Are we near New York?
Yes, said Justin, smiling encouragement at his young companion. He
stood up and took down from the rack above them Dosias jacket, which
had been reclaimed from the wreck soaked and torn, and a boys cap in
lieu of her missing hat.
You had better put these on now, and then you can rest again for a
little while before we have to move.
It was unavoidable that after the enforced journey the sight of Dosias
white face and imploring eyes should have filled him with a rush of
tender compassion which completely blotted out the previous reluctance
from his memory. Few men spend their time regretting past stages of
thought, and he had naturally accepted her tremulous thankfulness for
his solicitude.
After the long day of travel in Justins company, the color had begun to
return faintly to Dosias lips and cheeks. She was also growing to feel
a little more at home with him; he had seemed too much a stranger and
she had been too greatly in awe of him at first to ask many questions.
He himself had spoken little, but had been kind in numberless ways, and
thoughtful of her comfort, and always smiled encouragingly when he
looked at her. Now, at the journeys end, he began to talk, in a secret
restlessness which he could not own. His mind had been busy all day with
the typometer and his plans for the morrow, but as he neared home he
could not shake off a haunting premonition of something unpleasant to
come.
Lois and the children will all be drawn up in line expecting the new
cousin, he said.
Will they? asked Theodosia, with pleased interest. But they will be
looking out for you as well as for me.
Yes, I suppose so; I very seldom go away from home. But I was wrong in
saying that both children would be up, for it will be nearly seven when
we reach the house, and they go to bed at six; perhaps Zaidee will be
there. I hope you like children, or you will have a bad time of it at
our house.
I love children, said Dosia, with the solemnity of a profession of
faith.
I think you will like Zaidee, then; she is a little girl who has her
hair tied up with bunches of blue ribbon, and the rest of it straggles
around in light wisps, or is gathered into an inconceivably small
pigtail at the back of her neck. She has a pug-nose, round blue eyes,
little white teeth, and an expression of great responsibility and
wisdom, because at the age of six she is the eldest daughterand that
means a great deal, you know.
Oh, said Dosia, I am an eldest daughter. She choked, momentarily,
as she thought of the family at home. Was it only last night that you
started for me? she asked, after a pause during which she had looked
hard out of the car-window.
Yes; Ive made pretty good time, I think. It was lucky that we could
catch that eight-thirty express this morning; if we hadnt it would have
put us back nearly twenty-four hoursand that would have been bad, he
added under his breath.
Perhaps it was hard for you to leave even for one day, said Dosia
timidly. She felt somehow away outside of his inner thought, as if she
had no inherent place in his mind at all. You are just starting in
business, arent you?
Oh, that is all right. We are both starting in new venturesDosia and
the typometer appear on the scene at the same moment, starting out on a
career together; and for this time Dosia had to take precedence, that is
all. I hope well both be equally successful.
Yes, indeed. She responded to his smile, and tried to rally her
failing powers.
I am very glad I went for you. He regarded her with anxiety. You
could not have made the journey alone.
Oh, I could havebut I am so glad you came! said Dosia. She leaned
against the window, with closed eyes, to resther wan face, her dress,
crumpled and stained, the negligence of her hair, which she had been
unable to arrange properly, and her air of fatigue making a pitiful
contrast to the girl who had started out so gayly on her travels in her
trim attire two days before. Now, as in many another moment of silence,
she felt once more the hurtling fall, the pressure of darkness, and the
ravages of the rain and wind; the nightmare horror of the wreck was upon
her; only the remembered clasp of a hand held her reason firm. She had
spent half the day in thinking of that unknown friend, and the thought
seemed to put her under some obligation of high and pure living, in a
cloistered gratitude. A girl who had been saved in that way ought to be
worthy of it. Some day or othersome dayit must be meant that she
should meet him again and tell him what his help had been to her. She
imagined herself engaged in some errand of mercysupporting the
tottering footsteps of an old woman as she crossed a crowded street, or
carrying a little sick child, or kneeling by a fever-touched bedside in
a tenement-house, or encouraging a terror-stricken creature through
smoke and fire. She would meet him thus, and when he said, How good and
brave you are! she might look up and say: I learned it from you. Do
you remember the girl you helped the night the train was wrecked? I am
she. And when he asked, How did you know it was I? she would answer:
By the tones of your voice; I would know that anywhere. And then he
would take her hand again
Her eyes ached with unshed tears at the lost comfort of it. She tried to
see his form through the blur of darkness that had enveloped it,a
swinging step, a square set of the shoulders, an effect of strong young
manhood,and she pictured his face as noble and beautiful as his care
for her. Her reverie passed through different grades. She found herself
after a while idly scanning Justins face and wondering if it embodied
all that was high and good to her cousin Lois; after one was married a
long time, say six or seven years, did it still matter how a man looked?
She felt herself a little in awe of his keen blue eyes, in spite of his
kindness; she thought she preferred a dark man.
She clung to Justins arm at the crossings and ferry, and hardly heard
his words, bewildered by the unaccustomed sights and sounds and the
weakness of her knees. Her feet slipped on the cobblestones, the
hurrying people made her dizzy, and the electric lights danced before
her eyes.
As they were standing on the boat, two men came up to speak to Justin;
she gathered that they had heard of the accident and of his journey from
Mrs. Alexander at the whist club the night before, and stopped now to
make courteous inquiries. One, who was short and stout, with a pleasant
if commonplace face, passed on, after his introduction to Dosia; but the
other turned back, as he was following, to say:
By the way, I see that there was a fire in your new quarters to-day,
Alexander.
A fire! For Heavens sake, Barr
Oh, I dont think it amounted to much; theres just a line in the
evening paper about it. Here, read for yourselffire confined to one
floor, machinery slightly damaged. Insured, werent you?
