Nedra Part 10

The stranger looked at them in a half interested manner when they laughed aloud over the harrowing supposition. They noticed that his eyes were blue and bloodshot, wan and fatigued. He gave Grace a second glance, sharper than the first, and politely resumed his manufacture of circles in the brown gravy and brown study. Miss Vernon flushed slightly.

As they left the table she said to Hugh:

"He remembers me, but he certainly understands it was a mistake, doesn't he?" Hugh looked at her distressed face and laughed.

The weather later that morning was a delightful surprise for all. The sky had resumed its blue and the air was fresh and clear.

Notwithstanding the pleasant weather, there was a heavy sea running, the s.h.i.+p rolling uncomfortably for those who were poor sailors. Deck chairs on all sides were occupied by persons who had heroically determined to make the most of the brightness about them.

The elopers found their chairs and joined the long line of spectators.

Hugh glanced admiringly at Grace now and then. Her cheeks were warm and glowing, her eyes were bright and flas.h.i.+ng with excitement, her whole being seemed charged with animation.

The wan-faced stranger followed them on deck a few minutes later. His eyes were riveted on a chair nearby and his long body moved swiftly toward it. Then came a deep roll, the deck seemed to throw itself in the air, and, with a startled look, he plunged headlong toward Miss Vernon's chair.

His knee struck the chair, but he managed to throw his body to one side.

He went driving against the deck-house, sinking in a heap. Miss Vernon gave a little shriek of alarm and pity, and Ridgeway sprang to the side of the fallen man, a.s.sisting him to his feet. The stranger's face was drawn with momentary pain and his eyes were dazed.

"Pardon me," he murmured. "I am so very awkward. Have I hurt you?"

"Not in the least," cried she. "But I am afraid you are hurt. See! There is blood on your forehead." She instantly extended her handkerchief, and he accepted it in a bewildered sort of a way, placing it to his forehead, where a tiny stream of blood was showing itself.

"A piece of court plaster will stop the flow," said Hugh critically, and at once produced the article from his capacious pocket-book. Grace immediately appropriated it and asked for his knife.

"You are very good," said the stranger, again pressing the handkerchief to his head. The act revealed to him the fact that he was using her handkerchief for the purpose, soiling it, perhaps. His face flushed deeply and an embarra.s.sed gleam came to his eyes. "Why, I am using your handkerchief. I a.s.sure you I did not know what I was doing when I took it from you. Have I ruined it?"

Miss Vernon laughed at his concern and her face brightened considerably. As she looked into his clear blue eyes and his square, firm face she observed for the first time that he was quite a handsome fellow.

"It won't soil it at all," she said.

"But it was thoughtless, even rude of me, to take yours when I had my own. I am so sorry."

"Do you think this will be large enough, Hugh?" she asked, holding up a piece of black court plaster. The stranger laughed.

"If the cut is as big as that I'd better consult a surgeon," he said.

"About one-tenth of that, I should say."

"All right," she said cheerfully. "It is your wound."

"But you are the doctor," he protested.

"I dare say it is too big to look well. People might think you were dynamited. Does it pain you?" she asked solicitously. For an instant their eyes looked steadily, unwaveringly, into each other,--one of those odd, involuntary searches which no one can explain and which never happen but once to the same people.

"Not at all," he replied, glancing out over the tumbling waves with a look which proved they were strange to him. Hugh dashed away and soon returned with a gla.s.s of brandy, which the stranger swallowed meekly and not very gracefully. Then he sat very still while Grace applied the court-plaster to the little gash at the apex of a rapidly rising lump.

"Thank you," he said. "You are awfully good to a clumsy wretch who might have crushed you. I shall endeavor to repay you both for your kindness." He started to arise from Hugh's chair, but that gentleman pushed him back.

"Keep the chair until you get straightened out a bit. I'll show you how to walk deck in a rough sea. But pardon me, you are an American like ourselves, are you not? I am Hugh Ridge, and this is my sister--Miss Ridge."

"My name is Veath--Henry Veath," the other said as he bowed. "I am so glad to meet my own countrymen among all these foreigners. Again, let me thank you."

"Hardly a good sailor?" observed Hugh.

"As you may readily guess."

"It's pretty rough to-day. Are you going to Gibraltar and Spain?"

"Only as a bird of pa.s.sage. I am going out for our government. It's a long and roundabout way they've sent me, but poor men must go where opportunity points the way. I a.s.sure you this voyage was not designed for my pleasure. However, I enjoyed a couple of days in London."

"An important mission, I should say," ventured Mr. Ridge.

"I'm in the revenue service. It is all new to me, so it doesn't matter much where I begin."

"Where are you to be stationed?" asked Hugh, and something told him what the answer would be before it fell from the other's lips.

"Manila."

CHAPTER VI

HENRY VEATH

Mr. Veath's abrupt announcement that he was bound for Manila was a decided shock to Grace, Hugh escaping because of his intuitive revelation. After the revenue man had gone below to lie down awhile before luncheon the elopers indulged in an animated discussion of affairs under new conditions.

"Well, we can make use of him after we get there, dear," said Hugh philosophically. "He can be a witness and swear to your age when I go for the license."

"But, Hugh, he thinks we are brother and sister, and we cannot tell him anything to the contrary. It would be awfully embarra.s.sing to try to explain."

"That's so," mused he. "I doubt whether we could make him believe that brothers and sisters marry in Manila. There's just one thing to do."

"It seems to me there are a great many things to do that we didn't consider when we started," ventured she.

"We must let him believe we are brother and sister until after we are married. Then we'll have the laugh on him. I know it's not very pleasant to explain your own joke, or to tell the other fellow when to laugh, but it seems to be the only way. We can't escape him, you know. He is to be at his post by the twentieth of May."

"After all, I think we ought to be nice to him. We can't put him off the boat and we might just as well be friendly. How would you enjoy travelling to Manila all alone? Just put yourself in his place."

"Maybe he thinks he's lucky to be travelling alone."

"That's very pretty, sir. Would you rather be travelling alone?"

"Not at all. I'm only saying what he may think. The poor devil may be married, you know."

"Oh, do you really think so?" cried she.

"He looks a little subdued."

"That's because he's seasick."

"But, to return to our own troubles--you think, then, we would better adopt Mr. Veath for the voyage and break the news to him impressively after the deed is done?"