempt any man. How the plans and schemes of men crumble to the +touch! Ambition is but the pursuit of mirages.... Mademoiselle, you +will never know what the ignominy of this moment has cost me--nor how +well I love you. I come of a race of men who pursue their heart's +desire through fire and water. Obstacles are nothing; the end is +everything. In Europe I should have won, in honor or in dishonor. But +this American people, I do not quite understand them; and that is why I +have played the villain to no purpose." + +He paused, and a sad, bitter smile played over his face. + +"Mademoiselle," he continued, "henceforth, wherever I may go, your face +and the sound of your voice shall abide with me. I do not ask you to +forget, but I ask you to forgive." Again he paused. + +She uttered no sound. + +"Well, one does not forget nor forgive these things in so short a time. +And, after all, it was your own father's folly. Fate threw him across +my path at a critical moment--but I had reckoned without you. Your +father is a brave man, for he had the courage to offer himself to the +law; I have the courage to give you up. I, too, am a soldier; I +recognize the value of retreat." To Warburton he said: "A groom, a +hostler, to upset such plans as these! I do not know who you are, sir, +nor how to account for your timely and peculiar appearance. But I fully +recognize the falseness of your presence here. Eh, well, this is what +comes of race prejudice, the senseless battle which has always been and +always will be waged between the noble and the peasant. Had I observed +you at the proper time, our positions might relatively have been +changed. Useless retrospection!" To Annesley: "Sir, we are equally +culpable. Here is this note of yours. I might, as a small contribution +toward righting the comparative wrong which I have done you, I might +cast it into the fire. But between gentlemen, situated as we are, the +act would be as useless as it would be impossible. I might destroy the +note, but you would refuse to accept such generosity at my +hands,--which is well." + +"What you say is perfectly true." The colonel drew his daughter closer +to him. + +"So," went on the count, putting the note in his pocket, "to-morrow I +shall have my ducats." + +"My bank will discount the note," said the colonel, with a proud look; +"my indebtedness shall be paid in full." + +"As I have not the slightest doubt. Mademoiselle, fortune ignores you +but temporarily; misfortune has brushed only the hem of your garment, +as it were. Do not let the fear of poverty alarm you,"--lightly. "I +prophesy a great public future for you. And when you play that _Largo_ +of Handel's, to a breathless audience, who knows that I may not be +hidden behind the curtain of some stall, drinking in the heavenly sound +made by that loving bow?.... Romance enters every human being's life; +like love and hate, it is primitive. But to every book fate writes +_finis_." + +He thrust the bank-notes carelessly into his coat pocket, and walked +slowly toward the hallway. At the threshold he stopped and looked back. +The girl could not resist the magnetism of his dark eyes. She was +momentarily fascinated, and her heart beat painfully. + +"If only I might go with the memory of your forgiveness," he said. + +"I forgive you." + +"Thank you." Then Karloff resolutely proceeded; the portiere fell +behind him. Shortly after she heard the sound of closing doors, the +rattle of a carriage, and then all became still. Thus the handsome +barbarian passed from the scene. + +The colonel resumed his chair, his arm propped on a knee and his head +bowed in his hand. Quickly the girl fell to her knees, hid her face on +his breast, and regardless of the groom's presence, silently wept. + +"My poor child!" faltered the colonel. "God could not have intended to +give you so wretched a father. Poverty and dishonor, poverty and +dishonor; I who love you so well have brought you these!" + +Warburton, biting his trembling lips, tiptoed cautiously to the window, +opened it and stepped outside. He raised his fevered face gratefully to +the icy rain. A great and noble plan had come to him. + +As Mrs. Chadwick said, love is magnificent only when it gives all +without question. + + + + +XXIV + +A FINE LOVER + + +Karloff remained in seclusion till the following Tuesday; after that +day he was seen no more in Washington. From time to time some news of +him filters through the diplomatic circles of half a dozen capitals to +Washington. The latest I heard of him, he was at Port Arthur. It was +evident that Russia valued his personal address too highly to exile him +because of his failure in Washington. Had he threatened or gone about +noisily, we should all have forgotten him completely. As it is, the +memory of him to-day is as vivid as his actual presence. Thus, I give +him what dramatists call an agreeable exit. + +I was in the Baltimore and Potomac station the morning after that +unforgetable night at Senator Blank's house. I had gone there to see +about the departure of night trains, preparatory to making a flying +trip to New York, and was leaving the station when a gloved hand +touched me on the arm. The hand belonged to Mrs. Chadwick. She was +dressed in the conventional traveling gray, and but for the dark lines +under her eyes she would have made a picture for any man to admire. She +looked tired, very tired, as women look who have not slept well. + +"Good morning, Mr. Orator," she said, saluting me with a smile. + +"You are going away?" I asked, shaking her hand cordially. + +"'Way, 'way, away! I am leaving for Nice, where I expect to spend the +winter. I had intended to remain in Washington till the holidays; but I +plead guilty to a roving disposition, and I frequently change my mind." + +"Woman's most charming prerogative," said I, gallantly. + +What a mask the human countenance is! How little I dreamed that I was +jesting with a woman whose heart was breaking, and numbed with a +terrible pain! + +Her maid came up to announce that everything was ready for her +reception in the state-room, and that the train was about to draw out +of the station. Mrs. Chadwick and I bade each other good-by. Two years +passed before I saw her again. + +At eleven o'clock I returned to my rooms to pack a case and have the +thing off my mind. Tramping restlessly up and down before my bachelor +apartment house I discerned M'sieu Zhames. His face was pale and +troubled, but the angle of his jaw told me that he had determined upon +something or other. + +"Ha!" I said railingly. He wore a decently respectable suit of +ready-made clothes. "Lost your job and want me to give you a +recommendation?" + +"I want a few words with you, Chuck, and no fooling. Don't say that you +can't spare the time. You've simply _got_ to." + +"With whom am I to talk, James, the groom, or Warburton, the gentleman?" + +"You are to talk with the man whose sister you are to marry." + +I became curious, naturally. "No police affair?" + +"No, it's not the police. I can very well go to a lawyer, but I desire +absolute secrecy. Let us go up to your rooms at once." + +I led the way. I was beginning to desire to know what all this meant. + +"Has anybody recognized you?" I asked, unlocking the door to my +apartment. + +"No; and I shouldn't care a hang if they had." + +"Oho!" + +Warburton flung himself into a chair and lighted a cigar. He puffed it +rapidly, while I got together my shaving and toilet sets. + +"Start her up," said I. + +"Chuck, when my father died he left nearly a quarter of a million in +five per cents; that is to say, Jack, Nancy and I were given a yearly +income of about forty-five hundred. Nancy's portion and mine are still +in bonds which do not mature till 1900. Jack has made several bad +investments, and about half of his is gone; but his wife has plenty, so +his losses do not trouble him. Now, I have been rather frugal during +the past seven years. I have lived entirely upon my Army pay. I must +have something like twenty-five thousand lying in the bank in New York. +On Monday, between three and four o'clock, Colonel Annesley will become +practically a beggar, a pauper." + +"What?" My shaving-mug slipped from my hand and crashed to the floor, +where it lay in a hundred pieces. + +"Yes. He and his daughter will not have a roof of their own: all gone, +every stick and stone. Don't ask me any questions; only do as I ask of +you." He took out his check-book and filled out two blanks. These he +handed to me. "The large one I want you to place in the Union bank, to +the credit of Colonel Annesley." + +I looked at the check. "Twenty thousand dollars?" I gasped. + +"The Union bank has this day discounted the colonel's note. It falls +due on Monday. In order to meet it, he will have to sell what is left +of the Virginian estate and his fine horses. The interest will be +inconsiderable." + +"What--" I began, but he interrupted me. + +"I shall not answer a single question. The check for three thousand is +for the purchase of the horses, which will be put on sale Saturday +morning. They are easily worth this amount. Through whatever agency you +please, buy these horses for me, but not in my name. As for the note, +cash my check first and present the currency for the note. No one will +know anything about it then. You can not trace money." + +"Good Lord, Bob, you are crazy! You are giving away a fortune," I +remonstrated. + +"It is my own, and my capital remains untouched." + +"Have you told her that you love her? Does she know who you are?" I was +very much excited. + +"No,"--sadly, "I haven't told her that I love her. She does not know +who I am. What is more, I never want her to know. I have thrown my arms +roughly around her, thinking her to be Nancy, and have kissed her. Some +reparation is due her. On Monday I shall pack up quietly and return to +the West" + +"Annesley beggared? What in heaven's name does this all mean?" I was +confounded. + +"Some day, Chuck, when you have entered the family properly as my +sister's husband, perhaps I may confide in you. At present the secret +isn't mine. Let it suffice that through peculiar circumstances, the +father of the girl I love is ruined. I am not doing this for any +theatrical play, gratitude and all that rot,"--with half a smile, "I +admire and respect Colonel Annesley; I love his daughter, hopelessly +enough. I have never been of much use to any one. Other persons' +troubles never worried me to any extent; I was happy-go-lucky, careless +and thoughtless. True, I never passed a beggar without dropping a coin +into his cup. But often this act was the result of a good dinner and a +special vintage. The twenty thousand will keep the colonel's home, the +house his child was born in and her mother before her. I am doing this +crazy thing, as you call it, because it is going to make me rather +happy. I shall disappear Monday. They may or they may not suspect who +has come to their aid. They may even trace the thing to you; but you +will be honor-bound to reveal nothing. When you have taken up the note, +mail it to Annesley. You will find Count Karloff's name on it." + +"Karloff?" I was in utter darkness. + +"Yes. Annesley borrowed twenty thousand of him on a three months' note. +Both men are well known at the Union bank, Karloff having a temporary +large deposit there, and Annesley always having done his banking at the +same place. Karloff, for reasons which I can not tell you, did not turn +in the note till this morning. You will take it up this afternoon." + +"Annesley, whom I believed to be a millionaire, penniless; Karloff one +of his creditors? Bob, I do not think that you are treating me fairly. +I can't go into this thing blind." + +"If you will not do it under these conditions, I shall have to find +some one who will,"--resolutely. + +I looked at the checks and then at him.... Twenty-three thousand +dollars! It was more than I ever before held in my hand at one time. +And he was giving it away as carelessly as I should have given away a +dime. Then the bigness of the act, the absolute disinterestedness of +it, came to me suddenly. + +"Bob, you are the finest lover in all the world! And if Miss Annesley +ever knows who you are, she isn't a woman if she does not fall +immediately in love with you." I slapped him on the shoulder. I was +something of a lover myself, and I could understand. + +"She will never know. I don't want her to know. That is why I am going +away. I want to do a good deed, and be left in the dark to enjoy it. +That is all. After doing this, I could never look her in the eyes as +Robert Warburton. I shall dine with the folks on Sunday. I shall +confess all only to Nancy, who has always been the only confidante I +have ever had among the women." + +There was a pause. I could bring no words to my lips. Finally I +stammered out: "Nancy knows. I told her everything last night. I broke +my word with you, Bob, but I could not help it She was crying again +over what she thinks to be your heartlessness. I _had_ to tell her." + +"What did she say?"--rising abruptly. + +"She laughed, and I do not know when I have seen her look so happy. +There'll be a double wedding yet, my boy." I was full of enthusiasm. + +"I wish I could believe you, Chuck; I wish I could. I'm rather glad you +told Nan. I love her, and I don't want her to worry about me." He +gripped my hand. "You will do just as I ask?" + +"To the very letter. Will you have a little Scotch to perk you up a +bit? You look rather seedy." + +"No,"--smiling dryly. "If she smelt liquor on my breath I should lose +my position. Good-by, then, till Sunday." + +I did not go to New York that night. I forgot all about going. Instead, +I went to Nancy, to whom I still go whenever I am in trouble or in +doubt. + + + + +XXV + +A FINE HEROINE, TOO + + +Friday morning. + +Miss Annesley possessed more than the ordinary amount of force and +power of will. Though the knowledge of it was not patent to her, she +was a philosopher. She always submitted gracefully to the inevitable. +She was religious, too, feeling assured that God would provide. She did +not go about the house, moaning and weeping; she simply studied all +sides of the calamity, and looked around to see what could be saved. +There were moments when she was even cheerful. There were no new lines +in her face; her eyes were bright and eager. All persons of genuine +talent look the world confidently in the face; they know exactly what +they can accomplish. As Karloff had advised her, she did not trouble +herself about the future. Her violin would support her and her father, +perhaps in comfortable circumstances. The knowledge of this gave her a +silent happiness, that kind which leaves upon the face a serene and +beautiful calm. + +At this moment she stood on the veranda, her hand shading her eyes. She +was studying the sky. The afternoon would be clear; the last ride +should be a memorable one. The last ride! Tears blurred her eyes and +there was a smothering sensation in her throat. The last ride! After +to-day Jane would have a new, strange mistress. If only she might go to +this possible mistress and tell her how much she loved the animal, to +obtain from her the promise that she would be kind to it always. How +mysteriously the human heart spreads its tendrils around the objects of +its love! What is there in the loving of a dog or a horse that, losing +one or the other, an emptiness is created? Perhaps it is because the +heart goes out wholly without distrust to the faithful, to the +undeceiving, to the dumb but loving beast, which, for all its strength, +is so helpless. + +She dropped her hand and spoke to James, who was waiting near by for +her orders. + +"James, you will have Pierre fill a saddle-hamper; two plates, two +knives and forks, and so forth. We shall ride in the north country this +afternoon. It will be your last ride. To-morrow the horses will be +sold." How bravely she said it! + +"Yes, Miss Annesley." Whom were they going to meet in the north +country? "At what hour shall I bring the horses around?" + +"At three." + +She entered the house and directed her steps to the study. She found +her father arranging the morning's mail. She drew up a chair beside +him, and ran through her own letters. An invitation to lunch with Mrs. +Secretary-of-State; she tossed it into the waste-basket. A dinner-dance +at the Country Club, a ball at the Brazilian legation, a tea at the +German embassy, a box party at some coming play, an informal dinner at +the executive mansion; one by one they fluttered into the basket. A +bill for winter furs, a bill from the dressmaker, one from the +milliner, one from the glover, and one from the florist; these she laid +aside, reckoning their sum-total, and frowning. How could she have been +so extravagant? She chanced to look at her father. He was staring +rather stupidly at a slip of paper which he held in his trembling +fingers. + +"What is it?" she asked, vaguely troubled. + +"I do not understand," he said, extending the paper for her inspection. + +Neither did she at first. + +"Karloff has not done this," went on her father, "for it shows that he +has had it discounted at the bank. It is canceled; it is paid. I did +not have twenty thousand in the bank; I did not have even a quarter of +that amount to my credit. There has been some mistake. Our real estate +agent expects to realize on the home not earlier than Monday morning. +In case it was not sold then, he was to take up the note personally. +This is not his work, or I should have been notified." Then, with a +burst of grief: "Betty, my poor Betty! How can you forgive me? How can +I forgive myself?" + +"Father, I am brave. Let us forget. It will be better so." + +She kissed his hand and drew it lovingly across her cheek. Then she +rose and moved toward the light. She studied the note carefully. There +was nothing on it save Karloff's writing and her father's and the red +imprint of the bank's cancelation. Out of the window and beyond she saw +James leading the horses to the watering trough. Her face suddenly grew +crimson with shame, and as suddenly as it came the color faded. She +folded the note and absently tucked it into the bosom of her dress. +Then, as if struck by some strange thought, her figure grew tense and +rigid against the blue background of the sky. The glow which stole over +her features this time had no shame in it, and her eyes shone like the +waters of sunlit seas. It must never be; no it must never be. + +"We shall make inquiries at the bank," she said. "And do not be +downcast, father, the worst is over. What mistakes you have made are +forgotten The future looks bright to me." + +"Through innocent young eyes the future is ever bright; but as we age +we find most of the sunshine on either side, and we stand in the shadow +between. Brave heart, I glory in your courage. God will provide for +you; He will not let my shadow fall on you. Yours shall be the joy of +living, mine shall be the pain. God bless you! I wonder how I shall +ever meet your mother's accusing eyes?" + +"Father, you _must_ not dwell upon this any longer; for my sake you +must not. When everything is paid there will be a little left, enough +till I and my violin find something to do. After all, the world's +applause must be a fine thing. I can even now see the criticisms in the +great newspapers. 'A former young society woman, well-known in the +fashionable circles of Washington, made her _debut_ as a concert player +last night. She is a stunning young person.' 'A young queen of the +diplomatic circles, here and abroad, appeared in public as a violinist +last night. She is a member of the most exclusive sets, and society was +out to do her homage.' 'One of Washington's brilliant young +horsewomen,' and so forth. Away down at the bottom of the column, +somewhere, they will add that I play the violin rather well for an +amateur." In all her trial, this was the one bitter expression, and she +was sorry for it the moment it escaped her. Happily her father was not +listening. He was wholly absorbed in the mystery of the canceled note. + +She had mounted Jane and was gathering up the reins, while James +strapped on the saddle-hamper. This done, he climbed into the saddle +and signified by touching his cap that all was ready. So they rode +forth in the sweet freshness of that November afternoon. A steady wind +was blowing, the compact white clouds sailed swiftly across the +brilliant heavens, the leaves whispered and fluttered, hither and +thither, wherever the wind listed; it was the day of days. It was the +last ride, and fate owed them the compensation of a beautiful afternoon. + +The last ride! Warburton's mouth drooped. Never again to ride with her! +How the thought tightened his heart! What a tug it was going to be to +give her up! But so it must be. He could never face her gratitude. He +must disappear, like the good fairies in the story-books. If he left +now, and she found out what he had done, she would always think kindly +of him, even tenderly. At twilight, when she took out her violin and +played soft measures, perhaps a thought or two would be given to him. +After what had happened--this contemptible masquerading and the crisis +through which her father had just passed--it would be impossible for +her to love him. She would always regard him with suspicion, as a +witness of her innocent shame. + +He recalled the two wooden plates in the hamper. Whom was she going to +meet? Ah, well, what mattered it? After to-day the abyss of eternity +would yawn between them. How he loved her! How he adored the exquisite +profile, the warm-tinted skin, the shining hair!... And he had lost +her! Ah, that last ride! + +The girl was holding her head high because her heart was full. No more +to ride on a bright morning, with the wind rushing past her, bringing +the odor of the grasses, of the flowers, of the earth to tingle her +nostrils; no more to follow the hounds on a winter's day, with the pack +baying beyond the hedges, the gay, red-coated riders sweeping down the +field; no more to wander through the halls of her mother's birthplace +and her own! Like a breath on a mirror, all was gone. Why? What had +_she_ done to be flung down ruthlessly? She, who had been brought up in +idleness and luxury, must turn her hands to a living! Without being +worldly, she knew the world. Once she appeared upon the stage, she +would lose caste among her kind. True, they would tolerate her, but no +longer would her voice be heard or her word have weight. + +Soon she would be tossed about on the whirlpool and swallowed up. Then +would come the haggling with managers, long and tiresome journeys, +gloomy hotels and indifferent fare, curious people who desired to see +the one-time fashionable belle; her portraits would be lithographed and +hung in shop-windows, in questionable resorts, and the privacy so loved +by gentlewomen gone; and perhaps there would be insults. And she was +only on the threshold of the twenties, the radiant, blooming twenties! + +[Illustration: "Go home, Colonel--and stay home!"--ACT III.] + +During the long ride (for they covered something like seven miles) not +a word was spoken. The girl was biding her time; the man had nothing to +voice. They were going through the woods, when they came upon a +clearing through which a narrow brook loitered or sallied down the +incline. She reined in and raised her crop. He was puzzled. So far as +he could see, he and the girl were alone. The third person, for whom, +he reasoned, he had brought the second plate, was nowhere in sight. + +A flat boulder lay at the side of the stream, and she nodded toward it. +Warburton emptied the hamper and spread the cloth on the stone. Then he +laid out the salad, the sandwiches, the olives, the almonds, and two +silver telescope-cups. All this time not a single word from either; +Warburton, busied with his task, did not lift his eyes to her. + +The girl had laid her face against Jane's nose, and two lonely tears +trailed slowly down her velvety cheeks. Presently he was compelled to +look at her and speak. + +"Everything is ready, Miss." He spoke huskily. The sight of her tears +gave him an indescribable agony. + +She dropped the bridle-reins, brushed her eyes, and the sunshine of a +smile broke through the troubled clouds. + +"Mr. Warburton," she said gently, "let us not play any more. I am too +sad. Let us hang up the masks, for the comedy is done." + + + + +XXVI + +THE CASTLE OF ROMANCE + + +How silent the forest was! The brook no longer murmured, the rustle of +the leaves was without sound. A spar of sunshine, filtering through the +ragged limbs of the trees, fell aslant her, and she stood in an +aureola. As for my hero, a species of paralysis had stricken him +motionless and dumb. It was all so unexpected, all so sudden, that he +had the sensation of being whirled away from reality and bundled +unceremoniously into the unreal.... She knew, and had known! A leaf +brushed his face, but he was senseless to the touch of it. All he had +the power to do was to stare at her. . . . She knew, and had known! + +Dick stepped into the brook and began to paw the water, and the +intermission of speech and action came to an end. + +"You-and you knew?" What a strange sound his voice had in his own ears! + +"Yes. From the very beginning--I knew you to be a gentleman in +masquerade; that is to say, when I saw you in the police-court. The +absence of the beard confused me at first, but presently I recognized +the gentleman whom I had noticed on board the ship." + +So she had noticed him! + +"That night you believed me to be your sister Nancy. But I did not know +this till lately. And the night I visited her she exhibited some +photographs. Among these was a portrait of you without a beard." + +Warburton started. And the thought that this might be the case had +never trickled through his thick skull! How she must have laughed at +him secretly! + +She continued: "Even then I was not sure. But when Colonel Raleigh +declared that you resembled a former lieutenant of his, then I knew." +She ceased. She turned to her horse as if to gather the courage to go +on; but Jane had her nose hidden in the stream, and was oblivious of +her mistress' need. + +He waited dully for her to resume, for he supposed that she had not yet +done. + +"I have humiliated you in a hundred ways, and for this I want you to +forgive me. I sent the butler away for the very purpose of making you +serve in his stead. But you were so good about it all, with never a +murmur of rebellion, that I grew ashamed of my part in the comedy. But +now--" Her eyes closed and her body swayed; but she clenched her hands, +and the faintness passed away. "But for you, my poor father would have +been dishonored, and I should have been forced into the arms of a man +whom I despise. Whenever I have humiliated you, you have returned the +gift of a kind deed. You will forgive me?" + +"Forgive you? There is nothing for me to forgive on my side, much on +yours. It is you who should forgive me. What you have done I have +deserved." His tongue was thick and dry. How much did she know? + +"No, not wholly deserved it." She fumbled with the buttons of her +waist; her eyes were so full that she could not see. She produced an +oblong slip of paper. + +When he saw it, a breath as of ice enveloped him. The thing she held +out toward him was the canceled note. For a while he did me the honor +to believe that I had betrayed him. + +"I understand the kind and generous impulse which prompted this deed. +Oh, I admire it, and I say to you, God bless you! But don't you see how +impossible it is? It can not be; no, no! My father and I are proud. +What we owe we shall pay. Poverty, to be accepted without plaint, must +be without debts of gratitude. But it was noble and great of you; and I +knew that you intended to run away without ever letting any one know." + +"Who told you?" + +"No one. I guessed it." + +And he might have denied all knowledge of it! + +"Won't you--won't you let it be as it is? I have never done anything +worth while before, and this has made me happy. Won't you let me do +this? Only you need know. I am going away on Monday, and it will be +years before I see Washington again. No one need ever know." + +"It is impossible!" + +"Why?" + +She looked away. In her mind's eye she could see this man leading a +troop through a snow-storm. How the wind roared! How the snow whirled +and eddied about them, or suddenly blotted them from sight! But, on and +on, resolutely, courageously, hopefully, he led them on to safety.... +He was speaking, and the picture dissolved. + +"Won't you let it remain just as it is?" he pleaded. + +Her head moved negatively, and once more she extended the note. He took +it and slowly tore it into shreds. With it he was tearing up the dream +and tossing it down the winds. + +"The money will be placed to your credit at the bank on Monday. We can +not accept such a gift from any one. You would not, I know. But always +shall I treasure the impulse. It will give me courage in the +future--when I am fighting alone." + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I? I am going to appear before the public,"--with assumed lightness; +"I and my violin." + +He struck his hands together. "The stage?"--horrified. + +"I must live,"--calmly. + +"But a servant to public caprice? It ought not to be! I realize that I +can not force you to accept my gift, but this I shall do: I shall buy +in the horses and give them back to you." + +"You mustn't. I shall have no place to put them. Oh!"--with a gesture +full of despair and unshed tears, "why have you done all this? Why this +mean masquerade, this submitting to the humiliations I have contrived +for you, this act of generosity? Why?" + +Perhaps she knew the answers to her own questions, but, womanlike, +wanted to be told. + +And at that moment, though I am not sure, I believe Warburton's +guarding angel gave him some secret advice. + +"You ask me why I have played the fool in the motley?"--finding the +strength of his voice. "Why I have submitted in silence to your just +humiliations? Why I have acted what you term generously? Do you mean to +tell me that you have not guessed the riddle?" + +She turned her delicate head aside and switched the grasses with her +riding-crop. + +"Well,"--flinging aside his cap, which he had been holding in his hand, +"I will tell you. I wanted to be near you. I wanted to be, what you +made me, your servant. It is the one great happiness that I have known. +I have done all these things because--because, God help me, I love you! +Yes, I love you, with every beat of my heart!"--lifting his head +proudly. Upon his face love had put the hallowed seal. "Do not turn +your head away, for my love is honest. I ask nothing, nothing; I expect +nothing. I know that it is hopeless. What woman could love a man who +has made himself ridiculous in her eyes, as I have made myself in +yours?"--bitterly. + +"No, not ridiculous; never that!" she interrupted, her face still +averted. + +He strode toward her hastily, and for a moment her heart almost ceased +to beat. But all he did was to kneel at her feet and kiss the hem of +her riding-skirt. He rose hurriedly. + +"God bless you, and good-by!" He knew that if he remained he would lose +all control, crush her madly in his arms, and hurt her lips with his +despairing kisses. He had not gone a dozen paces, when he heard her +call pathetically. He stopped. + +"Mr. Warburton, surely you are not going to leave me here alone with +the horses?" + +"Pardon me, I did not think! I am confused!" he blundered. + +"You are modest, too." Why is it that, at the moment a man succumbs to +his embarrassment, a woman rises above hers? "Come nearer,"--a command +which he obeyed with some hesitation. "You have been a groom, a butler, +all for the purpose of telling me that you love me. Listen. Love is +like a pillar based upon a dream: one by one we lay the stones of +beauty, of courage, of faith, of honor, of steadfastness. We wake, and +how the beautiful pillar tumbles about our ears! What right have you to +build up your pillar upon a dream of me? What do you know of the real +woman--for I have all the faults and vanities of the sex; what do you +know of me? How do you know that I am not selfish? that I am constant? +that I am worthy a man's loving?" + +"Love is not like Justice, with a pair of scales to weigh this or that. +I do not ask _why_ I love you; the knowledge is all I need. And you are +_not_ selfish, inconstant, and God knows that you are worth loving. As +I said, I ask for nothing." + +"On the other hand," she continued, as if she had not heard his +interpolation, "I know you thoroughly. I have had evidence of your +courage, your steadfastness, your unselfishness. Do not misunderstand +me. I am proud that you love me. This love of yours, which asks for no +reward, only the right to confess, ought to make any good woman happy, +whether she loved or not. And you would have gone away without telling +me, even!" + +"Yes." He dug into the earth with his riding-boot. If only she knew how +she was crucifying him! + +"Why were you going away without telling me?" + +He was dumb. + +Her arms and eyes, uplifted, appealed to heaven. "What shall I say? How +shall I make him understand?" she murmured. "You love me, and you ask +for nothing? Is it because in spirit my father has committed a +crime?"--growing tall and darting a proud glance at him. + +"Good heaven, do not believe that!" he cried, + +"What _am_ I to believe?"--tapping the ground with her boot so that the +spur jingled. + +A pause. + +"Mr. Warburton, do you know what a woman loves in a man? I will tell +you the secret. She loves courage, constancy, and honor, purpose that +surmounts obstacles; she loves pursuit; she loves the hour of +surrender. Every woman builds a castle of romance and waits for Prince +Charming to enter, and once he does, there must be a game of hide and +seek. Perhaps I have built my castle of romance, too. I wait for Prince +Charming, and--a man comes, dressed as a groom. There has been a game +of hide and seek, but somehow he has tripped. Will you not ask me if I +love you?" + +"No, no! I understand. I do not want your gratitude. You are meeting +generosity with generosity. I do not want your gratitude."--brokenly. +"I want your love, every thought of your mind, every beat of your +heart. Can you give me these, honestly?" + +She drew off a glove. Her hand became lost in her bosom. When she drew +it forth she extended it, palm upward. Upon it lay a faded, withered +rose. Once more she turned her face away. + +He was at her side, and the hand and rose were crushed between his two +hands. + +"Can you give what I ask? Your love, your thoughts, your heart-beats?" + +It was her turn to remain dumb. + +"Can you?" He drew her toward him perhaps roughly, being unconscious of +his strength and the nervous energy which the sight of the rose had +called into being. + +"Can we give those things which are--already--given?" + +Only Warburton and the angels, or rather the angels and Warburton, to +get at the chronological order of things, heard her, so low had grown +her voice. + +You may tell any kind of secret to a horse; the animal will never +betray you. Warburton would never tell me what followed; and I am too +sensible to hang around the horses in hopes of catching them in the act +of talking over the affair among themselves. But I can easily imagine +this bit of equine dialogue: + +_Jane_: Did you ever see such foolishness? + +_Dick_: Never! And with all this good grass about! + +Whatever _did_ follow caused the girl to murmur: "This is the lover I +love; this is the lover I have been waiting for in my castle of +romance. I am glad that I have lost all worldly things; I am glad, +glad! When did you first learn that you loved me?" + +(Old, very old; thousands of years old, and will grow to be many +thousand years older. But from woman's lips it is the sweetest question +man ever heard.) + +"At the _Gare du Nord_, in Paris; the first time I saw you." + +"And you followed me across the ocean?"--wonderingly. + +"And when did you first learn that you loved me?" he asked. + +(Oh, the trite phrases of lovers' litany.) + +"When I saw you in the police-court. Mercy! what a scandal! I am to +marry my butler!" + +_Jane:_ They are laughing! + +_Dick:_ That is better than weeping. Besides, they will probably walk +us home. (Wise animal!) + +He was not only wise but prophetic. The lovers _did_ walk the horses +home. Hand in hand they came back along the road, through the flame and +flush of the ripening year. The god of light burned in the far west, +blending the brown earth with his crimson radiance, while the purple +shadows of the approaching dusk grew larger and larger. The man turned. + +"What a beautiful world it is!" he said. + +"I begin to find it so," replied the girl, looking not at the world, +but at him. + +THE END + + + + +Postscript: + +I believe they sent William back for the saddle-hamper and my jehu's +cap. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Man on the Box, by Harold MacGrath + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN ON THE BOX *** + +***** This file should be named 6578.txt or 6578.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/5/7/6578/ + +Produced by Duncan Harold, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Man on the Box + +Author: Harold MacGrath + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6578] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN ON THE BOX *** + + + + +Produced by Duncan Harold, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: Henry E. Dixey in "The Man on the Box."] + +THE MAN ON THE BOX + +by + +HAROLD MACGRATH + +Author of +The Grey Cloak, The Puppet Crown + +Illustrated by scenes from Walter N. Lawrence's beautiful production +of the play as seen for 123 nights at the Madison Square Theatre, New +York + + + + + +To Miss Louise Everts + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I Introduces My Hero + + II Introduces My Heroine + + III The Adventure Begins + + IV A Family Reunion + + V The Plot Thickens + + VI The Man on the Box + + VII A Police Affair + + VIII Another Salad Idea + + IX The Heroine Hires a Groom + + X Pirate + + XI The First Ride + + XII A Ticklish Business + + XIII A Runaway + + XIV An Ordeal or Two + + XV Retrospective + + XVI The Previous Affair + + XVII Dinner is Served + +XVIII Caught! + + XIX "Oh, Mister Butler" + + XX The Episode of the Stove Pipe + + XXI The Rose + + XXII The Drama Unrolls + +XXIII Something About Heroes + + XXIV A Fine Lover + + XXV A Fine Heroine, Too + + XXVI The Castle of Romance + + + + +_He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, +Who dares not put it to the touch + To win or lose it all._ + + + + +_Dramatis Personae_ + +_Colonel George Annesley_ A retired Army Officer + +_Miss Betty Annesley_ His daughter + +_Lieutenant Robert Warburton_ Lately resigned + +_Mr. John Warburton_ His elder brother, of the War + Department + +_Mrs. John Warburton_ The elder brother's wife + +_Miss Nancy Warburton_ The lieutenant's sister + +_Mr. Charles Henderson_ Her fiance + +_Count Karloff_ An unattached diplomat + +_Colonel Frank Raleigh_ The Lieutenant's Regimental + Colonel + +_Mrs. Chadwick_ A product of Washington life + +_Monsieur Pierre_ A chef + +_Mademoiselle Celeste_ A lady's maid + +_Jane_ Mrs. Warburton's maid + +_The Hopeful_ A baby + +_William_ A stable-boy + +_Fashionable People_ Necessary for a dinner party + +_Celebrities_ Also necessary for a dinner party + +_Unfashionables_ Police, cabbies, grooms, clerks, + etc. + + + +TIME--Within the past ten years. + +SCENE--Washington, D.C., and its environs. + + + + +I + +INTRODUCES MY HERO + + +If you will carefully observe any map of the world that is divided +into inches at so many miles to the inch, you will be surprised as +you calculate the distance between that enchanting Paris of France +and the third-precinct police-station of Washington, D. C, which is +not enchanting. It is several thousand miles. Again, if you will take +the pains to run your glance, no doubt discerning, over the police- +blotter at the court (and frankly, I refuse to tell you the exact +date of this whimsical adventure), you will note with even greater +surprise that all this hubbub was caused by no crime against the +commonwealth of the Republic or against the person of any of its +conglomerate people. The blotter reads, in heavy simple fist, +"disorderly conduct," a phrase which is almost as embracing as the +word diplomacy, or society, or respectability. + +So far as my knowledge goes, there is no such a person as James +Osborne. If, by any unhappy chance, he _does_ exist, I trust +that he will pardon the civil law of Washington, my own measure of +familiarity, and the questionable taste on the part of my hero--hero, +because, from the rise to the fall of the curtain, he occupies the +center of the stage in this little comedy-drama, and because authors +have yet to find a happy synonym for the word. The name James Osborne +was given for the simple reason that it was the first that occurred +to the culprit's mind, so desperate an effort did he make to hide his +identity. Supposing, for the sake of an argument in his favor, +supposing he had said John Smith or William Jones or John Brown? To +this very day he would have been hiring lawyers to extricate him from +libel and false-representation suits. Besides, had he given any of +these names, would not that hound-like scent of the ever suspicious +police have been aroused? + +To move round and round in the circle of commonplace, and then to pop +out of it like a tailed comet! Such is the history of many a man's +life. I have a near friend who went away from town one fall, happy +and contented with his lot. And what do you suppose he found when he +returned home? He had been nominated for alderman. It is too early to +predict the fate of this unhappy man. And what tools Fate uses with +which to carve out her devious peculiar patterns! An Apache Indian, +besmeared with brilliant greases and smelling of the water that never +freezes, an understudy to Cupid? Fudge! you will say, or Pshaw! or +whatever slang phrase is handy and, prevalent at the moment you read +and run. + +I personally warn you that this is a really-truly story, though I do +not undertake to force you to believe it; neither do I purvey many +grains of salt. If Truth went about her affairs laughing, how many +more persons would turn and listen! For my part, I believe it all +nonsense the way artists have pictured Truth. The idea is pretty +enough, but so far as hitting things, it recalls the woman, the +stone, and the hen. I am convinced that Truth goes about dressed in +the dowdiest of clothes, with black-lisle gloves worn at the fingers, +and shoes run down in the heels, an exact portrait of one of Phil +May's lydies. Thus it is that we pass her by, for the artistic sense +in every being is repelled at the sight of a dowdy with weeping eyes +and a nose that has been rubbed till it is as red as a winter apple. +Anyhow, if she _does_ go about in beautiful nudity, she ought at +least to clothe herself with smiles and laughter. There are sorry +enough things in the world as it is, without a lachrymal, +hypochondriacal Truth poking her face in everywhere. + +Not many months ago, while seated on the stone veranda in the rear of +the Metropolitan Club in Washington (I believe we were discussing the +merits of some very old product), I recounted some of the lighter +chapters of this adventure. + +_"Eempossible!"_ murmured the Russian attache, just as if the +matter had not come under his notice semi-officially. + +I presume that this exclamation disclosed another side to diplomacy, +which, stripped of its fine clothes, means dexterity in hiding +secrets and in negotiating lies. When one diplomat believes what +another says, it is time for the former's government to send him +packing. However, the Englishman at my right gazed smiling into his +partly emptied glass and gently stirred the ice. I admire the English +diplomat; he never wastes a lie. He is frugal and saving. + +"But the newspapers!" cried the journalist. "They never ran a line; +and an exploit like this would scarce have escaped them." + +"If I remember rightly, it was reported in the regular police items +of the day," said I. + +"Strange that the boys didn't look behind the scenes." + +"Oh, I don't know," remarked the congressman; "lots of things happen +of which you are all ignorant. The public mustn't know everything." + +"But what's the hero's name?" asked the journalist. + +"That's a secret," I answered. "Besides, when it comes to the bottom +of the matter, I had something to do with the suppressing of the +police news. In a case like this, suppression becomes a law not +excelled by that which governs self-preservation. My friend has a +brother in the War Department; and together we worked wonders." + +"It's a jolly droll story, however you look at it," the Englishman +admitted. + +"Nevertheless, it had its tragic side; but that is even more than +ever a secret." + +The Englishman looked at me sharply, even gravely; but the veranda is +only dimly illuminated at night, and his scrutiny went unrewarded. + +"Eh, well!" said the Russian; "your philosopher has observed that all +mankind loves a lover." + +"As all womankind loves a love-story," the Englishman added. "You +ought to be very successful with the ladies,"--turning to me. + +"Not inordinately; but I shall not fail to repeat your epigram,"--and +I rose. + +My watch told me that it was half after eight; and one does not +receive every day an invitation to a dinner-dance at the Chevy Chase +Club. + +I dislike exceedingly to intrude my own personality into this +narrative, but as I was passively concerned, I do not see how I can +avoid it. Besides, being a public man, I am not wholly averse to +publicity; first person, singular, perpendicular, as Thackeray had +it, in type looks rather agreeable to the eye. And I rather believe +that I have a moral to point out and a parable to expound. + +My appointment in Washington at that time was extraordinary; that is +to say, I was a member of one of those committees that are born +frequently and suddenly in Washington, and which almost immediately +after registration in the vital statistics of national politics. I +had been sent to Congress, a dazzling halo over my head, the pride +and hope of my little country town; I had been defeated for second +term; had been recommended to serve on the committee aforesaid; +served with honor, got my name in the great newspapers, and was sent +back to Congress, where I am still to-day, waiting patiently for a +discerning president and a vacancy in the legal department of the +cabinet. That's about all I am willing to say about myself. + +As for this hero of mine, he was the handsomest, liveliest rascal you +would expect to meet in a day's ride. By handsome I do not mean +perfect features, red cheeks, Byronic eyes, and so forth. That style +of beauty belongs to the department of lady novelists. I mean that +peculiar manly beauty which attracts men almost as powerfully as it +does women. For the sake of a name I shall call him Warburton. His +given name in actual life is Robert. But I am afraid that nobody but +his mother and one other woman ever called him Robert. The world at +large dubbed him Bob, and such he will remain up to that day (and may +it be many years hence!) when recourse will be had to Robert, because +"Bob" would certainly look very silly on a marble shaft. + +What a friendly sign is a nickname! It is always a good fellow who is +called Bob or Bill, Jack or Jim, Tom, Dick or Harry. Even out of +Theodore there comes a Teddy. I know in my own case the boys used to +call me Chuck, simply because I was named Charles. (I haven't the +slightest doubt that I was named Charles because my good mother +thought I looked something like Vandyke's _Charles I_, though at +the time of my baptism I wore no beard whatever.) And how I hated a +boy with a high-sounding, unnicknamable given name!