CHAPTER THREE
I
With all his outward candor the Governor had, Archie found, reservesthat were quite unaccountable. He let fall allusions to his past in themost natural fashion, with an incidental air that added to theirplausibility, without ever tearing aside the veil that concealed hisorigin or the manner of his fall, if, indeed, a man who so jubilantlyboasted of his crimes and seemed to find an infinite satisfaction anddelight in his turpitude, could be said to have fallen. Having mentionedBrattleboro as the point at which they were to foregather with RedLeary, the Governor did not refer to the matter again, but chose routesand made detours without explanation.
As a matter of fact they swung round Brattleboro and saw only the faintblue of its smoke from the western side. It was on the second afternoonout of Cornford that the Governor suddenly bade Archie, whom heencouraged to drive much of the time, pause at a gate.
"We linger here, son. May I suggest that you take your cue from me? BillWalker is an honest dairyman to all intents and purposes, but really anold crook who got tired of dodging sheriffs and bloodhounds and boughtthis farm. A sober, industrious family man, you will find him, with awife and one daughter. This is one of the best stations of theunderground railroad; safe as a mother's arms, and you will neverbelieve you're not the favored guest of a week-end party. Walker's anold chum of Leary's. They used to cut up in the most reprehensiblefashion out West in old times. You've probably wondered what becomes ofold crooks. Walker is of course an unusual specimen, for he knew whenthe quitting was good, and having salted away a nice little fortuneaccumulated in express hold-ups, he dwells here in peace and passes thehat at the meeting house every Sunday. You may be dead sure that onlythe aristocracy of our profession have the entree at Walker's. His herdon the hillside yonder makes a pretty picture of tranquillity. The houseis an old timer, but he's made a comfortable place of it, and the wifeand daughter set a wonderful table. Here's the old boy now."
A gray-bearded man with a pronounced stoop, clad in faded blue overalls,was waiting for them at the barn.
"Just run the machine right in," he called.
The car disposed of, the Governor introduced Archie as one of hisdearest friends, and the hand Archie clasped was undeniably roughened bytoil. Walker mumbled a "glad-to-see-ye," and lazily looked him over.
"Always glad to meet any friend of Mr. Saulsbury's," he drawled with amournful twang. "We've got plenty o' bread and milk for strangers.Somebody's spread the idea we run a hotel here and we're pestered a gooddeal with folks that want to stop for a meal. We take care o' 'emmostly. The wife and little gal sort o' like havin' folks stop; takesaway the lonesomeness."
There was nothing in his speech or manner to suggest that he had everbeen a road agent. He assisted them in carrying their traps to thehouse, talking farmer fashion of the weather, crops and the state of theroads. The house was connected with the barn in the usual New Englandstyle. In the kitchen a girl sang cheerily and hearing her the Governorpaused and struck an attitude.
"O divinity! O Deity of the Green Hills! O Lovely Daughter of the Stars!O Iphigenia!"
The girl appeared at a window, rested her bare arms on the sill andsmilingly saluted them with a cheery "Hello there!"
"Look upon that picture!" exclaimed the Governor, seizing Archie's arm."In old times upon Olympus she was cup-bearer to the gods, but here sheis Sally Walker, and never so charming as when she sits enthroned uponthe milking stool. Miss Walker, my old friend, Mr. Comly, or Achilles,as you will!"
A very pretty picture Miss Walker made in the kitchen window, a vividportrait that immediately enhanced Archie's pleasurable sensations infinding a haven that promised rest and security. Her black hair wasswept back smoothly from her forehead and there was the glow of perfecthealth in her rounded cheeks. Archie noted her dimples and the whiteeven teeth that made something noteworthy and memorable of her smile.
"Well, Mr. Saulsbury, I've read all those books you sent me, and thecandy was the finest I ever tasted."
"She remembers! Amid all her domestic cares, she remembers! My dear lad,the girl is one in a million!"
"You'd think Mr. Saulsbury was crazy about me!" she laughed. "But hemakes the same speeches to every girl he sees, doesn't he, Mr. Comly?"
"Indeed not," protested Archie, rallying bravely to the Governor'ssupport. "He's been raving about you for days and my only surprise isthat he so completely failed to give me the faintest idea--idea--"
"Of your charm, your ineffable beauty!" the Governor supplied. "You see,Sally, my friend is shy with the shyness of youth and inexperience andhe is unable to utter the thoughts that do in him rise! I can see thathe is your captive, your meekest slave. By the way, will there becottage cheese prepared by your own adorable hand for supper? Are goldenwaffles likely to confront us on the breakfast table tomorrow at thehideous hour of five-thirty? Will there be maple syrup from yonderhillside grove?"
"You have said it!" Sally answered. "But you'd better chase yourselvesinto the house now or pop'll be peeved at having to wait for you."
On the veranda a tall elderly man rose from a hammock in which he hadbeen reading a newspaper and stretched himself. His tanned face wasdeeply lined but he gave the impression of health and vigor.
"Leary," whispered the Governor in an aside and immediately introducedhim.
"The road has been smooth and the sky is high," said the Governor inresponse to a quick anxious questioning of Leary's small restless eyes.
"Did you find peace in the churches by the way?" asked Leary.
"In one of the temples we found peace and plenty," answered the Governoras though reciting from a ritual.
Leary nodded and gave a hitch to his trousers.
"You found the waters of Champlain tranquil, and no hawks followed thelandward passage?"
"The robin and the bluebird sang over all the road," he answered; thenwith a glance at Archie: "You gave no warning of the second pilgrim."
"The brother is young and innocent, but I find him an apt pupil," theGovernor explained.
"The brother will learn first the wisdom of silence," remarked Leary,and then as though by an afterthought he shook Archie warmly by thehand.
They went into the house where Mrs. Walker, a stout middle-aged woman,greeted them effusively.
"We've got to put you both in one room, if you don't mind," sheexplained, "but there's two beds in it. I guess you can make out."
"Make out!" cried the Governor with a deprecatory wave of his hand. "Weshould be proud to be permitted to sleep on the porch! You do us muchhonor, my dear Mrs. Walker."
"Oh, you always cheer us up, Mr. Saulsbury. And Mr. Comly is just aswelcome."
The second floor room to which Walker led them was plainly but neatlyfurnished and the windows looked out upon rolling pastures. The Governorabandoned his high-flown talk and asked blunt questions as to recentvisitors, apparently referring to criminals who had lodged at the farm.They talked quite openly while Archie unpacked his bag. The restlessactivity of the folk of the underworld, their methods of communicationand points of rendezvous seemed part of a vast system and he was ashamedof his enormous interest in all he saw and heard. The Governor's coolfashion of talking of the world of crime and its denizens almostlegitimatized it, made it appear a recognized part of the acceptedscheme of things. Walker aroused the Governor's deepest interest bytelling of the visit of Pete Barney, a diamond thief, who had latelymade a big haul in Chicago, and had been passed along from one point ofrefuge to another. The Governor asked particularly as to the man'sexperiences and treatment on the road, and whether he had complained ofthe hospitality extended by any of the agents of the underground.
"You needn't worry about him," said Walker, with a shrug. "He asks forwhat he wants."
"Sorry if he made himself a nuisance. I'll give warning to chain thegates toward the North. Is he carrying the sparks with him?"
"Lets 'em shine like a fool. I told 'im to clear out with 'em."
"You did right. The brot
hers in the West must be more careful abouthanding out tickets. Now trot Red up here and we'll transact a littlebusiness."
Leary appeared a moment later and Archie was about to leave the room,but the Governor insisted stoutly that he remain.
"I'm anxious for you and Red to know that I trust both of you fully."
"What's the young brother,--a con?" asked Leary with a glance at Archie.
