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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40937 ***
+
+  ALBERT ROSS'
+  ROMANCES
+
+  A NEW EDITION AT A POPULAR PRICE
+
+ALBERT ROSS is a brilliant and wonderfully successful writer whose books
+have sold far into the millions. Primarily his novels deal with the
+sex-problem, but he depicts vice with an artistic touch and never makes
+it unduly attractive. Gifted with a fine dramatic instinct, his
+characters become living, moving human beings full of the fire and
+passion of loving just as they are in real life. His stories contain all
+the elements that will continue to keep him at the head of American
+novelists in the number of his admirers.
+
+MR. ROSS is to be congratulated on the strength as well as the purity of
+his work. It shows that he is not obliged to confine his pen to any
+single theme, and that he has a good a right to be called the "American
+Eugene Sue" or the "American Zola."
+
+_12mo, cloth. Price per volume, 50 cents._
+
+  Black Adonis, A
+  Garston Bigamy, The
+  Her Husband's Friend
+  His Foster Sister
+  His Private Character
+  In Stella's Shadow
+  Love at Seventy
+  Love Gone Astray
+  Moulding a Maiden
+  Naked Truth, The
+  New Sensation, A
+  Original Sinner, An
+  Out of Wedlock
+  Speaking of Ellen
+  Stranger than Fiction
+  Sugar Princess, A
+  That Gay Deceiver
+  Their Marriage Bond
+  Thou Shalt Not
+  Thy Neighbor's Wife
+  Why I'm Single
+  Young Fawcett's Mabel
+  Young Miss Giddy
+
+G.W. DILLINGHAM CO.
+
+Publishers    New York
+
+
+
+
+  A NEW SENSATION,
+
+  BY ALBERT ROSS.
+
+
+  AUTHOR OF
+
+  "THOU SHALT NOT," "HIS PRIVATE CHARACTER,"
+  "SPEAKING OF ELLEN," "IN STELLA'S SHADOW,"
+  "THEIR MARRIAGE BOND," ETC.
+
+
+  NEW YORK:
+  COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY
+
+  _G.W. Dillingham Co., Publishers._
+
+
+  [_All rights reserved._]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER                          PAGE
+
+    I. Lady Typewriter Wanted      9
+
+   II. Outlining the Scheme      21
+
+  III. An Evening at Koster and Bial's      32
+
+   IV. "You are a hopeless scamp"      46
+
+    V. Meeting Miss Marjorie      57
+
+   VI. "Do you really want me?"      71
+
+  VII. Getting Ready for my Journey      83
+
+ VIII. "A woman I like very well"      93
+
+   IX. A Private Dining Room      104
+
+    X. "Once there was a child"      116
+
+   XI. A Theft on Board Ship      129
+
+  XII. A Little Game of Cards      144
+
+ XIII. Bathing in the Surf      155
+
+  XIV. "Oh! this naughty boy!"      166
+
+   XV. Wesson Becomes a Nuisance      176
+
+  XVI. "It is from a girl"      184
+
+ XVII. A Struggle on the Balcony      196
+
+XVIII. Our Night at Martinique      208
+
+  XIX. "It is a strange idea"      219
+
+   XX. New Work for my Typewriter      230
+
+  XXI. "You were in my room?"      241
+
+ XXII. Too Much Excitement      252
+
+XXIII. A Wedding Ring      265
+
+ XXIV. The Brutal Truth      275
+
+  XXV. "With his wife, of course"      286
+
+ XXVI. Behind the Bars      297
+
+XXVII. "I pressed them to my lips"      305
+
+
+
+
+TO MY READERS.
+
+
+It is a common question of my correspondents, "Are your novels ever
+founded on fact?" Sometimes; not often. This one is.
+
+A year ago I had an attack of neurasthenia, as did "Donald Camran." I
+did not die, nor go to an insane asylum, both of which items of "news"
+appeared in the daily papers from one end of the country to the other;
+but I wasn't exactly well for awhile. In January of this year I made my
+second trip to the Caribbean Islands and wrote this novel among the
+scenes I have described.
+
+Before going I advertised in the New York Herald "Personal" column for a
+typewriter to accompany me as private secretary. I received more than a
+hundred letters from women who desired the situation and interviewed
+quite a number of them. I decided, however, to go alone. (If the reader
+doesn't believe me I refer him to the passenger lists of the "Madiana"
+and "Pretoria.") The basis of this story, however, grew out of the
+advertisement and answers.
+
+"Marjorie" and "Statia" have a genuine existence, and so have many of
+the other characters in this tale. I have used real people as an artist
+does his models, taking a little from one, a little from another, and a
+great deal from the vivid imagination with which nature has endowed me.
+I hope the result will be satisfactory to my friends, who have waited
+double the usual time for this novel.
+
+My health seems wholly recovered and unless something unforeseen occurs
+my stories will continue to appear each July and January, as they have
+for the past ten years. This is the nineteenth volume of the "Albatross
+Series." I again send a too indulgent public my warmest thanks for their
+appreciation.
+
+Very Truly,
+
+ALBERT ROSS.
+
+Cambridge, Mass., May, 1898.
+
+
+
+
+A NEW SENSATION.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+LADY TYPEWRITER WANTED.
+
+
+"A New Sensation--that is what you need," said Dr. Chambers, wisely.
+
+"Yes, that is what you want, above all things," assented Harvey Hume.
+
+"A New Sensation--it would be the making of you!" cried Tom Barton, with
+enthusiasm.
+
+I agreed with them all. My brain was exhausted with my long illness and
+responded feebly to the new strength that was returning to my body. It
+was much easier, however, for people to discover the remedy I needed
+than to find the right way to apply it. They would never have united in
+prescribing the same kind of "sensation." What one would suggest would
+be opposed by the others; and had they come to a united decision in the
+matter their ideas might not have suited me at all. I was in a condition
+when it is not easy to make up the mind to anything.
+
+After long reflection, I decided to go and propose marriage to Statia. I
+had never offered my hand to any woman and it seemed as if that ought to
+give me at least a diversion, which was something. Not that I intended
+to make the offer lightly. I had as lief get married as anything else. I
+was sick to death of idleness--nothing could well be worse than doing
+nothing, day after day.
+
+But when I had carried out my plan, I left Statia in greater despondency
+than ever. For she refused me pointblank--something that had not entered
+into my calculations. She did it, too, in anything but an agreeable
+manner, as it then seemed to me.
+
+If the reader of these lines has ever gone through a period of insomnia
+in its most acute form, he will understand the condition in which it
+leaves a fellow. When Tom's sister laughed me out of court, as one might
+say, even though she did it with the highest expressions of good will, I
+was ready for anything desperate.
+
+"You are a silly fellow," she said, as if I were a five years' old child
+and she my governess. "What kind of a husband do you think you would
+make? Look back over the last five years of your life and see how much
+of it does you credit. You think I don't know what you have been up to,
+and perhaps it is best for me that I don't know all of it; but I am
+sure, at least, that you have undertaken nothing serious, and that every
+hour has been practically wasted. A girl has got to have something
+different in a partner on whom she is to rely for life. And that tale of
+your physician's advice is worse than all. I am not going to let myself
+for a hospital. Your health is broken on account of your persistent
+violation of all hygienic rules. You have no right to quarter yourself
+on a strong, well girl like me until you can bring something better than
+you now have to offer."
+
+I was too provoked at her manner, even more than at her words, to reply
+with much patience. I said, ill-manneredly, I must now admit, that if I
+did not have my old physique, it was only a question of time when it
+would return, and that I certainly had something else that many a young
+man would gladly take in exchange for beef and brawn.
+
+"Oh, _that_ for your fortune!" she said, snapping her fingers
+disdainfully. "I am not talking of marrying your grandfather, who
+gathered the dollars you think of such moment. Wealth is a good thing
+only when harnessed to the right horses. The man that marries me must
+have a better recommendation. I would give more for a character of
+sterling merit, a disposition to conquer the difficulties of life, than
+for all your cash. If the will of Aleck Camran had not tied up his
+savings, you would have made ducks and drakes of the whole of it before
+this time."
+
+I was angry at myself for arguing with her. She had a great deal of
+assurance to address me in that manner, I thought.
+
+"Will or no will, I have a certainty of five thousand dollars a year
+till I am thirty," I retorted. "How many of the brave young chaps you
+talk about can gain as much as that? And when I am thirty I get
+possession of the entire estate, a quarter of a million now, and more
+when that time comes. But I am not going to debate the matter with you.
+You are a coquette, Statia Barton, and have had your amusement with me.
+Some day, when you hear I have gone to the devil, a little remorse may
+touch your heart. I don't care a rap now whether I live or die."
+
+She paled at the concluding sentence.
+
+"Don't add crime to your follies," she said, in a low tone. "Existence
+does not end with this brief life on earth. When you have time to
+reflect, you will be ashamed of your present state of mind. If there is
+anything I can do for you, short of sacrificing my whole future--"
+
+"I know," I responded, sarcastically. "You are willing to be 'a sister'
+to me!"
+
+"I am, indeed!" she answered, fervently. "It's what you need much more
+than a wife. You accuse me of coquetry, because I have tried to treat
+you as--well--as the closest friend of my brother Tom. I fear your
+experience with women has not fitted you to be a good judge of their
+actions."
+
+"They are pretty much alike," I snarled. "Selfish to the core, when you
+get at their true natures. All this talk amounts to nothing. So, I'll
+say good-by, for as soon as I can get my things packed I'm going to get
+out of the country."
+
+She seemed genuinely distressed, and like the soft fellow I always was
+where her sex is concerned I found myself relenting.
+
+"Dr. Chambers advises travel," I explained, in a gentler tone. "His
+exact prescription was, 'Marry the nicest girl you know, then take a
+journey to some place where you can forget the troubles through which
+you have passed.' If I can't carry out the first part, I can the last."
+
+Statia's face lit up.
+
+"And am I--really--the 'nicest girl you know,' that you came so straight
+to me with your proposal?" she asked.
+
+"I thought so an hour ago," I responded, growing gloomy again. "I've
+intended for two years to ask you sometime, though I didn't think it
+would be so soon. I supposed you knew what was on my mind, and it never
+occurred to me that, instead of accepting my offer, you would play the
+schoolma'am with me. But let it go now. I believe I shall live through
+it, after all. That cursed insomnia leaves a man ready for the blues on
+the slightest provocation. The sooner I get out of this part of the
+world the better."
+
+She asked if I had decided where to go, and I told her I had not. I
+thought the best thing was to get on the sea as soon as I could and keep
+out of sight of land for awhile.
+
+"I don't think you ought to go alone," she said, thoughtfully.
+
+"Perhaps you would undertake to chaperone me," I suggested,
+mischievously.
+
+"No. It would be too great a responsibility. But, seriously, you should
+have some one. You are not in a condition to make a long journey alone."
+
+I felt that as well as she. But of all my friends I could think of no
+one to fill the bill, and I told her so.
+
+"Tom would go, if he could," she said. "He would lose a year in his
+classes, though, which is a serious matter. Can you not hire some
+capable young man, who would act as an assistant and companion
+combined?"
+
+If I was sure of anything it was that I wanted nothing of that kind. A
+servant was all right, and there were lots of fellows who would make
+good travelling companions, but a man who could combine the two
+qualities would be unbearable.
+
+"There's another alternative you haven't thought of," I remarked,
+catching at an idea. "What would you say to a typewriter?"
+
+"There are many young men in that business who would be glad to go with
+you," was her reply.
+
+"Hang young men! If I take a typewriter it will be a young woman," I
+retorted. "Oh, don't glare at me in that frigid way. There are
+respectable young women enough without letting your thoughts run wild.
+Uncle Dugald has been trying to get me to resume work on the family
+genealogy, which I was plodding through when I was knocked out by that
+confounded illness. I have all of the notes on hand. Supposing I
+advertise for a young woman of good moral character to assist a literary
+man, one that is willing to travel. Don't you think I might secure the
+right sort of person in that way?"
+
+"Good moral character!" she echoed, her lip curling. "And what do you
+think her character would resemble when she returned with you from your
+journey?"
+
+I replied that it would be something like that of a vestal virgin, as
+near as I could prognosticate. And I demanded where she got the notion
+that I was a menace to the purity of any young creature who might decide
+to trust herself in my company.
+
+"The idea is too silly to talk of seriously," she answered.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said I. "The more I think about it, the better I
+like the thing. Some of these typewriter girls are not bad looking. Many
+are well educated. A good salary ought to overcome their objections to
+travel, especially at this season of the year, when New York is under
+the dominion of the Ice King. I shall put an advertisement in the
+'Personal' column of the Herald, next Sunday."
+
+Statia tried to pretend that she thought me simply fooling, but it was
+evident that she was not as sure on that point as she would like to be.
+If there was nothing else to be gained by the conversation, I was at
+least getting even with her to some degree for the disappointment she
+had caused me a few minutes earlier.
+
+"You will do nothing of the sort," she said. "Come, Don, don't be an
+idiot. I can hardly find patience to discuss the senseless thing. If you
+weren't such a reckless boy, I should know you were only joking. You
+shall not leave the room until you promise to drop this nonsense."
+
+I liked her, in spite of her cruel conduct; yes, I liked her very much;
+and it did me an immense amount of good to sense the taint of jealousy
+in her words and manner.
+
+"Statia Barton," I replied, taking a step that brought me to her side,
+"it all lies with you. Again I ask you to be my wife and go with me on
+the journey my doctor declares I must take at once. If you refuse to
+guard and protect me you have no right to say that some one else shall
+be prevented from doing so."
+
+She trembled, and I thought she was about to relent. My heart gave a
+quick bound, only to be stilled by her answer.
+
+"Your conduct in this matter confirms all my previous suspicions," she
+replied, and her voice was unsteady. "I am merely, in your mind, a toy
+to be used as occasion requires. If I refuse to lend myself to that
+object you have only to find another. Now, Donald Camran, I am a little
+too proud to take that sort of place. Marriage, in my mind, is rather
+more sacred than it seems to be in yours. You evidently have no idea how
+near you are to insulting me, which makes it easier to forgive the
+slight. I thank you for the honor"--she pronounced the word in an
+ironical manner--"that you have offered and decline it absolutely.
+Further, I withdraw all my advice, since it evidently is useless to
+offer any. Advertise for your lady typewriter, make your arrangements
+with her, and go your way. And now excuse me, as I have to dress for a
+walk."
+
+I didn't really want to hurt her feelings, and it was too evident that I
+had done so. I asked meekly if she would let me wait in the parlor till
+she was ready and escort her to her destination.
+
+"No," she answered, with more determination that I had ever heard in her
+tone. "I prefer to say good-by to you here."
+
+I liked her immensely, in spite of all, and was sorry that anything
+should make a break between us, but I had no idea of crawling on my
+knees for any woman alive. I took up my overcoat, that lay on a
+chair--I was as much at home in Tom Barton's house as in my own
+lodgings--and put it on. Then I took my gloves, my hat and cane, said
+"Good-by," with great formality, and left the house.
+
+I preferred to walk, for although the air was frosty, there was heat
+enough in my veins. Block after block was traversed in an aimless way,
+for I had no destination in particular. All at once, I noticed a group
+of people staring into a window, and realized that I had reached the
+up-town building of the New York Herald.
+
+For several seconds I tried to remember what there was about that
+building to interest me. It was one of the results of my illness that
+memory had become treacherous. It frequently happened that I met
+intimate friends and could not tell their names if I were to be hanged.
+I slackened my pace, and cudgeled my brain, as the saying is, for some
+moments.
+
+It was the Herald Building--I knew that well enough. What did I want
+there? Suddenly, glancing into the business office, it all came back to
+me and I entered.
+
+The idea I had suggested to Statia as a joke began to strike me as a
+rather good thing.
+
+I would insert an advertisement for a female typewriter, if only to
+spite Statia Barton! Dr. Chambers had almost forbidden me to travel
+alone. I had a right to select my companion, and it was the business of
+no one--least of all of a woman who had thrown me over--whether the
+person I chose wore pantaloons or petticoats.
+
+Going to one of the desks I took up a pen, dipped it in ink, and tried
+to indite a suitable announcement. My hand shook, for I had not
+recovered a quarter of my normal strength. When I had written the first
+line it would have puzzled the best copy-holder in the office above to
+decipher it. I tore it up, took a second piece of paper and began again.
+When I had written the advertisement at last it did not suit me, and
+once more I essayed the task with new construction. Other men and
+several women were using the desks about me, and I glanced at them to
+see if any nervousness was visible on their countenances. There appeared
+to be none, however, which fact made my own sensations harder than ever
+to bear.
+
+Several times I fancied that the clerks behind the wire guards were
+watching me, that they had managed in some mysterious manner to see over
+my shoulder, and were laughing at my efforts. Still I hated to give up
+beaten. It is a part of my nature to carry out any task which I have
+attempted, no matter how insignificant. I took the pen once more and
+finally completed with difficulty the following:
+
+    TYPEWRITER WANTED--To travel in the Tropics for the winter. Duties
+    light, salary satisfactory. Machine Furnished. Address--Herald
+    up-town.
+
+Just as I was about to take this to one of the clerks, an extremely
+pretty young woman came to the desk I was using and attracted my
+attention. She had a pair of solitaire diamonds in her beautiful ears
+and half a dozen costly rings on her pretty fingers. She wore a tastily
+trimmed hat, with veil, a well fitting seal coat and a plaided silk
+skirt of subdued colors. I judged her to be the wife or daughter of some
+wealthy man, who had come to advertise for a maid or cook. With a few
+quick strokes of the pen, in a hand that I saw was clear and bold, she
+completed her writing and stepped quickly to the nearest counter. I
+followed her; and as there was already one customer engaging the
+attention of the clerk, I plainly saw the notice she had written, as she
+held it daintily against her muff. Its purport was as follows:
+
+    A YOUNG LADY, stranger in the city, beautiful of face and form, 22
+    years of age, suddenly thrown on her own resources, wishes the
+    acquaintance of elderly gent.
+
+The clerk looked up and nodded to the fair creature, when her turn came.
+He had evidently seen her there before.
+
+"You have forgotten again," he said, smiling. "Object matrimony."
+
+"So, I have," she answered, in mellifluous tones. "It seems so silly,
+you know."
+
+"A rule of the office," he responded, adding the words for her. "Dollar
+and a half."
+
+She took a twenty dollar bill from a purse and received the change as if
+it was hardly worth picking up. It was evident that much sympathy need
+not be wasted on this young "stranger," and that the "resources" on
+which she was "thrown" were likely to be amply sufficient.
+
+"One twenty," said the clerk, to me. "Business Personals, of course. I
+will write the word 'Lady' before 'Typewriter,' if that is what you
+mean. It may save annoyance. Sunday? Very well."
+
+He gave me my change and I withdrew to make room for others, who were
+already crowding for recognition.
+
+It was only Thursday, but it was something to have done the thing. After
+months of insomnia it is hard to make up one's mind. Delighted that I
+had taken the first step, I bought a paper from one of the boys at the
+door and went home to study the steamship routes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+OUTLINING THE SCHEME.
+
+
+The most intimate masculine friend I had in the world was Statia's
+brother, Tom Barton. We seemed to have become attached for the reason
+that a story reminded some one of an event--because we were so
+different. Tom was not the kind of chap, however, to trust with such a
+plan as I had just been maturing. Not only was he virtuous--which may be
+forgiven in a young man of good qualities--but he would never have liked
+me had he suspected a thousandth part of the peccadilloes of which I had
+been guilty. Tom was my friend, but never my confidant. For a fellow to
+share the present secret, there was no one like Harvey Hume.
+
+I was reasonably sure that Harvey would tell me I was contemplating a
+ridiculous move; indeed I more than half suspected that to be the case.
+But he would content himself with pointing out the silliness of the
+plan, leaving it to my own judgment what to do afterward. Tom, on the
+contrary, would have told Statia all about it, not imagining, of course,
+that I had done so; then he would have gone to my Uncle Dugald and set
+him on my track. If these means failed to bring me to my senses, I am
+not sure but he would have applied for an inquirendo to determine my
+sanity; all with the best intentions in the world and a sincere desire
+to promote my moral welfare.
+
+Tom is a fellow who would jump off a steamer in mid-ocean to save me,
+should I fall overboard while in his company, and never think, until he
+found himself on the way to the bottom, that I could swim, while he
+could not even float a little bit. He is as decent a chap as it has ever
+been my privilege to know, and as much to be avoided on certain
+occasions as a fer-de-lance. At any rate, my recent tilt with his sister
+did not make me particularly anxious to see any person who bore her
+family name. So I went to Harvey Hume.
+
+Harvey is, or professes to be, a lawyer. One of our mutual friends once
+got credit for a _mot_ that really didn't amount to much, when a third
+party inquired if Harvey had yet been 'admitted to the bar,' by replying
+that he had been admitted to every bar in Greater New York, although he
+had always failed to pass. Whatever might be said of him, he was a
+thoroughbred. The Spanish Inquisition could not have drawn a secret out
+of him. The worst he would do if he disapproved of my scheme was to tell
+me so, and I had a wild anxiety to talk it over with some one.
+
+"Halloa, old fellow!" he cried, as I entered his door. "Devilish glad to
+see you. Take one of these cigars, draw up here, put your feet beside
+mine on the desk, and tell me how you are."
+
+Accepting the invitation in both its phases I responded that I was
+improving every day, and that I believed myself nearly, if not quite,
+out of the woods.
+
+"Of course, you are," he replied, jovially. "And now you are out, will
+you get back again, or take a friend's advice and stay out?"
+
+"I don't even know how I got in," I remarked, dolefully. "When I see a
+chap like you in the enjoyment of all the health and spirits in the
+world it seems unfair that I should be knocked down in the way I was.
+Why, all the drinking I've done since I was born wouldn't satisfy you
+for half a year."
+
+Harvey blew a cloud of smoke to the ceiling and winked knowingly.
+
+"Rats!" he responded. "I only drink just enough to lubricate my mucous
+membrane. If you had drunk oftener and done some other things less, you
+would be in as fit shape as I am. It was plain to me for a long time
+that you would bring up where you did. No fellow can live on the edge of
+his nerves month after month without paying the piper, sooner or later."
+
+"Well," I said, "I'm through with it now, at all events. Lovely woman
+has got to get along without me, in the old way, for a long time to
+come. Dr. Chambers has given me a scare, and I'm going to profit by it."
+
+"Good!" exclaimed Harvey, with warmth.
+
+"Yes," I continued, smiling inwardly at the scheme I was about to
+divulge, "the sort of female creature with which I have spent my time
+and cash is to be banished from my waking and my sleeping dreams. I am
+going to take ship for some foreign port, and remain away till I am sure
+of my resolutions."
+
+Hume leaned over and took my hand in his own. My esteem for him rose
+with the action, which spoke more than words, but I went on with my
+story.
+
+"The doctor will not hear of my going alone, however," I pursued,
+"and--"
+
+"And he's quite right," he interpolated.
+
+"So I have advertised for a companion to make the trip. You don't seem
+to have conceived any plan for me, so I've invented one of my own."
+
+My friend interrupted again to compliment me on the common sense of the
+move.
+
+"You see, the genealogy of the Camran family that my Uncle has set his
+heart on gives me an excuse to secure the services of a companion in the
+guise of a typewriter. It takes off the feeling that I require a nurse,
+while practically providing the very same thing, in the event that one
+is needed."
+
+Hume nodded frequently, in approval. I was evidently rising rapidly in
+his estimation as a young man whose common sense had returned after a
+long vacation.
+
+"I hope you'll find the right sort of fellow," he said. "You ought to,
+if you've worded the advertisement right. The last time I put in such a
+notice, the time I got the man I now have--there was half a peck of
+answers."
+
+Taking up a pen, and putting my feet nearer the floor, I wrote a copy of
+the announcement I had left at the Herald office, and passed it to my
+friend.
+
+"How do you think that will do?" I inquired, gravely.
+
+He read it, sniffed once or twice and then threw it on the floor.
+
+"You are a good deal of a fool, but not such a d----d one as that!" he
+said.
+
+"It's exactly what I have done," was my reply. "When the answers come in
+I shall expect you to help me pick out the prizes."
+
+He laughed, refusing at first to be drawn into what he thoroughly
+believed a trap to catch him. Then he studied my face and grew doubtful.
+
+"Anybody but you, Don, might get some fun out of this. If you really
+have put such an ad. in the paper, the best thing you can do is to turn
+the entire lot of replies over to me, for investigation after you have
+left the country. But," he grew very sober, "to prance around among that
+sort of stuff yourself--at this time--would almost certainly put you
+back where you were last winter, with less chance than ever of
+recovery."
+
+It was a much rougher way of putting it than I had expected, and, to
+tell the truth, there was something creepy in the suggestion.
+
+"Your generosity is fully appreciated," I replied, with some dignity,
+"but I cannot think of exposing you to such terrible dangers. On
+reflection I do not think it best to trouble you in this matter. It
+would be a source of never-ending regret were I to return from abroad,
+and learn that you had taken my old place in the Sanitarium."
+
+Hume threw the butt of his finished cigar into a cuspidor and lit
+another one nonchalantly.
+
+"Don't you really see the difference?" he asked, when he found the weed
+drawing satisfactorily. "To me the adventures that might grow out of
+meeting a dozen or a hundred pretty women would result in nothing worse
+than passing some agreeable evenings. I never lost my head over one of
+the sex, and I never shall. If Mr. Donald Camran could say as much, I
+would tell him to carry out his intention. But, I leave it to you, my
+dear boy, to prophesy the result, if you go into this thing."
+
+I told him, with some mental misgivings, to be sure, that I had learned
+my lesson during the year that was past. No woman could make me lose my
+head again. At the same time I had not gotten over my admiration for the
+sex, and I saw no reason to do so.
+
+"I'm beginning to believe you're not fooling," said Hume, after studying
+my countenance again. "Now, tell me precisely what your game is. Let us
+have the scheme, just as it lies in your mind and, if there's a
+redeeming feature about it, trust me as a true friend to say so."
+
+We had at last reached the point I had hoped for, and I complied without
+hesitation.
+
+"I am acting primarily on the advice--almost on the orders--of Dr.
+Chambers. He wants me to take a sea voyage. He advises me strongly not
+to go alone. Then Uncle Dugald hints every time I see him that I ought
+to recommence the genealogy as soon as I feel able. A good stenographer
+would make that task an easy one. The reason I purpose taking a lady
+instead of a man--but you will certainly laugh if I tell you."
+
+My friend responded gravely that he would promise to do nothing of the
+sort.
+
+"Well," I continued, "it is this: and you may laugh at me if you like. I
+have led a life as regards women that I now think worse than idiotic. I
+have followed one after another of them, from pillar to post, falling
+madly in love, troubling my mind, worrying over the inevitable
+separations, getting the blues, losing heart, all that sort of thing;
+then, beginning over again with a new charmer, and pursuing the
+inevitable round. I have never been intimately acquainted with a pure,
+honest girl of the better classes, except one, who, this morning,
+refused my offer of marriage. I have no feminine relations except a
+couple of old aunts. I need sadly to be educated by a woman who will not
+hold out temptation. I believe a few months in the society of such a
+woman, away from old associations, will make another man of me."
+
+When I think of it now I wonder that Harvey, with his keen sense of the
+ludicrous, did not burst into a laugh, in spite of his promise. But he
+took my serious story with equal seriousness and bowed gravely.
+
+"What is to keep you from falling in love with your secretary, when you
+and she are practically alone, miles and miles from all the people you
+both know?"
+
+"I intend to secure a promise from her, before we start, that she will
+repel, absolutely, the slightest familiarity on my part. I shall fix a
+salary that will be an object. If she allows me to forget the position
+toward her that I have chosen, she is to be sent home on the next
+steamer, with a month's advance wages."
+
+Harvey bowed again, with the same gravity as before. He pulled at his
+cigar, but it had gone out and he did not relight it.
+
+"I have never talked so freely with you before," I went on to say, "and
+there is no other person on earth with whom I would do so. A year ago,
+as you are aware, I was stricken suddenly with that damnable thing
+called neurasthenia. For two months I had insomnia in the worst form
+that a man can have it and live. Sleepy from noon to noon, I only
+secured thirty minutes of unconsciousness in each twenty-four hours.
+Figure the situation to yourself. At nine o'clock every night I fell
+asleep; at half past nine I awoke, and there was not a wink again until
+nine the next night. I gave up all expectation of recovery, and the most
+disheartening things I heard were the predictions of Dr. Chambers, that
+I would ultimately get well.
+
+"Finally they sent me to the Sanitarium, where with treanol and bromides
+I was lulled to unconsciousness for several hours at a time. I would not
+consent to take opium in any form, even if the refusal killed me. A
+month passed. The artificial sleep induced brought me little strength,
+but it helped in a way. Then I went to the Hot Springs of North
+Carolina, with a valet. My sleeping capacity had returned, and I ceased
+to use the incentives previously found necessary; but my appetite, poor
+enough before, deserted me there. For breakfast I actually had to force
+down the single cup of coffee that formed the repast. At lunch I did not
+go to the table. For dinner my menu never varied--a few spoonfuls of
+soup and a small dish of iced cream.
+
+"The days dragged horribly. Somehow in the absence of real courage I
+developed a dogged determination that I would live. When I reached New
+York on my return North, I had too little strength to write a letter or
+to sit upright for more than a few moments. But the worst was over, and
+I knew it. It had become only a question of time. Step by step I have
+advanced until you see me as I am to-day."
+
+My friend listened intently.
+
+"And you don't want to fall into the old slough again," he remarked.
+
+"No, and I never will," I said, with earnestness. "Now, listen: I
+realize that I was a year ago a slave to certain vices. Yes, let us give
+them the unconventional name. If I go off alone to some distant part of
+the world, what is to prevent my beginning again on the old road and
+ending where I did before? I could take a male companion, but do you
+imagine he would have any influence with me if I started to go wrong? At
+best he would be but a servant. If he tried to stand in the way of
+anything I wanted, the result is certain; he would get his walking
+papers _de suite_. I have no mother, no sister. The only woman I ever
+thought of marrying has coldly declined my offer. Let me go in the
+company of a woman that is what she should be, and I will return a
+different man altogether."
+
+Still Hume did not laugh. I was more grateful for this consideration
+than I can describe, for I was really very much in earnest. I was like
+the drowning man, clutching at what seemed to me a life-preserver.
+
+"How old are you?" asked Hume. "Twenty-five?"
+
+"Twenty-four."
+
+"What age would you prefer your secretary to be?"
+
+"About the same. I could not endure an old maid, and I do not wish to
+undertake the care of a child."
+
+"Won't it be hard to find a woman of twenty-four years with the skill
+and judgment that your situation seems to require?"
+
+"We shall see. Some of these girls who are obliged to earn their living
+develop wonderful self-possession."
+
+He nodded, as if he could not dispute this.
+
+"Well, Don," he said, after a thoughtful pause, "I am going to be candid
+with you. The scheme you have outlined would be considered, as you must
+know, by nine-tenths of our friends, as absolutely senseless. To me it
+really has some points in its favor, if it can be carried out. You have
+left the advertisement for insertion? Very well. If you like to trust me
+so far, bring a batch of your answers here next Tuesday and we will go
+over them together. There will be a certain per centum that we shall
+both agree are not worth attention. We will classify the others, and
+pick out a dozen or so to look up. My time, my services, are at your
+disposal. The Law is not pressing me particularly just now, and I shall
+be glad if I can be of use to anybody."
+
+I accepted the proposition with delight.
+
+"And now," added Hume, "come over and get a drink."
+
+But this I was obliged to decline. I had made a solemn promise to Dr.
+Chambers, nearly a year before, that there were two things from which I
+would refrain for twelve whole months; and one of them was drinking
+anything of an alcoholic nature between meals, or stronger than claret
+even then. This I explained to Harvey, with the additional information
+that I had not broken my pledge and that the time specified would expire
+within three weeks.
+
+"Meet me on the day it is up and let me see you quaff your first
+Manhattan," he said, laughingly.
+
+"If I have good luck I shall be far away, on the Briny," I answered. "I
+shall begin very gingerly, wherever I am. I would rather shoot myself
+to-night than get into the condition I was when Chambers squeezed that
+promise out of me. He said the other day that when I entered his office
+I had eyes like those of a dead fish and so little pulse he could hardly
+distinguish it."
+
+"He is quite correct," said Hume. "I saw you about the same time, and I
+thought, as I live, that you were a goner. You're all right now, though,
+and--upon my soul!--I hope you'll keep so. The charms of Bacchus are not
+your worst danger, Venus, my boy, is the lady you want to keep shy of."
+
+"Don't I know that?" I answered. "Confound her and all her nymphs!"
+
+"Well, good day," he said, taking my hand in his and putting the other
+on my shoulder affectionately. "Tuesday I shall look for you, remember,
+with a dray load of letters from the fair maidens of this metropolis!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AN EVENING AT KOSTER & BIAL'S.
+
+
+Before I actually engaged passage to any foreign port I thought it wise
+to pay a parting visit to good Dr. Chambers. It was six months since I
+had last called on him, for finding that I was gaining in every way I
+did not care to fill myself up with medicines. His advice about
+abstinence from things hurtful had been religiously followed, and I
+presented the outward appearance of a man in fairly good health when he
+came into his office and took my hand. Between us there has grown up a
+feeling warmer than generally, I am afraid, exists between physician and
+patient. I am intensely grateful for the skill that changed me from a
+desponding invalid to one so nearly the opposite in spirits, and the odd
+five dollar bills I have paid seem no equivalent for the great boon he
+conferred upon me.
+
+In plain terms, he saved my life and more. He redeemed me from a sort of
+hell which I think the old romancers would have substituted for their
+fire and brimstone had they ever had personal experience of it, as a
+means of deterring the sinful from their ways. Money cannot pay for such
+service, and I shall feel an affection for Dr. Chambers as long as
+memory remains to me.
+
+If you have the pleasure of his acquaintance, you know that the Doctor
+is probably the handsomest man in New York. He has a good physique that
+has not degenerated into mere muscle and brawn; a fine color which does
+not lead you to suspect that too much old port and brandy is responsible
+for it. His hair is nearly white, though he has hardly seen fifty years,
+and has no other sign of age. His mustache and imperial would do credit
+to a trooper and yet has not that bovine appearance shown in portraits
+of the late Victor Immanuel. His manner is delightful, his voice
+musical, though by no means effeminate.
+
+I ascribe my cure partly to a perfect confidence in his powers with
+which he inspired me on our very first meeting. He is not one to make
+rash predictions, to tell you that he will bring you around all right in
+a week; but rest on his superior powers with the confidence of a child
+and the result will justify your faith.
+
+No physician can cure a man against his will or without his assistance.
+Go to Dr. Chambers with your heart open, tell him no more lies than you
+would tell your confidential attorney, obey every injunction he gives
+you, summon whatever of courage is left in your failing heart, take his
+medicines according to direction. If you do that and die, be sure your
+time has come and that no mortal could bring about a different result.
+If you recover, as you probably will, be honest and ascribe the result
+as much to the Doctor's intuitive knowledge of persons as to his eminent
+acquaintance with the best medical discoveries.
+
+One of the nervine preparations that he gave me is manufactured in
+Paris, and I have heard jealous physicians say that no one here knows
+the precise formula by which it is compounded; which is, it appears, a
+technical violation of the rules of the Medical Society, and
+consequently "unprofessional." If Dr. Chambers cures his patients by the
+help of this remedy, and other physicians let theirs perish, his course
+is certainly preferable from a layman's point of view. He has proved the
+efficacy of the article. Whether it be composed of one thing or another,
+or whatever be the proportions of the mixture, is of little interest to
+the one it benefits and less still to the victims of more scrupulous
+practitioners, after they have passed from earth for want of it. There
+is a great deal of nonsense in the medical profession and the
+establishment of set rules to meet all cases is bound to result in
+disaster.
+
+I asked Dr. Chambers to re-examine me in a general way, and to say, when
+he had finished, whether he saw any reason why I should not go at once
+on an ocean voyage. He devoted the better part of an hour to this task
+and ended with the declaration that the sooner I went the better my plan
+was.
+
+"I have urged you before to take a long journey to some interesting
+place," he reminded me. "At this time of year a warm country is better
+than a frigid or even a temperate one. You will thus secure a natural
+action of the skin on account of the perspiration, much better than any
+Turkish bath, which is at best only a makeshift. You will be able to
+partake of tropical fruits in their best state, fresh from the trees and
+vines. Your mind will be stimulated in a healthful manner. The voyage
+will do you great good. All I insist on now is that you do not go
+alone. While you have made immense progress you must run no risks. A
+bright, cheerful companion to fill in a dull hour is very necessary.
+And, although I believe the year for which I interdicted some of your
+habits has about expired, it does not follow that you are to plunge into
+excesses. Use the common sense you have been acquiring. Take all your
+pleasures sparingly. Still consider yourself a convalescent. I don't
+want you coming here again in the shape you were last winter."
+
+I assured him that there was no danger; that I had learned my lesson
+well; and that I would make a sensible use of my liberty. Then, when he
+had added that I need carry very little medicine--and that only for
+emergencies--and made me promise to write him once in a month or so, in
+a friendly way, I grasped his hand warmly and took my leave.
+
+If he had been a woman I would certainly have kissed him. He will never
+know, unless he happens to read these lines, how near my eyes came to
+filling with grateful tears.
+
+The next thing was a visit to my Uncle, Dugald Camran, that staid old
+bachelor, who still possesses the virtues of our Scotch ancestry, that I
+have put so often to shame. He has charge of my father's estate, which
+he manages with the same acumen that he handles his own, and which is as
+safe in his hands as in that of the Bank of England. Between my Uncle
+and me there has been much good will, but very little confidence. Our
+relations have been little more than business ones. He has no curiosity
+apparently as to my personal conduct, and I would be the last to wish
+him to know what it has been in some respects.
+
+He attributed my late illness, as did most of my other acquaintances, to
+over-study, and I had no intention of undeceiving him. There was no
+attempt on his part to influence me in any way, when I gave up my course
+at Yale without graduating. He only said that I was the best judge.
+
+He could see well enough that I was not cut from the same piece as the
+rest of the Camrans, staid, methodical getters together of money as they
+are. Probably, bad as things went, he would have made them no better had
+he interfered. His is not a nature that could understand mine. When I
+became twenty-one years of age he handed over without demur the ten
+thousand dollars that my father's testament said was to be given me on
+that date, and although he knew well that I had not a penny of it left
+at the end of a twelve-month he never uttered a word against my folly.
+He was, as far as appeared, an automatic machine to obey the provisions
+of the will.
+
+For nine years to come there was the five thousand a year for me, either
+in lump annual sums or monthly, as I might prefer. With the knowledge
+that I could not retain my hold on anything in the shape of money I
+decided to take it in the safer way. My illness had enabled me, in spite
+of the special expense to which it subjected my purse, to get a couple
+of thousand ahead, which I was foolish enough to think did me credit. As
+a matter of fact, I was never extravagant in the necessaries of life,
+and might have gained a reputation as a very careful fellow had I not
+fallen into habits that sent my change flying like geese feathers in a
+storm.
+
+Uncle Dugald listened without approval or disapproval to my statement
+that I was going on a sea voyage, which I took pains to say was advised
+by Dr. Chambers. In spite of our relation he evidently regarded me much
+as the cashier of my bank did when I presented a check--if there was a
+balance to my credit, all right; if there was none I should meet with a
+polite refusal.
+
+It was not necessary for this canny Scot to turn to his books to see how
+my balance stood. His head was full of figures and if a fire had
+destroyed every account he had, I believe he could have restored his
+ledgers accurately from memory alone.
+
+"I shall want a letter of credit," I said, "and I shall be obliged if
+you will attend to the matter for me. I suppose it is necessary to
+deposit the amount with the firm on which the letter is drawn."
+
+"That is the customary way," he answered, "but I can arrange it a little
+better to your advantage, by guaranteeing payment through my banker.
+That will save interest on the money. What size shall the letter be?"
+
+My Uncle had no idea of being responsible for a penny beyond the amount
+in his hands, out of my annual allowance. Ah, well, that would be more
+than enough, probably. At the worst, my income was accumulating, and at
+the end of a few months I could send to him for another letter, if I
+remained away so long. So I told him to get a credit for $2000 and send
+it to my lodgings at his convenience. Then having asked after the health
+of my two maiden aunts, with whom he lived--as if I cared whether they
+were sick or well; they never had bothered about me when I was at the
+worst of my long illness!--I took my departure.
+
+That evening I studied the advertisements of the steamship lines, both
+in the Herald and in the Commercial Advertiser. There were excursions
+going to the Mediterranean, which presented most attractive
+prospectuses, but they did not convince me that they were what I wanted.
+I never liked travelling by route, preferring to leave everything open
+for any change of mind. There were the usual lines to England, France
+and Germany, but I had seen those countries several years earlier, just
+before entering college, and according to my recollection they were
+anything but restful. The particular temptations I was to avoid were
+rather too plenty on the other side of the Atlantic to trust myself
+there. I was more inclined toward some of the South American countries,
+till I happened to read in a despatch that yellow fever had broken out
+there, and I knew that those quarantines were something to be avoided at
+all hazards.
+
+Thinking of quarantines suddenly brought back the memory of a trip I had
+taken three years earlier to the Windward and Leeward Islands, where I
+had been detained in the most comfortable quarantine station in the
+world--the one at St. Thomas.
+
+I smiled to recall the discouraged feeling with which I and my
+travelling acquaintances heard, at the little town of Ponce, in Porto
+Rico, that we would have to be detained under guard fifteen days when we
+reached St. Thomas; how we had the blues for twenty hours; how the
+indigo darkened, when we were taken from our steamer and landed from a
+row boat, bag and baggage, at the foot of a long path that led up to the
+Station.
+
+And then the revulsion of feeling when we found the cosiest of homes
+awaiting us! The hearty welcome of Eggert, the quarantine master and
+lighthouse keeper; the motherly smile of his wife; the cheery welcome of
+his daughter, Thyra; the bright little faces of Thorwald, his son, and
+of the baby, Ingeborg; even the rough growl of "Laps," the Danish hound,
+had no surliness about it.
+
+Then the comfortable beds in the little rooms, curtained from all
+obnoxious insects; the five o'clock sea baths in the morning, inside the
+high station fence that we must not pass; the meals an epicure need not
+have scoffed at; our first acquaintance with a dozen varieties of the
+luscious fish that abound in that part of the Caribbean.
+
+I remembered them all, as if it were yesterday, and at this juncture
+that meant but one thing: I must see St. Thomas again, if only to
+determine whether that fortnight was a dream or a reality.
+
+The craze which this decision inspired brought to my mind the fact that
+I was still liable to excitements from which I must free myself. The
+great desideratum for which I must strive above all things was repose.
+It was mere suicide to go wild over everything that happened to please
+me for the moment. The chance was more than even that if my feelings ran
+away with me over the delights of the Antilles I would awake the next
+morning with an aversion to that part of the world. It was one of the
+penalties of my illness that the pendulum of a wish could not swing
+violently in one direction without swinging just as far in the other. I
+was afraid this would be the result in the present instance; and I sent
+for a ticket to Koster & Bial's, while I went to take my dinner at the
+Club, in order to get a diversion that would be effective.
+
+Among the entertainments presented at the great Vaudeville house that
+evening was the startling sensation known as "Charmion," and I was not
+sorry to see it, even though I had to hold my breath during part of the
+exhibition. At the risk of relating what a large number of readers must
+already know, I will describe briefly the act given by the young woman
+appearing under that title.
+
+When the curtain rose nothing was visible except a trapeze about twenty
+feet above the stage, and a rope hanging loosely beside it. Presently
+there entered a woman in full street costume, who inserted one hand
+nonchalantly in a ring at the end of the rope and was drawn lightly to
+the trapeze. Here she sat comfortably for an instant; and then, as if by
+accident, fell backward and hung head down by one leg, bent at the knee.
+
+Her gown and skirts naturally dropped in a mass over her head, leaving
+the hosiery and minor lingerie in full exposure, with a liberal supply
+of what was undoubtedly silken tights, but was meant to simulate the
+flesh of her lower limbs, in full view. For a second she remained in
+this posture, and then regained her seat on the trapeze, smoothing her
+skirts into place, with a pretended air of chagrin at what was intended
+to be considered her accidental fall.
+
+Next, with a bit of pantomime which indicated that concealment of her
+charms was useless after what had happened, "Charmion" stood up on the
+trapeze and began deliberately to disrobe, in full view of the audience,
+composed nearly equally of well garbed men and women, and completely
+filling the house.
+
+She took off first her immense "picture hat," black with great ostrich
+plumes, and let it fall into a net spread beneath her. Then she slowly
+unbuttoned her basque and removed it, exposing some very shapely arms
+and shoulders. Next came the corset, followed by a delicious rubbing
+with the hands where the article had closed too tightly around the form.
+The skirts tumbled to the feet, then the remaining garments, and the
+woman stood in her long black stockings, blue garters encircling the
+lower portion of the thighs.
+
+At this stage I noted a special expectancy in the occupants of the front
+seats--men leaning forward, with outstretched hands--the cause of which
+was soon apparent. The fair occupant of the trapeze seated herself,
+untied her garters and, with a moment of hesitation, cast them, one
+after the other, into the crowd, where they were seized by the most
+agile or most lucky of the spectators, and retained as souvenirs. Then
+came, last of all, the hose themselves, and the actual work of the
+performer as a trapeze artist began in earnest.
+
+I will do Charmion the credit of admitting that her act was truly
+wonderful. Suspended first by the insteps and then by nothing,
+apparently, but her heels, she passed easily from one round of a
+horizontal ladder to another, backward and forward, hanging head down
+in mid-air.
+
+But it was easy to see that the marvellous exhibition of skill was not
+what had drawn the immense audience. It was the risqué undressing which
+had done that. So far as I can learn, she had gone several paces beyond
+anything in this line hitherto permitted in any reputable American
+theatre.
+
+For myself I am glad I saw it, though I would not care to see it again.
+I was like the young lady who consented after some demur to take a ride
+on a very steep toboggan slide. "I wouldn't have missed it for a
+thousand dollars!" she exclaimed to her escort. "Let us try again," he
+suggested. "Not for a million!" she responded, with equal fervor.
+
+If such things are to be allowed in metropolitan theatres, I want to
+"size up," by that means, the taste of what are called the respectable
+men and women of my time. But I certainly felt a dizziness in the brain
+when that corset came off in the presence of a thousand individuals who
+seemed to represent a fairly average respectability of our women.
+
+I saw young girls of seventeen or eighteen there, middle-aged matrons
+and several elderly ladies, and I did not detect in a single face the
+agitation I knew showed in my own. Perhaps I may ascribe my extra
+nervousness to the neurasthenia from which I had so recently recovered.
+
+While at this point I hope I may be pardoned a word in reference to the
+growing taste among our theatrical audiences for what was once called
+indecent exposure. Our elders relate that New York nearly had a fit
+when, in the late sixties, the first "Black Crook" company opened its
+doors at Niblo's. To see women in flesh-colored tights reaching to the
+hips was so awful that only eye-witnesses would believe it possible, and
+to make sure it actually occurred, everybody had to go. Then came the
+"British Blondes," who wore longer tights, and filled them in a more
+satisfactory manner than those who had preceded. Soldene followed, with
+a new and startling sensation, in Sara, the skirt dancer, who pulled her
+underclothing up to her forehead, to the delight and scandal of the
+bald-headed row--just as a hundred others do now without attracting
+special attention.
