The Second Class Passenger: Fifteen Stories

short woman of fifty, grey-haired and composed, and her pleasant face had a quiet and almost masculine strength and assurance. In her grey flannel jacket and short skirt and felt hat, with a

e said evenly; "and my luggage, of co

en from his chair. He shrugged a

vant?"

room for the night," she answe

nd self-conscious air of one who perpetrates a practical joke. Miss Gregory watched him with some impatience; s

money?"

Consul will be back to-morrow; I inquired at the Consulate." She paused; he wore still his narrow grin

e suggested i

t forth her purse. There was a slight flush on her he

into her hand. "You can take these as a-as a deposit; and t

t it in her hand, then straightened up and faced her. Suddenly he had become hostile, l

ree drink. For room-an' dinner-you pay-a one pound. Take-a your t'ree shillin' awa

to be seeking courage to be violent. Miss Gregory, with a little frown of consideration, watched him. She buttoned the flannel jacket across her breast and restored her three shillings to her pocket. It was all do

d walked at a leisurely rate through the door to the grave street

tranquilly along the cobbled street, found it agreeable after the sterile heat of the afternoon. A faint breeze stirred the acacias which were planted along the middle of the way, and they murmur

t her with the ready interest of the old traveler who sees without criticizing. There was a flavor in the place and its people that struck her like something pungent; they had individuality; they belonged to each other. There was a sinister character in the faces and bearing of the men, a formidable directness in the women; not one but had the air of carrying a hidden weapon. It was the commonplace evening population of an East African town which has never lived down the traditions of its pirate

ments to the yellow lights, and sat down at a small table. With one accord the customers at the place turned to look at her. A barefoot waiter received her order for coffee; she found herself a cigarette, lit it and looked about her. The cafe was a low whitewashed room, open to the pavement at one side; it was crowded with little tables, and at one end an orchestra of four sallow girls smoked and fiddled and strummed. All ab

Miss Gregory knew such faces among footmen and hairdressers, creatures fitted by their deficiencies to serve their betters. He had evidently been drinking a good deal; the table before him was sloppy and foul, and there was the glaze of intoxication in

efully towards her. "Pardon me, b

odded. "All ri

nions exchanged glances, and one of them made as th

y, "I wouldn't venture to speak to you. But "-and

nswered Mi

Africa for me. I've 'ad just upon eight years of it-eight years of sun an' bugs an' fever, an

egory. She saw the three ot

d. It was not difficult to see what home meant for him, a goal achieved at hazard, something familia

where I'm off to. I 'aven't seen a tramcar for eight years; it'll be queer at first, I expect." He looked round him slowly at th

d to see you," s

e just about dark and say I'm lookin' for a room. Eh? And she'll begin about terms. Then I'll begin. 'Never you mind about terms,' I'll say. ''Ere's t

ry. "Are you going down the

. "I'm going second-c

by g

s, "don't you think it would be best if you went and got so

ld, insignificant face wore a look of alarm. "No, I shouldn't. It wouldn't do." His voice dropped ag

" she said. "So wouldn't it be as well on all

sense, that is." He stared at her for an instant, then rose with care and deliberati

ck," he added, and he

eg

g it heartily. "I'm glad to

tables with the uncanny straightness of the man "in liquo

bed; the real wonder was that it had not been done already. But, mingled with her contempt for his helplessness, Miss Gregory felt a certain softening. His homing instinct, as blind as that of a domestic animal, his rejoicing in his return, his childish plan for taking his mother by surprise, even his loyalty to the tramcars and all the busy littleness of Clapham Junction-thes

ehind her; tall walls with scarce windows fast shuttered hemmed her in; the vast night of the tropics drooped its shadow over her. Through it all she plodded at the gait familiar to many varieties of men from Poughkeepsie to Pekin, a squat, resolute figure, reckless alike of risk and ridicule, an unher

mptly, as though on a summons, she bent her grey head and broke into a run in the direction of it. As she ran, pounding valiantly, she groped in her pocket for a dog-whistle she had with her; she took it in her lips, and, never ceasing to run, b

e of the man on the ground, who rolled over and cri

rt?" she as

ce was a pale blur

hey stuck a knife in my back.

"Bleeding or not, we must get

but Miss Gregory was his master. By voice and force she brought hi

m. "Lean on it; don t be afra

way," h

imes he swayed, and Miss Gregory had to hold him up. His breath came hastily; he was sof

regory grimly. "Here, lean in this doorway behind me,

flung herself forward and the brandished umbrella rained loud blows on aghast heads; and at the same time she summoned to her aid her one accomplishment-she shrieked. She was a strong woman, deep-chested, full-lunged; her raw yell shattered the stillness of the night like some crazy trumpet; it broke from her with the suddenness of a catastrophe, nerve-sapping, ear

l the various trifles a man gathers about him on the Coast. Miss Gregory put her patient on the narrow bed and turned to the door; true to his fe

the door. No lock, of course." She pondered frowningly. "It's a childish thing at the best," she adde

nswered, w

ing worse and worse," she observed. She put a chair by t

It was his ewer and wash-hand basin. "I don't see a

do, ma'am?" asked

poise the basin and the ewer in it on top of the door, so that it lea

it was done, "let's ha

have done it better; it had bled copiously, but she judged it not to be dangerous. She washed it and made a bandage for it out of a couple of the patient's shirts, and he found himself a good

rtment, "there doesn't seem to be much more one can do. They'll come back,

nd pounds, ma'am,

it? Of course." She added her little sharp nod of c

lt hat on top of it. The place was as still as the grave; no noise reached it from without. The one candle at the bedside th

hat down that it might not come to harm, and put a reassuring hand on the youth's shoulder, it was quaking, and she murmured him a caution to keep quiet. Together, with breath withheld, they heard the men in the entry of the house, three of them, coming guardedly. Miss Gregory realized that this was the real o

et she moved towards them. She was all purpose and directness; no tremor disturbed her. As calmly as she would have shaken hands with the Consul she reached forward, felt her enemy, and delivered a cool and well-directed thrus

ng feet and throaty noises such as dogs make. The bedside chair, kicked aside struck her ankles; she picked it up and threw it at the sounds. It seemed to complicate matters. The place was as dark as a well, and she moved gropi

. She bent, swiftly alert for war, but arrested the pin on its way. It was a hand from under the bed; her protege had taken refuge there. She took his wrist and pulled; he whimpered, and there was a grunt from the middle of the room at the sound, but he came crawling. She dared not whisper, for those others were moving already, but with her cool, firm h

red to her knees, her left hand still holding the youth's wrist, and lunged. Another yell, and the man, leaping back, fouled a comrade, who stabbed and sprang away. They heard the man fall and move upon the floor like a dying

s Gregory smelt acacias and they issued again into the little square. To Miss Gregory it was almost amazing that the cafes should still be lighted, their

st I can do," he suggested inanely, "is

y turned on

sked. "After the

"this hole in my back is more'n a bit painful. So I t

he night breeze from the sea whipped a strand of grey ha

re I can do for you," sugge

n slaves are made; their part is to obey orders, to be without responsibility, to be guided, governed, and protected by their betters. Miss Gregory, sister of a Major-General,

re is nothing more. You had

elf to one's thoughts in a murmuring cadence. Here Miss Gregory disposed herself, and here the dawn found her, a little disheveled, and looking rather old with the chill of that bleak hour before the sun rises. B

d herself-"I really must not for