Oh, yes, yesthat isnt the point now. We cant afford to be kept back
a minute! Im glad you told me; I must goI must go back at once and
see for myself. He stopped and looked hopelessly at Dosia.
Short as the journey was now, he could not let her continue it by
herself; yet every fiber in him was quivering in his wild desire to get
over to the scene of disaster. He looked at his informant, who, in his
turn, was regarding the girl beside Justin.
I can go on by myself, said Dosia, divining his thought, and wondering
when this terrible journey would ever end. Truly, I can. I know you
want to go and see about the fire; please, please do! Oh, please!
Barr, will you take charge of Miss Linden? asked Justin abruptly. He
did not particularly like Barr, but this was an emergency. Will you
take her to Mrs. Alexander?
I will, indeed, said the newcomer, with responsive earnestness.
Very well, then; Ill go back on this boat. Ill be out on a later
train, tell Lois. He started to make his way to the other end of the
boat, to be in readiness for the return trip, and turned back once more
to give the girl her ticket; then he was lost to sight, and Theodosia
was left, for the third time, on the hands of an unknown man.
This one only spoke to give her the necessary directions as they joined
the usual rush for the train, and refrained from talking, to her great
relief, after he had settled her comfortably in the car for the last
half-hour of traveling. She leaned against the window-casing, as before,
as far away from him as possible, suddenly and wretchedly aware of her
dilapidated appearance and the boys cap that covered the fair hair
curling out from under it. Her cheeks were whiter than ever, and the
corners of her mouth had the pathetic droop of extreme fatigue.
She looked, without knowing it, very young, very forlorn, and very
frightened, and the hand in which she held the ticket given her by
Justin trembled. She was morbidly afraid that this new person would
question her as to the accident, about which she shrank from speaking;
but after a while, encouraged by his silence, she tried to turn her
thoughts by stealthily observing him.
If her friend of the voice and hand of the night before had been only a
tall blur in the darkness, the man beside her was effectively concrete.
Neither tall nor large, he gave an impression of strength and vitality
in the ease and quickness of his motions, which bespoke trained muscles.
She decided that he was rather oldperhaps thirty. Dark-skinned,
black-haired, with a thin face, a low forehead, deep-set eyes, a high,
rather hooked nose, and a mustache, he was somewhat of the Oriental
type, although, as she learned later, a New Englander by birth and
heritage. Dosia was not quite sure whether the effect was pleasing or
the reverse; there seemed to be something about him different from the
other men she had seen, even in his clothing, although it was plain
enough.
Interspersed with these observations were the increasing throbs of
homesickness that threatened to overwhelm her. Kind as Justin had been,
she had felt all the time outside of his thought and affection. This new
companion had shown consideration for her; she was grateful for it, but
she was unprepared to have him lean suddenly toward her, as a tear
trembled perilously on her lashes, and say, with twinkling eyes:
I beg your pardon, but do I look like him?
Likelike whom? asked Dosia, in amazement.
Like a person to be approved of.
I havent considered the subject, said Dosia, with swift dignity.
Ah, you see, its the reverse with me. As soon as Mrs. Alexander told
me she was expecting you, my mind was filled with visions of a sweet
young thing from the South. All sweet young things from the South have
dreams; mine was to embody yours. And when I saw you, I said to
myselfI beg your pardon, do you think I am getting too personal, on
such short acquaintance?
Yes, answered Dosia, dimpling in spite of herself, very much too
personal. She turned her head away from him, that she might not see
those sparkling, quizzical eyes so close.
Very well; I will finish the sentence to-morrow, as you suggest. In the
meantime, let me ask you if you have ever made a collection of
conductors thumbs?
No! said Dosia, in astonishment, turning around again to face him.
I am told that there is a great deal of character in them; it is given
by the broad, free movement of punching tickets. I have thought of
collecting thumbs for purposes of studyin alcohol, of course. But why
do you look so surprised?
I am surprised that you have no collection already, said Dosia, with
spirit; you seem to be so enterprising.
He shook his head sadly. No. How little you know me! Im not
enterprising in the least; I have no heroic virtues, Im onlyloving.
Oh! cried Dosia, and stopped short in a ripple of merriment that was
more invigorating than wine, and that brought a rush of color to her
cheeks.
No? well, not until the day after to-morrow, then, if you say so.
Youre so very, very good to me, Miss Linden; its not often I find
anyone so considerate as you are. And have you come up North to make
your entrance into society?
I have come North to study music, said Theodosia impressively.
Music! Ah, there you have me. He spoke with a new soberness.
Do you like it?
I like it almost better than anything else in the worldtoo much, and
yet not enough, after all. He shook his head with a quick, somber
gesture. Ill help you with the music, if youll let me. Did you notice
how very quickly we became acquainted? Yes? I know now why; it puzzled
me at first. It was the music in you to which I respondedI can tell
you just what little song of Schuberts your smile is from, if youll
give me time.
No, said Dosia, it isnt from Schubert at all, and youll never find
the key-note to it, so you neednt try. She could not help daring a
little, in her girlishness.
He laughed. Oh, I shall make it my business to find out. For what else
what I constituted your guardian at the beginning of your career? And
its so good of you to say that I can come to-morrow and pour out my
heart to you! Shall it be at five? No, please dont trouble to answer; I
like to look at your ear in that positionits so pearly. Too personal
again? Then let us converse about your Old Kentucky Home.
It isnt in Kentucky, interpolated Dosia desperately, but there was no
stopping him. He was so irrelevantly absurd that she succumbed at last
entirely, and hardly knew when they left the train; when they walked up
the path to her cousins door, they were both laughing causelessly and
irresponsibly, in delightful comradeship.