CHAPTER FOUR
I
The car crossed to the Avenue and bore north. Archie was again left highin air. He had expected to be piloted by circuitous routes to some vilethieves' den in the intricate mazes of the East Side, but the car andthe smartly appareled men encouraged the hope of a very differentdestination. The Governor, evidently enjoying his companion'sbefuddlement, talked of the changes that had taken place in the uppercity in his memory. His reminiscences did not interest Archie greatly.He thought it likely the Governor was uttering commonplaces for thebenefit of the men on the box, who could easily hear their passengers'conversation through the partition windows. The car passed two clubs inwhich Archie was a member in good standing and he caught a fleetingglimpse down an intersecting thoroughfare of the apartment house inwhich he was a tenant with a recurrence of the disagreeable questioningshe had experienced so frequently as to whether he was himself or someother and very different person.
The Governor had not warned him to avoid marking the route, which was asfamiliar to Archie as the palm of his hand, but somewhere in theSeventies he did for a moment lose track of the streets, and the car,swinging east, stopped midway of a block of handsome residences. Therewas still the chance that this was all by-play, a trick for concealingtheir arrival in town; but the footman was already ringing the bell of ahouse whose facade was the most distinguished in sight. The door wasopened by a manservant, whose face expressed pleasure as the Governorpassed him with all the airs of incontestable proprietorship.
"I think we may as well go at once to our rooms," he said. "Youunderstand, Baring, that we dine at seven-thirty--places for three?"
"Very good, sir: I received your telegram."
Amid the various phases of surprise through which he had passed sincereaching the station Archie had kept his ears open, thinking theservants would address their employer by a name, but no such clue wasforthcoming. The house exhaled an atmosphere of luxury and taste, andthe furnishings were rich and consistently chosen. Archie recalledtwenty houses in which he was frequently a guest that in nowiseapproached the Governor's establishment for comfort and charm. If he hadbeen puzzled before he was stupefied now. The enormous effrontery of thething overwhelmed him. He knew the general neighborhood too well not tobe sure that it was not a region where a housebreaker of even the mostexalted rank could live unchallenged. To be sure this was summer, andmost of the houses along the street were boarded up; but the Governorwould certainly not be invading in broad daylight premises to which hehad no claim, and the retinue of trained and decorous servants disposedeffectually of any such speculations.
On the second floor the Governor lingered in the drawing-room to callhis guest's attention to some pictures, contemporary American work,which Archie recognized instantly. Indeed he knew several of thepainters very well.
"We must encourage our own artists," remarked the Governor. "It's theonly way we shall ever develop an American art."
Continuing up another flight (there was an elevator, the Governorexplained, but he preferred the stairs) Archie surveyed approvingly alounging room, half library and half office.
"If you have a taste for old leather there's stuff here that will pleaseyou. No rubbish, you see; a man's room, a little quaint as to furniture,and the telephone and electric fan are the only anachronisms, aconcession to the spirit of modern life. Here I have worked out somemost abstruse problems in astrology. A capital place to ponder themysteries. If anything on that tray interests you, help yourself."
Archie tottered toward the stand on which decanters, syphons, and asilver bowl of ice had been placed. He helped himself generously toScotch; the Governor contented himself with a glass of mineral water--henever took anything else, he explained.
"Odd, but I've never used the stuff at all. Bless you, no fanaticalnotions on the subject! If you don't see what you like there just pressa button and it will probably be found for you. And now, my dearArchie"--he closed the door and turned on the fan--"you are my guest, inevery sense my guest. You wouldn't be human if you didn't wonder aboutme rather more than at any time since we first met; you had not theslightest idea that I should bring you to so decent a shack as this. Itmay have occurred to you that I may be an interloper here, but such isnot the case. I own this house and the ground it stands on andeverything in it. You are, of course, not a prisoner; not in any sense,and there's a telephone in your room--you shall see in a moment--bywhich you can talk to all the world quite freely,--no restrictionswhatsoever.
"My name is not Saulsbury, of course, but something quite different. Theservants in this house do not know my true name. They might, of course,work it out, for I pay taxes here, and my family history is spread inthe public records, but the people you see about here are trained tocurb their curiosity; I trust them just as I trust you. They are allfrom under the crust,--the man who met us at the station is a daringhousebreaker; the chauffeur a second-story man, the only one I ever knewwho had the slightest judgment; the butler is a hotel thief, and ashrewd operator until he got too corpulent for transom work. Down to thescullery maid, who was a clever shoplifter, all the servants are crooksI've picked up and installed here until they can do what Leary's doing,invest their ill-gotten gains in some legitimate business. When Baringoffers you the asparagus or serves your coffee you may derive a thrillfrom the knowledge that the man at your elbow has enough rewards hangingover him to make any one rich who can telephone his whereabouts topolice headquarters in any town in America. As all branches of theprofession are represented here my retainers repay my hospitality bykeeping me in touch with their comrades everywhere."
Archie wiped the perspiration from his face and groped for the decanter.
"You're not afraid--not afraid of _them_!"
"Ingratitude, my dear Archie, is reserved for the highbrow moralist; Itrust these people with my life and liberty, and they know I'll not onlyprotect them but that my facilities for shielding them and assisting inthe liquidation of their loot is theirs to command. While they are heretheir lives are wholly circumspect, though they are not without theirtemptations. With a place like this to operate from they could raid thiswhole block and back vans up to my door and cart it away. Officiouscaretakers and hidden wires connected with detective agencies would onlystimulate their wits. But nothing doing, Archie! A policeman on thisbeat suggested to Baring, over a bottle of beer in the basement, thelifting of plate in a house round the corner, but what did Baring do butshow the fellow the door! And yet Baring has stolen thousands ofdollars' worth of stuff of all kinds and has it well planted waiting forme to turn it into cash. By the way, you saw the chap who brought in thetray? You probably noticed his melancholy air? I had just told him ofHoky's death and he's all broken up. He and Hoky ranged the MissouriRiver towns a few years ago and the police out there are still trying toexplain their plunderings."
"I suppose, I suppose," Archie timidly ventured, "you've told them about_me_?"
"Not a word! They'd be jealous: wouldn't understand how I made you aguest when all the rest of 'em have to work for a living. You will actexactly as though you were a visitor in the house of an old friend. Andnow I must go through this mail--I've got a chap who collects my stufffrom some of the unofficial post-offices up-state and here it is allready for inspection. The first room to the right is yours.
"A few pretty good pastels stuck around here," he continued, opening adoor. "That 'Moonrise on the Grand Lagoon' is rather well done.Everything seems to be in order; if you want your clothes pressed pokethe button twice."
Archie snapped his fingers impatiently. When he went to Washington tosay good-by to his sister he had ordered a trunk packed with the majorportion of his wardrobe and held for orders. How to possess himself ofthe trunk without disclosing his presence in town to the valet of theDowden Apartments was beyond his powers.
"If you have something tucked away that you'd like to get hold of--"suggested the Governor with one of his intuitive flashes.
"It's a trunk at my--er--lodgings. A man
who works there packed it forme--"
"Why don't you come out with it and say that the syndicate valet in oneof these palatial bachelor chambers somewhere uptown packed it for you?I can tell a man who's been valeted as far as my eyes will reach. Now Ihave no curiosity whatever about your personal identity or affairs ofany sort, as I've told you before. I'll ring for my own valet, who wasan honest tailor before he became a successful second-story worker, andyou may confide your predicament to him. He'll ride home on the trunk.There was never yet a valet who wouldn't steal the trousers off a bronzestatue, and I'll lift the ban on crooked work here long enough forTimmons to call at your lodgings and either by violence or corruptionsecure your trunk. No! Not a cent. Remember that you are my guest."
