THE TOSS OF A COIN
Hillard made an inexcusably careless shot. It was under his hand to have
turned an even forty on his string. He grounded his cue and stood back
from the table. That was the way everything seemed to go; at tennis, at
squash, at fencing, at billiards, it was all the same. The moment
victory was within his grasp his interest waned. Only last night he had
lost his title as the best fencer in the club; disqualified in the
preliminaries, too, by a tyro who would never cease to brag about the
accident.
"I say, Jack, what's the matter with you, anyhow?" asked Merrihew, out
of patience. "A boy could have made that three-cushion, his hands tied
behind him."
"It was bad," Hillard agreed. "Perhaps I am not taking the interest in
the game that I formerly took."
"I should say not. You lost me fifty last night. Corlis has no more
right to cross foils with you than I have; and yet he goes in for the
finals, while you are out of it. Where's your eye? Where's your grip?"
Hillard chalked his cue silently.
"And when I make a proposition," pursued Merrihew, "to ride to the
Catskills and back--something you would have jumped at a year ago--you
shake your head. Think of it! Through unbroken roads, nights at
farm-houses, old feather beds, ice in the wash-basin, liver and bacon
for breakfast, and off again! Snow or rain! By George, you had a bully
time last year; you swore it was the best trip we ever took on the
horses. Remember how we came back to town, hungry and hardy as Arctic
explorers? Come on; everything is dull down-town. Where's your spirit of
adventure?"
"I'm sure I don't know where it is. Shall we finish the game?"
"Not if you're going to throw it like this," declared Merrihew. He was
proud of his friend's prowess in games of skill and strength, and he was
wroth to see him lose all interest unaccountably.
"Ten and a string against your half a string," said Hillard, studying
the score. "I'll bet a bottle that I beat you."
"Done!" said Merrihew. Being on his mettle, he made a clean score of
twenty, five to go. "I can see you paying for that check, Jack."
But the odds tingled Hillard's blood. He settled down to a brilliant
play and turned sixty-one in beautiful form. There were several shots
which caused Merrihew to gasp.
"Well, it's worth the price of the bottle. If only you had had that eye
last night! We'll have the bottle in the alcove at the head of the
stairs. I want to talk to you."
So the two passed up-stairs to the secluded alcove, and the bottle
shortly followed. Merrihew filled the glasses with the air of one who
would like to pass the remainder of his days doing the same thing. Not
that he was overfond; but each bottle temporarily weeded out that crop
of imperishable debts, that Molochian thousand, that Atalanta whose
speed he could not overtake, having no golden apples. To him the world
grew roseate and kindly, viewed through the press of the sparkling
grape, and invariably he saw fortune beckoning to the card-tables.
"Now, then, Jack, I've got you where I want you. Who is she?"
"On my word, I don't know," answered Hillard, stirring restlessly.
"Then there is a woman!" cried Merrihew, astonished at his perspicacity.
"I knew it. Nothing else would so demoralize your nerve. Shall we drink
a health to her?"
Hillard raised his glass and touched that of his comrade. For the good
of his soul and the peace of his mind, he then and there determined to
tell Merrihew the whole adventure, without a single reservation.
"To the Lady in the Fog!" he said.
"Fog?" blankly.
"Well, the Lady in the Mask."
"Fog, mask? Two of them?"
"No, only one. Once I met her in the fog, and then I met her in the
mask."
"I'll drink to her; but I'm hanged if I don't believe you're codding
me," said Merrihew disappointedly. "This is New York."
"I know it; and yet sometimes I doubt it. Here's to the lady."
They drank. Hillard set down his glass; Merrihew refilled his.
"The whole story, Jack, details and all; no half-portions."
Hillard told the yarn simply, omitting nothing essential. He even added
that for three weeks he had been the author of the personal inquiry as
to the whereabouts of one Madame Angot. More than that, he was the
guilty man who had set the club by the ears.
"I don't know, Dan, but this has taken so strong a hold on me that I
shan't forget it soon. Imagine it yourself. Oh, but she could sing! I am
a man not to be held in the leash of an adventure like this; but she
held me. How? By the hope that one day I might see her face, with no
veil of mystery to hold her off at arm's length."
Merrihew was greatly excited. He was for ordering a second bottle, but
Hillard stayed him.
"By George! And you are sure that it was at the Sandfords'?"
