Active Service, Stephen Crane [classic books for 11 year olds TXT] 📗

That Time. The Whole Thing was

Now Extremely Vague In outline To Him And He Only Had A Dull

Feeling of Misery And Loneliness. He Wanted her To Cheer Him.

 

Nora Laughed again. " Why,  You'Re A Regular Little Kid. Do

You Mean To Say You'Ve Come Out Here Sulking alone Because

Of Some Nursery Quarrel? " He Was Ruffled by Her Manner. It Did

Not Contain The Cheering he Required. " Oh,  I Don'T Know That I'M

Such A Regular Little Kid," He Said,  Sullenly. " The Quarrel Was

Not A Nursery Quarrel."

 

"Why Don'T You Challenge Him To A Duel? " Asked nora,

Suddenly. She Was Watching him Closely.

 

" Who?" Said Coke.

 

" Coleman,  You Stupid," Answered nora.

 

They Stared at Each Other,  Coke Paying her First The Tribute

Of Astonishment And Then The Tribute Of Admiration. "Why,

How Did You Guess That?" He Demanded.

 

" Oh," Said Nora.,  " I'Ve Known Rufus Coleman For Years,

And He Is Always Rowing with People."

 

"That Is Just It," Cried coke Eagerly. "That Is Just It.

I Fairly Hate The Man. Almost All Of The Other Fellows

Will Stand His Abuse,  But It Riles Me,  I Tell

You. I Think He Is A Beast. And,  Of Course,  If You Seriously

Meant What You Said About Challenging him To A Duel--I

Mean If There Is Any Sense In that Sort Of Thing-I Would

Challenge Coleman. I Swear I Would. I Think He'S A Great

Bluffer,  Anyhow. Shouldn'T Wonder If He Would Back Out.

Really,  I Shouldn'T.

 

Nora Smiled humourously At A House On Her Side Of The

Narrow Way. "I Wouldn'T Wonder If He Did Either " She

Answered. After A Time She Said " Well,  Do You Mean To

Say That You Have Definitely Shaken Them? Aren'T You

Going back To Athens With Them Or Anything? "

 

" I-I Don'T See How I Can," He Said,  Morosely.

 

" Oh," She Said. She Reflected for A Time. At Last She

Turned to Him Archly And Asked: "Some Words Over A

Lady?"

 

Coke Looked at Her Blankly. He Suddenly Remembered

The Horrible Facts. " No-No-Not Over A Lady."

 

" My Dear Boy,  You Are A Liar," Said Nora,  Freely. "You

Are A Little Unskilful Liar. It Was Some Words Over A Lady,

And The Lady'S Name Is Marjory Wainwright."

 

Coke Felt As Though He Had Suddenly Been Let Out Of A

Cell,  But He Continued a Mechanical Denial. "No,  No * * It

Wasn'T Truly * * Upon My Word * * "

 

"Nonsense," Said Nora. " I Know Better. Don'T You

Think You Can Fool Me,  You Little Cub. I Know

You'Re In love With Marjory Wainwright,  And You Think

Coleman Is Your Rival. What A Blockhead You Are. Can'T

You Understand That People See These Things?"

 

" Well-" Stammered coke.

 

"Nonsense," Said Nora Again. "Don'T Try To Fool

Me,  You May As Well Understand That It'S Useless. I

Am Too Wise."

 

" Well-" Stammered coke.

 

" Go Ahead," Urged nora. " Tell Me About It. Have It

Out."

 

He Began With Great Importance And Solemnity. "Now,

To Tell You The Truth * * That Is Why I Hate Him * * I Hate Him

Like Anything. * * I Can'T See Why Everybody Admires Him So.

I Don'T See Anything to Him Myself. I Don'T Believe He'S Got

Any More Principle Than A Wolf. I Wouldn'T Trust Him With

Two Dollars. Why,  I Know Stories About Him That Would

Make Your Hair Curl. When I Think Of A Girl Like Marjory-- "

 

His Speech Had Become A Torrent. But Here Nora

Raised her Hand. " Oh! Oh! Oh! That Will Do. That Will Do.

Don'T Lose Your Senses. I Don'T See Why This Girl Marjory

Is Any Too Good. She Is No Chicken,  I'Ll Bet. Don'T Let

Yourself Get Fooled with That Sort Of Thing."

 

Coke Was Unaware Of His Incautious Expressions. He

Floundered on. While Nora Looked at Him As If She

Wanted to Wring his Neck. " No-She'S Too Fine And

Too Good-For Him Or Anybody Like Him-She'S Too

Fine And Too Good-"

 

" Aw,  Rats," Interrupted nora,  Furiously. "You

Make Me Tired."

