"Liar. Say it!" Kitty laughed. "But am I a cheerful little liar? I don"t know. It would be an awful temptation. Somebody to wait on you; heaps of flowers when you wanted them; beautiful gowns and thingummies and furs and limousines. I"ve often wondered what I should do if I found myself with love and youth on one side and money and attraction on the other.
I"ve always been in straitened circ.u.mstances. I never spent a dollar in all my days when I didn"t think I ought to have held back three or four cents of it. You can"t know, Cutty, what it is to be poor and want beautiful things and good times. Of course. I couldn"t marry just money. There would have to be some kind of a man to go with it. Someone interesting enough to make me forget sometimes that I"d thrown away a lover for a pocket-book."
"Would you marry me, Kitty?"
"Are you serious?"
"Let"s suppose I am."
"No. I couldn"t marry you, Cutty I should always be having my mother"s ghost as a rival."
"But supposing I fell in love with you?"
"Then I"d always be doubting your constancy. But what queer talk!""
"Kitty, you"re a joy! Lordy, my luck in dropping in to see you yesterday!"
"And a little whippersnapper like me calling a great man like you Cutty!"
"Well, if it embarra.s.ses you, you might switch to papa once in a while."
Kitty"s laughter rang down the corridor. "I"ll remember that whenever I want to make you mad. Who"s here?"
"n.o.body but Harrison and the nurse. Both good citizens, and I"ve taken them into my confidence to a certain extent. You can talk freely before them."
"Am I to see the patient?"
"Harrison says not. About Wednesday your Two-Hawks will be sitting up.
I"ve determined to keep the poor devil here until he can take care of himself. But he is flat broke."
"He said he had money."
"Well, Karlov"s men stripped him clean."
"Have you any idea who he is?"
"To be honest, that"s one of the reasons why I want to keep him here.
He"s Russian, for all his Oxford English and his Italian gestures; and from his babble I imagine he"s been through seven kinds of h.e.l.l. Torches and hobnailed boots and the incessant call for a woman named Olga--a young woman about eighteen."
"How did you find that out?"
"From a photograph I found in the lining of his coat. A pretty blonde girl."
"Good heavens!"--recollecting her dream. "Where was it printed?"
"Amateur photography. I"ll pick it up on the way to the living room."
It was nothing like the blonde girl of her dream. Still, the girl was charming. Kitty turned over the photograph. There was writing on the back.
"Russian? What does it say?"
""To Ivan from Olga with all her love.""
Cutty was conscious of the presence of an indefensible malice in his tones. Why the deuce should he be bitter--glad that the chap had left behind a sweetheart? He knew exactly the basis of Kitty"s interest, as utterly detached as that of a reporter going to a fire. On the day the patient could explain himself, Kitty"s interest would automatically cease. An old dog in the manger? Malice.
"Cutty, something dreadful has happened to this poor young woman. That"s what makes him cry out the name. Caught in that horror, and probably he alone escaped. Is it heartless to be glad I"m an American? Do they let in these Russians?"
"Not since the Trotzky regime. I imagine Two-Hawks slipped through on some British pa.s.sport. He"ll probably tell us all about it when he comes round. But how do you feel after last night"s bout?"
"Alive! And I"m going on being alive, forever and ever! Oh, those awful drums! They look like dead eyes in those dim corners. Tumpitum-tump!
Tumpitum-tump!" she cried, linking her arm in his. "What a gorgeous view! Just what I"m going to do when my ship comes in--live in a loft. I really believe I could write up here--I mean worth-while things I could enjoy writing and sell."
"It"s yours if you want it when I leave."
"And I"d have a fine time explaining to my friends! You old innocent!
... Or are you so innocent?"
"We do live in a cramped world. But I meant it. Don"t forget to whistle down to Tony Bernini when you get back home to-night."
"I promise.
"Why the gurgle?"
"Because I"m tremendously excited. All my life I"ve wanted to do mysterious things. I"ve been with the audience all the while, and I want to be with the actors."
"You"ll give some man a wild dance."
"If I do I"ll dance with him. Now lead me to the cookies."
She was the life of the tea table. Her wit, her effervescence, her whimsicalities amused even the prim Miss Frances. When she recounted the exploit of the camouflaged fan, Cutty and Harrison laughed so loudly that the nurse had to put her finger on her lips. They might wake the patient.
"I am really interested in him," went on Kitty. "I won"t deny it. I want to see how it"s going to turn out. He was very nice after I let him into the kitchen. A perfectly English manner and voice, and Italian gestures when off his guard. I feel so sorry for him. What strangers we races are to each other! Until the war we hardly knew the Canadians. The British didn"t know us at all, and the French became acquainted with the British for the first time in history. And the German thought he knew us all and really knew n.o.body. All the Russians I ever saw were peasants of the cattle type; so that the word Russian conjures up two pictures--the grand duke at Monte Carlo and a race of men who wear long beards and never bathe except when it rains. Think of it! For the first time since G.o.d set mankind on earth peoples are becoming acquainted. I never saw a Russian of this type before.".
"A leaf in the whirlpool.--Anyhow, we"ll keep him here until he"s on his feet. By the way, never answer any telephone call--I mean, go anywhere on a call--unless you are sure of the speaker."
"I begin to feel important."
"You are important. You have suddenly become a connecting link between this Karlov and the man we wish to protect. I"ll confess I wanted you out of that apartment at first; but when I saw that you were bent on remaining, I decided to make use of you."
"You are going to give me a part in the play?"
"Yes. You are to go about your affairs as always, just as if nothing had happened. Only when you wish to come here will you play any game like that of to-day. Then it will be advisable. Switch your route each time.
Your real part is to be that of lure. Through you we shall gradually learn who Karlov"s a.s.sociates are. If you don"t care to play the role all you have to do is to move."
"The idea! I"m grateful for anything. You men will never understand.
You go forth into the world each day--politics, diplomacy, commerce, war--while we women stay at home and knit or darn socks or take care of the baby or make over our clothes and hats or do household work or play the piano or read. Never any adventure. Never any games. Never any clubs. The leaving your house to go to the office is an adventure. A train from here to Philadelphia is an adventure. We women are always craving it. And about all we can squeeze out of life is shopping and hiding the bills after marriage, and going to the movies before marriage with young men our fathers don"t like. We can"t even stroll the street and admire the handsome gowns of our more fortunate sisters the way you men do. When you see a pretty woman on the street do you ever stop to think that there are ten at home eating their hearts out? Of course you don"t. So I"m going through with this, to satisfy suppressed instincts; and I shan"t promise to trot along as usual."
"They may attempt to kidnap you, Kitty."
"That doesn"t frighten me."