Active Service - Stephen Crane (librera reader .TXT) 📗

Had Defined him As A Person

Who Had,  Earlier,  Indulged in much Stupidity And

Cowardice.

Everything had Worked out So Simply,  His Terrors

Had Been Dispelled so Easily,  That He Probably Was Led

To Overestimate His Success. And It Occurred suddenly

To Him. He Foresaw A Fine Occasion To Talk Privately

To Marjory When All Had Boarded the Steamer For

Patras And He Resolved to Make Use Of It. This He

Believed would End The Strife And Conclusively Laurel

Him.

 

The Train Finally Drew Up On A Little Stone Pier And

Some Boatmen Began To Scream Like Gulls. The

Steamer Lay At Anchor In the Placid Blue Cove. The

Embarkation Was Chaotic In the Oriental Fashion And

There Was The Customary Misery Which Was Only Relieved

When The Travellers Had Set Foot On The Deck Of

The Steamer. Coleman Did Not Devote Any Premature

Attention To Finding marjory,  But When The Steamer

Was Fairly Out On The Calm Waters Of The Gulf Of Corinth,

He Saw Her Pacing to And Fro With Peter Tounley.

At First He Lurked in the Distance Waiting for An Opportunity,

But Ultimately He Decided to Make His Own

Opportunity. He Approached them. "Marjory,Would

You Let Me Speak To You Alone For A Few Moments?

You Won'T Mind,  Will You,  Peter? "

 

" Oh,  No,  Certainly Not," Said Peter Tounley.

 

"Of Course. It Is Not Some Dreadful Revelation,  Is

It? " Said Marjory,  Bantering him Coolly.

 

" No," Answered coleman,  Abstractedly. He Was

Thinking of What He Was Going to Say. Peter Tounley

Vanished around The Corner Of A Deck-House And Marjory

And Coleman Began To Pace To And Fro Even As

Marjory And Peter Tounley Had Done. Coleman Had

Thought To Speak His Mind Frankly And Once For All,  And

On The Train He Had Invented many Clear Expressions

Of His Feeling. It Did Not Appear That He Had Forgotten

Them. It Seemed,  More,  That They Had Become Entangled

In His Mind In such A Way That He Could Not

Unravel The End Of His Discourse.

 

In The Pause,  Marjory Began To Speak In admiration

Of The Scenery. " I Never Imagined that Greece Was So

Full Of Mountains. One Reads So Much Of The Attic

Plains,  But Aren'T These Mountains Royal? They Look

So Rugged and Cold,  Whereas The Bay Is Absolutely As

Blue As The Old Descriptions Of A Summer Sea."

 

" I Wanted to Speak To You About Nora Black," Said

Coleman.

 

"Nora Black? Why?" Said Marjory,  Lifting her Eye-

Brows.

 

You Know Well Enough," Said Coleman,  In a Head.

Long Fashion. " You Must Know,  You Must Have Seen

It. She Knows I Care For You And She Wants To Stop It.

And She Has No Right To-To Interfere. She Is A Fiend,

A Perfect Fiend. She Is Trying to Make You Feel That I

Care For Her."

 

" And Don'T You Care For Her ? " Asked marjory.

 

"No," Said Coleman,  Vehemently. " I Don'T Care

For Her At All."

 

" Very Well," Answered marjory,  Simply. " I Believe

You." She Managed to Give The Words The Effect Of A

Mere Announcement That She Believed him And It Was

In No Way Plain That She Was Glad Or That She Esteemed

The Matter As Being of Consequence.

 

He Scowled at Her In dark Resentment. " You Mean

By That,  I Suppose,  That You Don'T Believe Me ? "

 

" Oh," Answered marjory,  Wearily,  " I Believe You.

I Said So. Don'T Talk About It Any More."

 

"Then," Said Coleman,  Slowly,  " You Mean That You

Do Not Care Whether I'M Telling the Truth Or Not?"

 

" Why,  Of Course I Care," She Said. " Lying is Not

Nice."

 

He Did Not Know,  Apparently,  Exactly How To Deal

With Her Manner,  Which Was Actually So Pliable That-It

Was Marble,  If One May Speak In that Way. He Looked

Ruefully At The Sea. He Had Expected a Far Easier

Time. " Well-" He Began.

 

" Really," Interrupted marjory,  " This Is Something

Which I Do Not Care To Discuss. I Would Rather You

Would Not Speak To Me At All About It. It Seems Too

-Too-Bad. I Can Readily Give You My Word That I

Believe You,  But I Would Prefer You Not To Try To Talk

To Me About It Or-Anything of That Sort. Mother!"

