Produced by Dagny; John Bickers THE FIREFLY OF FRANCE by Marion Polk Angellotti TO THE MEMORY OF THE HEROIC GUYNEMER âTHE ACE OF THE ACESâ PREPARERâS NOTE This text was prepared from a 1918 edition, published by The Century Co., New York. THE FIREFLY OF FRANCE CHAPTER I ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS The restaurant of the Hotel St. Ives seems, as I look back on it, an odd spot to have served as stage wings for a melodrama, pure and simple. Yet a melodrama did begin there. No other word fits the case. The inns of the Middle Ages, which, I believe, reeked with trap-doors and cutthroats, pistols and poisoned daggers, offered nothing weirder than my experience, with its first scene set beneath this roof. The food there is superperfect, every luxury surrounds you, millionaires and traveling princes are your fellow-guests. Still, sooner than pass another night there, I would sleep airily in Central Park, and if I had a friend seeking New York quarters, I would guide him toward some other place. It was pure chance that sent me to the St. Ives for the night before my steamer sailed. Closing the doors of my apartment the previous week and bidding good-bye to the servants who maintained me there in bachelor state and comfort, I had accompanied my friend Dick Forrest on a farewell yacht cruise from which I returned to find the first two hotels of my seeking packed from cellar to roof. But the third had a free room, and I took it without the ghost of a presentiment. What would or would not have happened if I had not taken it is a thing I like to speculate on. To begin with, I should in due course have joined an ambulance section somewhere in France. I should not have gone hobbling on crutches for a painful three months or more. I should not have in my possession four shell fragments, carefully extracted by a French surgeon from my fortunately hard head. Nor should I have lived through the dreadful moment when that British officer at Gibraltar held up those papers, neatly folded and sealed and bound with bright, inappropriately cheerful red tape, and with an icy eye demanded an explanation beyond human power to afford. All this would have been spared me. But, on the other hand, I could not now look back to that dinner on the Turin-Paris _rapide_. I should never have seen that little, ruined French village, with guns booming in the distance and the nearer sound of water running through tall reeds and over green stones and between great mossy trees. Indeed, my life would now be, comparatively speaking, a cheerless desert, because I should never have met the most beautiful--Well, all clouds have silver linings; some have golden ones with rainbow edges. No; I am not sorry I stopped at the St. Ives; not in the least! At any rate, there I was at eight oâclock of a Wednesday evening in a restaurant full of the usual lights and buzz and glitter, among women in soft-hued gowns, and men in their hideous substitute for the same. Across the table sat my one-time guardian, dear old Peter Dunstan,--Dunny to me since the night when I first came to him, a very tearful, lonesome, small boy whose loneliness went away forever with his welcoming hug,--just arrived from home in Washington to eat a farewell dinner with me and to impress upon me for the hundredth time that I had better not go. âItâs a wild-goose chase,â he snapped, attacking his entree savagely. Heaven knows it was to prove so, even wilder than his dreams could paint; but if there were geese in it, myself included, there was also to be a swan. âYou donât really mean that, Dunny,â I said firmly, continuing my dinner. It was a good dinner; we had consulted over each item from cocktails to liqueurs, and we are both distinctly fussy about food. âI do mean it!â insisted my guardian. Dunny has the biggest heart in the world, with a cayenne layer over it, and this layer is always thickest when I am bound for distant parts. âI mean every word of it, I tell you, Dev.â Dev, like Dunny, is a misnomer; my name is Devereux--Devereux Bayne. âDonât you risk your bones enough with the confounded games you play? Whatâs the use of hunting shells and shrapnel like a hero in a movie reel? Weâre not in this war yet, though we soon will be, praise the Lord! And till we are, I believe in neutrality--upon my soul I do.â âHereâs news, then!â I exclaimed. âI never heard of it before. Well, your new life begins too late, Dunny. You brought me up the other way. The modern system, you know, makes the parent or guardian responsible for the child. So thank yourself for my unneutral nature and for the war medals Iâm going to win!â Muttering something about impertinence, he veered to another tack. âIf you must do it,â he croaked, âwhy sail for Naples instead of for Bordeaux? The Mediterranean is full of those pirate fellows. You read the papers--the headlines anyway; you know it as well as I. Itâs suicide, no less! Those Huns sank the _San Pietro_ last week. I say, young man, are you listening? Do you hear what Iâm telling you?â It was true that my gaze had wandered near the close of his harangue. I like to look at my guardian; the fine old chap, with his height and straightness, his bright blue eyes and proud silver head, is a sight for sore eyes, as they say. But just then I had glimpsed something that was even better worth seeing. I am not impressionable, but I must confess that I was impressed by this girl. She sat far down the room from me. Only her back was visible and a somewhat blurred side-view reflected in the mirror on the wall. Even so much was, however, more than welcome, including as it did a smooth white neck, a small shell-like ear, and a mass of warm, crinkly, red-brown hair. She wore a rose-colored gown, I noticed, cut low, with a string of pearls; and her sole escort was a staid, elderly, precise being, rather of the trusted family-lawyer type. âI havenât missed a word, Dunny,â I assured my vis-a-vis. âI was just wondering if Huns and pirates had quite a neutral sound. You know I have to go via Rome to spend a week with Jack Herriott. He has been pestering me for a good two years--ever since heâs been secretary there.