the scorpions (continues blair's diary) were all very merry at dinner that night—particularly at my expense. i was the only one who had not been out to bancroft road to look over the ground. apparently they had had a very cheery time.
“well, falstaff, what luck?” i asked carter.
“splendid!” he replied. “the local butcher has given me a job and i'm going to call there for a meat order tomorrow morning.”
“what!” shouted someone. “on sunday? not likely!”
i knew mighty well that carter would not concoct anything as crude as that, and wondered what deviltry he had devised.
“i noticed that two telegrams were delivered at the house this afternoon,” said forbes, in a quiet, non-committal kind of way.
“perhaps joe is on his way here,” said i. “if so, good-night!” as i spoke, i wondered rather anxiously what the other telegram could be.
“well, we saw her, anyway!” said whitney, “and she's marvellous! she wears a blue tam-o' shanter and has an ankle like a fairy tale. we saw her walk down the street.”
“that's nothing,” i retorted, “i saw her hours ago. she was on the train with us from birmingham this morning.”
this started a furious wrangle. they said i hadn't played fair, as the contest didn't begin until two o'clock. my point was that i had not transgressed the rules as i had done nothing to profit by my accident in seeing her first.
“i couldn't help seeing her, could i?” i asked. “you could have, too, if you hadn't been all frowsting over tit-bits in the train. and after all, i didn't know it was kathleen. i only suspected it.”
i changed the conversation by asking where the goblin was.
no one had noticed before that he hadn't turned up. this was a bit disconcerting. i secretly thought him the most dangerous competitor. he has a quiet, impish twinkle in his eye, and an unobtrusive way of getting what he wants. however, the others scoffed at my fears.
although they all talked a great deal about the amusing time they had had, i could not gather that they had really accomplished much. forbes claimed to have seen fred, and said he looked like a rotter. we drank kathleen's health a couple of times, and then the other three sat down to dummy bridge. i slipped away to the public library, partly to get some more of my antiquarian information about wolverhampton, and partly because i knew my absence would disquiet them.
i found the library after some difficulty. in the large reading-room i hunted up some books of reference, but to my disappointment mr. kent's volume was out. looking round for a place to sit, the first person i saw was the goblin, bent very busily over a book and making notes on a pad of paper. i leaned over him.
“hello, goblin,” i whispered. “getting ready for a first?”
he started, and tried to cover his volume with a newspaper, but i had seen it. it was a cook book.
“that's a queer kind of fiction you're mulling over,” i remarked.
“i'm looking up a recipe for stuffed eggs,” said the goblin, without a quiver. “our common room steward does them so poorly.”
“well, don't let me interrupt you,” i said. i sat down in a corner of the room with a volume of the britannica. when i next looked up the goblin was gone.
as usual, i wasted my time with the encyclopedia. i got interested in the articles on wages, warts, weather, wordsworth, and worms. by the time i got to wolverhampton it was closing time. i did just seize the information that the town was founded in 996 by wulfruna, widow of the earl of northampton. then i had to leave.
i got back to the boar about ten-thirty. the coffee-room was empty. the landlord said that whitney and forbes were out, but that mr. carter had gone upstairs.
falstaff and i were rooming together, and when i went up i found him reading in bed.
“hello, wulfruna!” he said, as i came in.
evidently he, too, had been reading up some history. just as i got into bed he fell asleep and his book dropped to the floor with a thump. i crept quietly across the room and picked it up. it was “memorials of old staffordshire,” by philip kent, f.s.a., the very copy that i had looked for at the library. i skimmed over it and then put it carefully back by falstaff's bedside. was he on the antiquarian trail, too? i began to realize that these rivals of mine would take some beating.
the next morning (sunday) i found a note waiting for me on the breakfast table. three indignant scorpions were weighing it, studying the handwriting, and examining the stationery like three broken-hearted detectives.
“it's not kathleen's hand, but i'll swear it's the same notepaper,” forbes was saying.
under a venomous gaze from all three i took the letter out of the room before opening it. forbes was right: it was the well-known bancroft road notepaper. it ran thus:
318, bancroft road,
wolverhampton
saturday evening.
dear mr. blair,
mr. dunton, the vicar of s. philip's, has just told me of your visit to him. i am so glad to know that you take an antiquarian interest in this region. curiously enough, only this afternoon we had two wires from our cousin joe in oxford, one of which mentioned your being here. that gives us additional reason for looking forward to making your acquaintance.
