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diff --git a/old/13967.txt b/old/13967.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dcb2f99 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13967.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9684 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Nedra, by George Barr McCutcheon, Illustrated +by Harrison Fisher + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Nedra + +Author: George Barr McCutcheon + +Release Date: November 6, 2004 [eBook #13967] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEDRA*** + + +E-text prepared by Rick Niles, John Hagerson, Charlie Kirschner, and the +Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13967-h.htm or 13967-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/6/13967/13967-h/13967-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/6/13967/13967-h.zip) + + + + + +NEDRA + +by + +GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON + +Author of _Beverly of Graustark_, _Brewster's Millions_, etc. + +Illustrations by Harrison Fisher + +1906 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +Chapter + + I The Inspiration + II The Beginning of Flight + III The First Obstacle + IV Ready for the Sea + V Mr. and Miss Ridge Sail for Manila + VI Henry Veath + VII Glum Days for Mr. Ridge + VIII The Beautiful Stranger + IX Mr. Ridegway's Amazement + X A Sharp Encounter + XI Discovered + XII The Harlequin's Errand + XIII The Confession of Veath + XIV One Love against Another + XV The Wreck of the _Tempest Queen_ + XVI The Night and the Morning + XVII Was the Sea Kind? + XVIII The Wonderful Land + XIX The First Day in the Wilds + XX The Sign of Distress + XXI Gods from the Sea + XXII Flesh Succeeds Stone + XXIII The Transformation Begins + XXIV Nedra + XXV The Coming of the Enemy + XXVI On the Eve of Battle + XXVII The Lady Tennys Reserve +XXVIII To the Victor Belongs--? + XXIX The Other Surrender + XXX Where There is No Minister + XXXI The Wedding Ring + XXXII The Cruiser _Winnetka_ +XXXIII Apparitions + XXXIV The Course of True Love + XXXV History Repeats Itself + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Lady Tennys (Frontispiece) + +Grace Vernon + +"'Lady Tennys ... You do not know how I thank God you are alive'" + +"'Hey, there!' he yelled. 'How are you?'" + +"'They have killed you! Let them kill me!'" + + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE INSPIRATION + +A tall young man sped swiftly up the wide stone steps leading to the +doorway of a mansion in one of Chicago's most fashionable avenues. After +pushing the button sharply he jerked out his watch and guessed at the +time by the dull red light from the panel in the door. Then he hastily +brushed from the sleeve of his coat the telltale billiard chalk, whose +presence reminded him that a general survey might be a wise precaution. +He was rubbing a white streak from his trousers' leg when the door flew +open and the butler admitted him to the hallway. This personage relieved +him of his hat, coat and stick and announced: + +"Miss Vernon is w'itin' for you, sir." + +"How the devil did I happen to let eight o'clock strike nine before I +knew it?" muttered the visitor. He was at the drawing-room door as he +concluded this self-addressed reproach, extending both hands toward the +young woman who came from the fireplace to meet him. + +"How late you are, Hugh," she cried, half resentfully. He bent forward +and kissed her. + +"Late? It isn't late, dear. I said I couldn't come before eight, didn't +I? Well, it's eight, isn't it?" + +"It's nearly seventy minutes past eight, sir. I've been waiting and +watching the hands on the clock for just sixty minutes." + +"I never saw such a perfect crank about keeping time as that +grandfatherly clock of yours. It hasn't skipped a second in two +centuries, I'll swear. You see, I was playing off the odd game with +Tom Ditton." + +He dropped lazily into a big arm-chair, drove his hands into his pockets +and stretched out his long legs toward the grate. + +"You might have come at eight, Hugh, on this night if no other. You knew +what important things we have to consider." Miss Vernon, tall and +graceful, stood before him with her back to the fire. She was +exceedingly pretty, this girl whom Hugh had kissed. + +"I'm awfully sorry, Grace; but you know how it is when a fellow's in a +close, hard game--especially with a blow-hard like Tom Ditton." + +"If I forgive you again, I'm afraid you'll prove a begging husband." + +"Never! Deliver me from a begging husband. I shall assert all kinds of +authority in my house, Miss Vernon, and you'll be in a constant state of +beggary yourself. You'll have to beg me to get up in the morning, beg +me to come home early every night, beg me to swear off divers things, +beg me to go to church, beg me to buy new hats for you, beg me to eat +things you cook, beg me to--" + +"I suppose I shall even have to beg you to kiss me," she cried. + +"Not at all. That is one thing I'll beg of you. Lean over here, do, and +kiss me, please," he said invitingly. + +She placed a hand on each arm of the chair and leaned forward +obediently. Their lips met in a smile. + +"You lazy thing!" she exclaimed, her face slightly flushed. Then she +seated herself on one of the big arms, resting her elbow on the back of +the chair beside his head. For a few minutes both were silent, gazing at +the bright coals before them, the smile remaining upon their lips. Hugh +had been squinting between the toes of his shoes at a lonely black chunk +in the grate for some time before he finally spoke reflectively. + +"I can't afford to be lazy much longer, can I? Married men never have a +minute's rest, you know." + +"We're not married." + +"No; but we're going to be, let me remind you. We are to--to announce it +to-morrow night, are we not? It has come to that, you see." He did not +look very cheerful, nor did she. + +"Yes, I suppose it's imperative. That is why aunt is giving her +reception,--just to tell everybody we're engaged." + +"And then everybody will shake hands with us and say, +'Congratulations,' 'How lovely,' 'So surprised,' 'Howdy do,' and so +forth, and we say 'Thanks,' 'How good of you,' and more so forth. It +will be great!" Another silence and inspection of the fire, he taking an +altered aim at the black chunk. "Say!" he exclaimed, "wouldn't it do +just as well if I didn't put in an appearance to-morrow night? Your aunt +can announce the thing, as agreed, and you can tell 'em that I have a +sick uncle in Indianapolis, or have had my leg broken, or something like +that. Now, there's a good girl." + +"No," she said. "We fell in love because we couldn't help it, and this +is the penalty--an announcement party." + +"I'll never quite understand why _you_ fell," said he dubiously. + +"I think we were both too young to know," she responded. "It seems to me +that we've been in love ever since we were babies." + +"And it never hurts a baby to fall, you know," said he, with fine logic. +"Of course it may cripple 'em permanently, but they don't know how it +happened." + +For some moments she caressed his brown hair in silence, the smile +lingering on her lips after it had left her eyes. His eyes closed +dreamily under the gentle touch of her fingers. "But, dear," she said, +"this is no joking matter. We have been engaged for nearly three months +and not a soul knows of it. We'll have to tell them how we managed to +keep it a secret for so long, and why,--and all that. And then +everybody will want to know who the bridesmaids are to be." + +"I believe I'd like to know that myself, as long as I'm to walk out of +the church ahead of them--provided I don't get lost." + +"Helen Grossman is to be the maid of honor. I believe I'll ask Jean +Robertson, Eloise Grant, Harriet Noble, Mayme McMurtrie, Ellen +Boyland--" + +"Are we to have no guests?" + +"--and Effa Samuels. Won't it be a pretty set of girls?" + +"Couldn't be prettier." + +"And now, who is to be your best man?" + +"Well, I thought I'd have Tom Ditton," a trifle confusedly. + +"Tom Ditton! I thought you did not approve of him," she cried. "You +certainly did not when he came to see me so frequently." + +"Oh, he isn't such a bad sort, after all. I'd just as soon have him as +any one. Besides, he's an expert at it. If it was left to me, I'd much +rather sit behind the pulpit until it is all over. People won't miss me +while they've got you to look at." + +"We could be married so quietly and prettily if it were not for Aunt +Elizabeth," pouted Miss Vernon. "She insists on the church wedding, the +teas and receptions and--" + +"All that sort of rot," he interjected, as if fearing she might not +express herself adequately. "I like your Aunt Elizabeth, Grace, but +she's--she's an awful--" + +"Don't say it, Hugh. I know what you mean, but she can't help it. She +lives for society. She's perfectly crazy on the subject. Aunt Elizabeth +made up her mind we should be married in church. I have talked myself +black in the face--for your sake, dear--but it was like trying to +convert a stone wall. She is determined. You know what that means." + +"No wonder she's a widow," growled Hugh Ridgeway sourly. "Your father +served you a mighty mean trick, dear, when he gave you over to her +training. She might have spoiled you beyond redemption." + +"Poor father! He loathed display, too. I've no doubt that is why he left +me in her care until I reached the age of discretion. She was not always +like this. Father's money has wrought the change. Aunty was as poor as a +church mouse until father's death put her at the head of my +household--it was mine, Hugh, even if I was only six years old. You know +we could live pretty well on forty thousand a year." + +"You'll have a million or so when you're twenty-three, dear, and I'll +venture to say your aunt has saved something in all these years." + +"Oh, she had at least two hundred thousand dollars by the will. It has +cost her nothing to live all these years as my guardian and trustee. We +just had to do something with my income, you know." + +"I don't see why you should let this fortune stand in the way, Grace," +growled he. "Haven't I enough of my own to take its place?" Hugh +Ridgeway had a million in his own right and he could well afford to be +unreasonable. "The will says you are not to have your father's money +until you are twenty-three years old. He evidently thought that was a +discreet age. You are not to marry before you have reached that age. +I've been waiting for two years, Grace, and there still remains +two months--" + +"One month and twenty-eight days, Hugh," she corrected. + +"And in the meantime we have to stay here and face all this ante-nuptial +wretchedness. It's sickening, Grace. We hate it, both of us. Don't we? I +knew you'd nod your head. That's why I can't help loving you. You've got +so much real good hard sense about things. If your confounded Aunt +Lizzie--Elizabeth, I should say--would let us get married as we +want--Hang it all, Grace, it's our affair anyhow, isn't it? Why should +we permit her to dictate? It's not her wedding. She's been married +twice; why can't she let well enough alone?" + +"She loves me, Hugh, after all," gently. + +"Well, so do I. I'm willing--not perfectly willing, of course--but +reasonably so, that we should wait until the twenty-third of May, but I +don't see why we should have the whole town waiting with us. Why don't +you assert yourself, dear, before it is too late? Once she pulls off +this announcement party, it's all off with peace of mind and contentment +so far as we are concerned. Of course, she'll be enjoying it, but what +of us? Are you afraid of her?" + +"Don't bully me, Hugh," she pleaded. He was contrite at once and +properly so. "She has lived for this time in her life. She never has +been crossed. I can't--honestly I can't go to her now and--quarrel. +That's what it would mean--a quarrel. She would never give in." + +"Well, then, all hope is lost," he lamented. For some minutes Miss +Vernon gave no response, sitting upon the arm of the chair, a perplexed +pucker on her brow and a thoughtful swing to her slippered foot. + +These young people had known each other since earliest childhood. They +had played together with the same neighborly toys and they had grown up +together with the same neighborly ideals. Both had whirled in the social +swing until the sensation palled. The most exclusive set in town +regarded them as among its most popular members. It was quite natural +that their wedding should be the most brilliant and fashionable of the +year. Their position in society demanded the sacrifice, and her aunt saw +the urgent need for making it, notwithstanding the opposition of the +young people themselves. + +Ridgeway was a couple of years older than his affianced bride, and she +was just short of twenty-three. She, an orphan since early childhood, +lived with her widowed aunt--the social gourmand, to quote Hugh +Ridgeway--and he made his home next door with his sister and her +husband. The two brown stone houses were almost within arm's reach of +each other. She had painted dainty water colors for his rooms and he had +thrown thousands of roses from his windows into her boudoir. It had been +a merry courtship--the courtship of modern cavalier and lady fair. +Ridgeway's parents died when he was in college, and he was left to +enlarge or despise a fortune that rated him as a millionaire and the +best catch in town--at that time. + +He was a member of the Board of Trade, but he was scarcely an operator +in the strictest sense of the word. If he won he whistled, if he lost he +whistled. It mattered little. Good looking, well dressed, generous to a +fault, tainted but moderately with scandal, he was a man whom everybody +admired, but who admired few in return--a perfectly natural and proper +condition if one but stops to consider. + +Miss Vernon was beautiful--of that there was no question. Tall, fair, +brown-eyed and full of the life that loves, she ruled the hearts of many +and--kept her hand for one. Her short, gay life had been one of luxury +and ease. She had known few of its cares; its vicissitudes belonged to +the charities she supported with loyal persistency. Her aunt, society +mad, was her only mentor, her only guide. A path had been made for her, +and she saw no other alternative than to travel it as designed. A +careless, buoyant heart, full of love and tenderness and warmth, allowed +itself to be tossed by all of the emotions, but always sank back safely +into the path of duty and rectitude. It was not of sufficient moment to +combat her aunt's stubborn authority; it was so much easier to do her +own sweet will without conflict and then smile down on the consequences. + +Possibly it is true that she did not love her aunt. If that were the +case, she kept it well to herself. She could not have been blamed, +however, for disliking the dictator. Hugh Ridgeway was more or less +right when he said that no one in town admired the old lady. She was +hard, devoid of humor, wrapped up in her own selfishness; shrewd, +capable and resourceful. Her brother, on his deathbed, signed the +instrument which made this arrogant relative the arbiter of the girl's +future for many years to come. She was appointed guardian and trustee +until legal age was attained, and as such she was absolute in her power. +The large fortune was to be held in trust by this aunt, Mrs. Torrence, +and the Hon. Stanley Goodland, until Grace was twenty-three years of +age. The income from the investments in bonds, real estate and +high-class securities was to be handled by Mrs. Torrence as she saw fit +in the effort to better the young woman's mental and social estate. To +do her justice, she performed the duties well and honorably, even though +her measure of human nature was not full to overflowing. Grace, with a +mind and heart of her own, undertook to cultivate human nature from her +own point of view after years of tolerance, and she succeeded so well +that her aunt was none the wiser. + +On one point, however, the paragon was so firm and unassailable that +Grace was obliged to confess failure to her lover, after weeks and weeks +of splendid argument. Her aunt forced an issue. The marriage of her +niece was to be brilliant to the verge of confusion and the ante-nuptial +season was to be one which the city should not forget while its promoter +lived to enjoy the emoluments. She knew she was making her niece +unhappy, but she argued that her niece was too deeply in love to +appreciate the value of opportunity. Besides, on her wedding day, Grace +Vernon would be twenty-three years of age, mistress of herself, her +fortune, and her husband's home. That day would end the reign of +Elizabeth Torrence. The arbiter was determined that the reign should end +in a blaze of glory. + +As for Grace and Hugh, they were to be married. That had been decided +upon by destiny years and years ago and ratified after Hugh had reached +an age of discretion. He said that twenty-five was the year of +discretion, if not of reason. + +After the first transports, each began to consider the importance of the +union, not only to themselves, but to the world at large. In their +reflective moments they realized that the marriage would be the most +wonderful event in the whole history of the homes of Vernon and +Ridgeway. Never before had a Vernon married a Ridgeway, and--vice versa. +Therefore, the whole world would visit upon such a union its undivided +attention. That is the view all engaged people take of marriage. + +Miss Vernon had employed six weeks of argument in convincing Mr. +Ridgeway that a church wedding was imperative, although she admittedly +preferred the simpler form, where the minister conducts the ceremony in +the presence of two witnesses and a ring. Society demanded the +exhibition. Mr. Ridgeway warned her that he could not survive the ordeal +and would leave her a widow at the altar. + +Their difficulties had at last resolved themselves into that condition +which confronts every engaged pair; and they, like others, were +preparing to inform the world of their intentions. + +"There's no way out of it, Hugh," she finally sighed, "unless we decide +to give up the hope of getting married. That would break my heart," she +said, with her rarest smile. + +"This would be the most delightful period of my life if it were not for +that distressing announcement, the two months of purgatory between now +and the day of the wedding, and then the--calamity. I know it will be a +calamity. I can't get through it alive." + +"You poor boy! I wish we could have a quiet little Wedding. It would be +so sweet, wouldn't it, dear?" she said plaintively, wistfully. + +"But instead we are to have a hippodrome. Bah!" he concluded spitefully. +"I wouldn't talk this way, dear, if I didn't know that you feel just as +I do about it. But," and here he arose wearily, "this sort of talk +isn't helping matters. It's a case of church against choice. To-morrow +night we'll tell 'em, and then we'll quit sleeping for two months." + +"There's only one way out of it that I can see. We might elope," she +said laughingly, standing before him and rubbing the wrinkles from +between his eyes. + +Gradually his gray eyes fell until they looked into hers of brown. A +mutual thought sprang into the eyes of each like a flash of light +plainly comprehensive. He seized her hands, still staring into her eyes, +and an exultant hope leaped to his lips, bursting forth in these words: + +"By George!" + +"Oh, we couldn't," she whispered, divining his thought. + +"We can! By all that's good and holy, we'll elope!" Hugh's voice was +quivering with enthusiasm, his face a picture of relief. + +"Honestly, do you--do you think we could?" The girl's eyes were wide +with excitement, her cheeks burning. + +"Can we? What's to prevent? Will you do it, Grace--will you?" cried he. + +"What will everybody say?" + +"Let 'em say. What do we care? Won't it be the greatest lark that ever +happened? You're the smartest woman in the world for thinking of it." + +"But I wasn't in earnest," she protested. + +"But you are now--we both are. Listen: We can slip away and get married +and nobody will be the wiser and then, when we come back, we can laugh +at everybody." + +"And get our pictures in the papers." + +"Then, by Hokey! we won't come back for five years! How's that? That'll +fool 'em, won't it? Say, this is great! Life is worth living after all. +You'll go, won't you, Grace?" + +"I'd go to the end of the world with you, Hugh, but--" + +"Oh, say you'll go! Now, listen to this," he urged, leaping to his feet. +"We're going to be married anyway. We love one another. You can't be +married until the twenty-third of May. Lots of people elope--even in the +best of families. Why shouldn't we? If we stay here, we'll have to face +all the sort of thing we don't like--" + +"Yes, but it won't take us two months to elope," she protested. "Sh! +Don't speak above a whisper. Aunt Elizabeth has wonderful ears." + +"By Jove, darling, I believe you're two-thirds willing to try it on," he +whispered. + +"We must be sensible, Hugh. You see, I can't be married until the +twenty-third of May. Well, aunt is determined to announce the engagement +to-morrow night. Don't you see we couldn't elope until the twenty-second +at best, so we're doomed for two months of it in spite of ourselves. If +we get through the two months why should we elope at all? The worst +will be over?" + +"We can't escape the announcement party, I'll admit, but we can get +away from all the rest. My scheme is to elope to a place that will +require seven or eight weeks' time to reach. That's a fine way to kill +time, don't you see?" + +"My goodness!" + +"Why not? We can do as we like, can't we? And what a bully lark! I'd be +a downright cad to ask you to do this, Grace, if I didn't love you as I +do. We can use assumed names and all that!" + +"Oh, dear, dear, doesn't it sound lovely?" she cried, her cheeks red +with excitement. + +"The twenty-third of May isn't so far off after all, and it won't be +half so far if we're doing something like this. Will you go?" + +"If I only could! Do you really think we--we could?" + +"Whoop!" he shouted, as he seized her in his arms and rained kisses upon +her face. Then he held her off and looked into her eyes for a moment. +Then he gave another whoop, kissed her, released her and did a wild +dance about the room. She stood beside the big chair, equally as +excited, laughing unrestrainedly at his hilarity. At last he brought up +at the other side of the chair. + +"But where could--I mean, shall we elope to?" she finally asked. + +"Anywhere. Bombay--Australia? Let's make it a stunner, dear--let's do it +up right." + +"And be married away over there? Oh, Hugh!" + +"Certainly. They can marry us over there as well as anywhere. Here, +I'll write the names of ten places and we'll draw one from my hat." He +sat down before a table and feverishly wrote upon the backs of a number +of his calling cards the names of as many cities, his companion looking +over his shoulder eagerly. Without ado he tossed the cards into a +jardiniere in lieu of a hat. "Draw!" he said tragically. + +"Wait a minute, Hugh. What have we to elope from? There isn't the +faintest objection in the world to our marriage." + +"There you go--backing out!" + +"No; I'm just as willing as you, but doesn't it seem rather absurd?" Her +hand hung over the jardiniere irresolutely. + +"It will be the greatest wedding tour that mortals ever took. Draw!" + +"Well, then, there's the card. Mercy!" she cried, dropping a card on the +table. "That's a long distance, Hugh." + +He picked up the card and his face paled a little as he read: + +"Manila!" + +They sat down in the chair, she on the arm as before. After a moment he +glanced at her perplexed face, and asked: + +"Are you afraid to go, Grace?" + +"It isn't that, Hugh. I was just wondering if we could reach Manila by +the twenty-third of May. It is unlucky to change the wedding day after +it has been once selected," she said softly. + +"Grace Vernon, you are an angel. I was afraid you would show the white +feather. It's a go, then--Manila! We can start next week and get there +in good time." + +"Next week? Impossible!" she cried in alarm. + +"Nonsense! You can get ready for a trip to New York, making your +preparations for a sea voyage secretly. I'll attend to all the details. +It will be easy. No one will ever dream of what we are doing until we +cable the news home to your aunt." + +"Oh, I must tell Aunt Elizabeth!" + +"Not much! That's no way to elope. We must do it correctly or not at +all. Nobody is to know until we are really married. Can you get ready +in a week?" + +"If I really must." + +"Can't take any more time than that if we want to reach Manila in time +for the wedding." + +"Oh, Hugh! We can't go to Manila!" she cried, suddenly starting to her +feet in distress. "My Uncle Harry lives there. He is my mother's only +brother and he's been there since the close of the war. He's in the hemp +business. Oh, dear! How provoking!" she concluded almost piteously. + +"It's fine!" he exclaimed jubilantly. "We can be married at his home. +I'm sure he'll be happy to have us. You can write and tell him we're +coming, dear. Lord!" with great relief in his voice, "that simplifies +matters immensely. Now we have an excuse for going to Manila. But above +all things don't cable to him. Write a nice long letter and mail it just +before we start." + +She was silent a long while, staring soberly at the blaze in the grate. + +"There'll be no bridesmaids and ushers over there, Hugh." + +"We don't want 'em." + +Silence for a few minutes. + +"In a week, did you say?" + +"Positively." + +"Well, I'll be ready," she said solemnly. + +He kissed her tenderly, lovingly, pressed her cold hand and said +encouragingly: + +"We'll meet in New York next Monday afternoon. Leave everything to me, +dear. It will be much pleasanter to go by way of London and it will help +to kill a good deal of time." + +"Hugh," she said, smiling faintly, "I think we're proving that father +was right. I can't possibly arrive at the age of discretion until I am +twenty-three and past." + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE BEGINNING OF FLIGHT + +Mr. Ridgeway paced back and forth outside the iron gates in the Grand +Central Station on the afternoon of April 1st, 190--, a smile of +anticipation and a frown of impatience alternating in his fresh, young +face. Certain lines of care seemed to have disappeared since we saw him +last, nearly a week ago, and in their stead beamed the light of a +new-found interest in life. Now and then he took from his pocket a +telegram; spectators stared amusedly at him as he read and reread: + +DETROIT, MICHIGAN, March 81, 190--. + +To H.B. Ridge: + +Got away safely. Meet me Forty-second Street, New York, to-morrow at +three. Feel awfully queer and look a fright. Sympathetic lady, next +compartment, just offered condolences for loss of my husband. What are +the probabilities of storm? Be sure and find out before we start. + +SISTER GRACE. + +"Isn't that just like a girl!" he muttered to himself. "Where else would +Forty-second Street be but New York! London?" + +They had decided to travel as brother and sister and to adopt Ridge as +the surname. Hugh had taken passage for Liverpool on the liner _Saint +Cloud_, to sail on the second, having first examined the list of +passengers to ascertain if there were any among them who might know him +or his companion in the adventure. The list was now complete, and he, +assured that there was no danger of recognition, felt the greatest +weight of all lifted from his mind. + +He had also considerately inquired into the state of the weather and +learned that it promised well for the voyage. The whole affair was such +a glorious lark, such an original enterprise, that he could scarcely +restrain himself in his exhilaration from confiding in his chance hotel +acquaintances. + +Purposely, the night before, he had gone to an hotel where he was +unknown, keeping under cover during the day as much as possible. +According to the prearranged plan, they were to go aboard ship that +evening, as the sailing hour was early in the morning. + +He was waiting for her train. Every now and then his glance would shoot +through the throng of people, somewhat apprehensively, as if he feared, +instead of hoped, that some one might be there. This searching glance +was to determine whether there might be any danger of Chicago or New +York acquaintances witnessing the arrival of the person for whom he +waited. Once he recognized a friend and dodged quickly behind a knot of +people, escaping notice. That is why he audibly muttered: + +"Thank Heaven!" + +Every nerve was tingling with excitement; an indescribable desire to +fly, to shout, to race down the track to meet the train, swept through +him. His heart almost stopped beating, and he felt that his face was +bloodless. For the twentieth time in the last two hours Ridgeway looked +at his watch and frowningly exclaimed: + +"Only five after two! Nearly an hour to wait!" + +He sat down for a moment, only to arise the next and walk to the board +announcing the arrival of trains. Almost immediately one pulled into the +station. Perceiving a bystander--one of the sort that always give the +impression of being well-informed--he inquired casually where it +was from. + +"Chicago," was the ready answer. + +"Great Scott! Lucky I came early! Grace's idea of time--oh, well, only +the small matter of an hour out of the way." + +Quickly he sprang forward, taking up a good position to watch. First +came a man hurriedly and alone. A bunch of people followed him. Hugh +peered unsuccessfully here and there among them. Another bunch; she was +not in it, and he began to feel a trifle nervous. Now came the +stragglers and he grew bewildered. Finally, the last one--a woman hove +in sight. With renewed hope he scanned her approach. It was not Grace! +His brain was in a whirl. What could have happened? Where was she? +Again he jerked out the telegram. + +"Meet me Forty-second Street, New York, at three," he read half-aloud. +"Nothing could be plainer," he mused in perplexity. "No train at three; +another at--she must be on a later one." + +"What time is the next Chicago train due?" he inquired anxiously at the +Information Bureau. + +"Five-thirty, sir," politely answered the official. + +"Five-thirty!" he repeated disgustedly. + +Again the telegram was brought out and this time shown. + +"On what road did you expect the lady?" was the question put with +well-simulated interest that every few minutes was practised on +different individuals. + +"Road?" Hugh stared blankly at his questioner. "What road?" Then, like a +flash, the solution of the problem pierced his brain. + +"What an ass I am!" he burst out, and added sheepishly: "West Shore!" + +Purposely avoiding the other's face for confirmation of his +self-depreciatory exclamation, together with its unmistakable expression +of professional tolerance for the imbecilities of mankind, Hugh looked +at the time. It was two-thirty. Tearing out of the station, he hailed +a cab. + +Inside, and moving fast, he winced a little as he thought of his late +strictures on girls and their ways. What a shame to have abused Grace, +when he himself had told her to take the Wabash as essential to their +plan. What a blooming idiot he was! New York in the telegram meant, of +course, the New York side of the river. He recovered his equanimity; the +world was serene again. + +With a sharp pull the cabman brought up at the ferry and Hugh took his +stand among those waiting for the boat to disgorge its load of +passengers. + +At that moment a thought struck him, and acting on it, he called out: + +"Hi! porter!" + +"Here, sir!" + +"Where can I get some note paper?" + +"All right, sir!" and in an instant a pad of paper was forthcoming. + +Hugh took out his pencil and wrote a brief note. Then, in a low voice, +he said: + +"Here, porter! I want you to do something for me." + +"Yes, sir!" + +"I'll make it worth your while, but I won't hare you attending to any +one else--understand?" + +The porter demonstrated with a nod his perfect comprehension of what was +required, and there followed from his employer a minute description +of the lady. + +"Young, slight, tall, fair, black hat and veil, and--" + +"In mourning, sir, undoubtedly?" + +"Mourning! No, of course not. Cannot a lady wear black without being in +mourning?" Hugh expostulated sharply. + +"Certainly, sir; but generally--" + +Whatever costume the worldly-wise porter would have approved as _en +regle_ for a lady, under conditions to his thinking so obviously +indiscreet, the description was forestalled by the ingenuous young man, +who, dissimilarly apprehensive and oblivious to the innuendo, was heard +to grumble: + +"What on earth is the matter with people? Everybody seems to delight in +painting this most delectable of undertakings in the most funereal +colors!" and went on anxiously: "You're sure you won't miss, her?" + +With an indulgent smile for the youth and inexperience of his patron, +and glancing surreptitiously at the size of the bill in his hand, the +attendant calmly announced that there was not the faintest possibility +of an error. He took his position a little to the right of and behind +Hugh, like an adjutant at dress parade. Through the ferry rushed the +weary, impatient travellers. Owing to the place Hugh had taken at one +side of the run, Grace, at first, did not perceive him. Anxiety, almost +fright, showed in her face; there passed through her a thrill of +consternation at the thought that perhaps he had not received her +telegram. The tense figure clasped the travelling-bag convulsively, and +her brown eyes flashed a look of alarm over the waiting throng. Another +moment and their gaze met; a voice ringing with happiness assailed her; +her heart throbbed again, and the blood rushed back to her +troubled face. + +Hugh started forward. + +"Hello, old man!" came suddenly from out of the crowd, and two heavy +bags plunked down on the floor; two strong hands grabbed Hugh by the +shoulders and their owner cried out boisterously: "What in the name of +all the gods are you doing here in New York?" + +Hugh's heart was in his mouth. His blood froze within him. For, shaking +him with the embrace of a playful bear, was his old friend McLane +Woods--his chum at Princeton. + +Dazed, and not daring to look up, the entangled man made a wild, +imploring gesture to the porter The latter caught it, stepped forward +and placed the note in the girl's hands. + +"In case I am held up, go to the Astor. Will follow," were the words she +read quickly. With ready wit and only one stealthy glance at the two +men, Grace speedily followed in the wake of the too obsequious porter, +who placed her in a cab. + +"To the Astor!" was the transferred instruction. The cabman, quick to +note the ambiguity in the direction given, prepared, with the subtlety +of his kind, for a long drive downtown. + +However, the little comedy had not quite escaped attention. There was a +note of banter in the strident voice that again addressed Hugh, the +speaker accompanying it with a resounding slap on the back. + +"Congratulations in order, old man? Come--you're caught--own up! Who is +she?" This with a crony-like dig in the ribs. "Runaway match, eh?" + +At the other's greeting, Ridgeway promptly assured himself that all was +lost, and was about to return the welcome as best he could, when the +danger in the final words checked him, compelled a subterfuge. + +Assuming a stony glare, an unnatural twist of the mouth, the "old man" +turned his bewildered glance upon the speaker, allowing it to resolve +itself into a sickening show of reproachfulness, and said in a voice +that almost made its owner laugh, it was so villainously artificial: + +"You have the best of me, sir!" + +An amazed expression came over the face of Mr. Woods. His glowing smile +dwindled into an incredulous stare. + +"Don't you know me, Hugh?" he finally demanded, half indignantly. + +"I do not, sir. My name is not Hugh, by the way. It is evident that you +mistake me for some one else," answered Mr. Ridgeway solemnly and +gutturally. + +"Do you mean to say--oh, come now, old man, don't stand up there and try +to make a monkey of me. When did you get in?" cried Woods. + +"Pardon me," sharply responded the other, "but I must insist that you +are mistaken. I am Dr. James Morton of Baltimore. The resemblance must +be remarkable." + +Woods glared at Hugh, perfectly dumb with amazement. He passed his hand +over his eyes, cleared his throat a time or two, but seemed completely +at a loss for words to express himself. + +"Are you in earnest?" he stammered. "Are you not Hugh Ridgeway of +Princeton, ninety--" but Hugh interrupted him politely. + +"Assuredly not. Never was at Princeton in my life. Yale. Will you give +me your name and the address of your friend, please? By Jove, I'd like +to hunt him up some time!" Hugh was searching in his pockets as if for a +pencil and memorandum-book and waiting for his old chum to give him +his name. + +"Well, of all the--" muttered Woods, looking into the other's face +penetratingly. "I never heard of anything like it. My name is McLane +Woods, and the man who looks like you is Hugh Ridgeway of Chicago. +I--I'll be hanged if it isn't too strange to be true." + +"Very strange, indeed," smiled Hugh, striving to maintain the expression +he had assumed at the beginning--a very difficult task. + +"But this isn't all. At Newburg, I boarded the train, and happening to +go through, I saw some one that I could have sworn was a Miss Vernon, +whom I met when visiting Ridgeway in Chicago. I started to speak to her; +but she gave me such a frigid stare that I sailed by, convinced that I +was mistaken. Two such likenesses in one day beats my time. Doesn't seem +possible, by George! it doesn't," exclaimed the puzzled New Yorker, his +eyes glued to the countenance of the man before him, who, by the way, +had almost betrayed himself at the mention of Miss Vernon's name. A +thrill of admiration ran through him when Woods announced his reception +by the clever girl who was running away with him. + +"I'll do my best to meet this Mr. Ridgeway. I am frequently in Chicago," +said he. "Glad to have met you, Mr. Woods, anyhow. If you are ever in +Baltimore, hunt me up. I am in the E--- Building." + +"With pleasure, doctor; how long will you be in New York?" + +"I am going away to-morrow." + +"Won't you come with me to my club?" began Woods, but Hugh interrupted +by beckoning to the omnipresent porter. + +"Thanks! Much obliged! Like to, you know, but have an appointment!" And, +shaking his hand, "Good-by!" + +"Good-by!" gasped Woods reluctantly, as if desiring one word more. But +Hugh, with a grin on his face that awakened renewed expectations on the +part of the porter, was making, stiff and straight, for the +baggage-room. Once, looking back over his shoulder, he saw that Woods +was standing stock still; and again, with another smile, he watched his +mystified friend slowly depart. + +"Now, then, my man, tell me quickly--you gave her the note? What did she +do? Where did she go? Out with it--why don't you speak?" + +"All right, sir. Everything's all right. The lady has gone to the +hotel," replied the man as soon as Hugh gave him a chance to answer. + +"Good. Find me another cab, quick. And here," handing him a dollar. + +Meanwhile, Grace Vernon, quite sanguine of soon being with Hugh, was +approaching the lower part of the city, reasoning, quite logically, that +a downtown hotel was selected on account of the probable absence of the +ultra-fashionable set. There, their secret would be safe,--and also they +would be nearer the steamer. + +Arriving at her destination, Grace dismissed the disappointed cabman, +and entered the ladies' waiting-room, where she rang for the clerk. + +"Is there a Mr. Ridge staying here?" she asked of him with an assurance +that, she flattered herself, was admirably assumed. + +"No such person with us, madam. Were you expecting him?" + +"Why, yes," she replied, a little confused. "He should be here any +minute." + +And to his inquiry as to whether she would require anything in the +meantime, there came a reply in the negative and he departed. + +With a sigh of relief at being alone, she crossed over to a desk and +busied herself in writing a long letter. This accomplished, she arose, +moved over to the window and looked out. The waiting-room faced the main +artery of the city, and below her was the endless stream of humanity. +Endeavoring to check a slight feeling of uneasiness that was fast coming +over her at Hugh's unexpected non-appearance, she tried to concentrate +her thoughts on the panorama of the streets. A half hour passed. Then, +in spite of herself, nervousness assailed her. What could be keeping +him? Had he met with an accident? Or, could she have made a mistake in +the name under which he was to register--could he be waiting for her all +the time? Back and forth, to and fro the girl paced. Thoroughly alarmed +and in spite of a sense of mortification at such an undertaking, she +again interviewed the clerk. + +"Will it be convenient for me to see the register?" she inquired, forced +to conceal her embarrassment. + +The clerk obligingly brought the book and eagerly she scanned the list. +Unfortunately, for her, there was no mistake. Nothing like Ridgeway, +Ridge or Hugh's handwriting greeted her anxious eyes. + +A silence that seemed an inconceivably long one to the almost +overwrought girl was broken by the clerk asking would she register? + +Grace could hardly restrain her agitation. The critical moment had come. +Something must be done. But what? Should she register and under what +name? Or, should she wait longer; and if not, where should she go? +Finally, with a desperate effort, she looked imploringly at him, and +with heightened color, gasped: + +"No, thank you; I'll wait a little longer for my--my--brother." + +It was out. The prevarication had been uttered, and Grace felt as if +she had committed a crime and punishment was at hand. Tears of distress +came to her eyes; the situation was becoming intolerable. + +It was just then that there came a shrill cry: + +"Miss Ridge!" + +Grace remained immovable. The name she had inquired for a few minutes +ago was called without bringing a sign or change of expression to the +beautiful face, on which the wondering eyes of the clerk were fixed. He +started to speak, but was withheld by her impassibility. + +Again the same cry, and this time, the last word was accentuated. A boy +entered. + +As the clerk, slightly raising his eyebrows, turned toward her, Grace +gave a little start; an enlightened glance shot from her eyes; the +significance of the call gradually dawned upon her. + +"I am Miss Ridge!" came excitedly from her trembling lips, the hot blood +crimsoning her cheeks. + +"A telephone--" + +"For me?" she asked uneasily. + +"From Mr. Ridge; wants you to wait," finished the boy. + +"Thank you! Oh, thank you!" The girl beamed her relief on the staring +bell-boy. And, the message having been delayed, the grateful words were +hardly spoken before Hugh, almost distracted, rushed into the room. +Regardless of appearances or consequences, the tall young fellow seized +her and kissed her in a fashion that would have brought terrible +rebuke, under any other circumstance, and which certainly caused the +clerk to consider this Mr. Ridge the most demonstrative brother that in +a long experience in hotel life he had ever encountered. When Hugh held +her at arm's length to give his admiring gaze full scope, he saw tears +of joy swimming in her eyes. Her voice quivered as she sighed: + +"I should have died in another moment!" + +"You are the dearest girl in all the world!" Then he explained to her +the cause of the delay. After getting rid of Woods, he had rushed to the +Hotel Astor, where he expected to find her waiting for him. All +inquiries as to whether any lady answering to her description had been +seen there had resulted in failure. He would have been there yet, +growing angrier all the while, had not a gentleman who had overheard his +troubles suggested that he telephone the Astor House, in the hope that +the lady might be waiting there. + +At the end of this recital of his vexatious experience Hugh seized her +travelling-bag, and together they made their way out of the hotel. + +"Oh, Hugh!" cried Grace, hanging back a little. "What did Mr. Woods say +to you? What did you say? Do you know he tried to speak with me on +the train?" + +"Honestly, I don't remember, dear--sister. He's the most muddled man, +though, in New York, I'll bet a dollar. And now that I think of it, it +wasn't absolutely necessary; but when he guyed me about a runaway +match, it paralyzed me, and I had to do something, so I swore that I had +never heard of such a person as Ridgeway." + +Grace was too astounded to speak. + +"Then he told me of meeting you," he continued, "and that settled it. +Poor old Woods! What a trump you were, Grace!" + +"You wouldn't have thought so if you could have seen me when I first +boarded the train. My! I was blue! Fortunately, I did not see him until +we were nearly here. Hugh Ridgeway--Ridge, I mean--do you know what I +did? It will make you very angry!" she said as they waited for a cab. + +"Nothing could make me angry." This was said ten seconds later, when +they were inside the cab and a nervous, smiling young woman at his side +was squeezing his arm expressively. "Driver!" he called out, "go +uptown--anywhere--through the park until I tell you to stop!" and +turning to her, added: "We'll have a bit of dinner somewhere and then go +aboard. Now, what did you do?" + +"Well," she went on, "I actually tossed up a quarter in the compartment +to see whether I should go on or turn back." + +"You did? Really? Who won?" + +"I did," she answered naively. + +"No; I did. I am beginning to feel too lucky to be awake. And would you +have turned back if you had lost? Would you have left me here with all +this anticipation to dispose of?" he cried. + +"If it came tails, I was to turn back. It came tails." + +"What! And you came anyhow?" + +"Well, you see, after the first flip I concluded to make it two out of +three trials. So I flipped again, Hugh, and it came tails. Then I made +it three out of five. That was only fair, wasn't it?" + +"Certainly. Seven out of thirteen or eleven out of twenty, just so you +won." + +"I tossed that coin seventeen times, and the final count was nine for +New York and eight for Chicago. The train had started, so I didn't flip +again. Wasn't it a narrow majority, dear?" + +"If it were not for appearing ridiculous, I would kiss you seventeen +times right here. Oh, how about your baggage--luggage, I mean?" +he cried. + +"The transfer man will take them to the dock. I have ten big ones--new +steamer trunks. You'll never know how much trouble I had in getting them +packed and out of the house." + +"Ten! Great Scott! I have but two!" + +"Don't worry, dear. You can pack some of your things in mine--coming +home, of course," she said laughingly. + +"Great, isn't it?" he chuckled. "Nobody on earth ever did anything like +it. But before I forget it, how did you leave your aunt?" + +"Poor Aunt Elizabeth! She will be so disappointed. I promised to do a +lot of shopping for her. But she's well and can endure the delay, I +fancy. To prepare her for the shock, I told her that I might stay East +for a couple of weeks, perhaps longer. She does not suspect a thing, but +she was awfully cut up about my leaving at this time." + +"I'm glad you quieted Aunt Elizabeth, for it would be just like her to +send detectives after us." Both laughed as he whispered this to her. As +the cab whirled away she said: + +"What happy fools we are!" + +"Sit back, quick! Cover your face," he suddenly cried. + +"What--who is it?" she giggled. + +"We just passed a policeman, and he looked rather hard at the windows," +he cried, with a broad grin. + +"Oh, you ninny!" + +"Well, we must elope with fear and trembling or it won't count," he +cried. "Is there anything you have to buy before we sail? If there is, +we must attend to it now, because we leave at a most outlandish hour in +the morning." + +Miss Vernon looked alarmed for a moment, the real enormity of the +escapade striking her with full force. But she smiled in the next and +said that she could make a few necessary purchases in a few minutes if +he would direct the cabman. "It's a long way to Manila, you know," she +said. "Hugh, I noticed in the paper the other day that this is the +season for typhoons, or whatever you call them, in the Indian Ocean. I +looked them up in the dictionary. There's a picture of one in action, +and they must be dreadful things. One of them could tear our ship to +pieces in a minute, I should judge. Wouldn't it be awful--if--if--" + +"Pshaw! Typhoons are nothing! It's a simoon that you're thinking about, +and they happen only on the desert. In what dictionary did you +see that?" + +"Webster's, of course." + +Mr. Ridgeway did not continue along that line, but mentally resolved to +look into Webster's on the sly, and, furthermore, to ask the captain of +the _Saint Cloud_ to tell him all he knew about typhoons. + +"Have him drive to Arnold's, Hugh." + +She left him in the carriage in front of the store, promising to be gone +not more than five minutes. Ten minutes passed and Hugh resignedly +lighted a cigarette, stepping to the sidewalk to smoke. After he had +smoked four cigarettes a perceptible frown approached his brow. He +looked at the big doorway, then at his watch, then at the imperturbable +cabman. Her five minutes had grown to half an hour. His good nature was +going to the bad and he was about to follow in her footsteps when +suddenly he saw her emerging from the store. + +"I had to mail a letter," she explained as they drove off. "Oh, Hugh, +I'm so nervous, I know that I will do something silly before we sail." + +"A letter?" + +"Yes; I mailed one letter to Uncle Harry before I left Chicago, you +know, but I forgot something important, so I had to write again to-day." + +"What did you forget?" + +"I forgot to tell him you were coming out on the same ship and would +look after me as if I were your own sister, Hugh." + +Strange to say, neither of them smiled as their hands met in a warm, +confident clasp. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE FIRST OBSTACLE + +A drizzling rain began to fall and an overcast sky, cold and bleak, +dropped lower and lower until it covered the dripping park like a sombre +mantle. The glass in the hood of the hansom kept out the biting rain, +but the drear approach of a wet evening was not to be denied. For nearly +three hours Hugh and Grace had been driven through the park and up the +Riverside, killing time with a nervous energy that was beginning to +tell. The electric lights were coming on; pavements glistened with the +glare from the globes; tiny volcanoes leaped up by thousands as the +patting, swishing raindrops flounced to the sidewalks. + +"Isn't it dismal?" murmured Grace, huddling closer to his side. "I +thought the weather man said it was to be nice? It's horrid!" + +"I think it's lovely!" said he beamingly. "Just the sort of weather for +a mystery like this. It begins like a novel." + +"I hope it ends as most of them do, commonplace as they are. Anyhow, it +will be fun to dine at Sherry's. If any one that we know should see us, +we can say--" + +"No, dear; we'll not attempt to explain. In the face of what is to +follow, I don't believe an accounting is necessary. This is to be our +last dinner in good old America for many a day, dear. We'll have a good +one, just for history's sake. What kind of a bird will you have?" + +"A lark, I think," she said with a bright smile. + +"Oh, one doesn't eat the lark for dinner. He's a breakfast bird, you +know. One rises with him. Bedsides, we should try to keep our lark in +fine feather instead of subjecting it to the discomforts of a gridiron +in some--" + +His observations came to an abrupt close as both he and his companion +pitched forward violently, barely saving themselves from projection +through the glass. The hansom had come to a sudden stop, and outside +there was a confused sound of shouting with the crunching of wood and +the scraping of wheels. The horse plunged, the cab rocked sharply and +then came to a standstill. + +"What is it?" gasped Grace, trying to straighten her hat and find her +bag at the same time. Hugh managed to raise the glass and peer dazedly +forth into the gathering night. A sweep of fine rain blew into their +faces. He saw a jumble of high vehicles, a small knot of men on the +sidewalk, gesticulating hands on every side, and then came the oaths and +sharp commands. + +"We've smashed into something!" he said to her. + +"Some one is hurt! Confound these reckless drivers! Why can't they +watch where--" + +"Come down off that!" shouted a voice at the wheel, and he saw a huge +policeman brandishing his club at the driver above. "Come down, I say!" + +"Aw, the d---- fool backed into me," retorted the driver of Hugh's +hansom. His fare noticed that they were at the Sherry corner, and the +usual crowd of seven-o'clock cabs was in full evidence. + +"That'll do--that'll do," roared the officer. "I saw the whole thing. +Ye've cracked his head, you dirty cur." + +Two men were holding the horse's head and other policemen were making +their way to the side of their fellow-officer. Evidently something +serious had happened. + +"What's the trouble?" Hugh called out to the officer. + +"You'll find out soon enough," answered the policeman. "Don't butt +in--don't butt in!" + +"Here, here, now!" exclaimed Mr. Ridgeway. "You've no right to talk like +that to--" + +"Oh, I ain't, eh? Well, we'll see if somebody else has a right. You +dudes can't kill people and then get off with talk like that. Not much, +my Johnny. You go along, too, an' explain yer hurry to the captain." + +"But I've got a lady here--" + +"Tush! tush! Don't chew the rag. Stay in there!" + +Other officers had dragged the driver from the cab, jostling him +roughly to the outer circle of wheels. The man was protesting loudly. +Rain had no power to keep a curious crowd from collecting. Hugh, +indignant beyond expression, would have leaped to the ground had not a +second and superior officer stepped up and raised his hand. + +"Don't get down, sir," he said with gentle firmness. "I'm afraid you'll +have to go to the station for a few minutes." + +"But, confound it, officer--I have nothing to do with this row." + +"That may be true, sir. You can explain all that at the desk. We have to +get at the bottom of this. This is no place to argue." + +A moment later the hansom, with a bent axle, was hobbling its way down +the street engineered by bluecoats. Hugh, seeing that it was useless to +remonstrate, sank back in the seat and swore audibly. + +"Don't worry about it, Hugh," said a soft voice in his ear. "We can +explain, can't we?" + +"You can't explain anything to asses, Grace," he lamented, "especially +if they wear buttons." They lapsed into a mournful, regretful silence. +For five full minutes the hansom wobbled painfully along and then pulled +up in front of a building which Hugh lugubriously recognized as a police +station. "We've got to make the best of it, dear. Did you ever hear of +such beastly luck? I'll see if they won't let me go in alone and square +things. You won't be afraid to sit out here alone for a few minutes, +will you? There's really nothing to be alarmed about. This driver of +ours is in trouble, that's all. We're not to blame. A word or two will +fix everything. I'll be out in a jiffy." + +But the bluecoats would not see it that way. Miss Vernon was compelled +to climb down from the seat and march indignantly into the desk +sergeant's presence. Hugh at once began to explain and to expostulate +against what he called an outrage. + +"What had we to do with it? The truth is, I don't know what has +happened," he was saying. + +"Neither do I," said the bewhiskered sergeant shortly. "Who are you, +sir?" + +"These people saw the whole thing, sir. They were in the hansom when +Bernhardt smashed him, an' this felly had ordered him to get to Sherry's +in five minutes if he had to kill some one," explained the officer who +had first addressed Hugh in the crowd. + +"That's a lie," cried Hugh. "I said if he had to kill the old plug. Who +is Bernhardt? What the deuce is it all about?" + +"I don't believe the gentleman saw the row," said the polite roundsman. +"It happened in the crush there." + +"Somebody shall pay for this outrage," exclaimed Ridgeway. "It's beastly +to drag a lady and gentleman into a police station like common criminals +when they--" + +"That will do, sir," commanded the sergeant sharply. "You'll talk when +you are asked to, sir." + +Turning to the patrolman, he asked, "Has that fellow been taken to the +hospital?" + +"The ambulance came up just as we left, sir." + +"Bernhardt says he didn't hit him. He says the guy fell off his own +cab." + +"Don't cry, dear," Hugh managed to whisper to Grace as they took the +seats designated by a brusque man in blue. + +"Never!" she whispered bravely. "It's a lark!" + +"Bravo! We'll have that bird yet--at Sherry's." Then he approached the +desk with determination in his eye. "Look here, officer, I demand +respectful attention. Whatever it was that happened between those +cabmen, I had nothing to do with it, and I am absolutely ignorant of the +trouble. We have a dinner engagement, and I want you to take our +statements, or whatever it is you want, and let us go our way." + +"What is your name?" shortly. + +"Why--er--that isn't necessary, is it?" floundered Hugh. + +"Of course it is. Name, please." + +"Will it get into the papers?" + +"That's nothin' to me. Will you answer now, or do you want to stay here +till mornin'?" + +"My name is Smith." + +"Place of residence?" + +"Brooklyn." + +"Who's the lady?" + +"My sister." + +"Step up here, lady, if you please!" + +Hugh felt the floor giving away beneath him. That Grace could not have +heard a word of the foregoing examination, he was perfectly aware. +Vainly, and with a movement of his lips, he essayed to convey the name +she should answer. + +"Don't butt in, you!" was the instant warning given by the observant +officer, and then-- + +"Lady, what is _your_ name?" + +For a moment the question bewildered the girl. With considerable +misgiving she discerned that another occasion for prevarication was +unavoidable, and something like a sigh escaped her lips; but as suddenly +fear gave way to a feeling of elation. How clever Hugh would consider +her remembrance of his instructions! What felicity to extricate him from +this predicament! Alone, she would save the situation! + +Unblushingly, and with a glance at him for instant approval, she stepped +forward and pronounced jubilantly the alias agreed upon: + +"Ridge--Miss Ridge is my name." + +A smothered exclamation of dismay burst from Hugh's lips. + +"Eh, what? Miss Ridge, and your brother's name--Smith?" ejaculated the +man of authority. + +For a brief moment there was a pause of embarrassment; and then with a +dazzling, bewitching smile directed at her questioner, she electrified +them both: + +"Most assuredly. Mr. Smith is my half-brother." + +Hugh could have shouted for joy, as he watched the somewhat amused +discomfiture of the officer. + +"Where do you live?" + +"St. Louis," gasped she, with blind confidence in luck. + +"Oh, humph! Well, wait a minute," he said, and both were gratified to +see a good-natured grin on his face. "Buckley, see if there is a family +named Smith in Brooklyn with connection in St. Louis. Sit down, Miss +Ridge, please, and don't be worried. This is what we have to do. Your +driver slugged another of his kind and he's likely to die of the fall he +got. We'll have to use you as witnesses, that's all, an' we must have +you where we can put our hands on you in the mornin'. The captain will +be here in an hour or two and you can probably manage to give some kind +of bond for your appearance. People like you don't like to appear in +court, you see, so we've got to make sure of you." + +"But we must go to our--our dinner," she wailed so prettily that he +coughed to cover his official severity. + +"Can't be helped, ma'am. Duty, you know. The captain will soon be here. +Would you like to telephone, sir?" + +Hugh stared and looked embarrassed. Who was there for him to talk to +over the 'phone? And that brought another ghastly thought to mind. Who +could he ask to give security for his or her appearance in the morning? +He found words to say he would telephone to his friends, a bright idea +suddenly coming to the rescue. Grace looked her amazement and alarm as +he marched into the telephone booth. Bravely he called up Sherry's and, +with the sergeant listening, he sent word to the head waiter to inform +Mr. ---- (mentioning the name of a very prominent society leader) that +Mr. Smith and Miss Ridge were unavoidably detained and could not join +the party until quite late, if at all. He came from the booth very much +pleased with himself, and sat down beside Grace to await developments. + +"What are we to do?" she whispered. + +"Give me time to think, dear. I fooled him that time. Perhaps I can do +it again. Great bluff, wasn't it? What do you suppose Mr. ---- +will think?" + +"But if they should insist upon holding us till morning," she cried, on +the verge of tears, trouble looming up like a mountain. + +"They won't dare do that. They'll probably send us to a hotel with a +plain-clothes man unless we give bond, but that's all. I'll try another +bluff and see how it works. There's no use kicking about it. We're not +in a position to stir up much of a row, you see, dear." + +He tried it when the captain came in unexpectedly a few minutes later, +and with the most gratifying results. He obtained consent to go with a +plain-clothes man to a nearby restaurant for a "bite to eat." In the +meantime he was to send a messenger boy with a note to an influential +friend in Brooklyn, requesting him to hurry over and give security for +their appearance. If this failed, they were to go to a hotel +under guard. + +"The only thing that sounds fishy about your story, Mr. Smith, is that +you say you are brother and sister," said the captain. "Driving all +afternoon in the park with your own sister? Queer." + +"She's from Missouri, you know," said Hugh with a fine inspiration. The +captain laughed, even though he was not convinced. + +"Now, Grace, dear," said Hugh as they waited for the cab to be called, +"our adventure is on in dead earnest. We have to give this plain-clothes +man the slip and get aboard the _Saint Cloud_ before they have time to +think. They won't look for us there and we're safe." + +"Hugh, I'm frightened half to death," she whispered. "Can we do it? +Would it not be wiser to give up the whole plan, Hugh, and--" + +"Oh, Grace!" he cried, deep regret in his voice. "What a cad I am to be +dragging you into all this sort of thing! Yes, dear. We'll give it up. +We'll go back to Chicago. It's too much to ask of you. I'll--" + +"No, no, Hugh! Forgive me. I'll be strong and firm. I wouldn't give it +up for all the world. I--I was just a bit weak for a second, you know. +It does look pretty big and wild, dear,--all that is ahead of us. But, +after all, it's like any sea voyage, isn't it? Only we're going to be +married when it's over. We Wouldn't think anything of taking a trip to +Manila under ordinary circumstances, would we? It's all right, isn't +it?" He squeezed her hand cautiously but fervently. + +To their disgust the plain-clothes man took the seat opposite them in +the brougham, remarking as he did so that he had sense enough to get in +out of the rain. They had no opportunity to concoct a plan for escape, +and it was necessary for them to go on to the restaurant in Longacre +Square. It occurred to Hugh that it would be timely to explain why they +were not dressed for dinner. They were on their way to the hotel to +dress when the fracas took place. The plain-clothes man was not +interested. Evidently the authorities did not apprehend much trouble +from the two young people; their guardian performed his duties +perfunctorily and considerately. He even disappeared from view after +they entered the restaurant. + +"We'll have that bird," said Hugh, "before we do anything else. I'm +hungry. Haven't eaten since last night, dear. I've been too excited to +think of eating--or sleeping." + +In a quiet corner of the big cafe they had their bird and just enough +champagne to give them the courage that counts. With their heads close +together they planned and plotted until they forgot the rain that +pattered against the window panes, and dreariness turned to rosy +assurance. + +"Just a little nerve, dear," said he as they arose. "Do as I have told +you and trust to luck. It can't fail." + +The plain-clothes man was just outside the door. Scores of people were +hurrying past, umbrellas raised in the face of the drizzle. Down +Broadway the glare of lights was broken and left hazy in the fog like +rain. The sidewalks in the distance looked like a bobbing field of black +mushrooms, shiny and sleek. The air was chill with the wet shadows of a +night that hated to surrender to the light of man. + +"Where's the cab?" demanded Hugh. "Get it up here quick. I don't want to +keep my friend waiting at the station. Come in and have a drink, +officer. It's no fun standing around this kind of weather. No job for a +decent human being, I'd say. Especially when one's set to watch +respectable people and not criminals. This is a rattling good joke on +me--and my sister. I need about three good, stiff drinks? We'll go in +next door here. Get into the cab, Marian, We won't be inside +two minutes." + +If the plain-clothes man was willing to take the drink, all well and +good, but if he refused--but he did not refuse. He looked carefully +about, shivered appropriately, and said he "didn't care if he did." +Grace urged them to hurry as she entered the cab and Hugh gave his +promise. Scarcely had the two men passed beyond the light screen doors +when Grace Vernon coolly stepped from the cab and hurriedly made her way +off through the crowd of umbrellas, first telling the driver to wait for +her in front of the drug store. + +A moment later she boarded a Broadway car, and excited, but intent only +on reaching a place where she could safely engage a cab to take her to +the dock. And all the time she was hoping and praying, not for herself, +but for the important young gentleman who was clicking his righteous +glass in a den of iniquity. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +READY FOR THE SEA + +Ridgeway, his nerves tense and his eyes gleaming, marched his thoroughly +chilled companion up to the bar. He manoeuvred so that the plain-clothes +man stood with his back toward the door, and he seemed to be in no +especial haste to attract the attention of the bartender. As they gave +their order for drinks, Hugh saw Grace, in his mind's eye, slipping from +the carriage and off into the crowd--and every fibre of his heart was +praying for success to attend her flight. He found himself talking +glibly, even volubly to the watcher, surprised that he could be doing it +with his mind so full of other thoughts. + +"Awful night to be out. I'd hate to have a job like yours," he was +rattling on, heaving intermittent breaths of relief as he saw the size +of the drink the other was pouring out for himself. + +"I've been at it for twelve years. I don't mind anything just so it +helps to make a comfortable home for the old lady and the kids." + +"Ah, the kids," said Hugh, grasping at the subject as if it were the +proverbial straw. "How I love kids! How many have you?" + +"Four. The oldest is ten." + +"They're worth working for, I'll bet. Nothing like children. How many +have you?" + +"Four," said the officer, looking at him in surprise. + +"I'm a little deaf," explained Hugh, recovering himself quickly. "I +thought you said ten." + +"No; the oldest is ten. Yes; they're worth slaving for. I've hung onto +this job all these years just because it might go hard with 'em if I +gave it up and tried something else." + +Hugh looked into the sober, serious face and a lump flew to his throat. +It struck him as probable that this man was to lose his position the +next morning. A sort of pity assailed Ridgeway for an instant, but he +put it away resolutely. + +After all, he had Grace to think of and not the children of the +plain-clothes man. + +They had a second drink and it fired his brain with a gleeful desire for +action. The plain-clothes man shivered as he swallowed the fiery stuff. +He looked thin and haggard and ill, a condition which Hugh, in his +hatred, had failed to observe until this moment. + +"You certainly have a home and some money saved up by this time," he +said, trying to suppress the eager gleam in his eyes. + +"We've had lots of sickness and it's taken nearly everything. Besides, +I've been too d---- honest. It's my own fault that I haven't a big wad +put away." + +"What is your name?" demanded Hugh suddenly. + +"Friend." + +"I understand all that. But what is your name?" + +"That's it--George Friend--Street Station." + +"Oh, I see." Hugh also saw the picture of this poor fellow as he stood +before his superior later on with his luckless tale, facing a +thirty-days' lay-off at the lowest. "By the way, I want to write a short +note." He secured envelope, paper and stamp from the bar and hastily +wrote a brief letter. The inscription on the outside of the envelope was +"George Friend,--Police Station, New York," and there were three +one-hundred-dollar bills inclosed with the note of explanation. "I'll +mail it later," he said. "Come on." + +They went forth into the rain, Hugh's blood leaping with excitement, the +plain-clothes man shivering as if he were congealing. Mr. Ridgeway +dashed across the pavement and peered into the cab. Grace was not there, +just as he had hoped and expected. + +"The lady's in the drug-store below, sir," announced the cabman. + +"Wait here" called Hugh to the plain-clothes man. "I'm afraid she's ill. +She's gone to the drug-store." He hurried toward the drug-store as the +officer began to question the driver. A second later Mr. Ridgeway turned +the corner and was off like the wind toward Sixth Avenue. Turning into +an alley, he fled southward, chuckling to himself as he splashed through +the puddles and mudholes. He heard shouts in the distance and he did not +decrease his speed until he neared the street opening below. There he +ran into some one and fell. Besmeared and bespattered, he quickly +picked himself up; and when, a moment later, he gained the sidewalk, no +one would hardly have recognized in the dilapidated-looking creature the +dapper Hugh Ridgeway. Police whistles were calling behind him, nearer +and nearer, but he walked boldly out into the street and up to Sixth +Avenue. His nerves were tingling and his breathing was hard to control +after the mad dash through the alley, but he slouched along in the lee +of the buildings to escape the downpour, stopping near the corner. + +Suddenly he rushed out and hailed a passing cab, climbed inside and gave +orders to drive as quickly as possible to the Twenty-third Street Ferry. +Then he sat up boldly and stared forth with all the courage that his +escape inspired. + +"By Jove," he was shouting inwardly, "that poor devil was on my heels. +He looked hard as he hustled past, but I stared back just as hard. It +took nerve to face him. Hang it all, I'm sorry for him. He wasn't to +blame. But this letter will cheer him up. It's for the kids if anything +happens to him." + +Apparently changing his mind at Herald Square, he instructed the driver +to go down Thirty-fifth Street to Eighth Avenue and drop him at the +corner. After leaving the cab he ventured into an all-night shop and +bought a cheap raincoat, slouch hat and umbrella. Then, like a thief, he +stole forth and warily made his way toward the dock. It was bad going +and he hailed a second cab. Before climbing into it, he crossed and +dropped an envelope into the mailbox. + +"There," he muttered, "that helps my conscience. By Jove, this has been +a corking start for the adventure. Talk about dime novels!" + +He instructed the driver to take him to a point not far from the dock, a +precaution which suddenly invested itself. It would be wise to approach +the liner by stealth, taking no chances. They were sailing by one of the +obscure lines, not for economy's sake, but to avoid possible contact +with friends of their own class. + +As he rattled off through the night, huddled back in the blackness of +the cab, Hugh began to have the first pangs of uneasiness. The +distressing fear that all had not gone well with Grace flooded his brain +with misgivings and feverish doubts. A clock in a shop window told him +it was nearly ten o'clock. He was cursing himself for permitting her to +rush off alone in a night like this, into a quarter that reeked with +uncertainty and disorder. Vague horrors presented themselves to his +distressed mind; calamity stared at him from the mouth of every dark +alley; outrage, crime, misfortune, danced in every shadow. As for +himself, he was a sorry sight and enough to frighten Grace into +convulsions at one glance. Rain-soaked, muddy, bedraggled, it was not +the debonnaire Chicagoan of old who skulked away from the cab at a +certain black corner and made his way stealthily, even fearfully, toward +the distant dock. + +Every sound startled and alarmed him; every pedestrian looked like a +pursuer in plain clothes or blue. A couple of policemen eyed him sharply +and he trembled in his boots. The sudden, overpowering recollection that +he had the passage tickets in his pockets with the reservations and the +luggage checks almost sent him flying through the air, so swift was his +pace. He lost his way twice, but was set straight by unsuspecting +bluecoats. + +At last he zigzagged his way through devious channels and into the +presence of a company's official, who informed him that Miss Ridge had +not gone aboard nor had she presented herself at the dock during the +evening. Hugh's jaw dropped and a sick, damp perspiration started on his +forehead. Hardly knowing what he did, he went aboard and plied his +questions right and left, hoping that she might have come through +unobserved. But she was not there, and it was half past ten o'clock. + +Out into the drizzle he sallied once more, racked by a hundred doubts +and misgivings. Reproaching himself fiercely for a fool, a dolt, he +posted himself at the approach to the dock and strained his eyes and +ears for the first sight of Grace Vernon. Other people went aboard, but +an hour passed before he gave up all hope and distractedly made up his +mind to institute a search for the missing girl. He conjectured all +manner of mishaps, even to the most dreadful of catastrophes. Runaway +accident, robbery, abduction, even murder harassed his imagination until +it became unbearable. The only cheerful alternative that he could hope +for was that she might not have escaped the authorities after all and +was still in custody, crushed and despairing. Reviling himself with a +bitterness that was explicit but impotent, he started off resolutely to +seek the aid of the police--the last extremity. + +A quick little shriek came to his ears, and then the door of a cab that +had been standing at the opposite corner flew open. + +"Hugh! Hugh!" called a shrill voice. His heart gave a wild leap and then +his long legs did the same--repeatedly. As he brought up beside the cab, +Grace Vernon tumbled out, sobbing and laughing almost hysterically. + +"Good Heavens!" shouted he, regardless of the driver, who grinned +scornfully from his private box above, the only witness to this most +unconventional comedy of circumstances. + +"I've been--been here an hour--in this cab!" she cried plaintively. "Oh, +oh, oh! You'll never know how I felt all that time. It seemed a year. +Where did you get those awful-looking clothes, and--" + +"What--aw--oh, the coat? Great Jehoshaphat! You don't mean to say +that--" + +"I thought you were a detective!" she sobbed. "Oh, how wretched I've +been. Pay the man, dear, and take me--take me any place where there is +light. I'm dying from the sight and sound of this awful night." + +Mr. Ridgeway lost no time in paying the driver and getting her on board +the _Saint Cloud_. She tried to explain as they hurried along, but he +told her there was time enough for that. + +"We may be watched, after all," he said, looking anxiously in all +directions, a habit that had grown upon him to such an extent that he +feared it would cling to him through life. "Go to your stateroom, +dearest, and I'll send you something hot to drink. Good Heavens, what an +eternity it has been! Oh, if you could only know what I've been +calling myself!" + +"I'm ashamed to admit it, dear, but _I've_ been calling you things, too. +And I've been so worried about you. How did you get away from that man?" + +"Not now, dear. I'll meet you out here in the library in half an hour. +I'll see about the luggage." + +"You must change your clothes, Hugh. You're frightfully wet. Send my +small trunk and bag right up, dear." + +Like a thief and murderer, Hugh slunk out and attended to the trunks and +bags, watching all the time for the dreaded plain-clothes man and his +cohorts, trembling with a nervous fear so unbecoming in a strong man +that the baggage master smiled in derision and imagined he was looking +upon a "greenie" who was making his first voyage and was afraid of the +sea. Offering up a prayer of thankfulness, he bolted into his own +stateroom soon afterward and came forth later on in dry clothes and a +new frame of mind. He was exuberant, happy once more. + +They did not look like brother and sister as they sat on one of the +wide sofas and drank the toddy that came from below in charge of a +well-feed steward. + +"Be careful, dear!" he warned, with returning reason. "They'll think +we're bride and groom." + +"Oh, dear me," she lamented. "It is almost out of the question to act +like brother and sister after all we've been through to-night." + +"Now, tell me all about it. How did it all work out for you," he asked +eagerly. + +"Well, it was all very simple--although I was frightened half to +death--until I drove up to the spot where you saw me a little while ago. +I thought it would be wise to take a look around before I tried to go +aboard. Just as I left the cab a man rushed past me and I flew back into +my seat like a bullet. He was a tall, slouchy fellow, with a sly look. +All at once it came to me that he was a detective. You know, they're +always mysterious looking. So I stayed in the cab trying to think what +to do next. I was quite sure you had not yet arrived, for I had come +down as quickly as possible. And I wasn't real sure, either, that you +had escaped. I didn't know how many drinks it might take, dear." + +"Don't let me forget to tell you how sorry I was for Mr. Plain Clothes +and what I did afterward for the kids," interposed Hugh. + +"The kids?" + +"Yes. His." + +"Oh, I see. Well, pretty soon that awful man came out and stood at the +corner. He was waiting for some one. He was nervous and sleuth-like. He +acted so queerly that I was sure of it. He was after you and me. Of +course, I nearly fainted. All the time I was afraid you would run right +into his arms, so I was watching from both windows to warn you if +possible. My plan was to get you into the cab and drive away like mad. +Hours passed, it seemed to me, and--" + +"I know the rest!" he cried, laughing so loud that the steward looked up +reprovingly. + +"Is everything ready, Hugh?" she asked anxiously. "The trunks, the +tickets,--everything?" + +"Yes, dear," he said tenderly, soberly. "We are ready for the sea." + +"God be with us," she said wistfully. + + + +CHAPTER V + +MR. AND MISS RIDGE SAIL FOR MANILA + +London. A thick fog, and the elopers on board the _Tempest Queen_, one +of the fastest and most palatial of the liners which ply between England +and the Far East, and for ten years under the command of Captain +Shadburn, formerly of the British Navy. For the elopement was now an +established fact, and Hugh, looking back on their Atlantic voyage, hoped +that in this new ship fortune would be more propitious. + +Excitement, an exaggerated dread of being followed by detectives, +together with seasickness, had been too much for Grace, and all those +weary days she had scarcely left her stateroom. Alone in her bunk, +ticketed to the other side of the world, running away from nothing but a +foolish aversion, the girl had felt her heart grow cold with a nameless +dread, a clammy fear that she had undertaken something that she could +not accomplish. Almost hourly each day of that unending voyage, Hugh +would knock at her door and beg to be allowed to do something to +alleviate her sufferings; then a thrill of new tenderness would dart +into her soul as she thought of her champion for all time. + +And Hugh. Never had time seemed such an eternity. Do what he would, he +could not escape the Nemesis-like conviction that he had led the girl he +loved into the most unheard-of folly; had carried her to the point where +ruin stood on equal footing with success, and joy itself was a menace. +Yet during all these days of torment concerning her enfeebled condition +and his recklessness, he remembered with sardonic satisfaction that he +had left in the safety vault, in Chicago, a full statement of their +plans and intentions, with instructions to have the seal broken on March +30th, one year after date of deposit. If anything happened to them, this +was to be the means of shedding light on the mystery. And when in New +York he had deposited a second statement, with instructions to send it +to Chicago on April 1st, one year later. In this he had made known their +itinerary as fully as he could give it at the time. And although he +cursed himself often for being a fool, there were moments, and +especially as they neared the foreign shores, when he rejoiced over this +maddest, jolliest of frolics. + +The fact that the short rest in London had done wonders for Grace, +together with the hurry and bustle incident to sailing, sent Hugh's +spirits higher and higher. As the two watched the ship drawn away from +the pier and dragged slowly into clearer waters, the knowledge that they +were irrevocably consigned to the consummation of their project acted on +him like a stimulant. Just before going on board he had asked, +half-fearful that she was losing heart, if she still desired to +complete the journey. He told her that it was not too late to turn back +and that he would agree to any modification of the original plan that +she might suggest. + +There was not a waver in the clear brown eyes, nor a quiver in her voice +as she replied. Instead, there was a flicker indicating injured pride, +followed by the sweetest, tenderest smile that he ever had seen on +her face. + +"Dear old Hugh! Did I not tell you that I would go to the end of the +world with you?" + +"But we may go to the bottom of the sea," he interposed, seizing her +hands, his face lighting up gladly. + +"Then I shall go to the bottom of the sea with you. I never have felt +the faintest desire to turn back. It has been my greatest happiness to +think that some day we shall reach Manila, where our dear adventure may +have its second and most delightful epoch. Would I turn back? Would +you?" She looked divinely happy as she answered her first triumphant +question with the second. + +And so they sailed again. + +As on their first voyage, their staterooms adjoined. Passage and +accommodation had been booked for H.B. Ridge and Miss Ridge, +Chicago, U.S.A. + +The following morning, Grace was awakened by a rattling at her stateroom +door. + +"How are you feeling?" called a well-known voice rather anxiously. + +"Quite well, thank you. Is it time to get up?" + +"I should say so, Sis." + +"All right; in ten minutes." As she set her feet upon the floor she +observed a tendency on their part to touch twice before settling +finally. A momentary dizziness came over her. She closed her eyes +quickly and waited a moment before reopening them. Suddenly Hugh's +photograph, which was leaning against her hat on the steamer trunk, +ducked slowly toward her as if bowing a polite good-morning, and then +fell face downward. Miss Vernon rubbed her eyes and stared at the +overturned picture for a full minute before resuming her toilet. Then +she laughed nervously and made all haste to get on deck. She was one of +the few women who dress quickly and yet look well. Attired in a becoming +gown, a jaunty cap, checked raincoat and rough brown gloves, she +ventured forth expecting to find Hugh waiting for her. At the same time +she was thanking her lucky stars that no longer need she fear the +authorities. + +Slightly dismayed and a little bewildered, she looked to the right and +left, trying to remember which stateroom Hugh occupied. The left, she +concluded, and forthwith applied her pretty knuckles to the panel; +vigorously. The door flew open, almost taking her breath, and a tall, +dark man stood before her, but he was not Hugh Ridgeway. He looked +askance in a very polite way. + +"I beg your pardon," she stammered in confusion. "I have made a mistake. +This isn't Mr.--my brother's room, is it? Oh, dear, how absurd of me." +She was turning away as she concluded. + +"Can I be of service to you?" asked the stranger, stepping forth. He had +a very pleasant voice, but she did not remark it at the time. + +"No, I thank you," she hastily replied. "His room is on my right, I +remember. Sorry if I disturbed you," and she was pounding on the other +door. She glanced back at the stranger's door involuntarily and then +away instantly. He was staring at her in a most uncalled-for manner. + +And Hugh did not answer! She rapped again and--no response. The calm +voice of the stranger came to her reddening ears. + +"The gentleman who occupies that room just passed me, going on deck. +Straight ahead. That's right." He called the last injunction after her +swiftly departing form. + +"Thank you," came back to him with a breath between the words. Hugh met +her at the bottom of the steps. She rushed recklessly toward him +and cried, + +"Oh, you don't know how glad I am to see you. Where have you been, Hugh +Ridgeway--" + +"Sh! Ridge without the 'way.' For Heaven's sake, don't forget that. It's +every bit as important on this ship as on the other. I've been on deck +for a look. Say, are you all right? Are you still glad you're alive?" He +was holding her hands and looking into her eyes. + +"Of course I am. What a ridiculous question! None but the good die +young, and I'm not very good or I wouldn't be running away with you. But +come,--take me on deck. Is it raining? Why, your coat is wet. Hurry, +Hugh; I want to take a good look," she cried, dragging him up the steps +hilariously. A peculiar smile came to his face as he followed her to +the deck. + +Neither spoke for a full minute, she gazing dumbly at the bleak waste +before her, he lovingly at her pretty, bewildered face. + +"Where are we, Hugh?" she finally asked, terrified for the moment. +"Where is London?" + +"You are not afraid, are you, dearest?" he whispered, his strong arm +stealing about her. "We are on the bounding main, ticketed for a port +thousands of miles away. London is back there," pointing astern. + +She placed her hand in his and looked out over the waters. Nothing but +rain, leaden sky and rolling waves. What her thoughts were during the +silence that followed he learned when she turned to him again, looking +imploringly into his eyes. + +"Hugh, you will always be good to me?" + +"So long as I live, sweetheart," he said, pressing her hand firmly. For +some time they stood alone and silent beneath the awning which covered +the promenade, the sleety rain pattering dismally over their heads. But +few of the passengers were above deck. Several officers were chatting at +the end of the deck-house. + +"We have not breakfasted yet, Grace, and I'm as hungry as a bear. Isn't +it a relief, dear, not to feel the necessity any longer of keeping a +sharp lookout for detectives? Those days on the Atlantic, every other +man I met I thought was a sleuth-hound bent on capturing the +million-dollar reward that has been offered for our capture by +Chicago society." + +They went below and found the dining saloon almost deserted. Two or +three late risers were drinking a last cup of coffee. Then she told him +of the mistake she had made, and together they scanned their +fellow-passengers in search of the man who occupied the stateroom +adjoining hers on the left. He did not appear for luncheon or dinner, +and Hugh cheerfully accused her of murdering him. + +The next morning, however, he was seated at the table, directly across +from Hugh, a trifle pale and far from hungry. He was making a brave +effort to conquer the sickness which had seized him. She nudged Hugh and +nodded toward the quiet, subdued eater. He looked across and then gave +her a questioning glance. She winked affirmatively. + +"Poor devil," muttered Hugh. "I suppose he was just beginning to feel +sick when you yanked him out, as if you were telling him the boat was +on fire." + +"Yanked him out? I did nothing but rap on his door. If he were sick, why +did he open it and stare at me in such a remarkably healthy fashion?" + +"Because you rapped, I suspect. It's no wonder that he stared at a +beautiful young lady who had the temerity to visit him before breakfast. +Nice-looking fellow, though, I'll say that much for your sake, sister. +And what's more, I believe he's an American," said Hugh, surveying the +stranger critically. + +"I haven't observed his face," she responded curtly. + +"How did you happen to recognize him? By his shoes? You naturally looked +down when you saw your mistake, of course, but I don't see how you can +get a glance of his shoes now, under the table." + +"I mean I have not noticed whether his face is handsome, Hugh." + +"Better take a look then. He's particularly good-looking with that piece +of beefsteak in his check." + +Grace glanced slyly at the man across the table, noting his pale cheeks +and the dark rings beneath his eyes. Hugh had misrepresented the facts; +he was not eating at all. Instead, he was merely toying with his fork, +making uncertain circles in the layer of brown, gravy which covered the +plate, his cheek resting on the other hand, a faraway look of distress +in his eyes. They were directed at the plate, but saw it not. + +"Poor fellow," she murmured compassionately; "he's been awfully sick, +hasn't he?" + +"Oh, I don't know," said Hugh heartlessly. "They don't go to eating in a +day's time if they have been very sick." + +A bright look flashed into her eyes and they danced with merriment as +she whispered something in his ear. + +"By George, maybe you're right. He's a detective and chasing us to +earth." + +The stranger looked at them in a half interested manner when they +laughed aloud over the harrowing supposition. They noticed that his eyes +were blue and bloodshot, wan and fatigued. He gave Grace a second +glance, sharper than the first, and politely resumed his manufacture of +circles in the brown gravy and brown study. Miss Vernon +flushed slightly. + +As they left the table she said to Hugh: + +"He remembers me, but he certainly understands it was a mistake, doesn't +he?" Hugh looked at her distressed face and laughed. + +The weather later that morning was a delightful surprise for all. The +sky had resumed its blue and the air was fresh and clear. +Notwithstanding the pleasant weather, there was a heavy sea running, the +ship rolling uncomfortably for those who were poor sailors. Deck chairs +on all sides were occupied by persons who had heroically determined to +make the most of the brightness about them. + +The elopers found their chairs and joined the long line of spectators. +Hugh glanced admiringly at Grace now and then. Her cheeks were warm and +glowing, her eyes were bright and flashing with excitement, her whole +being seemed charged with animation. + +The wan-faced stranger followed them on deck a few minutes later. His +eyes were riveted on a chair nearby and his long body moved swiftly +toward it. Then came a deep roll, the deck seemed to throw itself in +the air, and, with a startled look, he plunged headlong toward Miss +Vernon's chair. + +His knee struck the chair, but he managed to throw his body to one side. +He went driving against the deck-house, sinking in a heap. Miss Vernon +gave a little shriek of alarm and pity, and Ridgeway sprang to the side +of the fallen man, assisting him to his feet. The stranger's face was +drawn with momentary pain and his eyes were dazed. + +"Pardon me," he murmured. "I am so very awkward. Have I hurt you?" + +"Not in the least," cried she. "But I am afraid you are hurt. See! There +is blood on your forehead." She instantly extended her handkerchief, and +he accepted it in a bewildered sort of a way, placing it to his +forehead, where a tiny stream of blood was showing itself. + +"A piece of court plaster will stop the flow," said Hugh critically, and +at once produced the article from his capacious pocket-book. Grace +immediately appropriated it and asked for his knife. + +"You are very good," said the stranger, again pressing the handkerchief +to his head. The act revealed to him the fact that he was using her +handkerchief for the purpose, soiling it, perhaps. His face flushed +deeply and an embarrassed gleam came to his eyes. "Why, I am using your +handkerchief. I assure you I did not know what I was doing when I took +it from you. Have I ruined it?" + +Miss Vernon laughed at his concern and her face brightened +considerably. As she looked into his clear blue eyes and his square, +firm face she observed for the first time that he was quite a +handsome fellow. + +"It won't soil it at all," she said. + +"But it was thoughtless, even rude of me, to take yours when I had my +own. I am so sorry." + +"Do you think this will be large enough, Hugh?" she asked, holding up a +piece of black court plaster. The stranger laughed. + +"If the cut is as big as that I'd better consult a surgeon," he said. +"About one-tenth of that, I should say." + +"All right," she said cheerfully. "It is your wound." + +"But you are the doctor," he protested. + +"I dare say it is too big to look well. People might think you were +dynamited. Does it pain you?" she asked solicitously. For an instant +their eyes looked steadily, unwaveringly, into each other,--one of those +odd, involuntary searches which no one can explain and which never +happen but once to the same people. + +"Not at all," he replied, glancing out over the tumbling waves with a +look which proved they were strange to him. Hugh dashed away and soon +returned with a glass of brandy, which the stranger swallowed meekly and +not very gracefully. Then he sat very still while Grace applied the +court-plaster to the little gash at the apex of a rapidly rising lump. + +"Thank you," he said. "You are awfully good to a clumsy wretch who +might have crushed you. I shall endeavor to repay you both for your +kindness." He started to arise from Hugh's chair, but that gentleman +pushed him back. + +"Keep the chair until you get straightened out a bit. I'll show you how +to walk deck in a rough sea. But pardon me, you are an American like +ourselves, are you not? I am Hugh Ridge, and this is my sister--Miss +Ridge." + +"My name is Veath--Henry Veath," the other said as he bowed. "I am so +glad to meet my own countrymen among all these foreigners. Again, let me +thank you." + +"Hardly a good sailor?" observed Hugh. + +"As you may readily guess." + +"It's pretty rough to-day. Are you going to Gibraltar and Spain?" + +"Only as a bird of passage. I am going out for our government. It's a +long and roundabout way they've sent me, but poor men must go where +opportunity points the way. I assure you this voyage was not designed +for my pleasure. However, I enjoyed a couple of days in London." + +"An important mission, I should say," ventured Mr. Ridge. + +"I'm in the revenue service. It is all new to me, so it doesn't matter +much where I begin." + +"Where are you to be stationed?" asked Hugh, and something told him what +the answer would be before it fell from the other's lips. + +"Manila." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +HENRY VEATH + +Mr. Veath's abrupt announcement that he was bound for Manila was a +decided shock to Grace, Hugh escaping because of his intuitive +revelation. After the revenue man had gone below to lie down awhile +before luncheon the elopers indulged in an animated discussion of +affairs under new conditions. + +"Well, we can make use of him after we get there, dear," said Hugh +philosophically. "He can be a witness and swear to your age when I go +for the license." + +"But, Hugh, he thinks we are brother and sister, and we cannot tell him +anything to the contrary. It would be awfully embarrassing to try +to explain." + +"That's so," mused he. "I doubt whether we could make him believe that +brothers and sisters marry in Manila. There's just one thing to do." + +"It seems to me there are a great many things to do that we didn't +consider when we started," ventured she. + +"We must let him believe we are brother and sister until after we are +married. Then we'll have the laugh on him. I know it's not very pleasant +to explain your own joke, or to tell the other fellow when to laugh, but +it seems to be the only way. We can't escape him, you know. He is to be +at his post by the twentieth of May." + +"After all, I think we ought to be nice to him. We can't put him off the +boat and we might just as well be friendly. How would you enjoy +travelling to Manila all alone? Just put yourself in his place." + +"Maybe he thinks he's lucky to be travelling alone." + +"That's very pretty, sir. Would you rather be travelling alone?" + +"Not at all. I'm only saying what he may think. The poor devil may be +married, you know." + +"Oh, do you really think so?" cried she. + +"He looks a little subdued." + +"That's because he's seasick." + +"But, to return to our own troubles--you think, then, we would better +adopt Mr. Veath for the voyage and break the news to him impressively +after the deed is done?" + +"I think so, don't you? It is sure to be embarrassing, any way you put +it, isn't it?" she asked, laughing nervously. + +"Oh, I don't know," he replied airily. "People of our nerve should not +be embarrassed by anything on earth." He arose and assisted her to her +feet. Then, slipping his arm through hers, he started for the +companionway. "The prospect of being brother and sister for ten thousand +miles is rather obnoxious to me," he went on. She looked at him in +surprise and then blushed faintly. As they descended the steps, he put +his arm around her shoulder. At the bottom he stopped and glanced +around apprehensively, something like alarm appearing in his face. His +arm slipped from her shoulder to her waist and contracted suddenly. + +"What is the matter, Hugh?" she whispered, looking quickly about as if +expecting a calamity. + +"Is any one in sight?" he demanded anxiously. + +"I don't see a soul," she answered. + +"Then I'm going to give up the brother act for a moment or two. This is +a good, sequestered spot, and I'm going to kiss you." And he did so more +than once. "That's the first chance I've had to kiss you since we came +aboard. What an outrage it is that brothers cannot be more attentive to +their own sisters than to other men's sisters." + +"It seems to be customary for brothers to neglect their sisters," she +suggested demurely. + +"A brother who neglects his sister ought to be horsewhipped," declared +he. + +"Amen to that. They use the cat-o'-nine-tails on board ship, you must +remember," she said, smiling. + +Shortly afterward he dropped in to see Veath and was welcomed gladly. He +was lying in his berth, and Hugh sent for a bottle of his champagne. Two +glasses of the wine put new life into him and something of a sparkle +flew to his dull eyes, as if cast there by the bubbling liquor. His +tongue loosened a little, Hugh finding him to be a bright, sensible +fellow, somewhat ignorant of the ways of the world, but entirely capable +of taking care of himself. Moreover, with the renewed vigor displaying +itself, he was far better looking than his new acquaintance had thought. +His blue eyes, keen and clear, appealed to Hugh's love for +straightforwardness; his wide mouth bespoke firmness, good nature, and +the full ability to enjoy the humorous side of things. The lines about +his clean-cut, beardless face were a trifle deep, and there was a +network of those tiny wrinkles which belong to men of forty-five and not +to those of twenty-eight. + +Evidently his had not been a life of leisure. As he lounged easily upon +the edge of the berth, Hugh could not but admire his long, straight +figure, the broad shoulders and the pale face with its tense +earnestness. + +"Manila, you know, is an important post these days," said Veath. +"There's a lot of work to be done there in the next few years. I'm from +Indiana. Every able-bodied man in our district who voted right and +hasn't anything else to do wants a government job. Of course, most of +them want to be consul-generals, postmasters, or heads of bureaus, but +there are some of us who will take the best thing that is offered. +That's why I am going to Manila. Politics, you know, and my uncle's +influence with the administration." Ridgeway observed that wine made +loquacious a man who was naturally conservative. "Where are you going?" +he continued. + +"We are going to Manila." + +"What!" gasped Veath. "You don't mean it!" + +"Certainly. Why not?" and Hugh smiled delightedly over the sensation he +had created. + +"Why--why, it seems improbable," stammered Veath. "I had looked upon +Manila as the most wretched hole in the world, and yet I find you going +there, evidently from choice." + +"Well, you'll have to change your opinion now," said Hugh. + +"I do--forthwith. It cannot be such a bad place or you wouldn't be +taking your sister there. May I ask what is your object in going +to Manila?" + +Hugh turned red in the face and stooped over to flick an imaginary +particle of dust from his trousers' leg. There was but one object in +their going and he had not dreamed of being asked what it was. He could +not be employed forever in brushing away that speck, and yet he could +not, to save his life, construct an answer to Veath's question. In the +midst of his despair a sudden resolution came, and he looked up, his +lips twitching with suppressed laughter. + +"We are going as missionaries." + +He almost laughed aloud at the expression on Veath's face. It revealed +the utmost dismay. There was a moment's silence, and then the man in the +berth said slowly: + +"Is Miss Ridge a--a missionary also?" + +"The very worst kind," replied Hugh cheerily. + +"Going out among the natives, I suppose?" + +"What natives?" + +"Why,--the Igorrotes, or whatever they are, of course." + +"Oh, of course--to be sure," cried Hugh hastily. "I am so d--d +absent-minded." + +Veath stared in amazement. + +"You must not think it strange that I swear," said Hugh, mopping his +brow. "I am not the missionary, you know." + +"Oh," was the other's simple exclamation. Another pause and then, "You +don't mean to say that such a beautiful woman is going to waste her life +among savages?" + +"She's got her head set on it and we think the only way to break her of +it is to give her a sample of the work. I am going with her ostensibly +to protect, but really to make her life miserable." + +"I rather admire her devotion to the church," said Veath, still a trifle +dazed. + +"She's a great crank on religion," admitted Hugh. Then he could feel +himself turn pale. He was passing Grace off as a missionary, and thereby +placing her under restrictions that never before had entered into her +gay life. Veath would treat her as if she were of fragile glass and it +would not be long until the whole boat would be staring at the beautiful +girl who was going to the heathen. Remorse struck him and he tried to +flounder out of the position. + +[Illustration: GRACE VERNON] + +"I should not have said that about her views. You would never take her +to be an ardent church-member, and she is particularly averse to being +called a missionary. The truth about the matter is that very few +people home know about this move of hers and there is no one on ship who +even suspects. She would not have had me tell it for the world." + +"My dear Mr. Ridge, don't let that trouble you. She shall never know +that you have told me and I shall never repeat it. Please rest assured; +her wishes in the matter are most certainly to be considered sacred," +cried Veath warmly. + +"Thanks, old man," said Hugh, very much relieved. "Your hand on that. I +am not sorry I told you, for I'm sure you will be careful. She objects +to the--the--well, the notoriety of the thing, you know. Hates to be +glared at, questioned, and all that sort of thing." + +"She is very sensible in that respect. I have but little use for the +people who parade their godliness." + +"That's just the way she looks at it. She would be uncomfortable all the +way over if she thought that a single person knew of her intentions. +Funny girl that way." + +"If I were you, I don't believe I'd tell any one else," said Veath +hesitatingly. + +"That's all right, Veath. Depend upon me, I'll not breathe it to another +soul. It shall not go a bit farther. Grace wants to go about the good +work as quietly as possible. Still, I am bound to make her forget the +heathen and return to America another woman altogether." Mr. Veath, of +course, did not understand the strange smile that flitted over his +companion's face as he uttered the last remark. "I'm glad I met you, +Veath; we'll get along famously, I'm sure. There's no reason why we +shouldn't make the voyage a jolly one. I think we'd better get ready for +luncheon," said Hugh, looking at his watch. + +Hugh took his departure, and fifteen minutes later was seated at one of +the tables in the dining-room with Grace beside him. He had told her of +the missionary story and was trying to smile before her display of +genuine annoyance. + +"But I don't want him to treat me as if I were a missionary," she +pouted. "What fun can a missionary have?" + +"Oho, you want to have fun with him, eh? That's the way the wind blows, +is it? I'll just tell Mr. Veath that you pray night and day, and that +you don't like to be disturbed. What do you suppose he'd be if he +interrupted a woman's prayers?" demanded he, glaring at her half +jealously. + +"He'd be a heathen and I should have to enlighten him," she answered +sweetly. + +Just then Mr. Veath entered the saloon and took a seat beside her. She +looked surprised, as did Mr. Ridgeway. They looked to the far end of the +table and saw that Veath's original chair was occupied by another man. + +"I traded seats with that fellow," murmured Veath, a trifle red about +the ears. Miss Vernon's face assumed a stony expression for an instant, +but the gleam of pure frankness in his eyes dispelled her momentary +disapproval. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked hastily. + +"Not at all, Mr. Veath," she said, forgetting that a moment before she +had considered him presumptuous. "On the contrary, I think it is so much +nicer to have you on this side of the table. We can talk without having +everybody in the room hear us." + +"I have just heard that we are bound for the same destination and we can +certainly speculate among ourselves as to the outcome of our individual +and collective pilgrimages. We can talk about shipwrecks, pirates, +simoons, cholera, sea serpents--" + +"And the heathen," said Hugh maliciously, but not looking up from his +plate. + +"Ahem!" coughed loyal Mr. Veath. + +"Are there any heathen over there?" asked Miss Vernon very innocently +but also very maliciously. She smiled at Hugh, who leaned far back in +his chair and winked solemnly at the bewildered Veath. That gentleman, +manlike, interpreted Hugh's wink as the means of conveying the +information that the tactful young lady asked the question merely to +throw him off the scent. So he answered very politely but very +carefully. + +"I hear there are more missionaries than heathen." + +"Indeed? Don't you think that the women who go out as missionaries among +those vile creatures are perfect idiots, Mr. Veath?" + +"Well,--ahem, ah," stammered Veath, "I can't say that I do. I think, if +you will permit me to disagree with you, that they are the noblest +women in the world." + +"Excellent sentiment, Veath," said the merry Ridgeway, "and quite worthy +of endorsement by this misguided sister of mine. She despises the +heathen, you know." + +"Oh, I am sure she does not despise them," cried Veath. + +"But I do--I think they ought to be burned alive!" + +A dead silence, during which the two men were unnecessarily intent upon +the contents of their plates, followed this explosion. Miss Vernon +demurely smiled to herself, and finally kicked Hugh's foot. He laughed +aloud suddenly and insanely and then choked. Veath grew very red in the +face, perhaps through restraint. The conversation from that moment was +strained until the close of the meal, and they did not meet at all +during dinner. + +"Perhaps we have offended him," said Grace as they strolled along the +deck that evening. + +"It's probable that he thinks we are blamed fools and does not care to +waste his time on us." + +"Then why did he change his seat?" + +"Evidently did not want us to be staring him out of countenance all the +time. I notice, sister, that he took the seat next to yours and not to +mine," remarked he insinuatingly. + +"Which proves that _he_ is no fool, brother," she retorted. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GLUM DAYS FOR MR. RIDGE + +Gibraltar. And the ship stopping only long enough to receive the mail +and take on passengers; then off again. + +During the voyage in the Bay of Biscay, Veath had done all in his power +to relieve Hugh of the boredom which is supposed to fall upon the man +who has a sister clinging to him. At first Hugh rather enjoyed the +situation, but as Veath's amiable sacrifice became more intense, he grew +correspondingly uncomfortable. It was not precisely what he had +bargained for. There was nothing in Veath's manner which could have been +objectionable to the most exacting of brothers. + +When he was trespassing Hugh hated him, but when they were together, +with Grace absent, he could not but admire the sunny-faced, frank, +stalwart Indianian. When Hugh's heart was sorest, a slap on the back +from Veath, a cheery word and an unspoken pledge of friendship brought +shame to take the place of resentment. + +She was troubled, as well as he, by the turn of affairs; her distress +managed to keep her awake of nights, especially when she began to +realize there was no escape from consequences. That usually pleasant +word "brother" became unbearable to her; she began to despise it. To +him, the word "sister" was the foundation for unpublishable impressions. + +Poor Veath knew nothing of all this and continued to "show Miss Ridge a +good time." On the second night out of Gibraltar, he and Grace were +strolling the deck. He was happy, she in deep despair. Down at the other +end of the deck-house, leaning over the rail, smoking viciously, was +Hugh, alone, angry, sulky. It was a beautiful night, cool and crisp, +calm and soft. A rich full moon threw its glorious shimmer across the +waves, flashing a million silvery blades along the watery pavement that +seemed to lead to the end of the world. Scores of passengers were +walking the deck, and all were happy, save two. + +For two days Hugh had found but little chance to speak with Grace. She +had plotted and calculated and so had he, but Veath gallantly upset +the plans. + +"This can't go on any longer, or I'll go back," vowed Hugh as he glared +with gloomy eyes at the innocent path of silver. + +"Your brother is not very sociable of late, is he, Miss Ridge?" asked +Veath, as they turned once more up the deck toward the disconsolate +relative. "There are a great many pretty young women on board, but he +seems to ignore them completely. I haven't seen him speak to a woman in +two days." + +"Perhaps he is in love," she murmured half sedately. Poor, lonely Hugh! +How she longed to steal up from behind and throw her arms about his +neck. Even though both fell overboard, it would be a pleasure, it +seemed to her. + +"We ought to go over and jolly him up a bit," suggested Veath, +innocently magnanimous. She hated him at that moment. + +"He is probably enjoying himself better than if we were with him," she +said rather coldly. + +"Lovers usually like moonshine," he said. + +"I did not say he was in love; 'perhaps' was the word, I think," said +Grace. + +"I believe one of the rules of love is that a brother never confides in +his sister. At any rate, she is sure to be among the last." + +"I think Hugh would tell _me_ of his love affairs," she answered, a +merry sparkle coming into her eyes. "He thinks a great deal of my +opinions." + +"And I suppose you tell him of your love affairs," he said jestingly. +She blushed furiously. + +"He has a whole book full of my confidences," she finally said, seeking +safety in exaggeration. + +"Quite an interesting volume. How does it end? With an elopement?" + +"Elopement! What do you--oh, ah, I--ha, ha! Wouldn't that be a jolly way +to end it?" She laughed hysterically, recovering quickly from the +effects of the startling, though careless question. For a few moments +her heart throbbed violently. + +Hugh came swinging toward them, his cigar tilted upward at an unusual +angle because of the savage position of the lower jaw. His hands were +jammed into his pockets and his cap was drawn well down over his eyes. +He was passing without a word, ignoring them more completely than if +they had been total strangers. He would, at least, have glanced at +strangers. + +"Hello, Mr. Ridge, going below?" called Veath. + +"I'm going wherever the ship goes," came the sullen reply. + +"Hope _she's_ not going below," laughed the disturber. + +"It's my only hope," was the bitter retort from the companionway. + +"He's certainly in love, Miss Ridge. Men don't have the blues like that +unless there's a woman in the case. I think you'd better talk to your +brother. Tell him she'll be true, and if she isn't, convince him that +there are just as good fish in the sea. Poor fellow, I suppose he thinks +she's the only woman on earth," commented Mr. Veath, with mock +solemnity. + +"She may be as much at sea as he," she said,--and very truthfully. + +"Well, if love dies, there is a consolation in knowing that the sea +casts up its dead," was his sage, though ill-timed remark. + +Grace slept but little that night, and went early to breakfast in the +hope that she might see Hugh alone. But he came in late, haggard and +pale, living evidence of a sleepless night. Veath was with him and her +heart sank. During the meal the good-natured Indianian did most of the +talking, being driven at last, by the strange reticence of his +companions, to the narration of a series of personal experiences. +Struggle as he would, he could not bring a mirthful laugh from the girl +beside him, nor from the sour visaged man beyond. They laughed, of +course, but it was the laugh of politeness. + +"I wonder if she is in love, too," shot through his mind, and a thrill +of regret grew out of the possibility. Once his eye caught her in the +act of pressing Hugh's hand as it was being withdrawn from sight. With a +knowing smile he bent close to her and whispered: "That's right, cheer +him up!" Grace admitted afterward that nothing had ever made her quite +so furious as that friendly expression. + +But jealousy is jealousy. It will not down. The next three days were +miserable ones for Hugh. The green-eyed monster again cast the cloak of +moroseness over him--swathed him in the inevitable wet blanket, as it +were. During the first two days Veath had performed a hundred little +acts of gallantry which fall to the lot of a lover but hardly to that of +a brother--a score of things that would not have been observed by the +latter, but which were inwardly cursed by the lover. Hugh began to have +the unreasonable fear that she cared more for Veath's society than she +did for his. He was in ugly humor at lunch time and sent a rather +peremptory message to Grace's room, telling her that he was hungry and +asking her to get ready at once. The steward brought back word that she +was not in her room. She had been out since ten o'clock. + +Without a word Ridgeway bolted to Veath's room and knocked at the door. +There was no response. The steward, quite a distance down the +passageway, heard the American gentleman swear distinctly and +impressively. + +He ate his luncheon alone,--disconsolate, furious, miserable. Afterward +he sought recreation and finally went to his room, where he tried to +read. Even that was impossible. + +Some time later he heard her voice, then Veath's. + +"I wonder if Hugh is in his room?" she was asking. + +"He probably thinks we've taken a boat and eloped Shall I rap and see?" +came in Veath's free voice. + +"Please--and we'll tell him where we have been." + +"You will like thunder!" hissed Hugh to himself, glaring at the door as +if he could demolish it. + +Then came a vigorous pounding on the panel; but he made no move to +respond. Again the knocking and a smile, not of mirth, overspread +his face. + +"Knock! Confound you! You can't get in!" he growled softly but +triumphantly. Veath tried the knob, but the door was locked. + +"He's not in, Miss Ridge. I'll see if I can find him. Good-by--see you +at luncheon." + +Then came Grace's voice, sweet and untroubled: "Tell him we'll go over +the ship another time with _him_." + +"Over the ship," growled Hugh almost loud enough to be heard. "So +they're going to square it by taking brother with them another time--eh? +Well, not if I know it! I'll show her what's what!" A minute later he +rapped at Miss Vernon's stateroom. She was removing her hat before the +mirror, and turning quickly as the irate Hugh entered, she cried: + +"Hello, Hugh! Where have you been, dear?" + +"Dear! Don't call me dear," he rasped. + +"Why, Hugh, dear,--Mr. Veath looked everywhere for you this morning. I +said I would not go unless he could find you. You would have enjoyed +it so much." + +"And you really wanted me?" he asked guiltily. + +"Of course, I did--we both did. Won't you ever understand that I love +you--and you alone?" + +"I guess I'll never understand love at all," he mused. + +"Now where were you all morning?" she demanded. + +"He didn't look in the right place, that's all." + +"Where was the right place?" + +"It happened to be in the wrong place," he said. He had been playing a +social game of bridge in the room of one of the passengers. At this +moment Veath was heard at the door. Hugh heartily called out to him, +bidding him to enter. + +"Why, here you are! Been looking everywhere for you, old man. Sorry you +were not along this morning," said the newcomer, shaking +Ridgeway's hand. + +"I didn't care to see the ship," said Hugh hastily. + +"Why, how funny!" cried Grace. "How did you know we had been over the +ship?" + +"Instinct," he managed to gulp in the confusion. + +Veath started for the dining-room, followed by Grace and Hugh, +the latter refraining from mentioning that he had already +lunched--insufficiently though it had been; but with the return of +reason had come back his appetite and gradually he felt the old +happiness sifting into his heart. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGER + +They were now well along in the Mediterranean. The air was cool and +crisp, yet there were dozens of people on deck watching the sunset and +the sailors who were trimming the ship. There were passengers on board +for China, Japan, India and Australia. A half hundred soldiers, +returning to the East, after a long furlough at home, made the ship +lively. They were under loose discipline and were inclined to be +hilarious. A number were forward now, singing the battle songs of the +British and the weird ones of the natives. Quite a crowd had collected +to listen, including Ridgeway and Veath, who were strolling along the +deck, arm in arm, enjoying an after-dinner smoke, and had paused in +their walk near the group, enjoying the robust, devil-may-care tones of +the gallant subalterns. + +Miss Vernon was in her stateroom trying to jot down in a newly opened +diary the events of the past ten days. She was up to ears in the work, +and was almost overcome by its enthusiasm. It was to be a surprise for +Hugh at some distant day, when she could have it printed and bound for +him alone. There was to be but one copy printed, positively, and it was +to belong to Hugh. Her lover as he strode the deck was unconscious of +the task unto which she had bent her energy. He knew nothing of the +unheard-of intricacies in punctuation, spelling and phraseology. She was +forced at one time to write Med and a dash, declaring, in chagrin, that +she would add the remainder of the word when she could get to a place +where a dictionary might tell her whether it was spelled Mediterranean +or Mediteranian. + +Suddenly, Hugh pressed Veath's arm a little closer. + +"Look over there near the rail. There's the prettiest girl I've ever +seen!" + +"Where?" + +"Can't point, because she's looking this way. Girl with a dark green +coat, leaning on an old gentleman's arm--" + +"I see," interrupted Veath. "By George! she's pretty!" + +"No name for it! Have you in your life ever seen anything so beautiful?" +cried Ridgeway. He stared at her so intently that she averted her face. +"Wonder who she can be? The old man must be her father. Strange we +haven't seen them before. I'm sure that she hasn't been on deck." + +"You seem interested--do you want a flirtation?" + +"Oh, Grace wouldn't stand for that--not for a minute." + +"I don't believe she would object if you carried it on skilfully," +smiled the other. + +"It wouldn't be right, no matter how harmless. I couldn't think of +being so confoundedly brutal." + +"Sisters don't usually take such things to heart." + +Hugh came to himself with a start and for a moment or two could find no +word of response, so deeply engrossed was he in the effort to remember +whether he had said anything that might have betrayed his secret. + +"Oh," he laughed awkwardly, "you don't understand me. Grace is so--well, +so--conscientious, that if she thought I was--er--trifling, you know, +with a girl, she'd--she'd have a fit. Funniest girl you ever saw about +those things--perfect paragon." + +"Is it possible? Are you not a little strong on that point, old man? I'm +afraid you don't know your sister any better than other men +know theirs." + +"What's that?" demanded Hugh, suddenly alert and forgetful of the +stranger. + +"The last person on earth that a man gets acquainted with, I've heard, +is his sister," said Veath calmly. "Go ahead and have a good time, old +fellow; your sister isn't so exacting as you think--take my word +for it." + +It was fully five minutes before Hugh could extract himself from the +slough of speculation into which those thoughtless words had driven him. +What did Veath know about her ideas on such matters? Where did he learn +so much? The other spoke to him twice and received no answer. Finally he +shook his arm and said: + +"Must be love at first sight, Ridge. Are you spellbound?" Hugh merely +glared at him and he continued imperturbably: "She's pretty beyond a +doubt. I'll have to find out who she is." + +"That's right, Veath; find out," cried Hugh, bright in an instant. "Make +her have a good time. Poor thing, she'll find it pretty dull if she +hangs to her father all the time." + +"He isn't a very amusing-looking old chap, is he? If that man hasn't the +gout and half a dozen other troubles I'll jump overboard." + +The couple arousing the interest of the young men stood near the forward +end of the deck-house. The young woman's face was beaming with an +inspiration awakened by the singers. Her companion, tall, gray and +unimpressionable, listened as if through coercion and not for pleasure. +His lean face, red with apoplectic hues, grim with the wrinkles of three +score years or more, showed clear signs of annoyance. The thin gray +moustache was impatiently gnawed, first on one side and then on the +other. Then the military streak of gray that bristled forth as an +imperial was pushed upward and between the lips by bony fingers. He was +a picture of dutiful rebellion, Immaculately dressed was he, and +distinguished from the soles of his pointed shoes to the beak of his +natty cap. A light colored newmarket of the most fashionable cut was +buttoned closely about his thin figure. + +The young woman was not tall, nor was she short; she was of that +indefinite height known as medium. Her long green coat fitted her +snugly and perfectly; a cap of the same material was perched jauntily +upon her dark hair. The frolicking wind had torn several strands from +beneath the cap, and despite the efforts of her gloved fingers, they +whipped and fluttered in tantalizing confusion. In the dimming afternoon +the Americans could see that she was exquisitely beautiful. They could +see the big dark eyes, almost timid in the hiding places beyond the +heavy fringing lashes. Her dark hair threw the rich face into clear +relief,--fresh, bright, eager. The men were not close enough to observe +with minuteness its features, but its brilliancy was sufficient to +excite even marvelling admiration. It was one of those faces at which +one could look for ever and still feel there was a charm about it he had +not caught. + +"I've never seen such a face before," again murmured Ridgeway. + +"Tastes differ," said Veath. "Now, if you'll pardon me, I think Miss +Ridge is the more beautiful. She is taller and has better style. +Besides, I like fair women. What say?" The question was prompted by the +muttered oath that came from Hugh. + +"Nothing at all," he almost snarled. "Say, Veath, don't always be +talking to me about my sister," he finally jerked out, barely able to +confine himself to this moderately sensible abjuration while his brain +was seething with other and stronger expressions. + +"I beg your pardon, Ridge; I did not know that I talked very much about +her." There was a brief silence and then he continued: "Have a fresh +cigar, old man." Hugh took the cigar ungraciously, ashamed of his +petulance. + +By this time the early shades of night had begun to settle and the +figures along the deck were growing faint in the shadows. Here and there +sailors began to light the deck lamps; many of the passengers went below +to avoid the coming chill. In her stateroom Grace was just writing: "For +over a week we have been sailing under British colors, we good +Americans, Hugh and I,--and I may add, Mr. Veath." + +Another turn down the promenade and back brought Ridgeway and Veath face +to face with the old gentleman and the young lady, who were on the point +of starting below. The Americans paused to let them pass, lifting their +caps. The old gentleman, now eager and apparently more interested in +life and its accompaniments, touched the vizor of his cap in response, +and the young lady smiled faintly as she drew her skirts aside and +passed before him. + +"Did you ever see a smile like that?" cried Hugh, as the couple +disappeared from view. + +"Thousands," answered his companion. "They're common as women +themselves. Any woman has a pretty smile when she wants it." + +"You haven't a grain of sentiment, confound you." + +"They don't teach sentiment on the farm, and there's where I began this +unappreciative existence of mine. But I am able to think a lot +sometimes." + +"That's about all a fellow has to do on a farm, isn't it?" + +"That and die, I believe." + +"And get married?" + +"Naturally, in order to think more. A man has to think for two after +he's married, you see." + +"Quite sarcastic that. You don't think much of women, I fancy." + +"Not in the plural." + +Captain Shadburn was nearing them on the way from the chart-house, and +the young men accosted him, Veath inquiring: + +"Captain, who is the tall old gentleman you were talking to forward +awhile ago?" + +"That is Lord Huntingford, going over to straighten out some +complications for the Crown. He is a diplomat of the first water." + +"Where are these complications, may I ask?" + +"Oh, in China, I think. He is hurrying across as fast as possible. He +leaves the ship at Hong Kong, and nobody knows just what his mission is; +that's between him and the prime minister, of course. But, good-evening, +gentlemen. I have a game of cribbage after dinner with his Lordship." +The captain hurried below. + +"A real live lord," said Veath. "The first I've seen." + +"China," Hugh repeated. "I hope we may get to know them." + + + +CHAPTER IX + +MR. RIDGEWAY'S AMAZEMENT + +At dinner Hugh was strangely exuberant, jesting gaily and exchanging +rare witticisms with Veath, who also appeared immensely satisfied. As +they left the saloon he said: + +"Let's take a turn on deck, Grace." + +"Won't you include me?" asked Veath. + +"Certainly," answered Grace promptly. + +"Be delighted," echoed Hugh, swallowing as if it were an effort. + +"I must get a wrap," said Grace. "I won't delay you more than five +minutes." + +"I'll get my overcoat and some cigars," added Hugh. + +"And I'll write a short letter to post at Malta," said Veath, and they +separated. + +A short while later, a steward passed Hugh's stateroom, and he called to +him to step to the next door and tell Miss Ridge that he was ready. + +"Miss Ridge just went up with her gentleman--" the man responded; but +Hugh interrupted, slamming the door. For several minutes he stood +glaring at the upper corner of his berth; then he said something strong. +Every vestige of his exuberance disappeared, his brow clouded and his +heart seemed to swell painfully within its narrow confines. + +As he was about to ascend the steps of the companionway, he heard the +swish of skirts and then a sharp scream. In an instant he was half way +up, his arms extended. Lord Huntingford's daughter plunged into them, +and he literally carried her to the foot. She was pale and trembling and +he was flushed. He had looked up in time to see her falling forward, +vainly striving to reach the hand rail. + +"Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously. The young lady sat down upon the +second step before answering, a delightful pink stealing over her face. + +"I--I don't believe I am," she said. "My heel caught on a step and I +fell. It was so clumsy of me. I might have been badly hurt if you had +not caught me as you did." + +"These steps are so uncertain," he said, scowling at them. "Somebody'll +get hurt here some day. But, really, are you quite sure you are, not +hurt? Didn't you twist your--your--" + +"Ankle? Not in the least. See! I can stand on both of them. I am not +hurt at all. Let me thank you," she said, smiling into his eyes as she +moved away. + +"May I assist you?" he asked eagerly. + +"Oh, no; I thank you, Mr. Veath. I would not have my preserver perform +the office of a crutch. I am not hurt in the least. Good-afternoon." + +Hugh, disconcerted and piqued by her confusion of names, answered her +wondrous smile with one that reflected bewildered admiration, and +finally managed to send after her: + +"I wouldn't have lost the opportunity for the world." + +That evening he was sitting out on deck in contemplative silence +enjoying his after-dinner smoke. Farther down were Grace and Veath. +Suddenly turning in their direction, Hugh perceived that they were not +there; nor were they anywhere in sight. He was pondering over their +whereabouts, his eyes still on the vacant chairs, when a voice tender +and musical assailed his ears--a voice which he had heard but +once before. + +"Good-evening, Mr. Veath." + +He wheeled about and found himself staring at the smiling face of the +young lady who had fallen into his arms but a few hours before. + +"Good-evening," he stammered, amazed by her unexpected greeting. +"Have--have you fully recovered from your fall?" + +"I was quite over it in a moment or two. I wanted to ask you if you were +hurt by the force with which I fell against you." She stood with one +hand upon the rail, quite close to him, the moonlight playing upon her +upturned face. He never had seen a more perfect picture of airy grace +and beauty in his life. + +"Why mention an impossibility? You could not have hurt me in a fall ten +times as great." + +His tall figure straightened and his eyes gleamed chivalrously. The +young woman's dark, mysterious eyes swept over him for a second, +resting at last upon those which looked admiringly into them from above. +She made a movement as if to pass on, gravely smiling a farewell. + +"I beg your pardon," he said hastily. "You called me Mr. Veath a moment +ago. It may be of no consequence to you, yet I should like to tell you +that my name is Ridge--Hugh Ridge." + +"It is my place to beg forgiveness. But I understood your name was +Veath, and that you were--were"--here she smiled tantalizingly--"in love +with the beautiful American, Miss Ridge." + +"The dev--dick--I mean, the mischief you did! Well, of all the fool +conclusions I've ever heard, that is the worst. In love with my sister! +Ho, ho!" He laughed rather too boisterously. + +"But there is a Mr. Veath on board, is there not?--a friend?" + +"A Mr. Henry Veath going into the American Revenue Service at Manila." + +"How stupid of me! However, I am positive that I was told it was Mr. +Veath who was in love with Miss Ridge." + +"But he isn't," hastily cried Hugh, turning hot and cold by turns. "He's +just a friend. She--she is to marry another chap." Here he gulped +painfully. "But please don't breathe it to a soul. She'd hate me +forever. Can I trust you?" To himself, he was saying: "I am making a +devil of a mess of this elopement." + +"This is a very large world, Mr. Ridge, and this voyage is a mere +trifle in time. When we leave the ship we may be parting forever, so her +secret would be safe, even though I shrieked it all over the East. You +will return to America before long, I presume?" + +"I'm sure I don't know. We may stay a year or no." + +"Then the wedding is not a thing of the immediate future?" + +"Oh, yes--that is, I mean, certainly not." + +"Pardon me for asking so many questions. It is very rude of me." She +said it so penitently that Hugh, unable to find words, could only wave +his hands in deprecation. "Isn't it a perfect evening?" she went on, +turning to the sea. The light breeze blew the straying raven hair away +from her temples, leaving the face clearly chiselled out of the night's +inkiness. Hugh's heart thumped strangely as he noted her evident +intention to remain on deck. She turned to him swiftly and he averted +his eyes, but not quickly enough to prevent her seeing that he had been +scrutinizing her intently. What she may have intended to say was never +uttered. Instead, she observed, a trifle coldly: + +"I must bid you good-night, Mr. Ridge." + +"Pray, not yet," he cried; "I was just about to ask if we might not sit +in these chairs here for a little while. It is early and it is so +charming to-night." He looked into her eyes again and found that she was +gazing searchingly into his. A light smile broke into life and she +seemed to be satisfied with the momentary analysis of the man +before her. + +"It does seem silly to stay below on a night like this. Shall we sit +here?" She indicated two vacant chairs well forward. The young lady +scorned a steamer rug, so he sat beside her, conscious that, despite her +charming presence, he was beginning to feel the air keenly. But he could +not admit it to this slight Englishwoman. + +For half an hour or more they sat there, finding conversation easy, +strangely interesting to two persons who had nothing whatsoever in +common. He was charmed, delighted with this vivacious girl. And yet +something mournful seemed to shade the brilliant face now and then. It +did not come and go, moreover, for the frank, open beauty was always the +same; it was revealed to him only at intervals. Perhaps he saw it in her +dark, tender eyes--he could not tell. He saw Henry Veath pacing the +deck, smoking and--alone. Hugh's heart swelled gladly and he spoke quite +cheerily to Veath as that gentleman sauntered past. + +"Now, that is Mr. Veath, isn't it?" demanded his fair companion. + +"Yes; do you think we should be mistaken for each other?" + +"Oh, dear, no, now that I know you apart. You are utterly unlike, except +in height. How broad he is! Hasn't he a wonderful back?" she cried, +admiring the tall, straight figure of the walker. + +"He got that on the farm." + +"It is worth a farm to have shoulders like his, I should say. You must +introduce Mr. Veath to me." + +Hugh looked at the moon very thoughtfully for a few moments and then, as +if remembering, said that he would be happy to do so, and was sure that +Veath would be even happier. + +At this moment the tall, lank form of Lord Huntingford approached. He +was peering intently at the people in the chairs as he passed them, +plainly searching for some one. + +"There is Lord Huntingford looking for you," said Hugh, rising. He saw a +trace of annoyance in her face as she also arose. "I overheard him +telling the captain that Lady Huntingford--your mother--plays a +miserable game of crib." + +She started and turned sharply upon him. + +"My mother, Mr. Ridge?" she said slowly. + +"Yes; your father was guying Captain Shadburn about his game, you know." + +The look of wonder in her eyes increased; she passed her hand across her +brow and then through her hair in evident perplexity, all the while +staring at his face. There was a tinge of suspicion in her voice when +she spoke. + +"Mr. Ridge, don't you know?" + +"Know what?" + +"You surely know that I am not Lord Huntingford's--" + +"You don't mean to say that you are not his daughter," gasped Hugh, +dubious as to her meaning. + +"I am Lady Huntingford." + +"His wife?" + +"His wife." + +Hugh, too dumbfounded to speak, could do no more than doff his cap as +she took the arm of the gray lord and softly said to him: + +"Good-night, Mr. Ridge." + + + +CHAPTER X + +A SHARP ENCOUNTER + +The _Tempest Queen_ carried a merry cargo. The young officers, the +Americans and rich pleasure seekers from other lands--young and +old--made up a happy company. Of all on board, but one was despised and +loathed by his fellow-travellers--Lord Huntingford. Not so much for his +manner toward them as for his harsh, bitter attitude toward his +young wife. + +He reprimanded and criticised her openly, very much as he would have +spoken to a child, and always undeservedly. She endured patiently, to +all appearances, and her cloud of humiliation was swept away by the +knowledge that her new friends saw the injustice of his attacks. She did +not pose before them as a martyr; but they could see the subdued and +angry pride and the checked rebellion, for the mask of submission was +thin, even though it was dutiful. + +The two young women, unlike as two women could be, became fast friends. +The Englishwoman was refinement, sweetness, even royalty itself; the +American, proud, equally refined, aggressive and possessed of a wit, +shrewdness and spontaneity of humor that often amazed the less subtle of +the two. Tinges of jealousy sometimes shot into Grace's heart when she +saw Hugh talking to the new friend, but they disappeared with the +recollection of her Ladyship's pure, gentle nobility of character. It is +seen rarely by one woman in another. + +And Veath? The stalwart, fresh-hearted, lean-faced Indianian was happier +than he had dreamed he could be when he drearily went aboard a ship at +New York with the shadow of exile upon him. He had won the friendship of +all. The brain of the Westerner was as big as his heart, and it had been +filled with the things which make men valuable to the world. Men called +him the "real American," and women conveyed a world of meaning in the +simple, earnest expression--"I like Mr. Veath." + +Veath was now unmistakably in love with Grace Vernon. The fact was borne +in upon him more and more positively as the sunny days and beautiful +nights drew them nearer to the journey's end. Occasionally he lapsed +into strange fits of dejection. These came when he stopped to ponder +over certain prospects, hopes and the stores of life. At times he cursed +the fate which had cast him into the world, big and strong, yet +apparently helpless. It had not been his ambition to begin life in the +capacity which now presented itself. His hopes had been limitless. +Poverty had made his mind a treasure; but poverty had also kept it +buried. He saw before him the long fight for opportunity, position, +honor; but he was not the sort to quail. The victory would be glorious +when he thought what it might bring to him from Grace Ridge--she who +was going to be a missionary. A long, hard fight, indeed, from revenue +officer to minister plenipotentiary, but it was ambition's war. + +And Hugh? As the days went by, his jealousy of Veath became almost +intolerable. He dared not speak to Grace about it, for something told +him she was not to be censured. Even in his blind rage he remembered +that she was good and true, and was daring all for his sake. In calmer +moments he could not blame Veath, who believed the young lady to be +sister, and not sweetheart. + +In view of his misery, Mr. Ridgeway was growing thin, morose, and +subject to long fits of despondency which Grace alone could comprehend. +Both were dissatisfied with the trip. That they could not be together +constantly, as they had expected, caused them hours of misery. They were +praying for the twenty-third of May to come, praying with all their +hearts. Beside whom did Hugh walk during the deck strolls and at Port +Said? With his sister? No, indeed; that would have been unnatural. Who +was Grace's natural companion? Henry Veath or any one of a dozen +attractive young officers. How could it have been otherwise? + +She was popular and in constant demand. There were not many young women +aboard and certainly but two or three attractive ones. From morning till +far in the night she was besieged by men--always men. They ignored Hugh +with all the indifference that falls to the lot of a brother. Time after +time they actually pounced upon the couple and dragged her away without +so much as "By your leave." They danced with her, sang with her, walked +with her and openly tried to make love to her, all before the blazing +eyes of one Hugh Ridgeway. On more than one occasion he had gone without +his dinner because some presumptuous officer unceremoniously usurped his +seat at table, grinning amiably when Hugh appeared. + +The sweet, dear little moments of privacy that Hugh and Grace obtained, +however, were morsels of joy which were now becoming more precious than +the fondest dreams of the wedded state to come. They coveted these +moments with a greediness that was almost sinful. + +On many nights Grace would whisper to Hugh at the dinner table and would +creep quietly on deck, meal half finished, where he would join her like +a thief. Then they would hide from interruption as long as possible. + +One night they enjoyed themselves more unrestrainedly than ever before +in their lives. They were walking self-consciously and almost guiltily +near the forward end of the deck-house when they saw Veath approaching +far behind. Their speed accelerated, and for half an hour they walked +like pedestrians in a racing match, always keeping some distance ahead +of poor Veath, who finally, like the sly fox, sat down and waited for +them to hurry around and come upon him unexpectedly. He, of course, +never knew that they were trying to avoid him, nor could he imagine why +brother and sister were so flushed, happy and excited when he at last +had the pleasure of joining them in their walk. And, strange to say, +although they had been wildly happy in this little love chase, they felt +that they had mistreated a very good fellow and were saying as much to +each other when they almost bumped into him. + +Womanly perception told Grace that Veath's regard for her was beginning +to assume a form quite beyond that of ordinary friendship. She +intuitively felt that he was beginning to love her. Perhaps he was +already in love, and was releasing those helpless little signs which a +woman understands, and which a man thinks he conceals impenetrably. The +_Queen_ was leaving Port Said and she was leaning on the rail beside the +big Indianian. + +"Why are you going out to be a missionary?" he suddenly asked. Then he +flushed painfully, remembering when too late that he had sworn to Hugh +that he would not speak to her of the matter. "I beg your pardon," he +hurried on; "I promised--that is, I should not have asked you that +question. I forgot, hang my stupidity." + +"Mr. Veath, I am not going out to be a missionary. Nothing was ever +farther from my mind," she said, rather excitedly. + +"Not going to be a--why, Hugh said you were. There I go, giving him away +again." + +"Hugh was jesting. I a missionary! How could you have believed him?" + +"Are you in earnest?" he cried. + +"Of course I am in earnest," she said, trying to look straight in those +bright eyes, but failing dismally. Something in his glance dazzled her. +It was then that she knew the truth as well as if his mind were an +open book. + +"Why are you going to the Philippines?" he persisted. + +She gave him a quick, frightened glance and as hastily looked away. The +red of confusion rushed to her cheeks, her brow, her neck. What answer +could she give? + +"We are--are just taking the trip for pleasure," she stammered. "Hugh +and I took a sudden notion to go to Manila and--and--well, we are going, +that's all." + +"You don't mean to say you are making this as a pleasure trip?" he +asked, staring at her with a different light in his eyes. + +"A mere whim, you know," she hurried on. "Look at those Arabs over +there." + +"But a pleasure trip of this kind must be awfully expensive, isn't it?" +he insisted. + +She hesitated for an instant and then said boldly: "You see, Mr. Veath, +Hugh and I are very rich. It may not sound well for me to say it, but we +have much more money than we know how to spend. The cost of this voyage +is a mere trifle. Please do not think that I am boasting. It is the +miserable truth." His face was very pale when she dared to look up at it +again, and his gaze was far off at sea. + +"And so you are very rich," he mused aloud. "I thought you were quite +poor, because missionaries are seldom overburdened with riches, +according to tradition, or the gospel, or something like that. This is a +pleasure trip!" The bitterness of his tone could not be hidden. + +"I am sorry if you have had an idol shattered," she said. + +"Something has been shattered," he said, smiling. "I don't know very +much about idols," he added. "How long do you expect to remain +in Manila?" + +"But a very short time," she said simply. + +"And I shall have to stay there for years, I suppose," he returned +slowly. His eyes came to hers for a second and then went back to the +stretch of water like a flash. That brief glance troubled her greatly. +Her heart trembled with pity for the man beside her, even though +speculation wrought the emotion. + +In her stateroom that night she lay, dry-eyed and wakeful, her inward +cry being: "It is a crime to have wounded this innocent man. Why must he +be made to suffer?" + +She could not tell Hugh of her discovery, for she knew that he would be +unreasonable, perhaps do or say something which would make the wound +more painful. During the days that followed Veath was as pleasant, as +genial, as gallant as before; none but Grace observed the faint change +in his manner. She was sure she could distinguish a change, yet at +times, when he was gayest, she thrilled with the hope that her belief +was the outgrowth of a conceit which she was beginning for the first +time to know she possessed. Then came the belief again and the belief +was stronger than the doubt. She could not be mistaken. + +In the meantime an unexpected complication forced itself upon Hugh +Ridgeway. Perforce he had been thrown more or less constantly into the +society of that charming creature, Lady Huntingford. Not that the young +rakes in uniform were content to pass her by, but because she plainly +preferred the young American. It had not occurred to Mr. Ridgeway that +his Lordship might be expected, with reasonable propriety, to unmask a +jealous streak in addition to other disagreeable traits. The British +subalterns probably knew the temper of the old diplomat's mind, which, +in a degree, explains their readiness to forgo the pleasure of a mild +flirtation with her Ladyship. Hugh, feeling like a despised pariah, +naturally turned to her in his banishment. She was his friend, his one +beacon of light in the dark sea of unhappiness. + +Others noticed it; but Hugh was blind to the scowl which never left the +face of Lord Huntingford in these days. The old nobleman knew full well +that his wife loathed and detested him--just as the whole ship knew it; +his pride rankled and writhed with the fear that she was finding more +than friendship to enjoy in her daily intercourse with the good-looking +Mr. Ridge. Gradually it became noticeable that he was watching her every +act with spiteful eyes, and more than one observer winked softly at his +neighbor, and shook his head with a meaning unmistakable. + +The clash came one night in the Red Sea, just before the ship reached +Aden. Hugh, reviling himself and the whole world, had been compelled to +stand by and see Lieutenant Gilmore, a dashing Irishman, drag the +unwilling Miss Ridge off for a waltz. Her protestations had been of no +avail; Gilmore was abominable enough to say that she had no right to +stow herself away with a stupid old brother when there were so many +"real nice chaps on board." And this in Hugh's presence, too! And he +could not resent it! Alone and miserable the pariah sent his unspoken, +bitter lamentation to the stars as he stood in savage loneliness far +aft, listening to the strains of waltz music. + +"'Pon my soul! Of all the assinine idiots, bar none, the enlightened +inspirer of this glorious voyage certainly ranks supreme! And I didn't +have brains enough to foresee that this would surely happen! Brains? +Faugh! Chump!" + +Hugh might have apostrophized himself in this fashion until dawn had not +a harsh, rasping voice from out of the semi-darkness broken in on his +doleful revery. + +"Pardon me, sir, do you play cribbage?" + +Hugh turned half about and faced the speaker. He could hardly believe +his ears, his eyes. Was it possible that the haughty Lord Huntingford +had fixed upon him as the next lamb to be fleeced? Ugly stories +concerning the government emissary's continuous winnings, disastrous +losses of the young subalterns inveigled into gambling through fear of +his official displeasure, were not unknown to Hugh. A civil declination +was on his lips; but keenly searching the shrivelled face leering into +his own, Hugh saw written there something that compelled consideration, +challenged a refusal. Promptly and in affirmative speech he reversed his +intention. + +Slowly the left hand of Lord Huntingford produced from behind his back +an exquisitely carved ebony cribbage-board; and assuming the position of +host, indicated with exaggerated courtesy and a wave of his free hand +the way to the smoking-room. + +Hugh, following him along the deck, was hastily reviewing the voyage; +and failing to recall any previous occasion wherein the nobleman had +addressed him his sense of perplexity increased. Was there some hidden +purpose, some crafty machination lurking behind the elaborated manner +with which the invitation was delivered? On the other hand, perhaps, his +imagination was playing him a trick, and this selection of an adversary +was merely accidental. + +And yet, had he but known, it was his own absorbing jealousy of Veath +that precluded the recognition of a like sentiment directed against him, +even surpassing in intensity its owner's lust for gain at play. + +The smoking-room was empty, which, to the younger man, appeared as +rather extraordinary, and served to augment his supposition that such a +condition was presupposed. This, in turn, was dimissed, for he +remembered that the usual occupants were either dancing or looking on. + +Taking the initiative, as if such a course was incumbent, Lord +Huntingford placed his cribbage-board on a table and drew up chairs for +both; with equal politeness the proffered seat was accepted, Hugh +registering inwardly a determination to force high stakes, and, if +possible, recoup the losses of the young officers. Not for an instant +did he doubt his ability to detect the slightest irregularities in the +count of his discredited opponent. + +"Sovereign a point?" + +"Done! Five, if you like!" + +This answer from the young American caused an avaricious glint to leap +into the other's eyes. Plainly, two master passions fought for +supremacy: an inordinate greed for money and a choleric determination to +prohibit any further attentions to his wife. The struggle was brief, for +the vehemence of his enmity, triumphant, the hope of immediate emolument +was sacrificed, and the rooking of the young man postponed to some +future occasion. Then, subtly concealing his purpose, he nodded an +ambiguous acceptance. + +Cards were ordered. A steward fetched them and awaited further commands. + +Lord Huntingford strangely distrait, it seemed to Hugh, considering the +amount at stake, shuffled the pack and offered them for the cut. This +conventional operation performed and his Lordship successful, he dealt +the hands, at the same time giving the steward a sharp order to leave. +The man's reception of his dismissal was so insolent that it attracted +Hugh's attention. Looking up, to his surprise, he recognized his +room steward. + +"With whom have I the pleasure of playing?" came suddenly from Lord +Huntingford. + +"Ridgeway, Hugh--" + +Quick as the thought in the mind preceding it, inevitably connected, the +name escaped unwittingly from his lips; for with the discovery of the +steward's identity there flashed like a bolt from the blue an appalling +recollection! Exposed to view on the table in his stateroom were +valuable documents addressed to him by his banker, which he had +forgotten to replace in his dispatch-box! + +"Eh? What's that? What name?" The interrogation, icily formal, told +nothing; but upon its answer hinged limitless consequences. + +Hugh was in a dilemma. Should he correct himself, or rely on the slip +passing unobserved? The peculiar expression on the steward's face +returned to him; and he wondered if the knowledge of his adopting an +incognito had been elicited from the garrulous servant, and the +Englishman about to take advantage of it? Reddening with anger as much +against himself as against the cynical old aristocrat, who was cornering +him cavalierly, he decided to brave exposure: + +"Ridge! H.B. Ridge is my name, Lord Huntingford!" + +There was a reckless disregard of possibilities in the eyes that +fastened themselves on the face of the nobleman for a clue, some +enlightenment as to the impression produced; but all in vain. The +shrewd, small eyes answered the scrutiny impassively, and without as +much as the flicker of an eyelid. Taking one of the little ivory pegs, +he stuck it in the starting hole at the end of the cribbage-board. +Unconsciously, while waiting for the mental move which would determine +his future address, Hugh following the other's lead, picked up one and +pegged. Then to his infinite relief Lord Huntingford apparently allowed +the correction, accepted the alias. + +"Ridge!" he pronounced with malicious uncertainty. "Ridge! I am +acquainted with the English Ridges;" and the sneer in the voice +increased. "Do I understand you to pretend that you are one of that +distinguished family?" + +Hugh clenched his lips and his blood boiled at the treatment. + +"I am an American, Lord Huntingford," spoken easily, his pride showing +only by a perceptible lift of the head; "and my ancestors were not +Tories in the Revolution. Relationship, if any, would be--er--distant. I +claim none." + +"A trifle strained," admitted his Lordship, laughing disagreeably. + +At that moment the band could be heard in the distance playing the +strains of a waltz; also the voices of the couples who were promenading +and passing the open door. To Hugh's amazement, Lord Huntingford, +obviously heedless of his peculiar action, recommenced shuffling the +stack of cards, though the dealt hands remained untouched on the table. +Instinctively, Hugh was convinced that no play was intended. There was +something on the mind of the wily old diplomat far more momentous than a +mere game of cards; yet no chance had been given to him to penetrate +into the other's motives. + +It was not long forthcoming. + +Suddenly, clear as a bell, Hugh distinguished the laughter of Lady +Huntingford, and involuntarily he smiled. This seemed to enrage his +Lordship. Hatred and menace shone from his eyes as he glanced at the man +opposite him. With an oath he rose, walked to the door and closed it. +Then ruthlessly laying aside the last vestige of his assumed +courtliness, he picked up his stick from the table, leaned far over, +shook it in Hugh's face, and became an irascible, shouting old man. + +"Look here, young man--Ridge--Ridgeway--or whatever your blasted +name--do you think I'll allow you to carry on an affair with my wife--my +wife, sir?" he vociferated. "Henceforth, I forbid you to speak to her! +Do you hear me?" + +It was debatable whether Hugh was more astonished at the mention of Lady +Huntingford's name in connection with his own, or at the stick in +dangerously close proximity to his countenance. It was some time before +he could find words; but his face from red went white. + +"And if I decline?" + +There was that in the low tone that should have warned the aggressor +from further insult; but forgetting that the swaggering domination he +had been accustomed to exercising over his own countrymen, officially +his inferiors, would not for a moment be tolerated by one of another +nationality, he again broke out: + +"You bounder! Yankee upstart! I'll thrash you, and then have the captain +put you on shore at the first port--you infernal impostor!" + +In an instant Hugh was over the table. He tore the stick from Lord +Huntingford's hand and clutched his throat, forcing him down on the seat +cushions. With the exception of the younger man's hard breathing and +some gasps from the other, the struggle was noiseless. Not until Lord +Huntingford was growing black in the face did Hugh come to his senses. +Then releasing one hand from the throat, he pinned him with the other +and a knee. + +"You old scoundrel!" Hugh began, jerking out the scathing words; "if it +were not for your old age and your wife I'd drag you on deck and make +you apologize on your knees before them all. I'll spare you that +degradation; but if I ever hear of you mentioning the name +Ridegway--I've my own reasons for concealing it, and they don't concern +you--I'll make some charges in regard to your card playing that will +bar you from every club in the world, and, unlike your poor dupes, I am +in a position to substantiate them without fear of consequences." + +Lord Huntingford grudgingly mumbled a throttled promise, and Hugh +allowed him to regain his feet. At that instant Veath, with Grace and +Lady Huntingford, standing behind him, opened the door of the +smoking-room. + +"Here, Veath!" called out Hugh to the astonished Indianian. "I want you +to bear witness that Lord Huntingford has promised to keep absolutely +quiet about a little altercation of ours, and--" + +The quick gesture of caution from Veath came too late. Lady Huntingford +with astonished eyes was gazing into the room at them. Hugh promptly +went over to her. + +"You must pardon me, Lady Huntingford; I am sorry to cause you any pain +or annoyance. In a dispute over the cards with your husband I forgot +myself for a moment. Pray forgive me." + +Ridgeway quietly strode away with Grace and Veath. Lady Huntingford +directed a look of unutterable contempt at her husband, turned on her +heel and left him to slink away as quickly as possible, like a cur that +has felt the whip. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +DISCOVERED + +Lord Huntingford could not forgive the man who had put his aristocratic +nose out of joint in such an effective manner. He was, however, as +polite as nature would permit him to be to Miss Ridge and Mr. Veath. As +for Hugh, that young gentleman thought it the wiser plan, when +unavoidably relating a mild description of last night's encounter, to +abstain from acquainting Grace with Lord Huntingford's discovery of his +name--whether accidental or otherwise. Quite rightly he surmised that it +would unnecessarily distress her, and he preferred not to cross the +bridge until he came to it. + +It was the evening following the conflict. As night approached, the sun +fell behind the shores of the Red Sea, the stars twinkled out through +the blackness above, and yet they had not caught a glimpse of her +Ladyship. At dinner, he and Grace had agreed that she had either +renounced them entirely, or had been compelled to avoid him in +particular. Veath was less concerned. He was thinking of another woman. + +Hugh and Grace again stole away for a few moments of seclusion on deck. +They found chairs and sat down, neither very talkative. + +"Oh, Hugh, just think where we are," she murmured at last. "Thousands +of miles from home, and no one the wiser save ourselves. Chicago is on +the other side of the world." + +"Are you sorry you came, dear?" + +"I am glad. But isn't it awful to consider how far we are from everybody +we know? We might just as well be dead, Hugh." She was very solemn and +wide-eyed. + +"I am afraid you are losing heart," he said disconsolately. + +"Why, Hugh Ridgeway--Ridge, I mean,--how can I afford to lose heart now? +Don't ever say that to me again." + +"Yes; we are a long way from home, dear," mused he after a while. + +"How far are we from Manila?" she asked suddenly. + +"A million miles, judging by the way time goes. We'll be there in twenty +days, the captain says." + +"What do you suppose Mr. Veath will say when he hears of our marriage?" +This question was propounded after a longer interval of silence +than usual. + +"Why should we care what Mr. Veath says? If he doesn't approve, let him +go to--" but Hugh checked his fiery speech as abruptly as he began it. + +"He will be awfully shocked to learn how we have deceived him," she went +on, as if he had not spoken. + +"Well, do you care?" demanded Hugh. + +"Yes, I care," she cried. "I shall be very sorry if he loses the good +opinion he may have formed. He is the kind of a man who would not +understand such an affair as this." + +"But, then, we are not obliged to tell him. We can get married and leave +Manila at once without ever seeing him again. After that we will be Mr. +and Mrs. Ridgeway, and he could never find the people known as Hugh +Ridge and sister." + +"That would be a shameless way to treat him. He has been so true, so +good, Hugh," she cried reproachfully. For quite a while their eyes +lingered upon the dark water without seeing it, their thoughts centred +upon the fast approaching end of their relationship with Henry Veath. + +"I wish he could be told," murmured she, her voice far away. + +"I couldn't do it to save my soul. What would he say?" There was an awed +anxiety in his voice. + +"I don't care what other people say, but I do care what he says. He +seems so honest, so far above tricks of this kind." + +"What's one man's opinion, anyhow, especially when he's to be buried in +Manila for years?" + +"Oh, Hugh! How lonely he will be in that strange place. And how dreadful +it will be in us to sneak away from him like cowards, just as if we +cared nothing for him at all. He doesn't deserve that, does he?" + +"No, he doesn't, that's a fact. We can't treat him like a dog." + +"I wish he could be told," sighed she pensively. + +"When?" + +"You might try to tell him at any time," she said, a perceptible strain +in her voice. + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," said he, taking her hand in his. "I will +tell him the day before we reach Manila." + +"I'm afraid it will be too late," she cried, all a-flutter. + +"Too late? Why?" + +"I mean," she went on confusedly, "he might think we had waited too +long." She was thinking of Veath's wistful eyes. + +"Hello! Here you are," cried a strong voice, and Veath loomed up through +the shadows. Hugh released her hand and dropped back in the chair from +which he had half risen to kiss her. "You hide away like a pair of silly +lovers. There's nothing prosaic about this brother and sister. Do you +know, I have often marvelled over one thing in connection with you. You +don't look any more like brother and sister than the sea looks like +dry land." + +The pair caught breath sharply and Hugh almost snorted aloud. Grace +could do nothing but look up to where she saw the red fluctuating glow +of a cigar tip in the darkness. It made her think of a little moon which +could breathe like herself. + +"It all goes to show how deceptive appearances can be," went on Veath +easily. "Don't you want to walk, Miss Ridge? I'm sure you need +exercise." + +"I promised Hugh I would drive away his blues, Mr. Veath. Thank you, +but I believe I'll sit here for a while and then go below," she said, a +trifle disconnectedly. + +"We'll take Hugh along," said Veath obligingly. "Come along, both of +you." + +"Excuse me, Henry, but I don't feel like walking," said Hugh, a tinge of +sullenness in his manner. + +"Lazy, eh? Well, I'll bring Miss Ridge back in half an hour. You +wouldn't have me wander about this dismal old boat alone, would you? +Smoke a cigar, Hugh, and I'll take care of your sister while you count +the stars." He offered Hugh a cigar. + +Hugh rose suddenly and started away. + +"Hugh!" called she, "come and walk with us." He could distinguish the +loving entreaty, the trouble in her tones, but he was unreasonable. + +"Never mind me," he sang out with an assumption of cheerfulness. Grace +flushed hotly, her heart swelling with injured pride. Without another +word she rose and walked away with Veath. Indignation burned within her +soul until she went to sleep, hours afterward. + +Ridgeway stamped the full length of the promenade before he came to an +understanding with himself. On reaching that understanding, he whirled +and walked back to where he had left them, expecting to find Veath +occupying the chair he had vacated. Of course they were not to be found, +so he threw himself on one of the chairs, more miserable than he had +been since they started on their voyage. The lady in the chair to his +left stirred nervously and then a soft laugh came from her lips. + +"Are you sleepy, Mr. Ridge?" she asked. Hugh turned quickly and looked +into the face of Lady Huntingford. + +"Not at all," he replied. "But how strange it seems that you should +always appear like the fairy queen when I am most in need of a bracer. +Oh, I beg your pardon," he went on, rising in some perturbation. "I +forgot that there is a--a barrier between us. War has been declared, +I fear." + +"I am ready to make friendly overtures," she said gaily. "Isn't there +some such thing as a treaty which requires a strong power to protect its +weaker ally in time of stress?" + +"You mean that we may still be friends in spite of all that happened +last night?" he cried. She nodded her head and smiled, and he shook her +hand as only an impulsive American would. + +"But Lord Huntingford? What will he say?" he asked. + +"His Lordship's authority can be carried to a certain limit and no +farther," she said, and her eyes flashed. "He knows when to curse and +abuse; but he also knows when that attitude might operate against him. +He is not in a position to push me to the wall." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean he knows enough not to drive me to the point where I would turn +and fight." Hugh never had seen her so entrancing as she was in that dim +light, her face the picture of proud defiance. + +"I wonder not a little that you have not asked for a divorce long before +this." + +"You are not a woman or you would not ask that." + +"Lots of women ask for divorces." + +"It should be the last resort with any woman. But let us talk of +something else. Where is your sister? I have not seen her to-day." + +This question was particularly ill-timed, for it restored the forgotten +bitterness to the position from which it had been temporarily driven by +the interruption. + +"I don't know," he answered. + +"I thought I heard her talking to you here a few moments ago--in fact, I +saw you." + +"Where were you?" + +"I passed within a dozen feet of you. Neither of you saw me, I am sure. +You would not have cut me intentionally, would you?" + +"I should say not. You walked past here?" + +"Yes, you were tying her shoe-string." + +"What!" exclaimed he, starting to his feet, "tying Grace's shoe-string?" +The first thought that rushed to his mind was that Veath had knelt to +plead his love to Grace Vernon. + +"Lady Huntingford, let us walk," he exclaimed. It was a fierce, +impatient command instead of a polite invitation. The pretty young +woman calmly lay back in her chair and laughed. "If you won't come, then +please excuse me. I must go." + +"Why are you so eager to walk, Mr. Ridgeway?" she asked. + +"Because I want--what was that you called me?" he gasped, his heart +almost turning upside down. + +"Ridgeway. That's your name, isn't it?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"Oh, a great many things," she said with a serious face. + +Hugh was visibly annoyed. There was to be more trouble from the +nobleman; evidently he did not intend to keep his promise. + +"In the first place," she continued, "I must acknowledge that I forced +from my husband an account of last night's affair; he also told me your +name. But, believe me, it will go no further. I cannot thank you enough, +Mr. Ridgeway," the color stealing into her cheeks. + +Ridgeway bowed. + +"In the next place," she went on playfully, "you are very jealous of Mr. +Veath. Tut, tut, yes you are," with a gesture of protest. "He thinks +Miss Ridge is your sister, and she is not your sister. And lastly, +nobody on board knows these facts but the very bright woman who is +talking to you at this moment." + +"But you are mistaken, madam," with a last attempt at assumption of +dignity. + +"Would I say this to you if I were not positive? You think you are very +clever; I'll admit that you are. Your secrets came to me through an +accident. Do not think that I have pried into your affairs. They really +forced themselves upon me." + +"Tell me what you know, for Heaven's sake," cried the dismayed Ridgeway. + +"I was in your sister's room earlier in the day. Her trunk was open and +I saw a portfolio with Vernon in silver lettering; and I was more +mystified than ever when I observed that the initials on her trunk were +'G.V.' All day yesterday I tried to solve the problem, taking into +consideration the utter absence of family resemblance between you, and I +was almost sick with curiosity. To-day I was convinced that her name is +not Ridge. She inadvertently signed her name to the purser's slip in my +presence, and she did not sign the--yours. She scratched it out quickly +and asked him to make out another one. Now, what is this mystery?" She +bent her gaze upon his face and he could not meet it. + +"Do you want to know the reason why I did not see you yesterday?" she +continued. + +"Yes," he murmured, mopping his brow. + +"Because I was so distressed that I feared I could not face either of +you, knowing what I do." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I know you are running away." Not a word was spoken for a full minute. +He could scarcely breathe. "You do not deny it?" she questioned gently. +"Please do not fear me." + +"I do not fear you," he half whispered, sinking his chin in his hands. +Another long silence. + +"There are some circumstances and conditions under which a woman should +not be condemned for running away," she said in a strained, faraway +voice. "Has--has she children?" + +"Good Heaven!" cried Hugh, leaping to his feet, horror-struck. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE HARLEQUIN'S ERRAND + +Lady Huntingford, alarmed by his manner, arose and steadied herself +against the deck-house. His exclamation rang in her ears, filling them +with its horror. At length he roughly grasped her arm, thrusting his +face close to hers, fairly grated out the words: + +"You think she is a wife?" + +"I feared so." + +"She is not! Do you hear me? She is not!" he cried so fiercely that +there was no room for doubt. "She is the purest, dearest girl in the +world, and she has done all this for me. For God's sake, do not expose +us." He dropped back in the chair. "It's not for my sake that I ask it, +but for hers," he went on quickly. + +"I'm sure I have wronged her and I have wronged you. Will you believe +me?" + +He did not answer at once. His turbulent brain was endeavoring to find +words with which to convince her of the innocence of the escapade. +Looking up into her eyes, he was struck by their tender staunchness. +Like a flash came to him the decision to tell her the true story, from +beginning to end. + +"Lady Huntingford, I will tell you everything there is to tell. It is +not a long tale, and you may say it is a very foolish one. I am sure, +however, that it will interest you." + +"You shall not tell me a word if you do so in order to appease my +curiosity," she began earnestly. + +"I think it is best that you should know," he interrupted. "One favor +first. You will earn my eternal gratitude if you do not allow Grace to +feel that you have discovered our secret." + +"You have my promise. I have kept many secrets, Mr. Ridge." He drew his +chair quite close to hers. Then he told her the full story of the +adventure, from first to last. She scarcely breathed, so deeply was her +interest centred in this little history of an impulse. He spoke +hurriedly, excitedly. Not once did she take her eyes from his earnest +face, almost indistinguishable in the darkness; nor could he remove his +from hers. + +"And here we are approaching Aden, your Ladyship," he concluded. Her big +dark eyes had held him enthralled, inspiring him to paint in glorious +colors every detail of the remarkable journey. As he drew to a close, +her hand fell involuntarily on his knee. A tremor dashed through his +veins, and his heart throbbed fiercely. + +"How glorious it must be to love like that," she almost whispered. There +was a catch in her voice, as she uttered that soft, dreamy sentence, +almost a sigh. She turned her face away suddenly and then arose, crying +in tones so low and despairing that he could hardly believe they came +from the usually merry lips: "Oh, how I envy her this life and love! +How wonderful it all is!" + +"It has its drawbacks," he lamented. "As a brother I am a nonentity, +Lady Huntingford; it's not altogether relishable, you know. It's a sort +of pantomime, for me, by Jove. I'm the fool, and this seems to be the +fool's errand." + +"If you will play a part in the pantomime, Mr. Ridge, let an +Englishwoman suggest that you be the harlequin. How I loved the +harlequin in the Drury Lane pantomimes at Christmas time! He was always +the ideal lover to me, for there was no trick, no prank this bespangled +hero could not play to success. He always went incognito, for he wore +his narrow mask of black. He performed the most marvellous things for +his Columbine,--and was she not a worthy sweetheart? No, no, Mr. +Ridge:--not the fool, I pray. Please be the harlequin," she cried in +rare good humor. + +"As you like it," he said, reflecting her spirits. "I am the harlequin +and this is, perforce, the harlequin's errand." They were silent for a +long time, then he said soberly: + +"It was such a foolish thing to do, after all." She looked up at him for +a moment, the bitterness fading from her hungry eyes, a smile struggling +feebly into power. Then came the radiance of enthusiasm. + +"Foolish!" she exclaimed, with eyes sparkling and breast heaving. "It +was magnificent! What a brave girl she is! Oh, how clever you both are +and how much you will enjoy the memory of this wonderful trip. It will +always be fresh and novel to you--you will never forget one moment of +its raptures. How I wish I could have done something like this. If I +dared, I would kiss that brave, lucky girl a thousand times." + +"But you must not let her suspect," cautioned he. + +"It would ruin everything for her if she even dreamed that you had told +me, and I would not mar her happiness for the world. Really, Mr. Ridge, +I am so excited over your exploit that I can scarcely contain myself. It +seems so improbable, so immense, yet so simple that I can hardly +understand it at all. Why is it other people have not found this way to +revolutionize life? Running around the world to get married without the +faintest excuse save an impulse--a whim. How good, how glorious! It is +better than a novel!" + +"I hope it is better than some novels." + +"It is better than any, because it is true." + +"I am afraid you are trying to lionize me," he jested. + +"You have faced a British lion," she said slowly. + +"My only regret is that he is old and clawless." + +"We are retracing our steps over dangerous ground," she said with a +catch in her breath. + +"You would have me to believe that I am a brave man, so I am determined +to court the danger of your displeasure. How did you happen to marry +this old and clawless lion?" + +She did not exhibit the faintest sign of surprise or discomfiture, +certainly not of anger. Instead, she looked frankly into his eyes and +answered: "That is what I thought you would ask me. I shall not refuse +to answer. I married because I wanted to do so." + +"What!" exclaimed he incredulously. "I had hoped--er--I mean, feared +that you had been--ah--sort of forced into it, you know." + +"Since my marriage I have discovered, however, that there is no fool +like the ambitious fool," she went on as if he had not spoken. "Do you +understand what I mean?" + +"That you married for position?" + +"That I married simply to become Lady Huntingford." + +"And you did not love him at all?" There was something like disgust, +horror in Hugh's voice. + +"Love him?" she exclaimed scornfully, and he knew as much as if she had +spoken volumes. Then her face became rigid and cold. For the first time +he saw the hard light of self-mastery in her eyes. "I made my choice; I +shall abide by it to the end as steadfastfully as if I were the real +rock which you may think me to be. There is nothing for me to +tell--nothing more that I will tell to you. Are you not sorry that you +know such a woman as I? Have you not been picking me to pieces and +casting me with your opinions to the four winds?" + +"I am truly sorry for you," was all that he could say. + +"You mean that you despise me," she cried bitterly. "Men usually think +that of such women as I. They do not give us a hearing with the heart, +only with the cruel, calculating brain. Think of it, Mr. Ridge, I have +never known what it means to love. I have been loved; but in all my life +there has been no awakening of a passion like that which sends Grace +Vernon around the world to give herself to you. I know that love exists +for other people. I have seen it--have almost felt it in them when they +are near me. And yet it is all so impossible to me." + +"You are young--very young," he said. "Love may come to you--some day." + +"It will be envy--not love, I fear. I threw away every hope for love two +years ago--when I was transformed from the ambitious Miss Beresford to +Lady Huntingford, now thoroughly satiated. It was a bad bargain and it +has wounded more hearts than one. I am not sorry to have told you this. +It gives relief to--to something I cannot define. You despise me, I +am sure--" + +"No, no! How can you say that? You are paying the penalty for your--of +your--" + +"Say it! Crime." + +"For your mistake, Lady Huntingford. We all make mistakes. Some of us +pay for them more bitterly than others, and none of us is a judge of +human nature except from his own point of view. I am afraid you don't +feel the true sympathy I mean to convey. Words are faulty with me +to-night. It shall be my pleasure to forget what you have confessed to +me. It is as if I never had heard." + +"Some men would presume greatly upon what I have told to you. You are +too good, I know, to be anything but a true friend," she said. + +"I think I understand you," he said, a flush rising to his temples. +After all, she was a divine creature. "You shall always find me the true +friend you think I am." + +"Thank you." They were silent for a long time, gazing out over the +sombre plain of water in melancholy review of their own emotions. At +last she murmured softly, wistfully, "I feel like an outcast. My life +seems destined to know none of the joys that other women have in their +power to love and to be loved." The flush again crept into his cheek. + +"You have not met the right man, Lady Huntingford," he said. + +"Perhaps that is true," she agreed, smiling faintly. + +"The world is large and there is but one man in it to whom you can give +your heart," he said. + +"Why should any man desire possession of a worthless bit of ice?" she +asked, her eyes sparkling again. + +"The satisfaction of seeing it melt," he responded. + +She thought long over this reply. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE CONFESSION OF VEATH + +"Hugh, have you observed anything strange in Mr. Veath lately?" + +The interrogation came suddenly from Grace, the next morning, on deck. +They had been discussing the plans for a certain day in May, and all the +time there was evidence of trouble in her eyes. At last she had broached +a subject that had been on her mind for days. + +"Can't say that I have." The answer was somewhat brusque. + +"I am convinced of one thing," she said hurriedly, coming direct to the +point. "He is in love with me." + +"The scoundrel!" gasped Hugh, stopping short and turning very white. +"How dare he do such--" + +"Now, don't be absurd, dear. I can't see what he finds in me to love, +but he has a perfect right to the emotion, you know. He doesn't +know, dear." + +"Where is he? I'll, take the emotion out of him in short order. Ah, ha! +Don't look frightened! I understand. You love him. I see it all. +It's as--" + +"Stop! You have no right to say that," she exclaimed, her eyes flashing +dangerously. His heart smote him at once and he sued humbly for pardon. +He listened to her views concerning the hapless Indianian, and it was +not long before he was heart and head in sympathy with Veath. + +"Poor fellow! When I told him last night that I was to be married within +a year he actually trembled from head to foot. I never was so miserable +over a thing in my life," she said dismally. "Really, Hugh, I can't bear +to think of him finding out how we have played with him." + +"Shall I tell him all about it?" asked he in troubled tones. + +"Then I should not be able to look him in the face. Dear me, elopements +have their drawbacks, haven't they?" + +Other passengers joined them, Veath and Lady Huntingford among them. In +the group were Captain Shadburn, Mr. and Mrs. Evarts, Mr. Higsworth and +his daughter Rosella, Lieutenant Hamilton--a dashing young fellow who +was an old and particularly good friend of Lady Huntingford. Hugh noted, +with strange satisfaction, that Hamilton seemed unusually devoted to +Miss Higsworth. In a most casual manner he took his stand at the rail +beside her Ladyship, who had coaxed Captain Shadburn to tell them his +story of the great typhoon. + +Presently, a chance came to address her. + +"Grace tells me that your name is an odd one, for a girl--woman, I +mean--Tennyson. Were you named for the poet?" + +"Yes. My father knew him well. Odd, isn't it? My friends call me Lady +Tennys. By the way, you have not told Grace what I told you last night +on deck, have you?" she asked. + +"I should say not. Does she suspect that you know her secret and mine?" +he asked in return. + +"She does not dream that I know. Ah, I believe I am beginning to learn +what love is. I worship your sweetheart, Hugh Ridgeway." + +"If you could love as she loves me, Lady Huntingford, you might know +what love really is." + +"What a strange thing it must be that you and she can know it and I +cannot," she mused, looking wistfully at the land afar off. + +At Aden everybody went ashore while the ship coaled at Steamer Point, on +the western side of the rock, three miles from the town proper. +Multitudes of Jewish ostrich-feather merchants and Somali boys gave the +travellers amusement at the landing and in the coast part of the town. +The Americans began to breathe what Hugh called a genuinely oriental +atmosphere. + +They were far from Aden when night came down and with it the most +gorgeous sunset imaginable. Everybody was on deck. The sky was aflame, +the waters blazed and all the world seemed about to be swept up in the +wondrous conflagration. Late in the afternoon a bank of clouds had grown +up from the western line, and as the sun dropped behind them they glowed +with the intensity of fiercely fanned coals of huge dimensions. At last +the fiery hues faded away, the giant holocaust of the skies drew to an +end, and the soft afterglow spread across the dome, covering it with a +tranquil beauty more sublime than words can paint. + +Grace looked eagerly among the impressed spectators for Henry Veath. +Somehow she longed for him to see all this beauty that had given her so +much pleasure. He was not there and she was conscious of a guilty +depression. She was sitting with Hugh and Lady Huntingford when, long +afterward, Veath approached. + +"I'd like a word with you, Hugh," he said after the greetings, "when the +ladies have gone below." + +"It is getting late and I am really very tired," said Grace. It was +quite dark, or they could have seen that her face was pale and full of +concern. She knew instinctively what it was that Veath wanted to say to +Hugh. Then she did something she had never done before in the presence +of another. She walked quickly to Hugh's side, bent over and kissed his +lips, almost as he gasped in astonishment. + +"Good-night, dear," she said, quite audibly, and was gone with Lady +Huntingford. The astounded lover was some time in recovering from the +surprise inspired by her unexpected act. It was the first time she had +ever been sisterly in that fashion before the eyes of others. + +"I hope I have said nothing to offend them," said Veath miserably. "Was +I too abrupt?" + +"Not in the least. They've seen enough for one night anyhow, and I guess +they were only waiting for an excuse to go below," replied Hugh. To +himself he said, "I wonder what the dickens Grace did that for? And why +was Lady Huntingford so willing to leave?" + +Veath sat nervously wriggling his thumbs, plainly ill at ease. His jaw +was set, however, and there was a look in his eyes which signified a +determination to brave it out. + +"You know me pretty well by this time, Hugh," he said. Hugh awoke from +his abstraction and displayed immediate interest. "You know that I am +straightforward and honest, if nothing else. There is also in my make-up +a pride which you may never have observed or suspected, and it is of +this that I want to speak before attempting to say something which will +depend altogether upon the way you receive the introduction." + +"Go ahead, Henry. You're serious to-night, and I can see that something +heavy is upon your mind." + +"It is a very serious matter, I can assure you. Well, as you perhaps +know from my remarks or allusions on previous occasions, I am a poor +devil. I have nothing on earth but the salary I can earn, and you can +guess what that will amount to in Manila. My father educated me as best +he could, and I worked my way through college after he had given me to +understand that he was unable to send me there himself. When I was +graduated, I accepted a position with a big firm in its engineering +service. Within a year I was notified that I could have a five months' +lay-off, as they call it. At the end of that period, if matters +improved, I was to have my place back. Out of my wages I saved a couple +of hundred dollars, but it dwindled as I drifted through weeks of +idleness. There was nothing for me to do, try as I would to find a +place. It was a hard pill to swallow, after four years of the kind of +work I had done in college, but I had to throw every plan to the winds +and go to the Philippines. My uncle, who is rich, sent me money enough +to prepare for the voyage, and here I am, sneaking off to the jungles, +disgusted, discouraged and disappointed. To-night I sit before you with +less than one hundred dollars as the sum total of my earthly +possessions." + +"By George, Veath, just let me know how much you need--" broke in Hugh +warmly, but the other silenced him, smiling sadly. + +"I'm greatly obliged to you, but I don't believe it is money that I want +now--at least, not borrowed money. When you told me that your sister was +to become a missionary, I inferred that you were not burdened with +worldly goods, and I felt at home with you both--more so than I should, +I believe--" + +"Oh, the devil!" + +"But a few days ago your sister told me that she is not to be a +missionary and that she is rich enough to make this trip to the Orient +for mere pleasure--oh, well, you know better than I how rich you both +are." His voice was low and unsteady. "I don't know why you should have +told me that she--she was to be a missionary." + +"It was--I did it for a little joke on her, honestly I did," mumbled +Hugh. + +"And it was a serious one for me. Before I knew of her real position she +seemed more approachable to me, more as if I could claim her friendship +on the grounds of mutual sympathy. I was deceived into believing our +lots not vastly unequal, and I have suffered more than I can tell you by +the disparity which I now know exists." + +"But what difference can it make whether we are rich or poor? We can +still be friends," said Hugh eagerly. + +"It was when I believed your sister to be a missionary that I learned to +love her better than all else in this world. Now do you understand?" + +"Great Scott!" gasped his listener, starting from his chair. Now he +realised that she had not been mistaken in her fears. "Does she know +this?" he managed to ask. + +"No, and I dare not tell her--I cannot. I had to tell some one, and to +whom should I confess it if not to the brother of the woman I love? It +is no disgrace, no dishonor to her. You cannot blame me for being honest +with you. Some day after you have gone back to America you can tell her +that I love her and always will. She has intimated to me that she is to +marry another man, so what chance is there for a poor wretch like me? I +don't see how I have endured the awakening from the dreams I have had. +I even went so far as to imagine a little home in Manila, after I had +won her from the mission field and after I had laid by the savings of a +year or two. I had planned to fairly starve myself that I might save +enough to make a home for her and--and--" but he could say no more. Hugh +heard the sob and turned sick at heart. To what a pass their +elopement had come! + +Above all things, how could he comfort the unfortunate man? There was no +word of encouragement, no word of hope to be given. The deepest pity he +had ever felt went out to Henry Veath; the greatest remorse he had ever +known stung his soul. Should he tell Veath the truth? Could he do it? + +"Do you see my position?" asked Veath steadily, after a long silence. "I +could never hope to provide for her as she has been accustomed to +living, and I have too much pride to allow my wife to live other than +the way in which I would have to live." + +"She may not love you," said Hugh, suddenly hopeful. + +"But I could win her love. I'm sure I could, Hugh. Even though she is +pledged to another man, I could love her so powerfully that a new love +would be inspired in her for me. You don't know how I love her. Hugh, +you are not angry with me for having told you this?" + +"Angry? Great Heavens, no! I'm heartbroken over it," cried Hugh. There +were traces of tears in his eyes. + +"You know how hopeless it is for me," went on Veath, "and I hope you +will remember that I have been honest and plain with you. Before we part +in Manila I may tell her, but that is all. I believe I should like to +have her know that I love her. She can't think badly of me for it, +I'm sure." + +Hugh did not answer. He arose and silently grasped the hand of the +other, who also had conic to his feet. + +"I would to God that I could call you brother," said he. + +"Don't say it! It is too wild an improbability," cried Veath. + +"Yes; it is more than that: it is an impossibility." + +"If in the end I should conclude to tell Miss Ridge of my feelings, will +you tell me now that I may do so with your permission?" + +"But there is no hope," cried Hugh miserably. + +"I do not ask for hope. I shall not ask her to love me or to be my wife. +I may want to tell her that I love her, that's all. You can have no +objection to that, Hugh." + +"I have no objection," murmured Ridgeway, a chill striking deep into his +heart. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +ONE LOVE AGAINST ANOTHER + +Ridgeway passed another sleepless night. Had not Veath said he could win +her love, even though it were pledged to another? The thought gave birth +to a fear that he was not perfectly sure of her love, and that it might +turn to Henry Veath, after all. In the early morning hours, between +snatches of sleep, he decided to ask Lady Huntingford's advice, after +explaining to her the dilemma in full. He would also tell Grace of +Veath's declaration, putting her on guard. Breakfast time found the sea +heavy and the ship rolling considerably, but at least three people gave +slight notice to the weather. Hugh was sober and morose; Veath was +preoccupied and unnatural; Grace was restless and uneasy. Lady +Huntingford, who came in while they were eating, observed this condition +almost immediately, and smiled knowingly, yet sadly. Later Hugh Ridgeway +drew her to a secluded corner and exploded his bomb. Her cool little +head readily devised a plan which met his approval, and he hurried off +to warn Grace before it was too late. Lady Huntingford advised him to +tell Veath nothing of the elopement, allowing him to believe as he had +all along, but suggested a radical change in their future plans. It was +her advice that they go on to Japan and be married. + +At first Grace demurred to this plan, which he necessarily proposed as +his own, holding that it would be absolutely cruel to desert Veath at +the last minute. Finally she agreed to the compromise and kissed him +with tears in her eyes. + +Days passed and the strain grew more tense than ever. The _Tempest +Queen_ was nearing the Archipelago, after the stops at Penang and +Singapore. At Hong Kong the Manila-bound passengers were to be +transferred to one of the small China Sea steamers. The weather had been +rough and ugly for many days. Lady Huntingford had not left her +stateroom in two days. Grace was with her a greater portion of the time, +ministering to her wants gently and untiringly. Ridgeway and Veath, +anxious and troubled, wandered aimlessly about the ship, smoking cigar +after cigar, praying for a cessation of the ugly weather. Finally, all +passengers were peremptorily forbidden the deck. The skilled sailors +were in constant danger of being washed overboard. Captain Shadburn +admitted that they were being driven from their course by the fury of +the typhoon. Secretly he feared that the _Queen_ might rush upon a +reef at night. + +Dinner on the second violent evening was a sombre affair. Lady +Huntingford, pale, sweet and wan, made her appearance with Grace, +occupying Veath's seat, that gentleman moving to the next chair, its +original occupant being confined to his berth. Lord Huntingford, +austere and imperturbable, entered some time before his wife and +purposely ignored her when she came in. + +As the party arose from the table, a heavy lurch of the boat threw Grace +headlong into Veath's arms. By a superhuman effort he managed to keep +his feet. He smiled down at her; but there was something so insistent in +the smile that it troubled her. + +"It's an ill wind that blows no good," said Veath softly. + +"What blows well for one may blow ill for another," she responded a +little coldly, though she did not refuse the proffered arm; and they +staggered toward the doorway. + +As they passed into the main saloon he suddenly asked her if she would +let him speak to her of a matter that long had been on his mind. She did +not look him in the face, but she knew it was white and determined. The +time had come when he was to tell her that he loved her. He begged for a +moment's time and gained her unspoken permission. They sank to a couch +near the stairway, Grace giving a last helpless, hopeless glance at Hugh +as he and his companion passed from the apartment. + +"I can see by the manner in which you act that you know what I want to +say to you. It is also plain to me that you would rather not hear me," +he said, after a moment. + +"Please do not say it," she entreated, and he saw the little hope that +he had been nourishing dashed away. + +"I did not dream until a few moments ago that you had discerned my love +for you, Miss Ridge, but I am not sorry that I have been so transparent. +How you have guessed my secret I cannot imagine. I tried to keep it from +you," he said, as if he had wounded her. "Perhaps your brother +told you." + +She was on the point of telling him that Hugh was not her brother, but +something checked the impulse and she could only answer by shaking +her head. + +"You told me that you expect to marry another man, but that has not kept +me from telling you that I love you, nor will it prevent me from trying +to win your love. Pride, if nothing else, has kept my lips sealed, for +what right have I to ask any woman to share my lot? In sheer humiliation +I must tell you that my life looks like a failure to me. I have a hard +struggle ahead of me. You may say that I am young and strong, but I +cannot, for my soul, see anything bright ahead." His voice trembled and +she glanced up at his face. He was looking at the diamond that sparkled +on her left hand. + +"You have no right to say that life is a failure; you have no right to +lie down on your arms and give, up the fight. That is the act of a +coward. After all, it is not the way to win a woman's love." + +"You don't mean--is it possible that you could--" he began. + +"No, no! You must not hope. I love another as dearly as you love me. But +I will not have you say that you cannot succeed in life. I know you are +strong, and I know you are determined. There is nothing impossible to +you," she said hurriedly, seeking feverishly to draw him from his +purpose. "When first we met you were cheerful and hopeful, strong and +full of life. Then some one came into your life and you saw a black +cloud of despair arise. It came up easily and you can drive it away just +as easily. It is not of your nature to give up, I know. You can win fame +and fortune and the love of some one much worthier than I." + +"If I live to be a thousand I shall love none as I love you," he said +simply. "If you loved me I could win against all the world. Your wealth +is a natural barrier between poor love and rich pride, both true +possessions of mine. But for the latter the former would win. Can you +understand?" he asked almost vehemently. + +"I--I--no, I do not understand you," she said panic-stricken. His eyes +were flashing again in the same old way and his voice, low pitched, had +a gallant ring. + +"I mean I'd win your love and I'd make you my wife." + +"Mr. Veath! How can you--how dare you--" she began, arising indignantly, +yet a trifle carried away by his impetuous manner. Her heart was +thumping tumultuously and she dared not look into his eyes. + +"Dare!" he cried. "You urge me to fight it out and die in the trenches, +as it were, and now you ask me why I dare tell you what I'd do under +certain conditions. I merely tell you what I could and would do if I +could change the conditions." + +"You are a trifle over-confident, Mr. Veath," she said coldly. +"Good-night." + +"Don't be angry, please," he cried in humility. "You have spoken to me +in a way that has awakened a new spirit--the spirit that men call 'do or +die.' To-night the storm rages and we are all in danger. I feel that in +an hour like this and in a place like this I am worth more than I have +ever been or could be in any other position. The fierceness of the night +and the sting of your advice combine to give life and nerve to my weak +heart. I am not the man who begged you a moment ago to listen to the +weakness of a despairing lover; it is another man, another Henry Veath +who talks to you now. From this instant I shall begin the battle against +old conditions and you shall be the spoils of battle. Grace, look at me! +I am going to show you what real determination means. I want you and +I'll win you." His tall figure straightened, his blue eyes gleamed and +flashed with the fire of enthusiasm. The timid, fearful Veath was gone, +and in his stead stood the valiant, aggressive, inspired contestant. + +The rolling of the ship sent her staggering toward him, and he caught +her by the arms. Steadying himself against the staircase, he cried in +her bewildered ear: + +"I love you better than all else in the world. You are a part of my +life, all of my joy. Do you think I can give you up now that I have +found the courage to begin the struggle? I'll win my way and I'll win +your love. Nothing but death can stop me now. Come! Don't look as though +you hate me for it." + +"I do not hate you," she said humbly, almost glaring into his bright +eyes, unable to turn from the love which governed them so completely. +"But you must not talk like this. I cannot listen to you. Mr. Veath, +there is no possible hope." + +"The hope to win and the will to win are two different propositions, and +it is the latter under which I am enlisted. To me it is worth fighting +for to the end of time." + +"Oh, you must not say these things to me," she cried fiercely, trying to +escape from his eyes. + +"I shall not say another word to you after to-night until I am sure I +have won the victory. Then I shall ask you to be my wife. To-morrow I'll +tell your brother I am bound to win. He must know my honest intentions." + +"My brother!" she gasped. Her knees grew weak and a faintness assailed +her heart, almost to overpowering. "You--you must not--shall not say a +word to Hugh. I forbid you--I--" + +"Why are you so agitated? Why am I not to speak to him? He is +fair-minded, and I know he likes me." + +"You don't know what it would mean to me. There is something you do not +know. No, no! You shall not speak to Hugh." It was her turn to command, +and he wavered. + +"Your will is the law which I obey. He shall not know--not now, at +least," he said. "There are to be but two factions in the struggle, +then, your love against mine." + +"You forget the--the other man," she said, sudden tears springing to her +eyes. + +"I think only of one woman," he said softly, lovingly. + +She leaned wearily against the staircase, her hands clasping the +railing. There was a piteous, hopeless entreaty in the dimming eyes as +she turned them to his and tried to speak calmly. + +"I have something to say to you--to-morrow. Let us say good-night." + +"Nothing you can say will alter my love. When the storm to-night is at +its worst remember that I will give my life for your sake." + +She did not answer, but her hand clasped his arm impulsively. In the +doorway they met Hamilton and Gregory, just from the captain, their +faces white and fear-stricken. Hugh and Lady Huntingford were hurrying +toward them. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE WRECK OF THE "TEMPEST QUEEN" + +"What's wrong?" asked Veath, alarmed by the agitation of the two +soldiers. + +"Captain Shadburn estimates that we are two hundred miles out of our +course, away to the south. It's impossible to get our bearings without +the sun, and the Lord only knows where we're running to," said Hamilton, +holding to the door casing. + +Hugh and Lady Huntingford had joined the others by this time and were +listening with blanched faces to the men in uniform. + +"It's as black as ink outside," said little Lieutenant Gregory, +shivering in a manner most unbecoming in a soldier. "As long as they +can keep the boat out of the trough we'll ride the waves safely, but the +deuced danger lies in the reefs and little islands. We may be dashing +into one of them at this minute." + +"You're a cheerful hero," cried Hugh indignantly. "What's the use of +imagining a thing like that? It's time enough to think about it when we +strike the reef; and, besides, it can't help us any to cry. We can't +leave the ship for a walk back to dry land. We're here to see the thing +to the end, no matter where it is, and I don't believe in howling before +we're hurt." + +"That's right," agreed Veath. "Possibly we're out of the course. That +happens in every storm that comes up at sea." + +"But there are hundreds of reefs here that are not even on the chart," +cried Gregory. + +"Well, there have been thousands of ships to escape them all, I fancy," +said Ridgeway boldly. The two women were speechless. + +"And there have been thousands of storms, too," added Veath, a sort of +wild exultation ringing in his voice, plain to Grace if not to +the others. + +"Do not try to deceive us, gentlemen," wavered Lady Tennys. "We can be a +great deal braver if we know the real situation. I know you are making +light of this dreadful storm out of consideration for Miss Ridge and +myself, but don't you think it would be better if we were told the +worst? Women are not always the greater cowards." + +"Yes, Hugh, we should know the worst," said Grace firmly. "The ship is +rolling frightfully, and Lieutenant Hamilton has said enough to assure +us that Captain Shadburn is alarmed, even apprehensive." + +"Perhaps I am too much of an optimist, but I stick to my statement that +while we are in some danger--any fool can see that--we are by no means +lost," said Hugh, looking at Gregory when he used the word fool. + +"As long as the engine and steering apparatus hold together the crew of +the ship can pull her through," said Veath. "I have the utmost +confidence in the boat and the men." + +"But all the men on the ocean cannot keep her from striking an unseen +rock, nor could any ship withstand such a shock," argued the young +Englishwoman bravely. + +"That's right, Lady Tennys," quickly cried Hamilton. "I don't say the +ship will get the worst of a straight fight against the sea, but we +won't stand the ghost of a chance if we strike a reef." + +"The best thing we all can do is to find some place where there is not +quite so much danger of having our brains dashed out against these +walls. It's getting so that I can't keep my feet much longer. This is no +time to be taking chances of a broken leg, or an arm or a neck, perhaps. +We'll need them all if we have to swim to Hong Kong." + +Despite his attempted jocularity, Ridgeway was sorely troubled. Common +sense told him that they were now in a most perilous position. The dead +reckoning of the captain and his chartmaster, while able to determine +with a certain degree of accuracy the locality in which the ship was +beating, could not possibly account for the exact position of those +little islands. He began to think of the life preservers. A feeble smile +came to the ladies when he spoke of swimming to Hong Kong, but the men, +Veath included, looked serious. + +"I think it would be wise if we make every preparation to leave the +ship, awful as the prospect may seem. My judgment is that we should +take time by the forelock. It will be too late after the crash comes." +Veath said this solemnly, and a deeper sense of realization came to all +of them. Strange to say, it inspired energy and calmness rather than +weakness and panic. + +"The life preservers, you mean?" almost whispered Grace. A fearful lurch +of the boat caused the whole party to cling desperately to the supports. +Before he could answer a ship's officer came scudding down below. + +"Captain Shadburn says that every one is to prepare for the worst. The +propeller's smashed and we can't live in this sea. Be quick!" cried the +pale-faced sailor, hurrying onward. In an inconceivably short space of +time the passages and saloons were crowded with rushing passengers. +Pandemonium prevailed. Women were shrieking, men yelling and praying. +Cooler heads were utterly powerless to subdue the crazy disorder. +Ridgeway and Veath hurried the two women to their staterooms, plunging +along, almost falling with the savage rolling of the boat. + +"For God's sake, hurry!" called Hamilton from afar. "We are turning into +the trough." + +How our friends got into the cumbersome preservers and prepared +themselves for the end they could never have told. Everything seemed a +blank, the whole world whirled, all the noises in the universe rolled in +their ears. Then they were stumbling, rolling, tearing toward the upper +deck, hardly knowing whither they went or how they progressed. Before, +behind, beside them were yelling, maddened men and women, rushing +upward ruthlessly into the very waves of the ocean, all to be lost. + +On the steps Hugh and Grace, who were together in advance of Veath and +Lady Tennys, encountered the latter's husband. Pie had fallen, and was +grovelling, cursing, screaming, praying on the steps. Hugh pulled him to +his feet. With a mad yell he fled onward and upward. At the top he was +checked by the sailors, who were vainly trying to keep the people back. +He struggled past them and on toward the open deck. An officer caught +him and held him firmly until Hugh, Veath, and the two trembling +women came up. + +"Get back, all of you!" yelled Shadburn. "You can't come out here. Every +sailor on deck has been washed overboard!" + +"Don't let us sink! Don't let us sink! For God's sake!" shrieked Lord +Huntingford. Then he saw his wife. "Save me, Tennys; we are lost! We +are lost!" + +A great wave swept over the deck, washing all of them back into the +companionway, half drowned. + +"Is there any hope, Mr. Frayne?" yelled Hugh to the second officer, +holding himself and his half-dead sweetheart against the leaping of +the boat. + +"One chance in a million! Stay back there and we'll try the boats. God +knows they can't live in this sea, but they're the only hope. We'll turn +clear over with the next big wave. Stay back!" he yelled. "We are trying +to get the boats ready. Stay back!" + +Hugh and Grace from where they clung could see the great black +mountains of water rushing upon them, each wave a most terrifying +spectacle. Then again the whole dark, seething ocean seemed to be below +them and they were flying to the clouds. The breath of relief died +instantly, for again the helpless ship sank into the trough and the +foaming mountains towered about her. Grace hid her eyes and screamed +with terror. Those huge murderous waves already had swept many from the +ship. A score of sailors and as many courageous soldiers were in the +churn of the merciless waters. + +Crash! A horrid grating sound, splintering! Then the instantaneous +shock, the awful, stunning force of a frightful blow and a shipful of +human beings were flung violently in all directions, many never to rise +again. The _Tempest Queen_ had struck! The last chance was gone! + +"My God!" groaned the captain. "It's all over!" Then he roared: "All +hands! All hands! Stations! To the boats! Stand back there! +Women first!" + +Ridgeway, dimly realizing that the end had come, staggered to his feet +and instinctively reached for the body of the woman who lay before him. +He did not know that she was conscious, nor did he know whether the ship +was afloat or sinking. A gigantic wave swept over her, tons of water +pouring in upon them. Blankly he dragged her to the opening which led to +the watery deck, clinging to a railing with all his might. He was +gasping for breath, his life almost crushed out of his body. It +required all his strength to drag the limp form safely away from the +passage, through which now poured their crazed companions, rushing +headlong into the sea. + +"In the name of God what shall we do?" he heard a hoarse voice shout in +his ear. It was Veath, also burdened with the helpless form of a woman. + +"It is death here and death there. I am going to trust to the life +preservers," gasped Ridgeway, as another wave struck. The constant +crackling and crashing told him that the Tempest Queen was being +ground to pieces on the rock and that she had but a few minutes to live. + +"Wait, Hugh, we may get off in a boat," cried the other, but he was not +heard. Hugh was in the sea! + +Just as Veath began his anguished remonstrance the ship gave a +tremendous lurch, an overpowering wave hurled itself upon the frail +shell and Hugh Ridgeway's frenzied grasp on the rail was broken. When he +saw that he was going, he threw both arms about the girl he had brought +to this awful fate, and, murmuring a prayer, whirled away with the +waters over the battered deck-house and into the black depths. + +They shot downward into the sea and then came to the hideous surface, +more dead than alive. His one thought was that nobody in the world would +ever know what had become of Hugh Ridgeway and Grace Vernon. + + + +Chapter XVI + +THE NIGHT AND THE MORNING + +Gasping for breath, blinded, terrified beyond all imagination, crying to +God from his heart, Hugh gave up all hope. Fathoms of water beneath +them, turbulent and gleeful in the furious dance of destruction; +mountains of water above them, roaring, swishing, growling out the +horrid symphony of death! High on the crest of the wave they soared, +down into the chasm they fell, only to shoot upward again, whirling like +feathers in the air. + +Something bumped violently against Ridgeway's side, and, with the +instinct of a drowning man, he grasped for the object as it rushed away. +A huge section of the bowsprit was in his grasp and a cry of hope arose +in his soul. With this respite came the feeling, strong and enduring, +that he was not to die. That ever-existing spirit of confidence, baffled +in one moment, flashes back into the hearts of all men when the faintest +sign of hope appears, even though death has already begun to close his +hand upon them. Nature grasps for the weakest straw and clings to life +with an assurance that is sublime. The hope that comes just before the +end is the strongest hope of all. + +"For God's sake, be brave, darling! Cling tight and be careful when you +breathe," he managed to cry in her ear. There was no answer, but he felt +that she had heard. + +The night was so black that he could not see the spar to which he clung. +At no time could he see more than the fitful gleam of dark water as some +mysterious glimmer was produced by the weird machinery of the air. He +could hear the roar of the mighty waves, could feel the uplifting power +and the dash downward from seemingly improbable heights, but he could +not see the cauldron in which they were dancing. + +It was fortunate that he could not, for a single glimpse of that sea in +all its fury would have terrified him beyond control. In sheer despair +he would have given up the infinitesimal claim he had for salvation and +welcomed death from the smothering tons, now so bravely battled against. + +The girl to whom he clung and whose rigid clasp was still about his neck +had not spoken, and scarcely breathed since the plunge into the sea. At +times he felt utterly alone in the darkness, so death-like was her +silence. But for an occasional spasmodic indication of fear as they and +their spar shot downward from some unusual elevation, he might have +believed that he was drifting with a corpse. + +Rolling, tossing, dragging through the billows, clinging to the friendly +spar, Hugh Ridegway sped onward, his body stiff and sensationless, his +brain fogged and his heart dead with that of the girl to whom he clung +so desperately. At last the monstrous waves began to show their +outlines to his blinding eyes. The blackness of the dome above became +tinged with a discernible shade of ever-increasing brightness. A thrill +shot through his fagging soul as he realized that the long night was +ending and day was dawning. The sun was coming forth to show him +his grave. + +Slowly the brightness grew, and with it grew the most dreadful aspect +that ever fell upon the eye of man--the mighty sea in all its fury. +Suddenly, as he poised on the summit of a huge wave, something ahead +struck him as strange. A great mass seemed to rise from the ocean far +away, dim, indistinct, but still plain to the eye. With the next upward +sweep he strained his eyes in the waning darkness and again saw the vast +black, threatening, uneven mass. + +An uncanny terror enveloped him. What could the strange thing be that +appeared to be rushing toward him? As far as the eye could see on either +side stretched the misty shape. The sky grew brighter, a faint glow +became apparent ahead, spreading into a splendor whose perfection was +soon streaked with bars of red and yellow, racing higher and higher into +the dome above. His dull brain observed with wonder that the brightness +grew, not out of the sea, but beyond the great object ahead, and he was +more mystified than ever. The tiny, fiery beams seemed to spring from +the dark, ugly, menacing cloud, or whatever it might be. Finally he +realized that it was the sun coming into the heavens from the east, +and--his heart roared within him as he began to grasp the truth--the +great black mass was land! + +"Oh, God! It is land--land!" he tried to shriek. "Grace! Grace! Lookup! +See! The land!" + +The arms about his neck tightened sharply and a low moan came to his +ears. Slowly and painfully he turned his head to look at the face that +had been so near in all those awful hours of the night, unseen. His +heart seemed to stop beating with that moan, for it bore the +announcement that the dear one was still alive. + +It was still too dark to distinguish her features plainly. The face was +wet and slimy with the salt water; her hair was matted over the forehead +and wrapped in ugly strips about the once pretty face, now ghastly with +the signs of suffering, fear and--yes, death, he thought, as he strove +to see one familiar feature. + +Into his eyes came a quizzical stare that slowly changed to an intense +look of bewilderment. Gradually they grew wider with horror. + +The death-like face was not that of the girl he loved! + +While he gazed numbly, almost insanely, upon the closed eyelids, they +slowly opened and a pair of wild, dark eyes gazed despairingly into his, +expressive of timidity more than fear. The trembling lips parted, but +the effort to speak ended in a moan. Again the eyes closed and her arms +slipped from his neck. + +Every vestige of strength left him with this startling discovery and, +had his arm been anything but rigid with paralysis, she might have +drifted off with the billows, a fate which her voluntary action invited. + +A great wave rushed them violently forward and the next moment Ridgeway, +faint, bewildered, and unable to grasp the full force of the remarkable +ending to that night in the water, found himself, still grasping his +limp burden and the broken spar, washed far upon the sands. A second +wave swept them higher, and he realized, as he lay gasping on the edge +of the waters, that the vast ocean was behind him and the beautiful +woman he had rescued by mistake. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +WAS THE SEA KIND? + +He lost consciousness in the attempt to drag himself and his companion +farther up the beach. His arms and legs refused to move in response to +his efforts, and the last he remembered was that his body was stiff and +he was absolutely powerless. When he again opened his eyes he was lying +on a grassy sward with spreading green branches above him. For some +minutes he lay perfectly still, dimly sensible that he was alive, but +utterly unable to fix his whereabouts. Through his brain there still +roared the awful waves; in his eyes there still lingered the vision of +the sea as it was when dawn first developed the picture. + +Fearing that he could not lift his head, he rose to his trembling elbow. +His wide eyes swept the view before him. There was the sea not two +hundred yards down the slope, rushing and booming upon the stretch of +sand which reached within fifty feet of his grassy bed. Behind him grew +a forest of queer, tropical trees, the like of which he never had seen +before. His jacket had been rolled up as a pillow for his head; his +shoes and stockings were off, his shirt bosom unbuttoned. Two soggy life +preservers lay near by. + +At last he caught sight of a woman, alone, forlorn, the picture of +despondency. Far down the beach to his right there rose a rugged, stony +formation, extending into the sea and rising several hundred feet in the +air. At the base of this rocky promontory a multitude of great boulders +lay scattered, some quite large and jagged, others insignificant +in size. + +Upon one of the smaller stones, well up the slope, sat the figure of the +woman he had drugged from the sea and whom he had hated with his last +conscious breath. Her head was lying against the sheer wall that ran up +alongside, and he could tell that she was staring out toward the sea, +which roared against the rocks so close by that the spray must have +reached her feet. The distance to this rock was fully three hundred +yards. There was a fascination about her loneliness that held him +immovable for a long time. Finally he struggled to a sitting posture, +faint and dizzy. At the same moment she slowly turned her head and +looked in his direction. Half rising, she made a movement as if to come +toward him, first peering intently. Then she sank back upon the rock and +sent her gaze out to the sea again. + +With all the haste he could command he scrambled eagerly toward the +rocks, carrying the crumpled jacket in his hand. Not once did she take +her eyes from the breakers. Tired and faint, he at last came to the edge +of the rocky pile. Here his strength failed him and he sank trembling +with exhaustion upon the first friendly stone, still a hundred feet from +where she sat. In his bitter rage against her he strove to shout, but +the effort was little more than a hoarse whisper. Lying there +impotently, he studied her attitude as the minutes crept by, and there +came at last into his heart a touch of pity that swelled with the +sight of her. + +Pain-racked but determined, he again started toward the elevation, +crawling over and around the boulders that intervened. He was within +five feet of her before he spoke, and then not until he had studied her +face for some moments, steadying himself against a large rock. She was +more beautiful than ever with her black hair awry and matted, brushed +away from the pure white face and fastened recklessly with the shell +combs she had worn on board the _Tempest Queen_. Her blue eyes looked +mournfully from beneath their long lashes. The slender white hands lay +listlessly in the lap of the once white dress, now water-stained, +wrinkled and shapeless. In spite of all that dreadful buffeting by the +wind and water she was still the beautiful creation of nature he had +found so charming in a realm where nature seldom presents herself. + +"Lady Tennys," he called hoarsely. "You do not know how I thank God you +are alive." + +She turned slowly, as if she had known all along of his tortuous +approach. Her voice was low and thrilling. + +[Illustration: "'LADY TENNYS, ... YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW I THANK GOD YOU +ARE ALIVE'"] + +"I prayed for hours, it seemed, after we were dashed upon this shore, +that you might live and that I might die. The knowledge that you saved +me through mistake, that you were battling so long and so bravely all +through the night for the one you cherished more than all in the world, +made me pray from the first that I could be dead before you discovered +the horrid error. You picked me up when the crash came and I was too +terrified to even think of crying aloud in protest. Then we were in that +awful, awful water. It was not until hours afterward that I felt we +might escape find that I should have to face your grief." He reached up +and clasped her hand. + +"Don't--don't talk like that now," he groaned. "I hated you this +morning, but--God, it is a relief to have you here to share all this +with me. God threw us into the sea and He has saved us. I would to God I +could have gone down with--with her, but--but--" and he broke down, his +head falling upon his outstretched arms at her feet. A deep sob from +Lady Tennys caused him to lift his haggard eyes to hers. "It would have +been so much better than to live without her," he cried. + +"Why did you not let me go when you found who I was?" she cried almost +fiercely. "I wanted to drown, I was hungry to go to the bottom, to be +washed away to the end of the ocean, anywhere but here with you when you +thought you were saving her. You had forgotten that I existed until that +awful moment in the breakers. I heard her cry out to you as we went +overboard. All through the night I heard that cry of 'Hugh! Hugh!' It +was worse than the worst of deaths!" + +At the mention of Grace's piteous cry, even though heard in +imagination, Hugh sank limply to the rock, his mouth falling open and +his eyes bulging forth in agony. Every drop of blood in his veins seemed +frozen with the realization that he had deserted her in that hour when +she had most needed him, that he had left her to go down to death +without being by her side, that she had cried out to him for help,--had +reached out to him in agony. Crazed by a sudden impulse, he sprang to +his feet and glared out over the tumbling waves,--ever moving mountains +that reached as far as the eye could see. She arose also, trembling +and alarmed. + +"Where is she? Where is she?" he cried fiercely. "My God! Look at that +water! Grace, Grace! My darling, how could I have left you alone to die +in that hell of water! Let me come to you now, dearest. I will save you. +I will come! Hugh is coming, dearest! Look! She must be out there +somewhere. I can reach her if I try. I must go!" + +Insane with despair, he leaped to his feet and would have dashed down +the steep into the death-dealing breakers had not his companion, with a +sharp cry, clutched his arm. He turned fiercely, ready to strike her in +his frenzy. His glaring eyes met hers, sweet, wide, and imploring, and +their influence told at once upon him. A rush of quiet almost benumbed +him, so immediate was the reaction from violence to submission. + +"You must not do that!" she cried in horror. + +"Let me save her, for God's sake. I cannot leave her to the sea." + +"Be calm!" she wailed. "Hours ago I would have leaped into the sea +myself, but the thought came to me that she may not be lost after all. +There is something for you to live for." + +"There is nothing. She is lost," he cried. + +"As I stood here, I wondered if she might not have been saved as +miraculously as we. Wonder grew into hope and hope took the shape of +possibility. Hugh, she may be alive and as safe as we!" + +His eyes brightened like a flash; his breath came quickly; he tried to +speak, but could not for the joy of hope. + +"The hope that she may have been saved and may yet be given back to you +kept me from ending the life that did not belong to me, but to her. Hugh +Ridgeway, I have spent a thousand years on these rocks, trying to find +courage to live. But for me she would be standing here with you. You +would have saved her had I not been in the way last night," she +whispered. He could see that she suffered, but he was again blind to +everything but his own great despair. + +"Yes," he cried savagely, "but for you I would have saved her. Oh, I +could curse you--curse you!" She shrank back with a low moan, covering +her eyes with her hands. + +"Don't say that!" she murmured piteously. "I would to God I could have +gone down with the ship." His eyes softened and a wave of remorse +swept over him. + +"Forgive me," he groaned, "I am mad or I could not have said that to +you. I did not mean it." He placed his hand on hers, clasping the +fingers firmly. "Forget that I spoke so cruelly. I devoutly thank God +that your life was spared. We both loved the one who was left behind." + +She glanced down at his face doubtingly, unbelievingly, at first. Then a +gleam of joy flooded her tired eyes, illumined her face. Sinking down +beside him, she placed her head upon his shoulder and wept softly. He +did not move from his position on the rock below. His heart was full of +tenderness for the living and grief for the dead. His eyes stared out +over the sea wistfully. + +"I cannot look at that water!" he suddenly shrieked, drawing back in +abject terror. "It is horrible! Horrible!" + +He left her side and dashed madly away, strength having come with sudden +abhorrence. She looked after him in alarm, her eyes wide with the fear +that he was bereft of reason. Down the rocks and up the beach he fled, +disappearing among the strangely shaped trees and underbrush that marked +the outskirts of the jungle. Again she leaned back against the rock and +looked at the unfriendly billows beyond, a feeling that she sat deserted +forever on that barren shore plunging her soul into the very lowest pits +of wretchedness. + +Hours afterward he crept painfully from the cool, lonely jungle into +the bright glare of the beach,--calmer, more rational, cursing no more. +A shudder swept over him, a chill penetrated to the marrow of his bones +as he looked again upon the sea. His eyes sought the rocks upon which he +had left her; his heart was full of an eagerness to comfort her and be +comforted in return. + +She still sat upon the rock and he hurried toward her. As on his first +approach, she did not move. When he drew quite close, he discovered that +she was lying limply back against the supporting boulder. The fear that +she was dead and that he was left alone almost struck him to the ground. +He reached her side, pale and panting, and then breathed a prayer of +rejoicing. + +Lady Tennys, her dark lashes resting tranquilly upon her cheek, was +lying easily against the staunch old rock, fast asleep. + + + +Chapter XVIII + +THE WONDERFUL LAND + +He did not arouse her at once, but sat below her, looking at her sweet, +tired face, peaceful in the slumber that had been so long in coming, +wondering what her dreams could be. Far down the shore, near the tree +under which he had found himself and to whose shelter she had dragged +him,--something told him vaguely,--was the spar that had ridden the +waves with them the night before. Long, white and gleaming it lay in the +waning sunlight. The sight of it filled him with an enthusiasm he never +had known before. His heart swelled with homage to the strong, sturdy +piece of timber. It was like a living object to him now, a friend to +whom he felt like talking, to whom he could turn for proof positive of +an unparalleled experience on the deep. + +His eyes grew sad and gloomy as he turned toward the setting king of +day. In his imagination, the _Tempest Queen,_ with all on board, went +down precisely at the point chosen by the sun for his disappearance. + +Night coming! Where were they? Upon an unknown shore, Heaven alone +knowing how far from habitation, from all shelter save the tree-tops, +from all means of sustenance. Night coming! Behind them the mysterious +jungle, before them the devil-brewed ocean. + +A chilly perspiration broke out over him; a fear even worse than that of +the night before attacked him. How far were they from human habitation? +What manner of people dwelt in this land? As these thoughts tumbled +about in his brain, suddenly came the implacable desire for water. It +seemed days since he had tasted it. Like a flash, nature began its +demands, and he was almost overcome by the prospect of night on the +rocks with no possible hope to find the food and water now so necessary. + +Lady Tennys slept on, untouched by the calamities that beset him, her +breast rising full and regularly. As he looked upon her lovely face the +spirit of chivalry returned. She had thought of him in his +unconsciousness and she had been brave and true. Bound by a new +determination to find food and water for her and to provide other +shelter than the draughty crannies among the rocks, he painfully started +up the slope toward the edge of the forest. Soon he stood upon the +broad, smooth plateau, looking into the green, sunless depths. + +Behind him lay the beach and the fringe of the jungle; to seaward rose +the rocky point full two hundred feet higher than the spot on which he +stood, panting for breath; to his right, descending gradually, ran the +lofty hill to a place, not more than a quarter of a mile away, where it +merged into the forest. The ridge on which he stood was not more than +one hundred feet wide, a flat, narrow, sloping table. Filled with +curiosity, he strode to the opposite side and found himself upon the +edge of a sharp decline, almost perpendicular in its fall to the valley +below, which was apparently lower than the beach from which he had come. + +As far as the eye could reach inland there was a mass of bright green +trees, luxuriant and beautiful. Below him was water, a natural harbor of +tiny dimensions, running back from the sea which lay off to the far +right as he faced the head of this peculiar elevation. Plain to his eye +was the contour of this great rock. It resembled the letter L. Along the +sea line it stretched high and ugly for nearly a mile, a solid wall, he +imagined, some three hundred feet above the water, narrow at the top, +like a great backbone. The little cove below him was perhaps a mile +across. The opposite shore was low and verdure-clad. The rocky eminence +that formed the wall on two sides was the only high ground to be seen +for miles around. + +Down the slope he sped, dusky shadows beginning to tell of the coming +night. His feet finally touched upon the grass-covered soil; he was off +the barren rock and at the edge of the dismal forest. Without a quiver +he hurried under the great leaves and among the trees. The ground sloped +gently downward to the now invisible harbor. He turned in that +direction. Monkeys chattered in the trees and strange birds hurtled +through the dense growth. His foot struck against a queer green object +and an instant later he gave a shout of joy. It was a cocoanut, green +and smooth. + +Food! In an instant he realized that he had found something that could +appease the cravings of hunger for the time being, at least. He searched +eagerly, feverishly in the matted grass, and soon had a dozen great nuts +piled at the edge of the wood. Then he renewed his search for the water +that must keep life in their famished bodies. + +The lapping of waves grew louder as he pushed his way through the trees, +and a moment later he narrowly escaped plunging into the waters of the +shimmering little bay. The coast was semicircular in shape, rising high +and black to his left, running low and green to his right. Not one +hundred feet to the left were the first signs of the rocky promontory, +small, jagged boulders standing like a picket line before the grout mass +beyond. Along the rocky side of the wall, sonic distance away, he saw an +overhanging shelf of dark gray stone, protruding over the natural floor +beneath. An inky darkness back of the projection impressed him with the +idea that a cave lay beyond. + +At his feet trickled a little stream of clear, sparkling water, coming +from the crevasse above, the headquarters of a spring. He fell upon his +knees and plunged his hot face into the cool water, swallowing +great gulps. + +When he arose to his feet everything looked brighter, fairer, happier. +The scene, gorgeous a few moments before, was now more than that to his +revived senses. A desire to shout jubilantly came over him. With an +exultation that he could scarcely control he dashed on up the +sand-strewn ledge toward the awning-like rock. + +He found that a roomy cave ran back into the hill a dozen feet or more. +Its floor was covered with fine white sand, thrown up from the beach +during the wind storms, and it was a most perfect shelter,--this hole +fifty feet above the placid waters. + +Darkness was coming, so he ran back to the little rivulet. In a broken +cocoanut shell he secured some fresh water and began his journey to the +other side of the ridge. The sun was down to the level of the sea when +he came from the rocks and within sight of the spot where he had left +his fair companion. + +She was not there! + +A great trembling fear assailed him and he sank back with a groan of +despair. Then he heard his name called faintly and piteously. + +"Here I am!" he cried. "Where are you?" A glad cry arose from below, and +he saw her coming rapidly from the small boulders near the water, some +distance to the left. He hurried to meet her. + +"Oh, I thought you had left me to die up there," she gasped as they drew +near to each other. "Mr. Ridgeway--Hugh, I am so glad you have come." + +"You were asleep when I came back an hour ago. See? I have found water. +Drink!" With one hand he reached down and took hers, eagerly +upstretched, drawing her to the rock on which he stood. She gulped the +contents of the shell with the haste of one half famished. + +"How good!" she cried, with eyes sparkling as she took the empty shell +from her moist lips. "I was so thirsty that I tried to drink that bitter +stuff down there. How horrible it must be to die of thirst. Can we find +food, Hugh? Is there nothing to eat? I am so hungry, so hungry." The +sparkle faded from her eyes and a look of pain filled them. + +"I have found cocoanuts on the other side of the hill. We can make them +serve until I have a chance to look farther. Come. We must hurry, or the +night will make it impossible for us to cross this hill and find +the cave." + +"Cave?" + +"A wonderful shelter for the night. Can you walk that far? It will not +be difficult after we reach the top of this little mountain." + +Together they began the tortuous ascent, following as closely as +possible the course he had taken. They were scarcely able to stand when +they at last reached the top. Neither saw the beauty in the view, so +eager were they to find rest and nourishment. As they passed painfully +down the slope, he told her of the monkeys, the nuts, the cave, the +rivulet, and the splendor of the scene, cheering her lagging spirits +with what animation he could assume. A few chattering monkeys welcomed +them to the woodland, and she was momentarily aroused to interest in her +surroundings, uttering little cries of delight. They came to the pile +of nuts, and he took up several in his free arm. The cave was reached at +last and both sank exhausted to the white sand. It was now so dark that +the stars were gathering above them and objects were indistinct to +the vision. + +"Thank God!" he exclaimed, lying flat on his back, his arms +outstretched. + +"I am so tired," she murmured, her head drooping against the wall as she +seated herself near the opening. After many minutes he began the task of +opening the cocoanuts. + +"To-morrow I shall go hunting for something more substantial than these +nuts. There must be fruit, berries and vegetables of some kind in the +forest," said he. + +"How are we to get away from here, Hugh?" she asked. "Where are we? This +may be an uninhabited island, and we may have to stay here all of our +lives." There was an awe in her voice, and he could imagine that the +prospect brought horror to her face. By this time it was almost +pitch dark. + +"Have I not found food, water and shelter within an hour's time? Can +good fortune end with this? Let us sleep peacefully to-night and hope +for the best with to-morrow's developments." + +"Sleep? Where are we to sleep?" + +"In this cave and upon the sand. There is no other place. It is safe, +Lady Tennys, and you are to have my coat as a pillow for that tired +little head of yours." With this he arose and threw off his coat +despite her protests, rolling it into a compact little bundle. Placing +this improvised pillow on the sand near the rear of the cave, he said: + +"There is your bed, my Lady. It is the very best in the hotel." + +"You are so good to me, Hugh,--much better than I thought you could be +after--after--" + +"Please don't say what you started to say," he interrupted, his voice +breaking suddenly. He stood with his shoulder against one of the outer +corners of the cave, she sitting quietly behind him. At last he went on, +as if the thought came slowly, "Lady Huntingford, forgive my +selfishness. I have been bewailing my own misfortune in a most unmanly +way, while you have borne your loss bravely, thinking only to comfort +me. Forgive me." + +"My loss?" she asked in wonder. + +"Lord Huntingford," he said gently. + +"Oh!" she exclaimed, starting sharply. "Lord--Lord Huntingford! Oh, +Hugh, I had forgotten--I had not thought--," but she did not complete +the bewildered speech. He could have believed that she did not breathe +during the next few moments as she stood there, straight and rigid, +clasping his arm convulsively. Then she turned away and walked quickly +to the bed on the sand, lying down without a word. He could distinguish +nothing of her person save certain outlines in the darkness, and +although he listened intently, he heard no sob, no sigh. + +Soon his eyes grew heavy and he felt the overpowering force of sleep +upon him. Removing his waistcoat, he went to the other side of the cave +and prepared to stretch himself out for rest. He paused and listened for +a sound from her. None came, so in some trepidation he stepped nearer. +Soft, regular breathing, deep and full, told him that she was asleep. In +considerable wonder he went back to his hard bed. Out of the confusion +of thoughts and impressions that followed her surprising admission, came +at last the dim, sleepy understanding of the situation. + +She had not thought of Lord Huntingford until he mentioned the old +nobleman's name. + +With the last faint whirl of wakefulness came the suggestion of roaming +wild beasts, creeping up to attack them in the night, but sleep greedily +swallowed the half-formed fear. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE FIRST DAY IN THE WILDS + +The sun was up hours before Ridgeway stretched his stiff arms, blinked +his sleepy eyes and peered wonderingly about his strange apartment. +Another and more rapid glance failed to reveal Lady Tennys. His jacket +was still there, and a round depression showed that her head had rested +upon it all night. The packed sand denoted the once present body of +the sleeper. + +"Good-morning," came a sweet, clear voice from somewhere. + +"Hello! Where are you?" he called, greatly relieved. + +"In the kitchen, of course, getting breakfast for you. The kitchen is +down at the spring, you know. Come down." + +He hurried down the path, and found her standing beside the bounding +little stream. Her wavy black hair was no longer matted and wild, for, +with the water in the cove as a mirror and her big hair comb as the +necessary toilet article, she had "done it up" in quite a presentable +fashion. Her face was bright and pure in its freshness, her hands were +white and immaculately clean; her eyes sparkled with a deeper, clearer +blue than ever. She wore an air of resolute confidence in herself. + +"I have been up for two hours or more. See how nice and clean I am. Go +down there and wash your hands and face and I will comb your hair." She +produced an improvised clothes broom, a stout leafy branch from a +cocoanut-tree, and swished the sand from his clothing as he turned about +for her obediently. + +"These clothes of mine are full of sand and scum from the sea, but +before the day is over I intend to give them a good scrubbing and +drying. Then I'll feel like a new man. But wait! This may be Sunday, not +Monday. Can't wash on Sunday, can I? Let's see, the wreck was on +Thursday night, yesterday was Friday and--" + +"And to-day is Saturday naturally. We must have clean clothes for +Sunday. Our parlor, kitchen, and laundry are in the same room, it would +seem. Here's a pile of cocoanuts I collected while you slept, and there +are some plums or fruit of some kind. They grow back there in the wood a +short distance. I saw some gorgeous birds out there, and they were +eating the fruit, so it must be wholesome. And those dear, saucy little +monkeys! I could watch them for hours." + +"Did you run across any boa constrictors or anacondas?" asked he +serenely. + +"Good Heavens! I never thought of snakes. There may be dreadful serpents +in that forest, Hugh." Her eyes were full of alarm. + +"I merely asked your Ladyship in order to keep the cook in her +kitchen," laughed he. + +"An afternoon out is not a luxury in this land, even for the most cooped +up of cooks. Snakes! Ugh!" Hugh thought she shuddered very prettily. + +"Breakfast will be cold if I don't hurry," he observed. He made his way +around the rocky bend to the point where the rivulet emptied into the +cove. When he returned to the shady spot he was put to work opening +cocoanuts and pouring the milk into the shells of others. She had +cleaned the flat surface of a large rock which stood well out from the +lower edge of the cliff, and signified her intention to use it as a +dining table. He became enthusiastic and, by the exertion of all the +strength he could muster, succeeded in rolling two boulders down the +incline, placing them in position as stools beside the queer table. Then +they stood off and laughed at the remarkable set of furniture. + +"I wonder what time it is?" she said as they began to eat. He pulled his +forgotten repeater from his watch pocket and opened it with considerable +apprehension. It was not running, nor did it appear as if it would ever +be of service again. + +"How are we ever to know the time of day?" she cried. + +"I'll try to fix it. It is only water-clogged. My little compass on the +charm is all right and it will give us our bearings, north and south, so +that I can get the time by the sun. I'll drive a little stake out there +on the level, and when the shadow is precisely north and south, then it +is noon. It's all very simple, Lady Tennyson." + +"I'm only the cook, Hugh. Won't you please call me Tennys?" + +"Thank you; it's such a waste of time to say Lady Tennyson. Shall I +order dinner, cook?" + +"We'll have a ten-course dinner, sir, of cocoanuts and plums, sir, if +you please, sir." + +"Breakfast warmed over, I see," he murmured, gazing resignedly toward +the trees. Later on he managed to get some life into his watch and +eventually it gave promise of faithful work. He set the hands at twelve +o'clock. It was broiling hot by this time, and he was thoughtful enough +to construct a poke-bonnet for her, utilizing a huge palm leaf. Proudly +he placed the green protector upon her black hair. Then, looking into +her smiling eyes, he tied the grass cord under her up-tilted chin. + +"Perfect!" she cried, with genuine pleasure. "You must make another for +yourself." Whether he took it as a command or as a request matters not. +Suffice it to say, he soon produced another palm-leaf hat, and she tied +it under his chin a great deal more deftly than he had performed the +same service for her, consequently with a speed that disappointed him. + +He decided to make a short tour of the wood during the afternoon. At +first he argued it would be wise to walk far down the coast, in the hope +of finding a village of some description along the water front. Then he +decided that a trip to the north, through the wood, would be better, as +the lower coast could be surveyed from the summit of the great rock. + +"You are not afraid to stay here alone for a couple of hours, are you, +Tennys?" he asked, discerning solicitude in her face. + +"I am not afraid for myself, but for you. You must be very careful, +Hugh, and come back to me safely. What can I do? What shall I do if you +never come back?" she cried. + +"Nothing can happen to me--nothing in the world. See, it's nearly one +o'clock now. I'll be back by five. And I'll be careful, so do not be +troubled. We must find the way out of this wilderness. Be brave and I'll +soon be with you again." + +He was soon in the depths of the forest, skirting the little bay toward +the north. She stood beside their stone festal board, watching him +through uneasy eyes till he disappeared completely from view. A sense of +loneliness so overpowering that it almost crushed her fell upon this +frail, tender woman as she stood there on the edge of the South Sea +jungle, the boundless sea at her back. The luxuries and joys of a life +to which she had been accustomed came up in a great flash before her +memory's eye, almost maddening in their seductiveness. She glanced at +the dress she wore, and a faint, weary smile came to her eyes and lips. +Instead of the white, perfect yachting costume, she saw the wretched, +shrunken, stained, shapeless garment that to her eyes would have looked +appalling on the frame of a mendicant. Her costly shoes, once small and +exquisitely moulded to her aristocratic feet, were now soiled and ugly. + +From the palace to the jungle! From the wealth of fashion to the poverty +of nature! From the scores of titled admirers to the single brave +American who shared life with her on the bleak rock, mourning for a love +that might never be restored by the unkind depths. A vision of yesterday +and to-day! Turning to the sea, she breathed a prayer for the salvation +of Grace Vernon, her eyes dimming as she thought of the blithe, cheery +girl who had become so dear to her, and who was all the world to +Hugh Ridgeway. + +Her thoughts went then to Lord Huntingford, her husband. There was scant +regret in her heart over the fate of the old nobleman. She was not cruel +enough to rejoice, but there was a certain feeling of relief which she +could not quell, try as she would, in the belief that he had gone down +to death and a younger, nobler man spared. The last she saw of her +husband was when he broke past the officers and plunged out upon the +deck, leaving her to her fate. That he had been instantly swept +overboard she had no doubt. All she could remember of her thoughts at +that thrilling moment was the brief, womanly cry for mercy to his soul. +After that came the lurch which prostrated her, and then Ridgeway's cry, +"Be brave, dearest!" + +Bitter tears streamed down her cheeks as she thought of the +strong-hearted Veath and the forsaken American girl--and all of the +others in that merry company. It was not in such anguish as this that +she summed up her individual loss. + +Ridgeway was soon in the thick of the jungle. For two or three hours he +plunged through beautiful glades, over swelling knolls, across tiny +streams, but always through a waste of nature that, to all appearance, +had never been touched by a human being save himself. + +At last he dropped wearily upon a grassy mound and resigned himself to +the conviction that they had been swept upon an absolutely unexplored, +perhaps undiscovered, portion of the globe. It did not occur to his +discouraged mind that he had covered less than five miles of what might +be a comparatively small piece of uninhabited land and that somewhere +not far distant lay the civilization for which he sought. His despairing +mind magnified the horrors of their position to such an extent that he +actually wondered how long it would be before death broke down their +feeble resistance. Arising despondently, he turned his steps in the +direction of the little cave. + +It was not long before he reached a small sandy stretch about five +hundred yards from the spot where he had left Lady Tennys. Little waves +licked the short strip of sand lazily, seeming to invite him down to +meet them on their approach from the big sea whose tidings of woe they +bore. High, dark and ominous loomed the great rock on the south. He +could not see the cave or the rivulet on account of obstructing trees +and a curve in the shore, so he walked down to the very edge of the +water, expecting to obtain a view from that point. + +A startling discovery flashed upon him as he strode upon the beach. +There, in the white, soft sand were plainly revealed the footprints of a +bare human foot. He rubbed his eyes and gazed again. Before him were a +number of small footprints, running to and from the water. In a dazed, +wondering way he sought to follow them, eventually finding where a +single line of tracks led directly toward a clump of trees to his left. +At the edge of this he found a confusion of bewildering barefoot moulds, +mixed with others unquestionably made by a shoe on the foot of a +civilized person. Hurrying through the trees, fearful that savages had +attacked Lady Tennys at this place, he was suddenly confronted by a +spectacle that made him gasp. Down at the water's edge, over near the +place where he had left her, he saw white garments spread upon the +rocks. She was nowhere to be seen. Like a flash the truth came to him, +and he looked at his watch in consternation. It was but three-thirty +o'clock. He had told her he would be away until five or after. + +Turning about, he dashed back into the depths of the wood. It was after +five when he again approached the rendezvous, carrying a quantity of +plums and other fruits and a number of gaudy feathers that he had +found. Away back in the wood he began to shout to her, long before he +was in sight of the hill. She answered cheerily, venturing into the wood +to meet him. Her clothes were white, clean, even shapely. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE SIGN OF DISTRESS + +The next morning before she was awake he arose and made a tour of the +beach in quest of shell fish, took a plunge in the cool waters of the +bay, and again inspected the little footprints in the sand. He smiled as +he placed his own foot, a number nine, beside the dainty imprint. On his +way back to the cave he killed a huge turtle, the meat of which he +promised should keep them alive for several days, if nothing better +could be found. As he turned the bend he saw her standing on the ledge +at the mouth of the cave, the wind blowing her hair and skirts freely. +He called to her, and she turned her face eagerly in his direction. They +met among the trees some distance from the spring. + +"Where have you been?" she cried, her cheeks glowing. + +"Hunting wild beasts," he replied valiantly. + +"Pooh! Wild flowers, you mean. I thought perhaps you had gone off to +join the monkeys for an old-time frolic in the trees." + +"You won't be so frivolous when I tell you of the narrow escape I have +had. See that trusty club? See the blood on it?" They were standing +close to each other as he held up the blood-spattered stick. + +"Oh, Hugh," she gasped, "is it blood?" + +"Life's blood," he answered laconically. + +"Not yours, Hugh? You are not hurt?" she cried. + +"This is the beast's blood, Tennys. I am not so much as scratched, but +it was a frightful encounter," he went on, with well-assumed gravity. + +"Tell me about it. Where was it? What was it? Tell me everything," she +begged. He took her arm and together they proceeded toward their +wild home. + +"After breakfast I'll take you around the bend and prove to you my +valor." + +"But I cannot wait and, besides, you have proved your valor. Do tell me +where the blood came from." + +"That awful thing plunged from the underbrush upon me so suddenly that I +was almost paralyzed," he said soberly. "I didn't have much time to +think, and I don't know what I should have done if it had not been for +this excellent club, which I had cut for a rather inglorious purpose. +With one of the very best strokes a golfer ever made I cracked +his skull." + +"His skull!" + +"Likewise his neck. Then I cut his throat." + +"Oh, Hugh!" breathlessly. + +"And I'm going back after breakfast to carve him up into roasts, steaks +and soups enough to last us for a month." + +"Oh, it must have been something gigantic. Was it a rhinoceros?" she +cried ecstatically. + +"Rhinoceros soup!" he exclaimed in disgust. She was properly contrite. +"I'll tell you what I killed, if you'll promise to endure the shock--and +not tell any one else." He placed his lips close to her little ear and +whispered in awe-struck tones, "A turtle!" + +"A turtle! Why, a baby could kill a turtle. You are no longer a hero. +Enough to last a month! Hugh Ridgeway, are you delirious?" she exclaimed +in fine scorn. + +"Wait till you see him. He weighs a ton," he said proudly. + +After their breakfast of nuts, fruit and water they started for the +little beach, Lady Tennys vastly excited. Her exclamations on seeing the +sea monster amused Hugh beyond measure. + +"I never dreamed a turtle could be so immense," she cried. "This one +must be a thousand years old." + +"If he is, we'll have tough steaks," observed he grimly. Later on he +carved several fine steaks from the turtle and cleaned the upper shell +carefully, wisely concluding to retain it for the usefulness it was sure +to afford sooner or later. "There is one thing to be done," said he, +when they sat down to rest. "I must climb up that mountain and plant a +white flag to show that we are here if a ship should pass. I'll do that +as soon as I have rested, provided I can find anything white that is +large enough to be seen from a distance." + +She looked far out over the harbor for a minute, a tinge of red running +to her ears. + +"A handkerchief would be too small, wouldn't it?" she asked. + +"I'm afraid so," he answered glumly. + +Soon afterward she left him and went to the cave, bidding him to await +her return. When she came back she carried in her hand a broad piece of +white cloth, which she laid before him on the grass. There was a look of +modest reluctance in her eyes when he glanced quickly up at them. A +cherished underskirt, ripped ruthlessly from waistband to ruffle, making +one broad white flag of the finest texture, was her offering. + +"Use that, Hugh." She could not resist smiling as she pointed to it. + +"It will be the very thing," he said, arising and taking the garment +from the ground somewhat carefully. + +"It won't hurt you," she said, laughing frankly; whereupon he waved it +rudely above his head and pointed to the pinnacle of the rock. + +"With this I shall scale the rock and skirt the bay!" + +Within ten minutes he was on his way up the incline, carrying his stout +stick in his hand, another heavier and stronger one being bound to his +back with the white signal attached. She accompanied him to the point +where the ascent became difficult and full of danger. + +"Be careful, Hugh," she said; "it looks so dangerous. If you find there +is any possibility of falling, don't attempt to go to the top. You are +so daring, you Americans, that you do not recognize peril at all Promise +me, or I shall not allow you to go on." + +He looked down into her serious upturned eyes and promised. Then he +resumed the ascent, with a queer flutter of adulation in his heart. + +From time to time he paused to rest. In each instance he looked below, +waving his hand encouragingly to the anxious one who watched him so +closely. On, over fierce crags, around grim towers, along steep walls, +higher and higher he crawled. Twice he slipped and fell back several +feet. When he glanced down, cold perspiration standing on his forehead, +he saw her bending with averted face, her hands pressed to her eyes as +if she expected his body to come crashing to her feet. With recovered +energy he shouted to her, and the quick, glad glance upward was enough +to make the remainder of the ascent glorious to him. At last, his hands +and knees bleeding, he crawled upon the small, flat top of the mountain, +five hundred feet above the breakers, three hundred feet above the woman +he had left behind. + +The sea wind whistled in his ears as he arose to his feet. His knees +trembled and he grew momentarily dizzy as he looked out over the vast, +blue plain before him. Fear seized upon him; there came a wild desire to +plant his flag and hurry from the death-like summit. Sitting down, he +nervously unfastened the pole and flag, looking about as he did so for a +place to plant the beacon. For one moment his heart sank only to bound +with joy in the next. Almost at his elbow ran a crevasse in the rock, +deep and narrow. It was but an instant's work to jam the pole into this +crevasse, and the white flag was fluttering to the breeze. He was +certain it would be days before the winds could whip it to shreds. + +A feeling of helplessness and dismay came over him as he gave thought to +the descent. In his eagerness to begin the hazardous attempt, he almost +forgot the chief object of his climb to the top--the survey of the +surrounding country. As far as he could see there stretched the carpet +of forest land, the streak of beach and the expanse of water. In the +view there was not one atom of proof that humanity existed within a +radius of many miles. Growing calmer, he scanned the wonderful scene +closely, intently, hoping to discover the faintest trace of aught save +vegetable life, all without reward. He was about to begin the descent +when a faint cry came to him from far below. Clinging to the edge of the +topmost rock, he looked downward. + +Lady Tennys was pointing excitedly toward the little bay on his left. A +single glance in that direction filled him with amazement, then +consternation. Recklessly he entered upon the descent. Obstacles that +had seemed impassable as he thought of them on the summit were passed +safely and hurriedly. + +How he reached her side so quickly, he could not have explained if he +tried, but in less than five minutes he stood with her, clasping her +hand and looking anxiously toward the sands on which the great back of +the turtle lay upward to the sun. + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +GODS FROM THE SEA + +Drawn up to the beach were three long canoes, near which were nearly a +score of brown-skinned, almost wholly naked savages, with spears, +shields and war clubs. They were excitedly inspecting the footprints in +the sand. Hugh and Lady Tennys looked down upon this startling picture +in speechless concern. + +"Where did they come from?" whispered he. + +"I did not see them until they were beaching the boats," replied his +white-faced companion. "Do you think they have seen us?" + +"Hardly, but they will begin a search at once. See, they are now +starting to follow those tracks. By Heaven, they'll find us, and what +chance have we against them? Good Lord, this pocket knife is worse than +nothing. We must hide,--and quickly, too." + +"Where can we go, Hugh? Where can we go?" she cried, panic-stricken. + +"We must climb up among the crags and lie down. They can't see us there, +and they certainly can't track us over that stone plateau. Quick! We +have no time to lose." + +He fairly pushed her ahead of him, up to the row, of sharp, jutting +stones. In an instant they were completely obscured from view. + +"I'd rather leap off this rock into the sea than be captured by those +horrible things," she half sobbed. "Hugh, do you think they would +eat us?" + +"The Lord knows. I can see them down there holding a consultation. Move +over here and you can see the whole valley. Don't be afraid; they can't +see us." She moved over timidly. Crouching side by side they watched the +operations below. The visitors, evidently mystified by the footprints, +were huddled together, gesticulating wildly. They ran hither and thither +like so many ants, minutely examining the mysterious tracks. After a +long time Hugh gave vent to an exclamation. + +"By George! I know what's the matter. They can't understand the prints +of our shoes. Our naked footprints are clear enough to them, but I'll +bet my soul they've never seen an impression made by a shoe. They are +your and my footprints, you know, with and without shoes." + +"Mine? Why, Hugh Ridgeway, I--never--oh, I never thought!" she +exclaimed, deeply embarrassed after her first expression of wonder and +incredulity. Then she leaned forward and strained her eyes as if +expecting to see the slender little bottoms of her feet in the tell-tale +sand. At that moment the brown band divided into squads, a half dozen +coming toward the mountain, the others remaining with the boats. + +"They are after us, Tennys. I have no weapon but this club, but I will +use it as long as I can stand. I'll protect you to the last. If they +kill me, the only thing left for you to do is to crawl to the ledge over +there and jump off. We must not be taken." + +She felt a strange sense of confidence and security in the broad back of +the man beside her. His jaw was set. His cheeks pale, his eyes burning +with the intensity that thrilled his whole being. The strong white hand +clutched the club fiercely. He was no longer the light-hearted, +inconsequent youth she had known on board the ship. + +The brown figures came into sight again, flitting here and there, +pausing in wonder beside the stone table, inspecting the cracked nuts +critically, and closely examining the ground on all sides. At last four +or five of them sped up the ledge to the cave. + +"They have found our hotel," said Hugh grimly. She gulped and could do +no more than nod. + +A tall fellow with a long spear and a huge shield, stripped to the +loins, about which was a white cloth, ventured up the slope. Suddenly he +halted and called his companions to his side. He had found a footprint +in a bit of sand on the rocky surface. Without more ado the squad +scattered and began the ascent, each man eyeing the ground eagerly. +Occasionally those nearest the centre would pause and point to a track. +"The good Lord help us!" murmured Ridgeway. + +Both were fascinated by the approach of the savages. It was not until +they were within a hundred feet of them that Hugh bethought himself and +drew her back, entirely out of sight. At least, he thought she could not +be seen, but he was mistaken. A portion of her white dress protruded, +and a triumphant yell announced the fact that it had met the eyes of a +searcher. Wondering what had caused the sudden yell, Hugh peered around +the corner of the rock, and to his dismay found the whole band staring +at their hiding place. + +"They have seen us," he cried. "Remember, Tennys, what I told you. It's +probably a case of fight on my part. Let 'em come, spears and all!" He +stood erect, his eyes flashing with excitement and eagerness. Taking a +few steps to one side, he stood in full view of the searchers, glaring +down upon them defiantly, his club in his rigid right hand. He expected +a shower of spears. To his utter amazement, however, the fierce-looking +warriors, open mouthed and apparently terror-stricken, slunk backward, +huddling together, all the time staring at him with bulging eyes. His +first thought was that they were surprised to find him so bold, but the +next act on their part caused him to gasp with wonder. + +With one accord the entire band cast weapons aside and fell face +downward, beating their heads against the rock, just as he had seen +Arabians and Nubians perform in saluting some mighty potentate. The +brown backs remained in that position for a full minute before he could +call his trembling companion to his side. + +"What does it mean?" whispered she at last. "Are they dead?" + +"They are really there, then? By George, I thought I was dreaming. +Tennys, they are actually doing us homage." + +"Then they are harmless," she cried joyously. + +"I believe I could go down and cut off their ears without hearing a +protest." + +"But you won't, will you?" + +"It would be barbarous, totally uncalled for, I'm sure. I can't +understand their warlike appearance, though. Those fellows look as if +they were out for blood." + +"Perhaps they are at war with some other tribe and not with the white +people. My hus--Lord Huntingford says they fight among themselves +incessantly." + +"That's it. It is a band of foragers, no doubt. But what are we going to +do about it?" Hugh was nonplussed. The brown backs and bobbing heads +still stretched before them in almost comical humbleness. + +"It may be a trick." + +"It stands us in hand to remain where we are until we know what they +intend to do next." + +"I hope they'll get up and go away." + +"I guess I'll yell down and ask them what they want." + +"I wouldn't, Hugh," she entreated. "If we leave them alone, they may go +away presently." He looked at her and laughed, for he was growing less +uneasy with each passing moment. + +"Hey, there!" he yelled. "How are you?" + +Slowly the head-bobbing ceased and dark faces were lifted toward the +elevation. For the first time the newcomers saw the beautiful face of +Lady Tennyson. They struggled to their feet, the tall chief stepping +forward with outstretched arms. Then in some wild gibberish he began to +speak, half to the white witnesses, half to the sky and sun. + +"What the dickens is he talking about?" murmured the mystified American. +"Perhaps he's asking us to surrender." + +"He is either appealing to the sun or praying to the sky," said his +companion. + +"I have it!" cried Hugh. "He thinks we are angels." Despite the gravity +of the moment she giggled delightedly. + +"Then we may as well sit down and await developments," she said a moment +later, as they observed the whole band go face downward on the sand +again--all save the chief. The white people seated themselves on the +ledge and watched the impassioned jabberer. Presently the prostrate +figures arose and in mute submission spread forth their arms and bent +their heads, standing like bronze statues in the glaring sunlight, all +to the increased astonishment of those who had expected to become +victims of their torture. + +"This beats all I ever knew," exclaimed Ridgeway. "It begins to look as +though they are either friendly or afraid of us. What shall we do?" + +"I will follow you, Hugh, if you think it best to go down to them. I do +not believe they will harm us." + +"We will go down to them, but we must not let them think we are in the +least afraid of them." + +With some anxiety and a decided feeling of insecurity they arose to take +the risk. Putting into use all the composure he could command, he +deliberately began the descent, turning to assist her Ladyship. + +"They are on the ground again, bobbing worse than ever," she whispered, +for his back was toward them. In a few minutes, after a descent made +more tortuous by the uncertainty of its ending, they found themselves on +a level with the huddled natives. Taking her hand in his left and +clutching his club nervously in his right, Hugh advanced slowly toward +the band. Every nerve in his body was quivering under the strain which +his apparent coolness cost. When within fifteen feet of the prostrate +figures they halted and Hugh cried out boldly: + +"Get up!" + +Instead of obeying the command instantly, the little band peeped slyly +at the strangers. Then they struggled to their feet, crowding into a +bunch, the picture of bewilderment. + +"By George, they look at us as if they never had seen white people +before," said Hugh. With stately tread he approached the now trembling, +shrinking natives, holding his left hand aloft to signify graciousness. +Lady Tennys walked beside him, a smile playing on her exceedingly pale +face. "My good friends, be not afraid," said he. The brown men looked at +each other in deeper wonder than before. + +The leader, a perfect giant, stepped forward hesitatingly, fairly +pushed on by his comrades. In an awed voice he gave utterance to a most +outlandish rattle of sound, the like of which his hearers never had +heard. In conclusion he touched his mouth and ears and shook his head +solemnly. Hugh, taking the cue, repeated the performance. + +"That signifies that we don't understand each other. He sha'n't beat me +on the sign language," he said. "I believe this is a great time to work +in something dramatic. We can make a hit by simply going among them and +laying our hands on their heads. It will be graceful and fetching, I'm +sure. First, I am going to see if they are afraid of us." He suddenly +threw up both hands and cried "Boo!" in a loud tone. The eyes of the +watchers hung out and they jumped like so many mice at the sound. It was +so laughable that she was compelled to place her handkerchief over her +mouth and turn her head away. "I guess we've got 'em pretty well +paralyzed," grinned Hugh. Then he went among them, placing his hands +gently upon their woolly heads, Lady Tennys doing likewise. The flesh of +the savages fairly quivered at the touch, yet all seemed delighted that +the visitors had condescended to lay hands of kindness upon them. They +began to chatter and chant softly, all the time eyeing Hugh and his +companion with reverence. + +"They don't seem to thaw out or show any signs of friendship," said +Hugh, very much puzzled. He and his companion walked over to the shade +of the rock and calmly sat down to await the next move. They now had no +fear of harm at the hands of the simple though savage-looking men, who +watched them from a distance jabbering excitedly. + +"Hugh, I am firmly convinced that they have never seen white people +before. They don't know what we are." + +For five minutes they sat and discussed possibilities and probabilities, +fully realizing that they were objects of awe to the savages. Finally +the tall one left the group and drew near the couple, approaching in +fine humility. When he was a dozen feet from them, they arose, extending +friendly hands toward him. He dropped to his knees and fairly ground his +head upon the rock. Then he arose and came directly to them. Hugh +marvelled at his size. Tremendous muscles, cords, knots and ridges +stood, out all over his symmetrical body. He peered intently at the +white man's flesh and then dubiously at his own. When he turned his +inspection to Tennys, his eyes riveted themselves upon her clear white +face, the most gorgeously beautiful flower he ever had seen. He could +not grasp the full glory of that dazzling flower; he was stupefied, +helpless before the blue eyes and dazzling smile. In mute idolatry he at +last lifted his puzzled gaze to the sun and then, extending his great +arms upward, uttered a few low, guttural appeals to the King of the sky. + +"He