+
+The demand kept ahead of the supply of indelicacy. Dancers vied with
+each other in so garbing their lower limbs as to give the impression
+that they were partially nude, and Mrs. Grundy merely bought spectacles
+of increased power and engaged a front seat.
+
+Then came the "Living Picture" craze. As Clement Scott said in his
+London paper, "We are told that these women are covered with a tightly
+fitting, skin-like gauze, but this is a matter of information and belief
+and not of ocular demonstration." The nymph at the fountain stood night
+after night, like her marble prototype, with the water running down her
+breasts and dropping from the points thereof. She refused to follow
+Beaumont and Fletcher's advice, to--
+
+    "Hide, oh, hide those hills of snow
+     That thy frozen bosom bears,
+     On whose tops the pinks that grow
+     Are of those that April wears."
+
+Venus rose from the sea, with all the appearance of absolute nudity. The
+glorious curves of the tempter of Tannhauser were revealed in their
+fullness to cultured audiences. The North Star came down that men might
+admire her shapeliness, while the three Graces proved Byron's words:--
+
+    "There is more beauty in the ripe and real
+     Than all the nonsense of their stone ideal."
+
+And then a daring manager went all this one better. He posed his women
+as bronze figures, with nothing between them and the gaze of the
+audience but bronze powder. The sensation lasted but a short time,
+spectators not caring for mulatoes when there were white forms to be
+seen at the same price. Next came the "Wedding Night," which I saw in
+Paris, and which still seems to me comparatively sweet and innocent--and
+it was suppressed, perhaps for that very reason. And now we have
+"Charmion"--meat for strong minds, but not, I fear, for the average
+young man.
+
+What will come next? I would not dare predict, but really within ten
+years we may expect anything. "The leaves are falling--even the fig
+leaves," says George Meredith. They have fallen long ago from most of
+the male statues in European galleries, and there at least I am in
+accord with the sculptors. Perfect nudity never stirred the beast in any
+sane man. Why should we not have afternoon or evening receptions by
+professional models in their native undress? It would be better for
+morality than the ingenious titillation of the senses induced by your
+Edwinas and your Charmions!
+
+Confound Charmion, any way! She spoiled a night for me that I needed for
+refreshing sleep. In my brief snatches of slumber I was with those silly
+fellows in the front rows, clutching wildly in the air for the garters
+she flung from her perch above our heads.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+YOU ARE A HOPELESS SCAMP.
+
+
+Without even waiting for letters at the Herald office, in answer to my
+advertisement, I went on Saturday morning to Cook & Son's, on Broadway,
+and engaged two staterooms on the steamship "Madiana," of the Quebec SS.
+Company's line, to sail January 12. I found that I could secure both
+rooms, and, if it proved that I needed but one, the amount of passage
+money paid in advance--one hundred dollars--could be applied to mine
+alone. This pleased the remnant of Scotch blood left in my veins, for my
+relations have always said I "favored" my mother's side of the family,
+and she was a native of France. Though careless enough with money, I did
+not wish to pay for a stateroom that nobody would occupy, and there was
+a possibility that I would go alone, after all. The clerk, an affable
+fellow, promised to hold the extra room until the 5th of January, and to
+write me when it became necessary to put up the balance of the price or
+surrender the rights I had in it. I thought, on the whole, it was a
+sensible business transaction.
+
+"What name shall I register for the lady's room?" he asked, taking up a
+pen.
+
+"I am uncertain," I said, hesitating. "There are several of the family,
+and I don't know which it will be finally."
+
+"I will call it 'Miss Camran,' then," he said.
+
+There seemed no objection to this, and he wrote the name in his book.
+
+Arming myself with a handful of literature about the Islands, that he
+gave me, and which contained little information I was not already
+possessed of, I went back to my rooms and took a look at my wardrobe. I
+decided that I should want one or two new suits, of the very coolest
+texture, besides thin underclothing, some outing shirts, a couple of
+pairs of light shoes, etc. On Monday I began a search for these things,
+and found them with more difficulty than I anticipated. In midwinter few
+New York tradesmen are able to furnish thin clothing with celerity, and
+my time was growing short. I visited half a dozen shops before I could
+get fitted with shoes of the right weight, for instance. There were long
+hunts for underflannels and hose. The tailors offered me anything but
+thin weights, until I persisted and would not be put off, and then I had
+to select the goods by sample. With some extra light pajamas, a gauzy
+bathrobe, a lot of new collars and cuffs, and an extra dozen of colored
+bosom shirts, I thought myself at last nearly ready. I urged upon each
+dealer the necessity of sending his articles at the earliest possible
+moment, thinking it wisest to deceive him a little about the day I was
+to sail. The event proved this the only way I succeeded in getting them
+all delivered in season.
+
+It was with more excitement than was good for me that I took a hansom
+on Tuesday morning, at an early hour, and drove to the up-town office of
+the Herald. I expected a number of answers to my advertisement and
+wanted to take them home as expeditiously as possible. Nor was I
+disappointed. The clerk handed me out not less than a hundred and fifty
+envelopes, when I presented the card that had been given me, and he was
+kind enough to tie them in bundles at my request. Twenty minutes later I
+was in my sitting room, the door locked for fear of intrusion, and
+tearing open one after another with the hunger of curiosity.
+
+The first five or six were not at all satisfactory. They contained
+little beside requests for "further particulars," and had a
+business-like air that did not suit my mood. Then came one that was
+interesting enough to be put in the reserve pile from which the final
+decision was to be made. Perhaps I may as well give it now in its
+entirety:
+
+    Dear Mr. 107--[that was the number the Herald had assigned
+    me]--Although your announcement does not state your sex, I feel
+    justified in assuming that you are a Man. "Lady" Typewriter! Well,
+    as far as I know I answer that description, and now for the
+    situation. "To travel in the Tropics?" I certainly have no objection
+    to doing that, provided--! You say the "duties are light." Certainly
+    that sounds encouraging. What do they consist of--actual typewriting
+    or keeping dull care from drawing wrinkles on your manly brow?
+    Typewriters are called upon to do such strange things in these days.
+    The individual whose bread I now earn seems to consider that he has
+    a right (in consideration of twelve dollars per week) to kiss me
+    whenever he takes a fancy, which is the reason why I am seeking
+    another employer, who, if he has the same tastes, may have a more
+    attractive mouth for the purpose. How long is your journey to last
+    and what pay do you intend to offer?
+
+    I am twenty-six years of age, not specially ill looking, and have a
+    good temper unless angered. I won't say much about my ability on the
+    machine, for I presume that is a secondary consideration. Send your
+    reply--if you think me worth it--to No. -- East Sixteenth Street,
+    but don't call in person unless you wish to have an interview with a
+    gouty uncle or a frightfully jealous cousin.
+
+    Ever Yours,
+
+    ALICE BRAZIER.
+
+    N.B. If you take me off with you, I shall let neither of them know
+    where I have gone.
+
+This was bright and breezy, at least. The next one that I laid aside was
+as follows:
+
+    Dear Sir:--I am a Southern girl, if one who has reached the age of
+    22 may so call herself. I have a good education and am refined in
+    manner. I have no doubt I can fill all the requirements of the
+    position you offer, and would be pleased to have you call, Wednesday
+    afternoon, between two and four, at my lodgings, or on any other
+    afternoon you may name. Please grant me at least an interview.
+
+    Very Truly,
+
+    MARJORIE MAY.
+
+    No. -- W. 45th Street.
+
+I read all the others, to the last one; but these two had attracted my
+attention so thoroughly that the rest palled on my taste. Some were too
+plainly sent by the ordinary class of immoral women, who had taken this
+manner of making an acquaintance. One stated that she had the finest
+form in New York, which she would be happy to exhibit for my approval,
+in all its chaste splendor. Another had "lost her job" in a big
+department store, and would "appreciate the true friendship of a man who
+could spare $6 or $8 a week." Another frankly owned herself to be a
+"grass widow," who on the whole preferred one "friend" to twenty and
+offered me the first chance to fill that permanent position. Three or
+four were apparently school-girls who were tired of the wholesome
+restraints of home and wanted to run away with any man who would pay
+their bills.
+
+One declared herself to be 42 years of age, an expert typewriter, and
+warned me against taking a "giddy young thing" on my journey when one of
+her assured character could be obtained. She added that her reason for
+desiring a change was that her employer was a scandalous person, whose
+goings-on with a younger typewriter with whom she had to associate were
+"awful." And she enclosed as a clincher an autograph letter from her
+pastor, recommending her to "any Christian gentleman" needing a reliable
+assistant.
+
+Several were either married to men whose whereabouts were at present
+unknown or had been divorced. One admitted in a burst of frankness that
+she had "trusted a professed friend too far" and did not care what
+became of herself.
+
+All of which was rather amusing in its way, but brought me no nearer to
+the goal of my desire--a bright, cheerful companion for the voyage I was
+about to undertake.
+
+I examined the entire lot before I recollected the agreement I had made
+with Harvey Hume. Then I gathered up all the letters (except my two
+favorites)--for I did not mean to show these to any one--and started for
+his office in the middle of the afternoon. Harvey was in, of course; not
+that he had any clients or expected any, but because those were his
+office hours and he had nowhere else to go in particular. He was
+evidently glad to see me, especially when he espied my package, for he
+scented something to dispel his ennui.
+
+We withdrew into his private office and he closed the door.
+
+"Any prizes?" he asked, jocosely.
+
+"You can decide for yourself," I answered. "They are entirely at your
+disposal."
+
+"Humph!" he grunted, as he laid down the first one. "I wouldn't pay that
+girl's fare to Coney Island, judging by her capacity as a letter
+writer." Then he struck the communication from the forty-two-years-old
+damsel and gravely proceeded to show why she was the one I had best
+select. After awhile he asked leave to retain two or three, that he
+thought might be of use to him, and that I quite agreed were of none
+whatever to me. When he had read over about half of the entire number,
+he pushed the rest aside.
+
+"Rot and rubbish!" he exclaimed.
+
+"That's what I call them," I answered.
+
+"You've given up your plan?" he said, inquiringly.
+
+"By no means. But there's nothing very appetizing in that trash."
+
+"How will you find anything better?"
+
+"Oh, I've a scheme. When it develops I may let you in, but not just at
+this stage." I wanted to tantalize him a bit. "You asked to see this
+stuff and I've obliged you."
+
+Just at this moment Tom Barton came in, and Harvey threw a newspaper
+over the heap of letters, lest it should attract his attention and
+arouse his suspicions. It was quite needless, for Tom never suspected
+anything in his life. We talked over a few trifles for fifteen minutes
+and then, as Tom said he must be going, I walked out into the hall with
+him.
+
+"I'm going home early," he remarked. "Statia hasn't felt very well for
+the past day or two, and I am a little worried about her."
+
+I was sincerely sorry to hear it. My chagrin over the things she said to
+me had modified a good deal and I entertained at that moment only the
+kindest feelings toward her.
+
+"I wish you would come up to dinner to-night," said Tom, wistfully. "I
+think that would brighten her up if anything can. She's not ill, but
+merely out of sorts. Come, that's a good fellow."
+
+I had as lief go there as anywhere and I consented without more demur.
+There was something in the dog-like attachment of Tom for me that was
+touching, and in a few days more I would be gone from him for months. As
+for his sister, I was sure she couldn't bother me more than I could her.
+I had the two letters in my pocket. If she tried any of her games, I
+would read them to her.
+
+Statia was unquestionably pale that evening when, after some delay, she
+came into the parlor to greet me. But she assumed a cheerful air and,
+when Tom went up stairs and left us alone, inquired if I had carried out
+my plan of advertising for a companion on my voyage.
+
+"Not only have I advertised," I said, pointedly, "but I have received
+over a hundred answers. From that number I have picked out several,
+among which I have no doubt I shall find what I want. In fact, I have
+secured two staterooms on the Madiana, that sails for the Windward
+Islands on the 12th, so certain am I that I shall need them both."
+
+There was not much color in her face before, but what little there was
+left it; which I attributed to her disappointment at the ill success of
+her predictions.
+
+"Are you really going to carry out this senseless project?" she asked.
+"I can hardly believe you such a reckless fellow."
+
+"Why is it reckless?" I inquired, boldly. "I need a typewriter. Some
+young woman needs a situation. Dr. Chambers says it will not do for me
+to travel alone, and he believes a journey to the tropics the best thing
+for my health. I'd like to know what ideas you have in that head of
+yours. I don't mind the reflections you cast upon me, but I object to
+your attacking the character of a young lady who is to become my
+employee."
+
+She avoided the point and asked if I was willing to let her see the
+answers I had received. She added that sometimes a woman's intuitions
+were better than a man's judgment and that she might save me from
+getting entrapped.
+
+I laughed at her ingenious stratagem, and drew the two letters that I
+had laid aside from my coat pocket.
+
+"It is almost like ill faith," said I, "but as you will not even see the
+handwriting, and can never know the identity of the writers, I am going
+to read two of these letters to you. They are the best of the lot, so
+far as I can judge, and I have no doubt one of them will be the lucky
+applicant."
+
+She composed herself as well as she could, though the nervous fit was
+still on her, while I read slowly, pausing between the sentences, each
+of the letters given in full in the earlier part of this chapter.
+
+"Which of them do you imagine it will be?" she inquired, when I had
+finished.
+
+"I must at least see them before I can answer that. The first one (the
+one signed 'Alice') is the brightest, and indicates a jolly nature that
+I would like to cultivate; but there is something in the other that I
+fancy, also. A sort of melody in a minor key. I shall not be content
+until I see the original."
+
+Statia twisted the tassels on the arms of the chair she sat in.
+
+"You are a hopeless scamp!" she said, reddening. "Why do you pretend to
+me that you have the least intention of doing any sensible work with the
+assistance of these women, or that you believe either what an honest
+girl should be?"
+
+"Come, that's going too far!" I replied.
+
+"No, it's not," she persisted, earnestly. "It is right that I should say
+these things to you. You are the most intimate friend of--my brother.
+You have no mother, no sister, no one to advise you. This plan, which
+you are entering upon with such a gay heart, may result in dragging you
+down to the depths, and perhaps your companion, if she be not already in
+that category. Don, if you ever cared for Tom--for any of us--stop this
+thing now!"
+
+I was so astounded at the plainness of her insinuation that I could not
+reply for some moments. She sat opposite to me, her head thrown forward,
+her lips parted, her eyes slowly filling with tears.
+
+"You had your chance," I responded, not very politely, it must be
+admitted. "If you had answered in the affirmative the question I asked
+you last week this could never have happened. Since you throw me back on
+myself, you have no right to prevent me going my own way."
+
+She dropped her face in her open hands, to recover her equanimity. When
+she looked up again she appeared much calmer.
+
+"Don," she said, tenderly, "you must not be so impetuous. Give up this
+plan and perhaps--some day--I--"
+
+"It is too late," I replied, understanding her very well. "I will never
+ask any woman a second time the question I asked you. Be decent, Statia.
+You make too much of a little thing. If there had been anything very
+wicked in my mind, do you think I would have come here to tell you about
+it? Let us drop the subject, and be good friends for the short time that
+remains before I go. Why, there's less than a fortnight left."
+
+She nodded, attempted to smile, and finding that she made a poor show at
+it, left the room to prepare herself for dinner. When the meal was
+served, however, we missed her old joviality. She did not speak unless
+spoken to, and Tom, after trying in vain to engage her in conversation,
+declared that she must go to see Dr. Chambers the very next morning.
+
+"You'll get into the state that Don did last winter," he said, half
+jestingly, "if you keep on. He began with just a plain, ordinary attack
+of the blues, and see where it landed him. Yes, you certainly must go to
+see Chambers. I never knew you like this before, and there's nothing on
+earth to cause it."
+
+When I mentioned, soon after we rose from the table, that I had an
+engagement at my rooms--a fiction, by-the-by--Tom said if I was going to
+walk he would go part way with me. I was glad to breathe the pure cold
+air of December and listen to the chatter of the honest fellow, while at
+the same time escaping from that house, that had nearly sent me again
+into the doldrums.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MEETING MISS MARJORIE.
+
+
+The next morning was an awfully long one. I had decided to call on Miss
+May in the afternoon, "between the hours of two and four," as she had
+stipulated. Although I had never seen her and had no description of what
+she was like, I already hoped she would be the One to make my coming
+journey agreeable. I had the old impetuosity, you will see, that absence
+of calm deliberation that had sent me to a Sanitarium and nearly to my
+grave.
+
+If I intended to take a train scheduled to start for any given point at
+ten I was always in the station without fail at half past nine, stamping
+my feet at the closed gate, with alternate glances at my watch. If I had
+an engagement of special interest for a Friday, the Tuesdays, Wednesdays
+and Thursdays dragged horribly.
+
+It had been explained to me fully by Dr. Chambers that I must reform
+this by my own exertions and that drugs could but assist me in a slight
+degree. Still breaking away from the habits of years is not an easy
+thing, and in spite of all I could do I had the old nervousness that
+day.
+
+At about eleven o'clock, having exhausted the charms of breakfast, the
+morning papers and several cigars, I thought of a plan to get rid of an
+hour or more, and taking my coat, hat and cane, I walked down to Cook's
+office to see if anything new had transpired with regard to the trip of
+the "Madiana." There was a rumor in the Journal that yellow fever had
+broken out in Jamaica, one of the points where I wanted to touch, and
+although the source of the news did not particularly recommend it, I
+thought it well to inquire what the agent had heard in relation to the
+matter.
+
+As I entered the office my attention was attracted by a quiet appearing
+man of about thirty, dressed in black and wearing a white tie, who was
+evidently contemplating the same journey as myself. Now a man wearing a
+white tie may be either a clergyman, a gambler or a confidence man, and
+I had no faith in my ability to decide which of those eminent
+professions this particular person was most likely to adorn. He glanced
+up from a prospectus which he was examining, as I entered, and made way
+for me at the counter.
+
+For reasons which I could not explain I liked the man at first sight. If
+he was a rogue, I reasoned, it was no more true of him, probably, than
+of most men, and there was no reason to suppose that he had any design
+in going to the West Indies other than to recuperate his health, which
+appeared rather delicate. If, on the contrary, he was any sort of
+clergyman I would be delighted with his companionship.
+
+When the agent introduced us to each other, as he did a few minutes
+later, I discovered that the white tie had no especial significance,
+being merely a fad or fancy; for Mr. Wesson informed me that he was a
+hardware merchant from Boston, with a slight tendency to bronchitis,
+and was going south to escape February and March, which are usually
+injurious to persons affected by that complaint in the Eastern States.
+
+I learned from the agent that the "Madiana" was filling up rapidly, and
+that there were now no entire staterooms unoccupied, except two or three
+containing four berths. Mr. Wesson had no choice but to share the room
+of some one who was already on the list, and at the time I came in he
+was making natural inquiries as to the other passengers, in the hope of
+selecting a congenial roommate. The agent told him what he could about
+those whom he had personally seen, but the information was necessarily
+meagre.
+
+"It may not seem specially important," remarked Mr. Wesson, in an
+affable manner, to me, "who occupies the other berth, for a few weeks on
+a steamer, but I happened on one occasion to get a very disagreeable
+companion, and ever since I have tried to use caution. I should have
+entered my name earlier, and thus have secured an entire room, as you
+have done, but I waited a long time before deciding whether to come this
+way or another. Now, I am just a little too late to get a room by
+myself, unless I wish to pay three fares for one person, which candidly
+I do not feel like doing."
+
+I suggested that unless the boat was very much crowded, which I did not
+anticipate, an arrangement for a change of cabin could doubtless be made
+in case the first one proved unbearable. With the remark that this was
+true, Mr. Wesson decided to take the remaining berth in a room not far
+from mine, in the after part of the ship, which had the advantage of
+being removed from all the smells of the cook's galley, as well as the
+dumping of ashes, which often annoys people quartered amidships at a
+very early hour in the morning.
+
+I asked the agent for a list of the passengers, so far as he was able to
+give them, desiring to see if there were any names of people who knew
+me, and devoutly hoping there were none. Mr. Wesson and I went over them
+together, and made a simultaneous announcement that the entire lot were
+strangers to us.
+
+They had come from the West, the North, the South, hardly any from New
+York, and only one from Boston, a strange thing when every traveller
+knows that Bostonians rival Chicagoans in being found in all sorts of
+places.
+
+"I often think," said Mr. Wesson, with a smile, "of the odd fate that
+brings fifty or hundred people together on a steamer, where neither sees
+a single familiar face except those he has brought with him; and before
+the voyage is ended the miniature world is like the larger one outside,
+with its strong likes and dislikes, its petty jealousies, its small
+talk, its gauging of character and capacity. Give me a month at sea with
+a man, and I think I can figure him up pretty well."
+
+I agreed with him to a great extent, but remarked that there was always
+the disadvantage that the "man" might "figure us up" at the same time. I
+said further that I had found some most delightful companions on board
+ship who had proved insufferable bores when encountered later on terra
+firma.
+
+"Your extra berth is reserved still," said a clerk, coming forward and
+addressing me, "the one in the opposite stateroom. I don't wish to
+hasten you, but the list is filling up very fast."
+
+"You won't have to wait but a day or two more, I think," was my reply.
+"Hold it till Saturday, unless you hear from me. Perhaps I may be able
+to tell you positively to-morrow."
+
+"If the lady is willing to have another share the room with her," he
+said, "I have an application that I can fill at once. A very pleasant
+young woman, too, if I may be allowed to judge. She is to be accompanied
+by her uncle, and as he is not entirely well he is anxious to have her
+as near him as possible."
+
+I answered that I must ask a little delay before deciding that question.
+I told him I had three cousins, and as I could not yet say which would
+go I could not tell whether she would consent to share her cabin with
+another person. If I could arrange it, I would gladly do so.
+
+"You are to have a travelling companion, then," remarked Mr. Wesson.
+"Excuse me for saying I envy you. Mrs. Wesson expected to go with me,
+but the doctor has forbidden it. She is quite frail, and he fears the
+seasickness she is almost sure to have. I made a canvass of my female
+relations that are eligible, and one after another found reasons for
+declining. I am not used to travelling alone, and I don't fancy it in
+the least. One of the pleasantest things in visiting foreign parts is to
+have some one along to share the pleasures."
+
+As we parted he asked me if I would exchange cards, and I readily did
+so. I already felt better acquainted with him that I am with some men
+whom I have known for months.
+
+"If you find you are to bunk with a specially ugly customer," I said, in
+parting, "take my other berth. You can keep it for an 'anchor to
+windward,' as our distinguished statesman from Maine might have said. I
+don't think you and I will quarrel."
+
+He thanked me profusely, and it was plain that the suggestion was the
+very one he would have made himself, had he felt warranted in doing so.
+He mentioned that he would be at the Imperial for several days and asked
+me, if I found it convenient, to dine with him there some evening before
+he returned to Boston; which I told him I would try to do.
+
+It was now lunch-time and I thought with exultation of the closeness of
+the hour when I might call at the lodging of Miss Marjorie May on
+Forty-fifth Street, and see the lady whom I had already surrounded with
+the most charming attributes of which a young and impulsive mind could
+conceive. That I might be disappointed I had also thought, in a vague
+way, but I had little apprehension on that score.
+
+I went over to the club, and partook of a light repast. Then I looked at
+my watch and found that, if I walked slowly, I need not reach the number
+at which I was to call before two o'clock.
+
+But I did not walk slowly. It still lacked ten minutes of the hour when
+I found myself in front of the residence. I took a turn down Seventh
+Avenue, and through Forty-fourth Street, to dispose of the remaining
+minutes. Then, with my heart beating in a way that Dr. Chambers would
+not have approved--and for which I could give no sensible reason--I
+climbed the tall steps and rang the bell.
+
+A colored servant answered, after what seemed ages, and when I asked if
+Miss May was in, invited me to walk into the parlor. She then requested
+my card, and I had nearly given it to her, when I recollected that it
+was not my intention to reveal my true name, at this stage.
+
+I said I had forgotten my card case and that she need only say it was
+the gentleman from the Herald.
+
+During the next ten minutes I did my best to compose my nerves, for I
+dreaded exhibiting their shaky condition to one in whose presence I
+would need all my firmness. The room was darkened, and I could see the
+objects in it but dimly, while the windows, being tightly curtained,
+afforded me no relief in that direction.
+
+"Why does she not come?" I said to myself, over and over. "If she wanted
+the situation for which she wrote, a little more celerity of movement
+would be becoming."
+
+I rose and walked up and down the room. The minutes lengthened horribly.
+I grew almost angry at the delay and had half a mind to drop the whole
+business, when I heard a low voice at the door, and saw the outlines of
+a graceful young form.
+
+"I am Miss May," said a bright voice, that I liked instantly. "If you
+don't mind coming up stairs I think we can see each other better."
+
+Mind coming up stairs! I would have climbed to the top of the World
+Building, never minding the elevator.
+
+"Certainly," I responded, and I followed her up two long flights, and
+into a front chamber, where in the bright light I saw her distinctly for
+the first time.
+
+The reader will expect--certainly the feminine reader--a description of
+the sight that met my eyes, and how can I give it? A relation of that
+sort always seems to me but a modified version of the record of a
+prisoner at a police station, where he is put under a measuring machine,
+stood on scales and pumped as to his ancestry and previous record as a
+criminal.
+
+The impression made on me at that moment by Miss May was wholly general.
+She was not handsome, in the ordinary acceptation of that term, but very
+engaging. Her smile put me much at my ease.
+
+I could have told you no more, had you met me that evening. All that I
+knew or cared to know, before I had taken the chair to which she
+motioned me, was that out of the million women in Greater New York, I
+would choose her, and only her, were they presented for my approval one
+by one.
+
+She was evidently waiting for me to begin the conversation, after the
+manner of a discreet young woman in the presence for the first time of a
+possible employer. I made the excuse that the stairs were long, to
+explain my shortness of breath. For I found it very difficult to talk.
+
+She was kind enough to admit that the stairs were hard. She also made
+some allusion to the weather, and to the unseasonableness of the
+temperature, for although it was at the very end of the year there had
+been hardly any snow and very little cold. This helped me along and
+finally I managed to reach the business on hand.
+
+"I have received a great many answers to my advertisement," I said, "and
+a certain number seem to have been sent in a spirit of mischief rather
+than seriousness. I hope that was not the case with yours."
+
+She shook her head and smiled faintly.
+
+"How shall we begin, then?" I asked. "Shall I submit a few questions to
+you, or would you rather put some queries of your own?"
+
+"As you please," she said, and I noted that there was a confidence in
+her manner that seemed at variance with her appearance. "Perhaps I may
+inquire, to commence with, what are the duties of the position."
+
+I hesitated a moment, feeling my breath coming shorter, and this time I
+had not the stairs to fall back upon as an excuse.
+
+"I have recently recovered from a severe illness," I finally managed to
+say, "although you might not guess it from my appearance. I may as well
+admit that while I have use for the services of a typewriter in some
+work I wish to do, I need quite as much an intelligent person to travel
+with me--as--a--"
+
+"Companion?" she interpolated, quickly.
+
+"Well, yes, perhaps that is as good a word as any. My physician says I
+ought not to go alone. I have the literary work to do. Under all the
+circumstances a combination of assistant in that respect and friendly
+companionship seems advisable."
+
+She bowed affably, doing her best to put me at my ease.
+
+"You are a younger man than I expected," she said.
+
+"I hope that is not a serious objection," I remarked, "for I see no way
+to overcome it at present. I want this considered as a business
+matter--in a way. I should pay a regular salary, and give you the best
+of travelling accommodations. I am only twenty-four, and you wrote me
+that you are twenty-two, but I cannot understand how the addition of
+fifty years to either of those ages would make my proposition more
+agreeable."
+
+She bowed again, still pleasantly, and inquired what sort of work I was
+engaged on. I told her, after which she asked what machine I preferred
+to use. This I left to her, although I mentioned that I owned a Hammond,
+which had the advantage of being more easily carried than some. She said
+she had never used that machine, but could easily learn.
+
+"Only give me three or four days alone with it," she smiled. "And now,
+as these things must all be settled, what salary do you wish to pay?"
+
+I wonder what salary I would not have paid, at that moment, rather than
+hear her decline the position on the ground that it was insufficient,
+but I realized that I must not seem over-anxious.
+
+"I would prefer you to name the price," I replied, "I do not think we
+shall quarrel on that score."
+
+"When do you wish me to leave the city?" was her question.
+
+"I have already engaged berths in the 'Madiana,' of the Quebec SS. Line,
+which will leave her dock on the North River, Jan. 12th next."
+
+"Berths? You have engaged two?"
+
+"It was necessary to secure them. I have determined that I will not go
+alone. The list is filling up and I had to put down the names."
+
+"What names?" she asked. "You can hardly have given them mine."
+
+I was getting more and more at my ease. I said I had registered for
+"self and friend," with the understanding that the "friend" would be a
+lady.
+
+"Ah!" she said. "Now, how do you intend that I shall travel--if it is
+decided that I am to go?"
+
+She did not redden as she asked the question, and I do not know why I
+did.
+
+"As my cousin," I answered. "It is my belief, Miss May," I added, "that
+you will find this journey very charming, if you go about it right. To
+be registered simply as my secretary, which will come as near as
+anything to the fact, or not to be given any title at all, might arouse
+silly gossip among the other passengers. A relationship of the kind I
+suggest will still idle tongues and make your position more agreeable."
+
+She thought a little while and then said, suddenly:
+
+"You--you are not married, I suppose?"
+
+"Not in the least," I replied, smiling.
+
+"There is hardly time for much preparation," was her next observation.
+"What kind of clothing should I need?"
+
+"After the first few days, about the same as you would want here in
+August. I am not well versed in ladies' attire, but I should say that a
+travelling dress of some very thin material would be the first
+requisite; then a 'best' dress or two of very light weight; a liberal
+supply of articles" (I stammered slightly) "that need laundering, as
+there may be a fortnight at a time when washing cannot be obtained; thin
+shoes, slippers, walking boots suitable for summer, two or three
+hats--and--" I paused to think if I had omitted anything--"an umbrella
+and parasol."
+
+She laughed as I finished. A sweet, engaging laugh that made me resolve
+that I would kidnap her and convey her on board by force in case she
+refused to go.
+
+"No gloves?" she inquired, archly. "No cape, no--"
+
+"Oh, there are doubtless a lot of kickshaws that will occur to you," I
+admitted, "that I need not mention. I am pretty sure that I do not even
+know the names of all of them. On January 12th and 13th the weather will
+be winter, on the 14th, 15th and 16th spring, and the rest of the time
+till May midsummer. I don't know as I can give you any better guide."
+
+She said she would make an overhauling of her last year's clothing and
+see where she stood; which led me to ask, with, I fear too much anxiety
+in my tone, if she had, then, decided to go.
+
+"Have you decided?" she replied, parrying the question. "You cannot have
+seen all the women who sent replies. Perhaps you will yet find one more
+suitable for your purpose. It is only fair to both of us to leave the
+matter open for a day or two."
+
+"No," I answered, shaking my head decidedly. "As you said a few moments
+ago, the time is very brief for any one to get ready. Let us settle the
+matter now. And if you wish any part of your salary advanced--on
+account of the immediate expense you will have to assume--we shall have
+no difficulty in arranging that matter."
+
+She grew thoughtful, and finally begged me to give her till the
+following morning, at least. She promised to send a messenger to my
+address before noon. I did not like the idea, but I could say nothing in
+opposition without appearing unreasonable, and ended by consenting to
+it.
+
+"I passed some months in the part of the world to which I am now going,
+three years since," I said, to strengthen her resolutions in favor of
+the journey, "and I can assure you that the voyage, from beginning to
+end, is simply delightful. The Caribbean is truly a summer sea; the
+Antilles are beautiful to look at, charming in flora and delicious in
+atmosphere. Then think of the escape you will have from the freezing and
+thawing of a New York spring. I promise to treat you with all
+consideration, and as for the labor you are to do, it will be very light
+indeed. If there is anything I have omitted, consider it included. I am
+sure," I added, as I rose to go, "that you will never be sorry for the
+chance that brings us into each other's company."
+
+"Oh," she answered, with superb frankness, "I have no fear that I shall
+not like you, or that you will treat me in any manner unbecoming a
+gentleman. I only wish to think the matter over. In the meantime let me
+thank you for the partiality with which you view my application."
+
+She insisted on going to the street door with me, where I bade her
+good-by without more ado, fearful that if I talked much longer I should
+say something foolish.
+
+"To-morrow morning, then, I am to get your letter," I said, handing her
+a card on which I had previously written an address that would do for
+the present--"David Camwell, Lambs Club." "And to-morrow afternoon, at
+two again, I shall return to complete our arrangements."
+
+As she bowed an affirmative, I lifted my hat and left her there;
+wondering why I had not chosen the Klondike for my vacation, so near the
+boiling point was every drop of blood in my veins.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+"DO YOU REALLY WANT ME?"
+
+
+I did not sleep well, that night, and as I tossed from one side of my
+bed to the other, I began to fear that the insomnia from which I had
+escaped, and whose return I so much dreaded, would fasten itself on me
+once more. During the long, still hours I had many moments when I was
+inclined to give up my plan of travelling in the company of a charming
+young woman, and even to drop the entire trip itself. I imagined my
+condition in a far land, with no physician at hand who understood my
+case or had the history of my illness. Only one who has known the
+horrors of sleepless months can conceive the terror which a possible
+renewal of its symptoms inspired. The mere thought of meeting my fair
+correspondent had deranged my arterial circulation. The sight of her,
+our conversation, though carried on in the quietest manner, had thrown
+my heart out of equipoise, speaking physically. What would happen when
+she and I were alone together for weeks and weeks?
+
+She was very pretty--there was no doubt of that. She was also
+marvellously self-contained, and in a conflict of desires would
+certainly prove the stronger. Was it not the part of common prudence to
+"foresee the evil and hide?"
+
+I had almost decided to adopt this course, when the sleep which had
+evaded me descended and for four hours I was blissfully unconscious.
+
+It was nearly eight o'clock when I awoke, and with returning reason all
+the fears of the night vanished. I could only count the minutes now
+before the expected message would arrive--that message, I assured
+myself, which would confirm the hopes I so fondly cherished. Not a
+single doubt remained of the perfect wisdom of the double journey I had
+planned. I thought again of Dr. Chambers' advice not to travel alone; of
+Uncle Dugald's wish that the "genealogy" should be pushed to completion
+as rapidly as possible; of the advantage of having with me a constant
+companion, to while away the inevitable hours of loneliness. I raised
+Miss May to the highest pedestal as a young lady of excellent attributes
+and delightful personality.
+
+Whatever happened, I would not go alone. If Miss May failed me, I would
+fall back on Miss Brazier. If she also proved obdurate or
+unsatisfactory, I would go through my other answers and try again.
+
+But I came back always to the original point. It was Miss May I wanted,
+Miss May I meant to have.
+
+Why should I not induce her to go? She needed a situation, or she would
+not have written for it. She had seen me and expressed herself candidly
+in my favor. There could hardly be anything now in the way, except the
+financial aspect of the case, and I was prepared to meet her on any
+ground she chose to name.
+
+I lingered as long over my breakfast as possible, to kill the time, and
+read the morning papers, advertisements and all. Especially closely did
+I scan the "professional situations wanted," thinking perhaps there
+might be among them one from which I could fashion another "string to my
+bow." Most of the advertisers that morning were, however, either German
+governesses, or elderly ladies who wished positions in private families.
+
+There were several professional models, who would "pose" for the figure
+at from one to two dollars an hour. In my desperation I almost resolved
+to turn painter and carry one of these off with me, if worse came to
+worst. Anything was better than making the journey alone, in my present
+state of mind.
+
+A knock at the door startled me, and to my faint "Come in," a boy
+responded, wearing the uniform of a messenger. I looked at him like one
+in a dream, as he walked across the carpet and handed me an envelope.
+Was there anything to pay? I inquired, and when he responded in the
+negative, I put a silver dollar into his hand for himself. Did I wish
+him to wait for an answer? No, I did not. I wished him to get out of the
+room as soon as possible, and to close the door behind him; which he
+proceeded at once to do.
+
+For what seemed hours, and yet did not probably exceed ten minutes, I
+held that envelope in my hand, before I found courage to open it. Laugh
+at me, ye who will, your siege with nervous prostration has evidently
+not yet arrived. No prisoner awaiting the decision of a governor as to
+whether his sentence of death is to be commuted could lay greater stress
+on the contents of a message. I wanted Miss May to take that journey
+with me, as I had never wanted anything else. Her decision undoubtedly
+lay within that bit of paper.
+
+I stared at the name I had given her, written in a bold, and still
+feminine hand, strong, clear, handsome. I turned the envelope over and
+noted the sealing wax with the impress of some sort of stamp which I
+could not entirely make out. And at last, with shaking fingers, I took
+up my paper cutter and made the requisite incision which released the
+note within.
+
+    My Dear Mr. Camwell--[this was the way it read]--Since you were here
+    yesterday I have given a great deal of thought to the matter of
+    which we spoke. It is a little more serious than I imagined when I
+    answered your advertisement, and I am somewhat in doubt even now
+    what I ought to say. ["When a woman hesitates, she is lost!" came to
+    my mind.] Will you pardon me for being perfectly frank, [Pardon her?
+    I would pardon her anything but a refusal] in relation to a few
+    personal matters? I wish to tell you my exact situation, and then I
+    will leave it to you to decide. [Joy! It was coming.]
+
+    I am at present employed by a man--excuse me if I do not say
+    gentleman--who pays me what I consider the liberal salary of twenty
+    dollars a week, my services occupying only a portion of the morning
+    hours. For reasons which I need not give in full I find the place
+    very distasteful. In fact, had I been able to afford it, I would
+    have resigned the position long ago. I am, however, entirely
+    dependent upon my exertions for a livelihood, and not only that,
+    there is another who looks to me for a certain amount of help, which
+    I cannot, nor do I wish to withhold. When I read your notice in the
+    Herald it seemed to contain two opportunities that I would be glad
+    to secure. One was to change my situation, the other to absent
+    myself from the city for a time, where I would escape annoyances
+    which have become almost unbearable.
+
+    Now, on the other hand, as I told you when here, you are a much
+    younger man that I expected to see. It is a little difficult to
+    believe--you will excuse my frankness--that you wish my
+    companionship from a purely business standpoint; indeed, you
+    admitted that one of your reasons was a disinclination to travel
+    alone. You cannot deny that a trip such as you contemplate, taken in
+    my company, would subject me to unpleasant suspicions from any
+    person we might happen to meet, who has known me before or should
+    discover that the relationship claimed between us is a false one. A
+    girl who has her way to make in this world cannot always listen to
+    Mrs. Grundy, but there are certain precautions which she can hardly
+    be excused from taking. How can I best protect my good name, if I
+    accept your generous offer? That is one of the prime questions you
+    must help me to settle.
+
+    Again, while, in a friendly journey like the one suggested, the
+    matter of compensation seems almost impertinent, in the present case
+    it cannot be treated as such. Were my circumstances what I could
+    wish them, I would gladly make the journey without thinking of
+    payment; candidly, I do not feel that the services I might render
+    you would justify me ordinarily in accepting money for them.
+    Necessity, it has well been said, knows no law. I have never learned
+    how to live and assist those depending on me without cash, that
+    brutal desirability. You have expressed a willingness to pay a
+    salary in addition to travelling expenses, and I, if I go, shall be
+    compelled to accept it, reluctant though I am to do so.
+
+    On looking over my wardrobe I find that there are more things
+    required than I supposed when you were here. When you call this
+    afternoon I will make that matter plainer by exhibiting exactly
+    what I have suitable to the climate to which you are going. I do not
+    wish to influence you in the least, and I beg that if my needs are
+    greater than you desire to supply, you will say so without fear. All
+    of the money I could spare was expended very recently for winter
+    garments, of which I have a supply suitable to a girl in my station.
+    I had no warning that I should be asked to exchange them at this
+    season for others suitable to a tropical clime. If I do so, I know
+    no source from which the cost can come except your purse. There!
+    Could anything be more candid than this straightforward statement?
+
+    If I see you at my room this afternoon, I shall understand that you
+    appreciate the candor with which I write, and are willing to accede
+    to my requests. If there is a doubt in your mind as to the
+    advisability of doing so, it will be best for us both that you do
+    not come. I shall comprehend and leave the field open to some
+    happier girl, who may be able to accept your generous offer without
+    these disagreeable preliminaries.
+
+    Yours, M.M.
+
+    No. -- West Forty-fifth Street.
+
+I was all impatience till I read the very latest line, fearing there
+would be some qualification that I could not meet. When I found that it
+had resolved itself into a question so easily solved I sprang up and
+shouted in glee.
+
+She would go! She was going! My dream was to become a reality!
+
+Seizing a sheet of paper I began to write a note in response to the one
+I had received. She might get it only a short time before the hour of
+two, but it would prepare her for my coming, and clinch the bargain a
+little sooner. For five minutes I wrote rapidly, and when I stopped to
+peruse the lines I tore up the sheet.
+
+Had she been my sweetheart for ages I could hardly have used more
+extravagant language than I had been guilty of on that first page. Would
+I never learn the first principles of common sense? I had begun with the
+words, "My Darling Marjorie," and gone on to state that "your sweet
+letter fills me with supreme happiness;" "I shall not breathe until once
+more I am in your loved presence.
+
+"Already I contemplate those heavenly hours when you and I will sail out
+upon the seas of Elysium," was another sample sentence, a type of the
+others. I paused in the rapid walk that I took up and down my room to
+look in my mirror, and was almost frightened at what I saw there. My
+cheeks were suffused with unusual color, my eyes dilated, my hair
+dishevelled, where I had run my nervous hands through it. My collar was
+rumpled, my tie disarranged, and in a room where the mercury was not
+above seventy the beads of perspiration stood on my forehead.
+
+Dame! I went to the bath-room that formed a part of my little suite, let
+the icy water run till it filled the bowl and bathed my hands and face
+in it. Slowly I dried them with the towel, and then applied bay rum in
+liberal quantity.
+
+I realized disagreeably for the hundredth time how that awful
+neurasthenia had left its traces upon me, and that if I was ever to
+wholly recover I must regain control of my emotions. With this in view
+I again seated myself at my desk and indited the following:
+
+    Dear Miss May:--It is with much satisfaction that I have perused
+    your letter. The amount necessary to purchase the articles you need
+    shall be left entirely to you. I will furnish whatever sum you
+    decide upon. I will be at your lodging promptly at two. If there is
+    anything else that occurs to you, please consider yourself at full
+    liberty to mention it then. In the meantime I am going to Cook's
+    office to pay the balance on the two rooms, as the time for doing so
+    will soon expire.
+
+    Your Friend,
+
+    D.C.
+
+It was pretty sensible, I thought, as I read it over; a sort of medium
+between the cold tone of an ordinary employer and the unrestrained ardor
+of a happy boy. I was glad, however, to get out of doors and breathe the
+frosty air, for my temperature was still excessive. At Cook's I learned
+that several new names had been booked, and that there would soon be no
+more room, as things were going.
+
+"I have given Mr. Wesson the upper berth in your room, subject to your
+approval," added the clerk. "He has a positive dread of bunking with an
+absolute stranger and he says you made him a conditional promise."
+
+"That's all right," I said, pleased at the news. "I am sure we shall get
+along together finely. You may register the berth in the opposite room,
+that you have reserved for me, in the name of 'Miss M. May.' I have
+finally prevailed upon my cousin to go."
+
+While he was entering the name, I wrote a check for the balance, upon
+receiving which the clerk handed me the tickets, from New York to St.
+Thomas.
+
+"Hadn't you better book for the entire cruise?" he asked. "I don't
+believe you will care to remain at St Thomas longer than the day the
+Madiana is to be there."
+
+"Oh, yes, I shall," I answered. "I stayed on the island three weeks the
+last time, and found it delightful. Probably I shall join some of your
+later cruises, but I must go unhampered."
+
+"Supposing when you are ready to take one of the other boats you find
+every cabin full?" he asked, in a good-natured way.
+
+"That's a risk I must run. The Royal Mail comes every fortnight, and
+there are three or four steamers a week, of one kind or another, at St.
+Lucia. There are ways enough to keep moving and I am unlimited as to
+time."
+
+"Well, if I don't see you again," he said, with that affability that
+only one of Cook & Son's clerks can assume, "I wish you a very pleasant
+voyage."
+
+"I am sure to have that," I replied.
+
+I wondered if he would doubt it if he knew all!
+
+Before leaving I purchased several books about the Caribbean, for the
+purpose of giving them to Miss May. There was "English in the West
+Indies," as entertaining as a romance, though in some respects hardly
+more reliable; Stark's "History and Guide to Barbados and Caribbee
+Islands," better than nothing, in the absence of a really desirable work
+on the subject; and half a dozen paper covered documents, issued by the
+Quebec SS. Company, a perusal of which revealed so many discrepancies as
+to make one doubt whether the line actually ran any boats to that part
+of the world. With these under one arm I went over to the "Lambs" and
+partook of a brace of chops and some musty ale. Then, after smoking a
+cigar, I found the clock indicating that I might with safety begin my
+second pilgrimage to the Mecca of my ambition.
+
+Crossing Broadway, great was my astonishment, and very small my
+satisfaction, to come suddenly upon Miss Statia Barton. She was looking
+undeniably pretty in her fur turban and cloth jacket, but she had no
+charms for me at that moment and I was sorry to lose the few seconds
+necessary to be courteous to her.
+
+"Have you deserted us entirely?" she asked, with a constrained smile.
+"Tom said this morning he hadn't seen you for nearly a week."
+
+"My time is much occupied," I answered. "You know it is but a few days
+now before I sail."
+
+Had I been less full of another subject I should certainly have noticed
+that the coldness of my manner hurt her, and I hope I am not brute
+enough to do that intentionally. But, I did not think of such a thing
+then, nor till a long, long time after.
+
+"Have you arranged the--the other matter?" she asked, with short breath.
+
+"Excuse me. We can gain nothing by talking on that subject," said I.
+
+"Then your charmer has decided not to go with you?" she said,
+interrogatively, but with a hard little laugh. "I thought it would come
+to that."
+
+I was foolish enough to take out Miss May's letter and hold it up.
+
+"On the contrary, since you insist on knowing," I answered, "here is
+the final decision, and it is in favor of the plaintiff."
+
+Her eyes opened as the conviction that I was telling the truth forced
+itself upon her. She was evidently not pleased.
+
+"Mr. Camran," she said, in tones as clear and cutting as ice, "I asked
+you a moment ago why you had not been to my home. I now say you need
+never call there again, as far as I am concerned, and I shall endeavor
+to have my brother write you to the same effect."
+
+"Don't put Tom to so much trouble," I replied, stung by her manner. "I
+have business too important and too pleasant to allow much time for mere
+duty calls."
+
+Lifting my hat, an action that she did not see, as her eyes were bent on
+the sidewalk, I resumed my stroll. I should have been more annoyed at
+the occurrence if another subject had not so fully filled my head. The
+clocks struck two before I reached the number I sought, and I walked
+more rapidly.
+
+"Miss May said you were to come to her room at once," said the colored
+servant, when she recognized my features. Needing no second invitation I
+mounted the stairs.
+
+Her door stood slightly open and as I entered, without knocking, she
+rose from a low rocker and came toward me.
