AN HOUR ON DECK
She literally was blown into his presence. He sprang to his feet to
check her swift approach before she could be dashed against the wall or
upon the heap of chairs in the corner. The deep roll of the vessel had
ended so suddenly that she was thrown off her balance, at best
precariously maintained in the hurricane that swept her along the deck.
She was projected with considerable violence against the waiting figure
of R. Schmidt, who had hastily braced himself for the impact of the
slender body in the thick sea-ulster. She uttered an excited little
shriek as she came bang up against him and found his ready arms closing
about her shoulders.
"Oh, goodness!" she gasped, with what little breath she had left, and
then began to laugh as she freed herself in confusion--a very pretty
confusion he recalled later on, after he had recovered to some extent
from the effects of an exceedingly severe bump on the back of his head.
"How awkward!"
"Not at all," he proclaimed, retaining a grip on one of her arms until
the ship showed some signs of resuming its way eastward instead of
downward.
"I am sure it must have hurt dreadfully," she cried. "Nothing hurts
worse than a bump. It seemed as though you must have splintered the
wall."
"I have a singularly hard head," said he, and forthwith felt of the
back of it.
"Will you please stand ready to receive boarders? My maid is following
me, poor thing, and I can't afford to have her smashed to pieces. Here
she is!"
Quite a pretty maid, with wide, horrified eyes and a pale green
complexion came hustling around the corner. R. Schmidt, albeit a
prince, received her with open arms.
"Merci, M'sieur!" she squealed and added something in muffled French
that strangely reminded him of what Hobbs had said in English. Then she
deposited an armful of rugs and magazines at Robin's feet, and clutched
wildly at a post actually some ten feet away but which appeared to be
coming toward her with obliging swiftness, so nicely was the deck
rotating for her. "Mon dieu! Mon dieu!"
"You may go back to bed, Marie," cried her mistress in some haste.
"But ze rug, I feex it--" groaned the unhappy maid, and then once more:
"Merci, M'sieur!" She clung to the arm he extended, and tried bravely
to smile her thanks.
"Here! Go in through this door," he said, bracing the door open with
his elbow. "You'll be all right in a little while. Keep your nerve." He
closed the door after her and turned to the amused Miss Guile. "Well,
it's an ill wind that blows no good," he said enigmatically, and she
flushed under the steady smile in his eyes. "Allow me to arrange your
rug for you. Miss Guile."
"Thank you, no. I think I would better go inside. It is really too
windy--"
"The wind can't get at you back here in this cubbyhole," he protested.
"Do sit down. I'll have you as snug as a bug in a rug before you can
say Jack Robinson. See! Now stick 'em out and I'll wrap it around them.
There! You're as neatly done up as a mummy and a good deal better off,
because you are a long way short of being two thousand years old."
"How is your head, Mr. Schmidt?" she inquired with grave concern. "You
seem to be quite crazy. I hope--"
"Every one is a little bit mad, don't you think? Especially in moments
of great excitement. I daresay my head _has_ been turned quite
appreciably, and I'm glad that you've been kind enough to notice it.
Where is Mrs. Gaston?" He was vastly exhilarated.
She regarded him with eyes that sparkled and belied the unamiable
nature of her reply.
"The poor lady is where she is not at all likely to be annoyed, Mr.
Schmidt."
Then she took up a magazine and coolly began to run through the pages.
He waited for a moment, considerably dashed, and then said "Oh," in a
very unfriendly manner. She found her place in the magazine, assumed a
more comfortable position, and, with noteworthy resolution, set about
reading as if her life depended upon it.
He sat down, pulled the rug up to his chin, and stared out at the
great, heaving billows. Suddenly remembering another injury, he felt
once more of the back of his head.
"By jove!" he exclaimed. "There _is_ a lump there."
"I can't hear you," she said, allowing the magazine to drop into her
lap, but keeping her place carefully marked with one of her fingers.
"I can hear you perfectly," he said.
"It's the way the wind blows," she explained.
"Easily remedied," said he. "I'll move into Mrs. Gaston's chair if you
think it will help any."
"Do!" she said promptly. "You will not disturb me in the least,--unless
you talk." She resumed her reading, half a page above the finger tip.
He moved over and arranged himself comfortably, snugly in Mrs. Gaston's
chair. Their elbows almost met. He was prepared to be very patient. For
a long time she continued to read, her warm, rosy cheek half-averted,
her eyes applied to their task with irritating constancy. He did not
despair. Some wise person once had told him that it was only necessary
to give a woman sufficient time and she would be the one to despair.
