Frank Cray

“ If half the boys have friends who prefer play to work for them, I'm only glad the other half set a better example. Dicky, boy, you'll enjoy your Midsummer holidays all the more keenly for having none at Easter."
The doctor caught hold of the boy and wound his arm affectionately round him as they proceeded across the hall to the breakfast-room. Miss Davenal greeted Sara with one of her severest aspects, but before she could begin her lecture, Mark Cray had burst in upon them. ”

“ The English Monsieur had no money. It was a double letter: sixteen sous."
"Ah, no change," said Monsieur Le Bleu, with a delicacy that many might have envied, as he turned his eyes from Mark Cray's downcast face. "It's a general complaint. I never knew the small change so scarce as it is: one can get nothing but gold. Hold, I'll take the letter from you, facteur, and monsieur can repay me when he gets change."
The surgeon handed the sixteen sous to the postman, and gave the letter to Mark. Mark spoke some obscure words about repaying him on the morrow, and broke the seal. ”

“ There's your money. I can only say that we are sorry. We are entirely at your mercy.”
Mr. Cray stood by his chair. The steward had gone into the inner bar. It chanced that there was no one else in the room.
“Will you give me your word of honor, all of you,” he said, “never to attempt this sort of thing again?”
The reply was unanimous and convincing. Mr. Cray resumed his seat.
“Boys,” he proposed, “I guess we'd better call these chips in and start the game again. Mrs. Richard Green is coming to join us. Don't look so astonished, all of you. Give me the chips. ”

“ Cray listened in rebellious silence.
“Your great country, Mr. Cray,” she wound up, “has shown the world what it thinks of liquor.”
“Because they cheated,” he answered gravely.
“In her way she has,” Mr. Cray acknowledged. “In my small way, I shall continue to show the world what I think of it. Steward, hurry up with that wine.”
Mrs. Green shook her head but her smile was indulgent.
“Obstinate!” she murmured. “We will have a little talk after dinner, Mr. Cray. I will make you a little coffee up on deck.”
“I never drink coffee,” her victim lied. “I always take brandy after my meals.” ”

“ Unless—”
“Unless what?”
“Unless the man’s ready for them. Then, it’s a pat on the back and a clean bill of health for you; and, ‘Thanks, my noble radio man; your message was music to our honest ears,’ for me.” Cray stopped.
“And so—”
Cray leaned closer.
“Get this. There’s two men we ain’t searched yet—Drake and Quayle. Either one, mebbe—”
The old captain rose.
“We’ll start with Quayle, eh?” He made for the door, but he stopped, turned. “You put that into my head, damn ye!”
“What if I did?” Cray cried. “What if I did? Since you have no detective aboard, what price Cray, hey?” ”

“ AT dinner-time that evening Mr. Cray received a further shock. In the chair exactly opposite his own, which had been vacant since Toulon, he discovered Mrs. Richard Green.
“I have changed my place,” she announced. “I thought I should like to come to your table.”
The Captain, seated a few places away, smiled. The young invalid officer exchanged a glance of amusement with his sister. The manufacturer of reapers, who was at a table some distance away, telegraphed his congratulations across the room. Mr. Cray, without knowing exactly why, felt his savoir faire deserting him. ”

“ Cray are sure to be in it."
"Caroline and Mr. Cray are what?" cried out Miss Bettina.
"I fear they are in the train. There has been an accident between here and Hildon. An engine has just gone down with assistance."
"I don't want to know about engines," returned Miss Davenal, who had not understood one word in ten. "I ask what you do here alone? Caroline and Mr. Cray can come home, I suppose, without your waiting for them in this public manner. What would your papa say if he saw you?"
"Papa has seen me," replied Sara. "Papa has just come up to the station and is gone down with the engine." ”

“ In the few confidential words he had just exchanged with Barker on going out the latter had said: "We must get all the money we can, for we shall want it. Water, no matter how slight the irruption, plays the very deuce with the costs of a mine." And Mark Cray, to avert, or help to avert, or to conceal the calamity, was quite ready to sacrifice his own good faith and the money of his brother.
CHAPTER XLII. IN THE TEMPLE GARDENS.
You have heard and read of those false promises that keep faith to the eye and break it to the spirit, bringing a flood-tide of anguish in their train. ”

