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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10873 ***
+
+AT SUNWICH PORT
+
+BY
+
+W. W. JACOBS
+
+Part 3.
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+From Drawings by Will Owen
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+Jack Nugent's first idea on seeing a letter from his father asking him to
+meet him at Samson Wilks's was to send as impolite a refusal as a strong
+sense of undutifulness and a not inapt pen could arrange, but the united
+remonstrances of the Kybird family made him waver.
+
+"You go," said Mr. Kybird, solemnly; "take the advice of a man wot's seen
+life, and go.  Who knows but wot he's a thinking of doing something for
+you?"
+
+"Startin' of you in business or somethin'," said Mrs. Kybird.  "But if 'e
+tries to break it off between you and 'Melia I hope you know what to
+say."
+
+"He won't do that," said her husband.
+
+"If he wants to see me," said Mr. Nugent, "let him come here."
+
+"I wouldn't 'ave 'im in my house," retorted Mr. Kybird, quickly.  "An
+Englishman's 'ouse is his castle, and I won't 'ave him in mine."
+
+"Why not, Dan'l," asked his wife, "if the two families is to be
+connected?"
+
+Mr. Kybird shook his head, and, catching her eye, winked at her with much
+significance.
+
+"'Ave it your own way," said Mrs. Kybird, who was always inclined to make
+concessions in minor matters.  "'Ave it your own way, but don't blame me,
+that's all I ask."
+
+Urged on by his friends Mr. Nugent at last consented, and, in a reply to
+his father, agreed to meet him at the house of Mr. Wilks on Thursday
+evening.  He was not free him-self from a slight curiosity as to the
+reasons which had made the captain unbend in so unusual a fashion.
+
+Mr. Nathan Smith put in an appearance at six o'clock on the fatal
+evening. He was a short, slight man, with a clean-shaven face mapped with
+tiny wrinkles, and a pair of colourless eyes the blankness of whose
+expression defied research.  In conversation, especially conversation of
+a diplomatic nature, Mr. Smith seemed to be looking through his opponent
+at something beyond, an uncomfortable habit which was a source of much
+discomfort to his victims.
+
+"Here we are, then, Mr. Wilks," he said, putting his head in the door and
+smiling at the agitated steward.
+
+"Come in," said Mr. Wilks, shortly.
+
+Mr. Smith obliged.  "Nice night outside," he said, taking a chair; "clear
+over'ead.  Wot a morning it 'ud be for a sail if we was only young
+enough.  Is that terbacker in that canister there?"
+
+The other pushed it towards him.
+
+"If I was only young enough--and silly enough," said the boarding-house
+master, producing a pipe with an unusually large bowl and slowly filling
+it, "there's nothing I should enjoy more than a three years' cruise.
+Nothing to do and everything of the best."
+
+"'Ave you made all the arrangements?" inquired Mr. Wilks, in a tone of
+cold superiority.
+
+Mr. Smith glanced affectionately at a fish-bag of bulky appearance which
+stood on the floor between his feet.  "All ready," he said, cheerfully,
+an' if you'd like a v'y'ge yourself I can manage it for you in two twos.
+You've on'y got to say the word."
+
+"I don't want one," said the steward, fiercely; "don't you try none o'
+your larks on me, Nathan Smith, cos I won't have it."
+
+[Illustration: "Mr. Nathan Smith."]
+
+"Lord love your 'art," said the boarding-master, "I wouldn't 'urt you.
+I'm on'y acting under your orders now; yours and the captin's.  It ain't
+in my reg'lar way o' business at all, but I'm so good-natured I can't say
+'no.'"
+
+"Can't say 'no' to five pounds, you mean," retorted Mr. Wilks, who by no
+means relished these remarks.
+
+"If I was getting as much out of it as you are I'd be a 'appy man,"
+sighed Mr. Smith.
+
+"Me!" cried the other; do you think I'd take money for this--why, I'd
+sooner starve, I'd sooner.  Wot are you a-tapping your nose for?"
+
+"Was I tapping it?" demanded Mr. Smith, in surprise.  "Well, I didn't
+know it.  I'm glad you told me."
+
+"You're quite welcome," said the steward, sharply.  "Crimping ain't in my
+line; I'd sooner sweep the roads."
+
+"'Ear, 'ear," exclaimed Mr. Smith, approvingly.  "Ah! wot a thing it is
+to come acrost an honest man.  Wot a good thing it is for the eyesight."
+
+He stared stonily somewhere in the direction of Mr. Wilks, and then
+blinking rapidly shielded his eyes with his hand as though overcome by
+the sight of so much goodness.  The steward's wrath rose at the
+performance, and he glowered back at him until his eyes watered.
+
+"Twenty past six," said Mr. Smith, suddenly, as he fumbled in his
+waistcoat-pocket and drew out a small folded paper.  "It's time I made a
+start.  I s'pose you've got some salt in the house?"
+
+"Plenty," said Mr. Wilks.
+
+"And beer?" inquired the other.
+
+"Yes, there is some beer," said the steward.
+
+"Bring me a quart of it," said the boarding-master, slowly and
+impressively.  "I want it drawed in a china mug, with a nice foaming 'ead
+on it."
+
+"Wot do you want it for?" inquired Mr. Wilks, eyeing him very closely.
+
+"Bisness purposes," said Mr. Smith.  "If you're very good you shall see
+'ow I do it."
+
+Still the steward made no move.  "I thought you brought the stuff with
+you," he remarked.
+
+Mr. Smith looked at him with mild reproach.  "Are you managing this
+affair or am I?" he inquired.
+
+The steward went out reluctantly, and drawing a quart mug of beer set it
+down on the table and stood watching his visitor.
+
+"And now I want a spoonful o' sugar, a spoonful o' salt, and a spoonful
+o' vinegar," said Mr. Smith.  "Make haste afore the 'ead goes off of it."
+
+Mr. Wilks withdrew grumbling, and came back in a wonderfully short space
+of time considering, with the articles required.
+
+"Thankee," said the other; "you 'ave been quick.  I wish I could move as
+quick as you do.  But you can take 'em back now, I find I can do without
+'em."
+
+"Where's the beer?" demanded the incensed Mr. Wilks; where's the beer,
+you underhanded swab?"
+
+"I altered my mind," said Mr. Smith, "and not liking waste, and seeing by
+your manner that you've 'ad more than enough already to-night, I drunk
+it.  There isn't another man in Sunwich I could ha' played that trick on,
+no, nor a boy neither."
+
+Mr. Wilks was about to speak, but, thinking better of it, threw the three
+spoons in the kitchen, and resuming his seat by the fire sat with his
+back half turned to his visitor.
+
+"Bright, cheerful young chap, 'e is," said Mr. Smith; "you've knowed 'im
+ever since he was a baby, haven't you?"
+
+Mr. Wilks made no reply.
+
+"The Conqueror's sailing to-morrow morning, too," continued his
+tormentor; "his father's old ship.  'Ow strange it'll seem to 'im
+following it out aboard a whaler.  Life is full o' surprises, Mr. Wilks,
+and wot a big surprise it would be to you if you could 'ear wot he says
+about you when he comes to 'is senses."
+
+"I'm obeying orders," growled the other.
+
+"Quite right," said Mr. Smith, approvingly, as he drew a bottle of whisky
+from his bag and placed it on the table.  "Two glasses and there we are.
+We don't want any salt and vinegar this time."
+
+Mr. Wilks turned a deaf ear.  "But 'ow are you going to manage so as to
+make one silly and not the other?" he inquired.
+
+"It's a trade secret," said the other; "but I don't mind telling you I
+sent the cap'n something to take afore he comes, and I shall be in your
+kitchen looking arter things."
+
+"I s'pose you know wot you're about?"  said Mr. Wilks, doubtfully.
+
+"I s'pose so," rejoined the other.  "Young Nu-gent trusts you, and, of
+course, he'll take anything from your 'ouse.  That's the beauty of 'aving
+a character, Mr. Wilks; a good character and a face like a baby with grey
+whiskers."
+
+Mr. Wilks bent down and, taking up a small brush, carefully tidied up the
+hearth.
+
+"Like as not, if my part in it gets to be known," pursued Mr. Smith,
+mournfully, "I'll 'ave that gal of Kybird's scratching my eyes out or
+p'r'aps sticking a hat-pin into me.  I had that once; the longest hat-pin
+that ever was made, I should think."
+
+He shook his head over the perils of his calling, and then, after another
+glance at the clock, withdrew to the kitchen with his bag, leaving Mr.
+Wilks waiting in a state of intense nervousness for the arrival of the
+others.