To be referred to as a confidence man by a gentleman of Leary'sprofessional eminence gave Archie a thrill. The Governor answered bydrawing up his sleeves and going through the motions of washing hishands.
"Does the hawk follow fast?" Leary asked, as he proceeded to fill hispipe.
"The shadow hasn't fallen, but we watch the sky," returned the Governor.
The brushing of the hands together Archie interpreted as a code signsignifying murder and the subsequent interchange of words he took to beinquiry and answer as to the danger of apprehension. He felt thatLeary's attitude toward him became friendlier from that moment. Therewas something ghastly in the thought that as the slayer of a human beinghe attained a certain dignity in the eyes of men like Leary. But hebecame interested in the transaction that was now taking place betweenthe thief and the Governor. The Governor extracted the sixtyone-thousand-dollar bills from his bag, and laid them out on the bed. Herapidly explained just how Leary's hidden booty had been recovered, andthe manner in which the smaller denominations had been converted intobills that could be passed without arousing suspicion.
"Too big for one bite, but old Dan Sheedy will change 'em all for you inBean Center. You know his place? You see him alone and ask him to chopsome feed for your cattle. He makes a good front and stands well at hisbank."
Leary picked up ten of the bills and held them out to the Governor.
"If that ain't right we'll make it right," he said.
"Not a cent, Red! I haven't got to a point yet where I charge a fee formy services. But our young brother here is entitled to anything hewants."
Archie grasped with difficulty the idea that he was invited to share inthe loot. His insistence that he couldn't think for a moment ofaccepting any of the money puzzled Leary.
"It's all right about you, Governor, but the kid had better shake thetree. If his hands are wet he's likely to need a towel."
"Don't be an ass, Comly," said the Governor. "Leary's ahead of the gameten thousand good plunks and what he offers is a ridiculously modesthonorarium. Recovering such property and getting it into shape for themarket is worth something handsome."
"Really," began Archie, and then as the "really" seemed an absurdlybanal beginning for a rejection of an offer of stolen money, he saidwith a curl of the lip and a swagger, "Oh, hell! I'd feel pretty rottento take money from one of the good pals. And besides, I didn't doanything anyhow."
The Governor passed his hand over his face to conceal a smile, but Learyseemed sincerely grieved by Archie's conduct and remarked dolefully thatthere must be something wrong with the money. The Governor hastilyvouched for its impeccable quality and excused Archie as a person hardlysecond to himself for eccentricity.
"It's all right about you, Governor, but the kid bettershake the tree"]
"No hard feeling; most certainly not! My young friend is only proud toserve a man of your standing in the profession. It is possible thatlater on you may be able to render us a service. You never can tell, youknow, Red."
Leary philosophically stowed the bills in his clothing.
"You're done, are you?" asked the Governor; "out of the game?"
"I sure have quit the road," Leary answered. "The old girl has got a fewthousands tucked away and I'm goin' to pick her up and buy a motionpicture joint or a candy and soda shop somewhere in the big lakes--oneof those places that freeze up all winter, so I can have a chance torest. The old girl has a place in mind. The climate will be good for myasthma. She knows how to run a fizz shop and I'll be the scenery andjust set round."
"On the whole it doesn't sound exciting," the Governor commented,inspecting a clean shirt. "Did your admirable wife get rid of thosepearls she pinched last winter? They were a handsome string, as Iremember, too handsome to market readily. Mrs. Leary has a passion forprecious baubles, Archie," the Governor explained. "A brilliant careerin picking up such trifles; a star performer, Red, if you don't mind mybragging of your wife."
Leary seemed not at all disturbed by this revelation of his wife'slarcenous affection for pearls. That a train robber's wife should be athief seemed perfectly natural; indeed it seemed quite fitting thatthieves should mate with thieves. Archie further gathered that Mrs.Leary operated in Chicago, under the guise of a confectionery shop, oneof the stations of the underground railroad, and assisted thebrotherhood in disposing of their ill-gotten wares. A recent reform wavein Chicago had caused a shake-up in the police department, mostdisturbing to the preying powers.
"They're clean off me, I reckon," said Leary a little pathetically, thereference being presumably to the pestiferous police. "That was a goodidea of yours for me to go up into Canada and work at a real job for awhile. Must a worked hard enough to change my finger prints. Some blokedied in Kansas awhile back and got all the credit for being the oldoriginal Red Leary."
This error of the press in recording Leary's death tickled the Governormightily, and Leary laughed until he was obliged to wipe the tears fromhis eyes.
"I'm going to pull my freight after supper," he said. "Walker's goin' totake me into town and I'll slip out to Detroit where the old girl'swaitin' for me."
The Governor mused upon this a moment, drew a small note-book from hispocket and verified his recollection of the address of one of theoutposts of the underground which Leary mentioned.
"Avoid icy pavements!" he admonished. "There's danger in all thoseborder towns."
Walker called them to supper and they went down to a meal that met allthe expectations aroused by the Governor's boast of the Walker cuisine.Not only were the fried chicken and hot biscuits excellent, but Archiefound Miss Walker's society highly agreeable and stimulating. She wore asnowy white apron over a blue gingham dress, and rose from time to timeto replenish the platters. The Governor chaffed her familiarly, andArchie edged into the talk with an ease that surprised him. Hisspeculative faculties, all but benumbed by the violent exercise to whichthey had been subjected since he joined the army of the hunted, foundnew employment in an attempt to determine just how much this cheery,handsome girl knew of the history of the company that met at herfather's table. She was the daughter of a retired crook, and it hadnever occurred to him that crooks had daughters, or if they were soblessed he had assumed that they were defectives, turned over forrearing to disagreeable public institutions.
The Governor had said that they were to spend a day or two at Walker'sbut Archie was now hoping that he would prolong the visit. When next hesaw Isabel he would relate, quite calmly and incidentally, his meteoricnights through the underworld, and Sally, the incomparable dairy maid,should dance merrily in his narrative. In a pleasant drawing-roomsomewhere or other he would meet Isabel and rehabilitate himself in hereyes by the very modesty with which he would relate his amazing tale. Itpleased him to reflect that if she could see him at the Walker tablewith Red Leary and the Governor, that most accomplished of villains,eating hot biscuits which had been specially forbidden by his physician,she would undoubtedly decide that he had made a pretty literalinterpretation of her injunction to throw a challenge in the teeth offate.
Walker ate greedily, shoveling his food into his mouth with his knife;and Archie had never before sat at meat with a man who used this meansof urging food into his vitals. The Governor magnanimously ignored hisfriend's social errors, praising the chicken and delivering sobeautiful an oration on the home-made pickled peaches that Sally mustneeds dart into the pantry and bring back a fresh jar which she placedwith a spoon by the Governor's plate.
At the end of the meal Walker left for town to put Leary on a train forBoston. The veteran train robber shook hands all round
and waved a lastfarewell from the gate. Archie was sorry to lose him, for Leary was anappealing old fellow, and he had hoped for a chance to coax from himsome reminiscences of his experiences.
Leary vanished into the starlit dusk as placidly as though he hadn'ttucked away in his clothing sixty thousand dollars to which he had nolawful right or title. There was something ludicrous in the wholeproceeding. While Archie had an income of fifty thousand dollars a yearfrom investments, he had always experienced a pleasurable thrill atreceiving the statement of his dividends from his personal clerk in thebroker's office, where he drew an additional ten thousand as a silentpartner. Leary's method of dipping into the world's capital seemed quiteas honorable as his own. Neither really did any work for the money. Thishe reflected was both morally and economically unsound, and yet Archiefound himself envying Leary the callousness that made it possible forhim to pocket sixty thousand stolen dollars without the quiver of aneyelash.