--with his round +white collar and his long glossy curls! I dare say he hated the name, +the collar, and the curls even more than I did. Whenever you run +across a name carded in this stilted fashion, "A. Thingumy Soandso", +you may make up your mind at once that the owner is ashamed of his +first name and is trying manfully to live it down and eventually +forgive his parents. + +Warburton was graduated from West Point, ticketed to a desolate +frontier post, and would have worn out his existence there but for +his guiding star, which was always making frantic efforts to bolt its +established orbit. One day he was doing scout duty, perhaps half a +mile in advance of the pay-train, as they called the picturesque +caravan which, consisting of a canopied wagon and a small troop of +cavalry in dingy blue, made progress across the desert-like plains of +Arizona. The troop was some ten miles from the post, and as there had +been no sign of Red Eagle all that day, they concluded that the rumor +of his being on a drunken rampage with half a dozen braves was only a +rumor. Warburton had just passed over a roll of earth, and for a +moment the pay-train had dropped out of sight. It was twilight; +opalescent waves of heat rolled above the blistered sands. A pale +yellow sky, like an inverted bowl rimmed with delicate blue and +crimson hues, encompassed the world. The bliss of solitude fell on +him, and, being something of a poet, he rose to the stars. The smoke +of his corncob pipe trailed lazily behind him. The horse under him +was loping along easily. Suddenly the animal lifted his head, and his +brown ears went forward. + +At Warburton's left, some hundred yards distant, was a clump of osage +brush. Even as he looked, there came a puff of smoke, followed by the +evil song of a bullet. My hero's hat was carried away. He wheeled, +dug his heels into his horse, and cut back over the trail. There came +a second flash, a shock, and then a terrible pain in the calf of his +left leg. He fell over the neck of his horse to escape the third +bullet. He could see the Apache as he stood out from behind the bush. +Warburton yanked out his Colt and let fly. He heard a yell. It was +very comforting. That was all he remembered of the skirmish. + +For five weeks he languished in the hospital. During that time he +came to the conclusion that he had had enough of military life in the +West. He applied for his discharge, as the compulsory term of service +was at an end. When his papers came he was able to get about with the +aid of a crutch. One morning his colonel entered his subaltern's +bachelor quarters. + +"Wouldn't you rather have a year's leave of absence, than quit +altogether, Warburton?" + +"A year's leave of absence?" cried the +invalid, "I am likely to get that, I am." + +"If you held a responsible position I dare say it would be difficult. +As it is, I may say that I can obtain it for you. It will be months +before you can ride a horse with that leg." + +"I thank you, Colonel Raleigh, but I think I'll resign. In fact, I +have resigned." + +"We can withdraw that, if you but say the word. I don't want to lose +you, lad. You're the only man around here who likes a joke as well as +I do. And you will have a company if you'll only stick to it a little +longer." + +"I have decided, Colonel. I'm sorry you feel like this about it. You +see, I have something like twenty-five thousand laid away. I want to +see at least five thousand dollars' worth of new scenery before I +shuffle off this mortal coil. The scenery around here palls on me. My +throat and eyes are always full of sand. I am off to Europe. Some +day, perhaps, the bee will buzz again; and when it does, I'll have +you go personally to the president." + +"As you please, Warburton." + +"Besides, Colonel, I have been reading Treasure Island again, and +I've got the fever in my veins to hunt for adventure, even a +treasure. It's in my blood to wander and do strange things, and here +I've been hampered all these years with routine. I shouldn't care if +we had a good fight once in a while. My poor old dad traveled around +the world three times, and I haven't seen anything of it but the +maps." + +"Go ahead, then. Only, talking about Treasure Island, don't you and +your twenty-five thousand run into some old Long John Silver." + +"I'll take care." + +And Mr. Robert packed up his kit and sailed away. Not many months +passed ere he met his colonel again, and under rather embarrassing +circumstances. + + + + +II + +INTRODUCES MY HEROINE + + +Let me begin at the beginning. The boat had been two days out of +Southampton before the fog cleared away. On the afternoon of the +third day, Warburton curled up in his steamer-chair and lazily viewed +the blue October seas as they met and merged with the blue October +skies. I do not recollect the popular novel of that summer, but at +any rate it lay flapping at the side of his chair, forgotten. It +never entered my hero's mind that some poor devil of an author had +sweated and labored with infinite pains over every line, and +paragraph, and page-labored with all the care and love his heart and +mind were capable of, to produce this finished child of fancy; or +that this same author, even at this very moment, might be seated on +the veranda of his beautiful summer villa, figuring out royalties on +the backs of stray envelopes. No, he never thought of these things. + +What with the wind and the soft, ceaseless jar of the throbbing +engines, half a dream hovered above his head, and touched him with a +gentle, insistent caress. If you had passed by him this afternoon, +and had been anything of a mathematician who could straighten out +geometrical angles, you would have come close to his height had you +stopped at five feet nine. Indeed, had you clipped off the heels of +his low shoes, you would have been exact. But all your nice +calculations would not have solved his weight. He was slender, but he +was hard and compact. These hard, slender fellows sometimes weigh +more than your men of greater bulk. He tipped the scales at one +hundred sixty-two, and he looked twenty pounds less. He was twenty- +eight; a casual glance at him, and you would have been willing to +wager that the joy of casting his first vote was yet to be his. + +The princess commands that I describe in detail the charms of this +Army Adonis. Far be it that I should disobey so august a command, +being, as I am, the prime minister in this her principality of +Domestic Felicity. Her brother has never ceased to be among the first +in her dear regard. He possessed the merriest black eyes: his +mother's eyes, as I, a boy, remember them. No matter how immobile his +features might be, these eyes of his were ever ready for laughter. +His nose was clean-cut and shapely. A phrenologist would have said +that his head did not lack the bump of caution; but I know better. At +present he wore a beard; so this is as large an inventory of his +personal attractions as I am able to give. When he shaves off his +beard, I shall be pleased to add further particulars. I often marvel +that the women did not turn his head. They were always sending him +notes and invitations and cutting dances for him. Perhaps his devil- +may-care air had something to do with the enchantment. I have yet to +see his equal as a horseman. He would have made it interesting for +that pair of milk-whites which our old friend, Ulysses (or was it +Diomedes?) had such ado about. + +Every man has some vice or other, even if it is only being good. +Warburton had perhaps two: poker and tobacco. He would get out of bed +at any hour if some congenial spirit knocked at the door and +whispered that a little game was in progress, and that his money was +needed to keep it going. I dare say that you know all about these +little games. But what would you? What is a man to do in a country +where you may buy a whole village for ten dollars? Warburton seldom +drank, and, like the author of this precious volume, only special +vintages. + +At this particular moment this hero of mine was going over the +monotony of the old days in Arizona, the sand-deserts, the unlovely +landscapes, the dull routine, the indifferent skirmishes with cattle- +men and Indians; the pagan bullet which had plowed through his leg. +And now it was all over; he had surrendered his straps; he was a +private citizen, with an income sufficient for his needs. It will go +a long way, forty-five hundred a year, if one does not attempt to +cover the distance in a five-thousand motor-car; and he hated all +locomotion that was not horse-flesh. + +For nine months he had been wandering over Europe, if not happy, at +least in a satisfied frame of mind. Four of these months had been +delightfully passed in Paris; and, as his nomad excursions had +invariably terminated in that queen of cities, I make Paris the +starting point of his somewhat remarkable adventures. Besides, it was +in Paris that he first saw Her. And now, here he was at last, +homeward-bound. That phrase had a mighty pleasant sound; it was to +the ear what honey is to the tongue. Still, he might yet have been in +Paris but for one thing: She was on board this very boat. + +Suddenly his eyes opened full wide, bright with eagerness. + +"It is She!" he murmured. He closed his eyes again, the hypocrite! + +Permit me to introduce you to my heroine. Mind you, she is not +_my_ creation; only Heaven may produce her like, and but once. +She is well worth turning around to gaze at. Indeed I know more than +one fine gentleman who forgot the time of day, the important +engagement, or the trend of his thought, when she passed by. + +She was coming forward, leaning against the wind and inclining to the +uncertain roll of the ship. A gray raincoat fitted snugly the +youthful rounded figure. Her hands were plunged into the pockets. You +may be sure that Mr. Robert noted through his half-closed eyelids +these inconsequent details. A tourist hat sat jauntily on the fine +light brown hair, that color which has no appropriate metaphor. (At +least, I have never found one, and I am _not_ in love with her +and _never_ was.) Warburton has described to me her eyes, so I +am positive that they were as heavenly blue as a rajah's sapphire. +Her height is of no moment. What man ever troubled himself about the +height of a woman, so long as he wasn't undersized himself? What +pleased Warburton was the exquisite skin. He was always happy with +his comparisons, and particularly when he likened her skin to the +bloomy olive pallor of a young peach. The independent stride was +distinguishingly American. Ah, the charm of these women who are my +countrywomen! They come, they go, alone, unattended, courageous +without being bold, self-reliant without being rude; inimitable. In +what an amiable frame of mind Nature must have been on the day she +cast these molds! But I proceed. The young woman's chin was tilted, +and Warburton could tell by the dilated nostrils that she was +breathing in the gale with all the joy of living, filling her healthy +lungs with it as that rare daughter of the Cyprian Isle might have +done as she sprang that morn from the jeweled Mediterranean spray, +that beggar's brooch of Neptune's. + +Warburton's heart hadn't thrilled so since the day when he first +donned cadet gray. There was scarce any room for her to pass between +his chair and the rail; and this knowledge filled the rascal with +exultation. Nearer and nearer she came. He drew in his breath sharply +as the corner of his foot-rest (aided by the sly wind) caught her +raincoat. + +"I beg your pardon!" he said, sitting up. + +She quickly released her coat, smiled faintly, and passed on. + +Sometimes the most lasting impressions are those which are printed +most lightly on the memory. Mr. Robert says that he never will forget +that first smile. And he didn't even know her name then. + +I was about to engage your attention with a description of the +villain, but on second thought I have decided that it would be rather +unfair. For at that moment he was at a disadvantage. Nature was +punishing him for a few shortcomings. The steward that night informed +Warburton, in answer to his inquiries, that he, the villain, was +dreadfully seasick, and was begging him, the steward, to scuttle the +ship and have done with it. I have my doubts regarding this. Mr. +Robert is inclined to flippancy at times. It wasn't seasickness; and +after all is said and done, it is putting it harshly to call this man +a villain. I recant. True villainy is always based upon selfishness. +Remember this, my wise ones. + +Warburton was somewhat subdued when he learned that the suffering +gentleman was _her_ father. + +"What did you say the name was?" he asked innocently. Until now he +hadn't had the courage to put the question to any one, or to prowl +around the purser's books. + +"Annesley; Colonel Annesley and daughter," answered the unsuspecting +steward. + +Warburton knew nothing then of the mental tragedy going on behind the +colonel's state-room door. How should he have known? On the contrary, +he believed that the father of such a girl must be a most knightly +and courtly gentleman. He _was_, in all outward appearance. +There had been a time, not long since, when he had been knightly and +courtly in all things. + +Surrounding every upright man there is a mire, and if he step not +wisely, he is lost. There is no coming back; step by step he must go +on and on, till he vanishes and a bubble rises over where he but +lately stood. That he misstepped innocently does not matter; mire and +evil have neither pity nor reason. To spend what is not ours and then +to try to recover it, to hide the guilty step: this is futility. From +the alpha men have made this step; to the omega they will make it, +with the same unchanging futility. After all, it _is_ money. +Money _is_ the root of all evil; let him laugh who will, in his +heart of hearts he knows it. + +Money! Have you never heard that siren call to you, call seductively +from her ragged isle, where lurk the reefs of greed and selfishness? +Money! What has this siren not to offer? Power, ease, glory, luxury; +aye, I had almost said love! But, no; love is the gift of God, money +is the invention of man: all the good, all the evil, in the heart of +this great humanity. + + + + +III + +THE ADVENTURE BEGINS + + +It was only when the ship was less than a day's journey off Sandy +Hook that the colonel came on deck, once more to resume his interest +in human affairs. How the girl hovered about him! She tucked the +shawl more snugly around his feet; she arranged and rearranged the +pillows back of his head; she fed him from a bowl of soup; she read +from some favorite book; she smoothed the furrowed brow; she stilled +the long, white, nervous fingers with her own small, firm, brown +ones; she was mother and daughter in one. Wherever she moved, the +parent eye followed her, and there lay in its deeps a strange mixture +of fear, and trouble, and questioning love. All the while he drummed +ceaselessly on the arms of his chair. + +And Mr. Robert, watching all these things from afar, Mr. Robert +sighed dolorously. The residue air in his lungs was renewed more +frequently than nature originally intended it should be. Love has its +beneficences as well as its pangs, only they are not wholly +appreciable by the recipient. For what is better than a good pair of +lungs constantly filled and refilled with pure air? Mr. Robert even +felt a twinge of remorse besides. He was brother to a girl almost as +beautiful as yonder one (to my mind far more beautiful!) and he +recalled that in two years he had not seen her nor made strenuous +efforts to keep up the correspondence. Another good point added to +the score of love! And, alas! he might never see this charming girl +again, this daughter so full of filial love and care. He had sought +the captain, but that hale and hearty old sea-dog had politely +rebuffed him. + +"My dear young man," he said, "I do all I possibly can for the +entertainment and comfort of my passengers, but in this case I must +refuse your request." + +"And pray, why, sir?" demanded Mr. Robert, with dignity. + +"For the one and simple reason that Colonel Annesley expressed the +desire to be the recipient of no ship introductions." + +"What the deuce is he, a billionaire?" + +"You have me there, sir. I confess that I know nothing whatever about +him. This is the first time he has ever sailed on my deck." + +All of which perfectly accounts for Mr. Robert's sighs in what +musicians call the _doloroso_. If only he knew some one who knew +the colonel! How simple it would be! Certainly, a West Point graduate +would find some consideration. But the colonel spoke to no one save +his daughter, and his daughter to none but her parent, her maid, and +the stewardess. Would they remain in New York, or would they seek +their far-off southern home? Oh, the thousands of questions which +surged through his brain! From time to time he glanced sympathetically +at the colonel, whose fingers drummed and drummed and drummed. + +"Poor wretch! his stomach must be in bad shape. Or maybe he has the +palsy." Warburton mused upon the curious incertitude of the human +anatomy. + +But Colonel Annesley did not have the palsy. What he had is at once +the greatest blessing and the greatest curse of God--remembrance, or +conscience, if you will. + +What a beautiful color her hair was, dappled with sunshine and +shadow! ... Pshaw! Mr. Robert threw aside his shawl and book (it is +of no real importance, but I may as well add that he never completed +the reading of that summer's most popular novel) and sought the +smoking-room, where, with the aid of a fat perfecto and a liberal +stack of blues, he proceeded to divert himself till the boat reached +quarantine. I shall not say that he left any of his patrimony at the +mahogany table with its green-baize covering and its little brass +disks for cigar ashes, but I am certain that he did not make one of +those stupendous winnings we often read about and never witness. This +much, however: he made the acquaintance of a very important +personage, who was presently to add no insignificant weight on the +scales of Mr. Robert's destiny. + +He was a Russian, young, handsome, suave, of what the newspapers +insist on calling distinguished bearing. He spoke English pleasantly +but imperfectly. He possessed a capital fund of anecdote, and +Warburton, being an Army man, loved a good droll story. It was a +revelation to see the way he dipped the end of his cigar into his +coffee, a stimulant which he drank with Balzacian frequency and +relish. Besides these accomplishments, he played a very smooth hand +at the great American game. While Mr. Robert's admiration was not +aroused, it was surely awakened. + +My hero had no trouble with the customs officials. A brace of old +French dueling pistols and a Turkish simitar were the only articles +which might possibly have been dutiable. The inspector looked hard, +but he was finally convinced that Mr. Robert was _not_ a +professional curio-collector. Warburton, never having returned from +abroad before, found a deal of amusement and food for thought in the +ensuing scenes. There was one man, a prim, irascible old fellow, who +was not allowed to pass in two dozen fine German razors. There was a +time of it, angry words, threats, protestations. The inspector stood +firm. The old gentleman, in a fine burst of passion, tossed the +razors into the water. Then they were going to arrest him for +smuggling. A friend extricated him. The old gentleman went away, +saying something about the tariff and an unreasonably warm place +which has as many synonyms as an octopus has tentacles. + +Another man, his mouth covered by an enormous black mustache which +must have received a bath every morning in coffee or something +stronger, came forward pompously. I don't know to this day what magic +word he said, but the inspectors took never a peep into his +belongings. Doubtless they knew him, and that his word was as good as +his bond. + +Here a woman wept because the necklace she brought trustingly from +Rotterdam must be paid for once again; and here another, who clenched +her fists (do women have fists?) and if looks could have killed there +would have been a vacancy in customs forthwith. All her choicest +linen strewn about on the dirty boards, all soiled and rumpled and +useless! + +When the colonel's turn came, Warburton moved within hearing +distance. How glorious she looked in that smart gray traveling habit! +With what well-bred indifference she gazed upon the scene! Calmly her +glance passed among the circles of strange faces, and ever and anon +returned to the great ship which had safely brought her back to her +native land. There were other women who were just as well-bred and +indifferent, only Warburton had but one pair of eyes. Sighs in the +_doloroso_ again. Ha! if only one of these meddling jackasses +would show her some disrespect and give him the opportunity of +avenging the affront! + +(Come, now; let me be your confessor. Have you never thought and +acted like this hero of mine? Haven't you been just as melodramatic +and ridiculous? It is nothing to be ashamed of. For my part, I should +confess to it with the same equanimity as I should to the mumps or +the measles. It comes with, and is part and parcel of, all that +strange medley we find in the Pandora box of life. Love has no +diagnosis, so the doctors say. 'Tis all in the angle of vision.) + +But nothing happened. Colonel Annesley and his daughter were old +hands; they had gone through all this before. Scarce an article in +their trunks was disturbed. There was a slight duty of some twelve +dollars (Warburton's memory is marvelous), and their luggage was +free. But alas, for the perspicacity of the inspectors! I can very +well imagine the god of irony in no better or more fitting place than +in the United States Customs House. + +Once outside, the colonel caught the eye of a cabby, and he and his +daughter stepped in. + +"Holland House, sir, did you say?" asked the cabby. + +The colonel nodded. The cabby cracked his whip, and away they rolled +over the pavement. + +Warburton's heart gave a great bound. She had actually leaned out of +the cab, and for one brief moment their glances had met. Scarce +knowing what he did, he jumped into another cab and went pounding +after. It was easily ten blocks from the pier when the cabby raised +the lid and peered down at his fare. + +"Do you want t' folly them ahead?" he cried. + +"No, no!" Warburton was startled out of his wild dream. "Drive to the +Holland House--no--to the Waldorf. Yes, the Waldorf; and keep your +nag going." + +"Waldorf it is, sir!" The lid above closed. + +Clouds had gathered in the heavens. It was beginning to rain. But +Warburton neither saw the clouds nor felt the first few drops of +rain. All the way up-town he planned and planned--as many plans as +there were drops of rain; the rain wet him, but the plans drowned +him--he became submerged. If I were an expert at analysis, which I am +not, I should say that Mr. Robert was not violently in love; rather I +should observe that he was fascinated with the first really fine face +he had seen in several years. Let him never see Miss Annesley again, +and in two weeks he would entirely forget her. I know enough of the +race to be able to put forward this statement. Of course, it is +understood that he would have to mingle for the time among other +handsome women. Now, strive as he would, he could not think out a +feasible plan. One plan might have given him light, but the thousand +that came to him simply overwhelmed him fathoms deep. If he could +find some one he knew at the Holland House, some one who would strike +up a smoking-room acquaintance with the colonel, the rest would be +simple enough. Annesley--Annesley; he couldn't place the name. Was he +a regular, retired, or a veteran of the Civil War? And yet, the name +was not totally unfamiliar. Certainly, he was a fine-looking old +fellow, with his white hair and Alexandrian nose. And here he was, +he, Robert Warburton, in New York, simply because he happened to be +in the booking office of the _Gare du Nord_ one morning and +overheard a very beautiful girl say: "Then we shall sail from +Southampton day after to-morrow." Of a truth, it is the infinitesimal +things that count heaviest. + +So deep was he in the maze of his tentative romance that when the cab +finally stopped abruptly, he was totally unaware of the transition +from activity to passivity. + +"Hotel, sir!" + +"Ah, yes!" Warburton leaped out, fumbled in his pocket, and brought +forth a five-dollar note, which he gave to the cabby. He did not +realize it, but this was the only piece of American money he had on +his person. Nor did he wait for the change. Mr. Robert was +exceedingly careless with his money at this stage of his infatuation; +being a soldier, he never knew the real value of legal tender. I know +that _I_ should never have been guilty of such liberality, not +even if Mister Cabby had bowled me from Harlem to Brooklyn. And you +may take my word for it, the gentleman in the ancient plug-hat did +not wait to see if his fare had made a mistake, but trotted away good +and hearty. The cab system is one of the most pleasing and amiable +phases of metropolitan life. + +Warburton rushed into the noisy, gorgeous lobby, and wandered about +till he espied the desk. Here he turned over his luggage checks to +the clerk and said that these accessories of travel must be in his +room before eight o'clock that night, or there would be trouble. It +was now half after five. The clerk eagerly scanned the register. +Warburton, Robert Warburton; it was not a name with which _he_ +was familiar. A thin film of icy hauteur spread over his face. + +"Very well, sir. Do you wish a bath with your room?" + +"Certainly." Warburton glanced at his watch again. + +"The price--" + +"Hang the price! A room, a room with a bath--that's what I want. Have +you got it?" This was said with a deal of real impatience and a +hauteur that overtopped the clerk's. + +The film of ice melted into a gracious smile. Some new millionaire +from Pittsburg, thought the clerk. He swung the book around. + +"You have forgotten your place of residence, sir," he said. + +"Place of residence!" + +Warburton looked at the clerk in blank astonishment. Place of +residence? Why, heaven help him, he had none, none! For the first +time since he left the Army the knowledge came home to him, and it +struck rather deep. He caught up the pen, poised it an indecisive +moment, then hastily scribbled Paris: as well Paris as anywhere. Then +he took out his wallet, comfortably packed with English and French +bank-notes, and a second wave of astonishment rolled over him. +Altogether, it was a rare good chance that he ever came to the +surface again. No plan, no place of residence, no American money! + +"Good Lord! I forgot all about exchanging it on shipboard!" he +exclaimed. + +"Don't let that trouble you, sir," said the clerk, with real +affability. "Our own bank will exchange your money in the morning." + +"But I haven't a penny of American money on my person!" + +"How much will you need for the evening, sir?" + +"Not more than fifty." + +The clerk brought forth a slip of paper, wrote something on it, and +handed it to Warburton. + +"Sign here," he said, indicating a blank space. + +And presently Mr. Robert, having deposited his foreign money in the +safe, pocketed the receipt for its deposit along with five crisp +American notes. There is nothing lacking in these modern hostelries, +excepting it be a church. + +Our homeless young gentleman lighted a cigar and went out under the +portico. An early darkness had settled over the city, and a heavy +steady rain was falling. The asphalt pavements glistened and twinkled +as far as the eye's range could reach. A thousand lights gleamed down +on him, and he seemed to be standing in a canon dappled with +fireflies. Place of residence! Neither the fig-tree nor the vine! Did +he lose his money to-morrow, the source of his small income, he would +be without a roof over his head. True, his brother's roof would +always welcome him: but a roof-tree of his own! And he could lay +claim to no city, either, having had the good fortune to be born in a +healthy country town. Place of residence! Truly he had none; a +melancholy fact which he had not appreciated till now. And all this +had slipped his mind because of a pair of eyes as heavenly blue as a +rajah's sapphire! + +Hang it, what should he do, now that he was no longer traveling, now +that his time was no longer Uncle Sam's? He had never till now known +idleness, and the thought of it did not run smoothly with the grain. +He was essentially a man of action. There might be some good sport +for a soldier in Venezuela, but that was far away and uncertain. It +was quite possible Jack, his brother, might find him a post as +military attache, perhaps in France, perhaps in Belgium, perhaps in +Vienna. That was the goal of more than one subaltern. The English +novelist is to be blamed for this ambition. But Warburton could speak +French with a certain fluency, and his German was good enough to +swear by; so it will be seen that he had some ground upon which to +build this ambition. + +Heigho! The old homestead was gone; his sister dwelt under the elder +brother's roof; the prodigal was alone. + +"But there's always a fatted calf waiting in Washington," he laughed +aloud. "Once a soldier, always a soldier. I suppose I'll be begging +the colonel to have a chat with the president. There doesn't seem to +be any way of getting out of it. I'll have to don the old togs again. +I ought to write a letter to Nancy, but it will be finer to drop in +on 'em unexpectedly. Bless her heart! (So say I!) And Jack's, too, +and his little wife's! And I haven't written a line in eight weeks. +But I'll make it all up in ten minutes. And if I haven't a roof-tree, +at least I've got the ready cash and can buy one any day." All of +which proves that Mr. Robert possessed a buoyant spirit, and refused +to be downcast for more than one minute at a time. + +He threw away his cigar and reentered the hotel, and threaded his way +through the appalling labyrinths of corridors till he found some one +to guide him to the barber shop, where he could have his hair cut and +his beard trimmed in the good old American way, money no object. For +a plan had at last come to him; and it wasn't at all bad. He +determined to dine at the Holland House at eight-thirty. It was quite +possible that he would see Her. + +My only wish is that, when I put on evening clothes (in my humble +opinion, the homeliest and most uncomfortable garb that man ever +invented!) I might look one-quarter as handsome and elegant as Mr. +Robert looked, as he came down stairs at eight-ten that night. He +wasn't to be blamed if the women glanced in his direction, and then +whispered and whispered, and nodded and nodded. Ordinarily he would +have observed these signs of feminine approval, for there was warm +blood in his veins, and it is proverbial that the Army man is +gallant. But to-night Diana and her white huntresses might have +passed him by and not aroused even a flicker of interest or surprise +on his face. There was only one pair of eyes, one face, and to see +these he would have gladly gone to the ends of the earth, travel- +weary though he was. + +He smoked feverishly, and was somewhat troubled to find that he +hadn't quite got his land legs, as they say. The floor swayed at +intervals, and the throbbing of the engines came back. He left the +hotel, hailed a cab, and was driven down Fifth Avenue. He stopped +before the fortress of privileges. From the cab it looked very +formidable. Worldly as he was, he was somewhat innocent. He did not +know that New York hotels are formidable only when your money gives +out. To get past all these brass-buttoned lackeys and to go on as +though he really had business within took no small quantity of nerve. +However, he slipped by the outpost without any challenge and boldly +approached the desk. A quick glance at the register told him that +they had indeed put up at this hotel. He could not explain why he +felt so happy over his discovery. There are certain exultations which +are inexplicable. As he turned away from the desk, he bumped into a +gentleman almost as elegantly attired as himself. + +"I beg your pardon!" he cried, stepping aside. + +"What? Mr. _Warrr_burton?" + +Mr. Robert, greatly surprised and confused, found himself shaking +hands with his ship acquaintance, the Russian. + +"I am very glad to see you again, Count," said Warburton, recovering. + +"A great pleasure! It is wonderful how small a city is. I had never +expect' to see you again. Are you stopping here?" I had intended to +try to reproduce the Russian's dialect, but one dialect in a book is +enough; and we haven't reached the period of its activity. + +"No, I am at the Waldorf." + +"Eh? I have heard all about you millionaires." + +"Oh, we are not all of us millionaires who stop there," laughed +Warburton. "There are some of us who try to make others believe that +we are." Then, dropping into passable French, he added: "I came here +to-night with the purpose of dining. Will you do me the honor of +sharing my table?" + +"You speak French?"--delighted. "It is wonderful. This English has so +many words that mean so many things, that of all languages I speak it +with the least fluency. But it is my deep regret, Monsieur, to refuse +your kind invitation. I am dining with friends." + +"Well, then, breakfast to-morrow at eleven," Warburton urged, for he +had taken a fancy to this affable Russian. + +"Alas! See how I am placed. I am forced to leave for Washington early +in the morning. We poor diplomats, we earn our honors. But my +business is purely personal in this case, neither political nor +diplomatic." The count drew his gloves thoughtfully through his +fingers. "I shall of course pay my respects to my ambassador. Do I +recollect your saying that you belonged to the United States Army?" + +"I recently resigned. My post was in a wild country, with little or +nothing to do; monotony and routine." + +"You limp slightly?" + +"A trifling mishap,"--modestly. + +"Eh, you do wrong. You may soon be at war with England, and having +resigned your commission, you would lose all you had waited these +years for." + +Warburton smiled. "We shall not go to war with England." + +"This Army of yours is small." + +"Well, yes; but made of pretty good material--fighting machines with +brains." + +"Ha!" The count laughed softly. "Bah! how I detest all these cars and +ships! Will you believe me, I had rather my little chateau, my +vineyard, and my wheat fields, than all the orders.... Eh, well, +_my country_: there must be some magic in that phrase. Of all +loves, that of country is the most lasting. Is that Balzac? I do not +recall. Only once in a century do we find a man who is willing to +betray his country, and even then he may have for his purpose neither +hate, revenge, nor love of power." A peculiar gravity sat on his +mobile face, caused, perhaps, by some disagreeable inward thought. + +"How long shall you be in Washington?" asked Warburton. + +The count shrugged. "Who can say?" + +"I go to Washington myself within a few days." + +"Till we meet again, then, Monsieur." + +The count lifted his hat, a courtesy which was gracefully +acknowledged by the American; while the clerks at the desk eyed with +tolerant amusement these polite but rather unfamiliar ceremonies of +departure. These foreigners were odd duffers. + +"A very decent chap," mused Warburton, "and a mighty shrewd hand at +poker--for a foreigner. He is going to Washington: we shall meet +again. I wonder if she's in the restaurant now." + +Meet again? Decidedly; and had clairvoyance shown my hero that night +how he and the count were to meet again, certainly he would have +laughed. + +If I dared, I should like to say a good deal more about this Russian. +But I have no desire to lose my head, politically or physically. Even +the newsboys are familiar with this great young man's name; and if I +should disclose it, you would learn a great many things which I have +no desire that you should. One day he is in Paris, another in Berlin, +then off to Vienna, to Belgrade, or St. Petersburg, or Washington, or +London, or Rome. A few months ago, previous to this writing, he was +in Manchuria; and to this very day England and Japan are wondering +how it happened; not his being there, mind you, but the result. Rich, +that is to say independent; unmarried, that is to say unattached; +free to come and go, he stood high up in that great army of the +czar's, which I call the uncredited diplomatic corps, because the +phrase "secret service" always puts into my mind a picture of the +wild-eyed, bearded anarchist, whom I most heartily detest. + +What this remarkable diplomatic free-lance did in Washington was +honestly done in the interests of his country. A Russ understands +honor in the rough, but he lacks all those delicate shadings which +make the word honor the highest of all words in the vocabularies of +the Gaul and the Saxon. And while I do not uphold him in what he did, +I can not place much blame at the count's door. Doubtless, in his +place, and given his cast of mind, I might have done exactly as he +did. Russia never asks how a thing is done, but why it is _not_ +done. Ah, these Aspasias, these Circes, these Calypsos, these +Cleopatras, with their blue, their gray, their amber eyes! I have my +doubts concerning Jonah, but, being a man, I am fully convinced as to +the history of Eve. And yet, the woman in this case was absolutely +innocent of any guile, unless, a pair of eyes as heavenly blue as a +rajah's sapphire may be called guile. + +Pardon me this long parenthesis. By this time, no doubt, Mr. Robert +has entered the restaurant We shall follow him rather than this +aimless train of thought. + +Mr. Robert's appetite, for a healthy young man, was strangely +incurious. He searched the menu from top to bottom, and then from +bottom to top; nothing excited his palate. Whenever persons entered, +he would glance up eagerly, only to feel his heart sink lower and +lower. I don't know how many times he was disappointed. The waiter +ahemmed politely. Warburton, in order to have an excuse to remain, at +length hit upon a partridge and a pint of Chablis. + +Nine o'clock. Was it possible that the colonel and his daughter were +dining in their rooms? Perish the possibility! And he looked in vain +for the count. A quarter-past nine. Mr. Robert's anxiety was becoming +almost unendurable. Nine-thirty. He was about to surrender in +despair. His partridge lay smoking on his plate, and he was on the +point of demolishing it, when, behold! they came. The colonel entered +first, then his daughter, her hand--on--the--arm--of--the--count! +Warburton never fully described to me his feelings at that moment; +but, knowing him as I do, I can put together a very, respectable +picture of the chagrin and consternation that sat on his countenance. + +"To think of being nearly six days aboard," Mr. Robert once bawled at +me, wrathfully, "and not to know that that Russian chap knew her!" It +_was_ almost incredible that such a thing should happen. + +The three sat down at a table seven times removed from Warburton's. +He could see only an adorable profile and the colonel's handsome but +care-worn face. The count sat with his back turned. In that black +evening gown she was simply beyond the power of adjectives. What +shoulders, what an incomparable throat! Mr. Robert's bird grew cold; +the bouquet from his glass fainted and died away. How her face +lighted when she laughed, and she laughed frequently! What a +delicious curve ran from her lips to her young bosom! But never once +did she look in his direction. Who invented mirrors, the Egyptians? I +can not say. There were mirrors in the room, but Mr. Robert did not +realize it. He has since confessed to me that he hadn't the slightest +idea how much his bird and bottle cost. Of such is love's young +dream! (Do I worry you with all these repetitious details? I am +sorry.) + +At ten o'clock Miss Annesley rose, and the count escorted her to the +elevator, returning almost immediately. He and the colonel drew their +heads together. From time to time the count shrugged, or the colonel +shook his head. Again and again the Russian dipped the end of his +cigar into his coffee-cup, which he frequently replenished. + +But for Mr. Robert the gold had turned to gilt, the gorgeous to the +gaudy. She was gone. The imagination moves as swiftly as light, +leaping from one castle in air to another, and still another. Mr. +Robert was the architect of some fine ones, I may safely assure you. +And he didn't mind in the least that they tumbled down as rapidly as +they builded: only, the incentive was gone. What the colonel had to +say to the count, or the count to the colonel, was of no interest to +him; so he made an orderly retreat. + +I am not so old as not to appreciate his sleeplessness that night. +Some beds are hard, even when made of the softest down. + +In the morning he telephoned to the Holland House. The Annesleys, he +was informed, had departed for parts unknown. The count had left +directions to forward any possible mail to the Russian Embassy, +Washington. Sighs in the _doloroso_; the morning papers and +numerous cigars; a whisky and soda; a game of indifferent billiards +with an affable stranger; another whisky and soda; and a gradual +reclamation of Mr. Robert's interest in worldly affairs. + +She was gone. + + + + +IV + +A FAMILY REUNION + + +Warburton had not been in the city of Washington within twelve +years. In the past his furloughs had been spent at his brother's +country home in Larchmont, out of New York City. Thus, when he left +the train at the Baltimore and Potomac station, he hadn't the +slightest idea where Scott Circle was. He looked around in vain for +the smart cab of the northern metropolis. All he saw was a line of +omnibuses and a few ramshackle vehicles that twenty years back might +very well have passed for victorias. A grizzled old negro, in command +of one of these sea-going conveyances, caught Warburton's eye and +hailed jovially. Our hero (as the good novelists of the past +generation would say, taking their readers into their innermost +confidences) handed him his traveling case and stepped in. + +"Whar to, suh?" asked the commodore. + +"Scott Circle, and don't pommel that old nag's bones in trying to get +there. I've plenty of time." + +"I reckon I won't pommel him, suh. Skt! skt!" And the vehicle rattled +out into broad Pennsylvania Avenue, but for the confusion and +absurdity of its architectural structures, the handsomest +thoroughfare in America. (Some day I am going to carry a bill into +Congress and read it, and become famous as having been the means of +making Pennsylvania Avenue the handsomest highway in the world.) + +Warburton leaned back luxuriously against the faded horse-hair +cushion and lighted a cigar, which he smoked with relish, having had +a hearty breakfast on the train. It was not quite nine o'clock, and a +warm October haze lay on the peaceful city. Here were people who did +not rush madly about in the pursuit of riches. Rather they proceeded +along soberly, even leisurely, as if they knew what the day's work +was and the rewards attendant, and were content. Trucks, those +formidable engines of commerce, neither rumbled nor thundered along +the pavements, nor congested the thoroughfares. Nobody hurried into +the shops, nobody hurried out. There were no scampering, yelling +newsboys. Instead, along the curbs of the market, sat barelegged +negro boys, some of them selling papers to those who wanted them, and +some sandwiched in between baskets of popcorn and peanuts. There was +a marked scarcity of the progressive, intrusive white boy. Old negro +mammies passed to and fro with the day's provisions. + +Glancing over his shoulder, Warburton saw the Capitol, shining in the +sun like some enchanted palace out of Wonderland. He touched his cap, +conscious of a thrill in his spine. And there, far to his left, +loomed the Washington monument, glittering like a shaft of opals. +Some orderlies dashed by on handsome bays. How splendid they looked, +with their blue trousers and broad yellow stripes! This was before +the Army adopted the comfortable but shabby brown duck. How he longed +to throw a leg over the back of a good horse and gallop away into the +great green country beyond! + +In every extraordinary looking gentleman he saw some famed senator or +congressman or diplomat. He was almost positive that he saw the +secretary of war drive by in a neat brougham. The only things which +moved with the hustling spirit of the times were the cables, and +doubtless these would have gone slower but for the invisible and +immutable power which propelled them. On arriving in New York, one's +first thought is of riches; in Washington, of glory. What a +difference between this capital and those he had seen abroad! There +was no militarism here, no conscription, no governmental oppression, +no signs of discontent, no officers treading on the rights and the +toes of civilians. + +But now he was passing the huge and dingy magic Treasury Building, +round past the Executive Mansion with its spotless white stone, its +stately portico and its plush lawns. + +"Go slow, uncle; I haven't seen this place since I was a boy." + +"Yes, suh. How d' y' like it? Wouldn' y' like t' live in dat house, +suh?"--the commodore grinned. + +"One can't stay there long enough to please me, uncle. It takes four +years to get used to it; and then, when you begin to like it, you +have to pack up and clear out." + +"It's de way dey goes, suh. We go eroun' Lafayette, er do yuh want t' +see de Wa' Depa'tment, suh?" + +"Never mind now, uncle; Scott Circle." + +"Scott Circle she am, suh." + +The old ark wheeled round Lafayette Square and finally rolled into +Sixteenth Street. When at length it came to a stand in front of a +beautiful house, Warburton evinced his surprise openly. He knew that +his brother's wife had plenty of money, but not such a plenty as to +afford a house like this. + +"Are you sure, uncle, that this is the place?" + +"Dere's de Circle, suh, an' yuh can see de numbuh fo' y'se'f, suh." + +"How much do I owe you?" + +"I reckon 'bout fifty cents 'll make it, suh." + +Warburton gave him a dollar, marveling at the difference between the +cab hire here and in New York. He grasped his case and leaped up the +steps two at a bound, and pressed the bell A prim little maid +answered the call. + +"Does Mr. John Warburton live here?" he asked breathlessly. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Fortunate John!" he cried, pushing past the maid and standing in the +hall of his brother's household, unheralded and unannounced. "Jack!" +he bawled. + +The maid eyed the handsome intruder, her face expressing the utmost +astonishment. She touched his arm. + +"Sir!--" she began. + +"It's all right, my dear," he interrupted. + +She stepped back, wondering whether to scream or run. + +"Hi, Jack! I say, you old henpecked, where are you?" + +The dining-room door slid back and a tall, studious-looking +gentleman, rather plain than otherwise, stood on the threshold. + +"Jane, what is all this--Why, Bob, you scalawag!"--and in a moment +they were pumping hands at a great rate. The little maid leaned +weakly against the balustrade. + +"Kit, Kit! I say, Kit, come and see who's here!" cried John. + +An extraordinarily pretty little woman, whose pallor any woman would +have understood, but no man on earth, and who was dressed in a +charming pink negligee morning-gown, hurried into the hall. + +"Why, it's Bob!" She flung her arms around the prodigal and kissed +him heartily, held him away at arm's length, and hugged and kissed +him again. I'm not sure that Mr. Robert didn't like it. + +Suddenly there was a swish of starched skirts on the stairs, and the +most beautiful woman in all the world (and I am always ready to back +this statement with abundant proofs!) rushed down and literally threw +herself into Mr. Robert's eager, outstretched arms. + +"Nancy!" + +"Bob! Bob! you wicked boy! You almost break our hearts. Not a line in +two months!--How could you!--You might have been dead and we not +know it!"--and she cried on his shoulder. + +"Come now, Nancy; nonsense! You'll start the color running out of +this tie of mine!" But for all his jesting tone, Mr. Robert felt an +embarrassing lump wriggle up and down in his throat. + +"Had your breakfast?" asked the humane and practical brother. + +"Yep. But I shouldn't mind another cup of coffee." + +And thereupon he was hustled into the dining-room and pushed into the +best chair. How the clear women fussed over him, pressed this upon +him and that; fondled and caressed him, just as if the beggar was +worth all this trouble and love and affection! + +"Hang it, girls, it's worth being an outlaw to come to this," he +cried. He reached over and patted Nancy on the cheek, and pressed the +young wife's hand, and smiled pleasantly at his brother. "Jack, you +lucky pup, you!" + +"Two years," murmured Nancy; "and we haven't had a glimpse of you in +two long years." + +"Only in photograph," said the homeless one, putting three lumps of +sugar into his coffee because he was so happy he didn't know what he +was about. + +"And you have turned twenty-eight," said Kit, counting on her +fingers. + +"That makes you twenty-four, Nan," Jack laughed. + +"And much I care!" replied Nancy, shaking her head defiantly. I've a +sneaking idea that she was thinking of me when she made this +declaration. For if _I_ didn't care, why should she? + +"A handsome, stunning girl like you, Nan, ought to be getting +married," observed the prodigal. "What's the matter with all these +dukes and lords and princes, anyhow?" + +An embarrassed smile ran around the table, but Mr. Robert missed it +by some several inches. + +Jack threw a cigar across the table. "Now," said he, "where the deuce +did you come from?" + +"Indirectly from Arizona, which is a synonym, once removed, for war." + +Jack looked at his plate and laughed; but Mrs. Jack wanted to know +what Bob meant by that. + +"It's a word used instead of war, as applied by the late General +Sherman," Jack replied. "And I am surprised that a brother-in-law of +yours should so far forget himself as to hint it, even." + +Knowing that she could put him through the inquisition later, she +asked my hero how his leg was. + +"It aches a little when it rains; that's about all." + +"And you never let us know anything about it till the thing was all +over," was Nancy's reproach. + +"What's the use of scaring you women?" Robert demanded. "You would +have had hysterics and all that." + +"We heard of it quick enough through the newspapers," said Jack. +"Come, give us your own version of the rumpus." + +"Well, the truth is,"--and the prodigal told them his tale. + +"Why, you are a hero!" cried Mrs. Jack, clasping her hands. + +"Hero nothing," sniffed the elder brother. "He was probably star- +gazing or he wouldn't have poked his nose into an ambush." + +"Right you are, brother John," Robert acknowledged, laughing. + +"And how handsome he has grown, Nancy," Mrs. Jack added, with an +oblique glance at her husband. + +"He does look 'distangy'," that individual admitted. A handsome face +always went through John's cuirass. It was all nonsense, for his wife +could not have adored him more openly had he been the twin to Adonis. +But, there you are; a man always wants something he can not have. +John wasn't satisfied to be one of the most brilliant young men in +Washington; he also wanted to be classed among the handsomest. + +"By the way, Jack," said my hero, lighting the cigar and blowing the +first puff toward the ceiling, his face admirably set with +nonchalance, "do you know of a family named Annesley--Colonel +Annesley?" I knew it would take only a certain length of time for +this question to arrive. + +"Colonel Annesley? Why, yes. He was in the War Department until a +year or so ago. A fine strategist; knows every in and out of the +coast defenses, and is something of an inventor; lots of money, too. +Tall, handsome old fellow?" + +"That's the man. A war volunteer?" + +"No, a regular. Crippled his gun-fingers in some petty Indian war, +and was transferred to the Department. He was a widower, if my +recollection of him is correct; and had a lovely daughter." + +"Ah!" There was great satisfaction evident in this syllable. "Do you +know where the colonel is now?" + +"Not the faintest idea. He lived somewhere in Virginia. But he's been +on the travel for several years." + +Robert stirred his coffee and took a spoonful--and dropped the spoon. +"Pah! I must have put in a quart of sugar. Can you spare me another +cup?" + +"Annesley?" Nancy's face brightened. "Colonel Annesley? Why, I know +Betty Annesley. She was my room-mate at Smith one year. She was in my +graduating class. I'll show you her picture later. She was the +dearest girl! How she loved horses! But why are you so interested?"-- +slyly. + +"I ran across them coming home." + +"Then you met Betty! Isn't she just the loveliest girl you ever saw?" + +"I'm for her, one and indivisible. But hang my luck, I never came +within a mile of an introduction." + +"What? You, and on shipboard where she couldn't get away?" John threw +up his hands as a sign that this information had overcome him. + +"Even the captain shied when I approached him," said Robert, +gloomily. + +"I begin to see," said the brother. + +"See what?" + +"Have a match; your cigar has gone out." + +Robert relighted his cigar and puffed like a threshing-machine +engine. + +John leaned toward Nancy. "Shall I tell him, Nan?" + +Nancy blushed. "I suppose he'll have to know sooner or later." + +"Know what?" asked the third person singular + +"Your charming sister is about to bring you a brother-in-law." + +"What?" You could have heard this across the street. + +"Yes, Bobby dear. And don't look so hurt. You don't want me to become +an old maid, do you?" + +"When did it happen?"--helplessly. How the thought of his sister's +marrying horrifies a brother! I believe I can tell you why. Every +brother knows that no man is good enough for a good woman. "When did +it happen?" Mr. Robert repeated, with a look at his brother, which +said that _he_ should be held responsible. + +"Last week." + +Robert took in a long breath, as one does who expects to receive a +blow of some sort which can not be warded off, and asked: "Who is +it?" Nancy married? What was the world coming to, anyhow? + +"Charlie Henderson,"--timidly. + +Then Robert, who had been expecting nothing less than an English +duke, let loose the flaming ions of his righteous wrath. + +"Chuck Henderson?--that duffer?" (Oh, Mr. Robert, Mr. Robert; and +after all I've done for you!) + +"He's not a duffer!" remonstrated Nancy, with a flare in her mild +eyes. (How I wish I might have seen her as she defended me!) "He's +the dearest fellow in the world, and I love him with all my heart!" +(How do you like that, Mr. Robert? Bravo, Nancy! I may be a duffer, +true enough, but I rather object to its being called out from the +housetops.) And Nancy added: "I want you to understand distinctly, +Robert, that in my selection of a husband you are not to be +consulted." + +This was moving him around some. + +"Hold on, Nan! Drat it, don't look like that! I meant nothing, +dearie; only I'm a heap surprised. Chuck _is_ a good fellow, +I'll admit; but I've been dreaming of your marrying a prince or an +ambassador, and Henderson comes like a jolt. Besides, Chuck will +never be anything but a first-rate politician. You'll have to get +used to cheap cigars and four-ply whisky. When is it going to +happen?" + +"In June. I have always loved him, Bob. And he wants you to be his +best man." + +Robert appeared a bit mollified at this knowledge. "But what shall I +do after that?" he wailed. "You're the only person I can order about, +and now you're going the other side of the range." + +"Bob, why don't you get married yourself?" asked Mrs. Warburton. +"With your looks you won't have to go far nor begging for a wife." + +"There's the rub, sister mine by law and the admirable foresight of +my only brother. What am I good for but ordering rookies about? I've +no business head. And it's my belief that an Army man ought never to +wed." + +"Marry, my boy, and I'll see what can be done for you in the +diplomatic way. The new administration will doubtless be Republican, +and my influence will have some weight,"--and John smiled +affectionately across the table. He loved this gay lad opposite, +loved him for his own self and because he could always see the +mother's eyes and lips. "You have reached the age of discretion. You +are now traveled and a fairly good linguist. You've an income of +forty-five hundred, and to this I may be able to add a berth worth +two or three thousand. Find the girl, lad; find the girl." + +"Honestly, I'll think it over, Jack." + +"Oh!" + +Three of the quartet turned wonderingly toward Mrs. Jack. + +"What's the matter?" asked Jack. + +"We have forgotten to show Bob the baby!" + +"Merciful heavens!" bawled Robert. "A baby? This is the first time +I've heard anything about a baby,"--looking with renewed interest at +the young mother. + +"Do you mean to tell me, John Warburton, that you failed to mention +the fact in any of your letters?" indignantly demanded Mrs. John. + +"Why--er--didn't I mention it?" asked the perturbed father. + +"Nary a word, nary a word!" Robert got up. "Now, where is this +wonderful he?