The Veiled Lady, and Other Men and WomenSmith, Francis Hopkinson
General
The Veiled Lady, and Other Men and Women
Smith, Francis Hopkinson
Short stories, American
The Nurse turned quickly and made a step toward the door. The fugitive
sank upon the sofa and drew the hood over his face.
Again her name rang out--this time in a way that showed them both that
further delay was out of the question.
Nurse Jennings shot back the bolt.
Outside stood the First Officer.
"There has been a bad accident in the steerage. I hate to ask you, Miss
Jennings, knowing how tired you are--but one of the emigrants has
fallen down the forecastle hatch. The Doctor wants you to come at once."
During the rest of the voyage Nurse Jennings slept in the steerage; she
would send to Number 49 during the day for her several belongings, but
she never passed the night there, nor did she see her companion. The
case was serious, she told the Stewardess, who came in search of her,
and she dared not leave.
The fugitive rarely left the stateroom. Some days he pleaded illness
and had his meals brought to him; often he ate nothing.
As the day approached for the vessel to arrive in New York a shivering
nervousness took possession of him. He would stand behind the door by
the hour listening for her lightest footfall, hoping against hope that,
after all, her heart would soften toward him. One thought absorbed him:
would she betray him, and if so, when and where? Would it be to the
First Officer--the friend of Hobson--or would she wait until they
reached New York and then hand him over to the authorities?
Only one gleam of hope shone out illumining his doubt, and that was
that she never sent to the stateroom during the Hour of Silence, thus
giving him a chance to continue his disguise. Even this ray was dimmed
when he began to realize as they approached their destination that she
had steadily avoided him, even choosing another deck for a breath of
fresh air whenever she left her patient. That she had welcomed the
accident to the emigrant as an excuse for remaining away from her
stateroom was evident. What he could not understand was, if she really
pitied and justified him, as she had done his prototype, why she should
now treat him with such suspicion. At her request he had opened his
heart and had trusted her; why then could she not forgive him for the
deceit of that first night--one for which he was not responsible?
Then a new thought chilled him like an icy wind: her avoidance of him
was only an evidence of her purpose! Thus far she had not exposed him,
because then it would be known aboard that they had shared the
stateroom together. He saw it all now. She was waiting until they
reached the dock. Then no one would be the wiser.
When the steamer entered her New York slip and the gangplank was
hoisted aboard, another thick-set, closely-knit man pushed his way
through the crowd at the rail, walked straight to the Purser and
whispered something in his ear. The next moment he had glided to where
the Nurse and fugitive were standing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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