THE SHORTEST WAY
The noise of the door jarred Blake from his lethargy. He groaned and
sluggishly raised his head. His face was bloodless and haggard, his
bloodshot eyes were dull and bleared. He had the look of a man at the
close of a drunken debauch.
Dolores hastened to him, exclaiming, "Mr. Blake, you are ill! I shall
phone for a doctor!"
"No," he mumbled apologetically. "Don't bother yourself, Miss Dolores.
It's not a doctor I need. I'm only--"
"You _are_ ill! I'll call Genevieve." She started toward the door.
"Don't!" he cried. "Not her--for God's sake, not her!" He rose to his
feet heavily but steadily. "I'm going--away."
"Going away? Where?" asked Dolores, puzzled and concerned.
"Alaska--Panama--anywhere! You're the right sort, Miss Dolores. You'll
explain to her why I had to go without stopping to say good-bye."
"Of course, Mr. Blake--anything I can do. But why are you leaving?"
"Your mother--she told me."
"Told you what? I do believe you're dreaming."
Blake quivered. "Wish it _was_ a nightmare!" he groaned. He steadied
himself with an effort. "No use, though. She told me the truth
about--your cousin. Said her feeling for me is only gratitude."
"What! Vievie's?--only gratitude? Don't you believe it! Mamma is
rooting for Jeems. She may believe it; she probably does. She _wants_
to believe it. She wants a countess in the family."
"She couldn't do better in that line, nor in any other," replied Blake
with loyal friendship. "Jimmy is all right; he's the real thing."
"Yes, twenty-four carats fine!"
"Don't joke, Miss Dolores. I know you don't like him, but it's true,
just the same. I knocked around a whole lot with Jimmy, in all sorts of
places. I give it to you straight,--he's square, he's white, and he's
what all kinds of people would call a gentleman."
"But as for being a man?" she scoffed.
Blake's dull eyes brightened with a fond glow.
"Man?" he repeated. "D' you think I'd fool around with one of these
swell dudes? No; Jimmy is the real thing, and he's a thoroughbred."
"Such a cute little mustache!" mocked the girl.
"It's one of the few things I couldn't cure him of---that and his
monocle." Forgetful of self, Blake smiled at her regretfully and shook
his head. "It's too bad, Miss Dolores. No use talking when it's too
late; but couldn't you have liked him enough to forget the English
part? You and he would sure have made a team."
"Yes, isn't it too bad? A coronet would fit my head just as well as
Vievie's. But mamma is so silly. She never thought of that."
Blake stared in surprise. "You don't mean--?"
"Mamma has been so busy saving Vievie from you, she's not had time to
consider me."
"Say," exclaimed Blake, "I've half a notion you do like him. That would
account for the way you keep at him with your nagging and teasing."
"You don't say!"
"Yes. That's the way one of my sisters used to treat me."
"How smart you are!" cried the girl, and she faced away from him
petulantly, that he might not see her flaming cheeks. "Oh, yes, of
course I like him! I'm head over heels in love with him! How could I
help but be?"
"Some day you'll know such things aren't joking matters," he gravely
reproved her.
She turned to him, unable longer to sustain her pretence. Her voice
quavered and broke: "But it's--it's true! I do!"
She bent over with her face in her hands, and her slender form shook
with silent sobs. He came quickly around to her, his eyes soft with
commiseration. "You poor little girl! So you lose out, too!"
She looked up at him with her tearful dark eyes, and clutched eagerly
at the lapel of his coat.
"Mr. Blake! He has told me how resolute you are. You must not give up!
I'm certain Vievie likes you. If only mamma hadn't meddled! She's
always messing things. It's just because she can't realize I'm in long
frocks. If--if only she had seen how much grander it would be to make
herself the mother-in-law of an earl, instead of a mere aunt-in-law!"
Blake's face darkened morosely. "That's the way things are--misdeal all
around. Your mother is right. You've lost out; I've lost out. What's
the use?"
"Surely you're not going to give up?" she demanded.
"I've never before been called a quitter; but--sooner I get out from
between her and Jimmy, the better," he rejoined, and turning on his
heel, he started toward the door by which Ashton had left.
"But, Mr. Blake," she urged, "wait. I wish to tell you--"
"No use," he broke in, without turning or stopping.
She was about to dart after him, when the door opened, and Ashton
entered, carrying a bottle of champagne and a glass. He nodded
familiarly to Blake and approached him with an air of easy
good-fellowship.
Blake saw only the glass and the bottle. He glared at them, his face
convulsed with fierce craving. Then he forced himself to avert his
gaze. But as he started to turn aside, his jaw clenched and his eyes
burned with a sudden desperate resolve. He stopped and waited, his face
as hard as a granite mask. Dolores did not see his expression. She was
eying Ashton, whom she sought to crush with her scorn.
"Ho!" she jeered. "So you're going to drown your sorrows in the flowing
bowl. You ought to've remembered that absence makes the heart grow
fonder."
To better show her contempt, she turned her back on him.
He instantly stepped forward beside Blake and began pouring out a glass
of the champagne. He smiled suavely, but his eyes narrowed, and his
full lower lip twisted askew.
"Look here, Blake," he began, "I know you're on the water-wagon; but
you have it in for me for some reason, and I want to make it up with
you. Take a glass of fizz with me."
Dolores whirled about and saw him with the glass of sparkling wine
outreached to Blake, who was eying it with a peculiar oblique gaze.
"Lafayette Ashton!" she cried. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?--aren't
you ashamed?"
Ashton shrugged cynically, and urged the wine on Blake. "Come on! One
glass wouldn't hurt a fly. I've heard of your wonderful success with
the Zariba Dam. I want to congratulate you."
"Congratulate--that's it!" replied Blake, in a harsh, strained voice.
"Best man wins. Loser gets out of the way. All right. I'll take the
short-cut."
He reached out his bandaged right hand to take the glass. Dolores
darted toward him, crying out shrilly in horrified protest: "Stop!
stop! Mr. Blake! Think what you're doing!"
"I know what I'm doing," he said taking the glass and facing her with a
smile that brought tears of pity to her eyes. "Your mother is right.
I'm in your cousin's way. I'm going to get out of her way, and I'm
going to do it in a fashion that'll rid her of me for keeps. Hell is
nearer than Alaska."
"Wait! wait!" she cried, as he raised the glass to his lips. "For her
sake, don't. Wait!"
"For her sake!" he rejoined, still with that heart-rending smile.
"Here's to her and to him--congratulations!"
He tossed down the wine at a swallow before she could clutch his
upraised arm.
She turned upon Ashton, in a fury of scorn and anger. "You--you beast!"
"Why, what's the matter?" he protested, feigning innocence. "What's the
harm in a glass of fizz?"
"You knew!" she cried, pressing upon him so fiercely that he gave back.
"You knew what it means for him to drink anything--a single drop! You
scoundrel!"
"There, now, Miss Dolores!" soothed Blake, patting her on the shoulder.
"What's the use of telling him what he is? He knows it as well as we
do. Anyhow, I didn't have to take the drink. I'm the only one to blame."
"Oh, Mr. Blake! how could you? How could you?" she cried.
"It was easy enough--doing it for her," he answered.
"For her! How can you say it?"
"Well, it's done now. Good-bye. I'm not likely to see you again soon.
It's a long trip from hell to heaven," he explained with grim humor.
Great as was his fortitude, she caught a glimpse of the anguish behind
his mask. But his tone, as he swung Ashton around, repulsed her. "Come
on, Mephistopheles. You've turned the trick. We've less than three
hours before daylight. It's whiskey straight we're after."