--or is it a she?" + +"Boy, Bob; greatest kid ever." + +And they all trooped up the stairs to the nursery, where Mr. Robert +was forced to admit that, as regarded a three-months-old, this was +the handsomest little colt he had ever laid eyes on! Mr. Robert even +ventured to take the boy up in his arms. + +"How d'ye hold him?" he asked. + +Mrs. John took the smiling cherub, and the manner in which she folded +that infant across her young breast was a true revelation to the +prodigal, who felt his loneliness more than ever. He was a rank +outsider. + +"Jack, you get me that diplomatic post, and I'll see to it that the +only bachelor in the Warburton family shall sleep in yonder cradle." + +"Done!" + +"How long is your furlough?" asked Nancy. + +"Whom do you think the baby resembles?" asked the mother. + +"One at a time, one at a time! The baby at present doesn't resemble +any one." + +"There's your diplomat!" cried John, with a laugh. + +"And my furlough is for several years, if not longer." + +"What?" This query was general and simultaneous. + +"Yes, I've disbanded. The Army will now go to rack and ruin. I am a +plain citizen of the United States. I expect to spend the winter in +Washington." + +"The winter!" echoed Jack, mockingly dejected. + +"John!" said his wife. John assumed a meek expression; and Mrs. John, +putting the baby in the cradle, turned to her brother-in-law. "I +thought the Army was a hobby with you." + +"It was. I've saved up quite a sum, and I'm going to see a lot of +fine scenery if my leg doesn't give out." + +"Or your bank account," supplemented John. + +"Well, or my bank account." + +"Draw on me whenever you want passage out West," went on the +statesman in chrysalis. + +Whereupon they all laughed; not because John had said anything +particularly funny, but because there was a good and generous measure +of happiness in each heart. + +"Bob, there's a ball at the British embassy tonight. You must go with +us." + +"Impossible!" said Robert. "Remember my leg." + +"That will not matter," said Mrs. John; "you need not dance." + +"What, not dance? I should die of intermittent fever. And if I did +dance, my leg might give out." + +"You can ride a horse all right," said John, in the way of argument. + +"I can do that easily with my knees. But I can't dance with my knees. +No, I shall stay at home. I couldn't stand it to see all those famous +beauties, and with me posing as a wall-flower." + +"But what will you do here all alone?" + +"Play with the kid, smoke and read; make myself at home. You still +smoke that Louisiana, Jack?" + +"Yes,"--dubiously. + +"So. Now, don't let me interfere with your plans for tonight. I +haven't been in a home in so long that it will take more than one +night for the novelty to wear off. Besides, that nurse of yours, Kit, +is good to look at,"--a bit of the rogue in his eye. + +"Bob!"--from both women. + +"I promise not to look at her; I promise." + +"Well, I must be off," said John. "I'm late now. I've a dozen plans +for coast defenses to go over with an inventor of a new carriage-gun. +Will you go with me, while I put you up at the Metropolitan, or will +you take a shopping trip with the women?" + +"I'll take the shopping trip. It will be a sensation. Have you any +horses?" + +"Six." + +"Six! You _are_ a lucky pup: a handsome wife, a bouncing boy, +and six horses! Where's the stable?" + +"In the rear. I keep only two stablemen; one to take care of the +horses and one to act as groom. I'm off. I've a cracking good hunter, +if you'd like a leg up. We'll all ride out to Chevy Chase Sunday. By- +by, till lunch." + +Mr. Robert immediately betook himself to the stables, where he soon +became intimately acquainted with the English groom. He fussed about +the harness-room, deplored the lack of a McClelland saddle, admired +the English curbs, and complimented the men on the cleanliness of the +stables. The men exchanged sly smiles at first, but these smiles soon +turned into grins of admiration. Here was a man who knew a horse from +his oiled hoofs to his curried forelock. + +"This fellow ought to jump well," he said, patting the sleek neck of +the hunter. + +"He does that, sir," replied the groom. "He has never taken less than +a red ribbon. Only one horse beat him at the bars last winter in New +York. It was Mr. Warburton's fault that he did not take first prize. +He rode him in the park the day before the contest, and the animal +caught a bad cold, sir." + +And then it was that this hero of mine conceived his great (not to +say young and salad) idea. It appealed to him as being so rich an +idea that the stables rang with his laughter. + +"Sir?" politely inquired the groom. + +"I'm not laughing at your statement, my good fellow; rather at an +idea which just occurred to me. In fact, I believe that I shall need +your assistance." + +"In what way, sir?" + +"Come with me." + +The groom followed Warburton into the yard, A conversation began in +low tones. + +"It's as much as my place is worth, sir. I couldn't do it, sir," +declared the groom, shaking his head negatively. + +"I'll guarantee that you will not suffer in the least. My brother +will not discharge you. He likes a joke as well as I do. You are not +handed twenty dollars every day for a simple thing like this." + +"Very well, sir. I dare say that no harm will come of it. But I am an +inch or two shorter than you." + +"We'll tide that over." + +"I am at your orders, sir." But the groom returned to the stables, +shaking his head dubiously. He was not thoroughly convinced. + +During the morning ride down-town the two women were vastly puzzled +over their brother's frequent and inexplicable peals of laughter. + +"For mercy's sake, what do you see that is so funny?" asked Nancy. + +"I'm thinking, my dears; only thinking." + +"Tell us, that we may laugh, too. I'll wager that you are up to some +mischief, Master Robert. Please tell," Nancy urged. + +"Later, later; at present you would fail to appreciate the joke. In +fact, you might make it miscarry; and that wouldn't do at all. Have a +little patience. It's a good joke, and you'll be in it when the time +comes." + +And nothing more could they worm out of him. + +I shall be pleased to recount to you the quality of this joke, this +madcap idea. You will find it lacking neither amusement nor +denouement. Already I have put forth the casual observation that from +Paris to the third-precinct police-station in Washington is several +thousand miles. + + + + +V + +THE PLOT THICKENS + + +At dinner that night I met my hero face to face for the first time +in eight years, and for all his calling me a duffer (I learned of +this only recently), he was mighty glad to see me, slapped me on the +back and threw his arm across my shoulder. And why shouldn't he have +been glad? We had been boys together, played hooky many a school-time +afternoon, gone over the same fishing grounds, plunged into the same +swimming-holes, and smoked our first cigar in the rear of my father's +barn; and it is the recollection of such things that cements all the +more strongly friendship in man and man. We recalled a thousand +episodes and escapades, the lickings we got, and the lickings others +got in our stead, the pretty school-teacher whom we swore to wed when +we grew up. Nobody else had a chance to get a word in edgewise. But +Nancy laughed aloud at times. She had been a witness to many of these +long-ago pranks. + +"What! you are not going to the ball?" I asked, observing that he +wore only a dinner-coat and a pair of morocco slippers. + +"No ball for me. Just as soon as you people hie forth, off comes this +b'iled shirt, and I shall probably meander around the house in my new +silk pajamas. I shall read a little from Homer--Jack, let me have +the key to that locked case; I've an idea that there must be some +robust old, merry old tales hidden there--and smoke a few pipes." + +"But you are not going to leave Mrs. Warburton and your sister to +come home without escort?" I expostulated. + +"Where the deuce are you two men going?" Robert asked, surprised. +Somehow, I seemed to catch a joyful rather than a sorrowful note in +his tones. + +"An important conference at midnight, and heaven only knows how long +it may last," said Jack. "I wish you would go along, Bob." + +"He can't go now, anyhow," said the pretty little wife. "He has got +to stay now, whether he will or no. William will see to it that we +women get home all right,"--and she busied herself with the salad +dishes. + +Suddenly I caught Robert's eye, and we stared hard at each other. + +"Chuck, you old pirate," he said presently, "what do you mean by +coming around and making love to my sister, and getting her to +promise to marry you? You know you aren't good enough for her." + +I confess to no small embarrassment. "I--I know it!" + +"What do you mean by it, then?" + +"Why--er--that is--Confound you, Bob, _I_ couldn't help it, and +besides, I didn't _want_ to help it! And if you want to have it +out--" + +"Oh, pshaw! You know just as well as I do that it is against the law +to hit a man that wears glasses. We'll call it quits if you'll +promise that in the days to come you'll let me hang around your +hymeneal shack once in a while." + +"Why, if you put it that way!"--and we were laughing and shaking +hands again across the table, much to the relief of all concerned. + +Dear Nan! I'm not afraid to let the whole world see how much I love +you. For where exists man's strength if not in the pride of his love? + +"What time does the kid get to sleep?" asked Robert. + +"He ought to be asleep now," said Mrs. W. "We shall not reach the +embassy until after ten. We have a reception first, and we must leave +cards there. Won't you be lonesome here, Bobby?" + +"Not the least in the world;"--and Bobby began to laugh. + +"What's the joke?" I asked. + +He looked at me sharply, then shook his head. "I'll tell you all +about it to-morrow, Chuck. It's the kind of joke that has to boil a +long time before it gets tender enough to serve." + +"I'd give a good deal to know what is going on behind those eyes of +yours, Bob." Nancy's eyes searched him ruthlessly, but she might just +as well have tried to pierce a stone wall. "You have been laughing +all day about something, and I'd like to know what about. It's +mischief. I haven't known you all these years for nothing. Now, don't +do anything silly, Bob." + +"Nancy,"--reproachfully--"I am a man almost thirty; I have passed the +Rubicon of cutting up tricks. Go to the ball, you beauty, dance and +revel to your heart's content; your brother Robert will manage to +pass away the evening. Don't forget the key to that private case, +Jack,"--as the women left the table to put the finishing touches to +their toilets. + +"Here you are," said Jack. "But mind, you must put those books back +just as you found them, and lock the case. They are rare editions." + +"With the accent on the _rare_, no doubt." + +"I am a student, pure and simple," said Jack, lowering his eyes. + +"I wouldn't swear to those adjectives," returned the scalawag. "If I +remember, you had the reputation of being a high-jinks man in your +class at Princeton." + +"Sh! Don't you dare to drag forth any of those fool corpses of +college, or out you go, bag and baggage." Jack glanced nervously +around the room and toward the hall. + +"My dear fellow, your wife wouldn't believe me, no matter what I said +against your character. Isn't that right, Chuck? Jack, you are a +lucky dog, if there ever was one. A handsome wife who loves you, a +kid, a fine home, and plenty of horses. I wonder if you married her +for her money?" + +Jack's eyes narrowed. He seemed to muse. "Yes, I believe I can do it +as easily as I did fifteen years ago." + +"Do what?" I asked. + +"Wallop that kid brother of mine. Bob, I hope you'll fall desperately +in love some day, and that you will have a devil of a time winning +the girl. You need something to stir up your vitals. By George! and I +hope she won't have a cent of money." + +"Lovable brother, that!" Bob knocked the ash from his cigar and +essayed at laughter which wasn't particularly felicitous. "Supposing +I was in love, new, and that the girl had heaps of money, and all +that?" + +"_And all that_," mimicked the elder brother. "What does 'and +all that' mean?" + +"Oh, shut up!" + +"Well, I hope you _are_ in love. It serves you right. You've +made more than one girl's heart ache, you good-looking ruffian!" + +Then we switched over to politics, and Robert became an interested +listener. Quarter of an hour later the women returned, and certainly +they made a picture which was most satisfactory to the masculine eye. +Ah, thou eager-fingered Time, that shall, in days to come, wither the +roses in my beauty's cheeks, dim the fire in my beauty's eyes, draw +my beauty's bow-lips inward, tarnish the golden hair, and gnarl the +slender, shapely fingers, little shall I heed you in your passing if +you but leave the heart untouched! + +Bob jumped to his feet and kissed them both, a thing I lacked the +courage to do. How pleased they looked! How a woman loves flattery +from those she loves! + +Well, William is in front with the carriage; the women are putting on +their cloaks, and I am admiring the luxurious crimson fur-lined +garment which brother Robert had sent to Nancy from Paris. You will +see by this that he was not altogether a thoughtless lad. Good-by, +Mr. Robert; I leave you and your guiding-star to bolt the established +orbit; for after this night the world will never be the same +careless, happy-go-lucky world. The farce has its tragedy, and what +tragedy is free of the ludificatory? Youth must run its course, even +as the gay, wild brook must riot on its way to join the sober river. + +I dare say that we hadn't been gone twenty minutes before Robert +stole out to the stables, only to return immediately with a bundle +under his arm and a white felt hat perched rakishly on his head. He +was chuckling audibly to himself. + +"It will frighten the girls half to death. A gray horse and a bay; +oh, I won't make any mistake. Let me see; I'll start about twelve +o'clock. That'll get me on the spot just as the boys leave. This is +the richest yet. I'll wager that there will be some tall screaming." +He continued chuckling as he helped himself to his brother's +perfectos and fine old Scotch. I don't know what book he found in the +private case; some old rascal's merry tales, no doubt; for my hero's +face was never in repose. + +We had left Mrs. Secretary-of-the-Interior's and were entering the +red brick mansion on Connecticut Avenue. Carriages lined both sides +of the street, and mounted police patrolled up and down. + +"I do hope Bob will not wake up the baby," said Mrs. W. + +"Probably he won't even take the trouble to look at him," replied +Jack; "not if he gets into that private case of mine." + +"I can't understand what you men see in those horrid chronicles," +Nancy declared. + +"My dear girl," said Jack, "in those days there were no historians; +they were simply story-tellers, and we get our history from these +tales. The tales themselves are not very lofty, I am willing to +admit; but they give us a general idea of the times in which the +characters lived. This is called literature by the wise critics." + +"Critics!" said I; "humph! Criticism is always a lazy man's job. When +no two critics think alike, of what use is criticism?" + +"Ah, yes; I forgot. That book of essays you wrote got several sound +drubbings. Nevertheless," continued Jack, "what you offer is in the +main true. Time alone is the true critic. Let him put his mark of +approval on your work, and not all the critical words can bury it or +hinder its light. But Time does not pass his opinion till long after +one is dead. The first waltz, dearest, if you think you can stand it. +You mustn't get tired, little mother." + +"I am wonderfully strong to-night," said the little mother. "How +beautifully it is arranged!" + +"What?" we men asked, looking over the rooms. + +"The figures on Mrs. Secretary-of-State's gown. The lace is +beautiful. Your brother. Nan, has very good taste for a man. That +cloak of yours is by far the handsomest thing I have seen to-night; +and that bit of scarf he sent me isn't to be matched." + +"Poor boy!" sighed Nancy. "I wonder if he'll be lonely. It's a shame +to leave him home the very first night." + +"Why didn't he come, then?" Mrs. W. shrugged her polished shoulders. + +"Oh, my cigars and Scotch are fairly comforting," put in Jack, +complacently. "Besides, Jane Isn't at all bad looking,"--winking at +me. "What do you say, Charlie?" + +But Charlie had no time to answer. The gray-haired, gray-whiskered +ambassador was bowing pleasantly to us. A dozen notable military and +naval attaches nodded; and we passed on to the ball-room, where the +orchestra was playing _A Summer Night in Munich_. In a moment +Jack and his wife were lost in the maze of gleaming shoulders and +white linen. It was a picture such as few men, once having witnessed +it, can forget. Here were the great men in the great world: this man +was an old rear-admiral, destined to become the nation's hero soon; +there, a famous general, of long and splendid service; celebrated +statesmen, diplomats, financiers; a noted English duke; a scion of +the Hapsburg family; an intimate of the German kaiser; a swart Jap; a +Chinaman with his peacock feather; tens of men whose lightest word +was listened to by the four ends of the world; representatives of all +the great kingdoms and states. The President and his handsome wife +had just left as we came, so we missed that formality, which detracts +from the pleasures of the ball-room. + +"Who is that handsome young fellow over there, standing at the side +of the Russian ambassador's wife?" asked Nancy, pressing my arm. + +"Where? Oh, he's Count Karloff (or something which sounds like it), a +wealthy Russian, in some way connected with the Russian government; a +diplomat and a capital fellow, they say. I have never met him. ... +Hello! there's a stunning girl right next to him that I haven't seen +before. ... Where are you going?" + +Nancy had dropped my arm and was gliding kitty-corner fashion, across +the floor. Presently she and the stunning girl had saluted each other +after the impulsive fashion of American girls, and were playing cat- +in-the-cradle, to the amusement of those foreigners nearest. A nod, +and I was threading my way to Nancy's side. + +"Isn't it glorious?" she began. "This is Miss Annesley, Charlie; +Betty, Mr. Henderson." Miss Annesley looked mildly curious at Nan, +who suddenly flushed. "We are to be married in the spring," she +explained shyly; and I dare say that there was a diffident expression +on my own face. + +Miss Annesley gave me her hand, smiling. "You are a very fortunate +man, Mr. Henderson." + +"Not the shadow of a doubt!" Miss Annesley, I frankly admitted on the +spot, was, next to Nancy, the handsomest girl I ever saw; and as I +thought of Mr. Robert in his den at home, I sincerely pitied him. I +was willing to advance the statement that had he known, a pair of +crutches would not have kept him away from No. 1300 Connecticut +Avenue. + +I found three chairs, and we sat down. There was, for me, very little +opportunity to talk. Women always have so much to say to each other, +even when they haven't seen each other within twenty-four hours. From +time to time Miss Annesley glanced at me, and I am positive that +Nancy was extolling my charms. It was rather embarrassing, and I was +balling my gloves up in a most dreadful fashion. As they seldom +addressed a word to me, I soon became absorbed in the passing scene. +I was presently aroused, however. + +"Mr. Henderson, Count Karloff," Miss Annesley was saying. (Karloff is +a name of my own choosing. I haven't the remotest idea if it means +anything in the Russian language. I hope not.) + +"Charmed!" The count's r's were very pleasantly rolled. I could see +by the way his gaze roved from Miss Annesley to Nancy that he was +puzzled to decide which came the nearer to his ideal of womanhood. + +I found him a most engaging fellow, surprisingly well-informed on +American topics. I credit myself with being a fairly good reader of +faces, and, reading his as he bent it in Miss Annesley's direction, I +began to worry about Mr. Robert's course of true love. Here was a man +who possessed a title, was handsome, rich, and of assured social +position: it would take an extraordinary American girl to look coldly +upon his attentions. By and by the two left us, Miss Annesley +promising to call on Nancy. + +"And where are you staying, Betty?" + +"Father and I have taken Senator Blank's house in Chevy Chase for the +winter. My horses are already in the stables. Do you ride?" + +"I do." + +"Then we shall have some great times together." + +"Be sure to call. I want you to meet my brother." + +"I believe I have," replied Miss Annesley. + +"I mean my younger brother, a lieutenant in the Army." + +"Oh, then you have two brothers?" + +"Yes," said Nancy. + +"The dance is dying, Mademoiselle," said the count in French. + +"Your arm, Monsieur. _Au revoir,_ Nancy." + +"Poor Bobby!" Nancy folded her hands and sighed mournfully. "It +appears to me that his love affair is not going to run very smooth. +But isn't she just beautiful, Charlie? What color, what style!" + +"She's a stunner, I'm forced to admit. Bob'll never stand a ghost of +a show against that Russian. He's a great social catch, and is backed +by many kopecks." + +"How unfortunate we did not know that she would be here! Bobby would +have met her at his best, and his best is more to my liking than the +count's. He has a way about him that the women like. He's no laggard. +But money ought not to count with Betty. She is worth at least a +quarter of a million. Her mother left all her property to her, and +her father acts only as trustee. Senator Blank's house rents for +eight thousand the season. It's ready furnished, you know, and one of +the handsomest homes in Washington. Besides, I do not trust those +foreigners,"--taking a remarkably abrupt curve, as it were. + +[Illustration: "What were you doing off your own box?" "Getting on +the wrong box"--Act I.] + +"There's two Bs in your bonnet, Nancy," I laughed. + +"Never mind the Bs; let us have the last of this waltz." + +This is not my own true story; so I shall bow off and permit my hero +to follow the course of true love, which is about as rough-going a +thoroughfare as the many roads of life have to offer. + + + + +VI + +THE MAN ON THE BOX + + +At eleven-thirty he locked up his book and took to his room the +mysterious bundle which he had purloined from the stables. It +contained the complete livery of a groom. The clothes fitted rather +snugly, especially across the shoulders. He stood before the pier- +glass, and a complacent (not to say roguish) smile flitted across his +face. The black half-boots, the white doeskin breeches, the brown +brass-buttoned frock, and the white hat with the brown cockade. ... +Well, my word for it, he was the handsomest jehu Washington ever +turned out. With a grin he touched his hat to the reflection in the +glass, and burst out laughing. His face was as smooth as a baby's, +for he had generously sacrificed his beard. + +I can hear him saying to himself: "Lord, but this is a lark! I'll +have to take another Scotch to screw up the edge of my nerve. Won't +the boys laugh when they hear how I stirred the girls' frizzes! We'll +have a little party here when they all get home. It's a good joke." + +Mr. Robert did not prove much of a prophet. Many days were to pass +ere he reentered his brother's house. + +He stole quietly from the place. He hadn't proceeded more than a +block when he became aware of the fact that he hadn't a penny in his +clothes. This discovery disquieted him, and he half turned about to +go back. He couldn't go back. He had no key. + +"Pshaw! I won't need any money;"--and he started off again toward +Connecticut Avenue. He dared not hail a car, and he would not have +dared had he possessed the fare. Some one might recognize him. He +walked briskly for ten minutes. The humor of the escapade appealed to +him greatly, and he had all he could do to smother the frequent +bursts of laughter which surged to his lips. He reached absently for +his cigar-case. No money, no cigars. + +"That's bad. Without a cigar I'm likely to get nervous. Scraping off +that beard made me forgetful. Jove! with these fleshings I feel as +self-conscious as an untried chorus girl. These togs can't be very +warm in winter. Ha! that must be the embassy where all those lights +are; carriages. _Allons!_" + +To make positive, he stopped a pedestrian. + +"Pardon me, sir," he said, touching his hat, "but will you be so kind +as to inform me if yonder is the British embassy?" + +"It is, my man," replied the gentleman. + +"Thank you, sir." + +And each passed on to his affairs. + +"Now for William; we must find William, or the joke will be on +Robert." + +He manoeuvered his way through the congested thoroughfare, searching +the faces of the grooms and footmen. He dodged hither and thither, +and was once brought to a halt by the mounted police. + +"Here, you! What d'ye mean by runnin' around like this? Lost yer +carriage, hey? I've a mind to run ye in. Y' know th' rules relatin' +th' leavin' of yer box in times like these. Been takin' a sly nip, +probably, an' they've sent yer hack down a peg. Get a gait on y', +now." + +Warburton laughed silently as he made for the sidewalk. The first man +he plumped into was William--a very much worried William, too. Robert +could have fallen on his neck for joy. All was plain sailing now. + +"I'm very glad to see you, sir," said William. "I was afraid you +could not get them clothes on, sir. I was getting a trifle worried, +too. Here's the carriage number." + +Warburton glanced hastily at it and stuffed it into a convenient +pocket. + +"It's sixteen carriages up, sir; a bay and a gray. You can't miss +them. The bay, being a saddle-horse, is a bit restive in the harness; +but all you have to do is to touch him with the whip. And don't try +to push ahead of your turn, or you will get into trouble with the +police. They are very strict. And don't let them confuse you, sir. +The numbers won't be in rotation. You'll hear one hundred and +fifteen, and the next moment thirty-five, like as not. It's all +according as to how the guests are leaving. Good luck to you, sir, +and don't forget to explain it all thoroughly to Mr. Warburton, sir." + +"Don't you worry, William; we'll come out of this with colors +flying." + +"Very well, sir. I shall hang around till you are safely off,"--and +William disappeared. + +Warburton could occasionally hear the faint strains of music. From +time to time the carriage-caller bawled out a number, and the +carriage would roll up under the porte-cochere. Warburton concluded +that it would be a good plan to hunt up his rig. His search did not +last long. The bay and the gray stood only a little way from the +gate. The box was vacant, and he climbed up and gathered the reins. +He sat there for some time, longing intensely for a cigar, a good +cigar, such as gentlemen smoked. + +"Seventeen!" came hoarsely along on the wings of the night. "Number +seventeen, and lively there!" + +Warburton's pulse doubled its beat. His number! + +"Skt!" The gray and the bay started forward, took the half-circle and +stopped under the porte-cochere. Warburton recollected that a +fashionable groom never turned his head unless spoken to; so he +leveled his gaze at his horses' ears and waited. But from the very +corner of his eye he caught the glimpse of two women, one of whom was +enveloped in a crimson cloak. He thrilled with exultation. What a +joke it was! He felt the carriage list as the women stepped in. The +door slammed to, and the rare good joke was on the way. + +"Off with you!" cried the pompous footman, with an imperious wave of +the hand. "Number ninety-nine!" + +"Ninety-nine! Ninety-nine!" bawled the carriage man. + +Our jehu turned into the avenue, holding a tolerable rein. He clucked +and lightly touched the horses with the lash. _This_ was true +sport; _this_ was humor, genuine, initiative, unforced. He could +imagine the girls and their fright when he finally slowed down, +opened the door, and kissed them both. Wouldn't they let out a yell, +though? His plan was to drive furiously for half a dozen blocks, +zigzag from one side of the street to the other, taking the corners +sharply, and then make for Scott Circle. + +Now, a lad of six can tell the difference between seventeen and +seventy-one. But this astonishing jehu of mine had been conspicuous +as the worst mathematician and the best soldier in his class at West +Point. No more did he remember that he was not in the wild West, and +that here in the East there were laws prohibiting reckless driving. + +He drove decently enough till he struck Dupont Circle. From here he +turned into New Hampshire, thinking it to be Rhode Island. Mistake +number two. He had studied the city map, but he was conscious of not +knowing it as well as he should have known it; but, true to his +nature, he trusted to luck. + +Aside from all this, he forgot that a woman might appreciate this +joke only when she heard it recounted. To live through it was +altogether a different matter. In an episode like this, a woman's +imagination, given the darkness such as usually fills a carriage at +night, becomes a round of terrors. Every moment is freighted with +death or disfigurement. Her nerves are like the taut strings of a +harp in a wintry wind, ready to snap at any moment; and then, +hysteria. With man the play, and only the play, is the thing. + +Snap-crack! The surprised horses, sensitive and quick-tempered as all +highly organized beings are, nearly leaped out of the harness. Never +before had their flanks received a more unwarranted stroke of the +lash. They reared and plunged, and broke into a mad gallop, which was +exactly what the rascal on the box desired. An expert horseman, he +gauged the strength of the animals the moment they bolted, and he +knew that they were his. Once the rubber-tired vehicle slid sidewise +on the wet asphalt, and he heard a stifled scream. + +He laughed, and let forth a sounding "whoop," which nowise allayed +the fright of the women inside the carriage. He wheeled into S +Street, scraping the curb as he did so. Pedestrians stopped and +stared after him. A policeman waved his club helplessly, even +hopelessly. On, on: to Warburton's mind this ride was as wild as that +which the Bishop of Vannes took from Belle-Isle to Paris in the +useless effort to save Fouquet from the wrath of Louis XIV, and to +anticipate the pregnant discoveries of one D'Artagnan. The screams +were renewed. A hand beat against the forward window and a muffled +but wrathful voice called forth a command to stop. This voice was +immediately drowned by another's prolonged scream. Our jehu began to +find all this very interesting, very exciting. + +"I'll wager a dollar that Nan isn't doing that screaming. The +Warburtons never cry out when they are frightened. Hang it!"-- +suddenly; "this street doesn't look familiar. I ought to have reached +Scott Circle by this time. Ah! here's a broader street,"--going +lickety-clip into Vermont. + +A glass went jingling to the pavement. + +"Oho! Nancy will be jumping out the next thing. This will never do." +He began to draw in. + +Hark! His trained trooper's ear heard other hoofs beating on the +iron-like surface of the pavement. Worriedly he turned his head. Five +blocks away there flashed under one of the arc-lights, only to +disappear in the shadow again, two mounted policemen. + +"By George! it looks as if the girls were going to have their fun, +too!" He laughed, but there was a nervous catch in his voice. He +hadn't counted on any policeman taking part in the comedy. "Where the +devil _is_ Scott Circle, anyhow?"--fretfully. He tugged at the +reins. "Best draw up at the next corner. I'll be hanged if _I_ +know where I am." + +He braced himself, sawed with the reins, and presently the frightened +and somewhat wearied horses slowed down into a trot. This he finally +brought to a walk. One more pull, and they came to a stand. It would +be hard to say which breathed the heaviest, the man or the horses. +Warburton leaped from the box, opened the door and waited. He +recognized the necessity of finishing the play before the mounted +police arrived on the scene. + +There was a commotion inside the carriage, then a woman in a crimson +cloak stepped (no, jumped!) out. Mr. Robert threw his arms around her +and kissed her cheek. + +"You ... vile ... wretch!" + +Warburton sprang back, his hands applied to his stinging face. + +"You drunken wretch, how dare you!" + +"Nan, it's only I--" he stammered. + +"Nan!" exclaimed the young woman, as her companion joined her. The +light from the corner disclosed the speaker's wrathful features, +disdainful lips, palpitating nostrils, eyes darting terrible glances. +"Nan! Do you think, ruffian, that you are driving serving-maids?" + +"Good Lord!" Warburton stepped back still farther; stepped back +speechless, benumbed, terror-struck. The woman he was gazing at was +anybody in the world but his sister Nancy! + + + + +VII + +A POLICE AFFAIR + + +"Officers, arrest this fellow!" commanded the young woman. Her +gesture was Didoesque in its wrath. + +"That we will, ma'am!" cried one of the policemen, flinging himself +from his horse. "So it's you, me gay buck? Thirty days fer you, an' +mebbe more. I didn't like yer looks from th' start. You're working +some kind of a trick. What complaint, ma'am?" + +"Drunkenness and abduction,"--rubbing the burning spot on her cheek. + +"That'll be rather serious. Ye'll have to appear against him in th' +mornin', ma'am." + +"I certainly shall do so." She promptly gave her name, address and +telephone number. + +"Bill, you drive th' ladies home an' I'll see this bucko to th' +station. Here, you!"--to Warburton, who was still dumb with +astonishment at the extraordinary denouement to his innocent joke. +"Git on that horse, an' lively, too, or I'll rap ye with th' club." + +"It's all a mistake, officer--" + +"Close yer face an' git on that horse. Y' can tell th' judge all that +in th' mornin'. _I_ ain't got no time t' listen. Bill, report +just as soon as ye see th' ladies home. Now, off with ye. Th' +ladies'll be wantin' somethin' t' quiet their nerves. Git on that +horse, me frisky groom; hustle!" Warburton mechanically climbed into +the saddle. It never occurred to him to parley, to say that he +couldn't ride a horse. The inventive cells of his usually fertile +brain lay passive. "Now," went on the officer, mounting his own nag, +"will ye go quietly? If ye don't I'll plug ye in th' leg with a chunk +o' lead. I won't stan' no nonsense." + +"What are you going to do with me?" asked Warburton, with a desperate +effort to collect his energies. + +"Lock ye up; mebbe throw a pail of water on that overheated cocoanut +of yours." + +"But if you'll only let me explain to you! It's all a joke; I got the +wrong carriage--" + +"Marines, marines! D' ye think I was born yestiddy? Ye wanted th' +ladies' sparklers, or I'm a doughhead." The police are the same all +over the world; the original idea sticks to them, and truth in voice +or presence is but sign of deeper cunning and villainy. "Anyhow, ye +can't run around Washington like ye do in England, me cockney. Ye +can't drive more'n a hundred miles an hour on these pavements." + +"But, I tell you--" Warburton, realizing where his escapade was about +to lead him, grew desperate. The ignominy of it! He would be the +laughing-stock of all the town on the morrow. The papers would teem +with it. "You'll find that you are making a great mistake. If you +will only take me to--Scott Circle--" + +"Where ye have a pal with a gun, eh? Git ahead!" And the two made off +toward the west. + +Once or twice the officer found himself admiring the easy seat of his +prisoner; and if the horse had been anything but a trained animal, he +would have worried some regarding the ultimate arrival at the third- +precinct. + +Half a dozen times Warburton was of a mind to make a bolt for it, but +he did not dare trust the horse or his knowledge of the streets. He +had already two counts against him, disorderly conduct and abduction, +and he had no desire to add uselessly a third, that of resisting an +officer, which seems the greatest possible crime a man can commit and +escape hanging. Oh, for a mettlesome nag! There would be no police- +station for him, then. Police-station! Heavens, what should he do? +His brother, his sister; their dismay, their shame; not counting that +he himself would be laughed at from one end of the continent to the +other. What an ass he had made of himself! He wondered how much money +it would take to clear himself, and at the same moment recollected +that he hadn't a cent in his clothes. A sweat of terror moistened his +brow. + +"What were ye up to, anyway?" asked the policeman. "What kind of +booze have ye been samplin'?" + +"I've nothing to say." + +"Ye speak clear enough. So much th' worse, if ye ain't drunk. Was ye +crazy t' ride like that? Ye might have killed th' women an' had a +bill of manslaughter brought against ye." + +"I have nothing to say; it is all a mistake. I got the wrong number +and the wrong carriage." + +"Th' devil ye did! An' where was ye goin' t' drive th' other carriage +at that thunderin' rate? It won't wash. His honor'll be stone-deaf +when ye tell him that. You're drunk, or have been." + +"Not to-night." + +"Well, I'd give me night off t' know what ye were up to. Don't ye +know nothin' about ordinances an' laws? An' I wouldn't mind havin' ye +tell me why ye threw yer arms around th' lady an' kissed her,"-- +shrewdly. + +Warburton started in his saddle. He had forgotten all about that part +of the episode. His blood warmed suddenly and his cheeks burned. He +had kissed her, kissed her soundly, too, the most radiantly beautiful +woman in all the world. Why, come to think of it, it was easily worth +a night in jail. Yes, by George, he _had_ kissed her, kissed +that blooming cheek, and but for this policeman, would have +forgotten! Whatever happened to him, she wouldn't forget in a hurry. +He laughed. The policeman gazed at him in pained surprise. + +"Well, ye seem t' take it good an' hearty." + +"If you could only see the humor in it, my friend, you'd laugh, too." + +"Oh, I would, hey? All I got t' say is that yer nerve gits me. An' ye +stand a pretty good show of bein' rounded up for more'n thirty days, +too. Well, ye've had yer joke; mebbe ye have th' price t' pay th' +fiddler. Turn here." + +The rest of the ride was in silence, Warburton gazing callously ahead +and the officer watching him with a wary eye to observe any +suggestive movement. He couldn't make out this chap. There was +something wrong, some deep-dyed villainy--of this he hadn't the +slightest doubt. It was them high-toned swells that was the craftiest +an' most daring. Handsome is that handsome does. A quarter of an hour +later they arrived at the third precinct, where our jehu was +registered for the night under the name of James Osborne. He was +hustled into a small cell and left to himself. + +He had kissed her! Glory of glories! He had pressed her to his very +heart, besides. After all, they couldn't do anything very serious to +him. They could not prove the charge of abduction. He stretched +himself on the cot, smiled, arranged his legs comfortably, wondered +what she was thinking of at this moment, and fell asleep. It was a +sign of a good constitution and a decently white conscience. And thus +they found him in the morning. They touched his arm, and he awoke +with a smile, the truest indication of a man's amiability. At first +he was puzzled as he looked blinkingly from his jailers to his +surroundings and then back at his jailers. Then it all returned to +him, and he laughed. Now the law, as represented and upheld by its +petty officers, possesses a dignity that is instantly ruffled by the +sound of laughter from a prisoner; and Mr. Robert was roughly told to +shut up, and that he'd soon laugh on the other side of his mouth. + +"All right, officers, all right; only make allowances for a man who +sees the funny side of things." Warburton stood up and shook himself, +and picked up his white hat. They eyed him intelligently. In the +morning light the young fellow didn't appear to be such a rascal. It +was plainly evident that he had _not_ been drunk the preceding +night; for his eyes were not shot with red veins nor did his lips +lack their usual healthy moisture. The officer who had taken him in +charge, being a shrewd and trained observer, noted the white hands, +soft and well-kept. He shook his head. + +"Look here, me lad, you're no groom, not by several years. Now, what +th' devil was ye up to, anyway?" + +"I'm not saying a word, sir," smiled Warburton. "All I want to know +is, am I to have any breakfast? I shouldn't mind some peaches and +cream or grapes to start with, and a small steak and coffee." + +"Ye wouldn't mind, hey?" mimicked the officer. "What d'ye think this +place is, th' Metropolitan Club? Ye'll have yer bacon an' coffee, an' +be glad t' git it. They'll feed ye in th' mess-room. Come along." + +Warburton took his time over the coffee and bacon. He wanted to think +out a reasonable defense without unmasking himself. He was thinking +how he could get word to me, too. The "duffer" might prove a friend +in need. + +"Now where?" asked Warburton, wiping his mouth. + +"T' th' court. It'll go hard with ye if ye're handed over t' th' +grand jury on th' charge of abduction. Ye'd better make a clean +breast of it. I'll speak a word for yer behavior." + +"Aren't you a little curious?" + +"It's a part of me business,"--gruffly. + +"I'll have my say to the judge," said Warburton. + +"That's yer own affair. Come." + +Once outside, Warburton lost color and a large part of his +nonchalance; for an open patrol stood at the curb. + +"Have I got to ride in that?"--disgustedly. + +"As true as life; an' if ye make any disturbance, so much th' worse." + +Warburton climbed in, his face red with shame and anger. He tied his +handkerchief around his chin and tilted his hat far down over his +eyes. + +"'Fraid of meetin' some of yer swell friends, hey? Ten t' one, yer a +swell an' was runnin' away with th' wrong woman. Mind, I have an eye +on ye." + +The patrol rumbled over the asphalt on the way down-town. Warburton +buried his face in his hands. Several times they passed a cigar- +store, and his mouth watered for a good cigar, the taste of a clear +Havana. + +He entered the police-court, not lacking in curiosity. It was his +first experience with this arm of the civil law. He wasn't sure that +he liked it. It wasn't an inviting place with its bare benches and +its motley, tawdry throng. He was plumped into a seat between some +ladies of irregular habits, and the stale odor of intoxicants, +mingling with cheap perfumery, took away the edge of his curiosity. + +"Hello, pretty boy; jag?" asked one of these faded beauties, in an +undertone. She nudged him with her elbow. + +"No, sweetheart," he replied, smiling in spite of himself. + +"Ah gowan! Been pinching some one's wad?" + +"Nope!" + +"What are you here for, then?" + +"Having a good time without anybody's consent. If you will listen, +you will soon hear all about it." + +"Silence there, on the bench!" bawled the clerk, whacking the desk. + +"Say, Marie," whispered the woman to her nearest neighbor, "here's a +boy been selling his master's harness and got pinched." + +"But look at the sweet things coming in, will you! Ain't they swell, +though?" whispered Marie, nodding a skinny feather toward the door. + +Warburton glanced indifferently in the direction indicated, and +received a shock. Two women--and both wore very heavy black veils. +The smaller of the two inclined her body, and he was sure that her +scrutiny was for him. He saw her say something into the ear of the +companion, and repeat it to one of the court lawyers. The lawyer +approached the desk, and in his turn whispered a few words into the +judge's ear. The magistrate nodded. Warburton was conscious of a +blush of shame. This was a nice position for any respectable woman to +see him in! + +"James Osborne!" called the clerk. + +An officer beckoned to James, and he made his way to the prisoner's +box. His honor looked him over coldly. + +"Name?" + +"James Osborne." + +"Born here?" + +"No." + +"Say 'sir'." + +"No, sir." + +"Where were you born?" + +"In New York State." + +"How old are you? And don't forget to say 'sir' when you reply to my +questions." + +"I am twenty-eight, sir." + +"Married?" + +"No, sir." + +"How long have you been engaged as a groom?" + +"Not very long, sir." + +"How long?" + +"Less than twenty-four hours, sir." + +Surprise rippled over the faces of the audience on the benches. + +"Humph! You are charged with disorderly conduct, reckless driving, +and attempted abduction. The last charge has been withdrawn, +fortunately for you, sir. Have you ever been up before?" + +"Up, sir?" + +"A prisoner in a police-court." + +"No, sir." + +"Twenty-five for reckless driving and ten for disorderly conduct; or +thirty days." + +"Your Honor, the horses ran away." + +"Yes, urged by your whip." + +"I was not disorderly, sir." + +"The officer declares that you had been drinking." + +"Your Honor, I got the wrong carriage. My number was seventeen and I +answered to number seventy-one." He wondered if _she_ would +believe this statement. + +"I suppose that fully explains why you made a race-track of one of +our main thoroughfares?"--sarcastically. "You were on the wrong +carriage to begin with." + +"All I can say, sir, is that it was a mistake." + +"The mistake came in when you left your carriage to get a drink. You +broke the law right then. Well, if a man makes mistakes, he must pay +for them, here or elsewhere. This mistake will cost you thirty-five." + +"I haven't a penny in my clothes, sir." + +"Officer, lock him up, and keep him locked up till the fine is paid. +I can not see my way to remit it Not another word,"--as Warburton +started to protest. + +"Marie Johnson, Mabel Tynner, Belle Lisle!" cried the clerk. + +The two veiled ladies left the court precipitately. + +James, having been ushered into a cell, hurriedly called for pen and +ink and paper. At half after ten that morning the following note +reached me: + +"Dear Chuck: Am in a devil of a scrape at the police-court. Tried to +play a joke on the girls last night by dressing up in the groom's +clothes. Got the wrong outfit, and was arrested. Bring thirty-five +and a suit of clothes the quickest ever. And, for mercy's sake, say +nothing to any one, least of all the folks. I have given the name +of James Osborne. Now, hustle. Bob." + +I hustled. + + + + +VIII + +ANOTHER SALAD IDEA + + +When they found him missing, his bed untouched, his hat and coat on +the rack, his inseparable walking-stick in the umbrella-stand, they +were mightily worried. They questioned Jane, but she knew nothing. +Jack went out to the stables; no news there. William, having driven +the girls home himself, dared say nothing. Then Jack wisely +telephoned for me, and I hurried over to the house. + +"Maybe he hunted up some friends last night," I suggested. + +"But here's his hat!" cried Nancy. + +"Oh, he's all right; don't worry. I'll take a tour around the city. +I'll find him. He may be at one of the clubs." + +Fortunately for Mr. James Osborne I returned home first, and there +found his note awaiting me. I was at the court by noon, armed with +thirty-five and a suit of clothes of my own. I found the clerk. + +"A young man, dressed as a groom, and locked up overnight," I said +cautiously. "I wish to pay his fine." + +"James Osborne?" + +"Yes, that's the name; James Osborne,"--reaching down into my pocket. + +"Fine's just been paid. We were about to release him. Here, officer, +show this gentleman to James Osborne's cell, and tell him to pack up +and get out." + +So his fine was paid! Found the money in his clothes, doubtless. On +the way to the cells I wondered what the deuce the rascal had been +doing to get locked up overnight. I was vastly angry, but at the +sight of him all my anger melted into a prolonged shout of laughter. + +"That's right; laugh, you old pirate! I wish you had been in my boots +a few hours ago. Lord!" + +I laughed again. + +"Have you got that thirty-five?" he asked. + +"Why, your fine has been paid," I replied, rather surprised. + +"And didn't you pay it?" + +"Not I! The clerk told me that it had just been paid." + +Warburton's jaw sank limply. "Just been paid?--Who the deuce could +have paid it, or known?" + +"First, tell me what you've been up to." + +He told me snatches of the exploit as he changed his clothes, and it +was a question which of us laughed the more. But he didn't say a word +about the stolen kiss, for which I think none the less of him. + +"Who were the women?" I asked. + +He looked at me for a space, as if deciding. Finally he made a +negative sign. + +"Don't know who they were, eh?"--incredulously. + +He shrugged, laughed, and drew on his shoes. + +"I always knew that I was the jackass of the family, Chuck, but I +never expected to do it so well. Let's get out of this hole. I wonder +who can have paid that fine?... No, that would not be possible!" + +"What would not be?" + +"Nothing, nothing,"--laughing. + +But I could see that his spirits had gone up several degrees. + +"The whole thing is likely to be in the evening papers," I said. He +needed a little worrying. And I knew his horror of publicity. + +"The newspapers? In the newspapers? Oh, I say, Chuck, can't you use +your influence to suppress the thing? Think of the girls." + +"I'll do the best I can. And there's only one thing for you to do, +and that is to cut out of town till your beard has grown. It would +serve you right, however, if the reporters got the true facts." + +"I'm for getting out of town, Chuck; and on the next train but one." + +Here our conversation was interrupted by the entrance of a policeman. + +"A note for _Mister_ Osborne,"--ironically. He tossed the letter +to Warburton and withdrew. + +_Mister_ Osborne eagerly tore open an end of the envelope--a +very aristocratic envelope, as I could readily discern--and extracted +the letter. I closely watched his facial expressions. First, there +was interest, then surprise, to be succeeded by amusement and a +certain exultation. He slapped his thigh. + +"By George, Chuck. I'll do it!" + +"Do it? Now what?" + +"Listen to this." He cleared his throat, sniffed of the faintly +scented paper and cleared his throat again. He looked up at me +drolly. + +"Well?" said I, impatiently. I was as eager to hear it as he had been +to read it. I believed that the mystery was about to be solved. + +"'James Osborne, Sir: I have been thinking the matter over seriously, +and have come to the conclusion that there may have been a mistake. +Undoubtedly my groom was primarily to blame. I have discharged him +for neglecting his post of duty. I distinctly recall the manner in +which you handled the horses last night. It may be possible that they +ran away with you. However that may be, I find myself in need of a +groom. Your horsemanship saved us from a serious accident. If you +will promise to let whisky alone, besides bringing me a +recommendation, and are without engagement, call at the inclosed +address this afternoon at three o'clock. I should be willing to pay +as much as forty dollars a month. You would be expected to accompany +me on my morning rides.'" + +"She must have paid the fine," said I. "Well, it beats anything I +ever heard of. Had you arrested, and now wants to employ you! What +name did you say?" I asked carelessly. + +"I didn't say any name, Chuck,"--smiling. "And I'm not going to give +any, you old duffer." + +"And why not?" + +"For the one and simple reason that I am going to accept the +position,"--with a coolness that staggered me. + +"What?" I bawled. + +"Sure as life, as the policeman said last night." + +"You silly ass, you! Do you want to make the family a laughing-stock +all over town?" I was really angry. + +"Neither the family nor the town will know anything about it,"-- +imperturbably. + +"But you will be recognized!" I remonstrated. "It's a clear case of +insanity, after what has just happened to you." + +"I promise not to drink any whisky,"--soberly. + +"Bob, you are fooling me." + +"Not the littlest bit, Chuck. I've worn a beard for two years. No one +would recognize me. Besides, being a groom, no one would pay any +particular attention to me. Get the point?" + +"But what under the sun is your object?" I demanded. "There's +something back of all this. It's not a simple lark like last +night's." + +"Perspicacious man!"