mrs. kent wants you to come to lunch with us to-morrow, at one o'clock. unfortunately i myself am laid up with rheumatism, but some of the family will be delighted to take you to see the quite surprising relics in this vicinity. joe has probably told you all about fred, who is really quite one of the family. the poor fellow needs exercise dreadfully; you must take him with you if you go tramping. charlie and oliver, my boys, are away at school.
don't attempt to reply to this, but just turn up at one o'clock.
sincerely yours,
philip kent.
this gave me several reasons for thought, and disregarding the appeals from the coffee-room to come in and tell them all about it, i walked into the courtyard of the inn to consider.
first, what was the other wire from joe? heavens, was he on his way from oxford to wolverhampton? if my fake telegram were discovered too soon i should be in a very embarrassing position. second, joe was a cousin, was he! one of those annoying second cousins, probably, who are close enough to the family to be a familiar figure, and yet far enough away in blood to marry the daughter! and then there was this sinister person, fred, who was “really quite one of the family.” another cousin, perhaps? what was the matter with the devil, anyway? if he needed exercise why didn't he go and get it? certainly i didn't want to spend an afternoon antiquarianizing with him. how was i to get him out of the way, so that i could get a tete-a-tete with k.?
i could see that if this game was to be played through successfully it must be played with some daring. toujours de l'audace! i thought, and let breakfast go hang. moreover, my sudden disappearance would help to demoralize my rivals. i stuck my head into the breakfast-room where priapus was just dishing out the bacon and eggs. in that instant it struck me again that the goblin was not there. i cried “ye gods!” in a loud voice, and slammed the door behind me. as i ran out of the front door i laughed at the picture of their disconcerted faces.
my idea was to lure fred away from bancroft road at all hazards. this could only be done by another telegram. and as it was sunday, the railway station was the only place to send one from. it was a beautiful, clear morning, and i hurried through the streets with exultation, but also with a good deal of nervousness as to the outcome of this shameless hoaxing. at any rate, i thought, i may as well live up to my privileges as an irresponsible american. the great kathleen excursion was beginning to take on in my mind the character of an international joust or tourney.
at the station (or at the depot as one would say at home), i sent the following message:
frederick kent,
318, bancroft road,
wolverhampton.
unavoidably detained oxford hurt leg playing soccer wish you could join me at once urgent.
joe.
i got back to the boar in time for a cold breakfast. none of the others was there. i ate with my antiquarian notes on wolverhampton propped against the coffee pot. i was determined that mr. kent should find me as intelligent as possible.
there was nothing to be done before lunch time. i read mr. kent's letter over several times, and i must confess that the mention of that other wire from joe worried me a good deal. just how far the telegram i had just sent might conflict with the facts as known to the kents, i could not surmise. i could only trust to luck and pray for the best. i learned from the chambermaid that the goblin had come in very late the night before, and had gone out at six a.m. that bothered me almost more than anything else.
finally, after hanging round the empty coffee-room for a while, i got nervous, and determined to go to morning service at st. philip's. there would be plenty of time to get out to bancroft road afterward, and perhaps kathleen would be at church and i could get a distant view of her. i walked round to the church. service had begun, but i went in and sat down at the back. during a hymn i took a good look round. to my horror i saw in a pew a few feet in front of me a young person whose robust outline seemed familiar. i looked again. it was falstaff carter in the get-up of a curate. trembling with indignation, i crept out of the church. i hardly dared speculate on what low device he had planned for winning his way into the sanctum.
at any rate, i thought, i am fixed for lunch: once i get there, i guess i can gain ground as fast as any pseudo-curate. i ran over my antiquarian data another time.
it was half-past twelve, and i was just brushing my hair for the third time, preparatory to starting for bancroft road, when the chambermaid came to the bedroom door. “this note was just left for you, sir.” i tore it open.
bancroft road,
sunday morning.
my dear mr. blair,
i am afraid you will think it very strange, but, owing to a sudden domestic disarrangement, will you come to supper, this evening, instead of to luncheon? i am exceedingly embarrassed to have to make this change, but (to be quite frank) one of our maids has been taken ill, and our luncheon to-day will have to be a haphazard affair. we are also rather distressed by strange news from our cousin at oxford.
but we shall be very happy to see you at supper time, seven o'clock.
cordially yours,
philip kent.
it came over me that this was pretty dirty work we were putting up on the poor gentleman, and i suddenly felt thoroughly ashamed of myself. i don't know whether any of the others came back to the boar for lunch, or not. i put on my cap and went for a long walk in the country, out toward tettenhall wood. i didn't come back until tea time.
