A Double Life Part 8

"I've cut my arm, I think, and lamed my foot; but a little rest w ill set them right. May I wait here a few minutes, and enjoy your lovely nest; though it's no place for a clumsy mortal like me?"

"Oh, yes; stay as long as you please, and let me bind up your wound. See how it bleeds."

"You are not afraid of me then?"

"No; why should I be?" and the dark eyes looked fearlessly into his as Ariel bent to examine the cut. It was a deep one, and he fancied she would cry out or turn pale; but she did neither, and having skilfully bound a wet handkerchief about it, she glanced from the strong arm and shapely hand to their owner's face, and said, naively, "What a pity there will be a scar."

Southesk laughed outright, in spite of the smart, and, leaning on the uninjured arm, prepared to enjoy himself, for the lame foot was a fiction.

"Never mind the scar. Men consider them no blemish, and I shall be prouder of this than half a dozen others I have, because by means of it I get a glimpse into fairy land. Do you live here on foam and sunshine, Ariel?"

"No; the lighthouse is my home now."

There was evident reluctance in her manner. She seemed to weigh her words, yet longed to speak out, and it was plain to see that the newcomer was very welcome to her solitude. With all his boldness, Southesk unconsciously tempered his manner with respect, and neither by look nor tone caused any touch of fear to disturb the innocent creature whose retreat he had discovered.

"Then you are Ralph's daughter, as I fancied?" he went on, putting his questions with an engaging air that was hard to resist.

"Yes."

Again she hesitated, and again seemed eager to confide even in a stranger, but controlled the impulse, and gave brief replies to all home questions.

"No one knows you are here, and you seem to lead a hidden life like some enchanted princess. It only needs a Miranda to make a modern version of the Tempest." He spoke half aloud, as if to himself, but the girl answered readily - "Perhaps I am to lead you to her as the real Ariel led Ferdinand to Miranda, if you've not already found her."

"Why, what do you know of Shakespeare? and how came you by your pretty name?" asked Southesk, wondering at the look and tone which suddenly gave the girl's face an expression of elfish intelligence.

"I know and love Shakespeare better than any of my other books, and can sing every song he wrote. I low beautiful they are! See, I have worn out mv dear book with much reading."

As she spoke, from a dry nook in the rock she drew a dilapidated volume, and turned its pages with a loving hand, while all the innocent sweetness returned to her voting face, lending it new beauty.

"What a charming little sprite it is," thought Southesk, adding aloud, with an irresistible curiosit that banished politeness, "And the name, how came that?"

"Father gave it to me." There she paused, adding hastily, "He loves Shakespeare as well as I do, and taught me to understand him."

"Here's a romantic pair, and a mystery of some sort, which I'll amuse myself bv unraveling, if possible," he thought, and put another question - "Have vou been here long?"

"No; I only spend the hot hours here."

"Another evasion. I shall certainly be driven into asking her, point blank, who and what she is," said Southesk to himself, and, to avoid temptation, returned to the comb which Ariel still held.

"Who carved that so daintily? I should like to bespeak one tor myself it is so pretty."

"I carved it, and was very happv at my work. It's hard to find amus.e.m.e.nt on this barren island, so I invent all sorts ot things to while away the time."

"Did you invent this hanging garden and make this wilderness blossom?" asked Southesk. trying the while to understand the lights and shadows that made her face as changeful as an April sky.

"Yes; 1 did it, and spend half my time here, lor here I escape seeing people on the beach, and so forget them."

A little sigh followed, and her eyes turned wistfully to the dark rift, that gave her but a glimpse of the outer world.

"You can scarcely see the beach, much less the people on it, I should think," said Southesk, wondering what she meant.

"I can see well with the telescope from the tower, and often watch the people on the sh.o.r.e - they look so gay and pretty.

"Then, w hy wish to forget them?"

"Because since they came it is more lonely than before."

"Do you never visit the mainland? Have you no friends or companions to enliven your solitude?"

"No."

Something in the tone in which the monosyllable was uttered checked further inquiries, and prompted him to say smilingly: "Now it is your turn; ask what you will."

But Ariel drew back, answering with an air of demure propriety that surprised him more than her self-possession or her rebuke.

"No, thank you, it is ill-bred to question strangers."

Southesk colored at the satirical glance she gave him, and rising, he made his most courtly bow, saying, with a pleasant mixture of candor and contrition: "Again I beg pardon for my rudeness. Coming so suddenly upon a spirit singing to itself between sea and sky, I forgot myself, and fancied the world's ways out of place. Now I see my mistake, and though it spoils the romance, I will call you Miss March, and respectfully take my leave."

The silvery laugh broke in on the last sentence, and in her simplest manner Ariel replied: "No, don't call me that nor go away, unless you are quite out of pain. I like your rudeness better than your politeness, for it made you seem like a pleasant boy, and now you are nothing but a fine gentleman."