II
The Governor, smoking a pipe on the veranda and chatting with Mrs.Walker, recalled him from his meditations to suggest that he show adecent spirit of appreciation of the Walkers' hospitality by repairingto the kitchen and helping Sally with the dishes. In his youth Archiehad been carefully instructed in the proper manner of entering a parlor,but it was with the greatest embarrassment that he sought Sally in herkitchen. She stood at the sink, her arms plunged into a steaming dishpan, and saluted him with a cheery hello.
"I was just wondering whether you wouldn't show up! Not that you had to,but it's a good deal more fun having somebody to keep you company in thekitchen."
"I should think it would be," Archie admitted, recalling that his motherused to express the greatest annoyance when the servants made herkitchen a social center. "Give me a towel and I'll promise not to breakanything."
"You don't look as though you'd been used to work much," she said, "buttake off your coat and I'll hang an apron on you."
His investiture in Mrs. Walker's ample apron made it necessary for Sallyto stand quite close to him, and her manner of compressing her lips asshe pinned the bib to the collar of his waistcoat he found whollycharming. His heart went pit-a-pat as her fingers, moist from the suds,brushed his chin. She was quite tall; taller than Isabel, who had fixedhis standard of a proper height for girls. Sally did not giggle, butacted as normal sensible girls should act when pinning aprons on youngmen.
She tossed him a towel and bade him dry the plates as she placed them onthe drain board. She worked quickly, and it was evident that she was acapable and efficient young woman who took an honest pride in her work.
"You've never stopped here before? I thought. I didn't remember you.Well, we're always glad to see the Governor, he's so funny; but say,some of the people who come along--!"
"I hope," said Archie, turning a dish to the light to be sure it wasthoroughly polished, "I hope my presence isn't offensive?"
"Cut it out!" she returned crisply. "Of course you're all right. I knewyou were a real gent the first squint I got of you. You can't fool memuch on human nature."
"You've always lived up here?" asked Archie, meek under her frankapproval.
"Certainly not. I was born in Missouri, a grand old state if I do say itmyself, and we came here when I was twelve. I went through high schooland took dairying and the domestic arts in college and I'm twenty-threeif you care to know."
He had known finishing-school girls and college girls and girls who hadbeen educated by traveling governesses, but Sally was different andsuffered in no whit by comparison. Her boasted knowledge of the humanrace was negligible beside her familiarity with the mysteriousmechanisms of cream separators and incubators. Fate had certainly founda strange way of completing his education! But for the shot he had firedin the lonely house by the sea, he would never have known that girlslike Sally existed. As he assisted her to restore the dishes to thepantry, she crossed the kitchen with queenly stride. Isabel hadn't afiner swing from the hips or a nobler carriage. When he abandoned hiscriminal life he would assemble somewhere all the girls he had met inhis pilgrimage. There should be a round table, but where Isabel satwould be the head, and his sister should chaperone the party. When itdispersed he would tell Isabel, very honestly, of his reaction to eachone, and if she took him to task for his susceptibility it would be agood defense that she was responsible for sending him forth to wrestlewith temptation.
When the kitchen was in perfect order they reported the fact to Mrs.Walker and Sally suggested that they stroll to a trout brook which washer own particular property. The stream danced merrily from the hills, afriendly little brook it was--just such a ribbon of water as a girl likeSally would fancy for a chum.
"We must have a drink or you won't know how sweet and cool the wateris!" She cupped her hands and drank; but his own efforts to bring thewater to his lips were clumsy and ineffectual.
"Oh you!" she laughed. "Let me show you!"
Drinking from her hands was an experience that transcended for themoment all other experiences. If this was a rural approach to aflirtation, Miss Seebrook's methods were much safer, and the garden ofthe Cornford tavern a far more circumspect stage than a Vermontbrookside shut off from all the world.
He had decided to avoid any reference to the secrets of the undergroundtrail, but his delicacy received a violent shock a moment later, whenthey were seated on a bench beside the brook.
"Do you know," she said, "you are not like the others?"
"I don't understand," he faltered.
"Oh, cut it out! You needn't try to fool me! When I told you awhile agoI thought you were nice, I meant more than that; I meant that you didn'tat all seem like the crooks that sneak through here and hide at ourhouse. You're more like the Governor, and I never understand about theGovernor. It doesn't seem possible that any one who isn't forced bynecessity into crime would ever follow the life. Now you're a gentleman,any one could tell that, but I suppose you've really done somethingpretty bad or you wouldn't be here! Now I'm going to hand it to youstraight; that's the only way."
"Certainly, Miss Walker; I want you to be perfectly frank with me."
"Well, my advice would be to give yourself up, do your time like a manand then live straight. You're young enough to begin all over again andyou might make something of yourself. The Governor has romantic ideasabout the great game but that's no reason why you should walk the thornyroad. Now pop would kill me if he knew I was talking this way. It's afunny thing about pop. All I know about him I just picked up a little ata time, and he and ma never wanted me to know. Ma's awful nervous aboutso many of the boys stopping here, for she hung on to pop all the timehe was shooting up trains out West, and having a husband in thepenitentiary isn't a pleasant thing to think about. Ma's father ran asaloon down in Missouri; that's how she got acquainted with pop, but mawas always on the square, and they both wanted me brought up right. Itwas ma's idea that we should get clean away from pop's old life, andshe did all the brain work of wiping the slate clean and coming away offhere. We were a couple of years doing it, trying a lot of other placesall over the country before they struck this ranch and felt safe. Pop'sliving straight; you needn't think he isn't, but he's got a queerhankering to see the sort of men he used to train with. It's natural, Isuppose."
"I suppose it is. But you must have suffered; I can imagine how youfeel," said Archie, who had listened to her long speech with raptattention.
"Well, I don't know that I've suffered so much," she replied slowly,"but I do feel queer sometimes when I'm around with young folks whosefathers never had to duck the cops. Not that they've any suspicions, ofcourse; I guess pop stands well round here."
"I can understand perfectly how your father would like to see some ofthe old comrades now and then and even give them shelter and help themon their way. That speaks highly for his generosity. It's a big thingfor me right now to be put up here. I'm in a lot of trouble, and thisgives me a chance to get my bearings. I shall always remember yourfather's aid. And you don't know how wonderful it is to be sitti
ngbeside you here and talking to you just as though nothing had everhappened to me; really as though I wasn't a lost sheep and a prettyblack one at that."
"I'm sorry," she answered. "When I told you you'd better go and do yourtime and get done with it, I didn't mean to be nasty. But I was thinkingthat a man as sensitive as I judge you to be would be happier in thelong run. Now pop had an old pal who drifted along here a couple ofyears ago, and pop had it all figured out to shoot him right up intoCanada, but, would you believe it, that man simply wouldn't go! The veryidea of being in a safe place where he was reasonably certain of notbeing bothered worried him. He simply couldn't stand it. He was so usedto being chased and shot at it didn't seem natural to be out of danger,and pop had to give him money to take him to Oklahoma where he'd havethe fun of teasing the sheriffs along. And he had his wish and I supposehe died happy, for we read in the papers a little while afterward thathe'd been shot and killed trying to hold up a bank."
Archie expressed his impatience of the gentleman who preferred death inOklahoma to a life of tranquillity in the Canadian wilds.
"Oh, they never learn anything," Sally declared. "I wouldn't besurprised if pop didn't pull out some time and beat it for the West. Itmust be awful tame for a man who's stuck pistols into the faces ofexpress messengers and made bank tellers hand out their cash to settledown in a place like this where there's nothing much to do but go tochurch and prayer meeting. I don't know how many men pop's killed in histime but there must be quite a bunch. But pop doesn't seem to worrymuch. It seems to me if I'd ever pumped a man full of lead I'd have abad case of insomnia."
