by Owen Wister
XXI: Hortense's Cigarette Goes Out
John was the riddle that I could not read. Among my last actions ofthis day was one that had been almost my earliest, and bedtime found mestaring at his letter, as I stood, half undressed, by my table. The calmmoon brought back Udolpho and what had been said there, as it now shonedown upon the garden where Hortense had danced. I stared at John'sletter as if its words were new to me, instead of being words that Icould have fluently repeated from beginning to end without an error; itwas as if, by virtue of mere gazing at the document, I hoped to wringmore meaning from it, to divine what had been in the mind which hadcomposed it; but instead of this, I seemed to get less from it, insteadof more. Had the boy's purpose been to mystify me, he could scarce havedone better. I think that he had no such intention, for it would havebeen wholly unlike him; but I saw no sign in it that I had really helpedhim, had really shaken his old quixotic resolve, nor did I see anyof his having found a new way of his own out of the trap. I could notbelieve that the dark road of escape had taken any lodgement in histhought, but had only passed over it, like a cloud with a heavy shadow.But these are surmises at the best: if John had formed any plan, I cannever know it, and Juno's remarks at breakfast on Sunday morning soundedstrange, like something a thousand miles away. For she spoke of thewedding, and of the fact that it would certainly be a small one. Shewent over the names of the people who would have to be invited, anddoubted if she were one of these. But if she should be, then she wouldgo--for the sake of Miss Josephine St. Michael, she declared. In short,it was perfectly plain that Juno was much afraid of being left out, andthat wild horses could not drag her away from it, if an invitation cameto her. But, as I say, this side of the wedding seemed to have nothingto do with it, when I thought of all that lay beneath; my one interestto-day was to see John Mayrant, to get from him, if not by some word,then by some look or intonation, a knowledge of what he meant to do.Therefore, disappointment and some anxiety met me when I stepped fromthe Hermana's gangway upon her deck, and Charley asked me if he wascoming. But the launch, sent back to wait, finally brought John,apologizing for his lateness.
Meanwhile, I was pleased to find among the otherwise complete partyGeneral Rieppe. What I had seen of him from a distance held promise, andthe hero's nearer self fulfilled it. We fell to each other's lot for themost natural of reasons: nobody else desired the company of either ofus. Charley was making himself the devoted servant of Hortense, whileKitty drew Beverly, Bohm, and Gazza in her sprightly wake. To her,indeed, I made a few compliments during the first few minutes after mycoming aboard, while every sort of drink and cigar was being circulatedamong us by the cabin boy. Kitty's costume was the most markedlymaritime thing that I have ever beheld in any waters, and her whiteshoes looked (I must confess) supremely well on her pretty little feet.I am no advocate of sumptuary laws; but there should be one prohibitingbig-footed women from wearing white shoes. Did these women know what aspatulated effect their feet so shod produce, no law would be needed.Yes, Kitty was superlatively, stridently maritime; you could have knownfrom a great distance that she belonged to the very latest steam yachtclass, and that she was perfectly ignorant of the whole subject. On herleft arm, for instance, was worked a red propeller with one blade down,and two chevrons. It was the rating mark for a chief engineer, but this,had she known it, would not have disturbed her.
"I chose it," she told me in reply to my admiration of it, "becauseit's so pretty. Oh, won't we enjoy ourselves while those stupid oldblue-bloods in Kings Port are going to church!" And with this she gavea skip, and ordered the cabin boy to bring her a Remsen cooler. BeverlyRodgers called for dwarf's blood, and I chose a horse's neck, and soonfound myself in the society of the General.
He was sipping whiskey and plain water. "I am a rough soldiers sir," heexplained to me, "and I keep to the simple beverage of the camp. Had wenot 'rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we knownot of'?" And he waved a stately hand at my horse's neck. "You areacquainted with the works of Shakespeare?"
I replied that I had a moderate knowledge of them, and assured him thata horse's neck was very simple.
"Doubtless, sir; but a veteran is ever old-fashioned."
"Papa," said Hortense, "don't let the sun shine upon your head."
"Thank you, daughter mine." They said no more; but I presently felt thatfor some reason she watched him.
He moved farther beneath the awning, and I followed him. "Are you afather, sir? No? Then you cannot appreciate what it is to confide such ajewel as yon girl to another's keeping." He summoned the cabin boy, whobrought him some more of the simple beverage of the camp, and I, feelingmyself scarce at liberty to speak on matters so near to him and sofar from me as his daughter's marriage, called his attention to thebeautiful aspect of Kings Port, spread out before us in a long whiteline against the blue water.
