Maud, trembling from head to foot, was conscious of one overwhelming emotion. She was terrified--yes. But stronger than the terror was the great wave of elation which swept over her. All her doubts had vanished. At last, after weary weeks of uncertainty, Arthur was about to give the supreme proof. He was going to joust for her.
A couple of pa.s.sers-by had paused, interested, to watch developments.
You could never tell, of course. Many an apparently promising row never got any farther than words. But, glancing at Arthur"s face, they certainly felt justified in pausing. Mr Shute spoke.
"If it wasn"t," he said, carefully, "that I don"t want trouble with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, I"d--"
He broke off, for, to the accompaniment of a shout of approval from the two spectators, Arthur had swung his right fist, and it had taken him smartly on the side of the head.
Compared with the blows Mr Shute was wont to receive in the exercise of his profession, Arthur"s was a gentle tap. But there was one circ.u.mstance which gave it a deadliness all its own. Achilles had his heel. Mr Shute"s vulnerable point was at the other extremity. Instead of countering, he uttered a cry of agony, and clutched wildly with both hands at his hat.
He was too late. It fell to the ground and bounded away, with its proprietor in pa.s.sionate chase. Arthur snorted and gently chafed his knuckles.
There was a calm about Mr Shute"s demeanour as, having given his treasure a final polish and laid it carefully down, he began to advance on his adversary, which was more than ominous. His lips were a thin line of steel. The muscles stood out over his jaw-bones. Crouching in his professional manner, he moved forward softly, like a cat.
And it was at this precise moment, just as the two spectators, reinforced now by eleven other men of sporting tastes, were congratulating themselves on their ac.u.men in having stopped to watch, that Police-Constable Robert Bryce, intruding fourteen stones of bone and muscle between the combatants, addressed to Mr Shute these memorable words: "Ullo, "ullo! "Ullo, "ullo, "ul-_lo_!"
Mr Shute appealed to his sense of justice.
"The mutt knocked me hat off."
"And I"d do it again," said Arthur, truculently.
"Not while I"m here you wouldn"t, young fellow," said Mr Bryce, with decision. "I"m surprised at you," he went on, pained. "And you look a respectable young chap, too. You pop off."
A shrill voice from the crowd at this point offered the constable all cinematograph rights if he would allow the contest to proceed.
"And you pop off, too, all of you," continued Mr Bryce. "Blest if I know what kids are coming to nowadays. And as for you," he said, addressing Mr Shute, "all you"ve got to do is to keep that face of yours closed. That"s what you"ve got to do. I"ve got my eye on you, mind, and if I catch you a-follerin" of him"--he jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Arthur"s departing figure--"I"ll pinch you. Sure as you"re alive." He paused. "I"d have done it already," he added, pensively, "if it wasn"t me birthday."
Arthur Welsh turned sharply. For some time he had been dimly aware that somebody was calling his name.
"Oh, Arthur!"
She was breathing quickly. He could see the tears in her eyes.
"I"ve been running. You walked so fast."
He stared down at her gloomily.
"Go away," he said. "I"ve done with you."
She clutched at his coat.
"Arthur, listen--listen! It"s all a mistake. I thought you--you didn"t care for me any more, and I was miserable, and I wrote to the paper and asked what should I do, and they said I ought to test you and try and make you jealous, and that that would relieve my apprehensions. And I hated it, but I did it, and you didn"t seem to care till now. And you know that there"s n.o.body but you."
"You--The paper? What?" he stammered.
"Yes, yes, yes. I wrote to _Fireside Chat_, and Dr Cupid said that when jealousy flew out of the window indifference came in at the door, and that I must exhibit pleasure in the society of other gentlemen and mark your demeanour. So I--Oh!"
Arthur, luckier than Mr Shute, was not hampered by a too small silk hat.
It was a few moments later, as they moved slowly towards the Flip-Flap--which had seemed to both of them a fitting climax for the evening"s emotions--that Arthur, fumbling in his waist-coat pocket, produced a small slip of paper.
"What"s that?" Maud asked.
"Read it," said Arthur. "It"s from _Home Moments_, in answer to a letter I sent them. And," he added with heat, "I"d like to have five minutes alone with the chap who wrote it."
And under the electric light Maud read
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS
_By the Heart Specialist_
Arthur W.--Jealousy, Arthur W., is not only the most wicked, but the most foolish of pa.s.sions. Shakespeare says:
_It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock The meat it feeds on._
You admit that you have frequently caused great distress to the young lady of your affections by your exhibition of this weakness. Exactly.
There is nothing a girl dislikes or despises more than jealousy. Be a man, Arthur W. Fight against it. You may find it hard at first, but persevere. Keep a smiling face. If she seems to enjoy talking to other men, show no resentment. Be merry and bright. Believe me, it is the only way.
BY ADVICE OF COUNSEL
The traveller champed meditatively at his steak. He paid no attention to the altercation which was in progress between the waiter and the man at the other end of the dingy room. The sounds of strife ceased. The waiter came over to the traveller"s table and stood behind his chair.
He was ruffled.
"If he meant lamb," he said, querulously, "why didn"t he say "lamb", so"s a feller could hear him? I thought he said "ham", so I brought ham. Now Lord Percy gets all peevish."
He laughed bitterly. The traveller made no reply.
"If people spoke distinct," said the waiter, "there wouldn"t be half the trouble there is in the world. Not half the trouble there wouldn"t be. I shouldn"t be here, for one thing. In this restawrong, I mean." A sigh escaped him.
"I shouldn"t," he said, "and that"s the truth. I should be getting up when I pleased, eating and drinking all I wanted, and carrying on same as in the good old days. You wouldn"t think, to look at me, would you now, that I was once like the lily of the field?"
The waiter was a tall, stringy man, who gave the impression of having no spine. In that he drooped, he might have been said to resemble a flower, but in no other respect. He had sandy hair, weak eyes set close together, and a day"s growth of red stubble on his chin. One could not see him in the lily cla.s.s.
"What I mean to say is, I didn"t toil, neither did I spin. Ah, them was happy days! Lying on me back, plenty of tobacco, something cool in a jug--"
He sighed once more.
"Did you ever know a man of the name of Moore? Jerry Moore?"
The traveller applied himself to his steak in silence.