+
+I could not have resisted had I been liable to execution for the
+offense; I met her in the middle of the apartment and held out both my
+hands.
+
+In the most unaffected and delightful manner she extended her own and I
+clasped them.
+
+"It is settled, then?" I cried. "You are going!"
+
+"Take a seat," she said, releasing herself composedly. "There are still
+a few things that I must talk over with you."
+
+The blood rushed back upon my heart, leaving my face pale. I was very
+glad to get the support of the arm-chair to which she motioned me.
+
+"I have recently been ill, as I told you," I said in pleading tones,
+"and doubts, whatever their nature, are trying to me. Tell me only
+this--you are going?"
+
+She breathed deeply for several seconds and then, with her head slightly
+on one side, looked at me.
+
+"Do you really want me to?" she asked, gently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+GETTING READY FOR MY JOURNEY.
+
+
+She could not know the pain she gave me by her evasions, that was the
+excuse I found for her. The dread that after all she intended to
+disappoint me pressed like a heavy weight upon my brain. She must have
+seen something in my face that alarmed her, for she asked if I would
+like a glass of water--or wine. When I replied in the negative she came
+at once to the preliminaries that were in her mind.
+
+"I am going, of course," she said. "That is, if you think it worth while
+to grant all the demands I find necessary. I shall be glad when this
+disagreeable part of our bargain is ended, and I believe you will be
+equally, if not more so."
+
+"What is it now?" I inquired, rather querulously. "What do you want?
+Come to the point, I beg, without further delay."
+
+She turned to a mirror, and with a brush that lay on the bureau pushed
+back the hair that was half tumbling over her face--hair that was light
+and yet not blonde; hair that matched well with her blue-gray eyes and
+her regular features.
+
+"It is not so easy as you may think to detail these things," she said,
+when her face was again turned toward me. "I have to depend on myself
+for my living, but I hate to assume the guise of a beggar. Still, as I
+told you in the first place, my purse is practically empty. There are
+many articles needed if I am to go with you, that I would not otherwise
+want at this season of the year. They will cost money. I--"
+
+"All that was settled in my letter to-day," I interrupted. "Have you not
+received it?"
+
+"Yes, I received the letter, and I want to thank you for its kindness of
+tone. As I understand it, you offer to advance me what I need to prepare
+for the journey. This, I presume, is to be deducted from my salary,
+which under ordinary circumstances, would be quite acceptable. But, as I
+told you, I have another to support, and I have to rely upon my weekly
+stipend for that purpose."
+
+For a moment I doubted the girl. Was she after all an adventuress who
+meant to get what she could in advance, and disappear when the time of
+departure came? No man likes to be made the victim of a schemer. I do
+not care any more for a few dollars than the average of my fellows, but
+the thought of having them cheated out of me is not pleasant to
+contemplate. I imagined my chagrin if I should go sailing off to the
+Caribbean with the reflection that I had been the victim of a
+smooth-tongued woman--I, who had been through the same mill, and ought
+to have learned something.
+
+"I see my suggestion does not please you," came in low tones from my
+companion. "I was a little afraid it would not. I am such a stranger
+that I cannot wonder if you distrust me. Well, I have no desire to
+influence you. I have told you my situation."
+
+Rousing myself from my reverie I looked earnestly into the fair young
+face.
+
+"Marjorie," I began; "may I call you 'Marjorie?'"
+
+"As you please."
+
+"I am sure, as I gaze into your eyes, that I trust you implicitly. The
+recollection of a woman whom I once trusted to my sorrow came between us
+for an instant, that is all. I am going to believe in you without the
+slightest mental reservation, but I want to say just one thing. If I
+discover that I am again deceived it will not be the paltry cash I shall
+mind. I shall only regret the new wrench to my confidence in the honesty
+of your sex. What you will need in the present emergency will have but
+little effect on my income. I would willingly make you a present of it,
+if no plan such as I have in mind were a part of the contract.
+Marjorie," I continued, leaning toward her and taking up one of her
+hands respectfully, "I trust you perfectly. Tell me how much money you
+wish and I will bring it within an hour. As the expense is caused
+entirely on my account, I have no idea of deducting a cent of it from
+your salary, which, if agreeable will be the same you already receive,
+twenty dollars a week. While I shall not promise too much, let me add
+that this will not be the extent of your compensation, by any means, if
+we get along together as well as I hope. Now, my dear girl, say there
+are no more lions in my path and that your last stipulation is agreed
+to."
+
+She did not answer at once and her delay filled me with the most
+disagreeable forebodings.
+
+"I want to go," she said, at last; and it was something that she did not
+compel me to release her hand. "I want to go, very much indeed. Only,
+you must not expect--" she paused again--"anything more than--"
+
+"Do not distress yourself," I replied, divining what was in her mind. "I
+am going to the West Indies. Until the importation of coal begins at
+Newcastle, no one will dream of taking a woman on such a journey for an
+improper purpose."
+
+She brightened visibly, and although she released my hand at the same
+moment she did it in a way that implied naught of distrust.
+
+"It is a peculiar arrangement, though, take it altogether, is it not?"
+she asked, softly. "You are a man with, I judge, some knowledge of the
+world. What would your masculine friends say if you told them your plan?
+Would they believe in the innocence of your motive, as you ask me to
+do?"
+
+I told her that my masculine friends were like others of their sex, I
+presumed, and might put the worst construction on anything, if they
+chose. There was not one of them to whom I had imparted my secret, and
+there would be none. I had looked over the "Madiana's" passenger list
+and seen no familiar name. There was not a chance in ten thousand that
+any person on the boat would know me, and if they did, there was a
+practical impossibility that they would know my family. I promised the
+most perfect discretion while on board, desiring as much as she to avoid
+exciting suspicion. Would she, I asked her, be any better off if I had
+proved what she imagined when she answered my advertisement--an elderly
+gentleman with rheumatism and green glasses? The proverb that there is
+no fool like an old fool might answer that question. As she had
+remarked in her letter, Mrs. Grundy could not arrange the lives of all
+her friends, and the best thing was to satisfy one's own self.
+
+This seemed to please her, for she dropped the subject and asked
+particulars about the amount of baggage that each passenger was allowed
+to carry; which put me in better spirits, for it indicated that her face
+was at last turned toward the morning. I told her that a steamer trunk
+for the stateroom, a handbag, and a larger trunk to put in the hold was
+what I intended to take for myself, and I thought she would need the
+same. I asked if she had the articles, saying that, if she had not, I
+would be glad to order them sent to her.
+
+"I have only a small trunk--it has managed hitherto to hold what things
+I have," was her reply.
+
+"Then, with your permission, I will procure the entire outfit," I said.
+"Now, about the clothing and that sort of stuff. How much cash shall you
+require?"
+
+She drew a long breath, and conceiving that she was afraid to name a sum
+I came again to the rescue.
+
+"I will bring you two hundred and fifty dollars this afternoon," I said.
+"That ought to take you through."
+
+Indeed, I thought the amount very liberal, and supposed she would say
+that it was even more than she expected. She did nothing of the kind,
+however, but only nodded acquiescence.
+
+"There is something I was to ask you," I said, remembering what Mr.
+Cook's clerk had requested. "The berths are getting scarce on the
+'Madiana'--and the agent wishes to know if you are willing to have
+another person share your room."
+
+The young woman drew herself up and surveyed me with a cold expression.
+It was several seconds before I divined its cause, and then I had sense
+enough to pretend not to notice.
+
+"A passenger who is going to occupy a room in that part of the boat
+wants, if possible, to have his niece near him," I continued. "She will
+take the upper berth, if you are willing, in your cabin, but it rests
+with you. I have arranged for the entire room."
+
+Her icy features relaxed and she was herself again.
+
+"I am quite willing," she answered. "In fact, had I known you intended
+to reserve an entire room for me I should have protested. Of course, it
+adds to the expense and I would rather have some one there than not. Are
+you going to occupy your room alone?"
+
+I told her about Wesson, and she endorsed my action unreservedly.
+
+"Where a trip cost so much, there is no need of adding to the expense,"
+she said, thoughtfully. "I want to say another thing: As I am putting
+you to so much cost, you need not feel obliged on my account to stop at
+the highest priced hotels, when we are on shore. Anything comfortable
+and respectable will satisfy me."
+
+I laughed as I responded that the best hotels in the Caribbean were
+neither very dear nor very luxurious. I would take her where I should
+have gone had I been alone and I hoped she would find herself
+"comfortable," as she expressed it, at all of them. I glanced at my
+watch at this juncture and suggested that perhaps I had best be going.
+If she was to do any shopping that day she would have to receive the
+"needful" very soon.
+
+"Oh, to-morrow will do for the shopping," she replied. "If it is
+convenient you may send the money to-night, but I could not make much
+progress after this hour of the day. I shall probably have to get my
+suits ready made and submit to alterations. There is very little time
+left us now."
+
+There was a partnership in this expression that pleased me greatly. I
+said as I rose that I hoped no new doubts would creep into her head, for
+I felt as if the journey we were to make together had actually begun.
+
+"I cannot conceive of a reason to change my mind, unless it comes from
+some action of yours," said Miss May. "And I feel quite certain there
+will not be any."
+
+"You may be positive of it," I replied. "I will go now to order the
+trunks, which may not, however, arrive before morning. As to the money,
+I will send it by a messenger as soon as possible. Au revoir."
+
+"Au revoir," she said. "Let me add one thing more before you go. I am
+very grateful for the kindness you are showing me, more so than I fear I
+make plain, and as far as lies in my power I will endeavor to prove it."
+
+"Don't mention it," I said, affected by her words. "All the obligation
+has been and will continue to remain on my side. Expect me Saturday
+afternoon."
+
+I had again escaped without yielding to a temptation to do something
+foolish, for which I thanked my stars. It was with positive elation
+that I walked toward Sixth Avenue.
+
+The dream was coming true. She was going with me. Nothing would come
+between us now!
+
+I went without delay to my bank and drew four hundred dollars in fifty
+dollars bills, three hundred of which I enclosed in an envelope and sent
+at once to Miss May, by a district messenger. I thought it would drive
+another nail in the transaction to increase the amount I had promised,
+and fifty dollars was to me, in this connection, like a brass farthing
+to a millionaire.
+
+Taking a passing car I rode to Macy's, where I purchased a large and a
+small trunk of compressed bamboo, covered with cloth of imitation
+leather, the lightest and strongest trunk that human ingenuity has yet
+invented. The larger one had several trays and a hat box, and was
+pronounced by the salesman the very latest thing. The bag gave me more
+trouble, but I settled at last on a tasty affair, with special
+arrangements for toilet articles, which was to be its main object of
+use, and heard to my delight that all of the things would be delivered
+without fail that very evening.
+
+On returning to my room I picked up the letters received from the Herald
+office and read them over again, laughing occasionally at something
+particularly amusing. What a lot of silly women there must be in New
+York, when a modest "Personal" like mine had set so many of them
+spoiling good stationery with such nonsense. The only two worth giving
+any thought to were those from Marjorie and Miss Brazier. A whimsical
+notion struck me to write to "Alice" and tell her how near she had been
+to winning the "prize" in my case. In the course of fifteen minutes I
+had produced the following letter:
+
+    My Dear Miss Brazier:--As there were but two answers to my Herald
+    advertisement (out of nearly as many hundred) worth noticing, and as
+    yours was one of them, I may be pardoned for telling you that your
+    Hated Rival has been secured by me for my Tropical Trip. Had you
+    given me the least chance to discover your excellencies, it might
+    quite as likely have been your fate to accompany me, so you will see
+    how very narrow was your escape. Having recently recovered from a
+    long illness (whence the necessity of a Southern voyage) I had no
+    desire to meet your angry relatives, and I have yet to learn how to
+    gauge a young lady's personality by mail. So you put yourself out of
+    the running to begin with.
+
+    I am sure, however, it will please you to know that Another has
+    satisfied herself with my proposals and is now engaged in
+    preparations to accompany me to a warmer clime. She is not only "all
+    my fancy painted her," but more. As near as I can tell in the
+    absence of actual measurements, she is about S feet 4 inches in
+    height, well made, full chested, with a face to dream about, bluish
+    gray eyes and hair of a rather light shade. But this description
+    fails utterly to convey an adequate idea of her exquisite charm.
+
+    I am to pay her--imagine making a pecuniary arrangement with an
+    houri!--twenty dollars a week and expenses, only; except that the
+    wardrobe which she finds it necessary to purchase for a climate
+    averaging 78 deg. at this season, is also to be charged to me.
+
+    Was ever so much given for so little? I shall certainly insist on
+    her accepting a nice little purse of "conscience money" on her
+    return, if we decide, on mature reflection, to terminate our
+    contract at that time.
+
+    Now, be magnanimous and write me a note of congratulation; I am sure
+    you have a kind heart and will be glad all my correspondents did not
+    threaten me with gouty and quick tempered uncles in case I wished to
+    call on a purely business errand.
+
+    Very Truly,
+
+    David Camwell, Lambs Club.
+
+    New York, Dec. 30, 1897.
+
+I summoned a district messenger, by a call in my room, and dispatched
+this to East Sixteenth Street, though why I did not put it in the mail I
+do not know. There was certainly no haste required. The steward of the
+club would send an answer, if one was received, without delay, for I had
+given him my pseudonym, and he was too wise to ask questions.
+
+That night I dreamed I was at St. Thomas; that Marjorie had somehow
+changed into the Quarantine Keeper's daughter; and that Laps, the Danish
+dog, was proceeding to tear her in pieces, when I interfered and treated
+him as Samson did the Lion in the Hebrew tale. The girl had fainted in
+my arms and, I was calling wildly upon Heaven to restore her senses,
+when a servant, up late, woke me by knocking on my door and inquiring if
+I wished for anything.
+
+I searched for a bootjack to throw at the fellow's head, and not finding
+it in the dark, I threw a few uncomplimentary expletives instead. But
+sleep had vanished for that night, and after taking a cold bath I threw
+myself on a sofa, where with a pipe in my mouth I spent the long hours
+till morning drawing pictures of the happiness so soon to be mine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"A WOMAN I LIKE VERY WELL."
+
+
+The first thought that struck me when I was ready for breakfast was that
+my new secretary ought to terminate her arrangement with that
+disagreeably affectionate employer and keep open house during each
+entire day and evening for my benefit. The mornings that were to elapse
+before the sailing of the "Madiana" would be terribly dull. I had tried
+to make it clear to Miss May that her salary had already begun to be
+reckoned and I did not see why she should carry on two business
+engagements at the same time.
+
+When I rose from the table on which my coffee and eggs had been spread,
+it was to receive a letter which had passed through the Lambs Club and
+was undoubtedly a reply to the one I had sent Miss Brazier on the
+previous day. It would at least entertain me for a few moments to know
+what that apparently lively young lady had to say:
+
+    Dear Sir:--[it began--coldly enough, I thought] Your communication
+    has been duly received and its contents noted. Although it is
+    unlikely, and certainly, on my part, not desired, that we shall ever
+    meet, I must inform you that my answer to your advertisement was
+    written purely in fun and without the least idea of accepting your
+    remarkable proposition. I will add that I am surprised that you
+    have succeeded in inducing any woman of the least respectability to
+    undertake such a journey, and I fear that your impression of her
+    high character will receive some severe wrenches before your return.
+
+    It must require unusual "nerve" to start off for several months with
+    an unmarried man (or a married one, for that matter) putting ones
+    self at his mercy, for that is what it amounts to. When the
+    individual is wholly unknown to the woman who is to accompany
+    him--when he may, for all she knows, be a "Jack, the Ripper"--the
+    foolhardiness of the idea grows on one. I am sure I do not envy your
+    companion, though it is by no means certain but you, and not she,
+    will be the most swindled in the affair.
+
+    I conjure you, however, though a total stranger, that if your friend
+    proves to be merely a misguided girl of good intentions, you will
+    not soil your soul with the greatest guilt of which a man can be
+    capable. Remember, if your thoughts are dishonorable, that you have
+    or have had a Mother, perhaps a Sister, whose memory should make you
+    pause before you inflict irreparable ruin on one of the same sex.
+
+    Yours Sincerely,
+
+    A.B.
+
+    New York, Dec. 31, 1897.
+
+A strange letter, I thought, take it altogether. I read it over slowly
+for the second time. The first few lines indicated disappointment, and a
+perusal of the remaining portion did not remove this impression,
+entirely. The final sentences sobered me. The reflections they induced
+were certainly not exhilarating. Although I have no sister and cannot
+remember my mother, I have a great veneration for my lost parents, and
+there is no string so susceptible of influence on my actions as the one
+this writer touched.
+
+I made a new resolution that I would carry myself like a gentleman in
+the truest sense of the word with Miss May. I had been honest in the
+expressions I used when talking the matter over with Harvey Hume. The
+earnest admonitions of Dr. Chambers had not been without effect. I meant
+to prove by this journey that I was capable of being in the close
+companionship of a young lady without becoming either a brute or a Don
+Juan.
+
+Looking at it even from the standpoint of an enlightened selfishness I
+was sure to get more satisfaction in a voyage with a woman whom I could
+respect than with one who assumed the role of a cyprienne.
+
+Loose creatures are to be found in plenty in the Caribbee Islands, as
+well as in New York. A sweet, true, honest, intelligent bit of
+femininity was quite another thing, and infinitely to be preferred, from
+any sensible view.
+
+Marjorie! So far as my uncertain mind could do so I pledged to her a
+purity of intercourse such as a man might give to his affianced
+sweetheart.
+
+I had folded the letter up and put it in my pocket when a visitor was
+announced, no less a person than Tom Barton. He came toward me with a
+distressed look on his honest countenance and it was plain that he was
+far from being at ease.
+
+"Don," he said, paying no attention to my motion toward a chair, "what
+is the trouble between you and Statia? I can't believe you have done
+anything intentionally to set her so against you, and yet--"
+
+"Sit down and don't get excited," I responded quickly, deciding to
+dispose of the matter in the calmest way. "Have you had your coffee? If
+not, let me ring for another pot. You don't seem well this morning, old
+boy."
+
+"I'm not well," he said, in a dispirited tone, taking the chair at last.
+"But you can make me so with one word. Last night Statia came to me with
+her eyes full of tears. 'Tom,' she said, 'if you love me I want you to
+promise never to see Donald Camran again.' 'Never to see Don!' I
+exclaimed, unable to believe my ears. 'Yes,' said she, 'I've told him I
+don't wish him to call here and I want you to write him to the same
+effect.' You may imagine what a staggerer that was. There's not another
+fellow in the world of whom I wouldn't rather she'd have said that. I
+tried to get her to give some reason--any reason, or the hint of
+one--but it was no use. She only cried the harder, and when at last I
+went to bed, I tell you I didn't get much sleep. Tell me, Don, what it
+means."
+
+"It seems you didn't make your sister the promise," I replied. "And you
+were quite right. The whim of a girl should not come between stanch
+friends like us."
+
+That did not satisfy him, however. He murmured that we had been good
+friends--that he couldn't bear to think we should ever be otherwise--but
+he wanted to understand what his sister meant. As she wouldn't tell him,
+he had come to ask that favor of me.
+
+"Supposing I don't care to say anything about it," I replied, quietly.
+"If Statia is set on keeping the wonderful secret, how can you expect
+me to divulge it?"
+
+He struggled a moment with this idea, for Tom was always slow in
+grasping abstruse problems.
+
+"You'll have to help me clear up the mystery," he said, at last. "I've
+only got one sister, Don, and she and I are all there are to the family
+now. If it comes to losing my sister or my best friend, I must stand by
+Statia."
+
+I felt a chill going over my flesh as he spoke. I liked Tom, and I liked
+Statia--yes, in spite of the silly meeting of the day before. It was
+better to back down a little than to lose such friends.
+
+"What a serious matter you make of it!" I exclaimed. "You ask me what is
+the trouble between Statia and me. Well, the fact is, I hardly know. She
+met me in Broadway yesterday and wanted to make me promise something
+that I could not see--to be candid--was any affair of hers. When I
+declined, as courteously as I knew how, she flew at me with the
+statement that I need never call at her house again. I had no choice in
+the matter, Tom, not the least. I wouldn't do anything to justify her in
+talking to me in that way, if I could help it, but one must retain a few
+of his personal rights, you know."
+
+"And what was it about?" asked Tom, very earnestly.
+
+"It was about a woman. A woman I like very well, and who happens to be
+going on the same steamer I am to the Tropics. There! The terrible
+secret is out."
+
+Tom studied the answer a long time, but evidently could make nothing of
+it.
+
+"Statia has always liked you immensely, Don," he said. "I've been almost
+jealous of you sometimes. She wouldn't go against you all of a sudden
+without what seemed to her a strong reason."
+
+"And I like Statia," was my reply. "Yes, in spite of the ugly attitude
+she has chosen to take toward me. Why, Tom--I don't know but, under the
+circumstances, I ought to tell you--I asked her only a week ago to marry
+me."
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed, in a mixture of happiness and pain, that was very
+touching.
+
+"Yes, and she refused positively. I was disappointed, you may believe,
+for I had thought she entertained a decided feeling in my favor, and
+would have asked long before except for that illness of mine. Her
+attitude might have thrown me back into the doctor's hands, for my head
+is not yet any too strong, but I managed to crush down my thoughts and
+bear up under it. I hope it's not wrong to tell you this, old chap, but
+I don't think I ought to let you go off with wrong impressions of me."
+
+He shook his head in mute dismay.
+
+"The other woman--the one you and she were speaking about," he said.
+"Who is she? It seems as if the key to the whole trouble was there."
+
+"Now, Tom," I replied, "you have no right to ask me a question like that
+and I shall have to decline to bring the name of a third person into
+this discussion. I have the greatest regard for you and the highest
+respect for Statia. If you decide to throw me over, the responsibility
+must rest where it belongs."
+
+"Would you--would you come round to the house and talk it over with
+both of us together?" he asked, after a long pause. "It troubles me more
+than I can tell you. Would you come over, say Tuesday evening?"
+
+"Yes," I said, smilingly, "if Statia writes me a letter asking me to do
+so."
+
+"She must write it," he said, brightening. "I can't have our friendship
+broken up like this. Shall you be at home all day?"
+
+I answered that I would be there just before dinner, at least, to
+receive any communication that might be sent, and Tom, taking my hand in
+his hearty grasp for the first time since he had been in the room, said
+'Good-by' and left me, evidently much relieved.
+
+I was by no means as certain as he that Statia would make any such
+back-down. I have noticed that women are more apt than men to stick to a
+position they have once taken, even after they find that the mistake is
+on their side.
+
+But, I really hoped some avenue would be opened for a reconciliation
+without my having to go on bended knees to either of them, which I saw
+no reason for doing.
+
+I had told Tom all it would be safe to tell. He was so immaculate in all
+his thoughts of women that there was no saying how my plan, if fully
+presented, would strike his mind. I certainly did not mean to risk it.
+
+It was a day that had begun disagreeably and I was looking forward to at
+least a pleasant afternoon, when a note from Miss May came, to dash that
+prospect to the ground. Here it is:
+
+    My Dear Mr. C.:--I fear you have undertaken a larger contract than
+    you anticipated when you began. To be plain, the amount you left in
+    my hands will hardly suffice to provide all the necessaries for a
+    lady travelling as your relation and equal. If you are satisfied I
+    will consent, though I am sure I would not have done so at first, to
+    go as your ward, merely,--as a young woman whom you have promised
+    some friend to see on her journey to a point where she is to be a
+    governess or whatever you like to say.
+
+    In that case you will not be disgraced if I do not dress very well.
+    I cannot endure the thought of being suspected; and a lady such as
+    you wish me to appear would have three or four gowns suitable for
+    appearing at table, with at least a little jewelry--of which, alas!
+    I have practically nothing.
+
+    I write you this with a heavy heart, for I fear you will begin to
+    consider me a nuisance, but I hope you will understand. I went out
+    this morning and priced several gowns, but finding that the money
+    you left me would be exhausted before the really necessary things
+    were obtained, I returned to my room without breaking one of the
+    banknotes.
+
+    Please reply by messenger, stating what you think it best to do. If
+    I am going to cost you more than you wish to expend, tell me so
+    frankly and I will release you from every obligation. I resigned my
+    other position last night, but am certain my old employer will
+    gladly take me back if I have to ask it. Ugh! that is the most
+    disagreeable thought in connection with this entire matter!
+
+    Understand, I am ready to go with you--I want to go--and I leave the
+    position I am supposed to occupy to your own judgment. If I am to
+    pass as a governess, in whom you have no special interest, you may
+    return me half of the money enclosed and I shall find it amply
+    sufficient. If I am to be your "cousin," I fear it will have to be
+    doubled.
+
+    Please do not decide in a way you will regret. I am obliged to leave
+    the city on an early train, to remain over New Years with friends,
+    but shall expect you Tuesday at any hour after ten. That is, if you
+    wish to see me again.
+
+    Yours Faithfully,
+
+    M.M.
+
+    P.S. The trunks and bag are splendid. Of course, I shall hold them
+    subject to your orders if you decide to drop our arrangement.
+
+I looked at the six fifty dollar bills lying on the table, where they
+had fallen from the envelope. The messenger boy looked at them also, as
+if he half wished he had run away with the package instead of delivering
+it. His presence disturbed me and I told him to walk around the block,
+returning in a quarter of an hour. This he hesitated to do and I shoved
+a two dollar bill into his fist, as a guarantee of my good faith.
+
+What a criss-cross of ideas piled upon my brain when I was alone! At one
+instant I said to myself that Miss May was a schemer, who had determined
+to "play me for a sucker,"--to use a common, though not over delicate
+expression. She had been indiscreet in returning my cash; I would put it
+in my pocket and forget her. On the other hand, the thought of going
+south alone was enough to madden me. I did not care two straws that the
+cost of the trip would be doubled, if it possessed the charming features
+I had allowed myself to paint.
+
+The woman's going into the country for two whole days when the question
+was unsettled was also most exasperating. If I could proceed
+immediately to her room and talk with her face to face it would be
+easier to decide.
+
+The fifteen minutes passed, the boy returned, and I was still in a
+quandary. Finally, when the young imp presented himself in a
+business-like attitude, I seized a pen and wrote as follows:
+
+    _Destroy the note I sent a moment ago and substitute this one._
+
+    Dear Miss May:--["Dear" does not mean anything at the beginning of a
+    letter]--I am very sorry to learn that you feel it necessary to be
+    absent over Monday, as I have many things to say to you. Perhaps, as
+    you can do nothing in the meantime, it is best to let the matter
+    rest till Tuesday morning, when I will call, promptly at ten, and we
+    will decide everything.
+
+    Yours,
+
+    D.C.
+
+The boy took this note, when it was sealed and addressed, and
+disappeared like magic. He had hardly gone when I wished I had sent a
+letter of different purport. There was an awful possibility that Miss
+May would take the chance I had undoubtedly offered, to give up the
+whole idea of going. She had certainly not seemed as enthusiastic as I
+could wish. I ran to a window, threw it open, and would have whistled to
+the boy, but he was nowhere to be seen.
+
+It was like a matter of life and death to me then. Ringing in a call I
+took my pen again and indited the following:
+
+    Dear Marjorie:--for so you said I might call you:--I return the
+    money that you sent back to me. Keep it till I meet you Tuesday
+    morning at ten, when I will come prepared with a sum which will
+    certainly meet every demand you can put upon it. You are wiser than
+    I about feminine apparel and could not please me better than by the
+    forethought you display. It is with great regret that I learn you
+    are to be absent over Sunday and Monday, when I had hoped to pass
+    some pleasant hours with you, but I cheerfully yield to your
+    arrangement. Within a few days there will be no other friends to
+    distract your attention from one who will prove himself the truest
+    of them all.
+
+    Sincerely Yours,
+
+    D.C.
+
+    No. -- Thirty-fourth Street.
+
+I procured a large envelope and took it into the bedroom, where I could
+re-insert the bank bills without danger of arousing the cupidity of
+young Mercury. With a lead pencil I added to the note a request that the
+recipient would send just a line by bearer to show that my message had
+arrived safely, and saw the boy depart, feeling that I had at last done
+the sensible thing.
+
+Whether this proved to be the case I will leave the reader to judge when
+he has finished this volume.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+A PRIVATE DINING ROOM.
+
+
+Saturday evening was dull enough, being only brightened by a pencilled
+note from Miss May, reading simply, "Money received. Will see you
+Tuesday." I went over to the Lyceum Theatre to a play called "The Tree
+of Knowledge," which I now believe one of the brightest things produced
+on the American stage in years, though I was too full of other thoughts
+to appreciate it at the time.
+
+It was an attempt to shift the burden of blame that has rested in all
+fiction on the shoulders of the man, to that of the woman, and was so
+far rather welcome to me. We are a bad lot, as a rule, I am afraid, but
+some allowance should be made for a case like the one in the play, where
+a well intentioned young fellow is used as a football by a girl who does
+not care if his life is ruined, so long as she accomplishes her designs.
+
+I remember being somewhat surprised at the apparent approval of the fine
+audience, but that may have been due in a measure to the delightful
+acting of the various parts. I had not been to the Lyceum for a long
+time and did not remember to have seen the "wronged young man" before,
+but he made a most favorable impression on me as more natural and less
+stagey than the average. The "villain,"--the masculine one--was an
+excellent actor, also. As for the "wicked" woman, I thought, if
+Marjorie failed me, I would give her an invitation to spend the rest of
+the winter in the Caribbean.
+
+Sunday was weariness itself. I poured over the newspapers, took a walk,
+managed to get a short nap, for I was tired, ate my lunch, and then, to
+fill up the time, wrote a letter to Miss Brazier, in defense of myself
+from the severe attack that unknown young woman had made. It was a silly
+proceeding, but I liked to write about Marjorie, even to one wholly
+unknown, and this is what I said, as near as I can remember it:
+
+    Dear Alice (Ben Bolt):--I feel justified in calling you "Alice," now
+    it is settled that you are not to be my companion for long and (to
+    you, doubtless) weary weeks, a liberty I should never have dreamed
+    of taking had you decided to go. I do not know in what way I have
+    offended you, which I judge by your letter to be the case, but as
+    the children say, "If I've done anything I'm sorry for, I'm glad of
+    it." (Of course I don't mean exactly that.) The reason I write this
+    is to ask you to dine with me (in a highly respectable public dining
+    room--no cabinet particulaire, mind!) some evening before the 12th,
+    when I am to sail.
+
+    If you will do this, I will fill your shell-like ears with such an
+    account of your Rival that you will acquit her of intending any of
+    the horrors you intimate. She is neither, I believe, a sinful
+    creature nor a dunce--just a sweet, strong-minded, trusting seeker
+    after change and rest.
+
+    And I don't like your insinuations, either, about my own moral
+    character. If you knew me, I should not blame you so much, but as
+    you don't--it's simply reprehensible. I have no intention of
+    "soiling my soul," or that of any other person, but if that awful
+    event happens (I wonder how I would look with a soiled soul!) you
+    will be to blame. If you really thought I was in danger, why did you
+    not do the patriotic thing and offer to go in her place? That would
+    have disposed of the s--s--possibility.
+
+    Now, if you have not already thrown this down in a rage--I judge you
+    to be a woman of the most fiendish temper!--let me be sensible for
+    just one moment. I am recovering slowly from a long illness and am
+    as harmless as a dove. I have, honestly, some work for a typewriter
+    to do, and my physician has advised me to take one. The young lady
+    who has agreed to go is not the sort you seem to imagine. She has
+    consented only after the most distressing stipulations in regard to
+    my conduct--all of which were entirely unnecessary, by the way. I am
+    to file a bond to return her to New York by May 1st in absolutely
+    perfect condition.
+
+    Come and dine with me, Alice dear, and have your doubts removed. I
+    won't bite you, nor offer the slightest familiarity, upon my word!
+    Name your hotel and, provided it is of undoubted respectability, I
+    will meet you there at any hour you choose, after 6 P.M., or I will
+    send a carriage for you. I only wish I could bring 'Marjorie'--isn't
+    it a perfectly sweet name! One sight of her soulful eyes would say
+    more than all my protestations. Unhappily she is out of town, and I
+    am afraid she wouldn't like to be exhibited, if she were here.
+
+    You'd best come.
+
+    Yours Fraternally,
+
+    D. CAMWELL.
+
+    The Lambs, Dec. 31, 1897.
+
+It didn't seem too funny, when I read it over, as I thought it would,
+but I sent it to East Sixteenth Street by a messenger that I summoned,
+telling him to bring an answer, if there was any, and to return for his
+pay, if there was none. He came back in half an hour, saying that a boy
+at the house took the letter up stairs, presumably to Miss B., and
+returned in a few minutes stating that she would reply by mail. As this
+exhausted all the fun I could expect out of that matter for the day, I
+went over to the Club and lounged away the afternoon.
+
+It was nine o'clock and I had only been at home for a few minutes when a
+note came from Statia Barton. It was written in a very cool strain, but
+its contents were unexpectedly agreeable, for all that. Statia said she
+was afraid she had been a little too severe, and that, as it distressed
+Tom very much to have a general falling out, she had made it up with
+him. She had nothing to take back in what she had said relating to a
+certain matter, (what woman ever took back anything?) but was willing to
+admit that it was, really, my personal affair and that she had no right
+to control my conduct. She believed it best, on the whole, that we
+should see each other as little as possible before I went away, but she
+did not wish, on reflection, to make trouble between her brother and his
+friend. If Tom wanted me to come to spend an evening with him, she hoped
+I would do it, and she promised to keep out of my way.
+
+It was a queer mixture, take it altogether, but I was very glad to
+receive it. The calming effect on my general condition was such that
+when I went to bed, I slept for nearly seven hours without interruption,
+something I had not done for the previous fortnight.
+
+Monday, on account of New Years, was as dull as Sunday. When I awoke
+with the exultant knowledge that it was at last Tuesday morning, I
+sprang from bed joyfully. Filling my tub with water as it ran from the
+street pipe, I plunged into its icy depths. Rising again I repeated the
+operation half a dozen times, until the effect on my entire body was of
+a healthy glow, and then proceeded to dress with care. I was long in
+selecting a necktie, for one thing, and tried three pairs of cuff-links
+before I was content. My coffee was barely tasted, and the newspapers
+were scanned as if in a dream.
+
+All the time, mind you, I was trying my best to obey the injunction of
+Dr. Chambers to avoid the least excitement. I persuaded myself that I
+was simply happy and that no injurious effect could be apprehended from
+a merely contented frame of mind. I did not stop to think that I was
+pursuing a short road to the nervous prostration from which I had
+emerged, and which had its origin in the same lack of control I was
+exhibiting.
+
+Tom Barton called about eight o'clock and, as he entered the room, came
+straight to me with his right hand extended. I took it heartily in mine,
+glad that the chasm between us was bridged at last.
+
+"Dear old fellow," he said, with strong feeling, "forgive me for
+anything disagreeable I said, the other day. I feel now that I misjudged
+you. Let us end that matter and when you come to my house this evening,
+tell me exactly what route you are going to take, so I can arrange where
+to write you."
+
+I promised to come if I could, and if that was impossible, to send a
+message to account for my absence. I told him I had bought a set of
+small maps which would show my route perfectly and that I hoped for
+frequent communications with him. Neither of us said anything about
+Statia, for I think he felt as I did that we should get along better
+without bringing in her name. He was obliged to leave after a brief
+call. As soon as he was out of sight I donned my out-door garments and
+proceeded by round-about stages toward Miss May's residence.
+
+The hands of my watch pointed to ten exactly, when I rang her bell. It
+is considered a virtue, I believe, to be prompt at an appointment. The
+woman who attended the door dampened my ardor somewhat, however, by
+informing me that Miss May had not yet returned. She suggested that I go
+at once to the lady's room and make myself comfortable till she came,
+which must be very soon.
+
+I walked slowly up the stairs, which seemed longer than ever, oppressed
+with a new series of doubts. Perhaps she would not come at all. Perhaps
+she had taken my three hundred dollars and fled to parts unknown.
+Perhaps--oh! the ugly things that came into my head between the lower
+hall and the door of that empty room.
+
+I turned the knob and entered. Somehow the sight of the things that
+belonged to her began to mollify me. There was the chair in which she
+had been seated when I saw her last--happy chair! There was the dressing
+table, the brush and comb she used, the glass into which she had looked
+with her beautiful blue-gray eyes. Yes, and masquerading as a cabinet,
+yet deceiving no one for a second, was the folding bed that had often
+received her lovely form, with her head pillowed in happy slumber.
+
+It was something to be in the room she occupied, to see the furniture
+she used.
+
+I seated myself in her chair--the one I had seen her in--but almost
+instantly rose and walked about. My nerves were too much on edge to
+permit me to remain long without motion of some kind. At the end of half
+an hour I began to grow incensed again. She had made the appointment for
+ten o'clock. She knew from previous experience that I would keep it to
+the moment. Trains from the suburbs ran frequently enough. Did she
+consider me merely a puppet, to be played with?
+
+Between half-past ten and eleven I was a hundred times on the point of
+descending the stairs and leaving the house, ending the whole affair.
+
+But I didn't.
+
+She came about ten minutes past eleven, with many expressions of regret
+at having kept me waiting. The timepiece at the house of her friend had
+broken its mainspring, or something of the sort, and with the
+carelessness of a woman she had forgotten to wind her watch the evening
+before. The family were all deceived by the fact that the sky was
+cloudy. When she reached her station the train had just gone and she was
+obliged to wait three-quarters of an hour for another. As soon as she
+alighted in New York, she took a cab and bade the driver hasten. Had I
+been waiting very long?
+
+I did not know, at that instant, whether I had been a minute or a week,
+and I did not care. It was enough that I was again in her presence--that
+she had actually arrived. I begged her to say nothing more about it.
+
+"I have kept the cab," she said, looking me full in the face, "thinking
+you might be kind enough to go with me to the shops and help me pick out
+my things. If it isn't asking too much--"
+
+I assured her it would give me the greatest pleasure to accept the
+invitation and that I had no engagement so important as helping her to
+get ready for our journey. With a smile, she took off her hat and
+arranged her hair at the mirror, with a few passes of the brush and
+comb. Then she put it on again and said she was quite ready.
+
+"Drive to Altman's," she said to the cabman, as she stepped inside the
+vehicle.
+
+We were together, side by side. Had we been on the way to the steamer
+nothing could have exceeded my delight. These preliminaries all tended
+in that direction, however, and I was fain to curb my haste and content
+myself with the present.
+
+"I think you ought to see what it costs to dress a young woman who is
+going to masquerade as the cousin of a gentleman of means," said Miss
+May, as we turned the corner. "I want you to decide on each article,
+since the expense is to come out of your pocket. I must say another
+thing also, at this time. I shall not consider as my own anything I need
+to buy. I am merely in the position of an actress whose wardrobe is to
+be provided by her manager. Whenever our engagement terminates I will
+return every article to you in as good shape as possible."
+
+I was staggered by the suggestion, as well as impressed by the sentiment
+that led her to make it.
+
+"What could I do with a lot of gowns--and--lingerie?" I inquired,
+helplessly. "They would be a veritable drug on my hands."
+
+"They could be altered," she said, thoughtfully. "I shall be very
+careful of them."
+
+"Altered!" I cried. "For whom?"
+
+"For the next typewriter you may happen to engage."
+
+I laughed to conceal the disagreeable feeling which the thought gave me.
+
+"As a joke that is stupendous," I said, "but, if you don't mind, I would
+rather you would be funny on some other subject."
+
+She relapsed into silence, something after the manner of a child who has
+been chidden, which did not add to my ease. I had no idea of scolding
+her. Luckily we were soon at Altman's.
+
+I had come provided with plenty of money that time. The cash she had
+brought was exhausted when we left this place and we did not seem to
+have got much for it, either. A milliner was next visited, where the
+price of the few articles purchased was forgotten in my admiration of
+the charming appearance Marjorie made in her new headgear. Then we drove
+to another establishment, where she was obliged to hide herself from
+view for three-quarters of an hour, with a bill of eighty-five dollars
+as the result. She explained that she had got nothing she could possibly
+avoid, when it was considered that we might be several weeks at a time
+without a laundress, and I said the only fear I had was that she would
+buy too little.
+
+A boot shop came next in order, where I had a jealous pang as one of the
+salesmen fitted her with various articles in his stock, all suitable
+for a warm climate, at a total cost of forty dollars. And then we drove
+about, from glove shop to perfumer's, from umbrella maker to fan dealer,
+from this to that, and the hands on my watch showed that it was nearly
+five o'clock.
+
+"I think that is about all for to-day," said Miss May, drawing a long
+breath. "You must be glad it's over."
+
+"Not at all," I replied. "Isn't it about time, though, that we had
+something in the way of refreshment?" (She had declined several offers
+to lunch during the preceding five hours.) "Mayn't I tell the driver now
+to take us to a restaurant?"
+
+She consented, after a little thought, and also said she would leave the
+place to me. When I suggested the Hotel Martin, she thought a little
+longer, and then surprised me with a request that I would get a private
+room.
+
+"Impossible," I said, when I could catch my breath. "They will assign no
+party of two to a room alone."
+
+She blushed, which was not surprising. I had put her in the position of
+wishing to break a puritanic rule of which she had never heard.
+
+I mentioned several other places, and we finally agreed on one some
+distance up-town, at which I told her the regulation against a single
+couple dining alone did not apply. She was rather tired and leaned back
+in the carriage in a manner that showed it. I studied her face as much
+as I could without appearing to stare, but it was wholly
+expressionless.
+
+"You are very good to me," she said, after a long pause.
+
+"And you are very kind to me," I answered.
+
+"What a lot of money we have spent to-day," she added. "Aren't you sorry
+yet?"
+
+"No," I answered, smiling. "Not yet."
+
+"I shall need almost nothing more," she said, "to appear in a garb that
+will not disgrace you. Nothing, but a little jewelry, I think."
+
+I said we would go to-morrow and attend to that, or she could go alone
+if she preferred, and send the bills to me.
+
+"It must be lovely to have all the money one wants," she remarked,
+dreamily. "To order whatever you please without stopping to see if you
+can afford it."
+
+"Yes," I assented.
+
+"You can do that?" said Miss May, putting one of her gloved hands on my
+arm.
+
+"Within a reasonable limit. My wants are seldom extravagant."
+
+"Why," she asked, slowly, "is the world arranged so unevenly? Why are
+some provided with all they want, and more, while others have to study
+each item of actual necessity?"
+
+"That is a deep question, that I would not like to settle in my present
+state of hunger," I replied, at which she smiled and sat up in the
+carriage. "We are luckily near the end of our route. I think I had best
+dismiss the cab and get another one when we leave."
+
+She agreed and then asked if I had any objection to her donning a veil.
+It was all right, of course--dining in a private room with her
+employer--but it might not seem so to a casual passer, who would
+possibly recognize her face at some future period. A woman had to be so
+particular.
+
+I cut her explanations short by saying that I did not object to the
+idea, but quite approved of it; at which she put on the veil, which to
+my consternation was blue and quite opaque. I did not wish to let any
+difference of opinion come between us, but I reflected that if one of my
+friends saw me, with a woman veiled like that, his conclusions would be
+anything but pleasing. There is such a thing as going too far.
+
+We were shown to a nice little room, where the waiter came near getting
+himself into trouble by informing me with needless severity that it was
+not permitted to lock the door.
+
+Miss May did not seem to hear what he said. She was removing her blue
+veil at a little glass that hung on the wall.
+
+When she took the chair opposite to me and accepted the menu at my
+hands, she looked so charming that I had to put a veritable Westinghouse
+brake on my arms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+ONCE THERE WAS A CHILD.
+
+
+The meal that we ordered was well cooked and well served, and being
+provided with that best of all sauces, hunger, I did it full justice.
+Our conversation seemed, however, rather dull, and there was not that
+flow of spirits that I expected when we entered the place. Miss May
+seemed absorbed in thought, though she declared, when I rallied her on
+the point, that she was not down hearted, but very happy to be there.
+Occasionally when footsteps were heard in the corridor she started
+nervously, which led me to suppose that she feared intrusion. I
+thereupon remarked that while it was against the rules to bolt the door
+of the room, I believed a good-sized tip would secure the privilege; to
+which she replied, with a vehemence I could not understand, that she
+would not hear of such a thing.
+
+One might imagine she suspected me of an intention to murder her, so
+earnest was her protest.
+
+"Oh, I would much rather leave it unlocked," I said. "I was only trying
+to please you."
+
+She made no answer, and I found my spirits, always mercurial, beginning
+to sink a little. Noticing my dejection, she came to my rescue and soon
+had me all right again. We talked of the journey, she asking many
+particulars of my former visit to the Caribbean Islands. She had never
+been at sea for more than a few hours and wondered if she was liable to
+that malady so much to be dreaded, seasickness. I assured her it was not
+nearly as bad as it was painted and told of my own slight experiences in
+that line, years before.
+
+My companion ate and drank sparingly. She declined my proposal to order
+champagne, and mixed her claret and apollinaris like a veritable tyro in
+restaurant dining. This rather pleased me, on the lookout as I was for
+indications that she might be other than she seemed. She had every mark
+of the true lady, and I was well prepared to believe it, when I learned,
+some days later, of the station in which she had been born and in which
+her childhood was passed.
+
+"I have been thinking," she remarked, after one of her long pauses;
+"would it not be best for me, to take your family name? I wish, above
+all things, to avoid suspicion."
+
+"I fear we are a little too late for that," I replied. "I was obliged to
+give your name to the agent and he has already placed it on the
+passenger list."
+
+"Will that list get into the newspapers?" she asked, nervously.
+
+"I presume so."
+
+"Then you must manage to have my name changed, at all hazards. My old
+employer would use every means to annoy me if he discovered where I am
+going."
+
+"It is only recorded as 'Miss M. May,'" I said. "Surely there is more
+than one person of that name in the world."
+
+She shook her head and bit her lips in distress.
+
+"It must be changed," she repeated. "It will not do to give him the
+slightest clue. He imagines himself 'in love'--Heaven help me!--and I
+dare not risk it. Any name you like, but my own."
+
+"What can he do?" I inquired. "You don't think I would let him annoy
+you, when you were under my protection."
+
+"He can do many things. No, there is no way but to alter the name. Tell
+the agent the lady you expected is not going--that she has been taken
+ill--and that another is to fill her place. Do not argue, do not
+hesitate, or I shall be compelled, even now, to give up the journey. And
+that," she added, seeing my sober face, "you know well I would not like
+to do."
+
+This was enough to settle the matter and I said I would give the agent
+in the morning any name she desired.
+
+"I would like it the same as your own," she said, thoughtfully. "It
+might save infinite trouble. Just record me as Miss M. Camwell. Is there
+any reason against that?"
+
+Yes, there was one and it occurred to me. The name, which I had decided
+to use, was so near my own that Uncle Dugald would be likely to see it,
+not to say anything about Hume, Tom Barton and Statia. They might lay
+the twisting of Donald Camran into "David Camwell" to the carelessness
+of copyist and printer, but their suspicions would certainly be aroused
+if they saw next to my name that of a "Miss" Camwell.
+
+"I will change your name in some way," I answered, after a long pause,
+"but I see dangers in the plan you propose, nearly as great as in the
+present one."
+
+I then gave her an inkling of my fears, saying I did not wish any sharp
+friend to guess what I was doing, which was possible with two such
+uncommon names in just a position on an alphabetical list.
