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

Students Are Notorious In their Country

For Their Inclination To Scoff At Robed and Crowned

Authority,  And,  Far From Being awed by The Dignity Of

The Hotel-Keeper,  They Were Delighted with It. It Was

Something with Which To Sport. With Immeasurable

Impudence,  They Copied his Attitude,  And,  Standing before

Him,  Made Comic Speeches,  Always Alluding with

Blinding vividness To His Beard. His Exit Disappointed

Them. He Had Not Remained long Under Fire. They

Felt That They Could Have Interested themselves With

Him An Entire Evening. " Come Back,  Whiskers! Oh,

Come Back! " Out In the Main Hall He Made A Ges.

Ture Of Despair To Some Of His Gaping minions And Then

Fled to Seclusion.

 

A Formidable Majority Then Decided that Coke Was

A Gold Fish,  And That Therefore His Proper Place Was In

The Fountain. They Carried him To It While He Strug.

Gled madly. This Quiet Room With Its Crimson Rugs

And Gilded mirrors Seemed suddenly To Have Become

An Important Apartment In hell. There Being as Yet

No Traffic In the Dining room,  The Waiters Were All At

Liberty To Come To The Open Doors,  Where They Stood

As Men Turned to Stone. To Them,  It Was No Less Than

Incendiarism.

 

Coke,  Standing with One Foot On The Floor And The

Other On The Bottom Of The Shallow Fountain,  Blas-

Phemed his Comrades In a Low Tone,  But With Inten-

Tion. He Was Certainly Desirous Of Lifting his Foot Out

Of The Water,  But It Seemed that All Movement To That

End Would Have To Wait Until He Had Successfully Ex-

Pressed his Opinions. In the Meantime,  There Was

Heard Slow Footsteps And The Rustle Of Skirts,  And Then

Some People Entered the Smoking room On Their Way

To Dine. Coke Took His Foot Hastily Out Of The Fountain.

 

The Faces Of The Men Of The Arriving party Went

Blank,  And They Turned their Cold And Pebbly Eyes

Straight To The Front,  While The Ladies,  After Little Ex.

Pressions Of Alarm,  Looked as If They Wanted to Run.

In Fact,  The Whole Crowd Rather Bolted from This Ex-

Traordinary Scene.

 

" There,  Now," Said Coke Bitterly To His Companions.

"You See? We Looked like Little Schoolboys-"

 

" Oh,  Never Mind,  Old Man," Said Peter Tounley.

"We'Ll Forgive You,  Although You Did Embarrass Us.

But,  Above Everything,  Don'T Drip. Whatever You Do,

Don'T Drip."

 

The Students Took This Question Of Dripping and

Played upon It Until They Would Have Made Quite Insane

Anybody But Another Student. They Worked it

Into All Manner Of Forms,  And Hacked and Haggled at

Coke Until He Was Driven To His Room To Seek Other

Apparel. " Be Sure And Change Both Legs," They Told

Him. " Remember You Can'T Change One Leg Without

Changing both Legs."

 

After Coke'S Departure,  The United states Minister

Entered the Room,  And Instantly They Were Subdued.

It Was Not His Lofty Station-That Affected them. There

Are Probably Few Stations That Would Have At All Af-

Fectedthem. They Became Subdued because They Un-

Feignedly Liked the United states Minister. They,

Were Suddenly A Group Of Well-Bred,  Correctly Attired

Young Men Who Had Not Put Coke'S Foot In the Fountain.

Nor Had They Desecrated the Majesty Of The

Hotelkeeper.

 

"Well,  I Am Delighted," Said The Minister,  Laughing

As He Shook Hands With Them All. " I Was Not Sure I

Would Ever See You Again. You Are Not To Be Trusted,

And,  Good Boys As You Are,  I'Ll Be Glad To See You Once

And Forever Over The Boundary Of My Jurisdiction.

Leave Greece,  You Vagabonds. However,  I Am Truly

Delighted to See You All Safe."

 

" Thank You,  Sir," They Said.

 

" How In the World Did You Get Out Of It? You

Must Be Remarkable Chaps. I Thought You Were In a

Hopeless Position. I Wired and Cabled everywhere I

Could,  But I Could Find Out Nothing."

 

" A Correspondent," Said Peter Tounley. " I Don'T

Know If You Have Met Him. His Name Is Coleman.

He Found Us."

 

" Coleman ? " Asked the Minister,  Quickly.

 

" Yes,  Sir. He Found Us And Brought Us Out Safely."

 

" Well,  Glory Be To Coleman," Exclaimed the Min-

Ister,  After A Long Sigh Of Surprise. " Glory Be To Cole-

Man! I Never Thought He Could Do It."

