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Page 34
"What?" cried Xanthippe. "My husband propose anything that would
contribute to my pleasure or intellectual advancement? Bah! Your story is
transparently false at the outset."
"Nevertheless," said Kidd, "the scheme was proposed by Socrates. He said a
trip of that kind for Xanthippe would be very restful and health-giving."
"For me?" cried Xanthippe, sceptically.
"No, madame, for him," retorted Kidd.
"Ah--ho-ho! That's the way of it, eh?" said Xanthippe, flushing to the
roots of her hair. "Very likely. You--ah--you will excuse my doubting your
word, Captain Kidd, a moment since. I withdraw my remark, and in order to
make fullest reparation, I beg to assure these ladies that I am now
perfectly convinced that you are telling the truth. That last observation
is just like my husband, and when I get back home again, if I ever do,
well--ha, ha!--we'll have a merry time, that's all."
"And what was--ah--Bassanio's connection with this affair?" added Portia,
hesitatingly.
"He was not informed of it," said Kidd, archly. "I am not acquainted with
Bassanio, my lady, but I overheard Sir Walter enjoining upon the others
the absolute necessity of keeping the whole affair from Bassanio, because
he was afraid he would not consent to it. 'Bassanio has a most beautiful
wife, gentlemen,' said Sir Walter, 'and he wouldn't think of parting with
her under any circumstances; therefore let us keep our intentions a secret
from him.' I did not hear whom the gentleman married, madame; but the
others, Prince Hamlet, the Duke of Buckingham, and Louis the Fourteenth,
all agreed that Mrs. Bassanio was too beautiful a person to be separated
from, and that it was better, therefore, to keep Bassanio in the dark as
to their little enterprise until it was too late for him to interfere."
A pink glow of pleasure suffused the lovely countenance of the
cross-examiner, and it did not require a very sharp eye to see that the
wily Kidd had completely won her over to his side. On the other hand,
Elizabeth's brow became as corrugated as her ruff, and the spirit of the
pirate shivered to the core as he turned and gazed upon that glowering
face.
"Sir Walter agreed to that, did he?" snapped Elizabeth. "And yet he was
willing to part with--ah--his sister."
"Well, your Majesty," began Kidd, hesitatingly, "you see it was this way:
Sir Walter--er--did say that, but--ah--he--ah--but he added that he of
course merely judged--er--this man Bassanio's feelings by his own in
parting from his sister--"
"Did he say sister?" cried Elizabeth.
"Well--no--not in those words," shuffled Kidd, perceiving quickly wherein
his error lay, "but--ah--I jumped at the conclusion, seeing his intense
enthusiasm for the lady's beauty and--er--intellectual qualities, that he
referred to you, and it is from yourself that I have gained my knowledge
as to the fraternal, not to say sororal, relationship that exists between
you."
"That man's a diplomat from Diplomaville!" muttered Sir Henry Morgan, who,
with Abeuchapeta and Conrad, was listening at the port without.
"He is that," said Abeuchapeta, "but he can't last much longer. He's
perspiring like a pitcher of ice-water on a hot day, and a spirit of his
size and volatile nature can't stand much of that without evaporating. If
you will observe him closely you will see that his left arm already has
vanished into thin air."
"By Jove!" whispered Conrad, "that's a fact! If they don't let up on him
he'll vanish. He's getting excessively tenuous about the top of his head."
All of which was only too true. Subjected to a scrutiny which he had
little expected, the deceitful ambassador of the thieving band was rapidly
dissipating, and, as those without had so fearsomely noted, was in
imminent danger of complete sublimation, which, in the case of one
possessed of so little elementary purity, meant nothing short of
annihilation. Fortunately for Kidd, however, his wonderful tact had
stemmed the tide of suspicion. Elizabeth was satisfied with his
explanation, and in the minds of at least three of the most influential
ladies on board, Portia, Xanthippe, and Elizabeth, he had become a
creature worthy of credence, which meant that he had nothing more to fear.
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