 

Coke Had A Wooden-Headed conviction That He Must

Make Nora Understand Marjory'S Infinite Superiority

To All Others Of Her Sex,  And So He Passed into A

Pariegyric,  Each Word Of Which Was A Hot Coal To The Girl

Addressed. Nothing would Stop Him,  Apparently. He

Even Made The Most Stupid Repetitions. Nora Finally

Stamped her Foot Formidably. "Will You Stop?

Will You Stop ? " She Said Through Her Clenched teeth.

" Do You Think I Want To Listen To Your Everlasting

Twaddle About Her? Why,  She'S-She'S No Better Than

Other People,  You Ignorant Little Mamma'S Boy. She'S

No Better Than Other People,  You Swab! "

 

Coke Looked at Her With The Eyes Of A Fish. He Did

Not Understand. "But She Is Better Than Other

People," He Persisted.

 

Nora Seemed to Decide Suddenly That There Would

Be No Accomplishment In flying desperately Against

This Rock-Walled conviction. " Oh,  Well," She Said,

With Marvellous Good Nature,  " Perhaps You Are Right,

Numbskull. But,  Look Here; Do You Think She Cares

For Him?"

 

In His Heart,  His Jealous Heart,  He Believed that

Marjory Loved coleman,  But He Reiterated eternally To

Himself That It Was Not True. As For Speaking it To,

Another,  That Was Out Of The Question. " No," He

Said,  Stoutly,  " She Doesn'T Care A Snap For Him." If

He Had Admitted it,  It Would Have Seemed to Him That.

He Was Somehow Advancing coleman'S Chances.

 

"'Oh,  She Doesn'T,  Eh ?" Said Nora Enigmatically.

 

"She Doesn'T?" He Studied her Face With An Abrupt,

Miserable Suspicion,  But He Repeated doggedly: " No,

She Doesn'T."

 

"Ahem," Replied nora. " Why,  She'S Set Her Cap

For Him All Right. She'S After Him For Certain. It'S As

Plain As Day. Can'T You See That,  Stupidity ?"

 

"No," He Said Hoarsely.

 

"You Are A Fool," Said Nora. " It Isn'T Coleman

That'S After Her. It Is She That Is After Coleman."

 

Coke Was Mulish. " No Such Thing. Coleman'S

Crazy About Her. Everybody Has Known It Ever

Since He Was In college. You Ask Any Of The Other

Fellows."

 

Nora Was Now Very Serious,  Almost Doleful. She

Remained still For A Time,  Casting at Coke Little Glances

Of Hatred. " I Don'T See My Way Clear To Ask Any Of

The Other Fellows," She Said At Last,  With Considerable

Bitterness. " I'M Not In the Habit Of Conducting such

Enquiries."

 

Coke Felt Now That He Disliked her,  And He Read

Plainly Her Dislike Of Him. If They Were The Two

Villains Of The Play,  They Were Not Having fun Together

At All.  Each Had Some Kind Of A Deep Knowledge That

Their Aspirations,  Far From Colliding,  Were Of Such

Character  That The Success Of One Would Mean At Least

Assistance To The Other,  But Neither Could See How To

Confess If. Pethapt It Was From Shame,  Perhaps It

Was Because Nora Thought Coke To Have Little Wit ;

Perhaps It Was Because Coke Thought Nora To Have

Little Conscience. Their Talk Was Mainly Rudderless.

From Time To Time Nora Had An Inspiration To Come

Boldly At The Point,  But This Inspiration Was Commonly

Defeated by,  Some Extraordinary Manifestation Of

Coke'S Incapacity. To Her Mind,  Then,  It Seemed like

A Proposition To Ally Herself To A Butcher-Boy In a

Matter Purely Sentimental. She Wondered indignantly

How She Was Going to Conspire With This Lad,

Who Puffed out His Infantile Cheeks In order To Conceitedly

Demonstrate That He Did Not Understand The

Game At All. She Hated marjory For It. Evidently It

Was Only The Weaklings Who Fell In love With That Girl.

Coleman Was An Exception,  But Then,  Coleman Was

Misled,  By Extraordinary Artifices. She Meditatecf For

A Moment If She Should Tell Coke To Go Home And Not

Bother Her. What At Last Decided the Question Was

His Unhappiness. Shd Clung To This Unhappiness For

Its Value As It Stood Alone,  And Because Its Reason For

Existence Was Related  To Her Own Unhappiness. " You

Say You Are Not Going back Toathens With Your Party.

