CHAPTER XIV
ON THE ROAD
"Dick," said Mrs. Harlan, with extreme politeness, "I am perfectlywilling that Lola should have all the best of it. I am used to that. Iam quite prepared to admit that she is younger than I am, and betterlooking, although I still think that she might get along withouttelling me of it herself. It's none of my business how much money yougive her, nor how much she may bully you in private, but, my dear boy,I am just naturally damned if I'll put up with her tantrums anylonger."
"But, Madge," pleaded Dick Fenway, rather anxiously, "Lola is--alittle nervous!"
"She's all of that," agreed Mrs. Harlan. "We started out to make ajolly party of this and it's winding up like an Irish wake. Look atBob."
In response to her rather dramatic invitation, Dick turned his head,and did as he was requested. He looked at Bob, and in spite of hisdisturbed mind he found himself smiling. Bob Nelson, who made up thefourth in their little party, was a stout young fellow in the latetwenties, whose sole ambition in life seemed to centre about a desirenot to have rows; he sat on the sand a few paces away from them, andwas earnestly practicing his favorite amusement, which consisted infixing his eyes firmly upon nothing whatever, and allowing his mind to"stand without hitching," as he had once described it, a mentalgymnastic only possible of achievement inside of a skull soconstituted as to allow the brain an abundance of room.
"Bob," continued Mrs. Harlan firmly, "is getting good and tired of theway things are going. We don't mind a little change now and then, butwe do object to being politely requested to get out of every hotelbetween Palm Beach and Quebec. Bob! What is your opinion of the wayLola is going on?"
Bob, evidently anxious to do the subject full justice, gave the matterat least a moment's calm thought before he replied.
"I--er--yes----" He then, with considerable satisfaction, resumed hisformer amusement, only slightly troubled by the unusual mental effort.
"There! You see!" exclaimed Mrs. Harlan.
Although somewhat in doubt as to precisely what he was supposed tosee, Dick was content to assume that it was not exactly a complimentto Lola.
Lola had been making rows; there was no denying that. She wasdifficult to please, and absolutely indifferent to the rights ofothers. She was constantly getting them into disputes with the hotelclerks, the servants, or with the other guests, and on severaloccasions during their trip they had been politely informed that theirrooms were needed for other purposes. All this had been fully asannoying to Dick as it had to either of the others, but during the sixweeks they had been together, his love for her had grown into a greatpassion that made no account of her faults, although it could notblind him to them.
"She's in a difficult position, Madge," he explained, anxious tosmooth things over, for he knew that Lola would not travel about withhim alone, and for the last few days he had seen that Mrs. Harlan wasrapidly growing tired of her role of chaperone. "She's had to breakoff with her people, and she's new to this sort of thing. It will beall right as soon as that confounded divorce of mine is settled. Oncewe are married she'll settle down and have an easy mind."
"All right," Mrs. Harlan sighed patiently. "I'm your friend, and I'llstick as long as I can, but I can't help saying this, Dick: you're thebravest man I ever knew. They make an awful fuss about 'Daniel in theLions' Den' but he wasn't a marker to you!"
"Oh, come now! Lola isn't so bad as all that. She's the best girl inthe world, and the gamest little sport. Of course, I'll admit she is alittle bit upset right now, and her temper is a little--littleviolent."
"And then some," agreed Mrs. Harlan coarsely.
"Come on; let's go back and see if she's still asleep. If she is thehotel people will probably allow us to stay to lunch. Are you ready,Bob?"
Bob was never what could properly be described as ready, but as it waseasier on the whole to move than to dispute the matter, and as he wasvaguely impressed with the idea that the word lunch had beenmentioned, he rose ponderously to his feet and followed the othersback to the hotel. Several groups of summer visitors, noticing thedeep abstraction of his manner, were quite impressed. One young ladywas heard to remark, that she "would like to know what he was thinkingabout;" a desire which, had he known of it, he would have been quiteunable to gratify.
They found Lola waiting for them on the broad veranda, and as she sawthem she came to the head of the steps and stood there smiling down atthem. She was all in white, and looked as fresh and as sweet as aflower. No one, to see her, would have believed that only the nightbefore she had left them in a furious burst of temper, vowing that shenever wanted to see any of them again as long as she lived.
