The Princess Passes Volume 56, Alice Muriel Williamson, Charles Norris Williamson [primary phonics txt] 📗

Was On His

Feet Now, Having Risen At Gaetà's Coming, And He Stood Kicking The

Grass With The Point Of His Small Patent-Leather Toe. Then, Suddenly,

He Looked Up Straight Into My Face, With Big Dilated Eyes.

 

"What's The Matter?" I Asked, When Still He Did Not Speak.

 

"Oh, Man, I'm In _The Most Awful Scrape_."

 

"What's Up?"

 

"I Should Be Thankful To Tell You About It, And Get Your Advice,

If--You Were Like You Used To Be."

 

"It's You Who Have Changed, Not I."

 

"No, It's You."

 

"Don't Let's Dispute About It. Tell Me What's The Trouble. Has That

Bounder Been Cheeking You?"

 

"Worse Than That. He Said Things That Made Me Angry, And--Then I

Checked Him."

 

"Just Now--Under This Tree?"

 

"It Began At Dinner, A Little. But The Particular Thing I'm Speaking

Of Happened Here. I Couldn't Stand It, You Know."

 

"What Did He Say?"

 

"He Asked Me How Old I Was, At First--In _Such_ A Tone! I Answered

That I Was Old Enough To Know My Way About, I Hoped. He Said He Should

Have Thought Not, As I Travelled With My Nurse. Then He Wanted To Know

What Was In Souris' Pack, Whether I Carried Condensed Milk For My

Nursing-Bottle. It Was All I Could Do To Keep From Boxing His Ears,

Before Everyone, But I Kept Still, And Laughed A Little; Presently I

Answered In A Drawling Sort Of Way, Saying I Needn't Tell Him That

What Souris Carried Was No Affair Of His, Because When I Came To Think

Of It, After All It Was Quite Natural That A Great Donkey Should Be

Interested In A Small One."

 

"By Jove, You Little Fire-Eater!"

 

"Well, I Had To Show Him That I Was An American, Anyhow."

 

"I Suppose He Was Annoyed."

 

"He Was Very Much Annoyed. Man, He's Challenged Me To Fight A Duel.

Only Think Of It, A Real Duel! He Said I'd Have To Fight, Or He'd

Thrash Me For A Coward. I--It's A Horrid Scrape, But I Don't See How

Chapter 21 (The Challenge) Pg 155

I'm Going To Get Out Of It With--With Honour. Will You--If I Do Have

To--But Look Here, I Won't Have Him Running Me Through With A _Sword_,

Or Anything Of That Sort. I'm Afraid I Couldn't Face That. I Wouldn't

Mind A Revolver Quite As Much."

 

"The Big Bully!" I Exclaimed. "But Of Course It's All Rot. There Can

Be No Question Of Your Fighting Him."

 

"I Don't Know. I'd Rather Do That--If We Could Have Pistols--Than Have

Him Think An American--Could Be A Coward. I'm Not A Coward, I Hope,

Only--Only I Never Thought Of Anything Like This. He's Going To Send A

Friend Of His To Call On You, As A Friend Of Mine, He Said. I Suppose

That Means A What-You-May-Call-'Em--A 'Second,' Doesn't It? If I Must

Fight With Him, Man, You Will Be My Second, Won't You, And--And Act

For Me, If That's The Right Word?"

 

Gazing Up Earnestly, His Eyes Very Big, His Face Pale, He Looked No

More Than Fourteen, And The Idea Of A Duel To The Death Between This

Child And Gaetà's Whirlwind Would Have Been Comic In The Extreme, Had

I Not Been Enraged With The Whirlwind.

 

"I'll Be Your Friend, And Get You Out Of The Scrape," I Said. "But It

Will Mean That You Must Give Up The Contessa."

 

"Give Up The Contessa!" Echoed The Boy. "What Do _I_ Want With The

Contessa! I'm Sick Of The Sight Of Her."

 

"Since When?"

 

"Since The First Day We Met. I Don't Think She's Even Pretty. What

You Can See In Her, I Don't Know--The Silly Little Giggling Thing!

There, It's Out At Last."

 

"What I See In Her?" I Repeated. "I Like That."

 

"I Always Supposed You Did. But I Can't _Stand_ Her."

 

"Well, Of All The---- Look Here, Why Have You Been Hanging After Her,

If You--"

 

"I Didn't. I Just Wasn't Going To Let You Make A Fool Of Yourself Over

Her, And Then Regret It Afterwards. So I--I Did My Best To Take Her

Attention Away From You, And I Succeeded Fairly Well. It--Vexed Me To

See You Falling In Love With Her. She Wasn't Worth It."

 

"There Was Never The Remotest Chance Of My Doing So."

 

"You Said There Was."

 

"I Was Chaffing, Just To Hear Myself Talk. I Should Have Thought You

Would Know That."

 

"How Could I Know? You Were Always Saying How Pretty And Dainty She

Chapter 21 (The Challenge) Pg 156

Was, And Quoting Poetry About Her, While All The Time I Could Read Her

Shallow Little Mind, And See How Different She Was From What You

Imagined."

 

"I Think I Have A Fairly Clear Idea Of Her Limitations."

 

"But You Told Me That You'd Planned To Go Down To Monte Carlo

Expressly To See The Contessa; And You Said That It Would Perhaps Be A

Wise Thing For You To Try And Fall In Love With Her."

