"Why," he broke in, "they haven"t been annoying you, have they? I hope they haven"t done that!"
"Not at all. I merely had a curiosity to know why they bear such unusual names."
He smiled.
"They told you their names, did they?"
"They were good enough to commend me for the way I played Indian," I explained, and he gave me another of his quick comprehensive glances.
"It"s rather a long story you"ve asked for," he said.
"I am interested in stories," I put in.
"Beppo said you made pictures," he mused.
"In words," I added.
He paused again. It seemed to be a part of his mode of thinking, this occasional parenthesis of silence. It was almost as though the man were leading me down a vast and dimly-lit corridor, laying his hand at times on various doors, and then withdrawing it, from some mysterious motive, and continuing upon his way.
"An author?" he said, half to himself. "Ah!"
It was borne in upon me that neither a wide experience in common everyday psychology, nor even an exhaustive knowledge of sea-life could adequately cope with the bewildering emotions implicit in that "Ah!" In its way it was the most remarkable thing he had said.
"Yes, if you like," I replied. "I am professionally interested in stories."
He felt in his pocket for matches and as the flame spurted before his face I saw the corners of his mouth betrayed a pucker of amus.e.m.e.nt. I suddenly felt the absurdity of my position. I had been led to expose myself to ridicule. I might have expected it after the behaviour of his children.
For a moment I was warm!
"You see," he said, looking at his watch, "it"s this way. I"m not a very good hand at yarns, but if you like I"ll step along to-morrow some time and have a talk. I don"t go back to the ship till Sunday night."
"We shall be charmed," I said. "Come in to tea."
"All right," he answered. "I will. It must be nearly eight bells, I should think, twelve o"clock."
I pointed to the Metropolitan Light, glowing a deep red. He regarded it with interest.
"Think o" that!" he said, absently. "Just think o" that. Eight bells!"
He roused himself. "Well, good-night to you, sir. I must turn in. I always sleep best in the Middle Watch."
And he laughed as though at some flash of memory and made his way into the darkened house.
CHAPTER VI
HE BEGINS HIS TALE
The work upon which I had been engaged during the evening did not engross my mind that night when I retired. Over and over again I endeavoured to measure the distance I had advanced in knowledge of my neighbour since I stepped out into the moonlight. I wished to realize the exact advantage I would hold over Mac and Bill when we met next morning at breakfast. And that was just what I found myself unable to do. Both of my friends were shrewd enough to smile if I trotted out the startling information that he came from Hertfordshire. Of course, they would say, he must come from somewhere. And if I remarked he had been in the Mediterranean, they would fail to see anything amazing in a sailor having been in the Mediterranean. And then, how was I to convey to them the extraordinary impression he had made upon me by the simple statement that he was an alien? Why, they would exclaim, were not _we_ aliens too?
Were not fifty per cent of our acquaintances in the United States aliens? No, it was impossible. They would not understand. And if they would not understand that, how could they be expected to appreciate in all its puzzling simplicity his e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n: "An author? Ah!"
It occurred to me with some bitterness that a brutal editor in San Francisco had once complained of my inability to interview people with any success. "G.o.d A"mighty! Why the h--l didn"t you _ask_, man!" And to tell the truth, I am not designed by nature for the cut-throat business of interviewing. To stand before a stranger, note-book in hand, and pry into his personal record, always seems to me only a form of infamy midway between blackmail and burglary. There is to me something in any man"s personality that is sacred, something before which there should be a veil, never to be drawn aside save in secret places. An effete whim, no doubt. At any rate it explained why I had enjoyed no success as an interviewer, why I had come away from Mr. Carville without extracting from him his age, his income, his position, the names of his employers, his ship, his tailor or his G.o.d. Nothing of all this I knew, so ineptly had I managed my chances to obtain it. And yet I felt that, even if I did not possess any concrete morsel of exciting news, I had discovered not only that he had a story, but that he was willing to tell it. And as I fell asleep a conviction came to me that whatever his story might be, however sordid or romantic, I would pa.s.s no judgment upon it until I perceived in its genuine significance, the chapter that lay behind that strange utterance, "An author? Ah!"
The next morning I slept late, until past seven in fact. It had ever been an axiom with us that the indolence attributed to the "artistic temperament" was a foolish tradition. Creative power undoubtedly comes late in the day and in the still night-watches; often I had planned a whole book while in bed; but there are many things to do in literature and art besides creation--research, reading, preparing of palettes, writing of letters and so on, that can be better done early. So we breakfasted at half after seven as a rule. I managed to bathe and shave before Mac"s _reveille_ sounded on the piano.
As I opened my napkin I saw that Bill had something of importance to impart, and it came out at once.
"He"s mending the fence!" she exclaimed, pa.s.sing the toast.
"And going about it as though he knew what he was doing," added Mac.
I was glad of this discovery of theirs. It would enable me to introduce my own contribution modestly, yet with effect.
"I wonder," I said, "if he would approve of that tree being cut down."
Mac stirred in his chair. The daily spectacle of those two little boys hacking slivers from the prostrate tree had been very trying to him.
"I judge not," he said with energy. "A man who----"
"I wish we knew the exact relations between them," I interrupted. "I mean, whether they quarrel at all."
"Of course they do," said Bill without thinking. "All married people do--at times."
Her husband looked down his nose into his egg. I smiled.
"True, since you say it," I replied, "but you must remember that just as no two people look exactly alike, so no two couples live on exactly the same terms. Just as----"
"Oh, what do you know about it?" said Bill. "Trust a bachelor to lay down the law."
"Those who look on--you know," I protested.
"That isn"t true in regard to marriage," she retorted, "because unless you are married you _don"t_ look on at all, see?"
I saw.
"I am going to speak to him after breakfast," announced Mac. "He seems a very decent sort of chap. I wonder what he is at sea."
"I had quite a little chat with him last night," I began.
"You did!" they exclaimed. I nodded, enjoying their surprise.
"Yes," I said. "I found you were gone to bed when I finished, and so I went out on the flags for a short walk. He was out there doing the same thing."
"Go on!" said Bill.
"He didn"t say anything about mending the fence," I remarked.