TO SEE THE WAR THROUGH--CONCLUSION
"Rap-rap-rap!"
It was just at two that afternoon, and the train from Richmond had
arrived ten minutes previously. Those within had seen a station hack
deposit some one at the Parmly gate.
Mrs. Parmly herself answered the summons, the colored servants having
been given an unexpected but welcome holiday when they appeared for work
that same morning, in order to keep them from making discoveries.
"Good afternoon, Aunt," said the smooth-tongued visitor, starting to
enter without waiting for an invitation. "I learned after getting to
Richmond this morning that Mr. Smedley had come out to visit you; an
occurrence which makes it convenient for me."
When he entered the sitting-room he found only Jack's aunt and the lawyer
there, Jack and Tom and Lieutenant Beverly being in an adjoining room,
but with the connecting door ajar, so they could catch every word spoken
and enjoy the dramatic situation to the utmost, being ready to step in
when the crisis arrived.
Carringford proceeded to shake hands with the lawyer, after greeting Mrs.
Parmly effusively. There was a smile as of triumph on his sallow face.
"Glad to find you here in Bridgeton, Mr. Smedley," Randolph again said,
his voice like oil and his manner confident and condescending. "I
received the notification from you when over in France working in a
secret capacity for the Government."
"Yes," remarked the lawyer, "I sent both out as required."
"Must say," continued Carringford, "I wasn't much surprised, because I
always knew Uncle Joshua to be a queer old duck. Realizing that unless I
got a move on me and beat Cousin Jack home I'd stand to lose out in the
game I managed to get passage on the _La Bretagne_, of the French Line.
Docked at one last night, couldn't get a train till morning; but here I
am, sir, ready to convince you that, being the first on the ground, my
claim is perfectly valid."
He evidently expected that his coming would have produced something akin
to consternation in the Parmly family, and must have wondered how they
could meet bitter disappointment with such smiling faces.
"You have made very good time in crossing, Randolph," remarked the
lawyer calmly, "considering the tempestuous times, and need of caution on
account of the U-boats. I should say that the French steamer surpassed
her record."
"And that being the case," resumed the other, smiling still as a winner
at the races might do when handed his stake ten times multiplied, "since
I'm here on the ground first, and you are the lawyer in the matter,
what's to hinder our completing the formalities necessary to put me in
possession of my great uncle's estate, according to his last will and
testament?"
"The only stumbling-block that I'm aware of, Randolph," said Mr. Smedley
suavely, "is a little matter of priority."
"But I am the first to appear before you, Mr. Smedley, and there were but
two contestants for the property. Isn't that true?" demanded the
newcomer, frowning at the thought that some unexpected legal tangle was
about to appear.
"You are perfectly right in one thing, Randolph," continued the lawyer.
"The race was to be between you and Jack. I must say you have made very
good time getting over here. But in spite of your speed, Randolph, you
are showing up somewhat late. In fact, the affair is all over, and I have
started proceedings looking to conveying the property to the one
undoubtedly presenting the prior claim."
The other was thunderstruck.
"Impossible, I tell you, Smedley!" he burst out. "With my own eyes I saw
Jack Parmly over there at the front in France when I hurried to the port
to embark on _La Bretagne_. He was not aboard that ship, I can take my
oath, and another couldn't arrive in New York for days. So you have no
other resource but to admit my claim to be just, and hand over what
belongs to me. I demand it, sir."
"Not so fast, Randolph," begged the lawyer. "A little more moderation.
You have made some sort of miscalculation I fear."
With these words he stamped his foot. Recognizing the signal, Jack
stepped blithely into the sitting-room, followed by Tom and Beverly. His
appearance almost caused Carringford to "have a fit," as Jack afterwards
described the effect of his coming on the scene.
"What does this mystery mean?" he managed to gasp.
"Only that I took a notion to come home and claim that legacy left by our
eccentric Uncle Joshua," Jack told him, with a shrug of his shoulders, as
though miracles were an every-day occurrence with him.
"But I certainly saw you again and again, and heard you talk at the same
time just before I left for Havre to sail!" cried Randolph, nevertheless
convinced that at least this was the real flesh-and-blood Jack Parmly
standing before him.
"Oh! did you?" remarked Jack, mockingly. "Perhaps it was a dream. Perhaps
I had an understudy over there. Perhaps a whole lot of things. But the
one positive fact about which there isn't any doubt is that I'm here
ahead of you, and you've lost out in your game, that's all."
"But--it's impossible, incredible!" continued the other, hardly able yet
to believe his own eyes.