â Grumbling unintelligible things, my guardian sampled his Chablis; and I, crumbling bread, lazily wishing I could get a front view of the girl in rose-color, filled the pause by rambling on. âDuty calls me,â I declared. âYou see, I was born in France. Shabby treatment on my parentsâ part Iâve always thought it; if they had hurried home before the event I might have been President and declared war here instead of hunting one across the seas. In that case, Dunny, I should have heeded your plea and stayed; but since Iâm ineligible for chief executive, why linger on this side?â He scowled blackly. âIâll tell you what it is, my boy,â he accused, with lifted forefinger. âYou like to pose--thatâs what is the matter with you! You like to act stolid, matter-of-fact, correct; you want to sit in your ambulance and smoke cigarettes indifferently and raise your eyebrows superciliously when shrapnel bursts round. And itâs all very well now; it looks picturesque; it looks good form, very. But how old are you, eh, Dev? Twenty-eight is it? Twenty-nine?â âYou should know--none better--that I am thirty,â I responded. âHavenât you remembered each anniversary since I was five, beginning with a hobby-horse and working up through knives and rifles and ponies to the latest thing in cars?â Dunny lowered his accusing finger and tapped it on the cloth. âThirty,â he repeated fatefully. âAll right, Dev. Strong and fit as an ox, and a crack polo-player and a fair shot and boxer and not bad with boats and cars and horses and pretty well off, too. So when you look bored, itâs picturesque; but wait! Wait ten years, till you take on flesh, and the doctor puts you on diet, and you stop hunting chances to kill yourself, but play golf like me. Then, my boy, when you look stolid you wonât be romantic. Youâll be stodgy, my boy. Thatâs what youâll be!â Of all words in the dictionary there is surely none worse than this one. The suggestions of stodginess are appalling, including, even at best, hints of overweight, general uninterestingness, and a disposition to sit at home in smoking-jacket and slippers after oneâs evening meal. As my guardian suggested, my first youth was over. I held up both my hands in token that I asked for grace. â_Kamerad_!â I begged pathetically. âCome, Dunny, letâs be sociable. After all, you know, itâs my last evening; and if you call me such names, you will be sorry when I am gone. By the way, speaking of Huns--it was you, the neutral, who mentioned them,--does it strike you there are quite a few of them on the staff of this hotel? I hope they wonât poison me. Look at the head waiter, look at half the waiters round, and see that blond-haired, blue-eyed menial. Do you think he saw his first daylight in these United States?â The menial in question was a uniformed bellboy winding in and out among tables and paging some elusive guest. As he approached, his chant grew plainer. âMr. Bayne,â he was droning. âRoom four hundred and three.â I raised a hand in summons, and he paused beside my seat. âTelephone call for you, sir,â he informed me. With a word to my guardian, I pushed my chair back and crossed the room. But at the door I found my path barred by the _maitre dâhotel_, who, at the sight of my progress, had sprung forward, like an arrow from a bow. âExcuse me, sir. Youâre not leaving, are you?â The man was actually breathing hard. Deferential as his bearing was, I saw no cause for the inquiry, and with some amusement and more annoyance, I wondered if he suspected me of slipping out to evade my bill. âNo,â I said, staring him up and down; âIâm not!â I passed down the hall to the entrance of the telephone booths. Glancing back, I could see him still standing there gazing after me; his face, I thought, wore a relieved expression as he saw whither I was bound. The queer incident left my mind as I secluded myself, got my connection, and heard across the wire the indignant accents of Dick Forrest, my former college chum. Upon leaving his yacht that morning, I had promised him a certain power of attorney--Dick is a lawyer and is called a good one, though I can never quite credit it--and he now demanded in unjudicial heat why it had not been sent round. âGood heavens, man,â I cut in remorsefully, âI forgot it! The thing is in my room now. Where are you? Thatâs all right. Youâll have it by messenger within ten minutes.â Hastily rehooking the receiver, I bolted from my booth. In the restaurant door against a background of paneled walls the _maitre dâhotel_ still stood, as if watching for my return. I sprang into an elevator just about to start its ascent, and saw his mouth fall open and his feet bring him several quick steps forward. âThe man is crazy,â I told myself with conviction as I shot up four stories in as many seconds and was deposited in my hall. There was no one at the desk where the floor clerk usually kept vigil, gossiping affably with such employees as passed. The place seemed deserted; no doubt all the guests were downstairs. Treading lightly on the thick carpet, I went down the hall to Room four hundred and three, and found the door ajar and a light visible inside. My bed, I supposed, was being turned down. I swung the door open, and halted in my tracks. With his back to me, bent over a wide-open trunk that I had left locked, was a man. Stepping inside, I closed the door quietly, meanwhile scrutinizing my unconscious visitor from head to foot. He wore no hotel insignia--was neither porter, waiter, nor valet. âWell, how about it? Anything there suit you?