initial commit of ebook 5405HEADmain

2 files changed, 16136 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/nrdwl10.txt b/old/nrdwl10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4af9417
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/nrdwl10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,16136 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ne'er-Do-Well, by Rex Beach
+#7 in our series by Rex Beach
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
+copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
+this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
+
+This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
+Gutenberg file.  Please do not remove it.  Do not change or edit the
+header without written permission.
+
+Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
+eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file.  Included is
+important information about your specific rights and restrictions in
+how the file may be used.  You can also find out about how to make a
+donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
+
+
+**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
+
+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Ne'er-Do-Well
+
+Author: Rex Beach
+
+Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5405]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 7, 2002]
+[Date last updated: August 16, 2005]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NE'ER-DO-WELL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE NE'ER-DO-WELL
+
+By REX BEACH
+
+Author of "THE SILVER HORDE" "THE SPOILERS" "THE IRON TRAIL" Etc.
+
+Illustrated
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY WIFE
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+     I. VICTORY
+
+    II. THE TRAIL DIVIDES
+
+   III. A GAP
+
+    IV. NEW ACQUAINTANCES
+
+     V. A REMEDY IS PROPOSED
+
+    VI. IN WHICH KIRK ANTHONY IS GREATLY SURPRISED
+
+   VII. THE REWARD OF MERIT
+
+  VIII. EL COMANDANTE TAKES A HAND
+
+    IX. SPANISH LAW
+
+     X. A CHANGE OF PLAN
+
+    XI. THE TRUTH ABOUT MRS. CORTLANDT
+
+   XII. A NIGHT AT TABOGA
+
+  XIII. CHIQUITA
+
+   XIV. THE PATH THAT LED NOWHERE
+
+    XV. ALIAS JEFFERSON LOCKE
+
+   XVI. "8838"
+
+  XVII. GARAVEL THE BANKER
+
+ XVIII. THE SIEGE OF MARIA TORRES
+
+   XIX. "LA TOSCA"
+
+    XX. AN AWAKENING
+
+   XXI. THE REST OF THE FAMILY
+
+  XXII. A CHALLENGE AND A CONFESSION
+
+ XXIII. A PLOT AND A SACRIFICE
+
+  XXIV. A BUSINESS PROPOSITION
+
+   XXV. CHECKMATE!
+
+  XXVI. THE CRASH
+
+ XXVII. A QUESTION
+
+XXVIII. THE ANSWER
+
+  XXIX. A LAST APPEAL
+
+   XXX. DARWIN K ANTHONY
+
+
+
+
+THE NE'ER-DO-WELL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+VICTORY
+
+
+It was a crisp November night. The artificial brilliance of
+Broadway was rivalled by a glorious moonlit sky. The first autumn
+frost was in the air, and on the side-streets long rows of
+taxicabs were standing, their motors blanketed, their chauffeurs
+threshing their arms to rout the cold. A few well-bundled cabbies,
+perched upon old-style hansoms, were barking at the stream of
+hurrying pedestrians. Against a background of lesser lights myriad
+points of electric signs flashed into everchanging shapes, winking
+like huge, distorted eyes; fanciful designs of liquid fire ran up
+and down the walls or blazed forth in lurid colors. From the
+city's canons came an incessant clanging roar, as if a great river
+of brass and steel were grinding its way toward the sea.
+
+Crowds began to issue from the theatres, and the lines of waiting
+vehicles broke up, filling the streets with the whir of machinery
+and the clatter of hoofs. A horde of shrill-voiced urchins pierced
+the confusion, waving their papers and screaming the football
+scores at the tops of their lusty lungs, while above it all rose
+the hoarse tones of carriage callers, the commands of traffic
+officers, and the din of street-car gongs.
+
+In the lobby of one of the playhouses a woman paused to adjust her
+wraps, and, hearing the cries of the newsboys, petulantly
+exclaimed:
+
+"I'm absolutely sick of football. That performance during the
+third act was enough to disgust one."
+
+Her escort smiled. "Oh, you take it too seriously," he said.
+"Those boys don't mean anything. That was merely Youth--
+irrepressible Youth, on a tear. You wouldn't spoil the fun?"
+
+"It may have been Youth," returned his companion, "but it sounded
+more like the end of the world. It was a little too much!"
+
+A bevy of shop-girls came bustling forth from a gallery exit.
+
+"Rah! rah! rah!" they mimicked, whereupon the cry was answered by
+a hundred throats as the doors belched forth the football players
+and their friends. Out they came, tumbling, pushing, jostling;
+greeting scowls and smiles with grins of insolent good-humor. In
+their hands were decorated walking-sticks and flags, ragged and
+tattered as if from long use in a heavy gale. Dignified old
+gentlemen dived among them in pursuit of top-hats; hysterical
+matrons hustled daughters into carriages and slammed the doors.
+
+"Wuxtry! Wuxtry!" shrilled the newsboys. "Full account of the big
+game!"
+
+A youth with a ridiculous little hat and heliotrope socks dashed
+into the street, where, facing the crowd, he led a battle song of
+his university. Policemen set their shoulders to the mob, but,
+though they met with no open resistance, they might as well have
+tried to dislodge a thicket of saplings. To-night football was
+king.
+
+Out through the crowd came a score of deep-chested young men
+moving together as if to resist an attack, whereupon a mighty roar
+went up. The cheer-leader increased his antics, and the barking
+yell changed to a measured chant, to the time of which the army
+marched down the street until the twenty athletes dodged in
+through the revolving doors of a cafe, leaving Broadway rocking
+with the tumult.
+
+All the city was football-mad, it seemed, for no sooner had the
+new-comers entered the restaurant than the diners rose to wave
+napkins or to cheer. Men stepped upon chairs and craned for a
+better sight of them; women raised their voices in eager
+questioning. A gentleman in evening dress pointed out the leader
+of the squad to his companions, explaining:
+
+"That is Anthony--the big chap. He's Darwin K. Anthony's son.
+You've heard about the Anthony bill at Albany?"
+
+"Yes, and I saw this fellow play football four years ago. Say!
+That was a game."
+
+"He's a worthless sort of chap, isn't he?" remarked one of the
+women, when the squad had disappeared up the stairs.
+
+"Just a rich man's son, that's all. But he certainly could play
+football."
+
+"Didn't I read that he had been sent to jail recently?"
+
+"No doubt. He was given thirty days."
+
+"What! in PRISON?" questioned another, in a shocked voice.
+
+"Only for speeding. It was his third offence, and his father let
+him take his medicine."
+
+"How cruel!"
+
+"Old man Anthony doesn't care for this sort of thing. He's right,
+too. All this young fellow is good for is to spend money."
+
+Up in the banquet-hall, however, it was evident that Kirk Anthony
+was more highly esteemed by his mates than by the public at large.
+He was their hero, in fact, and in a way he deserved it. For three
+years before his graduation he had been the heart and sinew of the
+university team, and for the four years following he had coached
+them, preferring the life of an athletic trainer to the career his
+father had offered him. And he had done his chosen work well.
+
+Only three weeks prior to the hard gruel of the great game the
+eleven had received a blow that had left its supporters dazed and
+despairing. There had been a scandal, of which the public had
+heard little and the students scarcely more, resulting in the
+expulsion of the five best players of the team. The crisis might
+have daunted the most resourceful of men, yet Anthony had proved
+equal to it. For twenty-one days he had labored like a real
+general, spending his nights alone with diagrams and little
+dummies on a miniature gridiron, his days in careful coaching. He
+had taken a huge, ungainly Nova Scotian lad named Ringold for
+centre; he had placed a square-jawed, tow-headed boy from Duluth
+in the line; he had selected a high-strung, unseasoned chap, who
+for two years had been eating his heart out on the side-lines, and
+made him into a quarter-back.
+
+Then he had driven them all with the cruelty of a Cossack captain;
+and when at last the dusk of this November day had settled, new
+football history had been made. The world had seen a strange team
+snatch victory from defeat, and not one of all the thirty thousand
+onlookers but knew to whom the credit belonged. It had been a
+tremendous spectacle, and when the final whistle blew for the
+multitude to come roaring down across the field, the cohorts had
+paid homage to Kirk Anthony, the weary coach to whom they knew the
+honor belonged.
+
+Of course this fervid enthusiasm and hero-worship was all very
+immature, very foolish, as the general public acknowledged after
+it had taken time to cool off. Yet there was something appealing
+about it, after all. At any rate, the press deemed the public
+sufficiently interested in the subject to warrant giving it
+considerable prominence, and the name of Darwin K. Anthony's son
+was published far and wide.
+
+Naturally, the newspapers gave the young man's story as well as a
+history of the game. They told of his disagreement with his
+father; of the Anthony anti-football bill which the old man in his
+rage had driven through the legislature and up to the Governor
+himself. Some of them even printed a rehash of the railroad man's
+famous magazine attack on the modern college, in which he all but
+cited his own son as an example of the havoc wrought by present-
+day university methods. The elder Anthony's wealth and position
+made it good copy. The yellow journals liked it immensely, and,
+strangely enough, notwithstanding the positiveness with which the
+newspapers spoke, the facts agreed essentially with their
+statements. Darwin K. Anthony and his son had quarrelled, they
+were estranged; the young man did prefer idleness to industry.
+Exactly as the published narratives related, he toiled not at all,
+he spun nothing but excuses, he arrayed himself in sartorial
+glory, and drove a yellow racing-car beyond the speed limit.
+
+It was all true, only incomplete. Kirk Anthony's father had even
+better reasons for his disapproval of the young man's behavior
+than appeared. The fact was that Kirk's associates were of a sort
+to worry any observant parent, and, moreover, he had acquired a
+renown in that part of New York lying immediately west of Broadway
+and north of Twenty-sixth Street which, in his father's opinion,
+added not at all to the lustre of the family name. In particular,
+Anthony, Sr., was prejudiced against a certain Higgins, who, of
+course, was his son's boon companion, aid, and abettor. This young
+gentleman was a lean, horse-faced senior, whose unbroken solemnity
+of manner had more than once led strangers to mistake him for a
+divinity student, though closer acquaintance proved him wholly
+unmoral and rattle-brained. Mr. Higgins possessed a distorted
+sense of humor and a crooked outlook upon life; while, so far as
+had been discovered, he owned but two ambitions: one to whip a
+policeman, the other to write a musical comedy. Neither seemed
+likely of realization. As for the first, he was narrow-chested and
+gangling, while a brief, disastrous experience on the college
+paper had furnished a sad commentary upon the second.
+
+Not to exaggerate, Darwin K. Anthony, the father, saw in the
+person of Adelbert Higgins a budding criminal of rare precocity,
+and a menace to his son; while to the object of his solicitude the
+aforesaid criminal was nothing more than an entertaining
+companion, whose bizarre disregard of all established rules of
+right and wrong matched well with his own careless temper.
+Higgins, moreover, was an ardent follower of athletics, revolving
+like a satellite about the football stars, and attaching himself
+especially to Kirk, who was too good-natured to find fault with an
+honest admirer.
+
+It was Higgins this evening who, after the "cripples" had deserted
+and the supper party had dwindled to perhaps a dozen, proposed to
+make a night of it. It was always Higgins who proposed to make a
+night of it, and now, as usual, his words were greeted with
+enthusiasm.
+
+Having obtained the floor, he gazed owlishly over the flushed
+faces around the table and said:
+
+"I wish to announce that, in our little journey to the underworld,
+we will visit some places of rare interest and educational value.
+First we will go to the House of Seven Turnings."
+
+"No poetry, Hig!" some one cried. "What is it?"
+
+"It is merely a rendezvous of pickpockets and thieves, accessible
+only to a chosen few. I feel sure you will enjoy yourselves there,
+for the bartender has the secret of a remarkable gin fizz, sweeter
+than a maiden's smile, more intoxicating than a kiss."
+
+"Piffle!"
+
+"It is a place where the student of sociology can obtain a world
+of valuable information."
+
+"How do we get in?"
+
+"Leave that to old Doctor Higgins," Anthony laughed. "To get out
+is the difficulty."
+
+"Oh, I guess we'll get out," said the bulky Ringold.
+
+"After we have concluded our investigations at the House of Seven
+Turnings," continued the ceremonious Higgins, "we will go to the
+Palace of Ebony, where a full negro orchestra--"
+
+"The police closed that a week ago."
+
+"But it has reopened on a scale larger and grander than ever."
+
+"Let's take in the Austrian Village," offered Ringold.
+
+"Patiently! Patiently, Behemoth! We'll take 'em all in. However, I
+wish to request one favor. If by any chance I should become
+embroiled with a minion of the law, please, oh please, let me
+finish him."
+
+"Remember the last time," cautioned Anthony. "You've never come
+home a winner."
+
+"Enough! Away with painful memories! All in favor--"
+
+"AYE!" yelled the diners, whereupon a stampede ensued that caused
+the waiters in the main dining-room below to cease piling chairs
+upon the tables and hastily weight their napkins with salt-
+cellars.
+
+But the crowd was not combative. They poured out upon the street
+in the best possible humor, and even at the House of Seven
+Turnings, as Higgins had dubbed the "hide-away" on Thirty-second
+Street, they made no disturbance. On the contrary, it was
+altogether too quiet for most of them, and they soon sought
+another scene. But there were deserters en route to the Palace of
+Ebony, and when in turn the joys of a full negro orchestra had
+palled and a course was set for the Austrian Village, the number
+of investigators had dwindled to a choice half-dozen.
+
+These, however, were kindred spirits, veterans of many a midnight
+escapade, composing a flying squadron of exactly the right
+proportions for the utmost efficiency and mobility combined.
+
+The hour was now past a respectable bedtime and the Tenderloin had
+awakened. The roar of commerce had dwindled away, and the
+comparative silence was broken only by the clang of an infrequent
+trolley. The streets were empty of vehicles, except for a few cabs
+that followed the little group persistently. As yet there was no
+need of them. The crowd was made up, for the most part, of
+healthy, full-blooded boys, fresh from weeks of training, strong
+of body, and with stomachs like galvanized iron. They showed scant
+evidence of intoxication. As for the weakest member of the party,
+it had long been known that one drink made Higgins drunk, and all
+further libations merely served to maintain him in status quo.
+Exhaustive experiments had proved that he was able to retain
+consciousness and the power of locomotion until the first streak
+of dawn appeared, after which he usually became a burden. For the
+present he was amply able to take care of himself, and now,
+although his speech was slightly thick, his demeanor was as
+didactic and severe as ever, and, save for the vagrant workings of
+his mind, he might have passed for a curate. As a whole, the crowd
+was in fine fettle.
+
+The Austrian Village is a saloon, dance-hall, and all-night
+restaurant, flourishing brazenly within a stone's throw of
+Broadway, and it is counted one of the sights of the city. Upon
+entering, one may pass through a saloon where white-aproned
+waiters load trays and wrangle over checks, then into a ball-room
+filled with the flotsam and jetsam of midnight Manhattan. Above
+and around this room runs a white-and-gold balcony partitioned
+into boxes; beneath it are many tables separated from the waxed
+floor by a railing. Inside the enclosure men in street-clothes and
+smartly gowned girls with enormous hats revolve nightly to the
+strains of an orchestra which nearly succeeds in drowning their
+voices. From the tables come laughter and snatches of song;
+waiters dash hither and yon. It is all very animated and gay on
+the surface, and none but the closely observant would note the
+weariness beneath the women's smiles, the laughter notes that
+occasionally jar, or perceive that the tailored gowns are
+imitations, the ermines mainly rabbit-skins.
+
+But the eyes of youth are not analytical, and seen through a rosy
+haze the sight was inspiriting. The college men selected a table,
+and, shouldering the occupants aside without ceremony, seated
+themselves and pounded for a waiter.
+
+Padden, the proprietor, came toward them, and, after greeting
+Anthony and Higgins by a shake of his left hand, ducked his round
+gray head in acknowledgment of an introduction to the others.
+
+"Excuse my right," said he, displaying a swollen hand criss-
+crossed with surgeon's plaster. "A fellow got noisy last night."
+
+"D'jou hit him?" queried Higgins, gazing with interest at the
+proprietor's knuckles.
+
+"Yes. I swung for his jaw and went high. Teeth--" Mr. Padden said,
+vaguely. He turned a shrewd eye upon Anthony. "I heard about the
+game to-day. That was all right."
+
+Kirk grinned boyishly. "I didn't have much to do with it; these
+are the fellows."
+
+"Don't believe him," interrupted Ringold.
+
+"Sure! he's too modest," Higgins chimed in. "Fine fellow an' all
+that, understand, but he's got two faults--he's modest and he's
+lazy. He's caused a lot of uneasiness to his father and me.
+Father's a fine man, too." He nodded his long, narrow head
+solemnly.
+
+"We know who did the trick for us," added Anderson, the straw-
+haired half-back.
+
+"Glad you dropped in," Mr. Padden assured them. "Anything you boys
+want and can't get, let me know."
+
+When he had gone Higgins averred: "There's a fine man--peaceful,
+refined--got a lovely character, too. Let's be gentlemen while
+we're in his place."
+
+Ringold rose. "I'm going to dance, fellows," he announced, and his
+companions followed him, with the exception of the cadaverous
+Higgins, who maintained that dancing was a pastime for the
+frivolous and weak.
+
+When they returned to their table they found a stranger was seated
+with him, who rose as Higgins made him known.
+
+"Boys, meet my old friend, Mr. Jefferson Locke, of St. Louis. He's
+all right."
+
+The college men treated this new recruit with a hilarious
+cordiality, to which he responded with the air of one quite
+accustomed to such reunions.
+
+"I was at the game this afternoon," he explained, when the
+greetings were over, "and recognized you chaps when you came in.
+I'm a football fan myself."
+
+"You look as if you might have played," said Anthony, sizing up
+the broad frame of the Missourian with the critical eye of a
+coach.
+
+"Yes. I used to play."
+
+"Where?"
+
+Mr. Locke avoided answer by calling loudly for a waiter, but when
+the orders had been taken Kirk repeated:
+
+"Where did you play, Mr. Locke?"
+
+"Left tackle."
+
+"What university?"
+
+"Oh one of the Southern colleges. It was a freshwater school--you
+wouldn't know the name." He changed the subject quickly by adding:
+
+"I just got into town this morning and I'm sailing to-morrow. I
+couldn't catch a boat to-day, so I'm having a little blow-out on
+my own account. When I recognized you all, I just butted in. New
+York is a lonesome place for a stranger. Hope you don't mind my
+joining you."
+
+"Not at all!" he was assured.
+
+When he came to pay the waiter he displayed a roll of yellow-
+backed bills that caused Anthony to caution him:
+
+"If I were you I'd put that in my shoe. I know this place."
+
+Locke only laughed. "There's more where this came from. However,
+that's one reason I'd like to stick around with you fellows. I
+have an idea I've been followed, and I don't care to be tapped on
+the head. If you will let me trail along I'll foot the bills.
+That's a fair proposition."
+
+"It certainly sounds engaging," cried Higgins, joyously. "The
+sight of that money awakens a feeling of loyalty in our breasts. I
+speak for all when I say we will guard you like a lily as long as
+your money lasts, Mr. Locke."
+
+"As long as we last," Ringold amended.
+
+"It's a bargain," Locke agreed. "Hereafter I foot the bills.
+You're my guests for the evening, understand. If you'll agree to
+keep me company until my ship sails I'll do the entertaining."
+
+"Oh, come now," Anthony struck in. "The fellows are just fooling.
+You're more than welcome to stay with us if you like, but we can't
+let you put up for it."
+
+"Why not? We'll make a night of it. I'll show you how we spend
+money in St. Louis. I'm too nervous to go to bed."
+
+Anthony protested, insisting that the other should regard himself
+as the guest of the crowd; but as Locke proved obdurate the
+question was allowed to drop until later, when Kirk found himself
+promoted by tacit consent to the position of host for the whole
+company. This was a little more than he had bargained for, but the
+sense of having triumphed in a contest of good-fellowship consoled
+him. Meanwhile, the stranger, despite his avowedly festive spirit,
+showed a certain reserve.
+
+When the music again struck up he declined to dance, preferring to
+remain with Higgins in their inconspicuous corner.
+
+"There's a fine fellow," the latter remarked, following his best
+friend's figure with his eyes, when he and Locke were once more
+alone. "Sweet nature."
+
+"Anthony? Yes, he looks it."
+
+"He's got just two faults, I always say: he's too modest by far
+and he's lazy--won't work."
+
+"He doesn't have to work. His old man has plenty of coin, hasn't
+he?"
+
+"Yes, and he'll keep it, too. Heartless old wretch. Mr.--What's
+your name, again?"
+
+"Locke."
+
+"Mr. Locke." The speaker stared mournfully at his companion.
+"D'you know what that unnatural parent did?"
+
+"No."
+
+"He let his only son and heir go to jail."
+
+Mr. Jefferson Locke, of St. Louis, started; his wandering,
+watchful eyes flew back to the speaker.
+
+"What! Jail?"
+
+"That's what I remarked. He allowed his own flesh and blood to
+languish in a loathsome cell."
+
+"What for? What did they get him for?" queried the other, quickly.
+
+"Speeding."
+
+"Oh!" Locke let himself back in his chair.
+
+"Yes sir, he's a branded felon."
+
+"Nonsense. That's nothing."
+
+"But we love him just the same, criminal though he is" said
+Higgins, showing a disposition to weep. "If he were not such a
+strong, patient soul it might have ruined his whole life."
+
+Mr. Locke grunted.
+
+"S'true! You've no idea the disgrace it is to go to jail."
+
+The Missourian stirred uneasily. "Say, it gets on my nerves to sit
+still," said he. "Let's move around."
+
+"Patiently! Patiently! Somebody's sure to start something before
+long."
+
+"Well, I don't care to get mixed up in a row."
+
+Higgins laid a long, white hand upon the speaker's arm. "Then stay
+with us, Mr.--Locke. If you incline to peace, be one of us. We're
+a flock of sucking doves."
+
+The dancers came crowding up to the table at the moment, and
+Ringold suggested loudly: "I'm hungry; let's eat again."
+
+His proposal met with eager response.
+
+"Where shall we go?" asked Anderson.
+
+"I just fixed it with Padden for a private room upstairs," Anthony
+said. "All the cafes are closed now, and this is the best place in
+town for chicken creole, anyhow."
+
+Accordingly he led the way, and the rest filed out after him; but
+as they left the ball-room a medium-sized man who had recently
+entered from the street caught a glimpse of them, craned his neck
+for a better view, then idled along behind.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE TRAIL DIVIDES
+
+
+Inspired by his recent rivalry with Mr. Jefferson Locke, Anthony
+played the part of host more lavishly than even the present
+occasion required. He ordered elaborately, and it was not long
+before corks were popping and dishes rattling quite as if the
+young men were really hungry. Mr. Locke, however, insisted that
+his friends should partake of a kind of drink previously unheard
+of, and with this in view had a confidential chat with the waiter,
+to whom he unostentatiously handed a five-dollar retainer. No one
+witnessed this unusual generosity except Higgins, who commended it
+fondly; but his remarks went unheeded in the general clamor.
+
+The meal was at its noisiest when the man whom Locke had so
+generously tipped spoke to him quietly. Whatever his words, they
+affected the listener strongly. Locke's face whitened, then grew
+muddy and yellow, his hands trembled, his lips went dry. He half
+arose from his chair, then cast a swift look about the room. His
+companions were too well occupied, however, to notice this by-play
+even when the waiter continued, in a low tone:
+
+"He slipped me a ten-spot, so I thought it must be something worth
+while."
+
+"He--he's alone, you say?"
+
+"Seems to be. What shall I do, sir?"
+
+Locke took something from his pocket and thrust it into the
+fellow's hand, while the look in his eyes changed to one of
+desperation.
+
+"Step outside and wait. Don't let him come up. I'll call you in a
+minute."
+
+Ringold was recounting his version of the first touchdown--how he
+had been forced inch by inch across the goal line to the tune of
+thirty thousand yelling throats and his companions were hanging
+upon his words, when their new friend interrupted in such a tone
+that Anthony inquired in surprise:
+
+"What's wrong, old man? Are you sick?"
+
+Locke shook his head. "I told you fellows I'd been followed this
+evening. Remember? Well, there's a man down-stairs who has given
+the waiter ten dollars to let him have his coat and apron so he
+can come in here."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+The men stared at the speaker with a sudden new interest.
+
+"I'm not sure. I--think it's part of a plan to rob me." He let his
+gaze roam from one face to another. "You see--I just came into a
+big piece of coin, and I've got it with me. I'm--I'm alone in New
+York, understand? They've followed me from St. Louis. Now, I want
+you boys to help me dodge this--"
+
+Kirk Anthony rose suddenly, moving as lightly upon his feet as a
+dancer.
+
+"You say he's below?"
+
+Locke nodded. It was plain that he was quite unnerved.
+
+Ringold rose in turn and lurched ponderously toward the door, but
+Kirk stepped in front of him with a sharp word:
+
+"Wait! I'll manage this."
+
+"Lemme go," expostulated the centre-rush. "Locke's a good fellow
+and this man wants to trim him."
+
+"No, no! Sit down!" Ringold obeyed. "If he wants to join us, we'll
+have him come up."
+
+"What?" cried Locke, leaping nervously from his chair. "Don't do
+that. I want to get out of here."
+
+"Not a bit like it." Kirk's eyes were sparkling. "We'll give this
+fellow the third degree and find out who his pals are."
+
+"Grand idea!" Higgins seconded with enthusiasm. "Grand!"
+
+"Hold on! I can't do that. I've got to sail at ten o'clock. I
+don't dare get into trouble, don't you understand? It's
+important." Locke seemed in an extraordinary panic.
+
+"Oh, we'll see that you catch your boat all right," Kirk assured
+him; and then before the other could interfere he rang for the
+waiter.
+
+"Give that chap your coat and apron," he ordered, when the
+attendant answered, "and when I ring next send him up. Pass the
+word to Padden and the others not to notice any little
+disturbance. I'll answer for results."
+
+"I'm going to get out," cried the man from St. Louis. "He mustn't
+see me."
+
+"He'll see you sure if you leave now. You'll have to pass him.
+Stick here. We'll have some fun."
+
+The white-faced man sank back into his chair, while Anthony
+directed sharply:
+
+"Now, gentlemen, be seated. Here, Locke, your back to the door--
+your face looks like a chalk-mine. There! Now don't be so nervous--
+we'll cure this fellow's ambition as a gin-slinger. I'll change
+names with you for a minute. Now, Ringold, go ahead with your
+story." Then, as the giant took up his tale again: "Listen to him,
+fellows; look pleasant, please. Remember you're not sitting up
+with a corpse. A little more ginger, Ringie. Good!" He pushed the
+button twice, and a moment Later the door opened quietly to admit
+a medium-sized man in white coat and apron.
+
+Had the young men been a little less exhilarated they might have
+suspected that Locke's story of having been dogged from St. Louis
+was a trifle exaggerated; for, instead of singling him out at
+first glance, the new-comer paused at a respectful distance inside
+the door and allowed his eyes to shift uncertainly from one to
+another as if in doubt as to which was his quarry. Anthony did not
+dream that it was his own resemblance to the Missourian that led
+to this confusion, but in fact, while he and Locke were totally
+unlike when closely compared, they were of a similar size and
+coloring, and the same general description would have fitted both.
+
+Having allowed the intruder a moment in which to take in the room,
+Kirk leaned back in his chair and nodded for him to approach.
+
+"Cigars!" he ordered. "Bring a box of Carolinas."
+
+"Yes, sir. Are you Mr. Locke, sir?" inquired the new waiter.
+
+"Yes," said Kirk.
+
+"Telephone message for you, Mr. Locke," the waiter muttered.
+
+"What's that?" Anthony queried, loud enough for the others to
+hear.
+
+"Somebody calling you by 'phone. They're holding the wire outside.
+I'll show you the booth."
+
+"Oh, will you?" Kirk Anthony's hands suddenly shot out and seized
+the masquerader by the throat. The man uttered a startled gasp,
+but simultaneously the iron grip of Marty Ringold fell upon his
+arms and doubled them behind him, while Kirk gibed:
+
+"You'll get me outside and into a telephone booth, eh? My dear
+sir, that is old stuff."
+
+The rest of the party were on their feet instantly, watching the
+struggle and crowding forward with angry exclamations. Ringold,
+with the man's two wrists locked securely in his own huge paw, was
+growling:
+
+"Smooth way to do up a fellow, I call it."
+
+"All the way from St. Louis for a telephone call, eh?" Anthony
+sank his thumbs into the stranger's throat, then, as the man's
+face grew black and his contortions diminished, added: "We're
+going to make a good waiter out of you."
+
+Jefferson Locke broke in excitedly: "Choke him good! Choke him!
+That's right. Put him out for keeps. For God's sake, don't let him
+go!"
+
+But it was not Kirk's idea to strangle his victim beyond a certain
+point. He relaxed his grip after a moment and, nodding to Ringold
+to do likewise, took the fellow's wrists himself, then swung him
+about until he faced the others. The man's lungs filled with fresh
+air, he began to struggle once more, and when his voice had
+returned he gasped:
+
+"I'll get you for this. You'll do a trick--" He mumbled a name
+that did not sound at all like Jefferson Locke, whereupon the
+Missourian made a rush at him that required the full strength of
+Anthony's free hand to thwart.
+
+"Here, stand back! I've got him!"
+
+"I'll kill him!" chattered the other.
+
+"Let me go," the stranger gasped. "I'll take you all in. I'm an
+officer."
+
+"It's a lie!" shouted Locke. "He's a thief."
+
+"I tell you I'm--an officer; I arrest this--"
+
+The words were cut off abruptly by a loud exclamation from Higgins
+and a crash of glass. Kirk Anthony's face was drenched, his eyes
+were filled with a stinging liquid; he felt his prisoner sink
+limply back into his arms and beheld Higgins struggling in the
+grasp of big Marty Ringold, the foil-covered neck of a wine bottle
+in his fingers.
+
+The foolish fellow had been hovering uncertainly round the edges
+of the crowd, longing to help his friends and crazily anxious to
+win glory by some deed of valor. At the first opening he had
+darted wildly into the fray, not realizing that the enemy was
+already helpless in the hands of his captors.
+
+"I've got him!" he cried, joyously. "He's out!'
+
+"Higgins!" Anthony exclaimed, sharply. "What the devil--" Then the
+dead weight in his arms, the lolling head and sagging jaw of the
+stranger, sobered him like a deluge of ice-water.
+
+"You've done it this time," he muttered.
+
+"Good God!" Locke cried. "Let's get away! He's hurt!"
+
+"Here, you!" Anthony shot a command at the speaker that checked
+him half-way across the room. "Ringold, take the door and don't
+let anybody in or out." To Higgins he exclaimed, "You idiot,
+didn't you see I had his hands?"
+
+"No. Had to get him," returned Higgins, with vinous dignity.
+"Wanted to rob my old friend, Mr.--What's his name?"
+
+"We've got to leave quick before we get in bad," Locke reiterated,
+nervously, but Anthony retorted:
+
+"We're in bad now. I want Padden." He stepped to the door and
+signaled a passing waiter. A moment later the proprietor knocked,
+and Ringold admitted him.
+
+"What's the--" Padden started at sight of the motionless figure on
+the floor, and, kneeling beside it, made a quick examination,
+while Anthony explained the circumstances leading up to the
+assault.
+
+"Thief, eh? I see."
+
+"Is he badly hurt?" queried Locke, bending a pale face upon them.
+
+"Huh! I guess he's due for the hospital," the owner of the
+Austrian Village announced. "He had his nerve, trying to turn a
+trick in my place. I thought I knew all the dips, but he's a
+stranger." With nimble fingers he ran through the fellow's
+pockets, then continued:
+
+"I'm glad you got him, but you'd better get together and rehearse
+before the police--" He stopped abruptly once more, then looked up
+curiously.
+
+"What is it?" questioned the man from Missouri.
+
+Padden pointed silently to the lapel of the fellow's vest, which
+he had turned back. A nickeled badge was pinned upon it. "He's no
+thief; he's a detective--a plain-clothes man!"
+
+"Wha'd I tell you!" Higgins exulted. "I can smell 'em!"
+
+The crowd looked nonplussed, with the exception of Jefferson
+Locke, who became calmer than at any time since the waiter had
+first whispered into his ear.
+
+"We didn't know who he was," he began, hurriedly, "You must square
+it for us, Padden. I don't care what it costs." He extended a
+bulky roll of bank-notes toward the gray-haired man. "These boys
+can't stand this sort of thing, and neither can I. I've got to
+sail at ten o'clock this morning."
+
+"Looks to me like you've croaked him," said the proprietor,
+ignoring the proffered money.
+
+"It's worth a thousand dollars to me not to miss my boat."
+
+"Wait a minute." Padden emptied the unconscious man's pockets,
+among other things of some telegrams and a legally folded paper.
+The latter he opened and scanned swiftly, then turned his little
+eyes upon Locke without a word, whereupon that gentleman, with
+equal silence, took from his inside pocket a wallet, and selected
+a bill, the denomination of which he displayed to the; proprietor
+before folding it inside the bundle he held.
+
+"Here! It may cost you something."
+
+Padden nodded and accepted the money, saying:
+
+"Oh, I guess I can fix it. I know the right doctor." He regained
+his feet, then warned the onlookers: "But you'll have to keep your
+traps closed, understand?"
+
+"Will he die?" asked Ringold, fearfully, his back still against
+the door.
+
+"Not a chance. But if he does he'll never know who hit him. You
+see, we picked him up in the alley and brought him in." Padden
+winked meaningly. "It happens right along in this part of town. Do
+you get me? I'll keep these." He indicated the badge and papers in
+his hand. "Now go out as if nothing had come off. Drop in again
+the next time you're in town. I'll take care of the supper
+checks."
+
+As the partly sobered visitors struggled into their overcoats
+Padden drew Locke aside, and, nodding toward Higgins, who was
+still talkative, said:
+
+"If you want to catch that ten o'clock boat you'd better stick
+close to your friend; I know him."
+
+"Thanks!" Locke glanced at the prostrate figure, then inquired in
+a low tone: "On the level, will he make it?"
+
+"Hard to tell. Just the same, if I was you I'd change my sailing--
+he might come to."
+
+"You chaps have done me a big favor to-night," said Locke, a
+little later, when he and his companions were safely out of the
+Austrian Village, "and I won't forget it, either. Now let's finish
+the evening the way we began it."
+
+Anderson, Rankin, and Burroughs, to conceal their nervousness,
+pleaded bodily fatigue, while Anthony also declared that he had
+enjoyed himself sufficiently for one night and intended to go home
+and to bed. "That episode rather got on my nerves," he
+acknowledged.
+
+"Mine, too," assented Locke. "That's why you mustn't leave me. I
+just won't let you. Remember, you agreed to see me off."
+
+"'S'right, fellows," Higgins joined in. "We agreed to put him
+aboard and we must do it. Don't break up the party, Kirk."
+
+"I don't want to go home," Ringold muttered.
+
+"It's a breach of hospitality to go home," Higgins insisted.
+"Besides, after my bloody 'ncounter with that limb of the law I
+need a stimulant. You must look after me."
+
+"I shall tuck you in your little bed," Kirk told him. But Higgins
+would hear to nothing of the sort, protesting that he was in honor
+bound to conduct his old friend Locke to the steamer, and Anthony
+feared that without his protection some harm might befall his
+irresponsible and impulsive companion. Candor requires it to be
+said that he did hesitate, arguing long with the limp-legged
+Higgins; but Locke was insistent, the others grew impatient of the
+delay, and in the end he allowed himself to be persuaded.
+
+It is often through just such sudden, inconsequent decisions,
+influenced perhaps by the merest trifles, that a man's life is
+made great or small; just such narrow forkings of the trail may
+divert him into strange adventurings, or into worlds undreamed of.
+Kirk Anthony, twenty-six years old, with a heritage at hand, and
+with an average capacity for good or evil, chose the turning that
+led him swiftly from the world he knew into an alien land.
+
+Numbed as they were by the excesses of the evening, it did not
+take the young men long to lose all clear and vivid remembrance of
+this recent experience; for the time had come when Nature was
+offering her last resistance, and their brains were badly awhirl.
+Of all the four, Jefferson Locke was the only one who retained his
+wits to the fullest--a circumstance that would have proved him the
+owner of a remarkably steady head had it not been for the fact
+that he had cunningly substituted water for gin each time it came
+his turn to drink. It was a commentary upon the state of his
+companions that they did not notice the limpid clearness of his
+beverage.
+
+Dawn found them in an East Side basement drinking-place frequented
+by the lowest classes. Ringold was slumbering peacefully, half
+overflowing the wet surface of a table; Anthony had discovered
+musical talent in the bartender and was seated at a battered
+piano, laboriously experimenting with the accompaniment to an
+Irish ballad; Higgins and Locke were talking earnestly. It was the
+slackest, blackest hour in an all-night dive; the nocturnal
+habitues had slunk away, and the day's trade had not yet begun.
+Higgins, drawn and haggard beneath his drunken flush, was babbling
+incessantly; Locke, as usual, sat facing the entrance, his eyes
+watchful, his countenance alert. In spite of the fact that he had
+constantly plied his companion with liquor in the hope of stilling
+his tongue, Higgins seemed incapable of silence, and kept breaking
+forth into loud, garbled recitals of the scene at Padden's, which
+caused the Missourian to shiver with apprehension. To a sober eye
+it would have been patent that Locke was laboring under some
+strong excitement; for every door that opened caused him to start,
+every stranger that entered made him quake. He consulted his watch
+repeatedly, he flushed and paled and fidgeted, then lost himself
+in frowning meditation.
+
+"Grandes' fellow I ever met," Higgins was saying for the hundredth
+time. "Got two faults, tha's all; he's modesht an' he's lazy--he
+won't work."
+
+"Anthony?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Locke stirred himself, and, leaning forward, said: "You and he are
+good friends, eh?"
+
+"Best ever."
+
+"Would you like to play a joke on him?"
+
+"Joke? Can't be done. He's wises' guy ever. I've tried it an'
+always get the wors' of it. Yes, sir, he's wise guy. Jus' got two
+faults: he won't work an'--"
+
+"Look here! Why don't you make him work?"
+
+"Huh?" Higgins turned a pair of bleared, unfocusable eyes upon the
+speaker.
+
+"Why don't somebody make him work?"
+
+The lean-faced youth laughed moistly.
+
+"Tha's good joke."
+
+"I mean it."
+
+"Got too much money. 'S old man puts up reg'lar."
+
+"Listen! It's a shame for a fine fellow like him to go to the
+dogs." Higgins nodded heavily in agreement. "Why don't you send
+him away where he'll have to rustle? That's the joke I meant."
+
+"Huh?" Again the listener's mind failed to follow, and Locke
+repeated his words, concluding: "It would make a new man of him."
+
+"Oh, he wouldn't work. Too lazy."
+
+"He'd have to if he were broke."
+
+"But he AIN'T broke. Didn't I tell you 's old man puts up reg'lar?
+Fine man, too, Misser Anthony; owns railroads."
+
+"I'll tell you how we can work it. I've got a ticket for Central
+America in my pocket. The boat sails at ten. Let's send him down
+there."
+
+"Wha' for?"
+
+Locke kept his temper with an effort. "To make a man of him. We'll
+go through his clothes and when he lands he'll be broke. He'll
+HAVE to work. Don't you see?"
+
+"No." Anthony's friend did not see. "He don't want to go to
+Central America," he argued; "he's got a new autom'bile."
+
+"But suppose we got him soused, went through his pockets, and then
+put him aboard the boat. He'd be at sea by the time he woke up; he
+couldn't get back; he'd have to work; don't you see? He'd be broke
+when he landed and have to rustle money to get back with. I think
+it's an awful funny idea."
+
+The undeniable humor of such a situation finally dawned upon
+Higgins's mind, and he burst into a loud guffaw.
+
+"Hey there! Shut up!" Anthony called from the piano. "Listen here!
+I've found the lost chord." He bore down with his huge hands upon
+the yellow keyboard, bringing forth a metallic crash that blended
+fearfully with the bartender's voice. "It's a great discovery."
+
+"I'll get him full if you'll help manage him," Locke went on. "And
+here's the ticket." He tapped his pocket.
+
+"Where'd you get it?"
+
+"Bought it yesterday. It's first class and better, and he'll fit
+my description. We're about the same size."
+
+"Ain't you goin'?"
+
+"No. I've changed my mind. I may jump over to Paris. Come, are you
+on?"
+
+Higgins giggled. "Darn' funny idea, if you can get him full."
+
+"Wait." Locke rose and went to the bar, where he called loudly for
+the singer; then, when the bartender had deserted the piano, he
+spoke to Anthony: "Keep it up, old man, you're doing fine."
+
+For some moments he talked earnestly to the man behind the bar;
+but his back was to Higgins, Anthony was occupied, and Ringold
+still slumbered; hence no one observed the transfer of another of
+those yellow bills of which he seemed to have an unlimited store.
+
+Strangely enough, Mr. Jefferson Locke's plan worked without a
+hitch. Within ten minutes after Kirk Anthony had taken the drink
+handed him he declared himself sleepy, and rose from the piano,
+only to seek a chair, into which he flung himself heavily.
+
+"It's all right," Locke told his drunken companion. "I've got a
+taxi waiting. We'll leave Ringold where he is."
+
+Twenty-four hours later Adelbert Higgins undertook to recall what
+had happened to him after he left Muller's place on East
+Fourteenth Street, but his memory was tricky. He recollected a
+vaguely humorous discussion of some sort with a stranger, the
+details of which were almost entirely missing. He remembered that
+dawn had broken when he came out of the saloon, but beyond that he
+could not go with any degree of certainty. There was a hazy memory
+of an interminable ride in a closed vehicle of some sort, a dizzy
+panorama of moving buildings, bleak, wind-swept trees, frosty
+meadows, and land-locked lakes backed by what were either distant
+mountain ranges or apartment houses. This last, however, was all
+very blurred and indistinct.
+
+As to who was with him on the ride, or what took place thereafter,
+he had no memory and no opportunity of learning, owing to certain
+unexpected and alarming occurrences which made it imperative for
+him to terminate his connection with his college, as big Marty
+Ringold had done earlier in the day, and begin to pack his
+belongings. Partly out of deference to the frantic appeals of his
+widowed mother, partly owing to the telephoned advice of Mr.
+Michael Padden, of Sixth Avenue, who said the injured man had
+recognized one of his assailants, he booked passage to Japan by
+the next steamer out of Vancouver. He left New York that afternoon
+by the Twentieth Century Limited, taking with him only one suit-
+case and a determination to see the world.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+A GAP
+
+
+Strictly speaking, Kirk Anthony did not awake to a realization of
+his surroundings, but became conscious of them through a long
+process of dull, dreamy speculation. He never knew the precise
+moment when his eyes opened and sleep left him, but at cost of
+considerable mental effort he finally brought himself to the
+conviction that hours had passed and another day had arrived. More
+than once after long, white nights in New York City, he had
+awakened amid strange surroundings and had been forced to wait
+upon his lagging memory; but this time his mind refused to work,
+even after he knew himself to be fully roused. So he closed his
+eyes with the admonition:
+
+"Now, begin all over again, Kirk. When you left Padden's place you
+went to Maxim's and listened to the fat quartette, then to the
+place where the waiter held out a dollar. After the trouble at
+that point, you tried to get into Tony's rathskeller and couldn't,
+so you started for the East Side. Ringold was very drunk. Good!
+Everything is clear so far. Next you were playing a piano with
+yellow teeth while somebody sang something about a 'Little Brown
+Cot.' After that--Lord, you must have been drinking! Well, let's
+run through it again."
+
+But his efforts were vain; he could recall nothing beyond the
+piano, so fell to wondering what hotel this could be.
+
+"Some East Side joint," he decided, "and a cheap one too, from the
+size of this stall." He noted another brass bed close at hand and
+reasoned that Ringold or Higgins must have risen early, leaving
+him to finish his sleep. That was considerate, of course, but--
+Good heavens, it must be late! And he was due to motor to New
+Haven at noon! He raised himself suddenly, and was half out of bed
+when he fell back, with a cry, as if an unseen hand had smitten
+him. He clapped both palms to his head, realizing that he was very
+sick indeed. The sensation was unlike anything he had ever felt
+before. His head was splitting, he felt a frightful nausea, the
+whole room was rocking and reeling as if to pitch him out of bed.
+It was terrible; so he arose blindly and felt his way toward the
+telephone. Failing to find it, he pushed a button instead, then
+tumbled back to bed, reviling the luck that had brought him to
+such a miserable place. He closed his eyes tightly and calmed his
+stomach by an effort of will. At last he heard the door open and a
+voice inquire:
+
+"Did you ring, sir?"
+
+"An hour ago. Haven't you more than one bell-hop in this place?"
+
+"I'm sorry, sir."
+
+"And I'm sick, mighty sick. I'm going to die."
+
+"I think not, sir; the others are sick, too."
+
+"That's good! I was afraid they'd dressed and gone." It was some
+consolation to know that Ringold and Higgins had not escaped their
+share of suffering. "How is Hig--the bony fellow?"
+
+"Do you mean the gentleman in thirty-two?"
+
+"How should I know his number? That's not Hig's description,
+however--even you could tell that he is no gentle--Oh, Lord!"
+
+"Can I get you something, sir--a little champagne, perhaps, to
+settle your stomach?"
+
+"NO, NO! Get me a taxicab. I want to go up-town."
+
+"Rather a long drive, isn't it?" snickered the bell-boy.
+
+"Never mind the comedy." Anthony opened his eyes. "Hello! Are you
+the clerk?" Instead of the bell-hop he had expected he beheld a
+man in white jacket and black trousers.
+
+"No, sir, I'm the steward."
+
+The invalid shook his head faintly. "Funny place I've got into.
+What's the name of it?"
+
+"This? Oh! The SANTA CRUZ."
+
+"Never heard of it. Why didn't they give me a good room? This is
+fierce."
+
+"Suite A is considered very good, sir. It is one of the best on
+the line."
+
+"Line?" Kirk grunted. "So this is some dead-line dump. Well, I'm
+going to get out--understand? Hand me my trousers and I'll slip
+you a quarter."
+
+The steward did as desired, but a blind search showed the pockets
+to be empty.
+
+"Give me the coat and vest." But here again Kirk found nothing,
+and was forced to apologize. "Sorry, old man, but I must have left
+it at the office. Now be a good fellow and hustle up that taxi.
+I'm getting sicker every minute."
+
+"Perhaps you had better have the doctor?"
+
+"Is there a good one handy?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Here in the hotel?"
+
+The steward seemed undecided whether to treat the occupant of
+Suite A as a humorist or a lunatic, but finally he observed, "This
+isn't a hotel, sir."
+
+"That's what I though-t-more like a roadhouse," "This is a ship."
+
+"A--WHAT?" Anthony raised himself and stared at the white-clad
+figure over the foot of his little brass bed.
+
+"This is a ship, sir."
+
+"You get out of here!" yelled the infuriated young man. He cast
+his eyes about for some missile to hurl at this insolent menial,
+and, spying a heavy glass pitcher upon a stand beside him, reached
+for it, whereat the steward retreated hastily to the door.
+
+"I beg pardon, sir. I will send the doctor at once."
+
+"Must think I'm still drunk," mumbled Anthony, dazedly, as he once
+more laid his head upon his pillow with a groan.
+
+When his dizziness had diminished sufficiently to permit him to
+open his eyes he scanned his surroundings more carefully; but his
+vision was unreliable. His head, too, continued to feel as if his
+skull were being forcibly spread apart by some fiendish instrument
+concealed within it. His mouth was parched, his stomach violently
+rebellious. In spite of these distractions he began to note
+certain unfamiliar features about this place. The wall-paper, for
+instance, which at first glance he had taken for the work of some
+cheap decorator, turned out to be tapestry, as he proved by
+extending a shaky hand. The low ceiling, the little windows with
+wooden blinds, the furniture itself, were all out of keeping with
+hotel usages. He discovered by rolling his head that there was a
+mahogany dresser over by the door and a padded couch covered with
+chintz. There were folding brass clothes-hooks on the wall,
+moreover, and an electric fan, while a narrow door gave him a
+glimpse of a tiny, white-enamelled bath-room.
+
+He took in these details laboriously, deciding finally that he was
+too intoxicated to see aright, for, while the place was quite
+unlike an ordinary hotel room, neither did it resemble any
+steamship stateroom he had ever seen; it was more like a lady's
+boudoir. To be sure, he felt a sickening surge and roll now and
+then, but at other times the whole room made a complete
+revolution, which was manifestly contrary to the law of
+gravitation and therefore not to be trusted as evidence. There
+were plenty of reasons, moreover, why this could not be a ship.
+The mere supposition was absurd. No, this must be a room in some
+up-town club, or perhaps a bachelor hotel. Kirk had many friends
+with quarters decorated to suit their own peculiar fancies, and he
+decided that in all probability one of these had met him on the
+street and taken him home for safe-keeping. He had barely settled
+this in his mind when the door opened for a second time and a man
+in uniform entered.
+
+"The steward said you wanted me," he began.
+
+"No; I want a doctor."
+
+"I am the doctor."
+
+"I thought you were the elevator man. I'm sick--awful sick--"
+
+"Can you vomit?"
+
+"Certainly! Anybody can do that."
+
+The stranger pulled up a stool, seated himself beside the bed,
+then felt of Anthony's cheek.
+
+"You have a fever."
+
+"That explains everything." Kirk sighed thankfully and closed his
+eyes once more, for the doctor had begun to revolve slowly, with
+the bed as an axis. "How are the other boys coming on?"
+
+"Everybody is laid out. It's a bad night."
+
+"Night? It must be nearly daylight by this time."
+
+"Oh no! It is not midnight yet."
+
+"Not midnight? Why, I didn't turn in until--" Anthony raised
+himself suddenly. "Good Lord! have I slept all day?"
+
+"You certainly have."
+
+"Whose room is this?"
+
+"Your room, of course. Here, take one of these capsules; it will
+settle your stomach."
+
+"Better give me something to settle my bill if I've been here that
+long. I'm broke again."
+
+"You're not fully awake yet," said the doctor. "People have funny
+ideas when they're sick."
+
+"Well, I know I'm broke, anyhow! That's no idea; it's a condition.
+I went through my clothes just now and I'm all in. I must get back
+to the Astor, too, for I had arranged to motor up to New Haven at
+noon."
+
+"Let me feel your pulse," said the doctor, quietly.
+
+"The boys will think I'm lost. I never did such a thing before."
+
+"Where do you think you are?" inquired the physician.
+
+"I don't know. It's a nice little hotel, but--"
+
+"This isn't a hotel. This is a ship."
+
+Anthony was silent for a moment. Then he sighed feebly and said:
+
+"Doctor, you shouldn't make fun of a man at the point of death. It
+isn't professional."
+
+"Fact," said the doctor, abstractedly gazing at his watch, while
+he held Anthony's wrist between his fingers. "We are one hundred
+and fifty miles out of New York. The first officer told me you
+were considerably intoxicated when you came aboard, but," he
+continued brusquely, rising and closing his watch with a snap,
+"you will remember it all in a little while, Mr. Locke."
+
+"What did you call me?"
+
+"Locke. You haven't forgotten your name, too?"
+
+"Wait!"
+
+Again Anthony pressed his throbbing temples with both hot hands
+and strove to collect his whirling wits. At last he began to
+speak, measuring his words with care.
+
+"Now, I KNOW you are wrong, Doctor, and I'll tell you why. You
+see, my name isn't Locke; it's Anthony. Locke went away on a ship,
+but _I_ stayed in New York; understand? Well, he's the fellow
+you're talking to and I'm asleep somewhere down around the Bowery.
+I'm not here at all. _I_ didn't want to go anywhere on a ship; I
+couldn't go; I didn't have the price. That supper was a hundred
+and seventy."
+
+"Nevertheless, this is a ship," the physician patiently explained,
+"and you're on it and I'm talking to you. What is more, you have
+not exchanged identities with your friend Anthony, for your ticket
+reads 'Jefferson Locke.' You'll be all right if you will just go
+to sleep and give that capsule a chance to operate."
+
+"Ask Higgins or Ringold who I am."
+
+"There's no one aboard by either of those names."
+
+"Say!" Anthony raised himself excitedly on one arm, but was forced
+to lie down again without delay. "If this is a ship, I must have
+come aboard. How did I do it? When? Where?"
+
+"You came on with two men, or rather between two men, about eight-
+thirty this morning. They put you in here, gave your ticket to the
+purser, and went ashore. The slim fellow was crying, and one of
+the deck-hands had to help him down the gangway."
+
+"That was Higgins all right. Now, Doctor, granting, just for the
+sake of argument, that this is a ship and that I am Jefferson
+Locke, when is your next stop?"
+
+"One week."
+
+"What?" Kirk's eyes opened wide with horror. "I can't stay here a
+week."
+
+"You will have to."
+
+"But I tell you I CAN'T, I just can't. I bought a new car the
+other day and it's standing in front of the New York Theatre. Yes,
+and I have two rooms and a bath at the Astor, at fifteen dollars a
+day."
+
+The physician smiled heartlessly. "You must have been drinking
+pretty heavily, but I guess you will remember everything by-and-
+by."
+
+"I can't understand it," groaned the bewildered invalid. "What
+ship is this--if it is really a ship?"
+
+"The SANTA CRUZ. Belongs to the United Fruit Company. This is one
+of the bridal suites; it is 11:30 P.M., November 21st. We are
+bound for Colon."
+
+"Where is that?"
+
+"Panama."
+
+"Panama is in Central America or Mexico or somewhere, isn't it?"
+
+"It is. Now, do you remember anything more?"
+
+"Not a thing."
+
+"Well, then, go to sleep. You'll be all right in the morning, Mr.
+Locke."
+
+"Anthony."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Anthony, if you prefer. Is there anything more you
+would like to ask me?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Of course, there may have been some mistake," the medical man
+observed, doubtfully, as he opened the door. "Maybe you intended
+to take some other ship?"
+
+"No mistake at all," the sick man assured him. "I'm beginning to
+remember now. You see, I lost my hat and decided I'd run down to
+Panama and get another. Good-night."
+
+"Good-night. That capsule will make you sleep."
+
+When the officer had gone Kirk mumbled to himself: "If it turns
+out that I AM in New York, after all, when I wake up I'll lick
+that doctor." Then he turned over and fell asleep.
+
+But morning showed him the truth of the doctor's information. He
+awoke early and, although his head still behaved queerly and he
+had moments of nausea, he dressed himself and went on deck. The
+shock he had received on the evening before was as nothing to what
+he felt now upon stepping out into the light of day. In spite of
+his growing conviction, he had cherished a lingering hope that it
+was all a dream, and the feeling did not entirely vanish until he
+had really seen for himself. Then his dismay was overwhelming.
+
+A broad deck, still wet from its morning scrubbing and lined with
+steamer chairs, lay in front of him. A limitless, oily sea
+stretched out before his bewildered eyes; he touched the rail with
+his hands to verify his vision. The strangeness of it was uncanny.
+He felt as if he were walking in his sleep. He realized that a
+great fragment had suddenly dropped out of his life's pattern, and
+it was intensely disquieting to think of all it might have carried
+with it.
+
+He began to pace the deck mechanically, falling in with the other
+early risers who were out for a breath of morning air, striving to
+adjust himself to this new state of affairs. But even though the
+solid reality of his surroundings soon brought him back more
+nearly to a normal state of mind, he felt an ever-present
+expectancy of some new shock, some new and abrupt transition that
+might yet bring him back to his starting-point. But this obsession
+gradually left him, as the brisk sea breeze brought him to a
+proper perspective and braced him to face the full consequences of
+his long, restless night's orgy.
+
+No man is so systematic, none is so well ordered in his affairs,
+that he can cut out a slice of his life at a moment's notice
+without suffering many kinds of loss and inconvenience. Although
+Anthony was a youth of few responsibilities, he awoke suddenly to
+the fact that there were a thousand things that needed doing, a
+thousand people who needed to know his whereabouts, a thousand
+things that were bound to go wrong. For instance, there was his
+brand-new French car, standing with motor blanketed beside the
+Forty-fifth Street curb.
+
+What had happened to it, and to the urchin he had left in charge
+of it? He owed a thousand dollars on its purchase, which he had
+promised to pay yesterday. Then, too, he had neglected his house
+account at the University Club, and it was long overdue. That
+remittance from his father had come just in the nick of time.
+Suddenly he recalled placing the check in his bill-case, and he
+searched himself diligently, but found nothing. That reminded him
+that he had won a bet or two on the football game and the money
+needed collecting. There was the shooting trip to Cape Cod as
+well. He was due there to-day for a week-end among the geese and
+brant. What would Benny Glover think when he failed to show up or
+even telegraph? Benny's sister was coming down from Boston with
+some friends and--oh, it was simply imperative that he get some
+word ashore.
+
+He let his eyes rove over the ship in desperation, then a happy
+thought came to him.
+
+"The wireless!" he said aloud. "Bonehead! Why didn't you think of
+that long ago?" A glance at the rigging showed him that the Santa
+Cruz was equipped with a plant, and a moment later he was
+hammering at the operator's door.
+
+"I want to send a message right away!" he cried, excitedly; but
+the "wireless" shook his head with a smile.
+
+"I'm sorry, but--"
+
+"It's important; awfully important. I'll pay you anything!" Kirk
+rammed a hand mechanically into his empty pocket.
+
+"We're installing a new system," said the operator. "The old
+apparatus wasn't satisfactory and it's being changed throughout."
+
+"Then you-you can't send a message--possibly?"
+
+"Nothing doing until the next trip."
+
+Kirk strode forward and stared disconsolately down upon the
+freight deck in a vain endeavor to collect his thoughts. How in
+the devil had he managed to get into this mess? Could it be one of
+Higgins's senseless pranks, or was there something deeper, more
+sinister behind it? He recalled the incidents of that wild night
+and began to have a disquieting doubt. Did that chance meeting
+with the chap from St. Louis have anything to do with his presence
+here, or had he really decided in some foolish, drunken whim to
+take a trip to Central America? He hardly knew what to think or
+where to begin his reasoning. He recollected that Jefferson Locke
+had not impressed him very favorably at the start, and that his
+behavior upon the appearance of the plain-clothes man had not
+improved that first impression. It seemed certain that he must
+have had his hand in this affair, else how would Anthony now find
+himself in possession of his ticket? What had become of the
+rightful occupant of Suite A? What had become of Higgins's
+unfortunate victim with the cracked head? What did it all signify?
+Kirk sighed disconsolately and gave it up. In five days more he
+would learn the answer, anyhow, for there must be a cable from
+Panama to the States. Meanwhile, he supposed he must reconcile
+himself to his condition. But it was tough to have two weeks of
+valuable time snatched out of his eventful life. It was maddening.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+NEW ACQUAINTANCES
+
+
+The sound of a bugle, which Kirk interpreted as an invitation to
+breakfast, reminded him that he was famished, and he lost no time
+in going below. Upon his appearance the steward made it plain to
+him in some subtle manner that the occupant of Suite A needed
+nothing beyond the mere possession of those magnificent quarters
+to insure the most considerate treatment. Kirk was placed at the
+captain's table, where his hunger was soon appeased, and his
+outlook grew more cheerful with the complete restoration of bodily
+comfort. Feeling somewhat less dissatisfied with his surroundings,
+he began to study the faces of his fellow-passengers.
+
+"Getting your sea legs, Mr. Locke?" inquired the man at his right.
+
+"My name is Anthony."
+
+"I beg your pardon! The passenger list said--"
+
+"That was a mistake."
+
+"My name is Stein. May I ask where you are bound for?"
+
+"I think the place is Panama."
+
+"Going to work on the canal?"
+
+"What canal? Oh, of course! Now I remember hearing something about
+a Panama Canal. Is that where it is?"
+
+"That's the place," Stein replied, dryly.
+
+"I'm not going to work. I don't work--don't know how."
+
+"I see. Pleasure trip?"
+
+"Purely a pleasure trip. I'm having a great time. By-the-way, this
+canal affair is something new, isn't it?"
+
+"It was begun about thirty years ago." Mr. Stein regarded the
+speaker with puzzled inquiry, as if undecided in what spirit to
+take him.
+
+"What's the idea? Why don't they finish it up?"
+
+"I thought you were an American," returned the other, politely.
+"You have no accent."
+
+"I am an American. I'm the fellow who was born in Albany, New
+York. If you look on the map you'll find the town has a little
+ring around it."
+
+"And really don't you know anything about the Panama Canal?"
+
+"Oh, I've heard it mentioned."
+
+"Well, you won't hear anything else mentioned down here; it's the
+one and only subject of conversation. Nobody thinks or talks or
+dreams about anything except the canal. Everybody works on it or
+else works for somebody who does. For instance, that white-haired
+man at the other end of the table is Colonel Bland, one of the
+commissioners. The man over there with the black beard is one of
+the engineers at Gatun."
+
+Stein, who seemed a gossipy person, ran on glibly for a time,
+pointing out the passengers of note and giving brief details about
+them. Suddenly he laid his hand on Anthony's arm, and said:
+
+"See this fellow coming down the stairs?" Anthony beheld a
+slender, bald-headed man of youthful appearance. "That is Stephen
+Cortlandt. You've heard of the Cortlandts?"
+
+"Sure! One of them pitched for the Cubs."
+
+"I mean the Cortlandts of Washington. They're swell people,
+society folks and all that--" He broke off to bow effusively to
+the late comer, who seated himself opposite; then he introduced
+Kirk.
+
+Mr. Cortlandt impressed Anthony as a cold-blooded, highly schooled
+person, absolutely devoid of sentiment. His face was stony, his
+eyes were cool, even his linen partook of his own unruffled calm.
+He seemed by no means effeminate, yet he was one of those
+immaculate beings upon whom one can scarcely imagine a speck of
+dust or a bead of perspiration. His hair--what was left of it--was
+parted to a nicety, his clothes were faultless, and he had an air
+of quiet assurance.
+
+"By-the-way, we're getting up a pool on the ship's run," Stein
+told his new acquaintance. "Would you like to join?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. I'm for anything in the line of chance."
+
+"Very well. I'll see you in the smoking-room later. It will cost
+you only five dollars."
+
+Kirk suddenly recalled his financial condition and hastened to
+say, a trifle lamely:
+
+"Come to think about it, I believe I'll stay out. I never gamble."
+Chancing to glance up at the moment, he found Mr. Cortlandt's eyes
+fixed upon him with a peculiarly amused look, and a few minutes
+later he followed Mr. Stein to the deck above.
+
+Once in his own stateroom, the young man began a thorough
+exploration, realizing more keenly than before that without
+baggage or money his plight might prove distressing. But, look as
+he would, he could find no trace of either, and an inadvertent
+glance in the mirror betrayed the further fact that his linen was
+long since past a presentable stage. Another despairing search
+showed that even his watch was gone and that his only asset,
+evidently overlooked by the hilarious Higgins and his co-partner
+in crime, was a modest three-stone finger ring. He was regarding
+this speculatively when the purser knocked, then entered at his
+call.
+
+"I've just heard that there's a mistake about your ticket," the
+new-comer began. "It is made out to 'Mr. Jefferson Locke,' but the
+doctor says you insist your name is something else."
+
+"That's right. My name is Anthony."
+
+"Then how did I get this ticket?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know."
+
+"Have you any baggage?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"What is your destination?"
+
+"I don't know. You'll pardon my limited vocabulary?"
+
+"Are you joking?"
+
+"Do I look as if I were?"
+
+"But I don't understand."
+
+"Neither do I. But I must have some luggage--a fellow wouldn't
+make a trip like this without baggage, would he?"
+
+"I should think not. I'll look it up for you if you wish. But
+about this ticket--"
+
+"My dear man, don't bother me with that. I have worries enough as
+it is. What I want now is a clean shirt and collar."
+
+"Yes, but this ticket says--"
+
+"Please! Look at my linen. I'll create a scandal this way."
+
+"Mr. Locke--"
+
+"Anthony."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Anthony. I must straighten out this ticket affair.
+Really, I must."
+
+"All right, straighten away."
+
+"If you are not Mr. Locke, it is no good."
+
+"Hurrah! Put me off."
+
+"You don't understand--the ticket is good, but--See here, there's
+something mighty strange about this. You say your name isn't
+Locke, you have no baggage, you even thought this ship was a
+hotel--"
+
+"I did. It was a great disappointment. And now I want a shirt."
+Anthony began to laugh. "Funny, isn't it?"
+
+"You will have to buy another ticket," said the purser, with
+dignity.
+
+"A bright idea!" Kirk smiled grimly; then, turning his pockets
+wrong side out, continued lightly: "You look me over and if you
+can find the price of a ticket I'll give you half."
+
+"Then you have lost your money as well as your baggage and your
+identity?"
+
+"So it would seem."
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+It was plain that the officer was growing angry, so Kirk made
+haste to say:
+
+"Now let's be friends, at least. By-the-way--pardon the personal
+nature of the question--but--what size shirt do you wear?"
+
+"Seventeen."
+
+"Saved! Let me have about six, will you?"
+
+"Certainly NOT," returned the other. "I need all I have."
+
+"Miser! Then you must help me find some one my size."
+
+The purser, however, seemed in no mood to go shirt-hunting, and
+backed out of the door, saying: "I'll have a look for your
+baggage, Mr.--Anthony, and I'll see the captain about this ticket,
+also. I don't know whether you're making fun of me or not, but--
+I'll look you up later."
+
+He departed, shaking his head as if this were a form of insanity
+he had never before encountered. A moment later Kirk followed him
+and made a round of the deck, staring at each man he met and
+mentally estimating the girth of his neck; but it seemed that the
+male passengers of the Santa Cruz were all of medium size, and he
+saw no one whose appearance held out the slightest hope. He did
+observe one fellow whose neck seemed as large as his own, but the
+man looked surly and not too cleanly, and Kirk was not yet
+desperate enough to bring himself to the point of approaching such
+a fellow for such a favor. He thought of appealing directly to the
+captain, but promptly remembered that he was a small, wiry man
+whose wardrobe could by no possible chance afford him relief. At
+last he made his way toward the smoking-room, determined to enlist
+the help of his new acquaintance, Stein.
+
+Midway aft, he paused. A girl had emerged from the deck-house
+ahead of him, whose appearance was sufficiently striking to divert
+him, momentarily at least, from his quest. She was well above the
+usual height, quite slender, yet of an exquisite rounded fulness,
+while her snug-fitting tailor-made gown showed the marks of a
+Redfern or a Paquin. He noted, also, that her stride was springy
+and athletic and her head well carried. Feeling that friendly
+approval with which one recognizes a member of his own kind, Kirk
+let his eyes follow her, then retraced his way around the deck in
+the hope of meeting her face to face.
+
+A woman frequently betrays her beauty by the poise of her head, by
+the turn of her neck, or the lines of her figure, just as truly as
+by a full glimpse of her features. Hence it was that Anthony felt
+a certain pleasurable expectancy as he crossed in front of the
+deck-house, realizing that she was approaching. But when they had
+met and passed he went his way vaguely disappointed. Instead of a
+girl, as the first sight of her youthful figure had led him to
+expect, he had seen a woman of perhaps forty. There was little in
+her countenance to reveal her age except a certain settled look
+that does not go with girlhood, and, while no one could have
+thought her plain, she was certainly not so handsome as he had
+imagined from a distance. Yet the face was attractive. The eyes
+were wide-set, gray, and very clear, the mouth large enough to be
+expressive. Her hair shone in the morning sun with a delicate
+bronze lustre like that of a turkey's wing. It did not add to the
+young man's comfort to realize that her one straight, casual
+glance in passing had taken him in from his soiled collar to his
+somewhat extreme patent leathers with the tan tops and pearl
+buttons.
+
+Being very young himself and of limited social experience, he
+classed all women as either young or old--there was no middle
+ground. So he dismissed her from his thoughts and continued his
+search for a number seventeen shirt, and collar to match. But he
+did not fare well. He found Mr. Stein in the smoking-room, but
+discovered that his size was fifteen and a half; and there was no
+one else to whom he could apply.
+
+For a second time Stein importuned him to buy a chance on the
+ship's run, and, failing in this, suggested that they have a drink
+together. Had not Kirk realized in time his inability to
+reciprocate he would have accepted eagerly, for his recent
+dissipation had left him curiously weak and nervous. At the cost
+of an effort, however, he refused. It was a rare experience for
+him to refuse anything, being, like many indolent youths, an
+accomplished guest. In fact, he was usually as ready to accept
+favors as he was carelessly generous when he happened to be in
+funds. The technique of receiving comes to some people naturally;
+others cannot assume an obligation without giving offence. Kirk
+was one of the former. Yet now he felt a sudden, strange hesitancy
+and a self-consciousness that made graceful acquiescence
+impossible. He continued firm, therefore, even when Stein gibed at
+him good-humoredly:
+
+"I suppose it's against your principles to drink, as well as to
+gamble?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"That's good, after the way you came aboard."
+
+"How did I come aboard?"
+
+"Oh, I didn't see you, but I heard about it."
+
+Kirk flushed uncomfortably, muttering: "The acoustics of this ship
+are great. A man can't fall asleep but what somebody hears it."
+
+Stein laughed: "Don't get sore; all ships are alike--we have to
+talk about something. Sorry I can't help you with the shirt
+question. Deuced careless of them to lose your luggage."
+
+"Yes! It makes one feel about as comfortable as a man with a
+broken arm and the prickly heat. Something's got to be done about
+it, that's all." He glared enviously at the well-dressed men about
+the room.
+
+Over in a corner, propped against the leather upholstery, was Mr.
+Cortlandt, as pale, as reserved, and as saturnine as at breakfast.
+He was sipping Scotch-and-soda, and in all the time that Anthony
+remained he did not speak to a soul save the waiter, did not shift
+his position save to beckon for another drink. Something about his
+sour, introspective aloofness displeased the onlooker, who shortly
+returned to the deck.
+
+The day was warming up, and on the sunny side of the ship the
+steamer chairs were filling. Two old men were casting quoits; a
+noisy quartette was playing shuffle-board. After idling back and
+forth for a time, Kirk selected a chair and stretched himself out;
+but he was scarcely seated before the deck steward approached him
+and said:
+
+"Do you wish this chair for the voyage, sir?"
+
+"Yes, I think so."
+
+"I'll put your name on it."
+
+"Anthony, Suite A, third floor, front."
+
+"Very well, sir." The man wrote out a card and fitted it to the
+back of the chair, saying, "One dollar, if you please."
+
+"What?"
+
+"The price of the chair is one dollar."
+
+"I haven't got a dollar."
+
+The steward laughed as if to humor his passenger. "I'm afraid then
+you can't have the chair."
+
+"So I must stand up all the way to Panama, eh?"
+
+"You are joking, sir. I'll have to pay it myself, if you don't."
+
+"That's right--make me as uncomfortable as possible. By-the-way,
+what size collar do you wear?"
+
+"Sixteen."
+
+Kirk sighed. "Send the purser to me, will you? I'll fix up the
+chair matter with him."
+
+While he was talking he heard the rustle of skirts close by and
+saw the woman he had met earlier seating herself next to him. With
+her was a French maid bearing a rug in her hands. It annoyed the
+young man to realize that out of all the chairs on deck he had
+selected the one nearest hers, and he would have changed his
+position had he not been too indolent. As it was, he lay idly
+listening to her words of direction to the maid; but as she spoke
+in French, he was undecided whether she was telling her companion
+that bad weather was imminent, or that the laundry needed
+counting--his mind, it seemed, ran to laundry.
+
+Then the purser appeared. "Did you send for me?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes. There was a strange man around just now, and he wanted a
+dollar for this chair."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I want to establish a line of credit."
+
+The purser grunted.
+
+"And say!" Kirk ran on, seriously. "I've been all over your little
+ship, but the passengers are boys' size. I can't wear this collar
+any longer."
+
+"And I can't find any baggage of yours."
+
+"Then there isn't any. I never really expected there was. Come
+now, be a good fellow. This is my 'case shirt."
+
+"If you really wish some clothes, I'll see what I can find among
+the stewards."
+
+"No, no," Kirk hastily interposed, "I can't wear a shirt with soup
+stains on it. Let me have one of yours--we're twin brothers."
+
+"I have no more than I need," said the purser, coldly. He opened a
+cigarette case, at which Anthony gazed longingly. It seemed ages
+since he had had a smoke; but the other seemed disinclined for
+small courtesies.
+
+"I've seen the captain about that ticket matter," he went on, "and
+he says you must buy another."
+
+Kirk shook his head languidly. "Once more I tell you there is
+nothing doing."
+
+The officer broke out with some heat: "If you are joking, you've
+carried this thing far enough. If you are really strapped, as you
+say you are, how does it happen that you are occupying the best
+suite on the ship?"
+
+"It is a long story."
+
+"Humph! You will have to give up those quarters and go forward."
+
+"Why? You have your money for that ticket?"
+
+"Yes, but you're not Mr. Locke."
+
+Kirk smiled meditatively. "How do you know?" he queried.
+
+"Good heavens! You've told me so a dozen--"
+
+"Ah! Then you have nothing except my word. Well, sir, now that I
+come to think it over, I believe my name is Locke, after all." He
+grinned. "Anyhow, I love my little room and I think I'll keep it.
+Please don't be peevish. I want you to do me a favor." He removed
+the ring from his finger, and, handing it to the Purser, said "I
+want you to get me two diamonds' and a ruby's worth of shirts and
+collars; and also a safety razor. My mind has stopped working, but
+my whiskers continue to grow."
+
+The officer managed to say with dignity: "You wish to raise money
+on this, I presume? Very well, I'll see what can be done for you,
+Mr. Locke." As he turned away, Kirk became conscious that the
+woman in the next chair had let her book fall and was watching him
+with amused curiosity. Feeling a sudden desire to confide in some
+one, he turned his eyes upon her with such a natural, boyish smile
+that she could not take offence, and began quite as if he had
+known her for some time:
+
+"These people are money-mad, aren't they? Worst bunch of gold-
+diggers I ever saw." Surprised, she half raised her book, but Kirk
+ran on: "Anybody would think I was trying to find a missing will
+instead of a shirt. That purser is the only man on the ship my
+size, and he distrusts me."
+
+The woman murmured something unintelligible. "I hope you don't
+mind my speaking to you," he added. "I'm awfully lonesome. My name
+is Anthony, Kirk Anthony."
+
+Evidently the occupant of the next chair was not a football
+enthusiast, for, although she bowed her acknowledgment, her face
+showed that the name carried no significance.
+
+"I understood you to tell the purser your name was Locke," said
+she, in a very low-pitched, well-modulated voice. "I couldn't help
+overhearing."
+
+"But it isn't really, it's Anthony. I'm the undignified heir to
+the stocks and bonds of an old party by that name who lives in
+Albany."
+
+"Darwin K. Anthony?" questioned she, quickly. "Is he your father?"
+Her face lighted with a flash of genuine interest.
+
+Kirk nodded. "He's my prodigal father and I'm the fatted son. Do
+you know the governor?"
+
+"Yes, slightly."
+
+"Well, what do you think of that? He's a great old party, isn't
+he?" He chuckled irrepressibly. "Did you ever hear him swear?"
+
+The woman shook her head with a smile. "I hardly know him well
+enough for that."
+
+"Oh, he's a free performer; he swears naturally; can't help it.
+Everybody knows he doesn't mean anything. It's funny, isn't it,
+with all his credit, that I can't get a shirt until I put up a
+diamond ring? He could buy a railroad with half that security."
+
+"You are joking, are you not?"
+
+"No indeed. I never needed a shirt so badly in my life. You see, I
+didn't intend to take this trip; I didn't even know I had sailed.
+When I woke up I thought this was a hotel. I've got no more
+baggage than a robin."
+
+"Really?" The woman by now had closed her book and was giving him
+her full attention, responding to some respectful quality in his
+tone that robbed his frankness of offence. "How did it happen?"
+
+"Well, to be perfectly honest, I got drunk--just plain drunk. I
+didn't think so at the time, understand, for I'd never been the
+least bit that way before. Hope I don't shock you?"
+
+His new acquaintance shrugged her shoulders. "I have seen
+something of the world; I'm not easily shocked."
+
+"Well, I was perfectly sober the last I remember, and then I woke
+up on the Santa Cruz. I'd never even heard the name before."
+
+"And hadn't you intended taking an ocean trip?"
+
+"Good Lord, no! I had just bought a new French car and was going
+to drive it up to New Haven yesterday. It's standing out on Forty-
+fifth Street now, if somebody hasn't stolen it. Gee! I can see the
+news-boys cutting their monograms in those tires."
+
+"How remarkable!"
+
+"You see, it was a big night--football game, supper, and all that.
