Kitabı oku: «The Ranch Girls in Europe», sayfa 4

CHAPTER VIII
A MORE IMPORTANT OBLIGATION

IT was in the late afternoon of the same day and over toward the west appeared the flaming colors of an African sunset.

Since mid-day hundreds of the Martha Washington's passengers had been landed at Gibraltar. They had been shown through the famous English stronghold, where guns and ammunition are so strangely stored for defense and had seen the town at the northwest foot of the rock protected by formidable batteries. Then, weary in mind and body, they had been again transferred to the special tender and put aboard their steamer.

Standing at the edge of the water and leaning on Olive's arm waiting her turn to be taken back, Jack wondered if among all their fellow passengers there was one half so fatigued as she? She had not mentioned it, but this was hardly worth while, for Jack's face, except for her lips and the shadows under her eyes, was perfectly colorless, yet that morning she had thought herself as strong as anyone else. However, Jack need not have felt discouraged, for every member of the Rainbow Ranch party looked almost equally used up. The truth is that, through Captain Madden's guidance, they had seen more of the great fort than the other ship's passengers. Then by accident they had lost their return places in the tender, and so been obliged to wait until a later trip.

The celebrated Rock of Gibraltar runs north and south three miles and is about three-quarters of a mile in width. The entire rock is undermined with subterranean galleries containing cannon in great number. Some of the lower galleries that are not in use may be visited by travelers, but both Frieda and Jean assured Captain Madden that if there were any possible passages which they had not journeyed through, it was indeed hard to believe.

Each member of the expedition was cross. For there is nothing more trying to the nerves and disposition than too strenuous sight-seeing.

Ruth was worried at having permitted Jack to undertake a trip that was so plainly too much for her strength. Jean was annoyed because the Princess Colonna, who had been one of their party all day, had scarcely spoken to any of her friends. Even Captain Madden she had acknowledged only by the coldest greeting, while absolutely ignoring every one else. And although Dick Grant and his mother had been included in the Ranch girls' immediate party, solely on Frieda's account, she and the young man had been on the verge of quarreling at least half a dozen times. However, it was not altogether the young people's fault, because Mrs. Grant had been trying. Every once in a while Frieda had felt obliged to decide that in the future she must have nothing more to do with the son. If there was a possible stupid question to be asked, always Mrs. Grant had asked it; if there was a place where the rules forbade her entrance, that was the particular place which she had insisted upon seeing. Indeed, if Frieda had been able to foretell how Mrs. Grant was to end the long day with them, she would have wished that their original uncomfortable acquaintance could have closed on the morning it begun.

Suddenly from the signal station on top the Rock of Gibraltar the little company in waiting on shore heard the loud report of the six o'clock gun. Six o'clock and yet here they were on land! The ship's officer had announced that the Martha Washington must steam away again promptly at six! Nevertheless there seemed no real danger of the Rainbow Ranch party's being left behind. For half a mile out at sea their ship still waited at anchor, while approaching within a few yards of the Spanish shore was the small boat known as the tender.

Watching it come toward them Jack swayed and might have fallen except that Olive kept a tight hold on her.

"Please help me up the gang-plank when we go on board, Olive dear?" Jack whispered, "I don't want any one to guess how wobbly I feel."

And Olive nodded reassuringly.

A little later and the tender had reached the big ship. Now, however, the transference of the passengers was not to be so easily made. The waves were no longer blue and quiet as they had been all day. From somewhere a high wind had blown up off the land and each time the smaller boat attempted anchoring alongside the big one, a breaker drove it backward or forward. There was grave danger of the tender's being shattered against the great ship.

Nevertheless no one aboard either of the two boats seemed seriously frightened, excepting Mrs. Grant. Frieda was so scornful in watching the stout, elderly woman clutching at her son, asking dozens of hysterical questions that she quite forgot to be nervous herself. Indeed, she almost failed to appreciate the scene, so unique to her experience.

