Samuel Merwin

“ A note of melancholy crept into the voice of the little actress.
"Oh, my dear," she observed later, "if you knew what I've had to endure from men. A girl is so helpless."
Edith looked at her, and was surprised to see that the corners of her mouth were sagging wearily and that there were tears in her eyes. She wondered what disturbing memory had so suddenly depressed that volatile spirit. It seemed hardly possible that there could be any strain of sadness in the life of so lovely and youthful a person.
Wanda slowly turned her head and met Edith's troubled gaze. ”

“ After a moment he sauntered away and ascended the stairs.
"He's a vain brute," thought Edith. "And it's just about certain that he wants to annoy Wanda." She deliberately laid down her book and followed.
Sure enough, he was hovering outside the room Wanda had occupied. At sight of Edith he flushed to an even deeper red, and hurried out to the gallery by the door at the end of the corridor.
Edith returned to the lounge and resumed her chair and book. A little time passed. Then the thin figure and the horn spectacles for which she was watching appeared in the hall. ”

“ But, without speaking further, Harry Purnell briskly led the way up Victoria Road to a corner some two blocks above the steamer wharf, then turned off to the bank of the very narrow, very sluggish little river that is known as the Pei-ho. The girls followed.
A sampan, manned by two native boatmen, awaited them. Harry tossed the baggage aboard, and handed the two girls in after it.
The boat drifted out into the current. Wanda curled up in the bow, silent and pensive. Harry gave all his attention to guiding their little craft. And Edith looked from one to the other, wondering. ”

“ Edith, her color slightly heightened, was thinking intently, and toying absently with the silky little dog as she thought. There was a coaster sailing that night for Shanghai. And there was Harry Purnell of the Consular staff, who had been three grades above her in the public school at home. He had been nice and attentive during her stay here. Well, now was his chance to be nicer. Should she tell Wanda about the need of including Harry in her plans? No; it would be better to tell Wanda nothing. It was a situation to try the mettle of the cosmopolitan Miss Austin. She must manage it alone. ”

“ He was the last man she would have picked for a monster. He had strong lines in his face and a patient expression about the eyes. "So goes life," she thought. "To me that tenor is a horrid thing; but Wanda thinks he has nice eyes. Wanda knows this manager is a brute; and here I'm thinking I might like him."
Very deliberately Mr. Hemmingway descended the steps, called a rickshaw, and rode away. Edith stepped out on the porch and followed the vehicle with her eyes until it disappeared. ”

“ He's the crazy kind, you say--"
"Tenors don't shoot people," grunted Mr. Hemmingway.
Edith, her head a chaos of emotions and thoughts, quietly made her way out of the room and across to the park, where, though there might be disturbing memories, there was air.
After dinner that evening, Edith became aware that Mr. Hemmingway was trying to catch her eye. Finally he encountered her at a moment when her aunt and uncle had gone into the office to look at a new lot of painted snuff-bottles, and asked if she would step out to the porch for a moment. ”

“ Wanda's face assumed a sympathetic expression. "He would do that," she murmured. "He's a bad actor, if you want my opinion. But then,"--she gave a little sigh,--"most of 'em are. And he has nice eyes. He's the tenor in that English concert company that's doing the Coast--the' Purple Mysteries.' You know."
Edith said she had seen the advertisements.
"They're a phony bunch. The press is that they're big London people who can't afford to have their names known. They play in purple costumes and purple silk masks. We've been running into 'em all along--Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki, Shanghai." ”

“ As Edith's startled eyes were taking in the extraordinary scene, a good-looking young American hurried to the rescue. But two of the Chinese held the girl, and the others bore the American to the ground, beating him savagely.
Edith wondered if it were a dream. The band, she knew, was still playing.
The American lay still--there on the ground. They were leaving him, and were dragging the girl away. Edith sprang up, dropping the portfolio, and ran after them. "Don't do that!" she found herself shouting. "Help her! Help her!" ”

“ Dear Harriet:
We've been at Tientsin quite a while now, and I must say it is nothing like so interesting as Peking. It is more like a European city, you know. There are shops, of course, when you know where to look for them; and they have some nice things. I bought a beautiful Mandarin coat--an old red one. And then there is very nice raw silk lace that the Chinese girls make in the French Convent. It is astonishingly cheap. I picked up a lot of it, it goes so wonderfully with the piece of natural Assam silk that Aunt bought at Shanghai to make me a dress out of. ”

“ And if you ever doubt yourself as a charmer, Edith, it may help some to know that I'm breaking a previous engagement with a particularly attractive person for this very evening."
"That was good of you, Harry."
"No--just weak. Sufficiency. Let's have your instructions. Chop-chop!"
For a little time they walked about the park, Harry listening attentively while Edith explained her needs. They walked around to the Consulate, and Edith waited on the comer while Harry slipped inside. They took a pony victoria and drove rapidly to the wharf. Here she waited, while he boarded the ship. ”

“ Her skin was fair and fresh; her hair, under the big shade hat, was really golden; her facile mouth was quivering on the brink of a smile; her eyes were large, blue, and liquid.
"Mind if I sit down with you?" asked the girl.
Edith was conscious of a thrill of pleasure. This adorable little creature, who looked like a child, was really a grown-up actress. She earned her living, independently, in a world of men. She came and went as she chose. She had certainly traveled far ”

“ Hemmingway."
"And horn spectacles."
"Yes. Always smoking a cigar."
"Why," Edith mused, "I thought he looked very quiet and--"
"My dear," Wanda interrupted impressively, "the quiet ones are the worst. There was a tenor singer--he was only a high baritone, really--with the Acorn Opera Company--he was the quiet kind--that--You've no idea! I got worn out fighting him. Sometimes I wonder what's the use."
"But you mustn't feel that way. That is weakness. You must keep up the fight--always."
"I know. But it does wear you out. Specially when you can't see anything ahead. . . . ”

“ He made me work all the time, rehearsing and playing, and then took my salary away from me--every cent. Not even carfare for me--and I get two hundred a week in New York. Edith dear, if you knew what men are, and what we women have to endure from 'em! ”

“ Miss Austin lingered a moment over this sentence with a pleased smile; then continued:
I'm almost sorry. It's rather saddening to learn that you're not the falling-in-love kind. But I suppose it's safer.
Aunt doesn't dream. Nor Uncle. They think I'm just the green little thing I look like.
Well, Harriet dearest, I've learned one thing that is invaluable.
We were right. A girl can go anywhere alone--even here on the China Coast. All they used to try to make us believe, that life is full of mysterious hidden dangers, that people are such dreadfully complicated things, is just plain bunk. ”

“ It costs forty or so--and then there's all the extras, and something for Shanghai--"
Edith interrupted her: "Now, Wanda dear, you're not to be hurt or offended at what I'm going to say. It's a crisis, and you must be sensible. I've got money enough. You can send it to me later on--any time. I could let you have a hundred dollars or more easily, without Aunt or Uncle suspecting a thing." ”

“ After a late breakfast, on the following morning, Edith wandered into the lounge, and found her uncle and Mr. Hemmingway talking in the offhand manner that men affect. Edith stood by the table behind them, and picked up a postcard labeled, "View on Taku Road, Tientsin." ”

“ I don't know what to do. If life has got to be like this, I don't want--to--live!"
Again she fell to sobbing. But after a few moments, with an obvious effort at self-control, she quieted. Then she wiped her eyes ”