+
+She did not seem satisfied, but raised no objection when I asked her if
+I might call her Miss M. Carney, which I thereupon decided to do.
+
+It was rather dull, take it altogether, the dinner, but when we were
+again in a cab and rolling toward Forty-fifth Street, Miss May
+brightened, like the close of a cloudy day, just before the sun sinks
+into the obscurity of the western sky. She put one of her hands on mine,
+quite as if the act was a wholly thoughtless one, but it sufficed to
+cheer me up. She even volunteered a prophesy that we would be good
+friends and contented fellow voyagers.
+
+Before we reached her door she asked me at what hour I would call on the
+morrow, quite as if anxious to see me. After a little debate I decided
+upon three in the afternoon. That would give her the entire morning with
+her dressmaker, for necessary alterations in the garments she had
+purchased.
+
+She did not seem to notice particularly when I raised the gloved hand I
+held and pressed it to my lips at parting. It was an act that any lady
+might pardon, and she probably thought nothing of it.
+
+"To-morrow, then, at three," she said, smiling at me from the curbstone.
+
+"Yes. Don't keep me waiting," I answered, remembering the morning.
+
+"I will try not to; these dressmakers are so unreliable, though.
+You--you wouldn't rather I would come to your rooms? Perhaps there is
+another of those rules we have been running across, against it. If there
+is none, and you prefer--"
+
+I said I approved of the idea highly and that I was at liberty to invite
+to my apartment any person I pleased.
+
+"You spoke of a machine that I have never used," said Miss May,
+tentatively. "If you have one there, as a sort of excuse--"
+
+"I have one," said I. "Although it won't be needed for that purpose. You
+remember the number, -- West Thirty-fourth."
+
+She nodded and spoke to my driver, repeating it to him. Then with
+another of her bright smiles she waved me good-by and ascended the
+steps, while I was driven away.
+
+"Henry," I was saying ten minutes after, to the hall boy, "I expect a
+young lady to-morrow, between three and four, who will ask for Mr.
+Camwell."
+
+"There isn't any Mr. Camwell in the house, sir," said the boy.
+
+"There will be at that hour. He will be in my rooms. You may not see him
+enter and you may not see him leave, but he will be here. All you have
+to do is to say 'Yes, ma'am,' to the lady and bring her to my door."
+
+"I understand," said Henry, with a wholly superfluous grin, that showed
+how little common sense the average hall-boy possesses.
+
+"No, you don't understand anything," I responded, snappishly. "Do as I
+order and you'll lose nothing. Make the least mistake and I will see
+that you get your notice."
+
+He responded meekly that he would be careful and then handed me a
+letter, which I saw was from Miss Brazier. He also said that Mr. Barton
+had called and expressed surprise when he heard that I had left no word
+for him.
+
+Poor Tom! It came to my recollection all at once that I had promised to
+spend the evening at his house, or send him a note if unable to do so.
+Well, I would write him an apology before I went to sleep.
+
+This is what Miss Brazier said:
+
+    Dear Mr. Camwell:--I wish I could understand you, but the riddle
+    grows harder and harder. Sometimes you seem a combination of Don
+    Quixote, Mephistopheles and Hector Greyburn. At one moment I believe
+    you the greatest wretch alive; at the next I ascribe your sentiments
+    to the buoyancy of youth and convince myself that you are at heart
+    an honorable man.
+
+    As to dining with you, I must deny myself that pleasure. I do not
+    believe you would "bite" me, nor am I afraid your levity would turn
+    my head. I can merely say that dining with a stranger is not in
+    accord with my habits and that I see no sufficient reason to make
+    your case an exception. I would be glad to see your "Marjorie,"
+    though, were that feasible, but this also I must forego.
+
+    Now, as a last word--for my correspondence may weary you--remember
+    that true happiness in this life does not consist in the mere
+    gratification of every passing whim, and that the path you have
+    before you may contain thorns as well as roses. If you return to
+    America with your conscience void of offence toward God and your
+    companion you will have accomplished something of which you may
+    well be proud.
+
+    Won't you write me just a line when you are again at home, to say
+    that my petition has been answered.
+
+    Your True Friend,
+
+    A.B.
+
+    Jan. 2, 1898.
+
+Sobered more than I could account for by reading this letter, I sat for
+a long time in silence. Then, after writing a brief note to Tom,
+excusing my neglect, I sought my pillow, or in plain English, went to
+bed.
+
+My first act in the morning after coffee was to go to Cook's and alter
+the name of May to that of Carney, as well as change my own to "David
+Camwell," for which I gave a satisfactory reason to the clerk. He told
+me that he could omit both names from the list sent to the newspapers,
+if I desired, and I decided that this was, on the whole, the better way.
+
+On leaving I had an idea that pleased me, no less than to visit
+Tiffany's and purchase a little jewelry for Marjorie. It would be
+pleasant to see her eyes light up as I put it into her hand.
+
+Taking a Broadway car, I soon reached the shop I sought, and emerged a
+few minutes later with a pair of diamond eardrops, a ring of turquoise
+and small diamonds, and another of chased gold without a stone. Each was
+enclosed in a tasty case. I was much pleased that the selection had been
+made so easily.
+
+Miss May arrived at my room nearly on time, with a fine color in her
+cheeks, due to the fact that she had walked some distance. She was
+undeniably good-looking and my heart warmed as I thought of the long
+companionship we were to have together. She was a little tired, she
+said, from standing for the dressmaker's measurer, and dropped into my
+largest chair with a very fetching air of fatigue. As soon as I could
+without seeming in haste I produced the case containing the turquoise
+ring and presented it for her inspection.
+
+"I took the liberty," I remarked, "of buying this, to fill the vacant
+place on one of your fingers. If it does not fit, you can take it back
+for alteration; or if it does not please you Tiffany will exchange it."
+
+She took it out languidly and found that it fitted very well. She was
+not as delighted as I had supposed she would be, but her tired feeling
+probably accounted for that.
+
+"It is very pretty," she said, "and you are very kind."
+
+Then I opened the case containing the plain ring and she found a
+suitable position for that also. When I showed her the eardrops she grew
+more interested and on trying them on declared them "perfectly sweet."
+
+"I used to have some very like them," she said, with a sigh, "but that
+was long ago. How very good you are. Are you not tired of the expense I
+cause you?"
+
+I assured her that I was not, in the least.
+
+"I do not own a piece of jewelry in the world," she added, "except a
+wedding ring, that belonged to my mother."
+
+"And these," I corrected her by saying.
+
+"No. These are not mine. They are merely part of the make-up for the
+rôle I am to play. You shall have them all back again when the curtain
+is rung down."
+
+She took out her purse, and drew forth the ring of which she had spoken.
+Placing it on her wedding finger she held it out to me.
+
+"Don't I look quite like a married woman?" she asked, smilingly.
+
+"Quite," I assented, "and a very sweet bride you make, too."
+
+"Have you the typewriting machine here?" she asked, ignoring my
+compliment. "I wish to see what it is like."
+
+I put the machine on a table, arranging it for her inspection. It was an
+original Hammond, which I prefer to the universal keyboard. She drew up
+a chair and listened intently while I explained its workings, showing
+how the capitals and figures are produced with the same set of keys as
+the lower case letters. I showed the working of the ribbon, the
+arrangement of the alarm bell and all the other points needed by one who
+had never operated that style. When I had finished and inserted a sheet
+of paper she began carefully to write a sentence, encouraged
+occasionally by my guidance when the unfamiliar location of the keys
+caused her to pause.
+
+"I shall be able to use it as rapidly as the Remington, in a week," she
+said, when she finished the sheet. "It is not nearly as hard as I
+imagined."
+
+She left the table and resumed her seat in the chair, where we fell into
+a conversation that lasted several hours. She counted with me the days
+that remained and was glad they were so few. She said she could think of
+nothing more that she needed before starting: yes, the jewelry was
+quite sufficient. She put back each piece in the case it had come in,
+asking me to keep them till we were ready to go.
+
+"You are sure you will not be sorry for what you are doing?" she asked,
+after a time.
+
+"How can I, if you enjoy the journey?" was my reply.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders prettily and said it was time to leave. She
+declined with many thanks an invitation to dine with me again, making a
+light excuse, and with a friendly grasp of the hand took her departure.
+It had been agreed that she would call for a short time each afternoon
+that remained.
+
+When I had become chilled at the vacancy her absence made in the room I
+went over to the table and looked at what she had written on the
+machine. It was a pleasure even to see the lines her fair hands had
+made, and I withdrew the sheet she had covered as if it were something
+sacred. Glancing over it I noted to my surprise, that the lines had not
+been written with accidental meaning--that it contained a message for my
+eyes and heart. There were naturally slight errors caused by the
+writer's unfamiliarity with the instrument, but no ambiguity of any
+kind. And this is what the message said to me:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Once there was a child, who had been reared in comfort, almost in
+luxury, in the fairest part of the fair State of Maryland. At the age of
+sixteen a cruel fate deprived her of both parents. The guardian to whom
+her small means were intrusted proved false and in another year she was
+left to face poverty alone.
+
+Almost stunned by her misfortunes, this child found it necessary to
+provide herself with some means of subsistence, for even sorrow must
+have bread. She learned the art of stenography and typewriting; and
+after attaining sufficient speed in these branches went to a large city
+and sought a situation. Luckily she found one, though for a long time
+the pay was very small and she could no more than support life in the
+poorest manner.
+
+Later a place was offered her with a largely increased stipend, and the
+cloud seemed about to lift a little. But her new employer soon unmasked
+his soul and disclosed himself a wretch. The girl could hardly breathe
+in his presence, but she resolved to endure his attentions as long as
+they were bearable, hoping for relief from some unknown source.
+
+When the purpose of her employer became all too plain, and she was on
+the point of despair; when advertisement after advertisement had been
+answered and nothing secured; when she had advertised, herself, and
+found by the replies received that the majority of the situations
+promised nothing better than the one she was unable to endure--there
+came a ray of light.
+
+A gentleman, or what seemed to be one, sought an interview in reference
+to a most novel proposition. He wanted her to accompany him, alone, on a
+long journey; announced his willingness to provide her with an outfit
+suitable for a member of his family, which she was to profess to be; and
+assured her that behind this offer there was lurking no sinister design
+such as she at first suspected.
+
+Her situation had grown desperate. Slowly she came to the decision to
+trust this man. She grew to believe that there might be one who could
+give these things with an honest mind and a pure purpose.
+
+She accepted the situation, if such it might be called; purchased the
+necessary clothing; donned the jewelry he provided; gave her trust into
+his hands, and sailed with him on the ship he selected.
+
+He was only twenty-four years of age, she but twenty-two. She had not
+concealed from him that she was poor and nearly friendless. He was rich
+and what is called a man of the world.
+
+What will happen to the girl on that journey?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There can be but two possibilities. Either the man will prove the kind
+friend he has represented and they will return able to look the world in
+the face without a blush--that is one of them. Or somewhere beneath the
+blue waters of the Caribbean Sea the fishes will gnaw the flesh of a
+woman who is drowned--that is the other. Let neither delude themselves,
+when the hour of temptation comes. There is no possibility outside these
+two.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I rose and paced the floor in remorse for my ill-spent life, in sympathy
+for the unhappy creature whose fears clouded the pleasure I meant to
+share with her.
+
+If there had been, away down in the lowest depths of my wild nature, the
+slightest thought of wrong to Marjorie May, it was crushed out of sight
+by that pathetic appeal.
+
+Crushed out of sight, yes! But there are seeds that put forth life with
+the dust of years piled above them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A THEFT ON BOARD SHIP.
+
+
+The time before the date set for the sailing of the Madiana passed
+slowly enough, but contained little that is worth recording at length.
+Miss May took another dinner with me, though not in the same restaurant
+as before, she expressing a preference for another in a different part
+of the city. She came to my room daily about half the time and I went to
+hers the rest, for our afternoon talks. Her gowns were fitted, her
+baggage made ready; and she sent the trunks out to have the initials
+"M.C." marked upon them, to consort with her new title.
+
+As the date of sailing approached she grew visibly nervous, saying
+repeatedly that she would be glad when the ocean waves lay between us
+and Manhattan Island, in which sentiment I concurred heartily. On the
+day before our departure she expressed a wish to go to the wharf alone,
+rather than have me come for her, giving as a reason that she did not
+like the people at her lodgings to connect us in that move. This seemed
+sensible and I agreed without demur. I had long since ceased to have any
+suspicion of her and felt as certain that we would meet at the steamer
+as that the boat would sail.
+
+The evening before the day I was to go, I passed with Tom Barton at his
+house. It was the second time I had been there within a week. In some
+way Tom fixed it so that Statia consented to dine with us. She did the
+best she could, I suppose, to act as usual, but made a poor show of it
+to eyes as watchful as mine.
+
+I got a minute alone with her by accident and tried my best to cheer her
+up.
+
+"I wish you would write me a line or two while I am gone," I said. "If
+you send to St. Thomas by the 18th, I ought to get it before I leave
+there. The mails are fearfully slow in that part of the world, but they
+do arrive eventually. I will let you know how I am getting on, if you
+wish it, besides what I send to Tom. I'm not going to let you quarrel
+with me any longer."
+
+She said without much enthusiasm that she would be glad to have me
+write, and that perhaps she would do so herself. I did not care to press
+the matter, thinking it best to leave it that way.
+
+On the morning of the 12th I went early to the steamer, inspected the
+cabins I had engaged and made arrangements with the head porter to
+reserve a good place for my steamer chairs on the after-deck. I was
+rather pleased with the accommodations, for I had not expected too much.
+Driving back up-town I secured my letter of credit and did a last bit of
+shopping. An hour before the time the vessel was to slip her moorings I
+was again on board, not wishing Miss May to arrive and find me absent.
+
+As the passengers arrived, one after another, I looked into their faces
+to see if there was a familiar one, but there was none, until Mr. Wesson
+came. I exchanged a few words with him about the arrangement of things
+in the room we were to occupy jointly. When he left, my attention was
+attracted to a woman, just coming up the plank, whom I certainly had
+seen before. An elderly man walked just behind her, and as she turned to
+speak to him I judged they were together. It was some time before I
+remembered where I had seen that face, and when it flashed upon me I
+could not restrain a low whistle.
+
+She was the woman who had advertised in the Herald "Personal" column
+that she desired the acquaintance of an "elderly gent," describing
+herself as "beautiful of face and form," with her "object matrimony."
+
+Well, she seemed to have found what she sought and I hoped the "gent"
+was also not disappointed. I did not believe that the ceremony of
+marriage had been performed between them, but perhaps a temporary
+arrangement was equally pleasing to both. One of the stewards took their
+hand baggage and descended with it, showing them to their rooms.
+
+Miss May, arrived finally. I did not recognize her at first, heavily
+veiled as she was, though happily without the blue article she had worn
+to the restaurant. I rose and escorted her to her cabin, where she
+seated herself on the sofa and tried to recover her breath, which I
+could not see she had any reason to lose. As soon as she could speak she
+asked which was my room; when I told her, she begged me to wait there a
+few minutes.
+
+Rather distressed by her manner I could, nevertheless, do nothing but
+comply. After what seemed an endless time I heard her voice, speaking my
+name in low tones, and went to see what she wanted.
+
+"Don't come in!" she said, opening the door slightly. She spoke hardly
+above a whisper and yet in a way that conveyed an imperative
+prohibition. "Has the boat started yet?"
+
+"No," I answered. "I think it will go in a few moments."
+
+"Will you inquire if my baggage has been brought on and have the smaller
+trunk sent down here as soon as possible?"
+
+"You ought to come on deck and see the start," I said. "That is one of
+the interesting things of a voyage like this."
+
+"Oh, no!" she said. "I am feeling faint--I don't know what is the
+matter--doubtless I shall be better in a few minutes. I am going to lie
+down and see if that makes me more comfortable. Go on deck and amuse
+yourself. I shall try to get a nap."
+
+Seeing that I hesitated she looked pleadingly into my eyes.
+
+"Please go!" she said.
+
+I went, swallowing my disappointment. The boat had commenced to move and
+I witnessed the usual waving handkerchiefs, tearful eyes, loud good-bys,
+and that sort of thing. The elderly gentleman with his well-formed,
+matrimonially-inclined lady was apparently enjoying the scene, for both
+of them looked happy. Mr. Wesson smiled as I approached and uttered some
+commonplace remark, as he made room for me by his side. Each moment the
+distance between the Madiana and her late moorings widened; presently we
+were well out in the river and proceeding down the Bay.
+
+Wesson suggested a walk on the deck and as we were both well wrapped up
+I saw no objection. I remarked what a wonderful thing it was, how soon
+our heavy clothing would be discarded. Ice and snow to-day and summer
+garments day after to-morrow.
+
+"That is due to the Gulf Stream, of course," he replied.
+
+"Yes. In two days any passenger not actually an invalid can bathe with
+pleasure in water pumped from the ocean."
+
+Wesson expressed his surprise at this statement. We fell to talking of
+the islands we were to visit, he appearing deeply interested in all I
+had to say. The time was thus occupied until the first dinner bell rang,
+when I excused myself to go and look after my "cousin."
+
+Miss May answered the knock by saying that she had already asked the
+stewardess to bring her a cup of tea and would want nothing more. She
+would try to get upon the deck to-morrow, if the water was sufficiently
+smooth, but at present she was quite unable to move. I was to be at ease
+about her and not allow her condition to interfere with my enjoyment. As
+there seemed no help for it, I went back to the deck and soon descended
+with the others to the dining table.
+
+I thought it an odd fate that the "elderly gent" with his
+matrimonially-inclined companion should be seated at the same table with
+myself and Mr. Wesson, but odd things happen continually on shipboard
+and this voyage was to prove the rule. There were just eight of us
+assigned to that table, a married couple and one man travelling singly,
+besides those mentioned. Before we separated I took a printed list of
+the passengers, such as had been generally distributed, bearing on the
+reverse side a map of the Windward Islands, and requested those present
+to mark their names, that I might know them better. Wesson and I marked
+ours first. The "elderly gent" put his cross against two names reading
+Matthew Howes and Miss Nellie Howes, the married couple endorsed the
+names of Mr. and Mrs. H.G. Stone and the single passenger claimed the
+title of Robert Edgerly. The seats had been assigned by the steward with
+written cards on each plate, and Mr. Edgerly, who sat at my left, took
+up that of Miss Carney.
+
+"We have still another messmate, who has not made her appearance," he
+said, to the table in general. "Miss M. Carney."
+
+"The lady is not feeling well and will not appear to-night," I said.
+
+"I believe she occupies the stateroom with me," said Miss Howes, to my
+surprise. "She is evidently not used to the sea, for she was taken ill
+before the steamer left the dock."
+
+"Miss Carney is my cousin," I explained, forced into it by the inquiring
+eyes of Mr. Howes, who evidently connected us in some way. "She was not
+very well before we started, is in fact taking the journey mainly for
+her health. I hope she will feel able to be out to-morrow."
+
+With the freedom that sometimes prevails in parties thrown together at a
+steamer table the conversation then became general, and before we rose I
+knew that Mr. Edgerly claimed Albany as his home and Mr. and Mrs. Stone,
+Montpelier, Vt.; while Mr. and Miss Howes said they resided in
+Binghamton. It helps very much in remembering people to get a city or
+town tacked on to their names, and I wrote the locations on my passenger
+list.
+
+It was a dull evening, in spite of the fact that I passed it in the
+smoking room, where considerable cheap wit was bandied about and my
+fellow-passengers got acquainted with each other and with me. The
+push-button was kept busy until the steward in charge of that department
+gave signs of exhaustion. I drank very little, though I paid for several
+rounds, after the fashion of most Americans, who think such proceedings
+necessary to preserve their self-respect.
+
+At last, when there was nothing else to do, I went to my cabin and to
+bed.
+
+Before breakfast I saw the stewardess and asked her to learn how Miss
+Carney was and whether she would be at the table. She soon returned with
+the information that the lady thought it best not to leave her room, and
+that she wished me to procure her a list of the passengers. This I did,
+marking the addresses of those who sat at our table, and scrawling a bit
+of advice on the margin, recommending her to make her appearance on deck
+during the forenoon as the sea was remarkably smooth.
+
+After leaving the table I took a novel called "His Foster Sister," which
+somebody told me had a reference to the Islands, and seeking my steamer
+chair became absorbed in its contents.
+
+In a short time Mr. Edgerly came along and dropped into my second chair
+in a friendly way. He also had a book and it was some time before we
+engaged in conversation beyond the customary greetings.
+
+My first impression of Edgerly was decidedly favorable. He was
+apparently a jolly sort of chap, ready for a joke or story and not
+inclined to be a bore. We got along together famously until about eleven
+o'clock, when Miss May came slowly up the companion way, with the
+stewardess to assist her. Edgerly saw her before I did and sprang to
+offer her his arm. As she looked into his face and detected that it was
+that of a stranger, she drew back, but he reassured her in low tones.
+
+"You must permit me to help you to your chair," he said, "which I have
+just vacated. It's evident you cannot reach it without aid."
+
+By this time I had arrived at her side and Miss May took my arm, leaning
+very heavily upon it. I was surprised to find her so weak and as soon as
+she was seated I asked if there was anything I could order to give her
+strength.
+
+"No," she replied, faintly. "I shall be better soon. Please wrap the rug
+around me."
+
+The stewardess had the rug on her arm and at my request placed it over
+the lady's skirts, tucking in the ends about her feet. She wore her
+cloak and a steamer cap, and seemed provided against the coolness of the
+air, which was still marked.
+
+When the stewardess had gone, and Edgerly also, for he disappeared at
+once, I waited for Miss May to speak again, but she lay with closed eyes
+so long that I grew uneasy.
+
+"There is a doctor among the passengers," I said. "I think when you go
+below, you had best let him see you. I am alarmed at your condition."
+
+She raised herself and surveyed the decks in every direction. Then she
+took a less recumbent position.
+
+"Who is the man that came to me at the top of the stairs?" she asked, in
+a whisper.
+
+"His name is Edgerly and he is from Albany. I never saw him till
+yesterday."
+
+"He has called at the office of my last employer, and I am afraid he
+recognized me. Did he say anything to intimate it?"
+
+"No," I answered. "There is not one chance in a thousand that he
+remembers you. I never in my life have looked closely enough at a
+stenographer to know her if we met outside."
+
+"I hope he doesn't," she said, uneasily. "I felt so sure there would be
+no one here who had ever seen me!"
+
+"His chair is next yours at the table," I remarked. "If he intimates
+that your face is known to him you have only to convince him that he is
+mistaken."
+
+"I want that seat changed," she said, earnestly. "Can't you sit between
+us? I--I can't explain why, but I don't like him. What business had he
+to offer me his arm?"
+
+I laughed at the serious way she regarded the matter, saying he had only
+done as any gentleman might, but added that I would certainly put her
+between myself and Mr. Wesson, if she preferred.
+
+"And who is Mr. Wesson?" she asked.
+
+"My room-mate, that I told you about. He is a splendid fellow."
+
+"Can you see him anywhere at this moment?" she asked, looking around.
+
+"Yes--he is there, talking with the second officer--the man with the
+white cap. If he comes this way I will present you."
+
+She said there was no need of haste, that she did not wish to meet the
+passengers any more than was absolutely necessary; when we went to the
+table would be quite time enough.
+
+"Mr. Camwell," she added, after a pause, "you can't imagine how I feel.
+If I had dreamed I should experience such sensations I never would have
+come."
+
+"What sensations?" I asked, rather shortly, for I thought she might
+consider my feelings a little.
+
+"The sensation of being a deceiver of those about me; the shame of
+passing for what I am not; the dread of somehow being exposed for what I
+am."
+
+I grew angrier as she proceeded.
+
+"If you were not ill," I said, "I should be out of patience with you.
+What awful crime have you committed? You are travelling in a perfectly
+respectable way, with a respectable party of people; occupying a room
+with a lady; acting in a rational manner except for these vagaries,
+which I must ask you to suppress. To be sure the name assigned you on
+the passenger list is not your own, but plenty of people travel
+incognito, even princes and dukes, for that matter. You make a mountain
+out of a molehill. Your whole journey will be ruined--and mine, if you
+care anything about that--if you go on as you have begun."
+
+She begged my pardon humbly, saying she would do her best to amend her
+conduct in the future. And, as usual, the moment she took this attitude,
+I repented of my hard words and assured her I had no intention of being
+too critical.
+
+"The lady who occupies the room with me is very agreeable," was her next
+observation. "She offered to do anything she could to relieve my head
+last night, and this morning she bathed it with cologne for half an
+hour."
+
+"She sits opposite us at the table," I said. "With her uncle."
+
+"I am glad of that. I feel quite acquainted with her now."
+
+Then she assayed a question of the sort that eminate from women.
+
+"Don't you think her very handsome?"
+
+"She's not bad looking," I admitted.
+
+"I call her magnificent. Such a face and form do not often go together."
+
+I wanted to reply, "So she said in her advertisement," but I merely
+nodded.
+
+"There is another woman on this boat that I would not exchange for a
+thousand of her," I said, presently, in a low voice.
+
+"Point her out to me," said Miss May. "I would like to know what your
+ideal is."
+
+"Look in your mirror," I responded.
+
+"Why do you think it necessary," she asked, frowning, "to pay me that
+kind of compliment?"
+
+"I think it necessary to refrain from doing so, but sometimes I grow
+forgetful."
+
+She saw that I was very sober again.
+
+"If you meant what you say, it would not be so wicked," she replied,
+gently.
+
+"You know very well that I mean it."
+
+"Mr. Camwell," she said, leaning very close to me, "we are obliged to
+lie to outsiders, in the contract we have assumed. Let us always tell
+the truth to each other."
+
+"If I told you the truth," I responded, gloomily, "you would not sit
+where you are. You would find strength to walk down those stairs and
+back to your room alone."
+
+She grew slightly paler, though her cheeks were waxen enough before.
+
+"Then do not tell it to me just now," she replied, with an attempt at a
+laugh. "I would rather remain on deck where the air is purer."
+
+When the lunch bell rang I advised Miss May to take her repast where she
+was, promising to send a steward to her with a bill of fare. It pleased
+me to learn when I came back that she had made quite a meal and was
+feeling considerably better.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The succeeding two days contained nothing of high importance, but there
+were several little things that deserve to be chronicled.
+
+The first time Marjorie came to the table and was introduced by me to
+the others as "Miss Carney," I fancied that a smile rested lightly on
+the features of Miss Howes, for which I could not account. Marjorie was
+seated between Mr. Wesson and me, and I saw with pleasure that they
+seemed likely to be good friends. It was desirable in the interest of
+our general plan that she and I should not act as if there was no one
+else in the world. Stone and his wife were quiet people, who rarely
+spoke unless first addressed. Edgerly was good-natured but not
+obtrusive. The most of the talk, therefore, at table, came from Mr. and
+Miss Howes, Wesson and myself. We got to be at last a rather jolly
+party.
+
+Carrying out my plan, now that Miss May had apparently recovered from
+her indisposition, I left her alone a good deal, or rather with one or
+more of the others as her companion on deck. They aroused in her an
+interest in the trip, for which I was glad. Edgerly probably talked with
+her the least of all, and she told me he never mentioned having seen her
+before. Miss Howes was her most constant companion, quite naturally,
+when it is considered that they roomed in one cabin.
+
+But on the third day out, just before dinner time, Miss May came to me
+with a distressed face that showed unusual perturbation. She was
+actually trembling and her eyes looked as if she had been weeping.
+
+"A terrible thing has happened!" she said, when I followed her to a
+place where no one could overhear us. "I would not tell you if I could
+help it, but you will have to know." Then, in response to my inquiring
+look, she added, "Some one has entered my stateroom and robbed me!"
+
+As far as she could learn, nothing had been taken but her turquoise
+ring, but the feeling that her effects were unsafe agitated her greatly.
+In response to questions she said she had left the ring on a little rack
+above the washbowl, when she washed her hands for lunch, as she had done
+twice before. She was absolutely certain where she put it, but had made
+a thorough search of her handbag, the only other place it could have
+been.
+
+I told her not to get excited, but to ask the stewardess, whom I would
+send to her when she went down again, if she had seen it. I remarked,
+also, that I believed a theft on that line under such conditions was of
+extremely rare occurrence, and that she had best quiet her nerves until
+an investigation could be made.
+
+"But it was your ring--it really belonged to you--" she stammered, "and
+I feel ever so much worse than if it were my own."
+
+"That is mere casuistry," I replied, "but, if it pleases you to call all
+your things mine, of course, you will continue doing so. Whosever it is,
+we must do our best to recover it."
+
+At dinner Miss May whispered to me that the stewardess had made a
+diligent search, but without effect. The meal passed rather dully. Miss
+May was pale and distraught. I sympathized with her, though the value of
+the lost article was not great. I wished I had some of the intuition of
+a Monsieur Lecoq that I might place the offence on the right person and
+relieve the strain I could not help feeling.
+
+It must be one of the stewards, who were continually in and out of the
+adjacent rooms, or a fellow passenger. In either case something of the
+ease and comfort of the voyage was lost. A mosquito who enters your room
+at night is not as large as a lion nor on the whole quite as dangerous;
+but he can, if he chooses, banish sleep from your eyes.
+
+That confounded ring made a lot of trouble. I began to suspect
+everybody on board. The stewardess promised to say nothing of the
+occurrence, and I at first followed the same course. The only one I did
+tell, and that the next day, was Mr. Wesson, and the contribution he
+made to the case was merely a depressed shake of the head and a
+long-drawn sigh.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+A LITTLE GAME OF CARDS.
+
+
+The reader will doubtless have come to the conclusion that I was by this
+time tired of my bargain and wished Miss Marjorie May had never come
+across my path. On the contrary I was well satisfied with the way things
+were going, in the main. The ocean has a charm for me that nothing else
+can equal. The bracing effect of the sea air was being felt in every
+fibre of my frame. Miss May's coolness was not of a kind to annoy me
+seriously, and much better than the opposite extreme would have been.
+There was nothing like a breach between us. She was merely allowing me
+to get the full benefit of my voyage.
+
+I had never, at any time, feared that I would experience trouble in
+passing my time while on shipboard. My dread was of the days to be spent
+ashore, and for these she would be with me to divert my mind. The matter
+of the stolen ring was a mere incident of travel, and might have
+happened anywhere. The intrinsic value of the article was small. It
+would not be hard to replace it.
+
+Miss May asked me the day after the ring was missed if I knew anything
+about her roommate. She said it in a way that showed suspicion and set
+me to thinking. "Miss Howes" had plenty of jewelry of her own, and was
+hardly likely to purloin the turquoise; but I knew her to be rather
+"off color," and more open to suspicion than a woman of different
+character. I asked Capt. Fraser, the commander of the boat, what the
+record of the stewardess was, without leading him to guess my object,
+and when he told me I dismissed all thoughts against her.
+
+It might have been Miss Howes, it might have been one of the stewards. I
+urged Miss May to think of it as little as possible.
+
+But this was not to be. Miss Howes told her during the day that she also
+had lost some jewelry, taken from a bag that, more careful than Miss
+May, she had locked. The article consisted of a bracelet of the value of
+$300, and was a serious affair. Miss May was obliged to relate her own
+misfortune, and Mr. Howes, when the matter was brought to his attention,
+went straight to the captain with the news. A vigorous questioning
+followed of all the steward's staff, but without result. There was
+nothing to clear up the mystery.
+
+Miss Howes being certain that her bag was locked made the theft seem
+that of an expert, who was provided with keys. Her "uncle" thought it
+best after that to put the bag into his own steamer trunk, which had a
+peculiar lock that he did not believe could be opened except by force.
+Before night I discovered that a diamond stud, the only valuable jewel I
+ever wore, had been taken from my own room, but when I could not tell. I
+had not worn it on the trip, nor indeed for some time previous, and had
+carried it along merely because it happened to be in a small box with
+some cuff-studs and collar buttons. I locked my trunk after that, but
+said nothing about the loss.
+
+The next morning when Marjorie reported, with tears, that her earrings
+had also disappeared, I comforted her as well as I could, but I felt
+that both of us had been culpably careless in leaving our valuables
+about so loosely.
+
+Wesson learned of the loss of these jewels and said in a quiet way that
+he was going to try to unearth the rascal. He spent hours at a time in
+our room, listening for approaching steps in that part of the steamer,
+besides interviewing the ladies at length. I thought he acted as if
+suspicion might fall on himself, occupying quarters so near the scene of
+the theft, but this was of course ridiculous.
+
+Miss May had now made the acquaintance of several passengers, and had
+little need of my companionship. I got into the habit of spending
+considerable time in the smoking room, where cigars and cards were the
+attraction, besides an occasional story from a passenger. Of course, I
+played in a few games, sometimes for fun and oftener for a small stake.
+My luck is usually good, and I began to be pointed out as a man ahead of
+the game. One evening, on a very low limit indeed, I retired $75 ahead,
+though at the last I really tried my best to lose.
+
+Edgerly, who was on the opposite side, and had given up considerable of
+this coin, was one of the best-natured fellows I had ever seen. He was
+equally jolly whether luck was on his side or against him. I chummed
+with him more than with any of the other passengers, now that Wesson had
+gone into the business of amateur detective. Sometimes when I was with
+Miss May, Edgerly would come and sit by us, addressing an occasional
+remark to her. She had not learned to like him, however, and he did not
+find it very agreeable.
+
+"Miss Carney has never forgiven me for offering to assist her that day
+she came on deck," he said to me, once. "I meant well enough, I'm sure.
+I knew that she was in your party, for I saw you when you came on board,
+and I thought it as easy to help her as to call your attention to her
+presence."
+
+I made light of the matter, saying that my cousin was of a very retiring
+disposition and made few acquaintances when travelling. In talking with
+her afterwards I asked her to treat my friend as politely as she could,
+as I felt that she injured his feelings.
+
+"If he was a true gentleman he never would complain of such a little
+thing," she answered, coldly. "But, of course, I am in your service--"
+
+"Then do as I ask," I replied, shortly. "The next time he comes to speak
+to either of us, don't act toward him like a she-bear."
+
+She promised meekly to obey; and an hour later, when I went to look for
+my steamer chair I found Edgerly in it, apparently on very good terms
+with his neighbor. They were laughing over something at the moment,
+which seemed to please both mightily. Rejoiced at the change I did not
+make my proximity known, but went back to the smoking room.
+
+That evening the fact that we were to see our first land the next day
+was the general topic of conversation. Several of us who had made the
+voyage before were airing our wisdom, when Edgerly entered the smoking
+room and, slapping me a shade too familiarly on the back, asked if I was
+ready to give him his revenge for the times I had worsted him at poker.
+He was too evidently under the influence of liquor and I did not like to
+play with him while in that condition. When I made an excuse, however,
+the Albanian looked so downhearted that I altered my decision and said I
+would play him for anything from a glass of soda up.
+
+There was no need of putting our stakes on the table, as we were both
+supposed to be gentlemen. All I wanted was to leave the steamer at St.
+Thomas with none of his cash in my pocket. In this I succeeded, as will
+appear, even better than I could have hoped.
+
+In a quick succession of plays Edgerly convinced me that he had a hand
+which he could rely on. Before I hardly realized it, I had over $200 in
+the game. I heard a low whisper at my elbow. It was from Wesson and
+conveyed a warning to drop out at the earliest opportunity. Edgerly
+noticed what was up as quickly as I, and neither of us relished the
+interference. At that instant my opponent raised me $200 and having
+three aces I called.
+
+Edgerly's face lit up with joy as he exhibited a straight flush of
+diamonds, king at the head.
+
+Success had transformed my quiet friend. He put his hand on the cash
+which I counted out to him, uttering an exultant yell, as he gathered it
+up, $425. His exultation, or at least his manner of showing it, was
+quite out of place, I thought, in a game between friends; but I merely
+rose, and remarking that I would now take my evening stroll and smoke
+on deck, went out. The moon was at its full. In my admiration for its
+beautiful effect on the sea I forgot for the moment the folly of which I
+had just been guilty. But Wesson soon joined me, as was his nightly
+custom, and began to talk of what had just occurred.
+
+"Some other topic of conversation would please me better," I responded.
+"It is not a delightful reflection that one has been drawn into a course
+against which his better judgment distinctly warned him."
+
+"But the man is a fraud," he persisted. "He did not win your money
+honestly, and if I were you I would make him give it back."
+
+"Pshaw!" said I. "He's the better player, that's all. I lost my head and
+got over-excited. Now, we must drop the subject, as I wish to think of
+it no more."
+
+Seeing that I was determined, Wesson obliged me and nothing more was
+said about the unpleasant matter. The next morning Edgerly was not at
+the breakfast table. Some time later, as I was walking the deck, he came
+toward me, with a good-natured greeting, though his face bore evidence
+of the foolish amount of liquor he had swallowed the night before.
+
+"I'm afraid," he said, "that I won more of your money yesterday than I
+intended. I was astounded this morning when I counted what I had in my
+pocket. You must let me return at least a part of it. In a gentleman's
+game--"
+
+I interrupted with the statement that I had no fault to find and that I
+should not listen to any proposition of that nature. My pride was hurt
+by a suggestion that I would crawl out of the result of my own acts.
+
+"Oh, well, if you insist," he said, in a disappointed tone. "I am
+disgusted with myself for getting in that condition, which is something
+I seldom do. There is one thing you must do, however. Let me give you
+back the cash in exchange for a check or note. I would not for anything
+leave you short of ready money on a trip like this, and I know
+travellers seldom think it necessary to carry a great deal about them."
+
+I had not thought of that, but it did occur to me as he spoke that with
+two persons in my party, and a journey without fixed limits, I might, as
+he said, run short before I reached home again. There was nothing
+lowering to my pride in exchanging my check for the money he had won. I
+thanked Mr. Edgerly and said, on reflection, that if it really made no
+difference to him, I would write him a check for whatever sum he pleased
+to exchange. And I proceeded to do so for $350, as he named that figure.
+
+Wesson came up just as we parted, but I did not think it necessary to
+inform him of what had taken place. To tell the truth I did not exactly
+like the air of protector that he was putting on over me of late. It
+seemed impertinent when he warned me to leave the card table, just
+before my heavy loss, for I would rather a hundred times have dropped
+the amount than exhibit myself as a craven before my fellow passengers.
+
+Nor did I fancy his characterization of Edgerly as a sharper. I saw
+nothing to justify the assertion. He had taken his losses like a man
+when the luck ran my way, and no one, so far as I was aware, had
+indicated that I stacked the cards.
+
+I resolved to show Wesson, if he interfered any more in my affairs that
+I resented his conduct. He was a well meaning fellow and I had no wish
+to quarrel with him; but there are limits to forbearance.
+
+"Have you told any one on the steamer that you are going to leave at St.
+Thomas?" Miss May asked me, soon after breakfast, when the outlines of
+the island were in view.
+
+"The purser has our tickets. Why?"
+
+"If we could get away without any of the passengers knowing, I would be
+very glad. I hate good-bys. Everybody will go ashore. Let us be the last
+to leave, and put our baggage in a separate boat."
+
+I thought her reason a strange one, but she was to be my sole companion
+for a long time now, and I wished to please her in every way. I
+responded that I would do as she said, and even ask the purser not to
+mention my intention to any one.
+
+The warm clasp she gave my hand would have repaid me for a much greater
+effort to suit her. Her eyes shone with a new happiness and her cheeks,
+which had been pale ever since the boat left New York, took on a faint
+tinge of color.
+
+Lunch was served just before landing and at the table Edgerly asked me
+what there was to see on the island. I mentioned the points of
+particular interest, which to tell the truth are few, though the town of
+Charlotte Amélie is in itself well worth a visit.
+
+"I shall spend the day with old friends," I added. "I feel quite like a
+resident here."
+
+Only those who have sailed into this harbor will appreciate its special
+beauties. I had been a warm friend of the project of annexing the Danish
+Islands, consisting, besides St. Thomas, of St. Croix and St. John, to
+the possessions of the United States, ever since I was here before.
+While neither a jingo nor a land grabber, the value of St. Thomas from a
+naval standpoint is so apparent to one who will stop and think that I
+have hardly patience to argue the matter with opponents of the scheme.
+
+If the United States is to maintain a navy, an occasional coaling
+station somewhere away from the coast is of prime importance; and these
+islands are offered us for an insignificant sum by Denmark, who with her
+crippled commerce has no longer any use for them.
+
+St. Thomas has a harbor that can accommodate a great number of vessels,
+a floating dock, immense coal wharves, skilled artisans for the repair
+of ships, and a conformation from which could be made a small Gibraltar
+with reasonable expense.
+
+The Trans-Atlantic cable lands here, giving communication with all parts
+of the world. In case of a war with any European country the possession
+of St. Thomas would be of incalculable value to us. However much one may
+love peace, it is poor policy in these days to be unprepared for a
+conflict. China is the latest instance of a great country that finds
+itself open to the assaults of any fifth-rate power.
+
+When it was first proposed to sell St. Thomas to the American nation (in
+1867, I believe) a vote of the inhabitants showed but 14 opposed to the
+plan. No European government has expressed the slightest objection to
+the purchase. I only hope that before this story is published a bill to
+that effect will have been signed by President M'Kinley.
+
+"Aren't you going ashore?" asked Mr. Wesson, as he passed down the
+stairs to a rowboat, in which the Howes, "uncle" and "niece," and
+Edgerly were already seated.
+
+Just then I heard my name called by a voice from an approaching
+skiff--my right name, this time.
+
+"Camran!" came the voice. It was awkward, but I must try to explain it
+as an error, in case anybody noticed.
+
+It was Edward Moron, agent of the line, whose acquaintance I had made in
+my former visit. I would have known his white helmet and Dundreary
+whiskers anywhere, but at the moment he was most inconvenient.
+
+I waved my walking stick in reply, and as soon as he could get on board
+he grasped my hand. Excusing myself from Miss May for a moment, I
+followed him some steps away.
+
+"Confound you!" I said, "my name is not Camran, but Camwell."
+
+"It used to be 'Camran,' I'll take my oath to that," he replied. "But,
+whatever name it is, how are you? Going to stop here, I hope."
+
+"Till evening," I answered, for I feared if I told him the truth he
+might tell it to other passengers, who would be sure to run across him.
+"Now, answer me a question. Is Eggert's place in quarantine?"
+
+It was not, for which I was profoundly grateful. If I was to stay in St.
+Thomas at all I wanted to stay at the Quarantine Station, where I had
+been before--the only quarantine in the world where a man is happier
+inside than out.
+
+I went to tell Miss May that we could go to Eggert's, and then to ask my
+stateroom steward to have my baggage brought on deck.
+
+"I don't want you to tell anybody that I leave the boat here," I said,
+flourishing a five dollar bill in his face. "Now, mind!"
+
+He promised. The baggage came duly up and two boats were engaged to take
+us directly to Eggert's.
+
+With the lightest heart I had known for a year, I helped my fair
+companion down and heard the oars of our negro boatmen splash in the
+waters of the harbor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+BATHING IN THE SURF.
+
+
+There was something really delightful in the way Eggert received me. (I
+am not going to put "Mister" before his name--even his wife does not do
+that, in ordinary conversation.) He heard "Laps," the dog, barking
+violently and came to the veranda to ascertain the reason.
+
+"Do you know me?" I asked.
+
+"Know you!" he said, grasping both my hands heartily, and looking from
+me to Miss May. "Of course, I know you. Where did you come from? I am so
+happy to see you again!"
+
+I introduced my "cousin," and he gave her as cordial greeting as he had
+given me.
+
+"Why, even Laps knows you," he said, as the dog barked and capered
+around us. "Mother will be very glad to see you. You came on the
+Madiana? How good you were to think of us and come out here!"
+
+Mrs. Eggert soon appeared and answered my numerous questions. The eldest
+daughter was married and lived in the town. The children had gone there
+to spend the day, but would soon return.
+
+Of course we were going to remain to dinner.
+
+When I said we might stay a week or more, it was plain that we were very
+welcome. Rooms were assigned us, on one of the verandas, I having my
+old one, by special request, and Miss May the one next to mine.
+
+Eggert walked up and down with me, smiling broadly and talking of the
+old days when our party was quarantined there. There never was another
+party like it, he insisted. He produced a large photograph that he had
+taken of the entire group, with donkeys and negroes in the foreground.
+
+"This was your room," he said, indicating it. "Mr. A---- had the next
+one, Mr. H---- the next, Mr. Mapp the other, and so on. We never had a
+party like that before or since. You were all so good natured and had
+such a good time!"
+
+I responded that he did very well for us, which aided in our enjoyment,
+and that I had not thought of staying at a hotel unless his place was
+quarantined; which pleased him mightily.
+
+When Miss May retired to her room to arrange her dress, Eggert asked me
+slyly if she was to be the future Mrs. Camran. This reminded me that I
+had reached a fork of the road, where I must either take this whole
+family into my secret or explain my change of name to my companion. The
+latter was decided upon as the most feasible. When she emerged and drew
+a chair to the edge of the veranda to admire the prospect of land and
+sea I told her that henceforth she must call me by a new name.
+
+She looked inquiringly into my face.
+
+"Do you remember suggesting on the steamer," I asked, "that as we had to
+lie to others we ought to tell the truth among ourselves? Well, my name
+is Camran, not Camwell. The family here will call me by that name, and
+as there is no need of deceiving you, I will admit that it is the
+correct one."
+
+"But why," she asked, "did you use the other? Was it because you were
+afraid to trust me?"
+
+"Remember how little I knew you," I said.
+
+"Quite as well as I knew you," she replied, reproachfully.
+
+"And have you told me the entire truth in all things?"
+
+She reddened deeply.
+
+"Your name, then, is David Camran--am I right now?" she asked.
+
+"Donald Camran," I corrected. "That is my real name and henceforth you
+may call me so; unless we come across any of the Madiana's passengers,
+in which case consistency will compel you to use the old one."
+
+Miss May seemed agitated by my last remark.
+
+"How can we meet them?" she asked. "Is not our separation from them
+final?"
+
+"It is supposed to be; but how can we tell that some may not follow our
+example and stop off at one of the islands? In that case it is quite
+possible we may encounter them as we proceed on our journey."
+
+She did not seem to like the idea, but remained silent for some minutes.
+
+"Does any person, on the Madiana, know that the name in the passenger
+list is not your true one?" she said, finally.
+
+"Yes. Mr. Wesson knows; and Mr. Edgerly."
+
+She put her hand over her mouth with a quick motion, as if to suppress a
+scream.
+
+"How could you tell those casual acquaintances what you concealed from
+me?" she said, hoarsely.
+
+"What difference can it make? I was introduced to Wesson in the office
+of the steamship agent, some time before we sailed, as I remember
+telling you. We exchanged cards. When he afterwards saw the way my name
+was spelled on the list he asked me how it happened and I ascribed it to
+a printer's error. I added, that as all the passengers would probably
+call me Camwell, it was easier for him to do so than to explain the
+mistake to fifty people."
+
+"Yes," said Miss May, slowly. "And--Edgerly?"
+
+I thought she was awfully pressing, but I wanted to keep on good terms
+with her and I proceeded to account for his knowledge also.
+
+"Well, Miss Inquisitive, Edgerly's case was like this: He won a small
+sum of money from me at poker and was kind enough to offer to refund it,
+and take my check for the amount. Thinking I might want the ready money
+to buy you a paper of pins or something of that sort I accepted his
+proposal with thanks. Of course, he asked what right I had to sign the
+name of Donald Camran to the check, and of course, I told him of the
+agent's 'error' on the passenger list. There! Is there anything else you
+would like to know?"
