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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10791 ***
+
+SAILORS' KNOTS
+
+By W.W. Jacobs
+
+
+1909
+
+
+
+DOUBLE DEALING
+
+
+Mr. Fred Carter stood on the spacious common, inhaling with all the joy of
+the holiday-making Londoner the salt smell of the sea below, and
+regarding with some interest the movements of a couple of men who had
+come to a stop a short distance away.  As he looked they came on again,
+eying him closely as they approached--a strongly built, shambling man of
+fifty, and a younger man, evidently his son.
+
+[Illustration: "Stood on the spacious common, inhaling the salt smell of
+the sea below."]
+
+"Good-evening," said the former, as they came abreast of Mr. Carter.
+
+"Good-evening," he replied.
+
+"That's him," said both together.
+
+They stood regarding him in a fashion unmistakably hostile.  Mr. Carter,
+with an uneasy smile, awaited developments.
+
+"What have you got to say for yourself?" demanded the elder man, at last.
+"Do you call yourself a man?"
+
+"I don't call myself anything," said the puzzled Mr. Carter.  "Perhaps
+you're mistaking me for somebody else."
+
+"Didn't I tell you," said the younger man, turning to the other--"didn't
+I tell you he'd say that?"
+
+"He can say what he likes," said the other, "but we've got him now.  If
+he gets away from me he'll be cleverer than what he thinks he is."
+
+"What are we to do with him now we've got him?" inquired his son.
+
+The elder man clenched a huge fist and eyed Mr. Carter savagely.  "If I
+was just considering myself," he said, "I should hammer him till I was
+tired and then chuck him into the sea."
+
+His son nodded.  "That wouldn't do Nancy much good, though," he remarked.
+
+"I want to do everything for the best," said the other, "and I s'pose the
+right and proper thing to do is to take him by the scruff of his neck and
+run him along to Nancy."
+
+"You try it," said Mr. Carter, hotly.  "Who is Nancy?"
+
+The other growled, and was about to aim a blow at him when his son threw
+himself upon him and besought him to be calm.
+
+"Just one," said his father, struggling, "only one.  It would do me good;
+and perhaps he'd come along the quieter for it."
+
+"Look here!"  said Mr. Carter.  "You're mistaking me for somebody else,
+that's what you are doing.  What am I supposed to have done?"
+
+"You're supposed to have come courting my daughter, Mr. Somebody Else,"
+said the other, re-leasing himself and thrusting his face into Mr.
+Carter's, "and, after getting her promise to marry you, nipping off to
+London to arrange for the wedding.  She's been mourning over you for four
+years now, having an idea that you had been made away with."
+
+"Being true to your memory, you skunk," said the son.
+
+"And won't look at decent chaps that want to marry her," added the other.
+
+"It's all a mistake," said Mr. Carter.  "I came down here this morning
+for the first time in my life."
+
+"Bring him along," said the son, impatiently.  "It's a waste of time
+talking to him."
+
+Mr. Carter took a step back and parleyed.  "I'll come along with you of
+my own free will," he said, hastily, "just to show you that you are
+wrong; but I won't be forced."
+
+He turned and walked back with them towards the town, pausing
+occasionally to admire the view.  Once he paused so long that an ominous
+growl arose from the elder of his captors.
+
+"I was just thinking," said Mr. Carter, eying him in consternation;
+"suppose that she makes the same mistake that you have made?  Oh, Lord!"
+
+"Keeps it up pretty well, don't he, Jim?"  said the father.
+
+The other grunted and, drawing nearer to Mr. Carter as they entered the
+town, stepped along in silence.  Questions which Mr. Carter asked with
+the laudable desire of showing his ignorance concerning the neighborhood
+elicited no reply.  His discomfiture was increased by the behavior of an
+elderly boatman, who, after looking at him hard, took his pipe from his
+mouth and bade him "Good-evening."  Father and son exchanged significant
+glances.
