CHAPTER XIV
THE LANTERN ABOVE
Chase sat for hours on his porch that night, gazing down upon thechateau. Lights gleamed in a hundred of its windows. He knew thatrevelry held forth in what he was pleased enough to call the feudalcastle, and yet his heart warmed toward the gay people who danced andsang while he thirsted at the gates.
The bitterness of his own isolation, the ostracism that circumstance hadforced upon him, would have been maddening on this night had not allrancour been tempered by the glorious achievement in the market-place.He wondered if the Princess knew what he had dared and what he hadaccomplished in the early hours of the night. He wondered if they hadpointed out his solitary light to her--if, now and then, she bestowed acasual glance upon that twinkling star of his. The porch lantern hungalmost directly above his head.
He was not fool enough to think that he had permanently pulled the woolover the eyes of the islanders. Sooner or later they would come to knowthat he had tricked them, and then--well, he could only shake his headin dubious contemplation of the hundred things that might happen. Hesmiled as he smoked, however, for he looked down upon a world thatthought only of the night at hand.
The chateau was indeed the home of revelry. The pent-up, strugglingspirits of those who had dwelt therein for months in solitude arose inthe wild stampede for freedom. All petty differences between LadyDeppingham and Drusilla Browne, and they were quite common now, wereforgotten in the whirlwind of relief that came with the strangers fromthe yacht. Mrs. Browne's good-looking eager husband revelled in theprospect of this delirious night--this almost Arabian night. He wasswept off his feet by the radiant Princess--the Scheherezade of hisboyhood dreams; his blithe heart thumped as it had not done since he wasa boy. The Duchess of N---- and the handsome Marchioness of B---- cameinto his tired, hungry life at a moment when it most needed the light.It was he who fairly dragged Lady Agnes aside and proposed the banquet,the dance, the concert--everything--and it was he who carried out thehundred spasmodic instructions that she gave.
Late in the night, long after the dinner and the dance, the tired buthappy company flocked to the picturesque hanging garden for rest and thelast refreshment. Every man was in his ducks or flannels, every woman inthe coolest, the daintiest, the sweetest of frocks. The night was clearand hot; the drinks were cold.
The hanging garden was a wonderfully constructed open-air plaisancesuspended between the chateau itself and the great cliff in whose shadowit stood. The cliff towered at least three hundred feet above the roofof the spreading chateau, a veritable stone wall that extended for amile or more in either direction. Its crest was covered with treesbeyond which, in all its splendour, rose the grass-covered mountainpeak. Here and there, along the face of this rocky palisade, tinystreams of water leaked through and came down in a never-ending spray,leaving the rocks cool and slimy from its touch.
Near the chateau there was a real waterfall, reminding one in no smallsense of the misty veils at Lauterbrunnen or Giesbach. The swift streamwhich obtained life from these falls, big and little, ran along the baseof the cliff for some distance and was then diverted by means of a deep,artificial channel into an almost complete circuit of the chateau,forming the moat. It sped along at the foot of the upper terrace, a widetorrent that washed between solid walls of masonry which rose to aheight of not less than ten feet on either side. There were twodrawbridges--seldom used but always practicable. One, a handsome exampleof bridge building, crossed the current at the terminus of the grandapproach which led up from the park; the other opened the way to thestables and the servants' quarters at the rear. A small, stationarybridge crossed the vicious stream immediately below the hanging gardenand led to the ladders by which one ascended to the caverns that ran farback into the mountain.
Two big, black, irregular holes in the face of the cliff marked theentrance to these deep, rambling caves, wonderful caverns wrought by theconvulsions of the dead volcano, cracks made by these splinteringearthquakes when the island was new.
The garden hung high between the building and the cliff, swung by ascore of great steel cables. These cables were riveted soundly in thesolid rock of the cliff at one end and fastened as safely to the stonewalls of the chateau at the other. It swung staunchly from its moorings,with the constancy of a suspension bridge, and trembled at the slightesttouch.