Both amused and relieved by her reply, he answered, half in jest, half in earnest, "Then, I'll be a boy again, and tell you who I am, as you are too well bred to ask, and it is but proper to introduce myself. Philip Southesk by name, gentleman by birth, poet by profession; but I don't deserve the t.i.tle, though certain friendly persons do me the honor to praise a few verses I once wrote. Stay, I forgot two things that ladies usually take an interest in. Fortune ample - age four- and-twenty."

"You did not ask me either of these two questions," said Ariel, with a flicker of merriment in her eves, as she glanced up rather shyly at the would-be boy, who now stood straight and tall before her.

"No; even in the midst of my delusion I remembered that one never ventures to put the last of those questions to a woman - the first I cared nothing about."

"I like that," said the girl in her quick way, adding frankly, "I am poor, and seventeen."

She half rose as she spoke, but hastily sat down again, recollecting her bare feet. The change of color, and an anxious look toward a pair of little shoes that lay near by, suggested to Southesk a speedy withdrawal, and, turning toward the half-hidden ladder, he said, lingering in the act of going: "Good-by; may I come again, if I come properly, and do not stay too long? Poets are privileged persons, you know, and this is a poets paradise."

She looked pleased, yet troubled, and answered reluctantlv: "You are very kind to say so, but I cannot ask vou to come again, for father would be displeased, and it is best for me to go on as before."

"But why hide yourself here? Whv not enjoy the pleasures fitting for your age, instead of watching them afar off, and vainly longing for them?" exclaimed Southesk, impetuously, for the eloquent eves betrayed what the tongue would not confess.

"I cannot tell you."

As she spoke her head was bowed upon her hands, her abundant hair veiled her face, and as it fell the little chaplet of sh.e.l.ls dropped at Southesk's feet.

"Forgive me; I have no right to question you, and will not disturb your solitude again, unless your father is willing. But give me some token to prove that I have really visited an enchanted island, and heard Ariel sing. I returned the comb, may I have this in exchange?"

He spoke playfully, hoping to win a smile of pardon for his last trespa.s.s. She looked up quite calm again, and freely gave him the chain of sh.e.l.ls for which he asked. Then he sprang up the precipitous path, and went his way, but his parting glance showed him the fair face still wistfully watching him from the green gloom of Ariel's nest.

PART II.

In the lower room of the lighthouse sat three persons, each apparently busy w ith his own thoughts, vet each covertly watching the others. Ralph March, a stern, dark-browed, melancholylooking man, leaned back in his chair, with one hand above his eyes, which were fixed on Ariel, who sat near the narrow window cut in the thick wall, often gazing out upon the sea, glowing with the gold and purple of a sunset sky, but oftener stealing a glance toward her father, as if she longed to speak vet dared not. The third occupant of the room was a rough, st.u.r.dy-looking man, whose age it was hard to discover, for an unsightly hump disfigured his broad shoulders, and a ma.s.sive head wras set upon a stunted body. s.h.a.ggy-haired, tawny-bearded and bronzed by wind and weather he was a striking, not a pitiful figure, for his herculean strength was visible at a glance, and a somewhat defiant expression seemed to repel compa.s.sion and command respect. Sitting in the doorway, he appeared to be intent on mending a torn net, but his keen eve went stealthily from father to daughter, as if trying to read their faces. The long silence that had filled the room was broken by March's deep voice, saying suddenly, as he dropped his hand and turned to Ariel: "Are you sick or sad, child, that you sigh so heavily?"

"I'm lonely, father."

Something in the plaintive tone and drooping figure touched March's heart, and, drawing the girl to his knee, he looked into her face with a tender anxiety that softened and beautified his owm.

"What can I do for you, dear? Where shall I take you to make you forget your loneliness? - or whom shall I bring here to enliven you?"

Her eyes woke and her lips parted eagerlv, as if a wish was readv, but some fear restrained its utterance, and, half averting her face, she answered meeklv: "I ought to be contented with you, and I try to be, but sometimes I long to do as others do, and enjoy my youth while it lasts. If you liked to mingle with people I should love to try it; as you do not, I'll endeavor to be happy where I am."

"Poor child, it is but natural, and I am selfish to make a recluse of you, because I hate the world. Shall we leave the island and begin our wandering life again?"

"Oh, no; I like the island now, and could be quite contented if I had a young companion. I never have had, and did not know how pleasant it was until two days ago."

Her eyes turned toward the open door, through which the Gull's Perch was visible, with the chasm yawning near it, and again she sighed. March saw where she looked; a frown began to gather, but some gentler emotion checked his anger, and with a sudden smile he said, stroking her smooth cheek: "Now I know the wish you would not tell, the cause of your daily w atch from the tower, and the secret of these frequent sighs. Silly child, you want young Southesk to return, yet dare not ask me to permit it."

