for a long time it had been arranged they all should go to the harvard and yale game in winthrop's car. it was perfectly well understood. even peabody, who pictured himself and miss forbes in the back of the car, with her brother and winthrop in front, condescended to approve. it was necessary to invite peabody because it was his great good fortune to be engaged to miss forbes. her brother sam had been invited, not only because he could act as chaperon for his sister, but because since they were at st. paul's, winthrop and he, either as participants or spectators, had never missed going together to the yale-harvard game. and beatrice forbes herself had been invited because she was herself.
when at nine o'clock on the morning of the game, winthrop stopped the car in front of her door, he was in love with all the world. in the november air there was a sting like frost-bitten cider, in the sky there was a brilliant, beautiful sun, in the wind was the tingling touch of three ice-chilled rivers. and in the big house facing central park, outside of which his prancing steed of brass and scarlet chugged and protested and trembled with impatience, was the most wonderful girl in all the world. it was true she was engaged to be married, and not to him. but she was not yet married. and to-day it would be his privilege to carry her through the state of new york and the state of connecticut, and he would snatch glimpses of her profile rising from the rough fur collar, of her wind-blown hair, of the long, lovely lashes under the gray veil.
"'shall be together, breathe and ride, so, one day more am i deified;'" whispered the young man in the scarlet car; "'who knows but the world may end to-night?'"
as he waited at the curb, other great touring-cars, of every speed and shape, in the mad race for the boston post road, and the town of new haven, swept up fifth avenue. some rolled and puffed like tugboats in a heavy seaway, others glided by noiseless and proud as private yachts. but each flew the colors of blue or crimson.
winthrop's car, because her brother had gone to one college, and he had played right end for the other, was draped impartially. and so every other car mocked or cheered it, and in one a bare-headed youth stood up, and shouted to his fellows: "look! there's billy winthrop! three times three for old billy winthrop!" and they lashed the air with flags, and sent his name echoing over central park.
winthrop grinned in embarrassment, and waved his hand. a bicycle cop, and fred, the chauffeur, were equally impressed.
"was they the harvoids, sir?" asked fred.
"they was," said winthrop.
her brother sam came down the steps carrying sweaters and steamer-rugs. but he wore no holiday countenance.
"what do you think?" he demanded indignantly. "ernest peabody's inside making trouble. his sister has a pullman on one of the special trains, and he wants beatrice to go with her."
in spite of his furs, the young man in the car turned quite cold. "not with us?" he gasped.
miss forbes appeared at the house door, followed by ernest peabody. he wore an expression of disturbed dignity; she one of distressed amusement. that she also wore her automobile coat caused the heart of winthrop to leap hopefully.
"winthrop," said peabody, "i am in rather an embarrassing position. my sister, mrs. taylor holbrooke"—he spoke the name as though he were announcing it at the door of a drawing-room—"desires miss forbes to go with her. she feels accidents are apt to occur with motor cars—and there are no other ladies in your party—and the crowds——"
winthrop carefully avoided looking at miss forbes. "i should be very sorry," he murmured.
"ernest!" said miss forbes, "i explained it was impossible for me to go with your sister. we would be extremely rude to mr. winthrop. how do you wish us to sit?" she asked.
she mounted to the rear seat, and made room opposite her for peabody.
"do i understand, beatrice," began peabody in a tone that instantly made every one extremely uncomfortable, "that i am to tell my sister you are not coming?"
"ernest!" begged miss forbes.
winthrop bent hastily over the oil valves. he read the speedometer, which was, as usual, out of order, with fascinated interest.
"ernest," pleaded miss forbes,
"mr. winthrop and sam planned this trip for us a long time ago—to give us a little pleasure——"
"then," said peabody in a hollow voice, "you have decided?"
"ernest," cried miss forbes, "don't look at me as though you meant to hurl the curse of rome. i have. jump in. please!"
"i will bid you good-by," said peabody; "i have only just time to catch our train."
miss forbes rose and moved to the door of the car.
"i had better not go with any one," she said in a low voice.
"you will go with me," commanded her brother. "come on, ernest."
"thank you, no," replied peabody. "i have promised my sister."
