A STRANGE MEETING.
The voyage was a tempestuous one, but the steamer made her time
notwithstanding, and Rupert landed in New York eight days after leaving
Liverpool, and was not sorry to be once more upon _terra firma_.
He joined the Raymond party on the twelfth of January, according to his
plans, and found himself among a very pleasant company of gentlemen and
ladies, young men and maidens, all enthusiastic in view of their trip.
He was particularly attracted by the appearance of one young man, who,
like himself, was traveling alone, and after one or two interviews,
being mutually pleased with each other, they decided to become traveling
companions.
On the third day after starting Rupert’s new friend, who, by the way,
had introduced himself as Harry Webster, remarked to him:
“I say, Hamilton, have you noticed that dainty little piece of humanity
opposite, who is traveling with that old codger, Mr. Knight, they call
him?”
“Yes; she is a very attractive young lady,” Rupert answered, as his eyes
wandered to a trio who occupied seats a little in front of the young men
on the opposite side of the car. “I wonder who she is.”
“Our list will probably tell us,” remarked Mr. Webster, as he drew the
card from his pocket. “Yes, I have found it. Mr. Robert G. Knight, Miss
E. F. Knight, and Miss Virginia Alexander.”
“Ah, then the old gentleman and lady must be brother and sister, and the
young lady some friend, perhaps a niece, who is traveling with them,”
said Rupert.
“The old gentleman appears to be remarkably fond of her though,”
returned Mr. Webster.
“Yes; but the old lady keeps guard over her as if she feared that some
brigand was in ambush, waiting to abduct her pretty charge to regions
unknown,” Rupert responded with a roguish twinkle in his eye.
“What do you say to making a raid upon the party?” proposed his
companion. “Now I am bent upon getting acquainted with that pretty girl,
if for nothing more than to show that prim spinster that I can do it.
Will you join me, or does such a proposition shock your English ideas of
etiquette?”
“I confess I should prefer to have a formal introduction,” Rupert
returned, flushing slightly, but regarding that graceful figure with a
look of unmistakable admiration.
The maiden whom the young men had been discussing was indeed a very
lovely girl, about eighteen years of age. She was a trifle above the
medium height, having a slender, willowy figure, with a peculiar grace
and animation in every movement. Her glossy brown hair was twisted into
a shining coil at the back of her head, which was crowned with a pretty
hat of gray felt, trimmed with velvet of the same shade and a single
scarlet wing. She wore a closely fitting ulster, trimmed with fur, which
showed her perfect form to great advantage; a plain linen collar was
fastened at her throat with a brooch of dull red gold, and tiny
ornaments of the same metal were in her small ears. Her eyes were a dark
brown, and quick and restless in their glances; her features were
beautifully clear and delicate; the glow of perfect health was on her
cheeks; her lips were a vivid red and her complexion very pure.
She was a vivacious little body, laughing and chatting with the elderly
gentleman, in whose charge she appeared to be, in a way that betrayed
she stood in no fear of him, while his fond glances and the many
attentions he bestowed upon her plainly betrayed that he was indeed very
fond of her.
Young Webster had been especially attracted toward this party from the
hour of starting, and had been on the alert to make their acquaintance,
although he had not mentioned the subject before; but the trio had kept
pretty well by themselves and appeared quite contented with their own
company, so, as yet, there had been no opportunity for him to approach
them without making himself conspicuous in so doing.
But in spite of his boast that he would make Miss Alexander’s
acquaintance, he was destined to be outdone and thrown into the
background by his more modest English friend.
When the party was summoned to dinner that day there was the usual rush
for the dining-car; human nature will not always be curbed when people
are hungry; but Mr. Knight and his companions lingered to avoid the
crowd.
Mr. Webster also delayed, and held his friend back in the hope that
something might occur to establish an acquaintance with the young lady
whom he so much admired.
And something did occur.