â I inquired affably, with my back against the door. Exclaiming gutturally, he whisked about and faced me where I stood quite prepared for a rough-and-tumble. Instead of a typical housebreaker of fiction, I saw a pale, rabbit-like, decent-appearing little soul. He was neatly dressed; he seemed unarmed save for a great ring of assorted keys; and his manner was as propitiatory and mild-eyed as that of any mouse. There must be some mistake. He was some sober mechanic, not a robber. But on the other hand, he looked ready to faint with fright. â_Mein Gott_!â he murmured in a sort of fishlike gasp. This illuminating remark was my first clue. âAh! _Mein Herr_ is German?â I inquired, not stirring from my place. The demand wrought an instant change in him--he drew himself up, perhaps to five feet five. âVat you got against the Germans?â he asked me, almost with menace. It was the voice of a fanatic intoning âDie Wacht am Rheinâ--of a zealot speaking for the whole embattled _Vaterland_. The situation was becoming farcical. âNothing in the world, I assure you,â I replied. âThey are a simple, kindly people. They are musical. They have given the world Schiller, Goethe, the famous _Kultur_, and a new conception of the possibilities of war. But I think they should have kept out of Belgium, and I feel the same way about my room--and donât you try to pull a pistol or I may feel more strongly still.â âI ainât got no pistol, _nein_,â declared my visitor, sulkily. His resentment had already left him; he had shrunk back to five feet three. âWell, I have, but Iâll worry along without it,â I remarked, with a glance at the nearest bag. As targets, I donât regard my fellow-creatures with great enthusiasm and, moreover, I could easily have made two of this mousy champion of a warlike race. Illogically, I was feeling that to bully him was sheer brutality. Besides this, my dinner was not being improved by the delay. âLook here,â I said amiably, âI canât see that youâve taken anything. Speak up lively now; Iâll give you just one chance. If you care to tell me how you got through a locked door and what you were after, Iâll let you go. Iâm off to the firing line, and it may bring me luck!â Hope glimmered in his eyes. In broken English, with a childlike ingenuousness of demeanor, he informed me that he was a first-class locksmith--first-glass he called it--who had been sent by the management to open a reluctant trunk. He had entered my room, I was led to infer, by a mistake. âI go now, _ja_?â he concluded, as postscript to the likely tale. âThe devil you do! Do you take me for an utter fool?â I asked, excusably nettled, and stepping to the telephone, I took the receiver from its hook. âGive me the managerâs office, please,â I requested, watching my visitor. âIs this the manager? This is Mr. Bayne speaking, Room four hundred and three. Iâve found a man investigating my trunk--a foreigner, a German.â An exclamation from the manager, and from the listening telephone-girl a shriek! âYes; I have him. Yes; of course I can hold him. Send up your house detective and be quick! My dinner is spoiling--â The receiver dropped from my hand and clattered against the wall. The little German, suddenly galvanized, had leaped away from the trunk, not toward me and the door beyond me, but toward the electric switch. His fingers found and turned it, plunging the room into the darkness of the grave. Taken unaware, I barred his path to the hall, only to hear him fling up the window across the room. Against the faint square of light thus revealed, I saw him hang poised a moment. Then with a desperate noise, a moan of mixed resolve and terror, he disappeared. CHAPTER II DEUTSCHLAND UBER ALLES Standing there staring after him, I felt like a murderer of the deepest dye. It is one thing to hand over to the police their natural prey, a thief taken red-handed, but quite another, and a much more harrowing one, to have him slip through your fingers, precipitate himself into mid-air, and drop four stories to the pavement, scattering his brains far and wide. There was not a vestige of hope for the poor wretch. Unnerved, I groped to the window and peered downward for his remains. My first glance proved my regrets to be superfluous. Beneath my window, which, owing to the crowded condition of the hotel, opened on a side street, a fire-escape descended jaggedly; and upon it, just out of armâs reach, my recent guest clung and wobbled, struggling with an attack of natural vertigo before proceeding toward the earth. By this time my rage was such that I would have followed that little thief almost anywhere. It was not the dizziness of the yawning void that stayed me. I should have climbed the Matterhorn with all cheerfulness to catch him at the top. But sundry visions of the figure I would cut, the crowd that might gather, and the probable ragging in the morning papers, were too much for me, and I sorrowfully admitted that the game was not worth the price. The little manâs nerves, meanwhile, seemed to be steadying. Feeling each step, he began cautiously to work his way down. To my wrath he even looked up at me and indulged in a grimace--but his triumph was ill-timed, for at that very instant I beheld, strolling along the street below, humming and swinging his night-stick, as leisurely, complacent, and stalwart a representative of the law as one could wish to see. âHi, there! Officer!