Ruth and the other three Ranch girls were not so oblivious. For the time being they were standing close together, having in the excitement forgotten all past weariness. The Spanish and English sailors, manning their small boat, were splendidly capable. Through a megaphone orders were called out to them from the big steamer, and instantly the men made ready to obey. But whatever the discipline and intelligence, the will of the sea was not to be soon conquered.

Had there been more time the smaller boat could have been finally brought alongside the larger one and her few remaining passengers safely put on board, but the night was coming down, and both the officers and travelers were growing impatient. A few moments afterward and the tender was brought to anchor within a safe distance of the Martha Washington. Then a life boat was lowered. When this came alongside the tender a ladder was dropped overboard and the Ranch party and their friends ordered to embark. The method appeared a simple enough one. One had only to climb down the ladder and be lifted into the small boat. Nevertheless, five persons looked anxiously at Jacqueline Ralston, and Jack purposely refused to return any gaze. Not for worlds would she have Ruth or the girls guess that she felt any nervousness at having to do so easy a thing, with several persons at hand to help her.

During this period of waiting, Captain Madden had been standing not far away, talking in low tones to the Princess. Now he moved quietly forward. His face was flushed as though his conversation had not been agreeable. However, his manner toward Jack was extremely kind.

"If the climbing down the ladder will be too much for you, Miss Ralston, won't you allow me – "

Jack shook her head. Already Jean was descending the side of the boat, the Princess following soon after. And although the small tender plunged with the movement of the waves and the rowboat rocked unceasingly, half a dozen hands held the ladder firm.

There was no danger. Jack joined Frieda in frowning impatiently at Mrs. Grant, who was nervously protesting to her son that she could never make the necessary effort. Then her gray eyes lighted with amusement. With a slight inclination of the head she suggested that Captain Madden play knight errant to the only female in distress.

Olive and Frieda went down one after the other. Ruth, however, would not leave the tender until she saw Jack safely through the climb overboard. And in the meantime the rowboat had made a journey to the steamer, put its occupants aboard and returned once more to the smaller ship.

But by this time the gorgeous sunset colors had faded and the twilight was fast closing down. And although Mrs. Grant, having at last mustered sufficient courage, insisted on being allowed to enter the rowboat first, Ruth Drew would not hear of it. She had waited, watching the other girls in order to see how difficult the climb might be for Jack. Now it was wiser to have no further delay.

If Jack had felt any nervousness previously it had now entirely passed. How absurd to be frightened by anything so simple! With a gesture to the man in the boat below she flung her heavy white coat down to him. Then she swung herself over the side of the boat and commenced descending the ladder with all the ease of her athletic days. The distance was not great. Although the boats were rocking and plunging the experience was exhilarating.

It happened during the few moments required for Jack's descent that Captain Madden and Dick Grant chanced to be standing on either side of Mrs. Grant. Therefore, what afterwards occurred could hardly have been prevented.

Of course Mrs. Grant was under the impression that Jack had reached the end of the ship's ladder. Some call from below or some mental hallucination must have given her the idea. For without a word she suddenly darted forward and before any one could speak or move seized hold of the top rung of the overhanging rope ladder. It was only for an instant. Immediately the sailor standing alongside, grasped her firmly by the arm, but the single movement had been sufficiently disastrous.

Jack had nearly reached the end of her climb. So near was she to stepping into the rowboat that one of the men below had his arms outstretched to receive her. So possibly she had relaxed the firmness of her hold. For when the surprising jerk came from the top of the ladder the girl wavered half a second and then appeared to let go altogether. She fell not backwards but over to one side. And only her own family understood why she had happened to collapse in this fashion.

Instantly, however, before an other sound could be heard, there came the queer rushing noise of the water closing over her. And then followed a cry that seemed to come from a hundred throats at once. Above them all Ruth believed she heard Frieda on the deck of the big steamer.