The trunk was in Archie's room in just one hour. Timmons, who hadreceived his instructions without the slightest emotion, gravelyunpacked it.
"You've got to admit the service in this house is excellent. If youdon't mind we'll dress for dinner," remarked the Governor lounging inthe doorway. "I forgot to say that there's a lady dining with us--"
"A lady!" demanded Archie with a frown. He had assumed, when theGovernor reminded Baring that dinner was to be served for three, that hewas to be introduced to some prominent member of what the Governor wasfond of calling the great fraternity. But the threatened projection of awoman into the household struck Archie unfavorably. The Governor's taleof his love affair with a bishop's daughter he had discounted heavily;it was hardly possible that any respectable woman would dine in thehouse. The Governor, with his usual quick perception, noted hiscompanion's displeasure.
"Your qualms and your concern for the proprieties are creditable to yourup-bringing. But how ungenerous of you to suspect me of wishing to mixyou up with anything even remotely bordering upon an intrigue, a vulgarliaison! One thing I am not, my boy; one thing I may, with a degree ofassurance, say for myself, and that is that with all my sins I am notvulgar!"
"Of course I didn't mean that," said Archie clumsily, knowing that thiswas exactly what he had meant. "But I thought you might be--er--morecomfortable if I didn't appear."
"The suspicion had sunk deep! But once more I shall forgive you. Yourpresence will help me tide over a difficult situation. I am not onlyshowing you once more the depth of my confidence and trust but, morethan that, I pay you the compliment of asking your assistance. You bearyourself so like a gentleman that your presence at my table can hardlyfail to reassure the lady and contribute to her own ease and peace ofmind. And without you we might quarrel horribly. You will act as abuffer, a restraining influence; your charming manners will mitigate theviolence of her resentment against me. The lady--"
Archie waited for what further he might have to say about the lady. TheGovernor had grown suddenly grave. He crossed the room, stared at thefloor for a moment, and then said from the door:
"The lady, my dear boy, is my sister."
II
The Governor maintained so evenly his mood of irresponsible insouciancethat the soberness with which he announced that it was his sister whowas to join them at dinner sent Archie's thoughts darting away at a newtangent of speculation. He had so accommodated himself to the idea thatthe Governor was a man without ties, or with all his ties broken, thatthis intimation that he had a sister who was still on friendly enoughterms with him to visit his house--an establishment which with all itsconventionalities of comfort and luxury was dominated by a note ofmystery--left Archie floundering. As the man himself had said, it wouldnot be so difficult a matter to penetrate the secret of his identity.Archie knew several men in town who were veritable encyclopedias of thescandal of three generations, and if the scion of some old New Yorkhouse had gone astray these gentlemen could furnish all the essentialdata. But he had given his word and he had no intention of prying intohis friend's affairs. However, the sister might let fall some clue, andas he dressed he tried to imagine just what sort of woman the Governor'ssister would prove to be.
"Julia is usually very prompt but she is motoring from Southampton andwe must allow her the usual margin," the Governor remarked when they metin the drawing-room. Traces of the same nervousness he had manifested inannouncing that it was his sister who was coming to dine with them werestill visible.
The clock had struck the three-quarters when they heard the annunciatortinkle followed by the opening of the front door. The Governor left theroom with a bound and Archie heard distinctly his hearty greetings and awoman's subdued replies.
"I'm sorry to be late, but we had to change a tire. No, I'll leave mywraps here."
"Won't you be more comfortable without your hat?"
"No, I'll keep it; thanks!"
The door framed for a moment a young woman who in her instant's pause onthe threshold seemed like a portrait figure suddenly come to life. Shewas taller than the Governor and carried herself with a suggestion ofhis authoritative bearing. Her face was a feminized version of theGovernor's, exquisitely modeled and illuminated by dark eyes that sweptArchie with a hasty inquiry from under the brim of a black picture hat.She might have been younger or older than the Governor, but her maturitywas not an affair of years. She was a person of distinction, a woman tochallenge attention in any company. Archie was not sure whether she hadbeen warned of a stranger's presence in the house, but if she wassurprised to find him there she made no sign.
As Archie advanced to meet them he moved slowly, and unconsciously drewhimself up, as though preparing to meet a personage who compelled homageand was not to be approached without a degree of ceremony. She wasentirely in black save for the roses in her hat. She might have retainedthe hat, he thought, for the sake of its shadow on her face; or from asense that it emphasized the formal and transitory nature of her visit.
"Julia, this is my friend, Mr. Comly."
Her "very glad, I'm sure," was uttered with reservations, but shesmiled, a quick sad little smile.
The Governor had introduced her as Julia, carelessly, as though ofcourse Archie knew the rest of it. The whole business was as utterlyunreal as anything could be. The Governor asked perfunctorily about herdrive into town, and whether it had been hot in the country. Dinner wasannounced immediately and they sat down at a round table whosecenterpiece of sweet peas brought a coolness into the room.
The dinner was served with a deliberation befitting the end of a summerday. Julia was the most tranquil of the trio and it was in Archie's mindthat she was capable of dominating even more difficult situations. Shewas studying him--he was conscious of that--and it was clear that shewas not finding it easy to appraise and place him. The Governor hadgiven him no hint of the possible trend of the table talk but the womantook the matter into her own hands. As though by prearrangement shetouched upon wholly impersonal matters, recent movements in Europeanaffairs, a new novel, the industrial situation; things that could bebroached without fear of embarrassment were picked up and flung asidewhen they had served their purpose. The Governor was often inattentive,the most uncomfortable member of the trio. It seemed to Archie as he meta puzzled look in Julia's eyes from time to time that she was stilltrying to account for him, and her manner he thought slowly changed. Herfirst defensive hostility yielded to something much more amiable. It wasas though she had reached a decision not wholly unflattering and mightbe a little sorry for her earlier attitude.
The Governor roused himself presently at the mention of a new book ofverse she had praised, and threw himself into the talk thereafter withcharacteristic spirit and humor.
"Mr. Comly shares my affection for the poets. He has been a greatresource to me, Julia. I'm sure you'd be grateful to him if you knew theextent of his kindnesses. A new friend, but it's not always the oldones, you know--"
"My brother is hard to please," said Julia. "You score high in meetinghis exacting requirements."
A slight smile dulled the irony of this, but the Governor, evidentlyconcerned for the maintenance of amity, introduced the art of theAztecs, to which he brought his usual enthusiasm.
The Aztecs carr
ied them back to the drawing-room, where Archie, feelingthat the Governor and his sister probably had personal affairs to talkabout, lounged toward the door; but the Governor was quick to detect hispurpose.
"Julia, if you brought those documents with you I'll take them up to myroom and look them over. It's only a matter of my signature, isn't it?You and Mr. Comly can give the final twist to prehistoric art. I'll bedown at once."
"Very well; you will find them in my bag in the hall. I must start homevery soon, you know."
"I had hoped you would spend the night here," said the Governor; "but ifyou won't I'm grateful even for this little glimpse."
If Julia was displeased by the Governor's very evident intention not tobe left alone with her she was at pains to conceal the feeling. Archieturned toward her inquiringly, but he met a look of acquiescence thatcarried also an appeal as though she wished him not to interfere.
The Governor left the room and reappeared with a small satchel, took outseveral bundles of legal papers and glanced at their superscriptions.
"Those are chiefly deeds and leases," Julia remarked carelessly."They're all ready to be signed by the trustees. There are forms for ourapproval attached to all of them and you'll find that I've signed."
The Governor shrugged his shoulders as though business matters were notto his taste and in a moment they heard his quick step on the stair.