+
+Saying this I took the hand nearest me in mine, to show that my
+bantering was entirely good natured, and was surprised to find it quite
+cold.
+
+"Marjorie!" I exclaimed. "You are ill!"
+
+She smiled faintly and admitted that she had a slight chill. I persuaded
+her to take a hot drink and went at once to prepare it. When I returned
+she had gone to her room and was bathing her face with cologne water.
+Her hair, which she had combed with care half an hour earlier, was much
+disarranged and her eyes were swollen.
+
+"Come in and sit down," she said. Then, as I hesitated, she added, "Oh,
+you can leave the door open."
+
+The door was a frame affair covered with mosquito bar, there being
+nothing more seclusive in the house. Cold weather never reaches St.
+Thomas at any time of year. I explained to her that to leave the door
+open was to invite the intrusion of insects.
+
+"I am going to lie down," she replied. "My head aches." She drank part
+of the liquid I had brought. "We can't be prudish," she said, then. "The
+door is practically open at all times, for it is free to admit light and
+sound. Are you afraid to be alone with me? Perhaps you had best send for
+one of the servants to guard you."
+
+"Or Laps?" I suggested, laughing.
+
+I entered and took a chair, while she arranged herself upon the bed,
+with pillows to prop her up into a half-sitting posture.
+
+"Don," she began. "You will let me call you Don?"
+
+"You can call me what you please," I said. "Don or anything else that
+begins with D. 'Dear' or 'Darling,' if that suits you better."
+
+I could not make her smile.
+
+"Are you very, very sorry you took me with you?" she asked, earnestly.
+
+"Not very, very."
+
+"But--you wish you hadn't?"
+
+I shook my head decidedly.
+
+"Of what use am I to you?" she asked.
+
+"Women were never made to be of use," I answered. "They are like
+bouquets, meant to fill the atmosphere with beauty and fragrance."
+
+"And--do I do that--for you?"
+
+I kissed the fingers she placed in mine. The smile came to her face at
+last.
+
+"I shall be ready to begin the typewriting to-morrow," she said. "I
+understand the machine now, I think, well enough." (She had practiced on
+it in her cabin on the Madiana, several days, for some hours.) "I shall
+be glad when I am doing a little to earn the salary you pay me."
+
+I made a grimace. The confounded record of my family's descent was far
+from interesting me at that moment.
+
+"You earn more than your salary every hour," I said. "I am immensely in
+your debt already. By the way, I must pay you what I owe, before the sum
+gets any larger. It is quite three weeks and you have had nothing."
+
+I counted out sixty dollars in gold coin and she took it without a word.
+She was always doing something strange and I had ceased to wonder. I had
+imagined that she would say it was too much--or that I had reckoned the
+date of service too far back, or something of that kind.
+
+"Would you bathe my head a little?" she asked, indicating the cologne.
+
+I bathed her forehead, and found it as much too hot as her hands were
+too cold. It had a soothing effect on me, as well as on her, this
+action. It made me feel as I had not felt before, that our fortunes
+were really for the time running in the same mold.
+
+"Perhaps you could sleep a little before dinner," I suggested, after a
+time. "Let me leave you to try."
+
+She thanked me and before my hand left her, she put it gratefully to her
+lips. She did not kiss it, but rather breathed upon it a sigh of
+appreciation.
+
+Thorwald and Ingeborg had just arrived from town and it was evident that
+the former's claim that he remembered me was founded on fact. The little
+girl was too young at my former visit to recollect anything about it,
+but she seemed to know me in a way and nodded when her mother asked if
+she did not remember my face in the photograph that hung in the dining
+room. Thorwald was now nine and about the finest specimen of a little
+man I have ever seen. His father could not conceal his pride in the boy,
+and I did not blame him.
+
+"Ah, I am very happy with that little fellow!" he said, repeatedly.
+
+I looked over the harbor just before dinner was served and saw the
+Madiana getting under way, bound for St. Croix (or Santa Cruz, as we are
+more apt to call it.) Eggert rigged his powerful telescope for me in the
+doorway, where I could see without being seen.
+
+I easily picked out the passengers who were on deck. Mr. and Miss Howes
+and Mr. Edgerly were in one group. They were talking earnestly, and I
+guessed that Miss May and myself were quite likely the subject of their
+conversation.
+
+I imagined them wondering whether our stay on shore was the result of
+design or accident. I hoped Howes was getting his money's worth and
+that his "niece" was satisfied with the fish she had caught with her
+Herald hook. As far as I could judge neither of them had thus far
+repented of their bargain.
+
+I could hardly believe the lady had taken Miss May's ring, that she had
+entered my room and walked off with my shirt-stud. There was a big
+difference, it seemed to me, between a love affair based on natural law
+and a deliberate theft. The mysterious disappearance of the jewelry
+would probably never be accounted for and I certainly cared very little
+about it.
+
+My companion came to the table, but ate sparingly. The meal suited me to
+perfection, especially the fresh fish, drawn that day from the
+Caribbean, which swarms in the most appetizing varieties. The butter
+came in tins from Denmark, and was not bad. There was a ragout, some
+cakes, plenty of oranges and "figs," as the small yellow bananas are
+called in the Islands, good black coffee and cheese, and a fine _petit
+verre_ of brandy to top off with.
+
+Eggert and his wife dined with us at my earnest request.
+
+The quarantine master filled up the time with little reminiscences of my
+former stay, which he remembered much better than I. He pointed to the
+exact spot where each of the "famous party" sat at the table and laughed
+himself nearly into a fit as he spoke of the jokes Mapp played on the
+good-natured Haytian Jew we had named from his home town--"Puerta
+Plata." One of the guests of that day was the grandson of an American
+president and another the son of an American senator, but that did not
+harm either. A more diversified party, it is safe to say, were never
+placed together in a quarantine, or made the time pass in livelier
+fashion.
+
+When dinner ended the Madiana was out of sight. Miss May's headache had
+vanished and she passed the evening with me on the veranda, inspecting
+the stars through the telescope. They seemed brighter and larger than in
+America and what knowledge I had of their names and locations (gained
+principally three years before from the grandson of the President, who
+was an amateur astronomer of no mean acquirements) I imparted freely.
+
+"You seem ever so much better in health than when we left New York,"
+said my companion.
+
+"I am," was my reply. "The sea always does wonders for me. I have lost
+entirely the nervous feeling I had before we started."
+
+"I wish I could say as much," she said. "I dread, for instance, going to
+bed alone in this strange place. Those shadows dancing on the grass
+almost terrify me."
+
+"I will get Eggert to put a lock on your door," I said. "He must have
+one somewhere and he is an excellent carpenter."
+
+She shuddered till her teeth chattered.
+
+"Not for the world!" she said. "I could not sleep with the door locked.
+I should feel as if I were choking. There is always a chance that one
+may be taken ill and have to call for help. With a locked door, what
+could I do? No, no! I will conquer my fears, which I admit are foolish
+ones."
+
+"The station is surrounded by a high fence," I said, "and the gate
+cannot be unbarred from the outside. You are perfectly safe. My room is
+close by. If the slightest thing alarms you, you have only to speak."
+
+She breathed with difficulty. It was plain that her terrors were
+genuine.
+
+"You will come--if I call you?" she asked.
+
+"Assuredly."
+
+"Do you sleep as lightly as that?"
+
+"I sleep like a child, as a general thing; but my name spoken by your
+voice will wake me instantly."
+
+We went to her door, where she parted from me with little ceremony and
+in twenty minutes I was unconscious. The night passed without the
+summons from her that I half expected. In the morning she admitted that
+after some delay she had gone to sleep and enjoyed a good rest.
+
+Among the articles we brought was a bathing suit for each of us, for I
+remembered the pleasant beach at the foot of the rocks. At five o'clock,
+to escape the burning rays of the sun which rises soon after, Miss May
+came from her room, looking as pretty as can be imagined. Her sleeveless
+arms were even rounder than I had anticipated, and her low-cut vest told
+a pleasant tale. The long black hose were filled symmetrically and the
+short skirt revealed just enough to make the picture enchanting.
+
+"You look wonderfully well in that costume," she said, evidently to
+anticipate what I was going to say. So I contented myself with replying,
+"And you."
+
+The water was quite warm enough and we enjoyed the surf hugely. What I
+did enjoy however, was the sight of a man on the veranda of Eggert's,
+apparently awaiting our return.
+
+No less a person, in short, than Mr. Wesson, our late fellow passenger,
+whom we supposed forty miles away at St. Croix!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+"OH! THIS NAUGHTY BOY!"
+
+
+As has been intimated once or twice before, I had modified to some
+degree the liking I at first entertained for Mr. Wesson. He interfered
+in my affairs rather more than was to my taste. I had never placed
+myself under his guardianship. He had no right to advise or to warn me
+on any subject whatever. As I beheld him on the veranda at Eggert's I
+saw in his presence a new impertinence which I was far from relishing.
+If there had been any way to avoid him I would have done so gladly.
+
+Of course Miss May had no means of knowing what was in my mind. She
+therefore waved her hand to Wesson as soon as she recognized his face
+and on coming nearer gave him a cordial welcome.
+
+"Well, this is a surprise!" he exclaimed, glancing from one of us to the
+other. "You did not tell me you intended to stop at St. Thomas and I
+supposed you still on the Madiana."
+
+"How comes it you are here, yourself?" I asked, pointedly. "I do not
+recollect that you expressed any intention of leaving the boat."
+
+"Did I not?" he asked, as if surprised. "I could have sworn I did until
+you spoke. I certainly made you talk about this island, for hours at a
+time, and I thought you understood it. I feel almost as well acquainted
+with Mr. Eggert and his family, through your descriptions, as if I had
+actually been here before. Being an early riser I inquired the way this
+morning, at the Hotel du Commerce, and walked out to see the place you
+had made so attractive. One of the darkies let me in at the gate, and
+here I am."
+
+It was plain enough now. He had supposed I understood his intention,
+though he had never, I was sure, put the statement into words. He had as
+much right there as I, if it came to that. There was really no reason
+why I should treat him uncivilly.
+
+Miss May went on to her room and I waited a moment before going to mine.
+
+"Now you are here," I said, "you will of course take breakfast with
+me--or at least coffee, if you are in too much haste to wait longer."
+
+"I'm not in the least haste," he responded, "and I accept your
+invitation with great pleasure."
+
+"I've found an old friend here, Mr. Eggert," I said, as that individual
+appeared in a doorway. "We came on the Madiana together."
+
+Asking Eggert to entertain him for a little while I went to dress. Miss
+May heard me come in and spoke through the thin partition between our
+rooms.
+
+"You didn't act overjoyed to see Mr. Wesson," she said.
+
+"No. He's a sort of 'third person makes a crowd,' you know."
+
+"You're a selfish fellow. But wasn't that bath delightful!"
+
+"Perfection. Did I overstate it, when I described it to you yesterday?"
+
+"Not in the least--ough!"
+
+"What is the matter?"
+
+"I've stuck a pin in my finger."
+
+"I'm _so_ sorry!"
+
+Then followed sounds which indicated that the finger was being placed in
+her mouth to assuage the pain.
+
+"What a pity you are not a girl!" she said, a little later. "You could
+help dress me and save a lot of trouble."
+
+"I could help dress you without that awful alternative," I replied. "I
+am like the pilot in the story, I know every rock in the harbor."
+
+"Oh, I've no doubt. Look out, like that same pilot, you're not wrecked
+on one of them some day."
+
+"Can you manage a string tie?" I asked, as a more important subject was
+forced on my attention.
+
+I always made a mess of that operation and this morning my luck was
+worse than usual.
+
+"Easily," she said. "Do you want me to fix yours?"
+
+"I wish you would."
+
+"I will, with pleasure," she said. "Come in here when you are ready; or,
+shall I come there?"
+
+"For goodness' sake don't come just yet!" I exclaimed, thinking I heard
+her step. "I am not at all prepared. In fact that tie is about the only
+article of dress I have on."
+
+"Don't be afraid," came the mocking tones. "I am in much the same
+situation. Fifteen minutes from now we will both be ready, and then I
+shall be at your service."
+
+After several minutes of silence I inquired whether any more pins had
+proved unruly.
+
+"No, I'm getting on pretty well. Say, can you get at your soap?"
+
+"Why, do you want some?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"How can I get it to you?"
+
+"Put on your morning gown and come to my door."
+
+I did so, with the cake of soap in my hand and met my companion,
+somewhat similarly arrayed, holding out a bare arm. She did look to my
+eyes at that moment wonderfully pretty.
+
+"Come, Marjorie," I said, dropping into the affectionate form, "you
+might let me in for a minute or two. You don't know how becoming that
+attire is."
+
+"I know all about it. I've been looking in the glass. Hurry up and
+finish dressing. I will meet you on the veranda."
+
+Wesson came along at that moment with Eggert and smiled. I resented that
+smile. It meant a hundred things that he had no right to surmise;
+besides, they weren't true.
+
+"It is perfectly lovely here," he commented, to Eggert as much as to me.
+"My friend Camwell has not misrepresented it in the least."
+
+"Camran," corrected Eggert, for which I could have punched his head.
+Were they going to argue that point over between them?
+
+"Camran, I should have said," corrected Wesson. "Could I make
+arrangements to come out here and board while I remain on the island?"
+
+"Damn!" I exclaimed, under my breath, but Marjorie heard me through the
+partition.
+
+"What is the matter?" she asked, sympathetically. "Has something pricked
+you, too?"
+
+"Yes," I said, for the couple on the veranda had moved out of hearing.
+"Something I don't like. What do you think that confounded Wesson is
+saying to Eggert?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"He wants to come out here and board."
+
+"Well, that idea does credit to his judgment."
+
+"But it will put me to lots of bother."
+
+"I don't see how."
+
+"Why, if he moves out here, you and I will have to move up to the town."
+
+She digested this statement for a while, during which she put the
+finishing touches to her toilet. Then she asked if I was in suitable
+condition for her to come to my door.
+
+"Come and see," I retorted. "I've got on much more than either of us had
+when we strolled down to the beach an hour ago. I think I heard somebody
+say yesterday that there was no need of being too prudish."
+
+"But at that time I wasn't feeling well."
+
+"And at this time I'm feeling devilish bad, myself."
+
+She came slowly, with little stops, at which she renewed her inquiries
+and asked for fuller information. When she finally arrived I proved to
+be completely dressed with the exception of the tie and a morning coat,
+and we had a laugh together.
+
+"You didn't really mean that you would leave here just on account of Mr.
+Wesson's coming?" she said, interrogatively, as she arranged the tie.
+
+"Yes," I replied, holding up my head to give her fingers full play. Her
+breath was in my nostrils, sweet breath that made me think of meadows
+and new-mown hay.
+
+"What harm can he do us?"
+
+"He'll be continually in the way."
+
+"He seems very polite always."
+
+"That's just the trouble," I snarled. "If he would only get ugly I could
+have it out with him in a minute. If he would keep at one end of the
+veranda while we were at the other, all would be well. He won't do that.
+He'll be good natured, sociable, all that sort of hateful thing. The
+quarantine grounds measure only five acres and there's not room enough
+here for any other man, while it is your residence."
+
+She was so near that I could have snatched a kiss before she could stop
+me. I would almost as soon have bitten her.
+
+"Eggert?" she said, tentatively. "He's got to go, too, then?"
+
+"No, I make an exception of Eggert. But Wesson--I simply can't have him
+here. Either he must go, or I shall."
+
+We had passed the coffee hour, forgetting it in the pleasure of the bath
+and the labor of dressing. The regular breakfast was now announced. I
+determined to be as agreeable to Wesson as I could, but I did not think
+Eggert need to have placed him on the other side of Marjorie, next to
+her. Still, how was he to know?
+
+"I have been talking with our host about coming out here for awhile,"
+said Wesson, as we were breakfasting. "It is ever so much pleasanter
+than in the town."
+
+He must have seen, in spite of my efforts, that I did not enthuse over
+the idea, for all I could say was "Ah," and wait for him to proceed.
+
+"I hardly think I will do it, though," Wesson went on to say, eyeing me
+narrowly. "I have a very comfortable room at the hotel. If you don't
+mind my coming out for a stroll occasionally"--he looked alternately at
+Miss May and at me--"I think it would help me get over my lonesomeness."
+
+Marjorie did not wait to consult me, but said she was sure he would
+always be welcome. She added that some literary work she and I had to do
+would keep us very busy for the present. To my joy, Wesson settled his
+plans on the spot, as he had outlined them. We were to be left alone,
+after all.
+
+Soon after rising from the table Wesson started back to town. I hoped as
+I saw his form disappear that he did not think I had been discourteous
+in not endorsing his scheme to make my life a burden.
+
+"Now," said Marjorie, brightly, as he vanished through the gate, "let us
+get to work. You can't imagine how happy I shall be to find myself of
+use after this long vacation."
+
+I got out the memoranda required, from the bottom of a trunk, and
+arranged the writing machine on a little "dressmaker's table" which I
+had brought, folded up in a tray. It was exactly the right height, and
+took up hardly more room than a chess board--I mean the table, of
+course. For an hour I tried to put the genealogy in shape, and then
+threw it up with an exclamation of disgust.
+
+"Confound the thing! I'm going to drop it for to-day," I said. "It's
+dryer than dust."
+
+Marjorie obediently put away the machine at my suggestion, saying that
+perhaps we would begin again after lunch. I told her that the next three
+hours after lunch were sacred to Morpheus, and that we were now in a
+region where it was impossible to resist the drowsy god with impunity.
+
+We drew our rocking chairs together and talked, and I was very happy.
+Sometimes I took one of her hands in mine. It was very sweet to have her
+there.
+
+"It is going to be dull for you," I suggested, after a time. "Whenever
+you can bear it no longer say so, and we will move on."
+
+"I am in your employ," she answered, "and shall stay or go, as you bid
+me."
+
+"Marjorie," I exclaimed, suddenly, "have you ever been in love?"
+
+"I would rather talk on some other subject," she replied, soberly.
+
+"Then I know you have. Tell me, is he living? is he still single? do you
+expect to marry him?"
+
+She closed her mouth tightly and I knew no way to open it.
+
+"I am such a foolish fellow!" I added. "Does it surprise you to learn
+that? I don't want you to love any one, or even to think of any one
+while you are with me. I want you to like me very much indeed."
+
+She turned her face toward me and surveyed me leisurely with those
+blue-gray eyes.
+
+"I do like you," she said, kindly, "but--"
+
+"You think I demand too much for my twenty dollars a week," I said, with
+an attempt to be merry. "I know I do. I realize that my contract with
+you was for typewriting services. There is no doubt you can hold me to
+that bond if you so elect. All I want to say is, I am like most
+contractors--and mean to better my bargain, if I can."
+
+"What do you want?" she asked, in clear, distinct tones. "We have agreed
+not to lie to each other. What do you want?"
+
+I rose and looked out upon the sea. A tiny sail was visible in the
+distance.
+
+"I want a closer friendship with you," I replied, after studying the
+form of words.
+
+"I think we are pretty close friends already," she said. "I would not
+have believed, had I been told by some fortune-teller in New York, that
+in ten days we would be on such perfectly intimate terms."
+
+I resumed my seat and stretched my arms above my head.
+
+"Why, this--this is nothing!" I said.
+
+"I was afraid you would take that view of it," she answered, soberly,
+"and I hope you will permit me to resume the position called for in what
+you term our 'contract.'"
+
+I was alarmed by her words and the way she spoke them. She might take a
+notion to carry that idea into effect, and what a dull existence I would
+have then.
+
+"You certainly agreed to act as a 'companion' to me," I reminded her.
+
+"And though I have been much more than that, you are still discontented!
+I have acted as if I had known you for years; in fact, that is exactly
+the way I feel. You may think me forward--I fear you do--but I have only
+tried to be natural. You talk to me as to a friend; I reply in the same
+strain. You take my hand in yours; I do not withdraw it. You call me to
+arrange a tie; I come as freely as if you were my brother. My head
+aches; I ask you into my chamber, lie down and submit to your
+manipulations with the cologne. If all this means nothing to you, as you
+say, it means very much to me. It means that I like you, trust you,
+believe you what you claimed to be--when you first told me of this
+plan--a gentleman."
+
+She had put me in the dock and was reading a sort of left-handed
+indictment, to which I had no intention of pleading guilty.
+
+"Listen, Marjorie," I replied. "You must not misunderstand. If any cloud
+comes between us it will not originate with me, knowingly. If you knew
+the life I have led hitherto--which you never will--you would realize
+what an ungovernable chap I am, and how much forbearance you are going
+to need. I am perfectly contented. If I can make you happy on this
+journey my greatest object will be accomplished. Tell me how I can best
+secure that result?"
+
+"By not talking about it," she said, with a smile. "And by remembering
+at all times that the greatest chivalry is due a woman who has placed
+herself absolutely in your power--to make or mar her life."
+
+"If you would only give me one kiss when you say that so prettily," I
+began--
+
+"Breaking the rules already?" said Miss May, with an admonishing finger.
+"Oh, this naughty boy! what shall be done with him?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+WESSON BECOMES A NUISANCE.
+
+
+It did not seem as if we were likely to have any serious trouble. After
+a couple of days we actually got down to work on the family tree and
+began to make some progress. Miss May showed an astonishing aptitude on
+the unfamiliar instrument, as well as a grasp of the subject we were
+trying to put into shape. Her white fingers flew over the keys, her
+quick mind suggested improvements in my phraseology, and she never
+exhibited the slightest sign of fatigue. Once at it we made a regular
+thing of working from seven in the morning till eleven, except for a
+fifteen minute rest, and made the progress that such devotion warranted,
+to the immense satisfaction of us both.
+
+Those days were much alike. We always rose in time to take our ocean
+plunge at five and the bath never grew less exhilarating. We took coffee
+at half past five, breakfast at half past six, lunch at twelve, slept
+from one till four; strolled about the grounds or up to the town--or
+took a boat ride till seven; dined; talked nonsense on the veranda or
+played a game of whist with Eggert and his wife till ten, and then went
+to bed.
+
+On Sunday we went to church, for Miss May wanted to go and I could not
+let her go alone. She had a nice little prayer book which she carried
+in a most becoming way and she was certainly the prettiest woman in the
+house. Wesson was there and looked devotional, though his eyes wandered
+in our direction more than I liked. I began to have an incipient
+jealousy of the man.
+
+It got to be almost a regular thing that he came out to breakfast.
+Sometimes he stayed and talked with Eggert for an hour after Miss May
+and I had fastened ourselves down to work. Eggert liked him, which was
+natural, for he was always bringing something for the children. He had a
+cigar case, too, that was at anybody's call, filled with Havanas that
+were mighty good and had paid no duty, St. Thomas being a free port.
+Then, of course, he paid for his breakfasts, no doubt liberally. One
+evening when I walked up to town alone, I found him on my return
+chatting with Miss May in altogether too confidential a manner.
+
+I wondered how long he intended to stay at St. Thomas. He acted quite as
+if he had been naturalized there. Well, we should certainly see the last
+of him on February 6th, when the "Pretoria" would arrive and bear us
+away.
+
+Wesson stayed to dinner, though I don't know that any one invited
+him--probably he found the item in his bill. But he went early to town,
+which was better than nothing.
+
+That evening something strange happened. I was looking over a small
+stock of books that Eggert kept in a case. There was not much choice,
+for the subjects were mostly dry ones, though I don't know as he will
+thank me for saying so. I happened to light on the only modern work in
+the lot, after a long hunt, and brought it to the lamp.
+
+It was entitled "Our Rival, the Rascal," if I do not mistake, and was
+made up of letter-press and illustrations relating to prominent
+criminals of the day, the work of some heads of a police department, I
+believe. On the principle of any port in a storm it was worth spending a
+half hour over. I asked Eggert where he got it and he said it had been
+given him by a quarantined American not many months before. He looked
+over my shoulder for awhile as I turned the leaves, and commented openly
+on the villainy in the great world outside his quarantine fence and
+little lighthouse, with an air of simplicity that was charming. There
+were the lineaments of bank robbers, murderers, sneak thieves,
+shoplifters, etc., by the score, evidently photographed in some cases
+against their will, with a sketch of the career that entitled each to
+this dizzy seat of fame. Once in awhile I recognized a name, that had
+appeared in the newspapers, but the majority were rascals with whom I
+was wholly unfamiliar.
+
+Marjorie was working with a needle at the other end of the room, talking
+in a low tone with Mrs. Eggert. It occurred to me presently that the
+book might interest her, and I asked her to come to me. Mrs. Eggert went
+to see about some household duty and Miss May and I were left quite
+alone.
+
+"Are you interested in criminology?" I asked my companion, as she took
+the chair by my side. "If you are, here is entertainment for you."
+
+She stared at me vacantly, and when I turned one of the pages to her
+she caught at her throat as if choking.
+
+"Oh, this is awful!" she gurgled. "How could you show a thing like that
+to me?"
+
+"My darling," I protested, soothingly, "I did not know you would feel
+that way. This is a book that Eggert has just lent me and I thought it
+might interest you."
+
+"It is horrible!" she said, going to the open door as if for air. "The
+one glance I took was quite enough. What good can it do to print the
+faces of those unhappy people? It seems like catching a rat in a trap
+and bringing it out for dogs to tear."
+
+She shut her eyes and stood there, still panting. What a nervous
+organism she had, to be sure!
+
+"I will put it back on the shelf," I said, "and you shall never think of
+it again. I seem fated to wound your tender feelings. Dear little girl,
+you know I do not mean to."
+
+But it was she who would not drop the subject.
+
+"It is shameful to print such a book," she repeated. "It is like a
+proposal made just before we left America, to publish the names on the
+pension roll."
+
+I had an opinion on the latter suggestion, decidedly in its favor. So I
+explained that it was feared there were names on the list that ought not
+to be there and believed that a publication of the roll would result in
+weeding these out.
+
+"And at the same time expose the honest poverty of half a million brave
+men!" she said. "All my people were on the Southern side, but I admire
+courage and devotion, wherever it is found. To expose the recipient of
+these pensions merely in the hope of detecting a few dishonest ones is
+shameful! So with that awful book. Some of the men pictured there may be
+trying to redeem themselves. What chance will they have with their faces
+exhibited everywhere? Oh, Don, Don! You seem a tender hearted man. How
+can you endorse such a wicked, cruel thing?"
+
+I said I did not wish to argue the matter, but I understood from the
+preface that only persons belonging to the criminal class by profession
+were pictured in the book. The miserable man who had made his one error
+was not in the list at all.
+
+"But who can tell," she said, growing earnest, "that even some you
+mention have not repented of their acts and are trying to redeem
+themselves? Did you never read these words of Shakespeare?
+
+    "Why, all the souls that were were forfeit once,
+     And He that might the vantage best have took
+     Found out the remedy!"
+
+We went to the other side of the veranda, where the moon was shining
+beautifully, and took chairs side by side. I gradually succeeded in
+turning my companion's thoughts from the disagreeable trend into which I
+had brought them, and for several hours we discussed other matters. We
+spoke in low tones, for after a short time we were the only persons
+awake on the premises.
+
+We both grew to feel the spell of the Queen of Night, nowhere more
+lovely than over the Caribbean. Our hands wandered together and I felt
+strange thrills that made me wish I were even closer to the lovely being
+at my side. In spite of the promises I had made--to her and to
+myself--I could not help talking nonsense.
+
+"What harm would it do," I said, at 11 o'clock, "when I leave you at
+your door at night, if you gave me just a little--a very little--kiss?
+It would sweeten my slumbers, I am sure, and it wouldn't hurt you."
+
+"It would sweeten your slumbers--perhaps," she replied, soberly. "And it
+would drive mine away entirely. Do you think that a fair transaction?"
+
+I chose to answer that I thought she was acting cruelly and added that
+if she was going to treat me in that way I would go to bed at once. She
+was evidently agitated by my manner, for when we reached her door she
+stopped.
+
+"I am going to tell you something," she said, impressively. "Yes, at the
+risk of lowering myself in your estimation, unless you bid me pause."
+
+"How can I, when I do not know what you are going to say?" I demanded.
+
+"Then you wish to hear it?"
+
+I nodded, curious to learn what was in her mind.
+
+Looking with eyes that scintillated into mine she said, impressively,
+"Don, you cannot possibly want that kiss more than I want to give it!"
+
+"Well," I answered, delighted at her communication. "What prevents you?
+I promise, on my honor, not to scream--nor even to tell."
+
+"If I leave you to decide," said Miss May, with lips that whitened at
+the words, "what will you advise me?"
+
+A chilly breeze swept along the veranda. The figure of Statia Barton
+came across my vision, with her finger uplifted in warning. Out on the
+ocean I saw a wave that was transparent and beneath it a beautiful
+figure, cold and dead.
+
+I raised one of her hands to my lips and breathed a sigh upon it. I was
+quieted so easily!
+
+"Good night," I said, with emotion.
+
+"Good night," she replied. "You do not--no, you do not hate me?"
+
+I had turned away, but I faced her again.
+
+"I am--afraid--I love you," I said. "It was not in the compact, I did
+not mean to do it, but I'm afraid--I love you."
+
+She entered her door and I passed to my room. Pulling off my clothes at
+haphazard I threw them on a chair and donned my pajamas. The bed was
+hard. I turned every way to no purpose. Sleep would not come. At last I
+sat up, then opened my door noiselessly and stepped barefooted upon the
+veranda.
+
+Marjorie's light was still burning. The objects in her room showed with
+perfect distinctness through her screen door.
+
+I paused as if petrified at the sight before me. In her white nightrobes
+she was kneeling by the bedside, her face buried in her hands.
+
+It was beauty prostrate before its God, doubtless uttering a petition
+that he would protect her from evil.
+
+I paced up and down the veranda noiselessly for half an hour. When I
+paused again before Miss May's door, the light was extinguished and I
+could see nothing.
+
+"Marjorie," I whispered.
+
+"Yes, Don."
+
+"Forgive me. I will not offend you again."
+
+"Yes, Don. Would--would you like to come in and bathe my head? It aches
+a little."
+
+"I cannot, Marjorie. Shall I call Mrs. Eggert?"
+
+"Her hands are not like yours."
+
+It was a severe struggle, but I told her I must not come in-that if she
+would think a minute she would see I must not. She said "Very well," and
+we exchanged good-nights. I went to my couch very proud of the victory I
+had won over myself--prouder than it seems to me now I should have been.
+
+We must both have slept some, for I was aroused by hearing Laps barking,
+and Marjorie had not made her appearance when the hands of my watch
+pointed to half past five. She told me through the partition that she
+did not feel like bathing that morning, and I decided to omit the bath
+myself.
+
+The barking of Laps was caused by the arrival of Mr. Wesson, whom I
+blamed without much reason for the headache I had awakened with. The
+fellow irritated me exceedingly and I made up my mind to get away from
+the Island without waiting for the Pretoria, if there was any feasible
+way to do it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+IT IS FROM A GIRL.
+
+
+The arrival of letters, both for myself and Miss May, the next day, made
+me forget everything else till mine were read and answered. I had not
+looked for them so soon and do not know yet what course they took to
+reach us. It is supposed to be a rule of the postal department to
+forward all mail by the most expeditious route, but previous experience
+in the Caribbean had taught me that the rule is reversed there in most
+cases.
+
+Eggert brought the things to us, having had sense enough to inquire at
+the office when he knew a steamer was in. Miss May had taken the
+precaution to have hers addressed "Care Miss M. Carney," after I told
+her she would be weighted with this title, and her friends supposed, no
+doubt, that the unfamiliar name represented the proprietress of a hotel
+or boarding house. She gave a joyful cry as I held two letters out to
+her, made the usual feminine inquiry if that was all, and retired to a
+corner by herself to read them, like a dog with a bone.
+
+The first letter I opened was from Tom Barton, the second from his
+sister. Tom's was merely a recital of the latest happenings that he
+thought might interest me, and expressions of hope that I would derive
+great benefit from my cruise. Statia's was a homily on the beauty of
+holiness and a sermon on the alleged fact that wicked deeds are often
+punished nearer home than in that subterranean place of extreme heat of
+which most moderns have begun to doubt. She was evidently in about the
+same frame of mind as when I last saw her, but I was too glad to know
+that she cared enough about me to write at all to be severely critical.
+I liked Statia. She filled a place in my heart that had been vacant
+before--a sort of sisterly place, as near as I can tell--and I resolved
+while reading to curb my tendency to joke when I answered her and take a
+weight off her mind if I could.
+
+The next letter was a formal one from Uncle Dugald, reading like an
+official document. And the only remaining one was--of all things--from
+Miss Alice Brazier, who had adopted my suggestion and renewed her
+injunctions at the expense of a five cent stamp. I expected something
+from Harvey Hume, and when I looked over the odd packages of printed
+matter I detected his handwriting on several of them. Like Mary of old,
+he had chosen the better part, and had contributed as much to my
+happiness as either of the others. Six daily papers and three magazines,
+besides a new novel, bore his fist on their wrappers, and he had broken
+the laws of the postoffice by scribbling on stray corners certain "God
+bless you's!" for which I hope he will be forgiven.
+
+"Do you want to read a letter I have received, warning me against you?"
+I asked, laughingly, going to where Miss May sat. "Or perhaps, to state
+it more accurately, warning you against me; at least, warning us against
+each other."
+
+She looked rather startled at my first observation and held out her hand
+for the missive as I finished.
+
+I sat down beside her, prefacing an actual exhibition of the note from
+Miss Brazier by a reminder that I had informed her early in our
+acquaintance of the lady's answer to my Herald advertisement. She read
+the note through, as I held it in my hands, and when she had finished
+wore a very sober face.
+
+"This seems to amuse you," she said, regarding me with a strange look.
+"I do not see why it should. The person who wrote that is actuated by
+the sincerest regard for your welfare. It would have been much better
+for you had you taken her on this journey instead of me."
+
+"But," I answered, lightly, "it would not have been half so well for
+you, which is why I did not do it. I want you to understand that I am
+not here for my own health, but yours. As for Alice Brazier, she wrote
+me, when she found I would not take her, anyway--that she was surprised
+at the 'nerve' of the successful applicant."
+
+"I am surprised at it myself," said Miss May, refusing to laugh. "I grow
+more and more surprised at it every day."
+
+"I suppose you wish me to believe you are sorry," I said, bridling just
+the least bit.
+
+"No, my dear Don," she replied, gently, "I am very glad I came. It is
+not that which troubles me. It is the thought that some day it will
+end."
+
+"That thought would spoil the pleasure of life itself," I said, much
+mollified nevertheless. "I would advise you not to become a monomaniac.
+Take some of these papers and get into touch again with the planet on
+which we used to live."
+
+She looked them all over, scanning the dates.
+
+"Why, who sent you these ancient things?" she said. "The very latest is
+dated January 18th."
+
+"Well, did you expect yesterday morning's?" I asked. "Have you forgotten
+that we are some little distance from Manhattan Island?"
+
+She smiled at last, as the recollection of our situation with regard to
+news came over her, and thanking me, began to look over the papers,
+beginning with the day after we left. I took the next one and for some
+time this occupied us. When either encountered anything of general
+interest there was an interruption, followed by prolonged silence.
+
+"Are you going to answer that letter of Miss Brazier's?" Miss May asked,
+all of a sudden.
+
+"Why? Would you?"
+
+"Yes; in a very formal way."
+
+Was she attacked with incipient jealousy of this unknown one, even while
+she approved of her counsel?
+
+"All right," I said. "I will let you dictate the words."
+
+"What other letters did you get?" she inquired.
+
+I showed them to her. She wanted to know what each contained; and when I
+spoke of Statia, though I did not mention her name, the same smouldering
+fire flashed up slightly as in Miss Brazier's case.
+
+"Who is that lady?" she asked.
+
+"The sister of my dearest masculine friend."
+
+"Why does she write to you?"
+
+"For the same reason as the other girl, to give me good advice."
+
+She had to ask the next question.
+
+"Is there no love affair between you?"
+
+"Not the slightest. I did not think she would even condescend to write a
+line."
+
+Miss May drew a long breath, and then, as if ashamed of the interest she
+had shown, buried her face in the newspaper.
+
+"If you have finished with your cross-questionings," I remarked, "I will
+take a hand. Who are your letters from?"
+
+She clung to the envelopes as if she feared I would try to wrest them
+from her.
+
+"A friend," she answered, frigidly.
+
+"Two friends, at least. One is directed in the handwriting of a man.
+Now, Marjorie, I am not going to permit that sort of thing. I draw the
+line at male correspondents while you are travelling with me."
+
+Hesitating an instant she laid the envelope of which I spoke in my lap.
+
+"Read it," she said, looking me full in the eyes.
+
+"Not unless you wish me to," I answered.
+
+"I do wish it."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I must refuse to oblige you, for the first time, and I hope the last. I
+would not read that letter, under any circumstances," I replied.
+
+"Then I will read it to you," said Miss May, and she read as follows:
+
+    Dear Marjorie:--I hope you are well and happy in that far-off land,
+    with the gentleman who has engaged you as secretary, and that you
+    have had no cause to regret accepting his offer. I have no great
+    fears for you, believing that a wise girl will so conduct herself as
+    to disarm the most persistent man, if temptation comes. If Mr.
+    Camwell is all you believed him when last I saw you, your journey
+    must be a continuous delight. If he proves the contrary I shall be
+    sorry, for he can make your path a miserable one, but my confidence
+    in you will be unshaken.
+
+    The other girls all send love and best wishes. I shall look
+    anxiously for the first letter from you.
+
+    Mr. Barnard, the cashier, has promised to address my envelope and
+    put on the right stamp.
+
+    Your Friend,
+
+    HELEN.
+
+I glanced at the writing, which was certainly that of a woman, and again
+at the envelope, quite as surely in the penmanship of a man.
+
+"It is from a girl who used to write in the same office as I," said Miss
+May. "Now you must hear the other one."
+
+But this I absolutely refused to do. She was putting me in a position I
+did not covet. I said I had some letters to write and would go to my
+room for awhile. Miss May did not press her point further, but said she
+would take the time to answer her own letters, if I did not need her.
+
+For the next hour I pushed my pen over the stationery, replying to the
+missives I had received, and also sending brief notes to several of my
+other friends. When this was finished I went to Miss May's door to speak
+to her, and found her absent. Looking over the veranda railing I saw her
+at some distance, frolicking with Laps, the dog, apparently having
+recovered her spirits, which were rather low when I left her.
+
+Glancing back into her room I noticed that a letter she had just written
+lay open upon the table. To save my soul I could not resist going in,
+taking it up and reading it. My curiosity about her was intense. There
+might be something in this letter, either to confirm my belief in her or
+to dash it to the ground. At any rate, though the act was repulsive to
+my nature, I could not help taking advantage of the opportunity.
+
+    Dear Helen [was the way the letter read]:--Many thanks for your
+    sweet note. I am glad to say I can set your mind at rest at once
+    regarding my fate. Mr. C. is one of the kindest men I ever knew. I
+    have lost the apprehension which I had in regard to him during the
+    first few days of our voyage and am as happy as I hoped to be when I
+    told you of the engagement. I only wish you could have seen him
+    before we sailed. You would not wonder I was so pleased to go,
+    though, of course, I had to hide my feelings when talking with him
+    about it.
+
+    I will try to describe him to you. He is rather above the medium
+    height, four or five inches taller than I, I should think. His hair
+    is brown. He wears a mustache, but no beard--a nearly blonde
+    mustache that adds a charm to a sensitive and finely cut mouth. His
+    eyes are hazel. He is slightly pale, owing to the illness of which I
+    told you, but he has gained immensely since we started. When he
+    smiles I never saw a more engaging countenance; when he is troubled
+    the clouds are like those of a summer sky, and the first puff of
+    wind blows them away.
+
+    I do not mean to tell you he is perfect in everything. He has not
+    led the best life always, I am afraid, and with a different woman
+    for his constant companion there might be a another story to tell.
+    But when he shows signs of getting unruly, I never fail to quiet him
+    with the right word. He is a gentleman, after all, and I am sure he
+    will never be else than that to me.
+
+    Helen, dear, I must tell you a great secret. I have all I can do to
+    prevent myself falling head over ears in love with the man. If I
+    were an unscrupulous young woman I believe I could make him care a
+    great deal for me. As I look at it, such a course would be wholly
+    disreputable. He is impulsive and might say things he would regret
+    later in his life. So I keep my heart as quiet as I can, in his
+    presence. He will not guess what I have confided to you and what I
+    never shall tell to another.
+
+    If I were of his social grade--if I could have retained the position
+    in which I was born, he would be my ideal as a husband. Such
+    thoughts, alas! are not for
+
+    Your Poor Friend,
+
+    MARJORIE.
+
+    St. Thomas, W.I., Jan. 29, 1898.
+
+My hand trembled so before I had half read this letter that I could not
+make out the lines. I had to put it down to finish it. Twice I crept to
+the door to see if Miss May was still on the lawn, playing with Laps.
+She was there, absorbed in her amusement and I finally finished it
+unchallenged. Then I left the room and went to my own, where I fell from
+sheer weakness upon my bed.
+
+Marjorie loved me!
+
+The reflection was overpowering. She was battling not only against me
+but against her own affections. I was absolutely dumfounded. What a
+train of thought swept through my heated brain!
+
+At one instant I resolved to offer her my hand in marriage that very day
+and have the ceremony performed in the evening, by one of the clergymen
+of Charlotte Amelie, with Eggert and his wife as witnesses. At the next
+I planned a slow campaign to win her, which, with the evidence in my
+possession, could have but one result. The slower way would bring the
+most pleasure, if I could persuade myself to patience. Again, the vision
+of my Uncle Dugald rose before me, mutely protesting against an alliance
+with one of whom I knew practically nothing. Then Tom Barton and Statia
+joined the procession, shaking their heads dolefully.
+
+Miss May's voice at my door aroused me to a sense of my condition and I
+bade her come in, if she was not afraid. She came quietly, removing as
+she did so her straw hat. A steamer had just entered the harbor, she
+said, that I might like to see. I always wanted to inspect each craft,
+and she supposed I would not like to miss this one.
+
+I sat up and listened to her in a half daze. How little she knew that
+the burning secret under her calm exterior was already in my possession.
+
+"Marjorie! Marjorie!"
+
+I could only repeat the name in the joy of my discovery; repeat it to
+myself, lock it in the recesses of my inmost bosom.
+
+I bathed my face, after which she took my brush and arranged my hair for
+me. How delicious her hands on my head! Some day they would be mine,
+and forever!
+
+I suffered her to lead me out of doors and set me a chair before the
+telescope, which she arranged to command a view of the incoming steamer.
+Eggert came while we were there, with a little trouble on his mind. The
+book that had annoyed Marjorie so--that copy of "Our Rival, the Rascal,"
+had disappeared from his bookcase, and he wanted to know if either of us
+had seen it. Miss May shook her head with disgust, while I responded
+that I had left it on the table the night he showed it to me, and had
+never picked it up again.
+
+Eggert turned to the steamer I was watching through the glass and said
+he had known for an hour what it was--his seaman's eye had told him that
+when only the tops of her smokestacks were visible.
+
+It was going down the islands, he said, and would make its next stop at
+St. Croix.
+
+An idea sprang into my head. Here was an opportunity to escape the daily
+visits of Mr. Wesson!
+
+I asked how soon she would leave. Eggert said probably in an hour.
+
+"We must pack our things at once, then," I exclaimed. "I have reasons
+for wanting to get to St. Croix to-day, and this is a chance not to be
+missed."
+
+Eggert pleaded with me to wait for the Pretoria, as I had first
+intended, but I would not listen. I wanted action; the excitement of
+departure was just the thing in my state of mind. Miss May dutifully
+went to her chamber and put her things in their receptacles, coming
+afterward to mine and helping me appreciably. The covers were down, the
+keys turned in the locks, the typewriting machine in its bag, and
+everything ready in thirty minutes.
+
+As I left my room my attention was attracted to Miss May, who was
+talking earnestly with some one from the adjoining veranda. I soon saw
+that little Thorwald was below, with a handsome mongoose in a trap,
+which he was exhibiting to her with much pride.
+
+"What are you going to do with that poor creature?" she asked the lad.
+
+"Going to kill him," he answered, in his sharp, clear way.
+
+"Why do you want to kill that helpless thing?"
+
+"Why I want to kill the mongoose?" he repeated. "You better ask why the
+mongoose want to kill my chickens. No, that little mongoose will never
+trouble my chickens any more."
+
+"Will you sell him to me?" she asked, earnestly.
+
+"You want to buy a mongoose?" asked the boy, incredulously. "No, you can
+never tame him. He will only bite you. See:" (he put down the trap and
+pushed a stick into the wire cage, which the animal bit ferociously.) "I
+don't think you want to buy that mongoose."
+
+"But I do want to buy him," she insisted. "I will give you a dollar for
+him."
+
+(It is a strange fact that the terms of trade are generally spoken of in
+United States money in these islands, even where the only coins are
+European.)
+
+"You will give me a dollar for the mongoose?" said Thorwald's bright
+voice.
+
+"Yes, I will gladly give you a dollar for him."
+
+"You may have him," said the child, hanging up the cage and receiving
+the money, evidently hardly able to credit his eyes. "But the mongoose
+is not worth one cent."
+
+Taking the trap to the ground on the other side of the house, Miss May
+lost no time in releasing the little prisoner from his bondage,
+whereupon he vanished with all speed in the shrubbery. She gave Thorwald
+his dollar, and as she came to where I stood, there were tears in her
+bright eyes.
+
+I kissed the children hastily, handing them at the same time some small
+pieces of silver, settled my bill, directed the negroes who were
+summoned about the baggage, said good-by to everybody, from the Master
+to the scullery maid, and started down the long path to the boat. In ten
+minutes more we were being rowed toward the steamer, and a quarter of an
+hour later were safe on board.
+
+As soon as our chairs were arranged on deck and we had dropped into them
+I felt the old weakness coming on. I could not endure such a strain
+without showing evidence that I had not yet wholly recovered my form. I
+asked a steward who happened to pass, to get me a brandy-and-soda.
+
+"Close your eyes and try to sleep," said my companion, soothingly, as to
+a sick child. "You have been overdoing for the last hour."
+
+I took her hand and tried to obey her. That dear little hand on which I
+would one day put the symbol of a love to last through eternity!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+A STRUGGLE ON THE BALCONY.
+
+
+It was something to be free at last from Wesson. While I had nothing
+definite that I could bring against the man, he was in my way. I wanted
+to be alone with Marjorie. Not literally alone, for wherever we went
+there were people near by, of course; but alone as far as any one who
+had ever known us was concerned. As we approached St. Croix, my
+mercurial spirits began to rise again. When we were once more on shore,
+and domiciled in the second class hostelry to which we were shown, I
+could have danced with glee. I could hardly refrain from giving vent to
+my feelings in a yell that would no doubt have astonished the quiet town
+as if a cannon had been discharged.
+
+All through this part of the world the native population speak in tones
+so low that a foreigner has to listen intently to know what is being
+said. It is charming after you get used to it; one wonders how
+Northerners got into a habit of screaming when discussing the common
+events of the day. A negro or colored person (colored is only used here
+for people of mixed race) will address another a hundred feet away in as
+low a tone as the ordinary American would use at as many inches. I got
+partially into the same habit before I left the Islands. I only wish I
+had retained it and could persuade my friends to do likewise.