+
+[Illustration: "An elderly boatman, who, after looking at him hard, took
+his pipe from his mouth and bade him 'Good-evening.'"]
+
+They turned at last into a small street, and the elder man, opening the
+door of a neat cottage, laid his hand on the prisoner's shoulder and
+motioned him in.  Mr. Carter obeyed, and, entering a spotless living-
+room, removed his hat and with affected composure seated himself in an
+easy-chair.
+
+"I'll go up and tell Nan," said Jim.  "Don't let him run away."
+
+He sprang up the stairs, which led from a corner of the room, and the
+next moment the voice of a young lady, laboring under intense excitement,
+fell on the ears of Mr. Carter.  With a fine attempt at unconcern he rose
+and inspected an aged engraving of "The Sailor's Return."
+
+"She'll be down in a minute," said Jim, returning
+
+"P'r'aps it's as well that I didn't set about him, after all," said his
+father.  "If I had done what I should like to do, his own mother wouldn't
+have known him."
+
+Mr. Carter sniffed defiantly and, with a bored air, resumed his seat.
+Ten minutes passed--fifteen; at the end of half an hour the elder man's
+impatience found vent in a tirade against the entire sex.
+
+"She's dressing up; that's what it is," explained Jim.  "For him!"
+
+A door opened above and a step sounded on the stairs.  Mr. Carter looked
+up uneasily, and, after the first sensation of astonishment had passed,
+wondered vaguely what his double had run away for.  The girl, her lips
+parted and her eyes bright, came swiftly down into the room.
+
+"Where is he?" she said, quickly.
+
+"Eh?" said her father, in surprise.  "Why, there!  Can't you see?"
+
+The light died out of the girl's face and she looked round in dismay.
+The watchful Mr. Carter thought that he also detected in her glance a
+spice of that temper which had made her relatives so objectionable.
+
+"That!" she said, loudly.  "That!  That's not my Bert!"
+
+"That's what I told 'em," said Mr. Carter, deferentially, "over and over
+again."
+
+"What!" said her father, loudly.  "Look again."
+
+"If I looked all night it wouldn't make any difference," said the
+disappointed Miss Evans.  "The idea of making such a mistake!"
+
+"We're all liable to mistakes," said Mr. Carter, magnanimously, "even the
+best of us."
+
+"You take a good look at him," urged her brother, "and don't forget that
+it's four years since you saw him.  Isn't that Bert's nose?"
+
+"No," said the girl, glancing at the feature in question, "not a bit like
+it.  Bert had a beautiful nose."
+
+"Look at his eyes," said Jim.
+
+Miss Evans looked, and meeting Mr. Carter's steady gaze tossed her head
+scornfully and endeavored to stare him down.  Realizing too late the
+magnitude of the task, but unwilling to accept defeat, she stood
+confronting him with indignant eyes.
+
+"Well?" said Mr. Evans, misunderstanding.
+
+"Not a bit like," said his daughter, turning thank-fully.  "And if you
+don't like Bert, you needn't insult him."
+
+She sat down with her back towards Mr. Carter and looked out at the
+window.
+
+"Well, I could ha' sworn it was Bert Simmons," said the discomfited Mr.
+Evans.
+
+"Me, too," said his son.  "I'd ha' sworn to him anywhere.  It's the most
+extraordinary likeness I've ever seen."
+
+He caught his father's eye, and with a jerk of his thumb telegraphed for
+instructions as to the disposal of Mr. Carter.
+
+"He can go," said Mr. Evans, with an attempt at dignity; "he can go this
+time, and I hope that this'll be a lesson to him not to go about looking
+like other people.  If he does, next time, p'r'aps, he won't escape so
+easy."
+
+"You're quite right," said Mr. Carter, blandly.  "I'll get a new face
+first thing to-morrow morning.  I ought to have done it before."
+
+He crossed to the door and, nodding to the fermenting Mr. Evans, bowed to
+the profile of Miss Evans and walked slowly out.  Envy of Mr. Simmons was
+mingled with amazement at his deplorable lack of taste and common sense.