--railingly. "Possibly you may be right. Chuck, +you know that I've just got to be doing something. I've been inactive +too long. I am ashamed to say that I should tire of the house in a +week or less. Change, change, of air, of place, of occupation; +change--I must have it. It's food and drink." + +"You've met this woman before, somewhere." + +"I neither acknowledge nor deny. It will be very novel. I shall be +busy from morning till night. Think of the fun of meeting persons +whom you know, but who do not know you. I wouldn't give up this +chance for any amount of money." + +"Forty Dollars a month," said I, wrathfully. + +"Cigar money,"--tranquilly. + +"Look here, Bob; be reasonable. You can't go about as a groom in +Washington. If the newspapers ever get hold of it, you would be +disgraced. They wouldn't take you as a clerk in a third-rate +consulate. Supposing you should run into Jack or his wife or Nancy; +do you think they wouldn't know you at once?" + +"I'll take the risk. I'd deny that I knew them; they'd tumble and +leave me alone. Chuck, I've got to do this. Some day you'll +understand." + +"But the woman's name, Bob; only her name." + +"Oh, yes! And have you slide around and show me up within twenty-four +hours. No, I thank you. I am determined on this. You ought to know me +by this time. I never back down; it isn't in the blood. And when all +is said, where's the harm in this escapade? I can see none. It may +not last the day through." + +"I trust not,"--savagely. + +"I am determined upon answering this letter in person and finding +out, if possible, what induced her to pay my fine. Jackass or not, +I'm going to see the thing through." Then he stretched an appealing +hand out toward me, and said wheedlingly: "Chuck, give me your word +to keep perfectly quiet. I'll drop you a line once in a while, just +to let you know how I stand. I shall be at the house to-night. I'll +find an excuse. I'm to go up North on a hunting expedition; a hurry +call. Do you catch on?" + +"I shall never be able to look Nancy in the face," I declared. "Come, +Bob; forget it. It sounds merry enough, but my word for it, you'll +regret it inside of twenty-four hours. You are a graduate of the +proudest military school in the world, and you are going to make a +groom of yourself!" + +"I've already done that and been locked up overnight. You are wasting +your breath, Chuck." + +"Well, hang you for a jackass, sure enough! I promise; but if you get +into any such scrape as this, you needn't send for me. I refuse to +help you again." + +"I can't exactly see that you did. Let's get out. Got a cigar in your +pocket? I am positively dying for a smoke." + +Suddenly a brilliant idea came to me. + +"Did you know that Miss Annesley, the girl you saw on shipboard, is +in Washington and was at the embassy last night?" + +"No! You don't say!" He was too clever for me. "When I get through +with this exploit, Nancy'll have to introduce me. Did you see her?" + +"Yes, and talked to her. You see what you missed by not going last +night." + +"Yes, I missed a good night's rest and a cold bath in the morning." + +"Where shall I say you were last night?" I asked presently. + +Mister James scratched his chin disconcertedly. "I hadn't thought of +that. Say that I met some of the boys and got mixed up in a little +game of poker." + +"You left your hat on the rack and your cane in the stand. You are +supposed to have left the house without any hat." + +"Hat!" He jumped up from the cot on which he had been sitting and +picked up the groom's tile. "Didn't you bring me a hat?"--dismayed. + +"You said nothing about it,"--and I roared with laughter. + +"How shall I get out of here? I can't wear this thing through the +streets." + +"I've a mind to make you wear it. And, by Jove, you shall! You'll +wear it to the hatter's, or stay here. That's final. I never back +down, either." + +"I'll wear it; only, mark me, I'll get even with you. I always did." + +"_I_ am not a boy any longer,"--with an inflection on the +personal pronoun. "Well, to continue about that excuse. You left the +house without a hat, and you met the boys and played poker all night. +That hitches wonderfully. You didn't feel well enough to go to the +embassy, but you could go and play poker. That sounds as if you cared +a lot for your sister. And you wanted to stay at home the first +night, because you had almost forgotten how the inside of a private +dwelling looked. Very good; very coherent." + +"Cut it, Chuck. What the deuce excuse _can_ I give?"--worriedly +lighting the cigar I had given him. + +"My boy, I'm not making up your excuses; you'll have to invent those. +I'll be silent, but I refuse to lie to Nancy on your account. Poker +is the only excuse that would carry any weight with it. You will have +to let them believe you're a heartless wretch; which you are, if you +persist in this idiotic exploit." + +"You don't understand, Chuck. I wish I could tell you; honestly, I +do. The girls will have to think mean things of me till the farce is +over. I couldn't escape if I wanted to." + +"Is it Miss Annesley, Bob? Was it she whom you ran away with? Come, +make a clean breast of it. If it's she, why, that altogether alters +the face of things." + +He walked the length of the cell and returned. "I give up. You've hit +it. You understand now. I simply can't back away; I couldn't if I +tried." + +"Are you in love with the girl?" + +"That's just what I want to find out, Chuck. I'm not sure. I've been +thinking of her night and day. I never had any affair; I don't know +what love is. But if it's shaking in your boots at the sound of her +name, if it's getting red in the face when you only just think of +her, if it's having a wild desire to pick her up and run away with +her when you see her, then I've got it. When she stepped out of that +confounded carriage last night, you could have knocked me over with a +paper-wad. Come, let's go out. Hang the hat! Let them all laugh if +they will. It's only a couple of blocks to the hatter's." + +He bravely put the white hat on his head, and together we marched out +of the police-office into the street. We entered the nearest hatter's +together. He took what they call a drop-kick out of the hat, sending +it far to the rear of the establishment. I purchased a suitable derby +for him, gave him ten dollars for emergencies, and we parted. + +He proceeded to a telegraph office and sent a despatch to a friend up +North, asking him to telegraph him to come at once, taking his +chances of getting a reply. After this he boarded a north-going car, +and was rolled out to Chevy Chase. He had no difficulty in finding +the house of which he was in search. It was a fine example of +colonial architecture, well back from the road, and fields beyond it. +It was of red brick and white stone, with a wide veranda supported by +great white pillars. There was a modern portico at one side. A fine +lawn surrounded the whole, and white-pebble walks wound in and out. +All around were thickly wooded hills, gashed here and there by the +familiar yet peculiar red clay of the country. Warburton walked up +the driveway and knocked deliberately at the servants' door, which +was presently opened. (I learned all these things afterward, which +accounts for my accurate knowledge of events.) + +"Please inform Miss Annesley that Mr. Osborne has come in reply to +her letter," he said to the little black-eyed French maid. + +"Ees Meestaire Osborrrrne zee new groom?" + +"Yes." + +"I go thees minute!" _Hein!_ what a fine-looking young man to +make eyes at on cold nights in the kitchen! + +Warburton sat down and twirled his hat. Several times he repressed +the desire to laugh. He gazed curiously about him. From where he sat +he could see into the kitchen. The French chef was hanging up his +polished pans in a glistening row back of the range, and he was +humming a little _chanson_ which Warburton had often heard in +the restaurants of the provincial cities of France. He even found +himself catching up the refrain where the chef left off. Presently he +heard footsteps sounding on the hardwood floor, which announced that +the maid was returning with her mistress. + +He stood up, rested first on one foot, then on the other, and +awkwardly shifted his new hat from one hand to the other, then +suddenly put the hat under his arm, recollecting that the label was +not such as servants wore inside their hats. + +There was something disquieting in those magnetic sapphire eyes +looking so serenely into his. + + + + +IX + +THE HEROINE HIRES A GROOM + + +Remarkable as it may read, his first impression was of her gown--a +gown such as women wear on those afternoons when they are free of +social obligations, a gown to walk in or to lounge in. The skirt, +which barely reached to the top of her low shoes, was of some blue +stuff (stuff, because to a man's mind the word covers feminine dress- +goods generally, liberally, and handily), overshot with gray. Above +this she had put on a white golfing-sweater, a garment which at that +time was just beginning to find vogue among women who loved the +fields and the road. Only men who own to stylish sisters appreciate +these things, and Warburton possessed rather observant eyes. She held +a bunch of freshly plucked poppies in her hand. It was the second +time that their glances had met and held. In the previous episode (on +the day she had leaned out of the cab) hers had been first to fall. +Now it was his turn. He studied the tips of his shoes. There were +three causes why he lowered his eyes: First, she was mistress here +and he was an applicant for employment; second, he loved her; third, +he was committing the first bold dishonesty in his life. Once, it was +on the very tip of his tongue to confess everything, apologize, and +take himself off. But his curiosity was of greater weight than his +desire. He remained silent and waited for her to speak. + +"Celeste, you may leave us," said Miss Annesley. + +Celeste courtesied, shot a killing glance at the tentative groom, and +departed the scene. + +"You have driven horses for some length of time?" the girl began. + +If only he might look as calmly and fearlessly at her! What a voice, +now that he heard it in its normal tone! "Yes, Madam; I have ridden +and driven something like ten years." + +"Where?" + +"In the West, mostly." + +"You are English?" + +"No, Madam." He wondered how much she had heard at the police-court +that morning. "I am American born." + +"Are you addicted to the use of intoxicants?"--mentally noting the +clearness of the whites of his eyes. + +The barest flicker of a smile stirred his lips. + +"No, Madam. I had not been drinking last night--that is, not in the +sense the officers declared I had. It is true that I take a drink +once in a while, when I have been riding or driving all day, or when +I am cold. I have absolutely no appetite." + +She brushed her cheeks with the poppies, and for a brief second the +flowers threw a most beautiful color over her face and neck. + +"What was your object in climbing on the box of my carriage and +running away with it?" + +Quick as a flash of light he conceived his answer. "Madam, it was a +jest between me and some maids." He had almost said serving-maids, +but the thought of Nancy checked this libel. + +"Between you and some maids?"--faintly contemptuous. "Explain, for I +believe an explanation is due me." + +His gaze was forced to rove again. "Well, Madam, it is truly +embarrassing. Two maids were to enter a carriage and I was to drive +them away from the embassy, and once I had them in the carriage I +thought it would be an admirable chance to play them a trick." + +"Pray, since when have serving-maids beein allowed exit from the main +hall of the British embassy?" + +Mr. Robert was positive that the shadow of a sarcastic smile rested +for a moment on her lips. But it was instantly hidden under the +poppies. + +"That is something of which I have no intimate knowledge. A groom is +not supposed to turn his head when on the box unless spoken to. You +will readily understand that, Madam. I made a mistake in the number. +Mine was seventy-one, and I answered number seventeen. I was +confused." + +"I dare say. Seventy-one," she mused, "It will be easy to verify +this, to find out whose carriage that was." + +Mr. Robert recognized his mistake, but he saw no way to rectify it. +She stood silently gazing over his shoulder, into the fields beyond. + +"Perhaps you can explain to me that remarkable episode at the +carriage door? I should be pleased to hear your explanation." + +It hard come,--the very thing he had dreaded had come. He had hoped +that she would ignore it. "Madam, I can see that you have sent for me +out of curiosity only. If I offered any disrespect to you last night, +I pray you to forgive me. For, on my word of honor, it was innocently +done." He bowed, and even placed his hand on the knob of the door. + +"Have a little patience. I prefer myself to forget that disagreeable +incident." The truth is, "on my word of honor," coming from a groom, +sounded strange in her ears; and she wanted to learn more about this +fellow. "Mr. Osborne, what were you before you became a groom?" + +"I have not always been a groom, it is true, Madam. My past I prefer +to leave in obscurity. There is nothing in that past, however, of +which I need be ashamed;"--and unconsciously his figure became more +erect. + +"Is your name Osborne?" + +"No, Madam, it is not. For my family's sake, I have tried to forget +my own name." (I'll wager the rascal never felt a qualm in the region +of his conscience.) + +It was this truth which was not truth that won his battle. + +"You were doubtless discharged last night?" + +"I did not return to ascertain, Madam. I merely sent for my +belongings." + +"You have recommendations?"--presently. + +"I have no recommendations whatever, Madam. If you employ me, it must +be done on your own responsibility and trust in human nature. I can +only say, Madam, that I am honest, that I am willing, that I possess +a thorough knowledge of horse-flesh." + +"It is very unusual," she said, searching him to the very heart with +her deep blue eyes. "For all I know you may be the greatest rascal, +or you may be the honestest man, in the world." His smile was so +frank and engaging that she was forced to smile herself. But she +thought of something, and frowned. "If you have told me the truth, so +much the better; for I can easily verify all you have told me. I will +give you a week's trial. After all,"--indifferently--"what I desire +is a capable servant. You will have to put up with a good deal. There +are days when I am not at all amiable, and on those days I do not +like to find a speck of rust on the metals or a blanket that has not +been thoroughly brushed. As for the animals, they must always shine +like satin. This last is unconditional. Besides all this, our force +of servants is small. Do you know anything about serving?" + +"Very little." What was coming now? + +"The chef will coach you. I entertain some, and there will be times +when you will be called upon to wait on the table. Come with me and I +will show you the horses. We have only five, but my father takes +great pride in them. They are all thoroughbreds." + +"Like their mistress," was Warburton's mental supplementary. + +"Father hasn't ridden for years, however. The groom I discharged this +morning was capable enough on the box, but he was worse than useless +to me in my morning rides. I ride from nine till eleven, even Sundays +sometimes. Remain here till I return." + +As she disappeared Warburton drew in an exceedingly long breath and +released it slowly. Heavens, what an ordeal! He drew the back of his +hand across his forehead and found it moist. Not a word about the +fine: he must broach it and thank her. Ah, to ride with her every +morning, to adjust her stirrup, to obey every command to which she +might give voice, to feel her small boot repulse his palm as she +mounted! Heaven could hold nothing greater than this. And how easily +a woman may be imposed upon! Decidedly, Mr. Robert was violently in +love. + +When she returned there was a sunbonnet on her head, and she had +pinned the poppies on her breast. (Why? I couldn't tell you, unless +when all is said and done, be he king or valet, a man is always a +man; and if perchance he is blessed with good looks, a little more +than a man. You will understand that in this instance I am trying to +view things through a woman's eyes.) With a nod she bade him precede +her, and they went out toward the stables. She noted the flat back, +the square shoulders, the easy, graceful swing of the legs. + +"Have you been a soldier?" she asked suddenly. + +He wheeled. His astonishment could not be disguised quickly enough to +escape her vigilant eyes. Once more he had recourse to the truth. + +"Yes, Madam. It was as a trooper that I learned horsemanship." + +"What regiment?" + +"I prefer not to say,"--quietly. + +"I do not like mysteries,"--briefly. + +"Madam, you have only to dismiss me, to permit me to thank you for +paying my fine and to reimburse you at the earliest opportunity." + +She closed her lips tightly. No one but herself knew what had been on +the verge of passing across them. + +"Let us proceed to the stables," was all she said. "If you prove +yourself a capable horseman, that is all I desire." + +The stable-boy slid back the door, and the two entered. Warburton +glanced quickly about; all was neatness. There was light and +ventilation, too, and the box-stalls were roomy. The girl stopped +before a handsome bay mare, which whinnied when it saw her. She laid +her cheek against the animal's nose and talked that soft jargon so +embarrassing to man and so intelligible to babies and pet animals. +Lucky horse! he thought; but his face expressed nothing. + +"This is Jane, my own horse, and there are few living things I love +so well. Remember this. She is a thoroughbred, a first-class hunter; +and I have done more than five feet on her at home." + +She moved on, Warburton following soberly and thoughtfully. There was +a good deal to think of just now. The more he saw of this girl, the +less he understood her purpose in hiring him. She couldn't possibly +know anything about him, who or what he was. With his beard gone he +defied her to recognize in him the man who had traveled across the +Atlantic with her. A highbred woman, such as she was, would scarcely +harbor any kind feelings toward a man who had acted as he was acting. +If any man had kissed Nancy the way he had kissed her, he would have +broken every bone in his body or hired some one to do it. And she had +paid his fine at the police-station and had hired him on probation! +Truly he was in the woods, and there wasn't a sign of a blazed trail. +(It will be seen that my hero hadn't had much experience with women. +She knew nothing of him whatever. She was simply curious, and brave +enough to attempt to have this curiosity gratified. Of course, I do +not venture to say that, had he been coarse in appearance, she would +have had anything to do with him.) + +"This is Dick, my father's horse,"--nodding toward a sorrel, large +and well set-up. "He will be your mount. The animal in the next stall +is Pirate." + +Pirate was the handsomest black gelding Warburton had ever laid eyes +on. + +"What a beauty!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, forgetting that +grooms should be utterly without enthusiasm. He reached out his hand +to pat the black nose, when a warning cry restrained him. Pirate's +ears lay flat. + +"Take care! He is a bad-tempered animal. No one rides him, and we +keep him only to exhibit at the shows. Only half a dozen men have +ridden him with any success. He won't take a curb in his mouth, and +he always runs away. It takes a very strong man to hold him in. I +really don't believe that he's vicious, only terribly mischievous, +like a bullying boy." + +"I should like to ride him." + +The girl looked at her new groom in a manner which expressed frank +astonishment. Was he in earnest, or was it mere bravado? An idea came +to her, a mischievous idea. + +"If you can sit on Pirate's back for ten minutes, there will not be +any question of probation. I promise to engage you on the spot, +recommendation or no recommendation." Would he, back down? + +"Where are the saddles, Madam?" he asked calmly, though his blood +moved faster. + +"On the pegs behind you,"--becoming interested. "Do you really intend +to ride him?" + +"With your permission." + +"I warn you that the risk you are running is great." + +"I am not afraid of Pirate, Madam," in a tone which implied that he +was not afraid of any horse living. The spirit of antagonism rose up +in him, that spirit of antagonism of the human against the animal, +that eternal ambition of the one to master the other. And besides, +I'm not sure that James didn't want to show off before the girl-- +another very human trait in mankind. For my part, I wouldn't give +yesterday's rose for a man who wouldn't show off once in a while, +when his best girl is around and looking on. + +"On your head be it, then,"--a sudden nervousness seizing her. Yet +she was as eager to witness the encounter as he was to court it. +"William!" she called. The stable-boy entered, setting aside his +broom. "This is James, the new groom. Help him to saddle Pirate." + +"Saddle Pirate, Miss Annesley!" cried the boy, his mouth open and his +eyes wide. + +"You see?" said the girl to Warburton. + +"Take down that saddle with the hooded stirrups," said Warburton, +briefly. He would ride Pirate now, even if Pirate had been sired in +Beelzebub's stables. He carefully inspected the saddle, the stirrup- +straps and the girth. "Very good, indeed. Buckles on saddles are +always a hidden menace and a constant danger. Now, bring out Pirate, +William." + +William brought out the horse, who snorted when he saw the saddle on +the floor and the curb on Warburton's arm. + +"There hasn't been anybody on his back for a year, sir; not since +last winter. He's likely to give you trouble," said the boy. "You +can't put that curb on him, sir; he won't stand for it a moment. Miss +Annesley, hadn't you better step outside? He may start to kicking. +That heavy English snaffle is the best thing I know of. Try that, +sir. And don't let him get his head down, or he'll do you. Whoa!" as +Pirate suddenly took it into his head to leave the barn without any +one's permission. + +The girl sprang lightly into one of the empty stalls and waited. She +was greatly excited, and the color in her cheeks was not borrowed +from the poppies. She saw the new groom take Pirate by the forelock, +and, quicker than words can tell, Mr. Pirate was angrily champing the +cold bit. He reared. Warburton caught him by the nose and the neck. +Pirate came down, trembling with rage. + +"Here, boy; catch him here," cried Warburton. William knew his +business, and he grasped the bridle close under Pirate's jaws. +"That's it. Now hold him." + +Warburton picked up the saddle and threw it over Pirate's glossy +back. Pirate waltzed from side to side, and shook his head wickedly. +But the man that was to mount him knew all these signs. Swiftly he +gathered up the end of the belly-band strap and ran it through the +iron ring. In and out he threaded it, drawing it tighter and tighter. +He leaped into the saddle and adjusted the stirrups, then dismounted. + +"I'll take him now, William," said James, smiling. + +"All right, sir," said William, glad enough to be relieved of all +further responsibility. + +James led Pirate into the small court and waited for Miss Annesley, +who appeared in the doorway presently. + +"James, I regret that I urged you to ride him. You will be hurt," she +said. Her worry was plainly visible on her face. + +James smiled his pleasantest and touched his hat. + +"Very well, then; I have warned you. If he bolts, head him for a +tree. That's the only way to stop him." + +James shortened the bridle-rein to the required length, took a firm +grip on Pirate's mane, and vaulted into the saddle. Pirate stood +perfectly still. He shook his head. James talked to him and patted +his sleek neck, and touched him gently with his heel. Then things +livened up a bit. Pirate waltzed, reared, plunged, and started to do +the _pas seul_ on the flower-beds. Then he immediately changed +his mind. He decided to re-enter the stables. + +"Don't let him get his head down!" yelled William, nimbly jumping +over a bed of poppies and taking his position beside his mistress. + +"The gates, William! The gates!" cried the girl, excitedly. "Only one +is open. He will not be able to get through." + +William scampered down the driveway and swung back the iron barrier. +None too soon! Like a black shadow, Pirate flashed by, his rider's +new derby rolling in the dust. + +The girl stood in the doorway, her hands pressed against her heart. +She was as white as the clouds that sailed overhead. + + + + +X + +PIRATE + + +On the opposite side of the road there was a stone wall about five +feet in height; beyond this was a broad, rolling field, and farther +on, a barb-wire fence and a boggy stream which oozed its way down +toward the Potomac. Far away across the valley the wooded hills were +drying and withering and thinning, with splashes of yellow and red. A +flock of birds speckled the fleecy October clouds, and a mild breeze +sent the grasses shivering. + +Toward the wall Pirate directed his course. Warburton threw back his +full weight. The effort had little or no effect on Pirate's mouth. +His rider remembered about the tree, but the nearest was many yards +away. Over the wall they went, and down the field. Pirate tried to +get his head down, but he received a check. Score one for the man. +Warburton, his legs stiffened in the stirrups, his hands well down, +his breath coming in gasps, wondered where they would finally land. +He began to use his knees, and Pirate felt the pressure. He didn't +like it at all. Oddly enough, Warburton's leg did not bother him as +he expected it would, and this gave him confidence. On, on; the dull +pounding of Pirate's feet, the flying sod, the wind in his face: and +when he saw the barb-wire fence, fear entered into him. An inch too +low, a stumble, and serious injuries might result. He must break +Pirate's gait. + +He began to saw cow-boy fashion. Pirate grew very indignant: he was +being hurt. His speed slackened none, however; he was determined to +make that fence if it was the last thing he ever did. He'd like to +see any man stop him. He took the deadly fence as with the wings of a +bird. But he found that the man was still on his back. He couldn't +understand it. He grew worried. And then he struck the red-brown muck +bordering the stream. The muck flew, but at every bound Pirate sank +deeper, and the knees of his rider were beginning to tell. Warburton, +full of rage, yet not unreasonable rage, quickly saw his chance. Once +more he threw back his weight; this time to the left. Pirate's head +came stubbornly around; his gait was broken, he was floundering in +the stream. Now Warburton used his heels savagely. He shortened the +reins and whacked Mr. Pirate soundly across the ears. Pirate plunged +and reared and, after devious evolutions, reached solid ground. This +time his head was high in the air, and, try as he would, he could not +lower his neck a solitary inch. + +[Illustration: "He's a newspaper man and makes his living by telling +lies."--ACT II.] + +Warburton knew that the animal could not make the barb-wire fence +again, so he waltzed him along till he found a break in the wire. +Over this Pirate bounded, snorting. But he had met a master. Whether +he reared or plunged, waltzed or ran, he could not make those +ruthless knees relent in their pressure. He began to understand what +all beasts understand, sooner or later--the inevitable mastery of +man. There was blood in his nostrils. A hand touched his neck +caressingly. He shook his head; he refused to conciliate. A voice, +kindly but rather breathless, addressed him. Again Pirate shook his +head; but he did not run, he cantered. Warburton gave a sigh of +relief. Over the field they went. A pull to the left, and Pirate +wheeled; a pull to the right, and again Pirate answered, and cantered +in a circle. But he still shook his head discontentedly, and the +froth that spattered Warburton's legs was flecked with blood. The +stirrup-strap began to press sharply and hurtfully against +Warburton's injured leg. He tugged, and Pirate fell into a trot. He +was mastered. + +After this Warburton did as he pleased; Pirate had learned his +lesson. His master put him through a dozen manoeuvers, and he was +vastly satisfied with the victory. In the heat of the battle +Warburton had forgotten all about where and what he was; and it was +only when he discerned far away a sunbonnet with fluttering strings +peering over the stone wall, and a boy in leggings standing on top of +the wall, that he recollected. A wave of exhilaration swept through +his veins. He had conquered the horse before the eyes of the one +woman. + +He guided Pirate close to the wall, and stopped him, looked down into +the girl's wonder-lit eyes and smiled cheerfully. And what is more, +she smiled faintly in acknowledgment. He had gained, in the guise of +a groom, what he might never have gained in any other condition of +life, the girl's respect and admiration. Though a thorough woman of +the world, high-bred, wellborn, she forgot for the moment to control +her features; and as I have remarked elsewhere, Warburton was a +shrewd observer. + +"Bully, Mr. Osborne!" shouted William, leaping down. "It was simply +great!" + +"There are some bars farther down," said the girl, quietly. "William, +run and open them." + +Warburton flushed slightly. He could not tell how she had +accomplished it, whether it was the tone or the gesture, but she had +calmly reestablished the barrier between mistress and servant. + +"I think I'll put him to the wall again," said the hero, seized by a +rebel spirit. + +He wheeled Pirate about and sent him back at a run. Pirate balked. +Round he went again, down the field and back. This time he cleared +the wall with a good foot to spare. The victory was complete. + +When it was all over, and Pirate was impatiently munching an extra +supply of oats, the girl bade Mr. James to report early the following +morning. + +"I hope I shall please you, Madam." + +"Address me as Miss Annesley from now on," she said; and nodding +shortly, she entered the house. + +To Warburton, half the pleasure of the victory was gone; for not a +word of praise had she given him. Yet, she had answered his smile. +Well, he had made a lackey out of himself; he had no right to expect +anything but forty dollars a month and orders. + +He broke his word with me. He did not return to the house that night +for dinner. In fact, he deliberately sent for his things, explaining +that he was called North and wouldn't have time to see them before he +left. It took all my persuasive oratory to smooth the troubled +waters, and then there were areas upon which my oil had no effect +whatever. + +"He is perfectly heartless!" cried Nancy. "He couldn't go to the +embassy, but he could steal away and play poker all night with a lot +of idling Army officers. And now he is going off to Canada without +even seeing us to say good-by. Charlie, there is something back of +all this." + +"I'll bet it's a woman," said Jack, throwing a scrutinizing glance at +me. But I was something of a diplomat myself, and he didn't catch me +napping. "Here's a telegram for him, too." + +"I think I'll take the liberty of opening it," said I. I knew its +contents. It was the reply Warburton had depended on. I read it +aloud. It is good to have friends of this sort. No question was +asked. It was a bald order: "Come up at once and shoot caribou. Take +first train." + +"Bob's a jackass," was Jack's commentary. I had heard something like +it before, that day. "He'll turn up all right;"--and Jack lit a cigar +and picked up his paper. + +"And Betty Annesley is going to call to-morrow night," said Nancy, +her voice overflowing with reproach. Her eyes even sparkled with +tears. "I did so want them to meet." + +I called myself a villain. But I had given my promise; and I was in +love myself. + +"I don't see what we can do. When Bob makes up his mind to do +anything, he generally does it." Jack, believing he had demolished +the subject, opened his _Morning Post_ and fell to studying the +latest phases of the Venezuelan muddle. + +Nancy began to cry softly; she loved the scalawag as only sisters +know how to love. And I became possessed with two desires; to console +her and to punch Mr. Robert's head. + +"It has always been this way with him," Nancy went on, dabbing her +eyes with her two-by-four handkerchief. "We never dreamed that he was +going into the Army till he came home one night and announced that he +had successfully passed his examinations for West Point. He goes and +gets shot, and we never know anything about it till we read the +papers. Next, he resigns and goes abroad without a word or coming to +see us. I don't know what to make of Bobby; I really don't." + +I took her hand in mine and kissed it, and told her the rascal would +turn up in due time, that they hadn't heard the last of him for that +winter. + +"He's only thoughtless and single-purposed," interposed Jack. + +"Single-purposed!" I echoed. + +"Why, yes. He gets one thing at a time in his brain, and thinks of +nothing else till that idea is worn out. I know him." + +I recalled my useless persuasion of the morning. "I believe you are +right." + +"Of course I'm right," replied Jack, turning a page of his paper. "Do +_you_ know where he has gone?" + +"I think the telegram explains everything,"--evasively. + +"Humph! Don't you worry about him, Nan. I'll wager he's up to some of +his old-time deviltry." + +These and other little observations Jack let fall made it plain to me +that he was a natural student of men and their impulses, and that his +insight and judgment, unerring and anticipatory, had put him where he +is to-day, at the head of a department. + +I left the house about ten o'clock, went downtown and found the +prodigal at a cheap hotel on Pennsylvania. He was looking over some +boots and leggings and ready-made riding breeches. + +"Aha, Chuck, so here you are!" + +"Look here, Bob, this will never do at all," I began. + +"I thought we had threshed all that out thoroughly this morning." + +"I left Nancy crying over your blamed callousness." + +"Nancy? Hang it, I don't want Nancy to waste any tears over me; I'm +not worth it." + +"Precious little you care! If it wasn't for the fact that you have +told me the true state of things, I should have exposed you to-night. +Why didn't you turn up to dinner as you promised? You might at least +have gone through the pretense of saying good-by to them." + +"My dear boy, I'll admit that my conduct is nefarious. But look; +Nancy knows Miss Annesley, and they will be calling on each other. +The truth is, I dare not let the girls see me without a beard. And +I'm too far gone into the thing to back out now." + +"I honestly hope that some one recognizes you and gives you away," I +declared indignantly. + +"Thanks. You're in love with Nancy, aren't you? To be sure. Well, +wouldn't you do anything to keep around where she is, to serve her, +to hear her voice, to touch her hand occasionally, to ride with her; +in fact, always to be within the magic circle of her presence? Well, +I love this girl; I know it now, it is positive, doubtless. Her +presence is as necessary to me as the air I breathe. Had I met her in +the conventional way, she would have looked upon me as one of the +pillars of convention, and mildly ignored me. As I am, she does not +know what I am, or who I am; I am a mystery, I represent a secret, +and she desires to find out what this secret is. Besides all this, +something impels me to act this part, something aside from love. It +is inexplicable; fate, maybe." He paused, went to the window, and +looked down into the street. It was after-theater time and carriages +were rolling to and fro. + +"Bob, I apologize. You know a great deal more about feminine nature +than I had given you credit for. But how can you win her this way?" + +He raised his shoulders. "Time and chance." + +"Well, whate'er betide, I can't help wishing you luck." + +We shook hands silently, and then I left him. + +"Father," said Betty Annesley at the dinnertable that same night, "I +have engaged a new groom. He rode Pirate to-day and thoroughly +mastered him." + +"Pirate? You don't say! Well, I'm glad of that. Pirate will make a +capital saddle-horse if he is ridden often enough. The groom will be +a safe companion for you on your rides. Are you too tired to do some +drawing for me to-night?" + +"The fortification plans?" + +"Yes." His eyes wandered from her face to the night outside. How gray +and sad the world was! "You will always love your father, dearie?" + +"Love him? Always!" + +"Whatever betide, for weal or woe?" + +"Whatever betide." + +How easy it was for her to say these words! + +"And yet, some day, you must leave me, to take up your abode in some +other man's heart. My only wish is that it may beat for you as truly +as mine does." + +She did not reply, but stepped to the window and pressed her brow to +the chilled pane. A yellow and purple line marked the path of the +vanished sun; the million stars sparkled above; far away she could +see the lights of the city. Of what was she thinking, dreaming? Was +she dreaming of heroes such as we poets and novelists invent and hang +upon the puppet-beam? Ah, the pity of these dreams the young girl +has! She dreams of heroes and of god-like men, and of the one that is +to come. But, ah! he never comes, he never comes; and the dream fades +and dies, and the world becomes real. A man may find his ideal, but a +woman, never. To youth, the fields of love; to man, the battle- +ground; to old age, a chair in the sunshine and the wreck of dreams! + +"The government ought to pay you well if those plans are successful." +She moved away from the window. + +"Yes, the government ought to pay me well. I should like to make you +rich, dearie, and happy." + +"Why, daddy, am I not both? I have more money than I know what to do +with, and I am happy in having the kindest father." She came around +the table and caressed him, cheek to cheek. "Money isn't everything. +It just makes me happy to do anything for you." + +His arm grew tense around her waist. + +"Do you know what was running through my mind at the embassy last +night? I was thinking how deeply I love this great wide country of +mine. As I looked at the ambassador and his aides, I was saying to +myself, 'You dare not!' It may have been silly, but I couldn't help +it, We are the greatest people in the world. When I compared foreign +soldiers with our own, how my heart and pride swelled! No +formalities, no race prejudice, no false pride. I was never +introduced to a foreign officer that I did not fear him, with his +weak eyes, his affected mannerisms, his studied rudeness, not to me, +but to the country I represented. How I made some of them dance! Not +for vanity's sake; rather the inborn patriotism of my race. I had +only to think of my father, his honorable scars, his contempt for +little things, his courage, his steadfastness, his love for his +country, which has so honored him with its trust. Oh! I am a patriot; +and I shall never, never marry a man whose love for his country does +not equal my own." She caught up her father's mutilated hand and +kissed it. "And even now this father of mine is planning and planning +to safeguard his country." + +"But you must not say anything to a soul, my child; it must be a +secret till all is ready. I met Karloff to-day at the club. He has +promised to dine with us to-morrow night." + +"Make him postpone it. I have promised to dine with Nancy Warburton." + +"You had better dine with us and spend the evening with your friend. +Do you not think him a handsome fellow?" + +"He is charming." She touched the bowl of poppies with her fingers +and smiled. + +"He is very wealthy, too." + +Betty offered no comment. + +"What did they do to that infernal rascal who attempted to run away +with you and Mrs. Chadwick?" + +"They arrested him and locked him up." + +"I hope they will keep him there. And what reason did he give the +police for attempting to run away with you?" + +"He said that he had made a wager with some serving-maids to drive +them from the embassy. He claims to have got the wrong number and the +wrong carriage." + +"A very likely story!" + +"Yes, a very likely story!"--and Betty, still smiling, passed on into +the music-room, where she took her violin from its case and played +some rollicking measures from Offenbach. + +At the same time her father rose and went out on the lawn, where he +walked up and down, with a long, quick, nervous stride. From time to +time a wailing note from the violin floated out to him, and he would +stop and raise his haggard face toward heaven. His face was no longer +masked in smiles; it was grief-stricken, self-abhorring. At length he +softly crossed the lawn and stood before the music-room window. Ah, +no fretting care sat on yonder exquisite face, nor pain, nor trouble; +youth, only youth and some pleasant thought which the music had +aroused. How like her mother! How like her mother! + +Suddenly he smote himself on the brow with a clenched hand. "Wretch! +God-forsaken wretch, how have you kept your trust? And how yonder +child has stabbed you! How innocently she has stabbed you! My +country! ... My honor! ... My courage and steadfastness! Mockery!" + + + + +XI + +THE FIRST RIDE + + +The next morning Warburton was shown into a neat six-by-eight, just +off the carriage-room. There was a cot, running water and a wash- +stand, and a boot-blacking apparatus. For the rest, there were a few +portraits of fast horses, fighters, and toe-dancers (the adjective +qualifying all three!) which the senator's sporting groom had +collected and tacked to the walls. For appearance's sake, Mr. James +had purchased a cheap trunk. Everything inside was new, too. His +silver military brushes, his silver shaving set, and so forth and so +forth, were in charge of a safe-deposit storage company, alongside +some one's family jewels. The only incriminating things he retained +were his signet-ring and his Swiss timepiece. + +"Have you had your breakfast, sir?" asked William, the stable-boy. + +"Yes, my lad. Now, as Miss Annesley has forgotten it, perhaps you +will tell me of just what my duties here will consist." + +"You harness, ride and drive, sir, and take care of the metals. I +clean the leathers and carriages, exercise the horses and keep their +hides shiny. If anything is purchased, sir, we shall have to depend +upon your judgment. Are you given to cussing, sir?" + +"Cussing?" repeated Warburton. + +"Yes, sir. Miss Annesley won't stand for it around the stables. The +man before you, sir, could cuss most beautifully; and I think that's +why he was fired. At least, it was one reason." + +Warburton smoothed his twitching mouth. "Don't you worry, William; +it's against my religion to use profane language." + +William winked, there was an answering wink, and the two became +friends from that moment on. + +"I'll bet you didn't say a thing to Pirate yesterday, when he bolted +over the wall with you." + +"Well, I believe I _did_ address a few remarks to Pirate which +would not sound well on dress-parade; but so long as it wasn't within +hearing distance, William, I suppose it doesn't matter." + +"No, sir; I suppose not." + +"Now, what kind of a master is the colonel?" asked Warburton, +strapping on his English leggings. + +"Well, it's hard to say just now. You see, I've been with the family +ever since I was six. The colonel used to be the best fellow _I_ +ever knew. Always looking out for your comfort, never an undeserved +harsh word, and always a smile when you pleased him. But he's changed +in the last two years." + +"How?" + +"He doesn't take any interest in the things he used to. He goes about +as if he had something on his mind; kind of absent-minded, you know; +and forgets to-morrow what he says to-day. He always puts on a good +face, though, when Miss Betty is around." + +"Ah. What night do I have off?"--of a mind that a question like this +would sound eminently professional in William's ears. + +"Sunday, possibly; it all depends on Miss Annesley, sir. In Virginia +nearly every night was ours. Here it's different." William hurriedly +pulled on his rubber boots and gloves, grabbed up the carriage +sponges, and vanished. + +Warburton sat on the edge of his cot and laughed silently. All this +was very amusing. Had any man, since the beginning of time, found +himself in a like position? He doubted it. And he was to be butler +besides! It would be something to remember in his old age. Yet, once +or twice the pins of his conscience pricked him. He _wasn't_ +treating Nancy just right. He didn't want her to cry over his +gracelessness; he didn't want her to think that he was heartless. But +what could he do? He stood too deeply committed. + +He was puzzled about one thing, however, and, twist it as he would, +he could not solve it with any degree of satisfaction. Why, after +what had happened, had she hired him? If she could pass over that +episode at the carriage-door and forget it, _he_ couldn't. He +knew that each time he saw her the memory of that embrace and +brotherly salute would rise before his eyes and rob him of some of +his assurance--an attribute which was rather well developed in Mr. +Robert, though he was loath to admit it. If his actions were a +mystery to her, hers were none the less so to him. He made up his +mind to move guardedly in whatever he did, to practise control over +his mobile features so as to avert any shock or thoughtless sign of +interest. He knew that sooner or later the day would come when he +would be found out; but this made him not the less eager to court +that day. + +He shaved himself, and was wiping his face on the towel when Celeste +appeared in the doorway. She eyed him, her head inclined roguishly to +one side, the exact attitude of a bird that has suddenly met a +curious and disturbing specimen of insect life. + +"M'sieu Zhames, Mees Annesley rides thees morning. You will +pre_pairre_ yourself according,"--and she rattled on in her +absurd native tongue (every other native tongue _is_ absurd to +us, you know!)-- + + "He is charming and handsome, + With his uniform and saber; + And his fine black eyes + Look love as he rides by!" + +while the chef in the kitchen glared furiously at his omelette +souffle, and vowed terrible things to M'sieu Zhames if he looked at +Celeste more than twice a day. + +"Good morning," said M'sieu Zhames, hanging up his towel. His face +glowed as the result of the vigorous rubbing it had received. + +_"Bon jour!"_--admiringly. + +"Don't give me any of your _bong joors,_ Miss,"--stolidly. +"There's only one language for me, and that's English." + +"_Merci!_ You Anglaises are _so_ conceit'! How you like +_me_ to teach you French, eh, M'sieu Zhames?" + +"Not for me,"--shaking his head. She was very pretty, and under +ordinary circumstances . . . He did not finish the thought, but I +will for him. Under ordinary circumstances, M'sieu Zhames would have +kissed her. + +"No teach you French? _Non?_ Extra_orrd_inaire!" She +tripped away, laughing, while the chef tugged at his royal and M'sieu +Zhames whistled. + +"Hang the witch!" the new groom murmured. "Her mistress must be very +generous, or very positive of her own charms, to keep a sprite like +this maid about her. I wonder if I'll run into Karloff?" Karloff! The +name chilled him, somehow. What was Karloff to her? Had he known that +she was to be in Washington for the winter? What irony, if fate +should make him the groom and Karloff the bridegroom! If Karloff +loved her, he could press his suit frankly and openly. And, as +matters stood, what chance on earth had he, Warburton? "Chuck was +right; I've made a mistake, and I am beginning to regret it the very +first morning." He snapped his fingers and proceeded to the right +wing, where the horses were. + +At nine o'clock he led Jane and Dick out to the porte-cochere and +waited. He had not long to loiter, for she came out at once, drawing +on her gauntlets and taking in long breaths of the morning air. She +nodded briefly, but pleasantly, and came down the steps. Her riding- +habit was of the conventional black, and her small, shapely boots +were of patent-leather. She wore no hat on her glorious head, which +showed her good sense and her scorn for freckles and sunburn. But +nature had given her one of those rare complexions upon which the sun +and the wind have but trifling effect. + +"We shall ride north, James; the roads are better and freer. Jane has +a horror of cars." + +"Yes, Miss Annesley,"--deferentially. "You will have to teach me the +lay of the land hereabouts, as I am rather green." + +"I'll see to it that you are made perfectly familiar with the roads. +You do not know Washington very well, then?" + +"No, Miss. Shall I give you a--er--boot up?" He blushed. He had +almost said "leg up". + +She assented, and raised her boot, under which he placed his palm, +and sprang into the saddle. He mounted in his turn and waited. + +"When we ride alone, James, I shall not object to your riding at my +side; but when I have guests, always remember to keep five yards to +the rear." + +"Yes, Miss." If he could have got rid of the idea of Karloff and the +possibilities which his name suggested, all this would have appealed +to him as exceedingly funny. + +"Forward, then!"--and she touched Jane's flank with her crop. + +The weather was perfect for riding: no sun, a keen breeze from the +northwest, and a dust-settled road. Warburton confessed to me +afterward that this first ride with her was one of the most splendid +he had ever ridden. Both animals were perfect saddle-horses, such as +are to be found only in the South. They started up the road at a +brisk trot, and later broke into a canter which lasted fully a mile. +How beautiful she was, when at length they slowed down into a walk! +Her cheeks were flaming, her eyes dancing and full of luster, her +hair was tumbled about and tendrils fluttered down her cheeks. She +was Diana: only he hoped that she was not inclined to celibacy. + +What a mistake he had made! He could never get over this gulf which +he himself had thrust between them. This was no guise in which to +meet a woman of her high breeding. Under his breath he cursed the +impulse that had urged him to decline to attend the ball at the +British embassy. There he would have met her as his own true self, a +soldier, a polished gentleman of the world, of learning and breeding. +Nancy would have brought them together, calls would have been +exchanged, and he would have defied Karloff. Then he chid himself for +the feeling he had against the Russian. Karloff had a right to love +this girl, a right which far eclipsed his own. Karloff was Karloff; a +handsome fellow, wealthy, agreeable; while James was not James, +neither was he wealthy nor at present agreeable. A man can not sigh +very well on horseback, and the long breath which left Warburton's +lips made a jerking, hissing sound. + +"Have you ever ridden with women before. James?" + +"Several times with my major's daughter,"--thoughtlessly. + +"Your major's daughter? Who was your regimental colonel?" + +James bit his lips, and under his breath disregarded William's +warning about "cussing." + +"Permit me, Miss Annesley, to decline to answer." + +"Did you ride as an attendant?" + +"Yes; I was a trooper." + +"You speak very good English for a stable-man." + +"I have not always been a stable-man." + +"I dare say. I should give a good deal to know what you _have_ +been. Come, James, tell me what the trouble was. I have influence; I +might help you." + +"I am past help;"--which was true enough, only the real significance +of his words passed over her head. "I thank you for your kindness." + +If she was piqued, she made no sign. "James, were you once a +gentleman, in the sense of being well-born?" + +"Miss Annesley, you would not believe me if I told you who I am and +what I have been." + +"Are you a deserter?"