 

The Students Were Alert Immediately. "Why,  Did

You Know About It,  Sir? Did He Tell You He Was Coming

After Us ? "

 

"Of Course. He Came Tome Here In athens. And

Asked where You Were. I Told Him You Were In a

Peck Of Trouble. He Acted quietly And Somewhat

Queerly,. And Said That He Would Try To Look You Up.

He Said You Were Friends Of His. I Warned him

Against Trying it. Yes,  I Said It Was Impossible,  I   

Had No Idea That He Would Really Carry The Thing out.

But Didn'T He Tell You Anything about This Himself?"

 

" No,  Sir ' " Answered peter Tounley. " He Never

Said Much About It. I Think He Usually Contended

That It Was Mainly An Accident."

 

" It Was No Accident," Said The Minister,  Sharply.

"When A Man Starts Out To Do A Thing and Does It,

You Can'T Say It Is An Accident."

 

" I Didn'T Say So,  Sir," Said Peter Tounley Diffidently.

 

" Quite True,  Quite True ! You Didn'T,  But-This

Coleman Must Be A Man! "

 

" We Think So,  Sir," Said Be Who Was Called billie.

" He Certainly Brought Us Through In style."

 

" But How Did He Manage It? " Cried the Minister,

Keenly Interested. " How Did He Do It ? "

 

" It Is Hard To Say,  Sir. But He Did It. He Met Us

In The Dead Of Night Out Near Nikopolis-"

 

"Near Nikopolis?"

 

"Yes,  Sir. And He Hid Us In a Forest While A Fight

Was Going on,  And Then In the Morning he Brought Us

Inside The Greek Lines. Oh,  There Is A Lot To Tell-"

 

Whereupon They Told It,  Or As Much As They Could

Of It. In the End,  The Minister Said: " Well,  Where Are

The Professor And Mrs. Wainwright ? I Want You All

To Dine With Me To-Night. I Am Dining in the Public

Room,  But You Won'T Mind That After Epirus."

" They Should Be Down Now,  Sir," Answered a Student.

 

People Were Now Coming rapidly To Dinner And Presently

The Professor And Mrs. Wainwright Appeared.

The Old Man Looked haggard And White. He Accepted

The Minister'S Warm Greeting with A Strained pathetic

Smile. " Thank You. We Are Glad To Return Safely."

 

Once At Dinner The Minister Launched immediately

Into The Subject Of Coleman. " He Must Be Altogether

A Most Remarkable Man. When He Told Me,  Very

Quietly,  That He Was Going to Try To Rescue You,  I

Frankly Warned him Against Any Such Attempt. I

Thought He Would Merely Add One More To A Party Of

Suffering people. But The. Boys Tell- Me That He Did

Actually Rescue You."

 

"Yes,  He Did," Said The Professor. " It Was A Very

Gallant Performance,  And We Are Very Grateful."

 

"Of Course," Spoke Mrs. Wainwright,  "We Might

Have Rescued ourselves. We Were On The Right Road,

And All We Had To Do Was To Keep Going on."

 

" Yes,  But I Understand-" Said The Minister. " I

Understand He Took You Into A Wood To Protect You

From That Fight,  And Generally Protected you From All,

Kinds Of Trouble. It Seems Wonderful To Me,  Not So

Much Because It Was Done As Because It Was Done By

The Man Who,  Some Time Ago,  Calmy Announced to Me

That He Was Going to Do It. Extraordinary."

 

"Of Course," Said Mrs. Wainwright. " Oh,  Of

Course."

 

"And Where Is He Now? " Asked the Minister Suddenly.

"Has He Now Left You To The Mercies Of Civilisation ? "

 

There Was A Moment'S Curious Stillness,  And Then

Mrs. Wainwright Used that High Voice Which-The

Students Believed-Could Only Come To Her When She

Was About To Say Something peculiarly Destructive To

The Sensibilities. " Oh,  Of Course,  Mr. Coleman Rendered

Us A Great Service,  But In his Private Character

He Is Not A Man Whom We Exactly Care To Associate

With."

 

" Indeed" Said The Minister Staring. Then He

Hastily Addressed the Students. " Well,  Isn'T This A

Comic War? Did You Ever Imagine War Could Be Like

This ? " The Professor Remained looking at His Wife

With An Air Of Stupefaction,  As If She Had Opened up To

Him Visions Of Imbecility Of Which He Had Not Even

Dreamed. The Students Loyally Began To Chatter At

The Minister. " Yes,  Sir,  It Is A Queer War. After All

Their Bragging,  It Is Funny To Hear That They Are Running

Away With Such Agility. We Thought,  Of Course,

Of The Old Greek Wars."

 

Later,  The Minister Asked them All To His Rooms For

Coffee And Cigarettes,  But The Professor And Mrs.

Wainwright Apologetically Retired to Their Own Quarters.

