Secret History Revealed by Lady Peggy O'Malley

 By C. N. & A. M. WILLIAMSON

 Author of "The Lightning Conductor Discovers America, " "A Soldier of the Legion, " "Lady Betty Across the Water, " Etc. 

With Frontispiece in ColorsBy CLARENCE ROWE

A. L. BURT COMPANYPublishers New YorkPublished by arrangements with Doubleday, Page and Company

_Copyright, 1915, by_C. N. & A. M. Williamson

_All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreignlanguages, including the Scandinavian_

[Illustration: _"As I kicked it away, one of the slippers flew off andseemed spitefully to follow the coat. "_]

CHAPTER I

If I didn't tell this, nobody else ever would; certainly not Diana, norMajor Vandyke--still less Eagle himself--I mean Captain Eagleston March;and they and I are the only ones who know, except a few such people aspresidents and secretaries of war and generals, who never tell anythingeven under torture. Besides, there is the unofficial part. Without that, the drama would be like a play in three acts, with the first and thirdacts chopped off. The presidents and secretaries of war and generalsknow nothing about the unofficial part. 

It's strange how the biggest things of life grow out of the tiniestones. There _is_ the old simile of the acorn and the oak, for instance. But oaks take a long time to grow, and everybody concerned in oakculture is calmly expecting them to do it. Imagine an acorn exploding tolet out an oak huge enough to shadow the world!

If, two years ago, when I was sixteen, I hadn't wanted money to buy awhite frock with roses on it, which I saw in Selfridge's window, asecret crisis between the United States and Mexico would have beenavoided; and the career of a splendid soldier would not have beenbroken. 

One month before I met the white dress, Diana and Father and I had comefrom home--that's Ballyconal--to see what good we could do with a seasonin London; good for Diana, I mean, and I put her before Father becausehe does so himself. Every one else he puts far, far behind, like thebeasts following Noah into the Ark. Not that I'm sure, without lookingthem up, that they did follow Noah. But if it had been Father, he wouldhave arranged it in that way, to escape seeing their ugly faces orsmelling those who were not nice to smell. 

I suppose I should have been left at Ballyconal, with nothing to do butstudy my beloved French and Spanish, my sole accomplishments; onlyFather had contrived to let the place, through the New York _Herald_, toan American family who, poor dears, snapped it up by cable from thedescription in the advertisement of "a wonderful XII Century Castle. "Besides, Diana couldn't afford a maid. And that's why I was taken toAmerica afterward. I can do hair beautifully. So, when one thinks back, Fate had begun to weave a web long before the making of that whitedress. None of those tremendous things would have happened to changeheaven knows how many lives, if I hadn't been born with the knack of ahairdresser, inherited perhaps from some bourgeoise ancestress of mineon Mother's side. 

When the American family found out what Ballyconal was really like, andthe twelfth-century rats had crept out from the hinterland of the oldwainscoting ("rich in ancient oak, " the advertisement stated), toscamper over its faces by night, and door knobs had come off in itshands by day, or torn carpets had tripped it up and sprained its ankles, it said bad words about deceitful, stoney-broke Irish earls, and fled atthe end of a fortnight, having paid for two months in advance at therate of thirty-five guineas a week. Father had been sadly sure that theAmericans would do that very thing, so he had counted on getting onlythe advance money and no more. This meant cheap lodgings for us, whichspoiled Diana's chances from the start, as she told Father the minuteshe saw the house. It was in a fairly good neighbourhood, and theaddress looked fashionable on paper; but man, and especially girl, maynot live on neighbourhood and paper alone, even if the latter can bepeppered with coronets. 

I don't know what curse or mildew collects on poor Irish earls, but itsimply goes nowhere to be one in London; and then there was the handicapof Father's two quaint marriages. Diana's mother was a music-hall"artiste" (isn't that the word?) without any money except what sheearned, and also--I heard a woman say once, when she thought LittlePitcher's ears were engaged elsewhere--without any "h's" except in thewrong places. 

My mother, the poor darling, must have been just as unsuitable in herway. She was a French chocolate heiress, whom Father married to mend thefamily fortunes, when Diana was five; but some one shortly after sprangon the market a better chocolate than her people made, so she was afailure, too, and not even beautiful like Diana's mother. Luckily forher, she died when I was born; but neither she nor the "artiste" canhave helped Father much, with the smart friends of his young days whenhe was one of the best-looking bachelors in town. 

Diana was considered beautiful, but "the image of her mother, " by thoseinconvenient creatures who run around the world remembering otherpeople's pasts; and though she and Father were invited to lots of bigcrushes, they weren't asked to any of the charming intimate things whichDiana says are the right background for a débutante. This went to Di'sheart and Father's liver, and made them both dreadfully hard to get onwith. Cinderella wasn't in it with me, except that when they werebeastly, I was beastly back again; a relief to which Cinderella probablydidn't treat herself, being a fairy-story heroine, stuffed with virtuesas a sultana cake is stuffed with plums. 

The day I asked Father for the white frock with roses on it inSelfridge's window, he was so disagreeable that I went to my room andslammed the door and kicked a chair. It was true that I did not need thedress, because I never went anywhere and was only a flapper (it's almostmore unpleasant to be called a flapper than a "mouth to feed"); still, the real pleasure of having a thing is when you don't need it, but justwant it. The farther away from me that gown seemed to recede, the more Ilonged for it; and when Father told me not to nag or be a little idiot, I determined that somehow or other, by hook or crook, the frock shouldhang on my wall behind the chintz curtain which calls itself a wardrobe. 

The morning of the refusal, Father and Di were starting off to be awayall that day and night. They were asked to a ridiculous house partygiven by a rich, suburban Pickle family at Epsom for the Derby, and Dihad been grumbling that it was exactly the sort of invitation they_would_ get: for one night and the Derby, instead of Ascot. However, itwas the time of the month for a moon, and quite decent young men hadbeen enticed; so Di wasn't so very sorry for herself after all. Hernickname at home in Ireland, "Diana the Huntress, " had been alreadyimported, free of duty, to England, by a discarded flirtée; but I don'tthink she minded, it sounded so dashing, even if it was only grasping. She went off moderately happy; and I was left with twenty-four hours onmy hands to decide by what hook, or what crook, I could possibly annexthe dress which I felt had been born for me. 

At last I thought of a way that might do. My poor little chocolatemother made a will the day before she died, when I was a week old, leaving everything she possessed to me. Of course her money was allgone, because she had been married for two years to Father, and Himselfis a very expensive man. But he hadn't spent her jewels yet, nor herwedding veil, nor a few other pieces of lace. Since then he's wheedledmost of the jewellery out of me, but the wedding veil I mean to keepalways, and a Point d'Alençon scarf and some handkerchiefs he hasprobably forgotten. I had forgotten them, too, but when I was racking mybrain how to get the Selfridge dress, the remembrance tumbled down offits dusty little shelf. 

The legacies were at the bottom of my trunk, because it was simpler tobring them away from Ballyconal, than find a stowaway place that theAmerican family wouldn't need for its belongings. The veil nothing wouldhave induced me to part with; but the scarf was so old, I felt sure itmust have come to my mother from a succession of chocolate or perhapssoap or sardine grandmammas, and I hadn't much sentiment about it. I hadno precise idea what the lace ought to be worth, but I fancied Pointd'Alençon must be valuable, and I thought I ought to get more thanenough by selling it to buy the white dress, which cost seven guineas. 

Taxying through Wardour Street with Di, I had often noticed an antiqueshop appropriately crusted with the grime of centuries, all but thepolished window, where lace and china and bits of old silver weredisplayed. It seemed to me that a person intelligent enough to combineodds and ends with such fetching effect ought to be the man toappreciate my great--or great great-grandmother's scarf. I didn't run totaxis when alone, and would as soon have got into one of those appallingmotor buses as leap on to the back of a mad elephant that hadberserkered out of the Zoo. Consequently, I had to walk. It was anuntidy, badly dusted day, with a hot wind; and I realized, when I caughtsight of myself in a convex mirror in the curiosity-shop window, that Ilooked rather like a small female edition of Strumpelpeter. 

There was a bell on the door which, like a shrill, disparaging _leitmotif_, announced me, and made me suddenly self-conscious. It hadn'toccurred to me before that there was anything to be ashamed of orfrightened about in my errand. I'd vaguely pictured the shopman as adear old Dickensy thing who would take a fussy interest in me and myscarf, and who would, with a fatherly manner, press upon me a handful ofsovereigns or a banknote. But as the bell jangled, one of the mostrepulsive men I ever saw looked toward the door. There was another manin the place, talking to the first creature, and he looked up, too. Noteven the blindest bat, however, could have mistaken him for ashopkeeper, and his being there put not only a different complexion onthe business, but on me. I felt mine turning bright pink, instead of theusual cream that accompanies the chocolate-coloured hair and eyes withwhich I advertise the industry of my French ancestors. 

The shopman stared at me with a sulky look exactly like that ofNebuchadnezzar, our boar pig from Yorkshire, which took a prize for itsnose or something. This person might have won a prize for his nose also, if an offer had been going for large ones. The rest of his face, olivegreen and fat, was in the perspective of this nose, just as the lesserproportions of his body, such as chest and legs, were in the perspectiveof his--waist. The shop was much smaller than I had expected from thewindow--a place you might have swung a cat in without giving itconcussion of the brain, but not a lion; and the men--the fat proprietorand his long, lean customer, and two suits of deformed-looking armour, seemed almost to fill it. I've heard an actor talk about a theatre beingso tiny he was "on the audience"; and these two were on theirs, theaudience being me. I was so close to the fat one that I could see thecrumbs on the folds of his waistcoat, like food stored on cupboardshelves. I took such a dislike to him that I felt inclined to bounce outas quickly as I had bounced in, but the door had banged mechanicallybehind me, as if to stop the bell at any cost. The shop smelt of mothpowder, old leather, musty paper, and hair oil. 

"Well, my little girl, what do you want?" inquired Nebuchadnezzar, withthe kind of lisp that turns a rat into a yat. 

Little girl, indeed! To be called a "little girl" by a thing like that, and asked what I wanted in that second-hand Hebrew tone, made me boilfor half a second. Then, suddenly, I saw that it was funny, and I almostgiggled as I imagined myself haughtily explaining that I had reached theage of sixteen, to say nothing of being the daughter of two or threehundred earls. I didn't care a tuppenny anything whether he mistook mefor nine or ninety; but I did begin to feel that it wouldn't be pleasantunrolling my tissue-paper parcel and bargaining for money under the eyesand ears of the other man. 

They were very nice eyes and ears. Already I'd had time to notice that;for even in these days, when men aren't supposed to be as indispensableto females as they were in Edwardian or Victorian and earlier ages, Idon't think it's entirely obsolete for a girl to learn more about aman's looks in three seconds than she picks up about another woman'sfrock in two. 

This man wasn't what most girls of sixteen would call young; but I amdifferent from most girls because I've always had to be a sort of lawunto myself, in order not to become a family footstool. I've had to makeup my mind about everything or risk my brain degenerating into a bathsponge; and one of the things I made it up about early was that I didn'tlike boys or nuts. The customer in the curiosity shop, to whom theproprietor was showing perfect ducks of Chelsea lambs plastered againstgreen Chelsea bushes, was, maybe, twenty-eight or thirty, a great agefor a woman, but not so bad for a man; and I wished to goodness he wouldbuy or not buy a lamb and go forth about other business. However, Icouldn't indefinitely delay answering that question addressed to "littlegirl. "

"I want to show you a point-lace scarf, " I snapped. Nebuchadnezzar'sunderstudy squeezed himself out from behind the counter, and lumbered astep or two nearer me, moving not straight ahead, but from side to side, as tables do for spiritualists. 

"We don't mend lace here, if that's what you've come for, my child, " hepatronized me. 

"It doesn't need to be mended, " said I. "It's beautiful lace. It's to besold. "

"Oa--oh, " he exploded with a cockney drawl, and a rude look coming intohis eyes which he'd kept out while there was hope that the dusty, blown-about little thing might turn into a customer. "Well! Let's see!But I've got more old lace on hand now than I know what to do with. "

As I unrolled layers of tissue paper which seemed to rustle loudly outof sheer spite, I was conscious that the customer had sauntered away asfar as possible, and was gazing at some old prints on the wall whichgave him an excuse to turn his back to us. I thought this sweetlytactful of him. 

Nebuchadnezzar (over the shop he calls himself Franks, the sort ofnoncommittal name a Jacobs or Wolfstein likes to hide under) almostsnatched the lace from my hands as I opened the package, shook out itsfolds, held it close to his eyes, pawed it, and sniffed. "Humph!" hegrunted ungraciously. "Same old thing as usual. If I've got one of 'em, I've got a dozen. What did you expect to ask for it?"

"Ten pounds, " I announced, as bold as one of those lions that could notbe swung in his shop. 

"Ten pounds!" I don't know whether the sound he made was meant for asnort or a laugh. "Ten grandmothers!"

"Yes, " said I, flaring up as if he'd struck a match on me. "That's justit! Ten of my grandmothers have worn this scarf since it was made, and Iwant a pound for each of them. "

There was a small funny noise behind me, like a staunched giggle, and Iglanced over my shoulder at the customer, but his back looked most calmand inoffensive. 

"You'll have to take it out in wanting, I'm afraid, my girl, " returnedthe shopkeeper. "I can offer you thirty bob, no more and no less. That'sall the thing's worth to me. "

I tried to pull the scarf out of his hands, but he didn't seem ready togive it up. "It's worth a great deal more to me, " I said. "I'll carry itaway somewhere else, where they _know_ about old lace. "

"My word! You're a pert young piece for your size!" remarked thehorrible man; and though I could have boxed his ears (which stood outexactly like the handles on an urn), I felt my own tingle, because itwas _true_, what he said: I was a pert young piece. Holding my own athome, and lots of other things in life (for sixteen years of life seemfearfully long if they're all you've got behind you), had made me pert, and I didn't love myself for it, any more than a porcupine can be reallyfond of his own quills. I couldn't bear, somehow, that the man with thenice eyes should be hearing me called a "pert piece, " and thinking meone. Quite a smart repartee came into my head, but a heavy feeling in myheart kept me from putting it into words; and Nebuchadnezzar wentgrunting on: "I know as much about old lace as any man in this street, if not in town. That's why I don't offer more. "

"Give me back my scarf, please, " was my only answer, in quite a smallvoice. 

Still he held on to the lace. "Look here, miss, " said he in a changedtone, "how did you come to get hold of this bit of property, anyhow?Folks ain't in the habit of sending their children out to dispose o'their valuables. How can I tell that you ain't nicked this off yourmother or your aunt, or some other dame who doesn't know you're out? IfI was doin' my dooty, I shouldn't wonder if I oughtn't to call in thepolice!"

"You horrid, horrid person, " I flung at him. "You're trying to frightenme--to blackmail me--into selling you my lace for thirty shillings, whenmaybe it's worth twenty times that. But if any one calls the police, itwill be me, to give you in charge for--for intimidation. "

Almost before I had time to be proud of the word when I'd contrived toget it out, the customer had detached himself from the prints andintervened. 

"I beg your pardon for interfering, " he said (to me, not toNebuchadnezzar), "but I can't help wondering"--and he smiled a perfectlydisarming smile--"if you aren't rather young to be a business woman onyour own account. Will you let me see the lace?"

Of course the shopkeeper gave it up to him instantly, shamefaced atrealizing that his customer, instead of admiring his smart methods, wasentering the lists against him. 

While my champion (I felt sure somehow that he was my champion at heart)took the scarf in his hands, and began trying to look wise over it, Ihad about forty-nine seconds in which to look at him. Even at firstglance I had thought him nice, but now I decided that he was the nicestman I had ever seen. Not the handsomest; I don't mean that, for ourcounty in Ireland is celebrated for its handsome men, both high and low. Also I'd seen several Dreams since we came to London: but--well, justthe _nicest_. 

Because it was the middle of the season and he was in tweeds, I fanciedthat he didn't go in for being "smart. " I'd learned enough already aboutLondon ways to understand as much as that. But all the same I thoughtthat he had the air of a soldier. And he had such a contradictory sortof face that it interested me immensely, wondering what thecontradictions meant. 

He had taken off his hat when I came into the shop (I'd noticed that, and had been pleased), and now I saw that the upper part of his foreheadwas very white and the rest of his face very tanned, as if hiscomplexion had slipped down. He had almost straw-coloured hair, whichseemed lighter than it was because of his sunburned skin; and hiseyebrows and the eyelashes (lowered while he gazed at my lace) were twoor three shades darker. They were long, arched brows that gave a look ofdreamy romance to the upper part of his face, but the lower part wasextremely determined, perhaps even obstinate. It jumped into my headthat a woman--even a fascinator like Diana--would never be able to makehim change his mind about things, or do things he didn't wish to do. That was one of the contradictions, and the nose was another. It wasrather a Roman sort of nose, and looked aggressive, as if it would besearching about for forlorn hopes to fight for; anyhow, as if it mustfight at all costs. Then, contradicting the nose, was the mouth (for hewas clean-shaven as all young men ought to be, and not leave too much toour imagination), a mouth somehow like a boy's, affectionate and kindand gay, though far from being weak. I didn't know what to make of himat all, and, of course, I liked him the better for that. 

"I think this is mighty fine lace, " he pronounced, when he had studiedit long enough to show off as a connoisseur; and all of a sudden Irealized that he was an American. Diana had collected two Americanfriends who often invited her to the Savoy, and I'd heard them, and noone else, say "mighty fine. " "Are you sure you want to get rid of it?"

I thought he was a dear to put it like that, as if I could have no realneed for money, but had such a glut of lace scarves at home that I mustrid myself of a few superfluous ones. As he spoke he was lookingstraight at me with the kind eyes I had noticed first of all--gray andyellow and brown mixed up together into hazel. I suppose it must havebeen some quality in that look which made me decide instantly to tellhim everything. I'd have suffered the torture of the boot (anyhow, for aminute or two) before I would have explained myself to Nebuchadnezzar. 

"I'm sure I do want to sell, if I can get as much as ten pounds for thething, " I answered. "Nothing less than seven guineas would be of any useto me. There's something which costs seven guineas--a thing I'm dying tobuy. My mother left this scarf to me, as well as some other lace Iwouldn't sell for the world. But it's quite mine and I can do as I likewith it. "

"Let me see! Ten pounds is fifty dollars, isn't it?" the man reflectedout aloud. 

"I don't know, " I caught him up, "anything about American money orAmerica. "

He smiled at me again. Perhaps I had hoped he would. 

"That's too bad! You ought to come over on our side and learn. "

"I'd love to, especially to the parts where I could show off my Frenchand Spanish. But I'm sure I shall never get the chance to cross thesea. " I was three thousand miles from dreaming then of all the thingsthat were to come out of this little affair of the scarf and the dresswhich had tempted me to put my lace on the market. 

"Well, " he went on, going back from me to my property. "I'll buy thispretty thing for ten pounds if you like to sell it to me; but honestly, I warn you that for all I know it may be worth a lot more. "

"I'll be perfectly satisfied with ten pounds, " I said. "But I don't wishyou to buy just out of kindness, when I'm almost sure you don't reallywant to. "

"But I do, " he assured me. "I came into this place to carry out acommission for an aunt of mine in America. She wrote and asked me tofind her something in a curiosity shop in England that she could givefor a wedding present to a girl who's wild about antiques. An old friendof ours is going to take the parcel back with her when she sailsto-morrow; smuggle it, maybe, but that's not my business. I thought of aminiature on ivory, but I haven't taken a big fancy to anything I'veseen so far. I like your lace better, and it costs just the money myaunt told me to spend. So there you are. "

"And there's the lace, " I added, laughing. "It's yours. Thank you verymuch. "

"It's for me to thank you, " said he. "I'm awfully afraid I'm getting thebest of the bargain, though. Wouldn't you rather go somewhere first andconsult an expert?"

"No, indeed, " said I. "Maybe the expert would tell us the lace was worthonly five pounds, not ten. What I'm in a hurry to do is to dash toSelfridge's, and buy the dress I want before some beast of a girl getsit before me. Oh, horror! Maybe she's there already!"

"The worst of it is, " said my new friend--I felt he was that--"I haven'tgot the ten pounds on me. I meant to have anything I might decide to buysent home and paid for at my hotel. "

"Can't I go with you to your hotel, and you give me the money there?" Iwanted to know. "You see, I'm in such a hurry about the dress. "

He glanced at me with a funny look in his eyes, and somehow I read whatit meant. _He_ hadn't called me a "little girl, " and had behaved asrespectfully as if I were a hundred; but I could see that he thought meabout twelve or thirteen; and now he was saying to himself: "No harmcarting a child like that about without a chaperon. "

This was the first time I'd ever been glad that I had sacrificed myselffor Di, and come to London in my old frocks up to the tops of my boots, and my hair hanging in two tails down to my waist. Of course, if any onewere caddish or cattish enough to look her up in the book, it could befound out at a glance that Lady Diana O'Malley was twenty-three; buteven if a person is a cad or a cat, he (or she) is often too lazy to gothrough the dull pages of Debrett or Burke; and besides, there is seldomone of the books handy. Therefore, Di had a sporting chance of beingtaken for eighteen, the sweet conventional age of a débutante on herpresentation. Every one did know, however, that Father had marriedtwice, and that there must be a difference of five or six years betweenDiana and the chocolate child. Accordingly, if I could be induced tolook thirteen at most, it would be useful. As for me, I hadn't caredparticularly. I knew I shouldn't get any grown-up fun in London, whethermy hair were in a tail or a twist, or whether my dresses were short orlong. Sometimes I had been sorry for beginning in that way, but now Isaw that virtue was going to be rewarded. 

"All right, " said my friend. "Maybe it will be the best arrangement. "And we left Nebuchadnezzar looking as the dog in the fable must havelooked, when he snapped at the reflected bit of meat in the water andlost the bit in his mouth. 

A taxi was passing, and stopped at the flourish of a cane. I jumped inbefore I could be helped. The man followed; and though I was lookingforward only to a little fun, my very first adventure in London "on myown, " the chauffeur was speeding us along a road that didn't stop at theWaldorf Hotel: it was a road which would carry us both on and on, towarda blazing bonfire of wild passion and romance. 

CHAPTER II

The first thing we did when we were in the taxicab was to introduceourselves to each other. I told him that I was Marguerite O'Malley, butthat, as I wasn't a bit like a marguerite or even a common or gardendaisy, I'd degenerated into Peggy. I didn't drag in anything about myfamily tree; it seemed unnecessary. He told me that he was EaglestonMarch, but that he had degenerated into "Eagle. " I thought this nicknamesuited his aquiline nose, his brilliant eyes, and that eager, alert lookhe had of being alive in every nerve and fibre. He told me, too, that hewas a captain in the American army, over in England for the first timeon leave; but before he got so far, I knew very well who he was, for I'dread about him days ago in Father's _Times_. 

"Why, you're the first American who's looped the loop at Hendon!" Icried out. "You invented some stability thing or other to put on amonoplane. "

He laughed. "Some stability thing or other's a neat description. Butyou're right. I'm the American fellow that the loop has looped. "

"Now I know, " said I, "why you're not at the Derby to-day. Horses attheir fastest must seem slow to a flying man. "

"This time you're not right, " he corrected me. "I'm not at the Derbybecause it isn't much fun seeing a race when you don't know anythingabout the horses, and haven't a pal to go with. "

"But you must have lots of pals, " I thought out aloud. "Every one adoresthe airmen. "

"Do they? I haven't noticed it. "

"Then you can't be conceited. Perhaps American men aren't. I never knewone before, except in business. "

"Good heavens! So you really are a business woman, as well as alinguist, apparently. At what age did you begin?"

"What age do you take me for now?" I hedged. 

"About twelve or thirteen, I suppose, though I'm no judge of girls'ages, whether they're little or big. "

"I'm over twelve, " I confessed, and went on hastily to change thedangerous subject. "But I really did have business with an American. Itwas in letters. My father made me write them, though they were signedwith his name. He hates writing letters. I'm so thankful your name isn'tTrowbridge. I hope you aren't related to any Trowbridges?"

"Not one. But why?"

"Oh, because, if you were, you might want to throw me to the wolves--Imean under the motor buses. We've done the Trowbridges of Chicago afearful wrong. We let them our place in Ireland, while we came to Londonto enjoy ourselves. "

He laughed aloud, that very nice, young laugh of his, which made me feelmore at home with him than with people I'd known all my life. "Youreally are a quaint little woman, " he said. "Now I come to think of it, I do know some people in Chicago named Trowbridge. "

"Oh, well, " said I, "if you must throw me out of anything, do it out ofyour monoplane. It would be so much more distinguished than out of amere taxi. And at least, I should have flown first! For you would haveto take me up before you could dash me down. And so my dream would havecome true. "

"Is it your dream to fly?" he asked, interested. 

"Waking and sleeping, " said I. "Ever since I was a tiny child, my verybest dream has been that I was flying. Even to dream it asleep isperfectly wonderful and thrilling, worth being born for, just to feel. What must it be when you're actually awake?"

"You are an enthusiast, " said Captain March. "You've got it in yourblood. What a pity you're not a boy. You could be a 'flying man'yourself. "

"Well, it's something to know one, " said I. "Why, I'd give my hand--theleft one--or anyhow, a finger of it--for just an hour in the air. A toewould be too cheap. "

"I'd take you up like a shot, if your people would let you go, " said he. 

I gasped with joy. "Oh, _would_ you?" I exclaimed. "Really and truly, Ididn't mean to hint! But it would be heaven to go!"

"Not in my _Golden Eagle_, " he laughed, "for I'd guarantee to bring yousafe and sound back to earth again, this side of heaven. I can take upone passenger, though I haven't yet, since I came out here. I haven'tmet anybody, till now, I particularly cared to ask, and who wouldparticularly have cared to go. "

"And you _would_ care to take me? How kind of you!"

"Kind to myself. I told you I hadn't any pals in England. You seem to bethe stuff they're made of. You'd be a 'mascot, ' I'm sure. But yourpeople----"

"People? I haven't any. At least, a governess I once had said youcouldn't call two, 'people. ' They must be spoken of as 'persons. ' I haveonly _persons_ who belong to me--just Father and a grown-up sister--ahalf-sister. They like each other so much that they haven't room to careabout me. If the _Golden Eagle_ tipped me out, and smashed me as flat asa paper doll, they wouldn't shed a tear. "

"Poor little child! But maybe you're mistaken. Maybe _you_ are notconceited!"

"Yes, I am! That's why I notice when I'm not loved. Oh, _do_ take me up. Take me up to-day! I'm all alone in the world. My 'persons' have gone tothe Derby, and are staying all night at Epsom with a fat, rich family. I'm left to the mercy of the landlady in our lodgings. I'll even give upthe dress at Selfridge's to go with you. That's more than sacrificing atoe!"

But he had stopped laughing. Instead he had turned quite grave. "Icouldn't possibly do it, " he said. "I'm awfully sorry to refuse. If youwere older, you'd understand that it wouldn't be the right thing for astrange man and a 'foreigner, ' to kidnap a little girl and fly off withher into space. Supposing I had an accident? I'm sure I shouldn't--butjust supposing. I should never be able to forgive myself. Don't despairthough. If you can manage to introduce me as a respectable sort of chapto your father, and he gives his permission----"

"But how did I get to know you?" I groaned. "I shall have to fib. "

"No, you won't, " he said quickly. "I refuse to be fibbed about. You mustthink of some other way. "

"I'm afraid, " I said dolefully, "you agree with that hateful curiosityman about me!"

"Agree with him? I don't understand. "

"That I'm a pert minx or something. That's what he called me--or a pertpiece. It's all the same thing. And I am it. I don't mind telling fibs. I've told lots. "

"You poor little thing!" exclaimed Captain March in a pitying tone, butwith the kind of pity the proudest person wouldn't resent, because itreally came from his heart. "You seem to have had to fight your ownbattles. Maybe your mother died when you were very young?"

"When I was a week young, " I said, and suddenly I felt myself choked up. 

"That explains the telling of fibs, you see, and saying you don'tmind--though I'm sure you do, when you stop to think of it; because thesort of girl who can be a good pal to a man just can't tell fibs, anymore than the man can--if he's worth being a pal to. "

Two boiling hot tears ran down my face, one on each cheek. I couldn'tanswer. I only looked up at him, feeling all eyes. 

"What a beast I am!" he exclaimed. "I've made you cry!"

"It's I who am the beast, " I managed to gasp out, because I saw he wasbadly distressed about me, and what he had done. "I'm crying because I'ma little beast. But I'd like not to be. "

"You're not. You're a little soldier. Will you forgive me? I didn't meanto preach. "

"You didn't preach. I expect you'd talk like that to a real soldier--oneof those you're captain of. Well, I'll pretend I'm one of thosesoldiers, and that you're my captain. "

As I spoke, the taxi was drawing up in front of his hotel; but I wentstraight on with my play, and gave him a military salute. "Thank you, Captain, " said I, "for taking an interest. I shan't forget. No morefibs! I'll work for my corporal's stripe!"

"Good child!" he beamed on me, looking young and happy again. "I'll getyou the stripe. I have it ready for you upstairs. I'll bring it downwhen I bring the money for the lace scarf. Would you rather wait in thetaxi, or will you come into the ladies' parlour in the hotel?"

I thought "parlour" a lovely word, and very French, though I supposed itmight be American, too. It was quite an adventure going into an hotel. 

My captain (already I'd begun to think of him as that, since he'd calledme a soldier) paid the chauffeur and led me to a big drawing-room whereseveral women sat, so prettily dressed and so trim that they made mefeel shabby in my brown holland frock and my blown-about hair. Iwondered what he had meant by saying he would bring me a "corporal'sstripe, " and whether he had meant anything at all, except a passingjoke. Somehow, I felt that he had had a definite idea, but I didn'tdream it would be anything half so fascinating as it turned out. 

He was not gone more than five or six minutes, and when he appearedagain he drew up a chair in front of me, deliberately turning his backto the other occupants of the room, so that they could not see what wasgoing on. Then he made me hold out my hands (I was ashamed of my untidygloves) and receive in them ten golden sovereigns, which he counted asthey dropped into my open palms. 

"I hope you'll never regret bartering away yourgreat-great-grandmother's beautiful lace for this pittance, " said he. "And now for the corporal's stripe, if you're going to enlist in myregiment. "

"I am, " I cried. "I've enlisted in it already. "

"Here, then, " and he took from his coat pocket a little crumpled-up ballof something black and gold, evidently thrust in with haste. "This isone of the chevrons I wore on my sleeve when I was made corporal ofcadets at West Point, eleven years ago this very month. You'll laugh, Iguess, when I tell you why I brought the thing with me over here. I keptit, out of a sort of--of sentiment, or sentimentality maybe, because Iwas so dashed proud when I got it. I thought it marked an epoch in mylife; that it was a token of success. Well, when I was coming over toyour side of the water, to try out the _Golden Eagle_ among all theEnglish flyers, I was silly enough to think if she did any good, I'dstick this poor old stripe on her somewhere, for auld lang syne. Now I'drather give it to you, little soldier. "

I think it was at that minute I began to worship him. I worshipped himas a child worships, and as a woman worships, too; except that, perhaps, when a woman lets herself go with a flood of love for a man, sheunconsciously expects some return. I'm sure I didn't expect anything. That would have been too ridiculous!

I felt rather guilty about depriving the _Golden Eagle_ of her master'strophy, but after all, a girl is more appreciative than a monoplane; andbesides, it would have hurt Captain March's feelings in that mood ofhis, if I'd refused. I had a conviction that a corporal's stripe, givenas a reward and an incentive, would be to me a talisman. I decided thatI'd keep it in a place where I could rush to look at it whenever Ineeded encouragement to go on being a soldier. If I wanted to sneakmyself out of trouble with a fib, or be snappish to Father or cattish toDi, or say "damn, " or bang a door in a rage, it seemed to me that Ishould only have to think of that little triangle of black cloth andgilt braid to be suddenly as good as gold, all the way through to myheart. 

Maybe I showed some of these thoughts in my eyes when I thanked CaptainMarch (Di says my eyes tell all my secrets), for he was nicer than ever, in the chivalrous, almost tender way some men have with girl-children. He said he was just as lonely as I was, or worse, because he hadn't asoul who belonged to him in England, and would it be quite proper andall right for an old soldier like him to invite a little girl like me tolunch?

Of course I said yes--_yes_, it would be entirely proper and perfectlysplendid, though they might have forgotten to put anything of the sortinto books of etiquette. By that time it was half-past twelve, only afew minutes left to dash to Selfridge's and rescue the dress (if itwasn't already lost) before luncheon, so Captain March offered to whiskme up to the shop in a taxi. He promised, if the gown were gone, thathe'd help me choose another. But it wasn't gone; which showed that, asI'd felt in my bones, it really had been born for me. 

"Why, it's a party dress, isn't it?" my captain innocently wanted toknow. "And isn't it a bit too old for you?"

"I can have it made shorter, " I said. "And if it is a little too old forme it doesn't matter, because I'm never invited to any parties. I shan'tbe for years, if ever. I shan't come out like my sister Di, I shall justslowly _leak_ out, with nobody noticing. It isn't that I expect to_wear_ this frock. It's the joy of having it which is so important. "

"Girls begin to be queer evidently, even when they're children, " saidhe. "But that doesn't make them less interesting. I know of aninvitation to a party you _could_ have, though, if you wanted it. Thewife of our American ambassador is giving a ball to-morrow night. I knowher a little. She'd be awfully pleased to send your people cards for theshow, if I asked her. Or perhaps they've had cards already?"

I shook my head. "I'm sure they haven't. Are you going?"

"Yes, I've accepted. "

"I know Diana would love it. I'll tell her about you--and about to-day, for she can't be cross with me if it ends in an invitation. And you'd beher _first_ flying man. "

Even as I spoke I had a misgiving. It came like a cramp in the heart. Di's nickname seemed to whisper itself in my ear: "Diana theHuntress--Diana the Huntress!" I didn't want her to shoot her arrowthrough this man's heart, because--well--_just because_. But they wouldhave to meet if he were not to be lost to me, since he refused to be apartner in fibs. The idea seemed exactly the chance I had been lookingfor; and if the invitation came through me, provided I were included bythe ambassadress, I didn't see how Di and Father could leave me out. 

"All right, you shall have the card, I can promise that!" my captainsaid cheerily. 

"But, " I haggled, "will the ambassadress ask a--a little girl like me, who isn't out yet?"

"Of course she will. I'll see to that. Why shouldn't a little girl gofor once? Here is one partner for her. "

To dance in the white dress, with him! The thing must be too good to betrue. Yet it really did seem as if it might come true. 

He let me select the place for luncheon, and I chose the Zoo. He said Icouldn't have chosen better. It wasn't a very grand meal, but it was thehappiest I'd ever had. Captain March told me things about America, andaeroplanes, though very little about himself--except that he wasstationed at a beautiful place in Arizona, called Fort Alvarado, closeto the springs of the same name, where girls came and had "the time oftheir lives. " Afterward we wandered about and made love to the Zooanimals, and at last saw them fed. When the lions and tigers hadfinished their glorious roaring, which seemed to bring the desert andthe jungle near, it was almost five o'clock, so we had tea at thecrescent-shaped tea house, in front of the Mappin Terraces. I lingeredover my strawberries as long as I decently could, because, though Isearched hard for it, there seemed to be no bored look on CaptainMarch's face. When I did reluctantly say, "I suppose I'd better gohome?" he actually had the air of being sorry. 

"It's been the nicest day I ever lived in, " I told him. 

"I've enjoyed every minute of it, too, " said he. "What a pity we can'tpolish it off with a dinner and the theatre. Look here, if you'd likeit, Miss Peggy, I guess I can get that old lady I told you of, who'ssailing to-morrow and will take the lace scarf, to go with us aschaperon. What do you say?"

What could I say? Being a child, it didn't matter showing the wildestdelight. There are some advantages in being a child. 

He took me home to our lodgings in Chapel Street (which cheaply gave usthe address of Mayfair) and then I had to break it to him that I wasn'ta Miss. 

"Good gracious!" he exclaimed, when I began with those words. "Childrendon't marry in your country at thirteen, do they?"

I explained that, because my father happened to be an earl, hisdaughters had a courtesy title; and when he looked a little shocked, asif he were wondering whether he had been indiscreet, I nodded toward thehouse, as our taxicab stopped before the insignificant green door. "Yousee by where we live how unimportant we are!" I excused myself in such apleading voice that he laughed. Then he flashed away to makearrangements for the evening--_our_ evening!

The landlady had a telephone, and presently I got the message whichCaptain March had told me to expect. Mrs. Jewitt had consented to dineand go to the theatre. Would I like the Savoy, and to see "Milestones"afterward? And was I sure this business wouldn't get me into troubleto-morrow?

If it had sent me into penal servitude for life, I shouldn't havehesitated; but I replied that my sister would forgive me for the sake ofthe American Embassy ball. I knew Di could be counted on, in theexceptional circumstances, not to tell Father; but I didn't mention thatdetail to Captain March. I was afraid he might think the corporal'sstripe had been ill-bestowed, but one must draw the straight line oftruth somewhere!

CHAPTER III

Next morning when Di came back, I told her what was necessary to tell, and not a bit more. I explained how I had met Captain Eagleston March, and how we had spent the day and the heavenly evening. But first, I lether open the invitation which had just come by hand from the AmericanEmbassy (she opens all Father's letters, except those that have arepulsively private look), and when she began, "I wonder how onearth----, " I was able to work my story in neatly, as an explanation. 

Di listened to the end, without interrupting me once except by openingher eyes very wide, and now and then raising her eyebrows, or givingvent to expressive sighs. I saw that she was thinking hard as I went on, and I knew what she was thinking: about the need of forgiving me becauseof the new interest in life my naughtiness had brought her. 

When I had finished up the tale with our dinner at the Savoy, and seeing"Milestones, " and then on top of all, having supper with Mrs. Jewitt andCaptain March at a terribly respectable but fascinating night club ofwhich he had been made a member, Diana didn't scold. She said thatCaptain March being an officer and a flying man made all the difference, but she hoped I would not have put myself into such a position with anyother sort of man, whether he mistook me for a child or not. Even as itwas, she wouldn't dare tell Father the history of my day: but, as theyhad made several American acquaintances lately, she could easily accountfor the Embassy invitation. 

"We'll go, of course, won't we?" I catechized her, knowing that her wordwith Father was pretty well law. 

"Yes, we'll go, " she answered. "I'll write an acceptance and send it byhand. "

I was so enchanted at this that I dashed up to my room and beganshortening the new dress. I had mentioned it vaguely to Di, but it wasthe one part of my story in which she took no interest. I saw how thekeenness died out of her beautiful sea-blue eyes, and how her soulretired comfortably behind them, to think of something else, just as yousee people walk away from windows through which they've been lookingout, leaving them emptily blank. As she didn't care what little Peggywore, little Peggy decided to give her a surprise at the last moment. Nothing much was said about the Embassy ball by Father or Di before me, on that day or the next, so I, too, kept my own counsel. I was afraid ifI gabbled as I longed to do, Father might take it into his head that thechild had better stop at home. All I heard was a little talk about thetime to start, and whether a taxi should be ordered or a coupé. Ithought there would be rather a squash in a coupé with Father, Diana, and me folded together in a sort of living sandwich; but I was so small, I could perhaps manage not to slide off the little flap seat with itsback to the horses. 

It was a coupé they finally decided on, and it was ordered for a quarterto ten. We had a short and early dinner, and as I did Diana's hair, itseemed to me that I had never seen her look prettier. I wondered whetherCaptain March would admire her very much, and I hoped for his ownsake--I almost believed it was for his own sake!--that he wouldn't fallin love. As I thought this, I looked with a new kind of criticism at Di, to judge whether he were likely to be one of her victims. 

Heaps of men had fallen in love with Di since I began to be old enoughto notice such things. They had never been the right sort of men, fromher point of view, for none of the lot had had a penny to bless himselfwith, or even a title worth the taking. But all of them had been worthflirting with; and after they had been dropped with more or less of adull thud, I'm afraid some of them had suffered. I didn't wish CaptainMarch to suffer, yet I couldn't help thinking that if I were a man Imight be as silly as the rest and go down before Di. 

She was then--and she is now--the most lovable looking thing that can beimagined. She doesn't appear to be cool and calculating, butwarm-hearted and gentle and soft, far more so than most of the girls onemeets, especially in London, where I think they have the air of beingrather hard: ready to sacrifice everything and everybody for the sake ofwhat they want to get or do. 

If you were going to paint a picture of Ireland, typified by a beautifulgirl, so that you might name your canvas "Dark Rosaleen, " you would givethe world to get Di for your model. She is tall, as a Diana ought to be, and slender though not thin. She gives the effect of fashionableslimness, yet she is all lovely curves and roundnesses. She has a longwhite throat with a charming upturned chin that has a deep cleft in themiddle. It's no exaggeration to say that her skin is as white as creamymilk; and on each cheek, just beneath the shadow under her eyes, is afaint pink stain, as if it had been tapped hard with a carnation, and alittle of the colour had come off. Perhaps, if her face has a fault, thenose is too short and flat, but it gives her a sweetly young andinnocent look, added to her eyes being set far apart. And the eyes arereally glorious: very big and long, with deep shadows under them onlypartly cast by her thick black lashes. A man once wrote a Valentineverse to Di, in which he remarked that her eyes were "like sapphiresgleaming blue where they had fallen among dark grasses"; and it wasn't abad comparison. The man died of taking too much veronal a year after. Nobody said he had done it on purpose. But I wondered. He was veryunhappy the day he said "Good-bye" to Ballyconal. I've never been ableto forget his look. 

Di's mouth is large, and a tiny bit greedy, but all the more fascinatingfor that, because it is so red and curved. Her forehead is rather high, really, but she makes it seem only a white line above her leveleyebrows, because of the way she likes best to wear her crinkly darkhair: parted in the middle, pushed forward and down, and banded in placeby a rope of hair from the back. 

That night for the ball at the American Embassy she had it fastened withbig, very green jade hairpins. From her little pink ears hung long loopsof emeralds (heirlooms in our family, or they would have been sold longago), and the gown she chose was the same shade of green: some verythin, soft stuff, with one of those new names dressmakers think of intheir dreams. It was simply made, and not very expensive; but in it Dilooked like a classic personification of Ireland at its loveliest, and Iwas sure that not the best-dressed girl in the room would be asexquisite as she. I told her this on an impulse, and she was pleased. Yet she sighed. Of course she couldn't help knowing, said she, that shewasn't bad looking. But Venus or Helen of Troy couldn't make a success, handicapped as she was. 

"It might be different in some other country, " she went on, more toherself than to me. "A country like America, where titles are more of anovelty, and everybody one meets doesn't remember all about one's poormother. "

"Now I must run and get ready, myself, " said I, when I had establishedconnection between Diana's most intricate hooks and eyes. 

"Get ready? For what, dear?"

"Why, for the ball, of course!" The first chill of suspicion that I hadbeen cast for the part of Cinderella crept through me, like acaterpillar walking inside my spine. 

"But, my _child_!" Di exclaimed. "You couldn't have thought you weregoing? Officially you are a little girl. You don't exist, and if youdid, you haven't a dress----"

"I have a dress. The one I bought with the money from the lace. I didn'tsay much, because I thought it would be fun to surprise you. "

"Well, I'm awfully sorry, dear, that you've been counting on it. I neverdreamed--you ought to have told me----"

"You said you'd accept for '_us_. '"

"I meant Father and me. It never crossed my mind that you----Too bad!But anyhow, it's too late now. Father would never consent. "

I might have retorted that she was the one person in the world who couldmake him consent to anything she wanted, but then, the truth was thatshe didn't want this thing. Diana had--and has--the manners of an angel;and strangers would think she was as easy to melt as sugar in the sun. But I, who have lived with her all the years of my life, know that thesugar is only on the surface. And I have learned what is underneath. Even then, I realized that Di had understood perfectly well from thefirst that I expected to go to the ball, and she had kept quiet in orderto have no more than one short, sharp fuss at the end. While it wasbeing borne in upon me that I was to stop at home, instead of going onarguing and "fishwifing" I shut up like a clam. I suppose it was a kindof obstinate pride, the sort of pride that makes condemned people notscream or throw themselves about on the way to execution. But whenFather and Di had gone, I cried--oh, how I cried! There was a kind ofwild pleasure in letting the sobs come, and feeling the hot tears spoutout of my eyes. In any clash between us, Di always won, because she was"grown up, " and I was a "little girl"; but the trick she had played onme this time roused my sense of its injustice, and with all my body andmind and soul I resolved to strengthen my soul against her. "Some day, "I said to myself, letting the tears dry on my cheeks as I listened to aspirit of prophecy, "some day there'll be a battle for life or deathbetween our characters, Di's and mine, and I'll save myself up to win_then_. "

It seemed weak, as if I were a whipped child, to creep off to bed, yet Icouldn't force myself to read, or do anything to turn my thoughts fromthe great injustice. At ten minutes to eleven I was making up my mindthat, after all, sleep would be the best consolation, when ourlodging-house landlady knocked. 

We had the "drawing-room floor, " up one flight of stairs from thestreet. Luckily I was still in the draw-dining-room--a fantasticapartment crowded with nouveau-art furniture all out of drawing, likedaddy longlegs--when the woman tapped and peeped in. If I had goneupstairs to my own top-floor room, I'm sure, being a prim person, shewould have considered it improper to summon me down, and I should havemissed a heavenly half hour. 

"A gentleman has called, Miss, and could he come up for five minutes?The name is Captain March. "

It was true! It was he! And he hadn't even met Diana yet. She had beendancing. But the hostess had introduced him to Father, and Captain Marchhad worked round to the subject of me. When he heard that I was "tooyoung for balls, " he just slipped out, took a taxi, and made a dash toChapel Street to tell me he was sorry. I was so grateful, I could havecried more than ever. It seemed to me one of the very nicest things aman ever did. He was in full-dress uniform, because an American officeris on his native heath when he's at his own Embassy; and I thought thathe looked adorable in uniform. 

He stayed half an hour instead of five minutes, and then said he must goback, and "do the right thing. " The right thing, which he didn'tparticularly want to do, was to dance with the girls who weren't bookedup to the eyes, and--to meet my sister. It was my first triumph to havea man--and such a man--put me in front of Diana. I was thrilled by it, though I ought to have had sense enough to know what would happen. 

Eagle March (he told me that night to call him Eagle) did go back to theball, and did meet Diana. I heard about it next morning when I took inher breakfast: how he had asked Father if he might be introduced, and Dihad liked him so much that she found a dance to give him, althougheverything was engaged by the time he arrived; how an American girl whoknew him at home said that he had a rich aunt who might leave him "awhole heap of money" some day (the aunt of the lace, I said to myself);and how Father had consented to take Diana and me to Hendon, to seeCaptain March's monoplane in its hangar. 

"I managed that for you, dear, to make up for your disappointment lastnight, and because you're really a good, useful little flap of aflapper, " Di finished. "Once we're at Hendon, I'm sure Father can becoaxed to let us go up for just a short flight, though he thinks nowthat nothing could induce him to. Captain March has promised that Ishall be his first woman passenger. Never has he taken a woman with himyet. "

I only gasped inaudibly, and bit a little piece off my heart. Of courseI guessed then what must have happened; and when Eagle came thatafternoon, I _knew_. I was for him a nice child still--a "good, usefullittle flapper, " as Di said, and he was my friend as before; but Dianahad lit up the world for him. He could hardly take his eyes off her. When she spoke, even at a distance, he heard every word, and nothingthat any one else said. 

"Why didn't you tell me your sister was such a wonderful beauty?" hemumbled as he was saying good-bye. 

Old people, and even middle-aged people over twenty-five, must haveforgotten how it can hurt when you are sixteen to be in love with someone who loves somebody else; for neither in books nor in real life dothese worn-out persons ever take such a thing seriously. But I shallnever cease to remember how it feels: like having to keep smiling whilea bullet is probed for in your heart, not probed for only once, andfinished for good, but prodded and poked at every minute of every hour, day after day, week after week, month after month. How can you tellwhether or no it's going to be year after year as well, till all the redblood of your youth and hope has slowly been drained away?

CHAPTER IV

Neither Diana nor I had ever been at Hendon. Captain March sent a motorcar for us, and I saw Father and Di were both impressed by this. Theythought he must have money (as all proper Americans have, according totheir idea) apart from his future expectations. What _I_ thought was, that having fallen in love with Di, nothing but a motor car could begood enough for a goddess, and--hang the expense!

Di, who was invited sometimes for a spin in friends' automobiles, had afetching motor get-up which, eked out with one of those horrificheadpieces flying people wear, could be used for a short flight. I hadnothing of the sort, but Di offered to lend me her lined coat. Afterall, she owed the expedition and the airman to me. 

It was a hired car, but, in Father's opinion, a dashed decent one. Itflashed us out past the Marble Arch, straight along the Edgware Road, tothe Flying Ground, which, even two years ago, was the favourite resortof fashion, especially female fashion. I had often wondered what itmight be like out there, and was rather disappointed to see only somelarge flat fields close to the highroad, with a long line of low, uninteresting sheds ranged side by side. It did seem as if airmen, whomust be brimming like full cups with wine of romance and imagination, ought to have invented sightlier houses for their beloved machines. Butthe very thought that the ugly huts were hangars gave a thrill. CaptainMarch was to meet us at Hendon, but we didn't see him at first. As wearrived, an aeroplane went up, and a monoplane was circling theenclosure, giving sudden dips at fearfully steep angles as it took theturns, righting itself like a lazy, long-tailed eagle with far-spreadwings as it came again into the straight. Captain March's hiredchauffeur, who had been told exactly what to do, ran the car up a shortroad on the right, and stopped. 

"That's the captain's hangar, my lord, " said he to Father, pointing to ashed near which we had halted; and his arm hadn't time to drop beforethe man-made bird, which had been circling round, planed down and glidedin at the wide-open door like a homing pigeon into a pigeon house. 

It was beautifully managed, and so dramatic that it was like the climaxof an act on the stage. Perhaps Captain March had been performing somefeat before we came; anyhow, as he brought his monoplane to rest a lotof people standing about applauded him. In a minute he came almostrunning out of the shed straight toward us, in his leather clothes andleather helmet, with goggles pushed up to the top of his head. Insteadof being proud of what he had done, whatever it was, he apologizedabjectly for "being late, " and I could see that Di was vain of herconquest. Lots of women were there, staring enviously at the pretty girlwho knew a real, live airman--evidently, too, one of the popular ones;and Di loves to be envied. I'm afraid we all do, in the secret places ofour hearts which we don't like to peer into, under the dust. 

One thing about Di, which makes men adore her, is that she contrives toseem exquisitely sympathetic and enthusiastic without ever gushing. It'spartly the shape of her eyes and the shortness of her upper lip, whichcombine together to give a lovely, rapt, brooding expression, that savesher the trouble of thinking up adjectives. With this look on, sheappeals to all the love of romance and adventure in their hearts, I'msure. They would do anything to win it for themselves. I would myself ifI were a man, and didn't know her; so when Captain March took us intohis hangar, and she turned on the look, I didn't blame him forforgetting the very existence of his small pal. It only made me sad. 

"I thought I'd better take the _Golden Eagle_ up for a short run, andtest her before you came, to see that she was all right, " he was stillapologizing. "Then she behaved so well, I got going, and stayed uplonger than I meant. But I saw the car stop, so I hurried down. "

"I should think you did 'hurry down!'" laughed Diana. "The way you aimedat your hangar from far up in the sky, and shot in, was like a marksmanaiming at the bull's-eye on a target, and getting it. What do you call'testing' your monoplane? What had you been doing to make all thosepeople applaud?"

