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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Man on the Box, by Harold MacGrath
+#4 in our series by Harold MacGrath
+
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+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]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+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
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