"all right, then," exclaimed sam briskly, "see you at the game. section h. don't forget. let her out, billy."
with a troubled countenance winthrop bent forward and clasped the clutch.
"better come, peabody," he said.
"i thank you, no," repeated peabody. "i must go with my sister."
as the car glided forward brother sam sighed heavily.
"my! but he's got a mean disposition," he said. "he has quite spoiled my day."
he chuckled wickedly, but winthrop pretended not to hear, and his sister maintained an expression of utter dejection.
but to maintain an expression of utter dejection is very difficult when the sun is shining, when you are flying at the rate of forty miles an hour, and when in the cars you pass foolish youths wave yale flags at you, and take advantage of the day to cry: "three cheers for the girl in the blue hat!"
and to entirely remove the last trace of the gloom that peabody had forced upon them, it was necessary only for a tire to burst. of course for this effort, the tire chose the coldest and most fiercely windswept portion of the pelham road, where from the broad waters of the sound pneumonia and the grip raced rampant, and where to the touch a steel wrench was not to be distinguished from a piece of ice. but before the wheels had ceased to complain, winthrop and fred were out of their fur coats, down on their knees, and jacking up the axle.
"on an expedition of this sort," said brother sam, "whatever happens, take it as a joke. fortunately," he explained, "i don't understand fixing inner tubes, so i will get out and smoke. i have noticed that when a car breaks down, there is always one man who paces up and down the road and smokes. his hope is to fool passing cars into thinking that the people in his car stopped to admire the view."
recognizing the annual football match as intended solely to replenish the town coffers, the thrifty townsfolk of rye, with bicycles and red flags, were, as usual, and regardless of the speed at which it moved, levying tribute on every second car that entered their hospitable boundaries. but before the scarlet car reached rye, small boys of the town, possessed of a sporting spirit, or of an inherited instinct for graft, were waiting to give a noisy notice of the ambush. and so, fore-warned, the scarlet car crawled up the main street of rye as demurely as a baby-carriage, and then, having safely reached a point directly in front of the police station, with a loud and ostentatious report, blew up another tire.
"well," said sam crossly, "they can't arrest us for speeding."
"whatever happens," said his sister, "take it as a joke."
two miles outside of stamford, brother sam burst into open mutiny.
"every car in the united states has passed us," he declared. "we won't get there, at this rate, till the end of the first half. hit her up, can't you, billy?"
"she seems to have an illness," said winthrop unhappily. "i think i'd save time if i stopped now and fixed her."
shamefacedly fred and he hid themselves under the body of the car, and a sound of hammering and stentorian breathing followed. of them all that was visible was four feet beating a tattoo on the road. miss forbes got out winthrop's camera, and took a snap-shot of the scene.
"i will call it," she said, "the idle rich."
brother sam gazed morosely in the direction of new haven. they had halted within fifty yards of the railroad tracks, and as each special train, loaded with happy enthusiasts, raced past them he groaned.
"the only one of us that showed any common sense was ernest," he declared, "and you turned him down. i am going to take a trolley to stamford, and the first train to new haven."
"you are not," said his sister; "i will not desert mr. winthrop, and you cannot desert me."
brother sam sighed, and seated himself on a rock.
"do you think, billy," he asked, "you can get us to cambridge in time for next year's game?"
the car limped into stamford, and while it went into drydock at the garage, brother sam fled to the railroad station, where he learned that for the next two hours no train that recognized new haven spoke to stamford.
"that being so," said winthrop, "while we are waiting for the car, we had better get a quick lunch now, and then push on."
"push," exclaimed brother sam darkly, "is what we are likely to do."
after behaving with perfect propriety for half an hour, just outside of bridgeport the scarlet car came to a slow and sullen stop, and once more the owner and the chauffeur hid their shame beneath it, and attacked its vitals. twenty minutes later, while they still were at work, there approached from bridgeport a young man in a buggy. when he saw the mass of college colors on the scarlet car, he pulled his horse down to a walk, and as he passed raised his hat.
"at the end of the first half," he said, "the score was a tie."
"don't mention it," said brother sam.
"now," he cried, "we've got to turn back, and make for new york. if we start quick, we may get there ahead of the last car to leave new haven."
"i am going to new haven, and in this car," declared his sister. "i must go—to meet ernest."