"Well, I don't know," remarked Archie, weighing the point judicially. "Isuppose you get used to it in time. Your father seems very gentle. Youprobably exaggerate the number of his--er--homicides."
He felt himself utterly unqualified to express with any adequacy hissympathy for a girl whose father had flirted with the gallows soshamelessly. Walker had courageously entered express cars and jumpedinto locomotive cabs in the pursuit of his calling and this was muchnobler than shooting a man in the back. Sally would probably despise himif she knew what he had done.
She demurred to his remark about her father's amiability.
"Well, pop can be pretty rough sometimes. He and I have our littletroubles."
"Nothing serious, I'm sure. I can't imagine any one being unkind to you,Sally."
"It's nice of you to say that. But I'm not perfect and I don't pretendto be!"
Sympathy and tenderness surged within him at this absurd suggestion thatany one could harbor a doubt of Sally's perfection. Her modesty, thetone of her voice called for some more concrete expression of hisunderstanding than he could put into words. Her hand, dimly discerniblein the dusk of the June stars, was invitingly near. He clasped and heldit, warm and yielding. She drew it away in a moment but not rebukingly.The contact with her hand had been inexpressibly thrilling. Not sincehis prep school days had he held a girl's hand, and the brook and thestars sang together in ineffable chorus. It was bewildering to find thatso trifling an act could afford sensations so charged with all thefelicity of forbidden delight.
"I wonder," she said presently; "I wonder whether you would--whether youreally would do something for me?"
"Anything in my power," he declared hoarsely.
"What time is it?" she asked with a jarring return to practical things.
She bent her head close as he held a match to his watch. It was halfpast eight.
"We'll have to hurry," she said. "When I told you pop and I didn'talways agree about everything I was thinking--"
"Is it about a man?" he asked, surmising the worst and steeling himselffor the blow if it must fall. He would show her how generouslychivalrous a man could be toward a girl who honored him with herconfidence and appealed for his assistance.
"It would be a long story," she said sadly, "and there isn't time totell it, but the moment I saw you were so big and brave and strong, Ithought you might help."
To be called big and brave and strong by so charming a person, to enjoyher confidence and be her chosen aid in an hour of need and perplexityprofoundly touched him. He wished that Isabel could have heard Sally'stribute to his strength and courage--Isabel who had said only a few daysago that he wouldn't kill a flea. He had always been too modest and tootimid, just as Isabel had said, but those days were passed and the manIsabel knew was very different from the man who sat beside Bill Walker'sdaughter under the glowing Vermont stars. Drums were beating and buglessounding across the hills as he waited for Sally to send him into thelists with her colors flying from his spear.
"I wouldn't trust the Governor; he's too friendly with pop for that.It's just this way," she went on dreamily. "There's a young man, AbijahStrong, who owns a farm just a little way down the road. He and I havebeen in love with each other ever since we went to school together,really and truly lovers. He was at college when I was, so I know himvery well. But pop doesn't like him, and when he found how matters stoodhe refused to allow me to see him any more. And he's been very hardabout it. We've been waiting for a chance to run away and get married. Imet him last night in the lane and everything's arranged for us to leavetonight, run into Brattleboro and be married there and then go on toBoston and wait till pop's disposed to be reasonable."
"He will be very angry, of course," said Archie, his ardor somewhatchilled now that he knew the nature of the project in which she askedhis cooperation.
"Yes; pop will be perfectly crazy," she affirmed with a lingeringintonation that seemed to imply a certain joy in the prospectivedisturbance of her parent's equilibrium. "He wants me to marry apreacher at Saxby Center who's almost as old as pop, and has three grownchildren. I thought maybe you could pretend to take me out for a littleride in your car, and pick up Abijah and give us a lift. My things areall packed and hid away in the garage; so all I need to do is to get myhat."
"Of course I couldn't come back here," Archie suggested. "Your fatherwould be sure to vent his wrath on me."
"Oh, I'd thought of that!" she exclaimed. "But you could go on and waitsomewhere for the Governor to catch up with you."
"I'd have to make sure he _didn't_ catch up with me! He'll be mightysore about this."
"Well, if you're afraid of him--"
"Pooh! I certainly am not afraid of him," he declared contemptuously."He and I were bound to part sometime."
In the half hour they had spent together by the brook he had forgottenhis dependence upon the Governor and his earlier fears that the mastercrook might desert him. Through the cajoleries of a girl he had knownonly a few hours he was ready to break with his comrade by mischievouslyupsetting the domestic affairs of a host who doubtless had not forgottenhow to kill men who incurred his displeasure. Sally had affected himlike a strong cordial and as they walked to the house he grewincreasingly keen for the proposed adventure. Sally, like Isabel, haddared him to be brave, and he screwed his courage to the sticking point.
"If you don't mind I'll take Sally for a little run down the road," hesuggested casually when they found the Governor and Mrs. Walker stillgossiping on the veranda.
No objection was raised by Mrs. Walker beyond an injunction not to begone long and a warning not to go without her jacket. The permission wasgiven so readily that Archie was moved to make the polite suggestionthat they might all like to go and his heart sank when the Governorpromptly seconded the invitation. But to his immeasurable relief Mrs.Walker professed weariness and quickly disposed of the matter.
"No joy riding," the Governor called after them. "Sally's a valuableasset of this family and I'll hold you personally responsible, Comly,for her safe return."
III
At the garage Sally produced a satchel which Archie tossed into the car,and they were quickly humming through the lane and into the highway.
"Abijah expected me to walk down to meet him if I could get awaytonight, so he'll be surprised when I come in a machine," she said asthey emerged into the open road. "He was to wait for me every
nightuntil I saw a good chance to skip. His car is only a little dinky thingand he'll be tickled to death to see this fine machine."
A quick spurt of ten minutes and Sally bade him drive slowly.
"Run by the school house when we come to it and then stop. Abijah willbe there."
When the car stopped Sally jumped out and was immediately joined by ayoung man to whom she spoke rapidly out of Archie's hearing. Herexplanations finished she brought him to the car and presented him asMr. Strong.
"Mr. Comly is going to the minister's with us and then give us a lifttoward Boston. That's ever so much better than anything we'd thought of,'Bijah!"
"Whatever you say, little girl! I'll shut off the lights on my machineand get my traps."
Archie, testing his searchlight, let its beam fall upon Abijah as thoughby accident and found Sally's lover a very well-dressed, decent-lookingfellow. All his life he would be proud of his daring in saving SallyWalker from marriage with the odious widower and mating her with theyouth of her choice. The bride and groom elect were established in theback seat and he experienced a sharp jealous twinge, when, turning toask her a question about the road, he caught them in a rapturous kiss.This was what it meant to be young and free, and youth and freedom werethings he had never until now appraised at their true worth. Havingcaptured and mounted destiny he would ride with a tight rein andrelentless spur. The immediate affair was much to his taste, and hemeditated making it his business in future to befriend lovers indifficulties.
"How long do we stop at Brattleboro?" he asked over his shoulder.
"Only long enough to get the knot tied," Abijah answered. "I was in townthis afternoon and everything's set."
"I hope," said Sally, "you'll give the bride away; it would be just fineof you, Mr. Comly."
"I was hoping you'd ask me," he flung back. "I want to be as prominentin the wedding party as possible."
The last time he had figured in a wedding he had been best man for acollege friend who had been married at high noon in Grace Church, beforean audience notably distinguished in New York society. Sally's nuptialswere blest in a little parsonage, with the minister's wife and daughterand Archie as the sole witnesses. The minister had only lately come totown and therefore confined his inquiries to the strict requirements ofecclesiastical and Vermont law. When he lifted his head to ask whogiveth this woman Archie bestowed Sally upon Abijah with just the touchof grace and dignity he had long noted as the accepted manner of givinga woman in marriage in the most exacting circles.