"Oh, only a little upside-down flying, " said Captain March, as he mighthave said "only a little breathing exercise. " "You see, I make stabilitytests. That's what I'm _for_. And with my appliances, being upsidedown's no more to me than it is to a fly when he walks on the ceiling. "

Di's eyes said, "You hero! you splendid, modest hero!"--said it soplainly that the hero faintly blushed, though it was hard to trace ablush on his face, burnt red-brown by sun and wind. My eyes said nothingat all, but if they had recited a whole page of Shakespeare's sonnets hewould have been none the wiser. 

He led us into the hangar, where two fascinatingly smudged mechanicswere in attendance on the magic bird; and he remembered to be nice andrespectful to Father. Explanations of the mechanism were ostensiblyaddressed to our parent, but in reality all the eloquence was for Di, whose eyes poured forth appreciative intelligence as stars pour forthrays. Captain March couldn't be expected to know, poor fellow, that Di, if obliged to choose between two deadly dull evils, would rather hear acook tell how to boil potatoes than listen to any mechanical talk. However, it wasn't really needful to listen, if one's eyes were welltrained; and Di was having the "time of her life" in meeting an airman. 

Even I could see that this monoplane, fitted with Captain March'sinventions, was a different looking creature from the other birdmachines which were shooting up into the air, or darting back into theirdens, all around us. The _Golden Eagle's_ quiet, graceful wings, insteadof being in a straight line with each other, were set at an obtuse angleone from another; and on the end of each were odd little extratriangular tips, hinged to the main wings. I longed to pour outquestions, for the "why" of things, especially mechanical things, hasinterested me ever since I was old enough to pick a doll to pieces, tosee what made its eyes open and shut. But Di was asking idioticquestions in the sweetest way, and Captain March was laughing anddelighted. It pleased him a great deal more that she should want to knowprecisely why he had named his monoplane the _Golden Eagle_ than ifFather or I had catechized him with the trained intelligence of ascientist. 

"I've been unoriginal enough, I'm afraid, to name my big baby aftermyself, " he said, "my nickname being Eagle. The golden eagle, you know, is our national bird. "

"So her hangar is 'The Eagle's Nest, '" said Di. "That's awfully nice. But why not name her instead the _Winged Victory_?"

"Wouldn't it be rather conceited?"

"Not after what she's already done, and shown that she can do. It'sconceited of me to suggest it, though, for--for the _Winged Victory_ isa sort of a nickname of _mine_ since a fancy dress ball at the beginningof the season. "

"It suits you exactly, " said Captain March. "If Lord Ballyconal will letyou be my first lady passenger, and if, after she's given you a run, youthink her worthy, she shall be renamed the _Winged Victory_, providedyou'll baptize her. "

"Oh, Bally, dear, you will let me go, won't you?" Di pleaded, using herpet name for Father, which he likes because it sounds young andunparental. Then catching a bleak gleam in my eyes, she hastily added:"And afterward Peggy, if Captain March will take her up. "

Father hesitated, but the newspapers and people at the Embassy ball whoknew all about Eagle March had spoken so highly of the machine, that itseemed an insult to a famous airman's skill to refuse. The two mechanicswheeled the monoplane out of the shed, and Captain March explained howeasy and safe he could make things for a passenger. Lots of men had beenup with him, but he had never asked a woman. "Only a short flight, I'lltake her, " he almost pleaded. "I can give her a helmet. Perhaps you'drather go first yourself, though, and see what it's like. "

Father may not have had a particularly good time on earth, but anyhow, he preferred it to atmospheric effects. He said that he had no head forheights, but if Di and Peggy wanted to go, and Captain March was kindenough to take them--er--up, a tiny way into the--er--air, he supposedthat in these days he ought not to offer any objections. 

Captain March had the spare helmet ready (it looked so new and smart, Ifelt sure he had bought it for the occasion), and nothing stood betweenDiana the Huntress and her quarry--nothing except her own changing mood. I think it was the look of the helmet which gave her that sinkingfeeling of irrevocability which seems to sever you, as with a sword, from all the dear little safe things that have made up your life in thepast. She glanced from the helmet which the airman held toward her tothe monoplane spread-eagling on the ground. I saw her big eyes dilate asthey fixed themselves anxiously on the passenger's perch, to which thehonoured guest must climb, above the conductor's seat, crawling throughthe wire stays, or whatever you call them, which were like a spider'sweb inviting a fly. Diana turned pale. Even her lips were white. Theshadows under her eyes darkened as if she were ill. 

"You're--you're sure it's safe?" she faltered. 

"Safe as a house. Safer than a _jerry_-built house, " Captain Marchassured her cheeringly. "Look at these!" and he pointed out again allthe features of his invention that made the automatic stability of themachine. "But if you----"

"Oh! I'm not afraid, " quavered Di, her eyes roving in an agonized wayover the crowd collecting to see the lovely girl taken up into the skyby the brave airman. "It isn't that. Only--it won't make me seasick, will it?"

"I've never had a passenger seasick, " said Eagle. 

"And--you won't turn upside down, will you?"

"Of course not!"

"Well, then, I--I'll go. "

On with the condemned cap!--I mean the leather helmet. Diana's palingbeauty was blotted out. Wrapped in her fur-lined cloak, she wastrembling all over. Her hands, which she held confidingly out for thethick mittens Captain March had got for her, shook like the last leaveson a frozen tree. 

"Think you're fit for it, Di?" Father asked anxiously. 

"Yes, indeed!" came hissing through the helmet. But I felt it was onlythe tonic of other women's envy which was keeping her up. I was envyingher, too. 

Captain March helped Di scramble into her perch. His hand was steady andstrong. All his life and skill and manhood were for her. She wastenderly yet firmly strapped into place, and told how she was to holdon, and not to be afraid. There would be some noise, but she mustn'tmind; and there was the little apparatus Captain March had invented, bywhich a passenger could communicate with the conductor. It was somethinglike the bulb you squeeze in a motor car when you want the chauffeur toturn right or left or stop. 

"Press once if you're sick of it, and want to come down, " said Eagle. "Twice if you want to go higher. There's a whistle close to my ear, sosharp it cuts through the motor noise. "

My heart beat almost as fast as if I were in the monoplane myself whenEagle was ready to start, looking like a twentieth-century, leather-masked Apollo starting out to drive his sun chariot up to thezenith and down the other side. The motor purred, and the propellerbegan to revolve. Diana, tense as a stretched violin string, was hangingon already, like grim death. The two mechanics held the tail of theimpatient giant bird, and when Eagle raised one hand, they let go. Forperhaps fifty yards the _Golden Eagle_ ran lightly over the turf on herbicycle wheels; then her master tilted the planes, and his namesakesoared upward from the ground into the air. 

As she went, through the noise she made I heard a shriek from thepassenger. Diana's pride, which denied cowardice in the joy of beingenvied, was forgotten in the primitive emotion of fear. What my sisterdid I could not see, as the monoplane mounted so quickly; but almost atonce I realized that she must have signalled her wish to descend, forthe _Eagle_ ceased to soar, dropped, and began gently gliding down. Amoment later the great winged form was landing once more close to itsown shed. 

Father rushed to the rescue of his darling, and Captain March--out ofhis seat in a second--was unfastening the straps and anxiouslyextricating Diana from the passenger's perch. I couldn't help feelingashamed before all the people--scornful or sympathetic, who were lookingon--that my sister had shown herself a coward; but I was sorry for her, too. She had quite collapsed, and lay in Father's arms as Captain Marchunfastened her helmet. I wasn't mean enough to think of rejoicingbecause, in taking my place away, she had been tried and found wanting. Instead, I found myself really afraid that Captain March might despisethe poor girl for the timidity which humiliated him as well as her. ButI need not have worried. Pulling off the helmet in that clumsy way a manhas with any sort of headgear, the wheel of braided hair Diana wore, wound over each ear in the Eastern fashion that came from "Kismet, " wasloosened, and a thick plait with an engaging wave at the end fell downon either side of her face. Standing, but supported in Father's arms, her head lay on his shoulder, her eyes closed, long curling lashesresting on marble cheeks. I had never seen her half so beautiful, andCaptain March gazed at her as if he would gladly give his life for areassuring smile. 

"Shall I fetch a doctor?" he asked miserably. "There's sure to be one, somewhere around. "

Before Father could answer, Di opened her eyes, and Captain March gotthe smile without paying the price. 

"I--I'm all right, " she breathed. "So sorry! I wasn't afraid, you know. It was my _heart_. It seemed to stop. "

"Of course you weren't afraid, " Eagle encouraged her. "I can neverforgive myself for making you suffer. "

Diana's smile graciously forgave the brutal fellow for his blundering, and she extricated herself from Father's arms, the colour slowlystealing back to her lips and cheeks. She shook her head a little, andthe two braids, stuck full of tiny tortoise-shell hairpins, tumbled overher breast. Captain March nearly ate her up with his eyes, and then, through their windows, his soul might be seen worshipping, and beggingthe goddess's pardon on its knees. 

"She's not strong, " Father apologized. "It's my fault for letting her goup; I ought to have remembered her heart. "

It's a great asset, a weak heart, for a person who has just made anexhibition of cowardice. Like charity, it covers a multitude of sins. I'd never before heard of Di's heart being weak; and at home, if therewere a ball anywhere within twenty miles, she could always dance at ittill morning. However, I was glad she'd thought of her heart in time, and saved the situation. It was an accommodating heart, for it came upsmiling, when the petting Di got had satisfied her that she wasn't to beblamed for the fiasco. 

"I think flying must be a wonderful experience for any one whose heartis quite right, " she consoled Captain March. "It's a pity, for thecredit of the family, you didn't take Peggy up first. "

"I suppose she won't feel like going, after what has happened to you?"said he, remembering my existence. 

"Oh, I do feel like it, more than ever, " I exclaimed, "that is, if youdon't mind risking another of us. "

"I don't think we'd better trouble Captain March again, " Father cut in. "He wouldn't like a second failure. "

"He won't have one, " I said. "My heart is as strong as a Gnome motor. Dolet me go. It will give Di time to rest. "

Whether that argument decided Father, or whether he really did hope Imight reestablish the family credit for courage, I don't know; anyway, he made no further objections. The fur-lined cloak, helmet, and mittenswere handed over to me. I crawled through the spider's web to the tinythrone vacated by its late queen, and was strapped in as Di had been. Not one qualm did I feel as I looked down over Eagle's leather-cladshoulder at the various instruments fixed on to what in an aeroplanecorresponds, I suppose, to the dashboard of an earth-bound automobile:the revolution gauge, which Eagle had explained to us; the watch; themap to roll up on a frame, like a blind; the compass, the heightindicator. I felt secure and happy in the thought that my courage wouldat least make my captain respect me. He had shown us how his inventionenabled the monoplane to balance itself in meeting every gust of wind, or falling into an "air pocket, " without any effort from the conductor. That assurance hadn't been enough for Di, Winged Victory, Goddess, andHuntress, but it was enough for humble Peggy. Besides, in the mood whichhad swept over me like a blinding flame of white fire, I didn't carewhat happened, provided it happened to Eagle March and me together. Ishould have liked him to aim straight for the sun, and never to comedown again. 

The last thing I said before we started was, "Go as high, please, as youwould if you were alone. If I press the bulb, it will be twice, to flyhigher. "

Then came the starting of the motor, the wheeled run, and the leap intoair. As we took wing, I could have sung for joy. I was so gloriouslyexcited, I was hardly conscious of the noise of the engine. Thathelmeted head and the firm leather-clad shoulders beneath me seemed thehead and shoulders of a god. 

We circled over the enclosure. The _Golden Eagle_ hadn't risen very highyet, but I had a queer feeling of being no longer related to any one onearth. I was with my champion, a creature of another sphere. Intoxicatedwith joy, I pressed the bulb twice. I could not hear the shrill whistle, but the driver evidently heard, for in obedience we shot up--up--up! Theheight indicator showed that we had reached the height of five hundredfeet. I pressed the bulb again twice over. Eagle began to steer themonoplane in immense circles. I felt I could almost see ourcorkscrew-track in the air, like twisted threads of gold on blue. Thehangars in the fields of Hendon were toy sheds on a green-painted tray. Even the aerodrome was no more than a big rat trap. London spread itselfout beneath us, a vast dark patch, like a fallen cloud. A shaft ofsunlight set a golden dome on fire. It must have been St. Paul's. Forthe third time I gave the signal to mount. For the third time Eagleobeyed. I wondered if he liked me a little for sharing the confidence hehad in his machine. 

A few white clouds floated lazily beneath us, like snowy birds of anintolerable brightness and titanic size. Then they joined together in aglittering flock, and lost the semblance of birds. The mass became asparkling silver sea, with here and there a dark gulf in it like awhirlpool. The air grew biting cold. I felt it press on me through thefur-lined coat Di had lent, like blocks of solid ice. But the strangesensation only exhilarated me the more. "I'm not a coward, I'm not acoward. I'm brave!" The words sang themselves in my head to theaccompanying roar of the motor. 

It was a glorious, dependable roar, but suddenly, in the midst of aspiral movement, I noticed a change in the sound. A gurgle--a chokingstammer. A spray of petrol dashed across my goggles. 

"Now--what?" The question asked itself in my soul. But there was no fearwith it, only an awed realization that this might be the end of things, as I had known them, in a very little world low down and far away. "Whatdoes it matter?" the answer came. But Eagle had turned round in hisseat, and was handing me a spanner. Now he was motioning to me. If hespoke, I couldn't hear a word. Yet I understood from the gestures of onemittened hand what he hoped I might be able to do. Somehow, even then, the driving force of thought in my brain was to please him, to show himthat he hadn't relied on me in vain, rather than to save us both fromthreatening danger, though danger I saw there must be. I was determinedthat the corporal should not fail the captain. 

The thing I had to do, as I seized the situation, was to turn thespanner on a loosened nut in the petrol pipe, to which Eagle pointed. Reaching up with my right hand, I steadied myself with the left, andtouched something hot, horribly hot. There was an involuntary flinch ofthe nerves as the heat burned through the thick mittens I wore andscorched my fingers, but I didn't scream, I'm glad to say, or let go thespanner. I screwed and screwed at the union, with the nasty smell ofburnt wool, and perhaps flesh, in my nostrils. Then there came theglorious sensation of success as the song of the motor took up its oldrefrain again. No more choking and spluttering, and it was I who hadcured it. 

I gave a little sob of thanksgiving, because I hadn't failed; and avoice seemed to whisper far, far down under the renewed song of theengine, "What if this is a prophecy? What if, after Diana has left himin the lurch, it should be given to _you_ to atone--to help or save himin some danger?"

The little voice was so strong, so clear, that I thrilled all over. Whatit said seemed to become part of an experience which I could neverforget. 

CHAPTER V

In the remaining six weeks of his leave, Eagle March made himself verypopular in England. He secured a record for altitude, and flew upsidedown longer than any one else had at that time, two years ago, which isa whole age in the aeroplane world. He did other quaint tricks, too, that nobody had thought of or accomplished then, such as walking on awing of the monoplane when she was in the air; and all the prettiest andsmartest women in London were proud to meet him. He was invitedeverywhere, and people who pretended to know said that peeresses, married and unmarried, made violent love to Captain March. Naturally agirl like Di was enchanted to lead him about, tied to what would havebeen her apron strings if she'd been frumpish enough to wear suchthings. When it began to be said that Eagle March found excuses not toaccept invitations unless Lord Ballyconal and Lady Di O'Malley might beexpected to turn up, Father and Diana were asked by a great manyhostesses who wouldn't have thought of them except as bait. Di realizedthis, even if Father were too proud or too conceited to do so, and sheused Eagle in every way, for all he was worth. She liked him, too, better than she'd ever liked any man, perhaps, except her firstlove--the handsomest Irish boy you ever saw, whom she couldn't think ofmarrying because he'd no family and no money. But she was only seventeenthen and Jerry Taylor was a mere subaltern. He died in India of entericwhen Di was eighteen; and before Captain March came on the scene she hadliked and flirted with at least a dozen others. 

Besides, Eagle March was a very different "proposition, " as they say inhis country, from poor Jerry Taylor. There was no reason why sheshouldn't think of marrying him if he wanted her, and he did want herdesperately. A moderately intelligent bat could have seen that he wasdying for my lovely sister. Anyhow, _she_ saw it, and I saw that she sawit, and that she was troubled as to which way to make up her mind. Shedidn't want to lose her golden eagle, with his brilliant plumage of fameand popularity, and the future fortune from his aunt. On the other hand, through Eagle, Di had met a number of desirable men, some moneyed, sometitled; and she was a girl who would rather marry a rich nobody of thecountry she had known, than fly with a hero to a land she knew not. Iused to notice in her soft, thoughtful eyes the "wait and see" policy. 

As the time drew near for Eagle to go back to his regiment on the otherside of the world, things grew exciting. I felt electricity in theatmosphere, though Diana didn't confide in me, and I had no idea whatshe meant to do. I couldn't bear to think of Eagle having to suffer, ashe must suffer if she threw him over, for already I knew enough of himto know that, quiet as he was, he had very deep and sensitive feelings. I am too young, even now, after all I have lived through in the lastyear or two, to set myself up as a judge of character; yet I couldn'tthen help forming my own opinion of all those who came near me. I seemedto see under Eagle March's simple, half-humorous, calmly deliberatemanner, flashes of inner fire. I thought his character was not reallysimple at all, but very complex. I don't mean in a deceitful way, farindeed from that; but I believed there was much in him which he did notyet know himself, about himself. I fancied that the Southern blood hehad in his veins from one side of his family had made him high-strungand passionate, as well as daring, quick to think, and quick to act; andthat his study was to hold this side of his nature in check. I felt surethat he was generous even to a fault, yet I was certain that, if drivento desperation, there might be a cruel streak which would make him adangerous enemy unless some tide of love broke down the barrier ofhardness in his soul. He was not hard at that time, however, and Ididn't want my sister to be the one to make him so. 

For this reason, I sometimes wished that she would marry him, and givehim as much happiness as she had it in her to give. And yet, apart frommy own feelings (they didn't count, for his losing Di would not give himto me), I couldn't believe that having her would really be for hishappiness in the end. The two hadn't one idea or taste in common. Butall I could do was to hope that, whatever happened, it would be for_his_ best; because, you see, knowing him, and having that chevron ofblack and gold as a "reward of valour, " had made me a nicer, lessselfish girl than I had been before we met. Because I loved a soldier, Iwanted to be a soldier, too! Hardly anything of the pert minx remainedin me, I used to think sometimes, and comparatively little of the pig orcat. This was fortunate, because, when toward the last he confided inme, everything bad that was left in my composition longed to turn andrend Diana. 

The way he did this made it all the harder for me not to desert thecolours. He told me that ever since the day when I had been "such alittle trump in the air, and maybe saved both our lives, " I'd been moreto him than any other female thing, except, of course, my sister. Something in Diana's weakness had appealed to him as much as mystrength; and he loved her with a different love from the affection hegave me. I was his little sister, his brave little friend, and because Iwas so dear to him, he dared to ask me what chance he had with Diana. Did I think she tried to keep him from telling her what he felt, becauseshe didn't care and wanted to save him pain, or was there just apossibility that she was only shy?

I could have given a bitter laugh to both questions, because thetruthful, straight-out answer to one and the other was the same: "No!"Di loved to get proposals, and counted them up as if they were scalps, or those horrid little soft, boneless masks which head hunters collect. The only trouble was, that among the lot, she had never had one scalpworth the wearing, for a real live beauty, who needed only a bit of luckto be at the top of the world. As for her shyness, it was all in thetricks she played with her eyelashes and the way she curved her upperlip. 

But I didn't laugh. I merely said I wasn't sure how Diana felt, as shenever talked to me about such things. And I got for answer, spokenreflectively: "I suppose not. You're too much of a child. "

He knew by this time that I was sixteen, instead of thirteen as he hadthought at first; but what you're not much interested in makes littleimpression on your mind if you're a man and in love. For him I was achild, a nice sympathetic child. And such affection as he gave me, Ilived upon, as if it had been the washings from a cup of the elixir oflife. 

For his sake, I studied Di more closely than ever, after that day, andsoon I understood what she was driving at. She wanted to have her cakeand eat it, too. And she got it. Any girl can manage this, if she isclever enough; and Di, though she isn't bookish or intellectual, isvery, very clever in the way women have been clever since they emergedfrom cave life. 

She succeeded in keeping back a real proposal which she would have hadto answer with a "yes" or "no"; but she hinted to Captain March that, ifshe could have just a little more time to think about it, with theglamour of his presence gone, she would probably realize that shecouldn't be happy without him. Of course it would be a blow for poor, dear Bally if she married out of Ireland or England, but still--butstill--only give her time to read her heart. 

Eagle told me something of the scene between them, and of course, I sawexactly what Di was up to: but I caged all the wild cats in me, and saidI was glad, if _he_ were happy. Yes, indeed, I'd take care of Di forhim, and write him how she looked and what she did, and use all myinfluence to make Father escort us both over to America as soon aspossible. Di, it seemed, had also agreed to use her influence inbringing this result about. I couldn't tell at the time whether she hadthrown the promise as a sop to keep Eagle quiet, or whether she reallythought that she would like to go. All I knew was that, if she did useher influence--and Father could get hold of enough money--the thing wasas good as done. 

Eagle took his departure; and we, and lots of his new friends, went toEuston to see him off for Liverpool, Di, no doubt, secretly thinkingthat sort of public "good-bye" safer than a private one. As for ourgoing to America, the scheme hung by a thread, as I guessed soon afterEagle's back was turned. A bird in the hand is always worth at least twoin the bush, and Di's hand was ready. If the right bird could be palmedbefore the season's end, it would mean that nothing of Di except herwedding cards would sail across the sea. But as it turned out, homebirds were wary, and we crept back to Ireland in time for the horse showwith Diana empty handed, and Father with pockets cleaned out. It wasthen that Di seriously set her thoughts upon the new world--new worlds, it is said, being easier to conquer than old ones. 

Father had two or three acquaintances in the diplomatic service atWashington. He hoped to squeeze invitations out of them; for in acountry entirely populated by monotonous Misters and Mrs-es, withnothing more decorative than a colonel or a general or a judge, even apoor Irish earl isn't to be sneezed at. Di needn't be handicapped byevery one remembering that her mother would have described herself as a"music 'all h'artist"; and several Americans living in New York hadasked us to their houses. 

At first it wasn't proposed to take me if the family went, and thethought of going through again what I had endured when seeing Di andEagle March together, kept me from raising my voice in persuasion. Itwould be heartwearing to be left behind, never to know what washappening except from an occasional letter; but to be on the spot andsee for myself would be heartbreaking. I wasn't quite sure which wouldbe worse, so I left the decision to Fate; and as I said before, it wasmy Frenchified genius for doing hair which settled the matter. Didiscussed it with Father frankly before me, and argued that not only wasI cleverer than the average maid, but actually cheaper. "Besides, " shefinished, "Peggy dear would like to go, and she's not a bad littlething. Who knows but she might pick up something over there forherself?"

"A picker up of unconsidered trifles!" the scotched, not killed minx inme couldn't resist quoting, at the suggestion that I was welcome to Di'sleavings if I could bag them. But neither Father nor Di was paying theslightest attention. 

By superhuman efforts in borrowing, and perhaps begging (I wouldn't "putit past him"), and selling the portrait of our best-looking, worst-behaved ancestor, Father scraped up enough money to take us toAmerica and have a little over for travelling expenses there. Furtherthan that he did not look, for we should be living board free most ofthe time; and besides, something was almost sure to turn up. In Decemberwe sailed on a slow, cheap ship; and once on the other side, lived forsix weeks, like the lord and ladies we were, upon friends Di hadcarefully collected, as if they were rare foreign stamps or postcards, in London during the past season. Most of these she had met throughEagle. She had a gorgeous time, and even I came in for plenty of fun;because it seems that a girl in America ceases to "flap" while she isstill quite young. I was strictly reduced by my elders to "justsixteen, " although my seventeenth birthday was upon me; but there weremen in New York not above talking or tangoing with a girl of sixteen, and my hair, though only looped up flapper fashion, with a ribbon, wasactually admired. I saw it in the newspapers--not the hair, but theadmiration. 

Never were people so hospitable as those kind ones in New York, andnever were houses more beautiful or more luxurious than theirs. I hadnever seen anything quite like them at home: but it wasn't the luxurythat stirred in my heart a wondering love for America. I began to feelit from the very moment when our cheap liner brought us into theharbour, and the Statue of Liberty (about which Eagle had told me) wassuddenly unveiled to my eyes from behind a curtain of silver mist. Thethrill warmed my blood, and I had the sensation of being at home, as ifI were coming to stay with kinsfolk; a dim but deep conviction, that I_belonged_; that there was a place for me. 

We were doing something from morning till night--or rather till the nextmorning; and the air was like a tonic to keep us up to the work of play. Luncheons and dinners and dances were given for Di, and she was writtenand talked about as the "Beautiful Lady Diana O'Malley"; but, though shehad proposals, nothing better offered than Captain March, whose richaunt, Mrs. Cabot, lived in New York, and proved to be the genuinearticle. Consequently, we turned our attention to Washington. Washingtonalso turned its attention to us, and made itself agreeable to Father andDiana. Place and people were both fascinating; and we had five weeksmore of dinners and dances, without the result we all knew in our secretsouls we had come to get. The men who wanted Di, she didn't want, andvice versa. So at length we came to the last item marked on ourprogramme: a visit to the fashionable Alvarado Springs, close to FortAlvarado, in Arizona, where Captain March was stationed. 

It was the end of March when we arrived at Alvarado, and the newspaperswere thickly sprinkled with the name of the Mexican President Huerta, printed in big, black letters. A few weeks ago the name would have meantnothing to me, but I hadn't lived in vain in Washington for more than amonth. If the name of a Mexican president or general who had doneanything conspicuous during the past six years had been suddenly flungat my head (as in the children's game where they shout "Beast, Bird, Fish!" and you answer before the count of three), I could have told whohe was, and whether the conspicuous deed had been good or bad. 

At Alvarado we had thought to be past invitation zone, and Father hadbeen fearfully hoarding his resources at the expense of his friends, tohold out against high charges at a big hotel. There was said to be avery big one indeed, at the Springs, with bills to match; but at theeleventh hour one of Father's devoted band of rich widows (the widowsthoughtfully provided for him by deceased financiers) took a furnishedcottage there and asked us to visit her. She was an unusually nicewidow, whose husband had made a fortune through inventing gollywogs withdifferent eyes from other gollywogs. The strain had given him a weakheart, and he had died. The widow's name was Mrs. Main, and Dishamelessly christened her the "Main Chance. " She certainly _was_ ours!

Mrs. Main, whom we'd met in New York, dashed off to Alvarado Springs afortnight ahead of us, in time to get acquainted through letters ofintroduction with the highest-up officers at Fort Alvarado, and thewives of those who had any; also to put the furnished "cottage, " as shecalled it (there must have been fifteen or twenty rooms), in order; andthe night we arrived, after our long but utterly fascinating journey, she gave a dinner in honour of Father and Diana. 

I had been tremendously interested in the whole trip from Washington toArizona, and with the first glimpse I had of the romantic Springs I felta thrilling sensation that it was a place where things were bound tohappen. The hotel, as all who have heard of Alvarado must know, standsin the midst of a young forest, overlooking a canon that for colour islike a vast cup full of rainbows, and beyond the forest to the left isthe garrison. From the higher stories of the hotel you can see the redroofs of the officers' quarters, and farther away the barracks and thebig, bare drill ground, but from the wide verandas no houses areanywhere visible, except the colony of cottages built in Spanish fashionlike the hotel itself, each having its own little garden with a floweryhedge. From the glorified cottage Mrs. Main had taken we could walk upto a dance at the hotel in five minutes. 

I think Eagle would have liked to meet us at the railway station, but Dihad plenty of excuses for not allowing that. He had met Mrs. Main, however, and in the afternoon he called. Father was out prospering roundthe little town, and visiting the smart club at which he had been put upas an honorary member. Di and our hostess (she made us call her Kitty, asprightly name to which she struggled to live up to) were in the gardenwhen Eagle came, but I happened to be in the drawing-room with a book, so I had about five minutes alone with him before Mrs. Main's blackbutler found the others. 

I hadn't tried, as a well-regulated young girl would no doubt havetried, to "get over" being in love with Captain March. I had just simplysaid to myself that the kind of unhappiness which loving him made mesuffer was better than any little wretched pretence at half-bakedhappiness I could hope for by putting him out of my mind. So I hadbasked in the painful luxury of thinking about him constantly, anddreaming dreams of how I might serve or sacrifice myself for him, andwin his passionate gratitude. Consequently, when I raised my eyes fromthe Spanish novel I wanted to translate, and saw Eagle March come in atthe door, I loved him a thousand times more than ever. I don't know ifan unprejudiced person would call him actually handsome; but I thoughtthere couldn't be on earth a man worth comparing with that brown-facedsoldier. 

He was glad to meet his "dear little pal" again, because of what hecould get out of her about his loved one. He did hold back his eagernesslong enough to rattle off, "Why, Peggy, you're growing up! By Jove, you're almost a woman, aren't you? and a pretty one, too--though you'vekept your impish look, I'm glad to see!" But that was only the preface. As soon as he decently could, he turned the conversation to Diana. Howwas she? As beautiful as ever? Though of course she was! Did she everspeak of him? He'd passed sleepless nights after reading newspaperparagraphs which reported her on the eve of an engagement with this manor that--disgustingly rich, overfed brutes. Was there a grain of truthin any of the reports? No? Thank heaven! Well, then, perhaps there was asporting chance for him after all!

"But, just like my luck, " he went on, half laughing, "there'sa chap here who's as formidable as any of them. A regulartwelve-and-a-half-inch gun, latest make and improvements; his name'sVandyke; only a major; all the same he's got a pot of money. There'shardly a man in the army as rich as he is, if there's one. Soldieringmeans only fun for him. Most of us here are like me; or if they don'tcome from generations of soldiers as I do, they're in the service for acareer. Vandyke will probably resign if he gets bored. He's dining atthis house to-night. Notice him, and tell me what you think of himafterward, will you?"

"You're coming, too, aren't you?" I asked. "Mrs. Main--Kitty--said youwere, and I was so glad. "

"I should say I was coming!" he exclaimed. "Catch me giving Vandyke aclear field at the start, if he _is_ my superior officer! You see, Vandyke----"

But on the name, as if it were her cue, Diana floated in, and Mrs. Mainsteamed in with her, through one of the long windows which opened on tothe veranda. After that I ceased to exist. 

Di wore white that night for the dinner party. A good deal of whatFather was saving in hotel bills he put into clothes for her. It was anew dress, and sparkled all over like a moonlit lily crusted with dew. Ihad a fancy to put on the frock with roses on it, which I'd bought atSelfridge's so many months ago, with the money paid me by Eagle for mymother's lace. The dress was still alive, and on active service (thoughthe roses began to look somewhat sat upon); and Eagle had never seen mein it. Not that he would notice me now! But I had a queer feeling ofsentiment about the gown, and often I had told myself that never, neverwould I throw it away. I should have had a much queerer feeling if I'dknown all that was yet to come of my first meeting with Eagle March inthe Wardour Street curiosity shop. 

Kitty Main had explained that it wasn't to be a big, tiresome dinner onour first night: merely a few people she thought dear Lord Ballyconaland Lady Di would like to meet, and "who would love to know them--littlePeggy, too, of course!"--with a belated gasp of politeness for me. 

There would be, besides ourselves, only Mr. And Mrs. Tony Dalziel of NewYork; their pretty daughter, Millicent, just out; their son, LieutenantDalziel--"Tony, " too; Major Vandyke; and Captain March, who was alreadyour friend. 

The gossips did suggest, Kitty had gone on to hint, that MillicentDalziel was rather throwing herself at Captain March's head (if anheiress could be said to throw herself at the head of a poor man); butof course, Milly wouldn't have a look in now, if dear Lady Di had anyattention to spare for Eagleston March. Di, however, was to be taken into dinner by Major Vandyke, and Millicent Dalziel by Captain March. Itwasn't probable that Milly would give him much chance for talk with LadyDi, although he was to sit beside her. "Good little Peggy" would haveyoung Tony, so nice for both of them! and dear Lord Ballyconal would beplaced between his hostess and Mrs. Dalziel. 

I ought to have had eyes only for my special prey, Lieutenant Dalziel;but whether I pleased or bored him seemed so comparatively unimportant, that before the guests began to arrive, I found my faculties preparingto concentrate elsewhere. Di hadn't mentioned the name of Major Vandykewhile I did her hair, or melted and poured her into the sparkly frock, but I felt her consciousness of him in the air; and when his name wasannounced at the door of the "cottage" drawing-room, my heart gave ajump as if it wanted to peer over the high wall of the future. 

He came before any of the others, so I had time to make a quickblack-and-white study of him in my brain. I say black and white, becauseyou would always think of Sidney Vandyke in black and white. An artistsketching him on the cover of a magazine would need no other colour toexpress the man, except--if he had it handy--a dash of red for the fulllips under the black moustache. 

"Major Vandyke!" the soft, drawling voice of Kitty's negro butlerproclaimed him; and that was when my heart knocked its alarm. Kitty Maingenerally described people in superlatives, so I hadn't been excitedwhen she remarked that Major Vandyke was the "best-looking man in thearmy. " But this time, she seemed not to have exaggerated. There couldn'tbe a handsomer man in any army or out of it, and a horrid, sly littlevoice whispered to me: "What a splendid-looking couple he and Di wouldmake!"

I was standing far in the background, at a window opposite the door, while the others were grouped together more in the foreground; and whatI saw was a very tall man (so tall that he could dwarf Eagle March'sfive foot ten almost to insignificance), six foot two, perhaps, and--notstout yet, but showing signs that one day he might become so. I noticedthat he held himself magnificently, his broad shoulders thrown back, hishead up; and that he walked with a slight swagger, more like acavalryman than an officer in the artillery. Perhaps it was the electriclight which made his skin look as white as Diana's, without a touch ofthe tan that darkened Eagle March's fairer complexion; but the white wasof a different quality, somehow, from Diana's. Hers is pearl white; hishad the thick, untranslucent look which pale Jewish faces have. I didn'tknow then that Sidney Vandyke was of Hebrew blood, but afterward I heardthat his mother had Spanish Jews for ancestors on one side, and thatwith her came most of the family money. He was in full dress uniform, which became him splendidly; and I had a glimpse of a rather large face, drawn with square, straight lines that gave it a relentless look; squarewhite forehead; straight black brows; straight, short nose; large, squarely opened dark eyes, brilliant and self-confident; straight blackmoustache; thick, square red lips; square chin, and a full neck set onsquare shoulders. After that first glimpse I saw only the profile, forin meeting Kitty Main and being introduced to Di and Father, MajorVandyke had to turn half away from me. Even a profile, however, tellssomething; and when Major Vandyke began to talk to Di, bending down alittle, I could see that he admired her very much, or else wanted toconvey this impression to her mind. 

Next came Eagle March, very slim and boyish in shape and size comparedto Major Vandyke, though he can't be more than six years younger; andhardly had he time to greet his hostess and look wistfully at Di, whenthe Dalziels arrived, a party of four. I thought that the father andmother (a dear little, merry, round-faced couple, curiously like eachother and like Billiken) looked too young and irresponsible to beparents of anything grown up; but perhaps they had married when theywere almost children, for Lieutenant Dalziel, who was inches taller thanhis father, had the happy air of being twenty two or three, and Mrs. Main had said that the girl was "just out. " Young Tony--nut-brown eyes, skin, and hair, clean shaven, smiling, with teeth white and even askernels of American corn--was a glorified edition of his Billikenfather. Miss Dalziel--Milly--was not a bit like any of the others, whohad all been cut from the same pattern and painted with the same paint. She was even slimmer and smaller than I am; very fair, with a fewfreckles, and lots of blue veins at her temples. She had an obstinatepink button of a mouth; dimples, which she made come and go every minuteby working the muscles of her cheeks; bright, fluffy red hair done highon her head, floating eyes of gray green, and blackened brows and lasheswhich, I suppose, had started life in red. She gave an effect ofprettiness and of thinking herself prettier than she was, an opinion inwhich her dress-maker had backed her up. 

Tony Dalziel was jolly, and said so many quaint things in pricelessslang that he kept me laughing; but I had eyes if not ears only for Diand Major Vandyke. "Say, he's rushing your sister, isn't he? Making adirect frontal attack--what?" remarked my neighbour, so it must havebeen conspicuous. One could see Major Vandyke consciously absorbingDiana, throwing over her head a veil of his own magnetism, as if to hideher in it from other men, and make her forget their existence. 

As for Di, she behaved perfectly, if she wished to fascinate andtantalize a flirt, such as Sidney Vandyke was said to be. She letherself seem to fall under his spell, and then suddenly slipped gentlyaway, turning to Captain March who sat at her other side. She would talkto him in a friendly, intimate way, in a low voice, with little happyoutbursts of laughter over their reminiscences of a year ago; then, halfapologetically, she would turn back to Vandyke again, raising andletting fall her eyelashes in a way entirely her own, which, somehow, gives the effect of a blush. It was Victorian, or Edwardian at latest, but much more useful than any substitute girls have invented since. Thatnight began the battle which was to have so strange a finish. 

I don't know if Major Vandyke was serious at first. Perhaps he wanted nomore than a good flirtation with a pretty girl, one of the prettiest hehad ever seen, and desperately loved by a brother officer. You see, hehad probably heard already from Kitty Main, who told everything she knewand a great deal she didn't know, that Captain March was in love withDi, just as we heard from the same source that Major Vandyke was jealousof his junior because of flying exploits and honours. I think, though, that from the moment they met, Di never meant to let the man go free. She saw that he was flirting, and was angry that he should dare. Thisput her on her mettle; and Diana on her mettle was and ever will beformidable, because of her cleverness, which never lets the mettle show. She determined that Sidney Vandyke should fall in love--over ears andeyes in love--and he did. But she wasn't satisfied even with that. Shecouldn't bear to have Eagle March escape, and perhaps be snapped up byMilly Dalziel, who was sitting on the bank of the fishpond with her hookbaited. Oh, it must have been an amusing little comedy for outsiders towatch; and I was an outsider in a way; but it didn't amuse me. I wassick at heart, and cross with Tony Dalziel, who wouldn't leave me aloneor give me time to think things over. 

This sort of maneuvering lasted for three weeks; then a bombshell fellin our midst. Two batteries of the --th Artillery were orderedimmediately to El Paso, on the Mexican border, where a raid wasapparently threatened. Major Vandyke and Captain March and LieutenantDalziel were all to go. 

CHAPTER VI

There was desolation at Alvarado Springs, in the hotel, and in thesuper-cottages. People--when I say people, I mean women--didn't come toAlvarado to drink the celebrated waters, or to admire the wonderfulscenery. They came to play with the officers, and now the bravest andbest (looking) were to be snatched from them. What had happened, or whatmight happen, was a mystery to mere civilians; but it was whisperedabout that possibly there might be real fighting at El Paso. There musthave been, everybody said, something serious under the rumours of athreatened attack from across the Rio Grande, otherwise government wouldnot be sending troops to reinforce the large garrison at Fort Bliss, orbe offering to take women and children away from the river towns, inarmoured trains if desired. Cavalry and infantry were moving south fromother army posts, we heard, to guard the concentration camp of Mexicanrefugee prisoners at El Paso, and to beat back a rabble of invaders ifneed came. 

The order reached Alvarado late in the afternoon, and the batteries wereto leave by train at four o'clock the next morning. As it happened, Kitty Main, Father, Di, and I were all invited to a dance that eveningat the house of an officer and his wife, Captain and Mrs. Kilburn; butwhen the news about the batteries going away began to flash from cottageto cottage we expected the party to be given up. Di looked rather blankwhen Mrs. Main flung the tidings at her, for Sidney Vandyke hadn'tproposed yet. If the dance were abandoned, he might be too busy gettinghis men ready to see her before he left; and heaven alone knew when thebatteries would come back. There might be fighting; there might at worsteven be war with Mexico; and whatever happened, we couldn't stay onindefinitely at Alvarado. Kitty Main had taken the cottage and asked usto visit her only for six weeks. Besides, Alvarado would be desolatewithout our best friends and possible lovers. 

I could see these thoughts developing and following on one another'sheels in Diana's mind. But in my head there was nothing concrete enoughto call a "thought. " Feelings seemed to have raced upstairs from heartto brain, and driven ideas out of the house. They ran wildly round andround, saying to each other, "What if I never see him again? What if heshould be killed?" But while we were in this state, Mrs. Kilburntelephoned to Kitty Main that she had decided to have her dance in spiteof all. Her husband was not among those ordered away, and the officerswho were going had arranged to spare time to look in for three or fourdances in any case. Some of them might be very early, some very late, but there would be plenty of other men to go round; and Mrs. Kilburnsuggested that we might "keep things up" long enough to see the soldiersoff at dawn, before motoring back to the Springs, if that would interestLady Diana and Lady Peggy O'Malley. 

There was only one answer to this, and when we went over to FortAlvarado for the dance we put on warmer cloaks than we should have wornordinarily. 

Mrs. Kilburn had brought her husband money; and as she loved gayety shehad somehow got permission to build on to the captain's quarters aballroom surrounded on three sides by a wide veranda. Consequently, adance at the Kilburns' was worth going to always, and particularly onthis moonlight night of April when the whole fort was humming withexcitement. The officers who were ordered away had their hands full ofwork, yet the young ones managed to get off duty if only for a fewminutes, long enough to snatch a dance or two with the girls they likedbest, or to "sit out" with them on the veranda, where there werecolonies of chairs, and garden seats, and hammocks. 

Tony Dalziel was one of those who came early to the Kilburns'. He hadasked me beforehand for six dances, and I had given him three. When heappeared it was just in time for the first, a two-step. The second wouldfollow directly after, and the third I knew already, from a note sent mein haste, he would have to miss. 

"Do you care for this?" he asked, out of breath with his hurry to dressand sprint over from the far-off line of bachelors' quarters. "If youdon't, will you come outside and see the moon rise? It's going to be agreat sight. "

There is no poetry in a two-step, and if there were it would have beenlost in hopping up and down with Tony, so I chose the moon. I thoughtthe moon a perfectly safe object to gaze at with such a jolly young man, who made jokes at everything in the heavens or upon the earth; andunsuspectingly I went with him to a nook on the veranda screened offwith tall plants from an adjacent hammock. It was a nook intended fortwo and no more. There were a great many nooks of that sort on Mrs. Kilburn's veranda. She specialized in flirtation architecture. 

"Tell me about everything, please, " I cheerfully began. "We haven't verylong, have we?"

"That's the worst of it, " said Tony, "and that's why I must be carefulto tell you only the important things. There's just one that reallyinterests me. "

"What's that?" I asked eagerly. "I hope not that you expect fighting?"

"No such luck, I'm afraid. But I'm not worrying about that now. What Iwant to tell you is this. " And to my stupefaction he shot a proposal atmy head as if it came out of a field gun. I knew he liked me, and likedto be with me, but I couldn't associate the idea of anything so seriousas marriage with Tony Dalziel. I gasped and said he couldn't mean it, but he assured me that he did, and a dictionary full of other assurancesbesides. 

Perhaps, if I had not seen Eagle March and fallen in love with him onceand forever, I might have thought twice before saying "No" to Tony, ifonly for the pride of being engaged sooner than Di, and when I wasn'tyet eighteen. Tony Dalziel was what all women call "such a dear!" and, besides, he had--or would have--plenty of money, a consideration in ourfamily. I could imagine what a rage Father would be in with me if heknew what I was doing at that moment, calmly refusing a heaven-sentopportunity. But Eagle March, though he was not for me, made all thedifference, and put my heart into a convent where it was now undergoingits novitiate. I let the opportunity slip, and told Tony how sorry I wasto hurt him. But he wasn't inclined to take that for an answer. Hewanted to know if I wouldn't "leave it open, " in case anything happenedto make me change my mind. I warned him that, so far as I could see, Iwould never change it; but if an "optimist will op"--as Tonyremarked--what can you do? You can't prevent his opping, and rather thanhear an irrevocable word he bade me good-bye while I protested. This wasin the midst of what should have been his second dance, and I didn'tfeel equal to going indoors again directly after that scene, even totango. I asked Tony to leave me where I was, to gather up my wits, andwhen he had darted away I sat quite still for a few minutes. I had noengagement until the time for my one dance with Eagle March should come;and as Tony hadn't given me much chance for gazing at the "great sight"he had brought me out to see, I tried to cool my brain with moonlight. But I had forgotten all about the hammock on the other side of theflower screen. I remembered it only when I heard footsteps, and acreaking of chairs as some one--or rather some two--sat down. 

"Good gracious!" I said to myself. "_Now_ what shall I do?" For as thepair came to a halt they went on with their conversation, which hadevidently reached a critical point. I recognized the man's voice, and asit was that of Eagle March, I knew as well as if I had already seen herthat the girl must be Diana. I knew also that she would never forgive meif I popped out at this moment, like the wrong figure on a barometer. Nothing on earth would make her believe that I hadn't been "spying"; forthough Di didn't realize how much and in what way I cared for Eagle, sheoften teased me about being jealous because my great "chum" had forsakenme for her. If at any time she could call him away from me by a glanceor a smile, it amused her to do so; and she would believe I was"revenging" myself, in the best way I could, on this their last night. 

I had half jumped up from the low seat which Tony had shared with me;but on second thoughts I sat down again. 

"She won't let him say much, " I thought, "so there'll be nothing tooverhear. Anyhow, I can stop my ears, if worst comes to worst. " Butbefore I had time to resolve on this precaution, I heard Eagle say, "Ifit wasn't for the money, I shouldn't feel I had the right----"

The rest was silence, for I kept my resolution and refused to catchanother syllable; yet those words had set me thinking hard. If Eaglewere telling Di that he was now certain to come in for his aunt'sfortune, she might look upon him as a bird in the hand, whereas anotorious flirt like Major Vandyke might be worth no more than two inthe bush with the saltcellar empty. 

I struggled to find consolation by reminding myself that, if Di didmarry Eagle, she might make him happy, provided there were enough moneyfor everything she wanted, and if he were willing to cut the army forher sake and live mostly in England. She wasn't an ill-natured orsharp-tongued girl when things went as she wished, I reflected, and ifhe were content to sacrifice his career for love of her, they might geton very well together. But--what _desolating_ words to use in connectionwith Eagle March--"get on well together!" He wasn't one to be satisfiedwith mere contentment, where he had hoped for rapture. 

I sat with my ears stopped, until suddenly the two began speaking in amuch louder tone; and a third voice, that of a man, joined theconversation. Then I decided that I might come back to life again; andas I let my tired arms drop, I became aware that the newcomer was SidneyVandyke. He was telling Di that this was his dance, and that he had beenlooking for her everywhere. 

"I heard Kilburn mention that the Old Man had sent for you, March, and Iknow they're on your scent, " he announced. 

"In that case, I may not see you again, Lady Diana, " Eagle said. 

"Peggy and I are going with Mrs. Kilburn and a lot of others to wave toyou for good luck, when you start, " answered Di, rather nervously, Ithought. 

"I'm glad. We shall have a last glimpse of you all, " replied Eagle. "ButI'm afraid I shan't get a word with you then. So I'll bid you good-byenow!"

He spoke in quite a matter-of-fact way; but I, who knew every tone ofhis voice, guessed what it covered; and I could almost feel the pressureof his hand as it clasped Di's, with Major Vandyke mercilessly lookingon. I wondered whether she had been cruel or kind. 

In a moment he was gone; and with a stab of pain I realized that, if thecolonel had sent for him, he must miss out his dance with me. Would heeven remember it? Would he scribble me a line of farewell? I longed torun out and catch him before he went, if only for a word, but I darednot dash past Di, and give her the shock of learning that I had beenwithin three yards of her all the time. Again I was trapped, unless Diand Major Vandyke should go indoors to dance; but no sooner was EagleMarch out of earshot than Vandyke asked Di to stay. 

"Of course we've known all along that we might get marching orders, " hesaid, and there was no harm in my hearing that. "It's a surprise only tothose outside. The adjutant has been fussing over stores and ammunition, and target practice has been a confounded bore. All the same, at the endthe move's been sprung on us, just when we'd forgotten to expect it. Ifeel as if I'd wasted a lot of precious time one way or another, but itisn't too late yet, Lady Di, if you----"

I stopped up my ears again so effectively that I heard no more, and afew minutes later was flabbergasted when Diana and he suddenly brokeupon me from behind the screen of plants. 

My first thought was that Di had suspected my presence there, and hadwanted to pounce; but she gave a jump and a cry of surprise as she sawme sitting bolt upright on the bench, with my fingers stuffed into myears. 

"Good _gracious_, Peg!" she gasped. "How long have you been here?"

"Ever since before _you_ came, " I answered. I might have put itdifferently by telling tales, and so serving Eagle March's cause, perhaps; but no matter how thoroughly I disapproved of her, I couldn'tgive my own sister away. "I didn't like to come out, you see, for fearyou mightn't like it; but I haven't heard anything you've said, if_that_ interests you to know. "

"I don't care whether you've heard or not, " said Di, trying to speakplayfully, but unable to keep sharpness out of her tone. "Major Vandykethought this was a nicer seat than the hammock to rest in, so he broughtme to it. Of course, we'd no idea any one was--was _hiding_ here!"

"Well, there won't be any one, now I'm free to move, " I snapped. "I'monly too thankful to have a chance to get back to the ballroom. You'vemade me miss a dance. "

"_We've_ made you? I like that!" gurgled Di. But I waited for no more. Iskipped away toward the nearest long window without looking round, andwas just in time to meet my partner in search of me, the partner afterEagle March, and a brother officer of his. "Our dance, " said he, "andhere's something March asked me to hand you. He's been called away. "

The "something" was a leaf torn out of a notebook and neatly folded intoa cocked hat. It was rather appropriate that Eagle's good-bye to meshould come in this form, because I had given him the notebook for abirthday present only the week before. I'd saved up my pennies to get agood one, and have his initials in silver fastened on to thekhaki-coloured morocco cover. The paper of the book itself and therefills were also khaki coloured to match the cover, with lines in veryfaint blue. I had wanted my little gift to be as distinctive aspossible, and had taken a great deal of pains to choose a notebookdifferent from all others, little dreaming what was fated to hang on thedifference. 

Quietly but carefully I undid the paper cocked hat and read the fewpencilled words: "So disappointed, dear little friend, not to have mydance with you, but I'm called back to work. Congratulate me. _I've gotalmost the promise I wanted. _ The next best thing, anyhow. Farewell fora while. Write to me to El Paso like the good girl you are. I shall lookfor you at the train to-morrow morning early, though we may not have achance to speak. Yours ever, E. M. "

I folded up the note and tucked it into the neck of my dress. Then Idanced. And all the rest of the evening I danced. Yet I thought only ofone thing: the half-veiled confidence Eagle had given me. Apparently Dihad said something calculated to send him away happy. But Major Vandykehad looked far from sad when he walked into the ballroom with Di, aftertheir _tête-à-tête_ on the veranda in my deserted nook. I felt somethingwas wrong, and determined to have it out with Diana the minute I couldget her alone. My chance came sooner than I expected, for just beforesupper she tore her frock and wanted me to run up with her to thedressing-room and mend it. "A maid will make an awful mess of thething, " she said, "but you'll know what to do, and it'll take only a fewminutes. "

We had the dressing-room to ourselves, for Mrs. Kilburn's French maid, who was in charge, had slipped away, probably for a sly peep at thedancing. When I had Di at my mercy, holding her by a trail of goldfringe, I opened fire. 