"I am positive. But there is a puzzle that I have failed to solve:
Sandford's cable and the caretaker's declaration. I know that I was in
that house. I ran across a stein which I had given Sandford. I have
inquired of the police; they had been requested to watch the house in
the absence of the owner. The patrolman says that he has seen no light
in the house since the family sailed for Africa. I sleep soundly; never
have nightmares. And yet, but for her letters and the fact that Giovanni
heard her sing under my window, I might almost believe I've been
dreaming. It is no dream; but it begins to look as if I were the victim
of some fine hoax."
"And Sandford mixed up in it," supplemented Merrihew.
"Sandford and I are good friends, but we are not so intimate that he'd
take the pains to work out a hoax of this magnitude. It did not
originate with him, and his wife is altogether out of the picture. If I
had only seen her face, I might have forgotten all about her in a few
days. But the mask, the charm, the mystery! I can't get her out of my
thoughts; I am irrational in all I do; an absolute failure in the
office."
"It is more than a hoax, in my opinion. Wait till Sandford returns and
finds his silver gone!"
Hillard started.
"And his gold-plate," continued Merrihew, pleased with the idea. "My
boy, that's what it is; the best dodge I ever heard of. But how did they
get into the house, she and her maid? It will make a good story for the
Sunday papers. You won't be in it, unless she ropes you in as an
accomplice. That would be rich!"
"I'm a romantic ass!" Hillard sighed. Leddy Lightfinger! If this turned
out to be the case, he would never trust a human being again; he would
take to breeding dogs.
"Let's take that ride on the horses," Merrihew urged. "That'll clear
your brain of this sentimental fog."
"No!" Hillard struck his hands together. "I've a better idea than that,
and it has just come to me. I shall go to Italy in March, and you, my
boy, shall go with me."
"Impossible! Why, I'm all but broke." Merrihew shook his head decidedly.
"I'll take you as a companion. I'm a sick man, Dan. I'm likely to jump
overboard if some one isn't watching me every minute."
"I'd like to go, Jack; Heaven and earth, but I should! But I can't
possibly go to Italy with a letter of credit no more than twenty-five
hundred, and that's all there is in the exchequer at present."
"Between such friends as we are--"
"That racket won't work. I could not take a moment's peace if I did not
feel independent. Supposing I wanted to come home and you didn't, or you
did and I didn't? No, Jack; nothing to it that way." And Merrihew was
right.
"But I'm not going to give it to you!" Hillard protested. He was
determined to break down Merrihew's objections if it took all night. "I
am going to lend it to you."
"And could I ever pay you back if I accepted the loan?" humorously.
"You'll have to invent some other scheme."
"There's Monte Carlo; you might pull down a tidy sum," said the tempter.
"That's the way, you beggar; hit me on the soft side." But Merrihew was
still obdurate. To go to Europe was out of the question.
"Now listen to reason, Dan. If you wait for the opportunity to go to
Europe, you'll wait in vain. You must make the opportunity. One must
have youth to enjoy Italy thoroughly. The desire to go becomes less and
less as one grows older. Besides, it completes every man's education; it
broadens his charity and smooths down the rough edges of his conceit.
I'll put the proposition in a way you can't possibly get round. You've
simply got to go. You will always have that thousand, so don't worry
about that. You have twenty-five hundred on hand, you say. With that you
can see Italy like a prince for three months. I know the tongue and the
country; I know what you would want to see, what to avoid, where to
stop."
"What's the proposition?" Merrihew drained the bottle.
"This: I'll agree to take not a penny more than twenty-five hundred
myself. We'll go on equal terms. Why," confidently, "besides living like
a prince, you'll have four hundred to throw away at roulette. Boy, you
have never seen Italy; therefore you do not know what beauty is. When we
eventually land at Bellaggio, on Lake Como, and I take your lily-white
hand in mine and lead you up to the terrace of Villa Serbelloni, and
order tea, then you will realize that you have only begun to live.
Gardens, towering Alps, the green Lecco on one side and the green Como
on the other; and Swiss champagne at a dollar-forty the quart! Eh?"
Merrihew produced his black cigar. This matter needed some deep
reflection, and could not be determined offhand. The ash turned white on
the end of the cigar before he replied.
"If you weren't Irish, you'd just naturally be Dago," he said with a
laugh. "But it isn't fair to shoot me up this way, with flowery
speeches."
"And then, besides all these things," Hillard added, "there's Kitty
Killigrew, singing her heart out to a people who can't understand a word
she's singing. Kitty Killigrew!"
