On one point Miss Bessie Durand agreed with Alexander von Humboldt--in
fact, she even went further than that celebrated man, for while he
asserted that Thun was one of the three most beautiful spots on earth,
Bessie held that this Swiss town was absolutely the most perfectly
lovely place she had ever visited. Her reason for this conclusion
differed from that of Humboldt. The latter, being a mere man, had been
influenced by the situation of the town, the rapid, foaming river, the
placid green lake, the high mountains all around, the snow-peaks to the
east, the ancient castle overlooking everything, and the quaint streets
with the pavements up at the first floors.
Bessie had an eye for these things, of course, but while waterfalls and
profound ravines were all very well in their way, her hotel had to be
filled with the right sort of company before any spot on earth was
entirely satisfactory to Bessie. She did not care to be out of
humanity's reach, nor to take her small journeys alone; she liked to
hear the sweet music of speech, and if she started at the sound of her
own, Bessie would have been on the jump all day, for she was a
brilliant and effusive talker.
So it happened that, in touring through Switzerland, Bessie and her
mother (somehow people always placed Bessie's name before that of her
mother, who was a quiet little unobtrusive woman) stopped at Thun,
intending to stay for a day, as most people do, but when Bessie found
the big hotel simply swarming with nice young men, she told her mother
that the local guide-book asserted that Humboldt had once said Thun was
one of the three most lovely places on earth, and, therefore, they
ought to stay there and enjoy its beauties, which they at once
proceeded to do. It must not be imagined from this that Bessie was
particularly fond of young men. Such was far from being the case. She
merely liked to have them propose to her, which was certainly a
laudable ambition, but she invariably refused them, which went to show
that she was not, as her enemies stated, always in love with somebody.
The fact was that Miss Bessie Durand's motives were entirely
misunderstood by an unappreciative world. Was she to be blamed because
young men wanted her to marry them? Certainly not. It was not her fault
that she was pretty and sweet, and that young men, as a rule, liked to
talk with her rather than with any one else in the neighbourhood. Many
of her detractors would very likely have given much to have had
Bessie's various charms of face, figure, and manner. This is a jealous
world, and people delight in saying spiteful little things about those
more favoured by Providence than themselves. It must, however, be
admitted that Bessie had a certain cooing, confidential way with people
that may have misled some of the young men who ultimately proposed to
her into imagining that they were special favourites with the young
lady. She took a kindly interest in their affairs, and very shortly
after making her acquaintance, most young men found themselves pouring
into her sympathetic ear all their hopes and aspirations. Bessie's ear
was very shell-like and beautiful as well as sympathetic, so that one
can hardly say the young men were to blame any more than Bessie was.
Nearly everybody in this world wants to talk of himself or herself, as
the case may be, and so it is no wonder that a person like Bessie, who
is willing to listen while other people talk of themselves, is popular.
Among the many billions who inhabit this planet, there are too many
talkers and too few listeners; and although Bessie was undoubtedly a
brilliant talker on occasion, there is no doubt that her many victories
resulted more from her appreciative qualities as a talented listener
than from the entertaining charms of her conversation. Those women who
have had so much to say about Bessie's behaviour might well take a leaf
from her book in this respect. They would find, if they had even
passably good looks, that proposals would be more frequent. Of course
there is no use in denying that Bessie's eyes had much to do with
bringing young men to the point. Her eyes were large and dark, and they
had an entrancing habit of softening just at the right moment, when
there came into them a sweet, trustful, yearning look that was simply
impossible to resist. They gazed thus at a young man when he was
telling in low whispers how he hoped to make the world wiser and better
by his presence in it, or when he narrated some incident of great
danger in which he took part, where (unconsciously, perhaps, on the
teller's part) his own heroism was shown forth to the best possible
advantage. Then Bessie's eyes would grow large and humid and tender,
and a subdued light would come into them as she hung breathlessly on
his words. Did not Desdemona capture Othello merely by listening to a
recital of his own daring deeds, which were, doubtless, very greatly
exaggerated?
