Chapter 54
Sing on!"
He shook his head, quoting from "The Dedication":
"Arms and the Man!
A n.o.ble theme I ween!
Alas! I cannot sing of these, Eileen; Only of maids and men and meadow-gra.s.s, Of sea and tree and woodlands where I pa.s.s-- Nothing but these I know, Eileen--alas!
Clear eyes, that lifted up to me Free heart and soul of vanity; Blue eyes, that speak so wistfully-- Nothing but these I know, alas!"
She laughed her acknowledgment, and lying there, face to the sky, began to sing to herself, under her breath, fragments of that ancient war-song:
"Le bon Roi Dagobert Avait un grand sabre de fer; Le grand Saint eloi Lui dit: 'O mon Roi Votre Majeste Pourrait se blesser!'
'C'est vrai,' lui dit le Roi, 'Qu'on me donne un sabre de bois!'"
"In that verse," observed Selwyn, smiling, "lies the true key to the millennium--international disarmament and moral suasion."
"Nonsense," she said lazily; "the millennium will arrive when the false balance between man and woman is properly adjusted--not before. And that means universal education.... Did you ever hear that old, old song, written two centuries ago--the 'Education of Phyllis'? No? Listen then and be ashamed."
And lying there, the back of one hand above her eyes, she sang in a sweet, childish, mocking voice, tremulous with hidden laughter, the song of Phyllis the shepherdess and Sylvandre the shepherd--how Phyllis, more avaricious than sentimental, made Sylvandre pay her thirty sheep for one kiss; how, next day, the price s.h.i.+fted to one sheep for thirty kisses; and then the dreadful demoralisation of Phyllis:
"Le lendemain, Philis, plus tendre Fut trop heureuse de lui rendre Trente moutons pour un baiser!
Le lendemain, Philis, peu sage, Aurait donne moutons et chien Pour un baiser que le volage a Lisette donnait pour rien!"
"And there we are," said Eileen, sitting up abruptly and levelling the pink-tipped finger of accusation at him--"_there_, if you please, lies the woe of the world--not in the armaments of nations! That old French poet understood in half a second more than your Hague tribunal could comprehend in its first Cathayan cycle! There lies the hope of your millennium--in the higher education of the modern Phyllis."
"And the up-to-date Sylvandre," added Selwyn.
"He knows too much already," she retorted, delicate nose in the air.... "Hark! Ear to the ground! My atavistic and wilder instincts warn me that somebody is coming!"
"Boots and Drina," said Selwyn; and he hailed them as they came into view above. Then he sprang to his feet, calling out: "And Gerald, too!
h.e.l.lo, old fellow! This is perfectly fine! When did you arrive?"
"Oh, Gerald!" cried Eileen, both hands outstretched--"it's splendid of you to come! Dear fellow! have you seen Nina and Austin? And were they not delighted? And you've come to stay, haven't you? There, I won't begin to urge you.... Look, Gerald--look, Boots--and Drina, too--only look at those beautiful big plump trout in Captain Selwyn's creel!"
"Oh, I say!" exclaimed Gerald, "you didn't take those in that little brook--did you, Philip? Well, wouldn't that snare you! I'm coming down here after luncheon; I sure am."
"You will, too, won't you?" asked Drina, jealous lest
"Of course I will," said Lansing reproachfully; "you don't suppose there's any fun anywhere for me without you, do you?"
"No," said Drina simply, "I don't."
"Another Phyllis in embryo," murmured Eileen to Selwyn. "Alas! for education!"
Selwyn laughed and turned to Gerald. "I hunted high and low for you before I came to Silverside. You found my note?"
"Yes; I--I'll explain later," said the boy, colouring. "Come ahead, Eily; Boots and I will take you on at tennis--and Philip, too. We've an hour or so before luncheon. Is it a go?"