"Can it be done for twenty-five hundred?"
"He's melting!" murmured Hillard jubilantly. "He's melting!"
"For a small amount I'd punch your head!" Merrihew chewed his cigar with
subdued fierceness. He knew very well that he was destined to go to
Europe. Kitty Killigrew, who had promised to mail the route they were to
play, and hadn't!
"It is written, Dan, that you shall go with me. Think of running into
the theater and seeing Kitty! I begin to like the music of that name."
"We'll settle this argument right here and now." Merrihew drew out a
coin. "Call it!" he cried recklessly.
"Heads!"
The coin flickered in the light, fell, and proved that all money is
perverse, by rolling under the davenport upon which they were sitting.
An amusing hunt followed. They ran their hands over the floor, turned
the rug, pulled out the davenport and looked behind, burnt innumerable
matches, and finally rang for the attendant. The situation was
explained, and he procured a candle. He was ultimately successful.
"Here it is, sir."
"Don't touch it!" warned Hillard.
"What is it, head or tail?" asked Merrihew weakly.
"Heads, sir," said the attendant, picking up the coin and offering it to
the owner.
"Keep it," said Merrihew generously, even sadly. He never got up a game
of chance that he did not get the worst of it. And now, Italy! All that
way from home! "Boy, bring up a bottle of '96."
"Dan!"
"You be still," said Merrihew savagely. "You've roped me in nicely, and
I'm game to go; but I'll have that bottle if I have to drink it all
alone."
But he did not drink it all alone. Hillard was too wise to permit that.
Merrihew might wish to add a few hundred to his letter of credit, via
the card-room.
"And the Lady in the Mask?" asked Merrihew, as they at length stood up,
preparatory to going down-stairs.
"I must relegate her to the fog she came out of. But it would be a
frightful thing if--if--" He hesitated to form the words.
But Merrihew had no such scruple. "If the silver and plate were missing
when the Sandfords return?"
"Oh, bosh! It's all some joke, and I'm the butt of it. She was in that
house by the same authority she rode the horse."
"A woman of that sort would have no difficulty in hoodwinking the
stablemen," declared Merrihew, certain that he had solved the riddle.
"And so you add forgery? Not a shred of my romance left!" Hillard spoke
jestingly, but like a man who covers up a sudden twinge of pain.
"We'll know all about it in the fall. And ten to one, my theory will be
the correct one."
"That's better. I have some hope now. You never won a bet in all your
life."
"I know it; but this may be the one time. By the way, received a postal
from Kitty this morning. From Gibraltar. Fine trip. Visited the
gun-galleries and the antique furniture shops. Says no sign of prima
donna as yet, but believes her to be on board. O'Mally's on the
water-wagon. But Kitty aggravates me."
"What has she done now--refused you by Marconigraph?"
"No; but she promised me her address."
"Address her care Cook's, Florence, Rome, Venice. It's the popular
mail-box of Europe; and if she has given them the address, they will
forward."
"That helps considerably. I'm glad there's one Cook which can be relied
on."
"In the morning I'll arrange for passage. We'll try the Celtic."
"I'll leave the business end of the trip to you."
"The first Saturday in March, then, if we can get booking. That will be
in less than two weeks."
"I'm game. Shall I pack up my riding-breeches?"
"Prepare for everything except automobiles."
"Bah! I wouldn't take one as a gift."
"You couldn't afford to, if what I hear about them is true. Though you
might be able to sell the gift and wipe out that thousand."
"Hang the thousand! I had almost forgotten it again."
In the lobby of the club, as they were about to enter the coat-room,
Hillard ran into one of several gentlemen issuing.
"Pardon me," he said, stepping aside.
"_Non un importa!_" said the stranger with a graceful wave of the hands.
Hillard looked quickly into the gentleman's face. "I am clumsy," he said
in Italian.
Then the other stared at him, and smiled. For a moment there was a brief
tableau, in which each took the other's measure and noted the color of
the eyes. The man was an exceedingly handsome Italian, for all that a
scar ran from his check to his chin. It was all over in a moment; and
Hillard and Merrihew proceeded to the street.
"Handsome duffer," was Merrihew's comment. "But you never can tell a man
by his looks. Gaze on me, for instance. I'm a good example of handsome
is as handsome does." He was growing merry.
"Go home!" Hillard slapped him jovially on the shoulder.
