CHAPTER XII
"What is the trouble?" Derrick asked, in a perfectly calm, almost casualway.
The man who was holding the horse turned to him with a grin.
"We're going to show your man how to do the trick, mister," he said."He's a fool-man, to think he can come over here and teach us boys howto ride."
Derrick had not been to a public school for nothing. He caught thespirit of the thing in a moment, and with that readiness which makes theBritisher the master of circumstance wherever he goes, he nodded andsmiled, and clapped the cowboy on the shoulder.
"Right you are! Go ahead," he said, cheerfully, and the cowboy,evidently surprised by Derrick's complaisance, stepped back.
The horse was set going, the cowboy walked slowly in the properdirection, the audience watching him in intense silence, then, with arun and a bound, he alighted on the horse's back, performing the trickto perfection. The audience thundered its applause, and Derrick, toround off the thing properly, took the cowboy's rough hand, shook it,and whispered,
"Bow, bow, and get back to your place at once. Off with you!"
Amidst cheers and laughter, the now shy and confused amateur obeyed, andDerrick, with his hands in his pockets, strolled across the ring, as ifthe whole incident had been planned.
A group of persons awaited him; men and women who had paled beneaththeir paint, for they had expected trouble. But they were flushed now,and the women's eyes were sparkling with admiration. Isabel, in all theglory of her costume, was the first to greet him.
"It was splendid," she said, in her deep contralto, and, as ifinvoluntarily, she held out her hand. "You saved the show."
Derrick, with the wholesome red of modesty mantling in his cheeks,gently pushed by them.
"Nonsense! There was no danger, not a bit. Keep it going; we're allright."
And so it proved; for the audience, highly pleased with itself and themember who had distinguished himself, received the rest of the bill withmarked satisfaction and pleasure.
"The guv'nor wants you, Mr. Green," said Sidcup, who had not joined inthe congratulations and admiration of the rest.
"All right," said Derrick. "Be with him in a moment."
He went in search of Jackman, and found him, with a bottle of whisky,just outside the men's quarters. He looked up and snarled as Derrickapproached him. Derrick took the bottle from him, and then looked downat him with an air of doubt and uncertainty.
"I'm trying to make up my mind whether I should give you your dischargeor a good hiding. I don't like sacking a man in a strange land, andyou're not in a condition for a fair fight. What do you think I ought todo?"
Jackman staggered to his feet and glared at him.
"You've hit me once before, Mr. Green," he said. "Hit me again--just layyour hand on me, and it'll be the last man you ever bash. You're anupstart, that's what you are. You think, because you can come over thatold fool, that you're going to lord it over everybody. You can play thatsort of game with the women, but you can't with me. I'm engaged for thistrip, and you can't sack me because I made a slip of it in the ring justnow. I know the law, Mr. Green. You think I'm drunk. I'm sober enough tobest you, anyhow."
Thinking to take Derrick unawares, the foolish man aimed a blow at him;but Derrick caught the arm, and almost gently forced Jackman into hisseat again.
"If you hadn't gone for me I'd have sacked you; but I see there's somegood left in you, anyhow. Pull yourself together, man, and don't be anidiot. Cut this stuff"--he tapped the bottle--"and do your job properly.I'll talk to you in the morning. No, I won't; but if I find you playingthe giddy goat again, I'll give you your choice of a hiding or adischarge."
As Derrick hurried off to the manager's office he asked himself why hehad been so merciful, for the man had deserved all with which Derrickhad threatened him. But Derrick knew, for as he had stood looking downat the man, he had remembered a certain young man who had been savedfrom playing the fool by a girl; and the remembrance would never leavehim, would always make him merciful towards the folly of other men.
Mr. Bloxford was not wearing his fur coat, but he nodded to the garment,where it hung on a chair behind him.
"Help me on with it, will you? Took it off--thought there was going tobe a row," he said, with the air of a man who is quite able alone toquell a disturbance. "You managed that very well, Mr. Green." This wasthe first time he had honoured Derrick with a prefix. "The neatest thingI've seen. Yes, you're a cool hand, young man. At first I thought youwere going to come the high and mighty over that cowboy, and if you had,you'd have raised Hades and Thomasus. We should have had the rest ofthem on us and the show wrecked, like they did that other one. I tellyou I was out of that coat before you could say Jack Robinson. Butbefore you were half across the ring I twigged your game. And you playedit for all it was worth. You're made of the right stuff. Yes, you're thesort of man I've read about in the silly story books; but I littlethought I should ever come across him. Now, I wonder why it is?"
He cocked his bald head and peered at Derrick thoughtfully.
"Of course, they'd say in the books it's because you're a 'gentleman.'Well, up to now, I've always given the grin to that highfulutin notion;but--I dunno. Anyhow, I'm much obliged to you."
He held out a grubby paw and shook the now very much embarrassed Derrickby the hand.
"Of course, I'm going to raise your screw. We'll say, double it, and nopalaver."
Derrick expressed his thanks, but Mr. Bloxford waved him away.
