Christmas Eve in New York! Broadway crowded with happy playgoers,
gay promenaders, and belated shoppers! Fifth Avenue resplendent with
an abundance of commercially-conceived festivity in the overstocked
windows of its fashionable shops! In other and less pretentious
localities, gaunt lines of assassinated turkeys exhibiting their
sallow nudities in indecent profusion to a steady stream of
ever-changing faces! In short, everywhere throughout the big city,
the people holding high carnival--even cynicism forgetting itself in
the prospect of gallinaceous food and crude sweetmeats. And Central
Park West and the Circle, in particular, scintillating with
electrical display and wreaths of red-ribboned holly.
In the New Theatre a gala performance of Antony and Cleopatra was
nearly over; the last lines of the tragedy were being spoken. Yet,
notwithstanding the fact that in another moment the folds of the red
velvet curtains would descend on the Egyptian scene, an occupant of
one of the stalls, no longer able to control his impatience, hastily
left his seat and started up the adjoining aisle.
To say that this young man gave every physiognomical indication of
being a soul in distress would be putting it not a bit too strongly.
Nor would it have required exceptionally brilliant intuitive
faculties to conjecture that someone--presumably in a box across the
theatre, on which, all through the evening, his eyes had been
riveted--had shamelessly robbed him of his heart. Moreover, judging
from his evident haste and the keen anxiety with which all the way up
the aisle he followed every movement of the parties in the box, it
would seem that he had determined to intercept them on their way out.
And, indeed, such was his determination. Life had concentrated
itself into a question of hearing from the lips of the woman,--the
woman to whom he had offered, and who had refused, the worship of a
life,--a word that he could interpret as meaning that there was still
a faint possibility of her changing her mind.
To his vexation, however, he found that others likewise had left
their seats. In fact, the general exodus had already set in before,
even, he had reached the top of the aisle. And yet, despite his
being thoroughly aware that any attempt to pass from one side of the
house to the other was sure to be resented,--so delirious is the
haste in which a metropolitan audience takes leave of the theatre for
the invariable restaurant-supper after the play,--he continued to
make strenuous efforts to cut his way through, until realising,
finally, that it was useless, he let himself be borne along by the
crowd. But his chance came when the carriage-vestibule on
Sixty-Fifth Street was reached. And there, quick to take advantage
of an almost imperceptible cessation of the onward
movement--consequent upon the people searching the
ingeniously-devised board to ascertain whether the desired motors or
carriages headed the long line--he again started in to elbow his way
through the crush; and so successfully this time that presently
comparatively few persons separated him from an undeniably blond and
dashing young woman, in a magnificent opera-cloak of Russian sables,
who was laughing and chatting with half a dozen or more vapid youths
while following the lead of a portly and somewhat red-faced old
gentleman.
Now, though unusual--for want of a better word--as was the young
man's behaviour, few people in this scene of orderly confusion, babel
of voices and distant humming of motors, gave more than momentary
attention to it except the young woman's escort. To these wondrous
wise young gentlemen, however, the meaning of his frantic exertions
to reach her side was all too plain, no less her feelings towards
him; and, exchanging significant glances, they began to nudge one
another to watch for the dénouement of the little comedy which was
rapidly developing before their eyes.
But alas for the futility of his brave resolutions...!
So far his task had been easy enough. But at the fateful moment,
face to face with his divinity, and doubtless for the first time
perceiving that no relenting glance softened the faultless contours
of her carven features, that no spark of warmth glinted in her big,
blue eyes,--eyes that, on the contrary, were brimful of scornful
laughter,--his indomitable spirit failed him utterly, was crushed,
for once, at least, and he stood gaping at her, to everyone's
surprise, more like a country yokel than the man-of-the-world that he
undoubtedly was. For the briefest of intervals he remained thus.
