Nedra

  CHAPTER III

  THE FIRST OBSTACLE

  A drizzling rain began to fall and an overcast sky, cold and bleak,dropped lower and lower until it covered the dripping park like a sombremantle. The glass in the hood of the hansom kept out the biting rain,but the drear approach of a wet evening was not to be denied. For nearlythree hours Hugh and Grace had been driven through the park and up theRiverside, killing time with a nervous energy that was beginning totell. The electric lights were coming on; pavements glistened with theglare from the globes; tiny volcanoes leaped up by thousands as thepatting, swishing raindrops flounced to the sidewalks.

  "Isn't it dismal?" murmured Grace, huddling closer to his side. "Ithought the weather man said it was to be nice? It's horrid!"

  "I think it's lovely!" said he beamingly. "Just the sort of weather fora mystery like this. It begins like a novel."

  "I hope it ends as most of them do, commonplace as they are. Anyhow, itwill be fun to dine at Sherry's. If any one that we know should see us,we can say--"

  "No, dear; we'll not attempt to explain. In the face of what is tofollow, I don't believe an accounting is necessary. This is to be ourlast dinner in good old America for many a day, dear. We'll have a goodone, just for history's sake. What kind of a bird will you have?"

  "A lark, I think," she said with a bright smile.

  "Oh, one doesn't eat the lark for dinner. He's a breakfast bird, youknow. One rises with him. Bedsides, we should try to keep our lark infine feather instead of subjecting it to the discomforts of a gridironin some--"

  His observations came to an abrupt close as both he and his companionpitched forward violently, barely saving themselves from projectionthrough the glass. The hansom had come to a sudden stop, and outsidethere was a confused sound of shouting with the crunching of wood andthe scraping of wheels. The horse plunged, the cab rocked sharply andthen came to a standstill.

  "What is it?" gasped Grace, trying to straighten her hat and find herbag at the same time. Hugh managed to raise the glass and peer dazedlyforth into the gathering night. A sweep of fine rain blew into theirfaces. He saw a jumble of high vehicles, a small knot of men on thesidewalk, gesticulating hands on every side, and then came the oaths andsharp commands.

  "We've smashed into something!" he said to her.

  "Some one is hurt! Confound these reckless drivers! Why can't theywatch where--"

  "Come down off that!" shouted a voice at the wheel, and he saw a hugepoliceman brandishing his club at the driver above. "Come down, I say!"

  "Aw, the d---- fool backed into me," retorted the driver of Hugh'shansom. His fare noticed that they were at the Sherry corner, and theusual crowd of seven-o'clock cabs was in full evidence.

  "That'll do--that'll do," roared the officer. "I saw the whole thing.Ye've cracked his head, you dirty cur."

  Two men were holding the horse's head and other policemen were makingtheir way to the side of their fellow-officer. Evidently somethingserious had happened.

  "What's the trouble?" Hugh called out to the officer.

  "You'll find out soon enough," answered the policeman. "Don't buttin--don't butt in!"

  "Here, here, now!" exclaimed Mr. Ridgeway. "You've no right to talk likethat to--"

  "Oh, I ain't, eh? Well, we'll see if somebody else has a right. Yoududes can't kill people and then get off with talk like that. Not much,my Johnny. You go along, too, an' explain yer hurry to the captain."

  "But I've got a lady here--"

  "Tush! tush! Don't chew the rag. Stay in there!"

  Other officers had dragged the driver from the cab, jostling himroughly to the outer circle of wheels. The man was protesting loudly.Rain had no power to keep a curious crowd from collecting. Hugh,indignant beyond expression, would have leaped to the ground had not asecond and superior officer stepped up and raised his hand.

  "Don't get down, sir," he said with gentle firmness. "I'm afraid you'llhave to go to the station for a few minutes."

  "But, confound it, officer--I have nothing to do with this row."

  "That may be true, sir. You can explain all that at the desk. We have toget at the bottom of this. This is no place to argue."

  A moment later the hansom, with a bent axle, was hobbling its way downthe street engineered by bluecoats. Hugh, seeing that it was useless toremonstrate, sank back in the seat and swore audibly.

  "Don't worry about it, Hugh," said a soft voice in his ear. "We canexplain, can't we?"

  "You can't explain anything to asses, Grace," he lamented, "especiallyif they wear buttons." They lapsed into a mournful, regretful silence.For five full minutes the hansom wobbled painfully along and then pulledup in front of a building which Hugh lugubriously recognized as a policestation. "We've got to make the best of it, dear. Did you ever hear ofsuch beastly luck? I'll see if they won't let me go in alone and squarethings. You won't be afraid to sit out here alone for a few minutes,will you? There's really nothing to be alarmed about. This driver ofours is in trouble, that's all. We're not to blame. A word or two willfix everything. I'll be out in a jiffy."