"I've been waiting for you for the longest time," she cried out gayly."I was afraid that you had all grown so disgusted with me that you hadrun away together, and were going to leave me here all by myself."
"You didn't answer when I knocked at your door this morning, and I wasafraid to wake you. I thought the sleep would do you more good thananything else."
Dick spoke tenderly, for he was really very fond of her, and anxiousthat the scene of the night before should be forgotten.
"Aren't you going to kiss me, Madge?"
As Lola held out her hand pleadingly, and with an air of sweetrepentance, Mrs. Harlan, who was kind-hearted enough in her way,completely surrendered, and kissed her warmly, although she had vowedto herself that she would make no more efforts to live at peace withher.
"And you, Bob?" As she stood with her arm about Mrs. Harlan, she heldout her left hand to him. "Will you forgive me also? You see thateveryone else has; you don't want to be the hard-hearted one of thecrowd, do you?"
"Lola, you're all right," said Bob, enormously flattered by all thisunusual attention.
"We're going to cut out rows after this, and have a great time. Let'sgo to lunch!"
"Right again, Bob," cried out Mrs. Harlan. "I always said you had morebrains than any of us."
"Oh, no," replied Bob modestly, as they started for the dining-room,"I don't claim to have more than my share of brains, but I'mpractical."
They had arrived here, at Narragansett Pier, only the day before, andLola, who had been tired out by the long journey from Bar Harbor, hadrefused to go down stairs to dinner, and had, as she always did oflate, taken breakfast in bed; so this was her first sight of thepretty dining-room.
They were given a table by one of the front windows looking out overthe water, and as she seated herself and looked around she made up hermind that she was going to like this new place.
The room was crowded, although the season was drawing to a close, andshe noted with approval that the guests were of a quieter sort thanthose to whom they had been accustomed of late.
"It's a fine assortment of old dopes we've fell into this time,"remarked Mrs. Harlan, looking about her scornfully. "Hadn't you bettersay grace, Bob, or start a hymn?"
"Good God, Madge!" exclaimed Bob in horror. "It ain't as bad as that,is it?"
"It's a good thing for all of us," said Lola. "It's a rest to getwhere you can see decent women and children again. I'm tired of thosesporty hotels we've been living in lately. I'm going in for the simplelife, and besides, these are smart people; you can tell that bylooking at them. There isn't a thing in the world the matter withthem, outside of their being respectable."
"They know enough to get good grub," Bob asserted with strongapproval. "If soup like this goes with being respectable, I believeI'll get me a pair of spectacles and start in to raise whiskers."
"Look!" Lola nodded her head in the direction of a table near to them."Did you ever see a finer looking old man or a prettier child! Iwonder if he is her father? No, he's too old. He is her grandfather;that pretty little woman next to him is his daughter and the littlegirl's mother!"
"Thank God for this cocktail!" exclaimed Mrs. Harlan piously, as sheraised it to her lips. "It's all that's keeping me from a bad attackof the 'Willies.' You don't seriously mean that you like this sort ofthing."
"Of course I d
o," replied Lola; "I like it better than any of theplaces we have been to yet; don't you, Dick?"
"I like any place where you are happy, Lola," he replied.
"Quick, Bob, send for another cocktail," Mrs. Harlan demandedearnestly, "and tell the waiter to hurry up with it, or I'll beturning virtuous myself."
There was, in fact, some reason for her surprise. Lola was never inthe same mood for any great length of time, but up to now she had beentireless in her search for pleasure and excitement. She could not havetold herself just why the atmosphere of this rather aristocratic hotelappealed so strongly to her, but the fact remained that, for themoment at least, she was happier than she had been at any time sincetheir hurried flight from New York.
They had gone first to Atlantic City, where Bob had joined theirparty, but on the second day after their arrival, one of the privatedetectives whom Dick had prudently engaged to keep an eye on JohnDorris, had telegraphed that John had just taken a train for AtlanticCity. How he had discovered their whereabouts they did not know, butlong before his train arrived they were on their way to Cape May.
