The Rubberneck Auto was about ready to start. The merry top-riders had been assigned to their seats by the gentlemanly conductor. The sidewalk was blockaded with sightseers who had gathered to stare at sightseers, justifying the natural law that every creature on earth is preyed upon by some other creature. The megaphone man raised his instrument of torture; the inside of the great automobile began to thump and throb like the heart of a coffee drinker. The top-riders nervously clung to the seats; the old lady from Valparaiso, Indiana, shrieked to be put ashore. But, before a wheel turns, listen to a brief preamble through the cardiaphone, which shall point out to you an object of interest on lifes sightseeing tour. Swift and comprehensive is the recognition of white man for white man in African wilds; instant and sure is the spiritual greeting between mother and babe; unhesitatingly do master and dog commune across the slight gulf between animal and man; immeasurably quick and sapient are the brief messages between one and ones beloved. But all these instances set forth only slow and groping interchange of sympathy and thought beside one other instance which the Rubberneck coach shall disclose. You shall learn (if you have not learned already) what two beings of all earths living inhabitants most quickly look into each others hearts and souls when they meet face to face. The gong whirred, and the Glaring-at-Gotham car moved majestically upon its instructive tour. On the highest, rear seat was James Williams, of Cloverdale, Missouri, and his Bride. Capitalise it, friend typothat last wordword of words in the epiphany of life and love. The scent of the flowers, the booty of the bee, the primal drip of spring waters, the overture of the lark, the twist of lemon peel on the cocktail of creationsuch is the bride. Holy is the wife; revered the mother; galliptious is the summer girlbut the bride is the certified check among the wedding presents that the gods send in when man is married to mortality. The car glided up the Golden Way. On the bridge of the great cruiser the captain stood, trumpeting the sights of the big city to his passengers. Wide-mouthed and open-eared, they heard the sights of the metropolis thundered forth to their eyes. Confused, delirious with excitement and provincial longings, they tried to make ocular responses to the megaphonic ritual. In the solemn spires of spreading cathedrals they saw the home of the Vanderbilts; in the busy bulk of the Grand Central depot they viewed, wonderingly, the frugal cot of Russell Sage. Bidden to observe the highlands of the Hudson, they gaped, unsuspecting, at the upturned mountains of a new-laid sewer. To many the elevated railroad was the Rialto, on the stations of which uniformed men sat and made chop suey of your tickets. And to this day in the outlying districts many have it that Chuck Connors, with his hand on his heart, leads reform; and that but for the noble municipal efforts of one Parkhurst, a district attorney, the notorious Bishop Potter gang would have destroyed law and order from the Bowery to the Harlem River. But I beg you to observe Mrs. James WilliamsHattie Chalmers that wasonce the belle of Cloverdale. Pale-blue is the brides, if she will; and this colour she had honoured. Willingly had the moss rosebud loaned to her cheeks of its pinkand as for the violet!her eyes will do very well as they are, thank you. A useless strip of white chafoh, no, he was guiding the auto carof white chiffonor perhaps it was grenadine or tullewas tied beneath her chin, pretending to hold her bonnet in place. But you know as well as I do that the hatpins did the work. And on Mrs. James Williamss face was recorded a little library of the worlds best thoughts in three volumes. Volume No. 1 contained the belief that James Williams was about the right sort of thing. Volume No. 2 was an essay on the world, declaring it to be a very excellent place. Volume No. 3 disclosed the belief that in occupying the highest seat in a Rubberneck auto they were travelling the pace that passes all understanding. James Williams, you would have guessed, was about twenty-four. It will gratify you to know that your estimate was so accurate. He was exactly twenty-three years, eleven months and twenty-nine days old. He was well built, active, strong-jawed, good-natured and rising. He was on his wedding trip. Dear kind fairy, please cut out those orders for money and 40 H. P. touring cars and fame and a new growth of hair and the presidency of the boat club. Instead of any of them turn backwardoh, turn backward and give us just a teeny-weeny bit of our wedding trip over again. Just an hour, dear fairy, so we can remember how the grass and poplar trees looked, and the bow of those bonnet strings tied beneath her chineven if it was the hatpins that did the work. Cant do it? Very well; hurry up with that touring car and the oil stock, then. Just in front of Mrs. James Williams sat a girl in a loose tan jacket and a straw hat adorned with grapes and roses. Only in dreams and milliners shops do we, alas! gather grapes and roses at one swipe. This girl gazed with large blue eyes, credulous, when the megaphone man roared his doctrine that millionaires were things about which we should be concerned. Between blasts she resorted to Epictetian philosophy in the form of pepsin chewing gum. At this girls right hand sat a young man about twenty-four. He was well-built, active, strong-jawed and good-natured. But if his description seems to follow that of James Williams, divest it of anything Cloverdalian. This man belonged to hard streets and sharp corners. He looked keenly about him, seeming to begrudge the asphalt under the feet of those upon whom he looked down from his perch. While the megaphone barks at a famous hostelry, let me whisper you through the low-tuned cardiaphone to sit tight; for now things are about to happen, and the great city will close over them again as over a scrap of ticker tape floating down from the den of a Broad street bear. The girl in the tan