+He would willingly have changed places with him.  There was evidently a
+strong likeness, and----
+
+Busy with his thoughts he came to a standstill in the centre of the
+footpath, and then, with a sudden air of determination, walked slowly
+back to the house.
+
+"Yes?" said Mr. Evans, as the door opened and the face of Mr. Carter was
+thrust in.  "What have you come back for?"
+
+The other stepped into the room and closed the door softly behind him.
+"I have come back," he said, slowly--"I have come back because I feel
+ashamed of myself."
+
+"Ashamed of yourself?" repeated Mr. Evans, rising and confronting him.
+
+Mr. Carter hung his head and gazed nervously in the direction of the
+girl.  "I can't keep up this deception," he said, in a low but distinct
+voice.  "I am Bert Simmons.  At least, that is the name I told you four
+years ago."
+
+"I knew I hadn't made a mistake," roared Mr. Evans to his son.  "I knew
+him well enough.  Shut the door, Jim.  Don't let him go."
+
+"I don't want to go," said Mr. Carter, with a glance in the direction of
+Nancy.  "I have come back to make amends."
+
+"Fancy Nancy not knowing him!" said Jim, gazing at the astonished Miss
+Evans.
+
+"She was afraid of getting me into trouble," said Mr. Carter, "and I just
+gave her a wink not to recognize me; but she knew me well enough, bless
+her."
+
+"How dare you!"  said the girl, starting up.  "Why, I've never seen you
+before in my life."
+
+"All right, Nan," said the brazen Mr. Carter; "but it's no good keeping
+it up now.  I've come back to act fair and square."
+
+Miss Evans struggled for breath.
+
+"There he is, my girl," said her father, patting her on the back.  "He's
+not much to look at, and he treated you very shabby, but if you want him
+I suppose you must have him."
+
+"Want him?" repeated the incensed Miss Evans.  "Want him?  I tell you
+it's not Bert.  How dare he come here and call me Nan?"
+
+"You used not to mind it," said Mr. Carter, plaintively.
+
+"I tell you," said Miss Evans, turning to her father and brother, "it's
+not Bert.  Do you think I don't know?"
+
+"Well, he ought to know who he is," said her father, reasonably.
+
+"Of course I ought," said Mr. Carter, smiling at her.  "Besides, what
+reason should I have for saying I am Bert if I am not?"
+
+"That's a fair question," said Jim, as the girl bit her lip.  "Why should
+he?"
+
+"Ask him," said the girl, tartly.
+
+"Look here, my girl," said Mr. Evans, in ominous accents.  "For four
+years you've been grieving over Bert, and me and Jim have been hunting
+high and low for him.  We've got him at last, and now you've got to have
+him."
+
+"If he don't run away again," said Jim.  "I wouldn't trust him farther
+than I could see him."
+
+Mr. Evans sat and glowered at his prospective son-in-law as the
+difficulties of the situation developed themselves.  Even Mr. Carter's
+reminders that he had come back and surrendered of his own free will
+failed to move him, and he was hesitating between tying him up and
+locking him in the attic and hiring a man to watch him, when Mr. Carter
+himself suggested a way out of the difficulty.
+
+"I'll lodge with you," he said, "and I'll give you all my money and
+things to take care of.  I can't run away without money."
+
+He turned out his pockets on the table.  Seven pounds eighteen shillings
+and fourpence with his re-turn ticket made one heap; his watch and chain,
+penknife, and a few other accessories another.  A suggestion of Jim's
+that he should add his boots was vetoed by the elder man as unnecessary.
+
+"There you are," said Mr. Evans, sweeping the things into his own
+pockets; "and the day you are married I hand them back to you."
+
+His temper improved as the evening wore on.  By the time supper was
+finished and his pipe alight he became almost jocular, and the coldness
+of Miss Evans was the only drawback to an otherwise enjoyable evening.
+
+"Just showing off a little temper," said her father, after she had
+withdrawn; "and wants to show she ain't going to forgive you too easy.