And then, apparently pulling himself together, he suddenly wheeled
round on his heel, and shouldering his way through the
press,--heedless alike of a friendly hail, which came in an
unmistakably English accent from someone back in the crowd, and of
the protesting looks, if not words, of the people he jostled,--he
left an ostentatiously, almost vulgarly, ornate limousine to slam its
door and move rapidly away with its fair occupant and her admirers.
Into Central Park West the young man turned and walked north.
Despite a heavy fur overcoat, his gait was extraordinarily fast, and
his face appeared white, almost ghastly, in the thin, yellow fog that
was pushing its way under his eyelids, into the penetralia of nose
and ears, and depositing superfluous matter on his lungs, larynx, and
reckless expanse of linen. A few blocks above the theatre he came to
a small apartment-hotel, mounted at a run to the first floor, and
quickly entering the sitting-room of the suite, he carelessly tossed
his irreproachable high hat on to a lounge. Then he went over to a
window and stood gazing out at the sea of fog before drawing the
curtain against the gamboge of the December evening. And his
countenance was at once savage and inexpressibly sad.
This savageness was habitual, the resultant of bold features: a
straight nose which made a sharp angle with the steep brow, bushy
eyebrows and a wiry, brush-backed moustache that sprouted
aggressively from his upper lip. Strictly speaking it was not a
handsome face, though, perhaps, a striking one. Nor in other
respects was there anything remarkable about George Trafford--"Nervy"
Trafford they had called him at Harvard, and the appellation had
always clung to him. As to occupation he had none. Inheriting a
modest fortune at an early age, his life had differed little from
that of the majority of young Americans in like circumstances, if we
except the fact that--before he took up the difficult task of killing
time--he had added an Oxford degree to that of Harvard.
Throwing off his coat, Trafford fumbled in his waistcoat for a key.
A moment later he was opening a small mahogany medicine-cupboard that
was fixed against the wall over his book-case. His searching hand
groped about in its recesses and then brought out--something. For a
second he held this "something" at arms length, conning it with
curious eyes, as a dilettante might study a precious cameo, or a bit
of rare porcelain.
Then he put it carefully on the table. The electric light shone on a
small, compact object, dark of colour and sinister of shape--a
revolver!
Nervy Trafford took pen and paper and wrote; and as he wrote the
curious light grew in his wild eyes, and a sad smile played about his
sensitive mouth.
"_Dearest,_" he began:--"_You say you can never love me. I say that
I can never cease to love you. You have spoken a lie, even as I have
spoken the truth, for when the mists of life are dispelled by the
glorious radiance beyond the grave, you will love me as I love you,
perfectly, entirely, with the triple majesty of soul, mind and
spirit. Till then, farewell._
_Yours, as you are mine,_
GEORGE TRAFFORD."
Having read this curious epistle twice, he put it in an envelope and
addressed it to Miss Angela Knox, St. Regis Hotel. A moment later he
took up the object from the table, looking into vacancy as he did so.
So this was to be his end!--an ending, he well knew, that none of his
friends had ever dreamed of. A man on whom advice was thrown away,
who seldom if ever thought twice, in other words, a creature of
impulse, yes--they would admit all that; but on the other hand would
they not recall many instances of his extricating himself from tight
places through nothing else but this very impulsiveness and nerve of
his? Inevitably, then, they would refuse to believe that a man like
that, however hopeless his infatuation, would take his own life. All
of which merely goes to show how ridiculous it is for our best
friends to scoff at the notion that an affair of the heart may be
taken seriously.
Trafford's face was literally bloodless; his pupils infinitesimal
black dots, gazing searchingly through the walls of his room into the
great beyond, where all questions are answered, all doubts set at
rest. For a moment he stood thus in vibrant silence. Then,--as if
his mute searching had received its dumb response,--his lips breathed
a woman's name, the muzzle of the revolver was raised head high,
there was a click--and nothing more than a click!
Trafford's arm fell limp to his side, and a look of sick pain
shuddered across his face. Then, an idea, a wafted air of
recollection, fanned the light of understanding into his dull eyes.
