The Black Bag by Louis Joseph Vance (snow like ashes txt) š
Far away, above the acres of huddled roofs and chimney-pots, thestorm-mists thinned, lifting transiently; through them, gray, fairy-like,the towers of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament bulked monstrousand unreal, fading when again the fugitive dun vapors closed down upon thecity.
Nearer at hand the Shade of Care nudged Kirkwood's elbow, whisperingsubtly. Romance was indeed dead; the world was cold and cruel.
The gloom deepened.
In the cant of modern metaphysics, the moment was psychological.
There came a rapping at the door.
Kirkwood removed the pipe from between his teeth long enough to say "Comein!" pleasantly.
The knob was turned, the door opened. Kirkwood, turning on one heel, beheldhesitant upon the threshold a diminutive figure in the livery of the Plesspages.
"Mr. Kirkwood?"
Kirkwood nodded.
"Gentleman to see you, sir."
Kirkwood nodded ag
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essentially component part, subsequently Kirkwood fell a prey to prophetic
terrors. It was not alone fear of retribution that had induced Hobbs to
relinquish his persecutionāor so Kirkwood became convinced; if the mateās
calculation had allowed for them the least fraction of a chance to escape
apprehension on the farther shores of the Channel, nor fears nor threats
would have prevented him from sailing with the fugitivesā¦. Far from
having left danger behind them on the Continent, Kirkwood believed in his
secret heart that they were but flying to encounter it beneath the smoky
pall of London.
XVII ROGUES AND VAGABONDSA westering sun striking down through the drab exhalations of ten-thousand
sooty chimney-pots, tinted the atmosphere with the hue of copper. The
glance that wandered purposelessly out through the carriage windows,
recoiled, repelled by the endless dreary vista of the Surrey Sideās
unnumbered roofs; or, probing instantaneously the hopeless depths of some
grim narrow thoroughfare fleetingly disclosed, as the evening boat-train
from Dover swung on toward Charing Cross, its trucks level with the eaves
of Southwarkās dwellings, was saddened by the thought that in all the world
squalor such as this should obtain and flourish unrelieved.
For perhaps the tenth time in the course of the journey Kirkwood withdrew
his gaze from the window and turned to the girl, a question ready framed
upon his lips.
āAre you quite sureāā he began; and then, alive to the clear and
penetrating perception in the brown eyes that smiled into his from under
their level brows, he stammered and left the query uncompleted.
Continuing to regard him steadily and smilingly, Dorothy shook her head in
playful denial and protest. āDo you know,ā she commented, āthat this is
about the fifth repetition of that identical question within the last
quarter-hour?ā
āHow do you know what I meant to say?ā he demanded, staring.
āI can see it in your eyes. Besides, youāve talked and thought of nothing
else since we left the boat. Wonāt you believe me, please, when I say
thereās absolutely not a soul in London to whom I could go and ask for
shelter? I donāt think itās very nice of you to be so openly anxious to get
rid of me.ā
This latter was so essentially undeserved and so artlessly insincere, that
he must needs, of course, treat it with all seriousness.
āThat isnāt fair, Miss Calendar. Really itās not.ā
āWhat am I to think? Iāve told you any number of times that itās only an
hourās ride on to Chiltern, where the Pyrfords will be glad to take me in.
You may depend upon it,āby eight to-night, at the latest, youāll have me
off your hands,āthe drag and worry that Iāve been ever sinceāā
āDonāt!ā he pleaded vehemently. āPlease!ā¦ You know it isnāt that. I
donāt want you off my hands, everā¦. That is to say, Iāahāā Here
he was smitten with a dumbness, and sat, aghast at the enormity of his
blunder, entreating her forgiveness with eyes that, very likely, pleaded
his cause more eloquently than he guessed.
āI mean,ā he floundered on presently, in the fatuous belief that he would
this time be able to control both mind and tongue, āwhat I mean is Iād be
glad to go on serving you in any way I might, to the end of time, if youād
give meā¦.ā
He left the declaration inconclusiveāa stroke of diplomacy that would have
graced an infinitely more adept wooer. But he used it all unconsciously. āO
Lord!ā he groaned in spirit. āWorse and more of it! Why in thunder canāt I
say the right thing right?ā
Egotistically absorbed by the problem thus formulated, he was heedless of
her failure to respond, and remained pensively preoccupied until roused by
the grinding and jolting of the train, as it slowed to a halt preparatory
to crossing the bridge.
Then he sought to read his answer in the eyes of Dorothy. But she was
looking away, staring thoughtfully out over the billowing sea of roofs
that merged illusively into the haze long ere it reached the horizon; and
Kirkwood could see the pulsing of the warm blood in her throat and cheeks;
and the glamorous light that leaped and waned in her eyes, as the ruddy
evening sunlight warmed them, was something any man might be glad to live
for and die forā¦. And he saw that she had understood, had grasped the
thread of meaning that ran through the clumsy fabric of his halting speech
and his sudden silences.
She had understood without resentment!
While, incredulous, he wrestled with the wonder of this fond discovery,
she grew conscious of his gaze, and turned her head to meet it with one
fearless and sweet, if troubled.
āDear Mr. Kirkwood,ā she said gently, bending forward as if to read between
the lines anxiety had graven on his countenance, āwonāt you tell me,
please, what it can be that so worries you? Is it possible that you still
have a fear of my father? But donāt you know that he can do nothing
nowānow that weāre safe? We have only to take a cab to Paddington Station,
and thenāā
āYou mustnāt underestimate the resource and ability of Mr. Calendar,ā he
told her gloomily; āweāve got a chanceāno more. It wasnātā¦.ā He shut his
teeth on his unruly tongueātoo late.
