“Have you been here all that time?”
“Oh, no. The first month I spent in the hospital, where you had the pleasure of seeing me wrapped in splints. But as soon as I got out I made a bee-line for the Pacific coast. I left a forwarding address at the hospital, and I expected to have you fellows wire me. I’ve written to every point I could think of to catch some of you.”
“Got any money?”
“You bet I have. I got—what do you think?—eight hundred dollars out of the railroad for my wounds and bruises. I asked for two thousand and got eight hundred. I had to give half of it to my lawyer, though,” he added, regretfully. “Then, a couple of weeks ago, a fellow put me on to a good thing at the race-track out here. It was at five to one. I plunged a hundred on it, and she staggered home by a nose. He’s going to give me another good tip on Saturday—get-away day, you know, and a long shot.”
“Don’t you touch it,” said Elliott. “We’ll need all your spare cash. I’ve got none too much myself, and we’ve got a long way to go.”
The prospect of all the weary miles of sea and land that he must still travel on the treasure hunt, in fact, had come to oppress him. He had already all but encircled the globe, and he sickened at the thought of another month-long voyage. He was tired, mortally tired, of stewards, and saloon tables, and smoking-rooms, and he told himself that if he ever found himself once more in some silent, sunshiny American village he would contentedly vegetate there like a plant for the rest of his days.
But before that he would have to think of how to meet Margaret, who would be there in a week, and of some words to prepare her for the final explanation. This week passed as swiftly as the two first had slowly. He spent it in lounging about uneasily, and in long conferences with Bennett, and on the afternoon of the twenty-ninth he heard that the Imperial had been sighted. She was, in fact, then entering the harbour.
But he was still without a speech prepared when the gangplank was opened, and the flood of passengers began to pour down. He saw Margaret, and waved his hand, but even from a distance he was shocked at her pallor, and startled by the fact that she was wearing complete black. He waited for her outside the customs enclosure.
“You see I’ve come. I hoped you would meet me,” she said.
“Of course I would meet you,” he protested, unsteadily, dreading the expected inquiry for her father. On a nearer view her face was even more drawn and haggard than he had thought; she looked as if she had not slept for a week, but she had met him with a brave smile.