"Home? Ah, yes! But shall I have a home to go to when I get back? You
have roped me in nicely. My poor little twenty-five hundred! But Swiss
champagne at a dollar-forty the quart! Well, every cloud has its lining.
Say, Jack, how much brighter the world looks after a magnum! And a funny
story's twice as funny. Good night. As for the Lady in the Fog, take the
cash and let the credit go. That's my motto."
As Hillard never received any answer to his personal, he discontinued
it. Truly, she had returned to the fog out of which she had come. But it
was no less difficult for him to take up the daily affairs again;
everything was so terribly prosaic now; the zest was gone from work and
play. Italy was the last resort; and the business of giving Merrihew a
personally conducted tour would occupy his mind. Always he was asking:
Who was she? What mystery veiled her? Whither had she gone? We never can
conjure up a complete likeness. Sometimes it is the eyes, again the
mouth and chin, or the turn of the throat; there is never any ensemble
of features and adornments. And as for Hillard, he really had nothing
definite to recall, unless it was the striking color of her hair or the
mellow smoothness of her voice. And could he really remember these? He
often wished that she had sung under any window but his.
Giovanni was delighted when he heard the news. He would go, too, and act
as valet to the signore and his friend till they put out for Rome. Then,
of course, he would be obliged to leave them. Occasionally Hillard would
reason with him regarding his deadly projects. But when a Latin declares
that he has seen through blood, persuasions, arguments, entreaties,
threats do not prevail. He comforted himself with the opinion, however,
that Giovanni's hunt would come to no successful end.
"You will surely fall into the hands of the police."
"What God wills comes true. But by this time they will have forgotten
me."
"But you have not forgotten."
"_Padre mio_, that is different. One obeys the civil law from habit.
Between me and the _carabinieri_ there is nothing personal. Thus it is
easy for them to forget. Still, I shall not announce my approach, that I
am Giovanni l'Aguello, returned for arrest. I shall take good care to
keep out of their way."
"The eagle; that is a good name for you."
"And once I was as tame as a dove."
"But your man might be dead."
"He is not dead. If he were, something would tell me."
"It is a bad business, and I wish you no luck."
Giovanni smiled easily. Wishes seldom interfere with any one.
"I will double your wages," said Hillard, "if you will go where I go and
return with me when I come back to America."
A deprecating movement. "Money? It is nothing. I am rich, after my
kind."
"Are you still in the Church?"
"I confess regularly once a week. Oh, I am a good Catholic."
"Take yourself off. I am displeased with you."
The few days before sailing found Merrihew in a flutter of intense
excitement. He carried his letter of credit about in order to convince
himself during the day that he was really and truly going to Italy. He
forswore the bottle and the illumined royalty of the card-deck, and
spent his evenings "studying up" the lay of the land. To be sure, there
was one grand dinner the night before they sailed. Suppose, Merrihew
advanced, for the sake of argument, suppose the ship went down or he
never came back, or he was ill all the way over? There would be one good
dinner to remember, anyhow.
It was a drizzling, foggy morning when they drove down to the boat.
There are seldom bright sailing days in the forepart of March. But the
atmospheric effects made no impression on the volatile Merrihew. It was
all very interesting to him. And he had an eye for all things, from the
baskets of fruit and flowers, messengers with late orders from the
stores, repeated farewells, to the squalling babies in the steerage.
Even in the impudent shrieking tugboats he found a measure of delight;
and the blur on the water was inviting.
At four o'clock they were on the high seas, heading for the Azores.
Hillard was dreaming and Merrihew was studiously employed over a booklet
on _How to Speak Italian in One Day_. There was a moderate sea on.
By and by Giovanni, who had spent most of the time arranging the luggage
in the adjoining staterooms, came up on deck. He had two packets of
letters and telegrams. One he gave to Merrihew and the other to his
master.
"I forgot to give the signore his mail at breakfast. The boat-mail has
just been distributed." He then went forward.
Merrihew was greatly pleased with his packet. There were humorous
letters and cheery telegrams, containing all sorts of advice in case of
seasickness, how to slip cigars through the customs, where to get the
best post-cards, and also the worst.
Hillard found among his a bulky envelope post-marked Naples. After he
opened it he lay back in his chair and contemplated the ruffled horizon.
Naples! He sat up. It had been addressed to the house and the address
typewritten.
"Dan?"
"What is it?"
"Look at this!"
"Good Lord!" Dan gasped, his feet coming down to the deck.
For Hillard was holding up for his inspection a crumpled black silk
mask.