In passing from one car to the other, Mr. Knight first assisted his
sister across, then turned to his young charge, when a gust of wind
whirled her pretty hat from her head, it being held in place only by a
pin, and it would have been wafted beyond recovery but for Rupert, who
was directly behind her, and who deftly caught it in its flight.
He instantly returned it to its fair owner, saying, with a bow and his
frank smile:
“I am very glad that I was quick enough to save it.”
“I am glad, too,” returned the little lady, with a merry laugh. “Thank
you. It would be very awkward to have to go on my way bare-headed.”
Rupert glanced at her as she restored the hat to its place with a look
which plainly said that he thought it a very pretty head, even in that
state.
Mr. Knight politely acknowledged his obligations for the service; but
his sister, who was looking over his shoulder, regarded the two young
men askance, as if she was not quite sure that the occurrence had not
been all a plot, to which old Boreas had craftily lent his aid.
Then they all passed into the dining-room car, where there was one small
table unoccupied, with space for four persons, with only one other
vacancy at another, midway of the car.
Mr. Knight turned to Rupert, saying, cordially:
“Come and share our table—I see the others are nearly full—and let me
introduce you to my sister and ward. What shall I call you, if you
please?”
Rupert drew forth a card, and handed it to the gentleman.
“Ah, Mr. Hamilton. My name is Knight. This lady,” turning to the
spinster, “is my sister, and this gay young woman,” with a fond glance
into the pretty face beside him, “to whom you have just rendered so
signal a service, allow me to introduce as Miss Alexander, Mr.
Hamilton.”
The young couple acknowledged the introduction, though with heightened
color, and then Mr. Knight motioned them to their seats, while Mr.
Webster, feeling somewhat chagrined to find that he was being left in
the lurch, hastened on to the vacant place farther down, giving his
friend a comical glance of recognized defeat as he passed.
Rupert found his new acquaintances very delightful people. Even the
spinster, whom he and Webster had laughingly pronounced a “female ogre,”
proved to be a lady of rare culture and an exceedingly entertaining
companion. He was seated beside her, consequently his conversation was
mostly with her, although Miss Alexander was his _vis-à-vis_, and he
found it almost impossible to keep his eyes away from her dimpled,
expressive face.
“How are you enjoying your journey thus far, Mr. Hamilton?” Mr. Knight
inquired, during the meal.
“Very much, thank you, although I have no doubt I should enjoy it much
better if I were not quite such a stranger to the party.”
“We are all strangers for that matter,” returned the elder gentleman. “I
have noticed that you and your young friend keep much by yourselves; but
you must stir about and get acquainted.”
“One does not like to intrude upon family parties,” Rupert replied,
modestly.
“You must not stand upon formality. I have tried to impress that upon my
sister here, who is a trifle shy about making new acquaintances; but in
such a company as this we all expect to become acquainted with each
other, and we shall enjoy our trip much better than to be ceremonious.
At all events, I have broken the ice for you; I find it pleasant to have
young people about me, and shall be glad to know you better. Eh, Virgie,
it has been a little lonely, hasn’t it, to have only two old fogies to
talk to?” and Mr. Knight turned, with a roguish twinkle in his eyes, to
the fair maiden at his side.
The young girl shot a quick glance at Rupert, a charming smile wreathing
her red lips.
Then her cheeks began to dimple and her eyes to gleam with mirth.
“I know of one ‘old fogy’ who is fishing for a compliment,” she
retorted, with a saucy toss of her bright head, “and who has been
speaking two words for himself and one for others. I know what he wants.
Mr. Hamilton, do you play whist? Because if you do,” she went on,
archly, without waiting for him to reply, “and are fond of it, it will
be all right; for you will doubtless be invited by my guardian to ‘take
a hand,’ and once committed, look out for yourself; he is an inveterate
player, and he has no mercy on his foes.”
