The terror which the menace of violent death had held for her now seemed
a pallid, weak thing, beside the heart-stopping emotion which the New
Yorker’s mocking, amused voice uttering her real name called into being.
Her head jerked instinctively from the comfort of his arm. Squirming
away from him, under the sodden blanket of canvas, she curled into a
tight little ball of agony, her face cupped in her hands. “So that’s why
you bothered me so!” she cried, her voice muffled by her fingers.
“You’re a detective! You knew all the time! You were going to take me to
jail! Oh, you—Oh! David, David!”
“Listen, you little idiot!” Van’s voice came sharply, bereft of its
mocking note for once. “I’m not a detective! Good heavens! Do I look
like one? I’ve always understood that they have enormous feet and wear
derbies and talk out of the corner of their mouths.” Mockery was
creeping back. “Did you think that a poor little tyke like you was worth
sending to New York for a detective to bay at your heels like a
bloodhound? I merely overheard the little Betsy’s keen penetration of
your disguise. And I took the trouble to inquire casually of the
governor this evening just who—if anybody—Sally Ford might be—”
“Then you gave me away—David and me!” she accused him, shuddering with
sobs.
“Not at all. How it does pain me for you to persist in misunderstanding
me! I gave nothing away—absolutely nothing! I merely found out that
David Nash and Sally Ford are fugitives from justice, wanted on rather
serious charges. After making the acquaintance of ‘Princess Lalla,’ I
might add that I don’t believe a word of the silly story. Besides, I
have your own word for it—” and he laughed—“that you are ‘not that kind
of a girl.’ As a matter-of-fact—oh! We’re about to be rescued, Sally
Ford! I hear the ‘heave-ho’ of stalwart black boys. And the storm is
over except for a gentle, lady-like rain.”
It was not till he mentioned the blessed fact that Sally realized that
the storm was indeed over. The only sound, besides the shouts of the
“white hopes” engaging in raising the collapsed tent, was the patter of
rain upon the canvas which still weighted down her small cold body, as
wet as if she had been swimming.
Struggling to a sitting position under the already moving mass of
canvas, the New Yorker cupped his hands about his mouth and shouted:
“Ship ahoy! Ship ahoy!” In an aside to Sally he chuckled: “What does one
shout under the circumstances—or rather, under the canvas of a collapsed
tent?”
Sally managed a weak little laugh. “One shouts, ‘Hey, rube!’” she told
him.
And his stentorian “Hey, rube!” struggled up through layers of dripping
canvas, bringing speedy relief for the submerged “rube” and performer.
When at last the tent was raised, Sally walked out, Van’s arm still
about her shivering, soaked body, to find apparently the entire carnival
force huddled in the rain to welcome her, drawn by that fateful cry of
“Hey, rube!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account