A QUEER SURPRISE.
Within a week of our leaving the island behind us, as narrated in the
previous chapter, we had brought the Madura coast well abeam, and were
dodging along it waiting for darkness to fall in order to get into
Probolingo Harbour. Here it was arranged I should leave the yacht and
travel by the Nederlands-India line of steamers to Batavia. A vessel
of this line, so we had discovered, called at Probolingo about the end
of each month, and for this reason our arrival was timed for the
afternoon of the day of her departure.
Shortly before three o'clock we brought up at the anchorage, about a
mile from the shore. It was a lovely afternoon, and I could see that
the steamer, which was to carry me on, was already preparing for her
departure. The boat was alongside, my traps were safely stowed in her,
and nothing remained but to bid Alie good-bye. As soon as this was
accomplished I went down the gangway, took my seat in the stern, and
we pushed off. Ten minutes later I was on board the steamer _Van
Tromp_, had paid my passage-money, secured my berth, and was waiting
to see what the next item of the programme would be.
From the deck of the Dutch vessel, as she swept by us under full sail,
her course set for Batavia, the _Lone Star_ looked as pretty a craft
as any man could wish to see. I noticed, however, that during the
three months she had been in her own harbour her colour, and indeed
her whole appearance, had been entirely changed. When first I had made
her acquaintance she was white as the driven snow; now she was a
peculiar shade of red. Her bows seemed bluffer than when I had seen
her last, indeed from the present shape and construction of her masts
and gear it would have been extremely difficult to tell her for the
same vessel.
At six o'clock, and in the eye of a glorious sunset, we got up our
pressure and steamed out to sea. Of that voyage there is little to
tell. The _Van Tromp_ was a clumsy old tub of an almost obsolete
pattern, and by the time we reached Tanjong Priok, as the seaport of
Batavia is called, I had had about enough of her.
Once there, I repacked my bag and stepped on to the wharf, resolved to
take the first train to the city. Arriving there I drove direct to the
hotel whose name Alie had given me and booked my room.
Batavia is a pretty place, and at the time of our visit was looking
its best. So far I had seen nothing of Alie, and I did not like to
make inquiries concerning her lest by so doing I might excite
suspicion. To while away the time till dinner I lit a cigar, and
seating myself in the long verandah that surrounded the house, read my
book, keeping a watchful eye on the folk about me all the time.
Shortly before five o'clock, I noticed that the Dutch ladies in my
neighbourhood ordered afternoon tea, and partook of it in the
verandah. Not to be outdone, I followed their example. But just as I
was about to pour myself out a cup an interruption occurred which
presently assumed annoying proportions.
The table, on which my Malay boy had placed the tray, stood in the
full glare of the afternoon sun, and this being hotter than I liked, I
bade him move it nearer to the wall, and to facilitate matters, myself
took up the tray on which my cup stood, brimming full. Just as he was
putting the table down, however, two strange ladies turned the corner
of the verandah and came towards us. The taller, and younger of the
two, was a fine dark woman, with a wealth of beautiful brown hair
rolled tightly behind her head. She was dressed in a well-fitting
travelling dress, wore, what I believe is called, a sailor hat, and
walked with a carriage that would have even attracted attention in the
most crowded street in the world. Her companion was an older woman,
and, if one might judge by appearances, nearer sixty than fifty, with
a fine, aristocratic face, and a considerable quantity of grey hair
heaped in little corkscrew curls all over her head.
When they came level with where I stood, I stepped back to let them
pass, but in doing so came into collision with the younger lady. How
it happened I cannot say, but the result was in every way disastrous;
the tray slipped, and would have fallen had I not caught it in time,
but the cup of tea was too quick for me, and fell to the ground,
splashing the young lady's pretty grey dress beyond hope of remedy in
its descent. The cup and saucer were broken into a hundred pieces. For
a moment the fair sufferer stood silent, hardly, I suppose, knowing
what to say; but when I commenced my apologies and wanted to run to
my room for a cloth with which to wipe her dress, she found her voice,
and said with a strong American accent--
"You must do nothing of the kind. It was all my fault. I declare I'm
downright sorry."
It would have been one of the prettiest voices I had ever heard but
for the Yankee twang that spoiled it. I hastened to assure her that I
could not let her take the blame upon herself, and once more begged to
be allowed to sponge the tea off her dress. This, however, she would
not permit me to do.