Ruth did not utter a sound. Really there seemed not to be time. Almost instantaneously did Captain Madden's coat drop at her feet. Then followed his dive overboard. There were plenty of people nearby to have pulled Jack out of the water. Perhaps his action was unnecessary. However, Captain Madden had at once recognized Jack's grave danger. They were only half a mile from shore, where he suspected the undertow was dangerously strong. It was now almost dark so that her body might be drawn under one or the other of the two large boats. And his suspicion must have been true, because Jack did not come up near the spot where she had gone down. There were half a dozen sailors ready to offer aid had it been necessary. But the moment after Captain Madden's dive, he rose again holding the girl easily with one hand and swimming. When they reached the side of the life-boat the sailors pulled them in, wet of course, but otherwise unhurt.

"I am exceedingly sorry and ashamed and grateful," Jack murmured in Captain Madden's ear later when, safely wrapped in his coat, she was being rowed back to the Martha Washington. "In the words of Mr. Peggoty, if it hadn't been for you I might have been 'drowndead.'"

Captain Madden shook his head. More than anything else he admired Jacqueline Ralston's courage. Indeed, he was beginning to think that the task which he had set for himself might not be so disagreeable to perform.

"Oh no, there were dozens of other men equally ready to do just what I did, only I managed to have the honor first," he returned lightly. And of course by his ignoring his own action, Jack was the more impressed by it.

For she looked at the older man gravely. "I can understand that you don't want to be thanked for what you have done. I know that from my own experience once. But just the same I shall always be grateful to you. And if ever there is a time when I can in any way show my gratitude – "

To do Captain Madden justice he felt uncomfortable over Jack's excessive gratitude, for whatever his other faults of character, he was a physically brave man.

Although insisting that she was perfectly well and that her wetting had not done her the least harm, Jack was straightway put to bed and dosed with warm drinks. So that Olive, in order to talk with the other girls and yet allow Jack to sleep, was obliged to slip into Ruth's stateroom soon after dinner.

There she found Ruth and Jean engaged in argument.

"Of course I am grateful to Captain Madden," Jean was saying in an irritated tone of voice, "but just the same, I don't see why he could not have waited for one of the sailors whose business it was to rescue Jack. We all of us know what a queer disposition Jack has and how if she once likes a person she sticks to him through thick and thin. And I – well, candidly, I don't want her to like this Captain Madden any too much. I don't trust him and I would write to old Jim tonight if I knew a single thing to say against him or any reason for saying it."

"But you are simply prejudiced, Jean dear. Anyhow we will be landing in Naples in a few days and after that see no more of our ship friends," Ruth argued. "So if I were you I would say and think nothing more about this. Really, such a casual acquaintance is not of so great importance."

And Ruth frowned, because Frieda was staring at her cousin with her big blue eyes wide open with the effort to guess what possible reason Jean could have for showing so much unnecessary feeling. For her own part, her anger was directed entirely against Mrs. Grant and her son. And she firmly made up her mind not to speak to either one of them again, no matter how humble their apologies.

CHAPTER IX
REFLECTIONS

RUTH had her way. When the Martha Washington finally arrived in Naples, good-byes were said to all their ship's acquaintances and the Rainbow Ranch party had their first ten days in Italy to themselves. There was a little time of rest and then visits to the Island of Capri, to the ruins of Pompeii, to Mount Vesuvius. And before very long Ruth and the four girls found themselves yielding more than they had dreamed to the wonderful spell of southern Italy. Not that any one object or place made so great an impression beyond another, but because Italy seemed so different from their own land. It was as though they had one day been transported by an airship for a journey through the planet Jupiter or Mars.

The soft Italian voices with their tuneful cadences, the laziness and air of having all eternity for the performance of a task, the big, brown-eyed beauty of the women and children – it was all irresistible. Actually the girls felt their own characters changing. Where was their old energetic desire to take long walks, to rise up early and certainly never to waste a moment in a nap in the afternoon? Why in Naples one felt always drowsy, less inclined to talk, and wished only to drive and dream and feast one's eyes and ears and nose, all the senses at once. For here was beauty, music and such fragrance, surely the three graces of nature! And the roses, they were everywhere in bloom, climbing over every ruined wall and broken gateway, covering whole hillsides, until at last Jack was obliged to admit that they were as abundant and even more beautiful than her own wild prairie roses.