+I remember everything up to a certain point, then--curtain! I was
+'out' for twelve hours, and SICK!--that's the funny part; I'm
+still sick." He shook his head as if at a loss what to make of
+this phenomenon. He noted how the woman's countenance lighted at
+even a passing interest, as he continued: "What I can't understand
+is this: It took all my money to pay for the supper, and yet I
+wake up with a first-class ticket to Panama and in possession of
+one of the best suites on the ship. It's a problem play."
+
+"You say you were sick afterward?"
+
+"WAS I?" Kirk turned his eyes upon the speaker, mournfully. "My
+head isn't right yet."
+
+"You were drugged," said the woman.
+
+"By Jove!" He straightened up in his chair. "Knockouts!"
+
+"Exactly. Some one drugged you and bought a ticket--"
+
+"Wait! I'm beginning to see. It was Locke. That's how I got his
+name. This is his ticket. Oh! There's going to be something doing
+when I get back."
+
+"What?"
+
+"I don't know yet, but I'm going to sit right here and brood upon
+some fitting revenge. After that chap gets out of the hospital--"
+
+"You did not impress me as a college student," said the stranger.
+
+"I'm not. I graduated four years ago. I barely made it, but I did
+get through."
+
+"And you have never been to the tropics?"
+
+"Not since I had my last row with the governor. Have you?"
+
+"Many times. It will prove an interesting trip for you. At least
+you have that consolation."
+
+"What is it like?"
+
+Evidently the artless effrontery of the young man had not
+offended, for his neighbor talked freely, and in a short time the
+two were conversing as easily as old acquaintances. This was due,
+perhaps, to the fact that he had appealed to her with the same
+frankness he would have used toward a man and, thus far at least,
+had quite ignored her sex. She was sufficiently quick to
+appreciate the footing thus established, and allowed herself to
+meet him half-way. Had he presumed in the slightest, she would
+have chilled him instantly; but, as it was, she seemed to feel the
+innate courtesy back of his boldness, seeing in him only a big,
+unaffected boy who needed an outlet for his feelings. In the same
+way, had a fine St. Bernard dog thrust a friendly head beneath her
+hand she would have petted it.
+
+When at last she rose, after an hour that had swiftly sped, she
+was gratified at the look of concern that came into his eyes. She
+looked at him with genuine approval as he bowed and said:
+
+"Thank you for the pointers about Panama. I hope I may have the
+pleasure of talking to you again."
+
+When she had disappeared he murmured, admiringly:
+
+"Jove! She's a corker! And she's not so old, after all. I wonder
+who she--" He leaned over and read the card on the back of her
+steamer chair. "Mrs. Stephen Cortlandt, Suite B," it was lettered.
+Straightening up, he grumbled with genuine disappointment: "Just
+my blamed luck! She's MARRIED."
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+A REMEDY IS PROPOSED
+
+
+By pledging his one article of jewelry Kirk became possessed that
+afternoon of several shirts, collars, and handkerchiefs--likewise
+a razor, over which he exercised a sort of leasehold privilege.
+The purser made it plain, however, that he had not sold these
+articles, but merely loaned them, holding the ring as security for
+their return, and this arrangement allowed Kirk no spare cash
+whatever. Even with all his necessities paid for, it surprised him
+to find how many channels remained for spending money. For
+instance, the most agreeable loafing spot on the ship was the
+smoking-room, but whenever he entered it he was invited to drink,
+smoke, or play cards, and as he was fond of all these diversions,
+it required such an effort of will to refuse that it destroyed all
+the pleasure of good company. It was very hard always to be saying
+no; and in addition it excited his disgust to learn that he had
+inadvertently founded a reputation for abstemiousness.
+
+Before long he discovered that the passengers considered him an
+exceptionally sober, steady youth of economical habits, and this
+enraged him beyond measure. Every tinkle of ice or hiss of seltzer
+made his mouth water, the click of poker chips drew him with
+magnetic power. He longed mightily to "break over" and have a good
+time. It was his first effort at self-restraint, and the warfare
+became so intense that he finally gave up the smoking-room almost
+entirely, and spent his hours on deck, away from temptation. He
+suffered most, perhaps, from the lack of tobacco, but even in the
+matter of cigarettes he could not bring himself to accept favors
+that he could not return. In the solitude of his richly appointed
+suite he collected a few cork-bound stumps, which he impaled on a
+toothpick in order to light them.
+
+Meanwhile he amused himself by baiting the purser. He dogged that
+serious-minded gentleman through all his waking hours, finding a
+rare delight in playing upon his suspicion and lack of humor. To
+him Kirk was always Mr. Locke, while he insisted upon being called
+Mr. Anthony by the others, and the officer never quite got the
+hang of it. Moreover, the latter was full of dignity, and did not
+relish being connected with a certainly dubious and possibly
+criminal character, yet dared not resort to rudeness as a means of
+riddance.
+
+The situation was trying enough to the young man at best; for the
+ship's hirelings began to show a lack of interest in his comfort,
+once it became known that he did not tip, and he experienced
+difficulty in obtaining even the customary attentions. It was
+annoying to one who had never known an unsatisfied whim; but Kirk
+was of a peculiarly sanguine temperament that required much to
+ruffle, and looked upon the whole matter as a huge joke. It was
+this, perhaps, that enabled him to make friends in spite of his
+unsociable habits, for the men liked him. As for the women, he
+avoided them religiously, with the exception of Mrs. Cortlandt,
+whom he saw for an hour or two, morning and afternoon, as well as
+at meal-times. With her he got on famously, finding her nearly as
+entertaining as a male chum, though he never quite lost his
+dislike for her husband. Had she been unmarried and nearer his own
+age, their daily intimacy might have caused him to become self-
+conscious, but, under the circumstances, no such thought occurred
+to him, and he began to look forward with pleasure to their hours
+on deck.
+
+The Santa Cruz was four days out before Cortlandt joined them, and
+when he did he merely nodded casually to Kirk, then, after
+exchanging a polite word or two with his wife, lapsed into his
+customary silence, while Mrs. Cortlandt continued her conversation
+without a second glance in her husband's direction.
+
+"That's what I call an ideal married couple," Kirk reflected--
+"complete understanding, absolute confidence." And the more he saw
+of them, the stronger this impression grew. Cortlandt was always
+attentive and courteous, without being demonstrative, while his
+wife showed a charming graciousness that was plainly unassumed.
+Their perfect good-breeding made the young man feel at ease; but
+though he endeavored to cultivate the husband on several
+occasions, he made little headway. The man evidently possessed a
+wide knowledge of current events, a keen understanding of men and
+things, yet he never opened up. He listened, smiled, spoke rarely,
+and continued to spend nine-tenths of his time in that isolated
+corner of the smoking-room, with no other company than a long
+glass and a siphon.
+
+One day when Kirk had begun to feel that his acquaintance with
+Mrs. Cortlandt was well established, he said to her:
+
+"Stein told me to-day that your husband is in the diplomatic
+service."
+
+"Yes," said she. "He was Consul-General to Colombia several years
+ago, and since then he has been to France and to Germany."
+
+"I thought you were tourists--you have travelled so much."
+
+"Most of our journeys have been made at the expense of the
+Government."
+
+"Are you diplomatting now?"
+
+"In a way. We shall be in Panama for some time."
+
+"This Stein seems to be a nice fellow. He's taken quite a liking
+to me."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt laughed lightly. "That is part of his business."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"He is one of Colonel Jolson's secret agents."
+
+"Who is Colonel Jolson?"
+
+"Chairman of the Isthmian Canal Commission. Your father knows
+him."
+
+"Do you mean that Stein is a--detective?" Kirk looked
+uncomfortable.
+
+"I do! Does he know you are the son of Darwin K. Anthony?"
+
+"Why, yes, I suppose so."
+
+"Colonel Jolson will be interested."
+
+"Again I don't see the point."
+
+"Your father is one of the most powerful and aggressive railroad
+men in the country. Perhaps you know something about the railroad
+opposition to the canal?"
+
+Kirk smiled. "Well, to tell you the truth," said he, "the governor
+doesn't consult me about his business as much as he ought to. He
+seems to think he can run it all right without me, and we've only
+been speaking over the telephone lately."
+
+"One of the strongest forces the Government had to combat in
+putting through the canal appropriations was the railroads.
+Colonel Jolson has no reason to love your father."
+
+"Yes, but _I_ don't object to this canal. I think it must be a
+rather good idea."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt laughed for a second time. "The Colonel's dislike
+for your father will not affect you, inasmuch as you are returning
+so soon, but if you intended to stay it might be different."
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Oh, in many ways. There are two classes of people who are not
+welcomed on the Canal Zone--magazine writers and applicants for
+positions who have political influence back of them. The former
+are regarded as muckrakers, the latter as spies."
+
+"That's rather rough on them, isn't it?"
+
+"You must understand that there is a great big human machine
+behind the digging of this canal, and, while it is more wonderful
+by far than the actual machinery of iron and steel, it is subject
+to human weaknesses. Men like Colonel Jolson, who form a part of
+it, are down here to make reputations for themselves. They are
+handicapped and vexed by constant interference, constant jealousy.
+It is a survival of the fittest, and I suppose they feel that they
+must protect themselves even if they use underhand means to do so.
+It is so in all big work of this character, where the individual
+is made small. You would find the same condition in your father's
+railroad organization."
+
+"Oh, now! My old man is a pretty tough citizen to get along with,
+but he wouldn't hire detectives to spy on his employees."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt smiled. "By-the-way, when are you going into
+business with him?" she said.
+
+"I? Oh, not for a long time. You see, I'm so busy I never seem to
+have time to work. Work doesn't really appeal to me, anyway. I
+suppose if I had to hustle I could, but--what's the use?"
+
+"What is it that keeps you so busy? What are you going to do when
+you get back, for instance?"
+
+"Well, I'm going to Ormond for the auto races, and I may enter my
+new car. If I don't get hurt in the races I'll take a hunting trip
+or two. Then I want to try out an iceboat on the Hudson, and I'll
+have to be back in New Haven by the time the baseball squad
+limbers up. Oh, I have plenty of work ahead!"
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt let her eyes dwell upon him curiously for a moment;
+then she said:
+
+"Have you no ambition?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Why--" Kirk hesitated. "I can't say right off the reel, but I've
+got it--lots of it."
+
+"Is there no--girl, for instance? Have you never been in love?"
+
+"Oh, see here, now!" Anthony blushed in a manner to excite the
+envy of any woman. "I don't like 'em. I'd rather play football."
+
+"That explains something. When the time comes you will cease
+wasting your life and--"
+
+"I'm NOT wasting my life," the young man denied hotly. "I'm having
+a great time; simply immense."
+
+"I remember reading an article once by a man who attacked American
+colleges with bitter personal feeling, on the ground that they
+fostered exactly the attitude toward life which you have just
+expressed."
+
+Anthony looked sober. "That was my father," he said.
+
+"Really! How stupid of me to forget the name. But I don't agree
+with him," she continued, gently. "You merely lack stimulus. If
+you should meet the right woman--" Then, seeing the amusement in
+his face; "Believe me, I know what I am talking about. I know what
+a woman can do. Your life has been too easy and placid. You need
+some disturbing element to make it ferment."
+
+"But I don't want to ferment."
+
+"Why don't you stay in Panama and go to work?"
+
+"Work? Hideous word! For one thing, I haven't time. I must get
+back--"
+
+"You will find great opportunities there."
+
+"But how about the girl who is to sour the syrup of my being and
+make it ferment?"
+
+"Oh, she may appear at any moment; but, joking aside, you had
+better think over what I have said." She left him with an
+admonitory shake of her head.
+
+The SANTA CRUZ was now rapidly drawing out of the cold northern
+winter and into a tropic warmth. Already the raw chill of higher
+latitudes was giving way to a balmy, spring-like temperature,
+while the glittering sunshine transformed the sea into a lively,
+gleaming expanse of sapphire. The nights were perfect, the days
+divine. The passengers responded as if to a magic draught, and
+Kirk found his blood filled with a new vigor.
+
+A brief sight of Columbus' Landfall served to break the monotony;
+then followed a swift flight past low, tropical islands ringed
+with coral sand, upon which broke a lazy, milk-white surf. Through
+the glasses villages were spied, backed by palm groves and guarded
+by tall sentinel lighthouses; but the Santa Cruz pushed steadily
+southward, her decks as level as a dancing floor, the melancholy
+voice of her bell tolling the leagues as they slipped past. The
+eastern tongue of Cuba rose out of the horizon, then dropped
+astern, and the gentle trades began to fan the travellers. Now
+that they were in the Caribbean, schools of flying fish whisked
+out from under the ship's prow, and away, like tiny silver-
+sheathed arrows. New constellations rose into the evening sky. It
+became impossible to rest indoors, with the trade-winds calling,
+and the passengers spent long, lazy hours basking in the breath of
+the tropics and grudging the pleasure of which sleep deprived
+them.
+
+It was the last night of the voyage, and the thrill of approaching
+land was felt by all. As usual, the monotony of the first day or
+two had given way to an idle contentment and a vague regret at
+leaving the ship and severing the ties so newly made. Home,
+instead of looming close and overshadowing, had become a memory
+rather indistinct and blurred, clouded by the proximity of the new
+and unknown.
+
+Kirk Anthony acknowledged to a reluctant enjoyment of the change
+and found himself less eager to go back. As he paced the deck
+after dinner he felt a lurking desire to defer his return until he
+had absorbed something more of this warmth and languor; he even
+reflected that he might welcome a stay of some length in the
+tropics if it were not for the fact that he had so much to do.
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt joined him as usual, and they did a mile around the
+promenade, chatting idly of many things. The evening was too
+glorious to permit of early retiring, and a late hour found them
+leaning over the rail, side by side, while Anthony bewailed the
+fact that he knew nothing of the country just beyond the dark
+horizon ahead of them.
+
+"You are quite right," his companion agreed. "You will miss its
+best flavor if you don't know the history back of it. For
+instance, we are now on the Spanish Main, the traditional home of
+romance and adventure."
+
+"I always wanted to be a pirate," he acknowledged gravely, "up to
+fifteen. Then I thought I'd rather run a candy store."
+
+"The ships of Sir Henry Morgan and the galleons of His Catholic
+Majesty Philip of Spain sailed these waters. Over yonder"--she
+waved a graceful hand to the north and east--"are the haunts where
+the adventurers of old England used to lie in wait for their prey.
+Ahead of us is the land that Pizarro soaked with blood. We're
+coming into the oldest country on this side of the globe, Mr.
+Anthony, where men lived in peace and plenty when most of Europe
+was a wilderness. I suppose such things appeal more to a woman's
+fancy than to a man's, but to me they're mightily alluring."
+
+Kirk wagged his head admiringly, as he said:
+
+"I wish I could make language behave like that," and Edith
+Cortlandt laughed like a young girl.
+
+"Oh, I'm not a perfervid poet," she disclaimed, "but everything
+down here is so full of association I can't help feeling it."
+
+"I'm beginning to notice it myself. Maybe it's the climate."
+
+"Perhaps. Anyhow, it is all very vivid to me. Did you ever stop to
+think how brave those men must have been who first went venturing
+into unknown seas in their little wooden boats?"
+
+"They were looking for a short cut to the East Indies, weren't
+they?"
+
+"Yes, to Cathay. And then the people they found and conquered! The
+spoils they exacted! They were men--those conquistadores--whatever
+else they were--big, cruel, heroic fellows like Bastida, Nicuesa,
+Balboa, Pedrarias the Assassin, and the rest. They oppressed the
+natives terribly, yet they paved the way for civilization, after
+all. The Spaniards did try to uplift the Indians, you know. And
+the life in the colonies was like that in old Spain, only more
+romantic and picturesque. Why, whenever I pass through these
+Latin-American cities I see, in place of the crumbling ruins,
+grand cathedrals and palaces; in place of the squalid beggars
+idling about the market-places I see velvet-clad dons and high-
+born ladies."
+
+"Aren't there any beautiful ladies left?"
+
+"A few, perhaps."
+
+"What happened to the cathedrals and the velvet fellows and all
+that?"
+
+"Oh, the old state of affairs couldn't last forever. The Spanish
+administration wasn't so bad as is generally supposed, yet of
+course there was too much rapacity and not enough industry.
+Central America, broadly speaking, was known as the treasure-chest
+of the world, and there were constant wars and disturbances. The
+colonies as a whole did not progress like those in the North, and
+in course of time deteriorated. The old cathedrals decayed and
+were not rebuilt. The old Spanish stock died out and in its stead
+grew up a motley race given to revolt, revolution, and corruption.
+Even when the provinces became free, they weren't able to unite
+and form a strong nation. The Isthmus of Panama became a pest-hole
+where the scum of the Four Seas settled. The people became mean
+and unhealthy in mind and body and morals, preserving nothing
+except the cruelty of their forefathers. Here and there, to be
+sure, one comes across the old Castilian breed, like a silver
+thread running through a rotting altar-cloth, but only here and
+there, and most of those silver threads have become tarnished from
+contact with the fabric."
+
+"It must be a nice place," Kirk observed with gentle sarcasm.
+
+"It affords one a great chance to moralize, at any rate. Take the
+building of this canal, for instance. First, the French came, led
+by a dreamer, and poured in the wealth of an empire in order that
+they might exact toll from the world. You see, they were all lured
+by the love of gain--the Spaniards, who pillaged the natives to
+begin with, and the French, who set out to squeeze profit from all
+the other nations. But it seems as if the spot were infected. The
+French lost an army in their project; corruption gnawed through,
+and the thing ended in disgrace and disaster. Spain and France
+have come and gone, and at last we Yankees have arrived. It seems
+to be the will of God that the youngest, lustiest people on the
+earth should finally be sent to clean this Augean stable."
+
+"By Jove! I never thought of it that way."
+
+"It is a big task, Mr. Anthony, and the mere digging of the ditch
+is the smallest part. There is a great deal more to be done. You
+see, as men attain culture, they require more than mere food and
+drink and bedding, and in the same way, as nations attain to
+greatness, they require more than mere territory--they reach out
+and absorb power and prestige. Our decision to build the Panama
+Canal is like the landing of another Columbus; the conquest is to
+follow. After that will come--who knows what? Perhaps more wars,
+more pillage, more injustice."
+
+"You talk like a man," Anthony said, admiringly. "I had no idea
+you looked at things in such a big way."
+
+"You are laughing at me."
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"You see, it is part of my husband's profession. As to the
+romance--well, all women are romantic and imaginative, I suppose,
+and you've been an inspiring listener."
+
+"I don't know about that, but--you're a corking good talker.
+Excuse my archaic English." Mrs. Cortlandt turned her eyes upon
+the speaker, and he saw that they were very bright. "I've been
+thinking about what you told me the other day," he ran on, "about
+myself. Remember?"
+
+"I'm glad I have the knack of making something besides football
+signals stick in your memory," said she. "Have you been thinking
+about that girl I spoke of?"
+
+"Yes," he replied, ingenuously. "I've been making up my mind to
+ask you if you happen to have a sister--an unmarried sister, I
+mean."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt laughed appreciatively. "No, I have no sister, but
+I thank you for the compliment. I suppose you meant it for one?"
+
+"Yes. I hope you don't mind."
+
+"Not at all. I'm quite sure now that my notion about you was
+right. It will take a woman to make a man of you."
+
+"It used to be my wind that troubled me," said the athlete,
+mournfully. "Now it seems to be my heart."
+
+"It doesn't seem to be seriously affected as yet, but it's
+remarkable the number of ways in which the heart of man may be
+reached. I remember once having breakfast in a queer little
+restaurant in the French quarter of New Orleans, famous for its
+cooking and for the well-known people who had eaten there. There
+was a sort of register which the guests were asked to sign, and in
+looking it over I read the inscription of one particularly
+enthusiastic diner. It ran, 'Oh, Madame Begue, your liver has
+touched my heart,' and the story is that the writer made desperate
+love to the proprietor's wife."
+
+"Oh, come, that's rather hard on me. I have some emotions besides
+a hearty appreciation of food."
+
+"No doubt. I only mentioned that as one of the ways, and,
+seriously, I am convinced that, however your awakening may come,
+you will be the better for it."
+
+"I do hope the cook will prove to be unmarried," he mused.
+"Imagine having to do away with a husband who can handle a
+cleaver."
+
+"Oh, I don't mean you should necessarily marry the woman. It would
+be quite as good for you if she refused even to look at you.
+However, let us hope that you meet some nice American girl--"
+
+"Why not a senorita? You have inspired me with Spanish romance."
+
+But Mrs. Cortlandt shook her head. "Wait until you have seen
+them."
+
+"Already I imagine myself under some moonlit balcony teasing
+chords out of a guitar. I have rather a good singing voice, you
+know."
+
+It is not done that way nowadays. Panama is Americanized. You will
+need a pianola and an automobile."
+
+"And all the romance is gone?"
+
+"Oh, there is romance everywhere; there is quite as much in
+Pittsburg as in Andalusia. But to speak of more practical things"--
+Mrs. Cortlandt hesitated slightly--"I heard you tell the purser
+the other day about your financial troubles, and it occurred to me
+that Mr. Cortlandt might assist you."
+
+"Thanks, awfully," Kirk hastened to say, feeling himself flush
+uncomfortably. "But I sha'n't need anything. The old gentleman
+will wire me whatever I ask for. Does Mr. Cortlandt know how I am
+fixed?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Please don't tell him. I--I'm a little bit ashamed of myself.
+You're not going?"
+
+"Yes. It is getting late, and my maid is looking for me."
+
+"Oh, I'm sorry. It's lonesome around here without--somebody to
+talk to." He took her hand and shook it as if she were a man.
+"You've been mighty good to me and--I wish you had a sister.
+That's all."
+
+She left him the memory of a very bright and very girlish smile,
+and he found himself thinking that she could not be so much older
+than he, after all.
+
+Mr. Cortlandt was awaiting his wife and rose courteously as she
+entered their suite.
+
+"Did you send Annette for me?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes. I thought you had forgotten the hour. We rise at six."
+
+"My dear," she returned, coolly, "I was quite aware of the time. I
+was talking to Mr. Anthony."
+
+"Do you find him so amusing?"
+
+"Very much so."
+
+"He's such a boy. By-the-way, some of the passengers are remarking
+about your friendship for him."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt shrugged. "I expected that. Does it interest you?"
+
+The man favored her with his wintry smile. "Not at all."
+
+"If he should need assistance while in Panama, I should be obliged
+if you would accommodate him."
+
+"Money?"
+
+"Yes, or anything else. He left New York unexpectedly."
+
+"Don't you think that is going a bit too far? You know I don't
+fancy him."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt frowned slightly. "We won't discuss it," she said.
+"I assured him he was at liberty to call on us for anything and--
+naturally that ends the matter."
+
+"Naturally!" he agreed, but his colorless cheeks flushed dully.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+IN WHICH KIRK ANTHONY IS GREATLY SURPRISED
+
+
+When Kirk came on deck early the following morning, he found the
+Santa Cruz nosing her way into Colony harbor. A land fog obscured
+his view somewhat, but through it he beheld a low, irregular line
+of mountains in the background, and close at hand a town. The ship
+came to anchor abreast of a point upon which he descried a squat
+little spider-legged lighthouse and long rows of frame dwellings
+half hidden behind slender palm-trees. Beyond were warehouses and
+docks and the funnels of many ships; on either side of the bay was
+a dense tropic wilderness. As the sun dissipated the morning haze,
+he saw that the hills were matted with a marvellous vivid green.
+There were no clearings on the slopes, no open spaces dotted with
+farm-houses or herds, the jungle flowed down to the water's edge
+in an unbroken sweep, and the town was cut out of it.
+
+A launch came plunging through the swells, and the deck steward
+made his rounds requesting the passengers to assemble for medical
+examination.
+
+Kirk found the Cortlandts ahead of him.
+
+"What's coming off?" he inquired.
+
+"Vaccination," Cortlandt explained, briefly. "They are very
+particular about disease."
+
+His wife added: "This used to be the worst fever-spot in the
+world, you know. When we were here five years ago, we saw car-
+loads of dead people nearly every day. A funeral train was a
+familiar sight."
+
+"What a pleasant place to spend my vacation!" exclaimed Kirk. "Now
+if I can rent a room over the morgue and board with the village
+undertaker, I'll have a nice time."
+
+"Oh, there's no more yellow fever--no sickness at all, in fact,"
+said Mr. Cortlandt. "Will you go over to Panama City, or will you
+stay in Colon?"
+
+"I think I'll remain on the ship; then she can't get away without
+me," Kirk answered. But when, after taking his turn before the
+doctors, he explained his desire to the purser, that worthy
+replied:
+
+"I'm sorry, but you'll have to arrange that with the agent. We
+make a charge, you know, just like a hotel."
+
+"I'm going to cable my old man for money."
+
+The officer shook his head with finality. "Nothing doing, Mr.
+Locke."
+
+"Anthony."
+
+"I'll take no chances. If you don't pay, I'll have to. Look here!
+Do you want to know what I think of you, Mr.--Anthony Locke?"
+
+"I haven't any special yearnings in that direction, but--what do
+you think about me?"
+
+"Well, I don't think your name is either Locke or Anthony."
+
+"Marvellous!"
+
+"And I don't think you have any money coming to you, either."
+
+"Mighty intellect!"
+
+"I think you are no good."
+
+"You're not alone in that belief. But what has all that to do with
+my sleeping aboard the Santa Cruz?"
+
+"If you want to stay aboard, you'll have to pay in advance. You're
+not so foolish as you try to make out."
+
+"Those are glorious words of praise," Kirk acknowledged, "but I'll
+make a bet with you."
+
+"What?"
+
+"That you change your mind. I am just as foolish as I appear, and
+I'll prove it. I'll bet my ring against your shirts that my name
+is Anthony, and if I don't come through with the price of a ticket
+to New York you can keep the ring."
+
+"Very well, but meanwhile I don't intend to be stuck for your
+bill." The purser was a man of admirable caution.
+
+"All right, then, I shall throw myself upon the mercy of strangers
+and take your belongings with me."
+
+By this time the ship was being warped into her berth, and the
+dock was crowded. There were little brown customs inspectors in
+khaki, little brown policemen in blue, little brown merchants in
+white, and huge black Jamaicans in all colors of rags. Here and
+there moved a bronzed, businesslike American, and Anthony noticed
+that for the most part these were clean-cut, aggressive-looking
+young fellows.
+
+He was delayed but an instant by the customs officials, then made
+his way out through a barnlike structure to the street, reflecting
+that, after all, there are advantages in travelling light. He came
+into a blazing-hot, glaring white street jammed with all sorts of
+vehicles, the drivers of which seemed perpetually upon the point
+of riot. Before him stretched a shadeless brick pavement, with a
+railroad track on one side, and on the other a line of naked frame
+buildings hideous in their sameness. The sun beat down fiercely.
+Kirk mopped his face with the purser's handkerchief and wondered
+if this were really December.
+
+Clumsy two-wheeled carts came bumping past, some with prehensile-
+footed negroes perched upon them, others driven by turban-crowned
+Hindoos. A fleet of dilapidated surreys and coaches, each equipped
+with a musical chime and drawn by a flea-bitten, ratlike horse,
+thronged the square. Kirk noticed with amusement that the steeds
+were of stronger mentality than the drivers, judging from the way
+they dominated the place, kicking, biting squealing, ramming one
+another, locking wheels and blocking traffic, the while their
+futile owners merely jerked the reins after the fashion of a
+street-car conductor ringing up fares, or swore softly in Spanish.
+Silent-footed coolies drifted past, sullen-faced negroes jostled
+him, stately Martinique women stalked through the confusion with
+queenly dignity. These last were especially qualified to take the
+stranger's eye, being tall and slender and wearing gaudy head-
+dresses, the tips of which stood up like rabbits' ears. Unlike the
+fat and noisy Jamaicans, they were neat and clean, their skirts
+snow-white and stiffly starched, and they held themselves as
+proudly erect as if pacing a stage.
+
+The indescribable confusion of races reminded the young American
+of a Red Sea port where the myriad peoples of the far East
+intermingle. He heard a dozen different dialects; even the negroes
+used an accent that was difficult to understand. One thing only
+struck a familiar note, and that with peculiar force and
+sharpness. Down the railroad track toward him came a locomotive
+with the letters "P. R. R." upon it, at which he said aloud:
+
+"Hurrah, I'm in Jersey City! I'll take the Twenty-third Street
+Ferry and be at the Astor in no time."
+
+He made his way slowly through the turmoil to the cable office,
+where he wrote a message, only to have it refused.
+
+"We don't send C. O. D.," the operator told him.
+
+"Must have coin in advance, eh?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I left my gold-purse on the dresser," Kirk said, cheerfully.
+"I'll be back later." Then he wandered forth again, bearing his
+bundle of shirts beneath his arm. He thought of appealing to the
+Cortlandts before they left for Panama City, but could not bring
+himself to ask a favor from that slim, agate-eyed man for whom he
+felt such an instinctive distaste. Instead, he resolved to enlist
+the services of the American consul.
+
+He began to feel the heat now, and his borrowed collar drooped,
+but as he neared the seaward side of town there was a remarkable
+transformation. A delightful, cooling breeze swept in from the
+ocean, and, when he finally came out upon a palm-guarded road
+along the breakers, he paused in silent enjoyment. The trade-winds
+were drawing inward as steadily as if forced by a great electric
+fan, piling the green waters upon the rocks in a ceaseless,
+soothing murmur, making the palm fronds overhead rustle like the
+silken skirts of an aerial ballet. The effect was wonderful, for,
+while the air was balmy and soft, it was also deliciously
+refreshing and seemed to have magic properties.
+
+After some further wandering, he found the consul's house and
+knocked at the door, whereupon a high-pitched, querulous voice
+from inside cried:
+
+"Come in. Dammit, don't stand there hammering!"
+
+Kirk entered to find a huge, globular man clad in soiled linens
+sprawled in a musty Morris chair and sipping a highball. The man's
+face and neck were of a purplish, apoplectic hue; he seemed to
+radiate heat-waves like a base-burner.
+
+"Is this Mr. Weeks?" Kirk inquired.
+
+"That's me."
+
+"My name is Anthony."
+
+"Glad to meet you," wheezed the fat man, extending a limp, moist
+hand without rising. When Kirk had grasped it he felt like wiping
+his own palm. "Have a seat." The speaker indicated a broken-backed
+rocker encumbered with damp clothes, newspapers, and books. "Just
+dump that rubbish on the floor; it don't matter where." Then he
+piped at the top of his thin, little voice, "Zeelah! Hey, Zeelah!
+Bring some more ice."
+
+One glance showed Anthony that the place was indescribably
+disordered; a rickety desk was half concealed beneath a litter of
+papers, books, breakfast dishes, and what not; a typewriter
+occupied a chair, and all about the floor were scattered documents
+where the wind had blown them. Shoes and articles of clothing were
+piled in the corners; there was not a sound piece of furniture in
+the place, and through an open door leading to another room at the
+rear could be seen a cheap iron bed, sagging hammock-like, its
+head and foot posts slanting like tepee poles, doubtless from the
+weight of its owner.
+
+In answer to Mr. Weeks's shout a slatternly negress with dragging
+skirts and overrun shoes entered, carrying a washbowl partly
+filled with ice.
+
+"Just get in, Mr. Anthony?"
+
+"Yes, sir, on the Santa. Cruz."
+
+"Fine ship." Mr. Weeks rose ponderously and wiped out a glass with
+a bath towel, while Kirk noticed that two damp half-moons had come
+through his stiffly starched linen trousers where his dripping
+knees had pressed. He walked with a peculiar, springy roll, as if
+pads of fat had grown between his joints, and, once an impulse had
+been given his massive frame, it required time in which to become
+effective. The sound of his breathing was plainly audible as he
+prepared his guest's beverage.
+
+"You'll like that," he predicted. "There's one good thing we get
+in Colon, and that's whiskey." With a palsied hand he presented
+the glass. His cuffs were limp and tight, his red wrists were
+ringed like those of a baby. As he rolled back toward the Morris
+chair, his stomach surged up and down as if about to break from
+its moorings.
+
+"I came in to ask a favor," Anthony announced, "I suppose every
+tourist does the same."
+
+"That's part of a consul's duty," Mr. Weeks panted, while his soft
+cheeks swelled with every exhalation. "That's what I'm here for."
+
+"I want to cable home for money."
+
+"A little poker game on the way down, eh?" He began to shake
+ponderously.
+
+"I'm broke, and they won't take a collect message at the cable
+office. You see, I didn't know I was coming; some of my friends
+gave me a knockout and shipped me off on the Santa Cruz. The
+wireless wasn't working, we didn't stop at Jamaica, so this is my
+first chance to get word home."
+
+"What do you wish me to do?"
+
+"Cable for me and see that I have a place to stop until I get an
+answer."
+
+A look of distrust crept slowly into the consul's little eyes.
+
+"Are you absolutely broke?"
+
+"I haven't got a jingle."
+
+"How long will it take to hear from your people?"
+
+"If my father is at home, I'll hear instantly."
+
+"And if he isn't?"
+
+"I'll have to wait."
+
+"What makes you think he'll wire you money?"
+
+"He's never failed yet. You see, I'm something like a comet; he
+knows I'll be around every so often."
+
+Mr. Weeks began to complain. "I don't know you, Mr.--what's the
+name again? Anthony? I'm a poor man and I've been an easy mark for
+every tropical tramp from Vera Cruz to Guayaquil. Your father may
+not be able to help you, and then I'll be holding the bag."
+
+"I think you don't understand who he is. Did you ever hear of
+Darwin K. Anthony, of Albany, New York?"
+
+Mr. Weeks's thick lids opened, this time to display a far
+different emotion. "Certainly."
+
+"Well, he's the goat."
+
+Slowly, grandly, the American consul set his frame in motion,
+whereat Kirk said, quickly, "Don't get up; I understand." But Mr.
+Weeks had gone too far to check himself, so he lurched resiliently
+into an upright position, then across the floor, and, reaching out
+past his undulating front, as a man reaches forth from the midst
+of a crowd, shook his guest heartily by the hand.
+
+"Why didn't you say so?" he bubbled. "I'm here to accommodate
+folks like you. Darwin K. Anthony! Well, RATHER."
+
+"Thanks." The young man wiped his hand surreptitiously. "If you
+will fix it so I can cable him and sleep aboard the ship, I'll be
+greatly obliged."
+
+"Nothing of the sort," Mr. Weeks blew through his wet lips. "I'll
+cable him myself and you'll stay right here as my guest. Delighted
+to have the privilege."
+
+Kirk cast another glance over the place, and demurred hastily.
+"Really, I couldn't think of putting you out. I can stay on the
+Santa Cruz as well as not."
+
+"I couldn't hear to such a thing. You're tired of ship life--
+everybody is--and I have lots of room--too much room. It's a
+pleasure to meet real people--this damn country is so full of
+crooks and dead-beats. No, sir, you'll stay right here where it is
+cool and comfortable." With a pudgy forefinger he stripped his
+purple brow of a row of glistening sweat-drops. "I'll have Zeelah
+fix up a bed where this glorious breeze will play on you. Mr.
+Anthony, that trade-wind blows just like that all the time--never
+dies down--it's the only thing that makes life bearable here--that
+and the whiskey. Have another highball?"
+
+"No, I thank you."
+
+"Darwin--Say, I'll send a cart for your baggage, right now."
+
+"I have it with me--six shirts, all guilty."
+
+"Then I'll send your father a message this minute. I'm delighted
+at the privilege of being the first to advise him of your safety
+and to relieve his mental anguish." Mr. Weeks rocked toward the
+desk, adjusted a chair behind him, spread his legs apart, and sat
+down sidewise so that he could reach the inkwell. He overhung his
+chair so generously that from the front he appeared to be perched
+precariously upon its edge or to be holding some one in his lap.
+"Where are those cable blanks!" he cried, irritably, stirring up
+the confusion in front of him.
+
+"Here they are." Anthony picked one up from the floor.
+
+"It's that damn wind again. I can't keep anything in place unless
+I sit on it. That's the trouble with this country--there's always
+a breeze blowing. Thanks! I'm getting a trifle heavy to stoop--
+makes me dizzy."
+
+In a moment he read what he had written:
+
+DARWIN K. ANTHONY,  Albany, New York.
+
+Your son well and safe. Here as my guest. Asks you cable him money
+for return. WEEKS, American Consul.
+
+"That tells the story. It'll please him to know I'm looking after
+you, my boy."
+
+"You are very kind."
+
+"Don't speak of it. I'm glad to get in touch with your father. We
+need capital in this country."
+
+"He's a hard man in money matters," said Darwin K. Anthony's son.
+"I believe I enjoy the distinction of being the only person who
+ever made him loosen."
+
+"All successful men are cautious," Weeks declared. "But if he knew
+the wonderful opportunities this country presents--" The speaker
+leaned forward, while his chair creaked dangerously, and said,
+with impressiveness, "My dear sir, do you realize that a cocoa
+palm after it is seven years old drops a nut worth five cents
+every day in the year and requires no care whatever except to
+gather the fruit?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Fact! And we grow the best ones in the world right here. But the
+demand is increasing so rapidly that in ten years there will be a
+famine. Think of it--a famine of cocoanuts!" Mr. Weeks paused to
+lend dramatic effect.
+
+"That's fierce," Kirk acknowledged. "What are they good for?"
+
+"Eating! People make cakes out of them, and oil, and candy. Good
+cocoanut land can be bought for fifty cents an acre, selected
+seeds for five cents each, labor is sixty cents a day. No frosts,
+no worms, no bugs. You sit still and they drop in your lap."
+
+"The bugs?"
+
+"No! No! The cocoanuts."
+
+"Fine!"
+
+"But that's nothing. Do you realize that this soil will raise
+sugar-cane the size of your--of my--thigh, and once you plant it
+you can't keep it cut out?"
+
+"It's all news to me."
+
+"You can buy sugar-cane land for a dollar an acre; it costs--"
+"I'm no good at figures, Mr. Weeks."
+
+"And rubber! THERE'S the chance for a man with capital. Rubber!"
+
+"I will--I mean, is that so?"
+
+"Ever see any rubber-trees?"
+
+"Only in Brooklyn."
+
+"I mean wild rubber. This country is full of it; the natives bring
+it in. All you have to do is buy timber land--you can get it for a
+song--plant your rubber-seed, and let 'er go, Gallagher! In ten
+years you go back, cut off your timber, sell it for enough to make
+you rich, and there is your rubber--velvet!" he concluded,
+triumphantly.
+
+"Rubber velvet?"
+
+"Yes. It's 'velvet'--all clear. You can't lose. My boy, there's a
+thousand ways to get rich down here, and I know 'em all. What I
+need is capital. If I had your father's backing--Say! It's a
+mighty good thing you came to see me. I can do your old man a lot
+of good. I'm conservative, I am, and what he needs is a good,
+conservative man to manage his investments. Why, talk about quick
+money"--the speaker thrust forth a finger that looked like a
+peeled banana--"I've got a gold-mine--"
+
+"Not a bit like it." Kirk shook his head. "They don't behave."
+
+"This one will. It's an old Spanish mine and hasn't been worked
+for three centuries. It's rich, RICH! I'll take you in as my
+partner, and we'll get your father to open it up. What do you say?
+If he doesn't like that, we'll get him a street-railway franchise;
+I'm close to the government, and there isn't a steel rail in any
+city of the republic. I know all the Spiggoty politicians."
+
+"The what?" "The Spiggoties! That's what we call the Panamanians.
+They 'no spiggoty English'; understand?"
+
+"It's a funny name."
+
+"Now, my boy, there's one thing I want you to be careful of. Don't
+let some of these fellows around here get you excited. This
+country is full of promoters, cheap skates, and that sort, and
+they'll try to stampede you into some investment. You trust to me;
+I'm conservative. I'll put you up at the club, and when you get
+straightened around we'll talk business. Meanwhile, I'll send this
+cable."
+
+Mr. Weeks was even better than his word. He took Kirk with him,
+and went heaving down the street, his body quivering at every step
+as if hung upon a whalebone framework, the breath wheezing noisily
+in and out of his chest, the perspiration streaming from his
+purple face in rivulets. He put up his guest at the club and
+invited some of his friends to join them for dinner that evening
+on the wide balcony; then, noting Anthony's heavy clothing, he
+said:
+
+"You need some linens, Kirk. That suit looks like a dog bed. You
+don't mind my calling you Kirk, do you?"
+
+"I'm flattered. However, I can't get ready-made clothes large
+enough, and, besides, it's hardly worth while for the length of
+time--"
+
+"Nonsense. Now you're here we won't let you go right back. There's
+a Chinese tailor on Bottle Alley who'll have you a suit to measure
+by noon to-morrow, and he only charges seven dollars, goods and
+all."
+
+Accordingly, the two journeyed to Bottle Alley and selected some
+linen, whereupon, instead of one suit, the consul ordered three,
+having them charged to his account.
+
+Kirk really enjoyed that evening at the Wayfarers Club, for, once
+the cool of evening had come, the place filled up rapidly with as
+fine a crowd of men as he had ever met. There were young fellows
+from the railroad offices, merchants from the town, engineers from
+the big job, the proximity of which made itself felt like a
+mysterious presence. There was a trader from down the San Blas
+coast; a benevolent, white-haired judge, with a fund of excellent
+stories; a lieutenant in the Zone Police who impressed Kirk as a
+real Remington trooper come to life; and many another. They all
+welcomed the Yale man with that freedom which one finds only on
+the frontier, and as he listened to them he began to gain some
+idea of the tremendous task that occupied their minds. They were
+all men with work to do; there were no idlers; there was no class
+distinction. One topic of conversation prevailed, and, although
+the talk drifted away from it at times, it invariably came back to
+The Job in the end.
+
+Weeks did himself credit as a host. His table, spread on the
+latticed balcony where the never-failing trade-winds fanned it,
+was decorated tastefully with flowers, red-shaded candles, white
+linen, and gleaming silver gave it a metropolitan air. Both the
+food and the wine were well served, and the consul's half-dozen
+guests soon became mellowed and friendly. Kirk felt he had fallen
+among kindred spirits, for it was almost like a fraternity dinner.
+
+When finally they arose, some one proposed a game of draw poker
+and insisted upon Kirk's joining. He was about to refuse when
+Weeks drew him aside to say:
+
+"Don't let the money question stand in your way, Kirk. You're my
+guest, and your I.O.U. is as good as a government bond; so go as
+far as you like."
+
+A considerable portion of Anthony's time in college had been
+devoted to a course in draw poker--recitations, so to speak, being
+conducted in the upper rooms of a Greek letter "frat," and he
+cherished the belief that he had at least learned to distinguish a
+spade flush from an "Arkansas blaze." But he soon found that these
+men had forgotten more about the game than he could ever hope to
+learn at any university, and when the crowd broke up at midnight
+he signed his name to a tab for forty dollars.
+
+Early the next day the following cablegram was left at the
+American Consulate:
+
+WEEKS, Consul, Colon.
+
+Anthony absent, returns Friday.
+  COPLEY.
+
+"Copley is the Governor's secretary," Kirk explained. "That means
+that I'll miss the Santa Cruz and have to wait another week."
+
+"I'm delighted," the consul said, heartily.
+
+"Perhaps you could stake me to a ticket. I'll remit when I get to
+New York."
+
+"My pay isn't due for a fortnight," Weeks explained after an
+instant's hesitation. "You see, I'm interested in so many ventures
+it keeps me--well, broke. Anyhow, you can't go until we have
+arranged an investment for your father."
+
+Kirk could not help thinking that a man of the consul's wide
+acquaintance and business capacity could have raised the necessary
+funds without much trouble; but, not wishing to embarrass his
+host, he refrained from pressing the matter, and resigned himself
+as best he could to an extension of his exile. Meanwhile, he
+decided to visit the Canal, for on every side he heard nothing but
+echoes of the great work, and he began to feel that he owed it to
+himself to view it. But his plans were upset by the weather. On
+the following day it began to rain, and it continued to rain day
+and night thereafter until Colon became a sodden, dripping horror.
+The soil melted into a quagmire, the streets became sluices, the
+heavens closed down like a leaden pall, and the very air became
+saturated. It was hot also, and sticky. Indoors a mould began to
+form, rust grew like a fungus; outdoors the waving palm tops
+spilled a deluge upon roof and sidewalk at every gust; their
+trunks streamed like hydrants.
+
+Kirk had never seen such a rain; it kept up hour after hour, day
+after day, until the monotony became maddening. The instant he
+stepped out from shelter he was drenched, and even in his rooms he
+could discover no means of drying his clothes. His garments,
+hanging beside his bed at night, were clammy and overlaid with
+moisture in the morning. Things began to smell musty; leather
+objects grew long, hoary whiskers of green mould. To his
+amazement, the inhabitants seemed quite oblivious to the change,
+however, and, while they agreed that the weather was a trifle
+misty, they pursued their duties as usual, assuring him that the
+rain might continue for a month.
+
+It was too much for Kirk, however, and he deferred his trip over
+the "Line," spending his time instead at the Wayfarers Club. In
+his daylight hours he listened to Weeks's unending dissertations
+upon the riches of the tropics; at night he played poker with such
+uniform bad luck that his opponents developed for him an
+increasing affection.
+
+But all things have an end, and Friday morning broke clear and
+hot.
+
+"We'll hear from the old gentleman to-day, sure," he told Weeks at
+breakfast. "He's regularity itself. The train despatchers set
+their watches by him."
+
+"Now that it has cleared off, we must look into the cocoanut
+business," the consul announced. "I'll make you a rich man, Kirk."
+
+"I'm rich, anyhow, or I will be. Money doesn't mean much to me."
+
+"Your father is--many times a millionaire, isn't he?" Weeks'
+little red eyes were very bright and curious. Kirk had seen that
+look many times before and knew its meaning. Hence he replied
+rather brusquely:
+
+"So I believe." And a moment later declared his determination to
+avail himself of the good weather and see something of the town.
+The prospect of squaring his account with this fawning fat man
+filled him with relief, and once away from the Consulate he stayed
+until late in the afternoon. It was nearly dark when he strolled
+in, to inquire:
+
+"Well, did you get an answer?"
+
+"Yes." Weeks fumbled excitedly through the papers on his desk.
+
+"How much did he send?
+
+"Here's the message; read it yourself."
+
+Kirk read as follows:
+
+WEEKS, Consul,  Colon.
+
+Your guest an impostor. Have no son.
+  ANTHONY.
+
+"Well, I'll be damned!" he ejaculated. "This is a joke!"
+
+Weeks was beginning to pant. "A joke, hey? I suppose it was a joke
+to impose on me?"
+
+"Don't you believe I'm Kirk Anthony?"
+
+"No, I do not. I just discovered to-day that your name is
+Jefferson Locke. Stein told me."
+
+Anthony laughed lightly.
+
+"Oh, laugh, if you want to. You're a smooth article with your talk
+about football and automobiles and millionaire fathers, but you
+happened to select the wrong millionaire for a father this time,
+and I'm going to give you a taste of our Spiggoty jails."
+
+"You can't arrest me. You offered to take me in."
+
+The fat man grew redder than ever; he seemed upon the point of
+exploding; his whole body shook and quivered as if a head of steam
+were steadily gathering inside him.
+
+"You can't get out of it that way," he cried at the top of his
+little voice. "I've fed you for a week. I put you up at my club.
+That very suit of clothes you have on is mine."
+
+"Well, don't burst a seam over the matter. My Governor doesn't
+know the facts. I'll cable him myself this time."
+
+"And live off me for another week, I suppose? Not if I know it! He
+says he has no son; isn't that enough?"
+
+"He doesn't understand."
+
+"And how about those gambling debts?" chattered the mountain of
+flesh. "You thought you'd fool me for a week, while you won enough
+money from my friends to get away. Now I'LL have to pay them. Oh,
+I'll fix you!"
+
+"You go slow about having me pinched," Kirk said, darkly, "or I'll
+make you jump through a hoop. I'll pay my debts."
+
+"You're a rich man, eh? Money doesn't mean much to you, hey?"
+mocked the infuriated Consul. "I suppose this is an old game of
+yours. Well, you stuck me all right, because you knew I couldn't
+have you arrested--I'd be a laughing-stock forever. But I've had
+your card cancelled, and I've left word for the waiters to throw
+you out if you show up at the Wayfarers."
+
+"Will you lend me enough money to cable again?" asked Anthony,
+with an effort.
+
+"More money? NO!" fairly screamed the other. "You get out of my
+house, Mr. 'Kirk Anthony,' and don't you show yourself around here
+again. I'll keep the rest of your wardrobe."
+
+His erstwhile guest underwent an abrupt reversal of emotion. To
+the indignant amazement of Mr. Weeks, he burst into a genuine
+laugh, saying:
+
+"All right, landlord, keep my baggage. I believe that's the
+custom, but--Oh, gee! This IS funny." He was still laughing when
+he reached the public square, for at last he had begun to see the
+full humor of Adelbert Higgins' joke.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+THE REWARD OF MERIT
+
+
+Facing for the first time in his life an instant and absolute need
+of money, Kirk found himself singularly lacking in resource; and a
+period of sober contemplation brought him no helpful thought.
+Perhaps, after all, he decided, his best course would be to seek
+relief from the Cortlandts. Accordingly, he strolled into the
+offices of the steamship company near by and asked leave to
+telephone. But on calling up the Hotel Tivoli, he was told that
+his friends were out; nor could he learn the probable hour of
+their return. As he hung up the receiver he noticed that the
+office was closing, and, seeing the agent about to quit the place,
+addressed him:
+
+"I'd like to ask a favor."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Will you introduce me to the best hotel in town? I have friends
+in Panama City, but they're out and it's getting late."
+
+"There isn't a good hotel here, but you don't need an
+introduction; just walk in. They're not full."
+
+"I'm broke, and I have no baggage."
+
+"Don't you know anybody?"
+
+"I know the American consul--been stopping at his house for a
+week--but he threw me out."
+
+A great light seemed suddenly to dawn upon the agent. "Oh, you're
+Locke!" said he, with the air of one who detects a fraud too
+obvious to be taken seriously. "Now I understand. The purser on
+the Santa Cruz told me about you. Sorry I can't help you, but I'm
+a salaried man."
+
+"I've got to sleep," stoutly maintained the other. "Somebody will
+have to take care of me; I can't sit up all night."
+
+"See here, my friend, I don't know what your game is, but you
+can't sting me." The agent finished locking up, then walked away,
+leaving his visitor to reflect anew upon the average human being's
+ignoble lack of faith in his fellows.
+
+It was growing dark. From farther down the water-front the lights
+of the Wayfarers Club shone invitingly, and Kirk decided to appeal
+there for assistance. In spite of Weeks's warning, he felt sure he
+could prevail upon some of the members to tide him over for the
+night, but as he neared the place he underwent a sudden change of
+heart. Slowly mounting the stairs ahead of him like a trained
+hippopotamus was the colossal, panting figure of the American
+consul, at sight of which Kirk's pride rose up in arms and forbade
+him to follow. Doubtless Weeks had spread his story broadcast; it
+was manifestly impossible for him to appeal to his recent card
+partners--they would believe he had deliberately imposed upon
+them. It was humiliating, yet there seemed nothing to do except to
+await the Cortlandts' return, and, if he failed to reach them by
+telephone, to spend the night in the open. It occurred to him that
+he might try to locate Stein or some other of his late fellow-
+passengers, but they were probably scattered across the Isthmus by
+this time.
+
+A band was playing in the plaza when he came back--a very good
+band, too--and, finding a bench, he allowed his mind the relief of
+idly listening to the music. The square was filling with Spanish
+people, who soon caught and held his attention, recalling Mrs.
+Cortlandt's words regarding the intermixture of bloods in this
+country; for every imaginable variety of mongrel breed looked out
+from the loitering crowd. But no matter what the racial blend,
+black was the fundamental tone. Undeniably the Castilian strain
+was running out; not one passer-by in ten seemed really white.
+Naturally, there was no color line. Well-dressed girls, evidently
+white, or nearly so, went arm and arm with wenches as black as
+night; men of every shade fraternized freely.
+
+It was a picturesque and ever-changing scene. Kirk saw dark-faced
+girls wearing their unfailing badge of maidenhood--a white
+mantilla--followed invariably at a distance by respectful admirers
+who never presumed to walk beside them; wives whom marriage had
+forced to exchange the white shawl for the black, escorted by
+their husbands; huge, slouching Jamaican negroes of both sexes;
+silent-footed, stately Barbadians who gave a touch of savagery to
+the procession. Some of the women wore giant firebugs, whose
+glowing eyes lent a ghostly radiance to hair or lace, at once
+weird and beautiful. Round and round the people walked to the
+strains of their national music, among them dozens upon dozens of
+the ever-present little black-and-tan policemen, who constitute
+the republic's standing army.
+
+As the evening drew on, Kirk became conscious of an unwonted
+sensation. Once before he had had the same feeling--while on a
+moose-trail in Maine. But now there was no guide, with a packful
+of food, to come to his relief, and he could not muster up the
+spirit that enables men to bear vacation hardships with
+cheerfulness.
+
+He began to wonder whether a fast of twenty-four hours would
+seriously weaken a man, and, rather than make the experiment, he
+again called up the Tivoli, rejoicing anew in the fact that there
+was no toll on Isthmian messages. But again he was disappointed.
+This time he was told that the Cortlandts were doubtless spending
+the night out of town with friends.
+
+Soon after his second return to the park, the concert ended, the
+crowd melted away, and he found himself occupying a bench with a
+negro of about the same age as himself. For perhaps an hour the
+two sat there hearkening to the dying noises of the city; then
+Kirk, unable to endure the monotony longer, turned sharply on his
+companion and said:
+
+"Why don't you go home?"
+
+The negro started, his eyes flew open, then he laughed: "Oh, boss,
+I got no home."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"No, sar."
+
+Kirk reflected that he had found not only the right place, but
+also fitting company, for his vigil.
+
+"What does a person do in that case?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, he goes to work, sar."
+
+"For the night, I mean. Are you going to stay here until morning?"
+
+"Yes, sar, if the policeman will h'admit of it."
+
+The fellow's dialect was so strange that Kirk inquired: "Where did
+you come from?"
+
+"Jamaica, sar. I was barn on the narth coast of the h'island,
+sar."
+
+"Did you just arrive here?"
+
+"Oh, Lard, no! I 'ave been a liver here for two year."
+
+"A liver!" Kirk could not help smiling.
+
+"Yes, sar! Sometimes I labor on the docks, again in the h'office.
+Lahst week lose I my position, and to-day my room h'also.
+Landladies is bad females, sar, very common."
+
+"You've been shooting craps," said Kirk, accusingly.
+
+"Crops, sar! What is crops?"
+
+"You don't know what craps is! I mean you've been gambling."
+
+"Oh, boss, I h'invest my money."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"Lahst Sunday nearly won I the big prize. I 'ad h'all but three
+numbers."
+
+"Lottery ticket, eh?"
+
+"H'eight! H'eight chawnces in all," the negro sighed. "But dreams
+is false, sar."
+
+"So I've heard. Well, it seems we're in the same boat this
+beautiful evening. I have no place to sleep, either."
+
+"You are humbugging me."
+
+"No, I'm flat broke."
+
+"Oh, chot me true, mon."
+
+"I am chatting you true. I'm an outcast of fortune like yourself."
+
+"Such talk! You make I laugh this house."
+
+"What?"
+
+"You make I laugh," repeated the other in a broad Devonshire
+dialect. "Praise God, you h'appear like a gentleman."
+
+"I trust this little experience will not permanently affect my
+social standing. By-the-way, what is your name?"
+
+"H'Allan."
+
+"Hallan?"
+
+"No, sar. H'Allan."
+
+"Is that your first or last name?"
+
+"Both, sar--h'Allan h'Allan."
+
+"Mr. Allan Allan, you're unusually dark for a Scotchman," said
+Kirk, gravely. "Now, speaking as one gentleman to another, do you
+happen to know where we can get a hand-out?"
+
+"'And-out?" inquired the puzzled negro.
+
+"Yes; a lunch. Can't you lead me to a banana vine or a breadfruit
+bakery? I'm starving. They grow the finest cocoanuts in the world
+right here--worth five cents apiece; they require no care, have no
+worms, no bugs. You sit still and they drop in your lap. Can't you
+show me a tree where we can sit and wait for something to drop?"
+
+Allan replied, seriously: "But when the cocoanut falls, it is no
+good for h'eating, sar. The milk is h'acid."
+
+"I see you have a sense of humor; you should be in the consular
+service. But h'acid or sweet, h'eating or cooling, I must get
+something into my stomach--it's as flat as a wet envelope."
+
+The Jamaican rose, saying: "Step this way, please. I know the
+place where a very good female is. Per'aps she will make us a
+present."
+
+"How far is it?"
+
+"Oh, not too far," Allan replied, optimistically, and Kirk
+hopefully followed him.
+
+But at the opposite side of the square they were halted by a
+sudden commotion which drove all thoughts of food out of their
+minds. From a building across the street issued a bugle-call, upon
+which an indescribable confusion broke forth. Men began running to
+and fro; a voice in authority shouted orders, each of which was
+the signal for another bugle-call. Through the wide-open doors the
+Panamanians could be seen, scurrying around a hose-cart,
+apparently in search of clothes; some were struggling into red
+shirts, others were stamping their feet into short boots or
+girding themselves with wide canvas belts. Meanwhile, the chief
+issued more orders and the bugle continued to blow.
+
+"Oh, look, boss!" Allan cried, quickly. "There must be a
+'flagration."
+
+"It's a Spiggoty hose company, as I live. Come on!"
+
+Already a glare could be seen above the crowded portion of the
+city, and the two set off in that direction at a run, leaving the
+bugle sounding in the rear and the gallant firemen still wrestling
+with their uniforms. They had nearly reached the fire when around
+a corner back of them, with frightful speed and clangor, came a
+modern automobile fire-truck, clinging to which was a swarm of
+little brown men in red shirts and helmets. They reminded the
+American of monkeys on a circus horse, and, although he had been
+counted a reckless driver, he exclaimed in astonishment at the
+daring way in which the chauffeur took the turn.
+
+It was truly amazing, for the machine, which was the latest
+improvement in imported fire-fighting machinery, skidded the full
+width of the street, threatening to rip its tires off and turn
+turtle, then leaped upon the curb before its driver could
+straighten it up, and in a magnificent sweep carried away the
+wooden supports of an overhanging balcony. The timbers parted like
+straws; there came a shrill uproar from inside the building as the
+sleeping occupants poured forth, but without a pause the Yankee
+machine whizzed on up the street, its gong clanging, its occupants
+holding on for dear life, the peaceful inhabitants of Colon
+fleeing from its path like quail before the hoofs of a runaway
+horse.
+
+"Hit her up!" Kirk yelled, delightedly, then leaned against a
+lamp-post and laughed until he was weak. In the midst of his
+merriment appeared the company he had just seen making up. They
+had found their uniforms at last, it seemed, down to the final
+belt and shoelace, and now came charging gallantly along in the
+tracks of the more speedy motor. They were drawing their hand-
+reel, each brave lad tugging lustily and panting with fatigue.
+
+Kirk and his guide fell in behind and jogged to the scene of the
+conflagration.
+
+A three-storied building was already half gutted; out of its
+windows roared long, fiery tongues; the structure snapped and
+volleyed a chorus to the sullen monotone of destruction. The
+street was littered with the household belongings of the
+neighborhood, and from the galleries and windows near by came such
+a flight of miscellaneous articles as to menace the safety of
+those below. Men shouted, women screamed, children shrieked,
+figures appeared upon the fire-lit balconies hurling forth armfuls
+of cooking utensils, bedding, lamps, food, and furniture, utterly
+careless of where they fell or of the damage they suffered. Kirk
+saw one man fling a graphophone from a top window, then lower a
+mattress with a rope. On all sides was a bedlam which the arrival
+of the firemen only augmented. The fire captains shouted orders to
+the buglers, the buglers blew feebly upon their horns, the
+companies deployed in obedience to the bugles, then everybody
+waited for further directions.
+
+Again the trumpet sounded, whereupon each fireman began to
+interfere with his neighbor; a series of quarrels arose as
+couplings were made or broken; then, after an interminable delay,
+water began to flow, as if by a miracle. But except in rare
+instances it failed to reach the flames. A ladder-truck, drawn by
+another excited company, now rumbled upon the scene, its arrival
+adding to the general disorder. Meanwhile, the steady tradewind
+fanned the blaze to ever-growing proportions.
+
+"Why the devil don't they get closer?" Kirk inquired of his
+Jamaican companion.
+
+Allan's eyes were wide and ringed with white; his teeth gleamed in
+a grin of ecstasy as he replied:
+
+"Oh, Lard, my God, it is too 'ot, sar; greatly too 'ot! It would
+take a stout 'eart to do such a thing."
+
+"Nonsense! They'll never put it out this way. Hey!" Kirk attracted
+the attention of a near-by nozzleman. "Walk up to it. It won't
+bite you." But the valiant fire-fighter held stubbornly to his
+post, while the stream he directed continued to describe a
+graceful curve and spatter upon the sidewalk in front of the
+burning building. "You're spoiling that old woman's bed," Anthony
+warned him, at which a policeman with drawn club forced him back
+as if resentful of criticism. Other peace officers compelled the
+crowd to give way, then fell upon the distracted property holders
+and beat them off their piles of furniture.
+
+For perhaps ten minutes there was no further change in the
+situation; then a great shout arose as it was seen that the roof
+of the adjoining building had burst into flame. At this the
+fanfare of trumpets sounded again; firemen rushed down the street,
+dragging a line of hose and drenching the onlookers. But, despite
+their hurry, they halted too soon, and their stream just failed to
+reach the blazing roof. By now the heat had grown really intense,
+and the more hardy heroes in the vanguard retreated to less trying
+positions. The voice of the crowd had arisen to a roar rivalling
+that of the flames.
+
+"They must intend to let the whole town burn!" cried Anthony.
+
+"Yes, sar! Very probably, sar."
+
+Kirk pointed to the nearest fireman. "If he'd get up under that
+wall he could save the roof and be out of the heat." He undertook
+to convey this suggestion to the fellow, but without result. "I
+can't stand this," he exclaimed at last. "Let's give him a hand,
+Allan."
+
+"Very well, sar."
+
+"Here! help me get a kink in this hose. There! Now you hold it
+until you feel me pull." Kirk forced his way out through the
+crowd, to find the fireman holding the nozzle, from which a feeble
+stream was dribbling, and mechanically directing it at the fire.
+Kirk laid hold of the canvas and, with a heave, dragged it, along
+with its rightful guardian, ten feet forward; but there had been
+no bugle-blown order for this, and the uniformed man pulled
+backward with all his might, chattering at Kirk in Spanish.
+
+"Well, then let go." Anthony shook the Panamannikin loose, then
+ran forward across the street until he brought up at the end of
+the slack and felt the hose behind him writhe and swell as Allan
+released his hold. The next instant the negro was at his side, and
+the two found themselves half blistered by the heat that rolled
+out upon them. But the newly ignited roof was within range, and
+the stream they played upon it made the shingles fly.
+
+"Oh, Lard!" Allan was crying. "Oh, Lard! I shall h'expire."
+
+"Pull down your hat and shield your face."
+
+The fireman they had despoiled began to drag at the hose from a
+safe distance; but when Kirk made as if to turn the nozzle upon
+him he scampered away amid the jeers of the crowd. A few moments
+later, the American felt a hand upon his arm and saw an angry
+policeman who was evidently ordering him back. Behind him stood
+the excited nozzleman with two companions.
+
+"He says you should return the 'ose where you found it," Allan
+translated.
+
+"Leave us alone," Kirk replied. "You fellows help the others;
+we'll attend to this." More rapid words and gesticulations
+followed, in the midst of which a dapper young man in a uniform
+somewhat more impressive than the others dashed up, flung himself
+upon Anthony and endeavored to wrench the hose from his hands.
+Meanwhile he uttered epithets in broken English which the other
+had no difficulty in understanding. Kirk promptly turned the
+nozzle upon him, and the full force of Colon's water-pressure
+struck him squarely in the stomach, doubling him up like the kick
+of a mule. Down the newcomer went, then half rolled, half slid
+across the street as the stream continued to play upon him. He
+scrambled to his feet, a sorry spectacle of waving arms and
+dripping garments, his cries of rage drowned in the delighted
+clamor of the beholders.
+
+"I guess they'll keep away now," laughed Kirk, as he turned back
+to his self-appointed task.
+
+But Allan exclaimed, fearfully: "Oh, boss, I fear he is some 'igh
+h'officer."
+
+"Never mind. We're having a lot of fun. It's medals for us--gold
+medals for bravery, Allan. To-morrow the board of aldermen will
+thank us."
+
+But this prediction seemed ill-founded. An instant later a half-
+dozen policemen advanced in a businesslike manner, and their
+leader announced: "Come! You are arrest."
+
+"Pinched! What for? We're doing a lot of good here."
+
+"Come, queeck!"
+
+"Oh, Lard, my God!" Allan mumbled. "I shall die and kill myself."
+
+"They won't do anything to us," Kirk assured him. "I've been
+pinched lots of times. We'll have to quit, though, and that's a
+pity. It was just getting good."
+
+He surrendered the hose to a fireman, who promptly retreated with
+it to a discreet position, then followed his captors, who were now
+buzzing like bees.
+
+"Don't get excited," he said to Allan, noting his frightened look.
+"They'll turn us loose all right."
+
+But a moment after they were clear of the town he was surprised to
+see that the negro's captors had snapped "come-alongs" upon him in
+spite of his repeated promises to go quietly.
+
+These handcuffs, Kirk saw, were of the type used upon desperate
+criminals, consisting of chains fitted with handles so contrived
+that a mere twist of the officer's hand would cut the prisoner's
+flesh to the bone.
+
+"You don't need to do that," he assured the fellow who had made
+the arrest, but, instead of heeding his words, the men on each
+side of the Jamaican twisted stoutly, forcing the black boy to cry
+out in pain. He hung back, protesting:
+
+"All right, sar, I'll come. I'll come."
+
+But again they tightened their instruments of torture, and their
+victim began to struggle. At this an evil-faced man in blue struck
+him brutally upon the head with his club, then upon the shoulders,
+as if to silence his groans. The boy flung up his manacled hands
+to shield himself, and the light from a street lamp showed blood
+flowing where the chains had cut. The whole proceeding was so
+unprovoked, so sickening in its cruelty, that Kirk, who until this
+instant had looked upon the affair as a rather enjoyable lark,
+flew into a fury and, disregarding his own captors, leaped forward
+before the policeman could strike a third time. He swung his fist,
+and the man with the club hurtled across the street as if shot
+from a bow, then lay still in the gutter. With another blow he
+felled one of the handcuff-men, but at the same time other hands
+grasped at him and he was forced to lay about vigorously on all
+sides.
+
+They rushed him with the ferocity of mad dogs, and he knocked them
+spinning, one after another. A whistle blew shrilly, other
+uniforms came running, more whistles piped, and almost before he
+realized it he found himself in the centre of a pack of lean-faced
+brown men who were struggling to pull him down and striking at him
+with their clubs. With a sudden wild thrill he realized that this
+was no ordinary street fight; this was deadly; he must beat off
+these fellows or be killed. But, as fast as he cleared them away,
+others appeared as if by magic, until a dozen or more were
+swarming upon him like hungry ants. They clung to his arms, his
+legs, his clothing, with a desperate courage wholly admirable in
+itself, while strokes were aimed at him from every quarter. Time
+and again they dragged him off his feet, only to have him shake
+them loose. But though most of their blows went wild or found a
+mark among their own numbers, he was felled at last, and a moment
+later, with head reeling and wits flickering, he was dragged to
+his knees by handcuffs like those on Allan's wrists. The pain as
+the chains bit into his flesh brought him to his feet despite the
+blows and kicks that were rained upon him, crying hoarsely:
+
+"Let me go, damn you! Let me go!"
+
+But a wrench at the gyves took the fight out of him, for he felt
+that the bones in his wrists must surely be crushed. One side of
+his head was strangely big and numb; a warm stream trickled down
+his cheek; but he had no time to think of his condition, for his
+assailants fell upon him with fresh fury, and he reeled about,
+striving to shield himself. Every movement, however, was construed
+as resistance, and his punishment continued, until at last he must
+have fainted from pain or had his wits scattered by a blow on the
+head; for when he recovered consciousness he found himself in a
+filthy, ill-lighted room, flung upon a wooden platform that ran
+along the wall, evidently serving as a bed. Near him Allan was
+huddled, his black face distorted with pain and ashen with
+apprehension.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+EL COMANDANTE TAKES A HAND
+
+
+"Where are we?" queried Anthony, as he took in the surroundings.
+
+"This is the prison, sar."
+
+"Gee! I'm sick." Kirk lay back upon the platform and closed his
+eyes. "Did they hurt you much?"
+
+"Oh yes. Very considerably."
+
+"Sorry I got you into it, Allan, I never thought they'd be so
+cranky." Again he groaned. "I want a drink."
+
+"Let me get it. Those Spiggoties will not give it to you."
+
+Allan went to the door and called to the guard. An instant later
+he returned with a tin cup.
+
+"I guess they knocked me out," Kirk said, dazedly. "I never was
+hit like that before--and jailed! Say! We must get out of her.
+Call the chief or the man in charge, will you? I can't speak the
+language."
+
+"Please, sar, if you h'anger them they will beat us again."
+
+"Beat! Not here?"
+
+"Oh yes. They might kill us."
+
+"They wouldn't do that!"
+
+"A white man they killed lahst h'autumn, and several of my people
+have passed away in this prison. Nobody can 'ear nothing. Nobody
+knows what 'appens 'ere."
+
+"Oh, well, they wouldn't dare touch us--I'm an American citizen.
+I'll notify the consul."
+
+Roused at the mere suggestion. Kirk staggered to the door and
+shouted lustily. When no one answered, he shook the iron grating,
+whereupon a guard leisurely approached, and, after listening
+stolidly to his request, went back to his post at the other end of
+the hall. This time the American sent forth such an uproar that a
+man evidently corresponding in authority to a sergeant appeared
+with the command to be quiet.
+
+"Let me out of here!" loudly demanded the prisoner. "I want the
+chief, or the alcalde, or somebody in charge. I want to know what
+I'm booked for, I want to telephone--TELEPHONE, don't you
+understand?--and arrange bail. Quick, now!"
+
+But the officer merely frowned at him, obviously threatening a
+resort to force if this outburst did not cease at once.
+
+"I tell you I want to get out," insisted Kirk. "I want to know
+what I'm charged with and have my friends get bail."
+
+The man nodded his understanding and went away, but an hour passed
+and he did not return. Then another hour followed, and Anthony,
+who had now begun to feel the effect of his drubbing more keenly,
+renewed his clamor, with the result that a half-dozen policemen
+appeared, causing Allan to retreat to a corner and mumble prayers.
+From their demeanor it looked as though they were really bent upon
+mischief, but Kirk soon saw that an official had come in answer to
+his call. He felt less reassured when he perceived that the person
+in uniform who now stepped forward was the same upon whom he had
+turned the hose earlier in the evening.
+
+This was a black-haired, black-eyed young fellow of, perhaps,
+thirty. While his skin was swarthy, even in this poor light it
+could be seen that he was of the real Castilian type and of a much
+better class than the others. He was slender and straight, his
+mouth small and decorated by a carefully pencilled little
+mustache, which was groomed to a needle sharpness. His hands and
+feet were as dainty as those of a woman. He was undeniably
+striking in appearance, and might have passed for handsome had it
+not been for the scowl that distorted his features.
+
+"Eh! 'ere you are," he began, angrily.
+
+"Yes; I want to get out, too. What does this treatment mean?"
+
+The new-comer stepped toward the other occupant of the cell, at
+which Allan broke out in terror: "Don't you touch me. I'm a
+British object."
+
+But it was evidently not the man's intention to offer any further
+indignity to his prisoners at that time. After scanning the
+Jamaican carefully, he issued an order to one of his men, who left
+the room.
+
+"And I'm an American," Anthony declared. "You'll have to answer
+for this."
+
+"Per'aps you don' know who I am. I am Ramon Alfarez, Comandante of
+Police, an' you dare' to t'row the water of the 'ose-wagon upon my
+person. Your gover'ment will settle for those insolt." His white
+teeth showed in a furious snarl.
+
+"I don't give a damn who you are. I'll get bail or do whatever
+your law requires, but I want to get out and I want to get out
+now."
+
+The commandant's eyes flashed as he asked, shortly. "W'at is your
+name?"
+
+"Anthony. Your men tried to kill that boy, and when I wouldn't
+stand for it they beat me up."
+
+"You strock me wit' the water of the 'ose-carriage," repeated the
+other. "You 'ave assault the dignity of my country."
+
+"I didn't know who you were. I was helping to stop that fire when
+you butted in. Now, are you going to let me out, or do you want my
+people to pull this jail down around your ears?"
+
+At this threat Senor Alfarez restrained his rage with an obvious
+effort. "You will reply to those outrage, senor."
+
+"Sure, I'll reply. But in the mean time I want to telephone to the
+American consul. Look at this!" The young man held out his
+shaking, swollen wrists, upon which the blood was scarcely dry.
+"Look at it! Those runts of yours got handcuffs on me and then
+beat me up. I'm sick. So's that boy. We need a doctor."
+
+Alfarez shook his head. "You resis' the police. Even in your
+country one mus' not do that. 'Ave I been there, I would keel you
+both, but I am 'aving a cheel at the moment from those stream of
+col' water."
+
+"Will you take me to a telephone?"
+
+"It is not permit."
+
+"Will you notify Mr. Weeks?"
+
+Receiving no reply to this request, Kirk broke out: "Well, then,
+what ARE you going to do? Let us stay here all night?"
+
+"W'at is your bizness?"
+
+"I haven't any."
+
+"You don' work on the Canal?"
+
+"No. I'm a tourist. My father is a big railroad man in the States.
+I'm telling you this so you'll know how to act."
+
+"W'ere do you leeve--w'at 'otel?"
+
+"I've been stopping with Mr. Weeks."
+
+Senor Alfarez's attitude became somewhat less overbearing.
+
+"In due time he will be notify of your outrage to my person," he
+announced.
+
+The fellow who had left the room a moment before now reappeared,
+carrying a bucket of water and some towels, with which he directed
+Allan to remove the blood from his face and hands. When it came
+Kirk's turn, however, he objected.
+
+"I think I'll wait until Weeks sees me," he said.
+
+But Alfarez retorted, sharply: "It is not permit"; and, seeing
+that resistance would be useless, Kirk acquiesced as gracefully as
+he could, remarking as he did so:
+
+"You'll have hard work washing off this, and this." He indicated
+the traces of the handcuffs and the gash in his scalp.
+
+The commandant turned to his men and addressed them at some
+length, calling them to task, as Allan later informed his
+companion, for using their clubs in a manner to mark their
+prisoners so conspicuously. Then he followed them into the
+corridor, closing the grating behind him.
+
+The hours passed, and daylight came with no word from the American
+consul. By this time the two prisoners were really in need of
+medical attention. Their contusions pained them severely. Kirk
+felt as if one or more of his ribs were broken, and his suffering,
+combined with hunger, prevented sleep. He became feverish and
+fretful, but his demands for communication with the outside world
+were calmly ignored, although he felt certain that his wishes were
+fully understood. When the morning had passed without his being
+arraigned for a hearing he grew alarmed. Evidently he had been
+flung into confinement and forgotten.
+
+Eventually Kirk and Allan were given food, but still no one came
+to their relief. Apparently no message had been delivered. This
+treatment was so atrocious, so at variance with Anthony's ideas of
+his own importance, that he felt he must be suffering from
+nightmare. How dared they treat an American so, no matter what the
+charge? Why didn't they try him or give him a hearing? These
+insolent, overbearing Panamaniacs had no regard for law or
+humanity, and this was no longer a question of petty injustice; it
+was a grave infraction of civilized equity.
+
+But the afternoon wore on without an encouraging sign, till Kirk
+began to think that Weeks had refused to intercede for him and
+intended to leave him to the mercies of his enemies. With
+difficulty he managed to convey to a guard his desire to notify
+some of the other Americans in the city, but as usual no heed was
+paid to his request.
+
+It was considerably after dark when a visitor was at last
+admitted. He proved to be the English consul, whom Anthony had
+never met.
+
+"What are you doing here?" the new-comer inquired. Then, when the
+facts had been laid before him, he exclaimed: "Why, I heard that a
+Jamaican negro had been arrested, but I heard nothing about
+mistreatment of a white man."
+
+"Doesn't anybody know I'm here?"