+
+"What is there to do here?" asked Marjorie, as we sat in the evening on
+the balcony that projected from the house.
+
+"Nothing whatever," I replied. "Unless it be to make love, and that, you
+will remember, is forbidden by our agreement."
+
+She bit her lips, acted as if she were going to say something, and
+suppressed it, whatever it was.
+
+"If you wish the stipulation removed," I continued, gaily, "there is no
+better opportunity than this. I believe I could make love, after my long
+abstinence, in a way that would do me credit."
+
+She turned and surveyed my face for some seconds.
+
+"In the same way you have often made love before, I presume," she said,
+finally; "and with the same degree of sincerity."
+
+"No," I said, growing sober. "I have never loved a woman till recently.
+The others were idle fancies. They lasted, on the average, a week, while
+this--"
+
+"Might last a month?" she interrupted.
+
+"Or an eternity."
+
+"I think we had best talk of something else," she said, uneasily. "In
+the morning we must begin our work, bright and early. I suppose there
+will be no beach bathing here, and we can commence before coffee if you
+wish. I want to be of all possible use while we are together."
+
+"You will never leave me, Marjorie," I answered, "if I am allowed to set
+the time of your departure. Don't think, I beg, that I would say these
+things if I did not mean them. I want you for my true and loving
+wife--understand, that is what I mean--wife; and something tells me
+that, when you think it over, you will grant my wish."
+
+She flushed until her neck was as rosy as her cheek. Several very long
+breaths came and went to stir her matchless bosom. She seemed as if
+strangling for an instant and recovered her equanimity with difficulty.
+
+"Mr. Camwell--" she began.
+
+"'Don,'" I corrected.
+
+"No, not at this moment," she answered. "Do you recollect to whom you
+are speaking? I am a nearly friendless girl--who has trusted herself to
+your manhood and honor. I am far from my home, if indeed I can truly
+claim to have one; you know nothing about me. It is madness if you mean
+what you say. It is villainy of the deepest dye if you do not mean it."
+
+"We shall have to call it madness, then," I replied, smiling at the
+thought that I knew her heart in spite of all her efforts to conceal its
+true pulsations. "I might fall at your feet, declaim my story after the
+manner of a stage hero, all that sort of thing. I believe it best to
+tell you what I have to say in the plain, sincere tone that a matter of
+great moment should be spoken. I love you, Marjorie! I have loved you
+since the minute my eyes rested on your face. I shall love no other
+woman while life remains to me. I offer you my hand in sincere and
+honest affection, and may God--"
+
+She half rose from her chair and lifted a hand deprecatingly.
+
+"Don't say that!" she interpolated, with distress in her tone. "I will
+believe you without the oath. But, I cannot listen. It is impossible.
+You must not--you must not--"
+
+"My darling," I said, leaning toward her, and speaking lower than any
+native of St. Croix, "I know I have surprised you, by coming to the
+point in such an unconventional and sudden fashion. We will say no more
+about it--to-night."
+
+"Neither to-night, nor ever," she replied, earnestly. "Oh, why have you
+done this? We were such good friends; and now, it never can be the same
+again!"
+
+There were tears in her eyes, and at sight of them my resolution to
+remain cool took wings. Rising, I clasped the shrinking form in my arms,
+and poured into her ears the love that was consuming me. I said the only
+answer I would ever listen to from her was "Yes." I would wait, if need
+be, but I must have it. Never, never, should she separate from me. The
+love I had to offer was that of a lifetime.
+
+"I am not a poor man, either," I added, trying to weight my proposition
+with all the things that would count. "I can give you a home of comfort,
+even luxury. The days for you to toil in disagreeable offices are ended.
+The time when you will count your money to see if you can afford the
+necessaries of life is past. We will go on long journeys, to interesting
+lands. Your existence shall be, as far as I can make it so, a dream of
+happiness. Marjorie, believe me! I want to hear your sweet lips say the
+word that will make this world a heaven--now!"
+
+Instead of being influenced by my passionate flow of language, she
+seemed only to shrink further and further away. I saw at last that, in
+some manner I could not understand, I was actually frightening her.
+Alarmed at her appearance I quickly released my hold and stood there, a
+very confused figure, panting with the excess of my emotions.
+
+Marjorie seemed fainting and in my alarm I begged her to let me go and
+summon assistance.
+
+"No," she whispered. "But you will stop--you will say no more? You may,
+if you will be so kind, get me--a--glass--of water. I shall be
+better--presently."
+
+It took a long time to get the simple thing she wanted. There are no
+bells in the house, to begin with. The principal ambition of West India
+servants is to keep out of sight and hearing, lest they might be asked
+to do something. When one was at last found he could produce nothing
+colder than water that had stood in a jug since dinner. This would not
+do and, by the time he had found the ice, at least ten minutes must have
+passed.
+
+Bringing the glass of water with all speed to the balcony, great was my
+disgust to find that a man had reached there before me and was even then
+engaged in conversation with my late companion. He had come upon the
+balcony from the public sitting room and was trying to persuade the lady
+to let him fetch something from his own chamber that he promised would
+speedily restore her. When he turned to meet me I was filled with
+positive rage. For the man was none other than my old fellow passenger,
+Edgerly!
+
+"Where the devil did you come from?" I demanded, hotly.
+
+"I hope I have done no harm," he answered, in an apologetic voice that
+made me feel as if I ought to punch my own head instead of his, which
+was my original intention. "I happened to step out on this balcony and
+seeing that the lady was ill offered to assist her. That is all."
+
+He was always offering to assist her, it seemed to me, as I recalled the
+time when he flew to the companionway of the steamer with the same end
+in view.
+
+"I think I will go in now, if you don't mind," said Marjorie, wearily,
+after she had sipped the water I brought. "I was overcome by--by the
+heat--I think, but I am much better."
+
+Thinking that Edgerly might wish to "assist her" again I made haste to
+offer her my arm; but she declined it with a faint smile, saying she had
+no need of help. Her window was open and she left the balcony as she had
+entered it, closing the glass doors after her.
+
+"You were not very polite to me, a moment ago," said Edgerly, in clear,
+cutting tones. "I thought it the part of a gentleman not to notice it
+while the lady was present, but now I am obliged to express my opinion
+of you; which is," he paused a moment, looking me squarely in the eye,
+"that you are a cur!"
+
+I grappled with him almost before the words were out of his mouth. We
+went down together in a heap, his hand at my throat, mine at his. I
+would have thrown him over the railing, or he would have thrown me, in
+an instant more.
+
+A voice interrupted us--the voice of Miss May, through her window.
+
+"Mr. Camwell, will you kindly call a chambermaid," she said.
+
+It was like the sudden appearance of a flag of truce in the midst of a
+battle. Edgerly muttered something about seeing me at another time, and
+released his hold. I did the same, remarking that I was at his service
+whenever he pleased. We both rose. Edgerly entered the sitting room,
+lifting his hat ironically as he vanished. I entered my own chamber,
+reaching the hall in that way. Finding the woman, I sent her to Miss
+May, telling her to knock at my door when she had executed the lady's
+requests. Then I threw myself into a chair, and realized for the first
+time how inadequate my weakened physical strength was to cope with a
+well man like Edgerly.
+
+Had not that voice separated us, I would now have been lying, either
+dead or mangled, on the stone pavement, twelve feet below!
+
+When I thought the matter over, I could see I had been in the wrong. The
+fellow had done nothing that deserved my abuse, in the first place, and
+the epithet he had hurled at me was in a measure justified by my
+conduct. It was now too late, however, to consider the origin of the
+quarrel. Blows had been exchanged, threats had been passed, we had
+agreed to settle the matter later. It was not in my disposition to crave
+the pardon of a man under those circumstances. If he carried out his
+evident purpose of trying to trash me, I would have to meet him. The
+fact that I was still in effect an invalid--that I was not in condition
+for such a game--was no excuse, nor did I intend to avail myself of it.
+I felt pretty certain that, within a given number of hours, I would be
+very lucky if I knew myself in the glass.
+
+The chambermaid came to say that "Miss Carney" would like to see me
+after a short time had passed. I therefore made myself as presentable as
+possible, bathing my heated face, brushing my hair and arranging a
+necktie that had got sadly out of place. When twenty minutes had
+elapsed, I went to Marjorie's door and knocked softly. She came and
+opened it just enough to see who was there, but instead of asking me to
+enter said she had found, on reflection, that she did not need anything
+and believed the best course for her was to retire. She evidently either
+knew or suspected what had occurred and wanted to see if I bore evidence
+of having been injured.
+
+"Very well; good-night," I said, in answer to her suggestion.
+
+"Good-night," she answered. And, "God bless you!" she added, fervently.
+
+"My love!" I murmured, hoping she would relent and give me a longer
+interview, but she shook her head with a sad smile and closed the door.
+I heard the key turn in the lock and, realizing that it was useless to
+remain longer, re-entered my own chamber and prepared for sleep.
+
+In the midst of a sound slumber, for the events of the evening did not
+much disturb my rest, I suddenly came to consciousness. A figure,
+distinct enough, stood between me and the window. The bright night of
+the tropics made the principal objects in the room look almost as clear
+as day. Half doubting whether I were really awake I sprang up, when a
+low voice made me pause.
+
+"Hush! Not a sound," said the voice. "It is only I."
+
+The window was wide open, showing where she had entered, for it was
+Marjorie that spoke.
+
+"I was nervous, and could not sleep, and on going upon the balcony I
+found your window unfastened."
+
+The wonder that she had entered overpowered every other sentiment. How
+could it be true that this girl, who had nearly fainted with fear when I
+merely put an arm around her, had come in the night within my bedroom,
+clad, as I plainly saw, in the garments of slumber.
+
+I stretched my arms toward her, but she moved away. What an
+incomprehensible creature she was!
+
+"Do not stir," she continued, earnestly, and with a trembling tongue. "I
+tried to make you hear me, without entering, but you slept too soundly.
+It is not well--it is not safe--to sleep with your window unfastened. I
+thought you ought to know. That is all. Good-night."
+
+She was moving toward the exit and I called after her softly.
+
+"Marjorie!" I said. "Come here a little while before you leave."
+
+She turned her white face--whiter in the pale moonlight than I had ever
+seen it--toward me, still moving slowly away.
+
+"And you," she whispered, "are the man who told me, only a few hours
+ago, that you wanted me for your wife!"
+
+"I do, my darling!" I replied, with all the fervor I could put into the
+words. "I mean no more than I say when I ask to touch your cheek with my
+lips, your hand even, the hem of your gown."
+
+She was gone; and as I sat there I reflected for the second time that
+evening what an ass I had been. Marjorie had taken what I thought a
+harmless request and turned it into an insult. I cursed anew the
+damnable training I had had in the field of love-making. It had me as
+unfit to win the heart of a pure and virtuous maiden as a brigand.
+
+The worst was, she had gone to her chamber with the thought still on her
+mind that I was a liar of the meanest stripe. After professing a pure
+love I had, at the first opportunity, she imagined, showed the emptiness
+of my pretence, the falseness of my heart.
+
+Sleep fled this time from my eyes, and no wonder. I propped my head high
+with pillows and resigned myself to wakefulness and moody thoughts till
+daybreak.
+
+As soon as it was light I took stationery from my trunk and wrote an
+impassioned letter to my beloved, that she might see, before we met
+again, how terribly she had misjudged me. I told her the story as it
+really was--my sudden awakening, the longing that possessed me for some
+recognition from the being to whom all my life's love had been pledged.
+I detailed the sickness of heart with which I realized how woefully my
+object was misapprehended. I touched on the absence of sleep that
+followed my error, and in closing begged her to write me just a word to
+say that I was forgiven, before I underwent the agony of meeting her
+unjustly accusing eyes. This I signed, "Your husband that is to be--that
+must be--with all respect and love."
+
+It was almost as great a shock as if she had refused to read my note
+when the maid whom I summoned to deliver it, brought me a tiny sheet of
+paper bearing these words:
+
+    "Of course you are forgiven, my dear boy. I understood it all a
+    minute after I left you. Sorry you took it to heart. If you wish to
+    please me do not allude to it when we meet."
+
+From some remarks that I heard below stairs I gathered that Edgerly had
+left the house, taking his baggage with him, before the early breakfast
+was served. A little later I learned that he had gone to a town on the
+opposite side of the island where the capital is located. I therefore
+came to the conclusion that he had decided not to push his intention of
+mauling me at present. Probably, I reflected, he did not realize how
+easy a victim I was likely to be in the present condition of my health.
+
+We passed the rest of the time while at St. Croix in morning work,
+midday siestas, evening drives and after dinner talks. Marjorie
+succeeded in keeping the conversation away from the delicate ground of
+the former occasion, but she did not succeed in eliminating the subject
+from my mind. Knowing from the letter I had read at Eggert's, that she
+cared much for me, I was not to be dissuaded from my intention of taking
+her home, either as my actual or my promised bride. The security I felt
+gave me willingness to wait. What I needed now was to strengthen the
+affection she had admitted until it was too strong for her to resist
+longer.
+
+No shadow came between us during the week that remained before the
+coming of the Pretoria, on which we were to embark for another voyage.
+We heard the boat had arrived on the morning of the 8th of February,
+and would leave late in the evening. I engaged a carriage to drive us to
+a distant point, so that we might go on board too late to meet any of
+the Americans with whom the steamer was sure to be filled. That day was
+one of unalloyed happiness.
+
+Alas! that so soon my troubles were to break out afresh!
+
+I had arranged with the local agent to secure me the requisite berths
+and he brought the tickets to the hotel at night when we returned. There
+was only one unpleasant feature about them--he had not been able to
+secure a place for the lady very near me--but we had no right to expect
+anything else, and Marjorie seemed disposed to make the best of it.
+
+At eleven o'clock we were rowed out with our baggage and shown to our
+rooms.
+
+Reaching mine, I turned up the electric light and started as I saw the
+face of Mr. Wesson in that lower berth.
+
+"The devil!" I could not help exclaiming, aloud.
+
+It seemed to partially waken him, for he turned over and muttered
+something indistinguishable, immediately relapsing again into sound
+sleep.
+
+I said to myself that this was decidedly too much. I would be d--d if I
+would sleep there. When I had donned my pajamas, therefore, I went up to
+the deck above and passed the night on the cushions of the music room,
+of which I was the only tenant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+OUR NIGHT AT MARTINIQUE.
+
+
+Of course I had to meet Wesson in the morning; and as I could assign no
+reason for the distrust which I felt, I had to choose between giving him
+the cut direct and putting on an air of coolness without a real affront.
+I encountered him on deck, before I had been down to dress, as I went
+out to take a view of the island of St. Kitts. He murmured something
+about being glad to see me again, but did not attempt a prolonged
+conversation. He evidently had not yet ascertained that I was his
+roommate.
+
+Slightly uneasy to have Miss May so far from me I went as soon as I was
+dressed to her door and knocked. She was awake and in response to an
+inquiry said she would be up to breakfast. Luckily she had been given a
+room alone, due perhaps to a small inducement I had sent in a note left
+with the agent the day before. As I stood outside I chafed at the
+restrictions she continually put upon me; and yet I knew very well I had
+no right to complain. What earthly business had I in the room of a
+young, unmarried woman, before she was out of bed? The fact that I had
+been in more than one under similar circumstances did not count in a
+case like this.
+
+The scornful words of my darling came back to me--the expression she had
+used at St. Croix. I must put better control on my wild thoughts or I
+would yet do something she might regard as unpardonable.
+
+The table to which we were assigned in the salon had no especial
+interest. The other people had become acquainted from their nine days'
+voyage together and clearly looked upon us as interlopers. For this I
+was not sorry. Beyond necessary requests to "pass" the butter or the
+ice, I had nothing to say to them nor they to me; while Miss May's mouth
+was sealed entirely to conversation.
+
+The succeeding days would have been insufferably dull but for the
+presence of my idol, as I had been to all the islands on my voyage of
+three years previous. To show them to her with the confidence of an old
+traveller was in itself a charm not to be despised. We went ashore
+together at St. Kitts, and drove extensively; took our turtle dinner at
+Antigua, where I was much grieved to hear that Mr. Fox, the American
+consul, with whom I had formerly been acquainted, had died shortly after
+my previous visit. He was one of the pleasantest men I ever met and an
+honor to the civil service. A new consul, bound to Guadaloupe, was on
+board, with his wife--a Chicago man with a French name and the unusual
+ability to speak the language of the place to which he was accredited.
+He struck me as much better educated than the average consul and withal
+a good fellow. In his party, much of the time, were two charming young
+ladies from Alleghany City, whose father, a German, was taking a well
+earned vacation from his duties as cashier of a bank there. Had there
+been any place in my mind that was not filled with Marjorie, I should
+certainly have tried to become better acquainted with these girls.
+
+I also made a smoking room acquaintance with three delightful fellows, a
+Mr. T----, from Indianapolis, a Mr. S----, from Greensburg, and a Mr.
+H----, from Brockton, Mass. The first was an attorney; the second
+engaged in the theatrical business, and the third a license
+commissioner. I should be sorry to think I had seen either for the last
+time.
+
+At Dominica I went ashore very early and engaged two horses for a ride
+into the mountains, making arrangements with an individual who seemed
+(actually) to rejoice in the cognomen of "Mr. Cockroach." He announced
+himself to me as the owner of that title with evident pride and when we
+came off after breakfast had ready two of as mean animals, judging by
+appearance, as could be imagined. They endured the long climb, however,
+remarkably well, and were as easy to sit as a rocking chair. Marjorie
+unbent herself more than usual when we were in the heart of the hills,
+with no one near, for the black boy who was supposed to follow us on
+foot had a way of cutting across the fields and keeping out of sight
+nearly all the time.
+
+The island of Dominica is very beautiful and I remembered enjoying this
+ride greatly on my previous visit. The vegetation is thoroughly
+tropical. The excessive moisture caused by rains which occur daily
+through most of the year gives to everything a luxuriance not exceeded
+north of the equator, I believe. The mountain path by which we went is
+too narrow in most places to ride abreast, but wherever we could get
+side by side I managed to do so. At such times the sense of
+companionship was thrillingly delicious, and while I dared not risk
+offending by becoming too familiar, I managed to play the discreet lover
+and was very happy.
+
+I thought I was certainly improving. There had been a time, not so very
+long before, when I would Have planted myself in the lady's way, and
+exacted tribute before letting her by, trusting to her forgiveness after
+the deed was done. I would have given much to have dared the same thing
+now, but the thought did not seriously enter my head. I was certainly
+growing better under my excellent teacher.
+
+There was one point at which I had a jealous pang, so ridiculous that I
+think it only right to detail the occurrence. We went out of our way to
+view a sulphur pit, where the Evil One or some of his satellites have
+apparently secured an opening to the air from the very Bottomless Pit
+itself. The atmosphere is charged with fumes, while the deposit bubbles
+and froths in a way to strike terror into the heart of an infidel. To
+get a near view, one must be carried across a small stream by a couple
+of negroes, or--take off his shoes and stockings and wade. Miss May
+looked somewhat aghast at both propositions, and I allowed the boys to
+carry me over first, to show her how safe the process was. But, though
+it might be safe, it was clearly not graceful, for they handled a human
+being quite as if he were a sack, thinking their duty done if they got
+him across without dropping him in the brook.
+
+She said, at first, that she believed she would rather wade and sat down
+to take off her boots. Then, when it came to the hosiery and her fingers
+had begun to wander toward the fastenings, she had another period of
+doubt, calling to me to know if there was really anything worth seeing.
+Finally putting on her boots again, she directed the negroes how to make
+a sort of "cat's-cradle" chair and arrived safely in that manner.
+
+It was then that I had my pang. For she put both her fair arms around
+the neck of the bearers to steady herself in transit.
+
+"I shall insist on being one of your porteurs, on your return," I said,
+as she was placed on her feet. "If you are going to put your arms around
+the neck of any man in this island it must be myself."
+
+She tried to laugh off the idea, a little nervously, saying she had more
+confidence in those experienced fellows on the slippery stones than she
+had in me. I persisted a little longer, till it became evident my
+expressions were not agreeable. In returning she managed to steady
+herself by merely touching the shoulders of her bearers, and brought
+back the smile to my face by calling my attention to the fact, with a
+comic elevation of her eyebrows. I helped her mount her horse and all
+the way from there she was kindness itself. On the whole the day was the
+most delightful I had passed since leaving America.
+
+She was to be my wife! This thought was uppermost in my mind. She must
+be my wife! I would think of nothing but that blissful culmination.
+
+It was not the time now to press for an affirmative answer. I must make
+myself more and more agreeable, more indispensable to her. When the hour
+came that she was about to leave me--when the alternative presented
+itself to her mind of going back to her unpleasant struggle for bread
+or becoming the consort of a man she had admitted was not distasteful to
+her--I had no fear of the result.
+
+The next stop after Dominica is Martinique and here I intended to make a
+stay of a month at least. My tickets were only purchased as far as this
+point. Our baggage was taken ashore and, as far as appeared, we had
+bidden a permanent farewell to the good ship Pretoria.
+
+Again, however, my plans were to be altered.
+
+The Hotel des Bains at St. Pierre, is not by any means a first-class
+house, but there is something quaint about it that to me has a certain
+charm. The meals are served in the French style and not at all bad. The
+beds are immense affairs, and I never yet saw a bed that was too big. In
+the centre of what might be called the patio, so Spanish is the
+architecture of the building, is a fish-pond, giving an air of coolness
+to the entire place.
+
+The patois of the servants is pleasing to my ear. I entered the house in
+high spirits, remembering a delightful visit there in the former time.
+The mulatto proprietor recognized me, as did his slightly lighter
+colored wife, presiding over her duties as only a woman of French
+extraction can.
+
+"A large room with two beds, I presume?" asked the proprietor, in
+French, bowing affably to Miss May.
+
+"He asks if we wish a large room with two beds," I said translating his
+words into English, smilingly, but she evidently did not consider the
+joke worth laughing at. So I said that we wished two rooms, as near
+together as possible.
+
+Madame looked up. She was searching, evidently, for the wedding ring
+that was absent from Marjorie's finger, to explain my decision. A
+servant was called to attend to us and presently we were established in
+very comfortable quarters.
+
+As I wanted Miss May to see the island as soon as possible, a carriage
+was summoned immediately, in which we took the road to Fort de France,
+where we viewed the statue of the Empress Josephine, erected to
+commemorate the fact that she was born in that vicinity. We had a nice
+lunch at a hotel there and took rooms to secure the siesta to which we
+had both grown accustomed. Then we drove back to St. Pierre, and arrived
+at the Hotel des Bains in season for dinner.
+
+The Carnival, which lasts here for four or five weeks, had already
+begun. The streets were crowded with masquers and sounds of strange
+music filled the air. There was something very odd in this imitation by
+the negro race of the frivolities of the Latin countries of Europe as a
+precedent of the forty days of Lent. Miss May viewed it with me from the
+balcony of a restaurant until nearly ten o'clock. A number of the
+steamer people were also there and I fancied we were the object of more
+than ordinary attention from their eyes.
+
+After reaching the hotel again I asked Miss May if she would mind being
+left alone for an hour or so, while I went to see a peculiar dance. I
+assured her that the house was absolutely safe. She made no objection
+and I went with a party of Pretoria people--no women--to witness the
+spectacle of which I had heard so much. It was not half as entertaining
+as I had expected, but there were several girls of the Métisse variety
+that well repaid me for going. The Métisse is a mixture of races, the
+original Carib prevailing, one of the most fetching types extant. They
+were dressed becomingly, in thin gowns, of which silk was at least one
+of the textures used. On their heads were party-colored handkerchiefs,
+draped as only a Martinique beauty can drape them.
+
+At the risk of being thought extravagant in my statement I must say they
+appeared to me strikingly handsome, both in their faces and their lithe
+figures. I was told that each of those I saw was the mistress of some
+well-to-do merchant of the place and strictly true to her lover. The
+dance was not of a kind one would wish to take his sisters to see, but
+it was evident the negroes put a less libidinous interpretation upon it
+than the Caucasian visitors. It was one, however, where "a little goes a
+long way," and before twelve I was in my room at the hotel.
+
+I had just lit the lamp when I was surprised to hear a knock at the door
+and opened it to find Miss May standing there, with an anxious
+expression on her face.
+
+"Don't undress," she said, in a slightly shaking voice. "I have been
+full of all sorts of fears since you went away. I want you to sit up
+awhile and talk to me."
+
+I accepted the amendment, as they say in deliberative bodies, with the
+greatest pleasure, for I would rather sit up with her than to sleep on
+the softest down ever made into a couch. She went to the window, which
+was innocent of glass, and threw open the wooden shutters.
+
+"What did you hear to disturb you, a mouse?" I asked, jocularly.
+
+"I don't know. The place is full of creepy sounds. The noise in the
+street continues and every step in the corridors makes the boards creak.
+Did you enjoy your dance?"
+
+"Not specially," I said. And then I told her of the Métisse women I had
+seen, praising their appearance.
+
+She did not seem to notice what I was saying. She acted as if in
+constant fear of something unpleasant.
+
+"You do not care to talk as much as you thought you did," I remarked.
+
+"No. I was tired and sleepy, but I did not like to be alone. Why can't
+I--there wouldn't be any harm, would there?--lie on this smaller bed
+just as I am, and you can get your sleep over yonder?"
+
+Conflicting sentiments filled my brain as I listened. What a strange
+woman she was! Alarmed at the least approach on my part, when we were on
+a steamer deck, a veranda or in a carriage; and now proposing to drop to
+slumber in my very bedroom, as if it were nothing at all!
+
+A dim suspicion that she meant more than she said forced itself upon me
+at first. Was I deceiving myself by paying too much attention to her
+protestations? Had she run away merely for the sake of being pursued?
+
+The best method to prove the truth or falsity of this was to take her
+strictly at her word, which I decided to do. I told her that the room
+and everything in it was at her disposal, as she very well knew. She
+might lie on one bed, or the other, or the floor, or sit in a chair. It
+was unfortunate that in this house, as I had already learned, there were
+no rooms with communicating doors, or I would get our quarters changed.
+She thanked me, as if I was doing her a particular favor, and, curling
+herself up as she had suggested, was soon, to all appearances, sound
+asleep.
+
+Then the thoughts she had communicated to me, about the strange noises
+in the house, entered my own head. I tossed on my pillow, from side to
+side, sat up and lay down again a hundred times. There were mice enough
+in the building to satisfy a cat for a year, if noises went for
+anything. Late lodgers perambulated the halls, met each other and
+whispered in tones much more disturbing than loud voices would have
+been. Somebody, doubtless a servant, entered the next room, the one
+Marjorie had occupied, and moved about there, as if in stocking-feet.
+She had left her lamp lighted and this individual blew it out, as I
+could tell from certain signs. When this was done he went away, but
+returned again presently, repeating the operation several times.
+
+All the nerves in my body quivered with the strain.
+
+I looked at my watch every half hour, by the light of the moon that
+shone clearly through the open window. I thought I must awaken my
+companion; the loneliness was becoming unbearable. Nothing but shame
+prevented me--shame and a disinclination to disturb her calm and regular
+breathing.
+
+At last I grew a little calmer. And the next I knew Marjorie was
+standing by my side, with one of her hands on my forehead and saying in
+whispers that if I was going to take breakfast I would have to think of
+getting up.
+
+It was after ten o'clock and I had slept the sleep of a tired man for
+seven hours!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+IT IS A STRANGE IDEA.
+
+
+The immediate result of the strange proceedings of the night was that
+Miss May asked me, before we had finished breakfast, whether I cared
+much about remaining in St. Pierre. She approached the subject with some
+timidity, saying she did not like to have me make any change in my
+programme on her account, but added that she would be very glad if I
+could, without too much sacrifice, go back to the Pretoria and make the
+break in my journey at some other point.
+
+"Why, my dear girl," I answered, immediately, "if you don't wish to stay
+here I shall never dream of asking you to do so. Pack up whatever things
+you have taken from your trunks and we will return to the steamer."
+
+She was gratified and showed it so in every line of her expressive face
+that I was more than repaid for my decision.
+
+"You are quite willing?" she said, interrogatively.
+
+"Entirely. Where would you suggest that we stop, Barbados? That is the
+next port where there is a fairly good hotel."
+
+After a little discussion we settled upon Barbados and began the labor
+of packing. I sent a boy off to the steamer with a request to the purser
+to give me a berth in some other stateroom than the one I previously
+had, and to reserve Miss May's room for her. I did not mean to get in
+with Wesson again if I could help it. That afternoon we spent at the
+market, which is the most interesting I have ever seen, until the time
+came to go on board.
+
+"As we may have to tell a falsehood to some inquisitive person," I said,
+when we were in the rowboat, "let us tell the same one. Fear of yellow
+fever quarantine is what led us to change our mind about remaining in
+Martinique; you understand?"
+
+"Yes," said Marjorie, dreamily. "We were to lie to outsiders, if
+necessary, and always tell the truth to each other."
+
+"Are you doing that as faithfully as you promised?" I asked.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked, with a violent start.
+
+"Nothing that should induce you to tip the boat over, as you just came
+near doing," I replied. "I merely asked a question."
+
+"You must believe I am deceiving you in some way, or you would not use
+that expression," she said, eyeing me narrowly.
+
+"I have a great deal more confidence in you than you have in me," was my
+answer.
+
+"You can say this--knowing where I passed last night!" she said,
+reproachfully.
+
+"Oh, I don't mean that sort of confidence," I remarked. "I mean the
+confidence that would make you promise to spend every night as long as
+you live under the same guardianship."
+
+A little sigh came from the lips of my companion, which had whitened
+suddenly; the kind of sigh that might mean almost anything. The boatmen
+were too busy to listen to us, even had they understood a word of
+English, which they did not.
+
+"Marjorie," I whispered, for I could not resist the desire to hear her
+say it, "don't you care for me, just a little bit?"
+
+"Please!" was the only word she vouchsafed, and I heeded the request.
+
+We came to the steamer's side, meeting many astonished gazes. I gave the
+requisite directions to the porters who came down the ladder for the
+baggage. The purser had assigned me another room, as requested, which
+was something. Wesson lifted his hat and said "Good-afternoon," when we
+met, but that was all. If he guessed that I had managed to avoid rooming
+with him by a set plan he made no remark.
+
+The purser of the Pretoria is young, handsome and obliging. His father,
+a custom-house officer from Canada, was making a tour on the boat and
+struck me as a fine type. I learned that another of his sons was a
+member of the Dominion Parliament.
+
+Capt. McKenzie came up to say he was glad I was going to be on his ship
+a little longer, which was agreeable, to say the least. I had noticed
+the Captain before, though I did not get well acquainted with him. He
+was the sort of man one likes to meet, straightforward, intelligent,
+understanding his business thoroughly. He knows how to treat the ladies
+among his passengers equally well, too, instead of devoting all his time
+to a favored group, like so many sea captains. This in itself is enough
+to make him a marked man in my memory.
+
+The only place we had to call before reaching the island of Barbados was
+at St. Lucia, where there was little to interest us on shore, but where
+I was glad to see a troop-ship just arrived from Africa, with a cargo of
+wives (more or less) of black troops that were serving near Sierra
+Leone, each one accompanied by a parrot and monkey, beside several small
+children. The British government had taken them from the West Indies to
+Africa with their lords (I mean the women) and was now returning them a
+little in advance of their dusky partners. I asked half a dozen at
+random if they had ever been legally married and the reply in every case
+was "No, suh," delivered with a certain pride. The West Indian negro has
+not yet added matrimony to his list of virtues.
+
+Early on the morning of the day our vessel anchored off Greytown, which
+is the capital of Barbados, I found on deck Mr. "Eddie" Armstrong,
+manager of the Marine Hotel, ready to answer questions in relation to
+that hostelry. "Eddie" told me that he had just the sort of rooms I
+required for myself and "Miss Carney," and put me under obligations by
+refraining from cheap insinuations, which nine men out of ten in his
+position would have made. Later he saw us through the custom-house with
+expedition and sent us in a carriage to the Marine, which is two miles
+from the centre, in a breezy and roomy location, just enough removed
+from the noise of the sea waves.
+
+Miss Byno, at the hotel counter, greeted me with a precise copy of the
+smile she had worn three years before, while Mr. Pomeroy, the
+proprietor, said he was glad to see me, exactly as if he meant it. Our
+apartment consisted of a sitting room and two connecting chambers on the
+second floor, which were clean, airy and cosy. It was the nearest to
+"house-keeping," as I remarked to Miss May, of any place we had found.
+
+"We must resume our genealogy to-morrow," she said, as she opened the
+table and set up the typewriting machine. "We have neglected it
+dreadfully."
+
+"No," I answered, for I had been developing a new plan. "I am going to
+lay that ponderous history on the shelf for the present and ask you to
+aid me in another and more interesting task. The family tree is in such
+shape that it can afford to rest awhile and I am sick to death of it."
+
+Then, as the anxious look came into her face--the look that came so
+easily when I said anything that lacked explicitness--I continued:
+
+"Don't laugh at me, but I am going to begin, to-morrow, a--novel!"
+
+"A--novel!" she repeated, wonderingly. "Do you write novels?"
+
+"I am going to write one, with your help," I said, decidedly. "It won't
+be exactly a novel, either, because it will be based on fact, pretty
+nearly all fact--in fact. What would you say to a novel based on the
+very trip we are making?"
+
+She was lost in thought for some minutes.
+
+"Are you serious?" she asked, finally.
+
+"Entirely."
+
+"But, do you think it would be interesting--to--any one else?"
+
+"I am sure of it. Of course I shall suppress our real names, but the
+rest I mean to put in print precisely as it has occurred. If I am not
+mistaken it will make the hit of the summer season."
+
+She was silent again.
+
+"Doesn't an author have to know--before he begins his story--how it will
+end?" she asked, after awhile.
+
+"I suppose he does. I certainly know how this one will."
+
+"How?"
+
+"The hero will marry the heroine, make her the happiest woman on earth,
+and they will live contentedly ever after."
+
+"Hardly exciting enough, I fear, to suit the popular taste," she
+commented. "A story, like a play, should have a 'villain.'"
+
+I laughed and said I would use Wesson for that character. I could, if
+necessary, invent some disreputable things and attach them to his
+pseudonym.
+
+"And how shall you describe me?" she asked, demurely.
+
+"You will have to wait and see. I shall make one important stipulation.
+Your part of this writing will be merely mechanical unless I call for
+aid. It is to be my story, not yours."
+
+"It is a strange idea," she said, watching my face. "Really, I think you
+had best keep on with your family tree. I am getting quite interested in
+the Alexanders and Colins who preceded the Dugalds and the Donalds."
+
+"No, I am determined," was my reply. "We will leave those aged gentlemen
+in their graves and begin the true history of the Marjories and the
+Dons. There will be time enough for both before you and I end our
+partnership."
+
+She responded dutifully at last that she was at my disposal, as far as
+the use of her time was concerned. It was agreed that on the very next
+morning the novel would be begun.
+
+"And you must not interrupt me, either with approval or disapproval?" I
+said. "For whatever is written I alone will be responsible."
+
+"That will be hard, when, as I suppose, you will discuss me more or
+less," she said, with a bewitching pout. "How do I know you will not
+make me out the most disreputable female that ever lived? But I promise.
+In fact, I don't see as there is anything else I can do. I am working
+for wages and I might as well offer to alter a business letter as a
+story in which I am merely an amanuensis."
+
+"I shall carry our original contract into the novel," I said. "There
+will be no falsehood. If I have suspected any person, or repented of my
+suspicions--if I have resolved not to fall in love, and afterwards done
+so--it will be all there. I shall record what has transpired with the
+accuracy of a Kodak, even if, like the sensitive plate, it has to be
+taken into a dark room for development."
+
+"Such a story ought to interest two persons at least," she said. "I hope
+you intend to send me a copy or let me know where I can buy one."
+
+"Every bookseller in the country will have it," I replied, "and the sale
+will be phenomenal. You didn't think I brought you out here just to
+throw away money, did you? I expect to make a fortune out of the
+portrait I am going to draw."
+
+She laughed lightly and we closed the subject for the time, quite agreed
+upon it. Before we went out she surprised me by asking if it would be
+convenient to let her have a little money, for I supposed she had the
+sixty dollars previously paid her, still in her purse. She had never
+expended a penny that I knew of, except the dollar she gave Thorwald.
+However, I said she could have any sum she liked; and she asked with
+some hesitation, if I could spare as much as a hundred dollars. She
+wanted to send it home and would consider it a great accommodation if I
+could pay her as far in advance as that would be. She said she would try
+not to ask me again for anything until we returned to New York.
+
+We took a carriage and went to the Barbados Branch of the Colonial Bank,
+where I could draw money on my letter of credit--if I was willing to
+wait long enough. I have visited various branches of that Bank in the
+Tropics and I will challenge any institution on earth to vie with it in
+slowness of waiting upon customers. I stood at least five minutes at the
+counter before any of the numerous clerks who sat on high stools
+condescended to notice me. Then one did see that I was there, and
+whispered to his nearest neighbor in a way that showed he thought it a
+rather good joke. Two or three men who seemed of an upper grade of
+clerks passed near enough for me to speak to them, but none deigned the
+least reply. After this had gone on until it grew rather monotonous I
+addressed the entire institution, from president to office boy, with a
+request to tell me if I was in a deaf and dumb asylum.
+
+The youngest clerk thereupon made his way slowly--nobody in the
+Colonial Bank could move otherwise--to where I stood and mildly inquired
+if I wished for anything. I told him that, strange as it might appear, I
+did. I said I wanted $350, and I wanted it d--(that is to say, very)
+quick. I said I was only going to stay in the island three or four weeks
+more and I wanted the money to pay my hotel bill when I left. He did not
+seem to grasp the idea exactly, but he did go to the farthest man in the
+room and direct his attention to me by pointing, after which he resumed
+his seat at his desk.
+
+The Farthest Man, in a way that showed he had a deep grudge against me
+for disturbing him, came more slowly than the first one across the room
+and asked me if I wanted anything. I threw my letter of credit on the
+counter and said what I had already said to the other, adding for
+emphasis the name of the deity to my previous observation. The clerk
+took the letter and went away with it. For some time he was engaged in
+exhibiting the thing to various clerks, all of whom regarded it with
+wonder, as if it was a piece of papyrus from some Egyptian tomb. At last
+he found a chap who took the letter of credit from him and divided the
+next five minutes between reading it with care and looking at me over
+his spectacles; having done which the latter clerk came to the counter
+where I stood and asked what denominations of money I would like.
+
+I told him, with some warmth (the thermometer stood at 85 in the room)
+that I would like part of it in Hardshell Baptist and the rest in
+African Methodist Episcopal, or any other old thing, but that I did want
+it in a hurry. He might give me a draft that could be used in New York
+for $100 of it, and the rest in sovereigns, in case he should decide, on
+reflection, to give me anything at all. These remarks he met with a
+vacant stare, but took from his desk, when he had again reached it, two
+pieces of paper, which he filled with duplicate statements, after the
+manner of his kind. Reading these over several times, to make sure he
+had committed no error, he took them to another man (apparently a sort
+of manager or director) who pretended, as long as he could, not to see
+his subordinate or to guess that he wished to attract his attention.
+Afraid, I suppose, to speak, the clerk finally coughed mildly behind his
+hand, at which the manager glared at him fiercely, and reaching out for
+the papers, studied them for a long time. When satisfied (though you
+wouldn't have thought it to look at him) he wrote something on each and
+the clerk returned to me.
+
+If I should detail the manner in which that fellow tried to evade giving
+me my money, now that he had a chance to do so, I fear I would not be
+believed. It ended, however, in my being sent to a cashier and getting
+what I wanted. Tired and hungry I returned to my carriage and was driven
+back to the Marine Hotel with Marjorie.
+
+"Here is your cash, or rather what can be used to get it," I said,
+drawing a long breath and handing her the draft. "When you have written
+your name on the back it will be good anywhere."
+
+"I don't know how to show my gratitude," she answered, her face
+flushing.
+
+"Excuse me. You know very well, but you refuse," I replied. "Now, here
+is something for you to think of. All the wicked things you do, the
+cruelties you practice, are to be spread before the novel reading public
+of America! That ought to soften your hard heart. You know 'All the
+world loves a lover,' but there is no proverb to fit a thoroughly
+heartless girl."
+
+"I would like you much better if you would not say such things," she
+pouted.
+
+"You speak as if you did like me a little, even now," I responded.
+
+"Like you!" she exclaimed. "That's just it. I like you ever and ever so
+much. How can I help it, when you are so kind to me? I like you and I
+want to continue to like you, Mr. Camran. I wish I could think you would
+never learn to dislike me."
+
+As I began an impassioned declaration that the day would never dawn, she
+started violently and bit her lips till the teeth marks showed plainly.
+In another instant I saw what had caused her mental disturbance; two men
+were looking at us from a street car that was trying with some success
+to reach the hill by the hotel before we did. Those men were Robert
+Edgerly and Horace Wesson.
+
+"Don't let him get you into trouble," she whispered, between her closed
+lips. "I heard him threaten you at St. Croix. Oh, how did he get here!"
+
+She referred, of course, to Edgerly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+NEW WORK FOR MY TYPEWRITER.
+
+
+It was plain that these two men had become closer friends than they
+appeared to be when on the Madiana. Wesson's pretence of regard for me
+did not sort with this affiliation with a fellow against whom he had
+been at such pains to warn me. They both seemed disconcerted at our
+meeting and I learned later that they had decided to stop at different
+houses. Edgerly registered at the Sea View, a small hotel situated about
+a quarter mile from the Marine, while Wesson came boldly to the latter
+hostelry and took a room there.
+
+However, as I did not own the house, I was not at liberty to prevent him
+living where he liked. I made up my mind to avoid him and let it go at
+that. It began to be apparent that his movements were influenced in a
+large degree by my own. I wondered if he meant to dog me from island to
+island during the rest of my journey.
+
+On the day following my arrival I began to dictate to Miss May the novel
+of which I had spoken, or rather a correct transcript of the proceedings
+that had brought me where I was. You already know the story, and if you
+care to read it again you have only to turn to the first chapter of this
+volume and begin at the point where she did. It took me the whole of
+that forenoon to finish the opening instalment, as I wanted to put it
+into a shape that would not necessitate its being re-written. Miss May
+proved a splendid amanuensis and, as requested, made no comments till
+the lunch hour arrived, though I could not help seeing that she was
+filled with interest as well as vivid curiosity.
+
+When I began to allude to Statia and to detail her conversations with
+me, my typewriter's face was at times suffused with pink. I fancied,
+when I came to the place where I asked Statia to be my wife, that
+Marjorie was about to refuse to continue, but she merely drew a very
+long breath and let her nimble fingers touch the requisite keys. When
+Tom's sister declined my offer I heard a light sigh that I took to mean
+relief. The tale of my visit to the Herald office and of writing the
+advertisement clearly interested her. She wrote rapidly when I told
+about the handsome woman who wished the acquaintance of an elderly
+gentleman, on whom to lavish her beautiful face and form, with her
+"object matrimony."
+
+When I said we would let that chapter suffice for the day she sat back
+from the table and uttered an uneasy little laugh.
+
+"It's not so bad," she was kind enough to say. "I may have to change my
+mind about your project. But are you going on as you have begun,
+exposing every thought--making the world your confidant. I am afraid few
+people could afford to do that."
+
+"Precisely," I said. "Men have written fiction so vividly that people
+have believed it truth. I am going to write truth in such a manner that
+people will take it for excellent fiction. Yes, I shall follow Othello's
+advice, 'nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice.' It is a
+camera you are operating, my dear, not a typewriting machine."
+
+That afternoon we took a long drive, to Farley Hill, which point is said
+to be nine hundred feet above the sea. I was tranquil enough now. We
+were alone except for the driver, whose back was toward us. The long
+stretches of sugar cane made a pleasing prospect. Every individual we
+met, mostly people of various degrees of negro lineage, addressed us
+pleasantly. The trade-winds from the east, that blow over Barbados six
+months in the year, brought ozone to our lungs and coolness to our
+faces. The road for the entire distance was smooth and hard. It was one
+of the most delightful drives I had ever taken and there was nothing to
+mar the occasion.
+
+We passed the evening after dinner in our joint sitting room, with the
+windows wide open and retired early.
+
+"You are the most honest man I ever met," said Miss May, the next
+morning, when she was in the midst of her work. She had just written
+this paragraph:
+
+    I have led a life as regards women that I now think worse than
+    idiotic. I have followed one after another of them, from pillar to
+    post, falling madly in love, getting the blues, losing heart, all
+    that sort of thing. I have never been intimately acquainted with a
+    pure, honest girl of the better classes, except one.
+
+"Was there ever another man who would put such things about himself in
+cold type?"
+
+"But, listen," I said, defensively. "See what follows:
+
+    I need sadly to be educated by a woman who will not hold out
+    temptation. I have an idea that a few months passed abroad, in the
+    society of such a woman, will make another man of me.
+
+"Marjorie, my life, I was right. It has made another man of me. I shall
+never be what I was before--never as long as I breathe."
+
+She shook her head, half doubtfully, but declined to discuss the subject
+further. When she came to Hume's question, "What is to keep you from
+falling in love with your secretary?" she seemed troubled until she had
+received the answer I gave him, declaring that my "secretary" would be
+sent home with a month's advance wages if she allowed me to forget that
+I was merely her employer. Then she broke the rule we had adopted, and I
+could not blame her.
+
+"You are evidently of a forgetful nature," she said. "The promise you
+made your friend does not agree with some of the foolish things you have
+tried to say to me."
+
+"But, my angel, I had not met you when I made that assertion. I was
+speaking of an imaginary woman. Men are not expected to do impossible
+things. Besides, you do not realize how very ill I had been. I think we
+shall get on better if you will reserve your comments till the end of
+each chapter, when I shall be delighted to hear as many as you like."
+
+She returned good naturedly to the machine, and recorded the balance of
+the chapter that is numbered two in this volume. When I said we had
+done enough for one day, she answered that she thought a little work in
+the afternoon would hurt neither of us; and that, for her part, she
+would be glad to begin again after lunch. It was plain that she was
+becoming interested and wanted to get on as fast as possible. Pleased at
+this, I consented to her plan. It was only half past eleven when she
+stopped and a rest of two or three hours would put us both right again.
+
+"I don't think I realized you had been so terribly ill," she said,
+taking a rocker and placing herself at ease.
+
+"I don't like to talk much about it, or even to think of it," was my
+reply, "but you may be sure it was hard enough. I would rather endure
+any pain than the awful depression that accompanies neurasthenia. When I
+recovered it seemed as if I had died and been resurrected. My old life
+was gone and I did not wish to recall it. The new one was full of new
+possibilities and dreams. How happy I shall be when they are all
+fulfilled!"
+
+"And were you so very--very wicked?" she asked, constrainedly. "I cannot
+believe it when I look at you. Vice ought to leave some distinguishing
+mark, but your face is as innocent as a babe's."
+
+"You are very kind to say so. But I want to talk about that still less
+than about my illness. Both of them have come to an end."
+
+"Let us trust so," she said, gently.
+
+How gently and sweetly she did say it!
+
+The third chapter, which we did that day before taking our drive, called
+for no interruption on her part with one exception, and that was
+because she did not quite catch one word. It was in relation to the
+letter of credit that I had brought.
+
+"Did you say two thousand?" she asked, "or three?"
