OCR Text |
Show THE LORD OF 'Wftg THUNDER' GATE m rSs f mm Coowrtokt bu TK Bobbj-Mei-i-ill Co. 4Siii2? Jsiiiaii CHAPTER XIII Continued. 16 8he sat on the edge of her berth, untouched troy on the serving-tab! e. Gorgeous In jade-green kimono, jade-Jeweled jade-Jeweled pins thrust through her hair; her attitude one of dejection. Her face was pale, her lustrous eyes dim with unshed tears. Her high courage faltered. She realized the close contact con-tact that shipboard was bringing, words quickened In a stream to her lips, let her go I no, hide her, hide her far from those nasty faces. With the Intention of comforting her, Wells stepped close and touched the gleaming hair: all of her fear galvanized and. Instinctively, she covered cov-ered her mouth with a hand. Wells stepped back. Her fright both hurt him, and pleased him. Yet, confound It, even as a Jap, he was Wells. He had Wells' thoughts, Wells' actions. "Here, O-Hana, little blossom," he said, turning as he spoke to take the key from the door that connected the cabins, "fear Is In your heart. 'If a ' " " worm gnaws your heart, do not take out the heart, but destroy the worm.' Toh I Here Is the key. Lock the door, little one." He returned to his cabin and delved Into a wooden box, taking out a bitter bit-ter orangewood stick, a single dried holly leaf, and the head of a tiny dried shrimp. The stick he thrust through the holly leaf; the fish's head he fastened Into a split made In one end of the stick ; the other end he slipped into the keyhole of the door. "I have placed a charm about your room, O-Hana," he called through the door. "No devil may enter." A haze settled over him as he threw 1 himself upon the couch. Williams, Al- j berta, Uncle Jim whirled before his j eyes In shadow-play; MIsako the nurse I and his father; evil priests chasing Ellen, his Ellen. None of his dreams Involved himself. him-self. His troubles were over, or nearly near-ly over. To all he was Kayama, and was treated with deference. He was perfectly safe as the great lord. In this he erred. His masquerade had already brought peering eyes Into his cabin, eyes which discovered the shrimp's head charm and the fact that this lord and his wife were not as married people: that the lord was always alone In his cabin But the cabin-boy's courage was not at Its zenith. He feared. He did rot dare, as yet, to attempt but the time would come he could slip the key from the door the lord would wonder that the key was gone, but later, all would be dark. Wells slept. Once Ellen heard him cry softly, almost Inaudibly In sleep : "Kon ya med.urashil o yo da" what a night It Is for love. CHAPTER XIV One day the captain missed Kayania-San Kayania-San from the evenlag meal. The long hours of exertion, the ceasless worry, had brought Wells to the point where -"" he would be unable to withstand or '" fight the onslaught of any Infectious disease: the clean air of the ship had braced htm, and the ship Itself had cleared from Japan with n clean bill of health. This for a time saved him. But a heartier meal thnn usual, eaten with rapidity, brought on n sudden Indigestion. Wells wondered If he was about to faint: he stnggerd slightly In his walk, and knowing ones intimated that some of the baggage of this Japanese Jap-anese contained potent waters. He had been barely able to get to his cabin. Strange, he thought, that there was no key The steward reported to the captain cap-tain that the lord had a sickness. Thi steward had knocked. There was no answer, but he had heard mtttterings within. Therefore he inquired of the lord's wife, who was surprised. "See to It that Kayama-Snn Is properly prop-erly served In his Illness," the attendant attend-ant warned the cnbln-boy, who scurried scur-ried away to the cabin. It was true! The lord of many rice fields tossed upon the bed. Soon It would be dark. Very soon. The cabin-boy hurried down below decks, and slid a knife under his white coat. "In death alone are all men equal as It now Is." the radical said! It woubl be very dark, and the lord would be sick and alone. Wells did not believe that he was really 111. He had these periods of weakness occasionally; none like this: pone blurred his eyes so, nor made the furniture of Ms cabin dance he flung himself upon the bed. lie just couldn't be sick! It would brine (he ship's doctor. Prying eyes. Where did the red spots on the wall come from? He couldn't be sick. He tossed upon the bed feverishly. Ellen listened, when the steward had brought the news. Kayama was given to silent spells, when he spoke to no one. She hesitated to call to him through the door; she feared to enter en-ter his cabin. Sounds seped through, tet cried. 