"Are you engaged to Eagle March?" I flashed out. 

"Certainly not, " Di flashed back. "What makes you think such a thing?You said you didn't hear----" In haste she cut her sentence short, realizing how she had given herself away. She would have gone onquickly, but I broke in. 

"You ask what makes me think such a thing when I told you that I didn'thear a word of your talk. Which shows that if I _had_ heard, I _might_have thought of it. Well, I did not hear, but, all the same, I think. "

"You needn't, then, " she assured me. "If I'm engaged to any one, it isto Sidney Vandyke. But I tell you as much as that, only to prove there'snothing between me and Captain March. It's in strict confidence, and youmust be sure and keep the secret, Peg, till I'm ready to have it comeout. Nothing's to be said until this Mexican bother is over. Can youmake the fringe look right?"

"Yes, if you give me time, " I answered. "But, Di, I won't have youplaying tricks with Eagle March. I simply won't stand it!"

"It's horrid of you to suggest that I would do such a thing, " Dianaprotested virtuously. 

"Pooh!" said I, secure in my knowledge that she dared not move. "I knowyou pretty well, Di, and although you can be quite a darling when youlike, you'd do anything--_anything whatever_, that was for your owninterests, no matter how much it hurt others. You'd better tell me thetruth, because I'm sure to find out; and if you mean to hurt or deceiveEagle March I'll stop you from doing it, I don't care how much it maycost me or you, or any one else but him. "

"If ever there was a thorough little _pig_, it's you, Peggy, " said Di. 

"Thorough pigs seem to run in our family, " I ruthlessly retorted. "Butthey're intelligent animals, and this one has rooted up somethingalready. I believe you've practically promised to marry _both_ thesemen, and persuaded them to keep the secret, so you can have time todecide which one will be the better to take, in the end. "

"You make me out a perfect wretch, " Di moaned piteously, peering overher shoulder to see how the repairs were getting on. 

"So you are! A beautiful one, but a wretch. You like them both, Eagleand Major Vandyke. You like Eagle because he's so popular and such ahero as an airman; and you like Major Vandyke because he's awfully goodlooking and awfully rich and an awful flirt. You were worried to deathfor fear he wouldn't propose, and I'd have known to-night, from thechange in your face, even if you hadn't told me, that he had spoken atlast. But Eagle spoke, too, and you sent him away happy. I know that;though the only other thing I do know for certain, is that you think nowhe's sure to get his aunt's money. "

"It's not such a tremendous lot, anyhow, " Di gave herself away again. "He won't have more than two or three hundred thousand dollars at themost. If only it were _pounds_! Every one says Sidney Vandyke has amillion. He's one of the few very rich men in the American army. "

"But he can't fly, and he can't invent things, and he'll never be theman in any career that Eagle will, " I reminded her. "You know this aswell as I do. That's why you're waiting. Don't you think you'd betterexplain your true state of mind to me, if you don't want me to workagainst you?"

"You're a cat as well as a pig, you little horror!"

"What a museum combination! Don't twitch, or the fringe will go crooked. Is Eagle's rich aunt likely to die?"

"Well, yes, she is, " Diana admitted. "She's very old, you know. She'shad a third stroke of paralysis. If Eagle could have got leave he wouldhave gone to her, but that was out of the question as things are. "

"Did he tell you about her, or was it some one else who gave you thenews?"

"It was some one else, of course. Naturally I wanted to make sure, soI--sympathized with him on his aunt's illness. He had only just heardabout it, himself. He's always been fond of her, and he said he couldn'thave had the heart to come to a dance, if it hadn't been his last night, and the only way to see me before he left for Texas. But he told me thatMrs. Cabot's death would make him comparatively a rich man. Those werethe words he used. I don't think he's sure how much he'll get. It wasfrom Kitty I heard what Mrs. Cabot is likely to leave. "

"And as 'likely' isn't the same as 'certain, ' you're hanging fire tillshe's dead, " I explained Diana to herself. 

"You make me out heaps worse than I am, " she reproached me. "If Ihaven't given an absolutely definite answer to Eagle March or SidneyVandyke, it's--it's--because of this expedition they're both going on. They may get some chance to distinguish themselves. You're such apractical little person that you can't realize the romantic sort offeeling I have about such things. If I marry a man who isn't of my owncountry, I should like him to be a great hero, whom every one would readabout and admire. I've told each of them to work, and do his best for mysake. "

"There'll probably be no opportunity for anything heroicin such an expedition as this, " said I, living up to thereputation--ill-deserved--for practicality, which Di wishedto thrust on me in contrast with herself. 

"That's what they both said, " she agreed, "but one never knows. "

"And so you get a story-book-heroine excuse to wait!"

"Little viper!"

"The cat-pig-viper won't sting unless you force it to, " I guaranteed. "There! Your dress is all right again. "

"You could have finished five minutes ago, if you hadn't been determinedto lecture me. Thanks, all the same. You have your uses, though they'renot always sweet, like those of adversity. "

We went our separate ways with the men who were waiting to take us in tosupper; and we didn't come together again till the dance was over, andevery one but the party specially asked to stay had gone home. We heardthe bugles sounding reveille; then presently the beat of drums and therumble of the field guns going to the station. When Captain Kilburnannounced that the entrainment was well under way, we started in his biglimousine, shivering a little in evening cloaks flung on hastily overlow-necked dresses. We waited till the platform was clear of the greatmass of khaki-clad young men, and then timidly appeared, to starethrough the dusk of early morning in search of friends. Ours wasn't theonly party engaged in that business. Others were there; and swathedfigures of girls and women, in rich-coloured cloaks over pale-tintedball gowns, glimmered in the dawn like a row of tall flowers crowdingalong the edge of a garden path. My eyes were trying to find Eagle Marchwhen Tony Dalziel spoke by my shoulder, and made me jump. "I've just aminute, " he said when I turned. "I want to ask you if you'll forget youturned me down last night, and be friends again. I will if you will. _Will_ you?"

"Yes, " I returned gladly, shaking hands. "I'm so glad you've realizedthat you were silly to feel about me like that. Why you or any man_should_, I can't think!"

"Can't you? That's because you haven't seen yourself, or heard yourself, and don't know what a quaint, darling sort of girl you are. But nevermind. Let it go at that. We'll be friends. And promise, if my mother andMilly ask you to do something for them, you will. "

"Anything I possibly can, " I warmly answered. "Good-bye! Good luck!"

He was off. I meant to follow him with my eyes and wave to him when helooked out of his window in the train. But before he appeared again, Icaught sight of Eagle March on a car platform, and forgot Tony, just asEagle had forgotten me. Behind Eagle's slight figure towered massivelyMajor Vandyke's splendid bulk; and as I waved my handkerchief to Eagle, while the train slid slowly out, I was vaguely aware of Diana'soutstretched arm and a butterfly flutter of something white and small. Eagle's eyes went past me to her, though his smile was for me also; andDi was able deftly to kill her two birds with one stone, at the last. Her farewell look and gesture did equally well for both, yet each couldtake it wholly to himself. 

CHAPTER VII

The next night I had a dreadful dream about Eagle March. Somehow orother, he had been condemned to death by Major Vandyke (who hadunbecomingly turned into a judge) and Eagle was to be executed unless Icould arrive in time to save him, armed with a reprieve or pardon--Ididn't quite know which--that I had got from Washington. I waked upcrying out, because a hand had been stretched forth through darkness toclutch my shoulder, and prevent me from getting to El Paso until toolate. Even then, when I was wide awake, the dream had been so horriblyvivid that I couldn't persuade myself it wasn't true. I had alwayslaughed at superstitious people who believed in dreams, yet I couldn'tclear my mind of this one, or keep from asking myself in a panic, "Whatif it's a warning?" It seemed that after all such things mightmysteriously be. 

Alvarado Springs was as dull as a convent after the officers we likedbest had gone from the fort, and Kitty proposed subletting her cottageto an invalid who, for a wonder, had really come to the place fornothing but to take the cure. This rare creature was distressed by thenoises of the hotel, and was willing to pay more than Kitty had paid, for the remaining few weeks of Mrs. Main's tenancy. Our hostess wasenchanted with the idea, clapped her fat, dimpled hands like a littlegirl, and proposed to "blow" the money (this was slang she haddelightedly picked up from Father) on a motor tour to California. Shehad no car of her own, but she could hire one, with a chauffeur we hadoften taken for short runs, and at Los Angeles, Riverside, SantaBarbara, San Francisco, and other places, she had friends who wouldshower invitations. The trip would take from two to six weeks, accordingto our own desire. Then, when we were tired of motoring andcountry-house visiting, the car would be sent home, and we could havethe fun of going East together by the "Limited, " which, Kitty said, wasone of the most wonderful trains in the world. 

This was the proposal, and it suited Father and Di very well. Each had areason for wishing to prolong the tour in America, if it could be done"on the cheap. " Di, of course, wanted to see Major Vandyke or CaptainMarch--whichever she decided to take in the end--and settle her affairsdefinitely before going home to prepare for the wedding. As to Father, Ibegan to ask myself about this time if he seriously thought of makingour "Main Chance" a countess, and counting her dollars into his ownpockets. In any case; travelling luxuriously in a land where poor Irishearls weighed as well in the balance as a rich English variety, wasbetter than vegetating at Ballyconal or economizing in London; so hesmiled upon the plan, and I was the one obstacle. The only comfortablecar that Mrs. Main could get at short notice, was ideal for five, counting a chauffeur and a maid, but close quarters for six. I couldn'tbe put permanently with the chauffeur; and, besides, Kitty's looks wereof the sort that depend upon a maid. "Dear little Peggy must justsqueeze in somehow, " was her verdict, although Di would temporarily havedone without my services rather than be cramped, if I could have beendisposed of elsewhere. She and Father put their heads together, and Ihad begun to feel in my bones that an invitation for me from Mrs. Kilburn was to be hinted at, when Mrs. Dalziel came to the rescue. 

Her husband had gone back to New York long ago, and she and Milly hadbeen wondering ever since Tony's orders came, whether it might befeasible to follow him to El Paso, and "see what was doing there. " Hehad now wired that all the women of the neighbourhood had refused toleave the men; that the "scare" was dying down; that it looked as if theimported troops would have nothing more exciting to do than guard theconcentration camp; and there was a gorgeous hotel in the town, full ofrich Spanish refugees, men who were celebrities, and women who werebeauties. Mrs. Dalziel had accordingly decided to venture; and Millywould enjoy the trip immensely, if Father would let me go with them astheir guest. The eyes of my family lighted at this hope of liberation, and I suddenly understood what Tony's last words to me had meant. Thiswas _his_ plan; but I wanted so violently to go to El Paso and was soviolently wanted to go by Father and Di, that I didn't stop to debatewhether or no it was right to say yes. I simply said it, and--hang theconsequences!

Di bade me an affectionate farewell, with a plaintive reminder that agirl not likely to be proposed to every day might do worse than TonyDalziel. I, in turn, reminded her that any knavish juggling with CaptainMarch's faith would be dealt with severely by me; and so we parted, sheto go her way to California _en automobile_, I to go mine to Texas bySanta Fé trains. 

I was grateful to Mrs. Dalziel and Milly for taking me, though Icouldn't help seeing that it was not for my _beaux yeux_ they had askedme to be their guest. I was a handle, or cat's-paw; but I preferred thepart of usefulness to my hostesses to being carted about by them as anexpensive luxury. Mrs. Dalziel really wanted me for Tony, who had neverbeen denied anything short of the moon that he cried for. Milly wantedpeople to think that she wanted me for Tony, in order to have aninvincible, ironproof excuse for the rush to El Paso, which her friendsof the cat tribe might attribute to a different motive. She had beenrather depressed at Alvarado, but began to bubble over with wild spiritsthe moment we were off for El Paso. She said that this would be thegreat adventure of our lives, and she was only sorry all danger alongthe border was over, as we shouldn't get the chance to show how brave wewere. 

It was an interesting journey, every stage of it; and at Las Cruces andafter, we began to realize how close we were to old Mexico. Only theriver ran between us and that mysterious, ancient land, as far removedin thought from the United States as though it were an annex of Egypt. Here and there, too, the Rio Grande (which I'd thought of geographicallyas a vast stream, wide as a lake) was a mere water serpent, writhing inits shallow bed of mud. This, we heard our fellow passengers say, explained the late danger of a raid. It would be as "easy as falling offa log" for a party of ill-advised Mexicans to make a dash across theriver, and already there had been small private expeditions of cattlestealers. Staring out of the windows at little adobe villages, theirhuddled houses turned from brown to cubes of gold by the afternoon sun, we listened to all sorts of disquieting gossip. According to thetravellers, who talked loudly to each other across the car, the "scare"was suddenly on again. Some more Federals had escaped theConstitutionalist soldiers, and got into Del Rio, where they had beenprotected by American soldiers, and there had been some shooting fromone side of the river to the other. Carranza was threatening reprisals;no one seemed to know what Villa's attitude would be. A few Americanwomen who had little children had decided after all to go north. At LasCruces and El Paso you could no longer buy a Browning, or arms of anykind. All had been snapped up. Las Cruces men, remembering that themilitia was composed of Mexicans, had begun giving their wives lessonsin target practice. At El Paso there was the peril of the Mexicanpopulation to be faced in case of attack from across the river; to saynothing of the thousand Mexicans employed in the smelting works down onthe flats, and the five thousand refugees in the concentration camp, ifthey should mutiny and get out of control. 

Poor Mrs. Dalziel drooped more and more piteously as this ball of gossipwas tossed from one side of the car to the other, and Milly's ever whiteface grew so pale that her freckles stood out conspicuously. She ceasedto exclaim with excitement over the cowboys galloping along the road onthe United States side of the river, or to count the automobiles and thegreat alfalfa barns near small stations where black-veiled Mexican womenwaved sad farewells to weedy, olive-faced youths, perhaps going to the"war. "

"Of course, we're not afraid for _ourselves_, " said Mrs. Dalziel. "We--we should want to be near Tony, whatever happened. It's of youwe're thinking, Peggy. I don't know if we ought to have brought you tosuch a place. And I do wish Tony's father were with us, anyhow. "

The nearer we came to El Paso, the more foreign and Mexican the countryseemed, with its wild purple mountains billowing along the sunset sky ofred and gold; its queer, Moorish-looking groups of brown huts, and itsdark-skinned men in sombreros or huge straw hats with steeple crowns. Itwas quite a relief to draw into El Paso station where everything wassuddenly modern and American, and comfortably normal again. 

Tony had got off duty to come and meet us; and after the first"how-do-you-dos, " his mother began bombarding him with questions. Whathad happened? What was likely to happen? Wouldn't it have been better totelegraph us not to come?

She and Milly both had the air of eagerly hoping that he might after allbe able to sweep away their fears with a word or a laugh; but for once, Tony kept as solemn a face as the conformation of his benevolentBilliken features permitted. 

"There's nothing at all to worry about, if you don't get silly andpanicky, " said he. "I did think of telegraphing, not because there's anyreal danger, but because I was afraid that when you got down here, ifthings hadn't cleared up, the newspaper 'extras' and the way they talkat the hotels might give you the jumps. I couldn't have wired till afteryou'd started, though, because there was nothing doing before that, worth a telegram. I thought it would scare you blue if you got a messagedelivered to you in the train saying better not come, or words to thateffect; so it seemed best to let things rip. Now you're on the spot, youjust keep your hair on, and don't believe anything you read or hear;then you'll be all right. "

"My hair doesn't come off, dearest, " objected Mrs. Dalziel mildly, whichmade us laugh; and that did everybody good. 

"I bet Lady Peggy isn't afraid worth a cent, " Tony remarked. 

"Rather not!" said I. "I wouldn't go away--no, not if you set _mice_ atme! Even if Mrs. Dalziel and Milly went, I'd stay on and volunteer as anurse. I can do first aid, and I don't mind the sight of blood if thereisn't too much; though, of course, it would be better if it were apeaceful green or blue instead of that terrifying red. "

Tony took us in a taxi to the Paso del Norte, a big hotel good enoughfor New York or London; and even in that short spin through the streets, we saw the newspaper "extras" being hawked about by yelling boys whowaved the papers to show off their huge scarlet headlines. The marbleentrance hall of the hotel was crowded with people who had just boughtthese extras, and were reading aloud tit-bits of "scare" news to eachother, or discussing the situation in groups. Some looked very Spanish, and Tony said they were refugees, from the heart of Mexico; but thewomen seemed to have had plenty of time to sort out and pack theirprettiest clothes before they fled. 

That night Eagle March was asked to dine with us at the hotel. He satbetween Mrs. Dalziel and Milly, and more than once I caught his eyesresting on me thoughtfully, almost wistfully. I wondered if there weresomething that he was particularly anxious to say, but Milly kept himoccupied even after dinner was over and we were having coffee in thehall. I was resigning myself to the idea that we shouldn't be given timefor a word together, when out of the crowd appeared Major Vandyke. Hewas with friends, but escaped, and crossed the hall to shake hands withus. I noticed what stiff, grudging nods he and Eagle gave each other, just enough of a nod not to be a cut. Something disagreeable hadevidently happened between them since they left us at Fort Alvarado; forin those days, no matter how they felt, they always kept up the pretenceof being good enough friends. 

When Major Vandyke had been civil to me and asked after my "people, " hebegan telling Mrs. Dalziel and Milly things about the state of affairsin El Paso. "You may have come in for a small adventure, after all, "said he. "We've had to warn the occupants of some of the tallestbuildings in town that they may be called on to clear out at fiveminutes' notice, if we have trouble, for their houses would be in rangeof gunfire from both sides. But you'll be all right here at the hotel, whatever happens. We're strong enough to protect you. "

He laughed, and I saw that he enjoyed teasing timid little Mrs. Dalziel. I thought that haughty "we, " constantly coming in, was characteristic ofthe man, and judging by the odd expression which just flickered lightlyacross Eagle's face, he was thinking the same thing. Tony joinedboyishly in the conversation, to reassure his mother and Milly, andEagle promptly seized the moment for a word with me. 

"Any message?" he asked in a low voice. I shook my head. 

"Oh, well, " he said, "I'm mighty glad to see you, anyhow, little girl. Lucky Tony! I'm rather jealous of him, you know. I'd got sort of in thehabit of thinking I had the only claim. "

I felt myself go scarlet. What a good thing one doesn't blush allcolours of the rainbow!--for I had the sensation of a prism. "TonyDalziel may be lucky, " I stammered. "I hope he is. But his luck hasnothing to do with me. Neither has he--except as a friend. That's quiteunderstood between us. "

"Oh, is it?" smiled Eagle. "I'm a selfish beast to be glad, but I am. Iwas feeling quite low in my mind and 'out of it' at dinner. "

So the wistful looks had been for me! It seemed too good to be true, even to have so much place in Eagle's heart that he didn't want to loseme. 

When Milly turned to him, as she did almost instantly, for consolationafter Major Vandyke's teasing, Eagle told her, while I listened, howvery little, in his opinion, there was for any one to fear. It was true, of course, that the troops had come to El Paso for a purpose. Every onethought it had been served by frightening out of a certain faction ofMexicans such vague, secret hopes as they might foolishly havecherished. Now to be sure, the "scare act" was being read again, but thebig field guns pointing across the river were in any case powerfulenough to keep the peace. Captain March wanted to know if we would careto visit the camps next day. If so, he would help Dalziel arrange thevisit. This suggestion saved Milly the trouble of hinting for it, andshe was happy; but her happiness was destined to be short-lived. It wasdestroyed in the night by a band of vicious microbes with which she hadbeen fighting a silent battle during the long journey to El Paso. Theywon, and kept her in bed with a pink nose and eyes overflowing withgrief and influenza. 

I nobly offered to stay with her, but Mrs. Dalziel had a son as well asa daughter. She said we must go and take a look at Tony's tent, if wedid nothing else; and perhaps it would have ended in our doing not muchmore if it hadn't been for Eagle. 

El Paso was one of the most deliciously exciting places in America justthen, and there were many things which I wanted far more to see thanTony Dalziel's tent. There was the town itself, with its broad streetsand tall buildings (which made me shiver with the wildly absurd thoughtof their being smashed by silly rebel guns from across the river); itsshady avenues of alluring bungalows, and its parks--all so gay andpeaceful in the warm spring sunshine that the very suggestion of warwithin a thousand miles seemed fantastic melodrama, despite the shoutingnewspaper boys with a fearsome "extra" coming out every fifteen minutes. There was new Fort Bliss, the cavalry post, and old Fort Bliss, famous, they told me, as long ago as the days of Indian warfare. There was theconcentration camp where five thousand Mexicans were guarded bysoldiers, and there were the camps of the reinforcing troops, artillery, cavalry, and infantry. I wanted to miss nothing, but when we had motoredto old Fort Bliss down by the river and the smelting works, and seen thefaded houses in temporary occupation of visiting officers; when we hadspun out to new Fort Bliss to admire the smart quarters and barracks, and when we had trailed about a little in "Tony's camp, " Mrs. Dalzielwas tired. The sun was very hot, and she thought she ought to go home topoor Milly. Captain March, however, was certain that what I ought to dowas to see his tent before deserting camp. He had something there whichhe particularly wished to show me. Tony volunteered to take his motherback to our hired automobile, waiting near the Zoo, and to return forme. I hoped that he might be away a long time, and looked forward to myfew minutes alone with Eagle as to a taste of paradise, having no ideathat those moments would be long enough to decide the fate of two men. 

The camp was a neat, khaki-coloured town of canvas houses, big andlittle, seemingly countless rows of them, set in rough grass, and sandyearth of the same yellow brown as the tents. How the officers and menknew their narrow lanes and low-browed dwellings apart, I could notimagine, for they all bore the most remarkable family resemblance to oneanother in shape and feature, except those which boasted mosquito-netdraperies to keep out the flies. 

Among these more luxurious soldier houses was Eagle's. His tent, prepared for the day, consisted of a canvas wall with a wide-open spaceall around, between it and the roof; and the whole internal economy wasingenuously open to public gaze. Not that it mattered, for everythingwas as neat as a model doll's house: the narrow bed, the patheticallymeagre toilet arrangements, the one chair, the small trunk which was thesole wardrobe, and the ridiculous shaving mirror stuck up on a pole, above a miniature arsenal. 

"I should think you'd cut yourself to pieces, " said I, gigglingimpolitely as I stood on tiptoe, and peered into my own eyes in the tinylooking-glass. "There isn't room to see more than half a feature at atime. I've always been glad I wasn't a man, for two reasons: because I'dhate to have to shave, or to marry a woman. Both are horridnecessities. "

"That depends on the razor--and the woman, " laughed Eagle. "But as amatter of fact, I value that six-inch square of glass more than any ofmy other possessions. It's the thing I expressly wanted to show you. Stand back a minute, Lady Vanity, and you'll see why. "

I stood back. Eagle did something to the plain dark frame of the mirror, which had a gold rim inside. Then he pulled out the glass from thebottom, and there instead, framed in black and gold, was a photograph ofDiana--a lovely photograph: just a head, lips faintly smiling, eyesgazing straight at you and saying in plain eye language, "I love youdearly. "

I had never seen the photograph before, and seeing it now gave me astrange frightened feeling, as if I had found out something about Dianawhich I wasn't supposed to know. It was such an _intimate_ portrait, intended to be revealing, yet really concealing! I felt it was wicked ofthose beautiful eyes to say what they did not mean, or, perhaps, did notknow how to mean; and for my critical stare, behind that "I love you, "calculation hid, like the cold glint deep down in the jewel eyes of aPersian cat, when she doesn't want a mouse to guess that she knows it isthere. 

"Now you can understand why I'm glad to be a man, " said Eagle, "in spiteof--no, _because_ of--well, anyway one of the two 'necessities' youthink so 'horrid, ' my child. What glory to be chosen out of all the restwho love her by such a woman! And I hope she _is_ going to choose me. Idon't believe she's the kind of girl to have a photograph like thattaken expressly for a man, if she didn't feel a little of what thepicture seems to say she feels, do you?"

I suppose men's ignorance of what she is at heart is a Providence-givensuit of chain armour for every woman. But I wasn't myself sure enoughyet of what Di might decide to do, to try and disturb Eagle's happyconfidence in her. So, instead of answering his questions, I asked himone: "_Did_ she have that photograph taken expressly for you?"

"Yes, " Eagle answered triumphantly. "I don't think she'd mind myrepeating to her own sister that she told me so, or that there's onlythis one copy, and she gave orders to have the negative destroyed. "

He had hardly got these words out of his mouth when we heard footsteps, and Major Vandyke stopped suddenly in front of the doorway. In aninstant, Eagle had unhooked the frame from the pole, and holding theface of the portrait toward his breast, quietly slipped the mirror intoits place again, as, with _sang-froid_ apparently unruffled, he calledout: "Hullo, Vandyke! Have you come to see Lady Peggy or me?"

"I didn't know Lady Peggy was here. I was only passing by, on my way tothe colonel's, " explained Vandyke. "But seeing her, I thought I might beallowed to stop and say 'how do you do?'"

He spoke rather brusquely, but it was impossible to tell from his tonewhether it covered anger or expressed only the coolness which had grownup between him and Captain March. As I shook hands with Major Vandyke, Iwas asking myself anxiously if he could have seen the photograph inpassing? If not--and it did seem as if Eagle's head and mine ought tohave hidden it from him--our tell-tale words would have meant nothing tohis intelligence, even if he had overheard them as he came. If, however, he had snatched a glimpse of Diana's face, and at the same time caughtwhat Eagle said, I was afraid there might be trouble. Provided it wereonly for Di, I didn't much care, because she thoroughly deserved to havetrouble, and it would give her a lesson; but something warned myinstinct that the consequences might spread and spread until otherssuffered, as a ring forever widens in smooth water when the tiniestpebble is thrown. 

CHAPTER VIII

We were still skirmishing on the outskirts of conversation--What did Ithink of a soldier's out-of-door quarters? Why hadn't any one yet shownme the great sight, the concentration camp? when Tony Dalziel camehurrying up, to take me back to his mother and the motor. His arrivalseemed to bring relief from strain. It was like a brisk breeze blowingaway the brooding clouds that stifle the atmosphere before athunderstorm. I dreaded to go and leave those two men together; but whenMajor Vandyke suggested walking with us to the car, and asking Mrs. Dalziel about Milly, my heart felt lighter. We stopped only long enoughwith Eagle to arrange a visit to the concentration camp for nextmorning, if Milly were better, and then Vandyke, Tony, and I startedoff. 

For the first two or three minutes the major walked along in silence;but when we were well out of sight of Eagle March's tent he interruptedsome sentence of Tony's ruthlessly. I don't think he was even aware thatthe other was speaking. 

"See here, Tony, old man, will you do me a favour?" he asked in hisnicest manner. "There's a book in my tent I promised to give Lady Peggy, to read aloud to Miss Dalziel--a jolly good story! I forgot to bring itout when I came, and I don't want to go back now if I can help it, because a party of bores are being shown round in that direction, awfulpeople I've escaped from. You don't know them, so they can't hurt you. Will you, like a dear chap, cut off and grab the book? It's on thetable; you can't miss it; purple cover. "

Tony obligingly "cut, " and I waited, breathless, for what was to come, knowing now without being told that Sidney Vandyke had seen thephotograph. He had not promised me a book, nor mentioned one. 

I had only a few seconds to wait. "Is it true that your sister gaveMarch the picture he has in his tent?" he demanded, rather than asked. 

I gasped, doubtful whether it would be wise to bring things to a crisis, or better to try and keep them simmering. But an instant's reflectiontold me that to shilly-shally with the man in this mood would make whatwas already bad far worse. "Yes, she gave it to him, of course, " Ireplied. "I think you must have overheard him say so. "

I really didn't mean to put emphasis on the offending word, but MajorVandyke suspected it. Perhaps the cap fitted!

"I wasn't eavesdropping, " he said. "I happened to hear. That's a verydifferent thing from overhearing. And I have a right to ask you asDiana's sister, Diana herself not being on the spot, to give me anexplanation, as I'm sure she would if she were here. Because I have theduplicate of that photo. She told me she'd had it taken for me, and thenegative destroyed. I considered it sacred. I would have shown it tonobody. "

"I am nobody, " said I, "nobody except Captain March's friend, to whom hetells things he wouldn't tell to others. He had the best of reasons tobelieve I was in Diana's confidence, as well as his. And as for thephotograph, it's as sacred to him as it could be to you, Major Vandyke. You might realize that from the clever way he has thought of to hide it;and no person who wasn't absolutely _prying_ could have recognized it inpassing by his tent. He knew that very well, or he wouldn't haveuncovered the picture for even a second. "

"If you were a man, you wouldn't dare say such a thing as that to me, Lady Peggy. "

"Oh, yes, I would, " I retorted, "if I were nearly as big as you. I'mCaptain March's friend, not yours; and I'm not a bit afraid to be yourenemy if you are his. "

"You are more loyal to your friend than to your own flesh and blood, " heflung at me. "If you say your sister did give that photograph to March, you make her out a liar. But I won't believe it of her. I prefer tobelieve it of March instead. "

"'Liar' is a strong word, " I temporized. "I was always taught that itwas very rude, too. You're a flirt, Major Vandyke! Every one says thatof you, and I believe you're proud of it. So you ought to have somesympathy with a fellow flirt, like Di. If any one must be blamed, ofcourse it's she, not Captain March. He has as much right to accept aphotograph from a girl as you have. But you needn't be too angry withDi, if she made you believe that you were the only one, when she wasdoing the same thing with Captain March. Probably she didn't 'lie' toeither of you in so many words. "

"It's not necessary for you to defend Lady Diana to me, I assure you, "returned Major Vandyke. "Whatever she may have done, I'm ready toforgive her, if she's willing to stand by me. But I won't have Marchswaggering around and boasting that she gives him special favours. "

"If I were a man _you_ wouldn't dare say _that_!" I burst out. "When youtalk about 'boasting, ' or 'swaggering, ' you must be judging him byyourself, for you are always doing both, he never. I believe Di likeshim better than she does you, because he's a sort of popular hero withhis flying, and you have nothing except your flirting and your fortuneto recommend you to a girl. "

If only I hadn't lost my head and thrown that taunt at him! I suppose Ishall never know how much difference, or how little, this mistake ofmine made. The instant the words were out I would have given anything torecall them. But it was too late. To apologize, or try to explain, wouldonly do more harm. I ventured one sidelong glance at Major Vandyke'sface after I had shot that bolt; and I quivered all over as I saw howthe blood streamed darkly up to his forehead and swelled the veins athis temples. If I hadn't been afraid of him for Eagle, whose superiorofficer he was, I might have pitied him for the pain I had inflicted, under which he could keep silence only by biting his lip. I knew he washating me violently, but I didn't care a rap. All I cared for just thenwas that he was hating Eagle March, and counting on paying him out insome way--I couldn't guess what. 

"I must warn Eagle, " I said to myself; and I could almost have kissedTony, I was so glad to see him when he came back with the purple-coveredbook which nobody wanted. 

Major Vandyke walked on with us to the motor, as if nothing hadhappened, but he was very silent, letting Tony and me talk undisturbed. It was only after he had spoken in a dry, mechanical way to Mrs. Dalziel, and the car was about to start, that I caught his eyes. Therewas a look in them as cold and deadly--or I imagined it--as deliberatemurder. 

I couldn't wait until next day to see Eagle and tell him--I hardly knewwhat, but _something_, to put him on his guard. He had said that he wasengaged to lunch with a man named Donaldson at the Hotel Weldon, and itoccurred to me that I might reach him there by telephone. At a littlebefore one o'clock, I called up the hotel, and inquired if Captain Marchhad arrived, to keep an appointment with Mr. Donaldson. The answer was"yes"; and when I had given my name, I was asked to hold the line for afew minutes, until Captain March should come to the telephone. 

As I sat with the receiver at my ear, waiting, somebody began to talk inweird Spanish--or "Mex, " as I'd heard it nicknamed in El Paso. Thetelephone and I had never been intimate friends at home, and I'dpractically made its acquaintance since coming to America, so I scarcelyrealized why or how I was hearing that voice. "Is it some one trying tocall to me?" I wondered stupidly. "Who knows here, except Eagle, that Ispeak Spanish?" Then, gradually, it dawned on me that I had "tapped" aconversation going on between persons with whom I had nothing to do. Their chatter could have no interest for me, even if it were excusableto listen, but I didn't drop the receiver lest I should miss CaptainMarch, having been instructed to hold the line till he came. I couldn'thelp being vaguely pleased, too, that I had picked up enough Spanish inmy home studies to understand what was being said. But suddenly my sillyconceit was turned into horror. I was overhearing (that word which MajorVandyke had resented!) a plot between a pair of Mexican servants topoison the American families who employed them. 

Two women were talking to each other, rapidly, earnestly, in tones ofsuch agitation as they hurried on, that only for the first instant couldI fancy a practical joke was being played. "You got the stuff safely?Yes? Then it has gone round among those who will do the work. Only a fewhave refused to come in. Those who eat will not die, but all will besick. Then the men cannot fight our men if they come across the river. It is a very good plan to let us women help in our way. Yet, aboveeverything, there must be no mistake! It is for the noon meal onThursday, but only if we are sure of an attack for that night. We shouldbe lost if we acted too soon. I am the one to pass the word. I amtelling one after another to wait until it comes from me, by telephoneor in some other way. "

The words were rattled off so fast that I could catch no more than half, but I had seized enough to fill up the spaces for myself when the voiceswere cut off into silence, and Eagle March called, "Hello! Is that you, Peggy?"

"Yes, " I said. "I had something important to say to you, but I've heardthe most horrid talk going on over the telephone. I'm afraid it may meana real danger for El Paso. I daren't tell you about it on the wire. Dolet me see you! I must! Can you possibly take a taxi and rush over herenow, or shall I go to you? I'll do that if you can't come to me. "

"I'll come to you, of course, " answered Eagle. "I'll excuse myself toDonaldson, and be with you in five minutes. "

"Good; in the hall, " I said. "I'll run down now and wait for you. "

Mrs. Dalziel and I were to lunch in Milly's room, to keep her companyand tell her all the news; but the meal wasn't due yet for half an hour, so there was plenty of time before my hostess should come knocking atthe door. I had just found a quiet place in the corner of the big marblehall, and annexed a sofa for two, when I saw Eagle walk in. He waslooking for me. I beckoned, and he came to me with long strides. Itwould be hard to tell why, but never had I loved him so well as at thatmoment. I did not see how I was going to bear a whole, long life withouthaving him in it. 

When he had sat down by my side, I told him quickly what I hadoverheard, and how. The moment he had got the pith of the story hejumped up, looking preoccupied and anxious. "I must go at once, " hesaid, "before the girls at the telephone exchange have time to forgetthe numbers of those who've called and been called up in the last twentyminutes or so. We may be able to catch the ringleader in that way, andget from her the names of every one in the plot--if it's a genuine plot;and I agree with you that it looks rather like it. Peggy, your fad forstudying languages and your quick wits may have saved El Paso fromsomething at the least unpleasant. "

"Oh, I hope so!" I cried. "And the women talked about some 'attack!'Don't forget that. "

"No fear!" he almost laughed. "Now I must go. You may be asked somequestions later on. I hope you won't much mind. "

I shook my head. "What does it matter? But, oh, Eagle! I cannot let yougo until I've told you what I rang you up for. Major Vandyke saw Di'spicture, and heard what we said. And he's furious, because it seems shegave him a photograph--something like yours. I don't quite know what hethinks, but he's more angry with you than with her, and I believe he'lltry to get even with you in someway. Look out for him!"

"I will!" This time he laughed outright. "And I don't think he will beable to frighten me into giving up Diana--if she'll have me. Good-bye, dear, and thank you for everything, with all my heart. You're my goodangel!"

"How I wish I could be!" I sighed. But he heard neither sigh nor words. He had hurried away and into his waiting taxi. 

CHAPTER IX

Unluckily, nothing could be proved through the telephone people, thoughthere was certain circumstantial evidence against one or two Mexicanwomen, as I heard through Eagle March. But American families whoemployed Mexicans were privately informed of the existence of a possibleplot against them, and consequently a number of Mexican servants in ElPaso were thrown out of employment at an hour's notice. The authoritiesdid all they could to keep any report out of the papers, but, of course, did not succeed, and the "extras" had choice tit-bits of sensation forthat afternoon. The mysterious threat of an impending raid was enlargedupon, too, and to calm the public, as well as impress "the other side ofthe river, " it was decided to have a great parade of troops through thetown. A day was settled upon to be called "Army Day"; but meanwhile, precautions were taken to guard against any "surprise coup, " such as hadbeen carried out across the Rio Grande at Juarez by a fewConstitutionalists against Federals, one night some months before. 

The crowds who had been out to stare at the concentration camp, peopledwith dark-faced thousands of men, women, and children, trailed inprocession as near as they were allowed to approach the field gunsplaced on a bare, brown eminence whence their long noses pointed grimlyacross the river. There were six of these guns the day I saw them, allguns of Captain March's battery; but owing to their alignment, and theposition of El Paso's few skyscrapers between this hill and the river, only four of the guns would threaten destruction to any buildings in thetown, in case the artillery had to be brought into action. 

The other two could be fired in the unlikely event of a disturbance, itwas believed, without danger to American property. I heard this, withlots of other exciting details of the preparations going on, from TonyDalziel, who thought--whether rightly or wrongly--that he could chat tome on the one great subject of interest without indiscretion. He told meamong other things, that if fire had to be opened on Juarez, just acrossthe river, he understood from talk he heard that these two comparativelyinnocuous guns would alone be used at first. If the damage they did onthe opposite side were enough to force the enemy to capitulate in haste, the other four guns would remain silent, and El Paso intact. But, saidTony (and his fellow officers said the same), in spite of the persistentrumour of a raid, it was almost certain now that there would be notrouble. It was whispered that because Americans had given sanctuary toFederal troops in flight, and for other reasons not so widely known, General Carranza had wanted to organize an attack on the United Statesfrontier across the Rio Grande, temptingly shrunken by a long drought;but it was reported at the same time that General Villa had forciblyopposed the suggestion, and it was very improbable that any seriousattempt would be made to carry it out. 

It was Tuesday when I gave the alarm of the poison plot, and Thursdaywas the day gossip suggested for a raid. Nevertheless, the people wereno longer nervous. They felt a joyful confidence in the troops who hadbeen sent to reinforce the garrison at Fort Bliss, and even the mostbloodcurdling newspaper headlines had at length lost much of theirgruesomeness. 

By this time Milly Dalziel was as well as ever once more, and using herregained health to make a "dead set" at Eagle March. (I shouldn't tellthis of her, if what she did later hadn't influenced events in astrange, dramatic way. ) She couldn't let Eagle alone; and she showed herfeelings so plainly--as a very rich girl sometimes thinks she may dowith a comparatively poor man--that even Eagle himself, despite his lackof self-conceit and his preoccupation with thoughts of Di, couldn't helpunderstanding. He kept out of Milly's way as often as he could, but sheattributed this retirement to the calls of duty; and at last began tobehave so foolishly that for her own sake he gently snubbed her. 

Poor Milly Dalziel had not her pretty, bright red hair for nothing. Herimpulsive emotions, which she concealed badly, and her fiery temper wereits natural accompaniments. When it burst upon her that Eagle March didnot admire her as she admired him, and thought it best she shouldrealize this once for all, she suffered a wild reaction of feeling. Frombeing slavishly, ridiculously in love, she flew to the other extreme;and after an embarrassing little scene, in which Eagle firmly avoidedher, she broke out to me in hysterical abuse of him. He was rude; he was"no gentleman"; and she didn't see how I could make a friend of such anungracious brute. The one thing he could do was to fly, and she onlywished he _would_ fly--far away, and never be seen again. 

I was too sorry for the girl to resent as I ought to have resented herchildish but mean abuse. I knew, only too well, how much it hurt to bein love with Eagle March, and not to have him care an American red centin return. I let Milly talk for a while, and then tried to soothe herdown, saying that she would feel differently about everything next day. This was the signal for the girl to turn on me, which she did soferociously that I began to fear I must find an excuse to cut my visitshort. I wanted to stay; I had very little money for travelling, and Iwas sure Father would send funds with reluctance, especially as he nodoubt hoped that Tony and I would after all come together. With Di andme both safely disposed of to rich husbands, he would be free to marryKitty Main, or do anything he pleased. With this thought in my mind, thesituation looked rather desperate, and that night--Thursday night--I waslying awake to wonder what I could do, when suddenly the night silencewhich falls on lively El Paso after twelve was broken with the noise ofa tremendous explosion. 

The huge bulk of the hotel quivered, as if struck with a Titan's hammer, and it must have been the same with every other building in town. Ijumped out of bed mechanically, not knowing what I did. Only my bodyacted. For an instant my brain was dazed--connection cut off. The firstthing I really knew, I found myself standing at the open window clingingto the curtains. "What is it? What is it?" I was stammering out aloud. And before I could get any answer from within, again came the sameappalling sound. With that, as if a second shock could restore thesenses stolen by the one preceding, I guessed that what I had heard mustbe gunfiring on the hill. 

"The raid has come, then, after all!" I thought, with awe rather thanfear; and thousands of other people must have been thinking the samethought at the same moment. 

It was a clear, starry night, the sky glittering like a blue, spangledrobe that scintillates with the motion of a dancer, and the electriclamps of the city below lighting the streets as brightly as if the moonwere up. When I first reached the high window and stared down from it, Ihad the impression that those streets were empty, but immediately afterthe second shot and its reverberating echo, dark figures began swarmingout. Heads appeared in every visible window of the hotel. Electricitywas switched on in darkened rooms, and women showed themselves in theirnightgowns, with hair streaming over their shoulders, or hair lamentablyabsent, careless whether they were seen or not. I heard screaming andshouting, and then all such small sounds were swallowed up in anotherroar--the third. 

My thoughts flew to Eagle. If there were a raid he would be in danger. He might be killed, and I should never see him again. I didn't think atthe minute what might happen to the rest of us. Nothing and no oneseemed to matter except Eagle. Still only half conscious of what I did, unable to decide what might be best to do, I dropped on my knees to praythat Eagle might be safe. But I had only just begun to stammer out myappeal when there came a sharp tapping at the door. "Let us in--let usin!" Milly's voice cried, and Mrs. Dalziel quaveringly repeated the samewords. 

I shot back the bolt, and the two in their nightgowns almost fell intothe room. Milly, crying, seized me in her arms and begged me to forgiveher for all her unkindness to me. We should probably be dead in a fewminutes or hours, and she wanted to die at peace. As she faltered on, Mrs. Dalziel sobbed that Tony would be killed, and their fears made mebrave. I was suddenly convinced that there had been no raid and said so. "I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of, " I insisted stoically. "Remember, we've heard only three cannon shots, or sounds like shots. There'd be constant firing if there had been a Mexican surprise. Andthere _couldn't_ have been a 'surprise' after all the warnings we had. Anyhow, a handful of Mexicans wouldn't dare, with all those troops andguns on the spot. "

"But what can have happened if it isn't an attack?" wailed Mrs. Dalziel. "If only my son were here!"

"Did the shots come from our side of the river, or the other?" Millyasked, speaking more to herself than to me, for one was as ignorant onthe subject as the other. "_I_ couldn't tell for sure, could you?"

"No, " I said. "I hadn't thought of the other side. I just took it forgranted it was our own guns firing for some reason or other. "

"But _what_ reason?" persisted Milly. "Why should they fire three shotsin the dead of the night, and then stop?"

"Perhaps it's maneuvers, or a firing drill, or something, " I hazardedweakly, feeling all the time that it was nothing of the sort. 

"Perhaps, " Mrs. Dalziel and Milly both agreed, looking a little relievedby my silly supposition. 

"Shall we hurry up and dress ourselves and go downstairs?" I suggested. "See what a lot of people are in the streets. The whole town's surprisedout of its wits, and wild to know what's happened. Why shouldn't weknow, too?"

"Oh, yes, let's go down, " cried Milly. "By this time Thérèse is certainto be in mother's room, in hysterics and nothing else! We'll make herstop and drape herself in a blanket and dress us. "

"Thank goodness I can dress myself, and in five minutes, " I said. Theywent hesitatingly out, forgetting to close my door, and before I coulddo so myself I heard Thérèse's voice across the hall. 

I didn't stop to put up my hair, but let it hang down my back; I didn'teven tie my shoes, or fasten more than three hooks of my easiest blouse:one at the top, one in the middle, and one at the waist. Consequently, Iwas ready before the Dalziels, but waited for them outside the door oftheir suite, almost dazedly watching people--men and women, halfclothed--dashing out of their rooms toward the stairs and elevators. Some of these were jabbering to each other, but nobody seemed to knowwhat had happened. They were merely wondering, as we were; and in thebig hall, where some of the lights had been switched on, we could gleanno further details. Several of the hotel employés had arrived on thescene, more or less dressed, and they did what they could to calm theirguests. Presently one of the managers appeared, and he strongly advisedevery one to remain in the hotel. If any trouble were afoot, it would besafer indoors than out, and news might be expected soon. He had alreadysent a trustworthy messenger, he explained, to inquire of the police andthe answer would be more reliable than mere wild gossip picked up in thestreet, among the crowd. 

Some of the older men, and all the women, took the manager's advice, though a good many young men disregarded it, and went off foraging fornews. Those of us who remained in the house, however, didn't think ofmeekly returning to our rooms. We herded together in the hall of thehotel, in a fever of expectation, strangers hobnobbing like oldacquaintances and exchanging opinions on the mysterious alarm. The timeof waiting seemed long; but we three had not been below more than twentyminutes, perhaps, when people who had been out began to stream back withtidings of a sort for their families. No two men had quite the samestory to tell. One had heard that a band of _Apaches_ from a low quarterof the town had organized a scare to stir up the military. Another hadbeen told on good authority that the Mexicans had fired guns from acrossthe river and injured one of the tall buildings in El Paso, nobody knewwhich. A third assured everybody that our guns had been fired, butcharged only with blank, to frighten the Mexicans, at the moment whenthey hoped to give us a surprise. By and by, the messenger dispatched bythe manager came back; but he had little new light to throw on thesituation, except to assure every one on the authority of the policethat there had been no raid, and there was no danger of any kind for thetown. Accordingly, the best thing for its inhabitants to do would be togo to bed again. 

Very few, however, seemed inclined to take this advice. Mrs. Dalzielmight have done so had Milly and I consented; but I had an idea thatTony would come to the hotel, if possible, sooner or later, expecting usto be anxious. I was right, for in an hour, or not much more, while weall sat munching sandwiches, hastily provided, the familiar plump figurein khaki stalked into the hall. Milly and I both sprang up, and Tonydirected himself toward us; but before he came near enough to speak, Iknew that something really terrible had happened. Whether he meant totell us the truth or not was another question. The jolly, round-facedboy seemed to have lost the characteristics I associated most closelywith him; and when a a youth with comical features of the Billiken typeis suddenly fitted with a tragic mask, the effect is somehow morealarming than any look of distress on a serious face. 

He tried to grin, as his mother greeted him like one returning from thedead. "Why, mater, " he said, "any one'd think to see and hear you thatI'd been blown to smithereens, and this was my ghost. You'll laugh, Iguess, when I tell you what really happened. I got leave to make a dashand put you out of your misery. " When he had gone so far, he stopped, and swallowed. He looked sick, and all the more so because of theBilliken grin which he was afraid to let drop. His eyes wandered fromhis mother to me, and I saw pain in them. I felt for the first time thatlittle Tony was a grown-up man. 

"Well--well?" Milly urged him sharply. "Why don't you tell us?"

"I'm a bit out of breath, " her brother excused himself. "I hiked overhere pretty fast--borrowed a bicycle. Give me a second to get my windback, sis. "

But this was more than Milly could do. "Weren't you with the gunsto-night?" she asked. "You said you were going to be. "

"Did I say that? Well, I was. But--but the row you all heard had nothingto do with the _guns_, you know. At least, nothing directly. It was--theammunition; an accident, you see. One of our chaps dropped a lightedmatch, and it set fire to part of our train of ammunition. Three shellsburst, but--but nobody was hurt--except----"

"Except who?" Milly had to break in before Tony could go on. I saidnothing at all. I only looked at him. But after that first glance hekept his eyes away from me, I believed purposely. 

"Except an orderly of--one of the officers, and--oh, very slightlyindeed--March. He's hardly hurt at all, but--you mustn't be surprised ifyou don't see him around for the next few days. "

The blood rushed up to Milly's pale face, but she pressed her lipstogether almost viciously, and forced herself not to speak. Hergreen-gray eyes flashed out one distress signal, then seemed to shut itoff deliberately and coldly. 

"Captain March!" exclaimed kind Mrs. Dalziel, with real distress. "Oh, I'm so sorry that he should be hurt!"

"So are we all, " Tony responded; and voice and face would have told me, if I hadn't guessed before, that he was either keeping back something ofgrave importance, or else carefully lying. 

"Will he really be all right again in a few days?" the dear little ladywent on. 

"Er--perhaps not all right, but--nothing to worry about, " said Tony, with lumbering cheerfulness. "He's in no danger of death, anyhow, that'sone good thing. "

"What about Major Vandyke?" I heard myself say; and even as the questioncame, I wondered why I should have thought of it in that connection. Butsomehow it would out, and only my subconscious self, far down inmysterious depths, knew the reason. 

"Oh, Major Vandyke! Why, as it happens, he went over to the other sideof the river in his motor car--on business. "

A flame of suspicion in me was lit by that match. 

"To _Mexico_!" I exclaimed. "But I was told only this very day, byCaptain March, that no officer or soldier was allowed to cross the riveron any pretext whatever. "

"That was--is--so, in an ordinary way, " Tony admitted, swallowingheavily again. "But you see that fearful row on the hill where the gunsare might--must have set a hornet's nest buzzing over there. The chapswere likely to think we were potting at _them_--out of a clear sky, and--er--they might have begun potting back at us in a minute or two, intheir excitement. So, to save the situation, Vandyke scooted across withonly his orderly--who's his chauffeur, too--in his own car with somesort of white flag rigged up in a jiffy. I expect he'll get a lot ofcredit for that dash when the story--I mean the facts, are out. "

"It _was_ a brave thing to do!" cried Mrs. Dalziel, always delighted topraise any one. "He must have risked his life. "

"Yes, " said Tony, "no doubt of that. The Mexican bridge sentries mighthave fired on him in spite of the white flag. They--they did fire, Ibelieve. But Vandyke's all right, anyhow. "

"You speak as if some one wasn't. " I heard myself talking, though Iseemed not to have spoken the words deliberately. 

"Only the orderly, poor chap. He was driving the car. I guess thesentries saw him before they saw the white flag. "

"They shot him?"

"Yes, unfortunately they did. " Tony's voice broke a little, and thatstruck me as odd; for he could not have had any personal interest, itseemed, in Major Vandyke's chauffeur-orderly. 

"I hope they didn't kill the poor fellow?" purred Mrs. Dalziel. 

"I don't think he's dead yet, mater, but I'm afraid he's past speaking. They got him in the lungs. "

"Major Vandyke's come back, then, " I said. 