 

Mrs. Wainwright Was Hovering anxiously In the

Vicinity,  And She Now Bore Down Rapidly Upon The

Pair. "You Are Very Nearly To Patras," She Said

Reproachfully To Her Daughter,  As If The Fact Had Some

Fault Of Marjory'S Concealed in it. She In no Way Ac-

Knowledged the Presence Of Coleman.

 

" Oh,  Are We ? " Cried marjory.

 

"Yes," Said Mrs. Wainwright. " We Are."

 

She Stood Waiting as If She Expected marjory To In-

Stantly Quit Coleman. The Girl Wavered a Moment

And Then Followed her Mother. " Good-Bye." She Said.

"I Hope We May See You Again In athens." It Was A

Command To Him To Travel Alone With His Servant On

The Long Railway Journey From Patras To Athens. It

Was A Dismissal Of A Casual Acquaintance Given So

Graciously That It Stung Him To The Depths Of His Pride.

He Bowed his Adieu And His Thanks. When The Yelling

Boatmen Came Again,  He And His Man Proceeded

To The Shore In an Early Boat Without Looking in any

Way After The Welfare Of The Others.

 

At The Train,  The Party Split Into Three Sections.

Coleman And His Man Had One Compartment,  Nora

Black And Her Squad Had Another,  And The Wainwrights

And Students Occupied two More.

 

The Little Officer Was Still In tow Of Nora Black.

He Was Very Enthusiastic. In french She Directed

Him To Remain Silent,  But He Did Not Appear To Understand.

" You Tell Him," She Then Said To Her Dragoman,

" To Sit In a Corner And Not To Speak Until I Tell

Him To,  Or I Won'T Have Him In here." She Seemed

Anxious To Unburden Herself To The Old Lady Companion.

" Do You Know," She Said,  " That Girl Has A

Nerve Like Steel. I Tried to Break It There In that Inn,

But I Couldn'T Budge Her. If I Am Going to Have Her

Beaten I Must Prove Myself To Be A Very,  Very Artful

Person."

 

" Why Did You Try To Break Her Nerve ? " Asked the

Old Lady,  Yawning. "Why Do You Want To Have Her

Beaten ? "

 

" Because I Do,  Old Stupid," Answered nora. " You

Should Have Heard The Things I Said To Her."

 

"About What?"

 

" About Coleman. Can'T You Understand Anything

At All?"

 

" And Why Should You Say Anything about Coleman

To Her?" Queried the Old Lady,  Still Hopelessly Befogged.

 

" Because," Cried nora,  Darting a Look Of Wrath At

Her Companion,  " I Want To Prevent That Marriage."

She Had Been Betrayed into This Avowal By The Singularly

Opaque Mind Of The Old Lady. The Latter At Once

Sat Erect. - " Oh,  Ho," She Said,  As If A Ray Of Light Had

Been Let Into Her Head. " Oh,  Ho. So That'S It,  Is It ? "

 

"Yes,  That'S It,  Rejoined nora,  Shortly.

 

The Old Lady Was Amazed into A Long Period Of

Meditation. At Last She Spoke Depressingly. " Well,

How Are You Going to Prevent It? Those Things Can'T

Be Done In these Days At All. If They Care For Each

Other-"

 

Nora Burst Out Furiously. "Don'T Venture Opinions

Until You Know What You Are Talking about,  Please.

They Don'T Care For Each Other,  Do You See? She

Cares For Him,  But He Don'T Give A Snap Of His Fingers

For Her."

 

" But," Cried the Bewildered lady,  " If He Don'T Care

For Her,  There Will Be Nothing to Prevent. If He Don'T

Care For Her,  He Won'T Ask Her To Marry Him,  And So

There Won'T Be Anything to Prevent."

 

Nora Made A Broad Gesture Of Impatience. " Oh,

Can'T You Get Anything through Your Head ? Haven'T

You Seen That The Girl Has Been The Only Young

Woman In that Whole Party Lost Up There In the Mountains,

And That Naturally More Than Half Of The Men

Still Think They Are In love With Her? That'S What It

Is. Can'T You See ? It Always Happens That Way.

Then Coleman Comes Along And Makes A Fool Of Himself

With The Others."

 

The Old Lady Spoke Up Brightly As If At Last Feeling

Able To Contribute Something intelligent To The Talk.