+
+Captain Nugent was the first to put in an appearance, and by way of
+setting a good example poured a little of the whisky in his glass and sat
+there waiting.  Then Jack Nugent came in, fresh and glowing, and Mr.
+Wilks, after standing about helplessly for a few moments, obeyed the
+captain's significant nod and joined Mr. Smith in the kitchen.
+
+"You'd better go for a walk," said that gentle-man, regarding him kindly;
+"that's wot the cap'n thought."
+
+Mr. Wilks acquiesced eagerly, and tapping at the door passed through the
+room again into the street.  A glance as he went through showed him that
+Jack Nugent was drinking, and he set off in a panic to get away from the
+scene which he had contrived.
+
+He slackened after a time and began to pace the streets at a rate which
+was less noticeable.  As he passed the Kybirds' he shivered, and it was
+not until he had consumed a pint or two of the strongest brew procurable
+at the _Two Schooners_ that he began to regain some of his old
+self-esteem.  He felt almost maudlin at the sacrifice of character he was
+enduring for the sake of his old master, and the fact that he could not
+narrate it to sympathetic friends was not the least of his troubles.
+
+[Illustration: "It was not until he had consumed a pint or two of the
+strongest brew that he began to regain some of his old self-esteem."]
+
+The shops had closed by the time he got into the street again, and he
+walked down and watched with much solemnity the reflection of the quay
+lamps in the dark water of the harbour.  The air was keen and the various
+craft distinct in the starlight.  Perfect quiet reigned aboard the
+Seabird, and after a vain attempt to screw up his courage to see the
+victim taken aboard he gave it up and walked back along the beach.
+
+By the time he turned his steps homewards it was nearly eleven o'clock.
+Fullalove Alley was quiet, and after listening for some time at his
+window he turned the handle of the door and passed in.  The nearly empty
+bottle stood on the table, and an over-turned tumbler accounted for a
+large, dark patch on the table-cloth.  As he entered the room the kitchen
+door opened and Mr. Nathan Smith, with a broad smile on his face, stepped
+briskly in.
+
+"All over," he said, rubbing his hands; "he went off like a lamb, no
+trouble nor fighting.  He was a example to all of us."
+
+"Did the cap'n see 'im aboard?" inquired Mr. Wilks.
+
+"Certainly not," said the other.  "As a matter o' fact the cap'n took a
+little more than I told 'im to take, and I 'ad to help 'im up to your
+bed.  Accidents will 'appen, but he'll be all right in the morning if
+nobody goes near 'im.  Leave 'im perfectly quiet, and when 'e comes
+downstairs give 'im a strong cup o' tea."
+
+"In my bed?" repeated the staring Mr. Wilks.
+
+"He's as right as rain," said the boarding master.  "I brought down a
+pillow and blankets for you and put 'em in the kitchen.  And now I'll
+take the other two pound ten and be getting off 'ome.  It ought to be ten
+pounds really with the trouble I've 'ad."
+
+Mr. Wilks laid the desired amount on the table, and Mr. Nathan Smith
+placing it in his pocket rose to go.
+
+"Don't disturb 'im till he's 'ad 'is sleep out, mind," he said, pausing
+at the door, "else I can't answer for the consequences.  If 'e should get
+up in the night and come down raving mad, try and soothe 'im.  Good-night
+and pleasant dreams."
+
+He closed the door after him quietly, and the horrified steward, after
+fetching the bed-clothes on tiptoe from the kitchen, locked the door
+which led to the staircase, and after making up a bed on the floor lay
+down in his clothes and tried to get to sleep.
+
+He dozed off at last, but woke up several times during the night with the
+cold.  The lamp burnt itself out, and in the dark he listened intently
+for any sounds of life in the room above.  Then he fell asleep again,
+until at about half-past seven in the morning a loud crash overhead awoke
+him with a start.
+
+In a moment he was sitting up with every faculty on the alert.  Footsteps
+blundered about in the room above, and a large and rapidly widening patch
+of damp showed on the ceiling.  It was evident that the sleeper, in his
+haste to quench an abnormal thirst, had broken the water jug.
+
+Mr. Wilks, shivering with dread, sprang to his feet and stood irresolute.
+Judging by the noise, the captain was evidently in a fine temper, and Mr.
+Smith's remarks about insanity occurred to him with redoubled interest.
+Then he heard a hoarse shout, the latch of the bedroom door clicked, and
+the prisoner stumbled heavily downstairs and began to fumble at the
+handle of the door at the bottom.  Trembling with excitement Mr. Wilks
+dashed forward and turned the key, and then retreating to the street door
+prepared for instant flight.
+
+He opened the door so suddenly that the man on the other side, with a
+sudden cry, fell on all fours into the room, and raising his face stared
+stupidly at the steward.  Mr. Wilks's hands dropped to his sides and his
+tongue refused its office, for in some strange fashion, quite in keeping
+with the lawless proceedings of the previous night, Captain Nugent had
+changed into a most excellent likeness of his own son.
+
+[Illustration: "The man on the other side fell on all fours into the
+room."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+For some time Mr. Wilks stood gazing at this unexpected apparition and
+trying to collect his scattered senses.  Its face was pale and flabby,
+while its glassy eyes, set in rims of red eyelids, were beginning to
+express unmistakable signs of suspicion and wrath.  The shock was so
+sudden that the steward could not even think coherently.  Was the captain
+upstairs?  And if so, what was his condition?  Where was Nathan Smith?
+And where was the five pounds?
+
+A voice, a husky and discordant voice, broke in upon his meditations;
+Jack Nugent was also curious.
+
+"What does all this mean?"  he demanded, angrily.  "How did I get here?"
+
+"You--you came downstairs," stammered Mr. Wilks, still racking his brains
+in the vain effort to discover how matters stood.
+
+Mr. Nugent was about to speak, but, thinking better of it, turned and
+blundered into the kitchen.  Sounds of splashing and puffing ensued, and
+the steward going to the door saw him with his head under the tap.  He
+followed him in and at the right time handed him a towel.  Despite the
+disordered appearance of his hair the improvement in Mr. Nugent's
+condition was so manifest that the steward, hoping for similar results,
+turned the tap on again and followed his example.
+
+"Your head wants cooling, I should think," said the young man, returning
+him the towel.  "What's it all about?"
+
+Mr. Wilks hesitated; a bright thought occurred to him, and murmuring
+something about a dry towel he sped up the narrow stairs to his bedroom.
+The captain was not there.  He pushed open the small lattice window and
+peered out into the alley; no sign of either the captain or the ingenious
+Mr. Nathan Smith.  With a heavy heart he descended the stairs again.
+
+[Illustration: "He pushed open the small lattice window and peered out
+into the alley."]
+
+"Now," said Mr. Nugent, who was sitting down with his hands in his
+pockets, "perhaps you'll be good enough to explain what all this means."
+
+"You were 'ere last night," said Mr. Wilks, "you and the cap'n."
+
+"I know that," said Nugent.  "How is it I didn't go home?  I didn't
+understand that it was an all-night invitation.  Where is my father?"
+
+The steward shook his head helplessly.  "He was 'ere when I went out
+last night," he said, slowly.  "When I came back the room was empty and I
+was told as 'e was upstairs in my bed."
+
+"Told he was in your bed?" repeated the other.  "Who told you?"
+
+He pushed open the small lattice window and peered out into the alley.
+
+Mr. Wilks caught his breath.  "I mean I told myself 'e was in my bed," he
+stammered, "because when I came in I see these bed-clothes on the floor,
+an' I thought as the cap'n 'ad put them there for me and taken my bed
+'imself."
+
+Mr. Nugent regarded the litter of bed-clothes as though hoping that they
+would throw a little light on the affair, and then shot a puzzled glance
+at Mr. Wilks.
+
+"Why should you think my father wanted your bed?" he inquired.
+
+"I don't know," was the reply.  "I thought p'r'aps 'e'd maybe taken a
+little more than 'e ought to have taken.  But it's all a myst'ry to me.
+I'm more astonished than wot you are."
+
+"Well, I can't make head or tail of it," said Nugent, rising and pacing
+the room.  "I came here to meet my father.  So far as I remember I had
+one drink of whisky--your whisky--and then I woke up in your bedroom with
+a splitting headache and a tongue like a piece of leather.  Can you
+account for it?"
+
+Mr. Wilks shook his head again.  "I wasn't here," he said, plucking up
+courage.  "Why not go an' see your father?  Seems to me 'e is the one
+that would know most about it."
+
+Mr. Nugent stood for a minute considering, and then raising the latch of
+the door opened it slowly and inhaled the cold morning air.  A subtle and
+delicate aroma of coffee and herrings which had escaped from neighbouring
+breakfast-tables invaded the room and reminded him of an appetite.  He
+turned to go, but had barely quitted the step before he saw Mrs. Kingdom
+and his sister enter the alley.