The novelty of the situation that left Archie alone with a woman whosevery name he did not know was enhanced by the sumptuousness of thebackground furnished by the house itself. It was the oddest possibleplace for such an adventure. Julia sat with one arm flung along the backof a low chair. She fell naturally into poses that suggested portraits;there were painters who would have jumped at the chance of sketching heras she sat there with the spot of red in the big hat and the shadowedface and the white of her throat and arms relieving the long black line.
"It is no doubt clear to you," she remarked without altering herposition and with no lowering of the habitual tone of her speech, "thatmy brother prefers not to be alone with me."
"I rather surmised that," Archie replied with an ease he did not feel.She might ask questions; it might be that she would cross-examine him asto the Governor's recent movements. He turned to drop his cigarette intothe brass receiver at his elbow to avoid contact with her gaze, whichwas bent upon him disconcertingly.
"We have but a moment, and we must have a care not to seem to beconfidential. He didn't close his door, I think."
The draperies at the end of the room swayed a little and Archie walkedback and glanced into the dining-room. He nodded reassuringly and sheindicated a seat a little nearer than the one he had left.
"Please don't be alarmed, but it's a singular fact that I know you; wemet once, passingly, at a tea in Cambridge; it's a good while ago and weexchanged only a word, so don't try to remember. I much prefer that youshouldn't." Archie didn't remember; he had attended many teas atCambridge during commencement festivities and had always hated them. "Itwas not until we were at the table that I placed you tonight. I'mtelling you this," she went on, "not to disturb you but to let you knowthat I'm relieved, infinitely relieved to know that you are with mybrother. How it came about is none of my affair. But you are agentleman; in the strange phase through which"--her lips formed to speaka name but she caught herself up sharply--"through which he is passingI'm gratified that he has your companionship. I want you to promise tobe kind to him, and to protect him so far as possible. I only knowvaguely--I am afraid to surmise--how he spends his time; this is myfirst glimpse of him in a year, and for half a dozen years I have methim only in some such way as this. You have probably questioned hissanity; that would be only natural, but there is no such excuse for him.Once something very cruel happened to him; something that greatlyembittered him, a very cruel, hard thing, indeed; and after the firstshock of it--" She turned her head slightly and her lips quivered.
"That is all," she said, and faced him again with her beautiful reposeaccentuated, her perfect self-control that touched him with an infinitepity. She was superb, and he had listened with a shame deepened by theconsciousness that, remembering him from a chance meeting, sheattributed to him an honor and decency he had relinquished, it seemedto him, in some state of existence before the dawn of time. What sheknew or did not know about her brother was not of importance; it was theassumption that he was capable of exercising an influence upon the man,protecting and saving him from himself that hurt, hurt with all thepoignancy of physical pain. She did not dream that she had got the wholething upside-down; that if the Governor was a social pariah he himselfwas no whit better, and had thrown himself upon the Governor's mercy.
"I shall do what I can," he said. "You can see that I am very fond ofhim; he has been enormously kind to me."
She gave little heed to this, though she nodded her head slowly asthough she had counted upon his promise.
"You probably know that with all his oddities and whimsicalities he hassome theory of life that doesn't belong to our day. It may help you toknow that there's a crisis approaching in his affairs. He has hinted atit for several years; it's a part of the mystery in which he wrapshimself; but I never know quite how to take him. He wears a smilingmask. Please understand that it is because I love him so much that I amsaying these things to you; that and because I know I can trust you. Youare remaining with him, I hope--"
"Yes; we plan to be together for some time."
"If anything should happen to him I should like to know." She paused amoment. "It was distinctly understood between us when he called me bytelephone this morning that I was not to hint in any way as to hisidentity, or mine for that matter, and I shall not break faith with him.He would be greatly displeased if he knew what I have said to you; but Iresolved after I had been in the house half an hour that I could counton your aid. We have but a moment more."
She mused a moment and then with quick decision stepped to a writingtable, snatched a sheet of paper and wrote rapidly, while he filled inthe interval by talking of irrelevant things to guard against the chancethat the Governor might be on his way down and would note their silence.
She thrust the sheet into an envelope and sealed it.
"I trust you completely," she said, lingering with, a smile upon thelast word. "I shall be at that address until the first of October. Youcan wire me in any emergency."
When the Governor reappeared they were seemingly in the midst of aleisurely discussion of the drama.
"Back into the bag they go," said the Governor. "Everything's all right,Julia. I checked up the items with my inventory and am entirelysatisfied. I'm delighted that you two get on so well together; but Iknew you would hit it off. Mr. Comly has been most kind and considerate,Julia. In my long pilgrimage I have never before met a man so much to mytaste. The Wandering Jew and the Flying Dutchman had no such luck. Sweetit is to wander with a good comrade, taking no care for the morrow, butletting every day suffice unto itself."
He walked to a grand piano at the end of the room, sat down and began toplay.
Surprise was dead in Archie where the Governor was concerned; he couldonly marvel at the ease and finish with which the man made the roomvibrate with the most exquisite melodies of Schumann, Chopin, MacDowell.He played for half an hour without airs or affectations, things thatbruised and hurt the spirit by their very tenderness and wistfulness.
"It's as though some one had been flinging handfuls of rose leaves intothe room," said Julia softly when the last chords had died away.
The music had at least served the purpose of dispersing any unhappyhovering ghosts, and she was quick to seize the moment as a propitiousone for her departure. The Governor did not demur when she asked him tosee if her car was waiting.
"You are not afraid to drive out alone? I should be glad, you know, tomake the run with you."
"Not in the least afraid," she answered lightly.
Fear, Archie thought, was not a thing one would associate with her. TheGovernor brought her coat, a long g
arment that covered her completely.She produced from the bag a cap which she substituted for the hat andArchie had thus his first view of her handsome head and abundant darkhair and her face freed of the baffling shadow.
In carrying her wrap into the room the Governor had frustrated any hopeshe may have had for a private word with him; but she betrayed noresentment.
"It's really much nicer changing indoors," she laughed, standing beforea mirror to adjust the cap. "Coming in I shifted my headgear just beforewe reached town. Behold me now, a woman transformed!"
The Governor plucked Archie's sleeve as a sign that he was not to dropback and she walked to the car between them.
With a smile and a wave of the hand she was gone and they stood at thecurb looking after her until the limousine was out of sight.
"Thank you, lad," said the Governor quietly.
They went up to his den, where they smoked for some time in silence. TheGovernor seemed to be gathering himself together after the strain of thethree difficult hours and when he spoke finally it was with a deep sigh.
"Well, Archie, we must bear ourselves as men in all our perplexities. Weare put into this world for a purpose, every chick of us, and there's nouse kicking the shins of the high gods. I feel a leading; there'ssomething pulling us both; unseen powers knocking us about. Tomorrow Ishall be engaged most of the day; there are some of the brotherhood tomeet and it must be managed with caution. I suggest that you stretchyour legs in the park and feed the swans as a tranquilizer. Soon weshall be abroad on the eternal quest. The quest for what, I see writtenin your eyes! For peace, Archie; for happiness! It may be nearer than wethink--there's always that to tie our hopes to!"
"It would be possible, I suppose," said Archie slowly, "for us to cut itall out, settle back into our old places--"
"Never!" cried the Governor., "I tell you we've got to complete thecircle! If we stop now we're ruined, both of us! We've got to go righton. I know what's the matter with you; it's that dear sister of mine whohas wakened in you all manner of regrets and yearnings for your oldlife. Ah, she couldn't fail to affect you that way; she's so wholly thereal thing! Seeing her probably made you homesick for your Isabel.There! I thought you would jump! And maybe you think I haven't beentroubled in the same way about my little affair! There would besomething fundamentally wrong with us, lad, if we didn't feel, when westood before a beautiful noble woman, as though we were in a divinepresence. That's the test, Archie; so long as we are sensible of thatfeeling there's some hope for us in this world and the next."