+
+"I'm sure no one does. Those heathens lied to you--they never
+communicated with Weeks or anybody. They're afraid. This is an old
+trick of theirs--man-handling a prisoner, then keeping him hidden
+until he recovers. If he doesn't recover they get out of it on
+some excuse or other, as best they can. Why, they killed a white
+sailor not long ago--just plain clubbed him to death without
+excuse, then asserted that he resisted arrest. They did the same
+to one of our negroes. He died in the jail before I got wind of
+it, and when I started an investigation they showed his signed
+statement declaring that he had not been abused at all, and had
+been given the kindest treatment. The matter isn't settled yet.
+It's infamous! Why, I had hard work to get in at all just now. But
+I'll have Allan here out in two hours or I'll know the reason.
+England protects her subjects, Mr. Anthony, and these people know
+it. If they don't come to time I'll have a gunboat in the harbor
+in twenty-four hours. Color doesn't amount to a damn with us, sir;
+it's the flag."
+
+"I guess Uncle Sam is strong enough to command respect," said
+Anthony.
+
+"Well, I know the circumstances now, and I'll go straight to
+Weeks. He can arrange your release without trouble. If you were an
+Englishman, I'd have you out in no time, and you'd collect
+handsome damages, too. This boy will."
+
+True to the consul's prediction, a little later the Jamaican was
+led out of the cell, and from the fact that he was not brought
+back Kirk judged that the British intervention had been effectual.
+But it was not until the next morning, the second of his
+imprisonment, that the cell door opened once more, this time to
+admit the portly figure of John Weeks and the spruce person of
+Senor Ramon Alfarez.
+
+"What's all this trouble about?" inquired the former in none too
+amiable a tone.
+
+Kirk told his story as briefly and convincingly as he could. But
+when he had finished, the consul shook his head.
+
+"I don't see what I can do for you," he said. "According to your
+own declaration you resisted a police officer. You'll have to take
+your medicine."
+
+Alfarez nodded agreement. "Quite right!" said he. "He did terrible
+'avoc with my men, t'ree of which is now on the 'ospital."
+
+"But why don't they try me or let me get bail? I want to get out."
+
+"You'll be tried as soon as they get around to it."
+
+"Look here!" Kirk showed the marks his assailants had left upon
+him. "Will you stand for that? I've been here two nights now
+without medical attention." "How about that, Alfarez?"
+
+The commandant shrugged his shoulders. "If he require a doctor,
+one shall be secure', but he is not severely injure.' I 'ave
+explain the frightful indignity to the honor of my person, yes? As
+for me, pooh! It is forget." He waved his hand gracefully and
+smiled sweetly upon his fat visitor. "It does not exist. But the
+brave soldiers of mine! Ah! Senor Wick, they lofe me, they cannot
+forget the honor of el comandante. So! When the prisoner is decide
+to insurrect, who can say those gallant soldier don' be too
+strong? Who can blame for making roff-'ouse?"
+
+"I guess you ain't hurt much," said Weeks, eying his countryman
+coldly. "You didn't get any more than was coming to you."
+
+"I won't stand for this," cried the prisoner, hotly. "The English
+consul got that nigger boy out, and I want you to do the same for
+me."
+
+"You don't understand. I've got business interests in this
+country, and I can't dash about creating international issues
+every time an American gets locked up for disorderly conduct. How
+long do you think I'd last with these people if I did that?"
+
+"Are you really afraid to do anything?" Kirk inquired, slowly. "Or
+is it because of our row?"
+
+"Oh, there's nothing personal about it! I can't afford personal
+feelings in my position. Really, I don't see where you're so much
+abused. You assaulted a government officer and resisted arrest. If
+you got hurt it's your own fault. Of course I'll see that you have
+a fair trial."
+
+The commandant spoke up with ingratiating politeness: "The
+prisoner say he is reech man's son. Now, of course, it is too bad
+he is injure' wit' the clob of the policeman; but those officer is
+ver' polite, senor, and if he is explain biffore--"
+
+Weeks snorted indignantly. "He gave you that fairy tale, eh? He
+said his name was Anthony and his father was a railroad president,
+didn't he? Well, he imposed on me, too, but his name is Locke,
+and, as near as I can learn, he practically stowed away on the
+SANTA CRUZ."
+
+"Ah-h!" The officer's eyes widened as he turned them upon his
+prisoner. "He is then a w'at you call tramp."
+
+"All I know is, he stuck me for a lot of bills. I'll have to see
+that he gets fair treatment, I suppose, because he's an American,
+but that ends my duty."
+
+"Is this the best you'll do for me?" Kirk inquired, as Weeks made
+ready to go.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Will you tell some of the men at the Wayfarers that I'm here?"
+
+"Oh, that won't do any good. You're in for it, Locke, so don't
+holler. I'll be on hand at your hearing."
+
+"Will you cable my father?"
+
+"At twenty-five cents a word? Hardly!" The speaker mopped his
+face, exclaiming: "There's no use of talking, I've got to get out
+in the air; it's too hot in here for me." Then he waddled out
+ahead of Senor Alfarez, who slammed the door behind him as he
+followed to escort his caller to the street.
+
+But a half-hour later the commandant returned to the cell, and
+this time he brought with him a number of his little policemen,
+each armed with a club. Feeling some menace in their coming, Kirk,
+who had seated himself dejectedly, arose to ask: "What's coming
+off?"
+
+Alfarez merely issued some directions in Spanish, and chain
+handcuffs were once more snapped upon the prisoner's wrists.
+
+"So! you're going to hold my trial, eh?" cried Kirk.
+
+But the other snarled: "Senor Locke, you 'ave force' the water of
+the 'ose-wagon upon my body for making the people laugh. Bueno!
+Now I shall laugh." He seated himself, then nodded at his men to
+begin.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+SPANISH LAW
+
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt answered her telephone for the second time,
+repeating with some impatience: "Tell the man I can't see him."
+
+"But he refuses to leave--says he must see you at once; it's
+important," came the voice of the clerk.
+
+"Oh, very well. I'll come down." She hung up the receiver with a
+snap.
+
+"Why don't they send him up?" queried her husband from the
+sitting-room.
+
+"It's a negro, and the clerk says he'd rather not allow him up-
+stairs. Another sick family, I suppose."
+
+"They're beginning to impose on you. It's usually that way with
+charities," said Cortlandt.
+
+With unfeminine neglect of the chance for petty discussion, his
+wife left the room without replying, and descended to the hotel
+lobby. Here she was directed toward a very ragged, very woe-begone
+young black on the rear porch, who, at sight of her, began to
+fumble his hat and run his words together so excitedly that she
+was forced to calm him.
+
+"Now, now! I can't understand a word. Who are you?"
+
+"H'Allan, mistress."
+
+"You say some one is ill?"
+
+"Oh yes, he is very h'ill h'indeed, mistress--h'all covered with
+blood and his poor 'ands h'all cut."
+
+"Who--?"
+
+"And his 'ead--oh, Lard! His 'ead is cut, too, and he suffers a
+fever."
+
+"WHO IS IT?"
+
+"Mr. h'Auntony--"
+
+"Anthony!" Mrs. Cortlandt started. "What has happened? Quick!"
+
+Seeing that at last he had found a friend, the Jamaican began to
+sob with relief, wailing extravagant praises to God and apparently
+endeavoring to kiss Mrs. Cortlandt's hand, whereat she seized him
+by the shoulders and shook him, crying:
+
+"Stop that! Behave yourself and tell me what is the trouble,
+quickly now, from the beginning."
+
+Without drying his tears, Allan launched himself into the full
+violence of his recital, stumbling recklessly over his figures of
+speech, lapsing into idioms that it taxed his hearer to follow.
+Had she been less acquainted with the Caribbean dialects she would
+have missed much of the story, but, as it was, she followed him
+closely, urging him on with sharp expressions of amazement and
+nods of understanding. Rapidly she gathered the facts of the case,
+while her cheeks whitened and her eyes grew dark with indignation.
+The sight renewed Allan's emotion. His voice broke, his black
+hands shook, he began to sob once more, and great tears stole down
+his ebony cheeks. But he managed to answer her terse, shocked
+questions with some degree of intelligence, calling upon his vivid
+imagination for such details as his memory had lost.
+
+"I wait an' wait for him to h'emerge, but he does not come.
+Perhaps they 'ave killed the poor mon once more."
+
+"How did you get here?"
+
+"With my feet, mistress. Sometimes rode I on the train, but the
+train people are very common; they h'addressed me rudely and threw
+me by the wayside."
+
+"Couldn't you telephone?"
+
+"I do not h'understand 'ow."
+
+"Why didn't he notify me at once? If I had only known--"
+
+"Those 'eartless Spiggoties would not h'allow it. Oh, you will
+h'assist the poor mon! Say it. Praise be to God, he is bleeding in
+the prison--"
+
+"Yes, yes, certainly."
+
+Allan reached clumsily this time to kiss the hem of her skirt, but
+she stepped aside quickly, fumbling meanwhile in her purse for a
+bank-note, while he exclaimed:
+
+"God bless you, good mistress. He told me to find you and present
+his recital."
+
+"Here, take this money and go back to Colon by the first train. We
+may need you. Now go! I'll be there ahead of you."
+
+She picked up her white skirts and ran up the hotel stairs as if
+pursued, bursting in upon her husband so impetuously that he rose
+in surprise, inquiring:
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Young Anthony is in jail in Colon," she panted. "He's been locked
+up for three days, and they won't let him out."
+
+"The devil! You said he'd gone back to New York. What is it
+about?"
+
+"I thought he had. They arrested him for some silly thing, and
+he's hurt." She hurriedly recounted Allan's story, adding, in
+conclusion, "That black boy came all the way across the Isthmus to
+tell us!"
+
+"I'll get the American consul by 'phone--"
+
+But Mrs. Cortlandt interrupted. "Weeks is a fool! He wouldn't do
+anything. Wait!" She stepped to the instrument and rang violently.
+"Give me Colonel Jolson's office, quickly. If he is not there,
+find him. I don't care where he is, find him; it is important.
+This is Mrs. Cortlandt speaking.'
+
+"What do you mean to do?" said Cortlandt.
+
+"Go to Colon at once. This is young Alfarez's doing--the whipper-
+snapper--you must lay him out for this. How dare he!"
+
+"Better go carefully. Remember, General Alfarez is his father."
+
+"I understand. But we are bound to come to a breach sooner or
+later."
+
+"I hardly think so. I believe we can bring him around all right--
+anyhow, I haven't lost hope." Then, as his wife made an impatient
+gesture: "Well, if we precipitate a quarrel now, that will end
+it." He paced the room feverishly. "Good heavens, Edith! Anthony
+chose the worst possible time for this escapade. I suppose it will
+mean diplomatic difficulties and all that, and once we lose old
+Alfarez--"
+
+"We will lose him anyhow," snapped the woman. "I've seen it
+coming, although you could not. I'll break Ramon for this."
+
+"Then you'll break us." Cortlandt stared gloomily at his wife, who
+met his gaze squarely. "Do you think Anthony is worth it?"
+
+"My dear Stephen, they nearly killed that poor boy, and I sha'n't
+allow it. Don Anibal Alfarez is not the only presidential timber
+in the republic. If he breaks with us it will cost him dearly. You
+think he is friendly, but I know that deep down in his crafty old
+heart he despises all us Americans and is only waiting a chance to
+gratify his spleen. The moment he dares, he'll turn against us."
+
+Cortlandt's frosty countenance showed signs of unusual agitation
+as he answered: "You're mad! You threaten to ruin everything. You
+understand perfectly--there's no use of my explaining. Let me call
+on him this afternoon. He will instruct his son."
+
+"No! He would procrastinate, as usual. There would be the
+customary delays and excuses, and meanwhile Anthony would be in
+jail at Colon. They would have a defence all prepared. Besides, if
+it's to be a fight we must have all the weapons possible--and this
+affair may prove a good one. Anyhow, you mustn't ask a favor of
+him at this time; he must ask, not you."
+
+The telephone rang, and the speaker snatched the receiver from its
+hook.
+
+"Hello! Colonel Jolson, I'm very glad I caught you. This is Mrs.
+Cortlandt. Colonel Jolson, young Ramon Alfarez has arrested Kirk
+Anthony, of whom I spoke to you. They have maltreated him, as
+usual, and have hidden him for three days. Yes, yes! I discovered
+it quite by accident while Mr. Cortlandt was down-town. Oh, this
+is serious, and I'm furious. ... That will do no good; I have
+reasons for preferring to handle it myself. ... Thank you for the
+compliment. We must go to Colon at once, and I thought you might
+give us a special." There was a slight pause, then: "Good! That
+will do quite as well. In fifteen minutes. Thank you. Good-bye."
+
+Turning to her husband, she explained, swiftly: "The Colonel's
+automobile will be waiting at the station in fifteen minutes. Are
+you ready?"
+
+"I think you are going about this in the wrong way," he said,
+coldly. "When will you learn--?" She checked her crisp words at
+the flush that leaped to his cheeks. "I beg your pardon, Stephen.
+Please do as Colonel Jolson has done and trust me to manage this
+affair."
+
+He bowed and left her, saying, "I will have a coach waiting at the
+door."
+
+Fifteen minutes later a gasoline railroad motor-car with two
+passengers in addition to its driver and flagman rolled out of the
+yards at Panama City and took the main line, running under orders
+like a special train. As it clanked over the switches with ever-
+increasing speed, Mrs. Cortlandt leaned forward and spoke to the
+driver.
+
+"We will have a clear track, and you may go as fast as you like."
+
+The next moment the machine was reeling drunkenly around curves
+and a fifty-mile gale was roaring past.
+
+Senor Ramen Alfarez was considerably nonplussed when his two
+distinguished visitors made known the nature of their errand.
+Cortlandt did most of the talking, his cold hauteur serving a good
+purpose and contrasting strongly with the suppressed excitement of
+his wife.
+
+"Pardon me, there is no necessity for delay," he said, as the
+commandant endeavored to formulate an excuse. "I trust I need not
+insist upon seeing the prisoner?" He raised his brows with a stare
+of inquiry that caused the other to reply, hastily:
+
+"Of a certainty not, senor."
+
+"Then take us to him."
+
+"I will spare your lady the painful sight of the prison-house. The
+prisoner shall be fetch' with all despatch."
+
+"We will see him alone."
+
+Again the commandant hesitated, while his bright eyes searched
+their faces with a sudden uneasy curiosity. "I am fear soch t'ing
+is not permit'."
+
+"Nonsense!" exclaimed Mrs. Cortlandt, unable longer to restrain
+herself. "We know the law quite as well or perhaps better than
+you, Senor Alfarez. If you wish, Mr. Cortlandt will get permission
+from the President. You have a telephone?"
+
+"Oh, soch is farthes' remove' from my thoughts," quickly
+interposed the commandant, with his most graceful bow. "If it is
+in my power to oblige, w'at matter the law? Pouf! W'at I mean is
+this: Our prisoner is not what you call seeck, nor is he ver'
+well. He is resis' the officer by force an' he is injure'--oh, but
+only a leetle--it is not'ing. One is truly foolish for resis' the
+policemans, yes?" He shook his dark head sadly. "I am desolate to
+'ear of soch t'ing; it is so useless to stroggle wit' the officer
+in disbursement of duty; but you Americans are so brave! I am
+force' to admire this prisoner; he is soch a strong fellow."
+
+"I think we understand the circumstances."
+
+Instead of ringing for an orderly the commandant excused himself,
+then, after a seemingly interminable delay returned with Anthony
+and several policemen.
+
+At sight of his friends the young man made for them eagerly,
+crying: "Jove, I'm glad you came! I'd about given you up."
+
+"Allan only found us to-day," Mrs. Cortlandt replied.
+
+"Did he tell the truth? Have you been abused?"
+
+The young man turned a pair of smouldering eyes upon his enemies.
+He looked ill and haggard, although, except for the wound half
+concealed beneath his hair, he showed no marks. Then he held out
+his hands with a grim smile, and the woman uttered a low cry at
+what she saw. "They gave me another good beating yesterday," he
+said.
+
+"While you were in jail?" Cortlandt queried, incredulously. "God!"
+
+"That's the fellow yonder." Kirk pointed to Alfarez, whose smile
+had disappeared.
+
+"Oh, the man is mistake'," the latter hastened to aver. "He is
+crazee."
+
+"I gave you a wetting in public, and--"
+
+"Si, si! That is correc', Senor Cortlan'. He insolt my person an'
+fight my soldiers. He is ver' toff person."
+
+"Did you know he had been maltreated in prison?" Cortlandt
+demanded.
+
+"Oh, senor!" Alfarez raised his hands in horrified disclaimer of
+the very thought, but his victim said, quietly:
+
+"He's a liar. He ordered it, then sat there and enjoyed it."
+
+The Panamanian's face was yellow as he managed to enunciate:
+
+"Eempossible! It is terrible to conceive!"
+
+Kirk made a threatening movement in the Spaniard's direction,
+despite the half-dozen soldiers, but Edith Cortlandt checked him.
+
+"Wait, please," she said. Then to the commandant: "This is a
+serious matter, and if what he says is true, your government will
+find itself in trouble."
+
+"But we 'ave no idea he is frien' of yours. If he should only spik
+your 'osban's name, all would be different. For my part, I can
+prove he is treat' with the 'ighes' courtesy an' kindness in my
+presence. Every man in the prison will testify to those fac'. If
+soch indignity 'ave be' shown, there shall be investigations." The
+unhappy officer's excitement was increasing, and he turned upon
+his men as if to make good his word, when Cortlandt interposed:
+
+"Why did you keep him locked up so long? Why didn't you try him?"
+
+"Ah! For that I shall inquire also. I shall conduct investigations
+in that respect as well. I am inform', 'owever, that the w'at you
+call jodge is seeck."
+
+"We'll look into that later. We're here now to arrange for Mr.
+Anthony's release."
+
+"The alcalde will be please' to accommodate at the earlies'. I
+myself shall see to it. To-morrow--"
+
+"There will be no to-morrow about it," Mrs. Cortlandt exclaimed,
+positively. "If you cannot arrange the bail yourself, my husband
+will take up the matter with the Zone Government, and Colonel
+Jolson will call upon the President of the republic within an
+hour. He is waiting word from us now."
+
+Senor Ramon Alfarez became suddenly galvanized. He broke into
+effusive apologies for even so small a delay as had already
+occurred. He had not understood the matter to be so urgent, it
+seemed; but the wishes of his distinguished guests were his law,
+and perhaps he might hasten the wheels of progress if he tried.
+While, to be sure, no power was vested in him, and his willing
+hands were most miserably tied, nevertheless he would so far
+exceed his authority as to promise instant freedom to the
+prisoner. There were, of course, certain details to be observed,
+the necessity of which filled him with unspeakable regret; but if
+he might be excused--He hastened forth to set in motion the proper
+machinery, and while he was absent Kirk told his story. It left
+the woman white-lipped and incoherent, and roused even the icy
+Cortlandt to genuine wrath.
+
+"Of course," the latter said, "Alfarez will prove by his men that
+it's all imagination on your part, and that your injuries were
+sustained at the time of your arrest. He'll assume a righteous
+indignation and start a Spiggoty investigation. You see, his
+father is the Governor of Panama Province and one of the strongest
+men in the republic, so Ramon will probably make good his
+position. Even so, you may recover damages."
+
+"I don't want damages," Kirk replied. "I want to get that Dago out
+alone some time."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, don't think of it!" Mrs. Cortlandt exclaimed.
+"All the American influence on the Isthmus wouldn't help you then.
+Fifty men would perjure themselves to convict you, and if you
+succeeded in getting our government to interfere in time, Ramen
+has fifty other men who would lie to any extent to injure an
+American."
+
+"No. That method doesn't work here," her husband agreed. "You're
+lucky to escape so easily. He will arrange bail, never fear, and
+you will probably not come to trial. I doubt if you will ever hear
+anything more of the matter, provided you keep from further
+trouble. He'll never forgive you, of course, but that won't matter
+to you."
+
+The first part of Mr. Cortlandt's prediction was soon proved true,
+for the sick alcalde recovered sufficiently to appear on the scene
+within half an hour. Then, after much signing of official
+documents and certain other formalities, Kirk Anthony walked out
+of the Colon jail in company with his friends.
+
+Allan was waiting at a safe distance from the municipal building,
+and on seeing his late companion at large he broke into the
+wildest rejoicing. He conjured a flow of tears, he fondled Kirk's
+hand in his own, he laughed, he sobbed, he sang.
+
+"Praise be to God!" he cried, loudly. "Free mon you, Master
+h'Auntony. Glory, glory! My soul was in 'ell, sar. On my knees I
+h'implored that fa-ast wretch to release you."
+
+His emotion appeared so genuine, his service had been so great,
+that the object of his adoration felt himself choke up. Of all the
+people Kirk had met since leaving home, this one had most occasion
+to blame him; yet the boy was in perfect transports of delight at
+his delivery.
+
+"Don't carry on so," Kirk laughed, awkwardly.
+
+"Oh, boss, I feared they would h'assassinate you again."
+
+Anthony nodded grimly. "They did."
+
+"Oh, oh!" Allan gave himself over to a shrill frenzy and shook his
+clenched fists at the jail in a splendidly tragic attitude.
+"Wretches! Murderers! 'Ell-ca-ats!"
+
+"Sh-h! Don't make a scene on the street," Mrs. Cortlandt
+cautioned. But the Jamaican would not allow the fine effect of his
+rage to be lost. He clashed his white teeth, he rolled his eyes
+fearfully, and twisted his black features into the wildest
+expressions of ferocity, crying:
+
+"H'Allan will best them for that! Let 'im tear h'out their 'earts
+by his fingers. So!" He made an eloquent gesture. "Blood! Blood!"
+
+"Not so loud. A little pianissimo on the blood," smiled Kirk.
+
+"H'Allan would die and kill himself for you," the excited negro
+ran on in an excess of loyalty. "Master h'Auntony fought those
+wretches for I; I shall fight them for he."
+
+When he had finally been prevailed upon to exchange his martial
+threats for a fresh paean of rejoicing, he fell in behind,
+declaring firmly that he intended to follow his new-found hero
+wherever he might go, though the course laid were straight for
+those infernal regions that played so large a part in his fancy.
+
+In the midst of Kirk's expressions of gratitude for the timely
+intercession of Cortlandt and his wife, the former surprised him
+by saying, in a genuinely hearty tone:
+
+"My wife has told me all about you, Anthony, and I want you to
+come over to Panama as my guest until you hear from your father."
+
+When Kirk informed him of the cablegram that had cast him adrift
+in Panama, leading indirectly to his entanglement with the dignity
+of Ramon Alfarez and the Spanish law, Cortlandt replied,
+reassuringly:
+
+"Oh, well, your father doesn't understand the facts in the case,
+that's all. You sit down like a sensible person and write him
+fully. It will be a great pleasure for us to have you at the
+Tivoli in the mean time."
+
+Seeing a warm second to this invitation in Mrs. Cortlandt's eyes,
+Kirk accepted gracefully, explaining: "You know this is the first
+time I was ever up against hard luck, and I don't know just how to
+act."
+
+"We've missed the four-thirty-five, so we will have to return the
+way we came," said Cortlandt. "I'd like to stop at Gatun on a
+business matter of some importance, and if you don't mind a half-
+hour's delay, we'll do so."
+
+Kirk expressed entire acquiescence in any plans that suited the
+convenience of his rescuers, and the three pursued their way to
+the station. But here an unexpected embarrassment arose. As they
+made ready to board Colonel Jolson's motor-car, they were annoyed
+to find that Allan insisted on going, too. He insisted, moreover,
+in such extravagant fashion that Mrs. Cortlandt at last was moved
+to say: "For Heaven's sake, let the poor thing come along." And
+thereafter the Jamaican boy sat on the step of the machine, his
+hat in hand, his eyes rolled worshipfully upon the person of his
+hero, his shining face ever ready to break into a grin at a glance
+from Kirk.
+
+Once more the little automobile took on the dignity of a regular
+train and sped out of the network of tracks behind Colon. As it
+gained speed Mrs. Cortlandt, to divert her guest's mind from his
+recent ordeal, began to explain the points of interest as they
+passed. She showed him the old French workings where a nation's
+hopes lay buried, the mechanical ruins that had cost a king's
+ransom, the Mount Hope Cemetery, whither daily trains had borne
+the sacrifice before science had robbed the fever of its terrors.
+She told him, also, something of the railroad's history, how it
+had been built to bridge the gap in the route to the Golden West,
+the manifold difficulties overcome in its construction, and the
+stupendous profits it had made. Having the blood of a railroad-
+builder in his veins, Anthony could not but feel the interest of
+all this, though it failed to take his attention wholly from the
+wonders of the landscape that slipped by on either side. It was
+his first glimpse of tropic vegetation, and he used his eyes to
+good advantage, while he listened politely to his informant.
+
+The matted thickets, interlaced with vine and creeper, were all
+ablaze with blossoms, for this was the wet season, in which nature
+runs riot. Great trees of strange character rose out of the
+tangle, their branches looped with giant cables and burdened with
+flowering orchids or half hidden beneath other parasites. On every
+hand a vegetable warfare was in progress--a struggle for existence
+in which the strong overbore the weak--and every trunk was
+distorted by the scars of the battle. Birds of bright plumage
+flashed in the glades, giant five-foot lizards scuttled away into
+the marshes or stared down from the overhanging branches. A vivid
+odor of growing, blooming herbage reached the nostrils.
+
+Just as Kirk had made up his mind that he could sit and watch this
+brilliant panorama forever, the jungle suddenly fell away, and the
+car sped up through low, grass-clad hills into a scattered city
+flung against the side of a wide valley. There was no sign here of
+Latin America; this was Yankeeland through and through. The
+houses, hundreds upon hundreds of them, were of the typical Canal
+Zone architecture, double-galleried and screened from foundation
+to eaves, and they rambled over the undulating pasture land in a
+magnificent disregard of distance. Smooth macadam roads wound back
+and forth, over which government wagons rolled, drawn by sleek
+army mules; flower gardens blazed forth in gorgeous colors; women
+and children, all clean and white and American, were sitting upon
+the porches or playing in the yards. Everywhere was a military
+neatness; the town was like the officers' quarters of a fort, the
+whole place spick and span and neatly groomed.
+
+Colon had been surprisingly clean, but it was an unnatural
+cleanliness, as if the municipality had been scrubbed against its
+will. Gatun was to the manner born.
+
+"Yonder are the locks." Cortlandt pointed to the west, and Kirk
+saw below him an impressive array of pyramidal steel towers, from
+the pinnacles of which stretched a spider's web of cables. Beneath
+this, he had a glimpse of some great activity, but his view was
+quickly cut off as the motor-car rumbled into a modern railway
+station.
+
+"I'd like to have a. look at what's going on over yonder," he
+said.
+
+"You will have time," Cortlandt answered. "Edith will show you
+about while I run in on Colonel Bland."
+
+Out through the station-shed Kirk's hostess led him, then across a
+level sward, pausing at length upon the brink of a mighty chasm.
+It took him a moment to grasp the sheer magnitude of the thing;
+then he broke into his first real expression of wonder:
+
+"Why, I had no idea--Really, this is tremendous."
+
+At his feet the earth opened in a giant, man-made canon, running
+from the valley above, through the low ridge and out below. Within
+it an army was at work. Along the margins of the excavation ran
+steel tracks, upon which were mounted the movable towers he had
+seen from a distance. These tapering structures bore aloft long,
+tautly drawn wire cables, spanning the gorge and supporting great
+buckets which soared at regular intervals back and forth, bearing
+concrete for the work below. Up and out of the depths tremendous
+walls were growing like the massive ramparts of a mediaeval city;
+tremendous steel forms, braced and trussed and reinforced to
+withstand the weight of the countless tons, stood in regular
+patterns. In the floor of the chasm were mysterious pits, black
+tunnel mouths, in and out of which men crept like ants. Far across
+on the opposite lip of the hill, little electric trains sped to
+and fro, apparently without the aid of human hands. Everywhere was
+a steady, feverish activity.
+
+From the commanding eminence where the sightseers stood the
+spectacle was awe-inspiring; for though the whole vast work lay
+spread out beneath them in what looked like a hopeless confusion,
+yet as their eyes followed it a great and magic system became
+manifest. The whole organism seemed animate with some slow,
+intricate intelligence. The metal skips careening across those
+dizzy heights regulated their courses to a hand's-breadth,
+deposited their burdens carefully, then hurried back for more; the
+shuttle trains that dodged about so feverishly, untended and
+unguided, performed each some vital function. The great
+conglomerate body was dead, yet it pulsated with a life of its
+own. Its effect of being governed by a single indwelling mind of
+superhuman capacity was overpowering.
+
+Kirk heard Mrs. Cortlandt explaining: "The ships will steam up
+from the sea through the dredged channel you see over yonder, then
+they will be raised to the level of the lake."
+
+"What lake?"
+
+"That valley"--she indicated the tropical plain between the hills,
+wherein floating dredges were at work--"will be an inland sea.
+Those forests will be under water."
+
+"Where is the Gatun dam I've heard so much about?"
+
+She pointed out a low, broad ridge or hog-back linking the hills
+together.
+
+"That is it. It doesn't look much like a dam, does it? But it is
+all hand-made. Those are rock trains out there, from Culebra."
+
+"Oh, now I understand. Gee whiz, but this job is a whopper! Say,
+this is great!" Mrs. Cortlandt smiled. "It does wake up your
+patriotism, doesn't it? I'm glad to have a hand in building it."
+
+"Are you helping to dig this canal?" Anthony regarded the woman
+curiously. She seemed very cool and well-dressed and independent
+for one engaged in actual work.
+
+"Of course! Even though I don't happen to run a steam-shovel."
+
+"Will they really finish it? Won't something happen?"
+
+"It is already dug. The rest is merely a matter of excavation and
+concrete. The engineering difficulties have all been solved, and
+the big human machine has been built up. What is more important,
+the country is livable at last. Over at Ancon Hospital there is a
+quiet, hard-working medical man who has made this thing possible.
+When the two oceans are joined together, and the job is finished,
+his will be the name most highly honored."
+
+"It must be nice to do something worth while," Anthony mused,
+vaguely.
+
+"To do anything," his companion observed, with a shade of meaning;
+then: "It is amusing to look back on the old Spanish statement
+that it would be impious to unite two oceans which the Creator of
+the world had separated."
+
+Noting that the sun was setting beyond the distant jungles and the
+canon at his feet was filling with shadows, Kirk remarked, "It
+must be nearly time they quit work."
+
+"This work doesn't stop. When it grows dark the whole place is lit
+by electricity, and the concrete continues to pour in just the
+same. It is wonderful then--like the mouth of a volcano. Batteries
+of search-lights play upon the men; the whole sky is like a
+furnace. You can see it for miles. Now I think we had better go
+back to the car."
+
+In spite of his bodily misery, that night ride impressed itself
+strongly upon Anthony's mind. The black mystery of the jungles,
+the half-suggested glimpses of river and hill, the towns that
+flashed past in an incandescent blaze and were buried again in the
+velvet blackness, the strange odors of a new land riotous in its
+time of growth, all combined to excite his curiosity and desire
+for closer knowledge. And then the crowning luxury of a bath,
+clean clothes, and a good meal on white linen and china! As he
+dropped asleep that night he reflected contentedly that, after
+all, things have a way of coming right in this world for those who
+accept them cheerfully as they come.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+A CHANGE OF PLAN
+
+
+On the following morning Kirk despatched a long letter to his
+father, explaining, as well as he could, how he came to be in
+Panama, and giving a detailed account of the events that had
+befallen him since his arrival. He would have preferred to cable
+this message collect, but Mrs. Cortlandt convinced him that he
+owed a fuller explanation than could well be sent over the wires.
+Although he took this means of relieving his father's anxiety, he
+was far from resigning himself to a further delay of his return.
+On the contrary, he at once began an inquiry as to sailing dates,
+discovering, to his intense disgust, that no ship was scheduled to
+leave for New York within several days. He planned to borrow the
+passage money from his friends, when the time came, and accompany
+his letter northward. Meanwhile he devoted his time to sight-
+seeing with his hostess.
+
+The city was old, there were many places of historic interest,
+and, although Kirk cared little for such things, he found it easy
+to assume the virtue he did not possess. Moreover, there was
+something contagious in his companion's enthusiasm. Almost against
+his will he felt his appreciation growing, as he listened to her
+casual comments on the scenes they visited. Her husband, who
+seemed busily engaged in work that barely allowed him time for his
+meals, seldom accompanied them on their excursions, and the two
+were thrown much into each other's society.
+
+Edith Cortlandt was a woman very sure of herself in most things. A
+situation that might have proved embarrassing to one less tactful
+she accepted quite as a matter of course, rather enjoying the
+exercise of her influence, and never doubting her power to keep
+the friendship on any footing she chose. Kirk's frank, boyish
+gratitude for the favors he had received made it easy for her to
+encourage the growth of an intimacy that she acknowledged
+charming, while she sincerely believed that he would be helped by
+it. Finding him responsive, she deliberately set herself to please
+him. She studied him covertly and set her moods to match his--not
+a difficult task, since he was merely a normal, healthy young man.
+Always faultless in her attire, she took even more than ordinary
+pains with her appearance, and it was not long before Kirk was
+naively surprised to find that she no longer seemed older than he
+--that she was, in fact, an exceedingly handsome woman. This
+gradual metamorphosis depended more than anything else, perhaps,
+upon the girlish humor that now possessed her. She was no longer
+brilliant and chilly, but gay, smiling, and unaffected.
+
+Daytimes, they rambled about the crooked streets, bargain-hunting
+in the Chinese shops, or drove beneath the stately royal palms of
+Ancon; evenings, they loitered about the cool verandas of the
+Tivoli or strolled down into the town to watch the crowds in the
+plazas. Once in a while Cortlandt went with them, but he was
+usually uncommunicative, and they scarcely felt his presence. On
+the few occasions when he gave himself rein, Kirk was compelled to
+feel for him a surprised and half-grudging respect. Unlike most
+silent men, when he did talk he talked easily and well.
+
+Several days passed thus, during which Anthony fully recovered
+from his experience at Colon. Then a ship arrived from New York,
+but before he had summoned courage to ask his friends for a loan
+he received, a letter forwarded from Colon by the American consul,
+a perusal of which not only dumfounded him, but entirely altered
+his plans.
+
+It was typewritten, on plain stationery; there was neither heading
+nor signature, yet he knew quite well from whom it came. It read
+as follows:
+
+     Don't cable again, or the stupidity of the police may fail to
+     protect you. The others got away safely and you would be mad
+     to return alone. I can't and won't help you now. This time
+     you went too far. You have made your bed, now lie in it. I
+     don't believe in miracles, but if you can straighten up and
+     make a man of yourself, I'll help you face this trouble;
+     otherwise don't call on me for anything. I'm through.
+
+Kirk reread this amazing epistle several times before its full
+significance struck him; then, when he realized what it meant, he
+felt himself break into a sweat of apprehension. That plain-
+clothes man had died! The police were looking for him. There could
+be no other explanation, else why had Higgins and the rest fled
+the country? Why had his father been so cautious in communicating
+with him? If it came to a trial, undoubtedly a jury would find him
+equally guilty with Higgins, for he had held the poor fellow's
+hands; it was he who had engineered the whole episode. Perhaps he
+was already indicted. Kirk saw himself accused of manslaughter,
+arrested, and tried. What could he do if his father refused to
+help? With money, almost anything could be achieved; without it,
+and particularly without his father's influence, what would
+happen? Evidently the Governor believed him guilty. In that case
+the young man knew that explanations would be futile. Even the
+letter he had sent would do no good. When Darwin K. Anthony said
+he was through, he was through.
+
+Finding a secluded corner of the veranda, he sat down to think
+this matter out; but the more he reflected on it the more serious
+it appeared. Of one thing he became quickly convinced: New York at
+present was no place for him. A moment ago it seemed far away and
+extremely desirable, now it was altogether too close at hand and
+most undesirable. His father's reference to the stupidity of the
+police persuaded him finally that his whereabouts were unknown,
+but how long they would remain so was of course a question. It was
+useless to attempt further concealment. In the first place, he
+lacked means of moving, nor could he conceal his identity under an
+assumed name while he remained in Panama, for he had already
+advertised himself too well for that. Besides, the idea of hiding
+did not appeal to him. He decided to face it out, therefore,
+hoping sometime to get to the bottom of the affair. If he were
+arrested meanwhile, he would have to locate Ringold or Higgins, or
+some of the others, and prove that he had not run away from
+punishment. It would be difficult to verify the extravagant story
+of his kidnapping, of course, but--there was nothing else to do.
+He rose quickly and entered the hotel, where he bought all the
+latest New York papers. It was not long before he found the thing
+he was seeking. There it was, a story headed:
+
+     SALOON-KEEPER TO LOSE LICENSE
+
+     OWNER OF NOTORIOUS AUSTRIAN VILLAGE IN TROUBLE
+
+There followed an account of Mr. Padden's efforts to disprove his
+connection with an assault upon the person of a detective named
+Williams, who had come from St. Louis; but nowhere was there a
+word about the present condition of the plain-clothes man, nor the
+slightest hint toward explaining the conduct of the mysterious
+Jefferson Locke for whom he had been searching. Who the devil was
+Locke, anyhow? The article did not even state the charge upon
+which he was to be arrested. In another paper Kirk found something
+that relieved his mind a bit: evidently Williams had not died
+prior to the time of going to press, although he was reported in a
+critical condition. Kirk was interested to read that the police
+had a clew to the identity of the criminals and were confident of
+soon rounding them up. What mystified him most was the lack of
+detail. Evidently much had been printed previously, but he had no
+means of ascertaining what it was.
+
+He spent an hour in serious thought, perhaps the first full hour
+he had ever passed so profitably. At the end of that time he had
+arrived at little save a vague feeling of offence toward the
+father who had been so ready to condemn him. In one way he did not
+blame the old gentleman for refusing aid. This episode was the
+culmination of a long series of reckless exploits. Mr. Anthony had
+argued, threatened, even implored with tears in his eyes, all to
+no purpose. Just the same, it hurt to have one's father so willing
+to believe the worst. The two had never understood each other;
+they did not understand each other now. And they might have been
+such good pals! Darwin K. did not believe in miracles--Well,
+perhaps Kirk was hopelessly bad. The young man did not care much,
+one way or the other; but he shut his teeth grimly and wagered he
+could make good if he really chose to try. He half decided to make
+the experiment just to show what he could do, but he was at a loss
+where to begin. Anybody could be successful who really wanted to--
+every book said that; the hard part was to get started.
+
+One thing was clear, at least: he could stay here no longer as the
+Cortlandts' guest--he had already incurred an obligation which he
+would have difficulty in discharging. Yet how could he explain his
+change of front? Mrs. Cortlandt, he felt sure, would understand
+and come to his assistance with good advice, but he shrank
+instinctively from laying the facts before her husband. It was a
+deuced unpleasant necessity, and he detested unpleasant
+necessities--necessities of any sort, in fact. Still, there was
+nothing else for it, so, conquering his sense of humiliation as
+best he could, he called up the Cortlandts' suite.
+
+Edith answered, saying that her husband was out; then, in response
+to his request, she came down herself.
+
+"What has gone wrong? Why this face of tragedy?" she inquired, as
+she seated herself beside him.
+
+"I've received my Declaration of Independence. I've heard from my
+dad."
+
+A look of quick understanding drove away the smile she had brought
+him, and her manner was one of grave sympathy as she took the
+letter he handed her.
+
+She was clad in a crisp morning gown he had never seen, and he
+thought it became her extremely well. She looked very cool, very
+fresh, very much the fine lady. All in all, she seemed a person
+whose friendly interest might compensate for many woes.
+
+"Well!" she remarked. "You do seem to be in trouble. What does it
+mean?"
+
+Kirk told her everything without reserve, then showed her the
+newspapers in his hand. She scrutinized them with a quiet
+seriousness that seemed to make his trouble her own. "After all,"
+she said at last, "if worse comes to worst, you can prove your
+innocence."
+
+"I'm not so sure."
+
+"Nonsense! Those boys can be found. What puzzles me is that Locke
+person. Who is he? Why was he followed? What has become of him?"
+
+"I wish I knew."
+
+"I can have inquiries made, but it will take time. Meanwhile, it
+seems you are safe, so the one important fact for the moment is
+that you are cast off." Turning her bright eyes upon him, she
+inquired, "How does it feel to be disinherited?"
+
+"Blamed uncomfortable! I must tell Mr. Cortlandt at once."
+
+"Let me," she offered, quickly. "I would not show any one that
+letter, if I were you, nor advertise the fact that you are in
+danger of arrest. It will be quite enough if I tell him that you
+have quarrelled with your father--he is a peculiar man."
+
+Kirk signified his agreement.
+
+"Now what do you intend doing?" she asked him.
+
+"I'm going to work."
+
+"Good! Good!" She clapped her hands gleefully.
+
+"Oh, I don't WANT to," he protested, "but the old gentleman thinks
+I'm no good, and I'd like to show him he's wrong. After I've done
+that, I intend to loaf again--yes, and I'll know how to loaf by
+that time. Of course, I'll have to pay my debts, too."
+
+"Poor Mr. Weeks!"
+
+"Why poor?"
+
+"He is terribly agitated to learn that we came to your rescue. He
+knows now that he really entertained an angel unaware, and his
+grief of soul is comical."
+
+"Weeks isn't such a bad sort."
+
+But her eyes showed a sudden flash of anger as she returned: "He
+deserves to be forced out of the service."
+
+"That wouldn't do any good. His successor might be worse."
+
+"Haven't you any resentment? I dislike placid people!"
+
+"Plenty! If I get a crack at Alfarez---"
+
+"Now don't allow your mind to dwell on that," she cautioned. "I
+think he is riding to a fall, as it is. What do you want to do?"
+
+"Anything. I'm going to hunt a job this afternoon."
+
+"What sort?"
+
+"Something with big pay and no responsibility."
+
+"Those positions are taken--by the army," she laughed. "What can
+you do?"
+
+"I can take an automobile apart."
+
+"And put it together again?"
+
+"Oh no! I can sail a boat; I shoot pretty well; I waltz nicely; I
+row, swim, and box indifferently; and I play an atrocious hand at
+poker."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt nodded gravely. "You are also good company, you
+dress well, and you are an ornament to any hotel porch."
+
+"Naturally, I refrained from mentioning those things, but, in
+addition, I smoke, drink, and swear. I am unsteady in my habits,
+and require a great deal of sleep. I think that completes the
+inventory."
+
+"Of course, you will live beyond your salary?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"Seriously, now, don't you really---?"
+
+"Go ahead. Say it! Don't I know anything? No. I am too highly
+educated. You see, I took the full college course."
+
+She drew her sharply pencilled brows together and pursed her lips
+in meditation, regarding him meanwhile with a, look that was not
+all disapproval.
+
+"Am I hopeless?" he inquired at length.
+
+"Dear, no! Experience is a good thing, of course, and ability is
+even better, but neither is absolutely necessary in government
+work."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+"Provided---"
+
+"What?"
+
+"--You have influence. I was merely trying to think of the niche
+into which you would best fit."
+
+"When a fellow hasn't any of those qualifications, then what? Take
+me, for instance."
+
+"You have at least one."
+
+"Which one?"
+
+"Influence."
+
+He shook his head. "My father wouldn't help."
+
+"We'll have no difficulty in finding you a position."
+
+"Jove! That's good news." He beamed at her with gratified
+surprise. "I had an idea I'd be going from door to door."
+
+"How ridiculous! This is a government job; therefore it is
+saturated with politics. There are a great many good men on it,
+but there are also a large number of 'somebody's relatives.' Do
+you understand? Anything is possible here for a man with
+influence. If he has ability with it, he can go to the top. If he
+lacks ability--well, even then he can go to the top--it depends
+entirely upon the influence."
+
+"But I haven't any--" Kirk began. Then, catching her look, he
+exclaimed: "Oh, say! WILL you help me? Really? That's too good to
+be true."
+
+He shook her hand warmly, that being the natural outlet for his
+gratitude, and she smiled at him. "I wonder where I'd better start
+in," he said.
+
+"There's not the slightest choice. All paths lead up the mountain,
+and if you go far enough you will reach the top. It would be quite
+easy if you knew something about the railroad business, for
+instance."
+
+"Oh, I do. I've had that drilled into me ever since I was a child.
+I grew up with it--was soaked in it. My father made me learn
+telegraphy before he gave me a motor-boat."
+
+"Why in the world didn't you say so?"
+
+"Well, I have forgotten most of it," he confessed. "I had a
+railroad of my own, too, when I was twelve years old. I was
+president."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"I suppose it was in my blood. We kids stole the lumber for a
+track, and I got a hand-car from dad. We formed a close
+corporation, and, when another boy wanted to join, we made him go
+forth and steal enough boards to extend the line. We finally had
+nearly two miles, altogether, with switches, sidings, yards, and
+everything; then the fences in that neighborhood gave out. It was
+a gravity road--yes, there was extreme gravity in every
+department--we'd push the car up and ride down. We had a telephone
+system and semaphores, and ran on orders just like a real train.
+Grown people heard about it, and paid us five cents a ride, so we
+began to declare dividends every Saturday. Oh, it was a great
+success. We had a complete organization, too; president,
+directors, conductors, section-hands--the section-hands did all
+the work and rode between times."
+
+"What happened to it?"
+
+"One day we ran into a cow and broke the vice-president's leg. The
+board of directors also had his ear cut, and the indignant
+neighbors began to reclaim their fences. We lost a mile of track
+in one afternoon, and father decided it would be better for me to
+go to boarding-school. It was safer."
+
+"I'll warrant you learned the rudiments of railroading, just the
+same."
+
+"I learned everything," Kirk announced, decisively.
+
+"Unfortunately, the P.R.R. has a president, so we can't start you
+in where you left off."
+
+"He might need an assistant."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt laughed lightly. "While we are finding that out,"
+she said, "I think you had better go over the line in daylight and
+really see what this work is like. That glimpse you had at Gatun
+is only a small part. Now, will you trust me to manage this for
+you, Mr. Anthony?"
+
+"I should say I would, and I can't begin to tell you--"
+
+"Oh, it's nothing." She rose to put her plans promptly into
+operation, this time extending her hands with the words: "Let me
+congratulate you. I really believe you are waking up, and without
+the woman's aid."
+
+"But the woman is aiding me," he replied, warmly. "She's doing it
+all. You have started me moving, and I'll never be able to thank
+you." Then, as her eyes flashed to his with a look he had never
+seen before, he added: "Understand, though, I am going to work
+only because I must. I detest it."
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT MRS. CORTLANDT
+
+
+Edith Cortlandt was not the sort to permit delay. At lunch she
+introduced Kirk to the Master of Transportation of the Panama
+Railroad, saying:
+
+"Mr. Runnels has offered to take you out through the Cut this
+afternoon, and explain the work to you."
+
+Runnels, a straight, well-set-up, serious young man, bent a
+searching look upon Kirk, as he said, "Mrs. Cortlandt tells me
+you're going to be one of us."
+
+"Yes."
+
+The Master of Transportation took in the applicant fully, then
+nodded his head as if pleased with his inspection.
+
+"That's good."
+
+Anthony was drawn to the speaker instantly, for there was no
+affectation about him. He was straightforward and open, little
+given to the kind of small talk that serves in so many cases to
+conceal character. He produced the effect of a busy and forceful
+man; one could feel energy radiating from him, and his voice had a
+ring of authority. Like every one down here who was doing
+something, he talked of little besides the Big Job, even when Mr.
+Cortlandt joined the trio. As the two younger men rose to leave,
+Edith playfully admonished him to teach his protege the entire
+detail of the railroad business and have him back in time for
+dinner, to which he agreed.
+
+"She's wonderful," he remarked a moment later, as he and Kirk
+descended the hotel steps together. "She told Colonel Jolson he'd
+just have to find you a position, and I have been delegated to
+show you about."
+
+"You don't say. I supposed there were plenty of openings."
+
+"Not good ones. However, she usually gets what she wants. If I'm
+not a good guide, you must put it down to inexperience."
+
+"The Cortlandts seem to have considerable influence for outsiders.
+I thought I'd have to begin at the bottom."
+
+Runnels glanced at his companion quickly.
+
+"Outsiders! You don't call them outsiders?"
+
+"I never quite figured out who they are. Funny, by-the-way, how
+everybody says 'they' in referring to them."
+
+"Oh, she's the whole team. Cortlandt's a nice fellow--but--Did you
+really think that she'd let you start at the bottom?"
+
+"Why, yes."
+
+"I guess you don't know her."
+
+"You're right; I do not."
+
+"Well, she knows everybody and everything in this country. She's
+the whole diplomatic service. Take the Colombian trouble, for
+instance--"
+
+"What trouble?"
+
+"When Panama seceded. She manipulated that, or at least Steve
+Cortlandt did under her direction. She was the brains of the whole
+affair, however, and those New York lawyers merely did what she
+told them. It was one of the cleverest exploits on record.
+Colombia wouldn't let us build the Canal, so Panama seceded. War
+was declared, but the United States interfered in time to prevent
+bloodshed. One Chinaman was killed, I believe, by dropping a flat-
+iron on his toe, or something, and by the time the excitement had
+died out we had begun digging. She knows Central America like the
+palm of her hand. When she says Kirk Anthony wants a position, we
+hirelings jump about and see that he gets it. Oh, you'll have any
+job you want."
+
+"Well!" The recipient of this good news congratulated himself
+silently. "I wish you'd tell me something more about her."
+
+"There isn't time just now; our motor is waiting. But we have the
+whole afternoon ahead of us."
+
+The two passed through the railroad gates and took their places in
+the little car. When they were under way, Runnels went on: "I'm
+supposed to show you this end of the work and tell you what it all
+means."
+
+"Then please start at the beginning. You see, I probably know less
+about it than anybody living."
+
+"Of course you know the general lay-out?"
+
+"I tell you I don't know a thing. There's no use four-flushing."
+
+Runnels smiled at this candor. "Well, the ditch will be about
+fifty miles long, and, roughly speaking, the work is in three
+parts--the dredging and harbor-building at sea-level on each end
+of the Canal, the lock-work, and the excavations on the upper
+levels. That dam you saw building at Gatun will form a lake about
+thirty miles long--quite a fish-pond, eh? When a west-bound ship
+arrives, for instance, it will be raised through the Gatun locks,
+three of them, and then sail along eighty-five feet above the
+ocean, across the lake and into a channel dug right through the
+hills, until it reaches the locks at Pedro Miguel. Then it will be
+lowered to a smaller lake five miles long, then down again to the
+level of the Pacific. An east-bound ship will reverse the process.
+Get the idea?"
+
+"Sure. It sounds easy."
+
+"Oh, it's simple enough. That's what makes it so big. We've been
+working at it five years, and it will take five years more to
+complete it. Before we began, the French had spent about twenty
+years on the job. Now a word, so you will have the general scheme
+of operation in your head. The whole thing is run by the Isthmian
+Canal Commission--six men, most of whom are at war with one
+another. There are really two railroad systems--the I. C. C.,
+built to haul dirt and rock and to handle materials in and out of
+the workings, and the Panama Railroad, which was built years ago
+during the California gold rush and bought by our government at
+the time of that terrible revolution I told you about. The latter
+is a regular system, hauls passengers and freight, but the two
+work together. You will start in with the P. R. R., Mr. Anthony,
+under my despotic sway."
+
+"I know a little about railroading."
+
+"So much the better. There's a big railroad man by your name in
+the States. Are you related?"
+
+"I believe so," Kirk answered, quietly. "Go ahead with the
+lesson."
+
+"The Canal Zone is a strip of land ten miles wide running across
+the Isthmus--really an American colony, you know, for we govern
+it, police it, and all that. As for the work itself, well, the
+fellows at the two ends of the Canal are dredging night and day to
+complete their part, the lock-builders are laying concrete like
+mad to get their share done first, the chaps in the big cut are
+boring through the hills like moles and breaking steam-shovel
+records every week, while we railroad men take care of the whole
+shooting-match. Of course, there are other departments--sanitary,
+engineering, commissary, and so forth--all doing their share; but
+that is the general scheme. Everybody is trying to break records.
+We don't think of anything except our own business. Each fellow
+believes the fate of the Canal depends upon him. We've lost
+interest in everything except this ditch, and while we realize
+that there is such a place as home, it has become merely a spot
+where we spend our vacations. They have wars and politics and
+theatres and divorces out there somewhere, but we don't care.
+We've lost step with the world, we've dropped out. When the
+newspapers come, the first thing we look for is the Panama news.
+We're obsessed by this job. Even the women and the children feel
+it--you'll feel it as soon as you become a cog in the machine.
+Polite conversation at dinner is limited to tons of rock and yards
+of concrete. Oh, but I'm tired of this concrete talk."
+
+"Try the abstract for a change."
+
+"It's interesting at first, then it gets tiresome. Lord! It's
+fierce."
+
+"The work, too?"
+
+"Everything! Every day you do the same thing; every day you see
+the same faces, hear the same talk; even the breeze blows from the
+same direction all the time, and the temperature stays at the same
+mark winter and summer. Every time you go out you see the same
+coach-drivers, the same Spiggoty policemen leaning against the
+same things; every time you come in you eat the same food, drink
+the same liquor, sit in the same chair, and talk about the same
+topics. Everything runs too smoothly. The weather is too damned
+nice. The thermometer lacks originality. We're too comfortable.
+Climate like that gets on a white man's nerves; he needs physical
+discomfort to make him contented. I'd give a forty-dollar dog to
+be good and cold and freeze my nose. Why, Doctor Gorgas has made
+us so sanitary that we can't even get sick. I'd hail an epidemic
+as a friend.
+
+"It's even harder on the women folks, for they can't find anything
+to kick about, so they fuss with one another and with us. They
+have clubs, you know, to improve things, but there's nothing to
+improve. We had a social war recently over a button. One clique
+wanted a club emblem that would cost a dollar and a half, while
+the other faction were in favor of a dollar button. I tell you, it
+was serious. Then, too, we're all tagged and labelled like cans of
+salmon with the price-mark on--we can't four-flush. You can tell a
+man's salary by the number of rocking-chairs in his house, and the
+wife of a fellow who draws eighteen hundred a year can't associate
+with a woman whose husband makes twenty-five hundred. They are
+very careful about such things. We go to the same dances on the
+same dates, we dance with the same people to the same tunes by the
+same band, and when we get off in some corner of the same veranda
+in search of the same old breeze, which we know is blowing at
+precisely the same velocity from the usual quarter, our partners
+tell us that Colonel So-and-So laid four hundred twenty-seven more
+cubic yards of concrete this week than last, or that Steam Shovel
+Number Twenty-three broke the record again by eighty yards. It's
+hell!" He stopped, breathless.
+
+"Why don't you quit?" suggested Anthony.
+
+"Quit! What for? Good Lord! We LIKE it. Here we are at Pedro
+Miguel, by-the-way. We'll be into the Cut shortly."
+
+To his left Anthony beheld another scene somewhat similar to the
+one at Gatun. Other movable steel cranes, with huge wide-flung
+arms, rose out of another chasm in which were extensive concrete
+workings. From a distance the towers resembled parts of a half-
+constructed cantilever bridge of tremendous height. Another army
+was toiling at the bottom of the pit, more cars shunted back and
+forth, more rock-crushers rumbled; but, before Kirk's eye had
+photographed more than a small part, the motor-car had sped past
+and was rolling out upon a bridge spanning the Canal itself. To
+the northward appeared an opening cut through the hills, and
+Runnels said, simply:
+
+"Culebra!"
+
+A moment later he announced: "We leave the P. R. R tracks here and
+switch in on the I. C. C. Now you'll begin to see something."
+
+Down into the Cut the little car went, and at last Anthony saw the
+active pulsating heart of this stupendous undertaking. The low
+range was severed by a gorge blasted out by human hands. It was a
+mountain valley in the making. High up on its sides were dirt and
+rock trains, dozens of compressed-air drills, their spars
+resembling the masts of a fleet of catboats at anchor--behind
+these, grimy, powerful steam shovels which rooted and grunted
+quite like iron hogs. Along the tracks at various levels flowed a
+constant current of traffic; long lines of empty cars crept past
+the shovels, then, filled to overflowing, sped away northward up
+the valley, to return again and again. Nowhere was there any
+idleness, nowhere a cold machine or a man at rest. On every hand
+was smoke and steam and sweat. The drills chugged steadily, the
+hungry iron hogs gouged out the trails the drills had loosened,
+the trains rolled past at intervals of a moment or so. Lines of
+electric wire, carried upon low wooden "shears," paralleled the
+tracks, bearing the white-hot sparks that rent the mountain. At
+every switch a negro flagman crouched beneath a slanting sheet of
+corrugated iron, seeking shelter alike from flying fragments and
+the blazing sun. From beneath the drills came occasional
+subterranean explosions; then geysers of muddy water rose in the
+air. Under the snouts of the steam shovels "dobe" shots went off
+as bowlders were riven into smaller fragments. Now and then an
+excited tooting of whistles gave warning of a bigger blast as the
+flagmen checked the flow of traffic, indicating with arms upraised
+that the ground was "coming up." Thereupon a brief lull occurred;
+men hid themselves, the work held its breath, as it were. But
+while the detonations still echoed, and before the flying missiles
+had ceased to shower, the human ants were moiling at their hills
+once more, the wheels were turning again, the jaws of the iron
+hogs were clanking.
+
+Through this upheaval the motor-car penetrated, dodging trains of
+"flats," which moved sluggishly to afford them passage up and down
+over the volcanic furrows at the bottom of the gorge or along some
+shelf beneath which the foundations were being dug. At times a
+shovel reached out its five-yard steel jaw and gently cleared the
+rails of debris, or boosted some bowlder from the path with all
+the skill of a giant hand and fingers. Up and down the canon
+rolled spasmodic rumblings, like broadsides from a fleet of
+battle-ships.
+
+"Somebody with a head for figures has estimated what it costs the
+government to send a motor-car like this through the Cut in
+working hours," Runnels said. "I don't remember the exact amount,
+but it was some thousands of dollars."
+
+"Delays to trains, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes. A minute here, thirty seconds there. Every second means a
+certain number of cubic yards unremoved, and holds back the
+opening of the Canal just so much. You have postponed a great
+event several minutes, Mr. Anthony."
+
+"It's the first important thing I ever did."
+
+"Our little nine-mile trip will cost Uncle Sam more than a brace
+of tickets from New York to 'Frisco and back again, including
+Pullmans and travelling expenses."
+
+Mile after mile the sight-seers rolled on, past scenes of never-
+varying activity--past more shovels, more groups of drills, more
+dirt trains, more regiments of men--Runnels explaining. Kirk
+marvelling until he was forced to exclaim:
+
+"I had no idea it was so big. It doesn't seem as if they'd ever
+finish it."
+
+"Oh, we'll finish it if we're let alone. Every year, you know, we
+receive a batch of senators and congressmen who come down to
+'inspect' and 'report.' Sometimes they spend as much as a week on
+the job, and frequently learn to distinguish which is the Gatun
+dam and which the Culebra cut, but not always. Some of them don't
+know yet. Nevertheless, they return to Washington and tell us how
+to proceed. Having discovered that the Panama climate is good and
+the wages high, they send down all their relatives. It's too bad
+Colonel Gorgas did away with the yellow fever.
+
+"You see there is too much politics in it; we never know how long
+our jobs will last. If some senator whose vote is needed on an
+administration matter wanted my position for his wife's brother,
+he could get it. Suppose the president of the Clock-Winders' Union
+wanted to place his half-sister's husband with the P. R. R. He'd
+call at the White House and make his request. If he were refused,
+he'd threaten to call a strike of his union and stop every clock
+on the Isthmus. He'd get the job all right."
+
+"Of course, that is an exaggeration."
+
+"Not at all. It has been done--is being done right along. The
+half-sister's husband comes down here and takes a job away from
+some fellow who may be entitled to promotion."
+
+"I suppose I'm an example."
+
+Runnels looked at him squarely before answering, "You are," said
+he, "although I wasn't thinking of you when I spoke. It's
+something we all feel, however."
+
+Anthony flushed as he answered: "I don't remember ever taking
+anything I wasn't entitled to, and I didn't think when I was
+shoved in here that I'd shove some other fellow out."
+
+"That's about what will happen. The good positions are filled by
+good men, for the most part, but Mrs. Cortlandt has asked it, and
+you're elected. You don't mind my frankness, I hope?"
+
+"Certainly not. I just didn't happen to look at it in this light."
+Kirk felt a vivid sense of discomfort as the keen eyes of his
+companion dwelt upon him. "As a matter of fact, I dare say I don't
+need a good job half as badly as some of these married fellows. I
+suppose there is room at the bottom, and a fellow can work up?"
+
+"If he has it in him."
+
+"I think I'll start there."
+
+"Oh, come, now," laughed the Master of Transportation, "that sort
+of thing isn't done. You have the chance, and you'd be foolish to
+let it slip. I don't blame you; I'd do the same under the
+circumstances. It's merely a condition we've all got to face."
+
+"Just the same, I don't like the idea. I'd feel uncomfortable if I
+met some capable fellow whom I'd robbed of his chance. It's hard
+work to be uncomfortable, and I don't like hard work, you know."
+
+Runnels shook his head doubtfully as if questioning the
+genuineness of this attitude.
+
+"I'm afraid you're a poor business man," he said.
+
+"Rotten!" Kirk admitted. "But I've an idea I can make good if I
+try."
+
+"If you feel that way, I certainly will help you," said the other,
+warmly. "Of course, I'll try to help you anyhow, but--I like your
+spirit. With Mrs. Cortlandt to back me up, I'll see you go forward
+as fast as you deserve."
+
+By now they were out of the Cut and once more upon the main line
+at Bas Obispo, heading back toward the Pacific.
+
+"You asked me to tell you something about her," Runnels continued.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I'm not sure my information is entirely correct, but, knowing who
+she is, I think I understand why she is in Panama. It is politics
+--big politics. The Spiggoties have an election next year, and it
+is necessary to get our wires well laid before it comes off.
+General Alfarez will probably be the next president."
+
+"Alfarez! Not Ramon?"
+
+"His father. You know we Americans occupy a peculiar position
+here, set down as we are in the midst of an alien people who hate
+us. Oh, they hate us, all right--all except a few of the better
+class."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"There are a good many reasons. For one thing, there's a sort of
+racial antipathy. You don't like them, do you? Well, they don't
+like you, either, and the same feeling exists from Mexico to
+Patagonia, although it is strongest in these regions. It is partly
+the resentment of an inferior race, I suppose. Then, too, when we
+stole Panama we made the Colombians sore, and all Central America
+besides, for they realized that once we Yankees got a foothold
+here we'd hang on and not only dominate this country but all the
+neighboring republics as well. That's just what we're beginning to
+do; that's why the Cortlandts are here. The stage is clearing for
+a big political drama, Mr. Anthony, which may mean the end of
+Latin Central America."
+
+"I had gathered something of the sort--but I had no idea there was
+so much in it."
+
+"The United States must protect its Canal, and to that end it is
+building 'stone quarries' on Ancon Hill which are really
+fortifications. American capital is coming in here, too, and in
+order to protect the whole thing we must dominate Panama itself.
+Once that is done, all the countries between here and the Texas
+border will begin to feel our influence. Why, Costa Rica is
+already nothing but a fruit farm owned by a Boston corporation. Of
+course, nobody can forecast the final result, but the Mexicans,
+the Hondurans, the Guatemalans, and the others have begun to feel
+it, and that's why the anti-American sentiment is constantly
+growing. You don't read much about it in the papers, but just live
+here for a while and you'll find out."
+
+"Oh, I have," Kirk acknowledged, dryly. "But we don't want these
+jungle countries."
+
+"That's where you're wrong. By-and-by we'll need room to expand,
+and when that time comes we'll move south, not north or west.
+Tropical America is richer than all our great Northwest, and we'll
+grab it sooner or later. Meanwhile our far-sighted government is
+smoothing the way, and there's nobody better fitted for the
+preliminary work than Mr. Stephen Cortlandt, of Washington, D. C.,
+husband and clerk of the smartest woman in the business of
+chaperoning administrations."
+
+"Oh, see here, now, Cortlandt is more than a clerk."
+
+"He's an errand-boy. He knows it, she knows it, and a few other
+people know it. He's the figurehead behind which she works. She's
+a rich woman, she loves the game--her father was the greatest
+diplomat of his time, you know--and she married Cortlandt so she
+could play it. Any other man would have served as well, though
+I've heard that he showed promise before she blotted him out and
+absorbed him. But now he's merely her power of attorney."
+
+Anthony pursed his lips into a whistle of astonishment. As usual,
+he reflected, his judgment had been strictly college-made.
+
+"It's been a good thing for him," Runnels ran on, evidently warmed
+to his subject. "She's made his reputation; he has money and
+position. For my part, I'd rather remain insignificant and have a
+real wife, even if she does have hysterics over a club button."
+
+"Don't they love each other?"
+
+"Nobody knows. She's carved out of ice, and, as for him, well,
+gratitude is a good deal like rust--in time it destroys the thing
+it clings to. I suppose I'm talking too much, but others would
+tell you the same things. I consider her the smartest woman I ever
+met, and I admire her immensely. You are mighty fortunate to be
+her friend. She'll force you to the top in spite of yourself."
+
+"I'm not sure I like that. It doesn't sound good."
+
+"Oh, don't misconstrue what I've said," Runnels hastened to add.
+"She isn't that sort."
+
+"I didn't mean that," said Kirk, briefly, and lapsed into a
+silence from which he roused only to discuss the details of his
+coming work.
+
+ It was with quite a different eye that he looked upon his host
+and hostess that evening. To his genuine liking for the latter was
+now added a worshipful admiration and a boyish gratification at
+her regard, which rather put her at a distance. When she
+questioned him on their way to the Plaza for the band concert
+later in the evening, he told her of his trip and of Runnels'
+kindness.
+
+"It's all settled," said he. "I'm going to work in a few days as
+train collector."
+
+"What?" Mrs. Cortlandt turned upon him sharply. "Runnels didn't
+offer you that sort of position?" Her eyes were dark with
+indignation. Kirk promptly came to the defence of his new friend.
+
+"No, I asked for it."
+
+"Oh, I see. Well, he will do much better by you than that."
+
+"I don't want anything better to start with."
+
+"But, my dear boy, a collector is merely a conductor. He takes
+tickets."
+
+"Sure! I can DO that. I might fail at something hard."
+
+"No, no, no! I'll see that you don't fail. Don't you understand?"
+
+"I understand a lot more than I did, Mrs. Cortlandt. That's why I
+don't want to rob some chap of a job he's entitled to, and I
+sha'n't. There's a collector quitting shortly."
+
+She stared at him curiously for a moment before inquiring:
+
+"Is that really the reason, or do you think the work will be
+easier?"
+
+Kirk stirred uncomfortably. "Oh, I'm not trying to dodge
+anything," he maintained. "On the contrary, the most amazing thing
+has happened--something I can't quite understand. I--I really want
+to work. Funny, isn't it? I didn't know people ever got that way,
+but--I'd like to help build this Canal."
+
+"But a CONDUCTOR! Why, you're a gentleman."
+
+"My dad was a brakeman."
+
+"Don't be foolish. Runnels talks too much. He'll offer you
+something better than that."
+
+"The high-salaried positions are well filled now, and most of the
+fellows are married."
+
+"A new position will be created."
+
+But Kirk was obdurate. "I'd prefer to start in as confidential
+adviser to the Canal Commission, of course, but I'd be a 'frost,'
+and my father would say 'I told you so.' I must make good for his
+sake, even if it's only counting cars or licking postage-stamps.
+Besides, it isn't exactly the square thing to take money for work
+that somebody else does for you. When a man tried for the Yale
+team he had to play football, no matter who his people were. If
+some capable chap were displaced to put in an incapable fellow
+like me, he'd be sore, and so would his friends; then I'd have to
+lick them. We'd have a fine scrap, because I couldn't stand being
+pointed out as a dub. No, I'll go in through the gate and pay my
+admission."
+
+"Do you realize that you can't live at the Tivoli?"
+
+"I hadn't thought about that, but I'll live where the other
+fellows do."
+
+"No more good dinners, no drives and little parties like this."
+
+"Oh, now, you won't cut me out just because I pull bell-cords and
+you pull diplomatic wires? Remember one of our champion pugilists
+was once a sailor."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt laughed with a touch of annoyance.
+
+"It is utterly ridiculous, and I can't believe you are in
+earnest."
+
+"I am, though. If I learn to be a good conductor, I'd like to step
+up. I'm young. I can't go back to New York; there's plenty of time
+for promotion."
+
+"Oh, you'll have every chance," she declared. "But I think a few
+weeks in cap and buttons will cure you of this quixotic sentiment.
+Meanwhile I must admit it is refreshing." She stared unseeingly at
+the street lights for a moment, then broke out as a new thought
+occurred to her: "But see here, Kirk, don't the collectors live in
+Colon?"
+
+"I don't know," he replied, startled and flattered by her first use
+of his given name.
+
+"I'll look it up to-morrow. You know I--Mr. Cortlandt and I will
+be in Panama, and I prefer to have you here. You see, we can do
+more for you." A little later she broke into a low laugh.
+
+"It seems strange to go driving with a conductor."
+
+As they reclined against the padded seat of their coach, lulled by
+the strains of music that came to them across the crowded Plaza
+and argued their first difference, it struck the young man that
+Edith Cortlandt was surprisingly warm and human for a woman of
+ice. He fully felt her superiority, yet he almost forgot it in the
+sense of cordial companionship she gave him.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+A NIGHT AT TABOGA
+
+
+Despite his great contentment in Mrs. Cortlandt's society, Kirk
+found himself waiting with growing impatience for his active
+duties to begin. There was a restlessness in his mood, moreover,
+which his desire to escape from a situation of rather humiliating
+dependence could not wholly explain. Curiously enough, this
+feeling was somehow connected with the thought of Edith herself.
+Why this should be so, he did not trouble to inquire. They had
+become the best of good friends, he told himself--a consummation
+for which he had devoutly wished--yet, for some indefinable
+reason, he was dissatisfied. He did not know that their moment of
+perfect, unspoiled companionship had come and gone that evening in
+the Plaza.
+
+Every relation into which sentiment enters at all has its crisis
+or turning-point, though it may pass unobserved. Perhaps they are
+happiest who heed it least. Certainly, morbid self-analysis was
+the last fault of which Kirk could be accused. If he had a rule of
+action, it was simply to behave naturally, and, so far, experience
+had justified him in the belief that behaving naturally always
+brought him out right in the end.
+
+He decided that he needed exercise, and determined to take a tramp
+through the country; but on the evening before the day he had set
+for his excursion his plans were upset by a note from Mrs.
+Cortlandt, which the clerk handed him. It ran:
+
+DEAR KIRK,--Stephen has arranged an outing for all three of us,
+and we are counting on you for to-morrow. It will be a really,
+truly picnic, with all the delightful discomforts of such affairs.
+You are not to know where we are going until we call for you at
+eight.
+
+Faithfully and mysteriously yours, EDITH CORTLANDT.
+
+The recipient of this kind invitation tossed it aside with a
+gesture of impatience. For the moment he experienced a kind of
+boyish resentment at having his intentions thwarted that seemed
+out of proportion to the cause. Whether he would have felt the
+same if Edith's husband were not to be one of the party was a
+question that did not occur to him. At all events, the emotion
+soon passed, and he rose the next morning feeling that an outing
+with the Cortlandts would be as pleasant a diversion for the day
+as any other.
+
+Promptly at eight Edith appeared upon the hotel porch. She was
+alone.
+
+"Where's Mr. Cortlandt?" he inquired.
+
+"Oh, some men arrived last night from Bocas del Toro and
+telephoned that they must see him to-day on a matter of
+importance."
+
+"Then he's coming later?"
+
+"I hardly think so. I was terribly disappointed, so he told me to
+go without him. Now, I shall have to make up to you for his
+absence, if I am able."
+
+"That's the sort of speech," Kirk laughed, "that doesn't leave a
+fellow any nice answer. I'm sorry he couldn't come, of course, and
+awfully glad you did. Now, where is to be the scene of our revel?"
+
+"Taboga," she said, with eyes sparkling. "You've never been there,
+but it's perfectly gorgeous. Please call a coach, our boat is
+waiting--and don't sit on the lunch."
+
+Kirk obeyed, and they went clattering down the deserted brick
+street. Edith leaned back with a sigh.
+
+"I'm so glad to get away from that hotel for a day. You've no idea
+how hard it is to be forever entertaining a lot of people you care
+nothing about, or being entertained by people you detest. I've
+smiled and smirked and cooed until I'm sick; I want to scowl and
+grind my teeth and roar."
+
+"Still politics, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, indeed; we don't dare talk about it. If you only knew it,
+Kirk, you've capsized the political calculations of the Panama
+Conservative Party."
+
+"I didn't know I had ever even rocked the boat."
+
+"It runs back to your affair with Ramen." She glanced toward the
+coach driver, suggesting the need of reticence.
+
+"Really, did that effect it?"
+
+"Rather. At any rate, it gave an excuse for setting things in
+motion. There had been some doubt about the matter for a long
+time, and I was only too glad to exert my influence in the right
+direction, but--this is a picnic to an enchanted island, and here
+we are talking politics! We mustn't be so serious. School is out,
+and it's vacation. I want to romp and play and get my face dirty."
+
+Kirk readily fell in with her mood, and by the time they reached
+the water-front they were laughing like two children. Down through
+a stone arch they went, and out upon a landing beneath the sea
+wall. In front of them the placid waters of the bay were
+shimmering, a myriad of small boats thronged the harbor. There
+were coasting steamers, launches, sail-boats, skiffs, and canoes.
+Along the shore above the tide-line were rows of schooners
+fashioned from gigantic tree-trunks and capable of carrying many
+tons, all squatting upon the mud, their white sails raised to dry
+like the outstretched wings of resting sea-gulls.
+
+The landing was thronged, and, at sight of the newcomers,
+loiterers gathered from all sides--a pirate throng, shouting a
+dozen dialects and forcing Kirk to battle lustily for his luggage.
+Stepping into a skiff, they were rowed to a launch, and a few
+moments later were gliding swiftly around the long rock-rib that
+guards the harbor, a copper-hued bandit at the wheel, a Nubian
+giant at the engine, and an evil, yellow-faced desperado sprawling
+upon the forward deck.
+
+Looking back, they saw the city spread out in brilliant panorama,
+clear and beautiful in the morning radiance. Packed and dense it
+lay, buttressed by the weather-stained ramparts which legend says
+were built by the women while their husbands were at war, and
+backed by the green heights of Ancon, against which the foreign
+houses nestled. Set in the foreground, like an ivory carving, was
+the Government Theatre, while away beyond it loomed the Tivoli.
+
+Noting armed sentinels pacing the sea wall at a certain spot, Kirk
+called his companion's attention to them.
+
+"That's Chiriqui Prison, isn't it?" he asked.
+
+"Yes. They say some of the dungeons are almost under the sea. It
+must be a terrible place."
+
+"I've developed a morbid interest in jails," he remarked. "I'm
+quite an authority on them. I think, however, I won't experiment
+with this one--I don't like the view."
+
+"Yes, it's an unhealthy spot, according to all accounts. I'm sure
+you'd get rheumatism, at least. By-the-way, do you notice the
+thickness of those walls? They say that a king of Spain was seen
+standing at his palace window one day staring anxiously toward the
+west. When a courtier presumed to ask him what he was looking at,
+he said, 'I am searching for those costly walls of Panama. They
+ought to be visible even from here.' They cost ten million
+dollars, you know, when dollars were worth a good deal more than
+they are now. Look! There's Taboga."
+
+Following her gaze, Kirk beheld a mountain of amethyst rising out
+of the bay. Behind them the shores stretched away into misty
+distances, while low mountains, softened by a delicate purple,
+rolled up from the jungle plain. Ahead of them the turquoise
+waters were dotted by islets whose heights were densely overgrown,
+while sands of coral whiteness ringed their shore lines. Here and
+there a fleet of fishing-boats drifted. Far out in the roadstead
+lay two cruisers, slate-gray and grim. The waters over-side purled
+soothingly, the heavens beamed, the breeze was like a gentle
+caress. The excursionists lost themselves in silent enjoyment.
+
+Even before they had come to anchor a dozen boatmen were racing
+for them and crying for their patronage. At the water's edge they
+saw a tiny village nestled close against the mountains, its tiled
+roofs rust-red and grown to moss, its walls faded by wind and
+weather to delicate mauves and dove colors and greens impossible
+to describe. Up against the slope a squat 'dobe chapel sat, while
+just beyond reach of the tide was a funny little pocket-size
+plaza, boasting a decrepit fountain and an iron fence eaten by the
+salt. Backing it all was a marvellous verdure, tipped up on edge,
+or so it seemed, and cleared in spots for pineapples.