+
+"Two thousand," I answered, and she went on rapidly, talking down the
+words as they fell from my lips. The account of Charmion's performance
+at Koster and Bial's disturbed her visibly, but she went bravely to the
+end.
+
+"Do you really mean that this exposure took place in a New York theatre,
+at a regular performance?" she asked, when I said that was the end.
+
+"Exactly as described."
+
+"It is shameful!" she exclaimed, angrily. "If women had charge of the
+theatres such things would not be permitted."
+
+"You forget," I replied, "that half the audience were women--ladies, if
+you please."
+
+She bit her lip.
+
+"You ought not to put it in the story, at any rate," she said. "It will
+only encourage people with debased minds to go to view it."
+
+"By the time my book is published there will probably be an entire
+change of programme," said I. (I wonder if there will.)
+
+Another drive, another chatty evening, another morning, and we went on
+again. Miss May smiled occasionally as I told of my preparations for
+making this voyage and of engaging a berth for her before I had even
+received her reply to my advertisement in the Herald. Then she listened
+with interest to the letter (the first one) I received from Miss
+Brazier, breaking our rule enough to remark, "That's a bright girl." I
+took her own reply from my pocket to give it verbatim, upon which she
+said--
+
+"Have you kept that all this time? Tear it up now and throw it in the
+wastebasket."
+
+"Tear it up?" I echoed. "Money wouldn't buy that little note!"
+
+When the end of the fourth chapter was reached, and we took our noonday
+rest, she spoke at some length about Statia. She wanted me to tell her
+more than appeared in the story. That was the kind of woman one could
+admire, she declared.
+
+"And yet, how can I judge a girl who has always been under the watchful
+eye of a kind father or brother?" she added, thoughtfully. "Who can say
+what evil might have crept into her life, had she been compelled to face
+the cruel world and fight for her bread?"
+
+"But you have done that," I protested, "and are to-day as sweet and pure
+as if all the fathers and brothers on earth formed your guard."
+
+She turned on me suddenly.
+
+"How do you know?" she demanded. "You know nothing whatever about me.
+Oh, Mr. Camran, there are things in my life that would make a novel even
+more interesting than this one of yours. But I could not sit down and
+expose my errors as you do. I could not! no, I could not!"
+
+I said that all the errors of her young life must be wholly in
+imagination. She was like some child at a first confession, trying to
+magnify a baby fault into goods big enough for its new market. She made
+no reply, but went silently into her chamber where she remained till
+lunch time. When she came out the matter had slipped my mind and did not
+recur to me till long afterward.
+
+The fifth chapter occupied us during most of the afternoon. Miss May
+showed great interest when Mr. Wesson appeared on the scene and much
+more when she herself was first presented. My intense anxiety to meet
+her seemed to strike her as odd, for she uttered little "oh's" and
+"ah's" when I described our first meeting. When she came to the
+expression "she was not handsome," she said "I should think not!" in a
+tone of disdain.
+
+At the end of the chapter she had to talk about it as usual.
+
+"Well, it is something to see one's photograph, as it appears to
+another," she said, smiling. "I don't understand, though, how I managed
+to produce such a favorable impression. I really had little idea I
+should be the successful applicant when you left my room that day. I
+wasn't even certain that I ought to accept, if you offered it to me. I
+had never heard of an arrangement exactly like it. We were strangers to
+each other. I had a place that I detested, but how could I be sure you
+would prove a more considerate employer than the one I was to leave? Had
+it not been for my desperate plight I must have told you frankly that I
+could not go."
+
+"You are not sorry--yet?" I whispered.
+
+"Oh, no! And you can prevent my ever being sorry, if you will."
+
+It was useless to begin the old argument. I went down to see if the
+carriage was ready. Wesson sat in the hallway, where the draft of air
+was strongest, and did not see me until I was close to him. When he
+realized my proximity he closed the book in his hands with a bang and
+looked much confused. But he had not performed the action quickly enough
+for his purpose.
+
+I had seen what he was reading:
+
+It was a copy of "Our Rival the Rascal," undoubtedly the one Eggert had
+missed just before we left St. Thomas.
+
+I said nothing, but I thought a great deal. A man who would steal one
+thing would steal another. If Wesson had carried off that book from the
+dining room of my host Eggert--
+
+A mile from the hotel I decided to convey to my companion's mind the
+suspicions that filled my own.
+
+"You remember that book I had one evening at Eggert's--the book you did
+not wish to look at," I began.
+
+"That horrible thing!" she exclaimed, with a shiver, nodding an
+affirmative.
+
+"Just before we left Eggert's, you know, he missed the volume. Nobody
+had been in the house except you and me, and Wesson. Eggert knew me too
+well to suspect that I would be guilty of such a theft, and yet he was
+puzzled. Why, Marjorie, what is the matter with you?"
+
+My last expression was called forth by a strange look on the face of my
+companion. She fell against me as if too weak to sit up, and yet her
+eyes were open and not devoid of intelligence.
+
+"My darling!" I cried. "You are ill. Let us return at once."
+
+"No," she said, in a whisper. "It is only temporary. But please say
+nothing more about the book. If anybody took it--ugh!--it must have been
+by accident."
+
+"But, my dear," I explained, when she seemed more comfortable, "you must
+let me tell you of a discovery I have made. I saw that book--"
+
+Rousing herself with difficulty Miss May looked me in the eyes like a
+sleep-walker.
+
+"Don!" she said, vehemently. "Don! Sometimes you tell me you love me!
+How can you then persist in this torture! I cannot bear to think of that
+book, to hear it spoken of! You may call me foolish, and probably I am.
+There are women who are afraid of snakes, lizards, rats; not one of
+those creatures could disturb my nerves. But when I think of men that
+live by crime, that rob and steal--and murder--it is as if the hands of
+one of them was on my own throat!"
+
+Soothingly I promised to be careful in the future--sadly I spoke my
+regrets at the pain I had caused her. I knew too well the vagaries of
+ill-balanced nerves not to understand that they require no reason to set
+themselves on edge.
+
+I bade the driver cut our ride short and we drove back to the hotel in
+nearly perfect silence.
+
+But I could not help my thoughts. If Wesson had stolen that book, what
+was there to show that he had not stolen my diamond, and those of
+Marjorie and of Miss Howes? What could I think but, with his almost
+exclusive opportunities on the steamer, he was the guilty man? I
+recalled his offer to watch from our cabin, his assumption of the rôle
+of a sleuth-hound--undoubtedly to deceive me. What was he doing at
+Barbados unless to watch for another chance to ply his profession?
+
+The more attention I gave to the matter the clearer everything grew.
+
+Undoubtedly Wesson was, on general principles, much more than a match
+for me in shrewdness, but when I started to do a thing I usually
+accomplished it.
+
+I resolved that if he was the thief, I would trace his work home to him
+and make him restore the fruits of his larceny.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+"YOU WERE IN MY ROOM."
+
+
+Letters that came the next morning were hardly read, so interested was I
+in my plan to entrap my sly fellow passenger. They were from Tom and
+Statia Barton and from a club friend who had obtained my address from
+Tom. Statia's had a tone of melancholy that she seemed trying to
+conceal. Tom's was full of cheer, with wholesome advice about keeping
+well now I had got into that condition. They had received my first
+letters, mailed at St. Thomas, and congratulated me on escaping what
+both persisted in calling the dangers of the sea.
+
+How to expose the knavery of Wesson--that was all I could think of
+consecutively. I told Miss May that I would not dictate to her that
+morning and she took the opportunity to drive down town, to do, as she
+said, a little shopping. Wesson also took a carriage about the same time
+and I heard him tell the clerk, Miss Byno, he would probably be gone
+till noon at least.
+
+When they were both out of sight I began to haunt the vicinity of the
+Boston man's room, which was on the same floor as mine, though much
+further down the corridor. When no one was near I tried the door, in a
+foolish hope that he might have left it unlocked, which, of course, he
+had not done.
+
+If I could get ten minutes alone there I believed I should discover
+something. At the same time I realized that I was running considerable
+risk. Should I be discovered in the chamber of another man, rummaging
+among his things, the fact that I suspected him of having robbed me
+would be a poor excuse in the eyes of a magistrate.
+
+Still, anxious to convince myself, I was ready to dare even the danger
+of arrest and punishment. It was a very dangerous proceeding, as I now
+view it, and only to be justified by success. At the time, nothing could
+have dissuaded me from my purpose.
+
+As I strolled back to my own room a chambermaid met me, with a bunch of
+keys in her hand, and she went directly to Mr. Wesson's apartment. For
+the next twenty minutes, she remained there, engaged in the customary
+work of her profession, and then came out and began to turn the key in
+the lock behind her. This was my time, if ever. Hastening to her side I
+told her in low tones that I wished to play a little joke on my friend
+who occupied the room and wanted her to leave the door unlocked for an
+hour or so, or until I called her. To emphasize my desire I exhibited a
+sovereign and put it into the hand which she held doubtfully toward me.
+
+"I only want to go in a little while," I repeated, trying to force a
+laugh. "It will be all right. Don't say a word to any one."
+
+The woman looked at the coin, representing a month's wages to her, as if
+to make sure it was genuine. It probably never entered her head that my
+intention was other than the one I stated. It was not likely that a
+gentleman of my cloth would have a felonious design or carry it out in
+this manner. I had only to add that if it was discovered that the door
+was unlocked I would take all the blame, and the woman slunk away
+without a word.
+
+The first thing I noticed after entering and locking the door behind me
+was the copy of "Our Rival, the Rascal," that had been stolen from the
+Quarantine Station. It lay on a table and I took it up with interest. On
+the fly leaf was written Eggert's name and address, proving conclusively
+that it was the one I supposed. The baggage in the room consisted of a
+steamer trunk and a "dress-suit case," both of which were locked. A
+moment later I had tried both locks with keys from my pocket and
+found--to my joy--that the one on the trunk yielded to the pressure.
+
+I felt awfully uncomfortable, to tell the truth, as I lifted the lid of
+that trunk. I glanced at the door, wondering if some prying eye might be
+at the key-hole. Getting a towel from the rack I covered the aperture.
+The blinds at the window were shut, so there was no other place from
+which I could be observed, if I except the high heaven above, and the
+rectitude of my purpose justified me there, in my belief.
+
+Carefully I lifted the articles in the receptacle, one by one. They were
+the ordinary things to be expected in the possession of a gentleman
+travelling. I had nearly relinquished my search when a little packet
+wrapped in brown paper, attracted my notice. Taking it up I pinched it
+carefully for an instant, and then, becoming excited, untied the string.
+
+How my heart did beat! For there lay before my eyes the bracelet stolen
+from Miss Howes, the earrings that Miss May had worn and the stud
+purloined from my bag! Everything, in short, that we had lost, except
+the little turquoise ring.
+
+I put that package in my pocket, shut and locked the trunk, and was
+preparing to quit the room when I heard a turn at the handle of the
+door. Who could be there, at that time of day? Was it possible Wesson
+had given up his drive? or had the chambermaid returned with some
+article needed? The fumbling continued for another minute and then a
+distinct, though rather low knock followed. I call it low, for
+subsequent judgment so deems it, but at the time it was as loud to my
+ears as a pistol shot. Still I kept quiet, for there was nothing to be
+gained by jumping from the frying pan into the fire. If it was Wesson I
+fancied I had a card to play that would prevent his putting me to much
+trouble. If it was any one else they would certainly leave when they
+received no answer to their summons.
+
+The person outside renewed the knock two or three times and then moved
+slowly away. As soon as the noise of his steps ceased I opened the door
+cautiously and stepped out. It took several seconds before I could
+remove the key from the inside and put it in the aperture toward the
+hall. Before I could turn it, I was more than disgusted to see a face
+peering around the nearest corner and taking in the whole proceeding. It
+was the face of Robert Edgerly!
+
+"Well, well!" he said, coming toward me and leering in an exasperating
+way. "I took the liberty of calling you a cur the last time we met, but
+I didn't think--"
+
+He stopped and laughed provokingly.
+
+"It makes very little difference what you think," I retorted, white with
+anger. "I can explain this to the only person interested, whenever he
+chooses to inquire. As he seems to be a friend of yours, you may tell
+him so, if you see him first, with my compliments."
+
+He strode toward me threateningly, his right hand wandering toward his
+hip pocket.
+
+"Have a care!" he said. "You pretend to be a gentleman, and I find you a
+sneak-thief. Give me another word and I will denounce you to the
+proprietor of the hotel!"
+
+Perhaps he had a right to assume that air. I was not in a very
+creditable position; but I did not think of this till afterward. He had
+called me names, had threatened me with violence in the most
+contemptuous manner. I sprang at his throat with my right hand extended
+to grasp it and had I succeeded I fear his lease of life would have been
+short. He was, however, too agile for me. Springing backward he drew a
+revolver, and the sight of that steelly barrel with five cartridges
+behind it stopped my headlong course like magic.
+
+"Not quite so fast as you were, eh!" he said, between his teeth. "You
+know a little joker when you see one. Now, turn your face the other way,
+put your hands to your side like a whipped boy, and march to the end of
+the corridor. I will follow you; and when I feel sure you are not up to
+some scurvy trick--of which I quite believe you capable--I will let you
+crawl to your room and continue the wonderful genealogy of the idiots
+from whom you sprung."
+
+I had thought rapidly since he first produced the weapon. I had no
+anxiety to be murdered. He had the "drop" on me beyond question. My own
+revolver was in the bottom of one of my trunks, not even loaded.
+Discretion was the better part of valor then, if ever since the world
+was made. Had he not uttered his closing sentence I would have submitted
+to the humiliation he outlined. But I have a reverence for my ancestors
+of the Camran race that amounts almost to worship. So far as I can learn
+I am the only scion of the house who has lowered that distinguished
+name. To have them dubbed "idiots" was more than I could bear, and I
+would have died in their defense as cheerfully as any of the Alexanders
+whose bones whitened the battle-fields of ancient days.
+
+With a curse I again threw myself upon Edgerly and so quickly that he
+had no time to discharge his weapon. We had a fierce struggle on the
+floor of the hall, which I soon saw was going against me. Physically I
+was still, with my long illness behind me, no match for my adversary. He
+was much the cooler of the two and I knew that he was merely waiting
+till he could get one hand free from my clasp to turn that revolver
+against my body.
+
+In fact, he had nearly succeeded in doing this. I saw a smile of
+satisfaction creeping over his features and realized that nothing but a
+miracle could save me. We had not made enough noise to attract attention
+and no one happened to come along the corridor. The miracle arrived,
+however, or I should in all probability not be writing these lines. I
+heard a springing step behind me, saw a form bending over both of us
+and a strong hand wrenching the pistol from Edgerly's grasp. Then a
+voice that I recognized as that of Wesson said:
+
+"Come, gentlemen, this is carrying your disagreements a little too far."
+
+We rose to our feet, both pretty well winded. Then, to complicate the
+situation still more, Miss May appeared in the hallway. She stopped
+humming a light air, as she saw us, and turned deathly pale, as was her
+habit when alarmed.
+
+"Hush! Say nothing," whispered Wesson, to both of us at once. "Not a
+word, remember!"
+
+I thought it very wise of him and was more than willing to follow his
+advice. But Edgerly was not so easily quieted.
+
+"I caught this fellow creeping out of your chamber," he said, without
+mincing matters. "Yes," he added, as if he thought he might be
+contradicted, "there is the key he used in the lock now."
+
+Wesson looked strangely at me.
+
+"I have no doubt Mr. Camwell can explain his conduct," he said, and
+again I noticed the thoughtfulness he used, in referring to me by the
+name I had registered at Cook's office. "If he will consent to accompany
+me to my room for a few minutes I shall be glad to hear anything he has
+to say."
+
+Edgerly sneered again.
+
+"Camwell!" he echoed. "Why, that isn't even his right name. It will do
+to travel under, but when he signs checks he writes at the end the
+words, 'Donald Camran.'"
+
+"How do you know that?" asked Wesson, in a startled way. "You are
+making some grave charges."
+
+"He tells the truth," I interposed, anxious to end the scene. "The name
+he gave is my right one. Why I used the other is a private matter. I
+shall be glad to accede to your suggestion, Mr. Wesson, and hold an
+interview with you in private."
+
+"If you and Miss Carney will excuse us, then--" said Wesson,
+tentatively.
+
+"Miss Carney!" echoed Edgerly, with a laugh that made me half inclined
+to try conclusions with him again, now that we were less unevenly
+matched. "Miss Carney! Ha, ha!"
+
+Wesson was evidently watching us, prepared to interfere again, should it
+be necessary. He managed to end the affair by a display of finesse,
+asking Edgerly to meet him at two o'clock at the Sea View House, and
+saying pleasantly to Miss May that he would keep me but a few minutes. I
+saw the other two going in opposite directions before I followed the
+Bostonian into his room, which seemed the only thing I could do after
+what he had heard about me.
+
+"Well?" said Wesson, good naturedly, when he had closed the door and, at
+my suggestion, locked it. "You were in my room? Yes. Do you care to tell
+me why? I leave it entirely to you, Mr. Camran. If you choose to tell,
+well and good. If not I shall be perfectly satisfied."
+
+His courtesy was complete and, knowing what I did, seemed to me well
+advised.
+
+"Mr. Wesson," I said, "you have just saved me from a disagreeable and
+possible dangerous situation. That man had a loaded revolver--I had
+nothing. He is in the best of health; I, as you know, have recently
+recovered from a long illness. Had you appeared two minutes later it is
+no exaggeration to say you would probably have found a dead man on that
+floor."
+
+"In that case I am glad I came when I did," he replied, affably. "What
+was the row about?"
+
+I told him briefly of the previous encounter on the balcony at St. Croix
+and the incentives to the present affair.
+
+"Strange!" he answered. "There doesn't seem much to found a murderous
+attack on in those two things, does there? Had you never met him before
+this trip?"
+
+"Never."
+
+"How did he know your right name?"
+
+I explained the exchange of my check for the cash he won of me in the
+smoking room of the Madiana.
+
+A peculiar look came into Wesson's face.
+
+"That was about five weeks ago," he said, musingly.
+
+"About that."
+
+He covered his eyes with one hand a few moments as if in deep thought.
+When he looked up he had regained the pleasant expression with which the
+interview began.
+
+"Now, about your being in my room, Mr. Camran. Do you wish to say
+anything in regard to that?"
+
+I took from my pocket the package I had found in his trunk and silently
+held it up for his inspection.
+
+"You intend to retain those things, I presume," he said, with excessive
+politeness.
+
+"With your permission," I answered, not to be outdone in courtesy by a
+thief.
+
+"Certainly," he said. "And the bracelet, will you do me the favor to
+find some way in which it may be returned to the owner?"
+
+What a cool rascal he was! I could not help admiring his _sang froid_,
+the like of which I had never seen or heard of.
+
+"The shirt stud, I think is yours," he went on, affably, "and the
+earrings belong to your cousin? Yes, that was my impression. Let me, if
+I may be so bold, advise you to keep them under better surveillance in
+the future. Now, that I may not be blamed by Miss Carney for keeping you
+too long, let me say that if you have finished we will call this
+interview at an end, except for one question. Do you intend to do
+anything disagreeable about the matter?"
+
+Still as cool as an iceberg, as unruffled as a bank of pansies.
+
+"I shall do nothing," I answered. "The service you rendered a few
+moments ago puts me under a great obligation. Rest assured, sir, you
+have nothing to fear from me."
+
+He walked hospitably to the door and opened it.
+
+"You had best avoid another rupture with Mr. Edgerly," he said, in a
+friendly tone. "He is quick tempered and, as you have well observed, you
+are not strong enough to contend with him. As to pistols, he is a dead
+shot. He can knock a penny off a wall at two hundred paces."
+
+I thanked him for his advice and went to find Miss May, whom I was not
+surprised to discover in an excited state, and bathed in tears.
+
+"Oh," she cried, when she saw me, "let us return to New York as soon as
+we can! You have had nothing but trouble ever since I have been with
+you. Take me to America and end this unfortunate agreement of ours. I
+knew you and that man would have trouble again. If the other one had not
+appeared you would now be dead, and he--"
+
+Her sobbing broke out again, terrifically. All at once it occurred to me
+that the news of the recovered jewels would partially comfort her.
+
+"Marjorie," I said, "Marjorie, my love! There is a silver lining to the
+cloud to-day, a golden lining, a diamond lining. Yes," as she looked
+intently at me through her tears, "I know where my stud is, and your
+earrings, and Miss Howes'--"
+
+Instead of giving the joyful cry I expected my companion uttered a long
+wail and lay limp in the arms I stretched out to catch her.
+
+I cursed my indiscretion and, laying her gently on a sofa, rang for
+aid.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+TOO MUCH EXCITEMENT.
+
+
+It seemed as if I never would learn that my companion could not bear
+sudden surprises, or mysterious hints. Her delicate nature took alarm at
+the least departure from the conventional. Before the arrival of the
+servant I was tempted to imprint on her pale cheeks the kisses she had
+always denied me, but a spark of manliness still left in my composition
+prevented.
+
+Her swoon was but momentary. Before the slow bell boy could arrive she
+had roused herself and begged me to admit no one, saying she would be
+all right again in a few moments. Realizing that I had probably rung
+already, she asked me to make some excuse to the servant when he arrived
+and not to open the door wide enough for him to see her. When the boy
+had come and gone I began my apologies in the most profuse way.
+
+"Do not excuse yourself, I beg," she answered. "I was very foolish. You
+speak of being a convalescent, but you will begin to think I am the
+invalid. I will try my best not to disturb you again."
+
+She was very sober and though she was able to sit upright I saw that her
+strength was returning but slowly. She would not go down to lunch when
+the bell rang, and I sent her up a little toast and tea, which she
+barely touched. As the evening approached I asked if she felt able to
+drive, but she said if I did not mind she would rather I would go alone,
+and I complied with her suggestion. On my return two hours later, she
+was up and about, with a little of the old color in her face. I
+connected her improved state, in a certain way, with information that I
+received later from Mr. Armstrong, that Edgerly had left the island on a
+steamer bound directly for New York. Her anxiety lest he and I should
+come again into collision was thus abated. In fact, I had never seen her
+so bright at dinner as she was that day, her appetite good and her
+manner actually vivacious.
+
+The next day being Sunday we went to a church not far from the hotel,
+where I was struck as before by the devotional bearing of my companion.
+Not being an Episcopalian, I have always considered it quite a feat to
+know just when to kneel and to rise, to find the place in the prayer
+book, to stand and sit at the right places. I watched Miss May
+carefully, doing exactly as she did, though, I am afraid, the effort
+detracted from the religious effect on my mind. When the affair was over
+we walked back to the Marine and went over to the little Park, called
+for some unknown reason "Hastings Rocks," the entrance of which is
+guarded by a black Cerberus who demands a penny from each visitor. Here
+we sat and looked out on the sea, and my mind reverted to Edgerly, now a
+hundred miles or so to the north of us.
+
+If Wesson had only accompanied him, I thought, there would be nothing to
+disturb the even tenor of my life. Why did he continue to remain at the
+hotel?
+
+He could not hope to rob us again; and he must know that the promise I
+had given him would not tie my tongue if any other guest of the house
+should report that his valuables were missing. Perhaps he was waiting
+now for some steamer bound to South America or Colon. I sincerely hoped
+that, if this was so, the boat would arrive at an early date.
+
+Monday I rose very early, and in pursuance to an arrangement made the
+previous night, took a carriage before breakfast with Miss May. We drove
+in our bathing suits and bath robes to a beach about a mile up the road,
+where we had a delicious bath in the surf. The sight of her again in
+that attire aroused all the masculine forces in me and made me resolve
+anew that I would win her for my life mate if there was any possibility
+of so doing. A more exquisite shape it has never been my fortune to
+meet, and I must confess I am not exactly an amateur at that business.
+She seemed wholly oblivious of the effect her charms created, but
+declared with bright eyes that there was no pleasure in the world half
+as great as bathing in salt water of that temperature.
+
+After breakfast the typewriting machine was put in use again and that
+day, urged on by Miss May's statement that she was just in the trim for
+work, we accomplished what are catalogued as the fifth, sixth and
+seventh chapters of the book you are reading.
+
+Marjorie was plainly interested to a high degree now in every word that
+I gave her to write. The tale of the excited night I passed after first
+meeting her, my half-formed resolves to give up the plan of taking a
+companion on my voyage, the celerity with which I changed my mind the
+following morning, upon awakening, the reception of the next letter she
+sent me, with my comments thereon, kept her as entertained as if the
+story had indeed been fiction. She laughed a little when I admitted
+starting the letter in reply beginning "My Darling, I cannot breathe
+until once more I am in your loved presence," and paused to remark that
+she had never known a man so excitable and uncontrollable. My meeting
+with Statia on Broadway seemed to affect her strongly. All her
+sympathies were evidently with that young lady, for she shook her head
+and uttered several sighs as I told how we parted after her withdrawal
+of the invitation to call at her house.
+
+Then came the chapter in which my amanuensis had said at last, "I am
+going, of course," with the stipulations she had made, her cheeks
+blushing, as to the conduct she would demand from me. Marjorie smiled
+again at the letter I wrote to Alice Brazier, in which I tried to
+describe my "secretary," and the dream I had that night, but she grew as
+sober as possible when I read the second letter from Miss Brazier,
+adjuring me to treat my fellow voyager with courtesy and honor. The
+solemn resolutions I made to comply with this request pleased her, as
+did the story of Tom Barton's visit to my rooms and his plan for a
+_modus vivendi_ between Statia and me. Then she had to copy, at my
+dictation, her own long letter explaining why, if she was to travel as
+my relation, more money than I had given her would be required.
+
+At the end she commented aloud on what she called the mercenary tone of
+that note.
+
+"You had a good many doubts of me, first and last," she added.
+
+"First only," I reply, "not last. I'd like to know what could make me
+doubt you now."
+
+The chapter ended (the ninth chapter) with the sentence before the one
+that now closes it and Miss May rose from her long task with a sigh of
+relief.
+
+Tuesday, both of us being still in excellent trim, the dictation was
+resumed. That day she finished the tenth, eleventh and twelfth chapters,
+smiling at the right places and looking pensive when there was occasion.
+Once she interpolated, "I like that Tom Barton--he is made of true
+metal," which naturally pleased me. The nervous wait I had at her rooms
+made her shake her head in a way that meant much, and the excessive joy
+with which I greeted her when she did come sobered her considerably.
+
+"Have you not drawn the long bow a little here?" she asked, pausing.
+"You need not think it necessary to stretch your sensations just because
+the object of them happens to be their recorder."
+
+"If anything I have understated them," I replied, "Language is wholly
+inadequate to describe the constant anxiety I felt till you were
+actually on board the Madiana. But proceed. If I get on that strain I
+shall never be able to finish."
+
+My account of our shopping, with our subsequent visit to the restaurant,
+made her remark that I was a close observer. She said there was not a
+thought in her head that I had not photographed.
+
+"Who but a born novelist," she said, "would have deemed it worth while
+to tell that I objected to having the door of our little dining-room
+locked?"
+
+"It is merely to show the reader another proof of your excessively
+proper conduct," I replied, "and give him an opportunity to appreciate
+your true character."
+
+"You have mistaken your vocation, after all," she said. "You would make
+a splendid detective. Not even the smallest thing escapes you. You make
+me think of a hunter on a trail. A broken twig, a nearly indiscernible
+print on the moss, a leaf brushed aside, show you where the creature has
+passed."
+
+"The only wild creatures I have ever hunted were 'dears,'" I answered,
+laughing. "Don't you think such earnestness in the chase deserves its
+full reward?"
+
+"The reward is all very well for the hunter," she said, solemnly, "but
+for the deer there is only the bullet and the knife."
+
+She had cornered me there. Instead of trying to straighten out the
+muddle I went on with my work. Miss May was plainly affected when I told
+of the remorse I had felt for my ill-spent life, after reading the note
+she had left on the typewriting machine at her first visit to my rooms.
+The concluding paragraph of the tenth chapter, as it now appears, had
+not been written then.
+
+Wednesday we did but one chapter--the eleventh. I noticed that my
+companion appeared fatigued when it was finished and I refused to let
+her continue. She was intensely surprised when I identified Miss Howes.
+I detected a repellant shrug of the shoulders as she realized the kind
+of woman who had occupied the stateroom with her during her voyage from
+New York to St. Thomas. She showed great interest when I described my
+fellow passengers at table, and grew white when I came to the point of
+the larceny of her earrings. Fearing that I would excite some
+unpleasant memory I made no comment whatever on the occurrence beyond
+what was in the MS. she was writing.
+
+She wanted very much to continue her work, but I would not listen. She
+was too evidently ill. There is a limit to what even the best natured
+amanuensis can perform with impunity.
+
+When we went on, the next day, I tried to give out my dictation in a
+slower manner, to conserve Marjorie's force, but it was a difficult
+thing to do. Her speed was naturally great and I had got into the habit
+of speaking in much my ordinary manner. She told me twenty times that I
+might dictate more rapidly, and her fingers flew over the keys at a
+speed that astonished me. All she would consent to do was to let me
+order a glass of wine, from which she sipped occasionally. She declared
+that my "novel" was so diverting that she was anxious to get as far
+along as possible.
+
+The description of my games of cards with Edgerly caused her to have
+frequent recourse to the wine, but the meeting with Eggert and his
+family came to relieve the strain. She grew uneasy again when I told of
+sitting by her bed and bathing her forehead; and reddened like a peony
+when I remarked how lovely she appeared in her bathing costume that
+morning we took our first bath on the beach of the Quarantine Station.
+
+"Must you put in such things as that?" she asked, pleadingly. "I think
+it spoils what was getting to be a very entertaining story."
+
+"I can leave out nothing," I answered. "Really, Marjorie, you cannot
+conceive how rapturously beautiful--"
+
+She shivered as if a cold wind had blown on her.
+
+"Are you dictating?" she asked. "I think we had best keep to the text."
+
+"Then do not attempt to go outside your path and province," I said.
+"Once more, this is my story, not yours, remember. Here is something
+that will interest you."
+
+I gave her the concluding paragraph of that chapter--the one recording
+the sudden and unexpected appearance of Mr. Wesson.
+
+She went on very quietly after that, though the frequent allusions to my
+growing affection disturbed her visibly.
+
+Every evening after our work we went for a drive. On most of these
+occasions we met somewhere on the road a blue-eyed man and a brown-eyed
+woman, riding in a cart, drawn by two horses, hitched tandem. I often
+wonder what has become of them; whether they have decided to go through
+the world tandem--one in front of the other--or side by side, as I used
+to see them there. Sometimes they rode bicycles, which they handled
+equally well. When the darkness settled their lamps were lit, according
+to the local laws, and the lanterns looked like fireflies as they spun
+along the hard roads. Perhaps that is what Froude saw which made him say
+in his book that there are fireflies in Barbados--who can tell? The
+woman was rather handsome, with a well rounded form, and a mouth made
+for kisses, though she assured me once that none had ever rested there.
+If true, it is a sad case of luscious fruit going to waste on a tree
+well worth climbing.
+
+With the exception of the following Sunday we worked every day. Miss May
+was getting more and more used to hearing her every act recorded and
+made few interruptions. I warned her when I came to the episode of the
+book on criminology and she steadied her nerves and went through it like
+a heroine. She did demur a little--hesitating and flashing an appealing
+look at me--when I came to her admission that she wanted to kiss me
+quite as much as I wished her to do so, and she breathed heavily when I
+told what had caused me to decide that, even if permitted, I must refuse
+the boon. When I reached the place where I had to admit reading the
+letter she wrote to her friend Helen she stopped short and we looked for
+some seconds at each other.
+
+"That is the only really dishonorable thing I have known of you," she
+said, reproachfully.
+
+"I do not defend it," was my reply; "but I would not give up the
+happiness it caused me for all the world."
+
+"You surely cannot remember that letter, word for word!"
+
+"I believe I can give it literally."
+
+"If you have any doubt, I will get the original for you," she said.
+"When I came to read it over I thought it wiser not to send it. I wrote
+another in its stead and kept the one you saw--as a warning for the
+future."
+
+She arose, went to her bedroom, procured the letter, and brought it to
+me.
+
+"But it came from your heart, my love," I said, bending toward her.
+"That is what gives it value. And all this time you have been pretending
+that my slightest sentiment of affection must be repelled. Have you
+forgotten our compact, dear one? We were only to lie to outsiders, never
+to each other. Marjorie, once more, listen to me. I love you! I want you
+for my wife. Here, with this confession before us, need we go on longer
+without a definite understanding? Why not say that little word that will
+make me the happiest man who breathes?"
+
+I had not uttered all this without many attempts on her part to stop the
+flow of words. When I finished she turned her chair directly toward me
+and spoke with firmness, though her face was as white as I had ever seen
+it.
+
+"Mr. Camran, you are taking an unfair advantage. Having violated the
+privacy of my room and read the letter I wrote to an intimate friend,
+you now seek to make that act the basis for renewing a suit I have told
+you more than once cannot succeed. Ah, no! There are reasons stronger
+than I care to make known why I cannot be your wife. I beg you do not
+give me the pain of compelling me to say this again. I will repeat, if
+you desire, the words I wrote to my friend: 'It is all I can do to
+prevent myself falling head over ears in love with this man.'
+
+"Yes," she continued, "that was true--that is true. It is all I can do;
+but I can do it, I have done it, I shall continue to do it! Mr. Camran,
+I esteem you beyond the power of language to express. Your kindness,
+your consideration, your generosity have affected me wonderfully. Some
+day you will know to what extent. But there can be no relation between
+us nearer than the one we now occupy. Never, never, never!"
+
+She had covered every point, but like suitors the world over I would not
+believe her.
+
+"Answer me a few questions," I said. "Yes, in justice to my proposal,
+which I cannot but feel does honor to both of us. Do you mean to say
+that your final declination of my offer is based on the fact that I read
+your private correspondence?"
+
+"No, it would have been the same without that," she answered. "Let me
+add that I forgive you freely for what you did in that respect."
+
+"Is it because--I want to understand perfectly--you think it
+dishonorable to wed a man richer than you, whose acquaintance you made
+in an unusual way?"
+
+She shook her head in negation.
+
+"Is there, then, anything that you have heard, or suspect, against my
+reputation?"
+
+Again she shook her head decidedly.
+
+I took up her letter and read:
+
+    If I were of his social grade--if I could have retained the position
+    in which I was born, he would be my ideal. Such thoughts, alas! are
+    not for your poor friend, Marjorie.
+
+"Those words mean something," I said, earnestly.
+
+Tears came into her eyes.
+
+"Mr. Camran, do you think it is fair to press me like this?" she asked,
+with a sob.
+
+"There is an adage," I replied, "that all is fair in love. To give you
+up means to shatter my existence. I have been a reckless boy. With you
+as my wife I would make a worthy man--worthy of you, of myself, of the
+noble line from which I sprung. I fear, and I say it deliberately, that
+if I lose you I shall sink again into the depths from which I have
+escaped."
+
+"All that," she said, gently, "you said when your friend Statia gave you
+the same answer I am compelled to give now."
+
+"It is jealousy!" I exclaimed, excitedly. "You are angry because I asked
+her, before I had even seen you! Very well. But, understand what you are
+doing! I cannot go through the agony I suffered a year ago."
+
+She sprang up, as if to ward off an impending danger, and came so near
+that her face was within six inches of mine.
+
+I looked her squarely in the eyes.
+
+"You cannot fascinate me in that way!" I cried, bitterly. "You have
+ruined a man who has taken you from poverty and given you for two
+months, at least, the life of a lady. Don't put your hands on me!" as
+she attempted to touch my shoulder. "I have finished with you. Take the
+advance payment you have had and go to your home, if you have one. But,
+remember, by your own agreement, the clothes in which you stand belong
+to me. Take them off before you leave this room, give them up, or I will
+strip them from you by force!"
+
+I do not know that I am quoting my exact words, but I am sure this was
+the sentiment that, in my rage, I expressed. At the moment I hated the
+woman more than I had loved her a few minutes before.
+
+"You shall have them, every one," answered Miss May, without the least
+trace of excitement. "I will go immediately to the village and buy just
+enough articles of dress to make me fit to take passage to America. All
+I had from you shall be packed in the trunks you bought and left
+behind."
+
+"And the jewelry," I added, still blind with my disappointment, for she
+had received and was wearing it again. "Take those rings from your
+hands, those diamonds from your ears. They are mine, remember. That was
+our agreement. I broke into Wesson's trunk and reclaimed them. They are
+mine!"
+
+At the mention of Wesson she paled even more than before, but complied
+with my request, laying the articles on the table before me, one by one.
+
+"Good-by," she said, softly, going toward the door that led to her
+chamber.
+
+Like an avalanche the horror of what I was doing swept over me. I rose,
+clutched wildly at the air, and fell, not unconscious, but with a
+deathly nausea. The next moment a woman's form was kneeling by my side
+and my head was raised to the support of a woman's arm.
+
+"Forgive me--oh! forgive me!" was murmured convulsively in my ear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A WEDDING RING.
+
+
+For the next week I was a very sick man. I remember almost nothing of
+what happened, except that I was in bed and that Miss May was nursing me
+with all the care a mother gives an infant. Yes, I remember another
+thing--that Mr. Wesson came several times to my bedside and conversed in
+low tones with my companion and with a physician whom somebody had
+summoned. I was too weak to think much about it, or I should certainly
+have objected to his presence, but I knew in a dim way that he was
+there.
+
+Afterwards I began slowly to regain my memory and my strength. My first
+attempts to engage in conversation were discouraged. Mr. Pomeroy, the
+proprietor of the house, came in and said sympathetically that if I
+wanted to get on my feet soon I must be very quiet. "Eddie" Armstrong,
+the manager, whom I had grown to like immensely, said the same thing. I
+obeyed their injunctions for several days more; but one morning I awoke
+so strong in heart that I announced my purpose of rising, though all the
+doctors in Christendom--or even in Barbados--forbade it.
+
+Miss May hesitatingly brought my bath wrap and assisted me to sit up in
+bed. One movement upon my feet, however, had more effect than all her
+persuasions. I must wait a little longer. She propped me up and gave me
+a strengthening drink that was waiting upon a table. Then she sat by my
+side and, at my request, read extracts from some newspapers that she had
+obtained in the reading room below.
+
+The news was all about a possible war with Spain, on account of the
+blowing up of the warship "Maine," in Havana Harbor. I grew indignant at
+the hot-heads in my country who were willing to plunge two nations in
+the horrors of war without waiting to see if a catastrophe could be
+honorably averted. When the reading was finished I lay passive for a
+long time and then my thoughts reverted to the scene that preceded my
+illness.
+
+"I am very, very sorry!" I murmured, drawing Marjorie toward me by the
+hand which she allowed to rest in mine.
+
+"Sorry? For what?"
+
+"My cruelty to you."
+
+She bade me think no more of what had passed, declaring that the blame,
+if any, was her own, and that, at least, I must not talk about it for
+the present. Her manner soothed me more than words and I lay very still,
+fondling the hand I held and occasionally murmuring grateful
+expressions. They came to me gradually--all the hateful things I had
+said and done; and I contrasted them, to my discredit, with the
+thoughtful care she was giving me.
+
+The love that had vanished during my anger returned ten-fold.
+
+The doctor came and looked wise. I would be able to sit up in a day or
+two, he said. Good nursing was what I most required now; as if I didn't
+know that as well as he! And I had the best nurse in the world--the one
+I wanted above all others. Could I only be assured I never would lose
+her!
+
+On the third day I refused to heed longer the advice not to talk. I had
+too much to say that I wanted Marjorie to hear.
+
+"If you really wish me to be quiet," I said, "you can stop me very
+easily. Tell me you will be my wife when we return to New York. Only say
+'yes' and I will not speak another word."
+
+She leaned over the bed, pushing my hair back gently with her soft white
+hand.
+
+"Only that one word, Marjorie; only that one! And then we will both be
+still."
+
+"When--we return--to New York," she answered, slowly, with a pause
+between the syllables, "I have--something--of great importance to--tell
+you. If--after that--you persist in your question--I--I--"
+
+"That is enough," was my joyful reply. "You will leave it to me? Dear
+girl, I ask no more. God bless and keep you!"
+
+I fell asleep early that evening and did not waken once till the sun had
+risen. Then the medicine she had given me showed its efficacious power.
+I was quite able to rise and even to take my breakfast at the table in
+the sitting-room with her. Once started on the road to recovery each
+hour showed a rapid gain. In another day I was taken for a short drive.
+The next I remained dressed from morning till night, though I reclined
+part of the time on a sofa.
+
+And I could think of nothing but returning to the United States. The
+sooner the better now, when the wish of my life was to be granted there.
+
+Marjorie showed herself a woman of wonderful capacity in more ways than
+one. She arranged with the Colonial Bank officials to have a draft all
+ready for me to sign when I drove up one day for money, thus saving what
+must have proved a weary wait. She bought new steamer chairs, the others
+having been left carelessly on the Pretoria. She paid the hotel bill and
+made all arrangements for our departure, having taken pains to learn
+which steamer would take us away the soonest. We were to go on a Royal
+Mail boat, "the Don," (happy omen!) to Jamaica, being sure of plenty of
+American steamers from that point.
+
+On the day we were to depart I was nearly as strong as ever. Bidding
+farewell with some regrets to all the guests I knew, to the proprietor,
+the manager, Miss Byno and the brown-eyed bicyclist, I entered the
+carriage with really a light heart.
+
+I was going again on a voyage with Marjorie; going, though the route
+might be slightly circuitous, to a land where she and I were to be
+indissolubly united. Is it any wonder I was happy?
+
+The crowd of boatmen that assailed us at the water's edge nearly carried
+me off my feet. Money is too scarce in Barbados to make the possible
+gain of a dollar a light matter. One of the men caught me, however, by
+the name of his craft, which he repeated loudly. "Here yo' is, Massa; de
+Marjorie, dat's yo' boat, Massa!" I engaged him on the spot and a black
+patrolman scattered the horde of disappointed applicants. Our baggage
+and ourselves filled the little boat, but we knew we were safe. Off we
+started for the big black steamer, near which I could discern the
+American man-of-war "Cincinnati," bringing a leap of patriotic blood to
+my heart.
+
+Home? We were almost at home now, with the stars and stripes floating so
+near us!
+
+The "Don" and the "Marjorie." What could be more propitious?
+
+"I hope you won't scold me, Don," said Marjorie, in a low voice, "but I
+have taken a liberty that perhaps I should have spoken about
+beforehand."
+
+"Take any liberty you like, sweetheart," I answered. "I am yours now, to
+do what you please with."
+
+She drew off one of her gloves and advancing a hand asked me to inspect
+it. After doing so for a minute I told her I saw nothing except the
+dearest hand in the world; upon which I took it up and kissed it.
+
+"Don't you notice that I am wearing another ring?" she said, flushing.
+
+She certainly was: A gold ring at that and a plain one. It was on her
+wedding finger, too.
+
+My first thought was that she had summoned a minister and married me
+during my illness. This was too good to be true and I at once dismissed
+it.
+
+"You are not yet quite well," she explained, demurely, "and I shall have
+to be in your cabin frequently. I thought it best to avoid attracting
+notice, and as I had that ring of my mother's--I just--put it on."
+
+How sweet it was of her; how confiding!
+
+"But our names on the passenger list?" I said.
+
+"That is all arranged. We are Mr. and Mrs. Camwell."
+
+It was bliss enough for one day. Nothing but the purest thoughts
+regarding her could enter my head now. She was to be my wife!
+
+The next morning she arranged a pleasant way to pass the time. Our cabin
+was very large and roomy, and she said she could go on with my "novel"
+quite as well there as on shore. She made me recline on my berth, which
+had no other above it, and dictation was therefore done entirely at my
+ease. It was undoubtedly better for me to keep my mind actively
+employed, and the task to which I set myself was a most agreeable one.
+My darling recorded the lines I gave her, with rapidity, and made very
+few audible comments that day, although it was evident from the
+tell-tale expression of her mobile countenance that she was keenly alive
+to each situation I detailed. The lines that seemed to affect her most
+were those wherein I confessed the depth, the sincerity and the purity
+of the love that had sprung up in my heart.
+
+She could not complain that I was misrepresenting her own part in these
+affairs, for I thought no alteration could improve a straightforward
+statement of the real facts as they appeared to me. She winced a
+little--I thought more about that afterwards--when I referred to seeing
+Wesson in my stateroom on the Pretoria and again when I spoke of meeting
+him in close converse with Edgerly in Barbados.
+
+The nearest she came to a full stop was when I related the reasons I had
+for believing Wesson stole the book from Eggert and was more than likely
+the thief who had taken the jewels, but after a second her fingers flew
+over the keys as usual.
+
+The waters through which we were passing were smooth as any millpond. I
+have never seen so calm a sea, and my tranquil mind sorted with it
+perfectly. There was nothing that could add to my happiness. I believed
+each revolution of the steamer's screw brought me nearer the goal of my
+ambition, the possession of my lovely companion as my true and lawful
+bride. In the meantime I was producing what I had no doubt would give me
+a successful embarkation on the sea of literary fame, a voyage I had
+long aspired to take.
+
+During the three days the "Don" occupied in going from Greytown to
+Kingston we accomplished much. Marjorie gasped several times when I came
+to the chapter that detailed my entrance into Wesson's room and my
+success in finding the packet containing the missing diamonds. As I told
+of my interview with the rascal she grew as pale as chalk, but she did
+not entirely stop her writing. At last we came to the time when the
+"novel" itself was begun and she brightened enough to say that we were
+walking now in our own tracks. But, at the bald revelation of the things
+I had said to her when I lost my temper, and demanded back the very
+clothes she wore, she protested.
+
+"You are unjust to yourself to put that literally in your story," she
+said, pleadingly. "Your readers will never feel the extent of your
+provocation. It makes you appear a very detestable character."
+
+"It must go in--exactly as it happened," I answered. "I had no valid
+excuse for the contemptible things I did. The public will consider it
+all a piece of fiction. I think it necessary to show the extent to which
+I lost my reason when I believed I had lost you. It is much safer in a
+novel to abuse the 'hero' than the 'heroine.'"
+
+Seeing that nothing would move me she went on as I dictated and when the
+boat was due to arrive at Jamaica the next day we had reached the very
+words you are now reading. I had apparently recovered my strength
+entirely. That night I slept as soundly as if I had never known illness
+or mental trouble. In the morning we went early upon deck to see the
+entrance to the Harbor and had a pleasant talk with Captain Tindall, one
+of those affable and handsome men that England produces in such numbers
+and assigns to this duty all over the world.
+
+Inquiry had convinced me that there was but one suitable place to stay
+at in Kingston--the Myrtle Bank Hotel--and the result proved the wisdom
+of my choice. While open to some slight criticism--as what hotel is
+not?--it was on the whole a delightful home to us during our brief stay.
+There being no more work to do at present I occupied the hours in talks,
+walks and drives with Marjorie, happy as the butterflies among the roses
+in the pretty park which separates the hotel from the shore.