"if ernest has as much sense as he showed this morning," returned her affectionate brother, "ernest will go to his pullman and stay there. as i told you, the only sure way to get anywhere is by railroad train."
when they passed through bridgeport it was so late that the electric lights of fairview avenue were just beginning to sputter and glow in the twilight, and as they came along the shore road into new haven, the first car out of new haven in the race back to new york leaped at them with siren shrieks of warning, and dancing, dazzling eyes. it passed like a thing driven by the furies; and before the scarlet car could swing back into what had been an empty road, in swift pursuit of the first came many more cars, with blinding searchlights, with a roar of throbbing, thrashing engines, flying pebbles, and whirling wheels. and behind these, stretching for a twisted mile, came hundreds of others; until the road was aflame with flashing will-o'-the-wisps, dancing fireballs, and long, shifting shafts of light.
miss forbes sat in front, beside winthrop, and it pleased her to imagine, as they bent forward, peering into the night, that together they were facing so many fiery dragons, speeding to give them battle, to grind them under their wheels. she felt the elation of great speed, of imminent danger. her blood tingled with the air from the wind-swept harbor, with the rush of the great engines, as by a handbreadth they plunged past her. she knew they were driven by men and half-grown boys, joyous with victory, piqued by defeat, reckless by one touch too much of liquor, and that the young man at her side was driving, not only for himself, but for them.
each fraction of a second a dazzling light blinded him, and he swerved to let the monster, with a hoarse, bellowing roar, pass by, and then again swept his car into the road. and each time for greater confidence she glanced up into his face.
throughout the mishaps of the day he had been deeply concerned for her comfort, sorry for her disappointment, under brother sam's indignant ironies patient, and at all times gentle and considerate. now, in the light from the onrushing cars, she noted his alert, laughing eyes, the broad shoulders bent across the wheel, the lips smiling with excitement and in the joy of controlling, with a turn of the wrist, a power equal to sixty galloping horses. she found in his face much comfort. and in the fact that for the moment her safety lay in his hands, a sense of pleasure. that this was her feeling puzzled and disturbed her, for to ernest peabody it seemed, in some way, disloyal. and yet there it was. of a certainty, there was the secret pleasure in the thought that if they escaped unhurt from the trap in which they found themselves, it would be due to him. to herself she argued that if the chauffeur were driving, her feeling would be the same, that it was the nerve, the skill, and the coolness, not the man, that moved her admiration. but in her heart she knew it would not be the same.
at west haven green winthrop turned out of the track of the racing monsters into a quiet street leading to the railroad station, and with a half-sigh, half-laugh, leaned back comfortably.
"those lights coming up suddenly make it hard to see," he said.
"hard to breathe," snorted sam; "since that first car missed us, i haven't drawn an honest breath. i held on so tight that i squeezed the hair out of the cushions."
when they reached the railroad station, and sam had finally fought his way to the station master, that half-crazed official informed him he had missed the departure of mrs. taylor holbrooke's car by just ten minutes.
brother sam reported this state of affairs to his companions.
"god knows we asked for the fish first," he said; "so now we've done our duty by ernest, who has shamefully deserted us, and we can get something to eat, and go home at our leisure. as i have always told you, the only way to travel independently is in a touring-car."
at the new haven house they bought three waiters, body and soul, and, in spite of the fact that in the very next room the team was breaking training, obtained an excellent but chaotic dinner; and by eight they were on their way back to the big city.
the night was grandly beautiful. the waters of the sound flashed in the light of a cold, clear moon, which showed them, like pictures in silver print, the sleeping villages through which they passed, the ancient elms, the low-roofed cottages, the town hall facing the common. the post road was again empty, and the car moved as steadily as a watch.
"just because it knows we don't care now when we get there," said brother sam, "you couldn't make it break down with an axe."
from the rear, where he sat with fred, he announced he was going to sleep, and asked that he be not awakened until the car had crossed the state line between connecticut and new york. winthrop doubted if he knew the state line of new york.
