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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..160a7d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69547 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69547) diff --git a/old/69547-0.txt b/old/69547-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 114237f..0000000 --- a/old/69547-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10428 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Never the twain shall meet, by Peter -B. Kyne - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Never the twain shall meet - -Author: Peter B. Kyne - -Release Date: December 15, 2022 [eBook #69547] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Al Haines, John Routh & the online Distributed Proofreaders - Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL -MEET *** - - - - - - - NEVER THE TWAIN - SHALL MEET - - BY - PETER B. KYNE - - AUTHOR OF - CAPPY RICKS RETIRES, - THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR, - KINDRED OF THE DUST, ETC. - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS NEW YORK - - Made in the United States of America - - - - - _Copyright, 1923, by_ - PETER B. KYNE - - _All Rights Reserved, including that of translation into foreign - languages,_ - _including the Scandinavian_ - - - _Manufactured in the United States of America_ - - - - - _To a Little Girl_— - - who believed - that when the fairies married, - one might, by lying very quietly - in the grass, - hear the bluebells ringing - - Never the Twain Shall Meet - - - - - CHAPTER I - - -It was a song that never before had been sung; once sung, never again -would it be heard. Such a song, indeed, as little girls croon to their -dolls; half funeral chant, half hymn, sung in a minor key by a girl with -a powerfully sweet lyric soprano. The last of the land breeze carried it -aft to Gaston Larrieau, the master of the 200-ton auxiliary trading -schooner Moorea, where he stood on the top step of the companion, his -leonine head and tremendous shoulders showing above the deck-house, as -he smoked his first after-breakfast pipe. - -While he listened, a shadow passed over the man’s face, as when winds -drive a dark cloud above a sunny plain. He removed his pipe thoughtfully -to murmur: - -“Ah, my poor Tamea! Dear child of the sun! Homesick already!” Then he -came out on deck and stood by the weather rail, looking forward until he -espied the figure of the singer stretched face downward, at full length, -alongside the bowsprit, but snuggled comfortably in the belly of the -jib. One arm enveloped the bowsprit; at each rise and fall of the -Moorea’s long clipper bow, her feet, sandal-clad, beat the canvas in -rhythm. And, because she was young and athrill with the music of the -spheres, because the dark blue water purling under the schooner’s -forefoot brought to her memories of the insistent, peaceful swish of the -surf enveloping the outer reef at Riva, the girl Tamea sang: - - “Behold! Tamea, Queen of Riva, - Has forsaken her mother’s people. - In her father’s great canoe called Moorea - After the mother of Tamea, who loved him, - Tamea sails over a cold sea - To the white man’s country. - Tamea is happy and curious. - But if the hearts in this new land - Are cold as the fog this morning, - Then will the heart of Tamea grow heavy. - Then will she weep for a sight of Riva. - Then will she yearn for love and pleasure, - For dancing and feasting; for the water - White on the reef where the fishermen stand . . .” - -“I must shake her out of that mood,” Larrieau muttered, and strode aft -to the wheel. The Tahitian helmsman gave way to him and as the master -put the helm down and the schooner came sharply up into the wind and -hung there shivering her canvas until it cracked like pistol shots, -Tamea rose briskly from her hammock in the belly of the jib and stood -poised on the bowsprit, with one hand clasping the jib to steady her. -The suddenness with which she had been disturbed and the air of regal -hauteur she assumed as she faced aft for an explanation from the -Tahitian helmsman, who had now resumed the wheel and was easing the -Moorea away on her course once more, brought a bellow of Brobdingnagian -laughter from Larrieau. - -Tamea came aft with stately tread, pausing at the forward end of the -deck-house. “So it was you, great, wicked Frenchman,” she cried in a -Polynesian dialect. “Truly, my father forgets that he is but a wandering -trader, while I am Tamea, Queen of Riva!” Simulating a royal fury she -was far from feeling, Tamea grasped a bucket attached to a rope, dropped -it overboard, drew it back filled with water and, poising it in position -to hurl its contents, advanced to the assault. - -“_Tiens!_” Gaston Larrieau chuckled. “I shall never succeed in making a -Christian of you. It is written that even a queen shall honor her father -and mother? nevertheless you, my own child, would dishonor me with sea -water!” As she threatened him laughingly, he leaped for the opposite -corner of the deck-house, and she saw that it was his humor to invite -the deluge. Wherefore, with the perversity of her sex and royal blood, -she deluged the helmsman, who stood grinning at her. - -“Your eye belongs on the lubber’s mark, on the sails, on the -horizon—anywhere but on me, Kahanaha,” she admonished the amazed -fellow. And then, while Gaston Larrieau, momentarily off guard, stood -roaring great gales of laughter at the discomfited Kahanaha, Queen Tamea -of Riva dashed into his face fully a quart of water remaining in the -bucket. She smiled upon Larrieau adorably. - -“He laughs best who laughs last. Kahanaha, you may laugh.” - -Larrieau dashed the water from his bush of a beard. “_Nom d’un chien!_ -This is mutiny. Tamea, come here!” But Tamea merely wrinkled her nose at -him, and when he charged at her she cried aloud, half delighted, half -deliciously apprehensive, and started up the starboard main shrouds. Her -father followed her, moving, despite his sixty years and his tremendous -bulk, with something of the ease and swiftness of a bear. - -At the masthead Tamea cowered, pretending to be frightened and cornered, -until his hand reached for her slim ankle; when without the slightest -hesitation she sprang for the backstay and went whizzing swiftly down to -the deck. Here she threw him a peace offering, in the way of a kiss, but -he ignored her. From the masthead he was looking out over the low-lying -smear of fog that shrouded the coast of California, and the girl -thrilled as his stentorian voice rang through the ship. - -“Land, ho!” - -Within a few minutes the Moorea had slipped through the cordon of fog -into the sunshine. Off to starboard the red hull of the lightship loomed -vividly against the blue of sea and sky; a white pilot schooner ratched -lazily across their bows, while off to port three gasoline trawlers out -of San Francisco coughed violently away toward the Cordelia banks, their -hulls painted in bizarre effects of Mediterranean blue with yellow decks -and upper works. Their Sicilian crews waved tassled, multicolored -tam-o’-shanter caps at Tamea and when she threw kisses to them with both -hands they shouted their approval in ringing fashion. - -From Point San Pedro on the south to Point Reyes on the north fifty -miles of green, mountainous shore line sweeping down abruptly to -ocher-tinted bluffs lay outspread before Tamea. She viewed it with mixed -feelings of awe, delight and a half sensed feeling of apprehension, for -all that enthralling vision impressed her with the thought that beyond -the indentation which her father called to her was the Golden Gate, lay -another world of romance, of dreams, curiosity-compelling, palpitant -with something of the same warmth that had nurtured Tamea in the little -known, seldom visited and uncharted island kingdom under the Southern -Cross. Following the fashion of her people when their emotions are -profoundly stirred, again Tamea’s golden voice was lifted in a -semi-chant, an improvised pæan of appreciation. - -Down through the entrance the Moorea ramped, with Tamea standing far out -on the bowsprit, as if she would be the first to arrive, the first to -see the wonders she felt certain lurked just around the bend behind -crumbling old Fort Winfield Scott. As she leaned against the jib stay -and held on with her elbows she searched the shore line with her -father’s marine glasses until, the Moorea having loafed up to the -quarantine grounds, the crew disturbed the girl in order to take in the -headsails. - -They were scarcely snugged down before the Customs tug scraped -alongside. While Gaston was down below in the cabin presenting his -papers for the inspection of the port officer, a representative of the -Public Health Service examined the crew on deck. Before Tamea he stood -several moments in silent admiration. Then he asked: - -“Miss, do you speak English?” - -Tamea looked him over with frank admiration and approval. “You bet your -sweet life I speak English,” she replied melodiously; and from her -English the doctor knew that she also spoke French. Having heard her -giving an order to the Kanaka steward in an alien tongue, he concluded -she spoke Hawaiian and sought confirmation of that conclusion. - -“No, mister, I do not speak Hawaiian,” said Tamea. “I can understand -much of it, because all Polynesian languages are derived from the same -Aryan source. The difference between the hundreds of languages in -Polynesia is mostly one of dialect—phonetic differences, you know.” - -He sighed. “I didn’t know, but I’m glad to find out—from you. Are you -Venus or Juno or one of the Valkyries from some tropical Valhalla?” - -“Now you grow very queer,” she retorted soberly. “You make the josh, and -I do not like men who do that. I am Tamea Oluolu Larrieau. I am the -Queen of Riva, and in Riva it is taboo to josh the Queen.” - -“I think the Queen is a josher, however,” he replied gravely. - -“Ah! You do not believe, then, that I am the Queen of Riva?” - -“No, I do not. You’re the Queen of Hearts.” - -Fortunately for Tamea she knew how to play casino and was, therefore, -acquainted with the queen of hearts. Hence she could assimilate the -compliment, and a ravishing smile was the reward of the daring doctor. - -He bowed low. - -“Will Tamea Oluolu Larrieau, Queen of Riva—wherever that may be, if it -isn’t another name for Paradise, since an houri has come from -Riva—oblige a mere mortal by opening her mouth, sticking out her tongue -and saying, ‘_Ah-h-h!_’—like that.” - -“Why?” There was suspicion in Tamea’s glance now. - -“It is a ceremonial peculiar to this country, Your Majesty. It is -required of all visitors, of whatever rank. An Indian prince did it -yesterday and a _dato_ from Java will do it this afternoon.” - -Tamea shrugged—a Gallic shrug—and complied. - -“What a lovely death it would be to be fatally bitten by those teeth! -Now, just one more ceremonial, if you please. It is required that I -shall look into your eyes very closely. You may have trachoma, but if -you have I’ll never survive the shock of having to deport you.” - -Again Tamea shrugged. A peculiar custom, she thought, but one that was -not difficult to comply with. - -“Well, if you’re a fair sample of the womanhood of Riva, O Tamea Oluolu -Larrieau, I’m mighty glad that I’m not a practicing physician there. I -should never earn a fee.” - -“And if you should earn a fee nobody would think of paying it,” she -laughed. “Perhaps, if you liked bananas or coconuts——” And her -shoulders came up in collaboration, as it were, with an adorable little -_moue_. The young doctor laughed happily. - -“Alas! God help the poor missionaries with sirens like her on every -hand,” he thought as he descended into the cabin, where Larrieau was in -conference with an immigration official touching his daughter’s right to -land. This detail was, happily, quickly passed and the health officer -tapped Gaston Larrieau on the arm. - -“Captain, it will be necessary for me to give you a physical examination -before I can issue your vessel a clean bill of health.” - -“Open your mouth and say, ‘_Ah-h-h!_’” commanded Tamea, who had followed -the doctor below. “Then open your eyes and look wise. Is my father not a -frail little man, eh?” she demanded of the doctor. - -“The examination of this physical wreck is merely a matter of routine, -Your Majesty.” - -Gaston Larrieau; came close to the doctor and opened his cavernous -mouth. - -“_Ah-h-h!_” he said. - -“Ah!” the doctor repeated softly—and touched lightly, in succession, a -slightly puffed spot high up on each of the captain’s cheeks. As he -pressed the color fled, leaving a somewhat sickly whitish spot that -stood out prominently in an otherwise ruddy face. A moment later the -spots in question had regained their original color, which had been a -ruddiness somewhat less pronounced than the surrounding tissue. - -Perhaps only a doctor’s eye—an eye especially alert for such -spots—would have detected them. - -“Is this not a fine doctor, father Larrieau!” Tamea exclaimed almost -breathlessly. “You open your mouth—and he looks at your eyes!” - -The health officer glanced at her. A minute before he had noted -particularly the glory of her complexion—pale gold, with an old-rose -tint, very faintly diffused through the clear skin, like a yellow light -masked by a pale pink silk cloth. Now the rose tint was gone and old -ivory had replaced the pale gold. There was a gleam of excitement, of -fear, in her smoky eyes, and the smile which accompanied her attempted -badinage was just a bit forced. As the glances of the two met each -realized that the other _knew_! - -“I cannot help it; I must do my duty,” the doctor murmured helplessly, -and turned to look down Gaston Larrieau’s open throat. “Any soreness in -the nose, Captain?” - -“A little, of late, Doctor.” - -“Any other pain?” - -“Well, for a couple of months I’ve had a small, steady pain in my right -shoulder—like rheumatism.” - -“No. It is neuritis.” He picked up the captain’s ham-like hand and noted -on the back of it, close to the knuckles, the same faintly white, puffy -spots. “Now please remove your shirt.” - -Tamea’s eyes closed in momentary pain before she retired to a stateroom -adjoining the main cabin. Larrieau removed his shirt and the doctor -examined his torso critically. On his back, partially covering the right -scapula, he found that which he sought. “That will be all,” he informed -Larrieau. “Replace your garments.” - -An assistant poured some disinfectant on his hands and he washed them -vigorously in it, wiping them on a handkerchief which he tossed -overboard through a porthole. At a sign from the doctor the others went -on deck. - -He lighted a cigarette and when Larrieau faced him inquiringly he said: - -“Now, regarding your daughter, Captain. What are your plans for her?” - -“I have brought her up to San Francisco to place her in a convent to -complete her education. As you have observed, she speaks English very -well, but with a very slight French accent. She has had some schooling -in English, but not very much.” - -“Her mother, I take it, is a Polynesian.” - -“Pure-bred Polynesian. She died a year ago, during the influenza -epidemic.” - -“Forgive me, Captain, if my questions appear impertinent. They are not, -strictly speaking, questions which I should ask you, but under the -circumstances the immigration officer has left the asking of them to me. -Have you or your daughter any friends or relatives in this country?” - -“We have no relatives, Monsieur Doctor, and the only friends I have in -this country are my owners.” - -“Is your financial situation such that, should you be taken away from -your daughter, she would be provided for to the extent that she would -not be likely to become a public charge?” - -Gaston Larrieau smiled. “And you ask that of a Frenchman, to whom thrift -is a virtue? I have not traded among the South Pacific islands more than -thirty-five years to come away without the price of a peaceful old age. -I am worth a quarter of a million dollars, and with the exception of a -few pearls and a quarter interest in this vessel, all of my fortune is -in cash.” - -“Did you plan to return to the Islands after placing your child in -school here?” - -“_Parbleu_, no! No one could manage Tamea without my help. I am finished -with the sea. All of my interests and those of Tamea in the South have -been sold. Two years hence, when Tamea has grown used to civilized -customs, we will return to France—to Brittany, where I was born.” - -“Tamea will probably marry well in France,” the doctor suggested. - -“Yes. We Frenchmen are more democratic than Americans or the English in -our choice of wives. The fact that my Tamea is half Polynesian—ah, they -would not forget that, though she is more wonderful than a white girl! I -was married to her mother,” he added, as if he suspected the doctor -might secretly be questioning that point. “We were married by the -mission priest in Nukahiva.” - -The doctor finished his cigarette and suddenly hurled the butt through -the porthole. “Lord!” he growled. “I’m so tired of breaking people’s -hearts and shattering their hopes.” - -“Eh? What is that? Have you, then, unpleasant news for me?” - -The doctor nodded gravely. “Captain, I have very unpleasant news for -you. Dreadful news, in fact. While I hesitate to state so absolutely -until a microscopic examination has been made and the presence of the -bacillus in your body determined beyond question, I am morally certain -that you have contracted—leprosy!” - -The master of the Moorea met the terrible blow as a ship meets an -unexpected squall. He flinched and trembled for a moment, then righted -himself. His wind-and-sun-bitten face and neck went greenish white; his -eyes closed for perhaps ten seconds; his shoulders sagged and his great -breast heaved with a single sigh. In those ten seconds old age appeared -to have touched him for the first time. When his eyes opened again he -was the same calm, good-natured, almost boyish man who had romped -through the rigging of the Moorea with his child that morning. He smiled -a little sadly—and shrugged. - -“Well, that’s over,” he murmured. “I am very sorry for you, Doctor. -These things are very unpleasant. However, I have no regrets. I have -enjoyed my life—down yonder—because nothing matters. There are not -many rules and regulations—and we ignore them.” - -“It is different here.” - -“Alas, yes!” - -“You are a naturalized citizen of the United States?” - -“Yes, Monsieur Doctor.” - -“It is my duty to remove you from this schooner to the quarantine -station at Angel Island. You will be held there for observation, and -when the fact that you are a leper is officially determined, you will be -removed to the Isolation Hospital in San Francisco. However, it might be -arranged to have you sent to the colony at Molokai. If you were not a -citizen of the United States you would be deported to the country of -which you are a subject.” - -“We have said good-by to Riva and the South, and we are not going back. -The white blood predominates in my girl; I want her to live her life -among white men and women. Besides, she can afford it. She may marry -some fine fellow here. Who knows? I had picked on Brittany for my old -age—so Molokai will not do. _Bon dieu!_ I should have such ennui in -Molokai. I could not stand that.” - -“Rules and regulations, Captain,” the doctor reminded him -sympathetically. - -Gaston Larrieau shook his head. “Old Gaston of the Beard caged like a -pet monkey, eh? I think not.” He sat down and tugged at his beard -thoughtfully. “Well, one thing is certain,” he continued. “It is more -than seventeen years since I begot Tamea. I was clean then and for all -the years since until this morning.” - -“Non-leprous children are born of leprous parents, Captain. Tamea is -clean.” - -“She must not know that I am not.” - -“Ah, but she does know it.” - -Larrieau sprang erect, terrible. “You dared to tell her——” he roared, -and advanced with upraised hand. - -“Sit down. The girl has eyes, and in Riva she has, doubtless, seen more -than one leper. I told her nothing. Listen, Captain.” - -From the stateroom came the sound of a muffled sob. - -Larrieau sat down, dumb and distressed. “Yes, there is leprosy in Riva. -And tuberculosis and worse. The scourges of our white civilization are -creeping in and where they strike there is no hope. So I brought Tamea -away—only to be stricken—— Well, I knew that was one of the risks I -had to take, and a life without risks is as an egg without salt. In my -day I have adventured in strange and terrible places, and while this is -the very devil of a joke to have fate play on me, still”—he shrugged -again—“I have lived my life and I have loved my love, and by the blood -of the devil, life owes me nothing. I am ready! _Voilà!_” And the Triton -snapped his fingers. “I am no mealy-mouthed clerk to go whimpering to my -finish, protesting at the last that my heart is breaking with sorrow for -my sins.” He laughed his mellow, resonant, roaring laugh. - -“No, no. Old Gaston of the Beard has enjoyed his sins. They were not -many, for I was ever a simple man, but such sins as I had—ah, they were -magnificent! I have children in a hundred islands. But Tamea is the -child of my love, and like her mother she is a glorious pagan.” - -“You say her mother is dead.” - -Gaston of the Beard nodded. “She was a queen and believed herself -descended from her Polynesian gods. Damnation! She had every right to, -for she was a goddess. Tall, Monsieur Doctor—six feet, for she came of -a race of hereditary rulers and in Polynesia before the white men came -to ruin and degenerate these children of nature, a king was not a king -in very truth unless, standing among his people, he could gaze over -their heads as one gazes over a wheat field from the top rail of a -fence. Tamea’s great-great-grandfather was deposed and exiled to an -island five hundred miles to the west, where his enemies enslaved him. -In his old age his people rescued him and offered him the scepter he had -lost in his youth. But he would not accept, for age and toil had crooked -his back and he could no longer stand head and shoulders over his -people.” - -“What a magnificent old chap he must have been, Captain!” said the -doctor. - -Larrieau nodded. “Tamea’s mother, Moorea, could walk! You, my young -friend, have never seen a woman walk; it is a lost art; our women mince -or hop or strut. Moorea was a beautiful woman in point of features. Her -hair was a wonderful seal-brown and her skin—well, her skin——” - -“Was Tamea’s,” the doctor interrupted. - -Gaston of the Beard smiled and nodded. “She was regal of bearing and -regal of soul—and the missionaries called her a heathen. For years I -kept them out of Riva, with their mummery of morals and religion. Why, -there was no sin in Riva until I came—and then it wasn’t recognized -until the missionaries gave it a name. Monsieur Doctor, behold a man who -dwelt in Eden until the serpents drove him out.” - -The doctor chuckled quietly. - -“Tamea’s mother,” the sailor resumed, “had features as fine and regular -as any white woman. But then, why should she not? Her blood was pure, -because it was a chief’s blood. The dark skin, the flat nose and the -crinkly hair are souvenirs, in the Polynesian race, of their sojourn in -the Fijis before they resumed their age-old hegira that started in Asia -Minor. In the common people we find evidences of Papuan blood, and that -is negroid, Monsieur Doctor. But the pure-bred Polynesian is not a -nigger, as ignorant and stupid people might have you believe. They are a -lost fragment of the Caucasian race, and any ethnologist who has studied -them carefully and sympathetically knows this. Monsieur Doctor, they are -not of Malayan origin, but Cushite, and the Cushites were an Aryan -people, as doubtless you know.” - -“My knowledge of ethnology is very meager, Captain Larrieau,” said the -doctor. - -“Mine is not. Gaston of the Beard they call me down under the Line, but -I have a head to hold up my beard. How do you account for the fact that -the Polynesian priesthood in Hawaii was possessed of the story of the -Hebrew Genesis as early as the sixth century, and that, in many -respects, this version is more complete than the Jewish?” - -“I haven’t the slightest idea,” the doctor protested. He had the feeling -that to argue with Larrieau was to argue with an encyclopedia. - -“Well, they acquired the story while drifting eastward from the land of -their origin and establishing contact with the Israelites, although on -the other hand it may be an independent and original version of legends -common to the Semite and Aryan tribes of the remote past and handed down -to posterity quite as accurately as the Jewish version before the latter -became a part of the literature of that race.” - -The doctor glanced at his watch. “Captain, it would be most delightful -to linger and receive instruction in so interesting a subject, but we -have a Japanese liner to clear before noon, so I must be off.” - -“But,” persisted the sailor, “have I convinced you that, if this brutal -and iconoclastic world but knew it, my little Tamea is _all_ Caucasian, -not merely half?” - -“Captain, your daughter is the most dazzling, the most glorious woman I -have ever seen.” - -“Would you care to marry her, Monsieur Doctor?” The words shot out from -the man who had been condemned to a living death with calm but deadly -earnestness. “That is,” Larrieau continued, “provided you are not -already married.” - -“I am engaged to be married, Captain.” - -“You have seen Tamea. It will not be hard to forget the other woman. -Come, come, my boy! How does the proposition strike you?” - -“It doesn’t strike me at all. One does not accept such a proposition for -consideration quite so abruptly, my friend.” - -“Ah, why not? Why not, indeed? Because others do not? Blood of the -devil, what a horrible thing is tradition! If it were not a tradition -that a woman shall accept from her fiancé a diamond ring which the idiot -cannot, in all probability, afford to give her—well, women would not -accept them. If it were the custom, they would accept a blow or a brass -ring through the nose or a brand, with equal eagerness. Monsieur Doctor, -he who has not learned to accept both good and evil, the usual and the -unusual, abruptly and without mature consideration, has not learned to -live. Life has not given him of its richness and fulness. Why be afraid? -Why shrink from the silly comment of silly people who do not understand -when you have a woman with a glorious body, a glorious soul and a -glorious mind, to compensate you?” - -“I am not free to marry her——” - -Gaston of the Beard brushed aside this feeble excuse with a quotation -from Epictetus: “‘He only is free who does as he pleases.’” - -But the young doctor was not to be persuaded by such philosophical -considerations. - -“Has your fiancée a _dot_ of a quarter of a million dollars?” Larrieau -shot at him. - -“It is quite useless to discuss the matter, Captain.” - -The latter hung his head, disappointed. “You realize why I asked you, of -course,” he said presently. - -“I do, Captain. You must see her provided for. You were at some pains to -prove to me that her blood was the equal of mine——” - -“I spoke of her mother’s people. But I am not a common man. There is -blood and breeding back of me—yes, far back, but I can trace it.” - -“You pay me a tremendous compliment, Captain.” - -“You are young, you have education, intelligence. You are a doctor, a -man of broad human sympathy and understanding. It is too bad your spirit -is not free. Too bad!” - -“I will return for you this afternoon, about six o’clock, Captain. You -will not attempt to leave the Moorea, will you?” - -“I told you I was a thrifty man, but I did not tell you, also, that I am -generous.” - -“I am rebuked, Captain Larrieau. Forgive me.” - -“On one condition. Give my vessel pratique—now.” - -“I dare say we can risk that. But why do you ask it?” - -“So that young Mr. Pritchard, of Casson and Pritchard, my owners, may be -permitted to come aboard, with an attorney. I have some business details -to attend to before I accompany you to the quarantine shed at Angel -Island. There is the business of the Moorea, and the financial future of -my Tamea must be provided for.” - -“Do you wish me to return to the dock and telephone Mr. Pritchard?” - -“If you will be so kind. And ask Mr. Pritchard to bring flowers—a great -many beautiful flowers. We sons of Cush are childishly fond of flowers.” - -The health officer nodded and went over the side into the Customs tug -with a constricted feeling in his throat. Had he not gone then he would -have remained to weep, with Tamea, for old Gaston of the Beard! - - - - - CHAPTER II - - -In his office in the suite of Casson and Pritchard, on the top floor of -a building in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district, Daniel -Pritchard, the junior partner, sat with his back to his desk and his -feet on the sill of a window that gave a view, across the roofs of the -city, to the bay beyond. He was watching the ferryboats ply backward and -forward between the old gray town and Oakland; viewed from that height -and distance their foamy wakes held for him a subconscious fascination. -Indeed, whenever he desired to indulge a habit of day-dreaming, the view -from his window on a clear, warm day could quickly lull him into that -state of mind. This morning Dan Pritchard was day-dreaming. - -A buzzer sounding at his elbow aroused him. He reached for the -inter-office telephone and murmured “Yes?” in the low-pitched, kindly, -reassuring voice that is inseparable from men of studious habits and -placid dispositions. - -“The Moorea is passing in, Mr. Pritchard. The Merchants’ Exchange -lookout has just telephoned,” his secretary informed him. - -“Thank you.” He glanced at his desk clock. “She should clear quarantine -and the Customs before noon, and Captain Larrieau should report in by -one o’clock at the latest. You’ll recognize him immediately, Miss -Mather. A perfectly tremendous fellow with a huge black beard a foot -long. When he arrives show him in at once, please. Meanwhile I’m not in -to anybody else.” - -He resumed his day-dreaming, drawing long blissful drafts from a -pleasant smelling pipe, his mind in a state of absolute quiescence in so -far as business was concerned. He had that sort of control over himself; -a control that rested him mentally and armed his nerves against the -attrition that comes of the high mental pressure under which modern -American business men so frequently operate. - -At twelve-fifteen Miss Mather entered. - -“The Meiggs Wharf office of the Merchants’ Exchange telephoned that the -Moorea has been given pratique, but that Captain Larrieau is ill and the -health officer is going to have him removed to the quarantine station at -Angel Island,” she informed him. “Evidently his disease is not -contagious, because the health officer said it would be quite safe for -you to visit him. The Captain requests that you come aboard at your -earliest convenience and that you bring an attorney and some flowers.” - -Dan Pritchard’s eyebrows went up. “That request is suggestive of -approaching dissolution, Miss Mather.” - -“Scarcely, Mr. Pritchard. If that were the case would the Captain not -have requested the attendance of your doctor to confirm the health -officer’s diagnosis? And would he not have sent for a clergyman?” - -“Not that great pagan! His approach to death would be marked by an -active scientific curiosity in the matter up to the moment when his mind -should cease to function. Please telephone Mr. Henderson, of Page and -Henderson, our attorneys, and ascertain what hour will be convenient for -him to accompany me to the Moorea.” - -“I have already done so, Mr. Pritchard. Mr. Henderson is playing in a -golf tournament at Ingleside and will be finished about three o’clock. -He is in the club-house now and says he can meet you at Meiggs Wharf at -four o’clock, provided the matter cannot go over until tomorrow -morning.” - -“It cannot. Old Gaston of the Beard is an impatient man, and this is an -urgent call. Please telephone Mr. Henderson that I will meet him at -Meiggs Wharf at four o’clock. Then telephone Crowley’s boathouse to have -a launch waiting there for us at five o’clock. When you have done that, -Miss Mather, you might close up shop and enjoy your Saturday afternoon -freedom.” - -“Thank you, Mr. Pritchard. Miss Morrison is in Mr. Casson’s office. She -said she might look in on you a little later.” - -When his secretary had departed he resumed his reverie, to be roused -from it at twelve-thirty o’clock by the soft click of the latch as his -office door was gently opened. He turned and observed a girl who stood -in the general office, with her head and one shoulder thrust into Dan’s -office. - -“May I come in?” she queried. - -“Of course you may, Maisie. You’re as welcome as a gale in the doldrums. -The best seat in my office isn’t half worthy of you.” He rose and took -her hand as she advanced into the room. - -“Doing a little ground and lofty dreaming, I observe.” The girl—her -name was Maisie Morrison, and she was the niece of Casson, the senior -member of the firm—seated herself in a swivel desk chair and looked -brightly up at him as he stood before her, his somewhat long grave face -alight with approval and welcome. - -“It’s very nice of you to pay me this little visit, Maisie,” he -declared. “And I like that hat you’re wearing. Indeed, I don’t think I -have ever seen you looking more—er—lookable!” - -It was like him to ignore her implied query and voice the thought in his -mind. - -“Sit down, Abraham Lincoln, do, please,” she urged. - -He obeyed. “Why do you call me Abraham Lincoln?” - -“Oh, you’re so long and loose-jointed and raw-boned and lantern-jawed! -Your shoulders are bowed just a little, as if from bearing great -burdens, and when I caught a glimpse of your face, as I entered, it was -in repose and incredibly sad and wistful. Really, Dan, you’re a very -plain man and very dolorous until you smile, and then you’re easy to -look at. Your right eyebrow is about a quarter of an inch higher than -your left and that lends whimsicality to your smile, even when you are -feeling far from whimsical.” - -His chin sank low on his breast and he appeared to be pondering -something. “Perhaps,” he said aloud, but addressing himself -nevertheless, “it’s spring fever. But then I have it in the summer, -autumn and winter also. I want to go away. Where, I do not know.” - -“Perhaps you are suffering from what soul analysts call ‘the divine -unrest.’” - -“I’m suffering from the friction that comes to a square peg in a round -hole. That much I know. The round hole I refer to is the world of -business, and I’m the square peg. The situation is truly horrible, -Maisie, because the world believes I fit into that hole perfectly. But I -know I do not.” - -Her calm glance rested on him critically but not sympathetically. In -common with the majority of her sex she believed that men are prone to -conjure profound pity for themselves over trifles, and her alert mind, -which was naturally disposed toward practicalities, told her that Daniel -Pritchard had, doubtless, been up too late the night previous and had -eaten something indigestible. - -“This is an interesting and hitherto unsuspected condition, Dan. I have -always been told, and believed, that you are a particularly brilliant -business man.” - -“I am not,” he objected, with some vehemence. “But if I am, that is -because I work mighty hard to be efficient at a disgusting trade. I know -I am regarded as being far from a commercial dud, for I am a director in -a bank, a director in a tugboat company, and really the managing partner -of Casson and Pritchard. But I loathe it all. Consider, Maisie, the -monstrous depravity of dedicating all of one’s waking hours to the mere -making of money. Why, if any man of ordinary intelligence and prudence -will do that for a lifetime he just can’t help leaving a fortune for his -heirs to squabble over. Making money isn’t a difficult task. On the -other hand, painting a great picture is, and if one’s task isn’t -difficult and above the commonplace, how is one to enjoy it?” - -“I was right,” the girl declared triumphantly. “It is the divine unrest. -You are possessed of a creative instinct which is being stifled. It -requires elbow room.” - -He smiled an embarrassed little smile. “Perhaps,” he admitted. “I like -to work with my hands as well as with my head. I think I could have been -happy as a surgeon, slicing wens and warts and things out of people, and -I could have been happiest of all if I had nothing to do except paint -pictures. If I could afford it I would devote my life to an attempt to -paint a better picture of Mount Tamalpais yonder, with the late -afternoon sun upon it, than did Thad Walsh. And I do not think that is -possible.” - -“That picture yonder,” she said, pointing to an oil on the wall of his -office, “indicates that you have excellent judgment. What is the -subject, Dan?” - -“Blossom time in the Santa Clara Valley.” - -“It’s a beautiful thing and much too fine for a business office.” - -His face, on the instant, was alight with happiness. “Now, I’m glad to -have you say that, Maisie, because _I_ painted that picture.” - -“No!” - -“Yes.” - -“But you never told us——” - -“My dear Maisie, you must never breathe a word of this to anybody. If -the world of business had discovered ten years ago that I would rather -dabble in paint and oil than figure interest, it would not now be -regarding me as a capable, conservative business man. I would be that -crazy artist fellow, Pritchard.” - -She walked to a point where the best view of the picture was obtainable -and studied it thoughtfully for several minutes. - -“It’s very beautiful and the colors are quite natural, I think,” was her -comment. “What do you say it is worth, Dan?” - -“Oh, about a million dollars in satisfaction over a good job -accomplished, and fifty or a hundred dollars in the average art shop.” - -Maisie returned to her seat. “Well,” she declared with an emphasis and -note of finality in her tone that stamped her as a young woman of -initiative and decision, “if I were as rich as you, Dan Pritchard, I’d -continue to be a square peg in a round hole just long enough to send -that picture home and then walk out of this office forever. How old are -you?” - -“Thirty-four, in point of years, but at least a hundred viewed from any -other angle.” - -“Fiddlesticks! Why don’t you retire and live your life the way you want -to live it? I would if I were you. . . . Now, Dan, there you go again -with that sad Abraham Lincoln look!” - -“I am sad. I’ve just had a great disappointment. I told you I wanted to -go away but that I didn’t know where to go. Well, I did know where I -wanted to go—until this morning. I had planned to take one more cruise -with old Gaston of the Beard——” - -“With whom?” - -“Captain Gaston Larrieau, master of our South Seas trading schooner -Moorea. I had planned to knock around with him in strange places for the -next six months.” - -“I cannot visualize you making a pal of a sea captain, Dan.” - -“Nonsense, Maisie. Gaston is a satyr with a soul. Twelve years ago I -took a cruise with him and I’ve never had time for another. Gaston of -the Beard—my father dubbed him that thirty years ago and the name has -stuck to him ever since—is like no other man living. He’s about sixty -years old now, six feet six inches tall, and weighs about two hundred -and fifty pounds in condition. He’s a Breton sailor with the blood of -Vikings in him, and if I ever find the tailor who makes his clothes I’m -going to pension the man in order to remove a monster from the sartorial -world. When going ashore in a temperate climate Gaston affects very wide -trousers, a long black Prince Albert coat, a top silk hat, vintage of -1880, and a stiff white linen shirt with round detachable cuffs bearing -tremendous moss-agate cuff buttons. When he walks he waddles like a bear -and when I walk with him I run. - -“He is most positive in his likes and dislikes; he has read everything -and remembers it; he plays every card game anybody ever heard of and -plays them all well; he performs very well on the accordion, the flute -and the French horn; he knows music and the history of music. He speaks -four or five European languages and a dozen South Seas dialects. He is a -sinful man, but none of his sins are secret. He loathes swanks, frauds -and pretenders, and he bubbles with temperament. When he is enthusiastic -about anything or when he is angry, his voice rises to a roar; when he -is touched he weeps like a baby. He knows more English poetry than any -man living and is quite as much at home with the best of our modern -literature as he is with all of the ancient classics. He knows all about -ships and shipping since the days of the Phoenicians and the Hanseatic -League; there are as many facets to his character as to a well cut -diamond, and every facet sparkles. Good Lord, Maisie, the man’s -different, and I want a change.” - -“Well, then, as I said before, why not have it? You can afford it, Dan.” - -“That’s the rub. I cannot. And even if I could I’ve just received word -that Gaston of the Beard is ill with some sort of disease that requires -his removal to quarantine. It must be a very serious illness, because he -has sent for an attorney—to draw his will, doubtless. Henderson and I -are going aboard at four o’clock this afternoon.” - -“But why can’t you go for a cruise if and when your satyr recovers his -health?” - -“A man cannot drop a business just because he desires to. My going would -disorganize everything and distress a great many people. I’m the binder -that holds this organization together.” - -“Don’t take yourself too seriously, Dan. You weren’t born to daddy the -world, you know. You worry too much about other people and what will -happen to them when they can no longer lean against you for support. Why -not give them an opportunity to care for themselves for a change?” - -From the tip of her small feet to the cockade on her dainty little hat, -his calm, serious glance roved over her. “Well,” he replied soberly, -“how would you relish the prospect of caring for yourself—for a -change?” - -“I’m sure I do not know. I fear I’d be rather helpless—for a while.” - -“Do you think I ought to accord your uncle and aunt an opportunity to -care for themselves—for a change?” - -“Good gracious, no! Is there a possibility of that situation presenting -itself?” - -“An excellent possibility—if I elect to forget that I am a square peg -in a round hole and doomed to remain such.” - -“Oh, Dan, I’m so sorry!” - -“Sorry for whom?” - -“For—everybody.” - -The slight hesitation between her words caused him to smile faintly. -Vaguely he had hoped she would feel sorry for him exclusively. Her next -question convinced him that Maisie, in common with the rest of the -world, had a more alert interest in herself than in him. - -“Then there is danger, Dan? Something may happen to us?” - -“There is a possibility, Maisie. However, I must admit that my feeling -that such a possibility exists is based on nothing tangible. If I leave -the office for a long vacation, this firm will be in the position of a -pugilist who has incautiously left a wide opening for his opponent to -swat him to defeat.” - -“Whose fault is it?” said Maisie. - -“I do not mean to criticize my partner, Maisie, but if, while I should -be away, we climb out on the end of a limb and then somebody saws off -the limb, the responsibility for our fall will be entirely your Uncle -John Casson’s. The man is an optimist, devoid of mental balance.” - -“Have you and Uncle John been quarreling, Dan?” - -“No. What good does that do? If mischief is done, quarreling will -neither avert nor cure it. In a business dilemma your uncle always loses -his head, so I practise the gentle art of keeping mine!” He drew a chair -up to her and prepared for a confidential chat. “You must know, Maisie, -that following my entrance into this firm after my father’s death we -have had five narrow escapes from serious financial embarrassment, due -to Mr. Casson’s passion for taking long chances for large profits. And -if five beatings fail to cure a man my opinion is that he is incurable. -Holding that opinion as I do, I fear the result if I leave the office -for more than a month and expose your uncle to temptation.” - -“It is kind of you to say that, Dan. Perhaps you have been too gentle -with Uncle John. Perhaps if you had asserted yourself——” - -He held up a deprecating hand. “Forgive me, Maisie, if I assure you that -the only way to assert oneself with your avuncular relative is with some -sort of heavy blunt instrument.” - -His bluntness caused her to flush faintly, but she kept her temper. “I -believe your father and Uncle John quarreled frequently, Dan.” - -“Yes, that is true. But that was not because your uncle is a difficult -man to get along with in the ordinary day to day business. He is a -charming and agreeable old gentleman for whom I entertain a great deal -of respect and affection. My father was undiplomatic, aggressive and -extremely capable. For a quarter of a century he dominated the affairs -of Casson and Pritchard, and before he died he warned me if I should -take his place in the firm to do likewise.” He was silent, looking out -of the window at the ferryboats. “A horrible legacy,” he said. “I loathe -dominating people.” - -“Uncle John always resented your father’s domination.” - -“I have observed that most people resent that which is good for them. -Since my father’s death your uncle has evinced a disposition to run -hog-wild with power, as the senior member of the firm. The sublimated -old jackass!” - -“My uncle is nothing of the sort, Dan Pritchard.” - -He disregarded her protest, because he knew she had protested out of a -sense of loyalty to an uncle who had stood in the place of a father to -her since her fifth birthday. And John Casson, he knew, was both kind -and indulgent. But he also knew that Maisie knew her relative was -exactly what Dan Pritchard had called him. - -“The first time Mr. Casson disregarded my youth and lack of business -experience and jumped in over his head,” Dan continued, “I hauled him -out by the simple method of disregarding him and insuring all of our -ledger accounts, because one of them was very doubtful. Well, we -collected that insurance and all we were out was the premium. Your uncle -talked of suicide when he thought he had ruined both of us, but when he -discovered I’d saved the firm he accepted about seventy-five per cent of -the credit for my perspicacity. In those days, Maisie, it wasn’t -necessary for us to have a very heavy loss in order to be embarrassed or -ruined. All that saved us the last time was the war, which caught us -with a flock of schooners on long time charters at low freight rates. - -“Why, Maisie, I haven’t dared to leave him alone for years. He is no -longer a young man, and his naturally uncertain judgment hasn’t improved -with age. From August, nineteen fourteen, when the Great War began until -April, nineteen seventeen, when this country joined with the Allies, I -admit I gambled. I gambled everything I had and I induced your uncle to -gamble everything he had, and between us we committed Casson and -Pritchard to a point miles in advance of what would, ordinarily, have -been the danger point. - -“I am a conservative in business, but I knew then that we were gambling -on a rising market and that we would be safe while the war lasted. Even -during the year and a half I was in the navy and your uncle had a free -hand in the direction of our business, I did not worry. Those were the -days when all radicals made quick fortunes because they just could not -go wrong on charters and the prices of commodities. Three months after -the armistice had been signed I returned to civil life and since then I -have been very busy getting our firm out from under the avalanche of -deflation which must inevitably follow this war, even as it followed the -Civil War. It has not been an easy task, Maisie, for your uncle has -developed a spirit of arrogance and stubbornness difficult to combat.” - -“Yes,” Maisie agreed, “Uncle John has acquired a very good opinion of -himself as a business man.” - -Pritchard nodded. “Those days when I was in the service and he operated -alone have spoiled him. However, only this morning I succeeded in -gaining his consent—in writing—to the sale, at a nice profit, of the -last of our long-term charters at war rates. Now, if I can hold him in -line until the deflation process commences, I shall be well pleased with -myself.” - -“Is the money burning a hole in Uncle’s pocket?” - -“I fear it is. He is seventy years old; yet, instead of planning to -retire, he seethes with a desire to double his present fortune. He has -dreams of vast emprise. I wish he had gout instead!” - -“Casson and Pritchard is a partnership, Dan. Why do you not incorporate? -Then if the business fails, through any indiscretion of Uncle John, you -will not be responsible for more than your fifty per cent of the -company’s debts.” - -“Forty per cent, Maisie. I was admitted to partnership on that basis, -although my father was an equal partner. However, his death terminated -that partnership and I suppose Mr. Casson felt that with my youth and -inexperience forty per cent was generous.” - -The girl was silent, gazing abstractedly out of the window. Dan realized -that she was striving to scheme a way out for him, and he smiled in -anticipation of what her plan would be. He was not mistaken. - -“Dan,” she said presently, “I believe you are more or less of a thorn in -Uncle John’s side. Why do you not sell out to him, retire and paint -pictures? I feel certain he would be glad to buy you out.” - -He sighed. “There are several minor reasons and one major reason why -such a course would be repugnant to me.” - -“Name them.” - -“Mr. Casson, Mrs. Casson and all of our employees constitute the minor -reasons. You constitute the major one.” - -She flushed pleasurably and the lambent light of a great affection -leaped into her fine eyes. He continued: - -“I fear the old gentleman would make a mess of the business if my -guiding hand should be withdrawn, and at his age—consider the sheltered -life you have led, the ease and comfort and luxury and freedom from -financial worry! Maisie, it would be a sorry mess, indeed.” - -“So you have concluded to hang on, eh, Dan?” - -He nodded. “And while hanging on I hang back, like a balky mule on his -halter.” - -“‘Go not, like the quarry slave, scourged to his dungeon,’” she quoted -bitterly. “Nevertheless, I fail to see why a nice consideration of -my—of our—comfort should deter you from seeking your own happiness.” - -“Why, Maisie, you know very well I’m terribly fond of you.” - -“Indeed, Dan! This is the first official knowledge I have had of it, -although, of course, I have for years suspected that you and I were very -dear friends. However, Dan, my friendship is not one that demands great -sacrifices. I—I——” - -Tears blurred her eyes and her voice choked, but she recovered her poise -quickly. With averted face she said: “I’m sure, my dear Dan, I would -much prefer to see you painting your pictures than serving as a -sacrifice on the altar of your—of our—friendship.” - -“I think I might be able to glean a certain melancholy happiness from -the sacrifice,” he protested. - -“Dan Pritchard, you are exasperatingly dull today. I dislike being under -obligation to anybody.” - -He held up a deprecating hand. “You know, Maisie, I have always given -you my fullest confidence, as I would to a sister. And I do this in the -belief that you will understand perfectly. My dear girl, I am not -complaining because I have to stick by this business. I am merely -voicing my disappointment at the impossibility of taking the sort of -vacation I had planned. If I——” - -A knock sounded on the door, and a moment later John Casson entered. He -was a large, florid old gentleman, groomed to the acme of sartorial and -tonsorial perfection—a handsome old fellow with a hearty and expansive -manner, but a man, nevertheless, whom a keen student of human nature -would instantly deduce to be one who thought rather well of himself. - -“What? Dan, my boy, are you still on the job? Maisie, can’t you induce -him to drive to the country club with us? How about nine holes of golf?” - -Dan Pritchard shook his head. “Not today, sir, thank you.” - -“No? Sorry, my boy. Maisie, are you ready to run along?” - -“Yes, Uncle.” - -She rose hurriedly, went to the mirror in Dan’s wash cabinet and -powdered her nose. And while powdering it she studied critically the -reflection, in that mirror, of Dan Pritchard’s long, sad, wistful, -thoughtful face. It was in repose now, for Casson had walked to the -window and was looking out over the bay; and Maisie had ample -opportunity to watch Dan and wonder what was going on inside that bent -head. - -“Sweet old thing,” she soliloquized. “I love you so. I wonder if you’ll -ever know—if you’ll ever care—if it will ever occur to you, dear -dreamer, to diagnose that warm friendship and discover that it may be -love. For just now, stupid, you talked of sacrifice—for me. Oh, Dan, I -could beat you!” - -She crossed the room silently and stood beside his chair. As he started, -politely, to rise, she bent and placed her lips to his ear. “Art is a -jealous mistress. I am told. I hope, Dan, you’ll be as true to her as -you can be. I’m almost jealous of her.” - -He glanced meaningly at old Casson, who was beating time with his -fingers on the window-pane and striving to hum a popular fox-trot. “The -old bungler!” Dan whispered. “Come in and visit me the next time you -come to the office. And if you’ll invite me over to dinner some night -next week I shall accept. I want to continue our conversation. I——” - -He glanced swiftly at Casson, saw that the old gentleman was still -preoccupied with his pseudo-valuable thoughts and decided to risk -putting through a plan which had that instant popped into his head. He -took Maisie’s chin in thumb and forefinger, drew her swiftly toward him -and kissed her on the lips. Old Casson continued to beat his unmusical -tattoo on the window-pane, and Maisie, observing this, grimaced at his -broad back and—returned Dan’s kiss! For a breathless instant they stood -staring at each other—and then old Casson turned. - -“_Au revoir_, Danny dear,” said Maisie in a voice that rang with joy. - -“Good-by, Maisie. Good afternoon, Mr. Casson. I hope you’ll enjoy your -game.” - -“Thank you, boy. Ta-ta!” - -Dan bowed them out of his office and returned to his seat by the window. - -“Thunder!” he murmured presently. “Thunder, lightning and a downpour of -frogs and small fishes! Now, what imp put into my silly head that -impulse to kiss Maisie! I’m mighty fond of Maisie, but I’m not at all -certain that I’d care to marry her—she’s so practical and dominating -and lovable. Such a good pal. I wonder if I’d be happy married to -Maisie. . . . I’m a lunatic. When fellows of my mental type marry they -give hostages to fortune, and I haven’t lived yet. My life has been dull -and prosaic—nothing new under heaven—and then I had that impulse—yes, -that was new! That kiss from Maisie was an adventure. It thrilled me. I -wonder what put the idea into my fool head!” - -If he had not been fully as stupid as Maisie gave him credit for being, -he would have known that Maisie had put the idea into his head. Being -what he was, however, he went down to Meiggs Wharf at four o’clock to -meet Henderson, still obsessed with the belief that, all unknown to -himself hitherto, he was a singularly daring, devilish and original -character! - - - - - CHAPTER III - - -Following the departure of the Customs tug, Gaston of the Beard had sat -below in earnest converse with Tamea. The Triton had wept a little at -first, albeit his tears were not for himself but for Tamea; and after -her initial gust of despair and grief, the girl had remembered that -strength and not weakness was what her father expected of her. -Accordingly she had rallied to the task of comforting him. - -“And you knew I had contracted this disease, my daughter?” old Gaston -queried amazedly. - -“_Oui, mon père._ I saw the puffy places on your cheeks and knuckles -before we sailed from Riva, but I was not certain until I saw you one -day in swimming. There is a white patch on your right shoulder.” - -“But you have touched me, Tamea. You have caressed me——” - -“And shall again, dear one. The disease has but recently made its -appearance. There are no active lesions and I am not fearful, father -Larrieau.” - -“In this country, Tamea, when one is afflicted so, he is restrained of -his liberty. He is confined in a hospital called the pesthouse. There -are no men or women there with whom I should care to associate—and I am -old enough to die, anyhow. I would be free from this tainted body and -dwell with your mother in Paliuli”—the Polynesian equivalent of heaven. - -Tamea had no answer for this. All too thoroughly she divined the hidden -meaning in his speech, but because she was what she was—a glorious -pagan—the knowledge of the course which Gaston of the Beard -contemplated aroused in her neither apprehension nor grief. To Tamea the -mystery of death was no greater than the mystery of birth. Men and women -lived their appointed time and passed on to Paliuli, if they were worthy -like her father; or to Po, the world of darkness, if they were unworthy. -The departure for Paliuli was not one to cause a grief greater than that -experienced when one’s nearest and dearest departed for a neighboring -island, to be absent for an indefinite period. Of course she would weep, -for were not her people the most affectionate and tender-hearted race in -the world? - -And was not she, the last of her line, a descendant of kings and -expected to meet with complacency whatever of good or of evil life might -have in store for her? So she tugged the great bush of a beard -affectionately, from time to time, as her father talked, telling her of -his plans for her, his ambitions and desires, impressing upon her, above -all things, the necessity for absolute obedience to the man whom he -would name her guardian. - -With a full heart Tamea gave him the promise he desired, and when she -noticed how much the assurance comforted him her triumphant youth routed -for the nonce consideration of everything save the necessity for -cheering her father. So she went to her stateroom and returned with—an -accordion! It was a splendid instrument belonging to old Larrieau, and -Tamea had learned to play it very well by ear. She lay back in her chair -and commenced to play very, very softly a ballad that was old a decade -before Tamea was born, to wit, “Down Went McGinty!” - -But—it had a lilt to it, and presently her father was beating time and -humming the song. And Tamea, like her father, like so many of her -mother’s race, had a gift for clowning; now, as she played, she swayed -her body a trifle, raised her shoulders on the long drawn out “D-o-w-n” -and made funny faces; somehow the instrument seemed to wail and sob as -McGinty sank to the bottom of the sea. It was ridiculous, wholly -amusing, and old Gaston’s mellow bellow of laughter reached the ears of -Dan Pritchard while yet his launch was a cable’s length from the Moorea. -And then Tamea swung her instrument and broke into “La Marseillaise” -while her father sang it as only a Frenchman can. - -Dan Pritchard came overside and stuck his head down through the -ventilator over the deck-house. “Gaston,” he remarked, when the singer -ceased, “I came because I heard you were very ill.” - -“Ill, _mon petit_, ill? I am worse than ill. I am a dead man and I sing -at my own wake. Come down, rascal! By my beard, my old heart sings to -see you, Dan Pritchard. Come down, I tell you.” - -“Coming,” Dan answered laughingly—and came. - -“I could embrace you, my boy,” the old sailor informed him, “but during -Lent one must do something to mortify the flesh. Besides, I have had the -devilish luck to acquire leprosy.” - -Dan Pritchard made no sign that this news was disturbing, albeit he was -hearing it for the first time. - -“Well, if I may not shake your hand, give me a tug at your beard, -Gaston. Upon my word, there is no blight on those whiskers, old -shipmate.” And before Larrieau could prevent him he had grasped a -handful of whiskers and given the huge head a vigorous shaking. The -Triton, tremendously pleased, roared out an oath to hide a sob. - -“Dan, this is my well beloved daughter, Tamea. Tamea, my dear child, -this is Monsieur Dan Pritchard, the gentleman of whom we were speaking.” - -Tamea’s wondrous smoky eyes glowed with a welcoming light. “He who -twitches my father’s beard—when he _knows_,” she said very distinctly, -“shall never lack the love and respect of my father’s daughter. Monsieur -Dan Pritchard, my father would he might embrace you. Behold! I embrace -you—once for old Gaston of the Beard and once for myself.” And she set -her accordion on the cabin table, walked calmly to Dan Pritchard, drew -him to her heart and kissed him, in friendly fashion, on each cheek. - -Embarrassed, Dan took her hand in his and patted it. “You are a sweet -child,” he said simply. Then, turning to the old man: “Gaston, it’s -great to see you again. But explain yourself, wretch. How dare you foul -up the Moorea with your frightful indisposition?” - -“I was ever a disciple of the devil, Dan. It’s all through the islands. -The Chinese brought it. Dan, I am to be taken from Tamea—forever—and I -go as soon as my business has been arranged. Here is the book containing -my accounts as master to date. There is a balance of four thousand eight -hundred and nine dollars and eight cents due me. Give this to Tamea for -her personal needs. The vouchers are in this envelope. What is a fair -price for my one-quarter interest in the Moorea?” - -“She is an old vessel but sound, and she pays her way like a lady, -Gaston. She’s worth twenty-five thousand dollars. I will buy your -interest on that basis.” - -“Sold. Invest the money for Tamea. Here are drafts on the Bank of -California for one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. I have indorsed -them to you. Buy bonds with them for Tamea. And here”—he burrowed in -the base of his beard and brought forth a small tobacco bag he had -hidden in that hirsute forest—“are the crown jewels of my little Tamea. -They are the black pearls I have come by, from time to time. It was -known that I had some of great value and I have had to conceal them -carefully.” He laughed his bellowing laugh. “Pay the duty on them, Dan, -if you are more honest than I; then sell them and buy more bonds for -Tamea.” - -Dan Pritchard took an old envelope from his pocket, Larrieau dropped the -bag into it, and Dan sealed the envelope. - -“I desire that Tamea be educated and affianced to some decent fellow. -Tamea, hear your father. You are not to marry any man Monsieur Dan -Pritchard does not approve of.” - -Dan looked at her. “I promise,” she replied simply. - -“You are to be her guardian, Dan.” - -“Very well, Gaston,” said Dan instantly, “since you desire it. I shall -try to discharge the office in a commendable manner.” - -“That, my boy, is why the office is yours. For your trouble you shall -have my gratitude while I live and the gratitude of Tamea after I am -dead. Also, you shall be the executor of my estate, which will bring you -a nice fee, and in addition the largest and most beautiful pearl in that -lot is yours. It will make a magnificent setting for a ring for the -woman you may marry—if you have not married.” - -“I still revel in single blessedness, Gaston.” - -The sailor nodded approvingly. “Time enough to settle down after you are -forty,” he agreed. “You will select the pearl, however. It is yours now. -It is magnificent. Its equal is not to be found in the world, I do -believe. The heart of it has a warm glow, like my old heart when I think -of my friendship for your good father and for you—when I think of Tamea -and Tamea’s wonderful mother. Damnation! I have lived! I have known -love; my great carcass has quivered to the thrill of life as a schooner -quivers in the grip of a _willi-waw_!” He smiled wistfully at Dan. Then: -“Well, bring down your lawyer, Dan. I would make my will, leaving all I -possess to Tamea.” - -At a summons from Dan, Henderson came down into the cabin and was -introduced to Gaston of the Beard and his daughter. The last will and -testament of the Triton was as simple as the man who signed it, and Dan -and the lawyer appended their signatures as witnesses. - -“Now then, Gaston,” said Dan, “of what does your estate consist?” - -“These pearls, the money due me for disbursements made for account of -the Moorea and her owners, my interest in the Moorea and these drafts on -San Francisco. I have no real estate, and I owe nobody. Neither does -anybody owe me.” - -“Then,” said Dan smilingly, “why make a will, with its fees and taxes? -Why not make a gift of all you possess to Tamea now? Gifts are not -taxable, nor do they have to be probated—expensively.” - -Gaston of the Beard smiled and winked at the lawyer. “I knew I should -make no mistake in entrusting my little Tamea to this good friend,” he -declared. “Dan, the drafts are already indorsed to her. Take them. The -pearls you already have. Go ashore, my good friend, and return with a -bill of sale and a check for my interest in the Moorea, which I sell to -you, and your firm’s check for the amount due me on the final adjustment -of the ship’s accounts. I will then indorse both checks to Tamea and the -troublesome business of dying will have been simplified a -thousand-fold.” - -Dan returned to the office of Casson and Pritchard, found a printed bill -of sale form such as is used in shipping offices, filled it in, unlocked -the safe, drew Casson and Pritchard’s check and his own for the amount -due Larrieau and returned to the Moorea. Three scratches of a pen and -Dan’s word passed, and the estate of Gaston of the Beard had been -probated and distributed. - -Meanwhile Tamea had opened the boxes of flowers Dan had brought aboard -in compliance with her father’s request. Deftly she wove a _lei_ of -sweet peas, and when the business with Dan and the lawyer was done she -hung the _lei_ around old Gaston’s burly neck and garlanded his shaggy -head with roses. - -Presently, at his suggestion, Tamea called the steward, who brought -glasses and a dusty bottle of old French Malaga. When the glasses had -been filled and passed by Tamea, Gaston of the Beard raised his on high. - -“I drink to my loves, living and dead; to you, friend Dan Pritchard, and -to you, Monsieur l’Avocat! _Morituri te salutamus!_ I wish you good -luck, good health, happiness and a life just long enough not to become a -burden. May you live as joyously as I have lived and love life as I have -loved it; may you die as contented as I shall die, and without repining. -And may we embrace, like true friends and clean, in Paliuli!” - -They drank. - -“I have six quarts of that Malaga left. It is very old and of a rare -vintage. Monsieur l’Avocat, will you have money for your fee or would -you prefer the six live soldiers?. . . Ah, I thought so! The steward -will deliver them to you at your home, provided the prohibition agents -are not encountered first. Let us go on deck.” - -At the head of the companion Tamea kissed a rose and passed it to her -father. - -And that was their farewell. - -“The tide has turned. It is at the ebb. It will bear me far to the sea -that I have loved and upon whose bosom my days have been spent,” said -Gaston of the Beard casually. “Thank you, dear Dan, for all that you -have been to me in life, for all that you will be to me in death. I go, -finding it hurts to leave those I love. Farewell, Dan Pritchard, and you -also, my good Monsieur l’Avocat. . . Tamea, dear child, I depart, loving -you.” - -He pressed to his red lips the rose she had given him and then, with a -look of unutterable love for Tamea and a blithe kiss tossed to sea and -sky, he ran swiftly to the rail, stepped over it, and disappeared with a -very small splash for so huge a man. . . . - -“He has gone to join my mother in Paliuli,” said Tamea bravely. “He goes -to her, flower-laden, like a bridegroom. It is the custom in Riva with -those for whom life has lost its taste to have their loved ones adorn -them with flowers; then they walk out into the sea until they are seen -no more.” - -Presently, to Dan Pritchard, watching over the taffrail of the Moorea, -something floated up from the dark depths and drifted astern. It was the -emblem of love, the crown of roses and the _lei_ with which Tamea had -decked the great pagan e’er he left her for Paliuli. . . . Afterward Dan -remembered that Gaston had worn his marvelous going-ashore clothes and -that his tremendous trousers had bagged somewhat more than usual. So Dan -suspected he had taken the precaution to fill his pockets with pig lead -or iron bolts, and with the tide at the ebb he was drifting in those -dark depths out through the Golden Gate at the rate of four miles an -hour. . . . Well, they would not see _him_ again. - -The sun had sunk behind Telegraph Hill, and dusk was creeping over the -waters of the bay of St. Francis. Dan saw the flag at Fort Mason come -fluttering down, and across the waters came the sound of the garrison -band; from the church of St. Francis de Sales over in North Beach the -Angelus was ringing. - -“Well, Mr. Henderson,” said Dan presently, “the day’s work is done. The -launch is still alongside, so I suggest that you go ashore first and -send the launch back for me. Your family doubtless expects you home to -dinner. I shall remain here, I think, and go ashore later, when Tamea -has packed her belongings. I don’t suppose I ought to leave the child -here all night alone.” - -Mr. Henderson inclined his head, for he was profoundly affected; as the -launch coughed away in the gathering gloom to land him at Meiggs Wharf, -Dan descended to the cabin, whither Tamea had gone. - -As he entered the main cabin she came out of her stateroom. Her glorious -black hair had been loosely braided and hung over her left breast; in -the braid a scarlet sweet pea-blossom nestled. She still wore the cheap -white cotton skirt Dan had observed on her when he first came aboard and -she was still hatless, but buttoned tightly around her lithe young body -she now wore an old navy pea-jacket; under her arm she carried her -father’s very expensive accordion. - -“I am your Tamea now, Monsieur Dan Pritchard,” she announced -tremulously. “In this new land I know no one but you. I go with you -where you will. I will obey you always, for you are my father and my -mother.” - -The pathos of that simple speech stabbed him. Poor, lonely little alien! -Poor wanderer, in a white man’s world—a world which, Dan sensed, she -would never quite understand. How wondrously simple and sweet and -unspoiled she was! How transcendently lovely! He wished he might paint -her thus—he had a yearning to stretch forth his hand and touch her -hair. . . and presently he yielded to this desire. At his gentle, -paternal touch all the stark, suppressed agony in the heart of the Queen -of Riva rose in her throat and choked her. . . . - -Dan Pritchard took the outcast in his arms and soothed and petted her -while she emptied her full heart. And to him the experience did not seem -an unusual one, for as Maisie had often assured him he had been born to -bear the burdens of other people. He was one of those great-hearted men -who seem destined to daddy the world. . . . - -He wiped her tears away with his handkerchief and when the launch bumped -alongside again they said good-by to the Moorea. Kahanaha, the Kanaka, -wept, for he had sailed ten years with Gaston of the Beard. As they -disappeared into the darkness headed for Meiggs Wharf, his mellow -baritone voice followed them. - -He was singing “_Aloha!_” - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - -Throughout the ten minute journey from the Moorea to Meiggs Wharf, Tamea -sat beside Dan Pritchard in the stern sheets of the launch, holding his -hand tightly and, in silence, gazing ahead toward the lights of the -city. She seemed afraid to let go his hand, nor did she relinquish it -when they paused beside Dan’s limousine, waiting for them at the head of -the dock. Graves, his chauffeur, with the license of an old and favored -employee, was sound asleep inside the car when Dan opened the door and -prodded him; at sight of his employer standing hand in hand with Tamea, -Graves’s eyes fairly popped with excitement and interest. - -Tamea’s lashes still held a few recalcitrant tears and she looked very -childish and forlorn. Dan was carrying her accordion, and observing -this, Graves instantly concluded that his master had casually attached -himself to some wandering gipsy troubadour. He stared and pursed his -lips in a soundless whistle; his eyebrows went up perceptibly. - -Tamea’s moist eyes blazed. Rage superseded her grief. - -“Monsieur Dan Pritchard,” she demanded, “is this man your servant?” - -Dan nodded. - -“If we were in Riva I should have him beaten with my father’s razor belt -to teach him humility.” - -Dan reflected, sadly humorous, that it would be like Gaston of the Beard -to utilize a razor strop for any purpose save the one for which it had -been intended. But the girl’s complaint annoyed him. - -“Oh, don’t bother about Graves!” he urged. “He isn’t awake yet. He -thinks he’s seeing things at night.” - -“The man stares at me,” Tamea complained. “He is saying to himself: -‘What right has this girl with my master?’ I know. Yes, you bet.” - -“Graves,” said Dan wearily, “you are, I fear, permitting yourself a -liberty. Wake up, get out of here and in behind the wheel. And by the -way, Graves, hereafter you will be subject to the orders of Miss -Larrieau. In her own country Miss Larrieau is a queen and accustomed to -the most perfect service from everybody with whom she comes in contact. -I expect, therefore, that you will remember your manners. Driving for a -bachelor is very apt, I quite realize, to make any chauffeur careless, -but from now on, Graves, whenever Queen Tamea of Riva craves snappy -service, see that she gets it. I should regret very much the necessity -for flaying you with a razor strop.” - -“Lay forward, you,” Tamea commanded. “What business have you aft? Your -place is in the fo’castle, not the cabin.” - -Fortunately, Graves was blessed with a sufficient sense of humor to -respond humbly: “Beg pardon, Your Majesty. I didn’t mean to get fresh. -As the boss says, wakin’ me up sudden like that scared me sorter.” - -He carefully drew the curtains in the rear, on both sides and in front, -for, notwithstanding his cavalier manner in the presence of royalty, -Graves was more than passing fond of his employer and desired to spare -the latter the humiliation of being seen with a lady of uncertain -lineage and doubtful social standing riding in public with him in his -limousine. Graves was fully convinced that his master suddenly had gone -insane, and as a result it behooved him now, more than ever before, to -render faultless service. He wondered where the Queen was taking the -boss or where the boss was taking the Queen; already he was resolved to -drive them through streets rarely frequented by the people who dwelt in -Dan Pritchard’s world. - -Tamea’s haughty voice disturbed his benevolent thoughts. - -“Are you ashamed to ride with me, Dan Pritchard?” - -“Certainly not, my dear girl. Graves, how dare you draw those curtains -without permission? I’ll skin you alive for this!” - -“Beg pardon, sir,” mumbled the bewildered Graves. - -He raised the curtains, vacated the car immediately and stood at a stiff -salute while Dan handed Tamea into the luxurious interior. As he -followed her in he turned to Graves and growled, “Scoundrel! You shall -pay dearly for this.” A lightning wink took the sting out of his words, -however, and caused Graves to bow his head in simulated humiliation; -nevertheless the faithful fellow could not forbear one final effort. -Just before he closed the door upon them he switched off the dome light. -As he did so he saw Tamea’s hand slip into Dan Pritchard’s. - -“All I ask,” Graves murmured a moment later to the oil gage, “is that -Miss Morrison don’t get her lamps on them two. She don’t seem to have no -success gettin’ him to fall for her, but along comes this Portugee or -gipsy or somethin’ with an accordion on her arm, and the jig is up. -She’s dressed like a North Beach wop woman that’s married a fisherman, -but she tells him she’s a queen and wants to step out with him in his -automobile. Right away he falls for her. Bing! Bang! And they’re off in -a cloud of dust. Ain’t it the truth? When these quiet birds do step out -they go some!” - -There was a buzzing close to his left ear. - -“Sailing directions,” murmured Graves and inclined his ear toward the -annunciator. - -“Home, Graves!” said the voice of Daniel Pritchard. - -Graves quivered as if mortally stung, but out of the chaos of his -emotions the habit of years asserted itself. He nodded to indicate that -he had received his orders and understood them, and the car rolled away -down the Embarcadero. - -“Now,” murmured the hapless Graves, addressing the speedometer, “I -_know_ he’s crazy! Of course I can stand it, Sooey Wan won’t give a hoot -and Julia probably won’t let on she’s saw anything out of the way, but -Mrs. Pippy’ll give notice p. d. q. and quit quicker’n that. . . . Well, -I should worry and grow a lot of gray hairs.” - -He tooled the car carefully through rough cobbled streets which -ordinarily he would have avoided, and by a circuitous route reached Dan -Pritchard’s house in Pacific Avenue. “I’ll be shot if I’ll pull up in -front to unload them,” he resolved, and darted in the automobile -driveway, nor paused until the car was in the garage! As he reached for -the hand brake the annunciator buzzed again; again Graves inclined a -rebellious ear. - -“While appreciating tremendously the sentiments that actuate you, -Graves,” came Dan Pritchard’s calm voice, “the fact is that my garage is -scarcely a fitting place in which to unload a lady. Back out into the -street and so maneuver the car that we will be enabled to alight at the -curb in front of the house.” - -Again the habit of years conquered. Graves nodded. But to the button on -the motor horn he said dazedly: - -“He’s got the gall of a burglar! Here I go out of my way to help him and -he throws a monkey wrench into the machinery. Very well, boss! If you -can stand it I guess I can. I ain’t got no proud flesh!” - -With a sinking heart he obeyed and stood beside the car watching Dan -Pritchard steer Tamea up the steps; saw the incomprehensible man open -the street door with his latchkey; saw him propel Tamea gently through -the portal and follow; saw the door close on the incipient scandal! - -Then he looked carefully up and down the street and satisfied himself -that he had been the only witness to the amazing incident; whereupon he -put the car up and hastened into the servants’ dining room to ascertain -what, if any, impression had been created upon Mrs. Pippy, the -housekeeper, Julia, the maid, and Sooey Wan, the Chinese cook, who, with -Graves, constituted the Pritchard _ménage_. - -As Graves took his seat at the servants’ table and gazed inquisitively -through the door into the kitchen where Sooey Wan, squatted on his -heels, was glowering at something in the oven, Pritchard entered the -kitchen. Sooey Wan looked up at him but did not deem it necessary to -stand up. - -“Boss,” he demanded, “wha’ for you allee time come home late for -dinner?” - -“I don’t come home late for dinner all the time. Confound your Oriental -hide, Sooey Wan, are you never going to quit complaining?” - -The imperturbable Sooey Wan glanced at the alarm clock on an adjacent -shelf. - -“You klazy, boss,” he retorted. “You fi’, ten, fi’teen, twenty-fi’ -minutes late. Dinner all spoil, ever’thing go lotten boss don’ come home -on time.” - -“Go to thunder, you old raven! Quit your croaking,” Dan admonished the -heathen. - -Sooey Wan flew—or rather pretended to fly—into a rage. “Helluva note,” -he cried, and shied a butcher knife into the sink. “Twenty year I cook -for you papa, but he never late. Papa allee time in heap hurry. Son, -allee time go slow, takum easy. Well, you likee lotten dinner I ketchum, -boss. You likee A-numba-one dinner no can do—gee, Missa Dan, wha’s -mallah? You no look happy.” - -“I’m a bit distressed tonight, Sooey Wan.” - -Sooey Wan stood up and laid a hand on Dan’s shoulder. “You tell Sooey -Wan,” he urged, and in his faded old eyes, in his manner and in the -intonation of his voice, no longer shrill with pretended rage, there was -evidenced the tremendous affection which the old San Francisco Chinese -servant class always accords to a kindly and generous employer and -particularly to that employer’s children. - -“A good friend has died, Sooey Wan.” - -“That’s hell,” said Sooey Wan sympathetically. “Me know him, boss?” - -“Yes, he was a friend of yours, too, Sooey, Captain Larrieau, the -Frenchman with the big beard.” - -“Sure, I remember him. When he come Sooey Wan have sole for dinner. He -teachee me how makum sauce Margie Lee.” - -“Yes, poor Gaston was very fond of tenderloin of sole with sauce -Margery, as it is made in Marseilles. Well, he’s dead, Sooey Wan, and -tonight I brought his daughter home with me. I am her guardian.” - -“Allee same papa, eh?” - -Dan nodded, and Sooey Wan thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “All li’, Missa -Dan,” he replied. “I have A-numba-one dinner! Too bad captain die. Him -one really nice man—him likee Missa Dan velly much. Too bad!” - -He patted his employer on the shoulder in a manner that meant volumes. - -“The lady has to dress, Sooey Wan, so we cannot have dinner for half an -hour yet.” - -“You leavee dinner to Sooey Wan,” the old Chinaman assured him. “Missa -Dan, you likee cocktail now?” - -“Never mind, thank you.” - -“Sure, boss, you likee cocktail now. You no talkee Sooey Wan. Sooey Wan -fixee nice Gibson cocktail. My boy ketchum cold heart, Sooey Wan makum -heart warm again. . . . Shut up, shut up! Boss, you allee time talkee -too damn much.” - -Realizing the uselessness of protest, Dan stood by while Sooey Wan -manufactured the heart-warmer. And when the drink was ready the old -Chinaman produced two glasses and filled one for himself. “I dlink good -luck to spirit Captain Larrieau. Hoping devil no catchum,” he said. -“Tonight me go joss-house and burn devil paper.” - -He set down his empty glass and with paternal gentleness thrust Dan out -of the kitchen; as the door swung to behind the latter, Sooey Wan began -audibly to discharge a cargo of oaths, both Chinese and English. This -appeared to relieve his feelings considerably, for presently he -commenced to sing softly, which emboldened Graves to address him. - -“Say, Sooey,” he suggested, “I wouldn’t mind bein’ wrapped around one of -those cocktails of the boss’s myself.” - -Sooey Wan looked at him—once. Once was sufficient. Ah, these new -servants—these fresh American boys! How little did they know their -place! What a febrile conception of their duty toward the author of the -payroll was theirs! - -“Bum!” hissed Sooey Wan. “Big Amelican bum!” Seizing the poker he -commenced stirring the fire vigorously, from time to time favoring -Graves with a tigerish glance which said all too plainly, “I stir the -fire with this, but if I hear any more of your impudence I’ll knock your -brains out with it.” - -Graves subsided. He knew who was the head of that house! - - - - - CHAPTER V - - -From the moment that he and Tamea left the schooner Dan’s thoughts had -been occupied with the weightiest problem that had ever been presented -to him for solution. What was he to do with Tamea and where was he to -take her? For a while he was comforted by the thought that he could not -possibly do better than bring her to Maisie Morrison, explain the -circumstances and ask Maisie to take the orphan in for the night, lend -her some clothing and tell her a few things about life in a civilized -community which it was apparent she should know at the earliest -opportunity. Then he reflected that Maisie might not be at all obliged -to him for thrusting such a task upon her; clearly it was none of her -business what happened to this half-caste Polynesian girl. Always -practical, Maisie would, doubtless, suggest that the girl be taken to a -hotel; even if she did not suggest it, that pompous old ass, Casson, -would. - -Dan remembered that Gaston of the Beard had never liked Casson and that -Casson had never liked Gaston of the Beard. Nothing save Gaston’s record -for efficiency and shrewd trading, plus Dan’s influence, had conduced to -keep the pagan in the employ of Casson and Pritchard. - -So Dan resigned that plan, but not before he had broached it to Tamea. - -“Who is the woman, Maisie?” Tamea queried without interest. - -Dan informed her. - -“I do not like her,” Tamea decided. “I will not go to the home of a -woman I do not know.” - -It was then that Dan considered the plan of taking the girl to a hotel. -But the prospect horrified him. He could not abandon her to her own -resources in a metropolitan hotel. He had no definite idea how far Riva -had progressed in civilization, but he assumed it was still, to all -intents and purposes, in the Neolithic Age, and consequently Tamea would -find plumbing, hot and cold water, electric lights, telephones, strange -maids and perky little bellhops much too much to assimilate alone on -this, her first night in her new environment. Moreover, Dan shrank from -the task of entering the Palace or the St. Francis hotels with Tamea, -registering her as Queen Tamea of Riva, and having the room clerk, for -the sake of publicity for the hotel, give the ever watchful hotel -reporters a tip on an interesting story of a foreign potentate, clothed -in white cotton and a pea-jacket, who had just arrived tearful and -bareheaded, with no baggage other than a huge accordion, and accompanied -by a wealthy shipping man. - -Decidedly he could not risk that. He must avoid publicity. Remained, -therefore, no alternative save taking her to his own home, in San -Francisco’s most exclusive residence section on Pacific Heights. - -Thank God, he had in his employ as housekeeper a prim and proper person, -a Mrs. Pippy. In her fiftieth year Mrs. Pippy’s husband, a bank cashier, -had absconded to parts unknown with a lady somewhat younger and -handsomer than Mrs. Pippy, who thereupon had been forced to earn her -living in almost the only way possible for a woman of her advanced age. -Knowing her to be a woman of taste, culture and refinement, Maisie had -induced Dan to engage her at his housekeeper, which he was very loath to -do, owing to serious objection on the part of Sooey Wan. Maisie had run -this oriental tyrant quickly to earth, however. Sooey Wan could cook a -dinner, but he couldn’t order one and he couldn’t see that it was served -properly; wherefore, since Dan liked to entertain his friends at dinner -very frequently, Mrs. Pippy could be depended upon to manage his -household affairs efficiently and delightfully. - -At Maisie’s suggestion, Mrs. Pippy had engaged as waitress and housemaid -an exile from Erin who answered to the name of Julia. Julia was an -amiable creature who daily entrusted Sooey Wan with the sum of -twenty-five cents to be bet for her in a Chinese lottery in Washington -Alley. Dan remembered now that Julia was about the same size as Tamea, -and only the Sunday afternoon previous he had seen Julia leaving the -house clad in a tailored suit that gave her what Graves termed a -“snappy” look. - -“I’ll buy that suit from Julia and pay her a fine price for it,” Dan -soliloquized. “Tamea has just naturally got to have something decent to -wear downtown when the horrible job of shopping begins. And I wouldn’t -be at all surprised if Julia could sell me a pair of shoes, some -stockings and a shirtwaist, and do Tamea’s hair up in an orderly manner. -Mrs. Pippy will take her in hand and do the needful. If she doesn’t,” he -added fiercely, “I’ll dismiss her immediately.” - -Fortunately, Tamea’s mournful thoughts claimed her attention; she was -content to sit perfectly quiet and hold Dan’s hand, as if from the -contact she drew strength to face the unknown. When Dan broached the -subject of turning her over to Maisie she had been distinctly alarmed, -and when he sang Maisie’s praises so generously, she decided that he was -very fond of Maisie, and, for a reason which she did not consider -necessary to analyze, Tamea made up her mind instantly that she was not -going to like Maisie; which decision, in view of the fact that she had -never seen Maisie, must be regarded as only another example of the -extraordinary instinct or intuition of the feminine sex, wheresoever -situated and with regard to age, color, creed, or previous condition of -servitude. - -She was relieved when Dan abandoned the subject without comment or -urging; she had a hazy impression that he had been rather nice about it -and that her father had selected, to take his place, a singularly kindly -and comfortable person, indeed. She gave his hand a little squeeze, -which he didn’t even notice. - -Mrs. Pippy was just ascending the stairs from the entrance hall when Dan -let Tamea and himself into the house. The good lady paused in her ascent -with much the same abruptness which, we imagine, characterized the -termination of the flight of Lot’s wife when that lady was metamorphosed -into a pillar of salt. - -“Good heavens, Mr. Pritchard!” she exclaimed—and assumed a regal -attitude. - -“Good evening, Mrs. Pippy,” Dan saluted her cheerfully. “May I have your -attendance here for a moment, dear Mrs. Pippy?. . . Thank you so much. -Mrs. Pippy, this young lady is Miss Tamea Larrieau, and in her own land, -which is the island of Riva, in eastern Polynesia, she is quite the most -important person of her sex. In fact, Miss Tamea is the hereditary ruler -of the Rivas, or Rivets, or whatever one might term them. Tamea, this -lady is Mrs. Pippy, who is kind enough to manage my household, Mrs. -Pippy is a kind lady who will take good care of you, won’t you, Mrs. -Pippy?” - -Mrs. Pippy favored Tamea with a wintry nod and an equally wintry and -fleeting smile. She still stood on the stairs in her regal attitude; -apparently, in the presence of royalty, she was not impressed. - -Immediately Tamea gave her guardian additional evidence of an alert -mentality and extreme sensitiveness to the slightest atmosphere of -disapproval or hostility. She favored Mrs. Pippy with a long, cool, -impersonal glance, before she turned to Dan and said, naïvely: - -“She looks like Columbia, the gem of the ocean!” - -Decidedly, Dan Pritchard was not in humorous mood; nevertheless he -burbled and churned inwardly for several seconds before conquering an -impulse to burst into maniac laughter. He realized in time, fortunately, -that he could not possibly afford to laugh at his housekeeper. The good -soul was arrayed in a black crêpe de Chine gown, trimmed with lace—a -voluminous and extremely frippery garment; standing there, her cold -countenance handsome with a classic handsomeness beneath a pile of -silvery hair, she did indeed offer a splendid comparison with the -popular conception of Columbia. - -“Pardon me, Mr. Pritchard,” said Mrs. Pippy frigidly, “did I understand -you to say that Miss Larrieau comes from eastern Polynesia?” - -“Yes, indeed, Mrs. Pippy. She arrived from there today.” - -“For a moment I was inclined to think you had been misinformed and that -the young lady hails from the region known as ‘south of Market Street.’” - -“That one went over Tamea’s head,” Dan thought. “It was meant for me. -Well, it landed.” - -He smiled upon his housekeeper. - -“We will, if you please, Mrs. Pippy, call that round a draw. Miss -Larrieau is my ward. I acquired her about two hours ago and it is my -firm intention to do as well by her as possible. To that end I crave -your indulgence and hearty coöperation, Mrs. Pippy.” - -The housekeeper thawed perceptibly. “I shall be most happy to aid you in -making Miss Larrieau as comfortable and happy as possible.” - -“That’s perfectly splendid of you, Mrs. Pippy. Tamea, my dear, will you -step into the living room and play your accordion, or do something to -amuse yourself, while Mrs. Pippy and I hold a conference?” - -“You will not go away—far?” Tamea pleaded. - -“This is my house, Tamea, and it is your home for the present at least. -You are very welcome. Whenever your dear father came to San Francisco it -was his pleasure to visit me here, to dine with me and sit up half the -night talking with me. He always felt that this was his San Francisco -home, and you must feel likewise.” - -“Very well,” Tamea replied and entered the room. A wood fire was -crackling in the large fireplace, and Tamea sat down on her heels before -this fire and held her hands out to the cheerful flames. - -“This is a cold country,” she complained. “Cold winds and cold hearts.” - -Dan rejoined Mrs. Pippy and drew her into the dining room, where, in -brief sentences, he explained Tamea and his hopes and desires concerning -her. Mrs. Pippy gave a respectful ear to his recital; that was all. - -“I have a feeling, Mr. Pritchard, that you are going to have your hands -full with that young woman,” she declared. “I have always heard that -half-castes of any kind partake of the worst characteristics of both -parents. Eurasians are—well, scarcely desirable.” - -“Tamea is not a Eurasian. She is a pure-bred Caucasian, but in many -respects she is a child of nature. It is evident that her father saw to -it that she received all the educational advantages possible in her -little world, but I must impress upon you, Mrs. Pippy, that when dealing -with her you are not dealing with a modern girl. Her outlook on life, -her thoughts, impulses—and, I dare say, her moral viewpoint—antedate -the Christian era.” - -“Is she a—Christian, Mr. Pritchard?” - -“I think not. Her father was not. Neither was he an atheist. He was a -pagan. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Tamea’s religious beliefs, if -she has any, are idolatrous.” - -“Horrible!” - -Dan smiled. “I dare say Tamea is quite as happy as any Christian, Mrs. -Pippy.” - -“I do hope she’s clean, Mr. Pritchard.” - -“Well, her people usually are. However, you might explain to her the -mysteries of a modern bathtub. Do you think you and Julia can manage to -dress her for dinner—after a fashion?” - -Mrs. Pippy expressed the hope that the experiment might prove successful -and suggested that Julia be interviewed. - -Julia, a romantic, rosy-cheeked, imaginative but extremely plain woman -in the early thirties, was overwhelmed with importance to discover that -the master of the house had elected to lean upon her, to seek her advice -and coöperation when confronted by this most unusual dilemma. - -“An’ is it lady-in-waitin’ to a queen you’d ask me to be, Misther -Pritchard? Faith, then, an’ I’ll defy you to find a body more willin’. -Of course we’ll take care of her. Why shouldn’t we? Sure, ’tis sympathy -an’ undhershtandin’ she’ll need this night. Where’s the poor lamb?” - -For some reason not quite apparent to him, Dan had a feeling that Julia -Hagerty was, beyond a doubt, the most wonderful woman he had ever met. -Mrs. Pippy, he thought, had been overeducated and civilized and -sheltered to the point where all the humanity had been squeezed out of -her, while Julia, child of the soil, had, in the daily battle for bread -and butter, been humanized to the point where she and Tamea could meet -on something akin to common ground. - -At that moment Tamea, having warmed her fingers and stretched herself -flat on her back on the thick oriental rug, took up her accordion and -commenced improvising a melody that had in it that wailing quality, that -funereal suggestion inseparable from the music of a dying race, or an -oppressed. - -As she played Tamea sang, in a sweet little voice that scarcely filled -the room, a semi-chant that Dan Pritchard suspected was also an -improvisation, with words and music dedicated to the one who was still -drifting outward with the tide. - -Mrs. Pippy’s ultra-superior countenance commenced to soften and Julia -stood listening open-mouthed. - -“The poor darlin’,” murmured Julia. - -Suddenly Tamea ceased her improvisation, shifted a few octaves and -played “One Sweetly Solemn Thought.” In the twilight of the big living -room it seemed that an organ was softly playing. - -“She’s a Christian!” Mrs. Pippy whispered dramatically. - -“I hope not,” Dan replied. “I think I prefer her pagan innocence.” - -“But how strange that, with her father not yet cold in his—ah—watery -grave, she should elect to sing and play whatever it is she plays.” - -“Well, if one be tied to tradition and humbug and false standards and -cowardice, I suppose Tamea’s conduct _is_ strange,” Dan admitted. “I -think, however, that I can understand it. Certainly I appreciate it. -What if the girl was passionately devoted to her father? What if he did -commit suicide in her presence two hours ago? They had talked it over -beforehand, sanely, and both had agreed that it was the best and -simplest way out. And Gaston wasn’t messy about it. To me his passing -was as magnificent as that of the doomed Viking of old who put out to -sea in his burning galley. Smiling, composed, he stepped blithely over -the ship’s rail. - -“Just one step from life to death, you say? No, not to death, but to -another life! We Christians who believe in the resurrection of the dead -and the communion of saints are horribly afraid of death, but the pagan -has nothing to regret and journeys over the Styx in a spirit of -adventure and altruism. Tamea will, from time to time, weep because she -will miss her father’s comradeship and affection, but never because her -father has parted with life, for to her and her people life without joy -is worse than death. - -“They make no mystery of death; it is not an occasion or a tremendous -event save when a monarch passes. No mourning clothes or mourning period -to bolster up a pretense of an affection for the deceased stronger than -that which actually existed; no tolling of bells, no sonorous ritual. -That is the hokum of our civilization. But tradition, mummery and -religion are unknown to Tamea. She is simple, sane and philosophical, -and whatever you do, Mrs. Pippy, and you, Julia, don’t pretend that -anything unusual has happened. Do not proffer her sympathy. What she -craves is affection and understanding.” - -“You are already late to dinner, Mr. Pritchard. Sooey Wan is on the -warpath,” Mrs. Pippy suggested. She was not in sympathy with Mr. -Pritchard’s views and desired to change the subject. - -“Some day I’m going to do something to Sooey Wan. I grow weary of his -tyranny. Julia, come with me and I’ll introduce you to Her Majesty.” - -Tamea turned her head as they entered the room but did not trouble to -rise. Dan noticed that her eyes were bright with unshed tears, that her -lips quivered pitifully, that the brave little smile of welcome she -summoned for him was very wistful. - -“Tamea, this is Julia, who will take good care of you.” - -The Queen of Riva sat up and looked Julia over. Julia, fully alive to -the tremendous drama of the situation, had wreathed her plain features -in a smile that was almost a friendly leer; her Irish blue eyes -glittered with curiosity and amiability. - -“Hello, Tammy, darlin’,” she crooned. “Come here to me, you poor gir’rl, -till I take care o’ you. Glory be to the Heavenly Father, did you ever -see the like o’ that shmile? An’ thim eyes, Mrs. Pippy! An’ her hair -that long she’s sittin’ on it! Wirra, will you look at her complexion! -Like ripe shtrawberries smothered in cream.” - -Julia held out her arms. Tamea stared at her for several seconds, then -carefully laid aside her accordion and stood up. - -“She is a plain woman, but her heart is one of gold,” she said to Dan, -and went to Julia and was gathered into her arms. - -Poor Julia! Like Tamea, she too was an exile, far from a land she loved -and the loving of which, with her kind, amounts to a religious duty. -Julia was a servant, a plain, uneducated woman, but at birth God had -given her the treasure for which Solomon, in his mature years, had -prayed. She had an understanding heart, and to it now she pressed the -lonely Tamea, the while she stroked the girl’s wondrous, rippling, -jet-black tresses. - -“Poor darlin’,” she crooned. “You poor orphant, you.” - -“I will kiss you,” Tamea declared, and did it. She looked over her -shoulder at Dan Pritchard. “And you will give me this woman all for -myself?” she queried. - -“Yes, my dear,” he answered brazenly. “Julia belongs to you. Did she not -give herself to you? Why should I withhold my permission? Julia is your -slave.” - -She beamed her gratitude. “Give me, please, one of my father’s black -pearls—any one you do not want for yourself.” - -Gravely Dan took from his pocket the envelope Gaston of the Beard had -entrusted to him for Tamea, and spread the pearls on his open palm. -Tamea selected one that was worth ten thousand dollars if it was worth a -penny, and handed it to Julia. - -“Observe, Julia,” she said, “the warm bright glow in the heart of this -pearl. It is like the warm bright glow in the heart of you, my Julia. -Take it. Thus I reward those who love me—thus and thus,” and she kissed -Julia’s russet cheeks. - -Julia eyed her employer with amazement and wonder. “Glory be, Misther -Pritchard,” she gasped, “what’ll I do with it?” - -“Put it away in a safe deposit box, Julia,” he suggested. “It is worth a -small fortune. And remember what I told you. Nothing that may happen -must be unusual. Understand. Now take Tamea upstairs and dress her while -I call on Sooey Wan and set dinner back half an hour.” - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - -With a shower bath, a change of linen and the donning of dinner clothes, -Dan always felt a freshening of the spirit—rather as if the grime of -commercialism had been washed away. Whether he dined alone or with -guests he always dressed for dinner. - -Sooey Wan, who added to his duties as cook those of general -superintendent of Dan’s establishment, in defiance of the authority -vested in Mrs. Pippy, and who was, on occasion, valet, counselor and -friend, came up to his room with another cocktail just as Dan finished -dressing. Also, he brought a cocktail for himself, and, while waiting -for Dan to adjust his tie, the old Chinaman helped himself to one of -Dan’s gold-tipped cigarettes. - -Ordinarily, Sooey Wan permitted himself few liberties with his boss, but -upon occasions when his acute intuition told him that the boss was low -in spirits, Sooey Wan always forgot that Dan was his boss. Then Dan -became merely Sooey Wan’s boy, the adored male baby of the first white -man for whom Sooey Wan had ever worked. The years fell away and Dan was -just a ten-year-old, and he and Sooey Wan were making red dragon kites -in the kitchen and planning to fly them the following Saturday from Twin -Peaks. - -Indeed, Pritchard, senior, had left to Sooey Wan a large share in the -upbringing and character-building of his only son, for Dan’s mother had -died that Dan might live. It had been Sooey Wan who had imparted to Dan -a respect for the inflexible code of the Chinese that a man shall honor -his father and his mother and accord due reverence to the bones of his -ancestors and the land that gave him birth. It had been Sooey Wan who, -inveterate gambler himself, nevertheless taught Dan that when a man -loses he shall take his losses smilingly and never neglect to pay his -debts. Into Dan’s small head he had instilled as much Chinese philosophy -and as much Chinese honor as he would have instilled into a son of his -own had his strange gods not denied him this supreme privilege. - -Dan knew the old Chinaman for the treasure he was and nothing that Sooey -Wan might do could possibly have offended him. In thirty-five years of -perfect service to the Pritchards, father and son, Sooey Wan had bought -and paid for the few liberties he took—an occasional cigarette in their -presence and about six cocktails per annum. - -What Sooey Wan realized his boss needed tonight was human society. Sooey -Wan felt fully equal to the task of supplying that rare commodity, and -he was in Dan’s room now for that purpose. - -“My boy feelee little better, eh?” he suggested. - -“Considerably. Life isn’t half bad, Sooey Wan. The world isn’t filled -entirely with muckers.” - -“Oh, velly nice world!” Sooey Wan agreed. “Today I ketchum ten spot in -China lottery. I play fi’ dollar. Tonight Sooey Wan feel pretty damn -good, too.” - -A silence while Dan sat down, lighted a cigarette and sipped his -cocktail. Then: - -“Julia velly happy, boss. Captain’s girl give Julia velly nice plesent. -She come show me. Missie Pip velly sorry no can understand at first. No -ketchum pearl.” And Sooey Wan chuckled like a malevolent old gnome, -while Dan laughed with him. - -“Missie Pip too high-tone’,” Sooey Wan decided. “Yeh, too muchee. No pay -muchee Missie Pip for be high-tone’. Sooey Wan don’t give a damn. Sooey -Wan ketchum pearl, all li’. No ketchum pearl, all li’. Ketchum ten spot -China lottery, velly good. Ketchum ten spot for Julia, too, but Julia no -playum heavy. Twenty-fi’ cen’s, two bittee limit.” - -The Chinese lottery was then discussed, with Sooey Wan adverting with -delightful regularity to the fact that Mrs. Pippy was in a mood to kick -herself up hill and down dale because of her lamentable failure to -recognize a queen. The gift of all the pearls ever collected in the -South Seas could not have afforded the old Chinese schemer one-half the -delight this knowledge afforded him, and Dan quickly realized that for -the pleasure of this social visit from Sooey Wan he was indebted quite -as much to Mrs. Pippy’s misfortune as he was to Sooey Wan’s unfaltering -affection. He _had_ to share this joyous news with somebody who could -appreciate it! - -Presently Sooey Wan grew serious. “I lookee thlough dining room door -when Captain’s girl go upstair,” he confided. “Velly pitty girl. Velly -damn nice, Missa Dan, you mally lady queen?” - -“No, confound you, no. What put that idea into your fool head?” - -“Captain’s girl velly nice. Bimeby, boss, you have fi’, six, seven, -maybe eight son! Sure, you have good luck. She give you many son.” - -“I don’t want many sons. Just now I do not want any.” - -“You klazy. What you think Sooey Wan stick around for, anyhow. You no -ketchum baby pretty quick wha’ for I workee for you? Hey? Me ketchum -plenty money. Me go China.” - -“You’re an interfering, scheming old duffer, Sooey. Get back to your -kitchen.” - -Sooey Wan departed in huge disgust, slamming the door. A moment later he -opened it a couple of inches and looked in. “Lady queen leady for -dinner. Look velly nice. Missa Dan, you listen Sooey Wan. Captain’s girl -velly nice.” - -Dan threw a book at him and descended to dinner. - -At the foot of the stairs he met Tamea, attended by Mrs. Pippy and -Julia. Mrs. Pippy was a being reincarnated. She beamed, she seemed -fairly to drip with the milk of human kindness. The simple Julia stood, -grinning like a gargoyle, head on one side and hands clasped under her -chin, presenting a picture of pride personified. - -“Look at her now, Misther Pritchard, an’ the day you got her,” said -Julia. - -Tamea looked up at him pridefully. She was wearing a white dress, white -silk stockings and white buckskin shoes. Her hair, caught at her nape -with a scarlet ribbon, hung in a dusky cascade down her fine straight -back. - -The combination was startling, vivid, amazingly artistic, and Dan stood -lost in admiration. If Tamea could only have managed a smile that -predicated happiness rather than sadness, Dan told himself she would -have been ravishingly beautiful. - -“You’re tremendous! Perfectly tremendous!” he assured Tamea. “But that -stunning dress——” - -“I took the liberty of telephoning Miss Morrison,” Mrs. Pippy gurgled. -“I sent Graves over after some things of hers I thought might fit Miss -Larrieau.” - -“I am extremely grateful to you, Mrs. Pippy.” In the back of his head -the words of Sooey Wan were ringing: “Missie Pip velly sorry no can -understand at first. No ketchum pearl.” Whatever the reason behind her -present cordiality, she was making a strenuous effort to overcome the -unfortunate impression she had made upon Tamea a half-hour previous. - -Sooey Wan appeared in the dining room entrance and beamed cordially upon -the guest. “What Sooey Wan tell you, boss? Velly nice, eh? You bet. -Dinner leady.” - -Dan silenced the wretch with a furious glance, took Tamea by the arm and -steered her into the dining room. Sooey Wan retreated, but paused at the -entrance to the butler’s pantry and grinned his approval before -disappearing into the kitchen to pass out two plates of soup for Julia -to serve. Mrs. Pippy disappeared. - -Having tucked Tamea’s chair in under her, Dan took his place opposite. -Tamea looked around the dining room with frank approval. She appeared a -trifle subdued by the somber richness of it, the vague shadows cast by -the warm pale pink glow of the four candles in four old silver -candlesticks, the dark bowl, flower-laden, in the center of the table. - -Dan was aware that she was watching him; not until he had selected his -soup spoon from among—to Tamea—a bewildering array of silverware, did -she imitate his action. Her host instantly realized that the niceties of -hospitality would have to be dispensed with for the sake of Tamea’s -education; consequently, when Julia entered with some toasted crackers -and approached Tamea with the intention of serving her first, Dan caught -Julia’s eye and directed her to his side. - -“You will serve me first,” he whispered and helped himself. Tamea did -likewise. - -“Now, her French father taught her to break her crackers into her soup -and partake of the soup without regard to the resultant melody. I will -see if she is a victim of habit,” he decided. - -He waited. Tamea set the crackers on her butter plate, as she had -observed him do; like him, she made no movement to eat them. Dan took up -his butter knife and buttered a cracker. Tamea instantly searched out -her butter knife—Dan would have been willing to wager considerable she -had never seen one before—and buttered her cracker. Bite for bite and -sip for sip she followed his lead, her smoky glance seldom straying from -him. Observing that she was not using her napkin, Dan flirted his, on -pretense of straightening it out, and respread it. Immediately Tamea -unfolded her napkin and spread it. - -“She’ll do,” Dan soliloquized. “Doesn’t know a thing, but has the -God-given grace to know she doesn’t know and is smart enough not to try -to four-flush. That girl has brains to spare. She speaks when she is -spoken to, but tonight silence is not good for her. She must not think -too much about her father.” Aloud he said: “Tamea, what was your life in -Riva like?” - -“Very simple, Dan Pritchard. While our family ruled Riva we were rulers -with little ruling to do. Ten years ago my mother’s father died. After -that my mother and I spent many months each year with my father aboard -the Moorea. My mother did not speak good French, but my father would -speak to me in no other tongue. He taught me to read and write French -and English, and when I was twelve years old he brought a woman from -Manga Riva to be my governess. She was half Samoan and half English, and -she had been educated in England. The island blood called her back. She -played the piano and was lazy and would get drunk if she could, but she -feared my father, so she taught me faithfully each day when sober. My -father paid her well—too well.” - -“What became of her, Tamea?” - -“She is dead. Influenza in nineteen eighteen. Our people do not survive -it, although I was very ill with it. My father said it was his blood -that saved me.” - -“Doubtless. What did you do all day in Riva?” - -“In the morning, early, I swam in the river or to the lagoon. The tiger -shark seldom comes inside the reef. Then breakfast and lessons for two -hours, then some sleep and more lessons late in the afternoon, followed, -perhaps, by another swim. Then dinner and after dinner some music and -song and perhaps a dance. Twice a year, sometimes three times a year, we -would have a big feast when some schooner would call for water and -supplies and offer trade for our copra. But my father controlled that.” - -“Were you happy, Tamea?” - -“Oh, yes, very!” - -“When your mother died, was your father in Riva?” - -“No, he came two months later. When he left I went with him, to go to -school in Tahiti. I have lived two years in Tahiti, and studied English -and French with a school teacher from Australia. She was governess to -the children of a Frenchman who was a good friend of my father.” - -“So that’s why you speak such good English.” - -She smiled happily. “You think so, Monsieur Dan Pritchard?” - -He nodded. “And do not call me Monsieur Dan Pritchard,” he suggested. -“Just call me plain Dan.” - -“As you like, Plain Dan.” - -Julia, listening, burst into a guffaw, caught herself in the middle of -it and was covered with confusion. Tamea looked at her very -suspiciously, but Julia’s quick Celtic wit saved her. She pretended to -have a violent fit of coughing. - -“Do you think you will be happy in San Francisco, Tamea?” Dan queried, -in an effort to stimulate conversation. - -“Who knows? Where one is not known, where it is cold and there is -neither singing nor dancing nor laughter nor love——” - -“Oh, that will come after you get acquainted! The first thing you must -do is to become familiar with your surroundings and outgrow a very -natural feeling of loneliness and, perhaps, homesickness. Then you shall -be sent to a boarding school and become a very fine young lady.” - -The suggestion aroused no enthusiasm in his guest, so he tried a new -tack and one which he felt assured would appeal to the eternal feminine -in her. - -“Tomorrow I shall ask Miss Morrison to go shopping with you and buy a -wonderful wardrobe for you, Tamea.” - -“I will take this woman Julia instead, if you please, Plain Dan,” she -replied. - -“Call me Dan,” he pleaded. “Just one word—Dan.” - -She nodded. “How long will I stay in your house, Dan?” - -“Why, as long as you care to, Tamea.” - -Again the grateful and adorable smile. “Then I shall stay here with you -always, Dan.” - -“Do you think we can manage without quarreling?” - -“There will be no quarreling.” - -“But you will obey me, Tamea. You will recognize my authority and do -exactly what I tell you to do.” - -She sighed. - -“Privately she thinks that’s a pretty large order,” Dan decided. - -Slowly Tamea sipped a glass of light white wine and pecked, without -enthusiasm, at a lamb chop. She sighed again. - -“I am very tired, Dan,” she said wearily. “I cannot eat more. I would -sleep.” - -Dan nodded to Julia, who set her tray on the sideboard and stood -prepared to escort her charge to bed. Tamea rose, walked around to Dan’s -chair, put her arms around his neck and drew his head toward her until -her cheek rested against his. - -“You are a good father and kind. I shall love you, _chéri_,” she said -softly. “You will kiss your little girl good night? No? But, yes, I -demand it, _mon père_. There, that is better. . . . Good night. In the -morning I will be brave; I will not be sad and oppress this household -with my sorrows.” - -She kissed him. It was not a mere peck but it was undoubtedly filial, -and Dan indeed was grateful in a full realization of this. - -“Good night, Tamea, dear child,” he said, and watched Julia lead her -away. - -He was still watching her as she crossed the entrance hall to the foot -of the stairs, when the door of the butler’s pantry squeaked very -slightly. Dan turned. Sooey Wan’s nose was at the aperture, and one of -his slant eyes was bent appreciatively upon Dan. - -“Get out,” Dan cried. “What are you spying for, you outrageous heathen?” - -“Velly nice. Captain’s girl velly nice. Heap nice kissee, eh? You bet! -Velly nice!” - -Dan was instantly furious. “Sooey Wan,” he roared, “you’re fired!” - -“Boss,” retorted Sooey Wan in dulcet, honeyed tones, “you klazy.” - -The door slid back into place and Sooey Wan returned chuckling to the -domain where he was king. - -An hour later, as Dan finished his first postprandial cigar, he decided -that after all there might be a modicum of truth in Sooey Wan’s -assertion. Sane he might be now—that is, moderately sane—but for all -that a still small voice had commenced to whisper that the extraordinary -events of this day were but a preliminary to still more extraordinary -events to follow. And that night he dreamed that a Chinese infant, with -a tuft of white ribbon tied in a bow at his midriff and armed with bow -and arrow, climbed up on the footboard of his bed and shot him, crying -meanwhile: - -“Velly nice! Velly, velly nice!” - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - -The guest chambers in Dan Pritchard’s home were two in number—richly -furnished but solid looking rooms for men. Julia scuttled from one to -the other, in a frenzy of indecision as to which was worthy to receive -her charge, while Tamea sat at the head of the staircase and waited. -Julia was several minutes making her decision as to whether Tamea would -look best in the room with taupe carpet and the French gray single bed, -or the one with the old-rose carpet and the old black walnut double bed. -Finally she decided on the former, and then sought Mrs. Pippy to ask if -Miss Morrison had sent over a spare nightgown. It developed that Miss -Morrison had neglected this important detail, so Mrs. Pippy graciously -donated one of her own and Julia returned with it. - -Then she discovered that Tamea, being a young woman of initiative and -decision, had very promptly solved the problem of sleeping quarters. -While she had been no stranger to bedsteads and pillows, nevertheless -her upbringing in Riva had taught Tamea that there was no necessity to -be particular as to a lodging for the night. She could always glean an -excellent rest on a mat spread on a stone floor, with a polished section -of the trunk of a coco-palm as a pillow; and while waiting for Julia to -return, the richly carpeted floor had attracted her attention. Promptly -she lay down in the hall, pillowed her head on her arm and went to sleep -almost instantly. - -“Poor lamb!” murmured the sympathetic Julia, and fled to summon Mrs. -Pippy to behold the unconventional guest. Mrs. Pippy gazed -disapprovingly, shook her handsome silvery head as if to say, “Mr. -Pritchard’s action in bringing this tomboy home for us to care for is -quite beyond _me_!” and retired to her room again, still shaking her -head. - -Julia awakened her sleepy charge. “Come with me, Tammy, darlin’,” she -pleaded. “Sure, the flure is no place for you.” - -“It is very soft,” Tamea protested. “And very warm, for such a cold -country.” - -“Wait till Sooey Wan—bad cess to him!—puts the furnace out. Ye’d be -froze shtiff in the mornin’, Tammy——” - -“My name is Tamea Oluolu Larrieau. You may call me Tamea, but to others -I must be Mademoiselle Larrieau.” - -“Oh, sure, why not lave me call ye Tammy? Not a one but me will use that -name.” - -“Your desire is granted because you are kind to me, Julia.” - -“Thank you, Tammy. Here, sit you down in this chair and I’ll take off -your shlippers. . . . Now, thin, here’s your nightgown. Take off your -clothes and put the nightgown on whilst I fix the bed for you and get -you a dhrink of wather.” - -Tamea held up Mrs. Pippy’s nightgown and looked it over critically. “The -wife of the missionary in Riva had several such as this,” she commented. -“It is not pretty. I had prettier ones than this aboard ship, but—for a -reason—I brought no baggage ashore with me. I do not like this -garment.” She tossed it through the open bathroom door into the tub. - -“Now, Tammy,” began Julia, mildly expostulating. - -“I will not wear it, Julia.” - -“Sure, why not, Tammy, you little ninny, you?” - -“What is a ninny?” - -“Heaven knows,” the helpless Julia replied, “but I’m thinkin’ I’m it, -whatever it may be. Why won’t you wear the nightgown, Tammy? Sure all -nice gir’rls——” - -“It belongs to her,” said Tamea and pointed majestically upward. “It -bears the letter _P_.” - -“Be the Rock of Cashel,” sighed poor Julia, “you’re windictive so you -are,” and without further ado she went upstairs and brought down one of -her own plain _chemises de nuit_. Without a word Tamea donned it and -crept dutifully into bed. - -“Do you not say your prayers before you get into bed, Tammy?” the pious -Julia queried reproachfully. - -Tamea shook her head, dark and beautiful against the snowy pillow. Julia -sighed. Her own problems were always dumped, metaphorically speaking, in -the lap of her Christian God, night and morning. - -“This is truly a bed for a queen,” said Tamea thoughtfully. “Is Monsieur -Dan Pritchard, then, a very rich man?” - -“He have barrels of it,” Julia replied reverently. - -“My father gave me to him, Julia.” - -“Faith, an’ that’s where he showed his common sinse. Divil a finer -gintleman could you find the wide wur’rld over.” - -Fell a long silence. Then: “Where is Madame Pritchard?” - -“The masther has never been married, Tammy.” - -“What? Has he, then, in his house none but serving women?” - -“Ssh! Don’t talk like that, Tammy. Of course he hasn’t.” - -“Strange,” murmured Tamea thoughtfully. “He is different from other men -of his race. Have no women sought his favor?” - -Julia was embarrassed and exasperated. “How the divil should I know?” -she protested indignantly. - -“You live in this house. You are his servant. Have you not ears? Are you -blind?” - -“I never shpy on the masther.” - -“Perhaps,” Tamea suggested, “it is because Monsieur Dan Pritchard has a -hatred of women.” - -“Sorra bit o’ that.” - -“Then is it that women have a hatred of him?” - -“They’d give the two eyes out of their heads to marry him.” - -A silence. “All this is very strange, Julia.” - -“Don’t worry about it, Tammy. Go to sleep now.” - -“Here is a great mystery. Has Monsieur Dan Pritchard, then, no -children?” - -“Heaven forbid!” Julia was now thoroughly scandalized. - -“Here _is_ a mystery. Does he not desire sons to inherit his name and -wealth?” - -“I never discussed the matther wit’ him.” - -“This is, indeed, a strange country with strange customs.” - -“We’ll think o’ that in the mornin’, Tammy darlin’. Shall I put out the -light?” - -“Yes, my good Julia. Good night.” - -“Good night, dear.” Julia switched off the light and retired to the -door. Here, poised for flight, she turned and shot back at her charge a -question that had been perplexing her: - -“Are you a Protestant or a Catholic, Tammy?” - -“Neither,” murmured Tamea. - -“Glory be! ’Tis not a Jew you are?” - -“No.” - -“Well, what, thin?” - -“Are you trying to convert me, Julia?” - -“I am not.” - -“Then why do you ask?” - -“I’m that curious, Tammy.” - -“If you act like a missionary’s wife I shall dismiss you from my -service, Julia. I have no religion. I am free. I do what I jolly well -please. Yes, you bet.” - -“An’ there’s an idea for you!” Julia soliloquized as she passed softly -out. “Begorry, we’ll have a grand time of it with that one, so we will. -Somebody’s been puttin’ notions in her head. _Ochone!_ Where the divil -was that one raised, I dunno. Angel that she is to look at she’s had a -slack father an’ mother, I’ll lay odds on that.” - -Julia sighed and went downstairs to seek the aid of Sooey Wan in -scratching out the numbers of her choice on a ticket for the next day’s -drawing in the Chinese lottery. She found Sooey Wan washing the dishes -and singing softly. - -“Are you singin’ or cryin’, Sooey Wan?” Julia greeted him. - -“Hullah for hell,” said Sooey Wan. He tossed a soup plate to the ceiling -and caught it deftly as it came down. “Boss ketchum velly nice girl,” he -began. - -“Can’t the poor man be kind to an orphan without you, you yellow divil, -puttin’ dogs in windows?” - -“Velly nice,” Sooey Wan repeated doggedly. “Pretty soon I think give -boss many sons.” - -“Say-y-y, what sort o’ place is this gettin’ to be, anyhow?” - -“Pretty soon Sooey Wan think this going be legular place. One house no -ketchum baby, no legular house.” - -“Say nothin’ to Mrs. Pippy of what’s in that ould head of yours, Sooey -Wan. What wit’ one haythen downstairs an’ another upstairs the woman’ll -be givin’ notice.” - -Sooey Wan pulled open a drawer in the kitchen table and tossed out a -handful of bills and silver. “Ketchum ten spot for you today, Julia,” he -explained. “You lucky. Ketchum ten spot, ketchum pearl.” - -“Faith, you’ll catch more than that if you don’t lear’rn to mind your -own business,” Julia warned him. - - * * * * * - -Long after the household had retired Dan Pritchard sat before the living -room fireplace reviewing in his mind’s eye the startling events of that -day. He felt depressed, obsessed by an unreasonable, wholly inexplicable -presentiment of events still more startling to occur in the not very -distant future. - -As a rule, the majority of women puzzled Dan, many of them frightened -him, and all of them disturbed him. Of all the women he had ever known, -Maisie Morrison alone appeared to possess the gift of contributing to -his mental rest, his sense of spiritual well-being, even while her -practical, definite and positive personality occasionally disturbed his -creature comfort, robbed him of that sense of leadership and strength -which it is the right of all men to exhibit toward the women of their -choice, and appeared to render null and void the necessity for any -exhibition of the protective instinct. Infrequently Dan complained to -himself that Maisie would be a transcendently wonderful girl if she but -possessed just a trifle more imagination; having convinced himself that -this was so, he would watch for definite evidence to convict Maisie of -such a lack, only to be hurled back into his old state of mental -confusion by indubitable evidence that Maisie could read him and his -innermost thoughts as readily as if he were a signboard. - -When he had complained to Maisie that morning that he was a square peg -in the round hole, he had voiced the unrest which all born radicals -experience when forced to live conservatively. For Dan knew he was a -radical in his viewpoint on many things held sacred by his conservative -brethren; he knew he lacked the instinctive caution and constructive -conservatism so evident in Maisie. He felt as one whose soul was hobbled -with a ball and chain. Maisie, he knew, suffered from no such sense of -repression, and this knowledge of her mental freedom sometimes forced -upon him a secret, almost womanish irritation. - -Sometimes Dan was almost convinced that he ought to rid himself of his -habit of introspection, marry Maisie and live happily ever afterward. -Then, just as he would be almost on the point of growing loverlike, -Maisie would seem to pop out at him from a mental ambush; would seem to -lay a cool finger on the soul of him and say quite positively: “Here, -Dan, is where it hurts. The pain isn’t where you think it is at all. You -are a foolish, imaginative man, and if you do not heed my direction now, -you will eventually regret that you did not.” - -And then Dan, outwardly smiling and expansive but inwardly glum and -shriveling, would tell himself that he could never, never dwell in -idyllic married bliss with such a dominating and interfering woman; and -Maisie, secretly furious, baffled, would watch him change from the -devoted admirer to the warm friend. - -Tonight Dan decided that he was, beyond the slightest vestige of a -doubt, tremendously fond of Maisie Morrison. But—he was not at all -certain that he loved her well enough to ask her to marry him; he -marveled now, more than ever previously, what imp of impulse had moved -him to kiss her that morning. How warm and sweet and responsive had been -that momentary pressure of her lips to his? He visualized again that -lambent light that had leaped into her eyes. . . had he gone too far? - -The telephone in the booth under the stairs in the entrance hall rang -faintly. He reached for the extension telephone on the living room table -and said: “Yes, Maisie?” - -“How did you know it was I?” Maisie’s voice demanded. - -“I cannot answer that question, Maisie. I merely knew. You see, I was -just beginning to think that I might have called you up and——” - -“Indeed, yes,” she interrupted. How like her, he reflected. Her agile -brain was always leaping ahead to a conclusion and landing on it fairly -and squarely. “I have waited three hours for a report from you, Dan, and -when eleven o’clock came and you had not telephoned I couldn’t restrain -my curiosity any longer. Mrs. Pippy telephoned about seven o’clock and -told me an extraordinary and unbelievable tale of a semi-savage young -woman whom you had brought home and established as a guest in your -bachelor domicile. Mrs. Pippy tried her best to appear calm, but I -sensed——” - -“I’m quite certain you did, Maisie,” he interrupted in turn. “You sensed -Mrs. Pippy’s amazement, indignation and disapproval. You’re the most -marvelous woman for sensing things that I have ever known.” - -“But then, Dan,” she reminded him, “you haven’t known very many women -intimately. You’re such a shy man. Sometimes I think you must have -gleaned all of your knowledge of my sex from your father and Sooey Wan. -Who is the South Sea belle, Dan, and what _do_ you mean by picking up -with such a creature and expecting me to help you render her -presentable?” - -“I didn’t expect you to, Maisie. I didn’t ask you and I didn’t suggest -that Mrs. Pippy ask you.” - -“I couldn’t get any very coherent information from Mrs. Pippy. She was -greatly agitated. However, I called Julia up a few minutes later and -from Julia I learned that your guest hasn’t sufficient of a wardrobe to -pad a crutch.” - -“Julia is very amusing,” he replied evenly. “However, do not think the -young lady arrived here in a hula-hula costume. I am her guardian.” - -“How do you know you are?” Maisie demanded, a bit crisply. - -“Her father, Captain Larrieau, of our schooner Moorea, asked me to be -before he died this afternoon.” - -“Hum-m-m!” Maisie was silent momentarily. “How like a man to think he -can fill such an order without outside help.” - -He was exasperated. “There you go, Maisie,” he complained, “jumping to a -conclusion.” - -“If I’ve jumped to a conclusion, Dan, rest assured I have landed -squarely on my objective. Why didn’t you telephone me the instant you -reached home with your ward? I would have been happy to aid you, Dan.” - -“I am sure you would have been, Maisie, but—well——” - -“I knew I was right, Dan. The only way I can find things out is to be -rude and ask questions. You thought I might not approve of——” - -“Of what?” he demanded triumphantly. - -“Of the young woman you brought home with you, of course.” Maisie’s -voice carried just a hint of irritation. - -“Certainly not. I was certain you would approve of her. She’s quite a -child—about seventeen or eighteen years old, I should say—and a -perfectly dazzling creature—ah, that is, amazingly interesting in her -directness, her frankness, her unconventionality and innocence. I do -hope you’ll like her. I thought at first I could entrust her to Mrs. -Pippy but——” - -“I gathered as much, Dan. Now, start at the beginning and tell me -everything about her.” - -Dan complied with her demand. When the recital was ended, said Maisie: -“What are you going to do with her, Dan?” - -“My instructions from her father were to educate her and affiance her to -some worthy fellow. I shall cast my eye around the local French colony -after the girl has completed her schooling. She has a fortune of -approximately a quarter of a million dollars—always an interesting -subject for contemplation and discussion in the matrimonial -preliminaries.” He heard her chuckle softly and realized that she found -amusement visualizing him in the role of a matchmaker. “I suppose,” he -ventured, “you’re wondering why I didn’t take her to a hotel.” - -“Any other man in your sphere of life would, but I am not so optimistic -as to expect you to do the usual thing. I’m consumed with curiosity to -see your Tamea, Dan.” - -“A meeting can be arranged,” he answered dryly. “As soon as my little -queen has had an opportunity to purchase a wardrobe befitting her rank -and wealth, I shall be happy to have you presented at court, Maisie.” - -“I suppose you’re going to select her wardrobe?” - -“No, I think Julia will attend to that.” - -“In heaven’s name, Dan, why Julia? Have you ever seen Julia all dressed -up and about to set out for Golden Gate Park? Mrs. Pippy has excellent -taste.” - -“Mrs. Pippy is not, I fear, the favorite of the queen.” - -“Then I shall attend to her outfitting, Dan. - -“Will you, Maisie, dear?” - -“Of course, idiot.” - -“Well, that lifts a burden off my shoulders.” - -“You do not deserve such consideration, Dan. You’re too uncommunicative -when you are the possessor of amazing news. However, you’re such a -helpless, blundering Simple Simon I knew somebody would have to manage -you while you’re managing Tamea. So I concluded to volunteer for the -sacrifice.” - -“Maisie, you’re a peach. I could kiss you for that speech.” - -“Really, you’re running wild, Dan. You kissed me once today. And I’ve -been wondering why ever since.” - -“How should I know?” he confessed. He had a sudden, freakish impulse to -annoy her. - -“Stupid! Were I as stupid as you—— I’ll be at your house at about ten -o’clock tomorrow and take charge of your problem.” - -“I shall be eternally grateful.” - -“And eternally silly and eternally afraid of me and what I’m going to -think about everything. I could pull your nose. Good night.” She hung up -without waiting for his answer. - -“I fear me Maisie is the bossy, efficient type of young woman,” he -soliloquized as he replaced the receiver. “I hope she and Tamea will hit -it off together. I sincerely hope it.” - -At midnight Sooey Wan came in from Chinatown, following a prodigious -burning of devil papers in a local joss-house and a somewhat profitable -two hours of poker. - -His slant eyes appraised Dan kindly. “Boss,” he ordered, “go bed. You -all time burn ’em too muchee light, too muchee coal, too muchee wood. -Cost muchee money.” He moved briskly about the room, switching off the -electric light. “Too muchee thinkee, too muchee headache,” he warned -Dan. “You not happy, boss, you thinkee too much. No good!” - -“Oh, confound your Oriental philosophy!” Dan rasped back at him. “The -curse of it is, you’re right!” - -Sooey Wan pointed authoritatively upward and Dan slowly climbed the -stairs to his room. - -Thus ended a momentous day. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - -At breakfast the following morning Maisie Morrison decided to make no -mention to her aunt and uncle of the interesting bit of news concerning -Dan Pritchard of which she was the possessor. - -Always cautious and conservative, she preferred to place herself in full -possession of the facts in the case, and to have this information -bolstered up by her own feeling about the situation following a meeting -with Dan’s ward, before discussing his business with anybody. - -Maisie was mildly amused in the knowledge that Dan, of all men, should -have such a problem thrust upon him; she looked forward with no little -interest to watching the peculiar man approach his unusual duty. She -expected if she mentioned the matter that old Casson would laugh -patronizingly and pretend to find the situation devoid of a mature man’s -interest; he might even indulge himself in some light and caustic -criticism, with a touch of elephantine humor in it. That had seemed to -be his attitude toward Dan for a year past and Maisie resented it -fiercely—all the more fiercely, in fact, because her position in -Casson’s household forbade an expression of her resentment. - -“I think I shall motor to Del Monte this morning for two weeks of golf,” -old Casson announced to his wife and Maisie at breakfast. “Suppose you -two pack up and go with me.” - -“I think that would be delightful, John,” his wife replied. - -“I have other fish to fry. Sorry!” Maisie answered him. “If you had -hinted of this yesterday, Uncle John——” - -“My dear Maisie, the idea but this moment occurred to me. Better alter -your plans and come along.” - -She shook her head. - -“It occurred to me this instant—as I have already stated—” Casson -continued, “to escape boredom for two weeks. Our schooner Moorea is in -port and will remain here that long, in all probability. That means the -office will be set by the heels. Her bear-like skipper, Larrieau, will -go roaring from one room to the other, disturbing everybody except -Pritchard and amusing everybody except me. I cannot tolerate the man, -and if I should see too much of him I fear I might forget his record for -efficiency and dismiss him. He was a pet of Dan’s father, and Dan, too, -makes much of him. I dislike pets in a business office.” - -Maisie looked at him coolly. “Then you will be happy to know that your -contemplated exile to Del Monte is quite unnecessary, Uncle John. -Captain Larrieau was discovered, upon arrival, to be a leper, so he sent -ashore for Dan, settled all of his business and committed suicide by -drowning yesterday evening.” - -“Bless my soul! Where did you glean this astounding intelligence?” - -“I talked with Dan over the telephone late last night.” - -“You should have told me sooner, Maisie.” - -Old Casson’s voice was stern; his weak, handsome face pretended chagrin. - -“Why?” - -“Why? What a question! Isn’t the man in my employ—or, at least, wasn’t -he?” - -“He was in the employ of Casson and Pritchard, and Dan Pritchard has -attended to the matter for the firm.” - -“I should have been communicated with immediately. Pritchard should have -telephoned to me, not to you.” - -“Oh dear, Uncle John! One would think you revered the man so highly you -planned to have the bay dragged to recover his body, instead of being -happy in the knowledge that you have gotten rid of the nuisance.” - -“Humph-h-h-h! We’ll not discuss it further, my dear. However, it is -difficult for me to refrain from expressing my irritation. How like -young Pritchard it was to disregard me entirely in this matter! For all -the deference or consideration that fellow pays me as the senior member -of the firm, I might as well be a traffic policeman.” - -Maisie’s fine eyes flamed in sudden anger. “Has it ever occurred to you, -Uncle John, that in declining to annoy you with unnecessary details, by -his persistence in relieving you of the labor and worry of the business -management of Casson and Pritchard, Dan may be showing you the courtesy -and consideration due you as the senior member of the firm?” - -“I am not a back number—yet, Maisie,” he assured her. - -“Why do you not buy him out, Uncle John? He seems to be a very great -trial to you.” - -Old Casson appeared to consider this suggestion very seriously as he -gravely tapped the shell of his matutinal egg. “That isn’t a half bad -idea, Maisie,” he answered. “At present, however, I am scarcely in -position to buy his interest. I anticipate this condition will be -materially changed within the next three or four months, and then——” - -He paused eloquently and scooped his egg into the glass. - -“I infer you have a hen on,” Maisie suggested. - -“Perhaps the metaphor would be less mixed if we substituted a goose for -the hen. I believe the goose is the fowl currently credited with the -ability to lay golden eggs.” - -“John Casson!” His wife now spoke for the first time. “Are you mixed in -another gamble?” - -“Not at all, my dear, not at all. I have invested in several cargoes of -Chinese rice at a very low price, and I have sold one cargo at a very -high price. I am holding the others for the crest of a market that is -rising like a toy balloon. It isn’t gambling, my dear. It’s just a -mortal certainty.” - -The good lady sighed. How often, in the thirty years of her life with -John Casson, had she heard him, in those same buoyant, confident, -mellifluous tones, assure her of the infallibility of victory due to his -superior judgment! - -As usual, Maisie placed her finger on the sore spot. “What does Dan -think of it, Uncle John?” - -“He doesn’t think anything, my dear. He doesn’t know.” - -“Oh, I see! This is a private venture of yours?” - -He nodded. “Yes—and no, Maisie. It’s a Casson and Pritchard deal, only -I’m engineering it myself. I’m going to prove to that overconfident -young man the truth of the old saying ‘Nothing risked, nothing gained.’ -Why, the biggest thing in years lay right under his nose—and he passed -it by.” - -“He was in Honolulu on that pineapple deal when you stumbled across this -good thing, was he not, Uncle John?” - -“Yes, but then he knew about it before he left for Honolulu.” - -“Well, I hope you’ll make a killing, Uncle John.” - -He beamed his thanks upon her. “When I do—and I cannot _help_ doing -it—I’m going to be mighty nice to my niece,” he assured her. “However,” -he continued reminiscently, “my day for taking a sporting chance is -over. I’ve learned my lesson.” - -“Have you?” his wife ventured hopefully. - -“Just to prove to you that I have,” he challenged, “if I get an offer of -twenty-four cents per pound, f.o.b. Havana, today, I’ll sell every pound -of rice I have in transit or hold under purchase contract.” - -“What was the market yesterday, John?” - -“Twenty-three cents.” - -“Sell at that today,” Maisie urged him. - -He smiled and shook his head. These women! How little they knew of the -great game of business! How little did they realize that, to succeed, a -man must be possessed of an amazing courage, a stupendous belief in his -own powers, in his knowledge of the game he is playing. Maisie read him -accurately. He was as easy to read as an electric sign. - -When he had departed for the office, Mrs. Casson, a dainty, very -youthful appearing woman of fifty-five, and long since robbed of any -illusions concerning certain impossible phases of her husband’s -character spoke up: - -“Sometimes, Maisie, I suspect John Casson is in his second childhood.” - -“You’re wrong, Auntie. In some respects he hasn’t emerged from his first -childhood. For instance, Uncle John is nurturing the belief that Dan -isn’t aware of his operations.” - -“You think Dan knows?” - -“I’m sure of it.” - -“Has he told you so?” - -“No.” - -“He ought to be told.” - -“I shall tell him—this very morning. Uncle John, wrapped in his supreme -sense of self-sufficiency, appears to have forgotten that in an -unlimited partnership each partner is irrevocably bound by the actions -of the other.” - -“I wonder at Dan’s patience with him.” - -“I do not. Dan has explained it to me.” - -Mrs. Casson’s maternal glance dwelt tenderly upon her dead sister’s -daughter. “Maisie, I want to talk to you about Dan,” she began, but -Maisie raised a deprecating hand. - -“What profit could possibly arise from such a discussion?” - -Mrs. Casson, however, was a woman driven by curiosity. “I wonder if he -is in love with you, my dear. Sometimes I am almost certain of it, and -at other times I am not so certain.” - -“I think dear old simple Dan finds himself similarly afflicted.” - -“Well?” The query, the inflection and the dramatic pause before the good -soul continued were not lost on Maisie. “Why don’t you do something -about it, dear?” - -“Why should I?” - -“You’re twenty-four years old—and certainly Dan Pritchard is the most -eligible bachelor in your set. And I know you’re very, very fond of -him.” - -“Everybody is. He is wholly lovable.” - -“Well, then, Maisie——” - -“Men dislike pursuit, dear. That is their peculiar prerogative. I prefer -to be dear to Dan Pritchard, as his closest friend, rather than to -disturb him as a prospective wife. Dan is old-fashioned, quite -dignified, idealistic, altruistic, artistic, and as shy and retiring as -a rabbit. I’m certain he isn’t the least bit interested in your plans to -alter his scheme of existence by adding a wife to it.” - -“You’d marry Dan Pritchard tomorrow if he asked you today.” - -“Perhaps,” Maisie agreed. “However, I shall not pursue him nor shall I -hurl myself at him. I prefer to operate on the principle that, after -all, I may prove more or less eligible myself!” - -“You desire to be pursued, I see.” - -“What woman does not—by the right man?” - -“Then is Dan Pritchard the right man?” - -“No woman could really answer such a question truthfully until after she -had been married to Dan. I have never given much thought to Dan as a -matrimonial possibility.” - -“That is an admission that you have at least given him _some_ thought, -Maisie.” - -“Of course, silly. What is a girl to think when a man’s freakish humor -dictates that he shall develop all of the outward evidences of a -sentimental interest one week and shrink from exhibiting the slightest -evidence of it a week later? Sometimes I think that Dan is a habit with -me; sometimes I’m quite certain I am a habit with him. I think I was -twelve years old when Dan took me to a vaudeville show one Saturday -afternoon. I remember I held his hand all through the show and he fed me -so much candy I was ill. However, he is a pleasant and delightful habit -to me, and I am not anxious to renounce him; I hope he feels the same -toward me. By the way, I have an engagement with him this morning. I -must run along and dress.” - -She left her aunt gazing speculatively after her. Mrs. Casson shook her -head and sighed. “It’s her frightful spirit of independence,” she -soliloquized. “She scares him away. I just know it. And I do wish I knew -what to do about it.” - -Providentially, she did not! - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - -Promptly at ten o’clock the Casson limousine deposited Maisie in front -of the Pritchard residence. Dan, watching for her appearance from behind -the front window curtains, observed that two young women and a fussy, -somewhat threadbare little man of undoubted Hebraic ancestry emerged -from the limousine and followed her up the stairs. - -Julia opened the door and Maisie led her followers into the living room. -“Good morning, Dan,” she greeted him and gave him her hand. “I’ve -brought half a dozen evening dresses which may or may not impress your -ward; also a model to parade the dresses for Tamea’s inspection, and a -fitter to note the necessary alterations. Of course, she’ll have to have -some street clothes, so I’ve brought Rubenstein, my tailor, to take -measurements.” - -“By Jupiter, Maisie, you’re a marvel! You think of everything.” He -pressed Maisie’s hand in his. “You may ask Miss Larrieau if she will be -good enough to come down to the living room, Julia,” he directed. - -“I will go up with Julia,” Maisie said, and followed the maid. - -The Queen of Riva sat in a small, low chair before the window. She wore -a dark silk dressing gown, which the democratic Julia had filched from -Dan Pritchard’s clothes closet, and she was gazing down into the street, -gray and wet with fog. Her elbows rested on her knees, her face reposed -in her hands, and she was weeping, silently and without a quiver. Julia -went to her, patted her wet cheek and said: - -“Look up, Tammy darlin’. Here is Miss Morrison to see you. Miss Morrison -is the kind leddy that sint over the nice dhress for you last night, an’ -sure she has tailors an’ cloak models and dhressmakers an’ dhresses -downshtairs waitin’ for you.” - -Tamea dried her eyes, shook her wonderful hair back over her ivory brow, -rose slowly and faced Maisie with a certain cool deliberation. Her eyes -swept Maisie’s figure; she forced a smile of greeting. - -“I am—happy to—meet—Miss Morrison. When one is—almost—alone and -very unhappy—kindness from a stranger is like the sun that comes to dry -the sails, following a storm.” - -“Her greeting is as regal as her bearing,” was Maisie’s thought. She -favored Tamea with a courteous little nod and her bright smile—then -held out her hand. Tamea hesitated, then extended her own. - -“You are Maisie?” she queried. - -“Yes, I am Maisie. How did you know, Miss Larrieau?” - -“I guessed,” Tamea answered simply. “You are a much nicer woman than I -had expected to meet.” - -Maisie flushed, partly with pleasure, partly with embarrassment. “I -shall try to be nice to you, Miss Larrieau, always.” - -“You may call me Tamea, if you please. I shall call you Maisie.” - -“Will ye listen to that!” Julia declared happily. “Sure, Tammy’s no -different from the rest of us. She’s in love wit’ you at sight, Miss -Morrison, so she is.” - -“I think with you, Tamea, that we should dispense with formality. I -shall be happy to be your friend and to help you to adjust your life to -new conditions.” - -“I accept your friendship.” Tamea’s words came slowly, gravely. “You are -not a woman of common blood.” - -Maisie stepped close to her, removed from her fingers the sodden little -ball of a handkerchief and replaced it with a fresh one of filmy lace -from her handbag. “Tell my chauffeur to go back to the house and fetch -Céleste, my maid,” she ordered Julia. “Between Céleste and me this -wonderful hair shall be done exactly right. When you come upstairs -again, Julia, bring up those boxes and the two girls in the living room. -Rubenstein shall wait.” - -“Monsieur Dan Pritchard told me at breakfast that Miss Morrison would -call to help me select the clothing which it is fit that I should wear -in this country,” said Tamea when they were alone. - -“You are a brunette—one of the wonderful, olive-skinned type. With -those great dark eyes and that wealth of jet-black hair you will look -amazingly chic in something red and silvery or white. May I see your -foot, Tamea?” - -Tamea sat down and thrust out a brown foot. It was somewhat shorter and -broader than Maisie had expected to see, but the arch was high and the -toes perfect, with the great toe quite prehensile. - -“You have gone barefoot a great deal, Tamea?” - -“In Riva, always. In Tahiti I wore sandals.” - -“You will have to wear shoes here, Tamea. I think a number five will do, -but we must be very particular not to spoil that foot. It is the only -natural foot I have ever seen except on a baby. How old are you?” - -“Eighteen.” - -Maisie could scarcely believe this statement. Physically Tamea was a -fully developed woman, perhaps five feet seven inches tall, a creature -of soft curves, yet lithe and graceful and falling just a trifle short -of being slim. Her ears were delicately formed but of generous -proportions, her neck, sturdy and muscular, swept in beautiful curves to -meet a torso full-breasted and deep. - -“Her form is perfect, and I believe she has a magnificent back,” thought -Maisie. “Her neck and head are Junoesque.” - -They were, indeed. Tamea’s head, in shape, resembled her father’s in -that it was larger than that of most women, and of that width between -the ears which denotes brain capacity and consequently intelligence. Her -features were not small; indeed, they were almost large, but of -patrician regularity and loveliness of line. Her brow was high and wide, -her eyebrows fine, silken and thick, while her eyelashes were -extraordinarily long, giving a slightly sleepy appearance to large, -intelligent, beautiful eyes of a very dark brown shade—almost black. -Her chin was well developed, firm; from behind full, red, healthy lips -Maisie saw peeping fine, strong, white, regular teeth. Tamea’s skin was -clear to the point of near-transparency and her hands were small with -lovely tapered fingers. - -“A perfect woman,” thought Maisie. “She is more than beautiful. She is -magnificent—and when she has been dressed properly——” - -Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Julia and the cloak -model and fitter. Thereafter, for an hour, Tamea dwelt in paradise. -Maisie’s taste, in the matter of dress, was undoubtedly exquisite, and -when she discovered that this exotic islander could wear with dignity -raiment which, on another woman, would be regarded as flamboyant, Maisie -felt that quiet joy which comes to all women who discover beauty or help -to create it. Tamea, too, developed all of the interest of her sex in -the beautiful garments submitted for her selection; so engrossing was -that interest that by the time Rubenstein had departed Tamea’s drooping -spirits had been more than a little uplifted. She commanded Julia to -summon Dan to admire such portions of her wardrobe as she had already -selected. - -“My dear, but you must wait until you are fully dressed,” Mrs. Pippy -cautioned her. Tamea was barefooted and wearing the skirt of a -ready-made tailored suit, but not the coat; neither was she wearing -waist or brassiere. - -“Why?” she demanded coolly. “Why should I demand of Monsieur Dan -Pritchard that he wait upon my pleasure?” - -“But you can’t receive him half dressed.” - -Tamea, for answer, took from the dresser a large framed photograph of -Maisie Morrison in evening dress. “Mademoiselle Maisie was but half -dressed when she had this photograph made. Julia, call Monsieur Dan -Pritchard.” - -Mrs. Pippy’s cold blue eye warned Julia that the price of obedience -might be prohibitive. Julia hesitated. - -Tamea, Queen of Riva, stamped a bare foot. “Obey me!” she commanded. - -“Och, sure now, Tammy, darlin’, listen to Mrs. Pippy, there’s a -dear——” - -“There will be no talk. Obey!” - -“Julia,” said Mrs. Pippy firmly, “in this house you take your orders -from me. When Miss Larrieau is properly dressed she may receive Mr. -Pritchard, but not before.” - -“Julia is my servant. She takes orders from no one but me,” Tamea warned -Mrs. Pippy. “Dan Pritchard gave Julia to me.” - -“Julia is not a slave, to be given away at will, Miss Larrieau. She must -be consulted in such transactions.” - -“Did you not accept me as your mistress, Julia?” There could be no -evasion. - -“I did that,” Julia confessed weakly. - -“Summon Monsieur Dan Pritchard. Take no heed of this woman—this Pippy.” - -“If you disobey me, Julia,” Mrs. Pippy warned, “I shall be forced to -dismiss you without a reference.” - -“If you disobey _me_, Julia,” Tamea countered, “I shall dismiss you but -not until you have been beaten. In my country that is how bad servants -are treated.” - -Julia appealed to Maisie. “What shall I do, Miss Morrison?” - -Maisie sighed. “It is apparent, Julia,” she replied, “that Mrs. Pippy -and Tamea have not hit it off very well together. Mrs. Pippy’s position -in this house must not, she very properly feels, be questioned. Tamea, -who has doubtless never heretofore had her authority questioned, has -elected to make an issue of the seat of authority. We will seek a -compromise.” She turned to Tamea and smiled upon her kindly. “Will you -please me, Tamea, by declining to oppose Mrs. Pippy’s authority in this -house?” - -“I will not, Maisie, although I am sorry not to be kind to you. I am not -one accustomed to taking orders and I will not have this Pippy thwart my -desires. As you say, I have elected to force the issue. It is better -thus. Why wait? Julia, for the last time, I order you to obey my -command.” - -“Heaven help me!” groaned Julia, and turned to open the door. Mrs. -Pippy’s cool, firm voice halted her. - -“Julia!” - -“I’m thinkin’, Mrs. Pippy, ye’ll have a hard time queenin’ it over a -rale queen,” said Julia. She made Mrs. Pippy a curious curtsy. “I quits -yer service, ma’am,” she announced, thereby in the language of the -sporting world beating the excellent Mrs. Pippy to the punch. The door -closed behind her. - -“You are dismissed. Pack and leave at once.” Thus the Pippy edict, -shouted after the retiring maid. - -Tamea smiled and watched the door until Dan Pritchard knocked on it. - -“Come, Dan Pritchard,” Tamea called. She was standing in the center of -the room, on parade as it were, when he entered and permitted his amazed -glance to rest upon her. Maisie saw him recoil perceptibly, saw him as -quickly become master of the situation. - -“Well, well, what a marvelous apparition!” was all he said. - -“You like these garments?” - -“Indeed I do, Tamea. Put the coat on, please, until I see the fit of -it. . . .” He sat down and waited until Tamea had finished. Then: -“Stunning, by Jupiter! Maisie, I’m so grateful to you for helping Tamea -and me. You’re the shadow of a rock in a weary land.” - -He approached Tamea and fingered the material in her suit. “Do you think -this is quite heavy enough, Maisie?” he queried anxiously. “Our climate -is not quite so salubrious as our little queen is accustomed to.” - -Tamea came close to him, grasping each lapel, gazing upward at him with -frank approval and admiration. - -“You would not care to have your Tamea die?” she queried. - -“Indeed, my dear, I would not.” - -“You would not care to have your Tamea put out of this warm house to -suffer in the cold?” - -“Certainly not.” - -“You will never, never put Tamea away from you?” - -“Great Scot, no! I promised your father I’d take care of you, child. -What’s worrying you?” - -Tamea sighed. “I have felt the necessity to leave this house,” she -confessed, “unless assured that my orders to my servant will not be -interfered with. Pippy grows very—well, what you call—fresh!” - -Dan sensed the approach of a cyclone and hastily sought the cellar. “My -dear Tamea,” he assured her, “it is conceivable that you may find _me_ -growing what you call fresh if you seek to impose your will on mine. -Mrs. Pippy’s orders to the servants of this house must be obeyed by -those servants. Meanwhile, try to be nice and—er—polite to Mrs. -Pippy.” - -“I think you ought to know what Tamea is driving at, Dan,” Maisie -interposed. “Tamea is in open rebellion against Mrs. Pippy and the -disaffection has spread to Julia.” - -“Mr. Pritchard,” said Mrs. Pippy with great dignity, “I have found it -necessary to dismiss Julia for insubordination.” - -“Julia belongs to me. Pippy cannot dismiss my Julia, can she, dear Dan -Pritchard?” Thus the unhappy man was caught between the cross-fire of -the conflicting pair. Dan looked helplessly at Maisie, who eyed him -sympathetically and humorously. “Let there be no weakness here,” Tamea -warned. “I would have my answer.” - -“Why, of course, you asked me for Julia and I said you could have her,” -Dan began. At that moment Julia entered the room. “Julia,” Dan queried, -“do you desire to remain in the service of Miss Larrieau?” - -“Humph! Faith, I’ve never left her ser’rvice, sir.” - -“Mrs. Pippy informs me she has dismissed you.” - -“The back o’ me hand to Mrs. Pippy.” Julia had started running true to -her racial instincts, which dictate a bold, offensive spirit in the face -of disaster. - -“Julia remains!” cried Tamea. - -“Julia goes!” - -Devoutly Dan wished that an old-fashioned magician were on hand to -render him invisible. - -“Dear Mrs. Pippy,” he pleaded, “I appeal to the undoubted wisdom of your -years—to your innate sense of proportion—er—to your—why, dash it -all, this difference of opinion about Julia has me in the very deuce of -a box. Surely you must realize, Mrs. Pippy, the total lack of reason, of -understanding, from our viewpoint, in this child!” - -“Oh,” Tamea interrupted coldly, “you think I am a fool!” Suddenly she -commenced to cry and cast herself, sobbing, upon the Pritchard breast. - -He glanced over her heaving ivory shoulders to Mrs. Pippy, then to -Maisie. “I’ve taken a big contract,” he complained. - -“Julia goes,” said Mrs. Pippy firmly. - -Tamea heard the edict and her round, wonderful arms clasped Dan -Pritchard a trifle tighter—it seemed that her heart was just one notch -closer to disintegration. - -“Julia stays,” she sobbed. “You gave Julia to your Tamea—yes, you -did—you did—_you did_!” - -Suddenly, impelled by what cosmic force he knew not, Dan Pritchard made -his decision and with it precipitated upon his defenseless head a swarm -of troubles. “Excuse me, dear Mrs. Pippy,” he said gently. “I am sorry -to have to veto your decision, which I trust is not an unalterable one. -Julia—confound her Celtic skin—stays!” - -Mrs. Pippy bowed her silvery head with the utmost composure and swept -magnificently from the room; Tamea raised her tear-stained face from -Dan’s breast, took a Pritchard ear in each hand, drew his face down to -hers and rewarded him for his fearless stand with a somewhat moist and -fervent kiss. Maisie, watching the tableau composedly, felt a sharp, -sudden stab of resentment against Tamea—or was it jealousy? - -“Well, that’s settled,” she remarked dryly, and Dan sensed the sting. - -He looked at his watch. “Got to be going down to the office,” he -mumbled, presenting the first excuse for escape that came to his mind. -His anxious glance searched Maisie’s blue eyes in vain for that humorous -glint that had marked them when he first entered the room. “Please help -me, Maisie,” he murmured appealingly. “I’ve got my hands full.” - -Maisie nodded. “I’ll try to undo the mischief, Dan. By the way, Uncle -John told me something this morning that you ought to know. He’s up to -his silly eyebrows in the rice market.” - -“The double-crossing old idiot! I had begun to suspect he was up to some -skull-duggery. I was on his trail and would have smoked him out in a day -or two.” - -“I imagine that is why he told Auntie and me about it. He wanted me to -break the news to you, I think.” - -Dan’s head hung low on his breast—the sad Abraham Lincoln look was in -his face and in his troubled eyes. Tamea, looking up at him very soberly -now, read the distress which, momentarily, he could not conceal; in a -sudden burst of sympathy her arm started to curve around his neck. - -“Oh, stop it, stop it, Tamea!” Maisie cried sharply. “Mr. Pritchard is -not accustomed to such intimate personal attentions from comparative -strangers.” - -Tamea drew away from Dan quickly. - -“Dress yourself!” Maisie commanded. “Julia, help her. Dan, run along and -try not to worry.” - -Tamea’s eyes flashed, but nevertheless she sat down and when Julia -handed her a pair of black silken hose she commenced dutifully to draw -them on. - -“Much obliged for the tip, Maisie. I’ll start a riot in Casson and -Pritchard’s office this very day. By the way, I think Mrs. Pippy is on -her high horse. Please try to wheedle her down.” - -“Mrs. Pippy has resigned, Dan.” - -“The deuce she has; how do you know?” - -“Why, any woman of spirit would.” - -He pondered this. - -“Oh, well, let her go if she wants to. She’s scarcely human at times. -Well, if she insists upon leaving I’ll give her a year’s salary in -advance. . . . Damnation. . . . Good morning, Maisie, dear. Please try -to reason with—the sundry females about this house. . . . Tamea, I go -to my office. Be a good girl.” - -“You are my father and my mother,” she replied humbly. “I will kiss you -farewell.” And she did it. - -“This primitive young witch has been in this house less than twenty-four -hours and already she has kissed that defenseless man twice in my -presence. I have known Dan all my life—and I have kissed him but once,” -Maisie thought. - -The stab of resentment, of jealousy, perhaps, was more poignant this -time; in addition Maisie was just a little bit peeved at the ease with -which Tamea had achieved her victory. - -Maisie had sufficient imagination to understand why Tamea, daughter of a -thousand despots, with the instinct to rule complicated by the desire, -must be excused for precipitating the clash with Mrs. Pippy. But what -Maisie could also understand very clearly, since she too was a woman, -was that Tamea, by the grace of her sex and her shameless effrontery in -using every wile of that sex, was likely to become absolute master of -Dan Pritchard’s establishment. The man was helpless before her. Maisie -permitted a challenging gleam in the glance which she now bent upon -Tamea. - -Tamea intercepted that glance and interpreted it correctly. It was as if -Maisie had heliographed to her: “Young lady, you’ve got a fight on your -hands.” Without an instant’s hesitation Tamea’s smoky orbs acknowledged -the message and flashed back the reply: “Very well. I accept the -challenge.” - -Then Maisie smiled, and Tamea, with hot resentment in her heart, smiled -back. - - - - - CHAPTER X - - -Dan left his home with the alacrity of one who seeks escape from a most -uncomfortable situation. As a bachelor he was conscious of the fact that -this morning there had been four women too many in his life. He cringed -from the prospect of having Mrs. Pippy resign his service in a huff. He -hoped she would, under Maisie’s cogent reasoning, consent to make -allowances for Tamea until Maisie should have impressed upon the latter -the fact that in a white democracy a South Sea Island queen was expected -to be seen and not heard. - -“Tamea is such a child,” Dan told himself. “And a spoiled child at that. -Old Gaston has permitted her to do exactly as she pleased, and now the -task of correcting that mistake is mine. It isn’t going to be an easy -task, and what’s more I haven’t the slightest idea where to commence and -where to stop. . . . What fragrant hair she has. . . such an appealing -creature. When she weeps she’s just a broken-hearted little girl . . . -makes me want to take her on my knee and soothe her. . . . - -“Maisie’s nose went up a trifle the first time the child kissed me, and -there was steel in her voice when she reproved Tamea. Fine state of -affairs if she and Tamea fail to hit it off together and Tamea elects to -use me as a club to hurt Maisie. I have a feeling it would be like her -to try! Come to think of it, most women would! As soon as Tamea has -adjusted herself to her new life, I’ll pack her off to some select -school.” - -He picked up the annunciator and ordered Graves to halt alongside the -first newsstand he could find. Thus presently he found himself with half -a dozen magazines, skimming through their advertising pages in search of -some hint of the most advantageous school for girls of Tamea’s sort. -Preferably the school should be situated in the center of a boundless -prairie; as an additional safeguard, it should be surrounded by a very -tall barbed-wire fence or a cactus hedge and sans communication with the -outside world. - -By the time Graves had deposited him on the sidewalk before his office -building the problem of the right school was as far from solution as -ever, and a growing resentment against Gaston of the Beard was rising in -Dan’s heart. Down under the Southern Cross the problem of living was an -easy one. Why, then, had Gaston transplanted this girl to a land where -the problem was so complicated—where she was so certain to add to the -complications? - -“I feel tremendous events portending,” Dan soliloquized. “The very -foundations of my life are tottering.” - -On his desk he found a memorandum from his secretary to the effect that -he was to call Miss Morrison at his home the moment he came in. - -“Hello, Dan’l!” Maisie’s voice carried a triumphant note that cheered -him wonderfully. “I merely wanted to relieve your mind of your domestic -worries before you crossed swords with Uncle John. I have had a talk -with Mrs. Pippy and she will remain—for the present at least.” - -“I’ll raise her monthly stipend very materially,” he answered -gratefully. “Have you talked to Tamea?” - -“No, but I shall, Dan. I realize the precise proportions of the -predicament your generous acceptance of a white man’s burden has placed -you in. So, my dear, I dare say I shall have to stand at thy right hand -and hold the bridge with thee.” - -“God bless you for that, Maisie. I think Tamea is a wonderfully -affectionate girl—fiery, but generous, loyal and grateful, but hard to -handle. She must be appealed to through her heart rather than her head.” - -“You don’t know anything about it, Dan.” Maisie rather bit that sentence -off short. “That’s her plan for ruling you—via your soft heart and your -softer head. The girl Tamea has brains, she can reason and she can -understand, and the instant she realizes that your words of wisdom are -about to undermine her opposition to your desires, she will make a -flying leap for your manly breast——” - -“Do you really think she might develop such a habit?” - -“Dan, she’s a fully developed woman——” - -“Don’t build me a mare’s nest, Maisie. She’s just a little girl.” - -“Have it your way. But I warn you she’s the sort of little girl that a -respectable bachelor cannot afford to have around his house a day longer -than is quite necessary. That sounds catty, Dan, but I know whereof I -speak.” - -“Yes, I suppose I’ll have to do something radical and do it quickly,” he -agreed. “Thank you, Maisie—a million thanks.” - -“Happy to be of service to you, old boy.” - -“Maisie! Will you accord me another favor?” - -“Certainly. What is it?” - -“Consider yourself duly and affectionately kissed.” - -“Oh! Dan, you’re developing a habit. But don’t you think two kisses are -quite sufficient to start the day with?” - -“That was a little mean feminine jab, Maisie. Good-by. I’m going to hang -up.” - -He did, albeit smiling and much relieved. He could now turn to the task -of standing old John Casson on the latter’s snowy head, so to speak, and -see how much rice would run out of his pockets. - -Experience had taught Dan that the best way to handle his partner was to -rough him from the start, for, like all weak and pompous men, Casson was -not superabundantly endowed with courage or the ability to think fast -and clearly under fire. He would fight defensively but never -offensively, and Dan had discovered the great fundamental truth that the -offensive generally wins, the defensive never. - -He summoned his secretary. “Miss Mather, please inform Mr. Casson that I -desire to confer with him—in my office—immediately.” - -As he had anticipated, old Casson obeyed him without question. - -“Well, boy, what have you got on your mind this morning?” he began -genially. - -“Rice,” Dan answered curtly. “Sit down.” - -Casson walked to the window, looked out over the vista of bay and -commenced thinking as rapidly as he could under the circumstances. - -“I told you to sit down,” Dan reminded him crisply. “I mean it. Sit down -and face me. I want to look into your face and smoke the deception out -of it.” - -“By the gods of war, I’ll not stand such talk from any man!” Old Casson -had decided to bluster. - -Dan glowered at him. “You’ll stand it from me. You’ve got some rice -deals on in this crazy market and you’ve kept the news of your -operations from me. Have you speculated any in coffee or sugar?” - -“No, no, Dan. Nothing but rice.” - -“What sort of rice have you committed us to—California or Oriental?” - -“Both.” - -“Playing alone or in a pool?” - -“Alone.” - -“How much California rice have you purchased?” - -“One million sacks.” - -“Paid for any of it?” - -“Half of it. Balance in sixty days.” - -“Where is the rice?” - -“Scattered in various warehouses throughout the upper Sacramento -valley.” - -“I didn’t notice that our bank account had been particularly depleted -during the month I was in Hawaii. You bought the rice on open credit, -hypothecated the warehouse receipts with various banks, paid for half -the rice with the proceeds and used the remainder of the loan to pyramid -with. I suppose you sunk that in a little jag of Philippine rice.” - -“I did,” Casson admitted, flushed and anxious. He had seated himself, -facing Dan. - -“Holding your warehoused rice for a rising market, eh?” - -“Exactly.” - -“Suppose the bottom drops out?” - -Casson shrugged and for the first time smiled. “I think, Pritchard, -you’ll have to admit that I’ve put one over on you this time, and what’s -more, you’re going to like it. I bought that California rice at prices -ranging from nine and a quarter to ten and a half cents per pound, and -today it is worth twenty. We stand to clean up a hundred thousand -dollars on that lot alone.” - -“We are engaged in legitimate business, not food profiteering. Can you -dispose of that million sacks readily?” - -“Had an offer of twenty cents for it this morning.” - -“Reliable people?” - -“Rated up to five million, A-A-A-one.” - -“Cash?” - -“No, ninety days.” - -“Suspicious. Don’t like ninety-day paper. The banks are beginning to -discriminate in their loans. All over the country there has been a wide -expansion of credit in all lines, due to war-time prosperity, and my -guess is that the demand for credit will soon result in the usual -banking situation. The banks will discover that their loans have so -increased as to be out of proportion to their reserves and deposits; and -if the banks once get frightened, business will be crippled overnight.” - -“Pooh, no danger of that for a couple of years yet, Pritchard.” - -“On that subject I prefer sounder advice than yours, Mr. Casson. Call up -the people who want that rice and tell them we’re willing to cut our -price considerably if they will pay cash.” - -“Sorry, but it can’t be done, my boy. I’ve already traded on a -ninety-day basis. Don’t worry. We’re perfectly safe.” - -“With you, the wish is father to the thought. How much Oriental rice -have you bought?” - -“We’ve got the British steamer Malayan loading a cargo of eight thousand -tons in Manila, for Havana, Cuba. On or about the middle of next month -the steamer Chinook will load four thousand tons at Shanghai, for -delivery at Havana.” - -“Our specialty, of which we have a good, safe, working knowledge, is -South Sea products—mostly copra, and the operation of ships. The -shoemaker should stick to his last. Now, then, listen to my ultimatum. -If the sun sets today and leaves Casson and Pritchard the proprietors of -rice stored anywhere except in our respective kitchens, you and I are -going to dissolve partnership about an hour after the sun rises -tomorrow. And, whether you realize it or not, the moment our partnership -is dissolved, that moment you start tobogganing to ruin.” - -Casson rose and stretched himself carelessly. “Oh, well, boy,” he -replied, the patronizing quality of his words driving Dan into a silent -fury, “suppose we leave the crossing of our bridges until we come to -them.” - -Dan’s fist smashed down on his desk with a thud that caused old Casson -and the inkwell to jump simultaneously. “We’ll cross our bridges today,” -he roared, “and we’ll start now. Sit down, you consummate old jackass!” - -Casson trembled, paled and sat down very abruptly. “My dear Dan, control -yourself,” he stammered. - -“I’ll control myself, never fear. My chief job is controlling you. How -dare you commit me to ruin without consulting me?” - -“Ruin? Ridiculous! Only a fool would have neglected this golden -opportunity—and I’m the senior member of this firm and a sixty percent -owner in it.” Simulating righteous indignation, Casson too commenced to -pound Dan’s desk. - -“No bluffs!” Dan ordered, and took down the intercommunicating office -telephone. The chief clerk responded. “Bring to me immediately all of -the data pertaining to Mr. Casson’s rice operations,” he ordered. He -hung up and faced Casson. “That will be all, Mr. Casson. From this -moment you are out of the rice market and I’m in it. I’ll attend to the -marketing of more rice than this firm is worth.” - -“Pritchard, I forbid this!” - -“Very well.” Dan reached for his hat. “I’m going up to our banker and -tell him all about your rice deals. A business man should be as frank -with his banker as with his lawyer. You’ll get your orders from the man -higher up. If a loss threatens us, I prefer to have the blow fall now.” - -The battle was over. “Oh, have it your own way, my boy!” Casson cried -disgustedly and with a wave of his plump hand absolved himself from any -and all disasters that might overtake the firm. - -Half an hour later a well-known rice broker appeared in Dan’s office in -response to the latter’s telephoned request. - -“This firm,” Dan announced, “owns eight thousand tons of rice now -loading for Havana, in Manila. It owns four thousand tons due to be -loaded in thirty days at Shanghai. Is that rice quickly salable?” - -“How soon do you want it sold?” - -“Immediately.” - -“Can do—at a price.” - -“Do it!” Dan Pritchard commanded. “And if you can dig me up a cash -customer—at a cent or two under the market—I’ll pay you an extra -quarter of one per cent commission.” - -“Cash, eh? Well, that’s a bit doubtful. However, that extra commission -will make me work. I’ll report when I have something you can get your -teeth into.” - -“May I hope to hear from you today?” - -“Scarcely. The market’s a bit off—somewhat sluggish. Trading has been -pretty rapid of late, and the opinion prevails in some quarters that the -market has about reached the point of saturation.” - -“Many traders unloading?” - -“Oh, no! Everybody is still holding on for a further rise in price, -which I personally believe will come. We’re all optimists in the rice -market.” - -“Well, I’m a pessimist, but only because I do not care for rice. I have -never dealt in it before and I don’t know anything about the rice -market. Frankly, I’m closing out some trades of Mr. Casson’s under his -protest. My instructions to you are practically to throw Casson’s trades -overboard in order to get us out of the rice market.” - -The broker eyed him keenly. “No necessity for getting stampeded and -breaking the market,” he suggested. - -The remainder of that day Dan devoted to Tamea’s business. First he went -to the Appraisers’ Building and declared the pearls which Gaston had -smuggled in on the Moorea. Having paid the duty on them, he called on -the leading jewelers and had them appraised again, after which he added -ten per cent to the appraisal value and sold the entire lot to a -wholesale jeweler for cash. He reasoned, very wisely, that at the height -of a period of such prosperity as the country had not hitherto known, -the selected pearls of Gaston of the Beard would never bring a better -price. He then deposited all of her funds to the credit of “Daniel -Pritchard, guardian of Tamea Oluolu Larrieau, a minor,” in a number of -savings banks. He next called upon his attorney, who drew up, at his -request a formal petition to the Superior Court for letters of -guardianship for Tamea. - -Yes, Dan was a practical business man, a slave to the accepted forms. He -was taking his office as Tamea’s guardian so very seriously that his -position was analogous to that of the man who failed to see the woods -because of the trees. It did not occur to him that the administration of -an estate for a minor who knew nothing of the value of money and cared -less, who had never known discipline and who yielded instantly to every -elemental human desire and instinct, might be provocative of much -distress and loss of sleep to him. On the contrary, what he did do was -to return to his office hugely satisfied with the world as at that -moment constituted. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - -At four o’clock Dan telephoned his home and ascertained from Sooey Wan -that Tamea and Maisie had gone out together. - -He decided, therefore, to return to his office and look over the mail; -perchance he might find there some comforting light on the rice -situation. - -As he came into the general office his secretary called to him that Mr. -Mellenger was in his office, waiting to see him; that he had been -waiting there since one o’clock. - -Dan nodded comprehendingly and walked into the ambuscade. Mellenger was -seated in Dan’s chair. He had his feet up on the window sill and in his -left hand he held a cigar. - -“Well, old horse thief,” he murmured with lazy cordiality, “you’ve given -me quite a wait. Have you told the story to any other newspaper?” - -“What story, you fat parasite?” - -“Romantic skipper, leprosy, suicide, lovely half-caste daughter of royal -blood, to be adopted by well-known young business man of highest social -standing. Where is her photograph, and if no photo be available, where -is she?” He touched with his toe a camera on the floor beside him. -“Great story,” he continued. “Front page stuff. Got to give it a -spread.” - -“I could spread your nose for news all over your impudent countenance,” -Dan retorted irritably. “There must be no publicity on this matter, -Mel!” - -“Got to be, my son. The doctor of the public health service who examined -your shipmaster yesterday boarded the Moorea this morning to remove the -man to quarantine, and was informed by the mate that the leprous one had -gone over the rail and failed to come up. That doctor suspects Larrieau -has escaped—and you know they can’t afford to have a leper running -around on the loose. All the water front reporters have part of the -story from the doctor and part from old Casson and they’re satisfied -with that, but I’m here to get the facts.” - -“I understand you’ve been here since one o’clock.” - -Mellenger nodded. “My day off, Dan, but the city editor knew how close -you and I have always been, so he called me up at my hotel and asked me -to get the story.” - -“Call him up and tell him that I decline to be interviewed.” - -“Sorry, but I must interview you. I’ve already interviewed by telephone -old Casson, Miss Morrison, Mrs. Pippy, Julia, Sooey Wan and Graves. The -crew of the Moorea I have seen personally. I’ve got a crackerjack story -but I want a better one. Sooey Wan said he thought you’d marry the queen -about a week from tomorrow.” - -“That Chink is absolutely out of control.” - -“You leave him alone. He’s a friend of mine. And you’ll be interviewed!” -He puffed at his cigar and looked sorrowfully out over the roofs of the -city. “Only one way to handle a newspaper man,” he ruminated. “Receive -him, ignore him or kill him. Ah, to be rich and beloved by a queen—to -dwell in marble halls, with vassals and serfs rendering snappy service!” - -“Mel, don’t be an ass. Don’t insist upon injecting a romantic note into -this story.” - -“Sooey Wan says he’ll back her against the field at a hundred to one, -and any time Sooey has a celestial hunch I’ll play it.” - -“Mel, you shouldn’t discuss my private affairs with my servants——” - -The knight of the pad and pencil waved him into silence. “Sooey Wan -isn’t a servant, Dan. He’s an institution who accepts a hundred and -fifty dollars a month from you just to please you and perpetuate the -institution. Why shouldn’t the old idol discuss you with me? Haven’t I -been dining at your house every Thursday night for ten years? Sooey Wan -knows I think almost as much of you as he does. Come, I’m listening.” - -In five minutes the tale was told. - -“Her photograph,” Mellenger insisted. - -“You cannot have it.” - -“One of the crew—by name Kahanaha—found this one for me in the late -skipper’s desk,” the imperturbable Mellenger informed him, and produced -a photograph of Tamea, hibiscus-crowned, barefooted, garbed in a dotted -calico Mother Hubbard. - -“Hideous as death,” Dan growled and snatched at it. - -But Mellenger whisked it away. “It is, as you say, hideous, but if no -other photograph is available we shall be forced regretfully to use it. -Woodley, of the Chronicle, has one like it, but I know I can prevail -upon him to hand it back for something more recent and not so colorful.” - -“He shall have it.” - -“You understood I couldn’t permit Woodley to scoop me on the -photograph.” - -There was a knock at the door and Miss Mather entered. “Miss Morrison -and Miss Larrieau are in the general office, asking to see you, Mr. -Pritchard.” - -“God is good and the devil not half bad,” murmured Mellenger and picked -up his camera. “Certainly, Miss Mather. Admit the ladies, by all means.” - -To Dan he said: “I’ve always wished I might live to see a queen enter a -room. Tall, stately, majestic, coldly beautiful, they sweep through the -door with a long undulating stride—Judas priest!” - -“_Chéri!_ Look at me, Dan.” From the door, violently flung open, Tamea’s -golden voice challenged his admiration. For one breathless instant she -stood, alert, seemingly poised for flight, a glorious creature -gloriously garbed, her arms held toward him, beseeching his approval; -the next she was rushing to him, to fling those arms around his neck and -implant a chaste salute upon each cheek. - -She thrust him from her, ignored Mellenger and struck a pose. - -“There, dear one,” she pleaded, “is your Tamea, then, so much uglier -than the women of your own race?” - -“You are perfectly glorious, Tamea.” - -“As the aurora borealis,” Mellenger spoke up. - -Tamea, seemingly not aware of his presence until now, turned upon him -eyes which frankly sought a confirmation of the enthusiasm and pride she -read in Dan’s. “You like me, too?” - -“Queen, you’re adorable.” - -He glanced past her to Maisie Morrison, standing, flushed and faintly -smiling, in the doorway. Maisie was gazing with an eager intensity at -Dan Pritchard, who saw her not. Mellenger twitched the tail of Dan’s -coat, and the latter, as if summoned out of a trance, turned and gazed -at him inquiringly. - -“Introduce me, fool, introduce me!” Mellenger suggested, and Dan -complied. - -Maisie acknowledged the introduction with a cordial nod and a weary -little smile, but Tamea thrust out her long, beautiful hand. “How do you -do, Mr. Mel. How are all your people? Very well, I hope.” She swung -around to give him a view of her from the back. - -“Marvelous,” he declared. “Your Majesty is so beautiful I must make a -picture of you at once.” - -With the adroitness of his profession he set his camera up on the -telephone stand, posed Tamea where the late afternoon sun shone through -the window and photographed her half a dozen times; then, with a promise -to Tamea to send her prints, he bowed himself out to have the films -developed and write his story. - -Dan in the meantime had provided seats for both his visitors. - -“So that’s Mark Mellenger,” said Maisie. “I wish he had stayed longer. I -have a curiosity to know anybody who loves you, Dan.” - -“Old Mel is the salt of the earth,” he declared warmly. “When we were in -college together he was editor of the college daily and I was by way of -being a cartoonist. In those days we were the heroes of the campus, and -thoughtless enthusiasts used to predict for each of us the prompt -acquisition of a niche in the Hall of Fame. Mel was to write the great -American novel and I was to create riots among millionaires anxious to -buy my pictures.” He shrugged ruefully, nor did he note Maisie’s wistful -smile as he turned to the radiant Tamea. “I’ll paint you, you tropical -goddess,” he soliloquized audibly. “You’ve had a fine time in the shops -today, eh, my dear?” - -“It was very wonderful, Dan Pritchard.” - -Dan turned to Maisie. “You’re so good and kind, Maisie, and your taste -is always so exquisite. In this instance it is more than exquisite. It -is exotic.” - -“I cannot claim credit for it, Dan. All I did was bring Tamea to the -best shops. What she is wearing is entirely of her own selection.” - -“But, Maisie, how could she?” - -“You forget that Tamea is half French. She has been born with a positive -genius for artistic adornment.” - -He and Tamea exchanged approving smiles. “And is our Tamea an -extravagant girl?” he queried. - -“Tamea,” said Maisie bluntly, “would bankrupt Midas.” - -“For money,” quoth Tamea, “I care not that much!” She snapped her -fingers. “But why should I love money? Is money not to be used to make -men happy and women beautiful in the eyes of their men, that they may -hold them against other women?” - -“I suppressed your ward’s spending frenzy as well as I could, Dan, but -nevertheless we spent nearly two thousand dollars.” - -Dan came close to Maisie. He had noticed for the first time how tired -she looked; in her weariness he detected a wistfulness and a repression -that told him Maisie’s patience had been sorely tried. “I suspect your -work today has required all that you had of fortitude and courage, -Maisie.” He pinched her pale cheek and then patted the spot he had -pinched. “You’re a great comfort to me, Maisie.” - -“Well, that helps, Dan. I think if Tamea had not been permitted to dash -home with her purchases, array herself in fine raiment and return here -to dazzle you, the day would have been quite spoiled for her. The -excitement has been good for her, I think. She has not had time to -grieve for her father.” - -“My father dwells happily in Paliuli with my mother. I will not grieve -for him again. I will live now to be happy.” - -“And make others happy, too, dear?” Maisie suggested. - -“_Certainement!_ But first I must know others and learn how to make them -happy.” - -“We will be patient and teach you, Tamea. By the way, Dan, it’s time to -close down your desk, isn’t it? I’ll leave Tamea to you now until you -need me again.” - -She gave him her hand and he noticed it was very cold. - -“Poor old dear,” he whispered as he escorted her into the hall. “I’ve an -idea you’ve had the very devil of a day.” - -“Naturally. I went shopping with an imp, didn’t I?” - -He raised his extra high eyebrow a trifle higher. “Is she very hard to -manage?” - -“She is.” - -“Any hope at all?” - -“I’m afraid I’m not a fair judge, Dan. Every little while she grows -impulsively angelic. She doesn’t like me a bit, yet today, after my maid -Céleste had come over and done the imp’s hair, Tamea assured me I was -very sweet and kissed me. She has a perfect passion for having her own -way.” - -“I’ll have to be firm with her, Maisie.” - -“Don’t be humorous, Dan. In her hands you are as clay.” - -“Nonsense! She’s just a simple child of nature. With tactful -handling——” - -Maisie was suddenly furious. “Oh, you’re such a helpless, lovable booby! -You are the one man in this world whom Providence has selected as the -rightful receiver of gold bricks. Why did you take on this frightful -responsibility? Wouldn’t it have been far simpler and less expensive to -have urged upon her father the wisdom of sending her back to her -outlandish island to queen it over the cannibals instead of——” - -“Instead of whom, Maisie?” - -“Instead of setting your little world by the ears? You just cannot begin -to imagine the terrific time I had inducing Mrs. Pippy to remain.” - -“Deuce take Mrs. Pippy!” he protested. “She ought to thank her lucky -stars for the chance to remain. The first time she met Tamea she looked -down her nose at the child——” - -“What you do not seem to comprehend, Dan, is that Tamea is _not_ a -child.” - -“Well, Maisie, all I’ve got to say is that whether Tamea be a child or a -woman, an imp or an angel, I promised her father I’d look after her, and -I’m going to do it. If she refuses to be directed, if she declines to be -obedient, I’ll——” - -“Yes, you’ll——” - -“You do not like her, Maisie?” - -“Oh, I do not dislike her. She merely startles me. She is such a flashy, -exotic, alien sort of person, voicing whatever thoughts pop into her -head, and with the most extraordinary ideas and outlook on life. She -told me all about an Englishman in Riva who was madly in love with her. -He was a drunken profligate, and she would have none of him because he -was dull and stupid, not because he was such an out-and-out scoundrel. -She speaks of sinful people as impersonally as we would of some -unfortunate who has measles or tuberculosis.” He laughed. “I suppose you -realize, Dan, that to keep Tamea in your home hereafter will be to -invite gossip and criticism from those who do not know you so well as we -do.” - -“But what shall I do with the girl?” - -“Send her to a hotel or a convent,” was Maisie’s suggestion. - -“Very well, Maisie. You spoke of a convent. That’s a splendid idea. A -convent’s the very place for Tamea. I wonder where I might find a good -one.” - -Maisie brightened perceptibly. “I’ll look one up for you.” - -She gave him her hand and he pressed it tenderly. “You’re mighty sweet,” -he murmured. “I do appreciate you tremendously. Good night, dear.” - -Instantly there was in her face a flash of the Maisie of yesterday, the -light he had seen there when he kissed her. “Good night, booby,” she -whispered. “Think of me once in a while.” - -“I think of you more frequently than that.” - -“I’m glad.” - -“You nuisance! You interfere with my conduct of business.” - -“I rejoice in my mendacity. You might walk to the elevator with me, -Dan.” - -He did, and they talked there five minutes longer before Maisie finally -left him. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - -Meanwhile, back in Dan’s office, the childishly curious Tamea had -started a critical inspection of the room. She looked in the wash -closet, turned on the water, inspected the books in the bookcase and the -model of a clipper ship on top of it, and presently discovered on the -side of Dan’s desk a row of push buttons. She touched one of these and -almost immediately Dan’s secretary, Miss Mather, entered the office. She -glanced around and failing to see Pritchard, she said: - -“You called me?” - -Tamea shook her head and Miss Mather excused herself and retired. -Instantly Tamea pressed another button, and to her amazement a youth of -about sixteen summers entered, gazed around the room and said: - -“Yes’m. Whadja want? Me?” - -Tamea solemnly shook her head and the youth departed, mystified, leaving -her with a delightful sense of occult power. She tried another button, -and some thirty seconds later a bald-headed man, the chief clerk, -entered very deferentially. - -“Ha! ha!” Tamea laughed. “Nothing doing, Monsieur, nothing, I assure.” - -The chief clerk retired, registering amazement, and Tamea adventured -with the fourth button, this time without result. So she turned her -attention to the telephone switch box and commenced pressing buttons and -ringing bells all over the suite of Casson and Pritchard, with the -result that everybody was trying to answer his telephone at once. -Impelled by curiosity, Tamea picked up the receiver just in time to hear -a tiny voice say very distinctly: “Hello! Hello! Casson speaking.” - -With a shriek she dropped the receiver. Here, indeed, was magic. -Trembling and white, she pressed all four push buttons in succession, -and again Miss Mather entered. - -“It speaks,” Tamea gasped. “There are devils in this house. _Regardez!_” - -Miss Mather saw the dangling telephone receiver and replaced it on the -hook. “It is silent now. The devil is dumb,” she assured Tamea. “Have -you never seen a telephone before?” - -“But no, never. And I press here—and here—and servants come without a -summons. This is proof that Monsieur Dan Pritchard is indeed a great -chief.” - -“He is a very kind chief, at any rate. We all love him here.” - -Tamea stared at Miss Mather disapprovingly. “I have heard that he is -much beloved by women.” She frowned. “You may go,” she decreed. - -Miss Mather, highly amused, retired. At the door she found the office -boy, the chief clerk and Dan Pritchard about to enter, and explained to -them the reason for the excitement. Dan entered, chuckling. - -“You laugh!” Tamea challenged him haughtily. - -“Yes, and I laugh at you.” - -“Is that—what shall I say—very nice, very polite?” - -“No, but I can’t help it. However, I’ll be fair with you, Tamea. You may -laugh at me whenever you desire.” - -“I shall never desire to laugh at you, Dan.” - -“Forgive me, my dear.” He got his hat and overcoat from the closet. “We -will go home now, Tamea.” - -She took hold of his hand and walked with him thus out through the -general office and down the hall. He was slightly embarrassed and wished -that she would let go his hand, but he dared not suggest it. During the -swift drop in the elevator Tamea gasped, quivered and clung tightly to -his arm. When the car reached the lobby and the passengers made their -exit, the girl retreated into the corner and dragged Dan with her. - -“We get out here, Tamea.” - -“I know, dear one. But I like this. It is a longer and swifter fall than -when the stern of a schooner drops down a heavy sea. I would rise once -more.” - -“Oh, come, Tamea! This is nonsense. One does not ride in an elevator -unless one has to.” - -“Is a second ride, then, forbidden by this man?” She indicated the -elevator operator. - -“No, you may ride up and down all day if you desire. But it’s so silly, -Tamea.” - -“In this country men fear they may be thought foolish. But you are a -brave man. You will not deny your Tamea this simple pleasure.” He -frowned. “Very well. I obey.” - -Tamea started for the door; but Dan pressed her back into the corner -again; the elevator operator favored him with a knowing grin and the car -shot upward without a pause to the fifteenth floor. . . . - -When they were settled in the limousine the girl reached again for his -hand and possessed herself of it. “I think I shall be very happy with -you,” she confided. - -He reflected that Tamea would always be happy if given free rein to her -desires. Aloud he said: “Tamea, it is my duty to make you happy.” - -Gratefully she cuddled his hand to her cheek and implanted upon it a -fervent kiss. - -“Of course,” she agreed. “_Certainement._” - -They rolled out Market Street through the heavy evening traffic, and -presently were climbing to the crest of Twin Peaks. As the car swept -around the last curve and gave a view of the city from the Potrero to -the Cliff House snuggled below them, Tamea gasped. A little wisp of fog -was creeping in the Golden Gate, but the light, still lingering although -the sun had almost set, clothed the city in an amethyst haze that -softened its ugly architecture and made of it a thing of superlative -beauty. The sweep of blue bay, the islands and the shipping, the -departing light heliographed from the western windows of homes on the -Alameda County shore, the high green hills on the eastern horizon, all -combined to make a picture so impressively beautiful that Tamea, born -with the appreciation of beauty so distinct a characteristic of her -mother’s race, sighed with the shock of it. Graves had stopped the car -and the girl gazed her fill in silence. - -“I wanted to bring you up here and prove to you that ours is not an ugly -land, although not so beautiful perhaps as Riva,” Dan explained. - -Then they swept down the western slope of Twin Peaks, up the Great -Highway along the Pacific shore and home through Golden Gate Park. As -was his custom, Dan opened the front door with his latchkey and he and -Tamea stepped into the hall. - -“You have an hour in which to dress for dinner, child,” he told her. -“Ring for Julia. She will help you.” - -The girl came close to him, drew his head down on her shoulder and -pressed her lips to his ear. - -“Yesterday,” she whispered, “was a day of sorrow. It did not seem that I -could bear it. But today has been so joyous I have almost forgotten my -sorrow; in a week it will be quite gone. To you I am indebted for this -great happiness.” - -She kissed him rapturously, first on one cheek, then on the other, and -Dan reflected that this Gallic form of osculation had evidently been -learned from old Gaston of the Beard. How warm and soft her lips were, -how fragrant her breath and hair! In the dim light of the hall her -marvelous eyes beamed up at him with a light that suddenly set his pulse -to pounding wildly. A tremor ran through him. - -“You tremble, dear one,” the girl whispered. “You are cold! Ah, but my -love shall warm,” and she lifted her lips to his. - -She was Circe, born again. Decidedly, here was dangerous ground. He was -far too intelligent not to realize the complication that might ensue -should he yield to this sudden gust of desire, this strange new yearning -never felt before, this impulse for possession without passion, that -shook his very soul. He told himself he must continue to play a part, to -decline to take her otherwise than paternally, to evade, at all hazard, -the pitfall yawning before him. - -“It is not well to think too long or too hard,” Tamea whispered. “Your -people count the costs, but mine do not.” - -Apparently the amazing creature knew of what he was thinking! He was -cornered, he would have to escape and that quickly. “I was just -thinking, Tamea, that my house will be lonely after your bright -presence,” he said, a trifle unsteadily. - -She gasped. “You plan to send me from you, Dan Pritchard?” - -“Temporarily, my dear. In spring the climate of this part of California -is too cold and raw for you. Tomorrow you and Julia and Mrs. Pippy will -go in the car to Del Monte, where it is more like your own country. -After you have been there a month and have grown accustomed to our ways, -you will go to a convent to be educated.” - -She stood with her hands on his shoulders, pondering this. Then: “This -is your desire?” - -“Yes.” - -She looked into the very soul of him. “I do not believe that,” she -declared and looked up at him so wistfully that his reason tottered on -its throne and fell, crashing, into the valley of his desire. He crushed -her to him and their lips met. . . . - -Out of the semi-darkness a familiar voice spoke. “Captain’s girl velly -nice. What Sooey Wan tell you, boss? Now you ketchum heap savvy.” - -Dan Pritchard fled upstairs, leaving the triumphant Tamea to follow at -her leisure. “Fool, fool!” The voice of conscience beat in his brain. - -“That wasn’t kind of me. . . no, not even sensible. . . . I’ve spoiled, -everything. . . Maisie. . . . Why wasn’t I man enough to be strong?. . . -Gaston entrusted her to me and I’ve failed. . . .” - -As he reached the door of his room Tamea’s voice floated up the -stairway. She was singing a pæan of triumph, and she sang it in her -mother tongue. Ah, youth and love and golden dreams! In Tamea’s heart -there was no longer room for sorrow, in her primitive but wonderfully -acute intelligence there was no room for disturbing reflections touching -the whys and wherefores which, in Dan Pritchard’s world, were -concomitant with all decisions and made the wisdom of all issues -doubtful. - -“She is exotic—overpowering, like a seductive perfume. She appeals -profoundly, in her solitary state, to my sympathy; her beauty, her -vitality, her unspoiled and innocent outlook, the impulsiveness and -naturalness of her desire, in which, from her viewpoint, there is -nothing to criticize, all conspire to drive me into the very situation I -would avoid because I know it to be ruinous. ‘East is East and West is -West and never the twain shall meet.’ Kipling knew. When they do meet it -is only an illusion of meeting, and the illusion fades. And yet, from -the moment that girl first gazed upon me, Maisie has been receding -farther and farther from my conscious mind. An incredibly bad compliment -to Maisie, and the deuce of it is I think that, subconsciously, Maisie -realizes this. What a cad I have been!” - -Julia knocked at his door. “Miss Morrison on the ’phone, sir.” - -He went into the hall and took down the receiver. “Yes, Maisie.” - -“Dan, dear,” Maisie replied, almost breathlessly, “would you think me -very forward if I were to invite myself to dinner at your house -tonight?” - -“Indeed I would not! As a matter of fact, Maisie, I very much desire -your presence at dinner tonight. I wasn’t quite aware of this desire -until you spoke, but I think that in about five minutes the same bright -idea would have occurred to me.” - -“Uncle John came home in an ill humor. Scolded me all the way up and -complained to me about you, and of course that put me in a bad -temper——” - -“Why have your dinner spoiled by being forced to sit and listen to your -avuncular relative rave? Shall I send my car for you?” - -“Do, please!” A silence. Then: “You’re quite sure you would have -telephoned and invited me to dinner if I had not telephoned and invited -myself?” - -“Positive, Maisie. I’m at a loose end. I need your moral support. My -duties as a foster father——” - -“I understand. I thought too, Dan, it might relieve you of your -embarrassment if the school or convent question could be settled -tonight. I’ve been doing some thinking and am prepared to submit a -plan.” - -“Good news! Graves will call for you at seven o’clock. And by the way, -my oldest and dearest man friend, Mark Mellenger, is coming. You met him -in the office this afternoon.” - -“Good! Is he interesting, Dan?” - -“The Lord made but one Mellenger and then the plates were destroyed. He -dines with me every Thursday night he is in town. He’s a newspaper man -and Thursday is his day off. He celebrates it with me. Women have never -appeared to interest Mel, and I’m looking forward to watching the effect -on him of two extremes in interesting and charming women.” - -“So Tamea has grown up—so soon,” Maisie challenged. Then she added, -while he searched his puzzled mind for an answer: “Thank you so much for -asking me over, Dan. Until a quarter past seven, then. Good-by, booby!” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - -When Dan came downstairs he found Mark Mellenger seated before the fire -in the living room. Sooey Wan stood before him, vigorously shaking a -cocktail mixer and discussing volubly with the newspaper man some inside -facts concerning the latest tong war in Chinatown. - -“Hello, here come boss. Hello, boss. How my boy tonight, eh? Velly -happy, eh?” Thus Sooey Wan, his idol face wreathed in a smile that -indicated his entire satisfaction with the world as at that moment -constituted. Dan glared at him, for he knew the thought uppermost in -that curious Oriental mind; Sooey Wan assimilated the hint but continued -to grin and giggle. Mellenger stood up. - -“I drink success to your administration of your new job,” he said. - -“It’s a perfectly horrible job, Mel, and nothing but woe can come out of -it. Keeping pace with Tamea is a real chore.” - -“Would that the gods had favored me with her father’s faith and -friendship. Dan, that girl is as glorious as a tropical sunset.” - -“I thought something had happened to you, Mel. So you’re a casualty, eh? -And in the name of the late Jehoshaphat, what do you mean by coming to -my house in dinner clothes? I have never suspected you of owning dinner -clothes.” - -“I am a very easy man to fit in ready-made clothing,” his guest replied. -“I bought these after leaving your office tonight. Made up my mind you’d -be dining more or less formally.” - -“But my dear Mel, you might have known Tamea would not have considered -you _de trop_ if you had appeared for dinner in a suit of striped -pajamas.” - -“No, but Miss Morrison would.” - -“What sorcery is this? I did not invite her until twenty minutes ago.” - -Mellenger drank his cocktail slowly and thoughtfully and held out his -glass for Sooey Wan’s further attention. - -“I am not one of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear -not. I’m a fairly good judge of human nature, and I always judge the -characters of men and women—particularly women—the moment the sample -is submitted. Which reminds me that for the first time I suspect you of -a failure to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” - -“That’s a definite charge. State your specification.” - -Mellenger’s somewhat heavy, impassive face lighted humorously. “Now, -didn’t Miss Morrison invite herself?” he challenged. - -Dan’s mouth flew open in amazement. “Yes. How did you know?” - -Mellenger sat down and gazed owlishly at the fire before replying: “I -had a suspicion, amounting to a moral certainty, that she would. -Usually, as you know, I am a careless fellow. I snatch quick meals in -cheap restaurants and I work like a dog. Hence my one day of rest is -devoted to rest, meditation and observation. Observation and subsequent -meditation convinced me that Miss Morrison would be a guest here -tonight.” - -“Remarkable man!” - -“I had never had the privilege of meeting Miss Morrison before this -afternoon,” Mellenger continued. “A very striking, intelligent, splendid -looking girl. She has brains and wit.” - -“How do you know? She spoke four-words to you—‘How do you do?’” - -“She has eyes. Why have you delayed marrying her? You’re a bit of a -dodo, Dan.” - -“How do I know she’d marry me, Mel?” - -“Because you do not know constitutes the basis for my charge that you’re -a bit of a dodo. Anybody else would know.” He looked up at Dan suddenly, -his gray, deep-set eyes very earnest under shaggy brows. “Are you aware -that this very excellent young woman is deeply in love with you?” - -“No, I’m not.” - -Mellenger sighed. “Have you ever suspected she might be?” - -“That sounds presumptuous, Mel. Of course, once in a while——” - -“You have suspected it but have banished the suspicion. . . . You’re -very comfortable here; you’re rich and getting richer; you have a -yearning to chuck business one day and woo art.” He stared again at the -fire and sipped at his cocktail. “The victim of a suppressed artistic -desire is loath to give hostages to fortune in the way of a wife and -children. Good Lord, I’ve written a trunkful of short stories and novels -that haven’t sold; I have never been satisfied with one of them, and -until I am satisfied I have planned to remain single and live in a -hotel. . . . Everybody in town in your set knows how Maisie Morrison -feels toward you. Your indifference constitutes a choice topic of -conversation among the tea tabbies.” - -“You are a mine of information, Mel.” - -“I get it from our society editor. She knows all the gossip.” - -“Oh!” - -“Ever consider marrying Miss Morrison, Dan?” - -“Yes, I have.” - -“He who hesitates is lost, my friend.” - -Dan’s face had suddenly gone haggard. “I must not hesitate,” he -murmured, “or I may be lost.” - -“Yes,” Mellenger agreed coolly, “only in this case suppose we substitute -for the word _may_ the word _shall_.” - -“Tamea?” asked Dan. - -Mellenger nodded. “She is exotic, marvelous, irresistible—just the sort -of woman to sweep an idealistic ass like you off his feet—into the -abyss. Maisie Morrison knows that, and Tamea, young as she is, knows -that Maisie Morrison knows it. This afternoon in your office your ward -favored you with an impulsive, childish hug and kiss. That was a stab to -the other girl. They exchanged swift glances. There was challenge in -Maisie’s and triumph and purpose in Tamea’s.” - -“This is perfectly horrible, Mel.” - -“We-l-l, at any rate it’s inconvenient and embarrassing. It would be -horrible for Maisie to have to come to a realization that this -half-caste islander had won you away from her—and it would be very -horrible for you to arrive at the same realization after it was too -late.” - -“But I entertain no such crazy intention.” - -“You don’t know what intentions you _may_ entertain. You may never truly -fall in love with Tamea, but—you may become infatuated with her. She -has a singularly potent lure for men—men who love beauty and fire and -vitality—men who feel mentally crowded by a mediocre world. I have -known such men, when infatuated, to sacrifice everything they valued in -life for the transient favor of women who did not assay very highly in -mental or moral values. As a matter of fact, my boy, you are infatuated -with Tamea already.” - -“How do you know?” - -“I do not know how or why I know. I just know it, and now I am sure I -know it. Forget it, Dan.” - -Pritchard’s head sunk on his chest in the thoughtful, half sad posture -that Maisie termed the Abraham Lincoln look. He sighed and said -presently, “What should I do about it, Mel?” - -“Get this girl out of your life at once and marry Maisie Morrison as -soon as you can procure a license.” - -“I think that’s very sound advice, Mel.” - -“I think so, too.” - -Mellenger drifted over to the piano and commenced playing very softly; -the words of the song he played rang in Dan Pritchard’s mind with -something of the sad poignancy of the distant tolling of church bells: - - Tow-see mon-ga-lay, my dear, - You’ll leave me some day, I fear, - Sailing home across the sea - To blue-eyed girl in Melikee. - If you stay, I love you true, - If you leave me—no can do! - Me no cry, me only say - Tow-see mon-ga-lay. - -“Yes”—Mellenger resumed the train of his thoughts—“my advice is -eminently sound—but you’ll not follow it.” The doorbell rang. “There’s -Maisie Morrison now, Dan.” - -“I shall ask her this very night to marry me, Mel.” - -“I think not, old-timer.” - -“You are a very wise man, Monsieur Mel.” - -Tamea spoke from the doorway and Dan, looking up startled, beheld her -standing there, a thing of beauty, dazzling, glorious, shimmering, in a -dinner gown of old rose that displayed her matchless figure to -bewildering perfection. Her eyes, not flashing but softly luminous, were -bent upon Dan Pritchard a little bit sadly, a little bit puzzled. - -“I have been a stranger here, _chéri_,” she said very distinctly, “but -you have looked with favor upon your Tamea, Dan Pritchard—and we are -strangers to each other no longer. You are my man. I love you, and -though I die this Maisie shall not possess that which I love.” - -She crossed swiftly to Dan’s side; as he sought to rise she drew him -down in his chair again and pressed his head back to meet her glance as -she bent over him, her arms around his neck. A silence, while she -searched the soul of him. Then: “You do love your Tamea?” - -Dan Pritchard murmured, “I don’t know, Tamea.” - -“_Je t’adore!_” She patted his cheek. “I have no wish to hurt this -Maisie,” she informed him and with a glance included Mellenger in the -confidence, “but that which I have, I hold.” - -“Exactly,” said Mellenger and commenced to play again, softly and with -devilish humor: - - The bells of hell go ting-a-ling, - For you and not for me . . . - -Dan sprang up and brushed Tamea aside as Julia appeared in the doorway. - -“Miss Morrison,” she announced. - -As Maisie entered Mark Mellenger’s heart almost skipped a beat. “She has -accepted the challenge. Zounds! What a woman!” he thought, and stared at -her in vast admiration as she advanced to meet Dan and carelessly gave -him her hand—to kiss! As Dan bent his white face over it Tamea’s voice -shattered the silence. - -“I think, Maisie, perhaps you should know that Dan Pritchard belongs to -me. I love him and he is mine.” - -Maisie’s smile was tolerant, humorous, maddening; it was apparent to the -watching Mellenger that she had anticipated some such open, direct -attack and had schooled herself to meet it. - -“Indeed, Tamea, my dear!” she drawled. “Has Mr. Pritchard, then, given -himself to you so soon?” - -“No,” Tamea replied honestly, “he has not. But—he will.” - -“How interesting!” She turned to Dan. “Dan, old boy, since it is your -mission in life to make Tamea happy, permit me to give you to her. Here -he is, Tamea, you greedy girl.” She chuckled adorably, gave Dan a little -shove toward Tamea and crossed to the piano where Mellenger stood, grave -and embarrassed. She gave him her hand in friendly fashion. - -“Clever, clever woman,” he breathed, for her ear alone. - -“How adorably primitive she is, Mr. Mellenger!” - -He nodded. “Between the two of us, however,” he answered, still in low -voice, “we’ll fix the young lady’s clock.” - -The mask fell from Maisie’s face and Mellenger saw in it naught but pain -and terror. - -And then Julia announced dinner. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - -Many arduous and adventurous years in the Fourth Estate had sharpened -Mark Mellenger’s native ability to think and act quickly in an -emergency. He saw that Tamea’s bold onslaught for the love rights in his -friend had disturbed Pritchard greatly; the latter’s face was rosy with -an embarrassment that was all the more poignant because nothing that Dan -could do or say would relieve the situation; Maisie had apparently -exhausted her ammunition and would, unless supported promptly, retire -from the field. Weeping, doubtless. Something had to be done, and in -this emergency anything would be better than nothing. - -Mellenger strolled up to Tamea and offered her his arm to take her in to -dinner. But Tamea only smiled at him the tender, tolerant smile which, -apparently, she had for all men, and said in a low voice: “Thank you, -Monsieur Mellengair, but I will take the arm of Dan Pritchard.” - -“Oh, but you must not do that!” Mellenger protested confidentially and -addressing her in excellent French. “You are a member of this household, -while Miss Morrison is a guest here tonight. If Mr. Pritchard were to -permit her to go in to dinner on my arm, that would be equivalent to -informing her that she was not welcome in his home. It would be a very -great discourtesy—in this country,” he added parenthetically. - -“Oh! I did not understand that. Nobody has told me these things. I would -not care to embarrass anyone.” - -“Thank you, Miss Larrieau. You are very kind and considerate.” He bowed -to her with great courtesy, and she accepted his arm. - -“I like you, Mellengair—no, I will call you Mel, like Dan who loves -you.” - -“That’s better.” - -“And you shall call me Tamea.” - -“Thank you. I think that is better, too.” - -She came closer to him. “And you will tell me—things?” - -“You mean the things you should know in order to avoid embarrassment to -yourself—and others?” - -“_Oui_, Mel.” - -“There is not a great deal that you will have to be told, Tamea. Merely -an outline of the principal customs of this country which differ so -radically from yours. For instance, just now you made a very sad -mistake—oh, very, very sad!” - -“But no!” the girl protested. - -“But yes! You were very discourteous to Miss Morrison.” - -“About Dan?” - -“Yes.” - -“But that is the truth.” - -“It is not always necessary to tell the truth. You have assumed that -Miss Morrison is in love with Dan.” - -“She is, Mel. I know.” - -“But he does not know this, and she would not tell him for all the -wealth of the world.” - -“Such a stupid! Why not?” - -“It is the custom of the land,” he assured her. - -“Then I must not tell Dan Pritchard I love him?” - -“Not unless he tells you first that he loves you.” She laughed softly -but scornfully. “Has he told you that he loves you?” - -“With his eyes—yes.” - -“Eyes are not admissible as evidence. What you mistook for love may be -admiration. Until he speaks with his tongue you must remain silent, else -will you be dishonored.” - -They had reached the dining room. Maisie and Dan were following, in -frozen silence. Mellenger tucked her chair in under Tamea, and over her -head he winked at Maisie and Dan. There was a terrifying silence until -after Julia had served the soup. Then Tamea spoke. - -“It appears,” she said very contritely, “that I have been stupid and of -gross manners. I have offended you, Maisie, and to you, dear Dan, I am -as a dishonored woman. I am truly sorry. Will you both forgive, please?” - -“You poor, bewildered dear,” said Maisie, and laughed. To Mellenger’s -amazement the laugh held real humor. She got up, walked around the table -to Tamea’s side and kissed her. “Of course you are forgiven. You did not -understand. How could you know, Tamea, that Dan and I are to be married? -Nobody told you, I dare say. Dan, darling, did you tell Tamea of our -engagement?” - -“Of course, I didn’t,” he began. He was at once amazed, indignant and -profoundly complimented. “Why, Maisie——” - -“Shut up, fool!” Mellenger’s lips formed the words without speaking -them. “Do you want to spill the beans?” - -Maisie returned to her seat, flushed, bright-eyed, distinctly -triumphant, and Mellenger realized that, between himself and Maisie, -poor Tamea had been thoroughly crushed, humiliated beyond words. She -contented herself with looking at Dan very curiously, as if she were -seeing him for the first time. - -“Now,” Mellenger remarked dryly, “I think we’ll all feel equal to -imbibing a modicum of soup. Maisie—pardon my effrontery in calling you -by your first name on such brief acquaintance, but then those who love -Dan always inspire me with a desire to know them better and act as if I -had known them always—how long have you and Dan been engaged?” - -Dan glared at him. Maisie, scenting the deviltry behind his query, liked -him for it. “I really do not remember, Mark—pardon my effrontery in -addressing you by your first name on such brief acquaintance, but it -seems I’ve known you always. Dan, when did you first propose to me?” - -“Maisie, you’re an imp.” - -“A benevolent imp, at any rate,” Mellenger adjured him. “She goes out of -her way to make everybody around her comfortable.” - -“Did Dan tell you he desired you, Maisie?” Tamea was speaking now. - -“What makes you ask that, Tamea?” - -“I inquire to know. This is important.” - -“Well, Tamea, I don’t suppose Dan ever told me in so many words——” - -“Ah! With his eyes, then?” - -Maisie shrugged. “I suppose so.” - -Tamea favored Mellenger with a sidelong glance of disillusionment and -contempt. She spoke in French. “It appears that the rules of deportment -are broken as readily by those who dwell in this country as by those who -are ignorant of those rules. Now I shall proceed to be happy again. What -an excellent soup!” - -She saw by the look in Maisie’s eyes that Maisie had not understood her. -And this was true, for while Maisie was presumed to have learned French -in high school, it was high-school French, and Tamea’s rapid-fire -utterance was far beyond her understanding. - -“I hope you will be very happy,” she said in English to Maisie, who -thanked her with a demure smile. To Mellenger she said in a swift aside: -“I know very well she will not! What a curious dinner party! This woman -is thinking of schemes to take from me the man whom I desire. Alas! She -is no match for me, for look you, Mel, she has not the courage to take -that which she desires.” - -“Unfortunately, she has not, Tamea. Nevertheless, she may develop a form -of courage that may amaze you. Just now she gave you a bad minute or -two.” - -Tamea shrugged. “I have no fear. That which I desire I take, and that -which I take I think, perhaps—I—can—keep.” - -“Well, suppose we discuss something else,” Mellenger suggested in his -surprisingly good French. “And if you do not feel equal to the task of -keeping pace with the discussion, try being silent awhile.” - -Tamea included Dan and Maisie in her retort to this fundamentally solid -bit of advice. “This large friend of yours does not like me, no?” - -“Why, of course he likes you. Nobody could help liking you!” This from -Maisie, who was bound to be cheerful and complimentary at any cost. - -“You are wrong, Maisie. Mel thinks very quickly, and he talks as quickly -as he thinks. He thinks clearly, too. . . . Well, I should like him for -my good friend. One does not care for stupeed men. Mel is very honest. -He will make a good fight, yes? I think so. Yes, you bet. And I will -make a good fight, also.” - -“Something tells me you will. Are you the offspring of a nation of -warriors?” Mellenger queried. - -“My mother was the daughter of a chief—a king, bred from a thousand -kings. And in Riva he who would be king must be a warrior and a leader -of warriors.” - -“Is polyandry practiced in Riva?” Dan had emerged from the trance into -which the startling events of the past few minutes had thrown him. - -“I do not know what that is, dear Dan Pritchard,” declared Tamea. - -“I mean, do the women have more than one husband, and do the women -choose their husbands? In this country,” he hastened to add, “the men do -the choosing.” - -“Indeed?” Tamea seemed to find this humorous. “Men are weaklings -everywhere, I think, and in this country, as in Riva, it appears the -women sometimes do the choosing of their husbands. What else may one do? -You men are so stupeed!” - -“Let us discuss the League of Nations, Dan,” Mellenger suggested. “That -is a subject upon which you and I may hazard an opinion. Tamea, are you -an advocate of the right of self-determination for the lesser -nations—Ireland, for instance?” - -“You make the josh, Mel.” - -He chuckled, gave his attention to Maisie and displayed an amazing -facility at small talk and the gossip of her set. Thereafter he -addressed but an occasional word to Tamea, who, however, appeared to -relish this neglect, since it gave her ample opportunity to favor the -uncomfortable Dan with languishing looks. With the advent of the salad -Mellenger deftly piloted the conversation into the realm of trade and -finance, appealed very frequently to Dan for confirmation of some theory -or an expression of opinion. He contrived to leave Tamea quite out of -it, and when at last Maisie rose from the table and the others followed -her into the drawing room, Tamea was sensible of a feeling of neglect, -of paternalism. She resented this with all the fierce resentment of her -hot blood. - -But Mellenger was tact and graciousness personified; and when, as the -evening wore on, it began to dawn on Tamea that his action was not -predicated so much on antagonism to her as on a desire to save Maisie -from humiliation, her resentment began to fade. She observed that Dan -had little to say, that the conversation was dominated by Mellenger and -Maisie; in listening to their words, in watching the play of emotions on -their faces, an hour slipped by. Then Mellenger sat at the piano and -played while Maisie sang; and later Maisie played while Mellenger sang. -Tamea enjoyed their songs immensely and urged them on until ten o’clock, -when Dan suggested that perhaps she was tired and would like to retire. - -“You wish it?” Tamea queried softly. - -He nodded, so Tamea kissed him good night and then followed her caress -with one each for Mellenger and Maisie. - -When she had gone Mellenger swung round on the piano stool and grinned -at Dan Pritchard. - -“This has been a trying evening, old horse,” he declared, “but, by and -large and thanks to two people who appear to possess the faculty of -keeping their heads when all about them are losing theirs, what -threatened to become a riot has ended in a love feast. Dan, that girl is -nobody’s fool. Her head is quite filled with brains.” - -“I think, when she has become a little more civilized, she will be -adorable,” Maisie added. - -“She is adorable now,” Dan reminded them. Subconsciously he desired to -defend any weakness he might have exhibited during the evening. Also, he -had an impulse to castigate Maisie for her inexplicable conduct in -declaring, in the presence of his other guests, that an engagement -existed between them. - -“That’s no excuse for your losing your head over her, old son.” - -“Quite so,” Maisie echoed. “Because I sensed your helpless state, -following Tamea’s frank declaration of a proprietary interest in you, I -invented our engagement as a sort of funk-hole for you to crawl into, -Dan.” - -“You were very courageous, Maisie.” - -“It was a forlorn hope and it failed. I might as well inform you, my -friends, that Tamea was unimpressed.” Mellenger was very serious now. -“What are you going to do about this girl, Dan? You’ve got to get her -out of your house.” - -Dan shrugged helplessly. - -“If you send her to a boarding school now,” Maisie suggested, “she would -matriculate in the middle of a semester. You refer to her as a child, -Dan, but she is a fully developed woman, and I fear that her education, -in English at least, has been so neglected that she would have to start -in the same class with girls of ten or twelve. This would prove -embarrassing to her. She should have a year of private tutoring.” - -“Where, Maisie?” - -“I do not know, Dan.” - -“But you telephoned to me this evening that you had a plan to discuss.” - -“My plan is not fully developed, Dan, but it contemplated the engagement -of a governess and companion for Tamea, and sending them both to a -warmer climate—say Los Angeles—until Tamea becomes acclimated. You -seemed worried about her in the cooler climate of San Francisco.” - -“That’s a splendid plan,” Mellenger hastened to interrupt. “The success -of it depends upon the acquisition of the right sort of governess, of -course. She should be firm, indomitable, tactful, able and possess the -physical attributes of the champion heavyweight pugilist of the world.” - -“I fear you are absolutely right,” Dan sighed. - -“Well, then, I’m at my wits’ end, Dan’l,” Maisie confessed. - -“I am not,” Mellenger replied coolly. “I beg of you, Maisie, to dismiss -the matter. I shall go into executive session with myself and evolve a -plan that will be puncture-proof. I fear me neither you nor Dan is able -to think clearly in this emergency.” - -Maisie flashed him a swift glance of deepest gratitude. “In that event I -think I shall go home,” she said, and rang for Julia to fetch her wrap. -Dan escorted her out to her car, and as she gave him her hand at parting -he bent and kissed it humbly, turned and left her without the formality -of saying good night. - -Fortunately, Maisie thought she could understand the failure of his -conversational powers. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - -“Well, Mel,” Dan declared as he returned to the drawing room after -seeing Maisie to her car, “I am prepared for the worst. Fly to it, old -philosopher. I observe you are fairly bristling with bellicose veins.” - -“That is only additional proof that you are purblind.” Mellenger helped -himself to a cigar, rang for Sooey Wan, ordered a Scotch and soda and -removed his dinner coat. The major portion of his existence was spent -working in his shirt-sleeves, and tonight he had work to do. So he -cleared for action. - -“Now, then,” he began, “are you or are you not engaged to be married to -Maisie Morrison?” - -“I am not.” - -“I thought so. Going to be?” - -“I—don’t know, Mel.” - -“I’ll make up your mind for you. You are.” - -“Why?” - -“For any number of incontestable reasons. However, the principal reason -is that she is very much in love with you, and she is not particularly -happy about it. You’re such a dull dog.” - -“Granting that, why should I engage myself to Maisie?” - -“Because it would be good for you. It would be protection from the -world. You’re going to marry Maisie sooner or later. Why not do it now -and get the worry of it off your mind?” - -“But, you double-dyed idiot, I’m not at all certain I’d be perfectly -happy with Maisie.” - -“I’ll dissipate your doubts. You wouldn’t be. No man ever is perfectly -happy in the married state.” - -“How do you know?” - -“Observation and philosophical meditation. You would be perfectly happy -with Maisie about eighty-five per cent of the time, and all you have to -have in order to win is a controlling interest, or fifty-one per cent. -All married life is a continuous adjustment of conflicting -personalities. What you are seeking, we all seek—the wild, abandoned -thrill of a love that will never grow old or stale or commonplace—a -love that will punctuate your life with wonderful, breathless -moments—moments that you would not miss, even though in claiming them -you realized that sorrow and heartbreak might be the inevitable outcome -of your yielding. My dear old friend, you paint pictures in water colors -and see them turn to crude charcoal smudges. Dan, you seek the -unattainable; when you have found her, she will have been married ten -years to a barber!” - -There fell between them a long and pregnant silence. Then: - -“You spoke just now of—breathless moments, moments one would not miss, -even though in claiming them one realizes that sorrow and heartbreak may -be the inevitable outcome. Have you ever known such a breathless -moment?” - -“Yes—in France, during the war. She was a little dancer, about twenty, -I should say. I found her weeping and half conscious in the Place -Vendôme at four o’clock of a winter morning. There had been an air raid -and a great deal of anti-aircraft firing; she had been struck in the -foot by a shrapnel falling five thousand meters. I carried her to my -billet. . . two months. . . she will never dance again. . . fortunately -I was ordered home. . . send her a few francs every month. . . not very -much, because I can’t afford much, but she writes. . . breathless -moments when I get her letters. . . brains, imagination. . . I think she -loves me—always will, perhaps, but it’s no good thinking too much about -it. I have gotten over it.” Mellenger blew a succession of smoke rings -and watched them float upward to frame a face he would never see again, -except in his dreams. And dreams fade as men grow older and the fires of -youth burn out. - -“And was it worth the price, Mel?” - -“No, I knew that in the beginning. No joy that leaves a pain is quite -worth having.” - -“Yet we will never have done with our longing for the adventure. I -suppose that is why men who have never worn a uniform feel their hearts -beat high at the sight of homecoming troops.” - -“Yes, I think so. But remember, those civilians see only the avenue with -the flags flying; they have never seen the wreckage or heard the wail of -a funeral march. They’ve only dreamed of that and painted a vision they -call the Field of Honor, with a trail across it labeled the Path of -Glory. They know it leads to Hell, but they know also that some men -escape. You know, Dan, we can always visualize ourselves escaping, -because the wish is father to the thought.” - -“Well, at any rate, Mel, I have lived to know—one breathless moment.” - -“Do not know another, my friend.” - -“Believe me, I did not desire to know this one. I—I——” - -Mellenger waved his cigar in absolution. “You didn’t have any help at -the critical moment. I observed the event. I was sitting in the -semi-twilight of this room, thinking—I had asked Julia not to turn on -the light except in the hall. And then you and Tamea came in. . . I saw -your face, I saw hers. . . . And I had seen the face of the other girl -this afternoon. Tamea has told me in so many words, in French, that she -is going to land you; that she doesn’t consider Maisie a foeman worthy -of her steel. Says Maisie hasn’t got the courage to take that which she -desires. Tamea has. I’ll swear to that.” - -“There is nothing wrong about that.” - -“Certainly not. A convention of maidenly modesty has metamorphosed many -a fine woman into an embittered, disillusioned old maid. She could have -had her man for the asking—for the taking; and because she neither -asked nor took he thought her repression spelled indifference or -dislike. - -“There are many shy, embarrassed men in this world, you know. They are -always unhappy because always married to terrible women. - -“Big women, fat women, red-headed, dominating, coarse women, women with -thick ankles, sloppy women, dull women, over-dressed women, loud women, -but all women who flouted convention and who just naturally helped -themselves to the shy, embarrassed, gentle little men they coveted.” - -“Praise be, Tamea doesn’t come within the scope of your female _index -expurgatorius_. Isn’t she a glorious creature?” - -“Of course she is,” Mellenger agreed petulantly. “She’s more than -glorious. She’s devastating, and all the more ruinous to your peace of -mind because she is simple, natural, unspoiled, eager and amorous. But -you’ve got to put your bright day-dreams behind you and marry Maisie -Morrison.” - -“But why, Mel?” - -“Why, man, you cannot possibly contemplate the prospect of -miscegenation?” - -“Does Tamea remotely resemble a mulatto, a quadroon or an octoroon?” - -“She is half Polynesian.” - -“But a pure-bred Polynesian is a Caucasian.” - -“Very well, then, if you insist. But I insist that the Caucasian race -has many subdivisions. An Arab is a Caucasian; so is a Hindoo; but if -you marry a woman of Arabic or Hindoo blood and have children by her, -your offspring will be Eurasians. Tamea is a half-breed brown white. And -she’s not very brown, either—sort of old ivory. She’d pass for a white -girl anywhere. People who do not know her blood will say, ‘Isn’t she a -marvelous brunette type of beauty!’” - -“Well?” - -“If she bore you sons, how would you feel if they should grow up to be -great, hearty, brown fellows, unmistakably Polynesian, with prehensile -great toes, an aversion to work, a penchant for white vices? You cannot -dodge the Mendelian law, my boy. Like begets like, but in a union of -opposites we get throwbacks. Breed a black rabbit to a white one and you -will get piebald rabbits. Breed these latter to a white rabbit, and -continue to breed the offspring of succeeding unions to other white -rabbits until you have bred all the black out of them. About the time -you think you have beaten the Mendelian law, the pure white descendant -of a black and white union, a hundred generations removed, will present -you with a litter of pure black rabbits! You’re not going to run the -risk of mongrelizing the species, are you?” - -“No, I do not think I am, Mel.” - -“Do you know you are not?” - -“No.” - -“I thought so.” Mellenger rose, walked to Dan and thrust the ruddy end -of his cigar in the latter’s face. “You’re in love with Tamea already, -aren’t you?” - -“I don’t know, Mel. Something has happened. It happened tonight. You saw -it happen. It never happened to me before. Good Lord, Mel, old man, my -head has been in a whirl ever since.” - -“That isn’t love. It’s infatuation. I’ve been through it. I know. It’s a -wonderful madness. It’s what’s wrong with the world today. It’s at the -root of the divorce problem. Infatuation. And the fools think it is -love. - -“Nothing divine about it, nothing spiritual; its victims take no thought -of the qualifications so essential to successful marriage—an even -temper, generosity, unselfishness, tenderness, physical fitness, the -absence of mental and physical repulsiveness. - -“My dear man, love should be born in reverence, and if later it develops -into infatuation—well, I suppose that would be quite all right, since -in that case infatuation would be the natural, normal outgrowth of -love—the apotheosis of it. If you marry Maisie Morrison—look here, -Dan, you say you do not love her——” - -“I’m not certain, Mel.” - -“Then it is a fact that you think a very great deal of her. You have the -utmost respect for her, you are happy in her society, you feel reverent -toward her.” - -“Of course I do.” - -“Then, you star-gazing jackanapes, marry her and become infatuated with -her afterward. She can’t reach out and grab you and maul you and paw you -over and kiss you and whisper love words to you—like this child of -nature, Tamea. It’s up to you to do that, Dan. How are you going to -discover Maisie’s possibilities to compete with this passion-flower, -Tamea, unless you uncover them yourself? You’re a weak, cowardly sort of -man where women are concerned. I grow very weary of you, my friend. You -want to eat your cake and have it.” - -Dan laughed long and pleasurably at his old friend’s outburst. “You’re -such a comfort to me, Mel,” he declared. “I dare say you are right. I’m -cowardly. But then, one shouldn’t take even the most remote chance when -he marries. Marriage is until death.” - -“Death sometimes comes early to some married men, and it is welcome. If -you marry Tamea you will die spiritually long before the breath leaves -your carcass and the doctor signs a death certificate authorizing your -burial.” - -“What a gloomy picture you paint!” - -“Marrying an exotic woman like Tamea—a half aborigine—is like marrying -any other aborigine, because all aborigines are pigmented. And no matter -how transcendent the beauty of a pigmented aborigine—or half-breed -aborigine—that beauty fades early. They degenerate physically and -mentally. They are old at thirty, repulsive at forty, hags at fifty.” - -“Nonsense! Educate Tamea, spread over her the veneer of civilization, -teach her how to play, cultivate her voice, dress her exquisitely, and -who shall say of her, ‘You—_you_—are half aborigine’?” - -“You speak of a veneer of civilization. Sometimes I think the veneer is -very thin and that man today stands, basically, where he stood five -thousand years ago. Dan, it isn’t a question of a veneer of -civilization. It’s a question of the adaptability of species to its -environment. How long do you suppose it would take you, a white man, to -adapt yourself to the environment of such an island, say, as Riva, in -eastern Polynesia?” - -“I couldn’t hazard a guess.” - -“I could, and it would be a fairly accurate guess, since the history of -white occupation of the isles of the south Pacific will support my -contention. You would be an infinitesimal portion of the moral and -physical decay before you had lived there five years. After that you -wouldn’t care. It’s like mixing two acids that, combined, produce an -explosion. There is never any real adaptability of the human species, -you know. As long as you and Tamea lived you would have different -thoughts and different thought impulses, different moral values. This -difference would prove an attraction at first; then, gradually, you -would begin to find her ways inferior to yours, so you would have a -contempt for them, which means that presently you would grow to hate -Tamea.” - -Mellenger sat down and rested his head in his hands. “I wish I could -remember my geology and paleontology,” he complained. “However, I never -cared for it, so I swept it out of my rag bag of a mind. At any rate, -you are much older than Tamea——” - -“Oh, not so old as to make a vital difference. About eighteen years.” - -“Shut up, you ass. You ditch my train of thought. You are millions of -years older than Tamea. She is a Neolithic maid and you’re Paleozoic or -Silurian or Cretaceous or something, and in order to reach common ground -she’ll have to climb up through a lot of queer strata or you’ll have to -dig down. You paint mighty fine pictures, but down in Riva they’re still -carving hideous gods out of limestone and making hieroglyphics with a -burned stick; they’re still chasing each other around stumps with knobby -clubs.” - -“You’re the man who can paint pictures!” - -Mellenger sighed. “No, I cannot. I used to think I could, but nobody -else agrees with me, and now I agree with them. Thought once I’d develop -into a great novelist, when all that God Almighty created me for was to -be a great newspaper man!. . . Well, I’m not embittered, because I can -still think clearly and without illusion. And I can see fairly clearly, -too. . . . You’ve got to get rid of this girl.” - -“You’re quite bent on clearing the way for Maisie, aren’t you?” - -“Yes. But you are my friend, faithful and just to me, and I’ve loved you -since our freshman days in college. The years and wealth and success -haven’t changed you. You’re still the same shy, helpless, gentle, -obstinate, wistful boy, and—and—I—I want to do something for you, old -son. The best thing I can do is to clear the decks for Maisie and marry -you off to her. She’s a fine woman.” - -“But I do not know, really, how to get rid of Tamea. I can’t just chuck -her out, you know. Can’t send her to a hotel or an apartment house and -let her go on the loose. Maisie’s plan is ill-advised. You realized -that.” - -“Maisie didn’t have any plan. She isn’t up to the job of collected -thinking now.” - -“But she said she had a plan.” - -“Yes, I know. She wanted an excuse to come over here this evening to -guard you from Tamea.” - -“Mel, you have the most extraordinary ideas. You newspaper men are -always so suspicious of motives.” - -“Rats! Not suspicion. Absolute knowledge. When you asked her for her -plan she floundered. Got into deep water close to the shore and I had to -throw her a line. Immediately thereafter—but not until Tamea had -retired—Maisie went home.” - -“Have you a plan?” - -“You bet I have. The talk of a school is sheer nonsense. That girl is -beyond school, and if you put her in a school she’ll not remain put.” - -“You’ve overlooked one important detail. If she may not remain here or -in school she may promptly go to the deuce, for lack of proper control.” - -“That would be all right, Dan. The main point is that she must not take -you with her. If she sticks around this house she’ll get you into Town -Topics. She has designs on you, my boy. That’s why I suggest you queer -them by marrying Maisie Morrison immediately, if not sooner. Maisie has, -in effect, proposed to you, and you’ve been very cavalier in your -treatment of the proposal.” - -“What do you suppose made her make that wild statement to Tamea, Mel?” - -“The best excuse in life. Self-preservation. It’s the first law of human -nature.” - -“Just starting a backfire, eh?” - -Mellenger nodded and put on his dinner jacket. “I suppose you have -observed that women usually marry the men they make up their minds to -marry.” - -“No, I have not observed it.” - -“You’re a greater numbskull than I thought you were. Two women have made -up their minds to get you, and one of them is going to succeed.” He -glanced at his watch. “Well, I suppose Maisie Morrison is safe in her -bed by this time, crying herself to sleep, wondering how she is ever to -muster the courage to face you again after tonight. Better send her some -flowers in the morning and ask her to go for a drive with you. That will -put her at her ease. I managed to give Tamea some food for thought, and -with her sleep has been out of the question. She looked out of her -bedroom window and saw Maisie drive away. Then she crept downstairs, and -even now she is sitting out on the hall stairs listening to every word -we say. Tamea! Enter!” - -Tamea appeared in the doorway. - -“I am such a splendid clairvoyant. I can see around a corner,” Mellenger -remarked dryly. . . . “Well, if I had heard the stairs squeak a little -earlier in the evening I would not have talked so freely. Good night, -Tamea. Good night, Dan. Thanks for a wonderful dinner and a wonderful -evening. I’ll be back next Thursday night, as usual.” - -He smiled patronizingly as, on his way to the door, he passed Tamea. She -turned slowly and her fiery glance followed him. - -“No, Monsieur Mellengair, you have made the great mistake. I am not the -go-to-the-deuce kind. But if that is interesting, perhaps I shall make -the experiment, no? Well, when I do I shall make it alone, thank you.” - -“Now I suppose you’re very angry with me, Tamea.” - -“A little. Not so much as I think I shall be tomorrow. I forgive you -much tonight because you are not a fool. But—I shall remember some -things that you said—and those things that I remember I shall not -forgive. Good night.” - -“Good night.” - -Dan Pritchard roused from the dumb amazement into which he had been -thrown by Tamea’s sudden appearance on the scene. “Hey, wait a moment, -Mel! I’ll walk downtown with you,” he called. He had a sudden impulse to -flee from danger. - -But the heavy oaken door had already closed behind his friend, and in -the entrance to the drawing room Tamea stood looking at him. “Come to -me,” she murmured. “Come, _chéri_!” - -He went. - -Tamea’s round, beautiful arms came up around his neck slowly, -caressingly, and his head was drawn gently down toward her glorious face -until her lips touched his ear. - -“That man Mellengair—he is your friend. He is not mine. But if I had, -like you, such a friend—ah, I would be so rich! You must never lose -him, _chéri_! Oh, yes, I hate him, but that does not matter. He is very -wise, but he does not know your Tamea. Ah, no, dear one. I would have -you—ah, so happy—and I would be happy with you. But if to be with me -meant sorrow for you—oh, I could not be so cruel! First I would die. -And you will believe that? Yes?” - -Dan’s heart swelled—with that ecstacy that was almost a pain. And then -Tamea kissed his ear lightly, patted his cheek and fled upstairs to her -room, leaving him standing there—breathless, with a feeling that, be -the price what it might be, he could not afford to miss such another -moment as this. . . . It did not occur to him that sorrow and heartbreak -might be the outcome of his yielding. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - -Long before the sun came creeping up beyond Mt. Diablo, Dan Pritchard -made the discovery that the man who has too many things to think about -cannot devote constructive thought to any of them. After being the -innocent cause of more discomfort than Dan had thought it possible for -any man to experience in a single evening, Tamea had swept from his -heart in a moment a feeling of resentment, or irritation, that had been -developing there. Her tender little speech, evidencing as it did the -essential nobility of her primitive soul, had surrounded the girl, in -Dan’s eyes, with a newer, more distinctive charm, and rendered more -distressing the prospect of the impending parting. For all the -embarrassment she had caused him in Maisie’s presence, Dan realized that -Tamea was not _gauche_, that she possessed in full measure a -characteristic rather uncommon among her white sisters, and that was -sportsmanship. - -Tamea fought in the open; she was above a mean, small, underhanded -action. Notwithstanding the fact that Tamea’s calm announcement to her -rival that Dan was her man had caused him to yearn for a hole into which -he might disappear, effectually dragging the aperture in after him, Dan -had a hearty man’s hearty appreciation of her frankness, her simplicity, -her utter lack of dissembling, of feminine guile. He entertained a -similar feeling of admiration for Maisie, in whom the exigencies of this -peculiar situation had developed similar characteristics. And lastly, he -was sensible of a little titillation to his masculine vanity in the -knowledge that two glorious women desired him, that they were engaged in -a battle of wits and charm to win him. - -He was, on the whole, however, very uncomfortable and apprehensive of -unfortunate developments. Mellenger, beloved pal of his boyhood and -steadfast friend of his mature years, had read him truthfully and then -told him that which he had read. Dan was unwilling to believe that -Mellenger had read him aright yet he had lacked the courage to deny it. - -What a keen fellow Mark Mellenger was! How prudent, farseeing and -fearless! And how charitable, how thoroughly understanding! Dear old -Mel! He hadn’t gotten ahead in life. His one great ambition had failed -dismally of realization, and he had had to content himself with second -place; nevertheless he was not embittered. His life was taken up with -doing well the task he could do so much better than others; no hint of -the sadness of unfulfilled dreams ever escaped him, and until tonight -Dan had never seen him excited or distressed about anything. - -“The old boy has a tremendous affection for me,” Dan meditated as he got -out of bed, donned dressing gown and slippers and sat by the window to -watch the sun rise over San Francisco bay. “What a blow it would be to -him were I to—but of course I shall not. The idea is unthinkable.” - -Gradually his mind turned to thoughts of business, to the increasing -annoyance of association with old John Casson, to the rice market. He -would call upon Ridley, the rice broker, and put pressure behind the -selling drive if Ridley failed to render an encouraging report by noon. -Once in the clear on those rice deals, he was resolved to do one of two -things—buy John Casson out or force Casson to buy him out. - -And then there was the accursed question of what to do with Tamea. That -also would have to be solved today. - -At seven o’clock he heard Sooey Wan puttering about in the kitchen -below, so he shaved, bathed, dressed and descended for an early -breakfast. Sooey Wan served him in profound silence, but eyed him with a -steady, speculative gaze; from time to time he shook his old head as if -he, too, wrestled with problems hard to solve. When Dan left the house -Sooey Wan accompanied him into the hall, helped him into his overcoat -and handed him hat and stick. Then he voiced something of what was on -his mind. - -“Boss, how soon you mally Captain’s girl?” - -“How dare you ask me such a question? Mind your own business, you -grinning old idol, or I’ll fire you one of these bright days. I’m not -going to marry the Captain’s girl.” - -Sooey Wan did not seem to be impressed. “Helluva house you ketchum, -boss, you fire Sooey Wan. Allee time you makee too much talkee-talk. -Talk velly cheap, but ketchum money you likee buy whisky. You no mally -Captain’s girl, eh? Well, when you mally Missie Maisie?” - -“I don’t know. Why do you ask?” - -Sooey Wan rubbed his corrugated brow and scowled in huge despair. “Go -’long, boy, go ’long,” he entreated wearily. “Allee time you makee Sooey -Wan sick. Why I ask? Wha’s mallah? You no wanchee ketchum little -baby—ketchum fi’, six son?” - -“I haven’t thought about it,” Dan growled. - -“Hully up. Thinkee quick!” Sooey Wan entreated. “Pitty soon if you no -thinkee, evelything go blooey-blooey. Sooey Wan talkee Captain’s girl, -she tellee me pitty soon ketchum my boss for mally. Now you say no -ketchum. Wha’s mallah? You thinkee make fool of Sooey Wan? Listen, boy. -When Captain’s girl say ketchum boss, then Sooey Wan bettee bankroll on -Captain’s girl. She ketch you, sure. Oh-h-h, velly nice!” - -Dan slammed the door in Sooey Wan’s face and hastened down the street. -It was an hour’s walk to his office and his head ached from too much -thinking. The exercise would do him good. - -He purchased the morning papers and looked through them for Tamea’s -picture and the story of her arrival, of her father’s dramatic death. -Mellenger, for some unknown reason, had not featured his story as Dan -had expected. It was a short straight news story, on the second page, -with a very good picture of Tamea, and Dan noted that Mellenger had said -nothing of the fact that he was to be Tamea’s guardian, that she was a -guest at his home. The other paper had handled the story more -flamboyantly and featured it on the first page, but with an eye single -to local color the editor had run the photograph of Tamea in the Mother -Hubbard dress. - -“Brainless apes,” Dan growled. “Makes her look like a colored mammy. I -hate them.” - -Arrived at his office, he had scarcely read his mail before Ridley, the -rice broker, called him up. - -“I can unload that four thousand tons at Shanghai for cash,” he -announced, “but the price I can get will not leave you much of a -profit.” - -“How much?” - -“Fourteen cents, at ships’ tackles, Shanghai.” - -Dan figured rapidly while Ridley held the wire. The price quoted would -net his firm a profit of about eight thousand dollars. “Sold!” he cried -triumphantly. - -By noon the deal had been definitely closed with Ridley’s client, the -space contracted for on the Malayan transferred to the new owner of the -rice, and the check in payment deposited in bank. Dan’s mental -thermometer commenced to rise, so he decided to accord himself the -delight of breaking the news to old Casson. - -The senior partner’s face darkened with fury. “You’ve cost us a -potential profit of a quarter of a million dollars, Pritchard. I suppose -you realize that this confounded interference of yours means the end of -our business association.” - -“I hope so. Thank you, I wouldn’t care for another helping of the -mustard. Do you propose buying me out or selling out to me?” - -“I would prefer to buy you out—today—and carry those rice deals -myself.” - -“Unfortunately, the sale of my interest here will not invalidate my -signature on some of this firm’s paper, Mr. Casson.” - -“That might be arranged somehow. What do you want for your interest?” - -Dan named a figure and old Casson nodded approval. - -“Terms?” he queried. - -“Cash.” - -“Impossible.” - -“Well, then, fifty thousand in cash and the balance on secured notes.” - -“Impossible.” - -“I had a suspicion you have dissipated in crazy deals most of your share -of the money we made during the war. Well, it appears you cannot buy me -out, and until our rice deals have been safely disposed of, if not at a -profit at least without loss, I do not yearn to take over your share. It -might prove a very bad investment. However, for reasons which would -never occur to you, I am willing, once the rice deals have been disposed -of, to buy you out on a basis of the actual value of our assets, but -with nothing additional for good-will. All the good-will value of Casson -and Pritchard has been created by my father and myself.” - -“I shall not sell on that basis.” - -“Very well. The day on which our last note is paid I am relieved of all -contingent liability as a partner in Casson and Pritchard. We will -dissolve partnership. That will kill your credit with our bankers and I -shall sit calmly by and watch you go to smash. When you’ve had your -beating, sir, you will be glad to sell—at my terms. I am generous now. -You may be sure I shall not be generous then.” - -Old Casson glowered, puffed at his cigar and then studied the ash -reflectively. - -“While you were busy this morning unloading that Shanghai rice at a -paltry eight thousand dollars profit—just because you lack the courage -of a jack-rabbit—I disposed of the Manila rice at the market.” - -“To whom?” - -“Katsuma and Company.” - -“Japs, eh?” - -“They’re good.” - -“Financial rating is unquestionably splendid. Know anything about the -moral rating of a Japanese business firm?” - -“They’ve always met their business obligations.” - -“Any Jap will—until the meeting of them becomes burdensome or -unprofitable. Ninety day paper, I suppose.” - -Casson smiled triumphantly. “No, not with Katsuma and Company. Sight -draft against bill of lading, payable at the Philippine National Bank.” - -“Well, that’s better than I had expected. Unfortunately the cargo has to -be loaded aboard ship before that draft will be cashable. That means -thirty days of suspense—and I do not like the financial aspect in the -East. Prices _must_ come down—and once they start downward they may -develop into an economic avalanche. It’s an unhealthy situation and I -don’t like it. Where’s your contract with Katsuma and Company?” - -Casson handed it to him and Dan scanned it carefully, nodded his -approval, rang for the chief clerk and gave the contract to him to be -placed in the safe. - -“Well, on the face of things, we’re out of the rice market,” he said as -he rose to return to his own office. “I feel much relieved.” - -In his private office he found Mark Mellenger waiting for him. “Well, -you bird of ill omen,” Dan greeted him cheerily, “what brings you here?” - -“Had an hour to kill and thought I’d kill it here. I do not go on duty -until one thirty. Dan, I’ve been thinking. What, if anything, have you -decided in the matter of the girl, Tamea?” - -“Nothing, Mel. I’ve been too busy on something else.” - -“It would be well to make Tamea’s matter a special order of business. -Have you thought of anything to do?” - -“Not a thing.” - -“I suspected that might be the case. The fact is that you are being -ruled by your subconscious mind. You do not wish to do anything. -However, you shall. I have a plan.” - -“Indeed?” - -“None of your sarcasm. Not that it will avail you anything. It’s just -futile—wasted energy—on me. You must induce Maisie Morrison to take -Tamea to Del Monte for a couple of weeks.” - -“My dear man, why should I ask Maisie to burden herself with such a -responsibility?” - -“Well, it _is_ selfish, I admit, but then if one would make an omelette -one must break eggs. Maisie will regard it as a burden and she will -appreciate to the fullest your cussedness in asking her, but she will -accept the nomination gracefully—indeed, I am moved to -add—gratefully.” - -“How do you know she will?” - -“Don’t know. I’m merely guessing. I guessed her right last night, did I -not?. . . Yes, I’m not half bad at guessing things.” - -“But something tells me there is mutual hostility between Maisie and -Tamea. They disliked each other at sight.” - -“Quite true. But then women who despise each other for a reason which -may not be discussed will never admit that they despise each other. And -Maisie will subjugate her very natural desire to spank Tamea if she -realizes that by so doing she will be enabled to thwart Tamea in the -latter’s campaign for your affection. It occurs to me, therefore——” - -“You mean that Maisie will eagerly grasp the opportunity to take Tamea -out of my presence and keep her out?” - -“Dan, you poor moon-calf, you’re growing brilliant. You’re beginning to -do some head-work. Answering your question, I would say that such is my -interpretation of what will be her mental attitude.” - -“Women are so queer,” Dan declared helplessly. - -“Women study the essentials which most men overlook, to wit, cause and -effect. The adverb _why_ was invented for the use of women. They always -want to know. When they have a battle on they use their heads to think -continuously of the enemy. They do not forget him or ignore him or -underestimate him—I mean her.” - -“Old cynic!” - -“Not at all. That’s sound argument based on observation. A smart woman -never forgets that her opponent is extremely likely to act with -discretion.” - -“Well?” - -“I think you ought to ask Maisie and her aunt to be your guests at Del -Monte for a few weeks, and explain to Maisie that you will take it -kindly of her to look after Tamea. Be sure to inform her that while you -will drive down with them and spend the week-end, you will motor home on -Monday—and stay at home thereafter. You see, Dan,” Mellenger continued, -“there will be much to divert and interest Tamea down there. She can -ride, and if she cannot ride she can spend her time learning. Same thing -with golf. She can swim—and I dare say she’ll be the sensation of the -beach. Lots of good looking, idle gents down there to take her mind off -you, and with Maisie and her aunt to chaperon her, and Julia to help -steer her straight, you stand a very fair chance of forgetting her, of -having her forget you.” - -“That is a very good plan. After a few weeks there I will have her -school arrangements made. Then I’ll have a talk with her, tell her -exactly what I want, and that I am going away on a trip to Europe and -that she must be a very good, obedient girl while I am away.” - -“But—are you really going to Europe?” - -“I am. In about thirty days I’m going to sell out to old Casson, or buy -him out. If the former, I’ll be free to go. If the latter, I’ll appoint -a manager and go abroad anyway.” - -“The day you get Tamea into a convent—and that’s where she belongs—you -are to marry Maisie Morrison and take her to Europe with you. I’ll keep -an eye on Tamea for you. - -“No risk, I assure you. I have a pachydermous hide which her glances may -not penetrate. Besides, I’ve always been singularly intrigued with the -idea that one of these bright days I may marry some fine woman and -father some blue-eyed, flaxen-haired children.” - -“You old-fashioned devil!” - -“Do not seek with specious compliments to swerve my single-track mind -from your _affaire de cœur_. It is understood, then, that you are -committed to my plan?” - -“Absolutely.” - -“Fine! Telephone Maisie at once.” - -Dan hesitated, so Mellenger pressed the push-button that summoned Dan’s -secretary. “Please get Miss Morrison on the telephone for Mr. -Pritchard,” he requested. - -Maisie was at home and to Dan’s suggestion she agreed—not with -enthusiasm, but upon the ground of obliging him, of helping him out of a -distressing situation. Mellenger, listening to Dan’s replies, managed to -patch together a very fair résumé of their conversation, and grinned -openly. - -“Told you I was a good hand at guessing,” he bragged. “Ah, that’s a -smart girl, that Maisie. She’s a diplomat. Got tact—rarest feminine -gift. Before you hang up I should like to speak to her.” - -There was a wait of a few minutes while Maisie urged her aunt to agree -to chaperon the party. Presently Maisie called back to say that Mrs. -Casson, having communicated by telephone with her husband, would be -delighted to accept. - -“Falls in with old Casson’s mood very nicely,” Dan soliloquized. “He’s -morose and sulky and prefers to be alone.” To Maisie: “Mel is in my -office, Maisie. He wishes to say a word to you.” - -“Miss Maisie,” Mellenger announced, “I’ve taken on a new job.” - -“Indeed?” - -“I’m managing Dan Pritchard. The man is bewildered and doesn’t know how -to manage himself. He’s afraid to act with force and decision at home, -although down in the office he never hesitates to crack the whip.” - -“I know. Dan is so tender-hearted. He’s afraid his passion-flower will -droop and die if he exercises the least bit of authority. If his true -friends do not organize——” - -“Exactly, Miss Maisie, exactly. You start for Del Monte at two o’clock -this afternoon, in Dan’s car. You will arrive in time for dinner. Your -trunks will follow by express.” - -“Are you giving orders, Mel?” - -“I am.” - -“I hear you and I obey. Good-by. Thank you.” - -Mellenger hung up and faced Dan. “Go home and get ready, but before you -leave this office, telephone Julia and start her packing.” - -“You’re a fast worker.” - -“I know a faster one,” Mellenger retorted significantly. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - -At a quarter past seven, when Dan Pritchard’s limousine drew up in front -of the Hotel Del Monte, a white, flannel-clad figure heaved itself out -of a chair on the porch, came down the steps and opened the door of the -car. - -“Good evening, everybody,” he greeted Dan’s party. - -“Hello! Mel! You here!” - -Mellenger sighed. “One might glean the impression judging by your -intonation, that I haven’t any right here,” he complained. “After -leaving your office today I began to feel the downhill pull, so I jumped -the two o’clock train and here I am. How do you do, Miss Maisie.” - -He gave Maisie his hand and assisted her to alight. They exchanged -glances and Mellenger felt his hand squeezed just a little. He answered -the pressure, was introduced to Mrs. Casson as Dan handed her out on the -steps, and immediately turned to greet Tamea. - -“Good evening, Your Majesty.” - -“Good evening, Monsieur Stoneface,” Tamea answered, and ignored his -outstretched hand. He knew she was not pleased to find him here, and her -next words, spoken in French, clinched this conclusion. “I will make -your task an easy one,” she challenged. “I have been doing some -thinking.” She smiled enigmatically. “Oh, I understand you very well, -indeed!” - -“Yes, I think we understand each other, Tamea. I want you to know, -however,” he added as they followed Dan, Maisie and Mrs. Casson into the -hotel, “that my attitude is perfectly impersonal. I do not dislike you.” - -“If you understood me there would have been no necessity for that -speech. Listen to my words, Stoneface. I——” - -“Why do you call me Stoneface?” he interrupted. - -“Because to many people your face reveals nothing. It is dull and blank -when you would deceive people, but you are not a fool, Stoneface. But -you remind me of the tremendous stone images on the coast of Easter -Island, with their plain, sad, dull faces turned ever toward the sea as -if seeking something that never comes. So you are Stoneface to me.” - -“And what do I seek?” he demanded. - -“You seek in men those qualities which are in you. They are hard to -find, Stoneface. And you seek from some woman a love that will give a -little in exchange for a great deal. You are a lonely man, -Stoneface—always seeking, seldom finding, never satisfied. You see, I -have been thinking of you. And I have done some thinking on your words -to Dan Pritchard.” - -“I hope you will not quarrel with me for that.” - -“It is hard to quarrel with the true friend of him I love, but you are -in my way, Stoneface, and you are a resolute man. So I shall not have -mercy. Of two women who love your friend, you must, it seems, approve of -one. I am not that one. . . . Well, when the gods rain blows on Tamea -she will take them standing and none shall know how much they hurt. And -you have hurt me, Stoneface. Still, I shall be what you call a good -sport. Dan Pritchard has come to this place for a few days to play—with -me—and you are here to have him play—with you! Well, Stoneface, I give -him to you for those few days because I love him. I would not have his -mind distressed with the striving to keep two women happy. I shall not -again be of gross manners and embarrass him,” she added darkly. - -“You feel quite certain of yourself, do you not?” - -“Yes. And why not? This girl”—with an infinitesimal shrug of her -shoulder she indicated Maisie, who had met a friend in the lobby and was -talking to her—“causes me no alarm, so I shall be kind to her.” - -“I’m the bug in your amber, eh?” - -“You must be considered,” she admitted. - -He laughed. - -“Why do you oppose my desires, Stoneface? I am not a black woman, I am -not stupid, I have, perhaps, as much beauty as——” And again she -shrugged a shoulder at Maisie. - -“I am informed,” said Mellenger coolly, “that on your mother’s side you -are descended from a line of kings who have never mingled their blood -with that of the common people.” - -“That is true.” - -“I would that my friend refrained from mingling the blood of his -children with that of another race, a race that is not white.” - -She was silent, digesting this unanswerable argument. Then: “Some day, -perhaps, Stoneface, you will cast away that argument. Like a child’s -garment, it will not fit a grown man.” - -Maisie came toward them. “We will go to our rooms now and dress for -dinner, Tamea,” she suggested. - -When he was alone in the lobby Mark Mellenger sat down in a quiet corner -to think. “She bombs one,” he complained. “She fairly blows one out of -the water. She will not be deferred to nor pitied nor patronized. -Realizing why I am here—why I have found it necessary to be here—she -renders me futile and my presence unnecessary by changing her tactics. -She reads my poker face, and, having read it this evening, she has taken -my job away from me and I feel foolish. Judas priest, what a woman! -She’s perfectly tremendous! Fair and square, hitting straight from the -shoulder and with character enough to dislike me intensely. She is -adorably feminine and I’ve got my hands full to defeat her purpose. She -isn’t going to plead with me to get out of her way, nor is she going to -oppose me. She’s just going to ignore me. . . . Well, poor old Dan, I -did the best I could by you, at any rate. The idealistic, altruistic -dreamer. He’s helpless, because this girl possesses a charm that Maisie -hasn’t got or hasn’t developed. Tamea can hear the pipes of Pan. That’s -it! She can hear them and make men hear them, too.” - -It did not occur to Mellenger that he liked reedy music. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - -At dinner Tamea captured a seat beside Dan but gave it up almost -instantly to Maisie, giving as a reason her desire to sit beside Mark -Mellenger and talk with him. However, she had little to say during the -meal. Seemingly she was content to be a good listener. - -“Yes, she has been doing some thinking,” Mellenger thought. “And she has -decided to disarm active opposition by abandoning direct action and -fighting under the rules of the game as Maisie and her kind play it. -Preëmpted the seat beside Dan and then abandoned it, just to show her -power. She’s half French and a born coquette.” - -Suddenly Tamea turned to him as if she had read his thoughts. “I have -decided to be all white,” she said. - -He noted the fascination of her habit of starting a conversation as if -it were the continuation of a discussion, her trick of foreshortening -words and ideas. - -“I commend your decision, Tamea.” - -“Will you help me, Stoneface?” she pleaded with sad wistfulness. - -“No!” - -She bowed her head understandingly. . . . When the gods rained blows on -Tamea, Queen of Riva, she took them standing, and none might know how -much they hurt. - -“I hate you—but I respect you,” she said in a low voice. “You are a man -of resolution, Stoneface.” - -“I wonder, my dear, if you will believe me when I assure you it is very -difficult for me to act in a manner which causes you to dislike me.” - -“Yes, I know that. If you were unkind because you enjoyed unkindness, -Dan Pritchard would not love you.” - -“Tamea, you have, in full measure, the greatest gift, an understanding -heart. In time I shall hope to be understood and—forgiven.” - -She frowned. “An understanding head might be a better gift. This -evening, when I saw you, I understood why you came without telling -anybody. And I thought: ‘Tamea, you are a little fool. Go back to Riva -where your mixed blood does not set you apart from your world. Here it -is difficult to know happiness!’” - -“That was a sensible thought. Why do you not return to Riva? You are -terribly out of place here.” - -“You, who are all white, cannot understand the combat in my heart, -Stoneface. I inherited too much from my father, who was a very wonderful -man. I comprehend too quickly, I see too clearly and, I think, -sometimes, I shall never be very happy. I am a child of love and -I—I—well, I am sorry you will not help me know the ways of your -people. I shall learn without aid but just now I would make haste. . . . -However, I understand.” - -Her long, beautiful hands lay in her lap—her fingers lacing and -interlacing nervously; her face was downcast. Mellenger suspected that -her long black lashes, seeming to lie on her rose-ivory cheek, -effectually concealed a suspicious moistness. There was about her a sad, -gentle, Madonna-like wistfulness more poignant than sorrow. Mellenger -was touched. - -Presently she raised her head and smiled defiantly. “Perhaps I, too, -shall be a Stoneface, searching the sea for that which never comes. -Tomorrow what shall we do to make happiness for ourselves?” - -“Tomorrow I would like to dedicate to the delightful task of making you -happy.” - -“Then go away. You are not needed here.” - -“I will go on Monday with Dan in his car. Until then you must endure -me.” - -“Thank you, Stoneface. This is a pretty place with none but fashionable -people in it, apparently. I shall learn much here so I shall be dutiful -and remain here very quietly with Maisie and Mrs. Casson.” - -“That will please Dan very much.” - -“He will think of me while he is away. He will write to me. Perhaps he -will think of Maisie too and write to her. If so—very well. It is not -nice to play the cat.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - -That ended the conversation for that night. Tamea retired shortly after -dinner, leaving Maisie and Mellenger in possession of the field. The -next morning Dan and Mellenger breakfasted early and left for the golf -links at Pebble Beach. Maisie, her aunt and Tamea joined them there for -luncheon, and in the afternoon Maisie, Dan and Mellenger made up a -threesome and played nine holes, with Tamea following, playing the part -of the gallery and bored to the point of tears. At a point on the course -where one drives along the cliff, Mellenger sliced badly and drove a new -ball into the Pacific Ocean. Tamea was frankly delighted. In the evening -there was dancing and again Tamea was out of it. She could neither -fox-trot nor waltz; she could only gaze wistfully after Dan and Maisie. - -Mellenger sat with her. “Do you dance, Stoneface?” she queried. - -“Oh, yes!” - -“Perhaps you will teach me?” - -“When?” - -“Now.” - -“Oh, but a beginner——” - -“You do not wish me to dance with Dan Pritchard?” - -“I do not.” - -She nodded. “I have listened to this music and I have watched these -others dance. I think I can dance the fox-trot, too. You shall dance -with me, Stoneface. I would learn.” - -“I’ll not make a spectacle of myself, Tamea.” - -“Then I shall. You shall dance with me or I shall dance alone, and when -I dance alone others cease dancing to watch me. I will do what you call -bust up the show. I will do the _hula_!” - -“You win,” he declared, and they stood up. Tamea made a false step or -two, caught the rhythm and moved away rather easily. As she gathered -confidence she improved and they circled the hall without colliding with -anybody. “You’re an apt pupil,” said Mellenger. - -“I grow more apt,” she retorted—and commenced to dance. In all his days -Mark Mellenger had never held in his arms a more wonderful partner. She -handled him easily, steering him cleverly among the dancers, moving with -a swiftness, a lightness and an abandon both new and thrilling. - -“You have danced before?” he charged. “You’re marvelous.” - -“In Tahiti,” she admitted. “I had a humor to force you to meet my will. -Now I am very weary—so weary that I shall not dance with Dan Pritchard -if he asks me—and he will.” - -Dan did—and Tamea begged off. Mellenger was immensely amused. “Playing -me off against old Dan,” he thought. “Well, I think I shall fall in with -that mood and play the game. This is getting interesting.” - -They drove around the seventeen mile drive the following forenoon and -had a Spanish luncheon in Monterey; in the afternoon Mark and Dan played -eighteen holes of golf while Tamea and Maisie went down to the beach -swimming. After dinner Tamea fell into step beside Mellenger as they -walked down the long hall and clasped her hand in his, after a childish -fashion she had. - -“You have been very nice to me today, Stoneface,” she admitted. “I -think, perhaps, I may learn soon to forget that I dislike you. Do you -insist upon going back to the city tomorrow morning?” - -“Yes, I’m going back with Dan.” - -“Please do not go,” she whispered, and squeezed his hand a little. - -“Why? Why do you ask me to remain, child?” - -“Because I shall be lonely here—and if you remain perhaps we may have a -nice fight, no? I wish to talk to you—to understand some things. -Please?” - -She halted him, came close to him and looked up at him in a manner that -could not be resisted. Mellenger felt a wild thrill in his heart and it -must have registered in his eyes, for Tamea’s great orbs answered thrill -for thrill. - -“I’ll not stay,” he almost growled. - -“Then walk with me a few minutes in the grounds,” she begged. “I must -have some conversation with you—alone.” - -They strolled out and down a graveled path through the trees to a bench -Tamea had observed under one of them that day. They sat down. Tamea was -first to speak. - -“Stoneface, I have done much thinking because of what I heard you tell -Dan the other night at his house. I know now how the friends of Dan -Pritchard will regard me if he takes me to wife. They will not say, ‘Ah, -there is that nice wife of his.’ No, they will say, ‘There is Dan -Pritchard and his Kanaka wife.’ I shall always be one apart. You have -made me very unhappy, Stoneface, but perhaps I should thank you for -telling me first. Now I shall not go too far until I know how far I -should go.” - -“I’m so sorry,” he murmured humbly. “I didn’t mean it for your ears. I -wouldn’t have said it—then—if I had known you were eavesdropping. -You’re much too fine, Tamea, to have this happen to you, but I know Dan -Pritchard. You are not the woman for him. Maisie Morrison is.” - -“Perhaps those are true words, Stoneface. I do not know men of your race -too well. Yet it is certain that some day a man will seek me and I will -be glad of the seeking. Many have sought me already, but you must -understand, Stoneface, they were not gentlemen. Ah, but you do not -understand. . . you do not know how much I wish to be all white. . . how -my heart hurts because here, where I am alone, I must be alone always -because I—am—different.” - -He was overwhelmed with sympathy and possessed himself of her hand and -patted it, but without speaking. - -“You like me, do you not, Stoneface?” she pleaded. - -“You are wonderful—transcendently beautiful—you have a mind and a -heart and a soul.” - -“And you like me—a very little?” - -His grip on her hand tightened. “God help me,” he murmured huskily. “I -love you. I am like a man smitten with a plague.” - -“Yes, you love me. I was quite certain of that, only you told me the -eyes were not admissible as evidence. You did not think I could stir a -heart of stone and see love and longing in Stoneface, no? But I saw it, -and I have not wished it, for I have not liked you. And now will I make -you humble. You shall seek the love of the woman you would not wish your -friend to take to wife—no, no, I dishonor you, Stoneface. - -“Forgive, please. You would not seek it, but you shall yearn for it with -a great yearning that shall cause you to forget that in my veins flows -an ancient and alien blood. Stoneface, know you that if half of my blood -is dark it is not the blood of the unbeautiful or the base. It is the -blood of the kings and patriarchs of a lost race that is dying because, -in its innocence, it touched hands with the vilest of living things, the -white man civilized. No, I am not ashamed of my blood. I am proud of it -and I rejoice that it has given me a weapon to humble you.” - -She grasped his hands and drew him toward her. “Look at me, Stoneface,” -she commanded. But he turned away his heavy, impassive face. “Ah, look -at me,” she pleaded now, “and let me see again in those strange, stern -eyes the look that was there when you betrayed yourself into my power. -For I have power—over men. I know it. It is not to brag, to show a -large conceit, when I admit it—to you. . . . Come, look at me, -Stoneface.” - -He looked at her, turning his head slowly, as if it hurt him to move it. -There, in the moonlight, in that scented park, her power, her tremendous -magnetism, the intoxicating glory of her strange, baffling, childlike -but commanding personality made his heart pound and set up in his huge -frame a weak trembling. Had he possessed the power to think, this spell -she had cast upon him, all within the space of seventy-two hours, would -not have been possible of analysis. Perhaps the best explanation was the -one he had already given—that he was as a man suddenly smitten with a -plague. - -“You tremble, Stoneface.” - -“That is because I am weak, Tamea, and I am ashamed of my weakness. I, -who came to scoff, remain to pray.” - -“That is my desire. I would have you, of all men, suffer as you have -made me suffer. I shall make of you a great stone idol, with stony face -turned sadly to the sea, like those colossal figures on the coast of -Easter Island. Yes, Stoneface. Now you may gaze long for that which -never comes. I am avenged.” - -She dropped his hands and with her own clasped tight against her -tumultuous breast she looked at him with eyes that blazed with emotion. -Mellenger sighed deeply and then his heavy, almost dull face lighted -with a smile so tender the plain face was glorified. - -“And when the gods rain blows upon me, O Tamea, I, too, shall take them -standing and smiling. You have called me Stoneface. Very well. I -withdraw my opposition. I would have you happy, even at the price of my -old friend’s unhappiness, even at the sacrifice of my own. But I shall -not gaze out to sea for that which never comes. For it shall come. And -when I see you bent and broken and taking the blows with your flower -face in the dust——” - -Her glorious face softened. “Then what, Stoneface? Then what?” - -“Then,” he murmured huskily, “I shall weep. But I shall also lift you up -and hold you to my heart and love you, and my love shall endure in the -days when you are old, and perhaps fat, when your beauty shall be but a -memory. Yes, Tamea, when you too are a Stoneface gazing sadly out to sea -for that which came—and went—and shall never, never come again, I -shall love you and love you the more because your child’s heart will -have been broken. You will, perhaps, remember this when you need a -friend.” - -He left her there and went away, with hands outstretched a little before -him, like one who walks in darkness and is afraid. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - -In the morning Mellenger was gone. He left a note to Dan explaining that -he had received a sudden and wholly unexpected call to return to San -Francisco and begged Dan to present his compliments to the ladies and to -express his regret at an unceremonious departure. - -“The man’s a poor slave,” Dan declared. - -Tamea, who had been at his elbow as he read, inquired: “Who?” - -“Mellenger. He has left us.” - -“Ah,” Tamea breathed—thoughtfully. After a brief silence she said: -“Then Maisie will have an opportunity to play with you. I am glad -Mellengair has gone.” - -“Tamea, you mustn’t hold a grudge against my friend Mark. He is not an -enemy of yours.” - -“An enemy conquered is no longer an enemy, Dan. I do not hold the -grudge. I have taken my vengeance on that man for the hurt he has done -me, and I am content to forget him.” - -“But you’ll always be pleasant and courteous to him when you meet him at -my house?” - -“_Certainement._” - -“Sorry you cannot play golf, or we’d make it a threesome, Tamea.” - -“What man would be delayed and annoyed in his sports by an unlearned -woman? I have letters to write to friends in Riva and Tahiti, so go you -with Maisie.” - -Dan was glad to accept an invitation so heartily extended. He had a -feeling that, in the delicate operation of remaining strictly neutral, -he had neglected Maisie; he felt that Maisie sensed the neglect. With a -light heart and a beaming smile, therefore, he sought her out and drove -off with her to the golf links at Pebble Beach. They played eighteen -holes and had luncheon at the Lodge, and not once during the day did -either refer to Tamea, her future or her avowed attitude toward her -guardian. - -Late in the afternoon they drove down the Monterey County coast. Dan -could not recall an occasion when Maisie had been more delightful in -conversation or more winsome as to personal appearance. She appeared to -have fallen suddenly into a habit he had not previously noted, that of -adjusting herself to his moods. Throughout that drive there were long, -blissful silences when Maisie observed his head sunk on his breast and -the dreamer’s look in his troubled eyes; when he saw fit to toss her a -conversational bone she seized it eagerly and managed to extract from it -a surprising quantity of red meat. He was thrilled with a new sense of -the girl’s potentialities for comradeship and sympathy, for abrupt and -infallible understanding. Today she made no attempt to dominate him, to -encompass and envelop him in the aura of her penchant for leadership, -for direction. And he liked that quite as much as he disliked criticism, -whether expressed or implied. Had Maisie at last sensed what had been -keeping them apart for so long—his repugnance to the slightest -suggestion of a hindrance to his masculine freedom? He pondered this. - -Dan wished that women viewed men and their affairs from a more masculine -point of view. He wished that they did not have such a tendency to -condemn without trial by jury, as it were. He deplored their prompt and -definite acting on instinct or intuition, and he wished that the girl he -might desire ardently to marry should be possessed of a modicum of the -sportsmanship of a very gallant gentleman. Why did they dislike each -other so on sight? Why did they provoke silly little tiffs over nothing -in particular; and why, when they were not on speaking terms with each -other, did they decline to avoid the embarrassment of a meeting, as men -do? Why were they controlled by their emotions? How difficult of -understanding they were! - -Well, at any rate, Tamea appeared to have a fairly well developed sense -of sportsmanship, for she had deliberately abdicated today in favor of -her rival, and Dan thought that was mighty decent of her. She had a -definite philosophy, and, it seemed to him, she could smother an active -dislike and not develop the remotest indications of a soul convulsion. -Poor child! He wondered if he had been quite kind in leaving her to -amuse herself all day at the hotel. - -He shifted his position and his hand fell, not by design, on top of -Maisie’s. Instantly her soft, warm fingers closed over it. The touch -thrilled him pleasurably; he wanted to hold Maisie’s hand, so soft and -small and fragile; he did not want her to hold his. So he removed his -hand from hers and she drew away from him. - -“Ah, don’t,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean that,” and his arm went up and -around her neck, deliberately, possessively. She leaned toward him and -he felt her tremble. “This has been a wonderful, wonderful day,” he said -huskily. “It’s been one of those rare days that upthrust themselves for -years in one’s dearest memories. You’re such a bully little comrade, -Maisie. I’m getting quite wild about you, dear,” and he kissed her -tenderly on the cheek closest to him and patted the other cheek. - -Her eyes were starry with love; she snuggled closer to him and laid her -head in the hollow of his shoulder. “I’m glad you wanted to play with me -today, old dear,” she whispered. “I’ve been so happy. I was afraid, when -I heard Mark Mellenger had left early this morning, that you would -attempt the impossible task of spreading yourself over too much -territory. I don’t think I could have stood more than nine holes with -Tamea along for a gallery.” - -“Score one for Tamea there,” he blurted undiplomatically. “She declined -to come with us.” - -She raised her head and looked out of the window. “Oh,” she breathed, -“so you _did_ ask her!” - -He was suddenly annoyed. “No, I did not, Maisie. She was the first to -suggest that I take you golfing.” - -“Indeed! What magnanimity! I wonder why.” - -“She said she had some letters to write.” - -“Her letters could have waited. She had some other reason. I do not -relish being the recipient of her—of her—forbearance and generosity. -I’ll not be patronized by that barbarian.” - -He was furious. “I’m sorry you mentioned her name,” he retorted. “_I_ -have carefully refrained all day long from doing so.” - -“Why?” - -“Maisie, that eternal ‘why?’ of yours grows provoking. You make me feel -like a cadaver on a dissecting table.” - -“You’re mixed in your metaphor, my dear Dan,” she replied with a small -clink of ice in her tones. “Your statement that you have carefully -refrained, all day long, from mentioning Tamea’s name to me seems to -imply an impression on your part that such mention would be distasteful -to me. I have a normal, healthy feminine curiosity, so I asked you why. -If one would ascertain information, one must make inquiries, I’m sure.” - -“Well, you didn’t mention her name, and that seemed a bit queer. I -merely bowed to what I gathered was your unspoken wish.” - -“How silly! Why, I didn’t refer to the girl today because I never once -thought of her today—until just now. Why should I think of her? She -doesn’t interest me in the least, Dan.” - -“I’m glad to know that. I had a sneaking impression she did interest -you—vitally.” - -“You amazing man! Now, why should she?” - -“There you go,” he declared furiously, “driving me into a corner and -forcing me to say crazy things so you will not have to say them. How -like a woman!” - -She laughed softly. Evidently she was enjoying his discomfiture -immensely. “Don’t evade the issue, Dan. Why did you have that sneaking -impression that Tamea did interest me—vitally?” - -“Well, after that night Mel was up to dinner—that was a bit awkward, -you know. And you two do not like each other.” - -“If you mean that I decline to fall on that young hussy’s neck and make -over her——” - -“Don’t call her a hussy, Maisie. That doesn’t sound like you, and -besides, she isn’t a hussy. She’s a poor, lonely, misunderstood young -girl and——” - -“And making desperate love to you,” Maisie taunted him. - -“Well,” he chuckled, “that doesn’t annoy me particularly. In fact I feel -complimented.” Maisie winced. There was a note of sincerity in his tone -that robbed it of any hint of badinage. Dan continued: “The fact that -she is making desperate love to me—it would be useless and stupid to -endeavor to hide that fact—seemed to me to constitute sufficient ground -for my suspicion that you would prefer not to discuss her.” - -Maisie turned abruptly and faced him with wide, curious eyes. There was -cleverly simulated amusement in those sea-blue orbs, and Dan’s train of -thought running his single-track mind was completely ditched. - -“Indeed, Dan, my dear old friend, what possible interest could I have in -anything Tamea does—with you or any other man? You say you are -complimented. Perhaps you may even be delighted. I’m sure I do not know, -and I’m not sufficiently interested to inquire. It hasn’t occurred to me -to take you or Tamea or your love-making at all seriously.” - -He was crushed. “I see I’ve made a star-spangled monkey of myself,” he -said gloomily. - -“Oh, say not so, old boy!” Maisie bantered. She had him down in his -corner now; a little more battering and he would be counted out. “Have -you been indulging in some day-dreams, Dan?” - -He nodded, and she laid her little hand on his forearm with an adorable -look of simulated interest, tenderness and banter. With a fascinating -uplift and outthrust of her lovely chin, Maisie said: “Tell Auntie about -it.” - -“Oh, don’t annoy me. You’re a most provoking woman.” - -“Do please tell, Dan’l. I’m that cur’ous.” - -“Well, I suppose I might as well. It appears I have laid the flattering -unction to my soul that you loved me.” - -“Yes?” Maisie barely cooed the word. - -“And you do not.” - -“How do you know, old snarleyow?” - -“I’m not exactly feeble-minded.” - -“No, indeed. I think you’re a high-grade moron. At least, you act like -one. Now, I want to know how you could possibly have gathered the -impression that I am in love with you.” - -“I cannot answer that query, Maisie. I only know that very recently I -began to think you did.” - -“You take too much for granted, Dan. Why didn’t you ask me to make -certain?” - -“It’s not too late, Maisie.” He was desperate—afraid of Tamea and what -might happen to him if he did not forestall her by some definite -strategy—fearful of being “spoofed” so outrageously by Maisie for a -minute longer. In her present mood, half childish, half devilish, wholly -womanish, Maisie held a tremendous lure for him. Indeed, the environment -was ideal for such a situation. There was the blue sea out beyond them, -with the white waves breaking on a white beach; their little subdued -thunder as they broke, and then the mournful swish as the broken water -raced up the shingle, had a particularly soothing effect upon him. It -stimulated his imagination. On the mountains to their right the blue -sunset haze still lingered; cock quails were calling to their families -to “Come right home, come right home,” and somewhere over in the -chapparal a cowbell tinkled melodiously. Why, the man who could ride -with Maisie Morrison in such surroundings and not feel his pulse throb -with desire for love and contentment was fit for treason, stratagems and -spoils. - -With a mighty sigh he said: “Well, Maisie, do you?” - -Alas! The blundering idiot had neglected to postulate his monumental -query with a plain, blunt assertion of his own love for her. Maisie, -being what she was, could never by any possibility admit anything now. -She would not have him think of her in the years to come as a brazen -woman who had proposed to him—that she had been at all _gauche_. So she -looked him coolly in the eyes with a glance that did not conceal the -fact that she was irritated profoundly; with a certain silky waspishness -she gave him his answer. - -“Well, not particularly, Dan.” - -Fell a silence. Maisie, glancing sidewise at her victim, observed him -gulp. There was a momentary flush and then Dan took up the annunciator -and said very distinctly to Graves: - -“Step on it, Graves. I think the county motorcycle officer has gone home -to dinner. At any rate, if we’re arrested I’ll pay the fine.” - -Graves nodded and the car leaped to forty-five miles an hour. “I have a -special arrangement with Graves,” Dan continued, turning to Maisie as -calmly as if his heart were beating at its normal rate of seventy-six, -full and strong. “Unless instructions to the contrary are given him, his -orders from me are to obey the traffic laws. If he is arrested in the -absence of such instructions to the contrary, he pays his own fine. -Under any other circumstances, I pay it.” - -“Fair enough,” Maisie answered, with a near approach to slang which, -coming from her, was rather delightful. To herself she said: “What a -charming old idiot he is! I’ve gotten him quite fussed and he is in a -hurry to get back to the hotel so he can go to his room and sulk. Well, -he almost proposed that time. I wonder if I wasn’t just a little bit too -feminine with him. I had an opportunity and failed to take advantage of -it. . . . Oh well, he shall propose again before the night is over, and -this time. . .” - -Dan was humming a crazy little lumber-jack song: - - Oh, the Olson boys they built a shingle mill, - They built it up on the side of a hill, - They worked all night and they worked all day, - And they tried to make the old mill pay. - And—by heck—they couldn’t! - - So the Olson boys just took that shingle mill, - And turned it into a whisky still; - They worked all night and they worked all day, - And tried to make the old still pay. - And—by heck—they done it! - -The golden moment had, indeed, passed. Maisie made one heroic attempt at -a rally. “Well?” she queried. - -“Well, what?” Dan demanded. - -“What we were discussing a moment ago.” - -“I make a motion that we lay that motion on the table, Maisie.” - -“The motion’s denied.” - -“Well, a motion to lay on the table is not debatable. The question must -be put to a vote. All those in favor of laying on the table will vote -aye. Contrary minded—no!” - -“No!” said Maisie. - -“Aye!” boomed Daniel. “The ayes have it and it is so ordered.” - -“Steam roller tactics,” Maisie protested and laughed to conceal her -chagrin. She had obeyed the instinct of her sex, which is to flee from -the male, even while obsessed with the desire to be overtaken. She had -yielded to the feminine impulse to chastise him for his clumsiness in -love-making, to play with him awhile, as a cat plays with a mouse, -before claiming the poor victim. She wanted him to be rough and -resolute, to thrust aside her protestations and claim her by brute force -and the right of discovery. She was very happy and she had desired to -linger a brief moment in the afterglow of her decision to surrender to -him—before surrendering. She wanted to be deferred to, to have him -plead with her for her love, to deluge her with a swift avalanche of -love words. How could she confess her yearning for him until he had laid -at her feet the wondrous burden of his own great love and asked her, -humbly, to accept the gift in exchange for her own? - -Maisie had never really had a sweetheart before. She was a girl of the -type that has a cool habit of keeping amorous youths at arm’s length. -Unlike so many of her girl friends, she could not bear to be pawed over -by youths who failed to arouse in her the slightest interest. She had -never sought conquest for the sake of conquest, although all of her life -she had hugged to her heart an ideal of love. She would marry the one -great love of her life, and having married, she would devote her life to -making her husband happy and comfortable. She would bear children for -him; she would keep herself young and fresh; she would not do any of the -stupid things she frequently observed young matrons in her set doing to -their husbands—driving them crazy by daily, almost hourly, demands for -renewed, fervid assurances of undying love; tagging after them always, -herding them in, cutting them off from healthy association with other -harassed males, protesting against everything not connected with the -office and the home. - -For Maisie was, without anybody close to her remotely suspecting it, a -tremendously romantic young woman. She yearned with a great yearning to -be wooed by a romantic lover who was fifty per cent slave and fifty per -cent Prince Charming. Long before she had ever fallen in love with Dan -Pritchard she had fallen in love with love; hence her automatic -resentment of Dan Pritchard’s peculiar approach to the Great Adventure. -Having shyly hidden within herself all her life, how could she expose -her heart to Dan merely to satisfy his accursed curiosity? What -assurance had she that he would, in turn, expose his heart to her? -Moreover, wasn’t it his first move, the monumental _omadhaun_! Maisie -smiled sweetly, but what she really wanted to do to Dan Pritchard was to -slap him furiously and then cry herself to silence and forgiveness in -his arms. - -“Well, pride comes before a fall,” Dan answered her lugubriously. - -“You weren’t so _very_ proud,” Maisie assured him, with a forgiving -glance. - -“Perhaps. But that didn’t soften my fall.” - -“I think perhaps you were quite within your rights in asking,” she -pursued eagerly. “You’ve known me so long and we’ve always been such -good pals, I suppose you concluded——” - -“Yes, yes,” he interrupted. “I’m so glad you understand. Well, I’ll not -embarrass you again, my dear. You’re much too sweet and lovely to have -my silly action of a few minutes ago cast a shadow over our perfect -friendship.” - -“I’ll have to propose to him after all,” Maisie thought. And she would -have done it if a car hadn’t come up behind them and with a hoarse toot -warned them of a desire to pass. Maisie could not bring herself to speak -at that moment. One does not desire to hint of one’s love to the -accompaniment of a motor siren. And to complicate matters Graves glanced -back quickly, measured at a glance the speed limit of the following car, -and proceeded to run away from it. This infuriated the driver of the -other car, who in turn speeded up and continued to honk at them until -Graves turned in at the entrance to the hotel grounds and, before Maisie -could renew the conversation, had paused before the portals of the hotel -and was standing beside the car holding the door open. - -As Dan helped her out of the limousine she squeezed his hand and favored -him with a look of abject adoration. - -“I know, dear,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have presumed. It is sweet of -you to forgive me.” - -Maisie ran quickly to her room, cast herself upon her bed and sought -surcease from her rage and chagrin in that soothing form of feminine -comfort known as “a good cry.” Indeed, she wept so long and so hard that -she decided she was too red and swollen of eye and nose to venture forth -where Tamea would see her. So she sent down word by her maid that she -had developed a severe headache, as a result of the hard day in the sun, -and would have dinner in her room. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - -Tamea, secretly delighted at Maisie’s misfortune, expressed to Mrs. -Casson and Dan a concern about Maisie which she was far from feeling. -Maisie had had him all day, and it had been Tamea’s generous thought to -abandon the evening to her rival. However, since fate had willed -otherwise, she decided promptly to make the most of her opportunity. -After dinner she managed to locate a bridge game with one partner -missing. The players were acquaintances of Mrs. Casson’s and it was no -trick at all for Tamea to steer her chaperon into this vacancy; -whereupon she took Dan’s arm and wandered with him down into the art -gallery. There was nothing in the art gallery that Dan could cheer for, -and Tamea quickly discovered this. Almost before he knew it, she had him -outside and was walking him through the scented starlit night down the -road toward Monterey Bay. - -As they walked Tamea attempted no conversation. Instinctively she -realized that Dan did not want that. He had something on his mind and it -was depressing him. What he needed, therefore, was love and sympathy and -song; whereat Tamea twined her long soft fingers in his, swung his hand -as they walked and commenced softly, very softly, to sing a song of -Riva. It must have been a love song, for although Dan Pritchard could -not understand a word of it, yet in the soft succession of syllables he -caught a hint of passion, of longing, of pathos. . . . Once when, -apparently, Tamea had a half rest in her music, she raised his hand to -her lips before resuming her crooning love lullaby. - -They came to a wooden bench on a low bluff, against which the waves beat -at extreme high tides. They sat down, Tamea still holding Dan’s hand. -She released it long enough for him to light a cigar, then she drew his -arm around her neck and laid her cheek against his. She continued to -sing and like a modern Circe she wove her spell about him. - -Suddenly she ceased, placed one hand on his cheek and tilted his face -toward her. - -“_Chéri_,” she whispered, “I love you with all my heart and soul.” - -He stared at her incredulously. He seemed to be thinking of something -else—and he was. He was thinking how different—this—from his -experience of that afternoon with Maisie. - -“But,” Tamea continued sadly, and let her hand fall back into her lap, -“my _chéri_ does not love his Tamea. She is half Kanaka.” - -“Hush, child,” he admonished. “I have never thought of you as anything -save as one of God’s most glorious creations.” - -“But,” Tamea persisted, “it makes a great difference—to be half Kanaka. -It makes a great difference to a white man like you.” - -“It doesn’t make the slightest difference, sweetheart,” he cried, and -wondered why he had called her sweetheart. His heart was pounding now, -there was a drumming in his ears, he was atremble with the trembling -that had shaken him as a zephyr shakes the leaves of a forest that -evening on the Moorea after old Gaston had departed for Paliuli and the -girl had clung to him, weeping and despairing. “You’re wonderful, -glorious,” he continued, his words outpouring in a sort of rapturous -jumble and mumble, and swept her into his arms. Their lips met. . . -Tamea could kiss. - -“Then you love your Tamea—truly, dear one?” she whispered finally. - -“I adore you.” - -“And you will not wed Maisie, even though you are engaged to her?” - -“I am not engaged to Maisie and never have been. What’s more, I never -shall be, Tamea. No man could marry a more wonderful woman than Maisie, -but unfortunately for me, Maisie isn’t the least bit in love with me.” - -Tamea started, drew away from him and eyed him wonderingly. - -“You are wrong, dear one. Maisie adores you.” - -He shook his head. “I asked her—once,” he explained. “She assured me -she did not.” - -“She assured you of that which is not true, Dan Pritchard. Now why -should she do this? The women of your country are strange women, love of -my heart. They deny that which they feel. They pretend to be interested -in that which bores them. They desire a husband, yet they shrink from -taking him, even after he has looked upon them with the look that no -true woman should mistake. - -“I do not understand this. I wanted you, dear one, and when you looked -upon me with favor I came to you. And I am very happy—so happy, -perhaps, that when we are married and I have borne children for you, I -may forget that I am not exactly that which you would wish me to be. - -“But I shall learn, dear one. And I shall obey my lord because he is my -master and I love him.” - -He stood up and held her tightly to his heart that was pounding so -madly, so rapturously. He rained kisses on her upturned flower face, and -the perfume of her glorious hair was as myrrh and incense to him. -“You’ve bewitched me, Tamea,” he muttered hoarsely. “Come, let us go -back to the hotel. Come!” - -They went. Tamea knew better than to oppose a man. She knew that men -love best the women who give them their own way, who do not seek to -restrain or discipline or mold them to their own desires. Daughter of a -race that would disappear before emerging from the condition of family -life where there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage for the -avoidance of sin and the preservation of property rights, Tamea was -following woman’s truest and most primitive instinct. She was ruling by -love and not by the sad and silly principle that possession is nine -points of the law. - -Young as she was, Tamea was a fully developed woman, watchful, -observant, philosophical, courageous, resourceful; she had the gift, -rare in a woman, of initiative and instantaneous power of decision. -Gaston of the Beard had richly endowed her with the treasures of his -massive mind. She realized that she had swept Dan Pritchard off his -feet, that he was her slave, but that his servitude was not as yet -wholly voluntary. And she knew why. He was mentally hobbled by the -knowledge of her island blood and a vision of Maisie Morrison. - -But Tamea was not dismayed. She had faith in her power—in the power of -love—to make him forget both. In the belief that he had been pledged to -Maisie she had decided gallantly to surrender him to Maisie that day. -She had told herself that if Maisie desired him, then, that day, she -would make certain of him, and if she did not, then was she a fool. -Well, she had not closed her deal, wherefore here was a fair field and -no favor. Tamea told herself that she had acted with a degree of -sportsmanship pleasing to Dan; and now, when from Dan’s own lips she -learned that Maisie had denied her love for him, Tamea had promptly -renewed the campaign; like a good soldier she had taken the offensive -and, as usually occurs in offensive campaigns, she had won. She had felt -Dan Pritchard’s wild kisses on her lips, her cheek, her hair, and she -was content. - -Had Tamea been more conversant with Nordic custom, had she even a remote -conception of the holding power of the marriage vow even in a land where -thinking people speak learnedly of a divorce problem, she would have -urged upon Dan the desirability of motoring into Monterey that night and -getting married. It is probable that she would have urged this anyhow -had she the slightest fear of Maisie as a rival. All anxiety on that -point had now disappeared, however; on the morrow she would set herself -to the task of making friends with Maisie. . . . Meanwhile, if her -heart’s desire persisted in striding back to the hotel without speaking -to her, who was she to obtrude upon his mood? Instinctively she realized -that men resent intrusions upon their moods of depression or deep -thoughtfulness. Her father had been like that. - -A white bench, gleaming through the cypress and fir trees down a path -that led off at right angles, caught her eye. She steered him toward it, -but he balked and shook his head in negation. - -“You will come, dear one,” Tamea cooed. - -“No, no,” he cried huskily. “Do not tempt me, Tamea.” And he moved a few -feet. When he looked back she was standing where he had left her and her -arms were outstretched to him. “No, I tell you,” he protested, and -hurried away from her. So Tamea walked down the little path and sat down -on the bench to await his return. - -He returned to her. She knew he would. - -“You are thinking, dear one, of what your friend Mellengair said to you -about me,” she challenged. “You are thinking of the danger to a great -white man to mate with a half-breed Kanaka.” - -“Please,” he pleaded. “I wasn’t thinking of that at all.” - -“Then you were wondering what Maisie would think—what she will say when -you tell her how it is with us two.” - -“I—I do not think I shall tell her—yet.” - -Tamea’s breast heaved and her dark eyes flashed. “Then I will tell her, -Dan. What have we to conceal? Maisie means nothing in my young life,” -she added, tossing in a colloquialism she had picked up, the Lord knows -where. “Why do you fear?” - -“I do not fear.” - -“I am glad to hear you say so. I should not love you if you were afraid -of anything.” - -“Ah, but I am afraid of something, Tamea dear. I am afraid I do not love -you, with a sufficiently great love to marry you. Perhaps that which I -think is love is not really love, but passion.” - -She laughed softly. Such fine distinctions were too difficult for her to -fathom. “What is love without passion?” she protested, “and what an -unlovely thing would be passion without love. Fear not, beloved. All is -well with that dear heart of yours, and even if it should be that you do -not love me too well—that some day your love should grow cold and you -should leave me—still would I ask of you tonight all the love of which -you are capable. Is it not better to have known a little happiness than -none at all? I think so. For look you, dear one. When the parting -comes—if come it should as Mellengair foretold that night—you will -leave me as you came to me—in love. What manner of fool is the woman -who would strive to hold a man whose love has grown cold and dim like -the stars at dawn? When you weary of me, Dan Pritchard, you will tell -me; then, because I shall always love you, I will prove my love; I will -send you away with a smile and a kiss. Ah, sweetheart, will that day -ever come? I think not. I think I shall never grow old or stale or -intolerable to you.” - -“Never,” he promised, profoundly touched by her sweetness, her candor -and amazing magnetism. “You are driving me mad with longing for you, -Tamea.” - -“And I am driving you mad against your will?” - -He nodded. - -Tamea actually chuckled, took his none too handsome, solemn face between -her two palms and looked at him long, earnestly and impersonally, as one -looks at an infant. She appeared to be puzzling something out in her -unspoiled mind. - -“Such men as have sought me heretofore,” she said presently—“and I have -not been without attraction to several—have desired me—well, you -understand. There was that in their eyes that frightened me or disgusted -me and I would have none of them. I could read their hearts. They said -of me: ‘Ah, here is a half-caste maid. She is like the others—a -trusting, silly half-caste, without pride or dignity. I will amuse -myself with her.’ But you are different, _chéri_. It is not a woman you -seek, but a woman with a soul. I think I love you best because you are a -gentleman. I have not had many advantages, but something calls out in me -here”—she beat her breast—“to be different, that I may be beloved by -such as you.” - -He murmured helplessly: “Well, I’ll be damned!” - -“Possibly. Your white world is a strange world, with many things and -many customs that damn one—particularly a woman. Yet would I follow you -to damnation. Would you follow me?” - -“I don’t know, Tamea. It requires courage for a white man to quarrel -with his white world—that is, such a white man as am I. Some of us -choose unhappiness rather than affront our world, you know.” - -“Yes, I think I understand. That is your Christian religion. It teaches -strange things, such as duty, and the battle against sin. It is -something that makes one unhappy, uncertain, filled with many fears. It -causes men and women to be unhappy in this life that they may be happy -in a life to come. The missionary’s wife in Riva explained it to me—and -I laughed. I told her I would be happy in this, the only life I know I -shall know, and she grew angry and said I was a hopeless heathen.” - -Tamea’s silvery little chuckle tinkled faintly on his ear like a distant -sheep bell. He hadn’t the slightest objection to spooning with Tamea, -but his natural refinement rebelled at a park bench. He felt like a -country lover; he wanted to go back to the hotel; he feared some one of -the guests might see them and start some silly gossip. - -“Let us return to the hotel,” he blurted out bluntly. “Mrs. Casson will -be wondering what has become of us.” - -Tamea raised his hand and looked at his wrist watch. “We will sit here -and talk until midnight,” she declared. “Two hours. It is little -enough.” - -“Impossible, Tamea. We will get ourselves talked about. Of course I can -stand it, but you——” - -“I can stand it too, dear Dan. Sit down, do!” - -“Tamea! Please be sensible.” - -The Queen of Riva stamped her foot. “You will place your arms around me -and speak to me of our love,” she commanded. - -He obeyed. Nevertheless, while he held her to his breast and whispered -to her warm words of love; while his heart poured forth its passion and -longing and ecstasy so poignant it was almost pain, the vision of -Mellenger obtruded. - -He was making a mistake. What his personal opinion of an alliance with -Tamea might be mattered not. His friends, the code of his class, forbade -the banns; and the realization of this brought him uneasiness and -unhappiness even in the midst of his wild happiness. He feared for the -future. Tonight the world appeared to stand still in space, but tomorrow -it would continue to revolve, and unless he took a very brave and -resolute stand, it would move on toward a tragedy. - -However, he had sufficient sense, now that he found himself involved -with this tropic wild flower, to attempt the exercise of his undoubted -power over her to the end that he might outline definite plans for her -future and secure her acquiescence in them. He reverted, therefore, to -her father’s plans for her education and reminded Tamea that he had -promised her father to see to it that the latter’s plans were carried -out. He impressed upon her the vital necessity for acquiring as much -education, knowledge of the world and refinement, as white girls of her -age. She must have music lessons, she must learn to dance, to ride, to -drive a motor-car, to manage a household, to sing, to meet his white -friends on their own social level. In a word, she must make him very -proud of her. - -Tamea agreed to obey him implicitly, but fought desperately against the -idea of a convent. She pleaded to be permitted to live at Dan’s house -and have private tutors; she reminded him that she was amply able to -afford them. When he explained to her the impossibility of this he saw -that she accepted his explanation as something irrelevant and immaterial -and decidedly peculiar. Reluctantly she abandoned her stand and sought a -compromise. If she went to a convent all week could she come home of -week-ends? Dan said she could not. Then would he come to the convent to -see her on Sundays? He promised to do this every Sunday, and thus the -momentous issue was settled. Tamea promised to enter the convent the day -after their return to San Francisco. - -This was the first long, uninterrupted confidential conversation they -had ever had. Dan was an understanding and sympathetic listener with -sufficient patience to continue answering childish questions long after -the majority of his sex would have become irritated. And Tamea asked him -hundreds of questions on an amazing variety of topics; she discussed -intimately the principal features of her own life and extracted the last -shred of information he had to give concerning himself. He observed how -clear, direct and straightforward was her method of reasoning; she had a -nicely balanced choice of words, and a fascinating habit of clothing her -odd fancies in brilliant, brief, illuminating metaphor or simile. In -those two hours when Tamea talked to him, with her head on his breast, -he really began to know her; and to the spell which her physical beauty -had cast upon him was now added an ardent admiration for her mental -equipment. She possessed none of the flightiness, frivolity or -empty-headedness of the white flapper. To her, life was something very, -very real, something to be studied, considered and not to be tasted -indiscriminately. She had inherited from her father an insatiable -yearning for information on every subject that interested her remotely. - -It was twelve-thirty before Dan, with a start, cast off his thraldom and -looked at his watch. - -“Yes, I suppose we should go in,” Tamea said softly. “I have had my -delight spoiled for half an hour in the fear that you would look at your -watch. And now you have looked at it and the suspense is over.” - -They walked slowly back to the hotel and came in the front entrance. In -the lobby of the hotel they came across Maisie reading a magazine. - -“Hello, Maisie, my dear,” said Dan, “I had an impression you had a bad -headache and had retired. If I had remotely suspected you had recovered -we would have remained to keep you company.” - -Maisie acknowledged this cheerful salutation with a forced smile. Her -eyes were cold and blue. “You must have taken a long walk, Dan. Were you -in to Monterey?” - -“No, just down to the beach and back. The night is so balmy we’ve been -sitting outside. Tamea has been asking questions and I have been -answering them.” - -“I had so many to ask,” said Tamea demurely, “that it was very late when -I finished.” She patted her mouth to stifle a little yawn. “I’m so -sleepy. Excuse me, please, Maisie. I am going to my room. Good night, -Dan, you darling. Good night, Maisie.” - -Dan escorted her to the elevator, then returned to Maisie and sat down -beside her. Said she, coolly: - -“Well, Dan, did Tamea propose to you tonight?” - -On the instant he was irritated. He scowled at Maisie who, disdaining an -answer, reached over on his left shoulder and carefully brushed away a -very noticeable white patch on the blue cloth of his coat. - -“I’ve told Tamea several times not to use so much powder,” she -complained. - -Dan was aware that he was flushing very noticeably. When Maisie spoke -again the flush deepened. - -“Aren’t you too old for that sort of thing—with that sort of -semi-developed girl, Dan?” - -He knew that Maisie, coming downstairs for some purpose earlier in the -evening and learning from her aunt that he and Tamea had strolled away -together, had decided to sit where she could keep watch over both -entrances and await their return. What business had she spying upon -them? He was distinctly irritated. - -“I must confess, Maisie, I do not relish——” he began, but Maisie -interrupted him. - -“Oh, I dare say you’re thinking I’m an old snooper and that this is none -of my business. I’d be prepared to admit that if you had not asked me to -look after the child here. If you wish to have yourselves talked about, -why then, spooning around the hotel grounds until twelve-thirty o’clock -is a very good way.” - -“Tamea is perfectly safe with me,” he defended, “and you ought to know -it.” - -“I do. With any woman you have as much boldness as a canary bird, my -dear. What I object to, Dan, is the fact that you are not perfectly safe -with Tamea, and we might as well have an understanding regarding her now -as later. If you’re to be her guardian you cannot afford to let her vamp -you. As one of your very oldest and dearest friends I’m going to take -the liberty of painting you a picture of the future. I feel certain you -cannot see the future clearly, Dan, or else you refuse to see it. May I -speak very plainly, Dan?” - -“What’s the use, Maisie? Mel has already painted me the same picture and -I disagree with his color tones. I think I know what I am doing and I -think, also, that one of the rarest gifts God ever grants to civilized -woman is a nicely balanced diplomacy. They have too much or too little.” - -It was Maisie’s turn to flush now—with embarrassment and anger. The -flush departed, leaving her pale and trembling. “The first bearer of -unwelcome news hath but a losing office,” she forced herself to say. -“Are you driving back to town in the morning, Dan?” - -He nodded. - -“I think it would be just as well if you took Tamea with you,” Maisie -continued icily. “Aunt and I will remain here for a few weeks. I do not -feel quite up to the task of helping you with Tamea when you decline to -help me to help you to help her.” - -“Oh, Maisie, I’m sorry——” - -“Of course you are. And you’ll be much sorrier some day, old dear. I may -not have much of a gift for diplomacy, Dan, but it does not require the -gift of second sight to see that you are madly infatuated with this -girl, and common sense is as far from an infatuated man as the north -pole from the south. When you come to your senses send for me—should -you feel that you need me. Meanwhile—good night and—good-by until we -meet again.” - -He was furious. He had assimilated smilingly one terrific blow from -Maisie within the past twelve hours and now he was forced to assimilate -another. He rose and bowed to Maisie with polite frigidity. - -“You are perfectly right, Maisie,” he assured her. “I am, beyond -question, the most monumental ass in all California. Fortunately for -both of us, I was just about to inform you that Tamea has consented to -enter a convent immediately; consequently she no longer assumes the -proportions of a white elephant to both of us. I shall take her home -with me tomorrow and place her in school the day after. I am deeply -grateful to you for all that you have done for me in this emergency, -Maisie, and I am sincerely sorry my conduct has been displeasing to you. -It has been eminently satisfactory to myself! Good night and—since I -shall not see you before I leave tomorrow morning—_au revoir_. When I -need you again I shall not, however, send for you. I am already too deep -in your debt. Good night.” - -Maisie managed her leave-taking admirably. A little nod, a cold and -twisted smile—and she was gone. The instant the elevator deposited her -on her floor, however, she fairly ran to her room, nor did she observe -that the door to Tamea’s room was opened ever so little; that Tamea’s -eye was at that crack and that the tears that rained down Maisie’s -cheeks had not escaped that keen scrutiny. - -“I am right,” Tamea soliloquized as she switched off her bedside lamp -and slipped into bed. “Maisie loves him. She was too sure of him and -that is a mistake. No woman should be too sure of any man because all -men are children. After I left Dan with her they quarreled. That is -well. Dan is not ashamed of me, then. Now Maisie weeps. That is well, -too.” - -The telephone tinkled faintly and Tamea took down the telephone. - -“How do you do?” said Tamea cordially into the mouthpiece. - -“Dan speaking, Tamea. I am going back to San Francisco tomorrow morning -and you are to accompany me.” - -“But Maisie and her aunt remain here?” - -“Yes. How did you know?” - -“I am a very wonderful girl. I am smart—yes, you bet.” Her triumphant, -musical little chuckle was soothing to his scarred soul. - -“Julia will be in your room at six o’clock to awaken you and pack your -suitcase and trunk. Good night, my dear.” - -“I kiss you once—for luck,” said Tamea and smacked her lips loudly. -Then she hung up, snuggled down in bed and fell asleep almost instantly. -She had started the day with a handicap, but her finish had been -magnificent and she was well content. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - -Tamea was awakened by Julia at six o’clock. At seven she and Dan -breakfasted together; at seven-thirty they entered Dan’s limousine, the -smiling Julia tucked the robe in around her charge, took her seat beside -Graves, and the homeward hegira began. At San José they looked in on the -Mother Superior of a splendid convent that catered to the educational -needs of young ladies of high school age, and Dan made arrangements to -enter Tamea there the following day. - -And this he did. Tamea had quite a wild weeping spell at the parting and -Dan had to promise to write to her daily. Then the necessity for -abandoning Julia was provocative of another outburst of grief, and to -add to the complications this proof of devotion so touched Julia, all -unused to such appreciation, that she wept loudly and copiously and was -pathetically homely after two minutes of it. Dan, aware that all -incoming and outgoing mail would be censored at this convent, realized -that he, faced daily the awful task of composing an innocuous little -letter to Tamea, and he was troubled with the thought that Tamea might -not understand and go into open revolt as a result. - -Finally the ordeal was over and Dan motored back to San Francisco. Here -he discovered that there was trouble in the Seattle office of Casson and -Pritchard and that it was necessary for him to go there at once. He -welcomed the opportunity. Promptly he wrote Tamea that he was called -away, but that he would telegraph her every day while he was traveling. -Telegraphing was so much easier than writing under a handicap. Surely -Tamea would understand that he could not afford to call her endearing -names by wire. She must realize that men of his class did not do that -sort of thing. - -He was gone two weeks. Graves met him at the ferry depot upon his -return. - -“I’m glad you’ve returned, sir,” Graves announced. “The fur has been -flying since you left. Mrs. Pippy gave Julia the air the minute you and -Miss Larrieau were out of the house, so Julia beat it down to the -convent and reported to Miss Larrieau. Up comes Miss Larrieau from the -convent and tells Mrs. Pippy where to head in, and there’s a grand row. -Mrs. Pippy calls on Sooey Wan to give Julia the bum’s rush out of the -house and Sooey Wan tells her to go to Halifax or some other seaport. -Then Mrs. Pippy cries and Julia cries and Sooey Wan cusses like a pirate -and Miss Larrieau takes charge of the house and she and Sooey Wan are -running it.” - -Dan gasped. “But where is Mrs. Pippy?” - -“She must have got frightened and left, or else Miss Larrieau fired her. -Anyhow, she’s gone.” - -“Has Miss Larrieau returned to school?” - -“No, sir. I think she’s waiting until you get back.” - -Dan sighed in lieu of the words he could not muster. Here indeed, in the -expressive terminology of Graves, was “hell to pay and no pitch hot.” - -He dropped in at the office for a few minutes to look through his -accumulated mail. In it he found a formal resignation from Mrs. Pippy, -who regretted that the lack of his moral support at a time when her -position had grown untenable rendered her resignation imperative. She -informed him of the address to which he might mail her check. - -“I suppose I shall never have another Mrs. Pippy,” Dan sighed, and -added, “and I hope I never shall.” - -The moment he entered his home Tamea leaped out at him suddenly from -behind the portières where she had been hiding. “_Chéri!_” she cried and -favored him with a bone-cracking hug. “My adored one,” she added, and -delivered a barrage of osculation that left Dan quite breathless. When -he could speak he said: - -“Graves has told me of the battle which took place here during my -absence. Tamea, I am not pleased with your high-handed procedure.” - -“_P-f-f._ Dear one, that Pippy was offensive. I disliked that old woman -the first time she looked at me—like this,” and Tamea wrinkled her -adorable nose. “There was nothing else to do. She had defied me by -dismissing Julia, and this was mutiny, since Julia was mine and you had -given her to me. If the king fails to protect those who come under the -king’s protection, the people murmur and there is discontent and perhaps -revolt, is there not? My place was here to protect my servant and I came -and protected her. I have done well and you must not reprove me, dear -one. If you do I shall be very unhappy.” - -“Oh, it’s all right, it’s all right,” Dan protested. “It’s just that I -hate a beastly row. You did not secure permission from the Mother -Superior to come here?” - -“I?” the amazed girl demanded. “I—Tamea, plead for permission? You do -not know me, I think, dear one. Julia came in the car with Graves and I -left at once. At the gate the nun on watch desired to stop me. She even -laid hands upon me, but I thrust her aside. _Tiens_, I was angry!” - -“I judged as much from a letter which the Mother Superior wrote me. -Tamea, you may not return to that convent. They cannot control you and -they do not desire that you remain there longer. My dear, can you not -realize that this is very, very embarrassing to me?” - -“It is very delightful to me, darling Dan. I did not wish to remain -there. They opened your letters to me and before I could seal my letters -to you they were read. So I did not send them, but kept them all for -you. Tonight, after dinner, you shall read them, one by one. Yes, at -that convent there was much between us of what you call in this country -rough house.” - -Sooey Wan came in from the kitchen, grunted a greeting to his employer, -picked up Dan’s bags and disappeared upstairs with them. Returning, he -paused for a moment at the foot of the stairs and said: - -“Missa Dan, you fire Julia, Sooey Wan ketchum boat, go back China pretty -quick.” - -His impudence enraged Dan. “You may start now, Sooey Wan,” he told the -Celestial. “I’ll keep Julia, but you’re fired.” - -Sooey Wan looked at Tamea, who smiled and nodded to him. In effect she -said to him: “Don’t pay any attention to him, Sooey Wan. I am in command -here.” - -Sooey Wan had evidently planned for this moment. His shrill, unmirthful -cachinnation rang through the house. “Boss,” he piped, “you klazy, allee -same Missie Pip. You fire me? Pooh-pooh! No can do. Sooey Wan belong -your papa, papa give me to you, how can do? You fire me, who ketchum -dinner, eh? You klazy.” - -Again Dan sighed. It appeared that Sooey Wan’s first introduction to the -Pritchard household had been due to a tong war in Chinatown. Sooey Wan, -young, bold, aggressive, had been marked for slaughter in a tong feud, -and the high-binder whose duty it had been, for a consideration, to waft -him into the spirit world, had dropped Sooey Wan with his first shot. -Then a cane had descended upon his wrist, causing him to drop his -pistol. The peacemaker, Dan’s father, had thereupon possessed himself of -it, handed the would-be assassin over to the police and forgotten the -incident. Sooey Wan eventually recovered from his wound and at once -sought out Pritchard senior, to whom he explained that by reason of an -ancient Chinese custom he who saved a human life was forever after -responsible for that life. Therefore, it behooved Dan’s father to place -Sooey Wan on his payroll instanter, which, being done, the latter became -one of the assets of the Pritchard estate. Inasmuch as Dan had been the -sole heir to that estate, naturally, to Sooey Wan’s way of thinking, he -had inherited his father’s responsibility for Sooey Wan’s life while the -latter continued to live. _Ergo_, Sooey Wan could not be dismissed! - -Decidedly, reprisals were not in order. There was naught to do save -accept the situation gratefully, cast about for another school for Tamea -and try, try again. Dan recalled that there was a very excellent convent -in Sacramento. He would call upon the Mother Superior there, explain -Tamea at length and seek to have the censorship law repealed in so far -as she was concerned. He would offer to pay double the customary rate in -return for special treatment and forbearance in Tamea’s case. And he -would tell that infernal Julia what he thought about her—no, he would -not. If he did she would weep and when Julia wept her pathetic lack of -beauty was extraordinarily depressing. - -“Well, I’m awfully happy to see you again, sweetheart,” he said, and -favored Tamea with one hearty kiss in return for the dozens she had -showered upon him. “Any news from Maisie or her aunt?” - -“Divil a wor’rd, sor,” said Julia, coming downstairs at that moment. “I -called her up, makin’ bould enough to ax her to reason wit’ Mrs. Pippy, -sor, but she would not. Says she to me, says she: ‘Julia, there’s no -reasonin’ wit’ anybody in that household, so I’ll not be botherin’ me -poor head about them. When Misther Pritchard wants me he’ll sind for -me’.” - -“Quite so, Julia, quite so. She is absolutely right.” - -He went upstairs, bathed and changed his clothes. He intended returning -to the office, but Tamea pleaded with him to spend the remainder of the -day amusing her. So he took her to a vaudeville show, and Tamea held his -hand and, between acts, whispered to him little messages of love. Once, -when the house was dark, she leaned over and kissed him very tenderly on -the ear. Then, remembering that he held a grudge against Sooey Wan, whom -he knew would prepare a special dinner to celebrate his return, Dan -decided to take Tamea out to dinner and, deliberately, to fail to -telephone Sooey Wan. He knew that would infuriate the old Chinaman and -indicate to him that he had been reproved. - -They went to an Italian restaurant, the Fiore d’Italia, up in the Latin -quarter. It was a restaurant which was patronized nightly by the same -guests; indeed, Dan, who had a weakness for some of the toothsome -specialties of the house, had been a guest there about three times a -month for years, and Mark Mellenger had been, with the exception of -Thursday nights when he dined at Dan’s house, a nightly habitué of the -Fiore d’Italia for fifteen years. Dan had a desire to bask for an hour -in the light of Mellenger’s delightful but infrequent smile and had -chosen to take Tamea to the Fiore d’Italia in the hope of seeing him -there. - -Mellenger was just rising from his table as they entered. He greeted -them both cordially, but to Dan’s pressing invitation to sit and talk -awhile he replied that he was much too busy at the office and hurried -away. Scarcely had he gone when Grandpère, an ancient waiter who looked -for his evening tip from Mark Mellenger as regularly as evening -descended upon San Francisco, came in with an order of striped bass _à -la_ Mellenger. Dan and Tamea had seated themselves at the table vacated -by Mellenger, and Grandpère stood a moment, blinking at the vacant -chair. Then he glanced toward the peg upon which Mellenger’s wide soft -hat always hung and, finding it gone, sighed and returned to the kitchen -with the order. - -“Why, Mel left without eating!” Dan exclaimed. - -“Yes, he saw us first, dear one. He desired to spare himself the -embarrassment of having to speak too much with me,” Tamea explained. “At -Del Monte I told Mellengair some things he did not like.” - -“Oh, Tamea, how could you? He is my dearest friend.” - -She shrugged. “He told me things I did not like. We are even now. I -think I should tell you that he will not come to your house again for -dinner while I am there.” - -Again Dan sighed. Things were closing in around him. He had lost an -excellent housekeeper, his maid and his cook were in open revolt, his -best man friend avoided him and his best woman friend had quarreled with -him—and all over Tamea. The amazing part of it all was that he simply -could not quarrel with Tamea. He could only adore her and strive to -believe that it wasn’t adoration. Tamea, watching him narrowly, saw that -he had surrendered to the situation and, as was his custom, he would -forbear seeking the details of a situation repugnant to him. So she -dipped a small radish in salt and handed it to him with the air of -royalty conferring the accolade. - -There was dancing to the music of an accordion played by an Italian. He -was a genial man, with smiles for all the dancers, and very generous -with his encores. Old patrons nodded to one another across the tables, -there was much pleasant conversation and some noisy eating, for the -Fiore d’Italia was a restaurant dedicated to food rather than the -niceties of eating, and was patronized by democratic folk who held good -food to be superior to table manners. The camaraderie of the place -appealed to Tamea at once, and when presently the accordion player, -between dances, commenced to play very softly “O Sole Mio,” and an -Italian waiter who had almost attained grand opera paused with a stack -of soiled dishes on his arm and sang it, Tamea was transported with -delight. - -“We will dance, no?” she pleaded brightly. - -Dan would have preferred the bastinado, but—they danced. All eyes were -on Tamea. Who was she? Where did she come from? That was Pritchard with -her, was it not? Who was Pritchard? Zounds, that girl was a corker! How -she could dance and how she loved it! A regular Bohemian, eh? - -“You play very well, Monsieur,” Tamea complimented the musician as the -dance ceased. “Please, I would play your accordion. It is so much finer -than my own.” - -Before Dan could protest the Italian had handed her his instrument, -Tamea had seated herself and commenced to play “Blue Danube Waves.” Dan -stood, beseeching her with his eyes to cease making a spectacle of -herself and return to the table, but the spirit of carnival had entered -into Tamea and she would not be denied. She knew what Dan wanted her to -do but she would not do it. - -“Every one dance,” she commanded. “And I will play that this tired -musician may dance also. It is not fair that he should play always.” - -There was a hearty round of applause and the dancers came out on the -floor. - -“Tamea, dear, you’re making a spectacle of yourself,” Dan pleaded. - -“If you would do the same, dear one,” she replied lightly, “you would be -such a happy boy.” - -She was beating time with her foot; and when the dance was ended she -played a ballad of Riva and sang it. The Fiore d’Italia was in an uproar -of appreciation, athrill at a new sensation, as the girl handed the -accordion back to its owner, thanked him and joined Dan at their table. -Immediately all who knew Dan personally or who could rely on the -democracy and camaraderie of the place to excuse their action, came over -to be introduced to Tamea and felicitate her on her playing and singing. -Marinetti, the proprietor, was delighted, and in defiance of the -Eighteenth Amendment presented Tamea with a quart of California -champagne, which Grandpère fell upon and carried away to be frappéd. - -The girl’s face glowed with a happiness that was touching. “Here is -life, dear one,” she cried. “Why should I stifle in a convent when there -is joy and singing and dancing in your world? We will come here very -frequently, no?. . . Oh, but yes! You would not deny your Tamea the -pleasure of this beautiful place? Would you, darling Dan Pritchard? Say -no—very loud—like that—_No_.” - -“No,” he growled. - -His reward was a loving twig at his nose while those around him laughed -at his embarrassment. What a dull fellow he was to be so evidently -appreciated by such a glorious creature, they thought. Some youths among -the diners even wondered if it might not be possible to relieve him of -the source of his embarrassment! - -It was eleven o’clock when they left the Fiore d’Italia, and Tamea had -sung, danced and played her way into the hearts of the patrons to such -an extent that Dan felt he could never bear to patronize that restaurant -again. Thus he retired with the added conviction that in addition to -robbing him of his friends Tamea had now robbed him of his favorite -restaurant. Like all bachelors he was a creature of habit and resented -the slightest interference with those habits. - -The following morning he journeyed to Sacramento to arrange for Tamea’s -entrance into the convent there. To his huge disgust small-pox had -developed in the school and the convent was under quarantine. So he -returned to San Francisco and, feeling a trifle depressed at the manner -in which fate was pursuing him, he telephoned to Maisie. - -With characteristic feminine ease Maisie elected to forget that she had -been fifty per cent responsible for their disagreement at Del Monte. She -had thought the matter over, tearfully but at great length, and had come -to the conclusion that even if she was not a martyr she could not afford -to let Dan Pritchard think so. After a silence of about two weeks Dan -had a habit of ringing up and burying the hatchet, and Maisie hadn’t the -slightest doubt but that this was his mission now. She resolved to be -dignified and enjoy his suit for reëstablishment of the _entente -cordiale_. - -“Hello, Dan’l,” she answered, and her clear, cool voice sounded like -music in Dan’s ears. “Are you in trouble?” - -“I’m up to my eyebrows in it, Maisie!” - -“Oh, I’m so sorry, Dan! But then it’s no more than I expected. I thought -you’d send for me when you needed me.” - -“I do not need you!” he replied furiously, and hung up. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - -Throughout these late trying experiences Dan had been further distressed -to discover that during the hours he was unavoidably separated from -Tamea, he thought more about her than he did of his business. He had -missed her bright presence far too keenly during her brief sojourn at -the convent—so much so, in fact, that when one day he asked himself if -it were really possible that he, sober, steady, dependable, sane Dan -Pritchard, had fallen in love with this lovely half-caste girl, his -common sense assured him that it was even so. - -He told himself that this was silly, stupid, unintelligent, that he -could not afford to yield to this tremendous temptation, that it would -be a terrible mistake, bitterly to be repented. Nevertheless, he lacked -the courage or the steadfastness of purpose to take the offensive -immediately; he told himself he _would_ take the offensive, but not -immediately. . . and following his brief spat with Maisie over the -telephone he found Tamea’s society so comforting and stimulating that he -shuddered at the thought of hurting her—himself—with the promulgation -of a sophisticated argument she could not possibly understand and which -she would have rejected even had she possessed the gift of understanding -a white man’s reason for discarding her love, even while he yearned for -it. - -From time to time Sooey Wan, growing impatient at his adored employer’s -shilly-shallying, urged definite action. Again and again he reminded Dan -that the sooner he married the lady queen the sooner would his adventure -in fatherhood commence. Sooey Wan confided that he had consulted with -the most eminent magicians in Dupont Street, with a priest who was a -very wise man and an oracle; he had sought signs of approbation from his -numerous Chinese gods and had propitiated them with much burning of punk -in the Joss houses; he had burned devil papers in every room of the -house and had strung fire crackers completely around the house and set -them off, to the signal terror of the neighbors. - -The magician had predicted for Dan five brawny sons—a hard hand to -beat. The oracle had advised quick action since procrastination has ever -been the thief of time and the girl was young and comely. Why, then, -dally until she should become a hag? In his own mind Sooey Wan was fully -convinced, from certain signs, that his Mongolian gods looked with favor -upon the match, and since practically all of the fire crackers had -exploded, the old heathen was certain that the devils of bad luck, which -might or might not have interfered, had been thoroughly exorcised. - -To all of this harangue Dan gave a stereotyped reply: “Sooey Wan, you -are an interfering and impudent old Chinaman. Keep your nose out of my -private affairs.” - -Whereupon Sooey Wan would fairly screech: “Missa Dan, wh’ for you play -damn fool? Boy, you klazy. Sure you klazy.” - -When Dan discovered that he would have to mark time until the convent in -Sacramento should be released from quarantine, he pleaded the urgent -necessity for an unavoidable absence from the city and sought to start -his offensive campaign against Tamea’s steadily mounting influence over -him by going away for a two weeks’ fishing and painting excursion in -Southern California. Tamea was somewhat piqued because he did not invite -her to accompany him, but he ignored her little pout, kissed her -tenderly and fled. And he had no sooner settled himself comfortably in a -hotel at Santa Catalina Island than Maisie Morrison rang up Julia. - -“Julia,” she said, “where is Mr. Pritchard?” - -“The dear Lord only knows, Miss Morrison.” - -“I _must_ know where a telegram can reach him, Julia. Mr. Pritchard did -not tell his secretary where he was going, so it could not have been a -business trip. Put Graves on the line, Julia.” - -Graves, summoned from the garage, informed Maisie that he had driven Mr. -Pritchard to the Southern Pacific depot. There he had heard his employer -direct a porter to stow his baggage in a compartment. Included in this -impedimenta had been a case of fishing rods and a sketching outfit. -Graves had noted that his employer had not taken a creel with him, hence -he opined that if any fishing was to be done it would be sea -fishing—and the boss had always had a weakness for Santa Catalina. - -When Dan Pritchard came in from fishing that first day he found a -telegram in his box at the hotel. It was from Maisie and read: - - Something has jarred Uncle John dreadfully. He is at home ill, - but mentally, not physically. Better assure yourself that - everything is quite right at the office. Would return - immediately if I were you, although when you do you need not - bother to call on me unless you feel you really ought to. - - MAISIE. - -Within the hour Dan Pritchard had chartered a seaplane and was flying -north. About ten o’clock that night the plane swooped down in the -moonlight and landed him at Harbor View; within half an hour he was -ringing the doorbell of John Casson’s home. - -“Take me immediately to Mr. Casson’s room,” he ordered the butler who -admitted him. “It will not be necessary to announce me.” - -The man eyed him sympathetically and silently led the way upstairs. John -Casson was not in bed, however. He was seated on a divan in his wife’s -upstairs sitting room, staring dully into a small grate fire. From her -seat across the room his wife watched him furtively. - -“Good evening, Mrs. Casson. Good evening, Mr. Casson,” Dan greeted them. -“What’s gone wrong, Mr. Casson?” - -The old dandy looked up, frightened. Dan could have sworn he shuddered. -“I’d rather not discuss the matter tonight, Pritchard,” he parried. “I’m -not well.” - -“I’m sorry for that, sir. What appears to be the matter with you? Where -do you feel ill? Have you eaten something that didn’t agree with you -or——” - -“He has,” Mrs. Casson interrupted bitterly. “He’s been on a diet of -high-priced rice for the past several weeks and it has made him ill. -John, do not evade Dan’s query. He is equally interested with you in -this matter. Tell him what happened the day he left town.” - -“Well, Pritchard, my boy,” old Casson quavered, “the rice market has -gone to glory. It’s down to five cents and every rice dealer in this -city is a bankrupt.” - -“Do you include Casson and Pritchard in the cataclysm?” - -Casson nodded slowly and suddenly commenced to weep. - -“But we sold our rice——” - -“I know we did—on ninety days. Now the people we have sold it to are -wiped out and cannot pay for it. The damned Cubans are responsible. They -deliberately wrecked the market. Overnight they made up their minds they -had rice enough. The cargadores went on strike and refused to handle any -more rice. The port of Havana is glutted with rice. It’s on every dock -and on every barge. They jammed the docks with it and loaded all the -barges and then quit. Now the rice is being rained on; the ships that -brought it are lying under heavy demurrage because they cannot get -discharged; the rice brokers and wholesalers have treacherously refused -to accept delivery on bona fide orders because the Havana market broke -immediately when some frightened owners of cargoes cut their prices in -order to unload at any price. Panic, I tell you—worst rice panic -imaginable. Rice was up to twenty-one cents and overnight it broke to -five cents.” - -Dan sat down. This was exactly what he had feared might happen. The war -was ended, but profiteers, still hungry for exorbitant gains, had put -the screws on rice, the staple food of Cuba. They had cornered the crop -there, such as it was, and the crop that year had been meager. Then they -had filled Havana harbor with ships loaded with Oriental rice and had -steadily jacked the price up to the point of saturation. And then the -Cubans, maddened at this brutal and perfectly legal form of brigandage, -had sprung their coup and, overnight, had smashed their oppressors by -the very simple method of refusing to handle longer the commodity which -was so necessary to their existence. They knew they could get rice when -they needed it, and get it at their price. These ships had brought rice -to Havana; now that Havana would not accept it or handle it, where could -another ready and highly profitable market be found? And would these -ships, chafing at the delay, agree to go elsewhere with their cargoes, -save at a prohibitive freight rate? Rice freights from the Orient would -collapse now, and that collapse would be followed by a debacle in other -lines. - -In a flash Dan saw that the post-war slump had started—an economic -avalanche, traveling swiftly toward bankruptcy and ruin. “I see,” he -said quietly. “Beautiful work, beautiful. Three cheers for the Cubans. I -didn’t think they were up to a brilliant stroke like that. And now -you’re cussing them out, Mr. Casson, because they refused to let the -rice bandits take the food out of their mouths. Well, you deserve this, -Mr. Casson, but I’ll be hanged if I do. You dragged me into this, -without my knowledge or consent—you damned, silly, egotistical, -brainless idiot—Mrs. Casson, I forgot you were present. I crave your -pardon for my rudeness and I shall not again offend. -I—I—think—I—shall—sit down.” - -He did, looking quite white and strained. His eyes burned like live -coals. “Well, Mr. Casson,” he said presently, “suppose we start in at -the beginning. To begin with, we had half a million bags of California -rice stored in warehouses here and there, and you hypothecated the -warehouse receipts and bought Philippine and Chinese rice. Well, we sold -our rice in warehouse at a huge profit, half cash, balance in ninety -days. How about Banning and Company, who bought it?” - -“The chief clerk telephoned me today that they had filed a petition of -voluntary bankruptcy. They must be cleaned out because Banning blew his -brains out an hour after filing the petition. He had half a million -dollars’ worth of life insurance, without an anti-suicide clause in it. -His family will doubtless get that. I suppose he wanted to do the decent -thing.” - -“Well,” said Dan, “Banning and Company jarred us but they didn’t put us -down. Lucky for us I sold that Shanghai rice, ex. steamer Chinook, for -cash. You raved at my idiocy when I made an eight thousand dollars’ -profit on that deal and accused me of throwing away a potential profit -of a quarter of a million dollars. As a matter of fact, I threw away a -potential loss of about a million dollars. We’ll take a loss of more -than a dollar a bag on that million bags of California rice, however. -I’ll tell ’em you’re a smart business man, Mr. Casson. Well, how about -that eight thousand tons at Manila—the lot we sold to Katsuma and -Company at the market, against sight draft with bill of lading attached, -payable at the Philippine National Bank?” - -“Our Manila agent cabled that the bank had refused to honor the -documents. I called up Katsuma and tried to get him to do something -about providing funds or a credit to meet that draft, but he wouldn’t or -couldn’t——” - -“Katsuma didn’t want to. He was up to the usual Jap trick—running out -from a losing game. They never stand for their beating. You made him a -price, f.o.b. Havana, that included cost, insurance and freight, did you -not?” - -Old Casson nodded miserably. - -“Well, Katsuma got a notion that shipping rice to Havana was apt to lead -to great grief, so he just didn’t meet the draft. That keeps the owners -of the Malayan out of their freight money and the chances are they will -not permit the vessel to sail until the freight is paid. Did they come -back on us for the freight?” - -“They did. I paid it, and the Malayan is at sea with a cargo of eight -thousand tons of rice fully insured but not paid for. It is going to -cost us eighteen cents a pound to deliver that rice in Havana, and when -it gets there we cannot deliver it. If we do it will be worth what we -can get for it—say three to five cents—and the demurrage on the -Malayan will be two thousand dollars a day. Of course we have a suit -against Katsuma and Company for breach of contract, but in the meantime -we have to pay for the rice and I’ve given a ninety-day draft on London -for that——” - -“When it comes due we will not be able to meet it,” Dan said dully. “The -Katsuma assets are already nicely sequestrated. You monumental jackass! -Why didn’t you sue and attach their bank account, everything they have, -quietly and without notice, the instant you learned they had repudiated -their contract?” - -“That would be a great deal like locking the stable door after the horse -had been stolen, wouldn’t it, Pritchard?” - -Dan nodded. This was the first bright thing he could remember Casson -having said in years. Yes, the wily Orientals had seen the storm -gathering and had fled to their cyclone cellar, caring not a whit what -happened to others, to their own business honor, to their business, -provided their capital remained intact. They could always organize again -under a new name. - -“Well, we’ve been sent to the cleaners, Mr. Casson. You have succeeded -magnificently, despite all I could do to thwart you. You have made a -hiatus of your own life and mine. You’ve smashed your wife and Maisie. -You were drowning; I tried to save you and you pulled me under with you. -Well, I don’t know what you intend doing with your private fortune—if -you have any, which I doubt—but I have assets close to two million -dollars and our creditors can have them. As your partner I am jointly -and severally responsible. If you cannot pay, I must. I shall. When the -squall hits us we will call a meeting of our creditors, tell them how it -happened, have a receiver appointed, turn over everything we have to him -and quit business with whatever dignity we can muster.” - -He turned to Mrs. Casson. “If you will excuse me, Mrs. Casson, I will go -now. Good night.” - -He went out into the hall and his head hung low on his heaving breast, -his shoulders sagged, his arms dangled loosely from his long, raw-boned -frame. He shook his head a little and mumbled something—curses, -doubtless. At the bottom of the stairs he ran into Maisie. Her face was -very white and she had been weeping. - -“Thanks for your telegram, Maisie. I came as fast as I could. It’s too -late. Cleaned—cleaned—smashed by that madman—crooked as a can of -worms—lucky thing I didn’t ask you to marry me that day—lucky for you -you weren’t interested in my proposition. I couldn’t afford that luxury -now, my dear. It’s terrible to have made two million dollars doing work -one loathes, then lose the two million filthy dollars and have to start -in doing the loathsome job all over again. - -“Well, I’m young—I suppose I can stand it. Good night, Maisie, good -night. Sorry for you and Mrs. Casson—mighty sorry.” - -He fended away the imploring, uplifted arms that sought to enfold him, -for Maisie, like all women who trifle with a man’s heart when he is -prosperous and happy, desired to claim that heart now that it was -bruised and broken. - -“Don’t—please—I can’t stand it—don’t want to be coddled,” he -muttered, and strode past her to the door. It opened and closed after -him swiftly, and Maisie, standing on the steps, watched through her -tears his tall, ungainly form stumbling down the street. She yearned -with a great yearning to run after him, to take that white face to her -heart, to whisper to him a torrent of love words, to cherish and comfort -him. Yet she knew that Dan, like all men, when cruelly hurt, preferred -to be alone, resenting sympathy and desiring silence. - -“Poor dear,” she murmured, “when you have recovered a little from the -shock of this failure I shall go to you and nothing shall keep you from -me.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - -Dan walked home. He had to have physical action. It was close to -midnight when he let himself into his house, but there was a dim light -burning in the living room and Dan turned in here, cast his hat and coat -on top of the piano and rang savagely for Sooey Wan, who, having just -returned from his nightly pilgrimage to Chinatown, answered on the jump. -At sight of Dan’s pale, tortured face the old Chinaman turned and fled -to the kitchen. He returned presently bearing a siphon bottle, some ice, -a bottle of Scotch whisky and—two glasses. Silently he mixed two -highballs, handed one to Dan, took the other himself, sat down and said -in a voice of compelling gentleness: - -“Missa Dan, you tellum ol’ Sooey Wan. Wha’s mallah, boy?” - -Dan cooled his parched throat with the highball. Indeed, he had rung for -the Chinaman for the very purpose of ordering one. Strange, he thought, -how Sooey Wan could understand him without a blueprint and directions -for using! - -“Sooey Wan, I’m all through. I have gone broke.” - -“All the way?” Sooey Wan’s voice cooed like a flute. - -“All the way and back, Sooey Wan. I’m done. You’ll have to leave me now -and go back to China. I cannot afford to pay your wages any more.” - -“To hell with wages!” Sooey Wan, for the first time in his life, was -genuinely angry, disgusted and humiliated. His eyes showed it, his -wrinkled lower lip twisted and revealed his yellow fangs, his voice -reeked with the very soul of profanity as he rasped out a few words in -Chinese. Then: “Big fool, wha’ for you talkum money to Sooey Wan?” - -“You know very well I didn’t mean to offend you, you old idol,” Dan -protested. “I spoke the truth. I am broke, utterly smashed.” - -“Shut up!” screeched Sooey Wan. “Wha’ for you all time tellum lie?” He -set down untasted the highball he had planned to drink in profound -sympathy with his adored boss and left the room. - -“Sooey Wan, come back here!” Dan ordered. - -Sooey Wan’s voice rose in a shriek like the bull fiddle of his native -land. “Shut up! Shut up! You klazy fool, wha’s mallah you? You no bloke. -You bet. No can do.” - -Dan sighed and sipped his highball. At the same moment Tamea slid out -from under a dark afghan on a divan in the far corner of the room. She -had fallen asleep there and, unknown to Sooey Wan and Dan, had been -listening to their conversation. Swiftly she crossed the room to him -now; as he rose to greet her she put her arms around his neck and drew -his head down until his cheek caressed hers. Thus she held him a long -time, in silence, save for the plainly discernible, regular beat of her -heart. Then: - -“Poor boy! You are hurt? But yes, I know it.” - -He nodded. “Smashed,” he murmured. “All my money gone. Ruined.” - -Tamea’s glance went past his ear and rested on Sooey Wan standing in the -doorway, a large red lacquered box in his arms. She shook her head at -him ever so slightly and like a yellow wraith he faded back into the -hall. - -“Ruined?” Tamea queried. “Has my lord, then, parted with his honor?” - -“No, no, not that,” he cried brokenly. “Nobody will think that of me. I -will pay, but it will take all I have to do it, and when they have -finished with me I shall have nothing left wherewith to make a new -start. But never mind, Tamea. I’m not whipped. Just dazed, not down for -the count. I’ll come back.” - -He could feel the little chuckle of mirth that rippled through the lithe -body pressed so close against him. “So?” she declared with her golden -little laugh, “it is only a matter of money. And yet my lord is shaken -like a coco-palm in the monsoon. Silly, silly white man. He does not -know that I have money and that all of it is his.” She drew his head -around and kissed him on the lips; he trembled with the knowledge of her -tremendous sweetness. “You will take my money and let me see you smile -again, Dan Pritchard,” she commanded. - -“No, no, darling. I couldn’t do that—ever. Please do not ask me to.” - -“But why, dear one?” - -“Then indeed would I be parting with my honor.” - -“What madness! Is it because I am not your wife? Well, we will be -married quickly and then——” - -“No,” he protested. “I tell you it is impossible. I’ll never be able to -repay the debt of your asking me to take your money, but—I shall never, -never take one penny of it. I couldn’t.” - -“But after we are married——” - -“Never. I am your guardian. Your father gave you to me because he had -faith in my manhood, he believed me to be a gentleman. You will not -understand because your love blinds you, Tamea, but the white men of my -world have a code and we must never break it.” - -“Oh,” said Tamea softly, and her eyes filled with tears. “Of what use is -money save to buy happiness? When a man takes a woman to wife does he -not take all she has—all of her love, all of her wealth, all of her -faith? Is she not to be the mother of his children? You are right, dear -one. I could never understand your white man’s code.” - -“Some day you will, honey. Kiss me good night and run along to your -room, child. I am unhappy tonight and when I am unhappy I have a desire -to be alone. I wish to think.” - -She kissed him and went upstairs obediently; as she paused on the first -landing and gazed down into the hall she saw Sooey Wan slide noiselessly -into the living room, his red lacquered box still clasped under his arm. -Tamea stood there, wondering—and then to her ears came distinctly the -sound of money clinking merrily. - -Tamea came back downstairs and peered around the jamb of the door into -the living room. Sooey Wan was on his knees beside the red lacquered -box, with both hands tossing out on the carpet hundreds of gold pieces, -bales of yellow-backed bills and large, fat, heavy Manila envelopes. - -“You count ’em, Missa Dan,” he begged when the box was empty. And Dan -Pritchard, wondering, knelt beside Sooey Wan and counted long and in -silence, making many notations on a piece of paper. And Tamea, watching, -presently was aware that Sooey Wan, who trusted not in banks, had, in -his forty-odd years in the United States, accumulated in that red -lacquered box a fortune of two hundred and nineteen thousand, four -hundred and nine dollars and eighty cents in cash and bonds. - -“Sooey Wan,” said Dan Pritchard, “do you cook for me by day and rob -people by night?” - -Sooey Wan cackled merrily. “Oh, your papa always pay me big -money—hund’ed, hund’ed fifty dolla month and Sooey Wan no spend velly -much. But Sooey Wan play poker velly nice, velly lucky fan tan and pi -gow, and bimeby I ketchum one cousin. Cousin no money hab got, but him -know all about raisee vegetable. You know, Missa Dan, ketchum farm up on -Saclamento Liver. So Sooey Wan makee partner with cousin and raisee -early spud, ketchum more land. Velly easy. Boss, you likee Sooey Wan -sellee lanch on Saclamento Liver, can do. Sure. Sellee that land plenty -quick, ketchum thousand dollar for one acre, have got thlee hund’ed -acre. You likee, Missa Dan, I sell for you. Sooey Wan no ketchum son, no -ketchum wifee, no ketchum papa, no ketchum mama, no ketchum nobody but -Missa Dan. Missa Dan allee same Sooey Wan’s boy. Eh? My boy losee money, -Sooey Wan no loosum. Long time ago Sooey Wan talkee your father. Your -father say: ‘Sooey, my partner, Missa Casson, no good. Heap damn fool.’ -All light, I watchum.” He came close to Dan and rested his yellow old -claw of a hand on the beloved shoulder. “Boy,” he said, “Sooey Wan savum -all for you. You takee, you look out for Sooey Wan, givee little money -for play China lottery, givee room, givee job, that’s all light. Sooey -Wan likee this house. Likee live here, likee die here, then you send -Sooey Wan back to China, keepee land on Saclamento Liver, keepee money, -mally lady queen and have many son. I think that plenty good for my boy. -Sooey Wan velly old man,” he continued pleadingly. “No can live all -time. Sure you takee, boy. Then you play lone hand in office. Old man -Casson no damn good.” He shrugged optimistically. “Bimeby you ketchum -all your money back.” - -Dan Pritchard thrust out his long arms and his fingers closed around -Sooey Wan’s neck. “No,” he said, “I’m not broke. I never was broke, and -I never will be broke while you and Tamea live. Thank God for you both! -I couldn’t take her money, Sooey Wan, but I will take yours—later, when -I need it. I’ll make you a partner in my reorganized business.” His -fingers tightened around the old servant’s throat. “You old yellow -devil!” he said and shook Sooey Wan vigorously. “We understand each -other, I think. God bless you and bring you to some sort of Oriental -heaven, you golden-hearted old heathen.” - -Sooey Wan took up his untasted highball. “Hullah for hell!” he cackled, -tossed off the drink, gathered up his fortune and departed for his room, -chuckling like a malevolent old gnome. - -Dan Pritchard sat down, alone in the living room, and wept. He was a bit -of a sentimentalist. About one o’clock in the morning he went up to bed. - -At two o’clock Sooey Wan was awakened by a rapping at his door. He -crawled out of bed, opened the door an inch and found Tamea outside. - -“Wha’s mallah?” he growled. - -“Sooey Wan, please lend me five hundred dollars—now,” Tamea pleaded. -“Dan Pritchard will pay you back.” - -“Wha’ for you want money now?” Sooey Wan demanded suspiciously. - -“You are a servant,” Tamea reminded him. “You should not ask questions. -If you do not desire to oblige me I will make Dan Pritchard send you -away from this house.” - -Sooey Wan wilted, dug around in his red lacquered box and handed Tamea -five hundred dollars. Then he went back to bed to think it over. As for -Tamea, ten minutes later she let herself out the front door very -quietly. She carried her accordion and a small suitcase which she had -appropriated from Julia. - -A taxicab cruised down Pacific Avenue after having deposited a bibulous -gentleman in the arms of a sleepy butler. With an eye single to business -the driver pulled over to the curb and hailed Tamea. - -“Ride, Miss?” - -“Take me to the place where the ships may be found,” she ordered and -climbed in. At Clay Street wharf, just north of the ferry building, she -got out and walked along the waterside, north. At that hour the -Embarcadero was deserted, save for an occasional watchman at a dock -head, and to their curious glances Tamea paid no heed. She stumbled -blindly on, questing like a homecoming lost dog, and presently she found -that which she sought. It was the unmistakable odor of copra and it -brought Tamea to a little hundred and thirty foot trading schooner that -lay chafing her blistered sides against the bulkhead at the foot of -Pacific Street. Uninvited, Tamea stepped aboard, sat down on the hatch -coaming and waited for dawn. With the dawn came a gasoline tug and -bumped alongside the schooner. Then men came on deck and to them Tamea -spoke in a language they could understand. The master came, stood before -her and gazed upon her curiously. - -“Who are you, young lady?” he said presently, “and what do you want?” - -“I am the daughter of Gaston Larrieau, master of the schooner Moorea. My -father is dead. My name is Tamea and I am weary of this white man’s -land. My heart aches for my own people and I would go back to them. I -have money to pay for my passage. I would go to Riva.” - -“I have no passenger license, child, but your father was my friend. If -you can stand us, we can stand you. There will be no charge for the -passage. We are towing out this morning with the tide and our first port -of call is Tahiti. Go below, girl, and the cook will give you -breakfast.” - -As the sun was rising back of Mount Diablo the launch cast the little -schooner adrift off the Golden Gate and the Kanaka sailors, chanting a -hymn, ran up her headsails. As they filled, Tamea came out of the cabin -and looked again upon that ocher-tinted coastline, watched again the -bizarre painted gasoline trawlers of the Mediterranean fishermen put out -for the Cordelia banks. Then the mainsail went up and the schooner -heeled gently over, took a bone in her teeth and headed south. - -“It is best to leave him thus,” the girl murmured. “He does not love me -and he never will. I would not stay to afflict him. What he would not -accept from me he accepted from a servant. Then I knew!” - -She lifted her golden voice and sang “_Aloha_,” the Hawaiian song of -farewell. . . . - -For Tamea, Queen of Riva, was of royal blood, and when the gods rained -blows upon her she could take them smiling! - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - - -At seven o’clock the following morning Dan Pritchard was awakened from a -light and fitful slumber by forceful hammering at his bedroom door. To -his query, “Yes, yes, who is it?” a voice freighted with tears and -fright answered: - -“’Tis Julia, sor. Miss Tammy’s gone, God help us.” - -“Gone? Gone? Gone where?” - -“Sorra wan o’ me knows, but she’s not in the house and her bed has not -been shlept in. I found a letther for you, sor, on her bureau.” And -Julia opened his door an inch and slid an envelope in to him. He read: - - Beloved: - - I was very foolish to think you truly loved me, to think that I, - a half-caste Polynesian girl, could make you love me as I desire - to be loved. Therefore, I leave you, though I love you. Because - I love you, last night I offered you all that I have. You needed - it, but—you could not accept it from me because that would have - made you feel that you must accept me also. I have been shamed. - I am not a woman of common blood, yet you refused from me what - you gladly accepted from your Chinese servant. So I have learned - my lesson. I am not angry, dear one, but I am beginning to - understand Mellenger was right. Your world is not for me. Please - tell Mellenger that I forgive him and that I am sorry I spoke - certain words to him, for he is both wise and brave and a loyal - friend. Tell him I know he will forgive me, and why. - - I have begged of Sooey Wan five hundred dollars. Please repay - him. As for the money my father gave me, I leave it to you, for - I love you. You need it and I would have you happy, even though - I may not know happiness myself. Where I go I shall never - require money. - - Good-by, Dan Pritchard. Good-by to our love. Perhaps some day we - shall meet in Paliuli, for the missionaries say that there even - a half-caste girl shall be washed whiter than snow. But alas, I - have never seen snow. I know not what it is. - - And now I depart from this house, with naught in my heart for - you but love. - - Your - TAMEA. - -Dan’s heart was constricted. For several minutes he sat dumbly on the -side of the bed, reading and rereading the letter, striving to realize -that for the second time within twelve hours his world had come tumbling -about his ears. Julia’s sniffling came to him through the slightly -opened door. The sound irritated him. - -“Send Sooey Wan up to me, Julia, please,” he ordered. - -“He’s here now, sor.” - -“Come in, you yellow idiot,” Dan roared, and the old Chinaman shuffled -into the room and stood before him dejectedly, but with eyes that met -his master’s glance unflinchingly. “When Miss Larrieau asked you to lend -her five hundred dollars, why did you not come up and tell me -immediately?” he demanded. - -“Sometime, Missa Dan,” Sooey Wan answered humbly, “evlybody klazy. Las’ -night I think Sooey Wan klazy, too. After Missa Dan go bed, lady queen -knock my door. She say: ‘Sooey Wan, I likee fi’ hund’ed dolla’.’ I think -velly funny, so I say ‘Wha’ for?’ and lady queen get velly mad, so Sooey -Wan think maybe lady queen wanchee buy plesent Missa Dan, maybe likee -make suplise party. Wha’ for Sooey Wan ketchum light for ask question to -lady queen? Sooey Wan allee same cook, lady queen allee same lady boss. -No can do, Missa Dan.” - -“That confounded single-track Oriental mind of yours has broken my -heart,” Dan groaned. “Sooey Wan, last night the lady queen offered to -give me a quarter of a million dollars, but I would not accept it. It -was a trust and I couldn’t take advantage of her generous nature. I -dared not risk losing her money. Her father trusted me, and I couldn’t -accept money from a woman anyhow. She knows that you offered me money, -however, and that I accepted it from you, only she doesn’t know why. She -doesn’t understand that you’re a man, Sooey Wan, that you can take a -gambler’s chance, that I’ll throw old Casson out of the business and put -you in as a silent partner; she doesn’t understand that as a baby I -acquired the habit of accepting money from you. You remember how you -would give me spending money when my father wouldn’t? You old fool, -you’ve spoiled me, but you love me like a son and—well, Sooey Wan, -you’re not a Chinaman to me—a servant. You’re my friend—the whitest -white man and the truest friend I’ve ever known, God bless you—but oh, -I could kill you this morning! You’re such a lovable, loyal old booby, -and because of you the girl has gone. She thinks now that I do not want -her.” - -“Women,” said Sooey Wan, “all klazy.” - -“I haven’t the slightest idea where the girl could have gone.” - -“I think maybe go back same place lady queen come from,” the crafty -Chinaman suggested. “Maybe ketchum steamer today. I think velly good job -talkee policeeman, policeeman ketchum velly quick. If lady queen no come -back Sooey Wan shootum blains”—and he struck fiercely his bony, yellow -temple. - -“I have an idea, Sooey Wan. Last Sunday morning we walked along the -waterfront together. I had a schooner in from the south and I wanted to -talk to the captain. At Pacific Street bulkhead there was a trading -schooner, the Pelorus, unloading copra, and Tamea spoke to the Kanaka -mate in his own language.” - -He reached for the telephone and called up the Meiggs wharf lookout of -the Merchants’ Exchange. - -“Has the schooner Pelorus sailed?” he queried, after introducing himself -as a member of the Exchange. - -“Towed out with the tide about five o’clock this morning, Mr. -Pritchard.” - -“What towed her out?” - -“A Crowley gasoline tug, sir. Wait a minute until I get the glass on -her. She’s just coming back after dropping the Pelorus off the Gate.” A -silence. Then, “Crowley Number Thirty-four.” - -“Thank you.” Dan hung up and turned to Sooey Wan. “Bring me a cup of -coffee and a piece of toast. Get Graves out and tell him to have the car -waiting in front in fifteen minutes,” he ordered, and leaped for his -shower bath. By the time he was dressed Sooey Wan appeared with the -coffee and just as Crowley tug Number Thirty-four slid into her berth to -await another towing job, Dan Pritchard appeared on the dock and hailed -her skipper in the pilot house. - -“You towed the Pelorus out a couple of hours ago. Did you happen to -observe whether she carried any passengers?” - -“I did. One, sir. A young lady.” - -“Describe her.” - -“A handsome young lady, sir, dark complected in a way, and yet not dark. -Struck me she might have just a drop of Island blood in her, sir. She -was wearin’ a blue suit but no hat, and when I saw her first as I bumped -alongside she was settin’ on the main hatch coamin’ and she’d been -cryin’.” - -“Any baggage?” - -“A suitcase and an accordion. The skipper of the Pelorus found her -settin’ there and she introduced herself. I gathered that he knew her -people and was glad to meet her. She must have shipped as a passenger, -because she was standin’ aft lookin’ back at the city the last I saw of -the Pelorus.” - -“How fast is the fastest tug or launch in the Crowley fleet?” Dan next -inquired. - -“Fifteen miles an hour.” - -“Great! I’ll charter her. I want to overhaul the Pelorus and take that -girl off.” - -The man in the pilot house shook his head. “No use, sir. The Pelorus has -lines like a yacht and she’s a witch in a breeze of wind. There’s a -thirty mile nor’west breeze on her quarter and she’s logging fifteen -knots if she’s logging an inch this minute. I cast her off at six -fifteen—two hours ago. She’d be hull down on the horizon in an hour. -You couldn’t hope to overhaul her, sir.” - -“Thank you, friend. I dare say you’re right.” He wadded a bill into a -ball and tossed it in the pilot house window, smiled wanly and returned -to his car. On the way up to the office of Casson and Pritchard he -formulated a plan of action, which he proceeded to place in operation -the moment he found himself alone in his private office. - -First he looked up the Pelorus in Lloyd’s Register and satisfied himself -that she was staunch and seaworthy, or rather that she had been a year -previous. She was owned in Honolulu. Well, Tamea would doubtless be safe -aboard her—that is, safe from the elements, although a cold feeling -swept over him as he thought of that glorious creature alone on a -trading schooner, at the mercy of her captain. He hoped the man was -different from the majority of his kind. - -At nine o’clock he telephoned the Customs House and learned that the -Pelorus had cleared for general cruising in the South Pacific, with her -first port of call Tahiti. With a sinking heart Dan recalled that there -was neither wireless station nor cable station at Tahiti, and a close -scrutiny of the Shipping Guide disclosed the fact that the next steamer -for Sidney, via Tahiti, Pago Pago and Raratonga would not sail for two -weeks. Well, he would write Casson and Pritchard’s agent at Tahiti to -board the Pelorus when she dropped hook in the harbor and deliver to the -girl a letter and a draft on the French bank in Tahiti, to enable her to -purchase a first class steamer passage back to San Francisco, where they -would be married immediately. Undoubtedly the steamer would beat the -Pelorus to Tahiti, even though the latter vessel should have a two -weeks’ start. Even should the Pelorus beat her in, the schooner would -probably lie in Tahiti harbor for a week and Tamea would go ashore and -visit friends of her father’s while awaiting passage on a schooner that -could drop her off at Riva. The chances for overhauling the heart-broken -fugitive were excellent; the letter which would reach her, via the -steamer and later by hand of Casson and Pritchard’s agent, would bring -her back to him. Of that he felt assured. - -However, in the event the steamer should never reach Tahiti, he essayed -two other means of communicating with her, via his agent. There was a -wireless station at Fanning Island and another at Noumea, so he sent a -message to each, with a request that it be relayed to Tamea by the first -vessels touching there and bound for Tahiti. - -He had done all he could to retrieve the situation now, so he spread his -long arms out on his desk, laid his face in them and suffered. He -yearned for the blessed relief of tears, for at last Dan Pritchard was -realizing that he did indeed love Tamea with all of the wild and -passionate love of which he had dreamed. He had not believed that it -would be possible for him to love any woman so. His heart ached for her. -He was thoroughly wretched. - -What matter if her mother had been a Polynesian princess, her father a -carefree, wandering love-pirate, a very Centaur? Tamea was—Tamea—and -in all this world there would never, by God’s grace, exist another like -her. - -He got out her letter and read it again, and a lump gathered in his -throat as he realized how sweet it was, how benignant, how overflowing -with love and the gladness of love’s sacrifice. How prideful she was and -how childish! What a tremendous indication was her act, of a -tremendously regal character! Poor, bruised, misunderstanding and -misunderstood heart. His tears came at last. . . . - -By noon he had regained control of himself, and resolutely driving from -his mind all thoughts of Tamea, he concentrated upon his business -affairs. His first move was to order the firm’s books closed as of that -date and a schedule of assets and liabilities drawn up, after which he -wrote a form letter to the firm’s customers explaining the predicament -in which Casson and Pritchard found themselves and the reason for it, -pledged his own private fortune to retrieve the situation in part and -invited the creditors to meet with him and his attorneys in the assembly -room of the Merchants’ Exchange a week hence, when a thorough and -comprehensive review of the situation would be possible and at which -time he hoped to have worked out a scheme for the rehabilitation of the -business and the payment of one hundred cents on every dollar of the -firm’s obligations. - -As yet no one, not even the chief clerk, knew that Casson and Pritchard -were listed among the casualties in the post-war collapse of values -which Dan had feared so long. Dan and his partner were the sole -custodians of that cheerless information, but in their minds existed no -illusions regarding their situation. That eight thousand tons of rice -aboard the Malayan alone spelled a loss of at least a million and a -half. Already the market on coffee, sugar, Oriental oils, copra and a -hundred other commodities had commenced to slump, and, in the wild -scramble to throw trades overboard before too heavy a loss should -accrue, Dan knew that every importing and exporting house in the country -would be hard put to weather the storm. Casson and Pritchard would have -to face other losses in the natural order of business, and Dan was -shrewd enough to realize that these, coupled with the tremendous loss on -old Casson’s rice gamble, would force him to cry for quarter. Therefore -he faced the issue resolutely and calmly made his preparations for the -assault of the firm’s creditors by assuming the initiative. - -For a week he worked all day and part of each night at the office. Old -Casson, cruelly stung with remorse and fright, remained at home and did -not communicate with him, a condition for which Dan was grateful. He -heard nothing from Maisie, nor did his thoughts dwell long or frequently -upon her. He had room in his harassed mind for thoughts of but one -woman—Tamea. - -All during that terrible week gossip linked irremediable disaster with -some of the oldest and soundest firms on the Street. Apparently Katsuma -and Company had been smashed beyond all hope of rehabilitation, for -Katsuma, Jap-like, had solved his problem by hanging himself and was as -dead as Julius Cæsar. There was a panic in Wall Street and already local -banks had grown timid and were refusing the loans so necessary to the -successful operation of the commerce upon which banks must, perforce, -predicate their existence. Demand loans were being called, and when not -met the collateral back of them was levied upon. - -At the conclusion of that week’s business Dan had before him a written -record of Casson and Pritchard’s affairs; the letters to creditors lay -on his desk, awaiting his signature, and his plan of rehabilitation, -even his address to the firm’s creditors, had been rehearsed until he -knew it by heart. At eleven o’clock on Saturday his bank called a large -loan. Over the telephone the banker informed Dan crisply but courteously -that they expected the note to be paid on Monday; whereupon Dan -Pritchard sent out his letters to Casson and Pritchard’s creditors and -then sent for Mark Mellenger, whom he had not seen since the latter’s -sudden retreat from the Italian restaurant in the Latin quarter. - -“I’ve sent for you, Mel,” Dan informed his friend, “to give you two -exclusive stories, one of which is for publication. In the first place, -Tamea has returned to Riva, or at least she is now en route there. I am -endeavoring, however, to turn her back at Tahiti in order that I may -marry her.” - -“Why did she leave? Did you send her away?” - -Dan briefly explained and Mellenger listened in silence; at the -conclusion of Dan’s recital he merely nodded and said: “I suppose any -man would be a very great fool not to marry a woman like Tamea. She is -the only one of her kind I ever heard of. What’s the other story?” - -“It’s contained in this letter to the creditors of our firm. I’m busted, -Mel. However, I shall rise, like the phenix, from my ashes, thanks to -Sooey Wan. I’ll reorganize the firm, eliminating Casson, who is in no -position to dictate terms or claim an interest for alleged good-will. I -hope he has means to enable him to take care of Mrs. Casson and Maisie, -and if he hasn’t I dare say Maisie can do something to support herself.” - -“I’ll write you a nice, kindly story regarding the embarrassment of your -firm. I’ve been writing such stories for two weeks. I dislike to air -your difficulty, Dan, but if I do not the other papers will, so I might -as well scoop them in the Sunday edition. Poor Tamea! I shall probably -not see her again, but I am glad to have her friendship at least. Her -friendship is worth something.” - -He accepted one of Dan’s cigars and commenced to talk of other things; -at parting he remarked, casually, that he would be up to the house for -dinner the following Thursday night—now that Tamea was no longer there -to be oppressed by his presence. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - - -The wisdom of Dan’s course in announcing the insolvency of Casson and -Pritchard before the announcement should be forced from him by the -firm’s creditors was fully manifested at the meeting of the creditors. -Each creditor had received a copy of the firm’s trial balance and the -schedule of assets and liabilities; also a copy of Dan’s proposed plan -of settlement and reorganization. The settlement contemplated a payment -of twenty-five per cent on all liabilities at once, with a three-year -extension on the balance due, at five per cent, and a payment of the -interest and twenty-five per cent of the principal annually. All of the -creditors had had three days in which to read this plan, study it and -discuss it with their principals, and the result was that Dan’s plan was -enthusiastically and gratefully accepted, with the proviso that John -Casson retire from the partnership. The method of his retirement the -creditors left to Pritchard. - -The task of severing Casson from the firm was not a difficult one. His -share of the debts practically equaled his equity in the assets and he -accepted eagerly Dan’s offer to take over his assets and liabilities in -return for a release from the creditors for Casson’s share of the firm’s -indebtedness to them. He had about a quarter of a million dollars in -cash and real estate in his private fortune and this Dan forced him to -turn over to his wife, as the only guarantee that he could think of -against a disastrous reëntry into business and, consequently, a -penniless and sorrowful old age for all concerned. - -At the last moment a hitch occurred. Two banks, carrying nearly half a -million dollars’ worth of Casson and Pritchard paper, bearing Dan -Pritchard’s endorsement, suddenly decided, after the fashion of banks, -to play safe. “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost” is -ever the fashion of the banker who finds himself the possessor of a -slight advantage over other creditors. Overnight they entered suit -against Dan, as endorser and guarantor of Casson and Pritchard’s notes, -and levied attachments against every asset of his they could locate. In -the face of this unexpected treachery Dan had but one alternative, and -he chose it unhesitatingly. He filed a voluntary petition in bankruptcy, -for himself and for the firm, thus vitiating the banks’ attachments and -placing all of his and Casson and Pritchard’s creditors upon an equal -footing. Thereupon the bank withdrew its suit against Dan and petitioned -the court for a receiver for Casson and Pritchard—a petition in which -the other creditors were now forced to join. A receiver was immediately -appointed and took charge of the business of Casson and Pritchard. - -It was then that Dan Pritchard’s spirit broke. The day the receiver took -charge he cleaned out his desk and departed from that office. The -following day he had leased his home furnished, dismissed Graves and -Julia, stored his cars and purchased a passage to Tahiti. With Tamea’s -money he promptly purchased Liberty Bonds, which in the panic had -dropped twenty points, and established a trust fund for her with a local -trust company. Then, accompanied by Sooey Wan, he went aboard the Union -Line steamer Aorangi and departed for Tahiti, hoping to find Tamea, -marry her there and then consider what he should do with his life -thereafter. He was crushed at the unexpected turn his business affairs -had taken. He had turned over to the receiver every dollar, every asset -he possessed, and he no longer had the slightest interest in the affairs -of Casson and Pritchard. - -The creditors might do what they pleased with the business. They could -either operate it under a receivership until it paid out, or they could -liquidate it. It was their business now and Dan had done all that any -honorable man could do to meet his obligations. Old Casson had his -release from all of the creditors, including the banks, for these latter -had fairly accurate information as to the latter’s finances, and, with -Pritchard’s endorsement to protect them, they had concluded to dispense -with picking old Casson’s financial bones. - -The knowledge that Maisie would not be thrown under the feet of the -world comforted Dan greatly. He was too depressed to call upon her and -say good-by before sailing, so he wrote her a brief note of farewell -instead; desirous of losing touch with his world, he did not tell her -where he was bound. To Mellenger only did he confide, and that silent -and thoughtful man had merely nodded and declined comment. - -At last, Dan reflected as, stretched out in a steamer chair in the snug -lee of the Aorangi’s funnel, he watched the coast of California fade -into the haze, he was free. Business no longer claimed him. If the -receiver desired any information touching the firm’s affairs he had -complete and comprehensive records before him, and if he could not -understand those records, there was the efficient office force to aid -him. Yes, he was free. He would wander now, with Sooey Wan to take care -of him financially and physically. - -And he felt no qualms in the realization that he was now dependent -entirely upon Sooey Wan. In a way he had always been dependent upon -Sooey Wan, but on the other hand, was not Sooey Wan dependent upon his -Missa Dan? - -As the old Chinaman had often assured him, the only human being in the -world to whom he was bound by the tightest tethers of affection was Dan -Pritchard. Wherefore, why should he decline a loan from Sooey Wan? To -have done so would have been to inflict upon the loyal old heathen a -cruel hurt. And money meant little to Sooey Wan; it was good to gamble -with, that was all. In the end Sooey Wan, dying, would have willed his -entire estate to his beloved Missa Dan; why, therefore, be a sentimental -idiot and decline to accept it while Sooey Wan lived? Why deny the old -man this great happiness? - -Sooey Wan, neatly and unostentatiously arrayed in Oriental costume and -occupying a first class cabin all to himself, lolled in a chair -alongside Dan and puffed contentedly at a long briarwood pipe. He was -having the first vacation he had ever known and he was enjoying it, for -presently he turned to Dan and said: - -“Missa Dan, I think evlybody pretty damn happy. No ketchum work, ketchum -plenty money, ketchum nice lest, ketchum lady queen, velly nice. Eh, -Missa Dan?” - -“Sooey Wan,” Dan replied, “so far as I am concerned, I never want to -operate another ship or buy another pound of copra or draw another -check. I’m going to marry the lady queen the very day we find her; after -that I’m going to paint pictures and dream and soak myself from soul to -liver with just plain, unruffled, untroubled, simple living. Sooey Wan, -I’m content just to sit here and look at the ocean. The other fellows -can have all the worry now. They wanted it and I gave it to them and I -hope they enjoy it. I’m content to know they will get their money out of -Casson and Pritchard, although it ruins me.” - -“You allee time talkee like klazy man, boss. Wha’ for you luined? Plenty -money hab got. Shut up! You makee me sick.” - -Fell a long, blissful silence, while Dan stared at the sea and permitted -his brain to sink into a state of absolute quiescence, and Sooey Wan -speculated on the expectancy of life in superannuated Chinamen in -general and of himself in particular. For the paternal instinct was -strong in Sooey Wan and the years had been long since Dan’s baby arms -had been around his neck and Dan’s soft cheek had been pressed in love -against Sooey Wan’s. Sweet memories of a sweet experience! Childless old -Sooey Wan yearned for it again, yearned to have his Missa Dan know the -thrill that had been denied to Sooey Wan—the thrill of fatherhood. - -Arrived at Tahiti, Dan’s eager glance swept the little harbor as the -Aorangi crept in. The Pelorus lay at anchor. The skipper of the tug that -had towed her out of San Francisco bay was right. She was a witch in a -breeze! The French customs officials who boarded the steamer informed -Dan that she had arrived the day before. Zounds, what a smashing -passage! And Tamea was over yonder in the town—just exactly where, he -would ascertain from the master of the Pelorus. - -Dan and Sooey Wan were into a short boat and pulling toward the Pelorus -five minutes after the Aorangi had been given pratique. The master of -the Pelorus met them at the rail as Dan came up over the Jacob’s ladder. - -“You had a passenger, Captain,” said Dan. “A Mademoiselle Tamea -Larrieau.” - -The master of the Pelorus eyed him gravely and nodded. “You are Mr. -Pritchard, I take it, sir,” he said. - -“I am, Captain. Where is Tamea?” - -“I wanted her to wait, Mr. Pritchard. I told her you’d be following on -the first steamer, but she wouldn’t listen to me. And I one of her -father’s oldest and closest friends, Mr. Pritchard. But she was what you -might call broken-hearted. Nothing would do but she must get back to -Riva and lose herself. The day we got in she booked a passage on the -auxiliary schooner Doris Crane that was just leaving. The Crane has a -passenger license and very excellent passenger accommodations, and Tamea -will get as far as Tamakuku on her. Riva lies about eighty miles due -west and the girl will charter a gasoline launch for the remainder of -the journey.” - -“I doubt if she has sufficient money, Captain.” - -“She has. I charged her nothing for her passage. By the way,” he -continued with a sly smile, “the Doris Crane can be reached by -wireless—maybe. Why not have the operator on the Aorangi try to get -your message to Tamea?” - -“Tamea told you about me, Captain?” asked Dan. - -The skipper nodded, smiling. “When you know her better, sir, you’ll make -allowances for her native blood and her primitive way of reasoning.” - -“Thank you,” Dan replied, and departed overside, to be pulled back to -the Aorangi, where he filed a message to Tamea informing her that he -would meet her in Riva, asking her to await him there, telling her that -he loved her and begging her to wireless him in reply. - -Just before the Aorangi pulled out that night the wireless operator -telephoned him at his hotel to report that he had been unable to get in -touch with the Doris Crane. Dan was cruelly disappointed and Sooey Wan, -observing this, trotted out to the hotel bar and returned with two -Gibson cocktails which he had prevailed upon the barkeeper to mix -according to a time-honored formula. One of these cocktails Sooey Wan -drank, in silent sympathy and understanding, while Dan partook of the -other. - -When the old cook noted a lifting of the cloud on Dan’s face, he spoke, -for Sooey Wan was one of those rare men who never speak out of their -turn. - -“Captain of schooner velly nice man. Wha’ for you no rentum schooner? -Plenty money hab got.” - -Dan’s long arm rested affectionately across Sooey Wan’s shoulders. “You -dad-fetched old heathen, what would I do without you? You’re the shadow -of a rock in a weary land. Let’s go.” - -Together they went—out to the Pelorus. Her master, seated on deck under -an awning with a glass of grog before him, smiled as they came over the -rail. - -“I’ve been expecting you, Mr. Pritchard. I was ready to sail at four -this afternoon, but something told me I’d best wait. It’s about five -hundred miles out of my way, but if you will insist on going to Riva I -might as well have the job as anybody. Mighty few vessels cruise down -that way. You might be hung up here for six months. Passage for two will -cost you two thousand dollars.” - -“Hab got,” said Sooey Wan promptly, and shed his duck coat. Up out of -his linen trousers came his shirt tail and around his middle showed a -wide money belt. This he unbuckled and gravely counted out two thousand -dollars into the master’s palm. - -“Now I go ketchum baggage,” he announced and went ashore. Half an hour -later the Pelorus, in tow of a launch, was slipping out of the harbor. -Once in the open sea, she heeled gently to the trade wind and rolled -away into the southwest in the wake of the Doris Crane. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - - -Pelorus proved to be a comfortable and seaworthy vessel and her master -(his name was Hackett) a most comfortable and seaworthy person. Although -plainly hungry for a more intellectual brand of masculine society than -ordinarily was to be found in the out-of-the-way places he visited, he -tactfully forbore to obtrude upon Dan’s mood of depression until quite -certain that he was not obtruding—whereupon he would become a most -delightful and entertaining companion. His besetting sin was Scotch and -soda, albeit he resolutely declined, when at sea, to touch a drop before -five o’clock in the afternoon and while he helped himself liberally -until the steward announced dinner, the liquor never appeared to affect -him. It developed that he and Gaston of the Beard had been warm friends. -Hackett’s admiration for the old Breton skipper had been very profound. - -One day he said suddenly to Dan: “You have an unasked question in the -back of your head, Mr. Pritchard. You need not bother to ask it. I shall -answer it, however. Old Gaston Larrieau was my friend. We stood back to -back, once, and shot our way out of rather a dirty mess in the New -Hebrides; I was wounded and unconscious at the finish and he swam with -me half a mile through shark-infested waters to his ship. I am what I am -and rather less than that in port, but I behave myself at sea and I have -a long memory. Tamea was as nice a girl when she left the Pelorus as she -was when she came aboard. I wasn’t fixed to accommodate a woman -passenger, but to such as I had she was welcome and no questions asked.” - -Dan smiled. “Thank you,” he replied. “I _was_ wondering.” - -“You’re devilish frank,” Hackett laughed. “I think I like you the better -for your insulting thought. However, I wouldn’t have been above it with -anybody save old Gaston’s girl. One grows to hold them rather cheaply, -you know. Half-caste or full blood, they come and they go. Hearts are -not too readily broken down this way, Mr. Pritchard.” - -“Tamea,” said Dan Pritchard, “is a white woman.” - -“Nonsense, my dear sir. She’s a half-caste.” - -“Her soul is white,” said Dan doggedly. - -“I am not prepared to dispute that assertion,” Hackett replied casually. -“I never quarrel with any man’s likes or dislikes.” He eyed Dan -narrowly. “Something tells me you’re going to marry this girl, Mr. -Pritchard.” - -“Certainly.” - -“And take her back to the United States with you?” - -Dan nodded. - -Hackett shrugged, as who should say: “Well, it’s none of my business -what you do.” - -“You deprecate my decision,” Dan charged irritably. - -“I do not. I don’t give a hoot what you do. I was thinking of the girl. -If I stood in your shoes I wouldn’t marry her. Why should you? You don’t -have to, and she doesn’t expect you to. You’ll regret it if you take her -back to the United States, because she’ll never be truly happy there. -When you transplant these people they die of homesickness. They’re so -far behind our civilization they can never catch up, and the effort to -do so wearies them and they die. They have the home instinct and the -home yearning of a lost fox hound. They are children, I tell you. They -never grow up—and you are not the man to wed with a woman who will -never grow up.” - -“Nonsense,” Dan growled. “Sheer, unadulterated nonsense.” - -Hackett shrugged and poured himself another peg of Scotch. “I’ve had -three of them in my day. I think I ought to know. One was a Pitcairn -islander and more than half white. I sailed a thousand miles off my -course to bring her back to Pitcairn. She was slowly dying. She loved me -but she loved Pitcairn and her people more.” - -There the conversation ceased, yet the effect of it remained. Day after -day, night after night, as the Pelorus rolled lazily before the trades, -Dan Pritchard’s mind dwelled on his problem. What if Hackett should be -proved right, after all? Dan recalled how swiftly, how inevitably, -Tamea’s hurt heart had called her back to Riva and her own people. How -poignantly had that bruised heart yearned for the understanding of those -who could understand her? - -His mind harked back to the nights when Tamea lay upon the hearthrug in -his Pacific Avenue home and played sad little songs of Riva on her -accordion. Could it have been that on such occasions her soul had been -steeped in a vague, unsuspected nostalgia? If Hackett was right, then -he, Dan Pritchard, journeyed upon worse than a fool’s errand. Might he -not be doing the kindly, the decent thing, to turn back, to trust to -time and some other man to mend that broken heart? He wondered. - -He could not, however, cherish seriously even for a moment the thought -of abandoning his journey. Old Gaston had given Tamea to him to care -for; the Triton had trusted him and he must go on. There was that cursed -money he held in trust for her. She had abandoned it to him, out of the -greatness of her love, but he could no more accept it now than he could -the night she had offered it. He had to see her and return it to her. He -had to win her complete forgiveness and understanding, to render her -happy again. - -Suddenly, one evening while he paced slowly backward and forward in the -waist of the ship, he found the solution. He would marry Tamea and end -his days in the Islands. He wanted a change. He told himself he was sick -of civilization; he wanted to be simple and natural, free of the -competition of existence. - -Down there nobody would wonder why he had married Tamea. Conventions did -not exist, nor foolish tradition nor social codes—and he could paint -landscapes to his heart’s content. He would establish a South Sea school -of landscape painting. He would be through with the riddle of -existence. . . and there was the embarrassment of Maisie and her aunt -and old Casson and Mellenger and all of his friends should he return to -San Francisco! - -His decision, arrived at so suddenly, was peculiarly inexorable. He had -thought too long and too hard: mentally he had come to the jumping-off -place. On the instant his motto was: “The devil take -everything—including me!” The rewards to be gleaned from the struggle -that faced him, should he return to his white civilization, were -scarcely commensurate with the effort required. A sudden, passionate -yearning had seized him to chuck it all, to drift with the tide, to -sample life in its elemental phases, to be happy in a land where all of -the rules of existence were reversed . . . a man lived but once and he -was a long time dead. . . and Dan wanted Tamea. . . . Ah, how ardently -he desired her and how lonely and desolate would be his life without -her! Civilization demands much of repression, since civilized man, like -the domestic dog, still retains many of the instincts of his primitive -ancestors; and Dan was weary of repression. Hang it, he would go on the -loose! He would take the gifts that the gods provided and cease to worry -over the opinions of people whose sole claims to his consideration lay -in the fact that they were white and dwelled in his world and were -hobbled and frightened by tradition. - -In all his life Dan had never arrived at a decision that he grasped more -tenaciously or which yielded him a greater measure of comfort. A -subconscious appeal permeated this new thought of freedom as a phrase -runs through an opera. Free! He was going to be free! He was a volatile -spirit and he had been corked too long; the collapse of his business -offered him a splendid excuse for pulling the cork, and by all the gods, -Christian and pagan, he would pull it. That was the idea! Chuck it, -chuck it all and walk out of the picture without even a word of farewell -to his world. - -“I’ll do it! By judas priest, I’ll do it,” he said audibly. - -“I thought you would,” said Captain Hackett’s calm voice. Dan turned and -caught the glow of the master’s cigar as the latter stood on the -companion with his head and shoulders out of the cabin scuttle. “You’ve -been thinking it over long enough. Your brains must be addled.” - -“Well, it is comforting to have come to a conclusion, at any rate,” Dan -defended. - -“My guess is that you have concluded to settle in Riva and let the rest -of the world go by, Mr. Pritchard.” - -“That remark forces me to wonder again why you continue to skipper a -trading schooner, Captain. You should hang out your shingle as a -clairvoyant or mind reader or fortune teller.” - -“I’ve seen your kind come and I’ve seen your kind go,” Hackett retorted. -“Once I was one of you—and I came but never went—and now it is too -late. Which is why I repeat, in all respect, that even if you stay, it -will not be necessary to marry Tamea. Let the world go by, if you -choose—you are the best judge of your wisdom in that regard—but -remember that down under the Line it goes by very slowly, my son. These -islands are not for white men—that is, your kind of white man—unless -you contemplate vegetating and going to pieces mentally, morally and -physically before you are forty. The sun does things to fair-haired and -blue-eyed men and women down in the latitude and longitude of Riva. You -will not be happy there, Mr. Pritchard, and one of these days when I -drop in at Riva you’ll hear your white world calling—and the Chink will -dig up another two thousand dollars for me. And when you leave, Mr. -Pritchard, it would be well to have no _legal_ appendages.” - -Dan was silent. He wanted to bash this tropical philosopher over the -head with a belaying pin and cause him to stow forever his insulting and -impossible advice. But—he reflected—if he did that he would be delayed -getting to Riva and Tamea, and he could not bear that she should suffer -one moment longer than necessary. Hackett read his thoughts. - -“We will not discuss this subject again, Mr. Pritchard,” he said gently. -“I have said my say because I have felt it my duty to do so. Personally, -I don’t give a damn what happens to you, but I should not care to see -Gaston’s daughter made unhappy. I have roved through these islands some -thirty years and I know what I know. Have a cigar. They’re genuine -Sumatras. A bit dry, but if you like a dry cigar—— No? Well, you -needn’t grow huffy.” - -Dan continued his swift walk up and down the deck and Hackett continued -to smoke contemplatively. After a while he said: - -“I’m going to install an ice-making machine with part of the two -thousand dollars the Chink paid me. Going to sea is a hard life and I -make enough money for my owners to entitle me to do myself rather well. -One does grow a bit weary of boiled Scotch and tepid wines.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - - -Two weeks later the brown crew of the Pelorus set Dan Pritchard and -Sooey Wan ashore in the whaleboat. - -“I’ll drop in here on my way back—say a year hence,” Captain Hackett -promised him as they shook hands at the Jacob’s-ladder. “I’m a little -bit curious about you and when I’m curious about anybody I have to find -out. I think six months will be long enough to cure you, however. -Good-by, Mr. Pritchard, and good luck to you. Kiss the bride for me -and—forgive me if I venture to remind you once more—you really do not -have to marry her! Tamea hasn’t any very serious thoughts on the -validity or the sanctity of marriage. It is, comparatively, a recent -institution here.” He shook a horny finger at Dan and answered the -latter’s scowl with a mellow laugh. Dan thought he might be just a -little bit jingled a few hours earlier than was his wont. Strange man. -Dan had an idea he had fallen from high estate. - -A Kanaka sailor carried Dan ashore from the boat through the wash of the -surf, and followed with Dan’s trunk. Sooey Wan, presumed to be a person -of no importance, struggled ashore in water up to his knees, and the -moment he found himself high and dry on the shingle he looked about him -with interest. What he saw was a half mile of white beach with a fringe -of tufted coconut palms leaning seaward, a few canoes hauled up on the -beach, a large corrugated iron godown and a small wooden bungalow, -painted white with green trimmings and wide, deep verandas, squatted on -the low bluff above the beach. - -From the veranda of this bungalow a white man detached himself and came -down over the bluff to meet them. He introduced himself as the Reverend -Cyrus Muggridge, the resident missionary. He was a gloomy, liverish sort -of man and Dan had a feeling that to Mr. Muggridge his martyrdom in Riva -was a thing of the flesh and scarcely of the spirit. He repaid the -reverend gentleman’s compliment in kind and introduced himself. Then, -because he observed in the missionary’s eyes an unspoken query, he said: - -“Are you, by any chance, Mr. Muggridge, acquainted with Miss Tamea -Larrieau, who is, I understand, the last blood of the ancient chiefs of -Riva?” - -“I am, unhappily, acquainted with the young woman,” Muggridge replied -wearily, and added, “She is, like her father, wholly irreclaimable.” - -“Perhaps you would be so good as to direct me to her home?” Dan -suggested. “That is, if she has arrived in Riva recently, as I have -reason to suspect she may have. You seem a bit shy on population, Mr. -Muggridge,” he added parenthetically. - -“I think my last census showed some four hundred souls, but since then -we have had two epidemics of influenza and the birth rate has scarcely -kept pace with the mortality rate. Really, I must have another census. -Counting them roughly, I should say that the total population of the -island is two hundred and fifty, of which, perhaps, thirty families -reside in the village.” - -“Where is the village?” - -“About a quarter of a mile up a valley which runs up to those mountains -from the sea. Miss Larrieau, by the way, is again in Riva. She arrived a -week ago and has taken up her residence in her old home. I will point it -out to you, Mr. Pritchard.” - -“Thank you, sir.” - -“You are, perhaps, wondering why none of my people are present,” Mr. -Muggridge continued. “You have unfortunately arrived in mid-afternoon, -when my people are sleeping or, what is more probable, over in the river -bathing.” - -The Kanaka sailors having disposed Dan’s baggage above high-water mark, -the whaleboat pulled back to the ship and was hoisted aboard even while -the Pelorus slowly came about and headed for the open sea again. Mr. -Muggridge, evidently greatly pleased at the prospect of white -company—and a gentleman at that—courteously led the way to the white -bungalow and extended to Dan and his servant the hospitality of his -home. - -“Thank you, Mr. Muggridge,” said Dan gratefully. “I shall be most happy -to accept your invitation—for the present at least. May I ask you to -point out to me Miss Larrieau’s habitation?” - -Mr. Muggridge’s eyebrows went up perceptibly. What a hurry this well -bred, respectable-looking stranger was in to see that half-caste -Jezebel! “Follow the road up past the church yonder until you come to -the river, which you will cross on two coco-palm logs. They are very -slippery. Be careful. Having crossed the bridge, turn to the left and -follow the path up the hill to a house that is as distinctly a white -man’s dwelling as my own. You should find the lady you seek asleep on -the veranda.” - -“Thank you, Mr. Muggridge. If you don’t mind, I think I shall run up to -Miss Larrieau’s house.” - -“Dinner will be served at five-thirty,” the missionary warned him. “I -shall have my servant help your man bring the baggage up to your room.” - -Tamea’s home stood in a grove of coco-palms, interspersed with some -flowering shrubs and a few lesser trees with luxuriant green foliage. -The house had been built on a solid foundation of cement and creosoted -redwood underpinning, to protect it from the native wood-devouring -insects. Dan suspected that the green paint which had at some distant -date been applied to the house was anti-fouling—the sort of paint used -on ships’ bottoms to protect them from teredos. From under the house the -snouts of half a dozen young pigs, taking their siesta, protruded, and -in the yard a stately gamecock and some hens were prospecting for worms. -The place smelled a little of neglect, of semi-decayed vegetation, of -insanitation—the smell peculiar to the homes of native dwellers in the -tropics. A well worn flight of five steps led up from the front of the -house to the veranda, from which one might glean a view of miles of -coastline. About the place there was a silence so profound that Dan -feared he might have come too late, after all. - -He mounted the steps and rapped at a door with bronze screening on it. -There was no answer, so he opened the door and gazed into a large living -room. On the floor was a huge, blue, very old and very valuable Chinese -rug; in the center of this rug stood a large, plain table, of native -hardwood and—so Dan judged—native workmanship. In a corner he saw a -grand piano and on top of the piano Tamea’s accordion and a mandolin and -some scattered music. A few chairs and hardwood benches arranged along -the wall under windows which ran the full length of each wall and which, -when it was desired to ventilate the house, dropped down into a pocket -after the fashion of a train window, completed the furnishings, with the -exception of half a dozen rudely framed sketches of native life, and -ships at sea. - -“Nobody home,” thought Dan, and walked around the veranda on three sides -of the house. On the fourth side, which gave upon the vivid green -mountain peak in the background and into which the late afternoon sun -could not penetrate, Dan paused. - -Before him, on a folding cot, with a native mat spread over it, Tamea -lay, with her head pillowed on her left arm and her face turned slightly -toward him. Her eyes were closed, but she was not asleep, for even as -Dan gazed upon the beloved face he saw tears creep out from between the -shut lids, saw the beautiful, semi-naked body shaken by an ill -suppressed sob. Two swift strides and he was kneeling beside her, and as -she opened her eyes and sought to rise at sight of him, his arms went -around her and strained her to his heart while his lips kissed her -tear-dimmed eyes. - -Thus, long, he held her, while her heart pounded madly against his -breast and the pent-up sorrow of weeks struggled with the rhapsody of -that one perfect moment and left her weak and trembling, able only to -gasp: “Ah, beloved! Beloved! You have come! Is it then that you love -your Tamea—after all?” - -He held her closer and in that tremendous moment his soul overflowed and -he mingled, unashamed, his tears with hers. “Yes, love, I have come,” he -answered chokingly. “You could not be happy with me in my country—so I -have come to be happy with you—in yours.” - -“You come—you mean you come to stay—that you have left—Maisie—your -friends——” - -“I am here, Tamea. I love you. I cannot live without you. I need -you—when you left me you did not understand.” - -“I understand now,” she whispered. “Captain Hackett of the Pelorus was -at pains to explain for you, but I could not believe then. But—you have -come to Riva—so now I understand. Captain Hackett was right, so let -there be no more explanations. Ah, dear one, my heart is bursting with -love for you. If you had not come life would have lost its taste and -your Tamea would have died.” - -“Don’t,” he pleaded, “don’t,” and held her closer. “From this moment -until death we shall not be separated. Tonight we shall go to Mr. -Muggridge and be married.” - -Tamea was suddenly thoughtful. “Since I have been away the wife of the -missionary has died, and he is mad about your Tamea. Before I left Riva -it was his habit to follow me about and in his eyes there was that look -I know and hate. I have been home a week and his madness has increased a -hundredfold. Dear one, I am afraid of him.” - -“You need not be,” Dan assured her and stroked the glorious head of her. -“I met Mr. Muggridge half an hour ago when I landed and I observed that -he seemed interested when I asked about you. He looked to me like a man -with a fire in his soul. . . . Well, he’s a minister of the Gospel, -however, so I dare say if he struggles hard enough he can put the fire -out long enough to pronounce us man and wife.” - -“But—a license is necessary if we would marry after the fashion of your -people, beloved,” she reminded him. “And there is no law in Riva, -although the island is claimed by the French Government.” - -“It will be better than no marriage at all, Tamea.” - -She smiled. “Such a queer, strange people, you all-whites,” was her -comment. “It is not a marriage but a substitute, yet you would ask this -man to perform a mummery to satisfy something in you that is a heritage -from your ancestors. I have no such heritage. For me, no mumbling of -words by this mad priest is necessary to happiness.” - -“Well, they are necessary to me, strange as it may seem to you, Tamea,” -Dan replied with his shy smile. “You are half white and I am all white -and it is my purpose to dwell with you on a white basis. Therefore, we -will wed according to the custom of my people.” - -“As you will,” Tamea agreed. “Is it that this matter touches your honor -if I will it otherwise?” - -He nodded. “Then come to Mr. Muggridge,” the girl urged, and led him by -the hand down the hill to the missionary’s house. Sooey Wan was standing -in the doorway and at sight of Tamea he uncovered respectfully. - -“Faithful one,” Tamea hailed him and gave him her hand in huge delight. -Sooey Wan shook it gingerly, his yellow teeth flashing the while in an -ecstatic grin. - -At the sound of voices and footsteps on the veranda, Mr. Muggridge came -out. “You have returned quite soon, Mr. Pritchard,” he began, and then -his glance rested on Tamea. “Well?” he demanded irritably. - -“Mr. Muggridge,” Dan said to him, “it is my desire that you should marry -Mademoiselle Larrieau and me at once.” - -The missionary grew pale and his somber eyes grew even more somber. “I -shall require her father’s permission before performing the ceremony, -Mr. Pritchard,” he said with an effort. - -“Her father is dead, Mr. Muggridge.” - -“Have you a license of any sort?” - -“No. Is it your custom to require a license when performing the marriage -ceremony between two of your converts?” - -“No, indeed. My people do not understand what a license is, and it has -been deemed unnecessary to insist upon it with these primitive people. -In your case, however——” - -“I understand that white man’s law is non-operative in Riva,” Dan -interrupted. “The sole regulations of this island have been promulgated -by you and other missionaries, have they not?” - -Mr. Muggridge nodded, his blazing eyes still fastened on Tamea. - -“Well,” Dan explained earnestly, “in the absence of white law I desire -you to marry me according to missionary law. I wish to feel that my -marriage has been sanctioned by a representative of a Christian faith. I -am a Christian.” - -“A true Christian would not marry this woman, sir.” - -“I did not come here to argue with you, Mr. Muggridge. It is my firm -intention to dwell in Riva with Tamea and I prefer to dwell with her in -accordance with the custom of my own people.” - -“I must decline to perform the ceremony,” said Muggridge doggedly. “In -your case, without a license, should I perform this ceremony, I would be -sanctioning your right to live with this woman in defiance of the law of -the land.” - -“But there is no law, Mr. Muggridge.” - -“There is,” said the missionary tersely. “I am the Law, and in this -matter I am inexorable.” - -“You’re a lunatic. You’re as crazy as a March hare,” Dan retorted hotly. - -“It is because he has looked upon me with desire,” said Tamea coolly. -“Come, beloved. It is foolish to argue with one who is quite mad.” - -She took his hand and led him back up the hill and out on to the edge of -the high headland that gave a view of the entire eastern coast of the -island. Inland, a high conical peak, which Dan now realized was a -volcano, lifted some four thousand feet into the sky, now rapidly -darkening as the sun sank. Still holding Dan’s hand, Tamea took her -stand beside him. - -“Dear one,” she said, “if you would take me to wife, then must it be -after the fashion of my people, since it is plainly impossible that it -can be after the fashion of yours. I think I understand how it is that -you would take me to wife. You would be very serious, very sincere, very -solemn. It is something you would not do lightly.” - -He nodded and the girl, turning, pointed to the volcano. From the crater -a rosy glow was beginning to appear, cast against the sky, and as -twilight crept over Riva this glow deepened. - -“My heart,” said Tamea softly, “is like unto the hot heart of Hakataua -yonder. Throughout the day the sunlight beats down the glow so that no -man may see it, but with the coming of night comes the glow that all men -may see it, even those afar at sea in ships. With the coming of night I -yearn for you, beloved; the flame of my desire burns high and I am -unashamed that I desire you as all true women must desire a mate.” She -turned and kissed him solemnly and tenderly. “I love you, heart of my -heart,” she told him, “and though I live to be as old as Hakataua, I -swear, by your God, never shall I love any man but you, Dan Pritchard. -And, loving you, I shall respect you and obey you, nor shall I bring -dishonor or shame upon you, my husband. Here, in the presence of the sea -and the earth and the sky, I make my promise. While I can make you happy -that promise shall hold, but when I can no longer please you then are -you released. For that is the way of my people.” - -“Here in the presence of God,” Dan Pritchard murmured, with bowed head -and a full heart, “I take thee, Tamea, for my lawful wife, to have and -to hold, in honor, always.” And he kissed her now, solemnly, tenderly, -without passion. - -“My husband,” she said happily, “now it will not be necessary to beg -that mad Muggridge to quench the fire in his soul.” - -“Poor devil,” Dan answered her, and together they returned to the green -bungalow. They found Sooey Wan sitting on the steps, mopping his high, -bony forehead. - -“Kitchen lady queen no hab got. Cookee no can do,” he complained -bitterly. “House where leavee trunk kitchen hab got. Cookee can do.” - -“You mean that missionary’s house, Sooey Wan?” - -The old Chinaman nodded. - -“Well, we’ll have to get along without his kitchen, I think, Sooey Wan.” -He turned to Tamea. “Have you no kitchen, dear? Strange that your father -should build and furnish a house such as this and yet not provide a -kitchen.” - -“When my father and I left Riva, we did not bother to take anything out -of this house. Upon my return many things were missing. All were -returned by my people with the exception of the stove, which fell from -the shoulders of the men who carried it and was destroyed.” - -“Sooey Wan isn’t accustomed to cooking over an open fire. He will be -continuously peeved and develop into a frightful nuisance.” - -“I shall have my serving women wait upon my husband,” Tamea assured him -lightly. “As for this servant of yours, let his task be the catching of -fish, which will provide him with amusement. He has labored long and -faithfully in your house, dear one. He has earned his rest.” - -“I hope he can see his way clear to take it,” Dan sighed. Then, turning -to his servant: “Sooey Wan, you’re retired. You do not have to cook any -more. From now on your job will consist in enjoying yourself. Tomorrow -we’ll find some sort of habitation for you, but for tonight park -yourself on the veranda.” - -Sooey Wan vouchsafed no reply, until Tamea had entered the house and he -found himself alone for a moment with his master. “Boss,” he then said -confidentially, “missionaly heap klazy. Look out. Sooey Wan look out.” -And he permitted the butt of a long-barreled Colt’s .45 to slide down -from his voluminous sleeve. “Sooey Wan no likee. That missionaly ketchum -devil inside heap plenty.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - - -Ten months had passed since Dan Pritchard had seen a human being whiter -than Tamea or talked English to a white man. He was acutely conscious of -this flight of time as he sat on the veranda of the green bungalow and -watched a schooner beating up the coast of Riva. - -“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the Pelorus, Tamea,” he remarked. -“Even at this distance her lines look too fine for an ordinary trading -schooner. I hope she drops in. I’d like to have a visit with Hackett. -That man has a superior mind.” - -Tamea glanced sharply at him from under lowered lids. Her lips trembled -ever so slightly and she bit them to stop the trembling. At length she -said: “Yes, that is the Pelorus, dear heart. She will drop anchor in the -lagoon for the night and Hackett will come ashore to visit us. Doubtless -he has supplies for the mission.” - -“Won’t it be splendid to have him up for dinner, Tamea? Confound it, I -wish we had a really decent dinner to offer him. He must be as weary of -canned goods, chicken, fish and pig as I am.” - -To this Tamea made no reply, but her sweet face was slightly clouded as -she sat down at the piano and commenced picking out a hymn by ear. Her -basses were not very good, and the piano, hard driven for many a year -without tuning, rendering sterling assistance in the attack upon Dan’s -nerves. He rose and walked out of the house and down the hill to the -beach, where he sat on an upturned canoe and waited patiently for the -Pelorus to negotiate the opening in the reef. She did it prettily -enough, and as her anchor splashed overside and the harsh grating of the -chain in her hawse-pipe floated across the lagoon to Dan, for a reason -scarcely possible for analysis, a lump rose in his throat. - -Perhaps it was the impending drama of a meeting with his own kind after -ten months of alien association that thrilled him so, for he rose and -ran down to the wash of the surf on the white shingle, hallooing and -waving his arms. Two men on the poop waved back at him. One wore a -singlet, a short pair of white trousers and a Panama hat. The other was -arrayed in white linen and, at that distance, reminded Dan of a yacht -owner out with his guests for a cruise. - -The whaleboat splashed overboard and the two men dropped overside into -it and were rowed ashore. The man in the short breeks and singlet was -Captain Hackett. He leaped overboard as the whaleboat grounded and -splashed through the wash, with outstretched hand, his face wearing a -hearty but cynical smile. - -“How do you do, Mr. Pritchard?” he cried. “Do not bother to answer. I -know. You don’t do worth two squirts of bilge water.” He shook hands. -“Riva on your nerves a bit?” He laughed. “Well, they always wait for us -at the edge of the surf—the ‘back to nature and the simple life’ boys.” -He slapped the embarrassed Dan on the shoulder. “Got a friend of yours -with me.” He turned and waved toward a Kanaka sailor upon whose back was -just mounting, preparatory to being carried ashore so his feet would not -get wet, no less a person than—Mark Mellenger! - -“Mel!” Dan’s cry of welcome sounded suspiciously like a sob. “Mel, my -dear old friend! Lord, man, what a joy to see you again!” And he folded -Mellenger to his heart and was silent for a minute, fighting his -emotions. - -“It’s Thursday night, old son,” said Mellenger calmly, “so I thought I’d -drop around for dinner—as usual. Is Sooey Wan still dishing up the grub -in your Lares and Penates?” He cuffed Dan affectionately on the ear. -“I’m sort of halfway glad to see you again, Dan.” - -They walked up the beach to the Muggridge residence. Captain Hackett -paused beside the veranda and looked the house over critically. “Where -is the sky pilot?” he queried. - -“He’s dead, Captain. His wife died shortly before you were here last. -Before that he had been a little bit obsessed by Tamea and after his -wife’s death he rather went on the loose among the natives. I imagine he -was about half cracked——” - -“Half?” Hackett sneered, “All. He was half cracked when he came here, -otherwise he would not have come. His wife was the last tie that bound -him to his self-respect, and when she died, doubtless it commenced to -dawn on him that she had been a martyr to a cause not particularly worth -while. The heat and the loneliness killed her. I could see it coming.” - -“I dare say you are right, Captain. She was, as you say, the last tie -that bound him to his self-respect. Here, where there was no law save -his, after Gaston left and before I came, there was no longer any -incentive to remain a white man, and he started to degenerate. Religion -was not sufficient to sustain him. He had an uphill job here, at best, -and there was nothing to read except the Bible and he had known that by -heart for twenty years. I wouldn’t talk to him and neither would Tamea.” - -“Why?” - -“Because he was half crazy. When he wasn’t striving to convert Tamea he -was reviling her for an abandoned woman. Of course I had to put a stop -to that, and when I did he reviled me. Finally I warned him to stay off -the hill. But he wouldn’t. He came prowling up there one night and set -fire to our house. Sooey Wan caught him and we put out the fire before -any damage had been done. A week later I heard shooting outside our -veranda—three rifle shots and six pistol shots. Muggridge owned the -only rifle on the island and Sooey Wan owned the only pistol—and he -slept on the veranda. - -“In the morning Muggridge was gone, there were three bullet holes -through our house and Sooey Wan was cleaning his .45 with kerosene. He -said nothing and I asked no questions. I did not care to know.” - -“Comfortable old Chink, that, to have around one’s house,” Hackett -remarked dryly. “Well, I have a year’s supply of grub and trade goods -for the mission, so I suppose I might as well dump it here to await the -arrival of the successor to the mad Muggridge. It’s all paid for.” - -“Comforting. I’ll use it, Hackett.” - -Mellenger walked up into the mission house veranda and sat down. “It’s -as cool here as anywhere,” he reminded Dan. “I’d like to have a chat -with you, Dan, before I meet Tamea.” - -“Certainly, Mel.” - -“Well, while my crew is busy landing the supplies for the mission I’m -going up to your house and have a chin-chin with Tamea,” Captain Hackett -suggested. “By the way, Mr. Pritchard,” he added innocently, “did you -marry her?” - -Dan flushed. “Muggridge, in his insane jealousy, refused to perform the -ceremony without some sort of a license, procurable God knows where—or -when—so we—that is—well, we did the best we could without him.” - -The old sea dog went up the path to the hill, chuckling softly. - -“Mel,” Dan demanded the instant the captain was out of hearing, “what -under the canopy has brought you here?” - -“I came to get you and bring you home.” - -Dan shook his head. “My home is here, Mel.” He threw out his arm -tragically toward the east. “I’m quite through with all of that.” - -“Fortunately, you are not. Your private fortune and the business -formerly owned by Casson and Pritchard await your return. There’s a hole -amounting to approximately half a million dollars in your private -fortune but the business is all yours now and intact. As soon as you -appear to relieve the receiver of his task of managing your affairs, the -court will discharge him.” - -Dan Pritchard stared at his friend, wide unbelief in his glance. -“Explain yourself, Mel. This is most astounding.” - -“Some folks are fools for luck,” Mellenger sighed. “Banning and Company -paid forty-two cents on the dollar and that receiver managed to pry -fifty cents on the dollar out of the Katsuma estate. Other losses were -not as heavy as anticipated, and several of your heaviest debtors will -manage to pay out in three or four years, if your luck holds. The thing -that saved you, however, was a typhoon in the China Sea. The steamer -Malayan, with eight thousand tons of high-priced rice insured to its -full value, must have foundered in that typhoon, for she never reached -Havana and was eventually posted at Lloyd’s as missing. Consequently the -receiver collected the insurance, which put your business back on its -feet again. You’re still a rich man, Dan.” - -Dan Pritchard placed his elbows on his knees and covered his face with -his hands. He quivered a little. Mellenger ignored him. He lighted one -of Hackett’s Sumatra cigars and puffed away silently, gazing out to the -white water purling over the reef. - -“Peaceful spot, this,” he observed presently. “The Land of Never Worry. -How are you fixed for points of intellectual contact?” - -“I haven’t any,” Dan confessed in a strangled voice. - -“Been doing any painting, old son?” - -“Half a dozen canvases. They’re no good.” - -“You haven’t asked me about Maisie Morrison, Dan.” - -“I haven’t any right to, Mel.” - -“Then I shall tell you about her. She is in good health, but not very -happy. That is because she loves you. Splendid woman, Maisie. You made a -grave mistake by not marrying her. I told you to.” - -“I didn’t think she cared—that much.” - -“It appears she did. Everybody knew that except you, and sometimes I -think you suspected it, but were afraid to take a chance. If you had -your chance all over again, would you marry Maisie?” - -“Mel,” Dan admitted wretchedly, “any man is a fool to marry out of his -class. Tamea is a wonderful woman, but——” - -“I understand, my friend. It requires something more than love to -sustain love. Is Riva on your nerves?” - -Dan raised his haggard face from his hands. “Well, I am beginning to -understand Muggridge a little better lately,” he confessed. “And, unlike -poor Muggridge, I have nothing spiritual to cling to. Nothing but my -sanity, and sometimes when I reflect that all of my future life will be -like this——” - -“Ah, but it will not continue to be like this,” Mellenger interrupted -gently. “Tamea will see to that.” - -“Tamea is a lovely, wonderful child of nature. She is happy here—so -happy, Mel, that she will never, never be able to understand why I -cannot be happy, too.” - -“As usual,” Mellenger growled, “you continue to give abundant proof of -your monumental asininity and masculine ego. I have here a letter which -Tamea wrote Maisie three months ago, via the schooner Doris Crane.” - -Dan could only stare at him. “You know the Doris Crane, of course?” -Mellenger queried. - -“She came here three months ago for the accumulated trade. I was -pig-hunting on the northern coast of the island at the time, and missed -her. Mel, what could Tamea possibly have to write Maisie about?” - -“About you, fool.” - -“About me?” - -“None other. Hold your peace now, old son, while I read you her letter -to Maisie.” And Mellenger read: - - Riva, 16th August. - - Dear Maisie: - - Please read this letter from one who has spoiled much that was - beautiful, one who has taken the taste out of three lives, - yours, Dan Pritchard’s and my own. - - Maisie, Dan Pritchard is here with me. He is my husband, and to - me he is very kind and loving and faithful. When he came first - it was his desire to marry me according to the way of your - people, but the missionary here was mad and would not oblige - him, so we were married according to the desire of our hearts. - In the presence of the sea and the earth and the sky we swore, - each to the other, that we would love each other and dwell - together in honor. This we have done. But Dan is no longer - happy. Life slowly loses its taste for him, I have watched and I - know. He is very lonely, nor can all of my love compensate him - for the loss of his friends, for the loss of the world that was - his. I know he feels as sometimes I felt when I dwelled in his - house in San Francisco, and that is terrible. - - The thought has come to me that if Dan lives here he will some - day grow to hate me. And I shall some day be too unlovely to - hold him. These things cannot be helped. They are a part of - life. My love wearies him even now. He is nervous and unhappy - and sometimes he withdraws from my caresses, and last night in - his sleep he spoke of you and his sorrow because you had not - loved him. Perhaps you do not know this truth, Maisie, but men - can never love as women love. It is very foolish to expect this. - A woman can love one man until death, but a man can love two - women, or even more, but he will love best that woman who gives - to him the most comfort and peace of mind, the woman who makes - few demands and who refrains from forcing love upon him when he - is unhappy. - - Dan Pritchard does not like my people. We are as oil and water. - He does not like the food we have here, nor the heat nor the - rain nor the silence nor the loneliness. He would have his own - people about him. Alas, I would have mine about me. He fits not - into my world, nor can I ever fit into his. Therefore, it is - wise that we should part. I would not have him in unhappiness. - Rather would I die. - - Maisie, come for him. Please! Evil will befall him if you do - not. If you love him as I think you do, you will come; nor will - pride—the false pride of a woman—keep you from your happiness. - Dan was always your man, Maisie. Never was he truly mine. I do - not know why, but this is true. I would give him back to you, - Maisie. Please come. - - TAMEA - -Mellenger folded the letter and put it back in his pocket. Dan hid his -face in his hands and wept. - -“Poor child,” Mellenger murmured. “She has never heard that pity is akin -to love—that she stirred in you all the profound pity and tenderness of -your naturally kind and chivalrous heart. I wouldn’t feel so badly about -it if I were you, Dan. You weep now because your love lies dead and you -have killed it. You merely made a very human mistake. So did Tamea. But -she realizes it and has the courage to confess it. Old son, your romance -is at an end.” - -“I shall not abandon her, Mel,” Dan cried brokenly. “My unhappiness -shall not be paid off against hers. She’s too tremendously fine, too -noble.” - -“That is true. She is too tremendously fine, too noble, to permit you to -dramatize yourself for her sake. There is only one sacrifice necessary -here, and Tamea is making it—gladly, without regret and all because she -possesses in full measure a love so wonderful, so glorious that no man -can ever possibly understand it or appreciate it. There will be no -pandering to your ego, my son. You are no longer infatuated with Tamea, -she knows it and you might as well acknowledge it. Heroics are quite -unnecessary. Tamea, I take it, does not desire them and I shall not -permit them.” - -“But Maisie. What of her, Mel?” - -“Well, when she received this letter she sent for me and gave it to me -to read. She knew I was your friend so she sought my counsel. I asked -her pointblank if she loved you and she said she did. I asked her why -she had permitted you to escape and she told me. I think I can -understand her point of view. Then I asked her if she had any conception -of your point of view in this triangle and she said she thought she -understood enough of it to forgive you. I know you rather well, Dan, and -I tried to paint for Maisie a word picture of you as I know you. I told -her that you had never been truly in love with Tamea but rather in love -with love. - -“It is your nature to idealize everything. You yearned for a high -romance and Tamea was a romantic figure. She appealed to you physically -and romantically. She aroused your pity, she stirred you and set your -soul afire, and neither of you knew that it was the sort of -conflagration that burns itself out and leaves only a heap of -ashes—ashes of sorrow and regret. I tried to make Maisie see that it -was largely her fault. She had declined to reach forth and possess you -as Tamea, in her primitive innocence, did not hesitate to do. - -“I asked her if the memory of this escapade of yours would cloud her -future happiness, if she should marry you, and she said she thought she -could manage to forget it.” Mellenger paused and gazed out to sea -through half closed eyes. “As a matter of fact,” he continued, “there is -not the slightest necessity that anybody in our world need know what has -happened. You have merely been knocking around the isles of the South -Sea, painting and enjoying yourself. Nobody knows except Tamea, Maisie, -you, Hackett and myself—and none of us will ever tell.” - -“But, Mel, Maisie refused to marry me. If she had, this would never have -happened.” - -“You are a sublimated idiot. You never told Maisie that you loved her. -Women love love, too. You dawdled around, wishful to have your cake and -eat it, hating the freedom of your bachelorhood, yet dreading to abandon -it, restless, perturbed, unhappy—ah, you’re a _nut_. Understand? A -NUT!” - -By his silence under fire Dan admitted the truth of this charge and -instantly the great-hearted Mellenger was sorry he had spoken. He laid -his hand gently on his friend’s shoulder. - -“Buck up, old son,” he pleaded. “At least you’ve done your best to be a -gentleman all through this affair. Maisie understands that.” - -“Tamea asked Maisie to come and get me. Did she come? Is she here?” - -“She is aboard the Pelorus now. Old Casson and his wife think she is in -Tahiti. Nothing wrong with taking a summer trip to Tahiti, is there? -What the old folks do not know will not worry them. Well, we came down -on the same steamer and in the harbor at Tahiti we found the Pelorus. -When I told Hackett that I wanted to charter his vessel for a passage to -Riva, he eyed me curiously and said he had been expecting somebody to -come along and charter him for that trip. Then it developed that he knew -you. He wanted more money than Maisie and I could scrape up, but when I -informed him of this he said he’d collect the deficit at Riva. Said he’d -draw a draft on your Chinese bank. So he cleaned up a stateroom for -Maisie and shipped a real cook. He has an ice plant in his hold and we -had a pleasant trip. Hackett is a most agreeable man and for a monetary -consideration is prepared to carry us all directly to San Francisco.” - -“Sorry, but I can’t go,” Dan repeated doggedly. “Nor will I inflict on -myself the pain of seeing Maisie.” - -“Better toddle along home and talk it over with Tamea,” his friend -suggested patiently. “You may change your mind after that.” - -Without a word Dan left him. On the way up the hill he met the master of -the Pelorus coming down. “I’ll send up a couple of my boys to carry down -your trunk,” he told Dan. “Your Tamea is packing it now.” And he smiled -his knowing little smile and continued on toward the mission. - -Tamea met Dan as he came up the stairs. “Tamea, dear,” he began, “what -does this mean?” - -“You have talked to Mellenger. You know what it means. When I took you -for my husband, _chéri_, I said: ‘I will take you and cherish you only -so long as I may make you happy.’ That time has passed. You are no -longer happy, so I have arranged that you shall leave me. There must be -no argument.” - -“Tamea,” he almost groaned, “I cannot bear to break your heart.” - -She smiled sadly. “My heart will not be broken. It will be hurt but time -will cure that. I do not wish you to remain longer. If you do I shall be -much more unhappy than if you go away. You will, perhaps, not -understand, but these are true words, dear one. We have both made a -large mistake and it would be foolish not to admit it and strive to mend -that mistake.” - -He bowed his head. “And you truly desire this, Tamea?” - -“With all my heart,” she answered. She came to him and placed her arms -around his neck. “Love of my life,” she said softly, and in her voice -the stored-up pathos and longing of her shattered life vibrated, “you -will kiss me once and then you will go—quickly.” - -“Oh, sweetheart!” he moaned. - -“Sh-h,” she pleaded. “I desire this parting, dear love, and because I -desire it I have been to some pains and expense to accomplish it. Here -you are as a fish cast up on the beach. You gasp and struggle for life -and in the end you will die—living. I understand, darling. _Chéri_, -believe me, I understand truly, and there is naught to grieve over.” - -She kissed him and clung to him, wet-eyed and trembling, but resolute. -“Now, dear love, you will go,” she whispered, “nor will you look back as -you descend the hill. And sometimes you will think of your Tamea who -loved you better than you will ever be loved again. Adieu, my husband.” - -She left him abruptly. He stood for about a minute, his thoughts -inchoate, his brain numbed; yet, out of the chaos of his conflicting -emotions there rose, almost subconsciously, the tiniest flicker of -relief. He hated himself for it. He felt low and mean and treacherous, -felt that he had played a sorry part, indeed, yet he had not meant to do -this, nor had he even contemplated doing it. The situation existed, that -was all, nor could any power of his or Tamea’s alter it in the -slightest. As well strive to restrain a falling star! - -His heart constricted, his eyes blurred with tears of sorrow and shame, -he turned away at last and stumbled down the path to the Muggridge -bungalow. Hackett and Mellenger, seeing him coming, walked around to the -opposite side of the house, in order that he might be spared the -humiliation of knowing they had seen him with his soul laid bare. -Straight for the whaleboat, drawn up at the edge of the wash, Dan -headed, and the Kanaka sailors, seeing him coming, ran the boat into the -surf until it floated; there they held it, waiting; and when Dan -Pritchard climbed wearily in, they pulled him out to the Pelorus. - -Up on the veranda of the mission house Captain Hackett produced two of -his famous Sumatra cigars. “We’ll give him a couple of hours in which to -straighten out his record with Miss Morrison,” the maritime philosopher -suggested. “Smoke up.” - -Mellenger took the cigar, but he did not light it. “I think I shall make -a brief call on Tamea,” he declared. “I really think she would enjoy -seeing me, and until the Pelorus leaves Riva, I imagine Tamea will have -herself rather well under control. How does one reach her habitation?” - -Hackett described the way and Mellenger left him. On the steps of -Tamea’s home he found Sooey Wan seated; the old Chinaman looked angry -and disconsolate, but at sight of Mellenger his yellow fangs showed in a -glad smile of welcome. He rose, proffered his hand, which Mellenger -grasped heartily, and for several seconds they stood, looking into each -other’s faces; then the look of desolation sifted back over Sooey Wan’s -face and he shook his head dolefully. - -“Missa Mel,” he quavered, “evelybody clazy. Pitty soon Sooey Wan clazy, -too.” - -“Yes, Sooey, my friend,” Mellenger replied, “everybody is. In fact, I’m -half crazy myself. Where is Tamea?” - -Sooey Wan jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Lady queen packum tlunk, -Missa Mel.” - -Mellenger entered the house. In the center of the living room Tamea sat, -folding Dan’s well worn linen and packing it away in trunk trays. She -looked up at his entrance—and stared unbelievingly a moment before -scrambling to her feet and rushing to him with outstretched arms. - -“Mellengair! Mellengair, my friend!” she cried, and then she was sobbing -out, upon that great, understanding heart, the agony she had seen fit to -repress in the presence of Dan. He held her to him, stroking the -beautiful head but saying nothing, for he knew that her full heart was -emptying itself, that she would be the better for her tears. - -Presently she ceased to sob, but still she clung to him; long, -heart-breaking sighs finally told Mellenger that she was getting herself -under control once more. Gently he lifted her face and with his own -handkerchief dried her eyes. “Poor Tamea!” he murmured. “Poor, unhappy, -misunderstood waif!” - -“Do not pity me, my friend,” she pleaded. “It is the fate of half-breeds -to dwell in a world apart; in time we learn to make the best of it.” She -smiled wanly. “It was, perhaps, unfortunate for me that my father was -Gaston of the Beard. He put upon me the imprint of his own soul. So I -see too clearly, I understand too readily, I feel too deeply.” She -lifted his great hand and laid her cheek against the back of it. “Once I -hurt you, Mellengair. I am sorry. I have wept many tears because I have -called you Stoneface.” - -“Don’t! Please don’t!” he pleaded hoarsely. “I didn’t mind. Really, I -didn’t.” - -“You are a kind liar.” She kissed his hand humbly. “And now,” she added, -with just a suspicion of a quaver in her voice, “it is your friend, -Tamea, who is Stoneface—always to look out to sea for that which -came—and went—and will never, never come again.” - -Mellenger’s poker face twitched ever so slightly. “I am here to help -you. Tell me how.” - -“There can be no help, Mel. Dan is very unhappy with me. He loves me, -but he is not happy with me, and it has come to the knowledge that never -can the poor boy be happy with me. Great unhappiness is stronger than -great love. It will kill love—and I have watched and his love is dying. -I would have him leave me, loving me. If he remains he will grow mad, -like that missionary Muggridge. Something in him that is fine and very -like a little boy will wither and die.” - -Mellenger nodded and Tamea continued: “To Dan also has been given the -gift of seeing too clearly, understanding too readily, feeling too -deeply.” - -“Dan is my friend,” said Mellenger. “He has many virtues. He is lovable. -But he is too much given to introspection. He thinks too much about -himself and too little about others. He has not known great happiness -and he has been eager to protect the little he has known. He has a -restless soul, always poised for flight. In a word, he is utterly -selfish and doesn’t know it. He would be highly insulted if he heard me -say so, and he knows as much about women as a pig does about the -binomial theorem.” - -Tamea smiled wistfully. “Yes, he knows little of women. He is not -observing, and, as you say, I think it is because he thinks overmuch -about what each new day may bring him. I am to be the mother of his -child, but he does not know this—and I have, for reasons of my own, not -told him.” - -“Ah!” Mellenger gasped. “That complicates matters. You are not married, -I take it.” - -“No, not the way you take it. You will not tell this to Dan, of course.” - -“Of course I shall. If he is the father of your child he shall not evade -the responsibility of fatherhood, although, to do him full justice, I do -not think it would ever occur to him to evade it.” - -“In his world, Mellengair, it is not quite _au fait_ to be the father of -a quarter-bred Polynesian child while still a bachelor.” - -“It would be regarded as embarrassing.” - -“I would not have Dan embarrassed.” - -“You can obviate the embarrassment. Come with us to Tahiti and marry Dan -legally before the child is born. Nobody in his world, then, need know.” - -“I could not be happy in Dan’s world any more than he can be happy in -mine. You do not seem to understand, Mellengair. I love him. I do not -delude myself, my friend. If I want him I can hold fast to him. I know -my power. But I love him too greatly to hold him when the holding will -smash his life. It is better that I should smash my own, for look you, -Mellengair,” she explained with an odd wistfulness, “I am but Tamea, the -half-caste Queen of Riva. I am old—very old—and I—I do not matter. I -have known the fulness of life. I am content. I cannot leave this land -in which the roots of my soul will ever cling; always when I dwelt with -Dan Pritchard in San Francisco I heard the sound of the surf on the reef -yonder I heard the sigh of these coco-palms, I heard the songs and the -woes of my people. You will, perhaps, not understand, Mellengair, but I -know that I am right.” - -He bowed his head. He knew she was right, knew that only a great and -noble soul could so calmly enunciate such a bitter truth. The old, -immutable law of existence could not be shattered. Kind begets kind, -yearns for it, is happy with nothing else. Human beings, habituated to -their environment, cast in certain molds of evolution, may not progress -forward or backward when such progression is not a part of the Infinite -Plan. To attempt it is ruinous; to defy that immutable law—particularly -in the case of super-intelligences like Dan and Tamea—invites disaster. - -“Dan Pritchard will go tonight and I shall not see him again,” Tamea -said, following the long silence while Mellenger revolved this sad -puzzle in his poor brain. “Farewells do but bear down the heart, and if -I do not see him again it will be much easier for him, poor dear. He -knows I love him. Why, then, tell him this at parting, why hurt him with -my tears, why subject him to the shame of having me see him bent and -broken? He will go. He greatly desires to go, and I know why, and it is -the law and I am not embittered. Nothing matters in life save that human -beings shall know true happiness—and I have known that. When my baby -comes I shall know it again. I have in me the blood of my mother, and we -were proud of our line. And I have in me the blood of my father and he -was brave and laughed when the seas boiled over the knightheads. I too -shall laugh.” - -“I dare say you do not care to visit Maisie, or have her visit you.” - -“You are right. You are always right, dear Stoneface. I give to her the -man she loves, the man who, in the bottom of his heart, has always loved -her, the man I took from her. From me he has learned something of life; -at least I have not hurt him, nor have I dwelt with him in dishonor. He -will be comforted by Maisie; life will have a taste for him again; and -of his life here with me, none in his world should ever know. You see, I -understand your people, Mellengair,” she added, with that same odd, -twisted, wistful little smile. “It is that you do not like to be found -out.” - -Fell a silence. “You will go now, please, and take Dan Pritchard with -you. Sooey Wan is ready and the sailors from the Pelorus will come for -his trunk.” She gave him her hand. - -“May I kiss you, Tamea?” he whispered, and there was that in his -deep-set, unlovely eyes, in his poker face, that might have been seen in -the face of Christ, writhing on the Cross. She lifted her face to his -and he kissed her, very tenderly, on each cheek, after the fashion of -her father’s people. Then he left her, and he descended the hill to the -beach. - -“Well?” said Hackett, as Mellenger came up on the Muggridge veranda and -heaved himself wearily into a chair. - -“I have just talked with the finest woman God Almighty ever made,” -Mellenger replied huskily. “Compared with her the noblest of men is so -low he could kiss a flounder without bending his knees.” He thoughtfully -bit the end off the cigar Hackett had given him and the latter struck a -match and held it to the tip of the cigar. “Brave, like her father,” -Mellenger continued. “Faces the issue without cringing. She is -magnificent—perfectly tremendous!” - -“Well, that’s a comfort, Mr. Mellenger.” - -Fell a silence. Then: “Captain Hackett, when you return to the Pelorus, -please send my dunnage ashore and have one of your men dump it in this -veranda. I have decided to remain in Riva. I do not fancy that long trip -home with Dan and Maisie. My presence would make them both -uncomfortable, and I am quite finished with my self-appointed task of -directing that man’s love affairs. He’s a fine man but a poor lover.” - -“Nonsense, Mr. Mellenger,” Hackett urged. “The Pelorus is a hundred and -thirty feet long and there is room enough aboard her to make yourself -scarce.” - -“Well, I have other reasons for staying. Unlike Dan Pritchard, I have no -dollars calling me back. All I had was a heart-breaking job on a -newspaper and I chucked that forever when I started for Riva. I have -never had a vacation and I have a notion I’ll enjoy knocking around in -the islands. At any rate, I’m going to remain. Having no conscience to -speak of, I will help myself to the supplies you are going to land for -this deserted mission. I shall get along quite nicely.” - -“There is no accounting for the ways of white men,” Captain Hackett -declared. “Here comes the whaleboat, loaded with supplies.” He held out -his hand. “Happy days, Mr. Mellenger.” - -“Thank you. Good-by. Do not tell Dan I have stayed. He might take it -into his fool head to come ashore and argue with me. And the next time -you happen to be passing along the coast of Riva, drop in and say howdy. -I might be ready to leave at that time.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXX - - -When Dan Pritchard descended into the main cabin of the Pelorus, he -found Maisie seated there. She stared at him a moment, not recognizing -in the brown, somewhat unkempt figure at the foot of the companion, the -man she had known and loved in another world. - -“It is I—Dan,” he told her. - -Maisie made no effort to rise. She knew she was unequal to the effort. -“I—I came—to see if you—cared to come home, Dan,” she said with -difficulty. “Tamea wrote—asked me to come and get you. It has been very -hard for me to do this, Dan. Perhaps you can understand why.” - -He came and took her hand in both of his, but made no movement toward a -more affectionate greeting. He was not quite equal to such disloyalty so -soon, even though at sight of Maisie his heart thrilled wildly. “I can -understand your reluctance to running after any man, Maisie,” he -answered her. “Least of all myself.” - -“This situation is perfectly amazing. I cannot, even now, understand why -I have come here, Dan.” - -“Perhaps it would be just as well not to try to understand some things, -Maisie,” he pleaded. “Do you think it is possible for us to take up our -lives where they were when we saw each other last? You know all about -me, of course.” - -“Mark Mellenger was at some pains to attempt a long, scientific and, at -times, reasonable, defense of masculine weaknesses in general and of -yours in particular. Somehow, Dan, I cannot feel that you have been -either weak or wicked. It—it—just happened. I cannot conceive that you -would ever be less than a gentleman.” - -He bowed his head. “I have tried to be that, Maisie, although today I do -not feel that I have succeeded. But I cannot do otherwise than leave -Tamea. I do not think it would have occurred to me to leave her, no -matter how bitter the price of staying, but—she willed it otherwise. We -have parted without bitterness; I want you to know that so long as I -live she shall remain a holy and tender memory.” - -“You love her?” Maisie choked on the query. - -“I love her as one loves a beautiful and lovable child; for the nobility -of soul she possesses I feel a tremendous reverence.” - -“I understand—being a woman. You have entertained for me something of -that same affection, I think. Well, it is no fault of yours, is it, if -you mistook infatuation for love?” - -“Perhaps, at some future date, Maisie, it will not seem so—so -terrible—to discuss so intimately my feelings toward you or toward -Tamea. I only know that—at last—I am quite certain of myself. I tried -my best to play the game with Tamea, but I wasn’t smart enough to -conceal my true feelings from her, once those feelings became apparent -to myself. She has the mind of a warlock. I—I—tried to love her, -but—oh, my God, forgive me—we were as oil and water. We could not mix. -I couldn’t stand this place. There is beauty here and peace; life -tiptoes by so serenely that the sameness of the days was driving me mad. -I had no social intercourse—no points of intellectual contact—and -every relative of Tamea’s, no matter how distantly related—was dwelling -under the mantle of our—of her—philanthropy. She loves them all and -hasn’t the heart to drive them away. It is the custom and she is the -last of her blood. She will not alter the custom. I hate the food, I -hate the smell of decaying vegetation, I hate the rain, I hate the -music, I hate the sunshine—and the loneliness would, eventually, have -driven me insane. That’s what it did to Muggridge. I did some sketching -the first few months. Since then I have had no heart for it. My mind is -back in San Francisco; I can’t shake off the memories of the old life. -Tamea spends her days adoring me—and I’m sick of it. _I’m sick of it, I -tell you. I’m fed up on love. I’m—I’m_——” - -Maisie managed to stand up. She placed her hands on Dan’s shoulders. -“Buck up, old booby,” she murmured, with something of the adorable -camaraderie that had charmed him so in happier days. “You are the victim -of a terrible tragedy and so is poor Tamea. But she was wise enough to -see that something radical had to be done—and she did it. You see, -Dan’l, you weren’t truly in love with Tamea and I knew it all the time. -You were in love with love, or perhaps your pity led you, like a -will-o’-the-wisp. At any rate, it’s all over and nobody shall ever know -and—and—I love you, Dan. I never thought I would be brave enough, or -unmaidenly enough, to tell you this. But I know you love me, Dan. I knew -it long before Tamea flashed across your life like a meteor and swept -you off your silly old feet. I was weak, or I would have saved you—and -when I found I could manage the strength, you were gone and it was too -late. You’ve been such an old stupid. I should have made allowance for -you, because I know you so well. . . . Well, I am here—and nothing that -has happened matters any more. There, there you go with that sad old -Abraham Lincoln look again—and now I’ll have to be friend Maisie -again.” - -She forced him down into a seat and he laid his arms on the cabin table -and buried his face in them, in order that Maisie might not see the -agony in his soul. “Nobody can ever understand except one who has had -the experience,” he tried to explain. “Tamea is all white—and half -native. She gazes upon life native-fashion—she’s a tragic -contradiction. I could never quite know what was in her mind when she -gazed upon me so sweetly and tragically and she could never quite know -what was in mine.” - -“Ah, but she did know, poor dear,” Maisie contradicted. “She has proved -that she knew.” - -“She is old—old, with the wisdom of the aged and the philosophy of -patriarchs——” - -“And the heart of a woman, Dan.” - -“No, the heart of a child.” - -Maisie smiled wistfully. Poor old booby Dan’l! He would never, never -know that a woman is always a child! Because she had tact and more -imagination than Dan Pritchard had ever given her credit for possessing, -she left him and went up on deck. - -At sunset the Pelorus passed out of the lagoon and as her bow lifted to -the long, lazy rollers beyond the outer reef, Dan Pritchard, from her -quarter-deck, through a mist gazed back on his Paradise lost. High up on -the headland where Tamea’s home nestled in the grove, a white figure, -silhouetted against the sunset glow, waved to him. And presently, as the -Pelorus drew clear of the coast and the full force of the trades bellied -her canvas, to send her ramping toward the horizon, that white figure -slowly faded; the last Dan Pritchard saw of Riva was the steadily -deepening glow of the hot heart of Hakataua, pulsating against the -purple sky. And whatever thoughts occurred to him in that supreme moment -were never given utterance, for Maisie came and stood beside him and -said: - -“Don’t be ashamed of it, Dan, dear. I understand. Truly, I do.” - -“It will be terrible if you do not, Maisie, for I have lived to be too -thoroughly understood—I who am not worth understanding.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI - - -When the last sunlight faded from the earth and the sea and the swift -tropic twilight had swallowed the Pelorus, Tamea cast herself upon the -earth and beat it with her beautiful hands, sobbing aloud, in the -language of her mother’s people, the agony of her broken heart. Upon her -the gods had rained the supreme blow and she could no longer stand erect -and take it smiling. Upon the pungent, fetid earth she groveled in her -despair until, utterly spent, she lay like a beautiful wilted lily, an -occasional long, constricted gasp alone giving evidence that she still -lived—and suffered. - -After a long time a voice spoke in the semi-darkness. - -“Tamea! Stoneface is speaking.” - -The girl started up. “Mellengair! You have not gone?” - -“Did I not tell you once, Tamea, that I loved you? That when you too -were a Stoneface, with your flower face in the dust, I would love you -more than ever, because your child’s heart would have been broken? And -did I not tell you that I would lift you up and hold you to my heart and -comfort you? Behold, Tamea, these hands outthrust to you.” And with the -words he lifted her from the ground and held her against his great -breast. “Poor child!” he kept murmuring, and stroked her hair. - -“Oh, why did you stay?” she sobbed. “I do not love you, Mel. You are to -me a true friend only.” - -“I do not ask for love, Tamea,” he replied gently. “I seek service. I -thought I would stay until your baby should be born—it seemed I ought -to wait awhile and see that all goes well with you, child.” - -“My race is dying. I too shall die, and that soon. Life has lost its -taste, and when my baby has been born—my friend, when such as we have -lost our taste for life, life departs. We do not live for the coward’s -love of life, but for life’s joys.” - -“But the baby,” he reminded her. - -“I will give him to you, my friend. Would you not care to have my son -and love him as your own?” - -The poker face twitched, the unlovely eyes blinked a little. Mel bowed -his head affirmatively. - -“I have an illness—here,” Tamea murmured, and placed her hand on her -side. “It is the lung disease that comes to so many of us Polynesians, -and when I knew my length of life was measured by but a year or two, I -did not hesitate. I had to make haste, since I did not desire Dan to -grow like Muggridge in his mind. Muggridge was here too long, too long -removed from his kind; in striving to draw my people upward, he drew -himself downward. I would not have Dan remember me as a thin and haggard -invalid, old before my time, no longer beautiful. Do you understand, -Mellengair?” - -“I understand.” - -“I have money. You know how much my father left me. When I am gone you -will take it and my child, both for your own. You are a poor man in your -own land, wherefore you must have money to dwell in contentment. And you -will never tell Dan Pritchard I have borne him a child, because that -would render him unhappy. And you will raise my child as a full white, -in white ways, and none shall know that my baby’s mother was a -half-breed Polynesian. Understand, I am not ashamed of my blood, -but”—through her tears she smiled the odd, wistful little smile—“it is -inconvenient. There are some who might regard my blood as base and -remind my child of it in years to come. In a three-quarter white none -but the very wise, the very observant, can tell the blood of the other -quarter.” - -He held her close to him and stroked her wonderful black hair. “Poor -child,” he kept saying, “poor child.” And finally: “Remember, I do not -ask for love, but service.” - -“I understand, dear, kind Stoneface. We are two with stone faces now, -are we not, my friend?. . . Well, you shall take me to my house, and -then you shall go to the house of Muggridge and dwell there until the -period of service shall be over. Or,” she added, “until it shall begin!” - -She lifted his big hand and kissed it. “My friend,” she whispered, “my -good, kind friend!” - -“Poor child,” said Mellenger. “Poor, poor child!” - - THE END - - - - - TRANSCRIBER NOTES - - -Mis-spelled words and printer errors have been corrected. 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Kyne</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Never the twain shall meet</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Peter B. Kyne</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 15, 2022 [eBook #69547]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Al Haines, John Routh & the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET ***</div> - -<hr class='pbk'/> - -<div class='figcenter'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' id='iid-0000' style='width:80%;height:auto;'/> -</div> - -<hr class='pbk'/> - -<div class='lgc' style=''> <!-- rend=';' --> -<p class='line0' style='font-size:3em;'>NEVER THE TWAIN</p> -<p class='line0' style='font-size:3em;'>SHALL MEET</p> -<p class='line'> </p> -<p class='line0'>BY</p> -<p class='line0'>PETER B. KYNE</p> -<p class='line'> </p> -<p class='line0'>AUTHOR OF</p> -<p class='line0'>CAPPY RICKS RETIRES,</p> -<p class='line0'>THE PRIDE OF PALOMAR,</p> -<p class='line0'>KINDRED OF THE DUST, <span class='sc'>Etc.</span></p> -<p class='line'> </p> -<p class='line0' style='margin-top:7em;margin-bottom:1em;'> </p> -<p class='line0'>GROSSET & DUNLAP</p> -<p class='line0'>PUBLISHERS NEW YORK</p> -<p class='line'> </p> -<p class='line0'>Made in the United States of America</p> -</div> <!-- end rend --> - -<hr class='pbk'/> - -<div class='lgc' style=''> <!-- rend=';' --> -<p class='line0'><span class='it'>Copyright, 1923, by</span></p> -<p class='line0'><span class='sc'>Peter B. Kyne</span></p> -<p class='line'> </p> -<p class='line0'><span class='it'>All Rights Reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages,</span></p> -<p class='line0'><span class='it'>including the Scandinavian</span></p> -<p class='line'> </p> -<p class='line0' style='margin-top:7em;margin-bottom:1em;'> </p> -<p class='line0'><span class='it'>Manufactured in the United States of America</span></p> -</div> <!-- end rend --> - -<hr class='pbk'/> - -<div class='lgc' style=''> <!-- rend=';' --> -<p class='line0'><span class='it'>To a Little Girl</span>—</p> -<p class='line'> </p> -<p class='line0'>who believed</p> -<p class='line0'>that when the fairies married,</p> -<p class='line0'>one might, by lying very quietly</p> -<p class='line0'>in the grass,</p> -<p class='line0'>hear the bluebells ringing</p> -</div> <!-- end rend --> - -<hr class='pbk'/> - -<p class='line0' style='text-align:center;margin-top:3em;margin-bottom:2em;font-size:2.5em;'>Never the Twain Shall Meet</p> - -<div><h1 class='nobreak'>CHAPTER I</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>It was a song that never before had been sung; -once sung, never again would it be heard. Such a -song, indeed, as little girls croon to their dolls; half -funeral chant, half hymn, sung in a minor key by a -girl with a powerfully sweet lyric soprano. The last -of the land breeze carried it aft to Gaston Larrieau, -the master of the 200-ton auxiliary trading schooner -Moorea, where he stood on the top step of the companion, -his leonine head and tremendous shoulders showing -above the deck-house, as he smoked his first after-breakfast -pipe.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>While he listened, a shadow passed over the man’s -face, as when winds drive a dark cloud above a sunny -plain. He removed his pipe thoughtfully to murmur:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah, my poor Tamea! Dear child of the sun! Homesick -already!” Then he came out on deck and stood -by the weather rail, looking forward until he espied -the figure of the singer stretched face downward, at full -length, alongside the bowsprit, but snuggled comfortably -in the belly of the jib. One arm enveloped the -bowsprit; at each rise and fall of the Moorea’s long -clipper bow, her feet, sandal-clad, beat the canvas in -rhythm. And, because she was young and athrill with -the music of the spheres, because the dark blue water -purling under the schooner’s forefoot brought to her -memories of the insistent, peaceful swish of the surf -enveloping the outer reef at Riva, the girl Tamea sang:</p> - - - <div class='poetry-container' style=''> - <div class='lgp'> <!-- rend=';' --> -<div class='stanza-outer'> -<p class='line0'>“Behold! Tamea, Queen of Riva,</p> -<p class='line0'>Has forsaken her mother’s people.</p> -<p class='line0'>In her father’s great canoe called Moorea</p> -<p class='line0'>After the mother of Tamea, who loved him,</p> -<p class='line0'>Tamea sails over a cold sea</p> -<p class='line0'>To the white man’s country.</p> -<p class='line0'>Tamea is happy and curious.</p> -<p class='line0'>But if the hearts in this new land</p> -<p class='line0'>Are cold as the fog this morning,</p> -<p class='line0'>Then will the heart of Tamea grow heavy.</p> -<p class='line0'>Then will she weep for a sight of Riva.</p> -<p class='line0'>Then will she yearn for love and pleasure,</p> -<p class='line0'>For dancing and feasting; for the water</p> -<p class='line0'>White on the reef where the fishermen stand . . .”</p> -</div> -</div></div> <!-- end poetry block --><!-- end rend --> - -<p class='pindent'>“I must shake her out of that mood,” Larrieau muttered, -and strode aft to the wheel. The Tahitian helmsman -gave way to him and as the master put the helm -down and the schooner came sharply up into the wind -and hung there shivering her canvas until it cracked like -pistol shots, Tamea rose briskly from her hammock in -the belly of the jib and stood poised on the bowsprit, -with one hand clasping the jib to steady her. The -suddenness with which she had been disturbed and the -air of regal hauteur she assumed as she faced aft for -an explanation from the Tahitian helmsman, who had -now resumed the wheel and was easing the Moorea away -on her course once more, brought a bellow of Brobdingnagian -laughter from Larrieau.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea came aft with stately tread, pausing at the -forward end of the deck-house. “So it was you, great, -wicked Frenchman,” she cried in a Polynesian dialect. -“Truly, my father forgets that he is but a wandering -trader, while I am Tamea, Queen of Riva!” Simulating -a royal fury she was far from feeling, Tamea grasped -a bucket attached to a rope, dropped it overboard, -drew it back filled with water and, poising it in position -to hurl its contents, advanced to the assault.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Tiens!</span>” Gaston Larrieau chuckled. “I shall never -succeed in making a Christian of you. It is written -that even a queen shall honor her father and mother? -nevertheless you, my own child, would dishonor me with -sea water!” As she threatened him laughingly, he -leaped for the opposite corner of the deck-house, and -she saw that it was his humor to invite the deluge. -Wherefore, with the perversity of her sex and royal -blood, she deluged the helmsman, who stood grinning -at her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Your eye belongs on the lubber’s mark, on the sails, -on the horizon—anywhere but on me, Kahanaha,” she -admonished the amazed fellow. And then, while Gaston -Larrieau, momentarily off guard, stood roaring great -gales of laughter at the discomfited Kahanaha, Queen -Tamea of Riva dashed into his face fully a quart of -water remaining in the bucket. She smiled upon Larrieau -adorably.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He laughs best who laughs last. Kahanaha, you -may laugh.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Larrieau dashed the water from his bush of a beard. -“<span class='it'>Nom d’un chien!</span> This is mutiny. Tamea, come -here!” But Tamea merely wrinkled her nose at him, -and when he charged at her she cried aloud, half delighted, -half deliciously apprehensive, and started up -the starboard main shrouds. Her father followed her, -moving, despite his sixty years and his tremendous -bulk, with something of the ease and swiftness of a -bear.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At the masthead Tamea cowered, pretending to be -frightened and cornered, until his hand reached for -her slim ankle; when without the slightest hesitation -she sprang for the backstay and went whizzing swiftly -down to the deck. Here she threw him a peace offering, -in the way of a kiss, but he ignored her. From the -masthead he was looking out over the low-lying smear -of fog that shrouded the coast of California, and the -girl thrilled as his stentorian voice rang through the -ship.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Land, ho!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Within a few minutes the Moorea had slipped -through the cordon of fog into the sunshine. Off to -starboard the red hull of the lightship loomed vividly -against the blue of sea and sky; a white pilot schooner -ratched lazily across their bows, while off to port -three gasoline trawlers out of San Francisco coughed -violently away toward the Cordelia banks, their hulls -painted in bizarre effects of Mediterranean blue with -yellow decks and upper works. Their Sicilian crews -waved tassled, multicolored tam-o’-shanter caps at -Tamea and when she threw kisses to them with both -hands they shouted their approval in ringing fashion.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>From Point San Pedro on the south to Point Reyes -on the north fifty miles of green, mountainous shore -line sweeping down abruptly to ocher-tinted bluffs lay -outspread before Tamea. She viewed it with mixed -feelings of awe, delight and a half sensed feeling of -apprehension, for all that enthralling vision impressed -her with the thought that beyond the indentation -which her father called to her was the Golden Gate, -lay another world of romance, of dreams, curiosity-compelling, -palpitant with something of the same -warmth that had nurtured Tamea in the little known, -seldom visited and uncharted island kingdom under the -Southern Cross. Following the fashion of her people -when their emotions are profoundly stirred, again -Tamea’s golden voice was lifted in a semi-chant, an -improvised pæan of appreciation.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Down through the entrance the Moorea ramped, -with Tamea standing far out on the bowsprit, as if she -would be the first to arrive, the first to see the wonders -she felt certain lurked just around the bend behind -crumbling old Fort Winfield Scott. As she leaned -against the jib stay and held on with her elbows she -searched the shore line with her father’s marine glasses -until, the Moorea having loafed up to the quarantine -grounds, the crew disturbed the girl in order to take -in the headsails.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They were scarcely snugged down before the Customs -tug scraped alongside. While Gaston was down -below in the cabin presenting his papers for the inspection -of the port officer, a representative of the -Public Health Service examined the crew on deck. -Before Tamea he stood several moments in silent admiration. -Then he asked:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Miss, do you speak English?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea looked him over with frank admiration and -approval. “You bet your sweet life I speak English,” -she replied melodiously; and from her English the doctor -knew that she also spoke French. Having heard -her giving an order to the Kanaka steward in an alien -tongue, he concluded she spoke Hawaiian and sought -confirmation of that conclusion.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, mister, I do not speak Hawaiian,” said Tamea. -“I can understand much of it, because all Polynesian -languages are derived from the same Aryan source. -The difference between the hundreds of languages in -Polynesia is mostly one of dialect—phonetic differences, -you know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He sighed. “I didn’t know, but I’m glad to find out—from -you. Are you Venus or Juno or one of the -Valkyries from some tropical Valhalla?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now you grow very queer,” she retorted soberly. -“You make the josh, and I do not like men who do -that. I am Tamea Oluolu Larrieau. I am the Queen -of Riva, and in Riva it is taboo to josh the Queen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think the Queen is a josher, however,” he replied -gravely.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah! You do not believe, then, that I am the Queen -of Riva?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, I do not. You’re the Queen of Hearts.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fortunately for Tamea she knew how to play casino -and was, therefore, acquainted with the queen of hearts. -Hence she could assimilate the compliment, and a ravishing -smile was the reward of the daring doctor.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He bowed low.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Will Tamea Oluolu Larrieau, Queen of Riva—wherever -that may be, if it isn’t another name for Paradise, -since an houri has come from Riva—oblige a mere mortal -by opening her mouth, sticking out her tongue and -saying, ‘<span class='it'>Ah-h-h!</span>’—like that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why?” There was suspicion in Tamea’s glance -now.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is a ceremonial peculiar to this country, Your -Majesty. It is required of all visitors, of whatever -rank. An Indian prince did it yesterday and a <span class='it'>dato</span> -from Java will do it this afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea shrugged—a Gallic shrug—and complied.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What a lovely death it would be to be fatally -bitten by those teeth! Now, just one more ceremonial, -if you please. It is required that I shall look into your -eyes very closely. You may have trachoma, but if you -have I’ll never survive the shock of having to deport -you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Again Tamea shrugged. A peculiar custom, she -thought, but one that was not difficult to comply with.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, if you’re a fair sample of the womanhood of -Riva, O Tamea Oluolu Larrieau, I’m mighty glad -that I’m not a practicing physician there. I should -never earn a fee.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And if you should earn a fee nobody would think -of paying it,” she laughed. “Perhaps, if you liked -bananas or coconuts——” And her shoulders came -up in collaboration, as it were, with an adorable little -<span class='it'>moue</span>. The young doctor laughed happily.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Alas! God help the poor missionaries with sirens -like her on every hand,” he thought as he descended -into the cabin, where Larrieau was in conference with -an immigration official touching his daughter’s right -to land. This detail was, happily, quickly passed and -the health officer tapped Gaston Larrieau on the arm.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Captain, it will be necessary for me to give you a -physical examination before I can issue your vessel -a clean bill of health.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Open your mouth and say, ‘<span class='it'>Ah-h-h!</span>’” commanded -Tamea, who had followed the doctor below. “Then -open your eyes and look wise. Is my father not a frail -little man, eh?” she demanded of the doctor.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The examination of this physical wreck is merely -a matter of routine, Your Majesty.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gaston Larrieau; came close to the doctor and -opened his cavernous mouth.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Ah-h-h!</span>” he said.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah!” the doctor repeated softly—and touched -lightly, in succession, a slightly puffed spot high up -on each of the captain’s cheeks. As he pressed the -color fled, leaving a somewhat sickly whitish spot that -stood out prominently in an otherwise ruddy face. A -moment later the spots in question had regained their -original color, which had been a ruddiness somewhat -less pronounced than the surrounding tissue.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Perhaps only a doctor’s eye—an eye especially alert -for such spots—would have detected them.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Is this not a fine doctor, father Larrieau!” Tamea -exclaimed almost breathlessly. “You open your mouth—and -he looks at your eyes!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The health officer glanced at her. A minute before -he had noted particularly the glory of her complexion—pale -gold, with an old-rose tint, very faintly diffused -through the clear skin, like a yellow light masked by a -pale pink silk cloth. Now the rose tint was gone and -old ivory had replaced the pale gold. There was a -gleam of excitement, of fear, in her smoky eyes, and -the smile which accompanied her attempted badinage -was just a bit forced. As the glances of the two met -each realized that the other <span class='it'>knew</span>!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I cannot help it; I must do my duty,” the doctor -murmured helplessly, and turned to look down Gaston -Larrieau’s open throat. “Any soreness in the nose, -Captain?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A little, of late, Doctor.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Any other pain?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, for a couple of months I’ve had a small, -steady pain in my right shoulder—like rheumatism.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No. It is neuritis.” He picked up the captain’s -ham-like hand and noted on the back of it, close to the -knuckles, the same faintly white, puffy spots. “Now -please remove your shirt.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s eyes closed in momentary pain before she -retired to a stateroom adjoining the main cabin. Larrieau -removed his shirt and the doctor examined his -torso critically. On his back, partially covering the -right scapula, he found that which he sought. “That -will be all,” he informed Larrieau. “Replace your -garments.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>An assistant poured some disinfectant on his hands -and he washed them vigorously in it, wiping them on -a handkerchief which he tossed overboard through a -porthole. At a sign from the doctor the others went -on deck.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He lighted a cigarette and when Larrieau faced him -inquiringly he said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now, regarding your daughter, Captain. What -are your plans for her?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have brought her up to San Francisco to place -her in a convent to complete her education. As you -have observed, she speaks English very well, but with -a very slight French accent. She has had some schooling -in English, but not very much.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her mother, I take it, is a Polynesian.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Pure-bred Polynesian. She died a year ago, during -the influenza epidemic.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Forgive me, Captain, if my questions appear impertinent. -They are not, strictly speaking, questions -which I should ask you, but under the circumstances -the immigration officer has left the asking of them to -me. Have you or your daughter any friends or relatives -in this country?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We have no relatives, Monsieur Doctor, and the -only friends I have in this country are my owners.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Is your financial situation such that, should you -be taken away from your daughter, she would be provided -for to the extent that she would not be likely to -become a public charge?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gaston Larrieau smiled. “And you ask that of a -Frenchman, to whom thrift is a virtue? I have not -traded among the South Pacific islands more than -thirty-five years to come away without the price of a -peaceful old age. I am worth a quarter of a million -dollars, and with the exception of a few pearls and a -quarter interest in this vessel, all of my fortune -is in cash.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Did you plan to return to the Islands after placing -your child in school here?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Parbleu</span>, no! No one could manage Tamea without -my help. I am finished with the sea. All of my interests -and those of Tamea in the South have been sold. Two -years hence, when Tamea has grown used to civilized -customs, we will return to France—to Brittany, where -I was born.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea will probably marry well in France,” the -doctor suggested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes. We Frenchmen are more democratic than -Americans or the English in our choice of wives. The -fact that my Tamea is half Polynesian—ah, they would -not forget that, though she is more wonderful than a -white girl! I was married to her mother,” he added, -as if he suspected the doctor might secretly be questioning -that point. “We were married by the mission -priest in Nukahiva.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The doctor finished his cigarette and suddenly hurled -the butt through the porthole. “Lord!” he growled. -“I’m so tired of breaking people’s hearts and shattering -their hopes.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Eh? What is that? Have you, then, unpleasant -news for me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The doctor nodded gravely. “Captain, I have very -unpleasant news for you. Dreadful news, in fact. -While I hesitate to state so absolutely until a microscopic -examination has been made and the presence -of the bacillus in your body determined beyond question, -I am morally certain that you have contracted—leprosy!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The master of the Moorea met the terrible blow as a -ship meets an unexpected squall. He flinched and -trembled for a moment, then righted himself. His -wind-and-sun-bitten face and neck went greenish white; -his eyes closed for perhaps ten seconds; his shoulders -sagged and his great breast heaved with a single sigh. -In those ten seconds old age appeared to have touched -him for the first time. When his eyes opened again -he was the same calm, good-natured, almost boyish -man who had romped through the rigging of the -Moorea with his child that morning. He smiled a -little sadly—and shrugged.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, that’s over,” he murmured. “I am very sorry -for you, Doctor. These things are very unpleasant. -However, I have no regrets. I have enjoyed my life—down -yonder—because nothing matters. There are not -many rules and regulations—and we ignore them.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is different here.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Alas, yes!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a naturalized citizen of the United -States?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, Monsieur Doctor.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is my duty to remove you from this schooner to -the quarantine station at Angel Island. You will be -held there for observation, and when the fact that you -are a leper is officially determined, you will be removed -to the Isolation Hospital in San Francisco. -However, it might be arranged to have you sent to the -colony at Molokai. If you were not a citizen of the -United States you would be deported to the country -of which you are a subject.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We have said good-by to Riva and the South, and -we are not going back. The white blood predominates -in my girl; I want her to live her life among white -men and women. Besides, she can afford it. She may -marry some fine fellow here. Who knows? I had picked -on Brittany for my old age—so Molokai will not do. -<span class='it'>Bon dieu!</span> I should have such ennui in Molokai. I -could not stand that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Rules and regulations, Captain,” the doctor reminded -him sympathetically.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gaston Larrieau shook his head. “Old Gaston of -the Beard caged like a pet monkey, eh? I think not.” -He sat down and tugged at his beard thoughtfully. -“Well, one thing is certain,” he continued. “It is more -than seventeen years since I begot Tamea. I was clean -then and for all the years since until this morning.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Non-leprous children are born of leprous parents, -Captain. Tamea is clean.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She must not know that I am not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah, but she does know it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Larrieau sprang erect, terrible. “You dared to tell -her——” he roared, and advanced with upraised hand.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sit down. The girl has eyes, and in Riva she has, -doubtless, seen more than one leper. I told her nothing. -Listen, Captain.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>From the stateroom came the sound of a muffled -sob.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Larrieau sat down, dumb and distressed. “Yes, -there is leprosy in Riva. And tuberculosis and worse. -The scourges of our white civilization are creeping in -and where they strike there is no hope. So I brought -Tamea away—only to be stricken—— Well, I knew -that was one of the risks I had to take, and a life without -risks is as an egg without salt. In my day I have -adventured in strange and terrible places, and while -this is the very devil of a joke to have fate play on -me, still”—he shrugged again—“I have lived my life -and I have loved my love, and by the blood of the devil, -life owes me nothing. I am ready! <span class='it'>Voilà!</span>” And the -Triton snapped his fingers. “I am no mealy-mouthed -clerk to go whimpering to my finish, protesting at the -last that my heart is breaking with sorrow for my -sins.” He laughed his mellow, resonant, roaring laugh.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, no. Old Gaston of the Beard has enjoyed his -sins. They were not many, for I was ever a simple -man, but such sins as I had—ah, they were magnificent! -I have children in a hundred islands. But -Tamea is the child of my love, and like her mother -she is a glorious pagan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You say her mother is dead.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gaston of the Beard nodded. “She was a queen -and believed herself descended from her Polynesian -gods. Damnation! She had every right to, for she -was a goddess. Tall, Monsieur Doctor—six feet, for -she came of a race of hereditary rulers and in Polynesia -before the white men came to ruin and degenerate -these children of nature, a king was not a king in very -truth unless, standing among his people, he could gaze -over their heads as one gazes over a wheat field from the -top rail of a fence. Tamea’s great-great-grandfather -was deposed and exiled to an island five hundred miles -to the west, where his enemies enslaved him. In his old -age his people rescued him and offered him the scepter -he had lost in his youth. But he would not accept, for -age and toil had crooked his back and he could no -longer stand head and shoulders over his people.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What a magnificent old chap he must have been, -Captain!” said the doctor.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Larrieau nodded. “Tamea’s mother, Moorea, could -walk! You, my young friend, have never seen a woman -walk; it is a lost art; our women mince or hop -or strut. Moorea was a beautiful woman in point of -features. Her hair was a wonderful seal-brown and -her skin—well, her skin——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Was Tamea’s,” the doctor interrupted.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gaston of the Beard smiled and nodded. “She was -regal of bearing and regal of soul—and the missionaries -called her a heathen. For years I kept them out -of Riva, with their mummery of morals and religion. -Why, there was no sin in Riva until I came—and then it -wasn’t recognized until the missionaries gave it a name. -Monsieur Doctor, behold a man who dwelt in Eden -until the serpents drove him out.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The doctor chuckled quietly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea’s mother,” the sailor resumed, “had features -as fine and regular as any white woman. But then, -why should she not? Her blood was pure, because it -was a chief’s blood. The dark skin, the flat nose and -the crinkly hair are souvenirs, in the Polynesian race, -of their sojourn in the Fijis before they resumed their -age-old hegira that started in Asia Minor. In the -common people we find evidences of Papuan blood, and -that is negroid, Monsieur Doctor. But the pure-bred -Polynesian is not a nigger, as ignorant and stupid -people might have you believe. They are a lost fragment -of the Caucasian race, and any ethnologist who -has studied them carefully and sympathetically knows -this. Monsieur Doctor, they are not of Malayan -origin, but Cushite, and the Cushites were an Aryan -people, as doubtless you know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My knowledge of ethnology is very meager, Captain -Larrieau,” said the doctor.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mine is not. Gaston of the Beard they call me -down under the Line, but I have a head to hold up my -beard. How do you account for the fact that the -Polynesian priesthood in Hawaii was possessed of the -story of the Hebrew Genesis as early as the sixth century, -and that, in many respects, this version is more -complete than the Jewish?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I haven’t the slightest idea,” the doctor protested. -He had the feeling that to argue with Larrieau was to -argue with an encyclopedia.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, they acquired the story while drifting eastward -from the land of their origin and establishing -contact with the Israelites, although on the other hand -it may be an independent and original version of legends -common to the Semite and Aryan tribes of the -remote past and handed down to posterity quite as -accurately as the Jewish version before the latter became -a part of the literature of that race.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The doctor glanced at his watch. “Captain, it -would be most delightful to linger and receive instruction -in so interesting a subject, but we have a Japanese -liner to clear before noon, so I must be off.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But,” persisted the sailor, “have I convinced you -that, if this brutal and iconoclastic world but knew -it, my little Tamea is <span class='it'>all</span> Caucasian, not merely -half?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Captain, your daughter is the most dazzling, the -most glorious woman I have ever seen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Would you care to marry her, Monsieur Doctor?” -The words shot out from the man who had been condemned -to a living death with calm but deadly earnestness. -“That is,” Larrieau continued, “provided you -are not already married.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am engaged to be married, Captain.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You have seen Tamea. It will not be hard to forget -the other woman. Come, come, my boy! How does -the proposition strike you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It doesn’t strike me at all. One does not accept -such a proposition for consideration quite so abruptly, -my friend.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah, why not? Why not, indeed? Because others -do not? Blood of the devil, what a horrible thing is -tradition! If it were not a tradition that a woman -shall accept from her fiancé a diamond ring which -the idiot cannot, in all probability, afford to give her—well, -women would not accept them. If it were the -custom, they would accept a blow or a brass ring -through the nose or a brand, with equal eagerness. -Monsieur Doctor, he who has not learned to accept -both good and evil, the usual and the unusual, abruptly -and without mature consideration, has not learned to -live. Life has not given him of its richness and fulness. -Why be afraid? Why shrink from the silly -comment of silly people who do not understand -when you have a woman with a glorious body, a -glorious soul and a glorious mind, to compensate -you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not free to marry her——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gaston of the Beard brushed aside this feeble excuse -with a quotation from Epictetus: “‘He only is -free who does as he pleases.’”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>But the young doctor was not to be persuaded by -such philosophical considerations.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Has your fiancée a <span class='it'>dot</span> of a quarter of a million -dollars?” Larrieau shot at him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is quite useless to discuss the matter, Captain.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The latter hung his head, disappointed. “You -realize why I asked you, of course,” he said presently.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do, Captain. You must see her provided for. -You were at some pains to prove to me that her blood -was the equal of mine——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I spoke of her mother’s people. But I am not a -common man. There is blood and breeding back of -me—yes, far back, but I can trace it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You pay me a tremendous compliment, Captain.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are young, you have education, intelligence. -You are a doctor, a man of broad human sympathy -and understanding. It is too bad your spirit is not -free. Too bad!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will return for you this afternoon, about six -o’clock, Captain. You will not attempt to leave the -Moorea, will you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I told you I was a thrifty man, but I did not tell -you, also, that I am generous.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am rebuked, Captain Larrieau. Forgive me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“On one condition. Give my vessel pratique—now.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I dare say we can risk that. But why do you ask -it?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“So that young Mr. Pritchard, of Casson and -Pritchard, my owners, may be permitted to come -aboard, with an attorney. I have some business details -to attend to before I accompany you to the quarantine -shed at Angel Island. There is the business of -the Moorea, and the financial future of my Tamea must -be provided for.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you wish me to return to the dock and telephone -Mr. Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you will be so kind. And ask Mr. Pritchard to -bring flowers—a great many beautiful flowers. We -sons of Cush are childishly fond of flowers.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The health officer nodded and went over the side into -the Customs tug with a constricted feeling in his throat. -Had he not gone then he would have remained to weep, -with Tamea, for old Gaston of the Beard!</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER II</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>In his office in the suite of Casson and Pritchard, -on the top floor of a building in the heart of San -Francisco’s financial district, Daniel Pritchard, the -junior partner, sat with his back to his desk and his -feet on the sill of a window that gave a view, across the -roofs of the city, to the bay beyond. He was watching -the ferryboats ply backward and forward between -the old gray town and Oakland; viewed from that -height and distance their foamy wakes held for him a -subconscious fascination. Indeed, whenever he desired -to indulge a habit of day-dreaming, the view from -his window on a clear, warm day could quickly lull him -into that state of mind. This morning Dan Pritchard -was day-dreaming.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>A buzzer sounding at his elbow aroused him. He -reached for the inter-office telephone and murmured -“Yes?” in the low-pitched, kindly, reassuring voice that -is inseparable from men of studious habits and placid -dispositions.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The Moorea is passing in, Mr. Pritchard. The -Merchants’ Exchange lookout has just telephoned,” -his secretary informed him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you.” He glanced at his desk clock. “She -should clear quarantine and the Customs before noon, -and Captain Larrieau should report in by one o’clock -at the latest. You’ll recognize him immediately, Miss -Mather. A perfectly tremendous fellow with a huge -black beard a foot long. When he arrives show him -in at once, please. Meanwhile I’m not in to anybody -else.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He resumed his day-dreaming, drawing long blissful -drafts from a pleasant smelling pipe, his mind in a -state of absolute quiescence in so far as business was -concerned. He had that sort of control over himself; -a control that rested him mentally and armed -his nerves against the attrition that comes of the high -mental pressure under which modern American business -men so frequently operate.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At twelve-fifteen Miss Mather entered.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The Meiggs Wharf office of the Merchants’ Exchange -telephoned that the Moorea has been given pratique, -but that Captain Larrieau is ill and the health -officer is going to have him removed to the quarantine -station at Angel Island,” she informed him. “Evidently -his disease is not contagious, because the health -officer said it would be quite safe for you to visit him. -The Captain requests that you come aboard at your -earliest convenience and that you bring an attorney and -some flowers.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard’s eyebrows went up. “That request -is suggestive of approaching dissolution, Miss Mather.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Scarcely, Mr. Pritchard. If that were the case -would the Captain not have requested the attendance -of your doctor to confirm the health officer’s diagnosis? -And would he not have sent for a clergyman?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Not that great pagan! His approach to death -would be marked by an active scientific curiosity in -the matter up to the moment when his mind should -cease to function. Please telephone Mr. Henderson, -of Page and Henderson, our attorneys, and ascertain -what hour will be convenient for him to accompany -me to the Moorea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have already done so, Mr. Pritchard. Mr. Henderson -is playing in a golf tournament at Ingleside -and will be finished about three o’clock. He is in the -club-house now and says he can meet you at Meiggs -Wharf at four o’clock, provided the matter cannot -go over until tomorrow morning.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It cannot. Old Gaston of the Beard is an impatient -man, and this is an urgent call. Please telephone -Mr. Henderson that I will meet him at Meiggs -Wharf at four o’clock. Then telephone Crowley’s -boathouse to have a launch waiting there for us at -five o’clock. When you have done that, Miss Mather, -you might close up shop and enjoy your Saturday -afternoon freedom.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, Mr. Pritchard. Miss Morrison is in -Mr. Casson’s office. She said she might look in on you -a little later.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When his secretary had departed he resumed his -reverie, to be roused from it at twelve-thirty o’clock -by the soft click of the latch as his office door was -gently opened. He turned and observed a girl who -stood in the general office, with her head and one -shoulder thrust into Dan’s office.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“May I come in?” she queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course you may, Maisie. You’re as welcome as -a gale in the doldrums. The best seat in my office isn’t -half worthy of you.” He rose and took her hand as -she advanced into the room.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Doing a little ground and lofty dreaming, I observe.” -The girl—her name was Maisie Morrison, -and she was the niece of Casson, the senior member of -the firm—seated herself in a swivel desk chair and -looked brightly up at him as he stood before her, his -somewhat long grave face alight with approval and -welcome.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It’s very nice of you to pay me this little visit, -Maisie,” he declared. “And I like that hat you’re -wearing. Indeed, I don’t think I have ever seen you -looking more—er—lookable!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>It was like him to ignore her implied query and -voice the thought in his mind.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sit down, Abraham Lincoln, do, please,” she urged.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He obeyed. “Why do you call me Abraham Lincoln?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, you’re so long and loose-jointed and raw-boned -and lantern-jawed! Your shoulders are bowed -just a little, as if from bearing great burdens, and -when I caught a glimpse of your face, as I entered, -it was in repose and incredibly sad and wistful. Really, -Dan, you’re a very plain man and very dolorous until -you smile, and then you’re easy to look at. Your -right eyebrow is about a quarter of an inch higher -than your left and that lends whimsicality to your -smile, even when you are feeling far from whimsical.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His chin sank low on his breast and he appeared to -be pondering something. “Perhaps,” he said aloud, -but addressing himself nevertheless, “it’s spring fever. -But then I have it in the summer, autumn and winter -also. I want to go away. Where, I do not know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps you are suffering from what soul analysts -call ‘the divine unrest.’”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m suffering from the friction that comes to a -square peg in a round hole. That much I know. The -round hole I refer to is the world of business, and I’m -the square peg. The situation is truly horrible, Maisie, -because the world believes I fit into that hole perfectly. -But I know I do not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Her calm glance rested on him critically but not -sympathetically. In common with the majority of her -sex she believed that men are prone to conjure profound -pity for themselves over trifles, and her alert -mind, which was naturally disposed toward practicalities, -told her that Daniel Pritchard had, doubtless, -been up too late the night previous and had eaten something -indigestible.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This is an interesting and hitherto unsuspected -condition, Dan. I have always been told, and believed, -that you are a particularly brilliant business -man.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not,” he objected, with some vehemence. “But -if I am, that is because I work mighty hard to be -efficient at a disgusting trade. I know I am regarded -as being far from a commercial dud, for I am a director -in a bank, a director in a tugboat company, and really -the managing partner of Casson and Pritchard. But -I loathe it all. Consider, Maisie, the monstrous depravity -of dedicating all of one’s waking hours to the -mere making of money. Why, if any man of ordinary -intelligence and prudence will do that for a lifetime -he just can’t help leaving a fortune for his heirs to -squabble over. Making money isn’t a difficult task. -On the other hand, painting a great picture is, and if -one’s task isn’t difficult and above the commonplace, -how is one to enjoy it?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I was right,” the girl declared triumphantly. “It is -the divine unrest. You are possessed of a creative instinct -which is being stifled. It requires elbow room.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He smiled an embarrassed little smile. “Perhaps,” -he admitted. “I like to work with my hands as well as -with my head. I think I could have been happy as a -surgeon, slicing wens and warts and things out of -people, and I could have been happiest of all if I had -nothing to do except paint pictures. If I could afford -it I would devote my life to an attempt to paint a better -picture of Mount Tamalpais yonder, with the late -afternoon sun upon it, than did Thad Walsh. And I -do not think that is possible.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That picture yonder,” she said, pointing to an -oil on the wall of his office, “indicates that you have -excellent judgment. What is the subject, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Blossom time in the Santa Clara Valley.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It’s a beautiful thing and much too fine for a -business office.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His face, on the instant, was alight with happiness. -“Now, I’m glad to have you say that, Maisie, because -<span class='it'>I</span> painted that picture.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But you never told us——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My dear Maisie, you must never breathe a word of -this to anybody. If the world of business had discovered -ten years ago that I would rather dabble in -paint and oil than figure interest, it would not now be -regarding me as a capable, conservative business man. -I would be that crazy artist fellow, Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She walked to a point where the best view of the -picture was obtainable and studied it thoughtfully -for several minutes.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It’s very beautiful and the colors are quite natural, -I think,” was her comment. “What do you say it is -worth, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, about a million dollars in satisfaction over a -good job accomplished, and fifty or a hundred dollars -in the average art shop.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie returned to her seat. “Well,” she declared -with an emphasis and note of finality in her tone that -stamped her as a young woman of initiative and -decision, “if I were as rich as you, Dan Pritchard, -I’d continue to be a square peg in a round hole just -long enough to send that picture home and then walk -out of this office forever. How old are you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thirty-four, in point of years, but at least a hundred -viewed from any other angle.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Fiddlesticks! Why don’t you retire and live your -life the way you want to live it? I would if I were -you. . . . Now, Dan, there you go again with that -sad Abraham Lincoln look!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am sad. I’ve just had a great disappointment. -I told you I wanted to go away but that I didn’t know -where to go. Well, I did know where I wanted to go—until -this morning. I had planned to take one more -cruise with old Gaston of the Beard——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“With whom?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Captain Gaston Larrieau, master of our South -Seas trading schooner Moorea. I had planned to -knock around with him in strange places for the next -six months.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I cannot visualize you making a pal of a sea captain, -Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nonsense, Maisie. Gaston is a satyr with a soul. -Twelve years ago I took a cruise with him and I’ve -never had time for another. Gaston of the Beard—my -father dubbed him that thirty years ago and the -name has stuck to him ever since—is like no other man -living. He’s about sixty years old now, six feet six -inches tall, and weighs about two hundred and fifty -pounds in condition. He’s a Breton sailor with the -blood of Vikings in him, and if I ever find the tailor -who makes his clothes I’m going to pension the man -in order to remove a monster from the sartorial world. -When going ashore in a temperate climate Gaston -affects very wide trousers, a long black Prince Albert -coat, a top silk hat, vintage of 1880, and a stiff white -linen shirt with round detachable cuffs bearing tremendous -moss-agate cuff buttons. When he walks he -waddles like a bear and when I walk with him I run.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He is most positive in his likes and dislikes; he has -read everything and remembers it; he plays every card -game anybody ever heard of and plays them all well; -he performs very well on the accordion, the flute and the -French horn; he knows music and the history of music. -He speaks four or five European languages and a -dozen South Seas dialects. He is a sinful man, but -none of his sins are secret. He loathes swanks, frauds -and pretenders, and he bubbles with temperament. -When he is enthusiastic about anything or when he -is angry, his voice rises to a roar; when he is touched -he weeps like a baby. He knows more English poetry -than any man living and is quite as much at home with -the best of our modern literature as he is with all of the -ancient classics. He knows all about ships and shipping -since the days of the Phoenicians and the Hanseatic -League; there are as many facets to his character -as to a well cut diamond, and every facet -sparkles. Good Lord, Maisie, the man’s different, and -I want a change.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, then, as I said before, why not have it? You -can afford it, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That’s the rub. I cannot. And even if I could -I’ve just received word that Gaston of the Beard is ill -with some sort of disease that requires his removal to -quarantine. It must be a very serious illness, because -he has sent for an attorney—to draw his will, -doubtless. Henderson and I are going aboard at four -o’clock this afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But why can’t you go for a cruise if and when -your satyr recovers his health?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A man cannot drop a business just because he -desires to. My going would disorganize everything -and distress a great many people. I’m the binder that -holds this organization together.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t take yourself too seriously, Dan. You -weren’t born to daddy the world, you know. You worry -too much about other people and what will happen to -them when they can no longer lean against you for -support. Why not give them an opportunity to care -for themselves for a change?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>From the tip of her small feet to the cockade on her -dainty little hat, his calm, serious glance roved over -her. “Well,” he replied soberly, “how would you relish -the prospect of caring for yourself—for a change?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m sure I do not know. I fear I’d be rather helpless—for -a while.