Ariel turned her face freely to his, and leaning confidingly upon his shoulder, answered with the frankness he had taught her.

"I do wish he'd come again, and I think I deserve some reward for telling vou all that happened, for bidding him go away, and for being so careful what I said."

"Hard tasks, I know, especially the last, for such an open creature is my girl. Well, you shall be rewarded, and if he come again you iav see him, and so will I."

"Oh, thank vou, father, that is so kind. Hut you look as if you thought he would not come."

"I am afraid he has already forgotten all about the lonely island and the little bare-footed maiden he saw on it. Young men's memories are treacherous things, and curiosity once gratified, soon dies."

But Ariel shook her head, as if refusing to accept the ungracious thought, and surprised her father by the knowledge of human nature which she seemed to have learned bv instinct, for she answered gravely, yet hopefully: "I think he will come, simply because I forbade it. 1 le is a poet, and cares for things that have no charm for other men. He liked my nest, he liked to hear me sing, and his curiosity was not gratified, because I only told enough to make him eager for more. I have a feeling that he will come again, to find that the island is not always lonely, nor the girl always barefooted."

Her old blithe laugh broke out again as she glanced from the little mirror that reflected the glossy waves of her hair, bound with a band of rosy coral, to the well-shod feet that peeped from below the white hem of her gown. Her father watched her fondly, as she swept him a stately curtsey, looking so gav and lovely that he could not but smile and hope her wish might be granted.

"Little vanity," he said, "who taught you to make yourself so bonny, and where did you learn these airs and graces? Not from Stern or me, I fancy."

"Ah, 1 have not looked through the telescope and watched the fine ladies in vain, it seems, since you observe the change. I study fashion and manners at a disadvantage, but I am an apt scholar, I find. Now I'm going up to watch and wait for my reward."

As she ran up the winding-stairs that led to the great lantern, and the circular balcony that hung outside, Stern said, with the freedom of one privileged to speak his mind: "The girl is right; the boy will come again, and mischief will grow out of it."

"What mischief?" demanded March.

"Do you suppose he can see her often and not love her?" returned Stern, almost angrily.

"Let him love her."

"Do you mean it? After hiding her so carcfullv, will you let her be won by this romantic boy, if his fancy last? You are making a false step, and you'll repent of it."

"I have alreadv made a false step, and I do repent of it; but it's not this one. I have tried to keep Ariel a child, and she was happy until she became a woman. Now the old simple life is not enough for her, and her heart craves its right. I live only for her, and if her happiness demands the sacrifice of the seclusion I love, I shall make it - shall welcome anyone w ho can give her pleasure, and promote any scheme that spares her from the melancholy that curses me."

"Then you are resolved to let this young man come if he choose, and allow her to love him, as she most a.s.suredly will?"

"Yes, chance brought him here at first, and if inclination brings him again let it be so. I have made inquiries concerning him, and am satisfied. He is Ariel's equal in birth, is fitted to make her happy, and has already wakened an unusual interest in her mind. Sooner or later I must leave her; she is alone in the world, and to whom can I confide her so safely as to a husband."

A dark flush had pa.s.sed over Sterns face as he listened, and more than once impetuous words seemed to have risen to his lips, to be restrained by set teeth and an emotion of despair.

March saw this, and it seemed to confirm his purpose, though he made no comment on it, and abruptly closed the conversation; for, as Stern began - "I warn you, sir - " he interrupted him, saying with decision: "No more of this; I have had other warnings than yours, and must listen to them, for the time is not far distant w hen 1 must leave the child alone, unless 1 give her a guardian soon. Wild as my plan may seem, it is far safer than to take her into the world, for here l can observe this young man, and shape her future as I will. You mean kindly, Stern, but you cannot judge for me nor understand my girl as I do. Now, leave me, I must go and rest."

Stern's black eves glowed with an ireful spark, and he clenched his strong hands as if to force himself to silence, as he went without a word, while March pa.s.sed into an inner room, with the melancholy expression deeper than ever on his face.

For a few moments the deserted room was silent and solitary, but presently a long shadow fell athwart the sunny floor, and Southesk stood in the open doorway, w ith a portfolio and a carefully folded parcel underneath his arm. Pausing to look about him for someone to address, the sound of Ariel's voice reached his ear, and, as if no other welcome were needed, he followed it as eagerh as before. Stealing up the steep stairs, he came into the many- windowed tower, and on the balcony saw Ariel straining her eyes through a telescope, which was pointed toward the beach he had left an hour ago. As he lingered, uncertain how to accost her, she dropped the gla.s.s, exclaiming with a sigh of weariness and disappointment: "No, he is not there!" In the act she turned, saw him, and uttered a little cry of delight, while her face brightened beautifully as she sprang forward, offering her hand with a gesture as graceful as impulsive, saying joyfully - "I knew you would come again!"

