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diff --git a/25923-8.txt b/25923-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..215a47a --- /dev/null +++ b/25923-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11171 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Brandon of the Engineers, by Harold Bindloss + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Brandon of the Engineers + + +Author: Harold Bindloss + + + +Release Date: June 28, 2008 [eBook #25923] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Canada Team (http://www.pgdpcanada.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 25923-h.htm or 25923-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/9/2/25923/25923-h/25923-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/9/2/25923/25923-h.zip) + + + + + +BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS + + * * * * * + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +Alton of Somasco +Lorimer of the Northwest +Thurston of Orchard Valley +Winston of the Prairie +The Gold Trail +Sydney Carteret, Rancher +A Prairie Courtship +Vane of the Timberlands +The Long Portage +Ranching for Sylvia +Prescott of Saskatchewan +The Dust of Conflict +The Greater Power +Masters of the Wheatlands +Delilah of the Snows +By Right of Purchase +The Cattle Baron's Daughter +Thrice Armed +For Jacinta +The Intriguers +The League of the Leopard +For the Allison Honor +The Secret of the Reef +Harding of Allenwood +The Coast of Adventure +Johnstons of the Border +Brandon of the Engineers + + * * * * * + + +BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS + +by + +HAROLD BINDLOSS + +Author of "Johnstone of the Border," "Prescott +of Saskatchewan," "Winston of the Prairie," etc. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "'YOU MUST COME. I CAN'T LET YOU LIVE AMONG THOSE +PLOTTERS AND GAMBLERS.'"--Page 224.] + + +New York +Frederick A. Stokes Company +Publishers + +Copyright, 1916, by Frederick A. Stokes Company +Published in England under the Title "His One Talent" + +All Rights Reserved + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + I A Promising Officer 1 + II Dick's Troubles Begin 11 + III The Punishment 22 + IV Adversity 34 + V The Concrete Truck 44 + VI A Step Up 54 + VII Dick Undertakes a Responsibility 65 + VIII An Informal Court 75 + IX Jake Fuller 85 + X La Mignonne 97 + XI Clare Gets a Shock 107 + XII Dick Keeps His Promise 118 + XIII The Return from the Fiesta 129 + XIV Complications 140 + XV The Missing Coal 151 + XVI Jake Gets into Difficulties 161 + XVII The Black-Funnel Boat 172 + XVIII Dick Gets a Warning 184 + XIX Jake Explains Matters 194 + XX Don Sebastian 205 + XXI Dick Makes a Bold Venture 215 + XXII The Official Mind 225 + XXIII The Clamp 237 + XXIV The Altered Sailing List 247 + XXV The Water-Pipe 259 + XXVI The Liner's Fate 270 + XXVII The Silver Clasp 282 + XXVIII Rough Water 294 + XXIX Kenwardine Takes a Risk 304 + XXX The Last Encounter 314 + XXXI Richter's Message 326 + XXXII Ida Interferes 336 + + + + +BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS + +CHAPTER I + +A PROMISING OFFICER + + +The lengthening shadows lay blue and cool beneath the alders by the +waterside, though the cornfields that rolled back up the hill glowed a +coppery yellow in the light of the setting sun. It was hot and, for the +most part, strangely quiet in the bottom of the valley since the hammers +had stopped, but now and then an order was followed by a tramp of feet +and the rattle of chain-tackle. Along one bank of the river the +reflections of the trees quivered in dark-green masses; the rest of the +water was dazzlingly bright. + +A pontoon bridge, dotted with figures in khaki, crossed a deep pool. At +its head, where a white road ran down the hill, a detachment of engineers +lounged in the shade. Their faces were grimed with sweat and dust, and +some, with coats unbuttoned, sprawled in the grass. They had toiled hard +through the heat of the day, and now were enjoying an "easy," until they +should be called to attention when their work was put to the test. + +As Lieutenant Richard Brandon stood where the curve was boldest at the +middle of the bridge, he had no misgivings about the result so far as the +section for which he was responsible was concerned. He was young, but +there was some ground for his confidence; for he not only had studied all +that text-books could teach him but he had the constructor's eye, which +sees half-instinctively where strength or weakness lies. Brandon began +his military career as a prize cadet and after getting his commission he +was quickly promoted from subaltern rank. His advancement, however, +caused no jealousy, for Dick Brandon was liked. He was, perhaps, a trifle +priggish about his work--cock-sure, his comrades called it--but about +other matters he was naïvely ingenuous. Indeed, acquaintances who knew +him only when he was off duty thought him something of a boy. + +In person, he was tall and strongly made, with a frank, sunburned face. +His jaw was square and when he was thoughtful his lips set firmly; his +light-gray eyes were clear and steady. He was genial with his comrades, +but usually diffident in the company of women and older men. + +Presently the Adjutant came up and, stopping near, glanced along the +rippling line that marked the curve of the bridge. + +"These center pontoons look rather prominent, as if they'd been pushed +upstream a foot or two," he remarked. "Was that done by Captain +Maitland's order?" + +"No, sir," Dick answered with some awkwardness. "For one thing, I found +they'd lie steadier out of the eddy." + +"They do, but I don't know that it's much of an advantage. Had you any +other reason for modifying the construction plans?" + +Dick felt embarrassed. He gave the Adjutant a quick glance; but the man's +face was inscrutable. Captain Hallam was a disciplinarian where +discipline was needed, but he knew the value of what he called +initiative. + +"Well," Dick tried to explain, "if you notice how the wash of the +head-rapid sweeps down the middle of the pool----" + +"I have noticed it," said the Adjutant dryly. "That's why the bridge +makes a slight sweep. But go on." + +"We found a heavy drag on the center that flattened the curve. Of course, +if we could have pushed it up farther, we'd have got a stronger form." + +"Why?" + +"It's obvious, sir. If we disregard the moorings, a straight bridge would +tend to curve downstream and open out under a shearing strain. As we get +nearer the arch form it naturally gets stiffer, because the strain +becomes compressive. After making the bridge strong enough for traffic, +the problem is to resist the pressure of the current." + +"True," the Adjutant agreed with a smile. "Well, we'll let the pontoons +stand. The traditions of the British Army are changing fast, but while we +don't demand the old mechanical obedience, it might be better not to +introduce too marked innovations. Anyhow, it's not desirable that they +should, so to speak, strike a commanding officer in the eye. Some +officers are conservative and don't like that kind of thing." + +He moved on and Dick wondered whether he had said too much. He was apt to +forget his rank and comparative unimportance when technical matters were +discussed. In fact, it was sometimes difficult not to appear +presumptuous; but when one knew that one was right---- + +In the meantime, the Adjutant met the Colonel, and they stopped together +at the bridge-head. + +"I think we have made a good job, but the brigade's transport is pretty +heavy," the Colonel remarked. + +"I'm satisfied with the bridge, sir; very creditable work for beginners. +If the other branches of the new armies are as good----" + +"The men are in earnest. Things, of course, are changing, and I suppose +old-fashioned prejudices must go overboard. Personally, I liked the type +we had before the war, but we'll let that go. Young Brandon strikes me as +particularly keen." + +"Keen as mustard," the Adjutant agreed. "In other ways, perhaps, he's +more of the kind you have been used to." + +"Now I wonder what you mean by that! You're something of what they're +pleased to call a progressive, aren't you? However, I like the lad. His +work is good." + +"He _knows_, sir." + +"Ah," said the Colonel, "I think I understand. But what about the +drawings of the new pontoons? They must be sent to-night." + +"They're ready. To tell the truth, I showed them to Brandon and he made a +good suggestion about the rounding of the waterline." + +The Colonel looked thoughtful. + +"Well, the idea of a combined pontoon and light boat that would carry +troops is by no means new; but these are rather an unusual type and if it +were known that we were building them, it might give the enemy a hint. I +suppose you told Brandon the thing's to be kept quiet." + +"Yes; I made it plain," the Adjutant said, and they walked on. + +Dick had been sitting on the bridge, but he jumped up as a rhythmic tramp +of feet came down the hillside. Dust rose among the cornfields and hung +in a white streak along the edge of a wood, and then with a twinkling +flash of steel, small, ocher-colored figures swung out of the shadow. +They came on in loose fours, in an unending line that wound down the +steep slopes and reached the bridge-head. Then orders rolled across the +stream, the line narrowed, and the measured tramp changed to a sharp +uneven patter. The leading platoon were breaking step as they crossed the +bridge. Dick frowned impatiently. This was a needless precaution. The +engineers' work was good; it would stand the percussive shock of marching +feet. + +He stood at attention, with a sparkle in his eyes, as the hot and dusty +men went by. They were, for the most part, young men, newly raised +infantry, now being hardened and tempered until they were fit to be used +as the army's spear-head in some desperate thrust for which engineers and +artillery had cleared the way. It was some time before the first +battalion crossed, but the long yellow line still ran back up the +hillside to the spot at which it emerged from the deepening shade, and +the next platoon took the bridge with unbroken step. It swayed and shook +with a curious regular tremble as the feet came down; but there was no +giving way of tie and stringer-beam, and Dick forgot the men who were +passing, and thought of fastenings and stressed material. + +He was young and the pomp of war had its effect on him, but the human +element began to take second place. Although an officer of the new army, +he was first of all an engineer; his business was to handle wood and iron +rather than men. The throb of the planks and the swing of the pontoons as +the load passed over them fascinated him; and his interest deepened when +the transport began to cross. Sweating, spume-flecked horses trod the +quivering timber with iron-shod hoofs; grinding wheels jarred the +structure as the wagons passed. He could feel it yield and bend, but it +stood, and Dick was conscious of a strange, emotional thrill. This, in a +sense, was his triumph; the first big task in which he had taken a man's +part; and his work had passed the test. Taste, inclination, and interest +had suddenly deepened into an absorbing love for his profession. + +After a time, the Adjutant sent for him and held out a large, sealed +envelope. + +"These are the plans I showed you," he said. "Colonel Farquhar is driving +to Newcastle, and will stop at Storeton Grange for supper at midnight. +The plans must be delivered to him there. You have a motorcycle, I +think?" + +"Yes." + +"Very well; it is not a long ride, but I'll release you from duty now. +Don't be late at Storeton, take care of the papers, and get Colonel +Farquhar's receipt." + +There was a manufacturing town not far off, and Dick decided to go there +and spend the evening with a cousin of his. They might go to a theater, +or if not, Lance would find some means of amusing him. As a rule, Dick +did not need amusing, but he felt that he must celebrate the building of +the bridge. + +Lance Brandon was becoming known as an architect, and he had a good deal +of constructive talent. The physical likeness between him and Dick was +rather marked, but he was older and they differed in other respects. +Lance knew how to handle men as well as material, and perhaps he owed as +much to this as to his artistic skill. His plans for a new church and the +remodeling of some public buildings had gained him recognition; but he +already was popular at country houses in the neighborhood and was courted +by the leading inhabitants of the town. + +Dick and he dined at the best hotel and Lance listened sympathetically to +the description of the bridge. He was not robust enough for the army, but +he hinted that he envied Dick; and Dick felt flattered. He sometimes +bantered Lance about his social gifts and ambitions, but he had never +resented the favors his father had shown his cousin. Lance had been left +an orphan at an early age and the elder Brandon--a man of means and +standing--had brought him up with his son. They had been good friends and +Dick was pleased when his father undertook to give Lance a fair start at +the profession he chose. He imagined that now Lance was beginning to make +his mark, his allowance had stopped, but this was not his business. Lance +was a very good sort, although he was clever in ways that Dick was not +and indeed rather despised. + +"What shall we do next?" Dick asked when they had lounged for a time in +the smoking-room. + +Lance made a gesture of resignation as he stretched himself in a big +chair. He was dressed with quiet taste, his face was handsome but rather +colorless, and his movements were languid. + +"You're such an energetic beggar," he complained. "The only theater where +they put on plays worth seeing is closed just now, but there's a new +dancer at the nearest hall and we might look in. I hope my churchwarden +patrons won't disapprove if they hear of it, because they talk about +building an ornamental mission room." + +Dick laughed. + +"They wouldn't find fault with you. Somehow, nobody does." + +"There's some truth in that; the secret is that I know when to stop. One +can enjoy life without making the pace too hot. People aren't really +censorious, and even the narrow-minded sort allow you certain limits; in +fact, I imagine they rather admire you if you can play with fire and not +get singed. Women do, anyhow; and, in a sense, their judgment's logical. +The thing that doesn't hurt you can't be injurious, and it shows +moderation and self-control if you don't pass the danger line." + +"How do you know when you have come to the line?" + +"Well," smiled Lance, "experience helps; but I think it's an instinct. Of +course, if you do show signs of damage, you're done for, because then the +people who envied you throw the biggest stones." + +"Let's start," said Dick. "I'm not much of a philosopher. Building +bridges and digging saps is good enough for me." + +"They're healthy occupations, so long as you don't get shot; but, +considering everything, it's strange that they still monopolize your +interest." + +Dick colored. He knew what his cousin meant. He had been attracted by a +girl of whom his father approved and who was well-bred, pretty, and rich. +Dick imagined that his father's views were agreeable to Helen's relatives +and that she was not ignorant of this. Still, nothing had been actually +arranged, and although he admired Helen, it would be time enough to think +of marriage when he was a captain, for instance. + +"Pontoons and excavations have their charm for men with constructive +tastes," Lance went on; "but you may find later that they don't satisfy +all your needs." + +"Get your hat!" Dick returned with a smile, jumping up as he spoke. + +The music-hall was badly filled. The audience seemed listless and the +performance dragged. Even the much-praised dancer was disappointing, and +there was an unusual number of shabby loungers in the bar. Dick had come +prepared to enjoy himself after a day of arduous work, and by way of +doing so, he ordered a drink or two that he did not really want. As a +rule, he was abstemious, but the hall was very hot. It struck him as +glaring and tawdry after the quiet dale where the water sparkled among +the stones; and the pallid loungers with their stamp of indulgence +differed unpleasantly from the hard, brown-faced men he led. + +"Let's clear out," he said at last. "Is there anywhere else to go?" + +"My rooms," Lance suggested. + +"Oh, I want something fresh to-night," Dick replied with a smile. + +Lance pondered. + +"Well, I can show you some keen card-play and perhaps a clever game of +billiards, besides a girl who's a great deal prettier than the dancer. +But it's four miles out of town." + +Dick glanced at his watch. + +"I can take you on the carrier," he said. "I've plenty of time yet." + +They set off, and presently stopped at a tall iron gate on the edge of a +firwood. A glimmer of lights indicated that a house stood at the end of +the drive. + +"Kenwardine will be glad to receive you as a friend of mine," Lance said; +"and you needn't play unless you like. He's fond of company and generally +has a number of young men about the place." + +"A private gambling club?" + +"Oh, no. You're very far from the mark. Kenwardine certainly likes a bet +and sometimes runs a bank, but all he wins wouldn't do much to keep up a +place like this. However, you can see for yourself." + +Dick was not a gambler and did not play many games, but he wanted a +little excitement, and he looked forward to it as he followed his cousin +up the drive. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +DICK'S TROUBLES BEGIN + + +It was with mixed feelings that Clare Kenwardine got down from the +stopping train at a quiet station and waited for the trap to take her +home. The trap was not in sight, but this did not surprise her, for +nobody in her father's household was punctual. Clare sometimes wondered +why the elderly groom-gardener, whose wages were very irregularly paid, +stayed on, unless it was because his weakness for liquor prevented his +getting a better post; but the servants liked her father, for he seldom +found fault with them. Kenwardine had a curious charm, which his daughter +felt as strongly as anybody else, though she was beginning to see his +failings and had, indeed, been somewhat shocked when she came home to +live with him not long before. + +Now she knitted her level brows as she sat down and looked up the +straight, white road. It ran through pastures, and yellow cornfields +where harvesters were at work, to a moor on which the ling glowed red in +the fading light. Near the station a dark firwood stretched back among +the fields and a row of beeches rose in dense masses of foliage beside +the road. There was no sound except the soft splash of a stream. +Everything was peaceful; but Clare was young, and tranquillity was not +what she desired. She had, indeed, had too much of it in the sleepy +cathedral town she had left. + +Her difficulty was that she felt drawn in two different ways; for she had +inherited something of her father's recklessness and love of pleasure, +though her mother, who died when Clare was young, had been a shy Puritan. +Clare was kept at school much longer than usual; and when she insisted on +coming home she found herself puzzled by her father's way of living. +Young men, and particularly army officers, frequented the house; stylish +women came down from town, often without their husbands; and there was +generally some exciting amusement going on. This had its attraction for +Clare; but her delicate refinement was sometimes offended, and once she +was even alarmed. One of the young men had shown his admiration for her +in a way that jarred, and soon afterward there had been a brawl over a +game of cards. + +Kenwardine had then suggested that she make a long visit to her aunts, in +the cathedral town. They had received her gladly but she soon found her +stay there irksome. The aunts were austere, religious women, who moved in +a narrow groove and ordered all their doings by a worn-out social code. +Still, they were kind and gave Clare to understand that she was to stay +with them always and have no more to do with Kenwardine than duty +demanded. The girl rebelled. She shrank with innate dislike from license +and dissipation, but the life her aunts led was dreary, and she could not +give up her father. Though inexperienced, she was intelligent and she saw +that her path would not be altogether smooth now that she was going home +for good. While she thought about it, the trap arrived and the shabby +groom drove her up the hill with confused apologies. + +An hour or two after Clare reached home, Lance and Dick Brandon entered +the house and were met by Kenwardine in the hall. He wore a velvet jacket +over his evening clothes and Dick noticed a wine-stain on the breast. He +was thin, but his figure was athletic, although his hair was turning gray +and there were wrinkles about his eyes. + +"Very glad to see your cousin," he said to Lance, and turned to Dick with +a smile. "Soldiers have a particular claim on our hospitality, but my +house is open to anybody of cheerful frame of mind. One must relax now +and then in times like these." + +"That's why I brought Dick," Lance replied. "He believes in tension. But +I wonder whether your notion of relaxing is getting lax?" + +"There's a difference, though it's sometimes rather fine," Kenwardine +answered with a twinkle. "But come in and amuse yourselves as you like. +If you want a drink, you know where to find it." + +They played a game of billiards and then went into another room, where +Dick lost a sovereign to Kenwardine. After that, he sat in a corner, +smoking and languidly looking about, for he had been hard at work since +early morning. Two or three subaltern officers from a neighboring camp +stood by the table, besides several other men whose sunburned faces +indicated a country life. The carpets and furniture were getting shabby, +but the room was large and handsome, with well-molded cornices and +paneled ceiling. The play was not high and the men were quiet, but the +room was filled with cigar smoke and there was a smell of liquor. Dick +did not object to drink and gambling in moderation, though it was seldom +that he indulged in either. He found no satisfaction in that sort of +thing, and he now felt that some of Kenwardine's friends would do better +to join the new armies than to waste their time as they were doing. + +At last Kenwardine threw down the cards. + +"I think we have had enough for a time," he said. "Shall we go into the +music-room, for a change?" + +Dick followed the others, and looked up with surprise when Clare came in. +Lance had spoken of a pretty girl, but she was not the type Dick had +expected. She wore a very plain white dress, with touches of blue that +emphasized her delicate coloring. Her hair was a warm yellow with deeper +tones, her features were regular and well-defined, and Dick liked the +level glance of her clear, blue eyes. He thought they rested on him +curiously for a moment. She had Kenwardine's slender, well-balanced +figure, and her movements were graceful, but Dick's strongest impression +was that she was out of place. Though perfectly at ease, she did not fit +into her environment: she had a freshness that did not harmonize with +cigar smoke and the smell of drink. + +Clare gave him a pleasant smile when he was presented, and after speaking +to one or two of the others she went to the piano when Kenwardine asked +her to sing. Dick, who was sitting nearest the instrument, stooped to +take a bundle of music from a cabinet she opened. + +"No," she said; "you may put those down. I'm afraid we have nothing quite +so good, and perhaps it's silly, but I've fallen back on our own +composers since the fourth of August." + +Dick spread out the music, to display the titles. + +"These fellows have been dead some time," he argued humorously. "They'd +probably disown their descendants if they'd survived until now. But +here's a Frenchman's work. They're on our side, and his stuff is pretty +good, isn't it?" + +Clare smiled. + +"Yes," she said, "it's certainly good; but I'd rather sing something +English to-night." + +She began a patriotic ballad Dick knew and liked. He was not much of a +musician, but his taste was good. The song rang true; it was poetry and +not warlike jingle, but he had not heard it sung so well before. Clare's +voice had been carefully trained and she used it well, but he knew that +she had grasped the spirit of the song. One or two of the men who had +been sitting got up, two young subalterns stood very stiff and straight, +but Dick noted that Kenwardine did not change his lounging attitude. He +was smiling, and Lance, glancing at him, looked amused. Dick remembered +this afterward, but he now felt that Lance was not quite showing his +usual good form. + +When the song was finished, Dick turned to Clare. He wanted to begin +talking to her before anybody else came up. + +"It was very fine. I don't understand the technique of music, but one +felt that you got the song just right. And then, the way you brought out +the idea!" + +"That is what the mechanical part is for," she answered with a smile and +a touch of color. "As it happens, I saw an infantry brigade on the march +to-day, and watched the long line of men go by in the dust and sun. +Perhaps that helps one to understand." + +"Did you see them cross the bridge?" Dick asked eagerly. + +"No," she answered; and he felt absurdly disappointed. He would have +liked to think that his work had helped her to sing. + +"Have you another like the first?" he asked. + +"I never sing more than once," she smiled. Then as Lance and another man +came toward them, she added, glancing at an open French window: "Besides, +the room is very hot. It would be cooler in the garden." + +Dick was not a man of affairs, but he was not a fool. He knew that Clare +Kenwardine was not the girl to attempt his captivation merely because he +had shown himself susceptible. She wanted him to keep the others off, and +he thought he understood this as he glanced at Lance's companion. The +fellow had a coarse, red face and looked dissipated, and even Lance's +well-bred air was somehow not so marked as usual. Well, he was willing +that she should make any use of him that she liked. + +They passed the others, and after stopping to tell Kenwardine that she +was going out, Clare drew back a curtain that covered part of the window. +Dick stepped across the ledge and, seeing that the stairs below were iron +and rather slippery, held out his hand to Clare. The curtain swung back +and cut off the light, and when they were near the bottom the girl +tripped and clutched him. Her hand swept downward from his shoulder +across his chest and caught the outside pocket of his coat, while he +grasped her waist to steady her. + +"Thank you," she said. "I was clumsy, but the steps are awkward and my +shoes are smooth." + +Dick was glad it was dark, for he felt confused. The girl had rested upon +him for a moment and it had given him a thrill. + +They crossed the broad lawn. Half of it lay in shadow, for a wood that +rolled up a neighboring hillside cut off the light of the low, half moon. +The air was still, it was too warm for dew, and there was a smell of +flowers--stocks, Dick thought, and he remembered their pungent sweetness +afterward when he recalled that night. Clare kept in the moonlight, and +he noted the elusive glimmer of her white dress. She wore no hat or wrap, +and the pale illumination emphasized the slenderness of her figure and +lent her an ethereal grace. + +They stopped at a bench beneath a copper-beech, where the shadow of the +leaves checkered with dark blotches the girl's white draperies and Dick's +uniform. Some of the others had come out, for there were voices in the +gloom. + +"Perhaps you wonder why I brought you here," Clare said frankly. + +"No," Dick answered. "If you had any reason, I'm not curious. And I'd +rather be outside." + +"Well," she said, "the light was rather glaring and the room very hot." +She paused and added: "Mr. Brandon's your cousin?" + +"He is, and a very good sort. He brought me to-night, but I felt that it +was, perhaps, something of an intrusion when you came in." + +"You didn't feel that before?" + +Dick knew that he was on dangerous ground. He must not admit that he +suspected Kenwardine's motive for receiving promiscuous guests. + +"Well, not to the same extent. You see, Lance knows everybody and +everybody likes him. I thought I might be welcome for his sake." + +"It's plain that you are fond of your cousin. But why did you imagine +that I should think your visit an intrusion?" + +Dick was glad he sat in the shadow, for his face was getting hot. He +could not hint that he had expected to find a rather daring coquette--the +kind of girl, in fact, one would imagine a semi-professional gambler's +daughter to be. It now seemed possible that he had misjudged Kenwardine; +and he had certainly misjudged Clare. The girl's surroundings were +powerless to smirch her: Dick was sure of that. + +"Oh, well," he answered awkwardly, "although Lance obviously knows your +father pretty well, it doesn't follow that he's a friend of yours." + +"It does not," she said in a curious tone. "But do you know the man he +was with?" + +"I never saw him before, and somehow I don't feel anxious to improve his +acquaintance." + +Clare laughed. + +"That's a quick decision, isn't it? Are you a judge of character?" she +asked. + +"I have been badly mistaken," Dick admitted with a smile. "Still, I know +the people I'm going to like. How is it I haven't seen you about? We're +not very far off and most of the people in the neighborhood have driven +over to our camp." + +"I only came home to-night, after being away for some time." + +Dick was relieved to learn this. He did not like to think of her living +at Kenwardine's house and meeting his friends. It was scarcely half an +hour since he met Clare Kenwardine, but she had, quite unconsciously he +thought, strongly impressed him. In fact, he felt rather guilty about it. +Since he was, in a manner, expected to marry some one else, he had no +business to enjoy yielding to this stranger's charm and to thrill at her +touch. + +They sat in silence for a few moments, and then Lance strolled up with +his companion. + +"Don't forget the time, Dick," he remarked as he passed. "You mustn't let +him keep you too long, Miss Kenwardine. He has an important errand to do +for his colonel." + +"If you don't mind, I won't go just yet," Dick said to Clare; and +understood from her silence that she did not want to dismiss him. + +For the first time since they were boys, he was angry with his cousin. It +looked as if Lance had meant to take him away when Miss Kenwardine needed +him. He was flattered to think she preferred his society to the red-faced +man's, and had used him to keep the other at a distance. Well, he would +stay to the last minute and protect her from the fellow, or from anybody +else. + +A little later Kenwardine joined them, and Dick knew that he must go. +Clare gave him her hand with a quick, grateful look that made his heart +beat, and Lance met him as he went into the house. + +"You're cutting it very fine," he said. "Come along; here's your cap." + +"In a moment! There's an infantry man I asked over to our camp." + +"You haven't time to look for him," Lance answered, and good-humoredly +pushed Dick into the hall. "Get off at once! A fellow I know will give me +a lift home." + +Dick ran down the drive and a few moments later his motorcycle was +humming up the road. He sped through a dark firwood, where the cool air +was filled with resinous scent, and out across a hillside down which the +stocked sheaves stood in silvery rows, but he noticed nothing except that +the white strip of road was clear in front. His thoughts were back in the +garden with Clare Kenwardine, and he could smell the clogging sweetness +of the stocks. This was folly, and he changed the gear on moderate hills +and altered the control when the engine did not need it, to occupy his +mind; but the picture of the girl he carried away with him would not be +banished. + +For all that, he reached Storeton Grange in time and, running up the +drive, saw lights in the windows and a car waiting at the door. Getting +down and stating his business, he was shown into a room where a +stern-faced man in uniform sat talking to another in evening clothes. + +"I understand you come from Captain Hallam," said the Colonel. + +"Yes, sir. He sent me with some papers." + +"You know what they are?" + +"Plans of pontoons, sir." + +"Very well," said the Colonel, taking out a fountain pen. "Let me have +them." + +Dick put his hand into his breastpocket, which was on the outside of his +coat. The pocket was unbuttoned, and the big envelope had gone. He +hurriedly felt the other pockets, but they too were empty, and his face +got red. + +The Colonel looked hard at him, and then made a sign to the other man, +who quietly went out. + +"You haven't got the plans! Did you leave them behind?" + +"No, sir," Dick said awkwardly. "I felt to see if they were in my pocket +when I left the camp." + +The Colonel's face hardened. + +"Did you come straight here?" + +"No, sir. I had an hour or two's leave." + +"And spent it with your friends? Had you anything to drink?