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you think I ought to accord your uncle and -aunt an opportunity to care for themselves—for a -change?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good gracious, no! Is there a possibility of that -situation presenting itself?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“An excellent possibility—if I elect to forget that I -am a square peg in a round hole and doomed to remain -such.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, Dan, I’m so sorry!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sorry for whom?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“For—everybody.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The slight hesitation between her words caused him -to smile faintly. Vaguely he had hoped she would feel -sorry for him exclusively. Her next question convinced -him that Maisie, in common with the rest of the -world, had a more alert interest in herself than in him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then there is danger, Dan? Something may happen -to us?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There is a possibility, Maisie. However, I must -admit that my feeling that such a possibility exists is -based on nothing tangible. If I leave the office for a -long vacation, this firm will be in the position of a -pugilist who has incautiously left a wide opening for his -opponent to swat him to defeat.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Whose fault is it?” said Maisie.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not mean to criticize my partner, Maisie, but -if, while I should be away, we climb out on the end -of a limb and then somebody saws off the limb, the -responsibility for our fall will be entirely your Uncle -John Casson’s. The man is an optimist, devoid of -mental balance.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Have you and Uncle John been quarreling, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No. What good does that do? If mischief is done, -quarreling will neither avert nor cure it. In a business -dilemma your uncle always loses his head, so I practise -the gentle art of keeping mine!” He drew a chair up -to her and prepared for a confidential chat. “You -must know, Maisie, that following my entrance into -this firm after my father’s death we have had five narrow -escapes from serious financial embarrassment, due -to Mr. Casson’s passion for taking long chances for -large profits. And if five beatings fail to cure a man -my opinion is that he is incurable. Holding that opinion -as I do, I fear the result if I leave the office for -more than a month and expose your uncle to temptation.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is kind of you to say that, Dan. Perhaps you -have been too gentle with Uncle John. Perhaps if you -had asserted yourself——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He held up a deprecating hand. “Forgive me, -Maisie, if I assure you that the only way to assert -oneself with your avuncular relative is with some sort -of heavy blunt instrument.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His bluntness caused her to flush faintly, but she -kept her temper. “I believe your father and Uncle -John quarreled frequently, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, that is true. But that was not because your -uncle is a difficult man to get along with in the ordinary -day to day business. He is a charming and agreeable -old gentleman for whom I entertain a great deal of -respect and affection. My father was undiplomatic, -aggressive and extremely capable. For a quarter of a -century he dominated the affairs of Casson and Pritchard, -and before he died he warned me if I should take -his place in the firm to do likewise.” He was silent, -looking out of the window at the ferryboats. “A horrible -legacy,” he said. “I loathe dominating people.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Uncle John always resented your father’s domination.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have observed that most people resent that which -is good for them. Since my father’s death your uncle -has evinced a disposition to run hog-wild with power, -as the senior member of the firm. The sublimated old -jackass!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My uncle is nothing of the sort, Dan Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He disregarded her protest, because he knew she had -protested out of a sense of loyalty to an uncle who had -stood in the place of a father to her since her fifth -birthday. And John Casson, he knew, was both kind -and indulgent. But he also knew that Maisie knew her -relative was exactly what Dan Pritchard had called -him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The first time Mr. Casson disregarded my youth -and lack of business experience and jumped in over -his head,” Dan continued, “I hauled him out by the -simple method of disregarding him and insuring all of -our ledger accounts, because one of them was very -doubtful. Well, we collected that insurance and all we -were out was the premium. Your uncle talked of -suicide when he thought he had ruined both of us, but -when he discovered I’d saved the firm he accepted about -seventy-five per cent of the credit for my perspicacity. -In those days, Maisie, it wasn’t necessary for us to have -a very heavy loss in order to be embarrassed or ruined. -All that saved us the last time was the war, which -caught us with a flock of schooners on long time charters -at low freight rates.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, Maisie, I haven’t dared to leave him alone for -years. He is no longer a young man, and his naturally -uncertain judgment hasn’t improved with age. From -August, nineteen fourteen, when the Great War began -until April, nineteen seventeen, when this country joined -with the Allies, I admit I gambled. I gambled everything -I had and I induced your uncle to gamble everything -he had, and between us we committed Casson and -Pritchard to a point miles in advance of what would, -ordinarily, have been the danger point.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am a conservative in business, but I knew then -that we were gambling on a rising market and that we -would be safe while the war lasted. Even during the -year and a half I was in the navy and your uncle had -a free hand in the direction of our business, I did not -worry. Those were the days when all radicals made -quick fortunes because they just could not go wrong -on charters and the prices of commodities. Three -months after the armistice had been signed I returned -to civil life and since then I have been very busy getting -our firm out from under the avalanche of deflation -which must inevitably follow this war, even as -it followed the Civil War. It has not been an easy task, -Maisie, for your uncle has developed a spirit of arrogance -and stubbornness difficult to combat.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes,” Maisie agreed, “Uncle John has acquired -a very good opinion of himself as a business -man.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Pritchard nodded. “Those days when I was in the -service and he operated alone have spoiled him. However, -only this morning I succeeded in gaining his consent—in -writing—to the sale, at a nice profit, of the -last of our long-term charters at war rates. Now, if -I can hold him in line until the deflation process commences, -I shall be well pleased with myself.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Is the money burning a hole in Uncle’s pocket?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I fear it is. He is seventy years old; yet, instead -of planning to retire, he seethes with a desire to double -his present fortune. He has dreams of vast emprise. -I wish he had gout instead!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Casson and Pritchard is a partnership, Dan. Why -do you not incorporate? Then if the business fails, -through any indiscretion of Uncle John, you will not -be responsible for more than your fifty per cent of the -company’s debts.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Forty per cent, Maisie. I was admitted to partnership -on that basis, although my father was an equal -partner. However, his death terminated that partnership -and I suppose Mr. Casson felt that with my -youth and inexperience forty per cent was generous.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The girl was silent, gazing abstractedly out of the -window. Dan realized that she was striving to scheme -a way out for him, and he smiled in anticipation of -what her plan would be. He was not mistaken.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan,” she said presently, “I believe you are more -or less of a thorn in Uncle John’s side. Why do you -not sell out to him, retire and paint pictures? I feel -certain he would be glad to buy you out.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He sighed. “There are several minor reasons and -one major reason why such a course would be repugnant -to me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Name them.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mr. Casson, Mrs. Casson and all of our employees -constitute the minor reasons. You constitute the -major one.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She flushed pleasurably and the lambent light of a -great affection leaped into her fine eyes. He continued:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I fear the old gentleman would make a mess of the -business if my guiding hand should be withdrawn, and -at his age—consider the sheltered life you have led, the -ease and comfort and luxury and freedom from financial -worry! Maisie, it would be a sorry mess, indeed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“So you have concluded to hang on, eh, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded. “And while hanging on I hang back, -like a balky mule on his halter.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“‘Go not, like the quarry slave, scourged to his dungeon,’” -she quoted bitterly. “Nevertheless, I fail to -see why a nice consideration of my—of our—comfort -should deter you from seeking your own happiness.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, Maisie, you know very well I’m terribly -fond of you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed, Dan! This is the first official knowledge -I have had of it, although, of course, I have for years -suspected that you and I were very dear friends. However, -Dan, my friendship is not one that demands great -sacrifices. I—I——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tears blurred her eyes and her voice choked, but she -recovered her poise quickly. With averted face she -said: “I’m sure, my dear Dan, I would much prefer -to see you painting your pictures than serving as a -sacrifice on the altar of your—of our—friendship.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think I might be able to glean a certain melancholy -happiness from the sacrifice,” he protested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan Pritchard, you are exasperatingly dull today. -I dislike being under obligation to anybody.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He held up a deprecating hand. “You know, Maisie, -I have always given you my fullest confidence, as I -would to a sister. And I do this in the belief that you -will understand perfectly. My dear girl, I am not complaining -because I have to stick by this business. I -am merely voicing my disappointment at the impossibility -of taking the sort of vacation I had planned. -If I——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>A knock sounded on the door, and a moment later -John Casson entered. He was a large, florid old gentleman, -groomed to the acme of sartorial and tonsorial -perfection—a handsome old fellow with a hearty and -expansive manner, but a man, nevertheless, whom a -keen student of human nature would instantly deduce -to be one who thought rather well of himself.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What? Dan, my boy, are you still on the job? -Maisie, can’t you induce him to drive to the country -club with us? How about nine holes of golf?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard shook his head. “Not today, sir, -thank you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No? Sorry, my boy. Maisie, are you ready to run -along?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, Uncle.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She rose hurriedly, went to the mirror in Dan’s wash -cabinet and powdered her nose. And while powdering it -she studied critically the reflection, in that mirror, of -Dan Pritchard’s long, sad, wistful, thoughtful face. -It was in repose now, for Casson had walked to the -window and was looking out over the bay; and Maisie -had ample opportunity to watch Dan and wonder -what was going on inside that bent head.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sweet old thing,” she soliloquized. “I love you so. -I wonder if you’ll ever know—if you’ll ever care—if it -will ever occur to you, dear dreamer, to diagnose that -warm friendship and discover that it may be love. For -just now, stupid, you talked of sacrifice—for me. Oh, -Dan, I could beat you!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She crossed the room silently and stood beside his -chair. As he started, politely, to rise, she bent and -placed her lips to his ear. “Art is a jealous mistress. -I am told. I hope, Dan, you’ll be as true to her as you -can be. I’m almost jealous of her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He glanced meaningly at old Casson, who was beating -time with his fingers on the window-pane and striving -to hum a popular fox-trot. “The old bungler!” -Dan whispered. “Come in and visit me the next time -you come to the office. And if you’ll invite me over to -dinner some night next week I shall accept. I want to -continue our conversation. I——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He glanced swiftly at Casson, saw that the old gentleman -was still preoccupied with his pseudo-valuable -thoughts and decided to risk putting through a plan -which had that instant popped into his head. He -took Maisie’s chin in thumb and forefinger, drew her -swiftly toward him and kissed her on the lips. Old -Casson continued to beat his unmusical tattoo on the -window-pane, and Maisie, observing this, grimaced at -his broad back and—returned Dan’s kiss! For a -breathless instant they stood staring at each other—and -then old Casson turned.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Au revoir</span>, Danny dear,” said Maisie in a voice that -rang with joy.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good-by, Maisie. Good afternoon, Mr. Casson. I -hope you’ll enjoy your game.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, boy. Ta-ta!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan bowed them out of his office and returned to -his seat by the window.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thunder!” he murmured presently. “Thunder, -lightning and a downpour of frogs and small fishes! -Now, what imp put into my silly head that impulse to -kiss Maisie! I’m mighty fond of Maisie, but I’m not -at all certain that I’d care to marry her—she’s so -practical and dominating and lovable. Such a good -pal. I wonder if I’d be happy married to Maisie. . . . -I’m a lunatic. When fellows of my mental type marry -they give hostages to fortune, and I haven’t lived yet. -My life has been dull and prosaic—nothing new under -heaven—and then I had that impulse—yes, that was -new! That kiss from Maisie was an adventure. It -thrilled me. I wonder what put the idea into my fool -head!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>If he had not been fully as stupid as Maisie gave -him credit for being, he would have known that Maisie -had put the idea into his head. Being what he was, -however, he went down to Meiggs Wharf at four o’clock -to meet Henderson, still obsessed with the belief that, -all unknown to himself hitherto, he was a singularly -daring, devilish and original character!</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER III</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Following the departure of the Customs tug, -Gaston of the Beard had sat below in earnest converse -with Tamea. The Triton had wept a little at -first, albeit his tears were not for himself but for -Tamea; and after her initial gust of despair and grief, -the girl had remembered that strength and not weakness -was what her father expected of her. Accordingly -she had rallied to the task of comforting him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And you knew I had contracted this disease, my -daughter?” old Gaston queried amazedly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Oui, mon père.</span> I saw the puffy places on your -cheeks and knuckles before we sailed from Riva, but I -was not certain until I saw you one day in swimming. -There is a white patch on your right shoulder.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But you have touched me, Tamea. You have -caressed me——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And shall again, dear one. The disease has but -recently made its appearance. There are no active -lesions and I am not fearful, father Larrieau.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In this country, Tamea, when one is afflicted so, he -is restrained of his liberty. He is confined in a hospital -called the pesthouse. There are no men or women -there with whom I should care to associate—and I am -old enough to die, anyhow. I would be free from this -tainted body and dwell with your mother in Paliuli”—the -Polynesian equivalent of heaven.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea had no answer for this. All too thoroughly -she divined the hidden meaning in his speech, but because -she was what she was—a glorious pagan—the -knowledge of the course which Gaston of the Beard -contemplated aroused in her neither apprehension nor -grief. To Tamea the mystery of death was no greater -than the mystery of birth. Men and women lived their -appointed time and passed on to Paliuli, if they were -worthy like her father; or to Po, the world of darkness, -if they were unworthy. The departure for Paliuli -was not one to cause a grief greater than that -experienced when one’s nearest and dearest departed -for a neighboring island, to be absent for an indefinite -period. Of course she would weep, for were not her -people the most affectionate and tender-hearted race -in the world?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And was not she, the last of her line, a descendant of -kings and expected to meet with complacency whatever -of good or of evil life might have in store for her? -So she tugged the great bush of a beard affectionately, -from time to time, as her father talked, telling her -of his plans for her, his ambitions and desires, impressing -upon her, above all things, the necessity for -absolute obedience to the man whom he would name -her guardian.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>With a full heart Tamea gave him the promise he -desired, and when she noticed how much the assurance -comforted him her triumphant youth routed for the -nonce consideration of everything save the necessity -for cheering her father. So she went to her stateroom -and returned with—an accordion! It was a splendid -instrument belonging to old Larrieau, and Tamea -had learned to play it very well by ear. She lay back -in her chair and commenced to play very, very softly -a ballad that was old a decade before Tamea was -born, to wit, “Down Went McGinty!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>But—it had a lilt to it, and presently her father was -beating time and humming the song. And Tamea, like -her father, like so many of her mother’s race, had a -gift for clowning; now, as she played, she swayed her -body a trifle, raised her shoulders on the long drawn -out “D-o-w-n” and made funny faces; somehow the -instrument seemed to wail and sob as McGinty sank -to the bottom of the sea. It was ridiculous, wholly -amusing, and old Gaston’s mellow bellow of laughter -reached the ears of Dan Pritchard while yet his launch -was a cable’s length from the Moorea. And then -Tamea swung her instrument and broke into “La Marseillaise” -while her father sang it as only a Frenchman -can.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard came overside and stuck his head -down through the ventilator over the deck-house. -“Gaston,” he remarked, when the singer ceased, “I came -because I heard you were very ill.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ill, <span class='it'>mon petit</span>, ill? I am worse than ill. I am a dead -man and I sing at my own wake. Come down, rascal! -By my beard, my old heart sings to see you, Dan -Pritchard. Come down, I tell you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Coming,” Dan answered laughingly—and came.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I could embrace you, my boy,” the old sailor informed -him, “but during Lent one must do something -to mortify the flesh. Besides, I have had the devilish -luck to acquire leprosy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard made no sign that this news was -disturbing, albeit he was hearing it for the first time.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, if I may not shake your hand, give me a tug -at your beard, Gaston. Upon my word, there is no -blight on those whiskers, old shipmate.” And before -Larrieau could prevent him he had grasped a handful -of whiskers and given the huge head a vigorous shaking. -The Triton, tremendously pleased, roared out an oath -to hide a sob.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan, this is my well beloved daughter, Tamea. -Tamea, my dear child, this is Monsieur Dan Pritchard, -the gentleman of whom we were speaking.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s wondrous smoky eyes glowed with a welcoming -light. “He who twitches my father’s beard—when -he <span class='it'>knows</span>,” she said very distinctly, “shall never -lack the love and respect of my father’s daughter. -Monsieur Dan Pritchard, my father would he might -embrace you. Behold! I embrace you—once for old -Gaston of the Beard and once for myself.” And she -set her accordion on the cabin table, walked calmly to -Dan Pritchard, drew him to her heart and kissed him, -in friendly fashion, on each cheek.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Embarrassed, Dan took her hand in his and patted it. -“You are a sweet child,” he said simply. Then, turning -to the old man: “Gaston, it’s great to see you -again. But explain yourself, wretch. How dare you -foul up the Moorea with your frightful indisposition?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I was ever a disciple of the devil, Dan. It’s all -through the islands. The Chinese brought it. Dan, I -am to be taken from Tamea—forever—and I go as -soon as my business has been arranged. Here is the -book containing my accounts as master to date. There -is a balance of four thousand eight hundred and nine -dollars and eight cents due me. Give this to Tamea -for her personal needs. The vouchers are in this envelope. -What is a fair price for my one-quarter interest -in the Moorea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is an old vessel but sound, and she pays her -way like a lady, Gaston. She’s worth twenty-five -thousand dollars. I will buy your interest on that -basis.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sold. Invest the money for Tamea. Here are -drafts on the Bank of California for one hundred and -eighty thousand dollars. I have indorsed them to you. -Buy bonds with them for Tamea. And here”—he burrowed -in the base of his beard and brought forth a -small tobacco bag he had hidden in that hirsute forest—“are -the crown jewels of my little Tamea. They -are the black pearls I have come by, from time to -time. It was known that I had some of great value -and I have had to conceal them carefully.” He -laughed his bellowing laugh. “Pay the duty on them, -Dan, if you are more honest than I; then sell them -and buy more bonds for Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard took an old envelope from his -pocket, Larrieau dropped the bag into it, and Dan -sealed the envelope.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I desire that Tamea be educated and affianced to -some decent fellow. Tamea, hear your father. You -are not to marry any man Monsieur Dan Pritchard -does not approve of.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan looked at her. “I promise,” she replied simply.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are to be her guardian, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Very well, Gaston,” said Dan instantly, “since you -desire it. I shall try to discharge the office in a commendable -manner.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That, my boy, is why the office is yours. For your -trouble you shall have my gratitude while I live and -the gratitude of Tamea after I am dead. Also, you -shall be the executor of my estate, which will bring -you a nice fee, and in addition the largest and most -beautiful pearl in that lot is yours. It will make a -magnificent setting for a ring for the woman you may -marry—if you have not married.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I still revel in single blessedness, Gaston.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The sailor nodded approvingly. “Time enough to -settle down after you are forty,” he agreed. “You -will select the pearl, however. It is yours now. It -is magnificent. Its equal is not to be found in the -world, I do believe. The heart of it has a warm glow, -like my old heart when I think of my friendship for -your good father and for you—when I think of Tamea -and Tamea’s wonderful mother. Damnation! I have -lived! I have known love; my great carcass has quivered -to the thrill of life as a schooner quivers in the -grip of a <span class='it'>willi-waw</span>!” He smiled wistfully at Dan. -Then: “Well, bring down your lawyer, Dan. I would -make my will, leaving all I possess to Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At a summons from Dan, Henderson came down -into the cabin and was introduced to Gaston of the -Beard and his daughter. The last will and testament -of the Triton was as simple as the man who signed it, -and Dan and the lawyer appended their signatures as -witnesses.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now then, Gaston,” said Dan, “of what does your -estate consist?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“These pearls, the money due me for disbursements -made for account of the Moorea and her owners, my -interest in the Moorea and these drafts on San Francisco. -I have no real estate, and I owe nobody. -Neither does anybody owe me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then,” said Dan smilingly, “why make a will, with -its fees and taxes? Why not make a gift of all you -possess to Tamea now? Gifts are not taxable, nor -do they have to be probated—expensively.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gaston of the Beard smiled and winked at the -lawyer. “I knew I should make no mistake in entrusting -my little Tamea to this good friend,” he declared. -“Dan, the drafts are already indorsed to her. -Take them. The pearls you already have. Go ashore, -my good friend, and return with a bill of sale and a -check for my interest in the Moorea, which I sell to -you, and your firm’s check for the amount due me on -the final adjustment of the ship’s accounts. I will then -indorse both checks to Tamea and the troublesome -business of dying will have been simplified a thousand-fold.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan returned to the office of Casson and Pritchard, -found a printed bill of sale form such as is used in -shipping offices, filled it in, unlocked the safe, drew -Casson and Pritchard’s check and his own for the -amount due Larrieau and returned to the Moorea. -Three scratches of a pen and Dan’s word passed, and -the estate of Gaston of the Beard had been probated -and distributed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Meanwhile Tamea had opened the boxes of flowers -Dan had brought aboard in compliance with her -father’s request. Deftly she wove a <span class='it'>lei</span> of sweet peas, -and when the business with Dan and the lawyer was -done she hung the <span class='it'>lei</span> around old Gaston’s burly neck -and garlanded his shaggy head with roses.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Presently, at his suggestion, Tamea called the steward, -who brought glasses and a dusty bottle of old -French Malaga. When the glasses had been filled and -passed by Tamea, Gaston of the Beard raised his -on high.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I drink to my loves, living and dead; to you, friend -Dan Pritchard, and to you, Monsieur l’Avocat! -<span class='it'>Morituri te salutamus!</span> I wish you good luck, good -health, happiness and a life just long enough not to -become a burden. May you live as joyously as I have -lived and love life as I have loved it; may you die as -contented as I shall die, and without repining. And -may we embrace, like true friends and clean, in -Paliuli!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They drank.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have six quarts of that Malaga left. It is very -old and of a rare vintage. Monsieur l’Avocat, will you -have money for your fee or would you prefer the six -live soldiers?. . . Ah, I thought so! The steward will -deliver them to you at your home, provided the prohibition -agents are not encountered first. Let us go -on deck.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At the head of the companion Tamea kissed a rose -and passed it to her father.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And that was their farewell.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The tide has turned. It is at the ebb. It will bear -me far to the sea that I have loved and upon whose -bosom my days have been spent,” said Gaston of the -Beard casually. “Thank you, dear Dan, for all that -you have been to me in life, for all that you will be -to me in death. I go, finding it hurts to leave those -I love. Farewell, Dan Pritchard, and you also, my -good Monsieur l’Avocat. . . Tamea, dear child, I -depart, loving you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He pressed to his red lips the rose she had given him -and then, with a look of unutterable love for Tamea -and a blithe kiss tossed to sea and sky, he ran swiftly -to the rail, stepped over it, and disappeared with a -very small splash for so huge a man. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He has gone to join my mother in Paliuli,” said -Tamea bravely. “He goes to her, flower-laden, like a -bridegroom. It is the custom in Riva with those for -whom life has lost its taste to have their loved ones -adorn them with flowers; then they walk out into the -sea until they are seen no more.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Presently, to Dan Pritchard, watching over the taffrail -of the Moorea, something floated up from the -dark depths and drifted astern. It was the emblem -of love, the crown of roses and the <span class='it'>lei</span> with which -Tamea had decked the great pagan e’er he left her for -Paliuli. . . . Afterward Dan remembered that Gaston -had worn his marvelous going-ashore clothes and that -his tremendous trousers had bagged somewhat more -than usual. So Dan suspected he had taken the precaution -to fill his pockets with pig lead or iron bolts, -and with the tide at the ebb he was drifting in those -dark depths out through the Golden Gate at the rate -of four miles an hour. . . . Well, they would not see -<span class='it'>him</span> again.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The sun had sunk behind Telegraph Hill, and dusk -was creeping over the waters of the bay of St. Francis. -Dan saw the flag at Fort Mason come fluttering down, -and across the waters came the sound of the garrison -band; from the church of St. Francis de Sales over -in North Beach the Angelus was ringing.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, Mr. Henderson,” said Dan presently, “the -day’s work is done. The launch is still alongside, so -I suggest that you go ashore first and send the launch -back for me. Your family doubtless expects you home -to dinner. I shall remain here, I think, and go ashore -later, when Tamea has packed her belongings. I don’t -suppose I ought to leave the child here all night alone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mr. Henderson inclined his head, for he was profoundly -affected; as the launch coughed away in the -gathering gloom to land him at Meiggs Wharf, Dan -descended to the cabin, whither Tamea had gone.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As he entered the main cabin she came out of her -stateroom. Her glorious black hair had been loosely -braided and hung over her left breast; in the braid a -scarlet sweet pea-blossom nestled. She still wore the -cheap white cotton skirt Dan had observed on her when -he first came aboard and she was still hatless, but buttoned -tightly around her lithe young body she now -wore an old navy pea-jacket; under her arm she carried -her father’s very expensive accordion.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am your Tamea now, Monsieur Dan Pritchard,” -she announced tremulously. “In this new land I know -no one but you. I go with you where you will. I will -obey you always, for you are my father and my -mother.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The pathos of that simple speech stabbed him. Poor, -lonely little alien! Poor wanderer, in a white man’s -world—a world which, Dan sensed, she would never -quite understand. How wondrously simple and sweet -and unspoiled she was! How transcendently lovely! -He wished he might paint her thus—he had a yearning -to stretch forth his hand and touch her hair. . . -and presently he yielded to this desire. At his gentle, -paternal touch all the stark, suppressed agony in the -heart of the Queen of Riva rose in her throat and -choked her. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard took the outcast in his arms and -soothed and petted her while she emptied her full heart. -And to him the experience did not seem an unusual -one, for as Maisie had often assured him he had been -born to bear the burdens of other people. He was one -of those great-hearted men who seem destined to daddy -the world. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He wiped her tears away with his handkerchief and -when the launch bumped alongside again they said -good-by to the Moorea. Kahanaha, the Kanaka, wept, -for he had sailed ten years with Gaston of the Beard. -As they disappeared into the darkness headed for -Meiggs Wharf, his mellow baritone voice followed them.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was singing “<span class='it'>Aloha!</span>”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER IV</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Throughout the ten minute journey from the -Moorea to Meiggs Wharf, Tamea sat beside Dan -Pritchard in the stern sheets of the launch, holding -his hand tightly and, in silence, gazing ahead toward -the lights of the city. She seemed afraid to let go his -hand, nor did she relinquish it when they paused beside -Dan’s limousine, waiting for them at the head of -the dock. Graves, his chauffeur, with the license of -an old and favored employee, was sound asleep inside -the car when Dan opened the door and prodded him; -at sight of his employer standing hand in hand with -Tamea, Graves’s eyes fairly popped with excitement -and interest.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s lashes still held a few recalcitrant tears -and she looked very childish and forlorn. Dan was carrying -her accordion, and observing this, Graves instantly -concluded that his master had casually attached -himself to some wandering gipsy troubadour. -He stared and pursed his lips in a soundless whistle; -his eyebrows went up perceptibly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s moist eyes blazed. Rage superseded her -grief.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Monsieur Dan Pritchard,” she demanded, “is this -man your servant?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan nodded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If we were in Riva I should have him beaten with -my father’s razor belt to teach him humility.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan reflected, sadly humorous, that it would be like -Gaston of the Beard to utilize a razor strop for any -purpose save the one for which it had been intended. -But the girl’s complaint annoyed him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, don’t bother about Graves!” he urged. “He -isn’t awake yet. He thinks he’s seeing things at night.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The man stares at me,” Tamea complained. “He -is saying to himself: ‘What right has this girl with -my master?’ I know. Yes, you bet.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Graves,” said Dan wearily, “you are, I fear, permitting -yourself a liberty. Wake up, get out of here -and in behind the wheel. And by the way, Graves, hereafter -you will be subject to the orders of Miss Larrieau. -In her own country Miss Larrieau is a queen -and accustomed to the most perfect service from everybody -with whom she comes in contact. I expect, therefore, -that you will remember your manners. Driving -for a bachelor is very apt, I quite realize, to make any -chauffeur careless, but from now on, Graves, whenever -Queen Tamea of Riva craves snappy service, see -that she gets it. I should regret very much the necessity -for flaying you with a razor strop.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Lay forward, you,” Tamea commanded. “What -business have you aft? Your place is in the fo’castle, -not the cabin.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fortunately, Graves was blessed with a sufficient -sense of humor to respond humbly: “Beg pardon, -Your Majesty. I didn’t mean to get fresh. As the -boss says, wakin’ me up sudden like that scared me -sorter.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He carefully drew the curtains in the rear, on both -sides and in front, for, notwithstanding his cavalier -manner in the presence of royalty, Graves was more -than passing fond of his employer and desired to spare -the latter the humiliation of being seen with a lady of -uncertain lineage and doubtful social standing riding -in public with him in his limousine. Graves was fully -convinced that his master suddenly had gone insane, -and as a result it behooved him now, more than ever -before, to render faultless service. He wondered where -the Queen was taking the boss or where the boss was -taking the Queen; already he was resolved to drive -them through streets rarely frequented by the people -who dwelt in Dan Pritchard’s world.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s haughty voice disturbed his benevolent -thoughts.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Are you ashamed to ride with me, Dan Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Certainly not, my dear girl. Graves, how dare -you draw those curtains without permission? I’ll skin -you alive for this!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Beg pardon, sir,” mumbled the bewildered Graves.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He raised the curtains, vacated the car immediately -and stood at a stiff salute while Dan handed Tamea -into the luxurious interior. As he followed her in he -turned to Graves and growled, “Scoundrel! You shall -pay dearly for this.” A lightning wink took the sting -out of his words, however, and caused Graves to bow -his head in simulated humiliation; nevertheless the -faithful fellow could not forbear one final effort. Just -before he closed the door upon them he switched off -the dome light. As he did so he saw Tamea’s hand -slip into Dan Pritchard’s.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“All I ask,” Graves murmured a moment later to -the oil gage, “is that Miss Morrison don’t get her -lamps on them two. She don’t seem to have no success -gettin’ him to fall for her, but along comes this -Portugee or gipsy or somethin’ with an accordion on -her arm, and the jig is up. She’s dressed like a North -Beach wop woman that’s married a fisherman, but she -tells him she’s a queen and wants to step out with him -in his automobile. Right away he falls for her. Bing! -Bang! And they’re off in a cloud of dust. Ain’t it -the truth? When these quiet birds do step out they -go some!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>There was a buzzing close to his left ear.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sailing directions,” murmured Graves and inclined -his ear toward the annunciator.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Home, Graves!” said the voice of Daniel Pritchard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Graves quivered as if mortally stung, but out of the -chaos of his emotions the habit of years asserted itself. -He nodded to indicate that he had received his orders -and understood them, and the car rolled away down -the Embarcadero.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now,” murmured the hapless Graves, addressing the -speedometer, “I <span class='it'>know</span> he’s crazy! Of course I can -stand it, Sooey Wan won’t give a hoot and Julia probably -won’t let on she’s saw anything out of the way, -but Mrs. Pippy’ll give notice p. d. q. and quit quicker’n -that. . . . Well, I should worry and grow a lot of -gray hairs.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He tooled the car carefully through rough cobbled -streets which ordinarily he would have avoided, and -by a circuitous route reached Dan Pritchard’s house -in Pacific Avenue. “I’ll be shot if I’ll pull up in front -to unload them,” he resolved, and darted in the automobile -driveway, nor paused until the car was in the -garage! As he reached for the hand brake the annunciator -buzzed again; again Graves inclined a rebellious -ear.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“While appreciating tremendously the sentiments -that actuate you, Graves,” came Dan Pritchard’s calm -voice, “the fact is that my garage is scarcely a fitting -place in which to unload a lady. Back out into the -street and so maneuver the car that we will be enabled -to alight at the curb in front of the house.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Again the habit of years conquered. Graves nodded. -But to the button on the motor horn he said dazedly:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He’s got the gall of a burglar! Here I go out of -my way to help him and he throws a monkey wrench -into the machinery. Very well, boss! If you can stand -it I guess I can. I ain’t got no proud flesh!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>With a sinking heart he obeyed and stood beside -the car watching Dan Pritchard steer Tamea up the -steps; saw the incomprehensible man open the street -door with his latchkey; saw him propel Tamea gently -through the portal and follow; saw the door close on -the incipient scandal!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Then he looked carefully up and down the street -and satisfied himself that he had been the only witness -to the amazing incident; whereupon he put the car up -and hastened into the servants’ dining room to ascertain -what, if any, impression had been created upon -Mrs. Pippy, the housekeeper, Julia, the maid, and -Sooey Wan, the Chinese cook, who, with Graves, constituted -the Pritchard <span class='it'>ménage</span>.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As Graves took his seat at the servants’ table and -gazed inquisitively through the door into the kitchen -where Sooey Wan, squatted on his heels, was glowering -at something in the oven, Pritchard entered the kitchen. -Sooey Wan looked up at him but did not deem it necessary -to stand up.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Boss,” he demanded, “wha’ for you allee time come -home late for dinner?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I don’t come home late for dinner all the time. Confound -your Oriental hide, Sooey Wan, are you never -going to quit complaining?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The imperturbable Sooey Wan glanced at the alarm -clock on an adjacent shelf.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You klazy, boss,” he retorted. “You fi’, ten, fi’teen, -twenty-fi’ minutes late. Dinner all spoil, ever’thing go -lotten boss don’ come home on time.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Go to thunder, you old raven! Quit your croaking,” -Dan admonished the heathen.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan flew—or rather pretended to fly—into -a rage. “Helluva note,” he cried, and shied a butcher -knife into the sink. “Twenty year I cook for you papa, -but he never late. Papa allee time in heap hurry. Son, -allee time go slow, takum easy. Well, you likee lotten -dinner I ketchum, boss. You likee A-numba-one dinner -no can do—gee, Missa Dan, wha’s mallah? You -no look happy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m a bit distressed tonight, Sooey Wan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan stood up and laid a hand on Dan’s shoulder. -“You tell Sooey Wan,” he urged, and in his -faded old eyes, in his manner and in the intonation of -his voice, no longer shrill with pretended rage, there -was evidenced the tremendous affection which the old -San Francisco Chinese servant class always accords -to a kindly and generous employer and particularly -to that employer’s children.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A good friend has died, Sooey Wan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That’s hell,” said Sooey Wan sympathetically. “Me -know him, boss?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, he was a friend of yours, too, Sooey, Captain -Larrieau, the Frenchman with the big beard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sure, I remember him. When he come Sooey Wan -have sole for dinner. He teachee me how makum sauce -Margie Lee.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, poor Gaston was very fond of tenderloin of -sole with sauce Margery, as it is made in Marseilles. -Well, he’s dead, Sooey Wan, and tonight I brought his -daughter home with me. I am her guardian.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Allee same papa, eh?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan nodded, and Sooey Wan thoughtfully rubbed -his chin. “All li’, Missa Dan,” he replied. “I have -A-numba-one dinner! Too bad captain die. Him one -really nice man—him likee Missa Dan velly much. Too -bad!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He patted his employer on the shoulder in a manner -that meant volumes.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The lady has to dress, Sooey Wan, so we cannot -have dinner for half an hour yet.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You leavee dinner to Sooey Wan,” the old Chinaman -assured him. “Missa Dan, you likee cocktail -now?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Never mind, thank you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sure, boss, you likee cocktail now. You no talkee -Sooey Wan. Sooey Wan fixee nice Gibson cocktail. -My boy ketchum cold heart, Sooey Wan makum heart -warm again. . . . Shut up, shut up! Boss, you allee -time talkee too damn much.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Realizing the uselessness of protest, Dan stood by -while Sooey Wan manufactured the heart-warmer. -And when the drink was ready the old Chinaman produced -two glasses and filled one for himself. “I dlink -good luck to spirit Captain Larrieau. Hoping devil -no catchum,” he said. “Tonight me go joss-house and -burn devil paper.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He set down his empty glass and with paternal gentleness -thrust Dan out of the kitchen; as the door -swung to behind the latter, Sooey Wan began audibly to -discharge a cargo of oaths, both Chinese and English. -This appeared to relieve his feelings considerably, for -presently he commenced to sing softly, which emboldened -Graves to address him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Say, Sooey,” he suggested, “I wouldn’t mind bein’ -wrapped around one of those cocktails of the boss’s -myself.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan looked at him—once. Once was sufficient. -Ah, these new servants—these fresh American -boys! How little did they know their place! What -a febrile conception of their duty toward the author -of the payroll was theirs!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Bum!” hissed Sooey Wan. “Big Amelican bum!” -Seizing the poker he commenced stirring the fire vigorously, -from time to time favoring Graves with a -tigerish glance which said all too plainly, “I stir the -fire with this, but if I hear any more of your impudence -I’ll knock your brains out with it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Graves subsided. He knew who was the head of -that house!</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER V</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>From the moment that he and Tamea left the -schooner Dan’s thoughts had been occupied with -the weightiest problem that had ever been presented -to him for solution. What was he to do with Tamea -and where was he to take her? For a while he was -comforted by the thought that he could not possibly -do better than bring her to Maisie Morrison, explain -the circumstances and ask Maisie to take the orphan -in for the night, lend her some clothing and tell her -a few things about life in a civilized community which -it was apparent she should know at the earliest opportunity. -Then he reflected that Maisie might not be -at all obliged to him for thrusting such a task upon -her; clearly it was none of her business what happened -to this half-caste Polynesian girl. Always practical, -Maisie would, doubtless, suggest that the girl -be taken to a hotel; even if she did not suggest it, that -pompous old ass, Casson, would.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan remembered that Gaston of the Beard had never -liked Casson and that Casson had never liked Gaston -of the Beard. Nothing save Gaston’s record for efficiency -and shrewd trading, plus Dan’s influence, had -conduced to keep the pagan in the employ of Casson -and Pritchard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>So Dan resigned that plan, but not before he had -broached it to Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Who is the woman, Maisie?” Tamea queried without -interest.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan informed her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not like her,” Tamea decided. “I will not go -to the home of a woman I do not know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>It was then that Dan considered the plan of taking -the girl to a hotel. But the prospect horrified him. -He could not abandon her to her own resources in a -metropolitan hotel. He had no definite idea how far -Riva had progressed in civilization, but he assumed -it was still, to all intents and purposes, in the Neolithic -Age, and consequently Tamea would find plumbing, -hot and cold water, electric lights, telephones, strange -maids and perky little bellhops much too much to assimilate -alone on this, her first night in her new environment. -Moreover, Dan shrank from the task -of entering the Palace or the St. Francis hotels with -Tamea, registering her as Queen Tamea of Riva, and -having the room clerk, for the sake of publicity for -the hotel, give the ever watchful hotel reporters a tip -on an interesting story of a foreign potentate, clothed -in white cotton and a pea-jacket, who had just arrived -tearful and bareheaded, with no baggage other -than a huge accordion, and accompanied by a wealthy -shipping man.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Decidedly he could not risk that. He must avoid -publicity. Remained, therefore, no alternative save -taking her to his own home, in San Francisco’s most -exclusive residence section on Pacific Heights.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Thank God, he had in his employ as housekeeper -a prim and proper person, a Mrs. Pippy. In her -fiftieth year Mrs. Pippy’s husband, a bank cashier, had -absconded to parts unknown with a lady somewhat -younger and handsomer than Mrs. Pippy, who thereupon -had been forced to earn her living in almost the -only way possible for a woman of her advanced age. -Knowing her to be a woman of taste, culture and refinement, -Maisie had induced Dan to engage her at -his housekeeper, which he was very loath to do, owing -to serious objection on the part of Sooey Wan. Maisie -had run this oriental tyrant quickly to earth, however. -Sooey Wan could cook a dinner, but he couldn’t -order one and he couldn’t see that it was served properly; -wherefore, since Dan liked to entertain his friends -at dinner very frequently, Mrs. Pippy could be depended -upon to manage his household affairs efficiently -and delightfully.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At Maisie’s suggestion, Mrs. Pippy had engaged as -waitress and housemaid an exile from Erin who answered -to the name of Julia. Julia was an amiable -creature who daily entrusted Sooey Wan with the sum -of twenty-five cents to be bet for her in a Chinese -lottery in Washington Alley. Dan remembered now -that Julia was about the same size as Tamea, and -only the Sunday afternoon previous he had seen Julia -leaving the house clad in a tailored suit that gave -her what Graves termed a “snappy” look.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll buy that suit from Julia and pay her a fine -price for it,” Dan soliloquized. “Tamea has just -naturally got to have something decent to wear downtown -when the horrible job of shopping begins. And -I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Julia could sell me a -pair of shoes, some stockings and a shirtwaist, and do -Tamea’s hair up in an orderly manner. Mrs. Pippy will -take her in hand and do the needful. If she doesn’t,” -he added fiercely, “I’ll dismiss her immediately.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fortunately, Tamea’s mournful thoughts claimed her -attention; she was content to sit perfectly quiet and -hold Dan’s hand, as if from the contact she drew -strength to face the unknown. When Dan broached -the subject of turning her over to Maisie she had been -distinctly alarmed, and when he sang Maisie’s praises -so generously, she decided that he was very fond of -Maisie, and, for a reason which she did not consider -necessary to analyze, Tamea made up her mind instantly -that she was not going to like Maisie; which -decision, in view of the fact that she had never seen -Maisie, must be regarded as only another example -of the extraordinary instinct or intuition of the feminine -sex, wheresoever situated and with regard to -age, color, creed, or previous condition of servitude.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She was relieved when Dan abandoned the subject -without comment or urging; she had a hazy impression -that he had been rather nice about it and that -her father had selected, to take his place, a singularly -kindly and comfortable person, indeed. She gave his -hand a little squeeze, which he didn’t even notice.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Pippy was just ascending the stairs from the -entrance hall when Dan let Tamea and himself into -the house. The good lady paused in her ascent with -much the same abruptness which, we imagine, characterized -the termination of the flight of Lot’s wife -when that lady was metamorphosed into a pillar of -salt.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good heavens, Mr. Pritchard!” she exclaimed—and -assumed a regal attitude.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good evening, Mrs. Pippy,” Dan saluted her -cheerfully. “May I have your attendance here for -a moment, dear Mrs. Pippy?. . . Thank you so -much. Mrs. Pippy, this young lady is Miss Tamea -Larrieau, and in her own land, which is the island of -Riva, in eastern Polynesia, she is quite the most important -person of her sex. In fact, Miss Tamea is -the hereditary ruler of the Rivas, or Rivets, or whatever -one might term them. Tamea, this lady is Mrs. -Pippy, who is kind enough to manage my household, -Mrs. Pippy is a kind lady who will take good care of -you, won’t you, Mrs. Pippy?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Pippy favored Tamea with a wintry nod and -an equally wintry and fleeting smile. She still stood -on the stairs in her regal attitude; apparently, in the -presence of royalty, she was not impressed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Immediately Tamea gave her guardian additional -evidence of an alert mentality and extreme sensitiveness -to the slightest atmosphere of disapproval or hostility. -She favored Mrs. Pippy with a long, cool, impersonal -glance, before she turned to Dan and said, naïvely:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She looks like Columbia, the gem of the ocean!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Decidedly, Dan Pritchard was not in humorous -mood; nevertheless he burbled and churned inwardly -for several seconds before conquering an impulse to -burst into maniac laughter. He realized in time, fortunately, -that he could not possibly afford to laugh at -his housekeeper. The good soul was arrayed in a black -crêpe de Chine gown, trimmed with lace—a voluminous -and extremely frippery garment; standing there, her -cold countenance handsome with a classic handsomeness -beneath a pile of silvery hair, she did indeed offer -a splendid comparison with the popular conception -of Columbia.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Pardon me, Mr. Pritchard,” said Mrs. Pippy -frigidly, “did I understand you to say that Miss Larrieau -comes from eastern Polynesia?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, indeed, Mrs. Pippy. She arrived from there -today.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“For a moment I was inclined to think you had been -misinformed and that the young lady hails from the -region known as ‘south of Market Street.’”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That one went over Tamea’s head,” Dan thought. -“It was meant for me. Well, it landed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He smiled upon his housekeeper.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We will, if you please, Mrs. Pippy, call that round -a draw. Miss Larrieau is my ward. I acquired her -about two hours ago and it is my firm intention to do -as well by her as possible. To that end I crave your -indulgence and hearty coöperation, Mrs. Pippy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The housekeeper thawed perceptibly. “I shall be -most happy to aid you in making Miss Larrieau as -comfortable and happy as possible.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That’s perfectly splendid of you, Mrs. Pippy. -Tamea, my dear, will you step into the living room -and play your accordion, or do something to amuse -yourself, while Mrs. Pippy and I hold a conference?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You will not go away—far?” Tamea pleaded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This is my house, Tamea, and it is your home for -the present at least. You are very welcome. Whenever -your dear father came to San Francisco it was -his pleasure to visit me here, to dine with me and sit -up half the night talking with me. He always felt -that this was his San Francisco home, and you must -feel likewise.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Very well,” Tamea replied and entered the room. -A wood fire was crackling in the large fireplace, and -Tamea sat down on her heels before this fire and held -her hands out to the cheerful flames.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This is a cold country,” she complained. “Cold -winds and cold hearts.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan rejoined Mrs. Pippy and drew her into the -dining room, where, in brief sentences, he explained -Tamea and his hopes and desires concerning her. Mrs. -Pippy gave a respectful ear to his recital; that was -all.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have a feeling, Mr. Pritchard, that you are going -to have your hands full with that young woman,” -she declared. “I have always heard that half-castes -of any kind partake of the worst characteristics -of both parents. Eurasians are—well, scarcely desirable.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea is not a Eurasian. She is a pure-bred Caucasian, -but in many respects she is a child of nature. -It is evident that her father saw to it that she received -all the educational advantages possible in her little -world, but I must impress upon you, Mrs. Pippy, that -when dealing with her you are not dealing with a -modern girl. Her outlook on life, her thoughts, impulses—and, -I dare say, her moral viewpoint—antedate -the Christian era.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Is she a—Christian, Mr. Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think not. Her father was not. Neither was he -an atheist. He was a pagan. I wouldn’t be at all -surprised if Tamea’s religious beliefs, if she has any, -are idolatrous.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Horrible!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan smiled. “I dare say Tamea is quite as happy -as any Christian, Mrs. Pippy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do hope she’s clean, Mr. Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, her people usually are. However, you might -explain to her the mysteries of a modern bathtub. Do -you think you and Julia can manage to dress her for -dinner—after a fashion?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Pippy expressed the hope that the experiment -might prove successful and suggested that Julia be -interviewed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia, a romantic, rosy-cheeked, imaginative but -extremely plain woman in the early thirties, was overwhelmed -with importance to discover that the master -of the house had elected to lean upon her, to seek her -advice and coöperation when confronted by this most -unusual dilemma.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“An’ is it lady-in-waitin’ to a queen you’d ask me -to be, Misther Pritchard? Faith, then, an’ I’ll defy -you to find a body more willin’. Of course we’ll take -care of her. Why shouldn’t we? Sure, ’tis sympathy -an’ undhershtandin’ she’ll need this night. Where’s -the poor lamb?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>For some reason not quite apparent to him, Dan -had a feeling that Julia Hagerty was, beyond a doubt, -the most wonderful woman he had ever met. Mrs. -Pippy, he thought, had been overeducated and civilized -and sheltered to the point where all the humanity had -been squeezed out of her, while Julia, child of the soil, -had, in the daily battle for bread and butter, been humanized -to the point where she and Tamea could meet -on something akin to common ground.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At that moment Tamea, having warmed her fingers -and stretched herself flat on her back on the thick -oriental rug, took up her accordion and commenced -improvising a melody that had in it that wailing -quality, that funereal suggestion inseparable from the -music of a dying race, or an oppressed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As she played Tamea sang, in a sweet little voice -that scarcely filled the room, a semi-chant that Dan -Pritchard suspected was also an improvisation, with -words and music dedicated to the one who was still -drifting outward with the tide.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Pippy’s ultra-superior countenance commenced -to soften and Julia stood listening open-mouthed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The poor darlin’,” murmured Julia.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Suddenly Tamea ceased her improvisation, shifted -a few octaves and played “One Sweetly Solemn -Thought.” In the twilight of the big living room it -seemed that an organ was softly playing.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She’s a Christian!” Mrs. Pippy whispered -dramatically.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I hope not,” Dan replied. “I think I prefer her -pagan innocence.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But how strange that, with her father not yet -cold in his—ah—watery grave, she should elect to -sing and play whatever it is she plays.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, if one be tied to tradition and humbug and -false standards and cowardice, I suppose Tamea’s conduct -<span class='it'>is</span> strange,” Dan admitted. “I think, however, -that I can understand it. Certainly I appreciate it. -What if the girl was passionately devoted to her -father? What if he did commit suicide in her presence -two hours ago? They had talked it over beforehand, -sanely, and both had agreed that it was the best and -simplest way out. And Gaston wasn’t messy about it. -To me his passing was as magnificent as that of the -doomed Viking of old who put out to sea in his burning -galley. Smiling, composed, he stepped blithely over -the ship’s rail.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Just one step from life to death, you say? No, -not to death, but to another life! We Christians who -believe in the resurrection of the dead and the communion -of saints are horribly afraid of death, but -the pagan has nothing to regret and journeys over -the Styx in a spirit of adventure and altruism. Tamea -will, from time to time, weep because she will miss her -father’s comradeship and affection, but never because -her father has parted with life, for to her and her -people life without joy is worse than death.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“They make no mystery of death; it is not an occasion -or a tremendous event save when a monarch passes. -No mourning clothes or mourning period to bolster up -a pretense of an affection for the deceased stronger -than that which actually existed; no tolling of bells, no -sonorous ritual. That is the hokum of our civilization. -But tradition, mummery and religion are unknown -to Tamea. She is simple, sane and philosophical, -and whatever you do, Mrs. Pippy, and you, Julia, -don’t pretend that anything unusual has happened. -Do not proffer her sympathy. What she craves is affection -and understanding.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are already late to dinner, Mr. Pritchard. -Sooey Wan is on the warpath,” Mrs. Pippy suggested. -She was not in sympathy with Mr. Pritchard’s views -and desired to change the subject.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Some day I’m going to do something to Sooey Wan. -I grow weary of his tyranny. Julia, come with me and -I’ll introduce you to Her Majesty.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea turned her head as they entered the room -but did not trouble to rise. Dan noticed that her -eyes were bright with unshed tears, that her lips quivered -pitifully, that the brave little smile of welcome -she summoned for him was very wistful.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea, this is Julia, who will take good care of -you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The Queen of Riva sat up and looked Julia over. -Julia, fully alive to the tremendous drama of the situation, -had wreathed her plain features in a smile that -was almost a friendly leer; her Irish blue eyes glittered -with curiosity and amiability.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hello, Tammy, darlin’,” she crooned. “Come here -to me, you poor gir’rl, till I take care o’ you. Glory -be to the Heavenly Father, did you ever see the like -o’ that shmile? An’ thim eyes, Mrs. Pippy! An’ her -hair that long she’s sittin’ on it! Wirra, will you -look at her complexion! Like ripe shtrawberries smothered -in cream.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia held out her arms. Tamea stared at her for -several seconds, then carefully laid aside her accordion -and stood up.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is a plain woman, but her heart is one of gold,” -she said to Dan, and went to Julia and was gathered -into her arms.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Poor Julia! Like Tamea, she too was an exile, far -from a land she loved and the loving of which, with -her kind, amounts to a religious duty. Julia was a -servant, a plain, uneducated woman, but at birth God -had given her the treasure for which Solomon, in his -mature years, had prayed. She had an understanding -heart, and to it now she pressed the lonely Tamea, -the while she stroked the girl’s wondrous, rippling, jet-black -tresses.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor darlin’,” she crooned. “You poor orphant, -you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will kiss you,” Tamea declared, and did it. She -looked over her shoulder at Dan Pritchard. “And -you will give me this woman all for myself?” she -queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, my dear,” he answered brazenly. “Julia belongs -to you. Did she not give herself to you? Why -should I withhold my permission? Julia is your slave.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She beamed her gratitude. “Give me, please, one of -my father’s black pearls—any one you do not want -for yourself.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gravely Dan took from his pocket the envelope Gaston -of the Beard had entrusted to him for Tamea, -and spread the pearls on his open palm. Tamea -selected one that was worth ten thousand dollars if it -was worth a penny, and handed it to Julia.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Observe, Julia,” she said, “the warm bright glow -in the heart of this pearl. It is like the warm bright -glow in the heart of you, my Julia. Take it. -Thus I reward those who love me—thus and thus,” -and she kissed Julia’s russet cheeks.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia eyed her employer with amazement and wonder. -“Glory be, Misther Pritchard,” she gasped, -“what’ll I do with it?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Put it away in a safe deposit box, Julia,” -he suggested. “It is worth a small fortune. And remember -what I told you. Nothing that may happen -must be unusual. Understand. Now take Tamea upstairs -and dress her while I call on Sooey Wan and -set dinner back half an hour.”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER VI</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>With a shower bath, a change of linen and the -donning of dinner clothes, Dan always felt a -freshening of the spirit—rather as if the grime of -commercialism had been washed away. Whether he -dined alone or with guests he always dressed for -dinner.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan, who added to his duties as cook those -of general superintendent of Dan’s establishment, in -defiance of the authority vested in Mrs. Pippy, and -who was, on occasion, valet, counselor and friend, came -up to his room with another cocktail just as Dan -finished dressing. Also, he brought a cocktail for -himself, and, while waiting for Dan to adjust his tie, -the old Chinaman helped himself to one of Dan’s gold-tipped -cigarettes.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Ordinarily, Sooey Wan permitted himself few liberties -with his boss, but upon occasions when his -acute intuition told him that the boss was low in -spirits, Sooey Wan always forgot that Dan was his -boss. Then Dan became merely Sooey Wan’s boy, the -adored male baby of the first white man for whom -Sooey Wan had ever worked. The years fell away and -Dan was just a ten-year-old, and he and Sooey Wan -were making red dragon kites in the kitchen and -planning to fly them the following Saturday from -Twin Peaks.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Indeed, Pritchard, senior, had left to Sooey Wan -a large share in the upbringing and character-building -of his only son, for Dan’s mother had -died that Dan might live. It had been Sooey Wan who -had imparted to Dan a respect for the inflexible code -of the Chinese that a man shall honor his father and -his mother and accord due reverence to the bones of -his ancestors and the land that gave him birth. It -had been Sooey Wan who, inveterate gambler himself, -nevertheless taught Dan that when a man loses he -shall take his losses smilingly and never neglect to pay -his debts. Into Dan’s small head he had instilled as -much Chinese philosophy and as much Chinese honor -as he would have instilled into a son of his own had his -strange gods not denied him this supreme privilege.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan knew the old Chinaman for the treasure he was -and nothing that Sooey Wan might do could possibly -have offended him. In thirty-five years of perfect service -to the Pritchards, father and son, Sooey Wan had -bought and paid for the few liberties he took—an -occasional cigarette in their presence and about six -cocktails per annum.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>What Sooey Wan realized his boss needed tonight -was human society. Sooey Wan felt fully equal -to the task of supplying that rare commodity, and he -was in Dan’s room now for that purpose.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My boy feelee little better, eh?” he suggested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Considerably. Life isn’t half bad, Sooey Wan. -The world isn’t filled entirely with muckers.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, velly nice world!” Sooey Wan agreed. “Today -I ketchum ten spot in China lottery. I play fi’ -dollar. Tonight Sooey Wan feel pretty damn good, -too.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>A silence while Dan sat down, lighted a cigarette and -sipped his cocktail. Then:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia velly happy, boss. Captain’s girl give Julia -velly nice plesent. She come show me. Missie Pip -velly sorry no can understand at first. No ketchum -pearl.” And Sooey Wan chuckled like a malevolent -old gnome, while Dan laughed with him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Missie Pip too high-tone’,” Sooey Wan decided. -“Yeh, too muchee. No pay muchee Missie Pip for be -high-tone’. Sooey Wan don’t give a damn. Sooey -Wan ketchum pearl, all li’. No ketchum pearl, all li’. -Ketchum ten spot China lottery, velly good. Ketchum -ten spot for Julia, too, but Julia no playum heavy. -Twenty-fi’ cen’s, two bittee limit.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The Chinese lottery was then discussed, with Sooey -Wan adverting with delightful regularity to the fact -that Mrs. Pippy was in a mood to kick herself up hill -and down dale because of her lamentable failure to -recognize a queen. The gift of all the pearls ever collected -in the South Seas could not have afforded the -old Chinese schemer one-half the delight this knowledge -afforded him, and Dan quickly realized that for -the pleasure of this social visit from Sooey Wan he -was indebted quite as much to Mrs. Pippy’s misfortune -as he was to Sooey Wan’s unfaltering affection. He -<span class='it'>had</span> to share this joyous news with somebody who could -appreciate it!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Presently Sooey Wan grew serious. “I lookee -thlough dining room door when Captain’s girl go upstair,” -he confided. “Velly pitty girl. Velly damn -nice, Missa Dan, you mally lady queen?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, confound you, no. What put that idea into -your fool head?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Captain’s girl velly nice. Bimeby, boss, you have -fi’, six, seven, maybe eight son! Sure, you have good -luck. She give you many son.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I don’t want many sons. Just now I do not want -any.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You klazy. What you think Sooey Wan stick -around for, anyhow. You no ketchum baby pretty -quick wha’ for I workee for you? Hey? Me ketchum -plenty money. Me go China.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re an interfering, scheming old duffer, Sooey. -Get back to your kitchen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan departed in huge disgust, slamming the -door. A moment later he opened it a couple of inches -and looked in. “Lady queen leady for dinner. Look -velly nice. Missa Dan, you listen Sooey Wan. Captain’s -girl velly nice.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan threw a book at him and descended to dinner.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At the foot of the stairs he met Tamea, attended by -Mrs. Pippy and Julia. Mrs. Pippy was a being reincarnated. -She beamed, she seemed fairly to drip -with the milk of human kindness. The simple Julia -stood, grinning like a gargoyle, head on one side -and hands clasped under her chin, presenting a picture -of pride personified.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Look at her now, Misther Pritchard, an’ the day -you got her,” said Julia.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea looked up at him pridefully. She was wearing -a white dress, white silk stockings and white buckskin -shoes. Her hair, caught at her nape with a scarlet -ribbon, hung in a dusky cascade down her fine -straight back.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The combination was startling, vivid, amazingly -artistic, and Dan stood lost in admiration. If Tamea -could only have managed a smile that predicated happiness -rather than sadness, Dan told himself she would -have been ravishingly beautiful.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re tremendous! Perfectly tremendous!” he assured -Tamea. “But that stunning dress——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I took the liberty of telephoning Miss Morrison,” -Mrs. Pippy gurgled. “I sent Graves over after some -things of hers I thought might fit Miss Larrieau.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am extremely grateful to you, Mrs. Pippy.” In -the back of his head the words of Sooey Wan were -ringing: “Missie Pip velly sorry no can understand -at first. No ketchum pearl.” Whatever the reason -behind her present cordiality, she was making a strenuous -effort to overcome the unfortunate impression she -had made upon Tamea a half-hour previous.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan appeared in the dining room entrance -and beamed cordially upon the guest. “What Sooey -Wan tell you, boss? Velly nice, eh? You bet. Dinner -leady.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan silenced the wretch with a furious glance, took -Tamea by the arm and steered her into the dining -room. Sooey Wan retreated, but paused at the entrance -to the butler’s pantry and grinned his approval -before disappearing into the kitchen to pass out two -plates of soup for Julia to serve. Mrs. Pippy disappeared.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Having tucked Tamea’s chair in under her, Dan -took his place opposite. Tamea looked around the -dining room with frank approval. She appeared a -trifle subdued by the somber richness of it, the vague -shadows cast by the warm pale pink glow of the four -candles in four old silver candlesticks, the dark bowl, -flower-laden, in the center of the table.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan was aware that she was watching him; not until -he had selected his soup spoon from among—to -Tamea—a bewildering array of silverware, did she -imitate his action. Her host instantly realized that -the niceties of hospitality would have to be dispensed -with for the sake of Tamea’s education; consequently, -when Julia entered with some toasted crackers and approached -Tamea with the intention of serving her -first, Dan caught Julia’s eye and directed her to his -side.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You will serve me first,” he whispered and helped -himself. Tamea did likewise.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now, her French father taught her to break her -crackers into her soup and partake of the soup without -regard to the resultant melody. I will see if she -is a victim of habit,” he decided.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He waited. Tamea set the crackers on her butter -plate, as she had observed him do; like him, she made -no movement to eat them. Dan took up his butter -knife and buttered a cracker. Tamea instantly -searched out her butter knife—Dan would have been -willing to wager considerable she had never seen one -before—and buttered her cracker. Bite for bite and -sip for sip she followed his lead, her smoky glance -seldom straying from him. Observing that she was -not using her napkin, Dan flirted his, on pretense of -straightening it out, and respread it. Immediately -Tamea unfolded her napkin and spread it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She’ll do,” Dan soliloquized. “Doesn’t know a -thing, but has the God-given grace to know she doesn’t -know and is smart enough not to try to four-flush. -That girl has brains to spare. She speaks when she -is spoken to, but tonight silence is not good for her. -She must not think too much about her father.” Aloud -he said: “Tamea, what was your life in Riva like?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Very simple, Dan Pritchard. While our family -ruled Riva we were rulers with little ruling to do. -Ten years ago my mother’s father died. After that -my mother and I spent many months each year with -my father aboard the Moorea. My mother did not -speak good French, but my father would speak to me -in no other tongue. He taught me to read and write -French and English, and when I was twelve years old -he brought a woman from Manga Riva to be my governess. -She was half Samoan and half English, and -she had been educated in England. The island blood -called her back. She played the piano and was lazy -and would get drunk if she could, but she feared my -father, so she taught me faithfully each day when -sober. My father paid her well—too well.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What became of her, Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is dead. Influenza in nineteen eighteen. Our -people do not survive it, although I was very ill with -it. My father said it was his blood that saved me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Doubtless. What did you do all day in Riva?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In the morning, early, I swam in the river or to -the lagoon. The tiger shark seldom comes inside the -reef. Then breakfast and lessons for two hours, then -some sleep and more lessons late in the afternoon, followed, -perhaps, by another swim. Then dinner and -after dinner some music and song and perhaps a dance. -Twice a year, sometimes three times a year, we would -have a big feast when some schooner would call for -water and supplies and offer trade for our copra. But -my father controlled that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Were you happy, Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, yes, very!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“When your mother died, was your father in Riva?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, he came two months later. When he left I -went with him, to go to school in Tahiti. I have lived -two years in Tahiti, and studied English and French -with a school teacher from Australia. She was governess -to the children of a Frenchman who was a good -friend of my father.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“So that’s why you speak such good English.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She smiled happily. “You think so, Monsieur Dan -Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded. “And do not call me Monsieur Dan -Pritchard,” he suggested. “Just call me plain Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“As you like, Plain Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia, listening, burst into a guffaw, caught herself -in the middle of it and was covered with confusion. -Tamea looked at her very suspiciously, but Julia’s -quick Celtic wit saved her. She pretended to have a -violent fit of coughing.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you think you will be happy in San Francisco, -Tamea?” Dan queried, in an effort to stimulate conversation.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Who knows? Where one is not known, where it is -cold and there is neither singing nor dancing nor laughter -nor love——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, that will come after you get acquainted! The -first thing you must do is to become familiar with -your surroundings and outgrow a very natural feeling -of loneliness and, perhaps, homesickness. Then -you shall be sent to a boarding school and become a -very fine young lady.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The suggestion aroused no enthusiasm in his guest, -so he tried a new tack and one which he felt assured -would appeal to the eternal feminine in her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tomorrow I shall ask Miss Morrison to go shopping -with you and buy a wonderful wardrobe for you, -Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will take this woman Julia instead, if you please, -Plain Dan,” she replied.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Call me Dan,” he pleaded. “Just one word—Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She nodded. “How long will I stay in your house, -Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, as long as you care to, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Again the grateful and adorable smile. “Then I -shall stay here with you always, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you think we can manage without quarreling?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There will be no quarreling.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But you will obey me, Tamea. You will recognize -my authority and do exactly what I tell you to do.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She sighed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Privately she thinks that’s a pretty large order,” -Dan decided.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Slowly Tamea sipped a glass of light white wine -and pecked, without enthusiasm, at a lamb chop. She -sighed again.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am very tired, Dan,” she said wearily. “I cannot -eat more. I would sleep.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan nodded to Julia, who set her tray on the sideboard -and stood prepared to escort her charge to bed. -Tamea rose, walked around to Dan’s chair, put her -arms around his neck and drew his head toward her -until her cheek rested against his.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a good father and kind. I shall love you, -<span class='it'>chéri</span>,” she said softly. “You will kiss your little girl -good night? No? But, yes, I demand it, <span class='it'>mon père</span>. -There, that is better. . . . Good night. In the morning -I will be brave; I will not be sad and oppress this -household with my sorrows.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She kissed him. It was not a mere peck but it was -undoubtedly filial, and Dan indeed was grateful in a -full realization of this.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good night, Tamea, dear child,” he said, and -watched Julia lead her away.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was still watching her as she crossed the entrance -hall to the foot of the stairs, when the door of the butler’s -pantry squeaked very slightly. Dan turned. -Sooey Wan’s nose was at the aperture, and one of -his slant eyes was bent appreciatively upon Dan.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Get out,” Dan cried. “What are you spying for, -you outrageous heathen?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Velly nice. Captain’s girl velly nice. Heap nice -kissee, eh? You bet! Velly nice!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan was instantly furious. “Sooey Wan,” he -roared, “you’re fired!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Boss,” retorted Sooey Wan in dulcet, honeyed -tones, “you klazy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The door slid back into place and Sooey Wan returned -chuckling to the domain where he was king.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>An hour later, as Dan finished his first postprandial -cigar, he decided that after all there might be a modicum -of truth in Sooey Wan’s assertion. Sane he might -be now—that is, moderately sane—but for all that a -still small voice had commenced to whisper that the extraordinary -events of this day were but a preliminary -to still more extraordinary events to follow. And -that night he dreamed that a Chinese infant, with a -tuft of white ribbon tied in a bow at his midriff and -armed with bow and arrow, climbed up on the footboard -of his bed and shot him, crying meanwhile:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Velly nice! Velly, velly nice!”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER VII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>The guest chambers in Dan Pritchard’s home were -two in number—richly furnished but solid looking -rooms for men. Julia scuttled from one to the other, -in a frenzy of indecision as to which was worthy to -receive her charge, while Tamea sat at the head of -the staircase and waited. Julia was several minutes -making her decision as to whether Tamea would look -best in the room with taupe carpet and the French gray -single bed, or the one with the old-rose carpet and the -old black walnut double bed. Finally she decided on -the former, and then sought Mrs. Pippy to ask if -Miss Morrison had sent over a spare nightgown. It -developed that Miss Morrison had neglected this important -detail, so Mrs. Pippy graciously donated one -of her own and Julia returned with it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Then she discovered that Tamea, being a young -woman of initiative and decision, had very promptly -solved the problem of sleeping quarters. While she -had been no stranger to bedsteads and pillows, nevertheless -her upbringing in Riva had taught Tamea that -there was no necessity to be particular as to a lodging -for the night. She could always glean an excellent rest -on a mat spread on a stone floor, with a polished section -of the trunk of a coco-palm as a pillow; and while -waiting for Julia to return, the richly carpeted floor -had attracted her attention. Promptly she lay down -in the hall, pillowed her head on her arm and went -to sleep almost instantly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor lamb!” murmured the sympathetic Julia, and -fled to summon Mrs. Pippy to behold the unconventional -guest. Mrs. Pippy gazed disapprovingly, shook her -handsome silvery head as if to say, “Mr. Pritchard’s -action in bringing this tomboy home for us -to care for is quite beyond <span class='it'>me</span>!” and retired to her -room again, still shaking her head.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia awakened her sleepy charge. “Come with -me, Tammy, darlin’,” she pleaded. “Sure, the flure is -no place for you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is very soft,” Tamea protested. “And very -warm, for such a cold country.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Wait till Sooey Wan—bad cess to him!—puts the -furnace out. Ye’d be froze shtiff in the mornin’, -Tammy——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My name is Tamea Oluolu Larrieau. You may -call me Tamea, but to others I must be Mademoiselle -Larrieau.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, sure, why not lave me call ye Tammy? Not a -one but me will use that name.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Your desire is granted because you are kind to -me, Julia.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, Tammy. Here, sit you down in this -chair and I’ll take off your shlippers. . . . Now, thin, -here’s your nightgown. Take off your clothes and -put the nightgown on whilst I fix the bed for you and -get you a dhrink of wather.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea held up Mrs. Pippy’s nightgown and looked -it over critically. “The wife of the missionary in Riva -had several such as this,” she commented. “It is not -pretty. I had prettier ones than this aboard ship, but—for -a reason—I brought no baggage ashore with -me. I do not like this garment.” She tossed it through -the open bathroom door into the tub.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now, Tammy,” began Julia, mildly expostulating.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will not wear it, Julia.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sure, why not, Tammy, you little ninny, you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What is a ninny?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Heaven knows,” the helpless Julia replied, “but I’m -thinkin’ I’m it, whatever it may be. Why won’t you -wear the nightgown, Tammy? Sure all nice -gir’rls——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It belongs to her,” said Tamea and pointed majestically -upward. “It bears the letter <span class='it'>P</span>.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Be the Rock of Cashel,” sighed poor Julia, “you’re -windictive so you are,” and without further ado she -went upstairs and brought down one of her own plain -<span class='it'>chemises de nuit</span>. Without a word Tamea donned it -and crept dutifully into bed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you not say your prayers before you get into -bed, Tammy?” the pious Julia queried reproachfully.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea shook her head, dark and beautiful against -the snowy pillow. Julia sighed. Her own problems -were always dumped, metaphorically speaking, in the -lap of her Christian God, night and morning.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This is truly a bed for a queen,” said Tamea -thoughtfully. “Is Monsieur Dan Pritchard, then, a -very rich man?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He have barrels of it,” Julia replied reverently.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My father gave me to him, Julia.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Faith, an’ that’s where he showed his common sinse. -Divil a finer gintleman could you find the wide wur’rld -over.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fell a long silence. Then: “Where is Madame -Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The masther has never been married, Tammy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What? Has he, then, in his house none but serving -women?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ssh! Don’t talk like that, Tammy. Of course he -hasn’t.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Strange,” murmured Tamea thoughtfully. “He -is different from other men of his race. Have no women -sought his favor?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia was embarrassed and exasperated. “How the -divil should I know?” she protested indignantly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You live in this house. You are his servant. Have -you not ears? Are you blind?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I never shpy on the masther.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps,” Tamea suggested, “it is because Monsieur -Dan Pritchard has a hatred of women.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sorra bit o’ that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then is it that women have a hatred of him?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“They’d give the two eyes out of their heads to -marry him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>A silence. “All this is very strange, Julia.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t worry about it, Tammy. Go to sleep now.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Here is a great mystery. Has Monsieur Dan -Pritchard, then, no children?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Heaven forbid!” Julia was now thoroughly scandalized.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Here <span class='it'>is</span> a mystery. Does he not desire sons to inherit -his name and wealth?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I never discussed the matther wit’ him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This is, indeed, a strange country with strange -customs.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We’ll think o’ that in the mornin’, Tammy darlin’. -Shall I put out the light?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, my good Julia. Good night.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good night, dear.” Julia switched off the light -and retired to the door. Here, poised for flight, she -turned and shot back at her charge a question that -had been perplexing her:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Are you a Protestant or a Catholic, Tammy?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Neither,” murmured Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Glory be! ’Tis not a Jew you are?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, what, thin?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Are you trying to convert me, Julia?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then why do you ask?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m that curious, Tammy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you act like a missionary’s wife I shall dismiss -you from my service, Julia. I have no religion. I am -free. I do what I jolly well please. Yes, you bet.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“An’ there’s an idea for you!” Julia soliloquized as -she passed softly out. “Begorry, we’ll have a grand -time of it with that one, so we will. Somebody’s been -puttin’ notions in her head. <span class='it'>Ochone!</span> Where the divil -was that one raised, I dunno. Angel that she is to -look at she’s had a slack father an’ mother, I’ll lay -odds on that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia sighed and went downstairs to seek the aid of -Sooey Wan in scratching out the numbers of her choice -on a ticket for the next day’s drawing in the Chinese -lottery. She found Sooey Wan washing the dishes and -singing softly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Are you singin’ or cryin’, Sooey Wan?” Julia -greeted him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hullah for hell,” said Sooey Wan. He tossed a -soup plate to the ceiling and caught it deftly as it -came down. “Boss ketchum velly nice girl,” he began.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Can’t the poor man be kind to an orphan without -you, you yellow divil, puttin’ dogs in windows?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Velly nice,” Sooey Wan repeated doggedly. “Pretty -soon I think give boss many sons.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Say-y-y, what sort o’ place is this gettin’ to be, -anyhow?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Pretty soon Sooey Wan think this going be legular -place. One house no ketchum baby, no legular house.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Say nothin’ to Mrs. Pippy of what’s in that ould -head of yours, Sooey Wan. What wit’ one haythen -downstairs an’ another upstairs the woman’ll be givin’ -notice.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan pulled open a drawer in the kitchen table -and tossed out a handful of bills and silver. “Ketchum -ten spot for you today, Julia,” he explained. “You -lucky. Ketchum ten spot, ketchum pearl.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Faith, you’ll catch more than that if you don’t -lear’rn to mind your own business,” Julia warned him.</p> - -<hr class='tbk'/> - -<p class='pindent'>Long after the household had retired Dan Pritchard -sat before the living room fireplace reviewing in his -mind’s eye the startling events of that day. He felt -depressed, obsessed by an unreasonable, wholly inexplicable -presentiment of events still more startling to -occur in the not very distant future.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As a rule, the majority of women puzzled Dan, many -of them frightened him, and all of them disturbed him. -Of all the women he had ever known, Maisie Morrison -alone appeared to possess the gift of contributing to -his mental rest, his sense of spiritual well-being, even -while her practical, definite and positive personality -occasionally disturbed his creature comfort, robbed -him of that sense of leadership and strength which it -is the right of all men to exhibit toward the women -of their choice, and appeared to render null and void -the necessity for any exhibition of the protective instinct. -Infrequently Dan complained to himself that -Maisie would be a transcendently wonderful girl if she -but possessed just a trifle more imagination; having -convinced himself that this was so, he would watch -for definite evidence to convict Maisie of such a lack, -only to be hurled back into his old state of mental confusion -by indubitable evidence that Maisie could read -him and his innermost thoughts as readily as if he -were a signboard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When he had complained to Maisie that morning -that he was a square peg in the round hole, he had -voiced the unrest which all born radicals experience -when forced to live conservatively. For Dan knew -he was a radical in his viewpoint on many things held -sacred by his conservative brethren; he knew he lacked -the instinctive caution and constructive conservatism -so evident in Maisie. He felt as one whose soul was -hobbled with a ball and chain. Maisie, he knew, suffered -from no such sense of repression, and this -knowledge of her mental freedom sometimes forced -upon him a secret, almost womanish irritation.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sometimes Dan was almost convinced that he ought -to rid himself of his habit of introspection, marry -Maisie and live happily ever afterward. Then, just as -he would be almost on the point of growing loverlike, -Maisie would seem to pop out at him from a mental -ambush; would seem to lay a cool finger on the soul of -him and say quite positively: “Here, Dan, is where it -hurts. The pain isn’t where you think it is at all. -You are a foolish, imaginative man, and if you do not -heed my direction now, you will eventually regret that -you did not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And then Dan, outwardly smiling and expansive -but inwardly glum and shriveling, would tell himself -that he could never, never dwell in idyllic married bliss -with such a dominating and interfering woman; and -Maisie, secretly furious, baffled, would watch him -change from the devoted admirer to the warm friend.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tonight Dan decided that he was, beyond the -slightest vestige of a doubt, tremendously fond of -Maisie Morrison. But—he was not at all certain that -he loved her well enough to ask her to marry him; he -marveled now, more than ever previously, what imp of -impulse had moved him to kiss her that morning. How -warm and sweet and responsive had been that momentary -pressure of her lips to his? He visualized again -that lambent light that had leaped into her eyes. . . -had he gone too far?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The telephone in the booth under the stairs in the -entrance hall rang faintly. He reached for the extension -telephone on the living room table and said: -“Yes, Maisie?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How did you know it was I?” Maisie’s voice demanded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I cannot answer that question, Maisie. I merely -knew. You see, I was just beginning to think that -I might have called you up and——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed, yes,” she interrupted. How like her, he -reflected. Her agile brain was always leaping ahead -to a conclusion and landing on it fairly and squarely. -“I have waited three hours for a report from you, -Dan, and when eleven o’clock came and you had not -telephoned I couldn’t restrain my curiosity any longer. -Mrs. Pippy telephoned about seven o’clock and told -me an extraordinary and unbelievable tale of a semi-savage -young woman whom you had brought home -and established as a guest in your bachelor domicile. -Mrs. Pippy tried her best to appear calm, but I -sensed——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m quite certain you did, Maisie,” he interrupted -in turn. “You sensed Mrs. Pippy’s amazement, indignation -and disapproval. You’re the most marvelous -woman for sensing things that I have ever -known.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But then, Dan,” she reminded him, “you haven’t -known very many women intimately. You’re such a -shy man. Sometimes I think you must have gleaned -all of your knowledge of my sex from your father -and Sooey Wan. Who is the South Sea belle, Dan, -and what <span class='it'>do</span> you mean by picking up with such a -creature and expecting me to help you render her -presentable?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I didn’t expect you to, Maisie. I didn’t ask you -and I didn’t suggest that Mrs. Pippy ask you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I couldn’t get any very coherent information from -Mrs. Pippy. She was greatly agitated. However, I -called Julia up a few minutes later and from Julia I -learned that your guest hasn’t sufficient of a wardrobe -to pad a crutch.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia is very amusing,” he replied evenly. “However, -do not think the young lady arrived here in a -hula-hula costume. I am her guardian.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you know you are?” Maisie demanded, a -bit crisply.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her father, Captain Larrieau, of our schooner -Moorea, asked me to be before he died this afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hum-m-m!” Maisie was silent momentarily. “How -like a man to think he can fill such an order without -outside help.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was exasperated. “There you go, Maisie,” he -complained, “jumping to a conclusion.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If I’ve jumped to a conclusion, Dan, rest assured -I have landed squarely on my objective. Why didn’t -you telephone me the instant you reached home with -your ward? I would have been happy to aid you, -Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am sure you would have been, Maisie, but—well——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I knew I was right, Dan. The only way I can -find things out is to be rude and ask questions. You -thought I might not approve of——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of what?” he demanded triumphantly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of the young woman you brought home with you, -of course.” Maisie’s voice carried just a hint of -irritation.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Certainly not. I was certain you would approve -of her. She’s quite a child—about seventeen or eighteen -years old, I should say—and a perfectly dazzling creature—ah, -that is, amazingly interesting in her directness, -her frankness, her unconventionality and innocence. -I do hope you’ll like her. I thought at first -I could entrust her to Mrs. Pippy but——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I gathered as much, Dan. Now, start at the beginning -and tell me everything about her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan complied with her demand. When the recital -was ended, said Maisie: “What are you going to do -with her, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My instructions from her father were to educate -her and affiance her to some worthy fellow. I shall -cast my eye around the local French colony after the -girl has completed her schooling. She has a fortune -of approximately a quarter of a million dollars—always -an interesting subject for contemplation and -discussion in the matrimonial preliminaries.” He -heard her chuckle softly and realized that she found -amusement visualizing him in the role of a matchmaker. -“I suppose,” he ventured, “you’re wondering why I -didn’t take her to a hotel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Any other man in your sphere of life would, but -I am not so optimistic as to expect you to do the usual -thing. I’m consumed with curiosity to see your Tamea, -Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A meeting can be arranged,” he answered dryly. -“As soon as my little queen has had an opportunity -to purchase a wardrobe befitting her rank and wealth, -I shall be happy to have you presented at court, -Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I suppose you’re going to select her wardrobe?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, I think Julia will attend to that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In heaven’s name, Dan, why Julia? Have you -ever seen Julia all dressed up and about to set out -for Golden Gate Park? Mrs. Pippy has excellent -taste.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mrs. Pippy is not, I fear, the favorite of the queen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then I shall attend to her outfitting, Dan.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Will you, Maisie, dear?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course, idiot.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, that lifts a burden off my shoulders.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You do not deserve such consideration, Dan. -You’re too uncommunicative when you are the possessor -of amazing news. However, you’re such a -helpless, blundering Simple Simon I knew somebody -would have to manage you while you’re managing -Tamea. So I concluded to volunteer for the sacrifice.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Maisie, you’re a peach. I could kiss you for that -speech.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Really, you’re running wild, Dan. You kissed me -once today. And I’ve been wondering why ever since.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How should I know?” he confessed. He had a -sudden, freakish impulse to annoy her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Stupid! Were I as stupid as you—— I’ll be at -your house at about ten o’clock tomorrow and take -charge of your problem.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I shall be eternally grateful.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And eternally silly and eternally afraid of me and -what I’m going to think about everything. I could -pull your nose. Good night.” She hung up without -waiting for his answer.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I fear me Maisie is the bossy, efficient type of young -woman,” he soliloquized as he replaced the receiver. “I -hope she and Tamea will hit it off together. I sincerely -hope it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At midnight Sooey Wan came in from Chinatown, -following a prodigious burning of devil papers in a -local joss-house and a somewhat profitable two hours -of poker.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His slant eyes appraised Dan kindly. “Boss,” he -ordered, “go bed. You all time burn ’em too muchee -light, too muchee coal, too muchee wood. Cost muchee -money.” He moved briskly about the room, switching -off the electric light. “Too muchee thinkee, too muchee -headache,” he warned Dan. “You not happy, boss, -you thinkee too much. No good!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, confound your Oriental philosophy!” Dan -rasped back at him. “The curse of it is, you’re -right!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan pointed authoritatively upward and -Dan slowly climbed the stairs to his room.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Thus ended a momentous day.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER VIII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>At breakfast the following morning Maisie Morrison -decided to make no mention to her aunt -and uncle of the interesting bit of news concerning -Dan Pritchard of which she was the possessor.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Always cautious and conservative, she preferred to -place herself in full possession of the facts in the case, -and to have this information bolstered up by her own -feeling about the situation following a meeting with -Dan’s ward, before discussing his business with anybody.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie was mildly amused in the knowledge that Dan, -of all men, should have such a problem thrust upon -him; she looked forward with no little interest to -watching the peculiar man approach his unusual duty. -She expected if she mentioned the matter that old Casson -would laugh patronizingly and pretend to find the -situation devoid of a mature man’s interest; he might -even indulge himself in some light and caustic criticism, -with a touch of elephantine humor in it. That had -seemed to be his attitude toward Dan for a year past -and Maisie resented it fiercely—all the more fiercely, -in fact, because her position in Casson’s household forbade -an expression of her resentment.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think I shall motor to Del Monte this morning -for two weeks of golf,” old Casson announced to his -wife and Maisie at breakfast. “Suppose you two pack -up and go with me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think that would be delightful, John,” his wife -replied.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have other fish to fry. Sorry!” Maisie answered -him. “If you had hinted of this yesterday, Uncle -John——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My dear Maisie, the idea but this moment occurred -to me. Better alter your plans and come along.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She shook her head.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It occurred to me this instant—as I have already -stated—” Casson continued, “to escape boredom for -two weeks. Our schooner Moorea is in port and will remain -here that long, in all probability. That means -the office will be set by the heels. Her bear-like skipper, -Larrieau, will go roaring from one room to the -other, disturbing everybody except Pritchard and -amusing everybody except me. I cannot tolerate the -man, and if I should see too much of him I fear I might -forget his record for efficiency and dismiss him. He -was a pet of Dan’s father, and Dan, too, makes much -of him. I dislike pets in a business office.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie looked at him coolly. “Then you will be -happy to know that your contemplated exile to Del -Monte is quite unnecessary, Uncle John. Captain Larrieau -was discovered, upon arrival, to be a leper, so -he sent ashore for Dan, settled all of his business and -committed suicide by drowning yesterday evening.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Bless my soul! Where did you glean this astounding -intelligence?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I talked with Dan over the telephone late last -night.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You should have told me sooner, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Old Casson’s voice was stern; his weak, handsome -face pretended chagrin.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why? What a question! Isn’t the man in my employ—or, -at least, wasn’t he?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He was in the employ of Casson and Pritchard, -and Dan Pritchard has attended to the matter for the -firm.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I should have been communicated with immediately. -Pritchard should have telephoned to me, not to you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh dear, Uncle John! One would think you revered -the man so highly you planned to have the bay dragged -to recover his body, instead of being happy in the -knowledge that you have gotten rid of the nuisance.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Humph-h-h-h! We’ll not discuss it further, my -dear. However, it is difficult for me to refrain from -expressing my irritation. How like young Pritchard -it was to disregard me entirely in this matter! For all -the deference or consideration that fellow pays me as -the senior member of the firm, I might as well be a -traffic policeman.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie’s fine eyes flamed in sudden anger. “Has it -ever occurred to you, Uncle John, that in declining to -annoy you with unnecessary details, by his persistence -in relieving you of the labor and worry of the business -management of Casson and Pritchard, Dan may be -showing you the courtesy and consideration due you -as the senior member of the firm?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not a back number—yet, Maisie,” he assured -her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why do you not buy him out, Uncle John? He -seems to be a very great trial to you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Old Casson appeared to consider this suggestion -very seriously as he gravely tapped the shell of his -matutinal egg. “That isn’t a half bad idea, Maisie,” -he answered. “At present, however, I am scarcely -in position to buy his interest. I anticipate this condition -will be materially changed within the next three -or four months, and then——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He paused eloquently and scooped his egg into the -glass.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I infer you have a hen on,” Maisie suggested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps the metaphor would be less mixed if we -substituted a goose for the hen. I believe the goose -is the fowl currently credited with the ability to lay -golden eggs.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“John Casson!” His wife now spoke for the first -time. “Are you mixed in another gamble?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Not at all, my dear, not at all. I have invested -in several cargoes of Chinese rice at a very low price, -and I have sold one cargo at a very high price. I -am holding the others for the crest of a market that -is rising like a toy balloon. It isn’t gambling, my dear. -It’s just a mortal certainty.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The good lady sighed. How often, in the thirty -years of her life with John Casson, had she heard him, -in those same buoyant, confident, mellifluous tones, assure -her of the infallibility of victory due to his -superior judgment!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As usual, Maisie placed her finger on the sore spot. -“What does Dan think of it, Uncle John?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He doesn’t think anything, my dear. He doesn’t -know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, I see! This is a private venture of yours?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded. “Yes—and no, Maisie. It’s a Casson -and Pritchard deal, only I’m engineering it myself. -I’m going to prove to that overconfident young man -the truth of the old saying ‘Nothing risked, nothing -gained.’ Why, the biggest thing in years lay right -under his nose—and he passed it by.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He was in Honolulu on that pineapple deal when -you stumbled across this good thing, was he not, Uncle -John?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, but then he knew about it before he left for -Honolulu.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, I hope you’ll make a killing, Uncle John.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He beamed his thanks upon her. “When I do—and -I cannot <span class='it'>help</span> doing it—I’m going to be mighty nice -to my niece,” he assured her. “However,” he continued -reminiscently, “my day for taking a sporting -chance is over. I’ve learned my lesson.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Have you?” his wife ventured hopefully.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Just to prove to you that I have,” he challenged, -“if I get an offer of twenty-four cents per pound, f.o.b. -Havana, today, I’ll sell every pound of rice I have -in transit or hold under purchase contract.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What was the market yesterday, John?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Twenty-three cents.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sell at that today,” Maisie urged him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He smiled and shook his head. These women! How -little they knew of the great game of business! How -little did they realize that, to succeed, a man must -be possessed of an amazing courage, a stupendous belief -in his own powers, in his knowledge of the game -he is playing. Maisie read him accurately. He was -as easy to read as an electric sign.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When he had departed for the office, Mrs. Casson, -a dainty, very youthful appearing woman of fifty-five, -and long since robbed of any illusions concerning certain -impossible phases of her husband’s character -spoke up:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sometimes, Maisie, I suspect John Casson is in -his second childhood.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re wrong, Auntie. In some respects he hasn’t -emerged from his first childhood. For instance, Uncle -John is nurturing the belief that Dan isn’t aware of -his operations.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You think Dan knows?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m sure of it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Has he told you so?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He ought to be told.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I shall tell him—this very morning. Uncle John, -wrapped in his supreme sense of self-sufficiency, appears -to have forgotten that in an unlimited partnership -each partner is irrevocably bound by the actions -of the other.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I wonder at Dan’s patience with him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not. Dan has explained it to me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Casson’s maternal glance dwelt tenderly upon -her dead sister’s daughter. “Maisie, I want to talk -to you about Dan,” she began, but Maisie raised a -deprecating hand.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What profit could possibly arise from such a discussion?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Casson, however, was a woman driven by curiosity. -“I wonder if he is in love with you, my dear. -Sometimes I am almost certain of it, and at other -times I am not so certain.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think dear old simple Dan finds himself similarly -afflicted.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well?” The query, the inflection and the dramatic -pause before the good soul continued were not lost on -Maisie. “Why don’t you do something about it, dear?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why should I?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re twenty-four years old—and certainly Dan -Pritchard is the most eligible bachelor in your set. -And I know you’re very, very fond of him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Everybody is. He is wholly lovable.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, then, Maisie——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Men dislike pursuit, dear. That is their peculiar -prerogative. I prefer to be dear to Dan Pritchard, -as his closest friend, rather than to disturb him as -a prospective wife. Dan is old-fashioned, quite dignified, -idealistic, altruistic, artistic, and as shy and -retiring as a rabbit. I’m certain he isn’t the least bit -interested in your plans to alter his scheme of existence -by adding a wife to it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’d marry Dan Pritchard tomorrow if he asked -you today.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps,” Maisie agreed. “However, I shall not -pursue him nor shall I hurl myself at him. I prefer -to operate on the principle that, after all, I may prove -more or less eligible myself!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You desire to be pursued, I see.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What woman does not—by the right man?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then is Dan Pritchard the right man?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No woman could really answer such a question -truthfully until after she had been married to Dan. -I have never given much thought to Dan as a matrimonial -possibility.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That is an admission that you have at least given -him <span class='it'>some</span> thought, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course, silly. What is a girl to think when a -man’s freakish humor dictates that he shall develop all -of the outward evidences of a sentimental interest one -week and shrink from exhibiting the slightest evidence -of it a week later? Sometimes I think that Dan is -a habit with me; sometimes I’m quite certain I am a -habit with him. I think I was twelve years old when -Dan took me to a vaudeville show one Saturday afternoon. -I remember I held his hand all through the -show and he fed me so much candy I was ill. However, -he is a pleasant and delightful habit to me, and -I am not anxious to renounce him; I hope he feels -the same toward me. By the way, I have an engagement -with him this morning. I must run along and -dress.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She left her aunt gazing speculatively after her. -Mrs. Casson shook her head and sighed. “It’s her -frightful spirit of independence,” she soliloquized. -“She scares him away. I just know it. And I do -wish I knew what to do about it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Providentially, she did not!</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER IX</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Promptly at ten o’clock the Casson limousine -deposited Maisie in front of the Pritchard residence. -Dan, watching for her appearance from behind -the front window curtains, observed that two -young women and a fussy, somewhat threadbare little -man of undoubted Hebraic ancestry emerged from the -limousine and followed her up the stairs.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia opened the door and Maisie led her followers -into the living room. “Good morning, Dan,” she -greeted him and gave him her hand. “I’ve brought -half a dozen evening dresses which may or may not -impress your ward; also a model to parade the dresses -for Tamea’s inspection, and a fitter to note the necessary -alterations. Of course, she’ll have to have some -street clothes, so I’ve brought Rubenstein, my tailor, -to take measurements.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“By Jupiter, Maisie, you’re a marvel! You think -of everything.” He pressed Maisie’s hand in his. -“You may ask Miss Larrieau if she will be good enough -to come down to the living room, Julia,” he directed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will go up with Julia,” Maisie said, and followed -the maid.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The Queen of Riva sat in a small, low chair before -the window. She wore a dark silk dressing gown, which -the democratic Julia had filched from Dan Pritchard’s -clothes closet, and she was gazing down into the street, -gray and wet with fog. Her elbows rested on her -knees, her face reposed in her hands, and she was weeping, -silently and without a quiver. Julia went to her, -patted her wet cheek and said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Look up, Tammy darlin’. Here is Miss Morrison -to see you. Miss Morrison is the kind leddy that sint -over the nice dhress for you last night, an’ sure she -has tailors an’ cloak models and dhressmakers an’ -dhresses downshtairs waitin’ for you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea dried her eyes, shook her wonderful hair -back over her ivory brow, rose slowly and faced Maisie -with a certain cool deliberation. Her eyes swept -Maisie’s figure; she forced a smile of greeting.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am—happy to—meet—Miss Morrison. When -one is—almost—alone and very unhappy—kindness -from a stranger is like the sun that comes to dry the -sails, following a storm.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her greeting is as regal as her bearing,” was -Maisie’s thought. She favored Tamea with a courteous -little nod and her bright smile—then held out her -hand. Tamea hesitated, then extended her own.