â I shouted lustily. My hail, if not my words, reached him; he glanced up, saw the figure on the ladder, and was seized instantaneously with the spirit of the chase. Yelling something reassuring, the gist of which escaped me, he constituted himself a reception committee of one and started for the ladderâs foot. But our doughty Teuton was a resourceful person. Roused to the urgency of his plight, he looked wildly up at me, down at the officer, and, hastily pushing up the nearest window, hoisted himself across its sill, and again took refuge in the St. Ives Hotel. With a bellow of rage, the policeman dashed toward the porte-cochere, while I ducked back into the room, rapidly revolving my chances of cutting off the manâs retreat below. If the system of numbering was the same on every floor, my thief must, of course, emerge from Room 303. But this similarity was problematical, and to invade apartments at random, disturbing women at their opera toilets and maybe even waking babies, was too desperate a shift to try. It reminded me to wait with what patience I could summon for the house detective. And where was he, by the way? I had turned in my alarm a good five minutes before. In an unenviable humor I stumbled across the room, tripping and barking my shins over various malignant hassocks, tables, and chairs. Finding the switch at last, I flooded the room with light, and saw myself in the mirror, with tie and coat askew. âNow,â I muttered, straightening them viciously, âweâll see what he took away.â But the trunk seemed undisturbed when I examined it, and my various bags and suitcases were securely locked. I had found Forrestâs power of attorney and was storing it in my pocket when voices rose outside. A group of four was approaching, comprised of a spruce, dress-coated manager; a short thick-set, broad-faced man who was doubtless the long-overdue detective; a professional-appearing gentleman with a black bag, obviously the house-physician; and the policeman that I had summoned from his stroll below. The latter, in an excited brogue, was recounting his late vision of the thief, âhanginâ between hivin and earth, no less,â while the detective scornfully accused him of having been asleep or jingled, on the ground of my late telephone to the effect that I was holding the man. The manager, as was natural, took the initiative, bustling past me into my room and peering eagerly around. âI neednât say, Mr. Bayne,â he orated fluently, âhow sorry I am that this has happened--especially beneath our roof. It is our first case, I assure you, of anything so regrettable. If it gets into the papers it wonât do us any good. Now the important thing is to take the fellow out by the rear without courting notice. Why, where is he?â he asked hopefully. âSurely he isnât gone?â âSure, and didnât I tell ye? âTis without eyes ye think me!â The policeman was resentful, and so, to tell the truth, was I. The whole maddening affair seemed bent on turning to farce at every angle; the doctor, as a final straw, had just offered _sotto voce_ to mix me a soothing draft! âGone! Of course heâs gone, man!â I exclaimed with some natural temper. âDid you expect him to sit here waiting all this time? What on earth have you been doing--reading the papers--playing bridge? A dozen thieves could have escaped since I telephoned downstairs!â âBut you said,â he murmured, apparently dazed, âthat you could hold him.â A tactless remark, which failed to assuage my wrath! âSo I could,â I responded savagely. âBut I didnât expect him to turn into a conjuring trick, which is what he did. He went out that window head foremost, down the ladder, and into the room below. Letâs be after him--though we stand as much chance of catching him as we do of finding the King of England!â and I turned toward the doorway, where the manager, the doctor and the detective were massed. The manager put his hand upon my arm. I looked down at it with raised eyebrows, and he took it away. âExcuse me, sir,â he said, adopting a manner of appeal, âbut if youâll reflect for a moment youâll see how it is, I know. People donât care for houses where burglars fly in and out of windows; it makes them nervous; you wouldnât believe how easily a hotel can get a bad name and lose its clientele. Besides, from what you tell me, the fellow must be well away by this time. Youâd do me a favor--a big one--by dropping the matter here.â âWell, I wonât!â I snapped indignantly. âIâll see it through--or start something still livelier. Are you coming down with me to investigate the room beneath us or do you want me to ring up police headquarters and find out why?â In the hall the policeman looked at me across the intervening heads and dropped one slow, approving eyelid. âIf the gintleman says so--â he remarked in heavy tones fraught with meaning, and fixed a cold, blue, appraising gaze on the detective, who thereupon yielded with unexpectedly good grace. âAw, whatâs eating you?â was his amiable demand. âSure, we was going right down there anyhow--soonâs we found out how the land lay up here.â The five of us took the elevator to the lower floor. An unfriendly atmosphere surrounded me. I was held a hotel wrecker without reason. We found the corridor empty, the floor desk abandoned--a state of things rather strikingly the duplicate of that reigning overhead--and in due course paused before Room 303, where the manager, figuratively speaking, washed his hands of the affair. âHere is the room, Mr. Bayne, for which you ask.â If I would persist in my nefarious course, added his tone. The detective, obeying the hypnotic eye of the policeman, knocked. There was silence. The bluecoat, my one ally, was crouching for a spring. Then light steps crossed the room, and the door was opened. There stood a girl,--a most attractive girl, the girl that I had seen downstairs. Straight and slender, spiritedly gracious in bearing, with gray eyes questioning us from beneath lashes of crinkly black, she was a radiant figure as she stood facing us, with a coat of bright-blue velvet thrown over her rosy gown. âBeg pardon, miss,â said the policeman, brightly, âthis gintlemanâs been robbed.