"Oh, yes, he was back in less than an hour, after a parley over there, explaining everything and making the Constitutionalists understand weweren't meaning them any harm. I didn't get leave to see you till justafter he had brought his car and his wounded orderly over to this sideagain. And now, if your minds are calmed down, I'll be off. I've toldyou no secrets. Everything I've said the papers will repeat to-morrow. But all the same, please don't talk to any one about this business. Promise, mater, and Milly. And I guess I don't need to ask you, LadyPeggy. Now, good-bye. I'll see you as early as I can in the morning. "

He kissed his mother, patted Milly on the arm, and gave my hand such ashake that I should have writhed if I had worn any rings. For once, instead of lingering, he had the air of being glad to escape from us, but on an impulse I followed him to the door and called him back just ashe had reached the threshold. 

"Tony!" I began. He turned with a start, and stopped. I had often beeninvited, but had never before consented, to call him Tony. 

"I want to ask you something before you go, " I said. 

He gave me a queer, apprehensive look. "Please don't!"

"Then I'll tell you something, instead. There isn't one word of truth inyour story about what happened. You've been making it all up. "

"That's where you're mistaken, " he contradicted me. "I haven't made itup. "

"If not, somebody made it up for you, and you've been ordered to put thestory round. This is what people are to believe, the version that thepapers will be given. But it's no use giving it to me. I don't believeit. So there!"

"It's all I've got to say, and even you won't get a different word outof me, " he said despairingly. "You always did have a wonderfulimagination, Lady Peggy, but whatever you may think, for God's sakedon't blab to any one else, unless to me; and I'd rather you wouldn'teven to me. I tell you, I'm pretty near all in. "

I let him go, but I made up my mind that I would not be put off with thestory which papers and public were to get. I would know the truth, andexactly what had happened to Eagle March. 

CHAPTER X

It was just as Tony had said it would be: the newspapers next dayrepeated his story. Very few clear details were given. The articles withtheir spread-eagle headlines concerned themselves more--for awonder--with effect than cause. They told at length and dramatically howEl Paso had been aroused in the dead of night by bomblike explosionswhich, many had taken for granted, came from the guns on the hill, repelling or revenging a raid from the other side. They told how thepublic had behaved, and described the relief felt when it had beendefinitely learned on good authority that the alarm was due to anaccident with some ammunition. But about the accident itself there waswhat struck me as a singular reticence, considering the wild conjecturesnewspapers did not hesitate to print on other subjects. Their _pièce derésistance_ was the magnificent courage and presence of mind displayedby Major Sidney Vandyke of the --th Artillery, whose battery had beenconcerned in the incident. 

I sent for all the El Paso papers, which were brought to me before I wasup, very early in the morning; and I sat in bed studying, in one afterthe other of them, the version of last night's strange affair. Somehow, the general praise of Sidney Vandyke's exploit annoyed me intensely, asone is annoyed when an undeserving person is ignorantly lauded to theskies. I know that on the face of things I had no right to say that hewas "undeserving, " in this case; but that instinctive rebellion in meagainst Tony's story last night cried out against it now. "There'ssomething queer under it all, " I kept telling myself. "I must find outwhat it is, and I _must_ know about Eagle. "

Concerning Captain March, the papers had very little to say. Theyunderstood that he had been on the spot when the explosion had occurred, and that he had received slight injuries which would prevent him fromcarrying on his military duties for some time to come. All theirattention was bestowed upon Major Vandyke, who had made himself the heroof what was called "El Paso's Big Night. " Owing to the indisposition ofthe colonel, who had been struck down in the morning by a touch of thesun, Major Vandyke was temporarily in command. His private automobile, which had followed him from Alvarado to El Paso, had brought him fromnew Fort Bliss to old Fort Bliss on official business: and he was on hisway back when, hearing sounds which resembled gunfire, he had stoppedhis chauffeur on the instant, and dashed on fast up the artillery hill, near which he happened to be. Fearing that the Mexicans--alreadyrestless, owing to the attitude of the United States at Vera Cruz andother places, and to the arrival of reinforcements along the RioGrande--might misunderstand, and work some mad, irreparable mischief, Major Vandyke and his orderly had made a dash across the river. In spiteof the white flag used to protect the car and its occupants, thesentinels on guard upon the Mexican side had fired at the sight of menin uniform, and the orderly had been shot. Otherwise, the errand sobravely undertaken had been crowned with success. The Mexicans, thinkingthey had been fired at, were about to discharge their own field guns, placed in a position of offence, in answer to the menace of the UnitedStates. Had Major Vandyke been five minutes later with his diplomaticintervention the word would have been given to fire, and one or more ofEl Paso's finest buildings might have been destroyed, perhaps with lossof life terrible to think of even now when the danger was past. 

The next thing I did, having absorbed all the news I could get from thepapers, was to write a letter to Eagle. I told him that I heard he hadbeen hurt, and begged him to send me a line--or a word if he couldn'twrite--to say how he really was. I inquired if he were in hospital, andif it would be possible for me to see him. When I had finished, I rangand asked for a trustworthy messenger. By and by, a servant of the hotelarrived to do my errand, and I told him as clearly as I could what Iwanted. He must go to the big camp near Fort Bliss and inquire forCaptain March. I couldn't say whether the officer would be in his owntent or elsewhere, but, anyhow, he must be found. If he were too ill toanswer even by word of mouth, the messenger mustn't come back until atleast he had learned something about Captain March's condition. 

"I'll pay you very well, " I said, trying to give the effect of a buddingfemale millionaire. 

As soon as the man had gone, I bathed and dressed quickly, in order tobe ready if he brought back word that I might be allowed to see Eagle. Ididn't care whether I had breakfast or not; but time dragged on, andnothing happened. For the sake of making dull moments pass, I rang forcoffee and a roll. It was early still, and Mrs. Dalziel and Milly weredoubtless trying to make up for their disturbed night by taking an extrarest. 

The tray appeared, and I ate and drank what the choking in my throatwould let me swallow, but there was no sign yet of the messenger. Icalculated how long it ought to take him to reach the camp on thebicycle he had mentioned; how long to do the errand; how long to return;and still there was nearly an hour unaccounted for. I was so restlessand miserable that I could have shrieked. I walked up and down thelittle white-and-green room as if it were a cage, but soon all mystrength had gone from me. I sat on the window seat, staring out as Ihad stared in the night, hoping now to catch sight of a man on abicycle. 

At last, when I had begun to feel shut in, and only half alive, like theLady of Shalott, as though nothing could ever happen in my life again, Ijumped up at the sound of a knock on the door. It was the messenger. Myheart bounded when he took from his pocket a letter, but only to fall atseeing a hotel envelope with my own handwriting on it. 

"I'm sorry, miss, " the man said, "but I couldn't get to Captain March. Iwent everywhere and tried asking a lot of folks, but couldn't find outnothing. They wouldn't let me into the camp, even, much less to thegentleman's tent, so I can't tell you whether he's there or not. I didmy best, but the army's different from civil life. When they say 'no'they mean 'no' and there ain't no goin' around it, or they prods youwith one of them bayonets. "

"Surely you haven't come back without any news?" I cried. "You must haveheard _something_!"

"Not a thing at the camp, except what I've just told you, miss, " themessenger persisted. "I hung around, and whenever I seen some chap goingin, if I could get him to speak I asked questions till they begun totake me for one of them newspaper guys. It was only when I seen thestunt was no good I chucked it and come back with your letter. There'sjust one thing I did hear, but not in camp. 'Twas outside the hotel, asI stopped my wheel. I met an old soldier from the Fort I'd beenacquainted with a good long time--fact is, he's engaged to my sister. Iasked him if he'd heard about Captain March being wounded. And hesaid--only I don't know as I ought to tell you what he said----"

"Tell me--every word, " I panted. 

"Well, then, if it's _every_ word you want, miss, he said it was alldamn nonsense about March being wounded, that something big was up, andhe's under arrest. "

Under arrest! The words struck like bullets. Just for a secondeverything swam before my eyes, and I was afraid that I was going to dothe most idiotic thing a woman can do--faint. You see, I had had nosleep and wasn't quite at my best. But I pulled myself together, and inmy ears my voice sounded only a little sharp, as I asked the messengerif his soldier friend had given him any further information. 

"Not he! Shut up tight as a clam, " was the answer. "I don't believe heknowed anything else. "

There was nothing more to be got from that quarter, so I paid the manand let him go. Then I tried to think how I could hope to probe to thebottom of the mystery, since mystery there certainly was. It seemed tome that, since I wasn't able to reach Eagle by letter, my one chance layin Tony. His manner, and the admissions he had inadvertently droppedlast night, had told me that he had some knowledge of the truth, whichwas to be hidden from the public. He had refused to be pumped, and Irespected him for his refusal; but I wasn't the public. Whatever thesecret might be, I would keep it. All I wanted to do was to help CaptainMarch if he could be helped; for I was sure all through to my soul that, if he had been arrested, it was through some terrible mistake or cruelinjustice. It was wicked of me, perhaps, deliberately to make a tool ofpoor Tony's love for me, but I tried to justify myself in deciding to doso by saying that no harm could come to him through it, or evil to anyone. 

"I'll wheedle the truth out of Tony, " I thought again. 

I dared not write and beg him to come and see me, for after our partinglast night he would suspect what I wanted and have time to steel himselfagainst me before we met. Nor could I go to the camp and try to find himthere, for I--a young girl--wouldn't be admitted alone even if I weredesperate enough to think of attempting such a wild adventure. If Ipersuaded Mrs. Dalziel to take me, and we had the luck to see Tony, Ishouldn't have a moment with him alone, whereas the process of"wheedling" might take many minutes. 

The only thing to do was to wait, and that was the hardest task evergiven me. I shall not forget that day even if I live to be an old woman;and looking back on it now over the months which have passedsince--months which seem longer than all the rest of my life puttogether--I believe that my very character took on some change in thosehours, as metal is changed if you throw it on to the fire. I felt forthe first time that I was a woman, with all the childishness burnt outof me; and I was glad, for I might have to do battle with those who wereolder and wiser than I. 

Mrs. Dalziel and Milly didn't appear till noon; but meanwhile I wentdown and talked to a great many people in the hotel, people whom Ididn't know. After the excitement of the night, everybody chattered andexchanged impressions with everybody else, without stopping to think orcare whether they had been introduced to each other. A few of the menhad a vague idea that something was being "hushed up, " but none couldguess what it was, and nobody knew anything about Captain March. Naturally I didn't tell what I had been told: that he was under arrest. I trusted with all my heart that no one else had heard, or would hear, the story. And I prayed that it might not be true. To Milly I would notspeak of him at all; for though she had apologized for yesterday, and"made friends" with me again, I knew that there was a cruel streak inher which would rejoice revengefully now, in any trouble that fell onEagle. She would feel that it was a direct punishment sent by Fate forhis indifference to her, and the way in which (for her own good) she hadforced him to show it. 

We had been engaged for a short motor run with Tony in the afternoon, but I was more disappointed than surprised when he sent a hurried noteto his mother saying that there was so much business to do he couldn'tget off. He might not even be able to dine. We were not to wait, but hewould turn up in time for dinner at seven-thirty if he could. In anycase, he would come in for a while later. 

I had an evening dress Di had given me after she had tired of it, whichI had altered for myself, and Tony particularly liked it. I put it onfor dinner that night. Tony did manage to come, bearing anoffering--flowers for all three of us. I saw that he noticed the frock, and with a little meaning smile at him, I tucked one of his roses downinto the neck. He flushed up at that, poor boy, all over his niceBilliken face, and I felt like every cat in Christendom rolled into one. But it was the first move in my game. I hoped that after so muchencouragement, he would make some excuse after dinner to get me tohimself. 

Scarcely a word was said during the meal concerning Captain March. Mrs. Dalziel inquired about him; Tony with his mouth full answeredindistinctly and hurriedly that he was "getting along all right"--aswell as anybody could expect; and Milly viperishly turned the subject toMajor Vandyke's exploit. 

"He'll be a greater popular hero now than Captain March ever was, " sheremarked with an elaborately impersonal air. "The first thing we know, Peggy, we shall hear that Lady Di is engaged to him; don't you think?She adores heroes. She once told me so. "

"What a romance that would be!" beamed nice Mrs. Dalziel, who never sawunder the surface of anything. But I was grateful to her for breakingin, and saving me the necessity of an answer to Milly's questions. If Ihad replied truthfully, I should have had to say that it was exactlywhat I _did_ think. Whatever the secret of the night might turn out tobe, I felt sure that Sidney Vandyke had made a desperate bid to winDiana away from Eagle March. And with pangs of sharp remorse Iremembered those angry words of mine which had perhaps spurred him tothe effort. 

Neither Mrs. Dalziel nor Milly appeared to have any suspicions that theorigin of the night alarm was not precisely what the newspapersreported; that simplified things for Tony, as far as they wereconcerned; and I was careful not to fling at him a single embarrassingquestion. As dinner went on he lost the worried look he had brought withhim, a look that was a misfit for his merry personality. He glancedoften with a rather pathetic wistfulness at me, which I read very easilyand shamefacedly; and at last he broke out with information concerning atorchlight procession that would set forth from one of the parks of ElPaso. Of course I knew what this remark was leading up to! He'd heardpeople say, he went on, that there was going to be quite a goodimpromptu show, celebrating the end of the "scare"; for it was generallyfelt that Major Vandyke's diplomatic dash had cleared the air of danger;and if there had ever been any real peril it was past now, once and forall. Would we like to go out and see the sight?

Promptly Milly answered for her mother and herself. They would not liketo go out and see the sight. If there was anything worth the trouble oflooking at, probably it could be seen from the hotel windows. 

"But what about _you_, Lady Peggy?" Tony asked. 

"I'd love to go with you, " I answered. 

I put on a long cloak, the one I had worn to see "our" battery off atFort Alvarado railway station, and Tony and I sallied forth together. Itwas not till we were safely in the street that he told me we were earlyfor the procession. "Never mind, " said I. "It's lovely to be out in theblue night. We'll just stroll through quiet streets, where there won'tbe a crowd to bother us, until it's time to go and gaze at the torches. "

"There's a nice little sort of park, " he suggested, "not too far away. How would you like to walk there?"

I said I would like it, and as our "little sort of" park wasn't the parkwhence the procession would start, we had it practically to ourselves. We found an empty seat and sat down side by side like a Tommy Atkins andhis "girl" in Kensington Gardens. 

The first thing that Tony did when we were anchored together there wasto propose again, after an apology. I let him get it over, and thenplayed the next pawn in my game. 

CHAPTER XI

"Tony dear, " I said softly, when he had finished, "I like you betterthan any man I know, except one; and that one thinks of me as his goodlittle sister, so you needn't be afraid of _his_ interference. But--there's something that _does_ interfere!"

"What is it?" he eagerly wanted to know. 

"It is--that you don't really love me. "

He stared at me through the deepening dusk. "Don't love you? Good Lord, Lady Peggy, I'm a fool about you! Any dough-head can see that. "

"Ah, but I'm not a dough-head. I know you don't love me. You proved thatlast night. "

"For the life of me, I can't think what you mean. I I told you I'd tryto be your friend, but you knew what that meant! Don't keep me insuspense. "

"You've hurt my feelings dreadfully. I've been brooding over it allday. "

"I--hurt your feelings? Why, you ought to know I wouldn't for theworld----"

"But you did. You refused to trust me. There can be no love withouttrust. "

"I'd trust you with my life. I can't to save myself guess what you'redriving at----" He stopped suddenly. My meaning had dawned on him inthat instant. 

"Now you've guessed, haven't you?" I asked, when for a few seconds, which I counted with heartbeats, he had sat tensely silent. 

"Maybe I have. But see here, Peggy, you aren't holding that against me, are you? It wouldn't be fair. I'd trust you with anything of my own; butwhen it comes to other people's business--official business----"

"Did you ever hear the lines, 'Trust me not at all, or all in all?'" Icontinued to torture him. "It was Tennyson who made Vivien say thosewords to Merlin. She was deceiving him, and meant to ruin him when she'dwormed out his secret; for that reason, it isn't a very appropriatequotation. But, otherwise, it's particularly so. If you trusted me foryourself, you'd trust me for others, too. It's the same thing--or elseit's nothing. I'm not like Vivien. I don't mean to deceive you, or ruinyou, or anything horrid. And I couldn't if I would!"

"You don't need to tell me that, " said Tony, very miserable, and makingme miserable as well. "I know you're true blue--the truest andbluest--but there are some things I've got no right to do, even for you, Peggy. I'd cut my tongue out to please you, I do believe I would, but touse it in a dishonourable way for your sake is dif----"

"There! I _told_ you you didn't love me!" I reproached him. "You accuseme now of wanting you to do something dishonourable. I don't want youto! I can't see that it would be dishonourable to put me out of suspenseabout a dear friend like Captain March, a man who's in love with mysister, and wants to marry her, as you surely know. But that settleseverything between us, of course. To be perfectly honest with you, Tony, I must say that I'm not certain, even if you did what I have asked, thatI'd be able to do what _you_ ask--love you, except as a friend. I'vesaid before that I couldn't. But I might have changed my mind in future, for all I know, if----"

"If!" echoed Tony. "That's a darned cruel way to put it!" And he lookedso much like the nicest Billiken ever seen on earth that I really didlove him, though not quite in the way he wanted. 

"No doubt I am cruel as well as dishonourable, " I replied frigidly. "Sonow you can easily stop loving me, can't you?"

"No, I can't, " he said. "See here, Peggy, what can I say or do to makethings right? I think you're the kindest and dearest and most honourablegirl whoever lived, and I----"

"Prove it then!" I cried. And I laid my hands on his. 

"How? What can I do?"

"Tell me the whole truth about what happened last night. Oh--I'm nottrying to bribe you! I don't promise if you do tell, that I'll love you, or marry you, or anything important of that sort. All I promise is to beso grateful, so glad, that--who knows how I may feel to you afterward?And anyhow, I'll let you kiss me, this very night--on my cheek. "

"You will? Yet--you say you're not bribing me! You couldn't offer me amuch bigger bribe. Why, Peggy, I'd be happy just to die--after getting akiss from you--even on your cheek!" and he laughed at himself forlornly. 

"You're a dear boy, Tony, " I said, crushed with remorse. "The kiss won'tbe a bribe, either. It will be a token of--of--I hardly know what. Butpartly of gratitude, the deepest gratitude, if you can trust me enoughto believe I'll be true. "

"I do believe that, indeed I do believe it, forever. And--and--by Jove!I _will_ tell you, " he broke out, with a kind of breathless gasp. "You're too strong for me, Peggy. You've _got_ me! But after all, there's no such great harm in telling, now. It's different from lastnight. Then I didn't know--nobody knew, I suppose--what the upshot ofcertain things might be. As it's turned out, some of the story will haveto be known. Not all--but the part you want to know most. "

"Tell me that, " I pleaded. 

"You swear you'll never breathe anything I say to you?"

"I swear I never will, until you give me leave. "

"Well, then, those three explosions you heard last night weren'texplosions at all. _They were shots from our field guns. _ But I'll tellyou what happened exactly--both sides of the story. "

"Both sides? How is it there are two?"

"Well, there's March's side, and----"

"And--what other one?"

"And Major Vandyke's side. "

"I knew it!" I cried out sharply. "I knew that man would try to ruinEagle. I should like to shoot him with one of those very guns. "

"Peggy, you mustn't talk like that, " Tony warned me. "If you do, I can'tgo on. "

"Forgive me, " I said, and let him hold my hand, happy for a moment inthe belief that he was soothing me. 

"You know--you've heard, I guess, that Vandyke was in command lastnight, because the colonel had a touch of the sun? But that isn't theright way to begin my story. I'm hanged if I know how to begin it! Wewere up there on the hill with the guns, on guard; I mean I was, and themen. And March came along, and strolled off again a little way with hisfield glasses. Maybe thirty or forty yards distant, he was. I wasn'tnoticing anything--felt rather sleepy, and was trying all I knew to keepawake. I was in charge of the guns, you see. I guess I was thinkingabout you. I generally am. Anyhow, the first thing I knew, March hurriedback. He seemed queer and excited, and stood still a minute as if he wasstruck all of a heap. Then to my amazement he rapped out an order toload and fire number one and number two guns, aiming at a spot justbeyond the bridge. But before we'd had time to do more than gasp--I andthe gunners--he changed his order, and commanded us to fire blank. Lord, that was a relief--though even blank would be bad enough for the lot ofus if it turned out that March had gone suddenly mad. You fire blank fora salute, you know: but Mexico wasn't likely to take it as a compliment!Luckily we'd some rounds of blank, served out to us in case we mightneed to send a scare and not a peppering across the river. There wasnothing for it but to obey orders, though I couldn't help thinking about'The Charge of the Light Brigade, ' when every one knew that some one hadblundered. March shouted out, 'Go slow!' And you bet we did go slow! Itseemed as if he must be off his head--or somebody else was--for so faras we could tell--and it was a fairly clear night--there wasn't a signof trouble on the other side of the river. 

"We'd only fired the three shots, when Major Vandyke pounced on us, ordered us to stop, and wanted to know what the devil and all his angelsMarch was up to. 'Carrying out _your_ orders, ' said March. 'That's ada----' but what's the use of repeating to you, Peggy, what they said toeach other? The principal thing is, Vandyke denied having given anyorder to fire, and cursed March for all he was worth. Said he might bethe cause of bringing us and Mexico to grips over the incident. Then hedashed off in his automobile, which was waiting for him under the hill(he'd been in it, you know, or he couldn't have got to the spot sosoon); you must have read that in the papers; and so much of their storywas true. Whatever you may think of Vandyke, Peggy, that was _man's_size work! He took his life in his hands, the way the Mexicans must havebeen buzzing in their wasp's nest over there, after the hot water we'dthrown on it. "

"It was the sort of thing he'd love to do, " I said implacably. "Thetheatrical thing. He must have known, too, that the man driving the carwas the one in greater danger. But _he_ didn't drive!"

"He never does drive. He didn't just funk it at that one time; it's hishabit. I've always heard him say he hated to drive a car. Too lazy!Anyhow, there was the very dickens to pay. Before leaving the hill forhis dash across the river he'd told March to consider himself underarrest----"

"How dared he?" I fiercely wanted to know. "That wasn't his business. "

"Oh, yes it was! He's March's superior officer. Besides any officer hasthe right, if--but I won't worry your head with military rules andregulations! What you want to know is, how this affects Captain March, don't you?"

"Yes, that's the great thing to me, " I admitted. "Tony, will it ruinhim?"

"It's early days to say as much as that, yet. It all depends on theresult of the court-martial. "

"Will he be court-martialled?"

"Of course. There's nothing else for it. It's a question which of thosetwo men can establish his case, and a court-martial will have to decidebetween them. But, I'm afraid, Peggy, it will go against March. Thecircumstances were so very queer, and Vandyke's denial of giving anyorder at all is so strong. Besides, it would be such a mad, improbablething for him to give such an order, as there was no danger of attack. He'd have no motive. "

"He would have a motive, " I broke in. "I can prove that. Will they let awoman bear witness for a prisoner in a military court-martial?"

"I suppose your evidence could be taken, if they were certain it had animportant bearing on the case. But I don't see how that could have, Peggy. This isn't women's business, it's men's. "

"And devils', " I finished for him. "We won't argue now whether myevidence could be important or not. Tell me both sides of the story youwere speaking of, first Captain March's, then Major Vandyke's. "

"Well, March says that while he was strolling about, at a short distancefrom the guns, looking through his field glasses at a fire he could seeon the other side of the river, he saw a chap in khaki hurry up thehill, wheeling a bicycle. As soon as the fellow came near enough to makeout his features, March says he recognized Vandyke's orderly, a manwho's been the major's soldier servant for a good length of time. Thisorderly, according to March, brought a verbal order from Vandyke asacting colonel, to begin firing number one and number two guns, and keepthem in action until further notice, aiming at a spot just beyond one ofthe bridges on the Mexican side. March said he was so astounded atgetting such an order, he thought there must be some awful mistake, andbefore obeying he wanted to have it on paper. So he took the risk of anydanger from delay in case the order was really all right, and scribbleda few lines to Vandyke on a leaf torn out of his notebook----"

"A leaf torn out of his notebook!" I couldn't help echoing. "Perhaps itwas the one I gave him. "

"Shouldn't wonder!" Tony went on, stolidly. "He says he repeated inwriting the command he'd just received, and begged Vandyke, if it wascorrect, to confirm him in the same way. The messenger dashed off, leaving March wondering like thunder what it all meant: whether therewas some fearful mistake, or whether there was a big crisis, and no timefor written orders. He could see, of course, that it might be possible, and that Vandyke had ordered only those two guns to be fired just toscare the Mexicans off from playing any trick they were at. The spot hewas to aim at suggested that explanation, for not much harm ought to bedone with a few shots directed that way. Not much of what you might call'_material_ harm' I mean. But there was no end to the harm such anincident could do, if there'd been nothing to provoke it. You see thesituation as March says he saw it, don't you?"

"Yes, I see. But what happened after that?"

"According to March, the orderly was back again in next to no time. March had stopped where he was, waiting for him, as he didn't want togive the snap away to me and the men till the last minute. And he washoping against hope, till he got the return message. It was verbalagain, in spite of his written request, and mighty peremptory, orderinghim to obey without any more nonsense. That's March's story. Not seeinga way to get out of it, yet realizing the awful consequences shouldthere be anything wrong, March was going to pass on the order to loadand fire when he suddenly thought he'd compromise by firing blank only. You see he was in an awful fix anyway, had to make an instant decision, and did what he thought best at the moment, though in giving that orderto fire blank he was already disobeying the orders of his superiorofficer. Vandyke's version is that he never sent any orders whatever. That his orderly was with him in his car, and had never left it for aminute. That March must have been deceived by some trick ofresemblance--a sort of 'Captain of Kopenick' (if you know that story);getting off a hoax on him, a deadly hoax, meant to upset the wholesituation between the United States and Mexico. He says March ought tohave known better than to obey a verbal order when the thing was soserious, and that he was something worse than an ass to mistake astranger for Johnson, the orderly, whose face March knew almost as wellas his own. There's where Vandyke scores an extra point against March. It would be very unusual to send a verbal order. "

"That's why Eagle doubted it, " I argued breathlessly. "_Could_ he haverefused to obey the acting colonel, when the order was repeated?"

"That's the question. It's too big for me, " Tony said with a sigh. "It'sfor the court-martial to settle. There are no witnesses who can be ofmuch use on either side, so far as I can see. Johnson was wounded in thelungs last night, you know, crossing the bridge in Vandyke's car, andnever so much as squeaked again. He's dead now, so Vandyke has to dependon his own word alone; but everybody who knows about the business seemsto think that probabilities are with him. His story is that he knewnothing of what was going on till he heard the guns at work. Luckily hewas near by in his car, as you've heard a dozen times, and dashed up tothe rescue. "

"What about the message Eagle wrote in his notebook?"

"There's only his own word to prove it was ever written. Naturallythere's no trace of it. "

"But you, " I persisted, "you and your men who were in charge of theguns; can't any of you bear witness for Captain March--that you sawMajor Vandyke's orderly?"

"Unfortunately for March, no, not a man Jack of us, " said Tony. "If he'dbeen close to us at the time, we must have seen and recognized anybodywho came and spoke to him. But I told you he'd strolled off. It wasn'tour business to watch him, and nobody was watching. A man on footwheeling a bicycle doesn't make much noise; and a khaki uniform is justabout the colour of the ground, on that yellow hill. There was no moon, only stars, which means no black shadow. I shall be called on as awitness for the defence, of course, worse luck--but I'm afraid I can'tsay anything to help March. I wish to the Lord I could! I'm dashed if itisn't the other way round. If I'm not mighty careful, I may do him harminstead of good. "

"You'd _like_ to do him good, wouldn't you?" I pleaded. 

"You bet your life I would, Peggy. March is just about the finest chap Iever met, and most people think the same of him. But what can I do?"

"I can't see, " I said, "but I may, when things grow clearer. They _must_grow clearer! You for one believe Eagle's word, don't you, Tony? Youbelieve it was Major Vandyke's orderly who came to him?"

As I asked this question, I stared through the twilight into Tony'sface, trying to read it even as he tried not to let it be read. Helooked wretchedly uneasy, and rather obstinate. "I can't say I'm sure ofthat, " he replied. "I'm sure some one came to him, and I'm sure March_thought_ it was Vandyke's orderly. That's as far as I can go. "

"Even when I've told you that I know there's a motive for MajorVandyke's wanting to injure him, ruin him in his career if he can?"

"You seem to think Vandyke's a regular sort of villain out ofmelodrama, " said Tony, with an uncomfortable laugh. "I guess you don'tknow men very well yet, Peggy--except in novels and plays--when it comesdown to bedrock. They're not much like that in real life, as far as I'veever seen. They never go round plotting to ruin other chaps' careers, even when they don't happen to get along very well with 'em. "

"_You're_ not so very old. You haven't had much more experience of lifethan I have, " I taunted him. 

Tony laughed. "Haven't I? That's all you know. You're a child, a littlebaby-child, compared to me. I may be young, but anyhow, I'm a man, andI've lived among men since I left West Point two years ago--even if youdon't count cadets as men. Vandyke's no angel, and he and March havebeen doing a bit of the cat-and-dog act in a quiet way lately. But it'spretty far-fetched to accuse Vandyke of hatching up a plot to wipe Marchoff the map, especially when it meant risking his own life andsacrificing his orderly, who was devoted to him--a fellow he valued awhole lot----"

"Ah!" I broke in. "So the orderly was 'devoted to him!' I wonder if thecourt-martial will remember that fact for what it's worth?"

"For what it's worth, yes. I guess it can be trusted to do just that. But what there is will be likely to tell in Vandyke's favour, I guess, not against him. Johnson had good reasons for being devoted to themajor. The chap got consumption, and was in a bad way--would have had tosay good-bye to an army life--if Vandyke hadn't paid for his cure in oneof the best sanatoria in America, and used influence to keep his jobopen for him, too. Nothing very black in that record, eh?"

"Major Vandyke's the kind of person to pay high for anything he reallywants himself, " I said. "He must have badly wanted this Johnson man forsomething or other. "

"Johnson was born a sort of gentleman, but hadn't the art of gettingalong in life, although he was pretty near being a genius at mathematicsas well as mechanics, and could do stunts in several languages, likeyou. No shame to Vandyke to make use of the man's gifts. He must havebeen jolly useful--too useful to waste. "

"It won't make me love you better, Tony, " I remarked with deliberateinjustice (for there are moods when any girl must feel a horridsatisfaction in being unjust), "if you go on praising Major Vandyke tothe skies. Does it matter why the orderly was devoted to him, or he tothe orderly? The thing of importance is the tie between them. The moredevoted the man was, the more willing he would be to go to any lengthsfor Major Vandyke. "

"Oh, if you want to put it that way, " Tony hedged. "But it's a girl'snotion, like the motive you attribute to Vandyke. "

"How do you know what motive I mean?" I shot at him. "I haven't toldyou!"

"'I may be an ass, but I'm not a _silly_ ass, '" quoted Tony. "I'veguessed. "

"What have you guessed?"

"Oh, about Vandyke and March both being in love with Lady Diana. All theowliest owls are on to that. First time Vandyke was ever caught forkeeps, the fellows say. But it would only do harm to March to bringanything of that sort up in this business, to say nothing of the badtaste, and how mad he'd be, and the unpleasantness for Lady Dianaand--and all your family. "

"It wouldn't be agreeable, I know, " I admitted. "But anything to saveEagle, no matter how we sacrifice ourselves. "

"I don't somehow hear Lady Di echoing that, though I agree with you. Only there's more in the thing than you seem to see, because you keepyour eyes fixed on one spot. If Lady Diana's engaged to Major Vandyke, then he'd have no incentive to strike at another man who was gone onher. It would be the other way round. The chap who had lost her would bethe one, if any, to be up to melodramatic stunts. It might be said aboutMarch that he risked trouble for himself, for the pleasure of having asmack at Vandyke; putting the blame on him for a mad order to fire offguns at the good little Mexicans, for instance, do you see?"

I did see, and seeing, suffered a sharp stab of disappointment. Tony hadtaken my one weapon out of my hands. He was right. I had been wrong, while thinking myself cleverer than he. "There must be some other way ofclearing Eagle, " I said desperately. 

"I hope so, with my whole heart; although I've always had a sneakingadmiration for Vandyke, too. He's such a dashed fine-looking chap, acredit to the army, and all that. To clear March--really clear him, without leaving a stain of carelessness even--means to ruin Vandyke. ForMarch can't be made white as snow without Vandyke being proved a liar, and--by Jove, yes, a traitor to his country!"

"That's what he must be proved, " I said. 

"It'll be a tough proposition. As I see it, there's no proof. "

"It must be found. "

"That's easy to say. But if there's any, it ought to be found by thecourt. "

"When will the trial come on?" I asked. 

"In a few days. I don't know yet just when. "

"In the meantime, Eagle is under arrest?"

"Yes. It's sickening. "

"Aren't his friends--I mean among the officers--indignant?"

"They're mighty sorry, all broken up, and don't know what to think. But, of course, Major Vandyke's got a good many friends, too. As for the FortBliss officers, they're so wild about the whole business that I'm afraidthey're a bit prejudiced against March--those of them who don't know himpersonally. You see, there was an awful row on the hill after thefiring--but I didn't mean to tell you about that----"

"Why not, as I know the rest? I suppose some of them arrived----"

"I should say they did arrive! That's too slow a word. The noise shot'em out of their blessed beds--those of 'em who had gone to bed--andbrought the others out of any old place they happened to be in: club, hotel, friends' houses. The first thing we knew, we had the GeneralCommanding on us. They know _some_ language, those grand old Johnnies!Poor March! He was up against it, I can tell you. His worst enemy wouldhave been sorry for him. "

"Fiends! What did they do?" I gasped. 

"It wasn't so much what they did as what they said. But I shan'tgive you details, Peggy, so don't try and worm 'em out of me. It'll only waste our valuable time. March was under arrest--that'senough. I suppose he ought to be grateful that it's been 'judgedexpedient'--that's the phrase--never to let the story in its fullenormity leak out. Vandyke was so smart at apologies and explanations inthat Mexican dash of his last night, and the part he played appealedsuch a lot to the chaps over there, who're nothing if they're notsensational, that it's hoped the incident won't have any seriousinternational results at all. The great thing is to keep the businessforever from the public on both sides of the Rio Grande. Luckily mostpeople had the willies so badly after the first shot that they couldn'tswear what sort of noise they _had_ heard. It's a hard job, too, for anamateur to tell what direction a sound comes from, when his eyes haven'thelped his ears. If Vandyke hadn't put a stop to any danger of returnshots, the fat would have been in the fire for us. Thanks to him, thatstory of an explosion among the ammunition could pass muster. As forMarch's alleged 'wound, ' that tale's to get him out of his socialengagements, without stirring up talk. But it won't be believed in forlong. The court-martial findings can be kept secret, but not the fact ofits taking place. It's to be put round that March was accused of grosscarelessness, and causing the 'accident' that occurred. So now you see, Peggy, your keeping dark about what I've told you to-night is all forMarch's good. If he's found guilty----"

"What then?" I breathed. "What will be the sentence?"

"Why, as the affair has to be hushed up forever he can't be 'chucked. 'He'll probably be 'given permission to resign. ' And then he will resign. And nobody outside will ever know why. Those inside will think he'sjolly well in luck to be let down so easy considering all ... What?"

"I didn't speak, " I whispered. 

"Why, Peggy, you're crying!"

I couldn't answer. I only bent down my head lest he should see my face. 

"I felt from the first I oughtn't to have told you, " growled Tony. "NowI'm sure. Don't take it so hard, dear. Something may turn up we can'tthink of, and March get off scot free. Who knows? Anyhow, he's nothingbut your friend. And your sister isn't likely to marry him now. Ishouldn't be surprised if she's engaged to Vandyke already. "

"It wasn't settled between them, " I said, swallowing my tears. "Only Ithought she liked Eagle better, and that if he'd plenty of money--butit's all over. No hope since this thing has happened!"

"Would you like to have her marry March?" Tony wanted to know. 

"I'm--not sure! But it will be too dreadful if she marries Major Vandykeafter what he has done. Why do you say you 'shouldn't wonder' if they'reengaged already? And a little while ago, too, you said 'if Lady Di isengaged to Vandyke. ' Di can't have heard yet that there's any reasonwhy--why the most disloyal coward should drop Eagle March. "

"There are such things as telegrams. And the big California papers musthave got hold of the story printed in El Paso this morning. They're sureto have correspondents here. I bet Lady Di had Vandyke as a hero servedup to her with her coffee at breakfast to-day. Wouldn't she wire andcongratulate him? Wouldn't he wire back to her, and strike while theiron was hot, to get her promise? That's what I'd do if I were in hisplace. "

"I never thought----" I began; but no more words would come. I feltbroken. It seemed to me that I could look ahead and see the wholefuture. 

I let my hand lie in Tony's, and he stroked it gently, not speaking ortrying to make me speak. Silence was the only balm just then, if balmthere was, and a loud burst of music not far off struck on my brain likethe blow of a hammer. 

We had forgotten all about the torchlight procession which we had comeout to see. But--by and by--Tony did not forget his kiss. 

CHAPTER XII

If I could, without betraying Tony, I should have written to Eagle thatnight, telling him just a hundredth part of what I thought and felt. ButI was bound by my word to "keep dark" what I had heard, even from Eaglehimself, unless some day Tony set me free to speak. I must seem to knowand believe what the public knew and believed, no more. But I did writecautiously, saying how grieved I was if he suffered, how I should thinkof him every hour, and how I wished that some way might be arranged forme to see him by and by. Could it be managed? I asked. And I posted theletter before I went to bed, tired to the heart and more miserable thanI had ever been in my life. 

The next morning, before I was out of my room, a telegram was brought tothe door. It was from Di, and said, "Am engaged to Major Vandyke. Hewill probably call and tell you the news himself, but thought I shouldlike you to know first from me. Please be nice to him for my sake. I amvery happy. What a hero he is! Write me all about what happened. "

This was a long, expensive message to lavish on me; but Diana's days ofeconomy were over, and this was the first sign of the change. 

I boiled with anger against her, and should have liked to send some ofmy emotions over the telegraph wire, but that would have been a childishway to strike. Besides, I knew in my heart that I was a little unjust. Di had treated Eagle shamefully, there was no doubt of that. But therewas one thing in her favour: she was not conscious of betraying EagleMarch in the hour of danger, for she knew about him only what the paperssaid: that he had been wounded in an accident. It was Major Vandyke'sgreat exploit which had weighed down the scales in his favour, orinfluenced Diana, anyhow, to throw Eagle over definitely, and announceher engagement to the "hero. " I telegraphed back, "Don't make it publictill you've heard from me. You may change your mind. " I followed thewire with a letter, in which I assured Di that Major Vandyke hadcommitted a crime against Eagle March. Perhaps it would be found out, and then she would be very sorry that she had promised to marry such aman. I dared not hope much from my protest, however; so, two days later, I wasn't surprised to hear that Di was disgusted as well as hurt by my"wicked prejudice against Sidney. " "You never liked him, " she said, "butI didn't think you would go so far as to accuse him of crimes. If itweren't so silly, it would be horrible. As it is, I can't help laughing;but all the same, be careful what you say to other people. If you speakagainst Sidney to strangers, you can't do him any harm, but you will doyourself a great deal, and Captain March, too. Sidney has written me along letter telling me the whole history of that Thursday night. It hasjust come. Of course, I can repeat to _nobody_ what he wrote. It wasstrictly confidential, though I suppose the truth is bound to leak out, more or less, in future. Judging from your hints, I suppose you, too, have heard something--probably from Tony Dalziel (whom I hope, by theway, you are treating better than you did, as you're never likely to getanother such chance). Naturally you believe the other side. But afterthe court-martial there won't be any 'other side. '"

There was just one consolation in the next few days: a letter that cameto me from Eagle. He said not a word that any one mightn't have read, and told me nothing about himself, except that he was "getting alongvery well" and I mustn't spend a sad minute over him. But he added:"Your thought of me, and your unfailing friendship, are more to me thanI can express. I feel that nothing can rob me of them, and now andalways they will be for me like a comforting fire, at which I can warmmyself when days are cold and dark. I count on you, my little Peggygirl, and I know I shan't count in vain, even though I have to say thatit's impossible for us to meet now, or for some time to come. Write tome when you feel like it. I shall be more than glad of your letters. "

If I had written when I felt like it, I should seldom have had a pen outof my hand; yet it was hard to write. There was so little I dared, somuch I wished, to say. And I couldn't mention Diana. I wondered whethershe had broken to him in a letter the news of her engagement, or whethershe had left it for him to discover by accident. I felt that he ought tobe told, but I couldn't bear to be the one to deal the blow, so I hedgedwhen I wrote to him next, asking, "Have you heard from D... Lately?"

He answered the question briefly by the next post "Yes, I heard from heron Saturday. " That was all. No comment, no word as to his feelings. Buthe had let me see how he loved her. He could not help knowing that Iwould understand what losing her meant to him--and losing her to MajorVandyke, at such a time and in such a way. Looking back at events, Icalculated that the blow had fallen on Eagle before he answered myletter, and this gave a more pathetic meaning to the lines which Iintended always to keep. 

Except for the knowledge that, powerless as I was, he valued me, therewas no brightness in my days. Major Vandyke did have the effrontery tocome and see me, as Di had thought he would, and I had thought hewouldn't. He took me at a disadvantage by walking up to me in the hallof the hotel, where I stood reading a note from Tony. Warned by a flashof my eyes as I looked up at the sound of his voice, saying, "How do youdo?" he went on hastily: "Don't let's have a scene, please, for Diana'ssake, if not for your own. I know how you feel, so you needn't go to thelength of telling me, or even cutting me, before people. If I hadn'tbeen sure you were too much of a little lady to make yourselfconspicuous in public, in spite of your feelings, I shouldn't haverisked surprising you like this. I was pretty sure if I didn't catch youunawares you would refuse to see me. So I had to take some risk, for Iparticularly want to speak to you. "

"I don't share your desire, " I said stiffly. "You were perfectly rightin thinking I shouldn't have seen you if you had given me the chance torefuse. It's like you, not to have given it. But you're right, too, whenyou take it for granted that I won't make a scene. If it could do thethe slightest good, though, to any one concerned, I would!"

He smiled, a pale, unpleasant smile. "No doubt. You'd be capable ofanything. Here's the situation: I'm going to marry your sister, andthough you've tried your best to stop me, you can't. "

"I wonder any man, even you, should want Diana after the way she'sbehaved, " I said sullenly. 

"Thanks for that expressive 'even. ' Your weapons are pretty sharp, little lady! But you're a child, and you're Diana's sister, so I bear nomalice. I'm the sort of man, it happens, who doesn't stop to bother muchabout the way a very beautiful girl 'behaves' to another fellow. I loveDiana, and I'd take her across that other fellow's dead body if she'djust stabbed him. "

"She has stabbed Captain March, though not mortally, I hope, " said I. "But she has behaved as badly to you as to him, in a way. "

"You mean the affair of the photograph, I suppose, " Major Vandykeremarked calmly. "She has explained that. Not that I asked her to. All Idid was to put into a letter the story of that little scene in which youwere mixed up in March's tent. She answered voluntarily that March musthave bribed the photographer to sell him a copy, though the man had beengiven strict instructions to print only one--for me. March had beggedher for a picture, when he heard from Mrs. Main that she'd been sittingfor that fellow, who's supposed to be a great artist; and Di put him offin some laughing way. I was pretty certain, when I noticed there was nosignature on the portrait March had, that he'd not got the photographfrom Diana herself. No doubt he thought all fair in love or war. "

"You judge him by yourself, " I said. "But never mind! I shan't ask younot to believe Di, but to believe your own common sense. Think--orpretend to think what you like. "

"I shall, " he assured me; "that's a great principle of mine! As ageneral rule it makes for happiness and success. But we're getting awayfrom my object in speaking to you, when I know you're wishing me inkingdom come. "

"Not there, " said I. He laughed out aloud, and anybody looking at usmight have imagined us the best of friends. 

"What a little devil you are! Where did you inherit it from?"

"From French chocolate, perhaps, " said I. "What is it you want with me, Major Vandyke? Tell me, and get it over. "

"I want to know exactly what it is in me that you dislike so much?"

"Only everything. "

"That's a large order, and not very explicit. Would you have disliked meif I hadn't interfered with--a--er--a person more to your taste; inother words, with Captain Eagleston March?"

"Oh, of course, if you hadn't been jealous of him, I might have thoughtbetter of your _character_. But then, you wouldn't have been you. "

"D'you know, " drawled Major Vandyke, "I've a sort of idea that it wasCaptain March who was jealous of me!"

"It isn't _in_ him to be jealous, in the way you mean. But you've askedwhy I dislike you, and you interrupted me before I could finish. 'Dislike' is a very small word for what I feel. I loathe you, becauseyou've done your best to ruin him. There are some things I _know_. Partly, I blame myself because of what I said to you about Di in camp. Perhaps--just perhaps--you mightn't have done what you have done if I'dheld my tongue. That's why, if I've had a hand in pulling Eagle Marchdown, I'd cut it off, and the other one, too, if I could have a hand inlifting him up. "

"Sounds complicated--and Irish!" sneered Vandyke. "In your country a manis presumed to be innocent until he's proved guilty; yet you accuse meof guilt on no proof whatever. Evidently you've wormed things out ofTony Dalziel, and drawn your own conclusions to suit yourself. So like awoman! But my conscience is clear as crystal. Personal feeling has hadnothing to do with my actions. Every man will give me credit for that. I'm sorry for March. He's either insane with jealousy, or he's allowedhimself to be tricked. Privately, not publicly, of course, I'm inclinedto believe in the former theory; and I think most people would agreewith me if they knew all the circumstances----"

"As you put them!"

"Let's go back to my object in inflicting myself upon you to-night, LadyPeggy. Eagleston March is the god of your idolatry. Let's take that forgranted. He's bound to suffer. He brought it on himself, whatever you--achild--may think to the contrary. Do you want to make him suffer more orless?"

"Is it necessary to answer?" I asked. 

"Hardly. But I have to impress upon you that it's partly in those handsof yours, which you would 'cut off' for him. The full immensity of hisguilt need never come out. It's not intended that it should come out. Still, if you are going to treat me like the dirt under your feet--theman who will soon be your sister's husband--and kick up a scandal, Ishan't lie still. I'm not a saint. If you mean to fight against me withDiana, or anybody else, or even set people talking by your behaviour, byJove! I'll hit back. I shan't take much trouble to do my part in keepingthe secret. "

"You're bound to keep it, aren't you?" I suggested. "Government doesn'twant it to come out. "

"That's the attitude at present. But when relations have been definitelyand permanently smoothed over between the United States and Mexico, itwon't so much matter except for March himself. In any case, _I_ shan'tlet the cat out of the bag. I'm not such a blunderer! But I tell youfrankly, I can influence others to keep the secret after the timelimit's up--or I can refrain from using influence. Which shall it be? Isit peace or war between us?"

I stopped to think for a moment, and then I answered, "It's an armedtruce. "

We have all heard quite a lot about the mouse who saved a lion. But itwas only one mouse out of a world crammed full of mice. I never heard, in the whole history of mice, since those which Cain and Abel maybe hadfor pets, of another mouse capable of saving any animal whatever, evenitself. Still, there remains that one heroic and intelligent mouse. WhenSidney Vandyke had left me to "think things over, " I envied it withpassion, feeling that I was not even of the mouse tribe. I felt morelike a fly, if you can imagine a fly cursed with a human heart, wholoves an eagle that has been shot in the wing and caged, and the cageset down on the seashore when the night tide is coming in. What couldsuch a fly do but cling sadly to the cage and buzz and let the greatrush of water drown it with the eagle? Even that fly seemed morefortunate than I was, as I pictured it to myself. For it was privilegedto rest on the eagle's cage. I could not be near my wounded eagle!

Five days after that awful Thursday night a letter from Di told me thather engagement had "changed all her plans. " "Sidney" was very impatient, and wanted to be married soon. The moment his work was over at El Pasohe would get long leave, and possibly he might make up his mind toresign from the army. That was what she wanted him to do; and when shehad him with her, she knew that she could persuade him, for he wasn'treally "very keen" on soldiering, and she _must_ live in England, atleast half the year round. This part was for the future to decide; butin any case there would be the long leave. It would give time for thewedding and the honeymoon. She had set her heart on being married at St. George's, for it was the "historic" thing to do. And there was thetrousseau. Kitty Main _insisted_ on giving it to her for a weddingpresent; which was rather a weight off one's mind, as America had costsomething in spite of everybody's being so hospitable and good. Kittywould go to Paris with her, and help to choose the things, which wouldbe nicer than having just a sum down, and going alone. So they--Di andKitty and Father--had all decided to cut out the rest of the visitsarranged and "make for home. " California had been great fun, and Diwished she might stop longer, but one couldn't have one's cake and eatit, too. Being married was her cake. This was her mistake. As I havesaid before, she had always had both. 

Major Vandyke's "work in El Paso" was to bear witness against EagleMarch in the court-martial which would come on almost at once. And I wasto go away without hearing the verdict or seeing Eagle after all wasover. 

 * * * * *

Di had written to Mrs. Dalziel, too, it appeared, and Milly was only tooglad of an excuse to escape from the the place where Captain March'ssociety had been the first and only attraction for her. 

"Now that Tony's time is so dreadfully taken up, " she said to hermother, "he can't give us any fun, or have any fun with us himself, sowe might as well go away. _Let's_, dear! Let's clear out to-morrow, andtake Peggy to meet Lady Di and the others at Albuquerque, where we canget into the 'Limited' and join them. "

"I don't know what Tony will say!" wavered Mrs. Dalziel, who was findingEl Paso rather hot in those days, for plump people. She looked at me. Sodid Milly. Then Milly laughed. "No good pretending we've got cotton woolover our eyes, " she exclaimed. "Can't you make up your mind to take mypoor, dear little brother, Peggy, and put him out of his misery?"

"Tony and I understand each other already, " I said. 

"Do you? Oh, I'm _so_ glad, so pleased, " they both cried together. And Ihad to explain in a violent hurry, before I had been caressed underfalse pretences, that there are understandings _and_ understandings. Tony's and mine was the kind of understanding which left us bothperfectly free; the kind of understanding where you didn't make up yourmind, but just waited to see whether it made itself up. 

"Isn't there anything between you and the poor boy, then?" implored theboy's mother. 

"Only--a kiss, " I said. "One--on a cheek. My cheek. "

"Well, that's something, " she sighed. "At least, it was when I was agirl. "

It was not much to me, though it might have been to a better regulatedflapper. I couldn't dwell on such trifles as kisses. I thought only ofthe coming court-martial. 

CHAPTER XIII

The "understanding" remained _in statu quo_ (whatever that means; theexpression was his) between Tony and me, when Mrs. Dalziel and Milly andI turned our backs on El Paso. We had a night at Albuquerque, which mademe homesick for past days, because the hotel where we stopped had thename of Alvarado. I hadn't known that I was happy at the Springs, but inlooking back it seemed as though I must have been without a care. 