" Oh,  Then,  He Does Care For Her."

 

Nora'S Eyes Looked as If Their Glance Might Shrivel

The Old Lady'S Hair. "Don'T I Keep Telling you That

It Is No Such Thing ? Can'T You Understand? It Is

All Glamour! Fascination! Way Up There In the

Wilderness! Only One Even Passable Woman In sight."

 

" I Don'T Say That I Am So Very Keen," Said The Old

Lady,  Somewhat Offended,  "But I Fail To See Where I

Could Improve When First You Tell Me He Don'T Care

For Her,  And Then You Tell Me That He Does Care For

Her."

 

" Glamour,' ' Fascination,'" Quoted nora. " Don'T

You Understand The Meaning of The Words ? "

 

" Well," Asked the Other,  Didn'T He Know Her,  Then,

Before He Came Over Here ?"

 

Nora Was Silent For A Time,  While A Gloom Upon Her

Face Deepened. It Had Struck Her That The Theories

For Which She Protested so Energetically Might Not Be

Of Such Great Value. Spoken Aloud,  They Had A Sudden

New Flimsiness. Perhaps She Had Reiterated to Herself

That Coleman Was The Victim Of Glamour Only Because

She Wished it To Be True. One Theory,  However,  Re-

Mained unshaken. Marjory Was An Artful Rninx,  With

No Truth In her.

 

She Presently Felt The Necessity Of Replying to The

Question Of Her Companion. " Oh," She Said,  Care-

Lessly,  " I Suppose They Were Acquainted-In A Way."

 

The Old Lady Was Giving the Best Of Her Mind To

The Subject. " If That'S The Case-" She Observed,

Musingly,  " If That'S The Case,  You Can'T Tell What Is

Between 'Em."

 

The Talk Had So Slackened that Nora'S Unfortunate

Greek Admirer Felt That Here Was A Good Opportunity

To Present Himself Again To The Notice Of The Actress.

The Means Was A Smile And A French Sentence,  But

His Reception Would Have Frightened a Man In armour.

His Face Blanched with Horror At The Storm,  He Had

Invoked,  And He Dropped limply Back As If Some One

Had Shot Him. "You Tell This Little Snipe To Let Me

Alone! " Cried nora,  To The Dragoman. " If He Dares

To Come Around Me With Any More Of Those Parisian

Dude Speeches,  I-I Don'T Know What I'Ll Do! I

Won'T Have It,  I Say." The Impression Upon The

Dragoman Was Hardly Less In effect. He Looked with

Bulging eyes At Nora,  And Then Began To Stammer At

The Officer. The Latter'S Voice Could Sometimes Be

Heard In awed whispers For The More Elaborate Explanation

Of Some Detail Of The Tragedy. Afterward,  He

Remained meek And Silent In his Corner,  Barely More

Than A Shadow,  Like The Proverbial Husband Of Imperious

Beauty.

 

"Well," Said The Old Lady,  After A Long And Thoughtful

Pause,  " I Don'T Know,  I'M Sure,  But It Seems To Me

That If Rufus Coleman Really Cares For That Girl,  There

Isn'T Much Use In trying to Stop Him From Getting her.

He Isn'T That Kind Of A Man."

 

" For Heaven'S Sake,  Will You Stop Assuming that He

Does Care For Her ? " Demanded nora,  Breathlessly.

 

"And I Don'T See," Continued the Old Lady,  "What

You Want To Prevent Him For,  Anyhow."

Chapter 24

" I Feel In this Radiant Atmosphere That There Could

Be No Such Thing as War-Men Striving together In

Black And Passionate Hatred." The Professor'S Words

Were For The Benefit Of His Wife And Daughter. ,He

Was Viewing the Sky-Blue Waters Of The Gulf Of Corinth

With Its Background Of Mountains That In the Sunshine

Were Touched here And There With A Copperish Glare.

The Train Was Slowly Sweeping along The Southern

Shore. " It Is Strange To Think Of Those Men Fighting

Up There In the North. And It Is Strange To Think

That We Ourselves Are But Just Returning from It."

 

" I Cannot Begin To Realise It Yet," Said Mrs. Wain-

Wright,  In a High Voice.

 

" Quite So," Responded the Professor,  Reflectively.

 

"I Do Not Suppose Any Of Us Will Realise It Fully

For Some Time. It Is Altogether Too Odd,  Too Very

Odd."

 

"To Think Of It!"