"You marther get him better you kom-men back?" asked Chang, breaking a
long silence as Whitridge and he came to the _Cambodia's_ gangway.
Just then Miss Granville and her maid went by, but Whitridge did not
catch her glance of recognition.
"You not--_you_ never kom-men back," said the Chinaman, shaking his head
disconsolately and bringing Whitridge's gaze away from the splendid
figure of womanhood moving up the gangway. The devotion that shone in
the yellow giant's eyes pierced his heart.
"Maybe, Chang--maybe. I don't know," answered Whitridge. "Good-by, old
man--good-by." He caught Chang's yellow hand and wrung it and coolies
idling round wondered at the sight. "You're white all----" He wanted to
tell him that he was white all through, but something closed his throat
and he dared not trust himself further. He fled up the gangway.
When he reached the deck he looked back, intending to give Chang a
farewell hand wave, but the Chinaman had disappeared. He searched the
pier from end to end, but there was a dimness in his eyes and they made
no discovery. He turned to go forward and collided with two men, one in
the uniform of a United States naval lieutenant and the other in
civilian garb.
"I beg your pardon," he said quickly and then his gaze met the
officer's.
A challenging tenseness straightened Whitridge. The man in uniform
started back a step as if he had been struck. Then, his good-looking,
but weak face went pale, his lips parted loosely, and his features
became as expressionless as so much putty, under the glance which
Whitridge shot at him. It was a glance of but a second. It began in
hostility and ended with a lash of contempt as he swung on forward.
The naval officer watched Whitridge until he disappeared through the
saloon gangway.
"You look as you might--if you had seen a ghost, Campbell," said the
civilian.
"I--I thought I did, Evans," stammered the officer and making an effort
to recover control of himself. "I believed--I thought--that man was
dead." His voice went to a whisper. "That--that's Lavelle of the
_Yakutat_."
"No! Impossible!"
"It's he. I couldn't be mistaken. He was in the class at Annapolis with
me."
"He's a rotter, if there ever was one," interrupted Evans bitterly. The
other nodded dumbly. "Good thing he didn't land in the navy."
"Until he was shown up I was blamed for--for his being 'bilged,' you
know. But really I wasn't to blame. Some of the fellows planted some
beer and booze in our room; he stood mute, but I had to testify. They
expelled him."
The officer spoke as if conscience-smitten, but his companion did not
seem to be listening to him. He interrupted him.
"It's a mighty unpleasant thing to think of being in the same ship with
a man like that," he said very solemnly. As he spoke a shudder passed
over him.
The banging of a gong and a cry of "All ashore, who're going ashore!"
cut short the conversation and hurried the officer over the side.