"it is where the advertisements for besse baker's twenty-seven stores cease," said sam drowsily, "and the billposters of ethel barrymore begin."
in the front of the car the two young people spoke only at intervals, but winthrop had never been so widely alert, so keenly happy, never before so conscious of her presence.
and it seemed as they glided through the mysterious moonlit world of silent villages, shadowy woods, and wind-swept bays and inlets, from which, as the car rattled over the planks of the bridges, the wild duck rose in noisy circles, they alone were awake and living.
the silence had lasted so long that it was as eloquent as words. the young man turned his eyes timorously, and sought those of the girl. what he felt was so strong in him that it seemed incredible she should be ignorant of it. his eyes searched the gray veil. in his voice there was both challenge and pleading.
"'shall be together,'" he quoted, "'breathe and ride. so, one day more am i deified; who knows but the world may end to-night?'"
the moonlight showed the girl's eyes shining through the veil, and regarding him steadily.
"if you don't stop this car quick," she said, "the world will end for all of us."
he shot a look ahead, and so suddenly threw on the brake that sam and the chauffeur tumbled awake. across the road stretched the great bulk of a touring-car, its lamps burning dully in the brilliance of the moon. around it, for greater warmth, a half-dozen figures stamped upon the frozen ground, and beat themselves with their arms. sam and the chauffeur vaulted into the road, and went toward them.
"it's what you say, and the way you say it," the girl explained. she seemed to be continuing an argument. "it makes it so very difficult for us to play together."
the young man clasped the wheel as though the force he were holding in check were much greater than sixty horse-power.
"you are not married yet, are you?" he demanded.
the girl moved her head.
"and when you are married, there will probably be an altar from which you will turn to walk back up the aisle?"
"well?" said the girl.
"well," he answered explosively, "until you turn away from that altar, i do not recognize the right of any man to keep me quiet, or your right either. why should i be held by your engagement? i was not consulted about it. i did not give my consent, did i? i tell you, you are the only woman in the world i will ever marry, and if you think i am going to keep silent and watch some one else carry you off without making a fight for you, you don't know me."
"if you go on," said the girl, "it will mean that i shall not see you again."
"then i will write letters to you."
"i will not read them," said the girl. the young man laughed defiantly.
"oh, yes, you will read them!" he pounded his gauntleted fist on the rim of the wheel. "you mayn't answer them, but if i can write the way i feel, i will bet you'll read them."
his voice changed suddenly, and he began to plead. it was as though she were some masculine giant bullying a small boy.
"you are not fair to me," he protested. "i do not ask you to be kind, i ask you to be fair. i am fighting for what means more to me than anything in this world, and you won't even listen. why should i recognize any other men! all i recognize is that i am the man who loves you, that 'i am the man at your feet.' that is all i know, that i love you."
the girl moved as though with the cold, and turned her head from him.
"i love you," repeated the young man.
the girl breathed like one who has been swimming under water, but, when she spoke, her voice was calm and contained.
"please!" she begged, "don't you see how unfair it is. i can't go away; i have to listen."
the young man pulled himself upright, and pressed his lips together.
"i beg your pardon," he whispered.
there was for some time an unhappy silence, and then winthrop added bitterly: "methinks the punishment exceeds the offence."
"do you think you make it easy for me?" returned the girl.
she considered it most ungenerous of him to sit staring into the moonlight, looking so miserable that it made her heart ache to comfort him, and so extremely handsome that to do so was quite impossible. she would have liked to reach out her hand and lay it on his arm, and tell him she was sorry, but she could not. he should not have looked so unnecessarily handsome.
sam came running toward them with five grizzly bears, who balanced themselves apparently with some slight effort upon their hind legs. the grizzly bears were properly presented as: "tommy todd, of my class, and some more like him. and," continued sam, "i am going to quit you two and go with them. tom's car broke down, but fred fixed it, and both our cars can travel together. sort of convoy," he explained.
his sister signalled eagerly, but with equal eagerness he retreated from her.
"believe me," he assured her soothingly, "i am just as good a chaperon fifty yards behind you, and wide awake, as i am in the same car and fast asleep. and, besides, i want to hear about the game. and, what's more, two cars are much safer than one. suppose you two break down in a lonely place? we'll be right behind you to pick you up. you will keep winthrop's car in sight, won't you, tommy?" he said.
the grizzly bear called tommy, who had been examining the scarlet car, answered doubtfully that the only way he could keep it in sight was by tying a rope to it.