--looking him squarely in the eye. She saw the +color as it crept under his tan. + +"I have my honorable discharge,"--briefly. + +"I shall ask you to let me see it. Have you ever committed a +dishonorable act? I have a right to know." + +"I have committed one dishonorable act, Miss Annesley. I shall always +regret it." + +She gave him a penetrating glance. "Very well; keep your secret." + +And there was no more questioning on that ride; there was not even +casual talk, such as a mistress might make to her servant. There was +only the clock-clock of hoofs and the chink of bit metal. Warburton +did not know whether he was glad or sorry. + +She dismounted without her groom's assistance, which somewhat +disappointed that worthy gentleman. If she was angry, to his eye +there was no visible evidence of it. As he took the bridles in hand, +she addressed him; though in doing so, she did not look at him, but +gave her attention to her gauntlets, which she pulled slowly from her +aching fingers. + +"This afternoon I shall put you in the care of Pierre, the cook. I am +giving a small dinner on Monday evening, and I shall have to call on +you to serve the courses. Later I shall seek a butler, but for the +present you will have to act in that capacity." + +He wasn't sure; it might have been a flash of sunlight from behind a +cloud. If it was a smile, he would have given much to know what had +caused it. + +He tramped off to the stables. A butler! Well, so be it. He could +only reasonably object when she called upon him to act in the +capacity of a chambermaid. He wondered why he had no desire to laugh. + + + + +XII + +A TICKLISH BUSINESS + + +Pierre was fierce and fat and forty, but he could cook the most +wonderful roasts and ragouts that Warburton ever tasted; and he could +take a handful of vegetables and an insignificant bone and make a +soup that would have tickled the jaded palate of a Lucullus. +Warburton presented himself at the kitchen door. + +"Ah!" said Pierre, striking a dramatic pose, a ladle in one hand and +a pan in the other. "So you are zee new groom? Good! We make a butler +out of you? Bah! Do you know zee difference between a broth and a +soup? Eh?" + +The new groom gravely admitted that he did. + +"Hear to me!"--and Pierre struck his chest with a ladle. "I teach you +how to sairve; _I_, Pierre Flageot, will teach a hostler to be a +butler! Bah!" + +"That is what I am sent here for." + +"Hear to me! If zay haf oysters, zay are placed on zee table before +zee guests enter. _V'la_? Then zee soup. You sairve one deesh at +a time. You do _not_ carry all zee deeshes at once. And you take +zee deesh, _so_!"--illustrating. "Then you wait till zay push +aside zee soup deesh. Then you carry zem away. _V'la_?" + +Warjburton signified that he understood. + +"_I_ carve zee meats," went on the amiable Pierre. "You haf +nozzing to do wiz zee meats. You rest zee deesh on zee flat uf zee +hand, _so_! Always sairve to zee _right_ uf zee guest. Vatch +zat i zay do not move vhile you sairve. You spill zee soup, and I +keel you! To spill zee soup ees a crime. Now, take hold uf thees soup +deesh." + +Warburton took it clumsily by the rim. Pierre snatched it away with a +volley of French oaths. William said that there was to be no +"cussing," but Pierre seemed to be an immune and not included in this +order. + +"Idiot! Imbecile! _Non, non! Thees_ way. You would put zee thumb +in zee soup. Zare! You haf catch zat. Come to zee dining-hall. I show +you. I explain." + +The new groom was compelled to put forth all his energies to keep his +face straight. If he laughed, he was lost. If only his old mates +could see him now! The fop of Troop A playing at butler! Certainly he +would have to write Chuck about it--(which he most certainly never +did). Still, the ordeal in the dining-room was a severe one. Nothing +he attempted was done satisfactorily; Pierre, having in mind +Celeste's frivolity and this man's good looks, made the task doubly +hard. He hissed "Idiot!" and "Imbecile!" and "Jackass!" as many times +as there are knives and forks and spoons at a course dinner. It was +when they came to the wines that Pierre became mollified. He was +forced to acknowledge that the new groom needed no instructions as to +the varying temperatures of clarets and burgundies. Warburton longed +to get out into the open and yell. It was very funny. He managed, +however, on third rehearsal, to acquit himself with some credit. They +returned to the kitchen again, where they found Celeste nibbling +crackers and cheese. She smiled. + +"Ha!" The vowel was given a prolonged roll. "So, Mademoiselle, you +haf to come and look on, eh?" + +"Is there any objection, Monsieur?" retorted Celeste in her native +tongue, making handsome eyes at Warburton, who was greatly amused. + +"Ha! if he was hideous, would you be putting on those ribbons I gave +you to wear on Sundays?" snarled Pierre. + +Warburton followed their French without any difficulty. It was the +French of the Parisian, with which he was fairly conversant. But his +face remained impassive and his brows only mildly curious. + +"I shall throw them away, Monsieur Flageot, if you dare to talk to me +like that. He _is_ handsome, and you are jealous, and I am glad. +You behaved horribly to that coarse Nanon last Sunday. Because she +scrubs the steps of the French embassy you consider her above me, +_me!_" + +"You are crazy!" roared Pierre. "You introduced me to her so that you +might make eyes at that abominable valet of the secretary!" + +Celeste flounced (whatever means of locomotion that is) abruptly from +the kitchen. Pierre turned savagely to his protege. + +"Go! And eef you look at her, idiot, I haf revenge myself. Oh, I am +calm! Bah! Go to zee stables, cattle!" And he rattled his pans at a +great rate. + +Warburton was glad enough to escape. + +"I have brought discord into the land, it would seem." + +But his trials were not over. The worst ordeal was yet to come. At +five, orders were given to harness the coach-horses to the coupe and +have them at the steps promptly at eight-thirty. Miss Annesley had +signified her intention of making a call in the city. Warburton had +not the slightest suspicion of the destination. He didn't care where +it was. It would be dark and he would pass unrecognized. He gave the +order no more thought. Promptly at eight-thirty he drove up to the +steps. A moment later she issued forth, accompanied by a gentleman in +evening dress. It was too dark for Warburton to distinguish his +features. + +"I am very sorry, Count, to leave you; but you understand perfectly. +It is an old school friend of mine whom I haven't seen in a long +time; one of the best girl friends I have ever known. I promised to +dine with her to-night, but I broke that promise and agreed to spend +the evening." + +"Do not disturb yourself on my account," replied the man in broken +English, which was rather pleasant to the ear. "Your excellent father +and I can pass the evening very well." + +Karloff! Warburton's chin sank into his collar and his hands +trembled. This man Karloff had very penetrating eyes, even in the +dark. + +"But I shall miss the music which I promised myself. Ah, if you only +knew how adorable you are when you play the violin! I become lost, I +forget the world and its sordidness. I forget everything but that +mysterious voice which you alone know how to arouse from that little +box of wood. You are a great artist, and if you were before the +public, the world would go mad over you--as I have!" + +So she played the violin, thought the unhappy man on the box of the +coupe. + +"Count, you know that is taboo; you must not talk to me like that,"-- +with a nervous glance at the groom. + +"The groom embarrasses you?" The count laughed. "Well, it is only a +groom, an animal which does not understand these things." + +"Besides, I do not play nearly so well as you would have me +believe,"--steering him to safer channels. + +"Whatever you undertake, Mademoiselle, becomes at once an art,"-- +gallantly. "Good night!"--and the count saluted her hand as he helped +her into the coupe. + +How M'sieu Zhames would have liked to jump down and pommel Monsieur +le Comte! Several wicked thoughts surged through our jehu's brain, +but to execute any one of them in her presence was impossible. + +"Good night, Count. I shall see you at dinner on Monday." + +She would, eh? And her new butler would be on duty that same evening? +Without a doubt. M'sieu Zhames vowed under his breath that if he got +a good chance he would make the count look ridiculous. Not even a +king can retain his dignity while a stream of hot soup is trickling +down his spinal column. Warburton smiled. He was mentally acting like +a school-boy disappointed in love. His own keen sense of the humorous +came to his rescue. + +"James, to the city, No.--Scott Circle, and hurry." The door closed. + +Scott Circle? Warburton's spine wrinkled. Heaven help him, he was +driving Miss Annesley to his own brother's house! What the devil was +getting into fate, anyhow? He swore softly all the way to the +Connecticut Avenue extension. He made three mistakes before he struck +Sixteenth Street. Reaching Scott Circle finally, he had no difficulty +in recognizing the house. He drew up at the stepping-stone, alighted +and opened the door. + +"I shall be gone perhaps an hour and a half, James. You may drive +around, but return sharply at ten-thirty." Betty ran up the steps and +rang the bell. + +Our jehu did _not_ wait to see the door open, but drove away, +lickety-clip. I do not know what a mile lickety-clip is generally +made in, but I am rather certain that the civil law demands twenty- +five dollars for the same. The gods were with him this time, and no +one called him to a halt. When he had gone as far away from Scott +Circle as he dared go, his eye was attracted by a genial cigar sign. +He hailed a boy to hold the horses and went inside. He bought a dozen +cigars and lit one. He didn't even take the trouble to see if he +could get the cigars for nothing, there being a penny-in-the-slot +machine in one corner of the shop. I am sure that if he had noticed +it, it would have enticed him, for the spirit of chance was well- +grounded in him, as it is in all Army men. But he hurried out, threw +the boy a dime, and drove away. For an hour and twenty minutes he +drove and smoked and pondered. So she played the violin! played it +wonderfully, as the count had declared. He was passionately fond of +music. In London, in Paris, in Berlin, in Vienna, he had been an +untiring, unfailing patron of the opera. Some night he resolved to +listen at the window, providing the window was open. Yes, a hundred +times Chuck was right. Any other girl, and this jest might have +passed capitally; but he wanted the respect of this particular woman, +and he had carelessly closed the doors to her regard. She might +tolerate him, that would be all. She would look upon him as a +hobbledehoy. + +He approached the curb again in front of the house, and gazed +wistfully at the lighted windows. Here was another great opportunity +gone. How he longed to dash into the house, confess, and have done +with it! + +"I wish Chuck was in there. I wish he would come out and kick me good +and hearty." + +(Chuck would have been delighted to perform the trifling service; and +he would not have gone about it with any timidity, either.) + +"Hang the horses! I'm going to take a peek in at the side window,"-- +and he slid cautiously from the box. He stole around the side and +stopped at one of the windows. The curtain was not wholly lowered, +and he could see into the drawing-room. There they were, all of them; +and Miss Annesley was holding the baby, which Mrs. Jack had awakened +and brought down stairs. He could see by the diffident manner in +which Jack was curling the ends of his mustache that they were +comparing the baby with him. "The conceited ass!" muttered the self- +appointed outcast; "it doesn't look any more like him than it does +like me!" Here Miss Annesley kissed the baby, and Warburton hoped +that they hadn't washed its face since he performed the same act. + +Mrs. Jack disappeared with the hope of the family, and Nancy got out +a bundle of photographs. M'sieu Zhames would have given almost +anything he possessed to know what these photographs represented. +Crane his neck as he would, he could see nothing. All he could do was +to watch. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they became grave; +sometimes they explained, and their guest grew very attentive Once +she even leaned forward eagerly. It was about this time that our jehu +chanced to look at the clock on the mantel, and immediately concluded +to vacate the premises. It was half after ten. He returned to his box +forthwith. (I was going to use the word "alacrity," but I find that +it means "cheerful readiness.") After what seemed to him an +interminable wait, the front door opened and a flood of light blinded +him. He heard Nancy's voice. + +"I'm so sorry, Betty, that I can't dine with you on Monday. We are +going to Arlington. So sorry." + +"I'm not!" murmured the wretch on the box. "I'm devilish glad! +Imagine passing soup to one's sister! By George, it was a narrow one! +It would have been all over then." + +"Well, there will be plenty of times this winter," said Betty. "I +shall see you all at the Country Club Sunday afternoon. Good night, +every one. No, no; there's no need of any of you coming to the +carriage." + +But brother Jack _did_ walk to the door with her; however, he +gave not the slightest attention to the groom, for which _he_ +was grateful. + +"You must all come and spend the evening with me soon," said Betty, +entering the carriage. + +"That we shall," said brother Jack, closing the door for her. "Good +night." + +"Home, James," said the voice within the carriage. + +I do not know whether or not he slept soundly that night on his +stable cot. He never would confess. But it is my private opinion that +he didn't sleep at all, but spent a good part of the night out of +doors, smoking very black, strong cigars. + +Celeste, however, could have told you that her mistress, as she +retired, was in a most amiable frame of mind. Once she laughed. + + + + +XIII + +A RUNAWAY + + +Four days passed. I might have used the word "sped," only that verb +could not be truthfully applied. Never before in the history of time +(so our jehu thought) did four days cast their shadows more slowly +across the dial of the hours. From noon till night there was a +madding nothing to do but polish bits and buckles and stirrups and +ornamental silver. He would have been totally miserable but for the +morning rides. These were worth while; for he was riding Pirate, and +there was always that expectation of the unexpected. But Pirate +behaved himself puzzlingly well. Fortunately for the jehu, these +rides were always into the north country. He was continually +possessed with fear lest she would make him drive through the +shopping district. If he met Nancy, it would be, in the parlance of +the day, all off. Nancy would have recognized him in a beard like a +Cossack's; and here he was with the boy's face--the face she never +would forget. + +He was desperately in love. I do not know what desperately in love +is, my own love's course running smoothly enough; but I can testify +that it was making Mr. Robert thin and appetiteless. Every morning +the impulse came to him to tell her all; but every morning his +courage oozed like Bob Acres', and his lips became dumb. I dare say +that if she had questioned him he would have told her all; but for +some reason she had ceased to inquire into his past. Possibly her +young mind was occupied with pleasanter things. + +He became an accomplished butler, and served so well in rehearsals +that Pierre could only grumble. One afternoon she superintended the +comedy. She found a thousand faults with him, so many, in fact, that +Pierre did not understand what it meant, and became possessed with +the vague idea that she was hitting him over the groom's shoulder. He +did not like it; and later, when they were alone, Warburton was +distinctly impressed with Pierre's displeasure. + +"You can not please _her_, and you can not please _me_. +Bah! Zat ees vat comes uf teaching a groom table manners instead uf +stable manners. And you vill smell uf horse! I do _not_ +understand Mees Annesley; no!" + +[Illustration: "May I go now, Miss?"--ACT II] + +And there were other humiliations, petty ones. She chid him on having +the stirrup too long or too short; the curb chain was rusting; this +piece of ornamental silver did not shine like that one; Jane's +fetlocks were too long; Pirate's hoofs weren't thoroughly oiled. With +dogged patience he tried to remedy all these faults. It was only when +they had had a romping run down the road that this spirit fell away +from her, and she talked pleasantly. + +Twice he ran into Karloff; but that shrewd student of human nature +did not consider my hero worth studying; a grave mistake on his part, +as he was presently to learn. He was a handsome man, and the only +thing he noticed about the groom was his handsome face. He considered +it a crime for a servant to be endowed with personal attractions. A +servant in the eyes of a Russian noble excites less interest than a +breedless dog. Mr. Robert made no complaint; he was very well +satisfied to have the count ignore him entirely. Once he met the +count in the Turkish room, where, in the capacity of butler, he +served liqueur and cigars. There was a certain grim humor in lighting +his rival's cigar for him. This service was a test of his ability to +pass through a room without knocking over taborets and chairs. +Another time they met, when Betty and the two of them took a long +ride. Karloff _did_ notice how well the groom rode his mettlesome +mount, being himself a soldier and a daring horseman. Warburton +had some trouble. Pirate did not take to the idea of breathing Jane +and Dick's dust; he wanted to lead these second-raters. Mr, James' +arms ached that afternoon from the effort he had put forth to restrain +Pirate and keep him in his proper place, five yards to the rear. + +Nothing happened Sunday; the day went by uneventfully. He escaped the +ordeal of driving her to the Chevy Chase Club, William being up that +afternoon. + +Then Monday came, and with it Betty's curious determination to ride +Pirate. + +"You wish to ride Pirate, Miss?" exclaimed James, his horror of the +idea openly manifest. + +"Saddle him for me,"--peremptorily. "I desire to ride him. I find +Jane isn't exciting enough." + +"Pardon me, Miss Annesley," he said, "but I had rather you would not +make the attempt." + +"You had rather I would not make the attempt?"--slowly repeating the +words, making a knife of each one of them, tipped with the poison of +her contempt. "I do not believe I quite understand you." + +He bravely met the angry flash of her eyes. There were times when the +color of these eyes did not resemble sapphires; rather disks of gun- +metal, caused by a sudden dilation of the pupils. + +"Yes, Miss, I had rather you would not." + +"James, you forget yourself. Saddle Pirate, and take Jane back to the +stables. Besides, Jane has a bit of a cold." She slapped her boot +with her riding-crop and indolently studied the scurrying clouds +overhead; for the day was windy. + +Soberly Warburton obeyed. He was hurt and angry, and he knew not what +besides. Heavens, if anything should happen to her! His hopes rose a +bit. Pirate had shown no temper so far that morning. He docilely +permitted his master to put on the side-saddle. But as he came out +into the air again, he threw forward his ears, stretched out his long +black neck, took in a great breath, and whinnied a hoarse challenge +to the elements. William had already saddled Dick, who looked askance +at his black rival's small compact heels. + +"I am afraid of him," said Warburton, as he returned. "He will run +away with you. I did not wholly subjugate him the other day. He pulls +till my arms ache." + +Miss Annesley shrugged and patted Pirate on the nose and offered him +a lump of sugar. The thirst for freedom and a wild run down the wind +lurked in Pirate's far-off gazing eyes, and he ignored the sign of +conciliation which his mistress made him. + +"I am not afraid of him. Besides, Dick can outrun and out jump him." + +This did not reassure Warburton, nor did he know what this comparison +meant, being an ordinary mortal. + +"With all respect to you, Miss Annesley, I am sorry that you are +determined to ride him. He is most emphatically not a lady's horse, +and you have never ridden him. Your skirts will irritate him, and if +he sees your crop, he'll bolt." + +She did not reply, but merely signified her desire to mount. No +sooner was she up, however, than she secretly regretted her caprice; +but not for a hundred worlds would she have permitted this groom to +know. But Pirate, with that rare instinct of the horse, knew that his +mistress was not sure of him. He showed the whites of his eyes and +began pawing the gravel. The girl glanced covertly at her groom and +found no color in his cheeks. Two small muscular lumps appeared at +the corners of her jaws. She would ride Pirate, and nothing should +stop her; nothing, nothing. Womanlike, knowing herself to be in the +wrong, she was furious. + +And Pirate surprised them both. During the first mile he behaved +himself in the most gentlemanly fashion; and if he shied once or +twice, waltzed a little, it was only because he was full of life and +spirit. They trotted, they cantered, ran and walked. Warburton, +hitherto holding himself in readiness for whatever might happen, +relaxed the tension of his muscles, and his shoulders sank +relievedly. Perhaps, after all, his alarm had been needless. The +trouble with Pirate might be the infrequency with which he had been +saddled and ridden. But he knew that the girl would not soon forget +his interference. There would be more humiliations, more bitter pills +for him to swallow. It pleased him, however, to note the ease with +which Dick kept pace with Pirate. + +As for the most beautiful person in all the great world, I am afraid +that she was beginning to feel self-important. Now that her +confidence was fully restored, she never once spoke to, or looked at, +her groom. Occasionally from the corner of her eye she could see the +white patch on Dick's nose. + +"James," she said maliciously and suddenly, "go back five yards. I +wish to ride alone." + +Warburton, his face burning, fell back. And thus she made her first +mistake. The second and final mistake came immediately after. She +touched Pirate with her heel, and he broke from a trot into a lively +gallop. Dick, without a touch of the boot, kept his distance to a +foot. Pirate, no longer seeing Dick at his side, concluded that he +had left his rival behind; and the suppressed mischief in his black +head began to find an outlet. Steadily he arched his neck; steadily +but surely he drew down on the reins. The girl felt the effort and +tried to frustrate it. In backing her pull with her right hand, the +end of her crop flashed down the side of Pirate's head--the finishing +touch. There was a wild leap, a blur of dust, and Mr. Pirate, well +named after his freebooting sires, his head down where he wanted it, +his feet rolling like a snare-drum, Mr. Pirate ran away, headed for +heaven only knew where. + +For a brief moment Warburton lost his nerve; he was struck with +horror. If she could not hold her seat, she would be killed or +dreadfully hurt, and perhaps disfigured. It seemed rather strange, as +he recalled it, that Dick, instead of himself, should have taken the +initiative. The noble sorrel, formerly a cavalry horse, shot forward +magnificently. Doubtless his horse-sense took in the situation, or +else he did not like the thought of yonder proud, supercilious show- +horse beating him in a running race. So, a very fast mile was put to +the rear. + +The girl, appreciating her peril, did as all good horsewomen would +have done: locked her knee on the horn and held on. The rush of wind +tore the pins from her hair which, like a golden plume, stretched out +behind her. (Have you ever read anything like this before? I dare +say. But to Warburton and the girl, it never occurred that other +persons had gone through like episodes. It was real, and actual, and +single, and tragic to them.) + +The distance between the two horses began slowly to lessen, and +Warburton understood, in a nebulous way, what the girl had meant when +she said that Dick could outrun Pirate. If Pirate kept to the road, +Dick would bring him down; but if Pirate took it into his head to +vault a fence! Warburton shuddered. Faster, faster, over this roll of +earth, clattering across this bridge, around this curve and that +angle. Once the sight of a team drawing a huge grain-wagon sent a +shiver to Warburton's heart. But they thundered past with a foot to +spare. The old negro on the seat stared after them, his ebony face +drawn with wonder and the whites of his eyes showing. + +Foot by foot, yard by yard, the space lessened, till Dick's nose was +within three feet of Pirate's flowing tail. Warburton fairly lifted +Dick along with his knees. I only wish I could describe the race as +my jehu told it to me. The description held me by the throat. I could +see the flashing by of trees and houses and fields; the scampering of +piccaninnies across the road; the horses from the meadows dashing up +to the fences and whinnying; the fine stone and dust which Pirate's +rattling heels threw into my jehu's face and eyes; the old pain +throbbing anew in his leg. And when he finally drew alongside the +black brute and saw the white, set face of the girl he loved, I can +imagine no greater moment but one in his life. There was no fear on +her face, but there was appeal in her eyes as she half turned her +head. He leaned across the intervening space and slid his arm around +her waist. The two horses came together and twisted his leg cruelly. +His jaws snapped. + +"Let the stirrup go!" he cried. "Let go, quick!" She heard him. "Your +knee from the horn! I can't keep them together any longer. Now!" + +Brave and plucky and cool she was. She obeyed him instantly. There +was a mighty heave, a terrible straining of the back and the knees, +and Pirate was freed of his precious burden. The hardest part of it +came now. Dick could not be made to slow down abruptly. He wanted to +keep right on after his rival. So, between holding the girl with his +right arm and pulling the horse with his left, Warburton saw that he +could keep up this terrible effort but a very short time. Her arms +were convulsively wound around his neck, and this added to the +strain. Not a word did she say; her eyes were closed, as if she +expected any moment to be dashed to the earth. + +But Dick was only a mortal horse. The fierce run and the double +burden began to tell, and shortly his head came up. Warburton stopped +him. The girl slid to the ground, and in a moment he was at her side. +And just in time. The reaction was too much for her. Dazedly she +brushed her hair from her eyes, stared wildly at Warburton, and +fainted. He did not catch her with that graceful precision which on +the stage is so familiar to us. No. He was lucky to snatch one of her +arms, thus preventing her head from striking the road. He dragged her +to the side of the highway and rested her head on his shaking knees. +Things grew dark for a time. To tell the truth, he himself was very +close to that feminine weakness which the old fellows, in their rough +and ready plays, used to call "vapours". But he forced his heart to +steady itself. + +And what do you suppose the rascal did--with nobody but Dick to +watch him? Why, he did what any healthy young man in love would have +done: pressed his lips to the girl's hair, his eyes filling and half +a sob in his parched throat. He dolefully pictured himself a modern +Antiochus, dying of love and never confessing it. Then he kissed her +hair again; only her hair, for somehow he felt that her lips and +cheeks were as yet inviolable to his touch. I should have liked to +see the picture they made: the panting horse a dozen rods away, +looking at them inquiringly; the girl in her dust-covered habit, her +hair spreading out like seaweed on a wave, her white face, her figure +showing its graceful lines; my jehu, his hair matted to his brow, the +streaks of dust and perspiration on his face, the fear and love and +longing in his dark eyes. I recollect a picture called _Love and +Honor,_ or something like that. It never appealed to me. It lacked +action. It simply represented a fellow urging a girl to elope with +him. Both of them were immaculately dressed. But here, on this old +highway leading into Maryland, was something real. A battle had been +fought and won. + +Fainting is but transitory; by and by she opened her eyes, and stared +vaguely into the face above her. I do not know what she saw there; +whatever it was it caused her to struggle to her feet. There was +color enough in her cheeks now; and there was a question, too, in her +eyes. Of Warburton it asked, "What did you do when I lay there +unconscious?" I'm afraid there was color in his face, too. Her gaze +immediately roved up the road. There was no Pirate, only a haze of +dust. Doubtless he was still going it, delighted over the trouble he +had managed to bring about. Warburton knelt at the girl's side and +brushed the dust from her skirt. She eyed him curiously. I shan't say +that she smiled; I don't know, for I wasn't there. + +Meanwhile she made several futile attempts to put up her hair, and as +a finality she braided it and let it hang down her back. Suddenly and +unaccountably she grew angry--angry at herself, at James, at the +rascally horse that had brought her to this pass. Warburton saw +something of this emotion in her eyes, and to avoid the storm he +walked over to Dick, picked up the reins, and led him back. + +"If you will mount Dick, Miss," he said, "I will lead him home. It's +about five miles, I should say." + +The futility and absurdity of her anger aroused her sense of the +ridiculous; and a smile, warm and merry, flashed over her stained +face. It surprised her groom. + +"Thank you, James. You were right. I ought not to have ridden Pirate. +I am punished for my conceit. Five miles? It will be a long walk." + +"I shan't mind it in the least," replied James, inordinately happy; +and he helped her to the saddle and adjusted the left stirrup. + +So the journey home began. Strangely enough, neither seemed to care +particularly what had or might become of Pirate. He disappeared, +mentally and physically. One thing dampened the journey for +Warburton. His "game leg" ached cruelly, and after the second mile +(which was traversed without speech from either of them), he fell +into a slight limp. From her seat above and behind him, she saw this +limp. + +"You have hurt yourself?" she asked gently. + +"Not to-day, Miss,"--briefly. + +"When he ran away with you?" + +"No. It's an old trouble." + +"While you were a soldier?" + +"Yes." + +"How?" + +He turned in surprise. All these questions were rather unusual. +Nevertheless he answered her, and truthfully. + +"I was shot in the leg by a drunken Indian." + +"While on duty?" + +"Yes." Unconsciously he was forgetting to add "Miss", which was the +patent of his servility. And I do not think that just then she +noticed this subtraction from the respect due her. + +It was eleven o'clock when they arrived at the gates. She dismounted +alone. Warburton was visibly done up. + +"Any orders for this afternoon, Miss?" + +"I shall want the victoria at three. I have some shopping to do and a +call to make. Send William after Pirate. I am very grateful for what +you have done." + +He made no reply, for he saw her father coming down the steps. + +"Betty," said the colonel, pale and worried, "have you been riding +Pirate? Where is he, and what in the world has happened?"--noting the +dust on her habit and her tangled hair. + +She explained: she told the story rather coolly, Warburton thought, +but she left out no detail. + +"You have James to thank for my safety, father. He was very calm and +clear-headed." + +_Calm and clear-headed!_ thought Warburton. + +The girl then entered the house, humming. Most women would have got +out the lavender salts and lain down the rest of the day, considering +the routine of a fashionable dinner, which was the chief duty of the +evening. + +"I am grateful to you, James. My daughter is directly in your care +when she rides, and I give you full authority. Never permit her to +mount any horse but her own. She is all I have; and if anything +should happen to her--" + +"Yes, sir; I understand." + +The colonel followed his daughter; and Warburton led Dick to the +stables, gave his orders to William, and flung himself down on his +cot. He was dead tired. And the hour he had dreaded was come! He was +to drive her through the shopping district. Well, so be it. If any +one exposed him, very good. This groom business was decidedly like +work. And there was that confounded dinner-party, and he would have +to limp around a table and carry soup plates! And as likely as not he +would run into the very last person he expected to see. + +Which he did. + + + + +XIV + +AN ORDEAL OR TWO + + +Mr. Robert vows that he will never forgive me for the ten minutes' +agony which I gratuitously added to his measure. It came about in +this wise. I was on my way down Seventeenth Street that afternoon, +and it was in front of a fashionable apartment house that I met him. +He was seated on his box, the whip at the proper angle, and his eyes +riveted on his pair's ears. It was the first time I had seen him +since the day of the episode at the police-station. He was growing +thin. He did not see me, and he did not even notice me till I stopped +and the sound of my heels on the walk ceased. Arms akimbo, I surveyed +him. + +"Well?" I began. I admit that the smile I offered him was a deal like +that which a cat offers a cornered mouse. + +He turned his head. I shall not repeat the word he muttered. It was +very improper, though they often refer to it in the Sabbath-schools, +always in a hushed breath, however, as though to full-voice it would +only fan the flames still higher. + +"What have you to say for yourself?" I went on. + +"Nothing for myself, but for you, move on and let me alone, or when I +get the opportunity, Chuck, I'll punch your head, glasses or no +glasses." + +"Brother-in-law or no brother-in-law." + +"Chuck, will you go on?"--hoarsely. "I mean it" + +I saw that he did. "You don't look very happy for a man who has +cracked so tremendous a joke." + +"Will you go along?" + +"Not till I get good and ready, James. I've told too many lies on +your account already not to make myself a present of this joyful +reunion. Has Miss Annesley any idea of the imposture?" + +He did not answer. + +"How did you like waiting in Scott Circle the other night?" + +Still no answer. I have half an idea that he was making ready to leap +from his box. He ran his fingers up and down the lines. I could see +that he was mad through and through; but I enjoyed the scene +nevertheless. He deserved a little roasting on the gridiron. + +"I am given to understand," I continued, "that you act as butler, +besides, and pass the soup around the table." + +Silence. Then I heard a door close, and saw a look of despair grow on +his face. I turned and saw Miss Annesley and Mrs. Chadwick coming +down the steps. + +"Why, how do you do, Mr. Henderson? Mrs. Chadwick." + +"I have already had the pleasure of meeting this famous young +orator," purred Mrs. Chadwick, giving me her hand. She was a +fashionable, not to say brilliant, _intrigante_. I knew her to +have been concerned indirectly with half a dozen big lobby schemes. +She was rather wealthy. But she was seen everywhere, and everywhere +was admired. She was as completely at home abroad as here in +Washington. She was a widow, perhaps thirty-eight, handsome and +fascinating, a delightful _raconteur_, and had the remarkable +reputation of never indulging in scandal. She was the repository of +more secrets than I should care to discover. + +I recall one night at a state function when she sat between the +French ambassador and that wily Chinaman, Li Hung Chang. She +discoursed on wines in French with the ambassador and immediately +turned to the Chinaman and recited Confucius in the original Chinese. +Where she had ever found time to study Chinese is a mystery to every +one. The incident made her quite famous that winter. Brains are +always tolerated in Washington, and if properly directed, push a +person a good deal further than wealth or pedigree. Washington +forgives everything but stupidity. + +Not until recently did I learn that at one time Karloff had been very +attentive to her. His great knowledge of American politics doubtless +came to him through her. + +"Where are you bound?" asked Miss Annesley. + +"I am on the way to the War Department." + +"Plenty of room; jump in and we shall drop you there. James, drive to +the War Department." + +Ordinarily I should have declined, as I generally prefer to walk; but +in this instance it would be superfluous to say that I was delighted +to accept the invitation. I secretly hugged myself as I thought of +the driver. + +"How is Miss Warburton?" asked Miss Annesley, as she settled back +among the cushions. + +"Beautiful as ever," I replied, smiling happily, + +"You must meet Miss Warburton, Grace,"--speaking to Mrs. Chadwick, +who looked at me with polite inquiry. "One of the most charming girls +in the land, and as good as she is beautiful. Mr. Henderson is the +most fortunate of young men." + +"So I admit. She was greatly disappointed that you did not meet her +younger brother." First shot at the groom. + +"I did expect to meet him, but I understand that he has gone on a +hunting expedition. Whom does he resemble?" + +"Neither Nancy nor Jack," I said. "He's a good-looking beggar, +though, only you can't depend upon him for five minutes at a time. +Hadn't seen the family in more than two years. Spends one night at +home, and is off again, no one knows where. Some persons like +him, but I like a man with more stability. Not but what he has his good +points; but he is a born vagabond. His brother expects to get him a +berth at Vienna and is working rather successfully toward that end." +I wondered how this bit of news affected the groom. + +"A diplomat?" said Mrs. Chadwick. "That is the life for a young man +with brains. Is he a good linguist?" + +"Capital! Speaks French, German, and Spanish, besides I don't know +how many Indian sign-languages." Now I was patting the groom on the +back. I sat facing the ladies, so it was impossible to see the +expression on his face. I kept up this banter till we arrived at the +Department. I bade the ladies good day. I do not recollect when I +enjoyed ten minutes more thoroughly. + +An hour in the shopping district, that is to say, up and down +Pennsylvania Avenue, where everybody who was anybody was similarly +occupied, shopping, nearly took the spine out of our jehu. Everywhere +he imagined he saw Nancy. And half a dozen times he saw persons whom +he knew, persons he had dined with in New York, persons he had met +abroad. But true to human nature, they were looking toward higher +things than a groom in livery. When there was no more room for +bundles, the women started for Mrs. Chadwick's apartments. + +Said Mrs. Chadwick in French: "Where, in the name of uncommon things, +did you find such a handsome groom?" + +"I _was_ rather lucky," replied Miss Annesley in the same +tongue. "Don't you see something familiar about him?" + +Warburton shuddered. + +"Familiar? What do you mean?" + +"It is the groom who ran away with us." + +"Heavens, no!" Mrs. Chadwick raised her lorgnette. "Whatever +possessed you?" + +"Mischief, as much as anything." + +"But the risk!" + +"I am not afraid. There was something about him that appeared very +much like a mystery, and you know how I adore mysteries." + +"And this is the fellow we saw in the police-court, sitting among +those light o' loves?" Mrs. Chadwick could not fully express her +surprise. + +"I can't analyze the impulse which prompted me to pay his fine and +engage him." + +"And after that affair at the carriage-door! Where is your pride?" + +"To tell the truth, I believe he did make a mistake. Maybe I hired +him because I liked his looks." Betty glanced amusedly at the groom, +whose neck and ears were red. She laughed. + +"You always were an extraordinary child. I do not understand it in +the least. I am even worried. He may be a great criminal." + +"No, not a great criminal," said Betty, recollecting the ride of that +morning; "but a first-class horseman, willing and obedient. I have +been forced to make James serve as butler. He has been under the +hands of our cook, and I have been watching them. How I have laughed! +Of all droll scenes!" + +So she had laughed, eh? Warburton's jaws snapped. She had been +watching, too? + +"I rode Pirate this morning--" + +"You rode that horse?" interrupted Mrs. Chadwick. + +"Yes, and he ran away with me in fine style. If it hadn't been for +the new groom, I shouldn't be here, and the dinner would be a dismal +failure, with me in bed with an arm or leg broken. Heavens! I never +was so frightened in all my life. We went so fast against the wind +that I could scarce breathe. And when it was all over, I fainted like +a ninny." + +"Fainted! I should have thought you would. _I_ should have +fallen off the animal and been killed. Betty, you certainly have +neither forethought nor discretion. The very idea of your attempting +to ride that animal!" + +"Well, I am wiser, and none the worse for the scare.... James, stop, +stop!" Betty cried suddenly. + +When this command struck his sense of hearing, James was pretty far +away in thought. He was wondering if all this were true. If it was, +he must make the best of it; but if it was a dream, he wanted to wake +up right away, because it was becoming nightmarish. + +"James!" The end of a parasol tickled him in the ribs and he drew up +somewhat frightened. What was going to happen now? He was soon to +find out. For this was to be the real climax of the day; or at least, +the incident was pregnant with the possibilities of a climax. + +"Colonel, surely you are not going to pass us by in this fashion?" +cried the girl. They were almost opposite the Army and Navy Club. + +"Why, is that you, Miss Betty? Pass you by? Only when I grow blind!" +roared a lion-like voice. "Very glad to see you, Mrs. Chadwick." + +That voice, of all the voices he had ever heard! A chill of +indescribable terror flew up and down my jehu's spine, and his pores +closed up. He looked around cautiously. It was he, he of all men: his +regimental colonel, who possessed the most remarkable memory of any +Army man west of the Mississippi, and who had often vowed that he +knew his subalterns so well that he could always successfully +prescribe for their livers! + +"I was just about to turn into the club for my mail," declared the +colonel. "It was very good of you to stop me. I'll wager you've been +speculating in the shops,"--touching the bundles with his cane. "You +win," laughed Betty. "But I'll give you a hundred guesses in which to +find out what any of these packages contains." + +"Guessing is a bad business. Whatever these things are, they can add +but little to the beauty of those who will wear them; for I presume +Mrs. Chadwick has some claim upon these bundles." + +"Very adroitly worded," smiled Mrs. Chadwick, who loved a silken +phrase. + +"We shall see you at dinner to-night?" + +"All the battalions of England could not keep me away from that +festive board," the colonel vowed. (Another spasm for the groom!) +"And how is that good father of yours?" + +"As kind and loving as ever." + +"I wish you could have seen him in the old days in Virginia," said +the colonel, who, like all old men, continually fell back upon the +reminiscent. "Handsomest man in the brigade, and a fight made him as +happy as a bull-pup. I was with him the day he first met your +mother,"--softly. "How she humiliated him because he wore the blue! +She was obliged to feed him--fortunes of war; but I could see that +she hoped each mouthful would choke him." + +"What! My mother wished that?" + +Mrs. Chadwick laughed. The groom's chin sank into his collar. + +"Wait a moment! She wasn't in love with him then. We were camped on +that beautiful Virginian home of yours for nearly a month. You know +how courtly he always was and is. Well, to every rebuff he replied +with a smile and some trifling favor. She never had to lift her +finger about the house. But one thing he was firm in: she should sit +at the same table during the meals. And when Johnston came thundering +down that memorable day, and your father was shot in the lungs and +fell with a dozen saber cuts besides, you should have seen the +change! He was the prisoner now, she the jailer. In her own white bed +she had him placed, and for two months she nursed him. Ah, that was +the prettiest love affair the world ever saw." + +"And why have you not followed his example?" asked Mrs. Chadwick. + +The colonel gazed thoughtfully at his old comrade's daughter, and he +saw pity and unbounded respect in her eyes. "They say that for every +heart there is a mate, but I do not believe it. Sometimes there are +two hearts that seek the same mate. One or the other must win or +lose. You will play for me to-night?" + +"As often and as long as you please,"--graciously. She was very fond +of this upright old soldier, whom she had known since babyhood. + +It was now that the colonel casually turned his attention to the +groom, He observed him. First, his gray eyebrows arched abruptly in +surprise, then sank in puzzlement. + +"What is it?" inquired Betty, noting these signs. + +"Nothing; nothing of importance," answered the colonel, growing +violently red. + +It would not be exaggerating to say that if the colonel turned red, +his one-time orderly grew purple, only this purple faded quickly into +a chalky pallor. + +"Well, perhaps I am keeping you," remarked the colonel, soberly, "I +shall hold you to your promise about the music." + +"We are to have plenty of music. There will foe a famous singer and a +fine pianist." + +"You will play that what-d'-ye-call-it from Schumann I like so well. +I shall want you to play that I want something in the way of memory +to take back West with me. Good-by, then, till to-night." + +"Good-by. All right, James; home," said the girl. James relievedly +touched his horses. + +The colonel remained standing at the curb till the victoria +disappeared. Of what he was thinking I don't know; but he finally +muttered "James?" in an inquiring way, and made for the club, shaking +his head, as if suddenly confronted by a remarkably abstruse problem. + +Further on I shall tell you how he solved it. + + + + +XV + +RETROSPECTIVE + + +Show me those invisible, imperceptible steps by which a man's honor +first descends; show me the way back to the serene altitude of clean +conscience, and I will undertake to enlighten you upon the secret of +every great historical event, tragic or otherwise. If you will search +history carefully, you will note that the basic cause of all great +events, such as revolutions, civil strifes, political assassinations, +foreign wars, and race oppressions, lay not in men's honor so much as +in some one man's dishonor. A man, having committed a dishonorable +act, may reestablish himself in the eyes of his fellow-beings, but +ever and ever he silently mocks himself and dares not look into the +mirror of his conscience. + +Honor is comparative, as every one will agree. It is only in the +highly developed mind that it reaches its superlative state. Either +this man becomes impregnable to the assaults of the angel of the +pitch robes, or he boldly plunges into the frightful blackness which +surrounds her. The great greed of power, the great greed of wealth, +the great greed of hate, the great greed of jealousy, and the great +greed of love, only these tempt him. + +Now, of dishonors, which does man hold in the greatest abhorrence? +This question needs no pondering. It may be answered simply. The +murderer, the thief, and the rogue--we look upon these callously. But +Judas! Treachery to our country! This is the nadir of dishonor; +nothing could be blacker. We never stop to look into the causes, nor +does history, that most upright and impartial of judges; we brand +instantly. Who can tell the truth about Judas Iscariot, and Benedict +Arnold, and the host of others? I can almost tolerate a Judas who +betrays for a great love. There seems to be a stupendous elimination +of self in the man who betrays for those he loves, braving the +consequences, the ignominy, the dishonor, the wretchedness; otherwise +I should not have undertaken to write this bit of history. + +To betray a friend, that is bad; to betray a woman, that is still +worse; but to betray one's country!