TOURMALIN'S
TIME CHEQUES
BY
P. ANSTEY
AUTHOR OP VICE VERSA, THE TINTED VENUS,
THE BLACK POODLE, ETC.
NEW YOEK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1891
n w
_
AutJtorizcd edition.
CONTENTS.
PROLOGUE.
PAGE
On Deck Curry and Culture Alternative Distrac-
tions A Period of Probation The Oath and
the Talisman Wavering A Chronological Er-
rorThe Time Bargain Tourmalin Opens an
Account 7
CHAPTER I.
TOURMALIN'S FIRST CHEQUE AND HOW HE TOOK IT.
fidelity Rewarded Love's Catechism Brain-fag :
a Timely Recollection The Experiment, and
some Startling Results Question Time" Dear
Friends " A Compromise 29
CHAPTER II.
THE SECOND CHEQUE.
Furnishing A Cosy Corner" Sitting Out "Fresh
Discoveries Twice a Hero Bewilderment and
Bathos 48
Contents.
CHAPTER III.
THE THIRD CHEQUE.
PAGE
Good Resolutions Casuistry A Farewell Visit
Small Profit and a Quick Return ... 63
CHAPTER IV.
THE FOURTH CHEQUE.
A Blue Moon Felicity in a Flat Practical Astron-
omy Temptation and a Relapse The Difficul-
ties of being Completely Candid A Slight Mis-
understanding The Avenging Orange . . 78
CHAPTER V.
PERIODIC DRAWINGS.
A Series of Cheques Their Advantages and Draw-
backs An Unknown Factor Uncompleted
Confidences Ibsen, with Intervals A Disap-
pointment A " Search Question " from Sophia
Confidence Restored 93
CHAPTER VI.
FOIL AND COUNTERFOIL.
The Duties of Authorship Peter's Continued Per-
versity and its Unforeseen Results " Alfred "
The Tragic Note An Interrupted Crisis A Do-
mestic Surprise 114
Contenta.
CHAPTER VII.
THE CULMINATING CHEQUE.
PAGE
Sophia Gives an Explanation, and Requests One
Her Verdict Peter Overruled . . . .130
CHAPTER VIII.
PAID IN HIS OWN COIN.
In Suspense A Gleam of Comfort Darkness Re-
turns The Rock Ahead Sir William Lends his
Binocular Reappearance of an Old Enemy A
New Danger Out of the Frying-pan . . 146
CHAPTER IX.
COMPOUND INTEREST.
Back to the Fire Again A Magnanimous Return
Catching at Straws Two Total Strangers
Purely a Question of Precedence "Hemmed
in " and " Surrounded "The Last Chance . 163
CHAPTER X.
DENOUEMENT 185
THE EPILOGUE ...,,,. 190
TOURMALIN'S TIME CHEQUES.
THE PKOLOGUE.
On Deck. Curry and Culture. Alternative Distractions.
A Period of Probation. The Oath and the Talis-
man. Wavering. A Chronological Error. TJie Time
Bargain. Tourmalin Opens an Account.
MR. PETER TOURMALIN was sitting, or rather
lying, in a steamer-chair, on the first-class sa-
loon-deck of the P. and O. ship Boomerang,
which had not been many days as yet on the
voyage home from Sydney. He had been
trying to read ; but it was a hot morning, and
the curry, of which he had partaken freely
at breakfast, had made him feel a little heavy
and disinclined for mental exertion just then,
particularly as Buckle's History of Civiliza-
tion, the first volume of which he had brought
^Tourmalin's hne
up from the ship's library, is not exactly light
literature at any time.
He wanted distraction of some sort, but he
could not summon up sufficient energy to rise
and pace the deck, as his only acquaintance on
board, a Mr. Perkins, was doing with a breezy
vigor which Tourmalin found himself feebly
resenting.
Another alternative was open to him, it is
true : not far away were other deck-chairs, in
which some of the lady passengers were read-
ing, writing, and chatting more or less lan-
guidly. There were not very many on board
for it was autumn, a time at which home-
wardbound vessels are not apt to be crowded
but even in that small group there were
one or two with whom it might have seemed
possible to pass a little time in a pleasant and
profitable manner. For instance, there was
that tall, graceful girl in the navy-blue skirt,
and the striped cotton blouse confined at her
slender waist by a leathern belt. (Tourmalin,
it should be mentioned, was in the habit of
noticing the details of feminine costume.) She
had regular features, gray eyes which lighted
up whenever she spoke, and an expression of
Jhrologtte. 9
singular nobility and sweetness ; her fair hair
was fastened up in loose gleaming masses un-
der her highly becoming straw hat.
Peter watched her surreptitiously, from time
to time, from behind the third page of Buckle.
She w r as attempting to read a novel ; but her
attention, like his own, wandered occasionally,
and he even fancied that he surprised her
now and then in the act of glancing at himself
with a certain interest.
Near her was another girl, not quite so tall,
and darker, but scarcely less pleasing in appear-
ance. She wore a cool-looking pink frock,
and her luxuriant bronze tresses were set off
by a simple white flannel cap. She held some
embroidery in her listless fingers, but was prin-
cipally occupied in gazing out to sea with a
wistful and almost melancholy expression.
Her eyes were soft and brown, and her feat-
ures piquantly irregular; giving Peter, who
considered himself no mean judge of female
character, the impression of a highly emo-
tional and enthusiastic temperament. He
thought he saw signs that she also honored
him by her notice.
Peter was a flat-headed little man, with
10
weak eyes and flaxen hair; but even flat-
headed little men may indulge these fancies
at times, without grossly deceiving themselves.
He knew, as one does learn such things on
board ship, that the name of the first young
lady was Tyrrell, and that she was the daugh-
ter of a judge who had been spending the
Long Yacation in a voyage to recruit his
health. Of the other, he knew no more than
that she was a Miss Davenport.
At present, however, he had no personal
acquaintance with either of them, and, in fact,
as has already been said, knew nobody on
board to speak to, except the energetic Mr.
Perkins, a cheery man with a large fund of
general information, who was going home on
some business connected with a banking house
in Melbourne.
And yet it is not difficult to make acquaint-
ances on board ship, if a man cares to do so ;
accident or design will provide opportunities
in plenty, and two or three days at sea are
equivalent to at least as many weeks on shore.
And Peter being quite aware of these facts,
and by no means indifferent to the society of
the other sex, which, indeed he considered
prohrgtte. 11
more interesting than that of his own, it
would seem that he must have had some strong
reason for having kept studiously apart from
the social life on board the Boomerang.
He had a reason, and it was this : he was
an engaged man, and on his probation. A
bachelor, still under thirty, of desultory hab-
its which unfitted him to shine in any pro-
fession, he had a competency that refuge of
the incompetent which made him independ-
ent.
Some months previously he had had the
good fortune to meet with a lady somewhat
his junior in years, but endowed with charms
of mind and character which excited his ad-
miration and reverence. He recognized that
she supplied the qualities in which he felt him-
self deficient ; he was weary of the rather
purposeless life he had led. He wanted a wife
who would regulate and organize his exist-
ence ; and Miss Sophia Pinceney, with her
decision and her thoroughness, was eminently
the person to do it. So it was not long be-
fore he took courage and proposed to her.
Miss Pinceney, though she had been highly
educated, and possessed a considerable fortune
12 (Eonrmaliu's (Eime (Eljeqncs.
of her own, was by no means inclined to look
unfavorably upon such a suitor. ]Ie might not
be quite her intellectual equal, but he was anx-
ious to improve his mind. lie was amiable
and amenable, and altogether likely, under care-
ful guidance, to prove an excellent husband.
But she was prudent, and reason told her
that the suddenness of Peter's passion was no
guarantee of its enduring qualities. She had
heard and seen too much of a rather catholic
susceptibility in his nature, to feel it safe to in-
cur so grave a risk as marriage until she had
certain proof that his attachment to her was
robust enough to bear the severest test; and
to that test she was determined to submit him.
She consented to an engagement on one
condition, that he was to take a long voyage.
If he returned in the same mind, she would
be sufficiently sure of his constancy to marry
him as soon as lie wished : if he did not, her
misgivings would be amply justified. There
was very little sentiment about Sophia; she
took a practical and philosophical view of
the marriage union, as became a disciple of
Ibsen.
u I like you, Peter," she told him frankly ;
prologue. 13
u you have many qualities that endear you to
me, hut I don't feel that I can depend upon
you at present. And from what I know of
you, I fear it is only too prohahlo that ab-
sence and the attractive society of a passen-
ger-ship may lead you to discover that you
have mistaken the depth of the feeling you
entertain for me."
" But look here, Sophia," he had expostu-
lated ; "if you're afraid of that, why do you
make me go?"
"Because," she had replied, with her ad-
mirable common sense, "because, if my fears
should prove to be unhappily only too well-
founded, I shall, at least, have made the dis-
covery before it is too late."
And, in spite of all his protests, Peter had
to go. Sophia sought to reconcile him to
this necessity by pointing out the advantages
of travel, the enlarging effect it would have
upon his mind, and the opportunities a long
sea-voyage afforded for regular and uninter-
rupted study on the lines she had already
mapped out for him; but despite these con-
solations, he went away in low spirits. "When
the moment came for parting, even the strong-
14 Sotttmalin's fftime (STl)cqne0.
minded Sophia was seized with a kind of
compunction.
" Something tells me, Peter," she said, " that
the ordeal will prove too much for you : in
spite of your good resolutions, you will sooner
or later be drawn into some flirtation which
will make you forget me. I know you so well,
Peter!"
" I wish you could show a little more confi-
dence in me," he had answered in a wounded
tone. " Since I met you, Sophia, I have
ceased to be the butterfly I was. But as you
seem to doubt me, it may relieve your mind
if I promise faithfully that, while I am away
from you, I will never, under any induce-
ment, allow myself to overstep the limits of
the most ordinary civility toward any woman
with whom I may be brought in contact. I
swear it, Sophia ! Are you satisfied now ? "
Perhaps he had a secret prevision that
a time might come when this oath would
prove a salutary restraint upon his straying
fancy, and it certainly had an immediate and
most reassuring effect upon Sophia.
Tourmalin had gone out to Australia, had
seen something of the country during his stay
flrotogtte. 15
in the colony, and was now, as we have seen,
on his return ; and during the whole time his
oath, to his great credit, had been literally and
faithfully kept.
During the voyage out, he had been too per-
sistently unwell to be inclined to dally with
sentiment ; but in his subsequent wanderings,
he had avoided, or rather escaped, all inter-
course with any Colonial ladies who might
by any possibility affect his allegiance to
Sophia, whose image consequently still held
undisputed possession of his heart.
In case he should feel himself wavering at
any time, he had been careful to provide
himself with a talisman in the shape of a
photograph, the mere sight of which would
be instantly effectual. But somehow, since
he had been on board the Boomerang, the
occasions on which he had been driven to
refer to this photograph had been growing
more and more frequent; while, at the same
time, he had a tormenting consciousness that
it took an increasingly longer time to work.
He brought it out now, and studied it at-
tentively. It was the likeness of a girl with-
out any great pretensions to beauty, with dark
1G ftotmttalin's ime 1) eqties.
liair rolled neatly back from a massive brow
that shone with intellectuality ; penetrating
eyes, whose keenness was generally tempered
by folding glasses ; a large, firm mouth, and
a square chin ; altogether, the face of a young
woman who would stand no trifling.
He put it back respectfully in his pocket ;
but the impulse to go across and drop, in an
accidental fashion, into a vacant seat near one
of those two girls was still unconquered. He
was feeling so dull ; he had got such a very
little way into the History of Civilization, a
work which he was reading rather for Sophia's
satisfaction than his own, arid there was such
a lot more of it ! Might he not allow him-
self a brief holiday, and beguile the long
weary morning with a little cheerful conver-
sation ? It w r as most unlikely, strict etiquette
being by general consent suspended on board
ship, that either young lady would resent a
hazarded remark at all events, he could but
try.
But then his oath his rash and voluntary
oath to Sophia what of that ? He had not,
it was true, debarred himself from ordinary
civility ; but could he be sure of keeping
17
always within those bounds if the acquaint-
anceship was once established ? He had rea-
sons for doubting this very seriously. And, be-
sides, had not Sophia more than hinted in her
last letter that, as a reward for his fidelity,
she might join the ship at Gibraltar with her
mother, and so put an earlier end to his term
of probation? He could not be too careful.
After holding out so long, it would be mad-
ness to relax his precautions now. No, he
would resist these Sirens, like a modern Ulysses ;
though, in the latter's case, the Sirens were not
actually on board, and, even then, the hero
had to be lashed to the mast. But Tourmalin
felt confident, notwithstanding, that he would
prove at least as obdurate as the wily Greek.
He was not a strong-minded man ; but he
had one quality which is almost as valuable
a safeguard against temptation as strength of
mind namely, timidity.
His love for his betrothed was chastened
by a considerable dash of awe, and he was re-
solved not to compromise himself in her eyes
just for the sake of a little temporary distrac-
tion.
At this point of his deliberations he looked
2
18
at his watch : it was close upon twelve ; only
one hour to be got through before tiffin.
Why, an hour was nothing ; he could surely
contrive to kill it over Buckle ! A little
courage, a little concentration, and he would
certainly attain to an interest in "the laws
which govern human actions."
The ship's bells were just striking ; he
counted the strokes: one, two, three, four,
five and no more! There must be some
mistake ; it could not possibly be only half-
past ten. Why, it was hours since break-
fast !
" Looking at your watch, eh ? " said his
friend Perkins, as he reached Peter's chair
for about the hundredth time. " Ah ! you're
fast, I see. Haven't altered your watch yet ?
They've put the ship's clock back again this
morning ; nearly half an hour it was this
time it was rather less yesterday and the day
before : we shall go on gaining so much extra
time a day, I suppose, till we get to Gib."
" You don't mean to tell me that ! " ex-
claimed Peter, with a half-suppressed groan.
If the time had seemed tedious and inter-
minable enough before, how much more so
19
was it now ! How infinitely greater would the
effort be to fix his thoughts resolutely on
Buckle, and ignore the very existence of his
distracting neighbors, now that it was to be
daily prolonged in this exasperating manner !
" You don't seem to appreciate the arrange-
ment ? " remarked the Manager, as he allowed
himself to drop cautiously for he was a bulky
man into a hammock -chair beside Tourmalin.
" Appreciate it ! " said Peter, with strong
disgust. " Aren't there enough half-hours,
and confoundedly long ones, too, in the day as
it is, without having extra ones forced on you
like this ? And giving it to us in the day-
time, too ! They might at least put the clock
back at night, when it wouldn't so much mat-
ter. I do think it's very bad management, I
must say ! "
His companion began a long explanation
about the meridian, and sun's time, and ship's
time, and Greenwich time, to which Peter
gave but a very intermittent attention, so stu-
pefied did he feel at this unwelcome discovery.
"It's a curious thing to think of," the
other was saying thoughtfully, " that a man
by simply making a voyage like this, should
20 Sottrmalin's ime
make a clear gain of several hours which he
would never have had at all if he had stayed
at home ! "
" I would much rather be without them,"
said Peter. " I find it quite difficult enough
to spend the time as it is ; and how on earth
I can spend any more, I don't know ! "
" Why spend it, then ? " asked his friend
quietly.
" What else am I to do with it ? "
" What else ? See here, my friend ; when
you have an amount of spare cash that you've
110 immediate use for, you don't let it lie idle
at home, do you ? You pay it in to your
credit at a bank, and let it remain on deposit
till you do want it eh ? Well, then, why not
treat your spare time as you would your spare
cash. Do you see what I mean ? "
"Not altogether," confessed Peter, consid-
erably puzzled.
" It's simple enough nowadays. For in-
stance, the establishment I have the honor to
be connected with the Anglo- Australian Joint
Stock Time Bank, Limited confines itself, as
you are doubtless aware, almost entirely to that
class of business."
JJrotogtte. 21
" Ah ! " said Peter, no more enliglitened
than before, " does it indeed ? Would you
mind explaining what particular class of busi-
ness it carries on ? I don't quite under-
stand."
"Bless my soul, sir!" said the Manager,
rather irritably, you must be uncommonly ig-
norant of financial matters not to have heard
of this before ! However, I will try to make
it clear to you. I dare say you have heard
that 'Time is money?' Yery well, all our
operations are conducted on that principle.
We are prepared to make advances, on good
security of course, of time to almost any
amount ; and we are simply overwhelmed with
applications for loans. Business men, as you
may know, are perpetually pressed for time,
and will consent to almost anything to obtain
it. Our transactions in time, sir, are immense.
Why, the amount of Time passing through our
books annually during the last ten years, aver-
ages ah ! about sixty centuries ! That's pret-
ty well, I think, sir?"
He was so perfectly business-like and seri-
ous that Peter almost forgot to see anything
preposterous in what he said.
" It sounds magnificent," lie said politely ;
" only you see, I don't want to borrow any
time myself. I've too much on my hands al-
ready."
" Just so," said the Manager ; " but if you
will kindly hear me out, I am coming to that.
Lending time is only one side of our business ;
we are also ready to accept the charge of any
spare time that customers may be willing to
deposit with us, and, with our experience and
facilities, I need hardly say that we are able to
employ it to the best advantage. Now, say,
for example, that you wish to open an account
with us. "Well, we'll take these spare half-
hours of yours that are only an encumbrance
to you at present, and if you choose to allow
them to remain on deposit, they will carry in-
terest at five per cent, per month ; that is, five
minutes on every hour and three quarters
roughly, for each month, until you withdraw
them. In that way alone, by merely leaving
your time with us for six months you will gain
now, let me see over three additional hours
in compound interest on your original capital
of ten hours or so. And no previous notice
required before withdrawal ! Let me tell you,
23
sir, you will not find many banks do business
on such terms as that ! "
" No," said Peter, who could not follow all
this arithmetic, " so I should imagine. Only,
I don't quite see, if you will pardon my saying
so, what particular advantage I should gain if
I did open an account of this sort."
" You don't ? You surprise me, you really
do ! Here are you, with these additional hours
lying idle on your hands ; you didn't expect
'em, and don't want 'em. But how do you
know that you mayn't be glad of 'em at some
time or other ? Just think how grateful you
might be hereafter, if you could get back a
single one of these half-hours which you find
so tedious now. Half an hour on board a fine
ship like this, splendid weather, bracing sea-
air, perfect rest, pleasant company, and so on
why, you'd be willing to pay any money for
it ! Well, bank your extra time ; and you can
draw every individual hour in quarters, halves,
or wholes, when you please and as you please.
That's the advantage of it, sir ! "
" I think I see," said Peter ; " only how am
I to make the deposit in the first instance ? "
" That's easily arranged. The captain can't
24 QTonrmalin's QLime Cheques.
compel you to accept the time now by merely
putting back the hands of the clock, can he ?
So all you have to do is to abstain from alter-
ing your watch so long as you are on board,
and to fill up a little form ; after which I
shall be happy to supply you with a book
of Time Cheques, which you can fill up and
present whenever you wish to spend a given
number of minutes in the pleasantest possible
of ways."
" But where am I to present these cheques ? "
inquired Peter.
"Oh!" said the Manager, "there will be
no difficulty whatever about that. Any clock
will cash it for you provided, of course, that
it hasn't stopped. You merely have to slip
your cheque underneath or behind it, and you
will at once be paid whatever amount of time
the cheque is drawn for. I can show you one
of our forms if you like ? "
Here he brought out a bulky leather case,
from which he extracted a printed document,
which he handed to Peter.
Peter, however, being naturally cautious,
felt a hesitation which he scarcely liked to
confess.
prologue. 25
" You see," lie said, " the fact is, I should
like to know first . . . I've never been engaged
in a a transaction of tins kind before ; and,
well what 1 mean is, do I incur any risk of
er a supernatural character? ... It isn't
like that business of Faust's, eh, don't you
know ? "
The Manager took back the paper with an
abruptness which showed that his temper was
ruined by this suspicion.
" My good sir ! " he said, with a short
offended laugh, "don't, on any account, im-
agine that I care two pins whether you be-
come a depositor or not. I dare say our house
will continue to exist without your account.
As for liability, ours is a limited concern ; and,
besides, a deposit would not constitute you
a shareholder. If you meant anything more
well, I have still to learn that there's any-
thing diabolical about me, sir! I simply
thought I was doing you a good turn by mak-
ing the suggestion ; and, besides, as a business
man, I never neglect any opportunity, how-
ever small. But it's entirely as you please,
I'm sure."
There was nothing in the least demoniacal,
26 tourmalin's ime
even in his annoyance, and Peter was moved
to contrition and apology.
" I I really beg your pardon ! " he said.
" I do hope I haven't offended you ; and, if
you will allow me, I shall consider it a personal
favor to be allowed to open an account with
your bank. It would certainly be a great
convenience to draw some of this superfluous
time at some future day, instead of wasting it
now. Where do I sign the form 2 "
The Manager was appeased ; and produced
the form once more, indicating the place for
the signature, and even providing a stylo-
graph-pen for the purpose. It was still some-
what of a relief to Peter's mind to find that
the ink it contained was of the ordinary black
hue.
" And now, about cheques," said his friend,
after the signature had been obtained. " How
many, do you think you would require? I
should say that, as the deposit is rather small,
you will find fifty more than sufficient ? We
shall debit you with fifty seconds to cover
the cheque-book. And we always recommend
4 bearer ' cheques as, on the whole, more con-
venient."
