JACK
TEN days later if Ruth and Jean had again talked this same matter over
together, it is possible that their points of view might not have been
so far apart. But this was difficult, since Jean was then spending
several days with the Princess Colonna at her villa several miles from
the city of Rome.
From the hour of meeting with Captain Madden near the gardens of the
Pincio, apparently his time had been entirely at the disposal of the
Rainbow Ranch party. And Ruth having completely banished her momentary
fear that his kindness meant more than a passing fancy for Jack, was at
first glad enough to accept his attentions. If she thus revealed a lack
of wisdom, there would be time enough for regret later on.
It was extremely agreeable to have some one to act as their guide
through Rome. For in spite of her winter of study Ruth found herself
becoming dreadfully confused. Rome was so overpowering that actually
there were hundreds of things one wished to do all at once. Then the
girls developed such different interests! She and Olive desired to make
a real study of the many churches in Rome, while Jack curiously enough,
as she had known nothing of art before, was enthusiastic over the old
sculpture. Jean and Frieda had no great fancy for the antique, but were
open in their preference for visiting the shops and for driving about to
the wonderful gardens and villas about Rome. So every now and then Ruth,
departing from her original rule of keeping their entire party together,
had allowed Captain Madden to have charge of several of the girls, while
she went elsewhere with the others.
And more often than any other way it turned out that Frieda was in the
habit of accompanying Captain Madden and her sister. For Frieda's
attitude toward their elderly friend had lately changed. From her former
dislike she had now become his warm advocate. And if Ruth Drew had been
suspicious or even properly worldly-minded this fact in itself should
have begun to open her eyes, so assiduously had Captain Madden been
cultivating Frieda's liking. When a box of flowers arrived for Jack, or
sometimes for Ruth, a box of sweets came with them for the youngest of
the Ranch girls. In their morning riding parties Captain Madden
announced his preference for keeping by Frieda's side and leaving Jack
to ride a little in advance as she seemed to prefer.
Once, however, Frieda had innocently repeated a conversation held
between herself and her escort, which made Jack angry and Ruth
uncomfortable. For it appeared that she had told Captain Madden the
entire history of their Rainbow mine, even to the amount of gold taken
out of it the previous year. And this, when Jack had particularly asked
her younger sister never to discuss their affairs with strangers, and
especially their recent wealth. Older now and realizing the good taste
of this, Frieda, in explaining the subject to their chaperon, was
puzzled to remember how she had been drawn into the conversation. Of
course no questions had been asked by Captain Madden, he was too much of
a gentleman, but somehow in telling him of their past life on the ranch
and of their acquaintance with his cousin, Frank Kent, naturally she had
spoken of their mine. To Ruth this explanation did not appear
unreasonable. Besides it did not seem of importance then whether or not
Captain Madden might be too much concerned in their private affairs.
Afterwards an evening came while Jean was away at the Princess' villa
when the Ranch girls' chaperon had her first awakening. The incident was
a slight one in itself, yet aroused great uneasiness.
Almost every pilgrim who makes his way to Rome has the desire to see its
ancient ruins by moonlight. And this had been Olive's wish ever since
their arrival in the eternal city. Her suggestion was that some night
they drive around the broken walls of the Coliseum and afterwards wander
about inside the Forum Romanum. Surely in the moonlight it would be
easier to forget the modern world! Perhaps one might even conjure up a
mental picture of the great days of pagan Rome, when these same decaying
arches, columns and temples were monuments and buildings of wonderful
beauty. For it was past them that the Roman generals used once to lead
their victorious cohorts bringing home captive the barbarian armies of
the western world.
One evening, rather laughing over her friend's enthusiasm, Jacqueline
Ralston had repeated Olive's ambition to Captain Madden. And straightway
he had suggested that the moonlight excursion actually take place, and
that he be permitted to act as escort. The moon was now almost in the
full and certainly Rome was as well worth seeing under its glamor as
under day-time skies.
Therefore, twenty-four hours afterward, at about nine o'clock, a party
of seven persons set out from the Ranch girls' hotel. Ruth was riding in
one carriage with Captain Madden and Jack, while Mrs. Grant, Frieda,
Olive and Dick were together in the other.
No one talked much. Even Frieda and Mrs. Grant, though not specially
susceptible to beauty, were somehow silenced. The road to the Coliseum
led away from the crowded centers of Rome into a kind of eerie
stillness. Although the radiance of the moon seemed partially to have
obscured the stars, the night was brilliantly clear. Twice both
carriages drove about the outside walls of the Coliseum. And through its
broken spaces the riders could catch strange glimpses of the big
amphitheater, the crumbling tiers of seats, and now and then the outline
of a small stone chamber overgrown with moss and lichen, where the
early Christian martyrs, were once imprisoned before being fed to the
lions.
In the course of the drive Ruth and Captain Madden spoke to one another
occasionally, commenting on the unusual beauty of the night and the
weird and fantastic shadows cast by the moon. But Ruth noticed that Jack
hardly made a remark and that she was pale. This made no special
impression, for Jack was probably tired. She was wearing her long white
cloth coat and a small white hat and for some reason or other looked
almost younger than Frieda.
But by and by Jack asked that their carriage stop at the entrance to the
Forum. There a guide could be found with a lantern, should the moonlight
prove insufficient to light their way about the ruins.
