"Is she very much in love with Ollie?" she asked.
"I don"t know," he said. "I can"t make them out. It doesn"t seem to trouble them very much."
This was after church while they were strolling down the Avenue, gazing at the procession of new spring costumes.--"Who is that stately creature you just bowed to?" inquired Lucy.
"That?" said Montague. "That is Miss Hegan--Jim Hegan"s daughter."
"Oh!" said Lucy. "I remember--Betty Wyman told me about her."
"Nothing very good, I imagine," said Montague, with a smile.
"It was interesting," said Lucy. "Fancy having a father with a hundred millions, and talking about going in for settlement work!"
"Well," he answered, "I told you one could get tired of the splurge."
Lucy looked at him quizzically. "I should think that kind of a girl would rather appeal to you," she said.
"I would like to know her very much," said he, "but she didn"t seem to like me."
"Not like you!" cried the other. "Why, how perfectly outrageous!"
"It was not her fault," said Montague, smiling; "I am afraid I got myself a bad reputation."
"Oh, you mean about Mrs. Winnie!" exclaimed Lucy.
"Yes," said he, "that"s it."
"I wish you would tell me about it," said she.
"There is nothing much to tell. Mrs. Winnie proceeded to take me up and make a social success of me, and I was fool enough to come when she invited me. Then the first thing I knew, all the gossips were wagging their tongues."
"That didn"t do you any harm, did it?" asked Lucy.
"Not particularly," said he, shrugging his shoulders. "Only here is a woman whom I would have liked to know, and I don"t know her.
That"s all."
Lucy gave him a sly glance. "You need a sister," she said, smiling.
"Somebody to fight for you!"
According to Jim Hegan"s prediction, it was not long before Montague received an offer. It came from a firm of lawyers of whom he had never heard. "We understand," ran the letter, "that you have a block of five thousand shares of the stock of the Northern Mississippi Railroad. We have a client on whose behalf we are authorised to offer you fifty thousand dollars cash for these shares. Will you kindly consult with your client, and advise us at your earliest convenience?"
He called up Lucy on the "phone and told her that the offer had come.
"How much?" she asked eagerly.
"It is not satisfactory," he said. "But I would rather not discuss the matter over the "phone. How can I arrange to see you?"
"Can"t you send me up the letter by a messenger?" she asked.
"I could," said Montague, "but I would like to talk with you about it; and also I have that mortgage, and the other papers for you to sign. There are some things to be explained about these, also.
Couldn"t you come to my office this morning?"
"I would, Allan," she said, "but I have just made a most important engagement, and I don"t know what to do about it."
"Couldn"t it be postponed?" he asked.
"No," she said. "It"s an invitation to join a party on Mr.
Waterman"s new yacht."
"The _Brunnhilde_!" exclaimed Montague. "You don"t say so!"
"Yes, and I hate to miss it," said she.
"How long shall you be gone?" he asked.
"I shall be back sometime this evening," she answered. "We are going up the Sound. The yacht has just been put into commission, you know."
"Where is she lying?"
"Off the Battery. I am to be on board in an hour, and I was just about to start. Couldn"t you possibly meet me there?"
"Yes," said Montague. "I will come over. I suppose they will wait a few minutes."
"I am half dying to know about the offer," said Lucy.
Montague had a couple of callers, which delayed him somewhat; finally he jumped into a cab and drove to the Battery.
Here, in the neighbourhood of Castle Garden, was a sheltered place popularly known as the "Millionaires" Basin," being the favourite anchorage of the private yachts of the "Wall Street flotilla." At this time of the year most of the great men had already moved out to their country places, and those of them who lived on the Hudson or up the Sound would come to their offices in vessels of every size, from racing motor-boats to huge private steamships. They would have their breakfasts served on board, and would have their secretaries and their mail.
Many of these yachts were floating palaces of incredible magnificence; one, upon which Montague had been a guest, had a gla.s.s-domed library extending entirely around its upper deck. This one was the property of the Lester Todds, and the main purpose it served was to carry them upon their various hunting trips; its equipment included such luxuries as a French laundry, a model dairy and poultry-yard, an ice-machine and a shooting-gallery.
And here lay the _Brunnhilde_, the wonderful new toy of old Waterman.
Montague knew all about her, for she had just been completed that spring, and not a newspaper in the Metropolis but had had her picture, and full particulars about her cost. Waterman had purchased her from the King of Belgium, who had thought she was everything the soul of a monarch could desire. Great had been his consternation when he learned that the new owner had given orders to strip her down to the bare steel hull and refit and refurnish her. The saloon was now done with Louis Quinze decorations, said the newspapers. Its walls were panelled in satinwood and inlaid walnut, and under foot were velvet carpets twelve feet wide and woven without seam. Its closets were automatically lighted, and opened at the touch of a b.u.t.ton; even the drawers of its bureaus were upon ball-bearings. The owner"s private bedroom measured the entire width of the vessel, twenty-eight feet, and opened upon a Roman bath of white marble.
Such was the _Brunnhilde_, Montague looked about him for one of the yacht"s launches, but he could not find any, so he hailed a boatman and had himself rowed out. A man in uniform met him at the steps.
"Is Mrs. Taylor on board?" he asked.
"She is," the other answered. "Is this Mr. Montague? She left word for you."
Montague had begun to ascend; but a half a second later he stopped short in consternation.
Through one of the portholes of the vessel he heard distinctly a m.u.f.fled cry,--
"Help! help!"
And he recognised the voice. It was Lucy"s!