The groom sheepishly dug two one-dollar bills out of his trousers pocketand the sum striking Archie as a pitifully inadequate fee he slipped aten-dollar bill into the minister's hand as the bride and groom werehurrying from the house.
"Well, Sally," Archie remarked, as he joined them, "for better or worseyou are married. I certainly wish you all good luck."
"We'll be back in a week and everything will be smooth as butter," Sallydeclared lightly.
The wedding journey from Brattleboro to Bennington was marred by tiretrouble and freakishness on the part of the engine, and as neither ofhis passengers knew the roads Archie's good nature was severely testedby the exigencies of the night drive.
Abijah helped with the tires but only stared helplessly while Archiepoked at the engine. Sally was far more resourceful and lent herassistance with her usual good cheer, a cheer which Archie felt he wouldmiss when he bade them good-by at Bennington. As a mark of special favorshe moved to the front seat to keep him company and facilitate the studyof sign posts.
"We're only making half time," said Archie after a long interruption."We'll not get into Bennington before daylight."
"I've put you to an awful lot of trouble," Sally remarked with realcontrition. "And you've left your friend the Governor far behind. Isuppose they started out to look for us in pop's machine when we didn'tshow up and they may be close behind us now. The only thing I'm sorryabout is missing hearing pop swear when he found I had skipped. Itwould be funny if they thought I'd run off with you, wouldn't it! I'djust love that!"
"I don't think it's so funny you didn't," Archie answered. "I think itwas my mistake!"
The groom had drawn up his knees and was attempting to sleep on the backseat. It was quite improper to flirt with the newest of brides but Sallygave tolerant ear and even encouraged Archie's protestations ofadmiration while Abijah bumped about in the tonneau and now and thenrolled off the seat when the enraptured driver negotiated a sharp turn.But for Sally's disposition to make the most of her last hours with himthe drive would have bored Archie exceedingly. By two o'clock he washungry and at three he was bringing all his powers of eloquence to bearupon the obtuse owner of a village garage who was stubbornly hostile tothe idea of leaving his bed to provide a lunatic with gasoline. Archie'svociferous oratory had the pleasing effect of filling all the windows inthe neighborhood with unsympathetic hearers and the village policemanappeared and made careful note of car and contents.
"I guess you're used to getting what you go after in this world," saidSally as they resumed their journey. "You certainly told that man whereto get off."
"Just a little firmness will go a long way with such a chap," Archieanswered, marveling at his newly discovered command of the unattainable.A week earlier he would have been incapable of threatening a wholevillage with frightful reprisals unless it responded to his demands.
"I didn't like that cop poking round the car," Abijah complained. "Hetook your number all right."
"Don't you worry about policemen," Archie answered scornfully. "If theyfool with me I'll knock their blocks off!"
"I'll say you would!" cried Sally in a tone of conviction that made himregret that no policeman's head was in reach that he might demonstratehis valor on the spot.
Sally and Abijah were eager to leave Bennington as soon as possible.
"Don't think we're not appreciating what you've done for us," saidAbijah, "but Sally and I had better shake you and that machine righthere. Sally's folks'll be sure to be after us and they'll just aboutargue we came this way."
Archie laid to his soul the flattering unction that Abijah was jealous.Justification of this suspicion was supported by the bridegroom's suddenanxiety to depart out of Vermont with the utmost expedition. Archie hadevery intention of ordering as gorgeous a breakfast as Bennington's besthotel could provide, but Abijah promptly vetoed this suggestion and theyate at a lunch counter, which Archie found a most disagreeableproceeding. Abijah left Sally and Archie eating scrambled eggs while heset forth to acquire information about trains. He returned while theywere still at the counter to report that a train was almost immediatelyavailable. His haste annoyed Archie, who hated being hurried at hismeals. At the station Abijah hung about the baggage-room, where he hadno business whatever, as though trying to create the impression that hewas traveling alone. When the train came along he climbed into thesmoker with his own bag, leaving Archie to assist Sally into the chaircar.
"Abijah's just a little afraid pop might have telephoned, you know, orbe coming after us. He'll move in here when the train starts."
"I don't like to leave you like this," said Archie mournfully.
"Oh, it will be all right," Sally answered bravely. "Abijah's nervous;that's all. That was certainly some ride we had last night. I hopeyou'll go up to the hotel now and get a good sleep."
"Oh, I'll look out for that," Archie replied.
His arrears of sleep did not trouble him; but the thought of losingSally broke his heart. The hard night ride had left no traces on herface. Her cheeks were aglow and her eyes were bright. When he saidagain, a little tremulously, that he hated to leave her he had nevermade a more honest statement in his life.
"I suppose we'll hardly meet again," he said with a dejection which hehoped would elicit a promise of further meetings.
"I'm afraid it will be a long, long time before I see you," she saidwith a lingering tenderness and wistfulness.
"I hope you're going to be very happy, Sally. And I shall t
hink of youalways as you were last night. I shall never forget our talk by thebrook."
"Neither shall I," she murmured. Her lashes were wonderful; not tillthat moment had he done justice to her lashes.
"I want to give you a little present--something you can hide away tomake sure you are not embarrassed in any way until you get settled. Iwish it were gold, but you won't mind. You understand, don't you,Sally?"
He always carried a five-hundred-dollar bill against emergencies andthis he had clung to through all his adventures. He now produced it fromhis inner waistcoat pocket and slipped it into her hand.
Her brow clouded for an instant; then she smiled radiantly.
"I oughtn't to take it; but I know you mean it all right. It's dear ofyou," and her tone and the immeasurable kindness of her eyes were easilyworth five hundred dollars.
Belated passengers were now brushing past them in the aisle. Theconductor, walking briskly along the platform, shouted all aboard withheartless finality. It seemed like the voice of doom to Archie.
"Good-by, Sally!"
He put out his hand, but with a quickness that took his breath away sheflung her arms round his neck and kissed him. The touch of her hand bythe brook under the stars was as nothing to this. Two young girlsseeking seats giggled at the frankness and heartiness of the salutation.In old times Archie would have perished of humiliation; but anoverwhelming joy filled his soul. The giggles of bread-and-butter misseswho knew nothing of life and love were beneath his notice. Sally's armswere still about his neck, her lips were parted expectantly.
"You must go, honey," she whispered and his kiss fell like a punctuationupon her last delectable word.
If she hadn't given him a gentle push toward the door he might neverhave reached the vestibule. Another person who shared his haste toleave the train materially assisted him by gentle pressure to theplatform. His brain whirled from the intoxication of Sally'skiss--indeed the two kisses, or specifically the kiss received and thekiss returned. But his exaltation was of brief duration, for therebeside him stood Isabel like an accusing angel, severe and implacable.It was she whose gentle impulsion had facilitated his exit from theparlor car, and beyond question she had witnessed the kissing, adisagreeable circumstance that fell smotheringly upon his ecstatic mood.
"You were on that train!" he exclaimed;--the most fatuous of questionsand the poorest possible opening for a conversation.
She ignored his inquiry. It was now her turn to give way under thestress of emotion and the indignant tears shone in her eyes.
"I thought I had made it sufficiently plain at Portsmouth that I resentyour following me! The meeting there might have been by accident, butseeing you here I am convinced--I am convinced that you are spying uponme!"
"But, Miss Perry--"
"I should think," she interrupted, "that knowing or suspecting what I amtrying to do you would show me some consideration!"
"But I can explain; really I can explain if you will give me a moment!It probably hasn't occurred to you that I'm a good deal mystified bythese little journeys you are making over New England! My own dallyingin these parts is due to circumstances I can easily explain. In fact,but for you I should not be here at all!"