The young men at the big hotel in Thun were clad mostly in
knickerbockers, and many of them had alpenstocks of their own. It soon
became their delight to sit on the terrace in front of the hotel during
the pleasant summer evenings and relate to Bessie their hairbreath
escapes, the continuous murmur of the River Aare forming a soothing
chorus to their dramatic narrations. At least a dozen young men hovered
round the girl, willing and eager to confide in her; but while Bessie
was smiling and kind to them all, it was soon evident that some special
one was her favourite, and then the rest hung hopelessly back. Things
would go wonderfully well for this lucky young fellow for a day or two,
and he usually became so offensively conceited in his bearing towards
the rest, that the wonder is he escaped without personal vengeance
being wreaked upon him; then all at once he would pack up his
belongings and gloomily depart for Berne or Interlaken, depending on
whether his ultimate destination was west or east. The young men
remaining invariably tried not to look jubilant at the sudden
departure, while the ladies staying at the hotel began to say hard
things of Bessie, going even so far as to assert that she was a
heartless flirt. How little do we know the motives of our fellow-
creatures! How prone we are to misjudge the actions of others! Bessie
was no flirt, but a high-minded, conscientious girl, with an ambition--
an ambition which she did not babble about to the world, and therefore
the world failed to appreciate her, as it nearly always fails to
appreciate those who do not take it into their confidence.
It came to be currently reported in the hotel that Bessie had refused
no less than seven of the young men who had been staying there, and as
these young men had, one after another, packed up and departed, either
by the last train at night or the earliest in the morning, the
proprietor began to wonder what the matter was, especially as each of
the departing guests had but a short time before expressed renewed
delight with the hotel and its surroundings. Several of them had stated
to the proprietor that they had abandoned their intention of proceeding
further with their Swiss tour, so satisfied were they with Thun and all
its belongings. Thus did the flattering opinion of Alexander von
Humboldt seem about to become general, to the great delight of the
hotel proprietor, when, without warning, these young men had gloomily
deserted Thun, while its beauty undoubtedly remained unchanged.
Naturally the good man who owned the hotel was bewildered, and began to
think that, after all, the English were an uncertain, mind-changing
race.
Among the guests there was one young fellow who was quite as much
perplexed as the proprietor. Archie Severance was one of the last to
fall under the spell of Bessie--if, indeed, it is correct to speak of
Archie falling at all. He was a very deliberate young man, not given to
doing anything precipitately, but there is no doubt that the charming
personality of Bessie fascinated him, although he seemed to content
himself with admiring her from a distance. Bessie somehow did not
appear to care about being admired from a distance, and once, when
Archie was promenading to and fro on the terrace above the river, she
smiled sweetly at him from her book, and he sat down beside her. Jimmy
Wellman had gone that morning, and the rest had not yet found it out.
Jimmy had so completely monopolised Miss Durand for the last few days
that no one else had had a chance, but now that he had departed, Bessie
sat alone on the terrace, which was a most unusual state of things.
"They tell me," said Bessie, in her most flattering manner, "that you
are a famous climber, and that you have been to the top of the
Matterhorn."
"Oh, not famous; far from it," said Archie modestly. "I have been up
the Matterhorn three or four times; but then women and children make
the ascent nowadays, so that is nothing unusual."
"I am sure you must have had some thrilling escapes," continued Bessie,
looking with admiration at Archie's stalwart frame. "Mr. Wellman had an
awful experience----"
"Yesterday?" interrupted Archie. "I hear he left early this morning."
"No, not yesterday," said Miss Durand coldly, drawing herself up with
some indignation; but as she glanced sideways at Mr. Severance, that
young man seemed so innocent that she thought perhaps he meant nothing
in particular by his remark. So, after a slight pause, Bessie went on
again. "It was a week ago. He was climbing the Stockhorn and all at
once the clouds surrounded him."
"And what did Jimmy do? Waited till the clouds rolled by, I suppose."
"Now, Mr. Severance, if you are going to laugh at me, I shall not talk
to you any more."
"I assure you, Miss Durand, I was not laughing at you. I was laughing
at Jimmy. I never regarded the Stockhorn as a formidable peak. It is
something like 7,195 feet high, I believe, not to mention the inches."
"But surely, Mr. Severance, you know very well that the danger of a
mountain does not necessarily bear any proportion to its altitude
above the sea."
"That is very true. I am sure that Jimmy himself, with his head in the
clouds, has braved greater dangers at much lower levels than the top of
the Stockhorn."