  But the bluecoats would not see it that way. Miss Vernon was compelledto climb down from the seat and march indignantly into the desksergeant's presence. Hugh at once began to explain and to expostulateagainst what he called an outrage.

  "What had we to do with it? The truth is, I don't know what hashappened," he was saying.

  "Neither do I," said the bewhiskered sergeant shortly. "Who are you,sir?"

  "These people saw the whole thing, sir. They were in the hansom whenBernhardt smashed him, an' this felly had ordered him to get to Sherry'sin five minutes if he had to kill some one," explained the officer whohad first addressed Hugh in the crowd.

  "That's a lie," cried Hugh. "I said if he had to kill the old plug. Whois Bernhardt? What the deuce is it all about?"

  "I don't believe the gentleman saw the row," said the polite roundsman."It happened in the crush there."

  "Somebody shall pay for this outrage," exclaimed Ridgeway. "It's beastlyto drag a lady and gentleman into a police station like common criminalswhen they--"

  "That will do, sir," commanded the sergeant sharply. "You'll talk whenyou are asked to, sir."

  Turning to the patrolman, he asked, "Has that fellow been taken to thehospital?"

  "The ambulance came up just as we left, sir."

  "Bernhardt says he didn't hit him. He says the guy fell off his owncab."

  "Don't cry, dear," Hugh managed to whisper to Grace as they took theseats designated by a brusque man in blue.

  "Never!" she whispered bravely. "It's a lark!"

  "Bravo! We'll have that bird yet--at Sherry's." Then he approached thedesk with determination in his eye. "Look here, officer, I demandrespectful attention. Whatever it was that happened between thosecabmen, I had nothing to do with it, and I am absolutely ignorant of thetrouble. We have a dinner engagement, and I want you to take ourstatements, or whatever it is you want, and let us go our way."

  "What is your name?" shortly.

  "Why--er--that isn't necessary, is it?" floundered Hugh.

  "Of course it is. Name, please."

  "Will it get into the papers?"

  "That's nothin' to me. Will you answer now, or do you want to stay heretill mornin'?"

  "My name is Smith."

  "Place of residence?"

  "Brooklyn."

  "Who's the lady?"

  "My sister."

  "Step up here, lady, if you please!"

  Hugh felt the floor giving away beneath him. That Grace could not haveheard a word of the foregoing examination, he was perfectly aware.Vainly, and with a movement of his lips, he essayed to convey the nameshe should answer.

  "Don't butt in, you!" was the instant warning given by the observantofficer, and then--

  "Lady, what is _your_ name?"

  For a moment the question bewildered the girl. With considerablemisgiving she discerned that another occasion for prevarication wasunavoidable, and something li
ke a sigh escaped her lips; but as suddenlyfear gave way to a feeling of elation. How clever Hugh would considerher remembrance of his instructions! What felicity to extricate him fromthis predicament! Alone, she would save the situation!

  Unblushingly, and with a glance at him for instant approval, she steppedforward and pronounced jubilantly the alias agreed upon:

  "Ridge--Miss Ridge is my name."

  A smothered exclamation of dismay burst from Hugh's lips.

  "Eh, what? Miss Ridge, and your brother's name--Smith?" ejaculated theman of authority.

  For a brief moment there was a pause of embarrassment; and then with adazzling, bewitching smile directed at her questioner, she electrifiedthem both:

  "Most assuredly. Mr. Smith is my half-brother."

  Hugh could have shouted for joy, as he watched the somewhat amuseddiscomfiture of the officer.

  "Where do you live?"

  "St. Louis," gasped she, with blind confidence in luck.

  "Oh, humph! Well, wait a minute," he said, and both were gratified tosee a good-natured grin on his face. "Buckley, see if there is a familynamed Smith in Brooklyn with connection in St. Louis. Sit down, MissRidge, please, and don't be worried. This is what we have to do. Yourdriver slugged another of his kind and he's likely to die of the fall hegot. We'll have to use you as witnesses, that's all, an' we must haveyou where we can put our hands on you in the mornin'. The captain willbe here in an hour or two and you can probably manage to give some kindof bond for your appearance. People like you don't like to appear incourt, you see, so we've got to make sure of you."

  "But we must go to our--our dinner," she wailed so prettily that hecoughed to cover his official severity.

  "Can't be helped, ma'am. Duty, you know. The captain will soon be here.Would you like to telephone, sir?"

  Hugh stared and looked embarrassed. Who was there for him to talk toover the 'phone? And that brought another ghastly thought to mind. Whocould he ask to give security for his or her appearance in the morning?He found words to say he would telephone to his friends, a bright ideasuddenly coming to the rescue. Grace looked her amazement and alarm ashe marched into the telephone booth. Bravely he called up Sherry's and,with the sergeant listening, he sent word to the head waiter to informMr. ---- (mentioning the name of a very prominent society leader) thatMr. Smith and Miss Ridge were unavoidably detained and could not jointhe party until quite late, if at all. He came from the booth very muchpleased with himself, and sat down beside Grace to await developments.