Milly and her mother bought wonderful Indian curios and gorgeous Mexicanopals and silver spoons set with turquoises at Albuquerque, and Millywas almost feverishly gay; but I guessed that at heart, if she had anorgan worth the name, she was nearly as wretched as I. For she hadfailed; and she had let the venom of her spite poison her nature, tryingto tell herself that she rejoiced because of Eagle's misfortunes, andthat it was very good, as things turned out, to be free of him and hisfate. No one can really be happy with such poison in the veins, andthere can't possibly be deep-down, soul-satisfying enjoyment fromrevelling in another's misfortunes. Underneath my fury, when Milly saidlittle veiled, spiteful things about Captain March, was pity for her, the kind of pity you have for an irritable invalid who snaps. 

When Father and Mrs. Main and Diana (Di in great beauty) came toAlbuquerque on the "Limited, " and we three took up our quarters instaterooms on board, Milly Dalziel and Di struck up a great friendship, almost as if they were new acquaintances who had just been introducedand fallen in love with each other's unexpectedly charming qualities. This was quite funny, because Milly had found it hard work to be civilto Di at Alvarado Springs, and Di had been rather contemptuously amusedat Milly's badly disguised jealousy. Now, with Eagle March eliminatedfrom the scheme of life for both of them, each discovered that the otherwas a delightful creature. 

Milly accounted to me for her change of mind by exclaiming: "I do thinkLady Di has got heaps prettier since she went to California, don't you?And she's just as sweet as she's pretty. Perhaps it's being engaged tothe man she loves that has made the difference. And no wonder, with sucha gorgeous lover as Major Vandyke! He's something to be proud of--evenfor a beauty and a 'swell' like your sister. "

Di accounted for the change in _her_ mind by saying to me: "I don't knowwhat you've done to that Dalziel girl, Peggy, but you seem to have madeher all over. She used to be a thorough-paced cat. Now she's quite adarling, and if you're ever sensible enough to marry Tony, I shall loveto have such a fascinating sister-in-law. I've asked her to be one of mybridesmaids. "

I suppose changing your mind often is a good, clean thing for your soul, just as changing your clothes is for your body. 

We had a few hours to flash round Chicago in a motor car, seeing pretty, young-looking parks, and a great lake like the sea with wonderfulbuildings along its shore, and a sky like a painting by Turner. I wasbitterly disappointed not to get the telegram Tony had promised to send, addressed to the Blackstone Hotel, where it had been arranged beforehandthat we should lunch and dine. The court-martial was to have been heldon the eighth day after Eagle March's arrest, the day before our arrivalin Chicago, and meanwhile I had lived only for the telegram. Myimpatience to know the worst--or best--had been like a flame in my bloodand brain. When it was time to take the fast train to New York in theevening, and no telegram had come, it seemed as if that flame gave adevouring leap, and then went out, leaving my body a burnt-up shell. 

The next morning we were in New York, where Mr. Dalziel met his wife andMilly. I hoped that he might have read some news of El Paso in themorning papers, and that he would spring it upon us in the railwaystation where we paused, being charming and affectionate to each other, and making plans to meet again before our party sailed. I couldn't havequestioned him to save my life, any more than I could have cried out infearful nightmares which I remembered, when the earth was about toswallow me up, or a mountain fall on to my head. Surely, I thought, ifthere were news about the court-martial it would be interesting enoughto the Dalziel family for the man to mention it, if only because Tonywas to be a witness in the case! But the affair might have been moreremote from us all than a destructive tidal wave in China, judging byMr. Dalziel's oblivion of it. He and Father talked about our luck ingrabbing cabins at short notice on the _Mauretania_; his wife and Mrs. Main discussed getting seats for that night at D'Annunzio's greatmoving-picture play, which had come on at a theatre in New York; hisdaughter and Diana chatted about the earliest date when Milly couldpersuade her mother to sail for England. I longed to scream at them, "Oh, you hard, unfeeling _wretches_!" But instead I stood outwardlypatient, a good, well-behaved young girl with a little mincing smile onmy face. Only the smile was frozen so hard you could have knocked it offwith a hammer. 

We were going to Kitty Main's flat, which she called her "apartment, "and the Dalziels were going to their house, but it was not to be aregular parting. We were to dine with them (somehow the idea was bornein upon me that dear Mrs. Dalziel wanted naughty, shilly-shallying Peggyto see what lovely surroundings might be hers as Tony's wife); all of uswere to lunch next day at Delmonico's, as Kitty's guests; the Dalzielswere to motor us over to Long Island for a glimpse of their countryplace there; and they were to see us off on the _Mauretania_. But thatwould not be until five days had passed. Meanwhile, there would be timefor telegrams and even letters from El Paso. 

At last, after all the noisy planning of things to do, the two partiescontrived to tear themselves from one another, and we got away from thewonderful station in Mrs. Main's motor car, which had come to meet us--amost impressive motor car which needed only a coronet or at worst acrest, on its door. Perhaps, however, judging from present signs, thatlack might be supplied later. 

Her "apartment" was in a marvellously ornate sky-scraper; a huge brownblock like a plum cake for a Titan tea party, which would have madeBuckingham Palace or any other royal residence in Europe look a toy. Itwas in the highest story, according to Kitty the most desirable, becauseyou had all the air there and none of the noise; just like living on amountain, with a lift to the top. I wondered what she would think ofpoor old Ballyconal, when she came to see it!

The first thing I did was to wire my temporary address to Tony, and hatemyself because I hadn't done it before. Until I met Father and Di Ididn't know where we were to stay in New York, for everything had beensettled through letters and telegrams, with as little useful informationas possible. If I had remembered in Chicago that Tony had no idea whereI would be in New York, there need have been no more delay in my gettingthe news. But something seemed to be strangely wrong at his end of theline, for even when there had been time for him to get my telegram andsend another, no answer came. Nothing arrived for Di, either; butapparently she was expecting no wire. She must have had some humancuriosity, if not anxiety, to know the fate of a man who had been asmuch to her as Eagle March had been; but she was thinking of his trial, I suppose, entirely from Sidney Vandyke's point of view, and she had nouneasiness as to the result for Sidney. As for the papers, though Iquite cleverly managed to find other things than football news, I coulddiscover nothing about the court-martial on Captain March. I had to tellmyself that perhaps they didn't put such affairs in newspapers, for Iwas too ignorant to think of trying to hunt up the army and navyofficial journals. 

We had been three days in New York in great heat, which Kitty took painsto tell us was most unseasonable, when one morning a thunderstormaccompanied by terrific wind came up, preventing us from going out as wehad intended. Kitty's floor at the top of the building, with its steelsupports, actually gave the effect of swaying in the blast like anovergrown spear of wheat, a phenomenon Kitty took as a matter of course. So we Britishers had to do the same, no matter how we felt, to show thatwe were as brave as Americans. In the midst of the storm the postman'sring sounded reassuringly, as if to say that we were not cut off fromearth; and a calm maid, used to hanging on insectlike by her antennæ tothe top grain on the wheat stalk, quietly presented a silver tray withletters to her mistress. 

"One for dear Diana, " Kitty announced, picking up a large purple-sealedand monogrammed envelope, such as Sidney Vandyke had made peculiarly hisown. And I had only time for a heartbeat before she added, "Two forlittle Peggy!"

I never much relished being patronized as "little Peggy" by my would-bestepmother, but she might safely have called me anything from apterodactyl to a hippopotamus just then. I had caught a glimpse of theuppermost envelope of the two as she doled the letters out. In a flash Iknew that Eagle March had written to me. 

Just to save the scarlet flag my cheeks flung out from Father's stare, Ipretended great interest in the other envelope. It had been addressed tome by Tony. 

"My letter is from Sidney. I thought I should have one from him to-day, "said Di, with the brazen boldness of the legitimately engaged girl whohas a right to expose her feelings. "Now he'll tell me, perhaps, when hewill be able to get leave and follow us. "

She proceeded to tear open the envelope in the ruthless violating way ofwhich I could never be guilty except with a soulless circular. A letterfrom a lover, or a friend, full of thoughts and touched by a dear hand, is too sacred for such usage. Fearing from Di's expression that shewould be capable of reading aloud choice selections from Major Vandyke'sversion of events, I simply couldn't stay to risk hearing them. I jumpedup and fled with my two prizes. 

Locked safely in my room, delicately I cut the edge of Eagle's envelope. I was on the point of drawing out the letter, which appeared to bemeagrely thin, when something within me seemed to faint. Reading what hehad to say, I should know in a very few words, I was sure, the fate towhich he looked forward. There would be no working up, no preamble, toprepare my mind. I wasn't strong enough to bear it. I should have totake Tony's letter first, like a dose of sal volatile. 

"Dear, dear Peggy, " my benevolent Billiken addressed me, and as I read, the thunder rolled like the far-away drums of Fort Alvarado or El Paso. "This is my first real letter to you, for I don't count notes; and Iwish it could be a better one. I'm afraid you must be pretty mad aboutnot getting a telegram at Chicago, or anyhow at Mrs. Main's, when you'dtaken all the trouble to wire me your address. But it was intimated toall of us concerned that we weren't to telegraph news about _you knowwhat_ to our families or friends, and that we were even to be discreetabout our letters. I've been so indiscreet with you on that subjectalready, on a never-to-be-forgotten night, however, that the latter bitof fatherly instruction doesn't hold good in my case. Only, beforetelling you what I have to tell, I'll just take the liberty of remindingyou once again of your promise to keep mum till Gabriel's trumpetsounds--or till I take off the embargo (is that the way to spell it, Iwonder, and what exactly does it mean?). As matters look at present, onething is liable to happen about the same time as the other. Well, nowI'm going to tell you news of the court-martial as best I can. I'm nogreat shakes at telling things, you know. Vandyke was 'seedy' (as yousay in your truly British fashion) the day appointed for the trial, andas he was the principal witness it had to be put off for twenty-fourhours. You'd have thought it would be March, if anybody, who was on thesick list, wouldn't you? But he was all right in health. I don't knowwhat was the matter with Vandyke, except that I happened to hear our oldDoc say he had a temperature way up in C. Maybe it was stage fright. Ifelt like that myself--queer all over when the time came, as a fellowdoes when he's just going to be seasick. 

"The court-martial was what you call a 'field-general court-martial, 'which can be convened when forces are on active service, as of course weare now (though we've had nothing very active to do, except on a certainnight none of us will forget, and on Army Day when we all marched andsweated to give the populace an impressive show). A field generalcourt-martial can try cases just as grave as a general court-martialcan, and its proceedings are conducted with more secrecy. It consists ofnot less than three officers, none of them under the rank of captain, but the president of the court may be a general officer, a colonel, orlieutenant-colonel. In this case, which was considered very important, both on account of March's fine record and the necessary secrecy thathad to be maintained, we had the general commanding the Fort forpresident, and the other two officers of the court were a colonel and amajor. I don't think you met either of them when you were here, so theirnames wouldn't interest you. 

"The courtroom was just a plain ordinary room in the barracks at FortBliss; but there wasn't a map or copy of 'rules and regulations' hangingon the yellowish white walls that I can't see now, whenever I shut myeyes. I guess they were all photographed on my 'mental retina, ' as thewriting folks say. The three officers were in full uniform, to do honourto the case, and of course there wasn't a man present dressed in 'cits. 'All were army chaps, even to the headquarters clerk who took notes ofthe proceedings, the orderly who kept the door, and the witnesses. Thereweren't many of those. I was one of the principal witnesses and you'veheard from me before how little I had to say. 

"March, who as prisoner had to be formally conducted in by an officer, had a seat on the left of the judges' table, and his friend, Major Dell, sat beside him. If you could have been a fly on that beastly wall, looking down at your hero, I guess you'd have been proud of the way heheld himself. If he'd been brought there to receive a medal of honourinstead of to be tried for a big, insane sort of offence calculated tobring about international complications he couldn't have had a prouderbearing. And he wasn't even pale. He looked just brown and calm andnatural. I had to confess to when you asked me a point-blank questionthat night in the park, that I was all muddled up in my mind about hisconduct in ordering the gunfire. I didn't know whether he'd gone off hischump, or been fooled, or what. But I can tell you one thing: I feltproud of him as a man and as my superior officer when I saw the way hebore himself for his trial. I don't know now the rights of the matterany more than I did then, in spite of the court's findings; butsomething tells me--as girls say--that March _wasn't to blame_. There'sa black mystery in this, and I don't see how it's ever going to becleared up, as things are. But to go back to the court-martial. 

"March was accused by the prosecutor of having fired without ordersthree charges from field guns into a country living at peace with theUnited States, to the detriment of its inhabitants and property, and tothe imminent peril of disturbing international relations. He could haveobjected legally to any of the judges and stated his objections. But hedidn't object to them, nor to the shorthand-writer, whom he had a rightto throw out if he could show reasons for thinking that the man waslikely to be partial in his notes of the proceedings. 

"Of course, I as a mere witness wasn't present all the time; but I knowwhat took place, because I've heard some of it from different quarters. I know that when 'the court had been duly sworn, the accused wasarraigned, ' which means that the president read out the charges againstMarch, and asked him whether he pleaded guilty or not guilty. Can't youjust hear March answering steadily in that pleasant, quiet voice of his:'Not guilty!' The next thing to follow was the prosecutor's address, outlining the case against the prisoner, and mentioning the witnesses hemeant to summon. Then he called the evidence for the prosecution, andthat's where, as I've heard from other witnesses, those present gottheir first big surprise. 

"Naturally there'd been no end of whispering among those in the knowbefore the court met; and it was discussed whether or not March wouldbring into his defence the state of feeling between Vandyke and himself. Some thought he would be justified in doing so, and quixotic not to, asthe bad blood between them, and the cause of it (I hope you don't mindmy saying this?) was already a sort of open secret. Others argued thatif the ill-feeling were once lugged in, the name of the lady concernedand other details would certainly be dragged into the case throughinquiries which would have to be made; and that March wasn't the man torun such a risk even if it were likely to do him any good. The surpriseof the court came when Vandyke accused March of giving the order forfiring the guns without authority, but deliberately putting theresponsibility on him--Vandyke--with the object of ruining him. Did youever know the like of that?

"From one way of looking at the thing, it was a jolly smart way forVandyke to turn the tables, because it would take all the wind out ofMarch's sails, in case he meant to accuse Vandyke of the same intentiontoward him. I don't suppose there ever was such a queer case betweenofficers as this one; both men highly placed and popular in the serviceand society. 

"I believe March brought out his notebook in evidence (thekhaki-coloured one with his monogram on it in silver, which I'd oftenseen, and which you say you gave him) to show the newly torn-out leaf;and his friend, Major Dell, who was his classmate at West Point (you'veseen him here; fine-looking cavalry chap), suggested that the pageunderneath should be examined with a magnifying glass for the impressionof writing on the missing page with a blunt pencil which had borneheavily on the paper. No words could be definitely made out, even withthe magnifier, and even if they could have been, I'm afraid thatwouldn't have made much difference in the case. March had had thenotebook in his possession after the gunfiring, you see, and couldeasily have written what he liked and then torn out the leaf. 

"Vandyke's orderly being dead, there was no evidence as to the part hehad played for either side; but I suppose he would have been a witnessfor the prosecution, so his disappearance off the scene was perhaps agood thing for March. I was called for the defence, but nothing I had tosay was of any good. I felt that; and being keen to serve March'sinterest if I could with truth, put such a strain on me to be careful ofeach word that you could have knocked me down with a feather after I wasreleased. When my evidence was read over (they always do that to everywitness before he leaves the court) it seemed to me I'd given the mostrotten answers every time; but I couldn't have made them any better ifI'd tried to explain them away, or amend them as I should have had theright to do; so I let them go as they were. 

"March cross-examined me himself, about the distance he was from theguns when the orderly was supposed to come up; and the darkness of thenight; and the nature of the ground for muffling the sound of footsteps. He didn't seem a bit disgusted or hurt with me because I could not dobetter for his case. He had a real friendly look in his eyes wheneverthey met mine; and I tell you, Peggy, I could have blubbed like a kidwhen I thought of it later, after I knew what the verdict was. 

"Once I saw him cross glances with Vandyke, and if you won't think I'mgetting sentimental on top of all the rest, I'll tell you I thoughtMarch's look was like a sword. Vandyke was yellow and bloodshot as ifhe'd had a bilious attack, and perhaps bile had been the trouble when hewent on sick report and the case had to be delayed for him. 

"The findings were considered in closed court. And now you must takethis one bit of comfort to yourself, Peggy, in your trouble about yourfriend Captain March: things might have gone a lot harder for him thanthey did in such a serious case. Vandyke's accusation against him wasmighty bad, and there was some evidence to support it. March didn't seemto use such weapons as he had to hit back with, quite as smartly as hemight have done, though that was, no doubt, in his determination to keepyour sister's name from coming into the affair. He did defend himself tothe extent of saying he'd tried to save the situation by firing blankinstead of shell; but that didn't help him much, for the whole point ofthe accusation against him was that he had had no right to fire at all. None of his witnesses could help him any more than I could, whereasVandyke had several who took their oath to seeing him in the auto withhis orderly, leaving old Fort Bliss at much about the time when Marchsaid Johnson came to him with the second verbal order. March could havebeen sentenced to imprisonment or chucked out of the army if the courthad believed in his giving the order to fire the guns on his ownresponsibility out of sheer madness, or spite against Vandyke. As itwas, they accepted the theory that he had been hoaxed by some oneunknown, purporting to be the orderly of Major Vandyke, then acting ascolonel. Owing to the comparative darkness of the night (luckily therewasn't a moon, only stars) it would have been possible for a nervous, jumpy man to mistake the identity of a person masquerading as anotherperson. Now _you_ know, and _I_ know, and everybody who knows him knowsMarch is the last fellow in the world to get nerves or jumps in anycircumstances whatever. All the same, giving him credit for them on anight when a Mexican raid on the town had been predicted offered thecourt an excuse to let the accused down lightly. He was sentenced merelyto 'severe censure for rashness and carelessness, ' etc. , etc. Insequence to this our Old Man--the colonel, I mean--has had to adviseMarch to resign. That's part of the programme. And equally it is part ofthe programme that March should take the advice. 

"Now, dear, I've told you the story as well or as badly as I can. Anyhow, you know as much as I do, and that is a good deal more than youought to know, or others are likely to know. If you hear anythingfurther, it will be from March himself. 

"When the Mexican bees have settled down in their hive again, and we'reback at Fort Alvarado, I'm going to have a good try for a month's leaveor longer, so as to cross the blue with the mater and sis. Of course, entirely with the object of looking after them, and perhaps getting aninvitation to Lady Di's wedding, and not a bit for the sake of seeingyou or jogging your memory about a certain decision! Yours till the endof beyond, Billiken. "

For a while, after I had read this long letter through, to theaccompaniment of thunder, lightning, and rain, I sat with the fourclosely written sheets of paper in my hand, not thinking, only feeling. I could not console myself with "the one bit of comfort" which Tonywaved under my eyes. Eagle March was a born soldier. He cared more forhis career than for his life, and it had been taken from him. Though theworld was not to know what he was accused of doing, all the world wouldknow that he had left the army because his country no longer needed hisservices. And he owed this to his love for my sister! This was whatDiana and I had brought upon the bravest and best man we should evermeet. 

"What will he do? What will become of him?" I asked myself miserably;and the rain beating on the window seemed to give a desolating answer. But there was still the letter I had waited to read until I learned thebest or worst from Tony. Perhaps that would tell me what I wished toknow!

CHAPTER XIV

Eagle March's letter was characteristic. Though he must have felt as ifhe stood alone, at the jumping-off place of the world, he had more tosay about me than of himself. 

He had read in the El Paso papers that I was going to sail for England, and all the first part of his letter was concerned with "bon voyage. " Itwas only in the last paragraph that he mentioned his own affairs. "You'll have heard already, " he said, "of what has happened to me. I'vehad a blow, but I'm not going to lie down under it. There must be workfor me somewhere, and when I've found it you'll hear from me again. Notuntil then though, for I'm rather hard hit, and might be inclined togrumble. But I shall think of you constantly, and I don't believe if Iwrote a volume I could make you understand how much the thought willhelp. I shall wear it like armour. "

Not a word of Diana. But I read between the lines. He was "rather hardhit. " Just when he was facing an attack from the front she had stabbedhim in the back. In one way, the letter was a bitter disappointment, forI had longed to be told Eagle's plans; yet in the hint that I shouldhear again when he had "found work, " there was a thrill like that whichcomes with martial music. I was far from guessing then what that workwould be, and how quickly and surprisingly he would find it; but vaguelyI felt that there was only one kind of work worth Eagle March's while:soldier work. 

Because I mustn't expect to hear, that did not prevent my writing fromthe ship. "This isn't 'good-bye, '" I said. "Always I'll be lookingforward to great things for you. And (you may laugh, but I'm in earnest)I shall live in the hope of 'righting' you in the world's eyes. The daymay come. I believe it will--the best day of my life. "

When the _Mauretania_ passed "Liberty" I sent back a last message by thestatue to Eagle. "Till the day!" I said. But it was a pang to see thelast of her. I went down to my stateroom and cried--oh! how I cried!

As if to flaunt the glorious difference between this summer and last, Father took a furnished house in Norfolk Street, Hyde Park, which was tolet with the owner's servants. It was very rich looking, though theelaborate decorations reminded me of houses in moving-picture plays. Father was able to splurge, on Di's prospects; and probably Kitty Maincontributed to the expense, for she and her maid came to stay with us. We began to be expensively gay; and I believe if any duke or earl whotangoed with Diana had offered himself for the dance of life, she wouldhave thrown over Sidney Vandyke at the eleventh hour. But no oneexciting showed signs of entangling himself permanently, and so, whenMajor Vandyke wired that the situation in Mexico permitted him to askfor leave, Di's engagement was announced in the _Morning Post_. 

Soon after this, Sidney arrived with cartloads of luggage, which seemedto detach him from America forever. He had got long leave and intendedto resign from the army at the end of it. He took up his quarters at theSavoy Hotel, but he was at our house morning, noon, and night; andthough everybody who saw him for the first time said how handsome hewas, it struck me from the minute we met that he had changed for theworse. He looked older and stouter, and black and white would no longerexpress him in a picture. A suffusion of red for the face, as well asfor the lips under the black moustache, would have been needed. Iwondered if he were drinking; and though, when he lunched or dined withus he was always careful (except with champagne, which he loved as achild loves sweets), he might be less cautious when out of Diana'ssight. 

At first I could hardly bear to sit down at the same table with SidneyVandyke; but as time went on, I found an impish pleasure in watchinghim, in staring openly, as a baby stares. I had the satisfaction offeeling that he was disturbed by my gaze, and that he knew, even whennot looking, that my eyes were on him. Sometimes in the midst of talk hewould break down and forget what he had meant to say next. I affectedhim with a kind of aphasia, erasing the words he wanted from his brain. But otherwise my tactics were changed. I was no longer rude to my futurebrother-in-law. I wished to study him, and I didn't object to hisknowing that I studied him. 

A silent battle was being fought between us under a smooth surface ofcivility, and Sidney might easily have complained to Diana that my owlstare was "getting on his nerves, " even though he could have brought noother complaint. If he had spoken to her she would have made some excuseto scratch me off her list of bridesmaids. I hoped she would, and saveme trouble! But perhaps Sidney felt that I was yearning for him to"squeal, " and resolved not to please me. In any case, nobody not in thesecret of our hearts could have guessed that anything was wrong. And Ihad to play at spraining my ankle in order to escape being one of theeight. 

It was well to be civil in word and deed, and "bide my time, " but to bein at the death, and marry my sister to a man who'd stolen her fromEagle March and ruined him, was a different thing. I drew the line atthat. 

It's quite simple for a girl vowed to the conscientious life and no fibsto wrench her ankle, if she'll wear high heels. All she has to do whenwalking in the street is to look out for banana peel; or an apple paringmay do at a pinch. She launches herself upon it, with a skatingmovement. Her foot turns, and the deed is done. She can in this wayproduce a "strain, " if not a "sprain"; and only doctors know thedifference. The difficult part comes in remembering to limp. I was sofearful of forgetting in some moment of excitement, that I took towearing shoes which were not mates. They were actually incompatible. Onehad a Louis Quinze heel and the other had none at all; but my dresses bythis time were so "grown up" and long that nobody noticed. Besides, though refusing to see a doctor, I stopped in bed for days, andhypnotically impressed the idea of a sprain on every one. 

Those who didn't know why I wouldn't for the world be bridesmaid toDiana sat by my bedside and sympathized, among others Mrs. Dalziel andMilly, who had followed us in time to have all the season's fun inLondon before the wedding. Tony hoped to get leave and arrive for "thegreat day. " Afterward he and his mother and sister planned a motor tourthrough Belgium, and Luxemburg, and France, before the time when Tonymust rejoin his regiment. I had a sneaking idea that they meant me togo, too; but at that moment--before other things had happened--I toldmyself that I would do nothing of the kind. I was homesick for Irelandand Ballyconal. 

The date of Di's wedding wasn't definitely settled until after Sidneycame. Then it was fixed for the ninth of July, and the bride andbridegroom were to have four weeks' motoring in the north of England. When the honeymoon was officially over they were to make country-housevisits in Scotland for the shooting season. Sidney Vandyke boasted ofbeing a crack shot, and Diana hoped to be proud of her American husbandamong British sportsmen. 

Meanwhile they had some time before the wedding in which to find a townhouse, and choose furniture and things so that they might be "at home"in the autumn. I think Di really loved Sidney the day he consented tobuy a house--a very expensive though small house--in Park Lane. She hadset her heart upon Park Lane; for, you see, there was always somethingrootedly Victorian about Di; such as being convinced that Park Lane wasthe Mount Olympus of London, and that you couldn't be properly marriedexcept at St. George's. She was, and is, up-to-date only on the surface, in such details as clothes and hats, and tango, and the latest slang. Probably Di had never been so happy as in gathering together materialsfor her future frame; and if Sidney was chagrined because Father didn'toffer to lend for the honeymoon our ancestral castle (to which he and Dihad frequently alluded in America) he kept his feelings to himself. Hewould have been twice as much chagrined by the castle could he have seenit before Kitty Main got in her deadly work. The Trowbridges of Chicagowould have rejoiced to tell him what it was really like. 

I don't quite know why it is the fashion for brides to shut themselvesup and not "go out" for days before the wedding; but perhaps they aresupposed to pass their close time in prayer and maiden meditation, thanking heaven for what it has provided, and dwelling on theresponsibilities of the future. Di spent her days in being fitted forfrocks (goodness knew who would pay for them, unless Sidney, on ceasingto be a bridegroom and turning into a husband), receiving weddingpresents, having photographs taken, and giving discreet interviews tojournalists. She told the male ones what a heroic person Major Vandykewas; and to the female ones she showed her dresses. There wasn't anillustrated daily or weekly paper in London that didn't produce apicture of Sidney in uniform, looking dashing, and Di looking down, allmodesty and eyelashes. 

The last night she went out to anything big before the wedding was to adinner at the Russian embassy; and though nothing which seemed to ussensationally interesting happened that night, something was led up tolater. It came through Milly Dalziel, for whom Father and Di hadcontrived to get an invitation. She met Captain Count StefanStefanovitch, the military attaché of the Russian Embassy. 

There is something irresistible to some natures about a Russian count;and to Russian counts about American heiresses, particularly those withred hair. When the two had seen each other three times they wereengaged, subject to the consent of the count's father. Everybody in thatfamily was a count or countess, a delicious prospect for Milly when shewished to talk of her Russian relatives. Stefan was to stay and seeMilly in her bridesmaid's dress; then he was going to make a dash forPetrograd (we called it St. Petersburg then!) armed with her photographand substantial accounts of her father's bank balance, returning as soonas the consent was insured. There seemed to be something almost feudallyold-fashioned about Russians, Milly thought, for a mere wire to _her_father had been considered adequate. But then, Tony Senior wasn't acount or a "vitch, " or anything exciting like that. 

It was after this dinner that I began to prowl for banana peel. I hadn'twanted to be premature; still, it was necessary to give some other girltime to get a bridesmaid's dress. Just then the only thing in Londonthat anybody cared about was the Russian opera and ballet, and itoccurred to Di that it would be original to clothe her eight attendantmaidens in Léon Bakst designs. Most of the girls were pale blondes, whomshe had chosen because they would form an effective contrast to herself;but they were very brave about the Bakst effects. The measure of theirfingers had been taken, and they were expecting presents of ringsbeautiful enough to console them for worse disasters. Besides, Sidneyhad brought over from America a Captain Beatty to be his best man. Hewas rather rich and very good-looking. 

During all this time of our new popularity I had heard nothing of EagleMarch, except that he had turned his back on his native land afterresigning from the army, and that various "ugly stories" were incirculation. It was even said that he had been bribed by Mexico withimmense sums of money to betray his country. It was Tony who wrote methis, in answer to a question. But he knew no more than this gossip, noteven when he arrived in London the day before Diana's wedding. 

"For all I can tell, " he said, when he had congratulated me on my limp, "March may have offered himself and his aeroplane to the Viceroy ofIndia or the Sultan of Turkey or even the Emperor of Japan. There's onlyone thing certain about him: he'll have to be a soldiersomewhere--somehow!"

"Blessed is the bride the sun shines on, " they say, but the sun did notshine on Diana. The ninth of July dawned gray and blustering, with aqueer rasping chill in the air like an autumn day slipped back in thecalendar. I hated the thought of seeing Di married to Sidney Vandyke. Itseemed like aiding and abetting the enemy, but unless I had anotheraccident at the last minute, such as falling downstairs, I could see noway of stopping at home without a row. 

What would Eagle want me to do? I asked myself. It was almost as if Icould hear his voice saying, "Don't hurt Diana on such a day by stoppingaway from her wedding. "

I decided to be there; and it was arranged for me to sit with KittyMain, Mrs. Dalziel, and Tony. I didn't mind this, because Tony couldn'tvery well propose in church with "The voice that breathed o'er Eden"resounding to the roof. 

The wedding was fixed for two o'clock at St. George's, Hanover Square;and if any were left in London who didn't know the hour and all otherdetails, it must have been because they didn't read the halfpennypapers. It had even been announced that one of the bridegroom's manymagnificent presents to the bride would be a high-powered Grayles-Gricecar, in which Lady Diana Vandyke would drive from the church with herhusband to the house of her father, for the wedding reception, and go onfor the honeymoon tour afterward. This paragraph was truer than some ofthe others, but the day before the wedding the car hadn't yet beendelivered by the makers. A frantic telegram from Sidney brought theassurance that he might count without fail on its arriving by teno'clock next day at latest. The firm regretted deeply the unforeseendelay which had occurred owing to a strike, but the automobile had beenshipped. Still Sidney and Diana were anxious. 

Kitty and Mrs. Dalziel and Tony and I started rather late, for Kitty hadsuperintended the bride's dressing. The other two came for us in a motorcar, but Mrs. Dalziel had to stop for a look at Di. As for me, I'm notsure how I felt about my sister. She was so lovely in her lace andsilver brocade gown, and her cap-veil, that my eyes clung to her, yet itwas hateful that her beauty should be for Sidney Vandyke. My thoughtsflew to Eagle, wherever he might be--at the other end of the world, perhaps--and I wondered if he knew what was happening in London. 

Our places at church were at the front, in one of the pews reserved forthe bride's relatives and intimate friends, so our being late didn'tmatter. But already the back part of the church was full, and the airheavy with the perfumes women wore, and the fragrance of roses andlilies which made the decorations. As we went in, a sense of suffocationgripped me. I felt as if I could easily faint, and I realized that thelong strain on my nerves had begun to tell. I had a queer impressionthat I was only a body, and that my soul was far away looking for someone it could not find. I was glad when we were settled in our seats, butstill the odour of the flowers oppressed me. I fancied that the broodinggloom of the day would end in a thunderstorm. 

People were whispering and rustling in their seats, wondering if it werenot almost the time for the bride music to begin. I had a jumpysensation that somebody behind me must be staring, and strongly willingme to look round. Always I have been sensitive to that kind ofinfluence, and often, too, I've tried to make others feel it. I keptturning my head, but could see no one who seemed to be taking an undueinterest in me. Presently, however, I caught Tony's eyes, which fixedthemselves on mine in an owlish stare. 

"What makes you keep on twisting round like that?" he inquired in astage whisper. "Are you looking for any one in particular?"

"No--o, " I said, "but I have a funny sort of feeling as if some one werelooking for me!"

"By Jove!" exclaimed Tony, and repressed himself at a glare from hismother. "I wonder if it's possible----" He stopped, and began carefullyto smooth his silk hat which was poised on his knee. 

"If what's possible?" I wanted to know, bending my head near to his, regardless of somebody's plume which grazed my eye. 

"Oh--er, nothing much. Only just a silly idea of mine. "

"Tell me, and let me judge whether it's silly or not. You're rousing mycuriosity. " And all the while I tingled with that almost irresistibledesire to turn my head again. It was as if I were missing something veryimportant. 

"I'd rather not now, " said Tony. "I'll tell you afterward. "

Before I had time to wheedle the mystery out of him (as I felt confidentI could) the "Wedding March" from Lohengrin struck up. Of course, Diana_would_ have that! It went with St. George's and the rest of it: the"historic" thing. 

She came up the aisle, her hand on Father's arm. 

"Oh, doesn't he look _handsome_?" murmured Kitty Main. 

"He?" I murmured back. 

"Lord Ballyconal. But dear Diana is wonderful, of course. "

Her wondrousness was largely a tribute to Kitty, who had given the brideeverything she had on, everything that was packed away in her trunks athome, or laid out ready to go away in. 

It all passed off exactly like any other wedding on a grand scale, except that Tony, sitting by my side, drew a long breath when the bishopwho was marrying Diana to Sidney Vandyke finished the conventional pausefollowing "or else forever after hold his peace. " I flashed anotherglance at Tony but he was looking more like an imperturbable Billikenthan he had ever looked. 

And so Di was married, and people whispered what a beautiful bride, andhow good-looking the American bridegroom was, while she and Sidney werein the vestry signing their names in the book. Then, down the aisle theycame, Di radiant, Major Vandyke flushed and brilliant eyed. "He looks asif he had just fought a successful engagement, " I heard an American manin the pew behind say to his wife. Well, that was exactly what he haddone. But whether according to the rules of war or not was anotherquestion. We let the crowd pour out of the church before us, andfollowed at leisure, I feeling more depressed than I should at afuneral. Automobiles and carriages were dashing up to the pavement totake people away, and dashing off again after an instant's pause, whilethrongs of the uninvited and curious pressed close on either side of thered carpet. Rain was falling, but the lookers-on appeared to carelittle. The people seemed more excited than usual at a wedding, wethought, especially after the passing of the bride; and Tony and Ilooked at each other questioningly with raised eyebrows as we caught aword here and there. 

"Might 'ave been a tragedy!" "Pretty close call, that was. " "If ithadn't been for that feller they'd both have been dead corpses now!"remarked the uninvited. 

"What can have happened?" we asked each other, and I made Tony speak tothe policeman who had shut us into our car. 

"Bride's carriage, sir; but it was soon all right in the end, " was theonly answer we got, as the signal was given for our motor to move offand the next to come up. 

"The bride's carriage!" Then the new automobile hadn't come, and therehad been an accident at the church door. 

CHAPTER XV

We dashed home to get news of Diana, and it was a relief to findeverything decorous and apparently serene at the house. We were informedby a band of footmen, hired with powder and pomatum inclusive, for theoccasion, that the bride had arrived safely. There was no stare ofconsternation or half-hidden horror on any face. But in theflower-decked drawing-room, with its effective marble pillars (Di andFather had taken the house on the strength of that drawing-room, so welldesigned for a wedding reception), the bride and bridegroom had not yetstationed themselves to smile and be congratulated, although guests hadbegun to arrive. Father, however, was there, at his best and reassuringeverybody. Diana had been a "little upset by the fright, don't you know, and Vandyke was looking after her"; but it was nothing--nothing at all. She would be down presently. 

"What is it, Father? What did happen?" I found a chance to whisper; butto my surprise he gave me for answer only a frown which seemedinexplicably to say, "Whatever it is, _you'd_ better not ask! Don'tpretend innocence, it doesn't suit you. "

"Do find out something from somebody, " I said hastily to Tony, and ranupstairs in search of Kitty Main, who, having deserted us to return homewith Father, was nevertheless not to be found in the drawing-room. Shewas sure to know everything, I thought, and delighted to talk. But thefirst person I met was Sidney Vandyke in the act of closing Diana's doorand coming out into the hall. Seeing me, a set and gloomy expression, most unsuitable to a bridegroom, changed to a look of actual fury. If Ihad been a small tame dog which had unexpectedly sprung up to bite him, he could not have glared more venomously. 

Since he had come to London we had met almost every day, and whennecessary I had been as dully polite as a book on etiquette. But onlywhen necessary. At other times I had effaced myself; now, though I waskeen for news of Di, I didn't care to get it from him, especially afterthat look. Never since the episode of the photograph in camp at El Pasohad I of my own free will begun a conversation with Major Vandyke, andit was now my intention to wait until he was out of the way before goingto Kitty or Diana. But when I would quietly have slid past thebridegroom in the corridor, he stopped me. 

"You've always been the enemy, " he said in a tone of repressed rage, subdued to reach my ears only, "but I did think you fought fair. Ididn't expect you to hit me in the back--and strike your sister, too, onher wedding day. You're a cruel and cowardly little enemy, after all. And let me tell you this: neither of us will forgive you as long as welive. "

I stared at him in amazement. "I don't know what you mean!"

"I shouldn't lie on top of the rest, if I were you, " he sneered. "Iforbid you to go to Di. She's borne enough. A little more, and she'd notbe able to face those people downstairs. "

"I tell you again, and I don't lie, because Eagle March himself taughtme to speak the truth, " I said, "that I've no idea what you're drivingat. I have done nothing, except live. I don't know what's happened. Iwant to know. "

"You shan't have the satisfaction of hearing anything from me!" Sidneyflung the words at my head. Then he turned on his heel, and openedDiana's door again without knocking. I think he would have shut it in myface; but Kitty Main was ready to come out, and must have had her handon the knob when it was snatched from her fingers. 

"Oh, Major!" she exclaimed. "I was hurrying to call you back. Di thinksshe's strong enough to go down now. "

The door remained open, and I saw Di sitting on a sofa just opposite, with an empty champagne glass in her hand. Her white face and whitefigure in her wedding dress stood out like a wonderfully paintedportrait against the fashionable black chintz wall-covering of thebedroom. Seeing her husband, she stood up and came forward, setting thewineglass on the table as she passed. "I'm all right now, " she said, andthen caught sight of me. 

"Oh, cruel!" she reproached me. "Was it _he_ who asked you not to tell, or was it your own thought?"

"He?" I echoed. "You all talk in riddles. You accuse me of something, and won't explain what it is. "

"You _must_ know!" Di exclaimed. "But I can't talk about it now, or Ishall break down again. Thanks for the champagne, Sid. You were right;it did me good. Now we'll go. "

She brushed past me in the corridor, her head turned away; and as Istared stupidly after her and Major Vandyke, suddenly my eyes fell on asmall but conspicuous spot of red that marred the lustre of Di's silvertrain. It looked like a drop of blood. 

When the two had gone, I pounced upon Mrs. Main. "For pity's sake, explain the mystery!"

"Oh, it was dreadful for a few minutes, " she said. "There was nearly themost _awful_ accident. Of course you came out too late to see. But--you_do know who was in the church_?--at least, I suppose he must have beenthere. "

I started as if she had boxed my ears, for without telling, I knew allshe meant. I remembered the odd feeling I had had of some one trying tocall me, as if in a dream; and how I had looked behind me in vain. Tony, too, had been very strange. He had begun to say something and hadstopped in haste. He had promised to explain later, but coming home Ihad forgotten to ask him. There had been the excitement about thesupposed accident to Diana, and my thoughts had clung to that. 

Now I realized that there was only _one person_ who might have been atSt. George's with my secret connivance, whose presence there SidneyVandyke would furiously resent: Eagle March. 

Kitty was looking at me curiously, almost appealingly, and I was vexedwith myself for blushing. "I do not know, " I answered steadily. "I mightguess--but almost surely I should guess wrong. Tell me who, in all thatcrowd, it was worth Sidney's while to make this fuss about. "

"Well, " said Kitty, who being far from brave is easily abashed, "I'm notsure he _was_ inside the church, but anyhow he was _outside_, because Isaw him the instant before he seized the horses' heads. And then----"

"Seized the horses' heads? But who--who?"

"Captain March. Of course it was he who saved Diana and Major Vandyke. At least I think he deserves so much credit, and Di would think it, too, if she were left to herself. But Major Vandyke says the whole thing wasarranged; that it was Captain March who planned--to--to----"

"He's sure to say something horrible. But begin at the beginning!"

"I can't now, dear, " said Kitty nervously. "Di and Sidney will be socross if I stay up here talking to you. I really must go down; butyou're sure to hear everything. "

I didn't insist, for I could not keep her against her will; and besides, it would be better to have the story from some one who could tell thingsmore clearly. Down I flew to find Tony, whom I could trust to havecommandeered some news for me by this time. Already the drawing-room wascrammed with perfumed people and too fragrant flowers, and a babel ofchatter. I should have had to knock fat old ladies and thin oldgentlemen about like ninepins to sort out from among bonneted and baldpates the inconspicuous brown head I sought, and my search was checkedconstantly by well-meaning creatures who pined to tell me how pretty thewedding had been, or how much I had grown since they saw me last. Nowand then, however, I picked up a wisp of information. 

"What a close shave there was of a tragedy! But all's well that endswell, " said Lady O'Harrel, a distant cousin of ours who had ignored theconnection until it advertised itself in Norfolk Street and Park Lane. "Who was the man who seized the horses' heads when they bolted? I didn'tsee him myself, but I heard some one say he looked like a gentleman. "

I answered as if I had the whole affair at my fingers' ends: "It wasCaptain March of the American army, the flying man who used to be sopopular here last summer. "

"Dear me!" breathed Lady O'Harrel, who had two sons of her own in theBritish army. "_Fancy!_ Why, I heard Gerald speaking of him only theother day. He heard that Captain March had been cashiered for somethingor other so _dreadful_ it couldn't be spoken of. The story's going therounds of London now. I'm not sure Gerald didn't get it from yourbrother-in-law the night he asked Major Vandyke to dine at the Rag. Howstrange Captain March should have been the one to save them!"

"He was not cashiered, " I passionately protested. "He did nothingdreadful. It was----" I stopped myself on the verge of saying that itwas Sidney Vandyke himself who deserved to bear the shame he wouldthrust on another. But there are some things you cannot do! One of theseis to inform a guest at your sister's wedding that the bridegroom is avillain. I had to choke back my rage against Sidney at its hottest, likeVesuvius swallowing its own lava, and resolve to fight the battle ofEagle March only on the lines of _noblesse oblige_--the lines on whichhe would choose to fight, no matter what the provocative. 

At last I unearthed Tony, talking to the prettiest bridesmaid. Butbecause she was the prettiest, and other men were glad to snap her up, Idisentangled Tony with ease. "I've been dying for you!" I said. 

"I don't flatter myself too much on that, " he replied. "It's my storyyou want. Well, I've been busy putting things together, and I guess it'sonly the two ends of the jig-saw that are missing now. I warn you, Peggy, I don't know how Eagle March got into church, or where from, orwhat became of him at the end. "

"Perhaps I shall hear from him, " I said; yet I spoke mechanically andwith little hope. I felt that the time Eagle had fixed for our meetingwas not yet. 

"Perhaps you will, " echoed Tony. "He may want to explain, when he knows_you_ know he was there, why he turned up at Lady Di's wedding: that itwasn't just vulgar curiosity, or the wish to give her a start that madehim do it. "

"He wouldn't need to explain to you, or me, or any one who knew him, " Ianswered. "That goes without saying. Whatever his reason was, it wasgood. But are you sure he was in the church?"

"Well, you remember when I asked why you kept turning your head, and youtold me it was because you felt some one 'looking for you?'"

"Yes! And you said 'By Jove! I wonder if it's possible----' Then youshut up like an oyster. "

"I thought it wouldn't do to go further, then, and excite you fornothing, maybe. I did promise to tell you afterward, but coming here wehad the accident to talk about, and you forgot----"

"Never mind excuses. Tell me now. Had you seen him?"

"I wasn't quite sure--thought I might have made a mistake. Away backnear the door as we came in I caught sight of a chap who reminded me ofMarch. But I never saw him before in London togs, you know, and it wasdark in the church, with all that rain coming down outside. I couldn'ttell for certain, it seemed so dashed improbable that he should bethere. Even if he was in London, he wouldn't have been likely to get acard----"

"A card, indeed! Do you think any one with eyes in his head would askEagle March to show a _card_?"

"Well, anyhow, " Tony defended himself, "why should he want to poke hisnose in there? I judged him by the way _I_ should feel, supposing it wasyou being spliced to some other fellow. I'd sooner be at the North orSouth Pole than have to watch it done, unless I could bounce out with animpediment why you shouldn't lawfully be joined together. "

"I can think of reasons why a man might--might steel himself to see awoman he'd loved married to another man, " I said; though in truth, Icouldn't see distinctly, and I wondered if the day would come when themystery of Eagle's presence at Diana's wedding would clear itself up. There was just one thing I could count on, though! It would never befrom my trying to find out, but only when, and if, Eagle wished me toknow. Meanwhile, I trusted him as always, and hardly needed to be toldthat the man in the back seat at St. George's hadn't flaunted himself ina conspicuous position. 

"He was wedged in between two women's hats, " Tony went on. "I'd neverhave spotted him, if I hadn't been rubber-necking at the crowd, sort ofcounting scalps. That's not done by brides and grooms in our class oflife, so March might have felt as safe as a hermit crab, as far asgiving the willies to Lady Di or Vandyke was concerned. But just when Iwas rubbering, he happened to shove his head forward between hats tosquint at you. "

"Oh, Tony!" I couldn't help breaking in. "He was looking at _me_?"

"That's the way it struck me. But the ladies with the hats were afterthe same thing, so they closed their ranks in front of March's nose, andswamped him. That's why I didn't get the chance to make sure whether itwas he or his double. I rubbered some more, to see, but there was only amassed formation of hats where the face had been. There's nothing likehatpins to drive a man to the wall. "

I shivered a little with the same electric thrill which had passedthrough me in church. What a soulless thing I had been not to know, despite a barrier of a hundred hats, by instinct whose eyes had calledmine. But Tony was going mildly on. 

"That's all, about the church, " he said. "March must have been one ofthe first to get out, or he wouldn't have been on the stage in time forthe next act. Sounds like a kind of melodrama now, doesn't it? Act one, scene one, inside St. George's, Hanover Square; the wedding. Scene two, outside the church door. Only, in a melodrama, the bridegroom would bethe hero, and the other fellow the villain. There's no villain in thisplay. "

"Oh, _isn't_ there?" I sneered. "We won't argue the question, though. Isuppose the new motor car didn't come after all, as I hear things aboutrunaway horses. "

"Then you have heard already? What's the good of my repeating----"

"No--no! I've heard scarcely anything. I depended on you. I was sure youwouldn't fail me. "

That encouraged Tony, and soon I knew what he knew. He had been pumpingCaptain Beatty, and had learned from him how, before leaving the Savoyfor St. George's, Sidney had received a wire from his chauffeur. It saidthat the Grayles-Grice had safely arrived by a later train thanpromised, but that something was wrong with the motor. Better not dependon the car for church, though it would be pretty sure to be all right togo away in after the reception. This was a blow to Sidney, because hehad grown quite superstitious on the subject of reaching the house fromSt. George's. He had told Captain Beatty about repeated dreams of a bombstartling a pair of horses. And a Bond Street clairvoyant had seen inher crystal a picture of him and a woman in white driving away from achurch in a black-draped hearse. Captain Beatty had mentioned casuallyto Tony that Vandyke used to have as good nerves as the next man, butthat he'd got "jumpy" lately, and Beatty wondered whether it was likethat with all fellows who were going to be married. 

The only thing to do had been to order a motor or carriage to come toSt. George's for the bride and bridegroom. Di, appealed to by telephone, preferred a carriage. A smart-looking one had been sent accordingly, butthe horses were fresh and had begun to dance impatiently even beforeDiana and Sidney came out of the church. The thin little coachman haddifficulty in holding them in when it thundered. By the time Di and herhusband appeared, the pair were prancing on their hind legs, and thecrowd on the pavement waiting for the bridal couple were pushingnervously back, out of the way of threatening hoofs. Di had hesitatedfor an instant, but the coachman had assured Major Vandyke that thehorses were only "playing a bit, " and were as gentle as lambs. They'dcome down to business the minute they were allowed to start. So Sidneyhad put Diana into the carriage and was in the act of getting inhimself, when a man on a motor cycle suddenly tore round the corner intoHanover Square with the noise of ten thousand demons. That was the"limit" for the horses, said Tony. They bolted, with Di shrieking andtrying to pull her husband into the brougham, Sidney clingingignominiously to the door, and to a strap inside. 

The policeman and another man or two ran forward, but the screaming ofDiana and dozens of women on the pavement frightened the creatures moreand more. The coachman lost control; the policeman was kicked, andstumbled back; the others couldn't get to the horses, which were boltingacross the street; and in another minute the bridegroom would certainlyhave been flung down, if a man just out of church hadn't made a dash tothe rescue. The next thing any one knew, he was hanging on to theanimals' heads like grim death, and bringing them down from their hindfeet on to all fours again. He was dragged a few yards before a coupleof policemen could get to his side; but meanwhile, as he clung to thehorses, like a brake on their speed, the brougham steadied itself, Sidney contrived to crawl inside and bang the door shut, for his ownprotection and Di's. It all happened in a minute; and as the hatless manheld on to the horses' heads, Captain Beatty in great astonishmentrecognized him as Captain March. It was Eagle who stopped the horses;but as the two policemen sprang to his aid, and staggering back he letgo his hold, he must have been kicked by one of the beasts. What CaptainBeatty did see was Eagle's forehead streaming with blood, and when therescuer had hurried away, insisting that the wound was of no importance, the bride was helped out of the carriage by the bridegroom and into aclosed motor car which some one hastily offered. In the street where ithad all happened was a stain of blood, Captain March's no doubt; but inthe excitement of changing the bride from one vehicle to the other hehad time to vanish as completely as if he'd wrapped himself in aninvisible cloak. 

"Just as well, too, considering who he was, and who he's saved, " Tonyfinished ungrammatically. "It would have been mighty awkward for allparties if he'd fallen down in a faint, and Lord Ballyconal out ofgratitude had had to put him up here, where the wedding party's goingon. Or even if he'd been all right, but coralled by the crowd, the bridewould have been called upon to address him as 'my preserver'--what?Can't you see Vandyke obliged to shower blessings on March for savingboth their lives?"

"And yet, how awful that he should go without a word of thanks--gowounded and bleeding!" The thought made me choke. 

"I guess March is a bit like a sick cat that way, " said Tony dryly. "He'd rather crawl off and get well alone than be bothered by sympathy, even yours, my child. That's like him. And like him to save the very manwho's spoilt his life. But blest if I can see that being there in churchwas like him, no matter what you say! Anyhow, it was a blamed good thingfor every one concerned that he just dropped from heaven like manna inthe nick of time, and then was absorbed back into clouds again, bloodand all. "

"Diana's dress must have been baptized in that blood, " I muttered, formy own benefit, but Tony caught me up. "Gee _whiz_! did she get her gownspattered with it?"