27
Peter said lie would have fifty bearer
cheques, and was accordingly given an oblong
gray-green book, which, except that it was a
trifle smaller, was in nowise different, out-
wardly, from an ordinary cheque-book. Still,
his curiosity was not completely satisfied.
" There is just one question more," he said.
"When I draw this time, where will it be
spent ? "
" Why, naturally, on board this ship," ex-
plained the Manager. " You see that the time
you will get must necessarily be the extra
time to which you are entitled by virtue of
your passage, and which you would have
spent as it accrued if you had not chosen to
deposit it with us. By the way, when you are
filling up cheques, we much prefer not to be
called upon to honor drafts for less than fifteen
minutes ; as much more as you like, but not
less. Well, then, we may consider that settled.
I am extremely glad to have had the oppor-
tunity of obliging you ; and I think I can
promise that you will have no reason to re-
pent of having made such a use of your time.
I'll wish you good-by for the present, sir ! "
The Manager resumed his hygienic tramp
28 ^Tourmalin's $ime (Deques.
round the deck, leaving Peter with the cheque-
book in his hand. He was no longer sur-
prised : now that he was more familiar with
the idea, it seemed a perfectly natural and
matter-of-fact arrangement ; he only wondered
that he had never thought of so obvious a
plan before. And it was an immense relief
to know that he had got rid of his extra hours
for the present, at all events, and that he could
now postpone them to a period at which they
would be a boon rather than a burden.
And very soon he put the cheque-book
away, and forgot all about it.
THE STOKY.
CHAPTER I.
TOURMALIN'S FIRST CHEQUE, AND HOW HE
TOOK IT.
fidelity Rewarded. Love's Catechism. Brain-fag.
A Timely Recollection. The Experiment, and some
Startling Results. Question Time. "Dear Friends"
A Compromise.
PETER TOURMALIN'S probation was at an end,
and, what was more, lie had come through
the ordeal triumphantly. Plow he managed
this, he scarcely knew ; no doubt he was aided
by the consciousness that the extra hours which
he felt himself most liable to mis-spend had
been placed beyond his disposal. At all events,
when he met Sophia again, he had been able
to convince her that her doubts of his con-
30 fEotmttalin's ftime i)cque0.
stancy, even under the most trying conditions,
were entirely undeserved. Now he was re-
ceiving his recompense : his engagement to
Sophia was no longer conditional, but a recog-
nized and irrevocable fact. It is superfluous
to say that he was happy. Sophia had set her-
self to repair the deficiencies in his education
and culture ; she took him to scientific lectures
and classical concerts, and made him read
standard authors without skipping. He felt
himself daily acquiring balance and serious-
ness, and an accurate habit of thought, and
all the other qualities which Sophia wished
him to cultivate.
Still, there were moments when he felt the
need of halting and recovering his wind, so
to speak, in the steep and toilsome climb to
her superior mental level times when he felt
that his overtaxed brain absolutely required
relaxation of some sort.
He felt this particularly one dreary morn-
ing, late in November, as he sat in his London
chambers, staring with lack -luster eyes at the
letter he had that day received from his be-
trothed. For, although they met nearly every
day, she never allowed one to pass without a
tourmalin's jfirst Cljeqwe. 31
letter no fond and foolish effusion, be it un-
derstood, but a kind of epistolary examination
paper, to test the progress he was making.
This one contained some searching questions
on Buckle's History of Civilization, which lie
was expected to answer by return of post. He
was not supposed to look at the book, though
he had ; and even then he felt himself scarcely
better fitted to floor the tremendous posers de-
vised by Sophia's unwearying care.
The day before, he had had "search-ques-
tions" in English poetry from Chaucer to
Mr. Lewis Morris, which had thinned and
whitened his hair; but this was, if possible,
even worse.
He wished now that he had got up his
Buckle more thoroughly during his voyage on
the Boomerang and, with the name, his ar-
rangement with the manager suddenly rose to
his recollection. What had he done with that
book of Time Cheques? If he could only
get away, if but for a quarter of an hour
away from those somber rooms, with their
outlook on dingy house-tops and a murky,
rhubarb-colored sky if he could really ex-
change all that for the eunniness and warmth
32 Sottrmalin's ime Cheques.
and delicious idleness which had once seemed
so tedious, what a rest it would be! And
would he not return after such an interlude
with all his faculties invigorated, and better
able to cope with the task he now found almost
insuperable ?
The first thing was to find the cheque-book,
which did not take him long ; though when he
had found it, something made him pause be-
fore filling up a cheque. What if he had
been made a fool of if the Anglo- Australian
Time Cheque Bank never existed, or had sus-
pended payment ? But that was easily settled
by presenting a cheque. Why should he not,
just by way of experiment ? His balance was
intact as yet ; he was never likely to need a
little ready time more than he did just then.
He would draw the minimum amount, fifteen
minutes, and see how the system worked.
So, although he had little real confidence
that anything would happen at all, he drew a
cheque, and slipped it behind the frivolous and
rather incorrect little ormolu clock upon his
chimey-piece.
The result was instantaneous, and altogether
beyond his expectations! The four walls of
in's ,first Ceue. 33
his room assumed the transparency of gauze
for a second, before fading entirely away ; the
olive fog changed to translucent blue ; there
was a briny breath in the air, and he himself
was leaning upon the rail at the forward end
of the hurricane-deck of the Boomerang, which
was riding with a slow and stately rise and fall
over the heaving swell.
That was surprising enough ; but more sur-
prising still was the discovery that he was ap-
parently engaged in close and confidential con-
versation with a lovely person in whom he
distinctly recognized Miss Tyrrell.
" Yes, I forgive you, Mr. Tourmalin," she
was saying, with an evident effort to suppress
a certain agitation ; but indeed, indeed, you
must never speak to me like that again ! "
JSTow, as Peter was certainly not conscious
of ever having spoken to her at all in his life,
this was naturally a startling and even embar-
assing beginning.
But he had presence of mind enough to
take in the position of affairs, and adapt him-
self to them. This was one of the quarters of
an hour he would have had, and it was clear
that in some portion or other of his spare
3
34 tourmalin's fEiitte
time he would have made Miss Tyrrell's ac-
quaintance in some way. Of course he ought
to have been paid that particular time first;
but he could easily see from her manner, and
the almost tender friendliness which shone in
her moistened eyes, that at this period they
had advanced considerably beyond mere ac-
quaintanceship. There had been some little
mistake probably; the cheques had been
wrongly numbered perhaps, or else they were
honored without regard to chronological se-
quence, which was most confusing.
Still, he had nothing to do but conceal his
ignorance as well as he could, and pick up the
loose threads as he went along. He was able,
at all events, to assure her that he would not,
if he could help it, incur her displeasure by
speaking to her " like that " in future.
" Thanks," she said. " I know it was only
a temporary forgetfulness ; and and if what
you suspect should prove to be really true
why, then, Mr. Tourmalin, then, of course, you
may come and tell me so."
"I will," he said. "I shall make a point
of it. Only," he thought to himself, "she
will have to tell me first what I'm to tell her."
0ttrmalm's .first <JH)e<jtie. 35
" And in the mean time," she said, " let ITS
go on as before, as if you had never brought
yourself to confide your sad story to me."
So he had told a sad story, had he? he
thought, much bewildered ; for, as he had no
story belonging to him of that character, he
was afraid he must have invented one, while,
of course, he could not ask for information.
" Yes," he said, with great presence of
mind, " forget my unhappy story let it never
be mentioned between us again. We will go
on as before exactly as before."
" It is our only course," she agreed. " And
now," she added, with a cheerfulness that
struck him as a little forced, " suppose we
talk of something else."
Peter considered this a good suggestion, pro-
vided it was a subject he knew a little more
about ; which, unhappily, it w^as not.
"You never answered my question," she
reminded him.
He would have liked, as Ministers say in the
House, " previous notice of that question ; "
but he could hardly say so in so many words.
" No," he said. " Forgive me if I say that
it is a a painful subject to me."
36 0tmnahn's ftime
" I understand that," she said gently (it
was more than he did) ; " but tell me only
this : was it that that made you behave as
you did ? You are sure you had no oilier
reason ? "
[" If I said I had," thought Peter, " she will
ask me what it was."] " I will be as frank
as possible, Miss Tyrrell," he replied. "I
had no other reason. What other reason
could I have had ? "
" I half fancied but I ought to have seen
from the first that, whatever it was, it was not
that. And now you have made everything
quite clear."
" I am glad you find it so," said Peter, with
a touch of envy.
" But I might have gone on misunderstand-
ing and misjudging, putting you down as
proud and cold and unsociable, or prejudiced,
but for the accident which brought us togeth-
er, in spite of your determination that we
should remain total strangers."
It was an accident which had made them
acquainted, then. He would draw the cheque
which contained that episode of his extra
time sooner or later ; but it was distinctly in-
in'0 ;first (Eertte. 37
convenient not to have at least some idea of
what had happened.
" A fortunate accident for me, at all events,"
he said with a judicious recourse to compli-
ment.
" It might have been a very unfortunate
one for poor papa," she said, "but for you.
I do believe he would have been quite incon-
solable."
Peter felt an agreeable shock. Had he
really been fortunate enough to distinguish
himself by rescuing the Judge's fair daughter
from some deadly peril ? It looked very like
it. He had often suspected himself of a latent
heroism which had never had an opportunity
of being displayed. This opportunity must
have occurred, and he have proved equal to
the occasion, in one of those extra hours !
" I can quite imagine that he would be in-
consolable indeed ! " he said gallantly. " For-
tunately, I was privileged to prevent such a
calamity."
" Tell me again exactly ?iow you did it,"
she said. " I never quite understood."
Peter again took refuge in a discreet vague-
ness.
38 tourmalin's ime (!II)eqtie0.
"Oh," he replied, modestly, "there is not
much to tell. I saw the er danger, and
knew there wasn't a moment to lose ; and
then I sprang forward, and well, you know
the rest as well as I do ! "
" You only just caught him as he was going
up the rigging, didn't you ? " she asked.
So it was the Judge he had saved not his
daughter ! Peter felt a natural disappoint-
ment. But he saw the state of the case now :
a powerful judicial intellect over-strained, mel-
ancholia, suicidal impulses it was all very
sad ; but happily he had succeeded in saving
this man to his country.
" I ventured to detain him," he said, con-
siderately, " seeing that he was er rather
excited."
" But weren't you afraid he would bite you ? "
" No," said Peter, pained at this revelation
of the Judge's condition, " that possibility did
not occur to me. In fact I am sure that er
though the strongest intellects are occasion-
ally subject to attacks of this sort, he would
never so far forgot himself as to er bite a
complete stranger."
" All ! " she said, " you don't know what a
in's -first Cheque. 39
savage old creature he can be sometimes. He
never ought to be let loose ; I'm sure he's
dangerous ! "
" Oh ! but think, Miss Tyrrell," remonstrated
Peter, unmistakably shocked at this unfilial
attitude toward a distinguished parent ; " if
he was er dangerous, he would not be upon
the Bench now, surely ! "
She glanced over her shoulder with evident
apprehension.
" How you frightened me ! " she said. " I
thought he was really there! But I hope
they'll shut him up in future, so that he won't
be able to do any more mischief. You didn't
tell me how you got hold of him. Was it by
his chain or his tail ? "
Peter did not know ; and, besides, it was as
difficult for him to picture himself in the act
of seizing a hypochondriacal judge by his
watch-chain or coat-tail, as it was for him to
comprehend the utter want of feeling that
could prompt such a question from the suffer-
er's own daughter.
" I hope," he said, with a gravity which he
intended as a rebuke " I hope I treated him
with all the respect and consideration possible
40 tourmalin's &ime
under the er circumstances. ... I am sorry
that that remark appears to amuse you ! "
For Miss Tyrrell was actually laughing, with
a merriment in which there was nothing
forced.
" How can I help it 3 " she said, as soon
as she could speak. " It is too funny to hear
you talking of being regretful and considerate
to a horrid monkey ! "
" A monkey ! " he repeated involuntarily.
So it was a monkey that was under restraint
and not a Judge of her Majesty's Supreme
Court of Judicature ; a discovery which left
him as much in the dark as to what particular
service he had rendered as ever, and made
him tremble to think what he might have
said. But apparently, by singular good for-
tune, he had not committed himself beyond
recovery ; for Miss Tyrrell only said :
" I thought you were speaking of the monk-
ey, the little wretch that came up behind papa
and snatched away all his notes the notes
he had made for the great case he tried last
term, and has to deliver judgment upon when
the Courts sit again. Surely he told you how
important they were, and how awkward it
f&onrmalin's .first Cheque. 41
would have been if the monkey had escaped
with them, and torn them into pieces or dropped
them into the sea ? as he probably would have
done but for you ! "
" Oh, ah, yes ! " said Peter, feeling slightly
crest-fallen, for he had hoped he had per-
formed a more dashing deed than catching a
loose monkey. "I believe your father Sir
John ? " he hazarded . . . " Sir "William, of
course, thank you . . . did mention the fact.
But it really was such a trifling thing to do."
" Papa didn't think so," she said. " He de-
clares he can never be grateful enough to you.
And, whatever it was," she added softly, and
even shyly, " I, at least, can never think lightly
of a service which has has made us what we
are to one another."
Wliat they were to one another ! And
what was that? A dreadful uncertainty
seized upon Peter. Was it possible that, in
some way he did not understand, he was en-
gaged to this very charming girl, who was
almost a stranger to him? The mere idea
froze his blood ; for if that was so, how did
it affect his position toward Sophia ? At all
hazards, he must know the worst at once !
42
" Tell me," he said with trembling accents,
" I know you have told me already, but tell me
once more precisely what we are to one an-
other at present. It would be so much more
satisfactory to my mind," he added, in a de-
precatory tone, "to have that clearly under-
stood."
"I thought I had made it quite clear al-
ready," she said, with the least suspicion of
coldness, " that we can be nothing more to one
another than friends."
The relief was almost too much for him.
What a dear, good, sensible girl she was !
How perfectly she appreciated the facts !
" Friends ! " he cried. " Is that all f Do
you really mean we are nothing more than
friends?"
He caught her hand, in the fervor of his
gratitude, and she allowed it to remain in his
grasp; which in the altered state of things,
he found rather pleasant than otherwise.
" Ah ! " she murmured, " don't ask me for
more than I have said more than I can ever
say, perhaps ! Let us be content with remain-
ing friends dear friends, if you like but no
more ! "
tourmalin's .first QHue. 43
" I will," said Peter promptly, " I will be con-
tent. Dear friends, by all means ; but no more ! "
" No," she assented ; " unless a time should
come when "
"Yes," said Peter, encouragingly, as she
hesitated. " You were about to say, a time
when?"
Her lips moved, a faint flush stole into her
cheeks ; she was about to complete her sen-
tence, when her hand seemed to melt away in
his own, and he stood, grasping the empty air,
by his own mantelpiece. The upper deck,
the heaving bows, the blue seaboard, Miss Tyr-
rell herself, all had vanished; and in their
stead were the familiar surroundings of his
chamber, the grimy London housefronts, and
Sophia's list of questions lying still unanswered
upon his writing-table ! His fifteen minutes
had come to an end ; the cheque was nowhere
to be seen. The minute-hand of his clock had
not moved since he last saw it ; but this last
circumstance, as he saw on reflection, was only
natural, for otherwise the Time Deposit would
have conferred no real advantage, as he would
never have regained the hours he had tempo-
rarily foregone.
44
For some time Peter sat perfectly still, with
his head between his hands, occupied in a men-
tal review of this his initial experience of the
cheque-book system. It was as different as
possible from the spell of perfect rest he had
anticipated; but had it been unpleasant on
that account ? In spite of an element of mys-
tification at starting, which was inevitable, he
was obliged to admit to himself that he had
enjoyed this little adventure more than per-
haps he should have done. With all his
attachment to Sophia, he could hardly be in-
sensible to the privilege of suddenly finding
himself the friend and more than that, the
dear friend of so delightful a girl as this
Miss Tyrrell.
There was a strange charm, a peculiar and
quite platonic tenderness about an intimacy of
this peculiar and unprecedented nature, which
increased at every fresh recollection of it. It
increased .so rapidly indeed, that almost uncon-
sciously he drew the cheque-book toward him,
and began to fill up another cheque with a
view to an immediate return to the Boomer-
ang.
But when he had torn the cheque out, he
(Eotirmaiin's first CSIIjeqtie. 45
hesitated. It was all quite harmless : the most
severe moralist could not convict him of even
the most shadowy infidelity toward \\\$> fiancee,
if he chose to go back and follow up a purely
retrospective episode like this an episode
which interested and fascinated him so strongly
only, what would Sophia say to it? In-
stinctively he felt that the situation, innocent
as it was, would fail to commend itself to her.
He had no intention of informing her, it was
true ; but he knew that he was a poor dis-
sembler he might easily betray himself in
some unguarded moment, and then No !
it was vexing, no doubt ; but upon the whole,
it was wiser and better to renounce those addi-
tional hours on board the Boomerang alto-
gether to allow this past, that never had, but
only might have been, to remain unsummoned
and unknown forever. Otherwise, who could
tell that, by gradual assaults, even such an af-
fection as he had for Sophia might not be
eventually undermined.
But this fear, as he saw the next moment,
was almost too extravagant to be seriously
taken into account. He felt nothing, and
never could feel anything, but warm and sin-
46 ^Tourmalin's
cere friendship for Miss Tyrrell; and it was
satisfactory to know that she was in no danger
of mistaking his sentiments. Still, of course
there was always a certain risk, particularly
when he was necessarily in ignorance of all
that had preceded and followed the only col-
loquy they had had as yet. At last he decided
upon a compromise : he would not cash that
second cheque for the present, at all events ;
he would reserve it for an emergency, and
only use it if he was absolutely driven to do so
as a mental tonic. Perhaps Sophia would not
compel him to such a necessity again; he
hoped at least he thought she would not.
So he put the unpresented cheque in an in-
ner pocket, and set to work with desperate
energy at his examination-paper ; although
his recent change must have proved less stimu-
lating to his jaded faculties than he had hoped,
since Sophia, after reading his answers, made
the cutting remark that she scarcely knew
which he had more completely failed to
apprehend the purport of his author, or
that of the very simple questions she had
set him.
Peter could not help thinking, rather rue-
first Cheque. 47
fully, that Miss Tyrrell would never have
been capable of such severity as that; but,
then, Miss Tyrrell was not his fiancee, only
a very dear friend, whom he would, most proba-
bly, never meet again.
CHAPTER II.
THE SECOND CHEQUE.
Furnishing. A Cosy Corner. "Sitting Out." Fresh
Discoveries. Twice a Hero. Bewilderment and
Bathos.
THE knowledge that one lias a remedy with-
in reach is often as effectual as the remedy it-
self, if not more so ; which may account for
the fact that, although a considerable number
of weeks had elapsed since Peter Tourmalin
had drawn his second cheque on the Anglo-
Australian Joint Stock Time Bank, that cheque
still remained unpresented.
The day fixed for his wedding with Sophia
was drawing near ; the flat in the Marylebone
Road, which was to be the scene of their joint
felicity, had to be furnished, and this occupied
most of his time. Sophia took the entire busi-
ness upon herself, for she had scientific theo-
St'conb Clique. 49
ries on the subject of decoration and color har-
monies which Peter could only accept with
admiring awe ; but, nevertheless, she required
him to be constantly at hand, so that she could
consult him after her own mind had been ir-
revocably made up.
One February afternoon he was wandering
rather disconsolately about the labyrinthine
passages of one of the monster upholstery es-
tablishments in the Tottenham Court Road, his
chief object being to evade the courtesies of
the numerous assistants as they anxiously in-
quired what they might have the pleasure of
showing him. He and Sophia had been there
since midday; and she had sat in judgment
upon carpets which were brought out, plung-
ing like unbroken colts, by panting foremen,
and unrolled before her in a blinding riot of
color. Peter had only to express the mildest
commendation of any carpet to seal that car-
pet's doom instantly ; so that he soon abstained
from personal interference.
Now Sophia was in the ironmongery de-
partment, choosing kitchen utensils, and his
opinion being naturally of no value on such
matters, he was free to roam wherever he
4
50 (Eonrmalin's ime
pleased within the limits of the building. He
felt tired and rather faint, for he had had no
lunch ; and presently he came to a series of
show-rooms fitted up as rooms in various styles :
there was one inviting-looking interior, with
an elaborate chimneypiece which had cosy
cushioned nooks on either side of the fireplace,
and into one of these corners he sank with
heartfelt gratitude; for it was a comfortable
seat, and he had not sat down for hours. But
as his weariness wore away, he felt the want
of something to occupy his mind, and searched
in his pockets to see if he had any letters
there even notes of congratulation upon his
approaching marriage would be better than
nothing in his present reduced condition. But
he had left all his correspondence at his cham-
bers. The only document he came upon was
the identical time cheque he had drawn long
ago : it was creased and rumpled ; but none the
less negotiable, if he could find a clock. And
on the built-up chimneypiece there was a clock,
a small faience affair surmounted by a Japanese
monster in peacock-blue. Moreover, by some
chance, this clock was actually going he could
hear it ticking as he sat there. Should he pre-
Seconb QTljcque. 51
sent his cheque or not ; he was feeling a little
aggrieved at Sophia's treatment of him, she had
snubbed him so unmercifully over the carpets ;
it was pleasant to think that, if he chose, he
could transport himself that very instant to
the society of a sweet and appreciative com-
panion from whom snubbing was the last
thing to be apprehended.
