CHAPTER II
It was on the night that the _King of Asia_ cleared Nagasaki for theshort run across the Yellow Sea into the flow of the Yangtze-Kiang thatPeter was sought out by that pleasant young man, Anthony Andover.
Ordinarily passengers were not allowed in the sacred quarters of thewireless house. However, those who possessed daring spirits came upanyway. Peggy Whipple came up there soon after that meeting on deck,with permission from nobody, and Peter gave her about fifteen minutesof his extremely important time on the average of nine times a day,permitting her to adorn the extra chair in the wireless shack, whereshe unconsciously revealed in her sudden and unexpected shiftings ofposture, several inches of adorable silken ankle. I think Peggy wassadly in need of an elderly chaperone, and I am somehow under theimpression that Peggy very badly wanted Peter to make love to her. Howhe resisted her speaks volumes for his quaint, mid-Victorian viewsregarding woman.
And at the end of the fifteen minutes, after regaling her with tales ofthe lands she was about to visit, he dismissed her, kindly but withgreat firmness, and she was as obedient as a lamb.
Anthony Andover, who knew more about plows perhaps than the Egyptians,gave him something else to think about. He looked up from hisinstruments that evening to see a young man of medium height, slim ofbuild, and rather pale and sharp of mien.
"My name is Anthony Andover," he said in a brisk and business-likevoice. "I wonder if I could have a talk with you."
Peter told him to sit down, and he removed the heavy nickeledhead-pieces from his ears. He expected an important radio from theShanghai Station; but that could wait. He wondered what AnthonyAndover might have on his mind.
"Mr. Moore, I'm in something of a devil of a fix, and I think you'rethe man who can get me out of it."
"Shoot," said Peter, lighting a yellow cigarette and passing the box."Chinks?" Trouble to Peter always meant Chinks; they were his symbolof danger.
"No, no! You see, all of my life I've been--well, a city man. Thebiggest adventure I ever had was a fist fight with my foreman. Now----"
"Did you lick him?" asked Peter with concern.
Anthony nodded reminiscently. "Blacked his eyes and busted his nose!"
"Good for you! Go ahead with your story."
"I've met a girl on the steamer, and according to her way of looking atthings, I lack about five thousand different parts of being a hero.You know the girl. That's why I'm bothering you like this."
"Not bothering me a bit. Who's the girl?"
"Peggy." Anthony caressed the word as if it were honey. "PeggyWhipple. Of course, the first thing I want to make sure of is, am Istepping on anybody's toes? If I am, I'll just go ahead, and play myown game my own way. If it's to be a case of a fight----"
"Hold on a moment," interrupted Peter. "I don't quite follow you.Whose toes do you think you're stepping on?"
"Well, Peggy comes up here to the wireless shack so much, that I--I----"
"Oh, not a bit of it, old man. Peggy's a nice girl. I like her.That's all."
"I--I'm mighty glad," said Anthony earnestly. "You know, she's prettymad about you, but as long as you're not interested the way I am,well----" He bit his lip nervously, and went on: "I think you'd agreewith me that it would be rather foolish of her, and very disappointingand disillusioning later on for her to marry the kind of a man shethinks she wants to marry. She has a notion that the man she marriesmust be a cross between Adonis, and--and Diamond Dick! She wants a manwho carries six-shooters in all his pockets, and who fears neither God,man, nor the devil!"
"A regular hell buster!"
"That's it! Down in her heart I think she cares for me a little bit.But I'm nothing but a plain, ordinary business man. I never didanything devilish in my life. There's nothing romantic about me. Lookat this necktie! Did you ever see a hero wearing a plain blackfour-in-hand? Never! Did you ever see a hero wearing nice tan oxfordswithout a spot of mud on them? If I can somehow manage to make herthink for a few minutes that I've got heroic stuff in me, she maylisten to a little sense. She tells me--rather she threw it in myface--that you are going to take Helen and her on a sight-seeing tripinto some of the darkest holes in Shanghai. You know the ropes, andthere's no danger, of course."
"None at all," said Peter.
"Well, I want to know if you'll let me go along. I'll stand everyexpense; I've got money to burn! Let me in on it, and----"
"But there isn't going to be a chance for anybody to be a hero. I'mgoing to take those girls to the safest place in Shanghai. A NewEngland church would be a cavern of iniquity alongside of it!"
Anthony laid his fingers along his knees.
"Well, couldn't you stir up something? That's my idea. I'll leave itto you to crack up some danger, not real danger, of course--we can'tlet those girls get near any real danger. But we can start a fakefight--or something--and give me a chance to play the hero, to rescuePeggy in my arms; that sort of stuff, you know." He looked at Peterfoolishly.
Peter stroked his nose. "It might be done," he said. "I'll see what Ican do."
Anthony arose, extended his hand, and said: "Of course, I'll need arevolver."
"Load it with blanks," advised Peter. "You know, some people thinkit's bad luck to kill a Chink."
Anthony was eyeing him curiously. "Do you?" he asked.
Peter nodded his head slowly. "Sometimes," he said.
Peter the Brazen: A Mystery Story of Modern China Page 38