â As her eyebrows went up a fraction, I could have murdered him, for how else could she read his statement save that I took her for the thief? âI am very sorry,â I explained, bowing formally, âto disturb you. We are hunting a thief who took French leave by my fire-escape. I must have been mistaken--I thought that he dodged in again by this window. You have not seen or heard anything of him, of course?â âNo, I havenât. But then, I just this instant came up from dinner,â she replied. Her low, contralto tones, quite impersonal, were yet delightful; I could have stood there talking burglars with her till dawn. âDo you wish to come in and make sure that he is not in hiding?â With a half smile for which I didnât blame her, she moved a step aside. âCertainly not!â I said firmly, ignoring a nudge from the policeman. âHe left before you came--there was ample time. It is not of the least consequence, anyhow. Again I beg your pardon.â As she inclined her head, I bowed, and closed the door. âI trust Mr. Bayne, that you are satisfied at last.â This was the St. Ives manager, and I did not like his tone. âI am satisfied of several things,â I retorted sharply, âbut before I share them with you, will you kindly tell me your name?â âMy name is Ritter,â he said with dignity. âI confess I fail to see what bearing--â âCall it curiosity,â I interrupted. âDoctor, favor me with yours.â The doctor peered at me over his glasses, hesitated, and then revealed his patronym. It was Swanburger, he informed me. âBut, my dear sir, what on earth--â âMerely,â said I, with conviction, âthat this isnât an Alliesâ night. It is _Deutschland uber Alles_; the stars are fighting for the Teuton race. Now, letâs hear how you were christened,â I added, turning to the house detective, who looked even less sunny than before if that could be. âSee here, whatcher giving us?â snarled that somewhat unpolished worthy. âMy nameâs Zeitfeld; but I was born in this country, donât you forget it, same as you.â âA great American personality,â I remarked dreamily, âhas declared that in the hyphenate lies the chief menace to the United States. And whatâs your name?â I asked the representative of law and order. âIs it Schmidt?â âNo, sir,â he responded, grinning; âitâs OâReilly, sorr.â âThank heaven for that! Youâve saved my reason,â I assured him as I leaned against the wall and scanned the Germanic hordes. âMr. Ritter,â said I, addressing that gentleman coldly, âwhen I am next in New York I donât think I shall stop with you. The atmosphere here is too hectic; you answer calls for help too slowly--calls, at least, in which a guest indiscreetly tells you that he has caught a German thief. It looks extremely queer, gentlemen. And there are some other points as well--â But there I paused. I lacked the necessary conviction. After all I was the average citizen, with the average incredulity of the far-fetched, the melodramatic, the absurd. To connect the head waiterâs panic at my departure with the episode in my room, to declare that the floor clerks had been called from their posts for a set purpose, and the halls deliberately cleared for the thief, were flights of fancy that were beyond me. The more fool I! By the time I saw the last of the adventure I began that night--it was all written in the nth power, and introduced in more or less important roles the most charming girl in the world, the most spectacular hero of France, the cleverest secret-service agent in the pay of the fatherland, and I sometimes ruefully suspected, the biggest imbecile of the United States in the person of myself--I knew better than to call any idea impossible simply because it might sound wild. But at the moment my education was in its initial stages, and turning with a shrug from three scowling faces, I led my friendly bluecoat a little aside. âIâve no more time to-night to spend thief-catching, Officer,â I told him. I had just recalled my dinner, now utterly ruined, and Dunny, probably at this instant cracking walnuts as fiercely as if each one were the kaiserâs head. âBut Iâm an amateur in these affairs, and you are a master. Before I go, as man to man, what the dickens do you make of this?â Flattered, he looked profound. âIâm thinking, sorr,â he gave judgment, âye had the rights of it. Seeinâ as how thâ thafe is German, yeâll not set eyes on him more--for divil a wan here butâs of that counthry, and they stick together something fierce!â âWell,â I admitted, âour thoughts run parallel. Here is something to drink confusion to them all. And, OâReilly, I am glad Iâm going to sail to-morrow. Iâd rather live on a sea full of submarines than in this hotel, wouldnât you?â Touching his forehead, he assented, and wished me good-night and a good journey; part of his hope went unfulfilled, by the way. That ocean voyage of mine was to take rank, in part at least, as a first-class nightmare. The Central powers could scarcely have improved on it by torpedoing us in mid-ocean or by speeding us upon our trip with a cargo of clock-work bombs. CHAPTER III ON THE RE DâITALIA The sailing of the _Re dâItalia_ was scheduled for 3 P.M. promptly, but being well acquainted with the ways of steamers at most times, above all in these piping times of war, it was not until an hour later than I left the St. Ives, where the manager, by the way, did not appear to bid me farewell. The thermometer had been falling, and the day was crisp and snappy, with a light powdering of snow underfoot and a blue tang and sparkle in the air. Dunny accompanied me in the taxicab, but was less talkative than usual. Indeed, he spoke only two or three times between the hotel and the pier. âI say, Dev,â was his first contribution to the conversation, âdâ you remember it was at a dock that you and I first met? It was night, blacker than Tophet, and raining, and you came ashore wet as a rag. You were the lonesomest, chilliest, most forlorn little tike I ever saw; but, by the eternal, you were trying not to cry!