The General immediately seized his opportunity. "'Sweet Auburn,loveliest village of the plain!' You are acquainted with the works ofGoldsmith, sir?"
I professed some knowledge of this author also, and the General's talkflowed ornately onward. Though I had little to say to him about hisdaughter's marriage, he had much to say to me. Miss Josephine St.Michael would have been gratified to hear that her family was consideredsuitable for Hortense to contract an alliance with. "My girl is notstepping down, sir," the father assured me; and he commended the St.Michaels and the whole connection. He next alluded tragically butvaguely to misfortunes which had totally deprived him of income. I couldnot precisely fix what his inheritance had been; sometimes he spoke ofcotton, but next it would be rice, and he touched upon sugar more thanonce; but, whatever it was, it had been vast and was gone. He told methat I could not imagine the feelings of a father who possessed a jeweland no dowry to give her. "A queen's estate should have been hers," hesaid. "But what! 'Who steals my purse steals trash.'" And he sat up,nobly braced by the philosophic thought. But he soon was shaking hishead over his enfeebled health. Was I aware that he had been the causeof postponing the young people's joy twice? Twice had the doctorsforbidden him to risk the emotions that would attend his giving hisjewel away. He dwelt upon his shattered system to me, and, indeed,it required some dwelling on, for he was the picture of admirablepreservation. "But I know what it is myself," he declared, "to be alover and have bliss delayed. They shall be united now. A soldier mustface all arrows. What!"
I had hoped he might quote something here, but was disappointed.His conversation would soon cease to interest me, should I lose theexcitement of watching for the next classic; and my eye wandered fromthe General to the water, where, happily, I saw John Mayrant coming inthe launch. I briskly called the General's attention to him, and wasdelighted with the unexpected result.
"'Oh, young Lochinvar has come out of the West,'" said the General,lifting his glass.
I touched it ceremoniously with mine. "The day will be hot," I said;"'The boy stood on the burning deck.'"
On this I made my escape from him, and, leaving him to his whiskey andhis contemplating, I became aware that the eyes of the rest of the partywere eager to watch the greeting between Hortense and John. But therewas nothing to see. Hortense waited until her lover had made hisapologies to Charley for being late, and, from the way they met,she might have been no more to him than Kitty was. Whatever might bethought, whatever might be known, by these onlookers, Hortense set thepace of how the open secret was to be taken. She made it, for all of us,as smooth and smiling as the waters of Kings Port were this fine day.How much did they each know? I asked myself how much they had sharedin common. To these Replacers Kings Port had opened no doors; they andtheir automobile had skirted around the outside of all things. And ifCharley knew about the wedding, he also knew that it had been alreadytwice postponed. He, too, could have said, as Miss Eliza had once saidto me, "The cake is not baked yet." The General's talk to me (I felt asI took in how his health had been the centred point) was probably theresult of previous arrangements with Hortense herself; and she quite ascertainly i
nspired whatever she allowed him to say to Charley.
As for Kitty, she knew that her brother was "set"; she always came backto that.
If Hortense found this Sunday morning a passage of particularly delicatesteering, she showed it in no way, unless by that heightened radianceand triumph of beauty which I had seen in her before. No; the splendorof the day, the luxuries of the Hermana, the conviviality of theReplacers--all melted the occasion down to an ease and enjoyment inwhich even John Mayrant, with his grave face, was not perceptible,unless, like myself, one watched him.
It was my full expectation that we should now get under way and proceedamong the various historic sights of Kings Port harbor, but of this Isaw no signs anywhere on board the Hermana. Abeam of the foremast herboat booms remained rigged out on port and starboard, her boats ridingto painters, while her crew wore a look as generally lounging as that ofher passengers. Beverly Rodgers told me the reason: we had no pilot; thenegro Waterman engaged for this excursion in the upper waters had failedof appearance, and when Charley was for looking up another, Kitty, Bohm,and Gazza had dissuaded him.
"Kitty," said Beverly, "told me she didn't care about the musty oldforts and things, anyhow."
I looked at Kitty, and heard her tongue ticking away, like the littleclock she was; she had her Bohm, she had her nautical costume and herRemsen cooler. These, with the lunch that would come in time, wereenough for her.
"But it was such a good chance!" I exclaimed in disappointment
"Chance for what, old man?"