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"As much as, or more than, usual?" + +"Perhaps a little more," Dick said in confusion. + +The Colonel studied him with searching eyes; and then took some paper +from a case on the table and began to write. He put the note in an +envelope and gave it to Dick. + +"It's your Commanding Officer's business to investigate the matter and +you'll take him this. Report yourself to him or to the Adjutant when you +reach camp. I'll telegraph to see if you have done so." + +He raised his hand in sign of dismissal and Dick went out, crushed with +shame, and feeling that he was already under arrest. If he were not in +camp when the telegram came, he would be treated as a deserter. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE PUNISHMENT + + +On reaching camp and reporting himself, Dick was sent to his tent, where +he slept until he was aroused by the bustle at reveille. He had not +expected to sleep; but he was young and physically tired, and the shock +of trouble had, as sometimes happens, a numbing effect. He awoke +refreshed and composed, though his heart was heavy as he dressed, because +he feared it was the last time that he would wear his country's uniform. +The suspense was trying as he waited until the morning parade was over; +then he was summoned to a tent where the Colonel and the Adjutant sat. + +"I have a telegram asking if you have arrived," the Colonel said in a +curious, dry tone. "You must understand that you have laid yourself open +to grave suspicion." + +"Yes," Dick answered, wondering whether the Colonel meant that it might +have been better if he had run away. + +"Very well. You admitted having received the plans. What did you do with +them?" + +"Buttoned them into the left pocket of my coat. When I got to Storeton, +the envelope was gone." + +"How do you account for that?" + +"I can't account for it, sir." + +The Colonel was silent for a few moments, and then he looked fixedly at +Dick. + +"Your statements were very unsatisfactory last night, and now that you +have had time to think over the matter, I advise you to be frank. It's +plain that you have been guilty of gross negligence, but that is not the +worst. The drawings are of no direct use to the enemy, but if they fell +into their hands they might supply a valuable hint of the use to which we +mean to put the pontoons. You see what this implies?" + +"I don't know how we mean to use them, sir, and I don't want to hide +anything." + +"That's a wise resolve," the Colonel answered meaningly; and Dick +colored. After all, there was something he meant to hide. + +"You took the plans with you when you left the camp, three or four hours +before you were due at Storeton," said the Adjutant. "Where did you go?" + +"To my cousin's rooms in the town." + +"Mr. Lance Brandon's," said the Adjutant thoughtfully. "Did you stay +there?" + +"No; we dined at The George." + +"A well-conducted house," the Adjutant remarked. "You took some wine at +dinner?" + +"Two glasses of light claret." + +"Then where did you go next?" + +"To the new music-hall." + +"And ordered drinks in the bar! Who suggested this?" + +"I can't remember," Dick replied with an angry flush. "Of course, I see +where you're leading, but I was quite sober when I left the hall." + +The Adjutant's expression puzzled him. He had felt that the man was not +unfriendly, and now he looked disappointed. + +"I'm not sure your statement makes things better," the Colonel observed +with some dryness. "Did you go straight to Storeton from the hall?" + +"No, sir. I spent an hour at a friend's house." + +"Whose house was it?" + +Dick pondered for a few moments, and then looked up resolutely. + +"I must decline to answer, sir. I've lost the plans and must take the +consequences; but I don't see why my private friends, who have nothing to +do with it, should be involved in the trouble." + +The Adjutant leaned forward across the table and said something quietly +to the Colonel, and neither of them spoke for the next minute or two. +Dick was sensible of physical as well as mental strain as he stood +stiffly in the middle of the tent. His knees felt weak, little quivers +ran through his limbs, and a ray of hot sunshine struck through the +hooked-back flap into his face, but he dared not relax his rigid pose. + +The two officers looked puzzled but grave. + +"Go back to your tent and stay there until I send for you," the Colonel +said at last. + +Dick saluted and went out, and when he sat down on his camp-bed he +moodily lighted a cigarette and tried to think. His military career was +ended and he was ruined; but this was not what occupied him most. He was +wondering whether Clare Kenwardine had taken the plans. If so, it was his +duty to accuse her; but, actuated by some mysterious impulse, he had +refused. + +The longer he thought about it, the clearer her guilt became. He was a +stranger and yet she had suggested a stroll through the garden and had +slipped and clutched him as they went down the steps. Her hand had rested +on the pocket in which the envelope was. She was the daughter of a man +who kept a private gaming house; it was not surprising that she was an +adventuress and had deceived him by her clever acting. For all that, he +could not condemn her; there was a shadow of doubt; and even if she were +guilty, she had yielded to some strong pressure from her father. His +feelings, however, were puzzling. He had spent less than an hour in her +society and she had ruined him, but he knew that he would remember her as +long as he lived. + +Dick's common sense led him to smile bitterly. He was behaving like a +sentimental fool. On the whole, it was a relief when the Adjutant came +in. + +"You must have known what the Colonel's decision would be," he said with +a hint of regret. "You're to be court-martialed. If you take my advice, +you'll keep nothing back." + + * * * * * + +The court-martial was over and Dick could not question the justice of its +sentence--he was dismissed from the army. Indeed, it was better than he +had expected. Somewhat to his surprise, the Adjutant afterward saw him +alone. + +"I'm thankful our official duty's done," he said. "Of course, I'm taking +an irregular line, and if you prefer not to talk--" + +"You made me feel that you wanted to be my friend," Dick replied +awkwardly. + +"Then I may, perhaps, remark that you made a bad defense. In the army, +it's better to tell a plausible tale and stick to it; we like an obvious +explanation. Now if you had admitted being slightly drunk." + +"But I was sober!" + +The Adjutant smiled impatiently. + +"So much the worse for you! If you had been drunk, you'd have been turned +out all the same, but the reason would have been, so to speak, +satisfactory. Now you're tainted by a worse suspicion. Personally, I +don't think the lost plans have any value, but if they had, it might have +gone very hard with you." He paused and gave Dick a friendly glance. +"Well, in parting, I'll give you a bit of advice. Stick to engineering, +which you have a talent for." + +He went out and not long afterward Dick left the camp in civilian's +clothes, but stopped his motorcycle on the hill and stood looking back +with a pain at his heart. He saw the rows of tents stretched across the +smooth pasture, the flag he had been proud to serve languidly flapping on +the gentle breeze, and the water sparkling about the bridge. Along the +riverside, bare-armed men in shirts and trousers were throwing up banks +of soil with shovels that flashed in the strong light. He could see their +cheerful brown faces and a smart young subaltern taking out a measuring +line. Dick liked the boy, who now no doubt would pass him without a look, +and he envied him with the keenest envy he had ever felt. He had loved +his profession; and he was turned out of it in disgrace. + +It was evening when he stood in the spacious library at home, glad that +the light was fading, as he confronted his father, who sat with grim face +in a big leather chair. Dick had no brothers and sisters, and his mother +had died long before. He had not lived much at home, and had been on +good, more than affectionate, terms with his father. Indeed, their +relations were marked by mutual indulgence, for Dick had no interest +outside his profession, while Mr. Brandon occupied himself with politics +and enjoyed his prominent place in local society. He was conventional and +his manners were formal and dignified, but Dick thought him very much +like Lance, although he had not Lance's genial humor. + +"Well," he said when Dick had finished, "you have made a very bad mess of +things and it is, of course, impossible that you should remain here. In +fact, you have rendered it difficult for me to meet my neighbors and take +my usual part in public affairs." + +This was the line Dick had expected him to take. It was his father's +pride he had wounded and not his heart. He did not know what to say and, +turning his head, he looked moodily out of the open window. The lawn +outside was beautifully kept and the flower-borders were a blaze of +tastefully assorted colors, but there was something artificial and +conventional about the garden that was as marked in the house. Somehow +Dick had never really thought of the place as home. + +"I mean to go away," he said awkwardly. + +"The puzzling thing is that you should deny having drunk too much," +Brandon resumed. + +"But I hadn't done so! You look at it as the others did. Why should it +make matters better if I'd owned to being drunk?" + +"Drunkenness," his father answered, "is now an offense against good +taste, but not long ago it was thought a rather gentlemanly vice, and a +certain toleration is still extended to the man who does wrong in liquor. +Perhaps this isn't logical, but you must take the world as you find it. I +had expected you to learn more in the army than you seem to have picked +up. Did you imagine that your promotion depended altogether upon your +planning trenches and gun-pits well?" + +"That kind of thing is going to count in the new armies," Dick replied. +"Being popular on guest-night at the mess won't help a man to hold his +trench or work his gun under heavy fire." + +Brandon frowned. + +"You won't have an opportunity for showing what you can do. I don't know +where you got your utilitarian, radical views; but we'll keep to the +point. Where do you think of going?" + +"To New York, to begin with." + +"Why not Montreal or Cape Town?" + +"Well," Dick said awkwardly, "after what has happened, I'd rather not +live on British soil." + +"Then why not try Hamburg?" + +Dick flushed. + +"You might have spared me that, sir! I lost the plans; I didn't sell +them." + +"Very well. This interview is naturally painful to us both and we'll cut +it short, but I have something to say. It will not be forgotten that you +were turned out of the army, and if you succeeded me, the ugly story +would be whispered when you took any public post. I cannot have our name +tainted and will therefore leave the house and part of my property to +your cousin. Whether you inherit the rest or not will depend upon +yourself. In the meantime, I am prepared to make you an allowance, on the +understanding that you stay abroad until you are sent for." + +Dick faced his father, standing very straight, with knitted brows. + +"Thank you, sir, but I will take nothing." + +"May I ask why?" + +"If you'd looked at the thing differently and shown a little kindness, it +would have cut me to the quick," Dick said hoarsely. "I'm not a thief and +a traitor, though I've been a fool, and it hurts to know what you think. +I'm going away to-morrow and I'll get on, somehow, without your help. I +don't know that I'll come back if you do send for me." + +"You don't seem to understand your position, but you may come to realize +it before very long," Brandon replied. + +He got up and Dick left the library; but he did not sleep that night. It +had been hard to meet his father and what he said had left a wound that +would take long to heal. Now he must say good-by to Helen. This would +need courage, but Dick meant to see her. It was the girl's right that she +should hear his story, and he would not steal away like a cur. He did not +think Helen was really fond of him, though he imagined that she would +have acquiesced in her relatives' plans for them both had things been +different. Now, of course, that was done with, but he must say good-by +and she might show some regret or sympathy. He did not want her to +suffer, but he did not think she would feel the parting much; and she +would not treat him as his father had done. + +When he called the next morning at an old country house, he was told that +Miss Massie was in the garden, and going there, he stopped abruptly at a +gap in a shrubbery. Beyond the opening there was a stretch of smooth +grass, checkered by moving shadow, and at one side a row of gladioli +glowed against the paler bloom of yellow dahlias. Helen Massie held a +bunch of the tall crimson spikes, and Dick thought as he watched her with +a beating heart that she was like the flowers. They were splendid in form +and color, but there was nothing soft or delicate in their aggressive +beauty. Helen's hair was dark and her color high, her black eyes were +bright, and her yellow dress showed a finely outlined form. Dick knew +that she was proud, resolute, and self-confident. + +Then she turned her head and saw him, and he knew that she had heard of +his disgrace, for her color deepened and her glance was rather hard than +sympathetic. The hand that held the flowers dropped to her side, but she +waited until he came up. + +"I see you know, and it doesn't matter who told you," he said. "I felt I +had to come before I went away." + +"Yes," she answered calmly, "I heard. You have courage, Dick; but perhaps +a note would have been enough, and more considerate." + +Dick wondered gloomily whether she meant that he might have saved her +pain by staying away, or that he had involved her in his disgrace by +coming, since his visit would be talked about. He reflected bitterly that +the latter was more probable. + +"Well," he said, "we have been pretty good friends and I'm leaving the +country. I don't suppose I shall come back again." + +"When do you go?" + +"Now," said Dick. "I must catch the train at noon." + +Helen's manner did not encourage any indulgence in sentiment and he half +resented this, although it made things easier. He could not say he had +come to give her up, because there had been no formal engagement. Still +he had expected some sign of pity or regret. + +"You don't defend yourself," she remarked thoughtfully. "Couldn't you +have fought it out?" + +"There was nothing to fight for. I lost the papers I was trusted with; +one can't get over that." + +"But people may imagine you did something worse." She paused for a moment +and added: "Don't you care what I might think?" + +Dick looked at her steadily. "You ought to know. Do you believe it's +possible I stole and meant to sell the plans?" + +"No," she said with a touch of color. "But I would have liked you, for +your friends' sake, to try to clear yourself. If you had lost the papers, +they would have been found and sent back; as they were not, it looks as +if you had been robbed." + +That she could reason this out calmly struck Dick as curious, although he +had long known that Helen was ruled by her brain and not her heart. + +"I've been careless and there's nothing to be done but take my +punishment." + +She gave him a keen glance. "Are you hiding something, Dick? It's your +duty to tell all that you suspect." + +Dick winced. Helen was right; it was his duty, but he was not going to +carry it out. He began to see what this meant, but his resolution did not +falter. + +"If I knew I'd been robbed, it would be different, but I don't, and if I +blamed people who were found to be innocent, I'd only make matters worse +for myself." + +"I suppose that's true," she agreed coldly. "However, you have made your +choice and it's too late now. Where are you going, Dick?" + +"To New York by the first boat from Liverpool." + +He waited, watching her and wondering whether she would ask him to stop, +but she said quietly: "Well, I shall, no doubt, hear how you get on." + +"It's unlikely," he answered in a hard voice. "I've lost my friends with +my character. The best thing I can do is to leave them alone." + +Then he looked at his watch, and she gave him her hand. "For all that, I +wish you good luck, Dick." + +She let him go, and as he went back to the gate he reflected that Helen +had taken the proper and tactful line by dismissing him as if he were +nothing more than an acquaintance. He could be nothing more now, and to +yield to sentiment would have been painful and foolish; but it hurt him +that she had realized this. + +When he wheeled his bicycle away from the gate he saw a boy who helped +his father's gardener running along the road, and waited until he came +up, hot and panting. The boy held out a small envelope. + +"It came after you left, Mr. Dick," he gasped. + +"Then you have been very quick." + +The lad smiled, for Dick was a favorite with his father's servants. + +"I thought you'd like to have the note," he answered, and added +awkwardly: "Besides, I didn't see you when you went." + +It was the first hint of kindness Dick had received since his disgrace +and he took the lad's hand before he gave him half a crown, though he +knew that he must practise stern economy. + +"Thank you and good-by, Jim. You must have taken some trouble to catch +me," he said. + +Then he opened the envelope and his look softened. + +"I heard of your misfortune and am very sorry, but something tells me +that you are not to blame," the note ran, and was signed "Clare +Kenwardine." + +For a moment or two Dick was sensible of keen relief and satisfaction; +and then his mood changed. This was the girl who had robbed and ruined +him; she must think him a fool! Tearing up the note, he mounted his +bicycle and rode off to the station in a very bitter frame of mind. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ADVERSITY + + +When he had sold his motorcycle at Liverpool, Dick found it would be +prudent to take a third-class passage, but regretted this as soon as the +liner left the St. George's channel. The food, though badly served, was +good of its kind, and his berth was comfortable enough for a man who had +lived under canvas, but when the hatches were closed on account of bad +weather the foul air of the steerage sickened him and the habits of his +companions left much to be desired. It was difficult to take refuge in +the open air, because the steerage deck was swept by bitter spray and +often flooded as the big ship lurched across the Atlantic against a +western gale. + +A spray-cloud veiled her forward when the bows plunged into a comber's +hollow side, and then as they swung up until her forefoot was clear, foam +and green water poured aft in cataracts. Sometimes much of her hull +before the bridge sank into the crest of a half-mile sea and lower decks +and alleyways looked like rivers. The gale held all the way across, and +Dick felt jaded and gloomy when they steamed into New York, a day late. +He had some trouble with the immigration officers, who asked awkward +questions about his occupation and his reason for giving it up, but he +satisfied them at length and was allowed to land. + +The first few days he spent in New York helped him to realize the change +in his fortunes and the difficulties he must face. Until the night he +lost the plans, he had scarcely known a care; life had been made easy, +and his future had looked safe. He had seldom denied himself anything; he +had started well on a career he liked, and all his thoughts were centered +on fitting himself for it. Extravagance was not a failing of his, but he +had always had more money than would satisfy his somewhat simple needs. +Now, however, there was an alarming difference. + +To begin with, it was obvious that he could only stay for a very limited +time at the cheap hotel he went to, and his efforts to find employment +brought him sharp rebuffs. Business men who needed assistance asked him +curt questions about his training and experience, and when he could not +answer satisfactorily promptly got rid of him. Then he tried manual labor +and found employment almost as hard to get. The few dollars he earned at +casual jobs did not pay his board at the hotel where he lived in squalid +discomfort, but matters got worse when he was forced to leave it and take +refuge in a big tenement house, overcrowded with unsavory foreigners from +eastern Europe. New York was then sweltering under a heat wave, and he +came home, tired by heavy toil or sickened by disappointment, to pass +nights of torment in a stifling, foul-smelling room. + +He bore it for some weeks and then, when his small stock of money was +melting fast, set off to try his fortune in the manufacturing towns of +Pennsylvania and Ohio. Here he found work was to be had, but the best +paid kind was barred to untrained men by Trade-union rules, and the rest +was done by Poles and Ruthenians, who led a squalid semi-communistic life +in surroundings that revolted him. Still, he could not be fastidious and +took such work as he could get, until one rainy evening when he walked +home dejectedly after several days of enforced idleness. A labor agent's +window caught his eye and he stopped amidst the crowd that jostled him on +the wet sidewalk to read the notices displayed. + +One ticket stated that white men, and particularly live mechanics, were +wanted for a job down South, but Dick hesitated for a few minutes, +fingering a dollar in his pocket. Carefully spent, it would buy him his +supper and leave something towards his meals next day, and he had been +walking about since morning without food. If he went without his supper, +the agent, in exchange for the dollar, would give him the address of the +man who wanted help, but Dick knew from experience that it did not follow +that he would be engaged. Still, one must risk something and the +situation was getting desperate. He entered the office and a clerk handed +him a card. + +"It's right across the town, but you'd better get there quick," he said. +"The job's a snap and I've sent a lot of men along." + +Dick boarded a street-car that took him part of the way, but he had to +walk the rest, and was tired and wet when he reached an office in a side +street. A smart clerk took the card and gave him a critical glance. + +"It looks as if we were going to be full up, but I'll put down your name +and you can come back in the morning," he remarked. "What do you call +yourself?" + +"A civil engineer," said Dick. "But where is the job and what's the pay?" + +"I guess Central America is near enough; mighty fine country, where rum's +good and cheap. Pay'll pan out about two-fifty, or perhaps three dollars +if you're extra smart." + +"You can get as much here," Dick objected, thinking it unwise to seem +eager. + +"Then why don't you get it?" the clerk inquired. "Anyhow, you won't be +charged for board and all you'll have to do is to drive breeds and +niggers. It's a soft thing, sure, but you can light out now and come back +if you feel it's good enough for you to take your chance." + +Dick went away, and had reached the landing when a man who wore loose, +gray clothes and a big, soft hat, met him. + +"What do you want?" he asked. + +"I've been applying for the job in the South." + +The other gave him a searching glance and Dick thought he noted his +anxious look and wet and shabby clothes. + +"What can you do?" he resumed. + +"To begin with, I can measure cubic quantities, plan out excavating work, +and use the level. If this kind of thing's not wanted, I can handle a +spade." + +"Where have you done your digging?" + +"In this city. Laying sewers for a contractor, who, the boys said, had to +squeeze us to make good the graft he put up to get the job." + +The other nodded. "That's so; I know the man. You can use a spade all +right if you satisfied him. But the sewer's not finished yet; why did you +quit?" + +"The foreman fired three or four of us to make room for friends that a +saloon-keeper who commands some votes sent along." + +"Well," said the other, smiling, "you seem to understand how our city +bosses fix these things. But my job will mean pretty tough work. Are you +sure you want it?" + +"I can't find another," Dick answered frankly. + +"Very well, I'll put you on. Look round to-morrow and get your orders. +I've a notion that you're up against it; here's a dollar on account." + +Dick took the money. He rather liked the man, whose abruptness was +disarmed by his twinkling smile. For the first time, with one exception, +during his search for employment, he had been treated as a human being +instead of an instrument for doing a certain amount of work. + +It was raining hard when he reached the street, and supper would be over +before he arrived at his cheap hotel, where one must eat at fixed times +or wait for the next meal. There was, however, a small restaurant with an +Italian name outside a few blocks further on, and going in he was served +with well-cooked food and afterwards sat in a corner smoking and thinking +hard. He now felt more cheerful; but the future was dark and he realized +the difficulties in his path. + +American industry was highly organized. The man who hoped for advancement +must specialize and make himself master of some particular branch. Dick +had specialized in England, and thought he knew his subject, but could +not use his knowledge. The Americans to whom he tried to sell it would +have none of him, and Dick owned that he could not blame them; since it +was natural to suppose that the man who was unfaithful to his country +would not be loyal to his employer. When he looked for other openings, he +found capital and labor arrayed in hostile camps. There was mechanical +work he was able to do, but this was not allowed, because the organized +workers, who had fought stubbornly for a certain standard of comfort, +refused to let untrained outsiders share the benefits they had won. + +Business was left; but it needed money, and if he tried to enter it as a +clerk, he must first obtain smart clothes and find somebody to certify +his ability and character, which was impossible. It looked as if he must +be content with manual labor. The wages it commanded were not low and he +was physically strong, but he shrank from the lives the lower ranks of +toilers led when their work was done. The crowded bunk-house and squalid +tenement revolted him. Still, he was young and optimistic; his luck might +change when he went South and chance give him an opportunity of breaking +through the barriers that shut him in. He sat in the corner, pondering, +until it got late and the tired Italian politely turned him out. + +Next morning he joined a group of waiting men at the railroad station. +They had a dejected look as they sat upon their bundles outside the +agent's office, except for three or four who were cheerfully drunk. Their +clothes were shabby and of different kinds, for some wore cheap +store-suits and some work-stained overalls. It was obvious that adversity +had brought them together, and Dick did not think they would make amiable +companions. About half appeared to be Americans, but he could not +determine the nationality of the rest, who grumbled in uncouth English +with different accents. + +By and by the clerk whom Dick had met came out of the office with a +bundle of tickets, which he distributed, and soon afterwards the train +rolled into the depot. Dick was not pleased to find that a car had been +reserved for the party, since he would sooner have traveled with the +ordinary passengers. Indeed, when a dispute began as the train moved +slowly through the wet street, he left the car. In passing through the +next, he met the conductor, who asked for his ticket, and after tearing +off a section of the long paper, gave him a card, which he gruffly +ordered him to stick in his hat. Then he put his hand on Dick's shoulder, +and pushed him back through the vestibule. + +"That's your car behind and you'll stop right there," he said. "Next time +you come out we'll put you off the train." + +Dick resigned himself, but stopped on the front platform and looked back +as the train jolted across a rattling bridge. A wide, yellow river ran +beneath it, and the tall factories and rows of dingy houses were fading +in the rain and smoke on the other side. Dick watched them until they +grew indistinct, and then his heart felt lighter. He had endured much in +the grimy town; but all that was over. After confronting, with +instinctive shrinking, industry's grimmest aspect, he was traveling +toward the light and glamour of the South. + +Entering the smoking compartment, he found the disturbance had subsided, +and presently fell into talk with a man on the opposite seat who asked +for some tobacco. He told Dick he was a locomotive fireman, but had got +into trouble, the nature of which he did not disclose. Dick never learned +much more about his past than this, but their acquaintance ripened and +Kemp proved a useful friend. + +It was getting dark when they reached an Atlantic port and were lined up +on the terminal platform by a man who read out a list of their names. He +expressed his opinion of them with sarcastic vigor when it was discovered +that three of the party had left the train on the way; and then packed +the rest into waiting automobiles, which conveyed them to the wharf as +fast as the machines would go. + +"Guess you won't quit this journey. The man who jumps off will sure get +hurt," he remarked as they started. + +In spite of his precautions, another of the gang was missing when they +alighted, and Kemp, the fireman, grinned at Dick. + +"That fellow's not so smart as he allows," he said. "He'd have gone in +the last car, where he could see in front, if he'd known his job." + +They were hustled up a steamer's gangway and taken to the after end of +the deck, where their conductor turned his back on them for a few minutes +while he spoke to a mate. + +"Now's your time," said Kemp, "if you feel you want to quit." + +Dick looked about. The spar-deck, on which the boats were stowed, covered +the spot where he stood, and the passage beneath the stanchions was dark. +There was nobody at the top of the gangway under the big cargo-lamp, and +its illumination did not carry far across the wharf. If he could reach +the latter, he would soon be lost in the gloom, and he was sensible of a +curious impulse that urged him to flight. It almost amounted to panic, +and he imagined that the other men's desertion must have daunted him. For +a few moments he struggled with the feeling and then conquered it. + +"No," he said firmly; "I'll see the thing through." + +Kemp nodded. "Well, I guess it's too late now." + +Two seamen, sent by the mate, went to the top of the gangway, and the +fellow who had brought the party from the station stood on guard near. +Dick afterward realized that much depended on the choice he swiftly made +and wondered whether it was quite by chance he did so. + +"You were pretty near going," his companion resumed. + +"Yes," said Dick, thoughtfully; "I believe I was. As a matter of fact, I +don't know why I stopped." + +The other smiled. "I've felt like that about risky jobs I took. Sometimes +I lit out, and sometimes I didn't, but found out afterward I was right +either way. If you feel you have to go, the best thing you can do is to +get a move on." + +Dick agreed with this. He did not understand it, but knew that while he +had still had time to escape down the gangway and felt strongly tempted +to do so, it was impressed upon him that he must remain. + +A few minutes later their conductor left them with a sarcastic farewell, +the ropes were cast off, and the steamer swung out from the wharf. When, +with engines throbbing steadily, she headed down the bay, Dick went to +his berth, and on getting up next morning found the American coast had +sunk to a low, gray streak to starboard. A fresh southwest breeze was +blowing under a cloudy sky and the vessel, rolling viciously, lurched +across the white-topped combers of the warm Gulf Stream. + +After breakfast, some of his companions gathered into listless, grumbling +groups, and some brought out packs of greasy cards, but Dick sat by +himself, wondering with more buoyant feelings what lay before him. He had +known trouble and somehow weathered it, and now he was bound to a country +where the sun was shining. It was pleasant to feel the soft air on his +face and the swing of the spray-veiled bows. After all, good fortune +might await him down South. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE CONCRETE TRUCK + + +It was very hot in the deep hollow that pierced the mountain range behind +Santa Brigida on the Caribbean Sea. The black peaks cut against a glaring +sky and the steep slopes of red soil and volcanic cinders on one side of +the ravine were dazzlingly bright. The other was steeped in blue shadow +that scarcely seemed to temper the heat, and the dark-skinned men who +languidly packed the ballast among the ties of a narrow-gage railroad +that wound up the hill panted as they swung their shovels. At its lower +end, the ravine opened on to a valley that got greener as it ran down to +the glittering sea, on the edge of which feathery palms clustered round +Santa Brigida. + +The old city, dominated by its twin, cathedral towers, shone ethereally +white in the distance, with a narrow fringe of flashing surf between it +and the vivid blue of the Caribbean. It was a thriving place, as the +black dots of steamers in the roadstead showed, for of late years +American enterprise had broken in upon its lethargic calm. The population +was, for the most part, of Spanish stock that had been weakened by +infusions of Indian and negro blood, but there were a number of Chinamen, +and French Creoles. Besides these, Americans, Britons, and European +adventurers had established themselves, and the town was a hotbed of +commercial and political intrigue. The newcomers were frankly there for +what they could get and fought cunningly for trading and agricultural +concessions. The leading citizens of comparatively pure Spanish strain +despised the grasping foreigners in their hearts, but as a rule took +their money and helped them in their plots. Moreover, they opened a +handsome casino and less reputable gambling houses with the object of +collecting further toll. + +Such wealth as the country enjoyed was largely derived from the fertile +soil, but the district about Santa Brigida was less productive than the +rest and had been long neglected. There was rain enough all round, but +much of the moisture condensed on the opposite side of the range and left +the slopes behind the town comparatively arid. To remedy this an +irrigation scheme was being carried out by American capitalists, and the +narrow-gage railroad formed part of the undertaking. + +A man dressed in rather baggy, gray clothes and a big, soft hat sat in +the shadow of the rock. His thin face had been recently browned by the +sun, for the paler color where his hat shaded it showed that he was used +to a northern climate. Though his pose was relaxed and he had a cigar in +his mouth, there was a hint of energy about him and he was following the +curves of the railroad with keenly observant eyes. A girl in white dress +of fashionable cut sat near him, holding a green-lined sunshade, for +although they were in the shadow the light was strong. The likeness +between them indicated they were father and daughter. + +"I expect you're feeling it pretty hot," Fuller remarked. + +"It is not oppressive and I rather like the brightness," the girl +replied. "Besides, it's cool enough about the tent after the sun goes +behind the range. Of course, you are used to the climate." + +"I was, but that was twenty-four years ago and before you were born. Got +my first lift with the ten thousand dollars I made in the next state down +this coast, besides the ague and shivers that have never quite left me. +However, it's pretty healthy up here, and I guess it ought to suit Jake +all right." + +Ida Fuller looked thoughtful, and her pensive expression added to the +charm of her attractive face. She had her father's keen eyes, but they +were, like her hair, a soft dark-brown; and the molding of brows and nose +and mouth was rather firm than delicate. While her features hinted at +decision of character, there was nothing aggressive in her look, which, +indeed, was marked by a gracious calm. Though she was tall, her figure +was slender. + +"Yes," she agreed, "if he would stay up here!" + +Fuller nodded. "I'd have to fix him up with work enough to keep him busy, +and ask for a full-length report once a week. That would show me what he +was doing and he'd have to stick right to his job to find out what was +going on." + +"Unless he got somebody to tell him, or perhaps write the report. Jake, +you know, is smart." + +"You're fond of your brother, but I sometimes think you're a bit hard on +him. I admit I was badly riled when they turned him down from Yale, but +it was a harmless fool-trick he played, and when he owned up squarely I +had to let it go." + +"That's Jake's way. You can't be angry with him. Still, perhaps, it's a +dangerous gift. It might be better for him if he got hurt now and then." + +Fuller, who did not answer, watched her, as she pondered. Her mother had +died long ago, and Fuller, who was largely occupied by his business, knew +that Jake might have got into worse trouble but for the care Ida had +exercised. He admitted that his daughter, rather than himself, had +brought up the lad, and her influence had been wholly for good. By and by +she glanced at Santa Brigida. + +"It's the casino and other attractions down there I'm afraid of. If you +had some older man you could trust to look after Jake, one would feel +more satisfied." + +"Well," said Fuller with a twinkle, "there's nobody I know who could fill +the bill, and I'm not sure the older men are much steadier than the +rest." + +He stopped as a puff of smoke rose at the lower end of the ravine and +moved up the hill. Then a flash of twinkling metal broke out among the +rocks, and Ida saw that a small locomotive was climbing the steep track. + +"She's bringing up concrete blocks for the dam," Fuller resumed. "We use +them large in the lower courses, and I had the bogie car they're loaded +on specially built for the job; but I'm afraid we'll have to put down +some pieces of the line again. The grade's pretty stiff and the curves +are sharp." + +Ida was not bored by these details. She liked her father to talk to her +about his business, and her interest was quickly roused. Fuller, who was +proud of her keen intelligence, told her much, and she knew the +importance of the irrigation scheme he had embarked upon. Land in the +arid belt could be obtained on favorable terms and, Fuller thought, be +made as productive as that watered by the natural rainfall. It was, +however, mainly because he had talked about finding her scapegrace +brother employment on the work that Ida had made him take her South. + +As she glanced at the track she noted that room for it had been dug out +of the hillside, which was seamed by gullies that the rails twisted +round. The loose soil, consisting largely of volcanic cinders, appeared +to offer a very unsafe support. It had slipped away here and there, +leaving gaps between the ties, which were unevenly laid and at the +sharper bends overhung the steep slope below. In the meantime, the small +locomotive came nearer, panting loudly and throwing up showers of sparks, +and Ida remarked how the rails bent and then sprang up again as the +truck, which carried two ponderous blocks of stone, rolled over them. The +engine rocked, sparks flashed among the wheels as their flanges bit the +curves, and she wondered what the driver felt or if he had got used to +his rather dangerous work. + +As a matter of fact, Dick Brandon, who drove the engine, felt some +nervous strain. He had applied for the post at Kemp's suggestion, after +the latter had given him a few lessons in locomotive work, and had since +been sorry that he had obtained it. Still he had now a room to himself at +the shed where the engine was kept, and a half-breed fireman to help him +with the heavier part of his task. He preferred this to living in a hot +bunk-house and carrying bags of cement in the grinding mill, though he +knew there was a certain risk of his plunging down the ravine with his +engine. + +The boiler primed when he started and was not steaming well. The pistons +banged alarmingly as they compressed the water that spurted from the +drain-cocks, and his progress was marked by violent jerks that jarred the +couplings of the bogie truck. Though Dick only wore a greasy shirt and +overall trousers, he felt the oppressive heat, and his eyes ached with +the glare as he gazed up the climbing track. The dust that rolled about +the engine dimmed the glasses, the footplate rattled, and it looked as if +his fireman was performing a clumsy dance. + +By and by he rather doubtfully opened the throttle to its widest. If the +boiler primed again, he might knock out the cylinder-heads, but there was +a steep pitch in front that was difficult to climb. The short locomotive +rocked and hammered, the wheels skidded and gripped again, and Dick took +his hand from the lever to dash the sweat from his eyes. + +They were going up, and he would be past the worst if he could get his +load round the curve ahead. They were half way round when there was a +clang behind him and the engine seemed to leap forward. Glancing over his +shoulder as he shut off steam, Dick saw the fireman gazing back, and a +wide gap between the concrete blocks and his load of coal. The couplings +had snapped as they strained round the bend and the truck would run down +the incline until it smashed through the sheds that held the grinding and +mixing plant at the bottom. He saw that prompt action was needed, and +reversing the machinery, gave the fireman an order in uncouth Castilian. + +The fellow looked at him stupidly, as if his nerve had failed, or he +thought the order too risky to obey. There was only one thing to be done, +and since it must be done at once, Dick must undertake it himself. The +engine was now running down the line after the truck, which had not +gathered much speed yet, and he climbed across the coal and dropped upon +the rear buffer-frame. Balancing himself upon it, he waited until the gap +between him and the truck got narrower, and then put his hand on top of +the concrete and swung himself across. He got his foot upon the side of +the car and made his way along, holding the top of the block, while the +dust rolled about him and he thought he would be jolted off. Indeed, +there was only an inch-wide ledge of smooth iron to support his foot, +which slipped once or twice; but he reached the brake-gear and screwed it +down. Then, crawling back, he hooked on the spare coupling and returned, +breathless and shaky, to his engine. A minute or two later he brought it +to a stop and had got down upon the line when somebody called him. + +Looking round, he saw Fuller standing near, and knew him as the man who +had given him the dollar in the American town. He had heard that his +employer had come out to see what progress was being made, but had not +yet encountered him. He did not notice Ida, who was sitting in the shadow +of the rock. + +"You were smart," said Fuller. "There'd have been an ugly smash if the +blocks had got away down the grade. But why didn't you stick to the +throttle and send your fireman?" + +"I don't think he understood what he ought to do, and there was no time +to explain." + +Fuller nodded. "So you did it yourself! But why didn't you push the car? +You could have held her up better then." + +"I couldn't get behind it. The loop-track down at the switches has caved +in." + +"I see. But it's a stiff grade and you didn't seem to be hustling your +engine much." + +"The boiler was priming and I was afraid of the cylinders." + +"Just so. You pumped up the water pretty high?" + +"No; it was at the usual working level," said Dick, who paused and +resumed thoughtfully: "I can't account for the thing. Why does a boiler +prime?" + +There are one or two obvious reasons for a boiler's priming; that is to +say, throwing water as well as steam into the engine, but this sometimes +happens when no cause can be assigned, and Fuller saw that Dick did not +expect an answer to his question. It was rather an exclamation, prompted +by his failure to solve a fascinating problem, and as such indicated that +his interest in his task was not confined to the earning of a living. +Fuller recognized the mind of the engineer. + +"Well," he replied, "there's a good deal we don't know yet about the +action of fluids under pressure. But do you find the grade awkward when +she's steaming properly?" + +"I can get up. Still, I think it will soon cost you as much in extra fuel +as it would to relay this bit of line. Two hundred cubic yards cut out at +the bend would make things much easier." + +"Two hundred yards?" said Fuller, studying the spot. + +"Two hundred and fifty at the outside," Dick answered confidently, and +then felt embarrassed as he saw Miss Fuller for the first time. His +clothes were few and dirty and he was awkwardly conscious that his hands +and face were black. But his employer claimed his attention. + +"What would you reckon the weight of the stuff?" + +Dick told him after a short silence, and Fuller asked: "Two-thousand-pound +tons?" + +"Yes; I turned it into American weight." + +"Well," said Fuller, "you must get on with your job now, but come up to +my tent after supper." + +Dick started his locomotive, and when it panted away up the incline +Fuller looked at his daughter with a smile. + +"What do you think of that young man?" + +"He has a nice face. Of course he's not the type one would expect to find +driving a locomotive." + +"Pshaw!" said Fuller. "I'm not talking about his looks." + +"Nor am I, in the way you mean," Ida rejoined. "I thought he looked +honest, though perhaps reliable is nearest what I felt. Then he was very +professional." + +Fuller nodded. "That's what I like. The man who puts his job before what +he gets for it naturally makes the best work. What do you think of his +manner?" + +"It was good; confident, but not assertive, with just the right note of +deference," Ida answered, and then laughed. "It rather broke down after +he saw me." + +"That's not surprising, anyhow. I expect he's used to wearing different +clothes and more of them when he meets stylish young women. It doesn't +follow that the young fellow isn't human because he's professional. +However, I want to see what the boys are doing farther on." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A STEP UP + + +Dusk was falling when Dick went to keep his appointment with his +employer. Fireflies glimmered in the brush beside the path, and the +lights of Santa Brigida flashed in a brilliant cluster on the edge of the +shadowy sea. High above, rugged peaks cut black against the sky, and the +land breeze that swept their lower slopes brought with it instead of +coolness a warm, spicy smell. There was more foliage when Dick reached +the foot of a projecting spur, for a dark belt of forest rolled down the +hill; and by and by he saw a big tent, that gleamed with a softened +radiance like a paper lantern, among a clump of palms. It seemed to be +well lighted inside, and Dick remembered having heard orders for electric +wires to be connected with the power-house at the dam. + +Fuller obviously meant to give his daughter all the civilized comfort +possible, and Dick was glad he had been able to find a clean duck suit, +though he was not sure he had succeeded in removing all the oily grime +from his face. Nothing could be done with his hands. The knuckles were +scarred, the nails broken, and the black grease from the engine had +worked into his skin. Still, this did not matter much, because he had +gradually overcome his fastidiousness and it was not likely that Miss +Fuller would notice him. + +She was, however, sitting outside the tent, from which an awning extended +so as to convert its front into a covered veranda, and Dick was half +surprised when she gave him a smile of recognition that warranted his +taking off his hat. Then Fuller, beckoning him to come forward, switched +on another lamp and the light fell on a table covered with plans. Dick +stopped when he reached it and waited, not knowing how his employer meant +to receive him. + +"Sit down," said Fuller, indicating a chair, and then gave him one of the +plans, some paper, and a fountain pen. "Study that piece of digging and +let me know the weight of stuff to be moved, the number of men you'd use, +and what you think the job would cost." + +Dick set to work, and at once became absorbed. Twenty minutes passed and +he did not move or speak, nor did he see the smile with which Ida +answered Fuller's look. In another ten minutes he put down the pen and +gave Fuller his calculations. + +"I think that's near it, sir. I'm reckoning on the use of colored peons." + +Fuller nodded. "You haven't left much margin for what we call +contingencies. But they're going to bring us some coffee. Will you take a +cigar?" + +A Chinaman brought out a silver coffee-pot on a tray, which he placed on +a folding table in front of Ida, and since it was two or three yards from +the other, Dick got up when she filled the cups. She gave him two, which +he carried back, but remained where she was, within hearing but far +enough away not to obtrude her society upon the others. Dick, who lighted +his cigar, felt grateful to Fuller. It was some time since he had met +people of any refinement on friendly terms, and until he took up his +quarters in the locomotive shed had been living in squalor and dirt. + +There was not much furniture outside the tent, but the neat folding +tables, comfortable canvas chairs, delicate china, and silver coffee-pot +gave the place a luxurious look, and though Miss