Yes ; Sophia's treatment quite justified him
in making an exception to the rule he had laid
down for himself he would present that
cheque. And he rose softly from his seat and
pushed the cheque under the "little time-
piece. . . .
As before, his draft was honored immedi-
ately ; he found himself on a steamer-chair in
a sheltered passage between two of the deck-
cabins. It was night, and he could not clearly
distinguish any objects around him for some
little time, owing to the darkness ; but from a
glimmer of white drapery that was faintly
visible close by, he easily inferred that there
was another chair adjoining his, which could
only be occupied by Miss Tyrrell. He could
just hear the ship's band playing a waltz at
the further end of the ship ; it was one of the
52
evenings when there had been dancing, and he
and Miss Tyrrell were sitting out together.
All this he realized instantly, and not with-
out a thrill of interest and expectation, which,
however, the first words she uttered were suffi-
cient to reduce to the most prosaic perplexity.
" What have I said ? " she was moaning, in
a voice hardly recognizable from emotion and
the fleecy wrap in which her face was muffled
" oh ! what have I said ? "
Peter was naturally powerless to afford her
any information on this point, even if she
really required it; he made a rapid mental
note to the effect that their intimacy had evi-
dently made great progress since their last in-
terview.
" I'm afraid," he said, deciding that candor
was his only course, " I can't exactly tell you
what you did say ; for, as a matter of fact, I
didn't quite catch it."
" Ah ! you say that to spare me," she mur-
mured ; " you must have heard ; but, promise
me you will forget it ? "
"Willingly," said Peter, with the greatest
readiness to oblige ; " I will consider it forgot-
ten."
(Elje Second Cheque. 53
" If I could but hope that ! " she said.
" And, yet," she added recklessly, " why should
I care what I say ? "
" To be sure," agreed Tourmalin at random,
" why should you, you know ? "
" You must have seen from the first that I
was very far from being happy ? "
" I must confess," said Peter, with the air of
a man whom nothing escaped, " that I did ob-
serve that."
" And you were right ! "Was it unnatural
that I should be nothing but grateful to the
chance which first brought us together ? "
" Not at all," said Peter, delighted to feel
himself on solid ground again ; " indeed, if I
may speak for myself, I have even greater
reason to feel grateful to that monkey."
" To what monkey ? " she exclaimed.
" Why, naturally, my dear Miss Tyrrell, to
the animal which was the unconscious instru-
ment in making us acquainted. You surely
can not have forgotten already that it was a
monkey ? "
She half rose with an impetuous movement,
the mantilla fell from her face, and even in
the faint starlight, he could perceive that, beau-
54 &0tnrmalin's dime
tiful as that face undoubtedly was, it was as
certainly not the face of Miss Tyrrell !
" You seem to have forgotten a great deal,"
she retorted, with a suppressed sob in her
voice, " or you would at least remember that
my name is Davenport. Why you should
choose to call me Miss Tyrrell, whom I don't
even know by sight, I can't conceive ! "
Here was a discovery, and a startling one !
It appeared that he had not merely one, but
two dear friends on board this P. and O.
steamer ; and the second seemed, if possible,
even dearer than the first! He must have
made the very most of those extra hours !
There was one comfort, however, Miss Dav-
enport did not, contrary to his impression,
know Miss Tyrrell ; so that they need not
necessarily clash still, it was undeniably awk-
ward. He had to get out of his mistake as
well as he could, which was but lamely.
" Why, of course" he protested, " I know
you are Miss Davenport. Most stupid of me
to address you as Miss Tyrrell ! The the
only explanation I can offer is, that before I
had the pleasure of speaking to you, I was
under the impression that your proper name
Second Cheque.
55
was Tyrrell) and so it slipped out again just
then from habit."
This though the literal, if not the moral,
truth did not seem to satisfy her entirely.
" That may be so," she said, curtly ; " still
it does not explain why you should address
me as Miss Anybody, after asking and re-
ceiving permission, only last night, to call me
by my Christian name ! "
Obviously their relations were even closer
than he had imagined. lie had no idea they
had got as far as Christian names already,
any more than he had of what hers might hap-
pen to be.
There was a painful want of method in the
manner this Time Bank conducted its business,
as he could not help remarking to himself ;
however, Peter, perhaps, from the very ti-
midity in his character, developed unexpected
adroitness in a situation of some difficulty.
" So you did ! " he said. " You allowed
me to call you by your er Christian name ;
but I value such a privilege too highly to use
it er indiscriminately."
" You are very strange to-night ! " she said,
with a plaintive and almost childish quiver of
56 tourmalin's ime
the lip. " First you call me ' Miss Tyrrell '
and then i Miss Davenport,' and then you will
have it that we were introduced by a monkey !
As if I should ever allow a monkey to intro-
duce anybody to me ! Is saving a girl's life
such an ordinary event with you, that you
forget all about such a trifle ? "
This last sentence compensated Peter for all
that had gone before. Here was a peison
whose life he really had saved ; and his heart
warmed to her from that moment. [Rescuing
a girl from imminent bodily peril was a more
heroic achievement than capturing the most
mischievous of monkeys ; and, besides, he felt
it was far more in his style. So it was in
his best manner he replied to her question :
" It would be strange, indeed," he said re-
proachfully, " If I could ever forget that I was
the humble means of preserving you from
from a watery grave " (he risked the epithet,
concluding that on a voyage it could hardly be
any other description of grave ; and she did
not challenge it, so he continued)" a watery
grave ; but I had hoped you would appreciate
the motive which restrained me from er
seeming to dwell upon such a circumstance."
Second OII)er|ue. 57
This appeal, unprincipled as it was, subdued
her instantly.
" Oh, forgive me ! " she said, putting out her
hand with the prettiest penitence. " I might
have known you better than that. I didn't
mean it. Please say you forgive me, and and
call me Maud again ! "
Relief at being supplied with a missing
clew made Peter reckless ; indeed, it is to be
feared that demoralization had already set in ;
he took the hand she gave him, and it did
not occur to him to let it go immediately.
" Maud, then," he said obediently ; " I for-
give you, Maud."
It was a prettier name to pronounce than
Sophia.
" How curious it is," she was saying, dream-
ily, as she nestled comfortably in her chair be-
side him, " that, up to the very moment when
you rushed forward that day, I scarcely gave
your existence a thought! And now how
little we ever know what is going to happen to
us, do we ? "
[" Or what has happened, for that mat-
ter ! " he thought.] This time he would not
commit himself to details until he could learn
58 0urtnalin'0 (Einte
more about the precise nature of his dauntless
act, which he at once proceeded to do.
"I should very much like to know," he
suggested, " what your sensations were at that
critical moment."
" My sensations ? I hardly know," she said,
"I remember leaning over the bulwarks, is
it ? " (Peter said it was bulwarks) " the bul-
warks, watching a sailor in a little balcony be-
low, who was doing something with a long
line"
" Heaving the lead," said Peter ; " so he
was go on ! "
He was intensely excited ; it was all plain
enough : she had lost her balance and fallen
overboard ; he had plunged in, and gallantly
kept her above water till help arrived. He
had always known he was capable of this sort
of thing ; now he had proved it.
"When all at once," she continued, "I
felt myself roughly dragged back by somebody
that was you ! I was rather angry for the
moment, for it did seem quite a liberty for a
total stranger to take, when, that very in-
stant, I saw the line with a great heavy lump
of lead at the end of it whirled round exactly
Seconfc Clique. 59
where my head had been, and then I knew
that I owed my life to your presence of
mind ! "
Peter was more than disappointed he was
positively disgusted at this exceedingly tame
conclusion ; it did seem hard that, even under
conditions when any act of daring might have
been possible to him, he could do nothing
more brilliant than this. It was really worse
than the monkey business !
" I'm afraid you make too much of the
very little I did," he said.
"Do I? Perhaps that is because if you
had not done it, we should never come to know
one another as we do ! " (So far, it was a very
one-sided sort of knowledge, Peter thought.)
"And yet," she added, with a long-drawn
sigh, " I sometimes think that we should
both be happier if we never had known one
another ; if you had stood aside, and the lead
had struck me and I had died ! "
" No, no ! " said Peter, unfeignedly alarmed
at this morbid reflection, "you mustn't take
such a gloomy view of it as all that, you
know!"
"Why not?" she said, in a somber tone.
60 &0tjrmalin'0 QTitne
"It is gloomy how gloomy I know better
than you!" ("She might well do that,"
thought Tourmalin.) "Why did I not see
that I was slowly, imperceptibly drifting
drifting "
" Well," said Peter, with a levity he was far
from feeling, " if the drifting was impercepti-
ble, you naturally wouldn't see it, you know ! "
" You might have spared a joke at such a
time as this ! " she cried, indignantly.
" I I wasn't aware there was a close time for
jokes," he said, humbly ; " not that it was
much of a joke ! "
" Indeed it was not," she replied. " But
oh, Peter, now we have both drifted ! " " Have
we ? " he exclaimed, blankly. " I I mean
haven't we ! "
"I was so blind so willfully, foolishly
blind ! I told myself we were friends ! "
" Surely we are ? " he said retaking posses-
sion of her hand ; he had entirely forgotten
Sophia in the ironmongery department, at
Tottenham Court Road. " I I understood we
were on that footing ? "
" No," she said, " let us have no subterfuges
any more we must look facts in the face.
:ije Second
After what we have both said to-night, we
can no longer deceive ourselves by words.
. . . Peter," she broke off suddenly, "I am
going to ask you a question, and on your an-
swer my fate and yours too, perhaps will
depend ! Tell me truthfully ..." Her voice
failed her for the moment, as she bent over
toward him, and clutched his arm tightly in
her excitement; her eyes shone with a wild,
intense eagerness for his reply. . . . " Would
you " she repeated . . .
" Would you have the bottle- jack all brass,
or japanned? The brass ones are a shilling
more."
Peter gave a violent start, for the voice in
w r hich this most incongruous and irrelevant
question was put was that of Sophia !
Miss Davenport with her hysterical appeal,
the steamer-chairs, and the starlight, all had
fled, and he stood, supporting himself limply
by the arm of the chimney-nook in the uphol-
sterer's showroom, staring at Sophia, who
stood there, sedate and practical, inviting his
attention to a couple of bottle- jacks which an
assistant was displaying with an obsequious
smile : the transition was rather an abrupt one.
62 ^Tourmalin's ime
" Oh, I tliink the brass one is very nice,"
he stammered, feebly enough.
" Then that settles it," remarked Sophia ;
"we'll take the japanned one, please," she said
to the assistant.
" Aren't you feeling well, Peter dear ? "
she asked presently, in an undertone. " You
look so odd ! "
" Quite well," he said ; " I ah ! was think-
ing of something else for the moment, and
you startled me, that's all."
"You had such a far-away expression in
your eyes," said Sophia, " and you did jump
so when I spoke to you ; you should really
try to conquer that tendency to let yourself
wander, Peter."
"I will, my love," he said; and he meant
it, for he had let himself wander farther than
he quite intended.
CHAPTER III.
THE TIIIKD CHEQUE.
rood Resolutions. Casuistry. A Farewell
Small Profit and a Quick Return.
Visit.
As the reader may imagine, this second ex-
perience had an effect upon Peter that was
rather deterrent than encouraging.
It was a painful piece of self-revelation to
find that, had he chosen to avail himself of
the extra hours on board the Boomerang as
they occurred, he would have so employed them
as to place himself in relations of considerable
ambiguity toward two distinct young ladies.
How far he was committed to either, or both,
he could not tell ; but he had an uneasy sus-
picion that neither of them would have been
quite so emotional had he conducted himself
with the same prudence that had marked his
64
behavior throughout the time which he was
able to account for.
And yet his conscience acquitted him of
any actual default ; if he had ever really had
any passages at all approaching the sentimental
with either Miss Tyrrell or Miss Davenport,
his mind could hardly be so utterly blank on
the subject as it certainly was. No ; at the
worst, his failings were only potential pecca-
dilloes, the kind of weaknesses he might have
given way to if he had not wisely postponed
the hours in which the occasions were afforded.
He had had a warning, a practical moral les-
son which had merely arrived, as such things
often do, rather after date.
But, so far as it was possible to profit by it,
he would : at least, he would abstain from
making any further inroads upon the balance
of extra time which still remained to his credit
at the bank ; he would draw no further cheques ;
he would return to that P. and O. steamer no
more. For an engaged man whose wedding-
day was approaching by leaps and bounds, it
was, however innocent, too disturbing and ex-
citing a form of distraction to be quite safely
indulged in.
ffiljirb l)cque. 05
The resolution cost him something, never-
theless. Peter was not a man who had hither-
to been spoiled by feminine adoration. Sophia
was fond of him, but she never affected to
place him upon any sort of pinnacle ; on the
contrary, she looked down upon him protect-
ingly and indulgently from a moral and intel-
lectual pedestal of her own. lie had not ob-
jected to this, in fact he rather liked it, but
it was less gratifying and stimulating to his
self-esteem than the romantic and idealizing
sentiments which he had seemingly inspired
in two exceedingly bewitching young persons
with whom he felt so much in sympathy. It
was an agreeable return from the bread-and-
butter of engaged life to the petits fours of
semi-flirtation. After all, Peter was but hu-
man, and a man is seldom esteemed for being
otherwise. He could not help a natural regret
at having to abandon experiences which, judg-
ing from the fragmentary samples he had ob-
tained, promised so much and such varied in-
terest. That the interest was not consecutive,
only made it the more amusing it was a living
puzzle-picture, the pieces of which he could fit
together as he received them. It was tantaliz-
5
ing to look at his cheque-book and feel that
upon its leaves the rest of the story was writ-
ten, but that he must never seek to decipher
it : it became so tantalizing, that he locked
the cheque-book up at last.
But already some of the edge had worn off
his resolution, and he had begun to see only
the more seductive side of interviews which
at the time, had not been free from difficulty
and embarrassment. Having put himself be-
yond the reach of temptation, he naturally
began to cast about for some excuse for again
exposing himself to it.
It was the eve of his wedding-day ; he was
in his chambers for the last time and alone,
for he would not see Sophia again until he met
her in bridal array at the church door, and he
had no bachelor friends whom he cared to in-
vite to help him to keep up his spirits.
Peter was horribly restless and nervous ; he
needed a sedative of some kind, and even try-
ing on his wedding garments failed to soothe
him, as he felt almost certain there was a
wrinkle between the shoulders, and it was too
late to have it altered.
The idea of one more visit to the Boomer-
67
an g on e more interview, the last, with one
or other of his amiable and fascinating friends
it did not matter very much which pre-
sented itself in a more and more attractive
light. If it did nothing else, it would provide
him with something to think about for the
rest of the evening.
Was it courteous, was it even right, to drop
his friends without the slightest apology or
explanation? Ought he not, as a gentleman
and a man of honor, to go back and bid them
" Good-by \ " Peter, after carefully consider-
ing the point, discovered that it was clearly
his duty to perform this trifling act of civility.
As soon as he had settled that, he got out
his cheque-book from the dispatch-box, in which
he had placed it for his own security, and, sit-
ting down just as he was, drew another fifteen
minutes, and cashed them, like the first, at the
ormolu clock. . . .
This time he found himself sitting on a
cushioned bench in the music-room of the
Boomerang. It was shortly after sunset, as
he could tell from the bar of dusky crimson
against the violet sea, which, framed in the
ports opposite, rose and sank with each roll of
Cheques.
the ship. There was a swell on, and she
rolled more than he could have wished.
As he expected, he was not alone ; but, as
he had not expected, his companion was neither
Miss Tyrrell nor Miss Davenport, but a grim
and portly matron, who was eyeing him with
a look of strong disfavor, which made Peter
wish he had not come. " What," he won-
dered, " was he in for now ? " His uneasiness
was increased as he glanced down upon his
trousers, which, being new and of a delicate
lavender tint, reminded him that in his impa-
tience he had come away in his wedding gar-
ments. He feared that he must present rather
an odd appearance on board ship in this festal
attire; but there he would have to stay for
the next quarter of an hour, and he must make
the best of it.
" I repeat, Mr. Tourmalin," said the matron,
"you are doubtless not unprepared for the
fact that I have requested a few minutes'
private conversation with you ? "
" Pardon me," said Peter, quaking already
at this alarming opening, " but I am very
much unprepared." "Surely," he thought,
" this could not be another dear friend ? No,
(Eljirir Cheque.
69
that was too absurd lie must have drawn the
line somewhere ! "
" Then permit me to enlighten you," she
said raspingly. " I sent for you at a time
when we are least likely to be interrupted, to
demand an explanation from you upon a very
delicate and painful matter which has recently
come to my knowledge."
" Oh ! " said Peter and nothing more. He
guessed her purpose at once ; she was going to
ask him his intentions with regard to her
daughter! He could have wished for some
indication as to whether she was Lady Tyrrell
or Mrs. Davenport; but, as he had none at
present, " Oh " seemed the safest remark to
make.
" Life on board a large passenger-ship, Mr.
Tourmalin," she went on to observe, " though
relaxed in some respects, is still not without
decencies which a gentleman is bound to re-
spect."
" Quite so," said Peter, unable to discover
the bearings which lay in the application of
this particular observation.
" You say f Quite so ' ; but what has your
"behavior been, sir ? "
70 tourmalin's ftime
"That," said Peter, "is exactly what I
should like to know myself ! "
" A true gentleman would have considered
the responsibility he incurred by giving cur-
rency to idle and malicious gossip ! "
His apprehensions were correct then : it was
one of the young ladies' mothers but which f
" I can only assure you, madam," he began,
" that if unhappily I have er been the means
of furnishing gossip, it has been entirely unin-
tentional."
She seemed so much mollified by this, that
he proceeded with more confidence :
" As to anything I may have said to your
daughter " when she almost bounded from
her seat with fury.
"My daughter -, sir! Do you mean to sit
there and tell me that you had the audacity to
so much as hint of such a thing to my daugh-
ter, of all people ? "
" So so much depends on who your daugh-
ter is ! " said Peter, completely losing his
head.
"You dared to strike this cruel and un-
manly blow at the self-respect of a sensitive
girl to poison her defenseless ears with your
l)eqtte.
71
false, dastardly insinuations and you can actu-
ally admit it ? "
" I don't know whether I can admit it
or not yet," he replied. " And and you do
put things so very strongly ! It is like this :
if you are referring to any conversation I may
have had with Miss Tyrrell "
" Miss Tyrrell f You have told her too ! "
exclaimed this terrible old matron, thereby
demonstrating that, at least, she was not Lady
Tyrrell.
" I I should have said Miss Davenport,"
said Peter, correcting himself precipitately.
" Miss Davenport as well ? Upon my word !
And pray, sir, may I ask how many other
ladies on board this ship are in possession of
your amiable confidences ? "
He raised his hands in utter despair.
" I can't say," he groaned. " I don't really
know what I may have said, or whom I may
have said it to ! I I seem to have done so
much in my spare time, but I never meant
anything ! "
" It may be so," she said ; " indeed, you
hardly seem to me accountable for your ac-
tions, or you would not appear in such a ridicu-
72 0urmalin's &ime Cheques.
lous costume as that, with a sprig of orange-
blossom in jour button-hole and a high hat,
too ! "
" I quite feel," said Peter, blushing, " that
such a costume must strike you as inappropri-
ate ; but but I happened to be trying them
on, and rather than keep you waiting "
" Well, well, sir, never mind your costume
the question is, if you are genuinely anxious
to repair the wrong you have done, what
course do you propose to take ? "
" I will be perfectly frank with you, mad-
am," said Peter : " I am not in a position to
repair any wrong I have done if I have done
any wrong (which I don't admit) by taking
any course whatever ! "
" You are not ! " she cried. " And you tell
me so to my face ? "
After all, reflected Peter, why should he be
afraid of this old lady ? In a few more min-
utes he would be many hundreds of miles
away, and he would take very good care not
to come back again. He felt master of the
situation, and determined to brazen it out.
" I do, madam ! " he said, crossing his legs
in an easy fashion. " Look at it from a rea-
l)ir& Clique. 73
sonable point of view. There is safety in num-
bers ; and if I have been so unfortunate as to
give several young ladies here an entirely er-
roneous impression, I must leave it to you to
undeceive them as considerately but distinctly
as you can. For me to make any selection
would only create ill-feeling among the rest ;
and their own good sense will show them
that I am forbidden by the laws of my coun-
try, Avhich I am the last person to set at defi-
ance that I am forbidden (even if I were
free in other respects, which I am not) to
marry them all ! "
" The only possible explanation of your con-
duct is, that you are not in your right mind ! "
she said. " Who in the world spoke or dreamed
of your marrying any one of them ? Certainly
not//"
" Oh ! " said Peter, hopelessly fogged once
more. " I thought I might unintentionally
have given them grounds for some such ex-
pectation. I'm very glad I was mistaken.
You see, you must really make allowances for
my utter ignorance."
" If this idiotic behavior is not a mere feint,
sir, I can make allowances for much ; but,
74 (EottrmaUn's ime
surely, you are at least sufficiently in your
proper senses to see how abominably you have
behaved ? "
" Have I ? " said Peter, submissively. " I
don't wish to contradict you, if you say so,
I'm sure. And, as I have some reason to
believe that my stay on board this ship
will not last very much longer, I should
like before I go to express my very sincere
regret."