Again Miss Durand looked searchingly at the young man beside her, but
again Archie was gazing dreamily at the curious bell-shaped summit of
the mountain under discussion. The Stockhorn stands out nobly, head and
shoulders above its fellows, when viewed from the hotel terrace at
Thun.
There was silence for a few moments between the two, and Bessie said to
herself that she did not at all like this exceedingly self-possessed
young man, who seemed to look at the mountains in preference to gazing
at her--which was against the natural order of things. It was evident
that Mr. Severance needed to be taught a lesson, and Bessie, who had a
good deal of justifiable confidence in her own powers as a teacher,
resolved to give him the necessary instruction. Perhaps, when he had
acquired a little more experience, he would not speak so contemptuously
of "Jimmy," or any of the rest. Besides, it is always a generous action
towards the rest of humanity to reduce the inordinate self-esteem of
any one young man to something like reasonable proportions. So Bessie,
instead of showing that she was offended by his flippant conversation
and his lack of devotion to her, put on her most bewitching manner, and
smiled the smile that so many before her latest victim had found
impossible to resist. She would make him talk of himself and his
exploits. They all succumbed to this treatment.
"I do so love to hear of narrow escapes," said Bessie confidingly. "I
think it is so inspiring to hear of human courage and endurance being
pitted against the dangers of the Alps, and coming out victorious."
"Yes, they usually come out victorious, according to the accounts that
reach us; but then, you know, we never get the mountain's side of the
story."
"But surely, Mr. Severance," appealed Bessie, "you do not imagine that
a real climber would exaggerate when telling of what he had done."
"No; oh no. I would not go so far as to say that he would exaggerate
exactly, but I have known cases where--well--a sort of Alpine glow came
over a story that, I must confess, improved it very much. Then, again,
curious mental transformations take place which have the effect of
making a man, what the vulgar term, a liar. Some years ago a friend of
mine came over here to do a few ascents, but he found sitting on the
hotel piazza so much more to his taste that he sat there. I think
myself the verandah climber is the most sensible man of the lot of us;
and, if he has a good imagination, there is no reason why he should be
distanced by those you call real climbers, when it comes to telling
stories of adventures. Well, this man, who is a most truthful person,
took one false step. You know, some amateurs have a vile habit of
getting the names of various peaks branded on their alpenstocks--just
as if any real climber ever used an alpenstock."
"Why, what do they use?" asked Bessie, much interested.
"Ice-axes, of course. Now, there is a useful individual in Interlaken,
who is what you might call a wholesale brander. He has the names of all
the peaks done in iron at his shop, and if you take your alpenstock to
him, he will, for a few francs, brand on it all the names it will hold,
from the Ortler to Mont Blanc. My friend was weak enough to have all
the ascents he had intended to make, branded on the alpenstock he
bought the moment he entered Switzerland. They always buy an alpenstock
the first thing. He never had the time to return to the mountains, but
gradually he came to believe that he had made all the ascents recorded
by fire and iron on his pole. He is a truthful man on every other topic
than Switzerland."
"But you must have had some very dangerous experiences among the Alps,
Mr. Severance. Please tell me of the time you were in the greatest
peril."
"I am sure it would not interest you."
"Oh, it would, it would. Please go on, and don't require so much
persuasion. I am just longing to hear the story."
"It isn't much of a story, because, you see, there is no Alpine glow
about it."
Archie glanced at the girl, and it flashed across his mind that he was
probably then in the greatest danger he had ever been in, in his life.
She bent forward toward him, her elbows on her knees, and her chin--
such a pretty chin!--in her hands. Her eyes were full upon him, and
Archie had sense enough to realise that there was danger in their clear
pellucid depths, so he turned his own from them, and sought refuge in
his old friend, the Stockhorn.
"I think the narrowest escape I ever had was about two weeks ago. I
went up----"
"With how many guides?" interrupted Bessie breathlessly.
"With none at all," answered Archie, with a laugh.
"Isn't that very unsafe? I thought one always should have a guide."
"Sometimes guides are unnecessary. I took none on this occasion,
because I only ascended as far as the Château in Thun, some three
hundred feet above where we are sitting, and as I went by the main
street of the town, the climb was perfectly safe in all weathers.