-to commit an act which shall +place her at the mercy of her enemies! Ah, the ignoble deaths of the +men who were guilty of this crime! And if men have souls, as we are +told they have, how the souls of these men must writhe as they look +into the minds of living men and behold the horror and contempt in +which each traitor's name is held there! + +Have you ever thought of the legion of men who have been thrust back +from the very foot of this precipice, either by circumstances or by +the revolt of conscience? These are the men who reestablish +themselves in the eyes of their fellow-beings, but who for ever +silently mock themselves and dare not look into the mirror of their +consciences. + +In this world motive is everything. A bad thing may be done for a +good purpose, or, the other way around. This is the story of a crime, +the motive of which was good. + +Once upon a time there lived a soldier, a gentleman born, a courtier, +a man of fine senses, of high integrity, of tenderness, of courage; +he possessed a splendid physical beauty, besides estates, and a +comfortable revenue, or rather, he presided over one. Above all this, +he was the father of a girl who worshiped him, and not without +reason. What mysterious causes should set to work to ruin this man, +to thrust him from light into darkness? What step led him to attempt +to betray his country, even in times of peace, to dishonor his name, +a name his honesty had placed high on the rolls of glory? What +defense can he offer? Well, I shall undertake to defend him; let +yours be the verdict. + +Enforced idleness makes a criminal of a poor man; it urges the man of +means to travel. Having seen his native land, it was only natural +that my defendant should desire to see foreign countries. So, +accompanied by his child, he went abroad, visited the famous +capitals, and was the guest of honor at his country's embassies. It +was a delightful period. Both were as happy as fate ever allows a +human being to be. The father had received his honorable discharge, +and till recently had held a responsible position in the War +Department. His knowledge had proved of no small value to the +government, for he was a born strategist, and his hobby was the coast +defenses. He never beheld a plan that he did not reproduce it on the +back of an envelope, on any handy scrap of paper, and then pore over +it through the night. He had committed to memory the smallest +details, the ammunition supplies of each fort, the number of guns, +the garrison, the pregnable and impregnable sides. He knew the +resource of each, too; that is to say, how quickly aid could be +secured, the nearest transportation routes, what forage might be had. +He had even submitted plans for a siege gun. + +One day, in the course of their travels, the father and daughter +stopped at Monte Carlo. Who hasn't heard of that city of fever? Who +that has seen it can easily forget its gay harbor, its beautiful +walks, its crowds, its music, its hotels, its white temple of +fortune? Now, my defendant had hitherto ignored the principality of +Monaco. The tales of terror which had reached his ears did not +prepossess him in its favor. But his daughter had friends there, and +she wanted to see them. There would be dances on the private yacht, +and dinners, and teas, and fireworks. On the third night of his +arrival he was joined by the owner of the yacht, a millionaire banker +whose son was doing the honors as host. I believe that there was a +musicale on board that night, and as the banker wasn't particularly +fond of this sort of entertainment, he inveigled his soldier friend +to accompany him on a sight-seeing trip. At midnight they entered the +temple of fortune. At first the soldier demurred; but the banker told +him that he hadn't seen Monte Carlo unless he saw the wheel go +around. So, laughing, they entered the halls. + +The passion for gaming is born in us all, man and woman alike, and is +conceded by wise analysts to be the most furious of all passions and +the most lasting. In some, happily, the serpent sleeps for ever, the +fire is for ever banked. But it needs only the opportunity to rouse +the dull ember into flame, to stir the venom of the serpent. It seems +a simple thing to toss a coin on the roulette boards. Sometimes the +act is done contemptuously, sometimes indifferently, sometimes in the +spirit of fun and curiosity; but the result is always the same. + +The banker played for a while, won and lost, lost and won. The +soldier put his hand into a pocket and drew forth a five-franc piece. +He placed it on a number. The angel in the pitch robes is always +lying in wait for man to make his first bad step; so she urged +fortune to let this man win. It is an unwritten law, high up on +Olympus, that the gods must give to the gods; only the prayers of the +mortals go unanswered. + +So my defendant won. He laughed like a boy who had played marbles for +"keeps" and had taken away his opponent's agates. His mind was +perfectly innocent of any wrong-doing. That night he won a thousand +francs. His real first bad step was in hiding the escapade from his +daughter. The following night he won again. Then he dallied about the +flame till one night the lust of his forebears shone forth from his +eyes. The venom of the serpent spread, the ember grew into a flame. +His daughter, legitimately enjoying herself with the young people, +knew nothing nor dreamed. Indeed, he never entered the temple till +after he had kissed her good night. + +He lost. He lost twice, thrice, in succession. One morning he woke up +to the fact that he was several thousand dollars on the wrong side of +the book. If the money had been his own, he would have stopped, and +gone his way, cured. But it was money which he held in trust. He +_must_ replace it. The angel in the pitch robes stood at his +side; she even laid a hand on his shoulder and urged him to win back +what he had lost. Then indeed he could laugh, go his way, and gamble +no more. This was excellent advice. That winter he lost something +like fifteen thousand. Then began the progress of decline. The +following summer his losses were even greater than before. He began +to mortgage the estates, for his authority over his daughter's +property was absolute. He dabbled in stocks; a sudden fall in gold, +and he realized that his daughter was nearly penniless. Ah, had he +been alone, had the money been his, he would have faced poverty with +all the courage of a brave man. But the girl, the girl! She must +never know, she must never want for those luxuries to which she was +accustomed. For her sake he must make one more effort He _must_ +win, must, must! He raised more money on the property. He became +irritable, nervous, to which were added sudden bursts of tenderness +which the girl could not very well understand. + +The summer preceding the action of this tale saw them at Dieppe. At +one time he had recovered something between sixty and seventy +thousand of his losses. Ah, had he stopped then, confessed to his +daughter, all would have gone well But, no; he must win the entire +sum. He lost, lost, lost. The crash came in August. But a corner of +the vast Virginian estates was left, and this did not amount to +twenty thousand. Five francs carelessly tossed upon a roulette table +had ruined and dishonored him. The angel of the pitch robes had +fairly enveloped him now. The thought that he had gambled uselessly +his daughter's legacy, the legacy which her mother had left +confidingly in his care, filled his soul with the bitterness of gall. +And she continued the merry round of happiness, purchasing expensive +garments, jewelry, furs, the little things which women love; gave +dinners and teas and dances, considered herself an heiress, and +thought the world a very pleasant place to live in. Every laugh from +her was a thorn to him, the light of happiness in her eyes was a +reproach, for he knew that she was dancing toward the precipice which +he had digged for her. + +Struggling futilely among these nettles of despair, he took the final +step. His ruin became definitive. His evil goddess saw to it that an +opportunity should present itself. (How simple all this reads! As I +read it over it does not seem credible. Think of a man who has +reached the height of his ambition, has dwelt there serenely, and +then falls in this silly, inexcusable fashion! Well, that is human +nature, the human part of it. Only here and there do we fall +grandly.) + +One starlit night he met a distinguished young diplomat, rich and +handsome. He played some, but to pass away the time rather than to +coquet with fortune. He was lucky. The man who plays for the mere fun +of it is generally lucky. He asks no favors from fortune; he does not +pay any attention to her, and, woman-like, she is piqued. He won +heavily this night; my soldier lost correspondingly heavily. The +diplomat pressed a loan upon his new-found friend, who, with his +usual luck, lost it. + +The diplomat was presented to the daughter. They owned to mutual +acquaintance in Paris and Washington. The three attended the concert. +The girl returned to the hotel bubbling with happiness and the echoes +of enchanting melodies, for she was an accomplished musician. She +retired and left the two men to their coffee and cigars. The +conversation took several turns, and at length stopped at diplomacy, + +"It has always puzzled me," said the soldier, "how Russia finds out +all she does." + +"That is easily explained. Russia has the wisdom of the serpent. Here +is a man who possesses a secret which Russia must have. They study +him. If he is gallant, one day he meets a fascinating woman; if he is +greedy, he turns to find a bowl of gold at his elbow; if he seeks +power, Russia points out the shortest road." + +"But her knowledge of foreign army and naval strength?" + +"Money does all that. Russia possesses an accurate knowledge of every +fort, ship and gun England boasts of; France, Germany, and Japan. We +have never taken it into our heads to investigate America. Till +recently your country as a foe to Russian interests had dropped below +the horizon. And now Russia finds that she must proceed to do what +she has done to all other countries; that is, duplicate her rival's +fortification plans, her total military and naval strength; and so +forth, and so on. The United States is not an enemy, but there are +possibilities of her becoming so. Some day she must wrest Cuba from +Spain, and then she may become a recognized quantity in the Pacific." + +"The Pacific?" + +"Even so. Having taken Cuba, the United States, to protect her +western coast, will be forced to occupy the Philippines; and having +taken that archipelago, she becomes a menace to Russian territorial +expansion in the far East. I do not always speak so frankly. But I +wish you to see the necessity of knowing all about your coast +defenses." + +"It can not be done!"--spiritedly. So far the American had only +gambled. + +"It can and will be done," smiling. "Despite the watchfulness of your +officials, despite your secret service, despite all obstacles, Russia +will quietly gain the required information. She possesses a key to +every lock." + +"And what might this key be?"--with tolerant irony. + +"Gold." + +"But if the United States found out what Russia was doing, there +might be war." + +"Nothing of the kind. Russia would simply deny all knowledge. The man +whom she selected to do the work would be discredited, banished, +perhaps sent to Siberia to rot in the mines. No, there would be no +war. Russia would weigh all these possibilities in selecting her arm. +She would choose a man of high intellect, rich, well-known in social +circles, a linguist, a man acquainted with all histories and all +phases of life, a diplomat, perhaps young and pleasing. You will say, +why does he accept so base a task? When a Russian noble takes his +oath in the presence of his czar, he becomes simply an arm; he no +longer thinks, his master thinks for him. He only acts. So long as he +offers his services without remuneration, his honor remains +untouched, unsullied. A paid spy is the basest of all creatures." + +"Count, take care that I do not warn my country of Russia's purpose. +You are telling me very strange things." The American eyed his +companion sharply. + +"Warn the United States? I tell you, it will not matter. All Russia +would need would be a dissatisfied clerk. What could he not do with +half a million francs?" The diplomat blew a cloud of smoke through +his nostrils and filliped the end of his cigarette. + +"A hundred thousand dollars?" + +The diplomat glanced amusedly at his American friend. "I suppose that +sounds small enough to you rich Americans. But to a clerk it reads +wealth." + +The American was silent. A terrible thought flashed through his +brain, a thought that he repulsed almost immediately. + +"Of course, I am only speculating; nothing has been done as yet." + +"Then something _is_ going to be done?" asked the American, +clearing his voice. + +"One day or another. If we can not find the clerk, we shall look +higher. We should consider a million francs well invested. America is +rapidly becoming a great power. But let us drop the subject and turn +to something more agreeable to us both. Your daughter is charming. I +honestly confess to you that I have not met her equal in any country. +Pardon my presumption, but may I ask if she is engaged to be +married?" + +"Not to my knowledge,"--vastly surprised and at the same time +pleased. + +"Are you averse to foreign alliances?" The diplomat dipped the end of +a fresh-lighted cigar into his coffee. + +"My dear Count, I am not averse to foreign alliances, but I rather +suspect that my daughter is. This aversion might be overcome, +however." + +What a vista was opened to this wretched father! If only she might +marry riches, how easily he might confess what he had done, how +easily all this despair and terror might be dispersed! And here was a +man who was known in the great world, rich, young and handsome. + +The other gazed dreamily at the ceiling; from there his gaze traveled +about the coffee-room, with its gathering of coffee-drinkers, and at +length came back to his _vis-a-vis_. + +"You will return to Washington?" he asked. + +"I shall live there for the winter; that is, I expect to." + +"Doubtless we shall see each other this winter, then,"--and the count +threw away his cigar, bade his companion good night, and went to his +room. + +How adroitly he had sown the seed! At that period he had no positive +idea upon what kind of ground he had cast it. But he took that chance +which all far-sighted men take, and then waited. There was little he +had not learned about this handsome American with the beautiful +daughter. How he had learned will always remain dark to me. My own +opinion is that he had been studying him during his tenure of office +in Washington, and, with that patience which is making Russia so +formidable, waited for this opportunity. + +I shall give the Russian all the justice of impartiality. When he saw +the girl, he rather shrank from the affair. But he had gone too far, +he had promised too much; to withdraw now meant his own defeat, his +government's anger, his political oblivion. And there was a zest in +this life of his. He could no more resist the call of intrigue than a +gambler can resist the croupier's, "Make your game, gentlemen!" I +believe that he loved the girl the moment he set eyes upon her. Her +beauty and bearing distinguished her from the other women he had met, +and her personality was so engaging that her conquest of him was +complete and spontaneous. How to win this girl and at the same time +ruin her father was an embarrassing problem. The plan which finally +came to him he repelled again and again, but at length he +surrendered. To get the parent in his power and then to coerce the +girl in case she refused him! To my knowledge this affair was the +first dishonorable act of a very honorable man. But love makes fools +and rogues of us all. + +You will question my right to call this diplomat an honest man. As I +have said elsewhere, honor is comparative. Besides, a diplomat +generally falls into the habit of lying successfully to himself. + +When the American returned to the world, his cigar was out and his +coffee was stale and cold. + +"A million francs!" he murmured. "Two hundred thousand!" + +The seed had fallen on fruitful ground. + + + + +XVI + +THE PREVIOUS AFFAIR + + +Mrs. Chadwick had completed her toilet and now stood smiling in a +most friendly fashion at the reflection in the long oval mirror. She +addressed this reflection in melodious tones. + +"Madam, you are really handsome; and let no false modesty whisper in +your ear that you are not. Few women in Washington have such clear +skin, such firm flesh, such color. Thirty-eight? It is nothing. It is +but the half-way post; one has left youth behind, but one has not +reached old age. Time must be very tolerant, for he has given you a +careful selection. There were no years of storm and poverty, of +violent passions; and if I have truly loved, it has been you, only +you. You are too wise and worldly to love any one but yourself. And +yet, once you stood on the precipice of dark eyes, pale skin, and +melancholy wrinkles. And even now, if he were to speak... Enough! +Enough of this folly. I have something to accomplish to-night." She +glided from the boudoir into the small but luxurious drawing-room +which had often been graced by the most notable men and women in the +country. + +Karloff threw aside the book of poems by De Banville, rose, and went +forward to meet her. + +"Madam,"--bending and brushing her hand with his lips, "Madam, you +grow handsomer every day. If I were forty, now, I should fear for +your single blessedness." + +"Or, if I were two-and-twenty, instead of eight-and-thirty,"-- +beginning to draw on her long white gloves. There was a challenge in +her smile. + +"Well, yes; if you were two-and-twenty." + +"There was a time, not so long ago," she said, drawing his gaze as a +magnet draws a needle, "when the disparity in years was of no +matter." + +The count laughed. "That was three years ago; and, if my memory +serves me, you smiled." + +"Perhaps I was first to smile; that is all." + +"I observe a mental reservation,"--owlishly. + +"I will put it plainly, then. I preferred to smile over your +protestations rather than see you laugh over the possibility and the +folly of my loving you." + +"Then it was possible?"--with interest. + +"Everything is possible ... and often absurd." + +"How do you know that I was not truly in love with you?"--narrowing +his eyes. + +"It is not explanatory; it can be given only one name--instinct, +which in women and animals is more fully developed than in man. +Besides, at that time you had not learned all about Colonel Annesley, +whose guests we are to be this evening. Whoever would have imagined a +Karloff accepting the hospitalities of an Annesley? Count, hath not +thy rose a canker?" + +"Madam!" Karloff was frowning. + +"Count, you look like a paladin when you scowl; but scowling never +induces anything but wrinkles. That is why we women frown so seldom. +We smile. But let us return to your query. Supposing I had accepted +your declarations seriously; supposing you had offered me marriage in +that burst of gratitude; supposing I _had_ committed the folly +of becoming a countess: what a position I should be in to-day!" + +"I do not understand,"--perplexedly. + +"No?"--shrugging. She held forth a gloved arm. "Have you forgotten +how gallantly you used to button my gloves?" + +"A thousand pardons! My mind was occupied with the mystery of your +long supposition." He took the arm gracefully and proceeded to slip +the pearl buttons through their holes. (Have you ever buttoned the +gloves of a handsome woman? I have. And there is a subtile thrill +about the proceeding which I can not quite define. Perhaps it is the +nearness of physical beauty; perhaps it is the delicate scent of +flowers; perhaps it is the touch of the cool, firm flesh; perhaps it +is just romance.) The gaze which she bent upon his dark head was +emotional; yet there was not the slightest tremor of arm or fingers. +It is possible that she desired him to observe the steadiness of her +nerves. "What did you mean?" he asked. + +"What did I mean?"--vaguely. Her thought had been elsewhere. + +"By that supposition." + +"Oh! I mean that my position, had I married you, would have been +rather anomalous to-day." She extended the other arm. "You are in +love." + +"In love?" He looked up quickly. + +"Decidedly; and I had always doubted your capacity for that +sentiment." + +"And pray tell me, with whom am I in love?" + +"Come, Count, you and I know each other too well to waste time in +beating about the bushes. I do not blame you for loving her; only, I +say, it must not be." + +"Must not be?" The count's voice rose a key. + +"Yes, must not be. You must give them up--the idea and the girl. +What! You, who contrive the father's dishonor, would aspire to the +daughter's hand? It is not equable. Love her honorably, or not at +all. The course you are following is base and wholly unworthy of +you." + +He dropped the arm abruptly and strode across the room, stopping by a +window. He did not wish her to see his face at that particular +instant. Some men would have demanded indignantly to know how she had +learned these things; not so the count. + +"There is time to retrieve. Go to the colonel frankly, pay his debts +out of your own pockets, then tell the girl that you love her. Before +you tell her, her father will have acquainted her with his sin and +your generosity. She will marry you out of gratitude." + +Karloff spun on his heels. His expression was wholly new. His eyes +were burning; he stretched and crumpled his gloves. + +"Yes, you are right, you are right! I have been trying to convince +myself that I was a machine where the father was concerned and wholly +a man in regard to the girl. You have put it before me in a bold +manner. Good God, yes! I find that I am wholly a man. How smoothly +all this would have gone to the end had she not crossed my path! I +_am_ base, I, who have always considered myself an honorable +man. And now it is too late, too late!" + +"Too late? What do you mean? Have you dared to ask her to be your +wife?" Had Karloff held her arm at this moment, he would have +comprehended many things. + +"No, no! My word has gone forth to my government; there is a wall +behind me, and I can not go back. To stop means worse than death. My +property will be confiscated and my name obliterated, my body rot +slowly in the frozen north. Oh, I know my country; one does not gain +her gratitude by failure. I must have those plans, and nowhere could +I obtain such perfect ones." + +"Then you will give her up?" There was a broken note. + +The count smiled. To her it was a smile scarce less than a snarl. + +"Give her up? Yes, as a mother gives up her child, as a lioness her +cub. She _has_ refused me, but nevertheless she shall be my +wife. Oh, I am well-versed in human nature. She loves her father, and +I know what sacrifices she would make to save his honor. To-night!--" +But his lips suddenly closed. + +"Well, to-night? Why do you not go on?" Mrs. Chadwick was pale. Her +gloved hands were clenched. A spasm of some sort seemed to hold her +in its shaking grasp. + +"Nothing, nothing! In heaven's name, why have you stirred me so?" he +cried. + +"Supposing, after all, I loved you?" + +He retreated. "Madam, your suppositions are becoming intolerable and +impossible." + +"Nothing is impossible. Supposing I loved you as violently and +passionately as you love this girl?" + +"Madam,"--hastily and with gentleness, "do not say anything which may +cause me to blush for you; say nothing you may regret to-morrow." + +"I am a woman of circumspection. My suppositions are merely +argumentative. Do you realize, Count, that I could force you to marry +me?" + +Karloff's astonishment could not be equaled. "Force me to marry you?" + +"Is the thought so distasteful, then?" + +"You are mad to-night!" + +"Not so. In whatever manner you have succeeded in this country, your +debt of gratitude is owing to me. I do not recall this fact as a +reproach; I make the statement to bear me on in what I have to submit +to your discerning intelligence. I doubt if there is another woman, +here or abroad, who knows you so well as I. Your personal honor is +beyond impeachment, but Russia is making vast efforts to speckle it. +She will succeed. Yes, I could force you to marry me. With a word I +could tumble your house of cards. I am a worldly woman, and not +without wit and address. I possess every one of your letters, most of +all have I treasured the extravagant ones. To some you signed your +name. If you have kept mine, you will observe that my given name +might mean any one of a thousand women who are named 'Grace.' Shall +you marry me? Shall I tumble your house of cards? I could go to +Colonel Annesley and say to him that if he delivers these plans to +you, I shall denounce him to the secret service officers. I might +cause his utter financial ruin, but his name would descend to his +daughter untarnished." + +"You would not dare!" the count interrupted. + +"What? And you know me so well? I have not given you my word to +reveal nothing. You confided in my rare quality of silence; you +confided in me because you had proved me. Man is not infallible, even +when he is named Karloff." She lifted from a vase her flowers, from +which she shook the water. "Laws have been passed or annulled; laws +have died at the executive desk. Who told you that this was to be, or +that, long before it came to pass? In all the successful intrigues of +Russia in this country, whom have you to thank? Me. Ordinarily a +woman does not do these things as a pastime. There must be some +strong motive behind. You asked me why I have stirred you so. Perhaps +it is because I am neither two-and-twenty nor you two-score. It is +these little barbs that remain in a woman's heart. Well, I do not +love you well enough to marry you, but I love you too well to permit +you to marry Miss Annesley." + +"That has the sound of war. I _did_ love you that night,"--not +without a certain nobility. + +"How easily you say 'that night'! Surely there was wisdom in that +smile of mine. And I nearly tumbled into the pit! I must have looked +exceedingly well... _that night!_"--drily. + +"You are very bitter to-night. Had you taken me at my word, I never +should have looked at Miss Annesley. And had I ceased to love you, +not even you would have known it." + +"Is it possible?"--ironically. + +"It is. I have too much pride to permit a woman to see that I have +made a mistake." + +"Then you consider in the present instance that you have not made a +mistake? You are frank." + +"At least I have not made a mistake which I can not rectify. Madam, +let us not be enemies. As you say, I owe you too much. What is it you +desire?"--with forced amiability. + +"Deprive Colonel Annesley of his honor, that, as you say, is +inevitable; but I love that girl as I would a child of my own, and I +will not see her caught in a net of this sort, or wedded to a man +whose government robs him of his manhood and individuality." + +"Do not forget that I hold my country first and foremost,"--proudly. + +"Love has no country, nor laws, nor galling chains of incertitude. +Love is magnificent only in that it gives all without question. You +love this girl with reservations. You shall not have her. You shall +not have even me, who love you after a fashion, for I could never +look upon you as a husband; in my eyes you would always be an +accomplice." + +"It is war, then?"--curtly. + +"War? Oh, no; we merely sever our diplomatic relations," she purred. + +"Madam, listen to me. I shall make one more attempt to win this girl +honorably. For you are right: love to be love must be magnificent. If +she accepts me, for her sake I will become an outcast, a man without +a country. If she refuses me, I shall go on to the end. Speak to the +colonel, Madam; it is too late. Like myself, he has gone too far. Why +did you open the way for me as you did? I should have been satisfied +with a discontented clerk. You threw this girl across my path, +indirectly, it is true; but nevertheless the fault is yours." + +"I recognize it. At that time I did not realize how much you were to +me." + +"You are a strange woman. I do not understand you." + +"Incompatibility. Come, the carriage is waiting. Let us be gone." + +"You have spoilt the evening for me," said the count, as he threw her +cloak across her shoulders. + +"On the contrary, I have added a peculiar zest. Now, let us go and +appear before the world, and smile, and laugh, and eat, and gossip. +Let the heart throb with a dull pain, if it will; the mask is ours to +do with as we may." + +They were, in my opinion, two very unusual persons. + +[Illustration: "Lay the rose on the table"--Act II.] + + + + +XVII + +DINNER IS SERVED + + +"Ha!" + +Monsieur Pierre, having uttered this ejaculation, stepped back and +rested his fat hands on his fat hips. As he surveyed the impromptu +butler, a shade of perplexity spread over his oily face. He smoothed +his imperial and frowned. This groom certainly _looked_ right, +but there was something lacking in his make-up, that indefinable +something which is always found in the true servant--servility. There +was no humility here, no hypocritical meekness, no suavity; there was +nothing smug or self-satisfied. In truth, there was something grimly +earnest, which was not to be understood readily. Monsieur Pierre, +having always busied himself with soups and curries and roasts and +sauces, was not a profound analyst; yet his instinctive shrewdness at +once told him that this fellow was no servant, nor could he ever be +made into one. Though voluble enough in his kitchen, Monsieur Pierre +lacked expression when confronted by any problem outside of it. Here +was the regulation swallow-tail coat and trousers of green, the +striped red vest, and the polished brass buttons; but the man inside +was too much for him. + +"_Diable_! you _luke_ right. But, no, I can not explain. +Eet ees on zee tongue, but eet rayfuse. Ha! I haf eet! You lack vot +zay call zee real. You make me t'ink uf zee sairvant on zee stage, +somet'ing bettair off; eh?" This was as near as monsieur ever got to +the truth of things. + +During this speculative inventory, Warburton's face was gravely set; +indeed, it pictured his exact feelings. He _was_ grave. He even +wanted Pierre's approval. He was about to pass through a very trying +ordeal; he might not even pass through it. There was no deceiving his +colonel's eyes, hang him! Whatever had induced fate to force this old +Argus-eyed soldier upon the scene? He glanced into the kitchen +mirror. He instantly saw the salient flaw in his dress. It was the +cravat. Tie it as he would, it never approached the likeness of the +conventional cravat of the waiter. It still remained a polished +cravat, a worldly cravat, the cravat seen in ball-rooms, drawing- +rooms, in the theater stalls and boxes, anywhere but in the servants' +hall. Oh, for the ready-made cravat that hitched to the collar- +button! And then there was that servant's low turned-down collar, +glossy as celluloid. He felt as diffident in his bare throat as a +debutante feels in her first decollete ball-gown, not very well +covered up, as it were. And, heaven and earth, how appallingly large +his hands had grown, how clumsy his feet! Would the colonel expose +him? Would he keep silent? This remained to be found out: wherein lay +the terror of suspense. + +"Remem_bair_," went on Monsieur Pierre, after a pause, feeling +that he had a duty to fulfil and a responsibility to shift to other +shoulders than his own, "remem_bair_, eef you spill zee soup, I +keel you. You carry zee tureen in, zen you deesh out zee soup, and +sairve. Zee oystaires should be on zee table t'ree minutes before zee +guests haf arrive'. Now, can you make zee American cocktail?" + +"I can,"--with a ghost of a smile. + +"Make heem,"--with a pompous wave of the hand toward the favorite +ingredients. + +"What kind?" + +"Vot kind! Eez zare more cocktails, zen?" + +"Only two that are proper, the manhattan and the martini." + +"Make zee martini; I know heem." + +"But cocktails ought not be mixed before serving." + +"I say, make zee one cocktail,"--coldly and skeptically. "I test +heem." + +Warburton made one. Monsieur sipped it slowly, making a wry face, +for, true Gaul that he was, only two kinds of stimulants appealed to +his palate, liqueurs and wines. He found it as good as any he had +ever tasted. + +"Ver' good,"--softening. "Zare ees, zen, one t'ing zat all zee +Americans can make, zee cocktail? I am educate'; I learn. Now leaf me +till eight. Keep zee collect head;"--and Monsieur Pierre turned his +attention to his partridges. + +James went out of doors to get a breath of fresh air and to collect +his thoughts, which were wool-gathering, whatever that may mean. They +needed collecting, these thoughts of his, and labeling, for they were +at all points of the compass, and he was at a loss upon which to draw +for support. Here he was, in a devil of a fix, and no possible way of +escaping except by absolutely bolting; and he vowed that he wouldn't +bolt, not if he stood the chance of being exposed fifty times over. +He had danced; he was going to pay the fiddler like a man. He had +never run away from anything, and he wasn't going to begin now. + +At the worst, they could only laugh at him; but his secret would be +his no longer. Ass that he had been! How to tell this girl that he +loved her? How to appear to her as his natural self? What a chance he +had wilfully thrown away! He might have been a guest to-night; he +might have sat next to her, turned the pages of her music, and +perhaps sighed love in her ear, all of which would have been very +proper and conventional. Ah, if he only knew what was going on behind +those Mediterranean eyes of hers, those heavenly sapphires. Had she +any suspicion? No, it could not be possible; she had humiliated him +too often, to suspect the imposture. Alackaday! + +Had any one else applied the disreputable terms he applied to himself +there would have been a battle royal. When he became out of breath, +he reentered the house to have a final look at the table before the +ordeal began. + +Covers had been laid for twelve; immaculate linen, beautiful silver, +and sparkling cut-glass. He wondered how much the girl was worth, and +thought of his own miserable forty-five hundred the year. True, his +capital could at any time be converted into cash, some seventy-five +thousand, but it would be no longer the goose with the golden egg. A +great bowl of roses stood on a glass center-piece. As he leaned +toward them to inhale their perfume he heard a sound. He turned. + +She stood framed in a doorway, a picture such as artists conjure up +to fit in sunlit corners of gloomy studios: beauty, youth, radiance, +luster, happiness. To his ardent eyes she was supremely beautiful. +How wildly his heart beat! This was the first time he had seen her in +all her glory. His emotion was so strong that he did not observe that +she was biting her nether lip. + +"Is everything well, James?" she asked, meaning the possibilities of +service and not the cardiac intranquillity of the servant. + +"Very well, Miss Annesley,"--with a sudden bold scrutiny. + +Whatever it was she saw in his eyes it had the effect of making hers +turn aside. To bridge the awkwardness of the moment, he rearranged a +napkin; and she remarked his hands. They were tanned, but they were +elegantly shaped and scrupulously well taken care of--the hands of a +gentleman born, of an aristocrat. He could feel her gaze penetrate +like acid. He grew visibly nervous. + +"You haven't the hand of a servant, James,"--quietly. + +He started, and knocked a fork to the floor. + +"They are too clumsy," she went on maliciously. + +"I am not a butler, Miss; I am a groom. I promise to do the very best +I can." Wrath mingled with the shame on his face. + +"A man who can do what you did this morning ought not to be afraid of +a dinner-table." + +"There is some difference between a dinner-table and a horse, Miss." +He stooped to recover the fork while she touched her lips with her +handkerchief. The situation was becoming unendurable. He knew that, +for some reason, she was quietly laughing at him. + +"Never put back on the table a fork or piece of silver that has +fallen to the floor," she advised. "Procure a clean one." + +"Yes, Miss." Why, in heaven's name, didn't she go and leave him in +peace? + +"And be very careful not to spill a drop of the burgundy. It is +seventy-eight, and a particular favorite of my father's." + +Seventy-eight! As if he hadn't had many a bottle of that superb +vintage during the past ten months! The glands in his teeth opened at +the memory of that taste. + +"James, we have been in the habit of paying off the servants on this +day of the month. Payday comes especially happy this time. It will +put good feeling into all, and make the service vastly more +expeditious." + +She counted out four ten-dollar notes from a roll in her hand and +signified him to approach. He took the money, coolly counted it, and +put it in his vest-pocket. + +"Thank you, Miss." + +I do not say that she looked disappointed, but I assert that she was +slightly disconcerted. She never knew the effort he had put forth to +subdue the desire to tear the money into shreds, throw it at her feet +and leave the house. + +"When the gentlemen wish for cigars or cigarettes, you will find them +in the usual place, the tower drawer in the sideboard." With a swish +she was gone. + +He took the money out and studied it. No, he wouldn't tear it up; +rather he would put it among his keepsakes. + +I shall leave Mr. Robert, or M'sieu Zhames, to recover his +tranquillity, and describe to you the character and quality of the +guests. There was the affable military attache of the British +embassy, there was a celebrated American countess, a famous dramatist +and his musical wife, Warburton's late commanding colonel, Mrs. +Chadwick, Count Karloff, one of the notable grand opera prima-donnas, +who would not sing in opera till February, a cabinet officer and his +wife, Colonel Annesley and his daughter. You will note the +cosmopolitan character of these distinguished persons. Perhaps in no +other city in America could they be brought together at an informal +dinner such as this one was. There was no question of precedence or +any such nonsense. Everybody knew everybody else, with one exception. +Colonel Raleigh was a comparative stranger. But he was a likable old +fellow, full of stories of the wild, free West, an excellent listener +besides, who always stopped a goodly distance on the right side of +what is known in polite circles as the bore's dead-line. Warburton +held for him a deep affection, martinet though he was, for he was +singularly just and merciful. + +They had either drunk the cocktail or had set it aside untouched, and +had emptied the oyster shells, when the ordeal of the soup began. +Very few of those seated gave any attention to my butler. The first +thing he did was to drop the silver ladle. Only the girl saw this +mishap. She laughed; and Raleigh believed that he had told his story +in an exceptionally taking manner. My butler quietly procured another +ladle, and proceeded coolly enough. I must confess, however, that his +coolness was the result of a physical effort. The soup quivered and +trembled outrageously, and more than once he felt the heat of the +liquid on his thumb. This moment his face was pale, that moment it +was red. But, as I remarked, few observed him. Why should they? +Everybody had something to say to everybody else; and a butler was +only a machine anyway. Yet, three persons occasionally looked in his +direction: his late colonel, Mrs. Chadwick, and the girl; each from a +different angle of vision. There was a scowl on the colonel's face, +puzzlement on Mrs. Chadwick's, and I don't know what the girl's +represented, not having been there with my discerning eyes. + +Once the American countess raised her lorgnette and murmured: "What a +handsome butler!" + +Karloff, who sat next to her, twisted his mustache and shrugged. He +had seen handsome peasants before. They did not interest him. He +glanced across the table at the girl, and was much annoyed that she, +too, was gazing at the butler, who had successfully completed the +distribution of the soup and who now stood with folded arms by the +sideboard. (How I should have liked to see him!) + +When the butler took away the soup-plates, Colonel Raleigh turned to +his host. + +"George, where the deuce did you pick up that butler?" + +Annesley looked vaguely across the table at his old comrade. He had +been far away in thought. He had eaten nothing. + +"What?" he asked. + +"I asked you where the deuce you got that butler of yours." + +"Oh, Betty found him somewhere. Our own butler is away on a vacation. +I had not noticed him. Why?" + +"Well, if he doesn't look like a cub lieutenant of mine, I was born +without recollection of faces." + +"An orderly of yours, a lieutenant, did you say?" asked Betty, with +smoldering fires in her eyes. + +"Yes." + +"That is strange," she mused. + +"Yes; very strange. He was a daredevil, if there ever was one." + +"Ah!" + +"Yes; best bump of location in the regiment, and the steadiest +nerve,"--dropping his voice. + +The girl leaned on her lovely arms and observed him interestedly. + +"A whole company got lost in a snowstorm one winter. You know that on +the prairie a snowstorm means that only a compass can tell you where +you are; and there wasn't one in the troop,--a bad piece of +carelessness on the captain's part. Well, this cub said _he'd_ +find the way back, and the captain wisely let him take the boys in +hand." + +"Go on," said the girl. + +"Interested, eh?" + +"I am a soldier's daughter, and I love the recital of brave deeds." + +"Well, he did it. Four hours later they were being thawed out in the +barracks kitchens. Another hour and not one of them would have lived +to tell the tale. The whisky they poured into my cub--" + +"Did he drink?" she interrupted. + +"Drink? Why, the next day he was going to lick the men who had poured +the stuff down his throat. A toddy once in a while; that was all he +ever took. And how he loved a fight! He had the tenacity of a +bulldog; once he set his mind on getting something, he never let up +till he got it." + +The girl trifled thoughtfully with a rose. + +"Was he ever in any Indian fights?" she asked, casually. + +"Only scraps and the like. He went into the reservation alone one day +and arrested a chief who had murdered a sheep-herder. It was a +volunteer job, and nine men out of ten would never have left the +reservation alive. He was certainly a cool hand." + +"I dare say,"--smiling. She wanted to ask him if he had ever been +hurt, this daredevil of a lieutenant, but she could not bring the +question to her lips. "What did you say his name was?"--innocently. + +"Warburton, Robert Warburton." + +Here the butler came in with the birds. The girl's eyes followed him, +hither and thither, her lips hidden behind the rose. + + + + +XVIII + +CAUGHT! + + +Karloff came around to music. The dramatist's wife should play +Tosti's _Ave Maria_, Miss Annesley should play the obligato on +the violin and the prima-donna should sing; but just at present the +dramatist should tell them all about his new military play which was +to be produced in December. + +"Count, I beg to decline," laughed the dramatist. "I should hardly +dare to tell my plot before two such military experts as we have +here. I should be told to write the play all over again, and now it +is too late." + +Whenever Betty's glance fell on her father's face, the gladness in +her own was somewhat dimmed. What was making that loved face so care- +worn, the mind so listless, the attitude so weary? But she was young; +the spirits of youth never flow long in one direction. The repartee, +brilliant and at the same time with every sting withdrawn, flashed up +and down the table like so many fireflies on a wet lawn in July, and +drew her irresistibly. + +As the courses came and passed, so the conversation became less and +less general; and by the time the ices were served the colonel had +engaged his host, and the others divided into twos. Then coffee, +liqueurs and cigars, when the ladies rose and trailed into the little +Turkish room, where the "distinguished-looking butler" supplied them +with the amber juice. + +A dinner is a function where everybody talks and nobody eats. Some +have eaten before they come, some wish they had, and others dare not +eat for fear of losing some of the gossip. I may be wrong, but I +believe that half of these listless appetites are due to the natural +confusion of forks. + +After the liqueurs my butler concluded that his labor was done, and +he offered up a short prayer of thankfulness and relief. Heavens, +what mad, fantastic impulses had seized him while he was passing the +soup! Supposing he _had_ spilled the hot liquid down Karloff's +back, or poured out a glass of burgundy for himself and drained it +before them all, or slapped his late colonel on the back and asked +him the state of his liver? It was maddening, and he marveled at his +escape. There hadn't been a real mishap. The colonel had only scowled +at him; he was safe. He passed secretly from the house and hung +around the bow-window which let out on the low balcony. The window +was open, and occasionally he could hear a voice from beyond the +room, which was dark. + +It was one of those nights, those mild November nights, to which the +novelists of the old regime used to devote a whole page; the silvery +pallor on the landscape, the moon-mists, the round, white, inevitable +moon, the stirring breezes, the murmur of the few remaining leaves, +and all that. But these busy days we have not the time to read nor +the inclination to describe. + +Suddenly upon the stillness of the night the splendor of a human +voice broke forth; the prima-donna was trying her voice. A violin +wailed a note. A hand ran up and down the keys of the piano. +Warburton held his breath and waited. He had heard Tosti's _Ave +Maria_ many times, but he never will forget the manner in which it +was sung that night. The songstress was care-free and among persons +she knew and liked, and she put her soul into that magnificent and +mysterious throat of hers, And throbbing all through the song was the +vibrant, loving voice of the violin. And when the human tones died +away and the instruments ceased to speak, Warburton felt himself +swallowing rapidly. Then came Schumann's _Traumerei_ on the +strings, Handel's _Largo_, Grieg's _Papillon_, and a _ballade_ by +Chaminade. Then again sang the prima-donna; old folksy songs, +sketches from the operas grand and light, _Faust_, _The Barber of +Seville_, _La Fille de Madame Angot_. In all his days Warburton had +never heard such music. Doubtless he _had_--even better; only at +this period he was in love. The imagination of love's young dream is +the most stretchable thing I know of. Seriously, however, he was a +very good judge of music, and I am convinced that what he heard +was out of the ordinary. + +But I must guide my story into the channel proper. + +During the music Karloff and Colonel Annesley drifted into the +latter's study. What passed between them I gathered from bits +recently dropped by Warburton. + +"Good God, Karloff, what a net you have sprung about me!" said the +colonel, despairingly. + +"My dear Colonel, you have only to step out of it. It is the eleventh +hour; it is not too late." But Karloff watched the colonel eagerly. + +"How in God's name can I step out of it?" + +"Simply reimburse me for that twenty thousand I advanced to you in +good faith, and nothing more need be said." The count's Slavonic eyes +were half-lidded. + +"To give you back that amount will leave me a beggar, an absolute +beggar, without a roof to shelter me. I am too old for the service, +and besides, I am physically incapacitated. If you should force me, I +could not meet my note save by selling the house my child was born +in. Have you discounted it?" + +"No. Why should I present it at the bank? It does not mature till +next Monday, and I am in no need of money." + +"What a wretch I am!" + +Karloff raised his shoulders resignedly. + +"My daughter!" + +"Or my ducats," whimsically quoted the count. "Come, Colonel; do not +waste time in useless retrospection. He stumbles who looks back. I +have been thinking of your daughter. I love her, deeply, eternally." + +"You love her?" + +"Yes. I love her because she appeals to all that is young and good in +me; because she represents the highest type of womanhood. With her as +my wife, why, I should be willing to renounce my country, and your +indebtedness would be crossed out of existence with one stroke of the +pen." + +The colonel's haggard face grew light with sudden hopefulness. + +"I have been," the count went on, studying the ash of his cigar, +"till this night what the world and my own conscience consider an +honorable man. I have never wronged a man or woman personally. What I +have done on the order of duty does not agitate my conscience. I am +simply a machine. The moral responsibility rests with my czar. When I +saw your daughter, I deeply regretted that you were her father." + +The colonel grew rigid in his chair. + +"Do not misunderstand me. Before I saw her, you were but the key to +what I desired. As her father the matter took on a personal side. I +could not very conscientiously make love to your daughter and at the +same time--" Karloff left the sentence incomplete. + +"And Betty?"--in half a whisper. + +"Has refused me,"--quietly. "But I have not given her up; no, I have +not given her up." + +"What do you mean to do?" + +Karloff got up and walked about the room. "Make her my wife,"-- +simply. He stooped and studied the titles of some of the books in the +cases. He turned to find that the colonel had risen and was facing +him with flaming eyes. + +"I demand to know how you intend to accomplish this end," the colonel +said. "My daughter shall not be dragged into this trap." + +"To-morrow night I will explain everything; to-night, nothing,"-- +imperturbably. + +"Karloff, to-night I stand a ruined and dishonored man. My head, once +held so proudly before my fellow-men, is bowed with shame. The +country I have fought and bled for I have in part betrayed. But not +for my gain, not for my gain. No, no! Thank God that I can say that! +Personal greed has not tainted me. Alone, I should have gone serenely +into some poor house and eked out an existence on my half-pay. But +this child of mine, whom I love doubly, for her mother's sake and her +own,--I would gladly cut off both arms to spare her a single pain, to +keep her in the luxury which she still believes rightfully to be +hers. When the fever of gaming possessed me, I should have told her. +I did not; therein lies my mistake, the mistake which has brought me +to this horrible end. Virginius sacrificed his child to save her; I +will sacrifice my honor to save mine from poverty. Force her to wed a +man she does not love? No. To-morrow night we shall complete this +disgraceful bargain. The plans are all finished but one. Now leave +me; I wish to be alone." + +"Sir, it is my deep regret--" + +"Go; there is nothing more to be said." + +Karloff withdrew. He went soberly. There was nothing sneering nor +contemptuous in his attitude. Indeed, there was a frown of pity on +his face. He recognized that circumstances had dragged down a noble +man; that chance had tricked him of his honor. How he hated his own +evil plan! He squared his shoulders, determined once more to put it +to the touch to win or lose it all. + +He found her at the bow-window, staring up at the moon. As I +remarked, this room was dark, and she did not instantly recognize +him. + +"I am moon-gazing," she said. + +"Let me sigh for it with you. Perhaps together we may bring it down." +There was something very pleasing in the quality of his tone. + +"Ah, it is you, Count? I could not see. But let us not sigh for the +moon; it would be useless. Does any one get his own wish-moon? Does +it not always hang so high, so far away?" + +"The music has affected you?" + +"As it always does. When I hear a voice like madam's, I grow sad, and +a pity for the great world surges over me." + +"Pity is the invisible embrace which enfolds all animate things. +There is pity for the wretched, for the fool, for the innocent knave, +for those who are criminals by their own folly; pity for those who +love without reward; pity that embraces ... even me." + +Silence. + +"Has it ever occurred to you that there are two beings in each of us; +that between these two there is a continual conflict, and that the +victor finally prints the victory on the face? For what lines and +haggards a man's face but the victory of the evil that is in him? For +what makes the aged ruddy and smooth of face and clear of eye but the +victory of the good that is in him? It is so. I still love you; I +still have the courage to ask you to be my wife. Shall there be faces +haggard or ruddy, lined or smooth?" + +She stepped inside. She did not comprehend all he said, and his face +was in the shadow--that is to say, unreadable. + +"I am sorry, very, very sorry." + +"How easily you say that!" + +"No, not easily; if only you knew how hard it comes, for I know that +it inflicts a hurt,"--gently. "Ah, Count, why indeed do I not love +you?"