Lucile Triumphant Part 28

THE BREATH OF THE WAR G.o.d

The girls proved as good as their word and five minutes later tumbled breathlessly on deck, cheeks flushed and eyes s.h.i.+ning with triumph.

"Where's that pound of Huyler's?" Lucile demanded, with an "I told you so" look at Archie.

"I'll pay it as soon as we get to sh.o.r.e," he promised. "It's worth ten boxes of candies to see you so soon," he added, gallantly, and, catching Lucile about the waist, he fox-trotted up the deck to the accompaniment of his own merry whistle.

"Oh, we can do that, too," said Phil, not to be outdone in anything, and soon they were all at it with a swing and a go that made their fond parents, who had come up in the meantime and were watching them, marvel.

"I can give you something better than that to dance to," said Mrs.

Applegate, when they had stopped from sheer lack of breath. "There is a phonograph below, and if you boys don't mind the trouble, you might bring it on deck and start it going. Then you can dance to your hearts'

content."

Phil gave a whoop of joy and nearly fell down the companionway in his eagerness to find the machine, and the other two boys followed closely on his heels.

"There seems to be no lack of enthusiasm," remarked Mrs. Applegate, as the ladies made themselves comfortable in the big chairs placed against the rail. "They can't seem to get tired. I never knew there was so much bottled-up energy."

The boys soon returned with the phonograph and they were having the time of their lives teaching each other the newest steps when they were interrupted by the arrival of some people from the boat club, who had been invited to meet them.

There were three girls and three boys somewhere about their own age and four of the club's most popular members and their wives.

"There sure is going to be a crowd," said Archie, as the newcomers began to pour over the side, all talking at once. "I wish we could have finished that dance," he added, regretfully.

"Oh, there will be plenty more," said Lucile, smiling roguishly in a way that made him wish all these intruders--for so he regarded them--were at least as far away as the North Pole.

Soon the introductions were over and the girls found themselves liking the gay young strangers immensely. Their English accent and the way they said, "Bah Jove!" and "Beastly hot weather, what?" fascinated the uninitiated girls, and they were soon imitating their new-found friends with surprising success.

"You were dancing when we arrived, weren't you?" asked Anita Derby, a das.h.i.+ng, fair-haired girl, who made almost as many enemies as friends with a rather sharp, unbridled tongue. "I thought I heard a phonograph.

What was it you were playing?"

"'Good-bye, Girls,' from 'Chin Chin,'" said Lucile. "It's a splendid fox trot."

"Never heard of it," said Anita. "Peculiar name--'Chin Chin'--what?"

Lucile was about to reply when Mr. Applegate interrupted.

"There's a stiff breeze on the way," he said, casting his weather eye aloft. "And, from the looks of things, it's more than possible that we may run into a storm somewhere up the river. However, we'll have to take a chance on that."

"Oh, I wonder if we will," cried Lucile.

"Don't worry," said Gordon Ridgley, whose gaze had not wandered from Lucile's bright face, with its dancing eyes and mischievous mouth, always quirked in a smile and showing the dimples in the corners of it--he wondered how many dimples she had, anyway--since he had come on board.

"If you will come with me forward," he added, "I'll show you the prettiest view of the river there is. B' Jove, it's incomparable!"

Lucile consented rather hesitatingly. To tell the truth, she would much rather have stayed where she was. Nevertheless, they went off around the corner of the cabin, while Archie watched them with a gloomy frown on his face.

"Nervy beggar!" he muttered.

Evelyn squeezed Jessie's hand and whispered, delightedly. "Did you see the look Archie gave that 'bally Henglishman'? There will be a regular duel in Hyde Park yet."

"Shouldn't wonder. I don't know how Lucy ever does it."

Meanwhile, Lucile's cavalier, Gordon Ridgley, had helped her carefully along the deck and established her in a corner from which he had declared the view "incomparable."

"This is rippin' luck," he cried, seizing a couple of handy chairs and dragging them to the rail. "The bally things knew we were coming!"

Lucile laughed happily. She liked being taken care of; it made her think of Jack. Meanwhile, the breeze, which had been steadily rising, had grown perceptibly stronger.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" breathed Lucile, leaning forward and drinking in the beautiful scene. "I've wanted a chance to sail in a real motor boat all my life."

"Well, does it meet with your expectations?"

"It's beginning to. You know, I was crazy about the river yesterday--it was all so different from anything I had ever seen and a thousand times more interesting; but now I can see that I had only begun to appreciate it."

"Oh, it's not such a bad old river," he said, letting his gaze wander out over the water. "I suppose it appeals more to strangers than it does to us natives. For instance, I would much rather see your Hudson River than this."

"I suppose so," said Lucile, dreamily, and then added, almost as though speaking to herself, "But the Hudson, though, of course, it is beautiful and much larger than this, is in a new country, while the Thames--why, the very name makes you think of those old times when there were n.o.ble knights and beautiful ladies and jousts and all sorts of interesting things. In those days the knights seemed to go around with a chip on their shoulders all the time. If you happened to step on their foot or any other little thing, they'd flare up, throw a glove or something in your face--I should think it must have hurt sometimes, too--and command you to joust for the honor of knight or lady----" She broke off with a little laugh and added, demurely, "I don't know what you must think of me--I'm not always like this, you know."

"I think you're----" he began, but just what he thought was never expressed, for Mr. Payton and a friend, coming upon them unexpectedly, uttered a surprised exclamation.

"Oh, here you are!" he said, amus.e.m.e.nt in the glance he gave them. "The young folks are about to start the Victrola; don't you want to join them?"

As if to give proof to his words, a merry one-step reached them from the after deck and Lucile sprang to her feet, looking toward her escort invitingly.

"We can't miss this," she said, with conviction.

Young Ridgely looked as if he could miss it with great pleasure, but he followed her to the after deck, nevertheless.

"Will you go back again after the dance?" he pleaded, as they joined the others. "We were having such a good talk."

"Perhaps," she half promised, with a tantalizing little laugh, and a moment after was swept off into the dance by Archie, who had been seriously considering organizing a search party.

"You were away a mighty long time," he reproached her. "What were you doing all the time with that Ridgely guy?"

"I shouldn't call him a guy; he's a very nice fellow," said Lucile, demurely. "Besides, we were only admiring the view."

"Huh!" grunted Archie, unconvinced. "I dare say he found the view very interesting," he added, meaningly.

"Doubtless he did, since he wants to go back and look at it all over again," she said, wickedly; then, to change the subject, "Doesn't Jessie dance wonderfully? I never saw such an improvement in any one."

"Yes, she dances well, but she can't touch you; n.o.body can."

So the morning wore merrily on, the young folks stopping only long enough to get their breath between dances. Then came the ever-welcome call to lunch and they tumbled down to the roomy cabin, followed more sedately by their elders, who had enjoyed the morning as much as their offspring, though less riotously. It was a delicious luncheon and, with the added flavor of romantic surroundings and congenial company, was altogether a memorable affair.

When they reached the deck again, they were surprised to find that the sun, which had been s.h.i.+ning so brightly before, had gone under a cloud, while the smooth surface of the water was stirred into ripples and eddies by an ever-increasing wind.

"Looks mighty threatening," said Phil, anxiously. "I hope we don't have a downpour."

The others viewed the sudden change with equal trepidation.