CHAPTER XXXI
WAITING
For several weeks after their arrival, the members of the little partyhad but one common object,--to see and enjoy the wonders and beauties ofParis,--and in their sight-seeing they nearly always went together,sometimes taking Cheditafa and Mok with them. But as time went on, theirdifferent dispositions began to assert themselves, and in their dailypursuits they gradually drifted apart.
Mrs. Cliff was not a cultivated woman, but she had a good, common-senseappreciation of art in its various forms. She would tramp with untiringstep through the galleries of the Louvre, but when she had seen agallery, she did not care to visit it again. She went to the theatre andthe opera because she wanted to see how they acted and sang in France,but she did not wish to go often to a place where she could notunderstand a word that was spoken.
Ralph was now under the charge of a tutor, Professor Barre by name, whotook a great interest in this American boy, whose travels and experienceshad given him a precocity which the professor had never met with in anyof his other scholars. Ralph would have much preferred to study Parisinstead of books, and the professor, who was able to give a great deal oftime to his pupil, did not altogether ignore this natural instinct of ayouthful heart. In consequence, the two became very good friends, andRalph was the best-satisfied member of the party.
It was in regard to social affairs that the lives of Edna and Mrs. Cliffdiverged most frequently. Through the influence of Mrs. Sylvester, ahandsome woman with a vivacious intelligence which would have made herconspicuous in any society, Edna found that social engagements, not onlyin diplomatic circles and in those of the American colony, but, to someextent, in Parisian society, were coming upon her much more rapidly thanshe had expected. The secretary's wife was proud of her countrywoman, andglad to bring her forward in social functions. Into this new life Ednaentered as if it had been a gallery she had not yet visited, or a museumwhich she saw for the first time. She studied it, and enjoyed the study.
But only in a limited degree did Mrs. Cliff enjoy society in Paris. To besure, it was only in a limited degree that she had been asked to do it.Even with a well-filled purse and all the advantages of Paris at hercommand, she was nothing more than a plain and highly respectable womanfrom a country town in Maine. More than this silks and velvets could notmake her, and more than this she did not wish to be. As Edna's friend andcompanion, she had been kindly received at the legation, but afterattending two or three large gatherings, she concluded that she wouldwait until her return to Plainton before she entered upon any furthersocial exercises. But she was not at all dissatisfied or homesick. Shepreferred Plainton to all places in the world, but that little townshould not see her again until she could exhibit her Californian blanketsto her friends, and tell them where she got the money to buy them.
"Blankets!" she said to herself. "I am afraid they will hardly noticethem when they see the other things I shall take back there."
With society, especially such society as she could not enjoy, Mrs. Cliffcould easily dispense. So long as the shops of Paris were open to her,the delights of these wonderful marts satisfied the utmost cravings ofher heart; and as she had a fine mind for bargaining, and plenty of timeon her hands, she was gradually accumulating a well-chosen stock offurnishings and adornments, not only for her present house in Plainton,but for the large and handsome addition to it which she intended to buildon an adjoining lot. These schemes for establishing herself in Plainton,as a wealthy citizen, did not depend on the success of Captain Horn'spresent expedition. What Mrs. Cliff already possessed was a fortunesufficient for the life she desired to lead in her native town. What shewas waiting for was the privilege of going back and making that fortuneknown. As to the increase of her fortune she had but small belief. If itshould come, she might change her plans, but the claims of the nativePeruvians should not be forgotten. Even if the present period of secrecyshould be terminated by the news of the non-success of Captain Horn, sheintended to include, among her expenses, a periodical remittance to somecharitable association in Peru for the benefit of the natives.
The Christmas holidays passed, January was half gone, and Edna hadreceived no news from Captain Horn. She had hoped that before leavingSouth. America and beginning his long voyage across the Atlantic, hewould touch at some port from which he might send her a letter, which,coming by steamer, would reach her before she could expect the arrival ofthe brig. But no letter had come. She had arranged with a commercialagency to telegraph to her the moment the Miranda should arrive in anyFrench port, but no message had come, and no matter what else she wasdoing, it seemed to Edna as if she were always expecting such a message.Sometimes she thought that this long delay must mean disaster, and atsuch times she immediately set to work to reason out the matter. FromAcapulco to Cape Horn, up through the South Atlantic and the NorthAtlantic to France, was a long voyage for a sailing-vessel, and to thetime necessary for this she must add days, and perhaps weeks, of labor atthe caves, besides all sorts of delays on the voyage. Like Ralph, she hadan unbounded faith in the captain. He might not bring her one bar ofgold, he might meet with all sorts of disasters, but, whenever her mindwas in a healthy condition, she expected him to come to France, as he hadsaid he would.
She now began to feel that she was losing a great deal of time. Paris wasall very well, but it was not everything. When news should come to her,it might be necessary for her to go to America. She could not tell whatwould be necessary, and she might have to leave Europe with nothing butParis to remember. There was no good objection to travel on theContinent, for, if the _Miranda_ should arrive while she was not inParis, she would not be so far away that a telegram could not quicklybring her back. So she listened to Mrs. Cliff and her own desires, andthe party journeyed to Italy, by the way of Geneva and Bern.
Ralph was delighted with the change, for Professor Barre, his tutor, hadconsented to go with them, and, during these happy days in Italy, he wasthe preceptor of the whole party. They went to but few places that he hadnot visited before, and they saw but little that he could not talk aboutto their advantage. But, no matter what they did, every day Edna expecteda message, and every day, except Sunday, she went to the banker's to lookover the maritime news in the newspapers, and she so arranged her affairsthat she could start for France at an hour's notice.
