"The drums of jeopardy; what a haunting phrase!"
"Haunting stones, too, Kitty. For picking them up in my hands I went to bed with a banged-up leg. I can"t forget that. We Occidentals laugh at Orientals and their superst.i.tions. We don"t believe in the curse. And yet, by George, those emeralds were accursed!"
"Piffle!" snorted Burlingame. "Mush! It"s greed, pure and simple, that gives precious stones their sinister histories. You"d have been hit by that horse if you had picked up nothing more valuable than a rhinestone buckle. Take away the gold lure, and precious stones wouldn"t sell at the price of window gla.s.s."
"Is that so? How about me? It isn"t because a stone is worth so much that makes me want it. I want it for the sheer beauty; I want it for the tremendous panorama the sight of it unfolds in my mind. I imagine what happened from the hour the stone was mined to the hour it came into my possession. To me--to all genuine collectors--the intrinsic value is nil. Can"t you see? It is for me what Balzac"s La Peau de Chagrin would be to you if you had fallen on it for the first time--money, love, tragedy, death."
An interruption came in the form of one of the office boys. The chief was on the wire and wanted Cutty at once.
"At half after twelve, Kitty. And by the way," added Cutty as he rose, "they say about the drums that a beautiful woman is immune to their danger."
"There"s your chance, Kitty," said Burlingame.
"Am I beautiful?" asked Kitty, demurely.
"Lord love the minx!" shouted Cutty. "A corner in Mouquin"s."
"Rain or shine." After Cutty had departed Kitty said: "He"s the most fascinating man I know. What fun it would be to jog round the world with a man like that, who knew everybody and everything. As a little girl I was violently in love with him; but don"t you ever dare give me away."
"You"ll probably have nightmare to-night. And honestly you ought not to live in that den alone. But Cutty has seen things," Burlingame admitted; "things no white man ought to see. He"s been shot up, mauled by animals, marooned, torpedoed at sea, made prisoner by old Fuzzy-Wuzzy. An ordinary man would have died of fatigue. Cutty is as tough and strong as a gorilla and as active as a cat. But this jewel superst.i.tion is all rot. Odd, though; he"ll travel halfway round the world to see a ruby or an emerald. He says no true collector cares a cent for a diamond. Says they are vulgar."
"Except on the third finger of a lady"s left hand; and then they are just perfectly splendid!"
"Oho! Well, when you get yours I hope it"s as big as the Koh-i-noor."
"Thank you! You might just as well wish a brick on me!"
Kitty left the office at a quarter of six. The phrase kept running through her head--the drums of jeopardy. A little shiver ran up her spine. Money, love, tragedy, death! This terrible and wonderful old world, of which she had seen little else than city streets, suddenly exhibited wide vistas. She knew now why she had begun to save--travel.
Just as soon as she had a thousand she would go somewhere. A great longing to hear native drums in the night.
Even as the wish entered her mind a new sound entered her ears. The Subway car wheels began to beat--tumpitum-tump! tumpitum-tump! Fudge!
She opened her evening paper and scanned the fashions, the dramatic news, and the comics. Being a woman she read the world news last. On the front page she saw a queer story, dated at Albany: Mysterious guests at a hotel; how they had fought and fled in the early morning. There had been left behind a case with foreign orders incrusted with several thousand dollars" worth of gems. Bolsheviki, said the police; just as they said auto bandits a few years ago when confronted with something they could not understand. The orders had been turned over to the Federal authorities from whom it was learned that they were all royal and demi-royal. Neither of the two guests had returned up to noon, and one had fled, leaving even his hat and coat. But there was nothing to indicate his ident.i.ty.
"Loot!" murmured Kitty. "All the sc.u.m in the world rising to the top"--quoting Cutty. "Poor things!" as she thought of the gentle ladies who had died horribly in bedrooms and cellars.
Kitty was beginning to cast about for more congenial quarters. There were too many foreigners in the apartments, and none of them especially good housekeepers. Always, nowadays, somebody had a washing out on the line, the odour of garlic was continuously in the air, and there were noisy children under foot in the halls. The families she and her mother had known were all gone; and Kitty was perhaps the oldest inhabitant in the block.
The living-room windows faced Eightieth Street; bedrooms, dining room, and kitchen looked out upon the court. From the latter windows one could step out upon the fire-escape platform, which ran round the three sides of the court.
