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

Cried mrs. Wainwright. "To

Think Of It! Supposing those Dreadful Albanians Or

Those Awful Men From The Greek Mountains Had

Caught Us! Why,  Years From Now I'Ll Wake Up In the

Night And Think Of It! "

 

The Professor Mused. " Strange That We Cannot

Feel It Strongly Now. My Logic Tells Me To Be Aghast

That We Ever Got Into Such A Place,  But My Nerves At

Present Refuse To Thrill. I Am Very Much Afraid That

This Singular Apathy Of Ours Has Led us To Be Unjust To

Poor Coleman."

Here Mrs. Wainwright Objected. " Poor Coleman!

I Don'T See Why You Call Him Poor Coleman.

 

" Well," Answered the Professor,  Slowly,  " I Am In

Doubt About Our Behaviour. It-"

 

" Oh," Cried the Wife,  Gleefully," In doubt About

Our Behaviour! I'M In doubt About His Behaviour."

 

" So,  Then,  You Do Have A Doubt. Of His Behaviour?"

" Oh,  No," Responded mrs. Wainwright,  Hastily,

" Not About Its Badness. What I Meant To Say Was

That In the Face Of His Outrageous Conduct With That-

That Woman,  It Is Curious That You Should Worry

About Our Behaviour. It Surprises Me,  Harrison."

 

The Professor Was Wagging his Head Sadly. " I

Don'T Know I Don'T Know It Seems Hard To

Judge * * I Hesitate To-"

 

Mrs. Wainwright Treated this Attitude With Disdain.

" It Is Not Hard To Judge," She Scoffed,  " And I Fail To

See Why You Have Any Reason For Hesitation At All.

Here He Brings This Woman-- "

 

The Professor Got Angry. "Nonsense! Nonsense!

I Do Not Believe That He Brought Her. If I Ever Saw A

Spectacle Of A Woman Bringing herself,  It Was Then.

You Keep Chanting that Thing like An Outright

Parrot."

 

"Well," Retorted mrs. Wainwright,  Bridling,  "I

Suppose You Imagine That You Understand Such

Things,  Men Usually Think That,  But I Want To Tell

You That You Seem To Me Utterly Blind."

 

" Blind Or Not,  Do Stop The Everlasting reiteration Of

That Sentence."

 

Mrs. Wainwright Passed into An Offended silence,

And The Professor,  Also Silent,  Looked with A Gradually

Dwindling indignation At The Scenery.

 

Night Was Suggested in the Sky Before The Train

Was Near To Athens. " My Trunks," Sighed mrs.

Wainwright. " How Glad I Will Be To Get Back To My

Trunks! Oh,  The Dust! Oh,  The Misery ! Do Find

Out When We Will Get There,  Harrison. Maybe The

Train Is Late."

 

But,  At Last,  They Arrived in athens,  Amid A Darkness

Which Was Confusing,  And,  After No More Than The

Common Amount Of Trouble,  They Procured carriages

And Were Taken To The Hotel. Mrs. Wainwright'S

Impulses Now Dominated the Others In the Family.

She Had One Passion After Another. The Majority Of

The Servants In the Hotel Pretended that They Spoke

English,  But,  In three Minutes,  She Drove Them Distracted

With The Abundance And Violence Of Her Requests.

It Came To Pass That In the Excitement The

Old Couple Quite Forgot Marjory. It Was Not Until

Mrs. Wainwright,  Then Feeling splendidly,  Was Dressed

For Dinner,  That She Thought To Open Marjory'S Door

And Go To Render A Usual Motherly Supervision Of The

Girl'S Toilet.

 

There Was No Light: There Did Not Seem To Be Any-

Body In the Room. " Marjory ! " Called the Mother,  In

Alarm. She Listened for A Moment And Then Ran

Hastily Out Again. " Harrison ! " She Cried. " I Can'T

Find Marjory!" The Professor Had Been Tying his

Cravat. He Let The Loose Ends Fly. "What?" He

Ejaculated,  Opening his Mouth Wide. Then They Both

Rushed into Marjory'S Room. "Marjory!" Beseeched

The Old Man In a Voice Which Would Have Invoked the

Grave.

 

The Answer Was From The Bed. "Yes?" It Was

Low,  Weary,  Tearful. It Was Not Like Marjory. It Was

Dangerously The Voice Of A Hcart-Broken Woman.

They Hurried forward With Outcries. "Why,  Marjory!

Are You Ill,  Child? How Long Have You Been Lying in

The Dark? Why Didn'T You Call Us? Are You Ill?"

 

" No," Answered this Changed voice,  " I Am Not Ill.