+
+The launch, when it came to rest, seemed suspended in air, and
+beneath it lay an entrancing sea-garden. Once the engine had
+stopped its clatter, a sleepy, peaceful silence settled over the
+harbor, unbroken by wheel or whistle, for in Taboga no one works
+and there are no vehicles.
+
+"What a wonderful place!" exclaimed the young man, fervently.
+"Why, it's like a dream--it can't be real!" Then, as the boatmen
+renewed their begging, "I wonder which barge gentleman I had
+better hire."
+
+"Take the little boy, please." Edith called to an urchin who was
+manfully struggling with a pair of oars twice his own length,
+whereupon the older boatmen began to shove off with many scowls
+and much grumbling.
+
+"Our choice has offended these genial bandits," Kirk observed as
+he helped her to a seat. "When shall we tell the lad to bring us
+off?"
+
+"Four o'clock," answered Mrs. Cortlandt. "I arranged with the
+captain to be ready at that hour, so, you see, we have the whole
+day ahead of us."
+
+Across the limpid shallows they glided, bravely propelled by their
+nine-year-old oarsman, but when the bow of their skiff grated upon
+the bottom they were still some yards from the shore.
+
+"Looks as if we'd have to wade," said Kirk, then called to one of
+the near-by boatmen to lend the child a hand. But the fellow
+replied gruffly in some unintelligible jargon.
+
+"He says he carries HIS passengers ashore in his arms," Edith
+translated.
+
+"Really? Competition is spirited even on this heavenly isle. Well,
+that's easy!" Anthony untied his low shoes, kicked them off, and
+rolled up his trousers.
+
+"Permit me to help you," he said, "without embarrassing our
+pilot."
+
+"Oh! I want to wade, too," the woman exclaimed, enviously, as he
+stepped out, "but--it's too pebbly."
+
+She stood up and allowed him to gather her in his arms. Then for
+the first time she felt his strength as her body leaned to his.
+Slowly he picked his way ashore while she reclined in his embrace,
+her arms about his neck, her smooth cheek brushing his. A faint,
+intoxicating perfume she used affected him strangely, increasing
+the poignant sense of her nearness; a lock of her hair caressed
+him. When he deposited her gently upon her feet he saw her face
+had gone white and that she was trembling.
+
+"Did I hurt you?" he queried, quickly.
+
+"Oh no!" she answered, but as she turned away he saw her breathe
+as if for the first time since he had taken her up.
+
+His own face was glowing as he waded back to fetch the lunch-
+basket and his foot-gear. Under the circumstances he had done the
+only natural, the only possible thing, yet it had queerly
+perturbed them both. There was an artificial note in their voices
+as they mounted to the village, and unconsciously they avoided
+each other's glances.
+
+A narrow, crooked street, fronted by old stone houses, opened
+before them, and the many tints they had seen from a distance
+became more pronounced. Even the rough flags and cobbles under
+foot were of a faint lichen gray, chrome yellow, or pink, as if
+painted at cost of infinite labor. Out of dark, open doorways
+peered swarthy faces, naked bronze children scampered away on fat
+legs at their approach, and in one house were a number of
+cassocked priests droning in Spanish. Everywhere was the same
+slumberous content, the same peaceful buzz of bees and birds and
+soft-toned human voices.
+
+The two visitors explored the village, even to the quaint, tawdry
+chapel, with its impossible blues and rusted gilt, and noon found
+them eager to investigate the contents of their lunch-basket.
+Taking a random path up the hill, they came at last to a spring of
+cool water, and here they spread their meal under a mango-tree
+bent beneath tons of fruit.
+
+"Oh, it's intoxicating!" cried Edith, as she sank to a seat,
+feasting her eyes upon the scene below. "After lunch, shall we
+climb the mountain?"
+
+"I'm ready for anything," Kirk assured her. "Maybe we'll go
+swimming. That seems to be the main occupation of the
+inhabitants."
+
+Up the path toward them came two timid children, one bearing a
+pineapple half as large as himself, the other lugging an armful of
+strange fruit. Kirk bought their entire burden, and they scuttled
+away in high glee.
+
+By now the spirit of the woods was in the picnickers; the gladness
+of the day possessed them wholly, and the afternoon sped quickly.
+If at times Kirk found his companion regarding him with a
+strangely timid, half-defiant look, he refused to connect it with
+the episode of their landing. It was a fleeting look, at most,
+gone almost before he surprised it, and, for the most part, Edith
+showed a seemingly quite natural gayety that helped him to forget
+his recent self-consciousness.
+
+Promptly at four they came down the drunken little main street and
+out upon the beach. But no launch was in sight.
+
+"Hello! Where's our boat?" exclaimed Kirk.
+
+"The captain told me he'd be ready at four. Perhaps he has run
+over to Taboguilla or--" She hesitated, with a troubled frown.
+
+"You told him to wait?"
+
+"Distinctly." Seeing an idler in the square above she questioned
+him in Spanish. "This man says the launch left for Panama two
+hours ago." She turned tragic eyes upon Kirk.
+
+"Do you think they intend to leave us?"
+
+"I don't know. These people are liable to do any thing." Once more
+she questioned the loiterer. "It is just as I suspected," she
+explained; "they went on a Sunday spree. He says they came ashore
+and bought a lot of liquor, and he heard them quarrelling later."
+
+"That means we'll have to get another boat."
+
+"I don't know where we shall find one."
+
+"Neither do I, but there must be some sort of craft that plies
+back and forth regularly."
+
+"Only once or twice a week, I believe, and it belongs to the
+sanitarium." She nodded toward some buildings perched upon a point
+farther around the bay. "Mr. Cortlandt looked it up before leaving
+and found the boat doesn't run on Sundays, so he hired that
+launch. Perhaps we'd better wait awhile; our men may come back."
+
+They found seats in the square and were grateful for the rest; but
+an hour passed and the sun was getting low, while no sign of their
+truant craft appeared.
+
+"There must be sail-boats to be had," said Kirk; but on inquiry
+they learned that, although a few belonged to the island, they all
+happened to be away. He suggested that they hire a man to row them
+across.
+
+"It's twelve miles," Edith demurred. "Do you think it would be
+safe?"
+
+He scanned the twilit sea and gave up the idea; for the afternoon
+trades, balmy and soothing as they were, had lifted a swell that
+would prove difficult for a skiff to navigate. Uneasily they
+settled themselves for a further wait. At last, as the sun was
+dipping into a bed of gold, Kirk broke out:
+
+"Gee whiz! We've got to do SOMETHING. Mr. Cortlandt will be
+getting worried."
+
+"In all probability he won't know anything about it until too late
+to come for us. He is dining with these people from Bocas, and may
+not get back to the Tivoli before midnight."
+
+"Nice fix we're in!" remarked Anthony. "I'd like to lay hands on
+that captain."
+
+"We may have to stay here all night!"
+
+"Well, at least we have a haven of refuge. They'll take us in at
+the hospital."
+
+"I don't care to ask them. There's some one up there I don't wish
+to see. That's why I didn't go near the place to-day."
+
+"You know best, of course. But, see here, don't you think you'd
+better go up there--"
+
+"Not for worlds! We must find some other way." She began to pace
+back and forth in the dusk. "How unfortunate it is!"
+
+"Is it because--I'm with you?" questioned the young man, with an
+effort. "Is that why you don't want to apply there?"
+
+"No, no. Stephen's particular enemy is in charge up there. I
+detest the man, and the feeling is mutual, I believe." She sighed,
+and her glance fell. "We can't spend the night outdoors."
+
+"Of course not, but--"
+
+"What?"
+
+He laughed to hide his embarrassment. "I'm wondering--what people
+will say."
+
+"Oh, you mustn't be troubled about that. It isn't your fault, you
+know, anyhow. Besides, people won't say anything because they
+won't know anything about it--if we stay away from that
+sanitarium."
+
+In the effort to put him at his ease, her own distress seemed to
+vanish, and Kirk immediately felt more cheerful.
+
+"It's getting along toward dinner-time," he said, "so let's see
+what we can find in the way of food. You can be sheltered in one
+of these houses, I suppose, though from the looks I'd almost
+prefer the night air."
+
+They stumbled out into the unlighted street and began their
+search; but, seen close at hand, the cooking arrangements of
+Taboga proved most unattractive. Outside the sanitarium, it
+seemed, there was not a stove on the island. Charcoal braziers set
+upon the floors or in the dirt yards served all culinary purposes,
+and the process of preparing meals was conducted with an
+indifference that promised no savory results. About the glowing
+points of light wrinkled hags appeared irregularly, as if brewing
+some witch's broth, but they could not understand the phenomenon
+of Americans being hungry and signified no readiness to relieve
+them. In several instances Kirk and Mrs. Cortlandt were treated
+with open suspicion. But eventually they found a more pretentious-
+looking place, where they were taken in, and, after an
+interminable wait, food was set before them--chicken, boiled with
+rice and cocoanut, black beans and cocoanut, fresh, warm milk, and
+a wondrous assortment of hothouse fruits. They would have enjoyed
+the meal had it not been for the curious faces that blocked every
+aperture in the room and the many bright eyes that peered at them
+from each shadow.
+
+But in spite of their equivocal situation, Edith seemed fully to
+have regained her spirits. Even the prospect of spending the night
+in this place apparently did not dismay her.
+
+"We have created quite a sensation," she said, laughingly. "I
+wonder if it makes the animals in the zoo as nervous to be stared
+at."
+
+Kirk was half puzzled, half relieved by the lightness of her mood.
+
+"If you have finished this health-food," he remarked, "we'll go
+back to the plaza and wait for the launch. I'm as full of cocoanut
+as a shell."
+
+They descended to the square again, stared at all the way through
+open doors and followed by a subdued murmur of comment. Then they
+sat for a long time watching the stars, half minded not to regret
+the circumstance that had left them stranded together in such
+pleasant surroundings.
+
+As if in despair over their impossible predicament, Edith gave way
+to a spirit of reckless vivacity, and Kirk, with a man's somewhat
+exaggerated sympathy for a woman's sensitive feelings, loyally
+strove to help her make the best of things in her own way. It was
+like a woman, he reflected, to follow her mood to the last
+extreme, and, being a man, he was not displeased. The change in
+her manner was too elusive for him to analyze. There was no real
+concession of her reserve--no sacrifice of the feminine privilege
+of prompt and complete withdrawal. If he had struck a false note,
+he knew that she would have turned frigid in an instant. But he
+could not help feeling that some barrier which had existed between
+them had been magically removed. Her apparent obliviousness to all
+that under the circumstances might have troubled her was a subtle
+compliment to himself, and soon he, too, forgot that there was
+anything in the world beyond their present relation to each other.
+
+It was on their return to the house that the climax came, leaving
+him strangely shaken.
+
+Their course took them past a tiny cantina. It was open in front,
+and brightly lighted, although at this hour most of the houses
+were dark and the village lay wrapped in the inky shadow of the
+mountain behind. Within, several men were carousing--dark-haired,
+swarthy fellows, who seemed to be fishermen. Drawn by the sound of
+argument, the strangers paused a moment to watch them. The quarrel
+seemed a harmless affair, and they were about to pass on, when
+suddenly one of the disputants lunged at his antagonist with a
+knife, conjured from nowhere, and the two came tumbling out into
+the street, nearly colliding with the onlookers.
+
+Without a sound, Mrs. Cortlandt picked up her skirts and fled into
+the darkness, Kirk stumbling along behind her, both guiding
+themselves by instinct rather than sight. At last she stopped out
+of breath, and he overtook her.
+
+"You mustn't run through these dark alleys," he cried, sharply.
+"You'll break your neck." Half impatient at this hysterical
+behavior, he seized her by the arm.
+
+"Oh, I'm so frightened!" she breathed, and he felt her tremble. "A
+drunken man frightens me--" Involuntarily she hid her face against
+his breast, then laughed nervously. "Don't mind me, please. It's
+the one thing I can't stand. I'll be all right in a moment." She
+lifted her white face, and her eyes were luminous in the gloom.
+"I'm very glad you don't drink." Her hand crept up to the lapel of
+his coat. "What will you think of me?" she said, tremulously.
+
+Before he realized what he was doing his arms had closed around
+her and his lips had met hers. It may have been the romance of the
+night, the solitude, the intoxicating warmth of her breath--at any
+rate, he lost his head and knew nothing save that she was a woman
+and he a man. As for her, she offered no resistance, made no sign
+beyond a startled sigh as their lips came together.
+
+But, impulsive as his action had been, it was no more sudden than
+his recoil. He released her and stepped back, crying:
+
+"Oh, my God! I--I didn't mean that. Forgive me. PLEASE." She said
+nothing, and he stammered desperately again: "You'll hate me now,
+of course, but--I don't know what ails me. I forgot myself--you--
+everything. It was unpardonable, and I ought to be shot." He
+started off down the blind street, his whole body cold with
+apprehension and self-disgust.
+
+"Where are you going?" she called after him.
+
+"I don't know. I can't stay here now. Oh, Mrs. Cortlandt, what can
+I say?"
+
+"Do you intend to leave me here in the middle of this--"
+
+"No, no! Of course not. I'm rattled, that's all. I've just got a
+cowardly desire to flee and butt my head against the nearest wall.
+That's what I ought to do. I don't know what possessed me. I don't
+know what you'll think of me."
+
+"We won't speak of it now. Try to compose yourself and find our
+lodging-place."
+
+"Why, yes, of course. I'll see that you're fixed up comfortably
+and then I'll get out."
+
+"Oh, you mustn't leave me!" she cried in a panic. "I couldn't stay
+in that awful place alone." She drew a little nearer to him as if
+demanding his protection.
+
+A wave of tenderness swept over him. She was just a girl, after
+all, he reflected, and if it were not for what had happened a
+moment before the most natural thing in the world would be to take
+her in his arms and comfort her.
+
+"I--I won't leave you--I'll stay near you," he stammered.
+
+But as they trudged along together through the dark his chagrin
+returned in full force. Mrs. Cortlandt maintained a distressing
+silence, and he could not see her face. Presently he began to
+plead brokenly for forgiveness, stumbling in the effort not to
+offend her further and feeling that he was making matters worse
+with every word he uttered. For a long time she made no reply, but
+at last she said:
+
+"Do you think I ought ever to see you again after this?"
+
+"I suppose not," said Kirk, miserably.
+
+"I won't believe," she went on, "that you could have taken me for
+the kind of woman who--"
+
+"No, no!" he cried, in an anguish of self-reproach. "I was a fool--"
+
+"No," she said, "I don't--I couldn't bear to think that. Perhaps I
+was partly to blame--but I didn't think--I ought to have known
+that no man can really be trusted. But I thought our friendship
+was so beautiful, and now you've spoiled it."
+
+"Don't say that!" exclaimed Kirk. "Say you'll forgive me some
+time."
+
+But instead of answering him directly she proceeded in the same
+strain, probing his wounded self-respect to the quick, making his
+offence seem blacker every moment.
+
+Although he assured her over and over that he had simply followed
+the irresponsible, unaccountable impulse of a moment--that he had
+regarded her only as the best of friends, and respected her more
+than he could say, she showed him no mercy. The melancholy,
+regretful tone she adopted was ten times worse than anger, and by
+the time they reached the inn where they had dined he was sunk in
+the depths of self-abasement.
+
+If he had been less preoccupied with his own remorse he might have
+reflected that Edith's attitude, especially as she did not
+expressly withhold the prospect of ultimate pardon, established a
+closer bond between them than ever before. But there was no room
+in his mind for such a thought.
+
+In reply to his knock an old woman came to the door and sleepily
+admitted them. Edith stood for a moment on the threshold, then,
+seeing that he made no motion to accompany her, she said good-
+night, and, quietly entering, closed the door behind her.
+
+Kirk experienced a sudden desire to escape. To remain where he was
+simply prolonged his humiliation. Instinctively he felt that, if
+he could only get away where he could view the matter in an every-
+day light, it would cease to trouble him. But evidently he could
+not desert Edith. He sat down upon the doorstep and gave himself
+up to bitter thoughts.
+
+She was such a wonderful woman, he told himself; she had been such
+a true friend to him that he had been worse than criminal to lose
+her respect. And Cortlandt had been so decent to him! It was
+significant that this gave him the most discomfort of all. He had
+betrayed a man's friendship, and the thought was unbearable. No
+punishment could be too severe for that!
+
+He was still sitting there cramped and stiff when the first faint
+flush of dawn stole over the hill-crest behind him. Then he rose
+to wander toward the water-front. As the harbor assumed definite
+form, he beheld a launch stealing in toward the village, and ten
+minutes later greeted Stephen Cortlandt as that gentleman stepped
+out of the tender.
+
+"Where's Edith?" eagerly demanded her husband.
+
+"She's asleep. I found a place for her--"
+
+"Not at the SANITARIUM?"
+
+"No, no. One of these houses. Lord, I'm glad to see you! We'd
+begun to feel like real castaways. I've been up all night."
+
+"What happened?" It was plain that Mr. Cortlandt was deeply
+agitated.
+
+"Our boatmen evidently got drunk and pulled out. I tried to get a
+sail-boat, but there weren't any, and it was too rough to try
+crossing with a skiff."
+
+It took them but a moment to reach the house, and soon the three
+were back at the water-front.
+
+"What a miserable night!" Mrs. Cortlandt complained, stifling a
+yawn. "I thought you'd never come, Stephen!"
+
+"I didn't get back to the Tivoli until midnight, and then I had
+trouble in finding a boat to bring me over."
+
+"I suppose they were alarmed at the hotel?"
+
+"I said nothing about it," he returned, quietly, at which his
+wife's face flushed. Seizing the first occasion, he exclaimed, in
+a low voice: "God! How unfortunate--at this time. Were you mad?"
+
+She looked at him and her eyes burned, but she said nothing.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+CHIQUITA
+
+
+The next day Kirk borrowed a shot-gun and went hunting. The events
+of the night before seemed like a dream. Could it be that he had
+really blundered irretrievably? Was it possible that he had
+offended his best friend past forgiveness? He wanted to get away
+somewhere and collect his thoughts. For the present, at least, he
+wished to avoid an interview with Mrs. Cortlandt.
+
+A mile or two beyond the railroad track, to the north and east,
+began what appeared to be an unbroken wilderness, and thither he
+turned his steps. Low, rolling hills lay before him, densely over-
+grown and leading upward to a mountain range which paralleled the
+coast until the distant haze swallowed it up. These mountains, he
+reflected with a thrill of interest, led on to South America, the
+land of the Incas, hidden in mystery as the forests close at hand
+were veiled in faint purple. The very thought was romantic. Balboa
+had strained his eyes along these self-same placid shores;
+Pizarro, the swineherd, had followed them in search of Dabaiba,
+that fabled temple of gold, leaving behind him a trail of blood.
+It was only yonder, five miles away, that Pedrarias, with the
+murder of a million victims on his soul, had founded the ancient
+city which later fell to Morgan's buccaneers. Even now, a league
+back from the ocean, the land seemed as wild as then. Anthony
+suspected that there were houses--perhaps villages--hidden from
+his view; but vast stretches of enchanted jungle intervened, which
+he determined to explore, letting his feet stray whither they
+would. If game, of which he had heard great stories, fell to his
+hand, so much the better.
+
+Heeding a warning not to bear arms through the streets of Panama
+without a permit from the alcalde, he struck off across the fields
+in a bee-line for the woods. It was a vast relief to be out in the
+open air with a gun upon his arm once more, and he felt his blood
+coursing vigorously. The burden upon his spirits insensibly began
+to lighten. After all, he had done nothing for which he needed to
+be ashamed the rest of his life. Edith, of course, was right in
+being deeply offended. That was to be expected. Yet his conduct,
+regrettable as it was, had been only natural under the
+circumstances. Now that the first tumult of feeling had subsided,
+he found that his conscience did not accuse him very severely.
+
+And, somehow, he was unable to believe that the breach with Edith
+would prove irreparable. She was a sensible woman of the world--
+not a mere school-girl. Perhaps when the immediate shock of the
+occurrence had passed she would consent to take a different view
+of it, and they might return to their old friendly footing. If
+not--well, he would be his own man soon, anyhow. Their lives would
+part, and the incident would be forgotten. He was sorry that in
+his momentary madness he had behaved improperly toward a woman to
+whom he owed so much, yet it was not as if he had shown meanness
+or ingratitude.
+
+Across the meadows deep in grass he went, skirting little ponds
+and marshy spots, growing more cheerful with every step. In one
+place he had the good-luck to raise a flock of water birds, which
+he took for purple gallinule and spur-wing plover, although they
+were unlike any he had ever seen. In some scattered groves beyond
+he bagged a pigeon and missed a quail which unexpectedly whirred
+out of a thicket. Then he continued past herds of grazing cattle
+to another patch of woodland, where he came upon something that
+looked like a path. Through rankly growing banana-patches, yam-
+fields, and groves of mango-trees, he followed it, penetrating
+ever deeper into the rolling country, until at last he reached the
+real forest. He had come several miles, and realized that he could
+not retrace his steps, for the trail had branched many times; he
+had crossed other pathways and made many devours. He rejoiced in
+the thought that he had successfully lost himself.
+
+At midday he paused in an open glade against a hillside to eat his
+lunch. Back of him the rising ground was heavily timbered; beneath
+him a confusion of thickets and groves and cleared fields led out
+to a green plain as clean as any golf links, upon which were
+scattered dwellings.
+
+Evidently this was the Savannas of which he had heard so much, and
+these foreign-looking bungalows were the country homes of the rich
+Panamanians. Beyond, the bay stretched, in unruffled calm, like a
+sheet of quicksilver, its bosom dotted with rocky islets, while
+hidden in the haze to the southward, as he knew, were the historic
+Pearl Islands, where the early Spaniards had enriched themselves.
+
+Gazing at this view in lazy enjoyment, Kirk found himself thinking
+how good it was to be young and free, and to be set down in such a
+splendidly romantic country. Above all, it was good to be heart-
+whole and unfettered by any woman's spell--men in love were
+unhappy persons, harassed by a thousand worries and indecisions,
+utterly lacking in poise. It was a lamentable condition of
+hysteria with which he decided to have nothing to do. He did not
+care for women, anyhow. One could scarcely have any dealings with
+them without becoming involved in some affair that unduly harrowed
+one's feelings. How much better it was to know the clean spirit of
+adventure and the joy of living, undisturbed by feverish emotions!
+
+As he reclined there, busied with these thoughts, two vivid little
+paroquets alighted near him, to quarrel noisily, then make up and
+kiss each other like any pair of lovers. It was disgusting. A
+toucan peered at him with an appearance of exaggerated curiosity,
+due to its huge, grotesquely proportioned beak. Now and then came
+the harsh notes of parrots as they fluttered high above the tree-
+tops. Meanwhile the young man's ears became attuned to the jungle
+noises, his eyes observant of the many kinds of life about him.
+
+The wood was crowded with plant-life utterly strange to him. On
+the hill above towered a giant ceiba-tree, its trunk as smooth as
+if polished by hand and bare of branches except at the very top,
+where, instead of tapering, it ended abruptly in a tuft of
+foliage. Here and there stood tremendous cotton-trees, their limbs
+so burdened with air-plants as to form a series of aerial gardens,
+their twigs bearing pods filled with down. Beside them palm-trees
+raised their heads, heavy with clusters of nuts resembling dates
+in size and form, but fit only for wild pigs. Clumps of bamboo
+were scattered about, their shoots springing from a common centre
+like the streams from a fountain, and sweeping through graceful
+curves to a spray of shimmering green. He had never seen such
+varieties of growth. There were thick trees with bulbous
+swellings; tall trees with buttressed roots that ran high up the
+trunks; slender trees propped up head-high above the earth on
+tripod-like roots or clusters of legs; trees with bark that shone
+like a mirror; trees guarded with an impregnable armor of six-inch
+bony spikes--Kirk did not know the names of half of them, nor did
+he care to learn.
+
+Vines and creepers abounded, from the tiny honeysuckle that reared
+itself with feeble filaments, to the giant liana creeping through
+the forest like a python, throttling full-grown trees in its
+embrace. On every side was the never-ceasing battle for light and
+the struggle of the weak against the strong. The air was heavy
+with the breath of triumphant blooms and the odor of defeated,
+decaying life. A thousand voiceless tragedies were being enacted;
+the wood was peopled by distorted shapes that spoke of forgotten
+encounters; rich, riotous, parasitic growths flourished upon
+starved limbs or rotting trunks. It was weird and beautiful and
+pitiless. Unlike the peaceful order of our Northern forests, here
+was a savage riot, an unending treacherous warfare without light
+or room or mercy. There was something terrible in it all.
+
+Tiring of the scene at last, Kirk continued his wanderings,
+bearing gradually toward the right, that he might eventually
+emerge upon the Savannas below, where he knew there was a good
+paved road leading to the city. But the trails were devious and
+seemed to lead nowhere, so at last he struck out through the
+jungle itself. Having no machete with which to clear a way, his
+progress was slow, but he took his time, keeping a wary outlook
+for game, twisting back and forth to avoid the densest thickets,
+until he finally came out upon the margin of a stream. Through the
+verdure beyond it he saw the open, sunlit meadows, and he followed
+the bank in the hope of finding a foot-log or a bridge upon which
+to cross. He had gone, perhaps, a hundred yards when he stumbled
+out into a cleared space, where he paused with an exclamation of
+surprise.
+
+The brook had been dammed and widened into a deep, limpid pool to
+which the clean, white sand of its bottom lent a golden hue. At
+the lower end it overflowed in a waterfall, the purling music of
+which filled the glade. Overhead the great trees were arched
+together and interlaced, their lower branches set with flowering
+orchids like hothouse plants upon a window-ledge. The dense
+foliage allowed only a random beam of sunlight to pass through and
+pierce the pool, like a brilliant, quivering javelin. Long vines
+depended from the limbs above, falling sheer and straight as
+plumb-lines; a giant liana the size of a man's body twined up and
+up until lost in the tangle overhead.
+
+Although set just within the border of the untouched forest, it
+was evident that this spot had been carefully cut away and
+artfully cultivated. But, if man's hand had aided nature by a few
+deft touches here and there and a careful pruning of her lavish
+riches, it could be seen that no human artist had designed the
+wondrous stage effect. To step suddenly out of an uncut wilderness
+into such a scene as this was bewildering, and made the American
+gasp with delight. The place had an air of strictest privacy. A
+spring-board mirrored in the depths below invited one to plunge, a
+pair of iron gymnasium rings were swung by chains to a massive
+limb, a flight of stone steps led up the bank and into a hut
+artistically thatched and walled with palm-leaves to harmonize
+with its setting. Kirk thanked his fortune that he had not
+blundered in while the place was in use, for it had almost the
+sacred air of a lady's boudoir.
+
+Instead of promptly withdrawing, he allowed his admiration full
+play, and stood staring for a long time. What a delightful nook in
+which to dream away the days! It was dim and cool and still,
+although outside its walls of green the afternoon sun was beating
+down fiercely. A stranger might pass and never guess its presence.
+It had been cunningly shaped by fairies, that was evident.
+Doubtless it was peopled by them also, and his mistake had been in
+coming upon it so suddenly. If he had approached with caution he
+would surely have surprised them at their play, for yonder was the
+music of their dances--that chuckling, singing waterfall could
+serve no other purpose. Perhaps one was hidden under it at
+present. Kirk was half tempted to conceal himself and wait for
+them to reappear, though he knew that it requires extraordinary
+cunning to deceive wood-sprites once they have been alarmed. But,
+undoubtedly, they were somewhere close by, probably watching him
+from behind the leaves, and if they were not such timid bodies he
+might try to search them out.
+
+As it was, he took a lingering, farewell look and turned to
+retrace his steps, whereupon the queen fairy laughed at him
+softly. He paused abruptly, then turned around, with care, so as
+not to frighten her. But of course she was invisible. Then she
+spoke again with the sweetest foreign accent imaginable.
+
+"You had better cross upon the waterfall, sir. There is no bridge
+above." After an instant, during which he strained his eyes to
+find her, she laughed again.
+
+"Here I am, in the tree, across the pond."
+
+"Oh!" Looking over the fork of a tree-trunk, perhaps twice the
+height of his head above the ground, Anthony beheld a ravishing
+face and two very bright eyes. Without removing his gaze, he
+leaned his gun carefully against a bush--firearms have an
+abominable effect upon hamadryads--and said:
+
+"I knew you were here all the time."
+
+"Indeed!" The eyes opened in astonishment. "You did not see me at
+all."
+
+"Of course, but I knew you were somewhere close by, just the same.
+How did you get up there?"
+
+"I climbed up."
+
+"Why didn't you hide under the waterfall?"
+
+"I did not hide, senor. I am trying to reach my orchid."
+
+A little hand appeared beside the face, and a finger pointed to
+one of the big air plants above her. Kirk beheld a marvellous
+white, dove-shaped flower, nodding upon a slender stalk.
+
+"I climbed up on the big vine; it is just like a ladder."
+
+"Then you can't be the queen!"
+
+Two very large, very dark eyes looked at him questioningly.
+
+"Queens don't pick flowers," he explained. "They hide in 'em."
+
+"The queen?"
+
+"Some of them live in trees, and some preside over lakes and
+fountains. Which kind are you?"
+
+"Oh! I am neither, I live in my father's house." She tossed her
+head in the direction of the Savannas behind her. "Do you wish to
+cross the stream?"
+
+"If you please."
+
+"Wait." The face disappeared. There was a sound from behind the
+twisted tree-trunk, a twig fell, then a piece of bark, and the
+next instant the girl herself stepped into view.
+
+"I was afraid you'd gone for good," acknowledged the young man,
+gravely. He took up his gun and stepped out upon the crest of the
+dam.
+
+"You must look where you go," she admonished, "or you will fall--
+splash!" She laughed delightedly at the thought, and he saw that
+her eyes had a way of wrinkling almost shut in the merriest
+fashion. He balanced upon the slippery surface of the waterway
+with the stream up to his ankles.
+
+"Will you promise not to whisk yourself away if I look down?" he
+asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+But even with this assurance he found it difficult to remove his
+eyes from her even for the brief instant necessary for a safe
+passage; and when at last he stood beside her he felt an
+irresistible desire to seize her gently so that she could not
+escape.
+
+"Well?" she said at length, and he found he had been standing
+stock-still staring at her for several seconds.
+
+"Excuse me! I really took you for a wood-nymph. I'm not sure yet--
+you see the place is so well suited. It--it was a natural
+mistake."
+
+She dropped her eyes shyly and turned away at his look.
+
+"It is only our swimming-pool. There have been no fairies here
+since I was a very little girl. But once upon a time there were
+many--oh, a great many." It was impossible to describe the odd,
+sweet sound her tongue gave to the English words. It was not a
+dialect, hardly an accent, just a delicious, hesitating mannerism
+born of unfamiliarity.
+
+"Did you ever see them?"
+
+"N-no! I arrived always a little too late. But there are such
+things."
+
+He nodded. "Everybody knows that since 'Peter Pan.'"
+
+Another shy glance told her that he was still regarding her with
+his look of wondering admiration. She pointed to a path, saying:
+
+"This way will bring you to the road, sir, if you wish."
+
+"But--I don't wish--not yet." He sought wildly for an excuse to
+stay, and exclaimed: "Oh, the orchid. I must get it for you."
+
+"That will be very nice of you, sir. For two years I have awaited
+its blooming. If you had not arrived I would have got it, anyhow."
+
+"Girls shouldn't climb trees," he said, severely. "It tears their
+dresses."
+
+"Oh, one cannot tear a dress like this." She glanced down at her
+skirt. Allowing his eyes to leave her face for a moment, Kirk saw
+that she was clad, oddly enough, in a suit of denim, which was
+buttoned snugly clear to her neck. It struck him as most
+inappropriate, yet it was extremely well made, and he could not
+complain of the effect.
+
+He broke his gun and removed the shells; then, leaving it beside
+the bath-house, went to the tree where he had first seen her. With
+one hand resting upon the trunk, he turned to say:
+
+"Promise you won't disappear while I'm up there, or change into a
+squirrel, or a bird, or anything like that."
+
+"What a funny man you are!"
+
+"Do you promise?"
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+"Do you live around here?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"Why do you want this orchid?"
+
+"To put it in the house."
+
+Instead of beginning his climb, the young man lounged idly against
+the tree.
+
+"Funny how I found you, wasn't it?" he remarked. "I mean it's
+funny I should have stumbled right on you this way--there's only
+one of you and one of me, and--er--this country is so big! I might
+have gone some other way and then perhaps we'd never have met." He
+contemplated this contingency for an instant. "And if you hadn't
+spoken I'd never have seen you, either."
+
+"But I had to speak. You could not cross above."
+
+"Awfully nice of you. Some people would have let me go away."
+
+"But the orchid, senor. Do you fear to climb so high?" she
+inquired, with the faintest gleam of amusement at his obvious
+effort to prolong the conversation.
+
+"Oh no!"
+
+He cast about for something further to talk about, but, failing to
+find it, began slowly to clamber upward, supporting himself upon
+the natural steps afforded by the twining vine and the
+protuberances of the trunk itself.
+
+When he had reached the first fork, he turned and seated himself
+comfortably, peering downward through the leaves for a sight of
+her.
+
+"Not gone yet!" he exclaimed. "That's good."
+
+"Are you out of breath that you stop so soon?"
+
+He nodded. "I need to rest a minute. Say, my name is Anthony--Kirk
+Anthony." Then, after a pause, "I'm an American."
+
+"So am I, at least I am almost. My mother was an American."
+
+"You don't say!" The young man's face lighted up with interest,
+and he started eagerly down the tree-trunk, but she checked him
+promptly.
+
+"The orchid!"
+
+"Oh yes!" He reseated himself. "Well, well, I suppose your mother
+taught you to speak English?"
+
+"I also attended school in Baltimore."
+
+Anthony dangled his legs from his perch and brushed aside a
+troublesome prickly pod that depended in such a position as to
+tickle his neck. "I'm from Yale. Ever been to New Haven? What are
+you laughing at?"
+
+"At you. Do you know what it is which you are fighting from your
+neck?"
+
+"This?" Kirk succeeded in locating the nettle that had annoyed
+him.
+
+"Yes. It is cow-eetch. Wait! By-and-by you will scratch like
+everything." The young lady laughed with the most mischievous,
+elf-like enjoyment of this prospect.
+
+"All right. Just for that, I will wait."
+
+Now that the first surprise of meeting was over, Kirk began a
+really attentive scrutiny of this delightful young person. So far
+he had been conscious of little except her eyes, which had
+exercised a most remarkable effect upon him from the first. He had
+never cared for black eyes--they were too hard and sparkling, as a
+rule--but these--well, he had never seen anything quite like them.
+They were large and soft and velvety, like--like black pansies!
+That was precisely what they were, saucy, wide-awake black
+pansies, the most beautiful flower in all creation; and, while
+they were shadowed by the intangible melancholy of the tropics,
+they were also capable of twinkling in the most roguish manner
+imaginable, as at the present moment. Her hair was soft and fine,
+entirely free from the harsh lustre so common to that shade, and
+it grew down upon her temples in a way that completed the perfect
+oval of her face. His first glimpse had told him she was
+ravishingly pretty, but it had failed to show how dainty and small
+she was. He saw now that she was considerably below the usual
+height, but so perfectly proportioned that one utterly lost
+perspective. Even her thick, coarse dress could not conceal the
+exquisite mould in which she was cast. But her chief charm lay in
+a certain winsome vivacity, a willful waywardness, an ever-
+changing expression which showed her keenly alive and
+appreciative. Even now pure mischief looked out of her eyes as she
+asked:
+
+"Have you rested enough to attack the orchid?"
+
+"Yes." He roused himself from his trance, and with a strangely
+leaping heart proceeded carefully to detach the big air plant from
+its resting-place. The wonderful flower, nodding to his touch, was
+no more perfect than this dryad whom he had surprised.
+
+"Don't break it," she cautioned as he came gingerly down the tree.
+"It is what we call 'Espiritu Santa,' the 'Holy Spirit' flower.
+See, it is like a white bird."
+
+"First one I've seen," he said, noting how the purity of the bloom
+enhanced the olive of her cheek. Then he began another fruitless
+search for a topic of conversation, fearing that if he allowed the
+slightest pause she would send him away. But all his thoughts were
+of her, it seemed. His tongue would frame nothing but eager
+questions--all about herself. At last in desperation he
+volunteered to get another orchid; but the suggestion met with no
+approval. There were no more, she told him, of that kind.
+
+"Maybe we can find one," he said, hopefully.
+
+"Thank you. I know them all." She was looking at him now as if
+wondering why he did not make a start, but wild horses could not
+have dragged him away. Instead of picking up his gun, he inquired:
+
+"May I rest a moment? I'm awfully tired."
+
+"Certainly. You may stay as long as you wish. When you are rested
+the little path will bring you out."
+
+"But you mustn't go!" he exclaimed, in a panic, as she turned
+away. "Oh, I say, please! You wouldn't do a thing like that?"
+
+"I cannot speak to you this way, sir." The young lady blushed
+prettily.
+
+"Why not, I'd like to know?"
+
+"Oh!" She raised her hand and shook her head to express the
+absolute impossibility of such a thing. "Already I have been
+terrible. What will Stephanie say?"
+
+"You've been nothing of the sort, and who is Stephanie?"
+
+"She is a big black woman--very fierce. It is because of Stephanie
+that the fairies have gone away from here."
+
+"If we wait a minute, maybe they'll come out."
+
+"No. I have waited many times and I never saw them."
+
+"Somehow I feel sure we'll see 'em this time," he urged. Then, as
+she shook her head doubtfully: "Good heavens! Don't you want to
+see 'em? I'm so tired that I must sit down."
+
+The corners of her eyes wrinkled as she said, "You are not very
+strong, senor. Have you been ill?"
+
+"Yes--no. Not exactly." He led her to a bamboo bench beside the
+palm hut. "I've been hunting. Now won't you please tell me how you
+chanced to be here? I thought these country places were unoccupied
+at this season."
+
+"So they are. But, you see, I am doing a penance."
+
+"Penance! You?"
+
+"Oh yes. And it is nothing to laugh about, either," she chided, as
+he smiled incredulously, "I am a bad girl; I am disobedient.
+Otherwise I would not allow you to speak to me alone like this.
+You are the first gentleman I have ever been so long in the
+company with, Senor Antonio."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Now I will have to do more penance." She sighed sadly, but her
+eyes were dancing.
+
+"I don't understand this penance affair. What do you do?"
+
+She lifted a fold of her coarse denim dress. "For six months I
+must wear these garments--no pretty ones. I must not go out in
+public also, and I have been sent here away from the city for a
+time to cure my rebellious spirit."
+
+"Those dresses must be hot."
+
+"Oh, very uncomfortable! But, you see, I was bad."
+
+"Not very bad?"
+
+"Indeed. I disobeyed my father, my uncle, everybody." For the
+first time her eyes grew bright with anger. "But I did not wish to
+be married."
+
+"Now, I see. They wanted you to marry some fellow you don't like?"
+
+"I do like him--"
+
+"You did exactly right to refuse. By all means stand pat, and
+don't--"
+
+"'Stand pat.' I have not heard that word since I was in
+Baltimore."
+
+"It's awful to marry somebody you don't like," he declared, with
+such earnest conviction that she inquired, quickly:
+
+"Ah, then are you married?"
+
+"No! But everybody says it's positively criminal to marry without
+love."
+
+"The gentleman is very handsome."
+
+He shuddered, "Beware of handsome men. If you have any idea of
+marriage, select a large, plain man with blue eyes and light
+hair."
+
+"I do not know such a person."
+
+"Not yet, of course; that is, not well enough to marry him."
+
+"It is not nice to speak of such things," said the young lady,
+primly. "And it is not nice also to speak with strange gentlemen
+who come out of the forest when one is doing penance. But I am a
+half American, you know. Perhaps that is what makes me so bad."
+
+"Will you catch it for talking to me?"
+
+"Oh yes. It is not allowed. It is most improper."
+
+"Then I suppose I'd better leave." Anthony settled himself more
+comfortably upon the bench. "And yet there is nothing really wrong
+about it, is there? Why, it's done every day in my country.
+Besides, who's going to know?"
+
+"The padre. I tell him everything."
+
+"You girls down here have a pretty tough time of it; you are
+guarded pretty closely, aren't you?"
+
+She gave him a puzzled look.
+
+"I mean, you don't have any liberty. You don't go out alone, or
+let fellows take you to lunch, or to the matinee, or anything like
+that?"
+
+Evidently the mere mention of such things was shocking. "Oh,
+senor," she cried, incredulously, "such terrible actions cannot be
+permitted even in your country. It is awful to think of!"
+
+"Nonsense! It's done every day."
+
+"Here it would not do at all. One's people know best about such
+things. One must be careful at all times. But you Americans are so
+wicked!"
+
+"How does a fellow ever get acquainted with a girl down here? How
+does he get a chance to propose?"
+
+But this frank questioning on so sacred a topic was a little more
+than the young lady was prepared to meet, and for the moment
+confusion held her tongue-tied.
+
+"One's people attend to that, of course," she managed to say, at
+length, then changed the subject quickly.
+
+"Do you live in Panama?" she asked.
+
+"Yes. I work on the railroad, or will, in a few days."
+
+"You are so young for such authority. It must be very difficult to
+manage railroads."
+
+"Well--I won't have to run the whole works--at first. I'm
+beginning gradually, you know--one train at a time."
+
+"That will be easier, of course. What did you say is your whole
+name?"
+
+"Kirk Anthony."
+
+"Keerk! It has a fonny sound, has it not?"
+
+"I never noticed it. And yours?"
+
+"Do you speak Spanish?" She regarded him curiously.
+
+"Not a word."
+
+"My name is Chiquita."
+
+He repeated it after her. "It's pretty. What is your last name?"
+
+"That is it. If I told you my first name, you could not use it; it
+would not be proper."
+
+"It ought to be something like Ariel. That means 'spirit of the
+air and water,' I believe. Ariel Chiquita. No, they don't go
+together. What are you laughing at?"
+
+"To see you scratch your neck."
+
+Anthony became conscious of a growing sensation where the strange
+pod had dangled against his skin, and realized that he had been
+rubbing the spot for some time.
+
+"You did not know it was the cow-nettle, eh?"
+
+"You enjoy seeing me suffer," he said, patiently.
+
+"You do not soffer," she retorted, mimicking his tone. "You only
+eetch! You wish me to sympathize."
+
+"See here, Miss Chiquita, may I call on you?"
+
+"Oh!" She lifted her brows in amazement. "Such ideas! Of a
+certainly not."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"You do not onderstand. Our young men do not do those things."
+
+"Then I'll do whatever is customary--really I will, but--I'm
+awfully anxious to see you again--and--'
+
+"I do not know you--My father--"
+
+"I'll look up Mr. Chiquita and be introduced."
+
+At this the young lady began to rock back and forth in an abandon
+of merriment. The idea, it seemed, was too utterly ridiculous for
+words. Her silvery laughter filled the glade and caused the
+jealous waterfall to cease its music.
+
+"No, no," she said, finally. "It is impossible. Besides, I am
+doing penance. I can see no one. In the city I cannot even sit
+upon the balcony." She fetched a palpably counterfeit sigh, which
+ended in a titter.
+
+Never had Kirk beheld such a quaintly mischievous, such a madly
+tantalizing creature.
+
+"Say! You're not really going to marry that fellow!" he exclaimed,
+with considerable fervor.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders wearily. "I suppose so. One cannot
+forever say no, and there are many reasons--"
+
+"Oh, that's the limit. You'll go nutty, married to a chap you
+don't care for."
+
+"But I am naughty, now."
+
+"Not 'naughty'--nutty. You'll be perfectly miserable. There ought
+to be a law against it. Let me call and talk it over, at least. I
+know all about marriage--I've been around so many married people.
+Promise?"
+
+"I cannot let you 'call,' as you say. Besides, for two weeks yet I
+must remain here alone with Stephanie." She regarded him
+mournfully. "Every day I must do my penance, and think of my sins,
+and--perhaps look for orchids."
+
+He saw the light that flickered in the depths of her velvet eyes,
+and his heart pounded violently at the unspoken invitation.
+
+"To-morrow?" he inquired, breathlessly. "Do you intend to hunt
+orchids to-morrow?"
+
+Instead of answering she started to her feet with a little cry,
+and he did likewise. Back of them had sounded an exclamation--it
+was more like the snort of a wild animal than a spoken word--and
+there, ten feet away, stood a tall, copper-colored negress, her
+eyes blazing, her nostrils dilated, a look of utmost fury upon her
+face. She was fully as tall as Kirk, gaunt, hook-nosed, and
+ferocious. About her head was bound a gaudy Barbadian head-dress,
+its tips erect like startled ears, increasing the wildness of her
+appearance.
+
+"Stephanie!" exclaimed the girl. "You frightened me."
+
+The negress strode to her, speaking rapidly in Spanish, then
+turned upon Kirk.
+
+"What do you want here?" she cried, menacingly. She had thrust her
+charge behind her and now pierced him with her eyes.
+
+"Miss Chiquita--" he began, at which that young lady broke into
+another peal of silvery laughter and chattered to her servant. But
+her words, instead of placating the black woman, only added to her
+fury. She pointed with quivering hand to the path along the creek-
+bank and cried:
+
+"Go! Go quick, you man!" Then to her charge: "You bad, BAD! Go to
+the house."
+
+"Miss Chiquita hasn't done anything to make you huffy. I came out
+of the woods yonder and she was good enough to direct me to the
+road."
+
+But Stephanie was not to be appeased. She stamped her flat foot
+and repeated her command in so savage a tone that Kirk perceived
+the uselessness of trying to explain. He looked appealingly at the
+girl, but she merely nodded her head and motioned him to be gone.
+
+"Very well," he said, regretfully. "Thank you for your assistance,
+miss." He bowed to the little figure in blue with his best manner
+and took up his gun. "This way out! No crowding, please."
+
+"Adios, Senor Antonio," came the girl's mischievous voice, and as
+he strode down the path he carried with him the memory of a
+perfect oval face smiling at him past the tragic figure of the
+Bajan woman. He went blindly, scarcely aware of the sun-mottled
+trail his feet were following, for his wits were a-flutter and his
+heart was leaping to some strange intoxication that grew with
+every instant.
+
+It threatened to suffuse him, choke him, rob him of his senses; he
+wanted to cry out. Her name was Chiquita. He repeated it over and
+over in time to his steps. Was there ever such a beautiful name?
+Was there ever such a ravishing little wood-sprite? And her sweet,
+hesitating accent that rang in his ears! How could human tongue
+make such caressing music of the harshest language on the globe?
+She had called him "Senor Antonio," and invited him to come again
+to-morrow. Would he come? He doubted his ability to wait so long.
+Knowing that she agreed to the tryst, no power on earth could
+deter him.
+
+What a day it had been! He had started out in the morning, vaguely
+hoping to divert his mind with some of those trite little
+happenings that for lack of a better term we call adventures in
+this humdrum world. And then, with the miraculous, unbelievable
+luck of youth, he had stumbled plump into the middle of the most
+wondrous adventure it was possible to conceive. And yet this
+wasn't adventure, after all--it was something bigger, finer, more
+precious. With a suddenness that was blinding he realized that he
+was in love! Yes, that was it, beyond the shadow of a doubt. This
+mischief-ridden, foreign-born little creature was the one and only
+woman in the world for whom the fates had made him and brought him
+across two oceans.
+
+That evening he sat for a long time alone on the gallery of his
+hotel, his spirit uplifted with the joy of it, a thousand
+whispering voices in his ears. And when at last he fell asleep it
+was to dream of an olive, oval face with eyes like black pansies.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE PATH THAT LED NOWHERE
+
+
+When "Senor Antonio" awoke the next morning he lay for an instant
+striving to recall what it was that had haunted his sleeping
+hours, what great event awaited him. Then, as it rushed through
+his mind, he leaped out of bed and dashed headlong into the bath-
+room. This was to-morrow! It had been ages in coming--he recalled
+how even his slumbers had dragged--but it was here at last, and he
+would see Chiquita.
+
+He sang as he stepped under his shower, and whistled blithely as
+he dressed himself. What a glorious country this Panama was,
+anyhow! How good it was to be young and to be in love! He never
+had been so happy. A man must be in love to sing before breakfast.
+But the afternoon was still a long way off, and he must be content
+to dream until the hour came.
+
+He was too early for the Cortlandts, and he breakfasted alone.
+When he strolled out upon the veranda for his smoke he found Allan
+waiting for him, as usual. The Jamaican had not missed a morning
+so far, and it was only by a show of downright firmness that Kirk
+had been able to get rid of him at any time during the day. The
+black boy seemed bent upon devoting his every waking hour to his
+hero, and now, finding himself regarded with friendly eyes, he
+expanded joyously.
+
+"Got you some games yesterday?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes. And I'm going again to-day."
+
+"Plenty games over yonder is, but it is very fatiguing to get
+them. To-day I go along for showing you the way."
+
+"Not a bit like it. I'm going alone."
+
+"Oh no, boss!"
+
+"Oh yes, boss! I accidentally shot the last man I hunted with--
+killed him." Kirk stared tragically at his companion, but Allan
+was not to be so easily deterred.
+
+"I shall pahss behind you, boss."
+
+"I'd love to have you, of course--but I'm too careless."
+
+"Praise God, you must not go h'alone in that case, or something
+will befall you! I shall h'imitate the birds and call them out
+before you to fire at."
+
+"Fire AT! I don't fire at things, I hit 'em."
+
+"Yes, sar. In that case we shall procure plenty of games."
+
+"See here! I'm going alone, understand? I have an engagement with
+a Naiad."
+
+"'Ow much a month will you be getting for such h'engagements?"
+
+"Naiads don't pay in money, they give you smiles and kind words."
+
+"Better you continue then as train collector. There is great
+h'opportunity for stealing."
+
+"My job won't be ready for a few days, and meanwhile I have become
+a huntsman. I intend to go out every afternoon."
+
+"H'afternoons is no good for wild h'animals; they are sleeping.
+Walk they in the h'early morning, for the most part, very
+quietly."
+
+"That's true of some wood creatures, but the kind I hunt dance
+along the edges of pools in the afternoon. Say, did you ever feel
+like dancing?"
+
+"No, sar."
+
+"Come around on the back porch and I'll teach you a buck-step. I
+feel too good to sit still."
+
+But Allan refused this proffer firmly. Such frivolous conduct was
+beneath his dignity.
+
+"I 'ave h'important things to disclose," he said, mysteriously.
+
+"Indeed."
+
+"Yes, sar. Last night I dreamed."
+
+"You've got nothing on me; so did I."
+
+"I am walking on the h'edge of the h'ocean when I h'encountered a
+whale--a 'uge whale."
+
+"Swam ashore to rest, I suppose?"
+
+"No, sar; he was dead. It was very vivid."
+
+"Well, what has a vivid dead whale to do with me?"
+
+"This!" Allan brought forth a sheet of paper, which he unfolded
+carefully. "There is the number--the 'fish number,' sar."
+
+"Why, this is a Chinese lottery advertisement."
+
+"I got it for the very purpose. It would pay us to h'invest some
+money on the 'fish number.'"
+
+"Nonsense! I don't believe in dreams. You say yourself they are
+false."
+
+"Never such a dream as this, boss. It was very vivid."
+
+"I've got no money."
+
+Allan folded the paper disconsolately and thrust it into his
+pocket. "It is fartunate h'indeed," said he, "that you will be
+working soon, Master h'Auntony. And those P. R. R. was very
+fartunate also for getting you to h'accept a position, very
+fartunate h'indeed."
+
+"Do you think I will raise the standard of efficiency?"
+
+"Most of those railroad persons are vile people. They threw me
+h'off the train with such violence that my joints are very stiff
+and h'inflamed. I should h'enjoy being boss over them for a
+while."
+
+"Why don't you ask for a job?"
+
+"I have decided to do so, and I am asking you now for an
+h'engagement as brakesman."
+
+"I can't hire you. Go to the office."
+
+"Probably there are h'already brakesmen on your train."
+
+"I have no doubt."
+
+"In that case I shall ride with you as private person."
+
+"Ride back and forth every day?"
+
+"Those are my h'expectations, sar."
+
+"That costs money."
+
+"You will be collector," remarked the negro, calmly. "I should
+like to see those train people h'expel me, in that case."
+
+"Well! I can see trouble ahead for one of us," laughed Anthony.
+"They don't allow 'dead-heads.'"
+
+But Allan replied with unshaken confidence: "Then you should
+secure for me a pahss."
+
+Kirk found it extremely difficult to escape from his persistent
+shadow that afternoon, and he succeeded only after a display of
+armed resistance.
+
+It was the hottest part of the day when he set out, gun on arm,
+yet he never thought of the discomfort. After skirting the city,
+he swung into the fine macadam road that had brought him home the
+night before, and much sooner than he expected he arrived at the
+little path that led into the forest. He knew that he was
+trespassing again, and the knowledge added to his delight. As
+quickly as possible he lost himself in the grateful shade and
+followed the stream-bank with beating heart. His head was full of
+vague hopes and plans. He meant to learn the true story of Miss
+Chiquita's penance and find some means of winning her away from
+that other lover, of whom he had already thought more than once.
+He determined to make his love known without delay and establish
+himself as a regular suitor.
+
+As upon the previous day, he broke into the glade before he
+suspected its presence, to find the same golden light-beams
+flickering in the shadowed depths and to hear the little waterfall
+chuckling at his surprise. There was the tree from which she had
+called to him, yonder the bench where they had sat together.
+
+Of course, he was too early--he wanted to be, in order not to miss
+an instant of her company, so he seated himself and dreamed about
+her. The minutes dragged, the jungle drowsed. An hour passed. A
+thousand fresh, earthy odors breathed around him, and he began to
+see all sorts of flowers hidden away in unsuspected places. From
+the sunlit meadows outside came a sound of grazing herds, the deep
+woods faintly echoed the harsh calls of tropic birds, but at the
+pool itself a sleepy silence brooded.
+
+Once a chattering squirrel came bravely rustling through the
+branches to the very edge of the enchanted bower, but he only sat
+and stared a moment in seeming admiration, then retreated quietly.
+A yellow-beaked toucan, in a flash of red and black and gold,
+settled upon a mirrored limb; but it, too, stilled its raucous
+tongue and flitted away on noiseless pinions as if the Naiads were
+asleep.
+
+In the moist earth beside the bench Anthony saw the print of a
+dainty boot, no longer than his palm, and he promptly fell into a
+rhapsody. What tiny hands and feet she had, to be sure, and such a
+sweetly melancholy face! Yet she was anything but grave and
+gloomy. Why, the sunlight dancing on that waterfall was no more
+mischievous and merry than she. The slight suggestion of sadness
+she conveyed was but the shadow of the tropic mystery or the
+afterglow of the tragedy that had played so large a part in this
+country's history. The fact that she was half American perhaps
+accounted for her daring, yet, whatever the other strain, it could
+not be ignoble. Mrs. Cortlandt's figure of the silver threads in a
+rotting altar-cloth recurred to him with peculiar force.
+
+But why didn't she come? A sudden apprehension overtook him, which
+grew and grew as the afternoon wore away.
+
+It was a very miserable young man who wandered out through the
+fragrant path, as the first evening shadows settled, and bent his
+dejected steps toward the city. Evidently something had occurred
+to prevent her keeping her tryst, but he determined to return on
+the morrow, and then if she did not come to follow that other path
+right up to the house, where he would risk everything for a word
+with her. He wondered if she had stayed away purposely to test
+him, and the thought gave him a thrill. If so, she would soon
+learn that he was in earnest; she would find him waiting there
+every afternoon and--after all, why confine himself to the
+afternoon when she was just as likely to appear in the morning? He
+resolved to go hunting earlier hereafter, and give the whole day
+to it. Meanwhile, he would make cautious inquiries.
+
+It was considerably after dark when he reached the hotel, and his
+friends had dined; but he encountered Mr. Cortlandt later. If
+Edith's husband suspected anything of what had occurred a night or
+two ago, his countenance gave no sign of it. For some reason or
+other, Kirk had not been troubled in the slightest by the thought
+that Cortlandt might be told. He could not imagine Edith making
+him the confidant of her outraged feelings. Besides, would such a
+strangely impassive person resent any little indiscretion in which
+his wife might choose to indulge? Kirk did not know--the man was a
+puzzle to him.
+
+Cortlandt's voice was thoroughly non-committal as he inquired:
+
+"Where have you been keeping yourself?"
+
+"I've been hunting, to kill time."
+
+"Any luck?"
+
+"No, none at all. I started too late, I guess."
+
+"By-the-way," continued the other, "your friend Allan has been
+besieging Edith, imploring her to use her influence to get him a
+position. He has set his heart upon going to work with you."
+
+"He is becoming a positive nuisance. I can't get rid of him."
+
+"I never saw such hero-worship."
+
+"Oh, all niggers are hysterical."
+
+"Let me give you a bit of advice, Anthony. Remember there are no
+'niggers' and 'whites' in this country--they are both about equal.
+The President of the republic is a black man, and a very good one,
+too."
+
+"That reminds me. I hear he is to be succeeded by the father of my
+friend, Alfarez."
+
+Cortlandt hesitated. "General Alfarez is a candidate. He is a very
+strong man, but--"
+
+"I am glad there is a 'but.'"
+
+"It isn't settled, by any means. The successful candidate will
+need the support of our government."
+
+"I suppose the Alfarez family is one of the first settlers--
+Mayflower stock?"
+
+"Oh, worse than that. The name runs back to Balboa's time. General
+Alfarez is very rich, and very proud of his ancestry. That is one
+thing that makes him so strong with the people."
+
+"What are some of the other leading families?" Kirk artfully
+inquired.
+
+"There are a number. The Martinezes, the Moras, the Garavels--I
+couldn't name them all. They are very fine people, too."
+
+"Do you know the Chiquitas?"
+
+Cortlandt's face relaxed in an involuntary smile.
+
+"There is no such family. Who has been teaching you Spanish?"
+
+"Really, isn't there?"
+
+"'Chiquita' means 'very small,' 'little one,' 'little girl,' or
+something like that. It's not a family name, it's a term of
+endearment, usually."
+
+Kirk remembered now how the girl's eyes had danced when she asked
+him if he spoke her language. It was just like her to tease him,
+and yet what a pretty way to conceal her identity!
+
+"What made you take it for a proper name?"
+
+"A-a little girl told me."
+
+"Oh, naturally. All children are 'Chiquitas' or 'Chiquitos'--
+everything, in fact, that is a pet."
+
+Kirk felt somewhat uncomfortable under the older man's gaze of
+quiet amusement.
+
+"But these other families," he went on in some confusion--"I mean
+the ones like those you just mentioned--they sometimes intermarry
+with Americans, don't they?"
+
+"No, not the better class. There have been a few instances, I
+believe, but for the most part they keep to themselves."
+
+"How would a fellow set about meeting the nice people."
+
+"He wouldn't. He would probably live here indefinitely and never
+see the inside of a Panamanian house."
+
+"But there must be some way," the young man exclaimed in
+desperation. "There must be dances, parties--"
+
+"Of course, but Americans are not invited. The men are easy to get
+acquainted with, charming, courteous, gentlemanly, but I dare say
+you will leave Panama without so much as meeting their wives or
+sisters. But why this consuming curiosity? Has some senorita
+struck your fancy?"
+
+In spite of his effort to appear unconcerned, Kirk felt that he
+looked abominably self-conscious. Without waiting for a reply,
+Cortlandt continued to give him information as if he enjoyed it.
+
+"I suppose one reason why so few Americans marry Panamanians is
+that our men like at least to get acquainted with their brides
+before marriage, and that is impossible in this country. A man
+never sees a girl alone, you know. When he calls to court her he
+wooes the whole family, who vote on him, so to speak. That doesn't
+appeal to us who originated the mother-in-law joke. There aren't
+many Northern chaps who would consent to select a wife by pointing
+her out like a bolt of calico on a top shelf."
+
+Kirk suddenly realized to the full how egregious his request to
+call must have appeared to the Spanish girl. What a fool he had
+been, to be sure! For a moment he lost himself in a contemplation
+of the difficulties so unexpectedly presented. He was brought to
+himself by the words:
+
+"--to-morrow you will go to work."
+
+"What's that?" he broke forth in a panic. "I can't go to work to-
+morrow; I'm going hunting."
+
+Cortlandt eyed him curiously.
+
+"I didn't say to-morrow. I said Runnells 'phoned that he would be
+ready for you day after to-morrow. What is the matter with you?
+Have you lost your head over shooting, or don't you care to work?"
+
+"Oh, neither," he said, hastily. "I merely misunderstood you. Of
+course, the sooner the better."
+
+"Yes, as you say, the sooner the better," said Cortlandt, with a
+shade of meaning. "Well, good-night, and good-luck to you in your
+shooting!"
+
+It was with much less self-assurance that Kirk set out again on
+the next morning, for this was his last day of grace, and he
+realized that unless he accomplished something definite it might
+be a considerable time before he could continue his quest. In view
+of what the girl had said regarding her engagement, delays seemed
+particularly dangerous.
+
+He haunted the vicinity of the meeting-place all the morning, but
+no one came, and a heavy shower at midday drove him into the palm-
+thatched hut for shelter. When it had passed he put an end to his
+indecision and boldly took the other path. At least he would find
+out where she lived and who she was. But once again he was
+disappointed. The trail led out through the grove to the rain-
+drenched pasture, where it disappeared, and, instead of one house,
+he saw three, half hidden in foliage and all facing in the
+opposite direction. They stood upon the crest of a hill fronting
+the road, and he realized that the pool might be the bathing-place
+for the inmates of one or all of them.
+
+Up past the grazing stock he went and around to the front of the
+nearest residence, which proved to be a low, rambling, bungalow
+affair with many outhouses smothered in a profusion of vines and
+fruit-trees. Evidently it was unoccupied, for heavy wooden
+shutters barricaded the windows, and no one answered his knock,
+although some pigeons perched upon the tile roof cooed at him in a
+friendly manner. He struck across lots to the next house, but met
+with no better success, and he approached the third dwelling with
+a certain hesitation, for it was his last chance. It was more
+pretentious than the rest, and stood proudly upon the highest
+point of the ridge, up which ran a private road guarded by twin
+rows of stately royal palms, whose perfectly rounded trunks seemed
+to have been turned upon some giant lathe. The house itself was
+large, square, and double-galleried. It was shaded by lofty hard-
+wood trees and overlooked a sort of formal garden, now badly in
+need of care. The road was of shell, and where it entered the
+grounds passed through a huge iron gate suspended upon concrete
+pillars. The whole place had an air of wealth and exclusiveness.
+
+Here, too, the windows stared at him blindly, and he saw no
+evidence of occupation; yet he advanced and pounded vigorously on
+the door. Failing to rouse any one, he paused to take a general
+view of the surroundings. Scattered upon every side were other
+winter homes, some bleaching nakedly in the open, others peeping
+out from luxuriant groves, some mean and poor, others really
+beautiful and impressive. He knew that he was in the heart of
+Panama's exclusive winter colony, where her wealthy residents came
+to avoid the heat.
+
+Unwilling to acknowledge himself beaten, he plodded from one place
+to another, calling at all the nearest houses, finding most of
+them locked, and begging a glass of water where he chanced to be
+more fortunate. Nowhere did he see the girl or the Barbadian
+woman, nowhere did he receive an intelligible answer to his
+questions. The caretakers looked upon him with suspicion, and made
+it known that he was unwelcome, while their women retreated at
+sight of him. Even the children were unfriendly. Once, indeed, he
+heard the name that had been ringing so steadily in his ears, and
+it gave him a wild thrill until he discovered that it was only a
+negress calling to her child. Afterward it seemed that he heard it
+everywhere. On his disconsolate journey home it was spoken twenty
+times, being applied indifferently to dogs, cats, parrots, and
+naked youngsters, each mention causing him to start and listen.
+
+Whether the girl had been playing with him, or whether she had
+been prevented from keeping her word, was of little moment now. He
+loved her and he intended to have her! He shut his teeth grimly
+and made a vow to find her if he had to invade every home in Las
+Savannas, or pull apart the walls of Panama.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+ALIAS JEFFERSON LOCKE
+
+
+It was fortunate for Kirk, on the whole, that his last expedition
+had proved a failure, for his methods were none of the most
+discreet; and it was as well, perhaps, that his work on the
+railroad intervened to prevent further wild incursions.
+
+He was detailed to ride No. 2, which left Panama at 6.35,
+returning on No. 7, which arrived at 7.00 P.M. For a few days he
+made the run in company with the train collector, whose position
+he was destined to fill; and, as the duties were by no means
+difficult, he quickly mastered them. He had quarters assigned to
+him, and regretfully took leave of his luxurious room and bath at
+the Tivoli. He also donned cap and linen uniform, and became an
+insignificant, brass-tagged unit in the army of Canal workers.
+Ordinarily he would have resented this loss of individuality, but
+the novelty of the thing appealed to him, and he brought a great
+good-nature to his work, deriving sufficient amusement from it to
+prevent it from growing tiresome.
+
+For a time it offended his fastidious taste to be forced to elbow
+his way through superheated coaches jammed with shrieking,
+cackling, incoherent negroes. They were all utterly hysterical,
+and apparently possessed but one stubborn idea--to refuse payments
+of fares. But in time he grew to enjoy even this.
+
+He was glad of his new-found independence, moreover, for, though
+it did not cancel his obligation to the Cortlandts, it made him
+feel it less keenly. As for his quarters, they were quite
+tolerable--about the same as he had had at boarding-school, he
+reflected, and the meals were better. They were not quite up to
+Sherry's or Martin's, it was true, but they cost only thirty
+cents, and that had advantages. Certainly he could not complain of
+a lack of incident in his new life. On his first trip to Colon and
+back he had nine disputes and two fights, and threw one man off--a
+record achievement, he was told, for a beginner.
+
+A further diversion was furnished by Allan, who appeared early in
+the morning and all but assaulted the gateman, who refused to let
+him pass without a ticket. It took the entire station force to
+prevent him from starting for Colon as Kirk's guest. He considered
+it a matter of course that his friend should offer him the
+courtesies of the road, and he went away at last, wofully
+disappointed but not discouraged.
+
+On the evening of that eventful day, instead of returning to his
+new quarters, Kirk proceeded to walk the streets in search of a
+certain face. He strolled through the plazas; he idled in front of
+the most pretentious residences; he tramped wearily back and forth
+through dim-lit, narrow streets, gazing up at windows and
+balconies, harkening for the tone of a voice or the sound of a
+girl's laughter. But he was without the slightest success, and it
+was very late when he finally retired, to dream, as usual, of
+Chiquita.
+
+Several days passed, and he began to feel a little dull. He was
+making no progress in his quest, and he did feel the lack of
+congenial society. Then one evening there came a note from Edith
+Cortlandt briefly requesting him to come and see her.
+
+He was a little surprised, yet he was conscious of a certain
+relief. He had not felt like intruding upon her with further
+explanations and apologies; but since she wished him to come--
+perhaps they could meet, after all, in a natural way. He wanted to
+get rid of the wretched misunderstanding that lay between them. If
+he were to leave the country that night never to return, he would
+want to feel that he had parted on good terms with the woman who
+had befriended him.
+
+Promptly at eight o'clock he presented himself.
+
+"I'm a laboring man now," he said, as he stood before her, "and I
+usually hold my cap in my hand and shuffle my feet when talking to
+ladies. Pray excuse my embarrassment."
+
+She did not respond to the lightness of his tone. Her glance
+seemed intended to warn him that she meant to be serious.
+
+"I suppose you are wondering why I sent for you," she remarked,
+after a perceptible interval, and Kirk felt instantly that their
+old relations could not at once be resumed. "I have discovered
+something very important, and I felt that you ought to know."
+
+"Thank you," said Kirk, humbly. "It was very kind."
+
+"You see," she went on, with a certain hesitancy, "you confided
+your story to me so frankly I felt under a certain obligation."
+She made a little dramatic pause. "I've discovered who Jefferson
+Locke is!"
+
+"No! Who is he?" Kirk was instantly all attention, for the
+announcement came as something of a shock. He had almost forgotten
+Locke.
+
+"His real name is Frank Wellar, and he is an absconder. He was a
+broker's clerk in St. Louis, and he made off with something like
+eighty thousand dollars in cash."
+
+"Good heavens!" said Anthony. "How did you find out?"
+
+"A bundle of New York papers--they came to-day."
+
+"Where did they catch him?"
+
+"They haven't caught him. He has disappeared completely--that's
+the strangest part of it. Your detective didn't die, after all."
+
+"He recovered, did he? I'm mighty glad of that."
+
+"Yes, but you aren't out of the woods yet. I can't understand why
+the police haven't discovered your whereabouts. You left New York
+openly under the name of Locke--"
+
+"Perhaps it was so easy they overlooked it." He smiled ruefully.
+I'd hate to be arrested just now when I'm getting to be such a
+good conductor."
+
+"Don't worry about that until the time comes. I'll get you the
+papers later." She showed no immediate intention of rising,
+however, but sat regarding her visitor with slightly heightened
+color. He began to feel embarrassed. It seemed to be his fate to
+receive benefits at this woman's hand, whether he willed it or
+not.
+
+He got to his feet with an effort, and said, looking down upon
+her:
+
+"I must go now; but first I want to make you feel how grateful I
+am for your kindness and for your continued trust in me. I haven't
+deserved it, I know, but--" He turned as if to leave, but faced
+her again as he heard her pronounce his name. He was surprised to
+see that there were tears in her eyes.
+
+"Kirk," she said, "you're an awfully good sort, and I can't stay
+angry with you. Do you know you've made it rather hard for me
+staying away all this time?"
+
+"I thought you never wanted to see me again."
+
+"You shouldn't take so seriously what a woman says under such
+circumstances. It's embarrassing. It makes things seem worse than
+they are." She hesitated, as if to emphasize the difficulty of
+such candor.
+
+Kirk said, gently:
+
+"Does that mean that we can forget all about it and be good
+friends again? Does it mean that you'll forgive me?"
+
+"I can't quite promise that," she answered. "But there is no need
+of your avoiding me; and it's absurd for you to feel as you do,
+that you can't accept any little services from me that might help
+you in your work. I'm still interested in your success."
+
+"You're tremendously good," he answered, really touched. "I can't
+say anything, except that I'll try to be worthy of your kindness."
+
+She gave him a half-distressed look, then smiled brightly.
+
+"We won't talk of it any more," she said--"ever. Now do sit down
+and tell me what you have been doing all this time. How have you
+been getting along with your work?"
+
+"All right, except one morning when I overslept."
+
+"Overslept? Oh, Kirk!" she said, reproachfully.
+
+"You see, I never got up so early before, except to go duck-
+hunting, and this is different. Did you ever try rising at five-
+thirty--in the morning, I mean? You've no idea how it feels. Why,
+it's hardly light! You can't see to brush your teeth! I suggested
+to Runnels that we send No. 2 out at eight-thirty instead of six-
+thirty--that's early enough for anybody--but he didn't seem to
+take kindly to the thought."
+
+"What did he say when you reported?"
+
+"I didn't consider it proper to listen to all he said, so I
+retired gracefully. From what I did hear, however, I gathered that
+he was vaguely offended at something. I tried to explain that I
+had been out late, but it didn't go."
+
+Edith laughed. "Perhaps I'd better telephone him."
+
+"Oh no, you needn't do that."
+
+"But surely you were called in time?"
+
+"Please don't. That's the first thing Runnels yodelled at me when
+I showed up. He's a nice fellow, but he's too serious; he lets
+little things bother him. He'll cool off eventually."
+
+Time passed quickly in such an interchange of pleasant
+trivialities, and, although Kirk felt that he was making an
+unconscionably long call, he could not well leave while his
+hostess seemed bent on detaining him. It was late when he said
+good-night, and, after returning to his quarters, with
+characteristic perversity he proceeded to sit up, smoking
+cigarette after cigarette, while he tried to set his thoughts in
+order. He was grateful to Mrs. Cortlandt, and immensely pleased to
+learn that the man injured in the affair in New York had not died.
+But something must be done about Chiquita. That was the important
+thing now. He wrestled with the problem for a long time in vain.
+He was afraid to go to bed for fear of oversleeping again, and
+decided to stay up until train-time. But at length drowsiness
+overcame him, and for the few remaining hours he dreamed
+lonesomely of an oval face and big, black, velvet eyes.
+
+He did not really miss his rest until the next afternoon, when the
+heat and the monotonous rumble of the train, together with its
+restful swaying, sent him off into a delicious doze, from which he
+was awakened by a brakeman barely in time to escape discovery.
+Thereafter he maintained more regular habits, and while no one but
+the luxury-loving youth himself knew what effort it required to
+cut short his slumbers in their sweetest part, he never missed his
+train, and in time the early hours ceased to be a hardship.
+
+In the days that followed he tried his very best to make good.
+Every evening he had to himself he spent in search of the Spanish
+girl. Aside from his inability to find her, and an occasional
+moment of misgiving at the thought of Frank Wellar, alias
+Jefferson Locke, Kirk had but one worry, and that was caused by
+Allan. Never a day passed that the worshipful black boy did not
+fairly hound him with his attentions; never a nightly journey down
+into the city that Allan did not either accompany him or, failing
+permission to do so, follow him at a safe distance. For a time
+Anthony rebelled at this espionage, but the constant effort of
+refusal grew tiresome after a while, especially as the Jamaican
+did just as he pleased anyhow, and Kirk ended by letting him have
+his way. But this was not all. Allan insisted upon accompanying
+his friend upon his daily runs back and forth across the Isthmus.
+At first he succeeded in slipping past the gateman in some
+miraculous manner, and, once aboard the train, behaved as if free
+from all further responsibility. He made it plain, in fact, that
+he was Anthony's guest and boon companion, and considered the
+exchange of money quite unnecessary, if not even insulting. Day
+after day Kirk argued with him, even threatening to throw him off;
+but Allan ignored the arguments with bland good-nature and looked
+upon the threats as the display of an excruciating sense of humor.
+He continued to visit and to gossip on terms of the closest
+intimacy, and began, moreover, to exercise a certain proprietary
+right over Kirk, following him through the train to see that no
+harm befell him, and seizing the slightest opportunity to engage
+him in conversation.
+
+Anthony explained time after time that there were probably
+spotters on the run, and that this conduct was sure, sooner or
+later, to get them both into trouble. To all of which Allan
+listened attentively and agreed with all earnestness. But the next
+morning invariably found him back again with some excuse.
+
+"I can't h'explain it, chief," he acknowledged, on one occasion.
+"Every day swear I to cease, but it is of no h'avail. Ever you
+been in love with a female, sar?"
+
+"What has that to do with it?"
+
+"It is much the same. I can't h'allow you to leave me. I would die
+and kill myself, but--"
+
+"Rats!"
+
+"Yes, sar. It is very h'annoying, is it not?"
+
+"Do you want me to lose my job?"
+
+"Oh, MON!"
+
+"I'm going to speak to the boss, if you don't let up. I don't want
+to get fired."
+
+"Never mind you, for these h'engagements. I will work for you."
+
+Becoming really concerned lest he should be accused of withholding
+fares, Kirk did speak to Runnels, explaining fully, whereupon a
+watch was set, with the result that on the very next morning Allan
+was chased out of the railroad yards by an unfeeling man with a
+club. Failing for a second time to evade the watchful eyes of the
+gateman, he ranged back and forth beyond the iron fence like a
+captive animal, raising his voice to heaven in weird complaint. He
+was waiting when the train pulled in that evening, glued to the
+iron bars, his eyes showing as white in the gloom as his expansive
+grin of welcome.
+
+For several days this procedure was repeated with variations,
+until the dreadful threat of arrest put an end to it. Allan had
+conceived a wholesome respect for Spiggoty police, and for a few
+days thereafter Kirk was rid of him. Then one morning he
+reappeared as usual in one of the forward coaches.
+
+"How the deuce did you make it?" asked Anthony.
+
+Allan proudly, triumphantly, displayed a ticket, exclaiming:
+
+"It is of no h'avail to prevent me, boss!"
+
+"That ticket is good only to Corozal, the first station. You'll
+have to get off there." But when Corozal had been passed he found
+Allan still comfortably ensconced in his seat.
+
+"Now, boss, we shall have fine visits to-day," the negro
+predicted, warmly, and Kirk did not have the heart to eject him.
+
+At the other end of the line Allan repeated the process, and
+thereafter worked diligently to amass sufficient money to buy
+tickets from Panama to Corozal and from Colon to Mt. Hope, relying
+with splendid faith upon his friend to protect him once he
+penetrated past the lynx-eyed gateman.