+
+Mr. Wilks saw them too, and, turning if anything a shade paler, supported
+himself by the door-pest.  Kate Nugent quickened her pace as she saw
+them, and, after a surprised greeting to her brother, breathlessly
+informed him that the captain was missing.
+
+"Hasn't been home all night," panted Mrs. Kingdom, joining them.  "I
+don't know what to think."
+
+They formed an excited little group round the steward's door, and Mr.
+Wilks, with an instinctive feeling that the matter was one to be
+discussed in private, led the way indoors.  He began to apologize for the
+disordered condition of the room, but Jack Nugent, interrupting him
+brusquely, began to relate his own adventures of the past few hours.
+
+Mrs. Kingdom listened to the narrative with unexpected calmness.  She
+knew the cause of her nephew's discomfiture.  It was the glass of whisky
+acting on a system unaccustomed to alcohol, and she gave a vivid and
+moving account of the effects of a stiff glass of hot rum which she had
+once taken for a cold.  It was quite clear to her that the captain had
+put his son to bed; the thing to discover now was where he had put
+himself.
+
+"Sam knows something about it," said her nephew, darkly; "there's
+something wrong."
+
+"I know no more than a babe unborn," declared Mr. Wilks.  "The last I see
+of the cap'n 'e was a-sitting at this table opposite you."
+
+"Sam wouldn't hurt a fly," said Miss Nugent, with a kind glance at her
+favourite.
+
+"Well, where is the governor, then?" inquired her brother.  "Why didn't
+he go home last night?  He has never stayed out before."
+
+"Yes, he has," said Mrs. Kingdom, folding her hands in her lap.  "When
+you were children.  He came home at half-past eleven next morning, and
+when I asked him where he'd been he nearly bit my head off.  I'd been
+walking the floor all night, and I shall never forget his remarks when he
+opened the door to the police, who'd come to say they couldn't find him.
+Never."
+
+A ghostly grin flitted across the features of Mr. Wilks, but he passed
+the back of his hand across his mouth and became serious again as he
+thought of his position.  He was almost dancing with anxiety to get away
+to Mr. Nathan Smith and ask for an explanation of the proceedings of the
+night before.
+
+"I'll go and have a look round for the cap'n," he said, eagerly; "he
+can't be far."
+
+"I'll come with you," said Nugent.  "I should like to see him too.  There
+are one or two little things that want explaining.  You take aunt home,
+Kate, and I'll follow on as soon as there is any news."
+
+As he spoke the door opened a little way and a head appeared, only to be
+instantly withdrawn at the sight of so many people.  Mr. Wilks stepped
+forward hastily, and throwing the door wide open revealed the interesting
+features of Mr. Nathan Smith.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Wilks?" said that gentleman, softly.  "I just walked
+round to see whether you was in.  I've got a message for you.  I didn't
+know you'd got company."
+
+He stepped into the room and, tapping the steward on the chest with a
+confidential finger, backed him into a corner, and having got him there
+gave an expressive wink with one eye and gazed into space with the other.
+
+[Illustration: "Tapping the steward on the chest with a confidential
+finger, he backed him into a corner."]
+
+"I thought you'd be alone," he said, looking round, "but p'r'aps it's
+just as well as it is.  They've got to know, so they may as well know now
+as later on."
+
+"Know what?" inquired Jack Nugent, abruptly.  "What are you making that
+face for, Sam?"
+
+Mr. Wilks mumbled something about a decayed tooth, and to give colour to
+the statement continued a series of contortions which made his face ache.
+
+"You should take something for that tooth," said the boarding-master,
+with great solicitude.  "Wot do you say to a glass o' whisky?"
+
+He motioned to the fatal bottle, which still stood on the table; the
+steward caught his breath, and then, rising to the occasion, said that he
+had already had a couple of glasses, and they had done no good.
+
+"What's your message?" inquired Jack Nugent, impatiently.
+
+"I'm just going to tell you," said Mr. Smith.  "I was out early this
+morning, strolling down by the harbour to get a little appetite for
+breakfast, when who should I see coming along, looking as though 'e 'ad
+just come from a funeral, but Cap'n Nugent!  I was going to pass 'im, but
+he stopped me and asked me to take a message from 'im to 'is old and
+faithful steward, Mr. Wilks."
+
+"Why, has he gone away?" exclaimed Mrs. Kingdom.
+
+"His old and faithful steward," repeated Mr. Smith, motioning her to
+silence.  "'Tell 'im,' he says, 'that I am heartily ashamed of myself for
+wot took place last night--and him, too.  Tell 'im that, after my
+father's 'art proved too much for me, I walked the streets all night, and
+now I can't face may injured son and family yet awhile, and I'm off to
+London till it has blown over.'"
+
+"But what's it all about?"  demanded Nugent.  Why don't you get to the
+point?"
+
+"So far as I could make out," replied Mr. Smith, with the studious care
+of one who desires to give exact information, "Cap'n Nugent and Mr. Wilks
+'ad a little plan for giving you a sea blow."
+
+"Me?" interrupted the unfortunate steward.  "Now, look 'ere, Nathan
+Smith----"
+
+"Them was the cap'n's words," said the boarding-master, giving him a
+glance of great significance; "are you going to take away or add to wot
+the cap'n says?"
+
+Mr. Wilks collapsed, and avoiding the indignant eyes of the Nugent family
+tried to think out his position.
+
+"It seems from wot the cap'n told me," continued Mr. Smith, "that there
+was some objection to your marrying old--Mr. Kybird's gal, so 'e and Mr.
+Wilks, after putting their 'eads together, decided to get you 'ere and
+after giving you a little whisky that Mr. Wilks knows the trick of--"
+
+"Me?" interrupted the unfortunate steward, again.
+
+"Them was the cap'n's words," said Mr. Smith, coldly.  "After you'd 'ad
+it they was going to stow you away in the Seabird, which sailed this
+morning.  However, when the cap'n see you overcome, his 'art melted, and
+instead o' putting you aboard the whaler he took your feet and Mr. Wilks
+your 'ead, and after a great deal o' trouble got you upstairs and put you
+to bed."
+
+"You miserable scoundrel," said the astonished Mr. Nugent, addressing the
+shrinking steward; "you infernal old reprobate--you--you--I didn't think
+you'd got it in you."
+
+"So far as I could make out," said Mr. Smith, kindly, "Mr. Wilks was only
+obeying orders.  It was the cap'n's plan, and Mr. Wilks was aboard ship
+with 'im for a very long time.  O' course, he oughtn't to ha' done it,
+but the cap'n's a masterful man, an' I can quite understand Mr. Wilks
+givin' way; I dessay I should myself if I'd been in 'is place--he's all
+'art, is Mr. Wilks--no 'ead."
+
+"It's a good job for you you're an old man, Sam," said Mr. Nugent.
+
+"I can hardly believe it of you, Sam," said Miss Nugent.  "I can hardly
+think you could have been so deceitful.  Why, we've trusted you all our
+lives."
+
+The unfortunate steward quailed beneath the severity of her glance.  Even
+if he gave a full account of the affair it would not make his position
+better.  It was he who had made all the arrangements with Mr. Smith, and
+after an indignant glance at that gentleman he lowered his gaze and
+remained silent.
+
+"It is rather odd that my father should take you into his confidence,"
+said Miss Nugent, turning to the boarding-master.
+
+"Just wot I thought, miss," said the complaisant Mr. Smith; "but I s'pose
+there was nobody else, and he wanted 'is message to go for fear you
+should get worrying the police about 'im or something.  He wants it kep'
+quiet, and 'is last words to me as 'e left me was, 'If this affair gets
+known I shall never come back.  Tell 'em to keep it quiet.'"
+
+"I don't think anybody will want to go bragging about it," said Jack
+Nugent, rising, "unless it is Sam Wilks.  Come along, Kate."
+
+Miss Nugent followed him obediently, only pausing at the door to give a
+last glance of mingled surprise and reproach at Mr. Wilks.  Then they
+were outside and the door closed behind them.
+
+"Well, that's all right," said Mr. Smith, easily.
+
+"All right!" vociferated the steward.  "Wot did you put it all on to me
+for?  Why didn't you tell 'em your part in it?"
+
+"Wouldn't ha' done any good," said Mr. Smith; "wouldn't ha' done you any
+good.  Besides, I did just wot the cap'n told me."
+
+"When's he coming back?" inquired the steward.
+
+Mr. Smith shook his head.  "Couldn't say," he returned.  "He couldn't say
+'imself.  Between you an' me, I expect 'e's gone up to have a reg'lar
+fair spree."