"To see everything--the forts, the islands--and it's beautiful, youknow, all the way to the navy yard."
Beverly followed my glance to where the gay company was sitting amongthe cracked ice, and bottles, and cigar boxes, chattering volubly, withits back to the scenery. He gave his laisser-faire chuckle, and laid ahand on my shoulder. "Don't worry 'em with forts and islands, old boy!They know what they want. No living breed on earth knows better what itwants."
"Well, they don't get it."
"Ho, don't they?"
"The cold fear of ennui gnaws at their vitals this minute."
Shrill laughter from Kitty and Gazza served to refute my theory.
"Of course, very few know what's the matter with them," I added. "Youseldom spot an organic disease at the start."
"Hm," said Beverly, lengthily. "You put a pin through some of 'em.Hortense hasn't got the disease, though."
"Ah, she spotted it! She's taking treatment. It's likely to helpher--for a time."
He looked at me. "You know something."
I nodded. He looked at Hortense, who was now seated among the noisygroup with quiet John beside her. She was talking to Bohm, she had noair of any special relation to John, but there was a lustre about herthat spoke well for the treatment.
"Then it's coming off?" said Beverly.
"She has been too much for him," I answered.
Beverly misunderstood. "He doesn't look it."
"That's what I mean."
"But the fool can cut loose!"
"Oh, you and I have gone over all that! I've even gone over it withhim."
Beverly looked at Hortense again. "And her fire-eater's fortune is aboutdouble what it would have been. I don't see how she's going to squareherself with Charley."
"She'll wait till that's necessary. It isn't necessary to-day."
We had to drop our subject here, for the owner of the Hermana approachedus with the amiable purpose, I found, of making himself civil for awhile to me.
"I think you would have been interested to see the navy yard," I said tohim.
"I have seen it," Charley replied, in his slightly foreign, carefulvoice. "It is not a navy yard. It is small politics and a big swamp. Iwas not interested."
"Dear me!" I cried. "But surely it's going to be very fine!"
"Another gold brick sold to Uncle Sam." Charley's words seemed alwaysto drop out like little accurately measured coins from some mintingmachine. "They should not have changed from the old place if they wanteda harbor that could be used in war-time. Here they must always keep atleast one dredge going out at the jetties. So the enemy blows up yourdredge and you are bottled in, or bottled out. It is very simple for theenemy. And, for Kings Port, navy yards do not galvanize dead trade. Itwas a gold brick. You have not been on the Hermana before?"
He knew that I had not, but he wishes to show her to me; and Isoon noted a difference as radical as it was diverting between thisbanker-yachtsman's speech when he talked of affairs on land and whenhe attempted to deal with nautical matters. The clear, dispassionatefinality of his tone when phosphates, or railroads, or navy yards, orimperial loans were concerned, left him, and changed to somethingvery like a recitation of trigonometry well memorized but not at allmastered; he could do that particular sum, but you mustn't stop him;and I concluded that I would rather have Charley for my captain duringa panic in Wall Street than in a hurricane at sea. He, too, wore highlypronounced sea clothes of the ornamental kind; and though they fittedhim physically, they hung baggily upon his unmarine spirit; giving himthe air, as it were, of a broiled quail served on oyster shells. BeverlyRodgers, the consummate Beverly, was the only man of us whose clothesseemed to belong to him; he looked as if he could sail a boat.
While the cabin boy continued to rush among the guests with siphons,ice, and fresh refreshments, Charley became the Hermana's guidebookfor me; and our interview gave me, I may say, entertainment unalloyed,although there lay all the while, beneath the entertainment, my sadnessand concern about John. Charley was owner of the Hermana, there wasno doubt of that; she had cost him (it was not long before he told me)fifty thousand dollars, and to run her it cost him a thousand a month.Yes, he was her owner, but there it stopped, no matter with how solemna face he inspected each part of her, or spoke of her details; he was asmuch a passenger on her as myself; and this was as plain on the equallysolemn faces of his crew, from the sailing-master down through the twoquartermasters to the five deck-hands, as was the color of theHermana's stack, which was, of course, yellow. She was a pole-mast,schooner-rigged steam yacht, Charley accurately told me, with clipperbow and spiked bowsprit.
"About a hundred tons?" I inquired.
"Yes. A hundred feet long, beam twenty feet, and she draws twelve feet,"said Charley; and I thought I detected the mate listening to him.
