The Blue Grotto
Very early on Saturday morning Mr. Carson returned to Capri in a
sailing vessel, having taken advantage of a night crossing and arriving
with the dawn. Lorna had bidden her friends a temporary good-by for the
week-end, refusing all kind invitations of "bring your father to see
us," or "tell him he must join the Clan." She felt that her excuses for
him were of the flimsiest; she said he was tired, unwell, and needed
absolute rest and solitude, and begged them to forgive her if she spent
the time with him alone, and, though they replied that they could
understand his desire for quiet, she was conscious that they thought she
might at least have volunteered an introduction. Lorna knew only too
well that, if her father was aware there was the slightest danger of
meeting English people, he would probably insist upon taking the next
boat back to Naples; it was the consciousness of complete isolation that
gave the value to his holiday. She told him indeed that she had met some
of her school friends and had taken walks with them, but she mentioned
that they were staying down below, nearer the Marina, and that they were
not in the least likely to come up to the Casa Verdi.
"Let us take our books, Daddy," she suggested, "and go and sit on the
hillside as we did last Sunday. It was quiet on that ledge of the crag,
and away from everybody. The rest did you good, and I'm sure you enjoyed
it."
Lying on the cliff among the flowers, with blue sky above and blue sea
beneath, poor Mr. Carson allowed himself a temporary relaxation. He
smoked his pipe and read his paper, and for a little while at least the
hard lines round his mouth softened, and his anxious eyes grew easy. He
finished his Italian journal, lay idly watching the scenery, chatted,
dozed, and finally stretched out his hand for one of Lorna's books. It
happened to be an Anthology of Poetry which Irene had lent her, and
which contained one of the ballads that Mrs. Cameron had recited to the
assembled Clan. It had struck Lorna's fancy, and she was trying to learn
it by heart. Mr. Carson turned over the pages, read a few of the pieces,
and was closing the little volume when his eye chanced to light upon the
name written on the title page. Its effect upon him was like a charge of
electricity.
"David Beverley," he gasped. "David Beverley! Lorna! Great Heavens! By
all that's sacred, where did you get this?"
[Illustration: "'BY ALL THAT'S SACRED, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS BOOK?'"
--_Page 304_]
"Why, Dad! What's the matter? Irene lent me the book. It belongs to her
father."
"Her father! You don't mean to tell me your friend's father is David
Beverley?"
"Why not, Dad," whispered Lorna, looking with apprehension into his
haggard, excited face.
She guessed even before he spoke what the answer was going to be.
"David Beverley is the man who ruined my life!"
The blow which had fallen was utterly overwhelming. For a moment Lorna
fought against the knowledge like a drowning man battling with the
waters.
"Oh, Dad! Surely there's some mistake. It _can't_ be! Isn't it some
other Beverley perhaps?"
"I know his writing only too well. There's no possibility of a mistake.
Besides, I saw him in Naples--at the end of February. I haven't
forgotten the shock it gave me. Why," turning almost fiercely upon
Lorna, "didn't you tell me your schoolfellow's name before? Have you all
this time been making friends with your father's enemy?"
"I thought I'd often talked about Renie," faltered poor Lorna. "Perhaps
I never mentioned her surname. Oh, Dad! Dad! Is it really true? It's too
horrible to be believed."
Lying in the soft Capri grass, with the pink cistus flowers brushing
her hot cheeks, Lorna raged impotently against the tragedy of a fate
which was changing the dearest friendship of her life into a feud.
Irene!--the only one at school who had sympathized and understood her,
who had behaved with a delicacy and kindness such as no other person had
ever shown her, who had taken her into her home circle and given her the
happiest time she had ever had in her shadowed girlhood; Irene with her
merry gray eyes and her bright sunny hair, the very incarnation of
warm-hearted genuine affection--Irene, her roommate, her buddy, her
chosen confidante. How was it possible ever to regard her as an enemy?
Yet had she not vowed a solemn oath to hate all belonging to the man who
had so desperately injured them? Oh! The world seemed turning upside
down. Loyalty to her father and love for her friend dragged different
ways, and in the bitter conflict her heart was torn in two.
Mr. Carson, haunted to the verge of insanity by the terror of discovery,
was now obsessed with the one idea of escape from Mr. Beverley. He no
longer felt safe on the island. Any moment he dreaded to meet faces that
would betray recognition of his past. The calm and content of his visit
were utterly shattered, and a sudden violent impulse urged him to return
to Naples.
"Capri is not large enough to hold myself and David Beverley," he
declared. "We'll go back by the night boat, Lorna. Meantime we'll borrow
Signor Verdi's skiff and paddle about among the rocks. I feel easier on
water than on land. I like the sense of a space of ocean round me. You
can't suddenly meet a man when you've plenty of sea-room, can you?"
"No, no, Dad!" said Lorna, trying to soothe him. "We can walk down the
steps to the cove and get the skiff, and be quite away from everybody
once we are on the sea."
