"She is a fool. I feel sorry for her." Marie looked again at the café
clock. "_It is after three!_ We have been sitting here almost four
hours!"
Spike frowned at his feet. "Well," he remarked, "at last we are free
of her...." He became lost in thought. "What did you say? _Three_
o'clock!...
"Marie!" he exclaimed, so seriously she started and became pale, "Tell
me, Marie, will you.... What would you think if.... I just had the
idea ... perhaps one could ... ah...!"
"_Mais, oui!_ What is it you wish to say?"
"You wouldn't ... that is, you would rather stay in the city than go
out in the country now, wouldn't you? I know a place...."
"Now?" cried Marie, relieved. "But it is too late to go into the
country! It is after three!"
"Well, I didn't think we could, really...." In a moment of silence his
courage grew. "Look!" he said, "at 3:35 a train leaves from the _Gare
de Seaux_ and before half-past four we would be there."
"But it will take time to get to the station!"
"Not more than a minute. It is across the street!" He pointed to the
other side of the intersection of _boulevards_ to the entrance of an
underground station. "That little _gare_."
"Then we'll go, and we'll have supper in the country!" Marie drummed
gleefully on the table. Suddenly the noise of the streets was
unendurable. They would watch the sunset from a smooth hilltop he knew.
It would be pleasant to hire a carriage and take a drive uphill to
_Cernay_ in the dusk.
Spike pulled a roll of dirty paper from his pocket and put it on the
table. "There it is--twenty-eight dollars worth of francs.
"One hundred million, American, was not enough!" Spike added
ironically. He looked at his money and his imagination flamed. He saw
what this little jaunt into the country might have been. He had been
the richest man in the world--now he must ride third class! What an
idiot he was!... But it was not too late! They still had the ring! His
cheeks were flushed.
"Look here! When we get there we'll have to walk. Suppose we could go
all the way in a limousine! _Speed!_ The roads are smooth and we would
sit together so comfortably, and not have to think about anything."
"You are mad. It would cost three or four hundred francs!"
Spike's eyes blazed. He reached toward Marie with greedy hands. "But
the witch said...."
Marie drew back, stared at him as if he had become a stranger.
"Now, if I wish for just a few thousands," Spike said softly. "Or maybe
a million.... We could go in the best car in Paris! We might even have
supper in the _Bois_."
"Don't stop me now! Give me back the ring. Give me back the ring!"
"But, my dear----!"
"It's my ring. Give it back!"
"Spike, you have forgotten! You are going to spoil everything!"
Spike sat up straight with an effort. He tried but could not speak. He
struck the table a smashing blow with his fist.
"No! No! I'll not!" he gasped. "I'll not try again. Marie let me have
it!... Let's throw it away!"
Frightened she kept her hands behind her. "Wait! Not now! Spike! _Don't
hurt me!_"
She snatched her hand from his grasp and threw the ring under the
trees. Flecker shouted with pain and surprise. As it struck, the ring
released from the earth an explosion of white smoke.
The earth shook!
The water carafe clattered on its side. Trees bowed with a loud whisper
of terror as before a gale. A plate-glass window crashed to splinters.
From all about came the moaning sound of things falling. Sidewalks were
instantly crowded. Heads thrust out from every window amidst a hubbub
of cries and questions. The waiter shuffled out, paler than ever.
Madame panted at his side, her chins trembling.
"What was it?" she cried. "Was it a German bomb?"
"It was an earthquake!" said the waiter.
Spike found himself clutching Marie's hand, his shoulders hunched about
his ears as if he expected the blue of the heavenly arch to fall upon
him. Marie was praying, half crying, half laughing.
"Will there be another shock?" asked the waiter of anybody.
Spike looked at Marie. "Oh, no! I think not!"
His confident tone impressed men and women standing near. They looked
around respectfully. The waiter was glad to believe him.
"_Mon Dieu!_" sighed Marie. "How frightened I was. It surprised me!"
Spike laughed aloud. She was amazed and then because he did not stop
she laughed with him. The fright, so quickly replaced by knowledge of
safety, shocked them into a reckless, delicious gayety.
"_L'addition!_"
The waiter hurried to serve them. Spike paid a big bill with a
flourish.