+
+"Why did you tell me last night he was up-stairs?" inquired the other.
+
+"Cap'n's orders," repeated Mr. Smith, with relish.  "Ask 'im, not me.  As
+a matter o' fact, he spent the night at my place and went off this
+morning."
+
+"An' wot about the five pounds?" inquired Mr. Wilks, spitefully.  "You
+ain't earned it."
+
+"I know I ain't," said Mr. Smith, mournfully.  "That's wot's worrying me.
+It's like a gnawing pain in my side.  D'you think it's conscience biting
+of me?  I never felt it before.  Or d'ye think it's sorrow to think that
+I've done the whole job too cheap  You think it out and let me know later
+on.  So long."
+
+He waved his hand cheerily to the steward and departed.  Mr. Wilks threw
+himself into a chair and, ignoring the cold and the general air of
+desolation of his best room, gave way to a fit of melancholy which would
+have made Mr. Edward Silk green with envy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Days passed, but no word came from the missing captain, and only the
+determined opposition of Kate Nugent kept her aunt from advertising in
+the "Agony" columns of the London Press.  Miss Nugent was quite as
+desirous of secrecy in the affair as her father, and it was a source of
+great annoyance to her when, in some mysterious manner, it leaked out.
+In a very short time the news was common property, and Mr. Wilks,
+appearing to his neighbours in an entirely new character, was besieged
+for information.
+
+His own friends were the most tiresome, their open admiration of his
+lawlessness and their readiness to trace other mysterious disappearances
+to his agency being particularly galling to a man whose respectability
+formed his most cherished possession.  Other people regarded the affair
+as a joke, and he sat gazing round-eyed one evening at the Two Schooners
+at the insensible figures of three men who had each had a modest
+half-pint at his expense.  It was a pretty conceit and well played, but
+the steward, owing to the frenzied efforts of one of the sleeper whom he
+had awakened with a quart pot, did not stay to admire it.  He finished
+up the evening at the Chequers, and after getting wet through on the way
+home fell asleep in his wet clothes before the dying fire.
+
+[Illustration: "He finished up the evening at the Chequers."]
+
+He awoke with a bad cold and pains in the limbs.  A headache was not
+unexpected, but the other symptoms were.  With trembling hands he managed
+to light a fire and prepare a breakfast, which he left untouched.  This
+last symptom was the most alarming of all, and going to the door he
+bribed a small boy with a penny to go for Dr. Murchison, and sat cowering
+over the fire until he came.
+
+"Well, you've got a bad cold," said the doctor, after examining him."
+You'd better get to bed for the present.  You'll be safe there."
+
+"Is it dangerous?" faltered the steward.
+
+"And keep yourself warm," said the doctor, who was not in the habit of
+taking his patients into his confidence.  "I'll send round some
+medicine."
+
+"I should like Miss Nugent to know I'm bad," said Mr. Wilks, in a weak
+voice.
+
+"She knows that," replied Murchison.  "She was telling me about you the
+other day."
+
+He put his hand up to his neat black moustache to hide a smile, and met
+the steward's indignant gaze without flinching.
+
+"I mean ill," said the latter, sharply.
+
+"Oh, yes," said the other.  "Well, you get to bed now.  Good morning."
+
+He took up his hat and stick and departed.  Mr. Wilks sat for a little
+while over the fire, and then, rising, hobbled slowly upstairs to bed and
+forgot his troubles in sleep.
+
+He slept until the afternoon, and then, raising himself in bed, listened
+to the sounds of stealthy sweeping in the room below.  Chairs were being
+moved about, and the tinkle of ornaments on the mantelpiece announced
+that dusting operations were in progress.  He lay down again with a
+satisfied smile; it was like a tale in a story-book: the faithful old
+servant and his master's daughter.  He closed his eyes as he heard her
+coming upstairs.
+
+"Ah, pore dear," said a voice.
+
+Mr. Wilks opened his eyes sharply and beheld the meagre figure of Mrs.
+Silk.  In one hand she held a medicine-bottle and a glass and in the
+other paper and firewood.
+
+[Illustration: "The meagre figure of Mrs. Silk."]
+
+"I only 'eard of it half an hour ago," she said, reproachfully.  "I saw
+the doctor's boy, and I left my work and came over at once.  Why didn't
+you let me know?"
+
+Mr. Wilks muttered that he didn't know, and lay crossly regarding his
+attentive neighbour as she knelt down and daintily lit the fire.  This
+task finished, she proceeded to make the room tidy, and then set about
+making beef-tea in a little saucepan.
+
+"You lay still and get well," she remarked, with tender playfulness.
+"That's all you've got to do.  Me and Teddy'll look after you."
+
+"I couldn't think of troubling you," said the steward, earnestly.
+
+"It's no trouble," was the reply.  "You don't think I'd leave you here
+alone helpless, do you?"
+
+"I was going to send for old Mrs. Jackson if I didn't get well to-day,"
+said Mr. Wilks.
+
+Mrs. Silk shook her head at him, and, after punching up his pillow, took
+an easy chair by the fire and sat there musing.  Mr. Edward Silk came in
+to tea, and, after remarking that Mr. Wilks was very flushed and had got
+a nasty look about the eyes and a cough which he didn't like, fell to
+discoursing on death-beds.
+
+"Good nursing is the principal thing," said his mother.  "I nursed my
+pore dear 'usband all through his last illness.  He couldn't bear me to
+be out of the room.  I nursed my mother right up to the last, and your
+pore Aunt Jane went off in my arms."
+
+Mr. Wilks raised himself on his elbow and his eyes shone feverishly in
+the lamplight.  "I think I'll get a 'ospital nurse to-morrow," he said,
+decidedly.
+
+"Nonsense," said Mrs. Silk.  "It's no trouble to me at all.  I like
+nursing; always did."
+
+Mr. Wilks lay back again and, closing his eyes, determined to ask the
+doctor to provide a duly qualified nurse on the morrow.  To his
+disappointment, however, the doctor failed to come, and although he felt
+much better Mrs. Silk sternly negatived a desire on his part to get up.
+
+"Not till the doctor's been," she said, firmly.  "I couldn't think of
+it."
+
+"I don't believe there's anything the matter with me now," he declared.
+
+"'Ow odd--'ow very odd that you should say that!" said Mrs. Silk,
+clasping her hands.
+
+"Odd!" repeated the steward, somewhat crustily.  "How do you mean--odd?"
+
+"They was the very last words my Uncle Benjamin ever uttered in this
+life," said Mrs. Silk, with dramatic impressiveness.
+
+The steward was silent, then, with the ominous precedent of Uncle
+Benjamin before him, he began to talk until scores of words stood between
+himself and a similar ending.
+
+"Teddy asked to be remembered to you as 'e went off this morning," said
+Mrs. Silk, pausing in her labours at the grate.
+
+"I'm much obliged," muttered the invalid.
+
+"He didn't 'ave time to come in," pursued the widow.  "You can 'ardly
+believe what a lot 'e thinks of you, Mr. Wilks.  The last words he said
+to me was, 'Let me know at once if there's any change.'"
+
+Mr. Wilks distinctly felt a cold, clammy sensation down his spine and
+little quivering thrills ran up and down his legs.  He glared indignantly
+at the back of the industrious Mrs. Silk.
+
+"Teddy's very fond of you," continued the unconscious woman.  "I s'pose
+it's not 'aving a father, but he seems to me to think more of you than
+any-body else in the wide, wide world.  I get quite jealous sometimes.
+Only the other day I said to 'im, joking like, 'Well, you'd better go and
+live with 'im if you're so fond of 'im,' I said."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed Mr. Wilks, uneasily.
+
+"You'll never guess what 'e said then," said Mrs. Silk dropping her
+dustpan and brush and gazing at the hearth.
+
+"Said 'e couldn't leave you, I s'pose," guessed the steward, gruffly.
+
+"Well, now," exclaimed Mrs. Silk, clapping her hands, "if you 'aven't
+nearly guessed it.  Well, there!  I never did!  I wouldn't 'ave told you
+for anything if you 'adn't said that.  The exact words what 'e did say
+was, 'Not without you, mother.'"
+
+Mr. Wilks closed his eyes with a snap and his heart turned to water.  He
+held his breath and ran-sacked his brain in vain for a reply which should
+ignore the inner meaning of the fatal words.  Something careless and
+jocular he wanted, combined with a voice which should be perfectly under
+control.  Failing these things, he kept his eyes closed, and, very
+wide-awake indeed, feigned sleep.  He slept straight away from eleven
+o'clock in the morning until Edward Silk came in at seven o'clock in the
+evening.