She was ready to humor his every whim, for in the blackness of her
trouble nothing seemed at present to really matter. The whirling eddies
of her thoughts rushed through her brain in a perpetual series of
questions and answers. Must hate strike the death knell of love? Surely
the only thing to do with an injury is to forgive it. Would revenge wipe
out the wrong or in any way solve anything? No, there would only be one
more wrong done in the world, to go on in ever-widening circles of
hatred and misery. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost, and
"getting even" may bring its own punishment.
"Our only chance is to go away and start afresh in a new country," she
sobbed. "At the other side of the Pacific we might forget--but no!
Renie! Renie! If I go to the back of beyond I shan't forget you, and all
you've been to me. The memory of you, darling, will last until the end
of my life."
Mr. Carson found Signor Verdi working in his allotment, obtained leave
from him to use the skiff, and climbing down the flight of steep steps
cut in the rock, reached the cove where the boat was beached on the
shingle. He had been an expert oarsman from his college days, and
understood Neapolitan waters, so in a short time he and Lorna were
skimming gently over the surface of the blue sea, keeping well away from
rocks and out of currents, but within reasonable distance of the land.
Sometimes they rowed and sometimes they drifted, hardly caring in what
direction they steered so long as they circled round the island. Their
only object was to stop out on the sea, and, as they had brought a
picnic basket with them, there was nothing to urge their return until
sunset. In the course of the afternoon they had coasted below Monte
Solaro, and found themselves approaching the entrance that led to the
Blue Grotto. In the mornings, when the steamer brought its crowd of
tourists, there was generally quite a little fleet of skiffs to be seen
here, but now, with the exception of a solitary boat, the famous cavern
was deserted. To avoid passing too near to even this one craft Mr.
Carson steered away from the shore, but turned his head in
consternation, for loud and unmistakable cries of "help" were ringing
over the water, and the occupants, frantically waving handkerchiefs,
were evidently doing their utmost to attract his attention. Common
humanity demanded that he must at least go and see what was the matter,
so he reluctantly altered his course.
In a boat close to the entrance of the grotto were several young people,
and Lorna instantly recognized Angus, Stewart, Jess, Michael, and
Peachy. They appeared in much anxiety, and directly they were within
hailing distance they called out their news:
"Mr. Beverley and Vincent and Irene have gone inside the grotto, and
they don't seem able to get out again. We can hear them shouting for
help."
The party, in their British imprudence, had not brought a boatman, and
they were uncertain what to do. Their own barque was too large to go
through the narrow opening into the cavern, and they looked hopefully at
Mr. Carson's little skiff.
"We don't know what's happened," gulped Jess.
"They went in to explore the Roman passage."
"Just by themselves."
"They've been gone such a long time," volunteered the others.
"Listen," said Peachy.
For from out the low entrance of the grotto floated a faint far-off
echoing ghost of a shout.
Lorna glanced imploringly at her father. He did not hesitate for a
moment. The man who had injured him was inside the cavern, perhaps in
deadly danger, and he was going to risk his own life and his daughter's
to save him. And risk there undoubtedly was. A breeze had arisen and
agitated the surface of the water, so that the ingress was smaller than
ever and more difficult to compass. When waves lashed the tideless
Mediterranean even the Capri fishermen shunned entering the grotto, for
they knew its perils only too well. Telling Lorna to lie flat on her
back Mr. Carson took the same position, and with infinite difficulty
managed to maneuver the skiff into the rocky entrance. There was barely
room, for each wave bumped it against the roof, but by clinging to the
chain he worked his way along and shot through into the lake within. On
the right of the cavern three figures, holding a light, stood on a kind
of landing-place, while a skiff drifting far off in the shadows told its
own tale.
Mr. Carson rowed at once to retrieve the truant boat, and towed it back
to its owners.
"We thought we had tied it securely," explained Mr. Beverley. "We were
utterly aghast when we came back and found it had drifted. It would have
been a horrible experience to stay here all night. If the sea rose we
might even have been imprisoned for days. We were fools to come, but I
didn't realize the danger."
"The sea is much rougher already," said Mr. Carson. "It'll be a ticklish
matter to get out again, and the sooner we do it the better. Will you go
first and I'll follow on after?"
"It's like you, Lorna, to come to rescue us. I always called you my good
angel," choked Irene, as she entered the skiff. "I thought just now I
was never going to see you again in this world. Let's get out of this
horrible place as fast as we can. It's like Dante's Inferno. I've never
been so frightened in all my life."
One after the other the two skiffs started on their risky exit from the
grotto, scraping and bumping against the roof with the water on a level
with the gunwale; one wave indeed overflowed and soused them, but the
next moment they sighted the sky and grazing through the entrance they
gained the open water.
It was only when, in the clear afternoon daylight he turned to thank his
rescuer that a flash of recognition flooded Mr. Beverley's face.
"Cedric Houghten! You! You!" he stammered, as if almost disbelieving the
evidence of his own eyes.