" There is an easy way of proving your
sincerity, sir, if you choose to avail yourself of
it," she said. " I find it very difficult to be-
lieve, from the evident feebleness of your in-
tellect, that you can be the person chiefly
responsible for this scandal. Am I correct in
my supposition ? "
" You are, madam," said Peter. " I should
never have got myself into such a tangle as
this, if I had not been talked over by Mr.
Perkins. I don't know if I can succeed in
making myself clear, for the whole business
is rather complicated ; but I can try to ex-
plain it, if you will only have a little pa-
tience."
" You have said quite enough," she said.
ftljirfc Cljerjtie. 75
" I know all I wish, to know now. So it was
Mr. Perkins who has been using you as his in-
strument, was it ? "
" Certainly," said Peter ; " but for him,
nothing of this would have happened."
"You will have no objection to repeating
that statement, should I call upon you to
do so \ "
" No," said Peter, who observed with pleas-
ure that her wrath against himself was almost
entirely moderated ; " but you will have to
call soon, or I shall have gone. I I don't
know if I shall have another opportunity of
meeting Mr. Perkins ; but if I did, I should
certainly tell him that I do not consider he has
treated me quite fairly. He has put me in
what I may call a false position, in several
false positions ; and if I had had the knowl-
edge I have now, I should have had nothing
to do with him from the first. He entirely
misled me over this business ! "
" Very well, sir," she said ; " you have
shown a more gentlemanly spirit, on the whole,
than I expected. I am glad to find that your
evil has been wrought more by want of thought
than heart. It will be for you to complete
76 {Tourmalin's (Time
your reparation when the proper time arrives.
In the mean time, let this be a warning to you,
sir, never to " . . .
But here Peter made the sudden discovery
that he was no longer in the music-room of
the Boomerang, but at home in his old easy-
chair by his bachelor fireside.
"Phew!" he muttered to himself, "that
was a bad quarter of an hour while it lasted !
What an old she-dragon it was! But she's
right it is a warning to me. I mustn't I
really must not draw any more of these con-
founded time cheques. I've made that ship
too hot to hold me already ! I'd better remain
forever in contented ignorance of how I spent
that extra time, than to go on getting into one
mess after another like this ! It was a wonder
I got out of this one as well as I did ; but evi-
dently that old woman knew what Perkins is,
and saw / wasn't to blame. Now she'll ex-
plain the whole affair to all those girls (who-
ever they may be), and pitch into Perkins
and serve him right ! Pm out of it, at any
rate ; and now, thank goodness, after to-morrow
I shall have nothing to do but live contentedly
and happily with dearest Sophia ! I'd better
(Eljcque.
77
l)ii rn this beastly elieqne-book I shall never
want it ai^iin ! "
It would have been well for IVtcr if he Lad
burned tli;it clieqiie-book ; but when it came to
the point, he could not brin^ himself to destroy
it. After all, it was an interesting souvenir
of some very curious, if not uni<jue, experi-
ences; and, us such, he decided to preserve it.
CHAPTEK IY.
THE FOURTH CHEQUE.
A Slue Moon. Felicity in a Flat. Practical Astrono-
my. Temptation and a Relapse. The Difficulties of
being Completely Candid. A Slight Misunderstand-
ing. The Avenging Orange.
PETER TOURMALIN enjoyed his honeymoon
extremely, in a calm, sober, and rational man-
ner. Sophia discouraged rapture ; but, on the
other hand, no one was better fitted to inspire
and sustain an intelligent interest in the won-
ders of Geology ; and, catching her scientific
enthusiasm, Peter spent many happy hours
with her along the cliffs, searching for fossil
remains. In fact, the only cloud that threat-
ened to mar their felicity at all was an unfortu-
nate tendency on his part to confuse a trilobite
with a graptolite, a blunder for which Sophia
had no tolerance. He was hazy about his
fonril) Cheque. 79
periods, too, until she sent up to town for
Lyell's great work on the subject as a birth-
day surprise for him, and he read it aloud to
her on the sands. Altogether, it was a peace-
ful, happy time.
And never once in the whole course of his
honeymoon did he seriously entertain the pos-
sibility of making any further use of his book
of blank Time Cheques. If he had contem-
plated it, no harm would have been done, how-
ever, as the book was lying among his neglected
papers at his former chambers.
He felt no poignant regret when the month
came to an end, and they returned to town to
take possession of their Marylebone flat: for
what was it but shifting the scene of their
happiness ? And after this had taken place,
Peter was still too much occupied to have leis-
ure for idle and mischievous thoughts. Mar-
rying Sophia was, indeed, like loving Sir Rich-
ard Steele's fair lady, " a liberal education ; "
and Peter enjoyed the undivided benefit of her
rare talent for instruction.
He had been giving his attention to As-
tronomy of late, an unguarded remark of his
having betrayed to Sophia the extreme crudity
80 ft0ttrmalitt's dime Cljeqaee.
of his ideas respecting that science, and she
had insisted upon his getting a popular primer,
with diagrams, and mastering it as a prelimi-
nary to deeper study.
One evening he was in the smaller room of
the two that, divided by an arch, served for
study and drawing-room combined; and he
was busily engaged in working out a simple
practical illustration, by the aid of one of the
aforesaid diagrams. The experiment required
a lamp, a ball of cotton, and an orange trans-
fixed by a knitting-needle, and it had some-
thing to do with the succession of the seasons,
solar and lunar eclipses, and the varying lengths
of day and night on different portions of our
globe, though he was not very clear what.
" Don't you find you understand the inclina-
tion of the moon's orbit to the plane of the
ecliptic better now ? " said Sophia, as she came
through the arch.
" I think I shall, as soon as I can get the
moon to keep steadier," he said, with more
hope than he felt ; " and it's rather hard to re-
member whereabouts I am supposed to be on
this orange."
"I must get you something to make that
,0ttrtl) Cljeqtte. 81
clearer," she said ; " and you haven't tilted
the orange nearly enough. But leave it for a
moment; I've brought you in this packet of
letters and things the people at your old rooms
have just sent down. I wish, while I am
away I shall be back in a minute you would
just run over them, and tell me if there are
any papers you want kept, or if they may all be
burned."
While she was gone, he undid the string
which fastened the packet, and found, at the
bottom of a mass of bills and documents of no
value, the small oblong cheque-book which he
had vowed never to see again. Somehow, as
his eyes rested on its green cover, the old long-
ing came upon him for a complete change of
air and scene. He felt as if he must get away
from that orange : there were no lamps but
electric lights, and no oranges, on board the
Boomerang.
But then, his last visit had not turned out a
success : what if he were to find he had drawn
another quarter of an hour with that irate ma-
tron of the music-room ?
However, he had left her, as he remembered,
in a comparatively pacific mood. She under-
6
82 0nrmalin's
stood him better now ; and besides, thanks to
the highly erratic system (if there was any sys-
tem) on which the payments were made, the
chances were immensely against his coming
across the same old lady twice running. He
thought he would risk that.
It was much more likely that he would
meet Miss Tyrrell or Miss Davenport, or it
might even be another person to whom he was
unconsciously allied by the bond of dear friend-
ship. The only question was, how far he
could trust himself in such companionship.
But here he felt himself guilty of a self -distrust
that was unworthy of him. If, on the two
previous occasions, he could not call to mind
that he had entertained any deeper sentiment
for either young lady than a cordial and
sympathetic interest, was it likely that, now he
was a married man, he would be more suscepti-
ble ? He was as devoted to his Sophia as ever,
but the wear and tear of several successive
evenings spent in elementary Astronomy were
telling upon his constitution. Such high think-
ing did not agree with him ; he wanted a
plainer mental diet for a change. Fifteen min-
utes spent in the society of some one with a
fotirtt) (ElKqtte.
mind rather less cultivated than his wife's
would be very restful. Then, when he came
back, he would give his whole mind to the
orange again.
In short, all Peter's good resolutions were
thrown overboard once more, and he wrote
out a cheque for the usual amount in desperate
fear lest Sophia might return before he could
get it honored. He felt a certain compunc-
tion, even then, in presenting it to the severe
and intensely respectable black marble time-
piece which recorded the flying hours of his
domestic bliss. He almost doubted whether it
would countenance so irregular a proceeding ;
but, although it was on the verge of striking
nine, it cashed the cheque without hesita-
tion. . . .
It was midday : Peter was sitting on a fold-
ing seat, protected from the scorching sun by
the awning which was stretched above and
along the exposed side of the deck ; and, to his
great satisfaction, he found Miss Tyrrell re-
clining in a deck chair between himself and the
railing, and a pleasant picture of fresh and
graceful girlhood she presented.
As usual, he was not in time for the begin-
84
ning of the conversation, for she was evidently
commenting upon something he had said.
" How delightful it sounds," she was saying,
"and what a free, unfettered kind of life
yours must be, Mr. Tourmalin, from your de-
scription ! "
Now, this was awkward ; because he must
have been giving her an airy description of
his existence as the bachelor and butterfly he
had ceased to be. He answered guardedly,
awaiting his opportunity to lead up to a dis-
closure of the change in his circumstances since
they had last met.
" It is pleasant enough," he said. " A little
dull at times, perhaps," he added, thinking of
the orange.
She laughed.
" Oh, you mustn't expect me to pity you ! "
she said. " I don't believe you need ever be
dull, unless you choose. There must always
be friends who are glad to see you."
"I am glad to think," said Peter, "that,
when I do feel dull, I have at least one friend
one dear friend from whom I may count
upon a welcome ! "
He accompanied this speech with such a
ficmrtl) Cheque.
look, that she could not well pretend to mis-
take his meaning ; and the next moment he re-
gretted it, for he saw he had gone too far.
" That is a very pretty speech," she said, with
a faint flush ; " but isn't it a little premature,
Mr. Tourmalin, considering that we have scarce-
ly known one another two days ! "
For the moment, Peter had forgotten the
want of consecutiveness in these eccentric
Time-Cheques. This interview should by rights
have preceded the first he had had with her.
He felt annoyed with himself, and still more
with the unbusiness-like behavior of the Bank.
"I I was anticipating, perhaps," he said.
" But I assure you that we shall certainly be
friends I may even go so far as to say, dear
friends sooner or later. You see if I am not
right ! "
Miss Tyrrell smiled.
" Are you sure," she said, with her eyes
demurely lowered are you sure that there is
nobody who might object to our being on
quite such intimate terms as that ? "
Peter started. Could she possibly have
guessed, and how much did she know ?
" There could be nothing for anybody to ob-
86 tourmalin's ime (Eljeques.
ject to," he said. " Are you er referring
to any person in particular ? "
She still kept her eyes down, but then she
was occupied just at the moment in removing
a loose splinter of bamboo from the arm of her
chair.
" You mustn't think me curious or or in-
discreet, if I tell you," she said ; " but before
I knew you to speak to, I I couldn't help
noticing how often, as you sat on deck, you
used to pull something out of your pocket
and look at it."
" My watch ? " suggested Peter, feeling un-
comfortable.
" No, not your watch ; it looked more like
well, like a photograph."
" It may have been a photograph, now you
mention it," he admitted. " Well, Miss Tyr-
rell?"
"Well," she said, "I often amuse myself
by making up stories about people I meet
quite strangers, I mean. And, do you know,
I made up my mind that that photograph was
the portrait of some one some lady you are
engaged to. I should so much like to know
if I was right or not ? "
87
Here was Peter's opportunity of revealing
his real status, and preventing all chance of
future misunderstanding. It was not top late ;
but still it might be best and kindest to break
the news gradually.
" You were partly right and partly wrong,"
he said : " that was the portrait of a lady I
was er once engaged to."
Unless Peter was very much mistaken, there
was a new light in her face, an added bright.
ness in her soft gray eyes as she raised them
for an instant before resuming her labors
upon the wicker-chair.
" Then you mean," she said softly, " that the
engagement is broken off ? "
Peter began to recognize that explanation
was a less simple affair than it had seemed. If
he said that he was no longer engaged but
married to the original of that photograph,
she would naturally want to know why he had
just led her to believe, as he must have done,
that he was still a careless and unattached
bachelor ; she would ask when and where he
was married ; and how could he give a straight-
forward and satisfactory answer to such ques-
tions ?
88 0urmalin's
And then another side of the case struck
him. As a matter of fact he was undeniably
married ; but would he be strictly correct in
describing himself as being so in this particu-
lar interview f It belonged properly to the
time he had made the voyage home, and he
was certainly not married then.
In the difficulty he was in he thought it
best to go on telling the truth until it became
absolutely impossible, and then fall back on
invention.
"The fact is, Miss Tyrrell," he said, "that
I can't be absolutely certain whether the en-
gagement is ended or not at this precise mo-
ment."
Her face was alive with the sweetest sympa-
thy.
"Poor Mr. Tourmalin!" she said, "how
horribly anxious you must be to get back and
know ! "
"Ah!" said Peter, "yes, I I shall know
when I get home, I suppose."
And he sighed; for the orange recurred
once more to his reluctant memory.
" Don't tell me if it pains you too much,"
she said gently. " I only ask because I do feel
QTlje JFonrtt) Ort)eqite. 89
so sorry for you. Do yon think that, when
you do get home, you will find her married ? "
" I have every reason for believing so," he
said.
" That will be a terrible blow for you, of
course ? "
" A blow ? " said Peter, forgetting himself.
" Good gracious me, no ! Why should it be ?
I I mean, I shall be prepared for it, don't
you know ? "
" Then it's not so bad, after all ? " she said.
" It's not at all bad ! " said Peter, with a
vague intention of loyalty to Sophia. " I like
it!"
" I think I understand," she said slowly :
" you will not be sorry to find she has mar-
ried ; but she may tell you that she never had
the least intention of letting you go so easily ? "
" Yes," said Peter, " she may tell me that,
certainly (" if she finds out where I've been,"
he added, mentally.)
" And," she continued, " what would you do
then?"
" I suppose," he said " I suppose I should
have to do whatever she wished."
" Yes ! " she agreed warmly, " you will do
90
that, even if it costs you something, won't
you? Because it will be the only right, the
only honorable course to take you will be the
happier for it in the end, Mr. Tourmalin, I
am sure you will ! "
After all, it seemed to him that she must
understand about the Time Cheques or, why
should she urge him to give them up if Sophia
demanded such a sacrifice ?
" No, I shall not," he said ; " I shall miss
these times terribly. You don't know what
they are to me, or you wouldn't speak like
that ! "
" Mr. Tourmalin ! " she cried, " I I must
not listen to you ! You can't possibly mean
what you seem to mean. It is wrong wrong
to me, and wrong to her to say things that
that, for all you know, you are not free to say !
Don't let me think badly of you ! "
Peter was absolutely horrified ! What had
he said to agitate her like that? He had
merely meant to express the pleasure he found
in these brief and stolen visits to the Boom-
erang and she had misconstrued him like
this ! At all hazards, he must explain now, if
it took him days to make it clear.
,fourtl) Cheque. 91
" My dear Miss Tyrrell," he protested earn-
estly, " you quite misunderstood me you did
indeed ! Pray be calm, and I will endeavor
to make my position a little clearer than I'm
afraid I have done. The worst of it is," he
added, " that the whole thing has got into
such a muddle that, for the life of me, I can't
exactly make out what my position is at the
present moment ! "
" You can if you will only recollect that you
are this mourning-pin," said a familiar voice ;
and, with the abruptness characteristic of the
Time Cheque system, he was back in his study,
staring at the ground glass globe of the lamp
and the transfixed orange. The clock behind
him was striking nine, and Sophia was offer-
ing him a pin with a big black head.
" Oh ! am I the mourning-pin ? " he re-
peated, helplessly.
" Really, Peter," said Sophia, " I think the
pin just at this moment, has the more intelli-
gent expression of the two. Do try to look
a little less idiotic ! Now, see ; you stick the
pin into the orange to represent your point
of view, and then keep on twirling it slowly
round."
92 tourmalin's ime
So Peter twirled the orange slowly round
for the remainder of the evening, though his
thoughts were far away with Miss Tyrrell.
He was wondering what she could have thought
of him, and, worse still, wiiat she would think
if she could see him as he was employed at that
moment ?
" I tell you what we must do, Peter-
when you get a little more advanced," said
Sophia, enthusiastically, that evening, " we
must see if we can't pick up a small second-
hand orrery somewhere it would be so nice
to have one ! "
" Oh, delightful ! " he said absently.
He was not very clear as to what an orrery
was, unless it was the dusty machine that was
worked with handles at sundry Assembly-
room lectures he had attended in early youth.
But of one thing he felt grimly certain that
it was something which would render it neces-
sary to draw more Time Cheques !
CHAPTER Y.
PERIODIC DRAWINGS.
A Series of Cheques : their Advantages and Drawbacks.
An Unknown Factor. Uncompleted Confidences.
Ibsen, with Intervals. A Disappointment. A "Search
Question" from /Sophia. Confidence restored.
"WHETHER it was natural sin on Peter's part,
or an excusable spirit of revolt against the op-
pression of an orrery which Sophia succeeded
in picking up a great bargain at an auction
somewhere, his drafts on the Anglo-Austra-
lian Time Bank did not end with the one re-
corded in the preceding chapter.
And, which was more discreditable still, he
no longer pretended to himself that he meant
to stop until his balance was completely ex-
hausted. His only care now was to economize,
to regulate his expenditure by spreading his
drawings over as long a period as possi-
94
ble. "With this object he made a careful
calculation, and found there were still sev-
eral hours to his credit; whereupon, lest he
should yield to the temptation of drawing
too much at any one time, he made out a num-
ber of cheques for fifteen minutes apiece, and
limited himself to one a week an allowance
which, even under the severest provocation,
he rarely permitted himself to exceed.
These weekly excursions, short as they were,
were a source of the greatest comfort to him,
especially now that he had thrown off any idea
of moral responsibility.
By degrees he possessed himself of most of
the back-numbers, if they may be so termed,
of his dual romance. At one time, he found
himself being presented by the grateful Sir
William to his daughter ; and now that he
knew what service he had rendered the Judge,
he was less at sea than he would certainly have
been otherwise. Another time, he discovered
himself in the act of dragging Miss Davenport
unceremoniously back from the bulwarks ; but
here again his memory furnished him with the
proper excuse for conduct which, considering
that he was not supposed to be acquainted with
Jkriobic EJratmngs. 95
her, he might have found it difficult to account
for satisfactorily. So, after all, there did seem
to be a sort of method in the operation of the
Time Cheques, arbitrary as it appeared.
One fact that went far to reconcile him to
his own conscience was the circumstance that,
though the relations he stood in toward both
young ladies varied at each interview with the
most bewildering uncertainty, so that one week
he would be upon the closest and most confi-
dential terms, and the next be thrown back
into the conventional formality of a first in-
troduction these relations never again ap-
proached the dangerous level of sentiment
which had so alarmed him.
He flattered himself that the judicious atti-
tude he was adopting to both was correcting
the false impressions which might have and
for that matter actually had been given.
He was always pleased to see them again,
whichever one it was ; they were simply
charming friends frank, natural, unaffected
girls and not too clever. Sometimes, indeed,
he recognized, and did his best to discourage,
symptoms of a dawning tenderness on their part
which it was not in his power to reciprocate.
96 &0tmnalin'0 QTime
Peter was in no danger of losing his heart to
either ; possibly the attractions of each served
as a conductor to protect him from the influ-
ence of the other. He enjoyed their society,
their evident appreciation of all he said and
did, but that was all ; and as they recognized
that there could be no closer bond than that of
cordial friendship between them, he was re-
lieved of all misgivings.
Surely it was a blameless and legitimate
manner, even for a married man, of spending
the idle moments which belonged properly to
the days of his bachelorhood ! Still, he did
not confide this harmless secret of his to So-
phia ; he might tell her when it was all over,
but not so long as her disapproval could affect
his plans. And he had an instinct that such
a story as he had to tell would fail to appeal
to a person of her accurately logical habit of
mind.
So, on one occasion when he discovered
that he had lost one of the loose cheques he
How carried constantly about with him, it was
with a feeling very like panic that he reflected
that he might have dropped it about the house,
where its unusual form would inevitably pro-
JJeriobic JUratmttga. 97
voke Sophia's curiosity ; and he was much re-
assured when he was able to conclude, from the
fact that she made no reference to it, that he
must have lost it out of doors.
It must have been some time after this before
his serenity again met with a slight shock : he
was walking up and down the deck with Miss
Davenport it happened to be one of the days
when he knew her very well indeed.
" Sometimes," she was saying, " I feel as if I
must speak to somebody ! "
"You know where you will always find a
very willing listener ! " he said, with a kind of
fatherly floweriness that he felt sat well upon
him.
"I didn't mean you," she said "to some
girl of my own age, I meant."
" Oli ! " said Peter, " well, that's a very natural
feeling, I'm sure. I can quite understand it ! "
" Then you wouldn't mind you wouldn't
be angry if I did ? " she said, looking up at
him with her great childishly serious eyes.
" My dear child," said Peter, getting more
fatherly every moment, " how could I possibly
object to your speaking to any lady on board
if you want to ? "
7
98 ^Tourmalin's QLime
He would have liked to make one. or two
exceptions perhaps ; but lie thought he had
better not.
" I am so glad," she said, " because I did
this very morning. I did so want some one
to advise me to tell me what a girl ought to
do, what she would do herself in my place."
" Ah ! " said Peter, sympathetically, " it is
er a difficult position for you, no doubt."
" And for you, too ! " she said quickly ; " re-
member that."
