Wyndham's Pal

"I have been to the office and all is going well," Marston remarked. "Next week you can come down for perhaps an hour a day. We won't need you longer and I mean to be firm. Nevis tells me he won't stay. I imagine he doesn't approve my methods, but I'd rather expected this and think I've got a better man."

"If you're satisfied – " said Wyndham, smiling. "Since Nevis began at the office, I suppose you feel he belongs to the old state of things."

Marston looked half embarrassed, but nodded. "I did feel something like that. A new man is better when you make a fresh start on another line. However, I'm not going to bother about business; I've told you enough to put your mind at rest. There's something much more important, Mabel has agreed to marry me next month."

Flora kissed Mabel and for a time they engaged in happy talk. Then Marston got up.

"We are going to the drawing-room. It's a long time since I heard good music and Mabel said she'd play."

"I didn't know you liked music much, Bob," Flora remarked.

"All the same, I do like it," Marston rejoined. "It's true I've been to concerts that bored me; but all music's charming when Mabel plays."

Flora let them go and then looked at Wyndham. "A wedding present's the next thing, Harry, and it will need some thought. What can we give them, who have given us so much?"

Wyndham smiled. "I imagine Bob would be content with our gratitude, although he'd feel badly embarrassed if you made it too plain." His smile, however vanished as he resumed: "Anyhow, I shall never wipe out my debt. There are not many like Bob."

He mused for a few moments and went on: "I remember his telling me Rupert was drowned. My face was bandaged; I couldn't speak and was too weak to move. Bob could only see my eyes, and as he watched them I knew what he thought. Because he had hated Rupert from the beginning, he was desperately anxious to persuade me he had done his best. The thing was, of course, ridiculous. Bob being the man he is, one could not doubt him. It was unthinkable to imagine he had not used every effort, although the sea was rough and he risked a capsize. The boat was half swamped when he brought her back. Yet I imagine he was more disturbed than me."

"I think Bob did not see him fall overboard?"

"No," said Wyndham. "Rupert may have lost his balance, but I doubt. We were not far from Kingston and when we got there he must, so to speak, resume a white man's responsibilities and begin life again. He had lived like a savage, commanding fear and using power that few civilized rulers know; but all that had gone and he was proud."

"But you were disturbed when Bob told you," Flora urged.

"At first, I was conscious of relief. I thought Rupert had seen the only way out of the tangle. Before he went, I'd begun to feel the situation was impossible for us all. Afterwards, I saw that my greedy ambition had helped to involve us and he had borne the punishment. Had he not thought he could get supplies from me, he would not have plotted the rebellion."

Flora hesitated for a moment, and then said, "When Bob came in the morning to ask if you had slept, I kept him a few minutes and we talked about this. He declared your engaging to supply the goods was not important, because if you had refused, Rupert could have got all he needed from Peters or somebody else, so long as he was willing to give a high price."

"It's possible. After all, Bob is cleverer than people sometimes think, and I see an explanation for Peters' vindictive pursuit: I'd stopped his trading with Rupert and refused him for a partner. Well, he paid, and Rupert paid, and I owe my escape to Bob."

"You made reparation," said Flora gently.

"I tried; when I was found out. It was rather late then, and Bob carried much of the load. But I did not get off free. I spent days of torment, thinking about what you must bear, before I resigned myself to coming home, broken in body, to be a burden to you."

Flora's eyes shone. "Oh, my dear! You have come home and that's all that matters. Besides, you'll get well in England; your strength will return."

"It may be long," said Wyndham quietly. "I cannot grumble for myself; I'm thinking about Bob. It looks as if he must carry my load and his, but he won't growl. He's strong and his pluck's unbreakable. Pluck and honesty like Bob's are worth more than talent."

He paused, and smiled when he resumed: "Well, while I try not to lose patience, waiting, and wondering whether I'll be fit to work again, he'll build a new Wyndhams' on a surer foundation than I could have laid. I can see him, stopping now and then with his puzzled look, but not stopping long. Bob's way is to go on, straight and steadfastly."

"We owe him much," said Flora. "Your debt is mine."

Then there were steps in the passage and the others came in. Mabel blushed when she saw Flora's smile.

"After all, it looks as if music did bore Bob," Flora remarked. "We didn't hear you playing long."

"We talked," said Mabel, with a frank glance. "There was much to talk about and all was rather wonderful. Perhaps this looks extravagant, but I don't think it is."

"Hold fast to your persuasion," said Flora gently. "It will take you far. Love conquers many doubts and troubles."

"Mabel's troubles ought not to be numerous," Wyndham interposed. "She is going to marry my partner; the best man I know."

Marston's face got red, but Mabel laughed, a soft, happy laugh.

"I really think Bob stands alone," she said. "He's like nobody else and I'm sure there's nobody like him."