“ Mr. Cray was speechless. Blanche Esholt, conscious of her red eyes, stole away, a proceeding which Mrs. Green watched with satisfaction.
“A forward child, that,” she said. “Mr. Cray, I am sure you will be glad to know that I have decided to join your game of poker.”
“To do what?” Mr. Cray faltered.
“We will promenade for a moment,” she continued, propelling him along. “I feel that you do not altogether understand me, Mr. Cray. I am an independent woman—my life and training have made me so—but I am not averse to harmless recreations. ”

“ Nathaniel Long followed his friend's earnest gaze with some interest.
“Joseph,” he asked, “do you know the man in the dinner-coat—not the Englishman? You seem to be staring at him hard enough.”
“He was on the steamer with me,” Mr. Cray acknowledged.
“That fellow's seen the inside of Sing-Sing more than once,” Mr. Long declared. “Some crook, he is, I can tell you. I don't know what name he goes by now, but they used to call him Jimmy the Eel. He seems to have got in with a swell crowd.”
“He's never been a detective, by any chance, I suppose?” Mr. Cray asked his partner. ”

“ Mark had treated them right regally, and had contrived to screw out from some impossible pocket a twenty-pound note, which he put into his mother's hands for the journey. "I shall be able to allow you and the girls something worth having next year, when the ore's in the market regularly," he said to her. Altogether, Mrs. Cray was well satisfied with her impromptu visit.
"I say, Carine," cried Mark, coming forth from his dressing-room, "what's gone with my diamond studs?" ”

“ Mr. Cray kept his word, and when Mrs. Green, carrying a large reticule and wearing a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles, entered the room with an air of determination and a smile meant to be ingratiating, he had reduced his little circle of watchers to a state of amazed stupefaction. He gathered up the cards at the lady's entrance.
“If you'll take this seat opposite me, ma'am,” he invited, “we'll make a start. I'm banker, and, if agreeable, I'll keep an account against you all till the end of the trip.” ”

“ Mina Hartopp furtively dabbed her beautiful eyes with her handkerchief.
“You are very kind,” she sobbed, “but nothing can help us now. Our pictures will be in all the p-papers; Guy will be branded as an adventurer, and I as a fraud. You had better take no more notice of us, Mr. Cray. We are not worth it.” ”

“ And that capital can be supplied by your money, Caroline, if you will agree to it. Hundreds of people would jump at the chance."
An utter tyro in business matters, in the ways of a needy world, imbued with unbounded faith in her husband, Caroline Cray took all in with eager and credulous ears. Little more than a child, she could be as easily persuaded as one, and she became as anxious to realise the good luck as Mark.
"Yes, I should think it is what my uncle would advise were he alive," she said. "And where should we live, Mark?"
"We'd live at the West End, Carine ”

“ He had not two hundred shillings in the house, let alone two hundred pounds.
"I can't give it you tonight," said Mark; "I have not got it to give."
"I must and will have it," was the resolute answer. "I daresay you can go out and get it somewhere: fifty people would be glad to lend you money. I shall stay here until I have it. And if you deem me scant of courtesy tonight, Mr. Cray, you may set it down to the sore feeling in my mind at the circumstances under which the shares were sold to me. I'd never have touched them had I suspected water had been already in the mine." ”

“ Sara contrived to draw behind, and began plucking one of the flowers, already closing to the night. He resumed carelessly, as if conscious that his tones had been too earnest for general ears.
"Men do marry for the most part in this good old-fashioned land of ours, and my turn may come some time. I think our time is nearly up, Davenal."
The captain took out his watch. "In a minute or two. We can walk it in ten minutes, if we put out our best speed."
As they went in, Oswald Cray looked round for Sara, and found she had not followed them. He turned back to her. ”

“ He is a good man, and I dare say he is making money. Those civil engineers get on well."
"I said Mark Cray, Aunt Bett," repeated the doctor.
"Mark! He won't do. He is only a boy. He has got neither house nor money."
"Just what I say," said the doctor. "I tell her they must wait."
"Mad! to be sure they must be mad, both of them," complaisantly acquiesced Miss Davenal.
"Wait, I said, Bettina," roared the doctor.
"You need not rave at me, Richard. ”