--impulsively, for at that time she held him in genuine regard. +"You represent all that a woman could desire in a man." + +"You could learn,"--with an eager step toward her. + +"You do not believe that; you know that you do not. Love has nothing +to learn; the heart speaks, and that is all. My heart does not speak +when I see you, and I shall never marry a man to whom it does not. +You ask for something which I can not give, and each time you ask you +only add to the pain." + +"This is finality?" + +"It is." + +"Eh, well; then I must continue on to the end." + +She interpreted this as a plaint of his coming loneliness. + +"Here!" she said. She held in her hands two red roses. She thrust one +toward him. "That is all I may give you." + +For a moment he hesitated. There were thorns, invisible and stinging. + +"Take it!" + +He accepted it, kissed it gravely, and hid it. + +"This is the bitterest moment in my life, and doubly bitter because I +love you." + +When the portiere fell behind him, she locked her hands, grieving +that all she could give him was an ephemeral flower. How many men had +turned from her in this wise, even as she began to depend upon them +for their friendships! The dark room oppressed her and she stepped +out once more into the silver of moonshine. Have you ever beheld a +lovely woman fondle a lovely rose? She drew it, pendent on its +slender stem, slowly across her lips, her eyes shining mistily with +waking dreams. She breathed in the perfume, then cupped the flower in +the palm of her hand and pressed it again and again to her lips. A +long white arm stretched outward and upward toward the moon, and when +it withdrew the hand was empty. + +Warburton, hidden behind the vines, waited until she was gone, and +then hunted in the grass for the precious flower. On his hands and +knees he groped. The dew did not matter. And when at last he found +it, not all the treasures of the fabled Ophir would have tempted him +to part with it. It would be a souvenir for his later days. + +As he rose from his knees he was confronted by a broad-shouldered, +elderly man in evening clothes. The end of a cigar burned brightly +between his teeth. + +"I'll take that flower, young man, if you please." + +Warburton's surprise was too great for sudden recovery. + +"It is mine, Colonel," he stammered. + +The colonel filliped away his cigar and caught my butler roughly by +the arm. + +"Warburton, what the devil does this mean--a lieutenant of mine +peddling soup around a gentleman's table?" + + + + +XIX + +"OH, MISTER BUTLER!" + + +Warburton had never lacked that rare and peculiar gift of +immediately adapting himself to circumstances. To lie now would be +folly, worse than useless. He had addressed this man at his side by +his military title. He stood committed. He saw that he must throw +himself wholly on the colonel's mercy and his sense of the humorous. +He pointed toward the stables and drew the colonel after him; but the +colonel held back. + +"That rose first; I insist upon having that rose till you have given +me a satisfactory account of yourself." + +Warburton reluctantly surrendered his treasure. Force of habit is a +peculiar one. The colonel had no real authority to demand the rose; +but Warburton would no more have thought of disobeying than of +running away. + +"You will give it back to me?" + +"That remains to be seen. Go on; I am ready to follow you. And I do +not want any dragging story, either." The colonel spoke impatiently. + +Warburton led him into his room and turned on the light. The colonel +seated himself on the edge of the cot and lighted a fresh cigar. + +"Well, sir, out with it. I am waiting." + +Warburton took several turns about the room. "I don't know how the +deuce to begin, Colonel. It began with a joke that turned out wrong." + +"Indeed?"--sarcastically. "Let me hear about this joke." + +M'sieu Zhames dallied no longer, but plunged boldly into his +narrative. Sometimes the colonel stared at him as if he beheld a +species of lunatic absolutely new to him, sometimes he laughed +silently, sometimes he frowned. + +"That's all," said Zhames; and he stood watching the colonel with +dread in his eyes. + +"Well, of all the damn fools!" + +"Sir?" + +"Of all the jackasses!" + +Warburton bit his lip angrily. + +The colonel swung the rose to and fro. "Yes, sir, a damn fool!" + +"I dare say that I am, sir. But I have gone too far to back out now. +Will you give me back that rose, Colonel?" + +"What do you mean by her?"--coldly. + +"I love her with all my heart,"--hotly. "I want her for my comrade, +my wife, my companion, my partner in all I have or do. I love her, +and I don't care a hang who knows it." + +"Not so loud, my friend; not so loud." + +"Oh, I do not care who hears,"--discouragedly. + +"This beats the very devil! You've got me all balled up. Is Betty +Annesley a girl of the kind we read about in the papers as eloping +with her groom? What earthly chance had you in this guise, I should +like to know?" + +"I only wanted to be near her; I did not look ahead." + +"Well, I should say not! How long were you hidden behind that +trellis?" + +"A year, so it seemed to me." + +"Any lunatics among your ancestors?" + +Warburton shook his head, smiling wanly. + +"I can't make it out," declared the colonel. "A graduate of West +Point, the fop of Troop A, the hero of a hundred ball-rooms, +disguised as a hostler and serving soup!" + +"Always keep the motive in mind, Colonel; you were young yourself +once." + +The colonel thought of the girl's mother. Yes, he had been young +once, but not quite so young as this cub of his. + +"What chance do you suppose you have against the handsome Russian?" + +"She has rejected him,"--thoughtlessly. + +"Ha!"--frowning; "so you were eavesdropping?" + +"Wait a moment, Colonel. You know that I am very fond of music. I was +listening to the music. It had ceased, and I was waiting for it to +begin again, when I heard voices." + +"Why did you not leave then?" + +"And be observed? I dared not." + +The colonel chewed the end of his cigar in silence. + +"And now may I have that rose, sir?"--quietly. + +The colonel observed him warily. He knew that quiet tone. It said +that if he refused to give up the rose he would have to fight for it, +and probably get licked into the bargain. + +"I've a notion you might attempt to take it by force in case I +refused." + +"I surrendered it peacefully enough, sir." + +"So you did. Here." The colonel tossed the flower across the room and +Warburton caught it. + +"I should like to know, sir, if you are going to expose me. It's no +more than I deserve." + +The colonel studied the lithographs on the walls. "Your selection?"-- +with a wave of the hand. + +"No, sir. I should like to know what you are going to do. It would +relieve my mind. As a matter of fact, I confess that I am growing +weary of the mask." Warburton waited. + +"You make a very respectable butler, though,"--musingly. + +"Shall you expose me, sir?"--persistently. + +"No, lad. I should not want it to get about that a former officer of +mine could possibly make such an ass of himself. You have slept all +night in jail, you have groomed horses, you have worn a livery which +no gentleman with any self-respect would wear, and all to no purpose +whatever. Why, in the name of the infernal regions, didn't you meet +her in a formal way? There would have been plenty of opportunities." + +Warburton shrugged; so did the colonel, who stood up and shook the +wrinkles from his trousers. + +"Shall you be long in Washington, sir?" asked Warburton, politely. + +"In a hurry to get rid of me, eh?"--with a grim smile. "Well, perhaps +in a few days." + +"Good night." + +The colonel stopped at the threshold, and his face melted suddenly +into a warm, humorous smile. He stretched out a hand which Warburton +grasped most gratefully. His colonel had been playing with him. + +"Come back to the Army, lad; the East is no place for a man of your +kidney. Scrape up a commission, and I'll see to it that you get back +into the regiment. Life is real out in the great West. People smile +too much here; they don't laugh often enough. Smiles have a hundred +meanings, laughter but one. Smiles are the hiding places for lies, +and sneers, and mockeries, and scandals. Come back to the West; we +all want you, the service and I. When I saw you this afternoon I knew +you instantly, only I was worried as to what devilment you were up +to. Win this girl, if you can; she's worth any kind of struggle, God +bless her! Win her and bring her out West, too." + +Warburton wrung the hand in his till the old fellow signified that +his fingers were beginning to ache. + +"Do you suppose she suspects anything?" ventured Warburton. + +"No. She may be a trifle puzzled, though. I saw her watching your +hands at the table. She has eyes and can readily see that such hands +as yours were never made to carry soup-plates. For the life of me, I +had a time of it, swallowing my laughter. I longed for a vacant lot +to yell in. It would have been a positive relief. The fop of Troop A +peddling soup! Oh, I shall have to tell the boys. You used more pipe- +clay than any other man in the regiment. Don't scowl. Never mind; +you've had your joke; I must have mine. Don't let that Russian fellow +get the inside track. Keep her on American soil. I like him and I +don't like him; and for all your tomfoolery and mischief, there is +good stuff in you--stuff that any woman might be proud of. If you +hadn't adopted this disguise, I could have helped you out a bit by +cracking up some of your exploits. Well, they will be inquiring for +me. Good night and good luck. If you should need me, a note will find +me at the Army and Navy Club." And the genial old warrior, shaking +with silent laughter, went back to the house. + +Warburton remained standing. He was lost in a dream. All at once he +pressed the rose to his lips and kissed it shamelessly, kissed it +uncountable times. Two or three leaves, not withstanding this violent +treatment, fluttered to the floor. He picked them up: any one of +those velvet leaves might have been the recipient of _her_ +kisses, the rosary of love. He was in love, such a love that comes +but once to any man, not passing, uncertain, but lasting. He knew +that it was all useless. He had digged with his own hands the abyss +between himself and this girl. But there was a secret gladness: to +love was something. (For my part, I believe that the glory lies, not +in being loved, but in loving.) + +I do not know how long he stood there, but it must have been at least +ten minutes. Then the door opened, and Monsieur Pierre lurched or +rolled (I can't quite explain or describe the method of his entrance) +into the room, his face red with anger, and a million thousand +thunders on the tip of his Gallic tongue. + +"So! You haf leaf _me_ to clear zee table, eh? Not by a damn! +_I_, clear zee table? _I?_ I t'ink not. I _cook_, nozzing else. To +zee dining-room, or I haf you discharge'!" + +"All right, Peter, old boy!" cried Warburton, the gloom lifting from +his face. This Pierre was a very funny fellow. + +"Pe_taire!_ You haf zee insolence to call me Pe_taire?_ +Why, I haf you keeked out in zee morning, lackey!" + +"Cook!"--mockingly. + +Pierre was literally dumfounded. Such disrespect he had never before +witnessed. It was frightful. He opened his mouth to issue a volley of +French oaths, when Zhames's hand stopped him. + +"Look here, Peter, you broil your partridges and flavor your soups, +but keep out of the stables, or, in your own words, I _keel_ you +or _keek_ you out. You tell the scullery maid to clear off the +table. I'm off duty for the rest of the night. Now, then, _allons! +Marche!"_ + +And M'sieu Zhames gently but firmly and steadily pushed the +scandalized Pierre out of the room and closed the door in his face. I +shan't repeat what Pierre said, much less what he thought. + +Let me read a thought from the mind of each of my principals, the +final thought before retiring that night. + +_Karloff_ (on leaving Mrs. Chadwick): Dishonor against dishonor; +so it must be. I can not live without that girl. + +_Mrs. Chadwick:_ (when Karloff had gone); He has lost, but I +have not won. + +_Annesley:_ So one step leads to another, and the labyrinth of +dishonor has no end. + +_The Colonel:_ What the deuce will love put next into the young +mind? + +_Pierre_ (to Celeste): I haf heem discharge'! + +_Celeste_ (to Pierre): He ees handsome! + +_Warburton_ (sighing in the _doloroso_): How I love her! + +_The Girl_ (standing before her mirror and smiling happily): Oh, +Mister Butler! Why? + + + + +XX + +THE EPISODE OF THE STOVE-PIPE + + +In the morning Monsieur Pierre faithfully reported to his mistress +the groom's extraordinary insolence and impudence of the night +before. The girl struggled with and conquered her desire to laugh; +for monsieur was somewhat grotesque in his rage. + +"Frightful, Mademoiselle, most frightful! He call me Pe_taire_ +most disrrrespectful way, and eject me from zee stables. I can not +call heem out; he ees a groom and knows nozzing uf zee _amende +honorable._" + +Mademoiselle summoned M'sieu Zhames. She desired to make the comedy +complete in all its phases. + +"James, whenever you are called upon to act in the capacity of +butler, you must clear the table after the guests leave it. This is +imperative. I do not wish the scullery girl to handle the porcelain +save in the tubs. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, Miss. There were no orders to that effect last night, however." +He was angry. + +Monsieur Pierre puffed up like the lady-frog in Aesop's fables, + +"And listen, Pierre," she said, collapsing the bubble of the chef's +conceit, "you must give no orders to James. I will do that. I do not +wish any tale-bearing or quarreling among my servants. I insist upon +this. Observe me carefully, Pierre, and you, James." + +James _did_ observe her carefully, so carefully, indeed, that +her gaze was forced to wander to the humiliated countenance of +Monsieur Pierre. + +"James, you must not look at me like that. There is something in your +eyes; I can't explain what it is, but it somehow lacks the respect +due me." This command was spoken coldly and sharply. + +"Respect?" He drew back a step. "I disrespectful to you, Miss +Annesley? Oh, you wrong me. There can not be any one more respectful +to you than I am." The sincerity of his tones could not be denied. In +fact, he was almost too sincere. + +"Nevertheless, I wish you to regard what I have said. Now, you two +shake hands." + +The groom and the chef shook hands. I am ashamed to say that James +squeezed Monsieur Pierre's flabby hand out of active service for +several hours that followed. Beads of agony sparkled on Monsieur +Pierre's expansive brow as he turned to enter the kitchen. + +"Shall we ride to-day, Miss?" he asked, inwardly amused. + +"No, _I_ shall not ride this morning,"--calmly. + +James bowed meekly under the rebuke. What did he care? Did he not +possess a rose which had known the pressure of her lips, her warm, +red lips? + +"You may go," she said. + +James went. James whistled on the way, too. + +Would that it had been my good fortune to have witnessed the episode +of that afternoon! My jehu, when he hears it related these days, +smiles a sickly grin. I do not believe that he ever laughed heartily +over it. At three o'clock, while Warburton was reading the morning +paper, interested especially in the Army news of the day, he heard +Pierre's voice wailing. + +"What's the fat fool want now?" James grumbled to William. + +"Oh, he's always yelling for help. They've coddled him so long in the +family that he acts like a ten-year-old kid. I stole a kiss from +Celeste one day, and I will be shot if he didn't start to blubber." + +"You stole a kiss, eh?" said James, admiringly. + +"Only just for the sport of making him crazy, that was all." But +William's red visage belied his indifferent tone. "You'd better go +and see what he wants. My hands are all harness grease." + +Warburton concluded to follow William's advice. He flung down his +paper and strode out to the rear porch, where he saw Pierre +gesticulating wildly. + +"What's the matter? What do you want?"--churlishly. + +"Frightful! Zee stove-pipe ees vat you call _bust!_" + +James laughed. + +"I can not rrreach eet. I can not cook till eet ees fix'. You are +tall, eh?"--affably. + +"All right; I'll help you fix it." + +Grumbling, James went into the kitchen, mounted a chair, and began +banging away at the pipe, very much after the fashion of Bunner's +"Culpepper Ferguson." The pipe acted piggishly. James grew +determined. One end slipped in and then the other slipped out, half a +dozen times. James lost patience and became angry; and in his anger +he overreached himself. The chair slid back. He tried to balance +himself and, in the mad effort to maintain a perpendicular position, +made a frantic clutch at the pipe. Ruin and devastation! Down came +the pipe, and with it a peck of greasy soot. + +Monsieur Pierre yelled with terror and despair. The pies on the rear +end of the stove were lost for ever. Mademoiselle Celeste screamed +with laughter, whether at the sight of the pies or M'sieu Zhames, is +more than I can say. + +James rose to his feet, the cuss-words of a corporal rumbled behind +his lips. He sent an energetic kick toward Pierre, who succeeded in +eluding it. + +Pierre's eyes were full of tears. What a kitchen! What a kitchen! +Soot, soot, everywhere, on the floor, on the tables, on the walls, in +the air! + +"Zee pipe!" he burst forth; "zee pipe! You haf zee house full of +gas!" + +James, blinking and sneezing, boiling with rage and chagrin, +remounted the chair and finally succeeded in joining the two lengths. +Nothing happened this time. But the door to the forward rooms opened, +and Miss Annesley looked in upon the scene. + +"Merciful heavens!" she gasped, "what has happened?" + +"Zee stove-pipe bust, Mees," explained Pierre. + +The girl gave Warburton one look, balled her handkerchief against her +mouth, and fled. This didn't add to his amiability. He left the +kitchen in a downright savage mood. He had appeared before her +positively ridiculous, laughable. A woman never can love a man, nor +entertain tender regard for him at whom she has laughed: And the girl +had laughed, and doubtless was still laughing. (However, I do not +offer his opinion as infallible.) + +He stood in the roadway, looking around for some inanimate thing upon +which he might vent his anger, when the sound of hoofs coming toward +him distracted him. He glanced over his shoulder... and his knees all +but gave way under him. Caught! The rider was none other than his +sister Nancy! It was all over now, for a certainty. He knew it; he +had about one minute to live. She was too near, so he dared not fly. +Then a brilliant inspiration came to him. He quickly passed his hand +over his face. The disguise was complete. Vidocq's wonderful eye +could not have penetrated to the flesh. + +"James!" Miss Annesley was standing on the veranda. "Take charge of +the horse. Nancy, dear, I am so glad to see you!" + +James was anything but glad. + +"Betty, good gracious, whatever is the matter with this fellow? Has +he the black plague? Ugh!" She slid from the saddle unaided. + +James stolidly took the reins. + +"The kitchen stove-pipe fell down," Betty replied, "and James stood +in the immediate vicinity of it." + +The two girls laughed joyously, but James did not even smile. He had +half a notion to kiss Nancy, as he had planned to do that memorable +night of the ball at the British embassy. But even as the notion came +to him, Nancy had climbed up the steps and was out of harm's way. + +"James," said Miss Annesley, "go and wash your face at once." + +"Yes, Miss." + +At the sound of his voice Nancy turned swiftly; but the groom had +presented his back and was leading the horse to the stables. + +Nancy would never tell me the substance of her conversation with Miss +Annesley that afternoon, but I am conceited enough to believe that a +certain absent gentleman was the main topic. When she left, it was +William who led out the horse. He explained that James was still +engaged with soap and water and pumice-stone. Miss Annesley's +laughter rang out heartily, and Nancy could not help joining her. + +"And have you heard from that younger brother of yours?" Betty asked, +as her friend settled herself in the saddle. + +"Not a line, Betty, not a line; and I had set my heart on your +meeting him. I do not know where he is, or when he will be back." + +"Perhaps he is in quest of adventures." + +"He is in Canada, hunting caribou." + +"You don't tell me!" + +"What a handsome girl you are, Betty!"--admiringly. + +"What a handsome girl you are, Nancy!" mimicked the girl on the +veranda. "If your brother is only half as handsome, I do not know +whatever will become of this heart of mine when we finally meet." She +smiled and drolly placed her hands on her heart. "Don't look so +disappointed, Nan; perhaps we may yet meet. I have an idea that he +will prove interesting and entertaining;"--and she laughed again. + +"Whoa, Dandy! What _are_ you laughing at?" demanded Nancy. + +"I was thinking of James and his soap and water and pumice-stone. +That was all, dear. Saturday afternoon, then, we shall ride to the +club and have tea. Good-by, and remember me to the baby." + +"Good-by!"--and Nancy cantered away. + +What a blissful thing the lack of prescience is, sometimes! + +When James had scraped the soot from his face and neck and hands, and +had sudsed it from his hair, James observed, with some concern, that +Pirate was coughing at a great rate. His fierce run against the wind +the day before had given him a cold. So James hunted about for the +handy veterinarian. + +"Where do you keep your books here?" he asked William. "Pirate's got +a cold." + +"In the house library. You just go in and get it. We always do that +at home. You'll find it on the lower shelf, to the right as you enter +the door." + +It was half after four when James, having taken a final look at his +hands and nails, proceeded to follow William's instructions. He found +no one about. Outside the kitchen the lower part of the house was +deserted. To reach the library he had to pass through the music-room. +He saw the violin-case on the piano, and at once unconsciously pursed +his lips into a noiseless whistle. He passed on into the library. He +had never been in any of these rooms in the daytime. It was not very +light, even now. + +The first thing that caught his attention was a movable drawing- +board, on which lay an uncompleted drawing. At one side stood a +glass, into which were thrust numerous pens and brushes. Near this +lay a small ball of crumpled cambric, such as women insist upon +carrying in their street-car purses, a delicate, dainty, useless +thing. So she drew pictures, too, he thought. Was there anything this +beautiful creature could not do? Everything seemed to suggest her +presence. An indefinable feminine perfume still lingered on the air, +speaking eloquently of her. + +Curiosity impelled him to step forward and examine her work. He +approached with all the stealth of a gentlemanly burglar. He expected +to see some trees and hills and mayhap a brook, or some cows standing +in a stream, or some children picking daisies. He had a sister, and +was reasonably familiar with the kind of subjects chosen by the lady- +amateur. + +A fortification plan! + +He bent close to it. Here was the sea, here was the land, here the +number of soldiers, cannon, rounds of ammunition, resources in the +matter of procuring aid, the telegraph, the railways, everything was +here on this pale, waxen cloth, everything but a name. He stared at +it, bewildered. He couldn't understand what a plan of this sort was +doing outside the War Department. Instantly he became a soldier; he +forgot that he was masquerading as a groom; he forgot everything but +this mute thing staring up into his face. Underneath, on a little +shelf, he saw a stack of worn envelopes. He looked at them. Rough +drafts of plans. Governor's Island! Fortress Monroe! What did it +mean? What _could_ it mean? He searched and found plans, plans, +plans of harbors, plans of coast defenses, plans of ships building, +plans of full naval and military strength; everything, everything! He +straightened. How his breath pained him! ... And all this was the +handiwork of the woman he loved! Good God, what was going on in this +house? What right had such things as these to be in a private home? +For what purpose had they been drawn? so accurately reproduced? For +what purpose? + +Oh, whatever the purpose was, _she_ was innocent; upon this +conviction he would willingly stake his soul. Innocent, innocent! +ticked the clock over the mantel. Yes, she was innocent. Else, how +could she laugh in that light-hearted fashion? How could the song +tremble on her lips? How could her eyes shine so bright and merry?... +Karloff, Annesley! Karloff the Russian, Annesley the American; the +one a secret agent of his country, the other a former trusted +official! No, no! He could not entertain so base a thought against +the father of the girl he loved. Had he not admired his clean record, +his personal bravery, his fearless honesty? And yet, that absent- +mindedness, this care-worn countenance, these must mean something. +The purpose, to find out the purpose of these plans! + +[Illustration: "A Saint Bernard dog might have done as much."--ACT +III] + +He took the handkerchief and hid it in his breast, and quietly stole +away.... A handkerchief, a rose, and a kiss; yes, that was all that +would ever be his. + +Pirate nearly coughed his head off that night; but, it being +William's night off, nobody paid any particular attention to that +justly indignant animal. + + + + +XXI + +THE ROSE + + +On a Wednesday morning, clear and cold: not a cloud floated across +the sky, nor did there rise above the horizon one of those clouds +(portentous forerunners of evil!) to which novelists refer as being +"no larger than a man's hand". Heaven knew right well that the blight +of evil was approaching fast enough, but there was no visible +indication on her face that glorious November morning. Doubtless you +are familiar with history and have read all about what great +personages did just before calamity swooped down on them. The Trojans +laughed at the wooden horse; I don't know how many Roman banqueters +never reached the desert because the enemy had not paid any singular +regard to courtesies in making the attack; men and women danced on +the eve of Waterloo--"On with the dance, let joy be unconfined"; +_my_ heroine simply went shopping. It doesn't sound at all +romantic; very prosaic, in fact. + +She declared her intention of making a tour of the shops and of +dropping into Mrs. Chadwick's on the way home. She ordered James to +bring around the pair and the coupe. James was an example of docile +obedience. As she came down the steps, she was a thing of beauty and +a joy for ever. She wore one of those jackets to which several gray- +squirrel families had contributed their hides, a hat whose existence +was due to the negligence of a certain rare bird, and many silk-worms +had spun the fabric of her gown. Had any one called her attention to +all this, there isn't any doubt that she would have been shocked. +Only here and there are women who see what a true Moloch fashion is; +this tender-souled girl saw only a handsome habit which pleased the +eye. Health bloomed in her cheeks, health shone from her eyes, her +step had all the elasticity of youth. + +"Good morning, James," she said pleasantly. + +James touched his hat. What was it, he wondered. Somehow her eyes +looked unfamiliar to him. Had I been there I could have read the +secret easily enough. Sometimes the pure pools of the forests are +stirred and become impenetrable; but by and by the commotion +subsides, and the water clears. So it is with the human soul. There +had been doubt hitherto in this girl's eyes; now, the doubt was gone. + +To him, soberly watchful, her smile meant much; it was the patent of +her innocence of any wrong thought. All night he had tossed on his +cot, thinking, thinking! What should he do? What_ever_ should he +do? That some wrong was on the way he hadn't the least doubt. Should +he confront the colonel and demand an explanation, a demand he knew +he had a perfect right to make? If this should be evil, and the shame +of it fall on this lovely being?... No, no! He must stand aside, he +must turn a deaf ear to duty, the voice of love spoke too loud. His +own assurance of her innocence made him desire to fall at her feet +and worship. After all, it _was_ none of his affair. Had he not +played at this comedy, this thing would have gone on, and he would +have been in ignorance of its very existence. So, why should he +meddle? Yet that monotonous query kept beating on his brain: What +_was_ this thing? + +He saw that he must wait. Yesterday he had feared nothing save his +own exposure. Comedy had frolicked in her grinning mask. And here was +Tragedy stalking in upon the scene. + +The girl named a dozen shops which she desired to honor with her +custom and presence, and stepped into the coupe. William closed the +door, and James touched up the pair and drove off toward the city. He +was perfectly indifferent to any possible exposure. In truth, he +forgot everything, absolutely and positively everything, but the girl +and the fortification plans she had been drawing. + +Scarce a half a dozen bundles were the result of the tour among the +shops. + +"Mrs. Chadwick's, James." + +The call lasted half an hour. + +As a story-teller I am supposed to be everywhere, to follow the +footsteps of each and all of my characters, and with a fidelity and a +perspicacity nothing short of the marvelous. So I take the liberty of +imagining the pith of the conversation between the woman and the +girl. + +_The Woman:_ How long, dear, have we known each other? + +_The Girl:_ Since I left school, I believe. Where _did_ you +get that stunning morning gown? + +_The Woman_ (smiling in spite of the serious purpose she has in +view): Never mind the gown, my child; I have something of greater +importance to talk about. + +_The Girl: Is_ there anything more important to talk about among +women? + +_The Woman:_ Yes. There is age. + +_The Girl:_ But, mercy, we do not talk about that! + +_The Woman:_ I am going to establish a precedent, then. I am +forty, or at least, I am on the verge of it. + +_The Girl_ (warningly): Take care! If we should ever become +enemies! If I should ever become treacherous! + +_The Woman:_ The world very well knows that I am older than I +look. That is why it takes such interest in my age. + +_The Girl:_ The question is, how _do_ you preserve it? + +_The Woman:_ Well, then, I am forty, while you stand on the +threshold of the adorable golden twenties. (Walks over to picture +taken eighteen years before and contemplates it.) Ah, to be twenty +again; to start anew, possessing my present learning and wisdom, and +knowledge of the world; to avoid the pits into which I so carelessly +stumbled! But no! + +_The Girl_: Mercy! what have you to wish for? Are not princes +and ambassadors your friends; have you not health and wealth and +beauty? You wish for something, you who are so handsome and +brilliant! + +_The Woman_: Blinds, my dear Betty, only blinds; for that is all +beauty and wealth and wit are. Who sees behind sees scars of many +wounds. You are without a mother, I am without a child. (Sits down +beside the girl and takes her hand in hers.) Will you let me be a +mother to you for just this morning? How can any man help loving you! +(impulsively.) + +_The Girl_: How foolish you are, Grace! + +_The Woman_: Ah, to blush like that! + +_The Girl_: You are very embarrassing this morning. I believe +you are even sentimental. Well, my handsome mother for just this +morning, what is it you have to say to me? (jestingly.) + +_The Woman_: I do not know just how to begin. Listen. If ever +trouble should befall you, if ever misfortune should entangle you, +will you promise to come to me? + +_The Girl:_ Misfortune? What is on your mind, Grace? + +_The Woman:_ Promise! + +_The Girl:_ I promise. (Laughs.) + +_The Woman:_ I am rich. Promise that if poverty should ever come +to you, you will come to me. + +_The Girl_ (puzzled): I do not understand you at all! + +_The Woman:_ Promise! + +_The Girl:_ I promise; but-- + +_The Woman:_ Thank you, Betty. + +_The Girl_ (growing serious): What is all this about, Grace? You +look so earnest. + +_The Woman:_ Some day you will understand. Will you answer me +one question, as a daughter would answer her mother? + +_The Girl_ (gravely): Yes. + +_The Woman:_ Would you marry a title for the title's sake? + +_The Girl_ (indignantly): I? + +_The Woman:_ Yes; would you? + +_The Girl:_ I shall marry the man I love, and if not him, +nobody. I mean, of course, _when_ I love. + +_The Woman:_ Blushing again? My dear, is Karloff anything to +you? + +_The Girl:_ Karloff? Mercy, no. He is handsome and fascinating +and rich, but I could not love him. It would be easier to love--to +love my groom outside. + +(They both smile.) + +_The Woman_ (grave once more): That is all I wished to know, +dear. Karloff is not worthy of you. + +_The Girl_ (sitting very erect): I do not understand. Is he not +honorable? + +_The Woman_ (hesitating): I have known him for seven years; I +have always found him honorable. + +_The Girl:_ Why, then, should he not be worthy of me? + +_The Woman_ (lightly): Is any man? + +_The Girl:_ You are parrying my question. If I am to be your +daughter, there must be no fencing. + +_The Woman_ (rising and going over to the portrait again): There +are some things that a mother may not tell even to her daughter. + +_The Girl_ (determinedly): Grace, you have said too much or too +little. I do not love Karloff, I never could love him; but I like +him, and liking him, I feel called upon to defend him. + +_The Woman_ (surprised into showing her dismay): You defend him? +You! + +_The Girl:_ And why not? That is what I wish to know: why not? + +_The Woman:_ My dear, you do not love him. That is all I wished +to know. Karloff is a brilliant, handsome man, a gentleman; his sense +of honor, such as it is, would do credit to many another man; but +behind all this there is a power which makes him helpless, makes him +a puppet, and robs him of certain worthy impulses. I have read +somewhere that corporations have no souls; neither have governments. +Ask me nothing more, Betty, for I shall answer no more questions. + +_The Girl:_ I do not think you are treating me fairly. + +_The Woman:_ At this moment I would willingly share with you +half of all I possess in the world. + +_The Girl:_ But all this mystery! + +_The Woman:_ As I have said, some day you will understand. Treat +Karloff as you have always treated him, politely and pleasantly. And +I beg of you never to repeat our conversation. + +The Girl (to whom illumination suddenly comes; rises quickly and goes +over to the woman; takes her by the shoulders, and the two stare into +each other's eyes, the one searchingly, the other fearfully): Grace! + +The Woman: I am a poor foolish woman, Betty, for all my worldliness +and wisdom; but I love you (softly), and that is why I appear weak +before you. The blind envy those who see, the deaf those who hear; +what one does not want another can not have. Karloff loves you, but +you do not love him. + +(The girl kisses the woman gravely on the cheek, and without a word, +makes her departure.) + +The Woman (as she hears the carriage roll away): Poor girl! Poor, +happy, unconscious, motherless child! If only I had the power to stay +the blow! ... Who can it be, then, that she loves? + +The Girl (in her carriage): Poor thing! She adores Karloff, and I +never suspected it! I shall begin to hate him. + +How well women read each other! + +James had never parted with his rose and his handkerchief. They were +always with him, no matter what livery he wore. After luncheon, +William said that Miss Annesley desired to see him in the study. So +James spruced up and duly presented himself at the study door. + +"You sent for me, Miss?"--his hat in his hand, his attitude +deferential and attentive. + +She was engaged upon some fancy work, the name of which no man knows, +and if he were told, could not possibly remember for longer than ten +minutes. She laid this on the reading-table, stood up and brushed the +threads from the little two-by-four cambric apron. + +"James, on Monday night I dropped a rose on the lawn. (Finds thread +on her sleeve.) In the morning when I looked for it (brushes the +apron again), it was gone. Did you find it?" She made a little ball +of the straggling threads and dropped it into the waste-basket. A +woman who has the support of beauty can always force a man to lower +his gaze. James looked at his boots. His heart gave one great bound +toward his throat, then sank what seemed to be fathoms deep in his +breast. This was a thunderbolt out of heaven itself. Had she seen +him, then? For a space he was tempted to utter a falsehood; but there +was that in her eyes which warned him of the uselessness of such an +expedient. Yet, to give up that rose would be like giving up some +part of his being. She repeated the question: "I ask you if you found +it." + +"Yes, Miss Annesley." + +"Do you still possess it?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"And why did you pick it up?" + +"It was fresh and beautiful; and I believed that some lady at the +dinner had worn it." + +"And so you picked it up? Where did you find it?" + +"Outside the bow-window, Miss." + +"When?" + +He thought for a moment. "In the morning, Miss." + +"Take care, James; it was not yet eleven o'clock, at night." + +"I admit what I said was not true, Miss. As you say, it was not yet +eleven." James was pale. So she had thrown it away, confident that +this moment would arrive. This humiliation was premeditated. +Patience, he said inwardly; this would be the last opportunity she +should have to humiliate him. + +"Have you the flower on your person?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Did you know that it was mine?" + +He was silent. + +"Did you know that it was mine?"--mercilessly. + +"Yes; but I believed that you had deliberately thrown it away. I saw +no harm in taking it." + +"But there _was harm."_ + +"I bow to your superior judgment, Miss,"--ironically. + +She deemed it wisest to pass over this experimental irony. "Give the +flower back to me. It is not proper that a servant should have in his +keeping a rose which was once mine, even if I had thrown it away or +discarded it." + +Carefully he drew forth the crumpled flower. He looked at her, then +at the rose, hoping against hope that she might relent. He hesitated +till he saw an impatient movement of the extended hand. He +surrendered. + +"Thank you. That is all. You may go." + +She tossed the withered flower into the waste-basket. + +"Pardon me, but before I go I have to announce that I shall resign +my position next Monday. The money which has been advanced to me, +deducting that which is due me, together with the amount of my fine +at the police-court, I shall be pleased to return to you on the +morning of my departure." + +Miss Annesley's lips fell apart, and her brows arched. She was very +much surprised. + +"You wish to leave my service?"--as if it were quite impossible that +such a thing should occur to him. + +"Yes, Miss." + +"You are dissatisfied with your position?"--icily. + +"It is not that, Miss. As a groom I am perfectly satisfied. The +trouble lies in the fact that I have too many other things to do. It +is very distasteful for me to act in the capacity of butler. My +temper is not equable enough for that position." He bowed. + +"Very well. I trust that you will not regret your decision." She sat +down and coolly resumed her work. + +"It is not possible that I shall regret it." + +"You may go." + +He bowed again, one corner of his mouth twisted. Then he took himself +off to the stables. He was certainly in what they call a towering +rage. + +If I were not a seer of the first degree, a narrator of the +penetrative order, I should be vastly puzzled over this singular +action on her part. + + + + +XXII + +THE DRAMA UNROLLS + + +When a dramatist submits his _scenario_, he always accompanies +it with drawings, crude or otherwise, of the various set-scenes and +curtains known as drops. To the uninitiated these scrawls would look +impossible; but to the stage-manager's keen, imaginative eye a whole +picture is represented in these few pothooks. Each object on the +stage is labeled alphabetically; thus A may represent a sofa, B a +window, C a table, and so forth and so on. I am not a dramatist; I am +not writing an acting drama; so I find that a diagram of the library +in Senator Blank's house is neither imperative nor advisable. It +is half after eight; the curtain rises; the music of a violin is +heard coming from the music-room; Colonel Annesley is discovered +sitting in front of the wood fire, his chin sunk on his breast, his +hands hanging listlessly on each side of the chair, his face deeply +lined. From time to time he looks at the clock. I can imagine no +sorrier picture than that of this loving, tender-hearted, wretched +old man as he sits there, waiting for Karloff and the ignominious +end. Fortune gone with the winds, poverty leering into his face, +shame drawing her red finder across his brow, honor in sackcloth and +ashes! + +And but two short years ago there had not been in all the wide land a +more contented man than himself, a man with a conscience freer. God! +Even yet he could hear the rolling, whirring ivory ball as it spun +the circle that fatal night at Monte Carlo. Man does not recall the +intermediate steps of his fall, only the first step and the last. In +his waking hours the colonel always heard the sound of it, and it +rattled through his troubled dreams. He could not understand how +everything had gone as it had. It seemed impossible that in two years +he had dissipated a fortune, sullied his honor, beggared his child. +It was all so like a horrible dream. If only he might wake; if only +God would be so merciful as to permit him to wake! He hid his face. +There is no hell save conscience makes it. + +The music laughed and sighed and laughed. It was the music of love +and youth; joyous, rollicking, pulsing music. + +The colonel sprang to his feet suddenly, his hands at his throat. He +was suffocating. The veins gnarled on his neck and brow. There was +in his heart a pain as of many knives. His arms fell: of what use +was it to struggle? He was caught, trapped in a net of his own +contriving. + +Softly he crossed the room and stood by the portiere beyond which was +the music-room. She was happy, happy in her youth and ignorance; she +could play all those sprightly measures, her spirit as light and +conscience-free; she could sing, she could laugh, she could dance. +And all the while his heart was breaking, breaking! + +"How shall I face her mother?" he groaned. + +The longing which always seizes the guilty to confess and relieve the +mind came over him. If only he dared rush in there, throw himself at +her feet, and stammer forth his wretched tale! She was of his flesh, +of his blood; when she knew she would not wholly condemn him . . . +No, no! He could not. She honored and trusted him now; she had +placed him on so high a pedestal that it was utterly impossible for +him to disillusion her young mind, to see for ever and ever the mute +reproach in her honest eyes, to feel that though his arm encircled +her she was beyond his reach.... God knew that he could not tell this +child of the black gulf he had digged for himself and her. + +Sometimes there came to him the thought to put an end to this +maddening grief, by violence to period this miserable existence. But +always he cast from him the horrible thought. He was not a coward, +and the cowardice of suicide was abhorrent to him. Poverty he might +leave her, but not the legacy of a suicide. If only it might be God's +kindly will to let him die, once this abominable bargain was +consummated! Death is the seal of silence; it locks alike the lips of +the living and the dead. And she might live in ignorance, till the +end of her days, without knowing that her wealth was the price of her +father's dishonor. + +A mist blurred his sight; he could not see. He steadied himself, and +with an effort regained his chair noiselessly. And how often he had +smiled at the drama on the stage, with its absurdities, its +tawdriness, its impossibilities! Alas, what did they on the stage +that was half so weak as he had done: ruined himself without motive +or reason! + +The bell sang its buzzing note; there was the sound of crunching +wheels on the driveway; the music ceased abruptly. Silence. A door +opened and closed. A moment or so later Karloff, preceded by the +girl, came into the study. She was grave because she remembered Mrs. +Chadwick. He was grave also; he had various reasons for being so. + +"Father, the count tells me that he has an engagement with you," she +said. She wondered if this appointment in any way concerned her. + +"It is true, my child. Leave us, and give orders that we are not to +be disturbed." + +She scrutinized him sharply. How strangely hollow his voice sounded! +Was he ill? + +"Father, you are not well. Count, you must promise me not to keep him +long, however important this interview may be. He is ill and needs +rest,"--and her loving eyes caressed each line of care in her +parent's furrowed cheeks. + +Annesley smiled reassuringly. It took all the strength of his will, +all that remained of a high order of courage, to create this smile. +He wanted to cry out to her that it was a lie, a mockery. Behind that +smile his teeth grated. + +"I shall not keep him long, Mademoiselle," said the count. He spoke +gently, but he studiously avoided her eyes. + +She hesitated for a moment on the threshold; she knew not why. Her +lips even formed words, but she did not speak. What was it? Something +oppressed her. Her gaze wandered indecisively from her father to the +count, from the count to her father. + +"When you are through," she finally said, "bring your cigars into the +music-room." + +"With the greatest pleasure, Mademoiselle," replied the count. "And +play, if you so desire; our business is such that your music will be +as a pleasure added.'" + +Her father nodded; but he could not force another smile to his lips. +The brass rings of the portiere rattled, and she was gone. But she +left behind a peculiar tableau, a tableau such as is formed by those +who stand upon ice which is about to sink and engulf them. + +The two men stood perfectly still. I doubt not that each experienced +the same sensation, that the same thought occurred to each mind, +though it came from different avenues: love and shame. The heart of +the little clock on the mantel beat tick-tock, tick-tock; a log +crackled and fell between the irons, sending up a shower of +evanescent sparks; one of the long windows giving out upon the +veranda creaked mysteriously. + +Karloff was first to break the spell. He made a gesture which was +eloquent of his distaste of the situation. + +"Let us terminate this as quickly as possible," he said. + +"Yes, let us have done with it before I lose my courage," replied the +colonel, his voice thin and quavering. He wiped his forehead with his +handkerchief. His hand shone white and his nails darkly blue. + +The count stepped over to the table, reached into the inner pocket of +his coat, and extracted a packet. In this packet was the enormous sum +of one hundred and eighty thousand dollars in notes of one thousand +denomination; that is to say, one hundred and eighty slips of paper +redeemable in gold by the government which had issued them. On top of +this packet lay the colonel's note for twenty thousand dollars. + +(It is true that Karloff never accepted money from his government in +payment for his services; but it is equally true that for every penny +he laid out he was reimbursed by Russia.) + +Karloff placed the packet on the table, first taking off the note, +which he carelessly tossed beside the bank-notes. + +"You will observe that I have not bothered with having your note +discounted. I have fulfilled my part of the bargain; fulfil yours." +The count thrust his trembling hands into his trousers pockets. He +desired to hide this embarrassing sign from his accomplice. + +Annesley went to a small safe which stood at the left of the +fireplace and returned with a packet somewhat bulkier than the +count's. He dropped it beside the money, shudderingly, as though he +had touched a poisonous viper. + +"My honor," he said simply. "I had never expected to sell it so +cheap." + +There was a pause, during which neither man's gaze swerved from the +other's. There was not the slightest, not even the remotest, fear of +treachery; each man knew with whom he was dealing; yet there they +stood, as if fascinated. One would have thought that the colonel +would have counted his money, or Karloff his plans; they did neither. +Perhaps the colonel wanted Karloff to touch the plans first, before +he touched the money; perhaps Karloff had the same desire, only the +other way around. + +[Illustration: "I am simply Miss Annesly's servant."--ACT III.] + +The colonel spoke. + +"I believe that is all" he said quietly. The knowledge that the deed +was done and that there was no retreat gave back to him a particle of +his former coolness and strength of mind. It had been the thought of +committing the crime that had unnerved him. Now that his bridges +were burned, a strange, unnatural calm settled on him. + +The count evidently was not done. He moistened his lips. There was +a dryness in his throat. + +"It is not too late" he said; "I have not yet touched them." + +"We shall not indulge in moralizing, if you please," interrupted the +colonel, with savage irony. "The moment for that has gone by." + +"Very well." Karloff's shoulders settled; his jaws became +aggressively angular; some spirit of his predatory forebears touched +his face here and there, hardening it. "I wish to speak in regard to +your daughter." + +"Enough! Take my honor and be gone!" The colonel's voice was loud and +rasping. + +Karloff rested his hands on the table and inclined his body toward +the colonel. + +"Listen to me," he began. "There is in every man the making and the +capacity of a great rascal. Time and opportunity alone are needed-- +and a motive. The other night I told you that I could not give up +your daughter. Well, I have not given her up. She must be my wife." + +"Must?" The colonel clenched his hands. + +"Must. To-night I am going to prove myself a great rascal--with a +great motive. What is Russia to me? Nothing. What is your dishonor or +my own? Less than nothing. There is only one thing, and that is my +love for your daughter." He struck the table and the flame of the +student-lamp rose violently. "She must be mine, mine! I have tried to +win her as an honorable man tries to win the woman he loves; now she +must be won by an act of rascality. Heaven nor hell shall force me to +give her up. Yes, I love her; and I lower myself to your level to +gain her." + +"To my level! Take care; I am still a man, with a man's strength," +cried the colonel. + +Karloff swept his hand across his forehead. "I have lied to myself +long enough, and to you. I can see now that I have been working +solely toward one end. My country is not to be considered, neither is +yours. Do you realize that you stand wholly and completely in my +power?" He ran his tongue across his lips, which burned with fever. + +"What do you mean?"--hoarsely. + +"I mean, your daughter must become my wife, or I shall notify your +government that you have attempted to betray it." + +"You dishonorable wretch!" The colonel balled his fists and protruded +his nether lip. Only the table stood between them. + +"That term or another, it does not matter. The fact remains that you +have sold to me the fortification plans of your country; and though +it be in times of peace, you are none the less guilty and culpable. +Your daughter shall be my wife." + +"I had rather strangle her with these hands!"