A few passengers possessed of proud sea-legs, staggered past the snug
couple on their ridiculous rounds of the ship. If they thought of Miss
Guile and R. Schmidt at all it was with the scorn that is usually
devoted to youth at its very best. There could be no doubt in the
passing mind that these two were sweethearts who managed to thrive on
the smallest of comforts.
At last his patience was rewarded. She lowered the magazine and stifled
a yawn--but not a real one.
"Have you read it?" she inquired composedly.
"A part of it," he said. "Over your shoulder."
"Is that considered polite in Vienna?"
"If you only knew what a bump I've got on the back of my head you
wouldn't be so ungracious." he said.
"I couldn't possibly know, could I?"
He leaned forward and indicated the spot on the back of his head, first
removing his cap. She laughed nervously, and then gently rubbed her
fingers over the thick hair.
"There is a dreadful lump!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how sorry I am. Do--do
you feel faint or--or--I mean, is it very painful?"
"Not now," he replied, replacing his cap and favouring her with his
most engaging smile.
She smiled in response, betraying not the slightest sign of
embarrassment. As a matter of fact, she was, if anything, somewhat too
self-possessed.
"I remember falling down stairs once," she said, "and getting a
stupendous bump on my forehead. But that was a great many years ago and
I cried. How was I to know that it hurt you, Mr. Schmidt, when you
neglected to cry?"
"Heroes never cry," said he. "It isn't considered first-class fiction,
you know."
"Am I to regard you as a hero?"
"If you will be so kind, please."
She laughed outright at this. "I think I rather like you, Mr. Schmidt,"
she said, with unexpected candour.
"Oh, I fancy I'm not at all bad," said he, after a momentary stare of
astonishment. "I am especially good in rough weather," he went on,
trying to forget that he was a prince of the royal blood, a rather
difficult matter when one stops to consider he was not in the habit of
hearing people say that they rather liked him.
"Do your friends come from Vienna?" she inquired abruptly.
"Yes," he said, and then saved his face as usual by adding under his
breath: "but they don't live there." It was not in him to lie outright,
hence the handy way of appeasing his conscience.
"They are very interesting looking men, especially the younger. I
cannot remember when I have seen a more attractive man."
"He is a splendid chap," exclaimed Robin, with genuine enthusiasm. "I
am very fond of Dank."
She was silent for a moment. Something had failed, and she was rather
glad of it.
"Do you like New York?" she asked.
"Immensely. I met a great many delightful people there. Miss Guile. You
say you do not know the Blithers family? Mr. Blithers is a rare old
bird."
"Isn't there some talk of his daughter being engaged to the Prince of
Graustark?"
He felt that his ears were red. "The newspapers hinted at something of
the sort, I believe." He was suddenly possessed by the curious notion
that he was being "pumped" by his fair companion. Indeed, a certain
insistent note had crept into her voice and her eyes were searching his
with an intentness that had not appeared in them until now.
"Have you seen him?"
"The Prince?"
"Yes. What is he like?"
"I've seen pictures of him," he equivocated. "Rather nice looking, I
should say."
"Of course he is like all foreign noblemen and will leap at the
Blithers millions if he gets the chance. I sometimes feel sorry for the
poor wretches." There was more scorn than pity in the way she said it,
however, and her velvety eyes were suddenly hard and uncompromising.
He longed to defend himself, in the third person, but could not do so
for very strong and obvious reasons. He allowed himself the privilege,
however, of declaring that foreign noblemen are not always as black as
they are painted. And then, for a very excellent reason, he contrived
to change the subject by asking where she was going on the continent.
"I may go to Vienna," she said, with a smile that served to puzzle
rather than to delight him. He was more than ever convinced that she
was playing with him. "But pray do not look so gloomy, Mr. Schmidt, I
shall not make any demands upon your time while I am there. You may--"
"I am quite sure of that," he interrupted, with his ready smile. "You
see, I am a person of no consequence in Vienna, while you--Ah, well, as
an American girl you will be hobnobbing with the nobility while the
humble Schmidt sits afar off and marvels at the kindness of a fate that
befell him in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and yet curses the fate
that makes him unworthy of the slightest notice from the aforesaid
American girl. For, I daresay, Miss Guile, you, like all American
girls, are ready to leap at titles."
"That really isn't fair, Mr. Schmidt," she protested, flushing. "Why
should you and I quarrel over a condition that cannot apply to either
of us? You are not a nobleman, and I am not a title-seeking American
girl. So, why all this beautiful irony?"