III
Archie learned from Baring, who brought up his breakfast, that theGovernor had left the house.
"It was our orders to take good care of you, sir; if there's any way wecan serve you--"
"A morning paper; that will be all, thank you. I shall be going outpresently."
"Very good, sir. The master thought it likely you would spend the dayout. He will hardly be in himself before six."
Here again was an opportunity to abandon the Governor, but keen now fornew experiences and sensations, Archie dismissed the idea. The appeal ofthe Governor's sister had imposed a new burden upon him, and theGovernor's voluble prattle about fate and the inevitable drawing ofdestiny had impressed him. He could depart for Banff and take the chanceof never being molested for any of his crimes, but to do this would becowardice, just that fear of his fate that Isabel had twitted himabout.
He chose a stick with care from a rack at the front door, walked to theAvenue and turned determinedly cityward, walking jauntily. BeyondForty-second Street he passed several acquaintances, who nodded, just asthe Governor had predicted, little dreaming that he was a recklesscriminal, a man with an _alias_ and a fortnight's record that would makea lively story for the newspapers.
He was rather disappointed that no one followed him, no hand was clappedon his shoulder. He reached Madison Square unwearied, wondering whetherthe obliteration of his moral sense had destroyed also his old fearsabout his health. He climbed to the front seat of a bus and rode up theAvenue, a conspicuous figure.
He grinned as he saw seated in the upper window of the most conservativeof all his clubs one of his several prosperous uncles, an old gentlemanwho for years was to be found in that same spot at this same hour of theday.
Having sufficiently exposed himself to the eyes of the world hedetermined to eat luncheon in the park restaurant. His appetite demandedan amount of food that he would have been incapable of consuming a monthearlier, and having given his order he surveyed the pavilion tranquilly.Women and children were the chief patrons, with a sprinkling ofsightseers resting from their contemplation of the city's wonders.
He watched idly a young woman with two children who occupied a tabledirectly in his line of vision. He was sure she was their mother, andnot a governess; she was smartly dressed, and her manner with theyoungsters was charming. She occasionally glanced about nervously, andhe detected several times a troubled look in her face. The childrenchattered gaily, but it was evidently with an effort that she answeredtheir questions or entered into their talk. Children always interestedhim, and the boy was a handsome little fellow, but it was the girl whoheld Archie's attention, first as the embodiment of the beauty andinnocence of youth, and then with a perplexed sense that he had seen herbefore. She suddenly turned toward him, her fair curls tumbling abouther shoulders, and glanced idly across the pavilion. The fine oval face,the eyes dancing with merriment at something her brother had directedher attention to, sent his thoughts flying to Bailey Harbor. As thoughconsciously aiding his memory, she fell into the relaxed pose so happilycaught by the photograph, with the same childish archness andcaptivating smile.
Their luncheon had just been served and he continued to inspect themwith a deepening conviction that the woman was Mrs. Congdon and thesethe children mentioned in the telegram he had found tucked under theplate of the Bailey Harbor house. The resemblance between the youngwoman and the child with the roguish smile was unmistakable. She mighton occasion present the same smiling countenance, though in unguardedmoments a tense, worried look came into her face, and she continued heranxious survey of her neighbors.
It was a dispiriting thought that there under his eyes, so close thatthe babble of the children occasionally reached him across theintervening tables, was the family of the man he had shot.
Their ignorance of that dark transaction gave him little comfort, norwas there any extenuation of his sin in the fact that the wife had fledto escape from her husband's brutality. He tried to console himself withthe reflection that the thing had a ludicrous side. He might walk overto Mrs. Congdon and say: "Pardon me, madam, but it may interest you toknow that I shot your husband at Bailey Harbor and you have nothingfurther to fear from him. I am unable to state at the moment whether thewound was a mortal one, but from my knowledge of your family affairs Ijudge that you would hardly be grieved if you never saw him again."
He was shocked at his own levity. The thing was not in any aspect alaughing matter. Amid other experiences he had freed himself for a fewdays of the thought of Putney Congdon lying dead in a lonely cleft ofthe Maine rocks, but meeting the man's family in this fashion was almostas disconcerting as a visit from Congdon's ghost.
The Congdons had eaten their meal hurriedly and were already payingtheir check. He watched them move away toward the interior of the park,marked their direction and chose a parallel course with a view tokeeping them in sight.
Occasionally he caught glimpses of the children dancing ahead of theirmother. The remote paths she chose for the ramble confirmed hissuspicion that she was on guard against the threatened seizure of theyoungsters by their father, and having been driven from Bailey Harborwas now in town to formulate her plans for the future, or perhaps onlywhiling away the hours until she could escape to some other place in thecountry. Unable to argue himself out of a feeling that Mrs. Congdon'stroubles were no affair of his he was beset by the fear that he might bedoomed for the rest of his life to follow them, to view them from afaroff, n
ever speaking to them, but led on by the guilty knowledge that hewas a dark factor in their lives.
He became so engrossed that he lost track of them for a time; then aturn of the path brought him close upon them. Mrs. Congdon was sittingon a bench under a big elm and the children were joyously romping on thelawn in front of her, playing with a toy balloon to which a bit of barkhad been fastened. They would toss it in the air and jump and catch itwhile the weight prevented its escape. A gust of wind caught it asArchie passed and drove it across his path, while the children withscreams of glee pursued it. The string caught under his hat brim and heseized it just as the girl, outdistancing her brother, plunged into him.
"Edith!" called the mother, rising quickly. "Children, you mustn't gointo the path. There's plenty of room here for you to play."
"The wind was a little too much for you that time!" laughed Archie, asthe children, panting from their run, waited for the restoration oftheir plaything. He measured the buoyancy of the balloon against theballast, and let go of it with a little toss that seemed to free it,then he sprang up and caught it amid their excited cries.
The little girl curtsied as he put the string in her hand.
"Thank you very much!" they chorused.
Mrs. Congdon had walked a little way toward the path but now that thechildren were again scampering over the lawn she paused and made aslight, the slightest, inclination of the head as Archie lifted his hatand continued on his way.
Edith was the name used in the telegram he had found in the BaileyHarbor house, and this coupled with his closer view of the childdisposed of Archie's last hope that after all it might not be Mrs.Congdon and her children he had stumbled upon. She had no business tothrow herself across his path, he fumed. The appearance of PutneyCongdon's father at Cornford had shaken him sufficiently, but that heshould be haunted by the man's wife and children angered him. He wantedto fly from the park and hide himself again in his room at theGovernor's house, but he was without will to leave. The decent thing forhim to do was to take the first train for Bailey, and begin diligentsearch for Putney Congdon, dead or alive. He had no right to assume thatthe man's serious injury or death would be any consolation to the wifeand children. And the quarrel between husband and wife might have beenonly a tiff, something that would have been adjusted without furtherbitterness but for his interference. There was no joy in the fate thatkept continually bringing his crime to his attention. Thoroughlymiserable, he threw himself upon a bench and lapsed into gloomymeditations. The light-hearted laughter of the children--PutneyCongdon's children--was borne to him fitfully to add to hisdiscomfiture, but he was held to the spot. There was something weirdlyfascinating in their propinquity, and in the thought that he alone ofall men on earth could ever tell them just what had happened in theirhouse when their father went there to search for them.
He sat half an hour pensively, noting an occasional pedestrian or theflash of a motor that rolled through the unfrequented driveway. But forthe hum of the cars the deep calm of a June afternoon lay upon thelandscape.
Then a piercing scream, the shrill cry of a child in terror, brought himto his feet.
"Help! Help! Oh, Edith! _Edith!_"
The cries sent him at a run toward the place in which he had left theCongdons.