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are Maisie?” she queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I am Maisie. How did you know, Miss -Larrieau?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I guessed,” Tamea answered simply. “You are a -much nicer woman than I had expected to meet.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie flushed, partly with pleasure, partly with -embarrassment. “I shall try to be nice to you, Miss -Larrieau, always.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You may call me Tamea, if you please. I shall -call you Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Will ye listen to that!” Julia declared happily. -“Sure, Tammy’s no different from the rest of us. She’s -in love wit’ you at sight, Miss Morrison, so she is.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think with you, Tamea, that we should dispense -with formality. I shall be happy to be your friend -and to help you to adjust your life to new conditions.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I accept your friendship.” Tamea’s words came -slowly, gravely. “You are not a woman of common -blood.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie stepped close to her, removed from her fingers -the sodden little ball of a handkerchief and replaced -it with a fresh one of filmy lace from her handbag. -“Tell my chauffeur to go back to the house and fetch -Céleste, my maid,” she ordered Julia. “Between -Céleste and me this wonderful hair shall be done exactly -right. When you come upstairs again, Julia, -bring up those boxes and the two girls in the living -room. Rubenstein shall wait.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Monsieur Dan Pritchard told me at breakfast that -Miss Morrison would call to help me select the clothing -which it is fit that I should wear in this country,” -said Tamea when they were alone.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a brunette—one of the wonderful, olive-skinned -type. With those great dark eyes and that -wealth of jet-black hair you will look amazingly chic -in something red and silvery or white. May I see your -foot, Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea sat down and thrust out a brown foot. It -was somewhat shorter and broader than Maisie had -expected to see, but the arch was high and the toes -perfect, with the great toe quite prehensile.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You have gone barefoot a great deal, Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In Riva, always. In Tahiti I wore sandals.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You will have to wear shoes here, Tamea. I think -a number five will do, but we must be very particular -not to spoil that foot. It is the only natural foot -I have ever seen except on a baby. How old are you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Eighteen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie could scarcely believe this statement. Physically -Tamea was a fully developed woman, perhaps -five feet seven inches tall, a creature of soft curves, -yet lithe and graceful and falling just a trifle -short of being slim. Her ears were delicately formed -but of generous proportions, her neck, sturdy and -muscular, swept in beautiful curves to meet a torso -full-breasted and deep.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her form is perfect, and I believe she has a magnificent -back,” thought Maisie. “Her neck and head -are Junoesque.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They were, indeed. Tamea’s head, in shape, resembled -her father’s in that it was larger than that -of most women, and of that width between the ears -which denotes brain capacity and consequently intelligence. -Her features were not small; indeed, they -were almost large, but of patrician regularity and -loveliness of line. Her brow was high and wide, her -eyebrows fine, silken and thick, while her eyelashes were -extraordinarily long, giving a slightly sleepy appearance -to large, intelligent, beautiful eyes of a very dark -brown shade—almost black. Her chin was well developed, -firm; from behind full, red, healthy lips Maisie -saw peeping fine, strong, white, regular teeth. Tamea’s -skin was clear to the point of near-transparency and -her hands were small with lovely tapered fingers.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A perfect woman,” thought Maisie. “She is more -than beautiful. She is magnificent—and when she has -been dressed properly——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of -Julia and the cloak model and fitter. Thereafter, for -an hour, Tamea dwelt in paradise. Maisie’s taste, in -the matter of dress, was undoubtedly exquisite, and -when she discovered that this exotic islander could -wear with dignity raiment which, on another woman, -would be regarded as flamboyant, Maisie felt that quiet -joy which comes to all women who discover beauty or -help to create it. Tamea, too, developed all of the -interest of her sex in the beautiful garments submitted -for her selection; so engrossing was that interest that -by the time Rubenstein had departed Tamea’s drooping -spirits had been more than a little uplifted. She -commanded Julia to summon Dan to admire such portions -of her wardrobe as she had already selected.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My dear, but you must wait until you are fully -dressed,” Mrs. Pippy cautioned her. Tamea was barefooted -and wearing the skirt of a ready-made tailored -suit, but not the coat; neither was she wearing waist -or brassiere.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why?” she demanded coolly. “Why should I demand -of Monsieur Dan Pritchard that he wait upon -my pleasure?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But you can’t receive him half dressed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea, for answer, took from the dresser a large -framed photograph of Maisie Morrison in evening -dress. “Mademoiselle Maisie was but half dressed when -she had this photograph made. Julia, call Monsieur -Dan Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Pippy’s cold blue eye warned Julia that the -price of obedience might be prohibitive. Julia hesitated.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea, Queen of Riva, stamped a bare foot. “Obey -me!” she commanded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Och, sure now, Tammy, darlin’, listen to Mrs. -Pippy, there’s a dear——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There will be no talk. Obey!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia,” said Mrs. Pippy firmly, “in this house you -take your orders from me. When Miss Larrieau is -properly dressed she may receive Mr. Pritchard, but -not before.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia is my servant. She takes orders from no -one but me,” Tamea warned Mrs. Pippy. “Dan -Pritchard gave Julia to me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia is not a slave, to be given away at will, Miss -Larrieau. She must be consulted in such transactions.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Did you not accept me as your mistress, Julia?” -There could be no evasion.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I did that,” Julia confessed weakly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Summon Monsieur Dan Pritchard. Take no heed -of this woman—this Pippy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you disobey me, Julia,” Mrs. Pippy warned, “I -shall be forced to dismiss you without a reference.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you disobey <span class='it'>me</span>, Julia,” Tamea countered, “I -shall dismiss you but not until you have been beaten. -In my country that is how bad servants are treated.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia appealed to Maisie. “What shall I do, Miss -Morrison?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie sighed. “It is apparent, Julia,” she replied, -“that Mrs. Pippy and Tamea have not hit it off very -well together. Mrs. Pippy’s position in this house must -not, she very properly feels, be questioned. Tamea, -who has doubtless never heretofore had her authority -questioned, has elected to make an issue of the seat -of authority. We will seek a compromise.” She -turned to Tamea and smiled upon her kindly. “Will -you please me, Tamea, by declining to oppose Mrs. -Pippy’s authority in this house?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will not, Maisie, although I am sorry not to be -kind to you. I am not one accustomed to taking orders -and I will not have this Pippy thwart my desires. -As you say, I have elected to force the issue. -It is better thus. Why wait? Julia, for the last time, -I order you to obey my command.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Heaven help me!” groaned Julia, and turned to -open the door. Mrs. Pippy’s cool, firm voice halted -her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m thinkin’, Mrs. Pippy, ye’ll have a hard time -queenin’ it over a rale queen,” said Julia. She made -Mrs. Pippy a curious curtsy. “I quits yer service, -ma’am,” she announced, thereby in the language of -the sporting world beating the excellent Mrs. Pippy -to the punch. The door closed behind her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are dismissed. Pack and leave at once.” Thus -the Pippy edict, shouted after the retiring maid.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea smiled and watched the door until Dan -Pritchard knocked on it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Come, Dan Pritchard,” Tamea called. She was -standing in the center of the room, on parade as it -were, when he entered and permitted his amazed glance -to rest upon her. Maisie saw him recoil perceptibly, -saw him as quickly become master of the situation.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, well, what a marvelous apparition!” was all -he said.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You like these garments?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed I do, Tamea. Put the coat on, please, until -I see the fit of it. . . .” He sat down and waited until -Tamea had finished. Then: “Stunning, by Jupiter! -Maisie, I’m so grateful to you for helping Tamea and -me. You’re the shadow of a rock in a weary land.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He approached Tamea and fingered the material -in her suit. “Do you think this is quite heavy enough, -Maisie?” he queried anxiously. “Our climate is not -quite so salubrious as our little queen is accustomed -to.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea came close to him, grasping each lapel, gazing -upward at him with frank approval and admiration.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You would not care to have your Tamea die?” she -queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed, my dear, I would not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You would not care to have your Tamea put out of -this warm house to suffer in the cold?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Certainly not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You will never, never put Tamea away from you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Great Scot, no! I promised your father I’d take -care of you, child. What’s worrying you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea sighed. “I have felt the necessity to leave -this house,” she confessed, “unless assured that my -orders to my servant will not be interfered with. -Pippy grows very—well, what you call—fresh!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan sensed the approach of a cyclone and hastily -sought the cellar. “My dear Tamea,” he assured her, -“it is conceivable that you may find <span class='it'>me</span> growing what -you call fresh if you seek to impose your will on mine. -Mrs. Pippy’s orders to the servants of this house must -be obeyed by those servants. Meanwhile, try to be -nice and—er—polite to Mrs. Pippy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think you ought to know what Tamea is driving -at, Dan,” Maisie interposed. “Tamea is in open -rebellion against Mrs. Pippy and the disaffection has -spread to Julia.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mr. Pritchard,” said Mrs. Pippy with great dignity, -“I have found it necessary to dismiss Julia for -insubordination.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia belongs to me. Pippy cannot dismiss my -Julia, can she, dear Dan Pritchard?” Thus the unhappy -man was caught between the cross-fire of the conflicting -pair. Dan looked helplessly at Maisie, who -eyed him sympathetically and humorously. “Let there -be no weakness here,” Tamea warned. “I would have -my answer.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, of course, you asked me for Julia and I -said you could have her,” Dan began. At that moment -Julia entered the room. “Julia,” Dan queried, “do -you desire to remain in the service of Miss Larrieau?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Humph! Faith, I’ve never left her ser’rvice, sir.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mrs. Pippy informs me she has dismissed you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The back o’ me hand to Mrs. Pippy.” Julia had -started running true to her racial instincts, which -dictate a bold, offensive spirit in the face of -disaster.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia remains!” cried Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia goes!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Devoutly Dan wished that an old-fashioned magician -were on hand to render him invisible.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dear Mrs. Pippy,” he pleaded, “I appeal to the -undoubted wisdom of your years—to your innate sense -of proportion—er—to your—why, dash it all, this -difference of opinion about Julia has me in the very -deuce of a box. Surely you must realize, Mrs. Pippy, -the total lack of reason, of understanding, from our -viewpoint, in this child!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh,” Tamea interrupted coldly, “you think I am -a fool!” Suddenly she commenced to cry and cast -herself, sobbing, upon the Pritchard breast.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He glanced over her heaving ivory shoulders to Mrs. -Pippy, then to Maisie. “I’ve taken a big contract,” -he complained.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia goes,” said Mrs. Pippy firmly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea heard the edict and her round, wonderful -arms clasped Dan Pritchard a trifle tighter—it seemed -that her heart was just one notch closer to -disintegration.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia stays,” she sobbed. “You gave Julia to your -Tamea—yes, you did—you did—<span class='it'>you did</span>!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Suddenly, impelled by what cosmic force he knew -not, Dan Pritchard made his decision and with it -precipitated upon his defenseless head a swarm of -troubles. “Excuse me, dear Mrs. Pippy,” he said -gently. “I am sorry to have to veto your decision, -which I trust is not an unalterable one. Julia—confound -her Celtic skin—stays!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mrs. Pippy bowed her silvery head with the utmost -composure and swept magnificently from the -room; Tamea raised her tear-stained face from Dan’s -breast, took a Pritchard ear in each hand, drew his -face down to hers and rewarded him for his fearless -stand with a somewhat moist and fervent kiss. Maisie, -watching the tableau composedly, felt a sharp, sudden -stab of resentment against Tamea—or was it jealousy?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, that’s settled,” she remarked dryly, and -Dan sensed the sting.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He looked at his watch. “Got to be going down to -the office,” he mumbled, presenting the first excuse for -escape that came to his mind. His anxious glance -searched Maisie’s blue eyes in vain for that humorous -glint that had marked them when he first entered the -room. “Please help me, Maisie,” he murmured appealingly. -“I’ve got my hands full.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie nodded. “I’ll try to undo the mischief, Dan. -By the way, Uncle John told me something this morning -that you ought to know. He’s up to his silly eyebrows -in the rice market.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The double-crossing old idiot! I had begun to -suspect he was up to some skull-duggery. I was on his -trail and would have smoked him out in a day or two.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I imagine that is why he told Auntie and me about -it. He wanted me to break the news to you, I think.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan’s head hung low on his breast—the sad Abraham -Lincoln look was in his face and in his troubled -eyes. Tamea, looking up at him very soberly now, -read the distress which, momentarily, he could not -conceal; in a sudden burst of sympathy her arm -started to curve around his neck.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, stop it, stop it, Tamea!” Maisie cried sharply. -“Mr. Pritchard is not accustomed to such intimate -personal attentions from comparative strangers.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea drew away from Dan quickly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dress yourself!” Maisie commanded. “Julia, help -her. Dan, run along and try not to worry.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s eyes flashed, but nevertheless she sat down -and when Julia handed her a pair of black silken hose -she commenced dutifully to draw them on.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Much obliged for the tip, Maisie. I’ll start a riot -in Casson and Pritchard’s office this very day. By -the way, I think Mrs. Pippy is on her high horse. -Please try to wheedle her down.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mrs. Pippy has resigned, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The deuce she has; how do you know?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, any woman of spirit would.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He pondered this.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, well, let her go if she wants to. She’s scarcely -human at times. Well, if she insists upon leaving I’ll -give her a year’s salary in advance. . . . Damnation. -. . . Good morning, Maisie, dear. Please try to reason -with—the sundry females about this house. . . . -Tamea, I go to my office. Be a good girl.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are my father and my mother,” she replied -humbly. “I will kiss you farewell.” And she did it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This primitive young witch has been in this house -less than twenty-four hours and already she has kissed -that defenseless man twice in my presence. I have -known Dan all my life—and I have kissed him but -once,” Maisie thought.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The stab of resentment, of jealousy, perhaps, was -more poignant this time; in addition Maisie was just -a little bit peeved at the ease with which Tamea had -achieved her victory.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie had sufficient imagination to understand why -Tamea, daughter of a thousand despots, with the instinct -to rule complicated by the desire, must be excused -for precipitating the clash with Mrs. Pippy. -But what Maisie could also understand very clearly, -since she too was a woman, was that Tamea, by the -grace of her sex and her shameless effrontery in using -every wile of that sex, was likely to become absolute -master of Dan Pritchard’s establishment. The man -was helpless before her. Maisie permitted a challenging -gleam in the glance which she now bent upon Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea intercepted that glance and interpreted it -correctly. It was as if Maisie had heliographed to -her: “Young lady, you’ve got a fight on your hands.” -Without an instant’s hesitation Tamea’s smoky orbs -acknowledged the message and flashed back the reply: -“Very well. I accept the challenge.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Then Maisie smiled, and Tamea, with hot resentment -in her heart, smiled back.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER X</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan left his home with the alacrity of one who -seeks escape from a most uncomfortable situation. -As a bachelor he was conscious of the fact that -this morning there had been four women too many in -his life. He cringed from the prospect of having Mrs. -Pippy resign his service in a huff. He hoped she would, -under Maisie’s cogent reasoning, consent to make allowances -for Tamea until Maisie should have impressed -upon the latter the fact that in a white democracy a -South Sea Island queen was expected to be seen and -not heard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea is such a child,” Dan told himself. “And a -spoiled child at that. Old Gaston has permitted her -to do exactly as she pleased, and now the task of correcting -that mistake is mine. It isn’t going to be an -easy task, and what’s more I haven’t the slightest idea -where to commence and where to stop. . . . What fragrant -hair she has. . . such an appealing creature. -When she weeps she’s just a broken-hearted little girl -. . . makes me want to take her on my knee and soothe -her. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Maisie’s nose went up a trifle the first time the -child kissed me, and there was steel in her voice when -she reproved Tamea. Fine state of affairs if she and -Tamea fail to hit it off together and Tamea elects -to use me as a club to hurt Maisie. I have a feeling -it would be like her to try! Come to think of it, most -women would! As soon as Tamea has adjusted herself -to her new life, I’ll pack her off to some select -school.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He picked up the annunciator and ordered Graves -to halt alongside the first newsstand he could find. -Thus presently he found himself with half a dozen -magazines, skimming through their advertising pages -in search of some hint of the most advantageous school -for girls of Tamea’s sort. Preferably the school should -be situated in the center of a boundless prairie; as -an additional safeguard, it should be surrounded by -a very tall barbed-wire fence or a cactus hedge and -sans communication with the outside world.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>By the time Graves had deposited him on the sidewalk -before his office building the problem of the right -school was as far from solution as ever, and a growing -resentment against Gaston of the Beard was rising in -Dan’s heart. Down under the Southern Cross the -problem of living was an easy one. Why, then, had -Gaston transplanted this girl to a land where the -problem was so complicated—where she was so certain -to add to the complications?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I feel tremendous events portending,” Dan soliloquized. -“The very foundations of my life are -tottering.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>On his desk he found a memorandum from his secretary -to the effect that he was to call Miss Morrison -at his home the moment he came in.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hello, Dan’l!” Maisie’s voice carried a triumphant -note that cheered him wonderfully. “I merely wanted -to relieve your mind of your domestic worries before -you crossed swords with Uncle John. I have had a -talk with Mrs. Pippy and she will remain—for the -present at least.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll raise her monthly stipend very materially,” he -answered gratefully. “Have you talked to Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, but I shall, Dan. I realize the precise proportions -of the predicament your generous acceptance of -a white man’s burden has placed you in. So, my dear, -I dare say I shall have to stand at thy right hand and -hold the bridge with thee.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“God bless you for that, Maisie. I think Tamea is -a wonderfully affectionate girl—fiery, but generous, -loyal and grateful, but hard to handle. She must be -appealed to through her heart rather than her head.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You don’t know anything about it, Dan.” Maisie -rather bit that sentence off short. “That’s her plan -for ruling you—via your soft heart and your softer -head. The girl Tamea has brains, she can reason and -she can understand, and the instant she realizes that -your words of wisdom are about to undermine her opposition -to your desires, she will make a flying leap for -your manly breast——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you really think she might develop such a -habit?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan, she’s a fully developed woman——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t build me a mare’s nest, Maisie. She’s just -a little girl.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Have it your way. But I warn you she’s the sort -of little girl that a respectable bachelor cannot afford -to have around his house a day longer than is quite -necessary. That sounds catty, Dan, but I know -whereof I speak.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I suppose I’ll have to do something radical -and do it quickly,” he agreed. “Thank you, Maisie—a -million thanks.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Happy to be of service to you, old boy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Maisie! Will you accord me another favor?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Certainly. What is it?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Consider yourself duly and affectionately kissed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh! Dan, you’re developing a habit. But don’t -you think two kisses are quite sufficient to start the -day with?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That was a little mean feminine jab, Maisie. -Good-by. I’m going to hang up.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He did, albeit smiling and much relieved. He could -now turn to the task of standing old John Casson on -the latter’s snowy head, so to speak, and see how much -rice would run out of his pockets.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Experience had taught Dan that the best way to -handle his partner was to rough him from the start, -for, like all weak and pompous men, Casson was not -superabundantly endowed with courage or the ability -to think fast and clearly under fire. He would fight -defensively but never offensively, and Dan had discovered -the great fundamental truth that the offensive -generally wins, the defensive never.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He summoned his secretary. “Miss Mather, please -inform Mr. Casson that I desire to confer with him—in -my office—immediately.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As he had anticipated, old Casson obeyed him without -question.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, boy, what have you got on your mind this -morning?” he began genially.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Rice,” Dan answered curtly. “Sit down.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Casson walked to the window, looked out over the -vista of bay and commenced thinking as rapidly as he -could under the circumstances.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I told you to sit down,” Dan reminded him crisply. -“I mean it. Sit down and face me. I want to look -into your face and smoke the deception out of it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“By the gods of war, I’ll not stand such talk from -any man!” Old Casson had decided to bluster.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan glowered at him. “You’ll stand it from me. -You’ve got some rice deals on in this crazy market and -you’ve kept the news of your operations from me. -Have you speculated any in coffee or sugar?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, no, Dan. Nothing but rice.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What sort of rice have you committed us to—California -or Oriental?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Both.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Playing alone or in a pool?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Alone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How much California rice have you purchased?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“One million sacks.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Paid for any of it?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Half of it. Balance in sixty days.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Where is the rice?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Scattered in various warehouses throughout the -upper Sacramento valley.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I didn’t notice that our bank account had been -particularly depleted during the month I was in -Hawaii. You bought the rice on open credit, hypothecated -the warehouse receipts with various banks, paid -for half the rice with the proceeds and used the remainder -of the loan to pyramid with. I suppose you -sunk that in a little jag of Philippine rice.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I did,” Casson admitted, flushed and anxious. He -had seated himself, facing Dan.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Holding your warehoused rice for a rising market, -eh?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Suppose the bottom drops out?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Casson shrugged and for the first time smiled. “I -think, Pritchard, you’ll have to admit that I’ve put -one over on you this time, and what’s more, you’re going -to like it. I bought that California rice at prices -ranging from nine and a quarter to ten and a half -cents per pound, and today it is worth twenty. We -stand to clean up a hundred thousand dollars on that -lot alone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We are engaged in legitimate business, not food -profiteering. Can you dispose of that million sacks -readily?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Had an offer of twenty cents for it this morning.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Reliable people?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Rated up to five million, A-A-A-one.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Cash?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, ninety days.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Suspicious. Don’t like ninety-day paper. The -banks are beginning to discriminate in their loans. All -over the country there has been a wide expansion of -credit in all lines, due to war-time prosperity, and my -guess is that the demand for credit will soon result in -the usual banking situation. The banks will discover -that their loans have so increased as to be out of proportion -to their reserves and deposits; and if the banks -once get frightened, business will be crippled overnight.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Pooh, no danger of that for a couple of years yet, -Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“On that subject I prefer sounder advice than -yours, Mr. Casson. Call up the people who want that -rice and tell them we’re willing to cut our price considerably -if they will pay cash.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sorry, but it can’t be done, my boy. I’ve already -traded on a ninety-day basis. Don’t worry. We’re -perfectly safe.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“With you, the wish is father to the thought. How -much Oriental rice have you bought?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We’ve got the British steamer Malayan loading a -cargo of eight thousand tons in Manila, for Havana, -Cuba. On or about the middle of next month the -steamer Chinook will load four thousand tons at Shanghai, -for delivery at Havana.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Our specialty, of which we have a good, safe, working -knowledge, is South Sea products—mostly copra, -and the operation of ships. The shoemaker should -stick to his last. Now, then, listen to my ultimatum. -If the sun sets today and leaves Casson and Pritchard -the proprietors of rice stored anywhere except in our -respective kitchens, you and I are going to dissolve -partnership about an hour after the sun rises tomorrow. -And, whether you realize it or not, the moment -our partnership is dissolved, that moment you start -tobogganing to ruin.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Casson rose and stretched himself carelessly. “Oh, -well, boy,” he replied, the patronizing quality of his -words driving Dan into a silent fury, “suppose we leave -the crossing of our bridges until we come to them.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan’s fist smashed down on his desk with a thud -that caused old Casson and the inkwell to jump simultaneously. -“We’ll cross our bridges today,” he -roared, “and we’ll start now. Sit down, you consummate -old jackass!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Casson trembled, paled and sat down very abruptly. -“My dear Dan, control yourself,” he stammered.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll control myself, never fear. My chief job is -controlling you. How dare you commit me to ruin -without consulting me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ruin? Ridiculous! Only a fool would have -neglected this golden opportunity—and I’m the senior -member of this firm and a sixty percent owner in it.” -Simulating righteous indignation, Casson too commenced -to pound Dan’s desk.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No bluffs!” Dan ordered, and took down the intercommunicating -office telephone. The chief clerk responded. -“Bring to me immediately all of the data -pertaining to Mr. Casson’s rice operations,” he ordered. -He hung up and faced Casson. “That will be -all, Mr. Casson. From this moment you are out of -the rice market and I’m in it. I’ll attend to the marketing -of more rice than this firm is worth.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Pritchard, I forbid this!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Very well.” Dan reached for his hat. “I’m going -up to our banker and tell him all about your rice deals. -A business man should be as frank with his banker as -with his lawyer. You’ll get your orders from the man -higher up. If a loss threatens us, I prefer to have -the blow fall now.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The battle was over. “Oh, have it your own way, -my boy!” Casson cried disgustedly and with a wave -of his plump hand absolved himself from any and all -disasters that might overtake the firm.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Half an hour later a well-known rice broker appeared -in Dan’s office in response to the latter’s telephoned -request.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This firm,” Dan announced, “owns eight thousand -tons of rice now loading for Havana, in Manila. It -owns four thousand tons due to be loaded in thirty -days at Shanghai. Is that rice quickly salable?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How soon do you want it sold?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Immediately.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Can do—at a price.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do it!” Dan Pritchard commanded. “And if you -can dig me up a cash customer—at a cent or two under -the market—I’ll pay you an extra quarter of one -per cent commission.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Cash, eh? Well, that’s a bit doubtful. However, -that extra commission will make me work. I’ll report -when I have something you can get your teeth into.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“May I hope to hear from you today?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Scarcely. The market’s a bit off—somewhat sluggish. -Trading has been pretty rapid of late, and the -opinion prevails in some quarters that the market has -about reached the point of saturation.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Many traders unloading?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, no! Everybody is still holding on for a further -rise in price, which I personally believe will come. -We’re all optimists in the rice market.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, I’m a pessimist, but only because I do not -care for rice. I have never dealt in it before and I -don’t know anything about the rice market. Frankly, -I’m closing out some trades of Mr. Casson’s under his -protest. My instructions to you are practically to -throw Casson’s trades overboard in order to get us -out of the rice market.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The broker eyed him keenly. “No necessity for -getting stampeded and breaking the market,” he -suggested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The remainder of that day Dan devoted to Tamea’s -business. First he went to the Appraisers’ Building -and declared the pearls which Gaston had smuggled in -on the Moorea. Having paid the duty on them, he -called on the leading jewelers and had them appraised -again, after which he added ten per cent to the appraisal -value and sold the entire lot to a wholesale -jeweler for cash. He reasoned, very wisely, that at -the height of a period of such prosperity as the -country had not hitherto known, the selected pearls -of Gaston of the Beard would never bring a better -price. He then deposited all of her funds to the -credit of “Daniel Pritchard, guardian of Tamea Oluolu -Larrieau, a minor,” in a number of savings banks. He -next called upon his attorney, who drew up, at his request -a formal petition to the Superior Court for letters -of guardianship for Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Yes, Dan was a practical business man, a slave to -the accepted forms. He was taking his office as -Tamea’s guardian so very seriously that his position -was analogous to that of the man who failed to see -the woods because of the trees. It did not occur to -him that the administration of an estate for a minor -who knew nothing of the value of money and cared less, -who had never known discipline and who yielded instantly -to every elemental human desire and instinct, -might be provocative of much distress and loss of -sleep to him. On the contrary, what he did do was -to return to his office hugely satisfied with the world -as at that moment constituted.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XI</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>At four o’clock Dan telephoned his home and ascertained -from Sooey Wan that Tamea and Maisie -had gone out together.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He decided, therefore, to return to his office and look -over the mail; perchance he might find there some comforting -light on the rice situation.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As he came into the general office his secretary called -to him that Mr. Mellenger was in his office, waiting -to see him; that he had been waiting there since one -o’clock.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan nodded comprehendingly and walked into the -ambuscade. Mellenger was seated in Dan’s chair. He -had his feet up on the window sill and in his left hand -he held a cigar.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, old horse thief,” he murmured with lazy -cordiality, “you’ve given me quite a wait. Have you -told the story to any other newspaper?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What story, you fat parasite?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Romantic skipper, leprosy, suicide, lovely half-caste -daughter of royal blood, to be adopted by well-known -young business man of highest social standing. -Where is her photograph, and if no photo be available, -where is she?” He touched with his toe a camera on -the floor beside him. “Great story,” he continued. -“Front page stuff. Got to give it a spread.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I could spread your nose for news all over your -impudent countenance,” Dan retorted irritably. “There -must be no publicity on this matter, Mel!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Got to be, my son. The doctor of the public health -service who examined your shipmaster yesterday -boarded the Moorea this morning to remove the man -to quarantine, and was informed by the mate that -the leprous one had gone over the rail and failed to -come up. That doctor suspects Larrieau has escaped—and -you know they can’t afford to have a leper running -around on the loose. All the water front reporters -have part of the story from the doctor and -part from old Casson and they’re satisfied with that, -but I’m here to get the facts.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand you’ve been here since one o’clock.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger nodded. “My day off, Dan, but the city -editor knew how close you and I have always been, -so he called me up at my hotel and asked me to get -the story.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Call him up and tell him that I decline to be -interviewed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sorry, but I must interview you. I’ve already interviewed -by telephone old Casson, Miss Morrison, Mrs. -Pippy, Julia, Sooey Wan and Graves. The crew of -the Moorea I have seen personally. I’ve got a crackerjack -story but I want a better one. Sooey Wan said -he thought you’d marry the queen about a week from -tomorrow.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That Chink is absolutely out of control.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You leave him alone. He’s a friend of mine. And -you’ll be interviewed!” He puffed at his cigar and -looked sorrowfully out over the roofs of the city. -“Only one way to handle a newspaper man,” he ruminated. -“Receive him, ignore him or kill him. Ah, to -be rich and beloved by a queen—to dwell in marble -halls, with vassals and serfs rendering snappy service!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mel, don’t be an ass. Don’t insist upon injecting -a romantic note into this story.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sooey Wan says he’ll back her against the field -at a hundred to one, and any time Sooey has a celestial -hunch I’ll play it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mel, you shouldn’t discuss my private affairs with -my servants——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The knight of the pad and pencil waved him into -silence. “Sooey Wan isn’t a servant, Dan. He’s an -institution who accepts a hundred and fifty dollars a -month from you just to please you and perpetuate the -institution. Why shouldn’t the old idol discuss you -with me? Haven’t I been dining at your house every -Thursday night for ten years? Sooey Wan knows I -think almost as much of you as he does. Come, I’m -listening.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>In five minutes the tale was told.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her photograph,” Mellenger insisted.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You cannot have it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“One of the crew—by name Kahanaha—found this -one for me in the late skipper’s desk,” the imperturbable -Mellenger informed him, and produced a photograph -of Tamea, hibiscus-crowned, barefooted, garbed -in a dotted calico Mother Hubbard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hideous as death,” Dan growled and snatched at -it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>But Mellenger whisked it away. “It is, as you say, -hideous, but if no other photograph is available we -shall be forced regretfully to use it. Woodley, of the -Chronicle, has one like it, but I know I can prevail upon -him to hand it back for something more recent and not -so colorful.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He shall have it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You understood I couldn’t permit Woodley to scoop -me on the photograph.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>There was a knock at the door and Miss Mather -entered. “Miss Morrison and Miss Larrieau are in -the general office, asking to see you, Mr. Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“God is good and the devil not half bad,” murmured -Mellenger and picked up his camera. “Certainly, Miss -Mather. Admit the ladies, by all means.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>To Dan he said: “I’ve always wished I might live -to see a queen enter a room. Tall, stately, majestic, -coldly beautiful, they sweep through the door with -a long undulating stride—Judas priest!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Chéri!</span> Look at me, Dan.” From the door, violently -flung open, Tamea’s golden voice challenged his -admiration. For one breathless instant she stood, alert, -seemingly poised for flight, a glorious creature gloriously -garbed, her arms held toward him, beseeching his -approval; the next she was rushing to him, to fling -those arms around his neck and implant a chaste salute -upon each cheek.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She thrust him from her, ignored Mellenger and -struck a pose.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There, dear one,” she pleaded, “is your Tamea, -then, so much uglier than the women of your own race?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are perfectly glorious, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“As the aurora borealis,” Mellenger spoke up.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea, seemingly not aware of his presence until -now, turned upon him eyes which frankly sought a confirmation -of the enthusiasm and pride she read in -Dan’s. “You like me, too?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Queen, you’re adorable.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He glanced past her to Maisie Morrison, standing, -flushed and faintly smiling, in the doorway. Maisie -was gazing with an eager intensity at Dan Pritchard, -who saw her not. Mellenger twitched the tail of Dan’s -coat, and the latter, as if summoned out of a trance, -turned and gazed at him inquiringly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Introduce me, fool, introduce me!” Mellenger suggested, -and Dan complied.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie acknowledged the introduction with a cordial -nod and a weary little smile, but Tamea thrust out -her long, beautiful hand. “How do you do, Mr. Mel. -How are all your people? Very well, I hope.” She -swung around to give him a view of her from the -back.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Marvelous,” he declared. “Your Majesty is so -beautiful I must make a picture of you at once.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>With the adroitness of his profession he set his -camera up on the telephone stand, posed Tamea where -the late afternoon sun shone through the window and -photographed her half a dozen times; then, with a -promise to Tamea to send her prints, he bowed himself -out to have the films developed and write his story.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan in the meantime had provided seats for both -his visitors.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“So that’s Mark Mellenger,” said Maisie. “I wish -he had stayed longer. I have a curiosity to know -anybody who loves you, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Old Mel is the salt of the earth,” he declared -warmly. “When we were in college together he was -editor of the college daily and I was by way of being -a cartoonist. In those days we were the heroes of -the campus, and thoughtless enthusiasts used to predict -for each of us the prompt acquisition of a niche in -the Hall of Fame. Mel was to write the great American -novel and I was to create riots among millionaires -anxious to buy my pictures.” He shrugged ruefully, -nor did he note Maisie’s wistful smile as he turned to -the radiant Tamea. “I’ll paint you, you tropical -goddess,” he soliloquized audibly. “You’ve had a fine -time in the shops today, eh, my dear?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It was very wonderful, Dan Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan turned to Maisie. “You’re so good and kind, -Maisie, and your taste is always so exquisite. In -this instance it is more than exquisite. It is exotic.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I cannot claim credit for it, Dan. All I did was -bring Tamea to the best shops. What she is wearing -is entirely of her own selection.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But, Maisie, how could she?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You forget that Tamea is half French. She has -been born with a positive genius for artistic adornment.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He and Tamea exchanged approving smiles. “And -is our Tamea an extravagant girl?” he queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea,” said Maisie bluntly, “would bankrupt -Midas.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“For money,” quoth Tamea, “I care not that much!” -She snapped her fingers. “But why should I love -money? Is money not to be used to make men happy -and women beautiful in the eyes of their men, that -they may hold them against other women?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I suppressed your ward’s spending frenzy as well -as I could, Dan, but nevertheless we spent nearly two -thousand dollars.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan came close to Maisie. He had noticed for the -first time how tired she looked; in her weariness he detected -a wistfulness and a repression that told him -Maisie’s patience had been sorely tried. “I suspect -your work today has required all that you had of fortitude -and courage, Maisie.” He pinched her pale cheek -and then patted the spot he had pinched. “You’re a -great comfort to me, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, that helps, Dan. I think if Tamea had not -been permitted to dash home with her purchases, array -herself in fine raiment and return here to dazzle you, -the day would have been quite spoiled for her. The excitement -has been good for her, I think. She has not -had time to grieve for her father.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My father dwells happily in Paliuli with my mother. -I will not grieve for him again. I will live now to be -happy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And make others happy, too, dear?” Maisie suggested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Certainement!</span> But first I must know others and -learn how to make them happy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We will be patient and teach you, Tamea. By the -way, Dan, it’s time to close down your desk, isn’t it? -I’ll leave Tamea to you now until you need me again.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She gave him her hand and he noticed it was very -cold.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor old dear,” he whispered as he escorted her into -the hall. “I’ve an idea you’ve had the very devil of a -day.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Naturally. I went shopping with an imp, didn’t I?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He raised his extra high eyebrow a trifle higher. “Is -she very hard to manage?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Any hope at all?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m afraid I’m not a fair judge, Dan. Every little -while she grows impulsively angelic. She doesn’t like -me a bit, yet today, after my maid Céleste had come -over and done the imp’s hair, Tamea assured me I was -very sweet and kissed me. She has a perfect passion -for having her own way.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll have to be firm with her, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t be humorous, Dan. In her hands you are as -clay.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nonsense! She’s just a simple child of nature. -With tactful handling——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie was suddenly furious. “Oh, you’re such a -helpless, lovable booby! You are the one man in this -world whom Providence has selected as the rightful -receiver of gold bricks. Why did you take on this -frightful responsibility? Wouldn’t it have been far -simpler and less expensive to have urged upon her -father the wisdom of sending her back to her outlandish -island to queen it over the cannibals instead -of——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Instead of whom, Maisie?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Instead of setting your little world by the ears? -You just cannot begin to imagine the terrific time I -had inducing Mrs. Pippy to remain.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Deuce take Mrs. Pippy!” he protested. “She ought -to thank her lucky stars for the chance to remain. The -first time she met Tamea she looked down her nose at -the child——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What you do not seem to comprehend, Dan, is that -Tamea is <span class='it'>not</span> a child.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, Maisie, all I’ve got to say is that whether -Tamea be a child or a woman, an imp or an angel, I -promised her father I’d look after her, and I’m going -to do it. If she refuses to be directed, if she declines -to be obedient, I’ll——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, you’ll——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You do not like her, Maisie?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, I do not dislike her. She merely startles me. -She is such a flashy, exotic, alien sort of person, voicing -whatever thoughts pop into her head, and with the -most extraordinary ideas and outlook on life. She -told me all about an Englishman in Riva who was -madly in love with her. He was a drunken profligate, -and she would have none of him because he was dull and -stupid, not because he was such an out-and-out scoundrel. -She speaks of sinful people as impersonally as -we would of some unfortunate who has measles or tuberculosis.” -He laughed. “I suppose you realize, -Dan, that to keep Tamea in your home hereafter will be -to invite gossip and criticism from those who do not -know you so well as we do.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But what shall I do with the girl?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Send her to a hotel or a convent,” was Maisie’s -suggestion.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Very well, Maisie. You spoke of a convent. That’s -a splendid idea. A convent’s the very place for Tamea. -I wonder where I might find a good one.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie brightened perceptibly. “I’ll look one up for -you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She gave him her hand and he pressed it tenderly. -“You’re mighty sweet,” he murmured. “I do appreciate -you tremendously. Good night, dear.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Instantly there was in her face a flash of the Maisie -of yesterday, the light he had seen there when he kissed -her. “Good night, booby,” she whispered. “Think of -me once in a while.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think of you more frequently than that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m glad.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You nuisance! You interfere with my conduct of -business.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I rejoice in my mendacity. You might walk to the -elevator with me, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He did, and they talked there five minutes longer -before Maisie finally left him.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Meanwhile, back in Dan’s office, the childishly -curious Tamea had started a critical inspection -of the room. She looked in the wash closet, turned on -the water, inspected the books in the bookcase and the -model of a clipper ship on top of it, and presently discovered -on the side of Dan’s desk a row of push buttons. -She touched one of these and almost immediately -Dan’s secretary, Miss Mather, entered the -office. She glanced around and failing to see Pritchard, -she said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You called me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea shook her head and Miss Mather excused -herself and retired. Instantly Tamea pressed another -button, and to her amazement a youth of about sixteen -summers entered, gazed around the room and said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes’m. Whadja want? Me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea solemnly shook her head and the youth departed, -mystified, leaving her with a delightful sense -of occult power. She tried another button, and some -thirty seconds later a bald-headed man, the chief clerk, -entered very deferentially.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ha! ha!” Tamea laughed. “Nothing doing, Monsieur, -nothing, I assure.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The chief clerk retired, registering amazement, and -Tamea adventured with the fourth button, this time -without result. So she turned her attention to the -telephone switch box and commenced pressing buttons -and ringing bells all over the suite of Casson and Pritchard, -with the result that everybody was trying to -answer his telephone at once. Impelled by curiosity, -Tamea picked up the receiver just in time to hear a -tiny voice say very distinctly: “Hello! Hello! Casson -speaking.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>With a shriek she dropped the receiver. Here, indeed, -was magic. Trembling and white, she pressed all -four push buttons in succession, and again Miss -Mather entered.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It speaks,” Tamea gasped. “There are devils in -this house. <span class='it'>Regardez!</span>”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Miss Mather saw the dangling telephone receiver and -replaced it on the hook. “It is silent now. The devil -is dumb,” she assured Tamea. “Have you never seen -a telephone before?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But no, never. And I press here—and here—and -servants come without a summons. This is proof that -Monsieur Dan Pritchard is indeed a great chief.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He is a very kind chief, at any rate. We all love -him here.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea stared at Miss Mather disapprovingly. “I -have heard that he is much beloved by women.” She -frowned. “You may go,” she decreed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Miss Mather, highly amused, retired. At the door -she found the office boy, the chief clerk and Dan Pritchard -about to enter, and explained to them the reason -for the excitement. Dan entered, chuckling.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You laugh!” Tamea challenged him haughtily.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, and I laugh at you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Is that—what shall I say—very nice, very polite?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, but I can’t help it. However, I’ll be fair with -you, Tamea. You may laugh at me whenever you -desire.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I shall never desire to laugh at you, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Forgive me, my dear.” He got his hat and overcoat -from the closet. “We will go home now, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She took hold of his hand and walked with him thus -out through the general office and down the hall. He -was slightly embarrassed and wished that she would let -go his hand, but he dared not suggest it. During the -swift drop in the elevator Tamea gasped, quivered and -clung tightly to his arm. When the car reached the -lobby and the passengers made their exit, the girl -retreated into the corner and dragged Dan with her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We get out here, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I know, dear one. But I like this. It is a longer -and swifter fall than when the stern of a schooner drops -down a heavy sea. I would rise once more.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, come, Tamea! This is nonsense. One does not -ride in an elevator unless one has to.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Is a second ride, then, forbidden by this man?” She -indicated the elevator operator.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, you may ride up and down all day if you desire. -But it’s so silly, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In this country men fear they may be thought foolish. -But you are a brave man. You will not deny -your Tamea this simple pleasure.” He frowned. “Very -well. I obey.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea started for the door; but Dan pressed her -back into the corner again; the elevator operator favored -him with a knowing grin and the car shot upward -without a pause to the fifteenth floor. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When they were settled in the limousine the girl -reached again for his hand and possessed herself of it. -“I think I shall be very happy with you,” she confided.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He reflected that Tamea would always be happy if -given free rein to her desires. Aloud he said: “Tamea, -it is my duty to make you happy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gratefully she cuddled his hand to her cheek and implanted -upon it a fervent kiss.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course,” she agreed. “<span class='it'>Certainement.</span>”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They rolled out Market Street through the heavy -evening traffic, and presently were climbing to the crest -of Twin Peaks. As the car swept around the last curve -and gave a view of the city from the Potrero to the -Cliff House snuggled below them, Tamea gasped. A -little wisp of fog was creeping in the Golden Gate, but -the light, still lingering although the sun had almost -set, clothed the city in an amethyst haze that softened -its ugly architecture and made of it a thing of superlative -beauty. The sweep of blue bay, the islands and -the shipping, the departing light heliographed from the -western windows of homes on the Alameda County -shore, the high green hills on the eastern horizon, all -combined to make a picture so impressively beautiful -that Tamea, born with the appreciation of beauty so -distinct a characteristic of her mother’s race, sighed -with the shock of it. Graves had stopped the car and -the girl gazed her fill in silence.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I wanted to bring you up here and prove to you -that ours is not an ugly land, although not so beautiful -perhaps as Riva,” Dan explained.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Then they swept down the western slope of Twin -Peaks, up the Great Highway along the Pacific shore -and home through Golden Gate Park. As was his custom, -Dan opened the front door with his latchkey and -he and Tamea stepped into the hall.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You have an hour in which to dress for dinner, -child,” he told her. “Ring for Julia. She will help -you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The girl came close to him, drew his head down on -her shoulder and pressed her lips to his ear.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yesterday,” she whispered, “was a day of sorrow. -It did not seem that I could bear it. But today has -been so joyous I have almost forgotten my sorrow; -in a week it will be quite gone. To you I am indebted -for this great happiness.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She kissed him rapturously, first on one cheek, then -on the other, and Dan reflected that this Gallic form of -osculation had evidently been learned from old Gaston -of the Beard. How warm and soft her lips were, how -fragrant her breath and hair! In the dim light of the -hall her marvelous eyes beamed up at him with a light -that suddenly set his pulse to pounding wildly. A tremor -ran through him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You tremble, dear one,” the girl whispered. “You -are cold! Ah, but my love shall warm,” and she lifted -her lips to his.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She was Circe, born again. Decidedly, here was -dangerous ground. He was far too intelligent not to -realize the complication that might ensue should he -yield to this sudden gust of desire, this strange new -yearning never felt before, this impulse for possession -without passion, that shook his very soul. He told himself -he must continue to play a part, to decline to take -her otherwise than paternally, to evade, at all hazard, -the pitfall yawning before him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is not well to think too long or too hard,” Tamea -whispered. “Your people count the costs, but mine do -not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Apparently the amazing creature knew of what he -was thinking! He was cornered, he would have to -escape and that quickly. “I was just thinking, Tamea, -that my house will be lonely after your bright presence,” -he said, a trifle unsteadily.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She gasped. “You plan to send me from you, Dan -Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Temporarily, my dear. In spring the climate of -this part of California is too cold and raw for you. -Tomorrow you and Julia and Mrs. Pippy will go in -the car to Del Monte, where it is more like your own -country. After you have been there a month and have -grown accustomed to our ways, you will go to a convent -to be educated.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She stood with her hands on his shoulders, pondering -this. Then: “This is your desire?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She looked into the very soul of him. “I do not believe -that,” she declared and looked up at him so wistfully -that his reason tottered on its throne and fell, -crashing, into the valley of his desire. He crushed -her to him and their lips met. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Out of the semi-darkness a familiar voice spoke. -“Captain’s girl velly nice. What Sooey Wan tell you, -boss? Now you ketchum heap savvy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard fled upstairs, leaving the triumphant -Tamea to follow at her leisure. “Fool, fool!” The -voice of conscience beat in his brain.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That wasn’t kind of me. . . no, not even sensible. -. . . I’ve spoiled, everything. . . Maisie. . . . -Why wasn’t I man enough to be strong?. . . Gaston -entrusted her to me and I’ve failed. . . .”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As he reached the door of his room Tamea’s voice -floated up the stairway. She was singing a pæan of -triumph, and she sang it in her mother tongue. Ah, -youth and love and golden dreams! In Tamea’s heart -there was no longer room for sorrow, in her primitive -but wonderfully acute intelligence there was no room -for disturbing reflections touching the whys and wherefores -which, in Dan Pritchard’s world, were concomitant -with all decisions and made the wisdom of all -issues doubtful.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is exotic—overpowering, like a seductive perfume. -She appeals profoundly, in her solitary state, -to my sympathy; her beauty, her vitality, her unspoiled -and innocent outlook, the impulsiveness and naturalness -of her desire, in which, from her viewpoint, -there is nothing to criticize, all conspire to drive me -into the very situation I would avoid because I know -it to be ruinous. ‘East is East and West is West and -never the twain shall meet.’ Kipling knew. When they -do meet it is only an illusion of meeting, and the illusion -fades. And yet, from the moment that girl first gazed -upon me, Maisie has been receding farther and farther -from my conscious mind. An incredibly bad compliment -to Maisie, and the deuce of it is I think that, subconsciously, -Maisie realizes this. What a cad I have -been!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Julia knocked at his door. “Miss Morrison on the -’phone, sir.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He went into the hall and took down the receiver. -“Yes, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan, dear,” Maisie replied, almost breathlessly, -“would you think me very forward if I were to invite -myself to dinner at your house tonight?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed I would not! As a matter of fact, Maisie, I -very much desire your presence at dinner tonight. I -wasn’t quite aware of this desire until you spoke, but I -think that in about five minutes the same bright idea -would have occurred to me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Uncle John came home in an ill humor. Scolded me -all the way up and complained to me about you, and -of course that put me in a bad temper——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why have your dinner spoiled by being forced to -sit and listen to your avuncular relative rave? Shall -I send my car for you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do, please!” A silence. Then: “You’re quite sure -you would have telephoned and invited me to dinner -if I had not telephoned and invited myself?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Positive, Maisie. I’m at a loose end. I need your -moral support. My duties as a foster father——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand. I thought too, Dan, it might relieve -you of your embarrassment if the school or convent -question could be settled tonight. I’ve been doing some -thinking and am prepared to submit a plan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good news! Graves will call for you at seven -o’clock. And by the way, my oldest and dearest man -friend, Mark Mellenger, is coming. You met him in the -office this afternoon.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good! Is he interesting, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The Lord made but one Mellenger and then the -plates were destroyed. He dines with me every Thursday -night he is in town. He’s a newspaper man and -Thursday is his day off. He celebrates it with me. -Women have never appeared to interest Mel, and I’m -looking forward to watching the effect on him of two -extremes in interesting and charming women.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“So Tamea has grown up—so soon,” Maisie challenged. -Then she added, while he searched his puzzled -mind for an answer: “Thank you so much for asking -me over, Dan. Until a quarter past seven, then. Good-by, -booby!”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XIII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>When Dan came downstairs he found Mark Mellenger -seated before the fire in the living room. -Sooey Wan stood before him, vigorously shaking a -cocktail mixer and discussing volubly with the newspaper -man some inside facts concerning the latest tong -war in Chinatown.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hello, here come boss. Hello, boss. How my boy -tonight, eh? Velly happy, eh?” Thus Sooey Wan, -his idol face wreathed in a smile that indicated his entire -satisfaction with the world as at that moment -constituted. Dan glared at him, for he knew the -thought uppermost in that curious Oriental mind; -Sooey Wan assimilated the hint but continued to grin -and giggle. Mellenger stood up.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I drink success to your administration of your -new job,” he said.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It’s a perfectly horrible job, Mel, and nothing but -woe can come out of it. Keeping pace with Tamea -is a real chore.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Would that the gods had favored me with her -father’s faith and friendship. Dan, that girl is as -glorious as a tropical sunset.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I thought something had happened to you, Mel. -So you’re a casualty, eh? And in the name of the late -Jehoshaphat, what do you mean by coming to my house -in dinner clothes? I have never suspected you of -owning dinner clothes.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am a very easy man to fit in ready-made clothing,” -his guest replied. “I bought these after leaving -your office tonight. Made up my mind you’d be dining -more or less formally.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But my dear Mel, you might have known Tamea -would not have considered you <span class='it'>de trop</span> if you had appeared -for dinner in a suit of striped pajamas.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, but Miss Morrison would.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What sorcery is this? I did not invite her until -twenty minutes ago.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger drank his cocktail slowly and thoughtfully -and held out his glass for Sooey Wan’s further -attention.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not one of those who, having eyes, see not, -and having ears, hear not. I’m a fairly good judge of -human nature, and I always judge the characters of -men and women—particularly women—the moment -the sample is submitted. Which reminds me that for -the first time I suspect you of a failure to tell the truth, -the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That’s a definite charge. State your specification.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger’s somewhat heavy, impassive face lighted -humorously. “Now, didn’t Miss Morrison invite herself?” -he challenged.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan’s mouth flew open in amazement. “Yes. How -did you know?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger sat down and gazed owlishly at the fire -before replying: “I had a suspicion, amounting to a -moral certainty, that she would. Usually, as you -know, I am a careless fellow. I snatch quick meals in -cheap restaurants and I work like a dog. Hence my -one day of rest is devoted to rest, meditation and observation. -Observation and subsequent meditation convinced -me that Miss Morrison would be a guest here -tonight.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Remarkable man!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I had never had the privilege of meeting Miss Morrison -before this afternoon,” Mellenger continued. “A -very striking, intelligent, splendid looking girl. She -has brains and wit.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you know? She spoke four-words to you—‘How -do you do?’”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She has eyes. Why have you delayed marrying -her? You’re a bit of a dodo, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do I know she’d marry me, Mel?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Because you do not know constitutes the basis for -my charge that you’re a bit of a dodo. Anybody else -would know.” He looked up at Dan suddenly, his -gray, deep-set eyes very earnest under shaggy brows. -“Are you aware that this very excellent young woman -is deeply in love with you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, I’m not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger sighed. “Have you ever suspected she -might be?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That sounds presumptuous, Mel. Of course, once in -a while——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You have suspected it but have banished the suspicion. -. . . You’re very comfortable here; you’re rich -and getting richer; you have a yearning to chuck -business one day and woo art.” He stared again at the -fire and sipped at his cocktail. “The victim of a suppressed -artistic desire is loath to give hostages to -fortune in the way of a wife and children. Good Lord, -I’ve written a trunkful of short stories and novels -that haven’t sold; I have never been satisfied with one -of them, and until I am satisfied I have planned to -remain single and live in a hotel. . . . Everybody in -town in your set knows how Maisie Morrison feels toward -you. Your indifference constitutes a choice topic -of conversation among the tea tabbies.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a mine of information, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I get it from our society editor. She knows all the -gossip.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ever consider marrying Miss Morrison, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I have.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He who hesitates is lost, my friend.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan’s face had suddenly gone haggard. “I must not -hesitate,” he murmured, “or I may be lost.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes,” Mellenger agreed coolly, “only in this case -suppose we substitute for the word <span class='it'>may</span> the word -<span class='it'>shall</span>.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea?” asked Dan.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger nodded. “She is exotic, marvelous, irresistible—just -the sort of woman to sweep an idealistic -ass like you off his feet—into the abyss. Maisie Morrison -knows that, and Tamea, young as she is, knows -that Maisie Morrison knows it. This afternoon in -your office your ward favored you with an impulsive, -childish hug and kiss. That was a stab to the other -girl. They exchanged swift glances. There was challenge -in Maisie’s and triumph and purpose in Tamea’s.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This is perfectly horrible, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We-l-l, at any rate it’s inconvenient and embarrassing. -It would be horrible for Maisie to have -to come to a realization that this half-caste islander -had won you away from her—and it would be very -horrible for you to arrive at the same realization after -it was too late.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But I entertain no such crazy intention.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You don’t know what intentions you <span class='it'>may</span> entertain. -You may never truly fall in love with Tamea, but—you -may become infatuated with her. She has a singularly -potent lure for men—men who love beauty and fire -and vitality—men who feel mentally crowded by a -mediocre world. I have known such men, when infatuated, -to sacrifice everything they valued in life -for the transient favor of women who did not assay -very highly in mental or moral values. As a matter -of fact, my boy, you are infatuated with Tamea -already.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you know?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not know how or why I know. I just know -it, and now I am sure I know it. Forget it, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Pritchard’s head sunk on his chest in the thoughtful, -half sad posture that Maisie termed the Abraham -Lincoln look. He sighed and said presently, “What -should I do about it, Mel?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Get this girl out of your life at once and marry -Maisie Morrison as soon as you can procure a license.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think that’s very sound advice, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think so, too.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger drifted over to the piano and commenced -playing very softly; the words of the song he played -rang in Dan Pritchard’s mind with something of the -sad poignancy of the distant tolling of church bells:</p> - - - <div class='poetry-container' style=''> - <div class='lgp'> <!-- rend=';' --> -<div class='stanza-outer'> -<p class='line0'>Tow-see mon-ga-lay, my dear,</p> -<p class='line0'>You’ll leave me some day, I fear,</p> -<p class='line0'>Sailing home across the sea</p> -<p class='line0'>To blue-eyed girl in Melikee.</p> -<p class='line0'>If you stay, I love you true,</p> -<p class='line0'>If you leave me—no can do!</p> -<p class='line0'>Me no cry, me only say</p> -<p class='line0'>Tow-see mon-ga-lay.</p> -</div> -</div></div> <!-- end poetry block --><!-- end rend --> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes”—Mellenger resumed the train of his thoughts—“my -advice is eminently sound—but you’ll not follow -it.” The doorbell rang. “There’s Maisie Morrison -now, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I shall ask her this very night to marry me, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think not, old-timer.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a very wise man, Monsieur Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea spoke from the doorway and Dan, looking -up startled, beheld her standing there, a thing of -beauty, dazzling, glorious, shimmering, in a dinner -gown of old rose that displayed her matchless figure -to bewildering perfection. Her eyes, not flashing but -softly luminous, were bent upon Dan Pritchard a little -bit sadly, a little bit puzzled.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have been a stranger here, <span class='it'>chéri</span>,” she said very -distinctly, “but you have looked with favor upon your -Tamea, Dan Pritchard—and we are strangers to each -other no longer. You are my man. I love you, and -though I die this Maisie shall not possess that which -I love.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She crossed swiftly to Dan’s side; as he sought to -rise she drew him down in his chair again and pressed -his head back to meet her glance as she bent over him, -her arms around his neck. A silence, while she searched -the soul of him. Then: “You do love your Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard murmured, “I don’t know, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Je t’adore!</span>” She patted his cheek. “I have no -wish to hurt this Maisie,” she informed him and with -a glance included Mellenger in the confidence, “but that -which I have, I hold.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Exactly,” said Mellenger and commenced to play -again, softly and with devilish humor:</p> - - - <div class='poetry-container' style=''> - <div class='lgp'> <!-- rend=';' --> -<div class='stanza-outer'> -<p class='line0'>The bells of hell go ting-a-ling,</p> -<p class='line0'>For you and not for me . . .</p> -</div> -</div></div> <!-- end poetry block --><!-- end rend --> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan sprang up and brushed Tamea aside as Julia -appeared in the doorway.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Miss Morrison,” she announced.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As Maisie entered Mark Mellenger’s heart almost -skipped a beat. “She has accepted the challenge. -Zounds! What a woman!” he thought, and stared at -her in vast admiration as she advanced to meet Dan -and carelessly gave him her hand—to kiss! As Dan -bent his white face over it Tamea’s voice shattered the -silence.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think, Maisie, perhaps you should know that Dan -Pritchard belongs to me. I love him and he is mine.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie’s smile was tolerant, humorous, maddening; -it was apparent to the watching Mellenger that she had -anticipated some such open, direct attack and had -schooled herself to meet it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed, Tamea, my dear!” she drawled. “Has Mr. -Pritchard, then, given himself to you so soon?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No,” Tamea replied honestly, “he has not. But—he -will.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How interesting!” She turned to Dan. “Dan, old -boy, since it is your mission in life to make Tamea -happy, permit me to give you to her. Here he is, -Tamea, you greedy girl.” She chuckled adorably, gave -Dan a little shove toward Tamea and crossed to the -piano where Mellenger stood, grave and embarrassed. -She gave him her hand in friendly fashion.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Clever, clever woman,” he breathed, for her ear -alone.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How adorably primitive she is, Mr. Mellenger!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded. “Between the two of us, however,” he -answered, still in low voice, “we’ll fix the young lady’s -clock.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The mask fell from Maisie’s face and Mellenger saw -in it naught but pain and terror.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And then Julia announced dinner.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XIV</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Many arduous and adventurous years in the -Fourth Estate had sharpened Mark Mellenger’s -native ability to think and act quickly in an emergency. -He saw that Tamea’s bold onslaught for the love rights -in his friend had disturbed Pritchard greatly; the -latter’s face was rosy with an embarrassment that was -all the more poignant because nothing that Dan could -do or say would relieve the situation; Maisie had apparently -exhausted her ammunition and would, unless -supported promptly, retire from the field. Weeping, -doubtless. Something had to be done, and in this -emergency anything would be better than nothing.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger strolled up to Tamea and offered her his -arm to take her in to dinner. But Tamea only smiled -at him the tender, tolerant smile which, apparently, she -had for all men, and said in a low voice: “Thank you, -Monsieur Mellengair, but I will take the arm of Dan -Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, but you must not do that!” Mellenger protested -confidentially and addressing her in excellent French. -“You are a member of this household, while Miss Morrison -is a guest here tonight. If Mr. Pritchard were to -permit her to go in to dinner on my arm, that would be -equivalent to informing her that she was not welcome in -his home. It would be a very great discourtesy—in -this country,” he added parenthetically.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh! I did not understand that. Nobody has told -me these things. I would not care to embarrass anyone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, Miss Larrieau. You are very kind and -considerate.” He bowed to her with great courtesy, -and she accepted his arm.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I like you, Mellengair—no, I will call you Mel, like -Dan who loves you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That’s better.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And you shall call me Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you. I think that is better, too.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She came closer to him. “And you will tell me—things?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You mean the things you should know in order to -avoid embarrassment to yourself—and others?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Oui</span>, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There is not a great deal that you will have to be -told, Tamea. Merely an outline of the principal customs -of this country which differ so radically from -yours. For instance, just now you made a very -sad mistake—oh, very, very sad!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But no!” the girl protested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But yes! You were very discourteous to Miss -Morrison.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“About Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But that is the truth.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is not always necessary to tell the truth. You -have assumed that Miss Morrison is in love with Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is, Mel. I know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But he does not know this, and she would not tell -him for all the wealth of the world.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Such a stupid! Why not?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is the custom of the land,” he assured her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then I must not tell Dan Pritchard I love him?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Not unless he tells you first that he loves you.” -She laughed softly but scornfully. “Has he told -you that he loves you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“With his eyes—yes.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Eyes are not admissible as evidence. What you -mistook for love may be admiration. Until he speaks -with his tongue you must remain silent, else will you -be dishonored.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They had reached the dining room. Maisie and Dan -were following, in frozen silence. Mellenger tucked -her chair in under Tamea, and over her head he winked -at Maisie and Dan. There was a terrifying silence -until after Julia had served the soup. Then Tamea -spoke.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It appears,” she said very contritely, “that I have -been stupid and of gross manners. I have offended you, -Maisie, and to you, dear Dan, I am as a dishonored -woman. I am truly sorry. Will you both forgive, -please?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You poor, bewildered dear,” said Maisie, and -laughed. To Mellenger’s amazement the laugh held -real humor. She got up, walked around the table to -Tamea’s side and kissed her. “Of course you are forgiven. -You did not understand. How could you know, -Tamea, that Dan and I are to be married? Nobody -told you, I dare say. Dan, darling, did you tell Tamea -of our engagement?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course, I didn’t,” he began. He was at once -amazed, indignant and profoundly complimented. -“Why, Maisie——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Shut up, fool!” Mellenger’s lips formed the words -without speaking them. “Do you want to spill the -beans?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie returned to her seat, flushed, bright-eyed, -distinctly triumphant, and Mellenger realized that, between -himself and Maisie, poor Tamea had been thoroughly -crushed, humiliated beyond words. She contented -herself with looking at Dan very curiously, as -if she were seeing him for the first time.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now,” Mellenger remarked dryly, “I think we’ll -all feel equal to imbibing a modicum of soup. Maisie—pardon -my effrontery in calling you by your first name -on such brief acquaintance, but then those who love -Dan always inspire me with a desire to know them better -and act as if I had known them always—how long have -you and Dan been engaged?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan glared at him. Maisie, scenting the deviltry -behind his query, liked him for it. “I really do not -remember, Mark—pardon my effrontery in addressing -you by your first name on such brief acquaintance, -but it seems I’ve known you always. Dan, when did you -first propose to me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Maisie, you’re an imp.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A benevolent imp, at any rate,” Mellenger adjured -him. “She goes out of her way to make everybody -around her comfortable.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Did Dan tell you he desired you, Maisie?” Tamea -was speaking now.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What makes you ask that, Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I inquire to know. This is important.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, Tamea, I don’t suppose Dan ever told me in -so many words——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah! With his eyes, then?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie shrugged. “I suppose so.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea favored Mellenger with a sidelong glance of -disillusionment and contempt. She spoke in French. -“It appears that the rules of deportment are broken -as readily by those who dwell in this country as by -those who are ignorant of those rules. Now I shall proceed -to be happy again. What an excellent soup!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She saw by the look in Maisie’s eyes that Maisie had -not understood her. And this was true, for while -Maisie was presumed to have learned French in high -school, it was high-school French, and Tamea’s rapid-fire -utterance was far beyond her understanding.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I hope you will be very happy,” she said in English -to Maisie, who thanked her with a demure smile. To -Mellenger she said in a swift aside: “I know very well -she will not! What a curious dinner party! This woman -is thinking of schemes to take from me the man -whom I desire. Alas! She is no match for me, for -look you, Mel, she has not the courage to take that -which she desires.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Unfortunately, she has not, Tamea. Nevertheless, -she may develop a form of courage that may -amaze you. Just now she gave you a bad minute or -two.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea shrugged. “I have no fear. That which I -desire I take, and that which I take I think, perhaps—I—can—keep.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, suppose we discuss something else,” Mellenger -suggested in his surprisingly good French. “And if -you do not feel equal to the task of keeping pace with -the discussion, try being silent awhile.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea included Dan and Maisie in her retort to this -fundamentally solid bit of advice. “This large friend -of yours does not like me, no?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, of course he likes you. Nobody could help -liking you!” This from Maisie, who was bound to be -cheerful and complimentary at any cost.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are wrong, Maisie. Mel thinks very quickly, -and he talks as quickly as he thinks. He thinks clearly, -too. . . . Well, I should like him for my good friend. -One does not care for stupeed men. Mel is very honest. -He will make a good fight, yes? I think so. Yes, you -bet. And I will make a good fight, also.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Something tells me you will. Are you the offspring -of a nation of warriors?” Mellenger queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My mother was the daughter of a chief—a king, -bred from a thousand kings. And in Riva he who would -be king must be a warrior and a leader of warriors.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Is polyandry practiced in Riva?” Dan had emerged -from the trance into which the startling events of the -past few minutes had thrown him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not know what that is, dear Dan Pritchard,” -declared Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I mean, do the women have more than one husband, -and do the women choose their husbands? In this -country,” he hastened to add, “the men do the choosing.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed?” Tamea seemed to find this humorous. -“Men are weaklings everywhere, I think, and in this -country, as in Riva, it appears the women sometimes -do the choosing of their husbands. What else may one -do? You men are so stupeed!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Let us discuss the League of Nations, Dan,” Mellenger -suggested. “That is a subject upon which you -and I may hazard an opinion. Tamea, are you an advocate -of the right of self-determination for the lesser -nations—Ireland, for instance?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You make the josh, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He chuckled, gave his attention to Maisie and displayed -an amazing facility at small talk and the gossip -of her set. Thereafter he addressed but an occasional -word to Tamea, who, however, appeared to relish this -neglect, since it gave her ample opportunity to favor -the uncomfortable Dan with languishing looks. With -the advent of the salad Mellenger deftly piloted the -conversation into the realm of trade and finance, appealed -very frequently to Dan for confirmation of some -theory or an expression of opinion. He contrived to -leave Tamea quite out of it, and when at last Maisie -rose from the table and the others followed her into the -drawing room, Tamea was sensible of a feeling of -neglect, of paternalism. She resented this with all the -fierce resentment of her hot blood.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>But Mellenger was tact and graciousness personified; -and when, as the evening wore on, it began to dawn on -Tamea that his action was not predicated so much on -antagonism to her as on a desire to save Maisie from -humiliation, her resentment began to fade. She observed -that Dan had little to say, that the conversation -was dominated by Mellenger and Maisie; in listening -to their words, in watching the play of emotions on -their faces, an hour slipped by. Then Mellenger sat -at the piano and played while Maisie sang; and later -Maisie played while Mellenger sang. Tamea enjoyed -their songs immensely and urged them on until ten -o’clock, when Dan suggested that perhaps she was tired -and would like to retire.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You wish it?” Tamea queried softly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded, so Tamea kissed him good night and then -followed her caress with one each for Mellenger and -Maisie.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When she had gone Mellenger swung round on the -piano stool and grinned at Dan Pritchard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This has been a trying evening, old horse,” he declared, -“but, by and large and thanks to two people -who appear to possess the faculty of keeping their -heads when all about them are losing theirs, what -threatened to become a riot has ended in a love feast. -Dan, that girl is nobody’s fool. Her head is quite -filled with brains.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think, when she has become a little more civilized, -she will be adorable,” Maisie added.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is adorable now,” Dan reminded them. Subconsciously -he desired to defend any weakness he might -have exhibited during the evening. Also, he had an -impulse to castigate Maisie for her inexplicable conduct -in declaring, in the presence of his other guests, -that an engagement existed between them.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That’s no excuse for your losing your head over -her, old son.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Quite so,” Maisie echoed. “Because I sensed your -helpless state, following Tamea’s frank declaration of -a proprietary interest in you, I invented our engagement -as a sort of funk-hole for you to crawl into, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You were very courageous, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It was a forlorn hope and it failed. I might as -well inform you, my friends, that Tamea was unimpressed.” -Mellenger was very serious now. “What -are you going to do about this girl, Dan? You’ve got -to get her out of your house.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan shrugged helplessly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you send her to a boarding school now,” Maisie -suggested, “she would matriculate in the middle of a -semester. You refer to her as a child, Dan, but she -is a fully developed woman, and I fear that her education, -in English at least, has been so neglected that -she would have to start in the same class with girls of -ten or twelve. This would prove embarrassing to her. -She should have a year of private tutoring.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Where, Maisie?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not know, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But you telephoned to me this evening that you had -a plan to discuss.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My plan is not fully developed, Dan, but it contemplated -the engagement of a governess and companion -for Tamea, and sending them both to a warmer -climate—say Los Angeles—until Tamea becomes acclimated. -You seemed worried about her in the cooler -climate of San Francisco.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That’s a splendid plan,” Mellenger hastened to interrupt. -“The success of it depends upon the acquisition -of the right sort of governess, of course. She -should be firm, indomitable, tactful, able and possess -the physical attributes of the champion heavyweight -pugilist of the world.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I fear you are absolutely right,” Dan sighed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, then, I’m at my wits’ end, Dan’l,” Maisie -confessed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not,” Mellenger replied coolly. “I beg of you, -Maisie, to dismiss the matter. I shall go into executive -session with myself and evolve a plan that will be -puncture-proof. I fear me neither you nor Dan is -able to think clearly in this emergency.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie flashed him a swift glance of deepest gratitude. -“In that event I think I shall go home,” she said, and -rang for Julia to fetch her wrap. Dan escorted her -out to her car, and as she gave him her hand at parting -he bent and kissed it humbly, turned and left her without -the formality of saying good night.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fortunately, Maisie thought she could understand -the failure of his conversational powers.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XV</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, Mel,” Dan declared as he returned to the -drawing room after seeing Maisie to her car, -“I am prepared for the worst. Fly to it, old philosopher. -I observe you are fairly bristling with -bellicose veins.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That is only additional proof that you are purblind.” -Mellenger helped himself to a cigar, rang for -Sooey Wan, ordered a Scotch and soda and removed his -dinner coat. The major portion of his existence was -spent working in his shirt-sleeves, and tonight he had -work to do. So he cleared for action.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now, then,” he began, “are you or are you not -engaged to be married to Maisie Morrison?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I thought so. Going to be?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I—don’t know, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll make up your mind for you. You are.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“For any number of incontestable reasons. However, -the principal reason is that she is very much in -love with you, and she is not particularly happy about -it. You’re such a dull dog.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Granting that, why should I engage myself to -Maisie?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Because it would be good for you. It would be -protection from the world. You’re going to marry -Maisie sooner or later. Why not do it now and get -the worry of it off your mind?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But, you double-dyed idiot, I’m not at all certain -I’d be perfectly happy with Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll dissipate your doubts. You wouldn’t be. No -man ever is perfectly happy in the married state.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you know?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Observation and philosophical meditation. You -would be perfectly happy with Maisie about eighty-five -per cent of the time, and all you have to have in order -to win is a controlling interest, or fifty-one per cent. -All married life is a continuous adjustment of conflicting -personalities. What you are seeking, we all -seek—the wild, abandoned thrill of a love that will -never grow old or stale or commonplace—a love that -will punctuate your life with wonderful, breathless -moments—moments that you would not miss, even -though in claiming them you realized that sorrow and -heartbreak might be the inevitable outcome of your -yielding. My dear old friend, you paint pictures in -water colors and see them turn to crude charcoal -smudges. Dan, you seek the unattainable; when you -have found her, she will have been married ten years to -a barber!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>There fell between them a long and pregnant silence. -Then:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You spoke just now of—breathless moments, moments -one would not miss, even though in claiming -them one realizes that sorrow and heartbreak may be -the inevitable outcome. Have you ever known such a -breathless moment?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes—in France, during the war. She was a little -dancer, about twenty, I should say. I found her weeping -and half conscious in the Place Vendôme at four -o’clock of a winter morning. There had been an air -raid and a great deal of anti-aircraft firing; she had -been struck in the foot by a shrapnel falling five thousand -meters. I carried her to my billet. . . two -months. . . she will never dance again. . . fortunately -I was ordered home. . . send her a few francs -every month. . . not very much, because I can’t afford -much, but she writes. . . breathless moments when I -get her letters. . . brains, imagination. . . I think -she loves me—always will, perhaps, but it’s no good -thinking too much about it. I have gotten over it.” -Mellenger blew a succession of smoke rings and watched -them float upward to frame a face he would never see -again, except in his dreams. And dreams fade as men -grow older and the fires of youth burn out.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And was it worth the price, Mel?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, I knew that in the beginning. No joy that -leaves a pain is quite worth having.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yet we will never have done with our longing for the -adventure. I suppose that is why men who have never -worn a uniform feel their hearts beat high at the sight -of homecoming troops.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I think so. But remember, those civilians see -only the avenue with the flags flying; they have never -seen the wreckage or heard the wail of a funeral march. -They’ve only dreamed of that and painted a vision -they call the Field of Honor, with a trail across it -labeled the Path of Glory. They know it leads to Hell, -but they know also that some men escape. You know, -Dan, we can always visualize ourselves escaping, because -the wish is father to the thought.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, at any rate, Mel, I have lived to know—one -breathless moment.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do not know another, my friend.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Believe me, I did not desire to know this one. -I—I——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger waved his cigar in absolution. “You -didn’t have any help at the critical moment. I observed -the event. I was sitting in the semi-twilight of this -room, thinking—I had asked Julia not to turn on the -light except in the hall. And then you and Tamea -came in. . . I saw your face, I saw hers. . . . And -I had seen the face of the other girl this afternoon. -Tamea has told me in so many words, in French, that -she is going to land you; that she doesn’t consider -Maisie a foeman worthy of her steel. Says Maisie -hasn’t got the courage to take that which she desires. -Tamea has. I’ll swear to that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There is nothing wrong about that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Certainly not. A convention of maidenly modesty -has metamorphosed many a fine woman into an embittered, -disillusioned old maid. She could have had -her man for the asking—for the taking; and because -she neither asked nor took he thought her repression -spelled indifference or dislike.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There are many shy, embarrassed men in this world, -you know. They are always unhappy because always -married to terrible women.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Big women, fat women, red-headed, dominating, -coarse women, women with thick ankles, sloppy women, -dull women, over-dressed women, loud women, but all -women who flouted convention and who just naturally -helped themselves to the shy, embarrassed, gentle little -men they coveted.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Praise be, Tamea doesn’t come within the scope of -your female <span class='it'>index expurgatorius</span>. Isn’t she a glorious -creature?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course she is,” Mellenger agreed petulantly. -“She’s more than glorious. She’s devastating, and all -the more ruinous to your peace of mind because she is -simple, natural, unspoiled, eager and amorous. But -you’ve got to put your bright day-dreams behind you -and marry Maisie Morrison.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But why, Mel?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, man, you cannot possibly contemplate the -prospect of miscegenation?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Does Tamea remotely resemble a mulatto, a quadroon -or an octoroon?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is half Polynesian.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But a pure-bred Polynesian is a Caucasian.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Very well, then, if you insist. But I insist that the -Caucasian race has many subdivisions. An Arab is a -Caucasian; so is a Hindoo; but if you marry a woman -of Arabic or Hindoo blood and have children by -her, your offspring will be Eurasians. Tamea is a -half-breed brown white. And she’s not very brown, -either—sort of old ivory. She’d pass for a white girl -anywhere. People who do not know her blood will say, -‘Isn’t she a marvelous brunette type of beauty!’”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If she bore you sons, how would you feel if they -should grow up to be great, hearty, brown fellows, unmistakably -Polynesian, with prehensile great toes, an -aversion to work, a penchant for white vices? You -cannot dodge the Mendelian law, my boy. Like begets -like, but in a union of opposites we get throwbacks. -Breed a black rabbit to a white one and you will get -piebald rabbits. Breed these latter to a white rabbit, -and continue to breed the offspring of succeeding unions -to other white rabbits until you have bred all the -black out of them. About the time you think you have -beaten the Mendelian law, the pure white descendant of -a black and white union, a hundred generations removed, -will present you with a litter of pure black -rabbits! You’re not going to run the risk of mongrelizing -the species, are you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, I do not think I am, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you know you are not?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I thought so.” Mellenger rose, walked to Dan and -thrust the ruddy end of his cigar in the latter’s face. -“You’re in love with Tamea already, aren’t you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I don’t know, Mel. Something has happened. It -happened tonight. You saw it happen. It never -happened to me before. Good Lord, Mel, old man, my -head has been in a whirl ever since.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That isn’t love. It’s infatuation. I’ve been through -it. I know. It’s a wonderful madness. It’s what’s -wrong with the world today. It’s at the root of -the divorce problem. Infatuation. And the fools -think it is love.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nothing divine about it, nothing spiritual; its -victims take no thought of the qualifications so essential -to successful marriage—an even temper, generosity, -unselfishness, tenderness, physical fitness, the absence -of mental and physical repulsiveness.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My dear man, love should be born in reverence, and -if later it develops into infatuation—well, I suppose -that would be quite all right, since in that case infatuation -would be the natural, normal outgrowth of love—the -apotheosis of it. If you marry Maisie Morrison—look -here, Dan, you say you do not love her——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m not certain, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then it is a fact that you think a very great deal -of her. You have the utmost respect for her, you are -happy in her society, you feel reverent toward her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course I do.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then, you star-gazing jackanapes, marry her and -become infatuated with her afterward. She can’t reach -out and grab you and maul you and paw you over and -kiss you and whisper love words to you—like this child -of nature, Tamea. It’s up to you to do that, Dan. -How are you going to discover Maisie’s possibilities to -compete with this passion-flower, Tamea, unless you -uncover them yourself? You’re a weak, cowardly sort -of man where women are concerned. I grow very weary -of you, my friend. You want to eat your cake and -have it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan laughed long and pleasurably at his old friend’s -outburst. “You’re such a comfort to me, Mel,” he -declared. “I dare say you are right. I’m cowardly. -But then, one shouldn’t take even the most remote -chance when he marries. Marriage is until death.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Death sometimes comes early to some married men, -and it is welcome. If you marry Tamea you will die -spiritually long before the breath leaves your carcass -and the doctor signs a death certificate authorizing -your burial.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What a gloomy picture you paint!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Marrying an exotic woman like Tamea—a half -aborigine—is like marrying any other aborigine, because -all aborigines are pigmented. And no matter -how transcendent the beauty of a pigmented aborigine—or -half-breed aborigine—that beauty fades early. -They degenerate physically and mentally. They are -old at thirty, repulsive at forty, hags at fifty.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nonsense! Educate Tamea, spread over her the -veneer of civilization, teach her how to play, cultivate -her voice, dress her exquisitely, and who shall say of -her, ‘You—<span class='it'>you</span>—are half aborigine’?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You speak of a veneer of civilization. Sometimes I -think the veneer is very thin and that man today -stands, basically, where he stood five thousand years -ago. Dan, it isn’t a question of a veneer of civilization. -It’s a question of the adaptability of species to its -environment. How long do you suppose it would take -you, a white man, to adapt yourself to the environment -of such an island, say, as Riva, in eastern -Polynesia?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I couldn’t hazard a guess.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I could, and it would be a fairly accurate guess, -since the history of white occupation of the isles of the -south Pacific will support my contention. You would -be an infinitesimal portion of the moral and physical -decay before you had lived there five years. After that -you wouldn’t care. It’s like mixing two acids that, -combined, produce an explosion. There is never any -real adaptability of the human species, you know. As -long as you and Tamea lived you would have different -thoughts and different thought impulses, different -moral values. This difference would prove an attraction -at first; then, gradually, you would begin to find -her ways inferior to yours, so you would have a contempt -for them, which means that presently you would -grow to hate Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger sat down and rested his head in his hands. -“I wish I could remember my geology and paleontology,” -he complained. “However, I never cared for it, -so I swept it out of my rag bag of a mind. At any -rate, you are much older than Tamea——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, not so old as to make a vital difference. About -eighteen years.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Shut up, you ass. You ditch my train of thought. -You are millions of years older than Tamea. She is a -Neolithic maid and you’re Paleozoic or Silurian or -Cretaceous or something, and in order to reach common -ground she’ll have to climb up through a lot of -queer strata or you’ll have to dig down. You paint -mighty fine pictures, but down in Riva they’re still -carving hideous gods out of limestone and making -hieroglyphics with a burned stick; they’re still chasing -each other around stumps with knobby clubs.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re the man who can paint pictures!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger sighed. “No, I cannot. I used to think -I could, but nobody else agrees with me, and now I -agree with them. Thought once I’d develop into a -great novelist, when all that God Almighty created me -for was to be a great newspaper man!. . . Well, -I’m not embittered, because I can still think clearly -and without illusion. And I can see fairly clearly, too. -. . . You’ve got to get rid of this girl.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re quite bent on clearing the way for Maisie, -aren’t you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes. But you are my friend, faithful and just to -me, and I’ve loved you since our freshman days in -college. The years and wealth and success haven’t -changed you. You’re still the same shy, helpless, gentle, -obstinate, wistful boy, and—and—I—I want to do -something for you, old son. The best thing I can do is -to clear the decks for Maisie and marry you off to her. -She’s a fine woman.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But I do not know, really, how to get rid of Tamea. -I can’t just chuck her out, you know. Can’t send her to -a hotel or an apartment house and let her go on the -loose. Maisie’s plan is ill-advised. You realized that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Maisie didn’t have any plan. She isn’t up to the -job of collected thinking now.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But she said she had a plan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I know. She wanted an excuse to come over -here this evening to guard you from Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mel, you have the most extraordinary ideas. You -newspaper men are always so suspicious of motives.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Rats! Not suspicion. Absolute knowledge. When -you asked her for her plan she floundered. Got into -deep water close to the shore and I had to throw her a -line. Immediately thereafter—but not until Tamea -had retired—Maisie went home.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Have you a plan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You bet I have. The talk of a school is sheer nonsense. -That girl is beyond school, and if you put her -in a school she’ll not remain put.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’ve overlooked one important detail. If she -may not remain here or in school she may promptly -go to the deuce, for lack of proper control.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That would be all right, Dan. The main point is -that she must not take you with her. If she sticks -around this house she’ll get you into Town Topics. -She has designs on you, my boy. That’s why I suggest -you queer them by marrying Maisie Morrison immediately, -if not sooner. Maisie has, in effect, proposed -to you, and you’ve been very cavalier in your treatment -of the proposal.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What do you suppose made her make that wild -statement to Tamea, Mel?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The best excuse in life. Self-preservation. It’s the -first law of human nature.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Just starting a backfire, eh?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger nodded and put on his dinner jacket. “I -suppose you have observed that women usually marry -the men they make up their minds to marry.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, I have not observed it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re a greater numbskull than I thought you -were. Two women have made up their minds to get -you, and one of them is going to succeed.” He glanced -at his watch. “Well, I suppose Maisie Morrison is -safe in her bed by this time, crying herself to sleep, -wondering how she is ever to muster the courage to -face you again after tonight. Better send her some -flowers in the morning and ask her to go for a drive -with you. That will put her at her ease. I managed -to give Tamea some food for thought, and with her -sleep has been out of the question. She looked out of -her bedroom window and saw Maisie drive away. Then -she crept downstairs, and even now she is sitting out -on the hall stairs listening to every word we say. -Tamea! Enter!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea appeared in the doorway.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am such a splendid clairvoyant. I can see around -a corner,” Mellenger remarked dryly. . . . “Well, if I -had heard the stairs squeak a little earlier in the evening -I would not have talked so freely. Good night, -Tamea. Good night, Dan. Thanks for a wonderful -dinner and a wonderful evening. I’ll be back next -Thursday night, as usual.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He smiled patronizingly as, on his way to the door, -he passed Tamea. She turned slowly and her fiery -glance followed him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, Monsieur Mellengair, you have made the great -mistake. I am not the go-to-the-deuce kind. But if -that is interesting, perhaps I shall make the experiment, -no? Well, when I do I shall make it alone, -thank you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now I suppose you’re very angry with me, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A little. Not so much as I think I shall be tomorrow. -I forgive you much tonight because you are -not a fool. But—I shall remember some things that -you said—and those things that I remember I shall -not forgive. Good night.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good night.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard roused from the dumb amazement -into which he had been thrown by Tamea’s sudden appearance -on the scene. “Hey, wait a moment, Mel! -I’ll walk downtown with you,” he called. He had a -sudden impulse to flee from danger.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>But the heavy oaken door had already closed behind -his friend, and in the entrance to the drawing room -Tamea stood looking at him. “Come to me,” she murmured. -“Come, <span class='it'>chéri</span>!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He went.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s round, beautiful arms came up around his -neck slowly, caressingly, and his head was drawn -gently down toward her glorious face until her lips -touched his ear.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That man Mellengair—he is your friend. He is not -mine. But if I had, like you, such a friend—ah, I -would be so rich! You must never lose him, <span class='it'>chéri</span>! -Oh, yes, I hate him, but that does not matter. He is -very wise, but he does not know your Tamea. Ah, no, -dear one. I would have you—ah, so happy—and I -would be happy with you. But if to be with me meant -sorrow for you—oh, I could not be so cruel! First I -would die. And you will believe that? Yes?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan’s heart swelled—with that ecstacy that was almost -a pain. And then Tamea kissed his ear lightly, -patted his cheek and fled upstairs to her room, leaving -him standing there—breathless, with a feeling that, -be the price what it might be, he could not afford to -miss such another moment as this. . . . It did not -occur to him that sorrow and heartbreak might be the -outcome of his yielding.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XVI</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Long before the sun came creeping up beyond Mt. -Diablo, Dan Pritchard made the discovery that -the man who has too many things to think about cannot -devote constructive thought to any of them. After -being the innocent cause of more discomfort than Dan -had thought it possible for any man to experience in -a single evening, Tamea had swept from his heart in a -moment a feeling of resentment, or irritation, that had -been developing there. Her tender little speech, evidencing -as it did the essential nobility of her primitive -soul, had surrounded the girl, in Dan’s eyes, with a -newer, more distinctive charm, and rendered more distressing -the prospect of the impending parting. For -all the embarrassment she had caused him in Maisie’s -presence, Dan realized that Tamea was not <span class='it'>gauche</span>, -that she possessed in full measure a characteristic -rather uncommon among her white sisters, and that was -sportsmanship.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea fought in the open; she was above a mean, -small, underhanded action. Notwithstanding the fact -that Tamea’s calm announcement to her rival that Dan -was her man had caused him to yearn for a hole into -which he might disappear, effectually dragging the -aperture in after him, Dan had a hearty man’s hearty -appreciation of her frankness, her simplicity, her utter -lack of dissembling, of feminine guile. He entertained -a similar feeling of admiration for Maisie, in whom the -exigencies of this peculiar situation had developed -similar characteristics. And lastly, he was sensible -of a little titillation to his masculine vanity in the -knowledge that two glorious women desired him, that -they were engaged in a battle of wits and charm to -win him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was, on the whole, however, very uncomfortable -and apprehensive of unfortunate developments. Mellenger, -beloved pal of his boyhood and steadfast friend -of his mature years, had read him truthfully and then -told him that which he had read. Dan was unwilling to -believe that Mellenger had read him aright yet he had -lacked the courage to deny it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>What a keen fellow Mark Mellenger was! How prudent, -farseeing and fearless! And how charitable, how -thoroughly understanding! Dear old Mel! He hadn’t -gotten ahead in life. His one great ambition had -failed dismally of realization, and he had had to content -himself with second place; nevertheless he was not embittered. -His life was taken up with doing well the -task he could do so much better than others; no hint -of the sadness of unfulfilled dreams ever escaped him, -and until tonight Dan had never seen him excited or -distressed about anything.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The old boy has a tremendous affection for me,” -Dan meditated as he got out of bed, donned dressing -gown and slippers and sat by the window to watch the -sun rise over San Francisco bay. “What a blow it -would be to him were I to—but of course I shall not. -The idea is unthinkable.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Gradually his mind turned to thoughts of business, -to the increasing annoyance of association with old -John Casson, to the rice market. He would call upon -Ridley, the rice broker, and put pressure behind the -selling drive if Ridley failed to render an encouraging -report by noon. Once in the clear on those rice deals, -he was resolved to do one of two things—buy John -Casson out or force Casson to buy him out.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And then there was the accursed question of what to -do with Tamea. That also would have to be solved -today.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At seven o’clock he heard Sooey Wan puttering about -in the kitchen below, so he shaved, bathed, dressed and -descended for an early breakfast. Sooey Wan served -him in profound silence, but eyed him with a steady, -speculative gaze; from time to time he shook his old -head as if he, too, wrestled with problems hard to -solve. When Dan left the house Sooey Wan accompanied -him into the hall, helped him into his overcoat -and handed him hat and stick. Then he voiced -something of what was on his mind.