CHAPTER XXII
TAYLOR ACCEPTS DEFEAT
“Hello, Hope!”
Taylor raised himself and stared wonderingly at the visitor. His palecheeks flushed and an unaccustomed embarrassment seized upon him. “Sitdown,” he continued. “I--I’d given up looking for you.”
Dick tossed his cap on the table, and drew a chair to a positionnear the couch. His face, too, was pale, but there was no sign ofembarrassment visible; only a strong determination was indicated by thelittle creases in his forehead and the sudden squaring of his jaw. Helaunched into the subject of his visit abruptly.
“I came over because I’m sick of this business, Taylor. Look here, Iacted like a brute and a contemptible cad the other night; I knew itthen; I don’t know what got into me. I’ve tried to stick it out, butit’s no good.”
Taylor was gazing at him with a puzzled frown.
“I ask your pardon, Taylor, for taking advantage of you--of yourposition that night, and I want you to say that you forgive me. Thepromise you made--rather, the promise I forced from you--doesn’t hold.I’m going to resign the captaincy to-morrow, and it’s yours as soon asyou want it, as far as I’m concerned.” He paused and looked intentlyat Taylor. The latter gave a little embarrassed laugh, and dropped hiseyes to the book beside him.
“I think you’re talking a good deal of nonsense, Hope,” he answeredfinally. “But if you want me to say that I forgive you, why, that’s allright. I can’t see that there’s anything to forgive. You simply turnedthe tables on me when you had the chance; you’d been a silly ass if youhadn’t. And, anyhow, I don’t see that there is anything to forgive whena chap saves your life. It may sound rather funny for me to be thankingyou and all that, after we’ve been rowing as we have, and maybe youdon’t want my thanks, but, of course, I’m--I’m awfully grateful. It wasa jolly brave thing to do, though I don’t pretend to know why you didit. I thought until a minute ago that--that you’d seen your chance ofturning the tables and took advantage of it, but----”
“You mean you thought I started to get you out simply so that I couldbully you into releasing me from my promise?” asked Dick, with atremble in his voice.
Taylor glanced up hurriedly, dropped his gaze again, and went onquickly.
“Well, that was natural, wasn’t it? But I see now that it wasn’t so.Anyway, I’m awfully much obliged to you. I told Waters to ask you tocome and see me half a dozen times; I wanted to say this before; but Iguess you didn’t care to see me.”
“I was pretty busy,” muttered Dick.
“Oh, I don’t blame you. I dare say I wouldn’t have come if I’d beenin your place. After what I’ve been up to, you know. But that--well,that’s over with now.”
“Yes,” answered Dick, “that’s done with. We won’t say any more aboutit; just forget it; goodness knows, I don’t want to remember it. Itmade me act like a regular beast; I’ve been hating myself ever since;I’ve been ashamed to look any one in the face! After all, it’s only thesuccess of the boat I want, Taylor, and I believe you’ll work for that.If I thought you wouldn’t----” He paused and looked at the other withan ugly glint in his eyes. “But I think you will. When can you takehold?”
“You’re making a mistake, Hope,” answered Taylor, with the suggestionof his old mocking smile visible. “I’ve had lots of time for thinkingthings over lately. Lying here like this a chap has to think a gooddeal. Well, I said it was all over with. What I meant was my captaincyscheme. I’m beaten; I’ll acknowledge it; not beaten altogether by you,though, Hope. Luck or Fate or something had a hand in it. You and Idon’t look at things in just the same way; I know you wouldn’t havedone what I’ve done to get a dozen captaincies; I dare say there’ssomething in the way you’re brought up. I sort of brought myself up,you know. I rather imagine having a mother and father and livingwith, them makes a difference; I never had either--that is, since Ican remember. But you don’t care about all that, I guess. I wanted thecaptaincy, and I set out to get it, using whatever means I could find.It wasn’t square; I’ll acknowledge that. I never tried to make myselfbelieve that it was. I’d managed to get what I was after, it seemed,when luck, or--well, whatever you like to call it--cut in. Then I hadthat fall. I suspected then that it was all up. I dare say I’m a littlesuperstitious. When the fire came and you turned up in the nick of timeI knew that luck was against me. I expected you to make that bargain,Hope; you see, it was just what I’d have done in your place. When Igot to the window I thought for a minute that you’d lose your chance;I was calling you a fool; and all the time I was scared blue. I don’tbelieve I’m more of a coward than the next chap, but that five minutesor five years before you came was awful!” He stopped and a shudderpassed over him. “Well, you seized your chance. You say now that thatpromise doesn’t hold, but it does hold. Oh, yes, it holds good and fastfor all time, Hope.”
