The Lady and the Pirate by Emerson Hough (ebook reader library TXT) đ
- Author: Emerson Hough
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Edouard, hat in hand, was on deck before our fenders touched the wharf, laughing and grasping my hands and looking up at my flag.
âI knew you were coming,â said he. âFact is, all the countryâs been looking for you. Davidson just got in a couple of hours agoâand you know his lady is an old friend of Mrs. Manningâs. Andâââ
He was shaking the hands of Mrs. Daniver and Helena almost before I could present them. Auntie Lucinda bestowed upon him the gaze of a solemn and somewhat tear-stained visage (though I saw distinct approval on her face as she caught sight of the great mansion house among the giant oaks, and witnessed the sophisticatedness of the group on the landing, and the easy courtesy of Edouard himself).
âBy Jove! old man!â the latter found time to say to me, âI congratulate youâsheâs away beyond her pictures.â He did not mean Mrs. Daniver; and he never had seen Helena before. I could only press his hand and attempt no comment as to the congratulations, for part of that was a matter which yet rested in a sealed envelope in my pocket; and at best it must be three or four days.... But then, with a great flash of arrested intelligence, it was borne in upon me that perhaps, after all, it was not so much a question of the tardy United States mails! Because yon varlet, fat and saucy, and well content with life, already, by some means and for some reason, had outrun the mails. He was here, and we had met. It need not be four days before I could learn my fate.... I reached into my pocket and looked at my sealed orders. No matter what Davidsonâs letter held, here was Davidson himself.
âOh, I say, there, you Harry, confound you!â roared Davidson to me in his great voice above the heads of everybody. âI say, what did I tell you?â
Now I had not the slightest idea what Davidson had told me, nor what he meant by waving a paper over his head. âTheyâve signed Dingleheimer for next year! Now what do you think of that? Worldâs championship, and good old Dingleheimer for next yearâI guess thatâs pretty poor for them little old Giants, what?â And he smiled like one devoid of all care as well as of all reason.
I myself smiled just a moment laterâafter I had greeted the Manning ladies, had seen Helena step up and kiss Sally Byington fervently, directly on the cheek, whose too keen coloring I once had heard her decry; had slapped Edouard joyously on the shoulders and pointed to my pirate flag and gloomy black-visaged crewâI say I also smiled suddenly when I felt a hand touch me on the shoulder.
âPolyte, the pilot, stood, cap in hand, and asked me to one side.
âPardon, Monsieur,â said he, âbut those gentilhommesâthose fat oneâees eet sheâll was Monsieur Davelson whoâll HâIâll got letter on heem from those lighthouse, heem?â
âWhy, yes, âPolyteâthe letter you said would take four days to get to New Orleans.â
âPolyte smiled sheepishly. âHeâll wouldnât took four days now, Monsieur! HâIâll got it hâall those letter here. HâIâll change the coat on the lighthouse, maybe, hâan HâIâll got the coat of Guillaume wittâ hâall those letter in her, yass?â And he now handed me the entire packet of letters, which I had supposed left far behind us on the previous day!
I took the letters from him, and handed all of them but one to Edouardâs old body servant to put in the office mail. The remaining one I held in the same hand with its mate: and I motioned Davidson aside to a spot under a live oak as the other began now slowly to move toward the path from the landing up the hill.
âThis is for you,â said I, handing him his letter; and told him how it came to him thus.
âItâs from Helenaâdear old girl, isnât she a trump, after all!â he said, tearing open the letter and glancing at it.
âShe is a dear girl, Mr. Davidson,â said I, stiffly, âyes.â
âWhy, of courseâyes, of course Iâd have done it, if Iâd got this before I left the city,â said he, âbut how can I now?ââholding the letter open in his hand.
âDo you mean to tell me,â I began, but choked in anger mixed with uncertainty. What was it she had asked of him, offered to him? And was not Helenaâs wish a command.
âYes, I mean to tell you or any one else, Iâd do a favor to a lady if I could; butâââ
âWhat favor, Mr. Davidson?â I demanded icily.
