The Mask Part 24

"This will do her more good than all your brandy."

"What is it?" cried Ray impatiently.

"He's safe!" cried Mr. Parker exultantly.

"Safe!" they all cried.

"Yes--safe." Handing the dispatch to the lawyer, he added: "Here--read this."

Steell took the dispatch and read:

CAPE TOWN, Sat.u.r.day: Miraculously saved. Sail to-morrow on the _Zanzibar_. KENNETH.

CHAPTER XI

The house of mourning had suddenly become transformed into a house of joy.

From the deepest abyss of hopeless despair Helen, during the next few days, was raised to the highest pinnacle of human felicity. Kenneth was safe, that was all she wanted to know. Whether he had succeeded or not in saving the diamonds she did not know or care.

Nothing more had been heard from him. Cable dispatches reported the _Zanzibar_ to be making good time on her way to Southampton, but, until the steamer arrived there, no further details were to be expected.

Much, however, had been gleaned as to the fate of the _Abyssinia_, and, as the accounts of disaster began to come in, she could only thank G.o.d that he had succeeded in escaping such a fearful fate. The s.h.i.+p had mysteriously caught fire the first day out from Cape Town, and, in the excitement, the crew, as well as the pa.s.sengers, lost their heads.

Only one boat could be lowered, and in this Kenneth got away, together with Francois, his valet, and some other pa.s.sengers. A news item in connection with the affair, which was of particular interest to Helen, ran as follows:

"The loss of the _Abyssinia_ brought to a tragic ending a remarkable romance in which Mr. Kenneth Traynor, one of the rescued pa.s.sengers and a prominent New York broker, is one of the princ.i.p.al figures. Mr.

Traynor is one of two twins so identical in appearance that no one, not even their own mother, knew them apart. One of the children mysteriously disappeared when a mere child and was believed to be dead.

Mr. Kenneth Traynor went recently to South Africa on business, and on the diamond fields found in starving condition an unlucky miner who was a perfect counterpart of himself. It was his lost brother. Mutual explanations followed and the ident.i.ty was established. Overjoyed at the reunion the two brothers sailed for home on the _Abyssinia_.

Suddenly came the alarm of fire. While the panic on board was at its worst, the broker lost sight of his brother, whom he never saw again and whom it is only too certain went down with the s.h.i.+p."

"It's almost unbelievable, isn't it?" exclaimed Helen, as she read the paragraph for the hundredth time and handed it to Wilbur Steell, who had dropped in to hear if there was any news.

Ray, who loved a mystery better than anything else in the world, clapped her hands.

"Isn't it perfectly stunning?"

"Not for Kenneth's brother--poor fellow," said Helen reprovingly. "He did not live long to enjoy his bettered condition."

"That's right. How thoughtless of me!" said Ray contritely.

As he finished reading Mr. Steell looked puzzled. Looking toward Helen he asked:

"Did you know that your husband had a twin brother?"

"I only knew it recently--just before he sailed. He did not know it himself."

"How did he find it out?"

"His old nurse told him. I was present."

"Did the nurse know the brother was in South Africa?"

"No--she had no idea of it. I'm sure of that. It's one of those wonderful coincidences one some-times hears of."

The lawyer shook his head. Thoughtfully he said:

"It's certainly strange--one of the strangest things I ever heard of."

"Kenneth will be able to tell us more about it when he comes," said Ray.

"Yes--no doubt," a.s.serted her sister quickly.

The lawyer remained thoughtful for a moment. Then, lightly he said:

"We ought to give Kenneth a rousing welcome home. After such experiences as he has had he richly deserves it."

Eagerly Helen caught at the suggestion.

"By all means!" she cried. "Suppose we give a dinner, followed by a dance."

"Oh, lovely!" said Ray.

"The night following his arrival," went on Helen enthusiastically.

"We'll make it quite an affair and invite everyone we know--the Parkers, the Galloways, the Fentons, everybody----"

"Don't forget me!" interrupted Steell.

"Oh, you, of course!" Roguishly she added: "Aren't you one of the family?"

He looked at her and smiled. In an undertone which Ray, too busy looking at the paper, did not hear, he added:

"Not yet, but I hope to be."

"The sooner the better, Wilbur," she said earnestly. With a significant glance at her sister she added, "Don't let her keep you waiting too long."

Every hour brought nearer the happy day when they would see Kenneth again. A cablegram from England reported that the _Zanzibar_ had reached Southampton. Closely following this came a brief message from Kenneth himself, stating that he was on the point of sailing for New York on the _Adriatic_. In five more days he would be in New York.

Expectation now reached fever heat, the excitement being communicated to everyone in the house. Every time the front door bell rang there was a rush downstairs in the hope that it might be another message.

Ray, bubbling over with excitement, was almost as eager as her sister.

"Won't it be jolly to go down to the dock and meet him?"

Helen shook her head.