"Still, you must admit that I'm Jack Parmly, and quite in the flesh,
which after all is enough to settle the matter," he was calmly told. "My
family here have received me as their own; and Mr. Smedley had no
trouble in recognizing me. So perhaps you'd better be packing your grip
again, Cousin Randolph, and returning to your secret Government duties
over in France!"
"But--how could you have reached here so far ahead of me?" gritted the
disgusted Randolph weakly.
"Please don't forget that I'm an aviator, and we fliers are able to put
over all sorts of stunts these days," laughed Jack; though his manner
implied that he might be joking when saying this. At any rate, it could
not enter the mind of any one to believe such a thing as flying across
the Atlantic within the bounds of reason.
Carringford of course saw that his room was more desired than his
company. Besides, he had not heart or desire to linger any longer, since
he had received such a staggering blow.
Accordingly he took his departure, and acted quite like a "bear with a
sore head," as Jack described his ugly way of slamming the door and
hurrying out to the station hack that had been all this while waiting for
him at the gate.
Now that the one great object which Jack had in view was accomplished, he
and the other two began to consider the best way in which they could
return to France without attracting too much attention.
"I have a scheme that may work admirably," said Beverly. "And it happens
that the boat my good old friend is master of is due to sail from New
York the day after to-morrow. We'll go on that as stowaways."
Then, seeing the look of astonishment and also bewilderment that came
into the faces of his hearers, he went on to explain further.
"Of course I don't use that word in the usual sense of getting aboard
unknown to any of the officers, perhaps through the complicity of a
member of the crew, and hiding ourselves among the cargo. Such stowaways
are a scarcity nowadays, the peril of torpedoes having given them cold
feet. But I believe I can fix it with my friend the captain so that
he'll allow us to remain aboard without our names appearing on the
passenger list."
"Sounds good to me," asserted Jack, while Tom said thoughtfully:
"I suppose we could stick to our staterooms during the day, and only go
on deck late at night, when nearly everybody was asleep. Like as not,
there'd be quite a number of army officers aboard, so we mightn't be
noticed if any one ran against us while taking the air at night."
Accordingly this plan was settled upon; and as they were not absolutely
certain about the time of sailing, with much still to be done before
that event took place, once again did Tom and Jack have to bid their
relatives good-bye.
"It'll not be for so very long now, let's hope," said Tom's father, as he
squeezed his son's hand at parting; "for Germany is on her last legs, and
unless all signs fail the war must soon come to an end."
"Besides," added Lieutenant Beverly, "none of us is likely to try to
repeat the little flight we just carried through. We feel as if we can
rest on our well earned laurels."
"And it'll be some time, I firmly believe," said Mr. Raymond, "before
your wonderful feat is duplicated, or even approached." But then, of
course, he could not foresee how even before the peace treaty had been
signed a number of ambitious aviators would actually cross the Atlantic,
one crew in a huge heavier-than-air machine, another in an American
seaplane, and still a third aboard a mighty dirigible, making the
passages with but a day or so intervening between flights.
When a certain steamship left New York harbor one morning soon afterwards
three pairs of eyes took a parting look through a porthole in their
united stateroom at the Statue of Liberty on Bedloe's Island.
Of course the occupants of the stateroom were Tom and Jack and Colin.
They had managed to interest the big-hearted captain in their scheme.
He knew that he must not appear to be connected with such an escapade;
but such was his admiration for their wonderful achievement, as well as
his friendship for Lieutenant Beverly, that he readily consented to
help them.
"And so here we are," Jack observed, after they had passed out from Sandy
Hook and were heading across toward troubled Europe, "going back to duty,
before our leave of absence will have expired, and the three weeks
already nearly half over. Let's only hope we can slip into the traces as
if nothing unusual had happened and that mad flight was only an aviator's
day dream."
"It's a pleasure, too," added Tom reflectively, with a glance at his
chum, "to know that there are loyal hearts waiting to greet us again over
there where the shells are bursting. For of course Nellie and Bessie, not
to mention Harry Leroy, will be counting the days anxiously until we show
up. Little do they suspect all we've been through; and we'll have to bind
them to secrecy when taking them into the game."
"H'm!" chuckled Lieutenant Beverly, "perhaps there's a little
Salvation Army lassie I, myself, will be glad to see again. Don't
fancy you two have cornered the whole market of fine girls. There are
others over there!"
So we will leave them, only hoping that at some other day we may once
more meet Tom and Jack and Colin, and accompany them through other
activities.