Woman-quick she caught him up. āIt wasnāt that? Then what was it that
worried you? If itās something that affects me, is it kind and right of you
not to tell me?ā
āItāit affects us both,ā he conceded drearily. āIāI donātāā
The wretched embarrassment of the confession befogged his wits; he felt
unable to frame the words. He appealed speechlessly for tolerance, with a
face utterly woebegone and eyes piteous.
The train began to move slowly across the Thames to Charing Cross.
Mercilessly the girl persisted. āWeāve only a minute more. Surely you can
trust meā¦.ā
In exasperation he interrupted almost rudely. āItās only this: IāIām
strapped.ā
āStrapped?ā She knitted her brows over this fresh specimen of American
slang.
āFlat strappedābustedābrokeāon my uppersādown and out,ā he reeled off
synonyms without a smile. āI havenāt enough money to pay cab-fare across
the townāā
āOh!ā she interpolated, enlightened.
āāto say nothing of taking us to Chiltern. I couldnāt buy you a glass of
water if you were thirsty. There isnāt a soul on earth, within hail, who
would trust me with a quarterāI mean a shillingāacross London Bridge. Iām
the original Luckless Wonder and the only genuine Jonah extant.ā
With a face the hue of fire, he cocked his eyebrows askew and attempted
to laugh unconcernedly to hide his bitter shame. āIāve led you out of
the fryingpan into the fire, and I donāt know what to do! Please call me
names.ā
And in a single instant all that he had consistently tried to avoid doing,
had been irretrievably done; if, with dawning comprehension, dismay
flickered in her eyesāsuch dismay as such a confession can rouse only in
one who, like Dorothy Calendar, has never known the want of a pennyāit
was swiftly driven out to make place for the truest and most gracious and
unselfish solicitude.
āOh, poor Mr. Kirkwood! And itās all because of me! Youāve beggared
yourselfāā
āNot precisely; I was beggared to begin with.ā He hastened to disclaim the
extravagant generosity of which she accused him. āI had only three or four
pounds to my name that night we metā¦. I havenāt told youāIāā
āYouāve told me nothing, nothing whatever about yourself,ā she said
reproachfully.
āI didnāt want to bother you with my troubles; I tried not to talk about
myselfā¦. You knew I was an American, but Iām worse than that; Iām a
Californianāfrom San Francisco.ā He tried unsuccessfully to make light of
it. āI told you I was the Luckless Wonder; if Iād ever had any luck I would
have stored a little money away. As it was, I lived on my income, left
my principal in āFrisco; and when the earthquake came, it wiped me out
completely.ā
āAnd you were going home that night we made you miss your steamer!ā
āIt was my own fault, and Iām glad this blessed minute that I did miss it.
Nice sort Iād have been, to go off and leave you at the mercyāā
āPlease! I want to think, Iām trying to remember how much youāve gone
throughāā
āPrecisely what I donāt want you to do. Anyway, I did nothing more than any
other fellow wouldāve! Please donāt give me credit that I donāt deserve.ā
But she was not listening; and a pause fell, while the train crawled warily
over the trestle, as if in fear of the foul, muddy flood below.
āAnd thereās no way I can repay youā¦.ā
āThereās nothing to be repaid,ā he contended stoutly.
She clasped her hands and let them fall gently in her lap. āIāve not
a farthing in the world!ā¦ I never dreamedā¦. Iām so sorry, Mr.
Kirkwoodāterribly, terribly sorry!ā¦ But what can we do? I canāt consent
to be a burdenāā
āBut youāre not! Youāre the one thing that ā¦ā He swerved sharply, at an
abrupt tangent. āThereās one thing we can do, of course.ā
She looked up inquiringly.
āCraven Street is just round the corner.ā
āYes?āāwonderingly.
āI mean we must go to Mrs. Hallamās house, first offā¦. Itās too
late now,āafter five, else we could deposit the jewels in some bank.
Sinceāsince they are no longer yours, the only thing, and the proper thing
to do is to place them in safety or in the hands of their owner. If you
take them directly to young Hallam, your hands will be clearā¦. AndāI
never did such a thing in my life, Miss Calendar; but if heās got a spark
of gratitude in his make-up, I ought to be able toāerāto borrow a pound
or so of him.ā
āDo you think so?ā She shook her head in doubt. āI donāt know; I know so
little of such thingsā¦. You are right; we must take him the jewels,
butā¦ā Her voice trailed off into a sigh of profound perturbation.
He dared not meet her look.
Beneath his wandering gaze a County Council steamboat darted swiftly
downstream from Charing Cross pier, in the shadow of the railway bridge.
It seemed curious to reflect that from that very floating pier he had
started first upon his quest of the girl beside him, onlyāhe had to
countāthree nights ago! Three days and three nights! Altogether incredible
seemed the transformation they had wrought in the complexion of the world.
Yet nothing material was changedā¦. He lifted his eyes.
Beyond the river rose the Embankment, crawling with traffic, backed by the
green of the gardens and the shimmering walls of glass and stone of the
great hotels, their windows glowing weirdly golden in the late sunlight.
A little downstream Cleopatraās Needle rose, sadly the worse for London
smoke, flanked by its couchant sphinxes, wearing a nimbus of circling,
sweeping, swooping, wheeling gulls. Farther down, from the foot of that
magnificent pile, Somerset House, Waterloo Bridge sprang over-stream in
its graceful archā¦. All as of yesterday; yet all changed. Why? Because a
woman had entered into his life; because he had learned the lesson of love
and had looked into the bright face of Romanceā¦.
With a jar the train started and began to move more swiftly.
Kirkwood lifted the traveling bag to his knees.
āDonāt forget,ā he said with some difficulty, āyouāre to stick by me,
whatever happens. You mustnāt desert me.ā
āYou
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