+Not but what you behaved badly; however, let bygones be bygones, that's
+my idea."
+
+The behavior of Miss Evans was so much better next day that it really
+seemed as though her father's diagnosis was correct.  At dinner, when the
+men came home from work, she piled Mr. Carter's plate up so generously
+that her father and brother had ample time at their disposal to watch him
+eat.  And when he put his hand over his glass she poured half a pint of
+good beer, that other men would have been thankful for, up his sleeve.
+
+[Illustration: "She piled Mr. Carter's plate up so generously that her
+father and brother had ample time at their disposal to watch him eat."]
+
+She was out all the afternoon, but at tea time she sat next to Mr.
+Carter, and joined brightly in the conversation concerning her marriage.
+She addressed him as Bert, and when he furtively pressed her hand beneath
+the table-cloth she made no attempt to withdraw it.
+
+"I can't think how it was you didn't know him at first," said her father.
+"You're usually wide-awake enough."
+
+"Silly of me," said Nancy; "but I am silly sometimes."
+
+Mr. Carter pressed her hand again, and gazing tenderly into her eyes
+received a glance in return which set him thinking.  It was too cold and
+calculating for real affection; in fact, after another glance, he began
+to doubt if it indicated affection at all.
+
+"It's like old times, Bert," said Miss Evans, with an odd smile.  "Do you
+remember what you said that afternoon when I put the hot spoon on your
+neck?"
+
+"Yes," was the reply.
+
+"What was it?" inquired the girl.
+
+"I won't repeat it," said Mr. Carter, firmly.
+
+He was reminded of other episodes during the meal, but, by the exercise
+of tact and the plea of a bad memory, did fairly well.  He felt that he
+had done very well indeed when, having cleared the tea-things away, Nancy
+came and sat beside him with her hand in his.  Her brother grunted, but
+Mr. Evans, in whom a vein of sentiment still lingered, watched them with
+much satisfaction.
+
+Mr. Carter had got possession of both hands and was murmuring fulsome
+flatteries when the sound of somebody pausing at the open door caused
+them to be hastily withdrawn.
+
+"Evening, Mr. Evans," said a young man, putting his head in.  "Why,
+halloa!  Bert!  Well, of all the----"
+
+"Halloa!" said Mr. Carter, with attempted enthusiasm, as he rose from his
+chair.
+
+"I thought you was lost," said the other, stepping in and gripping his
+hand.  "I never thought I was going to set eyes on you again.  Well, this
+is a surprise.  You ain't forgot Joe Wilson, have you?"
+
+"Course I haven't, Joe," said Mr. Carter.  "I'd have known you anywhere."
+
+He shook hands effusively, and Mr. Wilson, after a little pretended
+hesitation, accepted a chair and began to talk about old times.
+
+"I lay you ain't forgot one thing, Bert," he said at last.
+
+"What's that?" inquired the other.
+
+"That arf-quid I lent you," said Mr. Wilson.
+
+Mr. Carter, after the first shock of surprise, pretended to think, Mr.
+Wilson supplying him with details as to time and place, which he was in
+no position to dispute.  He turned to Mr. Evans, who was still acting as
+his banker, and, after a little hesitation, requested him to pay the
+money.  Conversation seemed to fail somewhat after that, and Mr. Wilson,
+during an awkward pause, went off whistling.
+
+"Same old Joe," said Mr. Carter, lightly, after he had gone.  "He hasn't
+altered a bit."
+
+Miss Evans glanced at him, but said nothing.  She was looking instead
+towards a gentleman of middle age who was peeping round the door
+indulging in a waggish game of peep-bo with the unconscious Mr. Carter.
+Finding that he had at last attracted his attention, the gentleman came
+inside and, breathing somewhat heavily after his exertions, stood before
+him with outstretched hand.
+
+[Illustration: "A gentleman of middle age was peeping round the door."]