But although Edna had greatly enjoyed the Italian journey, it came to anend at last, and it was with feelings of satisfaction that she settleddown again in Paris. Here she was in the centre of things, ready fornews, ready for arrivals, ready to go anywhere or do anything that mightbe necessary, and, more than that, there was a delightful consciousnessthat she had seen something of Switzerland and Italy, and without havingmissed a telegram by being away.
The party did not return to the Hotel Boileau. Edna now had a muchbetter idea of the Continental menage than she had brought with her fromAmerica, and she believed that she had not been living up to thestandard that Captain Horn had desired. She wished in every way toconform to his requests, and one of these had been that she shouldconsider the money he had sent her as income, and not as property. Itwas hard for her to fulfil this injunction, for her mind was aspractical as that of Mrs. Cliff, and she could not help considering thefuture, and the probability of never receiving an addition to the fundsshe now had on deposit in London and Paris. But her loyalty to the manwho had put her into possession of that money was superior to herfeelings of prudence and thrift. When he came to Paris, he should findher living as he wanted her to live. It was not necessary to spend allshe had, but, whether he came back poor or rich, he should see that shehad believed in him and in his success.
The feeling of possible disaster had almost left her. The fears that hadcome to her had caused her to reason upon the matter, and the more shereasoned, the better she convinced herself that a long period of waitingwithout news was to be expected in the case of an adventure such as thatin which Captain Horn was engaged. There was, perhaps, another reason forher present state of mind--a re
ason which she did not recognize: she hadbecome accustomed to waiting.
It was at a grand hotel that the party now established themselves, thespace, the plate-glass, the gilt, and the general splendor of which madeRalph exclaim in wonder and admiration.
"You would better look out, Edna," said he, "or it will not be longbefore we find ourselves living over in the Latin Quarter, and taking ourmeals at a restaurant where you pay a sou for the use of the napkins."
Edna's disposition demanded that her mode of life should not beostentatious, but she conformed in many ways to the style of her hotel.There were returns of hospitality. There was a liveried coachman whenthey drove. There was a general freshening of wardrobes, and evenCheditafa and Mok had new clothes, designed by an artist to suit theirpositions.
If Captain Horn should come to Paris, he should not find that she haddoubted his success, or him.
After the return from Italy, Mrs. Cliff began to chafe and worry underher restrictions. She had obtained from Europe all she wanted at present,and there was so much, in Plainton she was missing. Oh, if she could onlygo there and avow her financial condition! She lay awake at night,thinking of the opportunities that were slipping from her. From theletters that Willy Croup wrote her, she knew that people were coming tothe front in Plainton who ought to be on the back seats, and that she,who could occupy, if she chose, the best place, was thought of only as apoor widow who was companion to a lady who was travelling. It made hergrind her teeth to think of the way that Miss Shott was talking of her,and it was not long before she made up her mind that she ought to speakto Edna on the subject, and she did so.
"Go home!" exclaimed the latter. "Why, Mrs. Cliff, that would beimpossible just now. You could not go to Plainton without letting peopleknow where you got your money."
"Of course I couldn't," said Mrs. Cliff, "and I wouldn't. There havebeen times when I have yearned so much for my home that I thought itmight be possible for me to go there and say that the Valparaiso affairhad turned out splendidly, and that was how I got my money. But Icouldn't do it. I could not stand up before my minister and offer torefurnish the parsonage parlor, with such a lie as that on my lips. Butthere is no use in keeping back the real truth any longer. It is morethan eight months since Captain Horn started out for that treasure, andit is perfectly reasonable to suppose either that he has got it; or thathe never will get it, and in either one of these cases it will not doany injury to anybody if we let people know about the money we have, andwhere it came from."
"But it may do very great injury," said Edna. "Captain Horn may have beenable to take away only a part of it, and may now be engaged in gettingthe rest. There are many things which may have happened, and if we shouldnow speak of that treasure, it might ruin all his plans."
"If he has half of it," said Mrs. Cliff, "he ought to be satisfied withthat, and not keep us here on pins and needles until he gets the rest. Ofcourse, I do not want to say anything that would pain you, Edna, and Iwon't do it, but people can't help thinking, and I think that we havewaited as long as our consciences have any right to ask us to wait."
"I know what you mean," replied Edna, "but it does not give me pain. I donot believe that Captain Horn has perished, and I certainly expect soonto hear from him."
"You have been expecting that a long time," said the other.
"Yes, and I shall expect it for a good while yet. I have made up my mindthat I shall not give up my belief that Captain Horn is alive, and willcome or write to us, until we have positive news of his death, or untilone year has passed since he left Acapulco. Considering what he has donefor us, Mrs. Cliff, I think it very little for us to wait one year beforewe betray the trust he has placed in us, and, merely for the sake ofcarrying out our own plans a little sooner, utterly ruin the plans he hasmade, and which he intends as much for our benefit as for his own."
Mrs. Cliff said no more, but she thought that was all very well for Edna,who was enjoying herself in a way that suited her, but it was verydifferent for her.
In her heart of hearts, Mrs. Cliff now believed they would never seeCaptain Horn again. "For if he were alive," she said to herself, "hewould certainly have contrived in some way or other to send some sort ofa message. With the whole world covered with post routes andtelegraph-wires, it would be simply impossible for Captain Horn and thosetwo sailors to keep absolutely silent and unheard of for such a longtime--unless," she continued, hesitating even in her thoughts, "theydon't want to be heard from." But the good lady would not allow her mindto dwell on that proposition; it was too dreadful!
And so Edna waited and waited, hoping day by day for good news fromCaptain Horn; and so Mrs. Cliff waited and waited, hoping for news fromCaptain Horn--good news, if possible, but in any case something certainand definite, something that would make them know what sort of life theywere to lead in this world, and make them free to go and live it.
The Adventures of Captain Horn Page 31