But Naples was only to be the Ranch girls' first introduction to Italy, their first taste of her delights. Rome was really the central object of their pilgrimage, where the greater part of their time was to be spent.

And Rome Ruth had decided must be taken seriously.

In Naples she had let things drift, had even felt as inactive and pleasure-loving as her younger companions. But then she had been tired from her sea voyage. Many persons had said that it required a week or ten days for recovery if one had been seasick. Also this may have explained why so frequently of late she had caught herself thinking of Jim Colter. Why should the nights in Naples recall moonlit evenings on the ranch which they had spent together years before?

Almost the only suggestion that Jim had made to her before their sailing was that the girls should acquire enough culture on their European trip to compensate him for the loss of their society. And Ruth had conscientiously determined to do her best. All the winter past she had devoted to the study of Roman history. Indeed, it had helped her pass many a lonely evening, when otherwise the picture of the Rainbow Lodge living room, with the girls seated about the fire and the big figure of their guardian stalking in and out half a dozen times within the hour, had a fashion of appearing before her eyes.

Ruth had begun her acquaintance with the Ranch girls as their teacher. So that now, although they were nearly grown, it was hard for her to give up all her old principles and practices. In their different ways the four girls were charming, and yet there was much Ruth felt that they should know. However, the past year had made more changes in their characters than she could ever have supposed. She had been surprised to find how much they now cared for people and society, and had been disappointed as well; for Ruth had not realized that the Ranch girls were yet old enough for these interests, in spite of the fact that Jack was nearly twenty and Olive and Jean not so far away. Jack in particular had been a revelation to Ruth, who had been making special plans for her intellectual development. For she was the oldest of the four girls and yet had never had the advantage of Primrose Hall and Miss Winthrop. After their trip abroad then, there would be time enough for society, their chaperon decided, actually believing that the natural experiences of life can be persuaded to wait for set times and set places.

So all the way along the road from Naples to Rome, Ruth was making her own plans for the four girls, little guessing what was occupying their minds. Nevertheless their thoughts were as eternal to youth as any symbol of eternity in the most wonderful of all cities.

"'Tis the center

To which all gravitates. One finds no rest

Elsewhere than here. There may be other cities

That please us for a while, but Rome alone

Completely satisfies."

Or at least this was Ruth Drew's idea, as she sat watching the landscape fly past her window, with these lines keeping time to the turning of the car wheels.

Notwithstanding that, Jean Bruce sat exactly opposite, with her eyes closed showing the length of her dark lashes against the clear pallor of her cheeks, Jean was not devoting all her energies to reflecting upon the historic curiosities of ancient Rome. She wanted to see everything of importance, of course, but she was also wondering if the Princess Colonna would keep the promise made in their farewells on the steamship. Would she call on them in Rome and afterwards invite them to meet her friends? The invitation might possibly be to an afternoon tea; yet even then there was a chance of meeting some member of the Italian nobility or other prominent person. And Jean did not think herself a snob because she wanted to meet big people as well as to see big things. Always they had led such a quiet life at the ranch, and boarding school had offered but few opportunities for making outside friends. Indeed, her only other chances for mingling with the world had been their summer trip through the Yellowstone and her week's visit to Margaret Belknap during the Christmas holidays at Primrose Hall. So Jean's social aspirations were possibly not unreasonable.

And, curiously enough, Olive Van Mater, for at least a portion of their pilgrimage to Rome, was considering certain friends whom she might possibly meet there, instead of the marvels of the city itself. For she was expecting that her cousins, Mrs. Harmon, Donald and Elizabeth, might make their appearance. And although Olive was fond of all three of them, she could not look forward to their meeting with pleasure. The truth is that Olive's grandmother, as we must know from the past volume in this series, was a self-willed, unwise old woman. No sooner had she seen Olive and Donald together half a dozen times and noticed the young fellow's liking for her granddaughter, than she had made up her mind the way she intended to escape her own difficulty. Why puzzle to decide whether she should leave her large fortune to the Harmons, as she had so long promised, or give it to the newly found granddaughter?