“ A LITTLE movement by Mr. Cray's side brought him back to the present. He glanced up. A tall man of early middle age was taking his seat. The two men exchanged greetings.
“Mr. Schreed?” Mr. Cray observed.
The man winced a little but acknowledged his identity.
“And your name?” he asked.
“Mr. Joesph P. Cray,” Mr. Cray replied. “We seem to be neighbors, Mr. Schreed. Will you join me in a bottle of wine?”
“That's a great idea,” was the hearty response.
So Mr. Cray did what those few months ago he would have deemed impossible; he fraternized with Mr. Otto Schreed, exporter of canned beef. ”

“ After a Turkish bath, a visit to the barber's and the manicurist, he met his friend and late business partner, and the two men made their way to the smartest restaurant in New York, where a table had been reserved for them. With elaborate care Mr. Cray selected a wonderful dinner, ordered, with a prodigious sigh, a large bottle of mineral water, and closing his eyes for a moment, drank an imaginary cocktail.
“Joseph, my boy, what are you going to do about it?” Nathaniel Long inquired. “You're in the prime of life, and a very rich man. ”

“ It was neither his fault nor mine; it--it was the fault of circumstances."
"Ah!" said the doctor, "a foolish quarrel. But I had thought both of you superior to it. Should the cloud ever pass away, and he wish to make you his wife, remember that you have my full and free approbation--that my blessing would go with it. In spite of his pride and his caprice, I like Oswald Cray."
"It never will pass away," she interrupted, almost with vehemence. "It is a thing impossible. We have bidden adieu to all that for ever." ”

“ No, child. But the blindness was my own, I believe. When we ourselves place one view deliberately before us, it tends to shut out others. I had got it into my head, Carine, that it was to your score we were indebted for the frequent visits of Mr. Oswald Cray."
Caroline lifted her face, and Dr. Davenal observed how genuine was the surprise depicted on it. "Uncle Richard!"
"I see. I see now, child, that the idea was void of foundation. But, Caroline," he gravely added, "I would rather it had been Oswald than Mark. All the world must respect Oswald Cray." ”

“ Sara felt that he was right; but she felt also that Mark would not come forward; and what was to be the ending?
"They are living in only one room; it is at--."
"Don't tell it me?" impulsively interrupted Oswald, something like anger in his tone. "I would not for the world be made cognisant of Marcus Cray's hiding-place. People have come to me for it times and again; and I am thankful to assure them in all truth that I know it not." ”

“ Mr. Cray made his contented but wondering way into the lounge. A tall and very elegant-looking young woman rose to her feet and came to meet him. Mr. Cray's eyes shone and his smile was wonderful.
“Sara!” he gasped. “Gee, this is great!”
“Dad!” she replied, saluting him on both cheeks. “You old dear!”
They went off arm in arm to a corner.
“To think of your being here to welcome me!” Mr. Cray murmured ecstatically.
“And why not?” the young lady replied. “If ever anyone deserved a welcome home, it's you. Twelve months' work in a hut in France is scarcely a holiday.” ”

“ It is all very well to plunder children, but there are other men and women about with brains besides myself. Some day or other you will be in trouble, and if ever a witness is needed to testify against you, they can call up Mrs. Richard Green!”
SHE made a dignified and triumphant exit, but it was some minutes before Mr. Cray, wiping the tears from his eyes could obtain a hearing.
“Now I've just a word to say to you young people,” he began seriously. “I want you to understand that though I'm a professional gambler when it suits me I am also what Mrs. ”

“ Dick did not ask.
If ever an unfortunate company had come to grief more completely than other unfortunate companies, it was surely that noted one, the Great Wheal Bang. Sympathising friends--Barker's and Mark's--were wont to assure those gentlemen that they had "managed wretchedly:" and if we may dare to assume that the reproach was levelled at the fact of having secured nothing for themselves, it was a right one. On the day that Mark Cray went up to the offices for the last time he had but a trifling sum of money about him: Caroline had even less in her own purse ”