Well pleased at such a cordial welcome, he took the hand, and still holding it, asked in that persuasive voice of his - "For whom were you looking, Ariel?"

She colored, and turned her traitorous eyes away, yet answered with an expression of merry mischief that was very charming - "I looked for Ferdinand!"

"And here he is," replied Southesk, laughing at her girlish evasion. "Though you forbade my return, I was obliged to break my promise, because I unconsciously incurred a debt which I wish to discharge. When I asked you for those pretty sh.e.l.ls I did not observe that they were strung on a little gold chain, and afterward it troubled me to think I had taken a gift of value. Much as I want to keep it, I shall not like to do so unless you will let me make some return for that, and for the hospitality you showed me. May I offer you this, with many thanks?"

While speaking rapidly, he had undone the parcel, and put into her hands a beautiful volume of Shakespeare, daintily bound, richly ill.u.s.trated, and bearing on the fly-leaf a graceful little poem to herself. So touched and delighted was she that she stood silent, reading the musical lines, glancing at the pictured pages, and trying to summon words expressive enough to convey her thanks. None came that suited her, but her eyes filled, and she exclaimed with a grateful warmth that well repaid the giver.

"It is too beautiful for me, and you are too kind! How did you know I wanted a new book, and would have chosen one like this?"

"I am glad I guessed so well, and now consider the mermaid's rosary my own. But tell me, did you ask if I might come again, or did you leave it to me?"

"I tell my father everything, and when 1 spoke of you again today, much to my surprise, he said you might come if you chose. Hut he added that you'd probably forgotten all about the island bv this time."

"And you knew I had not - thank you for that. No; so far from forgetting, I've dreamed about it ever since, and should have returned before had not my arm been too lame for rowing, and I would not bring any intruder but myself. I want to sketch your nest, for some day it will get into verse, and I wish to keep it fresh before me. May I?"

"I shall be very proud to see it drawn, and to read the poem if it is as sweet as this. I think I like your songs better than Shakespeare's."

"What a compliment! It is I who am proud now. How beautiful it is up here; one feels like a bird on this airy perch. Tell me what those places are that look so like celestial cities in this magical light?"

Willingly she obeyed, and standing at her side he listened, feeling the old enchantment creep over him as he watched the girl, who seemed to glow and brighten like a flower at the coming of the sun. Nor did the charm lie in her beauty alone; language, mien, and manner betrayed the native refinement which comes from birth and breeding, and, despite her simple dress, her frank wavs, and the mystery that surrounded her, Southesk felt that this lighthouse-keeper's daughter was a gentlewoman, and every moment grew more interested in her.

Presently he professed a desire to sketch a picturesque promontory not far distant; and, seated on the step of the narrow door, he drew' industriously, glancing up now and then at Ariel, who leaned on the bal.u.s.trade turning the pages of her book with her loveliest expression, as she read a line here and there, sung s.n.a.t.c.hes ot the airs she loved so well, and paused to talk, for her companion wasted little time in silence. Place, hour, and society suited him to a charm, and he luxuriated in the romance and the freedom, both being much enhanced by the strong contrast between this hour and those he had been spending among the frivolous crowds at the great hotel. He took no thought for the future but heartily enjoyed the present, and was in his gayest, most engaging mood as he feasted his eyes on the beauty all about him while endeavoring to copy the graceful figure and spirited face before him.

Quite unconscious of his purpose she pored over the book, and presently exclaimed, as she opened on a fine ill.u.s.tration of the Tempest - "Here we all are! Prospero is not unlike my father, but Ferdinand is much plainer than you. Here's Ariel swinging in a vine, as I've often done, and Caliban watching her as Stern watches me. He is horrible here, however, and my Caliban has a fine face, if one can get a sight of it when he is in good humor."

"You mean the deformed man who glowered at me as I landed? I want much to know who he is, but I dare not ask, lest I get another lesson in good manners," said Southesk, with an air of timidity belied by his bold, bright eyes.

"I'll tell you without asking. He is the lighthouse-keeper, for my father only helps him a little, because he likes the wild life. People call him the master, as he goes to the mainland for all we need instead of Stern, who hates to be seen, poor soul."

"Thank you," returned Southesk, longing to ask more questions, and on the alert for any hint that might enlighten him regarding this peculiar pair.

Ariel went back to her book, smiling to herself, as she said, after a long look at one figure in the pictured group - "This Miranda is very charming, but not so queenlv as yours."

"Mine!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Southesk, with as much amus.e.m.e.nt as surprise. "How do you know I have one?"

"She came here to look for you," stealing a glance at him from under her long lashes.