Fuller was, so to speak, +outside the circle, the presence of a well-dressed, attractive girl had +its charm. Indeed, Dick felt half embarrassed by the pleasantness of his +surroundings. They were unusual and reminded him poignantly of the +privileges he had enjoyed in England. + +"Where did you learn to make these calculations?" Fuller asked after a +time. + +"In the British Army, Royal Engineers," Dick answered with a flush. + +"Were you an officer?" + +Dick had dreaded the question. It looked as if truthfulness would cost +him much; but he determined that his new friends should know the worst. + +"Yes." + +"Then why did you quit?" + +Dick glanced at Ida, and imagined that she was interested, though she did +not look up. + +"I was turned out, sir." + +"Ah!" said Fuller, without surprise. "May I ask why? It's not impertinent +curiosity." + +"I was sent with some important papers, which I lost. This was bad +enough, but there was some ground for suspecting that I had stolen them." + +"Do you know how they were lost?" + +Dick was grateful for the way the question was put, since it hinted that +Fuller did not doubt his honesty. + +"No," he said. "That is, I have a notion, but I'm afraid I'll never quite +find out." + +Fuller did not reply for a minute or two, and Dick, whose face was rather +hot, glanced back at Ida. Her eyes were now fixed on him with quiet +interest, and something in her expression indicated approval. + +"Well," said Fuller, "I'm going to give you a chance of making good, +because if you had done anything crooked, you wouldn't have told me that +tale. You'll quit driving the locomotive and superintend on a section of +the dam. I'm not satisfied with the fellow who's now in charge. He's +friendly with the dago sub-contractors and I suspect I'm being robbed." + +Dick's eyes sparkled. His foot was on the ladder that led to success; and +he did not mean to stay at the bottom. Moreover, it caused him an +exhilarating thrill to feel that he was trusted again. + +"I'll do my best, sir," he said gratefully. + +"Very well; you'll begin to-morrow, and can use the rooms behind the iron +office shack. But there's something you have forgotten." + +Dick looked at him with a puzzled air; and Fuller laughed. + +"You haven't asked what I'm going to pay you yet." + +"No," said Dick. "To tell the truth, it didn't seem to matter." + +"Profession comes first?" Fuller suggested. "Well, that's right, but I've +hired professional men, engineering and medical experts, who charged +pretty high. Anyhow, here's my offer--" + +Dick was satisfied, as was Fuller. The latter was often generous and +would not have taken unfair advantage of Dick's necessity, but he did not +object to engaging a talented young man at something below the market +rate. + +"While I'm here you'll come over twice a week to report," he resumed. +"And now if there's anything you'd like to ask." + +"First of all, I owe you a dollar," Dick remarked, putting the money on +the table. "The pay-clerk wouldn't take it, because he said it would mix +up his accounts. I'm glad to pay you back, but this doesn't cancel the +debt." + +"It wasn't a big risk. I thought you looked played out." + +"I was played out and hungry. In fact, it took me five minutes to make up +my mind whether I'd pay the agent who gave me your address his fee, +because it meant going without a meal." + +Fuller nodded. "Did you hesitate again, after you knew you'd got the +job?" + +"I did. When we were hustled on board the steamer, there was nobody at +the gangway for a few moments and I felt I wanted to run away. There +didn't seem to be any reason for this, but I very nearly went." + +"That kind of thing's not quite unusual," Fuller answered with a smile. +"In my early days, when every dollar was of consequence, I often had a +bad time after I'd made a risky deal. Used to think I'd been a fool, and +I'd be glad to pay a smart fine if the other party would let me out. Yet +if he'd made the proposition, I wouldn't have clinched with it." + +"Such vacillation doesn't seem logical, in a man," Ida interposed. "Don't +you practical people rather pride yourselves on being free from our +complexities? Still I suppose there is an explanation." + +"I'm not a philosopher," Fuller replied. "If you have the constructive +faculty, it's your business to make things and not examine your feelings; +but my explanation's something like this--When you take a big risk you +have a kind of unconscious judgment that tells you if you're right, but +human nature's weak, and scares you really don't believe in begin to +grip. Then it depends on your nerve whether you make good or not." + +"Don't they call it sub-conscious?" Ida asked. "And how does that +judgment come?" + +"I guess it's built up on past experience, on things you've learned long +since and stored away. In a sense, they're done with, you don't call them +up and argue from them; but all the same, they're the driving force when +you set your teeth and go ahead." + +Ida looked at Dick. "That can't apply to us, who have no long experience +to fall back upon." + +"I've only made one venture of the kind, but I've just discovered that it +turned out right." + +Fuller smiled. "That's neat." Then he turned to Ida. "But I wasn't +talking about women. They don't need experience." + +"Sometimes you're merely smart, and sometimes you're rather deep, but I +can't decide which you are just now," Ida rejoined. "However, I expect +you're longing to get back to the plans." + +"No," said Fuller. "They have to be thought of, but life isn't all a +matter of building dams. Now I'm getting old, I've found that out." + +"And you? Have you any opinion on the subject?" Ida asked Dick. + +Dick hesitated, wondering whether she meant to put him at his ease or was +amused by his seriousness. + +"I don't imagine my views are worth much and they're not very clear. In a +way, of course, it's plain that Mr. Fuller's right--" + +"But after all, building dams and removing rocks may very well come +first?" + +Dick pondered this. So far, his profession had certainly come first. He +was not a prig or a recluse, but he found engineering more interesting +than people. Now he came to think of it, he had been proud of Helen's +beauty, but she had not stirred him much or occupied all his thoughts. +Indeed, he had only once been overwhelmingly conscious of a woman's +charm, and that was in Kenwardine's garden. He had lost his senses then, +but did not mean to let anything of the kind happen again. + +"Well," he said diffidently, "so long as you're content with your +occupation, it doesn't seem necessary to make experiments and look for +adventures. I expect it saves you trouble to stick to what you like and +know." + +He noted Ida's smile, and was silent afterwards while she argued with her +father. He did not want to obtrude himself, and since they seemed to +expect him to stay, it was pleasant enough to sit and listen. + +The air was getting cooler and the moon had risen and cast a silver track +across the sea. The distant rumble of the surf came up the hillside in a +faint, rhythmic beat, and the peaks above the camp had grown in +distinctness. A smell of spice drifted out of the jungle, and Dick, who +was tired, was sensible of a delightful languor. The future had suddenly +grown bright and besides this, Ida's gracious friendliness had given him +back his confidence and self-respect. He was no longer an outcast; he had +his chance of making good and regaining the amenities of life that he had +learned to value by their loss. He was very grateful to the girl and +Fuller, but at length took his leave and returned to the locomotive shed +with a light heart and a springy step. + +Next morning he began his new work with keen energy. It absorbed him, and +as the dam slowly rose in a symmetrical curve of molded stone, its +austere beauty commanded his attention. Hitherto he had given utility the +leading place, but a change had begun the night he sat beneath the +copper-beech with Clare Kenwardine. The design of the structure was good, +but Dick determined that the work should be better, and sometimes stopped +in the midst of his eager activity to note the fine, sweeping lines and +silvery-gray luster of the concrete blocks. There were soft lights at +dawn and when the sun sank in which the long embankment glimmered as if +carved in mother-of-pearl. + +In the meantime, he went to Fuller's tent twice a week and generally met +Ida there. Once or twice, he pleaded with his employer for extra labor +and cement to add some grace of outline to the dam, and, although this +was unproductive expenditure, Fuller agreed. + +"I like a good job, but it's going to cost high if you mean to turn out a +work of art," he said. "However, if Bethune thinks the notion all right, +I suppose I'll have to consent." + +Dick colored, and wondered whether he had been given a hint, for Bethune +was his superior and a man of ability. + +"He doesn't object, sir." + +"That's good," Fuller replied with a twinkle. "Still, if you hustle him +too much, you'll make him tired." + +Dick did not smile, because he did not know how far it was wise to go, +but he suspected that Bethune had been tired before he came to the dam. +The latter was generally marked by an air of languid indifference, and +while his work was well done he seldom exceeded his duty. + +Next evening Dick went to see Bethune and found him lying in a hammock +hung between the posts of the veranda of his galvanized iron hut. A +syphon and a tall glass filled with wine in which a lump of ice floated, +stood on a table within his reach, and an open book lay upside down upon +the floor. He wore white duck trousers, a green shirt of fine material, +and a red sash very neatly wound round his waist. His face was sunburned, +but the features were delicately cut and his hands, which hung over the +edge of the hammock, were well cared for. + +"Mix yourself a drink," he said to Dick. "There's a glass and some ice in +the bureau inside. Anyhow my steward boy put some there." + +Dick, who went into the hut, came back with a grin. "There's a bit of wet +blanket, but the ice has gone. It seems to have run into your papers." + +"They'll dry," Bethune said tranquilly. "You had better put some of the +_gaseosa_ in the wine; it's sour Spanish _tinto_. Then if you like to +pick up the book, I'll read you some François Villon. There was red +blood in that fellow and it's a pity he's dead. You get into touch with +him better beside the Spanish Main than you can in New York." + +"I never heard of him, and perhaps I ought to explain----" + +"What you came for? Then go ahead and ease your mind. It's business first +with you." + +"It occurred to me that I had perhaps taken too much upon myself now and +then. You are my chief, of course, and I don't want to look pushing." + +"That shows good taste," Bethune remarked. "But how are you going to get +over the difficulty that you _are_ what you call pushing? Anyhow, I'm +surprised it did occur to you." + +"To tell the truth, it was something Fuller said----" + +"So I imagined! Well, when you go too far I'll pull you up, but we +needn't bother about it in the meantime. You were obviously born a +hustler, but you have an ingenuousness that disarms resentment. In fact, +you quite upset our views of the British character." + +"Then the feeling's mutual," Dick rejoined with a grin. "You don't +harmonize with what I've seen of Americans." + +"Ours is a big country and we've room for different types; but I come +from Georgia and we haven't all learned to hustle yet in the South. +That's probably why I'm here, when I could have had a much better paid +job." + +Dick did not doubt this, because he had seen something of the other's +mathematical powers. He was not a fool at figures himself, but Bethune +could solve by a flash of genius problems that cost him laborious +calculation. It was strange that such a man should be content to make a +very modest use of his talents. + +"I suppose you have met Miss Fuller," Bethune resumed. + +"Yes," said Dick. "She made things pleasant for me when I first went to +the tent. I like her very much." + +"Miss Fuller has most of the New England virtues, including a stern sense +of her responsibility. I expect you don't know if she shares her father's +good opinion of yourself." + +"I don't know what Fuller's opinion is," Dick replied awkwardly. + +Bethune laughed. "Well, he's given you a good job. But why I asked was +this: if Miss Fuller's quite satisfied about you, she'll probably put her +maverick brother in your charge. She came here not long ago with the +object of finding out if I was suited for the post, and I imagined +learned something about me in a quiet way. It was a relief when she +obviously decided that I wasn't the proper man. The girl has +intelligence. If she had asked me, I could have recommended you." + +"Do you know much about her brother?" + +"I've learned something. The lad's a breakaway from the sober Fuller +type; and I think his views of life rather agree with mine. However, +perhaps we had better let Miss Fuller tell you what she thinks fit. And +now would you like some François Villon?" + +"No," said Dick firmly. "I want to see that Moran turns out his gang at +sunrise and must get back." + +"Pick me up the book, anyhow," Bethune replied, and laughed good-humoredly +when Dick left him. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +DICK UNDERTAKES A RESPONSIBILITY + + +The glare of the big arc-lights flooded the broad, white plaza when Dick +crossed it on his way to the Hotel Magellan. The inhabitants of Santa +Brigida had finished their evening meal and, as was their custom, were +taking the air and listening to the military band. They were of many +shades of color and different styles of dress, for dark-skinned peons in +plain white cotton, chattering negroes, and grave, blue-clad Chinamen +mingled with the citizens who claimed to spring from European stock. +These, however, for the most part, were by no means white, and though +some derived their sallow skin from Andalusian and Catalan ancestors, +others showed traces of Carib origin. + +The men were marked by Southern grace; the younger women had a dark, +languorous beauty, and although their dress was, as a rule, an out of +date copy of Parisian modes, their color taste was good, and the creamy +white and soft yellow became them well. A number of the men wore white +duck, with black or red sashes and Panama hats, but some had Spanish +cloaks and Mexican sombreros. + +Flat-topped houses, colored white and pink and lemon, with almost +unbroken fronts, ran round the square. A few had green lattices and +handsome iron gates to the arched entrances that ran like a tunnel +through the house, but many showed no opening except a narrow slit of +barred window. Santa Brigida was old, and the part near the plaza had +been built four hundred years ago. + +Dick glanced carelessly at the crowd as he crossed the square. He liked +the music, and there was something interesting and exotic in the play of +moving color, but his mind was on his work and he wondered whether he +would find a man he wanted at the hotel. One could enter it by a Moorish +arch that harmonized with the Eastern style of its front; but this had +been added, and he went in by the older tunnel and across the patio to +the open-fronted American bar that occupied a space between the balcony +pillars. + +He did not find his man, and after ordering some wine, lighted a +cigarette and looked about while he waited to see if the fellow would +come in. One or two steamship officers occupied a table close by, a +Frenchman was talking excitedly to a handsome Spanish half-breed, and a +fat, red-faced German with spectacles sat opposite a big glass of +pale-colored beer. Dick was not interested in these, but his glance grew +keener as it rested on a Spaniard, who had a contract at the irrigation +works, sitting with one of Fuller's storekeepers at the other end of the +room. Though there was no reason the Spaniard should not meet the man in +town, Dick wondered what they were talking about, particularly since they +had chosen a table away from everybody else. + +The man he wanted did not come, and by and by he determined to look for +him in the hotel. He went up an outside staircase from the patio, round +which the building ran, and had reached a balcony when he met Ida Fuller +coming down. She stopped with a smile. + +"I am rather glad to see you," she said. "My father, who went on board +the American boat, has not come back as he promised, and the French lady +he left me with has gone." + +"I'm going off to a cargo vessel to ask when they'll land our cement, and +we might find out what is keeping Mr. Fuller, if you don't