He now called my attention to the flags, and I am certain that I sawthe sailing-master hide his mouth with his hand. Some of the deck-handsseemed to gather delicately nearer to us.
"Sunday, of course," I said; and I pointed to the Jack flying from astaff at the bow.
But Charley did not wish me to tell him about the flags, he wished totell me about the flags. "I am very strict about all this," he said, hisgravity and nauticality increasing with every word. "At the fore truckflies our club burgee."
I went through my part, giving a solemn, silent, intelligent assent.
"That is my private signal at the main truck. It was designed by MissRieppe."
As I again intelligently nodded, I saw the boatswain move an elbow intothe ribs of one of the quartermasters.
"On the staff at the taffrail I have the United States yacht ensign,"Charley continued. "That's all," he said, looking about for more flags,and (to his disappointment, I think) finding no more. For he added: "Butat twelve o'c--at eight bells, the crew's meal-flag will be in theport fore rigging. While we are at lunch, my meal-flag will be in thestarboard main rigging."
"It should be there all day," I was tempted to remark to him, as mywandering eye fell on the cabin boy carrying something more on a plateto Kitty. But instead of this I said: "Well, she's a beautiful boat!"
Charley shook his head. "I'm going to get rid of her."
I was surprised. "Isn't she all right?" It seemed to me that the crewbehind us were very attentive now.
"There is not enough refrigerator space," said Charley. One of thedeck-hands whirled round instantly; but stolidity sat like adamant uponthe faces of the others as Charley t
urned in their direction, and wecontinued our tour of the Hermana. Thus the little banker let me seehis little soul, deep down; and there I saw that to pass for a realyachtsman--which he would never be able to do--was dearer to his pridethan to bring off successfully some huge and delicate matter in theworld's finance--which he could always do supremely well. "I'm just likethat, too," I thought to myself; and we returned to the gay Kitty.
But Kitty, despite her gayety, had serious thoughts upon her mind.Charley's attentions to me had met all that politeness required, andas we went aft again, his sister caused certain movements andrearrangements to happen with chairs and people. I didn't know this atonce, but I knew it when I found myself somehow sitting with her andJohn, and saw Hortense with Charley. Hortense looked over at Kitty witha something that had in it both raised eyebrows and a shrug, thoughthese visible signs did not occur; and, indeed, so far as anythingvisible went (except the look) you might have supposed that now Hortensehad no thoughts for any man in the world save Charley. And John wasplainly more at ease with Kitty! He began to make himself agreeable, sothat once or twice she gave him a glance of surprise. There was nothingto mark him out from the others, except his paleness in the midst oftheir redness. Yachting clothes bring out wonderfully how much you arein the habit of eating and drinking; and an innocent stranger might havesupposed that the Replacers were richly sunburned from exposure to theblazing waters of Cuba and the tropics. Kitty deemed it suitable toextol Kings Port to John. "Quaint" was the word that did most of thiswork for her; she found everything that, even the negroes; and whenshe had come to the end of it, she supposed the inside must be just as"quaint" as the outside.
"It is," said John Mayrant. He was enjoying Kitty. Then he becameimpertinent. "You ought to see it."
"Do you stay inside much?" said Kitty.
"We all do," said John. "Some of us never come out."
"But you came out?" Kitty suggested.
"Oh, I've been out," John returned. He was getting older. I doubt if thepast few years of his life had matured him as much as had the past fewdays. Then he looked at Kitty in the eyes. "And I'd always come out--ifRomance rang the bell."
"Hm!" said Kitty. "Then you know that ring?"
"We begin to hear it early in Kings Port," remarked John. "About the ageof fourteen."
Kitty looked at him with an interest that now plainly revealedcuriosity also. It occurred to me that he could not have found anygreat embarrassment in getting on at Newport. "What if I rang the bellmyself?" explained Kitty.
"Come in the evening," returned John. "We won't go home till morning."
Kitty kissed her hand to him, and, during the pleased giggle thatshe gave, I saw her first taking in John and then Hortense. Kittywas thinking, thinking, of John's "crudity." And so I made a littleexperiment for myself.
"I wonder if men seem as similar in making love as women do in receivingit?"
"They aren't!" shouted both John and Kitty, in the same indignantbreath. Their noise brought Bohm to listen to us.
