The Adventures of Captain Horn
Page 27
CHAPTER XXVII
EDNA MAKES HER PLANS
When she had finished reading the many pages of the letter, Edna leanedback on the sofa and closed her eyes. Ralph sat upright in his chair andgazed intently before him.
"So we are not to see the captain again," he said presently. "But Isuppose that when a man has a thing to do, the best thing is to goand do it."
"Yes," said his sister, "that is the best thing."
"And what are we to do?"
"I am now trying to decide," she answered.
"Doesn't he say anything about it?"
"Not a word," replied Edna. "I suppose he considered he had made hisletter long enough."
About an hour after this, when the two met again, Edna said: "I have beenwriting to Captain Horn, and am going to write to Mrs. Cliff. I havedecided what we shall do. I am going to France."
"To France!" cried Ralph. "Both of us?"
"Yes, both of us. I made up my mind about this since I saw you."
"What are you going to France for?" he exclaimed. "Come, let us have itall--quick."
"I am going to France," said his sister, "because Captain Horn is goingthere, and when he arrives, I wish to be there to meet him. There is noreason for our staying here--"
"Indeed, there is not," interpolated Ralph, earnestly.
"If we must go anywhere to wait," continued his sister, "I shouldprefer Paris."
"Edna," cried Ralph, "you are a woman of solid sense, and if thecaptain wants his gold divided up, he should get you to do it. And now,when are we going, and is Mrs. Cliff to go? What are you going to dowith the two darkies?"
"We shall start East as soon as the captain sails," replied his sister,"and I do not know what Mrs. Cliff will do until I hear from her, and asfor Cheditafa and Mok, we shall take them with us."
"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Mok for my valet in Paris. That's the best thingI have got out of the caves yet."
Captain Horn was a strong man, prompt in action, and no one could knowhim long without being assured of these facts. But although Edna'soutward personality was not apt to indicate quickness of decision andvigor of purpose, that quickness and vigor were hers quite as much as thecaptain's when occasion demanded, and occasion demanded them now. Thecaptain had given no indication of what he would wish her to do duringthe time which would be occupied by his voyage to Peru, his work there,and his subsequent long cruise around South America to Europe. Sheexpected that in his next letter he would say something about this, butshe wished first to say something herself.
She did not know this bold sailor as well as she loved him, and she wasnot at all sure that the plans he might make for her during his absencewould suit her disposition or her purposes. Consequently, she resolved tosubmit her plans to him before he should write again. Above everythingelse, she wished to be in that part of the world at which Captain Hornmight be expected to arrive when his present adventure should beaccomplished. She did not wish to be sent for to go to France. She didnot wish to be told that he was coming to America. Wherever he mightland, there she would be.
The point that he might be unsuccessful, and might never leave SouthAmerica, did not enter into her consideration. She was acting on thebasis that he was a man who was likely to succeed in his endeavors. Ifshe should come to know that he had not succeeded, then her actions wouldbe based upon the new circumstances.
Furthermore, she had now begun to make plans for her future life. She hadbeen waiting for Captain Horn to come to her, and to find out what heintended to do. Now she knew he was not coming to her for a long time,and was aware of what he intended to do, and she made her own plans. Ofcourse, she dealt only with the near future. All beyond that was vague,and she could not touch it even with her thoughts. When sending hisremittances, the captain had written that she and Mrs. Cliff mustconsider the money he sent her as income to be expended, not as principalto be put away or invested. He had made provisions for the future of allof them, in case he should not succeed in his present project, and whathe had not set aside with that view he had devoted to his ownoperations, and to the maintenance, for a year, of Edna, Ralph, and Mrs.Cliff, in such liberal and generous fashion as might please them, and hehad apportioned the remittances in a way which he deemed suitable. AsEdna disbursed the funds, she knew that this proportion was threequarters for herself and Ralph, and one quarter for Mrs. Cliff.
"He divides everything into four parts," she thought, "and gives mehis share."
Acting on her principle of getting every good thing out of life thatlife could give her, and getting it while life was able to give it toher, there was no doubt in regard to her desires. Apart from her wish togo where the captain expected to go, she considered that every day nowspent in America was a day lost. If her further good fortune shouldnever arrive, and the money in hand should be gone, she wished, beforethat time came, to engraft upon her existence a period of life inEurope--life of such freedom and opportunity as never before she had hada right to dream of.
Across this golden outlook there came a shadow. If he had wished to cometo her, she would have waited for him anywhere, or if he had wished herto go to him, she would have gone anywhere. But it seemed as if that massof gold, which brought them together, must keep them apart, a long timecertainly, perhaps always. Nothing that had happened had had any elementof certainty about it, and the future was still less certain. If he hadcome to her before undertaking the perilous voyage now before him, therewould have been a certainty in her life which would have satisfied herforever. But he did not come. It was plainly his intention to havenothing to do with the present until the future should be settled, so faras he could settle it.
In a few days after she had written to Captain Horn, informing him of theplans she had made to go to France, Edna received an answer whichsomewhat disappointed her. If the captain's concurrence in her proposedforeign sojourn had not been so unqualified and complete, if he hadproposed even some slight modification, if he had said anything whichwould indicate that he felt he had authority to oppose her movements ifhe did not approve of them,--in fact, even if he had opposed herplan,--she would have been better pleased. But he wrote as if he were herfinancial agent, and nothing more. The tone of his letter was kind, thearrangements he said he had made in regard to the money deposited in SanFrancisco showed a careful concern for her pleasure and convenience, butnothing in his letter indicated that he believed himself possessed in anyway of the slightest control over her actions. There was nothing like asting in that kind and generous letter, but when she had read it, thegreat longing of Edna's heart turned and stung her. But she would give nosign of this wound. She was a brave woman, and could wait still longer.
The captain informed her that everything was going well with hisenterprise--that Burke had arrived, and had agreed to take part in theexpedition, and that he expected that his brig, the _Miranda_, would beready in less than a week. He mentioned again that he was extremely busywith his operations, but he did not say that he was sorry he was unableto come to take leave of her. He detailed in full the arrangements he hadmade, and then placed in her hands the entire conduct of the financialaffairs of the party until she should hear from him again. When hearrived in France, he would address her in care of his bankers, but inregard to two points only did he now say anything which seemed like adefinite injunction or even request. He asked Edna to urge upon Mrs.Cliff the necessity of saying nothing about the discovery of the gold,for if it should become known anywhere from Greenland to Patagonia, hemight find a steamer lying off the Rackbirds' cove when his slowsailing-vessel should arrive there. The other request was that Edna keepthe two negroes with her if this would not prove inconvenient. But ifthis plan would at all trouble her, he asked that they be sent to himimmediately.
In answer to this letter, Edna merely telegraphed the captain, informinghim that she would remain in San Francisco until she had heard that hehad sailed when she would immediately start for the East, and for France,with Ralph and the two negroes.
Three days after this she received a telegram from Captain Horn, statingthat he would sail in an hour, and the next day she and her little partytook a train for New York.