thinks we are from the sun," said she, keenly ingenious. + +"This fellow really seems quite willing to worship us. The best we can +do for the present is to set ourselves up as idols. I think I can be a +very clever idol with precious little practice. You can be one without +an effort. Shall we set up a worship shop among these decidedly willing +subjects?" + +"But, Hugh, if we go away from the coast we cannot hope to see a white +man again; these poor fellows are now, for the first time, looking upon +one. Should we not stay here?" she asked, full of fear and perplexity. + +"If a white man ever finds this land he will discover us. Besides, we +cannot live on this rock forever. It would only be a question of time +until we should starve or be killed by wild beasts. I am in favor of +retaining the very evident monopoly we have established in this land +of nowhere." + +"But if they should prove treacherous?" + +"There's no mistaking the honesty of their wonder. We are real +curiosities, and we have only to follow up the advantage to become +regular despots." He was enthused by the possibilities that thronged his +imagination. + +"I will leave it all to you, Hugh. Do what you think best," she said +softly and resumed her seat on the rock. + +With his heart quickened by the inspiration in that trusting face, Hugh +boldly stepped to the side of the brown giant, deliberately taking his +hand to lead him to the edge of the precipice. + +There, by signs and gesticulations, he endeavored to tell him that they +came from over the sea. From the awed expression on the face of the +savage he guessed that he had increased the mystery. It was quite +evident that his auditor now believed them to be from the bottom of the +sea instead of from the sun. To Hugh it mattered little as long as he +could have the wand of power over their heads. He delighted the chief by +making him understand that he and his companion would accompany them in +the boats. The word was conveyed to his warriors, and a wild chatter of +joy went up from among them. They fell upon their faces and groaned in +mighty discord. + +Within a quarter of an hour the light bark canoes were speeding toward +the harbor mouth, big brown arms manning the paddles vigorously. +Ridgeway and Tennys sat facing each other in the foremost boat, the +chief steering. Their turtle shell was in another boat, and Hugh did not +forget the good old spar that lay on the beach below. Hour after hour +passed, the oarsmen paddling the same stroke, never tiring, never +faltering. The passengers at last began to lose interest in the gorgeous +scenery along the coast they were skirting. Where would this startling +journey end? When would the indefatigable oarsmen lay down their paddles +to rest? When would they be able to procure food and drink? + +The sun was sinking toward the water line, the forest along the uneven +coast was merging into one vast green shadow, the waters were growing +blacker and blacker, and yet the row of canoes continued its wearisome +glide toward a seemingly unattainable end. Lady Tennys became so tired +and sleepy that her long lashes could not be restrained from caressing +her cheeks, nor could her dreamy eyes bear the strain of wakefulness. +Hugh, observing her fatigue, persuaded her to turn about in the boat and +lie back against his shoulder. Soon she was sleeping soundly, her face +protected from the dying sun by a readjustment of her palm-leaf bonnet. + +Ridgeway was beginning to fight against the effects of an ungovernable +drowsiness when the boat in which they sat suddenly turned toward the +beach. Long, powerful strokes sent the little craft whizzing in the new +direction. Just as the sun's last rays lost themselves in the night, the +prow glided upon the sand and the oarsmen sprang out to carry him and +the fair sleeper ashore. + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +FLESH SUCCEEDS STONE + +Lady Tennys rubbed her eyes and stared blankly about her when Hugh awoke +her. The darkness and the strange forms frightened her, but his +reassuring words brought remembrance of the unique trip and with it the +dim realization that they had landed at last. + +If their first landing place was wonderful, this was doubly so. Despite +the darkness, they were able to see quite distinctly the general outline +of the coast. Two mammoth rocks, as large apparently as the one they had +left behind, rose toward the hazy moonlit sky, far in shore, like twin +sentinels, black and forbidding. Between them a narrow stretch of sky +could be seen, with the moon just beyond. Entranced, they gazed upon the +vivid yet gloomy panorama bursting from the shades of night almost as if +it were advancing upon them. So immense, so startling, were these vast +towering columns, so brilliant was the sky behind them, that the +wonder-struck strangers found difficulty in controlling a desire to turn +about and fly from the impending rush of mountain, moon and sky. In the +first moments of breathless observation it seemed to them that the great +rocks were moving toward the sea and that the sky was falling with +them, giving the frightful impression that they were soon to be crushed +in the ponderous fall. They were exchanging expressions of relief when +the big chief came up and prostrated himself at their feet. + +Ridgeway touched his shoulder and bade him arise, pointing toward the +mounts and their attendant glory. To his amazement the chief uttered an +exclamation of satisfaction and abruptly ran back to the boats. In an +incredibly short space of time the restless savages were coming up the +beach with their canoes on their shoulders, heading straight for the +opening through which the moonlight streamed. Two of them formed a +"basket," and Lady Tennys, taking her seat upon their hands, and holding +timidly to their hard, muscular shoulders, was borne swiftly onward and +upward, Ridgeway having some difficulty in keeping pace with the +human carriage. + +Big rocks told them that they were at the base of the rocky columns and +the course of the little band indicated that they were to pass between +the towering, almost perpendicular monsters. Suddenly the little +cavalcade of the night came to a halt, the boats were thrown down and +Hugh arrived at the conclusion that they were to stop until morning. In +this he found himself mistaken, for with the very next moment he heard +the splashing of water, seemingly beneath his feet. Up to now he had +been looking upward at the rift in the rocks. Instead of a rocky gorge +he now saw the shimmering of water, and a fresh exclamation of surprise +fell from his lips. + +"Can this be fairyland?" he cried, completely dazed. + +"We must be dreaming, Hugh," murmured she. The party stood at the +water's edge, looking up through the miniature canon, the rushing of +distant rapids coming to their ears. + +The boats were lowered, and the oarsmen were soon pulling sturdily +between the tall twins. These frowning monsters formed a perfect gateway +from the sea to the home of the savages. Hugh felt that he was shut off +forever from the outside world as he surveyed, with sinking heart, the +portals through which they had passed. Soon a second landing was made, +this time upon soft, rich soil, instead of crunching sand. It was easy +to tell that they were standing on velvety grass, soft, cool and dewy. +The boats were made fast, the spar and shell were swung upon broad +shoulders, and then the party plunged straight into the wood, Lady +Tennys being carried as before. + +After ten minutes of rapid walking over a well-beaten trail the band +halted, and the chief uttered several piercing cries. From afar off in +the still night came an echoing answer and again the march was resumed, +the travellers keeping close to the bank of the river. In time they +reached an open stretch, across which the escort started, turning away +from the stream. + +There were fitful flashes of light ahead. Across the little plain came a +jumble of flying human beings, two or three bearing torches. They seemed +to have sprung from the ground, so abruptly did they appear before the +eyes of the dumbfounded strangers in this strange land. The chief went +forward rapidly and checked the advancing figures, preparing them for +what was to follow. The entire company prostrated itself in good form. + +With the horde of stupefied recruits at their heels, the white people at +length entered the village, which nestled against the hillside. Hundreds +of dark, almost naked, savages rushed from the shadows, the news of the +great visitation having spread like wildfire. By the time the halt was +made in front of a large, odd-looking structure, her Ladyship was so +overcome with excitement that she could hardly stand. Ridgeway caught +her as she staggered from her improvised litter. Presently she grew +stronger, and with her companion entered what was apparently a palace +among the squat, queerly built houses. + +The chief ordered torches stuck in the ground, and a bright, strong +light filled the interior. They found themselves in a large apartment, +twenty by thirty feet in size. A reed or grass roof provided covering. +This roof, like those in civilized lands, ran to a high point in the +centre, the sides being fully twelve feet from the ground. There were no +windows in the walls, but as they did not come within three feet of the +roof, there was ample provision for ventilation and light. The entrance +to this structure was through wide portals, reaching from ground to +eaves. There was no floor save the earth, but there were rugs made from +the skins of wild animals. Hugh noticed with a thrill of excitement that +among them were tiger and leopard skins. Directly opposite the entrance +stood a rough and peculiarly hewn stone, resembling in a general way the +form of a man, colossal, diabolical. + +"An idol," whispered Lady Tennys in awed tones. + +"Perhaps it would be wisdom on our part to kneel before the thing," said +Hugh calculatingly. + +"I'll do anything you think best," she said reluctantly, kneeling for a +moment with him before the idol. Whereupon the chief and his attendants +shouted for joy and fell upon their much-used faces. The populace, +thronging about the temple, took up the cry, and all night long they +chanted praise to the living gods. The weird, ghastly figures flitted +from end to end of the mad village long after the chief and his party +had left the temple to the sole possession of the new divinities. + +"I wonder if they expect us to sit up forever as sedately as that old +party over there," mused Hugh, after the savages had withdrawn, greatly +to the mystification of their guests. "We're evidently left here to make +the best of it. I fancy we are now supposed to be in business as real +gods with a steady job in the temple." + +"I am beginning to think we have come to a terrible place, Hugh. How +fierce and wild these people are! What is to become of us?" asked she, +shivering as with a chill. "How horrible it would be if they brought us +here as a sacrifice to this beastly idol. Is there no way of escape?" + +"Nonsense! We've queered this antiquated old fossil forever. Two real +live gods are worth ten thousand stone quarries like that. If you say +so, I'll have a few of his worshippers take him down and toss him in +the river." + +The big room was devoid of furniture save for the rugs and several +blocks of stone grouped about the idol. Ridgeway was convinced that they +were in the sacred place of worship. Seating themselves rather +sacrilegiously upon the stone blocks, they looked about the place with +tired, hopeless eyes. The walls were hung with spears, war clubs and +other ferocious weapons, evidently the implements of defence to be used +by the stone deity in case of emergency. + +"Well," quoth Hugh, after the gloomy inspection, "they must think that +gods don't sleep. I don't see anything that looks like a berth around +here. God or no god, I am going to turn in somewhere for the night. His +Reverence may be disturbed if I snore, but I dare say his kick won't +amount to much. I'll pile some of these skins over in that corner for +you and then I'll build a nest for myself near the door." Suiting the +action to the word, he proceeded to make a soft couch for her. She sat +by and watched him with troubled eyes. + +"Do you think it safe to go to sleep when we don't know what they may do +during the night? They may pounce upon us and kill us." Hugh paused in +his work and walked to her side. + +"Something tells me we are safe with these people. We may as well make +the best of it, anyhow. We are in for it, and I'll bet my soul we come +out all right. Go over there and sleep. I'll be the first one killed if +they attempt violence. Here's a club that will down a few of them before +they get the best of me." He took from the wall a great +murderous-looking club and swung it about his head. + +"I want to be killed first, Hugh, if it comes to that. If you are +merciful, you will kill me yourself when you see that it is their +intention to do so," she said earnestly. + +"Pooh, there's no danger," he said, and went back to his work, impressed +by her manner more than he cared to admit. With her chin in her hands +she resignedly watched him complete her bed of tiger skins. + +"We have desecrated the temple by disturbing the rugs," she said at +length. + +"I'll have 'em make some hammocks for us to-morrow and we'll hang 'em in +each end of the temple. And we'll also have this place divided into two +or three apartments, say two sleeping rooms and a parlor, perhaps a +kitchen. If necessary, an addition can be stuck on just back of where +the idol stands. There'll be great doings around here when Yankee +progress takes hold." + +"You surely do not mean to ruin their temple! They will be up in arms, +Hugh." + +"Well, they'll have to endure a great many things if they expect to +support such luxuries as we are. If those fellows don't quit falling +down and bumping their faces on the ground, I'm going to have a lot of +pads made for them to wear when they think there is danger of meeting +us. They'll wear their faces out." It did him good to hear her laugh. +"Well, your bed is ready, my Lady." + +"I am dying for a drink of water. Do you know how long it has been since +we touched food and drink?" + +"All day! I never thought of it until this minute. I am half famished +myself," he cried in dismay. Then he rushed to the door and shouted to +some natives who were standing near by eyeing the crude building +inquisitively by the light of a single torch. "Hey! you fellows!" + +At the sight of his white figure and the sound of his voice, torch and +all fell to the ground. + +"Get up, you blamed fools," called the white man, walking toward them in +exasperation. They arose tremblingly as he drew near, and he managed by +signs to make them understand that he wanted food and drink. Away they +dashed, and he re-entered the temple. Lady Tennys was laughing. + +"What are you laughing at?" he asked in surprise. + +"It was so funny to hear you call them fools." + +"I hope they understood me. Anyhow, they've gone for the fatted cocoanut +or something equally as oriental." + +In less time than seemed possible the happy messengers arrived at the +door with food enough for a dozen hungry people. The giant chief +followed his subjects, and it was through his hands that Hugh received +the welcome food. The white people were gratified to find in the +assortment rich bananas and oranges, raw meat, peculiar shell fish, +berries and vegetables resembling the tomato. At first the natives +looked a little dismayed over the disordered condition of the temple, +but no sign of resentment appeared, much to the relief of Lady Tennys. +The luscious offerings were placed on one of the stone blocks as fast as +they were handed to Ridgeway, the natives looking on in feeble +consternation. + +The chief was the only one to enter the temple, and he started to +prostrate himself before the stone idol. He appeared to be at a loss as +to what course he should pursue. Hugh promptly relieved him. Shaking his +head vigorously, he pointed to the stone image, signifying that there +were to be no more salutations bestowed upon it, all homage being due to +himself and the lady. The fickle pagan, after a waning look of love for +their renounced idol, proceeded to treat it with scorn by devoting +himself entirely to the usurpers. He brought cocoanut shells filled with +cool water, and the thirsty ones drank. + +"We seem to have got here in the fruit, fish, vegetable and novelty +season, to say the least," observed Hugh. + +"Isn't it wonderful?" was all she could say, her eyes sparkling. Never +had he seen her so ravishingly beautiful as now, filled as she was with +the mingled emotions of fear, excitement, interest, even of rapture. He +could not prevent or subdue the thrill of indescribable joy which grew +out of the selfish thought that he had saved her and that she must lean +upon him solely for protection in this wild land. Turning sharply from +her, he glanced at the tempting feast and unceremoniously dismissed the +chief and his followers. The big savage stood undecided for a moment in +the centre of the room, wavering between fear of the new god's +displeasure and an evident desire to perform some service. + +After an instant he boldly strode to a stone block back of and to the +left of the image. Seizing it by the top, he gave the impression that he +was about to lift the great stone. Instead, however, he merely slid from +its position a thin slab, pushing it half way off of its square base. +Instantly the sound of rushing water filled the ear, and the +unaccountable, muffled roar that had puzzled them was half explained. +The block was hollow, revealing a deep, black hole, out of which poured +the sound of the hidden stream. The mystified observers could plainly +see the water some ten feet below the surface of the earth, gliding +swiftly off through a subterranean passage. The chief made them +understand that this well was for the purpose of supplying the image +with drinking water whenever he needed it. + +"That's very interesting," said Hugh to Tennys. "I'll have to see where +this water comes from to-morrow. From a practical point of view it is +the finest bit of natural sewerage I ever have seen. I'll make +arrangements to tap it, if we are to live here." + +"You lawless Americans!" + +Apparently satisfied, the chief and his staring companions withdrew, +devoutly prostrating themselves not to the graven image, but to the +living, breathing beings who were awaiting, with an ungodlike appetite, +an opportunity to make way with the tempting fruit. + +"It is ridiculous to allow those poor things to fall down like that +every time they turn around before us," she said, when they were alone. + +"We must encourage it. If we are to be idols we can't afford to give our +subjects a bit of relief from their religious obligations, and I'm quite +sure we are idols or sovereigns, more than likely the former, judging by +the snubbing our flinty friend has received." + +"If we are to live among these people, Hugh Ridgeway, I, for one, intend +to tell them, if possible, of the real God, and to do what I can for a +cause I served but feebly in the past. I may be a poor missionary, but I +intend to try in my weak way to do some good among these poor, benighted +creatures." + +"I think we'd better let well enough alone," said he disparagingly. + +"Why, Hugh, how can you say that?" + +"I haven't thought very much about God since I've been in this land. +I've been too busy," he muttered, with no little shame in his face, +although he assumed an air of indifference. + +"He saved us from the sea," she said simply, with a tremor in her +voice. "Surely you remember the prayers you uttered from your very soul +on that night. Were they not to God?" + +"Begin your missionary work with me, Tennys. I am worse than the +savages," he said, not in answer to her question. + +Silently and greedily they ate of the delicious fruit, and found new +sensations in the taste of more than one strange viand of nature. A calm +restfulness settled down upon their tired bodies, and all the world +seemed joyfully at peace with them. + +Almost overcome by sleep, he managed to toss a few tiger skins on the +ground near the door, not forgetting to place his club beside the +improvised couch. "Sleep comfortably and don't be afraid," he said. She +slowly arose from the block and threw herself on the bed of skins. + +"You are so good to me and so thoughtful," she murmured sleepily. +"Good-night!" + +"Good-night," came his far away voice, as out of a dream. + +Outside, the celebration was at its height, but the tired idols heard +not a sound of the homage which was theirs that night. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE TRANSFORMATION BEGINS + +When Ridgeway opened his eyes, the sunlight was pouring in upon him +through the doorway. He looked at his watch, and was surprised to find +that it was nearly eleven o'clock. Lady Tennys still slept on her couch +of skins; the torches had burned to the ground; the grim idol leered +malignantly upon the intruders, and the dream that he had experienced +during the night was rudely dispelled. His eyes strayed again to the +black, glossy, confused hair of the sleeper in the far corner, and a +feeling of ineffable pity for her became companion to the sad wrenches +that had grown from the misery of his own unhappiness. + +She was sleeping on her side, her face from him, her right arm beneath +her head, the dainty jewelled hand lying limply upon the spotted leopard +skin. The beautifully moulded figure, slight yet perfect, swelling to +the well-turned hip, tapering to the tip of the trim shoe which +protruded from beneath the rumpled skirt, affording a tiny glimpse of a +tempting ankle, was to him a most pathetic picture. As he was about to +turn to the door, she awakened with a start and a faint cry. Sitting +half erect, she gave a terrified, bewildered glance about her, her eyes +at last falling upon him. + +"Are you really here?" she cried, joy rushing to her eyes. "I dreamed +that you had fled and left me to be cut to pieces by the savages." + +"Dreams go by contraries, and I am, therefore, a very brave man. But +come, it is eleven o'clock. Let us see what this place looks like in the +sunlight." + +Together they went to the wide entrance. A surprise awaited them in +their first view of the village by day. Along the base of the circular +range of hills stretched the email homes of the inhabitants, but, search +as they would, they could discover no signs of life. There was not a +human form in sight. + +"What the dev--dickens does this mean?" exclaimed he. + +"It seemed as if there were thousands of them here last night," she +cried. + +"Maybe we have lost our worshippers. I wonder if we are to be the sole +possessors of this jungle metropolis?" + +A mile away they could distinguish the banks of the river, running +toward the great stone gateway of this perfect Eden. The plain between +the hills and the river was like a green, annular piece of velvet, not +over a mile in diameter, skirted on all sides by tree-covered highlands. +The river ran directly through the centre of the basin, coming from the +forest land to their right. + +In some trepidation they walked to the corner of the temple and surveyed +the hillside. Rising steeply from the low ground ran the green slope, at +the top of which grew huge trees. The village lay at the base of the +hills and was over a mile long, a perfect semi-circle of strange little +huts, stretched out in a single line, with the temple as its +central point. + +"There is the beginning of our underground stream," exclaimed he, +pointing up the elevation. A fierce little stream came plunging from the +very heart of the mound, half way to the summit, tearing eagerly to the +bottom, where it disappeared in the ground. + +Suddenly the sound of distant shouting--or chanting, to be explicit--and +the beating of drums came to their ears. They searched the hills and +valley with alarm and dread in their eyes, but there was no sign of +humanity. For many minutes the chanting continued, growing louder in +volume as it drew nearer. At last Lady Tennys uttered an exclamation and +pointed toward an opening in the ridge far to the left of the village. A +string of natives came winding slowly, solemnly from this cleft--men, +women and children apparently without end. + +The white people stood like statues in the doorway, watching the +approach of the brown figures. There were fully two thousand in that +singular procession, at the head of which strode the big chief, with +perhaps fifty native women at his heels. + +"His multiplied wife," observed Hugh sententiously. + +"Do you think all of them are his wives?" said she, doubtingly. + +"It seems to be a heathen's choice to punish himself on earth and avoid +it in the hereafter." + +Behind the women came five men wearing long white robes and carrying +unusually long spears. They were followed by the rabble. At length the +weird cavalcade, marching straight across the plain, came to a halt not +more than a hundred feet from the entrance to the temple. The chief +advanced a few steps, pausing at the edge of a bare, white spot of +ground some ten feet square. Then, after a most reverential bow, he +tossed a small reddish chunk of wood into the white square. No sooner +had the leader deposited his piece of wood than forward came the women, +the white-robed men, and then the rag-tag of the population, each person +tossing a piece upon the rapidly growing heap. In silent amusement, +Ridgeway and Lady Tennys watched this strange ceremony. + +"They've been visiting somebody's woodpile," speculated Hugh. + +"Perhaps they intend to roast us alive," ventured she. + +The small army fell back from the pile of wood, the chief maintaining a +position several feet to the fore, a lad behind him bearing a lighted +torch. After many signs and presumably devout antics, one of the +spearmen took the torch and lighted this contribution from a combined +populace. As the thin column of smoke arose on the still, hot air, the +vast crowd fell to the ground as one person, arising almost instantly to +begin the wildest, most uncanny dance that mortal ever saw. The smoke +and flames grew, the dry wood crackled, the spearmen poked it with their +long weapons, and the vast brown audience went into a perfect frenzy +of fervor. + +Not until the pile was reduced to ashes did the smoke dance cease. The +spearmen retired, and the big chief came forward with a tread so +ludicrously grand that they could scarce refrain from laughter. He +carried two short staffs in his hands, the heads of which were nothing +less than the skulls of infants. To the disgust of the white people the +chief presented to each of them a shudder-inspiring wand. Afterward they +learned that the skull-tipped staffs signified death to all who opposed +their way. They also learned that the red bits of wood that had gone up +in the flame were stained by the blood of a half dozen prisoners of war, +executed the night before as a sacrifice to the new gods. + +The new monarchs accepted the sceptres gingerly and the wildest glee +broke loose in the waiting throng. While they danced and shouted, Hugh +inwardly cursed the ostentation that was delaying breakfast. + +Impatiently he made the chief understand what was wanted, and that +worthy proved an excellent substitute for the genii. He rushed over and +bawled a few commands, and a dozen women and men sped away like the +wind. A few moments later the chief entered the temple and found +Ridgeway calmly measuring off the ground for the partitions that were to +transform one room into three. + +So apt was the white man at sign making and so apt was the brown man at +understanding that before an hour had passed a dozen strong fellows +were at work, carrying out the designs of the new idol, the morning meal +having been disposed of in the meantime. Using the same kind of material +that comprised the outer walls, a partition was constructed lengthwise +through the centre of the temple. The front half was left as a reception +hall and living room and the rear half was divided into two apartments, +each fifteen feet square. They were to serve as sleeping rooms. These +ruthless improvements made it necessary to remove the great stone idol +from his pedestal. + +"Chuck him out into the backyard," said Hugh. That evening the poor old +image, as disgusted as a piece of rock could possibly be, was carried to +the river and tossed into the rapids, his successors standing with the +multitude on the high bank to witness his disappearance and to hear his +unhappy kerplunk! The waters closed over his unhallowed head and the new +dispensation began. Back across the little plain to the torch-lit +village swarmed the fickle, joyous savages. + +"Good Lord," observed Hugh, "what a ferocious crowd it is! They tear +their enemies to pieces and yet we have them under our thumbs--for the +present at least." + +"I believe they are naturally intelligent, and I'm sure we can help +them. Do you know what those white robes are made from?" + +"Certainly. Cotton." + +"It is woven grass. They bleach it. The women do the work down by the +river, and the robes worn by their spearmen are really beautiful pieces +of fabric." + +"I am going to leave my measure for a pair of white grass trousers," +said Hugh lightly, "and an umbrella," he added, looking up at the +broiling sky. + +Together the white usurpers planned many important improvements against +the probability of a long stay among the savages. A wonderful system of +sewerage was designed--and afterward carried out faithfully. A huge bath +pool was to be sunk for Lady Tennys in the rear of her apartment; a +kitchen and cold-storage cellar were to grow off the west end of the +temple and a splendid awning was to be ordered for the front porch! Time +and patience were to give them all of these changes. Time was of less +consequence than patience, it may be well to add. The slaving retinue +was willing but ignorant. + +The adoring chief gave Tennys a group of ten handmaidens before the day +was over, and Hugh had a constant body guard of twenty stalwarts--which +he prosaically turned into carpenters, stone-masons, errand boys +and hunters. + +"You must not try to civilize them in a day," she smilingly protested +when he became particularly enthusiastic. + +"Well, just see what we have done to-day," he cried. "How can you +account for the enforced abdication of old Uncle Rocksy, the +transformation of his palace into a commodious, three-room +lodging-house, and all such things, unless you admit that we are here to +do as we please? We'll make a metropolitan place out of this hamlet in +a year if we--" + +"A year! Oh, don't suggest such a possibility," she cried. "I'd die if I +thought we were to be here for a year." + +"I hope we won't, but we may as well look the situation straight in the +face. There has been no white man here before us. It is by the rarest +chance in the world that we are here. Therefore, it may be years before +we are found and taken away from this undiscovered paradise." + +The flickering, fitful light of the torches stuck in the ground behind +them played upon two white faces from which had fled the zeal and fervor +of the moment before, leaving then drawn and dispirited. + +"All our lives, perhaps," she murmured. + +"With these savages as our only companions, worse than death a thousand +times," he groaned, starting to his feet with the vehemence of new +despair. "Could anything be worse than the existence that lies +before us?" + +"Yes," she cried, arising, throwing back her shoulders and arms, lifting +her face and breathing long draughts of the cool, pure air. "Yes! The +existence that lies behind is worse than the one ahead. No life can be +worse than the one from which I have escaped. Welcome, eternal solitude! +Farewell, ambition, heart-pangs and the vain mockery of womanhood! To be +free is heaven, no matter what the cost, Hugh." + +"Do you mean that you would rather live here forever than go back to +the old life?" + +"If I must stay here to be free, I am willing to live in this miserable +village to the very end, rejoicing and not complaining." + +"I never associated you with real unhappiness until you uttered that +last sentence." + +"I should not be selfish, though," she said quickly. "You are so +unhappy, you have lost so much. We are to be alone here in this land, +Hugh, you and I, forever. I will prove to you that I am more than the +frail, helpless woman that circumstances may seem to have shaped me, and +you shall have from me all the aid and encouragement that a good, true +woman can give. Sometimes I shall be despondent and regretful,--I can't +help it, I suppose--but I shall try with you to make the wilderness +cheerful. Who knows but that we may be found by explorers within a +month. Let us talk about our new subjects out there on the plain. How +many of them are there in this village?" + +She won him from the despondency into which he was sinking, and, be it +said to her credit, she did not allow him to feel from that time forth +that she was aught but brave, confident and sustaining. She was a weak +woman, and she knew that if once the strong man succumbed to despair she +was utterly helpless. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +NEDRA + +The next month passed much more quickly than any previous month within +the lives of the two castaways. Each day brought forth fresh novelties, +new sensations, interesting discoveries. Her courage was an inspiration, +a revelation to him. Despite the fact that their journeyings carried +them into thick jungles where wild beasts abounded, she displayed no +sign of fear. Jaunty, indifferent to danger, filled with an exhilaration +that bespoke the real love for adventure common among English women, she +traversed with him the forest land, the plains, the hills, the river, +and, lastly, the very heart of the jungle. They were seldom apart from +the time they arose in the morning until the hour when they separated at +night to retire to their apartments. + +Exploration proved that they were on an island of considerable +dimensions, perhaps twenty miles long and nearly as wide. The only human +inhabitants were those in the village of Ridgehunt, as the new arrivals +christened it,--combining the first syllables of their own names. From +the tops of the great gate posts, christened by Lady Tennys, far across +the water to the north, could be seen the shadowy outlines of another +island. This was inhabited by a larger tribe than that which constituted +the population of Ridgehunt. + +A deadly feud existed between the two tribes. There had been expeditions +of war in the past, and for months the fighting men of Ridgehunt had +been expecting an attack from the island of Oolooz. Nearly twenty miles +of water separated the two islands. The attacking force would have to +cover that distance in small craft. Shortly before the advent of the +white people, King Pootoo's men captured a small party of scouts who had +stolen across the main on a tour of exploration. They were put to death +on the night of the arrival in Ridgehunt. A traitor in their midst had +betrayed the fact that Oolooz contemplated a grand assault before many +weeks had gone. Guards stationed on the summits of the gate posts +constantly watched the sea for the approach of the great flotilla from +Oolooz. King Pootoo had long been preparing to resist the attack. There +were at least five hundred able-bodied men in his band, and Hugh could +not but feel a thrill of admiration as he looked upon the fierce, +muscular warriors and their ugly weapons. + +He set about to drill them in certain military tactics, and they, +believing him to be a god whom no enemy could overthrow, obeyed his +slightest command. Under his direction breastworks were thrown up along +the western hills, trenches were dug, and hundreds of huge boulders were +carried to the summits overlooking the pass, through which the enemy +must come in order to reach the only opening in the guerdon of the +hills. It was his plan to roll these boulders from the steep crests into +the narrow valley below just as the invaders charged through, wreaking +not only disaster but disorder among them, no matter how large their +force. There was really but one means of access by land to the +rock-guarded region, and it was here that he worked the hardest during +the fourth week of their stay among the savages. + +He was working for his own and her safety and freedom. In Ridgehunt they +were idols; in the hands of the unknown foe their fate might be the +cruel reverse. Pride in the man who was to lead their brown friends to +victory swelled in the heart of the fair Briton, crowding back the +occasional fear that he might be conquered or slain. She had settled +upon the course to pursue in case there was a battle and her protector +fell. A dagger made from the iron-like wood used by the natives in the +manufacture of spears and knives hung on the wall of her room. When he +died, so should she, by her own hand. + +Gradually they began to grasp the meaning of certain words in the native +language. Hugh was able after many days to decide that the natives knew +nothing of the outside world and, furthermore, that no ships came into +that part of the sea on account of the immense number of hidden reefs. +The island on which they had been cast bore a name which sounded so much +like Nedra that they spelled it in that way. In course of time she +christened the spots of interest about her. Her list of good English +names for this utterly heathen community covered such places as Velvet +Valley, Hamilton Hills, Shadburn Rapids, Ridgeway River, Veath Forest +and others. Ridgeway gave name to the temple in which the natives paid +homage to them. He called it Tennys Court. + +Her room in the remodelled temple was a source of great delight to Lady +Tennys. It was furnished luxuriously. There were couches, pillows, +tables, chairs, tiger-skin rugs, and--window curtains. A door opened +into her newly constructed bath pool, and she had salt or fresh water, +as she chose. The pool was deep and clay lined and her women attendants +were models of the bath after a few days. She learned the language much +easier than Hugh. He was highly edified when she told him that his new +name was Izor--never uttered without touching the head to the ground. +Her name was also Izor, but she blushed readily when he addressed her as +Mrs. Izor--without the grand curtsey. The five spearmen were in reality +priests, and they were called Mozzos. She also learned that the chief +who found them on the rock was no other than the mighty King Pootoo and +that he had fifty wives. She knew the names of her women, of many +children and of the leading men in the village. + +The feeble sprout of Christianity was planted by this good British girl. +It had appeared to be a hopeless task, but she began at the beginning +and fought with Mercy as her lieutenant. Humanity was a stranger to +these people when she found them, but she patiently sowed the seeds and +hoped. A people capable of such idolatry as these poor wretches had +shown themselves to be certainly could be led into almost any path of +worship, she argued. + +Late in the afternoon of their thirty-third day on the island the white +idol of Nedra swung lazily in her hammock, which was stretched from post +to post beneath the awning. Two willowy maidens in simple brown were +fanning her with huge palm leaves. She was the personification of pretty +indolence. Her dreamy eyes were turned toward the river and there was a +tender, eager longing in their depths. Hugh was off in the hills with +his workmen and the hour had passed for him to emerge from the woodland +on his way to the village. + +The shadows of night were beginning to settle upon the baking earth and +a certain uneasiness was entering her bosom. Then she caught a glimpse +of his figure in the distance. With his swarm of soldiers behind him he +came from the forest and across the narrow lowlands toward the river. He +steadfastly refused to be carried to and from the "fortifications" in +the rude litter that had been constructed for him, a duplicate of which +had been made for her. A native with a big white umbrella was constantly +at his side and King Pootoo was in personal command of the workmen as +"sub-boss." Ridgeway jocosely characterized his hundred workmen as +"Micks," and they had become expert wielders of the wooden pick, shovel +and crowbar. In the village there were the three hundred tired armorers +who had worked all day among the hard saplings in the country miles to +the south. It was their duty to make an inexhaustible supply of spears, +swords, etc. + +As the American came up over the bank of the river Lady Tennys could not +repress a smile of pride. The white grass trousers, the huge white hat, +and the jaunty military carriage had become so familiar to her that she +could almost feel his approach before he came into view. It was always +the same confident, aggressive stride, the walk of the master. + +Although the sun had dropped behind the twin giants and the haze of the +night was on, Hugh's faithful attendant carried the umbrella over his +head. The new Izor said, more than once, that, having taught the fellow +to carry the protector, he could not unteach him. Were it darkest +midnight the umbrella was produced and carried with as much serenity as +when the sun broiled and toasted at midday. When the returning band of +laborers was half way across Velvet Valley, Tennys, as was her wont, +left her hammock and went forth to meet the man beneath the white +sunshade. His pace quickened and his face brightened as she drew near. +The hatless, graceful figure in white came up to him with the cry: + +"Why are you so late? Dinner has been waiting for an hour." + +"Pshaw! And the cocoanuts are cold again," he cried with mock concern. +She took his arm and they trudged happily through the deep grass on +which the never-failing dew was already settling. "But we have finished +the fortifications. By George, if those Ooloozers get through that +valley they'll be fit to try conclusions with England and America +combined. With four hundred men I can defend the pass against four +thousand. To-morrow I'll take you over to see the defences. They're +great, Tennys." + +She dampened his enthusiasm somewhat. + +"Won't it be an awful joke if the enemy doesn't come?" + +"Joke! It will be a calamity! I'd be tempted to organize a fleet and go +over after them. By the way, I have something fine for you." + +"A letter from home?" she cried laughingly. "One would think so from the +important way in which you announce it. What is it?" + +"A pet--a wonder of a pet," he said. "Hey! Jing-a-ling, or whatever your +name is, bring that thing up here." A native came running up from the +rear bearing in his arms, a small, ugly cub, its eyes scarcely opened. +She gave vent to a little shriek and drew back. + +"Ugh! The horrid thing! What is it?" + +"A baby leopard. He's to be our house cat." + +"Never! I never saw an uglier creature in my life. What a ponderous +head, what mammoth feet, and what a miserably small body! Where are +the spots?" + +"He gets 'em later, just as we get gray hairs--sign of old age, you +know. And he outgrows the exaggerated extremities. In a few months he'll +be the prettiest thing you ever saw. You must teach him to stand on his +head, jump through a hoop, tell fortunes and pick out the prettiest lady +in the audience, and I'll get you a position with a circus when we go to +America. You'd be known on the bills as the Royal Izor of the Foofops +and her trained leopard, the Only One in Captivity." + +"You mean the only leopard, I presume," she smiled. + +"Certainly not the only lady, for there are millions of them in that +state." + +They had their dinner by torchlight and then took their customary stroll +through the village. + +"There seems to be no one in the world but you and I," she said, a +sudden loneliness coming over her. + +"What a paradise this would be for the lover who vows that very thing to +the girl he loves." + +"Do lovers mean all that they say?" she asked laughingly. + +"Very few know just what they say until it is too late. A test on an +uncivilized island would bring reason to the doughtiest lover. There's +no sentiment in cold facts." + +"I don't see why two people, if they loved as you say they can love, +should not be perfectly happy to live apart from the world. Do they not +live only for each other?" + +"That's before the test, you see." + +"I have not found existence on this island altogether unendurable," she +went on. "I am not in love, I'm cure, yet I am surprised to find myself +contented here with you. Then why should not lovers find this a real +paradise, as you say?" + +"Would you be contented here with any other man as your companion?" he +asked, his head suddenly swimming. + +"Oh, no!" she cried decisively. "I don't believe I'd like it here with +anybody but you. Now, don't look like that! I'm not such a fool as you +may be thinking, Hugh. I know the world pretty well. I know how other +people love, even though it has never been part of my lot. I'm not quite +a hypocrite. I was not presented at court for nothing. You see, you are +so good and we are such friends. It never occurred to me before, but I'm +sure I couldn't endure being here with any other man I know. Isn't it +queer I never thought of that?" she asked, in real wonder. + +He looked at her steadily before answering. The flare of the torch +revealed a childlike sincerity in her face, and he knew she did not +realize the construction he might have been justified in according her +impulsive confession. His heart throbbed silently. A wave of tenderness +welled within him, bringing with it a longing to kiss the hem of her +raiment, to touch her soft, black hair, to whisper gently in her ear, to +clasp her hand, to do something fondly grateful. + +"Are you quite sure of that?" he asked softly. She looked up into his +eyes honestly, frankly, unwaveringly, pressing his arm with a smile of +enthusiasm. + +"Quite sure. Why not? Who could be better, more thoughtful, braver than +you, and for the sake of a woman who, by mistake, owes her life to you? +When you have done so much for me, why should I not say that you are the +man I like best of all I know? It is strange, perhaps, that it should +make any particular difference, but it seems to me no other man could +inspire the feeling of resignation and contentment that you do. Really, +it isn't so hard to live in the wilderness, is it?" + +"Have you never known any one else with whom you could have been +contented here?" he asked persistently. + +"Oh, I don't know what other men would be like if they were in your +place," she said. She appeared deeply thoughtful for some time, as if +trying to imagine others of her acquaintance in Hugh's place. "I am sure +I cannot imagine any one being just like you," she went on, +conclusively. + +"No one you may have loved?" + +"I have never loved anybody," she cried. + +"Do you know what love means?" + +"I haven't the faintest conception," she laughed, mockingly. + +"I believe you said that to me some time ago," he said. + +"I wish I could love," she said lightly. "But I suppose the chance is +forever lost if I am doomed to stay on this island all my life." + +His smile was understood by the night. + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE COMING OF THE ENEMY + +A fever of queer emotions plagued Hugh's mind as he sought sleep that +night. He lay awake on his couch of skins for hours, striving to put +from himself the delightful conviction that had presented itself so +suddenly. Through all his efforts to convince himself that his +impressions were the result of self-conceit or a too willing egotism, +there persistently ran the tantalizing memory of her simple confession. +When at last he slept it was to dream that a gentle hand was caressing +his forehead and loving fingers were running through his hair. For a +while the hand was Grace Vernon's, then it was Tennys Huntingford's, +then Grace's, then the other's. Its touch brought a curve to his lips. + +While he lay awake in these wondering hours and slept through the +changing dream, the cause of his mingled emotions lay in the next +apartment, peacefully asleep from the moment her head touched the +pillow, totally unconscious of the minutest change in her heart or in +their relationship, as contented as the night about her. + +The next morning he was speculatively quiet and she was brightly +talkative as they ate breakfast. He was awake when she took her +refreshing plunge in the pool, and heard her conversing learnedly with +her attendants, as if they understood all that she said--which they did +not. It was then that he thought what a solitude life would be if she +were not a part, of it. There was nothing in her manner to indicate that +she remembered their conversation of the night before. In fact, it was +apparent that she was wholly unconscious of the impression it had made. + +Two of her white-robed attendants stood in the doorway while they ate, +another industriously fanning them. The flowing white robes were +innovations of the past few days, and their wearers were pictures of +expressive resignation. Robes had been worn only by Mozzos prior to the +revolution of customs inaugurated by the white Izor, and there was +woeful tripping of brown feminine feet over treacherous folds. + +"Those ghastly gowns remind me that this is the day for our flag +raising," said he. "I guess the banner is strong enough to stand the +winds that whistle around the tops of the gateposts, isn't it?" + +Her thoughts reverted to the white signal that floated from the summit +of the big mount at whose base they had been cast up from the sea. Hugh, +having completed the meal, went to the end of the room, where, stretched +along the wall, hung a huge American flag. Days had been consumed by the +women in the manufacture of this piece of woven grass. He had created +red stripes from an indelible berry stain. A blue background for the +stars was ingeniously formed by cutting out spaces through which the +sky could gleam. A strong pole lay on the floor and all was in readiness +for the raising of the Stars and Stripes over the Island of Nedra. Their +hope was that it might eventually meet the eye of some passing +navigator. + +"By the way, Hugh," she said, standing beside him, a trace of antagonism +in her voice, "who discovered this island, a Briton or an American?" + +"Why I--an American, of course! Great Scott! I--I certainly did, didn't +I?" he exclaimed, aghast, gradually comprehending that she had a moral +claim, at least. + +"That is the question," she said simply. + +He walked over and sat down rather heavily on one of the stone blocks. + +"I saw it from the sea," he stammered. + +"And so did I." + +For some moments he sat gazing at the flag, actual distress in his eyes. +She looked away and smiled faintly. + +"I didn't think, Tennys; truly I did not. You have as much right to +claim the discovery as I. Why have you not spoken of this before?" + +"You seemed so happy over the flag that I couldn't, Hugh," she said, +still looking away. + +"Poor old flag! It's the first time you ever tried to wave dishonestly +or where there was a doubt of your supremacy." He came to her side. +"We'll have no flag raising." + +"What!" she cried, strangely disappointed. + +"Not until we have made a British flag to wave beside this one." + +"I was jesting, Hugh, just to see what you would say. The flag shall go +up. You--you are the master, as you should be, Hugh." + +"You have as much right as I," he protested. + +"Then I'll be an American," she cried. "We'll raise our flag." + +"But you are not an American." + +"Granting that I was the first to see the island, was I not under +protection of an American? I have been under American protection ever +since. What has Great Britain to do with the situation? I demand the +protection of the Stars and Stripes. Will you deny me?" Her eyes were +sparkling eagerly. "Could the British have landed had it not been for +the American?" + +"You really don't care?" + +"This is our flag, Hugh," she said seriously. "It will make me unhappy +if you continue to take my jest as an earnest. We made it and I shall be +proud to have it wave over me." + +A few hours later the Stars and Stripes floated high over a new island +of the sea, far from the land of its birth. + +"How good and grand it looks," she cried as they saw it straighten to +the breeze. "After all, it may be waving over its own, Hugh. The United +States bought several thousands of islands in this section of the +world, I've heard," she added, with a touch of irony. + +"It's the flag I love," he cried. "May God let me kiss once more the +soil she calls home. Dear America!" + +From that day he never looked at the dancing, wriggling stripes without +a surge of emotion. Its every flaunt seemed to beckon brave worshippers +from far across the sea to the forlorn island on which it was +patiently waving. + +An uneventful week passed. A Nedrite who had escaped from the Island of +Oolooz brought word to King Pootoo that the enemy was completing +preparation for a stupendous assault, but a close watch on the sea +failed to reveal signs of the approach. Ridgeway and his eager followers +were fully prepared for the assault. The prospect was now assuming the +appearance of a European war cloud--all talk and no fight. But as King +Pootoo insisted in vague earnestness that the informer was trustworthy, +precautionary measures were not relaxed at any time. Hugh was now the +possessor of a heavy sword made of the metallic-like wood. It had two +edges and resembled an old-fashioned broadsword. + +"I feel like a Saumeri," he announced. + +When he found that fairly sharp blades could be wrought from this +timber, he had knives and hatchets made for private use, his own trusty +pocket knife being glorified by promotion. He whetted the blade to the +keenest possible edge and used it as a razor. Tennys compelled him to +seek a secluded spot for his, weekly shave, decreeing that the morals of +the natives should not be ruined in their infancy by an opportunity to +acquire first-class, fully developed American profanity. + +Many of their evenings, delightfully cool in contrast with the intense +heat of the day, were spent on the river. The largest canoe of the +village was fitted out with a broad, comfortable seat in the stern, upon +which it was possible to recline lazily while several strong-armed +natives paddled the craft through the shimmering, moonlit waters above +the rapids. + +One evening, a month after the raising of the flag, they came from the +river, the night having been the most perfect they had seen, dark, +sombre, picturesque. The moon was hidden behind the banks of clouds, +which foretold the coming of rain, yet there was a soft, exquisite glow +on land and water, as if blue-black tints were being cast from aloft by +some mysterious, experimenting artist among the gods. It had been a +quiet, dreamy hour for both. As they walked slowly across the little +plain, followed by the oarsmen, they became cognizant of an +extraordinary commotion in the village. Pootoo and a dozen men came +running toward them excitedly. + +"What's up, I wonder?" cried Hugh. + +"It is the enemy. I know they have been sighted," she exclaimed +breathlessly. + +And she was right. Just before sunset the guard at the top of the +gatepost had sighted the canoes of the invaders, far to the north. +According to the king, to whom the flying messenger had come, there were +myriads of canoes and they were headed for a part of the beach about +three leagues north of the village. It was the best place for landing +along the entire coast and was, besides, the point nearest the home of +the coming foe. It was evident that the enemy had miscalculated. They +came within eye range of the island before darkness set in. A half an +hour later and it would have been impossible to discern the boats in the +gloom. By merest chance their arrival was betrayed. + +"Thank God, they can't surprise us," cried Hugh after he had learned +all. He was mad with excitement, burning with eagerness for the fray. + +The possibility of defeat, did not enter his head, so sure was he that +he and his warriors could overthrow the invaders. His brain was filled +with the hope that he might some day tell the story of this battle to +the fellows at his club in Chicago. He could imagine himself sitting +with his heels on the window seat, relating to envious listeners the +details of the fight in the pass, the repulsing of the enemy, the chase +to the shore; the annihilation and--but no time was to be lost in +dreaming of the future when the imperative present demanded so much +of him. + +At his side hurried the distressed, trembling young Englishwoman, her +heart almost paralyzed with fear. Two or three times she tried to speak +to him; once she timidly, though frantically, sought to grasp his hand +to stay him in his excited rush toward the temple. Up to this moment she +had been brave, even confident; now a weakness assailed her and every +vestige of courage was gone. But one thought filled her mind: the +possibility of disaster befalling Hugh Ridgeway. + +They reached the temple and he dashed inside, going direct to his room, +where the sword and daggers hung. She sank weakly upon one of the big +blocks in the long corridor, leaning her head against the partition, +breathing heavily, hopelessly. He, unconscious of the pain she was +suffering, began to whistle joyously as he bustled about. + +"Tennys," he called, "do you know what has become of my shield?" + +"It is out here," she answered shrilly, her voice pitched high with the +tension imposed. He came forth, tossing his sword on the ground at her +feet, hastily taking the shield from a peg in the wall. + +"Say, we won't see a live Ooloozer for a hundred years after the fight," +he exploded exuberantly. "Is my army out there in front?" + +"Hugh," she said piteously, following him about in the hall, "it isn't +necessary for you to accompany them." + +"Oh, great Scott! I wouldn't miss it for a million. I'm the biggest pig +in the puddle," stopping to look at her in amazement. + +"But it isn't your--our war, Hugh. Why do you risk so much? They may +kill you and then--then what will become of me?" + +In an instant his hilarity subsided and deep solicitude came in its +stead, every particle of tenderness in his heart asserting itself in +response to the rueful appeal. There was a queer rushing of blood to his +head, a dizziness, a great thrumming against, the drums of his ears, +from all of which sprung, like lightning, the remembrance of his +suspicions concerning her feelings toward him. + +"You are not worried, are you? Why, there's no danger, not the +slightest. We've got them whipped before the fight. I didn't think you'd +lose courage. You've been so brave and confident all the time." He took +her hands in his own and looked tenderly down into the wavering eyes +of blue. + +"It is dreadful, Hugh. I never knew how dreadful until now. I cannot +bear to see you go out there to-night, perhaps never to come back. I +shall die if you go!" + +"But I must go, Tennys," he said firmly. "I'd rather die than be a +coward. Your fears are utterly ridiculous." + +His rather petulant speech caused her to withdraw her hands, her wide +eyes sending a glance of wounded pride up into his. That look of +reproach haunted him the whole night long. Even in the next moment he +sought to withdraw the unintentional sting from his words by the gentle +reminder that he would come back to her a victor and that she would be +proud of him. Still the hurt eyes looked into his. + +"I--I did not mean to interfere, Hugh. You must pay no attention to me. +I was selfish and absurdly afraid," she said, a trace of coldness in her +voice, her manner entirely altered. + +"Any woman might well be afraid at such a time," he said quickly. + +"I am not afraid for myself. It is not the kind of cowardice you think +it is." + +"You just now wondered what would become of you if I were killed," he +ventured. + +"I know what will become of me if the worst should come. But I must not +keep you standing here. There is much for you to do and much for me to +do. You shall never again say that I am not brave. Go and fight, Hugh, +and when you bring home the wounded I shall have a place to care for +them all." All this was spoken rapidly and in high-pitched tones. He +moved slowly toward the door, not knowing what to say or how to act +at parting. + +"I'll be back all right, Tennys," he said at last. "Would you care very +much if--if I never came back?" + +"Oh, Hugh!" was her wail. "How can you ask? What would it mean to me to +be left here all alone? If you would have me brave, do not ask such +questions. Go, Hugh. Good-by!" + +He grasped her hand, wrung it spasmodically, glanced once in her eyes +and was off toward the horde of warriors congregating in the field. + +Lady Tennys steadied her swaying figure against the doorpost and looked +out upon the preparations for departure. The light in her eyes had died. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +ON THE EVE OF BATTLE + +Ridgeway looked at his watch as he drew up to the torch bearers. It was +then ten minutes after ten o'clock. In all probability the entire force +of the enemy had landed upon the coast and was already on its way toward +the village. He realized that these savages, friend and foe, knew +nothing of the finer stratagems of warfare. Their style of fighting was +of the cruel kind that knows no science, no quarter. A new commander had +come to revolutionize the method of warfare for at least one of the +armies. It was to be a case of strategy and a new intelligence against +superior forces and a surprised ferocity. + +He was somewhat amazed to find that none of his troopers had attempted +to leave the village before he was there to lead. This, when he thought +of the eagerness and bloodthirstiness of the men, was certainly a fair +promise of submissiveness on the field of battle. To be sure, the +restraint was almost unendurable to the fierce fellows who had caught up +their shields and spears long before he came in from the river. The +excitement was intense, the jabbering frightful. Here, there, everywhere +danced the frantic warriors, tossing their weapons in the air and +screaming with a loyalty that savored very much of impotent rage. + +"Heavens, I'd give little for a man's life if he crossed these devils +to-night," thought Hugh as King Pootoo detached himself from the horde +and raced unmajestically over to meet him, almost, forgetting to +prostrate himself in his frenzy. Grossly exaggerated by the flare of the +torches, the spectacle was enough to strike terror to the strongest +heart. The king subdued himself sufficiently to grasp the meaning of +Hugh's signs and set about to bring order out of chaos--a difficult task +for even a king. Gradually the excitement subsided and the band stood at +rest, awaiting the command to move to the hills across the river. They +reminded Hugh of dogs he had seen. We all have held a chunk of meat high +above a dog's nose and we have seen him sit in enforced patience, hoping +for the fall thereof. And we all know that after a certain time he will +throw patience to the winds and leap frantically upward in the effort to +secure the prize. + +A force of fully one hundred young fellows was to be left in the village +as a guard against disaster in case the enemy should force its way +through the pass. Lady Tennys was to have a bodyguard, even though it +crippled the fighting force at the front. The men comprising this +reserve did not relish the plan, but their objections were relentlessly +overruled by the white Izor and King Pootoo. With sulky heads they +seated themselves as directed near the temple they were to protect with +their lives. + +It required but a few minutes of time for Ridgeway to find that his +little army was ready to move. After some hesitation he went to the +temple door to bid farewell to his fellow-castaway. She was still +leaning against the doorpost and did not move as he approached. + +"We're off now," he said as he came up. "Don't worry, little woman; +we'll come home victorious as sure as fate. See these fellows? They are +your guard, your own soldiers. You can command them to do as you wish." + +"Mine?" she asked slowly, as if not comprehending. + +"Yes; they are the Lady Tennys Reserves," he said, smiling. A glad light +suddenly broke in her eyes, her face brightened and her whole mien +changed from despair to delight. + +"Thank you, Hugh. I shall never forget you for this. You will never know +how happy I am to have these men to do my bidding. If it is necessary I +will show you that a woman of England can fight as valiantly as her +brothers, the bravest men in all the world." In her eyes there were +tears as she uttered these words,--tears of courage and pride. + +"Would that I could have you by my side all through this fight. There is +an inspiration in your very gentleness that could make me do prodigious +deeds of valor. But, good-by, Tennys! I'll be back for lunch to-morrow!" +he cried as he dashed away. He could look into those swimming eyes no +longer and restrain a certain impulse that was trying to force him into +the liberation of an entirely unnecessary bit of sentiment. + +"Good-by, Hugh! Don't be careless. What will the Reserves be worth to me +if you are killed? I shall pray for you, Hugh--every minute of this +awful night I shall pray for you." + +"God bless you," he called back from Velvet Valley, his brain whirling +with the wish that he had kissed her and the fear of the result had he +made the attempt. + +A few minutes later he sent his jacket back to the temple. It was his +most valued possession. Had he seen the look of tenderness in her eyes +as she hold up the worn, blue jacket; had he seen her kiss the blue +cloth impulsively, he would have been thrilled to the bone. But had he +been there to observe the startled, mystified blush that rose to her +brow when she found that she had really kissed his coat, he might have +been as perplexed as she over the unusual act. + +With heart beating violently and nerves strung to their highest tension, +Ridgeway led the way to the river. He was as confident of victory as if +he were returning from the pass with the result out of doubt. Reaching +the river, his men plunged into the water and swam across, not waiting +for the canoes. He and the king were rowed over, meeting the swimmers as +they came up from the bank, dripping and puffing. Again the march was +resumed, and within fifteen minutes the band was at the foot of the +hills. Here Hugh called a halt. + +With Pootoo and a dozen men he went forward to take a look down the long +gorge. All torches were extinguished and absolute silence was enforced. +The scouting party failed to hear a sound except the cries of night +birds and their own heavy breathing. All nature seemed to be resting for +the struggle that was to come. + +Six fleet fellows were sent over the hills to skirt the edge of the pass +for its full length, a mile or more. They were to wait at the opposite +end until the enemy revealed its approach and then hurry back with the +alarm. Returning to the waiting army, Hugh and the king began the work +of assigning the men to their places. Two hundred were stationed in the +trenches and behind the breastworks at the mouth of the pass, ready to +intercept those of the enemy who succeeded in escaping the boulders and +spears from the hilltops. These men stacked their spears behind them and +then, at the command of the king, who had been instructed by the Izor, +laid themselves upon the ground to sleep. This was an innovation in +warfare so great that open rebellion was threatened. The novices in +civilized and scientific fighting were fully convinced that the enemy +was nowhere in sight and that they would be called when the proper +moment came. + +Then came the manning of the four hundred boulders on the top of the +hills. All along the line of heavy rocks men were stationed with +instructions to roll them into the pass when the signal was given, Both +sides of the pass were lined with these boulders, The king was as near +in ecstasies over the arrangements as one of his nature could possibly +be. He prostrated himself a dozen times before the wonderfully clever +genius who was in command, twice bumping his head against exceedingly +hard rocks that he had been unable to see when he began his precipitous +collapse to reverence. + +It was after midnight before the army in ambush was ready for the +conflict. Hugh was amazed to find the men cool and submissive, obeying +every order that he managed in some way to convey to them. With +everything in readiness there was nothing to do but to wait for the +crisis, so he threw himself on the grass at the top of the highest point +on the ridge near the opening to the valley, and tried to sleep. + +While he reclined there, thinking of a sweet-faced woman and her +Reserves, fully eighteen hundred warriors were stealthily coming up from +the sea. Six wakeful sentinels were waiting for them. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE LADY TENNYS RESERVES + +The night passed. One, two, three o'clock went by on the trip to +sunrise. Hugh dozed at times despite the strain on his nerves. When at +last he arose to stretch himself, he saw the faint gray meeting and +mingling with the black in the skies, and knew that the crisis was +almost at hand. + +Swiftly, silently through the darkness came six forms, hurrying from the +distant end of the pass with the alarm. They sped into the presence of +the king and Hugh just as the first gleam of light began to make itself +visible in the east. The messengers had seen the enemy, by that time +entering the pass from the north. In an instant Hugh's little army was +in a state of wild perturbation. One could have heard the gnashing of +teeth had he walked among the groups receiving final orders from King +Pootoo. Silence reigned again--the silence of death. + +Something that sounded like the heavy breathing of a man came to the +ears of the waiters. It was the sweep of naked feet over the pebbly, +sandy bottom of the pass, the cautious movement of bodies through the +air, sounds growing plainer until they resembled the rustling of grass +through which a snake is gliding. To Hugh the intense moments seemed +like hours. Would they never come to view? Would the ambush succeed? Why +were they so slow? He could have gone ten miles while they were covering +the scant mile, he swore in his fever of anxiety. + +At last the king pointed excitedly down the dark gulch, and, for the +first time, Ridgeway realized that he was facing an enemy in battle. His +eyes did not blink, so intently were they glued upon the dim, uncertain +objects that moved in the distance. The sword at his side was gripped in +a fierce but unconscious grasp. He placed his hand over his throbbing +heart; a damp chill seemed to break through every pore in his body. + +"In five minutes this place will be hell!" he muttered, and the king +looked at him inquiringly. + +Slowly the moving mass resolved itself into a thousand entities, +swarming towards the opening at the end of the pass. It required all of +his coolness and self-possession to control the wild impulse to begin +the fight long before the proper moment. To his surprise, not one of his +men moved from his position. + +In advance of the main body of invaders was a small detachment of +scouts. Hugh saw that they would reach the trenches ahead of the army +and that the trap would be revealed. His heart almost failed him as he +looked down upon that now distinguishable mass crowding up through the +gorge. There seemed to be thousands of them, strapping, fierce, +well-armed savages. Their spears looked not unlike a field of dancing +cornstalks. + +It was necessary to check the little advance guard before the plans +could go amiss. Ridgeway, suddenly calm and deliberate, despatched the +king with instructions to have his men spear the scouts as they came up, +driving them back. Pootoo wriggled stealthily to the breastworks below, +reaching the position a few moments ahead of the Oolooz squad. Perhaps +one hundred yards behind this detail came the swarm of battle men. There +was something in the advance that suggested a cat stealing upon an +unsuspecting bird. + +By this time it was quite light, although sunrise was half an hour away. +In the gray, phantom-producing gloom Hugh could see his own men behind +the boulders, awaiting his command. A sudden shriek broke on the +stillness, causing him to leap as if some one had struck him violently. +Then there was a succession of yells and the rushing of feet. He glanced +nervously toward the trenches. A dozen Oolooz men were flying back +toward the main body, while not a sign of Pootoo or his men was visible. +They had delivered a few spears and had dropped back into the trench. + +The main body in the pass swayed and jammed in the effort to halt, but +the rear pushed forward so clamorously that the whole mass rolled up the +ravine fairly into the death trap before it began to understand the +meaning of the yells and the sudden retreat of the scouts. + +"Now is the time," thought the American. His tall form sprang from +behind the tree at the edge of the little cliff. His white face was +whiter than ever, his eyes flashed, his long frame quivered. Up went +his sword arm and loud came the cry from his lips: + +"Fire!" + +As if by magic two long rows of immutable boulders wabbled for a second +and then thundered down the hillside, while ten score of wild, naked +human beings sent up yells of horrid glee to the unveiling dome above. + +No pen can describe the flight of those death-dealing rocks as they +bounded over the sharp declivities, gaining speed with each revolution, +scattering earth, gravel and underbrush with the force of a cyclone, +leaping at last with a crushing roar into the very midst of the +stupefied army. There was a sickening, grinding crash, an instant of +silence, then the piteous wails and groans and the spectacle of a +writhing, rolling, leaping, struggling mixture of human forms. Almost as +the first volley of rocks left its position to roll upon the vanguard of +the ambushed horde, the howling devils on the hill tops were scurrying +toward the second row, farther to the right. Down poured this second +storm of rocks, increasing the panic below, literally slaughtering the +helpless wretches by the score. + +Ridgeway looked upon this scene of destruction as if fascinated. He was +powerless to move. He had not dreamed that his trap could produce such a +havoc. The bottom of the pass was strewn with grovelling, shrieking +bodies, trampled beneath the feet of their uninjured but insane +companions. Dead and wounded, crushed and maimed, made up the surging +humanity in the fatal pass. The rocks had mowed them down. Devastation +had come like lightning from the skies. It was horrible! + +Closing his eyes, he turned away, utterly sick. A moment later he +glanced about, hearing the victorious, eager savages on the heights +screeching like madmen. From all sides they were swarming toward him, +concentrating for the swoop down the hillside at his command. He was +awakened to action, his mind grasped the importance of immediate +decision and he was entirely recovered from his momentary palsy. One +particular feature of the horrid scene lingered in his memory till his +dying day. The surprised Oolooz men, not knowing whence came the foe or +the nature of the charge down the hills, had quietly turned their spears +to receive the onslaught, expecting men instead of rocks. He never +forgot the brief stand they made. + +At first he believed that all had been killed--that the battle was over +before it began. But even as he turned for another pitying glance below, +the recovered foemen started up the hillside, shouting and screaming +with rage. The ground was covered with prostrate or crawling forms, yet, +to his amazement, there still seemed to be thousands of vigorous, +uninjured warriors. + +"Good Lord! There are a million!" he shouted. Leaping forward, he swung +his sword on high and with every nerve aquiver he cried: + +"Fire!" + +It was the only command he had taught them. It meant fight, pure and +simple. Across the gulch the command could not be heard, but the men +over there were only too glad to follow the example set by their +comrades, and from both sides a perfect storm of spears hissed +through the air. + +Up from the rear rushed scores of Oolooz warriors. Despite the vicious +attack they crowded steadily up the hillside toward the crest on which +stood Hugh and his practically unbroken front. Through some sort of +natural generalship they confined their charge to the hills on one side +of the pass. Ridgeway saw this with alarm. He knew that they would +eventually force their way to the top. Yet the spears from above mowed +down the climbing savages like tenpins, while their weapons did little +or no damage. With each distinct volley from above the advancing foe +fell back, but rallied like heroes. By this time hundreds of them were +down; broad daylight made the pass look like a slaughter pen. + +Ridgeway ran among his men, urging them to stand firm, to beat back the +foe, and they responded with an ardor that was nothing less than +fiendishness itself. Their spears were unerringly thrown, but the supply +was diminishing; it was the question of a very few minutes before they +would be without ammunition. Hugh's hope lay in the possibility that the +foe would soon retreat, believing itself unable to cope with an +adversary whose numbers were unknown and who held such an +advantageous position. + +He soon saw that he would have to quickly withdraw his men from the +hill after one of the temporary repulses, taking them to the trench at +the mouth of the pass. Almost as he was forming this plan, he realized +that it would be necessary to carry it out at once. + +Far down the pass, beyond his line, the enemy came swarming up the +undefended slope, steep as it was, and some of the foremost were already +scrambling over the last few feet intervening. He yelled to the men, +pointing to the danger spot and then toward the trenches, making a sign +immediately thereafter to deliver a telling volley into the +struggling ranks. + +The savages seemed to understand, and he devoutly thanked God, for they +sent a shower of spears into the horde and then dashed helter-skelter in +the direction of the trenches where lay the king and two hundred men. +Wild yells of triumph came from behind, and long before the descent to +the valley was reached by the fleeing white man and his dusky army, the +Ooloozers were pouring into the tree-covered summit like so many sheep. + +Down the hill sped Hugh and his men. Pootoo saw them coming and waved +his spear frantically. As the retreating army rolled headlong into the +trenches and behind the breastworks, the enemy arrived at the crest of +the hill. Breathlessly Hugh motioned for Pootoo to call the men from the +opposite hill into action at once. + +A volley of spears shot into and over the trenches, followed by a +whirlwind of the long, slender messengers of death, several of them +taking effect. Pootoo's men returned the volley from behind the +breastworks, but the rampant chargers were not to be checked. Up to the +very edge of the trench they rushed, and from that moment it does not +lie within the power of the writer to depict the horrors of the conflict +in detail. Hugh's men, well protected and well armed, hurled death into +the ranks, of the fearless enemy as it crowded to the high breastworks. +And out from the mouth of the pass poured the mass of Ooloozers who had +not ascended the hill. + +Ridgeway, cutting viciously away at the black bodies as they plunged +against the wall behind which they stood, felt the spears crash against +his shield, heard them hiss past, saw them penetrate the earthworks all +about him. At another time he would have wondered how he and his men +could hope to withstand such an onslaught. One thing he did have time to +observe, and that was the surprise, consternation, even fear that came +into the enraged faces of the assaulting savages when they saw him +plainly. They were looking for the first time on the face of a white +man--the new god of their enemies. + +A sudden change in the tide of battle, though brief, transferred the +brunt of conflict to another quarter. A withering rain of spears struck +the enemy on the flank and rear, and down from the opposite hilltop +rushed the mob that had formed the other boulder squad at the beginning +of the fight, but who had done nothing after the first charge of the +Oolooz men up the hill. They threw themselves upon the enemy and were +soon lost in the boiling mass. Gaining fresh courage and a renewed +viciousness, the men in the trenches forsook the shelter and poured into +the open, Hugh being powerless to check them. + +"It is all over," groaned he, when he saw his crazy forces jump into the +very centre of the seething mass. With a white man's shrewdness he +remained behind the friendly breastworks, a dozen of his warriors +fighting by his side. Repeated rushes against his position were broken +by the desperate resistance of this small company. Hugh's heavy sword +was dripping with blood; it had beaten in the skull of many a foe, had +been driven beneath the shields and through the bodies of others. To him +it seemed hours instead of minutes since the battle began; his arm was +growing tired, his brain was whirling, his body was dripping with +perspiration. Still his blood boiled and surged with savage enjoyment; +he was now yelling with the same frenzy that filled the wild men; pure +delight grew out of the fall of every opponent that went down under +his sword. + +At last the Oolooz leader, a blood-covered savage as large as Pootoo, +led his men up to the breastworks, driving the defenders into the +trenches and down the gentle slope. Triumph was theirs apparently, and +their yelling was full of it. But inch by inch Pootoo fought them back. +Once the king looked helplessly at Hugh, as if praying for him as a god +to exert his influence in the unequal struggle. That glance was one of +entreaty, surprise, but Hugh could also see disgust in it. It stung him +strangely. + +Although he had fought and killed more men than any one on either side, +perhaps, he had not gone forth from behind the breastworks; he was not +out in the thick of it. With a yell of encouragement to the men, he +flung himself over the little wall, alighting on the soft body of a +corpse. With his supporters at his heels he dashed to the king's side. +Inside of two minutes he was struck in the leg by a spear, his hand was +cut by a glancing blow from a club and his shield arm was battered so +fearfully that it required an effort to hold it in front of his body. +Blood streamed into his eyes and down his breast, his arms grew weak, +his blows were feeble, his knees trembled, and he was ready to drop. +Twice he went to his knees only to stagger to his feet again. Three +times Pootoo's mighty club beat down warriors who were about to +brain him. + +His mind was chaotic, filled with the now certain defeat and the +heart-breaking thought that Lady Tennys would be left to the mercies of +the victors. Tears were mingling with the blood; his very soul was +crying for strength, for hope, for salvation. In his din-stricken ears +ran that wail: "What will become of me if you are killed?" Her face +seemed to float in front of his eyes, her voice came trembling and +lulling and soft through the hellish sounds, piercing the savagery with +gentle trustfulness, urging him to be brave, strong and true. Then Grace +Vernon's dear face, dim and indistinct, lured him forward into the +strife, her clear voice, mingling with the plaintive tones of the +other, commanding him to come to her. He must win! He must win! + +But the great horde of Oolooz warriors were at last breaking down the +smaller force and all seemed lost. + +Suddenly new life sprang up among the battered defenders. Joyous yells +bespoke a favorable turn of the tide. The enemy fell slowly back, +relinquishing the vantage gained. Far behind Ridgeway's fainting form +there arose the shouts of fresh factors in the fight. + +He fell against the embankment and slowly turned his eyes toward the +river. Once more Pootoo's gigantic weapon saved his defenceless head +from the blow of an eager antagonist, but the white man knew naught of +his escape. His dazed eyes saw only the band of warriors flying over the +plain toward the field of battle. Far in their rear came a fluttering +white form. + +Hardly was he able to realize that help was at hand before the released, +ferocious young fellows who had been left behind to guard her Ladyship +were plunging over the breastworks all about him. + +The Reserves to the rescue! + +Exaltation, glorious and strength-giving, flushed through him and he +leaped again into the fray. The new hope had come. He was once more +battling with a mighty vigor. Fury reigned for a moment and then came +the stampede. Down the little valley fled the foe, the conquerors in +mad pursuit. + +[Illustration: "'THEY HAVE KILLED YOU! LET THEM KILL ME!'"] + +He was unable to follow, but his heart glowed with joy as he +staggered blindly toward the earthworks. As he fell, half fainting, +against the bloody bank, the agonized figure in white flew up to the +opposite side. + +"Hugh, Hugh," she wailed, burying her face in her hands. "They have +killed you! Let them kill me!" + +"Oh, it's--nothing--" he gasped, trying to smile. "I'm all right, +little woman, but--you--got--here--just--in--time! Didn't I +say--get--home--for--lunch--or something--like--that?" + +And he knew no more. + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +TO THE VICTOR BELONGS--? + +It was a month before Ridgeway was able to leave his couch and to sit +beneath the awning in front of the temple. Not that he had been so +severely wounded in the battle of June thirtieth, but that his whole +system had collapsed temporarily. + +After the first terrible fear, Tennys gave herself entirely to the task +of caring for him. Night and day she watched, worked, and prayed over +the tossing sufferer. In seasons of despair, created by the frequent +close encroachments of death, she experienced dreams that invariably +ended with the belief that she heard his dying gasps. Until she became +thoroughly awake and could hear the movements of the two savages who sat +faithfully in the next room with their Izor, her heart was still with a +terror so depressing that it well-nigh drove her mad. + +The wounds in his legs and side were closed and the great bruises on his +back and head were reduced. When he, faint and weak, began to understand +what was going on about him, he saw the face of one of the two women +over whom he had raved in his delirium. In the hours when death seemed +but a step away he had plaintively called for Grace and then for +Tennys. A strange gladness filled the heart of the one beside him when +he uttered the unconscious appeal to her. Sometimes she found herself +growing red over the things he was saying to her in his ravings; again +she would chill with the tender words that went to Grace. Then came the +day when he saw and knew her. Often in the days of his convalescence she +would start from a reverie, certain that she heard him call as he did in +delirium, only to sink back and smile sadly with the discovery that she +had been dreaming. + +The village of Ridgehunt was a great hospital for weeks after the fight. +Lady Tennys herself had ordered the dead to be buried in the trenches. +For the first time in the history of the island the Oolooz men had been +beaten. She spent many hours in telling Hugh of the celebrations that +followed the wonderful achievements. + +"There is one thing about our friends that I have not told you, Hugh," +she said one night as they sat under the awning. "You have been so weak +that I feared the shock might hurt you." + +"You think of my comfort always," he said gratefully. + +"You never knew that they brought a number of prisoners to the village +and--and--oh, it is too horrible to tell you." + +"Brought them to the village? What for?" + +"They intended to eat them," she said, shuddering. + +"Great Scott! They are not cannibals?" + +"I couldn't believe it until I saw them making ready for their awful +feast out there. I shall never be able to eat meat again. Alzam brought +me a piece of the horrid stuff. They executed the prisoners before I +could interfere." + +"Oh, that's too horrible!" + +"Sick and terrified, I went among the men who were dancing about the +feast they were ready to devour, and, assuming a boldness I did not +feel, commanded them to desist. The king was bewildered at first, then +chagrined, but as I threatened him ferociously--" + +"I should have enjoyed seeing you ferocious." + +"He called the brutes away and then I gave orders to have every one of +the bodies buried. For several days after that, however, the men were +morose and ugly looking, and I am sure it was hard for them to submit to +such a radical change." + +"Talk about missionaries! You are a wonder!" + +"I could not have done it as a missionary, Mr. Ridgeway. It was +necessary for me to exert my authority as a goddess." + +"And so they are cannibals," he mused, still looking at her spirited +face. + +"Just think what might have happened to us," she said. + +That night as he lay on his couch he was forced to admit that the +inconsolable grief that had borne down so heavily upon him at first was +almost a part of the past. The pain inspired by the loss of a loved one +was being mysteriously eased. He was finding pleasure in a world that +had been dark and drear a few short months before. He was dimly +conscious of a feeling that the companionship of Tennys Huntingford was +beginning to wreak disaster to a supposedly impregnable constancy. + +Tears came to his eyes as he murmured the name of the girl who had +sailed so blithely from New York with his love as her only haven. He +called himself the basest of wretches, the most graceless of lovers. He +sobbed aloud at last in his penitence, and his heart went back to the +night of the wreck. His love went down to the bottom of the sea, craving +a single chance to redeem itself before the one it had wounded and +humiliated. Before he fell asleep his conscience was relieved of part of +its weight and the strong, sweet face of Grace Vernon passed from his +vivid thoughts into vague dreams. + +In the next apartment tranquilly slept the disturber, the trespasser in +the fields of memory, the undoer of a long-wrought love. He had tried to +learn the way to her heart, wondering if she cared for him as he had +more than once suspected. In pursuing this hazardous investigation he +had learned nothing, had seen nothing but perfect frankness and +innocence, but had become more deeply interested than he knew until this +night of recapitulation. + +One night, two or three after he had thrown off the delirium, he heard +her praying in her room, softly, earnestly. Of that prayer one plea +remained in his memory long after her death: "Oh, God, save the soul of +Grace Vernon. Give to her the fulness of Thy love. If she be still +alive, protect and keep her safe until in Thy goodness she may be +restored to him who mourns for her. Save and bless Hugh Ridgeway." + +The days and weeks went by and Hugh grew well and strong. To Tennys he +was not the same Hugh as of old. She perceived a change and wondered. +One day at sundown he sat moodily in front of the temple. She was lying +in the hammock near by. There had been one of the long, and to her +inexplicable, silences. He felt that her eyes were upon him and knew +that they were wistful and perplexed. + +Try as he would, he could not keep his own eyes in leash; something +irresistible made him lift them to meet her gaze. For a moment they +looked at each other in a mute search for something neither was able to +describe. He could not hold out against the pleading, troubled, +questioning eyes, bent so solemnly upon his own. The wounds in her +heart, because of his indifference, strange and unaccountable to her, +gaped in those blue orbs. + +A tremendous revulsion of feeling took possession of him; what he had +been subduing for weeks gained supremacy in an instant. He half rose to +his feet as if to rush over and crush her in his arms, but a mightier +power than his emotion held him back. That same unseen, mysterious power +compelled him to turn about and almost run from the temple, leaving her +chilled and distressed by his action. The power that checked him +was Memory. + +She was deeply hurt by this last impulsive exhibition of disregard. A +bewildering sense of loneliness oppressed her. He despised her! All the +world grew black for her. All the light went out of her heart. He +despised her! There was a faintness in her knees when she essayed to +arise from the hammock. A little cry of anguish left her lips; a hunted, +friendless look came into her eyes. + +Staggering to the end of the temple, she looked in the direction he had +taken. Far down the line of hills she saw him standing on a little +elevation, his back toward her, his face to the river. Some strong +influence drew her to him. Out of this influence grew the wild, +unquenchable desire to understand. Hardly realizing what she did, she +hurried through the growing dusk toward the motionless figure. As she +came nearer a strange timidity, an embarrassment she had never felt +before, seized upon her and her footsteps slackened. + +He had not seen her. A panicky inclination to fly back to the temple +came over her. In her heart welled a feeling of resentment. Had he any +right to forget what she had done for him? + +He heard her, turned swiftly, and--trembled in every joint. They were +but a few paces apart and she was looking unwaveringly into his eyes. + +"I have followed you out here to ask why you treat me so cruelly," she +said after a long silence which she Bought to break but could not. He +distinguished in this pathetic command, meant to be firm and positive, +the tremor of tears. + +"I--I do not treat you cruelly, Tennys," he answered disjointly, still +looking at the slight, graceful figure, as if unable to withdraw +his eyes. + +"What do you call it?" she asked bitterly. + +"You wrong me--" he began. + +"Wrong you? No, I do not. You saved me from the sea and you have done +much for me until within the past few weeks. I had begun to forget that +I am here because fate substituted me for another. Hugh, do not let your +love for Grace and your regret at not having saved her turn you against +me. I am not here because I could have helped it. You must know +that I--" + +"For Heaven's sake, Tennys, don't talk like that! The trouble is that I +do not regret having saved you. That's why you see the change in +me--that's why I've hurt you. I cannot be to you what I would be--I +cannot and be true to myself," he cried fiercely. + +"What do you mean? Why are you so unhappy, Hugh? Have I hurt you?' she +asked, coming quite close in sudden compassion. + +"Hurt me!" he exclaimed. "You will kill me!" She paled with the thought +that he was delirious again or crazed from the effects of the fever. + +"Don't say that, Hugh. I care more for you than for any one in the +world. Why should I hurt you?" she asked tenderly, completely +misunderstanding him. + +"You don't mean to, but you do. I have tried to conquer it but I cannot. +Don't you know why I have forced myself to be unhappy during the past +few weeks? Can't you see why I am making you unhappy, too, in my +struggle to beat down the something that has driven everything else out +of my mind?" + +"Don't talk so, Hugh; it will be all right. Come home now and I will +give you some wine and put some cool bandages on your head. You are not +well." She was so gentle, so unsuspecting that he could contain himself +no longer. + +"I love you--I worship you! That is why I am cruel to you!" he burst +out. A weakness assailed him and he leaned dizzily against the tree at +his side. He dared not look at her, but he marvelled at her silence. If +she loved him, as he believed, why was she so quiet, so still? + +"Do you know what you say?" she asked slowly. + +"I have said it to myself a thousand times since I left you at the +temple. I did not intend to tell you; I had sworn you should never know +it. What do you think of me?" + +"I thought you called it love that sent you to Manila," she said +wonderingly, wounding without malice. + +"It was love, I say. I loved her better than all the world and I have +not forgotten her. She will always be as dear to me as she was on the +night I lost her. You have not taken her place. You have gone farther +and inspired a love that is new, strange, overpowering--infinitely +greater, far different from the love I had known before. She was never +to me what you are. That is what drives me mad--mad, do you hear? I +have simply been overwhelmed by it." + +"I must be dreaming," she murmured. + +"I have tried to hide it from myself, but it has broken down all +barriers and floods the world for me." + +"It is because we are here alone in this island--" + +"No, no! Not that, I swear. It would have come sooner or later." + +"You are not like other men. I have not thought of you as I see you now. +I cannot understand being loved by you. It hurts me to see that you are +in earnest. Oh, Hugh, how sorry I am," she cried, laying her hand upon +his arm. His heart dropped like lead. He saw that he had been +mistaken--she did not love him. + +"You are learning that I am not the harlequin after all," he said +bitterly. + +"There is no one in all the world so good and strong and true." + +"You--you _will_ love me?" + +"You must not ask that of me. I am still Lady Huntingford, a wife for +all we know. Yet if I loved you, I would tell you so. Have I not told +you that I cannot love? I have never loved. I never shall. Don't look +like that, Hugh. I would to God I could love you," she exclaimed. His +chin had sunk upon his breast and his whole body relaxed through sheer +dejection. + +"I'll make you love me!" he cried after a moment's misery in the depths, +his spirits leaping high with the quick recoil. His eager hands seized +her shoulders and drew her close, so close that their bodies touched +and his impassioned eyes were within a few inches of hers of startled +blue. "I'll make you love me!" + +"Please let me go. Please, Hugh," she murmured faintly. + +"You must--you shall love me! I cannot live without you. I'll have you +whether you will or no," he whispered fiercely. + +She did not draw back, but looked him fairly in the eye as she spoke +coldly, calmly, even with a sneer. + +"You are master here and I am but a helpless woman. Would you force me +to forget that you have been my ideal man?" + +"Tennys!" he cried, falling back suddenly. "You don't think I would harm +you--oh, you know I didn't mean that! What must you think of me?" + +He put his hand over his eyes as if in deep pain, and, turning away, +leaned against the tree unsteadily. With his first words, his first +expression, she knew she had wronged him. A glad rush of blood to her +heart set it throbbing violently. + +She could not have explained the thrill that went through her when he +grasped her shoulders, nor could she any more define the peculiar joy +that came when she took a step forward and placed her hands gently, +timidly on his arm. + +"Forgive me, Hugh, I must have been mad to say what I did. You are too +noble--too good--" she began in a pleading little quaver. + +"I knew you couldn't mean it," he exclaimed, facing her joyously. "How +beautiful you are!" he added impetuously. He was looking down, into that +penitent face and the cry was involuntary. She smiled faintly and he +raised his arms as if to clasp her to his breast, come what may. The +smile lingered, yet his arms dropped to his sides. She had not moved, +had not taken her eyes from his, but there was an unrelenting command in +the soft words she uttered. "Be careful. I am always to trust you, +Hugh." He bowed his head and they walked slowly homeward. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +_THE OTHER SURRENDER_ + +The first few days and nights after this episode found Ridgeway +despairing and unhappy, but as time removed the sting from defeat, his +hopes began to flounder to the surface again, growing into a resolution, +strong and arrogant. He devoted himself to her tenderly, thoughtfully, +unreservedly. There was something subtle in his gallantry, something +fascinating in his good humor, something in everything he did that +attracted her more than it had before. She only knew that she was happy +when with him and that he was unlike any man she had known. + +There were times when she imagined that he was indifferent to the shock +his pride had received at her hands, and at such times she was puzzled +to find herself piqued and annoyed. A little gnawing pain kept her awake +with these intermittent fears. + +She became expert in the art of making garments from the woven grass. +Her wardrobe contained some remarkable gowns, and his was enlarged by +the addition of "Sunday trousers" and a set of shirt blouses. They wore +sandals instead of shoes. Each had a pair of stockings, worn at the time +of the wreck, but they were held in sacred disuse against the hoped-for +day of deliverance. + +One day, late in September, after the sun had banished the mists from +the air and the dampness from the ground by a clear day's process, they +wandered down between the gateposts to the beach where they had first +landed with Pootoo. The sun was sinking toward the water-line and they +sat wistfully watching it pass into the sea. For nearly five months they +had lived with the savages, for the greater portion not unhappily, but +always with the expectation that some day a vessel would come to take +them back to civilization. + +"It has not been so unpleasant, after all, has it?" she asked. "We have +been far more comfortable than we could have prayed for." + +"I should enjoy seeing a white man once in a while, though, and I'd give +my head for this morning's Chicago newspaper," he answered +rather glumly. + +"I have been happier on this island than I ever was in my life. Isn't it +strange? Isn't it queer that we have not gone mad with despair? But I, +for one, have not suffered a single pang, except over the death of our +loved ones." + +"Lord Huntingford included," maliciously. + +"That is unkind, Hugh. I am ashamed to say it, but I want to forget that +he ever lived." + +"You will have plenty of time to forget all you ever knew before we die. +We'll spend the rest of our days in that nigger village back there. If +I should die first I suppose you'd forget me in a week or so. It--" + +"Why, Hugh! You know better than that! Why do you say such disagreeable +things?" + +"I'm not worth remembering very long," he said lamely. She smiled and +said the statement threw a different light on the question. Whereupon he +did not know whether to laugh or scowl. + +"This dear old island," she cried, looking toward the great rocks +lovingly. "Really, I should be sorry to leave it." + +"When the ship comes, I'll go back to America, and you may remain here +if you like and be the only Izor in the business." He said it in jest, +but she looked at him solemnly for a moment and then turned her eyes out +to sea. She was reclining on her side, her hand supporting her head, her +elbow in the sand. He sat five feet away, digging holes in the sand with +an odd little walking stick. One of her sandalled feet protruded from +beneath the hem of her garment, showing ever so little of the bare, +white, fascinating ankle. + +"I should despise the place if I had to live here a day without you," +she said simply. + +"What do you mean?" She did not answer at once. When she did, it was +earnestly and without the least embarrassment. + +"Can't I make you understand how much you are to me?" she asked without +a blush. "You are the best, the noblest man I've ever known. I like you +so well that I do not know how I could live if I did not have you to +talk to, if I could not see you and be with you. Do you know what I did +last night?" + +He could only shake his head and tremble with the joy of feeling once +more that she loved him and did not understand. + +"I prayed that we might never be taken from the island," she said +hurriedly, as if expecting him to condemn her for the wish. He rolled +over on his back, closed his eyes, and tried to control a joyous, +leaping heart. "It was so foolish, you know, to pray for that, but I've +been so contented and happy here, Hugh. Of course, I don't expect we are +to live here always. They will find us some day." He opened his eyes and +hazarded a glance at his face. She smiled and said, "I'm afraid +they will." + +There was but the space of five feet between them. How he kept from +bounding to her side and clasping her in his arms he never knew; he was +in a daze of delight. So certain of her love was he now that, through +some inexplicable impulse, he closed his eyes again and waited to hear +more of the delicious confession. + +"Then we shall leave the prettiest land in the world, a land where show +and pomp are not to be found, where nature reigns without the touch of +sham, and go back to a world where all is deceit, mockery, display. I +love everything on this island," she cried ecstatically. He said +nothing, so she continued: "I may be an exile forever, but I feel richer +instead of poorer away off here in this unknown paradise. How glorious +it is to be one's self absolutely, at all times and in all places, +without a thought of what the world may say. Here I am free, I am a part +of nature." + +"Do you think you know yourself fully?" he asked as quietly as he could. + +"Know myself?" she laughed. "Like a book." + +"Could you love this island if you were here alone?" + +"Well, I--suppose--not," she said, calculatively. "It would not be the +same, you know." + +"Don't you know why you feel as you do about this God-forsaken land, +Tennys Huntingford?" he demanded, suddenly drawing very near to her, his +burning eyes bent upon hers. "Don't you know why you are happy here?" +She was confused and disturbed by his manner. That same peculiar flutter +of the heart she had felt weeks ago on the little knoll attacked +her sharply. + +"I--I--I'm sure--I am happy just because I am, I dare say," she +faltered, conscious of an imperative inclination to lower her eyes, but +strangely unable to do so. + +"You love this island because you love me," he whispered in her ear. + +"No, no! It is not that! Please don't be foolish again, Hugh. You will +make me very unhappy." + +"But you do love me. You love me, and you do not know it," he said, +thrilled with exultation. She looked at him wonderingly, a half +scornful, half dubious smile flitting over her face. + +"I will try to be patient with you. Don't you think I know my own mind?" +she asked. + +"No; you do not," he said vigorously. "Let me ask you a few questions, +and I beg of you, for your own sake and mine, to answer them without +equivocation. I'll prove to you that you love me." + +"Who is to be the judge?" she asked merrily. She trembled and turned +cold as he took her hand in his and--she was not merry. + +"First, is there another man in the world that you would rather have +here? Answer, dear." The blood mounted to her cheek at the term of +endearment. + +"Not one," she answered firmly, trying to smile. + +"Have you never thought--be honest, now--that you don't want to leave +the island because it would mean our separation?" + +"Yes, but--but it would be the same with anybody else if I cared for +him," she exclaimed quickly. + +"But there is no one else, is there?" She looked at him helplessly. +"Answer!" + +"Oh, Hugh, I--it would not be right for me to encourage you by answering +that. Please let us go back to the village," she pleaded. + +"Well, I know there is no one else. Tell me that you don't want to leave +me because we should drift apart in the big world," he persisted. + +"I had thought of that," she said so low that he could barely hear. + +"You have prayed that Grace may be alive. What would it mean to you if +she should be alive and we should be reunited?" + +"I--I don't know," she muttered blankly. + +"Would you be willing and happy to give me up to her?" + +"I never thought of that," she said. Then a terror leaped to her eyes +and her breast heaved as with pain. "Oh, Hugh, what would that mean to +me? I could not give you up--I could not!" she cried, clasping his hand +feverishly in both of hers. + +"Would you be glad to see us married, to see us living together, to see +children come to us? Would you be happy if I forgot you in my love for +her?" he went on remorselessly, yet delightedly. + +"You couldn't forget me," she whispered, faint and trembling now. "You +don't mean to say I never could be near you again!" There was dismay in +her face and a sob in her voice. + +"Oh, occasionally, but in a very formal way." + +"I believe I should die," she cried, unable to restrain herself. + +"You admit then that you want me for yourself only," he said. + +"Yes, yes I do, Hugh! I want you every minute of my life!" + +"Now you are beginning to know what love is," he breathed in her ear. +His eager arm stole slowly around her shoulders and, as she felt herself +being drawn close to him irresistibly, a sweet wonder overwhelmed her. +The awakening had come. With singing heart she lifted her hands to his +cheeks, bewitched by the new spell, holding his face off from her own +while she looked long and yearningly into his eyes. A soft flush crept +over her brow and down her neck, her eyes wavered and melted into +mirrors of love, her lips parted, but she could not speak. The clasp +tightened, his face came nearer, his words sounded like music in