+
+"I feel like a new man," he said, rubbing his eyes and yawning.
+
+"I don't see no change in your appearance," said the comforting youth.
+
+"'E's much better," declared his mother.  "That's what comes o' good
+nursing; some nurses would 'ave woke 'im up to take food, but I just let
+'im sleep on.  People don't feel hunger while they're asleep."
+
+She busied herself over the preparation of a basin of arrowroot, and the
+steward, despite his distaste for this dish, devoured it in a twinkling.
+Beef-tea and a glass of milk in addition failed to take more than the
+edge off his appetite.
+
+"We shall pull 'im through," said Mrs. Silk, smiling, as she put down the
+empty glass.  "In a fortnight he'll be on 'is feet."
+
+It is a matter of history that Mr. Wilks was on his feet at five o'clock
+the next morning, and not only on his feet but dressed and ready for a
+journey after such a breakfast as he had not made for many a day.  The
+discourtesy involved in the disregard of the doctor's instructions did
+not trouble him, and he smirked with some satisfaction as he noiselessly
+closed his door behind him and looked at the drawn blinds opposite.  The
+stars were paling as he quitted the alley and made his way to the railway
+station.  A note on his tumbled pillow, after thanking Mrs. Silk for her
+care of him, informed her that he was quite well and had gone to London
+in search of the missing captain.
+
+Hardy, who had heard from Edward Silk of the steward's indisposition and
+had been intending to pay him a visit, learnt of his departure later on
+in the morning, and, being ignorant of the particulars, discoursed
+somewhat eloquently to his partner on the old man's devotion.
+
+"H'm, may be," said Swann, taking off his glasses and looking at him.
+"But you don't think Captain Nugent is in London, do you?"
+
+"Why not?" inquired Hardy, somewhat startled.  "If what Wilks told you is
+true, Nathan Smith knows," said the other.  "I'll ask him."
+
+"You don't expect to get the truth out of him, do you?" inquired Hardy,
+superciliously.
+
+"I do," said his partner, serenely; "and when I've got it I shall go and
+tell them at Equator Lodge.  It will be doing those two poor ladies a
+service to let them know what has really happened to the captain."
+
+"I'll walk round to Nathan Smith's with you," said Hardy.  "I should like
+to hear what the fellow has to say."
+
+"No, I'll go alone," said his partner; "Smith's a very shy man--painfully
+shy.  I've run across him once or twice before.  He's almost as bashful
+and retiring as you are."
+
+Hardy grunted.  "If the captain isn't in London, where is he?" he
+inquired.
+
+The other shook his head.  "I've got an idea," he replied, "but I want to
+make sure.  Kybird and Smith are old friends, as Nugent might have known,
+only he was always too high and mighty to take any interest in his
+inferiors.  There's something for you to go on."
+
+He bent over his desk again and worked steadily until one o'clock--his
+hour for lunching.  Then he put on his hat and coat, and after a
+comfortable meal sallied out in search of Mr. Smith.
+
+[Illustration: "In search of Mr. Smith."]
+
+The boarding-house, an old and dilapidated building, was in a bystreet
+convenient to the harbour.  The front door stood open, and a couple of
+seamen lounging on the broken steps made way for him civilly as he
+entered and rapped on the bare boards with his stick.  Mr. Smith,
+clattering down the stairs in response, had some difficulty in concealing
+his surprise at the visit, but entered genially into a conversation about
+the weather, a subject in which he was much interested.  When the
+ship-broker began to discuss the object of his visit he led him to a
+small sitting-room at the back of the house and repeated the information
+he had given to Mr. Wilks.
+
+"That's all there is to tell," he concluded, artlessly; "the cap'n was
+that ashamed of hisself, he's laying low for a bit.  We all make mistakes
+sometimes; I do myself."
+
+"I am much obliged to you," said Mr. Swann, gratefully.
+
+"You're quite welcome, sir," said the boarding-master.
+
+"And now," said the visitor, musingly--"now for the police."
+
+"Police!" repeated Mr. Smith, almost hastily.  "What for?"
+
+"Why, to find the captain," said Mr. Swann, in a surprised voice.
+
+Mr. Smith shook his head.  "You'll offend the cap'n bitter if you go to
+the police about 'im, sir," he declared.  "His last words to me was,
+'Smith, 'ave this kept quiet.'"
+
+"It'll be a little job for the police," urged the shipbroker.  "They
+don't have much to do down here; they'll be as pleased as possible."
+
+"They'll worry your life out of you, sir," said the other.  "You don't
+know what they are."
+
+"I like a little excitement," returned Mr. Swann.  "I don't suppose
+they'll trouble me much, but they'll turn your place topsy-turvy, I
+expect.  Still, that can't be helped.  You know what fools the police
+are; they'll think you've murdered the captain and hidden his body under
+the boards.  They'll have all the floors up.  Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+"'Aving floors up don't seem to me to be so amusing as wot it does to
+you," remarked Mr. Smith, coldly.
+
+"They may find all sorts of treasure for you," continued his visitor.
+"It's a very old house, Smith, and there may be bags of guineas hidden
+away under the flooring.  You may be able to retire."
+
+"You're a gentleman as is fond of his joke, Mr. Swann," returned the
+boarding-master, lugubriously.  "I wish I'd got that 'appy way of looking
+at things you 'ave."
+
+"I'm not joking, Smith," said the other, quietly.
+
+Mr. Smith pondered and, stealing a side-glance at him, stood scraping his
+foot along the floor.
+
+"There ain't nothing much to tell," he grumbled, "and, mind, the worst
+favour you could do to the cap'n would be to put it about how he was
+done.  He's gone for a little trip instead of 'is son, that's all."
+
+"Little trip!" repeated the other; "you call a whaling cruise a little
+trip?"
+
+"No, no, sir," said Mr. Smith, in a shocked voice, "I ain't so bad as
+that; I've got some 'art, I hope.  He's just gone for a little trip with
+'is old pal Hardy on the _Conqueror_.  Kybird's idea it was."
+
+"Don't you know it's punishable?" demanded the shipbroker, recovering.
+
+Mr. Smith shook his head and became serious.  "The cap'n fell into 'is
+own trap," he said, slowly.  "There's no lor for 'im!  He'd only get
+laughed at.  The idea of trying to get me to put little Amelia Kybird's
+young man away.  Why, I was 'er god-father."
+
+Mr. Swann stared at him, and then with a friendly "good morning"
+departed.  Half-way along the passage he stopped, and retracing his steps
+produced his cigar-case and offered the astonished boarding-master a
+cigar.
+
+"I s'pose," said that gentleman as he watched the other's retreating
+figure and dubiously smelt the cigar; "I s'pose it's all right; but he's
+a larky sort, and I 'ave heard of 'em exploding.  I'll give it to Kybird,
+in case."
+
+[Illustration: "I 'ave heard of 'em exploding."]
+
+To Mr. Smith's great surprise his visitor sat down suddenly and began to
+laugh.  Tears of honest mirth suffused his eyes and dimmed his glasses.
+Mr. Smith, regarding him with an air of kindly interest, began to laugh
+to keep him company.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+Captain Nugent awoke the morning after his attempt to crimp his son with
+a bad headache.  Not an ordinary headache, to disappear with a little
+cold water and fresh air; but a splitting, racking affair, which made him
+feel all head and dulness.  Weights pressed upon his eye-lids and the
+back of his head seemed glued to his pillow.
+
+He groaned faintly and, raising himself upon his elbow, opened his eyes
+and sat up with a sharp exclamation.  His bed was higher from the floor
+than usual and, moreover, the floor was different.  In the dim light he
+distinctly saw a ship's forecastle, untidy bunks with frouzy bedclothes,
+and shiny oil-skins hanging from the bulkhead.
+
+For a few moments he stared about in mystification; he was certainly ill,
+and no doubt the forecastle was an hallucination.  It was a strange
+symptom, and the odd part of it was that everything was so distinct.
+Even the smell.  He stared harder, in the hope that his surroundings
+would give place to the usual ones, and, leaning a little bit more on his
+elbow, nearly rolled out of the bunk.  Resolved to probe this mystery to
+the bottom he lowered himself to the floor and felt distinctly the motion
+of a ship at sea.
+
+There was no doubt about it.  He staggered to the door and, holding by
+the side, looked on to the deck.  The steamer was rolling in a fresh sea
+and a sweet strong wind blew refreshingly into his face.  Funnels,
+bridge, and masts swung with a rhythmical motion; loose gear rattled, and
+every now and then a distant tinkle sounded faintly from the steward's
+pantry.