Rounding a curve in the path he saw a man rushing down the road withEdith in his arms. The mother was racing after him, while the little boylay wailing where he had fallen in his frantic effort to follow. In thedistance stood a car, with a woman waiting beside the open door.
Archie redoubled his pace, passed Mrs. Congdon and gained the car as theman with the child in his arms jumped into it. The woman, who hadevidently been acting as watcher, stumbled as she attempted to spring inafter them and delayed flight for an instant. The door slammed viciouslyon Archie's arm as he landed on the running board. The car was movingrapidly and a man's voice bade the driver hurry. Within the child'sscreams were suddenly stifled, the door swung open for an instant and ablow, delivered full in the face, sent Archie reeling into the road.
When he gained his feet Mrs. Congdon stood beside him moaning andwringing her hands. A mounted policeman rode upon the scene, listenedfor an instant to Archie's explanations and, sounding his whistle, setoff after the car at a gallop. A dozen of the park police were on thespot immediately, followed by a crowd of excited spectators. Mrs.Congdon had fainted and several women were ministering to her. Thelittle boy, sobbing plaintively, tried to answer the questions of thesergeant who took charge and despatched men in every direction to searchfor the kidnapers and send the alarm through the city.
Archie's nose bled from the rap in the face and his back ached where hehad struck the earth. The sergeant plied him with questions which heanswered carefully, knowing that in all the circumstances of his havingloitered in the vicinity he might not unnaturally be suspected ofcomplicity. When his name was asked, he answered promptly.
"John B. Wright, Boston; stopping at the Hotel Ganymede."
"Business?"
"Broker, Nanonet Building, Boston."
These items officially written down, he described truthfully how he hadfirst seen the woman and her children in the pavilion, the subsequentwalk, and the episode of the balloon. He pointed out just where he hadbeen sitting when the screams attracted his attention.
"This is a serious case and you will be wanted as a witness," said theofficer. "You didn't know these people--never saw them before?"
"No. I had come to the park to kill time until four o'clock, when I havean engagement at the Plaza Hotel."
The officer noted carefully his description of the woman who hadassisted in the kidnaping and such meager facts as he was able to giveas to the man who had carried off the little girl under the very eyesof her mother.
The sergeant glanced at Archie's ruddy handkerchief and grinned.
"Guess that let's you out! You didn't get the number of the taxi? Thatwould help a little."
"There wasn't time for that. I was trying to hang on till help came, butthis smash in the face spoiled that."
To the jostling crowd anxious to hear his story Archie was a hero, orvery nearly one. He heard their murmurs of admiration as he describedthe manner in which he had attempted to board the car. There wereenormous hazards in the whole situation and every consideration ofpersonal security demanded that he leave the park at once, but Mrs.Congdon was now recovering, and he was reluctant to abandon her and thefrightened boy to the mercies of the park police and staring spectators.
She had recovered sufficiently to tell her story, and to Archie's reliefcorroborated his own version in a manner to dispose of any question asto his innocence.
The woman's composure struck Archie as remarkable and her replies to theofficer's questions were brief and exact. Several times she appealed tohim for confirmation on some point, and he edged closer and stood besideher defensively. Her inquisitor had neglected to ask her name andaddress in his eagerness for information as to the appearance of thekidnapers. Her reply gave Archie a distinct shock.
"Mrs. George W. Kendall, 117 E. Corning Street, Brooklyn."
"Have you been threatened in any way? Have you any enemy who might haveattempted to steal the child?"
"Nothing of the kind. I brought the children to the park just for anouting and with no thought that anything so horrible could happen."
It was incredible that any one could lie with so convincing an air. Hewas satisfied that she was Mrs. Putney Congdon, and that the child shehad called Edith was the original of the photograph he had seen atBailey Harbor. And the stealing of the child was in itself but theactual carrying out of her husband's threat. He knew far too much aboutthe Congdons for his own peace of mind, but he was unwilling to deserther in her perplexities. When the owners of several machines offered totake her home, she glanced about uncertainly and her eyes falling uponhim seemed to invite his assistance.
"Pardon me, but if I can serve you in any way--"
"Thank you," she said with relief. "I must get a
way from this; it'sunbearable."
He put her and the boy into a taxi, whose driver had been early on thescene, and drove away with them, with a final promise to the sergeant toreport later at the park station.
"Brooklyn!" he ordered.
For a few minutes she was busy comforting the child and Archie deep inthought turned to meet the searching gaze of her gray eyes.
"You are a gentleman; I am sure of that; and I feel that I can trustyou."
That the wife of a man he had tried to kill and possibly had slainshould be paving the way for confidences, gave him a bewildered sense ofbeing whisked through some undiscovered country where the impossiblehad become the real.
"I'm in a strange predicament, and I'm forced to ask your help. The nameand address I gave the police were fictitious. I know it has a queerlook; but I had to do it. I know perfectly well who carried away mylittle girl. The man and woman you saw at the car were servants employedby my father-in-law, who cordially dislikes me. There had beentrouble--"
With a shrug she expressed her impatience of her troubles, and bent overthe boy who was demanding to be taken to Edith.
"You'll see Edith soon, dear, so don't trouble any more," she saidkindly.
Having quieted the child, she returned to her own affairs, glancing outto note the direction of the car. She had done some quick thinking inmaking her decision to hide her identity from the police. There wasfight in her eyes and Archie realized that he had to do with a woman ofspirit. He waited eagerly for a hint as to her plans.
"Of course I'm not going to Brooklyn," she said, as the taxi swung intoFifth Avenue. "Please tell the man to drive to the Altmore, ladies'entrance. I'll walk through to the main door and take another taxi. Imean to lose myself," she went on, after Archie had given theinstructions. "I have every intention of keeping away from policemen andreporters, but there's no reason why you should bother any further. I'monly sorry your name had to be brought into it. The moment they findI've deceived them they'll be after you for further information, and Iregret that exceedingly. I wish to avoid publicity and keep my domesticaffairs out of the newspapers; but this of course will only centerattention the more on you. If there's anything I could do--"
"You needn't bother about that at all," replied Archie with a reassuringsmile. "The name and address I gave were both false."
"You mean that really!"
"I mean that; just that! My reasons are of importance to no one butmyself, and have nothing to do with the loss of your child, I assureyou. I give you my word that neither the police nor the reporters willever find me. I know nothing about you and of course it is quiteunnecessary for me to know."
"Thank you; you are very kind," she murmured.
It struck him as highly amusing that he should be conspiring with thewife of a gentleman he had shot. In every aspect it was ridiculous andnot since boyhood had he felt so much like giggling. And Mrs. Congdonwas wonderful; it was a delight to be the repository of the confidencesof so handsome a young matron and one who met so difficult a situationso courageously. They were both liars; both were practising a deceitthat could hardly fail to bring them under sharp scrutiny if they shouldbe caught.
Women were far from being the simple creatures he had believed them tobe. The heart of woman was a labyrinth of mystery. Mrs. Congdon,altogether lovely and bearing all the marks of breeding, had lied quiteas convincingly as Sally Walker. The ways of Isabel were beyond allhuman understanding; and yet her contradictions only added to her charm.Isabel's agitation over the affairs of the Congdons led him close to thepoint of mentioning her name to note its effect upon Mrs. Congdon, butto do this might be an act of betrayal that would only confirm Isabel'sopinion of him as a stupid, meddlesome person. Nothing was to be gainedby attempting to hasten the culmination of the fate that flung him aboutlike a chip on a turbulent stream. Fiends and angels might be battlingfor his soul, and Lucifer might take him in the end, but meanwhile hewas having a jolly good time.
He looked at her covertly and they laughed with the mirth of childrenplanning mischief in secret.
"The little girl," he ventured; "you are not apprehensive about her?"