"A drop or two on her silver train. Poetic justice! The blood had beenspilt for her. "

"Dashed bad luck to get it on her wedding dress, though, I've heardsuperstitious folks say--but what rotten nonsense to talk like this toyou! Of course, there's nothing in it. "

"I'm not sure how Di would feel if she knew. But _I_ feel as if a dropof Eagle March's blood would be like the blood of the prince in a fairystory I used to love. Just the faintest smear of it brought fortune forthe heroine and all her family, " I said. "Di doesn't know. I didn't tellwhat I saw. And would you believe this, Tony? My noble brother-in-lawpretends to believe that Eagle got up the whole scene, like a plot inthat melodrama you were talking about. I suppose he'd like Di to thinkthat Eagle bribed the livery people to send nervous horses and a weakcoachman, and that he hired a motor cyclist to swing round the corner ona cue at the right instant, in order that he himself might play thegallant hero. Rather elaborate! But that shows how a man judges anotherby what he would do in his place! Isn't it a proof that the El Pasoaffair was a plot--a plot Sidney accuses Eagle of revenging in this wildway?"

"That's quite a neat suggestion, " said Tony, smiling an"indulge-the-poor-child" smile which made me want to box hisears--though not hard. "I don't think you need be afraid, though, " hehurried on, to calm me. "Vandyke won't openly accuse March of anythingmore, I guess, unless in the bosom of his family where it won't do muchharm. If he dealt out any 'plot' talk of that sort, he'd make himself alaughing-stock, and he wouldn't stand for that. He'll just try to forgetthe whole business, and help other folks to forget--cut it out. "

"It will be better for him!" I said, as fiercely as a small dog growlingin the kennel of a big one. "But Di and Sidney, too, both accuse _me_ ofbeing in the 'plot. ' They say I knew Eagle was in England, and secretlyinvited him to the wedding. I haven't even heard from him since we cameback from America. "

"Haven't you?" Tony's face brightened. "Well, I shall never ceasewondering what brought March to the church, till I know--which may benever. Unless you tell me when you hear. "

"_If_ I hear!"

"I guess you're sure to sooner or later. He must know now that he wasrecognized. No use hiding his head in the sand! He'll want to explainwhy he--er--well, sort of intruded. "

"No, he wouldn't need to explain, " I reiterated. "What's the use offriendship, if it doesn't understand and take things for granted?And--if Eagle never writes, I shall know he doesn't want me to seek him. So I won't do that, even though he has been hurt for us, and maybe issuffering. "

"You're a soldier, " Tony complimented me. "March would be just the manto appreciate that if he could hear you now. "

"I believe he would understand me as I understand him, " I said. "Stillit is hard not to know if he's badly hurt. "

"By the way he shot through the crowd like a streak of greasedlightning, I should say it wasn't fatal, " Tony cheered me. "But if you'dlike to have me do a bit of secret service work and 'phone to a fewhotels or hospitals----"

I shook my head decidedly. "I know the hotel where he goes, " I said. "Ishan't send. I think if he were very badly wounded, he _would_ let meknow. He'd trust me to stand between him and--the others. Now--let's goand see Di cut her wedding cake. You can have a piece to dream on if youlike. "

"No good!" said Tony. "I always dream of you anyhow, when I dream atall--except when I eat welsh rabbit: then I dream of the devil. " But hewent with me like a lamb, and we spoke no more of Captain March. 

CHAPTER XVI

I think if Sidney Vandyke had never taken the trouble actually to hateme, he exerted himself to that extent on his wedding day. 

I kept my distance when the others gave the bride and bridegroom asend-off of waving hands and showering rice as they skimmed away in theGrayles-Grice car (ready at last); but I'd caught a wandering glance ortwo meanwhile from my new brother-in-law, and thanked my stars thatHeaven hadn't made me some poor private soldier under his command. Diturned her cheek with the look of a martyred saint when I was supposedto kiss her good-bye; and altogether I fancied that I should not beurged to visit in Park Lane when the happy pair came back in the autumn. I intended to be at Ballyconal then; but a thousand things were fated tochange my scheme and the schemes of all the other unsuspecting mice inEngland and Europe. 

The first thing--oh, such a small thing compared to those that were tofollow--which happened after Di's marriage was an announcement fromFather. He had proposed to Mrs. Main, and she had been "good enough toaccept him. " That was his formal way of breaking the news to me, for wehad been on official terms only for some days following the wedding;though to his darling Di he would probably have put it "Look here, girl, she's jumped at me! Hurrah! The luck of Ballyconal's come right side upagain!" And Di would have congratulated dear old Bally, reminding himthat third times were always successful. 

Of course, whenever I stopped to think of it, I had told myself thatthis announcement was bound to come, and to come soon. But my head hadbeen full as a hive of bees with other thoughts; and besides, I hadn'trealized how I should feel the blow when it fell. 

Vaguely, I'd taken it for granted that life would go on for me asbefore. I liked Kitty, and she didn't dislike me, though, of course, Dihad been brilliantly her favourite. I had told myself that Kitty andFather would trot off somewhere and leave me free at Ballyconal tohibernate in some neglected corner, while the place was glorified into astately British home for an American millionairess. Then (I had gone ondimly planning) they would return in state, and Kitty would be dulyhonoured by a picturesque welcome from the hastily cleaned up tenants. After that, nobody would take much notice of little Peggy. I should betacitly permitted to play among my books, and the peasants I loved thebest, for whose sake I had been trying to learn the art of nursing. 

Father's way of telling his news, however, showed me the truth aboutmyself. I didn't feel in the least related to him; and I decided to usethe month before their return from the wedding journey in finding someother way of spending my life. I couldn't make a "crowd" in that"company" of two!

I was nice to Father and charming to Kitty, and all the time I waspolishing my brain as if it were the genie's lamp, and summoning thegenie to bring me inspiration. I couldn't be a governess on the strengthof languages alone. Not knowing the multiplication table, having to dohasty sums on my fingers, and being ignorant of principal rivers, boundaries, and all dates except that of Waterloo, was too big ahandicap; and in sheer poverty of invention I seemed to be driven backto Billiken, that god of "things as they ought to be. " Perhaps it wasfate that I had been invited by Mrs. Dalziel to a "boy and girl" theatreparty the very night when I had to congratulate Father, and wish wishesfor Kitty which short of a miracle couldn't come true. 

It was only two days after Di's wedding, but already that event seemedlong ago. No news had come from Eagle, and he was referred to in Londonnewspapers as "the modest stranger" who had disappeared after saving thelives of the bride and bridegroom, "leaving no trace except a littleblood shed in their service. " The dinner at the Savoy and the boy andgirl party at the theatre afterward were given, no doubt, more in honourof "Milly's count" (who was starting for Petrograd next morning) thanfor me; but I was made to feel myself a guest of importance; and at theSt. James I had Tony next to me. There had been no chance to pour out mynews at dinner, but now it came and I seized it instantly. Tony wasalways nice and sympathetic to tell things to! He actually listened andseemed interested, which I've noticed that few people do except in theirown affairs. But the next minute I was sorry I'd spoken, for he proposedagain immediately. I might have known he would! "You see, your wholefamily's bound to marry Americans, so I might as well be the one foryou, " he said. "If you don't take me, Mrs. Main will produce a nephew ofhers. I know him--poisonous blighter--and he'll be shoved down yourthroat, sure as fate. He's _some_ homelier than me, if possible. "

I laughed. "Dear Tony! You're much too good to be a refuge for thedestitute. "

"Depends on the destitute, " said he. "I'd love to be a sort of asylum oryoung ladies' home for you. Do take me this time, and have done with itonce and for all. "

"It wouldn't be done with, " I reminded him. "That's the worst of it. "

"It might be the best of it, if I played my cards right. You know, Peggy, not very long ago as the bird of time flies, you said you likedme better than any other fellow. Has my stock gone down, or stands itwhere it did?"

"Where it did, or even a point or two higher, " I assured him. "But, dearTony, I'm afraid even _that_ isn't high enough for--for marriage, andfearfully serious things like that, though lovely for a dance or thetheatre. Besides, I didn't say _exactly_ what you think I said. "

"About liking me better than other men? Oh, I know you made oneexception. 'Tisn't jolly likely I'd forget! But you said the OneException didn't count. I haven't forgotten that either. He looked onyou as his sister or his maiden aunt. "

"Oh, _not_ his maiden aunt!" I moaned. "I could bear anything but that. And--and I'm afraid, after all, he _does_ count--just in my mind, youknow, not in any other way. But he's there and I can't--can't put himout. I'm afraid I don't want to. "

"Gee! That's a bad prospect for me, " said Tony with a big sigh, luckilynot audible over the orchestra which was loudly playing between acts"You made me love you, I didn't want to do it!" with variations. "Butsee here, Peggy, it's just the same with me about you. I can't put _you_out of my mind, and I don't mean to. There you are! What are we going todo about this? Your best man won't come and play in your backyard, andmy best girl won't put her nose in mine. You'll always be my best girl, because you're the best girl there is. So here's an idea: suppose Idon't ask to be best with you, and don't whine to be on the ground flooror anything conceited? Couldn't you spare me a third-story back bedroomin your heart's house? Just sort of lend it to me, you know. I'd promiseto turn out if you couldn't get along with me as a boarder when you'vegiven me a fair trial. Of course, though, dear, I don't want to nag atyou if there's a grain of chance that the best man--the real tenant ofthe house--will ever come to his right senses!"

"His right senses!" I almost laughed. "Why, Tony, for him to like me--in_that_ way--would be to lose them. You don't know who he is. "

Tony was silent. 

"Or--_do_ you? Have you been guessing?"

"Mayn't have guessed right, " grumbled Billiken evasively. And then Iknew that he knew the poor little secret I had thought to keep. 

"I think you have guessed right, " I said. "Don't look as if you wereafraid you'd hurt me. You haven't. I don't much mind your knowing. Andthat's the greatest compliment I could pay you. It's Eagle March, ofcourse. "

With that the orchestra stopped dead as if on purpose to eavesdrop, andI had made a present of the name to the whole audience. But luckily thatwas all I had given. Any girl may yell any man's name, just as any catmay look at any king. All the same my cheeks were hot throughout thenext act, during which I pretended to be passionately absorbed in theplay. The minute it was over and forced silence at an end, Tony boldlysaid, "I knew it must be March, all the time. Not that you showed it!"he hurried to add. "You're too good plucked an infant for that! And I'msure he never twigged. Not he! He's not that kind. It was only becauseyou saw a lot of him, that I thought so; and a girl who wouldn't fallhead over ears in love with March, if he was always underfoot, wouldn'thave wit enough to know which side her bread was buttered. See?"

I laughed again more than before, for Tony when he meant to be intenselyserious was generally funny. "Poor me!" I said. "There was no butter onmy bread, nor any jam. I'm a fool to go on eating it bare and stale!Imagine a man who loved Di anticlimaxing over to me!"

"I can't imagine any man not beginning and ending with you, " said Tonystoutly, and I shouldn't have been a human girl if his loyal admirationhadn't pleased me. "But I suppose you're a better judge of March than Iam, " he went on, "and so, if his name's not down on the programme, won'tyou write mine there--to be figurative again? Scribble it in pencil ifyou like, not in ink. Then you can easily rub it out if you get tired ofseeing it always under your eyes. "

"What do you mean?" I asked, really puzzled by his allegories. 

"Why, be engaged to me on the instalment plan. Stop payment whenever youwant to. Agreement to be drawn up that way. All these weeks you've beentrying, according to promise, haven't you, to like me enough to beengaged? Now, instead, try _being_ engaged, and see whether you can likeme enough to strike a fast bargain by and by. You might come along toBelgium with mater and Milly and me--they're dying to have you. Millywants to bore you talking about her Russian--and we'll see such a lot ofeach other, travelling, that you'll know your own mind by the time myleave's up. Think, if I could take you back to God's own country with meas my--no, I won't say the word. I see it shocks you. "

"It does, " I said. "And even if I did what you ask, which would be nicefor me, but not fair to you, nothing would induce me to--to----"

"Marry?"

"Yes, so soon. I'm too--young. Unless I loved you perfectly. Then I'dmarry you if I were _eight_ instead of eighteen. "

"I wouldn't marry you! Must draw the line somewhere. But if you reallythink it would be nice, why not do it? I think it's fair, and I'm thejudge. Say yes, quick, before that darned orchestra stops again. Youshan't be married till you like, even if I have to wait as long as Jacobdid for Rachel. Not that I know how long that was. Say yes----"

"Yes, then!" I shouted over an appalling blast of instruments. And Tonysqueezed my hand. 

That is how I happened to start for Belgium with Mrs. Dalziel and Milly, the day after Father's quiet wedding with Kitty Main, and the day beforeAustria delivered her ultimatum to Servia. 

CHAPTER XVII

Not being politicians or war prophets, but only tourists, we didn'trealize what a flame would sweep over Europe on the winds of fury fromthis one far-off fiery spark. Tony read us out the news at breakfast ina hotel at Bruges: "Austria's Ultimatum to Servia"; whereupon we went ondrinking our coffee and eating our crisp rolls as if nothing hadhappened. 

"Dear me, what a pity!" sighed Mrs. Dalziel absently. She was thinkingof our sight-seeing expedition for which we were already late. Millyremarked that somebody was always throwing an ultimatum at somebodyelse's head, and asked for jam. Tony said intelligently that it was justwhat he had expected, after the murder of the archduke and the duchess, and looked at his watch. As for me, it did shoot through my mind thatRussia might have something to say if Servia were attacked; and Ithought that if I were Milly I should have a qualm of anxiety about mycaptain-count. But I didn't wish to worry her with such a remotesuggestion, and our war conversation ended there. None of us botheredseriously with the papers for the next day or two. Sight-seeing inBelgium seemed to us the last thing on earth which could possiblyconnect itself with an ultimatum, or even a declaration of war onServia. We went from Bruges to Ghent, from Ghent to Antwerp, fromAntwerp to Brussels, from Brussels to Namur, to Louvain, and Spa, and soat last arrived at Liége. The next item on our programme was a run intoLuxemburg, which was to finish our trip; and in a few days more Tony wasto leave us to catch his ship for home, as his holiday was over. He hadbeen behaving so well that I minded being engaged less than I'dexpected; and it was nice to be petted by Milly and Mrs. Dalziel andloaded with presents. It was the first time in my life that I hadexperienced anything of the sort, for I had always been the one whodidn't matter, at home. Each place we visited seemed more beautiful thanthe last, and I was trying hard to say to myself, "This is happiness, orall you can expect to know. Make the most of it, and be a sensiblePeggy!"

It was late on the night of Wednesday, July 29th, when we arrived atquaint old Liége; and though we knew that Austria had declared war, andthat all the great powers were muttering thunderously, it didn't seem asif anything devastating would really happen. That was much too bad to betrue, and everything seemed so peaceful and comfortable. Hotel keeperssmiled and said that the war scare was sure to blow over as it had blownover time after time in the past. We met other people gayly touring likeourselves. They all appeared to be easy in their minds and free fromcare, so we followed their pleasant example; and the sun shone on us, and Belgium seemed the prettiest and most pacific of all countries, basking under a cloudless sky. 

"Telegram for you, dear, " Mrs. Dalziel said to Milly as she sorted thepost handed to her by the man in the hotel bureau at Liége. Then shedealt out envelopes to Tony and me, and we were rather sleepily busiedwith them when Milly gave a gasp. "Oh, Mamma, he's got to _fight_!" shesquealed. 

"He--who?" questioned Mrs. Dalziel dazedly in the midst of deciphering aclosely written and crossed page of thin foreign paper. 

"Stefan!" Milly choked on the name. "Oh, it's awful! His father hasconsented to his marrying me all right, but _of course_ he'll goand--and be _killed_ now, and I shall never see him again! I'm theunluckiest girl that ever lived. And just when I thought everything wasgoing to be so splendid. "

I heard her wailing as I finished my letter, which was from Di: thefirst she had written me. It had gone to Brussels and been forwardedfrom there to Liége. "Sidney and I are rushing back to London as fast asthe car will take us, " she wrote. "This war news is terrible. Any minutewe may hear that England's mixed up in the business. There's no more funmotoring about the country in this suspense; and if there's war, all thehouse parties we were asked to in Scotland are sure to be given up. Wewant to be where we can have news every minute, and will hurry up thedecorators so we can get into our house, even if things are at sixes andsevens there. From what I hear, everybody will be congregating in Londonto be in the heart of things. It makes me sick to think of all my_lovely_ clothes! If there's war, nobody will be wearing _anything_. Allthe nicest men will be away at the front. Isn't it _sickening_? Luckily, Sidney won't have to fight, as America's not involved. But I don't wantto go over there and have people at home calling me a _coward_, to sneakaway from under the Zeppelins and things the Germans will be sendingover. I want to do what everybody else does, though Heaven alone knowsyet what that will be. I expect Bally and Kitty will come back fromHarrogate, where poor dear Bally is celebrating his honeymoon by takinga strict cure, and I hear Kitty is doing mud baths to reduce her flesh. They wire that there isn't one waiter out of sixty left in theirhotel--all were _Germans_; so you see what that means. And Kitty's maidhad hysterics this morning because war's to be declared on her country, and because the hotel chambermaids are all turned into waitresses, andshe had to make Bally's and Kitty's beds. One realizes that war will behorrible for _all classes_. Your life won't be safe on the Continent, you know, and you'd better persuade Mrs. D. To bring you backimmediately. Though you've been so horrid to Sidney, he'll overlook itin this crisis, for my sake, when even Ulsterites and Nationalists areforgiving each other. Father and Kitty will have to stay with us whenthey arrive, as the Norfolk Street house is given up; and you must ofcourse come, too. You can be our guest till you and Tony are married, ifyou don't want your engagement to last _too_ long. "

I hardly knew whether I most wanted to laugh or cry over that letter. All I did know was that nothing would induce me to stay with Diana andSidney Vandyke. I would even rather be married, if worst came to worst;but though Tony and I were playing at being engaged, the thought ofactually marrying him was like jumping over a precipice. I wasn't readyfor the precipice yet, and must avoid it if I could. 

I folded up the letter and kept its news and its suggestions to myself. I sympathized with Milly; and hoped that, after all, even if Russia andAustria and Servia and Germany flew in each others' faces, it might bepossible for England and France and Italy to keep the peace. Di wasalways inclined to exaggerate, and probably she was glad of any excuseby this time to put an end to a motoring _tête-à-tête_ with Sidney. 

I went to bed and tried to believe that I had had a bad dream, but nextmorning I was still dreaming it. The papers told us how the StockExchange in London had closed, which seemed like hearing that Englandhad suddenly gone under the sea. Belgrade was being bombarded. TheGermans as well as Russians were mobilizing furiously. King George hadtelegraphed to the Czar, but before his message had time to reachPetrograd, the Kaiser had declared war on Russia. Belgium had begunmobilizing too, and only just in time. Trains were wanted for thesoldiers. Frightened tourists clamoured in vain to get away. Even thosewho had automobiles could hardly move along the roads, and manychauffeurs were called to their colours. Ours was French, and went offat a moment's notice, with just time for a polite "_Adieu, peut-êtrepour toujours. _" Tony hated everything mechanical except rifles andrevolvers, and had never learned to drive a car; Belgian chauffeurs hadsomething better to do than help travellers out of trouble; so there wewere!

It seemed only another phase of the dream from which we could not wake, when glittering hordes of German cavalry, the Kaiser's beloved uhlans, were said to be clanking over the frontier to violate the neutrality ofBelgium, and we heard that Great Britain had declared war on Germany. Iwould have given anything to be back in England then, not because I wasafraid of what might happen in Belgium, but because my blood was hotwith pride of my country, and I wanted to be there to see the spirit ofthe people rise. There was little time to think, however, for Liége wasseething with excitement. Fugitives began to pour into the town, withchildren and bundles in queer little carts drawn by dogs. Soldiers badetheir families good-bye in the streets, and marched or rode off inclouds of dust. Wounded men were brought from the frontier, and an annexof our old-fashioned, dormer-windowed hotel was hastily turned into ahospital. Red Cross nurses appeared from somewhere, and several womenamong the penned-up tourists volunteered to help. Mrs. Dalziel could donothing, because she had collapsed with fear, and was sure that she wasin for nervous prostration. Milly had her mother to care for; but I wasfree, and thanks to my work in Ballyconal, I knew something about firstaid. Ever since I met Eagle and he had given me the old cadet chevron, which I carried with me everywhere, I had grown more and more keen onlearning to do what I could for others, and war talk in Texas hadprompted me to buy books on nursing. 

I mentioned this as a personal recommendation; the real nurses smiled. But they accepted my services as a probationer, strong and willing, andglad to do what she was told, even to scrub floors with disinfectantfluid. 

"You'll spoil you hands, " said Milly. 

I laughed. 

Almost at once after this began the bombardment of the forts at Liége;and all day long and most of the night we were deafened with the boom ofgreat guns across the river. It was a relief to be allowed to watchthrough the dark hours beside soldiers whose wounds were not seriousenough to need expert care that I could not give. Even if I had been inbed I should not have slept. I felt as if my brain were part of thebattlefield where armies marched and fought. My heartbeats were thedrums. We grew used to the firing of cannon. It seemed a part ofeveryday life. It was hard to remember after the first that each "boom!"meant lives ended in violence. Perhaps if we had remembered we shouldhave gone mad. 

Suddenly, on the third day, just at dawn, came a new sound, a greatwhirring like a thousand racing automobiles, and then two loudexplosions, one after the other, different from the roar of cannon orthe shots from the field guns that night at El Paso. The whole buildingshook as if it must fall, and wounded men who had slept restlesslythrough the thunder from the forts waked with a wild start. My charge, aBelgian boy of nineteen whose arms had been amputated, shivered and thenrelapsed into stoical calm as the house ceased to shake. "Zeppelin, " hesaid, in a quiet voice. "They have dropped bombs. "

It seemed that two must have fallen and burst close by, the noise hadbeen so ear-shattering. Up from the street below our windows came aclamour of voices, shrill and sharp, which cut through the constantwhirr of the giant motor. Near the head of the bed was an open window, and mechanically, rather than of my own free will, I leaned far out, assome of the professional nurses were leaning from other windows. 

"You might get a bomb on your head, " said my soldier, in his tiredvoice. But I did not draw back. I was surprised to find that I was notafraid. It seemed just then ridiculous, puny, to care about one's self. I was awe-struck rather than terrified, realizing with a solemnity I hadnever known that the next minute might be the last on earth for all ofus in that dimly lit room of narrow beds. 

The sky was faintly gray with coming dawn. I looked up, up into the paledome, seeking with my eyes the great bird of evil that had laid its eggsof death. There it was, immensely high above the black, shadowy roofsand steeples of the hill and plain; a sinister shape, like all theGerman sausages in the world rolled into one; and hanging from it carsfull of men reduced to the size of beetles by that great height. 

The thing was almost directly overhead as I looked up, and it seemedthat if it dropped a parting bomb as it sailed our poor little hospitalmust be struck. Yet I continued to stare, fascinated. Life and deathwere twin brother and sister, equally terrible and splendid. 

"I wish I could have seen Eagle just once again, " I heard myselfthinking, as one hears the ticking of a watch under a pillow. But I felta strange, throbbing eagerness to know quickly the great secret of whatcomes next after this world, with its seeming muddle of injustice anddisappointment, its joys and broken aspirations. "Why! it was like thiswith me when we had our accident in the _Golden Eagle_!" I thought. Andeven as the remembrance flitted ghostlike through my brain, I sawtearing through the sky, far above the big bulk of the Zeppelin, amonoplane etched in black against the light of dawn. 

I could hardly believe that it was really there. It must be an imagecalled up by memory of that long-past moment, some strange illusion ofan exalted mind: but the image persisted. Like a hawk it swept along thesky, coming from a direction opposite to that of the Zeppelin, as if toswoop upon it from above. I thought I heard shots. The great dirigibleturned and sailed faster. I felt as if I were all eyes and poundingheart. Could the sight be real, this duel in the sky? Perhaps otherswatched it with me--I do not know. It seemed that I was alone on earthgazing at the incredible battle. 

The Zeppelin made off, away from the town toward the fortifications, butthe monoplane kept above it, despite the shots which spattered futilely. Just as the dirigible passed over the bridge, which hadn't yet beenblown up, looking enormous, for it hung lower now, the monoplane--tinyin comparison--dived full upon it. With an explosion of gas from thehuge cigar-shaped balloon, the dirigible dropped earthward, its birdenemy seeming to fall with it. 

I gave a cry and covered my eyes with both hands. 

 * * * * *

I felt that I had been broken, crumpled up like a singed moth, burnt bythe vivid flame of that awful sight. But arms caught me from behind, asI would have sunk to the floor with the roar of another explosion in myears, each brick of the house quivering on another. A kind Belgian voicewas soothing me: "_Pauvre enfant!_" and hands, strong, though womanly, would have pulled me away from the window to lay me down on someunoccupied bunk, if I had not struggled to keep my place. "No--no!" Istammered. "I'm not going to faint. I must see! I must!" And shaking offthe nurse's protecting arms, I stared out toward an open space away fromthe town, where a vast mass of wreckage blazed, turning the gray dawnred. 

CHAPTER XVIII

"_Quel héros!_" rapturously sobbed the Belgian nurse who held me. "It ishe who has saved the lives of all our poor wounded ones, and our lives, too. Did you not see the monster over our heads? It had to turn just inthe nick of time. An instant more, and there would have been a bomb forus. Thank heaven! And thank the hero sent by heaven!"

It was a deed, I thought, worthy of Eagle March himself. The air scoutwho had accomplished it was his soul brother no matter what country hadgiven him birth. 

"Is it certain, do you think, that all those men in the Zeppelin diedthere together?" I gasped. 

"Every man of them, yes, it is certain. "

"But he--the man of the monoplane? He fell with them?"

"He fell, yes, my child. But he fell free of the Zeppelin. He is not inthat fire cauldron there. Didn't you see the end of what happened?"

"No!" I said. "For a second I covered my eyes. "

"Oh, it was all in that second! We thought he was lost, sacrificed forus; and even now it is most likely that he is dead. We saw the Zeppelindrop away from under the monoplane. Then came the flare of light, withthe gas exploding and catching fire. But just before that, the monoplanewas poised in the air for an instant above the great falling shape. Itseemed to--do you call it 'plane' down? All that happened was so quickand sudden, and the aeroplane came to earth so fast we could not be sureof her fate. But if she fell, she fell free of the Zeppelin. We shallsoon hear. The other hospitals in town are full already, except ourlittle one, which has still room for a few. If any are saved from eitherof the wrecks, they will be brought here, unless we have filled up ourbeds meanwhile with people hurt by the Zeppelin bombs. "

By the mingled dawnlight and firelight we could see figures running tothe fields where the wreck of the great dirigible and the heroic littlemonoplane had come down. But long before news arrived of the occupants'fate we heard that none of the townsfolk had been injured by theexplosion of the only two bombs which the Zeppelin had been given timeto drop. Three or four buildings had suffered more or less, butfortunately they were shops, and nobody had been sleeping there. Onebomb had fallen near a hospital, and Tony Dalziel, hearing a rumour thatthe "Annex" (as ours was called) had been struck, came rushing from thehotel close by to find out what had been my fate. When he saw thesteep-roofed building untouched, and with lighted windows, he wasrelieved, but ventured to ask for me, and I ran down to speak with himat the foot of the stairs for a moment. 

"Peggy! I just can't stand for this!" he groaned, and the tragedy in hisvoice contrasted so quaintly with his comic appearance, bareheaded, hairruffled, and costume sketchy, that I felt rising symptoms of hysteria, which had to be controlled. "I must get you and the mater and Milly intosafety somehow. To-night is the limit. Mater's more dead than alive, andMill isn't much better. "

"Don't worry about me, anyhow, " I said. "You see, I don't much _care_whether I'm dead or alive. That simplifies things a lot! I wouldn't goaway now if I could. "

"You _shall_ go, the first chance there is, " insisted Tony, with newauthority. "And it may come soon. There are some high-up Belgianofficers at the hotel to-night. They came in an automobile not so big asours, and it's broken down. If they can't get it right by to-morrow, when they want to go back to Brussels, where they came from, I'll make'em a present of our car for the rest of the war, if they'll take uswith them. You see, it's a serious matter with me. Things are gettingworse here, and my leave'll soon be up. You don't think I'd go, and letyou stay shut up in Liége with bombs falling all round you and perhapson you?"

"Look!" I said, forgetting to answer, as I peered out through the openstreet door. "Here come some men with a litter. They're bringing it thisway. Oh, Tony, if it should be the man of the monoplane! They think inthe hospital that he fell with his machine clear of the Zeppelin, andmay be alive. "

Ahead of the slowly borne litter ran a youth with a Red Cross band onhis arm. Seeing my nurse's cap and apron, all the uniform I had, hebegan speaking breathlessly in Belgian French. Had we a bed? Our nurseshad sent word yesterday that if two or three were needed, we couldsupply them. He hoped they hadn't filled up since, as here was an urgentcase: the aviator who had attacked the Zeppelin, and destroyed it byplunging on to its balloon at the risk of almost certain death. But hewas not dead, and might live if he could have prompt surgical attendanceand nursing. 

"Yes, we can take him in, " I said. "Everything is ready, and I'll runahead of you to warn the staff. "

"Tell them, " the Red Cross man called after me, as, forgetful of Tony, Iturned to fly, "tell them we think it is the British or AmericanMonsieur Mars who did us such service, bringing news to the forts fromover the German frontier two days ago. "

I dashed on without stopping to answer or look back, for the litter wasarriving; and it was not till I repeated the name, as I gave in myhurried report, that the sound of it on my own lips made my heart jump. Monsieur Mars! Could it be.... The thought was too far-fetched.... Idared not harbour it. 

My ward was on the top floor, where the least serious cases weretreated, men who could be got upstairs without too much strain andsuffering. On the ground floor one bed was free, as I knew, and it wasinto that ward I went to tell the news to the matron. Perhaps when myduty was done I did not hurry overmuch to return to my own lessinteresting post; and I was still in the principal ward when the canvaslitter borne by four Red Cross men was carried in. Doctors and nursespressed forward to meet it, and I flattened myself against the wall, sick with mingled fear and longing. Again I thought, _what if_ ... 

The big room which a week ago had been the restaurant of our prosperoushotel annex was still lit by electric lamps fantastically unsuited to ahospital ward: chandeliers of sprawling gilt branches decorated withmetallic imitations of mistletoe. The light of day outside was filteringin but dimly, yet it paled and made ghastly the yellowish glow ofelectricity. Even the doctors and nurses with their tired faces lookedlike ghosts, and the wounded soldiers in their narrow white cots seemedfigures of dead men modelled in wax. Some of them opened their eyes, indeep violet hollows; others kept the lids down, caring for or consciousof nothing. The staff who received the litter, and the Red Cross men whobrought it, spoke in low voices, but never in irritating whispers. Themoving feet made only a faint pattering sound on the linoleum-coveredfloor, and the litter was set down noiselessly at the side of the onefree bed in the ward. Near it stood a screen which only a few hours agohad hidden the death agony of a soldier. I looked at this and shuddered, thinking once again, "_What if it were he!_" and if the screen should beneeded again for the same purpose. 

Where I lurked, out of every one's way, yet close to the door, flat as apaper doll, against the wall which smelled of carbolic acid, nobodytroubled about me. I was just one of the younger nurses, and nonestopped to ask whether my place were there or upstairs in another ward. 

"Oh God, if it be he, let him live!" I heard my soul praying. 

Nurses leaned over the long dark form on the litter, whose face I couldnot see, because where I stood only the top of the head was visible, ahead thickly covered with short rumpled hair, which might be blond orbrown when the blood stains were washed off. The bending figuresquickly, skilfully cut away the stained and blackened clothing, and whenit was the surgeon's turn to examine and perhaps to operate, some onenoticed the intruder. The head nurse came to me and laid a hand on myshoulder. "My child, it was you who brought us the word just now!" shesaid kindly, her eyes on my pallid face. "But you must go to your ownduties. This is a great honour we have, to care for the hero who hassaved us. It must be our turn to save him. Go tell the news in the upperwards, that we hope for the best, the very best. Say to the doctors thatit is indeed Monsieur Mars. They will know the name. They will haveheard of him, and what he did for Liége only the other day. "

"I'll go, but _one_ instant first, I implore you, nurse!" I pleaded. "Ithink--it may be--that Monsieur Mars is an old friend of mine. I beg youto let me have a glimpse of his face!"

She looked at me and hesitated; but my imploring eyes, which suddenlyspouted tears, decided her kind heart in my favour. "One glance, then;but control yourself, " she said. And taking me round the waist, she ledme quickly across the room. "Mademoiselle, our young British assistantthinks she knows the patient, " the matron announced. "Make way for her, an instant. Then she will go to her own ward. "

Some one pushed me forward, at the same time holding me firmly lest Ishould collapse. One fleeting glance was vouchsafed me of a form coveredwith a sheet, and a blackened, blood-smeared face, with half-closed eyeswhose whites showed under the lids, and on whose lips was some strangesemblance of a happy smile. To those who did not know him well, or lovehim beyond all the world, that marred face might have beenunrecognizable in its mask of dirt and blood. But nothing could disguiseit from me. Monsieur Mars, the wounded hero of Liége, and Captain EagleMarch, late of the American army, were one and the same. 

 * * * * *

I didn't faint, but I don't remember anything else till I found myselfsitting on a chair in my own ward. The nurses were having morningcoffee. One of them gave me a cup. If I hadn't been a nurse myself, withpatients to think of, I should have dropped it and burst out crying. Butinstead, I drank the coffee; and a moment later went back to the bedsideof the man I had been tending before leave was granted me to see Tony. 

"You look as if you'd met the ghost of some one you love, " said thenurse who had been keeping my place. 

But he was not a ghost. Not yet--not yet!

CHAPTER XIX

Tidings of the new hero of Liége floated up to our ward within the hour. There was slight concussion of the brain; there were scalp wounds whichhad had to be stitched up; and there were many bruises; but the surgeonsreported no bones broken, and complete recovery only a matter of days. Even the monoplane itself, we heard, was singularly little damaged. Allthis would have appeared miraculous, and the pious Belgians would haveattributed it to direct intervention of the Blessed Virgin, had not thewrecked dirigible on examination told a silent story of the air scout'scleverness as well as his daring. Before swooping on the Zeppelin fromabove, he had apparently discharged bombs of his own on the balloon, which had burst before the monoplane dashed down on to it, and the greatbulk had fallen away from under, without carrying the lighter machine todestruction. The theory which awaited corroboration from the aviator wasthat he had begun to plane down, despite some damage, and had actuallyfallen but a short distance, striking earth a hundred yards away fromthe wrecked dirigible. 

Nobody talked about anything except the feat of the foreign air scout. The roar of the cannon from the fort had ceased to make us jump; and itwas better to chat about Monsieur Mars than to murmur in each other'sears, "How long before _THEY_ slip round the forts and get into thetown?" I made up my mind that whatever happened, nothing should tear mefrom Liége while Eagle March was there. And when Tony sent up wordbegging to see me on important business, in imagination I was defendingEagle's hospital cot (naturally with him in it!) against a troop ofuhlans. In that mood, Tony's arguments about my going away made as muchimpression as the chirp of a sparrow on a man stone deaf in both ears. 

"Wild horses, much less wild uhlans, couldn't drag me out of thisplace, " I said, feeling as brave and firm as a story-book heroine, though to Tony I may have seemed obstinate as a mule. "What do you takeme for, boy? Go comfortably away in a motor car to safety indeed, whileEagle March is here, lying at death's door? Or if he isn't at death'sdoor, it's only because the angels slammed it in his face. "

"Eagle March! What are you talking about?" Tony wanted to know, lookingdazed. I had forgotten that there was no reason why he should haveguessed the hero's identity, and I dashed into explanations. "Don't tellpeople yet, " I said, "because he mayn't want it talked about, but he'sthe 'Monsieur Mars' who's been helping Belgium since the very first dayof war. Why, they say _he_ gave the warning that the Germans would crossthe frontier. Isn't it _like_ him? And how silly of us not to guess, theminute we heard the name of 'Mars!'"

"It never entered my head, though I've heard it a dozen times beforethis last feat, " said Tony. "People were talking about other stunts Marshad done. But I supposed he was some French Johnny. Are you sure you'reright? Sure it's March, I mean? It does seem a little too strange to betrue, that he should turn up--or rather come down--here, of all places!"

"'Too strange _not_ to be true, '" I quoted. "Strange things are the onlythings that happen in war, for a man like him--a man without a country. We might have known he would come to the rescue of Belgium! And I amsure I'm right, because I've seen him. "

"Great Scott!" was all that Tony had to say for a minute. Then he wenton in a changed and heavy tone: "I suppose you're nursing him?"

"No such luck!" I answered. "I'm not experienced enough. But I'mdebating whether I might ask to see him, when he gets better, on thestrength of old friendship. I don't think he'd mind my claimingacquaintance with 'Monsieur Mars. '"

"Mind? I guess not!" said Tony. "But how soon will he be better?"

"He'll be nearly well, they hope, in a few days. "

"He'll have to be, by George, if he wants to get out of town with hismonoplane before the Germans walk in. The Belgians are the heroes ofEurope, but there aren't enough of 'em to hold out forever, and that'swhy you _must_ go with us, Peggy, March or no March. He'd be the firstone to tell you to clear out, if he had his wits about him. "

"I dare say he would, but he hasn't got them yet, " I replied calmly. "You don't really _expect_ me to leave him, do you, Tony, after--afterall I've confessed to you?"

"I expect you to see reason, " Tony lamely persisted. "There's just onething to do, and that is to scoot while there's a chance. If I werealone without the mater and Milly, I'd say let's hang on for a day ortwo longer and run the risk--though running it might make me overstay myleave. That would be nothing, though. I wouldn't think of myself in anyway. But I can't let my mother and sister go without me to look afterthem as well as I'm able. I can't ask them to stop, and they wouldn't ifI did, for they're wild to get away. Yet how can I let you stay herealone? March would be furious with you, if he came back to himself andfound you hanging on. "

I laughed. "He couldn't kill me!"

"The Germans could. "

"In spite of the red cross, and my lovely cap and apron? Well, I'm notafraid. And Eagle will never know that I stopped for his sake when Imight have gone. I'm not sure I shouldn't have stayed in any case. "

"I'm sure you wouldn't, if I'd had to use force. But you see what aposition you put me in, Peggy. How can I, a chap you don't care a snapfor at heart, hope to drag you away from the one who's got it all? Andyet, what am I to do if you refuse to come?"

"Dear Tony, " I said quietly, "I do care lots of snaps for you, more thanI ever did, I think. But--oh, I _must_ say it!--'snaps' is just the poorlittle word that's appropriate compared to what I feel for Eagle. All Ihave and am is for him, though he doesn't want it, and will never know, I hope, what a fool his 'little friend' is over him. "

In silence Tony received the blow I had to strike. He stood with hishead down for a minute, while I ached with pity for him and formyself--though I hated myself, too, because I was hurting him. 

"You must go with Mrs. Dalziel and Milly, " I said, when he didn't speak. "It's the only way. I shall be safe enough--as safe as the other nurses. Who knows, " and I laughed uneasily to break the barrier of restraint, "but Eagle will take me away in his monoplane? That would be a splendidsolution of the difficulty, wouldn't it?" I spoke only in jest, but Tonyaccepted the idea half seriously. 

"Yes, that's exactly what _will_ happen, I expect, " he said. "You'll gooff with him. Anyhow, I've lost you! I see that. You could never put upwith me after this experience. That's true, isn't it, Peggy?"

The same thought, put in a less brutal way, had been heavy in my heartsince my glimpse of Eagle lying unconscious on the litter. I knew thenthat I was married to my love for him and that any other marriage wouldbe worse than illegal. 

I hesitated how to answer, but perhaps my silence spoke as clearly aswords. "Don't look as if you'd just lost your last friend, my poorchild, " Tony said, in his good, warm way. "You haven't lost me, youknow, though I've lost you. And you needn't look so guilty, either, asif you'd murdered me and buried me under the leaves! I was alwaysexpecting this thing to come, though I didn't foresee the way of it. Ifever I felt tempted to believe our engagement was getting to be the realthing, why, I said to myself, 'Wait till she sees March again before youbegin to be cocksure, my man. ' Well, now you've seen him. And I guessyou've seen in the same minute that our experiment has failed. "

"I'm--afraid that's true, Tony!" I sighed. "I can't help it! It wouldn'tbe fair to you for us to go on as we are. I shall have to break my wordto you, if I'm to be faithful to myself. "

"You won't be breaking any old word!" he said. "It was never aniron-clad promise. I teased you till you agreed to try how the thingwould work. It's been my fault all through, and now I'll take mymedicine. Our engagement was never insured against war risks, and when Iget back my senses I'm going to be glad you saw March before it was toolate. I--brought you two together, sort of inadvertently, as you mightsay, didn't I? But, honest Injun, Peggy, I'd do the thing over again, knowing all I know. I only wish--yes, before the Lord I _do_ wish--thatgood may come of it to you both. "

"You're an angel, Tony, a real angel!" I almost sobbed. "But you needn'tthink that anything will 'come of it' in the way you mean, because itwon't. I don't delude myself. I don't even hope. All the same, I must betrue--to my own heart. And I beg of you to forgive me because I didn'tknow it well enough before. "

"There isn't any question of forgiveness, " said he, with his head up, and his nice Billiken face very pink. "I bless you--bless you for allyou've been or done to me. And I wouldn't forget or undo anything if Icould, you can bet your life on that. I think I could bear the wholebusiness like a man, if I could stay right here and see you through. But--there's mater and Milly to think of--and the regiment. And--and--oh, well, life's just one damn thing after another!"

Mrs. Dalziel and Milly came and pleaded with me after that, and tried tofrighten me into going with them; but, as Milly burst out desperately atlast, I was "as hard as nails. " Tony had told them nothing, I found, about the failure of our experiment or the identity of Monsieur Mars. Iwell understood why, and was grateful--grateful for that and for manythings; most of all for bringing me to Belgium, and neither grudging norregretting what he had done. So, as a lover, Tony went out of my life;but as a friend, he never can go. 

I had no time to cry or feel lonely, or tell myself what a beast I'dbeen, after the three had reluctantly left me to my fate; for when Iwent back on duty after the good-byes, it was to find that I had beensent for to hasten to the principal ward. Monsieur Mars was beingdelirious in English, and the doctors and nurses understood too littleof the language to know whether he were merely babbling or pouring forthimportant information. 

There Eagle lay in his narrow, white bed, clean and pale, with his headswathed in bandages, a very different man from the grimy, bloodstainedvision that had flashed on me a few hours before. The merest strangerwho had ever seen Captain March would have deserved no credit forrecognizing him now. 

The nurses waited eagerly for me to translate his mutterings; but heonly mumbled again and again, "It's all over, all over!"

If I could guess at a sad hidden meaning for the words, it was one whichneed not be handed on to others; and I proved so broken a reed as atranslator that I expected to receive marching orders, right-about face. Strange to say, however, though his eyes were half closed and he seemedto see nothing, know nothing that went on around him, after I had spokenin a low tone to his nurse Eagle stopped muttering. For a moment heappeared to listen, and then with a deep sigh as if of relief from painor some heavy anxiety, the half-open eyelids closed. The slight frownwhich had drawn his brows together slowly faded away. He had the air ofbeing at rest. 

"One would almost fancy, " said the head nurse, who had been watching thescene, speaking thoughtfully when she had beckoned me away from thebedside, "that this brave monsieur recognized your voice, Mademoiselle. "

Then I took heart of grace and did what I had told Tony I meant to do. Isaid that I had met Monsieur Mars in England and America. I hadrecognized him at once when the Red Cross men brought him into thehospital, but I had said nothing of this at the time, because I had feltthat it would be considered unimportant. 

"On the contrary, Mademoiselle, " answered that adorable woman, "it is ofthe _greatest_ importance. This heroic monsieur has saved us from death. If there is anything, little or big, which we can do for him in return, how gladly will we do it! Your voice has soothed him in hisunconsciousness. Who knows what your presence may do when consciousnesscomes back? Why, it would be like throwing away an elixir to waste youafter this in the ward above. You are from now on promoted as assistantnurse to our hero. "

She was a stout, plain person, with bulgy eyes and a pink end to hernose, but I saw her as the most beautiful woman the world has everproduced. 

I took up my new duties at once, trying not to act as if the moon weremy footstool. All the rest of the day and far into the night Eagle layas if asleep, with occasional fits of restlessness which, somehow, Icould always soothe; and this state, though it seemed alarming to me, was approved by the doctor. It was better, he said, that afterconcussion the brain should have for a while repose in unconsciousness. The symptom was not good when the patient talked rationally too soon. But if monsieur should waken and show signs of wishing to ask questions, he must be answered clearly and quietly, if possible by the DemoiselleIrlandaise who would best be able to understand and satisfy him. 

The Demoiselle Irlandaise was advised by the matron to take her reposeearly in the night, in order to be ready for such an emergency asmonsieur the doctor suggested. But the demoiselle felt no need ofrepose. Sleep seemed some strange and foreign thing. She sat through thenight watching the hero of Liége; and though guns boomed and wereanswered, and the nurses occasionally discussed beneath their breathwhat would happen to us all when the Germans came, never in her life hadthat Demoiselle Irlandaise felt so happy and so useful. 

She had the reward of her vigil toward dawn, four-and-twenty hoursalmost to the minute after the Zeppelin and its crew had been broughtdown. Suddenly Eagle opened his eyes and fixed them on the nurse. Atfirst he stared as if dazed by what he saw; then came a flash ofrecognition which changed to incredulity. 

"I'm--_dreaming_ you!" he whispered huskily. 

I bent over him with an invalid's cup of liquid food prepared for thisemergency, kept hot in a vacuum flask. "No you're not dreaming me, " Icheerfully replied as I made him drink. "It's Peggy, taking care of you. Now go to sleep again. I'll still be here when you wake up next time. "

"But----" he went on, staring round the room; "where am I? The horsekicked me, I remember; only that seems so long ago! I thought--a lot ofthings had happened since then. I hoped--but I suppose it's all a dreamabout--about----"

"Being in Belgium?" I prompted him, seeing his sharp anxiety. "That'snot a dream, but true. You're Monsieur Mars, the hero of Liége, becauseyou brought down the Zeppelin and the men who came to drop bombs on us. We're all grateful to you, and praying that you may get well soon. "

"Thank God that it _is_ true!" he sighed. "I wanted to do something. I'dhave been disappointed to wake up and find I'd only dreamed afterall--to find that I was back in London. I was afraid for a minute it wasthe day of--but it's all right now. How is it that you're here? Itseems----"

"Oh, I just happened to be travelling in Belgium with the Dalziels whenthe war broke out, and we got caught. They've gone now, but I stayed. The nurses let me help them a little. I do the best I can. I told themI'd met you at home. But every one here calls you 'Monsieur Mars. ' Theyknow no other name. "

"Don't let them know any other. Don't let any one know. "

"I won't. You needn't worry! Now, will you sleep, please?--or they maythink I'm doing you more harm than good. "

"You do me the greatest good. I'll sleep, yes. But first--tell me onething more; about the _Golden Eagle_. I planed down part of the way, butthe motor'd stopped working. The last I remember is when I began tofall. "

"The _Eagle's_ safe, " I assured him. "Hardly hurt at all; and there's aBelgian flying man in Liége to-day, Simon Sorel, who knows you. Hismechanic is working on the _Golden Eagle_. She'll be ready for you whenyou're ready for her. "

"That will be soon. Good man, Sorel!" he said, and closed his eyes. "Little Peggy!" I heard him muttering later. But three minutes afterwardhe had dropped into a natural sleep. 

"Magnifique!" was the Belgian doctor's verdict in his next round, whenEagle had waked again, and had been attended by a nurse wiser and moreexperienced than I. There was little that I was allowed to do for him, but that little was a joy worth being born for; and I could have died ofhappiness to see how, when he was awake and fully conscious, his eyesfollowed me when I moved about. But it was better to live than to diejust then, and I did live with all my might. I lived in every nerve andvein for those two days while "Monsieur Mars" was my patient. After thefirst twenty-four hours he insisted that he was well enough to bechanged into the ward above, and leave his bed on the ground floor tosome one more seriously injured. On the second day he sat up in areclining chair, and announced that twelve hours more would see him outof hospital. Doctors and nurses protested that he would throw himselfback into a fever, and the consequences might be serious; but as at thatvery time the danger of the town being taken was imminent, arguments forprudence lost their force. Toward evening on the third day Eagle, withhis head and one hand still in bandages, was limping about the fieldwhere the _Golden Eagle_ had been repaired; and when he came back it wasto say that he thought he might get off at midnight with dispatches forthe king in Brussels. He calmly announced this intention to me as Ihanded him an innocent cup of broth, better suited to a confirmedinvalid than to a recovered aeronaut. But he quietly accepted the cup;and I saw by the look in his eyes that I was to expect the first realtalk we had had together. 

"What about your going with me, Peggy?" he asked, as simply as if hewere proposing a short pleasure jaunt in a motor car. "You know, Iwouldn't suggest it if I didn't think it honestly the safest thing foryou. With luck we can make the trip in less than an hour, by air. Heavenknows how long it would take you by earth; and there's no one here, anyhow, to help smuggle you away if I go and leave you behind. I can'tbear to do it! Besides, from Brussels, there's a good chance of yourgetting out with refugees, if you don't wait too long. And you can do asmuch good work in London as in Liége. What do you say?"

I wished that it might take us many hours to get to Brussels instead ofless than one. But I didn't put the wish into words. I said only, yes, Iwould go; and many thanks. 

"Good! That's settled then, " said he. 

"I must tell our matron, " I hesitated. "I _hope_ she won't think me acoward!"

Eagle smiled almost as he used to smile ages ago in London, when firstwe were friends, and he still thought of me as a "little girl. " "Fewpeople would call it a cowardly act for a young woman to fly out of abeleaguered town in a battered aeroplane with a battered airman, and Idon't think your matron will be one of them. She'll thank you for whatyou've done here, and bid you God-speed. But don't go yet to tell her. Ihave some things to say to you. You'll be my passenger and 'observer'when I start to-night, but we'll have no chance to talk; and in thesetimes we must face the fact that we may never have another chance thisside of heaven. "

The words went through me like a bayonet, for I knew too well how deadlytrue they were. I didn't try to contradict him, or talk about "hopingfor the best"; for prattle of that sort seemed too futile. I only said, "Let's take this chance, then. I've plenty of time--hours yet. Stretchyourself out in the _chaise longue_ and rest while we talk. I'll sithere by you on the window seat. "

No one was very ill in this upper ward, which was kept forconvalescents. Some of the men had been given cigarettes to smoke. Somewere having their supper. It was generally known that Monsieur Mars andthe Demoiselle Irlandaise had been friends in England; and the newshaving run round the wards that Monsieur Mars had practically dischargedhimself as a patient, we were allowed to talk in peace. Not an errandwas found for me, not a nurse looked--or allowed us to see that shelooked--our way. 

"I didn't mean to remind you of my existence, you know, Peggy, till Ihad something to say about myself worth saying, " Eagle began, speakinglightly, yet with a nervousness he couldn't quite hide. "I told you thatin my last letter. But Providence has stage-managed things differently. "

"Yes. We didn't expect to act together in a continental theatre, didwe?" I was deliberately flippant. "But I'm glad to be in this great playwith you, even in one scene, and such a little part!"