This, uttered with a conciliatory smile and quite calmly, not onlyfailed to mollify her anger but produced quite the opposite effect. Heragitation increased, and for the second time they presented the pictureof a man and woman involved in a quarrel in a public place.
"I understand perfectly that but for me you shouldn't be loitering here!And you practically acknowledged at Portsmouth that you were interestingyourself in the affairs of the Congdons!"
"We are playing at cross purposes quite unnecessarily," protestedArchie. "Why not confess just what your interest is in that family? Itold you quite plainly at Portsmouth that I had reason to believe I hadshot Putney Congdon at Bailey Harbor! But for the courage you put in myheart I should never have done that!"
"If you did that you have ruined everything! A dastardly act for which Ihope you will pay the full penalty of the law!"
This was wholly unreasonable and quite beside himself he shook hisfinger in her face.
"You seem to forget that you advised me to flout the law; to do just thethings I have been doing, roving the world, shooting and plundering!There's a policeman at the other end of the platform; call him and turnme over to the authorities!"
She glanced hurriedly in the direction of a policeman who had niched abanana from a bunch providentially exposed to his rapacity on a truck,and was hastily consuming it.
"Maybe he is watching me!" she gasped.
For a young woman who had prescribed outlawry as a cure for obstreperousnerves her alarm was astonishing.
"May I ask, Miss Perry, what reason you have for fearing theauthorities?"
"That of course is what you would like to know!" she replied tearfully."But you know too much! If you have told me the truth yourmeddlesomeness will have far-reaching consequences too dreadful to thinkabout! Your assumed name tells its own story and convinces me that youhave not told the truth. I went aboard that train to look for some one Ihoped I might meet, and you know perfectly well why I am here."
He could only stammer a futile expostulation at the gross injustice ofthis.
"Everything has gone wrong," she continued, "and you may have all thesatisfaction you can get out of your interference, your intrusion uponaffairs of the greatest delicacy, in which my assistance and my honorare pledged. That car standing yonder belongs to me and before I leave Iwant you to walk away from here as rapidly as possible and not turn yourhead!"
He did not even confirm her statement as to the propinquity of the carbut crossed the platform with the crestfallen air of a child indisgrace. She had loftily ignored the kissing of Mrs. Abijah Strong. Theosculatory adventure with Sally shrank at once in importance from thefact that Isabel had not only ignored it but had made it whollyunnecessary for him to explain that transaction.
He knew nothing save that he was enormously tired and he went to thehotel and crawled wearily into bed.
IV
It was close upon six o'clock when a knock roused him from a sleep thathad not been easily won.
"It's yo' baggage, boss!"
"Baggage?" repeated Archie.
He had told the clerk he had no baggage and had paid in advance for hisroom. His suitcase was at Walker's and it was hardly possible thatWalker had forwarded his effects. He opened the door cautiously and sawat a glance that the bag was undeniably his. He groped for his trousersand gave the waiting porter half a dollar.
"How did it get here?" he asked with attempted indifference.
"Don't know nuffin' 'bout it, suh; gemmen tole me tote 'er up. If itain't all right--"
"Oh, it's all right enough!" Archie exclaimed hastily, fearing to pursuethe inquiry.
He opened the bag and found that it not only contained all hisbelongings but they had been packed neatly by an experienced hand. Theunaccountable arrival of his luggage sent his thoughts flying toWalker's farm and the Governor.
Pleased as he was by the arrival of his effects, the reappearance of thebag brought him back to earth with a reverberating jar. He was confidentthat malevolent agencies were responsible; and to be reminded thussharply of the powers of evil just when he craved nothing so much asslumber's oblivion was disturbing and ominous.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed idly smoothing the wrinkles out ofa pet necktie when a gently insinuating knock unpreluded by a step inthe hall caused him to start.
"Come!"
The door opened slowly, wide enough to permit a man's head to be thrustin. A face wearing an amused smile, a familiar face but the last heexpected to see, met his gaze.
"Hist!"
The Governor widened the opening in the door and squeezed through.
"My dear Archie!" he exclaimed as he locked the door, "how infinitelyrelieved I am! I was afraid some harm had befallen you, but to find youhere safe and sound fills my heart with gratitude
."
He flung down his cap and linen duster, chose a chair by the window andseated himself with a little sigh.
"I hope," Archie ventured timidly, "that you came alone?"
"Oh, yes; I'm alone! Trust me for that; but my friend Walker was noteasily shaken. A strong passionate nature, Walker; a man long habituatedto the lethal knife, the unerring pistol. No easy task you may wellbelieve to get rid of him. And his provocation! O my boy, hisprovocation to justifiable homicide and all that sort of thing!"
"Well, I only did what I thought was right," Archie declared doggedly."I wasn't weighing the consequences."
The Governor, filling his pipe, lifted a hand to emphasize the"splendid" with which he received this statement.
"Splendid, my dear Archie, to see how beautifully you rose to thesituation--a situation that spoke powerfully to your generous heart! Ifthere has been any error it is mine. I should have known from the wayyou played up to the Seebrook girl that you were far too susceptible tobe trusted with women. The error is mine; not yours, Archie; I don'tblame you a particle. Indeed the incident warms my heart to you. Sallyis a winsome lass; she has a way with her, that girl!"
"I would have done the same thing for any girl in like circumstances,"Archie declared, pacing the floor with shoulders erect.
"I dare say you would! Your heart and your sword are at the command ofany pretty jade who squints at you! But when I suggested that it mightbe well for you to keep in practice I didn't mean for you to make amonkey of yourself. Your true love--what did you say her name is?"
To recall Isabel to his memory was a greater mockery than the Governorknew, but Archie met the question with well-feigned unconcern.
"I didn't say," he answered; "but her name is Isabel."
"Ah! One of the few really perfect names in the whole list! Rather morestyle to it than Sally! And yet Sally has been used to good advantage bythe balladists. To 'Sally in Our Alley,' we might add Sally at the Churnor Sally Softly Singing in the Corn, or Sally Leading Archie by the Ear.The possibilities are exquisite."
"If you don't mind," said Archie with dignity, "we'll stop talkingnonsense. I want to know what happened."
"Just a little curious, are you, as to what followed your amazing breachof hospitality? Ran away with a pretty girl, assisted in marrying her toan undesirable son-in-law, and now you want to know how the old folkstake it! Oh, Archie, for sheer innocence you are a wonder!"
"Walker had no right to force a girl like Sally to marry an oldcurmudgeon she hated. I never hesitated as to the course I should takeafter she told me her story. The marriage was in proper form and Ihaven't a single regret!"
The Governor rocked with delight.
"You didn't miss a stroke!" he exclaimed wiping the tears from his eyes."The marriage satisfied all legal requirements. Your work was only toowell done!"
"I'm glad you're satisfied," said Archie spitefully. "And if Walker is asensible man he will welcome the young couple home and make the best ofit."
"It saddens me to be obliged to speak the grievous truth when yourconscience is so pleased with itself. Let me deal in surmises a momentbefore I hand you a few unhappy facts. Sitting with Sally down by thebrook and probably holding her hand"--(Archie flinched)--"holding herhand perhaps, and strongly tempted to kiss her, you fell an easy prey toher fascinations. She told you a plausible yarn as to Walker's crueltyin wanting her to marry a tottering old widower and asked you to assisther to elope with a sturdy young farmer who was even then waiting forher by the old mill or the school house, or something like that. Andyour heart swelled to bursting with the thought of serving one so fair!Wholly natural, Archie, for I too have dwelt in Arcady! If that minxhadn't told you she had a lover loitering in the background, you'dprobably have thrown yourself into the breach and eloped with heryourself. Yes, you would, Archie! I must have a care of you or yourIsabel will never meet you at the altar!"