"Not in the slightest. My father-in-law is most disagreeably eccentric,but he is very fond of my children. It was quite like him to attempt tocarry off the little girl, always a particular pet of his. I wasshocked, of course, when it happened. I thought I should be safe in thepark for a few hours until I could catch a train. I meant to put thechildren quite out of my husband's way. I didn't know he was in town; infact, I don't know now that he is or anything about him. But he'sundoubtedly in communication with his father. It's rather a complicatedbusiness, you see."
It was much more complex than she knew, and not, all things considered,a laughing matter. He spent an uncomfortable moment pondering asituation which he viewed with the mingled joy and awe of a childwatching the fire in a fuse approach a fire-cracker.
"I shall be glad to assist you if I can aid you in any way. You will tryto recover the child--?" he suggested.
"It's generous of you to offer, but I think you had better keep out ofit. Of course I shall have Edith back; you may be sure of that."
"You have some idea of where they are taking her--?"
"No, I really haven't. But she will be safe, though I hate to think ofher being subjected to so hideous an experience. It's rather odd, as Ithink of it, that my husband didn't personally try to take the childfrom me."
This, uttered musingly, gave Archie a perturbed moment. But the car hadreached the Altmore. He lifted out the boy and accompanied them to thedoor.
"Thank you, very much," she said in a tone that dismissed him.
Archie drove to another hostelry for a superficial cleaning up,explaining to the brush boy who scraped the oily mud from his trousersthat he had been in an automobile accident. He rode downtown in thesubway, strolled past the skyscraper in which his office was situatedand returned to the Governor's house feeling on the whole well pleasedwith himself.
IV
Refreshed by a nap and a shower he was dressed and waiting for theGovernor at seven. On his way through the hall he ran into a man whosesudden appearance gave him a start. He was not one of the servants but arough-looking stranger with drooping shoulders and a smear of dirtacross his cheek. He would have passed him in the street as a laborerreturning from a hard day's work. The man did not lift his eyes butshuffled on to the door of the Governor's room which he opened andthen, flinging round, stood erect and laughed aloud.
"Pardon me, Archie, for giving you a scare! I couldn't resist theimpulse to test this makeup!"
"You!" cried Archie, blinking as the Governor switched on the light.
"I went and came in these togs; not for a lark, I assure you, butbecause I had to go clear down under the crust today. Turn the water onin my tub and I'll be slipping into decent duds in a jiffy. Here's anextra I picked up downtown. The scream of the evening is akidnaping--most deplorable line of business! Have you ever noticed acertain periodicity in child stealing? About every so often you hear ofsuch a case. Despicable; a foul crime hardly second to murder. Hangingis not too severe a punishment. Clear out now, for if we begin talkingI'll never get dressed!"
The account of the kidnaping in the park was little more than abulletin, but Archie soon had it committed to memory. The police had notyet learned that the two most important witnesses had given fictitiousnames, for both pseudonyms appeared in the article.
In spite of the Governor's frequently avowed assertion that he wished toknow nothing about him, Archie felt strongly impelled to make a cleanbreast of the Bailey Harbor affair, the two encounters with Isabel andhis meeting with Mrs. Congdon. His resolution strengthened when theGovernor appeared, dressed with his usual care and exhilarated by hisday's adventures. At the table the Governor threw a remark now and thenat the butler as to the whereabouts and recent performances of some ofthat functionary's old pals. Baring received this information soberlywith only the most deferential murmurs of pleasure or
dismay at thesuccesses or failures of the old comrades. Baring retired after thedinner had been served, and the Governor, in cozy accord with his cigar,remarked suddenly:
"Odd; you might almost say singular! I've crossed old man Congdon'strail again! You recall him--the old boy we left to the tender merciesof Seebrook and Walters?"
"Yes; go on!" exclaimed Archie so impatiently that the Governor eyed himin surprise.
"It's remarkable how my theory that every man is a potential crook findsfresh proof all the time. Now old Congdon is rich and there's no reasonon earth why he shouldn't live straight; but, bless you, it's quiteotherwise! He's a victim of the same aberration that prompts peopleapparently as upright as a flagstaff to drop hotel towels into theirtrunks, collect coffee spoons in popular restaurants, or steal flowersin public gardens when they have expensive conservatories at home. Younever can tell, Archie."
Archie, with the Congdons looming large on his horizon, was notinterested in the philosophical aspects of petty pilfering.
"Stick to Eliphalet," he suggested.
"Oh, yes! Well, I met today one of the most remarkable of all the men Iknow who camp outside the pale. Perky is his name in Who's Who in NoMan's Land. A jeweler by trade, he fell from his high estate and went onthe road as a yegg. The work was too rough for him for one thing, andfor another it was too much of a gamble. Opening safes only to findthat they contained a few dollars in stamps and the postmaster's carpetslippers vexed him extremely and he then entered into the game of boringneat holes in the rim of twenty-dollar gold pieces, leaving only theouter shell and filling 'em up with a composition he invented that madethe coin ring like a marriage bell. While he was still experimenting heran into old Eliphalet sitting with his famous umbrella on a bench inBoston Common. Perky thought Eliphalet was a stool pigeon for a conoutfit, but explanations followed and it was a case of infatuation onboth sides. The old man was as tickled with the scheme as a boy with anew dog. He now assists Perky to circulate the spurious medium ofexchange. Perky says he's a wonderful ally, endowed with all thequalities of a first class crook."
"You'll appreciate that better," said Archie, "when you hear what I knowabout the Congdon family. You've been mighty decent in not pressing mefor any account of myself but you've got to hear my story now. We'llprobably both be more comfortable if I don't tell you my name, but youshall have that, too, if you care for it. So many things have happenedsince I left Bailey Harbor that you don't know about, things that Ihaven't dared tell you, that I'm going to spout it all now and here. Ifyou want to chuck me when you've heard it, well enough; but I don't mindsaying that to part with you would hurt me terribly. I never felt sodependent on any man as I do on you; and I've grown mighty fond of you,old man."
"Thank you, lad," said the Governor.
He listened patiently, nodding occasionally or throwing in a question.When Archie finished he rose and clapped him on the shoulder.
"By Jove, you've tossed my stars around like so many dice! I've got toconsult the oracles immediately."
He darted from the room and when Archie reached his study the Governorwas poring over a map of the heavens.
"Your Isabel's all tangled up in our affairs!" declared the Governorwith mock resentment. "It's she who has upset the calculations of allstar-gazers from the time of Ptolemy!"
"Isabel!" cried Archie excitedly. "I don't catch the drift of this atall!"
"I should be surprised if you did! Note that countless lines convergeupon my diagram. Isabel will dawn upon your gaze again very soon--I feelit coming. Our next move was clearly outlined to me before we came totown, but I must verify the figures in the light of this pistol practiceat Bailey." He covered many sheets of a large tablet with figures andthrew down his pencil with a satisfied sigh.
"Rochester!" he muttered. "Rochester of all places!"
"Would you mind telling me just what Rochester has to do with all this?"Archie demanded testily.
"My dear boy, Rochester is one of the suburbs of Paradise! The commerceand manufactures of that city are nothing; it's an outpost of Romance,like Bagdad and Camelot, a port of call on the sea of dreams, likeCarcassonne! You may recall that I told you of a certain tile in asummer house where my adored promised to leave a message for me if herheart softened or she needed me. Well, the secret post-office is atRochester; there the incomparable visits her aunt and about this time ofyear she's likely to be there. And if you knew the way of the stars andcould understand my calculations you'd see that your Isabel is likely tohave some business in that neighborhood just about now."
"Rubbish! I happen to know that her business was all to be in northernMichigan this summer. Your stars have certainly made a monkey of youthis time!"
