But Kate was obdurate5. She admitted to Trif that she loved Jermyn dearly, strange though it might seem, but for that very reason her self-respect was stronger than ever, and although she could endure anything for her own sake she was not willing that anything should occur, or that anything which had occurred, should make the dear fellow laughed at and [Pg 155]talked about. People were so mean! Who knew but some one would say that she had tried to catch him, and succeeded? The idea!
"But Kate," argued Trif, "there's no need of your being seen if you'll consent to remain a day or two longer. You've only to remain in your room while I make my sailing trip with my friends, and Harry and Fenie have their little outing. You won't be alone; think of the delightful thoughts that will keep you company! The day after my trip I'll make a special luncheon6 in my room, in honor of the happy couple, and it will be entirely7 right, as your brother will bring Jermyn. You certainly couldn't be so heartless as to depart without seeing him once more, and without letting him see you."
"Do you think it would be heartless—do you think it would seem so to him?"
"It certainly would, to him or to any other good man, under the circumstances," Trif replied, with extreme New England positiveness.
"Then I will remain," said Kate; upon which Trif kissed her and called her a dear good girl, and Fenie kissed her and called her a sensible girl, and Harry kissed her and said she was a good sister, and Trixy offered to kiss her but was rudely pushed away.
Jermyn knew nothing of this conversation. He had done much desperate thinking after receiving Kate's note, and one consequence was that he looked across the parade ground, saw that lights were still burning in the adjutant's office and the home of the post commandant, so [Pg 156]he hurried over to the adjutant and made an application for leave of absence for a week, on important personal business. The post adjutant looked astonished, for leaves of absence in the army are charged against the month's leave which each officer is allowed once a year in time of peace, and the adjutant knew well that Jermyn had been carefully "saving his time" for a month's run to the Pacific Coast during the coming summer. Still, Jermyn pleaded urgency, and begged for an immediate9 decision; and the post commandant, who was a large-hearted gentleman, and also a close observer of the individual members of his command, granted the leave; so the next morning, very early, before any one at the hotel was stirring, Jermyn invaded a lighthouse boat which he knew was to go to Norfolk very early. His plan was to get upon the steamer which started from Norfolk for the train, miles away, touching10 at Old Point en route. Neither Kate nor her brother should know of his proximity11 until the train started; after that,—well, Kate could not be other than the woman he thought her, so she would be glad to see him, and her brother, beside being a gentleman, was himself in love; so he would certainly give the couple some opportunities for conversation during the trip to New York.
While this was going on, the Admiral, who had been somewhat upset by his exciting experience of two or three preceding days, and had been restoring himself by a veteran seaman's favorite remedy, rest, got out of his room very early, and sauntered about the beach in search of a proper appetite for breakfast. It did not help him much to meet Jermyn and hear the young man's story of disappointment, yet he heartily12 approved of the fellow's spirit and wished him the happy time which undoubtedly13 would be his. The excitement caused by the interview gave the old gentleman the appetite for which he longed, so he went in at once to breakfast, at which he lingered long.
As he sat at table, the train-boat from Norfolk came in, and the Admiral looked through the window toward the pier14, hoping for a glimpse of Kate. Evidently she had escaped him, for she was not with any of the parties which moved down from the hotel; probably she was already in the crowd, which always is an hour in advance of starting time, and he did not like to bid a lady good-bye when there were all sorts of people around to hear what was said.
As the boat cast off and started for Cape15 Charles, the southern terminus of the railway, the old gentleman raised his coffee-cup to his lips, and murmured:
"God bless them!"
"Who's you a-blessin'?" asked Trixy, who had entered the breakfast-room and had been moving by circuitous16 lines to "s'prise" the Admiral.
"Why, Trixy! Good morning! I've not seen you for several days. Do sit down and take some breakfast with me. Tell me some news."
"There ain't no news," said Trixy. "Yes there is too; but mamma says I mustn't ever tell any more news until I'm a big woman. And I can't take breakfast just now, 'cause I just was sent down to ask the waiter to send Miss Trewman's breakfast up to her room, 'specially17 a cup of coffee."
"Miss Trewman's breakfast? Why—Miss Trewman has gone to New York."
"Oh, no, she hasn't. She changed her mind. Mamma made her do it."
"Trixy, do you mean to say," asked the Admiral, as he arose hastily from the table, "that Miss Trewman isn't on the boat which started for the train at Cape Charles?"
"I mean to say she's up in her room," Trixy replied, "for I just came from there and I saw her. She said she wanted that coffee awfully18, too, so I mustn't wait any longer to see the waiter; but I'll come back in a minute and take some breakfast with you, if you like."