+
+He stood bewildered, trying to piece together the events of the preceding
+night, and to try and understand by what miracle he was back on board his
+old ship the _Conqueror_.  There was no doubt as to her identity.  He
+knew every inch of her, and any further confirmation that might be
+required was fully supplied by the appearance of the long, lean figure of
+Captain Hardy on the bridge.
+
+Captain Nugent took his breath sharply and began to realize the
+situation.  He stepped to the side and looked over; the harbour was only
+a little way astern, and Sunwich itself, looking cold and cheerless
+beyond the dirty, tumbling seas, little more than a mile distant.
+
+At the sight his spirits revived, and with a hoarse cry he ran shouting
+towards the bridge.  Captain Hardy turned sharply at the noise, and
+recognizing the intruder stood peering down at him in undisguised
+amazement.
+
+[Illustration: "He stepped to the side and looked over."]
+
+"Put back," cried Nugent, waving up at him.  "Put back."
+
+"What on earth are you doing on my ship?" inquired the astonished Hardy.
+
+"Put me ashore," cried Nugent, imperiously; "don't waste time talking.
+D'ye hear?  Put me ashore."
+
+The amazement died out of Hardy's face and gave way to an expression of
+anger.  For a time he regarded the red and threatening visage of Captain
+Nugent in silence, then he turned to the second officer.
+
+"This man is not one of the crew, Mr. Prowle?" he said, in a puzzled
+voice.
+
+"No, sir," said Mr. Prowle.
+
+"How did he get aboard here?"
+
+Captain Nugent answered the question himself.  "I was crimped by you and
+your drunken bullies," he said, sternly.
+
+"How did this man get aboard here?  repeated Captain Hardy, ignoring him.
+
+"He must have concealed 'imself somewhere, sir," said the mate; "this is
+the first I've seen of him."
+
+"A stowaway?" said the captain, bending his brows.  "He must have got
+some of the crew to hide him aboard.  You'd better make a clean breast of
+it, my lad.  Who are your confederates?"
+
+Captain Nugent shook with fury.  The second mate had turned away, with
+his hand over his mouth and a suspicious hunching of his shoulders, while
+the steward, who had been standing by, beat a hasty retreat and collapsed
+behind the chart-room.
+
+"If you don't put me ashore," said Nugent, restraining his passion by a
+strong effort, "I'll take proceedings against you for crimping me, the
+moment I reach port.  Get a boat out and put me aboard that smack."
+
+He pointed as he spoke to a smack which was just on their beam, making
+slowly for the harbour.
+
+"When you've done issuing orders," said the captain, in an indifferent
+voice, "perhaps you'll explain what you are doing aboard my crag."
+
+Captain Nugent gazed at the stern of the fast-receding smack; Sunwich was
+getting dim in the distance and there was no other sail near.  He began
+to realize that he was in for a long voyage.
+
+"I awoke this morning and found myself in a bunk in vow fo'c's'le," he
+said, regarding Hardy steadily.  "However I got there is probably best
+known to yourself.  I hold you responsible for the affair."
+
+"Look here my lad," said Captain Hardy, in patronizing tones, "I don't
+know how you got aboard my ship and I don't care.  I am willing to
+believe that it was not intentional on your part, but either the outcome
+of a drunken freak or else a means of escaping from some scrape you have
+got into ashore.  That being so, I shall take a merciful view of it, and
+if you behave yourself and make yourself useful you will not hear
+anything more of it.  He has something the look of a seafaring man, Mr.
+Prowle.  See what you can make of him."
+
+"Come along with me, my lad," said the grinning Mr. Prowle, tapping him
+on the shoulder.
+
+The captain turned with a snarl, and, clenching his huge, horny fist, let
+drive full in the other's face and knocked him off his feet.
+
+"Take that man for'ard," cried Captain Hardy, sharply.  "Take him
+for'ard."
+
+Half-a-dozen willing men sprang forward.  Captain Nugent's views
+concerning sailormen were well known in Sunwich, and two of the men
+present had served under him.  He went forward, the centre of an
+attentive and rotating circle, and, sadly out of breath, was bestowed in
+the forecastle and urged to listen to reason.
+
+For the remainder of the morning he made no sign.  The land was almost
+out of sight, and he sat down quietly to consider his course of action
+for the next few weeks.  Dinner-time found him still engrossed in
+thought, and the way in which he received an intimation from a
+good-natured seaman that his dinner was getting cold showed that his
+spirits were still unquelled.
+
+By the time afternoon came he was faint with hunger, and, having
+determined upon his course of action, he sent a fairly polite message to
+Captain Hardy and asked for an interview.
+
+The captain, who was resting from his labours in the chart-room, received
+him with the same air of cold severity which had so endeared Captain
+Nugent himself to his subordinates.
+
+"You have come to explain your extraordinary behaviour of this morning, I
+suppose?" he said, curtly.
+
+"I have come to secure a berth aft," said Captain Nugent.  "I will pay a
+small deposit now, and you will, of course, have the balance as soon as
+we get back.  This is without prejudice to any action I may bring against
+you later on."
+
+"Oh, indeed," said the other, raising his eyebrows.  "We don't take
+passengers."
+
+"I am here against my will," said Captain Nu-gent, "and I demand the
+treatment due to my position."
+
+"If I had treated you properly," said Captain Hardy, "I should have put
+you in irons for knocking down my second officer.  I know nothing about
+you or your position.  You're a stowaway, and you must do the best you
+can in the circumstances."
+
+"Are you going to give me a cabin?" demanded the other, menacingly.
+
+"Certainly not," said Captain Hardy.  "I have been making inquiries, and
+I find that you have only yourself to thank for the position in which you
+find yourself.  I am sorry to be harsh with you."
+
+"Harsh?" repeated the other, hardly able to believe his ears.  "You--
+harsh to me?"
+
+"But it is for your own good," pursued Captain Hardy; "it is no pleasure
+to me to punish you.  I shall keep an eye on you while you're aboard, and
+if I see that your conduct is improving you will find that I am not a
+hard man to get on with."
+
+Captain Nugent stared at him with his lips parted.  Three times he
+essayed to speak and failed; then he turned sharply and, gaining the open
+air, stood for some time trying to regain his composure before going
+forward again.  The first mate, who was on the bridge, regarded him
+curiously, and then, with an insufferable air of authority, ordered him
+away.
+
+The captain obeyed mechanically and, turning a deaf ear to the inquiries
+of the men, prepared to make the best of an intolerable situation, and
+began to cleanse his bunk.  First of all he took out the bedding and
+shook it thoroughly, and then, pro-curing soap and a bucket of water,
+began to scrub with a will.  Hostile comments followed the action.
+
+"We ain't clean enough for 'im," said one voice.
+
+"Partikler old party, ain't he, Bill?" said another.
+
+"You leave 'im alone," said the man addressed, surveying the captain's
+efforts with a smile of approval.  "You keep on, Nugent, don't you mind
+'im.  There's a little bit there you ain't done."
+
+[Illustration: "You keep on, Nugent, don't you mind 'im."]
+
+"Keep your head out of the way, unless you want it knocked off," said the
+incensed captain.
+
+"Ho!" said the aggrieved Bill.  "Ho, indeed!  D'ye 'ear that, mates?  A
+man musn't look at 'is own bunk now."
+
+The captain turned as though he had been stung.  "This is my bunk," he
+said, sharply.
+
+"Ho, is it?" said Bill.  "Beggin' of your pardon, an' apologizing for
+a-contradictin' of you, but it's mine.  You haven't got no bunk."
+
+"I slept in it last night," said the captain, conclusively.
+
+"I know you did," said Bill, "but that was all my kind-'artedness."
+
+"And 'arf a quid, Bill," a voice reminded him.
+
+"And 'arf a quid," assented Bill, graciously, "and I'm very much obliged
+to you, mate, for the careful and tidy way in which you've cleaned up
+arter your-self."
+
+The captain eyed him.  Many years of command at sea had given him a fine
+manner, and force of habit was for a moment almost too much for Bill and
+his friends.  But only for a moment.
+
+"I'm going to keep this bunk," said the captain, deliberately.
+
+"No, you ain't, mate," said Bill, shaking his head, "don't you believe
+it.  You're nobody down here; not even a ordinary seaman.  I'm afraid
+you'll 'ave to clean a place for yourself on the carpet.  There's a nice
+corner over there."
+
+"When I get back," said the furious captain, "some of you will go to gaol
+for last night's work."
+
+"Don't be hard on us," said a mocking voice, "we did our best.  It ain't
+our fault that you look so ridikerlously young, that we took you for your
+own son."
+
+"And you was in that state that you couldn't contradict us," said another
+man.