jacket twisted around to view the pilgrims on the last seat. The other passengers she had absorbed; the seat behind her was her Bluebeards chamber. Her eyes met those of Mrs. James Williams. Between two ticks of a watch they exchanged their lifes experiences, histories, hopes and fancies. And all, mind you, with the eye, before two men could have decided whether to draw steel or borrow a match. The bride leaned forward low. She and the girl spoke rapidly together, their tongues moving quickly like those of two serpentsa comparison that is not meant to go further. Two smiles and a dozen nods closed the conference. And now in the broad, quiet avenue in front of the Rubberneck car a man in dark clothes stood with uplifted hand. From the sidewalk another hurried to join him. The girl in the fruitful hat quickly seized her companion by the arm and whispered in his ear. That young man exhibited proof of ability to act promptly. Crouching low, he slid over the edge of the car, hung lightly for an instant, and then disappeared. Half a dozen of the top-riders observed his feat, wonderingly, but made no comment, deeming it prudent not to express surprise at what might be the conventional manner of alighting in this bewildering city. The truant passenger dodged a hansom and then floated past, like a leaf on a stream between a furniture van and a florists delivery wagon. The girl in the tan jacket turned again, and looked in the eyes of Mrs. James Williams. Then she faced about and sat still while the Rubberneck auto stopped at the flash of the badge under the coat of the plainclothes man. Whats eatin you? demanded the megaphonist, abandoning his professional discourse for pure English. Keep her at anchor for a minute, ordered the officer. Theres a man on board we wanta Philadelphia burglar called Pinky McGuire. There he is on the back seat. Look out for the side, Donovan. Donovan went to the hind wheel and looked up at James Williams. Come down, old sport, he said, pleasantly. Weve got you. Back to Sleepytown for yours. It aint a bad idea, hidin on a Rubberneck, though. Ill remember that. Softly through the megaphone came the advice of the conductor: Better step off, sir, and explain. The car must proceed on its tour. James Williams belonged among the level heads. With necessary slowness he picked his way through the passengers down to the steps at the front of the car. His wife followed, but she first turned her eyes and saw the escaped tourist glide from behind the furniture van and slip behind a tree on the edge of the little park, not fifty feet away. Descended to the ground, James Williams faced his captors with a smile. He was thinking what a good story he would have to tell in Cloverdale about having been mistaken for a burglar. The Rubberneck coach lingered, out of respect for its patrons. What could be a more interesting sight than this? My name is James Williams, of Cloverdale, Missouri, he said kindly, so that they would not be too greatly mortified. I have letters here that will show Youll come with us, please, announced the plainclothes man. Pinky McGuires description fits you like flannel washed in hot suds. A detective saw you on the Rubberneck up at Central Park and phoned down to take you in. Do your explaining at the station-house. James Williamss wifehis bride of two weekslooked him in the face with a strange, soft radiance in her eyes and a flush on her cheeks, looked him in the face and said: Go with em quietly, Pinky, and maybe itll be in your favour. And then as the Glaring-at-Gotham car rolled away she turned and threw a kisshis wife threw a kissat some one high up on the seats of the Rubberneck. Your girl gives you good advice, McGuire, said Donovan. Come on, now. And then madness descended upon and occupied James Williams. He pushed his hat far upon the back of his head. My wife seems to think I am a burglar, he said, recklessly. I never heard of her being crazy; therefore I must be. And if Im crazy, they cant do anything to me for killing you two fools in my madness. Whereupon he resisted arrest so cheerfully and industriously that cops had to be whistled for, and afterwards the reserves, to disperse a few thousand delighted spectators. At the station-house the desk sergeant asked for his name. McDoodle, the Pink, or Pinky the Brute, I forget which, was James Williamss answer. But you can bet Im a burglar; dont leave that out. And you might add that it took five of em to pluck the Pink. Id especially like to have that in the records. In an hour came Mrs. James Williams, with Uncle Thomas, of Madison Avenue, in a respect-compelling motor car and proofs of the heros innocencefor all the world like the third act of a drama backed by an automobile mfg. co. After the police had sternly reprimanded James Williams for imitating a copyrighted burglar and given him as honourable a discharge as the department was capable of, Mrs. Williams rearrested him and swept him into an angle of the station-house. James Williams regarded her with one eye. He always said that Donovan closed the other while somebody was holding his good right hand. Never before had he given her a word of reproach or of reproof. If you can explain, he began rather stiffly, why you Dear, she interrupted, listen. It was an hours pain and trial to you. I did it for herI mean the girl who spoke to me on the coach. I was so happy, Jimso happy with you that I didnt dare to refuse that happiness to another. Jim, they were married only this morningthose two; and I wanted him to get away. While they were struggling with you I saw him slip from behind his tree and hurry across the park. Thats all of it, dearI had to do it. Thus does one sister of the plain gold band know another who stands
in the enchanted light that shines but once and briefly for each one.
By rice and satin bows does mere man become aware of weddings. But
bride knoweth bride at the glance of an eye. And between them
swiftly passes comfort and meaning in a language that man and widows
wot not of.
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