"Are you a collector of coins?" she asked at length, a perceptible coldness in her voice.
"No. I am considered a dispenser of coins. Still, I rather like the idea of possessing this queer bit of money as a pocket-piece. I intend to keep it forever, and let it descend as an heirloom to the generations that follow me," he said, laughingly. "Why are you so curious about it?"
"Because it comes from the city and country in which I live," she responded. "If you were in a land far from your own would you not be interested in anything--even a coin--that reminded you of home?"
"Especially if I had not seen one of its kind since leaving home," he replied, insinuatingly.
"Oh, but I have seen many like it. In my purse there are several at this minute."
"Isn"t it strange that this particular coin should have reminded you of home?"
"You have no right to question me, sir," she said, coldly, drawing away, only to be lurched back again. In spite of herself she laughed audibly.
"I beg your pardon," he said, tantalizingly.
"When did he give it you?"
"Who?"
"The porter, sir."
"You have no right to question me," he said.
"Oh!" she gasped. "I did not mean to be inquisitive."
"But I grant the right. He gave it me inside of two hours after I first entered the car."
"At Denver?"
"How do you know I got on at Denver?"
"Why, you pa.s.sed me in the aisle with your luggage. Don"t you remember?"
Did he remember! His heart almost turned over with the joy of knowing that she had really noticed and remembered him. Involuntarily his glad fingers closed down upon the gloved hand that lay beneath them.
"I believe I do remember, now that you speak of it," he said, in a stifled voice. "You were standing at a window?"
"Yes; and I saw you kissing those ladies goodby, too. Was one of them your wife, or were they all your sisters? I have wondered."
"They--they were--cousins," he informed her, confusedly, recalling an incident that had been forgotten. He had kissed Mary Lyons and Edna Burrage--but their brothers were present. "A foolish habit, isn"t it?"
"I do not know. I have no grown cousins," she replied, demurely. "You Americans have such funny customs, though. Where I live, no gentleman would think of pressing a lady"s hand until it pained her. Is it necessary?" In the question there was a quiet dignity, half submerged in scorn, so pointed, so unmistakable that he flushed, turned cold with mortification, and hastily removed the amorous fingers.
"I crave your pardon. It is such a strain to hold myself and you against the rolling of this wagon that I unconsciously gripped your hand harder than I knew. You--you will not misunderstand my motive?" he begged, fearful lest he had offended her by his ruthlessness.
"I could not misunderstand something that does not exist," she said, simply, proudly.
"By Jove, she"s beyond comparison!" he thought.
"You have explained, and I am sorry I spoke as I did. I shall not again forget how much I owe you."
"Your indebtedness, if there be one, does not deprive you of the liberty to speak to me as you will. You could not say anything unjust without asking my forgiveness, and when you do that you more than pay the debt.
It is worth a great deal to me to hear you say that you owe something to me, for I am only too glad to be your creditor. If there is a debt, you shall never pay it; it is too pleasant an account to be settled with "you"re welcome." If you insist that you owe much to me, I shall refuse to cancel the debt, and allow it to draw interest forever."
"What a financier!" she cried. "That jest yeas worthy of a courtier"s deepest flattery. Let me say that I am proud to owe my grat.i.tude to you.
You will not permit it to grow less."
"That was either irony or the prettiest speech a woman ever uttered," he said, warmly. "I also am curious about something. You were reading over my shoulder in the observation car--" "I was not!" she exclaimed, indignantly. "How did you know that?" she inconsistently went on.
"You forget the mirror in the opposite side of the car."
"Ach, now I am offended."
"With a poor old mirror? For shame! Yet, in the name of our American gla.s.s industry, I ask your forgiveness. It shall not happen again. You will admit that you were trying to read over my shoulder. Thanks for that immutable nod. Well, I am curious to know what you were so eager to read."
"Since you presume to believe the mirror instead of me, I will tell you.
There was a despatch on the first page that interested me deeply."
"I believe I thought as much at the time. Oh, confound this road!"
For half a mile or more the road had been fairly level, but, as the e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n indicates, a rough place had been reached. He was flung back in the corner violently, his head coming in contact with a sharp projection of some kind. The pain was almost unbearable, but it was eased by the fact that she had involuntarily thrown her arm across his chest, her hand grasping his shoulder spasmodically.
"Oh, we shall be killed!" she half shrieked. "Can you not stop him? This is madness--madness!"
"Pray be calm! I was to blame, for I had become careless. He is earning his money, that"s all. It was not stipulated in the contract that he was to consider the comfort of his pa.s.sengers." Grenfall could feel himself turn pale as something warm began to trickle down his neck. "Now tell me which despatch it was. I read all of them."
"You did? Of what interest could they have been?"
"Curiosity does not recognize reason."
"You read every one of them?"
"a.s.suredly."
"Then I shall grant you the right to guess which interested me the most.
You Americans delight in puzzles, I am told."
"Now, that is unfair."
"So it is. Did you read the despatch from Constantinople?" Her arm fell to her side suddenly as if she had just realized its position.
"The one that told of the French amba.s.sador"s visit to the Sultan?"
"Concerning the small matter of a loan of some millions--yes. Well, that was of interest to me inasmuch as the loan, if made, will affect my country."
"Will you tell me what country you are from?"
"I am from Graustark."
"Yes; but I don"t remember where that is."