" And for me, too, of course," said Peter, as-
senting, as he always did now from habit, to
anything he did not understand at the mo-
ment. "My position might be described as
one of er difficulty, certainly. And so you
asked advice about yours, eh ? "
" I couldn't very well help myself," she said.
" There was a girl, a little older than I am, per-
haps, sitting next to me on deck, and she men-
tioned your name, and somehow I hardly
know how it came about but she seemed so
kind, and so interested in it all, that that I
believe I told her everything. . . . You
aren't angry with me, are you, Peter ? "
She had been making a confidante of Miss
JJeriobic ^Drawings. 99
Tyrrell ! It was awkward, extremely awkward
and annoying, if, as he began to fear, her con-
fidences were of a tender character.
" I I am not exactly angry," he said ; " but
I do think you might be more careful whom
you speak to. What did you tell her ? "
" All ! " she said, with the same little quiver
in her uriderlip he had noticed before.
" That is no answer," said Peter (it certainly
was none for him). " Tell me what you said ? "
" I I told her about you, and about me . . .
and and about him ! "
" Oh ! " said Peter, " about me, and you, and
him ? Well, and and how did she take it ? "
" She didn't say very much ; she turned very
pale. It was rather rough at the time, and I
don't think she can be a very good sailor ; for
before I had even finished she got up and went
below, and I haven't seen her since."
" But you told her about ' him ' ? " he per-
sisted ; " and when you say ' him,' I presume
you refer to " ?
Here lie paused expectantly.
" Of course ! " she answered, with a touch of
impatience. "Whom else should I be likely
to refer to ? "
100 tourmalin's ime
" It's excessively absurd ! " said Peter, driven
to candor at last. " I I remember perfectly
that you did mention all tlie circumstances at
the time; but I've a shocking memory for
names, and, just for the minute, I I find it
difficult to recall where ' he ' comes in exactly.
Curious, isn't it ? "
" Curious ? " she said, passionately ; " it's
abominable ! "
" It is," agreed Peter ; " I quite admit that
I ought to know only, I don?t"
" This is cruel, unmanly ! " she said, broken-
ly. u How could you forget how can you
insult me by pretending that you could forget
such a thing as that ? It is odious of you to
make a a joke of it all, when you know per-
fectly well that"
" My my dear young lady ! " he declared,
as she left her speech unfinished, " I am as far
from any disposition to be jocular as ever I
was in my life. Let me beg you to be a little
more explicit. We seem to have got into a
trifling misunderstanding, w T hich, I am sure, a
little patience will easily put right." . . .
"Put right?" said Sophia, behind him.
" I was not aware, Peter, that the clock
JJctiobic Elratxrings. 101
was out of order. What is the matter with
it?"
He almost staggered back from the chimney-
piece, upon which he had found himself lean-
ing in an attitude of earnest persuasion.
" I I was only thinking, my love," he said,
" that it wanted regulating."
" If it does," said Sophia, " you are hardly
the proper person to do it Peter. The less
you meddle with it the better, I should
think ! "
" Perhaps so, my dear Sophia, perhaps so ! "
said Peter, sitting down with the utmost do-
cility.
He had narrowly escaped exciting suspicion.
It was fortunate that there was nothing com-
promising in the few words she had overheard,
but he must not allow himself to be caught so
near the clock again.
He was not a little disturbed by the tenor of
this last interview. It was bad enough that in
some way he seemed to have seriously dis-
pleased Miss Davenport ; but, besides that, he
could not contemplate without uneasiness the
probable effect which her confidences, what-
ever their exact purport, might have upon
102
Miss Tyrrell. For hitherto he had seen no
necessity to mention to one young lady that he
was even distantly acquainted with the other.
As he never by any chance drew them both to-
gether, there seemed no object in volunteering
such information.
But this only made him more apprehensive
of a scene when his next turn with Miss Tyr-
rell arrived. Perhaps, he thought, it would be
w r iser to keep away from the Boomerang for a
week or two, and give them all time to calm
down a little.
However, he had the moral, or rather the
immoral, courage to present a check as usual
at the end of the next week, with results that
were even less in accordance with his anticipa-
tions than before.
It came about in this way. He was com-
fortably seated by the fireplace opposite Sophia
in a cosy, domesticated fashion, and was read-
ing to her aloud ; for he had been let off the
orrery that evening. The book he was reading
by Sophia's particular request was Ibsen's
DoWs House, and it was not the fault of the
subject (which interested her deeply), but of
Peter's elocution, which was poor, that, on
Jkriobti
103
glancing from the text, lie found that she
had sunk into a profound and peaceful slum-
ber.
It was a chance he had been waiting for all
day. He was rather tired of Nora, with her
innocence and her macaroons, her tarantella
and her taradiddles, her forgery and her fancy
dress, and he had the cheque by him in readi-
ness ; so he stole on tiptoe to the mantelpiece,
slipped the paper under the clock, and was just
in time to sink back into his easy-chair before
it turned out to be one of the revolving-seats
in the dining-saloon on the Boomerang.
There was a tumbler of whisky-and-seltzer
on the table in front of him, and he was sitting
in close confabulation with his former acquaint-
ance, Mr. Perkins, the bank manager.
" That's precisely what I don't know, sir,
and what I'm determined to find out ! " were
the first words he heard from the latter gentle-
man, who looked flushed and angry. " But
it's a scandalous thing, isn't it ? "
" Very," said Peter, rather bored and deeply
disappointed ; for the manager was but an in-
different substitute for the companion he had
been counting upon. " Oh, very ! "
104 Sourmalin's f&irtie
" Have you happened to hear anything said
about it yourself ? " inquired his friend.
" Not a word ! " said Peter, with the veracity
he always endeavored to maintain on these oc-
casions.
" To go and shift a statement of that kind
on to my shoulders like that, it's like the fel-
low's confounded impudence ! "
For the moment Peter felt a twinge ; could
the other be referring to anything he had said
himself in the music-room ? But the manager
was evidently not angry with him, so it must
be some other fellow. Only Peter decided not
to allude to the faulty working of the time
cheques, as he had half intended to do. Perkins
was not in the mood for remonstrances just then.
" Most impudent, I must say," he replied.
" By the way," he added carelessly, " what was
the statement exactly ? "
" Why, God bless my soul, sir ! " cried the
manager, with unnecessary vehemence, " haven't
I been telling you the whole story? Didn't
you just ask me who the fellow was who has
brought me into this business ? "
" So I did," said Peter, " and and who was
he?"
JkrioMc jUratmng0. 105
" Your attention seems very wandering this
evening! Why, I told you the old woman
wouldn't give me his name."
. Peter's alarm returned at this allusion to an
old woman ; what old woman could it be but
the terrible matron whom he had encountered
in the music-room ? However, it was fortunate
that she had not mentioned any names ; if Per-
kins knew that he had put all the blame of his
entanglements upon the manager's broad shoul-
ders, he would certainly consider it an ungrate-
ful return for what was intended as a kindness.
" So you said before," he remarked ; " some
old women are so obstinate ! "
" Obstinate \ That's the first sensible remark
you've made for a long while ! " said his candid
friend. " I should think she was obstinate !
"Why, I talked myself hoarse trying to make
that old harridan believe that I was as innocent
as an unborn babe of any responsibility for this
precious scandal that I'd irever so much as
heard it breathed till she told me of it ; but it
wasn't any good, sir ; she would have it that I
was the originator ! "
(" So you were ! " thought Peter, though he
prudently refrained from saying so.)
106 tourmalin's imc
" She's going to kick up the dooce's own
delight as soon as she meets her brother ; and
all I could get her to say was that then, and
not till then, she would give me an opportunity
of having it out with the cowardly villain,
whoever he may be, that has dared to lay all
this gossip at my door ! "
Peter did not quarrel with this arrange-
ment of the old lady's, for he would certainly
not be on board the Boomerang when she ar-
rived at Plymouth.
" Ah ! " he said, with as much interest as
he could display in a subject that did not con-
cern him, " he'll find that unpleasant, I dare
say."
" I think he will ! " said Mr. Perkins, em-
phatically. " Unless he retracts his infamous
calumny. I I'll kick him from one end of
the ship to the other ! "
Involuntarily Peter's eyes sought his
friend's boots, which, as he sat in a corner
seat with his feet extended, were much in evi-
dence ; they were strong, suitable boots, stouter
than those generally worn on a sea-voyage,
and Peter could not repress a slight shudder.
" From one end of the ship to the other,"
Jpcriobic Dratmnga. 107
lie repeated ; " that that's rather a long
way ! "
" Quite long enough for him , though not
nearly long enough for me ! " said the Mana-
ger. " I'll teach him to mix me up in these
squabbles, when I find him, sir when I find
him! Here, steward, bring some more of
these dry biscuits ; you'll have some more,
won't you ? "
But Peter was not in the vein for dry
biscuits at that moment, and the Manager con-
tinued :
" By-the-by, you might help me in this if
you only will. I want to find out if I can
before we reach Gib, who this fellow is, but
the less I talk about the affair the better."
" Oh ! yes," said Peter. " I I wouldn't
talk about it at all, if I were you."
" No. I dare say you're right can't be
too careful with an old cat like that. Well,
what I want you to do is to try and find out
quietly, you know who this infernal fellow
is ! "
"Well, I dare bay I could do that," said
Peter.
"No one would think a mild, innocent-
108 Sotttmaiin's ime Cheques.
looking little chap like you had any particular
motive for asking: you might ask some of
the men in the smoking-room, and pick up
some clew or other."
" So I might," said Peter, "good idea! "
" Or, I'll tell you what you might pump
the old lady for me, eh ? "
" I don't think I quite care about pumping
the old lady," said Peter, " but anything else
I'll do with pleasure."
"Thanks," said the Manager, "that's a
good fellow. I knew I could depend upon
you ! "
"You can," replied Peter, "though, I
fancy," he added, soothingly " indeed, I am
sure you will find that the old woman has
made a good deal out of nothing at all." . . .
" What old woman, Peter ? " asked Sophia
whith drowsy asperity. "Not Mrs. Linden,
surely ! "
Mrs. Linden! "Was that the name of the
old she-dragon of the music-room ? Why, of
course not; he was in his arm-chair by his
own fire, reading Ibsen to his wife !
" I don't know, indeed, my love it may
be Mrs. Linden," he answered cautiously.
Jhriobic HJratmnjgs. 109
" Nonsense ! " said Sophia, crossly. " She's
not meant to be old in the play, and who says
i the old woman has made a good deal out of
nothing ? ' Helmer, or Doctor Kank, or Krog-
stad. or who? You do read so badly, it's
quite impossible to make out ! "
" No one says it, my dear Sophia ; at least,
it's not in my edition of the text. You you
must have imagined it, I think ! "
"I certainly thought I heard you read it
out," she replied ; " but your voice is so mo-
notonous, that it's just possible I dropped off
for a minute or two."
" I dropped off myself about the same
time," he confessed hypocritically.
" You wouldn't drop off, or allow me to
drop off either, Peter," said Sophia, who was
now thoroughly awake again, "if you felt a
more intelligent interest in the tremendous
problem Ibsen has set in this play. I don't
believe you realize in the least what the les-
son is that he means to teach ; now do you,
Peter?"
" Well, I'm not sure that I do altogether, my
love," he admitted.
" I thought as much ! What Ibsen insists
110 tourmalin's ime Cheques.
upon is, the absolute necessity of one-ness be-
tween man and wife, Peter. They must belong
to each other, complete each other they must
be Twin Souls. Are you a Twin Soul, Peter ? "
" Upon my word, my dear, I can't say ! " he
replied, in some perplexity. In the present
very divided state of his sympathies, he could
not help thinking that his Soul was more like
a Triplet.
" But think," persisted Sophia, earnestly :
" have you shared all your Past with me ? Is
there nothing you have kept back no feel-
ings, no experiences, which you confine to
your own bosom ? When you left me to take
that voyage, you promised that nothing should
induce you to be more than civil to any woman,
however young and attractive, with whom Fate
might bring you in contact. I want you to tell
me, Peter, whether, when you were returning
home on board the Boomerang, you kept that
promise or not ? "
Fortunately for him, she put her question
in a form which made it easy to give a satis-
factory and a truthful answer.
" When I was returning home on board the
Boomerang" he said, " I did not, to the best of
fjeriobic
Ill
my recollection and belief, exchange two words
with any female whatever, attractive or other-
wise until," he added, with a timely recollec-
tion that she had come on board at Gibraltar
"until I met you. You pain me with these
suspicions, Sophia you do, indeed ! "
" I believe you, Peter," she said, moved by
his sincerity, which, paradoxical as it may
sound, was quite real ; for his intentions had
been so excellent throughout, that he felt in-
jured by her doubts. " You have never told
me a falsehood yet ; but for some time I have
been tormented by a fancy that you were con-
cealing something from me. I can hardly say
what gave me such an impression a glance,
a tone, trifles which, I am glad to think now,
had not the importance I invested them with.
Ah, Peter, never treat me as Helmer did Nora !
Never shut me out from the serious side of
your life, and think to make amends by calling
me your ' little lark,' or your ' squirrel ; ' you
must not look upon me as a mere doll ! "
" My dear Sophia ! " he exclaimed, " I should
never think of addressing you as either a squirrel
or a lark ; and any one less like a doll in every
respect 1 never met ! "
^Tourmalin's ftime
" I hope you will always think so, Peter,"
she said ; " for I tell you frankly, that if I
once discovered that you had ceased to trust
me, that you lived in a world apart into which
I was not admitted, that very moment, Pe-
ter, I should act just as Nora did I should
leave you ; for our marriage would have
ceased to be one in any true sense of the
word ! "
The mere idea of being abandoned by So-
phia made him shiver. What a risk he had
been running, after all ! Was it worth while
to peril his domestic happiness for the sake
of a few more conversations with two young
ladies, whose remarks were mostly enigmatic,
and for whom he was conscious in his heart
of hearts of not caring two straws ?
" Sophia," he said plaintively, " don't talk
of leaving me ! What should I do without
you? Who would teach me Astronomy and
things ? You know I don't care for anybody
but you! Why will you dwell on such un-
pleasant subjects ? "
" I was wrong, Peter," she confessed " in-
deed, I doubt you no longer. It was all my
morbid imagination that led me to do you
JJcriobic
113
such injustice. Forgive me, and let us say no
more about it ! "
" I do forgive you," was his generous reply
to this appeal, which, coming from Sophia,
was a very handsome apology, " and we will
say no more about it."
And, upon the whole, Peter thought he had
got out of a particularly tight place with more
credit than he had any reason to expect a con-
clusion in which the reader, however much he
or she may disapprove of his conduct on moral
grounds, will probably be inclined to agree with
him.
CHAPTER YL
FOIL AND COUNTERFOIL.
The Duties of Authorship. Peter's Continued Perversity
and its Unforeseen Results. "Alfred." The Tragic
Note. An Interrupted Crisis. A Domestic Surprise.
IT would be more satisfactory to an author's
feelings, especially when he is aware that he
will be held accountable by an indignant pub-
lic for the slightest deviation on his hero's part
from the narrow path of ideal rectitude it
would be more satisfactory to be able to record
that this latest warning had a permanent effect
upon Peter Tourmalin's rather shifty disposi-
tion.
But an author, even of a modest perform-
ance such as this, can not but feel himself in a
position of grave responsibility. He must re-
late such facts as he has been able to collect,
without suppression on the one side or distor-
foil an& OTonntcrfoii. 115
tion on the other. It is a duty lie can not and
dare not evade, under penalty of forfeiting the
confidence of his readers.
Peter Tourmalin did draw more Time
Cheques, he did go back to the JSoomerang,
and it would be useless to assert the contrary.
We may be able to rehabilitate him to some
extent before this story concludes ; at present,
we can only follow his career with pain and
disapproval.
Some allowances must be made for the pe-
culiar nature of the case. To a person of Pe-
ter's natural inclination to the study of psy-
chology, there was a strong fascination in
watching the gradual unfolding and revelation
of two characters so opposite and so interest-
ing as those of Miss Tyrrell and Miss Daven-
port. That was the point of view he took
himself, and it is difficult to say that such a
plea is wholly without plausibility.
Then, too, he was intensely curious to know
how it would all end, and he might ascertain
that in the very next quarter of an hour he
drew ; there was absolutely no telling.
As for Sophia's threat, that soon lost all
terrors for him. She would abandon him, no
116 QTottrmalin's ime
doubt, if she ever knew ; but who was going
to tell her, and how could she possibly discover
the truth unaided, especially now that her
awakening suspicions had been lulled? His
secret was perfectly safe, and he could unravel
the tangled thread of the history of his remain-
ing extra hours on board the Boomerang with-
out any other hindrance than that of his own
scruples which practically amounted to no
hindrance at all.
So Peter continued to be the slave of his
clock and his cheque-book, from the counter-
foils of which he was disagreeably surprised to
discover that he had drawn more frequently,
and in consequence had an even smaller balance
left to his credit than he had supposed.
However, he consoled himself by concluding
that one or two cheques had probably been
mislaid, and were still unpresented, while he
was entitled to some additional time in respect
of compound interest; so that he need not
stint himself at present. Fifteen minutes a
week was not an extravagant allowance ; and
sooner or later, even with the utmost economy,
a day would come when his balance would be
exhausted, and his cheques returned from the
JToii anb Counterfoil. 117
clock marked " ~No effects refer to drawer,"
or some equivalent intimation.
But that day was still distant, and in the mean
time he went on drawing with a light heart.
It was a Saturday evening, the day on which
Peter generally presented his weekly cheque ;
but, although it was nearly half-past ten, he
had had no opportunity of doing so as yet.
He was in the drawing-room, and Sophia was
reading aloud to him this time, an article on
" Bi-metalism " from one of the reviews ; for she
had been an ardent bi-metalist from early girl-
hood, and she naturally wished to win Peter
from his Laodicean apathy on so momentous a
subject. He listened with surface resignation,
although inwardly he was in a fever of impa-
tience to get back upon the Boomerang, where
Miss Davenport had been more interesting than
usual on his last visit. But he could hardly
rise and slip a cheque under the clock before
Sophia's very eyes without inventing some
decent pretext for such an action, and bi-metal-
ism had reduced him to a mental condition
which was no longer fertile in expedients.
Suddenly Sophia stopped reading and re-
marked :
118 STottrmalitt's fEitne
" If I remember right, Professor Dibbs
lias stated the argument more correctly in his
little book on Currency. It would be inter-
esting to compare the two ; I'll get it."
As Professor Dibbs' s work was apparently
on a shelf in the study, Sophia took the lamp
into the further room.
" Now's my time ! " thought Peter, as he
brought out the cheque from his waistcoat-
pocket. " I mayn't get such another chance
this evening."
Even if Sophia could lay her hand on the
volume at once, he would have had his quar-
ter of an hour and be comfortably back long
before she could pass the arch which sepa-
rated the two rooms ; for, as we have seen, this
instantaneous action was one of the chief rec-
ommendations of the Time Cheques.
So he cashed his cheque, and was at once
transported to the secluded passage between
the deck-cabins, the identical place where he
had first conversed with Miss Davenport. He
w r as on the same steamer-chair, too, and she
was at his side ; the wind carried the faint
strains of a set of " Lancers " to them ; from
all of which circumstances he drew the infer-
il cm& <E0mtterf0il.
119
ence that he was going to be favored with the
sequel to the conversation that had been so
incongruously broken in upon by Sophia's
question respecting the comparative merits of
bottle-jacks in the Tottenham Court Road
warehouse. This was so far satisfactory, in-
dicating as it did that he was at last, after
so much trying back, to make some real
progress.
" What I want to know first," Miss Daven-
port was saying, " is whether you are capable
of facing danger for my sake ? "
" I thought," he remonstrated mildly, " that
I had already given proof of that ! "
" The danger you faced then threatened
only me. But, supposing you had to meet a
danger to yourself, could you be firm and
cool ? Much will depend on that."
" I I think," he answered frankly, " that
perhaps you had better not count upon me.
I have never been a man to court danger ; it
might find me equal to it if it came or it
might not."
He did not mean to give it the oppor-
tunity.
" Then we are lost, that is all ! " she said,
120 ottrmalin'0 Cimc
with gloomy conviction. " Lost, both of
us!"
Peter certainly intended to be lost if the
moment of trial ever arrived. Even now he
was resolving, for about the twentieth time
that this positively should be his very last
cheque ; for he by no means liked the man-
ner in which the situation seemed to be de-
veloping.
But, seeing that the danger, whatever it
might be, was still far enough off, he thought,
very sensibly, that it would be a pity to cloud
this last interview by any confession of pusilla-
nimity. Knowing that he would return no
more, he could surely afford to treat with
contempt any consequences his imprudence
might have entailed.
So he laughed, as he said :
" You musn't conclude that I'm a coward
because I don't care to boast. On the con-
trary, I believe I am not exactly deficient in
physical courage."
" You are not ? " she cried, relieved. " Then
then you would not be afraid to face a des-
perate man ? "
" Not a dozen desperate men, if it comes to
foil anb (Earniterfoil. 121
tliat ! " said Peter, supported by the certainty
that it would not come to so much as half a
desperate man.
"Then I can tell you now what I have
scarcely dared to think of before. Peter, you
will have to reckon with Alfred ! "
" Well, I'm not much alarmed at anything
Alfred may do ! " said Peter, wondering who
the deuce Alfred was.
" He will come on board ; he will demand
an explanation ; he will insist on seeing you ! "
she cried.
"Let him ! " said Peter.