"We're not talking of Isabel," Archie interrupted haughtily. "I'lltrouble you to say all you have to say about Sally and Abijah."
"Abijah!" squeaked the Governor, again overcome by mirth.
For the first time Archie disliked the Governor. His unsympatheticattitude toward the elopement was intolerable. A round of abuse wouldhave been more palatable than this ironic jesting. The Governor saw thathe had gone too far and immediately shifted the key.
"What you did, Archie," he resumed paternally, "what you did was tomarry Sally, the incomparable, Sally the divine, to Pete Barney, thediamond thief. He took refuge with Walker a couple of weeks ago, and theold man extended him his usual generous hospitality. Barney had beenwell vouched for and had all the pass-words and countersigns of thegreat fraternity, but Walker mistrusted him. A week is the usual limitfor a pilgrim's stay, and seeing how Sally and Barney were hitting itoff the old man gave the chap a hint to move along. He didn't go, itseems, but hung round the neighborhood waiting for a chance to pull offthe elopement in which you so kindly assisted even to the extent ofbolting with Slippery Abe's car."
"You mean--you mean I married the girl to a crook?" gasped Archie.
"One of the smoothest in the game! And Sally knew he was a crook! Isuppose it was the diamonds that fetched her. If you'd looked at hishands you would have noticed that he hadn't the paws of an honest GreenMountain farmer. Pick-pocket originally and marvelously deft; butprecious stones are his true metier. The trifling little necklace he hadon his person when he struck Walker's is worth a cool hundred thousand.He'll have to break it up and sell 'em in the usual way and it will taketime."
Archie sank upon the bed, twisting his hands together. He had done ahorrible thing, hardly second to murder, and his penitence weighedheavily upon him.
"You are not chaffing me! It doesn't seem possible that the girl wouldhave deceived me!"
"We never know when they are going to deceive us, Archie! I hate tothink that Sally inherited a strain of lawlessness and yet she hated thefarm and was crazy to escape. I forgot to mention that she lifted acouple of hundred dollars the old man kept under a plank in the parlorfloor--an emergency fund in case he ever had to run for it. A nastytrick, I call it; most unfilial on Sally's part. The Walkers are crushedby her conduct. They have tried to shield her from all the sorrow andshame of the world; and there was really a very decent young farmer wildto marry her, old New England stock, revolutionary stuff, aristocrats,you may say. And if you hadn't muddled everything it would have comeabout in time. But you will have your fling, Archie! You certainlyspilled the beans. And I had vouched for you at the Walkers'; it'salmost as bad as though I had betrayed them myself. You will not, ofcourse, make the serious error of knocking at the Walker door again!That would be rubbing it in; but I hope you have learned your lesson. Itprobably didn't occur to you that I might have been sore enough tomention somewhere your connection with certain blood stains on the boardwalk at Bailey Harbor. You should have a care of yourself!"
"I don't want you to think me ungrateful," Archie stammered. "The girlmade a fool of me; I see it all now!"
"She made a fool of you but you in turn made a fool of me! And while I'mnot caviling, you will pardon me, son, if I suggest that hereafter youplay square with me. I'm no saint, but I wouldn't desert a comrade orstick a knife in his back. Please understand that I don't mean to curbyour personal enterprise, or set any limit on your little affairs of theheart. You are not the first man who thought he understood women, andyou are not the last victim of that deplorable delusion. But let's haveno more foolishness."
"I haven't a thing to say for myself!" blurted Archie, who was at thepoint of tears. "I was weak, miserably weak. I had no idea that any onecould lie as that girl did. And it's not fair for me to stay on withyou. I can't ask you to trust me again. We'd better part company righthere!"
"How completely you misjudge me, Archie! There's a charm in you begottenof your very innocence and helplessness, and I should be very unhappy ifwe parted now. We've shared some danger together and in spite of yourweaknesses I'm fond of you. And if I left you
to your own devicessomething quite disastrous might happen to you."
Discomfited and humiliated as he was the very thought of going out intothe world alone filled Archie with horror. Under Sally's hypnoticinfluence he had concluded that the Governor was a negligible factor inhis life; but away from the girl and rankling under her deceit hegrasped at the Governor's friendship with the frantic clutch of adrowning man. The Governor drew out his bill fold and extracted from ita newspaper cutting.
"Note this, Archie, from a Boston paper of today. Our old friend Congdonhas stirred up the Boston police about the disappearance of his son. Idon't ask you to make any comment on that item; I merely call yourattention to the fact that Putney Congdon is on the missing list andlike ourselves Putney Congdon was at Bailey Harbor. Nothing particularlystartling in all this, as the police records show something like anaverage of one thousand four hundred and thirteen missing or unaccountedfor persons in the United States every year. This paper says thatCongdon was seen by one person and one only at Bailey Harbor. That was agarage man who sold him some gas--it was a stormy night--andincidentally that night poor Hoky set sail for the happy isles. And thedate is further memorable from the fact that it was the occasion of ourfirst meeting. And the blood stains on the board walk of one of thestreets at Bailey--"
"Stop, for God's sake!" cried Archie. "I'll tell you everything; I'll--"
"You'll tell me nothing, because I refuse to listen! Confessing is ahabit. If I encourage you to confess to me you'll be pouring your taleinto the ear of the first policeman you meet. As things stand you arenot suspected, and if we follow my program you are likely to walk theworld in safety for the rest of your days. If I knew the circumstances Imight become nervous and I must retain my poise or we perish. Yourautobiography for the past week or so would make a ripping narrative,but you'd better learn to forget. Our yesterdays are as nothing; it'stomorrow we've got to think about. Those Congdons are rather apicturesque lot as I catch them in cinema flashes. It appears from thepaper that young Putney's wife had left him, and there was some sort ofrow about the children. The old boy we struck at Cornford will probablybe charging the absconding wife with killing Putney the first thing weknow!"
"Charge Mrs. Congdon with killing her husband! O my God!" wailed Archie.
"Control yourself, my dear boy! One would infer from that item that Mrs.Congdon dropped off the earth after she left Bailey Harbor. She and herchildren motored out of Bailey and haven't yet reached their house inNew York, for which she was presumably bound. By Jove, it's woozzy theway these Congdons keep bobbing up! I'd give something handsome to knowhow the old chap and Seebrook came out at Cornford. I learn that they'reholding Silent Tim, the chap I told you would be arrested, and our partin the delicate transaction is already obscured."
Archie was giving the Governor only half attention. His nerves wereunstrung by the bald, colorless report of Putney Congdon'sdisappearance, which shocked him all the more from the fact that it wasso hideously commonplace, merely a bit of journalistic routine. Hewished the Governor would stop reading newspapers. Now that the man'sdisappearance had been heralded the police of the entire country wouldbe searching for him dead or alive and if his body were found therewould be a great hue and cry until his murderer was apprehended.
The Governor was unconcernedly sketching one of the diagrams with whichhe seemed to visualize his plans. These he made in small compass, anyscrap of paper serving his purpose. Archie had supposed this was a meansof recalling places and highways and determining the time required toreach a certain point, but the Governor was always at pains to concealthese calculations or memoranda. Archie was startled now to hear hiscompanion muttering to himself:
"Aries, the Lamb, the Fishes! For a time I stumbled and walked indarkness but the leading light is clearer now. The moving fingerwrites--writes!" He dropped his pencil and gazed blankly into space.
Archie had caught one day a glimpse of several of the zodiacal signsdrawn on the margin of a newspaper where the Governor had neglected toerase them; but he was astounded to find that he was in the company of aman who took counsel of the stars.