mind walking +to the mole." + +They left the hotel and shortly afterwards reached the mole, which +sheltered the shallow harbor where the cargo lighters were unloaded. The +long, smooth swell broke in flashes of green and gold phosphorescence +against the concrete wall, and the moon threw a broad, glittering track +across the sea. There was a rattle of cranes and winches and a noisy tug +was towing a row of barges towards the land. The measured thud of her +engines broke through the splash of water flung off the lighters' bows as +they lurched across the swell, and somebody on board was singing a +Spanish song. Farther out, a mailboat's gently swaying hull blazed with +electric light, and astern of her the reflection of a tramp steamer's +cargo lamp quivered upon the sea. By and by, Dick, who ascertained that +Fuller had not landed, hailed a steam launch, which came panting towards +some steps. + +"I can put you on board the American boat, and bring you back if Mr. +Fuller isn't there," he said, and when Ida agreed, helped her into the +launch. + +Then he took the helm while the fireman started the engine, and the craft +went noisily down the harbor. As they passed the end of the mole, Dick +changed his course, and the white town rose clear to view in the +moonlight behind the sparkling fringe of surf. The flat-topped houses +rose in tiers up a gentle slope, interspersed with feathery tufts of +green and draped here and there with masses of creepers. Narrow gaps of +shadow opened between them, and the slender square towers of the +cathedral dominated all, but in places a steep, red roof struck a +picturesque but foreign note. + +"Santa Brigida has a romantic look at night," Dick remarked. "Somehow it +reminds me of pictures of the East." + +"That is not very strange," Ida answered with a smile. "The flat roof and +straight, unbroken wall is the oldest type of architecture. Man naturally +adopted it when he gave up the tent and began to build." + +"Yes," said Dick. "Two uprights and a beam across! You couldn't get +anything much simpler. But how did it come here?" + +"The Arabs found it in Palestine and took it to Northern Africa as the +Moslem conquest spread. The cube, however, isn't beautiful, and the Moors +elaborated it, as the Greeks had done, but in a different way. The latter +broke the square from the cornices and pillars; the Moors with the +Saracenic arch, minarets, and fretted stone, and then forced their model +upon Spain. Still the primitive type survives longest and the Spaniards +brought that to the New World." + +"No doubt, it's the explanation. But the high, red roofs yonder aren't +Moorish. The flat top would suit the dry East, but these indicate a +country where they need a pitch that will shed the rain and snow. In fact +one would imagine that the original model came from Germany." + +"It really did. Spain was overrun by the Visigoths, who were Teutons." + +"Well," said Dick, "this is interesting. I'm not an architect, but +construction's my business, as well as my hobby." + +"Then don't you think you are a fortunate man?" + +"In a sense, perhaps," Dick answered. "Still, that's no reason you should +be bored for my entertainment." He paused and resumed: "I'm grateful +because you mean to be kind, as you were the night I met you first at the +tent. Although you had heard my story, I saw you wanted to make me feel I +was being given a fresh start." + +Ida studied him with a thoughtful calm that he found embarrassing. +"Perhaps I did, but suppose we talk about something else." + +"Very well. If it's not bad form, I wasn't in the least astonished by +your lecture about the roofs, because one finds your people have a +breadth of knowledge that's remarkable. I once showed an old abbey near +our place at home to some American tourists, and soon saw they knew more +about its history than I did. There was a girl of seventeen who corrected +me once or twice, and when I went to the library I found that she was +right. The curious thing is that you're, so to speak, rather parochial +with it all. One of my American employers treated me pretty well until he +had to make some changes in his business. Took me to his house now and +then, and I found his wife and daughters knew the old French and Italian +cities. Yet they thought them far behind Marlin Bluff, which is really a +horribly ugly place." + +"I know it," said Ida, laughing. "Still, the physical attractiveness of a +town isn't it's only charm. Besides, are you sure you don't mean +patriotic when you say parochial? You ought to sympathize with the former +feeling." + +"I don't know. Patriotism is difficult when your country has no use for +you." + +Ida did not reply, and it was a few minutes later when she said: "I'm +glad I met you to-night, because we go home soon and there's a favor I +want to ask. My brother is coming out to take a post on the irrigation +work and I want you to look after him." + +"But he mayn't like being looked after, and it's very possible he knows +more about the work than I do. I've only had a military training." + +"Jake has had no training at all, and is three or four years younger than +I think you are." + +"Then, of course, I'll be glad to teach him all I can." + +"That isn't exactly what I mean, although we want him to learn as much as +possible about engineering." + +"I don't see what else I could teach him." + +Ida smiled. "Then I must explain. Jake is rash and fond of excitement and +gay society. He makes friends easily and trusts those he likes, but this +has some drawbacks because his confidence is often misplaced. Now I don't +think you would find it difficult to gain some influence over him." + +"And what would you expect me to do afterwards?" + +"You might begin by trying to make him see how interesting his new +occupation is." + +"That might be harder than you think," Dick replied. "Molding concrete +and digging irrigation ditches have a fascination for me, but I dare say +it's an unusual taste. Your brother mightn't like weighing cement in the +hot mixing sheds or dragging a measuring chain about in the sun." + +"It's very possible," Ida agreed with a hint of dryness. "I want you to +show him what it means; make him feel the sense of power over material. +Jake's rather boyish, and a boy loves to fire a gun because something +startling happens in obedience to his will when he pulls the trigger. +Isn't it much the same when one gives the orders that shatter massive +rocks and move ponderous stones? However, that's not all. I want you to +keep him at the dam and prevent his making undesirable friends." + +"Though it's not the thing I'm cut out for, I'll try," said Dick, with +some hesitation. "I'm surprised that you should put your brother in my +charge, after what you know about me." + +"You were unfortunate, negligent, perhaps, for once." + +"The trouble is that my friends and relations seemed to think me +dishonest. At least, they believed that my getting into disgrace was +quite as bad." + +"I don't," said Ida calmly. "What I ask will need some tact, but if +you'll promise to look after Jake, I shall feel satisfied." + +Dick was silent for the next few moments, watching the phosphorescent +foam stream back from the launch's bows. Then he said: "Thank you, Miss +Fuller. In a way, it's embarrassing to feel you trust me; but I'll do +what I can to deserve it." + +Three or four minutes afterwards the launch steamed round the liner's +stern and ran into the gloom beneath her tall side. There was a blaze of +light above that fell upon the farthest off of the row of boats, past +which the launch ran with her engine stopped, and the dark water broke +into a fiery sparkle as the swell lapped the steamer's plates. A man came +down the ladder when the launch jarred against its foot, and Ida, finding +that Fuller was still on board, went up while Dick steamed across to the +cargo-boat that lay with winches hammering not far off. After talking to +her mate, he returned to the harbor, and when he landed, lighted a +cigarette and studied some alterations that were being made at the +landward end of the mole. He had noticed the work as he passed with Ida, +but was now able to examine it. A number of concrete blocks and cement +bags were lying about. + +Beckoning a peon who seemed to be the watchman, Dick gave him a cigarette +and asked: "How far are they going to re-face the mole?" + +"As far as the post yonder, señor." + +It was obvious that a large quantity of cement would be required and Dick +resumed: "Who is doing the work?" + +"Don Ramon Oliva." + +Dick hid his interest. Ramon Oliva was the man he had seen talking to +Fuller's storekeeper at the hotel. + +"Where does one buy cement in this town?" + +"Señor Vaz, the merchant, sells it now and then." + +Dick let the peon go, and leaving the mole, found Vaz in a café. Sitting +down at his table he asked: "Do you keep cement in your warehouse?" + +"Sometimes," said the other; "when work it is required for is going on. +But I sold the last I had two or three months ago." + +"I believe we run short now and then, but we have a big lot being landed +now. As our sheds will be pretty full, I could let you have a quantity if +you like." + +"Thanks, but no," said the merchant. "I do not think anybody would buy it +from me for some time, and it is bad to keep when one's store is damp." + +Dick, who drank a glass of wine with him, went away in a thoughtful mood. +He wondered where Don Ramon got his cement, and meant to find out, though +he saw that caution would be needed. He owed much to Fuller and had made +his master's business his. Now it looked as if Fuller were being robbed +and although he had, no doubt, cunning rogues to deal with, Dick +determined that the thing must be stopped. When he returned to the dam he +went to Bethune's hut and found him lying in his hammock. + +"Whose duty is it to check the storekeeper's lists?" he asked. "I suppose +you strike a balance between the goods delivered him and the stuff he +hands out for use on the works." + +"It's done, of course," said Bethune. "I haven't examined the books +myself; François, the Creole clerk, is responsible. However, one would +imagine you had duties enough without taking up another, but if you mean +to do so, you had better begin soon. Your energy won't stand this climate +long." + +"I don't know what I may do yet," Dick replied. "Still, it struck me that +our stores might be sold in the town." + +"I expect they are, to some extent," Bethune carelessly agreed. "That +kind of thing is hard to stop anywhere, and these folks are very smart at +petty pilfering. Anyway, you might get yourself into trouble by +interfering and any small theft you stopped probably wouldn't pay for the +time you'd have to spend on the job. Leave it alone, and take matters as +you find them, is my advice." + +Dick talked about something else, but when he went back to his shack he +knew what he meant to do. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AN INFORMAL COURT + + +One morning, soon after Fuller and his daughter had gone home, Dick stood +at a table in the testing house behind the mixing sheds. The small, +galvanized iron building shook with the throb of engines and rattle of +machinery, and now and then a shower of cinders pattered upon the roof; +for the big mill that ground up the concrete was working across the road. +The lattice shutters were closed, for the sake of privacy, and kept out +the glare, though they could not keep out the heat, which soaked through +the thin, iron walls, and Dick's face was wet with perspiration as he +arranged a number of small concrete blocks. Some of these were broken, +and some partly crushed. Delicate scales and glass measures occupied a +neighboring shelf, and a big steel apparatus that looked rather like a +lever weighing machine stood in the shadow. + +Where the draught that came through the lattices flowed across the room, +Bethune lounged in a canvas chair, and another man, with a quiet, +sunburned face, sat behind him. This was Stuyvesant, whose authority was +only second to Fuller's. + +"Brandon seems to have taken a good deal of trouble, but this kind of +investigation needs the strictest accuracy, and we haven't the best of +testing apparatus," Bethune remarked. "I expect he'll allow that the +results he has got may be to some extent misleading, and I doubt if it's +worth while to go on with the matter. Are you sure you have made no +mistakes, Dick?" + +Dick pondered for a few moments. If he were right, as he thought he was, +the statements he had to make would lead to the discharge of the +sub-contractor. Remembering his own disgrace, he shrank from condemning +another. He knew what he had suffered, and the man might be innocent +although his guilt seemed plain. It was a hateful situation, but his duty +was to protect his master's interests and he could not see him robbed. + +"You can check my calculations," he answered quietly. + +"That's so," agreed Stuyvesant, who added with a dry smile as he noted +Bethune's disapproving look: "We can decide about going on with the thing +when we have heard Brandon." + +"Very well," said Dick, giving him some papers, and then indicated two +different rows of the small concrete blocks. "These marked A were made +from cement in our store; the lot B from some I took from Oliva's stock +on the mole. They were subjected to the same compressive, shearing, and +absorbent tests, and you'll see that there's very little difference in +the results. The quality of standard makes of cement is, no doubt, much +alike, but you wouldn't expect to find that of two different brands +identical. My contention is that the blocks were made from the same +stuff." + +Stuyvesant crossed the floor and measured the blocks with a micrometer +gage, after which he filled two of the graduated glass measures and then +weighed the water. + +"Well?" he said to Bethune, who had picked up Dick's calculations. + +"The figures are right; he's only out in a small decimal." + +Stuyvesant took the papers and compared them with a printed form he +produced from his pocket. + +"They correspond with the tests the maker claims his stuff will stand, +and we can take it that they're accurate. Still, this doesn't prove that +Oliva stole the cement from us. The particular make is popular on this +coast, and he may have bought a quantity from somebody else. Did you +examine the bags on the mole, Brandon?" + +"No," said Dick, "I had to get my samples in the dark. If Oliva bought +the cement, he must have kept it for some time, because the only man in +the town who stocks it sold the last he had three months ago. The next +thing is our storekeeper's tally showing the number of bags delivered to +him. I sat up half the night trying to balance this against what he +handed out and could make nothing of the entries." + +"Let me see," said Bethune, and lighted a cigarette when Dick handed him +a book, and a bundle of small, numbered forms. "You can talk, if you +like," he added as he sharpened a pencil. + +Dick moved restlessly up and down the floor, examining the testing +apparatus, but he said nothing, and Stuyvesant did not speak. He was a +reserved and thoughtful man. After a time, Bethune threw the papers on +the table. + +"François isn't much of a bookkeeper," he remarked. "One or two of the +delivery slips have been entered twice, and at first I suspected he might +have conspired with Oliva. Still, that's against my notion of his +character, and I find he's missed booking stuff that had been given out, +which, of course, wouldn't have suited the other's plans." + +"You can generally count on a Frenchman's honesty," Stuyvesant observed. +"But do you make the deliveries ex-store tally with what went in?" + +"I don't," said Bethune dryly. "Here's the balance I struck. It shows the +storekeeper is a good many bags short." + +He passed the paper across, and Dick examined it with surprise. + +"You have worked this out already from the muddled and blotted entries! +Do you think you've got it right?" + +"I'm sure," said Bethune, smiling. "I'll prove it if you like. We know +how much cement went into stock. How many molded blocks of the top course +have we put down at the dam?" + +Dick told him, and after a few minutes' calculation Bethune looked up. +"Then here you are! Our concrete's a standard density; we know the weight +of water and sand and what to allow for evaporation. You see my figures +agree very closely with the total delivery ex-store." + +They did so, and Dick no longer wondered how Bethune, who ostentatiously +declined to let his work interfere with his comfort, held his post. The +man thought in numbers, using the figures, as one used words, to express +his knowledge rather than as a means of obtaining it by