Livingstone, in ignorance of what was coming, squirmed apprehensively.
"But it seems," the senator went on, "I"m at the mercy of a conspiracy.
The women folk want me to do something for this fellow Marshall. If they had their way, they"d send him to the Court of St. James. And old Hardy, too, tackled me about him. So did Miss Cairns. And then Marshall himself got me behind the wheel-house, and I thought he was going to tell me how good he was, too! But he didn"t."
As though the joke were on himself, the senator laughed appreciatively.
"Told me, instead, that Hardy ought to be a vice-admiral."
Livingstone, also, laughed, with the satisfied air of one who cannot be tricked.
"They fixed it up between them," he explained, "each was to put in a good word for the other." He nodded eagerly. "That"s what I think."
There were moments during the cruise when Senator Hanley would have found relief in dropping his host overboard. With mock deference, the older man inclined his head.
"That"s what you think, is it?" he asked. "Livingstone," he added, "you certainly are a great judge of men!"
The next morning, old man Marshall woke with a lightness at his heart that had been long absent. For a moment, conscious only that he was happy, he lay between sleep and waking, frowning up at his canopy of mosquito net, trying to realize what change had come to him. Then he remembered. His old friend had returned. New friends had come into his life and welcomed him kindly. He was no longer lonely. As eager as a boy, he ran to the window. He had not been dreaming. In the harbor lay the pretty yacht, the stately, white-hulled war-ship. The flag that drooped from the stern of each caused his throat to tighten, brought warm tears to his eyes, fresh resolve to his discouraged, troubled spirit. When he knelt beside his bed, his heart poured out his thanks in grat.i.tude and gladness.
While he was dressing, a blue-jacket brought a note from the admiral.
It invited him to tea on board the war-ship, with the guests of the SERAPIS. His old friend added that he was coming to lunch with his consul, and wanted time reserved for a long talk. The consul agreed gladly. He was in holiday humor. The day promised to repeat the good moments of the night previous.
At nine o"clock, through the open door of the consulate, Marshall saw Aiken, the wireless operator, signaling from the wharf excitedly to the yacht, and a boat leave the ship and return. Almost immediately the launch, carrying several pa.s.sengers, again made the trip sh.o.r.eward.
Half an hour later, Senator Hanley, Miss Cairns, and Livingstone came up the waterfront, and entering the consulate, seated themselves around Marshall"s desk. Livingstone was sunk in melancholy. The senator, on the contrary, was smiling broadly. His manner was one of distinct relief. He greeted the consul with hearty good-humor.
"I"m ordered home!" he announced gleefully. Then, remembering the presence of Livingstone, he hastened to add: "I needn"t say how sorry I am to give up my yachting trip, but orders are orders. The President,"
he explained to Marshall, "cables me this morning to come back and take my coat off." The prospect, as a change from playing bridge on a pleasure boat, seemed far from depressing him.
"Those filibusters in the Senate," he continued genially, "are making trouble again. They think they"ve got me out of the way for another month, but they"ll find they"re wrong. When that bill comes up, they"ll find me at the old stand and ready for business!" Marshall did not attempt to conceal his personal disappointment.
"I am so sorry you are leaving," he said; "selfishly sorry, I mean. I"d hoped you all would be here for several days." He looked inquiringly toward Livingstone.
"I understood the SERAPIS was disabled," he explained.
"She is," answered Hanley. "So"s the RALEIGH. At a pinch, the admiral might have stretched the regulations and carried me to Jamaica, but the RALEIGH"s engines are knocked about too. I"ve GOT to reach Kingston Thursday. The German boat leaves there Thursday for New York. At first it looked as though I couldn"t do it, but we find that the Royal Mail is due to-day, and she can get to Kingston Wednesday night. It"s a great piece of luck. I wouldn"t bother you with my troubles," the senator explained pleasantly, "but the agent of the Royal Mail here won"t sell me a ticket until you"ve put your seal to this." He extended a piece of printed paper.
As Hanley had been talking, the face of the consul had grown grave. He accepted the paper, but did not look at it. Instead, he regarded the senator with troubled eyes. When he spoke, his tone was one of genuine concern.
"It is most unfortunate," he said. "But I am afraid the ROYAL MAIL will not take you on board. Because of Las Bocas," he explained. "If we had only known!" he added remorsefully. "It is MOST unfortunate."