+
+Runnels accepted Kirk's explanation, and so far exceeded his
+authority as to make no objection. Allan, therefore, managed to
+spend about half his time in company with the object of his
+adoration.
+
+Although the Master of Transportation never referred to his
+conversation with Kirk on the occasion of their trip through
+Culebra Cut, he watched his new subordinate carefully and he felt
+his instinctive liking for him increase. The young fellow was in
+earnest, he decided, in his effort to succeed on his own merits,
+and had not been posing when he offered to start at the bottom. It
+gave Runnels pleasure to see how he attended to his work, once he
+had settled down to it.
+
+Accordingly, it afforded him an unpleasant surprise when he
+received a printed letter from a St. Louis detective agency
+relative to one Frank Wellar, alias Jefferson Locke (last seen in
+New York City November 25th), and offering a substantial reward
+for information leading to his arrest. The communication reached
+Runnels through the usual channel, copies having been distributed
+to the heads of various departments. It was the description that
+caught his attention:
+
+"White; age, twenty-eight years; occupation, clerk; eyes, bluish
+gray; hair, light, shading upon yellow; complexion, fair; height,
+six feet; weight, one hundred ninety pounds. No prominent scars or
+marks, so far as known, but very particular as to personal
+appearance, and considered a good athlete, having been captain of
+U. of K. football team."
+
+There was but one man in Runnels' department whose appearance
+tallied with all this, and it gave the Master of Transportation a
+start to note how very complete was the identification.
+Nevertheless, he held the letter on his desk, and did nothing for
+a time except to question his new collector upon the first
+occasion. The result was not at all reassuring. A few days later,
+chancing to encounter John Weeks, on his way across the Isthmus,
+he recalled Kirk's mention of his first experience at Colon. By
+way of an experiment he led on the consul to speak of his former
+guest.
+
+"Anthony? Oh yes," wheezed the fat man. "I see you've got him at
+work."
+
+"You and he are friends, I believe. I thought you'd be interested
+to know he's getting on well. In fact, he's the best collector I
+have."
+
+"We're hardly friends," said the consul, cautiously. "I suppose
+he's all right--must be or Cortlandt wouldn't have taken him up;
+but there's something about him I don't understand. Either he's on
+the level, or he's got the nerve of a burglar."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Well, I know he isn't what he claims to be--I have proof. He's no
+more Darwin K. Anthony's son than--"
+
+"Darwin K. Anthony!" exclaimed the railroad man, in amazement.
+"Did he claim that?"
+
+"He did, and he--" The speaker checked himself with admirable
+diplomatic caution. "Say, he's taught me one thing, and that is
+that it doesn't pay to butt into other people's business. I played
+him to lose, and he won; and I got into a fine mess over it."
+Weeks wrinkled his face into a ludicrous expression of mournful
+disgust. "I couldn't pick a winner if there were two horses in the
+race and one of them had a broken leg. Whether his name is Anthony
+or Locke makes no difference to me. I got in 'Dutch' for meddling,
+and Alfarez lost his job for arresting him. It's only a damn fool
+who gets stung twice in the same spot. I'm through."
+
+"You'll get your money. Anthony told me he'd square up on pay-
+day."
+
+Weeks snorted at this. "Why, I've got it already. I've been paid.
+Mrs. Cortlandt sent me her check." He stared at his companion
+curiously. "Funny, isn't it, how I got called down and Ramen
+Alfarez got fired on his account? What does it mean?" He winked
+one red eye in a manner that set Runnels to thinking deeply.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+"8838"
+
+
+For a few days after this conversation the Master of
+Transportation was in doubt as to what course he should pursue. In
+the end he did nothing, and the letter from St. Louis was
+permanently filed away. There were several reasons for this
+action. For one thing, he was a salaried man, and could not afford
+to lose his job. What influenced him most, however, was his
+genuine liking for Anthony. He could not bring himself to attach
+much weight to the suspicious circumstances connected with him.
+Being a man of sufficient courage to back his own judgment, he
+decided that no matter what might have been the past of Frank
+Wellar, alias Jefferson Locke, Kirk Anthony was entitled to
+another chance.
+
+The first thing Kirk did when pay-day came was to enclose the
+greater part of his salary in an envelope and send it to John
+Weeks, with a note explaining that he had withheld only enough for
+his own actual needs, and promising to continue reducing his
+indebtedness by a like amount monthly. He was surprised beyond
+measure to have the remittance promptly returned. The brief letter
+that accompanied it brought him a flush of discomfort. What the
+deuce had made Mrs. Cortlandt do that? For a time he was undecided
+whether to be offended at her conduct or gratified, and he had not
+settled the matter to his satisfaction when he called upon her
+that evening.
+
+"Weeks wrote me you had squared my account with him," he said,
+awkwardly. "I'm tremendously obliged, of course, and--I'll give
+this to you instead of him." He offered her the envelope with his
+pay enclosed.
+
+"Don't be silly, Kirk," she said, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I
+didn't wish Weeks to have any opportunity to talk. You need this
+money and I don't."
+
+"Perhaps I should have offered it to Mr. Cortlandt."
+
+"Stephen knows nothing about the Weeks affair. If you choose to
+regard my little favor as a debt, however, please let it run on
+until you are better able to pay."
+
+But Anthony remained inflexible, and at last she accepted his
+proffer with some impatience.
+
+"You are the most foolish person I ever knew," she remarked.
+"Can't you understand that such obligations don't exist between
+friends? A few dollars mean nothing."
+
+"A few dollars mean a good deal to me just now."
+
+"You have the most disappointing way of receiving favors. I had a
+decent position for you, but you would go to collecting fares. I
+hope you have had enough of it by now, and are ready to take
+something worth while."
+
+"Not until it comes naturally. No hop-skip-and-jump for mine."
+
+Edith sighed. "It is terribly dull for me here at present," she
+said. "Mr. Cortlandt is very busy; I have no one to talk to; no
+one to amuse me. Why, I've scarcely seen you since you went to
+work."
+
+"It is flattering to be missed."
+
+"Will you come to the dance to-morrow night?"
+
+He shook his head.
+
+"The music is good; you will meet some nice people. If you
+remember, one of your qualifications for a position was that you
+are a good waltzer."
+
+"I can't mingle with the 'quality.'"
+
+"Be sensible. This is an invitation."
+
+"I am getting sensible fast. I've learned something about Canal
+conditions. What would people say if Mrs. Stephen Cortlandt were
+seen dancing with the new collector of No. 2?"
+
+"My dear boy, do you suppose Mrs. Stephen Cortlandt cares what
+these people say?"
+
+"Mr. Stephen Cortlandt might."
+
+"Mr. Stephen Cortlandt isn't snobbish, either."
+
+"One has to be on the Canal Zone. Besides, to tell the sordid
+truth, I haven't any clothes."
+
+Edith silently extended the envelope in her hand; but he laughed.
+
+"Perhaps I'll come to the next dance. I'll be rich then. See!" He
+showed her a long slip of paper consisting of five coupons, each
+numbered "8838."
+
+"Lottery tickets!"
+
+He nodded. "Allan had a very particular dream about the number
+eight, so I invested five dollars 'silver' on his hunch. You know
+he has the most wonderful dreams. There was one about a whale--it
+was appallingly vivid."
+
+"But you don't bet on all these miraculous whales and things?"
+
+"Oh no. The whale was a little too much for me. But I thought I'd
+take a chance on the number eight, it didn't seem quite so
+apocryphal."
+
+"But why did you select such a ridiculous combination? It isn't
+likely that the eight will come out three times in four."
+
+"It's the number of my automobile license." Kirk sighed at the
+memory of his new French car. "You don't object to such gambling?"
+
+"Hardly," laughed Edith, "when I have a ticket for the same
+drawing. Every one does it, you know."
+
+"If I win the capital prize I'll come to the next party and claim
+all the dances you will allow me."
+
+"Not much encouragement in that for a lonely lady."
+
+"Oh, I'm the luckiest chap in the world. The drawing comes off
+next Sunday, and it happens that I've been shifted to No. 6 for a
+few trips, so I'll have a chance to see the fun."
+
+"If you were a little less quixotic and weren't so remarkably
+afraid of getting more than your deserts, you could come to all
+these dances."
+
+"I'm sorry," he acknowledged, "but I have to do things in my own
+way."
+
+It was a welcome change for him to sleep as late as he wished on
+Sunday morning, and he enjoyed the privilege to the full. Inasmuch
+as No. 6 did not leave until one o'clock, he had ample time in
+which to witness the lottery drawing, a thing he had been curious
+to see since he had first heard of it. This form of gambling was
+well recognized, it seemed; not only the natives, but all classes
+of Canal Zone workers, engaged in it freely. On every street
+corner women sold tickets day after day, and, as the drawings were
+conducted under rigid government supervision, the lottery had come
+to be regarded as a sort of public institution, quite as reputable
+as an ordinary church raffle.
+
+Allan, vastly excited, was of course waiting to accompany him,
+and, when Kirk had finished a leisurely breakfast, the two
+strolled idly down into the city.
+
+"Oh, boss," exclaimed the negro, "I feel that we shall
+h'experience good-fartune to-day."
+
+"Did you buy a ticket?"
+
+"No, sar, I reinvested all my monies travelling on those railroad
+trains."
+
+"Now see how foolish you are. If you'd stayed at home you might
+have bought the winning number to-day."
+
+"I prefer to h'accompany you. But--I have been thinking to make
+you a proposition of partnership. Master h'Auntony. I will stay
+home and dream numbers which you can purchase with your salary. In
+that manner we shall certainly burst this lottery."
+
+"Oh, I see! You'll sleep while I rustle the coin to play. What's
+your idea of a fair division of the profits?"
+
+"It is sometimes exceedingly fatiguing to dream," said Allan,
+defensively. "Sometimes one wastes an entire day and has no
+success."
+
+"That's merely a question of diet. I could make you dream your
+head off."
+
+"But I do not desire the profits, however, for being partners with
+you. I would like you to have plenty of monies, that is all. I
+love you, sar."
+
+"Don't! You embarrass me."
+
+"It is true, chief, I would die and--"
+
+"Yes, yes, kill yourself."
+
+"I pray to God h'every day that some bad man will h'assault you in
+order that I may die for you." The Jamaican was growing excited,
+as usual when he dwelt upon this subject. "I would h'enjoy to shed
+my blood for you, sar. I would like to see it running--running--
+running--" He waved his arms wildly.
+
+"Don't bleed to death."
+
+"I wish to suffer and scream and groan, so that you will be
+knowing--"
+
+"Never mind. I think I get the idea. But I'm not going to allow
+it, and I'm not going to allow you to dream--you sleep too much as
+it is. Besides, your dreams are no good. Look at that whale dream
+of yours, for instance."
+
+"Oh, sar, the 'fish' number did not win, to be sure, but 'water'
+did."
+
+"But you didn't dream about water, it was about fish, 'vivid'
+fish."
+
+"I did not chance to think of the water," acknowledged Allan, "but
+there was the whale lying upon the h'edge of the h'ocean, h'all
+the time."
+
+The drawing, which was for a capital prize of fifteen thousand
+dollars "silver," had drawn a larger crowd than usual, and when
+the two reached Cathedral Square they found the lottery building
+thronged to overflowing with the usual polyglot elements that make
+up these Latin-American gatherings--negroes, Indians, Panamanians,
+Spaniards, Americans--while in the Plaza itself other groups were
+waiting to hear the report.
+
+By dint of considerable effort Kirk succeeded in working his way
+through the wide double doors, and, being much above the average
+height, he was able to get a good view of the proceedings. Upon a
+platform a group of ceremonious officials were gathered about a
+revolving wire cage, so arranged that it could be whirled rapidly
+upon its axis. Into it were put ten ivory spheres, resembling
+billiard-balls in size and appearance. When this had been done,
+the cage was closed, and a very badly frightened twelve-year-old
+girl was selected at random from the audience, then lifted to the
+stage, where it required the commands and entreaties of her
+excited parents to prevent her from dissolving in tears. At a word
+from the master of ceremonies the cage was spun until the ivory
+balls inside leaped and capered like captive squirrels. Then at
+another signal it was stopped. The door was opened and the little
+girl reached in a trembling hand and selected a sphere. It proved
+to be hollow, with two halves screwed together, and in full sight
+of the assembly it was opened, displaying a bit of paper inside.
+
+"Ocho!" cried the announcer, and a card bearing the numeral "8"
+was raised. The paper was replaced inside the ivory ball, the ball
+itself was dropped into the wire cage, the door was closed, and
+once more the cage was spun.
+
+Kirk was much interested in the scene, not from any faintest hope
+that he would draw a prize, but purely from the novel atmosphere
+and color of the thing. While his eyes were busiest, and just as
+the child prepared to draw another ball, he felt a clutch upon his
+arm, and, glancing down, beheld the glowing black eyes of Senor
+Ramon Alfarez fixed upon him.
+
+Alfarez was dressed immaculately, this time in civilian's white
+linen, his ferocious little mustachios carefully pointed, his
+cheeks freshly shaven and talcumed, his slender feet encased in
+white canvas shoes. A wonderful Guayaquil hat, the creamy straws
+of which were no thicker than silk threads, crowned his sleek,
+raven locks. It must have cost a small fortune. He carried a
+dapper little cane, with which he tapped his former prisoner to
+attract his attention.
+
+At sight of him Kirk drew down his brows and said, gruffly:
+
+"Don't poke me with that umbrella."
+
+He turned away, but again Alfarez touched him with the rattan.
+
+"I will spik' wit' you, hombre," he said.
+
+"If you keep jabbing me with that crutch I'll break it, and then
+you can't walk home."
+
+Ramen jerked his head toward the square outside in an imperious
+fashion, and Kirk, curious to learn the cause of this unusual
+excitement, followed him without demur. When they had reached the
+street the Spaniard turned with flashing eyes and a mirthless
+smile.
+
+"Well!" he said, dramatically.
+
+"Pretty well. How goes it with you?"
+
+"So! You 'ave socceed in your cowardly attemp'."
+
+"My what?"
+
+"I am lose my poseetion as Commandante of Police."
+
+"You don't say so!" Kirk's face broke into a smile of real
+pleasure.
+
+"Ha! Makes it you to laugh, then?" exclaimed the Panamanian,
+excitedly. "Per'aps you shall answer to those detestable actions,
+senor."
+
+"Perhaps! I see you blame me for the loss of your job. Well, maybe
+you won't beat up the next American you get your hands on."
+
+"Bot--I 'ave another poseetion!" Ramen exulted.
+
+"Indeed! Are you 'behind the ribbons' at the local Wanamaker's?"
+
+"I 'ave been promote! I am appoint' yesterday by his Excellency
+the Presidente to be his secretary. So! Those dastardly attack of
+yours is transpire to my blessing. It will be always so."
+
+"I suppose it's a good job, but you ought to be selling poison in
+a drug-store. Did you call me out to hear this news?"
+
+"Si!" Alfarez nodded his head vigorously. Then, narrowing his
+eyes, he said, meaningly, in a voice that none might overhear,
+"Panama is sometimes very on'ealthy city for fat Americans." He
+ran a hostile glance up and down Anthony's burly frame. "It is the
+climate per'aps--of too great 'eat."
+
+"In other words, you intend to make it hot for me, eh?"
+
+"I?" The ex-commandant shrugged his shoulders in eloquent denial.
+"I shall do not'ing, bot--if you are wise man you will not display
+yourself to the dangers of these climate; you will return 'ome."
+
+"Say! I've a good notion to punch your head."
+
+Alfarez paled slightly.
+
+"Soch would be most dangerous, for in Chiriqui prison there is at
+the present some fatal disease." He laughed sneeringly. "The senor
+is reech man's son, eh? Those do not geeve the appearance."
+
+With supreme insolence he touched one of the buttons upon Kirk's
+linen uniform with his cane, whereat the American snatched the
+stick out of his hand, broke it, and tossed it into the street.
+His blood was up, and in another breath he would have struck the
+Spaniard, regardless of consequences, but just at that moment
+Allan, dashed out of the crowd crying, breathlessly:
+
+"Oh, boss! Oh, BOSS! Glory to God, it is true! OH-H-H GLORY!"
+Seizing Kirk's hands, he kissed them before the other could
+prevent, then ran on frantically: "Come quick! Come! Come! Come!"
+
+"Look out!" snapped Kirk, angrily. "What's happened?"
+
+"The dream! The dream is come! Oh, God, sar! You--you have won the
+capital prize, sar!"
+
+Alfarez's exclamation, as much as the boy's wild hysteria, brought
+Anthony to himself.
+
+"NO! Honest, now! What's the number?" he exclaimed.
+
+"H'eight, h'eight, three, h'eight," sobbed the Jamaican. Kirk made
+a dive for his coat-pocket, while Allan continued in a rising
+voice:
+
+"Glory to God, sar! Glory to God! It is fifteen thousand dollars
+'silver.' I thought I should h'expire from fright. Oh, I--Quick!
+Praise be--Do not say you have lost the ticket or I shall die and
+kill myself--"
+
+"Here it is!" In his hand Anthony waved a slip of paper, out of
+which leaped four big, red numbers-"8838."
+
+"Carraho!" came from behind him, and he turned to behold Alfarez,
+livid of face and with shaking hand, fling a handful of similar
+coupons after the broken cane. Without another word or a glance
+behind him, the Panamanian made off across the Plaza, barely in
+time to, escape the crowd that surged around the two he had
+quitted.
+
+Bombarded by a fusillade of questions in a dozen tongues, jostled
+by a clamoring, curious throng, the lucky owner of 8838 fought his
+way back into the lottery building, and, as he went, the news
+spread like flaming oil.
+
+There it was, plainly displayed, "8838"! There could be no
+possible mistake, and it meant fifteen thousand silver pesos, a
+princely fortune indeed for the collector of No. 2.
+
+Promptly at five minutes to one o'clock that afternoon, Allan
+Allan, late of Jamaica, strode through the Panama railroad station
+and flaunted a first-class, round-trip ticket to Colon before the
+eyes of his enemy, the gateman. He was smoking a huge Jamaican
+cigar, and his pockets bulged with others. When he came to board
+the train, he called loudly for a porter to bring him the step
+and, once inside, selected a shady seat with the languid air of a
+bored globe-trotter. He patronized the "butcher" lavishly,
+crushing handful after handful of lemon-drops noisily between his
+teeth and strewing orange peel and cigar ashes on the floor with
+the careless unconcern that accords with firmly established
+financial eminence. He spat out of the window, he waved a
+dignified greeting to his countrymen gathered upon station
+platforms, he halted hurrying brakemen to inquire times of arrival
+and departure, and in general he had the time of his young life.
+
+Only when Kirk appeared upon his rounds did he forego his haughty
+complacency. Then his wide lips, which nature had shaped to a
+perpetual grin, curled back as they were intended, his smile lit
+up the car, and he burst into loud laughter.
+
+"Enjoying yourself?" inquired his hero.
+
+"Passably, sar, passably!" Then, with a painful assumption of
+seriousness: "How is the train, sar, may I ahsk?"
+
+"On time."
+
+"Rarely it is so, as a general thing. It is fartunate h'indeed
+that you consented to run her this time."
+
+"In a hurry to get to Colon?"
+
+"Quite so. It is h'impartant that I h'arrive promptly to-day. I
+have business h'affairs." His countenance assumed tortured lines
+as he endeavored to maintain his gravity, then failing in his
+attempt, he burst suddenly into a gale of merriment that sent
+forth a shower of peanuts and lemon candy. "Praise God, boss, we
+are 'appy gentlemen to-day, are we not?"
+
+Kirk found that the report of his good-fortune had spread far and
+wide; he was halted a score of times for congratulations;
+operators at the various stations yelled at him and waved their
+hands; Runnels wired "Hurrah!" at Gatun. A certain respect was in
+these greetings, too, for he had suddenly become a character.
+
+As yet, however, he had not fully considered what this windfall
+meant to him. His first thought had been that he could now
+discharge his debts, go back to New York, and clear himself before
+the law. Yet the more he thought of it the less eager he became to
+return. Seven thousand five hundred dollars in gold to Kirk
+Anthony, of Panama, Collector, was a substantial fortune. To Kirk
+Anthony, of Albany, Distributor, it was nothing. Suppose he went
+home and squared his account with the police, what would he do
+then? Nothing, as usual. Here, he was proving that the Anthony
+breed was self-supporting, at least. And there was another reason,
+the weightiest of all. Long before he had reached the end of his
+run he realized that not one hundred times the amount of this
+capital prize would tempt him to leave Panama before he had seen
+Chiquita.
+
+Chiquita was beginning to seem like a dream. At times during the
+past week he had begun to wonder if she were not really a product
+of his own imagination. His fancy had played upon her so
+extravagantly that he feared he would not know her if ever they
+came face to face. His mental picture of her had lost all
+distinctness; her face was no longer clear-cut before his mind's
+eye, but so blurred and hazy that even to himself he could not
+describe her with any accuracy.
+
+This was most unsatisfactory, and he reproached himself bitterly
+for the involuntary faithlessness that could allow her image to
+grow dim. He was almost without hope of seeing her again. And
+then, with the inconsequence of dreams and sprites, she appeared
+to him.
+
+It was but a glimpse he had, and a tantalizing flash of
+recognition from her eyes. It happened in the dusk during the
+confusion that accompanied the arrival of No. 7 at Panama, and it
+came with a suddenness that stunned him. The station was jammed
+with a roaring flood of negroes, another crowd was forcing its way
+through the exits in the high iron fence, the street was a crush
+of Spiggoty coaches.
+
+Kirk had volunteered to assist an old lady, and his arms were full
+of bundles as he guided her between the clicking teeth of a
+turnstile. He was helping her into a carriage when he heard the
+sharp clatter of hoofs upon the brick pavement, and looked up to
+see a fine Peruvian mare hitched to a tan-colored surrey skirting
+the confusion. A black coachman was driving, and there were
+several people in the carriage. Kirk cast it a casual glance, and
+just as he looked it swept into the glare of an electric light.
+Out from the back seat shone a perfect oval face, with soft,
+luminous eyes. It was just as he had pictured it, only more
+beautiful.
+
+Kirk nearly upset his little old lady, who was struggling into her
+equipage. He swept his armful of bundles into the coach, seized
+his scandalized companion under the arms, and deposited her bodily
+upon a seat. Without waiting to hear from her, he dashed away
+through the bedlam. Under horses' heads he went, past flying hoofs
+and scraping wheels, jostling pedestrians, and little, brown
+policemen, until he had reached the outskirts of the crowd, where
+he vaulted into a vacant vehicle and called upon the driver to
+whip up.
+
+"Quick! Quick! Follow that tan-colored surrey! I'll give you a
+dollar gold not to lose sight of it."
+
+With the blandest of smiles the coachman started his horses, then,
+turning, he inquired, politely:
+
+"'Otel Tivoli?"
+
+"No, NO! Follow that carriage!"
+
+"No sabe Ingles!" said the coachman.
+
+Before Kirk had succeeded in making him understand, the street had
+become jammed with carriages and the Peruvian mare was lost to
+sight. After a half-hour of futile clattering back and forth, Kirk
+dismissed the driver.
+
+But there was no doubt that she had recognized him, and nothing
+now could prevent him from continuing his search. The trouble was
+that his present occupation allowed him no opportunity. He was
+tied to the railroad except at night.
+
+It was perhaps two weeks later that a serious shake-up occurred in
+the office force, of which no one seemed to know the cause. There
+was a mad scramble for advancement all along the line, in which
+Kirk took no part. But unexpectedly Runnels summoned him to his
+office.
+
+"How would you like an inside position?" said the Master of
+Transportation, eying him keenly.
+
+"So soon?"
+
+"I said I'd advance you if you made good." He paused an instant,
+then said, deliberately, "When you get the hang of things here
+you'll have a chance to be my assistant."
+
+Kirk opened his eyes in amazement.
+
+"Gee! That's great! But do you think I can get away with it?"
+
+"Not at once. It will take time, of course, and you'll have to
+work like the devil." Runnels regarded him curiously, recalling
+the letter so carefully filed away. Then he yielded to his natural
+impulse.
+
+"Look here, Anthony," he said, "I'm partly selfish in this, for I
+believe you're the sort I'm going to want within the next year.
+The superintendent has had an offer from a big system in the
+States, and he's going to quit when his vacation comes. He likes
+me, and he says I'll probably step into his shoes. Do you
+understand what that means? I'll need fellows I can count on--
+fellows who won't double-cross me to make a dollar for themselves,
+or knife me when my back is turned. I've got to have an efficient,
+noiseless organization. Otherwise we'll all go under, for we'll be
+into politics up to our necks. I think you're my sort, so if
+you'll stick to me I'll help you, and for every step I take I'll
+drag you up one."
+
+"It's a go!" The two young men clasped hands heartily. Runnels had
+struck the right note. Beside his former desire to prove himself a
+man, Kirk now felt a strong sense of loyalty to the one who had
+recognized his worth. This was no mere matter of promotion. He and
+Runnels would work shoulder to shoulder. A sense of responsibility
+descended upon him. For the first time he thoroughly understood
+the spirit of the ardent toilers who were giving their best to the
+Big Job. He was really one of them now, and the thought
+electrified him.
+
+When he told his good news to Mrs. Cortlandt, her surprise was so
+cleverly simulated that he never dreamed that she had been at
+great pains to bring this thing about. Not that Runnels was
+indisposed to act upon his own initiative, but the circumstances
+that had made his action possible had been due to her. It was hard
+to help a man against his will; but she profited by experience,
+and took the line of least resistance.
+
+The young man himself did not inquire too closely into the
+occasion of his advancement, and Edith Cortlandt was but little in
+his mind. He was consumed with the thought of Chiquita. He hoped
+that his new work would allow him more control of his time, and
+perhaps put him in the way of learning her name. He could move in
+better society now. Meanwhile he laid other plans. He took Allan
+into his confidence, and told him frankly that he was in love with
+a woman he did not know.
+
+Of course his faithful follower was delighted, and made
+extravagant promises of aid.
+
+"Now that the dry season has come," said Kirk, "people must be
+living at the Savannas, and I want you to haunt the region round
+that swimming-pool until you discover who she is. You must be my
+detective."
+
+"Oh, boss, I would--"
+
+"Don't tell me you'd die and kill yourself for me. I want you to
+live and find this girl for me. I'll take you out to-day, after
+office hours, and show you the place; then you'll have to do the
+rest. You talk Spanish, you know. But, above all, don't tip off."
+
+"Tip h'off? What shall I be climbing, sar?"
+
+"I mean you mustn't tell a soul."
+
+"Never fear, boss. H'Allan will discover your female."
+
+"And don't call her a 'female,' it sounds indecent. Remember, she
+has a Bajan with her, six feet tall, named Stephanie. Who knows?
+Maybe you can win Stephanie for yourself." Kirk chuckled at the
+thought.
+
+"No, sar, if you please. Those Bajan 'oomen is all very
+disagreeable."
+
+"You understand, I can't quit work to go looking for the girl,
+because I've simply got to tend to business. But I'll spend Sunday
+out there if you haven't already discovered her. Now, I'll chant
+this all over again on the way out, so you won't forget anything."
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+GARAVEL THE BANKER
+
+
+These were busy days for the Cortlandts. They entertained
+constantly, and the occasions when they dined without from one to
+a dozen guests became so exceptional as to elicit remark around
+the hotel. Most of their efforts were devoted to certain
+Panamanians of the influential class, and in company with one or
+more of these Cortlandt made frequent trips to the various
+quarters of the Republic, sometimes absenting himself for days at
+a time.
+
+During these intervals his wife assumed the direction of affairs,
+and continued to entertain or be entertained. Her energy and
+resource seemed inexhaustible. The officials of both governments
+treated her with punctilious respect, and the prestige gained in
+this way she used to enhance her reputation as a hostess. Soon she
+became the social dictator of the city, and the most exclusive
+circles, American and Panamanian alike, allowed her to assume
+control.
+
+The result was just what had been designed. Tourists and visiting
+newspaper people spoke glowingly of the amity between the two
+nations, and wondered at the absence of that Spanish prejudice of
+which they had heard so much. Those who chanced to know the deeper
+significance of it all, and were aware of the smouldering
+resentment that lay in the Latin mind, commented admiringly upon
+her work, and wondered what effect it would have upon the coming
+election. Already this event had cast its shadow ahead, bringing
+memories of the last election with its disturbances and ragged
+uncertainty. That had been a pregnant epoch. Armed guards, hidden
+behind American walls, had listened to the growing clamor and
+prepared to fire. American marines had been held in readiness to
+take such action as might have convulsed the other watchful World
+Powers.
+
+Since then the fuse had burned steadily, if slowly. As the time
+drew near, there were those who openly predicted trouble. Others
+scoffed at the idea, although they claimed that this would be the
+last election ever held in Panama. But all united in declaring
+that, whatever the work to which the Cortlandts had been assigned,
+they were doing it well.
+
+No one but the woman herself and her husband really understood the
+tremendous difficulties of their task or the vital issues at
+stake. Although they seemed to be making progress, they knew that
+they were dealing with a people not only excitable and egotistic,
+but steeped in guile, and distrustful by nature. The fire was
+close to the magazine. But this was Edith Cortlandt's chosen
+field, and she brought to bear a manlike power of cool
+calculation, together with a brilliant intuition of her own. Never
+had her tact, her knowledge of human nature, her keen realization
+of political values been called into such play as now. So
+triumphantly did she exercise these qualities that all who came
+into contact with her recognized the master mind directing the
+campaign, and, consciously or unconsciously, relegated her husband
+to the background.
+
+To the Latin intellect this display of power, on the part of a
+woman, was a revelation. She knew the effect she produced, and
+made the most of it.
+
+Old Anibal Alfarez was, perhaps, the last fully to appreciate her.
+He did, however, learn in time that while he could successfully
+match his craft against that of the husband, the wife read him
+unerringly. The result was that he broke with them openly.
+
+When news of this reached the members of the Canal Commission,
+they were alarmed, and Colonel Jolson felt it necessary to make
+known their views upon the situation. Accordingly, a few nights
+later, the Cortlandts dined at his handsome residence on the
+heights above Culebra. After their return to Panama, the Colonel,
+in whom was vested the supreme authority over his nation's
+interests, acknowledged that his acquaintance with diplomacy was
+as nothing compared with Edith Cortlandt's.
+
+It was to Colonel Bland, in charge of the Atlantic Division, that
+he confessed:
+
+"In all my life I never met a woman like her. Cortlandt, as you
+know, is a clever fellow, and I flatter myself that I'm no mental
+invalid; but we were like children in her hands. He sided with me
+at first, but she talked us both around in spite of ourselves. I
+agree with her now, perfectly, and I am content to let her have
+free rein."
+
+"General Alfarez is the strongest man in the Republic," said
+Colonel Bland. "As Governor of Panama Province, he's the logical
+next President. Besides that, he has the machinery behind him. I
+don't see who there is to defeat him."
+
+"We argued the same thing. She thinks Garavel is the proper man."
+
+"Garavel is a banker; he's not a politician."
+
+The chief-engineer laughed.
+
+"All Spanish-Americans are politicians, Colonel; they can't help
+it."
+
+"Would he accept?"
+
+"It is her business to find out. I had my doubts."
+
+"But could he win? It would be a calamity if he had American
+backing and failed; it would mean a disaster."
+
+"Cortlandt has been working carefully, and he has been in all the
+seven Provinces. He admits that it might be done; and she is
+certain. You see, their part in the Colombian affair makes them
+strong with the leaders, and they have already whipped the foreign
+influences into line. Of course, it will mean a fight--Alfarez
+won't give up easily--but, if Garavel should be the next
+President, it would be a fine thing for both countries."
+
+The other commissioner shook his white head doubtfully. "I
+supposed it was all settled; Cortlandt himself told me Alfarez was
+a good man the last time I talked with him. My God, it seems to me
+we've got enough on our hands without being guardians for a two-
+by-four republic filled with maniacs. We've got to finish this job
+on time. I can't understand this change of sentiment."
+
+"Oh, it isn't settled. There is ample time for anything to happen.
+When the psychological moment comes, Cortlandt will be in position
+to swing his influence whichever way he thinks best."
+
+"Well, it's a puzzling situation," Colonel Bland admitted. "And I
+wish it were over." Then he branched off on the subject of a cargo
+of cement which had not been up to standard and might have to be
+rejected.
+
+Over at Panama the Cortlandts were looking for a house to lease.
+Affairs had reached a point where it seemed advisable to give up
+their quarters at the Tivoli and enter into closer contact with
+the life of the Spanish city. One reason for the move was the
+necessity for a greater privacy than the hotel afforded, for the
+time was not far distant when privacy might prove of paramount
+importance.
+
+Meanwhile they gave a ceremonious little dinner, the one and only
+guest being Andres Garavel, the banker.
+
+Of all the charming peoples of Central America there are, perhaps,
+none more polished and well-bred than the upper-class Panamanians.
+Of this agreeable type, Senor Garavel was an admirable example,
+having sprung from the finest Castilian stock, as a name running
+back through the pages of history to the earliest conquests
+attested. Other Garavels had played important parts in the
+troubled affairs of Guatemala, and it was the banker's proud boast
+that one of his ancestors had assisted Alvarado to christen the
+first capital of that country--the city of St. James the
+Gentleman--in 1524. The name had later figured prominently in
+Antigua, that Athens of the New World where the flower of Spanish
+America gathered. A later forebear had fled southward at the time
+of the disturbances incidental to the revolt of the colonies, but
+in his departure there had been no disgrace, and since that time
+the Garavels had worthily maintained the family traditions of
+dignity and honor.
+
+The present bearer of the name was of distinguished appearance. He
+was swarthy of skin, his hair was snow-white, and he had stern,
+black eyes of great intelligence. In size he was not above the
+medium, but his manner fully made up for any deficiency of
+stature. He was courtly and deliberate, evincing a pride that
+sprang not only from good blood but from good deeds. His poise was
+that of a man with heavy responsibilities, for Andres Garavel was
+a careful banker and a rich one. He was widely travelled, well-
+informed, an agreeable talker, and the conversation at Mrs.
+Cortlandt's table did not lag.
+
+"I am so disappointed that your daughter could not come," Edith
+told him for the second time. "I'm afraid she objects to our
+American informality."
+
+"No, no, my dear lady," said their guest. "She admires American
+customs, as I do. We are progressive--we have travelled. In my
+home, in my private life, perhaps, I am Panamanian, but in my
+business and in my contact with other peoples I am as they are. It
+is the same with my daughter."
+
+"When you Latins really become cosmopolitan you are more so than
+we Americans," Cortlandt acknowledged. "We assume foreign airs and
+customs that please us and forget to retain our own, while you--
+well, with Germans you are German, with Englishmen you are
+English, and yet you never forget to be Spaniards."
+
+The banker smiled. "My daughter has had a wide education for a
+child. She has travelled, she speaks five languages--and yet,
+underneath it all she is a Garavel and hence a Panamanian. She is
+all I have, and my life is hers."
+
+"When we are settled in our new house we hope to see something of
+you both."
+
+"You have effected a lease of the Martinez home, I believe?"
+
+"Yes. Do you know it?"
+
+"As my own. You are indeed fortunate to secure so fine a place. I
+wish that in some way I might be of service to you."
+
+"The wish is mutual," Cortlandt answered, meaningly, but Senor
+Garavel concealed any recognition of the tone by a formal bow, and
+the meal progressed with only the customary small talk to enliven
+it.
+
+As soon as the three had adjourned to the Cortlandt's suite the
+host of the evening proceeded to approach the subject in his mind
+as directly as the circumstances permitted. Through a series of
+natural transitions the conversation was brought around to
+politics, and Garavel was adroitly sounded. But he displayed
+little interest, maintaining a reserve that baffled them. It was
+impossible to betray him into an expression of feeling favorable
+to their views. When at last he consented to show his awareness of
+the suggestion so constantly held out, he spoke with deliberate
+intention.
+
+"General Alfarez is my respected friend," he said, with a
+quietness that intensified his meaning, "and I rejoice that he
+will be the next President of Panama."
+
+"You, of course, know that there is opposition to him?"
+
+"All Panama knows that."
+
+"General Alfarez does not seem to be a friend of the United
+States."
+
+"There are few who hold the views I do. He is a man of strong
+character, he has no commercial interests to influence him as I
+have, and so we differ. Yet I respect him--"
+
+"It is precisely because of those views of yours that I wish to
+consult you," said Cortlandt, slowly. "In all the Republic there
+is no one so progressive as you. May I speak frankly?"
+
+Garavel inclined his white head without removing his intense, dark
+eyes from the speaker.
+
+"Don Anibal Alfarez can never be President of Panama!"
+
+The banker made no visible movement, yet the effect of this
+positive declaration was almost like that of a blow. After a pause
+he said:
+
+"May I tell him you said so?"
+
+"If you wish, but I do not think you will."
+
+The hearer let his eyes flit questioningly to Mrs. Cortlandt's
+face to find her smiling at him.
+
+"Believe me, dear lady," he said, "I suspected that there were
+grave reasons for this interview, but as yet I am at sea. I am not
+a politician, you know. I shall have no voice in our political
+affairs."
+
+"Of course we know that, Senor Garavel, and of course there are
+grave reasons why we wished to talk with you. As Stephen has said,
+General Alfarez cannot be President--"
+
+"Madame," he said, coldly, "Panama is a republic. The voice of the
+people is supreme."
+
+"Down in your heart do you really think so?" She was still smiling
+at him. "No! The United States is supreme."
+
+"Ah! That day will come, perhaps--I have said so; I look forward
+to it as the best solution, but--"
+
+"The day has come."
+
+"Even so, Alfarez is an honorable man, a strong man, and the
+wealthiest man in our country. He is a politician--"
+
+"But he is not a friend of our country."
+
+"I am not so sure." Garavel frowned at his cigar for a moment,
+while the room became silent. "What has this to do with me,
+madame?" he asked, at last.
+
+"Can't you guess?" The intensity of her look caused him to rise
+hurriedly and cast a quick glance from one to the other.
+
+"You are also a rich man, a man of ability," said Cortlandt, quick
+to seize the momentary advantage. "Your name is second to none in
+all Central America. The next President must possess intelligence,
+honor, ability; he must be a friend of our people. There is no one
+better--"
+
+"Impossible!" exclaimed the banker, in a strange voice. "_I_? No,
+no!"
+
+"And why not? Have you never had political aspirations?"
+
+"Of course. All men have dreams. I was Secretary of Finance under
+Amador, but the Garavels have never really been public men.
+Politics have been a curse to our house. My grandfather--"
+
+"I know," broke in Mrs. Cortlandt. "But times have changed. Panama
+has seen her last revolution, and she needs a business man at her
+head. Presidents are not made now by rifle and sword, and the man
+with the machete must give way to the man with a capacity for
+handling big affairs. There will be no more swineherd Presidents
+like your Guatemalan countryman Corera, nor tyrants like Zelaya.
+Panama is a healthy country, with no national debt; she is
+growing, developing. She holds the gateway to the Western World,
+and her finances must be administered wisely. You, Mr. Garavel,
+are one of the few who are clear-headed enough to see that her
+destiny is linked with ours, and there is no one who can direct
+her so well as you."
+
+"It is impossible!" repeated Garavel, his agitation growing more
+pronounced. "General Alfarez is my friend. His son will be my
+son."
+
+"Ramon! Is Ramon engaged to your daughter?"
+
+"Yes," exclaimed the banker, shortly. He began to pace the room.
+
+"What difference would that make, if the young people love each
+other?"
+
+"Certainly," Cortlandt agreed. "They are not children."
+
+"As for love, Ramon loves, and--my daughter will love also, once
+she is married, for she is a Garavel."
+
+"If Ramon isn't satisfactory to her, ought you to force her
+inclination?" Mrs. Cortlandt offered, eagerly. But the banker
+flung his arms aloft in a gesture of half-humorous despair.
+
+"Oh-h! These young ladies!" he cried. "They do not know what they
+want. What pleases to-day, displeases to-morrow. It is 'Yes' and
+'No,' 'Yes' and 'No,' until one must decide for them. That, after
+all, is best." He paused abruptly. "This comes upon me like a
+flood, my friends. I am swept away, and yet I--I will need to
+think seriously."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"To an honorable man the salary will mean nothing. I have many
+affairs; I fear I cannot afford this sacrifice."
+
+"Would you retire in favor of some one who could afford it?"
+
+"Alfarez is honest."
+
+"Alfarez cannot be President."
+
+"It would require a great deal of money. I am considered a rich
+man, but I have discounted the future, and my enterprises--" He
+flung out his arms. "I have spread out. I must be careful. It is
+not alone MY money that I have invested."
+
+"It will require very little money," said Cortlandt. "I have been
+from David to Darien, from Bocas to Colon and I know the public
+sentiment."
+
+"Speaking of David," his wife added; "it was you who first
+projected the railroad to that point, Senor Garavel."
+
+"Yes, I saw that it was needed. It would make Panama," he said,
+simply.
+
+"Under your administration it can be built. Mr. Cortlandt can
+assure you of our government's earnest co-operation. That would
+not be the case if General Alfarez were elected. Perhaps the
+Colombian boundary can be settled. There also our influence might
+avail. Those two steps forward would make the name of Garavel as
+famous in Panama as it is in Guatemala."
+
+"Those are important issues for any loyal Panamanian," he
+admitted.
+
+"And you love your daughter--you say your life is, hers. Your
+honor would be hers also. Senorita Garavel would have no cause to
+regret her father's presidency."
+
+"Oh, it is useless to argue," smiled the Spaniard. "I am weak. I
+am human. I am also patriotic, and I realize that our little
+country must look to your great one for its stimulus. Our life
+must be moulded after yours. For years I have dreamed of a
+railroad to David, which would some day form a link in the great
+system that will join the three Americas. I have pictured our
+inland jungles replaced with homes; a great traffic flowing from
+end to end of the Republic. But I have also seen that our people
+would not profit by it. The languor of the tropics is in their
+blood, and you Yankees would be needed to inspire them." His voice
+shook with emotion as he went on: "They are good, simple people,
+no more than children, and I love them. A gracious Providence gave
+us the key to the world's commerce, but we could not use it. It
+needs all our wisdom now to adapt ourselves to the conditions that
+have arisen. 'Andres Garavel, President of the Republic of
+Panama!' It has a sweet sound, my friends, and yet--I have fears."
+
+"Let's take them one by one," laughed his host, "and prove them
+imaginary. I see a great good-fortune in store for you."
+
+It was midnight before Senor Andres Garavel, the banker, bade his
+friends good-bye. When he descended the hotel steps to his
+carriage, he held his white head proudly erect, and there was new
+dignity in his bearing. As he was whirled homeward behind his
+spirited Peruvian mare, a wonderful song was singing in his heart.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+THE SIEGE OF MARIA TORRES
+
+
+The faithful Allan was not long in fulfilling his mission. Such
+devotion as his, it seemed, could hardly fail, and, if there had
+been a hundred Chiquitas, doubtless he would have corralled them
+all. He conveyed the impression that, if it had been necessary to
+journey beyond the grave and bring back the ghost of some dead-
+and-gone Chiquita, he would have gloriously succeeded. One
+morning, a few days later, he appeared to Kirk, bursting with
+importance and news.
+
+"Well, sar! I have discovered your female," he announced,
+pompously.
+
+"No? What's her name? Who is she?"
+
+"Her is named Maria Torres, sar, and resides in the small 'ouse
+you h'observed upon the 'ill."
+
+"Did you SEE her?" Anthony could hardly believe his ears.
+
+"Oh yes, very h'extensively."
+
+"What does she look like? Is she dark?"
+
+"Very dark, sar."
+
+"And small?"
+
+"Not too small," opined Allan.
+
+"Of course, just right. And her eyes, like--like--"
+
+"H'ink! Spots of h'ink. Oh, it is she, Master h'Auntony."
+
+"Jove! I believe it is! You're an ace, Allan. You're my ace of
+spades." Out of pure joy he began to pummel him playfully. "Why
+don't you rejoice? Lift up your voice and sing. Maria Torres! It's
+a heavenly name--Why don't you make a joyful noise?"
+
+Allan voiced a feeble hurrah.
+
+"It was only by chawnce that I h'encountered her, boss, for she is
+residing in the city. I h'ascertained all those facts--"
+
+"Good! Find the street and number, quick! I'm going a-wooing! Say!
+When these Spaniards court a girl they hang around her window and
+roll their eyes, don't they? Me for that! I'll haunt the Torres
+neighborhood until she shows herself, or die in the attempt. I'll
+play their game. I'll get a guitar, I'll--Oh, from this moment I'm
+a Spaniard of the Spaniards. I'm the incarnation of ten thousand
+fiery cavaliers. I'll stand in front of her house until she sends
+me a chair. Maria Tor--What the deuce are you loafing for? Get a
+move on; hustle those kidney feet of yours. Don't come back until
+you have located her; for to-night--ah, blessed night! My life's
+romance begins in earnest. GET OUT!"
+
+Allan fled while Kirk proceeded to dream over his breakfast of
+bacon and cold-storage eggs.
+
+He was beaming when he appeared at the office. He sang, he
+whistled, he performed his duties with a joyous uproar that
+interfered seriously with all around him and set the whole place
+in confusion. Nor did his spirits lessen when, later in the day,
+Allan informed him that the residence of Senor Luis Torres, whom
+the gods had selected as father to the delectable Maria, was at
+number 89 Avenida Norte.
+
+Anthony did not taste his dinner that evening. As darkness settled
+he planted himself conspicuously on the corner opposite No. 89 and
+began to study the premises.
+
+It was a trifle disappointing to note that Chiquita lived in such
+poor style; the place was not at all impressive. The first floor
+of the building was given over to a Chinese bazaar, and the upper
+story seemed neither extremely clean nor at all modern. But,
+although this clashed a bit with his preconceived ideas, he knew
+that many of the nicest Panamanian families lived in modest
+quarters.
+
+His natural impulse was to apply boldly at the door, but he had
+learned something of local customs, and he determined to give no
+possible ground for offence. After she had recognized him and seen
+his willingness to follow the habit of her Spanish suitors, it
+would be feasible, perhaps, to adopt a more Americanized method.
+Meanwhile, he must run no risk of antagonizing her people.
+
+In the Central American scheme of courtship patience plays a large
+part. It is the young man's practice to martyr himself until the
+sight of him becomes such a reproach that the family must perforce
+express its sympathy. Although this procedure struck Anthony as
+ludicrous in the extreme, its novelty was not without charm, and
+he had lived through such a period of torturing uncertainty that
+the mere fact of the girl's presence was compensation enough for
+his pains.
+
+For an hour he stood motionless, staring at the upper windows of
+No. 89. Then his feet began to hurt, and he paraded slowly back
+and forth "playing the bear," as he had heard it termed. Another
+hour passed, and he discovered that, if his presence had not been
+marked by the members of the Torres household, it was at least
+exciting comment elsewhere in the neighborhood. Faces appeared at
+near-by windows; he heard sounds of muffled merriment which made
+him uncomfortable; passers-by smiled at him and dropped
+encouraging remarks which he could not translate. The little
+policeman, lounging at the next corner, watched him complacently
+and agreed with his neighbors that the Americano was undoubtedly a
+fine-appearing lover.
+
+Kirk took his stand at last beneath a street light and gazed
+languorously upon the windows opposite until his eyes ached as
+well as his feet. At last a curtain parted, and he saw the flash
+of a white dress back of it. His heart leaped; he raised his hat;
+there was a titter from beyond the iron grating. Presently another
+figure was dimly revealed. The watcher held his position
+stubbornly until the last light in the Torres house winked out,
+then limped homeward, warmed by the glad conviction that at least
+he had been recognized.
+
+Promptly at seven o'clock on the following evening he returned to
+his post, and before he had been there five minutes knew that his
+presence was noticed. This was encouraging, so he focused his
+mental powers in an effort to communicate telepathically with the
+object of his desires. But she seemed unattuned, and coyly
+refrained from showing her face. He undertook to loiter
+gracefully, knowing himself to be the target of many eyes, but
+found it extremely hard to refrain from sitting on the curb, a
+manifestly unromantic attitude for a love-lorn swain. He swore
+grimly that, if usage required a suitor to make an exhibition of
+himself before the entire neighborhood, he would do the job
+thoroughly. It did not cheer him to reflect that the girl had a
+keen sense of humor and must be laughing at him, yet he determined
+to put in a week at this idiotic love-making before he attempted
+anything else. Later in the evening he was rewarded by the glimpse
+of a handkerchief cautiously waved, and he was delirious with joy
+as he hobbled homeward.
+
+Night after night he spent assiduously studying the cracks and
+blemishes in the stucco walls of No. 89 Avenida Norte, encouraged
+by the occasional flutter of a hand or a soulful sigh from behind
+the lace screen at the third window from the corner. But when
+Sunday came he was in no mood to continue this roundabout and
+embarrassing mode of courtship longer. He made an early start from
+his quarters, taking Allan with him.
+
+"I'll catch her going to mass," he explained, hopefully. "I've
+just got to put an end to this performance."
+
+"Will you h'accost her h'openly?" inquired Allan.
+
+"You bet! If she runs away you trip her up. Oh, it's great to be
+in love!"
+
+"Without doubt, sar."
+
+"She's a corker, isn't she?"
+
+"I do not know as to that," Allan demurred. "What may be a
+carker?"
+
+"I mean she's beautiful."
+
+"Oh, h'indeed so! And her h'eyes--like h'ink spots, as you say."
+
+"Was she wearing a denim dress when you saw her?"
+
+"Yes, yes," eagerly agreed the negro. "Oh, there is no mistake. It
+was a red dress."
+
+"No, it wasn't. It was blue."
+
+"H'exactly, sar--a sort of reddish blue."
+
+"And she was--petite?"
+
+"Rather more dark, I should say."
+
+"I mean she was small."
+
+"Oh, it is the same female. It is h'exciting, is it not?"
+
+Kirk acknowledged that it was exciting, for, now that he had a
+full day in which to besiege No. 89, he felt certain of gaining a
+word at least with his inamorata. He was in good time, it seemed,
+for hardly had he taken his customary station before the Cathedral
+bells awoke the slumberous echoes of the city.
+
+"Praise God, she will be coming soon!" Allan exclaimed. "I shall
+h'expire from fright. Look! There! THERE!"
+
+Down the wide stairs leading from the living-rooms of Senor Torres
+came two women, and the negro danced in excitement. As they
+emerged upon the sidewalk the younger one flashed a glance at the
+men opposite, and Kirk saw that she was a mulatto--evidently a
+housemaid. His eager eyes flew back to the entrance. Allan hissed
+at him:
+
+"Yonder goes! Quick, or you will be losing she."
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There! The young female in w'ite. It is h'indeed the Senorita
+Torres."
+
+"THAT!" Anthony stared at the girl amazedly as she cast him a
+second and more coquettish flash of her black eyes. "Why, damn it,
+that--why, she's a--NIGGER!"
+
+"No, no!" shrilly expostulated the Jamaican. "It is she. H'alas!
+They have turned the corner."
+
+Kirk wheeled upon his detective in overwhelming disgust. "You
+idiot!" he breathed. "That girl is a 'dinge.' So, SHE'S the one
+I've been--Oh, it's unspeakable! Let's get away from here."
+
+"You h'informed me in particular that she is dark," protested
+Allan.
+
+"Come on!" Kirk dragged his companion away as fast as he could.
+His thoughts were too deep for tears. As soon as his emotion
+permitted coherent speech, he launched into a tirade so eloquent
+and picturesque that Allan was reduced to a state of wondering
+awe. Pausing at length in his harangue, he turned smouldering eyes
+upon the black boy.
+
+"I ought to punch you right in the nose," he said, with mournful
+calmness. "Let me feel your head." Allan obediently doffed his
+cap, and Kirk rapped the woolly cranium with his knuckle. "Do you
+feel that? Is there any sensation?"
+
+"Yes, sar! Shortly I shall suffer a swelling." Allan stroked the
+spot tenderly.
+
+"It's all imagination; there's no feeling to solid bone. You've
+got an ivory 'nut,' my friend, just like a cane."
+
+"Ivory-nuts grow upon trees, sar, in the Darien region."
+
+Anthony regarded him sourly. "The Brunswick-Balke people never
+turned out anything half so round and half so hard. That burr of
+yours is a curio. I told you Chiquita was small and beautiful and
+dainty and--Oh, what's the use! This dame is a truck-horse. She's
+the color of a saddle."
+
+"Oh, she is not too dark, sar." Allan came loyally to the defence
+of Miss Torres. "Some of the finest people in Panama is blacker
+than that. There is but few who are h'all w'ite."
+
+"Well, SHE'S all white, and I want you to find her to-day--TO-DAY,
+understand? You gallop out to the Savannas and make some
+inquiries." He shook his fist in Allan's face. "If you don't learn
+something this trip, I'll have your lignum-vitae cranium in a
+bowling-alley by dark. Lord! If I only spoke Spanish!"
+
+Allan reluctantly departed, and Kirk went back to his quarters in
+high displeasure. It seemed as if the affair had actually left a
+bad taste in his mouth. He could not compose his features into
+anything like a decently amiable expression, but went about with a
+bitter smile upon his lips. Every time some new aspect of his
+grotesque and humiliating mistake occurred to him he suffered a
+nervous twinge. That afternoon a card was brought to him bearing
+the ornate inscription in a beautiful Spencerian hand:
+
+PROFESSOR JESUS HERARA THE HERARA COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
+
+Reconciling himself as best he could to the prospect of an
+interview with some importunate stranger, he grudgingly consented
+to have the visitor brought in. Professor Herara was not alone. He
+was accompanied by a very short, very fat man, whose smooth skin
+had the rich, dark coloring of a nice, oily Cuban cigar.
+
+"Senor Anthony, it is?" inquired the Professor, bowing
+ceremoniously.
+
+"That's my name."
+
+"It is my privilege to consult you upon a business of importance."
+
+"I'm afraid you have the wrong party. I don't care to learn
+shorthand."
+
+"Ah, no, it is not concerning my academy. Allow me to present
+Senor Luis Torres."
+
+Kirk felt the room begin to revolve slowly.
+
+"My friend does not possess a card at the moment, eh?" continued
+the Professor.
+
+The little, rotund man bowed, his hand-polished, mahogany features
+widening in a smile.
+
+"'Sveree hot wedder!" he exclaimed.
+
+"He begs one thousand pardons for not speaking of your language
+the more perfectly, and so he is request of me to be his
+interpreter."
+
+Something urged Kirk to flee while there was yet time, but the
+father of Maria Torres was between him and the door, and he could
+not bring himself to push the little man out of the way. So he
+bade them both be seated in the only two chairs which the room
+contained, while he rested gingerly upon the edge of the bed. The
+new-comers let their eyes roll curiously about the chamber, and an
+embarrassing silence descended. Senor Torres maintained a set
+smile designed to be agreeable; Professor Herara, serene in the
+possession of his linguistic acquirements, displayed the
+insouciance of an undertaker. Together they beamed benignantly,
+almost patronizingly, upon the young man. Plainly they meant to
+put him at his ease--but they failed. At length, after clearing
+his throat impressively, the interpreter began again:
+
+"Of course, you have been expecting this visit, senor?"
+
+"N--not exactly."
+
+"My friend is deeply disappointed that he has not the honor of
+before meeting you."
+
+"I am flattered, but--"
+
+"Indeed, yes! Then you are perhaps acquainted with Senor Torres by
+reputation? You know who he is?" Professor Jesus Herara raised his
+brows and inclined his head like a polite school-teacher
+endeavoring to encourage a diffident pupil.
+
+"I regret that I do not."
+
+"He is one of our most estimable citizens. He is possess' not only
+of the magnificent residence at No. 89 Avenida Norte, but also of
+a comfortable abode at Las Savannas, and he has a large trade in
+sponges and hides. His place of business you will have noticed
+upon the water-front, perhaps?"
+
+Kirk wiped his brow nervously and cursed Allan.
+
+"And now, as for you, senor?" The principal of the Herara College
+of Business awaited an answer with unctuous deference. Evidently
+attributing the young man's silence to modesty, he went on,
+helpfully: "Senor Torres has instituted inquiries, and ascertained
+your excellent position with the P. R. R., but he would know more,
+if soch is not disagreeable to you."
+
+"Well--I--there isn't much to tell. It is my first job."
+
+This was quickly put into Spanish, whereupon Mr. Torres nodded
+with vigor, as if this information were indeed gratifying--nay,
+splendid.
+
+"It is agreeable to my friend to ascertain your industry, and I
+may say you are most highly spoke of at the railroad office.
+Therefore, Senor Torres affords you an invitation to call at his
+residence on Thursday evening."
+
+"That's awfully--nice," gasped Anthony; "but--er--what's the
+idea?"
+
+"Ah!" The interpreter beamed; Mr. Torres beamed. They combined to
+radiate a gentle effulgence which was most disquieting. "It is
+indeed pleasing to encounter a gentleman so truly modest, so
+possessed of delicacy; but I may say that Senor Torres is look
+with favor upon your suit. Of course"--he checked Kirk's hasty
+words--"it is not completely settle, by no means; the young lady
+is but partly won. However"--he winked one black eye reassuringly--
+"as friend of the family I bid you not to permit discouragement
+and despair."
+
+Anthony broke out in desperation: "Hold on! Let me explain!
+There's been an awful mistake."
+
+"Mistake?" The tone was blandly incredulous.
+
+"Yes. I'm not in love with Miss Torres."
+
+Professor Jesus Herara stared at the speaker as if his mastery of
+the English language was, after all, incomplete. Torres, seeing
+that he was missing something, interpolated a smiling inquiry;
+then, as his interpreter made the situation clear, his honeyed
+smile froze, his sparkling eyes opened in bewilderment. He stared
+about the room again, as if doubting that he had come to the right
+place.
+
+"There's really a mistake," Kirk persisted. "I don't even know
+Miss Torres."
+
+"Ah! Now I understand." The Professor was intensely relieved. "It
+is precisely for that purpose we arrived. Bueno! You admire from a
+distance, is it not so? You are struck with the lady's beauty;
+your heart is awakened. You are miserable. You pine away. You
+cannot find courage to speak. It is admirable, senor. We
+understand fully, and I, who know, assure you of her many
+virtues."
+
+"No, it's nothing like that, either. I have no doubt Miss Torres
+is altogether charming, but--I--there's just a mistake, that's
+all. I'm not the least bit in love with her."
+
+"But, senor! Is it not you who have stood beneath her window
+nightly? Is it not you who have laid siege to her these many
+days?" The speaker's eyes were glowing with anger as he turned to
+make his inquiry clear to the young lady's father.
+
+Mr. Torres began to swell ominously.
+
+"If you'll just let me explain. I'm in love with a young woman,
+true enough, but it doesn't happen to be Miss Torres. I thought it
+was, but it isn't."
+
+There was another vibrant exchange of words between the Spaniards.
+
+"You were making sport, then, of my friend--"
+
+"No, no! It's another person altogether."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"I don't know her name."
+
+"WHAT?" Herara was about to burst forth when his friend nudged him
+and he was obliged to put this amazing declaration into Spanish.
+Senor Torres breathed heavily and exploded an oath.
+
+"I met her in the country and made a mistake in the town houses,"
+Kirk floundered on. "I never knew till this morning that I was on
+the wrong trail. It is all my fault. I thought the lady's name was
+Torres."
+
+"Eh? So you love one whom you do not know? Incredible!"
+
+"It does sound a little fishy."
+
+"And it is a grave affront to my friend. How will the senorita
+understand?--she in whose breast is awakened already an answering
+thrills?"
+
+"I'm mighty sorry. If you wish, I'll apologize in person to Miss
+Torres."
+
+At this Herara cried out in horror; then, after a brief colloquy
+with the father, he rose stiffly, saying: "I offer no words from
+my friend. For the present he does not believe, nor do I.
+Inquiries will be institute, of that be assured. If you have
+deceived--if your intentions were not of the most honorable"--the
+head of the Herara Business College glared in a horrible manner--
+"you will have occasion to regret those foolish jokes."
+
+Kirk tried to explain that his present regrets were ample for all
+time, but, bowing formally, the visitors withdrew, leaving him to
+revile anew the name of Allan Allan.
+
+When the black boy returned, foot-sore but cheerful, his
+appearance was the signal for an outburst that left him
+disconsolate and bewildered. He apologized over and over for his
+little error, and tried to reinstate himself by announcing, with a
+confidence he was far from feeling, that this time he had
+identified the elusive Chiquita beyond the peradventure of a
+doubt. This welcome intelligence did much to make Kirk forget his
+wrath.
+
+"What's her name?" he inquired, eagerly.
+
+"Fermina, sar."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"H'entirely. But it will not h'avail to be courting of those
+ladies, Master h'Auntony."
+
+"Is there more than one?"
+
+"Two of they--sisters--very rich. They h'occupy the 'ouse
+h'adjoining Senor Torres."
+
+Allan spoke in a hushed voice, and shook his head as if to show
+the hopelessness of aspiring to such aristocracy. Surely Kirk knew
+of the Ferminas? Arcadio Fermina was the owner of the pearl-
+fishery concession and a person of the highest social distinction.
+He was white, all white, there was no doubt on that score.
+Undoubtedly Chiquita would prove to be his daughter and a joint
+heiress to his fabulous fortune. But she was not the sort to be
+courted from the street, even Allan knew that much; for, after
+all, such a procedure was followed only by the middle classes, and
+in this instance would result in nothing less than disaster.
+
+It sounded reasonable, and Kirk allowed himself to be half
+convinced. It was no later than the following day, however, that
+Runnels pointed out two young ladies who were driving past and
+informed him that they were the Misses Fermina.
+
+"Their old man has made a fortune out of the Pearl Islands," he
+remarked. "They say those girls have the finest collection of
+pearls in Central America."
+
+Kirk gazed after them eagerly, but it took no more than a glance
+to show him that they were not even distantly related to the
+object of his search. Once more he set Allan upon the trail with
+instructions to find out who lived in the large house upon the
+hill--the one with the driveway of royal palms--and not to return
+without the information. But by now the Jamaican was beginning to
+weary of this running back and forth and to consider the quest a
+vain imagining. So, being wishful to dream another lottery number,
+he brought back with him a fanciful tale designed to quiet his
+employer and to assure himself ample leisure in the future.
+
+"Master h'Auntony, your female is gone," he informed him, sadly.
+
+"Gone! Where?"
+
+"Somewhere--on a ship."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"There is no doubt, sar. Her name is Garavel, and she h'occupies
+the big 'ouse on the 'ill. I discovered those h'impartant facts
+from the Bajan 'ooman."
+
+"Stephanie! You saw her? By Jove! Then you are right this time.
+Quick! tell me all you learned."
+
+Allan lied fluently, elaborately, and, finding his hero plunged
+into despair, resigned himself gratefully to another period of
+blissful idleness. This was much the simplest way, he decided; for
+even should Kirk meet a Garavel or a Fermina, there was no chance
+of his winning her, and love, after all, is but a passing impulse
+which may be summoned or banished at will by such simple mediums
+as charms. The boy did go out of his way to ease his benefactor's
+malady by taking a lock of his own fuzzy wool and placing it
+beneath Kirk's mattress, after certain exorcisms.
+
+There followed a period of blank dejection. Kirk's first
+disappointment, when the girl had failed to keep her tryst, was as
+nothing compared to this, for now he felt that she was
+unattainable. He did not quite give up hope; so many strange
+experiences had befallen him since his involuntary departure from
+New York that it all seemed like a dream in which anything is
+possible. But he was deep in the doldrums when, with magic
+suddenness, the scene changed, and his long discouragement came to
+an end.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+"LA TOSCA"
+
+
+The winter season was at its height now. For weeks there had been
+no rain, and the Pacific side of the Isthmus was growing sere and
+yellow beneath the ceaseless glare of the sun. The musty dampness
+of the rainy season had disappeared, the steady trade-winds
+breathed a dreamy languor, and the days fled past in one long,
+unending procession of brilliant sameness. Every ship from the
+North came laden with tourists, and the social life of the city
+grew brilliant and gay. There were receptions, dinners, dances;
+the plazas echoed to the strains of music almost nightly. Now that
+Nature smiled, the work upon the Canal went forward with ever-
+growing eagerness. Records were broken in every department, the
+railroad groaned beneath its burden, the giant human machine was
+strained to its fullest efficiency.
+
+Young Anthony mastered the details of his work very rapidly, for
+railroading had been bred into him. He needed little help from
+Runnels, and soon began to feel a conscious grasp of affairs as
+surprising to himself as to his chief. Being intensely interested
+in his work, he avoided all social entanglements, despite repeated
+invitations from Mrs. Cortlandt. But, when the grand-opera season
+began, he made an exception, and joined her box-party on the
+opening night.
+
+It seemed quite like old times to don an evening suit; the stiff,
+white linen awakened a pang of regret. The time was not far
+distant when he had felt never so much at home as in these togs;
+but now they were hot and uncomfortable--and how they accentuated
+his coat of tan!
+
+There was a somewhat formal dinner in the Cortlandts' new home, at
+which there were a dozen guests; so Kirk had no opportunity of
+speaking with his hostess until they had reached the theatre,
+where he found himself seated immediately behind her.
+
+"I've scarcely seen you lately," she said, at the first
+opportunity. "You're a very neglectful young man."
+
+"I knew you were getting settled in your house, and we've been
+tremendously busy at the office."
+
+"I began to think you were avoiding us."
+
+"You must know better than that."
+
+She regarded him shrewdly over her shoulder. "You're not still
+thinking of--that night at Taboga? You haven't seemed the same
+since."
+
+He blushed, and nodded frankly. "I can't help thinking about it.
+You were mighty nice to overlook a break like that, but--"
+Unconsciously his eyes shifted to Cortlandt, who was conversing
+politely with a giggly old lady from Gatun.
+
+She tapped his cheek lightly with her fan. "Just to show you how
+forgiving I am, I am going to ask you to go riding with me. The
+late afternoons are lovely now, and I've found a good horse for
+you. I suppose you ride?"
+
+"I love it."
+
+"Wednesday, at five, then." She turned to another guest, and Kirk
+leaned back to take in the scene about him.
+
+Like most Latin-American cities, Panama prides herself upon her
+government theatre, which is in truth very beautiful. Although it
+remains dark most of the year, its brief period of opera is
+celebrated by a notable outpouring. To-night the magnificent
+white-and-gold auditorium was filled to the topmost gallery, and
+the two circles of boxes were crowded with the flower of
+Panamanian society, tourists from the North, and Americans from
+the whole length of the Canal Zone. Kirk himself had seen to
+running a theatre special from Colon, and recognized all six of
+the Commissioners, with their families. It was an exceedingly
+well-dressed audience, and although the pit was plentifully
+sprinkled with men in white, the two lower galleries were in solid
+full-dress. Bejewelled women in elaborate gowns lent the affair
+almost the elegance of a night at the Metropolitan, while the
+flash of many uniforms made the scene colorful.
+
+Suddenly the orchestra broke into the national air, and with a
+great rustling and turning of heads the audience rose to its feet.
+In the centre box of the first tier, ornately hung with flags and
+a coat of arms, Anthony beheld a giant black man of majestic
+appearance, drawn to his full height and flanked by a half-dozen
+aides in uniform, all at a stiff military salute.
+
+"That is President Galleo," Edith told him.
+
+"Jove! He's a regal-looking chap," Kirk exclaimed.
+
+"He's very much of a man, too, yet even here there is a color
+line. Nobody acknowledges it, but the old Castilian families are
+keenly aware of it just the same."
+
+As the last measured strain died out the audience reseated itself,
+the introduction to "La Tosca" sounded, and the curtain rose.
+Although the names of the performers were unknown to Kirk, their
+voices were remarkably good, and he soon became absorbed in the
+drama. A sudden lonesomeness surged over him as he recalled
+another night when he and Darwin K. Anthony had heard these same
+notes sung. But then they had sat enthralled by the art of Caruso,
+Scotti, and the ravishing Cavalieri. It had been one of the rare
+hours when he and his father had felt themselves really in
+sympathy. The Governor had come down for some fabulous directors'
+meeting, he remembered, and had wired his son to run in from New
+Haven for the evening. They had been real chums that night, and
+even at their modest little supper afterward, when the old
+gentleman had rowed with the waiter and cursed his dyspepsia, they
+had laughed and chatted like cronies. Yet a week later they had
+quarrelled.
+
+With an unexpected access of tenderness, Anthony Jr. longed to see
+once more that tumbled shock of white hair, that strong-lined
+face; to hear again the gruff tones of that voice he loved so
+well. After all, there were only two Anthonys left in the world,
+and he had been to blame. He acknowledged that he had been a
+ne'er-do-well. No wonder his father had been harsh, but still--old
+Darwin K. should not have been so domineering, so ready to credit
+all he heard. Kirk pressed his lips together and swore to make
+good, if for no other reason than to show his dad.
+
+As the curtain fell on the first act, he rose with the others and,
+accompanied by Mrs. Cortlandt, made his way down the long
+passageway and out into a brightly lighted, highly decorated foyer
+filling now with voluble people. It was a splendid room; but he
+had no eyes for it. His gaze was fixed upon the welcome open-air
+promenade outside, and his fingers fumbled with his cigarette-
+case.
+
+"Oh, wait, please," he heard Edith say, "I want you to meet some
+one."
+
+He had done little except respond to meaningless introductions all
+the evening, and nothing could have pleased him less at the
+moment. But, somewhat awkwardly, he began to edge his way through
+the press in the wake of his hostess. The next moment he halted
+and stood stock-still in helpless surprise.
+
+There, not a yard away, was the girl of his dreams demurely bowing
+to Edith Cortlandt, her hand upon the arm of a swarthy man whom
+Kirk knew at once as her father. He felt the blood rush blindingly
+to his head, felt it drumming at his ears, knew that he must be
+staring like a man bereft. Mrs. Cortlandt was speaking, and he
+caught the name "Garavel" like a bugle-call. They turned upon him,
+the Spanish gentleman bowed, and he saw that Chiquita's little
+white-gloved hand was extended toward him.
+
+She was the same dainty, desirous maid he had met in the forest,
+but now splendidly radiant and perfect beyond his imagining. She
+was no longer the simple wood-sprite, but a tiny princess in filmy
+white, moulded by some master craftsman. As on that earlier
+meeting, she was thrilling with some subtle mirth which flickered
+on her lips or danced in the depths of her great, dark eyes.
+
+How he ever got through that wild introductory moment without
+making a show of himself, Anthony never knew, for his first
+overwhelming impulse was to seize the girl and never let her
+escape. It was the same feeling he had had at Las Savannas, only
+ten times harder to resist. The general confusion, perhaps, helped
+to hide his emotion, for around them eddied a constant human tide,
+through which at last came Mr. Cortlandt and the other members of
+his party. There were more introductions, more bows and polite
+exchanges of words which had the maddening effect of distracting
+Miss Garavel's attention. Then, by some glorious miracle, Kirk
+found himself moving toward the open air at her side, with Mrs.
+Cortlandt and the banker in advance of them.
+
+"Oh, Chiquita," he said, softly, "I thought I'd NEVER find you.
+I've hunted everywhere."
+
+At the tremulous intensity of his tone, she gave an uncertain
+laugh and flashed him a startled glance.
+
+"Chiquita is not my name," she said, reprovingly.
+
+"Yes, it is; it must be. I can't think of you by any other. Hasn't
+it been whispering at my ears ever since you said it? It has
+nearly driven me mad."
+
+"Senor Antonio! I have seen you but once."
+
+"I have seen you every day, every hour-"
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"I can't see anything else. Don't you understand?"
+
+"You forget that we have but just been introduced."
+
+"Don't be offended; you see, I can't realize that I have found you
+at last. When I learned you had gone away, I thought I would
+surely-"
+
+"I have been nowhere."
+
+"Didn't you go away on a ship?"
+
+"That is absurd! I have remained always in my father's house."
+
+"Then wait until I catch that boy of mine! Didn't you know I was
+looking for you? Couldn't you FEEL it?"
+
+"Indeed, why should I imagine such things?"
+
+"Why, if you couldn't feel a thing like that, you can't love me."
+
+"Of a certainly not," she gasped. "You should not joke about such
+things."
+
+"I'm not joking; I never was so serious in my life. I-I'm afraid I
+can't tell you everything-it all wants to come out at once. Why
+didn't you come back as you promised?"
+
+"It was Stephanie-she is such a ferocious person! I was brought to
+the city that day-but no, senor. I did not promise. I said only
+'perhaps.'"
+
+"Have you done your penance?"
+
+"It was finished yesterday. This is the first time I have been
+out. Oh, it is delightful. The music-the people!"
+
+"And I can come to see you now?"
+
+"Very well do you know that you cannot. Have you not learned our
+customs?" Then, with an abrupt and icy change of tone: "I forget.
+Of course you are familiar with those customs, since you have
+become the wooer of Miss Torres."
+
+"Oh, Lord! Where did you hear about that?"
+
+"So! It is true. You are fickle, senor-or is it that you prefer
+dark people?"
+
+"I was looking for you. I thought it was you behind those curtains
+all the time." He began a flurried defence of his recent
+outrageous behavior, to which Miss Garavel endeavored to listen
+with distant composure. But he was so desperately in earnest, so
+anxious to make light of the matter, so eager to expose all his
+folly and have done with it, that he must have been funnier than
+he knew. In the midst of his narrative the girl's eyes showed an
+encouraging gleam, and when he described his interview with Torres
+and Heran their surprise and dramatic indignation, she laughed
+merrily.
+
+"Oh, it wasn't funny at the time," he hastened to add. "I felt as
+though I had actually proposed, and might have to pay alimony."
+
+"Poor Maria! It is no light thing to be cast aside by one's lover.
+She is broken-hearted, and for six months she will do penance."
+
+"This penance thing is a habit with you girls. But I wasn't her
+lover; I'm yours."
+
+"Do not be foolish," she exclaimed, sharply, "or I shall be forced
+to walk with my father."
+
+"Don't do that. Can't you see we must make haste while the curtain
+is down?"
+
+"I do not see. I am strolling in search of the cool air." She
+bowed and smiled at some passing friends. She seemed very
+careless, very flippant. She was not at all the impetuous,
+mischievous Chiquita he had met in the woods.
+
+"See here!" he said, soberly. "We can't go on this way. Now that
+I've met your father, I'm going to explain my intentions to him,
+and ask his permission to call on you."
+
+"We have a--proverb, senor, 'Ir por lana, y volver trasquilado,'
+which means, 'Take heed lest you find what you do not seek.' Do
+not be impetuous."
+
+"There's only one thing I'm seeking."
+
+"My father is a stern man. In his home he is entirely a Spaniard,
+and if he learned how we met, for instance"-even under the
+electric light he saw her flush-"he would create a terrible
+scene." She paused in her walk and leaned over the stone
+balustrade, staring out across the ink-black harbor.
+
+"Trust me! I shan't tell him."
+
+"There are so many reasons why it is useless."
+
+"Name one."
+
+"One!" She shrugged lightly. "In the first place I care nothing
+for you. Is not that enough?"
+
+"No, indeed. You'll get over that."
+
+"Let us imagine, then, the contrary. You Americans are entirely
+different from our people. You are cold, deliberate, wicked-your
+social customs are not like ours. You do not at all understand us.
+How then could you be interested to meet a Spanish family?"
+
+"Why, you're half American."
+
+"Oh yes, although it is to be regretted. Even at school in your
+Baltimore I learned many improper things, against which I have had
+to struggle ever since."
+
+"For instance?"
+
+"Ah," she sighed, "I saw so much liberty; I heard of the shocking
+conduct of your American ladies, and, while I know it is quite
+wrong and wicked, still-it is interesting. Why, there is no other
+nice girl in all Panama who would have talked with you as I did in
+the forest that day."
+
+"But what has all this to do with my coming to see you?"
+
+"It is difficult to explain, since you will not understand. When a
+young man is accepted into a Spanish house, many things are taken
+for granted. Besides that, we do not know each other, you and I.
+Also, if you should come to see me, it would cause gossip,
+misunderstanding among my friends."
+
+"I'll declare myself in advance," he promised warmly.
+
+"No, no, no! We Spanish-Americans do not care for strangers. We
+have our own people and we are satisfied. You Yankees are not very
+nice; you are barbarous; you assume such liberties. Our young men
+are gentle, modest, sweet--"
+
+"Um-m! I hadn't noticed it."
+
+"This is the first time I have ever talked so freely with a
+gentleman, and I suppose it is immodest. After all, it is much
+better that old people who are of more experience should discuss
+these questions."
+
+"But don't you want to have a voice in your own affairs?" he
+eagerly urged. "Do you really want your relatives to tell you whom
+to meet, whom to love, and whom to marry?"
+
+She answered, frankly: "Sometimes I feel that way. Yet at other
+times I am sure they must know best."