A ghost of a smile hovered at the corner of his lips, and again the
cold hand raised the deadly mechanism to his pulsing temple. Even as
it did so the door of his room was opened, and with a gesture of
annoyance Trafford tossed the unused weapon on to the table and
facing the intruder burst out with:
"Who on earth----"
"Hullo, Nervy, old chap!" was the familiar greeting that came from a
big and genial man, clean-shaved, about thirty years of age, and
dressed seasonably in a dark, astrachan-trimmed overcoat. In a word,
the speaker was a faultlessly attired Englishman, whose great frame
and smiling features seemed to bring into the tragic atmosphere a
most desirable air of commonplace.
"Bob Saunders!" ejaculated Trafford.
"The same," affirmed the other, throwing off his overcoat and sinking
lazily into the most comfortable chair he could find; "Robert
Saunders, old cricket blue, devoted husband of a peerless wife, the
friend of kings and the king of friends--_voila_!"
By this time Trafford had composed himself sufficiently to ask:
"What in the deuce are you doing over here? How did you find----"
"Been camping on your trail, old man,--as you Yankees say,"
interrupted the Englishman. "In the first place, the wife and I have
been doing the States. To-night, as we were leaving the New Theatre,
I caught sight of you--sung out to you--but you were off like a shot.
I put Mrs. Saunders--divine creature!--into a taxi and sent her to
the hotel. Then I gave chase. I tracked you here, and your door
being open, took the liberty to walk in. But you don't look well,
old chap!" he went on, noticing at length the exceptional pallor of
his friend's face. "You look rotten! What's up, Nervy? Liver?
Money?"
Trafford pointed silently to the table; at the sight of the revolver
Saunders' face grew grave.
"As bad as that?" he asked. He was genuinely shocked, but his tone
was commonplace, almost casual.
"As bad as that," breathed Trafford.
Saunders caught sight of the envelope, glanced at the address and at
once proceeded to open it.
"Stop!" cried Trafford imperiously. "That is not for your eyes."
"Oh, yes it is," returned Saunders bluntly, extracting the letter
from its envelope. "Sit down, sick man, and wait until I have
diagnosed your case."
Trafford watched the Englishman with fascinated eyes. In his hour of
deep darkness this smiling, confident, almost too well-dressed
embodiment of prosperity seemed strangely comforting and reposeful.
For the briefest of moments his present surroundings were blotted
out, and his mind rushed back through the intervening years to the
glorious days when they were both undergraduates at Oxford. But the
illusion was of short duration, the awakening bitter. For as
Saunders read, a smile eloquent of contemptuous astonishment spread
over his face.
"Angela Knox!" he exclaimed. "My dear, demented friend, what a
_bétisse_!"
"The purest, most perfect specimen of womanhood----"
"Angela Knox!" repeated Saunders cruelly. "Ye gods! Oh, yes, I know
the lady. We met her at Newport--a big, buxom blonde, with the
intellect of a sparrow. Tissue, tissue, my boy, and no soul!
Features, millions also, I concede, but no sense of humour. In six
weeks she would bore you; in six months you would bore her; in a year
the machinery of the law--your obliging American divorce courts----"
"Silence!" roared Trafford. "You would poke fun at the holiest
corner of a man's heart. I tell you, Bob, I so love this woman that
had it not been for a miracle, I should have died five minutes ago
with her name on my lips."
"And I'm the miracle?" questioned Saunders, tapping himself lightly
on his faultless waistcoat.
"Miracle number two," replied the American, sinking into a chair.
"That gun was kept for burglars. To preclude the possibility of an
accident through some fool of a servant's mishandling, I kept the
first chamber empty. Idiot that I am!--I forgot the precaution. But
a second and doubtless more conclusive attempt would have been made
had not you butted in----"
"And for Angela Knox!" cried Saunders with an unfeeling grin. "Now
had it been a brunette----"
"This is no joking matter. For Heaven's sake, do be serious!"
Saunders brushed a speck of mud off his patent-leather boots.