"that's all right, then," said sam briskly, "winthrop will go slow."
so the scarlet car shot forward with sometimes the second car so far in the rear that they could only faintly distinguish the horn begging them to wait, and again it would follow so close upon their wheels that they heard the five grizzly bears chanting beseechingly
oh, bring this wagon home, john,
it will not hold us a-all.
for some time there was silence in the scarlet car, and then winthrop broke it by laughing.
"first, i lose peabody," he explained, "then i lose sam, and now, after i throw fred overboard, i am going to drive you into stamford, where they do not ask runaway couples for a license, and marry you."
the girl smiled comfortably. in that mood she was not afraid of him.
she lifted her face, and stretched out her arms as though she were drinking in the moonlight.
"it has been such a good day," she said simply, "and i am really so very happy."
"i shall be equally frank," said winthrop. "so am i."
for two hours they had been on the road, and were just entering fairport. for some long time the voices of the pursuing grizzlies had been lost in the far distance.
"the road's up," said miss forbes.
she pointed ahead to two red lanterns.
"it was all right this morning," exclaimed winthrop.
the car was pulled down to eight miles an hour, and, trembling and snorting at the indignity, nosed up to the red lanterns.
they showed in a ruddy glow the legs of two men.
"you gotta stop!" commanded a voice.
"why?" asked winthrop.
the voice became embodied in the person of a tall man, with a long overcoat and a drooping mustache.
"'cause i tell you to!" snapped the tall man.
winthrop threw a quick glance to the rear. in that direction for a mile the road lay straight away. he could see its entire length, and it was empty. in thinking of nothing but miss forbes, he had forgotten the chaperon. he was impressed with the fact that the immediate presence of a chaperon was desirable. directly in front of the car, blocking its advance, were two barrels, with a two-inch plank sagging heavily between them. beyond that the main street of fairport lay steeped in slumber and moonlight.
"i am a selectman," said the one with the lantern. "you been exceedin' our speed limit."
the chauffeur gave a gasp that might have been construed to mean that the charge amazed and shocked him.
"that is not possible," winthrop answered. "i have been going very slow—on purpose—to allow a disabled car to keep up with me."
the selectman looked down the road.
"it ain't kep' up with you," he said pointedly.
"it has until the last few minutes."
"it's the last few minutes we're talking about," returned the man who had not spoken. he put his foot on the step of the car.
"what are you doing?" asked winthrop.
"i am going to take you to judge allen's. i am chief of police. you are under arrest."
before winthrop rose moving pictures of miss forbes appearing in a dirty police station before an officious dogberry, and, as he and his car were well known along the post road, appearing the next morning in the new york papers. "william winthrop," he saw the printed words, "son of endicott winthrop, was arrested here this evening, with a young woman who refused to give her name, but who was recognized as miss beatrice forbes, whose engagement to ernest peabody, the reform candidate on the independent ticket——"
and, of course, peabody would blame her.
"if i have exceeded your speed limit," he said politely, "i shall be delighted to pay the fine. how much is it?"
"judge allen'll tell you what the fine is," said the selectman gruffly. "and he may want bail."
"bail?" demanded winthrop. "do you mean to tell me he will detain us here?"
"he will, if he wants to," answered the chief of police combatively.
for an instant winthrop sat gazing gloomily ahead, overcome apparently by the enormity of his offence. he was calculating whether, if he rammed the two-inch plank, it would hit the car or miss forbes. he decided swiftly it would hit his new two-hundred-dollar lamps. as swiftly he decided the new lamps must go. but he had read of guardians of the public safety so regardless of private safety as to try to puncture runaway tires with pistol bullets. he had no intention of subjecting miss forbes to a fusillade.
so he whirled upon the chief of police:
"take your hand off that gun!" he growled. "how dare you threaten me?"
amazed, the chief of police dropped from the step and advanced indignantly.
"me?" he demanded. "i ain't got a gun. what you mean by——"
with sudden intelligence, the chauffeur precipitated himself upon the scene.
