"Was it a success?"
"Rather," he replied dryly.
"I meant your plan to astonish the natives."
"So did I."
"You find things--New York--disappointing?" she a.n.a.lyzed his tone.
"I find it overpowering--and lonely. n.o.body sent a bra.s.s band to greet me at the dock; and all the people I used to know are either married and devoted to brats, or divorced and devoted to bridge; and my game has gone off so badly in six years that I don"t belong any more."
She smiled, shaping her scarlet lips deliciously. The soft, warm wind whipped stray strands of hair, like cords of gold, about her face. Her eyelids were half lowered against the intolerable splendour of the day.
The waters of the bay, wind-blurred and dark, seemed a shield of sapphire fashioned by nature solely to set off in clear relief her ardent loveliness.
Whitaker, noting how swiftly the mainland sh.o.r.es were disclosing the finer details of their beauty, could have wished the bay ten times as wide.
XII
THE MOUSE-TRAP
Late in the afternoon of the same day, Ember, appearing suddenly in front of the bungalow, discovered Whitaker sitting up in state; a comfortable wicker chair supported his body and a canvas-seated camp stool one of his feet; which last was discreetly veiled in a dripping bath-towel. Otherwise he was fastidiously arrayed in white flannels and, by his seraphic smile and guileless expression, seemed abnormally at peace with his circ.u.mstances.
Halting, Ember surveyed the spectacle with mocking disfavour, as though he felt himself slightly at a disadvantage. He was, indeed, in a state that furnished an admirable contrast to that of the elegant if disabled idler. His face was scarcely whiter with the impalpable souvenirs of the road than was his slate-coloured mohair duster. The former, indeed, suffered by comparison, its personal coat of dust being deep-rutted with muddy paths of perspiration; beneath all lay the dull flush of flesh scorched by continuous exposure to sunlight and the swift rush of superheated air. None the less, his eyes, gleaming bright as through a mask, were not unamiable.
"Hel-_lo_!" he observed, beginning to draw off his gauntlets as he ascended the veranda steps and dropped into another wicker chair.
"How _do_ you do?" returned Whitaker agreeably.
"I"m all right; but what the deuce"s the matter with you?"
"Game leg, thanks. Twisted my ankle again, this morning. Sum Fat has been doctoring it with intense enthusiasm, horse liniment and chopped ice."
"That"s the only proper treatment for sprains. Bad, is it?"
"Not very--not half as bad as I thought it would be at first. Coming on top of the other wrench made it extra painful for a while--that"s all.
By to-morrow morning I"ll be skipping like the silly old hills in the Scriptures."
"Hope so; but you don"t want to overdo the imitation, you know. Give nature a chance to make the cure complete. Otherwise--well, you must"ve had a pretty rotten stupid time of it, with that storm."
"Oh, not at all. I really enjoyed it," Whitaker protested.
"Like this place, eh?"
"Heavenly!" a.s.serted the invalid with enthusiasm. "I can"t thank you enough."
"Oh, if you forgive me for leaving you alone so much, we"ll call it square." Ember lifted his voice: "Sum Fat, ahoy!"
The Chinaman appeared in the doorway, as suddenly and silently as if magically materialized by the sound of his name. He bore with circ.u.mspection a large tray decorated with gla.s.ses, siphons, decanters and a bowl of cracked ice.
"I make very remarkable d.a.m.n fine quick guess what you want first," he observed suavely, placing the tray on a small table convenient to Ember"s hand. "That all now?"
"You"re a sulphur-coloured wizard with pigeon-toed eyes," replied Ember severely. "Go away from here instantly and prepare me all the dinner in the establishment, lest an evil fate overtake you."
"It is written," returned Sum Fat, "that I die after eight-seven years of honourable life from heart-failure on receiving long-deferred raise in wages."
He shuffled off, chuckling.
"Scotch or Irish?" demanded Ember, clinking gla.s.ses.
"Irish, please. How"s your friend"s case?"
"Coming along. You don"t seem surprised to see me."
"I had your telegram, and besides I heard your car, just now."
"Oh!" There was a significance in the e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n which Whitaker chose to ignore as he blandly accepted his frosted gla.s.s. "You weren"t--ah--lonely?" Ember persisted.
"Not in the least."
"I fancied I saw the flutter of a petticoat through the trees, as I came up to the house."
"You did."
"Found a--ah--friend down here?"
"Acquaintance of yours, I believe: Miss Fiske."
"Miss Fiske!" There was unfeigned amazement in the echo.
"Anything wonderful about that?" inquired Whitaker, sharply. "I fancied from what she said that you two were rather good friends."
"Just surprised--that"s all," said Ember, recovering. "You see, I didn"t think the Fiske place was open this year."
He stared suspiciously at Whitaker, but the latter was transparently ingenuous.
"She expressed an unaccountable desire to see you--told me to tell you."
"Oh? Such being the case, one would think she might"ve waited."
"She had just started home when you drove in," Whitaker explained with elaborate ease. "She"d merely run over for a moment to inquire after my ankle, and couldn"t wait."
"Thoughtful of her."
"Wasn"t it?" To this Whitaker added with less complacency: "You"ll have to call after dinner, I suppose."