â âLonesome? I rather think so!â I echoed with conviction. âWynne and his wife brought me over; he played poker all the way, and she read novels in her berth. And I heard every one say that I was an orphan, and it was very, very sad. Well, I was never lonely after that, Dunny.â My hand met his half-way. The next time that he broke silence was upon the ferry, when he urged on me a fat wallet stuffed with plutocratic-looking notes. âIn case anything should happen,â ran his muttered explanation. I have never needed Dunnyâs money,--his affection is another matter,--but he can spare it, and this time I took it because I saw he wanted me to. As we approached the Jersey City piers, he seemed to shrink and grow tired, to take on a good ten years beyond his hale and hearty age. With every glance I stole at him a lump in my throat grew bigger, and in the end, bending forward, I laid a hand on his knee. âLook here, Dunny,â I demanded, not looking at him, âdo you mean half of what you were saying last evening--or the hundredth part? After all, thereâll be a chance to fight here before weâre many months older. If you just say the word, old fellow, Iâll be with you to-night--and hang the trip!â But Dunny, though he wrung my hand gratefully and choked and glared out of the window, would hear of no such arrangement, repudiated it, indeed, with scorn. âNo, my boy,â he declared. âI donât say it for a minute. I like your going. I wouldnât give a tinkerâs dam for you, whatever that is, if you didnât want to do something for those fellows over there. I wonât even say to be careful, for you canât if you do your duty--only, donât you be too all-fired foolhardy, even for war medals, Dev.â âOh, I was born to be hanged, not shot,â I assured him, almost prophetically. âIâll take care of myself, and Iâll write you now and then--â âNo, you wonât!â he snorted, with a skepticism amply justified by the past. âAnd if you did, I shouldnât answer; I hate letters, always did. But you cable me once a fortnight to let me know youâre living--and send an extra cable if you want anything on earth!â The taxi, which had been crawling, came to a final halt, and a hungry horde, falling on my impedimenta, lowered them from the driverâs seat. âNo, Iâll not come on board, Dev,â said my guardian. âI--I couldnât stand it. Good-by, my dear boy.â We clasped hands again; then I felt his arm resting on my shoulder, and flung both of mine about him in an old-time, boyish hug. â_Au revoir_, Dunny. Back next year,â I shouted cheerily as the driver threw in his clutch and the car glided on its way. Preceded by various porters, I threaded my way at a snailâs pace through the dense crowd of waiting passengers, swarthy-faced sons of Italy, apparently bound for the steerage. The great gray bulk of the _Re dâItalia_ loomed before me, floating proudly at her stern the green, white, and red flag blazoned with the Savoyard shield. âWave while they let you,â I apostrophized it, saluting. âWhen we get outside the three-mile limit and stop courting notice, youâll not fly long.â At the gang-plank I was halted, and I produced my passport and exhibited the _vise_ of his excellency, the Italian consul-general in New York. I strolled aboard, was assigned to Cabin D, and informed by my steward that there were in all but five first-class passengers, a piece of news that left me calm. Stodgy I may be,--it was odd how that term of Dunnyâs rankled,--but I confess that I find chance traveling acquaintances boring and avoid them when I can. Unlike most of my countrymen, I suppose I am not gregarious, though I dine and week-end punctiliously, send flowers and leave cards at decorous intervals, and know people all the way from New York to Tokio. My carefully limited baggage looked lonely in my cabin; I missed the paraphernalia with which one usually begins a trip. Also, as I rummaged through two bags to find the cap I wanted, I longed for Peters, my faithful man, who could be backed to produce any desired thing at a momentâs notice. When bound for Flanders or the Vosges, however, one must be a Spartan. I found what I sought at last and went on deck. The scene, though cheerful, was not lacking in wartime features: A row of life-boats hung invitingly ready; a gun, highly dramatic in appearance, was mounted astern, with every air of meaning business should the kaiser meddle with us en route. Down below, the Italians, talking, gesticulating, showing their white teeth in flashing, boyish smiles, were being herded docilely on board, while at intervals one or another of the few promenade-deck passengers appeared. The first of these, a shrewd-faced, nervous little man, borrowed an unneeded match of me and remarked that it was cold weather for spring. The next, a good-looking young foreigner,--a reservist, I surmised, recalled to the Italian colors in this hour of his countryâs need,--rather harrowed my feelings by coming on board with a family party, gray-haired father, anxious mother, slim bride-like wife, and two brothers or cousins, all making pathetic pretense at good cheer. Soon after came a third man, dark, quiet, watchful-looking, and personable enough, although his shoes were a little too gleamingly polished, his watch and chain a little too luminously golden, the color scheme of his hose and tie selected with almost too much care. âThis,â I reflected resignedly, âis going to be a ghastly trip. By Jove, here comes another! Now where have I seen her before?