That was the last they heard of John; whether he had continued thesearch, or given up and returned home, they neither knew nor cared.They travelled on, from one gay summer resort to another, as franticin their search for amusement as the prospectors who journey up anddown the Yukon are in their search for gold.
At first Lola had great trouble in teaching Dick that, in spite of hercomplete surrender of her life to his care, she had no idea ofallowing him any favors beyond those conventionally granted to anaccepted lover. On rare occasions she let him kiss her, with a littlemore warmth than is usually considered quite correct; he wasprivileged to hold her hand; once or twice perhaps to take her in hisarms for a moment; aside from that all that he was expected to do wasto provide her with the most costly dresses, and in every way togratify her extravagant whims and caprices.
This attitude of Lola's was such a surprise to Mrs. Harlan that thegood lady went about in a sort of fog of astonished admiration, andconfided to Bob, at intervals of about four hours, that Lola was"about the slickest article she had as yet discovered."
Dick himself, however, seemed perfectly satisfied after he had beenmade to clearly understand Lola's attitude. She had read his naturewith true feminine intuition; to him the thing out of his reach wasalways the thing to be desired, and he made the life of his Clevelandattorney a burden with his daily demands of a speedy settlement of hisdivorce.
To Lola's father, sitting alone in New York, quietly waiting herreturn, to John or to Dr. Crossett, now half way across the Atlanticon his way back to Paris, the knowledge of her attitude might havebrought some comfort; to them she seemed lost to all feelings of shameor sense of prudence, and it is possible, had they known how mattersstood, that they would have kept on in their search for her.
The real facts were that Dick was to Lola the direct means by whichshe was to provide herself with the good things of life. He was a richman. As his wife she could be sure of the things that just now seemedto her to be of all things the most to be desired. He, himself, was ahandsome, good-natured, easily managed young fellow. To the physicalside of her, which as yet had only been aroused for one moment whenshe had thrown herself into John's arms, Dick made absolutely noappeal, and twenty years of purity of thought and action had providedher with a defence against the casual promptings of instinctivedesires too strong to be easily broken down. Of late a restless,nervous condition of mind and body might have warned her of a growinglonging to solve for herself some of the depths of the world'sknowledge. Her eyes had more than once been held for a moment by thebold, admiring gaze of some one of the strong, handsome men whom shehad met or when she had passed casually on the beaches or on the hotelverandas, but the quick catch of her breath, the sudden leap of herheart at such times had speedily been forgotten; she was not given toself-analysis; her whole existence just now was centered in a dailysearch for pleasure.
After lunch she and Dick went for a long walk, and Dick took advantageof her present gentle mood to tell her of his hope of a quicksettlement of his divorce action and to discuss with her plans fortheir future. As they strolled along the shore road, Lola noticed,idly, a rather striking couple who seemed to keep at about the samedistance ahead of them; father and daughter she thought they must be;a very pretty girl of perhaps eighteen and a man in the late fifties,but so hale and vigorous that at the first glance he suggested nothought of age; indeed, it was not until the couple turned and passedthem that Lola, glancing quickly at him, saw on his face that in spiteof his youthful step and almost soldierly bearing, he was a man ofabout her own father's time of life. The thought came to her, as for amoment she met his strong, eager glance of approval, as he saw herfresh young beauty and splendid vitality, that here was a man of realforce.
"How queerly he looked to me," she thought, "this old man, with adaughter very little younger than I am myself. Yet when he saw me hiseyes seemed to burn into mine. He is in mourning, too, for he wore aband on his arm, and the girl is in black; how queer men are. Are theyalways the same, boys and men, always like that? A girl has only tolook at them, and they can think of nothing but her."
"Father!" The young lady looked almost angrily at him, then turningthrew a quick look of scorn over her shoulder toward Lola.
"What a bold-looking girl!"
"Was she, my dear?" remarked her father coldly. "I thought her ratherpretty."
"Pretty! She is beautiful. I was looking at her at lunch. I thoughtshe was sweet, although she was with impossible persons, but as shelooked at you just now----"
"Well, my dear?"
"She looked like--like an animal."