"_Ne sous une mauvaise etoile!_ You catch the sense admirably. Yes, Iwas born under an evil star; just that! But if I haven't pondered themysteries unprofitably I shall emerge from the shadow in due season.When you see me scribbling I am calculating the potency of the dark fatethat overhangs me and trying to estimate when if ever the cloud willpass. Don't trouble your head with those fancies; leave them to me. Hopeis buoyed in me by the fact that never yet have my figures erred. Thenight before I picked you up in the road I knew that you were walkingtoward me out of nowhere, and I was charged by the planets to befriendyou. So here we are, pilgrims under heavenly protection!"
"I'm sorry; I don't want to leave you; I couldn't make it alone," Archieanswered, awed and meek under these revelations.
"It's very curious, Archie," the Governor resumed, making a little pileof the scraps to which he had already reduced the sketch; "it's quiteremarkable that the light still hangs in the west for us. Since youjoined me it has been more brilliant. It may be that after all you aredestined to bring me good luck!" He paced the floor for several minutes,then struck his hands together sharply. "All right!" he exclaimed. "Ithas never failed me! The light is mild, feminine, we shall say, gentle,persuasive, encouraging. It would be fatal to ignore its message."
Archie watched him for some gleam of humor, but the Governor had neverbeen more serious. His face lighted as he found Archie's eyes fixed uponhim.
"You were thinking just then that I've gone crazy; but I assure you thatI'm perfectly able to give myself all the tests for insanity; I shouldrecognize the symptoms immediately, from my ability to look into myselfwith the detachment of a man who stands at a window and peers into alighted room. To return to practical affairs, we shall abandon Collins'machine and I'll wire him where to pick it up. Then we'll entrain at ourleisure."
"If you don't mind my asking, I'd like to know where we're bound for?"
"New York, my dear boy; but you needn't be alarmed. It will be hot thereand we'll only pause for a day or so. We both need to freshen up ourwardrobe a bit."
Archie shook his head stubbornly.
"I haven't told you this, but I'm supposed to be in the CanadianRockies. It would be a risky business for me to show up in town! I mightat any turn run into relatives or friends who know I left for a twomonths' absence in the Rockies. And incidentally, the same people_might_ know I had been to Bailey Harbor."
"You're a frightful egotist, Archie! This is a large world and man'smemory is short. The man you dine with most frequently at your clubwouldn't remember in a week whether you told him you were going to theRockies or the Himalayas and if you met him on the Avenue he'd merelynod and pass on trying to remember who the devil you were. But I renewmy sacred promise to take care of you; you may rely on me, Archie. Nowas always we invite the most searching scrutiny! If you see any oldfriends I beg of you do not attempt to dodge them; shake one and allheartily by the hand. We'll pretend that our black wool is as white asthe drifted snow, and no one will run after us shouting, 'Blacksheep,blacksheep!'"
V
As the train flew along the Connecticut shore Archie realized with a newpoignancy the tremendous change that had occurred in his life since heleft New York, his birthplace and the home of his family for two hundredyears. Instead of lounging in clubs and his luxurious apartment he wouldnow go skulking through the streets with a master crook, and hisimagination was already intent upon the character of the lair to whichthe Governor would guide him. He still swayed between the joys of hismad adventure and its perils. He might, he knew, bid the Governorgood-by at the Grand Central Station, step into a taxi and walk into thedoor of one or another of his clubs and bid the world defiance. Theserenity of his life as known to his friends would be a sufficientrefutation of any charge that might be made against him. No one wouldbelieve the mysterious Governor if he were to declare on oath thatArchibald Bennett was a criminal wh
o had left a scarlet trail acrossthree states.
It would be an interesting experiment to defy the Governor; but hedismissed this as foolish and hazardous. The Governor had a long arm,and having trifled with his good nature at the Walkers' it wouldcertainly be ungracious and in all likelihood disastrous to offend him asecond time. But the Governor's fantastic talk about the joining oftheir stars in the west had touched his imagination. With all hisabsurdities, and strange and unaccountable as he was, the Governor didmake good his promises. If he wasn't in league with occult powers he atleast possessed a baffling sort of prescience; and what was more to thepoint he had apparently reduced to a fine art the business of keepingclear of the authorities. If he could escape from the Governor it wouldbe to take up his old eventless life, with a recrudescence no doubt ofthe ills that had so long beset him; and he had utterly forgotten thathe had ever been an invalid. He grinned as he reflected that he had beenobliged to shoot a man to find a cure for his nerves.
As the train drew out of New Haven the Governor, seemingly absorbed in amagazine, covertly kicked him. A man passed slowly through the car,carelessly eyeing the passengers. When he reached Archie's chair hepaused as though steadying himself against the swaying train. For amoment he clung to the back of the Governor's chair, which was turnedtoward the window, and his eyes surveyed the luggage piled under thewindows. The Governor swung round presently and remarked indifferentlywithout changing his position:
"Rawlings, the best man they have in the Department now. He's lookingfor some one but let us hope it's not us. A very keen eye has Rawlings.Not one of these sleuths in a black derby and false mustache you see inthe movies, but a gentleman and a man of education. He's probablylooking for that teller who cut a slice out of the surplus of aMassachusetts bank last week. It's not our trouble, Archie. Embezzlersand defaulters are not to my taste; we rather look down on that breed inthe brotherhood. A low order of talent; no brains; they're not in ourclass."
"But it isn't necessary to advertise our sins to the whole train!"whispered Archie, eyeing apprehensively their nearest neighbors in thecrowded car. "You haven't convinced me yet that we're not making aserious blunder."
"Cease grumbling! If we wanted to play safe we'd both enter some homefor aged and decrepit men and sit among the halt and blind and toothlessuntil we became even as they. Rawlings' defaulter is encumbered, mostdisgracefully, with the usual blonde, in this case the lily-handedcashier in a motion picture shop; and a man of Rawlings' intelligencewould know at a glance that we are not villains of that breed. Ihaven't traveled by this route for some time and I mean to keep awake toenjoy the pleasant view. My historical sense is always tickled as I cutacross Rhode Island and contemplate the state house at Providence. If wewere not really upon business bent we might have run down toNarragansett Pier or even to Newport for a breath of air. Newport!Newport is adorable! I am far from being a snob, Archie, but Newport isreally the loveliest place in America. I grant you that Bar Harbor hasits points and even Bailey Harbor is not so bad--do pardon me, Archie! Iforgot for the moment your unhappy memories of that place--but Newportalone is perfection gone to heaven! It would please me enormously tojoin you in a little excursion to Newport, by yacht preferably; but ifit leaked out that we had been flying so high it would injure us withthe simple-hearted comrades of the great brotherhood. You can imaginewhat a man like Red Leary would say if he knew we were dining at tableswhere the jewels run into millions. And your young friend Abijah, aliasPete Barney, would certainly cut our acquaintance if we failed to takeadvantage of such glorious opportunities."
"How are you going to know whether we're watched?" asked Archie in afrightened whisper when "Forty-second Street" flashed at him from thewall of the tunnel.
"In a few minutes we'll know the worst," replied the Governor blandly."I beg of you be confident, be assured, be cheerful!"
At the station gates a man in gray livery stepped up and touched his capto the Governor.
"Ah, Tom; glad to see you again!"
"Thank you, sir; is this all the luggage?"
"That's all, Tom. Have an eye to Mr. Comly's bag; he's stopping withme."
Archie dragged himself into a handsome limousine that was brought to thecurb by a chauffeur as impeccably tailored as the footman.
"Well, George, how are things with you?" asked the Governor pleasantly.
"Very good, sir; things running very smoothly, sir."
"Drive directly home, please.
"We may wander to our hearts' content, Archie, but there's no place likehome, particularly when it's little old New York," remarked theGovernor, sinking back contentedly.