"it's the other one," he shouted. he shook an accusing finger at the selectman. "he pointed it at the lady."
to miss forbes the realism of fred's acting was too convincing. to learn that one is covered with a loaded revolver is disconcerting. miss forbes gave a startled squeak, and ducked her head.
winthrop roared aloud at the selectman.
"how dare you frighten the lady!" he cried. "take your hand off that gun."
"what you talkin' about?" shouted the selectman. "the idea of my havin' a gun! i haven't got a——"
"all right, fred!" cried winthrop. "low bridge."
there was a crash of shattered glass and brass, of scattered barrel staves, the smell of escaping gas, and the scarlet car was flying drunkenly down the main street.
"what are they doing now, fred?" called the owner.
fred peered over the stern of the flying car.
"the constable's jumping around the road," he replied, "and the long one's leaning against a tree. no, he's climbing the tree. i can't make out what he's doing."
"i know!" cried miss forbes; her voice vibrated with excitement. defiance of the law had thrilled her with unsuspected satisfaction; her eyes were dancing. "there was a telephone fastened to the tree, a hand telephone. they are sending word to some one. they're trying to head us off."
winthrop brought the car to a quick halt.
"we're in a police trap!" he said. fred leaned forward and whispered to his employer. his voice also vibrated with the joy of the chase.
"this'll be our third arrest," he said. "that means——"
"i know what it means," snapped winthrop. "tell me how we can get out of here."
"we can't get out of here, sir, unless we go back. going south, the bridge is the only way out."
"the bridge!" winthrop struck the wheel savagely with his knuckles. "i forgot their confounded bridge!" he turned to miss forbes. "fairport is a sort of island," he explained.
"but after we're across the bridge," urged the chauffeur, "we needn't keep to the post road no more. we can turn into stone ridge, and strike south to white plains. then——"
"we haven't crossed the bridge yet," growled winthrop. his voice had none of the joy of the others; he was greatly perturbed. "look back," he commanded, "and see if there is any sign of those boys."
he was now quite willing to share responsibility. but there was no sign of the yale men, and, unattended, the scarlet car crept warily forward. ahead of it, across the little reed-grown inlet, stretched their road of escape, a long wooden bridge, lying white in the moonlight.
"i don't see a soul," whispered miss forbes.
"anybody at that draw?" asked winthrop. unconsciously his voice also had sunk to a whisper.
"no," returned fred. "i think the man that tends the draw goes home at night; there is no light there."
"well then," said winthrop, with an anxious sigh, "we've got to make a dash for it."
the car shot forward, and, as it leaped lightly upon the bridge, there was a rapid rumble of creaking boards.
between it and the highway to new york lay only two hundred yards of track, straight and empty.
in his excitement the chauffeur rose from the rear seat.
"they'll never catch us now," he muttered. "they'll never catch us!"
but even as he spoke there grated harshly the creak of rusty chains on a cogged wheel, the rattle of a brake. the black figure of a man with waving arms ran out upon the draw, and the draw gaped slowly open.
when the car halted there was between it and the broken edge of the bridge twenty feet of running water.
at the same moment from behind it came a patter of feet, and winthrop turned to see racing toward them some dozen young men of fairport. they surrounded him with noisy, raucous, belligerent cries. they were, as they proudly informed him, members of the fairport "volunteer fire department." that they might purchase new uniforms, they had arranged a trap for the automobiles returning in illegal haste from new haven. in fines they had collected $300, and it was evident that already some of that money had been expended in bad whiskey. as many as could do so crowded into the car, others hung to the running boards and step, others ran beside it. they rejoiced over winthrop's unsuccessful flight and capture with violent and humiliating laughter.
for the day, judge allen had made a temporary court in the clubroom of the fire department, which was over the engine house; and the proceedings were brief and decisive. the selectman told how winthrop, after first breaking the speed law, had broken arrest and judge allen, refusing to fine him and let him go, held him and his companions for a hearing the following morning. he fixed the amount of bail at $500 each; failing to pay this, they would for the night be locked up in different parts of the engine house, which, it developed, contained on the ground floor the home of the fire engine, on the second floor the clubroom, on alternate nights, of the firemen, the local g. a. r., and the knights of pythias, and in its cellar the town jail.
winthrop and the chauffeur the learned judge condemned to the cells in the basement. as a concession, he granted miss forbes the freedom of the entire clubroom to herself.