"It only remains for me to humbly beg your pardon and to add that if
you come to Vienna my every waking hour shall be devoted to the
pleasure of--"
"I am sorry I mentioned it, Mr. Schmidt," she interrupted coldly. "You
may rest easy, for I shall not keep you awake for a single hour.
Besides, I may not go to Vienna at all."
"I am sure you would like Vienna," he said, somewhat chilled by her
manner.
"I have been there, with my parents, but it was a long time ago. I once
saw the Emperor and often have I seen the wonderful Prince
Liechtenstein."
"Have you travelled extensively in Europe?"
She was smiling once more. "I don't know what you would consider
extensively," she said. "I was educated in Paris, I have spent
innumerable winters in Rome and quite as many summers in Scotland,
England, Switzerland, Germ--"
"I know who you are!" he cried out enthusiastically. To his amazement,
a startled expression leaped into her eyes. "You are travelling under
an assumed name." She remained perfectly still, watching him with an
anxious smile on her lips. "You are no other than Miss Baedeker, the
well-known authoress."
It seemed to him that she breathed deeply. At any rate, her brow
cleared and her smile was positively enchanting. Never, in all his
life, had he gazed upon a lovelier face. His heart began to beat with a
rapidity that startled him, and a queer little sensation, as of
smothering, made it difficult for him to speak naturally in his next
attempt.
"In that case, my pseudonym should be Guide, not Guile," she cried
merrily. The dimples played in her cheeks and her eyes were dancing.
"B. stands for Baedeker, I'm sure. Baedeker Guide. If the B. isn't for
Baedeker, what is it for?"
"Are you asking what the B. really stands for, Mr. Schmidt?"
"In a round-about way, Miss Guile," he admitted.
"My name is Bedelia," she said, with absolute sincerity. "Me mither is
Irish, d'ye see?"
"By jove, it's worth a lot of trouble to get you to smile like that,"
he cried admiringly. "It is the first really honest smile you've
displayed. If you knew how it improves you, you'd be doing it all of
the time."
"Smiles are sometimes expensive."
"It depends on the market."
"I never take them to a cheap market. They are not classed as
necessities."
"You couldn't offer them to any one who loves luxuries more than I do."
"You pay for them only with compliments, I see, and there is nothing so
cheap."
"Am I to take that as a rebuke?"
"If possible," she said sweetly.
At this juncture, the miserable Hobbs hove into sight, not figuratively
but literally. He came surging across the deck in a mad dash from one
haven to another, or, more accurately, from post to post.
"I beg pardon, sir," he gasped, finally steadying himself on
wide-spread legs within easy reach of Robin's sustaining person. "There
is a wireless for Mr. Totten, sir, but when I took it to 'im he said to
fetch it to you, being unable to hold up 'is head, wot with the
wretched meal he had yesterday and the--"
"I see, Hobbs. Well, where is it?"
Hobbs looked embarrassed. "Well, you see, sir, I 'esitated about giving
it to you when you appear to be so--"
"Never mind. You may give it to me. Miss Guile will surely pardon me if
I devote a second or two to an occupation she followed so earnestly up
to a very short time ago."
"Pray forget that I am present, Mr. Schmidt," she said, and smiled upon
the bewildered Hobbs, who after an instant delivered the message to his
master.
Robin read it through and at the end whistled softly.
"Take it to Mr. Totten, Hobbs, and see if it will not serve to make him
hold up his head a little."
"Very good, sir. I hope it will. Wouldn't it be wise for me to
hannounce who it is from, sir, to sort of prepare him for--"
"He knows who it is from, Hobbs, so you needn't worry. It is from home,
if it will interest you, Hobbs."
"Thank you, sir, it does interest me. I thought it might be from Mr.
Blithers."
Robin's scowl sent him scuttling away a great deal more rigidly than
when he came.
"Idiot!" muttered the young man, still scowling.
There was silence between the two for a few seconds. Then she spoke
disinterestedly:
"Is it from the Mr. Blithers who has the millions and the daughter who
wants to marry a prince?"
"Merely a business transaction, Miss Guile," he said absently. He was
thinking of Romano's message.
"So it would appear."
"I beg pardon? I was--er--thinking--"
"It was of no consequence, Mr. Schmidt," she said airily.
He picked up the thread once more. "As a matter of fact, I've heard it
said that Miss Blithers refused to marry the Prince."
"Is it possible?" with fine irony. "Is he such a dreadful person as all
that?"
"I'm sure I don't know," murmured Robin uncomfortably. "He may be no
more dreadful than she."