her +enchanted ears. + +"Have I proved that you love me, darling?" "I never knew till now--I +never knew till now," she whispered. + +Their lips met, their eyes closed, and the world was far, far away from +the little stretch of sand. + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +_WHERE THERE IS NO MINISTER_ + +Six savages lying on the sand far above them saw the strange scene down +near the splashing surf and looked blankly at each other. They had never +known their Izors to act in that manner, and their benighted minds +were troubled. + +"Oh, Hugh, those men are looking at us," she protested, after the first +moments of joy. + +"Let them look," he cried. "You should pity them, dear, for until a few +moments ago you were as much in the dark as to the meaning of love as +they are now. You were a perfect heathen." + +"You are no longer the harlequin. You have become the wizard." + +"But it isn't a pantomine," he said. + +The shadows were falling and darkness was settling about them as they +passed between the giant rocks and into Velvet Valley, his arm around +her waist. This new emotion deprived them of the desire to talk. There +was a conscious flush in her cheeks, a queer restraint in her voice, a +curious timidity in her manner when they sat before the rude table in +the temple and partook of food that had never tasted so sweet before; +though neither could eat of it. Something had satisfied the grosser +appetite; something was tugging and choking the old into submission +while the new was crowding into its realm, buoyantly, inflatingly. + +They sat in front of the temple until far in the night, revelling in the +beauty of the new nature. The whole world seemed different to them as +they regarded it through the eyes of love; the moonlit sky was more +glorious than ever before; the sombre stillness of the night was more +restful; the atmosphere was sweet with the breath of passion; the sports +of the savages had a fresh novelty; the torches in front of the king's +home flickered with a merrier brilliancy. + +All Ridgehunt was awake and celebrating, for it was a festal night. King +Pootoo had taken unto himself a new wife, adding one more to the +household of his heart. There were dances and sports and all manner of +festivities in honor of the event, for it was not oftener than twice a +year that the king took a new wife unto his bosom. The white people +never knew where the ceremony began. They only knew that on this night +of all nights the father of the bride had led her to the king and had +drawn with his spear a circle in the soft earth. + +Inside of this circle the girl prostrated herself before the groom-elect +and the marriage was complete when the royal giant stepped into the +wedding ring and lifted her to her feet, leading her to a place among +her predecessors, who sat on the ground near by. Then the celebration +ran to its highest pitch. Late in the night the weird revelry ceased and +the two spectators entered the temple, her hand in his. He led her to +the curtained door of her apartment. + +"Good-night, dear one," he said softly. She turned her face to his and +he held her for an instant to his heart, their lips meeting in a long +thrill of ecstasy. + +"Good-night," she whispered. He pulled the curtain aside and she slowly +entered the room. For an hour afterward he lay awake, wondering what +manner of love it was he had given to Grace Vernon. It was not +like this. + +It was barely daylight when he arose from his couch, dressed and started +for a brisk walk over the hills. His ramble was a long one and the +village was astir when he came through the woodland, some distance from +the temple. Expecting to find Tennys waiting for him, he hastened to +their abode. She evidently had not arisen, so, with a tinge of +disappointment, he went to his room. Then he heard her, with her women, +taking her morning plunge in the pool. The half hour before she made her +appearance seemed a day to him. They met in the hallway, he glad and +expectant, she shy and diffident. The red that burned in her cheeks +turned to white when he kissed her, and her eyelids fell tremblingly +with the proof positive that she had not dreamed the exquisite story of +the night before. + +Later in the morning they called on the king, and that individual +promptly prostrated himself. They found the new bride repairing a +section of the king's palace that had been blown down by a recent +hurricane. Before the white people left, Tennys had the satisfaction +and Hugh the amusement of seeing the big chief repairing the rent and +the bride taking a rest. + +"I've been thinking pretty hard this morning, dear," he said as they +walked back to the temple, "especially when I was alone in the forest." + +"Can't you think unless you are alone?" she asked, smiling. + +"We all think differently sometimes when we are alone, you know. I was +just thinking what a dickens of a position we are in for a pair +of lovers." + +"It seems to me that it is ideal." + +"But where is the minister or magistrate?" + +"What have they to do with it?" + +"Everything, I should say. We can't get married without one or the +other," he blurted out. She stopped stockstill with a gasp. + +"Get married? Why--why, we have said nothing of getting married." + +"And that's just why I am speaking of it now. I want you to be my wife, +Tennys. Will you be my wife, dear?" he asked nervously. + +"How absurd, Hugh. We may be on this island forever, and how are we to +be married here? Besides, I had not thought of it." + +"But you must think of it. I can't do all the thinking." + +"Lord Huntingford may not be dead," she said, turning pale with the +possibility. + +"I can swear that he is. He was one of the first to perish. I don't +believe you know what love is even now, or you would answer my +question." + +"Don't be so petulant, please. It is a serious matter to consider, as +well as an absurd one, situated as we are. Now, if I should say that I +will be your wife, what then?" + +"But you haven't said it," he persisted. + +"Hugh, dear, I would become your wife to-day, to-morrow--any time, if it +were possible." + +"That's what I wanted you to say." + +"But until we are taken from this island to some place where there is an +altar, how can we be married, Hugh?" + +"Now, that's something for you to think about. It's almost worried the +life out of me." + +By this time they had reached the temple. She flung herself carelessly +into the hammock, a contented sigh coming from her lips. He leaned +against a post near by. + +"I am perfectly satisfied here, Hugh," she said tantalizingly. "I've +just been thinking that I am safer here." + +"Safer?" + +"To be sure, dear. If we live here always there can be no one to disturb +us, you know. Has it ever occurred to you that some one else may claim +you if we go back to the world? And Lord Huntingford may be waiting for +me down at the dock, too. I think I shall object to being rescued," she +said demurely. + +"Well, if he is alive, you can get a divorce from him on the ground of +desertion. I can swear that he deserted you on the night of the wreck. +He all but threw you overboard." + +"Let me ask a question of you. Suppose we should be rescued and you find +Grace alive and praying for your return, loving you more than ever. What +would become of her if you told her that you loved me and what would +become of me if you married her?" + +He gulped down a great lump and the perspiration oozed from his pores. +Her face was troubled and full of earnestness. + +"What could I say to her?" He began to pace back and forth beneath the +awning. She watched him pityingly, understanding his struggle. + +"Now you know, Hugh, why I want to live here forever. I have thought of +all this," she said softly, holding out her hand to him. He took it +feverishly, gaining courage from its gentle touch. + +"It is better that she should mourn for me as dead," he said at last, +"than to have me come back to her with love for another in my breast. +Nedra is the safest place in all the world, after all, dearest. I can't +bear to think of her waiting for me if she is alive, waiting to--to be +my wife. Poor, poor girl!" + +"We have been unhappy enough for to-day. Let us forget the world and all +its miseries, now that we both love the island well enough to live and +die on its soil. Have you thought how indescribably alone we are, +perhaps for the rest of our lives? Years and years may be spent here. +Let them all be sweet and good and happy. You know I would be your wife +if I could, but I cannot unless Providence takes us by the hands and +lifts us to the land where some good man can say: 'Whom God hath joined, +let not man put asunder.'" + +The next day after breakfast she took him by the hand and led him to the +little knoll down by the hills. Her manner was resolute; there was a +charm in it that thrilled him with expectancy. + +"If we are not rescued within a year's time, it is hardly probable that +we will ever be found, is it?" she asked reflectively. + +"They may find us to-morrow and they may never see the shores of this +island." + +"But as they have not already discovered it, there is certainly some +reason. We are in a part of the sea where vessels do not venture, that +is evident," she argued persuasively. + +"But why do you ask?" + +"Because you want me to be your wife," she said, looking him frankly in +the eye. + +"I can only pray that we may be found," he said wistfully. + +"And in case we are never found?" + +"I shall probably die an old bachelor," he laughed grimly. For some +moments she was in a deep study, evidently questioning the advisability +or propriety of giving expression to what was in her mind. + +"Are there not a great many methods of observing the marriage ceremony, +Hugh? And are they not all sacred?" she asked seriously. + +"What are you trying to get at, dear?" + +"I may as well tell you what I have been thinking of since last night. +You will not consider me bold and unwomanly, I know, but I want to be +your wife. We may never leave this island, but we can be married here." + +"Married here!" he exclaimed. "You mean--" + +"I mean that the ceremony of these natives can be made as sacred in the +eye of God as any in all the world. Nine-tenths or more of all the +marriages in the world are crimes, because man, not God, welds the +bonds. Therefore, I say frankly to you, Hugh, that I will marry you some +day according to the custom of these people, as sacred to me as that of +any land on earth." + +At first he could hardly believe that he had heard aright, but as she +progressed and he saw the nobility, the sincerity, of her declaration, a +wave of reverential love swept through his heart. The exaltation of a +moment before was quelled, destroyed by a sacred, solemn regard for her. +There was a lump in his throat as he bent over and gently took her hand +in his, lifting it to his lips. + +"Are you sure of yourself, darling?" he whispered. + +"I could not have spoken had I not been sure. I am very sure of myself. +I trust you so fully that I am sure of you as well." + +He kissed her rapturously. + +"God bless you. I can hardly breathe for the joy I feel." + +"But you do not say you will marry me," she smiled. + +"You shall be my wife to-day," he cried. + +"I beg your pardon," she said gaily, "but as the bride I am the arbiter +of time. If in a year from now we are still here, I will be your wife." + +"A year! Great heaven! Impossible! I won't wait that long. Now be +sensible, Tennys." + +"I am very sensible. While I am willing to recognize the sacredness of +the marriage laws here, I must say that I prefer those of my own land. +We must wait a year for deliverance. If it does not come, then I will--" + +"But that's three hundred and sixty-five days--an age. Make it a month, +dear. A month is a long, long time, too." + +"A year is a long time," she mused. "I will marry you on the +twenty-third of next May." + +"Six months!" he exclaimed reprovingly. + +"You must accept the decision. It is final." + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +_THE WEDDING RING_ + +The six months passed and the strange wedding was near at hand. The +underlying hope that they might be discovered and restored to the life +that seemed so remotely far behind them was overshadowed, obliterated by +the conditions and preparations attending their nuptials. Sincerity of +purpose and the force of their passion justified beyond all question the +manner in which they were to become man and wife in this heathen land +of Nedra. + +Wedding garments had been woven in the most artistic and approved +fashion. Lady Tennys's trousseau was most elaborate, far more extensive +than even the most lavish desires of civilization could have produced. + +Their subjects vied with each other in the work of decorating their +idols for the ceremony. Never before had native ingenuity and native +endurance been put to such a test. Worship was the master workman and +energy its slave. + +"If they keep on bringing in clothes, dear, we'll have a bargain-day +stock to dispose of some time. We'd have to live two hundred years in +order to try 'em on and thereby set the fashion in exclusive wedding +garments." Hugh made this comment as they stood surveying the latest +consignment of robes, which reposed with considerable reverence on the +specially constructed tables in the new part of Tennys Court. Amused +perplexity revealed itself in the faces of the couple. + +"I think this last pair of trousers, if you should ever wear them, will +revolutionize the habits of the island. You will look especially killing +in green, Hugh." + +"That seashell parasol of yours is unique, but I imagine it will be too +heavy for you to carry in Piccadilly. I observed that it required two +able-bodied men to bring it here, and they seemed immensely relieved +when it was off their shoulders--to say nothing of their hands. How do +you like this crocodile skin necktie of mine?" + +"It is particularly becoming to you--as a belt." + +"I'm glad we're to be married soon, Tennys," said he with a grin. "If we +put it off a month longer there won't be enough material on land or sea +to supply the demand for ready-made garments. As it is, I'm afraid the +poor devils will have to go naked themselves until a new crop springs +up. I saw one of Pootoo's wives patching his best suit of breech clothes +to-day, so he must be hard put for wearing apparel." + +"I wonder if it would offend them if we were to distribute what we can't +use among the poor." + +"I am sure it would please the poor as much as it would please us. +They'll all be poor, you know. I have two hundred and eighty-three pairs +of trousers and only seven shirts. If I could trade in two hundred and +fifty pants for an extra shirt or two, I'd be a much happier +bridegroom." + +"I dare say they can cut down some of my kimonas to fit you. I have at +least three hundred." + +"I'd like that blue one and the polka dot up there. They'd make corking +shirts. I'll trade you twelve of my umbrellas for one of those grass +bonnets of yours. They've been showing too much partiality. Here you've +got nearly one hundred suits of pajamas and I have but eleven." + +"Yes, but think of the suits of armor they've made for you and not one +for me." + +"But I wouldn't have time to change armor during a battle, would I? One +suit is enough for me. By George, they look worse than football suits, +don't they? One couldn't drive a javelin through this chunk of stuff +with a battering ram." + +Everywhere about them were proofs of the indefatigable but lamentable +industry of their dusky friends. Articles inconceivable in more ways +than one were heaped in the huge room. Nondescript is no word to +describe the heterogeneous collection of things supposed to be useful as +well as ornamental. Household utensils, pieces of furniture, bric-a-brac +of the most appalling design, knickknacks and gewgaws without end or +purpose stared the bewildered white people in the face with an intensity +that confused and embarrassed them beyond power of expression. + +Shortly after their strange betrothal, Lady Tennys had become a strong +advocate of dress reform for women on the island of Nedra. Neat, loose +and convenient pajamas succeeded the cumbersome petticoats of everyday +life. She, as well as her subjects, made use of these thrifty garments +at all times except on occasions of state. They were cooler, more +rational--particularly becoming--and less troublesome than skirts, and +their advent created great rejoicing among the natives, who, prior to +the arrival of their white leaders, had worn little more than nothing +and yet had been quite fashionable. + +Tennys was secretly rehearsing the marriage ceremony in the privacy of +her chamber, prompted and praised by her faithful handmaidens. To her, +this startling wedding meant but one thing: the resignation of all +intent to leave the island. The day she and Hugh Ridgeway were united +according to the custom sacred to these people, their fate was to be +sealed forever. It was to bind them irrevocably to Nedra, closing +forever to them the chance of returning to the civilization they had +known and were relinquishing. + +Ridgeway daily inventoried his rapidly increasing stock of war +implements, proud of the prowess that had made him a war-god. He soberly +prohibited the construction of a great boat which might have carried him +and his fair companion back to the old world. + +"If we are rescued before the wedding, dear, all well and good; but if +not, then we want no boat, either of our own or other construction, to +carry us away. Our wedding day will make us citizens of Ridgehunt until +death ends the regime. Our children may depart, but we are the Izors of +Nedra to the last hour of life." + +"Yes," she said simply. + +The fortnight immediately prior to the day set for the wedding was an +exciting one for the bride and groom-to-be. Celebration of the great +event was already under way by the natives. Great feasts were planned +and executed; war dances and riots of worship took place, growing in +fervor and splendor as the day approached; preparations never flagged +but went on as if the future existence of the whole world depended +entirely upon the outcome of this great ceremony. + +"Yesterday it was a week, now it is but six days," said Hugh early one +morning as they set forth to watch their adorers at work on the great +ceremonial temple with its "wedding ring." The new temple was a huge +affair, large enough to accommodate the entire populace. + +"To-morrow it will be but five days," she said; "but how long the days +are growing." They sat beside the spring on the hillside and musingly +surveyed the busy architects on the plain below. + +"How are the rehearsals progressing?" he asked. + +"Excellently, but I am far from being a perfect savage. It doesn't seem +possible that I shall ever learn how to fall gracefully into that ring. +I believe I shall insist that you turn your head at the particular +juncture, for I know you'll laugh at me," she said with a great show +of concern. + +"I don't like that part of the service. It's a shame for me to stand by +and to see you tumble at my feet. Firstly, it's not your place; +secondly, it's liable to hurt you; lastly, I'd feel a most unmanly +brute. Wonder if we can't modify that part of it somehow?" + +"I might be carried in on a litter and set down in the ring, or we might +stretch a hammock," she said, laughing merrily. + +"I'm determined on one point and that is in regard to the pile of soft +grass. Pootoo promised to cut a lot of it and put it in the ring. You +shan't break any bones if I can help it." + +"Pootoo is to be master of ceremonies in every sense of the word, I can +see. I am the ward of a king." + +At last the day arrived. + +They were to enter the ceremonial temple at high noon and in their ears +were to be the sound of timbrels and brass, trumpets and drums and the +glad though raucous songs of a kingdom. + +Early in the day Tennys Huntingford submitted herself to be arrayed for +the ceremony by her proud, jealous maidens. She remained alone and +obscure in her chamber, awaiting the moment when King Pootoo should come +for her. Her gown was of the purest white. It was her own handiwork, the +loving labor of months. True, it would have looked odd in St. James or +in the cathedral, but no bride ever walked to those chancels in more +becoming raiment--no bride was ever more beautiful, no woman ever more +to be coveted. Her heart was singing with love and joy; the dreams of +months were coming true in these strangely wakeful hours. + +Ridgeway wandered nervously through the village, watching the sun as it +crept nearer and nearer to the middle of its daily reign--would the +minutes never end? Why had the sun stopped in its course across the sky? +Why was time so tantalizing? + +At last! The sudden clangor of weird instruments filled his ears. He +held his hand to his throbbing heart as he turned his gaze toward the +door through which she was to come. + +Inside the great temple the people of Nedra were singing and chanting +with anticipant joy; outside the world was smiling benignly. All Nedra +gathered about the circle of earth in which Tennys Huntingford was to +cast herself at the feet of her husband and lord for all time. + +Hugh had not seen her since the night before, and his eyes were starving +for the vision. She came forth, her white hand in the great broad palm +of King Pootoo, and she smiled gloriously upon the man who stood below +and waited for her to come to him. Together they were to approach the +circle. The priests were there to receive them--Hugh first and then his +bride; the people were shouting, the instruments were jangling with a +fiercer fervor, the sun was passing across the line with his fairest +smile and wedding bells were ringing in two red, full hearts. + +But even as she came up to him and touched his arm, outside the temple +doors, the hand of Fate was lifted and a rigid finger stayed them on +the verge. + +A mighty intonation, sharp and deafening, came to their ears like a clap +of thunder from a clear sky! + +Paralysis, stupefaction, fell upon the multitude. There was a silence as +of death. Every sound ceased, every heart stood still and every sense +was numb. It seemed an hour before Hugh Ridgeway's stiff lips muttered: + +"A gun! A ship's gun!" + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +_THE CRUISER "WINNETKA"_ + +A moment later pandemonium broke loose. The ceremony was forgotten in +the panic that seized the startled savages. There was a rush, a stampede +of terror and the great temple was emptied as if by magic. Hugh and his +fair companion stood alone in the little plain, staring at the distant +gateposts, over which a faint cloud of smoke was lifting, coming up from +the sea beyond. The terrified savages had fled to their homes in +wildest alarm. + +Minutes passed before Hugh could speak again. Power of comprehension +seemed to have left them. They were looking dumbly into each +other's eyes. + +"It _was_ a gun--a big gun. Our flag." + +Without knowing what they did the two started across the plain, their +eyes glued to the great rocks that screened the mystery. + +"Can it be the Oolooz men?" she asked. + +"The whole Oolooz army, dead or alive, couldn't have made a noise like +that. It might have been a volcano breaking through the rocks." + +"Then we must not venture down there," she cried, holding back. He threw +his big right arm around her waist and broke into a brisk run, taking +her along resistlessly. + +Together they walked and ran across the plain and through the pass which +led to the sea. Far behind straggled a few of the villagers, emboldened +by curiosity. + +"The rocks seem to be all right," he said, as if a pet theory had been +destroyed. + +By this time they had passed over the rocks and were upon the sand. +Simultaneously they turned their eyes toward the sea, and the sight that +burst upon them fairly took the breath from their lungs, leaving them so +weak that they staggered. A mile or so out at sea lay a huge ship, white +hulled and formidable. There were gun turrets above deck and a swarm of +men on board. + +Hugh's eyes seemed to turn round and round in his head, his legs began +to tremble and his palsied lips parted helplessly, as he pointed to the +colors she flew. The American flag fluttered from the mizzen-mast of the +great vessel! + +Almost crazed by the sight, the castaways, overcoming their +stupefaction, forgetting all that had gone before, danced frantically on +the sand hill, their ecstasy knowing no bounds. + +"Will they see us?" she sobbed, falling at last to the ground in sheer +exhaustion, digging her fingers feverishly, unconsciously into the sand. + +"Yes, yes! They must see us! We are saved! Saved!" he yelled hoarsely. +Then he threw himself beside her, and they were clasped in each other's +arms, crying like children. Afterward they could remember only that they +saw a boat lowered from the ship. It came toward them, a white uniformed +officer standing in the bow. As the boat drew near Tennys began to +regain her equanimity. She withdrew hastily from Hugh's arms and arose. +With streaming eyes she waved her hands in response to the faraway +salute of the officer. Hugh, not so easily restrained, jumped to his +feet and shouted: + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! God bless you! American sailors! Angels of heaven, +every one of you! Hurrah!" + +Holding their hands to their temples, the castaways finally calmed +themselves enough to look rationally at each other. Their minds began to +regain order, their nerves were quieted, their hearts forgot the tumult, +and they could think and talk and reason again. In the fierce ecstasy of +seeing the long-looked-for rescuers, they had forgotten their expressed +desire to live always on the island. Human nature had overcome sentiment +and they rejoiced in what they had regarded as a calamity an hour +before. Now they realized that a crisis had come. + +"Hugh, will they take us away?" she cried, real anguish mingling with +triumphant joy. + +"Shall we go or stay?" cried he, torn by two emotions. + +"It may be the end of our happiness," she whispered, pale as death. "I +will stay here forever, Hugh, if you like." + +"Do you want to go?" + +"I want to go and I want to stay. What shall we do?" + +"Go! We shall be happy. Nothing shall part us, darling." + +"But Grace? What if she is alive?" she asked faintly. + +"God grant she is. I'll throw myself at her feet and she shall be made +to understand," he said, but a nameless chill crossed him. + +"You would break her heart," moaned she. "Our poor, poor wedding day." + +"There will be another glad and joyous day," he said, trying to find +heart. + +"I will go where you go, Hugh," she said. + +A few long sweeps of the oars and the white boat, with its blue +trimmings, shot upon the beach, and the officer leaped forward to meet +the waiting pair. + +"I am Ensign Carruthers, United States cruiser _Winnetka_, Captain +Hildebrand commanding. We saw your flag and were considerably +mystified," he said, doffing his cap to her Ladyship. But Ridgeway, +forgetting politeness, dignity and reserve, rushed up and grabbed him by +the hand, mad with the exuberance of joy. + +"Saved! Saved! Saved!" + +Carruthers, dumbfounded, looked from one to the other of the now frantic +couple. He saw white people dressed in most unusual garments, the woman +possessing a gloriously beautiful face and the air of royalty, the man +bushy haired and stalwart, every inch a gentleman and an American. + +"What does this mean?" he demanded. + +"You are the first white man we have seen in more than a year," cried +Hugh. + +"We have seen none but savages," added she, tears of happiness starting +afresh down her cheeks. + +"You were wrecked?" exclaimed the sailor, appalled. + +It was an incoherent recital that the two poured into his ears, first +one, then the other talking excitedly, but it was not long before he was +in possession of all the facts. + +"You were on the _Tempest Queen_," he cried, doubting his ears. + +"Was no one saved?" they cried breathlessly. + +"The captain and five or six passengers, I think, were picked up, almost +starved, in a boat, some days after the wreck. All others were lost." + +"Who were the passengers?" asked Hugh, trembling with eagerness. + +"I don't recall the names." + +"Was there a Miss Ridge among them?" + +"Was Lord Huntingford saved?" + +"I can't say as to the lady, but I know that Lord Huntingford was lost. +I remember the papers were full of headlines about him and his young +wife. His dead body was picked up by a steamer. She was not found." + +"She has just been found," said Hugh. "This it Lady Huntingford." + + * * * * * + +The _Winnetka_ was on a three years' cruise. Her engines had broken down +a few days before, during a storm, and she was carried out of her +course. The machinery being repaired, she was now picking her way toward +Manila. The sailors were sent back to the warship, with information for +the commander, and Carruthers accompanied the joyous couple to the +village. The natives had seen the ship and the white men, and there was +intense excitement among them. + +Then came the struggle for Hugh and Tennys Huntingford. For an hour they +wavered and then the die was cast. Back to the old world! + +When it became known that the Izors who had done so much for them were +to leave the island on the big, strange thing of the deep, the greatest +consternation and grief ensued. Chattering disconsolately, the whole +village accompanied the belongings of the Izors to the beach. Lady +Tennys and Ridgeway went among their savage friends with the promise to +return some day, a promise which they meant to fulfil. + +"I'll have missionaries out here in a month," vowed Hugh, biting his +lips and trying to speak calmly through the grip that was choking him +involuntarily. + +King Pootoo, the picture of despair, stood knee-deep in the water. As +the sailors pushed off, he threw up his hands and wailed aloud; and then +the whole tribe behind him fell grovelling in the sand. Two white-robed +figures flung themselves in the water and grasped the gunwales as the +boat moved away. The sailors tried to drive them off, but they screamed +and turned their pleading faces toward their mistress. + +"Please take them in," she cried, and strong arms drew the dusky women +into the boat. They were Alzam and Nattoo, the devoted handmaidens of +the beautiful Izor. Trembling and in fear of dire punishment for their +audacity, they sank to the bottom of the boat. Nor did they cease their +moaning until they were on the broad deck of the _Winnetka_, where +astonishment overcame fear. + +Slowly the boat moved away from the island of Nedra, just one year after +its new passengers had set foot on its shores. High upon the top of the +tall gatepost fluttered the frayed remnants of an American flag. The +captain pointed toward it, removed his cap proudly, and then there arose +a mighty cheer from the men on board the man o' war. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +_APPARITIONS_ + +The _Winnetka_ passed Corregidor Island and dropped anchor in Manila +harbor on the morning of June 1st. On the forward deck stood Hugh +Ridgeway and Tennys Huntingford. They went ashore with Captain +Hildebrand, Ensign Carruthers, the paymaster and several others. Another +launch landed their nondescript luggage--their wedding possessions--and +the faithful handmaidens. The captain and his passengers went at once to +shipping quarters, where the man in charge was asked if he could produce +a list of those on board the _Tempest Queen_ at the time she went down. + +"I have a list of those who left Aden and of those who were rescued. Did +you have friends on board?" + +"Yes, we had friends," answered Hugh, in a choking voice. "First, let me +see a list of the lost." The clerk found the book containing the list, +alphabetically arranged, and placed it on the desk before the trembling +man and woman. Both had an insane desire to rush from the office and +back to the _Winnetka_, where they could hide from the very knowledge +they were seeking. In their hearts they were wishing for the solitude +and happiness of the Island of Nedra. The clerk, observing their +anxiety, considerately offered to read the names to them. + +"No, I thank you; I'll look," said Hugh, resolutely turning to the +pages. Lady Tennys leaned weakly against the counter and looked through +blurred eyes at the racing lines of ink. Hugh rapidly ran his fingers +through the list, passing dozens of passengers they had known. As the +finger approached the "R's" it moved more slowly, more tremblingly. +"Reed--Reyer--Ridge!" "Hugh Ridge, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A." He grew +sick when he saw his own name among those who were dead. + +"She was saved," he murmured, for there was but one Ridge there. + +"Look for Vernon," whispered his companion. + +"Van Camp--Valentine--Wilson." It was not there--nor was Veath's! + +"Are they on the list?" asked the clerk. + +"Let me see the names of those who were saved," said Hugh bravely, joy +and anxiety welling to the surface like twin bubbles. + +"Two pages over, sir." + +Over went the pages so ruthlessly that the scribe was in trepidation +lest they should be crumpled beyond redemption. Hugh read aloud in an +unnatural voice: + +"Costello--Hamilton--Ridge--Shadburn--Veath." + +His hand fell upon the page and his head dropped forward till his lips +touched the name that danced before his eyes. + +"Here it is! Here it is!" he shouted, hugging the book. + +"Thank God!" cried she, tears rushing to her eyes. Together they read +and re-read the name, scarcely able to believe that she was truly one of +the few to escape. "And Henry Veath, too. Oh, Hugh, it is a miracle--a +real miracle!" + +"Old Veath saved her! I knew he would if he had a ghost of a chance. +Tennys, Tennys, I can't believe it is true." He was beside himself in +his excitement. Captain Hildebrand, the clerk, and the other attaches +looked on with happy smiles. In this moment of relief they forgot +completely that, in leaving the island, they had been filled with a sort +of dread lest they should find her who might come between them. + +"We must find Veath," went on Hugh rapidly. "Is he in Manila?" + +"He is in the Government Building, sir," answered the clerk. Already +Hugh was edging toward the door, holding Lady Tennys by the arm. "Is Mr. +Veath a relative?" + +"No; he's more than that. He's a friend. We were on the _Tempest Queen_ +together when she went down." + +"You were--on--the--what did you say, sir?" gasped the clerk. + +"He doesn't know who we are, Hugh." + +"That's so. Add two more names to the list of saved and scratch 'em off +the other. Put down Lady Huntingford and Hugh Ridge." + +The clerk's eyes bulged. Every man in the office came forward in +amazement. + +"It's the truth," volunteered the _Winnetka's_ captain. "I picked them +up last week." + +"Where's the cable office? I must send a message to Miss Ridge. When did +she sail for the United States?" + +"She hasn't sailed, sir. Her name is Vernon, and she's been waiting in +Manila for news of you ever since. Get some water there, Cleary! He's +going to faint." Ridgeway collapsed against the counter, his face going +deadly pale. Lady Tennys sank into her chair, huddling limply as if to +withstand a shock, while from her stricken face two wide blue eyes +centred themselves hopelessly on her lover. + +"Needn't mind the water. I'm all right," stammered Hugh, moving away +with legs as stiff as rods. "Where is she now?" + +"At the home of her uncle, Mr. Coleman. There were seven of them saved, +after being buffeted about by the sea for three days in the boat in +which they left the wreck. When they were picked up by the _Sea Gull_, +they were almost dead with hunger, thirst and madness. It seems Miss +Vernon had written her uncle before sailing; and the letter, coming by +way of San Francisco, got here two or three weeks before she was +expected. Afterward, Mr. Coleman got the government to send ships out to +find the wreck. It was many weeks before Miss Vernon was fully +recovered." + +"Thank you," muttered he. "Come, Lady Huntingford, we will go to a +hotel." She arose and silently followed him to the door. The men in the +office glanced at each other, completely mystified, Captain Hildebrand +as much so as any one. + +For a long time the occupants of a certain carriage looked straight +before them as if bereft of the power of speech or comprehension. A +great abyss of thought confronted them; they were apparently struggling +on the edge, utterly unable to grasp a single inspiration or idea. + +"She's been waiting a year, Tennys. Do you know what that means?" + +"Yes, Hugh; I know too well. She has prayed and hoped and loved, and now +you are come to her. It means that she will be happy--oh, so happy!" +murmured his white-lipped companion, cold as ice. + +"But I can't go to her and tell her what we know. It would kill her. I +can't go to her--it is impossible! I'd die if she looked at me," +he groaned. + +"You must go to her," she said intensely. "She will know you have been +rescued. She will thank God and wait for you to come to her. Think of +that poor girl waiting, waiting, waiting for you, filled with a joy that +we can never know. Oh, I will not have you break her heart. You shall +go to her!" + +"I cannot, I tell you! I cannot tell her that I love you! That would be +worse than any cruelty I can imagine." + +"You are not to tell her that you love me. I release you, Hugh. You were +hers first; you are hers now. I would kill myself rather than lake you +from her. Go to her--go to her at once. You must!" She was nervous, +half-crazed, yet true nobility shone above all like a gem of purest ray. + +"Don't force me to go, Tennys," he pleaded, as she left him to go to her +room. + +"Go now, Hugh--go if you love me," she said, turning her miserable face +from him. + +"But what is to become of you--of me?" he protested. + +"We must think only of her. Go! and bring her to see me here! I want to +tell her how happy I am that she has found you again;" and then she +was gone. + +The dominant impulse was to rush after her, grasp her and carry her back +to the waves from which he had unwittingly saved her. Then the strong +influence that she had exerted over him, together with the spark of +fair-mindedness that remained, forced him to obey the dictates of honor. +He slowly, determinedly, dejectedly re-entered the carriage and started +toward the end. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +_THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE_ + +Ridgeway had been directed to the home of Mr. Henry Coleman. He was +never able to describe his emotions as he drove through the streets +toward that most important place in all the world at that hour. The cab +drew up in front of the rather pretentious home and he stepped forth, +dazed and uncertain, his knees stiff, his eyes set. Had some one shouted +"Run!" he would have fled with his resolution. + +Every window in the home seemed to present Grace Vernon's glad face to +his misty eyes; she was in there somewhere, he knew, waiting as she had +been waiting for a whole year. + +Slowly he mounted the steps and stood before the screen door. After what +seemed an hour of deliberation, during which he sought to resurrect the +courage that had died, he timidly tapped on the casement with his +knuckles. The sound could not have been heard ten feet, yet to him it +was loud enough to wake people blocks away. There was no response and +his heart, in its cowardice, took a hopeful bound. No one at home! He +turned to leave the place, fearing that some one might appear to admit +him before he could retreat. At the top of the steps he paused, +reasoning that if no one was at home he could at least rap again. His +conscience would be easier for the extra effort. He rapped once more, +quite boldly. A man appeared in the doorway so suddenly that he caught +his breath and put out his hand to steady himself. + +The screen flew open and Henry Veath grasped him by the arms, fairly +dragging him into the hallway. + +"Hugh! Hugh! Is it really you?" For a moment he stood like one suddenly +gone mad. + +"Henry, I can't believe it!" gasped Ridgeway. Both of them stood looking +at one another for more than a full minute. "What a wonderful escape!" +fell hazily from the newcomer's stiff lips. + +"How did you escape?" cried the other in the same breath. Pale as ghosts +they wrung each other's hands spasmodically, dazed and bewildered. + +"Where is Grace?" demanded Hugh. + +"She is out just at present," said the other slowly and with an effort. +"Come in and sit down. She will be here presently." He staggered as he +drew back. + +"Has--has my sister given up all hope of ever seeing me again?" said +Ridgeway. Their hands were still clasped. + +"Miss Vernon feared that you were lost, Hugh," said Veath. A cold +perspiration was showing itself on his brow. "She has told me all. How +ill and white you look. Sit down here and I'll get you some wine." + +"Never mind, old man. I'm well enough. When will she return? Great +heaven, man, I can't wait!" He sank limply into a chair. His +companion's heart was freezing. + +"Be calm, old friend. She shall be sent for at once." + +"Break it to her gently, Veath, break it to her gently," murmured Hugh. + +Veath excused himself and left the room. In the hall, out of Hugh's +sight, he stopped, clenched his hands, closed his eyes and shivered as +if his blood had turned to ice. Presently he returned to the room, +having gone no farther than the hall. + +"I have sent for her," he said in a strange voice. + +Grace was coming down stairs when Veath admitted Hugh. Startled and +almost completely prostrated, she fell back, where Veath found her when +he went to announce the news. Finally, with throbbing heart, she crept +to the curtain that hung in the door between the parlors and peered +through at the two men. Ridgeway was standing in the centre of the room, +nervously handling a book that lay on the table. His face was white and +haggard; his tall, straight figure was stooped and lifeless. Veath stood +on the opposite side of the table, just as pale and just as discomposed. + +"Does she often speak of me?" she heard Hugh ask hoarsely. The other did +not answer at once. + +"Frequently, Hugh, of course," he said finally. + +"And--do--you--think she--she loves me as much as ever?" There was fear +in his voice; but poor Grace could only distinguish pathetic eagerness. +Veath was silent, his hands clasped behind his back, his throat closed +as by a vise. "Why don't you answer? Does she still love me?" + +Grace glanced at the drawn face of Henry Veath and saw there the +struggle that was going on in his mind. With a cry she tore aside the +curtains and rushed into the room, confronting the questioner and the +questioned. + +"Grace!" gasped the former, staggering back as if from the effect of a +mighty blow. Through his dizzy brain an instant later shot the necessity +for action of some kind. There stood Grace, swaying before him, ready to +fall. She loved him! He must clasp her to his heart as if he loved her. +This feeble impulse forced him forward, his arms extended. "Don't be +afraid, dear. I am not a ghost!" + +Veath dropped into a chair near the window, and closed his eyes, his +ears, his heart. + +"Oh, Hugh, Hugh," the girl moaned, putting her hands over her face, even +as he clasped her awkwardly, half-heartedly in his arms. He was saying +distressedly to himself: "She loves me! I cannot break her heart!" + +Neither moved for a full minute, and then Hugh drew her hands from her +eyes, his heart full of pity. + +"Grace, look at me," he said. "Are you happy?" + +Their eyes met and there was no immediate answer. What each saw in the +eyes of the other was strange and puzzling. She saw something like +hopeless dread, struggling to suppress itself beneath a glassy film; he +saw pitiful fear, sorrow, shame, everything but the glad lovelight he +had expected. If their hearts had been cold before, they were +freezing now. + +"Happy?" she managed to articulate. "Happy?" + +"Yes, happy," he repeated as witlessly. + +"Don't look at me, Hugh. Don't! I cannot bear it," she wailed +frantically, again placing her hands over her eyes. His arms dropped +from their unwilling position and he gasped in amazement. + +"What is it, Grace? What is the matter? What is it, Veath?" he gasped. +She sank to her knees on the floor and sobbed. + +"Oh, Hugh! I am not worthy to be loved by you." He tried to lift her to +her feet, absolutely dumb with amazement. "Don't! Don't! Let me lie here +till you are gone. I can't bear to have you see my face again. + +"Grace!" he cried blankly. + +"Oh, if I had been drowned this could have been avoided. Why don't you +say something, Henry? I cannot tell him." Veath could only shake his +head in response to Ridgeway's look of amazed inquiry. + +"Is she mad?" groaned the returned lover. + +"Mad? No, I am not mad," she cried shrilly, desperately. "Hugh, I know I +will break your heart, but I must tell you. I cannot deceive you. I +cannot be as I once was to you." + +"Cannot be--deceived me--once was--" murmured he, bewildered. + +"While I mourned for you as dead I learned to love another. Forgive me, +forgive me!" It was more than a minute before he could grasp the full +extent of her confession and he could not believe his ears. + +Gradually his mind emerged from its oblivion and the joy that rushed to +his heart passed into every vein in his body. At his feet the unhappy +girl; at the window the rigid form of the man to whom he knew her love +had turned; in the centre of this tableau he stood, his head erect, his +lungs full, his face aglow. + +"Say you will forgive me, Hugh. You would not want me, knowing what you +do." + +"For Heaven's sake, Hugh," began Veath; but the words choked him. + +"So you love another," said Hugh slowly, and cleverly concealing his +elation at the unexpected change in the situation. He was not without a +sense of humor, and forgetting, for the moment, the seriousness of her +revelation, he could not resist the temptation to play the martyr. + +"My dear girl," he went on with mock gravity, "I would sacrifice my life +to see you happy! Whoever he may be, I give you to him. Be happy, +Grace;" and with decided histrionic ability concluded heart-brokenly: +"Forget Hugh Ridgeway!" + +A portrait of a buxom lady hanging on the wall received the full benefit +of his dejected glance; and she could have told the unhappy lovers that +the wretched man had winked at her most audaciously. + +"When are you to be married?" he resumed solemnly. + +"To-night," she choked out, then added quickly: + +"But I won't, Hugh--I won't marry him if you say--" + +"Not for the world! You must marry him, Grace, and I'll bless you," he +interrupted quickly, even eagerly. Then there came a new thought: "Tell +me truly, do you love him better than you loved me?" + +"I love him better than the world!" + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the discarded lover devoutly. "Give me your hand, +Henry, old man--there is no one in all the world whom I'd rather see get +her than you. You saved her and you deserve her. Take her and be good to +her, that's all I ask; and think of me once in a while, won't you? +you? Good-by." + +Without waiting for an answer he broke away, as if starting for the +hall. + +"Please don't go away like that!" + +The cry of anguish came from Grace, and she threw herself sobbing on +Veath's breast. + +Hugh turned like a flash. Contrition and the certainty of his power to +dispel her grief showed plainly in his face. + +"Don't cry, Grace dear," he begged, going over to them. "I was only +fooling, dear. I'm not a bit unhappy." Grace looked up wonderingly at +him through her tears. "You must take me for a brute," he stumbled on +penitently. "You see--you see--er--the fact is, I'm in love myself." He +did not know he could be so embarrassed. Veath actually staggered, and +the girl's tear-stained face and blinking eyes were suddenly lifted +from the broad breast, to be turned, in mute surprise, upon the speaker. + +"What did you say?" she gasped. + +"I'm in love--the very worst way," he hurried on, fingering his cap. + +"And not with me?" she cried, as if it were beyond belief. + +"Well, you see, I--I thought you were drowned--couldn't blame me for +that, could you? So--I--she was awfully good and sweet and--by George! +I'd like to know how a fellow could help it! You don't know how happy I +am that you are in love with Veath, and you don't know how happy it will +make her. We were to have been married a week ago but--" he gulped and +could not go on. + +Grace's eyes were sparkling, her voice was trembling with joy as she +cried, running to his side: + +"Is it really true--really true? Oh, how happy I am! I was afraid you +would--" + +"And I was equally afraid that you might--Whoop!" exploded Hugh, unable +to restrain his riotous glee a second longer. Clasping her in his arms, +he kissed her fervently; and all three joining hands, danced about the +room like children, each so full of delight that there was no possible +means of expressing it, except by the craziest of antics. + +"But who is she?" broke out Grace excitedly, as soon as she could catch +her breath. + +"And where is she--can't we see her?" put in Veath, slapping Hugh +insanely on the back. + +"She's a goddess!" burst out Hugh, grabbing his cap and running out of +the room, shouting hilariously: "Follow on, both of you, to the hotel, +and see me worship at her shrine!" + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +_HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF_ + +Hugh lost no time on the way back to the hotel. The lazy driver awoke +his lazy horse and, to the intense amazement of both, the vehicle held +together during the return trip. At least a dozen rattling bumps over +rough places in the street caused the driver to glance apprehensively +over his shoulder in the unusual fear that his fare and the cab had +parted company. For the first time in ten years he was sufficiently +interested to be surprised. It astonished him to find that the vehicle +stuck together as a whole. + +On the way back, Hugh suddenly bethought himself of his financial +condition. He was attired in a suit of clothes belonging to Mr. +Carruthers and the garments fitted him well. In one of the pockets +rested his small leather purse. When he plunged into the sea on that +memorable night a year ago it contained a half dozen small American +coins and some English money, amounting in all to eleven dollars and +thirty cents. Carefully he had treasured this wealth on the island and +he had come away with the principal untouched. Now, as he jogged along +in the cab, he emptied the contents of the purse upon the seat. + +"Eleven thirty," he mused. "A splendid dowry. Not enough to buy the +ring. No flowers, no wine--nothing but pins. My letter of credit is at +the bottom of the sea. Borrowed clothes on my back and home-made clothes +on hers. I have a watch, a knife, and a scarf pin. She has diamond rings +and rubies, but she has no hat. By Jove, it looks as though I'll have to +borrow money of Veath, after all." + +Lady Tennys was in her room, strangely calm and resigned. She was +wondering whether he would ever come back to her, whether she was ever +to see him again. Her tired, hopeless brain was beginning to look +forward to the dismal future, the return to England, the desolate life +in the society she now despised, the endless regret of losing that which +she had never hoped to possess--a man's love in exchange for her own. +She kept to her room, avoiding the curious stare of people, denying +herself to the reporters and correspondents, craving only the loneliness +that made the hour dark for her. It seemed to her that she had lived a +lifetime since he went forth to find the girl who had waited so long +for him. + +Then came the rush of footsteps in the hall. They were not those of the +slow-moving servants, they were not--a vigorous thumping on the door was +followed by the cry of a strong, manly, vigorous voice. Her head swam, +her heart stood still, her lips grew white and she could utter no sound +in response. + +He was coming at last to commit her to everlasting misery. + +The door flew open and Ridgeway bounded into the room. Before she could +move, he rushed over and drew her limp form from the chair, up into his +strong embrace. She heard a voice, tender and gladsome, as from afar +off, singing into her ear. + +"Look up, darling! This is to be our wedding day--yours and mine! You +are mine--mine!" + +The glad light slowly struggled back into her eyes, but it was as if she +had come from a death-like swoon. He poured into her dull ears the story +of the visit to Grace Vernon, but he was compelled to repeat it. Her +ears were unbelieving. + +"Grace is coming here with Henry Veath," he said in the end. "By Jove, I +am happy!" + +She held his face close to hers and looked deep into his eyes for a +long, long time. + +"Are you sure?" she whispered at last. "Is it all true?" + +"They'll be here in half an hour; but I haven't told them it was you +they are going to see. She loves Veath--loves him more than she ever +cared for me. I don't blame her, do you? Veath's a man--worthy of any +woman's love and confidence. Tennys, do you know what I've been thinking +ever since I left them fifteen minutes ago? I've been calling myself a +cad--a downright cad." + +"And why, may I ask?" + +"Because Veath isn't one--that's all." + +"But you are a man--a true, noble, enduring one. The year just gone has +changed you from the easy, thoughtless boy into the strong man that you +are, just as it has made of me a woman." + +"I am no longer the harlequin?" he interposed eagerly. + +"The harlequin's errand is accomplished, dear. The spangles and glitter +are gone. Pure gold has come in their stead. It won't wear out. God has +worked out this end for all of us. In His own good time He rectifies our +errors and points the new way." + +"I am but a year older than when I began." + +"It isn't time that makes the man." + +"It's opportunity, after all. I wasn't a man when I dragged Grace Vernon +away from home; I was a fool--a callow boy in--" + +"That was a year ago, Hugh, dear. What was I two years ago?" + +"A rich man's wife. I was a rich man's son." + +"You were the rich man's son by chance. I was a rich man's wife from +choice." + +"History repeats itself with variations, dearest. Although I have but +eleven dollars and thirty cents in my purse, I have a million at home. +You don't mind, do you?" + +"I suppose it was foreordained that I should always marry from choice," +she said with her most entrancing smile. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEDRA*** + + +******* This file should be named 13967.txt or 13967.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/9/6/13967 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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