"It won't hurt," she assured me for the twentieth time, "and if it
did, it's an old dress, so don't bother yourself. But now, look here,
you've been deprived of your tea, and that's not fair at all. Say,
won't you come right along to our verandah and take a cup with us?
You're English, I know, and it's real nice to have somebody who speaks
our own tongue to talk to. Promise 'Yes' right away and we'll be off."
There was something so frank about her that, though I didn't at all
want to go, I could not resist her. So putting the remnants of the cup
and saucer back upon the tray I accepted the invitation and
accompanied them round the hotel garden to their own verandah on the
other side. As I went I kept my eyes open for any sign of Alie, but
though I thought I saw her once I presently found I was mistaken. I
could not help wondering what she would think if she met me in this
girl's company. However, as I had let myself in for it I had nobody to
thank but myself.
When we reached the ladies' quarters we found tea prepared. Before we
sat down, however, the younger lady said, without a shadow of
embarrassment--
"I reckon, before we begin, we'd better do a little introducing, don't
you? This lady (she pointed to her companion) is my very kind friend
Mrs. Beecher, of Boston, with whom I am travelling; you've probably
heard of Beecher's patent double-action sofa springs, I reckon? I am
Kate Sanderson, of New York, only daughter of millionaire Sanderson,
of Wall Street, whom I guess you've heard all about too. So you see
we're both of the United States of America, and very much at your
service."
"I am very glad to have met you," I answered. "My name is De
Normanville, and I hail from London."
"Not Dr. De Normanville, of Cavendish Square, surely?"
"Yes, the same. Cavendish Square was my London address two years ago.
But how do you come to know it?"
"Well, now, if that isn't real extraordinary! I thought I recognised
you directly I set eyes on you. But it's mighty plain you don't
remember me! That's not much of a compliment any way you look at it.
Is it, Mrs. Beecher?"
The elder declined to commit herself, so Miss Sanderson once more
turned to me.
"Just think now, Dr. De Normanville," she said. "Look at me well, and
try to remember where we have met before."
I looked and looked, but for the life of me I could not recall her
face, and yet somehow it seemed strangely familiar to me. All the time
I was watching her she sat gazing at me with an amused smile upon her
face, and when she saw that it was useless my cudgelling my brains
any more, gave another little silvery laugh, and said--
"Do you remember, just three years ago, being called in to the Langham
Hotel to attend a young American lady who had a fish-bone stuck in her
throat?"
"I remember the circumstance perfectly," I answered, "but that young
lady was only one or two and twenty."
"You think then I look older than that? Well! I reckon you are really
not very complimentary. But you must remember that that was three
years ago, and I was only a girl then. When once we get grown up, and
past a certain point, over on our side, we age pretty fast. That's so,
I reckon. Well now you know me, don't you? What a day that was, to be
sure, wasn't it? Lor! how pap and mammie did go on! Anybody'd have
thought I was going to Kingdom Come right away to have heard them.
D'you know, I reckon I must have got the marks of that bone in my
throat to this day."
"It was a very nasty scratch, if I remember rightly," I answered, glad
to have at last discovered who this talkative creature was, and where
I had seen her face before.
"Are you remaining very long in Java, Mrs. Beecher?" I asked the elder
lady, feeling that so far she had been rather neglected.
"No, I think not," she answered thoughtfully; "we are trying to make
up our minds whether to take a British India steamer home from here,
or to go up to Singapore and intercept a Peninsular and Oriental
there. Miss Sanderson has taken a great fancy to the East, and I must
confess I am very loth to leave it."
"You are quite right," I said. "I can fully sympathise with your
feelings. I am sadly reluctant to go back to foggy old England myself,
after my trip out here."
"And do you intend going back very soon?" asked Miss Sanderson, who
had been smoothing out her gloves upon her knee.
"Within the next month or so," I answered, with a sigh. "My business
in the East is at an end, and I have no excuse for staying longer."
From this point the talk drifted on to general topics, and when tea
was finished I seized the first opportunity that presented itself,
and, making an excuse, withdrew. Just as I stepped from the verandah,
one of the small native _dos-a-dos_ carts entered the grounds and drew
up near the end of my corridor. Two ladies descended from it, and,
having paid the driver, entered their rooms. One was tall, and the
other rather shorter. At last I felt convinced Alie had arrived.
As they disappeared the gong warned us to prepare for dinner; but,
heedless of my costume, I seated myself outside my door and waited.