"Certainly," replied his sister, unaware of Selwyn's proficiency, but loyal even in doubt. And the five, walking abreast, moved off across the uplands toward the green lawns of Silverside, where, under a gay lawn parasol, Nina sat, a "Nature book" in hand, the centre of an attentive gathering composed of dogs, children, and the cat, Kit-Ki, blinking her topaz-tinted eyes in the suns.h.i.+ne.
The young mother looked up happily as the quintet came strolling across the lawn: "Please don't wander away again before luncheon," she said; "Gerald, I suppose you are starved, but you've only an hour to wait--Oh, Phil! what wonderful trout! Children, kindly arise and admire the surpa.s.sing skill of your frivolous uncle!" And, as the children and dogs came crowding around the opened fish-basket she said to her brother in a low, contented voice: "Gerald has quite made it up with Austin, dear; I think we have to thank you, haven't we?"
"Has he really squared matters with Austin? That's good--that's fine!
Oh, no, I had nothing to do with it--practically nothing. The boy is sound at the core--that's what did it." And to Gerald, who was hailing him from the veranda, "Yes, I've plenty of tennis-shoes. Help yourself, old chap."
Eileen had gone to her room to don a shorter skirt and rubber-soled shoes; Lansing followed her example; and Selwyn, entering his own room, found Gerald trying on a pair of white foot-gear.
The boy looked up, smiled, and, crossing one knee, began to tie the laces:
"I told Austin that I meant to slow down," he said. "We're on terms again. He was fairly decent."
"Good business!" commented Selwyn vigorously.
"And I'm cutting out cards and c.o.c.ktails," continued the boy, eager as a little lad who tells how good he has been all day--"I made it plain to the fellows that there was nothing in it for me. And, Philip, I'm boning down like thunder at the office--I'm horribly in debt and I'm hustling to pay up and make a clean start. You," he added, colouring, "will come first--"
"At your convenience," said Selwyn, smiling.
"Not at all! Yours is the first account to be squared; then Neergard--"
"Do you owe _him_, Gerald?"
"Do I? Oh, Lord! But he's a patient soul--really, Philip, I wish you didn't dislike him so thoroughly, because he's good company and besides that he's a very able man.... Well, we won't talk about him, then.
Come on; I'll lick the very life out of you over the net!"
A few moments later the white b.a.l.l.s were flying over the white net, and active white-flannelled figures were moving swiftly over the velvet turf.
Drina, aloft on the umpire's perch, calmly scored and decided each point impartially, though her little heart was beating fast in desire for her idol's supremacy; and it was all her official composure could endure to see how Eileen at the net beat down his defence, driving him with her volleys to the service line.
Selwyn's game proved to be steady, old-fas.h.i.+oned, but logical; Eileen, sleeves at her elbows, red-gold hair in splendid disorder, carried the game through Boots straight at her brother--and the contest was really a brilliant duel between them, Lansing and Selwyn a.s.sisting when a rare chance came their way. The pace was too fast for them, however; they were in a different cla.s.s and they knew it; and after two terrific sets had gone against Gerald and Boots, the latter, signalling Selwyn, dropped out and climbed up beside Drina to watch a furious single between Eileen and Gerald.
"Oh, Boots, Boots!" said Drina, "why _didn't_ you stay forward and kill her drives and make her lob? I just know you could do it if you had only thought to play forward! What on earth was the matter?"
"Age," said Mr. Lansing serenely--"decrepitude, Drina. I am a Was, sweetheart, but Eileen still remains an Is."
"I won't let you say it! You are _not_ a Was!" said the child fiercely.
"After luncheon you can take me on for practice. Then you can just give it to her!"
"It would gratify me to hand a few swift ones to somebody," he said.
"Look at that demon girl, yonder! She's hammering Gerald to the service line! Oh, my, oh, me! I'm only fit for hat-ball with Billy or cat's-cradle with Kit-Ki. Drina, do you realise that I am nearly thirty?"
"Pooh! I'm past thirteen. In five years I'll be eighteen. I expect to marry you at eighteen. You promised."
"Sure thing," admitted Boots; "I've bought the house, you know."