--passionately. + +"Well, why should I not have her for my wife? Who loves her more than +I? I am rich; from hour to hour, from day to day, what shall I not +plan to make her happy? I love her with all the fire and violence of +my race and blood. I can not help it. I will not, can not, live +without her! Good God, yes! I recognize the villainy of my actions. +But I am mad to-night." + +"So I perceive." The colonel gazed wildly about the walls for a +weapon. There was not even the usual ornamental dagger. + +A window again stirred mysteriously. A few drops of rain plashed on +the glass and zigzagged down to the sash. + +"Sooner or later your daughter must know. Request her presence. It +rests with her, not with you, as to what course I must follow." +Karloff was extraordinarily pale, and his dark eyes, reflecting the +dancing flames, sparkled like rubies. + +He saw the birth of horror in the elder's eyes, saw it grow and grow. +He saw the colonel's lips move spasmodically, but utter no sound. +What was it he saw over his (the count's) shoulders and beyond? +Instinctively he turned, and what he saw chilled the heat of his +blood. + +There stood the girl, her white dress marble-white against the dark +wine of the portiere, an edge of which one hand clutched +convulsively. Was it Medusa's beauty or her magic that turned men +into stone? My recollection is at fault. At any rate, so long as she +remained motionless, neither man had the power to stir. She held +herself perfectly erect; every fiber in her young body was tense. Her +beauty became weirdly powerful, masked as it was with horror, doubt, +shame, and reproach. She had heard; little or much was of no +consequence. In the heat of their variant passions, the men's voices +had risen to a pitch that penetrated beyond the room. + +Karloff was first to recover, and he took an involuntary step toward +her; but she waved him back disdainfully. + +"Do not come near me. I loathe you!" The voice was low, but every +note was strained and unmusical. + +He winced. His face could not have stung or burned more hotly had she +struck him with her hand. + +"Mademoiselle!" + +She ignored him. "Father, what does this mean?" + +"Agony!" The colonel fell back into his chair, pressing his hands +over his eyes. + +"I will tell you what it means!" cried Karloff, a rage possessing +him. He had made a mistake. He had misjudged both the father and the +child. He could force her into his arms, but he would always carry a +burden of hate. "It means that this night you stand in the presence +of a dishonored parent, a man who has squandered your inheritance +over gambling tables, and who, to recover these misused sums, has +sold to me the principal fortification plans of his country. That is +what is means, Mademoiselle." + +She grasped the portiere for support. + +"Father, is this thing true?" Her voice fell to a terror-stricken +whisper. + +"Oh, it is true enough," said Karloff. "God knows that it is true +enough. But it rests with you to save him. Become my wife, and +yonder fire shall swallow his dishonor--and mine. Refuse, and I +shall expose him. After all, love is a primitive state, and with it +we go back to the beginning; before it honor or dishonor is nothing. +To-night there is nothing, nothing in the world save my love for you, +and the chance that has given me the power to force you to be mine. +What a fury and a tempest love produces! It makes an honorable man +of the knave, a rascal of the man of honor; it has toppled thrones, +destroyed nations, obliterated races. ... Well, I have become a +rascal. Mademoiselle, you must become my wife." He lifted his +handsome head resolutely. + +Without giving him so much as a glance, she swept past him and sank +on her knees at her father's side, taking his hands by the wrists and +pressing them down from his face. + +"Father, tell him he lies! Tell him he lies!" Ah, the entreaty, the +love, the anxiety, the terror that blended her tones! + +He strove to look away. + +"Father, you are all I have," she cried brokenly. "Look at me! Look +at me and tell him that he lies!... You will not look at me? God have +mercy on me, it is true, then!" She rose and spread her arms toward +heaven to entreat God to witness her despair. "I did not think or +know that such base things were done... That these loving hands +should have helped to encompass my father's dishonor, his +degradation! ... For money! What is money? You knew, father, that +what was mine was likewise yours. Why did you not tell me? I should +have laughed; we should have begun all over again; I could have +earned a living with my music; we should have been honest and happy. +And now!... And I drew those plans with a heart full of love and +happiness! Oh, it is not that you gambled, that you have foolishly +wasted a fortune; it is not these that hurt here,"--pressing her +heart. "It is the knowledge that you, my father, should let _me_ +draw those horrible things. It hurts! Ah, how it hurts!" A sob choked +her. She knelt again at her parent's side and flung her arms around +the unhappy, wretched man. "Father, you have committed a crime to +shield a foolish act. I know, I know! What you have done you did for +my sake, to give me back what you thought was my own. Oh, how well I +know that you had no thought of yourself; it was all for me, and I +thank God for that. But something has died here, something here in my +heart. I have been so happy! ... too happy! My poor father!" She laid +her head against his breast. + +"My heart is broken! Would to God that I might die!" Annesley threw +one arm across the back of the chair and turned his face to his +sleeve. + +Karloff, a thousand arrows of regret and shame and pity quivering in +his heart, viewed the scene moodily, doggedly. No, he could not go +back; there was indeed a wall behind him: pride. + +"Well, Mademoiselle?" + +She turned, still on her knees. + +"You say that if I do not marry you, you will ruin my father, expose +him?" + +"Yes,"--thinly. + +"Listen. I am a proud woman, yet will I beg you not to do this +horrible thing--force me into your arms. Take everything, take all +that is left; you can not be so utterly base as to threaten such a +wrong. See!"--extending her lovely arms, "I am on my knees to you!" + +"My daughter!" cried the father. + +"Do not interrupt me, father; he will relent; he is not wholly +without pity." + +"No, no! No, no!" Karloff exclaimed, turning his head aside and +repelling with his hands, as if he would stamp out the fires of pity +which, at the sound of her voice, had burst anew in his heart. "I +_will_ not give you up!" + +She drew her sleeve across her eyes and stood up. All at once she +wheeled upon him like a lioness protecting its young. In her wrath +she was as magnificent as the wife of--Aeneas at the funeral pyre of +that great captain. + +"She knew! That was why she asked me all those questions; that is why +she exacted those promises! Mrs. Chadwick knew and dared not tell me! +And I trusted you as a friend, as a gentleman, as a man of honor!" +Her laughter rang out wildly. "And for these favors you bring +dishonor! Shame! Shame! Your wife? Have you thought well of what you +are about to do?" + +"So well," he declared, "that I shall proceed to the end, to the very +end." How beautiful she was! And a mad desire urged him to spring to +her, crush her in his arms, and force upon her lips a thousand mad +kisses! + +"Have you weighed well the consequences?" + +"Upon love's most delicate scales." + +"Have you calculated what manner of woman I am?"--with subdued +fierceness. + +"To me you are the woman of all women." + +"Do you think that I am a faint-hearted girl? You are making a +mistake. I am a woman with a woman's mind, and a thousand years would +not alter my utter contempt of you. Force me to marry you, and as +there is a God above us to witness, every moment of suffering you now +inflict upon me and mine, I shall give back a day, a long, bitter, +galling day. Do you think that it will be wise to call me countess?" +Her scorn was superb. + +"I am waiting for your answer. Will you be my wife, or shall I be +forced to make my villainy definitive?" + +"Permit me to take upon these shoulders the burden of answering that +question," said a voice from the window. + +Warburton, dressed in his stable clothes and leggings, hatless and +drenched with rain, stepped into the room from the veranda and +quickly crossed the intervening space. Before any one of the tragic +group could recover from the surprise caused by his unexpected +appearance, he had picked up the packet of plans and had dropped it +into the fire. Then he leaned with his back against the mantel and +faced them, or rather Karloff, of whom he was not quite sure. + + + + +XXIII + +SOMETHING ABOUT HEROES + + +Tick-lock, tick-tock went the voice of the little friend of eternity +on the mantel-piece; the waxen sheets (to which so much care and +labor had been given) writhed and unfolded, curled and crackled, and +blackened on the logs; the cold wind and rain blew in through the +opened window; the lamp flared and flickered inside its green shade; +a legion of heroes peered out from the book-cases, no doubt much +astonished at the sight of this ordinary hero of mine and his mean, +ordinary clothes. I have in my mind's eye the picture of good +D'Artagnan's frank contempt, Athos' magnificent disdain, the +righteous (I had almost said honest!) horror of the ultra-fashionable +Aramis, and the supercilious indignation of the bourgeois Porthos. +What! this a hero? Where, then, was his rapier, his glittering +baldric, his laces, his dancing plumes, his fine air? + +Several times in the course of this narrative I have expressed my +regret in not being an active witness of this or that scene, a regret +which, as I am drawing most of these pictures from hearsay, is +perfectly natural. What must have been the varying expressions on +each face! Warburton, who, though there was tumult in his breast, +coolly waited for Karloff to make the next move; Annesley, who saw +his terrible secret in the possession of a man whom he supposed to be +a stable-man; Karloff, who saw his house of cards vanish in the +dartling tongues of flame, and recognized the futility of his +villainy; the girl... Ah, who shall describe the dozen shadowy +emotions which crossed and recrossed her face? + +From Warburton's dramatic entrance upon the scene to Karloff's first +movement, scarce a minute had passed, though to the girl and her +father an eternity seemed to come and go. Karloff was a brave man. +Upon the instant of his recovery, he sprang toward Warburton, +silently and with predetermination: he must regain some fragment of +those plans. He would not, could not, suffer total defeat before this +girl's eyes; his blood rebelled against the thought. He expected the +groom to strike him, but James simply caught him by the arms and +thrust him back. + +"No, Count; no, no; they shall burn to the veriest crisp!" + +"Stand aside, lackey!" cried Karloff, a sob of rage strangling him. +Again he rushed upon Warburton, his clenched hand uplifted. Warburton +did not even raise his hands this time. So they stood, their faces +within a hand's span of each other, the one smiling coldly, the other +in the attitude of striking a blow. Karloff's hand fell unexpectedly, +but not on the man in front of him. "Good God, no! a gentleman does +not strike a lackey! Stand aside, stand aside!" + +"They shall burn, Count,"--quietly; "they shall burn, because I am +physically the stronger." Warburton turned quickly and with the toe +of his boot shifted the glowing packet and renewed the flames. "I +never realized till to-night that I loved my country half so well. +Lackey? Yes, for the present." + +He had not yet looked at the girl. + +"Ah!" Karloff cried, intelligence lighting his face. "You are no +lackey!"--subduing his voice. + +James smiled. "You are quite remarkable." + +"Who are you? I demand to know!" + +"First and foremost, I am a citizen of the United States; I have been +a soldier besides. It was my common right to destroy these plans, +which indirectly menaced my country's safety. These,"--pointing to +the bank-notes, "are yours, I believe. Nothing further requires your +presence here." + +"Yes, yes; I remember now! Fool that I have been!" Karloff struck his +forehead in helpless rage. "I never observed you closely till now. I +recall. The secret service: Europe, New York, Washington; you have +known it all along. Spy!" + +"That is an epithet which easily rebounds. Spy? Why, yes; I do for my +country what you do for yours." + +"The name, the name! I can not recollect the name! The beard is gone, +but that does not matter,"--excitedly. + +Warburton breathed easier. While he did not want the girl to know who +he was just then, he was glad that Karloffs memory had taken his +thought away from the grate and its valuable but rapidly disappearing +fuel. + +"Father! Father, what is it?" cried the girl, her voice keyed to +agony. "Father!" + +The two men turned about. Annesley had fainted in his chair. Both +Warburton and Karloff mechanically started forward to offer aid, but +she repelled their approach. + +"Do not come near me; you have done enough. Father, dear!" She +slapped the colonel's wrists and unloosed his collar. + +The antagonists, forgetting their own battle, stood silently watching +hers. Warburton's mind was first to clear, and without a moment's +hesitation he darted from the room and immediately returned with a +glass of water. He held it out to the girl. Their glances clashed; a +thousand mute, angry questions in her eyes, a thousand mute, humble +answers in his. She accepted the glass, and her hand trembled as she +dipped her fingers into the cool depths and flecked the drops into +the unconscious man's face. + +Meanwhile Karloff stood with folded arms, staring melancholically +into the grate, where his dreams had disappeared in smoke. By and by +the colonel sighed and opened his eyes. For a time he did not know +where he was, and his gaze wandered mistily from face to face. Then +recollection came back to him, recollection bristling with thorns. He +struggled to his feet and faced Warburton. The girl put her arms +around him to steady him, but he gently disengaged himself. + +"Are you from the secret service, sir? If so, I am ready to accompany +you wherever you say. I, who have left my blood on many a +battleground, was about to commit a treasonable act. Allow me first +to straighten up my affairs, then you may do with me as you please. I +am guilty of a crime; I have the courage to pay the penalty." His +calm was extraordinary, and even Karloff looked at him with a sparkle +of admiration. + +As a plummet plunges into the sea, so the girl's look plunged into +Warburton's soul; and had he been an officer of the law, he knew that +he would have utterly disregarded his duty. + +"I am not a secret service man, sir," he replied unevenly. "If I +were,"--pointing to the grate, "your plans would not have fed the +fire." + +"Who are you, then, and what do you in my house in this guise?"-- +proudly. + +"I am your head stable-man--for the present. It was all by chance. I +came into this room yesterday to get a book on veterinary surgery. I +accidentally saw a plan. I have been a soldier. I knew that such a +thing had no rightful place in this house.... I was coming across the +lawn, when I looked into the window. ... It is not for me to judge +you, sir. My duty lay in destroying those plans before they harmed +any one." + +"No, it is not for you to judge me," said the colonel. "I have +gambled away my daughter's fortune. To keep her in ignorance of the +fact and to return to her the amount I had wrongfully used, I +consented to sell to Russia the coast fortification plans of my +country, such as I could draw from memory. No, it is not for you to +judge me; only God has the right to do that." + +"I am only a groom," said Warburton, simply. "What I have heard I +shall forget." + +Ah, had he but looked at the girl's face then! + +A change came over Karloff's countenance; his shoulders drooped; the +melancholy fire died out of his face and eyes. With an air of +resignation and a clear sense of the proportion of things, he reached +out and took up the note upon which Annesley had scrawled his +signature. + +Warburton, always alert, seized the count's wrist. He saw the name of +a bank and the sum of five figures. + +"What is this?" he demanded. + +"It is mine," replied the count, haughtily. + +Warburton released him. + +"He speaks truly," said the colonel. "It is his." + +"The hour of madness is past," the Russian began, slowly and +musically. The tone was musing. He seemed oblivious of his +surroundings and that three pairs of curious eyes were leveled in his +direction. He studied the note, creased it, drew it through his +fingers, smoothed it and caressed it. "And I should have done exactly +as I threatened. There is, then, a Providence which watches jealously +over the innocent? And I was a skeptic!... Two hundred thousand +dollars,"--picking up the packet of banknotes and balancing it on his +hand. "Well, it is a sum large enough to tempt any man. How the plans +and schemes of men crumble to the touch! Ambition is but the pursuit +of mirages.... Mademoiselle, you will never know what the ignominy of +this moment has cost me--nor how well I love you. I come of a race of +men who pursue their heart's desire through fire and water. Obstacles +are nothing; the end is everything. In Europe I should have won, in +honor or in dishonor. But this American people, I do not quite +understand them; and that is why I have played the villain to no +purpose." + +He paused, and a sad, bitter smile played over his face. + +"Mademoiselle," he continued, "henceforth, wherever I may go, your +face and the sound of your voice shall abide with me. I do not ask +you to forget, but I ask you to forgive." Again he paused. + +She uttered no sound. + +"Well, one does not forget nor forgive these things in so short a +time. And, after all, it was your own father's folly. Fate threw him +across my path at a critical moment--but I had reckoned without you. +Your father is a brave man, for he had the courage to offer himself +to the law; I have the courage to give you up. I, too, am a soldier; +I recognize the value of retreat." To Warburton he said: "A groom, a +hostler, to upset such plans as these! I do not know who you are, +sir, nor how to account for your timely and peculiar appearance. But +I fully recognize the falseness of your presence here. Eh, well, this +is what comes of race prejudice, the senseless battle which has +always been and always will be waged between the noble and the +peasant. Had I observed you at the proper time, our positions might +relatively have been changed. Useless retrospection!" To Annesley: +"Sir, we are equally culpable. Here is this note of yours. I might, +as a small contribution toward righting the comparative wrong which I +have done you, I might cast it into the fire. But between gentlemen, +situated as we are, the act would be as useless as it would be +impossible. I might destroy the note, but you would refuse to accept +such generosity at my hands,--which is well." + +"What you say is perfectly true." The colonel drew his daughter +closer to him. + +"So," went on the count, putting the note in his pocket, "to-morrow I +shall have my ducats." + +"My bank will discount the note," said the colonel, with a proud +look; "my indebtedness shall be paid in full." + +"As I have not the slightest doubt. Mademoiselle, fortune ignores you +but temporarily; misfortune has brushed only the hem of your garment, +as it were. Do not let the fear of poverty alarm you,"--lightly. "I +prophesy a great public future for you. And when you play that +_Largo_ of Handel's, to a breathless audience, who knows that I +may not be hidden behind the curtain of some stall, drinking in the +heavenly sound made by that loving bow?.... Romance enters every +human being's life; like love and hate, it is primitive. But to every +book fate writes _finis_." + +He thrust the bank-notes carelessly into his coat pocket, and walked +slowly toward the hallway. At the threshold he stopped and looked +back. The girl could not resist the magnetism of his dark eyes. She +was momentarily fascinated, and her heart beat painfully. + +"If only I might go with the memory of your forgiveness," he said. + +"I forgive you." + +"Thank you." Then Karloff resolutely proceeded; the portiere fell +behind him. Shortly after she heard the sound of closing doors, the +rattle of a carriage, and then all became still. Thus the handsome +barbarian passed from the scene. + +The colonel resumed his chair, his arm propped on a knee and his head +bowed in his hand. Quickly the girl fell to her knees, hid her face +on his breast, and regardless of the groom's presence, silently wept. + +"My poor child!" faltered the colonel. "God could not have intended +to give you so wretched a father. Poverty and dishonor, poverty and +dishonor; I who love you so well have brought you these!" + +Warburton, biting his trembling lips, tiptoed cautiously to the +window, opened it and stepped outside. He raised his fevered face +gratefully to the icy rain. A great and noble plan had come to him. + +As Mrs. Chadwick said, love is magnificent only when it gives all +without question. + + + + +XXIV + +A FINE LOVER + + +Karloff remained in seclusion till the following Tuesday; after that +day he was seen no more in Washington. From time to time some news +of him filters through the diplomatic circles of half a dozen +capitals to Washington. The latest I heard of him, he was at Port +Arthur. It was evident that Russia valued his personal address too +highly to exile him because of his failure in Washington. Had he +threatened or gone about noisily, we should all have forgotten him +completely. As it is, the memory of him to-day is as vivid as his +actual presence. Thus, I give him what dramatists call an agreeable +exit. + +I was in the Baltimore and Potomac station the morning after that +unforgetable night at Senator Blank's house. I had gone there to see +about the departure of night trains, preparatory to making a flying +trip to New York, and was leaving the station when a gloved hand +touched me on the arm. The hand belonged to Mrs. Chadwick. She was +dressed in the conventional traveling gray, and but for the dark +lines under her eyes she would have made a picture for any man to +admire. She looked tired, very tired, as women look who have not +slept well. + +"Good morning, Mr. Orator," she said, saluting me with a smile. + +"You are going away?" I asked, shaking her hand cordially. + +"'Way, 'way, away! I am leaving for Nice, where I expect to spend the +winter. I had intended to remain in Washington till the holidays; but +I plead guilty to a roving disposition, and I frequently change my +mind." + +"Woman's most charming prerogative," said I, gallantly. + +What a mask the human countenance is! How little I dreamed that I was +jesting with a woman whose heart was breaking, and numbed with a +terrible pain! + +Her maid came up to announce that everything was ready for her +reception in the state-room, and that the train was about to draw out +of the station. Mrs. Chadwick and I bade each other good-by. Two +years passed before I saw her again. + +At eleven o'clock I returned to my rooms to pack a case and have the +thing off my mind. Tramping restlessly up and down before my bachelor +apartment house I discerned M'sieu Zhames. His face was pale and +troubled, but the angle of his jaw told me that he had determined +upon something or other. + +"Ha!" I said railingly. He wore a decently respectable suit of ready- +made clothes. "Lost your job and want me to give you a recommendation?" + +"I want a few words with you, Chuck, and no fooling. Don't say that +you can't spare the time. You've simply _got_ to." + +"With whom am I to talk, James, the groom, or Warburton, the +gentleman?" + +"You are to talk with the man whose sister you are to marry." + +I became curious, naturally. "No police affair?" + +"No, it's not the police. I can very well go to a lawyer, but I +desire absolute secrecy. Let us go up to your rooms at once." + +I led the way. I was beginning to desire to know what all this meant. + +"Has anybody recognized you?" I asked, unlocking the door to my +apartment. + +"No; and I shouldn't care a hang if they had." + +"Oho!" + +Warburton flung himself into a chair and lighted a cigar. He puffed +it rapidly, while I got together my shaving and toilet sets. + +"Start her up," said I. + +"Chuck, when my father died he left nearly a quarter of a million in +five per cents; that is to say, Jack, Nancy and I were given a yearly +income of about forty-five hundred. Nancy's portion and mine are +still in bonds which do not mature till 1900. Jack has made several +bad investments, and about half of his is gone; but his wife has +plenty, so his losses do not trouble him. Now, I have been rather +frugal during the past seven years. I have lived entirely upon my +Army pay. I must have something like twenty-five thousand lying in +the bank in New York. On Monday, between three and four o'clock, +Colonel Annesley will become practically a beggar, a pauper." + +"What?" My shaving-mug slipped from my hand and crashed to the floor, +where it lay in a hundred pieces. + +"Yes. He and his daughter will not have a roof of their own: all +gone, every stick and stone. Don't ask me any questions; only do as I +ask of you." He took out his check-book and filled out two blanks. +These he handed to me. "The large one I want you to place in the +Union bank, to the credit of Colonel Annesley." + +I looked at the check. "Twenty thousand dollars?" I gasped. + +"The Union bank has this day discounted the colonel's note. It falls +due on Monday. In order to meet it, he will have to sell what is left +of the Virginian estate and his fine horses. The interest will be +inconsiderable." + +"What--" I began, but he interrupted me. + +"I shall not answer a single question. The check for three thousand +is for the purchase of the horses, which will be put on sale Saturday +morning. They are easily worth this amount. Through whatever agency +you please, buy these horses for me, but not in my name. As for the +note, cash my check first and present the currency for the note. No +one will know anything about it then. You can not trace money." + +"Good Lord, Bob, you are crazy! You are giving away a fortune," I +remonstrated. + +"It is my own, and my capital remains untouched." + +"Have you told her that you love her? Does she know who you are?" I +was very much excited. + +"No,"--sadly, "I haven't told her that I love her. She does not know +who I am. What is more, I never want her to know. I have thrown my +arms roughly around her, thinking her to be Nancy, and have kissed +her. Some reparation is due her. On Monday I shall pack up quietly +and return to the West" + +"Annesley beggared? What in heaven's name does this all mean?" I was +confounded. + +"Some day, Chuck, when you have entered the family properly as my +sister's husband, perhaps I may confide in you. At present the secret +isn't mine. Let it suffice that through peculiar circumstances, the +father of the girl I love is ruined. I am not doing this for any +theatrical play, gratitude and all that rot,"--with half a smile, "I +admire and respect Colonel Annesley; I love his daughter, hopelessly +enough. I have never been of much use to any one. Other persons' +troubles never worried me to any extent; I was happy-go-lucky, +careless and thoughtless. True, I never passed a beggar without +dropping a coin into his cup. But often this act was the result of a +good dinner and a special vintage. The twenty thousand will keep the +colonel's home, the house his child was born in and her mother before +her. I am doing this crazy thing, as you call it, because it is +going to make me rather happy. I shall disappear Monday. They may +or they may not suspect who has come to their aid. They may even +trace the thing to you; but you will be honor-bound to reveal +nothing. When you have taken up the note, mail it to Annesley. You +will find Count Karloff's name on it." + +"Karloff?" I was in utter darkness. + +"Yes. Annesley borrowed twenty thousand of him on a three months' +note. Both men are well known at the Union bank, Karloff having a +temporary large deposit there, and Annesley always having done his +banking at the same place. Karloff, for reasons which I can not tell +you, did not turn in the note till this morning. You will take it up +this afternoon." + +"Annesley, whom I believed to be a millionaire, penniless; Karloff +one of his creditors? Bob, I do not think that you are treating me +fairly. I can't go into this thing blind." + +"If you will not do it under these conditions, I shall have to find +some one who will,"--resolutely. + +I looked at the checks and then at him.... Twenty-three thousand +dollars! It was more than I ever before held in my hand at one time. +And he was giving it away as carelessly as I should have given away a +dime. Then the bigness of the act, the absolute disinterestedness of +it, came to me suddenly. + +"Bob, you are the finest lover in all the world! And if Miss Annesley +ever knows who you are, she isn't a woman if she does not fall +immediately in love with you." I slapped him on the shoulder. I was +something of a lover myself, and I could understand. + +"She will never know. I don't want her to know. That is why I am +going away. I want to do a good deed, and be left in the dark to +enjoy it. That is all. After doing this, I could never look her in +the eyes as Robert Warburton. I shall dine with the folks on Sunday. +I shall confess all only to Nancy, who has always been the only +confidante I have ever had among the women." + +There was a pause. I could bring no words to my lips. Finally I +stammered out: "Nancy knows. I told her everything last night. I +broke my word with you, Bob, but I could not help it She was crying +again over what she thinks to be your heartlessness. I _had_ to +tell her." + +"What did she say?"--rising abruptly. + +"She laughed, and I do not know when I have seen her look so happy. +There'll be a double wedding yet, my boy." I was full of enthusiasm. + +"I wish I could believe you, Chuck; I wish I could. I'm rather glad +you told Nan. I love her, and I don't want her to worry about me." He +gripped my hand. "You will do just as I ask?" + +"To the very letter. Will you have a little Scotch to perk you up a +bit? You look rather seedy." + +"No,"--smiling dryly. "If she smelt liquor on my breath I should lose +my position. Good-by, then, till Sunday." + +I did not go to New York that night. I forgot all about going. +Instead, I went to Nancy, to whom I still go whenever I am in trouble +or in doubt. + + + + +XXV + +A FINE HEROINE, TOO + + +Friday morning. + +Miss Annesley possessed more than the ordinary amount of force and +power of will. Though the knowledge of it was not patent to her, she +was a philosopher. She always submitted gracefully to the inevitable. +She was religious, too, feeling assured that God would provide. She +did not go about the house, moaning and weeping; she simply studied +all sides of the calamity, and looked around to see what could be +saved. There were moments when she was even cheerful. There were no +new lines in her face; her eyes were bright and eager. All persons of +genuine talent look the world confidently in the face; they know +exactly what they can accomplish. As Karloff had advised her, she did +not trouble herself about the future. Her violin would support her +and her father, perhaps in comfortable circumstances. The knowledge +of this gave her a silent happiness, that kind which leaves upon the +face a serene and beautiful calm. + +At this moment she stood on the veranda, her hand shading her eyes. +She was studying the sky. The afternoon would be clear; the last ride +should be a memorable one. The last ride! Tears blurred her eyes and +there was a smothering sensation in her throat. The last ride! After +to-day Jane would have a new, strange mistress. If only she might go +to this possible mistress and tell her how much she loved the animal, +to obtain from her the promise that she would be kind to it always. +How mysteriously the human heart spreads its tendrils around the +objects of its love! What is there in the loving of a dog or a horse +that, losing one or the other, an emptiness is created? Perhaps it is +because the heart goes out wholly without distrust to the faithful, +to the undeceiving, to the dumb but loving beast, which, for all its +strength, is so helpless. + +She dropped her hand and spoke to James, who was waiting near by for +her orders. + +"James, you will have Pierre fill a saddle-hamper; two plates, two +knives and forks, and so forth. We shall ride in the north country +this afternoon. It will be your last ride. To-morrow the horses will +be sold." How bravely she said it! + +"Yes, Miss Annesley." Whom were they going to meet in the north +country? "At what hour shall I bring the horses around?" + +"At three." + +She entered the house and directed her steps to the study. She found +her father arranging the morning's mail. She drew up a chair beside +him, and ran through her own letters. An invitation to lunch with +Mrs. Secretary-of-State; she tossed it into the waste-basket. A +dinner-dance at the Country Club, a ball at the Brazilian legation, a +tea at the German embassy, a box party at some coming play, an +informal dinner at the executive mansion; one by one they fluttered +into the basket. A bill for winter furs, a bill from the dressmaker, +one from the milliner, one from the glover, and one from the florist; +these she laid aside, reckoning their sum-total, and frowning. How +could she have been so extravagant? She chanced to look at her +father. He was staring rather stupidly at a slip of paper which he +held in his trembling fingers. + +"What is it?" she asked, vaguely troubled. + +"I do not understand," he said, extending the paper for her +inspection. + +Neither did she at first. + +"Karloff has not done this," went on her father, "for it shows that +he has had it discounted at the bank. It is canceled; it is paid. I +did not have twenty thousand in the bank; I did not have even a +quarter of that amount to my credit. There has been some mistake. +Our real estate agent expects to realize on the home not earlier than +Monday morning. In case it was not sold then, he was to take up the +note personally. This is not his work, or I should have been +notified." Then, with a burst of grief: "Betty, my poor Betty! How +can you forgive me? How can I forgive myself?" + +"Father, I am brave. Let us forget. It will be better so." + +She kissed his hand and drew it lovingly across her cheek. Then she +rose and moved toward the light. She studied the note carefully. +There was nothing on it save Karloff's writing and her father's and +the red imprint of the bank's cancelation. Out of the window and +beyond she saw James leading the horses to the watering trough. Her +face suddenly grew crimson with shame, and as suddenly as it came the +color faded. She folded the note and absently tucked it into the +bosom of her dress. Then, as if struck by some strange thought, her +figure grew tense and rigid against the blue background of the sky. +The glow which stole over her features this time had no shame in it, +and her eyes shone like the waters of sunlit seas. It must never be; +no it must never be. + +"We shall make inquiries at the bank," she said. "And do not be +downcast, father, the worst is over. What mistakes you have made are +forgotten The future looks bright to me." + +"Through innocent young eyes the future is ever bright; but as we age +we find most of the sunshine on either side, and we stand in the +shadow between. Brave heart, I glory in your courage. God will +provide for you; He will not let my shadow fall on you. Yours shall +be the joy of living, mine shall be the pain. God bless you! I wonder +how I shall ever meet your mother's accusing eyes?" + +"Father, you _must_ not dwell upon this any longer; for my sake +you must not. When everything is paid there will be a little left, +enough till I and my violin find something to do. After all, the +world's applause must be a fine thing. I can even now see the +criticisms in the great newspapers. 'A former young society woman, +well-known in the fashionable circles of Washington, made her +_debut_ as a concert player last night. She is a stunning young +person.' `A young queen of the diplomatic circles, here and abroad, +appeared in public as a violinist last night. She is a member of the +most exclusive sets, and society was out to do her homage.' `One of +Washington's brilliant young horsewomen,' and so forth. Away down at +the bottom of the column, somewhere, they will add that I play the +violin rather well for an amateur." In all her trial, this was the +one bitter expression, and she was sorry for it the moment it escaped +her. Happily her father was not listening. He was wholly absorbed +in the mystery of the canceled note. + +She had mounted Jane and was gathering up the reins, while James +strapped on the saddle-hamper. This done, he climbed into the saddle +and signified by touching his cap that all was ready. So they rode +forth in the sweet freshness of that November afternoon. A steady +wind was blowing, the compact white clouds sailed swiftly across the +brilliant heavens, the leaves whispered and fluttered, hither and +thither, wherever the wind listed; it was the day of days. It was the +last ride, and fate owed them the compensation of a beautiful +afternoon. + +The last ride! Warburton's mouth drooped. Never again to ride with +her! How the thought tightened his heart! What a tug it was going to +be to give her up! But so it must be. He could never face her +gratitude. He must disappear, like the good fairies in the story- +books. If he left now, and she found out what he had done, she would +always think kindly of him, even tenderly. At twilight, when she took +out her violin and played soft measures, perhaps a thought or two +would be given to him. After what had happened--this contemptible +masquerading and the crisis through which her father had just passed +--it would be impossible for her to love him. She would always regard +him with suspicion, as a witness of her innocent shame. + +He recalled the two wooden plates in the hamper. Whom was she going +to meet? Ah, well, what mattered it? After to-day the abyss of +eternity would yawn between them. How he loved her! How he adored the +exquisite profile, the warm-tinted skin, the shining hair!... And he +had lost her! Ah, that last ride! + +The girl was holding her head high because her heart was full. No +more to ride on a bright morning, with the wind rushing past her, +bringing the odor of the grasses, of the flowers, of the earth to +tingle her nostrils; no more to follow the hounds on a winter's day, +with the pack baying beyond the hedges, the gay, red-coated riders +sweeping down the field; no more to wander through the halls of her +mother's birthplace and her own! Like a breath on a mirror, all was +gone. Why? What had _she_ done to be flung down ruthlessly? She, +who had been brought up in idleness and luxury, must turn her hands +to a living! Without being worldly, she knew the world. Once she +appeared upon the stage, she would lose caste among her kind. True, +they would tolerate her, but no longer would her voice be heard or +her word have weight. + +Soon she would be tossed about on the whirlpool and swallowed up. +Then would come the haggling with managers, long and tiresome +journeys, gloomy hotels and indifferent fare, curious people who +desired to see the one-time fashionable belle; her portraits would be +lithographed and hung in shop-windows, in questionable resorts, and +the privacy so loved by gentlewomen gone; and perhaps there would be +insults. And she was only on the threshold of the twenties, the +radiant, blooming twenties! + +[Illustration: "Go home, Colonel--and stay home!"--ACT III.] + +During the long ride (for they covered something like seven miles) +not a word was spoken. The girl was biding her time; the man had +nothing to voice. They were going through the woods, when they came +upon a clearing through which a narrow brook loitered or sallied down +the incline. She reined in and raised her crop. He was puzzled. So +far as he could see, he and the girl were alone. The third person, +for whom, he reasoned, he had brought the second plate, was nowhere +in sight. + +A flat boulder lay at the side of the stream, and she nodded toward +it. Warburton emptied the hamper and spread the cloth on the stone. +Then he laid out the salad, the sandwiches, the olives, the almonds, +and two silver telescope-cups. All this time not a single word from +either; Warburton, busied with his task, did not lift his eyes to +her. + +The girl had laid her face against Jane's nose, and two lonely tears +trailed slowly down her velvety cheeks. Presently he was compelled to +look at her and speak. + +"Everything is ready, Miss." He spoke huskily. The sight of her tears +gave him an indescribable agony. + +She dropped the bridle-reins, brushed her eyes, and the sunshine of a +smile broke through the troubled clouds. + +"Mr. Warburton," she said gently, "let us not play any more. I am too +sad. Let us hang up the masks, for the comedy is done." + + + + +XXVI + +THE CASTLE OF ROMANCE + + +How silent the forest was! The brook no longer murmured, the rustle +of the leaves was without sound. A spar of sunshine, filtering +through the ragged limbs of the trees, fell aslant her, and she stood +in an aureola. As for my hero, a species of paralysis had stricken +him motionless and dumb. It was all so unexpected, all so sudden, +that he had the sensation of being whirled away from reality and +bundled unceremoniously into the unreal.... She knew, and had known! +A leaf brushed his face, but he was senseless to the touch of it. All +he had the power to do was to stare at her. . . . She knew, and had +known! + +Dick stepped into the brook and began to paw the water, and the +intermission of speech and action came to an end. + +"You-and you knew?" What a strange sound his voice had in his own +ears! + +"Yes. From the very beginning--I knew you to be a gentleman in +masquerade; that is to say, when I saw you in the police-court. The +absence of the beard confused me at first, but presently I recognized +the gentleman whom I had noticed on board the ship." + +So she had noticed him! + +"That night you believed me to be your sister Nancy. But I did not +know this till lately. And the night I visited her she exhibited some +photographs. Among these was a portrait of you without a beard." + +Warburton started. And the thought that this might be the case had +never trickled through his thick skull! How she must have laughed at +him secretly! + +She continued: "Even then I was not sure. But when Colonel Raleigh +declared that you resembled a former lieutenant of his, then I knew." +She ceased. She turned to her horse as if to gather the courage to go +on; but Jane had her nose hidden in the stream, and was oblivious of +her mistress' need. + +He waited dully for her to resume, for he supposed that she had not +yet done. + +"I have humiliated you in a hundred ways, and for this I want you to +forgive me. I sent the butler away for the very purpose of making +you serve in his stead. But you were so good about it all, with +never a murmur of rebellion, that I grew ashamed of my part in the +comedy. But now--" Her eyes closed and her body swayed; but she +clenched her hands, and the faintness passed away. "But for you, my +poor father would have been dishonored, and I should have been forced +into the arms of a man whom I despise. Whenever I have humiliated +you, you have returned the gift of a kind deed. You will forgive +me?" + +"Forgive you? There is nothing for me to forgive on my side, much on +yours. It is you who should forgive me. What you have done I have +deserved." His tongue was thick and dry. How much did she know? + +"No, not wholly deserved it." She fumbled with the buttons of her +waist; her eyes were so full that she could not see. She produced an +oblong slip of paper. + +When he saw it, a breath as of ice enveloped him. The thing she held +out toward him was the canceled note. For a while he did me the +honor to believe that I had betrayed him. + +"I understand the kind and generous impulse which prompted this deed. +Oh, I admire it, and I say to you, God bless you! But don't you see +how impossible it is? It can not be; no, no! My father and I are +proud. What we owe we shall pay. Poverty, to be accepted without +plaint, must be without debts of gratitude. But it was noble and +great of you; and I knew that you intended to run away without ever +letting any one know." + +"Who told you?" + +"No one. I guessed it." + +And he might have denied all knowledge of it! + +"Won't you--won't you let it be as it is? I have never done anything +worth while before, and this has made me happy. Won't you let me do +this? Only you need know. I am going away on Monday, and it will be +years before I see Washington again. No one need ever know." + +"It is impossible!" + +"Why?" + +She looked away. In her mind's eye she could see this man leading a +troop through a snow-storm. How the wind roared! How the snow whirled +and eddied about them, or suddenly blotted them from sight! But, on +and on, resolutely, courageously, hopefully, he led them on to +safety.... He was speaking, and the picture dissolved. + +"Won't you let it remain just as it is?" he pleaded. + +Her head moved negatively, and once more she extended the note. He +took it and slowly tore it into shreds. With it he was tearing up the +dream and tossing it down the winds. + +"The money will be placed to your credit at the bank on Monday. We +can not accept such a gift from any one. You would not, I know. But +always shall I treasure the impulse. It will give me courage in the +future--when I am fighting alone." + +"What are you going to do?" + +"I? I am going to appear before the public,"--with assumed +lightness; "I and my violin." + +He struck his hands together. "The stage?"--horrified. + +"I must live,"--calmly. + +"But a servant to public caprice? It ought not to be! I realize that +I can not force you to accept my gift, but this I shall do: I shall +buy in the horses and give them back to you." + +"You mustn't. I shall have no place to put them. Oh!"--with a gesture +full of despair and unshed tears, "why have you done all this? Why +this mean masquerade, this submitting to the humiliations I have +contrived for you, this act of generosity? Why?" + +Perhaps she knew the answers to her own questions, but, womanlike, +wanted to be told. + +And at that moment, though I am not sure, I believe Warburton's +guarding angel gave him some secret advice. + +"You ask me why I have played the fool in the motley?"--finding the +strength of his voice. "Why I have submitted in silence to your just +humiliations? Why I have acted what you term generously? Do you mean +to tell me that you have not guessed the riddle?" + +She turned her delicate head aside and switched the grasses with her +riding-crop. + +"Well,"--flinging aside his cap, which he had been holding in his +hand, "I will tell you. I wanted to be near you. I wanted to be, what +you made me, your servant. It is the one great happiness that I have +known. I have done all these things because--because, God help me, I +love you! Yes, I love you, with every beat of my heart!"--lifting his +head proudly. Upon his face love had put the hallowed seal. "Do not +turn your head away, for my love is honest. I ask nothing, nothing; I +expect nothing. I know that it is hopeless. What woman could love a +man who has made himself ridiculous in her eyes, as I have made +myself in yours?"--bitterly. + +"No, not ridiculous; never that!" she interrupted, her face still +averted. + +He strode toward her hastily, and for a moment her heart almost +ceased to beat. But all he did was to kneel at her feet and kiss the +hem of her riding-skirt. He rose hurriedly. + +"God bless you, and good-by!" He knew that if he remained he would +lose all control, crush her madly in his arms, and hurt her lips with +his despairing kisses. He had not gone a dozen paces, when he heard +her call pathetically. He stopped. + +"Mr. Warburton, surely you are not going to leave me here alone with +the horses?" + +"Pardon me, I did not think! I am confused!" he blundered. + +"You are modest, too." Why is it that, at the moment a man succumbs +to his embarrassment, a woman rises above hers? "Come nearer,"--a +command which he obeyed with some hesitation. "You have been a groom, +a butler, all for the purpose of telling me that you love me. Listen. +Love is like a pillar based upon a dream: one by one we lay the +stones of beauty, of courage, of faith, of honor, of steadfastness. +We wake, and how the beautiful pillar tumbles about our ears! What +right have you to build up your pillar upon a dream of me? What do +you know of the real woman--for I have all the faults and vanities of +the sex; what do you know of me? How do you know that I am not +selfish? that I am constant? that I am worthy a man's loving?" + +"Love is not like Justice, with a pair of scales to weigh this or +that. I do not ask _why_ I love you; the knowledge is all I +need. And you are _not_ selfish, inconstant, and God knows that +you are worth loving. As I said, I ask for nothing." + +"On the other hand," she continued, as if she had not heard his +interpolation, "I know you thoroughly. I have had evidence of your +courage, your steadfastness, your unselfishness. Do not misunderstand +me. I am proud that you love me. This love of yours, which asks for +no reward, only the right to confess, ought to make any good woman +happy, whether she loved or not. And you would have gone away without +telling me, even!" + +"Yes." He dug into the earth with his riding-boot. If only she knew +how she was crucifying him! + +"Why were you going away without telling me?" + +He was dumb. + +Her arms and eyes, uplifted, appealed to heaven. "What shall I say? +How shall I make him understand?" she murmured. "You love me, and you +ask for nothing? Is it because in spirit my father has committed a +crime?"--growing tall and darting a proud glance at him. + +"Good heaven, do not believe that!" he cried, + +"What _am_ I to believe?"--tapping the ground with her boot so +that the spur jingled. + +A pause. + +"Mr. Warburton, do you know what a woman loves in a man? I will tell +you the secret. She loves courage, constancy, and honor, purpose that +surmounts obstacles; she loves pursuit; she loves the hour of +surrender. Every woman builds a castle of romance and waits for +Prince Charming to enter, and once he does, there must be a game of +hide and seek. Perhaps I have built my castle of romance, too. I +wait for Prince Charming, and--a man comes, dressed as a groom. +There has been a game of hide and seek, but somehow he has tripped. +Will you not ask me if I love you?" + +"No, no! I understand. I do not want your gratitude. You are +meeting generosity with generosity. I do not want your gratitude."-- +brokenly. "I want your love, every thought of your mind, every beat +of your heart. Can you give me these, honestly?" + +She drew off a glove. Her hand became lost in her bosom. When she +drew it forth she extended it, palm upward. Upon it lay a faded, +withered rose. Once more she turned her face away. + +He was at her side, and the hand and rose were crushed between his +two hands. + +"Can you give what I ask? Your love, your thoughts, your heart- +beats?" + +It was her turn to remain dumb. + +"Can you?" He drew her toward him perhaps roughly, being unconscious +of his strength and the nervous energy which the sight of the rose +had called into being. + +"Can we give those things which are--already--given?" + +Only Warburton and the angels, or rather the angels and Warburton, to +get at the chronological order of things, heard her, so low had grown +her voice. + +You may tell any kind of secret to a horse; the animal will never +betray you. Warburton would never tell me what followed; and I am too +sensible to hang around the horses in hopes of catching them in the +act of talking over the affair among themselves. But I can easily +imagine this bit of equine dialogue: + +_Jane_: Did you ever see such foolishness? + +_Dick_: Never! And with all this good grass about! + +Whatever _did_ follow caused the girl to murmur: "This is the +lover I love; this is the lover I have been waiting for in my castle +of romance. I am glad that I have lost all worldly things; I am glad, +glad! When did you first learn that you loved me?" + +(Old, very old; thousands of years old, and will grow to be many +thousand years older. But from woman's lips it is the sweetest +question man ever heard.) + +"At the _Gare du Nord_, in Paris; the first time I saw you." + +"And you followed me across the ocean?"--wonderingly. + +"And when did you first learn that you loved me?" he asked. + +(Oh, the trite phrases of lovers' litany.) + +"When I saw you in the police-court. Mercy! what a scandal! I am to +marry my butler!" + +_Jane:_ They are laughing! + +_Dick:_ That is better than weeping. Besides, they will probably +walk us home. (Wise animal!) + +He was not only wise but prophetic. The lovers _did_ walk the +horses home. Hand in hand they came back along the road, through the +flame and flush of the ripening year. The god of light burned in the +far west, blending the brown earth with his crimson radiance, while +the purple shadows of the approaching dusk grew larger and larger. +The man turned. + +"What a beautiful world it is!" he said. + +"I begin to find it so," replied the girl, looking not at the world, +but at him. + +THE END + + + + +Postscript: + +I believe they sent William back for the saddle-hamper and my jehu's +cap. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Man on the Box, by Harold MacGrath + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAN ON THE BOX *** + +This file should be named mnntb10.txt or mnntb10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, mnntb11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, mnntb10a.txt + +Produced by Duncan Harold, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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