Though I remained there for some time, however, they did not emerge
again, and at last I was compelled to go in and make myself
presentable without having seen them.
At dinner, which was served in the palatial marble dining saloon
standing in the centre of the gardens, I discovered to my annoyance
that my place was laid at a long table at the further end, exactly
opposite those occupied by the American ladies with whom I had taken
tea.
From where I sat it was quite impossible for me to see all over the
room, and, in consequence, I could not tell whether Alie was present
or not. As soon, however, as the meal was over I rose, and, before
walking out, looked about me. Some of the residents were still dining,
and at the end of the middle table, farthest from me, were, without
doubt, the two ladies whom I had seen arrive. At the distance I was
from them it was quite impossible to tell who they were, but from the
poise of her head and the shape of her beautiful arms and shoulders, I
felt convinced that the taller of the two was the woman I loved, and
whom I had all the afternoon been so anxiously expecting.
Seeing, however, that it was just possible I might be mistaken, and
remembering the instruction Alie had given me to let our meeting
appear accidental, I could not walk down the length of the room and
accost her, so I betook myself into the marble portico and waited for
them to come out. But, as it happened, Miss Sanderson and her friend
were the first to emerge, and the voluble young American took me by
storm at once. From what she told me I gathered two things, first,
that hitherto she had found her evenings dull, and, second, that on
this particular occasion there was to be an open-air concert on the
King's Plain, distant about a mile from the hotel. She and her friend
had intended going, if they could find an escort, and there and then
she asked me if I would officiate in that capacity. I did not know
what to say. They were women, and I could not be rude; and, moreover
as they had evidently set their hearts upon going, and I was not
positively certain that Alie had arrived, I felt I had no right to
decline the honour of escorting them. Accordingly I assented, and went
across the garden to get my hat. Five minutes later they met me at the
gates, and we strolled down the road together towards the plain.
There are few prettier places in the world than Batavia, and I have
met with few handsomer girls than the distinguished-looking American
by my side; but for all that I was not contented with my lot. I wanted
to be back in the verandah at the hotel watching for Alie.
Leaving a handsome street behind us we passed on to the plain, where a
large crowd of people were promenading to the strains of a military
band. At any other time the music would have been inspiriting, but, in
the humour I was in, the gayest marches sounded like funeral dirges.
For over an hour we continued to promenade, until I began really to
think that I should have to ask my friends to accompany me home or
remain where they were without me. But at last the concert came to an
end, and we once more turned our faces in the direction of our hotel.
"You have been very quiet this evening," said Miss Sanderson to me as
we left the turf and stepped on to the road again.
"I hope my being so has not spoilt your enjoyment," I said, trying to
beg the question.
"Oh; dear no!" Then, as if something had suddenly struck her, "Do you
expect to see anyone in Batavia? I have noticed that you scan every
lady we pass as if you were on the look-out for an acquaintance."
"I _did_ expect to see someone, I must confess," I answered. "You have
sharp eyes, Miss Sanderson."
"They have been trained in a sharp school," was her brief reply.
By this time we were within five minutes walk of home, and in the act
of crossing one of the numerous bridges that, in Dutch fashion, grace
Batavia's streets. We paused for a few moments and leaned over the
parapet to look down at the star-spangled water oozing its silent way
towards the sea. It was all very quiet, and as far as we could see we
had the street to ourselves. Suddenly Miss Sanderson dropped her
American accent, and said in quite a different voice--
"Dr. De Normanville, this has gone far enough. Do you know me now?"
_It was Alie!_
To say that I was taken by surprise would not be to express my
condition at all. I was simply overwhelmed with astonishment, and for
some seconds could only stand and stare at her in complete amazement.
Her disguise was so perfect, her American accent was so real, her
acting had been so wonderfully maintained, that I never for an instant
suspected the trick she had been playing upon me.
"You! Alie," I cried when at last I found my voice. "Is it possible
that Miss Sanderson has been a myth all the time?"
"Not only quite possible, but a fact," she answered, with a laugh.
"Yes! I am Alie, and no more Miss Sanderson, of New York, than you
are. Do me the justice to remember I warned you I was good at
disguising myself. My reason for not revealing my identity to you
before was that I wanted thoroughly to test the value of the part I
was playing, and since you, who know me so well, did not recognise me,
I am inclined to believe nobody else will."
"It is simply marvellous. If you had not declared yourself I should
never have known you. And your companion is therefore not Mrs.
