A REFRACTORY HERO
A short, stout, gray-haired man burst out of the crowd, jerked off his
hat to Mrs. Gantry, and hastened forward, his gray-brown eyes fixed
hungrily upon Genevieve. A moment later he had her in his arms. She
returned his embrace with fervor yet with a well-bred quietness that
drew a nod of approval from Mrs. Gantry.
"So! you're home--at last--my dear!" commented Mr. Leslie, patting his
daughter's back with a sallow, vein-corded hand.
"At last, papa! I should have hurried to you at once, in spite of your
cables, if you hadn't said you were starting for Arizona."
"Couldn't tell how long I'd be on that trip. Wanted you to enjoy the
month in England, since Lady Chetwynd had asked you. But come now. I
must see you started home. Cut short one Board meeting. Must be at
another within half an hour."
He stepped apart from her and jerked out his watch.
"Yes, papa, only--" She paused and looked at him earnestly. "Did you
not receive my telegram, that we had met Mr. Blake and Lord James in
New York, and that they were to come on with us?"
"Hey?" snapped Mr. Leslie, his eyes glinting keen and cold below their
shaggy brows. First to be transfixed by their glance was young Ashton,
who stood toying with the fringe of Dolores' muff. "What's this, sir?
What you doing here?"
Ashton gave back a trifle before the older man's irascibility, but
answered with easy assurance: "I thought it would do no harm to run
down for a few days. All work at Michamac is stopped--frozen up tight."
"It's not the way your father got his start in life--frivolity! Stick
to your work all the time--stick!" rejoined Mr. Leslie. He turned and
met the monocled stare of the earl. "H'm. This, I suppose, is the
gentleman who--"
"My dear Herbert, permit me," interposed Mrs. Gantry. "Ah--the Right
Honorable the Earl of Avondale: I have the honor to present--"
"Glad to meet you, sir!" broke in Mr. Leslie, clutching the
Englishman's hand in a nervous grip. "Glad of the chance to thank you
in person!"
"But, I say, I'm not the right man, y' know," protested Lord James.
"The small part I had in it is not worth mentioning." He laid a hand on
Blake's broad shoulder. "It's my friend Thomas Blake you should thank."
Mr. Leslie stepped back and eyed Blake's impassive face with marked
coldness. "Your friend Blake?" he repeated.
"Old friend--camp-mate, chum--all over Western America and South
Africa. It's he who's entitled to the credit for the rescue of Miss
Leslie."
"We'll talk about your part later. You'll, of course, call on us," said
Mr. Leslie. He fixed his narrowing eyes on Blake. "H'm. So you're Tom
Blake--the same one."
"That's no lie," replied Blake dryly.
"You heard me say I'm busy. Have no time to-day. I'll give you an
appointment for to-morrow, at my office, ten A. M. sharp."
"Thanks. But you're a bit too previous," said Blake. "I haven't asked
for any appointment with you that I know of."
"But, Tom!" exclaimed Genevieve, astonished at the hostility in his
tone, "of course you'll go. Papa wishes to thank you for--for all
you've done. To-day, you see, he's so very busy."
Blake's hard eyes softened before her appealing glance, only to stare
back sullenly at her father.
"I'm not asking any thanks from him, Miss Jenny," he replied.
The girl caught the arm of her father, who stood glowering irritably at
Blake. "Papa, I--I don't understand why you and Tom--Couldn't
you--won't you please be a little more cordial? Wait! I have it!" She
flashed an eager glance at Blake. "Tom, you'll dine with us this
evening."
He looked at Lord James, and replied steadily: "Sorry, Miss Jenny. You
know I'd like to come. But I've got a previous engagement."
"If I ask you to break it, Tom?"
"Can't do it. I've given my word--worse luck!"
"But I do so wish you and papa to come to an understanding."
"Guess I understand him already; so it's no use to--There now, don't
worry. Long as you want me to, I'll accept his polite invitation for
to-morrow."
"Ten A.M. sharp!" rasped Mr. Leslie. He drew Genevieve about, and
rushed her off, with a curt call to Mrs. Gantry: "Come, Amice. Dolores
brought the coupe. I'll put you in. The maids and baggage can follow in
my car. Hurry up."