“Oh, fie! Virgie, what a character to give your best friend; and to a
stranger, too,” laughed Mr. Knight, good-humoredly; “but I confess I am
a dear lover of whist, Mr. Hamilton, and”—with a quizical look at
Virgie—“if you know the game, won’t you and your friend take a hand,
after dinner, with me and my ward? My sister does not play.”
“There! I told you so,” interposed the gay girl, with a ripple of
silvery laughter.
Rupert joined her heartily.
“I thank you for your timely warning, Miss Alexander,” he said, “but I
do understand the game and like it, too; but before I commit myself,
won’t you tell me, please, is your friend a very formidable antagonist?”
“Dreadful! he plays as if his life and honor depended upon his winning
every game,” she answered, the dimples playing at hide and seek about
her lovely mouth, while Rupert thought her the most delightful little
body he had ever met.
“Then perhaps you may know some of the weak points of the enemy, and
will join me in besieging his fort after dinner,” he said, with an
appealing glance.
“Thank you; I will, with pleasure, Mr. Hamilton,” was the gay response;
“it is not often that I play against him; but if I could see him beaten
a few times, just to take some of what our Irish neighbors call ‘the
consate’ out of him, I think I should rather enjoy it.”
“Oh! the depravity of human nature!” cried Mr. Knight, in mock distress,
though his eyes rested very tenderly upon the bright face beside him;
“after sharing all my honors in the past, to forswear your allegiance
like this! it is rank treason.”
“Do not be disheartened, my dear guardian,” laughed Virgie, “for perhaps
you have it in your power to punish me severely for my presumption in
taking up arms against you; however, Mr. Hamilton, we will do our best
to come off victorious.”
When they returned to the palace car, Rupert introduced his friend, and
then the quartet gave themselves up to the enjoyment of their cards,
Miss Knight occupying a seat in another section, and burying herself in
a book.
They played for two or three hours, and to Miss Virgie’s great glee, she
and her partner beat the others three games out of five.
Mr. Knight accepted his defeat very good-naturedly, but declared that he
would be even with them some other time, and then he fell into
conversation with his new acquaintances upon the topics of the day,
while Virgie sat by and listened, and studied the two young men in whose
society she had been so unexpectedly thrown.
Of course we all recognize in Mr. Knight the great publisher, who had
been so kind to Mrs. Alexander, in San Francisco, during her many trials
there.
The beautiful girl who is traveling with him is her daughter, Virgie,
who, when we last saw her at Niagara, was but ten years of age. She is
now eighteen, and blossoming into lovely womanhood, and as charming and
winsome a maiden as one could find, go the world over.
Her home for a number of years had been in New York city, her mother, as
we know, having changed her residence at the time that Mr. Knight
decided to come East to establish himself in business.
Mrs. Alexander had used her pen during all this time, giving her friend
one or two little gems of art every year, for it was a pleasant pastime
for her to employ herself in this way, but her chief thought had been
given to the education of her daughter, who proved to be bright and
intelligent beyond the average nineteenth century girl. She had
graduated from one of the select schools of the city during the summer
just passed, and her mother had begun to contemplate taking her abroad
when spring should come again, with the intention of demanding her right
at Heathdale.
Still, as the time gradually drew nearer, she had shrunk more and more
from the task before her, until the constant dread of it had begun to
affect her health, and she had been far from well during the last few
months.
Mr. Knight and his sister had never visited San Francisco since leaving
that city, although they had often talked of doing so. But this winter,
when they learned of the Raymond excursion to that and other points on
the Pacific coast, they proposed to join it, and invited Mrs. Alexander
and her daughter to accompany them.
She did not feel equal to either the weariness or the excitement of the
journey; but she thought that it would be a good opportunity for Virgie
to visit the far West, and she gladly confided her to the care of her
friends for the two months that the trip would occupy, and thus we find
her in company with Mr. and Mrs. Knight, bound for the State where her
mother had been born, and as fate had strangely ordered it, with the
very party which Sir William Heath’s ward, Rupert Hamilton, had joined.