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Boss, how soon you mally Captain’s girl?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How dare you ask me such a question? Mind your -own business, you grinning old idol, or I’ll fire you one -of these bright days. I’m not going to marry the -Captain’s girl.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan did not seem to be impressed. “Helluva -house you ketchum, boss, you fire Sooey Wan. Allee -time you makee too much talkee-talk. Talk velly -cheap, but ketchum money you likee buy whisky. You -no mally Captain’s girl, eh? Well, when you mally -Missie Maisie?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan rubbed his corrugated brow and scowled -in huge despair. “Go ’long, boy, go ’long,” he entreated -wearily. “Allee time you makee Sooey Wan -sick. Why I ask? Wha’s mallah? You no wanchee -ketchum little baby—ketchum fi’, six son?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I haven’t thought about it,” Dan growled.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hully up. Thinkee quick!” Sooey Wan entreated. -“Pitty soon if you no thinkee, evelything go blooey-blooey. -Sooey Wan talkee Captain’s girl, she tellee me -pitty soon ketchum my boss for mally. Now you say -no ketchum. Wha’s mallah? You thinkee make fool -of Sooey Wan? Listen, boy. When Captain’s girl say -ketchum boss, then Sooey Wan bettee bankroll on -Captain’s girl. She ketch you, sure. Oh-h-h, velly -nice!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan slammed the door in Sooey Wan’s face and -hastened down the street. It was an hour’s walk to his -office and his head ached from too much thinking. The -exercise would do him good.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He purchased the morning papers and looked through -them for Tamea’s picture and the story of her arrival, -of her father’s dramatic death. Mellenger, for some -unknown reason, had not featured his story as Dan had -expected. It was a short straight news story, on the -second page, with a very good picture of Tamea, and -Dan noted that Mellenger had said nothing of the fact -that he was to be Tamea’s guardian, that she was a -guest at his home. The other paper had handled the -story more flamboyantly and featured it on the first -page, but with an eye single to local color the editor had -run the photograph of Tamea in the Mother Hubbard -dress.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Brainless apes,” Dan growled. “Makes her look -like a colored mammy. I hate them.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Arrived at his office, he had scarcely read his mail -before Ridley, the rice broker, called him up.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I can unload that four thousand tons at Shanghai -for cash,” he announced, “but the price I can get will -not leave you much of a profit.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How much?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Fourteen cents, at ships’ tackles, Shanghai.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan figured rapidly while Ridley held the wire. The -price quoted would net his firm a profit of about eight -thousand dollars. “Sold!” he cried triumphantly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>By noon the deal had been definitely closed with -Ridley’s client, the space contracted for on the Malayan -transferred to the new owner of the rice, and the -check in payment deposited in bank. Dan’s mental -thermometer commenced to rise, so he decided to accord -himself the delight of breaking the news to old Casson.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The senior partner’s face darkened with fury. -“You’ve cost us a potential profit of a quarter of a -million dollars, Pritchard. I suppose you realize that -this confounded interference of yours means the end -of our business association.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I hope so. Thank you, I wouldn’t care for another -helping of the mustard. Do you propose buying me -out or selling out to me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I would prefer to buy you out—today—and carry -those rice deals myself.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Unfortunately, the sale of my interest here will not -invalidate my signature on some of this firm’s paper, -Mr. Casson.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That might be arranged somehow. What do you -want for your interest?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan named a figure and old Casson nodded approval.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Terms?” he queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Cash.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Impossible.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, then, fifty thousand in cash and the balance on -secured notes.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Impossible.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I had a suspicion you have dissipated in crazy -deals most of your share of the money we made during -the war. Well, it appears you cannot buy me out, and -until our rice deals have been safely disposed of, if not -at a profit at least without loss, I do not yearn to take -over your share. It might prove a very bad investment. -However, for reasons which would never occur to -you, I am willing, once the rice deals have been disposed -of, to buy you out on a basis of the actual value of our -assets, but with nothing additional for good-will. All -the good-will value of Casson and Pritchard has been -created by my father and myself.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I shall not sell on that basis.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Very well. The day on which our last note is paid -I am relieved of all contingent liability as a partner -in Casson and Pritchard. We will dissolve partnership. -That will kill your credit with our bankers and I shall -sit calmly by and watch you go to smash. When you’ve -had your beating, sir, you will be glad to sell—at my -terms. I am generous now. You may be sure I shall -not be generous then.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Old Casson glowered, puffed at his cigar and then -studied the ash reflectively.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“While you were busy this morning unloading -that Shanghai rice at a paltry eight thousand -dollars profit—just because you lack the courage of a -jack-rabbit—I disposed of the Manila rice at the -market.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“To whom?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Katsuma and Company.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Japs, eh?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“They’re good.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Financial rating is unquestionably splendid. Know -anything about the moral rating of a Japanese business -firm?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“They’ve always met their business obligations.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Any Jap will—until the meeting of them becomes -burdensome or unprofitable. Ninety day paper, I suppose.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Casson smiled triumphantly. “No, not with Katsuma -and Company. Sight draft against bill of lading, -payable at the Philippine National Bank.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, that’s better than I had expected. Unfortunately -the cargo has to be loaded aboard ship before -that draft will be cashable. That means thirty days of -suspense—and I do not like the financial aspect in the -East. Prices <span class='it'>must</span> come down—and once they start -downward they may develop into an economic avalanche. -It’s an unhealthy situation and I don’t like it. -Where’s your contract with Katsuma and Company?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Casson handed it to him and Dan scanned it carefully, -nodded his approval, rang for the chief clerk and -gave the contract to him to be placed in the safe.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, on the face of things, we’re out of the rice -market,” he said as he rose to return to his own office. -“I feel much relieved.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>In his private office he found Mark Mellenger waiting -for him. “Well, you bird of ill omen,” Dan greeted -him cheerily, “what brings you here?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Had an hour to kill and thought I’d kill it here. I -do not go on duty until one thirty. Dan, I’ve been -thinking. What, if anything, have you decided in the -matter of the girl, Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nothing, Mel. I’ve been too busy on something -else.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It would be well to make Tamea’s matter a special -order of business. Have you thought of anything to -do?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Not a thing.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I suspected that might be the case. The fact is -that you are being ruled by your subconscious mind. -You do not wish to do anything. However, you shall. -I have a plan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“None of your sarcasm. Not that it will avail you -anything. It’s just futile—wasted energy—on me. -You must induce Maisie Morrison to take Tamea to -Del Monte for a couple of weeks.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My dear man, why should I ask Maisie to burden -herself with such a responsibility?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, it <span class='it'>is</span> selfish, I admit, but then if one would -make an omelette one must break eggs. Maisie will -regard it as a burden and she will appreciate to the -fullest your cussedness in asking her, but she will accept -the nomination gracefully—indeed, I am moved to -add—gratefully.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you know she will?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t know. I’m merely guessing. I guessed her -right last night, did I not?. . . Yes, I’m not half bad -at guessing things.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But something tells me there is mutual hostility -between Maisie and Tamea. They disliked each other -at sight.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Quite true. But then women who despise each other -for a reason which may not be discussed will never -admit that they despise each other. And Maisie will -subjugate her very natural desire to spank Tamea if -she realizes that by so doing she will be enabled to -thwart Tamea in the latter’s campaign for your affection. -It occurs to me, therefore——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You mean that Maisie will eagerly grasp the opportunity -to take Tamea out of my presence and keep her -out?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan, you poor moon-calf, you’re growing brilliant. -You’re beginning to do some head-work. Answering -your question, I would say that such is my interpretation -of what will be her mental attitude.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Women are so queer,” Dan declared helplessly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Women study the essentials which most men overlook, -to wit, cause and effect. The adverb <span class='it'>why</span> was -invented for the use of women. They always want to -know. When they have a battle on they use their -heads to think continuously of the enemy. They do not -forget him or ignore him or underestimate him—I -mean her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Old cynic!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Not at all. That’s sound argument based on observation. -A smart woman never forgets that her -opponent is extremely likely to act with discretion.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think you ought to ask Maisie and her aunt to -be your guests at Del Monte for a few weeks, and explain -to Maisie that you will take it kindly of her to -look after Tamea. Be sure to inform her that while -you will drive down with them and spend the week-end, -you will motor home on Monday—and stay at home -thereafter. You see, Dan,” Mellenger continued, -“there will be much to divert and interest Tamea down -there. She can ride, and if she cannot ride she can -spend her time learning. Same thing with golf. She -can swim—and I dare say she’ll be the sensation of the -beach. Lots of good looking, idle gents down there -to take her mind off you, and with Maisie and her aunt -to chaperon her, and Julia to help steer her straight, -you stand a very fair chance of forgetting her, of having -her forget you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That is a very good plan. After a few weeks there -I will have her school arrangements made. Then I’ll -have a talk with her, tell her exactly what I want, and -that I am going away on a trip to Europe and that she -must be a very good, obedient girl while I am away.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But—are you really going to Europe?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am. In about thirty days I’m going to sell out to -old Casson, or buy him out. If the former, I’ll be free -to go. If the latter, I’ll appoint a manager and go -abroad anyway.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The day you get Tamea into a convent—and that’s -where she belongs—you are to marry Maisie Morrison -and take her to Europe with you. I’ll keep an eye on -Tamea for you.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No risk, I assure you. I have a pachydermous -hide which her glances may not penetrate. Besides, I’ve -always been singularly intrigued with the idea that one -of these bright days I may marry some fine woman -and father some blue-eyed, flaxen-haired children.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You old-fashioned devil!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do not seek with specious compliments to swerve -my single-track mind from your <span class='it'>affaire de cœur</span>. It is -understood, then, that you are committed to my plan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Absolutely.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Fine! Telephone Maisie at once.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan hesitated, so Mellenger pressed the push-button -that summoned Dan’s secretary. “Please get Miss -Morrison on the telephone for Mr. Pritchard,” he -requested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie was at home and to Dan’s suggestion she -agreed—not with enthusiasm, but upon the ground of -obliging him, of helping him out of a distressing situation. -Mellenger, listening to Dan’s replies, managed -to patch together a very fair résumé of their conversation, -and grinned openly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Told you I was a good hand at guessing,” he -bragged. “Ah, that’s a smart girl, that Maisie. She’s -a diplomat. Got tact—rarest feminine gift. Before -you hang up I should like to speak to her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>There was a wait of a few minutes while Maisie urged -her aunt to agree to chaperon the party. Presently -Maisie called back to say that Mrs. Casson, having -communicated by telephone with her husband, would -be delighted to accept.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Falls in with old Casson’s mood very nicely,” Dan -soliloquized. “He’s morose and sulky and prefers to -be alone.” To Maisie: “Mel is in my office, Maisie. -He wishes to say a word to you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Miss Maisie,” Mellenger announced, “I’ve taken on -a new job.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m managing Dan Pritchard. The man is bewildered -and doesn’t know how to manage himself. -He’s afraid to act with force and decision at home, although -down in the office he never hesitates to crack -the whip.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I know. Dan is so tender-hearted. He’s afraid -his passion-flower will droop and die if he exercises the -least bit of authority. If his true friends do not -organize——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Exactly, Miss Maisie, exactly. You start for Del -Monte at two o’clock this afternoon, in Dan’s car. You -will arrive in time for dinner. Your trunks will follow -by express.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Are you giving orders, Mel?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I hear you and I obey. Good-by. Thank you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger hung up and faced Dan. “Go home and -get ready, but before you leave this office, telephone -Julia and start her packing.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re a fast worker.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I know a faster one,” Mellenger retorted significantly.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XVII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>At a quarter past seven, when Dan Pritchard’s -limousine drew up in front of the Hotel Del -Monte, a white, flannel-clad figure heaved itself out of -a chair on the porch, came down the steps and opened -the door of the car.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good evening, everybody,” he greeted Dan’s party.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hello! Mel! You here!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger sighed. “One might glean the impression -judging by your intonation, that I haven’t any right -here,” he complained. “After leaving your office today -I began to feel the downhill pull, so I jumped the -two o’clock train and here I am. How do you do, Miss -Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He gave Maisie his hand and assisted her to alight. -They exchanged glances and Mellenger felt his hand -squeezed just a little. He answered the pressure, was -introduced to Mrs. Casson as Dan handed her out on -the steps, and immediately turned to greet Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good evening, Your Majesty.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good evening, Monsieur Stoneface,” Tamea answered, -and ignored his outstretched hand. He knew -she was not pleased to find him here, and her next -words, spoken in French, clinched this conclusion. “I -will make your task an easy one,” she challenged. “I -have been doing some thinking.” She smiled enigmatically. -“Oh, I understand you very well, indeed!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I think we understand each other, Tamea. I -want you to know, however,” he added as they followed -Dan, Maisie and Mrs. Casson into the hotel, “that my -attitude is perfectly impersonal. I do not dislike you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you understood me there would have been no -necessity for that speech. Listen to my words, Stoneface. -I——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why do you call me Stoneface?” he interrupted.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Because to many people your face reveals nothing. -It is dull and blank when you would deceive people, -but you are not a fool, Stoneface. But you remind -me of the tremendous stone images on the coast of -Easter Island, with their plain, sad, dull faces turned -ever toward the sea as if seeking something that never -comes. So you are Stoneface to me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And what do I seek?” he demanded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You seek in men those qualities which are in you. -They are hard to find, Stoneface. And you seek from -some woman a love that will give a little in exchange -for a great deal. You are a lonely man, Stoneface—always -seeking, seldom finding, never satisfied. You -see, I have been thinking of you. And I have done -some thinking on your words to Dan Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I hope you will not quarrel with me for that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is hard to quarrel with the true friend of him I -love, but you are in my way, Stoneface, and you are a -resolute man. So I shall not have mercy. Of two -women who love your friend, you must, it seems, approve -of one. I am not that one. . . . Well, when -the gods rain blows on Tamea she will take them standing -and none shall know how much they hurt. And you -have hurt me, Stoneface. Still, I shall be what you call -a good sport. Dan Pritchard has come to this place -for a few days to play—with me—and you are here -to have him play—with you! Well, Stoneface, I give -him to you for those few days because I love him. I -would not have his mind distressed with the striving -to keep two women happy. I shall not again be of -gross manners and embarrass him,” she added darkly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You feel quite certain of yourself, do you not?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes. And why not? This girl”—with an infinitesimal -shrug of her shoulder she indicated Maisie, who -had met a friend in the lobby and was talking to her—“causes -me no alarm, so I shall be kind to her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m the bug in your amber, eh?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You must be considered,” she admitted.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He laughed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why do you oppose my desires, Stoneface? I am -not a black woman, I am not stupid, I have, perhaps, -as much beauty as——” And again she shrugged a -shoulder at Maisie.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am informed,” said Mellenger coolly, “that on -your mother’s side you are descended from a line of -kings who have never mingled their blood with that of -the common people.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That is true.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I would that my friend refrained from mingling the -blood of his children with that of another race, a race -that is not white.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She was silent, digesting this unanswerable argument. -Then: “Some day, perhaps, Stoneface, you -will cast away that argument. Like a child’s garment, -it will not fit a grown man.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie came toward them. “We will go to our rooms -now and dress for dinner, Tamea,” she suggested.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When he was alone in the lobby Mark Mellenger sat -down in a quiet corner to think. “She bombs one,” he -complained. “She fairly blows one out of the water. -She will not be deferred to nor pitied nor patronized. -Realizing why I am here—why I have found it necessary -to be here—she renders me futile and my presence -unnecessary by changing her tactics. She reads my -poker face, and, having read it this evening, she has -taken my job away from me and I feel foolish. Judas -priest, what a woman! She’s perfectly tremendous! -Fair and square, hitting straight from the shoulder and -with character enough to dislike me intensely. She is -adorably feminine and I’ve got my hands full to defeat -her purpose. She isn’t going to plead with me to get -out of her way, nor is she going to oppose me. She’s -just going to ignore me. . . . Well, poor old Dan, I -did the best I could by you, at any rate. The idealistic, -altruistic dreamer. He’s helpless, because this girl -possesses a charm that Maisie hasn’t got or hasn’t developed. -Tamea can hear the pipes of Pan. That’s -it! She can hear them and make men hear them, too.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>It did not occur to Mellenger that he liked reedy -music.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XVIII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>At dinner Tamea captured a seat beside Dan -but gave it up almost instantly to Maisie, giving -as a reason her desire to sit beside Mark Mellenger and -talk with him. However, she had little to say during -the meal. Seemingly she was content to be a good -listener.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, she has been doing some thinking,” Mellenger -thought. “And she has decided to disarm active opposition -by abandoning direct action and fighting under -the rules of the game as Maisie and her kind play -it. Preëmpted the seat beside Dan and then abandoned -it, just to show her power. She’s half French and a -born coquette.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Suddenly Tamea turned to him as if she had read his -thoughts. “I have decided to be all white,” she said.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He noted the fascination of her habit of starting a -conversation as if it were the continuation of a discussion, -her trick of foreshortening words and ideas.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I commend your decision, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Will you help me, Stoneface?” she pleaded with sad -wistfulness.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She bowed her head understandingly. . . . When the -gods rained blows on Tamea, Queen of Riva, she took -them standing, and none might know how much they -hurt.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I hate you—but I respect you,” she said in a low -voice. “You are a man of resolution, Stoneface.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I wonder, my dear, if you will believe me when I -assure you it is very difficult for me to act in a manner -which causes you to dislike me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I know that. If you were unkind because you -enjoyed unkindness, Dan Pritchard would not love -you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea, you have, in full measure, the greatest gift, -an understanding heart. In time I shall hope to be -understood and—forgiven.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She frowned. “An understanding head might be a -better gift. This evening, when I saw you, I understood -why you came without telling anybody. And I -thought: ‘Tamea, you are a little fool. Go back to -Riva where your mixed blood does not set you apart -from your world. Here it is difficult to know happiness!’”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That was a sensible thought. Why do you not -return to Riva? You are terribly out of place here.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You, who are all white, cannot understand the combat -in my heart, Stoneface. I inherited too much from -my father, who was a very wonderful man. I comprehend -too quickly, I see too clearly and, I think, sometimes, -I shall never be very happy. I am a child of love -and I—I—well, I am sorry you will not help me know -the ways of your people. I shall learn without aid but -just now I would make haste. . . . However, I understand.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Her long, beautiful hands lay in her lap—her fingers -lacing and interlacing nervously; her face was downcast. -Mellenger suspected that her long black lashes, -seeming to lie on her rose-ivory cheek, effectually concealed -a suspicious moistness. There was about her a -sad, gentle, Madonna-like wistfulness more poignant -than sorrow. Mellenger was touched.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Presently she raised her head and smiled defiantly. -“Perhaps I, too, shall be a Stoneface, searching the -sea for that which never comes. Tomorrow what shall -we do to make happiness for ourselves?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tomorrow I would like to dedicate to the delightful -task of making you happy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then go away. You are not needed here.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will go on Monday with Dan in his car. Until -then you must endure me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, Stoneface. This is a pretty place with -none but fashionable people in it, apparently. I shall -learn much here so I shall be dutiful and remain here -very quietly with Maisie and Mrs. Casson.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That will please Dan very much.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He will think of me while he is away. He will -write to me. Perhaps he will think of Maisie too and -write to her. If so—very well. It is not nice to play -the cat.”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XIX</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>That ended the conversation for that night. -Tamea retired shortly after dinner, leaving Maisie -and Mellenger in possession of the field. The next -morning Dan and Mellenger breakfasted early and left -for the golf links at Pebble Beach. Maisie, her aunt -and Tamea joined them there for luncheon, and in -the afternoon Maisie, Dan and Mellenger made up a -threesome and played nine holes, with Tamea following, -playing the part of the gallery and bored to the point -of tears. At a point on the course where one drives -along the cliff, Mellenger sliced badly and drove a new -ball into the Pacific Ocean. Tamea was frankly delighted. -In the evening there was dancing and again -Tamea was out of it. She could neither fox-trot nor -waltz; she could only gaze wistfully after Dan and -Maisie.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger sat with her. “Do you dance, Stoneface?” -she queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, yes!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps you will teach me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“When?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, but a beginner——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You do not wish me to dance with Dan Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She nodded. “I have listened to this music and I -have watched these others dance. I think I can dance -the fox-trot, too. You shall dance with me, Stoneface. -I would learn.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll not make a spectacle of myself, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then I shall. You shall dance with me or I shall -dance alone, and when I dance alone others cease dancing -to watch me. I will do what you call bust up the -show. I will do the <span class='it'>hula</span>!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You win,” he declared, and they stood up. Tamea -made a false step or two, caught the rhythm and -moved away rather easily. As she gathered confidence -she improved and they circled the hall without colliding -with anybody. “You’re an apt pupil,” said -Mellenger.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I grow more apt,” she retorted—and commenced to -dance. In all his days Mark Mellenger had never held -in his arms a more wonderful partner. She handled -him easily, steering him cleverly among the dancers, -moving with a swiftness, a lightness and an abandon -both new and thrilling.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You have danced before?” he charged. “You’re -marvelous.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In Tahiti,” she admitted. “I had a humor to force -you to meet my will. Now I am very weary—so weary -that I shall not dance with Dan Pritchard if he asks -me—and he will.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan did—and Tamea begged off. Mellenger was -immensely amused. “Playing me off against old Dan,” -he thought. “Well, I think I shall fall in with that -mood and play the game. This is getting interesting.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They drove around the seventeen mile drive the -following forenoon and had a Spanish luncheon in -Monterey; in the afternoon Mark and Dan played -eighteen holes of golf while Tamea and Maisie went -down to the beach swimming. After dinner Tamea fell -into step beside Mellenger as they walked down the long -hall and clasped her hand in his, after a childish fashion -she had.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You have been very nice to me today, Stoneface,” -she admitted. “I think, perhaps, I may learn soon to -forget that I dislike you. Do you insist upon going -back to the city tomorrow morning?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I’m going back with Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Please do not go,” she whispered, and squeezed his -hand a little.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why? Why do you ask me to remain, child?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Because I shall be lonely here—and if you remain -perhaps we may have a nice fight, no? I wish to talk to -you—to understand some things. Please?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She halted him, came close to him and looked up at -him in a manner that could not be resisted. Mellenger -felt a wild thrill in his heart and it must have registered -in his eyes, for Tamea’s great orbs answered thrill -for thrill.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll not stay,” he almost growled.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then walk with me a few minutes in the grounds,” -she begged. “I must have some conversation with you—alone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They strolled out and down a graveled path through -the trees to a bench Tamea had observed under one of -them that day. They sat down. Tamea was first to -speak.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Stoneface, I have done much thinking because of -what I heard you tell Dan the other night at his -house. I know now how the friends of Dan Pritchard -will regard me if he takes me to wife. They will not -say, ‘Ah, there is that nice wife of his.’ No, they will -say, ‘There is Dan Pritchard and his Kanaka wife.’ -I shall always be one apart. You have made me very -unhappy, Stoneface, but perhaps I should thank you -for telling me first. Now I shall not go too far until -I know how far I should go.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m so sorry,” he murmured humbly. “I didn’t -mean it for your ears. I wouldn’t have said it—then—if -I had known you were eavesdropping. You’re -much too fine, Tamea, to have this happen to you, but -I know Dan Pritchard. You are not the woman for -him. Maisie Morrison is.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps those are true words, Stoneface. I do not -know men of your race too well. Yet it is certain that -some day a man will seek me and I will be glad of the -seeking. Many have sought me already, but you must -understand, Stoneface, they were not gentlemen. Ah, -but you do not understand. . . you do not know how -much I wish to be all white. . . how my heart hurts -because here, where I am alone, I must be alone always -because I—am—different.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was overwhelmed with sympathy and possessed -himself of her hand and patted it, but without speaking.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You like me, do you not, Stoneface?” she pleaded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are wonderful—transcendently beautiful—you -have a mind and a heart and a soul.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And you like me—a very little?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His grip on her hand tightened. “God help me,” he -murmured huskily. “I love you. I am like a man -smitten with a plague.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, you love me. I was quite certain of that, only -you told me the eyes were not admissible as evidence. -You did not think I could stir a heart of stone and see -love and longing in Stoneface, no? But I saw it, and -I have not wished it, for I have not liked you. And -now will I make you humble. You shall seek the love -of the woman you would not wish your friend to take -to wife—no, no, I dishonor you, Stoneface.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Forgive, please. You would not seek it, but you -shall yearn for it with a great yearning that shall cause -you to forget that in my veins flows an ancient and -alien blood. Stoneface, know you that if half of my -blood is dark it is not the blood of the unbeautiful or -the base. It is the blood of the kings and patriarchs -of a lost race that is dying because, in its innocence, -it touched hands with the vilest of living things, the -white man civilized. No, I am not ashamed of my -blood. I am proud of it and I rejoice that it has -given me a weapon to humble you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She grasped his hands and drew him toward her. -“Look at me, Stoneface,” she commanded. But he -turned away his heavy, impassive face. “Ah, look at -me,” she pleaded now, “and let me see again in those -strange, stern eyes the look that was there when you -betrayed yourself into my power. For I have power—over -men. I know it. It is not to brag, to show -a large conceit, when I admit it—to you. . . . Come, -look at me, Stoneface.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He looked at her, turning his head slowly, as if it -hurt him to move it. There, in the moonlight, in that -scented park, her power, her tremendous magnetism, -the intoxicating glory of her strange, baffling, childlike -but commanding personality made his heart pound -and set up in his huge frame a weak trembling. Had -he possessed the power to think, this spell she had cast -upon him, all within the space of seventy-two hours, -would not have been possible of analysis. Perhaps the -best explanation was the one he had already given—that -he was as a man suddenly smitten with a plague.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You tremble, Stoneface.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That is because I am weak, Tamea, and I am -ashamed of my weakness. I, who came to scoff, remain -to pray.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That is my desire. I would have you, of all men, -suffer as you have made me suffer. I shall make of -you a great stone idol, with stony face turned sadly to -the sea, like those colossal figures on the coast of Easter -Island. Yes, Stoneface. Now you may gaze long -for that which never comes. I am avenged.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She dropped his hands and with her own clasped -tight against her tumultuous breast she looked at him -with eyes that blazed with emotion. Mellenger sighed -deeply and then his heavy, almost dull face lighted with -a smile so tender the plain face was glorified.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And when the gods rain blows upon me, O Tamea, -I, too, shall take them standing and smiling. You -have called me Stoneface. Very well. I withdraw my -opposition. I would have you happy, even at the -price of my old friend’s unhappiness, even at the sacrifice -of my own. But I shall not gaze out to sea for -that which never comes. For it shall come. And when -I see you bent and broken and taking the blows with -your flower face in the dust——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Her glorious face softened. “Then what, Stoneface? -Then what?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then,” he murmured huskily, “I shall weep. But -I shall also lift you up and hold you to my heart and -love you, and my love shall endure in the days when -you are old, and perhaps fat, when your beauty shall -be but a memory. Yes, Tamea, when you too are a -Stoneface gazing sadly out to sea for that which came—and -went—and shall never, never come again, I shall -love you and love you the more because your child’s -heart will have been broken. You will, perhaps, remember -this when you need a friend.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He left her there and went away, with hands outstretched -a little before him, like one who walks in -darkness and is afraid.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XX</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>In the morning Mellenger was gone. He left a note -to Dan explaining that he had received a sudden and -wholly unexpected call to return to San Francisco and -begged Dan to present his compliments to the ladies and -to express his regret at an unceremonious departure.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The man’s a poor slave,” Dan declared.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea, who had been at his elbow as he read, inquired: -“Who?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mellenger. He has left us.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah,” Tamea breathed—thoughtfully. After a brief -silence she said: “Then Maisie will have an opportunity -to play with you. I am glad Mellengair has gone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea, you mustn’t hold a grudge against my -friend Mark. He is not an enemy of yours.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“An enemy conquered is no longer an enemy, Dan. -I do not hold the grudge. I have taken my vengeance -on that man for the hurt he has done me, and I am -content to forget him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But you’ll always be pleasant and courteous to him -when you meet him at my house?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Certainement.</span>”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sorry you cannot play golf, or we’d make it a -threesome, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What man would be delayed and annoyed in his -sports by an unlearned woman? I have letters to write -to friends in Riva and Tahiti, so go you with Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan was glad to accept an invitation so heartily -extended. He had a feeling that, in the delicate operation -of remaining strictly neutral, he had neglected -Maisie; he felt that Maisie sensed the neglect. With a -light heart and a beaming smile, therefore, he sought -her out and drove off with her to the golf links at -Pebble Beach. They played eighteen holes and had -luncheon at the Lodge, and not once during the day -did either refer to Tamea, her future or her avowed -attitude toward her guardian.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Late in the afternoon they drove down the Monterey -County coast. Dan could not recall an occasion when -Maisie had been more delightful in conversation or -more winsome as to personal appearance. She appeared -to have fallen suddenly into a habit he had not -previously noted, that of adjusting herself to his -moods. Throughout that drive there were long, blissful -silences when Maisie observed his head sunk on his -breast and the dreamer’s look in his troubled eyes; when -he saw fit to toss her a conversational bone she seized it -eagerly and managed to extract from it a surprising -quantity of red meat. He was thrilled with a new -sense of the girl’s potentialities for comradeship and -sympathy, for abrupt and infallible understanding. -Today she made no attempt to dominate him, to encompass -and envelop him in the aura of her penchant -for leadership, for direction. And he liked that quite -as much as he disliked criticism, whether expressed or -implied. Had Maisie at last sensed what had been -keeping them apart for so long—his repugnance to -the slightest suggestion of a hindrance to his masculine -freedom? He pondered this.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan wished that women viewed men and their affairs -from a more masculine point of view. He wished -that they did not have such a tendency to condemn -without trial by jury, as it were. He deplored their -prompt and definite acting on instinct or intuition, and -he wished that the girl he might desire ardently to -marry should be possessed of a modicum of the sportsmanship -of a very gallant gentleman. Why did they -dislike each other so on sight? Why did they provoke -silly little tiffs over nothing in particular; and why, -when they were not on speaking terms with each -other, did they decline to avoid the embarrassment -of a meeting, as men do? Why were they controlled -by their emotions? How difficult of understanding they -were!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Well, at any rate, Tamea appeared to have a fairly -well developed sense of sportsmanship, for she had -deliberately abdicated today in favor of her rival, -and Dan thought that was mighty decent of her. She -had a definite philosophy, and, it seemed to him, she -could smother an active dislike and not develop the -remotest indications of a soul convulsion. Poor child! -He wondered if he had been quite kind in leaving her -to amuse herself all day at the hotel.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He shifted his position and his hand fell, not by -design, on top of Maisie’s. Instantly her soft, warm -fingers closed over it. The touch thrilled him pleasurably; -he wanted to hold Maisie’s hand, so soft and -small and fragile; he did not want her to hold his. So -he removed his hand from hers and she drew away -from him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah, don’t,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean that,” -and his arm went up and around her neck, deliberately, -possessively. She leaned toward him and he felt her -tremble. “This has been a wonderful, wonderful day,” -he said huskily. “It’s been one of those rare days -that upthrust themselves for years in one’s dearest -memories. You’re such a bully little comrade, Maisie. -I’m getting quite wild about you, dear,” and he kissed -her tenderly on the cheek closest to him and patted the -other cheek.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Her eyes were starry with love; she snuggled closer -to him and laid her head in the hollow of his shoulder. -“I’m glad you wanted to play with me today, old -dear,” she whispered. “I’ve been so happy. I was -afraid, when I heard Mark Mellenger had left early -this morning, that you would attempt the impossible -task of spreading yourself over too much territory. I -don’t think I could have stood more than nine holes -with Tamea along for a gallery.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Score one for Tamea there,” he blurted undiplomatically. -“She declined to come with us.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She raised her head and looked out of the window. -“Oh,” she breathed, “so you <span class='it'>did</span> ask her!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was suddenly annoyed. “No, I did not, Maisie. -She was the first to suggest that I take you golfing.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed! What magnanimity! I wonder why.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She said she had some letters to write.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her letters could have waited. She had some other -reason. I do not relish being the recipient of her—of -her—forbearance and generosity. I’ll not be patronized -by that barbarian.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was furious. “I’m sorry you mentioned her -name,” he retorted. “<span class='it'>I</span> have carefully refrained all -day long from doing so.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Maisie, that eternal ‘why?’ of yours grows provoking. -You make me feel like a cadaver on a dissecting -table.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re mixed in your metaphor, my dear Dan,” she -replied with a small clink of ice in her tones. “Your -statement that you have carefully refrained, all day -long, from mentioning Tamea’s name to me seems to -imply an impression on your part that such mention -would be distasteful to me. I have a normal, healthy -feminine curiosity, so I asked you why. If one would -ascertain information, one must make inquiries, I’m -sure.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, you didn’t mention her name, and that seemed -a bit queer. I merely bowed to what I gathered was -your unspoken wish.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How silly! Why, I didn’t refer to the girl today -because I never once thought of her today—until just -now. Why should I think of her? She doesn’t interest -me in the least, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m glad to know that. I had a sneaking impression -she did interest you—vitally.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You amazing man! Now, why should she?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There you go,” he declared furiously, “driving me -into a corner and forcing me to say crazy things so -you will not have to say them. How like a woman!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She laughed softly. Evidently she was enjoying -his discomfiture immensely. “Don’t evade the issue, -Dan. Why did you have that sneaking impression -that Tamea did interest me—vitally?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, after that night Mel was up to dinner—that -was a bit awkward, you know. And you two do not -like each other.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you mean that I decline to fall on that young -hussy’s neck and make over her——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t call her a hussy, Maisie. That doesn’t -sound like you, and besides, she isn’t a hussy. She’s -a poor, lonely, misunderstood young girl and——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And making desperate love to you,” Maisie taunted -him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well,” he chuckled, “that doesn’t annoy me particularly. -In fact I feel complimented.” Maisie -winced. There was a note of sincerity in his tone that -robbed it of any hint of badinage. Dan continued: -“The fact that she is making desperate love to me—it -would be useless and stupid to endeavor to hide that -fact—seemed to me to constitute sufficient ground for -my suspicion that you would prefer not to discuss her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie turned abruptly and faced him with wide, -curious eyes. There was cleverly simulated amusement -in those sea-blue orbs, and Dan’s train of thought running -his single-track mind was completely ditched.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Indeed, Dan, my dear old friend, what possible -interest could I have in anything Tamea does—with -you or any other man? You say you are complimented. -Perhaps you may even be delighted. I’m -sure I do not know, and I’m not sufficiently interested -to inquire. It hasn’t occurred to me to take you or -Tamea or your love-making at all seriously.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was crushed. “I see I’ve made a star-spangled -monkey of myself,” he said gloomily.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, say not so, old boy!” Maisie bantered. She -had him down in his corner now; a little more battering -and he would be counted out. “Have you been indulging -in some day-dreams, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded, and she laid her little hand on his forearm -with an adorable look of simulated interest, tenderness -and banter. With a fascinating uplift and -outthrust of her lovely chin, Maisie said: “Tell Auntie -about it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, don’t annoy me. You’re a most provoking -woman.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do please tell, Dan’l. I’m that cur’ous.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, I suppose I might as well. It appears I have -laid the flattering unction to my soul that you loved -me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes?” Maisie barely cooed the word.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And you do not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you know, old snarleyow?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m not exactly feeble-minded.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, indeed. I think you’re a high-grade moron. -At least, you act like one. Now, I want to know how -you could possibly have gathered the impression that -I am in love with you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I cannot answer that query, Maisie. I only know -that very recently I began to think you did.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You take too much for granted, Dan. Why didn’t -you ask me to make certain?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It’s not too late, Maisie.” He was desperate—afraid -of Tamea and what might happen to him if -he did not forestall her by some definite strategy—fearful -of being “spoofed” so outrageously by Maisie for -a minute longer. In her present mood, half childish, -half devilish, wholly womanish, Maisie held a tremendous -lure for him. Indeed, the environment was ideal -for such a situation. There was the blue sea out beyond -them, with the white waves breaking on a white -beach; their little subdued thunder as they broke, -and then the mournful swish as the broken water raced -up the shingle, had a particularly soothing effect upon -him. It stimulated his imagination. On the mountains -to their right the blue sunset haze still lingered; -cock quails were calling to their families to “Come -right home, come right home,” and somewhere over in -the chapparal a cowbell tinkled melodiously. Why, -the man who could ride with Maisie Morrison in such -surroundings and not feel his pulse throb with desire -for love and contentment was fit for treason, stratagems -and spoils.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>With a mighty sigh he said: “Well, Maisie, do you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Alas! The blundering idiot had neglected to postulate -his monumental query with a plain, blunt assertion -of his own love for her. Maisie, being what she -was, could never by any possibility admit anything -now. She would not have him think of her in the years -to come as a brazen woman who had proposed to him—that -she had been at all <span class='it'>gauche</span>. So she looked him -coolly in the eyes with a glance that did not conceal the -fact that she was irritated profoundly; with a certain -silky waspishness she gave him his answer.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, not particularly, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fell a silence. Maisie, glancing sidewise at her victim, -observed him gulp. There was a momentary flush -and then Dan took up the annunciator and said very -distinctly to Graves:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Step on it, Graves. I think the county motorcycle -officer has gone home to dinner. At any rate, if we’re -arrested I’ll pay the fine.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Graves nodded and the car leaped to forty-five miles -an hour. “I have a special arrangement with Graves,” -Dan continued, turning to Maisie as calmly as if his -heart were beating at its normal rate of seventy-six, -full and strong. “Unless instructions to the contrary -are given him, his orders from me are to obey the traffic -laws. If he is arrested in the absence of such instructions -to the contrary, he pays his own fine. Under -any other circumstances, I pay it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Fair enough,” Maisie answered, with a near approach -to slang which, coming from her, was rather -delightful. To herself she said: “What a charming -old idiot he is! I’ve gotten him quite fussed and he -is in a hurry to get back to the hotel so he can go to -his room and sulk. Well, he almost proposed that time. -I wonder if I wasn’t just a little bit too feminine with -him. I had an opportunity and failed to take advantage -of it. . . . Oh well, he shall propose again before -the night is over, and this time. . .”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan was humming a crazy little lumber-jack song:</p> - - - <div class='poetry-container' style=''> - <div class='lgp'> <!-- rend=';' --> -<div class='stanza-outer'> -<p class='line0'>Oh, the Olson boys they built a shingle mill,</p> -<p class='line0'>They built it up on the side of a hill,</p> -<p class='line0'>They worked all night and they worked all day,</p> -<p class='line0'>And they tried to make the old mill pay.</p> -<p class='line0'>  And—by heck—they couldn’t!</p> -<p class='line'> </p> -</div> -<div class='stanza-outer'> -<p class='line0'>So the Olson boys just took that shingle mill,</p> -<p class='line0'>And turned it into a whisky still;</p> -<p class='line0'>They worked all night and they worked all day,</p> -<p class='line0'>And tried to make the old still pay.</p> -<p class='line0'>  And—by heck—they done it!</p> -</div> -</div></div> <!-- end poetry block --><!-- end rend --> - -<p class='pindent'>The golden moment had, indeed, passed. Maisie -made one heroic attempt at a rally. “Well?” she -queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, what?” Dan demanded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What we were discussing a moment ago.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I make a motion that we lay that motion on the -table, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The motion’s denied.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, a motion to lay on the table is not debatable. -The question must be put to a vote. All those in -favor of laying on the table will vote aye. Contrary -minded—no!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No!” said Maisie.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Aye!” boomed Daniel. “The ayes have it and it -is so ordered.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Steam roller tactics,” Maisie protested and laughed -to conceal her chagrin. She had obeyed the instinct of -her sex, which is to flee from the male, even while obsessed -with the desire to be overtaken. She had yielded -to the feminine impulse to chastise him for his clumsiness -in love-making, to play with him awhile, as a cat -plays with a mouse, before claiming the poor victim. -She wanted him to be rough and resolute, to thrust aside -her protestations and claim her by brute force and -the right of discovery. She was very happy and she -had desired to linger a brief moment in the afterglow -of her decision to surrender to him—before surrendering. -She wanted to be deferred to, to have him -plead with her for her love, to deluge her with a swift -avalanche of love words. How could she confess her -yearning for him until he had laid at her feet the wondrous -burden of his own great love and asked her, -humbly, to accept the gift in exchange for her own?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie had never really had a sweetheart before. -She was a girl of the type that has a cool habit of -keeping amorous youths at arm’s length. Unlike so -many of her girl friends, she could not bear to be -pawed over by youths who failed to arouse in her the -slightest interest. She had never sought conquest for -the sake of conquest, although all of her life she had -hugged to her heart an ideal of love. She would marry -the one great love of her life, and having married, she -would devote her life to making her husband happy -and comfortable. She would bear children for him; -she would keep herself young and fresh; she would not -do any of the stupid things she frequently observed -young matrons in her set doing to their husbands—driving -them crazy by daily, almost hourly, demands -for renewed, fervid assurances of undying love; tagging -after them always, herding them in, cutting them -off from healthy association with other harassed males, -protesting against everything not connected with the -office and the home.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>For Maisie was, without anybody close to her remotely -suspecting it, a tremendously romantic young -woman. She yearned with a great yearning to be -wooed by a romantic lover who was fifty per cent slave -and fifty per cent Prince Charming. Long before she -had ever fallen in love with Dan Pritchard she had -fallen in love with love; hence her automatic resentment -of Dan Pritchard’s peculiar approach to the -Great Adventure. Having shyly hidden within herself -all her life, how could she expose her heart to Dan -merely to satisfy his accursed curiosity? What assurance -had she that he would, in turn, expose his -heart to her? Moreover, wasn’t it his first move, the -monumental <span class='it'>omadhaun</span>! Maisie smiled sweetly, but -what she really wanted to do to Dan Pritchard was to -slap him furiously and then cry herself to silence and -forgiveness in his arms.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, pride comes before a fall,” Dan answered -her lugubriously.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You weren’t so <span class='it'>very</span> proud,” Maisie assured him, -with a forgiving glance.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps. But that didn’t soften my fall.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think perhaps you were quite within your rights -in asking,” she pursued eagerly. “You’ve known me -so long and we’ve always been such good pals, I suppose -you concluded——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, yes,” he interrupted. “I’m so glad you understand. -Well, I’ll not embarrass you again, my -dear. You’re much too sweet and lovely to have my -silly action of a few minutes ago cast a shadow over -our perfect friendship.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll have to propose to him after all,” Maisie thought. -And she would have done it if a car hadn’t come up -behind them and with a hoarse toot warned them of -a desire to pass. Maisie could not bring herself to -speak at that moment. One does not desire to hint -of one’s love to the accompaniment of a motor siren. -And to complicate matters Graves glanced back -quickly, measured at a glance the speed limit of the -following car, and proceeded to run away from it. -This infuriated the driver of the other car, who in -turn speeded up and continued to honk at them until -Graves turned in at the entrance to the hotel grounds -and, before Maisie could renew the conversation, had -paused before the portals of the hotel and was standing -beside the car holding the door open.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As Dan helped her out of the limousine she squeezed -his hand and favored him with a look of abject -adoration.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I know, dear,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have -presumed. It is sweet of you to forgive me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie ran quickly to her room, cast herself upon -her bed and sought surcease from her rage and chagrin -in that soothing form of feminine comfort known as -“a good cry.” Indeed, she wept so long and so hard -that she decided she was too red and swollen of eye -and nose to venture forth where Tamea would see her. -So she sent down word by her maid that she had -developed a severe headache, as a result of the hard -day in the sun, and would have dinner in her room.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXI</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea, secretly delighted at Maisie’s misfortune, -expressed to Mrs. Casson and Dan a concern -about Maisie which she was far from feeling. Maisie -had had him all day, and it had been Tamea’s generous -thought to abandon the evening to her rival. However, -since fate had willed otherwise, she decided promptly -to make the most of her opportunity. After dinner -she managed to locate a bridge game with one partner -missing. The players were acquaintances of Mrs. Casson’s -and it was no trick at all for Tamea to steer her -chaperon into this vacancy; whereupon she took Dan’s -arm and wandered with him down into the art gallery. -There was nothing in the art gallery that Dan could -cheer for, and Tamea quickly discovered this. Almost -before he knew it, she had him outside and was walking -him through the scented starlit night down the road -toward Monterey Bay.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As they walked Tamea attempted no conversation. -Instinctively she realized that Dan did not want that. -He had something on his mind and it was depressing -him. What he needed, therefore, was love and sympathy -and song; whereat Tamea twined her long soft -fingers in his, swung his hand as they walked and commenced -softly, very softly, to sing a song of Riva. It -must have been a love song, for although Dan Pritchard -could not understand a word of it, yet in the soft succession -of syllables he caught a hint of passion, of longing, -of pathos. . . . Once when, apparently, Tamea -had a half rest in her music, she raised his hand to her -lips before resuming her crooning love lullaby.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They came to a wooden bench on a low bluff, against -which the waves beat at extreme high tides. They sat -down, Tamea still holding Dan’s hand. She released -it long enough for him to light a cigar, then she drew -his arm around her neck and laid her cheek against -his. She continued to sing and like a modern Circe -she wove her spell about him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Suddenly she ceased, placed one hand on his cheek -and tilted his face toward her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>Chéri</span>,” she whispered, “I love you with all my heart -and soul.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He stared at her incredulously. He seemed to be -thinking of something else—and he was. He was thinking -how different—this—from his experience of that -afternoon with Maisie.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But,” Tamea continued sadly, and let her hand fall -back into her lap, “my <span class='it'>chéri</span> does not love his Tamea. -She is half Kanaka.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hush, child,” he admonished. “I have never -thought of you as anything save as one of God’s most -glorious creations.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But,” Tamea persisted, “it makes a great difference—to -be half Kanaka. It makes a great difference to -a white man like you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It doesn’t make the slightest difference, sweetheart,” -he cried, and wondered why he had called her sweetheart. -His heart was pounding now, there was a drumming -in his ears, he was atremble with the trembling -that had shaken him as a zephyr shakes the leaves of -a forest that evening on the Moorea after old Gaston -had departed for Paliuli and the girl had clung to him, -weeping and despairing. “You’re wonderful, glorious,” -he continued, his words outpouring in a sort of rapturous -jumble and mumble, and swept her into his arms. -Their lips met. . . Tamea could kiss.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then you love your Tamea—truly, dear one?” she -whispered finally.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I adore you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And you will not wed Maisie, even though you are -engaged to her?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not engaged to Maisie and never have been. -What’s more, I never shall be, Tamea. No man could -marry a more wonderful woman than Maisie, but unfortunately -for me, Maisie isn’t the least bit in love -with me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea started, drew away from him and eyed him -wonderingly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are wrong, dear one. Maisie adores you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He shook his head. “I asked her—once,” he explained. -“She assured me she did not.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She assured you of that which is not true, Dan -Pritchard. Now why should she do this? The women -of your country are strange women, love of my heart. -They deny that which they feel. They pretend to be -interested in that which bores them. They desire a -husband, yet they shrink from taking him, even after -he has looked upon them with the look that no true -woman should mistake.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not understand this. I wanted you, dear -one, and when you looked upon me with favor I came -to you. And I am very happy—so happy, perhaps, -that when we are married and I have borne children -for you, I may forget that I am not exactly that which -you would wish me to be.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But I shall learn, dear one. And I shall obey my -lord because he is my master and I love him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He stood up and held her tightly to his heart that -was pounding so madly, so rapturously. He rained -kisses on her upturned flower face, and the perfume -of her glorious hair was as myrrh and incense to him. -“You’ve bewitched me, Tamea,” he muttered hoarsely. -“Come, let us go back to the hotel. Come!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They went. Tamea knew better than to oppose a -man. She knew that men love best the women who -give them their own way, who do not seek to restrain -or discipline or mold them to their own desires. -Daughter of a race that would disappear before emerging -from the condition of family life where there is -neither marrying nor giving in marriage for the avoidance -of sin and the preservation of property rights, -Tamea was following woman’s truest and most primitive -instinct. She was ruling by love and not by the -sad and silly principle that possession is nine points -of the law.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Young as she was, Tamea was a fully developed -woman, watchful, observant, philosophical, courageous, -resourceful; she had the gift, rare in a woman, of initiative -and instantaneous power of decision. Gaston -of the Beard had richly endowed her with the treasures -of his massive mind. She realized that she had -swept Dan Pritchard off his feet, that he was her slave, -but that his servitude was not as yet wholly voluntary. -And she knew why. He was mentally hobbled by the -knowledge of her island blood and a vision of Maisie -Morrison.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>But Tamea was not dismayed. She had faith in -her power—in the power of love—to make him forget -both. In the belief that he had been pledged to Maisie -she had decided gallantly to surrender him to Maisie -that day. She had told herself that if Maisie desired -him, then, that day, she would make certain of him, -and if she did not, then was she a fool. Well, she had -not closed her deal, wherefore here was a fair field and -no favor. Tamea told herself that she had acted with -a degree of sportsmanship pleasing to Dan; and now, -when from Dan’s own lips she learned that Maisie had -denied her love for him, Tamea had promptly renewed -the campaign; like a good soldier she had taken the -offensive and, as usually occurs in offensive campaigns, -she had won. She had felt Dan Pritchard’s wild kisses -on her lips, her cheek, her hair, and she was content.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Had Tamea been more conversant with Nordic custom, -had she even a remote conception of the holding -power of the marriage vow even in a land where thinking -people speak learnedly of a divorce problem, she -would have urged upon Dan the desirability of motoring -into Monterey that night and getting married. -It is probable that she would have urged this anyhow -had she the slightest fear of Maisie as a rival. All -anxiety on that point had now disappeared, however; -on the morrow she would set herself to the task of -making friends with Maisie. . . . Meanwhile, if her -heart’s desire persisted in striding back to the hotel -without speaking to her, who was she to obtrude upon -his mood? Instinctively she realized that men resent -intrusions upon their moods of depression or deep -thoughtfulness. Her father had been like that.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>A white bench, gleaming through the cypress and -fir trees down a path that led off at right angles, -caught her eye. She steered him toward it, but he -balked and shook his head in negation.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You will come, dear one,” Tamea cooed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, no,” he cried huskily. “Do not tempt me, -Tamea.” And he moved a few feet. When he looked -back she was standing where he had left her and her -arms were outstretched to him. “No, I tell you,” he -protested, and hurried away from her. So Tamea -walked down the little path and sat down on the bench -to await his return.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He returned to her. She knew he would.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are thinking, dear one, of what your friend -Mellengair said to you about me,” she challenged. -“You are thinking of the danger to a great white man -to mate with a half-breed Kanaka.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Please,” he pleaded. “I wasn’t thinking of that -at all.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then you were wondering what Maisie would think—what -she will say when you tell her how it is with -us two.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I—I do not think I shall tell her—yet.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s breast heaved and her dark eyes flashed. -“Then I will tell her, Dan. What have we to conceal? -Maisie means nothing in my young life,” she added, -tossing in a colloquialism she had picked up, the Lord -knows where. “Why do you fear?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not fear.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am glad to hear you say so. I should not love -you if you were afraid of anything.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah, but I am afraid of something, Tamea dear. I -am afraid I do not love you, with a sufficiently great -love to marry you. Perhaps that which I think is -love is not really love, but passion.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She laughed softly. Such fine distinctions were too -difficult for her to fathom. “What is love without -passion?” she protested, “and what an unlovely thing -would be passion without love. Fear not, beloved. All -is well with that dear heart of yours, and even if it -should be that you do not love me too well—that some -day your love should grow cold and you should leave -me—still would I ask of you tonight all the love of -which you are capable. Is it not better to have known -a little happiness than none at all? I think so. For -look you, dear one. When the parting comes—if come -it should as Mellengair foretold that night—you will -leave me as you came to me—in love. What manner -of fool is the woman who would strive to hold a man -whose love has grown cold and dim like the stars at -dawn? When you weary of me, Dan Pritchard, you -will tell me; then, because I shall always love you, I -will prove my love; I will send you away with a smile -and a kiss. Ah, sweetheart, will that day ever come? -I think not. I think I shall never grow old or stale -or intolerable to you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Never,” he promised, profoundly touched by her -sweetness, her candor and amazing magnetism. “You -are driving me mad with longing for you, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And I am driving you mad against your will?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea actually chuckled, took his none too handsome, -solemn face between her two palms and looked -at him long, earnestly and impersonally, as one looks -at an infant. She appeared to be puzzling something -out in her unspoiled mind.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Such men as have sought me heretofore,” she said -presently—“and I have not been without attraction -to several—have desired me—well, you understand. -There was that in their eyes that frightened me or disgusted -me and I would have none of them. I could -read their hearts. They said of me: ‘Ah, here is a -half-caste maid. She is like the others—a trusting, -silly half-caste, without pride or dignity. I will amuse -myself with her.’ But you are different, <span class='it'>chéri</span>. It is -not a woman you seek, but a woman with a soul. I -think I love you best because you are a gentleman. I -have not had many advantages, but something calls -out in me here”—she beat her breast—“to be different, -that I may be beloved by such as you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He murmured helplessly: “Well, I’ll be damned!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Possibly. Your white world is a strange world, -with many things and many customs that damn one—particularly -a woman. Yet would I follow you to -damnation. Would you follow me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I don’t know, Tamea. It requires courage for a -white man to quarrel with his white world—that is, -such a white man as am I. Some of us choose unhappiness -rather than affront our world, you know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I think I understand. That is your Christian -religion. It teaches strange things, such as duty, and -the battle against sin. It is something that makes -one unhappy, uncertain, filled with many fears. It -causes men and women to be unhappy in this life that -they may be happy in a life to come. The missionary’s -wife in Riva explained it to me—and I laughed. I -told her I would be happy in this, the only life I know -I shall know, and she grew angry and said I was a -hopeless heathen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s silvery little chuckle tinkled faintly on his -ear like a distant sheep bell. He hadn’t the slightest -objection to spooning with Tamea, but his natural refinement -rebelled at a park bench. He felt like a -country lover; he wanted to go back to the hotel; he -feared some one of the guests might see them and start -some silly gossip.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Let us return to the hotel,” he blurted out bluntly. -“Mrs. Casson will be wondering what has become of -us.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea raised his hand and looked at his wrist -watch. “We will sit here and talk until midnight,” -she declared. “Two hours. It is little enough.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Impossible, Tamea. We will get ourselves talked -about. Of course I can stand it, but you——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I can stand it too, dear Dan. Sit down, do!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea! Please be sensible.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The Queen of Riva stamped her foot. “You will -place your arms around me and speak to me of our -love,” she commanded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He obeyed. Nevertheless, while he held her to his -breast and whispered to her warm words of love; while -his heart poured forth its passion and longing and -ecstasy so poignant it was almost pain, the vision of -Mellenger obtruded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was making a mistake. What his personal -opinion of an alliance with Tamea might be mattered -not. His friends, the code of his class, forbade the -banns; and the realization of this brought him uneasiness -and unhappiness even in the midst of his wild -happiness. He feared for the future. Tonight the -world appeared to stand still in space, but tomorrow -it would continue to revolve, and unless he took a very -brave and resolute stand, it would move on toward -a tragedy.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>However, he had sufficient sense, now that he found -himself involved with this tropic wild flower, to attempt -the exercise of his undoubted power over her to the -end that he might outline definite plans for her future -and secure her acquiescence in them. He reverted, -therefore, to her father’s plans for her education and -reminded Tamea that he had promised her father to -see to it that the latter’s plans were carried out. He -impressed upon her the vital necessity for acquiring -as much education, knowledge of the world and refinement, -as white girls of her age. She must have music -lessons, she must learn to dance, to ride, to drive a -motor-car, to manage a household, to sing, to meet -his white friends on their own social level. In a word, -she must make him very proud of her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea agreed to obey him implicitly, but fought -desperately against the idea of a convent. She pleaded -to be permitted to live at Dan’s house and have private -tutors; she reminded him that she was amply able -to afford them. When he explained to her the impossibility -of this he saw that she accepted his explanation -as something irrelevant and immaterial and decidedly -peculiar. Reluctantly she abandoned her stand and -sought a compromise. If she went to a convent all -week could she come home of week-ends? Dan said -she could not. Then would he come to the convent to -see her on Sundays? He promised to do this every -Sunday, and thus the momentous issue was settled. -Tamea promised to enter the convent the day after -their return to San Francisco.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>This was the first long, uninterrupted confidential -conversation they had ever had. Dan was an understanding -and sympathetic listener with sufficient patience -to continue answering childish questions long -after the majority of his sex would have become irritated. -And Tamea asked him hundreds of questions -on an amazing variety of topics; she discussed intimately -the principal features of her own life and extracted -the last shred of information he had to give -concerning himself. He observed how clear, direct -and straightforward was her method of reasoning; she -had a nicely balanced choice of words, and a fascinating -habit of clothing her odd fancies in brilliant, brief, -illuminating metaphor or simile. In those two hours -when Tamea talked to him, with her head on his breast, -he really began to know her; and to the spell which -her physical beauty had cast upon him was now added -an ardent admiration for her mental equipment. She -possessed none of the flightiness, frivolity or empty-headedness -of the white flapper. To her, life was something -very, very real, something to be studied, considered -and not to be tasted indiscriminately. She had -inherited from her father an insatiable yearning for -information on every subject that interested her remotely.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>It was twelve-thirty before Dan, with a start, cast -off his thraldom and looked at his watch.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, I suppose we should go in,” Tamea said softly. -“I have had my delight spoiled for half an hour in -the fear that you would look at your watch. And now -you have looked at it and the suspense is over.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They walked slowly back to the hotel and came in -the front entrance. In the lobby of the hotel they -came across Maisie reading a magazine.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hello, Maisie, my dear,” said Dan, “I had an impression -you had a bad headache and had retired. If I -had remotely suspected you had recovered we would -have remained to keep you company.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie acknowledged this cheerful salutation with a -forced smile. Her eyes were cold and blue. “You -must have taken a long walk, Dan. Were you in to -Monterey?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, just down to the beach and back. The night -is so balmy we’ve been sitting outside. Tamea has -been asking questions and I have been answering them.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I had so many to ask,” said Tamea demurely, “that -it was very late when I finished.” She patted her -mouth to stifle a little yawn. “I’m so sleepy. Excuse -me, please, Maisie. I am going to my room. Good -night, Dan, you darling. Good night, Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan escorted her to the elevator, then returned to -Maisie and sat down beside her. Said she, coolly:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, Dan, did Tamea propose to you tonight?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>On the instant he was irritated. He scowled at -Maisie who, disdaining an answer, reached over on -his left shoulder and carefully brushed away a very -noticeable white patch on the blue cloth of his coat.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ve told Tamea several times not to use so much -powder,” she complained.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan was aware that he was flushing very noticeably. -When Maisie spoke again the flush deepened.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Aren’t you too old for that sort of thing—with -that sort of semi-developed girl, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He knew that Maisie, coming downstairs for some -purpose earlier in the evening and learning from her -aunt that he and Tamea had strolled away together, -had decided to sit where she could keep watch over -both entrances and await their return. What business -had she spying upon them? He was distinctly -irritated.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I must confess, Maisie, I do not relish——” he began, -but Maisie interrupted him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, I dare say you’re thinking I’m an old snooper -and that this is none of my business. I’d be prepared -to admit that if you had not asked me to look after -the child here. If you wish to have yourselves talked -about, why then, spooning around the hotel grounds -until twelve-thirty o’clock is a very good way.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea is perfectly safe with me,” he defended, -“and you ought to know it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do. With any woman you have as much boldness -as a canary bird, my dear. What I object to, -Dan, is the fact that you are not perfectly safe with -Tamea, and we might as well have an understanding -regarding her now as later. If you’re to be her -guardian you cannot afford to let her vamp you. As -one of your very oldest and dearest friends I’m going -to take the liberty of painting you a picture of the -future. I feel certain you cannot see the future clearly, -Dan, or else you refuse to see it. May I speak very -plainly, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What’s the use, Maisie? Mel has already painted -me the same picture and I disagree with his color -tones. I think I know what I am doing and I think, -also, that one of the rarest gifts God ever grants to -civilized woman is a nicely balanced diplomacy. They -have too much or too little.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>It was Maisie’s turn to flush now—with embarrassment -and anger. The flush departed, leaving her pale -and trembling. “The first bearer of unwelcome news -hath but a losing office,” she forced herself to say. -“Are you driving back to town in the morning, Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think it would be just as well if you took Tamea -with you,” Maisie continued icily. “Aunt and I will -remain here for a few weeks. I do not feel quite up -to the task of helping you with Tamea when you decline -to help me to help you to help her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, Maisie, I’m sorry——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course you are. And you’ll be much sorrier -some day, old dear. I may not have much of a gift -for diplomacy, Dan, but it does not require the gift -of second sight to see that you are madly infatuated -with this girl, and common sense is as far from an -infatuated man as the north pole from the south. -When you come to your senses send for me—should -you feel that you need me. Meanwhile—good night -and—good-by until we meet again.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was furious. He had assimilated smilingly one -terrific blow from Maisie within the past twelve hours -and now he was forced to assimilate another. He rose -and bowed to Maisie with polite frigidity.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are perfectly right, Maisie,” he assured her. -“I am, beyond question, the most monumental ass in -all California. Fortunately for both of us, I was -just about to inform you that Tamea has consented -to enter a convent immediately; consequently she no -longer assumes the proportions of a white elephant to -both of us. I shall take her home with me tomorrow -and place her in school the day after. I am deeply -grateful to you for all that you have done for me -in this emergency, Maisie, and I am sincerely sorry -my conduct has been displeasing to you. It has been -eminently satisfactory to myself! Good night and—since -I shall not see you before I leave tomorrow -morning—<span class='it'>au revoir</span>. When I need you again I shall -not, however, send for you. I am already too deep in -your debt. Good night.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie managed her leave-taking admirably. A little -nod, a cold and twisted smile—and she was gone. The -instant the elevator deposited her on her floor, however, -she fairly ran to her room, nor did she observe -that the door to Tamea’s room was opened ever so -little; that Tamea’s eye was at that crack and that -the tears that rained down Maisie’s cheeks had not -escaped that keen scrutiny.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am right,” Tamea soliloquized as she switched off -her bedside lamp and slipped into bed. “Maisie loves -him. She was too sure of him and that is a mistake. -No woman should be too sure of any man because -all men are children. After I left Dan with her they -quarreled. That is well. Dan is not ashamed of me, -then. Now Maisie weeps. That is well, too.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The telephone tinkled faintly and Tamea took down -the telephone.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you do?” said Tamea cordially into the -mouthpiece.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan speaking, Tamea. I am going back to San -Francisco tomorrow morning and you are to accompany -me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But Maisie and her aunt remain here?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes. How did you know?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am a very wonderful girl. I am smart—yes, you -bet.” Her triumphant, musical little chuckle was -soothing to his scarred soul.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia will be in your room at six o’clock to awaken -you and pack your suitcase and trunk. Good night, -my dear.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I kiss you once—for luck,” said Tamea and -smacked her lips loudly. Then she hung up, snuggled -down in bed and fell asleep almost instantly. She -had started the day with a handicap, but her finish -had been magnificent and she was well content.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea was awakened by Julia at six o’clock. At -seven she and Dan breakfasted together; at seven-thirty -they entered Dan’s limousine, the smiling Julia -tucked the robe in around her charge, took her seat -beside Graves, and the homeward hegira began. At -San José they looked in on the Mother Superior of a -splendid convent that catered to the educational needs -of young ladies of high school age, and Dan made -arrangements to enter Tamea there the following day.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And this he did. Tamea had quite a wild weeping -spell at the parting and Dan had to promise to write -to her daily. Then the necessity for abandoning Julia -was provocative of another outburst of grief, and to -add to the complications this proof of devotion so -touched Julia, all unused to such appreciation, that -she wept loudly and copiously and was pathetically -homely after two minutes of it. Dan, aware that all -incoming and outgoing mail would be censored at this -convent, realized that he, faced daily the awful task -of composing an innocuous little letter to Tamea, and -he was troubled with the thought that Tamea might -not understand and go into open revolt as a result.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Finally the ordeal was over and Dan motored back -to San Francisco. Here he discovered that there was -trouble in the Seattle office of Casson and Pritchard -and that it was necessary for him to go there at once. -He welcomed the opportunity. Promptly he wrote -Tamea that he was called away, but that he would telegraph -her every day while he was traveling. Telegraphing -was so much easier than writing under a -handicap. Surely Tamea would understand that he -could not afford to call her endearing names by wire. -She must realize that men of his class did not do that -sort of thing.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He was gone two weeks. Graves met him at the -ferry depot upon his return.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m glad you’ve returned, sir,” Graves announced. -“The fur has been flying since you left. Mrs. Pippy -gave Julia the air the minute you and Miss Larrieau -were out of the house, so Julia beat it down to the convent -and reported to Miss Larrieau. Up comes Miss -Larrieau from the convent and tells Mrs. Pippy where -to head in, and there’s a grand row. Mrs. Pippy calls -on Sooey Wan to give Julia the bum’s rush out of the -house and Sooey Wan tells her to go to Halifax or -some other seaport. Then Mrs. Pippy cries and Julia -cries and Sooey Wan cusses like a pirate and Miss -Larrieau takes charge of the house and she and Sooey -Wan are running it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan gasped. “But where is Mrs. Pippy?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She must have got frightened and left, or else Miss -Larrieau fired her. Anyhow, she’s gone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Has Miss Larrieau returned to school?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, sir. I think she’s waiting until you get back.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan sighed in lieu of the words he could not muster. -Here indeed, in the expressive terminology of Graves, -was “hell to pay and no pitch hot.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He dropped in at the office for a few minutes to look -through his accumulated mail. In it he found a formal -resignation from Mrs. Pippy, who regretted that the -lack of his moral support at a time when her position -had grown untenable rendered her resignation imperative. -She informed him of the address to which he -might mail her check.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I suppose I shall never have another Mrs. Pippy,” -Dan sighed, and added, “and I hope I never shall.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The moment he entered his home Tamea leaped out -at him suddenly from behind the portières where she -had been hiding. “<span class='it'>Chéri!</span>” she cried and favored him -with a bone-cracking hug. “My adored one,” she -added, and delivered a barrage of osculation that left -Dan quite breathless. When he could speak he said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Graves has told me of the battle which took place -here during my absence. Tamea, I am not pleased -with your high-handed procedure.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“<span class='it'>P-f-f.</span> Dear one, that Pippy was offensive. I disliked -that old woman the first time she looked at me—like -this,” and Tamea wrinkled her adorable nose. -“There was nothing else to do. She had defied me by -dismissing Julia, and this was mutiny, since Julia was -mine and you had given her to me. If the king fails -to protect those who come under the king’s protection, -the people murmur and there is discontent and perhaps -revolt, is there not? My place was here to protect -my servant and I came and protected her. I -have done well and you must not reprove me, dear one. -If you do I shall be very unhappy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, it’s all right, it’s all right,” Dan protested. -“It’s just that I hate a beastly row. You did not -secure permission from the Mother Superior to come -here?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I?” the amazed girl demanded. “I—Tamea, plead -for permission? You do not know me, I think, dear -one. Julia came in the car with Graves and I left -at once. At the gate the nun on watch desired to -stop me. She even laid hands upon me, but I thrust -her aside. <span class='it'>Tiens</span>, I was angry!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I judged as much from a letter which the Mother -Superior wrote me. Tamea, you may not return to -that convent. They cannot control you and they do -not desire that you remain there longer. My dear, -can you not realize that this is very, very embarrassing -to me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is very delightful to me, darling Dan. I did -not wish to remain there. They opened your letters -to me and before I could seal my letters to you they -were read. So I did not send them, but kept them all -for you. Tonight, after dinner, you shall read them, -one by one. Yes, at that convent there was much between -us of what you call in this country rough house.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan came in from the kitchen, grunted a -greeting to his employer, picked up Dan’s bags and -disappeared upstairs with them. Returning, he paused -for a moment at the foot of the stairs and said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Missa Dan, you fire Julia, Sooey Wan ketchum -boat, go back China pretty quick.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His impudence enraged Dan. “You may start now, -Sooey Wan,” he told the Celestial. “I’ll keep Julia, -but you’re fired.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan looked at Tamea, who smiled and nodded -to him. In effect she said to him: “Don’t pay any -attention to him, Sooey Wan. I am in command here.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan had evidently planned for this moment. -His shrill, unmirthful cachinnation rang through the -house. “Boss,” he piped, “you klazy, allee same Missie -Pip. You fire me? Pooh-pooh! No can do. Sooey -Wan belong your papa, papa give me to you, how can -do? You fire me, who ketchum dinner, eh? You -klazy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Again Dan sighed. It appeared that Sooey Wan’s -first introduction to the Pritchard household had been -due to a tong war in Chinatown. Sooey Wan, young, -bold, aggressive, had been marked for slaughter in a -tong feud, and the high-binder whose duty it had -been, for a consideration, to waft him into the spirit -world, had dropped Sooey Wan with his first shot. -Then a cane had descended upon his wrist, causing him -to drop his pistol. The peacemaker, Dan’s father, -had thereupon possessed himself of it, handed the -would-be assassin over to the police and forgotten the -incident. Sooey Wan eventually recovered from his -wound and at once sought out Pritchard senior, to -whom he explained that by reason of an ancient Chinese -custom he who saved a human life was forever after responsible -for that life. Therefore, it behooved Dan’s -father to place Sooey Wan on his payroll instanter, -which, being done, the latter became one of the assets -of the Pritchard estate. Inasmuch as Dan had been -the sole heir to that estate, naturally, to Sooey Wan’s -way of thinking, he had inherited his father’s responsibility -for Sooey Wan’s life while the latter continued -to live. <span class='it'>Ergo</span>, Sooey Wan could not be dismissed!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Decidedly, reprisals were not in order. There was -naught to do save accept the situation gratefully, cast -about for another school for Tamea and try, try -again. Dan recalled that there was a very excellent -convent in Sacramento. He would call upon the -Mother Superior there, explain Tamea at length and -seek to have the censorship law repealed in so far as -she was concerned. He would offer to pay double the -customary rate in return for special treatment and -forbearance in Tamea’s case. And he would tell that -infernal Julia what he thought about her—no, he -would not. If he did she would weep and when Julia -wept her pathetic lack of beauty was extraordinarily -depressing.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, I’m awfully happy to see you again, sweetheart,” -he said, and favored Tamea with one hearty -kiss in return for the dozens she had showered upon -him. “Any news from Maisie or her aunt?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Divil a wor’rd, sor,” said Julia, coming downstairs -at that moment. “I called her up, makin’ bould enough -to ax her to reason wit’ Mrs. Pippy, sor, but she would -not. Says she to me, says she: ‘Julia, there’s no reasonin’ -wit’ anybody in that household, so I’ll not be -botherin’ me poor head about them. When Misther -Pritchard wants me he’ll sind for me’.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Quite so, Julia, quite so. She is absolutely right.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He went upstairs, bathed and changed his clothes. -He intended returning to the office, but Tamea pleaded -with him to spend the remainder of the day amusing -her. So he took her to a vaudeville show, and Tamea -held his hand and, between acts, whispered to him little -messages of love. Once, when the house was dark, she -leaned over and kissed him very tenderly on the ear. -Then, remembering that he held a grudge against -Sooey Wan, whom he knew would prepare a special -dinner to celebrate his return, Dan decided to take -Tamea out to dinner and, deliberately, to fail to telephone -Sooey Wan. He knew that would infuriate -the old Chinaman and indicate to him that he had been -reproved.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They went to an Italian restaurant, the Fiore -d’Italia, up in the Latin quarter. It was a restaurant -which was patronized nightly by the same guests; indeed, -Dan, who had a weakness for some of the toothsome -specialties of the house, had been a guest there -about three times a month for years, and Mark Mellenger -had been, with the exception of Thursday -nights when he dined at Dan’s house, a nightly habitué -of the Fiore d’Italia for fifteen years. Dan had a desire -to bask for an hour in the light of Mellenger’s -delightful but infrequent smile and had chosen to -take Tamea to the Fiore d’Italia in the hope of seeing -him there.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger was just rising from his table as they -entered. He greeted them both cordially, but to -Dan’s pressing invitation to sit and talk awhile he -replied that he was much too busy at the office and -hurried away. Scarcely had he gone when Grandpère, -an ancient waiter who looked for his evening tip -from Mark Mellenger as regularly as evening -descended upon San Francisco, came in with an order -of striped bass <span class='it'>à la</span> Mellenger. Dan and Tamea had -seated themselves at the table vacated by Mellenger, -and Grandpère stood a moment, blinking at the -vacant chair. Then he glanced toward the peg upon -which Mellenger’s wide soft hat always hung and, -finding it gone, sighed and returned to the kitchen with -the order.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why, Mel left without eating!” Dan exclaimed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, he saw us first, dear one. He desired to spare -himself the embarrassment of having to speak too -much with me,” Tamea explained. “At Del Monte -I told Mellengair some things he did not like.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, Tamea, how could you? He is my dearest -friend.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She shrugged. “He told me things I did not like. -We are even now. I think I should tell you that he -will not come to your house again for dinner while I -am there.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Again Dan sighed. Things were closing in around -him. He had lost an excellent housekeeper, his maid -and his cook were in open revolt, his best man friend -avoided him and his best woman friend had quarreled -with him—and all over Tamea. The amazing part of -it all was that he simply could not quarrel with Tamea. -He could only adore her and strive to believe that it -wasn’t adoration. Tamea, watching him narrowly, saw -that he had surrendered to the situation and, as was -his custom, he would forbear seeking the details of a -situation repugnant to him. So she dipped a small -radish in salt and handed it to him with the air of -royalty conferring the accolade.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>There was dancing to the music of an accordion -played by an Italian. He was a genial man, with -smiles for all the dancers, and very generous with his -encores. Old patrons nodded to one another across the -tables, there was much pleasant conversation and -some noisy eating, for the Fiore d’Italia was a restaurant -dedicated to food rather than the niceties of -eating, and was patronized by democratic folk who -held good food to be superior to table manners. The -camaraderie of the place appealed to Tamea at once, -and when presently the accordion player, between -dances, commenced to play very softly “O Sole Mio,” -and an Italian waiter who had almost attained grand -opera paused with a stack of soiled dishes on his arm -and sang it, Tamea was transported with delight.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We will dance, no?” she pleaded brightly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan would have preferred the bastinado, but—they -danced. All eyes were on Tamea. Who was she? -Where did she come from? That was Pritchard with -her, was it not? Who was Pritchard? Zounds, that -girl was a corker! How she could dance and how she -loved it! A regular Bohemian, eh?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You play very well, Monsieur,” Tamea complimented -the musician as the dance ceased. “Please, -I would play your accordion. It is so much finer than -my own.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Before Dan could protest the Italian had handed her -his instrument, Tamea had seated herself and commenced -to play “Blue Danube Waves.” Dan stood, -beseeching her with his eyes to cease making a spectacle -of herself and return to the table, but the spirit -of carnival had entered into Tamea and she would not -be denied. She knew what Dan wanted her to do but -she would not do it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Every one dance,” she commanded. “And I will -play that this tired musician may dance also. It is -not fair that he should play always.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>There was a hearty round of applause and the -dancers came out on the floor.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea, dear, you’re making a spectacle of yourself,” -Dan pleaded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“If you would do the same, dear one,” she replied -lightly, “you would be such a happy boy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She was beating time with her foot; and when the -dance was ended she played a ballad of Riva and sang -it. The Fiore d’Italia was in an uproar of appreciation, -athrill at a new sensation, as the girl handed the -accordion back to its owner, thanked him and joined -Dan at their table. Immediately all who knew Dan -personally or who could rely on the democracy and camaraderie -of the place to excuse their action, came over -to be introduced to Tamea and felicitate her on her -playing and singing. Marinetti, the proprietor, was -delighted, and in defiance of the Eighteenth Amendment -presented Tamea with a quart of California -champagne, which Grandpère fell upon and carried -away to be frappéd.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The girl’s face glowed with a happiness that was -touching. “Here is life, dear one,” she cried. “Why -should I stifle in a convent when there is joy and singing -and dancing in your world? We will come here -very frequently, no?. . . Oh, but yes! You would -not deny your Tamea the pleasure of this beautiful -place? Would you, darling Dan Pritchard? Say -no—very loud—like that—<span class='it'>No</span>.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No,” he growled.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His reward was a loving twig at his nose while -those around him laughed at his embarrassment. What -a dull fellow he was to be so evidently appreciated by -such a glorious creature, they thought. Some youths -among the diners even wondered if it might not be possible -to relieve him of the source of his embarrassment!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>It was eleven o’clock when they left the Fiore d’Italia, -and Tamea had sung, danced and played her way into -the hearts of the patrons to such an extent that Dan -felt he could never bear to patronize that restaurant -again. Thus he retired with the added conviction that -in addition to robbing him of his friends Tamea had -now robbed him of his favorite restaurant. Like all -bachelors he was a creature of habit and resented the -slightest interference with those habits.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The following morning he journeyed to Sacramento -to arrange for Tamea’s entrance into the convent -there. To his huge disgust small-pox had developed -in the school and the convent was under quarantine. -So he returned to San Francisco and, feeling a trifle -depressed at the manner in which fate was pursuing -him, he telephoned to Maisie.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>With characteristic feminine ease Maisie elected to -forget that she had been fifty per cent responsible for -their disagreement at Del Monte. She had thought -the matter over, tearfully but at great length, and had -come to the conclusion that even if she was not a martyr -she could not afford to let Dan Pritchard think so. -After a silence of about two weeks Dan had a habit -of ringing up and burying the hatchet, and Maisie -hadn’t the slightest doubt but that this was his mission -now. She resolved to be dignified and enjoy his -suit for reëstablishment of the <span class='it'>entente cordiale</span>.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hello, Dan’l,” she answered, and her clear, cool -voice sounded like music in Dan’s ears. “Are you in -trouble?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m up to my eyebrows in it, Maisie!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, I’m so sorry, Dan! But then it’s no more than -I expected. I thought you’d send for me when you -needed me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not need you!” he replied furiously, and hung -up.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXIII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Throughout these late trying experiences Dan -had been further distressed to discover that during -the hours he was unavoidably separated from -Tamea, he thought more about her than he did of -his business. He had missed her bright presence far -too keenly during her brief sojourn at the convent—so -much so, in fact, that when one day he asked himself -if it were really possible that he, sober, steady, -dependable, sane Dan Pritchard, had fallen in love -with this lovely half-caste girl, his common sense assured -him that it was even so.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He told himself that this was silly, stupid, unintelligent, -that he could not afford to yield to this tremendous -temptation, that it would be a terrible mistake, -bitterly to be repented. Nevertheless, he lacked the -courage or the steadfastness of purpose to take the -offensive immediately; he told himself he <span class='it'>would</span> take the -offensive, but not immediately. . . and following his -brief spat with Maisie over the telephone he found -Tamea’s society so comforting and stimulating that -he shuddered at the thought of hurting her—himself—with -the promulgation of a sophisticated argument -she could not possibly understand and which she would -have rejected even had she possessed the gift of understanding -a white man’s reason for discarding her love, -even while he yearned for it.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>From time to time Sooey Wan, growing impatient -at his adored employer’s shilly-shallying, urged -definite action. Again and again he reminded Dan -that the sooner he married the lady queen the sooner -would his adventure in fatherhood commence. Sooey -Wan confided that he had consulted with the most -eminent magicians in Dupont Street, with a priest who -was a very wise man and an oracle; he had sought signs -of approbation from his numerous Chinese gods and -had propitiated them with much burning of punk in the -Joss houses; he had burned devil papers in every room -of the house and had strung fire crackers completely -around the house and set them off, to the signal terror -of the neighbors.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The magician had predicted for Dan five brawny -sons—a hard hand to beat. The oracle had advised -quick action since procrastination has ever been the -thief of time and the girl was young and comely. Why, -then, dally until she should become a hag? In his -own mind Sooey Wan was fully convinced, from certain -signs, that his Mongolian gods looked with favor -upon the match, and since practically all of the fire -crackers had exploded, the old heathen was certain -that the devils of bad luck, which might or might not -have interfered, had been thoroughly exorcised.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>To all of this harangue Dan gave a stereotyped -reply: “Sooey Wan, you are an interfering and impudent -old Chinaman. Keep your nose out of my -private affairs.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Whereupon Sooey Wan would fairly screech: -“Missa Dan, wh’ for you play damn fool? Boy, you -klazy. Sure you klazy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When Dan discovered that he would have to mark -time until the convent in Sacramento should be released -from quarantine, he pleaded the urgent necessity -for an unavoidable absence from the city and -sought to start his offensive campaign against Tamea’s -steadily mounting influence over him by going away -for a two weeks’ fishing and painting excursion in -Southern California. Tamea was somewhat piqued -because he did not invite her to accompany him, but -he ignored her little pout, kissed her tenderly and fled. -And he had no sooner settled himself comfortably in -a hotel at Santa Catalina Island than Maisie Morrison -rang up Julia.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Julia,” she said, “where is Mr. Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The dear Lord only knows, Miss Morrison.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I <span class='it'>must</span> know where a telegram can reach him, -Julia. Mr. Pritchard did not tell his secretary where -he was going, so it could not have been a business trip. -Put Graves on the line, Julia.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Graves, summoned from the garage, informed Maisie -that he had driven Mr. Pritchard to the Southern -Pacific depot. There he had heard his employer direct -a porter to stow his baggage in a compartment. Included -in this impedimenta had been a case of fishing -rods and a sketching outfit. Graves had noted that -his employer had not taken a creel with him, hence -he opined that if any fishing was to be done it would -be sea fishing—and the boss had always had a weakness -for Santa Catalina.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When Dan Pritchard came in from fishing that -first day he found a telegram in his box at the hotel. -It was from Maisie and read:</p> - -<div class='blockquote'> - -<p class='pindent'>Something has jarred Uncle John dreadfully. He is -at home ill, but mentally, not physically. Better assure -yourself that everything is quite right at the -office. Would return immediately if I were you, although -when you do you need not bother to call on -me unless you feel you really ought to.</p> - -<p class='line' style='text-align:right;margin-right:0em;'><span class='sc'>Maisie.</span></p> - -</div> - -<p class='pindent'>Within the hour Dan Pritchard had chartered a seaplane -and was flying north. About ten o’clock that -night the plane swooped down in the moonlight and -landed him at Harbor View; within half an hour he -was ringing the doorbell of John Casson’s home.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Take me immediately to Mr. Casson’s room,” he -ordered the butler who admitted him. “It will not be -necessary to announce me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The man eyed him sympathetically and silently led -the way upstairs. John Casson was not in bed, however. -He was seated on a divan in his wife’s upstairs -sitting room, staring dully into a small grate fire. -From her seat across the room his wife watched him -furtively.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Good evening, Mrs. Casson. Good evening, Mr. -Casson,” Dan greeted them. “What’s gone wrong, -Mr. Casson?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The old dandy looked up, frightened. Dan could -have sworn he shuddered. “I’d rather not discuss the -matter tonight, Pritchard,” he parried. “I’m not -well.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m sorry for that, sir. What appears to be the -matter with you? Where do you feel ill? Have you -eaten something that didn’t agree with you or——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He has,” Mrs. Casson interrupted bitterly. “He’s -been on a diet of high-priced rice for the past several -weeks and it has made him ill. John, do not evade -Dan’s query. He is equally interested with you in -this matter. Tell him what happened the day he left -town.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, Pritchard, my boy,” old Casson quavered, -“the rice market has gone to glory. It’s down to five -cents and every rice dealer in this city is a bankrupt.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do you include Casson and Pritchard in the cataclysm?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Casson nodded slowly and suddenly commenced to -weep.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But we sold our rice——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I know we did—on ninety days. Now the people -we have sold it to are wiped out and cannot pay for -it. The damned Cubans are responsible. They deliberately -wrecked the market. Overnight they made up -their minds they had rice enough. The cargadores -went on strike and refused to handle any more rice. -The port of Havana is glutted with rice. It’s on every -dock and on every barge. They jammed the docks -with it and loaded all the barges and then quit. Now -the rice is being rained on; the ships that brought it -are lying under heavy demurrage because they cannot -get discharged; the rice brokers and wholesalers -have treacherously refused to accept delivery on bona -fide orders because the Havana market broke immediately -when some frightened owners of cargoes cut -their prices in order to unload at any price. Panic, -I tell you—worst rice panic imaginable. Rice was -up to twenty-one cents and overnight it broke to five -cents.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan sat down. This was exactly what he had -feared might happen. The war was ended, but profiteers, -still hungry for exorbitant gains, had put the -screws on rice, the staple food of Cuba. They had -cornered the crop there, such as it was, and the crop -that year had been meager. Then they had filled -Havana harbor with ships loaded with Oriental rice -and had steadily jacked the price up to the point of -saturation. And then the Cubans, maddened at this -brutal and perfectly legal form of brigandage, had -sprung their coup and, overnight, had smashed their -oppressors by the very simple method of refusing to -handle longer the commodity which was so necessary -to their existence. They knew they could get rice -when they needed it, and get it at their price. These -ships had brought rice to Havana; now that Havana -would not accept it or handle it, where could another -ready and highly profitable market be found? And -would these ships, chafing at the delay, agree to go -elsewhere with their cargoes, save at a prohibitive -freight rate? Rice freights from the Orient would -collapse now, and that collapse would be followed by -a debacle in other lines.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>In a flash Dan saw that the post-war slump had -started—an economic avalanche, traveling swiftly -toward bankruptcy and ruin. “I see,” he said quietly. -“Beautiful work, beautiful. Three cheers for the -Cubans. I didn’t think they were up to a brilliant -stroke like that. And now you’re cussing them out, -Mr. Casson, because they refused to let the rice bandits -take the food out of their mouths. Well, you -deserve this, Mr. Casson, but I’ll be hanged if I do. -You dragged me into this, without my knowledge or -consent—you damned, silly, egotistical, brainless idiot—Mrs. -Casson, I forgot you were present. I crave -your pardon for my rudeness and I shall not again -offend. I—I—think—I—shall—sit down.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He did, looking quite white and strained. His eyes -burned like live coals. “Well, Mr. Casson,” he said -presently, “suppose we start in at the beginning. To -begin with, we had half a million bags of California -rice stored in warehouses here and there, and you hypothecated -the warehouse receipts and bought Philippine -and Chinese rice. Well, we sold our rice in -warehouse at a huge profit, half cash, balance in ninety -days. How about Banning and Company, who bought -it?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“The chief clerk telephoned me today that they -had filed a petition of voluntary bankruptcy. They -must be cleaned out because Banning blew his brains -out an hour after filing the petition. He had half a -million dollars’ worth of life insurance, without an -anti-suicide clause in it. His family will doubtless get -that. I suppose he wanted to do the decent thing.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well,” said Dan, “Banning and Company jarred us -but they didn’t put us down. Lucky for us I sold that -Shanghai rice, ex. steamer Chinook, for cash. You -raved at my idiocy when I made an eight thousand dollars’ -profit on that deal and accused me of throwing -away a potential profit of a quarter of a million dollars. -As a matter of fact, I threw away a potential -loss of about a million dollars. We’ll take a loss of -more than a dollar a bag on that million bags of -California rice, however. I’ll tell ’em you’re a smart -business man, Mr. Casson. Well, how about that -eight thousand tons at Manila—the lot we sold to -Katsuma and Company at the market, against sight -draft with bill of lading attached, payable at the -Philippine National Bank?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Our Manila agent cabled that the bank had refused -to honor the documents. I called up Katsuma -and tried to get him to do something about providing -funds or a credit to meet that draft, but he wouldn’t -or couldn’t——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Katsuma didn’t want to. He was up to the usual -Jap trick—running out from a losing game. They -never stand for their beating. You made him a price, -f.o.b. Havana, that included cost, insurance and -freight, did you not?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Old Casson nodded miserably.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, Katsuma got a notion that shipping rice to -Havana was apt to lead to great grief, so he just didn’t -meet the draft. That keeps the owners of the Malayan -out of their freight money and the chances are they -will not permit the vessel to sail until the freight is -paid. Did they come back on us for the freight?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“They did. I paid it, and the Malayan is at sea -with a cargo of eight thousand tons of rice fully insured -but not paid for. It is going to cost us eighteen -cents a pound to deliver that rice in Havana, and when -it gets there we cannot deliver it. If we do it will be -worth what we can get for it—say three to five cents—and -the demurrage on the Malayan will be two thousand -dollars a day. Of course we have a suit against -Katsuma and Company for breach of contract, but in -the meantime we have to pay for the rice and I’ve given -a ninety-day draft on London for that——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“When it comes due we will not be able to meet it,” -Dan said dully. “The Katsuma assets are already -nicely sequestrated. You monumental jackass! Why -didn’t you sue and attach their bank account, everything -they have, quietly and without notice, the instant -you learned they had repudiated their contract?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That would be a great deal like locking the stable -door after the horse had been stolen, wouldn’t it, -Pritchard?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan nodded. This was the first bright thing he -could remember Casson having said in years. Yes, -the wily Orientals had seen the storm gathering and -had fled to their cyclone cellar, caring not a whit -what happened to others, to their own business honor, -to their business, provided their capital remained intact. -They could always organize again under a new -name.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, we’ve been sent to the cleaners, Mr. Casson. -You have succeeded magnificently, despite all I could -do to thwart you. You have made a hiatus of your -own life and mine. You’ve smashed your wife and -Maisie. You were drowning; I tried to save you and -you pulled me under with you. Well, I don’t know -what you intend doing with your private fortune—if -you have any, which I doubt—but I have assets close -to two million dollars and our creditors can have them. -As your partner I am jointly and severally responsible. -If you cannot pay, I must. I shall. When the squall -hits us we will call a meeting of our creditors, tell them -how it happened, have a receiver appointed, turn over -everything we have to him and quit business with whatever -dignity we can muster.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He turned to Mrs. Casson. “If you will excuse me, -Mrs. Casson, I will go now. Good night.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He went out into the hall and his head hung low -on his heaving breast, his shoulders sagged, his arms -dangled loosely from his long, raw-boned frame. He -shook his head a little and mumbled something—curses, -doubtless. At the bottom of the stairs he ran -into Maisie. Her face was very white and she had -been weeping.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thanks for your telegram, Maisie. I came as fast -as I could. It’s too late. Cleaned—cleaned—smashed -by that madman—crooked as a can of worms—lucky -thing I didn’t ask you to marry me that day—lucky for -you you weren’t interested in my proposition. I -couldn’t afford that luxury now, my dear. It’s terrible -to have made two million dollars doing work one -loathes, then lose the two million filthy dollars and -have to start in doing the loathsome job all over -again.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, I’m young—I suppose I can stand it. Good -night, Maisie, good night. Sorry for you and Mrs. -Casson—mighty sorry.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He fended away the imploring, uplifted arms that -sought to enfold him, for Maisie, like all women who -trifle with a man’s heart when he is prosperous and -happy, desired to claim that heart now that it was -bruised and broken.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t—please—I can’t stand it—don’t want to -be coddled,” he muttered, and strode past her to the -door. It opened and closed after him swiftly, and -Maisie, standing on the steps, watched through -her tears his tall, ungainly form stumbling down the -street. She yearned with a great yearning to run -after him, to take that white face to her heart, to -whisper to him a torrent of love words, to cherish and -comfort him. Yet she knew that Dan, like all men, -when cruelly hurt, preferred to be alone, resenting -sympathy and desiring silence.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor dear,” she murmured, “when you have recovered -a little from the shock of this failure I shall -go to you and nothing shall keep you from me.”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXIV</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan walked home. He had to have physical action. -It was close to midnight when he let himself -into his house, but there was a dim light burning -in the living room and Dan turned in here, cast his -hat and coat on top of the piano and rang savagely -for Sooey Wan, who, having just returned from his -nightly pilgrimage to Chinatown, answered on the -jump. At sight of Dan’s pale, tortured face the old -Chinaman turned and fled to the kitchen. He returned -presently bearing a siphon bottle, some ice, a bottle -of Scotch whisky and—two glasses. Silently he -mixed two highballs, handed one to Dan, took the -other himself, sat down and said in a voice of compelling -gentleness:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Missa Dan, you tellum ol’ Sooey Wan. Wha’s -mallah, boy?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan cooled his parched throat with the highball. -Indeed, he had rung for the Chinaman for the very -purpose of ordering one. Strange, he thought, how -Sooey Wan could understand him without a blueprint -and directions for using!