" You are brave braver even than I thought ;
but, ah ! Peter, you don't know what Alfred
is!"
Peter did not even know who Alfred was,
but he was unmoved.
" You leave Alfred to me," he said, confi-
dently, " I'll settle him /"
" But I must tell you all. I I led you to
believe that Alfred would raise no objections ;
that he would quietly accept facts which it is
useless to contend against. He will do nothing
of the sort ! He is a man of violent passions
fierce and relentless when wronged. In the
first burst of fury at meeting you, when he
comes on board, he is capable of some terrible
vengeance, which nothing but perfect coolness
on your part perhaps not even that will be
able to avert. And I I have brought this
upon you ! "
" Don't cry," said Peter. " You see, I'm
perfectly calm. / don't mind it. If Alfred
considers himself wronged by me though,
what I have ever done to give him any reason
for revenging himself by personal violence, I
must say I can't conceive "
She stopped him.
" Ah ! you have given him cause enough ! "
she cried. "What is the use of taking that
tone to me ? "
" I want to see Alfred's point of view, that's
all," said Peter. "What does he complain
of?"
" WJiat does he complain off You ask me
that, when Peter," she broke off suddenly,
" there is somebody round the corner listening
to us a woman, I'm sure of it. I heard the
rustle of a dress. ... Go and see if there is
not!"
Go and see, and find himself face to face
il ana Counterfoil. 123
with Miss Tyrrell, who might faint or go into
hysterics. Peter knew better than that.
" It's merely your fancy," he said, soothing-
ly. " Who can be there ? They are all at the
other end of the ship, dancing. Go on telling
me about Alfred. I don't yet understand how
I have managed to offend him."
" Are you really so dull," she said, with a
slight touch of temper, "that you can't see
that a man who thought he was going to meet
the woman he was engaged to, and finds she
has learned to care for for somebody else, is
likely, even if he was the mildest man in the
world which Alfred is far from being to
betray some annoyance ? "
" No, I see that," said Peter ; " but but he
can't blame me. / couldn't help it ! "
He said this, although her last speech had
opened his eyes considerably. He knew now
who Alfred was, and also that, in some moment
of madness which was in one of the quarters
of an hour he had not yet drawn, he must have
placed himself in the position of Alfred's rival.
"What was he to do ? He could not, without
brutality, tell this poor girl that he had not the
smallest intention of depriving Alfred of her
124 tourmalin's &ime
affections ; it was better, and easier too, to
humor her for the short time that remained.
" Alfred will not take that as an excuse,"
she said. "It is true we could neither of us
help what has happened, but that will not alter
the fact that he is quite capable of shooting us
both the instant he comes on deck. Alfred is
like that ! "
" Well," said Peter, unable to abstain from
a little more of such very cheap heroism, " I
do not fear death with you ! "
" Say that once more," she said ; which Peter
very obligingly did. " Oh, Peter, how I ad-
mire you now ! How little I knew you were
capable of going so calmly to your doom !
You give me courage. I feel that I, too, can
face death ; only not that death it is so horrid
to be shot ! "
" It would be unpleasant," said Peter, placid-
ly, " but soon over."
" No," she said, " I couldn't bear it. I can
see him pointing his revolver for he always
carries one, even at a picnic first at your
head, then mine ! No, Peter ; since we must
die, I prefer at least to do so without blood-
shed ! "
foil anb Counterfoil. 125
" So do I," lie agreed, " very much."
" You do ? " she cried. " Then, oh, Peter !
why should we wait any longer for a fate that
is inevitable ? Let us do it now, together 1 "
" Do what ? " said Peter.
" Slip over the side together ; it would be
quite easy, no one will see us. Let us plunge
arm-in-arm into the merciful sea! A little
struggle a moment's battle for breath then
all will be over!"
" Yes, I suppose it would be over then " ;
he said ; " but we should have to swallow such
a lot of salt water first ! "
He reflected that, even if he emerged from
the agonies of drowning, to find himself bi-
metalizing with Sophia, the experience would
be none the less unpleasant w r hile it lasted.
There really must be some limit to his com-
plaisance, and he set it at suicide.
" No," he said ; " I have always held that to
escape a difficulty by putting an end to one's
own life, is a cowardly proceeding."
" I am a coward," she said ; " but oh, Peter,
be a coward with me for once ! "
" Ask me anything else ! " he said firmly,
but not stoop to cowardice. There is really
126 Sonrmaiin's ime
no necessity for it, you see," lie added, feeling
that lie had better speak out plainly. " I have
no doubt that Alfred will listen to reason ; and
when he is told that, although, as is excusable
enough with two natures that have much in
common, we we have found a mutual pleas-
ure in each other's society there has been
nothing on either side inconsistent with the
the most ordinary friendship ; when he hears
that . . . Where are you going ? " for she was
rising from her chair.
" Where am I going ? " she replied, with an
unsteady laugh. " Why, overboard, if you
care to know ! "
" But you mustn't ! " he cried, scarcely know-
ing what he said. " The the captain wouldn't
like it. There's a penalty, I'm sure, for leav-
ing the ship while it's in motion I've seen it
on a notice ! "
" There is a penalty for having believed in
you," she replied bitterly, " and I am going to
pay it!"
She broke away and rushed out upon the
deck into the starlight, with Peter in pursuit.
Here was a nice result of his philandering, he
thought bitterly. And yet, what had he done ?
foil anb (Eormterfoii. 127
How could lie help the consequences of follies
committed in time he had not even spent yet ?
However, what he had to do now was to pre-
vent Miss Davenport from leaping overboard
at any cost. He would even promise to jump
over with her, if that would soothe her, and of
course he could appoint some time next day
say, after breakfast for the performance.
He ran down the shadowy deck until he
overtook a flying female form, whose hand
he seized as she crouched against the bul-
warks.
"Miss Davenport, if you will only just
..." he began, when, without warning, he
found himself back upon his own hearth-rug,
holding Sophia firmly by the wrist !
He felt confused, as well he might, but he
tried to pass it off.
" Did you find Dills on Currency, my dear ? "
he inquired, with a ghastly smile, as he dropped
her hand.
" I did not," said Sophia, gravely ; " I was
otherwise engaged. Peter, what have you been
doing ? "
"What have I been doing?" he said.
" Why, it's not a minute since you went into
128 tourmalin's ime Cheques.
tlie study to get that book ; look at the clock
and see ! "
" Don't appeal to the clock, Peter answer
my question. How have you been occupied ? "
" I've been waiting for you to finish that
article on bi-metalism," he had the hardihood
to say. " Deuced well-written article it is, too ;
BO clear ! "
" I don't refer to what you were doing here,"
said Sophia. " What were you doing on board
the Boomerang f "
" It it's so long ago that I really forget,"
he said. " I I read Buckle on deck, and I
talked with a man named Perkins nice fellow
he was manager of a bank out in Australia."
" It's useless to prevaricate, Peter ! " she
said. " What I want to know is, who was that
girl, and why should she attempt to destroy
herself?"
He could hardly believe his ears.
" Girl ! " he stammered. " How do you
know that any girl attempted anything of that
sort?"
" How do I know, Peter ? " said Sophia. " I
will tell you how I know. / was on Aboard the
Boomerang too ! "
foil anfc Counterfoil.
129
At this awful piece of intelligence, Peter
dropped into his arm-chair, speechless and
quaking. What would come next he could
not tell ; but any tiling seemed possible, and
even probable, after that !
CHAPTEK VII.
THE CULMINATING CHEQUE.
Sophia gives an Explanation and Requests one. Her
Verdict Peter Overruled.
" BEFORE I say anything else,' 1 said Sophia,
who was still standing upon the hearth-rug,
gazing down upon the wretched Peter as he sat
huddled up in his chair, " you would probably
like to know how I came to follow you to that
ship. It is a long story, but I will tell you if
you wish to hear ? "
Peter's lips moved without producing any
articulate sounds, and Sophia proceeded :
" Some weeks ago," she said, " one afternoon
when you had gone out for a walk, I found
what seemed to be a loose cheque on the carpet.
I knew how carelessly you leave things about,
and I picked it up and found that, though it
was like a cheque in other respects, it was
Culminating Cheque. 131
rather curiously worded. I could not under-
stand it at all, but it seemed to have something
to do with the ship you came home from Aus-
tralia in ; so, intending to ask you for an ex-
planation when you came in, I thought in the
mean time I would put it in some safe place
where I should be sure to see it, and I put it
behind the clock ; and then oh, Peter !
Peter understood. The cheques were all
payable to " self or bearer." Sophia had inno-
cently presented one, and it had been paid.
If he had only taken "order" cheques, this
would not have happened, but it was too late
now ! He continued to imitate the tactics of
that eminent strategist, Brer Rabbit ; in other
words, he "lay low and said nuffin," while
Sophia continued :
" Then, without in the least knowing how I
came there, I found I was on a big steamer,
and as I walked along, perfectly bewildered, I
saw the name Boomerang painted on some
fire-buckets, and of course I knew then that
that was your ship. I fancied that perhaps,
in some way, you might be on board too, and
would explain how this had happened to me.
At all events, I decided to find out if you were ;
132 Sourmalin's ime
and, seeing a girl reading on deck, I took a
chair near her, and after a few introductory
remarks I mentioned your name. The effect
upon her was such as to convince me that she
felt more than an ordinary interest in you. By
degrees I drew from her the whole story of
her relations with you : she even asked me
me for advice ! "
So Miss Davenport's confidante had not
been Miss Tyrrell after all but Sophia ! If
he had only known that before !
" I could not speak to her," continued So-
phia, " I felt stifled, stupefied by what I had
heard ! I could bear no more ; and so I rose
and left her, and walked down some stairs,
and somehow found myself back in our own
room again ! I was more bewildered than
ever. I looked for the cheque, but there was
nothing, and soon I was forced to believe that
the whole thing was imaginary. Still, I was
not wholly satisfied. You may remember
how I questioned you one evening when you
were reading the DoWs House to me ; well,
your answers quite reassured me for the time.
I told myself that my suspicions were too
wildly improbable not to have been a delusion.
Cttlminating (Efyerjtttf. 133
I was even afraid that my brain must be
slightly affected, for I had always prided my-
self upon having my imagination under thor-
ough control. But by degrees. Peter by de-
grees I began to doubt again whether it was
really nothing but fancy on my part. I noticed
that your manner was suspiciously odd at
times. I discovered that there was one draw-
er in your secretary that you kept carefully
locked. I caught your eye wandering toward
the clock from time to time. What I sus-
pected I hardly know ; but I felt certain that
I should find the explanation of that mystery
in the locked drawer. I tried key after key,
until I found one that fitted. Oh, I am. not
at all ashamed of it ! Had I not a right to
know ? There were no letters, nothing but a
cheque-book ; but that cheque-book proved to
me that, after all, I had imagined nothing:
all the cheques were the same as the one I
found on the carpet! I tore one out and
kept it by me, and from that time I watched
you closely. I saw how restless and impa-
tient you were this evening, and I was cer-
tain that you were intending to use a cheque
from that book. You were bent on getting
134 fEonrmalin's ime
back to the Boomerang, and I was equally
determined that, if I could help it, you
should not go alone. Only I could not be
quite sure how you managed to get there, and
at last I hit upon a little device for finding
out. There is no such person as Professor
Dibbs, Peter ; I invented him to put you off
your guard. As I passed into the other room
with the lamp, I saw you, reflected in the mir-
ror over the study chimneypiece, rise and go
to the drawing-room mantelpiece : you had a
slip of paper in your hand a cheque, of
course. I had the cheque I tore out hidden
in the waistband of my dress ; and so, as soon
as I saw you slip your cheque behind the clock
in the drawing-room, I put my cheque behind
the one in the study. I was on the deck at
once, and it was dark, but I could hear your
voice and another's round a corner. I held
my breath and listened. What I heard, you
know ! "
Peter shrank up in his chair, utterly con-
founded by this last vagary on the part of the
Time Cheques. He certainly would riot have
supposed that the mere presentation even of a
" bearer " cheque by Sophia would entitle her
l)c Culminating <l)C(jtte. 135
to the same fifteen minutes he was receiving
himself. He could only account for it by the
fact that the two cheques were cashed simul-
taneously at two separate clocks ; but even this
explanation was not wholly satisfactory.
He found his voice at last :
" "Well," he said, " now that you know all,
what are you going to do about it, Sophia ? I
would rather know the worst ! "
" I will tell you that in good time," she re-
plied ; " but, first of all, I want you to tell me
exactly how you came to have these cheques,
and what use you made of them on previous
occasions ? "
So, slightly reassured by her manner, which
was composed, Peter gave her a plain, un-
varnished account of the way in which he had
been led to deposit his extra time, and the
whole story of his interviews with Miss Daven-
port. He did not mention any others, because
he felt that the affair was quite complicated
enough without dragging in extraneous and
irrelevant matter.
"I may have been imprudent," he con-
cluded ; " but I do assure you, Sophia, that in
all the quarters of an hour I have had as yet,
136 (ftotmnahn's ime
I never once behaved to that young lady in
any capacity but that of a friend. I only went
on drawing the cheques because I w r anted a
little change of air and scene now and then.
You have no idea how it picked me up ! "
" I saw in what society it set you down,
Peter," was Sophia's chilling answer.
" You you musn't think she is always
like that," he urged. " It took me quite by
surprise it was a most painful position for
me. I think, Sophia, your own sense of fair-
ness w T ill acknowledge that, considering the
awkwardness of my situation, I I behaved as
well as could be expected. You do admit that,
don't you ? "
Sophia was silent for a minute pr so before
she spoke again.
"I must have time to think, Peter," she
said : "it is all so strange, so contrary to all
my experience, that I can hardly see things as
yet in their proper light. But I may tell you
at once that, from what I was able to observe,
and from all you have just told me, I am in-
clined to think that you are free from actual
culpability in the matter. It was quite clear
that that very forward girl was the principal
l)e (Culminating (Eljerine. 137
throughout, and that you were nothing more
than an unwilling and most embarrassed ac-
cessory."
This was so much more lenient a view than
he had dared to expect that Peter recovered
his ordinary equanimity.
" That was all," he said. " I am very glad
you saw it, my dear. I was perfectly help-
less ! "
" And then," said Sophia, " I was more than
pleased by your firm refusal to commit suicide.
What you said was so very sound and true,
Peter."
" I hope so, said Peter, with much com-
placency. " Yes, I was pretty firm with her !
By the way," he added, " you you didn't hap-
pen to see whether she really did jump over-
board, I suppose ? "
" I came away just at the crisis," she said.
" I thought you would tell me ! "
" / came away, too," said Peter. " It doesn't
matter, of course ; but still I should have
rather liked to know whether she meant it
or not."
" How can you speak of it so heartlessly,
Peter ? She may have been trying to frighten
138 (ftonrmaiin's (Eime Cheques.
you ; she is just the kind of girl who would.
But she may have been in earnest after all ! "
" You see, Sophia," said Peter, " it doesn't
matter whether she was or not it isn't as if
it had ever really happened."
" Not really happened ? But I was there /
I heard, I saw it nothing could be more
real ! "
" At any rate," he said, " it only happens
when I use those cheques ; and she can't pos-
sibly carry out her rash intention until I
draw another which I promise you faithfully
I will never do. If you doubt me, I will
burn the book now before your eyes ! "
"With these words he went to the drawer and
took out the cheque-book.
" No," said Sophia, " you must not do that,
Peter. There is much about this Time Bank
that I don't pretend to understand, that I can
not account for by any known natural law ;
but I may not disbelieve my own eyes and
ears ! These events that have happened in
the extra time you chose to defer till now are
just as real as any other events. You have
made this girl's acquaintance ; you have I
don't say through any fault of your own, but
139
still you have caused her to transfer her
affections from the man she was engaged to,
and, being a creature of ill-regulated mind and
no strength of character, she has resolved to
put an end to her life rather than meet his
just indignation. She is now on the very
point of accomplishing this folly. Well, badly
as she has behaved, you can not possibly leave
the wretched girl there ! You must go back
at once, restrain her by main force, and not
leave her until you have argued her into a
rational frame of mind."
Peter was by no means anxious to go back
at first.
" It's not at all necessary," he said ; " and
besides, I don't know if you're aware of it,
but with the way these cheques are worked,
it's ten chances to one against my hitting off
the right fifteen minutes ! Still," he added,
with an afterthought, " I can try, of course, if
you insist upon it. I can take my chance
with another fifteen minutes, but that must be
the last. I am sick and tired of this Boom-
erang business, I am indeed ! "
Shameful as it is to state, he had altered
his mind from a sudden recollection that he
140 Courmaliirs (Time
would not mind seeing Miss Tyrrell for just
once more. He had not drawn her for several
weeks.
" No," said Sophia, thoughtfully ; " I see
your objection fifteen minutes is not enough,
unless you could be sure of getting the suc-
cessors to the last. But I have an idea, Peter
if you draw out the whole balance of your
time, you can't possibly help getting the right
fifteen minutes somewhere or other. I think
that's logical ? "
" Oh, devilish logical ! " muttered Peter to
himself, who had reasons, which he could not
divulge to her, for strongly disapproving of
such a plan.
" The fact is, my dear," he said, " it it's
rather late this evening to go away for any
time ! "
" You forget," she said, " that, however
long you are away, you will come back at
exactly the same time you start. But you
have some other reason, Peter you had better
tell me ! "
" Well," he owned, " I might come across
some one I'd rather not meet."
" You are thinking of the man that girl
l)e Culminating QH)erjne. 141
said she had been engaged to Alfred, wasn't
it?"
Peter had forgotten Alfred for the moment ;
and besides, he was not likely to turn up till
the Boomerang got to Plymouth, and he knew
his extra hours stopped before that. Still,
Alfred did very well as an excuse.
" Ah ! " he said, " Alfred. You heard what
she said about him ? A violent character
with a revolver, Sophia ! "
" But you told her you were not afraid of
him. I felt so proud of you when you said
it. And think, you may be able to bring
them together to heal the breach between
them ! "
" He's more likely to make a breach in me
that won't heal ! " said Peter.
" Still, as you said yourself, it isn't as if it
was all actually existing. What does it matter,
even if he should shoot you ? "
" I don't see any advantage in exposing my-
self to any such unpleasant experiences, even
if they are only temporary," he said.
" It is not a question of advantage, Peter,"
rejoined Sophia ; " it is a simple duty, and I'm
surprised that you don't see it as such. What-
142 QTonrtnalitt'e ime
ever the consequences of your conduct may
be, you can not evade them like this ; you
have chosen to begin, and you must go on !
I am quite clear about that. Let me see "-
(here she took the cheque-book, and made
some rapid calculations from the counterfoils)
" J es > J ou have two hours and three-quarters
at least still standing to your credit ; and then
there's the compound interest. I will tear out
all these small cheques and burn them." Which
she did as she spoke. u And now, Peter, sit
down and fill up one of the blank ones at the
end for the whole amount."
" Do you know, Sophia," said Peter, " it
occurs to me that this is just one of those
matters which can only be satisfactorily ar-
ranged by er a woman's tact. Suppose I
make the cheque payable to you now eh ? "
" You mean, that you want me to go instead
of you ? " she asked.
""Well," said Peter, "if it wouldn't be
bothering you, my dear, I think perhaps it
would be "
" Don't say another word," she interrupted,
" or I shall begin to despise you, Peter ! If I
thought you meant it seriously, I would go up-
Culminating (Eljeqtte! 143
stairs, put on my bonnet, and go back to mam-
ma forever. I could not bear to be the wife
of a coward ! "
" Oh, I'll go ! " said Peter, in much alarm.
" I said what I did out of consideration, not
cowardice. But wouldn't to-morrow do just
as well, Sophia ? It is late to turn out ! "
" To-morrow will not do as well," she said :
" fill up that cheque to-night or you will lose
me forever ! "
" There ! " said Peter, as he scrawled off the
cheque. " Are you satisfied now, Sophia ? "
" I shall be when I see you present it."
" Er yes," he said ; " oh ! I mean to pre-
sent it presently. I I think I'll take a small
glass of brandy before 1 go, my dear, to keep
the cold out."
" As you will certainly be in a summer, if
not tropical, temperature the next moment,"
she said, " I should advise you to take nothing
of the kind."
" I say," he suggested, " suppose I find she
has jumped overboard what shall I do then ? "
" Do ! Can you possibly ask ? You will
jump after her, of course ! "
" It's easy to say ' of course,' " he said ;
144 Sotttntalin's &ime
" but I never could swim more than twenty
strokes ! "
" Swim those twenty then, and let come
what will ; you will be back all the sooner.
But don't stand there talking about it, Peter
go!"
" I'm going," he said meekly. " You'll sit
up for me, Sophia, if if I'm late, won't
you?"
" Don't be absurd ! " she said. " You know
perfectly well that, as I said before, you won't
be away a second."
" It won't be a second for you," he said,
" but it will be several hours for me ; and
goodness only knows what I may have to go
through in the time ! However," he added,
with an attempt to be cheerful, " it may all
pass off quite pleasantly don't you think it
may, Sophia ? "
" How can I tell ? You will only find out
by going."
" I'm going, my dear I'm going at once !
. . . You'll give me just one kiss before I
start, won't you ? "
" I will give you no kiss till you come back
and I hear what you have done," said Sophia.
Culminating
145
" Yery well," he retorted ; " you may be
sorry you refused when it's too late ! I may
never come back at all, for anything I can
tell ! "
And, little as he knew it, he spoke with an
almost prophetic anticipation of what was to
come. Never again was he destined to stand
on that hearth-rug !