This experiment was so much a success that I promptly made anotherfor the special benefit of Bohm, Kitty's next husband. I find it oftendelightful to make a little gratuitous mischief, just to watch thevictims. I addressed Kitty. "What would you do if a man said he coulddrown in your hair as joyfully as the Duke of Clarence did in his buttof Malmsey?"
"Why--why--" gasped Kitty, "why--why--"
I suppose it gave John time; but even so he was splendid.
"She has heard it said!" This was his triumphant shout. I should nothave supposed that Kitty could have turned any redder, but she did. Johnburied his nose in his tall glass, and gulped a choking quantity of itscontents, and mopped his face profusely; but little good that effected.There sat this altogether innocent pair, deeply suffused with thecrimson of apparent guilt, and there stood Kitty's next husband, eyeingthem suspiciously. My little gratuitous mischief was a perfect success,and remains with me as one of the bright spots in this day of pleasure.
Vivacious measures from the piano brought Kitty to her feet.
"There's Gazza!" she cried. "We'll make him sing!" And on the instantshe was gone down the companionway. Bohm followed her with a lessagitated speed, and soon all were gone below, leaving John and me aloneon the deck, sitting together in silence.
John lolled back in his chair, slowly sipping at his tall glass, andneither of us made any remark. I think he wanted to ask me how I came tomention the Duke of Clarence; but I did not see how he very well could,and he certainly made no attempt to do so. Thus did we sit for sometime, hearing the piano and the company grow livelier and louder withsolos, and choruses, and laughter. By and by the shadow of the awningshifted, causing me to look up, when I saw the shores slowly changing;the tide had turned, and was beginning to run out. Land and water layin immense peace; the long, white, silent picture of the town with itssteeples on the one hand, and on the other the long, low shore, and thetrees behind. Into this rose the high voice of Gazza, singing in brokenEnglish, "Razzla-dazzla, razzla-dazzla," while his hearers beat uponglasses with spoons--at least so I conjectured.
"Aren't you coming, John?" asked Hortense, appearing at thecompanionway. She looked very bacchanalian. Her splendid amber hair washalf riotous, and I was reminded of the toboggan fire-escape.
He obeyed her; and now I had the deck entirely to myself, or, rather,but one other and distant person shared it with me. The hour hadcome, the bells had struck; Charley's crew was eating its dinnerbelow forward; Charley's guests were drinking their liquor below aft;Charley's correct meal-flag was to be seen in the port fore rigging, ashe had said, red and triangular; and away off from me in the bow wasthe anchor watch, whom I dreamily watched trying to light his pipe.His matches seemed to be bad; and the brotherly thought of helpinghim drifted into my mind--and comfortably out of it again, withoutdisturbing my agreeable repose. It had been really entertaining in Johnto tell Kitty that she ought to see the inside of Kings Port; that waslike his engaging impishness with Juno. If by any possible contrivance(and none was possible) Kitty and her Replacers could have metthe inside of Kings Port, Kitty would have added one more "quaint"impression to her stock, and gone away in total ignorance of the qualityof the impression she had made--and Bohm would probably have againremarked, "Worse than Sunday." No; the St. Michaels and the Replacerswould never meet in this world, and I see no reason that they shouldin the next. John's light and pleasing skirmish with Kitty gave me theglimpse of his capacities which I had lacked hitherto. John evidently"knew his way about," as they say; and I was diverted to think how MissJosephine St. Michael would have nodded over his adequacy and shakenher head at his squandering it on such a companion. But it was nosquandering; the boy's heavy spirit was making a gallant "bluff" atplaying up with the lively party he had no choice but to join, and thisone saw the moment he was not called upon to play up.
The peaceful loveliness that floated from earth and water around metriumphed over the jangling hilarity of the cabin, and I dozed away,aware that they were now all thumping furiously in chorus, while Gazzasang something that went, "Oh, she's my leetle preety poosee pet."When I roused, it was Kitty's voice at the piano, but no change in thequality of the song or the thumping; and Hortense was stepping ondeck. She had a cigarette, her beauty flashed with devilment, and Johnfollowed her. "They are going to have an explanation," I thought, as Isaw his face. If that were so, then Kitty had blundered in her strategyand hurt Charley's cause; for after the two came Gazza, as obviously"sent" as any emissary ever looked: Kitty took care of the singing,while Gazza intercepted any tete-a-tete. I rose and made a fourth withthem, and even as I was drawing near, the devilment in Hortense's facesank inward beneath cold displeasure.