"Yes, it is I; but having seen me, forget me," returned Mr. Carson, his
dark face flushed and his hand on the oar. "It's the one favor you can
do me for saving you. Let me vanish as I came, and don't try to follow
me. I only hope we may never cross each other's paths again."
"Cedric! Come back!" yelled Mr. Beverley, as the skiff shot away. "Man
alive! We've been searching for you for years. Don't you know that we've
proved your innocence! Come back, I say, and let me tell you."
* * * * *
It was late that evening, after a very long talk with Mr. Beverley, that
Lorna's father explained to her the circumstances that had cleared his
name.
"David had no more embezzled the money than I, and, thank God, he has
no idea I ever distrusted him. When a further sum went, Mr. Fenton set a
trap, and discovered to his infinite grief that it was his own son who
had been robbing the firm. It practically broke him, and he has retired
from all active share in the business now. They packed young Fenton off
to New Zealand to try farming instead of finance, but he's not doing any
good there. Mr. Fenton, it seems, was most anxious to find me and right
the injustice done me, but I had hidden myself so well under an assumed
name in Naples that it was impossible for them to trace me. They
advertised in the Agony column of _The Times_, but I avoided English
papers, so never saw the advertisements. My efforts to escape notice
were only too successful, and, although I didn't know it, I was actually
defeating my own ends by my caution. If, as I intended, I had started
for a new continent, I might so completely have broken all links with my
old life that I might have gone to my grave in ignorance that my
innocence was proved. It was only the marvelous chance of this
afternoon's meeting that cleared up the tangle. I can look the world in
the face again, now, and not fear the sight of an Englishman. Oh, the
joy of having got one's honor back untarnished! Next best to that is to
know it was not my friend who had wronged me. The belief in his
treachery was half the bitterness of those dreadful years. Capri has
been a fortunate island for us, Lorna. It's truly called the 'Mascot of
Naples,' and I shall love it to the end of my days. I can take my old
name again now and be proud of it. You're Lorna Houghten in future, not
Lorna Carson. What a triumph to write to our relations and tell them the
glorious news. I feel like a man let loose from slavery."
To Lorna also this happy consummation of all their troubles seemed a
relief almost too great for expression. That Irene, her own Renie,
should be the daughter of her father's favorite friend, and therefore a
hereditary as well as a chosen chum, was a special delight, for it
welded the links that bound them together. The future shone rosy, and
she felt that wherever her life might be cast the Beverleys would always
remain part and parcel of it. Perhaps the triumph she appreciated most
of all was the introduction of her father to the Cameron Clan. No more
hiding in out-of-the-way corners and avoiding the very sound of a
British voice; henceforth they might hold up their heads with the rest
and take again their true position. She was proud of her father: now
that the black cloak of despair had dropped away from him, his old
happier nature shone out and he seemed suddenly ten years younger. To
present him into the intimate circle of her friends realized her dearest
wish.
"It's been a wonderful week-end," said Peachy, standing with her girl
friends on the quay to wave good-by to the Monday morning steamer that
bore some of their relations back to Naples and business. "Here's Lorna
with a new name, and Renie with a fresh cousin. Haven't you heard? Why,
Captain Preston popped the question last night, and he and Marjorie
announced their engagement at the breakfast table. Not the most romantic
place to glean up congratulations, but, of course, that's just as you
think about it. When _I_ get engaged it shall be announced by moonlight,
so that I can hide my blushes. I don't ever want the holidays to end.
Capri's the dandiest place in Italy, and if Dad doesn't buy a villa here
I'll never forgive him. You want one too, Lorna? Hooray! We'll make a
Colony of Camellia Buds on the little island and spend the summer here.
We may be globe-trotters and all the rest of it, but I vote we get up a
good old Anglo-Saxon League and stick together for better or for worse.
I'll buy a Union Jack to-day if the Cameron Clan will promise to wave
the Stars and Stripes, and sing 'Yankee Doodle' with 'Auld Lang Syne.'"
"We've welded America already into the clan, dear bairn," smiled Mrs.
Cameron. "No other visitor keeps us alive like you do."
"Pronounce thy wishes, O Peach of the West," laughed Stewart. "We
rechristen thee Queen of the South."
"Then I summon you all some day to come back to this, my kingdom by the
sea. School is school and I've got to have another term there, but I
want to feel this happy island is waiting for us to return to it. You
promise? Thanks! Here's a new version then of the old song--composed by
Miss Priscilla Proctor, please!
'Should auld adventures be forgot
And ne'er provoke a smile?
Should auld adventures be forgot
Upon this happy isle?
For auld lang syne, my dears, for auld lang syne,
We'll all return to Capri's shore for auld lang syne.'
H'm--a poor thing, but mine own!"
"There are two of us at any rate who won't forget to come back," said
Lorna, linking her arm fondly in Irene's as they walked away from the
quay.
THE END.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Page 63, "gardner" changed to "gardener". (Paolo, the gardener)
Page 260, "loose" changed to "lose". (to lose sight)
One instance each of A-1 and A1, and cooee and coo-e-e were retained.
Two instances each of Cartmel and Cartmell were retained.