But he dared not linger longer, as he could
see from her expression that she would suffer
no further trifling ; and he slipped his last
cheque under the clock, with consequences
that must be reserved for the next chapter.
10
CHAPTER VIII.
PAID IN HIS OWN COIN.
In Suspense : a Gleam of Comfort. Darkness JZeturns.
The Mock Ahead. Sir William Lends His binocu-
lar. Reappearance of an Old Enemy. A New Dan-
ger. Out of the Frying-pan.
PETER found himself below this time, in the
broad passage, furnished with seats and tables
for writing, and which divided the passengers'
cabins. Above, he heard a confused stir and
bustle of excitement, the trampling of feet, the
creaking and rattle of chains, orders shouted
in English and Hindustani. From the absence
of all vibration, in the vessel, it was evident
that she had been brought to. Why f
Peter guessed the cause only too easily : the
unhappy Miss Davenport had indeed suc-
ceeded in carrying out her rash design. She
in l)is own oin. 147
had jumped overboard, and the captain had
stopped the engines and lowered a boat in the
hope of picking her up before she sank ! And
he himself why was he skulking below like
this ? He had only too much reason to fear
that he must have been a witness of the fatal
leap ; and, instead of plunging overboard to the
rescue as a hero ought, had rushed down here
ignominiously.
Had he been observed? "Was his connec-
tion with the tragedy suspected? Could he
venture up on deck and inform himself ? He
tried, but his nerve failed him, and he sank
into one of the chairs in a state of almost un-
bearable suspense.
Just at this moment, he saw the skirts of a
muslin gown appear at the head of the broad
companion which led to the dining-saloon.
Some one, a girl evidently, was descending.
Presently, he saw her fully revealed it was
Miss Tyrrell.
Perhaps he had never been so glad to see
her before. She was a friend, a dear friend
She, at least, would sympathize with him,
would understand that it was not his fault if
he had been too late to avert a catastrophe.
148 fEonrmalitTs fime Cheques.
She was coming to him. Her eyes were friend-
ly and pitiful as they sought his. She, at
least, did not turn from him !
" How pale, how terribly pale you look ! "
she said. "You must nerve yourself to see
her it can not be long now ! "
" Has she been brought on board yet ? " he
gasped. " Is is there any hope ? "
" "We shall know very soon. It is possible
you may find that all is at an end."
" All ! you think so ? But but no one
will say it was my fault, will they ? I I was
ready to make any sacrifice only somehow,
when the moment comes, I am apt to lose my
presence of mind."
" Yes, I know," she said feelingly ; " you
are not quite yourself yet, but I know you
would make the sacrifice if your duty demand-
ed it. But she may have taken advantage of
your absence to free herself and you from all
obligation, may she not ? "
This suggestion comforted Peter.
" She must have done ! " he said. " Yes, of
course. I could not be expected to prevent it,
if I wasn't there ; and I wasn't, when it came
to the point. But, Miss Tyrrell, do you think
in l)is oton Coin. 149
that it is really all over ? She she may come
round after all ! "
" She may but of course, if it is true that
she is engaged to another, she can have no
possible claim on you"
What a sensible right-minded way this girl
had of looking at things ! thought Peter, not
for the first time.
"Why, of course she can't!" he cried.
" And it is true. She is engaged to a fellow
of the name of Alfred."
" You know that as a fact ? " she exclaimed.
" I know it from her own lips, and I need
not say that I should be the last person to wish
to er upset so desirable an arrangement."
" Why why didn't you tell me all this be-
fore ? " she inquired.
" I I didn't think it would interest you,"
he replied.
Here, to Peter's utter astonishment, she
covered her face with her hands.
" Not interest me ! " she murmured at last.
" Oh, how could you how could you keep
this from me? Can't you see can't you
guess what a difference it has made in my feel-
ings ? "
150 (Jotrrmalin's &ime Cheques.
It might be very dull of him, but he could
not perceive why the fact of Miss Davenport's
engagement to Alfred should affect Miss Tyr-
rell so strangely as this !
"I may call you ' Peter' now," she said.
" Oh, Peter, how happy you have made me !
Why did you keep silence so long ? It was too
quixotic ! Don't you understand even yet ? "
"No," said Peter, blankly, "I'm afraid I
don't."
" Then, if you are really so diffident, I I
must tell you that if you were to ask a certain
question once more, I might I don't say I
should, but I might meet it with a different
answer ! "
" Good Heavens ! " he ejaculated, involun-
tarily.
" But you must not ask me yet not just yet.
I must have time to consider. I must tell papa
before I decide anything. You will wait a
little longer, won't you, Peter ? "
" Yes," he said, feeling limp, " I'll wait. I'd
rather ! "
She smiled radiantly upon him, and then fled
lightly up the companion, leaving him with
fresh cause for uneasiness. He could no longer
Jktfr in l)is oujn Coin. 151
doubt that, for some reason, she expected him
to propose to her, which it seemed he had al-
ready, in one of those confounded extra min-
utes, been unprincipled enough to do ! Now
she had gone to inform her father, the judge,
and he would have the disagreeable task of
disabusing them before long !
At this point he started, believing that he
was visited by an apparition ; for a cabin-door
opened, and Miss Davenport came out and
stood before him.
But she was so obviously flesh and blood
and so dry that he soon saw that all
his anxiety on her account had been super-
fluous.
" Then you you didn't jump overboard
after all? " he faltered, divided between relief
and annoyance at having been made to come
back, as it were, on false pretenses.
" You know who prevented me, and by what
arguments ! " she said, in a low strained voice.
"Do I ? " he said, helplessly.
" Who should, if you do not ? Did not you
implore me not to leave you, and declare that,
if I would only have courage and wait, we
should be happy even yet ? And I did wait.
152 (Eotrnnaiin's ime
For what, I ask you, Peter Tourmalin for
wfatt"
" It's really no use asking me" he said, " for
I've no idea ! "
" I waited to discover that all this time you
have had a secret understanding with another ;
that you are about to transfer your fickle affec-
tions to to that fair girl ! Don't deny it,
Peter ! I was listening. I see it all all ! "
" I wish to goodness I did ! " he said. " I
never was in such a muddle as this in my life.
I can only assure you that if that young lady
really imagines that I am, or can be, anything
more to her than a friend, she is entirely mis-
taken. I was just about to go up and explain
as much to her father ! "
" You are not deceiving me ? " she asked,
earnestly. " You are sure f "
" I will swear it, if you wish ! " he replied.
" No," she said, relenting visibly, " your
word is enough. I do believe you, and I am
almost happy again. So long as you do not
desert me, even Alfred loses half his terrors ! "
" Exactly," he said ; " and now, if you will
excuse me, I'll just run up on deck and settle
this other business."
in l)is own Coin. 153
He went up to the hurricane-deck, and found
the ship had anchored. In front was a huge
barren rock, with lines of forts, walls, and tele-
graph poles ; and at its base a small white town
huddled. They had arrived at Gibraltar, which
accounted for the absence of motion.
As he stood there, taking this in, he was ac-
costed by Sir William Tyrrell, who thrust his
arm through Peter's in a friendly manner.
" My dear boy," said the judge, heartily,
" Yiolet has just told me the good news. I can
only say that I am delighted most delighted !
I have always felt a warm interest in you, ever
since that affair of
" Of the monkey," said Peter. " I am very
glad to hear it, Sir William ; but but I ought
to tell you that I am afraid Miss Tyrrell was
a little premature. She misinterpreted a re-
mark of mine, which, in point of fact, referred
to somebody else altogether."
" Then you have no more reason than before
for assuming that jour fiancee has thrown you
over. Am I to understand that ? "
"No more reason than before," admitted
Peter.
" And your uncertainty still continues ? Yery
154 (Eourmaiin's ime Cheques,
unsatisfactory, I must say ! I do think, my dear
fellow, that, in your position, you should have
been more careful to refrain from betraying any
interest in Yiolet until you knew that you were
free to speak. As it is, you may have cast a
shadow upon her young Life that it may take
years to dispel ! "
Peter's heart sank into his boots for very
shame at this gentle and almost paternal re-
proof.
"Yes," continued the worthy judge, "Yio-
let is a high-minded girl, scrupulously sensitive
on points of honor ; and, unless the young lady
you are under a semi-engagement to should re-
lease you of her own free will, I know my daugh-
ter too well to doubt that she will counsel you
to fulfill your contract and renounce all hope
so far as she is concerned."
Peter felt a little easier.
" I I am prepared to do that," he said.
" Well, I don't say myself that I go quite so
far as she does ; but strictly, no doubt, a prom-
ise is a promise, and should be kept at all haz-
ards. You have done all that a man can hon-
orably do to put himself right. You have
written to this young lady, so I understand,
in I) is cton Coin. 155
informing her of the change in your senti-
ments, and offering, nevertheless, to redeem
your promise if she insisted upon it. I think
that was the general purport of your letter."
Here was one more evil fruit of his extra
time ! What would Sophia think, or say, or
do, if such a letter as that ever came to her
knowledge ? Fortunately, that at least was
impossible !
" You have some grounds," the judge went
on, "for assuming that the lady has already
treated the contract as non-existent a person
called Alfred, I think my daughter said ? "
" No, that was a mistake," explained Peter.
" Alfred is engaged to quite a different person."
" Well, in any case, it is quite possible that
you may obtain your release when you meet
her ; and your suspense will soon be over now.
Miss er Pincher, is it? will probably be
on board the ship before many minutes. I
see the boats are putting out from the harbor
already."
" What ! " cried Peter, with the terrible con-
viction darting through his mind that Sir Will-
iam spoke the bare truth.
Sophia had said something about meeting
156 ^Tourmalin's &ime Cheques.
him at Gibraltar ; but if she had done so dur-
ing the real voyage, how could he have the
meeting all over again, with this ghastly vari-
ation? If he could only remember whether
she had come out, or not ! It was singular,
incomprehensible ! But his memory was a
blank on such a vital fact as this !
" Would you like to have my field-glass for a
moment ? " said Sir William, considerately.
Peter took them, and the next moment the
binocular fell from his nerveless hands. He
had seen only too clearly the familiar form of
Sophia seated in the peaked stern of a small
craft which a Spanish boatman was " scissoring "
through the waves toward the Boomerang.
" Come, courage ! " said the Judge kindly,
as he picked up his glass and wiped the lenses.
" Don't be nervous, my boy. You don't know
what she may have to say to you yet, you know ! "
" "No, I don't ! " he groaned. " I I think
I ought to go down to the gangway and meet
her," he added, tremulously not that he had
any intention of doing so, but he wanted to be
alone.
Before the Judge could even express his
approbation of Peter's course, Tourmalin was
Paifc in l)is oum <oin. 157
down on the saloon-deck seeking a quiet spot
wherein to collect his thoughts.
Before he could find the quiet spot, how-
ever, he almost ran into the arms of the ma-
tron from Melbourne, whom he had not seen
since the episode of the music-room.
" A word with you, Mr. Tourmalin ! " she
said.
" I I really can't stop now," stammered
Peter. " I I'm expecting friends ! "
" I, too," she said, " am expecting a relation,
and it is for that reason that I wish to speak
to you now. My brother, who has been stay-
ing at Gibraltar on account of his health, will
be as determined as I am to trace and punish
the infamous calumny upon the name and
career of our honored parent."
" I dare say, madam," said Peter " I dare
say. Yery creditable to you both but I really
can't stop just now ! "
" You appear to forget, sir, that, unless you
can satisfactorily establish your innocence, my
brother will certainly treat you as the person
primarily responsible for an atrocious slan-
der!"
" A slander upon your father ! . . . Me f "
158 0tttmalin'0 QLimc
said the indignant Peter. " Why, I never
heard of the gentleman ! "
" Denial will not serve you now," she said.
" I have not only your own admissions in the
music-room, but the evidence of more than
one trustworthy witness, to prove that you
circulated a report that my dear father one
of the most honored and respected citizens of
Melbourne began his Colonial career as as
a transported convict ! "
After all, as the hapless Peter instantly saw,
he might have said so, for anything he knew,
in one of those still unexhausted extra quarters
of an hour !
" If I said so, I was misinformed," he
said.
" Just so ; and in our conversation on the
subject, you mentioned the name of the per-
son who used you as his mouthpiece to dis-
seminate his malicious venom. What I wish
to know now is, whether you are prepared or
not to repeat that statement ? "
Peter recollected now that he had used ex-
pressions implicating Mr. Perkins although
merely as the origin of totally different com-
plications.
ifc in l)is com (floin. 159
"I can't positively go so far as that," lie
said. u I I made the statement generally."
" As you please," she said. "I can merely
say that my brother, whom I expect moment-
arily, is, although an invalid in some respects,
a powerful and determined man ; and unless
you repeat in his presence the sole excuse you
have to offer, he will certainly horsewhip you
in the presence of the other passengers. That
is all, sir ! "
" Thank you it's quite enough ! " mur-
mured Peter, thinking that Alfred himself
could hardly be much more formidable ; and
he slipped down the companion to the cabin-
saloon, where he found Miss Davenport anx-
iously expecting him.
" lie is here," she whispered. " I have just
m him through the port-hole."
" "What the old lady's brother ! " he replied.
" He has no sister who is an old lady. I
mean Alfred."
"Alfred?" he almost yelped. "Alfred
here!"
" Of course he is here. Is not his battalion
stationed at Gibraltar ? You knew it, we were
to meet him here ! "
160 (Eonrmalin's ime
" I didn't, indeed or I should never have
come I " he protested.
"Don't let us waste words now. He is
here ; he will demand an explanation from
you. He has his pistol with him I could
tell by the bulge under his coat. We must
both face him ; and the question is, What are
you going to say ? "
Peter thrust his hands through his carefully
parted hair :
" Say ! " he repeated. " I shall tell him the
simple, straightforward truth. I shall frankly
admit that we have walked, and sat, and talked
together ; but I shall assure him, as I can hon-
estly, that during the whole course of our ac-
quaintance I have never once regarded you in
any other light but that of a friend."
"And you suppose that, knowing how I
have changed, he will believe that ! " she cried.
" He will fire long before you can finish one of
those fine sentences ! "
" In that case," suggested Peter, " why tell
him anything at all? Why not spare him,
poor fellow, at all events for the time? It
will only upset him just now. Let him sup-
pose that we are strangers to one another ; and
in lis 0tn (ftoin. 161
you can break the truth to him gently when
you reach England, you know. I'm sure that's
much the more sensible plan ! "
She broke into strange mirthless laughter.
" Your prudence comes too late," she said.
" You forget that the truth was broken to him
some days ago, in the letter I wrote from Brin-
disi."
" You wrote and broke it to him at Brin-
disi ! " cried Peter. " What induced you to do
that?"
" Why, you ! " she retorted. " You insisted
that it was due to him ; and though I knew
better than you what the effect would be, I
dared not tell you the whole truth. I wanted
to end the engagement, too ; and I scarcely
cared then what consequences might follow.
Now they are upon us, and it is useless to try
to escape them. Since we must die, let us go
up on deck and get it over ! "
" One moment," he said ; " Alfred can wait
a little. I I must go to my cabin first, and
put on a clean collar."
And with this rather flimsy pretext, he
again made his escape. He made up his mind
what to do as he rushed toward his cabin. He
11
162 (Jonrmalin's ime
could hardly have been anything like an hour
on board the Boomerang as yet ; he had to get
through at least another three before he coiild
hope for deliverance. His only chance was to
barricade himself inside his cabin, and stead-
fastly refuse to come out, upon any considera-
tion whatever, until he was released by the
natural expiration of time.
He sped down the passage, and found, to his
horror, that he had forgotten the number of
his berth. However, he knew where it ought
to be, and darted into an open door, which he
fastened securely with hook and bolt, and
sank breathless on one of the lower berths.
" You seem in a hurry, my friend ! " said a
voice opposite; and Peter's eyes, unused at
first to the comparative dimness, perceived
that a big man was sitting on the opposite
berth, engaged in putting on a pair of spiked
cricket-shoes. He had bolted himself inside
the cabin with Mr. Perkins !
CHAPTER IX.
COMPOUND INTEREST.
Back to the Fire Again. A Magnanimous Return.
Catching at Straws. Two Total Strangers. Purely
a Question of Precedence. " Hemmed in " and " Sur-
rounded." The Last Chance.
THE Bank Manager looked across at Peter
with an amused smile ; lie seemed quite friend-
ly. Whether he was in Peter's cabin, or Peter
in his, did not appear; and perhaps it was
not of much consequence either way. If the
cabin belonged to Mr. Perkins, he did not, at
all events, appear to resent the intrusion.
" You seem rather put out about something,"
he said again, as Peter was still too short of
breath for words.
"Oh, no," panted Peter, "it's nothing.
There was so much bustle going on above that
I thought I'd come in here for a little quiet ;
that's all."
164 0tirmalin'0 ime Cheques.
" Well," said the manager, " I'm glad you
looked in ; for, as it happens, you're the very
man I wanted to see. I dare say you're won-
dering why I'm putting on these things ? "
Peter nodded his head, which was all he felt
equal to.
" Why, I've just been having a talk with
that old she-griffin from Melbourne. Perhaps
you don't know that her brother is coming on
board directly ? "
" O yes, I do f " said Peter.
" Well, it seems she means to denounce me
to him as the slanderer of her father. She
may, if she chooses ; my conscience is perfectly
clear on that score. No one can bring any-
thing of the sort home to me; and I've no
doubt I shall soon satisfy him that I'm as inno-
cent as an unborn babe. Still, I want you, as
a respectable man and the only real friend I
have on board, to come with me and be my
witness that you never heard such a rumor
from my lips ; and besides, sir, we shall have
an opportunity at last of seeing the unutterable
scamp who has had the barefaced impudence
to say I told him this precious story ! She's
going to produce him, sir ; and if he dares to
Interest. 165
stand me out to my face well, he'll know why
I've put on these shoes ! Come along ; I can't
let you off."
Peter dared not refuse, for fear of attracting
his friend's suspicions. He could only trust
to slipping away in the confusion ; and so, un-
fastening the cabin-door, the manager caught
the unresisting Tourmalin tightly by the arm,
and hurried him along the central passage and
up the companion.
Even Miss Davenport would have been a
welcome diversion at that moment; but she
was not there to intercept him, and he reached
the upper deck more dead than alive.
" Where's that old vixen now f " exclaimed
the Manager, dropping Peter's arm. " Here,
just stay where you are a minute, till I find her
and her confounded brother ! "
He bustled off, leaving Tourmalin by the
davits, quite incapable of action of any kind in
the presence of this new and awful dilemma.
He had been spreading a cruel and unjustifia-
ble slander against an irreproachable colonial
magnate, whose son was now at hand to de-
mand reparation with a horsewhip. He could
only propitiate him by denouncing Perkins as
166 tourmalin's ime Cheques.
his informant, and if he did that he would be
kicked from one end of the ship to the other
with a spiked boot ! This was Nemesis indeed,
and it was Sophia who had insisted upon his
exposing himself to it. "What a fool he was
not to fly back to that cabin while he could !
He turned to flee, and as he did so a hand
was passed softly through his arm.
" Not that way, Peter ! " said Miss Tyrrell's
voice.
A wild, faint hope came to him that he
might be going to receive one of the back
quarters of an hour. The caprices of the Time
Cheques were such that it was quite possible
he would be thrown back into an earlier inter-
view. Little as he felt inclined for any social
intercourse just then, he felt that it would
afford him a brief interlude would at least
give him breathing-time before his troubles
began again.
" I will go wherever you choose," he said ;
" I am in your hands."
"I came," she said, "to take you to her.
She is asking for you."
"She?" said Peter. "For heaven's sake,
Intereot. 167
" Why, Miss Pinceney, of course. I knew
who it was directly I saw her face. Peter, is
it true, as papa tells me, that I misunderstood
you just now that she is not engaged to Al-
fred?"
"Alfred? No !" he replied. "If she is en-
gaged to any one at all, I have strong grounds
for supposing it's to me ! "
" Then we must submit, that is all," said
Miss Tyrrell. " But we do not know her de-
cision yet ; there is still hope ! "
" Yes," he said, " there is hope still. Let us
go to her ; make haste ! "
He meant what he said. Sophia could at
least extricate him from a portion of his diffi-
culties. Miss Tyrrell magnanimous and un-
selfish girl that she was, in spite of her talent
for misapprehension was ready to resign him
to a prior claim, if one was made. Arid
Sophia was bound to claim him ; for if the en-
gagement between them had been broken off,
he could not now be her husband, as he was.
Even Time Cheques must recognize accom-
plished facts.
He followed her across the ship, turning
down the very passage in which he had sat
168
through more than one cheque with Miss
Davenport ; and on the opposite side he found
Sophia standing, with her usual composure,
waiting for his arrival.
She was so identically the same Sophia that
he had left so lately, that he felt reassured.
She, at least, could not be the dupe of all this.
She had come how, he did not trouble him-
self to think, but she had come with the
benevolent intention of saving him !
" How do you do, my love ? " he began. " I
I thought I should see you here."
" You only see me here, Peter," she replied,
in a voice that trembled slightly, in spite of
her efforts to command it, " because I felt
very strongly that it was my duty to put an end
at the earliest moment to a situation which has
become impossible ! "
" I'm sure," said Peter, " it is quite time it
was put an end to it couldn't go on like this
much longer."
" It shall not, if I can help it," she said.