âWell, why âMr. Davidsonâ? Ainât I your pal, in spite of all the muss you made of my plans? Why, Iâm damned if Iâll pay you the charter money at all, after the way youâve acted, and allâââ
âMr. Davidson, damn the charter money!â
âThatâs what I say! Whatâs charter money among friends? All right, if you can forgive half the charter fee, Iâll forgive the other half, andâââ
âWhat was in the letter from her?â
âItâs none of your business, Harryâbut still, I donât mind saying that Miss Emory wrote me and said that if I was stillâoh! I say!â he roared, turning suddenly and poking a finger into my ribs, âif you havenât got on one of my waistcoats!â
âThe one with pink stripes,â said I still icily, âand deuced bad ones they all are. And these clothes I borrowed from my China boy. But thenâââ
âI see, you must have come in a hurry, eh?â
âYes. But come now, old man, whatâs in that letter? Iâve got one of my own here, done in the same hand, hers. I am under sealed ordersâuntil I shall have met you, which is now. So I suppose some sort of explanation is due on both sides. We might as well have it all out here, before we join the house party, so as to avoid any awkwardness.â
âOh, nothing in my letter to amount to anything,â he replied. âMiss Emory only wanted to know if Iâd please have her trunks shipped out here from New Orleansâonly that; and she asked me please to bring her a box of marshmallows, as hers were all gone. Sheâs polite, always, dear old Helenaâshe says, here, âSo pleasant is our journey in every way, and so kind have you gentlemen been, and so thoughtful in providing every luxury, that I can not think of a single thing I could ask for except some more marshmallows. Jimmy, the young imp, my nephew, you know, has found mine, though I hid them under both cushions in the stateroom.ââ
I had my hat off, and was wiping my forehead. A sudden burst of glory seemed to me to envelope all the world. If there had been duplicity anywhere, I did not care.
âI suppose Jimmy is the one with two guns and a Jap sword, eh?â asked Davidson.
âNo, the other one, God bless him! Is that all there was in the letter, Cal?â
âYes. Whatâs in yours? Whatâs the gameâbutton, button, whoâs got the girl? And canât you open your letter now?â
âYes,â said I, and did so. It contained just two words (Helena afterward said she had not time to write more while Auntie Lucinda might be in from the other stateroom).[A]
âWell, whatâs it say, dash you!â demanded Cal Davidson. âPlay fair nowâI told, and so must you!â
âIâm damned if I do, Cal!â said I, and put it in my pocket. But I shook hands with him most warmly, none the less....
[A] (Those interested may find them later in the text.[B])
CHAPTER XLI IN WHICH IS MUCH ROMANCE, AND SOME TREASURE, ALSO VERY MUCH HAPPINESSWE walked on slowly up the hill together, my friend Calvin Davidson and myself, following the parti-colored group now passing out of sight behind the shrubbery. At last we paused and sat down on one of the many seats that invited us. Around us, on the great lawn, were many tropic or half-tropic plants, and the native roses, still abloom. Yonder stood the old bronze sun-dial that I knew so wellâI could have read the inscription, I Mark Only Pleasant Hours; and I knew its penciled shadow pointed to a high and glorious noon.... It seemed to me that Heaven had never made a more perfect place or a more perfect day; nor, that I am sure, was ever in the universe a world more beautiful than this, more fit to swing in union with all the harmony of the spheres.... I had fought so long, I had been so unhappy, had doubted so much, had grown so sad, so misanthropic, that I trust I shall be forgiven at this sudden joy I felt at hearing burst on my earsâalbeit a chorus of Edouardâs mocking-birds hid in the oaksâall the music of the spheres, soul-shaking, a thing of joy and reverence.... So I spoke but little.
âBut I say, old man,â began Davidson presently, âitâs all right for a joke, but my word! it was an awfully big one, and an awfully risky one, too,âyour stealing your own yacht from me! I didnât think it of you. You not only broke up my boat partyâyou see, Sally was going on down with us from NatchezâMiss Emory said sheâd be glad to have her come, and of course she and Mrs. Daniver made it proper, all rightâI say, you not only busted that all up, but by not sending a fellow the least word of what you were going to do, you got those silly newspapers crazy, from New Orleans to New Yorkâwhy, youâre famous, that is, notorious! But so is Miss Emory, thatâs the worst of it. I donât just fancy sheâll just fancy some of those pictures, or some of those stories. Least you can do now is to marry Helena and the old girl, too, right off!â
âIn part, that is good advice,â said I. âI wish I could wear your clothes, Calâbut I remember now that Edouard and I can wear the same clothes, and have, many a time.â
âBut I say, donât be so hoggish. Thereâs other people in the world beside youâyouâd never have thought of making that river cruise, now would you?â
âNo.â
âNor you couldnât have got Helena aboard the boat if you had, now could you?â
âNo.â
âLet alone the old girl, her revered aunt!â He dug another thumb into his own pink striped waistcoat. âShe loves you a lot, I am not of the impression!â
âNo, I think she rather favored you!â I replied gravely.
âNo chance! And I say, isnât Sally a humdinger? Just the sort for meâsomething doing every minute. And a fellow can always tell just what sheâs thinkinââââ
âIâm not right sure, Cal, whether thatâs safe to say of any woman,â said I. âA ship on the sea, or a serpent on a rock hasâto use your own quaint manner of speech, my friendâso to speak, nothing on the way of a maid with a man. But go on. I do congratulate you. Do you know, old man, I almost thought, onceâa good while agoâthat you were just a littleâthat isâĂ©pris of Helena your own self?â
âCome again? âApreeââwhatâs that?â
ââGone on her.â
âOh, not at all, not at allânot in the least! Why, I canât see what in the worldâoh, well of course, you know, sheâs fine; but what I mean is, whyâthere was Sally, you know. Say, do you know why I wanted to get Sally away on
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