The Argosy, Vol. 76, No. 3 — page 144: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

614 finally summoned by the steward to supper, which she had promised to take with the junior officers in the steerage mess, she went down with such a flood= of warm color in her cheeks that the president of the mess came to Oakes with: “I say, old chap, I’ve always heard that these seas were full of romance and all that, but I never saw any of it. It remained for an American engineer to round it all up on a deserted sand- bank in the China Sea. There’s no use our hunting for it. Romance is dead.” And he laughed slyly. Oakes grinned and quoted: “When all was said Romance brought up the nine fifteen. “Why, you fellows live in one day more romance than I can imagine. It is such an every-day affair that you do not even recognize it when you see it. You want to go home ta_England and raise spotted cattle behind green fences in Somersetshire and walk through green English country lanes to Sunday evening services. Say good night to a pretty girl swinging on a gate—moonlight night—moon as big as.a cheese sitting on top of a hay- stack—tell the girl you love her—is that romance?” And grinning he left his interlocutor wondering how Oakes could have read his thoughts. Early the next afternoon they raised Hong-Kong. Oakes was standing with Marjorie when they picked up the pilot, and after a whispered colloquy he left her and made his way to the bridge. When he came back he said myste- riously: “Captain Stark says it will give him great pleasure.” They looked at him inquiringly. “ Gentlemen,” he went on, “ we will have to trust you to pardon the infor- mality of the invitation, but I cannot wait any longer. It will give us great pleasure to have you all come to the office of the American consul to-mor- row morning. To put it in the quaint but expressive words of the St. James’s THE ARGOSY. Gazette: ‘A marriage has been ar- ranged between Miss Downs and Mr. Oakes to take place at eleven o’clock to-morrow.’ And the deuce of a time I had arrangin’ it, too.” He got no further, for with one ac- cord they rushed him to the ward-room, where the king’s sherry, which natu- rally enough was not sherry at all, but a very good brut, was produced, and both of them were made to respond to a rousing toast. They were a hos- pitable lot, those Englishmen, as most Englishmen are—away from home. “TI shall have to cable Burton about the Chenampho fiasco,” said Oakes as they landed. “I will have to keep the cables hot till we settle what to do about that. I reckon first of all I’d better go see the Japanese consul. We'll take Marjorie to the hotel and then go and attend to this other matter and see if we cannot straighten the thing out. If it can be done without my going to Yeddo, why so much the better.” 0, Marjorie being established in solid comfort at the hotel, the two men visited the office of the Japanese con- sul, where they spoke so forcibly that they induced that gentleman to cable a short but pointed message to the de- partment of state and in less than four hours the answer was forthcoming, that owing tc reasons, the precise na- ture of which it was impossible to dis- close at present, the Japanese govern- ment had decided to postpone indefi- nitely the completion of the Chenampho extension but would reimburse the contractors in full of all moneys ex- pended by them with interest to the first of the next month at six per cent. Oakes drew an easy breath. “ That,” he said slowly as they found their way to the hotel bar, “lets us out without loss and I’m more than glad of if. Now my boy I have to undertake a more difficult piece of work than storming the capital of Rome even. I want to see the American consul about getting married. We want to be married under the American flag. Marjorie says that COMicdoo S CO@