Aladdin & Co.: A Romance of Yankee Magic
congratulate herself."
Mr. Barr-Smith's fingers sought his glass, as if the impulse were on him
to propose a toast; but the liquid facilities being absent, he relapsed
into a conversation with Mrs. Hinckley.
"I'd say those things, too, if I were in his place," came the words of
Giddings, overshooting their mark, the ear of Miss Addison; "but it's
all rot. He's disgusted with the whole barbarous outfit of us."
"I am becoming curious," was the _sotto voce_ reply, "to know upon what
model you found your conduct, Mr. Giddings."
"I know what you mean," said Mr. Giddings. "But I have adopted Iago."
"Why, Mr. Giddings! How shocking! Iago--"
"Now, don't be horrified," said Giddings, with an air of candor, "but
look at it from a practical standpoint. If Othello hadn't been such a
fool, Iago would have made his point all right. He had a right to be
sore at Othello for promoting Cassio over his head, and his scheme was a
good one, if Othello hadn't gone crazy. Iago is dominated by reason and
the principle of the survival of the fittest. He is an agreeable
fellow--"
Miss Addison, with a charming mixture of tragedy and archness,
suppressed this blasphemy by a gesture suggestive of placing her hand
over the editor's mouth.
"Ah, Mrs. Hinckley, you shouldn't do us such an injustice!" It was Mr.
Cornish, who took the center of the stage now. "You seem to fail to
realize the fact that, in any given gathering, the influence of woman is
dominant; and as the entire life of the nation is the sum total of such
gatherings, woman is already in control. Now how can you fail to admit
this?"
I missed the rather extended reply of Mrs. Hinckley, in noting the
evident impression made upon the company by this first utterance of the
mysterious Cornish. It was not what he said: that was not important. It
was the dark, bearded face, the jetty eyes, and above all, I think, the
voice, with its clear, carrying quality, combining penetrativeness with
a repression of force which gave one the feeling of being addressed in
confidence. Every man, and especially every woman, in the company,
looked fixedly upon him, until he ceased to speak--all except Josie.
She darted at him one look, a mere momentary scrutiny, and as he
discoursed of woman and her power, she seemed to lose herself in
contemplation of her plate. The blush upon her cheek became more rosy,
and a little smile, with something in it which was not of pleasure,
played about the corners of her mouth. I was about to offer her the
traditional bargain-counter price for her thoughts, when my attention
was commanded by Jim's voice, answering some remark of Antonia's.
"This is the merest curtain-riser, just a sort of kick-off," he was
saying. "In a year or two this valley will be _the_ pleasure-ground of
all the countryside, a hundred miles around. This tent will be replaced
by a restaurant and auditorium. The conventions and public gatherings of
the state will be held here--there is no other place for 'em; and our
railway will bring the folks out from town. There will be baseball
grounds, and facilities for all sorts of sports; and outings and games
will center here. I promise you the next regatta of the State Rowing
Association, and a street-car line landing passengers where we now sit."
"Hear, hear!" said Mr. Barr-Smith, and the company clapped hands in
applause.
Mr. Hinckley was introduced by Jim as "one who had seen Lynhurst Park
when it was Indian hunting-ground"; and made a speech in which he
welcomed Mr. Cornish as a new citizen who was already prominent. Dining
in this valley, he said, reminded him of the time when he and two other
guests now present had, on almost the identical spot, dined on venison
dressed and cooked where it fell. Then Lattimore was a trading-post on
the frontier, surrounded by the tepees of Indians, and uncertain as to
its lease of life. General Lattimore, who shot the deer, or Mr.
Macdonald, who helped eat it, could either of them tell more about it.
Mr. Barr-Smith and our other British guest might judge of the rapidity
of development in this country, where a man may see in his lifetime
progress which in the older states and countries could be discerned by
the student of history only.
Mr. Cornish very briefly thanked Mr. Hinckley for his words of welcome;
but begged to be excused from making any extended remarks. Deeds were
rather more in his line than words.
"Title-deeds," said Giddings under his breath, "as the real-estate
transfers show!"
General Lattimore verified Mr. Hinckley's statement concerning the meal
of venison; and, politely expressing pleasure at being present at a
function which seemed to be regarded as of so much importance to the
welfare of the town in which he had always taken the pride of a
godfather, resumed his seat without adding anything to the oratory of
the boom.
"In fact," said Captain Tolliver to me, "I wahned Mr. Elkins against
having him hyah. In any mattah of progress he's a wet blanket, and has
proved himself such by these remahks."
Mr. Barr-Smith, in response to the allusions to him, assured us that the
presence of people such as he had had the pleasure of meeting in
Lattimore was sufficient in itself to account for the forward movement
in the community, which the visitor could not fail to observe.
"In a state of society where people are not averse to changing their
abodes," he said, "and where the social atom, if I may so express
myself, is in a state of mobility, the presence of such magnets as our
toastmaster, and the other gentlemen to whose courteous remarks I am
responding, must draw 'em to themselves, you may be jolly well assured
of that! And if the gentlemen should fail, the thing which should resist
the attractive power of the American ladies must be more fixed in its
habits than even the conservative English gentleman, who prides himself
upon his stability, er--ah--his taking a position and sticking by it, in
spite of the--of anything, you know."
