The Kingdom of Slender Swords

  CHAPTER XLIX

  THE ALARM

  As the three men listened to the swift, broken story, there was no soundsave the rustle of the wind outside, the clack of a night-watchman, andthe ticking of the clock on the marble mantel. The crouching form, thesodden garments, the passionate intensity of the slim, clutched hands,the fire in the dark eyes--all lent effect to a narrative instinct withterrible truth. The Ambassador's knowledge of the colloquial waslimited, but he knew enough to grasp the story's main features. Itcapped the edifice of suspicion and furnished a direful solution to whathad been mysterious. Once the Admiral's eyes met his, and each knew thatthe other _believed_. Terrible as its meaning was--pointing to whatblack depths of abysmal wickedness--it was true!

  The Admiral listened with a countenance that might have been carved ofmetal, but the faces of the others were gray-white. Later was to come toboth the pathos and meaning of the sacrifice this frail girl had laid onthe knees of her country's gods, but for the hour, all else wasswallowed up in the horrifying knowledge, struck through with the sharpfact that one of the partners in this devilish enterprise, howeverexpatriate, was of their own nation. To Daunt this was intensified byhis own acquaintance with Phil. Memories swept him of that worthless,ribald career--the evil intimacy with Bersonin--the gradual dominance ofthe bottle, which in the end had betrayed him!

  With a singular separateness of vision, he seemed, in lightning-likeflashes, to see that betrayal: the blind infatuation, the slowenticements, the reckless, intoxicated triumph, the final surrender. Heseemed to see Haru, her secret won, running panting through the wind. Hesaw Phil waking at last from his drunken slumber--to what shame andpenalty? He shuddered.

  * * * * *

  When the secretary entered at the crisp sound of the Admiral's bell, hestarted at the pallid countenances in the room. The Japanese girl stoodtrembling, half-supported by the Admiral's arm. The latter spoke--in avoice that held no sign of feeling. It was to present the young man tothe girl in the most formal and elaborate courtesy.

  "The _Ojo-San_ deigns to be for but an hour the guest of my mean abode,"he said. "Instruct my _karei_ that in that unworthy interval he mayoffer her august refreshment and afterward prepare her proper escort andconveyance. Meantime, send my _aide_ to me."

  The secretary's gleam of astonishment veiled itself under orientallashes, and a tinge of color warmed the whiteness of Haru's cheek. Hebowed to her profoundly. As he deferentially opened the door, she turnedback, swayed, and sank suddenly prone in a deep, sweeping obeisance.

  An instant the Admiral stood looking after her. "The petal of aplum-blossom," he said, "under the hoof of the swine!"

  His manner changed abruptly as the _aide_ entered. He spoke in quick,curt Japanese, in a tone sharp and exact as steel shears snippingthrough zinc:

  "Something has transpired of great moment. There is no time to deal withit by the ordinary channels. It is of the first importance--the _first_importance!--that I reach Yokohama within the hour. You will call upShimbashi and order a special train with right of way. This admits of_no delay_! Send for my carriage at once. You will accompany me. Weleave in ten minutes." The _aide_ went out quickly while he seatedhimself at his desk and began to write rapidly.

  "Two battle-ships!" he said suddenly, wheeling in his seat. "With thehuman lives on them! Perhaps even war between two or more nations! Godsof my ancestors! All this to hang on the loyalty of a mere girl!"

  The Ambassador, pacing the floor, snapped the lid of his watch. "It muststill be close to two hours of sunrise," he said in an agitated voice."Surely there is time!"

  The Admiral was consulting an almanac when the _aide_ reentered. "Hereis a telegram," he said. "Put it on the wire at once. It must arrivebefore us."

  "Excellency," said the _aide_, "the train is not possible. The serviceto Yokohama ceased at six o'clock. The rains--there is a washout."

  His chief pondered swiftly. "It must be left to others, then. Call upthe emergency long-distance for Yokohama and give me a clear wire atonce to the Governor's residence. I must make the telegraphicinstructions fuller." He bent over the desk.

  Trepidation was on the _aide's_ face when he returned this time.

  "Excellency the accident to the line was the failure of the bridge overthe Rokuga-gawa. It carried both the telegraph and telephone conduits.No wire will be working before noon to-morrow."

  The Admiral half-rose. He stretched out his hand, then drew it back.

  "The wireless!" exclaimed the Ambassador.

  The _aide's_ troubled voice replied. Whatever the necessity he knew thatit was a crucial one.

  "The mast was displaced by to-day's earthquake," he said. "The system istemporarily useless."

  There was a moment of blank silence. The Admiral sat staring straightbefore him. The only sign of agitation was his labored breathing.

  "Can a horse get through?"

  The other shook his head. "Not under three hours. It would have to be by_detour_--and there are no relays."

  "A motor car?"

  "Impossible!" exclaimed the Ambassador. "By the long road and in betterweather my Mercedes can not do it under eighty minutes."

  The Admiral lifted himself from his chair. His eyes were bloodshot andon his forehead tiny veins had sprung out in branching clusters ofpurple.

  "In the name of _Shaka_! Yokohama harbor but a handful of miles away,and cut off utterly? It must be reached, I tell you! _It must bereached!_" His voice was low-pitched, but terrible in its intensity."Drive to the Naval College and ask for twenty cadets--its swiftestrunners--to be sent after you to Shimbashi. A locomotive can take themas far as the river. If there are no _sampan_, they can swim. Makedemand in my authority. Not a minute is to be lost!" He put what he hadbeen writing into the _aide's_ hand. "Read this in the carriage. It willserve as instruction."

  The _aide_ thrust the paper into his breast and vanished. The Admirallooked about him through stiffened, half-closed eyelids. Then, under thestress, it seemed, of a mighty shudder--the very soul of thatoverwhelming _certainty_ of the peril awaiting the red dawn on thatbungalow roof above the Yokohama anchorage--the racial impassivity, therestraint and repression of emotion that long generations of ingrainhabit have made second nature to the Japanese, suddenly crumbled. Hestruck his hand hard against the desk.

  "Has not Japan toiled and borne enough, that this shame must come toher?" His deep voice shook. "Your Excellency--Mr. Daunt--in all thisland where heroism is hackneyed and sacrifice a fetish, there is noprince or coolie who, to turn aside this peril, would not give his bodyto the torture. Yet must we sit here helpless as _Darumas_! If man buthad wings!"

  Daunt stiffened. He felt his heart beat to his temples. He started tohis feet with an exclamation.

  "But man _has_ wings!" he cried.

  What of the long hours of toil and experiment, the gray mornings onAoyama parade-ground when his Glider had carried him circling above thetree-tops? Could he do it? With no other word he darted to the hall.They heard his flying feet on the gravel and a quick command to a_betto_. The wind tossed back the word into the strained quiet.

  "Aoyama!" exclaimed the Ambassador, as the hoof-beats, lashed to ananguish of speed, died into silence. "His Glider!"

  A sudden hope flashed into the Admiral's face.

  "The gods of _Nippon_ aid him!" he said.