"Cynic! The thought seems to please you! You want to see me discomfitedand defeated. Very well; you can drop me right here if you like, butI'll wager something handsome that you'll regret your skepticism all therest of your days. Resistance to the course of events marked by thestars is bound to result in confusion. And here's another strikingcoincidence: You mentioned casually that Isabel spoke of buried treasurein the far north. I'm overpowered by that. The sweet influences ofPleiades have long beguiled me with the promise of a quest for hiddengold; for years, Archie, the thing has haunted me."
"You talk like a nonsense book! How much luggage are we taking?"
"Take everything you've got! This is going to be the most important ofall my enterprises, Archie. It's just as well to be fully prepared."
He rang for Timmons to do their packing and fell upon a time table.
"We shall take it easy tomorrow, arriving at Rochester, the city ofdreams, just as the shades of night are falling fast. Run along now;I've got a lot to think about."
Archie was roused the next morning by the Governor, who flung an armfulof newspapers on his bed.
"The police have confessed with unusual frankness that they were dupedin the park kidnaping. You and the attractive Mrs. Congdon both steppedinto the void. The names and addresses are found to be imaginary andthey're in the air! You stirred up a pretty row, you two."
"I'd give something handsome to know where she went," said Archie. "Iought to have stood by to help her instead of leaving her and hertroubles at a hotel door."
"Having shot her husband, your concern for her safety and happiness doesyou credit! If the fellow died on the beach and his body was washed outto sea Mrs. Congdon is a widow. And in that event it's rather up to youto offer to marry her. The conventions of good society demand it. Yourstory gave me a restless night. I'm flabbergasted by the way things arehappening. For a modest fellow you are certainly capable of stirring upa queer mess of situations. And the singular thing about it is that forthousands of years we've been moving toward each other out of the void!And all the other people who were to influence our destinies were on theway to join us--scores of 'em, Archie!"
"Detectives, policemen, and all the rest of them! Grand juries,prosecuting officers, judges of criminal courts and prison wardens!"
"You're going to bore me one of these days by that sort of prattle. Onto Rochester!"
V
They wrote themselves down on the hotel register at Rochester asSaulsbury and Comly and were quickly in the rooms the Governor hadengaged by wire.
"We dress, of course; unless I give you explicit directions to thecontrary we always dress for dinner," said the Governor. "It's a lotmore distinguished to be shot in a white tie than in a morning suit.Always keep that in mind, Archie--you who go about popping at men intheir own houses with their own pistols."
"Not going with me!" he exclaimed after they had dined sedately in themain dining-room of the hotel. "This is truly the _reductio adabsurdum!_ Three times I've invaded the premises of my beloved's auntand twice nearly got into trouble with policemen and gardeners. I needyou, Archie; really I do; and you're not a chap to desert a pal."
Under this compulsion Archie found himself whisked away to a handsomeresidential area where the Governor dismissed the driver at a corner andcon
tinued afoot for several blocks.
"Our silk hats would disarm suspicion in even more exclusiveneighborhoods. In fact we lend a certain distinction to the entireGenesee Valley. Alleys are distasteful to me, but into an alley we mustplunge with all our splendor."
Alleys were not only distasteful to Archie, but he thought the searchfor a message in the grounds of the handsome estate the Governor seemedbent upon exploring utterly silly and foolhardy. The Governor ran hisstick along the top of a wall that grimly guarded the rear of thepremises.
"Glass!" he exclaimed, and cleared a space with a sweep of his cane. Hecaught the edge of the wall and was quickly on top. When Archie hungback the Governor grasped him by the arms and swung him up and droppedhim into a dark corner of the garden. The house at the street end of thedeep lot was a large establishment that argued for the prosperousworldly state of the aunt of the Governor's inamorata.
The Governor left him with the injunction to remain where he was, and hesaw in a moment the glimmer of a match in the summer house. He wasgazing at the tender, wistful new moon that suddenly slipped into hisvision in the west, when he felt the Governor's hand on his arm.
"Archie! Oh, Archie!" the Governor whispered excitedly, brushing anenvelope across the bewildered Archie's face. "Strike a match before Iperish."
He tore open the envelope, and his fingers trembled as he held the noteto the light. He read the two sheets to himself eagerly; then demanded asecond match and read aloud:
... "If this reaches you, remain near at hand until I can see you.Please understand that I promise nothing, but it is very possible thatyou may be able to serve me. My aunt is giving a party for me Thursdaynight. I must leave it to you as how best to arrange for a shortinterview the day following. A very dear friend needs help. The matteris urgent. You will think it a fine irony that I should call upon youfor a service that may be disagreeable if not dangerous, when yourunaccountable way of life has caused me so much unhappiness."
The match curled and fell from Archie's fingers. A tense silence layupon the garden. A bat slanted eerily through the warm air. The Governorclasped Archie's hand tightly. He seemed swayed by a deep emotion, andwhen he spoke it was in a husky whisper.
"It has come as I always knew it would come! And something tells me I amnear the end. Even with all my faith, boy, it's staggering. And this isthe very night of the dance. Ah, listen to that!"
They had moved out into a broad walk and Archie saw that the house wasbrilliantly lighted. Suddenly the strains of a lively two-step drewtheir attention to a platform that extended out upon the lawn from theconservatory, and at the same moment electric lamps shone in dozens ofJapanese lanterns along the hedge-lined paths. The Governor looked athis watch. It was half-past nine.
"It's about time for us to clear out," Archie remarked.
"What! Leave this sacred soil when _she's_ here? Not on your life,Archie! I shall not leave till I've had speech with her."
"She mentioned the day following the dance in the note," Archieprotested. "You'd certainly make a mess of things if you tried to buttinto the party."
"On the other hand the festal occasion offers an ideal opportunity forthe meeting! It's going to be a big affair; already machines are dashinginto the driveway in large numbers. We can merge in the happy throng andtrust to our wits to get us out alive. The aunt is seventy and verywise; she'll know us instantly as men of quality."
He urged Archie, still resisting, through the grounds to the frontentrance, where they were admitted with several other guests who arrivedat the same moment. The gentlemen they found in the dressing room merelyglanced at them carelessly or nodded. An old gentleman, mistakingArchie for some one else, asked assistance with an obstreperous tie andexpressed his gratitude in the warmest terms. The Governor, primpingwith the greatest deliberation, had never been calmer. To Archie thisintrusion in the house of perfect strangers was a culminating act offolly, bound to result in humiliation.
"We maybe a trifle early," the Governor remarked, lighting a cigaretteand settling himself in a rocker. "We shall receive greaterconsideration if we linger a few moments."
As Archie had counted on slipping downstairs heavily supported byproperly invited guests, he paced the floor for a quarter of an hourwhile the Governor imperturbably read a magazine.
The room had cleared when at last he expressed his readiness to go.
"The receiving line is probably broken up by this time. Our hostessdoesn't know either of us from the lamented Adam but I shall introduceyou quite casually, you know. Her name, by the way, is Lindsay. Thereare scads of people here; the very first families. We may mingle freelywithout fear of lowering our social standards."
The stately old lady they found in the drawing-room lifted a lorgnetteas they approached, smiled affably and gave the Governor her hand.
"Mrs. Lindsay, my friend, Mr. Comly. He arrived unexpectedly an hour agoand I thought you wouldn't mind my bringing him along, so I didn'tbother you by telephoning."
"I should have been displeased if you had hesitated a moment--any friendof yours, you know!"
"Ruth is with you, of course? I haven't seen her since the last time shevisited you."
"She's the same wonderful girl! You will find her dancing, I think."
Other arrivals facilitated their escape. As they passed down thedrawing-room the Governor directed Archie's attention to a portraitwhich he pronounced a Copley, and insisted upon examining closely. Itwas with difficulty that Archie persuaded him to leave it, so enrapturedwas the Governor with the likeness of a stern old gentleman in powderedwig, who gazed down upon them with anything but a friendly eye.