+
+"How goes it?" said Mr. Carter, forcing a smile and shaking hands.
+
+"He's grown better-looking than ever," said the gentleman, subsiding into
+a chair.
+
+"So have you," said Mr. Carter.  "I should hardly have known you."
+
+"Well, I' m glad to see you again," said the other in a more subdued
+fashion.  "We're all glad to see you back, and I 'ope that when the
+wedding cake is sent out there'll be a bit for old Ben Prout."
+
+"You'll be the first, Ben," said Mr. Carter, quickly.
+
+Mr. Prout got up and shook hands with him again.  "It only shows what
+mistakes a man can make," he said, resuming his seat.  "It only shows how
+easy it is to misjudge one's fellow-creeturs.  When you went away sudden
+four years ago, I says to myself, 'Ben Prout,' I says, 'make up your mind
+to it, that two quid has gorn.'"
+
+The smile vanished from Mr. Carter's face, and a sudden chill descended
+upon the company.
+
+"Two quid?"  he said, stiffly.  "What two quid?"
+
+"The two quid I lent you," said Mr. Prout, in a pained voice.
+
+"When?" said Mr. Carter, struggling.
+
+"When you and I met him that evening on the pier," said Miss Evans, in a
+matter-of-fact voice.
+
+Mr. Carter started, and gazed at her uneasily.  The smile on her lip and
+the triumphant gleam in her eye were a revelation to him.  He turned to
+Mr. Evans and in as calm a voice as he could assume, requested him to
+discharge the debt.  Mr. Prout, his fingers twitching, stood waiting
+"Well, it's your money," said Mr. Evans, grudgingly extracting a purse
+from his trouser-pocket; "and I suppose you ought to pay your debts;
+still----"
+
+He put down two pounds on the table and broke off in sudden amazement as
+Mr. Prout, snatching up the money, bolted headlong from the room.  His
+surprise was shared by his son, but the other two made no sign.  Mr.
+Carter was now prepared for the worst, and his voice was quite calm as he
+gave instructions for the payment of the other three gentlemen who
+presented claims during the evening endorsed by Miss Evans.  As the last
+departed Mr. Evans, whose temper had been gradually getting beyond his
+control, crossed over and handed him his watch and chain, a few coppers,
+and the return half of his railway ticket.
+
+"I think we can do without you, after all," he said, breathing thickly.
+"I've no doubt you owe money all over England.  You're a cadger, that's
+what you are."
+
+He pointed to the door, and Mr. Carter, after twice opening his lips to
+speak and failing, blundered towards it. Miss Evans watched him
+curiously.
+
+"Cheats never prosper," she said, with gentle severity.
+
+"Good-by," said Mr. Carter, pausing at the door.
+
+"It's your own fault," continued Miss Evans, who was suffering from a
+slight touch of conscience.  "If you hadn't come here pretending to be
+Bert Simmons and calling me 'Nan' as if you had known me all my life, I
+wouldn't have done it."
+
+"It doesn't matter," said Mr. Carter.  "I wish I was Bert Simmons, that's
+all.  Good-by."
+
+"Wish you was!" said Mr. Evans, who had been listening in open-mouthed
+astonishment.  "Look here!  Man to man--are you Bert Simmons or are you
+not?"
+
+"No," said Mr. Carter.
+
+"Of course not," said Nancy.
+
+"And you didn't owe that money?"
+
+"Nobody owed it," said Nancy.  "It was done just to punish him."
+
+Mr. Evans, with a strange cry, blundered towards the door.  "I'll have
+that money out of 'em," he roared, "if I have to hold 'em up and shake it
+out of their trouser-pockets.  You stay here."
+
+He hurried up the road, and Jim, with the set face of a man going into
+action against heavy odds, followed him.
+
+"Your father told me to stay," said Mr. Carter, coming farther into the
+room.
+
+Nancy looked up at him through her eyelashes.  "You need not unless you
+want to," she said, very softly.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Double Dealing, by W.W. Jacobs
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10791 ***