 

"If A Man Has To Try And Fall In Love With A Woman, He's Pretty Safe.

You And I Seem To Have Been Playing At Cross Purposes, Youngster. You

Thought I Was In Danger Of Falling In Love, And I Thought You Were

Already In."

 

"You _Couldn't_ Have Believed It, Really."

 

"I Did, And Supposed You Wanted Me Out Of The Way."

 

"I Was Thinking The Same Thing About You. You Did Seem Jealous And

Sulky."

 

"I Was Both; But It Was Because Our Friendship Had Been Interfered

With, Little Pal."

 

"Oh, Man, Do You Really Mean That?"

 

"Every Word Of It. I Wouldn't Give Up A Talk With You For A Kiss From

The Contessa, Of Which, By The Way, I'm Very Unlikely To Have The

Chance. But You----"

 

"I've Been Miserable For The Last Few Days. I--I Missed You, Man."

 

"And I You, Boy."

 

"What An Awful Pity It Is I've Got To Stand Up And Be Shot, Just As

We're Good Friends Again, And Everything's All Right!"

 

"You've Got To Do Nothing Of The Sort. _Le Cher_ Paolo Will, If He Is

Really In Earnest And Not Bluffing, Send His Friend To Me, And Matters

Will Be Settled, Never Fear."

 

"I Don't Fear. At Least, I--Hope I Don't--Much. Only I Wasn't Brought

Up To Expect Challenges To Duels. They're Not--In My Line. But I Won't

Apologise, Whatever Happens. No, I Won't, I Won't, _I Won't_. I Dare

Say It Doesn't Hurt Much, Being Shot; And I Suppose He Wouldn't Be

So--So Impolite As To Shoot Me In The Face, Would He?"

 

"He Is Not Going To Shoot You Anywhere," Said I.

 

"I Am Glad I Told You. I Was Feeling--Rather Queer. What Am I To Do?

Am I To Go Back To The Villa As If Nothing Had Happened, Or--What?"

 

Chapter 21 (The Challenge) Pg 157

"'What' Might Mean Coming To My Hotel, But You Seemed To Find My

Society A Bore."

 

"That's Unkind. It Was Your Own Fault That I Went To A Different Hotel

At Châtelard."

 

"How Do You Make That Out?"

 

"I Can't Tell You. I Don't Suppose You'll Ever Know. But If You Should

Guess, By-And-Bye, Remembering Something You Once Said, You Might

Understand."

 

"Something I Once Said----"

 

"Never Mind. Please Don't Talk Of It. I'd Rather Be Shot At. But I

Want You To Believe That My Reason Wasn't The One You Thought. Now,

Tell Me What You're Going To Do About Signor Di Nivoli. Have You Made

A Plan?"

 

"One Has Popped Into My Head," I Replied. "It Mayn't Answer, But Will

You Give Me _Carte Blanche_ To Try? If It Doesn't Work, I'll Get You

Out Of The Mess In Another Way. But This Would Give Us A Chance Of

Making Paolo Eat Humble Pie."

 

"Do Try It, Then. I'd Risk A Lot For That."

 

"As For To-Night, On The Whole I Think The Best Thing Will Be For You

To Go Back To The Villa. Of Course We Mustn't Let The Contessa

Suspect----"

 

"Little Cat! I Wouldn't Give Her The Satisfaction."

 

"Upon My Word, You're Not Very Gallant."

 

"I Don't Care. I'm Sick Of The Contessa. A Plague Upon Her, And All

Her Houses. Yet, I Wish Her Nothing Worse Than That She Should Marry

Paolo. Ugh! A Man With His Hair _En Brosse_!"

 

"Probably He Is Saying, 'Ugh! A Boy With Curls On His Collar.'"

 

"May One Of His Old Balloons Fly Away With Him, Before He Shoots Me.

Anyhow, He Shall Find That Curls Don't Make A Coward. Only--There's

Just One Thing Before You Treat With Him. I Won't--I _Can't_--Be

Jabbed At With Anything Sharp."

 

"You Shan't," Said I.

 

With This, The Contessa Beckoned From A Distance, With News That She

Was Going Home. We Followed, The Boy And I, Allowing Her To Walk Far

Ahead, With Her Triumphant Aëronaut, The Baron And Baronessa, Radiant

With Satisfaction In The Success Of Their Plot, Arm In Arm Between The

Two Couples.

 

Chapter 21 (The Challenge) Pg 158

Having Seen My Little Daniel To The Gate Of The Lions' Den, I Shook

Hands Cordially With Everybody, Paolo Last Of All. He Placed His

Fingers With Haughty Reluctance In My Ostentatiously Proffered Palm,

But I Held The Four Chilly, Fish-Like Things (Chilly Only For Me) Long

Enough To Mutter, _Sotto Voce_: "I Want A Word With You On A Matter Of

Importance. I'll Walk Up And Down The Road For Twenty Minutes."

 

His Impulse Was To Refuse, I Could See By The Sharp Upward Toss Of His

Chin. But A Certain Quality In My Look, Clearly Visible To Him In The

Light Of The Gate Lamp (I Was At Some Pains To Produce The Effect),

Warned Him That If His Bloodthirsty Plans Were Not To Be Nipped In The

Red Bud, He Must Bend His Will To Mine In This One Instance.

 

He Answered With A Glance, And I Knew That I Should Not Be Kept Long

On My Beat.