"Maybe the part seems little to you. It doesn't to me! You've helped meto get well twice as soon as I should have done among strangers. Heavens! But I was glad to see your little face! I'd have told you thatfirst morning when I waked up what I'm going to tell you now, if you hadlet me then. Things were rather mixed in my brain. I thought I was inLondon, and you'd found me at a sort of nursing home I retired into fora couple of days to get patched up, after that--er--that little accidentI had. I suppose you heard something of it at the time, though I don'tthink you were on the spot to see. "

"Tony told me you were in church, and that it was you who stopped thehorses when they started to run away, " I said, without beating round thebush, for I thought he was bidding for my frankness on this soresubject. 

"I hoped I might have passed unrecognized; but I feared that was toomuch to expect. I was tempted to break my resolution and write to youafter all, explaining why I went to Lady Diana's wedding. But I stuck itout because--well, because it _was_ a resolution. Silly maybe! all thesame, I had it a good deal at heart to find a new place for myself inthe world before I made a sign to any of my friends, even loyal Peggy. Besides, I had a safe sort of feeling you wouldn't misjudge me. "

"I'm glad you felt that, " I said. "Almost glad enough to be glad youdidn't write. Though--I should have liked to hear. "

"Well, I thought of you a lot, if I didn't write. And I couldn't helplooking at you in church that day. I sent you wireless messages with myeyes once or twice, although I knew it would be best if you didn't getany of them. "

"I believe I did get them. I seemed to know that some one was callingme. "

"It wasn't a S. O. S. Call!" Eagle smiled. "I found--well, I found thatI wasn't in distress, or need of help. That's precisely why I went toSt. George's, Peggy. I wanted to test myself. Did you think the reasonmight be that?"

"No! I thought of a dozen things it might be, but never that one!"

"It was the only motive that could have taken me there. I felt it gaveme a right to go, even though--if people who knew how things had beensaw me, they might--well, they might think me guilty of very bad taste. But I didn't mean to be seen. I wasn't asked to show a card. I walked inearly and chose a place at the back of the church. I trusted to thecrowd to hide me, and it did. Dalziel may have caught a glimpse of mebetween women's hats, but he couldn't have been sure if it hadn't beenfor that affair afterward. That was bad luck, in a way, although I wasglad, if the accident had to happen, that I could be of use. However, itdidn't affect the question of my being in church. And I must tell youabout that. I didn't go to England for the purpose of making theexperiment with myself. It was another reason which took me there. Butbeing in England, I--tried it--tried it with success. "

"You mean me to understand that--you _didn't care_?"

"Not exactly that! I'm not made of iron or marble. I didn't sit there inchurch without a qualm. But the feelings I had were not those I'dthought I must defend myself against. What I felt was--was no more andno less than a rage of hatred against that damned--forgive me, Peggy!--against that----"

"Damned villain, Sidney Vandyke, " I fiercely finished the sentence as hehad meant to end it. 

"I can't pretend that that word wasn't the only one to express myfeelings for him on his wedding day, " Eagle admitted. "Not because he'dtaken Diana from me, though. That's the strange part! I found it outwhile she was being married to Vandyke, and it was the thing I'd wantedto find out. In the relief, I ought to have forgiven him everything. ButI didn't forgive. The ruin he'd wrought on my career overtoppedeverything else in my mind even at that minute. If some great powercould have put me in Vandyke's place at the altar, and given Diana to meinstead of to him, I would not have taken her--not even with her love. It seemed to me that what she would call her love wasn't worth the nameof love, after--what had passed. It was only the memory of all I'd feltfor her which hurt just then, so far as she was concerned. But forhim--God, Peggy! to see him at the height of his hopes and ambitionsmade me mad to choke his life out! It does me good to confess this toyou now, for you're the only one on earth to whom I'd speak. "

"Yet, when you went out of church, you saved him from danger of death!"I said thoughtfully. 

"That's just one of life's little ironies, isn't it?" Eagle laughed alow and bitter laugh. "It occurred to me afterward that I'd spoilt agood melodramatic plot. Hero secretly goes to church to see the womanwho jilted him marry the villain to whom he owes his ruin. Villain iskilled before his eyes on the way to the wedding reception. Big climax!"

"I think it was more dramatic, " said I, "for the hero to save thevillain's life. "

"Too conventional. Obvious sort of thing!" sneered Eagle. "But I _am_conventional and obvious, I suppose. I did what I did simply because Icouldn't help it, and I'd probably do it all over again. I'd haveregretted it afterward, perhaps, if Di--if Lady Diana hadn't been indanger, too. I bear her no grudge. "

"You're very noble, " I said. 

"It's not nobility. It's more like callousness. I freed myself from LadyDiana on her wedding day, or found that I was free. But if you could seeinto my soul when I think of Vandyke, you wouldn't call me 'noble. ' Ihonestly pray for the day when I can remember him with indifference, andwhen I can say of what he did to me that good is born of evil. That'swhat I'm working for. But the time hasn't come yet. Maybe it will if Ican manage to make myself of real use in this war. I've done nothing yetexcept a little scouting. "

"Liége thinks differently, and so will all the world when it knows. "

"I'm not working to reinstate myself in the world's eyes, but in myown--and most of all to help Belgium. There are things one does just forthe thing itself. I have a fellow-feeling with a country sufferingunjustly. After what I've gone through myself, I seem to owe herallegiance, as to a friend who understands. The moment this war cloudbegan to gather, I thought it would burst over Belgium, and I crossedthe frontier from France with the _Eagle_, to offer my services. I'mglad now I failed in the hope that brought me over from America toEngland. I wanted to join Shackleton's Polar expedition, but he had noneed of me. "

"So that was why you came to England?"

"Yes. I told you it wasn't for the sole purpose of testing my feelingsat St. George's Church. Being in London----"

"I understand. But, oh, Eagle! To _think_ you would have gone away foryears without bidding me good-bye!"

"You don't quite understand yet or you wouldn't say that. " His eyes werewistful. "I was disgraced--put beyond the pale, down and out, unless Icould work my way up again out of the mud. Mentally, I was a sick man. Now I see clearer. I'm on my way to get well in spite of scars. Life ordeath will cure me soon. It doesn't much matter which!"

It mattered to me--mattered so much that I could not speak. 

 * * * * *

A few hours later I had said good-bye to all my friends at the Liégehospital. Again I was a passenger of the _Golden Eagle_, flying throughdarkness as once I had flown through sunshine. Hidden by the night, wewinged our way to Brussels safely and surely, and landed outside thetown after forty minutes in the air--forty minutes which seemed to meworth as many years. 

We came down in a farm field, safely but not silently, and waked thefarmer, and his three sons not yet of soldier age. They ran out withrifles prepared for any emergency, but a few words of explanation warmedtheir hearts to welcome us. 

I with my little bundle--my only luggage--was taken to the wife andmother, who exclaimed over me as if I had dropped from another planet, and gave me a bed for the rest of the night. One of the boys offered toguard the monoplane while Eagle went off on the bicycle of the otherinto town with dispatches from General Leman to the king. 

In the morning "Monsieur Mars" came back with the news that a party ofEnglish ladies were starting for home in the care of a clergyman, andthat he had asked if I might go with them. They had consented to takeme, and I must be ready in twenty minutes. An automobile belonging to anofficer would call for me at the farm. It came promptly, and in it Eagleand I had our last minutes alone together. We talked cheerfully; but Iknew as well as he knew that the chances were ten to one against ourever meeting again on earth. 

CHAPTER XX

I could not bear to go away to safety in England while Eagle stayedbehind, daily risking his life. But he would not listen to my falteringhints that I should take up Red Cross work again in Brussels. "If youwant to give me peace of mind, go, " he said. So I argued no more, andsmiled my best smile as we clasped hands for the last time. That was inthe thronged railway station, where Eagle came to see me off and helpour pilot parson steer his charges through the crowd. I was glad thenthat we had said our real good-bye alone. 

It took us two days to get out of Belgium at that busy time ofmobilization. We changed trains so often that we lost count, andfrequently waited for hours at wayside places in pouring rain orbroiling sun. We hadn't much to eat, but most of what we had we gave torefugees worse off than ourselves, or to tired, hungry soldiers. It wasa hard, almost a terrible journey; but it gave me two friends, andcarried me one stage farther on the strange road along which Fate wasleading me blindfold. 

The two friends were old maiden ladies, the sort of old maiden ladiesFather and Di would have avoided like a pestilence if they had met themtravelling on the Continent. They were twin sisters, exactly alike infigure and face. Their name was Splatchley; their looks were asrepellent as their name; and their natures were angelic. They were talland thin and sprawling, with corrugated iron foreheads, and grizzledhair which they crimped over it in little bunches. They had wistful, wondering brown eyes, like dogs' eyes (if you can imagine dogs wearingpince-nez!), the sort of noses manufactured by the gross to fit anyface, and large stick-out teeth, which made you feel sure that no manwould ever have kissed the poor ladies at any price. Their clothes andhats and shoes resembled French caricatures of British tourists, andthey had a habit of talking together in a way to rasp the nerves. But tome they were adorable. All their lives they had lived in a countryvillage, fussing happily over church work; but an uncle, who had madejam and lots of money, died, leaving everything to his nieces. Part ofthat "everything" was a large house in Fitzjohn's Avenue, Hampstead, inwhich, by the uncle's will, the Miss Splatchleys were obliged to livefor nine months of the year. They had done their duty by it for thefirst nine months, and had then, with great excitement and sometrepidation, started with a maid as old as themselves for their firsttrip abroad. They had just conscientiously worked, by the aid ofBaedeker, from France into Belgium when the war broke out; and theheart-rending sights they saw among refugees inspired them with abrilliant and benevolent scheme. It occurred to them that their bighouse could be turned into a home for Belgian refugees, and theyresolved to offer a thousand pounds toward the expense of bringingpenniless people over to England. They could have their largest bedroomsaltered into beehives of cubicles for single women, and stick littlefamilies of mothers and children into the smaller rooms. 

"Parkins will help, " they said, as we whiled away dreary hours ofwaiting in discussing over and over again their plans. And so sayingthey smiled square-toothed, affectionate smiles at the old woman who hadbeen in their service since they were all three young together. 

"But we must have at least a couple of nurses to help the poor, distracted mothers with the children, and, of course, there must be asecond cook and another housemaid to make things comfortable, " they wenton. "We must try and think of some nice young girl, too, among ourfriends, who would give up her time to work with us. We're too old tomake a success alone. "

Then they ran over a list of the girls they knew, in town and country, but were able to suggest no one whom they both--Jane and Emma--couldagree upon as suitable. While these two angels were busily racking theirbrains, I sat with a great idea developing in mine. I suppose I musthave looked intelligent and eager while this was happening, for MissJane was moved to inquire if, by chance, I knew of anybody who would do?"A girl who is kind, and willing, and bright and strong, and rich enoughto give up all her time for nothing, " explained the dear old lady. "It'sa very difficult combination, I know. And, anyhow, your friends wouldn'tcare to bother perhaps with such a middle-class institution as ours willbe. There'll be hundreds of charities organized by princesses andduchesses, smart affairs that will do good on a grander scale than wecan, and maybe get a little fun out of it, too. But you _did_ look as ifyou had something on your mind to help us out with; so you must excuseme if I asked. "

"I know a girl who would like to help you, " I said, "if you'd have her. She's willing and strong, though not at all kind, and perhaps not sovery bright. She isn't rich, either, but poor as the churchiest mouse!Still, she'll gladly give up all her time if she may stay with you, because she has no home that she can properly call a home. "

"We should _want_ her to stay with us, of course!" they protested, bothtogether, as usual. "But, if she isn't kind----"

"Perhaps she could learn to be kind! She would try hard, " I said meekly. "Her name is Peggy O'Malley. "

They thought I was joking at first; and when I'd made them understandthat I was in dead earnest, they shook their heads and looked dubious, fearing it "wouldn't work. "

"You see, my dear, " Miss Emma explained, volubly assisted by Miss Jane, "you are the only earl's daughter, or indeed _any_ member of thearistocracy--higher than a knight's family--we have ever metsocially--if you can speak of this as 'socially'--being actually _throwntogether_, in all senses of the word, whenever they're in too great ahurry to couple our train nicely, or when we fall out in a heap at somewayside place like this. We don't flatter ourselves that you'd be likelyto select us for acquaintances if you were able to _choose_ at thistime; and you mightn't be pleased with our ways at home. We have kippersfor breakfast sometimes, and always cold supper Sunday nights. "

I assured them passionately that if Providence had made them bothexpressly for my taste, we couldn't be better suited to each other. Asfor being an "earl's daughter, " said I, there was nothing in that exceptextra charges from dressmakers and hotels, and having things you hadnever done attributed to you in paragraphs of penny weeklies. Then Idrew on all my funds of pathos, describing myself as unwanted andunloved. This did the trick! The twin angels took me to their hearts andpromised me a place in their home and scheme. By the time we got onboard the boat they had dropped my handle and were calling me "Peggydear. "

In London a crowd had come to the station expressly to welcome and cheerus returning wanderers. And London was not the same London we had left afew weeks ago. It was a city under a spell, a London of some strangedream, all the stranger because the only change was in the people. Later, it changed again, becoming almost gay and lively in outerappearance, but at this time the balance was not adjusted. 

Soldiers and recruits were marching through the streets, which but forthem and those who dazedly watched them were almost empty. Instead ofthe mad herds of motor omnibuses, which had gone charging up and down in"old days, " a few moved sedately, with here an ancient horse busunearthed from oblivion. Of the lively streams of taxis, blue and greenand black and gray, the source seemed suddenly more than half to havedried up. Some melancholy four-wheelers and hansoms had made bold tosteal out, and were finding customers. Little boys were playing soldiersin the middle of Pall Mall, no longer a maelstrom. There was no din oftraffic to drown the frog-like music of their sixpenny drums and pennytrumpets. Looking into the doorways of the biggest shops one saw nobodybut the attendants, waiting to serve customers who were not there andwould not come. Outside the little shops the proprietors were franklystanding, to wonder sadly what had happened to them and to London, andwhat worse thing was likely to happen next? They talked in low voices toeach other, trying to smile or read the latest war edition of somenewspaper. 

Most of the people who were in the streets seemed to have come there tolook at the soldiers or to read the papers, which they did regardless ofbumping into all the others who were doing the same thing. Nobodyappeared to think of buying anything, though the shopkeepers had alreadypathetically changed the aspect of their windows to suit alteredcircumstances. Instead of displaying lovely dresses, they showed rollsof khaki cloth, or linen, cotton, or flannel for shirts, and gray armyblankets. Shoemakers had bundled away their attractive paste-buckledslippers, and put forward conspicuously thick-soled brown boots to whichthey drew the attention of officers and soldiers. Chemists had hungprinted cards, advising the public to "Keep up Their Strength in WarTime" by taking So and So's Tonic Wine. But no one cared. No one bought. There was a dazed look on most of the faces. If those who readnewspapers cannoned into each other, instead of glaring or swearing theysmiled mildly, wistfully, and perhaps fell into conversation about thewar. One felt able to guess what all the millions in London and even inall England and Europe were talking about and thinking about at anygiven moment; yet it was strange to us who had come from the hot redheart of the war to see no other sign of it except this dreamlikesilence which hid the pain of parting from those loved best. 

Nobody came to meet me at the station, because, not knowing when Ishould succeed in arriving, I had not tried to wire; nor would a messagehave been likely to reach its destination if I had. The Miss Splatchleystook me home with them, as if I had been an adopted child; and it wasfrom the appropriate address of "The Haven" that I telegraphed Fatherand Diana: "Reached London safely with friends who have asked me tovisit them. Writing explanations. "

Miss Jane and Miss Emma prophesied that "his lordship" would put downhis foot on our plans, but they did not know him. I did. Having receivedmy promised explanations, he was more genial on paper than he often tookthe trouble to be for "only Peggy. "

He wrote from Di's new house in Park Lane, a letter eminently fitted tobe read aloud, and to impress with his graciousness the middle classespersonified by estimable if vulgar females labelled Splatchley. He had, it seemed, made inquiries about these ladies, and was in receipt ofquite satisfactory references. I had his permission to visit them untilfurther notice, and help in their good work, which he thoroughlyapproved in these early trying days when everybody was organizingsomething. Also, he was prepared to make me a small weekly allowance forpersonal expenses and charities. He enclosed a cheque for the firstweek. It was for two guineas. 

Kitty added a postscript with a good many italics. She was _so_ gladthat I was safe after that terrible time when she and dear Ballyconalhad been _so_ worried about me, and would have been even _more_ anxiousif they had had any time to think of themselves. Of course, in thecircumstances, she could _quite_ understand that it would be awkward forme to accept Major Vandyke's hospitality, so perhaps things were best asthey were, especially as I would be working for the good cause. But I_must_ come and see them. Surely I could do that? And it would make talkif I did not. She was sure I would be interested in the sewing guildwhich Di had started. Everybody was starting a guild of some sort, butthis was a very special one, consisting of the most _top-wave swells_. Not a woman on the list of workers whose name you couldn't find in Burkeand Debrett!

Diana also wrote, not at all hurt that I hadn't accepted her invitation. Indeed, she seemed to have forgotten the episode, quite taking it forgranted that I was disposed of with the Miss Splatchleys for some timeto come. "Kitty and I will motor out to see you the first day we have achance, " she said, "if we can _find_ Fitzjohn's Avenue. I never heard ofit. But then, one doesn't hear of streets in Hampstead, I suppose, except in war, or crises like that, when we're all as democratic assaints. You might ask your friends for a subscription to buy shirtmaterial for us to make up. I can get more workers than I need, but verylittle money, and we need a lot, especially as some of us have had noexperience in sewing and we do waste rather a lot of material gettingthings wrong at first! Still, we are persevering, and you must come andsee us at work cutting out and putting together garments for the woundedevery afternoon in my drawing-room, where the decorations are allfinished and immensely admired. We have tea, and I've engaged a palmist, who tells us what will happen to our friends at the front and how thewar will end. She encourages us and keeps us up. Later we hope to getconvalescent officers to tell us their experiences while we sew. Couldyou do any knitting for us? I remember you learnt from your nurse whenyou were a small child. I thought it so irritating of you, but it mightcome in useful now, if you remember the stitch. Some of us can crochet, but it seems that won't do for socks. A good many use worsted of apretty colour which doesn't clash with their frocks; but as for me, I'vethrown aside _all_ vanity. Don't forget to ask the Miss Splatchleys fora cheque, as Bally says they're rich; and I do hope you haven't jiltedpoor Tony. He has gone, as of course you have heard, and the Dalzielsdon't know _anything_--I mean about you and T----I see them every day. Milly spoiled two shirts this afternoon, but her mother bought us somebeautiful readymade ones instead, with tucked fronts. "

Work was so real and so pressing with us at "The Haven" that I laughedat the picture of Diana's guild with its list of helpers from Debrett, its palmist, and its tea. Miss Jane and Miss Emma, however, said that itwas my duty to go and see my family, as I was younger than they were, and it was not to be expected that they could get to me. The desiredcheque I hadn't meant to mention, but in reading the funny part of theletter aloud one of Di's references to it fell out inadvertently, andthe generous creatures caught it up. They were prepared to spend manyhundreds of pounds in turning "The Haven" into a refuge, and insupporting the homeless Belgian women and children to whom they offeredhospitality, but they couldn't allow my sister to ask in vain. I wasgiven twenty guineas for the guild and told that I ought to take thecheque myself, for I would discover that "it was the busiest people whocould always find time. "

We were busy from six-thirty in the morning till ten-thirty at night, with indigestibly short intervals snatched for meals; but, as the twoangels said, there was always time to do one more thing. On thatprinciple I contrived to go to Diana's on one of her "afternoons, " armedwith the Splatchley cheque and my own knitting, strongly resolved not todrink any of Sidney Vandyke's tea or eat one of his horrid éclairs. 

I was ushered into the house by two powdered footmen far too big for it. It is a small house for Park Lane, all up and down stairs; but thedrawing-room is of good size; and when a bishop-like butler published myname at the door, I saw that the room was full of women, young, old, andmiddle-aged, seated at sewing-machines, or standing at long tablescutting out strange-looking shapes from hideous materials. 

There were some quaint sights to be seen at "The Haven, " rooms beingpartitioned off into cubicles; others being turned into dormitories, nurseries, or refectories for the refugees, who had already begun toarrive, before things were half ready to receive them. But Diana's smartnew drawing-room in Park Lane presented a far more extraordinary studyin contrasts than anything the middle-class "Haven" could show. 

Improbable Louis-Seize furniture was pushed back against white and goldand silk-panelled walls. Gilt-legged tables and chairs were piled withrolls of bleached and unbleached cotton, feverishly pink flannelette, and scarlet flannel; or littered with cut-out parts of garments, some ofwhich (judging from the confusion and clamour about them) had got badlymixed. On the garland-embroidered curtains of primrose yellow silk werepinned placards announcing patriotic meetings of women who wished toassist or form recruiting agencies; or appeals from the Red CrossSociety or the Prince of Wales' Fund. Rugs had been rolled up, and thepolished parquet floor was strewn with shirt buttons, reels of cotton, and torn papers of pins. Scissors hid among scraps of waste material, and on request were searched for by very young girls whose apparentbusiness was to supply the sewing-machines with cut-out and basted-upgarments, to fold and stack the finished things according to kind, andto knit wildly at intervals on immense stockings with singularly longfeet which clearly could suit no one but Santa Claus. 

As, according to my stepmother, all the ladies of the guild were"top-wave swells, " I'd expected to find the fair brigade of volunteersexquisitely dressed in the latest Paris fashions of "before the war. "But no! They had invented a still later fashion of their own. It was tobe frumpish. The smart thing for the women of Great Britain was to havetheir hair done plainly, with an angelic effect of putting patriotismbefore vanity, and having no time to spend on self. No money, either, tojudge from their frocks! Where they had raked up their old clothes, Ican't imagine. There were skirts and blouses in that transformeddrawing-room in which, a few weeks ago, their wearers would not havegone out to burn down a church or to be dragged to prison. Still, I mustsay that most of the wearers contrived to look very distinguished, eventhose at the sewing-machines, who had got tousled as children do overunaccustomed schoolroom tasks. No one had on any jewellery except Kitty, Mrs. Dalziel, and Milly, and one or two others who were also evidentlyAmericans not required to sacrifice everything for Great Britain's sake. They, with their pretty dresses, their rings and earrings and strings oflarge, glistening pearls, were like gay flowers in a kitchen garden. 

Kitty, fat and fashionable, and Di, slim and elaborately frumpish, cameto meet me with pajama legs in their hands. They didn't trouble to takeoff their thimbles, and I thought they seemed far from being ashamed ofthe needle pricks on their fingers. 

A few of the girls I knew already, and some of the older women. All hadheard from Di or from the Dalziels that I had been doing a littleamateur work as a nurse in Belgium, but no one--not even Diherself--expressed curiosity as to details. They had so much to think ofthat interested them more; and I was thankful for the self-absorption ofKitty and Di which saved me from awkward questions as to how I hadcontrived to get out of Liége. It was simply taken for granted by myfamily that, according to my own written account, I had made the journeyhome with thoroughly reputable refugees. I felt sure that Tony had notgiven his mother and sister any indiscreet information about "MonsieurMars. " Neither did he appear to have told them that our engagement wasdefinitely broken off. Their unsuspecting friendliness made me feelguilty, and I decided that I ought sooner or later to let them know thetruth. 

That day at Di's, however, they gave me no chance to speak, even if I'dhad strength of mind to snatch it. Tony was safely on his way toAmerica, travelling in the steerage, having given up his cabin to asmany ladies as it could hold. He was admiringly mentioned, and thendismissed as a subject of conversation in favour of others more excitingto his family and closer at hand. Milly, while sewing spasmodically on aweirdly shaped shirt which could only be got on or off by a weirdlyshaped man, talked about Stefan and produced a letter from him, whichshe cherished inside her blouse. He had been wounded, seriously thoughnot dangerously, in Poland, and invalided home. It was not thought thathe would be able to do any more fighting, and so when he was strongenough, he hoped to try and reach England in order that they might bemarried at once, if Milly would not mind taking an invalid for ahusband. Apparently Milly did not mind in what condition she took hercount provided she was sure of getting him. She was looking forward, ifall went well, to becoming a Russian countess within a few weeks, forStefan expected to arrive in a ship from Archangel along a sea routeprotected by the British navy. She had so little fear of anything goingwrong that she was "encouraging dressmakers" by starting her trousseau, and had begun to study the Russian language as a surprise for herfiancé. Mrs. Dalziel talked about Stefan, too, and how she would helpnurse him back to health in a suite at the Savoy, when he and Milly weremarried. Meanwhile, mother and daughter were giving themselves up togood works, it seemed, whenever they had a minute to spare from theirown affairs. Milly went three times a week to the Russian Embassy to sewfor the Russians, and came twice a week to Diana's guild. Mrs. Dalzielhad joined two committees got up by stranded Americans at the Savoy: oneto supply money for moneyless millionaires, and the other to findclothes for clotheless millionairesses. 

Whenever one of Diana's workers collapsed with fatigue, she was giventea or something to eat, and allowed an interval's repose in Di'sboudoir, which had become the temporary consulting-room of MadameMesmerre. The tame clairvoyant was expressly forbidden to foretellanything depressing; if she could not get visions of husbands, sons, andlovers coming safely home, it was distinctly understood with Diana (whopaid by the afternoon) that she mustn't have any visions at all. Thisarrangement, however, was a family secret, which Kitty betrayed to me inconfidence. Every one said that Madame Mesmerre was wonderful, but Ididn't consult her. 

I don't understand much about sewing or other really useful things ofthat sort, but I've picked up enough (thanks to helping my poor friendsat Ballyconal) to know that men's shirts ought to have armholes biggerthan those for little boys, and that they shouldn't be as short as bibs, or as long as surplices. Even this small amount of knowledge made meunexpectedly useful at the guild, where every member seemed to have herown original conception of what shape a shirt ought to be, and what itshould be made of. Even my brief apprenticeship with the MissSplatchleys, to whom most kinds of domestic work was as easy asbreathing, made these fashionable women's desperate efforts at doinggood seem pathetic. I agreed to return whenever I could, but no onewould promise to come and see the "Haven Home for Belgian Refugees. "They were all too busy working, by day; and at night it was a _duty_ togo to a theatre or music hall, because the performance was given for thebenefit of some fund, or else somebody sang a patriotic song toencourage recruiting. 

We grew busier and busier at "The Haven" as the days went by. Refugeespoured in. There was hardly time to be sad or anxious in the daytime;but at night always, always, my brain ceased to feel like a brain, andbecame a battlefield, as before in Belgium. The horror and anguish ofwar poured into my soul as water pours into a leaking ship. The mostdreadful thoughts could be warded off in the busy hours of the day; butin the night stillness they found me without defence, and I surrendered. 

Those were the hours when it seemed to me impossible that any of the menI knew, and above all, Eagle March, could ever escape from the slaughteralive. The Miss Splatchleys said that I looked pale and thin, with blueshadows under my eyes, and begged me not to work so hard. But I couldhave worked twice as hard without realizing that I was tired, if someone who knew the future, as no crystal-gazer can know it, had told methat Eagle would come out of the war unharmed. 

Even when there was scarcely time for a decent meal, there was time toread the war news. All night long I existed for the moment in themorning when the two papers which the Miss Splatchleys took in shouldarrive, and I could bolt the big headlines and secretly search for thename of "Monsieur Mars. " Then, whether I found it or not, the samesuspense had to be lived through till the afternoon, when the eveningeditions came out; and after that again until the hour for the "Last WarExtra. "

Often the name of Mars started up to my eyes from the closely printedcolumns and set my heart beating and my blood flying to my head. No oneseemed to have identified him as Captain March, not even the British orAmerican war correspondents who occasionally reported his exploits. Orif they did, they respected his wish to keep it secret. 

"Mars, the Belgian Air Scout, " he was generally called, for fewjournalists appeared to know that he was a foreigner who had offered hisservices to the brave little country. Wonderful, almost miraculous, feats were attributed to him. Sometimes they were denied; but usuallythey proved to be true. 

One morning I read that he had made a daring flight of two hundred milesover German territory, had dropped bombs on an ammunition train, hadbeen fired on, and returned to his base "somewhere in Flanders" with thewings of his machine riddled by ninety-eight bullets. Again he and Sorel(who had been at Liége when we were there) went reconnoitring over thegreat German fortress of Metz, hoping to destroy the Zeppelin sheds. Quickly they were detected, although nearly three thousand feet abovethe forts. Up came shots from high-angle guns, spattering around themlike spray from a fountain; but they persevered, making for thedirection of the drill ground. Then suddenly Mars' motor ceased to work. It seemed that all was over for him, and the task left for Sorel tofinish alone. But Mars, said the papers, resolved not to give his lifeaway for nothing. Sweeping down in a bold volplane he launched his bomb, and had abandoned himself for lost when suddenly the motor startedagain; whereupon he darted off defiantly, following Simon Sorel, who hadthrown his bomb also, and escaped. 

If this had been all, I might have borne it somehow in my pride ofEagle. But there was always something more. I read of his monoplanebeing struck by a fragment of bursting shell over the enemy's lines, andhis volplaning with a disabled engine, to drop into safety and a Frenchstone quarry with important information to give concerning thedisposition of German forces. When Paris was threatened and almostdespairing, Mars flew over the sad city letting fall leaflets with theinspiring message, "Prenez courage, tout va bien. " Over Brussels also hemaneuvered, dropping his leaflets, and while angry German soldiers tookaim at him and his monoplane he "looped the loop" far above their noses. His cool remark after this exploit was said to have been: "These Germansdo shoot badly!" He had more than one duel in the air with hostile warplanes, having vowed with the Belgian airmen to ram all enemy aircraftwhenever possible. There was a fearsome account to read, one morning, ofhis bringing down an aeroplane which had dropped bombs on the heads ofFrench troops, helping out the wounded aviator and military observer, and then setting fire to their machine. In this adventure the _GoldenEagle_ was injured, and another monoplane was lent the airman while hisown was being put to rights. The "Elusive Mars, " newspapers began toname him, because in the face of almost certain destruction heinvariably escaped in the nick of time and within an inch of his life. At last, however, one October day of good news for the Allies, there wasbad news for me. They had put it in big headlines on the most importantpage:

 "Mars, the Belgian Airman, Caught at Last. While Reconnoitring His Machine is Disabled, and Falls in Enemy's Lines. He is Believed to be Wounded, and is Certainly a Prisoner. "

I had no heart to rejoice in the tidings which made the rest of my worldhappy that day. And for many days afterward--days each one of whichseemed a lifetime of suspense--there was no other news of Eagle March. Ifelt as if the future were a very long, dim corridor, in whose chilltwilight I groped, my eyes straining toward the distance. 

So a month dragged itself away, and then came news at last. 

CHAPTER XXI

"Escape of the gallant Mars, " were the words that seized my eyes as Iopened the front door of "The Haven" to snatch the morning papers. Rainwas pouring down, but I halted in the porch to read, oblivious of therivulet that streamed over my hair. "Mars, the elusive" had been true tohis name once more. It was an almost miraculous story, or would haveseemed so in less stirring times than these, which are teaching us thatbrave men can do anything they set their minds to do. Mars, with a fewEnglish prisoners, and some Russians from General Rennenkampf's forcecaptured in East Prussia, had been sent to work in the fields outside alittle German town in Alsace. Several of these, among them Mars, hadbeen wounded and in hospital together, but were turned out as cured themoment they were strong enough to wield a scythe. Led by Mars, a youngRussian officer and a private in a Highland regiment had escaped fromthe gang of prisoners by crawling for a long distance through tall ranksof grain. They had hidden themselves among the stacks, and at night hadcontinued their progress in the direction--they hoped--of the Frenchfrontier. Next morning they were given shelter by a farmer's wife whosesympathies were with France. She provided them with disguises, but theyventured to move only at night. At the end of four nights' travel theycame upon French soldiers advancing into Alsace, and made themselvesknown, but not until they had been fired on as spies. Mars and theRussian had both been wounded, and were in a French field hospital atthe time the newspaper account of their adventures went to press. Neither were badly hurt, but they were extremely weak from lack of foodand loss of blood, to say nothing of old wounds scarcely healed whenthey had started on their dash for freedom. The Russian officer (said tobe a nephew of Prince Sanzanow, Russia's ambassador to England)considered that he owed his life to the aviator; and it was believedthat when the two were able to move they would be brought to a privateconvalescent home in London, financed by the Russian ambassadress andother great ladies. 

I was so happy for the rest of the day that, as I could tell no one whatwas in my heart, I sang to myself, under my breath, "It's a long, longway to Tipperary. " Eagle was alive and safe after all my black fears, and I felt sure that if he came to England I should meet him. He couldnot say now that he had done nothing "worth while. " I thought, too, thathe would see the time had come at last to let the world know that"Monsieur Mars" and Captain Eagleston March were one. I longed for theday of revelation. It seemed to me that it would be a great day. I couldhardly wait for it to arrive; but a fortnight passed and the papers hadno more to say of "Mars, the elusive. "

Meanwhile, the world had been busily making history for its futuregenerations, and momentous things had been happening to almost every oneI knew, except myself and my own immediate circle. Since I had first metMilly at Diana's many weeks ago, and had been shown the letter fromStefan, he had actually arrived in England from Archangel, whence gossipsaid two hundred and fifty thousand other Russians had been mysteriouslyshipped to north Britain. Alas for romance! those Russian hordes wereimaginary, but there was no doubt that Milly Dalziel's Russian hadappeared in flesh and blood--though with only enough of either to keepbody and soul together. They had been married a few days after CountStefan Stefanovitch had arrived--a picturesque wedding performed withall formalities by a Russian priest, while the bridegroom lay propped upin bed, in that suite at the Savoy of which Mrs. Dalziel had talked, noguests present except the bride's mother and father (Tony Senior havingobediently dashed across the ocean) and the Russian ambassador with hiswife. 

At the time I was not unselfish enough to interest myself profoundly inMilly's marriage, for my mind was filled with thoughts of Eagle March, and I could not forget how Milly, snubbed by him for her own good, hadlet her supposed love for Eagle turn into bitter spite. I didn't believethat a girl who had so lately cared for a man like Eagle March couldreally have been caught in a rebound of heart by Stefan Stefanovitch. Ihad seen Stefan no more than once or twice, when he was military attachéat the Russian Embassy, but that was often enough for me to know some ofhis limitations. In looks and manner he compared poorly with Eagle, tomy mind. I was inclined to think that without his counthood Milly wouldhave had no use for him, or he for her without her money. This spoiltthe romance of the affair in my eyes, and I had no premonition of whatMilly's Russian relationships were soon to mean for me. 

When she had been married a little more than a fortnight and before anyfurther news had come out concerning the "Elusive Mars" and hiscompanion, I was told one day by Miss Jane that I was called for at thetelephone. I left a roomful of baby Belgians, for whom I was playingnursemaid, to run to the 'phone, and was stabbed with disappointment tohear Diana's voice. You see, every rap of the postman, every b-b-bur-r-rof the telephone bell, _might_ mean the longed-for message from Eaglewhich always I hoped for, even expected!

"Hello, Peggy!" said Di. "I've got a piece of good news for you. "

My heart gave a silly leap and then sat down again; because she would bethe last person in the world to give me news of Eagle March. 

"What is it?" I asked, without interest. 

"Princess Sanzanow hasn't forgotten you, and sends you a specialmessage. "

(Princess Sanzanow is the wife of the Russian ambassador. )

"She's giving quite an informal dinner, " Di went on, "getting it upalmost on the spur of the moment, because the doctor says that Stefan iswell enough to go out, and the affair is really for him and Milly. Idon't think there'll be many there except ourselves, for the princess isasking every one verbally. That's why she sends you a message instead ofa card. It is to say that she has always admired 'la petite Lady Peggy, 'and now more than ever. I happened to tell her about your Liégeexperience, and your work for the Belgians. She particularly wants me tobring you to dinner with her and the prince to-morrow night. You'llcome, of course?"

"Oh, I don't know if I can!" I hesitated. "There's so much to do here, and, anyhow, I haven't a frock. Miss Jane and Miss Emma bought me lotsof nice things when they bought their own, for, of course, they losttheir luggage, too. But we never so much as thought of evening dresses. I'd forgotten their existence!"

"But you _must_ go, " Di persisted. "The trunk you stored at NorfolkStreet for Ballyconal has been brought here with Father's and Kitty'sthings. Celestine can take the measurements of some frock or otheryou've packed away there, and I'll go out and choose a pretty modelgown, ready to wear, for a present to you. Shoes and gloves you can getyourself, I suppose? If you'll come here early to dress, Celestine cantake tucks and change hooks in next to no time, if necessary. I acceptedfor you; and it will be horribly rude to the Princess if you refuse now, for no reason at all. "

 * * * * *

I could have found or invented a reason, if I hadn't remembered in asudden flash that Monsieur Mars' companion in flight was supposed to bea nephew of Prince Sanzanow. If I went to the Embassy I might hear news. I was willing to do almost anything for that hope, even to dressing atSidney Vandyke's house, and continuing the armed truce in his automobileto our destination. But I drew the line at accepting a frock bought withhis money. 

"Why, yes, I'd forgotten the trunk I packed up with winter things forBallyconal, " I answered. "There's that white chiffon velvet gown, madeover from yours, which I wore in New York last spring before the weatherturned hot. Do you remember? It will do beautifully for to-morrow night. I'm sure it's as good as ever, so you needn't buy me anything; manythanks. And I'm so glad you spoke of the trunk. I'll have it brought uphere afterward. It's small and won't take up much room. There are lotsof things in it I can spare for our Belgian women. "

"Very well, as you like, " said Di. "That white velvet was quite nice, and will be all right if it is not full of beggar's creases. You canhave the little trunk put on the luggage carrier of the car to-morrownight when we send you back to Fitzjohn's Avenue. It will save thetrouble of getting Carter Paterson or some one else to call here for it. And that reminds me: one of the things I wanted to say to you was this:you were asking Bally if he had any old clothes to spare you for yourBelgian women's husbands. Well, Kitty has found a few, but there are awhole heap of Sidney's things you can have if you want them. Masses ofluggage have just arrived from America: boxes of books and rugs, andtrunks full of clothing packed up and sent after him by hissoldier-servant when Sid definitely decided to resign and live overhere. All the clothes are a bit out of date now, or Sidney thinks so, and there are some army things he never wants to see any more. Anyhow, he has collected quantities of new clothes, and if you would like theAmerican things for your men protégés, you're welcome to them. "

It went against the grain with me to accept even this favour from theenemy; but I reflected hastily that I had no right to refuse what woulddo good to others. After all, it was nothing to me, and Sidney could nothelp realizing that, if he heard of the transaction. I thanked Di again, and said I should be glad of anything she had to give, as thedestitution among the men of the Belgian refugees was as pitiful asamong the women. "We shall be thankful to get the collection out of thehouse, " answered Diana. "Sid's man unpacked the boxes and, of course, was free to choose what he wanted for himself, but he's such a littlemonkey, none of the clothes would fit him. I remembered you and yourpoor people, which I _do_ think was rather sweet of me, as I have suchcrowds of things to do every moment; so I told Sykes to spread the lotout in that empty room we haven't furnished yet, directly over mine. Imean to have it turned into a kind of 'den' for Sid, so the sooner wecan sweep away the boxes and mess generally, the better. Suppose youlook in after the dinner at the Embassy to-morrow night, and pick outwhat you fancy. Sykes can dump everything into an empty trunk for you, and it can be put with yours on the back of the Grayles-Grice for you tocart off to Hampstead. "

I knew that if I wished to make sure of the booty, I had better take Diat her word, for as likely as not she would change her mind in a day ortwo, and offer the things to somebody else. I replied that I thought herplan a very good one, and I would carry it out exactly as she proposed. 

The next evening I went early to Park Lane, in order to unearth thewhite velvet frock from the old trunk packed for Ireland, and dressmyself in it when it was found. Talking to Kitty and Di delayed me for afew minutes, however, so that I had no time to waste when I ran up tothe shuttered room where my little trunk, as well as Sidney's thingsfrom America, were in temporary storage. No one could be spared to helpme, as Di's maid and Kitty's had already begun to lay out theirmistresses' things for dinner. But I have been used all my life tolooking after myself. I didn't in the least mind grubbing on my knees tounlock the box, finding the dress I wanted, and unwrapping it fromlayers of tissue paper. As I stood up to shake the frock, and examineanxiously as to its condition by the light of the electric lamp, which Ihad switched on for the purpose, I saw many suits of Sidney Vandyke'sclothes neatly folded by Sykes, his valet, and piled on tables andboxes. 

It was too late then to look at the things before dressing, but I castan appraising glance in their direction, and my eyes lit upon whatseemed to be a khaki uniform, bundled ignominiously between a suit ofevening clothes and a crimson dressing-gown. 

"Fancy his not having sentiment enough to keep his army things!" Ithought scornfully. "But, of course, he was never a real soldier atheart, or he wouldn't have resigned, at his age, to be lazy and pleaseDiana! How different from----" But I wouldn't let myself even _think_Eagle's name in that connection. 

Fortunately I had packed away the white chiffon velvet with unusual care(for me), and there were few creases in the soft folds which wouldn'tdisappear eventually when I had put the frock on. As I dressed in a farcorner of Di's room (well out of her way and that of her maid, Celestine, and managing my toilet operations as best I could with asmall hand glass) my thoughts would fly back to that old khaki uniformupstairs. I wondered if it were one Sidney had worn in camp in Texasdays when his jealous rage was piling up against Eagle. It seemed to methat there must be an evil influence hanging about those clothes of his;and I was still thinking this when Major Vandyke, Father, Diana, andKitty and I were bunched together, a rather silent party, in Di's big, roomy town car, spinning from Park Lane to the Russian Embassy withKitchener's "night lights" fanning long white arms across the sky ofunnaturally darkened London. 

As it was supposed to be a small, informal dinner, we arrived promptlyon the hour; and when Princess Sanzanow--a beautiful, tall woman, withthe mysterious, sad eyes of the Slav people--had greeted us, she saidthat four of her guests had still to arrive: Count and CountessStefanovitch, and two others whose presence was to be the surprise ofthe evening. "I will tell you only _this_, " she laughed, in her prettyEnglish, when Di pretended to be wildly curious; "like Stefan they haveboth come back from the front, and they are the most exciting heroes! Iwon't dream of spoiling my great _coup_ by letting you guess their namesuntil they are announced; but this you shall know, dear Lady Diana: mytwo 'surprises' are to have the honour of taking you and our bride in todinner. All the other women will be envying you both. "

Di was pleased and interested. She realized that our hostess meant topay her, as well as Milly, a great compliment; for those "other women"of whom the princess spoke were important socially, and charming inthemselves. What she had called a "small, informal dinner" would be madeup of twenty-two guests; and the informality would consist in theinnovation of having small tables. 

The princess introduced me to a very young youth, her son, who had beenaway at Eton when I had visited at the embassy before. He began at onceto air his grievance of lacking a year of the age when a man can beallowed to serve his country; and I was sympathizing with him because hewas not fighting when Milly and her husband were announced. She waslooking prettier than I had ever seen her, with quite new airs andgraces of a married woman and a countess; and Stefan, though extremelyplain of face and insignificant of figure, was interesting because ofhis experiences, his limp, and his right arm in a black silk sling. 

Milly seemed to think that she and her husband were the guests of theevening and apologized in a high voice for being late, but the princessreassured her. 

"We have still two more to come. Our two surprises, " and she was goingon to excite Milly's curiosity as she had Diana's, when the magnificentRussian butler, who looked as if he had stepped from some medievalpicture, cried aloud two names:

"Major Baron Skobeleff; Captain March. "

CHAPTER XXII

My blood so flew to my head that for a second or two I was giddy, andsaw nothing through the rain of sparks which hung like a veil before myeyes. But in an instant I came to myself, wrenched back to a clearvision of things by sheer necessity to act. Somebody would have to dosomething, if the situation were not to ruin the princess's wholeevening; and after all he had suffered, whatever happened, Eagle Marchmust be saved from the pain of public humiliation. Yet who was to doanything? Who was to save him?

Only a few persons knew that to arrange a meeting between SidneyVandyke, Diana, Milly, and Captain Eagleston March, was about as tactfulas to invite the King of Belgium to dine with the German Kaiser. Only afew persons knew, and those most concerned were the very ones who woulddo least to shield Eagle's feelings. 

The princess began gayly to explain that here was her great "surprise"at last: the two heroes of whose classic escape the whole world hadheard. The "Elusive Mars, " as he had been called, was in reality CaptainMarch, who had refused to make use any longer of his _nom de guerre_. But in the midst of explanations, as she would gently have led Eagletoward Diana (oh, horror! she had evidently planned to send these two into dinner together!), suddenly she realized that some freezing spell hadturned her principal guests to figures of ice. 

Eagle, struck with deadly pallor under the brown mask sun and wind hadgiven him, stiffened involuntarily and held back. Sidney had gonecrimson, and then yellow-white; Diana--with a shocked face drained ofcolour--looked ready to faint; while Milly, in all her new pride ofimportance, flung up her head and stared insultingly. Thistransformation had taken place with the announcement of the officers'names; and it took Prince and Princess Sanzanow no longer than is neededin the counting one--two--three to notice it. Living all their lives inan atmosphere of diplomacy as they did, even their great tact andpresence of mind failed for a few dismal seconds to cope with theemergency, it being so utterly unforeseen, and such a blow to them thattheir cherished "surprise" should be not only a dead failure but abrutal catastrophe. 

They must have realized in a flash that these people whom they hadbrought together were bitter enemies. They must, in a rush of emotion, have blamed themselves and each other for not finding out in time whatperhaps they might have suspected or known without telling had they notbeen foreigners and comparative strangers in London society. As a matterof fact, they could not have known unless they had catechized Americans, which it would never have occurred to them to do; but no doubt thethought came to their minds, and they must have cursed their"inspiration" for that "pleasant surprise. "

I saw Princess Sanzanow's eyes appeal in despair to her husband. But thesituation was too complicated even for him to solve in a second, for theworst was yet to come. Thinking to compliment Di, and honour the man whohad brought their nephew out of captivity, they had arranged thatCaptain March should take Lady Diana Vandyke in to dinner. Theexpression on her face and the stiffening of his muscles had shown thisplan to be impossible, to say nothing of Major Vandyke's mad-bull glare. Now, at an instant's warning, there would have to be a general post, andchanging of partners; and the most desperate difficulty of all must havelain in the princess's complete ignorance of the facts. She stood thereamong the company she had invited to meet each other as if blindfolded, not knowing which ones, or how many, were affected by the vendetta. 

I saw and divined this between two heartbeats, for I was one of thosewho knew the undercurrents hidden from strangers; and in such momentsone thinks quickly. Of all the guests, I was the least important, andthe youngest except the Sanzanow boy; yet I felt that I was the onlyperson present who could or would act in time. I made up my mind to riskseeming rude or shockingly bold. There was just one thing I could thinkof to do, and I did it. 

Into the midst of that brief, freezing pause, I plunged. Almost runningforward, I held out both hands to Eagle. "Oh, dear Princess!" I gasped. "We are the best and oldest friends, Captain March and I. We've knowneach other since--since I was a child; and we met in Belgium when he was'Monsieur Mars. '"

Eagle grasped my hands so tightly that I should have had to cry out if Ihad worn rings, and Princess Sanzanow gave me such a look of touchinggratitude that I was sure I had been lucky enough to do the right thing. "Oh, I am so glad!" she breathed. "Then, if you are great friends, youwill want to go in to dinner together, and I must let you do so. "

She had the air of having just been saved from drowning; and I was thestraw which had thrust itself out in the nick of time for her to catch. Having accomplished my mission as a straw, I gave my attention wholly toEagle, but though I tried not to notice, I was dimly conscious, all thesame, of what was going on around me. I saw Major Skobeleff, the youngRussian officer whose escape Eagle had aided--Prince Sanzanow'snephew--talking to Milly; and noticed that Stefan Stefanovitch had beengiven to Di as a substitute for Captain March. Somehow or other theprincess juggled her guests about so that three minutes after the crash, when dinner was announced, all could "set to partners" withoutconfusion. There was a French duchess--a refugee from Paris--present, whom the prince had to take in, and the princess had the duke. Thatarrangement couldn't be upset; and the only quite ridiculous effect ofthe whirlwind was to give young Prince Paul to a widow old enough to behis grandmother. 

I had rushed into talk with Eagle before we stopped shaking hands; buthe had not been able to answer the call of conventionality so soon; andit was not till after we were seated at table that he could controlhimself to speak. On his other side was Prince Paul's elderly dinnercompanion. On my other side was the new military attaché who had takenthe count's place in the Embassy, a man past the soldiering age; and ashe had Madame Pavlova to talk to, for him I did not exist. Eagle and Icould speak to each other as if we were alone together in a foresthaunted with far-off voices. 

"What a fool I was to come here!" he said. "I ought to have known. "

"Don't be sorry, " I whispered. "Think how glad I am to see you. Andthere's no reason--no reason in the world--why you should wish to keepout of _their_ way. You have nothing to be ashamed of--but very proud. "

"I _am_ glad to see you again, " he answered. "Don't imagine I'm not! ButI meant to see you, anyhow. I've known for weeks where you were. I madethat kind old parson who piloted you home promise to wire to an addressI gave, when you got safely back to England. And afterward he wrote totell me what fine work you were doing. This is the first time I've beenout anywhere except for an invalid crawl or two. It's only three dayssince we left the nursing home in Fitzroy Square, where Prince andPrincess Sanzanow visited us several times. Skobeleff is their nephew, you know. They asked us both to stay with them, and Skobeleff is beingmoved here by his servant to-night; but I made an excuse not tocome--said it would hurt the feelings of an old friend who had offeredto lend me his chambers in Whitehall Court to finish getting well in. The Sanzanows wouldn't take a refusal for dinner this evening, though. It made no difference my telling them who I really am, March instead ofMars. I thought they were sure to know something of my story. They said, when I tried to cry off, that it was going to be a small dinner--just afew friends who would like to meet Skobeleff and me, so I let myself bepersuaded. This is the result!"

As we spoke together, the conversation around us murmured vaguely in myears. I heard it without listening, as one can hear an undertone ofmurmuring sea beneath all other sounds. People were talking of the oneinevitable subject, the war, with variations; the New Patriotism whichhas made the Tory Lion and the Liberal Lamb lie down together in peace, side by side, paying each other compliments; the good-girl tactics ofthe suffragettes; the surprising slump in murders and every sort ofcrime; possible raids of Zeppelins; and the amusingly persistent legendof Russians in France; the same things which were being discussed atthat very moment, no doubt, in every household high and low, from oneend of Great Britain to the other, but always new and ever interesting, yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. I glanced at Di and Major Vandyke andMilly, to see how they were bearing themselves, and I was not pleasedwith what I saw. 