1 para. The little devil-dispel ler fell from the keyhole as she opened the connecting con-necting door. Kayama had been good to l er. She saw him lying gray upon the bed. The Kayama she had known was gone. The color of his face was that of old while wax; his mouth seemed stretched to the cracking point ; neither nei-ther turned up at the corners nor down, but a bleak slit Jagged across his face. Ills eyes were closed. The bandage had slipped away, revealing nothing of a scar beneath, for the wound had been slight. For all the distortion of countenance, counte-nance, he looked boyish. She searched for any shred of reason In him, but the deadly mask told her nothing at all. Then his Hps moved, and, astounded, as-tounded, amazed, she heard him speak. His eyes, sightless with fever, opened, fastened upon her. In one hand he held a samurai knife, very lean at the blade. "What is It, Kayama-San?" Ellen spoke first, In a whisper. He croaked his reply. "Williams, I am going to kill you." "Kill me, Lord?" "You sold me out. You loved Alberta. Al-berta. You made me lose Uncle Jim's respect. That's why you had me drink wine and carouse with the Japs. There can be no other reason. I am not a fool." He sat up. His frame was shaken as if with palsy. Tremendous effort took him careening to his feet, the knife In his hand. She turned like a wild creature, wild and blanched with horror. He was mad ! Ellen swayed, started to run, entangled a foot In her long kimono and stumbled forward to stay herself by the table. He followed her, blindly, blind-ly, Instinctively. As he touched her arm. she turned to him a pinched face. Wells looked at Ellen fixedly. Some whlsp of his Inner rage caught light from the silken touch. He gasped, supported himself against her and fell headlong on the bed agnin. Fever thoughts raced through Wells' unconscious mind: he called aloud that some one must shout his name, remembering re-membering that thus the dying may be held to earth, for the fleeing soul can be induced to return. "Kayama-San," Ellen whispered. This contented him, and he lay quietly. The" girl tried to remember the words he had used, all English words, but the terrible scene had driven them far away. What, she wondered, was Kayama afraid of? There was something! some-thing! Why the sudden departure, the long silences, the avoidance of people on the ship, the bitterness which, cloaklike, enveloped him? Should she call the doctor? Kayama Kaya-ma was sick. Seriously, perhaps. Yet he feared people. He he had protected pro-tected her, from the priests and from himself. He had been kind. He was taking her to America. Perhaps he might even free her from this bondage would she want to go? Hotly she dismissed any suggestion that she wished to stay with him. Perhaps Kayama needed protection. Thus she might repay the debt. He had bought her with money. Surely, Sure-ly, by staying with him, when all would know that she was in his stateroom, state-room, she would cancel that debt. Then she might be free. Kayama was alone. It was her place. Wells' puckered face twitched, and his tight Hps struggled together as If working for words. The little cabin was very quiet Ellen saw the shrimp's head slide across the floor as the boat rolled gently. It was symbolic Japanese. She shuddered. A heavier swell touched the ship, regularly beating ocean-pulses; the shin swung slowly, cradle-like. Ellen opened the porthole, that air might revive the unconscious man. Blue sky, blue sea. welded together In the white horizon. How happy and content she mlrht have been, upon this summer sea. What did the mission women call It? Honeymoon. If only the man were not a Japanese. Wells must have seen phantoms, for he was sing ig the bridegroom's "We are married.' married Joyously!" in a shrill, strident voice. Tims sing th? young men of Takusakl, where Wells was born. The noise brought to the girl the necessity for action. What had Tsi-K'ung. Tsi-K'ung. the venerable Chinese foster-father foster-father said? "If I sicken, little daughter, daugh-ter, summon the priests. Make the trlpple prostrations. Place food before be-fore the shrine. Then, hurrying