"Because of Las Bocas?" echoed Hanley.
"You don"t mean they"ll refuse to take me to Jamaica because I spent half an hour at the end of a wharf listening to a squeaky gramophone?"
"The trouble," explained Marshall, "is this: if they carried you, all the other pa.s.sengers would be held in quarantine for ten days, and there are fines to pay, and there would be difficulties over the mails. But,"
he added hopefully, "maybe the regulations have been altered. I will see her captain, and tell him----"
"See her captain!" objected Hanley. "Why see the captain? He doesn"t know I"ve been to that place. Why tell him? All I need is a clean bill of health from you. That"s all HE wants. You have only to sign that paper." Marshall regarded the senator with surprise.
"But I can"t," he said.
"You can"t? Why not?"
"Because it certifies to the fact that you have not visited Las Bocas.
Unfortunately, you have visited Las Bocas."
The senator had been walking up and down the room. Now he seated himself, and stared at Marshall curiously.
"It"s like this, Mr. Marshall," he began quietly. "The President desires my presence in Washington, thinks I can be of some use to him there in helping carry out certain party measures--measures to which he pledged himself before his election. Down here, a British steamship line has laid down local rules which, in my case anyway, are ridiculous. The question is, are you going to be bound by the red tape of a ha"penny British colony, or by your oath to the President of the United States?"
The sophistry amused Marshall. He smiled good-naturedly and shook his head.
"I"m afraid, Senator," he said, "that way of putting it is hardly fair. Unfortunately, the question is one of fact. I will explain to the captain----"
"You will explain nothing to the captain!" interrupted Hanley. "This is a matter which concerns no one but our two selves. I am not asking favors of steamboat captains. I am asking an American consul to a.s.sist an American citizen in trouble, and," he added, with heavy sarcasm, "incidentally, to carry out the wishes of his President."
Marshall regarded the senator with an expression of both surprise and disbelief.
"Are you asking me to put my name to what is not so?" he said. "Are you serious?"
"That paper, Mr. Marshall," returned Hanley steadily, "is a mere form, a piece of red tape. There"s no more danger of my carrying the plague to Jamaica than of my carrying a dynamite bomb. You KNOW that."
"I DO know that," a.s.sented Marshall heartily. "I appreciate your position, and I regret it exceedingly. You are the innocent victim of a regulation which is a wise regulation, but which is most unfair to you.
My own position," he added, "is not important, but you can believe me, it is not easy. It is certainly no pleasure for me to be unable to help you."
Hanley was leaning forward, his hands on his knees, his eyes watching Marshall closely. "Then you refuse?" he said. "Why?"
Marshall regarded the senator steadily. His manner was untroubled. The look he turned upon Hanley was one of grave disapproval.
"You know why," he answered quietly. "It is impossible."
In sudden anger Hanley rose. Marshall, who had been seated behind his desk, also rose. For a moment, in silence, the two men confronted each other. Then Hanley spoke; his tone was harsh and threatening.
"Then I am to understand," he exclaimed, "that you refuse to carry out the wishes of a United States Senator and of the President of the United States?"
In front of Marshall, on his desk, was the little iron stamp of the consulate. Protectingly, almost caressingly, he laid his hand upon it.
"I refuse," he corrected, "to place the seal of this consulate on a lie."
There was a moment"s pause. Miss Cairns, unwilling to remain, and unable to withdraw, clasped her hands unhappily and stared at the floor.
Livingstone exclaimed in indignant protest. Hanley moved a step nearer and, to emphasize what he said, tapped his knuckles on the desk. With the air of one confident of his advantage, he spoke slowly and softly.
"Do you appreciate," he asked, "that, while you may be of some importance down here in this fever swamp, in Washington I am supposed to carry some weight? Do you appreciate that I am a senator from a State that numbers four millions of people, and that you are preventing me from serving those people?" Marshall inclined his head gravely and politely.
"And I want you to appreciate," he said, "that while I have no weight at Washington, in this fever swamp I have the honor to represent eighty millions of people, and as long as that consular sign is over my door I don"t intend to prost.i.tute it for YOU, or the President of the United States, or any one of those eighty millions."
Of the two men, the first to lower his eyes was Hanley. He laughed shortly, and walked to the door. There he turned, and indifferently, as though the incident no longer interested him, drew out his watch.