CHAPTER XXIII

"On the eve of one's wedding day too."

He could not see Elsa till she was quite close to him, and even then he could only vaguely distinguish the quaint contour of her wide-sleeved shift and of her voluminous petticoats.

But his cigar had gone out, and when Elsa stood quite close to him, and softly murmured his name, he struck a match very deliberately, and held it to the cigar so that it lighted up his face for a few seconds. He wanted her to see how indifferent was the expression in his eye, and that there was not the slightest trace of a welcoming smile lurking round his lips.

Therefore he held the lighted match close to his face much longer than was necessary; he only dropped it when it began to scorch his fingers. Then he blew a big cloud of smoke out of his cigar straight into her face, and only after that did he say, speaking very roughly:

"What do you want?"

"Mother sent me, Bela," she said timidly, as she placed a trembling little hand on his coat-sleeve. "I wouldn't have come, only she ordered me, and I couldn't disobey her, so I ..."

"Couldn't disobey your mother, eh?" he sneered; "you couldn't defy her as you did me, what?"

"I didn't mean to defy you, Bela," she said, striving with all her might to keep back the rebellious words which surged out of her overburdened heart to her quivering lips. "I couldn't be unkind to Jeno and Karoly, and all my old friends, just this last evening, when I am still a girl amongst them." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. What was Elsa wearing that had big sleeves?
2. What else did she wear?
3. True or False: Bela wants to look unwelcoming to her.
4. What feeling did his eye show?
5. What is he smoking?
6. With what did he light it?
7. True or False: He did this as quickly as possible.
8. When did he discard the match?
9. Who sent Elsa?
10. Was it a request or an order?
11. What does Bela say Elsa has done to him?
12. Did she do the same to her mother?
13. What did he blow into Elsa's face?
14. Did he speak softly?
15. What is the name of one person Elsa did not want to be cruel to?
16. Who else?
17. Who was trembling?
18. True or False: She had to work hard not to say anything rebellious.
19. How did her heart feel?
20. What does Elsa say she is in comparison to her friends?
Answer: 1. shift
2. voluminous petticoats
3. True
4. indifference
5. cigar
6. a match
7. False
8. when it began to scorch his fingers
9. Her mother
10. an order
11. defy him
12. No
13. smoke
14. No
15. Bela
16. Jeno and Karoly
17. Elsa
18. Yes
19. overburdened
20. a girl

CHAPTER XIII

The first few seconds after the entrance of the two men were monopolised by the greetings of Pamela with her brother. Fischer stood a little in the background, his eyes fixed upon Lutchester. His brain was used to emergencies, but he found himself here confronted by an unanswerable problem.

"Say, this is Mr. Lutchester, isn't it?" he inquired, holding out his hand.

"The same," Lutchester assented politely. "We met at Henry's some ten days ago, didn't we?"

"Mr. Lutchester has brought us a letter from Dicky Green, Jimmy," Pamela explained, as she withdrew from her brother's arms. "Quite unnecessary, as it happens, because I met him in London just before we sailed."

"Very glad to meet you, Mr. Lutchester," Jimmy declared, wringing his hand with American cordiality. "Dicky's an old pal of mine--one of the best. We graduated in the same year from Harvard."

Conversation for a few minutes was platitudinous. Van Teyl, although he showed few signs of his recent excesses, was noisy and boisterous, clutching at this brief escape from a situation which he dreaded. Fischer on the other hand, remained in the back-ground, ominously silent, thinking rapidly, speculating and theorising as to the coincidence, if it were coincidence, of finding Lutchester and Pamela together. He listened to the former's polite conversation, never once letting his eyes wander from his face. All his thoughts were concentrated upon one problem. The mysterious escape of Sandy Graham, which had sent him flying from the country, remained unsolved. Of Pamela's share in it he had already his suspicions. Was it possible that Lutchester was the other and the central figure in that remarkable rescue? He waited his opportunity, and, during a momentary lull in the cheerful conversation, broke in with his first question. What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who was Pamela with?
2. How many men did they greet?
3. Had Fischer met Mr. Lutchester before?
4. Where?
5. And when was that?
6. What did Lutchester have for Pamela and her brother?
7. From whom?
8. Was that exciting for Pamela?
9. Had Pamela recently met Dicky?
10. Where?
11. Did Jimmy go to an Ivy League college?
12. Did he have a good friend there?
13. Is Fischer talking a lot at the gathering?
Answer: 1. her brother
2. two
3. indeed
4. at Henry's
5. about ten days ago
6. a letter
7. Dicky Green
8. unknown
9. yes
10. in London
11. yes,Harvard
12. Dicky
13. some

CHAPTER XXIX

"Guess I'll have to wash my hands of him," Collins told Johnny. "I know Del Mar must have been right when he said he was the limit, but I can't get a clue to it."

This followed upon a fight between Michael and Collins. Michael, more morose than ever, had become even crusty-tempered, and, scarcely with provocation at all, had attacked the man he hated, failing, as ever, to put his teeth into him, and receiving, in turn, a couple of smashing kicks under his jaw.

"He's like a gold-mine all right all right," Collins meditated, "but I'm hanged if I can crack it, and he's getting grouchier every day. Look at him. What'd he want to jump me for? I wasn't rough with him. He's piling up a sour-ball that'll make him fight a policeman some day."

A few minutes later, one of his patrons, a tow-headed young man who was boarding and rehearsing three performing leopards at Cedarwild, was asking Collins for the loan of an Airedale.

"I've only got one left now," he explained, "and I ain't safe without two."

"What's happened to the other one?" the master-trainer queried.

"Alphonso--that's the big buck leopard--got nasty this morning and settled his hash. I had to put him out of his misery. He was gutted like a horse in the bull-ring. But he saved me all right. If it hadn't been for him I'd have got a mauling. Alphonso gets these bad streaks just about every so often. That's the second dog he's killed for me." What are the answers to this following set of questions: 1. Who fought?
2. Did they have a friendly rapport beforehand?
3. Who won the fight?
4. Whom is speaking?
5. Does Michael have an even temper?
6. What does Collins liken him to?
Answer:
1. Michael and Collins
2. No
3. unknown
4. Collins
5. No
6. A gold-mine