As his only contribution to the speechmaking, Mr. Cecil Barr-Smith
greeted this sentiment with a hearty "Hear, hear!" He fell into step
with Antonia as we left the pavilion. Then he went back as if to look
for something; and I saw Antonia summon Mr. Elkins to her side so that
she might congratulate him on the success of this "carouse."
Everything seemed going well. There was, however, in that gathering, as
in the day, material for a storm, and I, of all those in attendance,
ought to have seen it, had my memory been as unerring as I thought it.
CHAPTER XI.
The Empress and Sir John Meet Again.
The company emerged from the tent into the enchanted outdoors of the
star-dotted valley. The moon rode high, and flooded the glades with
silvery effulgency. The heat of the day had bred a summer storm-cloud,
which, all quivery with lightning, seemed sweeping around from the
northwest to the north, giving us the delicious experience of enjoying
calm, in view of storm.
The music of the orchestra soon told that the pavilion had been cleared
for dancing. I heard Giddings urging upon Miss Addison that it would be
much better for them to walk in the moonlight than to encourage by their
presence such a worldly amusement, and one in which he had never been
able to do anything better than fail, anyhow. Sighing her pain at the
frivolity of the world, she took his arm and strolled away. I noticed
that she clung closely to him, frightened, I suppose, at the mysterious
rustlings in the trees, or something.
They made up the dances in such a way as to leave me out. I rather
wanted to dance with Antonia; but Mr. Cecil was just leaving her in
disappointment, in the possession of Mr. Elkins, when I went for her. I
decided that a cigar and solitude were rather to be chosen than anything
else which presented itself, and accordingly I took possession of one of
the hammocks, in which I lay and smoked, and watched the towering
thunder-head, as it stood like a mighty and marvelous mountain in the
northern sky, its rounded and convoluted summits serenely white in the
moonlight, its mysterious caves palpitant with incessant lightning. The
soothing of the cigar; the new-made lake reflecting the gleam of
hundreds of lanterns; the illuminated pavilion, its whirling company of
dancers seen under the uprolled walls; the night, with its strange
contrast of a calm southern sky on the one hand pouring down its flood
of moonlight, and in the north the great mother-of-pearl dome with its
core of vibrant fire; the dance-music throbbing through the lindens; and
all this growing out of the unwonted and curious life of the past few
months, bore to me again that feeling of being yoked with some
thaumaturge of wondrous power for the working of enchantments. Again I
seemed in a partnership with Aladdin; and fairy pavilions, sylvan
paradises, bevies of dancing girls, and princes bearing gifts of gold
and jewels, had all obeyed our conjuration. I could have walked down to
the naphtha pleasure-boat and bidden the engineer put me down at
Khorassan, or some dreamful port of far Cathay, with no sense of
incongruity.
Two figures came from the tent and walked toward me. As I looked at
them, myself in darkness, they in the light, I had again that feeling of
having seen them in some similar way before. That same old sensation,
thought I, that the analytic novelist made trite ages ago. Then I saw
that it was Mr. Cornish and Miss Trescott. I could hear them talking;
but lay still, because I was loth to have my reveries disturbed. And
besides, to speak would seem an unwarranted assumption of confidential
relations on their part. They stopped near me.
"Your memory is not so good as mine," said he. "I knew you at once. Knew
you! Why--"
"I'm not very good at keeping names and faces in mind," she replied,
"unless they belong to people I have known very well."
"Indeed!" his voice dropped to the 'cello-like undertone now; "isn't
that a little unkind? I fancied that _we_ knew each other very well! My
conceit is not to be pandered to, I perceive."
"Ye-e-s--does it seem that way?" said she, ignoring the last remark.
"Well, you know it was only for a few days, and you kept calling
yourself by some ridiculous alias, and scarcely used your surname at
all, and I believe they called you Johnny--and you can't think what a
disguise such a beard is! But I remember you now perfectly. It quite
brings back those short months, when I was so young--and was finding
things out! I can see the vine-covered porch, and Madame Lamoreaux's
boarding-house on the South Side--"
"And the old art gallery?"
"Why, there was one, wasn't there?" said she, "somewhere along the lake
front, wasn't it?... Such a pleasant meeting, and so odd!"
I sat up in the hammock, and stared at them as they went on their
promenade. The old art gallery, the vine-covered porch, the young man
with the smooth-shaven dark face and the thrilling, vibrant voice, and
the young, young girl with the ruddy hair, and the little, round form!
She seemed taller now, and there was more of maturity in the figure; but
it was the same lissome waist and petite gracefulness which had so fully
explained to me the avid eyes of her lover on that day when I had fled
from the report of the Committee on Permanent Organization. It was the
Empress Josephine, I had known that--and her Sir John!
Then I thought of her flying from him into the street, and the little
bowed head on the street-car; and the old pity for her, the old
bitterness toward him, returned upon me. I wondered how he could speak
to her in this nonchalant way; what they were saying to each other;
whether they would ever refer to that night at Auriccio's; what Alice
would think of him if she ever found it out; whether he was a villain,