Captain Madden first assisted Ruth to descend from the carriage and then
something in his manner as he turned to help Jack, gave Ruth a sudden
feeling of discomfort. What could he have to say to her which her
chaperon should not hear? And yet Captain Madden did whisper to Jack in
a low voice as though there were some secret understanding between
them.
A moment later, when the second carriage had driven up and its occupants
were alighting, for just a moment Ruth Drew had a brief chance to speak
to Olive alone.
"Don't leave Jack by herself tonight if you can help it, and on no
account let her be with Captain Madden without the rest of us." Then,
scarcely waiting for Olive's reply, Ruth moved off slipping her own arm
firmly through Jack's.
Certainly the next hour afforded no opportunity for interchange of
confidences between Jacqueline Ralston and her new friend. But the girl
seemed glad enough to have Ruth and Olive close beside her. Now and then
she even asked aid of one or the other of them. For stumbling about in
semi-darkness among crumbling earth and stone seemed to be making her
nervous.
Then came a moment when both Olive and Ruth lost sight of Jack
completely. It was the simplest possible accident. They were in a place
of shadows, lit only by the moon, which made the spaces behind the
ruined buildings of almost impenetrable blackness. And although their
guide and Dick Grant carried lanterns, it was difficult to catch their
reflections unless one were near.
Olive, believing Ruth to be with her friend, had drawn closer to the
guide to listen to some bit of information that he was struggling to
impart to Mrs. Grant. While Ruth, thinking that Olive was discharging
her task, and finding Dick Grant and Frieda engaging in one of their
frequent quarrels, had interposed herself between them.
It was at this time that Jack, wearier than she cared to confess, sat
down on one of the steps beyond the Arch of Titus, descending toward the
Coliseum. For the moment a cloud had passed half over the moon, making
the ancient ruin before her appear more gigantic and mysterious. The
next instant a figure seated itself beside her and Captain Madden's
voice spoke:
"You think you don't care for poetry, Miss Jack, but surely tonight is
made for poetry, or poetry is made for tonight. Do you know these lines
of Byron's in Childe Harold?"
Captain Madden moved nearer the girl so that he might see into her face.
Then he pointed toward the magical scene close by.
"A ruin--yet what a ruin! from its mass
Walls, palaces, half-cities, have been rear'd;
Yet oft the enormous skeleton ye pass,
And marvel where the spoil could have appear'd,
Hath it indeed been plunder'd, or but clear'd?
Alas! developed, opens the decay,
When the colossal fabric's form is near'd:
It will not bear the brightness of the day,
Which streams too much on all years, men, have reft away.
"But when the rising moon begins to climb
Its topmost arch and gently pauses there;
When the stars twinkle through the loops of time,
And the low night breeze waves along the air
The garland forest, which the gray walls wear,
Like laurels on the bald first Caesar's head;
When the light shines serene, but doth not glare,
Then in the magic circle rise the dead;
Heroes have trod this spot--'tis on their dust ye tread.
"'While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand;
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall;
And when Rome falls,--the world.'"
Jack made no answer for a moment. Then she said quietly, "It is a
beautiful description; thank you for repeating it to me." She did not
feel in the mood for talking tonight. The world was too beautiful and
too strange. Here was she, Jacqueline Ralston, a girl raised on a ranch
in far-off Wyoming, in the ancient city of Rome. And Captain Madden,
the friend near her, why should a man so much older and wiser and with
so great a knowledge of the world that even Rome itself did not seem
unfamiliar to him, feel an interest in her? She was neither beautiful
nor clever like Olive and Jean. Yet Jack, though not twenty, was woman
enough to realize that Captain Madden liked her best.
The next instant she started to get up when, placing his hand on her
arm, her companion held her back.
"I don't want to speak to you too soon," he whispered. "I don't wish to
hurry or frighten you. But you must know why I have so longed to be with
you alone for a few minutes tonight."
"Please," Jack faltered.
And then, suddenly appearing from out of nowhere, Ruth Drew actually
seemed to swoop down upon the man and girl. Almost immediately she took
tight hold on Jack.
"Let us go to our carriage at once, if you please, Captain Madden," she
demanded brusquely. "We have stayed out in the night air far too long as
it is. It is time we were safe in bed."
Then, although Jack kept obediently close to her chaperon until they
were back in their hotel, that night when the three girls had fallen
asleep, Ruth was so restless that, putting on her dressing gown, she
walked up and down her room for a quarter of an hour. It simply could
not be possible that this Captain Madden was falling in love with their
Jack or that she could entertain the slightest interest in him! Why Jack
was still a child and the man twice her age! Besides, what in the world
did they know of him except what he himself had told them? The man might
be a fortune hunter, he might be most anything! Ruth wiped her eyes in
consternation at the thought of what Jim Colter would say and do if she
allowed his splendid, brave Jack to become entangled in an unfortunate
romance. Then she asked herself: Was there no one in Rome who could tell
them of Captain Madden's history? Recalling Jean's statement that the
Princess Colonna and Captain Madden were acquaintances before their
meeting on board the Martha Washington, Ruth relieved her anxiety by
writing a long letter to Jean. In it she confessed her own uneasiness
and asked that Jean inquire of the Princess what knowledge she had of
Captain Madden's past. But she also insisted that Jean keep her reason
for wishing to know a secret and that beyond everything else she should
never betray their suspicions to Jack.