As they stepped into the conservatory the music ceased and there was aflutter as the dancers sought seats, or stepped out upon the lawn.Archie, acutely uncomfortable, heard the Governor stifle an exclamation.
"That is she! Stand by me now! That chap's just left her. This is ourchance!"
A young woman was just seating herself in a chair at the farther cornerof the conservatory and her partner had darted away toward a table wherepunch was offered. The Governor moved toward her quickly. Archie saw herlift her head suddenly and her lips parted as though she were about tomake an outcry. Then the Governor bowed low over her hand, utteringexplanations in a low tone. Her surprise had yielded to what Archie,loitering behind, thought an expression of relief and satisfaction. Hemoved forward as the Governor turned toward him.
"Miss Hastings, Mr. Comly."
The girl had risen, perhaps the better to hide her agitation, Archiethought. She absently accepted the cup of punch brought by her partner,who, seeing her preoccupied with two strangers, pledged her to anotherdance and left them.
"My name here," the Governor was saying, "is Saulsbury."
A slight shrug and a frown betrayed displeasure, but it was only for amoment and she smiled in spite of herself. The Governor's occasionalreferences to the woman who had enchained his affections had notprepared Archie for this presentation to a Ruth who might have passedfor seventeen in a hasty scrutiny and upon whose graceful head it seemeda wickedness to add the five years the Governor had attributed to her.She was below medium height, with brown hair and eyes. There wassomething wonderfully sweet and appealing in her eyes. Imagination hadset its light in them and the Governor was a man to awaken romanticdreams in imaginative women. The tan of her cheeks emphasized her lookof youth; she would have passed for a school girl who lived in tenniscourts and found keen delight on the links. How and where the Governorcould have known her was a matter of speculation, but in his wanderingsjust such a charming gipsy might easily have captured his fancy. TheGovernor had never, not even in the presence of his sister, been sowholly the gentleman as now. He was enormously happy, but with a subduedhappiness. He was upon his good behavior and Archie was satisfied thathe would in no way abuse the hospitality of the house he had enteredwith so much effrontery. The girl would take care of that in any event.The humor of the thing was appealing to her, and her eyes danced withexcitement. How m
uch she knew about the Governor was another bafflingmatter; but she knew enough at least to know that his appearance was animpudence and with all discretion she was enjoying her connivance in herlover's appearance. A wise, self-contained young person, capable ofextricating herself from even more perilous situations. Archie likedRuth. The Governor had said that she was a bishop's daughter but for allthat she might have been the child of a race of swarthy kings.
"You couldn't have thought that I would wait when I knew that you werein a mood to tolerate me or that I might serve you!" said the Governorgravely. "If our presence is likely to prove embarrassing--"
"Oh, Aunt Louise doesn't know the names of half the people here. Shenever goes out herself; she merely asked old friends and the children ofold friends. I really didn't want this party for I'm here on business,and it's about that that I want to speak to you, please!"
"I think," said Archie, ill at ease, "that the moment has come for me toretire."
"We shall not turn you adrift!" cried Ruth. "I have a very dear friend Imust introduce you to. Oh--" she hesitated and turned to the Governor,"is Mr. Comly a roamer? Has he a heart for high adventure?"
"He speaks without accent the language of all who love the long brownroad."
"Then let him come with me!"
She laid her hand on Archie's arm, and walked toward the wide-flungdoors. The orchestra was again summoning the dancers.
"Oh, Isabel!"
Following her gaze he was glad of the slight pressure of her hand on hisarm. Here at least was something tangible in a world that totteredtoward chaos. For it was Isabel Perry who turned at the sound of Ruth'svoice. She was just at the point of gliding away with her partner.
"Miss Perry, Mr. Comly!"
The eyes that had haunted him in his wanderings flashed upon him, thennarrowed questioningly.
"Oh, Mr. Comly!" There was the slightest stress on the assumed name."After this dance--"
She slipped away leaving him staring.
"Please take me back to Mr. Saulsbury," said Ruth. "I've got to cut thisdance. I will introduce you to some other girls."
But as no other girls were immediately available he protested that hewould do very well and guided her to the Governor.
"Isabel is very busy, as usual," said Ruth, "but if Mr. Comly is a goodstrategist, he will not fail to find her again. Isabel, you know--"
"Isabel!" exclaimed the Governor. "Not really--"
"Yes, really," Archie answered, his voice hoarse as he raised it abovethe music.
The Governor struck his gloved hands together smartly. Ruth, turningfrom a youth to whom she had excused herself, asked quickly:
"What has happened? You both look as though you had seen a ghost."
"It's more mysterious than ghosts. Come; we must make the most of theseminutes. Your next partner won't give you up as meekly as that last onedid."
Archie saw them a moment later pacing back and forth in one of the walksa little distance from the house. He stationed himself at the door withsome other unattached men, and followed Isabel's course over the floorwith intent, eager eyes. The dance, to a new and enchanting air, wasprolonged and he died many deaths as he watched her, catchingtantalizing glimpses of her face only to lose it again.
No one in the happy throng seemed gayer than she; and once as shetripped by he assured himself that there was no hostility in the swiftglance she gave him. Seeing her again rilled him with a great happinessuntinged with bitterness. Among all the women of the bright company shealone was superb, and not less regal for his remembrance of her anger,the anger that had brought tears to her lovely eyes.
At the conclusion of the number, she remained, to his discomfiture, atthe farther end of the platform, and when he hurried forward in the hopeof detaching her from the group that surrounded her she did not see himat all, which was wholly discouraging. A partner sought her for the nextdance and as the music struck up he made bold to accost her.
"I am not to be eluded!" he said. "I must have at least one dance!"
"My card is filled--but I am reserving a boon for you! You shall havethe intermission," and added as by an afterthought, "Mr. Comly," with adelicious mockery.
He passed Ruth, returning to put herself in the path of her nextpartner.
"This is your punishment for coming late!" laughed the girl. There washappiness in her eyes. "How perfectly ridiculous you two men are!"
"Suppose we talk a bit," said the Governor when they had found a benchon the lawn. He was silent for several minutes, sitting erect with armsfolded.
"It's nearing the end!" he said solemnly; "there are other changes andchances perhaps, but the end is in sight. The whole thing wasunalterable from the beginning; it makes little difference what we donow. And it's you--it's you that have brought it all about. We are boundtogether by ties not of earthly making."
He laughed softly, turned and placed his hand on Archie's shoulder.
"You are beginning to believe at last?"
"I don't know what to believe," Archie answered slowly. "There'ssomething uncanny in all this. Just how much do you understand of it?"
"Precious little! Your Isabel and my Ruth are friends; quite intimatefriends indeed. In college together, I'd have you know, but I never knewit till now. That's news to you, isn't it?"
"Most astonishing news!"
"And this is the very Isabel who shattered your equanimity; told you toshoot up the world and then treated you like a pick-pocket the next timeyou met! But as old William said 'Love is not love that alters when italteration finds.'"
"Don't jump at conclusions! I was just bragging when I gave you the ideathat there was anything between us. The love's all on my side! Shetwitted me about my worthlessness that night in Washington; bade me teardown the heavens. And it oddly happened that from that hour I have neverbeen a free man; I have done things I believed myself incapable ofdoing."
"You did them rather cheerfully, I must say! But on the whole, nothingvery naughty. And I'll prepare you a little for what I prefer you shouldhear from Isabel--I got it from Ruth--you're not quite finished yet withthat pistol shot in the Congdon house. It seems to be echoing round theworld!"
Blacksheep! Blacksheep! Page 4