THE SACRED FIRE
The party that gathered on the quay at Fairharbour on the hot July day
when Saltash's new yacht, _The Blue Moon_ lay awaiting her christening
was of a very gay description. The yacht herself was decked with flags,
and the hotel facing the quay, The Anchor, was also decorated with
bunting. All the visitors in the town were congregated about the shore,
or were rowing in pleasure boats near the centre of attraction.
The yacht lay moored to the quay on which by Saltash's orders a long
strip of red carpet had been laid leading to the gangway which was
decorated with trails of flowers. The day was glorious and cloudless, the
sea of that intense blue that melts to the horizon without any dividing
line--like the blue of a smoked pearl.
Saltash's idea was to take his guests for a cruise across the bay after
the ceremony, and he planned to complete the celebrations with a _fête_
on the water at night. Everything was in readiness, and by two o'clock he
was already receiving his guests.
Maud and Jake stood with him, and little Eileen, very intent and serious,
held Toby's hand and looked on from the background. Captain Larpent was
on the bridge, looking very forbidding, even contemptuous. He had never
had any liking for the gay crowds with which it was Saltash's pleasure to
surround himself. He had the air of a magnificent Viking, above the
frivolities with which he was surrounded. There was nothing of the
ornamental about his rugged exterior, but his very aloofness made him
imposing. He looked straight over the heads of the buzzing throng that
poured on to the deck.
General Melrose and his daughter were among the last to arrive, and with
them came Bunny, very merry and handsome, his dark eyes singling out Toby
in a flash as she stood with her small charge. She had just lifted the
child to stand on a ledge where she might overlook the proceedings when
he joined them.
"Hullo!" he said eagerly. "I'm later than I meant to be. I've been
lunching with General Melrose. Ye gods, what a crush! Where do they all
come from? Well, sweetheart!" He bent to the child. "Enjoying your
precious little self?"
The soft violet eyes met his with a deep contentment as she lifted her
face for his kiss. "I think it's lovely," she said earnestly.
He stood up and looked again with swift appreciation at Toby. The girl
was dressed very simply in white, her vivid face shadowed by a broad
straw hat. She met his look with a grimace of boyish dissatisfaction.
"Bunny! What a ghastly gathering! For goodness' sake, don't look at me
like that! I feel like a painted marionette!"
"Are you painted?" said Bunny. "You don't look it."
She made a vehement gesture of disgust. "As soon as this show it over, I
shall get into riding things and go like the--like the--"
"Like the dish when it ran away with the spoon," suggested Bunny with a
grin, as she paused. "Well, if you'll be the spoon, I'll be the dish, and
we'll show 'em all a clean pair of heels. Shall we?"
"I certainly won't be the spoon," said Toby with decision. "You can find
someone else to play that part. Try Miss Melrose! She doesn't look as if
she'd object."
"She's a very pretty girl," said Bunny rather aggressively.
"Of course she's a pretty girl. It's what she's for." Toby's chin went
up. "She couldn't be anything else."
Bunny laughed. "Well, cheer up! She's not the only one on board. Do you
know any of these people?"
Toby shook her head promptly. "And don't want! Aren't they awful? Oh,
here's Jake! Wonder how much he's enjoying himself."
Whether Jake were enjoying himself or not was not apparent in his manner
as he came up and shook hands with Bunny, then turned to lift his little
girl on to his shoulder.
"Hold tight, Innocence! What do you think of it all?"
"I think it's lovely, Daddy," she answered, clasping him closely. "Does
Mummy like it too?"
He smiled at the anxiety in her question. "Guess she'll come through it
all right. She's not exactly keen on this sort of thing. But we're here,
eh, Innocence? That ought to make a difference."
Old General Melrose turned sharply at the sound of the soft voice. He had
not noticed Jake until that moment.
"Why, Bolton!" he said. "What are you doing here?"
Jake moved forward deliberately. "Well," he said, "I guess I'm here in
support of my wife who has undertaken the chief part in the ceremony
about to take place."
The old soldier looked at him from under beetling brows. "Ah! Your wife!
That's Maud Brian, isn't it? Somehow I always think of her as Maud Brian.
So she still keeps up the old friendship with Saltash! I wonder you allow
that."
Jake's red-brown eyes held a smile. "She pleases herself, sir," he said,
"and--she pleases me."
"That a child of yours?" asked the General abruptly. "But I needn't ask.
She's got Maud's eyes. Sheila, come and see this kiddie of Maud's!"