The princess had distributed her guests at three small tables, and, ofcourse, had separated Di and Sidney. I had to crane my head round afloral monoplane, which was our centrepiece, to catch sight of them attheir separate tables; and even so, I had but a glimpse now and then ofa profile. But the expression of those profiles, and the earnest, confidential way in which they turned toward their neighbours, convincedme that they were not talking war-talk. Milly faced me where I sat, andthough the tables were lit by amber-shaded wax candles which gave anivory effect to the women's complexions, the primrose light could notsubdue Milly's colour. As a rule, she was rather pale, but to-nightcheeks and ears were flushed deep rose colour. She looked excited andchildishly angry, her greenish-gray eyes dilated and her lips pouting. Had she not been conscious of her new honours as a married woman and acountess, I don't think she would have dared display her feelings at adinner-party of so much importance. Once or twice she stared withnarrowed gaze across the room at Eagle March, then turned to one of hertwo companions in such a way as almost to advertise the fact that shewas speaking of him. She would make little impression, I thought, onMajor Skobeleff if she tried to prejudice him against Eagle; but itmight be different with the man on her other side, who knew nothing ofCaptain March save what she had to tell; and even Skobeleff--thoughsurely he would not believe evil of his comrade--could not helpremembering. I could imagine Milly whispering: "What an awful _faux pas_for the princess to have brought Major Vandyke and Captain Marchtogether in her house, where they can't get away from one another forhours, without being rude to her and the prince! Why, the man was suchan enemy of Major Vandyke's that he actually betrayed his country in thehope of ruining his superior officer. It's a long story, but I can tellit to you if you like. Captain March had to leave the United States armyin the most dreadful disgrace!"

She looked so like a spiteful, green-eyed cat, that I seemed to hear thewords hissed out; and as the man whose ear approached her lips was oneof the famous gossips of London, I could imagine, too, how the storywould spread and grow. Milly would certainly tell Prince and PrincessSanzanow, also, before she went home, what a dreadful thing they haddone in asking "that notorious Captain March" to be their guest, andespecially to meet Major and Lady Diana Vandyke. Sidney, too, if hecould pile anything more on the injuries of the past, would be sure todo his best. 

As I thought these thoughts my cheeks began to burn even more hotly thanMilly's. I had been questioning Eagle about his adventures, and he hadbeen answering in the laconic way most brave men have when teased totalk of themselves; but for a minute, keen though I was, I lost thethread of narrative I had begun eagerly drawing out. This was when I metMilly's eyes and flung a challenge from mine to hers. "Dare to hurt himwith your lying tongue, and somehow, surely as you live, I'll make yourepent. Don't dream that my affection for Tony can stand between you andme, " was the warning I sent. 

Silently we defied each other in the savage and primitive way which wefemale human things have merely modernized, not modified, since the daysof Lilith up to the days of suffragettes. I was asking myself whatpunishment I could devise and inflict, if necessary, to fit Milly'scrime, and how I--so small and powerless--could dig myself into adefensive trench between Eagle and Sidney Vandyke, when I realized thatEagle's eyes were studying my flushed face. They were sad eyes, yetthere was a faint glint of laughter in them. 

"You little fighter!" he said. "You never throw down the cudgels you'vetaken up in my defence. "

"No, and never will!" I answered, defiance in my voice even for him, because my blood had been set on fire and the flame would not die down. 

"You're very young!" he said, with a faint sigh. "So young that youhaven't learnt not to hurl yourself against stone walls. Learn thelesson from me, child. Public opinion is a stone wall, the thickest andhighest in the world. The tiny bubble of my reputation was waftedagainst it by an evil wind, and burst forever. If I was fool enough onceto hope that I could mend it, I know now that I was mistaken. Brokenbubbles are like Humpty Dumpty: they can't be put together again; and Idon't mean to break my head in the place where the bubble burst, or letyou break yours. "

"We shan't break _our_ heads, " said I. "We'll break other people'swicked heads, that deserve to be broken; and they're aching hard alreadywith sheer rage, because you've made a beautiful new bubble foryourself, ever so much bigger and brighter than the old one they triedto burst. Only _tried_, because they may find that it didn't smash whenit seemed to! Then if the old bubble is saved, there'll be two, solid ascrystal and brilliant as rainbows--_boomerang_ bubbles--that will comeblowing back to break the brutes who wanted to burst them!"

Captain March laughed out aloud, and I saw Sidney turn involuntarilywith a slight, nervous start, as if he fancied that the laugh must bedirected against him. "Irish Peggy, you're inimitable!" said Eagle. "Look out for your metaphors, or you'll be turning my bubble into abull!"

"Hang metaphors!" I retorted. "I wish I _could_ turn the bubble into abull, not an Irish, but a wild one, and _set_ it at two or three people. Perhaps I shall yet! And what has made you suddenly change your mind, Eagle? At Liége, in hospital, you told me how you hated Sidney Vandykeand felt as if you could choke his life out. "

"I haven't changed my mind, " he said. "I hate Vandyke now as I hated himthen, more if possible. That's not Christian, but I can't help it, orelse I don't try to help it; I'm not sure which. If by killing Vandyke Icould get back what he took from me, I should do my best to kill him. But I am just cool enough, where he is concerned, to realize that Ican't help myself by hurting him; rather the contrary. That's where wecome to the stone wall. So I'm not going to smash what he has left of myhead on the stones he piled up against me. To do that would be givingthe enemy great satisfaction, wouldn't it?"

"Perhaps!" I had to agree with a sigh. 

"But if the circumstances ever change in my favour, " Eagle went on, hispleasant face hardening into grimness, "and I can get revenge withoutputting myself in the wrong, God help Vandyke!"

"I hope He _won't_ help him, when that time comes!" I exclaimed. "And Ibelieve it will come. Something often tells me so--tells me that I----"

"That you--what?" Eagle prompted me as I broke off. 

"That I shall have some hand in the--the retribution, whatever it maybe. It's what I always pray for. "

Eagle gazed straight at me, with eyes which had changed sadly since theday they first met mine in the Wardour Street shop. I had thought themfull of romance and dreams then. Their look was harder and older now, the look of a man who has been down very near to the gates of hell, andby desperate fighting has battled his way up the heights again, but notso high as to forget the red glare that singed his eyeballs. My heartached, because it seemed impossible that the peace of dreams and romancecould ever come back. I was glad--glad, that Eagle's heart hadn'tsoftened toward Sidney Vandyke, who was as bitterly his enemy to-nightas ever; but I was sorrowful because the beautiful youth of a man's soulhad been scorched in the furnace fire. 

"I can't bear to think your friendship for me should harden or embitteryou, Peggy, " Eagle said. "Nothing is worth that! I oughtn't to talk toyou as I've been talking now. I shan't again. Forgive me, and forget. Help _me_ to forget! Forgetfulness is the best thing that can happen tome now. I realize that in my sensible moments. But it's hard to besensible always. "

How I wished I could help him even in so small and humble a fashion! Atleast, I could try to draw his thoughts away for the moment from theunhealed wound violently torn open. It was a temptation to dwell on it, to look at it and feed my anger; but on his wistful hint I threw thetemptation off. Instead of returning to our interrupted talk of hisadventures as I wished to do, I answered Eagle's questions about life at"The Haven, " and told him pathetic or funny stories of our refugees. "I'm getting to be quite a weird combination of Red Cross nurse, nursery-governess, and nursemaid, " I said. "I really ought to designsome special sort of costume suited to my _métier_, but I've never hadtime to think one out yet! Meanwhile, I wear a badge which keeps up mycourage, and gives me back my strength whenever I'm tired. You couldn'tguess what it is!"

"The flag of the Allies?" he ventured. 

"No. The chevron you gave me when you made me your corporal. Do youremember?"

I saw by his eyes that he was touched. A gleam of the old light flashedinto them, and brightened his smile. "Do I remember?" he echoed. "Yes, Iremember, Peggy, only too well. And I remember the day you flew with mefrom Hendon in the poor old _Golden Eagle_, heaven rest her ashes! Theday when--when Lady Diana failed me, and your pluck and presence of mindsaved us both from coming to grief. I remember lots of other thingsyou've probably forgotten; and I use the memories for balm. "

I had to look down suddenly to hide the tears that stung my eyelids. ButI winked them away in an instant, and was bracing myself to make himlaugh by mimicking the man who had introduced us: Nebuchadnezzar ofWardour Street. 

When great hothouse peaches and amethyst bunches of grapes were broughtby the footman, I knew that soon Princess Sanzanow would smile at theFrench duchess, and we should all troop away to leave the men. I wassure that Eagle would not join the ladies conventionally in thedrawing-room, and I did not want that summons to mean a long good-bye. Iasked hastily, therefore, if he would come and see me and the MissSplatchleys and our Belgians at "The Haven, " when he had grown a littlestronger. 

"I'm strong enough now, " he said. "Write to-morrow to tell me when I maycome, and let it be soon, for the minute I'm fit I shall go back to thefront, of course. "

"Of course, " I repeated firmly, though my heart felt as if it had beensqueezed by a mailed fist. "I will write the first thing in the morning, and send you a formal, written invitation from dear Miss Emma and MissJane. "

"Do. My address is 21a Whitehall Court. You won't forget, will you?"

"No, I won't forget, " I assured him, with a secret smile. 

"Because I shall beg the princess as she passes to forgive me if I gowithout bidding her farewell in the drawing-room. Being a bit of a crockstill gives me a good excuse, and--she'll understand and be glad to berid of me. "

Even as he spoke, the signal I'd been expecting was given by ourhostess. We all rose, smiling at our neighbours, and the men stood whilewe women trailed to the door. I, being last of all the guests, saw theprincess pause as Captain March took a step forward; and I knew that hewas bidding her farewell. 

Then I went on, and in the drawing-room found Di waiting to pounce, anger for me in her eyes, a smile for everybody else on her lips. 

"How dared you!" she whispered. "How _dared_ you treat that man as if hewere your best friend!"

"Because he is, " I answered bluntly. 

"Then you're no friend of ours! Sidney and I will _never_ forgive youfor this night--trying to put us both in the wrong as you have!"

"It's an honour not to be forgiven for that, " I flung back at her. "NowI'm going to tell the princess that I have to get back early to myBelgians, and I shall have a taxi called to take me away because, afterthis, I can't even accept from Sidney a lift in his motor. "

"You must accept it, " whispered Diana furiously, "if only to take thethings we're giving you out of his house. It _is_ his house, you know;and though you're my sister, I can't expect him to ask you into it againas a visitor, after your deliberate insult to us both to-night. Yourbeing no more than a child has excused some things, but it can't excusethis; for you haven't acted like a child. You've acted like a maliciouswoman, and--I think we've reached the end. "

"I think so, too, " I replied. "Don't be afraid. I shan't trouble eitherof you after to-night. I'll not go in your motor, but I'll go to yourhouse and fetch my trunk. As for the things you were giving to therefugees, I'll take them or not, as you like. "

"I'd like to have the rubbish out of the way and see the last of it, "said Diana; and looked as if she would gladly see the last of me. 

I apologized prettily to the princess, explaining how early were thehours of "The Haven, " and how much there was to do there. She forgave mewith all her gracious charm, pressing my hand as if to show hergratitude for a certain incident which could not be mentioned in words;and five minutes later I was spinning alone in a taxi toward Park Lane. 

CHAPTER XXIII

I had been offered the help of Celestine and Sidney's man to make up inparcels such clothes as I wished to take for our refugees and theirmenfolk; but now I determined to do all the work myself. Thebored-looking footman who opened the house-door showed no surprise orinterest on seeing her Ladyship's sister arrive in advance of the rest. He listened respectfully but dully as I briefly explained my errand andtold him that I should need no help until I rang for my trunk and otherthings to be carried downstairs. When I had made this clear, I ran up tothe room above Diana's and shut myself in, meaning to make such hastewith what I had to do as to escape with my booty, if possible, before Diand her husband came home. 

I was trembling still with excitement which clouded my mind and kept mefrom thinking clearly; for I was furiously angry and desperately sad atthe same time. I said to myself that I didn't care if I never saw Dianaagain; yet my heart was ready to break because we had come to theparting of the ways. To-night, I thought, I was definitely giving up myfamily, or my family were giving me up, it mattered very little which. My father had never cared for me, therefore I had not cared for him asmost girls care for their fathers. Di had made use of me, but had neverloved me, and I had "seen through" her ever since I was a tiny child. Lately we became almost as strangers; and yet the two had been the onlyones near to me. Breaking with them was like a small figure in a groupon a big canvas suddenly loosening itself and falling off itsbackground, a mere lonely bit of paint. 

"What will become of me?" I wondered. "I can never go back to Ballyconalnow. Yet I can't spend the rest of my life with the Miss Splatchleys. What shall I do when I'm not wanted there any more?"

Tears began to drop slowly from my eyes, then to rain fast over theclothing I tried to sort. I knew it was silly to think of such things. There would be plenty of time by and by to arrange the future. But Icould not concentrate my mind on the work in hand until, as I tossed theneatly folded clothes about with a kind of stupid aimlessness, I cameonce more upon Sidney Vandyke's khaki uniform. 

"This I will not take, anyhow!" I decided. "It would be of no use, and Ido believe it might carry a curse with it, because of the evil thoughtsof the man who wore it last. I wish I could burn it up!"

That I could not do; but to show spite I wreaked such childish vengeanceas I could by dashing the uniform on to the floor and proceeding totrample on the coat with my high-heeled white satin slippers. 

As I kicked it away in loathing at last, one of the slippers flew offand seemed spitefully to follow the coat as if to deal one final insult. It turned a somersault on the way, as defiantly as the _Golden Eagle_had "looped the loop" over German heads at Brussels, and then plumpeddown on top of the fallen garment, landing with its pointed satin nosepoked under the flap of a slightly gaping breast-pocket. 

I slipped my silk-clad foot into the shoe where it lay, and pushing thepoint still further into the pocket, thus lifted the coat on my toe togive it another disgustful toss. As I did this it seemed that somethingcrackled with the sound--or the feel, I could hardly tell which--ofstiff paper. Then a very strange thing happened to me: suddenly I sawbefore my eyes, as clearly as though it were really there, thekhaki-coloured notebook I had given Eagle--the notebook out of which hehad torn a leaf with a message written on it for Major Vandyke. 

I didn't know (I don't know now, and never shall) what painted thispicture on my brain: whether it was the high, mysterious Power which hadbeen leading me slowly but very surely to this minute, or whether it wasnothing more than a mental association between a khaki coat worn byEagle's enemy on that disastrous night and a faint crackle of paperjarring tensely on strung nerves. I know which I _like_ to think; but ineither case the effect was the same. 

I saw the notebook. I saw Eagle hastily scrawling his appeal for awritten order to fire the guns. I saw Major Vandyke wearing this coat, read the message, crumple up the paper, and then--then--the visionfaded. But the question rang in my ears: what would he be likely to dowith the paper? What should _I_ have done had I been a man in his place?Would I have torn the message into bits and trusted to the wind toscatter it?... 

No! If I meant to swear that no such document had ever reached me, Ishould have been afraid to leave bits of khaki-coloured, blue-linedpaper lying about the ground. I should have crumpled the message deepdown in the bottom of a pocket, and burnt it later, when I was safe inmy own tent. Yes, that was what any man as quick-witted and unscrupulousas Sidney Vandyke would have been likely to do. He could not possiblyhave forgotten such a bit of evidence afterward, and left it in thepocket of his coat instead of destroying it; such things could happenonly in the crudest melodramas, where the actors were mere puppets foruncritical and ignorant audiences to applaud. It was wildly absurd todream that I might find any hidden treasure tucked away in abreast-pocket of Sidney Vandyke's cast-off uniform; and I did not for amoment believe it; yet the vision of the khaki-coloured paper had beenso clear that I dared not resist the impulse it prompted. 

I picked up the coat, holding it away from me gingerly, by the collar, as a small white cat might grip a large brown rat by the back of itsneck. Then, also gingerly, I dipped my fingers into one pocket afteranother. All were empty: yet now quite distinctly I heard a crisp, delicate crackling of paper. 

It was like searching for a ghost and seeing no sign, but catching afaint echo of invisible feet. Something was hidden there. I could not bemistaken. Perhaps the thing when found would not be worth finding; but athousand times over, it was worth the pain of looking for. 

I cleared a place on the large table which had been spread withcontributions for the refugees, and laid the coat out flat. All over thetwo fronts I slowly, carefully, passed my fingers until, between thecloth and lining, far down on the left side near the edge of the coat, Itouched the thing that crackled. 

Whatever it was, this thing must have slipped down through a break inone of the pockets. I explored again, and discovered a small rip notmore than two inches in length at the bottom of the insidebreast-pocket. But the lost bit of paper could not be got at throughthis opening. The lining of the coat would have to be slit down beforethe hidden thing could be reached, and I pulled the pocket wrong sideout, hoping with a quick jerk to tear it from the coat. More easily saidthan done! The material was expensively tough, and resisted my frantictuggings, yet I wouldn't give up. I dared not go foraging downstairs fora pair of scissors; neither did I wish to ring for a servant to bring methem. I wanted desperately to be alone with this cast-off garment ofSidney Vandyke's--alone with any secret I might force it to yield up. 

The coat seemed to resist every effort and trick of mine, as if it stillserved its old master and were stubbornly resolved to protect himagainst a stranger's prying; but at last a sharp jerk made a stitch giveway. After that the rest was easy. I wrenched the pocket half out, andthat once done I was able with both hands to tear the lining down nearlyits whole length. Then I thrust my hand between it and the cloth, andtouched a crumpled piece of paper. 

I dreaded while I longed to look at what I had discovered: for Irealized that in all human probability I was about to suffer a crushingdisappointment. This lost scrap of paper might prove to be part of sometorn, irrelevant letter of long ago; or it might be an Americangreenback, or a forgotten memorandum. As I withdrew my hand--the paperin it--involuntarily I shut my eyes, as if shrinking from a blow. But Iscolded myself for cowardly weakness, and opened my eyes again to see afolded, refolded, and crumpled piece of khaki-coloured paper ruled withblue lines. Then I knew that, from the first faint crackling which I hadfelt rather than heard, I had been sure in my heart of finding thisthing: sure that I had always been meant by Fate to find it. 

With cold and shaking fingers I cautiously unfolded the paper withouttearing it. Yes! It was a leaf torn from a notebook--the khaki notebookI had given Eagle. One page was blank. The other was almost covered withwriting, scribbled with blue pencil, a pencil which must have beenrather blunt, because the marking was heavy, though it showed signs ofhaste. No one familiar with Eagle March's hand could have failed torecognize it as his, rough and hurried as was the scrawl. 

At the top of the page was jotted down the date of that unforgettablenight at El Paso. 

 "Have just received by your orderly verbal command to fire nos. One and two guns, aiming beyond Mexican end of bridge. I beg if this is correct that you repeat order in writing. 

 "MARCH. "

Here was the evidence which would have saved Eagle at his court-martialand proved Major Vandyke a liar and blackguard. He had, no doubt, crushed the incriminating paper into the deepest depths of hisbreast-pocket, perhaps covering it up with other things lest it shouldflutter away and betray him. There had been no time to destroy the paperat that moment, and so he had put off disposing of it until after hisfamous rush across the Rio Grande had been safely accomplished. When hereturned and could get back to his own tent, his first thought must havebeen of the document whose existence he meant to deny. To empty hispocket and find the paper gone must have been a frightful blow, andSidney could hardly have known a peaceful moment until after thecourt-martial, when all danger of the lost message coming to lightseemed to be past forever. 

No wonder (as Tony had written, describing the trial) that the accuserhad been more worn and nerve-shattered than the accused. No wonder that, even when he arrived in England, Sidney Vandyke had looked changed andill! No wonder he had taken to steadying his nerves with alcohol, andhad not tried to conquer the habit!

By this time he must have ceased to dread the reappearance of thevanished document; but it had reappeared, and it was not too late to beof use. The small scrap of paper in my hand was big enough to give meall the power I had prayed for--the power to prove Captain March'sinnocence and Major Vandyke's guilt. 

"Eagle said to-night that if the time ever came when he could takerevenge without putting himself in the wrong, God help Vandyke!" Iremembered. "We little thought how soon it would come. But it's here!It's here! The 'stone wall' has tumbled down, like the wall of Jericho, and it's Sidney Vandyke's head, not Eagle's, that will be broken. "

I was almost out of my wits with joy. I danced a war-dance of triumph, swinging the khaki coat and waving the document over my head. Then, whena wild whirl had satisfied my wish to celebrate, I refolded the bit ofpaper, hung the coat over my arm, and dashed to the door. Downstairs Iplunged, passed Diana's room, and had reached the head of the stairsleading to the ground floor when I actually bumped against Di coming up. If I had not stepped hastily back I should have thrown her downstairs. As it was, she caught at the banisters and barred the way against me. 

The flashing glimpse I had caught of her face, before we almosttelescoped like two trains running into one another, had shown it paleand depressed; but the surprise of our encounter brought light to hereyes and colour to her cheeks. Her look changed from mere startledannoyance to puzzled suspicion. "Good gracious!" she exclaimed. "Onewould have thought the house was on fire! Another instant and you'd haveknocked me down. What is the matter with you, Peggy?"

"I'm in a hurry, that's all, " I answered. 

"What are you doing with Sidney's coat over your arm?" she catechized mesharply. 

"Didn't you know it was among the 'rubbish' upstairs that you were soanxious to get rid of?" I retorted in the same tone. 

"Yes, I knew that; but why do you career downstairs with it as if thesky were falling, and leave everything else? You _shall_ tell me! Iwon't let you go till you do. "

With the first words she had spoken after our collision, Di had mountedthe top step, though still guarding the way down; and with her shrillthreat she pushed me back from the stairhead by throwing herself againstme and at the same time grasping the coat as if to snatch it off my arm. 

Diana is much taller and stronger than I am. She could take the coatfrom me by force; and the thought darted through my head that without itto prove where and how the lost message had been found, the paper wouldlose half its value. My word, unsupported by proof, would not be enoughagainst Major Vandyke, for it was known that I detested him, and was asworn friend to Captain March. I must keep the coat at any cost tomyself--or even to Diana. 

Standing at bay, looking up at her white face of anger and suspicion, Ifelt very small and frail of body; but my soul gathered strength ofbattle. I clasped my bare arms over the coat and locked my fingers roundmy two elbows. 

"This is mine, " I said. "You gave it to me to do as I liked with. You'veno right to take it away. I'm going to make a present of it to somebodywho's been robbed of everything, and needs it. "

This was the best explanation I could think of. But it was not goodenough for Diana. She attempted to push me farther back, and I resisted, trying to wriggle myself free and elude her; but she was on the alert, and too quick as well as too strong for my trick to succeed. 

"No, you shan't slip away like that, you little wild-cat!" she cried, beginning to pant slightly. In the white light of the electriccandelabra, which made the corridor bright as day, I saw her beautifulbosom heave under its double rope of creamy pearls. All the charmingsoftness which men loved was gone from her face. It looked hard andcruel. 

Just as I meant to escape at any price, so she meant at any price tokeep me. I guessed that she had come home alone, and let herself in witha latch-key, for apparently there were no servants about. That wasfortunate for me; and fortunate that Father and Kitty, and above allSidney, had gone on somewhere else from the Russian Embassy, for therewould have been very little chance for me if I had had to run thegauntlet. 

"You hate Sidney. I believe you hate me, too!" she went on when she hadgot her breath. "I don't trust anything you say or do. You've somehorrid idea in your head. I read that in your face the instant I saw youhere. You mean mischief. What's in your mind I don't know, but I _shall_know! You'd better tell me!"

"I've told you all I have to tell, " I said. "If I'm a wild-cat, you're atigress. What will the servants think if they come and see you likethis?"

"I don't care what they think. And besides, they won't come. I'vechanged my mind about giving you that coat. I must ask Sidney first ifhe wants to keep it for any reason. I'll let you know to-morrow. "

"To-morrow will be too late. I've to see my man to-night. "

"Why are you taking him the coat, and not the rest of the suit?" shepersisted. 

"It's only the coat that will be of use to him. " I had the answer ready. 

Without warning she made another dive at the coat to catch me unawares. She failed and my hold tightened; but the sudden wrench twisted thething partly wrong side out, to show the lining. The cry Diana gave, thehorror that flashed in lightning from her eyes, told me what she hadseen, what she must have guessed. 

"My God, Peggy!" she gasped. "You believe _that_ of him? You wereseeking for--but you found nothing. Of course--of course you foundnothing!"

"There's nothing there now, " I said, trying not to let my voice tremble. 

Diana's eyes searched mine. They were dilated. Her face, and even herlips--always coral red--were sickly pale. "What do you mean?" she askedin a low, choked voice. "Do you mean that you did find--oh! I seenow--the whole disgraceful thing! You were taking this coat to EagleMarch. You traitor! I thank God I came in time. "

She seized me by both shoulders. Her white hands, with their rose-pinknails and little round dimples at the finger roots, felt hard andremorseless as steel claws. She looked suddenly capable of anything. Thethought struck on my heart like a hammer-stroke that she would stop atnothing to save Sidney's reputation. For the first time, I was afraidfor myself. I was afraid she would be too strong for me. She would pushme along the corridor and through the open door into her room. If Iscreamed she would tell the servants I had gone mad. She would get thecoat away from me. She would find the paper, if she had to tear myclothes off to do it. Once inside the room, she would have all theadvantage if she could turn the key and lock us in together. I, too, wasin a mood to stop at nothing. I was fighting for the man I loved. Shewas fighting merely for a man with whom her fate was bound up; but instrength of body I was no match for her. It was only in a battle of witsthat I might have a fair chance. But on the other side of her door itwould be too late to use my brains. 

"It's now or never!" I thought. 

Clutching the coat for dear life with one hand, with the other Isnatched at the pearls which were the "immediate jewels" of my sister'ssoul. I gave the double rope a sharp jerk, and with a snap the stringyielded. Pearls spouted in all directions like a creamy spray, and witha cry, involuntarily Diana loosened her hold on me to save them. Thatwas my chance! I ducked under her arms and dashed downstairs--like astreak of lightning. Before Diana had run halfway down I was at thedoor. For an instant I fumbled in an anguish of suspense at the catch. Then it yielded. I slammed the door in Di's face, and bare-shouldered asI was (I had taken off my wrap to do the packing) I ran like a rabbitafter a taxi I saw at a little distance. 

"Taxi, taxi!" I called. And though my lips were dry and my voice seemedto my own ears almost inaudible, as when one tries to scream in anightmare, the man heard and stopped. Luckily the taxi was empty. If ithad not been things might have ended differently; for as I scrambled in, panting, "Quick, number 21a Whitehall Court!" I saw, with one corner ofmy eye, that Diana stood in the doorway looking out. 

CHAPTER XXIV

As the taxi sped away with me, the relief was so great that I lay backon the seat, limp and half fainting. I let myself rest there, revellingin safety after the strain of danger. Nothing could keep me now fromEagle, I told myself, and nothing could stand between him and hisrighteous revenge on Sidney Vandyke. If he were not at home when I gotto Whitehall Court I would wait until he came, even if I had to sit inthe taxi, within sight of his door, all night. But he _would_ be athome! I felt that, when he left the Russian Embassy, he had been in nomood to go anywhere else, unless for a lonely walk; and, even so, heought to have got back by this time. He had left before I had, and Imust have arrived at Diana's an hour ago. 

It was only when the taxi drew up in Whitehall Court that I rememberedleaving my little gold bag--a present from Kitty--with my discardedcloak in Park Lane. All the money I had was in the bag. I could not paythe chauffeur; but, in any case, I meant to keep him till I learnedwhether or no Eagle were at home. 

To my chagrin, the man looked dubious. "How long, Miss, will you want meto wait?" he inquired. 

I explained that I could not tell yet. I must find out whether thefriend I had come to see were in. If not I might need to keep the taxi along time. 

"Very sorry, Miss, " the chauffeur replied, "but I have an appointment ina quarter of an hour from now in Downing Street with an officialgentleman I serve pretty often. I was on the way there when you calledme; but when you said 'Whitehall Court', I took you up because youseemed in a hurry and I thought there was plenty of time. I supposed youwas going to stop here, it bein' rather late in the night for a younglady, but I can't possibly stay more'n five minutes longer. Tell youwhat I can do, I'll ask another feller to come along and wait for you. "

There was no help for it. I had to confess that I was penniless, havingforgotten my money. "But here's a bangle, " I said, slipping my one bitof jewellery off my arm. "You can have this for security. If you'll giveme your card I'll send the money to-morrow, and I'll trust you to sendback the bangle. "

I held it out to him: a thin band of gold with a four-leaved shamrockmade of emeralds--a present from Tony, which he had implored me to keepin memory of our "friendship". 

The chauffeur hesitated, evidently asking himself whether or no I mightbe trusted without the security. As he turned the bangle over in hishand, and the question in his mind, I heard quick steps coming along thedark street, and looking up, the taxi lights showed me Eagle March'sface. He was far more surprised than I was, because it had alreadyoccurred to me that he might cool his brain with a solitary stroll inthe night. 

"Oh, Eagle!" I exclaimed, giving him hardly time to be sure ofrecognition. "How thankful I am that you appeared just at the rightminute. I've come to see you about something _very_ important, and Ihaven't a penny. "

No doubt Eagle was astonished that I should be arriving alone, cloakless, at half-past eleven or later to call upon him; but after thefirst look of amazement at sight of me, he concealed his feelings. For asecond--no longer--he hesitated. Then he said, smiling, "I have plentyof pennies! Don't you think I'd better get into your taxi with you, anddrive round for a few minutes rather than you should--have the troubleof coming into my place?"

"The driver has an engagement, " I said. "And, anyhow, I _must_ come in. It's really serious, Eagle. "

He argued no more, though he looked somewhat troubled for my sake. Iunderstood very well his state of mind. He paid and tipped thechauffeur, who handed back my bangle and darted off. 

"Were you going to give the fellow that?" Eagle asked, nodding at thegold band. "Then it must indeed be serious. I once heard you say at ElPaso that it was your most valued possession!"

"Fancy your remembering!" I said. 

"I remember lots of things concerning you, " he answered, as he guided meinto the big, dignified building whose lights were lowered like most ofLondon's illuminations in these Zeppelin-haunted times. 

"Wish the bangle on for me, " I said hastily, at the foot of the stairs, which we were to ascend rather than expose my uncovered shoulders to thescandalized eyes of the man in the lift. 

"Would Dalziel approve?" he asked, smiling, as I thrust the bangle intohis hand. "You showed it to me in Texas as a 'filopena present' fromTony. "

"You remember that, too? This is the one thing I've kept to remind me ofpoor Tony. "

"Poor Tony, indeed, if you've sent him about his business. "

Eagle slipped the bangle over my hand, looking straight at me, as thoughwondering not only why I had come, but why I was so pale and strange. 

"Wish that my errand here to-night may end in the greatest and mostglorious success, " I prompted him. 

He held my wrist for a second or two, wishing silently. Then he droppedit rather abruptly, and we went upstairs to the first floor, where werethe chambers lent to Eagle by his friend. I felt somehow that, by askinghim for such a wish, I had impressed him with the real importance of mynight visit. 

He unlocked the door of the flat with a latch-key and almost pushed mein, as if fearing that I might be seen and perhaps recognized by somepassing occupant of the house. Switching on the electricity, thevestibule was lit by a red-shaded light, cheerfully welcoming. Off itopened two or three rooms, and Eagle ushered me into a largeoak-panelled study, lined with bookshelves and having long windows, which, when uncurtained, would look out on the Embankment. Now they weredraped with crimson velvet, the sort of hangings that normal men with nofemale belongings invariably choose. By the door stood a tall foldingscreen, covered with red satin and oriental embroidery. There werebronzes and a few marble busts on top of the low bookshelves; on the oakpanelling, here and there, hung a huge Chinese plate, here and there asporting picture. With one glance I took in the whole interior, and sawthat it was thoroughly masculine. In a large fireplace some logs ofwood, evidently not long ago ignited, were crackling. Suddenly awarethat I was very cold, I walked across the room and--shivering--held outmy hands to the blaze. But I still kept the khaki coat hanging over myarm. 

"Poor child, you look frozen!" said Eagle. "Why didn't you put on yourcoat?"

I laughed--a nervous, excited laugh. "_My_ coat!" I echoed. "Look atit!"

So saying, I stretched out my arm to display the garment, and Eagle sawwhat it was. 

"Khaki uniform!" he exclaimed. "From the U. S. A. By Jove! Is it TonyDalziel's?"

"Indeed it is not, " I returned. "I'm here to tell you about it. Oh, Eagle, what _should_ I have done if you hadn't come home?"

"You oughtn't to be here, dear Peggy, " he said. "And I'm not sure that Iought to have brought you in, but I've got into the habit of trustingyou when you tell me that a thing's important. "

"It _is_ important, " I cut him short. "So important I hardly know whereto begin. "

"Your wits are too quick for you to be in doubt long, " Eagle flatteredme, smiling; "and you must begin at once, dear child, because for thesake of all the conventionalities I can't let you make me a long call, good as it is to see you here. We are alone in the place now, so it'sall right for the moment. The servant my friend Jim White lends me withthe rooms doesn't stay at night. He lights the fire and puts everythingshipshape, and then leaves me in peace till morning. But Jim himself, who is doing interpreter's work in France, has run back for the day onbusiness. He is with some War Office chaps for the evening, but any timeafter twelve o'clock I expect him back to stay the night. You must begone before then, so you see we have twenty minutes at most. "

"Rome was saved in _one_ minute, I've always heard, " I said. "Eagle, this coat was Sidney Vandyke's. It's mine now, because Diana gave it tome, with a lot of other things they cared nothing about, for our Belgianmen. They didn't know God was delivering them into my hands--and yourhands. For I give this to you to do with as you will. It is the coatMajor Vandyke wore the night at El Paso when he was in temporarycommand. He wore it when his orderly, Johnson, brought him the messageyou wrote on a leaf out of your notebook--the message he swore neverreached him. "

As I spoke I held out the coat in both hands, with the inside towardEagle, so that he could see for himself the hole I had made in thelining, and perhaps draw his own conclusions. I saw his eyes fixthemselves on the long, tell-tale slit and the colour rush up to hisforehead. 

"Who tore that slit in the lining?" he asked sharply. 

"I tore it to-night!"

"Peggy!... You found something?"

"Yes! It had slipped through a ripped place down between the cloth andthe lining. "

"Good God! _The message?_"

"The message! Here it is. " And from the bosom of my low dress I pulledthe folded bit of khaki-yellow paper, warm from my heart. He took itfrom me. Our fingers touched, and his were cold as ice. 

I stood still while he opened the paper and read the words which were ofas great importance in his life now as when he wrote them. They hadpower to make all the difference to him and to another man betweenhonour and dishonour. 

For a long minute he was silent and motionless, reading or thinking. Then he looked up abruptly, and his eyes blazed into mine. 

"Peggy!" he said in a level, monotonous tone which I knew hid deepfeeling. "Do you realize what this means to me?"

"Yes, " I answered. "I realize fully. I've dreamed of a moment like thisfor you. I've lived for it, for weeks and months that seem like years. "

"And that it should come to me from you!"

"I hoped--I prayed. "

"Tell me what happened. "

I told him, only leaving out the part about Diana, how she had come homeand guessed the secret I had found and tried to rob me. To mention that, I thought, might seem as if I were trying to boast of what I had done. Then, when I had explained how I dashed out of the house, leavingeverything but the coat, which would be invaluable as proof, I hurriedon, lest he should ask questions I didn't wish to answer. 

"What has become of the notebook?" I wanted to know. "I hope you've gotit?"

"Better than that, " Eagle said. "If I'd had it in my possession all thistime I might have written this message whenever I chose, torn out theleaf, and pretended that it had been done on the night of the gunfiring. Luckily Dell, the friend who defended me in my trial, kept the book. Itwas produced at the court-martial in my defence, and the torn edgeshown, with the marks on the next page made by pressing down heavilywith a blunt pencil. Vague traces of words could be seen, but even witha magnifying glass they couldn't be read. There was no evidence thatamounted to anything, but my friend kept the book. He said it might beof use some day. I had no such hope, but now--my God, Peggy, with thatcoat and your story, the case against Vandyke seems to me complete!"

"How thankful I am to hear you say that!" I almost sobbed, moved by hisexcitement to greater excitement of my own. "I felt it must be so; butI'm only a girl. I didn't _know_. I couldn't be sure. Oh, Eagle! You'llnever understand what it is to me to think I've been able to help you, even a little. If it hadn't been for me the dreadful thing would neverhave happened. You'd still be just what you were before we met. "

"You've not helped me a 'little'; you've given me new life, " he said. "Some time I'll tell you, maybe, why I'd rather have the gift from youthan any one else. But I can't understand what you mean by saying 'thething would never have happened' if it hadn't been for you. "

"If I hadn't wanted a new dress, and if I hadn't gone to Wardour Streetto sell my lace and make money to buy the frock, we should never haveknown each other. You wouldn't have seen Diana; we shouldn't have goneto America, and if we hadn't gone to America, and met Major Vandyke, those guns would never have been fired, and heaps of official botherwould have been saved. But far the best of all, _you_ would have been ashappy as ever!'"

"You might as well blame yourself for being born, " said Eagle; "and onmy soul, I tell you, Peggy, that even without the new hope you've givenme to-night, I wouldn't go back if I could choose, and be without myexperience in Belgium, or--or without _you_ in my life. "

He held out his hands for mine, and I gave them to a grasp that hurt. Something he was about to say; but before he had time to speak therecame a long shrill peal of the electric bell. 

Eagle dropped my hands instantly. "By Jove! It must be Jim. He'sforgotten his key! I don't want him to see you, Peggy. He's a very goodfellow, but a rattle-brain--tells everything he knows. Run behind thatred screen, and when I've got him into his own room, which I'll dosomehow in a few minutes, I'll take you to a taxi, and drive home withyou if it can be managed. "

I whisked behind the screen, peeping out to whisper: "Better hide thekhaki coat if you don't want questions!"

Eagle took my advice, handing me the coat to keep for him as he passedon his way to the door. There was plenty of room to stand behind thescreen without flattening myself against the wall. And without danger ofbeing seen I could look through the interstices between the leaves ofthe screen into the brightly lighted room. 

I heard Eagle's footsteps on the parquet floor of the vestibule. I heardthe click of the latch as he opened the door. After that, instead of aloud, jolly greeting from his friend, there was dead silence for aninstant. Then a woman's voice spoke in a low tone of intense andpassionate eagerness. I had never heard it speak in that tone before. But with a shock of surprise and fear, I recognized the voice: it wasDiana's. 

CHAPTER XXV

My heart stood still. Thinking calmly, it seemed that Diana had no powerto harm Eagle March. I had the coat which betrayed Sidney. Eagle had thewritten message, and his friend in America had the notebook out of whichit had been torn. The chain of our evidence was complete. It could notbe broken. Eagle had long ago seen through Diana and ceased to worshipher. Surely she could do nothing with him now, no matter how shamefullyshe might humble herself. But I could not think calmly. And as I heardher sweet, imploring voice, begging to come in, as I realized that Eaglecould not shut her out, a heavy presentiment of failure weighed upon me. I braced myself to be ready for anything that might happen, ready tospring from behind the screen and confront Diana if need came. 

"If you ever cared for me, if you have any pity for an unhappy woman, let me in--let me speak to you, " were the words I heard her say, in avoice like the wail of harp-strings. Its pathos would have beenirresistible to any man, even if he had never loved her. Eagle March letDiana come in, though I heard him protesting that his friend Jim Whitemight arrive at any moment. 

"What does it matter?" she cried; and with the words she was at thestudy door. Through the leaves of the tall screen I saw her trail in, afigure of beauty in her white satin dress and sombre purple cloak, herdark hair wreathed with a fillet of emerald laurel leaves that gave herface the look of some tragic muse of long ago. "I know Jim White, " shehurried on, "and he knows me well enough to be sure I'm here for nothingwrong! I'm not afraid of him. It's you I'm afraid of, Eagle!"

She stopped, and faced him. Unknowingly she faced me, too. Eagle's backwas turned toward me, but I could see Diana's blue eyes gazing up athim. They were sad and beautiful beyond words. With a shiver of fear, Irealized that no woman on earth could be lovelier than my sister. Allwomanhood, with its appeal to man, was in her great imploring eyes. 

I was glad that Eagle did not answer. I hoped his silence might meanthat her beauty had lost its magic for him, that he understood fully howshe had come to beguile him, and that he meant to give her no opening. 

"This is the first time I have seen you since--since that night atAlvarado when you bade me 'good-bye, '" she went on, letting her voicebreak into a half-stifled sob. 

"You saw me at the Embassy, " he answered, so coldly that, in her place, I should have been chilled with discouragement. 

"I dared not look at you there, " she confessed. "I was afraidof--myself. Oh, Eagle! I'm even more afraid of you now--more afraid thanof myself!"

"Really, I am not so very formidable, Lady Diana, " said Eagle, with coolscorn that showed in tone and manner. "But if I may ask--since you standin such dread of me, why do you come to beard the lion in his den?"

"Because the lion is brave and kingly I have ventured. I _had_ to come, Eagle. There was no other way. I found out your address from yourRussian friend, Major Skobeleff. He happened to mention it, asking me ifI knew Jim White who'd lent the place to you. I didn't guess then howthankful I'd soon be to know where you lived. Oh, Eagle! Don't look atme so cruelly! I can't bear it. You hate me, but you mustn't judge. Ifyou knew everything, you'd see that you'd done me a wrong. "

"I should be sorry to think that, " said Eagle, as formally as if hespoke to a stranger. "And you are mistaken if you really suppose I hateyou. I have gone through a good deal lately, Lady Diana, and learned tosee personal things in the right proportion. Let me assure you, myfeelings toward you are not in the least malevolent. "

"You mean you don't care for me any more? I ought to be glad, for yoursake and mine, too. But I _did_ love you, Eagle. I truly did, only--Iwas a coward. I was deceived, as other people were deceived. And I hadFather to think of as well as myself. "

"Don't excuse yourself to me, I beg! All that is past and done with. Youdidn't come here I'm sure to----"

"Ah! If the past could be done with! It can't, and that is why I havecome. I know Peggy has been with you. It's useless to tell me she hasnot. "

"I've no intention of telling you a lie, Lady Diana. "

Di broke down, and cried without any effort to restrain herself. She didnot look quite her beautiful self when she cried, but she looked ahundred times more pathetic. "You won't believe me, I suppose, " shesobbed, "but till to-night I never knew--knew that Sidney had deceivedme. I believed what he told me to believe. It is an awful blow! Ithink--my heart is broken. But, oh, God, Eagle, if you ruin him beforethe world it will be my death!"

To my astonishment Eagle answered with a laugh--a laugh of exceedingbitterness. 

"You seem to believe and disbelieve easily, Lady Diana Vandyke!" hesaid. "Once you believed in me. Then you ceased to believe in me andthrew me over because another man--a richer man than I--told you andeverybody else that I was a liar. You believed in him instead--on hismere word. You married him. May I ask if he has confessed to you, or doyou take his guilt for granted as you took mine, on circumstantialevidence?"

"No, he has not confessed anything, " Di answered. Yet there wassomething in her tone and confused, anxious manner that made me sure shewas not telling the truth. The conviction swept over me that somethinghad happened at the house in Park Lane since I slammed the front doorand ran out. Diana might have thought twice before coming to grovel hereto Eagle, unless she had been sure that I was not jumping toconclusions--sure that there could be no possible mistake about _what Ihad found in Sidney's coat_. Suddenly I knew as well as if she had putthe story into words that Sidney had come home before she had made upher mind what to do; that she had told him about the coat, and that Ihad carried it off to Eagle March; that Sidney, knowing well what mydiscovery must have been, had broken down and sent Diana to Eagle, inthe one last hope that her pleading might save him from his enemy'srevenge. 

"I haven't seen Sidney, " she hurried on. "But--instinct tells me somethings. I'm afraid--I know that his loving me so much made him cruel toyou. Oh, don't look at me like that. You turn me to ice. It'strue--'cruel' isn't a hard enough word for what he did. I don't try toexcuse him. But he sinned for my sake. That softens my heart toward him. I'm human!"

"I'm not inhuman, I trust, " said Eagle, "but it doesn't soften _my_heart toward him. "

"I don't ask that, " Diana wept. "All I ask is your forgiveness forme--that you soften your heart for me!"

"I forgive you freely, Lady Diana, " Eagle answered, "for any injury youmay have done me in the past, for I have lived it down. The injuryVandyke did me, I thought--till to-night--I could never live down. Butthanks to the most loyal friend a man ever had I've been given mychance. "

Diana flung up her head, and there were no tears in her eyes. "Peggy aloyal friend!" she cried. "She's a traitor to Father and me when shebetrays Sidney. What right has she to be loyal to you at our expense?And it isn't loyalty, not what _you_ mean by loyalty. She has alwayshated Sidney for your sake, and now she can calmly see him ruined, notbecause of any wish for justice, but simply because she's desperately, idiotically in love with you; because she'd do anything--no matter howcruel to others--in the hope of winning you for herself. Now you knowthe real truth about Peggy. "

"I wish I could think it were the real truth, " said Eagle very quietlyand very slowly. "To have Peggy's love would be the best thing in theworld. I've realized that for some time now--while I was under arrestbefore my court-martial and had plenty of time to think. That was thetime it was borne in on me, Lady Diana, just how much difference thereis between you and Peggy. "

Diana stood speechless, staring at him. 

I was afraid the two out there might hear my heartbeats, they sounded soloudly in my own ears. 

"I realized how foolish I'd been, not to see that difference before, "Eagle went on, still speaking with a deliberate distinctness, as if hewere willing I should catch every word. 

That he should be saying such things to Diana was so wonderful, soalmost incredible, that I asked myself if he were saying them only tosave my pride because Di had snatched my love for him out of hiding andtrailed it in the dust at his feet. "I ought to have loved Peggy almostas much as I love her now, the very day we met first. I ought to havefelt she was the _one_ woman--the one thing in the world for me. But shelooked such a child! It would have seemed like sacrilege to love her asa man loves a woman--that little sprite of a creature. And then I metyou. You dazzled me, Lady Diana. That's the word for it. I think noother would fit. But I didn't know I was _only_ dazzled, till you tookthe light away. As soon as the bright spots faded from before my eyes, as bright spots do at last when you've been staring at the sun, I sawthings as they really were. I saw what my feeling for you was worth, andwhat my feeling for Peggy might grow to be. But I tried not to let itgrow. I'd suffered enough. I was down and out, and if I wasn't worthy ofyou, still less was I worthy of Peggy. Besides, I thought she wasengaged to Dalziel, and I wanted to be glad for her. He's a good fellow. Then we were thrown together in Belgium, she and I; and if I hadn'tloved her before, I should have begun to love her then, as a man lovesjust one girl in his life. Whatever I have done since--the few smallthings I have been able to do--have all been with the thought of her inmy heart as a lodestar. So now you will understand, Lady Diana, howlittle impression you can make upon me by calling your sister atraitor. "

"You say all this to hurt me!" Diana cried out. "But you did care for meonce, Eagle. Do not forget that!"

"I forget nothing, " he said. "But the time you speak of seems a longtime ago, I care so much more for Peggy now. Just how much I care forher, I am going to prove to you in a moment. "

For a second he paused, while Di waited, not knowing what to say; and itseemed as if I were waiting, too; my heart and breath stopped for hisnext words. 

"If I had ever loved you as dearly as I once thought I did, " he went on, sadness in his voice, "I suppose I could have refused you nothing whenyou came to me to-night. But--I don't defend myself--I only confess tothe hardness in me; you haven't moved me at all. You were cruel as thegrave to me. I could be cruel in return to you. That is, I could act asI thought right and be indifferent to the effect on you. Your husbanddid his best to ruin me. Virtually, he did ruin me. Even to-night he haslied again, the same old lie, to pull me down if he could from themiserable little height I've crawled up to, like a singed moth creepingout of the flame. Did you ever believe in his truth and myguilt--believe in the depths of your soul--if you have a soul? I doubtit! Anyhow, you helped his lies to-night, as often before; of that Ihave no doubt at all. I've no mercy for you in my heart, and none forVandyke. I had none, even when I stopped the horses on your wedding day. I didn't do that from any softening of heart toward either of you. Itwas purely mechanical. I'd have done the same for a pair of thieves, Iassure you. Nothing you could say to me for yourself, Lady Diana, wouldmake me give up my revenge, or rather my justification, which--by hisown fault--can't come to me without Vandyke's ruin. But something youhave said about Peggy has made all the difference. "

"About Peggy? What do you mean?" Di faltered. 

"You said that she was a 'traitor to her people' for my sake. Now, because I love her, I can't let her be that. I won't profit by herloyalty to me--at your expense. And I won't have the world say inspeaking of her, 'There's Lady Peggy O'Malley, who bore witness againsther brother-in-law and ruined him. ' For myself, I believe it wouldn'tgive me a qualm if Vandyke blew out his brains to-morrow, but you havemade me realize that I couldn't bear it for _her_ sake. Thank you forthat, Lady Diana. Here is the paper which Peggy found inside the liningof your husband's coat, and brought to me. Because of Peggy and my lovefor her, take it and do with it as you choose. "

Diana gave a little joyous shriek, but my cry of despair mingled withit. I pushed back the screen so that it tottered and fell with a crash, as I flew out in time to seize Eagle's hand with the paper in it. 

"No!" I gasped. "Don't let me have lived for nothing, Eagle! I wouldgladly have given my life to get this bit of paper for you. I shall dieof grief if I'm not to help you after all. "

Holding the written message firmly in one hand, he laid the other overmine. 

"You heard all I said?" he asked. "I am glad. I meant you to hear it inyour sister's presence. Yet, though you heard, you speak of not_helping_ me, Peggy? What she said isn't true, then? It isn't true thatyou love me?"

"It is true, and you know it only too well, " I answered, hardlyremembering that Diana listened, hanging anxiously on every word as on averdict for life or death. "I worship you, Eagle; and that's why I don'tcare to live if you are not saved. The great chance has come, when weleast expected it, and if you don't take it now it's in your hand----"

"It seems to me that my way of taking the great chance is after all theonly way, if we are to be happy. Peggy, I find that I love you too muchto take any other way. Can you love me as I am, love me enough to say:'Do what is right for you?'"

"It is right for you to have justice!" I pleaded with him. 

"I would rather have love. "

"You can have both!"

"No. It doesn't seem so to me. "

"Oh, you are obstinate--obstinate!"

"Perhaps! I'm afraid I always was. But I love you. I've suffered, andnow I want to be happy and at peace. It isn't only for your sake. It'sfor mine as well. Great love is worthy of the only great revenge. ShallI burn the paper?"

"For God's sake, say yes, Peggy!" I heard Diana sob. But I hardlylistened. If she said more, I did not hear it. I was looking at Eagle. 

"Does silence give consent?" he asked. There was a new light in hiseyes, brighter and clearer than the careless light of youth that waslost. I could not quench it. So I bowed my head and let the khaki coat, which half unconsciously I had been holding all the time, drop to thefloor. The glory of Eagle's smile repaid me. He took my hand in his, andleading me, walked to the fireplace. There he stooped, and withouthesitation dropped the paper, which might have changed his whole life, into the flames. 

"Good-bye to the past!" he cried. "Hail to the future! Peggy, such as itis, such as it can be for me now, will you share it?"

"You know!" I whispered. 

He pressed my hand tightly, then turned to Diana. 

"You had better go home to your husband, " he said. "You can sleep inpeace to-night, and all nights. Presently I shall take Peggy toHampstead; but I want her to myself for a moment first. "

Without a word to either of us, Diana obeyed, her head bent low. Isuppose she could find nothing to say, since "Thank you" would becommonplace: and Di is never commonplace. 

I heard Eagle open the door for her, and shut it behind the trailingwhite satin and purple brocade. Then he came back to me and held out hisarms. 

I had been in the sky with him before, but this was heaven. 

 * * * * *

He is at the front now, and has been for a long time, but whatever mayhappen, neither life nor death can part our souls. The sacrifice he madewas for my sake, and for the sake of love. So you see why, changing onlyour names, I have written this bit of secret history and told the truthabout Eagle March and Monsieur Mars. 

THE END