+
+"I don't believe you are the sort to shut your eyes and do exactly
+as you're told."
+
+"I do rebel sometimes. I protest, but it is only the American
+blood in me."
+
+"If you'd learn to know me a little bit, maybe you'd enjoy having
+me around the house."
+
+"But I cannot know you, any more than you can know me," she cried,
+with a little gesture of despair at his dullness. "Don't you see--
+before we could get acquainted nicely people would be talking?"
+
+"Let's try. You're living at the country place again, aren't you?
+Suppose I should get lost some day--tomorrow, for instance?"
+
+"No, no! Listen. It is the warning bell, and we must return."
+
+The crowd was filing into the theatre now. They fell in behind
+Senor Garavel and Mrs. Cortlandt.
+
+"I'm going hunting again tomorrow," prophesied Kirk, "and I'm
+almost certain to lose my way-about three o'clock."
+
+"You should take with you a guide."
+
+"That's not a bad idea. I'd like to talk it over with you. Suppose
+we have another stroll after the next act?"
+
+"I shall be with my father. Never before have I enjoyed so much
+liberty." She sighed gratefully.
+
+"Oh, I detest your blamed, straitlaced Spanish customs," he cried,
+hotly. "What do they amount to, anyhow? I love you. I do, I do-"
+
+She laughed and darted to her father's side.
+
+"Don't you think Miss Garavel is a pretty girl?" Mrs. Cortlandt
+questioned, as they strolled toward their box.
+
+"She's a dream." Anthony's tone left nothing unsaid.
+
+"You got along together capitally. Most of the senoritas are
+impossible."
+
+"By the way, what is her name?"
+
+"Gertrudis. Rather pleasing, I think."
+
+Kirk thought so, too. In fact, it pleased him so greatly that he
+thought of nothing else during the entire second act of "La
+Tosca." It was even sweeter than the music of her hesitating
+accent.
+
+When, after an age, the curtain fell for a second time, he escaped
+from his companions, mumbling some excuse or other, and made haste
+to find her again. But as he approached he felt a sudden pang of
+jealous rage.
+
+Ramon Alfarez was beside her, and the two were chatting with an
+appearance of intimacy that made him furious. Close at hand stood
+Garavel, deep in conversation with Colonel Jolson.
+
+"Ah, Ramon, I wish you to meet Mr. Anthony," said Gertrudis. "So!
+You have met before?"
+
+"In Colon," Kirk explained, while Alfarez scorched him with his
+eyes. "Mr. Alfarez was very hospitable to me."
+
+"Yes," the Spaniard exclaimed. "It is my great regret that Senor
+Ant'ony did not remain for longer."
+
+"Ramon is with the President's party this evening. He is Senor
+Galleo's Secretary, you know."
+
+"I informed you concerning those good fortunes some time since,
+eh?" Ramon's insulting stare made Kirk long to take him by the
+throat.
+
+"Yes, you told me. I suppose it is a fine position."
+
+Alfarez swelled pompously. "I 'ave many responsibilities."
+
+"It brings you very close to the Chief Executive, no doubt."
+
+"I 'ave indeed the honor to be his intimate!"
+
+"He's the tallest negro I ever saw," Kirk said, simply, at which
+the haughty Ramon seemed about to explode, and Miss Garavel quite
+shamelessly giggled.
+
+"That is funny," she exclaimed. "But you must not tease Ramon. You
+understand, the voice of the people has made Galleo President, but
+no one forgets that he is not one of us."
+
+Her youthful countryman twisted his mustache with trembling
+fingers.
+
+"It is politics!" he declared. "And yet Galleo is a great man; I
+am honor' to be his Secretary. But by the grace of God our next
+President will be w'ite."
+
+"Ramon's father, Don Anibal, you know." Gertrudis nodded wisely at
+the American. "We are very proud of Ramon, he is so young to be
+high in politics."
+
+"Eh! Yes, and many of our bravest patriots 'ave been black men."
+
+"Oh, we've had some brave negroes, too," Kirk acknowledged.
+
+"So! You see!" Alfarez was triumphant.
+
+"The greatest fighter we ever had was a colored chap."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"His name was Gans--Joe Gans."
+
+"You are still joking," said Miss Garavel. "In Baltimore I read
+the newspapers about that Gans. He was a-box-fighter, what?"
+
+"Exactly. But he never carried a Secretary."
+
+Alfarez's countenance was sallow as he inquired:
+
+"Does Senor Ant'ony discover our climate to be still agreeable?"
+
+"Very. It hasn't grown too warm for me yet."
+
+"We are but approaching our 'ot season." The speaker's eyes
+snapped.
+
+"Oh, I'll stand the heat all right, and the mosquitoes, too."
+
+"Eh! Do not be too sure. The mosquito makes a leetle buzzing-but
+it is well to take warning. If not, behol', some day you grow ver'
+seeck."
+
+Heretofore Kirk had hated Ramon in a careless, indifferent sort of
+way, feeling that he owed him a good drubbing, which he would be
+pleased to administer if ever a fitting time arrived. But now,
+since he saw that the jackanapes had the audacity to love
+Gertrudis, his feeling became intense. The girl, of course, was
+fully alive to the situation, and, although she evidently enjoyed
+it, she did her best to stand between the two men.
+
+As for Alfarez, he was quick to feel the sudden fierce hostility
+he had aroused, and it seemed to make him nervous. Moreover, he
+conceived that he had scored heavily by his last retort, at which
+Kirk had only smiled. It therefore seemed best to him to withdraw
+from the conversation (annoyingly conducted in English), and a few
+moments later he stalked majestically away. This was just what
+Kirk wanted, and he quickly suggested the balcony. But Gertrudis
+was obstinate.
+
+"I must remain with my father," she said.
+
+"May I sit beside you, then? I've been thinking of a lot of things
+to say. I always think of bully remarks when it's too late. Now
+I've forgotten them. Do you know, I'm going to nestle up to your
+father and make him like me?"
+
+"Again you are speaking of that subject. I have known you but an
+hour, and you talk of nothing but my father, of me, of coming to
+call."
+
+"Well, I can't think of anything else."
+
+"You are too bold. Spanish fathers do not like such young men. But
+to hear me talk!" She flushed slightly. "I have lost all modesty
+to speak of those things. You force me to embarrass myself."
+
+"I was an instantaneous success with Miss Torres' father. He was
+ready to send a dray for my trunks."
+
+"Let us discuss other things."
+
+"I haven't the strength. You once spoke of a chap your people had
+picked out. It isn't-Alfarez?"
+
+She let her dark eyes rest upon his a moment, and his senses swam.
+Then she nodded slowly.
+
+"You do not like him?"
+
+"Just like a nose-bleed. The day you and I are married I'm going
+to send him a wreath of poison ivy."
+
+"It pleases you always to joke."
+
+"No joke about that. You won't give in, will you?"
+
+"There is no question of force nor of surrender, senor. I insist
+now that we shall speak of other things."
+
+A few moments later he was constrained to rejoin his hostess'
+party.
+
+"When are you going back to Las Savannas?" he asked, as he
+reluctantly arose.
+
+"To-morrow."
+
+"The hunting ought to be good-"
+
+But she frowned at him in annoyance, and he left her, after all,
+without knowing whether he had gained or lost ground. Of one thing
+only he was sure-their meeting had been in some respects a
+disappointment. She was not by any means so warm and impulsive as
+he had supposed. Her girlishness, her simplicity, her little
+American ways, cloaked a deep reserve and a fine sense of the
+difference in their positions. She could be Spanish enough when
+she chose, he perceived, and he felt, as he was intended to feel,
+that the little lady of quality he had met to-night would be much
+harder to win than the girl of the woods. The plague of it was
+that, if anything, he was more in love with the definite and
+dazzling Gertrudis Garavel than he had been with the mysteriously
+alluring Chiquita. If only she were all American, or even all
+Spanish, perhaps he would know better how to act. But,
+unfortunately, she was both-just enough of both to be perplexing
+and wholly unreliable. And then, too, there was Alfarez!
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+AN AWAKENING
+
+
+He was in no more satisfactory frame of mind when, on the next
+afternoon, he shouldered his gun and set out for the country. He
+went directly to the fairy pool, and waited there in a very fever
+of anxiety. Despite the coolness and peace of the place, he felt
+his pulses throb and his face burn. If she came, it would mean
+everything to him. If she stayed away-why, then he would have to
+believe that, after all, the real Gertrudis Garavel had spoken
+last night at the opera, and that the sprightly, mirthful little
+maid who had bewitched him on their first meeting no longer
+existed. An odd bashfulness overtook him. It did not seem to him
+that it could possibly have been he who had talked to her so
+boldly only the evening before. At the thought of his temerity he
+felt almost inclined to flee, yet he would not have deserted his
+post for worlds. The sound of a voice shot through his troubled
+thoughts like a beam of sunlight through a dark room.
+
+"Oh, Senor Antonio! How you startled me!"
+
+Instantly his self-possession came back. He felt relieved and gay.
+
+"Good-afternoon, queen!" He rose and bowed politely. "I thought I
+saw one underneath the waterfall just now."
+
+"Who would have expected you to be here?" she cried, with an
+extreme and obviously counterfeit amazement that filled him with
+delight.
+
+"I'm lost," he declared; then, after one look into her eyes, he
+added, "Absolutely, utterly, irretrievably lost."
+
+"It is very fortunate that I chanced to be passing, for this is a
+lonely spot; nobody ever comes here."
+
+"Well, I hardly ever lose myself in busy places. Won't you sit
+down?"
+
+"Since we have met quite by accident, perhaps it would not be so
+very improper," She laughed mischievously.
+
+"You know I've been lost now for several months. It's a delightful
+feeling-you ought to try it."
+
+She settled uncertainly beside him like a butterfly just
+alighting, ready to take flight again, on the instant.
+
+"Perhaps I can help you to find your way, senor?" she said, with
+ingenuous politeness.
+
+"You are the only one who can, Miss Garavel. I don't know that I
+ever told you, but I'm in love."
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"I am the most miserably happy person in the world, for I have
+just this moment begun to believe that the young lady likes me a
+little bit."
+
+"Oh! But I forgot the real reason why I came. I have something I
+must tell you."
+
+"All right. But honestly now, didn't you WANT to come?"
+
+She turned upon him in a little burst of passion. "Yes!" she
+cried. "Of course I did! I wished to come, madly, senor. There is
+no use to lie. But wait! It is wholly because I am a-what you call
+fleert-a very sad fleert." No one could possibly describe the
+quaint pronunciation she gave the word. "It makes my heart patter,
+like that"--she made her little fingers "patter"-"to be wooed even
+by a Yankee. But I do not love you in the least. Oh no! Even if I
+wished to do so, there are too many reasons why I could not, and
+when I explain you will understand."
+
+"I know; it's Ramon Alfarez. You're half-way engaged to him--but
+you know you don't love him."
+
+"Ah! It is not too sure. He is of fine family, he is rich, he is
+handsome-not possibly could I care for any man who was not all of
+those. All my life I have thought him a very sweet gentleman, and
+for a long time it has been agreed that I should be his wife. Even
+all the young ladies are furious at me, which is very nice also-so
+it is only because I am disobedient that I rebelled. But I was
+punished for my evil disposition." She sighed mournfully. "And now
+it is all arranged once more."
+
+"Is it really signed, sealed, stamped, and delivered in the
+presence of?"
+
+"No, no; but 'Arco siempre armado'-"
+
+"Of course. Is that a prescription?"
+
+'"A bow long bent grows weak.' And there are so many reasons why I
+should say yes."
+
+"You haven't mentioned any that would be binding in law."
+
+"My father's wish. Is not that sufficient?"
+
+"You disregarded that once."
+
+"That was but a flutter. All the time I knew I should be Ramon's
+wife when the time arrived. But it made him so unhappy that I was
+quite pleased. Only for those ugly blue dresses, I would have
+greatly enjoyed my penance. Perhaps I could refuse to wed a man my
+father chose for me, but no nice Spanish girl would dare to wed a
+man her father did not like. Do you see?"
+
+"But it's no cinch your father won't positively hunger for me,
+once we get chummy."
+
+"And I for Ramon? How sad that would be, eh?"
+
+"Really, now, couldn't you bring yourself to marry a chap who
+wasn't aristocratic, rich, and handsome? You know that's a tough
+combination. Most aristocratic people are poor, and the rich ones
+have dyspepsia."
+
+"Oh no! I am quite certain."
+
+"Suppose I should show you a family tree that you couldn't throw a
+stone over?"
+
+"It would not do at all. I am so extravagant."
+
+"I fully intend to be rich, some time."
+
+"But you are not handsome, senor." Her eyes travelled over him
+with a mischievous twinkle. "You are too beeg."
+
+"I'm very durable; I'd last a long time."
+
+She shook her dark head decisively, and he saw the lights that
+rippled in her profuse crown of hair.
+
+"You are too different, you disregard our customs, you are bold.
+You continue to come here against my wishes, which no Spanish
+gentleman would dare to do."
+
+"Oh, I'm no Spanish gentleman. I'm just an emotional blond; but
+I'm bound to marry you."
+
+"If one of my countrymen found me so indiscreet as to talk with
+him alone like this, he would go away and never come back. I am
+amazed at you, senor. Have you no pride?"
+
+"Not a bit; and now that I have met all your objections, let's
+arrange the details. Shall it be a church wedding?"
+
+She laughed deliciously. "What a nice game it is we have played!
+But now I must talk seriously."
+
+"You witch!" he breathed. "Do you think I could ever give you up?"
+
+She checked him gravely. "Truly, it was just a game--and yet it was
+not altogether so, either. But here is what I came to say. The
+strangest thing has happened-not until last night after the opera
+did I even dream of it, and-even now I cannot believe. Oh, I am so
+proud!"
+
+"More bad news for me, I suppose."
+
+"Yes. But such good news for me that I am sure you will be glad."
+Timidly he reached out and touched a fold of her white dress. She
+seemed to be slipping from him. "Coming home from the theatre my
+father told me-oh, the most wonderful thing! He said-but how shall
+I speak of such a secret?"
+
+"Evidently you don't intend to."
+
+"I promised very faithfully not to tell, so-he is to be the next
+President of Panama."
+
+"Pres--" Anthony stared at her in frank amazement. "Why, I thought
+old man Alfarez--"
+
+"It seems your country does not like him because he hates
+Americans-see? This is the work of that Mr. Cortlandt. Think! Is
+it not wonderful? Now that you know the truth, you must see at
+once that by no means could I marry to a person like you."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Ohe! Don't you understand? I shall be the finest lady in the
+Republic. All men will adore me. I will have suitors-not one or
+two as now, but many. I will be 'the beautiful Senorita Garavel,'
+for all the great people are beautiful. I shall be proud, also,
+and I shall not even speak to Yankees any more. My father will be
+the most famous man of all the Republic-perhaps in the whole
+world, I don't know."
+
+"I don't think it will make any difference with him when he knows
+who I am."
+
+"Then you also are a great man, eh?" She hitched herself about, to
+face him more squarely. "That is truly interesting. He would
+scarcely wish a railroad conductor to address the daughter of
+President Garavel."
+
+"Oh, I've been promoted since I was out here last. Anyhow, I guess
+my dad is pretty nearly as good as anybody in Panama."
+
+"He is, then, of blue blood?"
+
+"No! Red."
+
+"Oh, but a gentleman!"
+
+"He is now. He used to be a brakeman."
+
+"You appear to be-proud of such a thing! How strange! My father's
+blood runs back to the conquistadors; even in the earliest books
+one finds Garavels. They were conquerors, they ruled this country
+and all these people."
+
+"That's something to be proud of, but it isn't everything. High-
+bred horses run well, but they can't pull. It's the old farm nag
+that delivers the merchandise. But I'll tackle your father, and
+I'll promise to vote for him."
+
+"You are very fonny." She gazed at him seriously, one tiny foot
+curled under her, her chin nestling into her palm.
+
+"Do you love me?"
+
+"Not one single speck. I merely like you to make love at me and
+cause my heart to jomp! But that is not fair to you, is it?-since
+you can have no hope."
+
+The little hypocrite continued to voice words of warning and
+denial, though her eyes invited him, and for a long time they
+continued this delightful play of pleading and evasion. But at
+last Chiquita jumped up with a great appearance of alarm.
+
+"Heavens! the time," she cried. "I have stayed too long by much.
+Stephanie will miss me."
+
+He rose and stretched out his hand as if to hold her.
+
+"Shall I come again to-morrow?"
+
+She grew suddenly earnest.
+
+"No, no, senor. That is something you should not ask. If ever we
+are to meet again, it must be with my father's consent. Please! Do
+not urge, for truly I would have to refuse." She let her palm rest
+in his an instant, and her cheek went scarlet as he pressed it to
+his lips. Then she said: "Go, Mr. Brazen One. How greatly it
+surprised me to find you here I cannot say. It gave me such a
+start! And, Senor Antonio--my father may be found any day at his
+bank." Before he could detain her she was gone, flitting up the
+path with just one flashing smile of mischief over her shoulder.
+
+Anthony went home with his head in the clouds. All his doubts were
+now at rest; for while Chiquita had stubbornly denied him all
+encouragement, he felt sure that her heart had answered. It was in
+the highest spirits, therefore, that he opened a letter he found
+awaiting him, and read as follows:
+
+DEAR KIRK,--I hope you are heartily sick of yourself and ready to
+do something decent for a change. Knowing your aristocratic habits
+as I do, I realize you must owe a lot of money by this time, and
+your new friends must be getting tired of you. I have been
+expecting you to draw on me daily, and am taking this occasion to
+warn you in your own expensively acquired college English that
+"THERE IS NOTHING DOING"--except upon one condition. If you will
+agree to behave yourself in future, I will pay your debts, send
+you West, and give you a job as operator at forty dollars a month.
+BUT--you will go where I send you, and you will stay where you are
+put. I will do the thinking for both of us and judge of your
+associates. Maybe if you prove to be any good at all, I will
+arrange with the police to let you spend your vacations in "that
+dear New York," which still shows signs of your red--paint brush.
+I would be pleased to have an apology by return mail, so that I
+may meet you in New Orleans and start you off once more on the
+road to decency and self-respect. You will never be a success at
+anything, but I am always ready to do my duty. This is my last
+offer, and if you refuse you may distinctly and definitely go to
+the devil. As ever,
+
+Your loving father, DARWIN K. ANTHONY.
+
+P.S.--I can get GOOD operators for thirty dollars a month. The
+extra ten dollars is pure sentiment.
+
+Kirk had known in advance just about what the letter contained,
+and now laughed aloud. It was so like the old gentleman! Why, he
+could almost hear him dictating it.
+
+Spurred by his present exhilaration, he wrote an answer, which he
+read with a good deal of satisfaction before sealing it up.
+
+DEAR DAD,-Your affectionate letter, with the kind offer to take
+charge of a siding out in the Dakotas, is at hand. I would like to
+help you along with your business, but "Upward and onward" is my
+motto, and you'll have to raise that salary a bit. I am drawing
+two hundred and twenty-five dollars a month at present, quarters
+furnished and promotion promised. I have made some good
+investments, and there are no debts to settle. Enclosed find my
+last bank statement, which will doubtless prove a great
+disappointment to you.
+
+If you need a good Master of Transportation, I would be pleased to
+consider an offer at any time, provided the salary is
+satisfactory, but your proposal to edit my acquaintances is out of
+the question. My decency and self respect are doing well, thank
+you, and I like the climate.
+
+Outside my window a mocking-bird sings nightly, and I have a tame
+rabbit with ears like a squirrel and baby-blue eyes--also a
+Jamaican negro boy who, I fear, could not stand our harsh Northern
+winters.
+
+The salary would have to be about six thousand a year. As always,
+
+Your devoted and obedient son, KIRK.
+
+P.S.--I would not care to locate farther west than Buffalo. My
+wife might not like it.
+
+"If he survives the first part, that tag line will put him down
+for the count," mused the writer, with a grin. "And, yet,
+something tells me he will not embrace my offer. Ah, well!
+Promotion is slow." He whistled blithely as he sent Allan off to
+the post-office.
+
+Kirk lost no time in calling at the bank, but was disappointed to
+learn that Senor Andres Garavel had left the city for an
+unexpected business tour of the Provinces and would not return for
+at least two weeks. At first he was inclined to doubt the truth of
+this statement, but a casual inquiry from Mrs. Cortlandt confirmed
+it, and, cursing his luck, he sought distraction where he could
+most easily find it.
+
+In the days that followed he saw nothing of Gertrudis, but a good
+deal of Edith Cortlandt. She had redeemed her promise of getting
+him a good horse-something rare in this country-and he was
+grateful for the exercise, which came as a welcome relief from his
+indoor toil. They rode almost daily; he dined at her house, and
+once again made one of her party at the opera. Soon their old
+friendly intercourse was going on as if it had never been
+interrupted.
+
+As for Edith, this unsatisfying, semi-public intimacy came to be
+quite as much a pain as a pleasure to her. During these past few
+weeks she had been plunged in a mental turmoil, the signs of which
+she had concealed with difficulty. She had fought with herself;
+she had tried to reason; she had marshalled her pride, but all in
+vain. At last she awoke to the terrifying certainty that she was
+in love. It had all begun with that moment of impulsive surrender
+at Taboga. The night following had been terrible to her. In its
+dark hours she had seen her soul for the first time, and the
+glimpse she got frightened her. Following this, she became furious
+with herself, then resentful toward Anthony; next she grew
+desperate and reckless.
+
+She began to look upon her husband with a quickened curiosity, and
+found him a stranger. For years she had made allowance for his
+weaknesses, ignoring them as she ignored his virtues; but never
+before had he appeared so colorless, so insignificant, above all
+so alien. She had barely tolerated him hitherto, but now she began
+to despise him.
+
+If Cortlandt was aware of her change of feeling and its cause, his
+method of dealing with her showed some keenness. Silent contempt
+was what she could least endure from him of all men; yet this was
+just what his manner toward her expressed-if it expressed
+anything. Beyond those words as they were leaving the island, he
+had said nothing, had never referred to the incident, had not so
+much as mentioned Anthony's name unless forced to do so, and this
+offended her unreasonably. She caught him regarding her strangely
+at times with a curious, faltering expression, but he was so icy
+in his reserve, he yielded so easily to her predominance, that she
+could divine nothing and turned the more fiercely to her inward
+struggle. Even if he did suspect, what then? It was no affair of
+his; she was her own mistress. She had given him all he possessed,
+she had made a man of him. He was her creature, and had no rights
+beyond what she chose to give. They saw less and less of each
+other. He became more formal, more respectfully unhusbandlike. He
+spent few daylight hours in the house, coming and going as he
+pleased, frequenting the few clubs of the city, or riding alone.
+On more than one occasion he met her and Anthony on their horses.
+Only before others, or at their frequent political councils, were
+they quite the same as they had been.
+
+Of Anthony, on the other hand, she arranged to see more than ever,
+flattering him by a new deference in her manner, making him feel
+always at ease with her, watching him vainly for the least sign of
+awakening desire. In their frequent rides they covered most of the
+roads about the city, even to the ruins of old Panama. Then they
+began to explore the by-paths and trails.
+
+One afternoon they turned into an unfrequented road that led off
+to the jungle from the main highway, walking their horses while
+they marvelled at the beauty of the foliage. The trail they knew
+led to a coffee plantation far up among the hills, but it was so
+little travelled that the verdure brushed them as they went, and
+in many places they passed beneath a roof of branches. Before they
+had penetrated a quarter of a mile they were in the midst of an
+unbroken solitude, shut off from the world by a riotous glory of
+green, yellow, and crimson. They had not spoken for a long time,
+and were feeling quite content with the pleasant monotony of--
+their journey, when they burst out into a rocky glen where a
+spring of clear water bubbled forth. With a common impulse they
+reined in; Twenty feet farther on the trail twisted into the
+screen of verdure and was lost.
+
+"What a discovery!" exclaimed Edith. "Help me down, please, I'm
+going to drink."
+
+Kirk dismounted and lent her a hand; the horses snorted
+appreciatively, and stepping forward, thrust their soft muzzles
+eagerly into the stream, then fell to browsing upon the tender
+leaves at their shoulders.
+
+Edith quenched her thirst, shook the cramp from her limbs, and
+said: "Some time we will have to see where this road leads. There
+may be more surprises beyond." She broke a flower from its stem
+and fastened it in Kirk's buttonhole, while he gazed down at her
+with friendly eyes.
+
+"You're looking awfully well lately," he declared.
+
+Glancing up, she met his gaze and held it for an instant. "It's
+the open air and the exercise. I enjoy these rides with you more
+than I can say." Something in her look gave him a little thrill of
+embarrassment.
+
+"I think I'll give Marquis and Gyp their dessert," he said, and,
+turning aside, began to gather a handful of the greenest leaves.
+The instant his eyes were off her, she took the horses by their
+bridles, swung them about, and with a sharp blow of her riding-
+crop sent them snorting and clattering down the trail. Kirk
+wheeled barely in time to see them disappearing.
+
+"Here!" he cried, sharply. "What are you doing?"
+
+"They bolted."
+
+"They'll hike straight for town. Now I'll have to chase--" He
+glanced at her sharply. "Say, why did you do that?"
+
+"Because I wanted to. Isn't that reason enough?" Her eyes were
+reckless and her lips white.
+
+"You shouldn't do a thing like that!" he cried, gruffly. "It's
+foolish. Now I'll have to run them down."
+
+"Oh, you can't catch them."
+
+"Well, I'll have a try at it, anyhow." He tossed away his handful
+of leaves.
+
+"Silly! I did it because I wanted to talk with you."
+
+"Well, those horses wouldn't overhear."
+
+"Don't be angry, Kirk. I haven't seen you alone since that night."
+
+"Taboga?" he said, guiltily. "You're not going to lecture me
+again? I'm sorry enough as it is." Never in all his life had he
+felt more uncomfortable. He could not bring himself to meet her
+gaze, feeling that his own face must be on fire.
+
+"What a queer chap you are! Am I so unattractive that you really
+want to rush off after those horses?" He said nothing, and she
+went on after a moment of hesitation: "I have known men who would
+have thought it a privilege to be left alone with me like this."
+
+"I--have no doubt."
+
+"You remember, for instance, I told you there was one man at
+Taboga whom I did not wish to see?"
+
+"Yes--at the sanitarium."
+
+"Well, something like this happened once--with him--and I told
+Stephen."
+
+"And did you tell Mr. Cortlandt what I did?"
+
+"Do you think I would have come riding with you if I had?" She
+shook her head. "Kirk, I used to think you were an unusually
+forward young man, but you're not very worldly, are you?"
+
+"N-no--yes! I guess I'm as wise as most fellows."
+
+"Sometimes I think you are very stupid."
+
+He began firmly: "See here, Mrs. Cortlandt, you have been mighty
+good to me, and I'm indebted to you and your husband for a whole
+lot. I am terribly fond of you both."
+
+She clipped a crimson bloom from its stem with a vicious blow of
+her crop, then, with eyes fixed upon the fallen flower, broke the
+awkward pause that followed.
+
+"I suppose," she said, half defiantly, "you know how things are
+with Stephen and me--everybody must know, I suppose. I have done a
+lot of thinking lately, and I have made up my mind that the last
+appeal of what is right or wrong lies with one's self. I'm not
+going to care any longer what the world thinks of my actions so
+long as my own heart justifies them. Happiness--that is what I
+want, and I will have it--I will have it at any cost. It is my
+right. Because a woman marries without love, is it right for her
+to forego love all her life? I think not."
+
+She looked up, and with a change of tone ran on swiftly: "I have
+studied you for a long time, Kirk. I know the sort of man you are.
+I know you better than you know yourself. Very lately I have begun
+to study myself, too, and I know, at last, the sort of woman I
+am." She drew near and laid a hand on each shoulder, forcing him
+to look straight into her eyes. "I am not like most women; I can't
+do things by halves; I can't temporize with vital things; I prefer
+to experiment, even blindly. I used to think I was born to rule,
+but I think now that a woman's only happiness lies in serving; and
+I used to believe I was contented, when all the time I was waiting
+for something and didn't know it. Don't be silly now; you're just
+like every other man."
+
+"I can't pretend to misunderstand you, although--Listen!" He cut
+his words short. "Here comes some one."
+
+She turned her head, as from the direction their mounts had taken
+came the sound of approaching hoots.
+
+"Natives from the hills." She nodded carelessly toward the purple
+mountains back of them. But the next moment she gave a little gasp
+of consternation. Out from the overhung path, with a great
+rustling of leaves, came, not the expected flea-bitten Panama
+horse, but a familiar bay, astride of which was Stephen Cortlandt.
+He was leading Marquis and Gyp by their bridles, and reined in at
+sight of his wife and her companion.
+
+"Hello!" he said. "I caught your horses for you."
+
+"Jove! That's lucky!" Kirk greeted the husband's arrival with
+genuine relief. "They bolted when we got down to take a drink, and
+we were getting ready for a long walk. Thanks, awfully."
+
+"No trouble at all. I saw them as they came out on the main road."
+Cortlandt's pigskin saddle creaked as he bent forward to deliver
+the reins. He was as cool and immaculate as ever. He met Edith's
+eyes without the slightest expression. "Nice afternoon for a
+ride."
+
+"If I had known you were riding to-day you might have come with
+us," she said.
+
+He smiled in his wintry fashion, then scanned the surroundings
+appreciatively.
+
+"Pretty spot, isn't it? If you are going back, I'll ride with
+you."
+
+"Good enough. May I give you a hand, Mrs. Cortlandt?" Kirk helped
+Edith to her seat, at which her husband bowed his thanks. Then the
+three set out in single file.
+
+"Which way?" inquired Stephen as they reached the highroad.
+
+"Back to town, I think," Edith told him, "And you?"
+
+"I'm not ready yet. See you later." He raised his hat and cantered
+easily away, while the other two turned their horses' heads toward
+the city.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+THE REST OF THE FAMILY
+
+
+The time for Senor Garavel's return having arrived, Kirk called at
+the bank, and found not the least difficulty in gaining an
+audience. Indeed, as soon as he had reminded the banker of their
+former meeting, he was treated with a degree of cordiality that
+surpassed his expectations.
+
+"I remember quite well, sir," said Garavel--"'La Tosca.' Since you
+are a friend of Mrs. Cortlandt I shall be delighted to serve you."
+
+Now that they were face to face, Kirk felt that he distinctly
+approved of Chiquita's father. This dignified, distinguished-
+looking gentleman awaited his pleasure with an air of leisurely
+courtesy that would have made him under other circumstances very
+easy of approach. But there was a keenness in his dark eyes that
+suggested the futility of beating round the bush. Kirk felt
+suddenly a little awkward.
+
+"I have something very particular to say to you," he began,
+diffidently, "but I don't know just how to get at it."
+
+Garavel smiled graciously. "I am a business man."
+
+"This isn't business," blurted Kirk; "it's much more important. I
+want to have it over as quickly as possible, so I'll be frank. I
+have met your daughter, Mr. Garavel"--the banker's eyes widened in
+a look of disconcerting intensity--"and I am in love with her--
+sort of a shock, isn't it? It was to me. I'd like to tell you who
+I am and anything else you may wish to know."
+
+"My dear sir, you surprise me--if you are really serious. Why, you
+have seen her but once--a moment, at the theatre!"
+
+"I met her before that night, out at your country place. I had
+been hunting, and on my way home through the woods I stumbled upon
+your swimming-pool. She directed me to the road."
+
+"But even so!"
+
+"Well, I loved her the first instant I saw her."
+
+"I knew nothing of this. If you had reason to think that your suit
+would be acceptable, why did you not come to me before?"
+
+"I couldn't. I didn't know your name. I was nearly crazy because I
+couldn't so much as learn the name of the girl I loved!" Kirk
+plunged confusedly into the story of his search for Chiquita.
+
+"That is a strange tale," said Senor Garavel, when he had
+finished--"a very strange tale--and yet you did well to tell it
+me. At present I do not know what to think. Young men are prone to
+such romantic fancies, rash and ill-considered. They are, perhaps,
+excusable, but---"
+
+"Oh, I suppose you can't understand how a fellow falls so deep in
+love on such short acquaintance, but I have been brooding over
+this for months--there's nothing hasty or ill-considered about it,
+I can assure you. I am terribly hard hit, sir; it means everything
+to me."
+
+"If you would tell me something about yourself, I might know
+better in what light to regard this affair."
+
+"Gladly--though there isn't much to tell. Just now I'm working on
+the P.R.R. as assistant to Runnels--the Master of Transportation,
+you know. I like the work and expect to be promoted. I have a
+little money--just enough to give me a fresh start if I should
+lose out here, and--oh, well, I'm poor but honest; I suppose
+that's about the size of it." He paused, vaguely conscious that he
+had not done himself justice. What else was there to say about
+Kirk Anthony? Then he added as an afterthought:
+
+"My father is a railroad man, in Albany, New York."
+
+"In what capacity is he employed, may I ask?" said Garavel,
+showing something like real interest.
+
+Kirk grinned at this, and, seeing a copy of Bradstreet's on the
+banker's table, turned to his father's name, which he pointed out
+rather shamefacedly. Senor Garavel became instantly less distant.
+
+"Of course the financial world knows Darwin K. Anthony," said he.
+"Even we modest merchants of the tropics have heard of him; and
+that his son should seek to win success upon his own merits is
+greatly to his credit. I congratulate you, sir, upon your
+excellent progress."
+
+"I hope to make good," said Kirk, simply, "and I think I can."
+Then he flushed and hesitated as a realization of the situation
+swept over him. Could he gain the favor of Chiquita's father under
+false pretences? Surely it was only just that a man should stand
+upon his own merits, and yet--it didn't seem quite right. At
+length, he said, with an effort:
+
+"I ought to tell you, sir, that I am not on good terms with my
+father, at present. In fact, he has cast me off. That is why I am
+here supporting myself by hard work, instead of living in
+idleness. But I'm beginning to like the work--and I'll make good--
+I'll do it if only to show my father his mistake. That's what I
+care about most. I don't want his money. It's easier to make money
+than I thought. But I must succeed, for his sake and my own."
+
+Despite his embarrassment, his face shone with sudden enthusiasm.
+He looked purposeful and aggressive, with a certain sternness that
+sat well upon his young manhood. Garavel lifted his brows.
+
+"May I inquire the cause of this--estrangement?"
+
+"Oh, general worthlessness on my part, I suppose. Come to think of
+it, I must have been a good deal of a cross. I never did anything
+very fierce, though." He smiled a little sadly. "I don't wonder
+that I fail to impress you."
+
+A quick light of thought flashed through the banker's eyes. He was
+a keen judge of men.
+
+"Well, well," he said, with a trace of impatience, "there is no
+need to go into the matter further. Your proposal is impossible--
+for many reasons it is impossible, and yet--your spirit is
+commendable."
+
+"Does that mean you won't even allow me to see your daughter?"
+
+"It would be useless."
+
+"But I love Gertrudis," said Kirk, desperately.
+
+Garavel looked a trifle pitying.
+
+"You are by no means the first," he said; "I have been besieged by
+many, who say always the same thing--without Gertrudis they
+cannot, they will not, they should not live. And yet I have heard
+of no deaths. At first I was greatly concerned about them--poor
+fellows--but most of them are married now, so I not do take your
+words too seriously." He laughed good-naturedly. "You unemotional
+Americans do not love at first sight."
+
+"I_ do, sir."
+
+"Tut! It is but admiration for a beautiful girl who--I say it--is
+wicked enough to enjoy creating havoc. Take time, my boy, and you
+will smile at this madness. Now, let us talk of something else."
+
+"It is no use, sir, I have it bad."
+
+"But when you make such a request as this, you assume to know the
+young lady's wishes in the matter."
+
+"Not at all. Without your consent I don't believe she'd allow
+herself to even like me. That is why I want to fix it with you
+first."
+
+"In that, at least, you are quite right, for Gertrudis is a good
+girl, and obedient, as a general rule; but--it is impossible. Her
+marriage has been arranged."
+
+"Do you think that is quite fair to her? If she loves Ramon
+Alfarez---"
+
+Once again Garavel's brows signalled surprise. "Ah, you know?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I was about to say, if she really loves him, I can't
+make any difference; but suppose she should care for me?"
+
+"Again it could make no difference, once she had married Ramon.
+But she is too young to know her own mind. These young girls are
+impressionable, romantic, foolish. I can see no object in
+deliberately courting trouble. Can you? In affairs of the heart it
+is well to use judgment and caution--qualities which come only
+with age. Youth is headstrong and blinded by dreams, hence it is
+better that marriage should be arranged by older persons."
+
+"Exactly! That's why I want you to arrange mine." The banker
+smiled in spite of himself, for he was not without a sense of
+humor, and the young man's sincerity was winning.
+
+"It is out of the question," he said; "useless to discuss.
+Forgetting for the moment all other considerations, there is an
+obstacle to your marriage into a Spanish family, which you do not
+stop to consider--one which might well prove insurmountable. I
+speak of religion."
+
+"No trouble there, sir."
+
+"You are, then, a Catholic?"
+
+"It was my mother's faith, and I was brought up in it until she
+died. After that, I--sort of neglected it. You see, I am more of a
+Catholic than anything else."
+
+"What we call a 'bad Catholic'?"
+
+"Yes, sir. But if I were not, it wouldn't make any difference.
+Chiquita is my religion." "Who?" The father started.
+
+"I--I call her that," Kirk explained, in confusion. "To myself, of
+course."
+
+"Indeed! So do I," said Senor Garavel, dryly. For a moment he
+frowned in meditation. There were many things to consider.
+He felt a certain sympathy for this young man, with his
+straightforwardness and artless brusquerie. Moreover, though the
+banker was no great respecter of persons, the mention of Darwin K.
+Anthony had impressed him. If Kirk were all that he seemed, he had
+no doubt of the ultimate reconciliation of father and son. At all
+events, it would do no harm to learn more of this extraordinary
+suitor, and meanwhile he must treat him with respect while
+carefully guarding his own dignity against possibly impertinent
+advances.
+
+"She has been promised to Ramon," he said, at last, "and I have
+considered her future quite settled. Of course, such arrangements
+are frequently altered for various causes, even at the last
+moment, but--quien sabe?" He shrugged his shoulders. "She may not
+wish to entertain your suit. So why discuss it? Why make plans or
+promises? It is a matter to be handled with the greatest delicacy;
+there are important issues linked with it. Where there is the
+prospect of an alliance between two houses--of business or
+politics--you will understand that according to our ideas, those
+considerations must govern--absolutely. Otherwise--I do not know--
+I can say nothing to encourage you except--that, for a young man I
+have known so very short a time"--he smiled genially--"you have
+impressed me not unfavorably. I thank you for coming to me, at any
+rate."
+
+The two men rose and shook hands; Kirk was not altogether cast
+down by the result of the interview. He understood the banker's
+allusion to the possible change of arrangements, and felt sure
+from what Chiquita had told him that the marriage with Ramon could
+not take place after the true nature of Garavel's political
+aspirations became known. In that case, if all went well, it did
+not seem impossible that Garavel would give his consent, and then
+Gertrudis alone would remain to be won. If, on the other hand, her
+father refused his permission--well, there are many ways of
+winning a bride. Kirk believed in his lucky star, and had a
+constitutional inability to imagine failure.
+
+The truth was that Andres Garavel had not hesitated long after
+that memorable night at the Tivoli before accepting the brilliant
+prize which the Cortlandts had dangled so alluringly before his
+eyes, and, the decision once made, he had entered into the scheme
+with all his soul. He was wise enough, however, to leave his
+destiny largely in their hands. This meant frequent councils among
+the three, a vast amount of careful work, of crafty intrigue, of
+untiring diplomacy, and, although his candidacy had not as yet
+been more than whispered, the purple robe of power was daily being
+woven, thread by thread.
+
+It was not long after Kirk's visit to the bank that Garavel,
+during one of these conferences, took occasion to bring up the
+young man's name. Cortlandt had been called to the telephone, and
+Edith was left free to answer without constraint.
+
+"I have seen you and him riding quite frequently," her guest
+remarked, with polite interest. "Is he, then, an old friend?"
+
+"Yes, we are very fond of him."
+
+"Your Mr. Runnels believes him most capable; we were speaking of
+him but yesterday."
+
+"Oh, he will be successful, if that's what you mean; I shall see
+to that. He has his father's gift for handling men---"
+
+"You know his father?"
+
+"Not personally, only by reputation. Kirk will be promoted soon,
+by-the-way, although he doesn't know it. He is to replace Runnels
+as soon as he is able."
+
+"Remarkable--and yet I have seen the marvels you work, dear lady.
+But is not this a strange sphere of activity for the son of Darwin
+K. Anthony?"
+
+"Oh, he had some kind of falling-out with his father, I believe,
+which occasioned his coming here. There was nothing really to
+Kirk's discredit--of that I am perfectly sure."
+
+"It would be unfortunate, indeed, if this breach between father
+and son should prove serious."
+
+"Oh, I dare say it won't. Kirk is certain to succeed, and old
+Anthony will come round, if I know American fathers."
+
+Garavel smiled, well pleased that he had treated his recent
+visitor with proper consideration. After all, why not invite the
+young fellow to his house? That would be rather a significant step
+according to Spanish custom; yet he need not be bound by it. He
+could put a stop to the affair at any time. Besides, despite his
+frequent protestations to the contrary, he was somewhat influenced
+by his daughter's desire for more liberty. It was not fair to her,
+he thought in his heart, that she should know only Ramon. One
+reason especially appealed to his pride. If a break came between
+him and Alfarez, Ramon must not appear to have jilted Gertrudis.
+If, meanwhile, she had another suitor, and one of distinguished
+family, the affair would wear a better look. It cannot be denied
+that the name of Darwin K. Anthony rang musically in his ears.
+
+"The boy has the right stuff in him," Edith went on. "He began at
+the bottom, only a few months ago, preferring to work his way up,
+though he was offered a first-rate position to begin with."
+
+She would have said more, but just at that moment her husband
+entered. "You were saying that Alfarez suspects," said Cortlandt,
+addressing Garavel. "Has he said anything?"
+
+"Not to me, as yet, but he surely must know; the rumors must have
+reached him. He is cold--and Ramon acts queerly. I feel guilty--
+almost as if I had betrayed a friend."
+
+"Nonsense! There is no room for fine scruples in politics. We
+mustn't be in too great a hurry, though. Things are going
+smoothly, and when the time comes you will be called for. But it
+must be the voice of the people calling. Bocas, Chiriqui, Colon--
+they must all demand Garavel." Cortlandt sighed. "I shall be very
+glad when it is over." He looked more pale, more bloodless, more
+world-weary than ever.
+
+"You need have no fear that it will cause serious trouble between
+you and the General," Mrs. Cortlandt assured Garavel. "Ramon
+should be able to effect peace, no matter what happens."
+
+"Ah, I am not so sure that there will be a marriage between
+Gertrudis and him. Young ladies are most uncertain when allowed
+the slightest liberty."
+
+"Is she growing rebellious?" Cortlandt inquired. "If I were you,
+then, I wouldn't force her. A loveless marriage is a tragic
+thing."
+
+His wife nodded her agreement.
+
+"Not exactly rebellious. She would do whatever I asked regardless
+of her own feelings, for that is the way we Spaniards bring up our
+daughters, but--she is cold to Ramon, and he, I believe, is
+suspicious of my intentions toward his father. Therefore, the
+situation is strained. It is very hard to know what is right in a
+case of this sort. The young are impressionable and reckless.
+Often what seems to them distasteful is in reality a blessing. It
+is not every love-match that turns out so happily as yours, my
+dear friends. Well, I suppose I am weak. With Gertrudis I cannot
+be severe; but unless it becomes necessary to make conditions with
+my old friend Alfarez, I should prefer to let the girl have her
+own way."
+
+As Cortlandt escorted his caller to the door, the Panamanian
+paused and said, with genuine solicitude:
+
+"You look badly, sir. I am afraid you work too hard. I would not
+easily forgive myself if this affair of ours caused you to fall
+ill."
+
+"Oh, I am all right--a little tired, that's all. I don't sleep
+well."
+
+"It is worry over this thing."
+
+Cortlandt smiled crookedly. "I am not the one to worry; I am not
+the one at the head. Surely you know what people say--that I am
+her office-boy?"
+
+Garavel found it hard to laugh this off gracefully. "You are too
+modest," he said. "I admire the trait, but I also chance to know
+the wonderful things you have accomplished. If people say such
+things, it is because they do not know and are too small to
+understand your voluntary position. It is very fine of you to let
+your wife share your work, senor." But he shook his head as the
+door closed behind him, really doubting that Cortlandt would prove
+physically equal to the coming struggle.
+
+It was about this time--perhaps two weeks after Kirk had replied
+to his father's letter--that Runnels called him in one day to ask:
+
+"Do you know a man named Clifford?"
+
+"No."
+
+"He dropped in this morning, claiming to be a newspaper man from
+the States; wanted to know all about everything on the Canal and--
+the usual thing. He didn't talk like a writer, though. I thought
+you might know him; he asked about you."
+
+"Me?" Kirk pricked up his ears.
+
+"I gathered the impression he was trying to pump me." Runnels eyed
+his subordinate shrewdly. "I boosted you."
+
+"Is he short and thick-set?"
+
+"No. Tall and thin." As Kirk merely looked at him in a puzzled
+way, he continued: "I suppose we're all suspicious down here,
+there's so much of that sort of thing. If he has anything on you--"
+
+"He's got nothing on me."
+
+"I'm glad of that. You're the best man I have, and that shake-up I
+told you about is coming off sooner than I expected. I'd hate to
+have anything happen to you. Do you think you could hold down my
+job?"
+
+"WHAT? Do you really mean it?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"I think I could, if you would help me."
+
+Runnels laughed. "That remark shows you haven't developed
+Isthmitis, anyhow."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"Well, it's a sort of mental disorder most of us have. We believe
+everybody above us is incompetent, and everybody below us is after
+our jobs. You'll get it in time--even some of the Commissioners
+have it."
+
+"It goes without saying that I'd like to be Master of
+Transportation, but not until you're through."
+
+"Well, the old man has had another row with Colonel Jolson, and
+may not wait for his vacation to quit. I'm promised the vacancy."
+
+"Then you have seen the Colonel?"
+
+"No--but I have seen Mrs. Cortlandt. I felt I had a right to ask
+something from her in return for what I did for you. I know that
+sounds rotten, but you'll understand how it is. Colonel Jolson
+wants his brother-in-law, Blakeley, to have the place, but I'm
+entitled to it, and she has promised to fix it for me. If I go up,
+you go, too; that's why I was worried when this Clifford party
+appeared."
+
+"There IS something, I suppose, I ought to tell you, although it
+doesn't amount to much. I was mixed up in a scrape the night I
+left New York. A plain-clothes man happened to get his head under
+a falling bottle and nearly died from the effects."
+
+"What was the trouble?"
+
+"It really wasn't the least bit of trouble, it was fatally easy.
+We were out on a grape carnival, six of us. It was an anti-
+prohibition festival, and he horned in."
+
+"There is nothing else?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Well, this Clifford party is stopping at the Hotel Central.
+Better look him over."
+
+"I will," said Kirk, feeling more concern than he cared to show,
+but his apprehension turned out to be quite unfounded. On
+inspection, Clifford proved to bear no resemblance whatever to
+Williams, nor did he seem to have any concealed design. He was a
+good sort, apparently, with a knack of making himself agreeable,
+and in the weeks that followed he and Kirk became quite friendly.
+Meanwhile, no word had come from Senor Garavel, and Kirk was
+beginning to fret. But just as he had reached the limit of his
+patience he received a note which transported him with joy.
+
+Senor Andres Garavel, he read, would be in the city on the
+following Tuesday evening, and would be pleased to have him call.
+
+Even with his recent experiences of Spanish etiquette, Kirk hardly
+realized the extent of the concession that had been made to him.
+He knew nothing of the tears, the pleadings, and the spirited
+championship of his cause that had overborne the last parental
+objection. It was lucky for him that Chiquita was a spoiled child,
+and Garavel a very Americanized Spaniard. However, as it was, he
+went nearly mad with delight, and when Tuesday came round he
+performed his office-work so badly that Runnels took him to task.
+
+"What the devil has got into you the last few days?" he exclaimed,
+irritably.
+
+"I'm going to see a certain party to-night and I can't contain
+myself. I'm about to blow up. That's all."
+
+"Woman, eh?"
+
+Kirk grinned. "It has taken months, and I'd begun to think I
+wasn't wanted. Oh, I've had a battle."
+
+"Anybody I know?"
+
+"Yes, but I can't talk about her. There's a man in the case, see!
+I'm going slow to start with."
+
+Runnels, who had never seen Kirk with any woman except Edith
+Cortlandt, formed his own conclusions, helped a bit, perhaps, by
+the memory of that conversation with John Weeks on the day of
+their ride across the Isthmus. That these conclusions were not
+pleasing to him, he showed when he returned to his office. He
+stood an instant in thought, looking rather stern, then murmured,
+half aloud: "That's one thing I wouldn't stand for."
+
+Kirk had hard work to refrain from shaving himself twice that
+evening, so overcareful was he about his toilet, yet his
+excitement was as nothing compared to that of Allan, who looked on
+with admiration tempered by anxious criticism. The boy, it seemed,
+appropriated to himself the entire credit for the happy ending of
+this affair.
+
+"It will be a grand wedding, sar," he exclaimed. "H'Allan will be
+there for giving you away."
+
+"You don't know enough about me to give me away," Kirk returned,
+lightly.
+
+"I shall be needing some h'expensive garments for the ceremony. I
+would h'ahsk you to be so kind--"
+
+"Not too fast. It hasn't gone quite that far yet."
+
+"But I shall need to have those garments made by a tailor, and
+that will require time. They will be made precisely to resemble
+yours, then nobody can tell h'us apart."
+
+"That's considered genuine flattery, I believe."
+
+"Would you do me a favor, Master h'Auntony?"
+
+"Surest thing you know."
+
+"I shall be waiting in the street to-night. Could you h'arrange to
+h'ahsk those fatal questions h'adjoining the window so that I
+might h'overhear?"
+
+"NO! And I don't want you prowling around outside, either. You're
+not to follow me, understand! I have enough on my mind as it is."
+
+The residence of Senor Garavel is considered one of the show
+places of Panama. It is of Spanish architecture, built of brick
+and stucco, and embellished with highly ornamental iron balconies.
+It stands upon a corner overlooking one of the several public
+squares, guarded from the street by a breast-high stone wall
+crowned with a stout iron fence. Diagonally opposite and running
+the full length of the block is a huge weather-stained cathedral,
+the front of which is decorated with holy figures, each standing
+by itself in a separate niche. In the open church tower are great
+chimes which flood the city with melody, and in the corner
+fronting upon the intersecting street is a tiny shrine with an
+image of the Madonna smiling downward. It is only a little recess
+in the wall, with barely room for a few kneeling figures, but at
+night its bright radiance illumines the darkness round about and
+lends the spot a certain sanctity.
+
+Contrary to the usual custom, the Garavel mansion has a narrow
+yard, almost smothered in tropical plants that crowd one another
+through the iron bars and nod at the passers-by. Riotous vines
+half screen the balconies: great overhanging red-tiled eaves give
+the place an air of coziness which the verdure enhances. A subdued
+light was glowing from the lower windows when Anthony mounted the
+steps and rang.
+
+An Indian woman, clad in barbarous colors, her bare feet encased
+in sandals, admitted him, and the banker himself met him in the
+hall. He led the way into a great barren parlor, where, to Kirk's
+embarrassment, he found quite a company gathered. His host
+formally presented him to them, one after another. There were
+Senor Pedro Garavel, a brother of Andres; Senora Garavel, his
+wife, who was fat and short of wind; the two Misses Garavel, their
+daughters; then a little, wrinkled, brown old lady in stiff black
+silk who spoke no English. Kirk gathered that she was somebody's
+aunt or grandmother. Last of all, Gertrudis came shyly forward and
+put her hand in his, then glided back to a seat behind the old
+lady. Just as they were seating themselves another member of the
+family appeared--this time a second cousin from Guatemala. Like
+the grandmother, he was as ignorant of English as Kirk was of
+Spanish, but he had a pair of frightfully intense black eyes with
+which he devoured the American. These orbs exercised an unusual
+effect upon the caller; they were unwinking, the lids were wide
+open, and the brilliance of the pupils was heightened by the
+startling whiteness surrounding them. They were like the eyes of a
+frightened horse.
+
+It was very trying to be the target of so many glances and to know
+that he was being studied like a bug beneath a microscope, yet
+Kirk managed to keep a degree of self-possession, making up his
+mind to display a modest reticence that could not help appearing
+admirable. But he soon found that this did not suit. Instead of
+resuming their conversation, the entire assemblage of Garavels
+waited calmly for their caller to begin, and he realized in a
+panic that he was expected to make conversation. He cast about
+madly for a topic.
+
+His host helped him to get started, and he did fairly well until
+one of the Misses Garavel began to translate his remarks to the
+old lady and the ferocious cousin from Guatemala. As their replies
+were not rendered into English, he was left stranded. He knew that
+his whole salvation lay in properly impressing his auditors, so he
+began again and floundered through a painful monologue. It was not
+at all pleasant. It was like being initiated into some secret
+order. These strange people sitting so stiff and watchful formed
+an inquisitorial body. The night suddenly turned off swelteringly
+hot; perspiration began to trickle down his brow, his collar
+became a tourniquet, and he cast appealing glances at the silent
+figure hidden demurely behind the rustly old lady in the black
+harness. The look of mingled pity and understanding she gave him
+somewhat revived his fainting spirit, and he determined to stick
+it out until the family were ready to retire and allow him a word
+with her alone. But, idle hope! Gradually it dawned upon him that
+they had no such intention. To relieve the strain, he became
+facetious and told funny stories; but this was an unlucky
+experiment, for his witticisms fell with a ghastly hollowness. No
+one laughed save the grandmother and the Guatemalan cousin, who
+could not understand, and at this Kirk fled helter-skelter from
+the realms of humor.
+
+By now his collar had given up the struggle and lain limply down
+to rest. The whole experience was hideous, yet he understood quite
+well that these people were not making sport of him. All this was
+only a part of their foreign customs. They were gentlefolk, reared
+to a different code from his--that was all--and, since he had
+elected to come among them, he could only suffer and be strong.
+
+In time he became sufficiently inured to the situation to take in
+the details of the room, which were truly markable. To begin with,
+the parlor walls entirely lacked the sort of decoration to which
+he was used; the furniture, costly and rare in itself, was
+arranged stiffly in a square about the room, the precise
+geometrical centre being occupied by a great urn of impressive
+ugliness. A richly carved mahogany "what-not" against one wall was
+laden with sea-shells and other curios. At various points about
+the room were many statuettes, vases, and figures, of every
+conceivable size and shape--some of bisque, others of common
+pottery, a few of exquisite marble--all standing upon the floor. A
+tremendous French chandelier of sparkling crystal cascaded
+downward from an American ceiling of pressed metal; at regular
+intervals around the wall were panels painted to resemble marble.
+Crouched upon a rug in one corner was a life-size figure of what
+seemed to be a tiger, perfectly colored and made of porcelain. It
+had tremendous glass eyes, larger even than the cousin's from
+Guatemala, and they shone with a hypnotic intensity that was
+disturbing. Kirk wanted to kick it and cry "Scat!" Hidden in other
+desolate quarters of the room were similar studies in animal life.
+These anomalous surroundings by turns depressed him and provoked
+an insane desire to laugh.
+
+What he ever talked about during that evening he never quite
+remembered. At one time the Cholo girl who had admitted him
+entered noiselessly, bearing silver plates of fruit, and shortly
+afterward he found himself trying to balance upon his knee a plate
+of pineapple soaked in spice and wine, a fork, a napkin starched
+as stiffly as a sheet of linoleum, and a piece of cake which
+crumbled at a look. It was a difficult bit of juggling, but he
+managed to keep one or two of the articles in the air almost
+continuously.
+
+When it came time to leave he expected at least to be allowed a
+farewell word or two with Gertrudis, but instead he was bowed out
+as ceremoniously as he had been bowed in, and, finding himself at
+last in the open, sighed with relief. He felt like a paroled
+prisoner, but he thought of the girl's glance of sympathy and was
+instantly consoled. He crossed slowly to the Plaza, pausing a
+moment for a good-night look at the house, then, as he turned, he
+caught a glimpse of a figure slinking into the shadows of the
+side-street, and smiled indulgently. Evidently Allan had been
+unable to resist the temptation to follow, after all, and had hung
+about hoping to overhear his hero at his best. But when he had
+reached his quarters he was surprised to find the boy there ahead
+of him.
+
+"How did you beat me home?" he inquired.
+
+"I have been waiting h'impatiently ever since you went out. To be
+sure, I have had one little dream--"
+
+"Didn't you follow me to the Garavels'?"
+
+"Oh, boss! Never would I do such."
+
+Seeing that the negro was honest, Kirk decided that somebody had
+been spying upon him, but the matter was of so little consequence
+that he dismissed it from his mind.
+
+"And what said your female upon your proposal of marriage?" Allan
+inquired. "Praise God, I shall h'expire of suspense if you do not
+cha-at me the truth."
+
+"Oh, there was a chorus of her relatives in the room. They sat in
+my lap all the evening."
+
+"Perhaps it is fartunate, after all. This senorita is rich 'ooman,
+and therefar she would be h'expensive for us."
+
+Kirk managed to drive him forth after some effort, and straightway
+retired to dream of timid Spanish girls who peeped at him from
+behind old ladies, porcelain tigers that laughed inanely at his
+jokes, and Guatemalan gentlemen with huge hypnotic eyes of glass.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+A CHALLENGE AND A CONFESSION
+
+
+Although Runnels had spoken with confidence of the coming shake-up
+in the railroad organization, it was not without a certain
+surprise that he awoke one morning to find himself actively in
+charge of the entire system. He lost no time in sending for Kirk,
+who took the news of their joint advancement with characteristic
+equanimity.
+
+"Now, there is nothing cinched yet, understand," the Acting
+Superintendent cautioned him. "We're all on probation, but if we
+make good, I think we'll stick."
+
+"I'll do my best to fill your shoes."
+
+"And I have the inside track on Blakeley, in spite of Colonel
+Jolson, so I'm not alarmed. The break came sooner than I expected,
+and now that we chaps are in control it's the chance of our
+lifetimes."
+
+Kirk nodded. "You're entitled to all you get, but I've never quite
+understood how I managed to forge ahead so fast. Why, there are
+dozens of fellows here who know more than I, and who could do
+better. I've been mighty lucky."
+
+"You don't really call it luck, do you?" Runnels looked at him
+curiously.
+
+"I'm not conceited enough to think I'm a downright genius."
+
+"Why, the Cortlandts engineered everything. It was they who
+arranged your promotion to the office in the first place, and
+they're behind this last affair. They have stood back of you at
+every step, and, incidentally; back of me and the other boys."
+
+"When you say 'they' you of course mean 'she'."
+
+"Of course. One has to recognize him, though--as the head of the
+family. And he really did have a part in it, too; at least, if he
+had been against us we never would have won."
+
+"I can't pretend that I didn't suspect," said Kirk slowly, "but I
+did hope I'd made good on my own merits."
+
+Runnels laughed. "You have made good all right, or you couldn't go
+forward; but this is a government job, and fellows like us aren't
+big enough to get through on our own merits. One has to be a real
+world-beater to do that. If the Cortlandts hadn't backed us, some
+other chaps with influence would have stepped in above us. Take
+Blakeley, for instance. He is nothing extra, and he doesn't know
+half as much about this business as I do; but he's the brother-in-
+law of Colonel Jolson, and he'd have landed the job sure if it
+hadn't been for our friends. You'd better let your conscience take
+a nap."
+
+"I'd like to show the Cortlandts that we appreciate what they've
+done, but we can't openly thank her without humiliating him. I'd
+like to give him something."
+
+"Suppose we give him a quiet little supper, some night, and tell
+him frankly how grateful we are. He's the sort to appreciate a
+thing like that, and it would be a delicate way of thanking his
+wife, too."
+
+"Good! I'll speak to the other fellows, and now the Acting Master
+of Transportation is going to shake with the new Acting
+Superintendent, and wish him every success."
+
+Runnels grasped the outstretched hand.
+
+"Say, Anthony," he said, "we're young and we have a start. I have
+what you lack, and you have what I lack; if we stick together,
+we'll own a railroad some day. Is it a go?"
+
+"You bet!"
+
+With a warm glow in his breast, the new Master of Transportation
+plunged into his duties. He really was making a success, it
+seemed, although it was a bit disappointing to learn that he owed
+so much of it to Edith Cortlandt. At the same time he couldn't
+help thinking that his efforts had entitled him to reasonable
+success, and, anyhow, it was pleasant to feel that at no point in
+his scramble up the ladder had he elbowed off some other man more
+deserving, perhaps, than he. This last advancement, too, was very
+timely, for it would surely have its effect upon Andres Garavel.
+
+But his new work brought new troubles and worries. Runnels helped
+him whenever he could, yet Kirk was left largely to his own
+devices, and learned for the first time what real responsibility
+was like. He began to sleep shorter hours; he concentrated with
+every atom of determination in him; he drove himself with an iron
+hand. He attacked his task from every angle, and with his fine
+constitution and unbounded youthful energy he covered an amazing
+quantity of work. He covered it so well, moreover, that Runnels
+complimented him.
+
+This stress of labor served one purpose for which he was very
+grateful; it separated him from Edith Cortlandt and took his mind
+from that occurrence in the jungle. Ever since the day of his last
+ride with her, he had been tortured with the most unpleasant
+thoughts. He confessed to forgetting himself briefly that night at
+Taboga, but he had believed that she understood--that she regarded
+him only as a chum and a companion. Therefore her open surrender,
+coming so unexpectedly had dumfounded him. As he looked back upon
+the incident now, it seemed inconceivable, yet her words, her
+expression, her reckless abandon at that moment, were too
+significant to allow of misunderstanding. Still, by dint of
+determination and stern attention to his tasks, he was able to put
+the matter almost wholly from his mind.
+
+Soon after his promotion he received from Andres Garavel a warmly
+worded note of congratulation, and some few days later an
+invitation to dine, which he accepted eagerly.
+
+The dinner proved to be another disappointing ordeal, for again he
+was allowed no opportunity of speaking with Gertrudis, and had to
+content himself with feasting his eyes upon her. But although the
+family were present en masse, as on the former occasion, they
+unbent to a surprising degree, and he found them truly gracious
+and delightful. He realized, nevertheless, that he was under the
+closest scrutiny and upon the strictest probation. The Garavels
+still held him at a noticeable distance, and he was far from
+feeling wholly at ease.
+
+Later in the evening he found himself alone with Chiquita and the
+old Spanish lady, and, knowing that the latter could not
+understand a word of his tongue, he addressed himself to the girl
+with some degree of naturalness.
+
+"I was sorry for you the last time, senor," she said, in reply to
+his half-humorous complaint, "and yet it was fonny; you were so
+frightened."
+
+"It was my first memorial service. I thought I was going to see
+you alone."
+
+"Oh, that is never allowed."
+
+"Never? How am I going to ask you to marry me?"
+
+Miss Garavel hid her blushing face behind her fan. "Indeed! You
+seem capable of asking that absurd question under any
+circumstances."
+
+"I wish you would straighten me out on some of your customs."
+
+"What, for instance?"
+
+"Why does the whole family sit around and watch me? I don't intend
+to steal any bric-a-brac. They could search me just as well when I
+go out."
+
+"They wish to satisfy themselves as to your character, perhaps."
+
+"Yes, but a fellow feels guilty causing them to lose so much
+sleep."
+
+She gave him an odd look, smiling timidly.
+
+"As for to-night, do you attribute any meaning to my father's
+request that you dine with us?"
+
+"Of course. It means I wasn't blackballed at the first meeting, I
+suppose. After I've become a regular member, and there is nothing
+missed from the lodgerooms, I'll be allowed to proceed in the
+ordinary manner."
+
+She blushed delightfully again. "Since you are so ignorant of our
+ways you should inquire at your earliest convenience. I would
+advise you, perhaps, to learn Spanish."
+
+"Will you teach me? I'll come every evening."
+
+She did not answer, for the old lady began to show curiosity, and
+a conversation in Spanish ensued which Kirk could not follow.
+
+When it came time for their chaperon to leave, she excused herself
+with royal dignity, and, going to the door, called Stephanie, the
+giant St. Lucian woman. Not until the negress had entered did the
+grandmother retire, which showed, so Kirk imagined, that even yet
+the Garavel household had no more confidence in him than in a
+badgeless building inspector. He was not grateful for the change,
+for he did not like Stephanie, and, judging from the sombre
+suspicion of the black woman's glances, the feeling was mutual.
+The conversation took perforce a less personal nature in her
+presence, yet Kirk departed with a feeling of exaltation. Beyond
+doubt his suit was progressing, slowly, perhaps, but still
+progressing.
+
+His understanding of Spanish customs received a considerable
+enlargement on the following day, when he met Ramon Alfarez
+outside the railroad office. Ramon had evidently waited purposely
+for him, and now began to voice some unintelligible protest in the
+greatest excitement.
+
+"You'll have to play it all over again," Kirk advised him. "I'm
+only just learning to conjugate the verb 'amar.' What seems to be
+the trouble this time?"
+
+"Ha! For the moment I forgot your ignorance, but onderstan' this,
+detestable person, it is time you shall answer to me."
+
+"Cheerfully! Ask your questions slowly."
+
+"Onderstan' further," chattered the Spaniard, "regardless of the
+'appenings to me, it shall never come to pass. Soch disgraceful
+occurrence shall never transpire; of that be assure', even if it
+exac' the las' drops of blood in the veins of me. I 'ave despised
+you, senor, an' so I 'ave neglec' to keel you, being busy with
+important affairs of government. Bot, 'ow am I reward for those
+neglec'? Eh!" Alfarez breathed ferociously through his nostrils.
+
+"I don't know, I'm sure. What is your reward?"
+
+"Very well are you aware, PIG."
+
+"Nix on those pet names," the American ordered, gruffly.
+
+"You 'ave insolt me," cried Ramon, furiously, "and now you 'ave
+the insolence to interfere in my affairs." He paused dramatically.
+"Make it yourself ready to fight on to-morrow."
+
+"What's the use of putting it off? I couldn't make your weight in
+that time. I'll do it now, if you say."
+
+"No, no! Onderstan' we shall fight like gentlemen. I shall keel
+you with any weapon you prefer."
+
+"By Jove!" Kirk exclaimed, in amazement. "This is a challenge; you
+want to fight a duel! Why, this reads like a book." He began to
+laugh, at which Ramon became white and calm. "Listen," Kirk went
+on, "I'll tell you what we'll do; we'll fight with fire-hose
+again. I suppose you want satisfaction for that ducking."
+
+"I prefer to shoot you, senor," the other declared, quietly.
+"Those marriage shall never occur until first I walk upon your
+dead body. As matter of honor I offer you this opportunity biffore
+it is too late."
+
+"I guess you have been drinking. You're a little premature in
+talking about my marriage, aren't you?"
+
+"So! You fear to confess the truth! Oh, I am not to be deceive'.
+All Panama is speaking of those engagements to Senorita Garavel.
+Come, then, must I insolt you further?"
+
+Kirk replied, dryly, looking the Spaniard over with, cold blue
+eyes. "No! I think you've gone about far enough."
+
+"You riffuse?" exclaimed Ramon, triumphantly.
+
+"Look here!" said Kirk, "I've had enough of this." He advanced
+threateningly, and the Spaniard nervously gave way. "I don't fight
+duels; it's against the law. In my country it's a crime to kill a
+man in cold blood; and we don't tie a fellow up and beat him when
+he's helpless and then offer him the HONORABLE satisfaction of
+either committing murder or being killed. They're not wearing
+duels this season." His hands clenched involuntarily. "I don't
+want to hurt you, Alfarez, but I may not be able to help it if you
+don't keep out of my way."
+
+He left the fiery little Panamanian still scowling and muttering
+threats, and went his way wondering vaguely how his attentions to
+Chiquita had become so quickly known. He was informed later in the
+afternoon.
+
+As he left the office for the day he was handed a note from Mrs.
+Cortlandt requesting him to call at once, and, summoning a coach,
+he was driven directly to her house. Unlike the Garavel home, the
+house which the Cortlandts had leased was set upon the water-
+front, its rear balcony overlooking the sea where it lapped the
+foundation of the city wall. It was a delightful old place, shut
+off from the street by a yard filled with flowering plants and
+shrubs, and, though flanked in true Spanish fashion by stores and
+shops, it was roomy and comfortable.
+
+Edith kept him waiting a moment before she descended, dressed for
+her afternoon ride.
+
+"You see, I haven't given up my horse in spite of your neglect,"
+she said, as she gave him her hand, "You got my note?"
+
+"Yes, and I came straight from the office."
+
+"I suppose you know what it is about and are wondering how I heard
+the news."
+
+"What news?"
+
+"Your 'engagement.'" She laughed with an amusement that did not
+ring quite true.
+
+"You're the second one to speak about that. I'm not engaged."
+
+"Of course not. Don't think for a moment I believed it. I was
+calling on some Spanish people this afternoon and heard the
+report--I admit it was a shock. When I learned the details I knew
+at once you ought to be told before it developed into something
+embarrassing. Come into the other room; there is a breeze from the
+water." She led him into the parlor, from which the open windows,
+shielded now by drawn shutters, gave egress to the rear porch with
+its chairs and hammock.
+
+"Dear, dear! You foolish boy, you're always in trouble, aren't
+you? You really don't deserve to be helped. Why, you have avoided
+me for weeks."
+
+"The new arrangement has swamped us with work. I have had no time
+to go out."
+
+"Indeed! You had time to run after the first pretty Spanish face
+you saw. I'm really angry, though I suppose I can't blame you.
+After all, she is charming, in her way."
+
+"You mean Miss Garavel?"
+
+"Yes. Didn't you realize what you were doing?"
+
+"I realized what I was trying to do."
+
+"Naughty! But why select her of all people? There are dozens of
+others who could amuse you and whose people would not object.
+Andres Garavel isn't that sort; he is a rich man, he has political
+ambitions, he's a very proud sort. Now, I suppose I must get you
+out of this difficulty as best I can. You ought to be more
+careful."
+
+"Please!" he said, crossly. "I could understand better what you
+are talking about if I knew just what this difficulty is."
+
+"Why, this silly 'engagement' of yours. Don't pretend to be so
+stupid."
+
+"Ramon Alfarez heard that same report, and very courteously
+invited me to wait a few minutes while he killed me. It's
+tremendously flattering to be linked up with Miss Garavel, of
+course, but I haven't asked her to marry me."
+
+"But you've seen her; you have called at her house!"
+
+"Sure! Twice; at the invitation of the old gentleman. All the
+little Garavels were lined up like mourners."
+
+"And you dined there last night. Is that all you have seen of
+her?"
+
+"N-no! I've seen her at Las Savannas. That's why I went hunting so
+often."
+
+At this confession, which Kirk delivered with sheepish reluctance,
+Mrs. Cortlandt drew herself up with an expression of anger.
+
+"Then this has been going on for some time," she cried. "Why,
+Kirk, you never told me!"
+
+"Why should I?"
+
+She flushed at this unconscious brutality, but after a moment ran
+on bravely; "Oh, well, I suppose any man would enjoy that sort of
+an adventure, particularly with such a pretty girl, but why did
+you let it go so far? Why did you let them commit you?"
+
+"Am I committed?"
+
+Her look was half offended, half incredulous. "Are you trying to
+be disagreeable, or is it possible you don't know the meaning of
+those invitations to call, and to dine with the family, and all
+that? Why, they expect you to MARRY her. It is all settled now,
+according to the Spanish custom. The whole town is talking about
+it, I can't understand, for the life of me, how you ever allowed
+yourself to go there the second time and to DINE." Seeing the look
+in his face, she cried, sharply, "You don't mean--that you're in
+earnest?" She was staring at him as if disbelieving her eyes.
+
+"Certainly, I'm in earnest."
+
+Edith turned away abruptly.
+
+"I hope you're not joking," said Kirk. "Jove! I--I'm knocked clear
+off my pins." A tremendous wave of excitement surged over him.
+"So, that's what Alfarez meant. That's what SHE meant last night
+when she told me to look up--" He broke off suddenly, for Edith's
+face had gone chalk-white.
+
+"But, Kirk, what about me?" she asked, in a strained voice.
+
+There was deathlike silence in the room.
+
+"You can't LOVE her," said the woman. "Why, she's only a child,
+and she's--Spanish."
+
+They stood motionless, facing each other. At last Kirk said,
+gravely and deliberately,
+
+"Yes, I love her better than anything in the world and I want to
+marry her. I could give up my country, my dad--anything for her."
+
+Pressing her gloved fingers to her temples she turned her head
+blindly from side to side, whispering as if to herself:
+
+"What will become of me?"
+
+"Don't," he cried, in a panic, and cast a hurried look over his
+shoulders. "You'll be overheard--you'll be seen. You don't know
+what you're saying. Where's Cortlandt?"
+
+"At his club, I suppose. I don't know--I--I don't care." Then the
+paralysis that had numbed her vanished, and she spoke with
+quivering intensity. "You've been dishonest with me, Kirk."
+
+"Don't act this way," he ordered, roughly. "I'm terribly fond of
+you, but I never knew--"
+
+"You MUST have known."
+
+"I knew NOTHING. I chose not to think. What I saw I forgot. I
+supposed you merely liked me as I liked you."
+
+"That night at Taboga!" she flared up. "What about that? Couldn't
+you tell then? I fought--fought--fought--but I had to give up. You
+haven't forgotten--those wonderful hours we had together?" She
+began to sob, but steadied herself with an effort. "You say you
+didn't know, then what about that afternoon in the jungle? Oh,
+you're not blind; you must have seen a thousand times. Every hour
+we've been alone together I've told you, and you let me go on
+believing you cared. Do you think that was right? Now you are
+shocked because I admit it," she mocked. "Well, I have no pride. I
+am not ashamed. It's too late for shame now. Why, even my husband
+knows."
+
+With an exclamation he seized her by the arm. "You don't mean
+that!" he cried, fiercely. But she wrenched herself away.
+
+"Why, do you think, I made a man of you? Why did I force you up
+and up and over the heads of others? Why are you in line for the
+best position on the railroad? Did you think you had made good by
+your own efforts?" She laughed harshly. "I took Runnels and Wade
+and Kimble and the others that you liked and forced them up with
+you, so you'd have an organization that couldn't be pulled down."
+
+"Did--did you do all that?"
+
+"I did more. I broke with Alfarez because of what his son did to
+you. I juggled the politics of this country, I threw him over and
+took Garavel--Garavel! My God! What a mockery! But I won't let
+you--I won't let that girl spoil my work." Her voice trailed off
+in a kind of rasping whisper. She struggled a moment for
+composure, then went on: "It was I who promoted you to Runnels'
+position--he'll tell you that. It was I who put ideas of
+advancement into his head. I fostered this quarrel between Jolson
+and the Superintendent, and I've used Runnels to break trail for
+you. Why? Ask yourself why! Oh, Kirk," she cried, "you mustn't
+marry that girl! I'll make you a great man!"
+
+"You seem to forget Cortlandt," he said, dully.
+
+She gave a scornful laugh. "You needn't bring Stephen in. He
+doesn't count. I doubt if he'd even care. Our marriage amounts to
+nothing--nothing. You'd better consider ME, and the sacrifice I'm
+willing to make."
+
+"I'm not going to listen to you," he cried. "I suppose I've been a
+fool, but this must end right here."
+
+"You can't marry that girl," she reiterated, hysterically. She was
+half sobbing again, but not with the weakness of a woman; her
+grief was more like that of a despairing man.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, pull yourself together," said Kirk. "You have
+servants. I--I don't know what to say. I want to get out, I want
+to think it over. I'm--dreadfully sorry. That's all I can seem to
+think about now." He turned and went blindly to the door, leaving
+her without a look behind.
+
+When he had gone she drew off her riding-gloves, removed her hat,
+and dropped them both upon the nearest chair, then crept wearily
+up the stairs to her room.
+
+A moment later the latticed wooden blinds at the end of the parlor
+swung open, and through the front window stepped Stephen
+Cortlandt. Behind him was a hammock swung in the coolest part of
+the balcony. The pupils of his eyes, ordinarily so dead and
+expressionless, were distended like those of a man under the
+influence of a drug or suffering from a violent headache. He
+listened attentively for an instant, his head on one side, then,
+hearing footsteps approaching from the rear of the house, he
+strolled into the hall.