I Only Thought I'D Rest For A Time. Don'T Bother."

 

The Professor Hastily Lit The Gas And Then Father

And Mother Turned hurriedly To The Bed. In the First

Of The Illumination They Saw That Tears Were Flowing

Unchecked down Marjory'S Face.

 

The Effect.Of This Grief Upon The Professor Was,  In

Part,  An Effect Of Fear. He Seemed afraid To Touch It,

To Go Near It. He Could,  Evidently,  Only Remain In

The Outskirts,  A Horrified spectator. The Mother,  How.

Ever,  Flung Her Arms About Her Daughter. " Oh,  Marjory! "

She,  Too,  Was Weeping.

 

The Girl Turned her Face To The Pillow And Held Out

A Hand Of Protest. " Don'T,  Mother! Don'T !"

 

"Oh,  Marjory! Oh,  Marjory!"

 

" Don'T,  Mother. Please Go Away. Please Go

Away. Don'T Speak At All,  I Beg Of You."

 

" Oh,  Marjory! Oh,  Marjory!"

 

" Don'T." The Girl Lifted a Face Which Appalled

Them. It Had Something entirely New In it. " Please

Go Away,  Mother. I Will Speak To Father,  But I Won'T

-I Can'T-I Can'T Be Pitied."

 

Mrs. Wainwright Looked at Her Husband. " Yes,"

Said The Old Man,  Trembling. "Go! " She Threw Up

Her Hands In a Sorrowing gesture That Was Not Without

Its Suggestion That Her Exclusion Would Be A Mistake.

She Left The Room.

 

The Professor Dropped on His Knees At The Bedside

And Took One Of Marjory'S Hands. His Voice Dropped

To Its Tenderest Note. "Well,  My Marjory?"

 

She Had Turned her Face Again To The Pillow. At

Last She Answered in muffled tones,  " You Know."

Thereafter Came A Long Silence Full Of Sharpened

Pain. It Was Marjory Who Spoke First. "I Have

Saved my Pride,  Daddy,  But-I Have-Lost-Everything

--Else." Even Her Sudden Resumption Of The Old Epithet

Of Her Childhood Was An Additional Misery To The

Old Man. He Still Said No Word. He Knelt,  Gripping

Her Fingers And Staring at The Wall.

 

" Yes,  I Have Lost~Everything-Else."

 

The Father Gave A Low Groan. He Was Thinking

Deeply,  Bitterly. Since One Was Only A Human Being,

How Was One Going to Protect Beloved hearts Assailed

With Sinister Fury From The Inexplicable Zenith? In

This Tragedy He Felt As Helpless As An Old Grey Ape.

He Did Not See A Possible Weapon With Which He Could

Defend His Child From The Calamity Which Was Upon

Her. There Was No Wall,  No Shield Which Could Turn

This Sorrow From The Heart Of His Child. If One Of His

Hands Loss Could Have Spared her,  There Would Have

Been A Sacrifice Of His Hand,  But He Was Potent For

Nothing. He Could Only Groan And Stare At The Wall.

He Reviewed the Past Half In fear That He Would Suddenly

Come Upon His Error Which Was Now The Cause

Of Marjory'S Tears. He Dwelt Long Upon The Fact That

In Washurst He Had Refused his Consent To Marjory'S

Marriage With Coleman,  But Even Now He Could Not

Say That His Judgment Was Not Correct. It Was Simply

That The Doom Of Woman'S Woe Was Upon Marjory,

This Ancient Woe Of The Silent Tongue And The Governed

Will,  And He Could Only Kneel At The Bedside And Stare

At The Wall.

 

Marjory Raised her Voice In a Laugh. " Did I Betray

Myself? Did I Become The Maiden All Forlorn ? Did

I Giggle To Show People That I Did Not Care? No-I

Did Not-I Did Not. And It Was Such A Long Time,

Daddy! Oh,  Such A Long Time! I Thought We Would

Never Get Here. I Thought I Would Never Get Where I

Could Be Alone Like This,  Where I Could-Cry-If I

Wanted to. I Am Not Much Of - A Crier,  Am I,  Daddy?

But This Time-This-Time-"

 

She Suddenly Drew Herself Over Near To Her Father

And Looked at Him. " Oh,  Daddy,  I Want To Tell You

One Thing. Just One Simple Little Thing." She Waited

Then,  And While She Waited her Father'S Head Went

Lower And Lower. " Of Course,  You Know-I Told You

Once. I Love Him! I Love Him! Yes,  Probably He Is

A Rascal,  But,  Do You Know,  I Don'T Think I Would

Mind If He Was A-An Assassin. This Morning i Sent

Him Away,  But,  Daddy,  He Didn'T Want To Go At All.