Genevieve was whirled away into the thick of the crowd, with scarcely
time for a parting glance at Blake and Lord James. Mrs. Gantry lingered
an instant to address the young Englishman:
"Pray do not forget, earl, you are to dine with me."
As Lord James bowed in polite agreement, Ashton, who had been
scribbling on one of his cards, held it out. "Pardon me, your lordship.
Here's a list of my favorite clubs. Look me up. I'll steer you to all
the gay spots in little old Chi."
"Mr. Brice-Ashton is one of our hustling young grain speculators,"
explained Dolores. "Before he went to Michamac he almost cornered the
market in wild oats."
"Now, Miss Dodie!" smirked Ashton. "Wait! I'll do your elbowing."
But the girl was already plunging into the crowd, in the wake of her
mother, the maids, and the porters. Ashton hastened after, in a vain
attempt to overtake her. Crowds part easier before a pretty, smiling,
fashionably dressed girl than before a foppish young man who affects
the French mode.
The card with the list of clubs fell from the hand that Lord James
raised to screw in his monocle.
"Stow it, Jimmy," growled Blake. "I feel just prime for smashing that
fool window."
Lord James slipped the monocle into his pocket, and twisted at the end
of his short mustache.
"Don't blame you, old man," he remarked. "Her guv'nor _was_ a bit
crusty. Quite a clever girl that--the cousin--eh?"
"Miss Dolores? She sure is a hummer. Doesn't take after her mother; so
she's all right," assented Blake. He added eagerly, "Say, Jimmy, she's
just the one for you. You're so blondy blonde you need a real brunette
to set off your charms."
"Sorry, Tom. Saw too much of some one else coming up to Aden--and
before. Shouldn't have to remind you of that."
"Damn the luck!" swore Blake. "Well, we've come to the show-down. She's
home now; agreement's off."
"To-morrow," corrected his friend.
"Lord! If only you weren't you! I'd knock you clean out of the running!"
"Rotten luck!" murmured Lord James sympathetically. "Had it been any
other girl, now! But having met her before you did--Deuce take it, old
man, how could I help it?"
"'T ain't your fault, Jimmy. You know I don't blame you. I don't forget
you began to play fair just as soon as you got next to how matters
stood between.--how they stood with me."
"Couldn't play the cad, you know. I say, though, it's time we talked it
all over again. Give me your trunk check. I'll have my man send your
luggage to my hotel. You're to keep on bunking with me."
"No," replied Blake. "It was all right, long as we were travelling. Now
I've got to hunt a hallroom and begin scratching gravel."
"But at least until you find a position."
"No. I'm sure of something first pop, if old Grif is in town. You
remember, I once told you all about him--M. F. Griffith, my old
engineer--man who boosted me from a bum to a transitman. Whitest man
that ever was! Last I heard, he'd located here in Chicago as a
consulting engineer. He'll give me work, or find it for me; and
Mollie--that's Mrs. Grif--she'll board me, if she has to set up a bed
in her parlor to do it."
"Oh, if you're set on chucking me," murmured Lord James. "But I'll stay
by you till you've looked around. If you don't find your friend, you're
to come with me."
"Must think I need a chaperon," rallied Blake in a fond growl. "Well,
signal your Man Friday, and we'll run a line to the nearest directory."
Lord James signed to his valet, who stood near, discreetly observant.
On the instant the man stepped forward with his master's hand luggage,
and reached down to grasp Blake's suitcase, which had been left by one
of the porters. But Blake was too quick for him. Catching up the
suitcase himself, he swung away through the crowd and up the broad
stairway, to the Bureau of Information.
Two minutes later he was copying an address from the city business
directory.
"Got his office O.K.," he informed his friend. "Over on Dearborn
Street. Next thing's to see if he's in town. Shunt your
collar-buttoner, and come on. We can walk over inside ten minutes."
Lord James instructed his valet to take a taxicab to the hotel. He
himself proceeded to button up his overcoat from top to bottom and turn
up the collar.
"Your balmy native clime!" he gibed, staring ruefully through the depot
windows at the whirling snowstorm without. "If I freeze my Grecian
nose, you'll have to buy me a wax one."
Blake chuckled. "Remember that night up in the Kootenay when the
blizzard struck us and we lost the road?"
"Pleasant time to recall it!" rejoined Lord James, with a shiver. "But
come on. I'm keen to meet your Mr. Griffith."