+
+"If it is your bunk," said the captain, sternly, "I suppose you have a
+right to it.  But perhaps you'll sell it to me?  How much?"
+
+"Now you're talking bisness," said the highly gratified Bill, turning
+with a threatening gesture upon a speculator opposite.  "Wot do you say
+to a couple o' pounds?"
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"Couple o' pounds, money down," said Bill, holding out his hand.
+
+The captain examined the contents of his pocket, and after considerable
+friction bought the bunk for a pound cash and an I O U for the balance.
+
+A more humane man would have shown a little concern as to his
+benefactor's sleeping-place; but the captain never gave the matter a
+thought.  In fact, it was not until three days later that he discovered
+there was a spare bunk in the forecastle, and that the unscrupulous
+seaman was occupying it.
+
+It was only one of many annoyances, but the captain realizing his
+impotence made no sign.  From certain remarks let fall in his hearing he
+had no difficulty in connecting Mr. Kybird with his discomfiture and, of
+his own desire, he freely included the unfortunate Mr. Wilks.
+
+He passed his time in devising schemes of vengeance, and when Captain
+Hardy, relenting, offered him a cabin aft, he sent back such a message
+of refusal that the steward spent half an hour preparing a paraphrase.
+The offer was not repeated, and the captain, despite the strong
+representations of Bill and his friends, continued to eat the bread of
+idleness before the mast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+Mr. Adolphus Swann spent a very agreeable afternoon after his interview
+with Nathan Smith in refusing to satisfy what he termed the idle
+curiosity of his partner.  The secret of Captain Nugent's whereabouts,
+he declared, was not to be told to everybody, but was to be confided by a
+man of insinuating address and appearance--here he looked at himself in a
+hand-glass--to Miss Nugent.  To be broken to her by a man with no
+ulterior motives for his visit; a man in the prime of life, but not too
+old for a little tender sympathy.
+
+"I had hoped to have gone this afternoon," he said, with a glance at the
+clock; "but I'm afraid I can't get away.  Have you got much to do,
+Hardy?"
+
+"No," said his partner, briskly.  "I've finished."
+
+"Then perhaps you wouldn't mind doing my work for me, so that I can go?"
+said Mr. Swann, mildly.
+
+Hardy played with his pen.  The senior partner had been amusing himself
+at his expense for some time, and in the hope of a favour at his hands he
+had endured it with unusual patience.
+
+"Four o'clock," murmured the senior partner; "hadn't you better see about
+making yourself presentable, Hardy?"
+
+[Illustration: "Hadn't you better see about making yourself presentable,
+Hardy?"]
+
+"Thanks," said the other, with alacrity, as he took off his coat and
+crossed over to the little washstand.  In five minutes he had finished
+his toilet and, giving his partner a little friendly pat on the shoulder,
+locked up his desk.
+
+"Well?" he said, at last.
+
+"Well?" repeated Mr. Swann, with a little surprise.
+
+"What am I to tell them?" inquired Hardy, struggling to keep his temper.
+
+"Tell them?" repeated the innocent Swann.  "Lor' bless my soul, how you
+do jump at conclusions, Hardy.  I only asked you to tidy yourself for my
+sake.  I have an artistic eye.  I thought you had done it to please me."
+
+"When you're tired of this nonsense," said the indignant Hardy, "I shall
+be glad."
+
+Mr. Swann looked him over carefully and, coming to the conclusion that
+his patience was exhausted, told him the result of his inquiries.  His
+immediate reward was the utter incredulity of Mr. Hardy, together with
+some pungent criticisms of his veracity.  When the young man did realize
+at last that he was speaking the truth he fell to wondering blankly what
+was happening aboard the _Conqueror_.
+
+"Never mind about that," said the older man.  "For a few weeks you have
+got a clear field.  It is quite a bond between you: both your fathers on
+the same ship.  But whatever you do, don't remind her of the fate of the
+Kilkenny cats.  Draw a fancy picture of the two fathers sitting with
+their arms about each other's waists and wondering whether their
+children----"
+
+Hardy left hurriedly, in fear that his indignation at such frivolity
+should overcome his gratitude, and he regretted as he walked briskly
+along that the diffidence peculiar to young men in his circumstances had
+prevented him from acquainting his father with the state of his feelings
+towards Kate Nugent.
+
+The idea of taking advantage of the captain's enforced absence had
+occurred to other people besides Mr. James Hardy.  Dr. Murchison, who had
+found the captain, despite his bias in his favour, a particularly
+tiresome third, was taking the fullest advantage of it; and Mrs. Kybird
+had also judged it an admirable opportunity for paying a first call.
+Mr. Kybird, who had not taken her into his confidence in the affair,
+protested in vain; the lady was determined, and, moreover, had the warm
+support of her daughter.
+
+"I know what I'm doing, Dan'l," she said to her husband.
+
+Mr. Kybird doubted it, but held his peace; and the objections of Jack
+Nugent, who found to his dismay that he was to be of the party, were
+deemed too trivial to be worthy of serious consideration.
+
+They started shortly after Jem Hardy had left his office, despite the
+fact that Mrs. Kybird, who was troubled with asthma, was suffering untold
+agonies in a black satin dress which had been originally made for a much
+smaller woman, and had come into her husband's hands in the way of
+business.  It got into hers in what the defrauded Mr. Kybird considered
+an extremely unbusinesslike manner, and it was not without a certain
+amount of satisfaction that he regarded her discomfiture as the party
+sallied out.
+
+[Illustration: "It was not without a certain amount of satisfaction that
+he regarded her discomfiture."]
+
+Mr. Nugent was not happy.  Mrs. Kybird in the snug seclusion of the back
+parlour was one thing; Mrs. Kybird in black satin at its utmost tension
+and a circular hat set with sable ostrich plumes nodding in the breeze
+was another.  He felt that the public eye was upon them and that it
+twinkled.  His gaze wandered from mother to daughter.
+
+"What are you staring at?" demanded Miss Kybird, pertly.
+
+"I was thinking how well you are looking," was the reply.
+
+Miss Kybird smiled.  She had hoisted some daring colours, but she was of
+a bold type and carried them fairly well.
+
+"If I 'ad the woman what made this dress 'ere," gasped Mrs. Kybird, as
+she stopped with her hand on her side, "I'd give her a bit o' my mind."
+
+"I never saw you look so well in anything before, ma," said her daughter.
+
+Mrs. Kybird smiled faintly and continued her pilgrimage.  Jem Hardy
+coming up rapidly behind composed his amused features and stepped into
+the road to pass.
+
+"Halloa, Hardy," said Nugent.  "Going home?"
+
+"I am calling on your sister," said Hardy, bowing.
+
+"By Jove, so are we," said Nugent, relieved to find this friend in need.
+"We'll go together.  You know Mrs. Kybird and Miss Kybird?  That is Mrs.
+Kybird."
+
+Mrs. Kybird bade him "Go along, do," and acknowledged the introduction
+with as stately a bow as the black satin would permit, and before the
+dazed Jem quite knew how it all happened he was leading the way with Mrs.
+Kybird, while the young people, as she called them, followed behind.
+
+"We ain't looking at you," she said, playfully, over her shoulder.
+
+"And we're trying to shut our eyes to your goings on," retorted Nugent.
+
+Mrs. Kybird stopped and, with a half-turn, play-fully reached for him
+with her umbrella.  The exertion and the joke combined took the remnant
+of her breath away, and she stood still, panting.
+
+"You had better take Hardy's arm, I think," said Nugent, with affected
+solicitude.
+
+"It's my breath," explained Mrs. Kybird, turning to the fuming young man
+by her side.  "I can 'ardly get along for it--I'm much obliged to you,
+I'm sure."
+
+Mr. Hardy, with a vain attempt to catch Jack Nugent's eye, resigned
+himself to his fate, and with his fair burden on his arm walked with
+painful slowness towards Equator Lodge.  A ribald voice from the other
+side of the road, addressing his companion as "Mother Kybird," told her
+not to hug the man, and a small boy whom they met loudly asseverated his
+firm intention of going straight off to tell Mr. Kybird.
+
+[Illustration: "Mr. Hardy resigned himself to his fate."]
+
+By the time they reached the house Mr. Hardy entertained views on
+homicide which would have appeared impossible to him half an hour before.
+He flushed crimson as he saw the astonished face of Kate Nugent at the
+window, and, pausing at the gate to wait for the others, discovered that
+they had disappeared.  A rooted dislike to scenes of any kind, together
+with a keen eye for the ludicrous, had prompted Jack Nugent to suggest a
+pleasant stroll to Amelia and put in an appearance later on.