+
+A maid appeared with a tray, a glass, and a bottle. "I could not
+find the aspirin," she said, "but I brought you some absinthe. It
+will deaden the pain, sir."
+
+He thanked her and with shaking fingers poured the glass full,
+then drank it off like so much water.
+
+"You're not going out again in the heat, sir?"
+
+"Yes. Tell Mrs. Cortlandt that I am dining at the University
+Club." He went slowly down the steps and out through the flowering
+shrubs.
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+A PLOT AND A SACRIFICE
+
+
+Kirk never passed a more unpleasant night than the one which
+followed. In the morning he went straight to Runnels with the
+statement that he could take no part in the little testimonial
+they had intended to give Cortlandt.
+
+"But it's too late now to back out. I saw him at the University
+Club last evening and fixed the date for Saturday night."
+
+"Did you tell him I was in the affair?"
+
+"Certainly. I said it was your idea. It affected him deeply, too.
+I never saw a chap so moved over a little thing."
+
+Kirk thought quickly. Perhaps Edith had spoken rashly in her
+excitement, and her husband did not know her feelings after all.
+Perhaps he only suspected. In that case it would never do to
+withdraw. It would seem like a confession of guilt.
+
+"If he has accepted, that ends it, I suppose," he said, finally.
+
+"What has happened?" Runnels was watching him sharply.
+
+"Nothing. I merely wish I hadn't entered into the arrangement,
+that's all. I've ordered a watch for him, too, and it's being
+engraved. I wanted to give him something to show my own personal
+gratitude for what he and his wife have done for me. Lord! It took
+a month's salary. I know it's a jay present, but there's nothing
+decent in these shops."
+
+"Look here! I've wanted to say something to you for some time,
+though it's deuced hard to speak of such things. Maybe I have more
+moral scruples than some people, but--" Runnels stirred
+uncomfortably in his chair. "Steve Cortlandt has put us where we
+are--you understand, when I speak of him I include his wife, too.
+Well, I like him, Kirk, and I'd hate to see him made unhappy. If a
+chap loves a married woman, he ought to be man enough to forget
+it. Rotten way to express myself, of course--"
+
+Kirk looked the speaker squarely in the eyes as he answered: "I
+don't understand what you're driving at. I haven't the least
+interest in any married man's affairs--never have had, in fact.
+I'm in love with Gertrudis Garavel, and I'm engaged to marry her."
+
+"The devil!"
+
+"It's a fact. I didn't know until last night that I'd been
+accepted."
+
+"Then just forget what I said. I was going north on a south-bound
+track--I ran ahead of orders. I really do congratulate you, old
+man; Miss Garavel is--well, I won't try to do her justice--I had
+no idea. Please pardon me."
+
+"Certainly! Now that it's settled I'm not going to let any grass
+grow under my feet."
+
+"Why, say! Garavel is to be the next President! Jove! You ARE
+lucky! Cortlandt told me last night that the old fellow's
+candidacy was to be announced Saturday night at the big ball;
+that's how he came to accept our invitation. He said his work
+would be over by then and he'd be glad to join us after the dance.
+Well, well! Your future wife and father-in-law are to be his
+guests that night, I suppose you know."
+
+"Then they have patched up a truce with Alfarez? I'm glad to hear
+that."
+
+"It's all settled, I believe. This dance is a big special event.
+The American Minister and the various diplomatic gangs will be
+there, besides the prominent Spanish people. It's precisely the
+moment to launch the Garavel boom, and Cortlandt intends to do it.
+After it's over, our little crowd will have supper and thank him
+for what he has done for us. Oh, it will be a big night all
+around, won't it? Do you realize the skyrockety nature of your
+progress, young man? Lord! You take my breath."
+
+"It does seem like a dream. I landed here with a button-hook for
+baggage, and now--Say, Runnels, her eyes are just like two big
+black pansies, and when she smiles you'll go off your trolley."
+
+"Your promotion came just in time, didn't it? Talk about luck! We
+ought to hear from Washington before Saturday and know that our
+jobs are cinched. This uncertainty is fierce for me. You know I
+have a wife and kid, and it means a lot. When you give Cortlandt
+that watch you'll have to present him with a loving-cup from the
+rest of us. I think it's coming to him, don't you?"
+
+"I--I'd rather you presented it."
+
+"Not much! I can run trains, but I can't engineer social
+functions. You'll have to be spokesman. I suppose jobs and
+increased salaries and preferments, and all that, don't count for
+much with a young fellow who is engaged to the fabulous Miss
+Garavel, but with the Runnels family it's different. Meanwhile,
+let's just hold our thumbs till our promotions are ratified from
+headquarters. I need that position, and I'm dying of uneasiness."
+
+The night had been as hard for Edith Cortlandt as it had been for
+Kirk, but during its sleepless hours she had reached a
+determination. She was not naturally revengeful, but it was
+characteristic of her that she could not endure failure. Action,
+not words or tears, was the natural outlet of her feelings. There
+was just one possible way of winning Kirk back, and if instead it
+ruined him she would be only undoing what she had mistakenly done.
+As soon after breakfast as she knew definitely that her husband
+had gone out, she telephoned to General Alfarez, making an
+appointment to call on him at eleven.
+
+It was the first time she had ever gone to see him, for she was in
+the habit of bringing people to her, but this was no ordinary
+occasion, and she knew the crafty old Spaniard would be awaiting
+her with eagerness.
+
+Her interview with him was short, however, and when she emerged
+from his house she ordered the coachman to drive directly to the
+Garavel Bank. This time she stayed longer, closeted with the
+proprietor. What she told him threw him into something like a
+panic. It seemed that Anibal Alfarez was by no means so well
+reconciled to the death of his political hopes as had been
+supposed. On the contrary, in spite of all that had been done to
+prevent it, he had been working secretly and had perfected the
+preliminaries of a coup which he intended to spring at the
+eleventh hour. Through Ramon, he had brought about an alliance
+with the outgoing Galleo, and intended to make the bitterest
+possible fight against Garavel. Such joining of forces meant
+serious trouble, and until the banker's position was materially
+strengthened it would be most unwise to announce his candidacy as
+had been planned. The General had worked with remarkable
+craftiness, according to Mrs. Cortlandt's account, and Galleo's
+grip upon the National Assembly was so strong as to threaten all
+their schemes. She did not go into minute details--there was no
+need, for the banker's fears took fire at the mere fact that
+Alfarez had revolted. He was dumfounded, appalled.
+
+"But it was only last week that we were assured that all was
+well," he cried in despair.
+
+She shrugged her shoulders. "One is privileged to change his mind
+overnight, I suppose. Politics is not a child's game."
+
+"Oh, I am sorry I ever entertained the proposal. To be defeated
+now would do me immeasurable harm, not only in my pride, but in my
+business affairs. My affiliations with the government are of the
+closest--they must be, for me to live. To be a candidate, to make
+the fight, and to be beaten! What consideration will come to the
+firm of Garavel Hermanos, think you?"
+
+"Not much, but you are not so deeply committed that you cannot
+withdraw."
+
+This cool suggestion brought the expected outburst. "Rather than
+such a disgrace," cried Garavel, "I would go to certain defeat.
+One's pride is not for sale, madame. What has caused this so
+sudden change of sentiment?"
+
+"Ramon is partly to blame. He is just as proud as you or as his
+father. When he heard of your daughter's engagement to our friend
+Anthony--"
+
+"Ah! Now I see it all." His face darkened. "So, this is my reward
+for heeding your advice in regard to Gertrudis. She should have
+wed Ramon, as was intended, then I would have had a lever with
+which to lift his father from my path. Very well, then, there is
+no engagement with this Anthony. It may not be too late even yet
+to capture Ramon."
+
+"The city is already talking about Gertrudis and Kirk."
+
+"No word has been spoken, no promise given. There is not even an
+understanding. It is merely an old custom that has caused this
+report. He seemed a pleasant fellow, she had dreams, so--I
+yielded. But do you suppose I would allow my great ambition to be
+thwarted by the whim of a girl--to be upset by a stranger's smile?
+Bah! At their age I loved a dozen. I could not survive without
+them." He snapped his fingers. "You see now the truth of what I
+told you when we first spoke of my daughter. It is the older heads
+that must govern, always. I should have foreseen this effect, but
+Ramon was offended, and he said too little. Now, I admire his
+spirit; he is desperate; he will fight; he is no parrot to sit by
+and see his cage robbed. So much the better, since he is the pivot
+upon which this great affair revolves. You see what must be done?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Come! We will see my friend Anibal at once."
+
+But Mrs. Cortlandt checked him, saying, quietly:
+
+"That is all right as far as it goes, but you forget the other
+young man."
+
+Garavel paused in his heavy strides across the room.
+
+"Eh? How so? Gertrudis will not marry this Anthony."
+
+"Perhaps she loves him."
+
+"Love is a fancy, a something seen through a distant haze, an
+illusion which vanishes with the sun. In a month, a year, she will
+have forgotten; but with me it is different. This is my life's
+climax; there will be no other. I am a Garavel; I have looked into
+the future and I cannot turn back. I think also of Panama herself.
+There are great issues at stake."
+
+"But how will you handle Anthony?"
+
+Garavel looked at her blankly. "He is in my way. He is ended! Is
+not that all?"
+
+"I am glad you are practical; so many of you Latin-Americans are
+absurdly romantic."
+
+"And why should I not be practical? I am a business man. I love
+but two things, madame--no, three: my daughter, my success, and--
+my country. By this course I will serve all three."
+
+"Since you take this view of it, I am sure that with Ramon's help
+we can dissuade Don Anibal from his course. The General is
+sensible, and doesn't want a fight any more than you do. If your
+daughter will consent--"
+
+"My dear lady, give yourself no uneasiness. She does not know the
+meaning of rebellion. If necessary--but there is not the slightest
+question. It is done."
+
+"Then let me look up Ramon. He and I will approach the General
+together." She gave him her neatly gloved hand. "Things are never
+so bad as they seem."
+
+"And I thank you for your promptness, which alone, perhaps, has
+saved our hopes and our ambitions." He escorted his caller to her
+carriage, then hurriedly returned to his office.
+
+That afternoon Kirk received a formal communication from the
+banker which filled him with dismay. It ran:
+
+MY DEAR MR. ANTHONY,--To my extreme distress, I hear a rumor that
+Gertrudis is to become your wife. I assure you that neither she
+nor I blame you in the least for this unfortunate report; but
+since busy tongues will wag upon the slightest excuse, we feel it
+best that no further occasion for gossip should be given, I am
+sure you will co-operate with us.
+
+Sincerely and respectfully, your friend, ANDRES GARAVEL.
+
+A sense of betrayal crept over him as he read. What the letter
+signified, beyond the fact that Mr. Garavel had changed his mind,
+he could not make out, and he resolved to go at once and demand an
+explanation. But at the bank he was told that the proprietor had
+gone home, and he drove to the house only to learn that Senor
+Garavel and his daughter had left for Las Savannas not half an
+hour before. So, back through the city he urged his driver, across
+the bridge, and out along the country road.
+
+Darkness had settled when he returned, raging at the trickery that
+had been practised upon him. If they thought to gain their point
+by sending him on wildgoose chases like this, they were greatly
+mistaken. He proposed to have Chiquita now, if he had to burst his
+way to her through barred doors. Never in all his easy, careless
+life had anything of moment been denied him, never had he felt
+such bitterness of thwarted longing. Reared in a way to foster a
+disregard of all restraint and a contempt for other people's
+rights, he was in a fitting mood for any reckless project, and the
+mere thought that they should undertake to coerce an Anthony
+filled him with grim amusement. He had yielded to their left-
+handed customs out of courtesy; it was time now to show his
+strength.
+
+What folly he might have committed it is hard to tell, but he was
+prevented from putting any extravagant plan into operation by a
+message from the girl herself.
+
+As he dismissed his coachman and turned toward his quarters,
+Stephanie came to him out of the shadows.
+
+"I have been waiting," she said.
+
+"Where is Chiquita? Tell me quickly."
+
+"She is at the house. She wants to see you."
+
+"Of course she does. I knew this wasn't any of her doing. I've
+been hunting everywhere for her."
+
+"At nine o'clock she will be in the Plaza. You know the dark place
+across from the church?"
+
+"I'll be there."
+
+"If we do not come, wait."
+
+"Certainly. But, Stephanie, tell me what it is all about?"
+
+The black woman shook her head. "She is sick," she said, in a
+harsh voice, "that is all I know. I have never seen her act so."
+From her expression Kirk fancied that she held him responsible for
+her mistress's sufferings.
+
+"Now, don't be angry with me," he made haste to say. "I'm sick,
+too, and you're the only friend we have. You love her, don't you?
+Well, so do I. and I'm going to make her happy in spite of her
+father and all the rest. Run along now, I won't keep you waiting
+to-night."
+
+Long before the appointed time he was at the place of meeting, but
+scarcely had the city chimes rung out nine when he saw two women
+emerge from the dark side-street next the Garavel mansion and come
+swiftly toward him.
+
+He refrained from rushing out to meet them, but when they were
+close to his place of concealment he stepped forward, with
+Chiquita's name upon his lips and his arms outstretched. She drew
+away.
+
+"No, no, senor!" she cried. "I sent for you because there was no
+other way--that is all. My father would not let you come to the
+house. You will not think me bold?"
+
+"Of course not."
+
+"I could not let you go until you knew the truth. You do not--
+believe it was my fault?"
+
+"I don't know what to believe, because I don't know what has
+happened. All I know is that I got a note from your father. But
+that won't make me let you go."
+
+She clung desperately to the Bajan woman as if afraid to trust
+herself near him. "Wait--wait," she said, "until you have heard it
+all."
+
+Never had she appeared so beautiful as now, with her face white,
+her bosom heaving, as the half-light dimly revealed.
+
+"No matter what it is, I'll never give you up," he declared,
+stubbornly.
+
+"Ah! I feared you would say those very words; but you must do it,
+just the same. It will be hard for us both, I know--but--" She
+choked and shook her head as the words refused to come.
+
+Stephanie laid a great copper hand soothingly upon her shoulder,
+and growled at Kirk in a hoarse, accusing voice:
+
+"You see?"
+
+"Tell me first why I must give you up?"
+
+"Because, in spite of all, I am to marry Ramon," Gertrudis said,
+wretchedly.
+
+"Who said so?"
+
+"My father. He has forbidden me to think of you, and ordered that
+I marry Ramon. Sick or well, living or dead, I must marry him."
+
+"I'm hanged if you do!"
+
+"It is those miserable politics again. If I do not obey, my father
+cannot be President, do you see?" Pausing an instant to master her
+agitation, she hurried on. "To be President means a great deal to
+him and to our family; it is the greatest honor that has ever come
+to a Garavel. Senor Alfarez is terribly angry that I refused to
+marry his son, to whom since I was a little child I have been
+engaged. Ramon also is furious; he threatened to kill himself. So,
+it comes to this then: if I will not bind myself to the agreement,
+Senor Alfarez will contest the election--I do not know how you say
+those things--but my father will be defeated--perhaps he will be
+humbled. Many other terrible things which I cannot understand will
+happen also. If I agree, then there will be no opposition to his
+plans. He will be President, and I will be a grand lady."
+
+"I won't stand for it. They're making you a sacrifice, that's all.
+What kind of a father is it who would sell his daughter--"
+
+"No, no! You do not understand. He is proud, he cannot accept
+defeat, he would rather give his life than be humiliated.
+Furthermore--he wishes me to marry Ramon, and so that ends it."
+Her lips were trembling as she peered up at him to see if he
+really understood.
+
+"Let them rave, dear. What does it matter who is President? What
+does anything matter to you and me?"
+
+"He says I am too young to know my own mind, and--perhaps that is
+true, Senor Antonio; perhaps I shall soon forget you and learn to
+love Ramon as he loves me, I do not know--"
+
+In spite of the pathetic quaver in her voice, Kirk cried with
+jealous bitterness:
+
+"You don't seem to object very strongly; you seem to care about as
+much for Alfarez as you do for me. Is that it?"
+
+"Yes, senor," she said, bravely.
+
+"You are lying!" declared Stephanie, suddenly.
+
+The girl burst into a perfect torrent of weeping that shamed him.
+Then, without any invitation, she flung herself recklessly into
+his arms and lay there, trembling, palpitating like an imprisoned
+bird. "Forgive me, dear," he exclaimed, softly. "I knew better all
+the time. You mustn't think of doing what they ask; I won't allow
+it." His own heart-beats were shaking him, and he hardly knew what
+he was saying. The sight of her grief maddened him. It was as if
+they had taken advantage of his helpless little maid to hurt her
+maliciously, and his indignation blazed forth. She looked up with
+eyes gleaming through her tears and said, brokenly:
+
+"Senor, I love you truly. You see, I cannot lie."
+
+Her breath intoxicated him, and he bent his head to kiss her, but
+Stephanie tore her roughly from his arms. The woman showed the
+strength of a man, and her vulture-like face was working fiercely
+as she cried:
+
+"No! She is mine! She is mine! She is a good girl."
+
+"Stephanie! She loves me, don't you see?"
+
+"No, no!" The black woman drew the girl into the shelter of her
+own arms.
+
+"Oh, I am wicked," Gertrudis said. "I love you, Keerk--yes, I love
+you very dearly, but my father--he refuses--I must obey--he has
+the right, and I must do as he wishes."
+
+"Come with me now. We'll be married to-night," he urged; but she
+only clung to Stephanie more closely, as if to hold herself from
+falling.
+
+"You are very sweet to me," she said, with piteous tenderness,
+"and I shall never forget the honor; but you see I cannot. This is
+more to my father than his life; it is the same to all our family,
+and I must do my duty. I will pray for strength to keep from
+loving you, senor, and some day, perhaps, the dear God will hear.
+You must do likewise, and pray also for me to have courage, I
+could not let you go away thinking this was my doing, so I sent
+for you. No, one must obey one's people, for they are wise--and
+good. But one should be honest."
+
+The tears were stealing down her cheeks, and she thrilled to his
+pleadings as to some wondrous music, yet she was like adamant, and
+all his lover's desperation could not shake her. It was strange to
+see this slender, timid slip of a girl so melting and yet so
+cruelly firm. He appealed to Stephanie, but she was as
+unresponsive as a bronze image. Seeing that his urging only made
+matters worse, he said, more gently:
+
+"You are exalted now with the spirit of self-sacrifice, but later
+you will see that I am right. I am not discouraged. A thousand
+things may happen. Who knows what to-morrow may bring? Let's wait
+and see if we can't find a way out. Now that I know you love me, I
+have the courage to face anything, and I am going to win you,
+Chiquita. I have never lost in all my life, and I don't intend to
+begin now. I'll see your father in the morning, and I'll be here
+again, to-morrow night--"
+
+But at this Gertrudis cried out: "No, no! I cannot meet you again
+in this manner." And Stephanie nodded her agreement.
+
+"Then I'll see you the next night, that is Saturday. You are
+coming to the big ball at the Tivoli with him and the Cortlandts--
+I must see you then, so make sure to be there, and meanwhile don't
+give up."
+
+"Oh, there is no hope."
+
+"There is always hope. I'll think of something."
+
+"We must go," said the Barbadian woman, warningly.
+
+"Yes, yes! It is of no avail to resist," came the girl's choking
+voice. She stretched out her little hand, and then, looking up at
+him, said, uncertainly: "I--may never speak with you again alone,
+senor, and I must pray to--cease loving you; but will you--kiss me
+once so that I may never forget?"
+
+He breathed a tender exclamation and took her gently to his
+breast, while the negress stood by scowling and muttering.
+
+The memory of that long, breathless moment lived with him for
+years. Strangely enough, at the touch of her lips he felt his
+courage forsake him--it ran out like water. He became weak,
+fearful, despairing, as if it were his life that was ebbing away.
+And the pang when she drew herself from him was like a bayonet-
+thrust. Even when she and Stephanie had melted into the shadows,
+he stood motionless under the spell of that caress, its ecstasy
+still suffusing him.
+
+He found himself following slowly in the direction they had taken
+in the hope of catching just one more glimpse of her, but as he
+emerged from the darkness of the park he paused. There across the
+street, in the little open shrine set in the corner of the great
+cathedral, she was kneeling before the shining figure of the
+Madonna. The candle-glow that illumined the holy image and shone
+out so hopefully against the gloom showed her crouched close
+before the altar, her dark head bowed in uttermost dejection.
+Outside, and barely revealed, stood the tall, gaunt Bajan woman,
+silent, watchful, and forbidding.
+
+With a painful grip at his throat Kirk watched until the girl rose
+and hurried away into the shadows. Then he, too, turned and made
+his way up the street, but he went slowly, unseeingly, as if he
+had beheld a vision.
+
+For the first time in his life he was a prey to fear. A thousand
+panics clamored at him, his mind began working with the
+exaggerated speed of a person in dire peril. Once more, as upon
+that night when he had first called at her father's house, he
+turned abruptly at the corner to stare at her window, and again he
+surprised a figure skulking after him. Without a moment's
+hesitation he made after it at a run, but the fellow dodged into
+the Plaza and disappeared among the shrubbery. Not caring to
+pursue the chase into those lurking shadows Kirk desisted, certain
+only of one thing--that he was not Allan who was trailing him. He
+recalled the oft-repeated threats of Ramon Alfarez, and returned
+to his quarters by way of the lighted thoroughfares.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+A BUSINESS PROPOSITION
+
+
+Edith Cortlandt's interview with the rival candidates for the
+Panamanian Presidency formed but a part of her plan. She next held
+a long conversation with Colonel Jolson, to the end that on Friday
+morning Runnels heard a rumor that threw him into the greatest
+consternation. It was to the effect that instead of his succeeding
+to the office of Superintendent, he was to retain his old post,
+and that Colonel Jolson's brother-in-law was to supersede him.
+Although the word was not authoritative, it came with sufficient
+directness to leave him aghast. If true, it was, of course,
+equivalent to his discharge, for it meant that he could not even
+continue in his former position without putting himself in a light
+intolerable to any man of spirit. Since he was entitled to the
+promotion, had been promised it, in fact, and had made his plans
+accordingly, there was no course open except resignation. If he
+did not resign voluntarily, he knew that his new superior would
+eventually force him to do so, for Blakeley would build up an
+organization of his own, and in it there would be no place for one
+who had aspired to the highest office.
+
+Inasmuch as his assistant was concerned in this threatened
+calamity, Runnels made haste to lay the matter before him. At
+first Kirk was inclined to take it as a joke, but his friend
+quickly brought him to a more serious frame of mind.
+
+"No," he said, "Blakeley has finally put it over. He's wanted this
+position for a long time, and I guess the Cortlandts weren't
+strong enough to prevent it--or else they have broken with the
+Colonel."
+
+"Didn't he promise you the job?"
+
+"Sure! But what are promises? I've been double-crossed, that's
+all. It means I must quit."
+
+"Of course. I'm trying to figure out what it will mean to me."
+
+Runnels smiled grimly. "The same thing it would mean to me if I
+stayed, I'd go back to my desk; in a month I'd have a row with
+Blakeley, no matter what I did; then I'd be fired and have a tough
+time getting a job with another railroad. Of course, the
+Cortlandts might do more for you than they would for me, and you
+might be able to hang on."
+
+"Then this would seem to end our fine hopes, eh?"
+
+"Rather!" Runnels broke out, bitterly. "I've worked like a nigger,
+Kirk, and I deserve promotion if anybody ever did. This other
+fellow is a dub--he has proven that. Why, I've forgotten more
+railroading than he'll ever know. Every man on the system hates
+him and likes me; and on top of it all I was PROMISED the job.
+It's tough on the wife and the kid."
+
+He stopped to swallow his emotion. He was a single-purposed,
+somewhat serious man, a little lacking in resilience, and he could
+not meet misfortune with Kirk's careless self-confidence.
+
+"I gave this job the best I had in me," he went on, "for I had the
+idea that I was doing something patriotic, something for my
+country--that's the way they used to talk about this Canal, you
+know. I've put in four years of hell; I've lost step with the
+world; I've lost my business connections in the States; and I
+haven't saved up any money, I CAN'T quit, and yet I'll have to,
+for if I'm fired it'll mean I'll have to go back there and start
+at the bottom again. Those people don't know anything about these
+damned politics; they'll think I made a failure here in government
+work, and I'll have to live it down. Still, I suppose I ought not
+to kick--it's happening all the time to other fellows who came
+down here with hopes as high as mine--fellows who have given even
+more to the job than I have. What are YOU going to do?"
+
+Kirk started. "Oh, I don't know. I was thinking about you. This
+job doesn't worry me, for I'm on my feet at last, and I know I
+have the goods with me--they can have my position and welcome.
+Now, about you. I haven't spent much of that lottery coin. It's in
+the bank, all that Allan hasn't used, and half of it is yours, if
+you'll take it. You and Mrs. Runnels and the kid, and Allan and I
+--and one other party--will hike back home and get something else
+to do. What do you say?"
+
+Runnels' voice shook as he answered: "By Jove! You're the--real
+stuff, Anthony. I'll think it over." He turned away as if ashamed
+of his show of feeling, only to whirl about with the question,
+"Who is this 'other party'?"
+
+"My wife."
+
+"Good Lord! You're not married?"
+
+"No, but I'm going to be. You talk about YOUR troubles; now listen
+to mine. I'll make you weep like a fog." Briefly he told his
+friend of the blow that had so suddenly fallen upon him.
+
+"You ARE up against it, old man," agreed Runnels, when he had
+heard all. "Garavel has set his heart on the Presidency, and he'll
+pay any price to get it. It's the same all over Central America;
+these people are mad on politics. There are never more than two
+parties, you know--the Wanters and the Hasers. The Wanters are out
+and the Hasers are in; that's what makes these wicked little
+revolutions at every change of the moon--it isn't a question of
+policy at all. Now, if Miss Gertrudis were an American girl, she
+might rebel, elope, do something like that, but she's been reared
+with the Spanish notions of obedience, and I dare say she will
+submit tamely because she doesn't know how to put up a fight.
+That's an admirable characteristic in a wife, but not very helpful
+in a sweetheart."
+
+"Well, she's half American," said Kirk.
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"I mean the game isn't over. I carried the ball forty yards once
+for a touchdown in the last ten seconds of play, and Yale won. I
+had good 'interference' then, and I need it now. Somebody'll have
+to run ahead of me."
+
+Runnels smiled. "I guess you can count on me. What is the plan?"
+
+For the next half-hour the two talked earnestly, their heads
+together, their voices low.
+
+"I don't believe it will work, my boy," Runnels said at last. "I
+know these people better than you, and yet--Lord! if it does come
+off!" He whistled softly. "Well, they may kick the political props
+out from under us, but there will be an awful crash when we hit.
+Now, don't mention this rumor about Blakeley. I want to see Steve
+Cortlandt first."
+
+"Cortlandt! By-the-way, do you happen to remember that he's to be
+our guest for supper to-morrow night? Kind of a joke now, trying
+to thank him for what he's done, isn't it?"
+
+"Not at all. It may be our one chance of salvation; he may be the
+one person who can help us."
+
+"Well," Kirk reflected, "I have a good deal to thank him for, I
+suppose, outside of this, and I'll go through with my part."
+
+He proceeded at once to put his plan into execution, his first
+step being to rent a room at the Tivoli, taking particular care to
+select one on the first floor in the north wing. That evening he
+and Allan moved. It was a simple process, yet he felt that he was
+engaged in the most momentous act of his Hie. As to its outcome
+much depended upon Runnels and much more upon himself--so much, in
+fact, that when he came to look at the matter coldly he confessed
+the hope of success was slender. But such as it was he clung to it
+desperately.
+
+Runnels telephoned during the evening that he had been equal to
+his part of the task, so there remained nothing to do but wait for
+the hour of the dance.
+
+Over and over Anthony asked himself if he were not foolish to pin
+his faith to so slight a chance, but he could find no answer. He
+slept little amid his new surroundings that night, and awoke
+Saturday morning thrilled with the certainty that his life's
+crisis was but a few hours away.
+
+It was considerably after dark on Saturday evening that John
+Weeks, American Consul at Colon, received a caller who came to him
+direct from the Royal Mail steamer just docked. At first sight the
+stranger did not impress Mr. Weeks as a man of particular
+importance. His face was insignificant, and his pale-blue eyes
+showed little force. His only noticeable feature was displayed
+when he removed his hat. Then it could be seen that a wide, white
+scar ran from just over his temple to a point back of his right
+ear.
+
+He made his name known as Williams, which, of course, meant
+nothing to the consul, and while drinking one of Weeks' high-
+balls, inquired idly about the country, the climate, and the
+people, as if in no hurry to come to his point. Weeks watched him
+shrewdly, convinced at last by his visitor's excessive caution
+that his first judgment had been wrong, and that the man was more
+knowing than he seemed. Mr. Williams was likewise studying the fat
+man, and when he had satisfied himself, came out openly with these
+words:
+
+"I'm looking for a chap named Wellar. He landed here some time
+late in November."
+
+"Friend of yours?"
+
+"Um--m--not exactly." Mr. Williams ran a hand meditatively over
+the ragged scar on his scalp, as if from force of habit.
+
+"Wellar? I never heard of him."
+
+"He may have travelled under another name. Ever hear of a fellow
+called Locke?"
+
+The consul's moist lips drew together, his red eyes gleamed
+watchfully. "Maybe I have, and maybe I haven't," said he. "Why do
+you want him?"
+
+"I heard he was here. I'd enjoy meeting him again."
+
+"What does he look like?"
+
+Mr. Williams rattled off a description of Kirk Anthony so
+photographic that the consul suddenly saw a great light.
+
+"Yes, I know him all right," he confessed, warmly. "He's a good
+friend of mine, too; in fact, he lived with me for a while."
+Misconstruing the eager expression that came to his caller's face,
+he rose heavily and thrust out a thick, wet hand. "Don't let's
+beat about the bush, Mr. Anthony; your son is safe and well and
+making a name for himself. I'm happy to say I helped him--not
+much, to be sure, but all I could--yes, sir, I acknowledge the
+corn--and I'm glad to meet you at last. I have been waiting for
+you to arrive, and I'm glad you dropped in on me. I have a lot of
+things to talk about."
+
+But the other stared upward impatiently. "No, no! You've got me
+wrong. I'm a detective, and I'm after your friend Wellar, alias
+Locke, alias Anthony. He's wanted for embezzlement and assault and
+a few other things, and I'm going to take him." The indistinctive
+Mr. Williams spoke sharply, and his pale blue eyes were suddenly
+hard and bright.
+
+Weeks stared open-mouthed for an instant. "Then you're really not
+Darwin K. Anthony?" he gasped.
+
+"Certainly not. Here's the warrant. I'm sorry this chap is your
+pal, but--"
+
+"My pal! Hell, I hate him like the smallpox. Good thing you spoke
+or I'd have sold you a cocoanut grove. I KNEW he was wrong.
+Embezzler, eh? Well, well!"
+
+"Eighty thousand, that's all, and he's got it on him."
+
+"You're wrong there; he was broke when he landed. I ought to
+know."
+
+"Oh no! He came down on the Santa Cruz; I've seen the purser. He
+travelled under the name of Jefferson Locke. There's no mistake,
+and he couldn't have blown it all. No, it's sewed into his shirt,
+and I'm here to grab it."
+
+Weeks whistled in amazement. "He IS a shrewd one. Eighty thou--
+Lord, I wish I'd known that! He's here, all right, working for the
+railroad and living at Panama. He's made good, too, and got some
+influential friends. Oh, this is great!"
+
+"Working, hey? Clever stall! Do you see that?" Williams inclined
+his head for a fuller display of the disfiguration over his ear.
+"He hung that on me, with a bottle. I damn near died." He laughed
+disagreeably. "He'll go back, and he'll go back quick. How do I
+get to Panama?"
+
+Weeks consulted his watch hastily.
+
+"You've missed the last train; but we'll go over together in the
+morning. I want to have a hand in this arrest for reasons of my
+own; I don't like him or his influential friends." He began to
+chuckle ponderously. "No, I don't like his influential friends, in
+particular."
+
+While this scene was being enacted on the north side of the
+Isthmus, Kirk Anthony, over at the Tivoli Hotel, was making
+himself ready for the ball with particular pains. Even his
+personal appearance might have a bearing upon the outcome of this
+adventure, and he dared not overlook the slightest advantage.
+
+Allan regarded him admiringly from many angles.
+
+"Oh, Master h'Auntony," he exclaimed, rapturously, "you are
+beautiful!"
+
+"Thanks! Again thanks! Now, can you remember to do as I have told
+you?"
+
+"I would die--"
+
+"DON'T say that again, I'm too nervous. Here are your
+instructions, once more. Keep both doors to this room locked and
+stand by the one to the veranda! Don't let any one in except Mr.
+Runnels and the man he'll bring. DON'T--LEAVE--THIS--SPOT, no
+matter what happens. Does that penetrate your teakwood dome? Does
+your ivory cue-ball encompass that thought?"
+
+"I shall watch this h'apartment carefully, never fear."
+
+"But I do fear. I'm scared to death. My hands are go cold they are
+brittle. Remember, when I knock, so, let me in instantly, and keep
+your wits about you."
+
+"H'Allan never fails, sar. But what is coming to pahss?"
+
+"Never mind what is coming to pass. This is going to be a big
+night, my boy--a very big night." Kirk strolled out into the hall
+and made his way to the lobby.
+
+Already the orchestra was tuning up, the wide porches were filling
+with well-dressed people, while a stream of coaches at the door
+was delivering the arrivals on the special from Colon. It was a
+very animated crowd, sprinkled plentifully with Spanish people--
+something quite unusual, by-the-way--while the presence of many
+uniforms gave the affair almost the brilliance of a military
+function. There were marine officers from Bas Obispo, straight,
+trim, brown of cheek; naval officers from the cruisers in the
+roadstead, clad in their white trousers and bell-boy jackets; army
+officers detailed from Washington on special duty; others from the
+various parts of the work itself.
+
+Kirk wandered about through the confusion, nodding to his friends,
+chatting here and there, his eyes fixed anxiously upon the door.
+
+Clifford approached and fell into conversation with him.
+
+"Great doings, eh? I came up from the Central just to see what
+these affairs are like. Did you see to-night's paper?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Garavel is going to run for President. This is a kind of
+political coming-out party."
+
+"So I believe."
+
+"It looked like a fight between him and General Alfarez, but
+they've patched it up, and the General is going to withdraw.
+Garavel is to have Uncle Sam's congratulations and co-operation.
+It's a joke, isn't it, this international good feeling?"
+
+"Excuse me." Anthony saw Runnels searching the room with anxiety.
+He hurried toward him and inquired, breathlessly:
+
+"Have you got him?"
+
+"Sure, I showed him your room."
+
+"Did you lock him in?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"He'll get away."
+
+"Oh no, he'll be on the job. Has she come?"
+
+Kirk shook his head. "Gee! I'm nervous." He wiped his brow with a
+shaking hand.
+
+"Don't weaken," Runnels encouraged. "I'm beginning to believe
+you'll pull it off. I told my wife all about it--thought we might
+need her--and she's perfectly crazy. I never saw her so excited.
+Let me know as soon as you can which dance it will be. This
+suspense--Gad! There they are now! Go to it, old man."
+
+Into the lobby came a mixed group, in which were Andres Garavel,
+his daughter, Ramon Alfarez, and the Cortlandts. Kirk's face was
+white as he went boldly to meet them, but he did his best to smile
+unconcernedly. He shook hands with Edith and her husband, bowed to
+Gertrudis, then turned to meet her father's stare.
+
+"May I have a word with you, sir?"
+
+Garavel inclined his head silently. As the others moved on he
+said: "This is hardly a suitable time or place, Mr. Anthony."
+
+"Oh, I'm not going to kick up a fuss. I didn't answer your note,
+because there was nothing to say. You still wish me to cease my
+attentions?"
+
+"I do! It is her wish and mine."
+
+"Then I shall do so, of course. If Miss Garavel is dancing to-
+night I would like your permission to place my name on her
+programme."
+
+"No!" exclaimed the banker.
+
+"Purely to avoid comment. Every one knows I have been calling upon
+her, and that report of our engagement got about considerably; it
+would set people talking if she snubbed me. That is the only
+reason I came to this dance. Believe me, I'd rather have stayed
+away."
+
+"Perhaps you are right. Let us have no unpleasantness and no
+gossip about the affair, by all means. I consent, then." Garavel's
+voice altered and he said, with more of his natural geniality, "I
+am very glad you take the matter so sensibly, Mr. Anthony; it was,
+after all, but a dream of youth."
+
+"And permit me to offer my congratulations upon the honor your
+country is about to bestow upon you." Conversing in a friendly
+manner, they followed the rest of the party.
+
+As the banker appeared upon the threshold of the ballroom a murmur
+ran through the crowd; faces were turned in his direction,
+whispers were exchanged, showing that already the news had
+travelled. Conscious of this notice and its reason, Garavel drew
+himself up; he walked with the tread of an emperor.
+
+Kirk ignored Ramon's scowl as he requested the pleasure of seeing
+Chiquita's programme; then pretended not to notice her start of
+surprise. After a frightened look at her father, she timidly
+extended the card to him, and he wrote his name upon it.
+
+As he finished he found Mrs. Cortlandt regarding him.
+
+"Will you dance with me?" he inquired. "Yes. I saved the fourth
+and the tenth." As he filled in the allotted spaces, she said, in
+a low voice, "You are the boldest person! Did Mr. Garavel give you
+leave to do that, or--"
+
+"Of course! Thank you." He made his way out of the press that had
+gathered and toward the open air. He was shaking with nervousness
+and cursed all government hotels where a man is denied the solace
+of a drink.
+
+Runnels pounced upon him just outside.
+
+"Well, well, quick! Did you make it?"
+
+"Number nine."
+
+"Good! I was gnawing my finger-nails. Whew! I'm glad that is over.
+Now pull yourself together and don't forget you have the first
+dance with Mrs. Runnels. There goes the music. I--I'm too rattled
+to dance."
+
+Anthony found his friend's wife bubbling with excitement, and
+scarcely able to contain herself.
+
+"Oh, I'll never live through it, I know," she cried, as soon as
+they were out upon the floor. "How CAN you be so calm?"
+
+"I'm not. I'm as panicky as you are."
+
+"And she, poor little thing! She seems frightened to death."
+
+"But--isn't she beautiful?"
+
+Mrs. Runnels admitted the fact cheerfully, and at the same time
+noted how her partner's muscles swelled and hardened as Miss
+Garavel glided past in the arms of Ramon Alfarez. It gave her a
+thrill to see a real drama unfolding thus before her very eyes.
+
+To Kirk, Chiquita had never appeared so ravishing, nor so purely
+Spanish as to-night. She was clad in some mysterious filmy white
+stuff that floated about her form like a mist. The strangeness and
+brilliance of her surroundings had frightened her a little, and
+the misery at her heart had filled her wide, dark eyes with a
+plaintive melancholy. But she was entirely the fine lady through
+it all, and she accepted the prominence that was hers as the
+leading senorita of the Republic with simple dignity and
+unconcern. The women began to whisper her name, the men followed
+her with admiring glances. At every interval between dances she
+was besieged by gayly clad officers, civilians in white--the
+flower of her own people and of the American colony as well--all
+eager to claim her attention or to share in her shy, slow smile.
+
+Now and then her eyes strayed to Kirk with a look that made his
+blood move quicker. It boded well for the success of his plans,
+and filled him with a fierce, hot gladness. But how the moments
+dragged!
+
+General Alfarez entered the room amid a buzz of comment. Then, as
+he greeted his rival, Garavel, with a smile and a handshake, a
+round of applause broke forth. The members of the Commission
+sought them both out, and congratulations were exchanged. At last
+the Garavel boom was launched in earnest.
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt expressed a desire to sit out the fourth dance.
+
+"So, your engagement to Miss Garavel is broken?" she began, when
+she and Kirk had seated themselves in two of the big rockers that
+lined the porch.
+
+"All smashed to pieces, running-gear broken, steering-knuckle
+bent, gasolene tank punctured. I need a tow."
+
+"You take it calmly."
+
+"What's the use of struggling? I'm no Samson to go around pulling
+down temples."
+
+"Did you expect her to yield so tamely?"
+
+"I didn't know she had yielded. In fact, I haven't had a chance to
+talk to her."
+
+"But she has. Mr. Garavel told me not an hour ago that as soon as
+he explained his wishes she consented to marry Ramon without a
+protest."
+
+"A refusal would have meant the death of the old man's chances, I
+presume. She acted quite dutifully."
+
+"Yes. If she had refused Ramon, I doubt if we could have saved her
+father. As it is, the General withdraws and leaves the field
+clear, the two young people are reunited, quite as if you had
+never appeared, and you--My dear Kirk, now what about you?"
+
+"Oh, I don't count. I never have counted in anything, you know.
+That's the trouble with good-natured people. But is it true that
+Garavel is practically elected?"
+
+"General Alfarez couldn't very well step in after he had publicly
+stepped out, could he? That would be a trifle too treacherous;
+he'd lose his support, and our people could then have an excuse to
+take a hand. I'm tremendously glad it's all settled finally, I
+assure you. It was a strain; and although I'm sorry you got your
+fingers pinched between the political wheels, I'm relieved that
+the uncertainty is ended."
+
+So far they had been speaking like mere acquaintances, but now
+Kirk turned upon her a trifle bitterly.
+
+"I think you worked it very cleverly, Mrs. Cortlandt," he said.
+"Of course, I had no chance to win against a person of your
+diplomatic gifts. I had my nerve to try."
+
+She regarded him without offence at this candor, then nodded.
+
+"Yes. You see, it meant more to me than to you or to her. With you
+two it is but a romance forgotten in a night. I have pretty nearly
+outlived romance."
+
+"You think I will forget easily? That's not flattering."
+
+"All men do. You will even forget my part in the affair, and we
+will be better friends than ever."
+
+"Suppose I don't choose to accept what it pleases people to hand
+me?"
+
+"My dear Kirk!" She smiled. "You will have to in this case. There
+is nothing else to do."
+
+He shook his head. "I hoped we could be friends, Mrs. Cortlandt,
+but it seems we can't be."
+
+At this she broke out, imperiously, her eyes flashing.
+
+"I ask nothing you can't give. I have never been denied, and I
+won't be denied now. You can't afford to break with me."
+
+"Indeed! Why do you think that?"
+
+"Listen! I've shown you what I can do in a few months. In a year
+you can be a great success. That's how big men are made; they know
+the short-cuts. You are too inexperienced yet to know what success
+and power mean, but you are beginning to learn, and when you have
+learned you will thank me for breaking up this foolish romance. I
+don't ask you to forget your manhood. I ask nothing. I am content
+to wait. You want to become a big man like your father. Well,
+Runnels will be out of the way soon; Blakeley amounts to nothing.
+You will be the Superintendent."
+
+"So! That's not merely a rumor about Blakeley? Runnels is fired,
+eh?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"If I choose not to give up Chiq--Miss Garavel, then what? It
+means the end of me here, is that it?"
+
+"If you 'choose'! Why, my dear, you have no choice whatever in the
+matter. It is practically closed. You can do nothing--although, if
+you really intend to make trouble, I shall walk inside when I
+leave and inform the old gentleman, in which case he will probably
+send the girl home at once, and take very good care to give you no
+further opportunity. Ramon is only too anxious to marry her. As to
+this being the end of you here, well, I really don't see how it
+could be otherwise. No Kirk, it's for you to decide whether you
+wish to be shown the secret path up the mountain or to scale the
+cliffs unaided. There are no conditions. You merely mustn't play
+the fool."
+
+"And if I don't agree you will tell Mr. Garavel that I'm going to
+make trouble?" He mused aloud, watching her out of the corner of
+his eye. She said nothing, so he went on cautiously, sparring for
+time.
+
+"Well, inasmuch as this seems to be a plain business proposition,
+suppose I think it over. When it comes time for our next dance,
+I'll say yes or no."
+
+"As you please."
+
+"Very well. The music has stopped; we'd better go in."
+
+As they rose she laid her hand upon his arm and he felt it tremble
+as she exclaimed:
+
+"Believe me, Kirk, this isn't at all easy for me, but--I can't
+bear to lose."
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+CHECKMATE!
+
+
+Anthony had no partner for the eighth dance, and was very glad of
+it, for he could not have carried off the necessary small talk. As
+it was, he felt that his excitement must be patent to those around
+him. His mind was filled with tormenting doubts, his chance for
+success seemed so infinitely small, his plan so extravagantly
+impracticable, now that the time had come!
+
+As the music ceased and the dancers came pouring out into the cool
+night air, Runnels approached with his wife.
+
+"Well, are you equal to it?" he asked.
+
+Kirk nodded; he could not speak.
+
+"Why, you look as cold as ice," exclaimed the woman, half-
+resentfully. "I'm the only one who seems to feel it. I--I'm
+positively delirious. My partners look at me in the strangest way,
+as if they thought I were liable to become dangerous at any
+moment."
+
+"Not too loud!" her husband cautioned, then to Kirk: "Good-luck,
+old man. Lord! I need a bracer." His words stuck in his throat,
+and Kirk realized that he was himself the calmest of the three.
+Together, Runnels and his wife strolled off through the crowd,
+disappearing in the direction of the north wing of the hotel.
+
+It seemed ages before the orchestra struck up; Kirk began to fear
+that something had happened to the musicians. He edged closer to
+the door and searched out Chiquita with his eyes. There she was,
+seated with her father, Colonel Bland from Gatun, and some high
+officer or other--probably an admiral. Ramon Alfarez was draped
+artistically over the back of her chair, curling his mustache
+tenderly and smiling vacantly at the conversation.
+
+Kirk ground his teeth together and set his feet as if for the
+sound of the referee's whistle. He heard the orchestra leader tap
+his music-stand; then, as the first strains of the waltz floated
+forth, he stepped into the ballroom and made toward his
+sweetheart. All at once he found that his brain was clear, his
+heart-beats measured.
+
+Of course she saw him coming; she had waited all the long evening
+for this moment. He saw her hand flutter uncertainly to her
+throat; then, as he paused before her, she rose without a word.
+His arm encircled her waist, her little, cold palm dropped into
+his as lightly as a snowflake, and they glided away together. He
+found himself whispering her name over and over again
+passionately.
+
+"Why--why did you do this, senor?" she protested, faintly. "It is
+very hard for me."
+
+"It is the last time I shall ever hold you--this way."
+
+She faltered, her breath caught. "Please! My father is looking.
+Ramon--"
+
+"Have you agreed to marry him?"
+
+"Yes! No no! Oh, I have prayed to the Virgin every hour. I cannot,
+and yet I must. See! I cannot waltz, senor, I have s-stepped upon
+you. Take me back to my seat."
+
+For answer he pressed her closer to his breast, holding her up
+without effort. The incense from her hair was robbing him of his
+wits, his old wild desire to pick her up and carry her away swept
+over him.
+
+"Don't--esqueeze--me--so!" she exclaimed. "I cannot hold back--the
+tears. I am so unhappy. If I could die quickly--now."
+
+"Let us go out on the porch."
+
+"No, no! We must remain in my father's sight. Will you take me to
+my seat?"
+
+"No, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm going to say." He
+spoke low and earnestly. "Try to show nothing in your face, for
+they are watching us." Seeing her more composed and attentive, he
+went on:
+
+"Don't stop dancing now, when I tell you. Chiquita dear, you must
+marry me, to-night, right away! I have arranged everything. No,
+don't look up at me until I have finished. Try to smile. I've
+planned it all out and everything is in readiness. I have a room
+just around the corner of the veranda; there's a judge waiting for
+us, and Runnels and his wife--"
+
+"You are mad!" she gasped.
+
+"No, no. We'll slip through one of the French windows, and we'll
+be back again before they miss us. Nobody will know. I tell you
+they're waiting. If we are missed they'll think--it doesn't matter
+what they think, you'll be my wife, and Ramon can't marry you
+then. We'll say nothing about it until your father is elected
+President."
+
+"Senor, one cannot be married in a moment. I am Catholic--the
+banns--"
+
+"I've thought of all that, but a civil marriage is binding. We'll
+have the religious ceremony afterward; meanwhile this will stop
+Ramon, at least. I promise not to see you again until you send for
+me, until your father's hopes are realized. You may wait as long
+as you wish, and nobody will know. They tricked you, Chiquita
+dear; I can't explain, but it wasn't all politics, by any means.
+Oh, girl! Don't you understand, I love you--love you? It's our
+only chance." The words were tumbling from his lips incoherently;
+he was pleading as if for his life, while she clung to him to
+support herself. Through it all their feet moved rhythmically,
+their bodies swayed to the cadences of the waltz as they circled
+the ballroom. He guided her among the other whirling figures,
+under the very eyes of her father and her fiance, while more than
+one of the onlookers commented upon the handsome appearance of
+these young people, the one so stalwart and blond and Northern,
+the other so chic and dark and tropical.
+
+He knew it was her lifelong loyalty, her traditional sense of
+obedience, that made her hesitate.
+
+"It was treachery to both of us," he urged; "they imposed upon
+your father, but when he has won he'll forgive us. I know what I'm
+saying; Mrs. Cortlandt told me to-night."
+
+"Mother of God!" she exclaimed, faintly. "Is it that I am
+dreaming?"
+
+"They are waiting for us; the dance is half over already. I love
+you--better than all the world. Do you remember two nights ago?
+You kissed me then, and--I--I can't live without you. We'll go
+away together, you and I, through all the world--just we two." She
+trembled against him. "Quick!" he cried in her ear. "We're coming
+to the spot. They can't see us now. If you feel weak, hold to my
+arm until we are outside."
+
+She gave a hysterical, choking sob that was half a sigh; then her
+eyes flashed upward to his--they were wide and bright and shining--
+her lips were parted, her body was lithe and full of life. She
+slipped from his embrace, whispering:
+
+"Yes, yes! Quickly, senor!" And the next instant they were out
+upon the wide gallery with the dance behind them. "Hurree, hurree!
+Or they will follow."
+
+Together they fled along the north wing of the hotel; the girl was
+panting, with one hand held to her bare throat; but there was no
+need for him to help her, for she ran like a fawn.
+
+"Here!" He swung her around the corner and rapped sharply at a
+door.
+
+"Quickly! Quickly!" she moaned. "For the love of--"
+
+With terrific force the door was fairly jerked from its hinges and
+slammed to behind them. The next moment Allan's big body was
+leaning against it, as if the wall were about to fall inward upon
+him. Runnels leaped forward with an exclamation, his wife stood
+staring, her face as white as snow. With them was the genial gray-
+haired judge from Colon, whom Kirk had met at the Wayfarers Club
+on the night of his arrival.
+
+"You made it!" Runnels cried, triumphantly.
+
+"Miss Garavel!" his wife echoed. "Thank Heaven you came!"
+
+"Quick, the music will stop! Judge, this is Miss Garavel--you must
+marry us just as fast as you can."
+
+"I presume you consent?" the judge asked, with a smile at the
+girl.
+
+"I--I want to be happy," she said, simply. Her bosom was heaving,
+her pansy eyes were fastened upon the magistrate with a look of
+pleading that drove the smile from his lips. She clung to
+Anthony's arm as if she feared these strangers might tear him
+away.
+
+"You understand, Judge, she's of age; so am I. They want to force
+her to marry a man she doesn't--"
+
+The muffled strains of music ceased. There came the faint clapping
+of hands.
+
+"Madre de Dios!" Miss Garavel cried. "We are too late." She beat
+her little palms together in desperation.
+
+There was a breathless interval. Then the music began again, and
+to its throbbing measures the marriage ceremony was performed. As
+the last word was pronounced, Mrs. Runnels burst into tears and
+hid her face against her husband's breast. Runnels himself held
+forth a shaking hand to Kirk, then patted the bride clumsily upon
+her shoulder.
+
+"I know you will be happy now, Mrs. Anthony," he said.
+
+With an incoherent cry of delight, Kirk folded his wife in his
+arms, and she kissed him before them all.
+
+"Senor, I will love you always," she said, shyly.
+
+During the progress of this scene, Allan Allan of Jamaica had
+stood frozen with amazement, a door-knob wedged firmly into the
+small of his back, his eyes distended and rolling; but when Mrs.
+Runnels collapsed, as at a signal he too dissolved in tears.
+
+"Oh, glory to God, boss," he sobbed, "you is a beautiful
+bridegroom!"
+
+"Come, we must get back, the music has stopped again." Kirk turned
+to the judge. "Nothing is to be said until Miss Gar--Mrs. Anthony
+gives the word; you understand? I can't thank you all half enough.
+Now, Allan, see if the coast is clear, quickly!" He was still in a
+panic, for there yet remained a chance of discovery and ruin. One
+more instant of suspense, then the two stepped out; the door
+closed softly behind them and they strolled around the corner of
+the north wing and into the crowd. It had all happened so quickly
+that even yet they were dazed and disbelieving.
+
+"My wife!" Kirk whispered, while a tremendous rush of emotion
+swept over him. She trembled in answer like a wind-shaken leaf.
+"You're mine, Chiquita! They can't take you away." His voice
+broke.
+
+"I am still dreaming. What have I done? Oh-h--they will know; in
+my face they will read the truth. But I do not care. Is--it indeed
+true?"
+
+They were at the entrance to the ballroom now, through which they
+had come a few minutes before, and, pausing, she gave him a half-
+serious, half-timid glance.
+
+"Senor, I do not know if some time you will be sorry for this
+action, but I shall never cease loving you. I prayed hourly to the
+Blessed Virgin, and she heard. Now, I shall perish until you
+come."
+
+"When you give me leave; through steel and stone, through fire and
+water."
+
+"Quick, for the one more time, call me--that--" She hesitated,
+blushing vividly. "I will hear it in my dreams."
+
+"My wife!" he whispered, tenderly.
+
+"Ho! Chiquita mia!" her father cried, as they came to him. "There
+you are then. I have missed you." His eyes smouldered as he gazed
+suspiciously at Kirk.
+
+"Ah, but I was too warm," she said, easily. "Yonder by the door we
+have been standing in the night breeze. And where is Ramon?"
+
+"He is looking for you."
+
+"One would think him a jealous husband already," she exclaimed,
+lightly. Then, extending her hand coolly to Kirk, "I thank you,
+senor, for the--dance."
+
+Her husband bowed. "I shall not soon forget it." To the father he
+added, in a low voice: "I thank you, also, for your courtesy. We
+have been discussing your daughter's marriage during the dance,
+and it is my one greatest hope that she will never regret it."
+
+The banker acknowledged the words ceremoniously. "Love is a thing
+that comes and goes; marriage alone can bind it. Some day you will
+thank me, and then perhaps you will honor our house again, eh?"
+
+"I shall be happy to come whenever you wish." As he walked away,
+the banker said, with relief:
+
+"He takes it well; he is proud--almost like a Spaniard."
+
+Kirk moved through the crowd as if in a trance, but he was
+beginning to realize the truth now; it surged over him in great
+waves of gladness. He longed to shout his news aloud. What luck
+was his! The world was made for him; there was no such thing as
+adversity or failure--Chiquita was his wife! All Christendom might
+go to pot for all he cared; that marvellous fact was unalterable.
+Yes, and he could speak his mind to Mrs. Cortlandt. His tentative
+acceptance of the terms she made sickened him. He wanted to rid
+himself of this false position as soon as possible. What mattered
+her threats? What did he care for the things she could give or
+withhold when all the glad open world was beckoning to him and to
+his bride? Success! Riches! He could win them for himself.
+Chiquita was all and more than they, and he was a god!
+
+In the midst of his rhapsody he heard a bell-boy speaking his
+name, and smiled at him vacantly as he turned away. But the negro
+followed him persistently, saying something about a letter.
+
+"Letter? I have no time to write letters. Oh, I beg pardon, letter
+for ME?" He took the missive from the silver tray and stuffed it
+absent-mindedly into a pocket, fumbling meanwhile for a tip. "I
+don't seem to have any money, my boy, but money, after all, means
+nothing."
+
+"It is h'impartant, sar."
+
+"Oh yes, the letter. Very well." He opened the envelope and
+pretended to read, but in reality the sheet held nothing for him
+but a ravishing, mischievous face, with pansy eyes. He must have
+stood staring unseeingly at it for several seconds. Then the
+dancing visions faded and the scrawl stood out plainly:
+
+Williams, detective, St. Louis, arrived at Colon this evening on
+the Prince Joachim. You'd better take it on the run.
+
+It was written upon Tivoli paper, but the hand was strange and it
+was not signed.
+
+"Well!" Kirk came suddenly to himself, and a spasm of disgust
+seized him. "What a rotten inconvenience!" he said aloud. But
+before he had time to measure the effect of this new complication
+the swelling music reminded him that this dance belonged to Mrs.
+Cortlandt and that her answer was due.
+
+She was waiting for him in the gallery, and motioned him to the
+chair adjoining hers.
+
+"I can't two-step and talk at the same time," she said, "and here
+we'll be quite private."
+
+Kirk remained standing. "What I have to say won't take long. I've
+made up my mind, and I--"
+
+Edith interrupted him with a lightness that her look belied:
+
+"Oh, let's not discuss it. I don't want you to answer. I don't
+want to think of it. I just want to forget--and to plan. You
+understand how I feel?" She faced him with eyes bright and
+lustrous, her red lips parted in a smile. She was a very beautiful
+woman, Kirk realized--a very compelling, unusual woman, and one
+whose capabilities seemed unbounded. He began dimly to perceive
+that all women have great capabilities for good or evil, depending
+largely upon the accident of their environment, and with this
+thought came the feeling that he must speak frankly now or prove
+himself worse than base. If only she were of the weakly feminine
+type his task would be far easier. But it was hard to strike her,
+for the very reason that he knew she would take the blow bravely
+and meet its full force.
+
+"I must answer," he said. "I don't want to pretend; I'm not good
+at lying. I can't go through with any such arrangement as you
+suggested. Why, the very idea is positively--fierce. You've been
+awfully nice to me, but I had no idea of--this. Besides,
+Cortlandt's an awfully decent chap, and--and, well," he concluded,
+lamely, "there are lots of reasons."
+
+"Oh no! There is only one reason; all the others count for
+nothing." She spoke in a voice that he could scarcely hear.
+
+"Perhaps! But it's--just impossible."
+
+"You know what it means?" She stared at him with hard, level eyes.
+"I'm not a moderate person--I can't do things by halves. No! I see
+you don't think of that, you are mad over this Garavel girl. But
+you can't get her." Something in his dazzled, love-foolish smile
+enraged her. "So! You are planning even now. Well, then,
+understand there are practical reasons, political reasons, why you
+can't have her. If Garavel were insane enough to consent, others
+would not. She is part of--the machine, and there are those who
+will not consent to see all their work spoiled. That is altogether
+apart from me, you understand. I can build, and I can destroy--"
+
+"There's nothing more to say," he interrupted her, quietly, "so
+I'd better excuse myself."
+
+"Yes! I would prefer to be alone."
+
+When he had bowed himself away she crushed the fan in her hand,
+staring out across the lights of the city below, and it was thus
+that Cortlandt found her a few moments later, as he idled along
+the veranda, his hands in his pockets, a cigarette between his
+lips. He dropped into the empty chair beside her, saying:
+
+"Hello! Thought you had this with Anthony?"
+
+"I had."
+
+"What's the trouble?"
+
+"There is no trouble." She began to rock, while he studied her
+profile; then, conscious of his look, she inquired, "Aren't you
+dancing?"
+
+"No, just looking on, as usual. I prefer to watch. You have broken
+your fan, it seems." He flung his cigarette into the darkness and,
+reaching out, took the fan from her hand. She saw that his lips
+were drawn back in a peculiar smile.
+
+"Well! Is that so strange?" she answered, sharply. "You seem--"
+She broke off and looked deliberately away from him.
+
+"Row, eh?" he inquired, softly.
+
+She could barely hold back her hatred of the man. He had worked
+powerfully upon her nerves of late, and she was half hysterical.
+
+"Why do you take pleasure in annoying me?" she cried. "What ails
+you these last few weeks? I can't stand it--I won't--"
+
+"Oh! Pardon! One quarrel an evening is enough. I should have known
+better."
+
+She turned upon him at this, but once more checked the words that
+clamored for utterance. Her look, however, was a warning. She bit
+her lip and said nothing.
+
+"Too bad you and he don't hit it off better; he likes me."
+
+There was no answer.
+
+"He's giving me a party after the dance, sort of a gratitude
+affair. A delicate way to acknowledge a debt, eh?"
+
+She saw that his hand shook as he lit a fresh cigarettes, and the
+strangeness of his tone made her wonder. "You know very well it is
+Runnels' doing," she said.
+
+"Oh, there are six of them in it altogether, but Anthony
+originated the little surprise. It's intended for you, of course."
+
+"I don't see it. Are you going?"
+
+"I accepted."
+
+"What do you mean by that?"
+
+"Bah! They won't give it," he said, harshly.
+
+"And why not? I think it is rather nice of those chaps. Of course,
+Runnels would like to ingratiate himself with you--"
+
+"Funny spectacle, eh? Me the guest of--Anthony!"
+
+There was a trace of anxiety in her voice as she answered, and,
+though she spoke carelessly, she did not meet his eyes.
+
+"I--I'd rather you'd make an excuse. I'll have to go home alone,
+you know."
+
+He raised his brows mockingly. "My DEAR! I'm to be the honored
+guest."
+
+"Suit yourself, of course."
+
+A marine officer approached, mopping his face, and engaged her in
+conversation, whereupon Cortlandt rose languidly and strolled away
+through the crowd that came eddying forth from the ballroom.
+
+Meanwhile, Kirk had found Runnels, who was looking for him, eager
+to express his congratulations and to discuss their exploit in
+detail.
+
+"I've just taken the wife home," he explained. "I never saw
+anybody so excited. If she'd stayed here she'd have given the
+whole thing away, sure. Why, she wasn't half so much affected by
+her own marriage."
+
+"I--I haven't pulled myself together yet. Funny thing--I've just
+been watching my wife dancing with the man she is engaged to. Gee!
+It's great to be married."
+
+"She's the dearest thing I ever saw; and wasn't she game? Alice
+will cry for weeks over this. Why, it's the sob-fest of her
+lifetime. She's bursting with grief and rapture. I hope your wife
+can keep a secret better than mine, otherwise there will be a
+tremendous commotion before to-morrow's sun sets. I suppose now
+I'll have to hang around home with my finger on my lip, saying
+'Hist!' until the news comes out. Whew! I am thirsty."
+
+Anthony did not tell his friend about the detective in Colon and
+his mysterious warning, partly because he was not greatly
+disturbed by it and trusted to meeting the difficulty in proper
+time, and partly because his mind was once more too full of his
+great good-fortune to permit of any other interest. Now that he
+had some one to whom he could talk freely, he let himself go, and
+he was deep in conversation when Stephen Cortlandt strolled up and
+stopped for an instant to say:
+
+"Quite a lively party, isn't it?"
+
+Kirk noticed how sallow he had grown in the past few months, and
+how he had fallen off in weight. He looked older, too; his cheeks
+had sunken in until they outlined his jaws sharply. He seemed far
+from well; a nervous twitching of his fingers betokened the strain
+he had been under. He was quite as immaculate as usual, however,
+quite as polished and collected.
+
+"How is our little 'stag' coming on?" he asked.
+
+"Fine! Everything is ready," said Runnels. "You won't expect an
+elaborate layout; it's mostly cold storage, you know, but we'll at
+least be able to quench our thirst at the Central."
+
+"Then it's really coming off? I was--afraid you'd forgotten it."
+Cortlandt cast a curious glance at Kirk, who exclaimed, heartily:
+
+"Well, hardly!" Then, as their prospective guest moved off, "What
+a strange remark!"
+
+"Yes," said Runnels, "he's a queer fellow; but then, you know,
+he's about as emotional as a toad."
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+THE CRASH
+
+
+Kirk had no further chance of speaking with his wife, for after
+the dance she was whisked away, leaving him nothing but the memory
+of an adoring, blissful glance as she passed. With Runnels and
+Cortlandt and the rest, he was driven to the Hotel Central, where
+they found a very attractive table set in a private dining-room.
+It was a lively party, and Kirk's secret elation enabled him to
+play the part of host with unforced geniality. The others joined
+him in a hearty effort to show their guest the high regard in
+which they held him, and if Cortlandt did not enjoy himself, it
+was entirely his own fault.
+
+Toward Kirk, however, he preserved a peculiar attitude, which only
+the young man's self-absorption prevented him from noticing. If he
+had been less jubilant, he must have felt the unnatural aloofness
+of the other man's bearing; but even had he done so, he would
+doubtless have attributed it to Cortlandt's well-recognized
+frigidity.
+
+At the propitious moment, Runnels, who had reluctantly agreed to
+share the social responsibility, made a little speech, explaining
+that he and his boys had been sensible from the first of their
+guest's interest in them, and were deeply grateful for it. They
+were all working together, he said, and what helped one helped
+another. They had banded together, and now tendered him a token of
+their regard in a form which he could preserve.
+
+"It's a little late," he smiled, "in view of the rumor that has
+been going round within the last day or so, but, no matter what
+happens to any one of us in the readjustment of our department, we
+appreciate the help you have given us collectively."
+
+He handed a handsome loving-cup to Cortlandt, who thanked him
+appropriately, then waited courteously for the party to break up.
+But Anthony rose, saying:
+
+"I simply have to say a word on my own account, fellows, for I owe
+Mr. Cortlandt more than any of you."
+
+The object of these remarks shot a swift, questioning glance from
+his stony eyes, and raised a hand as if to check him. But Kirk ran
+on unheeding:
+
+"I want to thank him before all of you for what he has done for me
+personally. When I landed in Panama I was a rotter. I'd never
+worked, and never intended to; I rather despised people who did. I
+represented the unearned increment. I was broke and friendless,
+and what ideas I had were all wrong. This is something you don't
+know, perhaps, but no sooner had I landed than I got into trouble
+of the worst sort, and Mr. Cortlandt got me out. He was my bail-
+bond; he put me up at his hotel; gave me clothes, and paid my way
+until I got started. I was a stranger, mind you, but he's been
+just like one of my own people, and if I ever succeed in doing
+anything really worth while, it will be due to the start he gave
+me."
+
+Though the words were commonplace enough, they carried a sincere
+message, and Cortlandt saw by the faces about him that the others
+were pleased. His own gaunt features turned more sallow than ever.
+The memory of what he had heard on the porch of his own house a
+few afternoons ago, of what he had seen at other times, of his
+wife's telltale behavior on this very evening, swept over him,
+fanning anew the sullen emotions he had cherished all these
+months. How far would this fellow dare to go, he wondered? What
+motive inspired him thus to pose before his friends, and openly
+goad his victim under the cloak of modesty and gratitude? Was he
+enhancing his triumph by jeering at the husband of whom he had
+made a fool? He dropped his eyes to hide the fury in them.
+
+"I want to give you a little remembrance of my own." Anthony was
+speaking directly to him. "It isn't much, but it means a good deal
+to me, and I hope it will have some sort of personal association
+for you, Mr. Cortlandt." He drew from his pocket a plush case and
+took from it a very handsome thin Swiss watch with the letters "S.
+C." artfully enamelled upon the back. Runnels, who knew the local
+shops, wondered how it had been procured in Panama. The others
+openly expressed their admiration.
+
+Cortlandt accepted the gift mechanically; then, as it touched his
+flesh, a sudden color mounted to his cheeks, only to recede,
+leaving them bloodless again. He stared at it uncertainly, then
+looked up and ran his eyes slowly around the table. They came to
+rest at last upon the broad frame of the giver, crowned with its
+handsome, sun-tanned face and close-cropped shock of yellow hair.
+Anthony was all that he was not--the very embodiment of youth,
+vigor, and confidence, while he was prematurely aged, worn, and
+impotent.
+
+They noted how ill he appeared, as if he had suffered from a
+jungle fever, how his well-cut evening clothes refused to conceal
+the frail lines of his figure, and how the hollows in his cheeks
+added to his age. But for the first time since they had known him
+they saw that his eyes were alive and burning dully.
+
+"I really didn't expect this," he began, slowly, as he rose.
+"Anthony exaggerates; he is too kind. But since he has chosen to
+publicly call attention to our relations, I will confess that what
+he tells you is all true. He was everything he says when he first
+came to Panama. He did get into trouble, and I helped him out; he
+had no money, and I put him up as my guest; he needed work, and I
+helped to place him. Through my assistance--partly, at any rate--
+he has made a man of himself. He has been welcome at my house, at
+my table; he has come and gone as he pleased, like one of the
+family, you might say. But those are little things; they count for
+nothing." He smiled in a way that seemed ironical, his lips
+writhed away from his teeth until his visage resembled a death-
+head. His tone had gripped his hearers, and Anthony stirred
+uneasily, thinking this an odd way of accepting a gift.
+
+Unclasping his long, white fingers, Cortlandt held up the watch to
+public view.
+
+"In payment for my poor friendship he has given me this
+magnificent thing of gold and jewels, the finest I ever saw. I
+never counted upon such gratitude. It is too much, and yet a man
+cannot refuse the gift of his friend and not seem ungracious, can
+he? Somewhere in the Orient they have a custom of exchanging
+gifts. No man may accept a thing of value without making adequate
+return, and it has always struck me as a wise practice." He turned
+full upon Kirk for the first time since he had begun speaking, and
+his voice rose a tone as he said: "I can't let the obligation rest
+entirely upon me. We have been friends, Anthony, and I am going to
+give you something in return which I have prized highly; it would
+be counted of great value by some." Once more he paused and drew
+his lips back in that grimace of mockery--it could no longer be
+termed a smile. "It is this--I am going to give you--my wife. You
+have had her from the first, and now she is yours." For one
+frightful moment there was no sound; even the men's breathing was
+hushed, and they sat slack-jawed, stunned, half-minded to believe
+this some hideous, incredible jest. But the maniacal light in
+Cortlandt's eyes, and Anthony's chalk-white, frozen countenance
+soon showed them the truth. Some one gasped, another laughed
+hysterically, the sound breaking in his throat. Cortlandt turned
+away gloatingly.
+
+Kirk was the last to recover his powers, but when they did revive
+they came with a prodigious rush. He plunged upward out of his
+chair with a cry like a wounded animal, and the others rose with
+him. The table rocked, something smashed, a chair was hurled
+backward. The room broke into instant turmoil. Kirk felt hands
+upon him, and then went blind with fury, struggling in a passion
+too strong for coherent speech. He was engulfed in chaos. He felt
+things break beneath his touch, felt bodies give way before him.
+
+How or when Cortlandt left the room he never knew. Eventually he
+found himself pinned in his chair, with Runnels' white face close
+against his own and other hands upon his arms. His first frenzy
+quickly gave way to a sickening horror. Some one was commanding
+him to be still, to create no scene; but those were not words,
+they were simply mutterings that conveyed no meaning.
+
+"It's a lie! The man's crazy!" he cried, hoarsely; then, as his
+companions drew away from him, he rose to his feet. "Why are you
+looking at me like that? I tell you it's a damned lie! I never--"
+
+Runnels turned to the table, and with shaking hand put a glass to
+his lips and gulped its contents. Wade and Kimble exchanged
+glances, then, avoiding each other's eyes, took their hats from
+the hooks behind them.
+
+"Wait! Bring him back!" Kirk mumbled. "I'll get him and make him
+say it's a lie." But still no one answered, no one looked at him.
+"God! You don't believe it?"
+
+"I'm going home, fellows. I'm kind of sick," Kimble said. One of
+the others murmured unintelligibly, and, wetting a napkin, bound
+up his hand, which was bleeding. They continued to watch Kirk as
+if fearful of some insane action, yet they refused to meet his
+eyes squarely. There was no sympathy in their faces.
+
+The knowledge of what these actions meant came to him slowly. Was
+it possible that his friends believed this incredible accusation?
+The thought made him furious, too agitated as yet to realize that
+such a charge made under such circumstances could not well prove
+less than convincing. As he began to collect himself he saw his
+plight more clearly. His first thought had been that Cortlandt was
+insane, but the man's actions were not those of a maniac. No! He
+actually believed and--and these fellows believed also. No doubt
+they would continue to think him guilty in spite of all that he
+could do or say; for after this shocking denunciation it would
+take more than mere words to prove that he had not betrayed his
+friend and benefactor. It was incredible, unbearable! He wanted to
+shout his innocence at them, to beat it into their heads; but the
+more he expostulated the more distant they became.
+
+One by one they took their hats and went out, mumbling good-night
+to one another, as if intending to go home singly in order to
+avoid all discussion of this thing that had fallen among them
+Runnels alone remained.
+
+"YOU don't believe I did--that?" Anthony asked, in a strained
+voice.
+
+"I--I think I do." There was a miserable silence, and then: "It
+isn't the thing itself, you know, so much as the rotten--
+underhanded advantage you took. If he'd been a stranger, now--
+Honestly, isn't it true?"
+
+Kirk shook his head, listlessly. "I wouldn't lie to you."
+
+Runnels drew a deep breath.. "Oh, come, now, the man MUST have
+known what he was saying. Do you realize what it means--if--well,
+if he were mistaken? It would be bad enough if he were not, but
+this would be ten times worse. Don't you see?"
+
+"I don't see much of anything yet. I'm stunned."
+
+"Ugh! To make it public that way, he must be made of iron."
+Runnels shuddered; then, with cold eyes on Kirk, continued: "He
+must have known, Anthony. Men don't do things like that on
+suspicion."
+
+"He misunderstood our friendship," said Kirk, heavily, then roused
+himself for a last plea. "Look here!" he cried. "You know
+Cortlandt and you know me. The man was insanely jealous! I know it
+sounds weak, but it's the truth, and it's all I can say. I'll go
+mad if you doubt me."
+
+Runnels' face showed the pain he felt, but his eyes looked
+incredulous.
+
+"Another thing," Kirk went on, desperately: "do you suppose that
+if what you believe were true I could have the inhuman nerve to
+come here to-night? That would make me a fool or a monster!"
+
+"I don't know," said Runnels.
+
+"You do know. You know ME. If we weren't such friends I wouldn't
+argue with you like this, but--I can't bear it. And to-night of
+all--" He broke off sharply. "My God! I'd forgotten that I'm
+married! Suppose Gertrudis hears of this! If it ever gets to her--
+I--believe I could kill him."
+
+"Don't talk like that."
+
+"I never really thought I could take a person's life, but if she
+heard she might believe; everybody else seems to believe.
+Understand, she hardly knows me. She might--she might--" Anthony
+seized his temples in despair.
+
+Runnels took a sudden illogical decision. He never knew exactly
+what had influenced him, but his whole past knowledge of Anthony
+surged up in him with a force that he could not resist. He found
+that he could not really believe him capable of this abomination
+any more than he could believe it of himself. Little of our life
+is ruled by reason, and it is something else than logic that
+produces the last feeling of conviction. Here, this something was
+present where logic was lacking.
+
+He laid his hand on Kirk's shoulder. "Take it easy, old man," he
+said. "I believe you. I've always known that they didn't get along
+together, although--well, I won't try to understand it. He may not
+do anything further, and these fellows won't mention what happened
+here; they can't."
+
+"You know we're only half married," moaned Kirk, hardly heeding
+him. "Women are apt to be jealous, aren't they, Runnels? What do
+you suppose she'd do?"
+
+"Don't worry about that. I'm thinking about Cortlandt. If he finds
+out he's mistaken, what will HE do?"
+
+"He'll have to find out. I'm going to tell him. His wife will tell
+him. Good God! Do you see what an awful light it puts me in? You
+don't doubt me, do you, really, old man?"
+
+"No--but what a night this has been! It seems a year old. Come
+along, now, you must get out of here. You must turn in."
+
+"Oh, I don't feel as if I'd ever sleep again until this thing is
+cleared up." His anguish swept over him in a fresh tide. "Those
+boys think I did that trick to the man who befriended me!"
+
+"Well, don't let's talk about it any more; we can't stay here all
+night, anyhow. The waiters are wondering what this row is about. I
+think we'd better take a walk." Runnels dragged his companion out,
+trying to calm him as best he could.
+
+In passing through the deserted lobby of the hotel, they saw
+Clifford idling about; but they were too much absorbed to wonder
+what had kept him up so late. By the clock across the Plaza they
+saw it was two hours after midnight as they stepped into the
+street; then, finding no coaches in sight, they set out to walk
+toward Ancon, both badly in need of the open air.
+
+A moment later Clifford followed them, taking pains to keep at a
+distance.
+
+Now that the full import of Cortlandt's accusation had sunk into
+his mind, Kirk lapsed into a mood of sullen bitterness. He said
+little, but his set face worried his companion, who was loath to
+bid him goodnight even when they were close to the Tivoli. After
+they had parted Runnels was upon the point of going back and
+offering to spend the night with him, but thought better of it.
