THE BIRTHMARK.
"Where are Bart and Elsie, Frank?" asked Inza.
"They're in the library."
"I want them to come up. Tell Lizette to call them."
The soft-footed nurse flitted from the room, and a few moments later
Elsie Bellwood and Bart Hodge appeared. Hodge followed Elsie with an air
of reluctance and confusion, which caused Inza to smile.
In a moment the golden-haired girl was bending over the bed, caressing
her bosom friend, and murmuring soft words of affection.
"You're such a brave, brave woman, Inza!" she exclaimed. "Oh, you make
me feel like a coward!"
"Come here, Hodge," urged Frank, drawing his friend round to the other
side of the bed. "Here's the boy. Here he is--Frank Hodge Merriwell."
"Frank Hodge Merriwell?" echoed Bart, fumbling for Merry's hand and
grasping it with an almost savage grip. "You've given him my name?"
"We did it--both of us together, old man."
"Merry, I--I don't know what--to say," stammered Bartley. "You've
completely upset me. It's the greatest honor----"
"There, there," smiled Frank, "don't splutter and mumble like that, old
fellow. You don't have to say a word. Just make a bow to the new-born
king."
Elsie was not one to gush, but, with clasped hands and flushed face, she
expressed her admiration for the child.
"You ought to feel proud, Bart," she said. "You ought to feel almost as
proud as Frank."
"Proud?" laughed Hodge. "Why, I--I---- My chest has expanded three
inches in the last thirty seconds. Proud? I'll bet my hat won't fit me!
He's a star, the little rascal!"
"He has ze star on his left shouldaire," said Lizette. "Shall I show it,
madame? Shall I show zem ze beautiful mark?"
"Please do," said Inza.
The nurse loosened the child's clothes and exposed the small, shapely
shoulder. There, at the very base of the arm, was a small, perfectly
formed pink, five-cornered star.
"I was right!" cried Hodge. "There's been a wonderful addition to the
universe! A new star has risen!"
"It's a birthmark," said Frank.
"Oh, isn't it very strange!" breathed Elsie. "It gives me a
superstitious feeling of awe. It seems to me that he is marked by fate
to be something grand and wonderful."
"It was so good of you, Elsie, to come to me when I wanted you,"
breathed Inza. "And Hodge--he traveled so far."
"Oh, everything is coming as smoothly as possible at the mines,"
declared Bart. "There's a first-class foreman at both the Queen Mystery
and the San Pablo. I could leave as well as not, and the old trains
couldn't run fast enough to bring me here after I received the wire from
Frank, saying that Elsie would be here. You bet I was glad to shake the
alkali dust out of my clothes."
"You've done great things for me at the mines, Bart," said Merry.
"Everything now seems to be going right for me everywhere in the world.
The Central Sonora Railroad is practically completed, and the San Pablo
is paying enormously. But these are not things to speak of on an
occasion like this."
After a few minutes Bart and Elsie retired, the nurse took the baby, and
Frank lingered a while longer at the side of his wife.
On returning to the library, Elsie stood at one of the large windows and
looked out upon the grounds and across the broad road toward the
handsome buildings of Farnham Hall. There was a strange expression of
mingled happiness and regret on her fair face. Something like a mist
filled her eyes.
Hodge came up behind her and put his arms round her.
"A penny for your thoughts, Elsie," he said.
"I don't think I could express them in words," she confessed. "Do you
think me a jealous person, Bart?"
"Jealous?" he exclaimed. "Far from it!"
"But I am--I'm jealous. I'm dying of envy."
"You--you jealous--of whom?"
"Inza. Look how all the best things of life have come to her. She has a
grand husband, who is doing a magnificent and noble work. Look at those
splendid buildings. Every one acknowledges now that Frank has done and
is doing more for the upbuilding and the uplifting of American boys than
any person has ever before done in all history. Inza is his wife, and
they have a son."
Bart's arms dropped at his sides, and he turned away.
In surprise, Elsie turned and saw him move from her. In a moment she had
him by the arm.
"What is it, Bart?" she exclaimed, in dismay.
He shook his head, seeming unable to speak.
"Tell me what it is. Tell me what I did to hurt you," she commanded.
He faced her again, looking deep into her blue eyes.
"You called up the past, Elsie," he said, in a low tone. "I can't forget
that once I thought Frank loved you--and you loved him. You've confessed
a feeling of jealousy toward Inza."
"Oh, no, no, no!" she said quickly. "You didn't understand me,
Bart--truly you didn't! It was not the sort of jealousy you mean. I'm
not jealous of her because she is Frank's wife--never! never!"
He seemed puzzled.
"Then what did you mean--what did you mean?" he asked.
"Why, can't you understand? Can't you see how it is? Fortune or fate, or
whatever you may call it, has been against me--against us, Bart. Have
you forgotten how we planned on a double wedding? Have you
forgotten----"
"Forgotten?" cried Hodge. "I should say not! It was the bitterest
disappointment of my life! You know I urged you, Elsie--I used every
persuasion in my power."
"But I could not consent. I was an invalid, and I feared my health would
never return."
"It has returned, little sweetheart. You're well again. You're stronger
and handsomer than ever before in all your life. You put me off then,
but you can't do it now! I won't let you!"
"You mean that----"
"I mean that when I left Mexico I made a resolve--I swore an oath. If I
go back there--if Frank wants me to go--you will go with me."
"Bart!"
"You must go with me," he repeated.
"Must?"
"I have said it. Look here, Elsie, I know you're not jealous of Inza
because Merry is rich."
"Oh, no, no!"
"As a rule, I have told you everything, my girl, but I now confess that
there is one thing that I have not told you. I have a secret."
"A secret from me?"
"Yes, a secret from you. You heard Frank state how well the San Pablo is
paying. You heard him say that I had been faithful in my work for him.
Perhaps you do not know that ere we entered into an agreement by which I
took charge of his two mines and acted as overseer for both of
them--perhaps you do not know that we nearly quarreled."
Elsie looked astounded.
"Nearly quarreled?" she exclaimed.
"Yes."
"Why, how could you?"
"Because he insisted on a certain condition in our agreement. Because he
insisted that, after a lapse of time and at the completion of the
Mexican railroad, I should accept a third interest in the San Pablo
Mine. I fought against it. I told him it was not right. I even
threatened to quit and have nothing to do with the work he wished me to
perform. He was inexorable, unyielding. I pointed out that my service
was not worth what he offered. I showed him that he could get
experienced and expert men to do the work for an infinitesimal part of
what he proposed to give me. He asserted that he was not giving me this
merely for my labor, but on account of past favors and things I had done
for him which could not be paid for in money. Even though I did not
permit him to force me into consenting to take this share of his mine, I
finally remained and did my best. I arrived in Bloomfield three days
ago. The day I reached here he placed a paper in my hands. That paper
makes me one-third owner of the San Pablo. I'm rich, Elsie. The future
is assured for me and for you. That very day I went to the town clerk
and had another paper made out. Here it is."
He took a document from his pocket, opened it, and placed it in her
hands.
"Why--why, what----" faltered Elsie.
"It's a marriage license," said Bart. "I've made all arrangements, and
to-morrow, God willing, you and I will be made man and wife."
It was even as Hodge had said. On the morrow, at her request, they were
married in Inza's chamber.