"As for that pig Jackman, we'll fire him out, of course."
Derrick pleaded for the man, and Bloxford yielded, but with a shrug ofthe shoulders and a dissenting shake of the head.
"All right," he said, grudgingly. "It's up to you, of course. But don'tyou forget what I told you when you and he had a shindy on board. He'sthe kind of man who'll wait and lay for you when he gets a chance."
Derrick laughed easily as he proceeded to count the money.
They drew good audiences for the whole of their stay, and then preparedto move on. As before, the heaviest of the responsibility fell onDerrick's shoulders, but it was made as light as possible for him by thegood will the company bore him, which it expressed by rendering promptobedience and willing assistance. Jackman had given no further trouble,but had gone about his work with a sullen demeanour, and he markedlyavoided any meeting with Derrick, who treated him exactly as he treatedevery other member of the company.
On the morning of their departure Derrick was standing in the centre ofthe tent, superintending the displacement and packing up of the seatsand other properties. He was immediately beneath a large and heavycircular lamp which afforded the principal light, and up above him wasJackman, who had been sent to lower it. He was waiting for the word fromthe chief baggage man, who was standing at a little distance fromDerrick.
Derrick was moving away, when suddenly he heard a warning cry. He lookedup and saw the mass of metal descending, though the baggage man had notgiven the word. It was a swift upward glance, and as swiftly he swervedaside. Then he felt a sharp but heavy pain on his shoulder, and fell. Hewas conscious of a number of voices shouting, of vague forms hurryingtowards him, then all became a blank.
When he recovered consciousness he found himself lying in one of theliving vans. He tried to move, but the upper part of his body felt as ifit were made of lead. He opened his eyes and looked round him. Someone,a tall figure, bent over him, and laid a hand on his forehead. He lookedup and, with a struggle for consciousness, saw that the face above himwas Isabel's.
"What's the matter--what is it?" he asked, and, to his surprise andconsternation, his voice sounded hollow and weak.
She dropped on her knees beside him, her hand still on his brow.
"You've been ill," she whispered. "Don't move. I don't think you oughtto speak. Stay quite still."
"But why?" he asked, with gentle impatience. "Why am I lying here, andwhat's the matter with me?"
"You've been hurt," she said, in a voice tha
t was trembling as well aslow. "It was the lamp. Don't you remember?"
Derrick knit his brows and tried to recall the past just before hebecame unconscious.
"The lamp--Jackman!" he said, with a frown that turned to a grin; foreven at that moment he appreciated the neatness of Mr. Jackman'srevenge.
"Don't think of it," Isabel said, her hand becoming caressing, as shepassed it over his forehead. "You needn't be afraid; the beast hasdisappeared. Yes, he bolted, or it would have been the worse for him.The men----" Her eyes flashed, her white, even teeth clenched together."It was a wonder you weren't killed; if you hadn't moved, just at themoment you did----"
"Am I badly hurt?" asked Derrick, anxiously. "Am I going to be laid up?Awful nuisance!"
"No," she said; "it was your collar-bone. It is all right now. It struckyour head, too. That's why you were unconscious. We brought a doctoralong with us. He'll be here presently. They wanted to take you to thehospital, but Mr. Bloxford--all of us--couldn't leave you behind."
"I'm glad you didn't," said Derrick. "I shall be all right presently. Ifeel better already. And you have been nursing me?" he asked.
A blush rose to the clear olive of her face, and she smiled, a heavenlysmile, for this was a very beautiful woman, and when a beautiful womansmiles the gods nod approval.
"You see, I was used to it. I was a nurse once; but I couldn't stickit--too quiet. Alice has been helping me," she added, as if forced tomake the admission.
"I say, you have been awfully good to me," said Derrick, gratefully.
"Oh, that's all right," she said. "I--I like it. Like old times, youknow. I must go and tell Mr. Bloxford; he's been like a sick monkeyfretting over its young."
She stood beside the bed, her eyes downcast, her face pale now, but anexpression on her proud and haughty lips which would have befitted aschoolgirl.
"Let me give you some broth. The doctor said you might have it, if youcame to."
She brought him a cup, but to Derrick's disgust he could not grasp it,and she held it to his lips while he drank.
"You're an angel," he said; "yes, an angel. You look pale; you've beennursing me all this time. How long is it?"
"Four days," she said, in a low voice. They had been the happiest fourdays of her life.
"Good lord!" he muttered. "Four days! Oh, here, I say, I wish I couldthank you properly, but I can't."
"There's no need," she said, in a low voice. "I'll go and tell thedoctor and Mr. Bloxford."
She smoothed the clothes about him, her eyes still downcast, but as shewent to the door she turned and looked at him. Derrick met the gaze ofthe dark eyes full blank, and as he did so the colour rose to his face,and it was his turn for his eyes to become downcast.
He had learned her secret, and his heart was heavy within him, for,though they were unlike, the eyes of that other girl, who was always inhis thoughts, flitted between him and Isabel.