" Miss Tyrrell, pray don't go away ; what I
have to say concerns you too."
" No ; don't go away, Miss Tyrrell," added
Peter, who felt the most perfect confidence in
Interest. 169
Sophia's superior wisdom, and was now per-
suaded that somehow it was all going to be ex-
plained. " Sir William, will you kindly step this
way too ? Sir William Tyrrell Miss Pinceney.
Miss Pinceney has something to tell you which
will make my position thoroughly clear."
" I have only to say," she said, " that your
honorable and straightforward conduct, Peter,
has touched me to the very heart. I feel that
I am the only person to blame, for it was I
who insisted upon you subjecting yourself to
this test."
" It was," said Peter. " I told you some-
thing would happen and it has ! "
" I would never hold you to a union from
which all love on your side had fled ; do not
think so, Peter. And now that I see my my
rival, I confess that I could expect no other
result. So, dear Miss Tyrrell, I resign him
to you freely yes, cheerfully for, by your
womanly self-abnegation you have proved
yourself the worthier. Take her, Peter ; you
have my full consent ! "
" My dear young lady," said the Judge,
deeply affected, " this is most noble of you !
Allow me to shake you by the hand."
170
" I can't thank you, dear, dear. Miss Pin-
ceney!" sobbed his daughter. "Peter, tell
her for me how we shall both bless and love
her all our lives for this ! "
Peter's brain reeled. Was this Sophia's
notion of getting him out of a difficulty ?
As he gazed distractedly around, his eyes
became fixed and glazed with a new terror. A
stalwart stranger, with a bushy red beard, was
coming toward him, with a stout riding-whip
in his right hand. By his side w r alked the
Manager, from whose face all vestige of friend-
liness had vanished.
"As soon as you have quite finished your
conversation with these ladies," said the Man-
ager, with iron politeness, " this gentleman
would be glad of a few moments with you ;
after which I shall request your attention to a
little personal affair of my own. Don't let us
hurry you, you know ! "
"I I won't," returned Peter, flurriedly;
" but I'm rather busy just now : a little later,
I I shall be delighted."
As he stood there, he was aware that they
had withdrawn to a bench some distance away,
where they conferred with the elderly lady
<30m;p0rinb Interest. 171
from Melbourne. He could feel their an-
gry glare upon him, and it contributed to
rob him of the little self-possession he had
left.
" Sophia," he faltered piteously, " I say this
is too bad it is, really ! You can't mean to
leave me in such a hole as this do let's get
home at once ! "
Before she could make any reply to an ap-
peal which seemed to astonish her considerably,
a thin, bilious-looking man, with a face twitch-
ing with nervous excitement, a heavy black
mustache, and haggard eyes, in which a red
fire smoldered, appeared at the gangway and
joined the group.
U I beg your pardon," he said, lifting his
hat ; " forgive me if I interrupt you, but my
business is urgent most urgent ! Perhaps
you could kindly inform me if there is a a
gentleman " (the word cost him a manifest
struggle to pronounce) " a gentleman on board
of the name of Tourmalin? I have a little
matter of business " (here his right hand stole
to his breast-pocket) " to transact with him," he
explained, with a sinister smile that caused
Peter to give suddenly at the knees.
172 ftotmnalin's ime
"It's that infernal Alfred!" he thought.
" Now I am done for ! "
" Why," said Miss Tyrrell, who was clinging
affectionately to Peter's arm, " this is Mr. Tour-
malin ! You can speak to him now here, if
you choose. We have no secrets from one an-
other have we, Peter ? "
" I have lately learned," said the gloomy
man, " that a certain Mr. Tourmalin has stolen
from me the affection of one who was all heaven
and earth to me ! "
" Then it must be another Mr. Tourmalin,"
said Miss Tyrrell, " not this one ; because
surely you do not need to be told that you
have no rivalry to fear from him ? " she broke
off, with a blush of charming embarrassment.
Alfred's scowl distinctly relaxed, and Peter
felt that, after all, this unfortunate misunder-
standing on Miss Tyrrell's part might prove
serviceable to him. Since Sophia, for reasons
of her own, refused to assist him, he must ac-
cept any other help that offered itself.
" The best proof I can give you of my inno-
cence," he said, " is to mention that I have the
honor to be engaged to this lady."
He heard a stifled shriek from behind him
(Eompounb Interest. 173
as he made this assertion, and the next moment
Miss Davenport, who must have come up in
time to catch the last words, had burst into the
center of the group.
" It is not true ! " she cried. " Alfred, you
must not believe him ! "
" Not true f " exclaimed Alfred, Sophia, Miss
Tyrrell, and Sir William, in the same breath.
"No!" said Miss Davenport; "at least, if
he has really engaged himself, it is within the
last few minutes, and with the chivalrous in-
tention of shielding me ! Peter, I will not be
shielded by such means. Our love is too pre-
cious to be publicly denied. I can not suffer
it ; I will acknowledge it, though it costs me
my life ! You," she added, turning to Sophia
" you can prove that I speak the truth. It
was to you that I confided, that day we met on
deck, the story of our fatal attachment."
" I really think you must be mistaken,"
said Sophia coldly. " If you confided such a
story to anybody, it could not have been to
me ; for, until a few minutes ago, I had never
set foot upon this ship."
How Sophia could stand there and, remem-
bering, as she must do, her recent appropri-
174 ormolin's imc
ation of the Time Cheque, tell such a down-
right fib as this, passed Peter's comprehension.
But, as her statement was in his favor so far
as it went, he knew better than to contradict
it.
" Whether it was you or not," insisted Miss
Davenport, " it is he and no one else who
rendered my engagement to Alfred utterly
repugnant to me ! Can you look at him now,
and doubt me longer ? "
" So, Peter," said Sophia severely, " you
could not even be faithful to your unfaithful-
ness ! "
Miss Tyrrell made no comment, but she
dropped his arm as if it had scorched her
fingers, whereupon Miss Davenport clung to it
in her stead, to Peter's infinite dismay and con-
fusion.
" He is faithful ! " she cried. " It is only
a mistaken sense of honor that made him ap-
parently false. Yes, Alfred, what I wrote to
you, and the postscript he added, is the sim-
ple truth. We can not command our own
hearts. Such love as I once had for you is
dead it died on the fatal day which brought
him across my path. We met we love ; deal
<0ttt;p0un5 Interest. 175
with us as you will ! I would rather, ever so
much rather, die with him than lose him
now ! "
Alfred was already beginning to fumble
fiercely in his breast-pocket. Peter felt the
time had arrived for plain speaking ; he could
not submit to be butchered under a ridiculous
misapprehension of this kind.
" Listen to me ! " he said eagerly, " before
you do anything rash, or you may bitterly re-
gret it afterward. I do assure you that I am
the victim we are all the victims of a series
of unfortunate cheques I should say, mis-
takes. It's absurd to make me responsible for
the irregular proceedings of a nonsensical
Bank. If I had spent my time as I ought to
have done at the time, instead of putting it
out on deposit I should never have dreamed
of employing it in any kind of philander-
ing!"
" That," said Sophia, " is undeniable ; but
you spent it as you ought not to have done ! "
" Such a speech comes ill from you," he
said, reproachfully, "after having expressly
condoned the past ; and, however I may have
appeared to philander, I can conscientiously
176
declare that my sentiments toward both of
these young ladies both, you understand
have been restricted to a respectful and and
merely friendly esteem. . . . Don't shoot,
Alfred ! . . . I thought that was quite under-
stood on all sides. Only have a little more
patience, Alfred, and I will undertake to con-
vince even you that I could not for a moment
have contemplated depriving you of the hand
of this extremely charming and attractive
lady, who will not let go my arm. . . . I I
am a married man ! "
" Married ! " shrieked Miss Davenport,
cowering back.
" Married ! " exclaimed Miss Tyrrell, as she
hid her face upon her father's shoulder.
" Maried ! " shouted the Judge. " By heav-
ens, sir, you shall account to me for this ! "
" Married ! " cried Sophia.. " Oh, Peter, I
was not prepared for this ! When ? Where ? "
"When? Where?" he echoed. "You
were not prepared for it ? Perhaps you will
ask me next who my wife is ! "
" I shall not indeed," said Sophia, " for I
have no longer the slightest curiosity on such
a subject ! "
Contpotmb Interest. 177
Peter collapsed upon the nearest bench.
" Sophia ? " he cried hoarsely, " why keep
this up any longer? Surely it is gone far
enough you carit pretend you don't know! "
But while he spoke the words, he saw sud-
denly that his attempt to force her hand was
hopeless : she was quite sincere in her surprise ;
she was the Sophia of six months ago, and no
amount of explanation could ever make her
comprehend what had happened since that time !
And here Alfred broke his silence.
"What you have just confessed," he said,
" removes my last scruple. I might, for all I
can tell, have stayed my hand and spared your
life upon your promise to make Maud happy ;
for, in spite of her treatment of me, her happi-
ness is still my first consideration. But now
you have declared that impossible, why, as
soon as I can get this revolver out of my
pocket for it has stuck in the confounded
lining I will shoot you like a rabbit ! "
"Sir William," cried Peter, "I appeal to
you ! You are the representative of Law and
Order here. He is threatening a breach of
the Peace the Queen's Peace ! I call upon
you to interfere ! "
12
178
" I am no advocate," said Sir William, with
judicial calm, " for taking the law into one's
own hands. I even express a hope that this
gentleman will not carry out his avowed inten-
tion, at least until I have had time to with-
draw, and I must not be understood to approve
his action in any way. At the same time, I
am distinctly of opinion that he has received
sufficient provocation to excuse even such ex-
treme measures, and that the fate he threatens
will, if summary, at least be richly deserved."
" I think so too," said Sophia, " though it
would be painful to be compelled to witness
it!"
" Terrible ! " agreed Miss Tyrrell. " Let us
hide our eyes, dear ! "
" Stay, Alfred ! " Miss Davenport implored,
" have some pity ! Think with all your
faults, you are a keen sportsman you would
not shoot even a rabbit sitting! Give Mr.
Tourmalin a start of a few seconds let him
have a run before you fire ! "
All this time Alfred was still fumbling for
and execrating the obstinate weapon.
" I decline to run ! " Peter cried from his
seat ; he knew too well that he could not stir a
Ctompcrtmb Inter eat. 179
limb. " Shoot me sitting, or not at all, but
don't keep me waiting any longer ! "
His prayer seemed likely to be granted, for
Alfred had at last succeeded in extricating the
revolver ; but before he could take aim, the
Bank Manager and the Melbourne man ran in
and interposed.
" Hold on one minute, sir," they said ; " we,
too, have business with the gentleman on the
seat there, and you will admit that it must be
concluded before yours, if it is to be settled at
all. We must really ask you to postpone your
little affair until we have finished. We will
not keep you waiting any longer than we can
help."
The Judge, with an ostentatious indiffer-
ence, had strolled away to the smoking-room,
probably to avoid being called upon to decide
so nice a point as this disputed precedence ;
his daughter, Miss Davenport, and Sophia,
had turned their backs, and, stopping their
ears, were begging to be told when all was
over.
Alfred was struggling to free his pistol-arm,
which was firmly held by the other two men,
and all three were talking at once in hot and
180 (Eotnrmalin's
argumentative support of their claims. As
for Peter, lie sat and looked on, glued to his
seat by terror : if he had any preference among
the disputants, he rather hoped that Alfred
would be the person to gain his point.
All at once he saw Sophia turn round and,
with her fingers still pressed to her ears, make
energetic contortions of her lips, evidently for
his benefit. After one or two repetitions, he
made out the words she was voicelessly fram-
ing.
" Run far it ! " he interpreted. " Quick
. . . while you can ! "
With his habitual respect for her advice, lie
rose and, finding that the power of motion had
suddenly returned, he did run for it; he
slipped quietly round the corner and down the
passage to the other side of the ship, where he
hoped to reach the saloon-entrance, and eventu-
ally regain his cabin.
Unhappily for him, the grim lady from Mel-
bourne had noted his flight and anticipated its
object. Long before he got to the open doors,
he saw her step out and bar the way ; she had
an open sunshade in her hand, which she was
preparing to use as a butterfly net.
0mjj0ttnb Interest.
181
lie turned and fled abruptly in the opposite
direction, intending to cross the bridge which
led aft to the second-class saloon deck, where
he might find cover ; but as he saw, on turning
the corner, the Manager had already occupied
the passage, Peter turned again and doubled
back across the ship, making for the forecastle ;
but he was too late, for the Melbourne man
was there before him, and cut oH all hope of
retreat in that quarter.
There was only one thing left now ; he must
take to the rigging, and accordingly the next
moment, scarcely knowing how he came there,
he was clambering up the shrouds for dear
life!
Higher and higher he climbed, slipping and
stumbling, and catching his unaccustomed feet
in the ratlins at every step ; and all the way he
had a dismal conviction that as yet he had not
nearly exhausted the check he had drawn. He
must have at least another couple of hours to
get through, not to mention the compound in-
terest, which the bank seemed characteristically
enough to be paying first.
Still, if he could only stay quietly up aloft
till his time was up, he might escape the wor.st
182 (ftonrmalin's ime Cheques.
yet. Surely it was a sufficient penalty for his
folly to have embroiled himself with every
creature he knew ; to have been chivied about
the deck of an ocean steamer by three violent
men, each thirsting for his blood ; and to be
reduced to mount the rigging like an escaped
monkey !
A few more steps and he was safe at last !
Just above was a huge yard, flattened on the
upper surface, with a partially furled sail, be-
hind which he could crouch unseen ; his hands
were almost upon it, when a bronzed and
bearded face appeared above the canvas it
was one of the English crew.
" Beg your pardon, sir," said the man, civilly
enough, " but I shall 'ave fur to trouble you to
go down agin, please. Capt'in's strick orders,
sir. Passengers ain't allowed to amuse their-
selves climbing the rigging ! "
u My good man ! " said Peter, between his
pants, " do I look as if I was amusing myself ?
I am pursued, I tell you. As an honest, good-
hearted British seaman which I am sure you
are I entreat you to give me a hand up, and
hide me ; it it may be life or death for
me ! "
0mp0utto Interest.
183
The man wavered ; the desperate plight
Peter was in seemed to arouse his compassion,
as it well might.
" I could 'ide yer, I suppose, come to that,"
he said slowly ; " but it's too late to think o'
that now. Look below, sir ! "
Peter glanced down between his feet, and
saw two swarthy Lascars climbing the rigging
like cats. Lower still, he had a bird's-eye view
of the deck, about which his enemies were
posted in readiness for his arrival : the Manager
exhibiting his spiked boots to Sir William, who
shook his head in mild deprecation ; the old
lady shaking her sunshade in angry denuncia-
tion, while her brother flourished his horse-
whip ; and Alfred stood covering him with his
revolver, prepared to pick him off the instant
he came within range !
And Peter hung there by his hands for his
feet had slipped out of the ratlins as helpless
a target as any innocent bottle in a shooting-
gallery, and the Lascars were getting nearer
and nearer !
He could see their bilious eyeballs, and their
teeth gleaming in their dusky faces. He felt
a bony hand reaching for his ankles, and then
184 ftottrmalin's ime
a dizziness came over him ; his grip upon the
coarse, tarry cordage relaxed, and, shutting his
eyes, he fell down down down. Would
the fall never come to an end? Would he
never arrive ? .
CHAPTER X.
DENOUEMENT.
AT last ! The shock was over ; and he
feebly opened his eyes once more, to find that
he was undoubtedly on the deck ; and, yes, the
Bank Manager was standing over him with a
kind of triumphant grin !
" Mercy ! " Peter murmured faintly. " You
you surely wouldn't kick a man when he's
down ! "
" My dear sir ! " protested the Manager,
" why should I wish to kick you in any posi-
tion ? "
He must be fatally injured, if even the
Manager had relented !
" Is is Alfred there ? " asked Tourmalin,
anxiously. " Keep him away, if you can ! "
" Certainly ! " said Mr. Perkins. " Who is
Alfred ? "
186 QTonrmalin's <ime l)cqucs.
" Why, the man with the revolver. I
thought you knew ! "
" Come, come," said the Manager, " there's
no man of that kind here, I assure you. Pull
yourself together, sir ; you're on board the
Boomerang now ! "
" I know," said Peter, dolefully," I know
I am ! "
He shut his eyes resignedly. He was about
to receive some other portion of his time-bal-
ance. If he could only hope that no fresh
complications would arise ! Would he meet
Miss Tyrrell or Miss Davenport next, he won-
dered, and how would they behave ?
" Haven't you had sleep enough yet ? " said
the Manager. " You're not more than half-
awake even now ! "
" Sleep ? " exclaimed Tourmalin, sitting up
and rubbing his eyes. " Why, you don't mean
to tell me I've been dreaming all this time ? "
" I don't know about dreaming ; but I can
answer for your snoring. Why, you almost
drowned the ship's band ! I knew what would
happen when you would have two helpings of
curry at breakfast. Worst thing to take in the
world, especially if you don't walk it off !
Denouement. 187
"Why, you've been the joke of the whole ship
for the last half -hour. I wish you could have
seen yourself, with your head hanging over
the arm of your chair and your mouth wide
open ! I thought at last it was only kind to
wake you up. Those two young ladies over
there have been in fits of laughter ! "
Peter picked up Buckle, which was lying
face downward on the deck. His own face
was very red, possibly from stooping, as he in-
quired :
" Er which two young ladies ? "
" Can't tell you their names ; but those two
uncommonly nice-looking girls one in white
and navy-blue, and the darker one in pink.
Dear me, I thought they would have died ! "
Even now they seemed to have the greatest
difficulty in controlling their countenances, for
happening just then to look round and catch
Peter's glance of confused and still somnolent
suspicion, they buried their faces in their hand-
kerchiefs once more, in agonies of suppressed
mirth.
And these were the two whom his dreaming
fancies had pictured as tenderly, desperately,
madly devoted to him ! The reality was de-
188 tourmalin's ime <EI)er|ties.
cidedly disenchanting: they were very ordi-
nary girls, he saw, after all.
"Well," said Mr. Perkins, "it's not far off
tiffin time now ; so, you see, you managed to
get through your extra time after all ! "
" Yes," said Peter, with a little natural em-
barrassment ; " but I think, do you know, that,
on reflection, I I won't deposit the extra
hours after all ! If you will kindly take back
the the check-book," he added, feeling in his
pockets, " and give me the form I signed, we
will consider the arrangement canceled eh ? "
" It's my belief," said the Manager, " that
your head isn't quite clear yet ; for, hang me
if I know what you're talking about! De-
posit ? check-book ? form ? What is it all
about ? "
Peter colored more furiously than before.
" It was the curry," he said. " I wasn't
quite sure whether but it's really too absurd
to explain. I am wide-awake now, at all
events ! "
He was awake now, and knew that no time-
bargain of this monstrous kind had ever been
actually effected, and all the wild events which
seemed to have taken whole months to accom-
189
plish themselves, were the work of a single
hour's indigestion ! He was still a bachelor ;
still engaged to Sophia : he had still to make
the acquaintance of Miss Tyrrell and Miss Dav-
enport, and endure the ordeal of remaining for
some weeks to come to say nothing of the
extra hours exposed to the peril of their fas-
cinations !
But whatever happened now, it could not be
said, at least, that he had not received abun-
dant warning of the consequences which might
ensue from any yielding, however blameless or
defensible, on his part.
And Peter Tourmalin resolved that hence-
forth Buckle should monopolize his attention.
THE EPILOGUE.
THERE are always a few inquiring persons
who, at the conclusion of any story, insist
upon being told " what happened after that."
And if such a question is ever justified, it is
so in the case of a narrative that, as in the
present instance, ends almost at the precise
moment at which it began.
So it is not impossible that some readers
may be sufficiently interested to wish to know
the particular effect produced upon Peter Tour-
malin's subsequent conduct by a vision more
than usually complicated and connected.
Did he receive it, for example, as a solemnly
prophetic warning, and forswear all female
society while on the Boomerang f or was he
rather prompted to prove its fallibility by
actual experience?
As to the motives which guided him, we are
191
unable to speak with confidence, and they must
be left to be accounted for by the reader's
knowledge of human nature in general, and
Peter's, so far as it has been self -revealed by
his unconscious imagination in these pages, in
particular.
But the author is in a position to state with
certainty that, when Sophia and her mother
met the ship, as they duly did at Gibraltar,
nothing on Peter's part gave them the slight-
est ground for suspecting that he was on terms
of even the most distant acquaintanceship with
either Miss Tyrrell or Miss Davenport, and
that the fact of his being far advanced in the
third volume of Buckle's History of Civiliza-
tion seemed to guarantee that he had employed
his spare time on board the vessel both wisely
and well.
Nor did he get into any difficulties by circu-
lating gossip concerning any matron from Mel-
bourne, owing to the circumstance that there
was no lady passenger who at all answered the
description. She, like much else in his expe-
riences, was purely a creation of the curry.
Lastly, it may be added that Peter is now
married to his Sophia, and is far happier than
192 fEonrmaiin's ime Cheques.
even lie could Lave expected. Slie tempers
her intellectuality out of consideration for his
mental barrenness; and as yet he has never
found her society in the least oppressive, nor
has his errant fancy wandered back in any per-
fidious sense to the time he spent, when freed
from her supervision, on board the Boomerang.
TIIE END.
R03ARTS L!
DUE DATE
JUL 2 9 1988
PR
G5T6
Anstey, F.
Tourmalin's time cheques
