"And how long is it since you last saw her?"
"A year."
"A year! Why, you must have utterly forgotten what she looks like.
Should you be able to recognize her, if you were to meet her in a crowd?"
"Oh yes," said Harry, with a laugh. "Now you must know that when I was engaged I expected to go to England in about three months" time to get married. Business, however, detained me. I hoped to go again, a few months later. But the fact is, I found it impossible; and so on for a whole year I was detained, until at last I had to write, imploring her to come out to me and be married in Barcelona."
"Well, for my part, I never would marry a man unless he came for me,"
said Katie.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "Here Stood The Leader Of The Band."]
[Ill.u.s.tration: "They Then Fell Behind The Wagon, Walking At A Slow Pace."]
"Then I"m glad," said Harry, "that you are not Miss Talbot. She was not so cruel as that; for though at first she refused, she at last consented and promised to come. This, however, was only after long begging on my part, and a full explanation of the difficulties of my position. So she consented, and finally mentioned a certain day on which she would leave; and that was about a fortnight ago.
"Now, you know, all the time, I felt awfully about her having to come on alone, until at length, as ill-luck would have it, it so happened that I was able to steal a few days from my business. So I determined, after all, to go on for her. Fool that I was, I didn"t telegraph! There was no time to write, of course. You see, I was such an idiot that I only thought of giving her a pleasant surprise. This filled my mind and occupied all my thoughts, and all the way on I was chuckling to myself over my scheme; and I kept fancying how delighted she would be at finding that, after all, she would not have to make the journey alone. I was so full of this that I couldn"t think of anything else. And now I should like to ask you calmly, Miss Westlotorn, one simple question: Did you ever hear in all your life of such a perfect and unmitigated chuckle-head?"
"Never!" said Katie, in a demure tone.
"Well," continued Harry, ruefully, "luck was against me. I met with several delays of a tedious kind, and lost in all about two days. At last I got to my destination, and then--then--in one word, there came a thunder-clap. What do you think?"
"What?"
"She was gone!"
"Gone?"
"Yes. She had gone the day before my arrival. She had written again, and had telegraphed. She had then set out, expecting me to receive her with all a lover"s eagerness at Barcelona, at the hotel which I had mentioned to her in my last letter, and hoping also that I might possibly turn up at any station after pa.s.sing the Pyrenees. What do you think of that? Wasn"t that a blow? And was it my fault?"
"Certainly not," said Katie, in a soothing voice. "Not your fault, only your misfortune. But what did her friends say?"
"Her friends? Oh, they were awfully indignant, of course, but I couldn"t wait to explain it all to them. The moment I found out how it was, I turned on my heel and hurried back to Barcelona. I travelled night and day. I got there without any interruption, and rushed to the hotel where, according to my direction, she was to have gone."
"Well," asked Katie, as Harry paused, "was she there?"
"No," said Harry; "but, worst of all, she had been there! Yes, she had been there. She had made the journey; she had reached Barcelona; and I--I, for whom she had come, I was not there to meet her. Well, when I did get back she was gone."
"Gone?--gone where?"
"Why, where else could she have gone but home again?"
"True. Being a girl of spirit, she never could stand such treatment as that. But did she leave no message for you?"
"Not a word, either in writing or in any other way. I asked the hotel people about her, but they knew nothing in particular. She had not told anything about herself. She had come, and, after two or three days, had gone. She had gone only the day before I got back."
"And you, of course, must have started after her all the way back to England, and that"s the reason why you are here--"
"Yes," said Harry: "the only hope I had was to overtake the train that preceded me. It was not impossible that it might be delayed, and that my train should come up with hers. That was my only hope, but of course all this is now up."
"Oh, well," said Katie, in a consoling tone, "you"ll see her again before long, and you can explain it all; and when she finds out that it all arose from an excess of zeal, she will see that your fault was one on the right side, and she will love you all the better. And so you will both have many and many a laugh over this queer misadventure; and it will be something that will give flavor and spice to all your future life. Why, I"d give anything to have just such an adventure--I would, really. I wish I was in Miss Talbot"s place. I quite envy her--I do, really; that is," she added, with a little confusion, "her adventure, you know."
"You have such a nice way of putting things," said Harry, "that I wish I could always have you to go to for sympathy."
"Sympathy?" said Katie. "Oh, you know that"s quite my forte."
Harry looked into her clear, sunny eyes as they were raised to his, full of brightness, and archness, and joyousness.
"And won"t you let me call you "Katie,"" said he, "just while we"re travelling together? I feel so awfully well acquainted with you, you know; and I"ve told you all about my affairs, you know, just as if you were my oldest friend."
"I should like it above all things," said Katie. "I hate to be called Miss Westlotorn by my friends. It"s too formal."
"And you must call me "Harry,"" said this volatile young man. "You will, now, won"t you?" he added, in a coaxing tone.
Katie did not prove obdurate.
"Well--Harry," she said, with a bewitching smile.
"I think you"re awfully nice," said Harry.
"Well, I"m sure I think you"re a very nice boy," said Katie, in a childish way.
For some time longer the party continued their journey. Harry and Katie found walking so much pleasanter than riding in the rude cart that they refused to get into the vehicle again, although urged to do so very strongly both by Mr. and Mrs. Russell. For his part, Harry declared that he infinitely preferred walking; and Katie, on being appealed to, said that the jolts of the wagon made her head ache. So these two continued their walk.
Gradually it grew darker, and the twilight deepened with the rapidity common in southern lat.i.tudes. Then, fearing lest Katie might be fatigued, Harry made her take his arm. After this, being still full of anxious fears lest so fair and fragile a being might sink under the wearisome tramp, he took her little hand as it lay on his arm, and held it in his for all the rest of the way. And what Ashby would have said or thought if he had seen that, is more than I can tell, I"m sure.
The moon was shining, and its brilliancy was wonderful. Now they entered among the mountains. Far on high ascended the lofty wooded slopes on one side, while on the other they descended into a valley.
Beyond this there were other heights, while in the valley between there was a beautiful winding river. A turn in the road brought them at length to a place where the valley widened, and far away, shining like silver in the moonbeams, flowed the river,
"With many a winding through the vale."
All around rose an amphitheatre of hills, some wooded, some precipitous, and behind these rose the summits of loftier mountains far into the sky.
Here, full before them, there arose a grand and stately castle.
Perched upon the crest of a spur where it projected from the flank of a mountain, it stood before the new-comers the centre of the whole scene, the crown and glory of it all. In the garish sunlight there might have been perceptible many and many a mark wrought by the destructive hand of time, for ages had pa.s.sed since it first reared its lordly form on high. Its architecture spoke of h.o.a.r antiquity, of a time long past, when the Moor still fought around these scenes, and rushed to the fight to the war-cry of Allah Akbar! But now, bathed in the mellow moonlight, this ancient castle showed all its grand proportions, with not a trace of decay or desolation; and its ma.s.sive walls arose in solemn majesty; its battlements frowned in heavy shadows overhead; its lofty towers and turrets seemed still able to defy the a.s.saults of time for ages yet to come.
For some time past the country had been growing steadily wilder and less peopled, until here there seemed a virtual solitude. On reaching the spot the party found a ma.s.sive gate-way with a ponderous portal.
Beyond this opened the court-yard, and in the distance rose the keep.
Here lights shone, and the noise of revelry came to their ears.
And now the prisoners entered and were taken in charge by others, and Ashby, who arrived about an hour afterward, was also taken to his quarters.