  "What are we to do?" she whispered.

  "Give me time to think, dear. I fooled him that time. Perhaps I can doit again. Great bluff, wasn't it? What do you suppose Mr. ----will think?"

  "But if they should insist upon holding us till morning," she cried, onthe verge of tears, trouble looming up like a mountain.

  "They won't dare do that. They'll probably send us to a hotel with aplain-clothes man unless we give bond, but that's all. I'll try anotherbluff and see how it works. There's no use kicking about it. We're notin a position to stir up much of a row, you see, dear."

  He tried it when the captain came in unexpectedly a few minutes later,and with the most gratifying results. He obtained consent to go with aplain-clothes man to a nearby restaurant for a "bite to eat." In themeantime he was to send a messenger boy with a note to an influentialfriend in Brooklyn, requesting him to hurry over and give security fortheir appearance. If this failed, they were to go to a hotelunder guard.

  "The only thing that sounds fishy about your story, Mr. Smith, is thatyou say you are brother and sister," said the captain. "Driving allafternoon in the park with your own sister? Queer."

  "She's from Missouri, you know," said Hugh with a fine inspiration. Thecaptain laughed, even though he was not convinced.

  "Now, Grace, dear," said Hugh as they waited for the cab to be called,"our adventure is on in dead earnest. We have to give this plain-clothesman the slip and get aboard the _Saint Cloud_ before they have time tothink. They won't look for us there and we're safe."

  "Hugh, I'm frightened half to death," she whispered. "Can we do it?Would it not be wiser to give up the whole plan, Hugh, and--"

  "Oh, Grace!" he cried, deep regret in his voice. "What a cad I am to bedragging you into all this sort of thing! Yes, dear. We'll give it up.We'll go back to Chicago. It's too much to ask of you. I'll--"

  "No, no, Hugh! Forgive me. I'll be strong and firm. I wouldn't give itup for all the world. I--I was just a bit weak for a second, you know.It does look pretty big and wild, dear,--all that is ahead of us. But,after all, it's like any sea voyage, isn't it? Only we're going to bemarried when it's over. We Wouldn't think anything of taking a trip toManila under ordinary circumstances, would we? It's all right, isn'tit?" He squeezed her hand cautiously but fervently.

  To their disgust the plain-clothes man took the seat opposite them inthe brougham, remarking as he did so that he had sense enough to get inout of the rain. They had no opportunity to concoct a plan for escape,and it was necessary for them to go on to the restaurant in LongacreSquare. It occurred to Hugh that it would be timely to explain why theywere not dressed for dinner. They were on their way to the hotel todress when the fracas took place. The plain-clothes man was notinterested. Evidently the authorities did not apprehend much troublefrom the two young people; their guardian performed his dutiesperfunctorily and considerately. He even disappeared from view afterthey entered the restaurant.

  "We'll have that bird," said Hugh, "before we do anything else. I'mhungry. Haven't eaten since last night, dear. I've been too excited tothink of eating--or sleeping."

  In a quiet corner of the big cafe they had their bird and just enoughchampagne to give them the courage that counts. With their heads closetogether they planned and plotted until they forgot the rain thatpattered against the window panes, and dreariness turned to rosyassurance.

  "Just a little nerve, dear," said he as they arose. "Do as I have toldyou and trust to luck. It can't fail."

  The plain-clothes man was just outside the door. Scores of people werehurrying past, umbrellas raised in the face of the drizzle. DownBroadway the glare of lights was broken and left hazy in the fog likerain. The sidewalks in the distance looked like a bobbing field of blackmushrooms, shiny and sleek. The air was chill with the wet shadows of anight that hated to surrender to the light of man.

  "Where's the cab?" demanded Hugh. "Get it up here quick. I don't want tokeep my friend waiting at the station. Come in and have a drink,officer. It's no fun standing around this kind of weather. No job for adecent human being, I'd say. Especially when one's set to watchrespectable people and not criminals. This is a rattling good joke onme--and my sister. I need about three good, stiff drinks? We'll go innext door here. Get into the cab, Marian, We won't be insidetwo minutes."

  If the plain-clothes man was willing to take the drink, all well andgood, but if he refused--but he did not refuse. He looked carefullyabout, shivered appropriately, and said he "didn't care if he did."Grace urged them to hurry as she entered the cab and Hugh gave hispromise. Scarcely had the two men passed beyond the light screen doorswhen Grace Vernon coolly stepped from the cab and hurriedly made her wayoff through the crowd of umbrellas, first telling the driver to wait forher in front of the drug store.

  A moment later she boarded a Broadway car, and excited, but intent onlyon reaching a place where she could safely engage a cab to take her tothe dock. And all the time she was hoping and praying, not for herself,but for the important young gentleman who was clicking his righteousglass in a den of iniquity.