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sooey Wan, I’m all through. I have gone broke.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“All the way?” Sooey Wan’s voice cooed like a flute.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“All the way and back, Sooey Wan. I’m done. -You’ll have to leave me now and go back to China. -I cannot afford to pay your wages any more.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“To hell with wages!” Sooey Wan, for the first -time in his life, was genuinely angry, disgusted and -humiliated. His eyes showed it, his wrinkled lower -lip twisted and revealed his yellow fangs, his voice -reeked with the very soul of profanity as he rasped -out a few words in Chinese. Then: “Big fool, wha’ -for you talkum money to Sooey Wan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You know very well I didn’t mean to offend you, -you old idol,” Dan protested. “I spoke the truth. I -am broke, utterly smashed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Shut up!” screeched Sooey Wan. “Wha’ for you -all time tellum lie?” He set down untasted the highball -he had planned to drink in profound sympathy with -his adored boss and left the room.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sooey Wan, come back here!” Dan ordered.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan’s voice rose in a shriek like the bull -fiddle of his native land. “Shut up! Shut up! You -klazy fool, wha’s mallah you? You no bloke. You -bet. No can do.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan sighed and sipped his highball. At the same -moment Tamea slid out from under a dark afghan on -a divan in the far corner of the room. She had fallen -asleep there and, unknown to Sooey Wan and Dan, -had been listening to their conversation. Swiftly she -crossed the room to him now; as he rose to greet her -she put her arms around his neck and drew his head -down until his cheek caressed hers. Thus she held -him a long time, in silence, save for the plainly discernible, -regular beat of her heart. Then:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor boy! You are hurt? But yes, I know it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded. “Smashed,” he murmured. “All my -money gone. Ruined.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s glance went past his ear and rested on -Sooey Wan standing in the doorway, a large red -lacquered box in his arms. She shook her head at -him ever so slightly and like a yellow wraith he faded -back into the hall.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ruined?” Tamea queried. “Has my lord, then, -parted with his honor?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, no, not that,” he cried brokenly. “Nobody -will think that of me. I will pay, but it will take -all I have to do it, and when they have finished with -me I shall have nothing left wherewith to make a new -start. But never mind, Tamea. I’m not whipped. -Just dazed, not down for the count. I’ll come back.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He could feel the little chuckle of mirth that rippled -through the lithe body pressed so close against him. -“So?” she declared with her golden little laugh, “it is -only a matter of money. And yet my lord is shaken -like a coco-palm in the monsoon. Silly, silly white -man. He does not know that I have money and that -all of it is his.” She drew his head around and kissed -him on the lips; he trembled with the knowledge of -her tremendous sweetness. “You will take my money -and let me see you smile again, Dan Pritchard,” she -commanded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, no, darling. I couldn’t do that—ever. Please -do not ask me to.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But why, dear one?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then indeed would I be parting with my honor.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What madness! Is it because I am not your wife? -Well, we will be married quickly and then——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No,” he protested. “I tell you it is impossible. -I’ll never be able to repay the debt of your asking -me to take your money, but—I shall never, never take -one penny of it. I couldn’t.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But after we are married——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Never. I am your guardian. Your father gave -you to me because he had faith in my manhood, he -believed me to be a gentleman. You will not understand -because your love blinds you, Tamea, but the -white men of my world have a code and we must never -break it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh,” said Tamea softly, and her eyes filled with -tears. “Of what use is money save to buy happiness? -When a man takes a woman to wife does he not take -all she has—all of her love, all of her wealth, all of -her faith? Is she not to be the mother of his children? -You are right, dear one. I could never understand -your white man’s code.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Some day you will, honey. Kiss me good night -and run along to your room, child. I am unhappy tonight -and when I am unhappy I have a desire to be -alone. I wish to think.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She kissed him and went upstairs obediently; as she -paused on the first landing and gazed down into the -hall she saw Sooey Wan slide noiselessly into the living -room, his red lacquered box still clasped under his -arm. Tamea stood there, wondering—and then to -her ears came distinctly the sound of money clinking -merrily.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea came back downstairs and peered around -the jamb of the door into the living room. Sooey Wan -was on his knees beside the red lacquered box, with both -hands tossing out on the carpet hundreds of gold -pieces, bales of yellow-backed bills and large, fat, heavy -Manila envelopes.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You count ’em, Missa Dan,” he begged when the -box was empty. And Dan Pritchard, wondering, knelt -beside Sooey Wan and counted long and in silence, -making many notations on a piece of paper. And -Tamea, watching, presently was aware that Sooey -Wan, who trusted not in banks, had, in his forty-odd -years in the United States, accumulated in that red -lacquered box a fortune of two hundred and nineteen -thousand, four hundred and nine dollars and -eighty cents in cash and bonds.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sooey Wan,” said Dan Pritchard, “do you cook -for me by day and rob people by night?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan cackled merrily. “Oh, your papa always -pay me big money—hund’ed, hund’ed fifty dolla month -and Sooey Wan no spend velly much. But Sooey Wan -play poker velly nice, velly lucky fan tan and pi gow, -and bimeby I ketchum one cousin. Cousin no money -hab got, but him know all about raisee vegetable. You -know, Missa Dan, ketchum farm up on Saclamento -Liver. So Sooey Wan makee partner with cousin and -raisee early spud, ketchum more land. Velly easy. -Boss, you likee Sooey Wan sellee lanch on Saclamento -Liver, can do. Sure. Sellee that land plenty quick, -ketchum thousand dollar for one acre, have got thlee -hund’ed acre. You likee, Missa Dan, I sell for you. -Sooey Wan no ketchum son, no ketchum wifee, no -ketchum papa, no ketchum mama, no ketchum nobody -but Missa Dan. Missa Dan allee same Sooey Wan’s -boy. Eh? My boy losee money, Sooey Wan no -loosum. Long time ago Sooey Wan talkee your -father. Your father say: ‘Sooey, my partner, Missa -Casson, no good. Heap damn fool.’ All light, I -watchum.” He came close to Dan and rested his yellow -old claw of a hand on the beloved shoulder. “Boy,” -he said, “Sooey Wan savum all for you. You takee, -you look out for Sooey Wan, givee little money for -play China lottery, givee room, givee job, that’s all -light. Sooey Wan likee this house. Likee live here, -likee die here, then you send Sooey Wan back to China, -keepee land on Saclamento Liver, keepee money, mally -lady queen and have many son. I think that plenty -good for my boy. Sooey Wan velly old man,” he continued -pleadingly. “No can live all time. Sure you -takee, boy. Then you play lone hand in office. Old -man Casson no damn good.” He shrugged optimistically. -“Bimeby you ketchum all your money back.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard thrust out his long arms and his -fingers closed around Sooey Wan’s neck. “No,” he -said, “I’m not broke. I never was broke, and I never -will be broke while you and Tamea live. Thank God -for you both! I couldn’t take her money, Sooey Wan, -but I will take yours—later, when I need it. I’ll make -you a partner in my reorganized business.” His fingers -tightened around the old servant’s throat. “You -old yellow devil!” he said and shook Sooey Wan vigorously. -“We understand each other, I think. God bless -you and bring you to some sort of Oriental heaven, you -golden-hearted old heathen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan took up his untasted highball. “Hullah -for hell!” he cackled, tossed off the drink, gathered up -his fortune and departed for his room, chuckling like -a malevolent old gnome.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard sat down, alone in the living room, -and wept. He was a bit of a sentimentalist. About -one o’clock in the morning he went up to bed.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At two o’clock Sooey Wan was awakened by a rapping -at his door. He crawled out of bed, opened the -door an inch and found Tamea outside.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Wha’s mallah?” he growled.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sooey Wan, please lend me five hundred dollars—now,” -Tamea pleaded. “Dan Pritchard will pay you -back.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Wha’ for you want money now?” Sooey Wan -demanded suspiciously.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a servant,” Tamea reminded him. “You -should not ask questions. If you do not desire to -oblige me I will make Dan Pritchard send you away -from this house.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan wilted, dug around in his red lacquered -box and handed Tamea five hundred dollars. Then he -went back to bed to think it over. As for Tamea, ten -minutes later she let herself out the front door very -quietly. She carried her accordion and a small suitcase -which she had appropriated from Julia.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>A taxicab cruised down Pacific Avenue after having -deposited a bibulous gentleman in the arms of a -sleepy butler. With an eye single to business the -driver pulled over to the curb and hailed Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ride, Miss?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Take me to the place where the ships may be found,” -she ordered and climbed in. At Clay Street wharf, just -north of the ferry building, she got out and walked -along the waterside, north. At that hour the Embarcadero -was deserted, save for an occasional watchman -at a dock head, and to their curious glances Tamea -paid no heed. She stumbled blindly on, questing like -a homecoming lost dog, and presently she found that -which she sought. It was the unmistakable odor of -copra and it brought Tamea to a little hundred and -thirty foot trading schooner that lay chafing her -blistered sides against the bulkhead at the foot of -Pacific Street. Uninvited, Tamea stepped aboard, sat -down on the hatch coaming and waited for dawn. -With the dawn came a gasoline tug and bumped alongside -the schooner. Then men came on deck and to -them Tamea spoke in a language they could understand. -The master came, stood before her and gazed -upon her curiously.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Who are you, young lady?” he said presently, “and -what do you want?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am the daughter of Gaston Larrieau, master of -the schooner Moorea. My father is dead. My name -is Tamea and I am weary of this white man’s land. -My heart aches for my own people and I would go back -to them. I have money to pay for my passage. I -would go to Riva.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have no passenger license, child, but your father -was my friend. If you can stand us, we can stand -you. There will be no charge for the passage. We -are towing out this morning with the tide and our first -port of call is Tahiti. Go below, girl, and the cook -will give you breakfast.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As the sun was rising back of Mount Diablo the -launch cast the little schooner adrift off the Golden -Gate and the Kanaka sailors, chanting a hymn, ran up -her headsails. As they filled, Tamea came out of the -cabin and looked again upon that ocher-tinted coastline, -watched again the bizarre painted gasoline trawlers -of the Mediterranean fishermen put out for the -Cordelia banks. Then the mainsail went up and the -schooner heeled gently over, took a bone in her teeth -and headed south.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is best to leave him thus,” the girl murmured. -“He does not love me and he never will. I would not -stay to afflict him. What he would not accept from -me he accepted from a servant. Then I knew!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She lifted her golden voice and sang “<span class='it'>Aloha</span>,” the -Hawaiian song of farewell. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>For Tamea, Queen of Riva, was of royal blood, and -when the gods rained blows upon her she could take -them smiling!</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXV</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>At seven o’clock the following morning Dan Pritchard -was awakened from a light and fitful slumber -by forceful hammering at his bedroom door. To his -query, “Yes, yes, who is it?” a voice freighted with -tears and fright answered:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“ ’Tis Julia, sor. Miss Tammy’s gone, God help -us.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Gone? Gone? Gone where?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sorra wan o’ me knows, but she’s not in the house -and her bed has not been shlept in. I found a letther -for you, sor, on her bureau.” And Julia opened his -door an inch and slid an envelope in to him. He read:</p> - -<div class='blockquote'> - -<p class='noindent'>Beloved:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>I was very foolish to think you truly loved me, -to think that I, a half-caste Polynesian girl, could -make you love me as I desire to be loved. Therefore, -I leave you, though I love you. Because I -love you, last night I offered you all that I have. -You needed it, but—you could not accept it -from me because that would have made you feel -that you must accept me also. I have been shamed. -I am not a woman of common blood, yet you refused -from me what you gladly accepted from your -Chinese servant. So I have learned my lesson. I -am not angry, dear one, but I am beginning to understand -Mellenger was right. Your world is not -for me. Please tell Mellenger that I forgive him -and that I am sorry I spoke certain words to him, -for he is both wise and brave and a loyal friend. -Tell him I know he will forgive me, and why.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>I have begged of Sooey Wan five hundred dollars. -Please repay him. As for the money my -father gave me, I leave it to you, for I love you. -You need it and I would have you happy, even -though I may not know happiness myself. Where -I go I shall never require money.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Good-by, Dan Pritchard. Good-by to our love. -Perhaps some day we shall meet in Paliuli, for the -missionaries say that there even a half-caste girl -shall be washed whiter than snow. But alas, I -have never seen snow. I know not what it is.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And now I depart from this house, with naught -in my heart for you but love.</p> - -<p class='line' style='text-align:right;margin-right:3em;'>Your</p> -<p class='line' style='text-align:right;margin-right:0em;'><span class='sc'>Tamea</span>.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan’s heart was constricted. For several minutes -he sat dumbly on the side of the bed, reading and rereading -the letter, striving to realize that for the second -time within twelve hours his world had come tumbling -about his ears. Julia’s sniffling came to him through -the slightly opened door. The sound irritated him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Send Sooey Wan up to me, Julia, please,” he ordered.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He’s here now, sor.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Come in, you yellow idiot,” Dan roared, and the old -Chinaman shuffled into the room and stood before him -dejectedly, but with eyes that met his master’s glance -unflinchingly. “When Miss Larrieau asked you to lend -her five hundred dollars, why did you not come up and -tell me immediately?” he demanded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sometime, Missa Dan,” Sooey Wan answered humbly, -“evlybody klazy. Las’ night I think Sooey Wan -klazy, too. After Missa Dan go bed, lady queen -knock my door. She say: ‘Sooey Wan, I likee fi’ -hund’ed dolla’.’ I think velly funny, so I say ‘Wha’ -for?’ and lady queen get velly mad, so Sooey Wan -think maybe lady queen wanchee buy plesent Missa -Dan, maybe likee make suplise party. Wha’ for Sooey -Wan ketchum light for ask question to lady queen? -Sooey Wan allee same cook, lady queen allee same lady -boss. No can do, Missa Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That confounded single-track Oriental mind of -yours has broken my heart,” Dan groaned. “Sooey -Wan, last night the lady queen offered to give me a -quarter of a million dollars, but I would not accept it. -It was a trust and I couldn’t take advantage of her -generous nature. I dared not risk losing her money. -Her father trusted me, and I couldn’t accept money -from a woman anyhow. She knows that you offered me -money, however, and that I accepted it from you, only -she doesn’t know why. She doesn’t understand that -you’re a man, Sooey Wan, that you can take a gambler’s -chance, that I’ll throw old Casson out of the business -and put you in as a silent partner; she doesn’t -understand that as a baby I acquired the habit of accepting -money from you. You remember how you would -give me spending money when my father wouldn’t? -You old fool, you’ve spoiled me, but you love me like -a son and—well, Sooey Wan, you’re not a Chinaman to -me—a servant. You’re my friend—the whitest white -man and the truest friend I’ve ever known, God bless -you—but oh, I could kill you this morning! You’re -such a lovable, loyal old booby, and because of you the -girl has gone. She thinks now that I do not want her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Women,” said Sooey Wan, “all klazy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I haven’t the slightest idea where the girl could have -gone.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think maybe go back same place lady queen come -from,” the crafty Chinaman suggested. “Maybe -ketchum steamer today. I think velly good job talkee -policeeman, policeeman ketchum velly quick. If lady -queen no come back Sooey Wan shootum blains”—and -he struck fiercely his bony, yellow temple.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have an idea, Sooey Wan. Last Sunday morning -we walked along the waterfront together. I had a -schooner in from the south and I wanted to talk to the -captain. At Pacific Street bulkhead there was a trading -schooner, the Pelorus, unloading copra, and Tamea -spoke to the Kanaka mate in his own language.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He reached for the telephone and called up the -Meiggs wharf lookout of the Merchants’ Exchange.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Has the schooner Pelorus sailed?” he queried, after -introducing himself as a member of the Exchange.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Towed out with the tide about five o’clock this -morning, Mr. Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“What towed her out?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A Crowley gasoline tug, sir. Wait a minute until -I get the glass on her. She’s just coming back after -dropping the Pelorus off the Gate.” A silence. Then, -“Crowley Number Thirty-four.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you.” Dan hung up and turned to Sooey -Wan. “Bring me a cup of coffee and a piece of toast. -Get Graves out and tell him to have the car waiting in -front in fifteen minutes,” he ordered, and leaped for his -shower bath. By the time he was dressed Sooey Wan -appeared with the coffee and just as Crowley tug -Number Thirty-four slid into her berth to await another -towing job, Dan Pritchard appeared on the dock -and hailed her skipper in the pilot house.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You towed the Pelorus out a couple of hours ago. -Did you happen to observe whether she carried any -passengers?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I did. One, sir. A young lady.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Describe her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A handsome young lady, sir, dark complected in a -way, and yet not dark. Struck me she might have just -a drop of Island blood in her, sir. She was wearin’ a -blue suit but no hat, and when I saw her first as I -bumped alongside she was settin’ on the main hatch -coamin’ and she’d been cryin’.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Any baggage?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A suitcase and an accordion. The skipper of the -Pelorus found her settin’ there and she introduced herself. -I gathered that he knew her people and was glad -to meet her. She must have shipped as a passenger, -because she was standin’ aft lookin’ back at the city -the last I saw of the Pelorus.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How fast is the fastest tug or launch in the Crowley -fleet?” Dan next inquired.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Fifteen miles an hour.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Great! I’ll charter her. I want to overhaul the -Pelorus and take that girl off.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The man in the pilot house shook his head. “No -use, sir. The Pelorus has lines like a yacht and she’s -a witch in a breeze of wind. There’s a thirty mile -nor’west breeze on her quarter and she’s logging fifteen -knots if she’s logging an inch this minute. I cast her -off at six fifteen—two hours ago. She’d be hull down -on the horizon in an hour. You couldn’t hope to overhaul -her, sir.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, friend. I dare say you’re right.” He -wadded a bill into a ball and tossed it in the pilot house -window, smiled wanly and returned to his car. On the -way up to the office of Casson and Pritchard he formulated -a plan of action, which he proceeded to place in -operation the moment he found himself alone in his -private office.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>First he looked up the Pelorus in Lloyd’s Register -and satisfied himself that she was staunch and seaworthy, -or rather that she had been a year previous. -She was owned in Honolulu. Well, Tamea would -doubtless be safe aboard her—that is, safe from the -elements, although a cold feeling swept over him as he -thought of that glorious creature alone on a trading -schooner, at the mercy of her captain. He hoped the -man was different from the majority of his kind.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At nine o’clock he telephoned the Customs House -and learned that the Pelorus had cleared for general -cruising in the South Pacific, with her first port of call -Tahiti. With a sinking heart Dan recalled that there -was neither wireless station nor cable station at Tahiti, -and a close scrutiny of the Shipping Guide disclosed -the fact that the next steamer for Sidney, via Tahiti, -Pago Pago and Raratonga would not sail for two -weeks. Well, he would write Casson and Pritchard’s -agent at Tahiti to board the Pelorus when she dropped -hook in the harbor and deliver to the girl a letter and a -draft on the French bank in Tahiti, to enable her to -purchase a first class steamer passage back to San -Francisco, where they would be married immediately. -Undoubtedly the steamer would beat the Pelorus to -Tahiti, even though the latter vessel should have a -two weeks’ start. Even should the Pelorus beat her -in, the schooner would probably lie in Tahiti harbor -for a week and Tamea would go ashore and visit -friends of her father’s while awaiting passage on a -schooner that could drop her off at Riva. The chances -for overhauling the heart-broken fugitive were excellent; -the letter which would reach her, via the steamer -and later by hand of Casson and Pritchard’s agent, -would bring her back to him. Of that he felt assured.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>However, in the event the steamer should never reach -Tahiti, he essayed two other means of communicating -with her, via his agent. There was a wireless station at -Fanning Island and another at Noumea, so he sent a -message to each, with a request that it be relayed to -Tamea by the first vessels touching there and bound -for Tahiti.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He had done all he could to retrieve the situation -now, so he spread his long arms out on his desk, laid -his face in them and suffered. He yearned for the -blessed relief of tears, for at last Dan Pritchard was -realizing that he did indeed love Tamea with all of -the wild and passionate love of which he had dreamed. -He had not believed that it would be possible for him -to love any woman so. His heart ached for her. He -was thoroughly wretched.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>What matter if her mother had been a Polynesian -princess, her father a carefree, wandering love-pirate, -a very Centaur? Tamea was—Tamea—and in all this -world there would never, by God’s grace, exist another -like her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He got out her letter and read it again, and a -lump gathered in his throat as he realized how sweet -it was, how benignant, how overflowing with love and -the gladness of love’s sacrifice. How prideful she was -and how childish! What a tremendous indication was -her act, of a tremendously regal character! Poor, -bruised, misunderstanding and misunderstood heart. -His tears came at last. . . .</p> - -<p class='pindent'>By noon he had regained control of himself, and -resolutely driving from his mind all thoughts of Tamea, -he concentrated upon his business affairs. His first -move was to order the firm’s books closed as of that -date and a schedule of assets and liabilities drawn up, -after which he wrote a form letter to the firm’s customers -explaining the predicament in which Casson and -Pritchard found themselves and the reason for it, -pledged his own private fortune to retrieve the situation -in part and invited the creditors to meet with him and -his attorneys in the assembly room of the Merchants’ -Exchange a week hence, when a thorough and comprehensive -review of the situation would be possible -and at which time he hoped to have worked out a scheme -for the rehabilitation of the business and the payment -of one hundred cents on every dollar of the firm’s -obligations.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As yet no one, not even the chief clerk, knew that -Casson and Pritchard were listed among the casualties -in the post-war collapse of values which Dan had feared -so long. Dan and his partner were the sole custodians -of that cheerless information, but in their minds existed -no illusions regarding their situation. That eight -thousand tons of rice aboard the Malayan alone spelled -a loss of at least a million and a half. Already the -market on coffee, sugar, Oriental oils, copra and a -hundred other commodities had commenced to slump, -and, in the wild scramble to throw trades overboard -before too heavy a loss should accrue, Dan knew that -every importing and exporting house in the country -would be hard put to weather the storm. Casson and -Pritchard would have to face other losses in the natural -order of business, and Dan was shrewd enough to realize -that these, coupled with the tremendous loss on old -Casson’s rice gamble, would force him to cry for quarter. -Therefore he faced the issue resolutely and calmly -made his preparations for the assault of the firm’s -creditors by assuming the initiative.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>For a week he worked all day and part of each night -at the office. Old Casson, cruelly stung with remorse -and fright, remained at home and did not communicate -with him, a condition for which Dan was grateful. He -heard nothing from Maisie, nor did his thoughts dwell -long or frequently upon her. He had room in his -harassed mind for thoughts of but one woman—Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>All during that terrible week gossip linked irremediable -disaster with some of the oldest and soundest firms -on the Street. Apparently Katsuma and Company had -been smashed beyond all hope of rehabilitation, for -Katsuma, Jap-like, had solved his problem by hanging -himself and was as dead as Julius Cæsar. There was -a panic in Wall Street and already local banks had -grown timid and were refusing the loans so necessary -to the successful operation of the commerce upon -which banks must, perforce, predicate their existence. -Demand loans were being called, and when not met the -collateral back of them was levied upon.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At the conclusion of that week’s business Dan had -before him a written record of Casson and Pritchard’s -affairs; the letters to creditors lay on his desk, awaiting -his signature, and his plan of rehabilitation, even his -address to the firm’s creditors, had been rehearsed until -he knew it by heart. At eleven o’clock on Saturday his -bank called a large loan. Over the telephone the -banker informed Dan crisply but courteously that they -expected the note to be paid on Monday; whereupon -Dan Pritchard sent out his letters to Casson and -Pritchard’s creditors and then sent for Mark Mellenger, -whom he had not seen since the latter’s sudden retreat -from the Italian restaurant in the Latin quarter.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ve sent for you, Mel,” Dan informed his friend, -“to give you two exclusive stories, one of which is for -publication. In the first place, Tamea has returned to -Riva, or at least she is now en route there. I am endeavoring, -however, to turn her back at Tahiti in -order that I may marry her.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why did she leave? Did you send her away?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan briefly explained and Mellenger listened in -silence; at the conclusion of Dan’s recital he merely -nodded and said: “I suppose any man would be a very -great fool not to marry a woman like Tamea. She is -the only one of her kind I ever heard of. What’s the -other story?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It’s contained in this letter to the creditors of our -firm. I’m busted, Mel. However, I shall rise, like the -phenix, from my ashes, thanks to Sooey Wan. I’ll -reorganize the firm, eliminating Casson, who is in no -position to dictate terms or claim an interest for alleged -good-will. I hope he has means to enable him to -take care of Mrs. Casson and Maisie, and if he hasn’t I -dare say Maisie can do something to support herself.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll write you a nice, kindly story regarding the -embarrassment of your firm. I’ve been writing such -stories for two weeks. I dislike to air your difficulty, -Dan, but if I do not the other papers will, so I might -as well scoop them in the Sunday edition. Poor Tamea! -I shall probably not see her again, but I am glad to -have her friendship at least. Her friendship is worth -something.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He accepted one of Dan’s cigars and commenced to -talk of other things; at parting he remarked, casually, -that he would be up to the house for dinner the following -Thursday night—now that Tamea was no longer -there to be oppressed by his presence.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXVI</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>The wisdom of Dan’s course in announcing the insolvency -of Casson and Pritchard before the announcement -should be forced from him by the firm’s -creditors was fully manifested at the meeting of the -creditors. Each creditor had received a copy of the -firm’s trial balance and the schedule of assets and liabilities; -also a copy of Dan’s proposed plan of settlement -and reorganization. The settlement contemplated -a payment of twenty-five per cent on all liabilities at -once, with a three-year extension on the balance due, -at five per cent, and a payment of the interest and -twenty-five per cent of the principal annually. All of -the creditors had had three days in which to read this -plan, study it and discuss it with their principals, and -the result was that Dan’s plan was enthusiastically and -gratefully accepted, with the proviso that John Casson -retire from the partnership. The method of his retirement -the creditors left to Pritchard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The task of severing Casson from the firm was not -a difficult one. His share of the debts practically -equaled his equity in the assets and he accepted eagerly -Dan’s offer to take over his assets and liabilities in -return for a release from the creditors for Casson’s -share of the firm’s indebtedness to them. He had about -a quarter of a million dollars in cash and real estate -in his private fortune and this Dan forced him to turn -over to his wife, as the only guarantee that he could -think of against a disastrous reëntry into business -and, consequently, a penniless and sorrowful old age -for all concerned.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At the last moment a hitch occurred. Two banks, -carrying nearly half a million dollars’ worth of Casson -and Pritchard paper, bearing Dan Pritchard’s endorsement, -suddenly decided, after the fashion of banks, to -play safe. “Every man for himself and the devil take -the hindmost” is ever the fashion of the banker who -finds himself the possessor of a slight advantage over -other creditors. Overnight they entered suit against -Dan, as endorser and guarantor of Casson and Pritchard’s -notes, and levied attachments against every asset -of his they could locate. In the face of this unexpected -treachery Dan had but one alternative, and he chose -it unhesitatingly. He filed a voluntary petition in -bankruptcy, for himself and for the firm, thus vitiating -the banks’ attachments and placing all of his and Casson -and Pritchard’s creditors upon an equal footing. -Thereupon the bank withdrew its suit against Dan and -petitioned the court for a receiver for Casson and -Pritchard—a petition in which the other creditors were -now forced to join. A receiver was immediately appointed -and took charge of the business of Casson and -Pritchard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>It was then that Dan Pritchard’s spirit broke. The -day the receiver took charge he cleaned out his desk -and departed from that office. The following day he -had leased his home furnished, dismissed Graves and -Julia, stored his cars and purchased a passage to -Tahiti. With Tamea’s money he promptly purchased -Liberty Bonds, which in the panic had dropped twenty -points, and established a trust fund for her with a -local trust company. Then, accompanied by Sooey -Wan, he went aboard the Union Line steamer Aorangi -and departed for Tahiti, hoping to find Tamea, marry -her there and then consider what he should do with his -life thereafter. He was crushed at the unexpected turn -his business affairs had taken. He had turned over -to the receiver every dollar, every asset he possessed, -and he no longer had the slightest interest in the affairs -of Casson and Pritchard.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The creditors might do what they pleased with -the business. They could either operate it under -a receivership until it paid out, or they could liquidate -it. It was their business now and Dan had done -all that any honorable man could do to meet his -obligations. Old Casson had his release from all -of the creditors, including the banks, for these latter -had fairly accurate information as to the latter’s -finances, and, with Pritchard’s endorsement to protect -them, they had concluded to dispense with picking old -Casson’s financial bones.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The knowledge that Maisie would not be thrown under -the feet of the world comforted Dan greatly. He -was too depressed to call upon her and say good-by -before sailing, so he wrote her a brief note of farewell -instead; desirous of losing touch with his world, he -did not tell her where he was bound. To Mellenger only -did he confide, and that silent and thoughtful man had -merely nodded and declined comment.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At last, Dan reflected as, stretched out in a steamer -chair in the snug lee of the Aorangi’s funnel, he watched -the coast of California fade into the haze, he was free. -Business no longer claimed him. If the receiver desired -any information touching the firm’s affairs he had -complete and comprehensive records before him, and -if he could not understand those records, there was the -efficient office force to aid him. Yes, he was free. He -would wander now, with Sooey Wan to take care of him -financially and physically.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>And he felt no qualms in the realization that he was -now dependent entirely upon Sooey Wan. In a way he -had always been dependent upon Sooey Wan, but on the -other hand, was not Sooey Wan dependent upon his -Missa Dan?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>As the old Chinaman had often assured him, the -only human being in the world to whom he was bound -by the tightest tethers of affection was Dan Pritchard. -Wherefore, why should he decline a loan from -Sooey Wan? To have done so would have been to -inflict upon the loyal old heathen a cruel hurt. And -money meant little to Sooey Wan; it was good to -gamble with, that was all. In the end Sooey Wan, -dying, would have willed his entire estate to his beloved -Missa Dan; why, therefore, be a sentimental idiot and -decline to accept it while Sooey Wan lived? Why deny -the old man this great happiness?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan, neatly and unostentatiously arrayed in -Oriental costume and occupying a first class cabin -all to himself, lolled in a chair alongside Dan and -puffed contentedly at a long briarwood pipe. He was -having the first vacation he had ever known and he was -enjoying it, for presently he turned to Dan and said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Missa Dan, I think evlybody pretty damn happy. -No ketchum work, ketchum plenty money, ketchum nice -lest, ketchum lady queen, velly nice. Eh, Missa Dan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sooey Wan,” Dan replied, “so far as I am concerned, -I never want to operate another ship or buy -another pound of copra or draw another check. I’m -going to marry the lady queen the very day we find -her; after that I’m going to paint pictures and dream -and soak myself from soul to liver with just plain, unruffled, -untroubled, simple living. Sooey Wan, I’m content -just to sit here and look at the ocean. The other -fellows can have all the worry now. They wanted it -and I gave it to them and I hope they enjoy it. I’m -content to know they will get their money out of Casson -and Pritchard, although it ruins me.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You allee time talkee like klazy man, boss. Wha’ -for you luined? Plenty money hab got. Shut up! -You makee me sick.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fell a long, blissful silence, while Dan stared at the -sea and permitted his brain to sink into a state of -absolute quiescence, and Sooey Wan speculated on -the expectancy of life in superannuated Chinamen in -general and of himself in particular. For the paternal -instinct was strong in Sooey Wan and the years had -been long since Dan’s baby arms had been around his -neck and Dan’s soft cheek had been pressed in love -against Sooey Wan’s. Sweet memories of a sweet experience! -Childless old Sooey Wan yearned for it -again, yearned to have his Missa Dan know the thrill -that had been denied to Sooey Wan—the thrill of -fatherhood.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Arrived at Tahiti, Dan’s eager glance swept the -little harbor as the Aorangi crept in. The Pelorus lay -at anchor. The skipper of the tug that had towed her -out of San Francisco bay was right. She was a witch -in a breeze! The French customs officials who boarded -the steamer informed Dan that she had arrived the day -before. Zounds, what a smashing passage! And -Tamea was over yonder in the town—just exactly -where, he would ascertain from the master of the -Pelorus.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan and Sooey Wan were into a short boat and pulling -toward the Pelorus five minutes after the Aorangi -had been given pratique. The master of the Pelorus met -them at the rail as Dan came up over the Jacob’s ladder.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You had a passenger, Captain,” said Dan. “A -Mademoiselle Tamea Larrieau.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The master of the Pelorus eyed him gravely and -nodded. “You are Mr. Pritchard, I take it, sir,” he said.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am, Captain. Where is Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I wanted her to wait, Mr. Pritchard. I told her -you’d be following on the first steamer, but she -wouldn’t listen to me. And I one of her father’s oldest -and closest friends, Mr. Pritchard. But she was what -you might call broken-hearted. Nothing would do but -she must get back to Riva and lose herself. The day -we got in she booked a passage on the auxiliary -schooner Doris Crane that was just leaving. The Crane -has a passenger license and very excellent passenger -accommodations, and Tamea will get as far as Tamakuku -on her. Riva lies about eighty miles due west -and the girl will charter a gasoline launch for the -remainder of the journey.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I doubt if she has sufficient money, Captain.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She has. I charged her nothing for her passage. -By the way,” he continued with a sly smile, “the Doris -Crane can be reached by wireless—maybe. Why not -have the operator on the Aorangi try to get your message -to Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea told you about me, Captain?” asked Dan.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The skipper nodded, smiling. “When you know her -better, sir, you’ll make allowances for her native blood -and her primitive way of reasoning.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you,” Dan replied, and departed overside, -to be pulled back to the Aorangi, where he filed a message -to Tamea informing her that he would meet her -in Riva, asking her to await him there, telling her that -he loved her and begging her to wireless him in reply.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Just before the Aorangi pulled out that night the -wireless operator telephoned him at his hotel to report -that he had been unable to get in touch with the Doris -Crane. Dan was cruelly disappointed and Sooey Wan, -observing this, trotted out to the hotel bar and returned -with two Gibson cocktails which he had prevailed -upon the barkeeper to mix according to a time-honored -formula. One of these cocktails Sooey Wan -drank, in silent sympathy and understanding, while -Dan partook of the other.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>When the old cook noted a lifting of the cloud on -Dan’s face, he spoke, for Sooey Wan was one of those -rare men who never speak out of their turn.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Captain of schooner velly nice man. Wha’ for you -no rentum schooner? Plenty money hab got.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan’s long arm rested affectionately across Sooey -Wan’s shoulders. “You dad-fetched old heathen, what -would I do without you? You’re the shadow of a rock -in a weary land. Let’s go.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Together they went—out to the Pelorus. Her master, -seated on deck under an awning with a glass of -grog before him, smiled as they came over the rail.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ve been expecting you, Mr. Pritchard. I was -ready to sail at four this afternoon, but something told -me I’d best wait. It’s about five hundred miles out of -my way, but if you will insist on going to Riva I might -as well have the job as anybody. Mighty few vessels -cruise down that way. You might be hung up here for -six months. Passage for two will cost you two thousand -dollars.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Hab got,” said Sooey Wan promptly, and shed his -duck coat. Up out of his linen trousers came his shirt -tail and around his middle showed a wide money belt. -This he unbuckled and gravely counted out two thousand -dollars into the master’s palm.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Now I go ketchum baggage,” he announced and -went ashore. Half an hour later the Pelorus, in tow -of a launch, was slipping out of the harbor. Once in -the open sea, she heeled gently to the trade wind and -rolled away into the southwest in the wake of the Doris -Crane.</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXVII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Pelorus proved to be a comfortable and -seaworthy vessel and her master (his name was -Hackett) a most comfortable and seaworthy person. -Although plainly hungry for a more intellectual brand -of masculine society than ordinarily was to be found -in the out-of-the-way places he visited, he tactfully -forbore to obtrude upon Dan’s mood of depression -until quite certain that he was not obtruding—whereupon -he would become a most delightful and entertaining -companion. His besetting sin was Scotch and soda, -albeit he resolutely declined, when at sea, to touch a -drop before five o’clock in the afternoon and while he -helped himself liberally until the steward announced -dinner, the liquor never appeared to affect him. It -developed that he and Gaston of the Beard had been -warm friends. Hackett’s admiration for the old -Breton skipper had been very profound.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>One day he said suddenly to Dan: “You have an -unasked question in the back of your head, Mr. -Pritchard. You need not bother to ask it. I shall -answer it, however. Old Gaston Larrieau was my -friend. We stood back to back, once, and shot our -way out of rather a dirty mess in the New Hebrides; -I was wounded and unconscious at the finish and he -swam with me half a mile through shark-infested -waters to his ship. I am what I am and rather less -than that in port, but I behave myself at sea and I -have a long memory. Tamea was as nice a girl when -she left the Pelorus as she was when she came aboard. -I wasn’t fixed to accommodate a woman passenger, but -to such as I had she was welcome and no questions -asked.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan smiled. “Thank you,” he replied. “I <span class='it'>was</span> -wondering.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re devilish frank,” Hackett laughed. “I think -I like you the better for your insulting thought. However, -I wouldn’t have been above it with anybody save -old Gaston’s girl. One grows to hold them rather -cheaply, you know. Half-caste or full blood, they -come and they go. Hearts are not too readily broken -down this way, Mr. Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea,” said Dan Pritchard, “is a white woman.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nonsense, my dear sir. She’s a half-caste.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her soul is white,” said Dan doggedly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am not prepared to dispute that assertion,” -Hackett replied casually. “I never quarrel with any -man’s likes or dislikes.” He eyed Dan narrowly. -“Something tells me you’re going to marry this girl, -Mr. Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Certainly.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And take her back to the United States with you?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan nodded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Hackett shrugged, as who should say: “Well, it’s -none of my business what you do.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You deprecate my decision,” Dan charged irritably.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not. I don’t give a hoot what you do. I -was thinking of the girl. If I stood in your shoes I -wouldn’t marry her. Why should you? You don’t -have to, and she doesn’t expect you to. You’ll regret -it if you take her back to the United States, because -she’ll never be truly happy there. When you transplant -these people they die of homesickness. They’re -so far behind our civilization they can never catch up, -and the effort to do so wearies them and they die. -They have the home instinct and the home yearning -of a lost fox hound. They are children, I tell you. -They never grow up—and you are not the man to wed -with a woman who will never grow up.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nonsense,” Dan growled. “Sheer, unadulterated -nonsense.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Hackett shrugged and poured himself another peg -of Scotch. “I’ve had three of them in my day. I -think I ought to know. One was a Pitcairn islander -and more than half white. I sailed a thousand miles -off my course to bring her back to Pitcairn. She -was slowly dying. She loved me but she loved Pitcairn -and her people more.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>There the conversation ceased, yet the effect of it -remained. Day after day, night after night, as the -Pelorus rolled lazily before the trades, Dan Pritchard’s -mind dwelled on his problem. What if Hackett should -be proved right, after all? Dan recalled how swiftly, -how inevitably, Tamea’s hurt heart had called her back -to Riva and her own people. How poignantly had that -bruised heart yearned for the understanding of those -who could understand her?</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His mind harked back to the nights when Tamea -lay upon the hearthrug in his Pacific Avenue home and -played sad little songs of Riva on her accordion. -Could it have been that on such occasions her soul -had been steeped in a vague, unsuspected nostalgia? -If Hackett was right, then he, Dan Pritchard, -journeyed upon worse than a fool’s errand. Might he -not be doing the kindly, the decent thing, to turn -back, to trust to time and some other man to mend -that broken heart? He wondered.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He could not, however, cherish seriously even for a -moment the thought of abandoning his journey. Old -Gaston had given Tamea to him to care for; the -Triton had trusted him and he must go on. There -was that cursed money he held in trust for her. She -had abandoned it to him, out of the greatness of her -love, but he could no more accept it now than he could -the night she had offered it. He had to see her and -return it to her. He had to win her complete forgiveness -and understanding, to render her happy again.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Suddenly, one evening while he paced slowly backward -and forward in the waist of the ship, he found -the solution. He would marry Tamea and end his -days in the Islands. He wanted a change. He told -himself he was sick of civilization; he wanted to be -simple and natural, free of the competition of existence.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Down there nobody would wonder why he had -married Tamea. Conventions did not exist, nor foolish -tradition nor social codes—and he could paint landscapes -to his heart’s content. He would establish a -South Sea school of landscape painting. He would be -through with the riddle of existence. . . and there -was the embarrassment of Maisie and her aunt and -old Casson and Mellenger and all of his friends should -he return to San Francisco!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His decision, arrived at so suddenly, was peculiarly -inexorable. He had thought too long and too hard: -mentally he had come to the jumping-off place. On -the instant his motto was: “The devil take everything—including -me!” The rewards to be gleaned from -the struggle that faced him, should he return to his -white civilization, were scarcely commensurate with the -effort required. A sudden, passionate yearning had -seized him to chuck it all, to drift with the tide, to -sample life in its elemental phases, to be happy in a -land where all of the rules of existence were reversed -. . . a man lived but once and he was a long time -dead. . . and Dan wanted Tamea. . . . Ah, how -ardently he desired her and how lonely and desolate -would be his life without her! Civilization demands -much of repression, since civilized man, like the -domestic dog, still retains many of the instincts of -his primitive ancestors; and Dan was weary of repression. -Hang it, he would go on the loose! He would -take the gifts that the gods provided and cease to -worry over the opinions of people whose sole claims -to his consideration lay in the fact that they were -white and dwelled in his world and were hobbled and -frightened by tradition.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>In all his life Dan had never arrived at a decision -that he grasped more tenaciously or which yielded him -a greater measure of comfort. A subconscious appeal -permeated this new thought of freedom as a phrase -runs through an opera. Free! He was going to be -free! He was a volatile spirit and he had been corked -too long; the collapse of his business offered him a -splendid excuse for pulling the cork, and by all the -gods, Christian and pagan, he would pull it. That -was the idea! Chuck it, chuck it all and walk out of -the picture without even a word of farewell to his -world.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll do it! By judas priest, I’ll do it,” he said -audibly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I thought you would,” said Captain Hackett’s -calm voice. Dan turned and caught the glow of the -master’s cigar as the latter stood on the companion -with his head and shoulders out of the cabin scuttle. -“You’ve been thinking it over long enough. Your -brains must be addled.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, it is comforting to have come to a conclusion, -at any rate,” Dan defended.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My guess is that you have concluded to settle -in Riva and let the rest of the world go by, Mr. -Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That remark forces me to wonder again why you -continue to skipper a trading schooner, Captain. You -should hang out your shingle as a clairvoyant or -mind reader or fortune teller.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ve seen your kind come and I’ve seen your kind -go,” Hackett retorted. “Once I was one of you—and -I came but never went—and now it is too late. Which -is why I repeat, in all respect, that even if you stay, -it will not be necessary to marry Tamea. Let the -world go by, if you choose—you are the best judge -of your wisdom in that regard—but remember that -down under the Line it goes by very slowly, my son. -These islands are not for white men—that is, your -kind of white man—unless you contemplate vegetating -and going to pieces mentally, morally and physically -before you are forty. The sun does things to fair-haired -and blue-eyed men and women down in the -latitude and longitude of Riva. You will not be happy -there, Mr. Pritchard, and one of these days when I -drop in at Riva you’ll hear your white world calling—and -the Chink will dig up another two thousand -dollars for me. And when you leave, Mr. Pritchard, -it would be well to have no <span class='it'>legal</span> appendages.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan was silent. He wanted to bash this tropical -philosopher over the head with a belaying pin and -cause him to stow forever his insulting and impossible -advice. But—he reflected—if he did that he would be -delayed getting to Riva and Tamea, and he could not -bear that she should suffer one moment longer than -necessary. Hackett read his thoughts.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“We will not discuss this subject again, Mr. -Pritchard,” he said gently. “I have said my say -because I have felt it my duty to do so. Personally, -I don’t give a damn what happens to you, but I should -not care to see Gaston’s daughter made unhappy. I -have roved through these islands some thirty years and -I know what I know. Have a cigar. They’re genuine -Sumatras. A bit dry, but if you like a dry cigar—— No? -Well, you needn’t grow huffy.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan continued his swift walk up and down the deck -and Hackett continued to smoke contemplatively. -After a while he said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’m going to install an ice-making machine with -part of the two thousand dollars the Chink paid me. -Going to sea is a hard life and I make enough money -for my owners to entitle me to do myself rather well. -One does grow a bit weary of boiled Scotch and tepid -wines.”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXVIII</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Two weeks later the brown crew of the Pelorus set -Dan Pritchard and Sooey Wan ashore in the -whaleboat.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I’ll drop in here on my way back—say a year -hence,” Captain Hackett promised him as they shook -hands at the Jacob’s-ladder. “I’m a little bit curious -about you and when I’m curious about anybody I have -to find out. I think six months will be long enough to -cure you, however. Good-by, Mr. Pritchard, and good -luck to you. Kiss the bride for me and—forgive me if -I venture to remind you once more—you really do not -have to marry her! Tamea hasn’t any very serious -thoughts on the validity or the sanctity of marriage. -It is, comparatively, a recent institution here.” He -shook a horny finger at Dan and answered the latter’s -scowl with a mellow laugh. Dan thought he -might be just a little bit jingled a few hours earlier than -was his wont. Strange man. Dan had an idea he -had fallen from high estate.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>A Kanaka sailor carried Dan ashore from the boat -through the wash of the surf, and followed with Dan’s -trunk. Sooey Wan, presumed to be a person of no -importance, struggled ashore in water up to his knees, -and the moment he found himself high and dry on -the shingle he looked about him with interest. What -he saw was a half mile of white beach with a fringe of -tufted coconut palms leaning seaward, a few canoes -hauled up on the beach, a large corrugated iron -godown and a small wooden bungalow, painted white -with green trimmings and wide, deep verandas, -squatted on the low bluff above the beach.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>From the veranda of this bungalow a white man detached -himself and came down over the bluff to meet -them. He introduced himself as the Reverend Cyrus -Muggridge, the resident missionary. He was a gloomy, -liverish sort of man and Dan had a feeling that to -Mr. Muggridge his martyrdom in Riva was a -thing of the flesh and scarcely of the spirit. He -repaid the reverend gentleman’s compliment in kind -and introduced himself. Then, because he observed -in the missionary’s eyes an unspoken query, he -said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Are you, by any chance, Mr. Muggridge, acquainted -with Miss Tamea Larrieau, who is, I understand, -the last blood of the ancient chiefs of Riva?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am, unhappily, acquainted with the young -woman,” Muggridge replied wearily, and added, “She -is, like her father, wholly irreclaimable.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps you would be so good as to direct me to -her home?” Dan suggested. “That is, if she has arrived -in Riva recently, as I have reason to suspect she -may have. You seem a bit shy on population, Mr. -Muggridge,” he added parenthetically.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I think my last census showed some four hundred -souls, but since then we have had two epidemics of -influenza and the birth rate has scarcely kept pace -with the mortality rate. Really, I must have another -census. Counting them roughly, I should say -that the total population of the island is two hundred -and fifty, of which, perhaps, thirty families reside -in the village.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Where is the village?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“About a quarter of a mile up a valley which runs -up to those mountains from the sea. Miss Larrieau, -by the way, is again in Riva. She arrived a week -ago and has taken up her residence in her old home. -I will point it out to you, Mr. Pritchard.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, sir.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are, perhaps, wondering why none of my people -are present,” Mr. Muggridge continued. “You -have unfortunately arrived in mid-afternoon, when -my people are sleeping or, what is more probable, -over in the river bathing.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The Kanaka sailors having disposed Dan’s baggage -above high-water mark, the whaleboat pulled back to -the ship and was hoisted aboard even while the Pelorus -slowly came about and headed for the open sea again. -Mr. Muggridge, evidently greatly pleased at the prospect -of white company—and a gentleman at that—courteously -led the way to the white bungalow and -extended to Dan and his servant the hospitality of his -home.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, Mr. Muggridge,” said Dan gratefully. -“I shall be most happy to accept your invitation—for -the present at least. May I ask you to point out to -me Miss Larrieau’s habitation?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mr. Muggridge’s eyebrows went up perceptibly. -What a hurry this well bred, respectable-looking -stranger was in to see that half-caste Jezebel! “Follow -the road up past the church yonder until you come -to the river, which you will cross on two coco-palm -logs. They are very slippery. Be careful. Having -crossed the bridge, turn to the left and follow the -path up the hill to a house that is as distinctly a white -man’s dwelling as my own. You should find the lady -you seek asleep on the veranda.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you, Mr. Muggridge. If you don’t mind, -I think I shall run up to Miss Larrieau’s house.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dinner will be served at five-thirty,” the missionary -warned him. “I shall have my servant help your -man bring the baggage up to your room.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea’s home stood in a grove of coco-palms, interspersed -with some flowering shrubs and a few lesser -trees with luxuriant green foliage. The house had -been built on a solid foundation of cement and creosoted -redwood underpinning, to protect it from the -native wood-devouring insects. Dan suspected that -the green paint which had at some distant date been -applied to the house was anti-fouling—the sort of -paint used on ships’ bottoms to protect them from -teredos. From under the house the snouts of half a -dozen young pigs, taking their siesta, protruded, and -in the yard a stately gamecock and some hens were -prospecting for worms. The place smelled a little of -neglect, of semi-decayed vegetation, of insanitation—the -smell peculiar to the homes of native dwellers in -the tropics. A well worn flight of five steps led up -from the front of the house to the veranda, from -which one might glean a view of miles of coastline. -About the place there was a silence so profound that -Dan feared he might have come too late, after all.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He mounted the steps and rapped at a door with -bronze screening on it. There was no answer, so he -opened the door and gazed into a large living room. -On the floor was a huge, blue, very old and very valuable -Chinese rug; in the center of this rug stood a -large, plain table, of native hardwood and—so Dan -judged—native workmanship. In a corner he saw a -grand piano and on top of the piano Tamea’s accordion -and a mandolin and some scattered music. A few -chairs and hardwood benches arranged along the wall -under windows which ran the full length of each wall -and which, when it was desired to ventilate the house, -dropped down into a pocket after the fashion of a -train window, completed the furnishings, with the exception -of half a dozen rudely framed sketches of -native life, and ships at sea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nobody home,” thought Dan, and walked around -the veranda on three sides of the house. On the fourth -side, which gave upon the vivid green mountain peak -in the background and into which the late afternoon -sun could not penetrate, Dan paused.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Before him, on a folding cot, with a native mat -spread over it, Tamea lay, with her head pillowed on -her left arm and her face turned slightly toward him. -Her eyes were closed, but she was not asleep, for -even as Dan gazed upon the beloved face he saw tears -creep out from between the shut lids, saw the beautiful, -semi-naked body shaken by an ill suppressed sob. -Two swift strides and he was kneeling beside her, and -as she opened her eyes and sought to rise at sight of -him, his arms went around her and strained her to his -heart while his lips kissed her tear-dimmed eyes.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Thus, long, he held her, while her heart pounded -madly against his breast and the pent-up sorrow of -weeks struggled with the rhapsody of that one perfect -moment and left her weak and trembling, able only to -gasp: “Ah, beloved! Beloved! You have come! Is -it then that you love your Tamea—after all?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He held her closer and in that tremendous moment -his soul overflowed and he mingled, unashamed, his -tears with hers. “Yes, love, I have come,” he answered -chokingly. “You could not be happy with me -in my country—so I have come to be happy with you—in -yours.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You come—you mean you come to stay—that you -have left—Maisie—your friends——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I am here, Tamea. I love you. I cannot live without -you. I need you—when you left me you did not -understand.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand now,” she whispered. “Captain -Hackett of the Pelorus was at pains to explain for -you, but I could not believe then. But—you have -come to Riva—so now I understand. Captain Hackett -was right, so let there be no more explanations. Ah, -dear one, my heart is bursting with love for you. If -you had not come life would have lost its taste and -your Tamea would have died.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t,” he pleaded, “don’t,” and held her closer. -“From this moment until death we shall not be separated. -Tonight we shall go to Mr. Muggridge and -be married.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea was suddenly thoughtful. “Since I have -been away the wife of the missionary has died, and -he is mad about your Tamea. Before I left Riva it was -his habit to follow me about and in his eyes there -was that look I know and hate. I have been home -a week and his madness has increased a hundredfold. -Dear one, I am afraid of him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You need not be,” Dan assured her and stroked -the glorious head of her. “I met Mr. Muggridge half -an hour ago when I landed and I observed that he -seemed interested when I asked about you. He looked -to me like a man with a fire in his soul. . . . Well, he’s -a minister of the Gospel, however, so I dare say if he -struggles hard enough he can put the fire out long -enough to pronounce us man and wife.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But—a license is necessary if we would marry -after the fashion of your people, beloved,” she reminded -him. “And there is no law in Riva, although -the island is claimed by the French Government.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It will be better than no marriage at all, Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She smiled. “Such a queer, strange people, you all-whites,” -was her comment. “It is not a marriage but -a substitute, yet you would ask this man to perform -a mummery to satisfy something in you that is a heritage -from your ancestors. I have no such heritage. -For me, no mumbling of words by this mad priest is -necessary to happiness.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, they are necessary to me, strange as it may -seem to you, Tamea,” Dan replied with his shy smile. -“You are half white and I am all white and it is my -purpose to dwell with you on a white basis. Therefore, -we will wed according to the custom of my people.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“As you will,” Tamea agreed. “Is it that this -matter touches your honor if I will it otherwise?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded. “Then come to Mr. Muggridge,” the -girl urged, and led him by the hand down the hill to -the missionary’s house. Sooey Wan was standing in -the doorway and at sight of Tamea he uncovered -respectfully.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Faithful one,” Tamea hailed him and gave him her -hand in huge delight. Sooey Wan shook it gingerly, -his yellow teeth flashing the while in an ecstatic grin.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At the sound of voices and footsteps on the veranda, -Mr. Muggridge came out. “You have returned quite -soon, Mr. Pritchard,” he began, and then his glance -rested on Tamea. “Well?” he demanded irritably.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mr. Muggridge,” Dan said to him, “it is my desire -that you should marry Mademoiselle Larrieau and me -at once.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The missionary grew pale and his somber eyes grew -even more somber. “I shall require her father’s permission -before performing the ceremony, Mr. Pritchard,” -he said with an effort.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Her father is dead, Mr. Muggridge.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Have you a license of any sort?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No. Is it your custom to require a license when -performing the marriage ceremony between two of -your converts?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, indeed. My people do not understand what a -license is, and it has been deemed unnecessary to insist -upon it with these primitive people. In your case, -however——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand that white man’s law is non-operative -in Riva,” Dan interrupted. “The sole regulations of -this island have been promulgated by you and other -missionaries, have they not?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mr. Muggridge nodded, his blazing eyes still fastened -on Tamea.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well,” Dan explained earnestly, “in the absence -of white law I desire you to marry me according to -missionary law. I wish to feel that my marriage has -been sanctioned by a representative of a Christian -faith. I am a Christian.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“A true Christian would not marry this woman, -sir.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I did not come here to argue with you, Mr. Muggridge. -It is my firm intention to dwell in Riva with -Tamea and I prefer to dwell with her in accordance -with the custom of my own people.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I must decline to perform the ceremony,” said -Muggridge doggedly. “In your case, without a license, -should I perform this ceremony, I would be sanctioning -your right to live with this woman in defiance of -the law of the land.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But there is no law, Mr. Muggridge.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There is,” said the missionary tersely. “I am the -Law, and in this matter I am inexorable.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You’re a lunatic. You’re as crazy as a March -hare,” Dan retorted hotly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is because he has looked upon me with desire,” -said Tamea coolly. “Come, beloved. It is foolish to -argue with one who is quite mad.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She took his hand and led him back up the hill and -out on to the edge of the high headland that gave a -view of the entire eastern coast of the island. Inland, -a high conical peak, which Dan now realized was a -volcano, lifted some four thousand feet into the sky, -now rapidly darkening as the sun sank. Still holding -Dan’s hand, Tamea took her stand beside him.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dear one,” she said, “if you would take me to -wife, then must it be after the fashion of my people, -since it is plainly impossible that it can be after the -fashion of yours. I think I understand how it is that -you would take me to wife. You would be very serious, -very sincere, very solemn. It is something you would -not do lightly.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He nodded and the girl, turning, pointed to the -volcano. From the crater a rosy glow was beginning -to appear, cast against the sky, and as twilight crept -over Riva this glow deepened.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My heart,” said Tamea softly, “is like unto the hot -heart of Hakataua yonder. Throughout the day the -sunlight beats down the glow so that no man may see -it, but with the coming of night comes the glow that -all men may see it, even those afar at sea in ships. -With the coming of night I yearn for you, beloved; the -flame of my desire burns high and I am unashamed that -I desire you as all true women must desire a mate.” -She turned and kissed him solemnly and tenderly. “I -love you, heart of my heart,” she told him, “and though -I live to be as old as Hakataua, I swear, by your God, -never shall I love any man but you, Dan Pritchard. -And, loving you, I shall respect you and obey you, nor -shall I bring dishonor or shame upon you, my husband. -Here, in the presence of the sea and the earth and the -sky, I make my promise. While I can make you happy -that promise shall hold, but when I can no longer -please you then are you released. For that is the way -of my people.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Here in the presence of God,” Dan Pritchard murmured, -with bowed head and a full heart, “I take thee, -Tamea, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold, in -honor, always.” And he kissed her now, solemnly, -tenderly, without passion.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My husband,” she said happily, “now it will not -be necessary to beg that mad Muggridge to quench -the fire in his soul.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor devil,” Dan answered her, and together they -returned to the green bungalow. They found Sooey -Wan sitting on the steps, mopping his high, bony -forehead.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Kitchen lady queen no hab got. Cookee no can -do,” he complained bitterly. “House where leavee -trunk kitchen hab got. Cookee can do.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You mean that missionary’s house, Sooey Wan?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The old Chinaman nodded.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, we’ll have to get along without his kitchen, -I think, Sooey Wan.” He turned to Tamea. “Have -you no kitchen, dear? Strange that your father -should build and furnish a house such as this and yet -not provide a kitchen.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“When my father and I left Riva, we did not bother -to take anything out of this house. Upon my return -many things were missing. All were returned by my -people with the exception of the stove, which fell from -the shoulders of the men who carried it and was -destroyed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sooey Wan isn’t accustomed to cooking over an -open fire. He will be continuously peeved and develop -into a frightful nuisance.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I shall have my serving women wait upon my -husband,” Tamea assured him lightly. “As for this -servant of yours, let his task be the catching of fish, -which will provide him with amusement. He has -labored long and faithfully in your house, dear one. -He has earned his rest.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I hope he can see his way clear to take it,” Dan -sighed. Then, turning to his servant: “Sooey Wan, -you’re retired. You do not have to cook any more. -From now on your job will consist in enjoying yourself. -Tomorrow we’ll find some sort of habitation for -you, but for tonight park yourself on the veranda.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan vouchsafed no reply, until Tamea had -entered the house and he found himself alone for a -moment with his master. “Boss,” he then said confidentially, -“missionaly heap klazy. Look out. Sooey -Wan look out.” And he permitted the butt of a long-barreled -Colt’s .45 to slide down from his voluminous -sleeve. “Sooey Wan no likee. That missionaly -ketchum devil inside heap plenty.”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXIX</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Ten months had passed since Dan Pritchard had -seen a human being whiter than Tamea or talked -English to a white man. He was acutely conscious of -this flight of time as he sat on the veranda of the green -bungalow and watched a schooner beating up the -coast of Riva.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the Pelorus, -Tamea,” he remarked. “Even at this distance her -lines look too fine for an ordinary trading schooner. -I hope she drops in. I’d like to have a visit with -Hackett. That man has a superior mind.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea glanced sharply at him from under lowered -lids. Her lips trembled ever so slightly and she bit -them to stop the trembling. At length she said: “Yes, -that is the Pelorus, dear heart. She will drop anchor -in the lagoon for the night and Hackett will come -ashore to visit us. Doubtless he has supplies for the -mission.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Won’t it be splendid to have him up for dinner, -Tamea? Confound it, I wish we had a really decent -dinner to offer him. He must be as weary of canned -goods, chicken, fish and pig as I am.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>To this Tamea made no reply, but her sweet face -was slightly clouded as she sat down at the piano and -commenced picking out a hymn by ear. Her basses -were not very good, and the piano, hard driven for -many a year without tuning, rendering sterling assistance -in the attack upon Dan’s nerves. He rose and -walked out of the house and down the hill to the beach, -where he sat on an upturned canoe and waited patiently -for the Pelorus to negotiate the opening in the reef. -She did it prettily enough, and as her anchor splashed -overside and the harsh grating of the chain in her -hawse-pipe floated across the lagoon to Dan, for a -reason scarcely possible for analysis, a lump rose in -his throat.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Perhaps it was the impending drama of a meeting -with his own kind after ten months of alien association -that thrilled him so, for he rose and ran down -to the wash of the surf on the white shingle, hallooing -and waving his arms. Two men on the poop waved -back at him. One wore a singlet, a short pair of white -trousers and a Panama hat. The other was arrayed -in white linen and, at that distance, reminded Dan of -a yacht owner out with his guests for a cruise.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The whaleboat splashed overboard and the two men -dropped overside into it and were rowed ashore. The -man in the short breeks and singlet was Captain -Hackett. He leaped overboard as the whaleboat -grounded and splashed through the wash, with outstretched -hand, his face wearing a hearty but cynical -smile.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“How do you do, Mr. Pritchard?” he cried. “Do -not bother to answer. I know. You don’t do worth -two squirts of bilge water.” He shook hands. “Riva -on your nerves a bit?” He laughed. “Well, they always -wait for us at the edge of the surf—the ‘back to -nature and the simple life’ boys.” He slapped the -embarrassed Dan on the shoulder. “Got a friend of -yours with me.” He turned and waved toward a -Kanaka sailor upon whose back was just mounting, -preparatory to being carried ashore so his feet would -not get wet, no less a person than—Mark Mellenger!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mel!” Dan’s cry of welcome sounded suspiciously -like a sob. “Mel, my dear old friend! Lord, man, -what a joy to see you again!” And he folded Mellenger -to his heart and was silent for a minute, fighting his -emotions.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It’s Thursday night, old son,” said Mellenger -calmly, “so I thought I’d drop around for dinner—as -usual. Is Sooey Wan still dishing up the grub in your -Lares and Penates?” He cuffed Dan affectionately -on the ear. “I’m sort of halfway glad to see you -again, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>They walked up the beach to the Muggridge residence. -Captain Hackett paused beside the veranda -and looked the house over critically. “Where is the -sky pilot?” he queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“He’s dead, Captain. His wife died shortly before -you were here last. Before that he had been a little -bit obsessed by Tamea and after his wife’s death he -rather went on the loose among the natives. I imagine -he was about half cracked——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Half?” Hackett sneered, “All. He was half -cracked when he came here, otherwise he would not -have come. His wife was the last tie that bound him -to his self-respect, and when she died, doubtless it -commenced to dawn on him that she had been a martyr -to a cause not particularly worth while. The heat -and the loneliness killed her. I could see it coming.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I dare say you are right, Captain. She was, as -you say, the last tie that bound him to his self-respect. -Here, where there was no law save his, after Gaston -left and before I came, there was no longer any incentive -to remain a white man, and he started to -degenerate. Religion was not sufficient to sustain him. -He had an uphill job here, at best, and there was -nothing to read except the Bible and he had known -that by heart for twenty years. I wouldn’t talk to -him and neither would Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Why?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Because he was half crazy. When he wasn’t striving -to convert Tamea he was reviling her for an -abandoned woman. Of course I had to put a stop to -that, and when I did he reviled me. Finally I warned -him to stay off the hill. But he wouldn’t. He came -prowling up there one night and set fire to our house. -Sooey Wan caught him and we put out the fire before -any damage had been done. A week later I heard -shooting outside our veranda—three rifle shots and -six pistol shots. Muggridge owned the only rifle on -the island and Sooey Wan owned the only pistol—and -he slept on the veranda.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In the morning Muggridge was gone, there were -three bullet holes through our house and Sooey Wan -was cleaning his .45 with kerosene. He said nothing -and I asked no questions. I did not care to know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Comfortable old Chink, that, to have around one’s -house,” Hackett remarked dryly. “Well, I have a -year’s supply of grub and trade goods for the mission, -so I suppose I might as well dump it here to await -the arrival of the successor to the mad Muggridge. -It’s all paid for.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Comforting. I’ll use it, Hackett.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger walked up into the mission house veranda -and sat down. “It’s as cool here as anywhere,” he -reminded Dan. “I’d like to have a chat with you, Dan, -before I meet Tamea.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Certainly, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, while my crew is busy landing the supplies -for the mission I’m going up to your house and have -a chin-chin with Tamea,” Captain Hackett suggested. -“By the way, Mr. Pritchard,” he added innocently, -“did you marry her?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan flushed. “Muggridge, in his insane jealousy, -refused to perform the ceremony without some sort of -a license, procurable God knows where—or when—so -we—that is—well, we did the best we could without -him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The old sea dog went up the path to the hill, -chuckling softly.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mel,” Dan demanded the instant the captain was -out of hearing, “what under the canopy has brought -you here?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I came to get you and bring you home.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan shook his head. “My home is here, Mel.” He -threw out his arm tragically toward the east. “I’m -quite through with all of that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Fortunately, you are not. Your private fortune -and the business formerly owned by Casson and -Pritchard await your return. There’s a hole amounting -to approximately half a million dollars in your -private fortune but the business is all yours now and -intact. As soon as you appear to relieve the receiver -of his task of managing your affairs, the court will -discharge him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard stared at his friend, wide unbelief in -his glance. “Explain yourself, Mel. This is most -astounding.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Some folks are fools for luck,” Mellenger sighed. -“Banning and Company paid forty-two cents on the -dollar and that receiver managed to pry fifty cents on -the dollar out of the Katsuma estate. Other losses -were not as heavy as anticipated, and several of your -heaviest debtors will manage to pay out in three or -four years, if your luck holds. The thing that saved -you, however, was a typhoon in the China Sea. The -steamer Malayan, with eight thousand tons of high-priced -rice insured to its full value, must have foundered -in that typhoon, for she never reached Havana and -was eventually posted at Lloyd’s as missing. Consequently -the receiver collected the insurance, which -put your business back on its feet again. You’re still -a rich man, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard placed his elbows on his knees and -covered his face with his hands. He quivered a little. -Mellenger ignored him. He lighted one of Hackett’s -Sumatra cigars and puffed away silently, gazing out -to the white water purling over the reef.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Peaceful spot, this,” he observed presently. “The -Land of Never Worry. How are you fixed for points -of intellectual contact?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I haven’t any,” Dan confessed in a strangled voice.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Been doing any painting, old son?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Half a dozen canvases. They’re no good.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You haven’t asked me about Maisie Morrison, -Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I haven’t any right to, Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Then I shall tell you about her. She is in good -health, but not very happy. That is because she loves -you. Splendid woman, Maisie. You made a grave -mistake by not marrying her. I told you to.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I didn’t think she cared—that much.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It appears she did. Everybody knew that except -you, and sometimes I think you suspected it, but were -afraid to take a chance. If you had your chance all -over again, would you marry Maisie?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mel,” Dan admitted wretchedly, “any man is a fool -to marry out of his class. Tamea is a wonderful -woman, but——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand, my friend. It requires something -more than love to sustain love. Is Riva on your -nerves?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan raised his haggard face from his hands. “Well, -I am beginning to understand Muggridge a little better -lately,” he confessed. “And, unlike poor Muggridge, -I have nothing spiritual to cling to. Nothing but my -sanity, and sometimes when I reflect that all of my -future life will be like this——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah, but it will not continue to be like this,” Mellenger -interrupted gently. “Tamea will see to that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea is a lovely, wonderful child of nature. She -is happy here—so happy, Mel, that she will never, -never be able to understand why I cannot be happy, -too.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“As usual,” Mellenger growled, “you continue to -give abundant proof of your monumental asininity and -masculine ego. I have here a letter which Tamea wrote -Maisie three months ago, via the schooner Doris -Crane.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan could only stare at him. “You know the Doris -Crane, of course?” Mellenger queried.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She came here three months ago for the accumulated -trade. I was pig-hunting on the northern coast -of the island at the time, and missed her. Mel, what -could Tamea possibly have to write Maisie about?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“About you, fool.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“About me?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“None other. Hold your peace now, old son, while -I read you her letter to Maisie.” And Mellenger read:</p> - -<div class='blockquote'> - -<p class='line' style='text-align:right;margin-right:0em;'>Riva, 16th August.</p> - -<p class='noindent'>Dear Maisie:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Please read this letter from one who has spoiled -much that was beautiful, one who has taken the taste -out of three lives, yours, Dan Pritchard’s and my own.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie, Dan Pritchard is here with me. He is my -husband, and to me he is very kind and loving and -faithful. When he came first it was his desire to -marry me according to the way of your people, but -the missionary here was mad and would not oblige -him, so we were married according to the desire of our -hearts. In the presence of the sea and the earth and -the sky we swore, each to the other, that we would love -each other and dwell together in honor. This we have -done. But Dan is no longer happy. Life slowly -loses its taste for him, I have watched and I know. -He is very lonely, nor can all of my love compensate -him for the loss of his friends, for the loss of the world -that was his. I know he feels as sometimes I felt -when I dwelled in his house in San Francisco, and -that is terrible.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The thought has come to me that if Dan lives here -he will some day grow to hate me. And I shall some -day be too unlovely to hold him. These things cannot -be helped. They are a part of life. My love wearies -him even now. He is nervous and unhappy and sometimes -he withdraws from my caresses, and last night -in his sleep he spoke of you and his sorrow because -you had not loved him. Perhaps you do not know this -truth, Maisie, but men can never love as women love. -It is very foolish to expect this. A woman can love -one man until death, but a man can love two women, -or even more, but he will love best that woman who -gives to him the most comfort and peace of mind, the -woman who makes few demands and who refrains -from forcing love upon him when he is unhappy.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Dan Pritchard does not like my people. We are as -oil and water. He does not like the food we have here, -nor the heat nor the rain nor the silence nor the loneliness. -He would have his own people about him. -Alas, I would have mine about me. He fits not into -my world, nor can I ever fit into his. Therefore, it is -wise that we should part. I would not have him in -unhappiness. Rather would I die.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie, come for him. Please! Evil will befall him -if you do not. If you love him as I think you do, -you will come; nor will pride—the false pride of a -woman—keep you from your happiness. Dan was -always your man, Maisie. Never was he truly mine. -I do not know why, but this is true. I would give him -back to you, Maisie. Please come.</p> - -<p class='line' style='text-align:right;margin-right:0em;'><span class='sc'>Tamea</span></p> - -</div> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger folded the letter and put it back in his -pocket. Dan hid his face in his hands and wept.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor child,” Mellenger murmured. “She has never -heard that pity is akin to love—that she stirred in -you all the profound pity and tenderness of your -naturally kind and chivalrous heart. I wouldn’t feel -so badly about it if I were you, Dan. You weep now -because your love lies dead and you have killed it. -You merely made a very human mistake. So did -Tamea. But she realizes it and has the courage to -confess it. Old son, your romance is at an end.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I shall not abandon her, Mel,” Dan cried brokenly. -“My unhappiness shall not be paid off against hers. -She’s too tremendously fine, too noble.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“That is true. She is too tremendously fine, too -noble, to permit you to dramatize yourself for her -sake. There is only one sacrifice necessary here, and -Tamea is making it—gladly, without regret and all -because she possesses in full measure a love so wonderful, -so glorious that no man can ever possibly -understand it or appreciate it. There will be no -pandering to your ego, my son. You are no longer -infatuated with Tamea, she knows it and you might as -well acknowledge it. Heroics are quite unnecessary. -Tamea, I take it, does not desire them and I shall not -permit them.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But Maisie. What of her, Mel?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, when she received this letter she sent for me -and gave it to me to read. She knew I was your friend -so she sought my counsel. I asked her pointblank -if she loved you and she said she did. I asked her -why she had permitted you to escape and she told me. -I think I can understand her point of view. Then I -asked her if she had any conception of your point of -view in this triangle and she said she thought she -understood enough of it to forgive you. I know you -rather well, Dan, and I tried to paint for Maisie a -word picture of you as I know you. I told her that -you had never been truly in love with Tamea but rather -in love with love.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is your nature to idealize everything. You -yearned for a high romance and Tamea was a romantic -figure. She appealed to you physically and romantically. -She aroused your pity, she stirred you and set -your soul afire, and neither of you knew that it was -the sort of conflagration that burns itself out and -leaves only a heap of ashes—ashes of sorrow and -regret. I tried to make Maisie see that it was largely -her fault. She had declined to reach forth and possess -you as Tamea, in her primitive innocence, did not -hesitate to do.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I asked her if the memory of this escapade of yours -would cloud her future happiness, if she should marry -you, and she said she thought she could manage to -forget it.” Mellenger paused and gazed out to sea -through half closed eyes. “As a matter of fact,” he -continued, “there is not the slightest necessity that -anybody in our world need know what has happened. -You have merely been knocking around the isles of the -South Sea, painting and enjoying yourself. Nobody -knows except Tamea, Maisie, you, Hackett and myself—and -none of us will ever tell.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But, Mel, Maisie refused to marry me. If she had, -this would never have happened.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a sublimated idiot. You never told Maisie -that you loved her. Women love love, too. You -dawdled around, wishful to have your cake and eat it, -hating the freedom of your bachelorhood, yet dreading -to abandon it, restless, perturbed, unhappy—ah, you’re -a <span class='it'>nut</span>. Understand? A <span class='sc'>nut</span>!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>By his silence under fire Dan admitted the truth of -this charge and instantly the great-hearted Mellenger -was sorry he had spoken. He laid his hand gently on -his friend’s shoulder.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Buck up, old son,” he pleaded. “At least you’ve -done your best to be a gentleman all through this -affair. Maisie understands that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea asked Maisie to come and get me. Did she -come? Is she here?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is aboard the Pelorus now. Old Casson and -his wife think she is in Tahiti. Nothing wrong with -taking a summer trip to Tahiti, is there? What the -old folks do not know will not worry them. Well, we -came down on the same steamer and in the harbor at -Tahiti we found the Pelorus. When I told Hackett -that I wanted to charter his vessel for a passage to -Riva, he eyed me curiously and said he had been expecting -somebody to come along and charter him for that -trip. Then it developed that he knew you. He wanted -more money than Maisie and I could scrape up, but -when I informed him of this he said he’d collect the -deficit at Riva. Said he’d draw a draft on your -Chinese bank. So he cleaned up a stateroom for Maisie -and shipped a real cook. He has an ice plant in his -hold and we had a pleasant trip. Hackett is a most -agreeable man and for a monetary consideration is -prepared to carry us all directly to San Francisco.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sorry, but I can’t go,” Dan repeated doggedly. -“Nor will I inflict on myself the pain of seeing Maisie.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Better toddle along home and talk it over with -Tamea,” his friend suggested patiently. “You may -change your mind after that.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Without a word Dan left him. On the way up the -hill he met the master of the Pelorus coming down. -“I’ll send up a couple of my boys to carry down your -trunk,” he told Dan. “Your Tamea is packing it -now.” And he smiled his knowing little smile and -continued on toward the mission.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea met Dan as he came up the stairs. “Tamea, -dear,” he began, “what does this mean?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You have talked to Mellenger. You know what -it means. When I took you for my husband, <span class='it'>chéri</span>, I -said: ‘I will take you and cherish you only so long -as I may make you happy.’ That time has passed. -You are no longer happy, so I have arranged that you -shall leave me. There must be no argument.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea,” he almost groaned, “I cannot bear to -break your heart.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She smiled sadly. “My heart will not be broken. -It will be hurt but time will cure that. I do not wish -you to remain longer. If you do I shall be much -more unhappy than if you go away. You will, perhaps, -not understand, but these are true words, dear one. -We have both made a large mistake and it would be -foolish not to admit it and strive to mend that mistake.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He bowed his head. “And you truly desire this, -Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“With all my heart,” she answered. She came to -him and placed her arms around his neck. “Love of -my life,” she said softly, and in her voice the stored-up -pathos and longing of her shattered life vibrated, -“you will kiss me once and then you will go—quickly.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, sweetheart!” he moaned.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Sh-h,” she pleaded. “I desire this parting, dear -love, and because I desire it I have been to some pains -and expense to accomplish it. Here you are as a -fish cast up on the beach. You gasp and struggle for -life and in the end you will die—living. I understand, -darling. <span class='it'>Chéri</span>, believe me, I understand truly, and -there is naught to grieve over.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She kissed him and clung to him, wet-eyed and -trembling, but resolute. “Now, dear love, you will -go,” she whispered, “nor will you look back as you -descend the hill. And sometimes you will think of -your Tamea who loved you better than you will ever -be loved again. Adieu, my husband.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She left him abruptly. He stood for about a minute, -his thoughts inchoate, his brain numbed; yet, out of -the chaos of his conflicting emotions there rose, almost -subconsciously, the tiniest flicker of relief. He hated -himself for it. He felt low and mean and treacherous, -felt that he had played a sorry part, indeed, yet he -had not meant to do this, nor had he even contemplated -doing it. The situation existed, that was -all, nor could any power of his or Tamea’s alter it in -the slightest. As well strive to restrain a falling star!</p> - -<p class='pindent'>His heart constricted, his eyes blurred with tears -of sorrow and shame, he turned away at last and -stumbled down the path to the Muggridge bungalow. -Hackett and Mellenger, seeing him coming, walked -around to the opposite side of the house, in order that -he might be spared the humiliation of knowing they -had seen him with his soul laid bare. Straight for -the whaleboat, drawn up at the edge of the wash, Dan -headed, and the Kanaka sailors, seeing him coming, -ran the boat into the surf until it floated; there they -held it, waiting; and when Dan Pritchard climbed -wearily in, they pulled him out to the Pelorus.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Up on the veranda of the mission house Captain -Hackett produced two of his famous Sumatra cigars. -“We’ll give him a couple of hours in which to straighten -out his record with Miss Morrison,” the maritime -philosopher suggested. “Smoke up.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger took the cigar, but he did not light it. “I -think I shall make a brief call on Tamea,” he declared. -“I really think she would enjoy seeing me, and until -the Pelorus leaves Riva, I imagine Tamea will have -herself rather well under control. How does one reach -her habitation?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Hackett described the way and Mellenger left him. -On the steps of Tamea’s home he found Sooey Wan -seated; the old Chinaman looked angry and disconsolate, -but at sight of Mellenger his yellow fangs -showed in a glad smile of welcome. He rose, proffered -his hand, which Mellenger grasped heartily, and for -several seconds they stood, looking into each other’s -faces; then the look of desolation sifted back over -Sooey Wan’s face and he shook his head dolefully.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Missa Mel,” he quavered, “evelybody clazy. Pitty -soon Sooey Wan clazy, too.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Yes, Sooey, my friend,” Mellenger replied, “everybody -is. In fact, I’m half crazy myself. Where is -Tamea?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Sooey Wan jerked a thumb over his shoulder. -“Lady queen packum tlunk, Missa Mel.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger entered the house. In the center of the -living room Tamea sat, folding Dan’s well worn linen -and packing it away in trunk trays. She looked up -at his entrance—and stared unbelievingly a moment -before scrambling to her feet and rushing to him with -outstretched arms.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mellengair! Mellengair, my friend!” she cried, and -then she was sobbing out, upon that great, understanding -heart, the agony she had seen fit to repress in the -presence of Dan. He held her to him, stroking the -beautiful head but saying nothing, for he knew that -her full heart was emptying itself, that she would -be the better for her tears.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Presently she ceased to sob, but still she clung to -him; long, heart-breaking sighs finally told Mellenger -that she was getting herself under control once more. -Gently he lifted her face and with his own handkerchief -dried her eyes. “Poor Tamea!” he murmured. -“Poor, unhappy, misunderstood waif!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Do not pity me, my friend,” she pleaded. “It is -the fate of half-breeds to dwell in a world apart; in -time we learn to make the best of it.” She smiled -wanly. “It was, perhaps, unfortunate for me that my -father was Gaston of the Beard. He put upon me -the imprint of his own soul. So I see too clearly, I -understand too readily, I feel too deeply.” She lifted -his great hand and laid her cheek against the back of -it. “Once I hurt you, Mellengair. I am sorry. I have -wept many tears because I have called you Stoneface.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t! Please don’t!” he pleaded hoarsely. “I -didn’t mind. Really, I didn’t.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are a kind liar.” She kissed his hand humbly. -“And now,” she added, with just a suspicion of a -quaver in her voice, “it is your friend, Tamea, who -is Stoneface—always to look out to sea for that which -came—and went—and will never, never come again.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger’s poker face twitched ever so slightly. -“I am here to help you. Tell me how.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There can be no help, Mel. Dan is very unhappy -with me. He loves me, but he is not happy with me, -and it has come to the knowledge that never can the -poor boy be happy with me. Great unhappiness is -stronger than great love. It will kill love—and I -have watched and his love is dying. I would have him -leave me, loving me. If he remains he will grow mad, -like that missionary Muggridge. Something in him -that is fine and very like a little boy will wither and -die.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Mellenger nodded and Tamea continued: “To Dan -also has been given the gift of seeing too clearly, understanding -too readily, feeling too deeply.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan is my friend,” said Mellenger. “He has many -virtues. He is lovable. But he is too much given to -introspection. He thinks too much about himself and -too little about others. He has not known great happiness -and he has been eager to protect the little he -has known. He has a restless soul, always poised for -flight. In a word, he is utterly selfish and doesn’t know -it. He would be highly insulted if he heard me say so, -and he knows as much about women as a pig does -about the binomial theorem.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Tamea smiled wistfully. “Yes, he knows little of -women. He is not observing, and, as you say, I think -it is because he thinks overmuch about what each new -day may bring him. I am to be the mother of his -child, but he does not know this—and I have, for reasons -of my own, not told him.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah!” Mellenger gasped. “That complicates matters. -You are not married, I take it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, not the way you take it. You will not tell -this to Dan, of course.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Of course I shall. If he is the father of your child -he shall not evade the responsibility of fatherhood, -although, to do him full justice, I do not think it -would ever occur to him to evade it.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“In his world, Mellengair, it is not quite <span class='it'>au fait</span> to -be the father of a quarter-bred Polynesian child while -still a bachelor.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It would be regarded as embarrassing.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I would not have Dan embarrassed.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You can obviate the embarrassment. Come with -us to Tahiti and marry Dan legally before the child -is born. Nobody in his world, then, need know.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I could not be happy in Dan’s world any more -than he can be happy in mine. You do not seem to -understand, Mellengair. I love him. I do not delude -myself, my friend. If I want him I can hold fast to -him. I know my power. But I love him too greatly -to hold him when the holding will smash his life. It -is better that I should smash my own, for look you, -Mellengair,” she explained with an odd wistfulness, -“I am but Tamea, the half-caste Queen of Riva. I am -old—very old—and I—I do not matter. I have known -the fulness of life. I am content. I cannot leave this -land in which the roots of my soul will ever cling; -always when I dwelt with Dan Pritchard in San Francisco -I heard the sound of the surf on the reef yonder -I heard the sigh of these coco-palms, I heard the songs -and the woes of my people. You will, perhaps, not -understand, Mellengair, but I know that I am right.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He bowed his head. He knew she was right, -knew that only a great and noble soul could so calmly -enunciate such a bitter truth. The old, immutable law -of existence could not be shattered. Kind begets kind, -yearns for it, is happy with nothing else. Human -beings, habituated to their environment, cast in certain -molds of evolution, may not progress forward -or backward when such progression is not a part of -the Infinite Plan. To attempt it is ruinous; to defy -that immutable law—particularly in the case of super-intelligences -like Dan and Tamea—invites disaster.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Dan Pritchard will go tonight and I shall not see -him again,” Tamea said, following the long silence -while Mellenger revolved this sad puzzle in his poor -brain. “Farewells do but bear down the heart, and -if I do not see him again it will be much easier -for him, poor dear. He knows I love him. Why, -then, tell him this at parting, why hurt him with -my tears, why subject him to the shame of having -me see him bent and broken? He will go. He greatly -desires to go, and I know why, and it is the law and -I am not embittered. Nothing matters in life save -that human beings shall know true happiness—and -I have known that. When my baby comes I shall know -it again. I have in me the blood of my mother, and -we were proud of our line. And I have in me the blood -of my father and he was brave and laughed when the -seas boiled over the knightheads. I too shall laugh.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I dare say you do not care to visit Maisie, or have -her visit you.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You are right. You are always right, dear Stoneface. -I give to her the man she loves, the man who, -in the bottom of his heart, has always loved her, the -man I took from her. From me he has learned something -of life; at least I have not hurt him, nor have -I dwelt with him in dishonor. He will be comforted -by Maisie; life will have a taste for him again; and -of his life here with me, none in his world should ever -know. You see, I understand your people, Mellengair,” -she added, with that same odd, twisted, wistful little -smile. “It is that you do not like to be found out.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fell a silence. “You will go now, please, and take -Dan Pritchard with you. Sooey Wan is ready and -the sailors from the Pelorus will come for his trunk.” -She gave him her hand.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“May I kiss you, Tamea?” he whispered, and there -was that in his deep-set, unlovely eyes, in his poker -face, that might have been seen in the face of Christ, -writhing on the Cross. She lifted her face to his and -he kissed her, very tenderly, on each cheek, after the -fashion of her father’s people. Then he left her, and -he descended the hill to the beach.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well?” said Hackett, as Mellenger came up on the -Muggridge veranda and heaved himself wearily into -a chair.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have just talked with the finest woman God -Almighty ever made,” Mellenger replied huskily. -“Compared with her the noblest of men is so low he -could kiss a flounder without bending his knees.” He -thoughtfully bit the end off the cigar Hackett had -given him and the latter struck a match and held it -to the tip of the cigar. “Brave, like her father,” -Mellenger continued. “Faces the issue without cringing. -She is magnificent—perfectly tremendous!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, that’s a comfort, Mr. Mellenger.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Fell a silence. Then: “Captain Hackett, when you -return to the Pelorus, please send my dunnage ashore -and have one of your men dump it in this veranda. -I have decided to remain in Riva. I do not fancy that -long trip home with Dan and Maisie. My presence -would make them both uncomfortable, and I am quite -finished with my self-appointed task of directing that -man’s love affairs. He’s a fine man but a poor lover.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Nonsense, Mr. Mellenger,” Hackett urged. “The -Pelorus is a hundred and thirty feet long and there is -room enough aboard her to make yourself scarce.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Well, I have other reasons for staying. Unlike -Dan Pritchard, I have no dollars calling me back. All -I had was a heart-breaking job on a newspaper and -I chucked that forever when I started for Riva. I have -never had a vacation and I have a notion I’ll enjoy -knocking around in the islands. At any rate, I’m -going to remain. Having no conscience to speak of, -I will help myself to the supplies you are going to -land for this deserted mission. I shall get along quite -nicely.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“There is no accounting for the ways of white men,” -Captain Hackett declared. “Here comes the whaleboat, -loaded with supplies.” He held out his hand. -“Happy days, Mr. Mellenger.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Thank you. Good-by. Do not tell Dan I have -stayed. He might take it into his fool head to come -ashore and argue with me. And the next time you -happen to be passing along the coast of Riva, drop in -and say howdy. I might be ready to leave at that -time.”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXX</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>When Dan Pritchard descended into the main -cabin of the Pelorus, he found Maisie seated -there. She stared at him a moment, not recognizing -in the brown, somewhat unkempt figure at the foot of -the companion, the man she had known and loved in -another world.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It is I—Dan,” he told her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie made no effort to rise. She knew she was -unequal to the effort. “I—I came—to see if you—cared -to come home, Dan,” she said with difficulty. -“Tamea wrote—asked me to come and get you. It has -been very hard for me to do this, Dan. Perhaps you -can understand why.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He came and took her hand in both of his, but made -no movement toward a more affectionate greeting. He -was not quite equal to such disloyalty so soon, even -though at sight of Maisie his heart thrilled wildly. “I -can understand your reluctance to running after any -man, Maisie,” he answered her. “Least of all myself.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“This situation is perfectly amazing. I cannot, even -now, understand why I have come here, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps it would be just as well not to try to -understand some things, Maisie,” he pleaded. “Do you -think it is possible for us to take up our lives where -they were when we saw each other last? You know all -about me, of course.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Mark Mellenger was at some pains to attempt a -long, scientific and, at times, reasonable, defense of -masculine weaknesses in general and of yours in -particular. Somehow, Dan, I cannot feel that you -have been either weak or wicked. It—it—just -happened. I cannot conceive that you would ever be -less than a gentleman.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He bowed his head. “I have tried to be that, Maisie, -although today I do not feel that I have succeeded. -But I cannot do otherwise than leave Tamea. I do -not think it would have occurred to me to leave her, -no matter how bitter the price of staying, but—she -willed it otherwise. We have parted without bitterness; -I want you to know that so long as I live she -shall remain a holy and tender memory.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“You love her?” Maisie choked on the query.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I love her as one loves a beautiful and lovable child; -for the nobility of soul she possesses I feel a tremendous -reverence.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand—being a woman. You have entertained -for me something of that same affection, I think. -Well, it is no fault of yours, is it, if you mistook -infatuation for love?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Perhaps, at some future date, Maisie, it will not -seem so—so terrible—to discuss so intimately my feelings -toward you or toward Tamea. I only know that—at -last—I am quite certain of myself. I tried my -best to play the game with Tamea, but I wasn’t smart -enough to conceal my true feelings from her, once those -feelings became apparent to myself. She has the mind -of a warlock. I—I—tried to love her, but—oh, my -God, forgive me—we were as oil and water. We could -not mix. I couldn’t stand this place. There is beauty -here and peace; life tiptoes by so serenely that the -sameness of the days was driving me mad. I had no -social intercourse—no points of intellectual contact—and -every relative of Tamea’s, no matter how distantly -related—was dwelling under the mantle of our—of her—philanthropy. -She loves them all and hasn’t the -heart to drive them away. It is the custom and she -is the last of her blood. She will not alter the custom. -I hate the food, I hate the smell of decaying vegetation, -I hate the rain, I hate the music, I hate the sunshine—and -the loneliness would, eventually, have driven me -insane. That’s what it did to Muggridge. I did some -sketching the first few months. Since then I have had -no heart for it. My mind is back in San Francisco; -I can’t shake off the memories of the old life. Tamea -spends her days adoring me—and I’m sick of it. -<span class='it'>I’m sick of it, I tell you. I’m fed up on love. I’m—I’m</span>——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie managed to stand up. She placed her hands -on Dan’s shoulders. “Buck up, old booby,” she -murmured, with something of the adorable camaraderie -that had charmed him so in happier days. “You are -the victim of a terrible tragedy and so is poor Tamea. -But she was wise enough to see that something radical -had to be done—and she did it. You see, Dan’l, you -weren’t truly in love with Tamea and I knew it all the -time. You were in love with love, or perhaps your -pity led you, like a will-o’-the-wisp. At any rate, it’s -all over and nobody shall ever know and—and—I love -you, Dan. I never thought I would be brave enough, -or unmaidenly enough, to tell you this. But I know -you love me, Dan. I knew it long before Tamea flashed -across your life like a meteor and swept you off your -silly old feet. I was weak, or I would have saved you—and -when I found I could manage the strength, you -were gone and it was too late. You’ve been such an -old stupid. I should have made allowance for you, -because I know you so well. . . . Well, I am here—and -nothing that has happened matters any more. -There, there you go with that sad old Abraham -Lincoln look again—and now I’ll have to be friend -Maisie again.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She forced him down into a seat and he laid his arms -on the cabin table and buried his face in them, in order -that Maisie might not see the agony in his soul. -“Nobody can ever understand except one who has had -the experience,” he tried to explain. “Tamea is all -white—and half native. She gazes upon life native-fashion—she’s -a tragic contradiction. I could never -quite know what was in her mind when she gazed upon -me so sweetly and tragically and she could never quite -know what was in mine.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Ah, but she did know, poor dear,” Maisie contradicted. -“She has proved that she knew.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“She is old—old, with the wisdom of the aged and -the philosophy of patriarchs——”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“And the heart of a woman, Dan.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“No, the heart of a child.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>Maisie smiled wistfully. Poor old booby Dan’l! He -would never, never know that a woman is always a -child! Because she had tact and more imagination -than Dan Pritchard had ever given her credit for -possessing, she left him and went up on deck.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>At sunset the Pelorus passed out of the lagoon and -as her bow lifted to the long, lazy rollers beyond the -outer reef, Dan Pritchard, from her quarter-deck, -through a mist gazed back on his Paradise lost. High -up on the headland where Tamea’s home nestled in -the grove, a white figure, silhouetted against the sunset -glow, waved to him. And presently, as the Pelorus -drew clear of the coast and the full force of the trades -bellied her canvas, to send her ramping toward the -horizon, that white figure slowly faded; the last Dan -Pritchard saw of Riva was the steadily deepening glow -of the hot heart of Hakataua, pulsating against the -purple sky. And whatever thoughts occurred to him -in that supreme moment were never given utterance, for -Maisie came and stood beside him and said:</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Don’t be ashamed of it, Dan, dear. I understand. -Truly, I do.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“It will be terrible if you do not, Maisie, for I have -lived to be too thoroughly understood—I who am not -worth understanding.”</p> - -<div><h1>CHAPTER XXXI</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>When the last sunlight faded from the earth and -the sea and the swift tropic twilight had swallowed -the Pelorus, Tamea cast herself upon the earth -and beat it with her beautiful hands, sobbing aloud, in -the language of her mother’s people, the agony of her -broken heart. Upon her the gods had rained the supreme -blow and she could no longer stand erect and -take it smiling. Upon the pungent, fetid earth she -groveled in her despair until, utterly spent, she lay -like a beautiful wilted lily, an occasional long, constricted -gasp alone giving evidence that she still -lived—and suffered.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>After a long time a voice spoke in the semi-darkness.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Tamea! Stoneface is speaking.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The girl started up. “Mellengair! You have not -gone?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Did I not tell you once, Tamea, that I loved you? -That when you too were a Stoneface, with your flower -face in the dust, I would love you more than ever, -because your child’s heart would have been broken? -And did I not tell you that I would lift you up and hold -you to my heart and comfort you? Behold, Tamea, -these hands outthrust to you.” And with the words he -lifted her from the ground and held her against his -great breast. “Poor child!” he kept murmuring, and -stroked her hair.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Oh, why did you stay?” she sobbed. “I do not love -you, Mel. You are to me a true friend only.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I do not ask for love, Tamea,” he replied gently. -“I seek service. I thought I would stay until your -baby should be born—it seemed I ought to wait awhile -and see that all goes well with you, child.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“My race is dying. I too shall die, and that soon. -Life has lost its taste, and when my baby has been -born—my friend, when such as we have lost our taste -for life, life departs. We do not live for the coward’s -love of life, but for life’s joys.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“But the baby,” he reminded her.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I will give him to you, my friend. Would you not -care to have my son and love him as your own?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>The poker face twitched, the unlovely eyes blinked -a little. Mel bowed his head affirmatively.</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have an illness—here,” Tamea murmured, and -placed her hand on her side. “It is the lung disease -that comes to so many of us Polynesians, and when I -knew my length of life was measured by but a year or -two, I did not hesitate. I had to make haste, since -I did not desire Dan to grow like Muggridge in his -mind. Muggridge was here too long, too long -removed from his kind; in striving to draw my people -upward, he drew himself downward. I would not have -Dan remember me as a thin and haggard invalid, old -before my time, no longer beautiful. Do you understand, -Mellengair?”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I have money. You know how much my father -left me. When I am gone you will take it and my -child, both for your own. You are a poor man in your -own land, wherefore you must have money to dwell in -contentment. And you will never tell Dan Pritchard -I have borne him a child, because that would render -him unhappy. And you will raise my child as a full -white, in white ways, and none shall know that my -baby’s mother was a half-breed Polynesian. Understand, -I am not ashamed of my blood, but”—through -her tears she smiled the odd, wistful little smile—“it is -inconvenient. There are some who might regard my -blood as base and remind my child of it in years to -come. In a three-quarter white none but the very wise, -the very observant, can tell the blood of the other -quarter.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>He held her close to him and stroked her wonderful -black hair. “Poor child,” he kept saying, “poor -child.” And finally: “Remember, I do not ask for -love, but service.”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“I understand, dear, kind Stoneface. We are two -with stone faces now, are we not, my friend?. . . -Well, you shall take me to my house, and then you -shall go to the house of Muggridge and dwell there -until the period of service shall be over. Or,” she -added, “until it shall begin!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>She lifted his big hand and kissed it. “My friend,” -she whispered, “my good, kind friend!”</p> - -<p class='pindent'>“Poor child,” said Mellenger. “Poor, poor child!”</p> - -<p class='line' style='text-align:center;margin-top:3em;'>THE END</p> - -<div><h1>TRANSCRIBER NOTES</h1></div> - -<p class='pindent'>Mis-spelled words and printer errors have been corrected. 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