When the commonplace
cashier passed forth the coin, their jingle said to you, 'The supposed
phantasy is real,' but the gold pieces themselves at that supreme
moment meant no more to you than so many worthless counters, so you
turned your back upon them."
She looked up at him, her eyes, though moist, illumined with pleasure
inspired by the sympathy in his tones rather than the import of his
words. The girl's life heretofore had been as scant of kindness as of
cash, and there was a deep sincerity in his voice which was as
refreshing to her lonesome heart as it was new to her experience. This
man was not so stupid as he had pretended to be. He had accurately
divined the inner meaning of what had happened. She had forgotten the
necessity for haste which had been so importunate a few minutes
before.
"You must be a mind-reader," she said.
"No, I am not at all a clever person," he laughed. "Indeed, as I told
you, I am always blundering into trouble, and making things
uncomfortable for my friends. I regret to say I am rather under a
cloud just now in the service, and I have been called upon to endure
the frown of my superiors."
"Why, what has happened?" she asked. After their temporary halt at the
corner where they had been overtaken, they now strolled along together
like old friends, her prohibition out of mind.
"Well, you see, I was temporarily in command of the cruiser coming
down the Baltic, and passing an island rock a few miles away, I
thought it would be a good opportunity to test a new gun that had been
put aboard when we left England.
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