"I cannot hear you, Mr. Schmidt," she persisted, with unmistakeable
malice in her lovely eyes.
"I'm rather glad that you didn't," he confessed. "Silly remark, you
know."
"Well, I hope she doesn't marry him," said Miss Guile.
"So do I," said R. Schmidt, and their eyes met. After a moment, she
looked away, her first surrender to the mysterious something that lay
deep in his.
"It would prove that all American girls are not so black as they're
painted, wouldn't it?" she said, striving to regain the ground she had
lost by that momentary lapse.
"Pray do not overlook the fact that I am half American," he said. "You
must not expect me to say that they paint at all."
"Schmidt is a fine old American name," she mused, the mischief back in
her eyes.
"And so is Bedelia," said he.
"Will you pardon me, Mr. Schmidt, if I express surprise that you speak
English without the tiniest suggestion of an accent?"
"I will pardon you for everything and anything, Miss Guile," said he,
quite too distinctly. She drew back in her chair and the light of
raillery died in her eyes.
"What an imperial sound it has!"
"And why not? The R stands for Rex."
"Ah, that accounts for the King's English!"
"Certainly," he grinned. "The king can do no wrong, don't you see?"
"Your servant who was here speaks nothing but the King's English, I
perceive. Perhaps that accounts for a great deal."
"Hobbs? I mean to say,'Obbs? I confess that he has taught me many
tricks of the tongue. He is one of the crown jewels."
Suddenly, and without reason, she appeared to be bored. As a matter of
fact, she hid an incipient yawn behind her small gloved hand.
"I think I shall go to my room. Will you kindly unwrap me, Mr. Schmidt?"
He promptly obeyed, and then assisted her to her feet, steadying her
against the roll of the vessel.
"I shall pray for continuous rough weather," he announced, with as
gallant a bow as could be made under the circumstances.
"Thank you," she said, and he was pleased to take it that she was not
thanking him for a physical service.
A few minutes later he was in his own room, and she was in hers, and
the promenade deck was as barren as the desert of Sahara.
He found Count Quinnox stretched out upon his bed, attended not only by
Hobbs but also the reanimated Dank. The crumpled message lay on the
floor.
"I'm glad you waited awhile," said the young lieutenant, getting up
from the trunk on which he had been sitting. "If you had come any
sooner you would have heard words fit only for a soldier to hear. It
really was quite appalling."
"He's better now," said Hobbs, more respectfully than was his wont. It
was evident that he had sustained quite a shock.
"Well, what do you think of it?" demanded the Prince, pointing to the
message.
"Of all the confounded impudence--" began the Count healthily, and then
uttered a mighty groan of impotence. It was clear that he could not do
justice to the occasion a second time.
Robin picked up the Marconigram, and calmly smoothed out the crinkles.
Then he read it aloud, very slowly and with extreme disgust in his fine
young face. It was a lengthy communication from Baron Romano, the Prime
Minister in Edelweiss.
"'Preliminary agreement signed before hearing Blithers had bought
London, Paris, Berlin. He cables his immediate visit to G. Object now
appears clear. All newspapers in Europe print despatches from America
that marriage is practically arranged between R. and M. Interviews with
Blithers corroborate reported engagement. Europe is amused. Editorials
sarcastic. Price on our securities advance two points on confirmation
of report. We are bewildered. Also vague rumour they have eloped, but
denied by B. Dawsbergen silent. What does it all mean? Wire truth to
me. People are uneasy. Gourou will meet you in Paris.'"
[Illustration: "I shall pray for continuous rough weather"]
In the adjoining suite, Miss Guile was shaking Mrs. Gaston out of a
long-courted and much needed sleep. The poor lady sat up and blinked
feebly at the excited, starry-eyed girl.
"Wake up!" cried Bedelia impatiently. "What do you think? I have a
perfectly wonderful suspicion--perfectly wonderful."
"How can you be so unfeeling?" moaned the limp lady.
"This R. Schmidt is Prince Robin of Graustark!" cried the girl
excitedly. "I am sure of it--just as sure as can be."
Mrs. Gaston's eyes were popping, not with amazement but alarm.
"Do lie down, child," she whimpered. "Marie! The sleeping powders at
once! Do--"
"Oh, I'm not mad," cried the girl. "Now listen to me and I'll tell you
why I believe--yes, actually believe him to be the--"
"Marie, do you hear me?"
Miss Guile shook her vigorously. "Wake up! It isn't a nightmare. Now
listen!"