I Don'T Suppose You'Re Going to Stay Here.  I'M Going

Back To Athens To-Day. I Came Up Here To See A

Battle,  But It Doesn'T Seem That There Are To Be Any

More Battles.,  The Fighting will Now All Be On The

Other Side Of'The Mountains." Apparent She Had

Learned in some Haphazard Way That The Greek

Peninsula Was Divided by A Spine Of Almost Inaccessible

Mountains,  And The War Was Thus Split Into Two

Simultaneous Campaigns. The Arta Campaign Was Known

To Be Ended. "If You Want To Go Back To Athens

Without Consorting with Your Friends,  You Had Better Go

Back With Me. I Can Take You In my Carriage As Far

As The Beginning of The Railroad. Don'T You Worry.

You'Ve Got Money Enough,  Haven'T You ? The Pro-

Fessor Isn'T Keeping your Money ?"

 

"Yes," He Said Slowly,  "I'Ve Got Money Enough."

He Was Apparently Dubious Over The Proposal.

In Their Abstracted walk They Had Arrived in front Of

The House Occupied by Coleman And The Wainwright

Party. Two Carriages,  Forlorn In dusty Age,  Stood Be-

Fore The Door. Men Were Carrying out New Leather

Luggage And Flinging it Into The Traps Amid A Great

Deal Of Talk Which Seemed to Refer To Nothing. Nora

And Coke Stood Looking at The Scene Without Either

Thinking of The Importance Of Running away,  When

Out Tumbled seven Students,  Followed immediately But

In More Decorous Fashion By The Wainwrights And

Coleman.

 

Some Student Set Up A Whoop. " Oh,  There He Is.

There'S Coke. Hey,  Coke,  Where You Been?  Here

He Is,  Professor."

For A Moment After The Hoodlum Had Subsided,  The

Two Camps Stared at Each Other In silence.

 

Chapter 19

Nora And Coke Were An Odd Looking pair At The

Time. They Stood Indeed as If Rooted to The Spot,

Staring vacuously,  Like Two Villagers,  At The Surprising

Travellers. It Was Not An Eternity Before The Practiced

Girl Of The Stage Recovered her Poise,  But To The End Of

The Incident The Green Youth Looked like A Culprit And

A Fool. Mrs. Wainwright'S Glower Of Offensive

Incredulity Was A Masterpiece. Marjory Nodded

Pleasantly; The Professor Nodded. The Seven Students

Clambered boisterously Into The Forward Carriage

Making it Clang With Noise Like A Rook'S Nest. They

Shouted to Coke. " Come On; All Aboard; Come On,

Coke; - We'Re Off. Hey,  There,  Cokey,  Hurry Up."

The Professor,  As Soon As He Had Seated himself On

The Forward Seat Of' The Second Carriage,  Turned in

Coke'S General Direction And Asked formally: " Mr.

Coke,  You Are Coming with Us ? " He Felt Seemingly

Much In doubt As To The Propriety Of Abandoning the

Headstrong Young Man,  And This Doubt Was Not At All

Decreased by Coke'S Appearance With Nora Black. As

Far As He Could Tell,  Any Assertion Of Authority On His

Part Would End Only In a Scene In which Coke Would

Probably Insult Him With Some Gross Violation Of

Collegiate Conduct. As At First The Young Man Made

No Reply,  The Professor After Waiting spoke Again.

"You Understand,  Mr. Coke,  That If You Separate

Yourself From The Party You Encounter My Strongest

Disapproval,  And If I Did Not Feel Responsible To The

College And Your Father For Your Safe Journey To New

York I-I Don'T Know But What I Would Have You Ex-

Pelled by Cable If That Were Possible."

 

Although Coke Had Been Silent,  And Nora Black Had

Had The Appearance Of Being silent,  In reality She Had

Lowered her Chin And Whispered sideways And Swiftly.

She Had Said: " Now,  Here'S Your Time. Decide

Quickly,  And Don'T Look Such A Wooden Indian."

Coke Pulled himself Together With A Visible Effort,

And Spoke To The Professor From An Inspiration In

Which He Had No Faith. " I Understand My Duties To

You,  Sir,  Perfectly. I Also Understand My Duty To The

College. But I Fail To See Where Either Of These

Obligations Require Me To Accept The Introduction Of

Objectionable People Into The Party. If I Owe A Duty To

The College And To You,  I Don'T Owe Any To Coleman,

And,  As I Understand It,  Coleman Was Not In the

Original Plan Of This Expedition. If Such Had Been The

Case,  I Would Not Have Been Here. I Can'T Tell What

The College May See Fit To Do,  But As For My Father I

I Have No Doubt Of How He Will View It."

 

The First One