+
+"We won't wait for 'im," said Mrs. Kybird, with decision; "if I don't get
+a sit down soon I shall drop."
+
+Still clinging to the reluctant Hardy she walked up the path; farther
+back in the darkness of the room the unfortunate young gentleman saw the
+faces of Dr. Murchison and Mrs. Kingdom.
+
+"And 'ow are you, Bella?" inquired Mrs. Kybird with kindly condescension.
+"Is Mrs. Kingdom at 'ome?"
+
+She pushed her way past the astonished Bella and, followed by Mr. Hardy,
+entered the room.  Mrs. Kingdom, with a red spot on each cheek, rose to
+receive them.
+
+"I ought to 'ave come before," said Mrs. Kybird, subsiding thankfully
+into a chair, "but I'm such a bad walker.  I 'ope I see you well."
+
+"We are very well, thank you," said Mrs. Kingdom, stiffly.
+
+"That's right," said her visitor, cordially; "what a blessing 'ealth is.
+What should we do without it, I wonder?"
+
+She leaned back in her chair and shook her head at the prospect.  There
+was an awkward lull, and in the offended gaze of Miss Nugent Mr. Hardy
+saw only too plainly that he was held responsible for the appearance of
+the unwelcome visitor.
+
+"I was coming to see you," he said, leaving his chair and taking one near
+her, "I met your brother coming along, and he introduced me to Mrs.
+Kybird and her daughter and suggested we should come together."
+
+Miss Nugent received the information with a civil bow, and renewed
+her conversation with Dr. Murchison, whose face showed such a keen
+appreciation of the situation that Hardy had some difficulty in masking
+his feelings.
+
+"They're a long time a-coming," said Mrs. Kybird, smiling archly; "but
+there, when young people are keeping company they forget everything and
+everybody.  They didn't trouble about me; if it 'adn't been for Mr. 'Ardy
+giving me 'is arm I should never 'ave got here."
+
+There was a prolonged silence.  Dr. Murchison gave a whimsical glance at
+Miss Nugent, and meeting no response in that lady's indignant eyes,
+stroked his moustache and awaited events.
+
+"It looks as though your brother is not coming," said Hardy to Miss
+Nugent.
+
+"He'll turn up by-and-by," interposed Mrs. Kybird, looking somewhat
+morosely at the company.  "They don't notice 'ow the time flies, that's
+all."
+
+"Time does go," murmured Mrs. Kingdom, with a glance at the clock.
+
+Mrs. Kybird started.  "Ah, and we notice it too, ma'am, at our age," she
+said, sweetly, as she settled herself in her chair and clasped her hands
+in her lap "I can't 'elp looking at you, my dear," she continued, looking
+over at Miss Nugent.  "There's such a wonderful likeness between Jack and
+you.  Don't you think so, ma'am?"
+
+Mrs. Kingdom in a freezing voice said that she had not noticed it.
+
+"Of course," said Mrs. Kybird, glancing at her from the corner of her
+eye, "Jack has 'ad to rough it, pore feller, and that's left its mark on
+'im.  I'm sure, when we took 'im in, he was quite done up, so to speak.
+He'd only got what 'e stood up in, and the only pair of socks he'd got to
+his feet was in such a state of 'oles that they had to be throwed away.
+I throwed 'em away myself."
+
+"Dear me," said Mrs. Kingdom.
+
+"He don't look like the same feller now," continued the amiable Mrs.
+Kybird; "good living and good clothes 'ave worked wonders in 'im.  I'm
+sure if he'd been my own son I couldn't 'ave done more for 'im, and, as
+for Kybird, he's like a father to him."
+
+"Dear me," said Mrs. Kingdom, again.
+
+Mrs. Kybird looked at her.  It was on the tip of her tongue to call her a
+poll parrot.  She was a free-spoken woman as a rule, and it was terrible
+to have to sit still and waste all the good things she could have said to
+her in favour of unsatisfying pin-pricks.  She sat smouldering.
+
+"I s'pose you miss the capt'in very much?" she said, at last.
+
+"Very much," was the reply.
+
+"And I should think 'e misses you," retorted Mrs. Kybird, unable to
+restrain herself; "'e must miss your conversation and what I might call
+your liveliness."
+
+Mrs. Kingdom turned and regarded her, and the red stole back to her
+cheeks again.  She smoothed down her dress and her hands trembled.  Both
+ladies were now regarding each other in a fashion which caused serious
+apprehension to the rest of the company.
+
+"I am not a great talker, but I am very careful whom I converse with,"
+said Mrs. Kingdom, in her most stately manner.
+
+"I knew a lady like that once," said Mrs. Kybird; "leastways, she wasn't
+a lady," she added, meditatively.
+
+Mrs. Kingdom fidgeted, and looked over piteously at her niece; Mrs.
+Kybird, with a satisfied sniff, sat bolt upright and meditated further
+assaults.  There were at least a score of things she could have said
+about her adversary's cap alone: plain, straightforward remarks which
+would have torn it to shreds.  The cap fascinated her, and her fingers
+itched as she gazed at it.  In more congenial surroundings she might have
+snatched at it, but, being a woman of strong character, she suppressed
+her natural instincts, and confined herself to more polite methods of
+attack.
+
+"Your nephew don't seem to be in no hurry," she remarked, at length;
+"but, there, direckly 'e gets along o' my daughter 'e forgits everything
+and everybody."
+
+"I really don't think he is coming," said Hardy, moved to speech by the
+glances of Miss Nugent.
+
+"I shall give him a little longer," said Mrs. Kybird.  "I only came 'ere
+to please 'im, and to get 'ome alone is more than I can do."
+
+Miss Nugent looked at Mr. Hardy, and her eyes were soft and expressive.
+As plainly as eyes could speak they asked him to take Mrs. Kybird home,
+lest worse things should happen.
+
+"Would it be far out of your way?" she asked, in a low voice.
+
+"Quite the opposite direction," returned Mr. Hardy, firmly.
+
+"How I got 'ere I don't know," said Mrs. Kybird, addressing the room in
+general; "it's a wonder to me.  Well, once is enough in a lifetime."
+
+"Mr. Hardy," said Kate Nugent, again, in a low voice, "I should be so
+much obliged if you would take Mrs. Kybird away.  She seems bent on
+quarrelling with my aunt.  It is very awkward."
+
+It was difficult to resist the entreaty, but Mr. Hardy had a very fair
+idea of the duration of Miss Nugent's gratitude; and, besides that,
+Murchison was only too plainly enjoying his discomfiture.
+
+"She can get home alone all right," he whispered.
+
+Miss Nugent drew herself up disdainfully; Dr. Murchison, looking
+scandalized at his brusqueness, hastened to the rescue.
+
+"As a medical man," he said, with a considerable appearance of gravity,
+"I don't think that Mrs. Kybird ought to go home alone."
+
+"Think not?" inquired Hardy, grimly.
+
+"Certain of it," breathed the doctor.
+
+"Well, why don't you take her?" retorted Hardy; "it's all on your way.
+I have some news for Miss Nugent."
+
+Miss Nugent looked from one to the other, and mischievous lights appeared
+in her eyes as she gazed at the carefully groomed and fastidious
+Murchison.  From them she looked to the other side of the room, where
+Mrs. Kybird was stolidly eyeing Mrs. Kingdom, who was trying in vain to
+appear ignorant of the fact.
+
+[Illustration: "The carefully groomed and fastidious Murchison."]
+
+"Thank you very much," said Miss Nugent, turning to the doctor.
+
+"I'm sorry," began Murchison, with an indignant glance at his rival.
+
+"Oh, as you please," said the girl, coldly.  "Pray forgive me for asking
+you."
+
+"If you really wish it," said the doctor, rising.  Miss Nugent smiled
+upon him, and Hardy also gave him a smile of kindly encouragement, but
+this he ignored.  He crossed the room and bade Mrs. Kingdom good-bye; and
+then in a few disjointed words asked Mrs. Kybird whether he could be of
+any assistance in seeing her home.
+
+"I'm sure I'm much obliged to you," said that lady, as she rose.  "It
+don't seem much use for me waiting for my future son-in-law.  I wish you
+good afternoon, ma'am.  I can understand now why Jack didn't come."
+
+With this parting shot she quitted the room and, leaning on the doctor's
+arm, sailed majestically down the path to the gate, every feather on her
+hat trembling in response to the excitement below.
+
+"Good-natured of him," said Hardy, glancing from the window, with a
+triumphant smile.
+
+"Very," said Miss Nugent, coldly, as she took a seat by her aunt.  "What
+is the news to which you referred just now?  Is it about my father?"
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of At Sunwich Port, Part 3., by W.W. Jacobs
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10873 ***