Besides, there is generally a policeman about."
"Oh!" said the girl, sitting up suddenly very straight.
Archie was looking at the mountains, and did not see the hot anger
surge up into her face.
"You know the steps leading down from the castle. They are covered in,
and are very dark when one comes out of the bright sunlight. Some fool
had been eating an orange there, and had carelessly thrown the peel on
the steps. I did not notice it, and so trod on a bit. The next thing I
knew I was in a heap at the foot of that long stairway, thinking every
bone in my body was broken. I had many bruises, but no hurt that was
serious; nevertheless, I never had such a fright in my life, and I hope
never to have such another."
Bessie rose up with much dignity. "I am obliged to you for your
recital, Mr. Severance," she said freezingly. "If I do not seem to
appreciate your story as much as I should, it is perhaps because I am
not accustomed to being laughed at."
"I assure you, Miss Durand, that I am not laughing at you, and that
this pathetic incident was anything but a laughing matter to me. The
Stockhorn has no such danger lying in wait for a man as a bit of
orange-peel on a dark and steep stairway. Please do not be offended
with me. I told you my stories have no Alpine glow about them, but the
danger was undoubtedly there."
Archie had risen to his feet, but there was no forgiveness in Miss
Durand's eyes as she bade him "Good-morning," and went into the hotel,
leaving him standing there.
During the week that followed, Archie had little chance of making his
peace with Miss Durand, for in that week the Sanderson episode had its
beginning, its rise, and its culmination. Charley Sanderson, emboldened
by the sudden departure of Wellman, became the constant attendant of
Bessie, and everything appeared to be in his favour until the evening
he left. That evening the two strolled along the walk that borders the
north side of the river, leading to the lake. They said they were going
to see the Alpine glow on the snow mountains, but nobody believed that,
for the glow can be seen quite as well from the terrace in front of the
hotel. Be that as it may, they came back together, shortly before eight
o'clock, Bessie looking her prettiest, and Sanderson with a black frown
on his face, evidently in the worst of tempers. He flung his belongings
into a bag, and departed by the 8:40 train for Berne. As Archie met the
pair, Bessie actually smiled very sweetly upon him, while Sanderson
glared as if he had never met Severance before.
"_That_ episode is evidently ended," said Archie to himself, as he
continued his walk toward Lake Thun. "I wonder if it is pure devilment
that induces her to lead people on to a proposal, and then drop them. I
suppose Charley will leave now, and we'll have no more games of
billiards together. I wonder why they all seem to think it the proper
thing to go away. I wouldn't. A woman is like a difficult peak--if you
don't succeed the first time, you should try again. I believe I shall
try half a dozen proposals with Bessie myself. If I ever come to the
point, she won't find it so easy to get rid of me as she does of all
the rest."
Meditating thus, he sat down on a bench under the trees facing the
lake. Archie wondered if the momentous question had been asked at this
spot. It seemed just the place for it, and he noticed that the gravel
on the path was much disturbed, as if by the iron-shod point of an
agitated man's cane. Then he remembered that Sanderson was carrying an
iron-pointed cane. As Archie smiled and looked about him, he saw on the
seat beside him a neat little morocco-bound book with a silver clasp.
It had evidently slipped from the insecure dress-pocket of a lady who
had been sitting there. Archie picked it up and turned it over and over
in his hands. It is a painful thing to be compelled to make excuse for
one of whom we would fain speak well, but it must be admitted that at
this point in his life Severance did what he should not have done--he
actually read the contents of the book, although he must have been
aware, before he turned the second leaf, that what was there set down
was meant for no eye save the writer's own. Archie excuses himself by
maintaining that he had to read the book before he could be sure it
belonged to anybody in particular, and that he opened it at first
merely to see if there were a name or card inside; but there is little
doubt that the young man knew from the very first whose book it was,
and he might at least have asked Miss Durand if it were hers before he
opened it. However, there is little purpose in speculating on what
might have been, and as the reading of the note-book led directly to
the utterly unjustifiable action of Severance afterwards, as one wrong
step invariably leads to another, the contents of the little volume are
here given, so that the reader of this tragedy may the more fully
understand the situation.