I had never been a welcome person to Hortense, and she made as littleeffort to conceal this as usual. Her indifferent eyes glanced at me withdrowsy insolence, and she made her beautiful, low voice as remote andinattentive as her skilful social equipment could render it.
"It is so hot in the cabin."
This was all she had for me. Then she looked at Gazza with returninganimation.
"Oh, la la!" said Gazza. "If it is hot in the cabin!" And he flirted hishandkerchief back and forth.
"I think I had the best of it," I remarked. "All the melody and none ofthe temperature."
Hortense saw no need of noticing me further
"The singer has the worst of it," said Gazza.
"But since you all sang!" I laughed.
"Miss Rieppe, she is cool," continued Gazza. "And she danced. It is notfair."
John contributed nothing. He was by no means playing up now. He waslooking away at the shore.
Gazza hummed a little fragment. "But after lunch I will sing you goodmusic."
"So long as it keeps us cool," I suggested.
"Ah, no! It will not be cool music!" cried Gazza--"for those whounderstand."
"Are those boys bathing?" Hortense now inquired.
We watched the distant figures, and presently they flashed into thewater.
"Oh, me!" sighed Gazza. "If I were a boy!"
Hortense looked at him. "You would be afraid." The devilment had comeout again, suddenly and brilliantly:
"I never have been afraid!" declared Gazza.
"You would not jump in after me," said Hortense, taking his measure moreand more provokingly.
Gazza laid his hand on his heart. "Where you go, I will go!"
Hortense looked at him, and laughed very slightly and lightly.
"I swear it! I swear!" protested Gazza.
John's eyes were now fixed upon Hortense.
"Would you go?" she asked him
"Decidedly not!" he returned. I don't know whether he was angry oranxious.
"Oh, yes, you would!" said Hortense; and she jumped into the water,cigarette and all.
"Get a boat, quick," said John to me; and with his coat flung off he wasin the river, whose current Hortense could scarce have reckoned with;for they were both already astern as I ran out on the port boat boom.
Gazza was dancing and shrieking, "Man overboard!" which, indeed, was thecorrect expression, only it did not apply to himself. Gazza was a verysensible person. I had, as I dropped into the nearest boat, a brisksight of the sailing-master, springing like a jack-in-the-box on thedeserted deck, with a roar of "Where's that haymaker?" His reference wasto the anchor watch. The temptation to procure good matches to lighthis pipe had ended (I learned later) by proving too much for thisresponsible sailor-man, and he had unfortunately chosen for goingbelow just the unexpected moment when it had entered the daring head ofHortense to perform this extravagance. Of course, before I had pulledmany strokes, the deck of the Hermana was alive with many manifestationsof life-saving and they had most likely been in time. But I am notperfectly sure of this; the current was strong, and a surprisingdistance seemed to broaden between me and the Hermana before anotherboat came into sight around her stern. By then, or just after that (forI cannot clearly remember the details of these few anxious minutes), Ihad caught up with John, whose face, and total silence, as he grippedthe stern of the boat with one hand and held Hortense with the other,plainly betrayed it was high time somebody came. A man can swim(especially in salt water) with his shoes on, and his clothes addnothing of embarrassment, if his arms are free; but a woman's clothesdo not help either his buoyancy or the freedom of his movement. John nowlifted Hortense's two hands, which took a good hold of the boat. Frombetween her lips the dishevelled cigarette, bitten through and limp,fell into the water. The boat felt the weight of the two hands to it.
"Take care," I warned John.
Hortense opened her eyes and looked at me; she knew that I meant her."I'll not swamp you." This was her first remark. Her next was when,after no incautious haste, I had hauled her in over the stern, Johnworking round to the bow for the sake of balance: "I was not dressed forswimming." Very quietly did Hortense speak; very coolly, very evenly; nofainting--and no flippancy; she was too game for either.
After this, whatever emotions she had felt, or was feeling, she showednone of them, unless it was by her complete silence. John's coming intothe boat we managed with sufficient dexterity; aided by the horrifiedCharley, who now arrived personally in the other boat, and was fortaking all three of us into that. But this was altogether unnecessary;he was made to understand that such transferences as it would occasionwere superfluous, and so one of his men stepped into our boat to help meto row back against the current; and for this I was not unthankful.