"So I'm to take you seriously, Nervy? Well, then, listen, my dear,
irresponsible, melodramatic friend. Love is a wonderful thing. It
is rightly considered the beginning and the end of all things. I say
so, _moi qui vous parle_, though I've been married nearly two years.
But this infatuation--this calf-love of yours for a hypertrophied
blonde with the conversational powers of a turnip, is, _ipso facto_,
ridiculous. You will love some day, friend of my youth, but if your
love is unrequited you will not turn to the revolver for solace."
"What are you letting me in for?" asked the bewildered Trafford. A
powerful reaction had left him weak--weak in voice and weak in spirit.
"I mean," went on Saunders with slow emphasis, "that if you demand
what your heart really desires and the response is 'no,' you will, in
the words of the prehistoric doggerel, try, try again. Love that
accepts defeat is an unhealthy passion; Love that tries to find
relief in death is a disease. You are diseased, _cher ami_. Buck
up! and listen to the words of your good doctor."
"I'm listening," said Trafford somewhat sheepishly.
"Good! To begin with, you are sound physically. Muscles firm,
energy splendid, and your tongue would probably shame a hot-house
geranium. But your psychic self is out of gear. Wheels are racing
in your poor old brain! Little troubles become great tragedies!
Vital things seem small and insignificant! You need a potent remedy."
"Let it come over speedy then!" the American replied with some show
of interest.
For a moment the Englishman looked mystified. Presently he answered:
"You need to live in the open--plenty of sunshine and perfect air."
"All kibosh--buncombe!" broke forth Trafford petulantly.
"No, not buncombe, but Grimland--a little country on the borders of
Austria and Russia. Visit it," went on Saunders in rousing tones.
"Its highlands furnish the finest scenery in Europe. The air of its
mountains is sparkling champagne! Its skies are purest sapphire, its
snows whiter than sheets of finest lawn! To dwell there is to be a
giant refreshed with wine, a sane man with a sane mind, and a proper
contempt for amorous contretemps. Come, pack up your traps to-night
and catch the _Lusitania_ to-morrow. What's more, I do not advise, I
command."
The American appeared half persuaded by the other's mastery. He sat
upright, and looked more or less alive again.
"But I should be bored to death," he objected feebly.
"Not a bit of it! Why, old man, you'll forget the very meaning of
the word boredom. You're a skater?--well, then, why not enter for
the King's Cup which is skated for on the King's birthday--the second
Saturday of the New Year at Weidenbruck. If you're beaten, as is
probable,--for the Grimlanders are a nation of skaters,--there is
tobogganing, curling, ski-ing and hockey-on-the-ice to engross your
mind. All are exhilarating, most are dangerous. Furthermore, you
will have my society--as my wife and I will be guests of King Karl at
the Neptunberg. However, for you, since you have not my advantages,
I recommend the Hôtel Concordia. You will sail with us to-morrow?"
he wound up confidently.
Trafford made a gesture of impatience.
"Honestly," he said, ignoring the question, "when the hammer of that
gun clicked against my forehead, something also seemed to click
inside my brain. Up to that point I had love framed up as all there
was to this world and the next. Now I feel there is no meaning in
anything."
"Wait till you've got a pair of skates on your feet and the breath of
zero air in your nostrils! Wait till you've had a toss or two
ski-ing, and a spill on the 'Kastel' toboggan run! There will be
meaning enough in things then."
"It's a go, then!" declared Trafford, but without enthusiasm. "I'll
make a getaway."
Saunders rose, a look of genuine relief on his face.
"The _Lusitania_ to-morrow," he said in far heartier tones than he
had yet employed. "Till then----" He held the other's hand in a
long grip.
"And you don't balk at leaving me with that?" Trafford pointed with
a pale smile at the revolver on the table.
"Not in the least," laughed Saunders. "Take it abroad with you.
Only, get out of the habit of leaving the first chamber empty. Such
a practice might be fatal in Grimland."