lest it be too late, obtain t ho doctor at the mission. When the senses swoon and are eager to depart, he has potent spells to bring them hack." The last sentence she remembered clearly. With deliberation she opened tne door that led to the companionvvay ; Inquired of the first man where the doctor was to rre found ; asked for something to 'tting back the seOAeft." ' Her breath came short ts she asket it. Her face burned when she heard the "What won't these girls nowadays do for money '" and felt the eagerly Inquisitive eyes of many men examining examin-ing her. One man glanced long enough to admire the trim, silken ankles which the wind ievealed. His name was Williams: Whenever given the opportunity, he admitted freely that he was an eng'neer who achieved the Impossible. "You don't want that," the doctor said when the girl explained for what she wished the draught. "Here, you give him this," a powder, "In a iilass of water. He will sleep. If there Is nothing serious the matter, he will be better upon awakening. But don't you think it might be wise for me to examine ex-amine him?" Ellen refused, gently, for fear of angering an-gering the doctor. "No booze, geisha-girlie," Wells said as he fought the sleeping-potion. "Nothing at all. I don't want any. None. Get out. Go 'way." Then, with a queer gesture of renunciation, he drank. Thus closely Wells lingered between fever and sanity. Words shook him: of little tea-houses and mighty bridges. As the bromide took effect the words became Incoherent. She wondered at the correct pronunciation of the "l's." Vaguely, he must have been sensible of the opened porthole. Tensely eager fingers (all unknowing) clawed at his kimono, baring the throat to the breeze's coolness. He tossed upon the bed ; the kimono opened a bit farther. Precisely, in a well-defined marking circle, Ellen saw that the brown skin stopped ! To her startled eyes the whiteness of the revealed skin was searing, blinding. Site stood still. "Her face was drawn, but full of lustant, flaming flam-ing happiness ; a thing subt'.e, elusive, ecstatic, scorning to 'line itself. The uneasy hand which groped undirected un-directed was that of her husband. A white man. She had or had she? feared him ; had erected a barrier against him which had never existed. Save In her own mind. He had known, protected her against every one against himself. Who was he? Would he remain a Japanese? Why? Would he tell her of It all? What was he going to do? Now It seemed as If she had realized all of the time that he was a white man. Would she remain ns his wife? She loved him. Surely he, also, cared, or he would not have been so gentle and kind. His fingers twitched; moved toward her; she did not avoid them, but met the seeking hand. Ellen knelt beside the bed, felt Wells' fingers relax, his brenthing become even and deep. There was no light In the cabin her eyes were heavy. Over and over these strange new thoughts tumbled through her head until, her hand tightly tight-ly in his, kimono cascaded over the floor In green, rippling configurations, she drowsed. Once she started, thought that she heard the creaking of an opened door; settled more comfortably against Wells' arm. A dream flushed her cheeks; she smiled as she slept. The cnbln-boy had stopped ani spoken a moment with the fourth bar-boy. bar-boy. A piece of money passed between them, and soon a fiery drink seethed the already warped brain. Until this night the cabin-boy had feared that the moment of revenge revenge for all of the poor, who had no rice must wait until the steamer landed. The thought had become monomania the lord a knife over the rail he had it letter-perfect. Kayama was alone and sick. The cabin-boy was very brave. The deck was dark, deserted. He walked boldly down until he neared Kayama's cabin. He heard footsteps, and shrank Into the companionway. As the foosteps approached he crouched In unreasoning fear (for has not a cabin-boy a perfect right to be on deck when on duty?) and began to swear, not blasphemously, but in sheer desperate search for courage the footsteps died away. His eyes were very bright, and purpose pur-pose shone In them anew. A shiver, a long shuddering sigh swept over him. The deck was now truly deserted. desert-ed. He listened; there was no sound from Kayama's cabin. No light. ' The cabin-boy felt the edge of his knife, and podded toward the door silently. (TO EE CONTINUED, ) |