"Ah—er," stammered19 the Admiral, who had been thinking rapidly and looking at the lighthouse tug20, which was already steaming back from Norfolk, "suppose we hold the engagement over until to-morrow morning? The truth is, I've practically finished my own breakfast, so I wouldn't be proper company. Besides, I've just thought of something which ought to be attended to this instant."
"All right," said Trixy. "I'm goin' to have one comp'ny meal to-day anyway, cause mamma's goin' to give a splendid little dinner in her room to Miss Trewman and Mr. Jermyn."
"Indeed! Excuse me, my dear, but I must hurry."
The Admiral hurried out of the room, and, despite his years and his dignity, ran toward "The Hole," a sheltered portion of the harbor where small craft usually anchored. He got as near as possible to the lighthouse tug, and waved his handkerchief violently. Just as the anchor of the tug dropped, a sailor reported to the officer in charge:
"Signal from the shore, sir!"
"Don't notice it," was the reply, made gruffly. "Hang the impertinence of some of these spring visitors."
"Yes, sir. I think it's Admiral Allison a-signallin', sir."
The tug's boat had scarcely touched the beach when the Admiral gave the prow22 a mighty23 shove and shouted, "Shove off! Give way!" first wetting his feet thoroughly24. Then he sprang like a cat from thwart25 to thwart until he got aft and dropped beside the astonished officer, whispering:
"Yes, Admiral, and you were the best friend I ever had there. I couldn't have pulled through if it hadn't been for you, as you well know!"
"I'm glad you think so, my dear boy, for I want some special help from you to-day. Up anchor, and let me catch that train for New York."
"Why, Admiral, you know what a slow old tub this is, and we've been blowing off steam."
"Never mind. Help me to catch that train. Burn out a boiler27, if necessary, and charge it to me. I'll stand a court-martial rather than lose that train."
Within five minutes the tug was rounding the pier in front of the hotel and the Admiral was compounding a prescription28 which is highly esteemed29 at sea by elderly gentlemen who are suffering from great excitement and wet feet. Black smoke poured so densely30 from the boat's single funnel31 that a naval officer who was enjoying a brief outing at the hotel and had got out of bed early to enjoy as much as possible of it, told his wife that probably a buoy32 had strayed from its moorings somewhere and some sea-captain had been complaining by telegraph to the authorities at Washington.
The chase was a hard one; the train-boat had fully8 ten minutes the start of the tug, but the Admiral, who stood forward ready to hurry ashore, remarked that it usually took fully ten minutes to get all the passengers, luggage and freight from the boat to the train. When finally he went over the side he said:
"Charley, keep your eye on the rear platform. If I wave my handkerchief you'll know I'm safely aboard. Then wait as long as the train does; if it starts at once, steam along up the bay until you see it stop. I'll get the conductor to pull up and let us off."
"Us?"
"Yes; Jermyn and me."
It was none of the young officer's business, as he told himself, but he could not help wondering what was up between the Admiral and Jermyn. He saw the old gentleman scramble33 upon the rear platform of the last car, and at that very instant the train started, so the tug's nose was put up Chesapeake Bay, while her commander told himself that the chasing of a big ferry boat by a small tug was a sort of service for which boats of the lighthouse service were not designed, and that the next time the Admiral wanted anything of the sort done, and wanted a locomotive chased afterward34, he hoped there would be a torpedo35 boat in the harbor.
Meanwhile the Admiral was making his way through the train in search of Jermyn, while the latter, moving from front to rear, was looking for Kate. The two men met suddenly in the vestibule between two cars.
"Admiral!" exclaimed Jermyn. "Are you too going to New York?"
"Not this time, dear boy. Neither are you. She's changed her mind—Miss Trewman—she's still at the hotel. Where's the conductor? Hang it, Charley will never be able to catch us if we go on at this rate. Where's the bell-rope?"
The old gentleman, who was quite short, sprang lightly upward, blew two long blasts, and the train began to slow. The Admiral opened the vestibule door and said:
"Come on! We'll have to jump."
Jump they did, and into some Eastern Shore mud which did not harmonize with the attire36 of either gentleman. As they floundered out of it, screened from the train by some scrubby bushes, the tug, which had heard the locomotive's stopping signal, blew three long blasts of her own whistle. Long before she steamed abreast37 of the part of the beach which the runaways38 had reached, the Admiral was waving his handkerchief so wildly that Jermyn insisted upon relieving him to spare him the pangs39 of a stiff shoulder and the danger of apoplexy.
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1
infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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obdurate
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| adj.固执的，顽固的 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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7
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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boiler
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| n.锅炉；煮器(壶，锅等) | |
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prescription
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| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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densely
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| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
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funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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buoy
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| n.浮标；救生圈；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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abreast
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| adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地 | |
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38
runaways
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| （轻而易举的）胜利( runaway的名词复数 ) | |
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pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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