I Know He Didn'T. This Nora Black Is Nothing to Him.

I Know She Is Not. I Am Sure Of It. Yes-I Am Sure

Of It. * * * I Never Expected to Talk This Way To Any

Living creature,  But-You Are So Good,  Daddy.

Dear Old Daddy---"

 

She Ceased,  For She Saw That Her Father Was Praying.

 

The Sight Brought To Her A New Outburst Of Sobbing,

For Her Sorrow Now Had Dignity And Solemnity From

Thebowed white Head Of Her Old Father,  And She Felt

That Her Heart Was Dying amid The Pomp Of The Church.

It Was The Last Rites Being performed at The Death-Bed.

Into Her Ears Came Some Imagining of The Low Melan.

Choly Chant Of Monks In a Gloom.

 

Finally Her Father Arose. He Kissed her On The

Brow. " Try To Sleep,  Dear," He Said. He Turned out

The Gas And Left The Room. His Thought Was Full Of

Chastened emotion.

 

But If His Thought Was Full Of Chastened emotion,  It

Received some Degree Of Shock When He Arrived in the

Presence Of Mrs. Wainwright. " Well,  What Is All This

About ? " She Demanded,  Irascibly. " Do You Mean To

Say That Marjory Is Breaking her Heart Over That Man

Coleman ? It Is All Your Fault-" She Was Apparently Still

Ruffled over Her Exclusion.

 

When The Professor Interrupted her He Did Not

Speak With His Accustomed spirit,  But From Something

Novel In his Manner She Recognised a Danger Signal.

" Please Do Not Burst Out At It In that Way."

 

"Then It Is True?" She Asked. Her Voice Was A

Mere Awed whisper.

 

" It Is True," Answered the Professor.

 

"Well," She Said,  After Reflection,  "I Knew It. I

Alway'S Knew It. If You Hadn'T Been So Blind! You

Turned like A Weather-Cock In your Opinions Of Coleman.

You Never Could Keep Your Opinion About Him

For More Than An Hour. Nobody Could Imagine What

You Might Think Next. And Now You See The Result

Of It! I Warned you! I Told You What This Coleman

Was,  And If Marjory Is Suffering now,  You Have Only

Yourself To Blame For It. I Warned you! "

 

" If It Is My Fault," Said The Professor,  Drearily,  " I

Hope God May Forgive Me,  For Here Is A Great Wrong

To My Daughter."                 

 

Well,  If You Had Done As I Told You-" She Began.

 

Here The Professor Revolted. " Oh,  Now,  Do Not Be-

Gin On That," He Snarled,  Peevishly. Do Not Begin

On That."

 

" Anyhow," Said Mrs. Wainwright,  It Is Time That

We Should Be Going down To Dinner. Is Marjory Com-

Ing? "

 

" No,  She Is Not," Answered the Professor,  " And I

Do Not Know As I Shall Go Myself."

 

" But You Must Go. Think How It Would Look!

All The Students Down There Dining without Us,  And

Cutting up Capers! You Must Come."

 

" Yes," He Said,  Dubiously,  " But Who Will Look After

Marjory ? "

 

" She Wants To Be Left Alone," Announced mrs.

Wainwright,  As If She Was The Particular Herald Of This

News. " She Wants To Be Left Alone."

 

" Well,  I Suppose We May As Well Go Down."

Before They Went,  The Professor Tiptoed into His

Daughter'S Room. In the Darkness He Could Only See

Her Waxen Face On The Pillow,  And Her Two Eyes Gazing

Fixedly At The Ceiling. He Did Not Speak,  But Immedi.

Ately Withdrew,  Closing the Door Noiselessly Behind

Him.

Chapter 25

If The Professor And Mrs. Wainwright Had Descended

Sooner To A Lower Floor Of The Hotel,  They

Would Have Found Reigning there A Form Of Anarchy.

The Students Were In a Smoking room Which Was Also

An Entrance Hall To The Dining room,  And Because There

Was In the Middle Of This Apartment A Fountain Containing

Gold Fish,  They Had Been Moved to License And

Sin. They Had All Been Tubbed and Polished and

Brushed and Dressed until They Were Exuberantly Beyond

Themselves. The Proprietor Of The Hotel Brought

In His Dignity And Showed it To Them,  But They Minded

It No More Than If He Had Been Only A Common Man.

He Drew Himself To His Height And Looked gravely

At Them And They Jovially Said: " Hello,  Whiskers."

American College