He spoke imperiously over his shoulder, and Sheila turned in answer. Her
soft eyes kindled.
"Oh, what a darling! How do you do, Mr. Bolton? I know you well by name.
And this is your little girl? What is her name?"
"Eileen," whispered the child, clinging rather nervously to Jake's
shoulder.
"Innocence!" said Jake.
"Ah! How sweet!" the girl said. "I must get your mummy to bring you to
see me. Would you like to, I wonder?"
"I think so," said Eileen shyly.
"Maybe you'll come and see her first," said Jake. "I should like you to
see the stud, sir. We've got some stock that I think would interest you."
"That would be delightful," Sheila said, in her gracious way. "We are
here for another fortnight. I had no idea it was such a lovely place."
"Have you seen Burchester?" asked Bunny.
She turned to him. "Never. I want to see it. Lord Saltash said something
about it the other day, so I am hoping there is a chance of doing so. You
are very fond of it, Sir Bernard?"
"Yes. It's my job just now. I'm head keeper," laughed Bunny. "Miss
Larpent thinks I'm very inefficient, but I do my best."
"I never said so," said Toby.
She flushed at his obvious intention of drawing her into the group; but
Sheila Melrose at once held out a welcoming hand.
"Miss Larpent, do you know I can't help feeling that I've seen you
somewhere before. Yet I can't quite remember where. Could it have been at
Valrosa?"
"Oh, no," said Toby. "It couldn't possibly have been there."
"And yet I can't help thinking it must have been," said Sheila, looking
at her with knitted brows. "Were you at that fancy-dress affair at the
Casino Hotel? I have a feeling I have seen you--somewhere--in fancy
dress."
"Never!" said Toby with decision. "You must be thinking of someone else."
Sheila still looked at her with puzzled eyes. "Wait!" she said. "I shall
remember in a moment. It was someone exactly like you. I know--someone
dressed as a boy."
Toby made a sudden sharp movement and clapped her hands excitedly. "Look!
Look! There goes the bottle! I hope she'll manage to break it!"
Sheila's attention was instantly diverted. The crowd surged forward.
Maud, with Saltash on her right and Larpent on her left, stood by the
rail. She held up a bottle that gleamed golden in the sun.
Saltash was laughing. He stood bareheaded, his dark face alight. Toby's
eyes went to him in a single flashing glance and remained fixed. Bunny,
looking at her, was for the moment curiously moved. It was as if he
looked from afar upon some sacred fire that had suddenly sprung into
ardent flame before a distant shrine. Then came Maud's voice, sweet and
clear, speaking the name of the yacht, and like a golden flame the bottle
curved through the pearl-like ether and crashed upon the bows.
A murmur went up and then a shout. The bottle had broken and the wine
rushed in a sparkling cascade to the water.
Something impelled Bunny. He gripped Toby by the elbow. He almost shook
her. "Hooray!" he yelled. "It's done! She's off!"
Toby looked at him with the eyes of a dreamer--eyes in which a latent
fear underlay the reverence. Then, meeting his eyes, she seemed to awake.
Her features contracted for a moment, but she controlled them swiftly,
and laughed. Laughing, she drew him away.
The yacht had throbbed into movement. The ropes were being flung aboard.
They were steaming away, and a great blast went up from the siren as they
drew from the quay.
Everywhere was tumult, rejoicing. People were shouting, talking,
laughing, waving hats and handkerchiefs. The whole world seemed a buzz of
merriment, and out of the very thick of it, Toby's voice, small and
tense, spoke into Bunny's ear.
"Let's get away! Let's go to Lord Saltash, and--and--and congratulate."
Her hand was on his arm. She pulled at it urgently, insistently. And
Bunny went with her, moved again--he knew not wherefore--by that feeling
that something had frightened her.
He grasped her hand and made a way for her through the crowd. They went
to the laughing group in the bows. Saltash was standing close to Maud. He
was making some careless jest to her, when suddenly he turned and found
the boy and girl hand in hand behind him.
His swift look flashed over them, and then in his sudden way he put a
hand on the shoulder of each. It was a lightning touch, and he laughed
oddly as he did it, as a man laughs who covers some hidden hurt.
"We came to congratulate," said Bunny. "Good luck to her!"
And Saltash, with his royal air of graciousness, made light reply.
"I thank you for your congratulations, my children; but may the luck be
yours! I see it coming."
And with that lightly he moved away among his guests, leaving a trail of
merriment wherever he went, save where the boy and girl stood together in
the bows in a silence that neither seemed able to break.