“It doesn’t!” cried Dick. “I won’t have it!”
“But it does,” replied Taylor calmly. “And even if it didn’t, itwouldn’t make any difference about the captaincy. I may be builtsomewhat different from you, but I’ve got some principles. They may bequeer ones, but I won’t fight a fellow that has saved my life. Thatsettles it. I’ll stick to that promise, just as you would have stuckto yours. I’ll go back to work on the crew just as soon as the doctorlets me, which will likely be next week, and I’ll do my level best.”
Taylor lay back on the cushions looking rather tired and pale, andDick got up and wandered restlessly about the room for a minute. Itwas all so different from what he had looked forward to that he foundhimself incapable of deciding whether the course Taylor insisted uponwas right or wrong. It was so easy that it somehow appeared as thoughit must be wrong. He was to keep the captaincy, Taylor was to returnto the boat, the whole episode was to be closed; in short, he was toreap the benefit of his dishonest deed without suffering punishment.Although, he reflected the next moment, perhaps he had been sufferingthe punishment the last two weeks!
“But just the same,” he said aloud, “it doesn’t seem right.”
“That’s your New England conscience,” mocked Taylor. “You think thatbecause a thing didn’t break your back in the doing it can’t beanything but an invention of the devil’s. I may have an easier moralitythan you, Hope; but, thank Heaven, I wasn’t born in New England!”
Dick stared at him.
“But, see here, Taylor, if I agree to this----”
“You can’t do anything else.”
“Do you mean that you will--will be satisfied?”
“Probably not; and yet, I don’t know; I’m rather sick of it; thisbeing laid up like a blasted mummy takes the pluck out of a fellow.Maybe”--he smiled quizzically--“maybe it takes some of the meannessout, too. Anyhow, I’ll keep to the promise. And if that sillyconscience of yours is still grumbling, why, choke it off. You’ve doneright enough; you’ve done more than I’d have done; though, of course,that doesn’t signify much. You slipped up for the minute, and now youare sorry. As far as I’m concerned, I forgive you, although, as I saidbefore, I don’t see that I’ve anything to forgive.”
“I’ll never forgive myself,” said Dick, with conviction.
Taylor shrugged his shoulders and moved his head as though weary of thesubject.
“You’ll have to settle that with yourself; I dare say you’ll befighting it out for the next ten years.”
Dick took up his cap, hesitated an instant, and then strode to thecouch.
“Mind shaking hands?” he asked.
Taylor grinned.
“What’s the use?” he asked. “It won’t make things any better or anyworse.”
“I’d rather, if you don’t mind,” replied Dick gravely.
“Oh, all right.” Taylor put out his, and the two lads clasped handssilently.
“Good-night,” said Dick, turning away. “I hope you’ll get well soon andcome and help us. We need you.”
“Good-night,” answered Taylor. “I dare say I’ll be out by the lastof the we
ek. You’re not a half bad sort, Hope; if it wasn’t for thatbothersome conscience of yours I think we might get on together fairlywell.”
Dick’s last glance across the room showed him a pallid, tired-lookingyouth sitting on the edge of the couch, with dejection expressed in hisattitude, but a mocking smile on his face.