It was at least a hundred feet square. The floor was covered with a footor more of soil in which the rich grass and plants of the tropicsflourished. There were tiny flower beds in the center; baby palms,patchouli plants and a maze of interlacing vines marked the edges ofthis wonderful garden in mid-air. Cool fountains sprayed the air ateither end of the green enclosure: the illusion was complete.
The walls surrounding the garden were three feet high and were intendedto represent the typical English garden wall of brick. To gain access tothe hanging garden, one crossed a narrow bridge, which led from thesecond balcony of the chateau. There was not an hour in the day whenprotection from the sun could not be found in this little paradise.
Bobby Browne was holding forth, with his usual exuberance, on themagnificence of the British navy. The Marquess of B----, uncle to thePrincess, swelled with pride as he sat at the table and tasted his julepthrough the ever-obliging straw. The Princess, fanning herself wearily,leaned back and looked up into the mystic night, the touch of dreamlandcaressing her softly. The others--eight or ten men and half as manywomen--listened to the American in twice as many moods.
"There she is now, sleeping out there in the harbour, a great, big thingwith the kindest of hearts inside of those steel ribs. Her Majesty'sship, the _King's Own!_ Think of it! She convoys a private yacht; shestops off at this beastly island to catch her breath and to see that allare safe; then she charges off into the horizon like a bird that has nohome. Ah, I tell you, it's wonderful. Samrat, fill the Count's glassagain. May I offer you a cigarette, Princess? By the way, I wonder howChase came off with his side show?"
"Saunders tells me that he was near to being butchered, but luck waswith him," said Deppingham. "His ship came home."
"It was a daring trick. I'm glad he pulled it off. He's a man, thatfellow is," said Browne. "See, Princess, away up there in the mountainis his home. There's a light--see it? He keeps rather late hours, yousee."
"Tell me about him," said the Princess suddenly. She arose and walked tothe vine-covered wall, followed by Bobby Browne.
"I don't know much to tell you," said he. "He's made an enemy or two andthey are trying to drive him out. I'd be rather sorry to see him go.We've asked him down here, just because we can't bear to think of afellow-creature wasting his days in utter loneliness. But he has, sofar, declined with thanks. The islanders are beginning to hate him. Theydistrust him, Britt says. Of course, you know why we are here, you--"
"Every one knows, Mr. Browne. You are the most interesting quartette inthe world just now. Every one is wondering how it is going to end. Whata pity you _can't_ marry Lady Agnes."
"Oh, I say!" protested Browne. She laughed merrily.
"But how dull it must be for Mr. Chase! Does he complain?"
"I can't say that he does. Britt--that's my lawyer--Britt says he'snever heard a murmur from him. He takes his medicine with a smile. Ilike that sort of a fellow and I wish he'd be a little more friendly. Itcouldn't interfere with his duties and I don't see where the harm wouldcome in for any of us."
"He has learned to know and keep his place," said she coolly. Perhapsshe was thinking of his last night in the palace garden. Away up therein the darkness gleamed his single, lonely, pathetic little light."Isn't it rather odd, Mr. Browne, that his light should be burning attwo o'clock in the morning? Is it his custom to sit up--"
"I've never noticed it before, now you speak of it. I hope nothingserious has happened to him. He may have been injured in--I say, if youdon't mind, I'll ask some one to telephone up to his place. It would bebeastly to let him lie up there alone if we can be of any service to--"
"Yes, do telephone,
" she broke in. "I am sure Lady Deppingham willapprove. No, thank you; I will stand here a while. It is cool and I lovethe stars." He hurried off to the telephone, more eager than ever, nowthat she had started the new thought in his brain. Five minutes later hereturned to her, accompanied by Lady Agnes. She was still lookingat--the stars? The little light among the trees could easily have beenmistaken for a star.
"Lady Deppingham called him up," said Bobby.
"And he answered in person," said her ladyship. "He seemed strangelyagitated for a moment or two, Genevra, and then he laughed--yes, laughedin my face, although it was such a long way off. People can do what theylike over the telephone, my dear. I asked him if he was ill, or had beenhurt. He said he never felt better in his life and hadn't a scratch. Helaughed--I suppose to show me that he was all right. Then he said he wasmuch obliged to me for calling him up. He'd quite forgotten to go tobed. He asked me to thank you for bringing a warship. You saved hislife. Really, one would think you were quite a heroine--or a Godsend orsomething like that. I never heard anything sweeter than the way he saidgood-night to me. There!"
