"I beg your pardon," said a pleasant voice.
The consul-general had been so deeply occupied by his worry that he had not noticed the entrance of the speaker. He turned impatiently. He saw a tall blond man, bearded and tanned, with fine clear blue eyes that met his with the equanimity of the fearless.
XIII
AFTER TEN YEARS
The consul-general had, figuratively, a complete a.s.sortment of masks, such as any thorough play-actor might have, in more or less constant demand, running the gamut from comedy to tragedy. Some of these masks grew dusty between ships, but could quickly be made presentable.
Sometimes, when large touring parties came into port, he confused his masks, being by habit rather an absent-minded man. But he possessed a great fund of humor, and these mistakes gave him laughable recollections for days.
He saw before him an exquisite, as the ancient phrase goes, backed by no indifferent breed of manhood. Thus, he believed that here was a brief respite (as between acts) in which the little plastic hypocrisies could be laid aside. The pleasant smile on his high-bred face was all his own.
"And what may I do for you, sir?" He expected to be presented with letters of introduction, and to while away a half-hour in the agreeable discussion of mutual acquaintance.
"I should like a few minutes" private talk with you," began the well-dressed stranger. "May I close the door?" The consul-general, with a sense of disappointment, nodded. The blond man returned and sat down. "I don"t know how to begin, but I want you to copy this cablegram and send it under your own name. Here it is; read it."
So singular a request filled the consul-general with astonishment.
Rather mechanically he accepted the slip of paper, adjusted his gla.s.ses, and read--
"The Andes Construction Company, New York: A former employee of yours wishes to make a rest.i.tution of eight thousand dollars, with interest to date. He dares not give his name to me, but he wishes to learn if this belated rest.i.tution will lift the ban against his returning to America and resuming his citizenship. Reply collect."
"This is an extraordinary request to make to me, sir."
"I know it."
"But why bring it to me?"
"Could I possibly offer that to the cable operator? Without name or address? No; I could not do it without being subjected to a thousand questions, none of which I should care to answer. So I came to you.
Pa.s.sing through your hands, no one will question it. Will you do this favor for a poor unfortunate devil?"
Oddly enough, the other could not get away from his original impression. The clothes, the way the man wore them, the clarity of his eyes, the abundant health that was expressed by the tone of the skin, derided such a possibility as the cablegram made manifest.
He forced the smile back to his lips. "Are you sure you"re not hoaxing me?"
"No. I am the victim of the hoax," enigmatically. "If one may call the quirks of fate by the name of hoax," the stranger added. "Will you send it?"
The years he had spent in the consular service had never brought before him a situation of this order. He did not know exactly what to do. He looked out of the window, into the hotel-court, at the sky which presently would become overcast with the daily rain-clouds. By and by he remembered the man waiting patiently at his elbow.
"What is your name?"
"My real name, or the one by which I am known here?"
"Your real one."
"I"d rather not give that until I hear from New York."
"Well, that is reasonable."
"I am known out here by the name of Warrington."
Warrington. The puzzlement vanished from the older man"s face, and his eyes became alert, renewing from another angle their investigation of the stranger. Warrington. So this was the man? He could understand now. Who could blame a girl for making a mistake when he, a seasoned veteran, had been beguiled by the outward appearance of the man?
Mallow was right. He was a handsome beggar.
"I promise to send this upon one condition."
"I accept without question," readily.
"It is that you must keep away from Elsa Chetwood, now and hereafter.
You made her acquaintance under false pretenses."
"I deny that. Not under false pretenses." How quickly things went about! "Let me tell you how I met her."
The consul-general listened; he listened with wonder and interest, and more, with conviction that the young man had been perfectly honest.
But the knowledge only added to his growing alarm. It would not be difficult for such a man to win the regard of any young woman.
"And you told her what you had done?"
"Yes."
"Your first misstep?" touching the cablegram.
"My first and only misstep. I was a careless, happy-go-lucky young fool." The sky outside also had attraction for Warrington. A thousand times a fool!
"How long ago did this happen?"
"Ten years this coming April."
"And now, after all this time, you wish to go back?"
"I have wished to go back many times, but never had money enough. I have plenty now. Oh, I made it honestly," smiling. "In oil, at Prome.
Here"s a cutting from a Rangoon paper."
The other read it carefully. It was romance, romance such as he liked to read in his books, but which was mighty bewildering to have at his elbow in actuality. What a life the man must have led! And here he was, with no more evidence of the conflict than might be discerned in the manliness of his face and the breadth and depth of his shoulders.
He dropped the cutting, impatiently.
"Don"t you believe it?"
"Believe it? Oh, this? Yes," answered the consul-general. "What I can not believe is that I am awake. I can not quite make two and two equal four."
"Which infers?"
"That I can not . . . Well, you do not look like a man who would rob his employer of eight thousand dollars."
"Much obliged."