The Minister And The Students Made Clouds Of Smoke,

Through Which Sang The Eloquent Descriptions Of Late

Adventures.

 

The Minister Had Spent Days Of Listening to Questions

From The State Department At Washington As To

The Whereabouts Of The Wainwright Party. "I Suppose

You Know That You,Are Very Prominent People In,  The

United states Just Now ? Your Pictures Must Have

Been In all The Papers,  And There Must Have Been

Columns Printed about You. My Life Here Was Made

Almost Insupportable By Your Friends,  Who Consist,  I

Should Think,  Of About Half The Population Of The

Country. Of Course They Laid Regular Siege To The De.

Partment. I Am Angry At Coleman For Only One Thing.

When He Cabled the News Of Your Rescue To His News.

Paper From Arta,  He Should Have Also Wired me,  If Only

To Relieve My Failing mind. My First News Of Your

Escape Was From Washington-Think Of That."

 

"Coleman Had Us All On His Hands At Arta," Said

Peter Tounley. " He Was A Fairly Busy Man."

 

" I Suppose So," Said The Minister. " By The Way,"

He Asked bluntly,  "What Is Wrong With Him? What

Did Mrs. Wainwright Mean? "

 

They Were Silent For A Time,  But It Seemed plain To

Him That It Was Not Evidence That His Question Had

Demoralised them. They Seemed to Be Deliberating

Upon The Form Of Answer. Ultimately Peter Tounley

Coughed behind His Hand. " You See,  Sir," He Began,

" There Is-Well,  There Is A Woman In the Case. Not

That Anybody Would Care To Speak Of It Excepting to

You. But That Is What Is The Cause Of Things,  And Then,

You See,  Mrs. Wainwright Is-Well-" He Hesitated

A Moment And Then Completed his Sentence In the

Ingenuous Profanity Of His Age And Condition. " She Is

Rather An Extraordinary Old Bird."

 

" But Who Is The Woman ?

 

"Why,  It Is Nora Blaick,  The Actress."

"Oh," Cried the Minister,  Enlightened. " Her

Why,  I Saw Her Here. She Was Very Beautiful,  But She

Seemed harmless Enough. She Was Somewhat-Er-

Confident,  Perhaps,  But She Did Not Alarm Me. She

Called upon Me,  And I Confess I-Why,  She Seemed

Charming."

" She'S Sweet On Little Rufus. That'S The Point,"

Said An Oracular Voice.

 

" Oh," Cried the Host,  Suddenly. " I Remember. She

Asked me Where He Was. She Said She Had Heard He

Was In greece,  And I Told Her He Had Gone Knight-

Erranting off After You People. I Remember Now. I

Suppose She Posted after Him Up To Arta,  Eh ? "

 

" That'S It. And So She Asked you Where He Was?

 

" Yes."

 

" Why,  That Old Flamingo-Mrs. Wainwright Insists

That It Was A Rendezvous."

 

Every One Exchanged glances And Laughed a Little.

" And Did You See Any Actual Fighting ? " Asked the

Minister.

 

" No. We Only Beard It-"

 

Afterward,  As They Were Trooping up To Their Rooms,

Peter Tounley Spoke Musingly. " Well,  It Looks To Me

Now As If Old Mother Wainwright Was Just A Bad-Minded

Old Hen."

 

" Oh,  I Don'T Know. How Is One Going to Tell What

The Truth Is ? "

 

" At Any Rate,  We Are Sure Now That Coleman Had

Nothing to Do With Nora'S Debut In epirus."

 

They Had Talked much Of Coleman,  But In their Tones

There Always Had Been A Note Of Indifference Or

Carelessness. This Matter,  Which To Some People Was As

Vital And Fundamental As Existence,  Remained to Others

Who Knew Of It Only A Harmless Detail Of Life,  With No

Terrible Powers,  And Its Significance Had Faded greatly

When Had Ended the Close Associat.Ions Of The Late Adventure.

 

After Dinner The Professor Had Gone Directly To His

Daughter'S Room. Apparently She Had Not Moved.

He Knelt By The Bedside Again And Took One Of Her

Hands. She Was Not Weeping. She Looked at Him

And Smiled through The Darkness. " Daddy,  I Would

Like To Die," She Said. " I Think-Yes-I Would Like To

Die."

 

For A Long Time The Old Man Was Silent,  But He Arose

At Last With A Definite Abruptness And Said Hoarsely

" Wait! "

 

Mrs. Wainwright Was Standing before Her Mirror

With Her Elbows Thrust Out At Angles Above Her Head,

While Her Fingers Moved in a Disarrangement Of 'Her

Hair. In the Glass She Saw A Reflection Of Her Husband

Coming from Marjory'S Room,  And His Face Was Set

With Some Kind Of Alarming purpose. She Turned to

Watch Him Actually,