+
+We went one day to visit a camp of soldiers in the suburbs, on another
+to the Constant Spring Hotel, situated six miles from town in a mountain
+nook, to Castleton Gardens and Hope Gardens, beautiful for situation and
+high culture, with lovely roads leading to each. Again, we took the
+train to Spanish Town and drove to Bog Walk, as pretty a bit of scenery
+as one could desire. And later we passed several days at Mandeville,
+some fifty miles or so away, a village perched among the hills 2100 feet
+above the sea, where the scent of coffee flowers and orange blossoms
+fairly filled the delicious air and the thermometer recorded a degree of
+heat more grateful than that to be found in the lowlands. I noted the
+mercury at 70 when I went to bed, at 60 when I rose, and at 75 when the
+sun was in the zenith. I really do not know another spot more charming
+in any land, in March or April.
+
+Besides this we visited Montpelier, Montego Bay and Port Antonio, seeing
+at the latter place a steamer of the Boston Fruit Company setting sail
+for the Hub with an immense cargo of bananas and oranges. The country
+thereabout is one field of those fruits, combined with the stately
+cocoanut palms, while a short distance away tobacco is grown that rivals
+the famed product of unhappy Cuba. On the 28th we bade farewell to the
+island, with genuine regret on my part at least, and took the little
+"Beta" of the Halifax line for Bermuda.
+
+Before we left Kingston a batch of letters was received, some for each
+of us, and I did not attempt to annoy Marjorie this time by prying into
+her correspondence. My confidence in her was now at its highest point.
+She did not write any answers, nor did I, as we were so soon to reach
+home. After three days in Bermuda we started for America. I saw that,
+for some reason, she wanted to return, and with the hope that filled my
+breast I had no wish to prolong our absence.
+
+It was agreed that we would have to separate when we touched land, she
+to go to her old lodgings and I to mine, but I stipulated that we were
+to meet again within a very few days and that she was to write me when
+to expect her. As I saw her enter her carriage, with her baggage
+strapped behind, I held myself well in hand, though the wish to embrace
+her at parting nearly overpowered me.
+
+"You will write as soon as possible?" I said, interrogatively.
+
+"Yes," she answered. "I will write; and then, if you still insist, I
+will come to you."
+
+If I still insisted! I did not believe as I saw her wheels disappear in
+the street that anything could change the resolutions I held so dear!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE BRUTAL TRUTH.
+
+
+Three days passed--three awfully slow days, though I visited Harvey Hume
+and Tom Barton, spent every evening at the theatre, and loafed away many
+hours at the club, where the boys made me tell them of the islands I had
+visited and asked my opinion over and over, (as if it amounted to
+anything) in relation to the probability of a war between the United
+States and Spain. I refused to enlighten Harvey at the time in reference
+to his question whether I had not been quite as happy "without my
+secretary" as if I had taken one. I said I would have something to tell
+him one of these days and that he must be content until that time came.
+Tom was the same dear fellow as of yore, but Statia, who came in to
+welcome me, was as sphynx-like as on the eve of my departure.
+
+I also had to run in a moment on my Uncle Dugald, who gave me his hand
+in his old, impassive manner, and expressed the opinion that I looked
+better, on the whole, than when I went away. A brief call on Dr.
+Chambers completed my list. I thought that excellent gentleman looked a
+trifle disappointed when I called his attention to my improved physique
+and said I was as well as I had ever been in my life. I have no wish to
+do him an injustice, for it was certainly a feather in his cap when he
+raised me out of the Slough of Despond and made me fit to travel at
+all; but it is only natural if professional men are not filled with
+special delight at announcements that their services are no longer
+required.
+
+On the third evening there came a packet from Miss May--at last! an
+awfully big packet, which set me to wondering what it could possibly
+contain. I thought as I received it from the messenger that it would
+have answered for a presidential message to Congress on the Cuban
+situation, with all the correspondence that had passed between the
+United States and Spain since the blowing up of the warship. It may be
+believed I lost no time in tearing open the paper that encircled the
+missives. Inside I found a small envelope marked "Open first," and a
+larger one inscribed, "Read this only after you have read the other
+carefully." All this was so deliberate and so much like a deep plan that
+I was far from my ease when I complied with the request and cut the
+smaller envelope. And the reader may well believe that my sensations
+were not of a very enviable nature when I read these lines:
+
+    My Dear Mr. Camran: I know no easy way to break the truth I am
+    obliged to send. If you have any doubt of being able to bear a shock
+    without medical attendance do not read what I have placed in the
+    other envelope until you have summoned your physician. I fear it
+    will not be pleasant reading, but you must have the truth. At least,
+    I must keep my promise now of lying only to others and not to you.
+
+    With this warning, I subscribe myself, for the last time,
+
+    Yours,
+
+    M.M.
+    April 8th, 1898.
+
+I was surprised at the calmness with which I saw all my hopes blown to
+the winds in a single paragraph. Curiosity was the most pronounced
+feeling in my mind at the moment. I took a long breath, steadied my
+nerves for an instant, and then opened the larger envelope. There were
+typewriter sheets, twelve in number, done, apparently, on a Remington
+machine. And this is what I read:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Prepare yourself to hear the worst about me, my dear friend, for your
+imagination could hardly make me out a greater scamp than I am. Know
+then, to begin with, your companion in the Caribbean was a well-known
+criminal, whose entire trip with you was planned for the purpose of
+fraud. If she failed to accomplish that end you must ascribe it to a
+weak yielding to sentimental considerations, of which she should--from a
+professional standpoint--be heartily ashamed.
+
+If you have survived this statement, read on, and I will be more
+explicit. I am what is known to the police as a "confidence woman." My
+usual game is to beguile persons of the opposite sex into "falling in
+love" with me and then fleece them out of as large a sum as I can do
+with safety to myself. I may add, without egotism, that I have been
+fairly successful in this, my chosen field. If you care to get another
+copy of that book I stopped you from reading at St. Thomas, "Our Rival,
+the Rascal," you will find on one of its pages a fairly accurate
+portrait of your humble servant, though the name affixed is not by any
+means the one I thought it wise to give you.
+
+One of my favorite methods of making the acquaintance of probable
+victims is through the advertising columns of newspapers. I have found
+no better medium for the purpose than the "Personals" in the New York
+Herald; it is generally to be supposed that a masculine individual who
+will use that column or reply to anything contained therein is good game
+for my purpose.
+
+Naturally my attention was attracted to your announcement that you
+wanted a typewritist to accompany you to the West Indies for the winter.
+I wrote as modest and taking an answer as I knew how and the fact that
+it proved most attractive to you out of a hundred you received justified
+my judgment. The next thing was to hold you fast, when you came to see
+me, and here again I flatter myself that I evinced the right sort of
+talent. I sized you up at the start for what you were--a good-natured,
+easily-led gentleman of means, who would answer very well for my
+purpose.
+
+Now, see how I proceeded: To have accepted your offer at once would have
+been to awaken your suspicions. I knew better than that, and I played
+what is technically known as a waiting game. As I look back on our
+primary interviews and correspondence I do not see a wrong step on my
+part. I wrote you that I could be seen "only between the hours of two
+and four," to give you the impression that I was no ordinary girl who
+would go anywhere, or with any one, and whom you could lead with a
+thread.
+
+You were to come at my hours; I knew you would like that. You came, but
+it was I who saw and conquered. You told me at once that you had
+engaged berths for two on the Madiana. This showed that you were not
+likely to back out, but I did not take your word alone. I had a friend
+verifying your statement at Cook's office within an hour after you left
+my room.
+
+Had I told you that I would go, that afternoon, you would have had a
+chance to think it over and perhaps to change your mind. It is the
+fleeing bird that attracts the attention of the hunter. You gave me the
+name of "David Camwell, Lambs Club," which before I slept that night I
+had turned into Donald Camran, from a list of members which I was easily
+able to procure. I learned that Donald Camran was rich; that he was
+considered erratic; that he answered your description in personal
+appearance; and that he had been, as you said, recently ill.
+
+The next time you adopt a false name do not use your own initials.
+Nine-tenths of the people who do this slip up on that banana peel.
+
+When you left my room, that first afternoon, I was as certain you would
+return as that the sun would rise on the following day. The chapters of
+the "novel" you afterwards dictated to me prove how entirely accurate I
+was in my estimates. I take much pride, also, in the second letter I
+sent you, for I covered my "fly" with attractive colors to dazzle your
+eye and meet every point likely to arise in your mind. My card was to
+convince you that I was the very proper young lady I professed to be. To
+do this without acting the silly prude was a task fit only for such
+thoroughly trained hands as mine. Next I spoke of the matter of
+compensation, to convince you that I was really a working girl and not a
+mere adventurer. You had plenty of means and the price of my weekly
+stipend was not likely to alarm you.
+
+As it would really be necessary for me to have considerable money to
+make a suitable appearance I gently hinted something in relation to that
+matter, leaving it, however, to your own judgment what should be done. I
+believe I may claim that in the composition of that letter I showed
+decided talent. At any rate it accomplished its purpose.
+
+When your answer came I knew that I was going. I would not have paid
+five dollars to be assured of that. But when you returned to me I still
+had to pretend a little doubt--not too much, that would have spoiled
+everything. I left it to you to say whether, after all, you really
+wanted me to take the journey, doing it in a way that alarmed your fears
+lest you were going to lose me. I had to keep "the scent warm," as the
+saying is. The rushing way in which you bought my trunks and sent me the
+first installment of cash would have removed my doubts, had any
+remained.
+
+I then thought I might as well get clothed while I was about it and sent
+the third letter, which we may call "Exhibit C." In that I appealed to
+the chivalrous part of your nature, arousing your sympathies, and yet
+without putting myself for one instant in the rôle of a mendicant.
+
+"If I am to go I am unwilling to disgrace you"--that was all there was
+to it.
+
+Again I was justified by the result. You came as soon as I would let
+you--I had "gone out of town over New Years," you remember, and you
+showered another lot of bankbills on my head.
+
+Now here is just where a less experienced person would have made her
+mistake. Seeing how easily you could be induced to disgorge, she would
+have hinted at expenditures that would have caused a revolt even in your
+generous brain. I came late on purpose that Tuesday morning (I had only
+been a couple of blocks away) in order to work up the fever that I knew
+was latent in you. I suggested that you go to the shops, knowing that
+you would grasp at the chance to occupy so close a position to me as the
+cab would afford. At Altman's I pretended to be shocked at some of the
+prices, so that you would pronounce them the extremity of cheapness.
+(How could you do anything else?) And I hinted bashfully at the question
+of jewelry, knowing that you would send me all I could reasonably
+expect, as you did the next day.
+
+Then I went to dine with you in a private room, primarily because I was
+nearly starved to death, secondarily because I knew it would fasten you
+to me the closer. I put on that awful blue veil to give you the
+impression that I had never done such a thing before, when as a matter
+of fact the waiter who served us knows my face as well as he does his
+mother's, if he has one. He knew enough to conceal that fact, however,
+as I am certain, from previous experience, every waiter in that house
+would have done.
+
+Now we come to one of the fine points. You did not forget to mention in
+your description of that evening how I refused to have the door of our
+_cabinet particulaire_ locked, which you were kind enough to ascribe to
+maidenly modesty on my part. The fact is, ever since I was imprisoned
+three years ago for two months, awaiting trial for one of my schemes
+that went awry, the thought of a turned key on any room I occupy drives
+me into fits. In that at least I was honest. The scare you gave me in
+proposing to lock that door took away my appetite to such an extent that
+I ate, as you have recorded, very sparingly of the excellent dinner.
+
+You may remember that I showed similar trepidation at St. Thomas, when
+you suggested that Mr. Eggert might lock the door of my bedroom. It was
+enough like a jail with the high fence around the grounds, and I never
+felt quite easy till we had left the place. I really did not take one
+good breath there, so vivid is my recollection of the horrible days when
+high walls and locked doors meant imprisonment.
+
+I don't suppose I shall explain everything you will wish to know, but I
+shall do my best. The next thing that occurs to me is that I refused to
+allow you to register my name on the Madiana's passenger list as "Miss
+May." As this was merely a _nom de guerre_ you will wonder why I
+objected to its going into print. The fact is that my husband--yes, I am
+married, and by a minister of the church, too--did not like to have me
+take that journey without going with me on the boat, while I was sure it
+was much better for him to remain away. He has no jealousy, as you will
+immediately imagine--he knows me too well to be guilty of such a
+senseless thing. I love him with all my soul; and I can take care of
+myself, if it comes to that, against the persuasions or the force of any
+living man.
+
+He merely wanted to be with me, just as you would want to be with your
+wife, if you had one and loved her. I knew he was not always a safe
+companion in a game of this kind, that he had a quick temper and was
+lacking in judgment in any case where I was concerned; and I told him
+plainly that this was my affair, that I should manage it alone, if at
+all, and I should not tell him where you and I were going.
+
+As he knew your name, having made the inquiries at your club, he would
+have a double chance to discover us if he saw mine anywhere in print,
+and "Miss May" was a title he knew I had once before assumed. So I got
+you to change it to "Carney" in hopes to throw him off the track. He
+proved too shrewd for me, however, as you will agree when I mention that
+he travelled on the steamer with us under the name of "Edgerly."
+
+I may as well tell you at this point that the "cruel employer" to whom I
+alluded so often was a creature of my imagination, and that all the
+typewriting I have ever done has been for my own profit and amusement in
+schemes like the present one.
+
+If you had recorded me as "Miss Camwell" I meant to work another racket
+on you. I expected to institute a suit for breach of promise on my
+return, not one to be taken to court, but only to use as a lever to pry
+a few thousands out of your pocket; I would have done this if you had
+not, contrary to all precedent, made me an honorable offer of your hand,
+which spoiled my plan in an unforeseen manner. It was with this in view
+that I went to your rooms several times before we sailed. It is always
+handy to have evidence ready in a case of this kind and hallboys are
+excellent witnesses if wanted.
+
+Don't you think I am a lovely girl, now? And aren't you sorry I am not
+free to wed. What a charming wife I would make for a man like you!
+
+Well, to resume, I played what I thought a good card by saying that I
+should only accept the things you paid for as "the costuming of my part"
+and return them to you when the show was over. It didn't cost anything
+to say that and I knew you never would accept them. The little screed
+that I left on the typewriter at your room was not a bad stroke, either.
+I flatter myself it was a fair piece of English composition, and
+although it contained not a word of truth, it answered just as well. It
+made you think of me with more respect than if you had supposed me a
+mere waif of the streets.
+
+You wondered--didn't you?--why I went to my cabin on the steamer and
+remained there for part of two days after it started. Perhaps you can
+guess the reason now. I had seen my husband on deck and not being
+anxious to meet him any sooner than could be helped I kept out of his
+way. Before I did come up I received a note from him, by one of the
+stewards, detailing the course he intended to adopt, which was simply to
+act as if he had never seen or heard of me in his life. I could not help
+a slight uneasiness, though, at his presence, for he is not always as
+shrewd as a husband of mine should be. I was rather displeased that he
+had come in spite of my advice; and I felt afraid that he would hamper
+my movements even if he did not destroy my plans.
+
+What made me suspect that man Wesson I do not know, unless it was
+instinct. The moment I set my eyes upon him I put him down for an enemy.
+I wrote a few lines to my husband, telling him to watch, but he answered
+that my suspicions were groundless, another proof how much clearer are
+my intuitions than his. Wesson was always prying around. I had some
+conversations on deck with him when you left me alone, but could come to
+no positive conclusion except that I wished he was somewhere on shore.
+
+I didn't really guess what he was up to until we had landed at St.
+Thomas.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+"WITH HIS WIFE, OF COURSE."
+
+
+I leave the reader to imagine my feelings, [it is Camran writing now] as
+I read these lines, if he can. To describe them is more than I am able
+to do. Suffice it to say that I read on and on, like one fascinated, and
+there was no sign of the collapse I might have expected from the
+dreadful revelations. The catastrophe was too immense to be met in any
+ordinary way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+You will now need no confession of mine [continued this strange MS.] to
+inform you who purloined Miss Howes' bracelet and your shirtstud. Who
+stole my own jewelry might be a harder riddle, so I will make haste to
+say that I did that also. It was the easiest way to prevent suspicion
+falling on my head, though it can hardly be said to have been entirely
+successful, as Mr. Howes never had the least doubt of my guilt. I knew
+that from the first, by the freezing manner he immediately adopted
+toward me and the chilling way in which his "niece," or friend, as she
+afterwards proved, used me until I left the boat. I ought to say here
+that common thefts are not in my line, and that I regret having been
+drawn into the commission of these acts. My husband urged the deed upon
+me, and rather than let him run the risk of doing it himself--which he
+threatened--I yielded to his importunities. He had embarked with very
+little ready money, on account of recent ill luck at the faro table, and
+dreaded being stranded in some foreign port without enough to complete
+his voyage. I was, as you know, powerless to aid him much in any other
+way.
+
+You will naturally inquire why, if this is true, my husband returned to
+you the money he won at cards, taking your check instead. He did so
+because I insisted upon it. I told him, at the rate he was going, we
+should be high and dry on the reefs before we got back to America. There
+was little sense in killing a goose (I meant you, my dear Donald) that
+was likely to lay golden eggs for a long time if properly tended.
+
+Wesson worried you at Eggert's, didn't he? Well, he worried me a great
+deal more. I had an instinctive fear of him and was at my wits' end to
+give a reason. I knew also that my husband was waiting for me at St.
+Croix and wished to consult him in regard to several matters. I wished
+to get away from Eggert, the two or three fainting fits I had there were
+simulated for the purpose of inducing you to cut your stay as short as
+possible.
+
+I wanted you to make the proposal to leave and at last succeeded. I let
+you kiss the ends of my fingers; and sometimes I pretended to
+reciprocate your affection, though I could hardly keep from laughing in
+my sleeve. Do you remember the time you bathed my forehead with cologne?
+I could hardly control my risibles at the pathetic figure you made. Oh!
+It was really too amusing. I took the sea bath every morning, not
+because I cared for it, but in order to awake your fancies and bind you
+tighter to my triumphal car. The lovely, silly things you said to me!
+
+Now, about that book: I saw it long before you did and tried to think of
+some plan to keep it out of your way. You might notice the similarity in
+features Between Miss ---- and myself, if you were allowed to pore over
+its pages. I had another fear, too, even stronger, for I believe I could
+have convinced you that the resemblance was merely accidental: I dreaded
+Wesson's sharp eyes if once they got hold of that volume. So it was
+I--not he, of course--that put the book out of the way, and it was only
+by my carelessness that he afterwards got his hands on it.
+
+I had ceased to have the slightest fear of you; of course, I never had
+any for myself--I mean, there was nothing about you to endanger the
+wifely duty I owed to my dear, unhappy husband. You could be handled as
+easily as a kitten, by touching your sentimental side. Do you recall
+looking in at my screen door and seeing me in the attitude of prayer?
+Why, I had posed in that position, night after night, waiting for you to
+come! When I asked you to enter, a little later, I knew as well as that
+I breathed what your answer would be. There never was another man so
+easy to control.
+
+Then there was the letter I received from my dear friend Helen. All
+arranged for, copied from one I had left with her--before I sailed--just
+on purpose for you. I forced that card on you as nicely as any conjurer
+could have done it, didn't I? And my answer--which you entered my room
+and read--(excuse me while I go behind the door and smile) that was
+cooked up for your eyes in the same way. I didn't know that you would go
+into the room, although I hoped so, but if you hadn't you would have
+been given the letter to mail, with the unsealed envelope turned so as
+to attract your attention, and you never would have been able to resist
+a peep, never. How did you like my description of your beauty? The
+blonde mustache, the "hazel eyes," the "engaging countenance?" If I had
+been as silly as that letter indicated, it would not have taken a very
+gay Lothario to accomplish his designs on me.
+
+Your reiterated offers of marriage convinced me that I could pull that
+string whenever I was ready. That I have not pulled it is due to the
+"weak yielding" of which I spoke at the beginning of this letter.
+Professionally, I repeat, it was an error. I could have got a nice
+little pot out of you if I had kept along that line.
+
+But I am not the only member of my "firm" who has weak moments. My
+husband could not keep himself quiet in that hotel at St. Croix, when
+everything depended on his remaining out of sight. He had to stand in
+the sitting room and listen to your protestations of affection, until I
+was frightened out of my wits, for I know what an excitable fellow he
+is.
+
+It is one thing to have your wife let another man make love to her--for
+a legitimate purpose--and quite another to overhear the burning
+declarations. I had to play the fainting gag again, in order to send you
+after water, and--do the best I could--my husband would not run when he
+heard your returning step. I was in mortal fear that he would kill you
+and only by the best diplomacy of which I was mistress did I send him
+away.
+
+Even then he had not finished. I went into your room at midnight, do you
+recollect? to keep him from entering there. Not altogether to save you
+from injury--though I would have done that, too--but for fear of the
+legal entanglements into which his rashness might bring him.
+
+And in the morning you sent me that sweet letter of apology! Whenever I
+get the blues I shall only have to take that out and read it. It was so
+funny!
+
+I am afraid you are getting tired of this story, but you might as well
+have it all. It will cure your complaint called "love," that you have
+had so severely, if anything will, and that ought to be one comfort.
+
+My husband was on the steamer with us when we left St. Croix,
+and--where, do you suppose? In the stateroom with his wife, where a true
+man should be, of course. I smuggled him in there and kept him hid till
+we reached Barbados, if you please. But the night you and I stayed at
+Martinique, I had a terrible fear that he would come ashore and do
+something silly. He kept insisting that he had an account which he must
+settle, sooner or later, with you. So, if you remember, I went into your
+bedroom and stayed all night, for I knew he would trust me, and that he
+would not try to touch you in my presence. In the morning you took me
+back to the steamer, as I had intended you should; and that night and
+the next I slept again in the arms I love. It was he who was prowling
+around the Hotel des Bains, who played the part of mice and ghosts.
+Disguised so that no one on the Pretoria recognized him he made his way
+to land and back again. It wasn't a bad trick, considering.
+
+At Barbados I made him go to the Sea View Hotel instead of the Marine,
+though with the greatest difficulty. He is so hard to manage when he
+sets his mind on anything. It was distinctly foolish for him to be seen
+walking the street with Wesson, for you need never have known he had
+gone further down the islands than St. Croix. Then why should he come to
+the Marine in broad daylight, and get into that row, that nearly spilled
+all the milk? I love the man, I tell you, but I must criticise such
+conduct.
+
+Where did Wesson get the jewelry? will be the next question in your
+mind. All I know is that our mutual friend "Edgerly" pawned the lot at
+Martinique for four hundred francs and afterwards sold the ticket for
+125 more, like a dunce! to the proprietor of the Hotel des Bains. That
+is an indication of where Wesson got hold of the swag. But why did he
+let you take it from him without making the least resistance? This is
+another riddle which you must discover for yourself. I can't fathom it.
+
+If you are trying to find anything in my favor because I forgave your
+insulting language at the time you bade me give up the clothing you had
+bought, strike it out of your mind. I was merely doing the prudent thing
+in keeping you quiet until you paid my expenses back to the United
+States. As to the clothing I knew very well you would never ask for it,
+in your senses, nor get it, if you did. I finished the work you asked
+me to do, with the typewriter, to understand exactly how each item in
+this account seemed to you at the time.
+
+Now, once more, my dear Donald, where does this leave you and me? I
+might remain in New York without the slightest fear you would molest me,
+either in person or through the law. No man would like to have this
+story printed, with his real name, in the daily newspapers; now, would
+he? Neither is it likely that your fondness for your Marjorie (ha, ha!)
+will long outlive the confessions she has so freely made. But I am not
+going to remain in this city. The haunts that have known me will know me
+no more. I am going far away, with my husband--my darling husband--and I
+can promise that your eyes have gazed upon both of us for the very last
+time.
+
+Why, now, did I give up attacking your bank account when such a good
+opportunity still remained? I will tell you, candidly. There are
+sportsmen, many of them, I trust, who would not shoot a fawn that stood
+still at their approach. I never supposed there was a man with whom a
+woman could travel as I travelled with you, who would not give cause to
+bleed him with a good conscience by the outrageousness of his conduct. I
+thought, of course, you would be like the rest. In that case the
+fountains of mercy would have dried up in my bosom and I would have
+taken the last dollar I could wrench from you without the slightest
+compunction. It was a game I believed infallible. I had found it, more
+than once, to work like a charm.
+
+There are usually only three moves: 1st, to convince the male animal
+that I am pure and wish to remain so; 2d, to put myself where he
+believes he can insult me with impunity; 3d, the insult.
+
+I only wanted one move toward the third play on your part to pick you
+financially to pieces. You did not make it, and I could go no farther.
+
+If this leniency of mine is a deadly sin I can only pray that the
+temptation to commit another like it will not come to me soon.
+
+And now, my very dear friend, I must say good-by. Take it altogether, my
+two months with you have not been unhappy ones. On your part, if you
+have learned your lesson well, the investment you have made ought to
+yield a fair dividend. Forget me, if you can, forgive me at any rate. I
+have already given up my lodgings, so you need not seek me there. My
+address is for the present a secret.
+
+Yours Sincerely,
+
+"MARJORIE."
+
+Donald Camran, Esq., The Lambs.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I had finished the entire story and yet I sat upright, with my senses
+all about me. I was going to bear it very well, after all.
+
+A knock was heard upon the door of my apartment. The hallboy entered
+when I bade him do so and handed me a card, with the statement that the
+gentleman wished to see me on very important business. The name on the
+card was unknown to me, but I bade the boy send the owner up. It might
+prove a diversion and anything was welcome that would take my mind from
+Marjorie.
+
+I rose and was about to greet the new comer in the usual terms when a
+sight of his face stopped me.
+
+"Mr. Wesson, what does this mean?" I asked, angrily.
+
+"It means," said the person, with all his old coolness, "that Mr. Wesson
+has disappeared from the scene, and that I am plain Martin Daly, of the
+Blinkerdon Police, at your service."
+
+Staggered to the last degree I scanned his card again. It read, "M.
+Daly, Boston."
+
+"What do you want of me?" I asked, still standing and allowing him to do
+the same.
+
+"In the first place," he answered, "perhaps you will permit me to take a
+chair. In the second, you may be kind enough to read a letter which I
+have brought."
+
+He took the chair, without waiting for my permission and I received the
+letter, which I saw at once was addressed in the handwriting of my Uncle
+Dugald.
+
+    My Dear Nephew [it read]:--This will introduce Detective Daly of the
+    Blinkerdons, who, at my request, has been for eight or nine weeks
+    attending to matters of importance to you. He will show you his bill
+    for services and expenses, which I would suggest deserves your early
+    consideration. If you decline, for any reason, to pay the bill,
+    kindly let me know at once, that I may give him my own check for the
+    amount.
+
+    Yours, etc.,
+
+    DUGALD CAMRAN.
+
+    New York, April 9th, 1898.
+
+I opened the bill, which had fallen upon the table, and read the
+following:
+
+    Donald Camran, Esq., to Martin Daly,         Dr.
+  To services ninety days at $7 per day       $630.00
+  To expenses of travel, etc.,                 521.50
+  To cash paid pawnbroker at Martinique and
+  holder of ticket                             125.00
+                                             --------
+                                             $1276.50
+
+"What the devil does this mean, sir?" I demanded, very red in the face.
+
+"It means," said Mr. Daly, affably, "that your uncle engaged me to make
+the West Indian voyage in your company and protect you from any
+designing persons. The price per day was the one he himself fixed, and
+is somewhat less than I am in the habit of receiving. A desire to visit
+that part of the world induced me to accept the lower rate. The
+expenses, I hardly think you will deny, have been kept very reasonable."
+
+I reddened more than ever.
+
+"In plain English, sir, you have been dogging my footsteps, and desire
+me to foot the bill."
+
+"You or your uncle--it is all the same to me," he responded, quite
+unruffled. "I think you have had some narrower escapes, sir, than you
+yet realize."
+
+With Miss May's confession lying before me on the table I could not well
+doubt that. Still the shame of my position was no less galling.
+
+"We can postpone the consideration of that little matter for the
+present, if you desire," continued Daly, for such I must now call him.
+"What is of more pressing importance, is the examination of Jack Hazen,
+or Robert Edgerly, as you knew him, which is set down for day after
+to-morrow."
+
+"What!" I cried, startled out of myself.
+
+"Oh, I forgot. You know the check for $350 that you gave him when he
+buncoed you on the Madiana? Well, he raised that to $3500, and was
+arrested while trying to collect that sum at your bank. After you told
+me you had given him the check I had just time to stop the swindle by
+cable."
+
+Edgerly arrested? Poor Marjorie! That was all I could think of.
+
+"He is an old offender," continued Daly, "and will get a sweetener this
+time. At what hour can I expect you to-morrow at the district attorney's
+office? Twelve o'clock will suit me. Twelve? All right. I see you are
+busy. Good day, Mr. Camran."
+
+He was gone and I sat there alone with my reflections. It may readily be
+guessed they were not agreeable.
+
+The only thing I was sure of was that I should pay Daly's bill at once,
+if I had the requisite balance to my credit in the bank; and that I
+wished he had been in a warmer place than Barbados before he ever
+interfered in my affairs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+BEHIND THE BARS.
+
+
+Why should I blame poor Daly for doing what his profession and the law
+he followed dictated plainly? Why should I blame my Uncle Dugald for
+putting me under guardianship, after I was supposed to have reached the
+years of discretion?
+
+These are indeed pregnant questions. If the reader has had neurasthenia
+and only partially recovered, he will know that the victim of that
+malady needs no legitimate reason for any fancies that possess him. It
+is plain to me--now--that in sending Daly on my track, my Uncle was
+acting the part of a considerate and thoughtful relation.
+
+It is equally clear to me--now--that the conduct of Daly, from first to
+last, deserves the highest praise. Instead of demurring for an instant
+at his bill I would have done well to add $500 to it as a present.
+
+At the moment he was to me like a blistering plaster, making me think of
+nothing but the irritation and pain. It is little consolation to be
+told, under any circumstances, that one has played the part of a fool.
+
+I went to dinner at the club moodily, and on returning to my apartments
+set myself to consuming as many cigars as possible in a given time. They
+were cigars I had bought from a Kingston manufacturer and were decidedly
+better than many sold under the name of "Havanas," since the troubles
+began in Cuba. I must have smoked at least twenty of them before I
+paused, put on my hat and light overcoat, and went out of doors, to see
+if the open air would have any effect in clearing the mist that hung
+over my brain.
+
+I walked aimlessly for some time, in various directions, and found
+myself standing opposite my own windows an hour after I began. I
+wondered if I would be able to sleep if I went into the house.
+Unconsciousness was the thing most to be desired, it seemed to me. As I
+had about come to the conclusion to try it, a low voice called my name
+and its tones filled me with a thrill that was indescribable.
+
+"Mr. Camran!"
+
+"Yes," I replied, laconically.
+
+"I know," said the voice, and I saw the outlines of the figure I
+remembered so well, "I know--that I have no right--to appeal to your
+pity--or to ask your aid. I have, unfortunately--no other
+resource--and--I beg you--as you hope for mercy at the bar of
+Heaven--give me--a few minutes--where I can speak to you--in private."
+
+That form was bent, the tears in that voice were real; she was not
+acting now.
+
+"Will you come up to my rooms?" I asked.
+
+"I should be so thankful!"
+
+"Come, then."
+
+We went in together, astonishing the hallboy somewhat, for to do myself
+justice, he had never seen me enter at that time of the evening so
+accompanied. When we were in my sitting room, and the door shut--I did
+not turn the key, remembering her aversion to locked doors--she began
+to speak, slowly and tremblingly:
+
+"I am overcome with shame--I am plunged in a despair that only you can
+lighten. I know well--that I deserve nothing--at your hands. I--I have
+robbed you, insulted you--done everything to earn your hatred and
+contempt; and yet--"
+
+"And yet," I interrupted, for her attitude touched me deeply, "and
+yet--you have not succeeded in earning either."
+
+She sprang up with the evident intention of threwing herself at my feet,
+but I caught her by the hands--those hands whose touch had given me such
+delight only a week ago! How cold they were!
+
+"Let us come to the point," I said, when she was again seated. "Your
+husband is in jail; you found it out after you sent me that confession;
+and you want me to free him."
+
+She rocked herself backward and forward.
+
+"You have known what it is to love," she moaned. "You have not known
+what it is to be wedded. That man is my very life! If they condemn him
+to a long term in prison they will, at the same time, condemn me to
+death. I realize how little right I have to appeal to you--but there is
+no other way. If you testify against us, we are ruined irreparably. Oh,
+Mr. Camran--Don!--if there is one bright memory in your heart in all the
+days you and I passed together, let that one plead now for a most
+unhappy woman!"
+
+I did not want her to suffer. I had no desire to punish her. Had she
+been unmarried I would have offered her my hand again--yes, after all I
+knew!
+
+"It was not by my wish that your husband was arrested," I said, gently.
+"In fact, I only learned of it an hour ago."
+
+"But you can save him--you, and you alone!" she cried. "What does it
+mean to you, the money you have lost by us? The check you gave him was
+never paid, not even the sum for which you wrote it. I know--I know he
+struck you, he tried to kill you--I know it all! but you escaped
+unharmed. As for me, I swear to send to-morrow every article you
+bought--yes, I will get even the money you have paid for my passage and
+hotel bills. Every penny shall be put into your hands before noon--if
+you will have mercy on us."
+
+"Marjorie," I answered, "I do not know what I can do, but let me assure
+you I will do all I can. If any act of mine will set your husband at
+liberty you may rely on me to perform it."
+
+She seemed hardly able to believe that she heard aright. She laughed
+through her tears, discordantly.
+
+"You will do this!" she exclaimed. "You are in earnest? And what are
+your stipulations? Oh! Remember how little I have left of womanly honor,
+and ask nothing I cannot grant."
+
+A whiteness had come to her lips at the sudden thought that alarmed her.
+
+"I only ask," I answered, shakingly, "that you carry out the purpose of
+which you spoke in your last letter; that of going far away from this
+part of the world--where I shall never set eyes on you again. You are to
+me like a dream that is past: a beautiful dream I must blot from my
+brain. Within a week I shall have forgotten the thorns and recall only
+the perfume of roses. A year later I hope to forget the roses
+themselves. Marjorie, you are the wife of another man. You are, by your
+own admission, a woman with whom it would be suicide to link my life.
+But I love you yet. No, do not start. This is my last word on that
+subject. After all, you have done something for me. From this day the
+love of woman will never be esteemed a light thing in my mind. A young
+roué has had a shock that he will not forget. His idle search for
+pleasure is ended. I shall be another and a better man--even because I
+have known you."
+
+"And you will save Jack?" she said, entreatingly.
+
+"I will do all I can--'perjure myself like a gentleman'--if necessary. I
+think you may be sure of having him set free within a very few days."
+
+"What can I do to thank you?" she asked, the tears streaming again from
+her eyes.
+
+"Nothing," I said, after a moment of hesitation.
+
+For a second I had thought of asking one pure kiss, on the lips. I knew,
+before the next second had passed that she would refuse it, though her
+husband's freedom depended on the issue.
+
+"Nothing," I repeated.
+
+As she rose and held out her hands to me in the attitude of parting, I
+affected not to see the movement. "Good-by," I said, huskily. "No; say
+no more. Good-by."
+
+At the door to which I allowed her to go alone, she had an instant of
+doubt.
+
+"You would not be so cruel as to deceive me?" she said, trembling.
+
+I waved my hand in a negative, but I could not trust myself to speak. I
+was afraid, terribly afraid, that if she did not go at once I should
+clasp her, willing or unwilling, in my arms, and crush her mouth with my
+own. And that I would not have done for the world.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As early the following morning as I could expect to find Harvey Hume in
+his office I was there. Having nothing whatever to do, as usual, he drew
+me into a private room, closed the door and asked to what he was
+indebted for a call at that hour.
+
+"I want to consult you on a legal matter," I said, gravely. "Now, do not
+get excited, for you will need all your wits. Listen!"
+
+I told him that a man was lying in jail under the charge of having
+raised the figures on a check of mine; that it was my desire that the
+man should go free; and that I wanted him to tell me how to accomplish
+that result.
+
+"He is unjustly accused?" he said, interrogatively.
+
+"Whether he is or not doesn't matter. I want him set at liberty."
+
+Hume thought deeply for some moments.
+
+"Did you give him the original check?" he asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then, of course, you remember the figures it bore at that time."
+
+"I wouldn't like to swear to them," I said, evasively.
+
+"They can't convict him unless you do, if he is well defended."
+
+"But," I said, "I don't want him tried at all. I want him released now.
+Isn't there some way to accomplish that?"
+
+Harvey thought a little longer and finally said he would arrange it. He
+was to go at once to the jail and unveil his scheme to "Edgerly," and
+afterwards turn up about noon at the district attorney's office.
+
+As the clocks were striking twelve I met Daly on the steps of the
+courthouse. He complimented me on my promptness, with a keen look that
+showed he scented his prey. As we were entering the room of the
+dispenser of justice, Hume came along and addressed me.
+
+"I say, Camran," he remarked, careful that Daly should hear every word,
+"I am engaged to appear for a poor chap who is up for raising a check of
+yours. I was just going in to see the district attorney. I must say, the
+man seems as innocent of wrong as any fellow I ever met."
+
+"Will you kindly introduce me to this gentleman?" asked Daly of me.
+
+When this was done, he informed Hume that Hazen was a well known sharper
+and that in the present case there was no doubt whatever of his guilt.
+
+"Mr. Camran gave him a check for $350 to settle the balance of a game of
+cards that I will swear was a swindle, for I watched it; and when the
+check was brought into the bank it had been raised to $3500. Luckily I
+got word that the check had been given in time to put the bank people on
+their guard by cable and he was arrested on the spot."
+
+"Is this true?" asked the lawyer, of me.
+
+"I don't know," I responded, carelessly. "I gave him a
+check--certainly--but for what amount I am absolutely unable to swear. I
+was confused at the time--a little put out, naturally--"
+
+Daly was surveying me with a look of rage.
+
+"So you're going to throw it up, are you?" he asked, gutturally. "And
+one of the prettiest cases I ever worked on, too."
+
+"I will mail you the amount of your bill this afternoon," I said,
+impudently.
+
+"The amount of my--" he repeated, dolefully. "Yes; but the gain to my
+reputation that would have resulted--who will compensate me for that?
+Gad, I'll never take hold of another case that has a woman in it! They
+can knock over the best of us. You can let your check-raiser go, for all
+of me," he said to the district attorney, as that gentleman came to the
+threshold. "The evidence seems to have petered out."
+
+Mr. Hume and I talked the matter over with the official, explained the
+part he took in the affair, and it was arranged that the case would not
+be brought before the Grand Jury at all.
+
+"I want to say I think you've played it a little low down on a man that
+interfered to save your life," said Daly to me, as he left the building.
+"But I'll watch for that fellow and you can bet I'll get him on
+something yet before he dies."
+
+I had no wish to argue with him. He was undoubtedly right, from his
+standpoint.
+
+It was enough for me to know I had succeeded in accomplishing what would
+put the roses into Marjorie's cheeks once more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+"I PRESSED THEM TO MY LIPS."
+
+
+I was very lonesome for a few weeks after my return. This it was that
+took me so often to the house occupied by the Bartons. Tom was immensely
+glad to see me, at all times, and Statia, though still very sober in my
+society, began to treat me with her old kindness.
+
+One day, when Hazen was out of jail, and undoubtedly far away from the
+city, I asked Statia if she would like to hear a diary of my journey to
+the West Indies. She hesitated a little, saying finally that her answer
+would depend a great deal on what the diary contained. I told her how I
+had put the entire affair, from the beginning, into shape for
+publication and what I wanted was her opinion of my scheme. While there
+were many things that might not reflect great credit on me, there was
+nothing, I believed, that it would be improper for her to hear. She
+thought a little longer and then asked if she might not read it for
+herself instead of having it read to her. I accepted the amendment,
+being in fact glad she suggested it, and brought Miss May's MS. to her
+the very next morning.
+
+When a couple of days had passed Tom dropped in to say that his sister
+would like to see me, if I found it convenient to run over. In another
+hour I was in her presence. She met me with a frown on her pretty face
+and stood for a minute regarding me silently.
+
+"Don, have you told the whole truth in that manuscript?" she asked,
+then.
+
+"The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me!" I
+responded with upraised hand.
+
+"It is an awful avowal, take it altogether," she said, soberly. "I
+almost wish you had not brought it to me. I never shall feel quite the
+same after this. How could a woman of that description so affect a man
+like you?"
+
+"I am not going to discuss that," I answered. "Is it worth publishing,
+that's the point? I have altered every name, you see, so no one not in
+the secret will recognize a single person involved. It's a rather
+unusual collection of occurrences, don't you think?"
+
+She assented with a nod to the last proposition, and said as for the
+literary "market" she supposed in its present state it was not over
+squeamish.
+
+"The success of the season is 'Quo Vadis,'" she added, "and I wasn't
+able to read half of it. There is at least a lesson to be learned from
+this experience of yours, if men will only heed the warnings."
+
+"Thank you," I said, with polite irony, though I didn't agree with her
+about Sienkiewicz' great work. "Can you think of anything I might add,
+to round out the tale, as it were?"
+
+A flush came into her face and a slight smile to the corners of her
+mouth.
+
+"Yes. You might say that 'Statia' admitted to you afterwards that the
+letters signed 'Alice Brazier' were her own, copied by a friend in the
+handwriting of the latter and sent from her residence."
+
+My surprise, which was complete, turned the smile into a little laugh at
+my expense.
+
+"And you might say also," she continued, "that during your absence with
+'Marjorie,' your friend 'Tom's' sister was taking lessons in typewriting
+and became quite proficient in that art. And that she told you, whenever
+you wanted to take another journey, and needed assistance in literary
+work, she would apply for the position rather than have you made the
+victim of any designing creature of her sex."
+
+"Statia!" I cried, "you have entirely forgiven me?"
+
+"Entirely," she said. "I couldn't wish you any greater punishment than
+you have endured."
+
+A month passed and one day a box addressed to me was brought to my door
+by an expressman, with the charges prepaid from some point beyond the
+Rockies. Wonderingly I saw it opened and then, at the first glance into
+the interior, I told the boy who plied the hammer that I would unpack it
+myself.
+
+It contained the entire outfit that "Marjorie" had bought with my
+money--the jewelry included.
+
+There were the hats which had adorned her fair head; the gowns that had
+been draped around her graceful body; the shoes, the hosiery, the
+lingerie--everything!
+
+I took them out slowly, one by one. I pressed them to my lips, letting
+teardrops fall on each separate article. I could only think of what I
+had lost--of what, in truth, I had never gained. I put the articles
+away, finally, locking them securely from all prying eyes.
+
+This little note was found in the box, pinned to a scarf:
+
+    My Dear Friend:--Although you told me you did not want to take your
+    things back, I shall feel better to send them to you. It leaves me
+    in your debt only for the other expenses of my voyage, and perhaps
+    the typewriting I did will in some measure compensate for that. Long
+    ago you must have recovered from the tender sentiment with which you
+    used to insist I inspired you, and I hope have also learned to think
+    of me with less aversion than you felt at the last. If I might be
+    permitted to give advice it would be offer your hand and heart to
+    'Statia Barton.' You need a wife; I am sure, she would make an
+    excellent one.
+
+    Farewell; this time, forever!
+
+    M.M.
+
+Recovered from my love for you? Not yet, Marjorie, not yet. That will
+come in time, I trust, but it is still too soon.
+
+Offer my hand to Statia? I would not insult that noble girl again with
+such a worthless gift. As for my heart, it has not come back to me, and
+I do not know as it ever will.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Well," said Mr. Cook, the senior partner of the Dillingham Company, as
+I signed the contract which gave him the right to publish this
+"novel,"--"you've had what the doctor prescribed, at least."
+
+"A New Sensation," he explained, as I looked at him inquiringly.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+SPECIAL NOTE: If this should meet the eyes of Mr. Mathew Howes of
+Binghamton, or Miss Howes, they are hereby informed that a diamond
+bracelet is awaiting its owner at The Lambs Club.
+
+D.C.
+
+
+
+
+THE POPULAR NOVELS OF MAY AGNES FLEMING
+
+
+  THE ACTRESS' DAUGHTER.
+  A CHANGED HEART.
+  EDITH PERCIVAL.
+  A FATEFUL ABDUCTION.
+  MAUDE PERCY'S SECRET.
+  THE MIDNIGHT QUEEN.
+  NORINE'S REVENGE.
+  PRIDE AND PASSION.
+  QUEEN OF THE ISLE.
+  SHARING HER CRIME.
+  THE SISTERS OF TORWOOD.
+  WEDDED FOR PIQUE.
+  A WIFE'S TRAGEDY.
+  A WRONGED WIFE.
+
+
+Mrs. Fleming's stories have always been extremely popular. Their
+delineations of character, lifelike conversations, the flashes of wit,
+their constantly varying scenes and deeply interesting plots combine to
+place their author in an enviable position, which is still maintained
+despite the tremendous onrush of modern novelists. No more brilliant or
+stirring novels than hers have ever been published, and, strange as it
+may seem, the seeker after romance today reads these books as eagerly as
+did our mothers when they first appeared.
+
+
+_All published uniform, cloth bound. Price, 50 cents each, and sent FREE
+by mail, on receipt of price by_
+
+G.W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+THE FASCINATING NOVELS OF Celia E. Gardner
+
+
+  BROKEN DREAMS (In verse).
+  COMPENSATION (In verse).
+  HER LAST LOVER.
+  RICH MEDWAY'S TWO LOVES.
+  STOLEN WATERS (In verse).
+  TESTED.
+  TERRACE ROSES.
+  TWISTED SKEIN (In verse).
+  A WOMAN'S WILES.
+  WON UNDER PROTEST.
+
+
+These stories are as far removed from the sensational as possible, yet
+in matter as well as style, they possess a fascination all their own.
+The author makes a specialty of the study of a woman's heart. Their tone
+and atmosphere are high; the characterizations good; the dialogue bright
+and natural. Her books have had an enormous sale.
+
+
+_12 mo. Cloth bound. Price, 50 cents each, and sent FREE by mail, on
+receipt of price by_
+
+G.W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+THE CHARMING NOVELS OF JULIE P. SMITH
+
+
+  BLOSSOM BUD.
+  COURTING AND FARMING.
+  KISS AND BE FRIENDS.
+  THE MARRIED BELLE.
+  THE WIDOWER.
+  CHRIS AND OTHO.
+  HIS YOUNG WIFE.
+  LUCY.
+  TEN OLD MAIDS.
+  WIDOW GOLDSMITH'S DAUGHTER.
+
+
+Julie P. Smith's books are of unusual merit, uncommonly well written,
+cleverly developed and characterized by great wit and vivacity. They
+have been extremely popular, and they still retain to a great degree
+their former power to charm. Her pictures of farm life and of rural
+conditions are wholesome and finely done. The human interest is never
+lacking from her stories.
+
+
+_All published uniform, cloth bound. Price, 50 cents each, and sent FREE
+by mail, on receipt of price by_
+
+G.W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+
+Obvious typographical and printer errors have been corrected without
+comment.
+
+In addition to obvious errors, the following changes have been made:
+
+    Page 53: removed the word "be" from the phrase "... who is to be
+    become my employee...." leaving, "... who is to become my
+    employee...."
+
+    Page 153: changed "profoundedly" to "profoundly" in the phrase, "I
+    was profoundly grateful...."
+
+    Page 234: changed "an" to "as" in the phrase, "... your face is as
+    innocent as a babe's."
+
+Other than the above, no effort has been made to standardize internal
+inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, etc.
+The author's usage is preserved as found in the original publication.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A New Sensation, by Albert Ross
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40937 ***