"A very fine animal, Alice; she is a very beautiful woman, although Ifancy you are right about her not being quite--quite the thing. Theless notice you take of such people the better, my dear, unless youknow something about who and what they are."
"That old boy," remarked Dick to Lola, looking after the couple whohad just passed them, "is Howard Bradley, of Detroit, one of thebiggest lumbermen in the country, said to be worth eight or tenmillions."
"Really?" She looked up with a quick flash of interest.
"Yes, that's his daughter, Alice Bradley; you must have often seen herpicture in the Sunday papers. She's a real swell; they are friends ofmy old man's, although I've never met 'em myself."
"You are a foolish boy, Dick. You must go and introduce yourself atonce! It's silly not to make friends of that sort when you can."
"But I can't be bothered."
"Now, Dick, you do as I tell you. I'd like to meet a girl like thatmyself. You could introduce me easily enough."
"All right, Lola," replied Dick indifferently. "I'm even ready to buttinto society if you think it will amuse you, but right now let's gofor a swim. Bob and Madge will be waiting for us."
The beach was crowded when they entered the water together a littlelater, and as Lola was the only one of the four who ever did any realswimming, she left the others without ceremony and struck out for theraft, which, as it was now high tide, was quite a distance from theshore.
"Careful, Lola!" Dick called out to her anxiously, but she only turnedher head and laughed at him as she swam easily along with an over-handstroke that sent her through the water without the slightest apparenteffort. In a moment she was past the line of bobbing heads that markedthe limit of the average bather's courage and in comparatively clearwater; another moment and she was within a few strokes of the raft onwhich a half dozen men and one woman were standing; one of the men shesaw was the gentleman Dick had told her was Howard Bradley; the girlwas his daughter.
LOLA'S THOUGHTS REVERT TO THE HANDSOME STRANGER WHOMSHE MET ON THE ATLANTIC CITY BOARDWALK.]
"She needn't think she is the only girl that knows how to swim," saidLola to herself, as she deliberately guided herself past the raft andout toward the distant shore line; she was quite conscious of the factthat all those on the raft had turned to watch her, and a feel
ing ofbravado urged her to keep on. She felt strong to-day, full of youthand life, and she had no fear of any danger.
"Look, father!" said Alice Bradley, following Lola anxiously with hereyes. "Surely she is going too far out."
"By Jove," said Mr. Bradley, "she's fine. Look at the way she goesthrough the water."
"But it isn't safe; you know it isn't," exclaimed his daughter. "Look!Look at her now! Father! Look at her!"
"Wait!" She felt her father's fingers crush her bare arm as heclutched her in his excitement. "She's turned over, swimming on herback. It's all right; I think I---- No, by God! No! Here! Hello!Hello, there, guard!" He pointed with one hand to where Lola floated,and waved the other frantically to a life guard who sat in a boatnearer to Lola than he was, but even at that a good fifty yards away."Behind you! There! Behind you!"
"He sees her, father. He is going to her," cried Alice, while theothers on the raft screamed out directions and encouragement to thesun-burned young fellow who was making his heavy surf-boat leapthrough the water. "He will be in time; she is keeping herselfafloat!"
She was keeping herself afloat, but that was all. Suddenly a pain hadshot through her heart, and she felt herself powerless to move herarms; she sank over, and when she rose to the surface just managed tokeep herself above water by floating on her back, and now and then, bythe greatest effort, taking a feeble stroke when the numbness that wasso rapidly spreading over her body allowed her to do so. She would dieunless she managed to keep up until help should come; she knew that!She was fast losing consciousness now; she would die unless she forcedherself to live! Unless she drove back, bit by bit, the weakness thatwas overpowering her. The pain in her heart was not so bad now; shecould move her arm a little more; she could move it more if she tried;she must try; she would--there--again--again--what did the painmatter; it was life--life----
"Are you all right now?" She was lying in the bottom of a littlesurf-boat; a young man was bending over her, speaking to her. Shelooked up into his face and smiled. How big he was, and how strong,and how naked. Arms, and legs, and breast, and shoulders, firm, solid,sun-burned flesh.
He had one arm about her, holding her up. She nestled close up to him,her head dropping back on his shoulder, her eyes answering thechallenge that suddenly flashed into his.