the objections raised by winthrop to this arrangement were of a nature so violent, so vigorous, at one moment so specious and conciliatory, and the next so abusive, that his listeners were moved by awe, but not to pity.
in his indignation, judge allen rose to reply, and as, the better to hear him, the crowd pushed forward, fred gave way before it, until he was left standing in sullen gloom upon its outer edge. in imitation of the real firemen of the great cities, the vamps of fairport had cut a circular hole in the floor of their clubroom, and from the engine room below had reared a sliding pole of shining brass. when leaving their clubroom, it was always their pleasure to scorn the stairs and, like real firemen, slide down this pole. it had not escaped the notice of fred, and since his entrance he had been gravitating toward it.
as the voice of the judge rose in violent objurgation, and all eyes were fixed upon him, the chauffeur crooked his leg tightly about the brass pole, and, like the devil in the pantomime, sank softly and swiftly through the floor.
the irate judge was shaking his finger in winthrop's face.
"don't you try to teach me no law," he shouted; "i know what i can do. ef my darter went gallivantin' around nights in one of them automobiles, it would serve her right to get locked up. maybe this young woman will learn to stay at home nights with her folks. she ain't goin' to take no harm here. the constable sits up all night downstairs in the fire engine room, and that sofa's as good a place to sleep as the hotel. if you want me to let her go to the hotel, why don't you send to your folks and bail her out?"
"you know damn well why i don't," returned winthrop. "i don't intend to give the newspapers and you and these other idiots the chance to annoy her further. this young lady's brother has been with us all day; he left us only by accident, and by forcing her to remain here alone you are acting outrageously. if you knew anything of decency, or law, you'd——"
"i know this much!" roared the justice triumphantly, pointing his spectacle-case at miss forbes. "i know her name ain't lizzie borden and yours ain't charley ross."
winthrop crossed to where miss forbes stood in a corner. she still wore her veil, but through it, though her face was pale, she smiled at him.
his own distress was undisguised.
"i can never forgive myself," he said.
"nonsense!" replied miss forbes briskly. "you were perfectly right. if we had sent for any one, it would have had to come out. now, we'll pay the fine in the morning and get home, and no one will know anything of it excepting the family and mr. peabody, and they'll understand. but if i ever lay hands on my brother sam!"—she clasped her fingers together helplessly. "to think of his leaving you to spend the night in a cell——"
winthrop interrupted her.
"i will get one of these men to send his wife or sister over to stay with you," he said.
but miss forbes protested that she did not want a companion. the constable would protect her, she said, and she would sit up all night and read. she nodded at the periodicals on the club table.
"this is the only chance i may ever have," she said, "to read the 'police gazette'!"
"you ready there?" called the constable.
"good-night," said winthrop.
under the eyes of the grinning yokels, they shook hands.
"good-night," said the girl.
"where's your young man?" demanded the chief of police.
"my what?" inquired winthrop.
"the young fellow that was with you when we held you up that first time."
the constable, or the chief of police as he called himself, on the principle that if there were only one policeman he must necessarily be the chief, glanced hastily over the heads of the crowd.
"any of you holding that shoffer?" he called.
no one was holding the chauffeur.
the chauffeur had vanished.
the cell to which the constable led winthrop was in a corner of the cellar in which formerly coal had been stored. this corner was now fenced off with boards, and a wooden door with chain and padlock.
high in the wall, on a level with the ground, was the opening, or window, through which the coal had been dumped. this window now was barricaded with iron bars. winthrop tested the door by shaking it, and landed a heavy kick on one of the hinges. it gave slightly, and emitted a feeble groan.
"what you tryin' to do?" demanded the constable. "that's town property."
in the light of the constable's lantern, winthrop surveyed his cell with extreme dissatisfaction.
"i call this a cheap cell," he said.
