Earl Derr Biggers

“ Women tourists turned to stare at him, and no wonder. A leading man on the London stage for many years, he had in his day set many feminine hearts to beating faster.
Thatcher appeared, his face more crimson than ever above his white shirt front, the eternal monocle in his eye. His luggage, too, came with him, and when he had paid his bill, he strolled over to Wayne. ”

“ Maynard was waiting in his living room, a great apartment furnished in expensive native woods, with greenery everywhere One side of it was open, save for a protecting screen, to the white beach. About the whole establishment there was an air of wealth, security. To these gypsies of the theater it was a new environment, and the hearts stirred in a mild envy. What would it be like, to have a home, to stop all worry over money, engagements, to sit here by the murmuring surf and feel that disaster could never reach them?
Maynard was looking at Sibyl Clay with keen admiration. ”

“ He knelt by her chair, but she looked away, down the deck, at a middle-aged man who stood by the rail, idly swinging a monocle over the side and staring off to where sun dipped down into a sea as crimson as his own complexion. “Isabelle, if we must go back to Mentone, let's go hack to the happiness of those weeks—the perfume of the roses, the pale moon in the star-decked sky, those warm nights on the terrace.”
“Sir James!” called the woman. The man down the deck galvanized into life. ”

“ Wayne told him. “When I heard the true story of Bertie's death, it was too late. Redfield had disappeared utterly. The earth had swallowed him up. But I've been waiting. That's why I took this engagement. I've been waiting, and now, as luck will have it, I meet Redfield in your drawing-room—and I'll never leave him again, not until I've paid him back, not until——”
“Ridiculous!” said Sibyl Clay. “In all my life I've never heard anything so ridiculous. Mr. Thatcher, I'm sure Mr. Maynard will furnish you with a car. Go to the boat and wait for us.” ”

“ Admit like a man that your evidence against this chap is none too good. When you get to Sydney, investigate; learn how that story has stood the test of time.”
“A splendid idea,” Thatcher. “Give me a chance. I'll help with your investigation. I'll prove your story is rot, and I'll prove other things. That brother of yours—you think he was a saint. Well, he was a dirty blackbirder.”
Wayne leaped to his feet. “You liar!” he cried. “You contemptible liar! Shoot a man in the back, and then besmirch his name!”
Maynard got between them just in time. Sibyl Clay sighed wearily. ”

“ I only know that if you were to come to me tonight and tell me that this boat would never reach port, that my career was ended, that I'd just go sailing or through eternity over a sea like glass, I—I wouldn't mind, Dan. Not with you aboard.”
Wayne lingered for Maynard's answer. When it came, the voice of the Honolulu man was calm, unmoved. “It's the tropics,” he explained evenly. “You're just on the edge, but they've got you already. Wait until you see Waikiki.... By the way I want you to come to dinner at my house tomorrow night.” ”

“ The little group of players gathered at the rail, and with that keen interest characteristic of British tourists the world over, stared at the unfamiliar scene. Beyond the water front, unromantic and commercial, they saw the white tops of buildings, like islands in a sea of brilliant green, and still beyond, blue peaks against a cloudless sky. ”

“ You'll have very little opportunity—— I was surprised when you took the engagement, a bully good actor like you.”
“Oh, one wants a change. I've always hankered to take a look about, down yonder. The south Seas—they fascinate me. Travel and see the world, I thought. I presume your reasons are quite different. You've been to Australia before, you said.”
“Started there,” nodded Thatcher. “No, I'm not precisely going for the ride. But engagements are none too plentiful at home, you know.”
“We've all learned that,” admitted Wayne. “Rather rough time for the artist. ”

“ A fine chap. She'd have ruined his life, just as she's ruined others. Yes, young Maynard was very near to taking the wrong turn at the crossroads tonight. But we dragged him back. He'll be grateful to us in the morning.”
Thatcher lighted his pipe “We'd best be careful,” said Wayne, glancing over his shoulder. “Mustn't act too chummy until I can pretend to dig up new evidence at Sydney and tell Sibyl Clay I was wrong.” ”

“ Besides, if you'll pardon my saying so, your evidence seems a bit flimsy.”
“It's all of that,” put in Thatcher. “I remember now—I had a row with that Chinaman about his wages after Harkness died. This absurd story of his is the Oriental idea of revenge.”
“Precisely,” said Maynard. “You hear, Wayne? That's quite likely——”
“Chinese don't lie,” objected Wayne. “We all know that.”
“Do we?” said Maynard. “Most of them don't, that's true. The Chinese reputation for truthfulness is built upon a pretty solid foundation. ”

“ Her eyes went back to Dan Maynard's face, their expression altered magically. “I've heard so much of your Hawaiian moonlight——” she began.
Norman Wayne and Thatcher strolled off to a distant part of the deck. Wayne's mouth was set in rather grim lines.
“So that scene's out,” he said. “I might have known.”
Thatcher nodded. “Of course,” he replied. “A selfish little beast, this Clay woman. I've played with her—I know. But one doesn't rise to the heights without a bit of trampling, old chap.” ”

“ We all will. But what of it? We're working. And if our star is a little touchy, can you blame her? Australia for a year—it makes us happy, but it makes her sad. She's passed the hilltop; she's coasting down. Poor child! I was on that hilltop once myself. But I mustn't atop here chatting. I'm walking two miles before dinner.”
She went on down the deck, and Wayne smiled after her. “It's added ten years to her life, this engagement,” he said. “It's rescued Harry Buckstone at the very door of the almshouse. ”

“ Thatcher continued—“that about my shooting poor old Bertie in the back. I wouldn't shoot any man in the back. You know it.”
“Nonsense!” said Wayne. “I've read more South Sea stories than you have. Men are always shot in the back down there. And if it comes to that, I didn't like what you said about Bertie—a dirty blackbirder.” ”

“ Wayne and Thatcher felt rather out of it, but cocktails restored them. The Japanese butler announced dinner and they all went in.
The quick tropic was falling. Wayne's premonition came true—the table was candlelighted, and in that kindly glow the great Sibyl Clay was young again; young as Juliet, and as lovely. The silver of the Maynard family, famous for generations, sparkled no brighter than her violet eyes; the linen was no whiter than her slim, girlish shoulders. Again Wayne had the feeling of a general going into battle, fighting—for what? For security, perhaps; for peace and safety ”

“ Sibyl Clay said. “This stuffy old room—— But men are all alike. They have no appreciation.”
“On the contrary,” said Wayne, “I'm thrilled to the depths. There's a drizzle in London, no doubt, and little pools of water in the dark alley that leads to the stage door. But tomorrow we shall stand in the Honolulu sunshine.”
“At the crossroads of the Pacific,” added Maynard.
“At the crossroads,” repeated Wayne. He glanced at his hand. “I make it two hearts,” he said.
III
AT NINE the next morning the boat from Los Angeles came to a stop in Honolulu harbor. ”

“ It's given young Mixell and that girl their chance to marry. It's showing me the world. Odd turn, isn't it, that so notably selfish a woman should be the instrument of so much happiness? ... Well, I must go below.”
All he passed Sibyl Clay's deck chair he saw that she was leaning very close to Dan Maynard's broad shoulder and talking in a low voice. Wayne smiled. The great star was playing Juliet—again Juliet, so young, so fair, so innocent.
II
THE Pacific. ”