"Let the two young persons marry and share the money between them. Elizabeth could be comforted with a reasonable legacy." This decision Madame Van Mater had confided to Miss Winthrop almost as soon as the idea had come into her head. And then, in spite of Miss Winthrop's openly expressed disapproval, after Olive's return from the ranch for her second winter at Primrose Hall, her grandmother had made known her wishes to her.

"So that you may not get any other love nonsense into your head," Madame Van Mater explained to Olive, as though there could be no possibility of her desire being disobeyed. And this in spite of the fact that Olive had insisted that Donald could never care for her or she for him, and that nothing would induce her to follow her grandmother's wishes. Indeed, except for Miss Winthrop, Olive might have been made extremely unhappy. But her friend had explained that Madame Van Mater was growing childish with age and would probably change her mind in regard to the willing of her wealth many times before her death. Also she assured her that Madame Van Mater had never mentioned her purpose to Donald Harmon, and if Miss Winthrop could influence her, never should. Nevertheless Olive's peace of mind and pleasure in her cousin's society had been successfully destroyed by her grandmother's suggestion. Actually the girl lived in a kind of shy dread of Don's ever finding it out or attempting to follow Madame Van Mater's wishes. She had always protested that the greater share of the family fortunes should be left to the Harmons. She herself would be content with very little and wanted no special favors, since her grandmother had never brought herself to care for her. Notwithstanding this, the old lady had seen that her granddaughter had an even larger sum than the three Ranch girls for her traveling expenses in Europe. And had said that she was to buy whatever she liked and to send for more money whenever it was necessary.

Yet Ruth and the girls were traveling in a far more expensive fashion and spending more money than they ever had before. For, in spite of the discovery of the Rainbow mine, they had continued to live simply. Nevertheless, in starting off on their European trip, Jim had advised them to have a good time and not to worry, as he guessed the gold mine could do the rest.

So that Jack in the course of her journey from Naples rather wondered if Captain Madden had not received a wrong impression of the amount of their wealth. Or possibly Frank Kent had told him. In any case it was annoying for Frank to have mentioned their financial affairs to so complete a stranger as Captain Madden had then been. Jack was glad she had written asking Frank not to join them in Italy. Two years might have made a great change in his character, so that they could not be friends as they had once been. Besides, had she not guessed, without actually having been told, that Captain Madden and Frank, in spite of being cousins, were not particularly good friends? And as Captain Madden had mentioned that there was a bare chance of his spending the spring in Rome it might be awkward meeting them together. Of course Jack had not spoken of the chance of running across Captain Madden in Rome to any of her family. In the first place, Captain Madden had been by no means sure of his presence there, and in the second, Jack had the impression that Jean, Olive and Frieda did not like him. This was absurd, of course, with a man so much older! As he had traveled and spent other seasons in Rome, surely he would be an agreeable guide and help them to see the right things in the right way?

Only Frieda, besides Ruth, was not looking forward with either pleasure or dread to any persons whom she might happen to run across in Rome. Certainly Dick Grant and his mother were to be there (Dick had told her every detail of their plans in the course of their early acquaintance), but whether they were in Rome or not was of no interest to Frieda. For the younger Miss Ralston had been true to her decision and not once in the two-day-and-a-half sail from Gibraltar to Naples had she acknowledged the existence of either Mrs. Grant or her son. And this in spite of their humble apologies to Jack, and her sister's ready acceptance of them.

However, this much justice must be accorded the Ranch girls that when, at sunset, they at last entered "the eternal city" all personal thoughts and considerations were swept from their minds. High in the distance they could see the tower of St. Peter's; in the midst of the town ran the muddy stream of the Tiber; and over all Rome's beauty and antiquity hovered the golden atmosphere for which the city is also justly famous.