Among the present tenants she knew but one, an old man by the name of Gregory, who lived opposite. The acquaintance had never ripened into friendship; but sometimes Kitty would borrow an egg and he would borrow some sugar. In the summertime, when the windows were open at night, she had frequently heard the music of a violin swimming across the court.
Polish, Russian, and Hungarian music, always speaking with a tragic note; nothing she had ever heard in concerts. Once, however, she had heard him begin something from Thais, and stop in the middle of it; and that convinced her that he was a master. She was fond of good music. One day she asked Gregory why he did not teach music instead of valeting at a hotel. His answer had been illuminative. It was only his body that pressed clothes; but it would have torn his soul to listen daily to the agonized bow of the novice. Kitty was lonely through pride as much as anything. As for friends, she had a regiment of them. But she rarely accepted their hospitality, realizing that she could not return it. No young men called because she never invited them. All this, however, was going to change when she moved.
As she turned on the hail light she saw an envelope on the floor.
Evidently it had been shoved under the door. It was unstamped. She opened it, and stepped out of the humdrum into the whirligig.
DEAR MISS CONOVER: If anything should happen to me all the things in my apartment I give to you without reservation.
STEPHEN GREGORY.
She read the letter a dozen times to make sure that it meant exactly what it said. He might be ill. After she had cooked her supper she would run round and inquire. The poor lonely old man!
She went into the kitchen and took inventory. There was nothing but bacon and eggs and coffee. She had forgotten to order that morning. She lit the gas range and began to prepare the meal. As she broke an egg against the rim of the pan the nearby Elevated train rushed by, drumming tumpitum-tump! tumpitum-tump! She laughed, but it wasn"t honest laughter. She laughed because she was conscious that she was afraid of something. Impulse drove her to the window. Contact with men--her unusual experiences as a reporter--had developed her natural fearlessness to a point where it was aggressive. As she pressed the tip of her nose against the pane, however, she found herself gazing squarely into a pair of exceedingly brilliant dark eyes; and all the blood in her body seemed to rush violently into her throat.
Tableau!
CHAPTER V
Kitty gasped, but she did not cry out. The five days" growth of blondish stubble, the discoloured eye--for all the orb itself was brilliant--and the hawky nose combined to send through her the first great thrill of danger she had ever known.
Slowly she backed away from the window. The man outside immediately extended his hands with a gesture that a child would have understood.
Supplication. Kitty paused, naturally. But did the man mean it? Might it not be some trick to lure her into opening the window? And what was he doing outside there anyhow? Her mind, freed from the initial hypnosis of the encounter, began to work quickly. If she ran from the kitchen to call for help he might be gone when she returned, only to come back when she was again alone.
Once more the man executed that gesture, his palms upward. It was Latin; she was aware of that, for she was always encountering it in the halls.
Another gesture. She understood this also. The tips of the fingers bunched and dabbed at the lips. She had seen Italian children make the gesture and cry: "Ho fame!" Hungry. But she could not let him into the kitchen. Still, if he were honestly hungry--She had it!
In the kitchen-table drawer was an imitation revolver--press the trigger, and a fluted fan was revealed--a dance favour she had received during the winter.
She plucked it out of the drawer and walked bravely to the window, which she threw up.
"What do you want? What are you doing out there on the fire escape?" she instantly demanded to know.
"My word, I am hungry! I was looking out of the window across the way and saw you preparing your dinner. A bit of bread and a gla.s.s of milk.
Would you mind, I wonder?"
"Why didn"t you come to the door then? What window?" Kitty was resolute; once she embarked upon an enterprise.
"That one."
"Where is Mr. Gregory?" Kitty recalled that odd letter.
"Gregory? I should very much like to know. I have come many miles to see him. He sent me a duplicate key. There was not even a crust in the cupboard."
Gregory away? That letter! Something had happened to that poor, kindly old man. "Why did you not seek some restaurant? Or have you no money?"
"I have plenty. I was afraid that I might not be able conveniently to return. I am a stranger. My actions might be viewed with suspicion."
"Indeed! Describe Mr. Gregory."
Not of the clinging kind, evidently, he thought. A raving beauty--Diana domesticated!
"It is four years since I saw him. He was then gray, dapper, and erect.
A mole on his chin, which he rubs when he talks. He is a valet in one of the fashionable hotels. He is--or was--the only true friend I have in New York."
"Was? What do you mean?"
"I"m afraid something has happened to him. I found his bedroom things tossed about."