The light in the bungalow bobbed mysteriously for an instant and thenwent out.
"How far is it from here?" asked the Princess abruptly.
"Nearly two miles as the crow flies--only there are no crows here. Fivemiles by the road, I fancy, isn't it, Bobby? I call him Bobby, you know,when we are all on good terms. I don't see why I shouldn't if you stopto think how near to being married to each other we are at this veryinstant."
"I wonder if help could reach him quickly in the event of an attack?"
"It could, if he'd have the kindness to notify us by 'phone," saidBrowne.
"But he wouldn't telephone to us," said Lady Deppingham ruefully. "He'snot so communicative as that."
"Surely he would call upon you for help if he----"
"You don't know him, Genevra."
The Princess smiled in a vague sort of way. "I've met him quiteinformally, if you remember."
"I should say it was informally. It's the most delicious story I've everheard. You must tell it to Mr. Browne, dear. It's all about the Enemy inThorberg, Mr. Browne. There's your wife calling, Bobby. She wants you totell that story again, about the bishop who rang the door bell."
The next morning the captain of the _King's Own_ came ashore and wastaken to the chateau for dejeuner. Late in the afternoon, the Marquessand his party, saying farewell to the Princess and the revived legatees,put out to the yacht and steamed away in the wake of the great warship.The yacht was to return in a month, to pick up the Princess.
Genevra, her maids, her men and her boxes, her poodle and her dachshund,were left behind for the month of March. Not without misgiving, it mustbe said, for the Marquess, her uncle, was not disposed to look upon theisland situation as a spot of long-continued peace, even though itshereditary companion, Prosperity, might reign steadily. But she refusedto listen to their warnings. She smiled securely and said she had cometo visit Lady Agnes and she would not now disappoint her for the world.All this, and much more, passed between them.
"You won't be able to get help as cleverly and as timely as thatAmerican chap got it last night," protested the Marquess. "Warshipsdon't browse around like gulls, you know. Karl will never forgive me ifI leave you here----"
"Karl is of a very forgiving nature, uncle, dear," said Genevra sweetly."He forgave you for defending Mr. Chase, because you are such a niceEnglishman. I've induced him to forgive Mr. Chase because he's such anice American---although Mr. Chase doesn't seem to know it---and I'm quitesure Karl would shake his hand if he should come upon him anywhere.Leave Karl to me, uncle."
"And leave you to the cannibals, or whatever they are. I can't think ofit! It's out of the--"
"Take him away, Aunt Gretchen. 'And come again some other day,'" shesang blithely.
And so they sailed away without her, just as she had intended from thebeginning. Lord Deppingham stood beside her on the pier as the shoreparty waved its adieus to the yacht.
"By Jove, Genevra, I hope no harm comes to you here in this beastlyplace," said he, a look of anxiety in his honest eyes. "There goes oursalvation, if any rumpus should come up. We can't call 'em out of thesky as Chase did last night. Lucky beggar! That fellow Chase is ripping,by Jove. That's what he is. I wish he'd open up his heart a bit and askus into that devilish American bar of his."
"He owes us something for the warship we delivered to him last night,"said Bobby. "He has made good with his warship story, after all, thanksto the _King's Own_ and Britt."
"And the fairy Princess," added Lady Deppingham.
"I am doubly glad I came, if you include me in the miracle," saidGenevra, shuddering a little as she looked at the lounging natives."Isn't it rather more of a miracle that I should come upon mine ancientchampion in this unheard-of corner of the globe?"
"I'd like to hear the story of Chase and his Adventures in the Queen'sGarden," reminded Bobby Browne.
"I'll tell it to you to-night, my children," said the Princess, as theystarted for the palanquins.
Hollingsworth Chase dodged into the American bar just in time to escapethe charge of spying.