"Come down off that!" shouted a voice at the wheel, and he saw a huge policeman brandishing his club at the driver above. "Come down, I say!"
"Aw, the d---- fool backed into me," retorted the driver of Hugh"s hansom. His fare noticed that they were at the Sherry corner, and the usual crowd of seven-o"clock cabs was in full evidence.
"That"ll do--that"ll do," roared the officer. "I saw the whole thing.
Ye"ve cracked his head, you dirty cur."
Two men were holding the horse"s head and other policemen were making their way to the side of their fellow-officer. Evidently something serious had happened.
"What"s the trouble?" Hugh called out to the officer.
"You"ll find out soon enough," answered the policeman. "Don"t b.u.t.t in--don"t b.u.t.t in!"
"Here, here, now!" exclaimed Mr. Ridgeway. "You"ve no right to talk like that to--"
"Oh, I ain"t, eh? Well, we"ll see if somebody else has a right. You dudes can"t kill people and then get off with talk like that. Not much, my Johnny. You go along, too, an" explain yer hurry to the captain."
"But I"ve got a lady here--"
"Tush! tush! Don"t chew the rag. Stay in there!"
Other officers had dragged the driver from the cab, jostling him roughly to the outer circle of wheels. The man was protesting loudly.
Rain had no power to keep a curious crowd from collecting. Hugh, indignant beyond expression, would have leaped to the ground had not a second and superior officer stepped up and raised his hand.
"Don"t get down, sir," he said with gentle firmness. "I"m afraid you"ll have to go to the station for a few minutes."
"But, confound it, officer--I have nothing to do with this row."
"That may be true, sir. You can explain all that at the desk. We have to get at the bottom of this. This is no place to argue."
A moment later the hansom, with a bent axle, was hobbling its way down the street engineered by bluecoats. Hugh, seeing that it was useless to remonstrate, sank back in the seat and swore audibly.
"Don"t worry about it, Hugh," said a soft voice in his ear. "We can explain, can"t we?"
"You can"t explain anything to a.s.ses, Grace," he lamented, "especially if they wear b.u.t.tons." They lapsed into a mournful, regretful silence.
For five full minutes the hansom wobbled painfully along and then pulled up in front of a building which Hugh lugubriously recognized as a police station. "We"ve got to make the best of it, dear. Did you ever hear of such beastly luck? I"ll see if they won"t let me go in alone and square things. You won"t be afraid to sit out here alone for a few minutes, will you? There"s really nothing to be alarmed about. This driver of ours is in trouble, that"s all. We"re not to blame. A word or two will fix everything. I"ll be out in a jiffy."
But the bluecoats would not see it that way. Miss Vernon was compelled to climb down from the seat and march indignantly into the desk sergeant"s presence. Hugh at once began to explain and to expostulate against what he called an outrage.
"What had we to do with it? The truth is, I don"t know what has happened," he was saying.
"Neither do I," said the bewhiskered sergeant shortly. "Who are you, sir?"
"These people saw the whole thing, sir. They were in the hansom when Bernhardt smashed him, an" this felly had ordered him to get to Sherry"s in five minutes if he had to kill some one," explained the officer who had first addressed Hugh in the crowd.
"That"s a lie," cried Hugh. "I said if he had to kill the old plug. Who is Bernhardt? What the deuce is it all about?"
"I don"t believe the gentleman saw the row," said the polite roundsman.
"It happened in the crush there."
"Somebody shall pay for this outrage," exclaimed Ridgeway. "It"s beastly to drag a lady and gentleman into a police station like common criminals when they--"
"That will do, sir," commanded the sergeant sharply. "You"ll talk when you are asked to, sir."
Turning to the patrolman, he asked, "Has that fellow been taken to the hospital?"
"The ambulance came up just as we left, sir."
"Bernhardt says he didn"t hit him. He says the guy fell off his own cab."
"Don"t cry, dear," Hugh managed to whisper to Grace as they took the seats designated by a brusque man in blue.
"Never!" she whispered bravely. "It"s a lark!"
"Bravo! We"ll have that bird yet--at Sherry"s." Then he approached the desk with determination in his eye. "Look here, officer, I demand respectful attention. Whatever it was that happened between those cabmen, I had nothing to do with it, and I am absolutely ignorant of the trouble. We have a dinner engagement, and I want you to take our statements, or whatever it is you want, and let us go our way."
"What is your name?" shortly.
"Why--er--that isn"t necessary, is it?" floundered Hugh.
"Of course it is. Name, please."
"Will it get into the papers?"
"That"s nothin" to me. Will you answer now, or do you want to stay here till mornin"?"
"My name is Smith."
"Place of residence?"
"Brooklyn."
"Who"s the lady?"
"My sister."
"Step up here, lady, if you please!"
Hugh felt the floor giving away beneath him. That Grace could not have heard a word of the foregoing examination, he was perfectly aware.
Vainly, and with a movement of his lips, he essayed to convey the name she should answer.
"Don"t b.u.t.t in, you!" was the instant warning given by the observant officer, and then--
"Lady, what is _your_ name?"
For a moment the question bewildered the girl. With considerable misgiving she discerned that another occasion for prevarication was unavoidable, and something like a sigh escaped her lips; but as suddenly fear gave way to a feeling of elation. How clever Hugh would consider her remembrance of his instructions! What felicity to extricate him from this predicament! Alone, she would save the situation!
Unblushingly, and with a glance at him for instant approval, she stepped forward and p.r.o.nounced jubilantly the alias agreed upon:
"Ridge--Miss Ridge is my name."