+After all, he reflected, his apprehensions were probably quite
+unfounded. Anthony was too sensible a chap to do anything he might
+repent of, now that his gust of passion had died down. So he went
+on homeward wondering vaguely how Cortlandt would dare to meet his
+wife, or, if he really found himself mistaken, how he could ever
+summon courage to look his hosts in the face.
+
+Instead of passing through the office, Kirk mounted to the porch
+of the Tivoli and entered his room from the outside, as he and
+Chiquita had done earlier that evening. He found Allan waiting,
+and bursting with a desire to gossip, but cut him short.
+
+"Get my street-clothes, I'm going out." He tore the white tie from
+his throat as if it were choking him.
+
+"It is too late, sar. You will be h'exposing yourself to a fever
+in the mist," expostulated the boy; but Kirk would not hear
+argument.
+
+"Come along if you want to, I can't sleep. I want to walk--walk
+until I'm tired."
+
+Mystified and frightened at this behavior, Allan obeyed. "Never
+have I h'observed you so h'angry, boss," he observed. "Is it Ramon
+Alfarez?" His eyes began to roll in excitement, for the spectacle
+of his master's agitation never failed to work upon him
+powerfully.
+
+"No, not Ramon; another. I've been hurt, Allan. I can't explain,
+for you wouldn't understand, but I've been hurt."
+
+The negro's lips drew apart in an expression of ape-like ferocity,
+and he began to chatter threats of vengeance, to which Kirk paid
+little heed. A few moments later they went out quietly, and
+together took the rock road down toward the city, the one silent
+and desperate, the other whining like a hound nearing a scent.
+
+
+
+
+XXVII
+
+A QUESTION
+
+
+Edith Cortlandt did not retire immediately upon her return from
+the ball. Her anger at Anthony's behavior kept her wakeful, and
+the night had turned off so dead and humid that sleep was in any
+case a doubtful possibility. It was the lifeless period between
+seasons when the trades had died out, or, at best, veered about
+bafflingly, too faint to offer relief. The cooling rains had not
+set in as yet, and a great blanket of heat wrapped the city in its
+smothering folds. The air was still and tainted, like that of a
+sick-room. Through Mrs. Cortlandt's open windows came hardly a
+sound; even from the sea below rose only a faint hissing, as if
+the rocks at the water's edge were superheated. Earlier in the
+evening the temperature had been bearable, but now it had reached
+an intensity to strain tired nerves to the snapping-point. It was
+the sort of night in which ailing children die and strong minds
+feel the burden of living. No relief was to be had, and the
+slightest physical effort was a misery.
+
+She was still sitting there at a late hour when she heard the
+outside door close and Cortlandt's footsteps mounting the stairs.
+She was glad he had his own room and never entered hers at such an
+hour, for even to talk with him in her present state of mind and
+body would have been more than she could bear.
+
+She was unreasonably annoyed, therefore, when he came boldly into
+her chamber without even knocking, for all the world like a
+welcome lover. To conceal her irritation, she kept her face turned
+from him and continued fanning herself listlessly. She was
+reclining in a wicker chair, lightly clad in a filmy silk
+negligee, which she mechanically drew closer.
+
+"Rather late for good-nights," she said, coldly.
+
+"I've just come from Anthony's supper-party."
+
+His voice made her look round sharply. She saw that his linen,
+ordinarily stiff and immaculate, was sodden and crumpled, his
+collar limp, his forehead glistening with drops of moisture. She
+could not remember ever having seen him in such a state. His
+appearance affected her queerly. In him this dishevelment was
+shocking.
+
+"What ails you, Stephen?" she cried. "Have you been drinking?"
+
+"No. I didn't drink much. I brought you something."
+
+He took the loving-cup from its flannel bag and set it upon the
+table. "They gave me this."
+
+"It is very pretty, though I don't care for such things."
+
+"And this too." He tossed the watch with its enamelled monogram
+into her lap.
+
+"Ah! That's very handsome."
+
+"Yes, I thought you'd like it; it's from Anthony." He laughed,
+then shuddered, as though a cold wind had bitten through his
+sodden garments.
+
+"Why--you seem excited over these souvenirs. You surely expected--"
+
+He broke in--a thing he rarely did while she was speaking:
+
+"Anthony made a speech when he gave it to me--a very nice speech,
+full of friendship and love and gratitude." He repeated Kirk's
+words as he remembered them, "What do you think of that?"
+
+"I think he expressed himself very frankly. But why do you tell me
+now, when the morning will do just as well? I'm prostrated with
+this heat."
+
+"He actually acknowledged his debt in public."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt's eyes widened. This was not the man she knew. At
+this moment he was actually insistent, almost overbearing, and he
+was regarding her with that same ironical sneer that had roused
+her anger earlier in the evening.
+
+"Well, come to the point," she cried, irritably. "I don't
+understand what you are getting at. If you didn't wish to accept
+anything from him, why did you go?"
+
+He began to chuckle, apparently without reason. His shoulders
+shook, feebly at first, then more violently; his flat chest
+heaved, and he hiccoughed as if from physical weakness. It was
+alarming, and she rose, staring at him affrightedly. The sight of
+her increased his mirthless laughter. He continued to shudder and
+shake in uncontrollable hysteria, but his eyes were bright and
+watchful.
+
+"Oh, I--I--took it all in--I let him p-put the noose around his
+own neck and tie the knot. Then I hung him." His convulsive
+giggling was terrible, forecasting, as it did, his immediate
+breakdown.
+
+"Stephen!" she exclaimed, in a shocked tone, convinced that his
+mind was going. "You are ill, you need a doctor. I will call
+Joceel." She laid her hand on his arm.
+
+But he sniggered: "N-no! No! I'm all right. I t-t-t-t--" A
+stuttering-fit seized him; then, with an effort of will, he calmed
+himself. "Don't think I'm crazy. I was never more sane, never
+cooler, in here." He tapped his head with his finger. "But I'm
+tired, that's all, tired of waiting."
+
+"Won't you go to your room and let me call a doctor?"
+
+"Not yet. Wait! He told them what I had done for him, how I'd made
+a man of him when he was broke and friendless, how I'd taken him
+into my home like one of my family, and then I went him one
+better. I acknowledged it all and made them hear it from my lips
+too. Then--" He paused, and she steeled herself to witness another
+spectacle of his pitiable loss of self-control. But instead he
+grew icy and corpse-like, with lips drawn back in a grin. "What do
+you think I said? Can't you guess? I couldn't let him get away
+with that, could I? I played with him the way you have played with
+me. Think!"
+
+Her face went suddenly ashen. He stood before her grimly
+triumphant, enjoying his sense of mastery and deliberately
+prolonging her suspense.
+
+"Well, I told him before them all that I intended to give him
+something in return, and I did. I--gave--him--YOU."
+
+She stared at him uncomprehendingly.
+
+He nodded. "I said he'd had you from the first and that now I'd
+give you to him."
+
+She gave an unintelligible cry, standing now, as if petrified. He
+went on:
+
+"I knew all the time that I was in the way, but my work is done at
+last, so I'll step out. But--you both got more than you bargained
+for, didn't you?"
+
+"God! You didn't tell him that? You didn't say THAT--before those
+men! Oh-h!" She shrank back, drawing the gauzy silk robe closer
+about her breast. Her hands were shaking, her hair, which had
+fallen free when she rose, cascaded about her neck and shoulders.
+She let her eyes wander about the room as if to assure herself
+that this was not some hideous nightmare. Then she roused to
+sudden action. Seizing him by the shoulders she shook him roughly
+with far more than her natural strength, voicing furious words
+which neither of them understood.
+
+"Oh, I did it," he declared. "He's yours now. You can have him.
+He's been your lover--"
+
+She flung him away from her so violently that he nearly fell.
+
+"It's a lie! You know it's a lie!"
+
+"It's true. I'm no fool."
+
+She beat her hands together distractedly, "What have you done?
+What will those men think? Listen! You must stop them quickly.
+Tell them it's not so."
+
+He seemed not to hear her. "I'm going away to-morrow," he said,
+"but I'll never divorce you, no matter what you do; and I won't
+let you divorce me, either. No, no! Take him now, if you want him,
+but you'll never be able to marry him until I'm gone. And I won't
+die soon--I promise you that, I'm going to live."
+
+"You can't go--"
+
+"There's a boat to-morrow."
+
+"Don't you see you must stay and explain to those men? My God!
+They'll think you spoke the truth; they'll BELIEVE what you said."
+
+"Of course they will," he chattered, shrilly. "That's why I did it
+in that way. No matter what you or he or I can do or say now,
+they'll believe it forever. It came to me like a flash of light,
+and I saw what it meant all in a minute. Do YOU understand what it
+means, eh? Listen! No matter how you behave, they'll know. They
+won't say anything, but they'll know, and you can't stand that,
+can you? Even if you could fool me once more against the evidence
+of my own eyes and ears, and convince me that your lies are true,
+it wouldn't do any good with them."
+
+"'Evidence!' You have no evidence."
+
+"No? What about that night at Taboga? You were mad over the fellow
+then, but you didn't think I saw. That day I caught you together
+in the jungle--have you forgotten that? Didn't you think it
+strange that I should be the one to discover you? Oh, I pretended
+to be blind, but I followed you everywhere I could, and I kept my
+eyes open."
+
+"You saw nothing, for there was nothing."
+
+"He's been with you day and night. You have been together
+constantly, and I knew what was going on. But I waited, because I
+wasn't strong enough to revolt--until to-night. Oh, but to-night I
+was strong! Something gave me courage."
+
+In all their married life she had never known him to show such
+stubborn force. He was like granite, and the unbelievable change
+in him, upsetting all her preconceived notions of the man,
+appalled her. There had been times in the past when they had
+clashed, but he had never really matched his will with hers, and
+she had judged him weak and spiritless. Now, therefore, failing to
+dominate him as usual, she was filled with a strange feeling of
+helplessness and terror.
+
+"You had no right to accept such evidence," she stormed.
+
+"Bah! Why try to fool me? I have your own words for it. The other
+afternoon I came home sick--with my head. I was on the gallery
+outside when you were pleading with him, and I heard it all. You
+talked that night about Taboga, your guilty kisses and other
+things; you acknowledged everything. But he was growing tired of
+you. That, you know, makes it all the more effective." He smiled
+in an agonized fury.
+
+"You--cur!" she cried, with the fury of one beating barehanded at
+a barred door. "You had no right to do such a thing even if I were
+guilty."
+
+"Right? Aren't you my wife?"
+
+The look she gave him was heavy with loathing. "That means nothing
+with us. I never loved you, and you know it. You know, too, why I
+married you. I made no secret of it at the time. You had what I
+wanted, and I had what you wanted; but you were content with the
+bargain because I gave you money, position, and power. I never
+promised anything more than that. I made you into something like a
+man. You never could have succeeded without me. All you have is
+due to me--even your reputation in the service. Your success, your
+influence, it is all mine, and the only thing you gave me was a
+name; any other would have done as well."
+
+He shrank a little under this tirade, despite his exaltation.
+
+"Marriage!" she continued, in bitter scorn. "A priest mumbled
+something over us, but it meant nothing then or now. I have
+tolerated you because you were useful. I have carried you with me
+as I carry a maid or a butler. I bought a manikin and dressed it
+up and put breath into it for my own convenience, and I owe you
+nothing, do you understand--nothing! The debt is all on your side,
+as you and I and all the world know."
+
+"Who made me a manikin?" he demanded, with womanish fury, a fury
+that had been striving for utterance these many years. "I had
+ambitions and hopes and ability once--not much, perhaps, but
+enough--before you married me. I was nothing great, but I was
+getting along. I had confidence, too, but you took it away from
+me. You--you absorbed me. You had your father's brain, and it was
+too big for me; it overshadowed mine. In a way you were a vampire;
+for what I had you drained me of. At first it was terrible to feel
+that I was inferior, but I loved you, and although I had some
+pride--" He choked an instant and threw back her incredulous stare
+defiantly. "I let myself be eliminated. You thought you were doing
+me a favor when you put me forward as a figurehead, but to me it
+was a tragedy. I COULDN'T HELP LETTING YOU DO IT. Do you realize
+what that means to a fellow? I quit fighting for my own
+individuality, I became colored by you, I took on your ways, your
+habits, your mental traits, and--all the time I knew what was
+happening. God! How I struggled to remain Stephen Cortlandt, but
+it would have taken a BIG man to mould you to his ways, and I was
+only average. I began to do your work in your particular style; I
+forgot my ambitions and my dreams and took up yours. That's what I
+fell to, and all the time I KNEW it, and--and all the time I knew
+you neither cared nor understood. My only consolation was the
+thought that even though you never had loved me and never could,
+you at least respected our relation. I clung to that miserably,
+for it was all I had left, all that made me seem like a man. And
+yet you took away even that. I tried to rebel, but I had been
+drugged too long. You saw Anthony, and he had the things I lack;
+you found you were not a machine, but a living woman. He
+discovered the secret I had wasted away in searching for, and you
+rewarded him. Oh, I saw the change in you quickly enough, and if
+I'd been a man instead of what I was, I'd have--but I wasn't. I
+went spying around like a woman, hating myself for permitting it
+to go on, but lacking strength to stop it. But to-night, when he
+got up before those other men and dangled my shame before my eyes,
+I had enough manhood left in me to strike back. Thank God for that
+at least! Maybe it's not too late yet; maybe if I get away from
+you and try--" His voice died out weakly; in his face there was a
+miserable half-gleam of hope.
+
+"I never knew you felt like that. I never knew you COULD feel that
+way," she said, in a colorless voice. "But you made a terrible
+mistake."
+
+"Do you mean to say you don't love him?"
+
+"No, I have loved him for a long time--I can't remember when it
+began." She spoke very listlessly, looking past him as if at a
+long-familiar picture which she was tired of contemplating. "I
+never knew what love was before; I never even dreamed. I'd give my
+life right now--to undo what you have done, just for his sake, for
+he is innocent. Oh, don't sneer; it's true. He loves the Garavel
+girl, and wants to marry her."
+
+"I know all that. I overheard you in the parlor below."
+
+"Listen, please! I don't remember what I said then, and it doesn't
+matter; you took too much for granted. We must talk plainly now,
+before"--she pressed her palms to her temples as if they were
+bursting--"before it becomes impossible. I never lied to you,
+Stephen. Is that true?"
+
+"I used to think so."
+
+"I'm going to tell you the whole truth now without sparing myself.
+It began, I think, at Taboga, that night when he kissed me. It was
+the only time he ever did such a thing. It was dark, we were
+alone, I was frightened, and it was purely impulse on his part.
+But it woke me up, and all at once I knew how much he meant to me.
+I would have yielded utterly to him then if he had let me, but he
+was panic-stricken. He spoke of you, he apologized; I never saw a
+man in more misery. When I had time to realize the truth I tried
+to fight it off. But it was no use, and at last I gave up. After
+that I put myself in his way deliberately. I offered him
+opportunities continually, but he never seemed to see them. That
+day in the jungle I was desperate at his indifference, and I drove
+the horses away when he wasn't looking. I struck them with my
+crop--and I actually threw myself at him as boldly as I could,
+regardless of consequences. But he was like ice; he was speaking
+of you when you came. It has always been the same. When I
+discovered that he cared for that girl--well, if you overheard you
+must know. I frightened Garavel into dismissing him, and I set out
+to break him, just to show him that he needed me. To-night I
+offered to divorce you and make him all and more than I've made
+you, but he scorned me. That's the truth, Stephen. If we believed
+in oaths, I would swear it."
+
+No one who knew the woman could have disbelieved her, and to the
+husband who knew her every mental and moral trait this bald,
+hopeless confession came as a crushing anti-climax to his great
+effort. It left him not the slightest doubt that she was honest.
+He said, dully, in a feeble attempt to right himself:
+
+"You are shielding him. You want to make me out wrong." But she
+knew he knew.
+
+"Those are the facts. Heaven knows they are bad enough, but they
+are by no means so bad as you thought. And I'm your wife, Stephen.
+That thing you did was brutal; those men will talk. I was guilty,
+no doubt, in my thoughts, but I'm young, and you have no right to
+blight my life and my reputation--yes, and yours--by a thing like
+that. We will have to meet those men. What are you going to do?"
+
+"I don't know," he said. "In all my life I never felt but one
+moment of power, and that, it seems, was false. For years I have
+longed to show myself a man, and now--what have I done? What have
+I done? I am no monster." He moaned and sank limply into a chair,
+folding together in an attitude of dejection that was pitiful. He
+raised his head and broke out at her in a last spasm of
+desperation, as a dying ember flares even while it crumbles. "My
+God! why couldn't you be consistent? Why did you go half-way? Why
+couldn't you be all good or all bad and save me this?"
+
+"All women are half good and half bad."
+
+"I can't blame you for not loving me, I suppose," he mumbled. "No
+woman of your kind could love a man like me."
+
+"Those men!" she said, in a way that made him writhe.
+
+"Wait until I--think. I must think."
+
+"You can't think now, and neither can I."
+
+"We must." He wrung his hands. "They'll never believe me--" There
+was a long silence.
+
+"Perhaps in the morning we can see a way out."
+
+"That's it." He nodded. "You go to bed and I'll think. I'm trying
+to think now, but this heat is suffocating me and my head is
+tired." He brushed a hand feebly across his brow. "If it would
+only rain I--could think better."
+
+"Yes, and we must think of Anthony, too. No matter how you blame
+me, you must realize that he was innocent, and perhaps, after all,
+he is the one that you wronged deepest. He will have to meet those
+men, and they were his friends."
+
+Despite the breathless oppression of the night, she shivered. "_I_
+never can meet them now, and I don't see how you will dare to,
+knowing that you were wrong."
+
+"Don't!" he pleaded. "The other was bad enough, but this--Tell me
+what to do!"
+
+"I can't. I don't know myself. All I can see is that those men
+will never cease to believe, no matter what you tell them." She
+groped her way to the window, but there was no relief even in the
+open air. By-and-by she heard him sigh, then rise and say "Good-
+night."
+
+As she prepared for bed an hour later she heard him still stirring
+about in his quarters, but afterward, as she lay staring into the
+black night, she was so busied with the frightful fancies that
+swarmed about her that she did not detect his cautious footsteps
+when he stole out of his chamber, closing the door softly behind
+him.
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII
+
+THE ANSWER
+
+
+Kirk was roused from a heavy, senseless slumber the next morning
+by a vigorous rapping at his door. He lay still for a time,
+vaguely resentful of the noise, then glanced at his watch, and
+found, with a shock, that it was quite late. Realizing only that
+he was due at the office, he leaped out of bed. He opened the door
+and Runnels rushed in.
+
+"Have you heard?"
+
+"I heard your infernal pounding; that's what woke me up."
+
+Runnels calmed his excitement, which Kirk now observed was
+intense.
+
+"Where did you go after I left you last night?"
+
+"I came here, of course." As the memory of the previous night
+swept over him he scowled.
+
+"Did you stay here?"
+
+"No. I went out again, and was out nearly all night trying to walk
+it off."
+
+Runnels' face blanched, and he drew back.
+
+"Then of course you know?"
+
+"What?"
+
+"About Cortlandt. He's dead!"
+
+It was Kirk's turn to start and grow pale. The last cobweb was
+swept from his brain, and he gasped:
+
+"DEAD! When? Where? How did it happen?"
+
+"Nobody knows just how. He was found on the sea-wall near Alfarez'
+house, shot."
+
+"Shot! Good Lord!"
+
+"It happened some time early this morning, and the whole city is
+talking about it. I came to you the first thing."
+
+"We'd better hurry down there. Mrs. Cortlandt must be all broken
+up." Kirk began to dress hastily, but paused as his friend
+stammered:
+
+"Wait! I--I--let's understand each other first. I met Wade just
+now. The news has rattled him, and he's been talking."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Did you see Cortlandt again after I left you?" Runnels swallowed
+hard.
+
+Kirk whirled about and faced him. "Great heavens! No! See here,
+that idea is ridiculous."
+
+Runnels sank weakly into a chair and mopped his face. "I'm glad to
+hear you say that. It frightened me just the same, for I
+remembered you acted so queerly when I left you, and Wade seemed
+to think, perhaps--When you said you'd gone out again, it knocked
+me flat, understand?"
+
+"I can prove where I was, for Allan was with me. I couldn't sleep,
+so I tried to walk off my excitement. No, no. I couldn't do a
+thing like that. I thought last night that I could, but--I
+couldn't, really."
+
+"I'm afraid Wade will tell all about the party if we don't stop
+him."
+
+"Then we'd better hunt him up." Kirk resumed his dressing, while
+Runnels consulted his watch.
+
+"No. 5 is due in twenty minutes. We'll probably find him at the
+office."
+
+Together they hastened to the railroad building, Runnels telling
+all he knew of the tragedy as they went along. Cortlandt's body,
+it seemed, had been found about daylight by a Spiggoty policeman,
+who had identified it. Becoming panic-stricken at the importance
+of his discovery, he had sounded the alarm, then reported directly
+to the Governor, whose house was close by. It was General Alfarez
+himself who had informed Mrs. Cortlandt over the telephone of her
+husband's death. The whole city was alive with the news, the
+police were buzzing like bees. Rumors of suicide, murder, robbery
+were about, but no one seemed to know anything definite. Colonel
+Jolson in his motor-car had just come from Culebra, and Colonel
+Bland was on No. 5 from Gatun, hence Runnels' desire to be at the
+station.
+
+"It was suicide," Kirk averred, with conviction. "The man was
+insane last night, and that accounts for what he said about me.
+He's been sick for a long time."
+
+"If those boys will only keep their mouths shut!" Runnels said,
+anxiously. "There's no telling what these Spiggoties might do if
+they heard about that row."
+
+"Cortlandt was an American."
+
+"But it happened in Panama, and it would be their affair."
+
+Although it was Sunday, the four young fellows who had taken part
+in the entertainment on the night before had gathered in the
+office, and at the appearance of Runnels greeted him eagerly.
+Toward Kirk, however, they maintained a disheartening constraint.
+
+The Acting Superintendent began to caution them tersely.
+
+"Boys, there's no use to tell you that we must keep still about
+what happened last night. Kirk thinks Cortlandt's mind was
+unbalanced; but whether it was or not, he left a widow, and what
+went on at that supper must never leak out."
+
+"Why do you think he was crazy?" Wade inquired.
+
+"His actions last night would show it," Kirk answered. "The man
+must have been out of his mind to believe or to say such a thing."
+
+"You mean, then, that he shot himself?"
+
+Kirk nodded.
+
+"I don't agree with you. I've seen crazy people, but he was as
+sane as any of us. And I don't believe in secrecy, either. I think
+we ought to be entirely frank about the matter. The truth never
+hurt anybody."
+
+"It's a bad business," said Runnels, "and it's something I for one
+don't want to be mixed up in. I've heard rumors already about some
+sort of a quarrel at our party, so I'm afraid you fellows have
+been talking."
+
+Wade acknowledged it recklessly. "Yes, I'll answer for my part,
+and I'm not going to make any promise of secrecy, either. If that
+affair had anything to do with Steve Cortlandt's death, it ought
+to be known, so the man who did it can be made to answer."
+
+Into the office behind them came Ramon Alfarez and two Panamanian
+policemen, one evidently a sergeant.
+
+"Eh, there you are!" Alfarez cried, as he caught sight of Kirk.
+Then he said something in Spanish to the sergeant, who advanced
+and laid hands upon the American. "You are arrest'."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Gentlemen, you will be so kind as to geeve the names, yes? The
+jodge will desire to make inquiries regarding those sopper to
+Senor Cortlan' las' night."
+
+"What am I arrested for?" Kirk demanded.
+
+"Come! You are arrest'. That is enough."
+
+At that moment the building began to shake and reverberate, as No.
+5 rolled in from Colon, bearing John Weeks, American Consul, and
+Mr. Williams, of St. Louis, in one of the forward coaches. As the
+two hurried out through the turnstiles, they found the street
+blocked by a considerable crowd, evidently interested in something
+quite apart from the arrival of the morning train. But before they
+could learn the cause, out from the near-by building came Ramon
+Alfarez, accompanied by several policemen and a group of railroad
+employes, among whom was Kirk Anthony.
+
+"There he is!" wheezed the consul, clutching at his companion's
+arm. "Get him now, before his friends." But Williams had been even
+quicker of eye than his fat guide, and was plunging through the
+crowd toward his quarry. He thrust the policemen and the curious
+onlookers aside and, laying hold of Anthony, cried in triumph:
+
+"Well, Mr. Jefferson Locke, I want you."
+
+"Hello, Williams! You got around finally, didn't you?" Kirk smiled
+at him.
+
+A little man in blue uniform was attempting to take the prisoner
+in charge, but the detective disregarded him.
+
+"It won't do you any good to resist," he went on. "I've come to
+get you."
+
+Runnels elbowed his way forward with a question.
+
+"Oh, I've got a warrant for him," Williams declared. "What for?
+Well, for one thing he embezzled eighty thousand dollars, and I'm
+going to take him back."
+
+"Eh? W'at is this?" Alfarez bustled into the conversation.
+"Embezzle? He is then a t'ief?"
+
+"Exactly. If you're the inspector I'll ask you to make this arrest
+for me. I believe we're on foreign ground."
+
+"That's right, Alfarez," came the voice of John Weeks, anxious to
+have a word in the affair. "I'll vouch for Mr. Williams. This chap
+is a smooth one, but his name isn't Anthony at all, nor Locke,
+either; it's Wellar; and he's wanted for other things besides
+embezzlement." Turning his triumphant little red eyes upon the
+prisoner, he puffed, "Got you, didn't we?"
+
+"I regret you 'ave arrive' so late," smirked Alfarez. "The
+gentleman is already arrest' for the murder of Senor Cortlan'. He
+will first answer to that, I assure you."
+
+Kirk nodded. "Too bad, Williams! I'm sorry you didn't come last
+night."
+
+They went on down the street, leaving the detective staring and
+Weeks open-mouthed.
+
+"Cortlandt murdered!" the consul gasped. "Lord! And to think I
+nourished that viper at my breast."
+
+Williams wheeled and cursed the fat man furiously. It was during
+the lunch-hour that Ramon Alfarez called at the Garavel home,
+finding the banker and his daughter still loitering over their
+midday meal and discussing the topic that had electrified the
+whole city.
+
+"Ah, Ramon!" the old gentleman began, eagerly. "Be seated and tell
+us quickly the latest news. A terrible thing, was it not, this
+death of our good friend? I have been to see his unfortunate
+widow, but even yet I cannot believe it to be true."
+
+"Yes. A terrible thing! It was only last night that we saw him
+well and happy."
+
+Although Alfarez was trembling with eagerness to tell his news, he
+also meant to extract the greatest possible satisfaction from it,
+and now bent an inquiring glance upon Gertrudis. His look turned
+to one of malicious triumph as he saw that he was, indeed, the
+first to bring the tidings of Anthony's arrest; for the girl's
+acceptance of his suit had by no means wiped out the memory of her
+momentary preference for his rival, and he had hastened hither
+straight from the police barracks, delighting in the chance to
+make her suffer.
+
+"So fine a man," the father was saying. "He was, indeed, my good
+friend. It is shocking."
+
+"Yes, and to think he should have been killed in this cowardly
+manner!"
+
+"Killed! Is it believed that he was murdered? Caramba! I supposed
+he had shot himself. That was the gossip an hour ago." Garavel was
+deeply affected, and motioned for the dishes in front of him to be
+removed.
+
+Ramon nodded. "There are suspicious circumstances, it seems. Last
+night, after the ball, he had a serious quarrel--one of those
+American fights, almost. That much is known."
+
+Gertrudis, who had remained silent until now, her dark eyes
+clouded with distress, said, sympathetically:
+
+"And the poor lady! She must suffer terribly."
+
+"Ah, perhaps! One cannot always tell!" Ramon shrugged and smiled.
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Garavel. "This quarrel you speak of?
+Continue, Ramon, I am consumed with eagerness."
+
+"Upon leaving the Tivoli last night, Senor Cortlan' dined with six
+of his friends at the Central. There was drinking. The waiters
+have been questioned; also, one of the men who was present has
+recounted to me what occurred. It seems that for a long time Senor
+Cortlan' has been jealous of his wife."
+
+"Impossible! Jealous? My dear Ramon, an admirable lady."
+
+"I--I shall leave you, perhaps?" questioned Gertrudis, modestly,
+as she rose, but Ramon exclaimed:
+
+"No, no! By all means remain. I have remarkable things to
+disclose, amazing news that will interest you. There was a serious
+altercation, and Senor Cortlan' openly accused his enemy before
+all the others. It was most dramatic, it was terrible! There was a
+scene of violence, the other man made threats."
+
+Garavel breathed an incredulous exclamation.
+
+"Ah, but wait! It was Senor Cortlan's best friend, too, the man
+for whom he had accomplished many favors whom he accused." He
+noted with mingled anger and satisfaction the pallor that was
+creeping into the girl's cheeks. "You would never guess. It was--I
+hesitate, and yet you are bound to learn, my dear friends, it was
+this Ant'ony."
+
+His moment had indeed been worth waiting for. It even went far to
+atone for the sense of injury under which he smarted; for the
+banker was stricken speechless, and his daughter went deathly
+white. Her eyes began to fill with horror.
+
+Garavel was the first to recover himself. "Infamous! It is
+unbelievable! The wretch, then, had betrayed his friend."
+
+"He is indeed a villain. That much I have always known."
+
+"It is a lie!" said the girl, quietly. She had risen and was
+standing straight, a tragic little figure.
+
+"Gertrudis!" her father admonished. "You hear what Ramon has
+said."
+
+"Yes!" said Ramon. "He deceived Senor Cortlan' very nicely; it had
+been going on for months."
+
+"It is a lie!" she repeated. "He loved no one but me."
+
+"Gertrudis!" The banker was shocked beyond measure at what he
+considered his daughter's jealousy. "Those are not nice words. He
+told you so, yes; but if he would betray his best friend, he would
+deceive you also. It was our great good-fortune to be done with
+him in time. You will see now that I did well in sending him off--
+eh, Chiquita?"
+
+"No! I do not believe you."
+
+Ramon had not counted upon such a spirit, and, his anger getting
+the better of him, he sneered: "I should not have spoken. I did
+not know you still care."
+
+"She does not care," Garavel declared, loudly.
+
+"Ah, but I do. I love him very dearly."
+
+The two men were upon their feet in an instant, staring at her,
+the elder in amazement, the younger with rage and resentment
+blazing from his countenance.
+
+"Silence!" thundered the banker. "Yonder stands your affianced
+husband."
+
+"It is a mistake--" she persisted, gently.
+
+"No, no, no! There is no mistake," chattered Ramon. "Those other
+men have told all, and your Ant'ony is now in the Carcel under
+guard. It was I who saw to his arrest." The slender figure swayed,
+a tiny olive hand fluttered to her breast.
+
+"Ramon, you must not heed her, she is upset. This is but a girl's
+foolish fancy, and it will pass. The man was handsome, and he cast
+a spell over her."
+
+"Nor is that all," Ramon ran on, excitedly. "He is not at all the
+man he pretended to be, even his name is false. This morning there
+arrived an American officer of police to arrest him on other
+charges. He is a thief, it seems, having stolen eighty thousand
+dollars 'gold' from his employers. Oh, there is no mistake. Within
+the hour I have been talking with this detective, and he has the
+papers of proof. It will be in the newspapers, every one will know
+shortly. Last night, when Senor Cortlan' made his accusation,
+there was a frightful quarrel, and Ant'ony swore to kill him. At
+dawn the poor husband is found shot on the sea wall. Is not that
+enough?"
+
+"It is indeed!" gasped the father. "You see, then, my child, from
+what you were saved. This should be a day of thanksgiving to you
+as it is to me. For this deliverance I shall erect a cross of
+stone on the hill by our house, so that all our lives we may offer
+a prayer when our eyes rest upon it. Come, now, it is Ramon who
+has unmasked this person. Have you no thanks to give him?"
+
+"But it is not true," maintained the girl, simply, and her eyes
+were as steady as altar flames.
+
+"Eh? Well! He is in the barracks at this moment," snarled Ramon,
+"and there he shall remain, I promise you, until he goes to
+Chiriqui or--"
+
+Gertrudis turned to her father.
+
+"Take me to him, please. I must go at once to the Carcel."
+
+But he only answered her with a stare of amazement. "Go!" he
+murmured, after an instant. "Have I lost my senses?" He began to
+summon his indignation for a terrific outburst.
+
+"Yes, I must go, for he is my husband. We were wed last night."
+
+There was a moment of absolute silence, during which the clatter
+of a passing coach sounded loudly in the room. Then--
+
+"Mother of God!" the banker ejaculated, hoarsely, and sank into
+the seat from which he had arisen. Ramon was staring from one to
+the other, his head turning jerkily.
+
+The girl raised her face proudly. "Yes! I am his wife, although I
+had not expected to tell you so soon; therefore, you see I must go
+to him quickly, or he will think I believe these lies."
+
+"You are mad! Do you know what you are saying?"
+
+"Oh yes. The judge from Colon married us during the dance. I would
+have liked a church wedding; but that will come later. The Senor
+Ronnels and his wife were there also, and they will tell you. It
+made me very happy. You see, I prayed the Virgin that I might be
+happy, and she heard. Oh, I offered so many prayers, and all last
+night I lay awake giving thanks for my great happiness, which even
+yet I cannot believe." Her face was transfigured by a look that
+left the two men no choice but to believe.
+
+"A civil marriage!" stammered Ramen.
+
+"A civil marriage, indeed!" said Garavel, in a choking voice. "So
+that is where you were when I believed you to be dancing!" He
+burst forth violently, pounding the table with his clenched fist
+until the dishes danced, his brilliant black eyes flashing beneath
+their thatch of white. "But I will not have it, understand! You
+are betrothed. You have given your word to Ramon."
+
+"Ah, but I never loved him. You compelled me to consent, because
+you said you could not be President unless I married him. And that
+was not so. Ramon deceived you. Now it is all right. You will be
+President, and I can be happy."
+
+Ramon's suspicion kindled on the instant. He turned upon the
+banker. "So! I begin to see! That was a trick, then, to betray my
+father."
+
+"But wait!" Gertrudis exclaimed, sharply. "Did you not trick us
+also? Did you not use the General, your father, to make me give up
+the man I love? Which of us, then, is the better?"
+
+Andres Garavel spoke threateningly, menacingly, to his daughter.
+"Enough! Our word was given, and you have broken it! You have
+brought disgrace to our name. Can a Garavel be President of the
+Republic with his daughter wed to a murderer?"
+
+"He is not that!"
+
+"It was no marriage, and it will not stand. I will have it
+annulled. Such things are easily done, Ramon. She is no wife. The
+man was a criminal, a fugitive, even when he forced her to marry--"
+
+"No, no! You cannot do that. It was I who asked him to marry me."
+The girl lied tremulously, panic-stricken at the threat. "Before
+God, I am his wife!" she maintained. "And if this marriage has a
+flaw, then I will stand beside the prison gates and remarry him as
+he comes forth."
+
+"He will not come forth," Ramon declared, harshly.
+
+"Oh yes! And now will you take me to him?"
+
+"NO!" her father bellowed. "You are my daughter, you are under my
+roof, and here you shall stay until you give up this madness and
+this man."
+
+"That I can never do," she retorted, proudly. "You see, I am not
+all Spanish, I have in me also the blood of his people, and that
+makes me steadfast. I could not doubt him if I wished."
+
+"I forbid you to go near him. Come! Do you promise?" She inclined
+her dark head. "I must learn more of this affair at once. You will
+find your senses, miss, or if you do not you will spend your life
+in meditation and prayer--that much I promise you."
+
+"I do not wish to enter a convent," she said, with white lips. "I
+wish to be happy. When Keerk is free I shall go to him. Now, if
+you please, I--think I shall go away." She turned and went out of
+the big high-ceilinged room, and not until she had reached the
+hall did her feet waver or her head droop.
+
+When the two men were alone, Garavel said, brokenly: "She is the
+first to bring disgrace upon our name. Is there absolute proof
+that the man is guilty, Ramon?"
+
+"Proof?" Alfarez turned dazed eyes from the door through which
+Gertrudis had gone. "Proof? I believe so. I have not thought much
+of the matter as yet, but--I think there will be proof in plenty.
+Oh yes!"
+
+"Come then. I must go to see him. Perhaps--oh, God! Perhaps what?
+My head is afire, my heart is broken for you, my poor boy."
+
+
+
+
+XXIX
+
+A LAST APPEAL
+
+
+That was not a pleasant interview for Anthony. His surroundings
+were not such as to lend him assurance, and Garavel's grief at his
+daughter's disgrace was really distressing. Moreover, the
+unequivocal threat to annul the marriage filled him with alarm.
+His only consolation came from the fact that Gertrudis had made
+known the truth without the slightest hesitation. That showed that
+she was loyal, at any rate. Kirk tried to assure his caller that
+he would have no trouble in proving his innocence, but Garavel
+seemed very little concerned with that phase of the affair, and
+continued to bewail the dishonor that had fallen upon his name.
+
+Kirk's pride arose at this, and he exclaimed with some heat:
+
+"My dear Mr. Garavel, if you are so blamed sure that I did all
+these things, why did you come to see me?"
+
+"It was to learn if she spoke the truth."
+
+"Oh, we're married, right enough. And you'll have some difficulty
+in breaking it up before I get out."
+
+"You expect, then, to prove your innocence easily?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"But I hear there are other serious charges."
+
+"It is quite the same with them."
+
+"But--suppose you should not clear yourself of this--murder--would
+you wish to drag down my daughter's name?"
+
+"Of course not."
+
+"I understand you have not spoken of this marriage. Perhaps you
+might consent to remain silent. If by any chance you should be
+convicted of guilt, what satisfaction could you derive from
+injuring me and mine?"
+
+"None at all, sir."
+
+"I am rich," Garavel went on, meaningly. "If you are acquitted, I
+might, perhaps, arrange amply for your future--upon conditions."
+
+"In other words, if I am to be hanged or shot or whatever it is
+they do to people down here, you'll expect me to keep my mouth
+shut on general principles, and if I'm acquitted you'll pay me
+well to disappear. Is that it? Well, there is some family pride to
+that." He laughed lightly.
+
+"My political future may depend upon it."
+
+"If I can help you in that way I'll gladly keep silent as long as
+you wish, but I don't think I care to make any further terms."
+
+"Make sure of this," snapped the father, "your marriage will be
+annulled, no matter what you prove or fail to prove. Already
+Chiquita is repentant, and I shall not rest until she is free. You
+have done me a great injury, and I shall not forget it."
+
+On the following morning the leading American attorney of the city
+called at the jail, announcing that he had been retained as
+counsel, but refusing to tell who had employed him. Supposing, of
+course, that he had been sent by friends who wished no publicity
+in the matter, Kirk did not press him for information. Together
+they outlined their defence as best they could. With
+characteristic optimism, Kirk insisted upon treating the charge
+against him as of little consequence, and it was not until he had
+undergone his preliminary hearing that he fully realized the
+gravity of his situation.
+
+To his unspeakable indignation, the officer who had discovered
+Cortlandt's body swore that he had seen the deceased pass him
+shortly before the time of his death, evidently taking a walk
+along the water's edge for relief from the heat, and that
+immediately afterward--perhaps a minute or so--the prisoner had
+also passed, going in the same direction! There was a street light
+close by, he said, and there could be no possible mistake as to
+Anthony's identity. A few moments later there had been a pistol-
+shot, muffled, but unmistakable, and the policeman had hastened in
+the direction from which it came. The prisoner had appeared
+suddenly out of the darkness and hurried past. In the politest
+manner possible, the witness declared, he had questioned him
+regarding the shot, but Mr. Anthony had neither stopped nor
+answered; on the contrary, he had broken into a run. The officer
+had considered this strange behavior, but, being at all times most
+respectful toward Americans, he had made no effort to detain him.
+Passing on, he had found the body of the dead man. A revolver was
+beside it. It was shocking! It had quite upset the witness. He had
+blown his whistle, and seeing a light in the Governor's mansion
+close by had called there for assistance. Soon afterward another
+officer had arrived upon the scene.
+
+When this amazing testimony was translated to Kirk he was
+astounded; but his indignation was as nothing to that which swept
+over him when a servant in the Alfarez household swore to having
+actually witnessed the murder.
+
+This fellow declared that he had been troubled greatly with a
+toothache. Toward morning of the night in question, too restless
+for sleep, he had gone out upon the sea wall. Even now, his face
+was swollen, and he made a determined effort to show the court the
+particular tooth which had made him an unwilling beholder of the
+tragedy. Overcome by exhaustion, he had fallen asleep after a
+time, and he was awakened by the sounds of a quarrel. On opening
+his eyes, he saw two Americans, one of whom was Senor Cortlandt,
+and the other Kirk Anthony. Being utterly ignorant of their
+language, he had no means of knowing what was said, nor did he
+consider the altercation serious until the large man shot the
+Senor Cortlandt. Then, being terror-stricken at what he had
+beheld, he had run away, entirely forgetting his toothache, which,
+by the grace of God, was quite gone. That was all he knew of the
+matter. He recognized Anthony as the man who had done the
+shooting. He was troubled greatly with toothaches.
+
+It all seemed like some grotesque, practical joke, and Kirk at
+first could not believe that the evidence of these witnesses could
+have weight. But he soon became convinced that this was no
+laughing matter. Since they had perjured themselves so readily, it
+was evident that some determined influence was back of them, and
+how far that influence might carry it was hard to tell. The reason
+for it was all very simple, of course, and yet he was at a loss
+how to combat it. Wade was called next and told the story of that
+damning incident at the supper-party, being corroborated by the
+others. Then there were several witnesses who swore to
+inconsequent things, such as waiters at the Hotel Central, and the
+doctor who had examined Cortlandt.
+
+For once in his careless life the young man realized that he was
+face to face with something bigger and stronger than his own
+determination, and it daunted him. He began to see that he had
+underestimated these foreigners, for it seemed an easy matter to
+convict an innocent man in these Central American courts. He
+recalled certain ridiculous stories of Spanish justice which he
+had laughed at; he remembered Mrs. Cortlandt's vivid tale of an
+execution she had once beheld in the court-yard of Chiriqui
+prison; and suddenly he decided to cable for Darwin K. Anthony--
+the one man who was strong enough to save him.
+
+When it came time for him to speak, he told a straight story about
+his own actions on that night, and he was corroborated by Allan;
+but he knew that their words had little weight against that other
+testimony. Of course, he was remanded for trial, and that night
+the newspapers of the city were crowded with columns of
+sensational reading-matter bearing upon the crime.
+
+Anson, the lawyer, gave him a ray of encouragement as he left.
+
+"Don't go too much on this hearing," he said. "I think we'll pull
+you out all right."
+
+"You THINK! I dare say Ramon Alfarez can get a dozen men to
+perjure themselves as easily as he got those two."
+
+"Exactly. But I have a little coup that I intend to spring at the
+right moment."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, tell me what it is."
+
+"I'm sorry, but I can't just yet. In the first place, one must
+handle these people exactly right or they explode."
+
+"But give me an idea at least. I'm really interested in the
+outcome of this case, you know."
+
+Anson smiled. "Of course you are, and I'll tell you as soon as I
+can, but not now."
+
+"These Spiggoties would enjoy standing me up against a wall with
+my head in a rag--they'd make it a holiday and ring all the bells
+in town."
+
+"I can't assure you that it isn't serious," Anson acknowledged,
+gravely, "for it is--any time an American goes to court in this
+country it is serious--but that doesn't mean that we'll lose."
+
+"You may be a good lawyer," said Kirk, ruefully, "but you're a
+blamed poor comforter. I--I wish my dad was here; he'd fix it. He
+wouldn't let 'em convict me. He's great, my dad is. He can swear--
+like the devil." His voice caught, and his eyes were unusually
+bright as he turned away to hide his emotions. "I like him better
+than any man I've ever met, Anson. And you watch him come when he
+hears I'm in trouble."
+
+He wrote a lengthy cablegram, which the lawyer, with a peculiar
+smile, agreed to despatch at once. He spent a sleepless night. In
+the morning a message came signed by Copley--Kirk's heart leaped
+at the familiar name--saying that Darwin K. Anthony had left
+Albany for the West on Sunday night, and could not be located for
+a few days.
+
+"He was never gone when I needed money," the son mused. "He'll be
+worried when he hears about this, and he has enough to worry him
+as it is. I'm mighty sorry, but--I simply must have him."
+
+Anson brought in the day's papers, which alluded, as usual, to
+Cortlandt's death as a murder, and printed their customary
+sensational stories, even to a rehash of all that had occurred at
+the stag supper. This in particular made Kirk writhe, knowing as
+he did that it would reach the eyes of his newly made wife. He
+also wondered vaguely how Edith Cortlandt was bearing up under all
+this notoriety. The lawyer brought the further news that Allan was
+in captivity as an accessory to the crime, and that henceforth
+Kirk need expect but few visitors. Somebody--probably Ramon
+Alfarez--had induced the officials to treat their prisoner with
+special severity.
+
+During the days which followed, Kirk suffered more than he chose
+to confess even to his attorney. In the first place, it was hard
+to be denied all knowledge of what was going on--Anson would tell
+him little, except that he was working every day--and, then, too,
+the long hours of solitude gnawed at his self-control. Runnels
+managed to see him once or twice, reporting that, so far as he
+could learn, Chiquita had disappeared. He took a message from Kirk
+to her, but brought back word that he could not deliver it. Kirk
+wondered if she could really believe those frightful half-complete
+newspaper accounts, or if she had been unable to withstand the
+combined weight of her whole family, and had given up. It was
+almost too much to hope that a girl reared as she had been could
+keep her mind unpoisoned, with all those lying tongues about her.
+And, besides, she had the Spanish ideas of morality, which would
+make the actions of which he was accused seem doubly shocking. The
+more he speculated upon the cause of her silence, the wilder grew
+his fancies, until it became a positive torture to think of her at
+all. Instead, his thoughts turned to Edith Cortlandt in a
+curiously uninterested way. Her attitude was a problem. Perhaps
+she would leave him to his fate. Reviewing the circumstances
+coldly, he could hardly blame her.
+
+It was on Sunday, a week after his arrest, that she came to him.
+He was surprised to see the ravages that this short time had made
+in her, for she was pale and drawn and weary-looking, as if from
+sleeplessness. Strange to say, these marks of suffering did not
+detract from her appearance, but rather enhanced her poise and
+distinction. She was not even veiled. On the contrary, she had
+driven openly to the police barracks, and ordered her coachman to
+wait in the street outside, then demanded to be shown to Anthony's
+cell.
+
+"I'm awfully glad to see you, Mrs. Cortlandt," he said, as she
+extended her hand. "But do you think it was wise for you to come?"
+
+She shrugged. "People can say no more than they have already said.
+My name is on every tongue, and a little more gossip can make
+matters no worse. I had to come. I just couldn't stay away. I
+wonder if you can realize what I have been through."
+
+"It must have been terrible," he said, gently.
+
+"Yes, I have paid. It seems to me that I have paid for everything
+I ever did. Those newspaper stories nearly killed me, but it
+wasn't that so much as the thought that you were suffering for my
+acts."
+
+"I'm very sorry. You never thought for a moment that I did what
+they claim?"
+
+"No, no! It has all been a mistake from the first. I was sure of
+that."
+
+"You heard what those two men testified?"
+
+"Bah! That is Ramon Alfarez--but he can do nothing."
+
+"Nothing! I don't call a week in the Bastile 'nothing.' Why, he
+has perjured two witnesses already, and I dare say he'll have the
+whole native population swearing against me when the trial comes
+up."
+
+"Never mind. I have had no time to do anything as yet. There were
+--so many things to be attended to." She shuddered and sank down
+upon the edge of his cot. "Stephen had a great many friends in
+various parts of the world; I have been swamped with cablegrams."
+
+"If my dad were here he'd have me free in a jiffy; he can do
+anything."
+
+"I don't think we'll need him," she said, in a way that comforted
+him somehow, though the feeling shamed him. She laid a soft hand
+upon his arm, and, looking up eagerly into his face, exclaimed:
+"You will forgive me for what I said that night at the hotel,
+won't you? I didn't really mean to injure you, Kirk, but I was
+half hysterical. I had suffered so these last few months that I
+was ready to do anything. I was torn by two great desires, one to
+remain what I am and have always been, and the other--well, the
+other was the stronger, or would have been if you had allowed it.
+I never dreamed there was a way out of my misery, a way so close
+at hand; but somehow even before General Alfarez' voice on the
+'phone told me what had happened, I knew, and I--I felt--"
+
+"I know you had a great deal to put up with," he said, "but for
+both our sakes I wish it had come in some other way."
+
+"Oh, I don't care," she cried, recklessly. "The one thing I can
+grasp in all this turmoil, the one thing that rings in my ears
+every moment, is that I am free, FREE! That is all that matters to
+me. You showed your loyalty to Stephen more than once, and, though
+your scruples angered me, I honor you for them now. I can see,
+too, that you had no choice but to put me off even that night of
+the dance. But my chains are broken, and it is all different now."
+
+"Your husband's death can make no difference with us, Mrs.
+Cortlandt," he said, gravely.
+
+"We have talked openly before, and there is no need to do
+otherwise now. You mean by that that you don't care for me, but I
+know better. I believe there is a love so strong that it must find
+an answer. Although you may not care for me now as you care for--
+some one else--I KNOW that I can make you forget her and put me in
+her place. I know men, and I know you. I came here prepared to be
+honest--shameless, if you like. I am young, I have money, I have
+power; I work for the love of doing things, and you are learning
+to do the same. I can help you, oh, so much! We can win happiness
+together just as easily as we can win material success, and that
+is ours now for the asking. It dazzles me to think of it, Kirk. It
+is like a glimpse of paradise, and I can show it all to you." She
+was bending forward, her lips parted, the color gleaming in her
+cheeks, her whole face transformed by a passionate eagerness.
+
+"Wait!" he said, harshly. "You force me to break my word. I don't
+want to tell you this, but--I am married."
+
+She rose slowly, her eyes fixed in bewilderment upon his, her hand
+clutching at his sleeve.
+
+"You--never told me that! It was some mad college prank, I
+suppose."
+
+"No, no. I married Gertrudis Garavel that night at the Tivoli."
+
+"Oh, that can't be. That was the night of the dance."
+
+"It is quite true."
+
+Mrs. Cortlandt stared about the squalid cell dully.
+
+"Miss Garavel! Why didn't you tell me? Why isn't she here? Why
+does she leave you alone? No, no! You hardly know each other. Why,
+she's not old enough to know her own mind--"
+
+"But I know my mind, and I love her."
+
+Her white hands strained at each other as she steadied her shaking
+voice. "Love!" she cried. "You don't know what love means, nor
+does she. She CAN'T know, or she'd be here, she'd have this prison
+torn block from block."
+
+"I suppose her father would not let her come," said Kirk, slowly,
+but Edith did not seem to hear him. The realization of her broken
+hopes was coming home to her poignantly.
+
+"My happiness!" she exclaimed. "I have been unhappy so long! And I
+seemed to see it just within my reach. Oh, Kirk, she thinks you
+are guilty, she hasn't faith."
+
+"You have no right to say that."
+
+"See! I came to you when I was married and asked you to take me;
+I'll do the same with you now."
+
+"You don't know what you're saying. You're hysterical, Mrs.
+Cortlandt. I love Gertrudis so deeply that there's no room in me
+for anything else, and never will be. Heaven only knows what they
+have made her believe about me, but I don't care; I'll upset this
+little plot of Alfarez's, and when she learns the truth she will
+come back again."
+
+"This little plot!" Edith cried, in distraction. "And I suppose
+you wish me to give you back to her?"
+
+They confronted each other a moment in silence.
+
+"But I won't help her," she went on. "I'm not that sort. I'm a
+selfish woman. I've always been selfish because I've never had
+anybody to work for. But I have it in me to be generous."
+
+"I'm sorry," he said. "You have suffered, I know. Don't trouble
+any more about me--please."
+
+She stared at him defiantly, although her whole frame was shaking
+as if from an ague.
+
+"Oh, I'd rather face the gallows as you face it than what is
+before me, and I'm not sure I could help you, after all. You are
+in Latin America now, remember, and your enemies are strong."
+
+"I am Darwin K. Anthony's son," he protested. "He won't allow it."
+
+"Bah! He is an American, and these are Spanish people. You have
+seen how they like us, and you have seen what Alfarez can do. He's
+rich, and he'll perjure more witnesses, he'll manipulate the court
+with his money. Yes, and I'd rather he succeeded than see you--No,
+no! What am I saying? L-let me go; let me get away from here!" She
+broke down, and went sobbing out into the corridor. The iron door
+clanged to behind her.
+
+On the same afternoon, Mr. Clifford, accompanied by Anson, the
+lawyer, took the 3.20 train for Colon. As soon as he arrived, he
+called up Colonel Jolson, to request that the Commissioner's
+motor-car should, without fail, await him at ten o'clock sharp on
+the next morning, with an open track ahead of it. Strangely
+enough, the Colonel agreed very readily.
+
+
+
+
+XXX
+
+DARWIN K. ANTHONY
+
+
+About noon on Monday, Edith Cortlandt received a caller. The name
+she read on the card her maid handed her gave her a start of
+surprise, and set her wits whirling in speculation.
+
+"Show him into the drawing-room," she said, at length. "I'll be
+right down."
+
+As she descended, a few moments later, she was greeted by a
+gigantic old man with a rumbling voice, who, instead of seating
+himself in the drawing-room as he had been requested, had flung
+open the carefully closed shutters to admit more light, then
+kicked aside whatever articles of furniture happened to be in his
+way. He was now pacing back and forth with the restlessness of a
+polar bear.
+
+"How do you do, Mrs. Cortlandt?" he began, at sight of her, his
+big voice flooding the room. "I'm sorry to disturb you under the
+circumstances."
+
+"You are Mr. Anthony?"
+
+"Yes, madam. You'll pardon my intrusion. I knew your husband
+slightly, and I've heard about you. I extend my sympathy."
+
+She bowed. "When did you arrive?"
+
+"Just now; came across in one of those damned joy-wagons--fifty
+miles an hour. We hit a nigger on the way, but we didn't stop. I
+know everything, madam. What I didn't know before I landed, I
+learned on the way across the Isthmus, so don't let's waste time.
+Hell of a position for you to be in--I understand and all that--
+and I'm sorry for you. Now let's get down to business, for I must
+get back to New York."
+
+It was impossible not to feel Darwin K. Anthony's force; it spoke
+in his every tone and action. It looked out from his harsh-lined
+features, and showed in his energetic movements. He was a great
+granite block of a man, powerful in physique, in mind, and in
+determination. He had Kirk's eyes, Mrs. Cortlandt noted, except
+that they were deeper set, more fierce and eager.
+
+She was not used to being overridden, and his masterful air
+offended her.
+
+"In what way may I be of service to you?" she inquired, coldly.
+
+"I want my boy," he said, simply, and she began to see that
+underneath his cold and domineering exterior his heart was torn by
+a great distress.
+
+"You know all the circumstances, of course?"
+
+"I do. That's why I came straight to you. I know you're the
+keystone of the whole affair, so I didn't waste time with these
+other people. Kirk's a damned idiot, and always has been; he isn't
+worth the powder to blow him to--excuse me--I mean he's just a
+ne'er-do-well; but I suppose I'll have to do my duty by him."
+
+"I understand that has always been your attitude."
+
+"Exactly! I got sick of his performances and cut him off; couldn't
+stand for him any longer. I tried my best to make a man out of
+him, but he wouldn't have it, so we severed our connections
+absolutely. I just kicked him out. Sorry I didn't do it sooner."
+
+"If you have cut him off, why do you care what becomes of him?"
+
+Darwin K. Anthony's eyes dimmed, but his voice rose fiercely.
+"He's my boy, and I've a right to treat him any damned way I
+please, but nobody else is going to abuse him! These Spaniards
+can't do it! I'll teach them to lay hands on my--boy." He tore a
+handkerchief from his pocket and blew a blast into it. "I'll tear
+their little Republic to pieces," he shouted. "I'll buy the whole
+works and throw it away. I'll buy their President and their courts
+and their whole infernal population, and if they won't sell I've
+got enough men to take it. Hell's bells, madam, do you think these
+little black people can shoot MY son? I don't care what he's done,
+they've got to give him up. And he's going back with me. He's
+going home; I--I--want him."
+
+"Why have you come to me?" she queried.
+
+"Because you must know the truth, if anybody does, and I want your
+help." His voice softened suddenly, and he regarded her with a
+gentle kindness that was surprising. "I've heard all about you and
+Kirk. In fact, I've known what was going on all the time, for I've
+had a man on his track night and day. You may know him--Clifford?
+Well, he followed Kirk that night after the supper to your
+husband, but Anson didn't dare call him to the stand at the
+hearing for fear this Alfarez would perjure more of his black-and-
+tans." He ground his teeth in rage. "By God! I'll get that Ramon,
+if it costs me a million--they can't stand for such things even
+here. But I want MORE proof; I want to snow him under absolutely,
+completely."
+
+"So Clifford is your man?"
+
+"Yes! I took him off my system and sent him down here as soon as I
+got Kirk's idiotic, impudent letter--" The old man began to
+sputter with indignation. "What d'you think he wrote me, Mrs.
+Cortlandt? He had the impudence to turn down a good job I offered
+him because 'his wife might not like our climate!' Imagine! And I
+had positively begged him to come back--on any terms. Of course,
+it gave me an awful scare, and I lost no time in learning if it
+was true. Thank God, he had sense enough not to do that!"
+
+"Then you don't know?"
+
+"Know what?"
+
+"That he is married."
+
+"DAMNATION!" roared Anthony, furiously.
+
+She nodded. "A Miss Garavel. They were married a--week ago." She
+broke down miserably and hid her face in her hands. He strode to
+her with a light of understanding in his eyes. Laying a great hand
+upon her drooping head, he exclaimed with wonderful softness:
+
+"My dear Mrs. Cortlandt, I'm very sorry for you, indeed I am. How
+the boy ever let you go for any other woman I don't see, but he's
+always been a fool--that's why he never cared for me. Now, now,
+try to face it squarely--all good women are brave, and you're a
+good woman. We both love him, and I know we can save him if we
+pull together."
+
+"Yes, yes!" She raised her drawn, white face eagerly to his. "It
+will only take a word, but I have been like a mad woman. I
+couldn't bear to give him up, and when I learned the truth I
+thought I could let him--suffer. But I couldn't. Oh, I couldn't,
+and I knew it all the time. I was distracted, that is all. You see
+I have no shame in telling you this, for he is the first and only
+man--"
+
+"I know." He patted her in a way that said more than words.
+
+"I couldn't have stood out much longer."
+
+"Then you have proof?" His face was wild with eagerness.
+
+"This. Take it quickly. I only found it last night. It had been
+mislaid in the confusion. I meant to give it up, I really did."
+With clumsy fingers she drew from the front of her dress an
+unsealed letter and handed it to him. "Stephen was not a bad man,
+you see, and he had no intention of wronging an innocent person."
+
+Darwin K. Anthony's pallor matched hers as he read the sheet, then
+he exclaimed, weakly, "Thank God! Something told me to come
+straight to you. Something always tells me where to find the heart
+of things."
+
+"Quick! You must lose no time," she exclaimed. "He is in prison,
+and the place is frightful. I will go with you to the Mayor. Ah,
+I'm very glad he will get his freedom from your hands. I was so
+weak. When this is done I shall go back North and try to live it
+out. But I love him very dearly, Mr. Anthony." Her lip trembled
+piteously. "And I could have done so much for him."
+
+Grim-faced and scowling he re-read the letter in his hand during
+the moment it required for Edith to make ready. The injustice that
+had been done his blood roused every passion in him. He had
+himself well in hand, however, and he restrained his yearning to
+burst forcibly into the police barracks and take his boy to his
+heart. He determined there should be no possible slip--and he
+longed ferociously to meet Ramon Alfarez.
+
+Kirk was considerably surprised that afternoon when a sergeant and
+two policemen came to his cell, signifying that he was to
+accompany them. He could not make out where they were taking him,
+and, despite their unusual politeness, they were dense to all
+inquiries. It was a bright, hot afternoon, and the city seemed
+very beautiful and desirous as he was driven through it; but the
+whole procedure filled him with uneasiness. He was sure that it
+had nothing to do with his trial, or Anson would have posted him,
+and he began to fear that it might concern his marriage. Perhaps
+Chiquita was ill, dying, or perhaps they were trying to annul the
+bond. The smiling little officer only shook his head, shrugged,
+and chattered unintelligibly at his questions.
+
+The coach drew up at last before a large, white building, and he
+was told to descend. Up a flight of stairs he was escorted, his
+pulses quickening with apprehension, down a long corridor, and
+into a large room, where he saw Runnels, Colonel Jolson, Anson,
+Clifford, a dozen or more Panamanian officials, and--he stopped in
+his tracks as his eyes fell upon a huge, white-crowned figure that
+came to meet him. His heart leaped wildly, a great drumming set up
+in his ears, something gripped his throat with agonizing pressure
+and robbed him of speech.
+
+A certain harsh yet tender voice pronounced his name. He felt his
+hands crushed in his father's palms, found the old man's arm about
+his shoulders, and saw the deep-set, steel-blue eyes he loved so
+well wet and shiny. Then, for once and for all time, he realized
+that in the whole wide world there was but one man who really
+mattered, one man for whom he honestly cared. A sudden sense of
+security swept over him, banishing all his fears. The room with
+its smiling faces became blurred and distant; a thousand words of
+endearment sprang to his lips. What he really said was:
+
+"Hello!" And even that he pronounced as shyly as a girl.
+
+"My kid!" the old man said, shakingly. "H-how have they treated
+you, Buster?" It was a nickname he had given his son when he was a
+sturdy, round-faced urchin of eight, and which he had laid away
+regretfully in lavender, so to speak, when the boy grew to
+manhood.
+
+"You came, didn't you?" Kirk said, in a voice not at all like his
+own. "I knew you'd come."
+
+"Of course I came, the instant Clifford cabled me that these
+idiots had arrested you. By God! They'll sweat for this. How are
+you anyhow, Kirk? Dammit, you need a shave! Wouldn't they give you
+a razor? Hey! Clifford, Colonel Jolson, come here! These
+scoundrels wouldn't give him a shave." Darwin K. Anthony's eyes
+began to blaze at this indignity, and he rumbled on savagely: "Oh,
+I'll smash this dinky government--try to convict my kid, eh? I
+suppose you're hungry, too; well, so'm I. We'll be out of here in
+a minute, then you show me the best place in town and we'll have a
+decent meal, just we two, the way we used to. I'll pay the bill.
+God Almighty! I've missed you, Buster."
+
+"Wait, dad." Kirk was smiling, but his heart ached at his father's
+emotion. "I'm a jail-bird, you know. They think I--killed a
+fellow. But I don't care much what they think now."
+
+"That's all over," Clifford broke in. "We've squared that, and
+you'll be discharged in ten minutes."
+
+"Honest?"
+
+"Certainly," said the old gentleman. "Cortlandt shot himself.
+Anybody but a blithering Spanish ass would have known it at the
+start. We have a letter he wrote to his wife an hour before he did
+it. She just found it and turned it over. She left here a moment
+ago, by-the-way, all broken up. She's a great woman, Kirk. That's
+not all, either. Clifford followed you that night, and knows you
+didn't go near Cortlandt. Oh, you should have seen 'em jump when
+we flashed it on 'em all at once and they learned who I was!"
+
+"But those men who swore they saw me?"
+
+"Bah! We've got that little Dago with the mustache, and both his
+witnesses. If they don't send him up, I'll run in a shipload of my
+brakemen, and we'll push this Isthmus overboard and him with it."
+
+"I knew you could fix things."
+
+"Fix 'em! Fix 'em! That's EASY! Say, how have you been getting
+along, anyhow?"
+
+"Great!"
+
+"And you married one of these Panamanicures, eh?" The father
+scowled. "Lord! I can trust you to make a fool of yourself."
+
+"Say, dad. She's only--so big." Anthony Junior indicated his
+wife's stature, smiling rapturously.
+
+"Dwarf, eh?"
+
+"Oh no!"
+
+"Love her?"
+
+"DO I? It's fierce."
+
+"Humph! You'll have to get over it. I'll pay your debts and take
+care of you, but I can't stand a mulatto around me."
+
+"There aren't any debts, and she's not a mulatto. She's a--dream."
+
+"They're waiting, Mr. Anthony," Clifford made bold to say. "I
+think we'd better get this over with."
+
+Kirk paid little attention to the formalities of the next few
+minutes. He was too busy with thoughts of his amazing good-
+fortune, his mind was too dazzled by the joy of freedom. Allan
+appeared from somewhere and clung to him in an ecstasy of delight.
+Colonel Jolson, Runnels, Anson, even the Panamanian officials
+shook hands with him. He accepted their congratulations
+mechanically, meanwhile keeping very close to his father's side.
+
+Some time later he found himself out in the open sunlight a free
+man once more, with Darwin K. Anthony and Runnels on either side
+of him. But before he had gone a block, he halted suddenly,
+saying:
+
+"Williams! I'd forgotten him and his warrant."
+
+"He's fixed," Runnels explained. "While your father and Mrs.
+Cortlandt and Colonel Jolson were getting you out of jail,
+Clifford and I told him the truth. He's rather a decent fellow.
+They have caught the real Jefferson Locke, or whatever his name
+is."
+
+"No!"
+
+"Yes; a week ago. He landed in Boston; couldn't stay away from his
+own country any longer. Williams hadn't heard of it."
+
+"What has become of Higgins?" Kirk inquired of his father.
+
+Anthony Senior exploded:
+
+"Oh, he's back scorching up the Tenderloin as usual, but you'll
+have to cut him out, or I'll leave you here. That's final,
+understand?"
+
+"I intend to stay here, anyhow."
+
+"Huh?" The old man turned with a start. "I'm damned if you do."
+Then, savagely: "What do you suppose I came down here for? I'm
+lonesome. I want you to come home."
+
+Kirk smiled craftily and looked at Runnels. "Well, what can you
+offer? I'm doing pretty well as it is, and I can't afford to lay
+off."
+
+His father in turn appealed to the Acting Superintendent. "See!
+It's nothing less than blackmail. Is he any good, Mr. Runnels?"
+
+"If there weren't so much politics in this job, he'd be Master of
+Transportation of the P. R. R. That's doing pretty well, isn't it?
+We're both going to quit and look for new work."
+
+"Do you drink, Kirk?"
+
+"I haven't even had an alcohol rub since I left New York. But,
+dad, if you place me, you'll have to take care of Runnels, too. He
+knows more about railroads than--you do."
+
+Mr. Anthony grunted a trifle sceptically at this and murmured: "He
+must be a bright young man. I suppose what he doesn't know, you
+do. Well, how would you both like to come North and give me some
+lessons?"
+
+"Do you mean it?" they cried in chorus.
+
+"I do."
+
+"Oh, there's Allan, too, he'll have to go."
+
+"Any cats and dogs you'd like to have drawing salary from me? Now
+let's go somewhere and eat. I haven't tasted anything to speak of
+since Clifford's message came."
+
+"If you don't mind, I--I'd like to stop at the Garavels' for a
+minute," Kirk said, longingly, and his father scowled.
+
+"I'd forgotten this--wife of yours."
+
+"She's not there," Runnels hastened to say. "I've tried to find
+her, but I was told she was out at the country place."
+
+"Then I think I'd rather drive out there than eat. Won't you go
+with me, dad?"
+
+"Well--yes! I want to see this banker fellow, and--I'm not so
+damned hungry, after all. We'll settle this thing right now."
+
+ The afternoon sun was still an hour high when Kirk Anthony came
+down the hill from the Garavels' home and crossed the meadow
+toward the forest glade he knew so well. The grateful coolness of
+evening was stealing downward, and Nature was roused from her
+midday lethargy. It was the vibrant, active hour when odors are
+freshest and spirits rise. The forest was noisy with the cry of
+birds, and flocks of shrill-voiced paroquets raised an uproar in
+the tallest trees. The dense canopy of green overhead was alive
+with fluttering wings; the groves echoed to the cries of all the
+loud-voiced thicket denizens. The pastured cattle, which had
+sauntered forth from shaded nooks, ceased their grazing to stare
+with gentle curiosity at the hurrying figure. Of course they
+recognized a lover speeding to his tryst, and gave him passage,
+shaking their heads at one another and wagging their ears in
+knowing fashion.
+
+He faltered a bit despite his haste, for this nook had grown
+sacred to him, and even yet he felt that it was haunted. The
+laughter of the waterfall helped to drown the sound of his
+approach, but he surprised no dancing wood-sprites. Instead, he
+saw what filled his heart with a greater gladness than he had ever
+known.
+
+Chiquita was there, huddled upon the seat where they had rested
+together, one foot curled beneath her like a child, her head bowed
+down disconsolately. From one brown hand, now drooping listlessly,
+a few wild flowers had scattered, and her slim figure was clad
+once more in the stiff, coarse denim dress of blue. Her other hand
+was toying with her beads mechanically, as if the fingers had
+learned their task from long practice. Her dusky eyes were fast
+upon the lights that wavered in the pool.
+
+As if to prove that the spot was really peopled by kind spirits, a
+gentle voice seemed to whisper the news to her, and she turned to
+find him smiling at her. She rose and met him with her hands
+outstretched, her face transfigured.
+
+After a time she leaned backward in his arms, and said, gravely:
+"You see! When one says many, many prayers, the good saints always
+answer. The padre told me that I should never cease until you
+came, but I grew very tired, senor."
+
+"And you never doubted me?"
+
+"Oh no!"
+
+"I'm free, you know."
+
+"Of course! What else were my prayers for? Had my father allowed,
+I would have gone to your prison, but he forbade it, so I had no
+choice. But every hour I prayed that he might give me leave, and I
+think his heart was yielding."
+
+"I'm sure of that," he told her, "for I have just come from him."
+
+It was some time later, when the sun was dipping, that voices
+sounded outside the wall of verdure, and Kirk heard Andres Garavel
+saying:
+
+"Of a certainty I shall try that experiment, senor, for the ticks
+in this country are a pest to cattle. A little to the right, and
+you will find the path--So!"
+
+An instant later the two white-haired men appeared.
+
+"Hello! There you are, eh?" Darwin K. Anthony exclaimed, gruffly.
+"Where's that girl?" He paused and let his hostile eyes rest upon
+Gertrudis.
+
+She saw a great, forbidding giant of a man scowling down at her
+with eyes like Kirk's, and she came forward timidly, holding out
+her hands. She was smiling up at him faintly.
+
+"You are Keerk's father, yes? You are the Senor Antonio."
+
+Mr. Anthony uttered a curious, choking exclamation, and gathered
+her gently in his arms. When he looked up, his eyes were wet and
+his deep-lined face was working.
+
+"I couldn't wait any longer," he apologized humbly to his son. "I
+had to come and see her."
+
+"Ah, then I hope you will like me," she said in her grave, quaint
+way.
+
+"Your father has told me everything"--Garavel laid a hand upon his
+new son's shoulder--"and we have become good friends already. I
+fear I owe you a great apology, my boy; but if I consent that you
+take my little girl away to your country, will that be
+reparation?"
+
+"Then you WILL let her go with us?" Kirk cried, happily.
+
+"If she doesn't go, I'll stay," Anthony Senior rumbled. "I--I
+don't see how you ever did it, you're such a blamed fool. Now
+let's go back to the house, it's sundown."
+
+"We'll be along directly," his son assented.
+
+"There are chills in the evening air," Mr. Garavel protested.
+
+"I'm sorry, but we were waiting for the fairies. They were almost
+in sight when you frightened them away."
+
+Gertrudis nodded. "It is quite true, Senor Antonio. We heard them
+all about, everywhere." She placed her little hand in Kirk's, then
+checked her father's remonstrance, saying:
+
+"Oh, it is quite proper for us to walk home together, even in the
+dark; we are married now, you know."
+
+"Come on, Garavel," exclaimed Darwin K. Anthony. "You understand
+how it is." Together they went out through the fragrant path a
+little way, then old man Anthony paused and called back to his
+son, wistfully: "But, I say, Kirk, don't stay too long; we're
+lonesome."
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ne'er-Do-Well, by Rex Beach
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NE'ER-DO-WELL ***
+
+This file should be named nrdwl10.txt or nrdwl10.zip
+Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, nrdwl11.txt
+VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, nrdwl10a.txt
+
+Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we usually do not
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance
+of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
+Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections,
+even years after the official publication date.
+
+Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til
+midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
+The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at
+Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
+preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
+and editing by those who wish to do so.
+
+Most people start at our Web sites at:
+http://gutenberg.net or
+http://promo.net/pg
+
+These Web sites include award-winning information about Project
+Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new
+eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!).
+
+
+Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement
+can get to them as follows, and just download by date.  This is
+also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
+indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
+announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.
+
+http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or
+ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03
+
+Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90
+
+Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
+as it appears in our Newsletters.
+
+
+Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
+
+We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
+time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
+to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
+searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.   Our
+projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If the value
+per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
+million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text
+files per month:  1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+
+We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002
+If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
+will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end.
+
+The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks!
+This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
+which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.
+
+Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated):
+
+eBooks Year Month
+
+    1  1971 July
+   10  1991 January
+  100  1994 January
+ 1000  1997 August
+ 1500  1998 October
+ 2000  1999 December
+ 2500  2000 December
+ 3000  2001 November
+ 4000  2001 October/November
+ 6000  2002 December*
+ 9000  2003 November*
+10000  2004 January*
+
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created
+to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people
+and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut,
+Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
+Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,
+Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New
+Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
+Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South
+Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West
+Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
+
+We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones
+that have responded.
+
+As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list
+will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states.
+Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state.
+
+In answer to various questions we have received on this:
+
+We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally
+request donations in all 50 states.  If your state is not listed and
+you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have,
+just ask.
+
+While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are
+not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting
+donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to
+donate.
+
+International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about
+how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made
+deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are
+ways.
+
+Donations by check or money order may be sent to:
+
+Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+PMB 113
+1739 University Ave.
+Oxford, MS 38655-4109
+
+Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment
+method other than by check or money order.
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by
+the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN
+[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154.  Donations are
+tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law.  As fund-raising
+requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be
+made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states.
+
+We need your donations more than ever!
+
+You can get up to date donation information online at:
+
+http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html
+
+
+***
+
+If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
+you can always email directly to:
+
+Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com>
+
+Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.
+
+We would prefer to send you information by email.
+
+
+**The Legal Small Print**
+
+
+(Three Pages)
+
+***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START***
+Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers.
+They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
+your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from
+someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
+fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
+disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how
+you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to.
+
+*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK
+By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
+this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive
+a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by
+sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
+you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical
+medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
+
+ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS
+This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks,
+is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart
+through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
+Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
+on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
+distribute it in the United States without permission and
+without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth
+below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook
+under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
+
+Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
+any commercial products without permission.
+
+To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable
+efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
+works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any
+medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other
+things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
+disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer
+codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
+But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
+[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
+receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims
+all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
+legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
+UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
+INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
+OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
+POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of
+receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
+you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
+time to the person you received it from. If you received it
+on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
+such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
+copy. If you received it electronically, such person may
+choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
+receive it electronically.
+
+THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
+TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
+
+Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
+the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
+above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
+may have other legal rights.
+
+INDEMNITY
+You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
+and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
+with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
+legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
+following that you do or cause:  [1] distribution of this eBook,
+[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook,
+or [3] any Defect.
+
+DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
+You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by
+disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
+"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
+or:
+
+[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
+     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
+     eBook or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
+     if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable
+     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
+     including any form resulting from conversion by word
+     processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
+     *EITHER*:
+
+     [*]  The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
+          does *not* contain characters other than those
+          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
+          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
+          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
+          author, and additional characters may be used to
+          indicate hypertext links; OR
+
+     [*]  The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at
+          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
+          form by the program that displays the eBook (as is
+          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
+          OR
+
+     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
+          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
+          eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
+          or other equivalent proprietary form).
+
+[2]  Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this
+     "Small Print!" statement.
+
+[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
+     gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
+     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
+     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
+     payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
+     the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
+     legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
+     periodic) tax return.  Please contact us beforehand to
+     let us know your plans and to work out the details.
+
+WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
+Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
+public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
+in machine readable form.
+
+The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
+public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
+Money should be paid to the:
+"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
+software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
+hart@pobox.com
+
+[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only
+when distributed free of all fees.  Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by
+Michael S. Hart.  Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be
+used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be
+they hardware or software or any other related product without
+express permission.]
+
+*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END*
+
diff --git a/old/nrdwl10.zip b/old/nrdwl10.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e05cb86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/nrdwl10.zip