â The new arrival, as indicated by the pronoun, was a woman; though why one should tempt Providence by traveling on this route at this juncture, I found it hard to guess. Standing with her back to me, enveloped in a coat of sealskin with a broad collar of darker fur, well gloved, smartly shod, crowned by a fur hat with a gold cockade, she made a delightful picture as she rummaged in a bag which reposed upon a steamer-chair, and which, thus opened, revealed a profusion of gold mountings, bottles and brushes, hand-chased and initialed in an opulent way. There was a haunting familiarity about her. She teased my memory as I strolled up the deck. Then, snapping the bag shut, she turned and straightened, and I recognized the girl to whose door my thief-chase had led me at the St. Ives. It seemed rather a coincidence my meeting her again. âI shouldnât mind talking to you on this trip,â I reflected, mollified. âThe mischief of it is youâll notice me about as much as you notice the shipâs stokers. Youâre not the sort to scrape acquaintance, or else I miss my shot!â I did not miss it. So much was instantly proved. As I passed her, on the mere chance that she might elect to acknowledge our encounter, I let my gaze impersonally meet hers. She started slightly. Evidently she remembered. But she turned toward the nearest door without a bow. The dark, too-well-groomed man was emerging as she advanced. Instead of moving back, he blocked her path, looking--was it appraisingly, expectantly?--into her eyes. There was a pause while she waited rather haughtily for passage; then he effaced himself, and she disappeared. Striking a match viciously, I lit a cigarette and strolled forward. Either the fellow had fancied that he knew her or he had behaved in a confoundedly impertinent way. The latter hypothesis seemed, on the whole, the more likely, and I felt a lively desire to drop him over the rail. âBut I donât know what a girl of your looks expects, Iâm sure,â I grumbled, âsetting off on your travels with no chaperon and no companion and no maid! Where are your father and mother? Where are your brothers? Whereâs the old friend of the family who dined with you last night? If chaps who have no right to walk the same earth with you get insolent, who is going to teach them their place, and who is going to take care of you if a U-boat pops out of the sea? Oh, well, never mind. It isnât any of my business. But just the same if you need my services, I think Iâll tackle the job.â Time was passing; night had fallen. Consulting my watch, I found that it was seven oâclock. I had been aboard more than two hours. An afternoon sailing, quotha! At this rate we would be lucky if we got off by dawn. The dinner gong, a welcome diversion, summoned us below to lights and warmth. At one table the young Italian entertained his relatives, and at another the captain, a short, swart-faced, taciturn being, had grouped his officers and various officials of the steamship company at a farewell feast. The little sharp-faced passenger was throned elsewhere in lonely splendor, but when I selected a fourth table, he jumped up, crossed over and installed himself as my vis-a-vis. Passing me the salt, which I did not require, he supplied with it some personal data of which I felt no greater need. His name was McGuntrie, he announced; he was sales agent for the famous Phillipson Rifles and was being dispatched to secure a gigantic contract on the other side. âAnd if inside six months you donât see three hundred thousand Italian soldiers carrying Phillipsonâs best,â he informed me, âIâll take a back seat and let young Jim Furman, who thinks Iâm a has-been and heâs the one white hope, begin to draw my pay. You canât beat those rifles. When the boys get to carrying them, old Francis Josephâs ghostâll weep. Pity, ainât it, we didnât get on board by noon?â he digressed sociably. âI couldâve found something to do ashore the four hours Iâve been twiddling my thumbs here, and I guess you could too. Hardest, though, on our friends the newspaper boys. Did you know they were out there waiting to take a flashlight film? Fact. They do it nowadays every time a big liner leaves. Then if we sink, all they have to do is run it, with âDoomed Ship Leaving New York Harborâ underneath.â To his shocked surprise I laughed at the information. My appetite was unimpaired as I pursued my meal. Trains in which others ride may telescope and steamers may take oneâs acquaintances to watery graves, but to normal people the chance of any catastrophe overtaking them personally must always seem gratifyingly far-fetched and vague. âThink itâs funny, do you?â my new friend reproached me. âWell, I donât; and neither did the folks who had cabins taken and who threw them up last week when they heard how the _San Pietro_ went down on this same route. Weâre five plumb idiots--thatâs what we are--five crazy lunatics! Iâd never have come a step, not with wild horses dragging me if it hadnât been for Jim Furman being pretty near popeyed, looking for a chance to cut me out and sail. Weâve got fifteen hundred reservists downstairs, and a cargo of contraband. What do you know about that as a prize for a submarine?â âWell,â I said vaingloriously. âI can swim.â My eyes were wandering, for the girl in the fur coat had entered, with the dark, watchful-eyed man--was it pure coincidence?--close behind. The steward ushered her to a table; the man followed at her heels. I dare say I glared. I know my muscles stiffened. The fellow was going to speak to her. What in blazes did he mean by stalking her in this way? âExcuse me,â he was saying, âbut havenât we met before?â The girl straightened into rigidness, looking him over. Her manner was haughty, her ruddy head poised stiffly, as she answered in a cold tone: âNo.