Our return took, it appeared to me, a much longer time than everythingelse which had happened. When I looked over my shoulder at the Hermana,she seemed an incredible distance off, and when I looked again, she hadgrown so very little nearer that I abandoned this fruitless proceeding.Charley's boat had gone ahead to announce the good news to GeneralRieppe as soon as possible. But if our return was long to me, toHortense it was not so. She sat beside her lover in the stern, and Iknew that he was more to her than ever: it was her spirit also thatwanted him now. Poor Kitty's words of prophecy had come perversely true:"Something will happen, and that boy'll be conspicuous." Well, it hadhappened with a vengeance, and all wrong for Kitty, and all wrong forme! Then I remembered Charley, last of all. My doubt as to what he wouldhave done, had he been on deck, was settled later by learning from hisown lips that he did not know how to swim.
Yes, the sentimental world (and by that I mean the immense and mournfulpreponderance of fools, and not the few of true sentiment) would soonbe exclaiming: "How romantic! She found her heart! She had a glimpse ofDeath's angel, and in that light saw her life's true happiness!" But Ishould say nothing like that, nor would Miss Josephine St. Michael, if Iread that lady at all right. She didn't know what I did about Hortense.She hadn't overheard Sophistication confessing amorous curiosity aboutInnocence; but the old Kings Port lady's sound instinct would tell herthat a souse in the water wasn't likely to be enough to wash away theseasoning of a lifetime; and she would wait, as I should, for the daywhen Hortense, having had her taste of John's innocence, and havinggrown used to the souse in the water, would wax restless for theReplacers, for excitement, for complexity, for the prismatic life. Thenit might interest her to corrupt John; but if she couldn't, where wouldher occupation be, and how were they going to pull through?
But now, there sat Hortense in the stern, melted into whatever best shewas capable of; it had come into her face, her face was to be read--forthe first time since I had known it--and, strangely enough, I couldn'tread John's at all. It seemed happy, which was impossible.
"Way enough!" he cried suddenly, and, at his command, the sailor and Itook in our oars. Here was Hermana's gangway, and crowding faces above,and ejaculations and tears from Kitty. Yes, Hortense would have likedthat return voyage to last longer. I was first on the gangway, and stoodto wait and give them a hand out; but she lingered, and; rising slowly,spoke her first word to him, softly:--
"And so I owe you my life."
"And so I restore it to you complete," said John, instantly.
None could have heard it but myself--unless the sailor, beyond whosecomprehension it was--and I doubted for a moment if I could have heardright; but it was for a moment only. Hortense stood stiff, and then,turning, came in front of him, and I read her face for an instant longerbefore the furious hate in it was mastered to meet her father's embrace,as I helped her up the gang.
"Daughter mine!" said the General, with a magnificent break in hisvoice.
But Hortense was game to the end. She took Kitty's-hysterics and themen's various grades of congratulation; her word to Gazza would havebeen supreme, but for his imperishable rejoinder.
"I told you you wouldn't jump," was what she said.
Gazza stretched both arms, pointing to John. "But a native! He was surerto find you!"
At this they all remembered John, whom they thus far hadn't thought of.
"Where is that lion-hearted boy?" the General called out.
John hadn't got out of the boat; he thought he ought to change his
clothes, he said; and when Charley, truly astonished, proffered hisentire wardrobe and reminded him of lunch, it was thank you very much,but if he could be put ashore--I looked for Hortense, to see what shewould do, but Hortense, had gone below with Kitty to change her clothes,and the genuinely hearty protestations from all the rest brought merelypleasantly firm politeness from John, as he put on again the coat hehad flung off on jumping. At least he would take a drink, urged Charley.Yes, thank you, he would; and he chose brandy-and-soda, of which hepoured himself a remarkably stiff one. Charley and I poured ourselvesmilder ones, for the sake of company.
"Here's how," said Charley to John.
"Yes, here's how," I added more emphatically.
John looked at Charley with a somewhat extraordinary smile. "Here'sunquestionably how!" he exclaimed.
We had a gay lunch; I should have supposed there was plenty of room inthe Hermana's refrigerator; nor did the absence of Hortense and John,the cause of our jubilation, at all interfere with the jubilationitself; by the time the launch was ready to put me ashore, Gazzahad sung several miles of "good music" and double that quantity of"razzla-dazzla," and General Rieppe was crying copiously, and assuringeverybody that God was very good to him. But Kitty had told us all thatshe intended Hortense to remain quiet in her cabin; and she kept herword.
Quite suddenly, as the launch was speeding me toward Kings Port, Iexclaimed aloud: "The cake!"
And, I thought, the cake was now settled forever.