Beecher, whose husband's patent double-action sofa springs are so
justly famous, any more than you are Miss Sanderson?"
"No, both the husband and the sofa springs are creations of my own
imagination."
"But the incident you recalled to my memory. The bone in your throat
that I extracted at the Langham, how do you account for that?"
"Easily! One day in your surgery at the settlement you casually
mentioned having extracted a fish bone from a young American lady's
throat at that hotel. I thought it unlikely, as it was the only time
you ever saw her, that you would remember her name or face, so I
assumed that character in order to try the effect of my disguise upon
you."
"You are a wonderful actress; you would make your fortune on the
stage."
"Do you think so? What a sensation it would cause in the East. Under
the patronage of His Excellency the Governor of Hong Kong, the Admiral
and Commander-in-Chief, the Beautiful White Devil as Ophelia, or
Desdemona shall we say, why, what houses I should draw. But now to
business. As we may not have another opportunity, let us see that our
plans coincide. By the way, the French boat leaves to-morrow afternoon
for Singapore. You have booked your passage, of course?"
I nodded assent, and she continued--
"You must board her alone. We shall join just before she sails. When
we get to Singapore we must drive separately to the Mandalay Hotel,
and figure there in the light of casual travelling acquaintances.
Before you have been in the place half a day you will probably have
been introduced to Mr. Ebbington, the man we want. He will see you
talking to me, and by hook or crook you must introduce him to me.
Whatever you do, don't forget, however, that my name is Sanderson.
Having done this, leave the rest to me. Do you think you thoroughly
understand?"
"Thoroughly."
"That's right. Now let us be getting home. To-morrow we must be early
astir."
We continued our walk, and in five minutes had bade each other
good-night in the hotel gardens, and separated.
By sundown next day we were on board the Messageries Maritimes
Company's boat, steaming out of Tanjong Priok Harbour, bound for
Singapore. I joined the steamer some time before her advertised
sailing hour, but it was close upon the time of her departure when
Alie and her companion made their appearance.
In my capacity of casual acquaintance I raised my hat to them as they
came up the gangway, but did not do more. They went below, while I
stayed on deck, watching the business of getting under way.
Just as the last sign of the coast line disappeared beneath the waves
someone came up and stood beside me. On looking round I discovered
that it was Alie!
"So you managed to get on board safely," she said, after the usual
polite preliminaries had been gone through. "Our enterprise has now
fairly started, and if we have ordinary luck we ought to be able to
carry it through successfully."
"Let us hope we _shall_ have that luck then," I answered. "But I
confess I tremble when I think of the risk you are running in
appearing in a place like Singapore, where you have so many enemies."
"Even disguised as Miss Sanderson, the American heiress? No, you
cannot mean it. If you think that, what will you say to another plot I
am hatching?"
"Another? Good gracious! and what is this one to be?"
"Listen, and you shall learn. Three years ago, in a certain island of
the South Pacific, there was a man--an official holding a high office
under Government--who very nearly got into serious trouble. The charge
against him was that by his orders two native women had been flogged
to death. By some means he managed to disprove it and to escape
punishment, but the feeling against him was so bitter that it was
thought advisable to transfer him elsewhere. You would have imagined
that that lesson would have been enough for him. Not a bit. On the new
island he began his reign of tyranny again, and once more a death
occurred; this time, however, the victim was a man. The authorities at
home were immediately appealed to, with the result that an inquiry was
held and his retention on that island was also considered injudicious.
He was removed from his high estate. That was all; he had murdered, I
repeat it, deliberately murdered three people; in fact, flogged the
lives out of two women and one man, and the only sentence passed upon
him was that he should be transferred elsewhere. It makes my blood
boil to think of it."
"I can quite understand it."
"Yes. That was all, nothing more was done. The man went free. The poor
wretches were only natives, you must understand. And who cares about a
few natives? No one. You may think I'm exaggerating, but I am not. Now
it so happens that I have an agent living on that very island whom I
can perfectly trust. He was a witness on the inquiry commission, he
saw the flogging in question, and in due course he reported the facts
to me. I must also tell you that that man boasted publicly that if he
caught me he would--but there, I dare not tell you what he said he
would do. Now his friends have used their influence and he has been
appointed to a post in one of the treaty ports of China. I hear he is
a passenger on the mail boat touching at Singapore next week."
"And what do you intend to do?"
"It is my intention, if possible, to catch him, to punish him as he
deserves, and, by so doing, to teach him a lesson he will remember all
his life."