â He was watching her keenly. âMy nameâs John Van Blarcom,â he persisted. Again she gave him that sweeping glance. âYou are mistaken,â she said indifferently. âI have not seen you before.â He nodded curtly. âMy mistake,â he admitted. âI thought I knew you,â and turning from her, he sat down at the one table still unoccupied. âSo his nameâs Van Blarcom,â whispered my ubiquitous neighbor. âAnd the Italian chap over there is Pietro Ricci. The steward told me so. And the captainâs name is Cecchi; get it? And I know your name, too, Mr. Bayne,â he added with a grin. âThe steward didnât know what was taking you over, but I guess Iâve got your number all right. Say, ainât you a flying man or else one of the American-Ambulance boys?â I mustered the feeble parry that I had stopped being a boy of any sort some time ago. Then lest he wring from me my age, birthplace, and the amount of my income tax, I made an end of my meal. On deck again I wondered at my irritation, my sense of restlessness. The little salesman was not responsible, though he had fretted me like a buzzing fly. It was rather that I had taken an intense dislike to the man calling himself Van Blarcom; that the girl, despite her haughtiness, had somehow given me an impression of uneasiness--of fear almost--as she saw him approach and heard him speak; and above all, that I should have liked to flay alive the person or persons who had let her sail unaccompanied for a zone which at this moment was the danger point of the seas. My matter-of-fact, conservatively ordered life had been given a crazy twist at the St. Ives. As an aftermath of that episode I was probably scenting mysteries where there were none. Nevertheless, I wondered--though I called myself a fool for it--if any more queer things would happen before this ship on which we five bold voyagers were confined should reach the other side. They did. CHAPTER IV âEXTRAâ Toward nine oâclock to my relief it became obvious that the _Re dâItalia_ was really going to sail at last. The first and second whistles, sounding raucously, sent the company officials and the family of the young officer of reserves ashore. The plank was lowered; between the ship and the looming pier a thread of black water appeared and grew; a flash and an explosion indicated that the possibly doomed liner had been filmed according to schedule. â_Evviva lâItalia_!â yelled the returning braves in the steerage--a very decent set of fellows, it struck me, to leave so cheerfully their vocations of teamster, waiter, fruit vender, and the like, and go, unforced, to wear the gray-green coats of Italy, the short feathers of the mountain climbers, the bersagliereâs bunch of plumes, and to stand against their hereditary foes the Austrians, up in the snowy Alps. The details of departure were an old tale to me. As we swung farther and farther out, I turned to a newspaper, a twentieth extra probably, which I had heard a newsboy crying along the dock a little earlier, and had bribed a steward to secure. Moon and stars were lacking to-night, but the deck lights were good reading-lamps. Moving up the rail to one of them, I investigated the worldâs affairs. From the first sheet the usual staring headlines leaped at me. There were the inevitable peace rumor, the double denial, the eternal bulletin of a trench taken here, a hill recaptured there. A sensational rumor was exploited to the effect that Franz von Blenheim, one of the star secret agents of the German Empire, was at present incognito at Washington, having spent the past month in putting his finger in the Mexican pie much to our disadvantage. On the last column of the page was the photograph of a distinguished-looking young man in uniform, with an announcement that promised some interest, I thought. âWar Scandal Bursts in France,â âScion of Oldest Noblesse Implicated,â âDuke Mysteriously Missing,â I read in the diminishing degrees of the scare-head type. Then came the picture, with a mien attractively debonair, a pleasantly smiling mouth, and a sympathetic pair of eyes, and in due course, the tale. I clutched at the flapping ends of the paper and read on: Of all the scandals to which the present war has given birth, none has stirred France more profoundly than that implicating Jean-Herve-Marie-Olivier, Count of Druyes, Marquis of Beuil and Santenay, and Duke of Raincy-la-Tour. This young nobleman, head of a family that has played its part in French history since the days of the Northmen and the crusaders, bears in his veins the bluest blood of the old regime, and numbers among his ancestors no fewer than seven marshals and five constables of France. A noted figure not only by his birth, his wealth, and his various historic chateaux, but also by his sporting proclivities, his daring automobile racing, his marvelous fencing, and his spectacular hunting trips, the Duke of Raincy-la-Tour has long been in addition an amateur aviator of considerable fame, and it was to the French Flying Corps that he was attached when hostilities began. Here he distinguished himself from the first by his coolness, his extraordinary resource, and his utter contempt for danger, and became one of the idols of the French army and a proverb for success and audacity, besides attaining to the rank of lieutenant, gaining, after his famous night flight across Mulhausen for bomb-dropping purposes, the affectionate sobriquet of the Firefly of France, and winning in rapid succession the military Medal, the ribbon of the Legion of Honor, and the Cross of War with palms. According to rumor, the duke was lately intrusted with a mission of exceptional peril, involving a flight into hostile territory and the capture of certain photographs of defenses much needed for the plans of
{'title': 'The Firefly of France by Marion Polk Angellotti', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}