"it's good enough for a cheap sport," returned the constable. it was so overwhelming a retort that after the constable had turned the key in the padlock, and taken himself and his lantern to the floor above, winthrop could hear him repeating it to the volunteer firemen. they received it with delighted howls.
for an hour, on the three empty boxes that formed his bed, winthrop sat, with his chin on his fists, planning the nameless atrocities he would inflict upon the village of fairport. compared to his tortures, those of neuremberg were merely reprimands. also he considered the particular punishment he would mete out to sam forbes for his desertion of his sister, and to fred. he could not understand fred. it was not like the chauffeur to think only of himself. nevertheless, for abandoning miss forbes in the hour of need, fred must be discharged. he had, with some regret, determined upon this discipline, when from directly over his head the voice of fred hailed him cautiously.
"mr. winthrop," the voice called, "are you there?"
to winthrop the question seemed superfluous. he jumped to his feet, and peered up into the darkness.
"where are you?" he demanded.
"at the window," came the answer. "we're in the back yard. mr. sam wants to speak to you."
on miss forbes's account, winthrop gave a gasp of relief. on his own, one of savage satisfaction.
"and i want to speak to him!" he whispered.
the moonlight, which had been faintly shining through the iron bars of the coal chute, was eclipsed by a head and shoulders. the comfortable voice of sam forbes greeted him in a playful whisper.
"hullo, billy! you down there?"
"where the devil did you think i was?" winthrop answered at white heat. "let me tell you if i was not down here i'd be punching your head."
"that's all right, billy," sam answered soothingly. "but i'll save you just the same. it shall never be said of sam forbes he deserted a comrade——"
"stop that! do you know," winthrop demanded fiercely, "that your sister is a prisoner upstairs?"
"i do," replied the unfeeling brother, "but she won't be long. all the low-comedy parts are out now arranging a rescue."
"who are? todd and those boys?" demanded winthrop. "they mustn't think of it! they'll only make it worse. it is impossible to get your sister out of here with those drunken firemen in the building. you must wait till they've gone home. do you hear me?"
"pardon me!" returned sam stiffly, "but this is my relief expedition. i have sent two of the boys to hold the bridge, like horatius, and two to guard the motors, and the others are going to entice the firemen away from the engine house."
"entice them? how?" demanded winthrop. "they're drunk, and they won't leave here till morning."
outside the engine house, suspended from a heavy cross-bar, was a steel rail borrowed from a railroad track, and bent into a hoop. when hit with a sledge-hammer it proclaimed to fairport that the "consuming element" was at large.
at the moment winthrop asked his question, over the village of fairport and over the bay and marshes, and far out across the sound, the great steel bar sent forth a shuddering boom of warning.
from the room above came a wild tumult of joyous yells.
"fire!" shrieked the vamps, "fire!"
the two men crouching by the cellar window heard the rush of feet, the engine banging and bumping across the sidewalk, its brass bell clanking crazily, the happy vamps shouting hoarse, incoherent orders.
through the window sam lowered a bag of tools he had taken from winthrop's car.
"can you open the lock with any of these?" he asked.
"i can kick it open!" yelled winthrop joyfully. "get to your sister, quick!"
he threw his shoulder against the door, and the staples flying before him sent him sprawling in the coal-dust. when he reached the head of the stairs, beatrice forbes was descending from the clubroom, and in front of the door the two cars, with their lamps unlit and numbers hidden, were panting to be free.
and in the north, reaching to the sky, rose a roaring column of flame, shameless in the pale moonlight, dragging into naked day the sleeping village, the shingled houses, the clock-face in the church steeple.
"what the devil have you done?" gasped winthrop.
before he answered, sam waited until the cars were rattling to safety across the bridge.
"we have been protecting the face of nature," he shouted. "the only way to get that gang out of the engine house was to set fire to something. tommy wanted to burn up the railroad station, because he doesn't like the new york and new haven, and fred was for setting fire to judge allen's house, because he was rude to beatrice. but we finally formed the village improvement society, organized to burn all advertising signs. you know those that stood in the marshes, and hid the view from the trains, so that you could not see the sound. we chopped them down and put them in a pile, and poured gasolene on them, and that fire is all that is left of the pickles, fly-screens, and pills."
it was midnight when the cars drew up at the door of the house of forbes. anxiously waiting in the library were mrs. forbes and ernest peabody.
"at last!" cried mrs. forbes, smiling her relief; "we thought maybe sam and you had decided to spend the night in new haven."
"no," said miss forbes, "there was some talk about spending the night at fairport, but we pushed right on."