calculation. Dick +imagined this was genius. + +"Well," said Stuyvesant, "I guess we had better send for the storekeeper +next." + +"Get it over," agreed Bethune. "It's an unpleasant job." + +Dick sent a half-naked peon to look for the man, and was sensible of some +nervous strain as he waited for his return. He hated the task he had +undertaken, but it must be carried out. Bethune, who had at first tried +to discourage him, now looked interested, and Dick saw that Stuyvesant +was resolute. In the meanwhile, the shed had grown suffocatingly hot, his +face and hands were wet with perspiration, and the rumble of machinery +made his head ache. He lighted a cigarette, but the tobacco tasted bitter +and he threw it away. Then there were footsteps outside and Stuyvesant +turned to him. + +"We leave you to put the thing through. You're prosecutor." + +Dick braced himself as a man came in and stood by the table, looking at +the others suspiciously. He was an American, but his face was heavy and +rather sullen, and his white clothes were smeared with dust. + +"We have been examining your stock-book," said Dick. "It's badly kept." + +The fellow gave him a quick glance. "Mr. Fuller knows I'm not smart at +figuring, and if you want the books neat, you'll have to get me a better +clerk. Anyhow, I've my own tally and allow I can tell you what stuff I +get and where it goes." + +"That is satisfactory. Look at this list and tell me where the cement +you're short of has gone." + +"Into the mixing shed, I guess," said the other with a half-defiant +frown. + +"Then it didn't come out. We haven't got the concrete at the dam. Are +there any full bags not accounted for in the shed?" + +"No, sir. You ought to know the bags are skipped right into the tank as +the mill grinds up the mush." + +"Very well. Perhaps you'd better consult your private tally and see if it +throws any light upon the matter." + +The man took out a note-book and while he studied it Bethune asked, "Will +you let me have the book?" + +"I guess not," said the other, who shut the book with a snap, and then +turned and confronted Dick. + +"I want to know why you're getting after me!" + +"It's fairly plain. You're responsible for the stores and can't tell us +what has become of a quantity of the goods." + +"Suppose I own up that my tally's got mixed?" + +"Then you'd show yourself unfit for your job; but that is not the worst. +If you had made a mistake the bags wouldn't vanish. You had the cement, +it isn't in the store and hasn't reached us in the form of concrete. It +must have gone somewhere." + +"Where do you reckon it went, if it wasn't into the mixing shed?" + +"To the Santa Brigida mole," Dick answered quietly, and noting the man's +abrupt movement, went on: "What were you talking to Ramon Oliva about at +the Hotel Magellan?" + +The storekeeper did not reply, but the anger and confusion in his face +were plain, and Dick turned to the others. + +"I think we'll send for Oliva," said Stuyvesant. "Keep this fellow here +until he comes." + +Oliva entered tranquilly, though his black eyes got very keen when he +glanced at his sullen accomplice. He was picturesquely dressed, with a +black silk sash round his waist and a big Mexican sombrero. Taking out a +cigarette, he remarked that it was unusually hot. + +"You are doing some work on the town mole," Dick said to him. "Where did +you get the cement?" + +"I bought it," Oliva answered, with a surprised look. + +"From whom?" + +"A merchant at Anagas, down the coast. But, señores, my contract on the +mole is a matter for the port officials. I do not see the object of these +questions." + +"You had better answer them," Stuyvesant remarked, and signed Dick to go +on. + +Dick paused for a moment or two, remembering how he had confronted his +judges in a tent in an English valley. The scene came back with poignant +distinctness. + +He could hear the river brawling among the stones, and feel his Colonel's +stern, condemning gaze fixed upon his face. For all that, his tone was +resolute as he asked: "What was the brand of the cement you bought?" + +"The _Tenax_, señor," Oliva answered with a defiant smile. + +Then Dick turned to the others with a gesture which implied that there +was no more to be said, and quietly sat down. _Tenax_ was not the brand +that Fuller used, and its different properties would have appeared in the +tests. The sub-contractor had betrayed himself by the lie, and his +accomplice looked at him with disgust. + +"You've given the thing away," he growled. "Think they don't know what +cement is? Now they have you fixed!" + +There was silence for the next minute while Stuyvesant studied some +figures in his pocket-book. Then he wrote upon a leaf, which he tore out +and told Dick to give it to Oliva. + +"Here's a rough statement of your account up to the end of last month, +Don Ramon," he said. "You can check it and afterwards hand the pay-clerk +a formal bill, brought up to date, but you'll notice I have charged you +with a quantity of cement that's missing from our store. Your engagement +with Mr. Fuller ends to-day." + +Oliva spread out his hands with a dramatic gesture. "Señores, this is a +scandal, a grand injustice! You understand it will ruin me? It is +impossible that I submit." + +"Very well. We'll put the matter into the hands of the _Justicia_." + +"It is equal," Oliva declared with passion. "You have me marked as a +thief. The port officials give me no more work and my friends talk. At +the _Justicia_ all the world hears my defense." + +"As you like," said Stuyvesant, but the storekeeper turned to Oliva with +a contemptuous grin. + +"I allow you're not such a blamed fool," he remarked. "Take the chance +they've given you and get from under before the roof falls in." + +Oliva pondered for a few moments, his eyes fixed on Stuyvesant's unmoved +face, and then shrugged with an air of injured resignation. + +"It is a grand scandal, but I make my bill." + +He moved slowly to the door, but paused as he reached it, and gave Dick a +quick, malignant glance. Then he went out and the storekeeper asked +Stuyvesant: "What are you going to do with me?" + +"Fire you right now. Go along to the pay-clerk and give him your time. I +don't know if that's all we ought to do; but we'll be satisfied if you +and your partner get off this camp." + +"I'll quit," said the storekeeper, who turned to Dick. "You're a smart +kid, but we'd have bluffed you all right if the fool had allowed he used +the same cement." + +Then he followed Oliva, and Stuyvesant got up. + +"That was Oliva's mistake," he remarked. "I saw where you were leading +him and you put the questions well. Now, however, you'll have to take on +his duties until we get another man." + +They left the testing-house, and as Bethune and Dick walked up the valley +the former said: "It's my opinion that you were imprudent in one respect. +You showed the fellows that it was you who found them out. It might have +been better if you had, so to speak, divided the responsibility." + +"They've gone, and that's the most important thing," Dick rejoined. + +"From the works. It doesn't follow that they'll quit Santa Brigida. +Payne, the storekeeper, is of course an American tough, but I don't think +he'll make trouble. He'd have robbed us cheerfully, but I expect he'll +take his being found out as a risk of the game; besides, Stuyvesant will +have to ship him home if he asks for his passage. But I didn't like the +look Oliva gave you. These dago half-breeds are a revengeful lot." + +"I'm not in the town often and I'll be careful if I go there after dark. +To tell the truth, I didn't want to interfere, but I couldn't let the +rogues go on with their stealing." + +"I suppose not," Bethune agreed. "The trouble about doing your duty is +that it often costs you something." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +JAKE FULLER + + +A month after Fuller sailed his son arrived at Santa Brigida, and Dick, +who met him on the mole, got something of a surprise when a handsome +youth landed and came straight towards him. Jake Fuller was obviously +very young, but had an ease of manner and a calm self-confidence that +would have done credit to an elderly man of the world. His clothes showed +nice taste, and there was nothing about him to indicate the reckless +scapegrace Dick had expected. + +"You're Brandon, of course," he said as he shook hands. "Glad to meet +you. Knew you a quarter of a mile off." + +"How's that?" Dick asked. "You haven't seen me before." + +"For one thing, you're stamped Britisher; then you had a kind of +determined look, as if you'd come down to yank me right off to the +irrigation ditches before I'd time to run loose in the city. Matter of +duty to you, and you were going to put it through." + +Dick said nothing, and Jake laughed. "Well, that's all right; I guess +we'll hit it! And now we'll put out when you like. I laid in a pretty +good breakfast on the boat; I like smart service and a well-chosen menu, +and don't suppose you have either at the camp." + +"They might be better," Dick agreed, feeling that he had promised Miss +Fuller more than he might be able to perform. Then he told a peon to take +Jake's luggage and led the way to a mule carriage at the end of the mole. + +"I didn't expect to ride in a transfer-wagon," Jake remarked. "Haven't +you any autos yet? If not, I'll indent for one when the next stock order +goes home." + +"Perhaps you had better wait until you see the roads." + +"You're surely British," Jake replied. "If you'd been an American, you'd +get the car first and make the roads fit in. However, you might tell the +ancient dago to get a move on." + +Dick was silent for the next few minutes. On the whole, he thought he +would like Fuller, and made some allowance for the excitement he, no +doubt, felt at beginning his career in a foreign country, but none for any +wish to impress his companion. It was unlikely that the self-possessed lad +would care what Dick thought of him, although it looked as if he meant to +be friendly. Then as the sweating mules slowly climbed the rutted track +out of the town Dick began to point out the changing level of the land, +the ravines, or barrancos, that formed natural drainage channels from the +high watershed, and the influence of drought and moisture on the +cultivation. Jake showed a polite interest, but inquired what amusements +were to be had in Santa Brigida, about which Dick gave him as little +information as possible. If he had understood Miss Fuller's hints, the +Spanish city was no place for her brother. + +Jake spent the day following Dick about the works and made no complaint +about the heat and dust, though he frowned when a shower of cement or a +splash of oil fell upon his clothes. It was obvious that he knew nothing +about engineering, but the questions he asked indicated keen intelligence +and Dick was satisfied. A room adjoining the latter's quarters had been +prepared for the newcomer, and they sat, smoking, on the veranda after +the evening meal. + +"Do you think you'll like your work?" Dick asked. + +"I've got to like it, and it might be worse. Since I'm not allowed to +draw or model things, I can make them, and I guess that's another form of +the same talent, though it's considerably less interesting than the +first." + +"But perhaps more useful," Dick suggested. + +"Well, I don't know. Our taste is pretty barbarous, as a rule, and you +can't claim that yours is more advanced, but I allow that the Spaniards +who built Santa Brigida had an eye for line and color. These dagos have a +gift we lack; you can see it in the way they wear their clothes. My +notion is that it's some use to teach your countrymen to admire beauty +and grace. We're great at making things, but there's no particular need +to make them ugly." + +"Then you're a bit of an artist?" + +"I meant to be a whole one and might have made good, although the old man +has not much use for art. Unfortunately, however, I felt I had to kick +against the conventionality of the life I led and the protest I put up +was a little too vigorous. It made trouble, and in consequence, my folks +decided I'd better be an engineer. I couldn't follow their arguments, but +had to acquiesce." + +"It's curious how you artists claim to be exempt from the usual rules, as +if you were different from the rest of us." + +"We _are_ different," Jake rejoined with a twinkle. "It's our business to +see the truth of things, while you try to make it fit your formulas about +what you think is most useful to yourself or society. A formula's like +bad spectacles; it distorts the sight, and yours is plainly out of focus. +For example, I guess you're satisfied with the white clothes you're +wearing." + +"I don't know that it's important, but what's the matter with them?" + +"Well," said Jake, with a critical glance, "they're all wrong. Now you've +got good shoulders, your figure's well balanced, and I like the way you +hold your head, but your tailor has spoiled every prominent line. I'll +show you some time when I model you in clay." He paused and grinned. "I +guess the Roman sentinel pose would suit you best, as I noted it when you +stood on the mole waiting for me, determined to do your duty at any cost. +Besides, there is something of the soldier about you." + +"I wish you'd stop rotting," said Dick with a touch of awkwardness, +though he saw that Jake knew nothing about his leaving the army. "Was it +your father's notion that you should be an engineer?" + +"He thinks so," Jake answered, grinning. "My opinion is that you have to +thank my sister Ida for the job of looking after me. She made this her +business until I went to Yale, when, of course, she lost control. Ida has +a weakness for managing people, for their good, but you ought to take it +as a delicate compliment that she passed me on to you." + +"After all, Miss Fuller's age must be nearly the same as mine," Dick +remarked. + +"I see what you mean, but in some respects she's much older. In fact, I +guess I could give you a year or two myself. But it seems to me you've +kind of wilted since we began to talk. You've gone slack and your eyes +look heavy. Say, I'm sorry if I've made you tired." + +"I don't think you had much to do with it," said Dick. "My head aches and +I've a shivery feeling that came on about this time last night. A touch +of malarial fever, perhaps; they get it now and then in the town, though +we ought to be free from it on the hill. Anyhow, if you don't mind, I'll +get off to bed." + +He went away, and Jake looked about the veranda and the room that opened +on to it. There was a canvas chair or two, a folding table, a large +drawing board on a trestle frame, and two cheap, tin lamps. It was +obvious that Dick thought of nothing much except his work and had a +Spartan disregard for comfort. + +"A good sort, but it's concrete first and last with him," Jake remarked. +"Guess I've got to start by making this shack fit for a white man to live +in." + +Dick passed a restless night, but felt better when he began his work on +the dam next morning, though he did not touch the small hard roll and +black coffee his colored steward had put ready for him. The air was +fresh, the jungle that rolled down the hill glittered with dew, and the +rays of the red sun had, so far, only a pleasant warmth. Cranes were +rattling, locomotives snorted as they moved the ponderous concrete blocks +and hauled away loads of earth, and a crowd of picturesque figures were +busy about the dam. Some wore dirty white cotton and ragged crimson +sashes; the dark limbs of others projected from garments of vivid color. +Dick drove the men as hard as he was able. They worked well, chattering +and laughing, in the early morning, and there was much to be done, +because Oliva's dismissal had made a difference. + +The men flagged, as the sun got higher, and at length Dick sat down in +the thin shade of a tree. The light was now intense, the curving dam +gleamed a dazzling pearly-gray through a quivering radiance, and the +water that had gathered behind it shone like molten silver. One could +imagine that the pools reflected heat as well as light. Dick's eyes +ached, and for a few minutes he let them rest upon the glossy, green +jungle, and the belts of cultivation down the hill. + +Then he roused himself, because he must watch what was going on. The +great blocks must be properly fitted into place, and one could not trust +the dusky laborers to use the care that was needed; besides, they were +getting slack, and the fresh blocks the locomotives brought would soon +begin to accumulate. Since this would mean extra handling and consequent +expense, the track must be kept clear. Still, Dick wished noon would +come, for his head ached badly and he felt the heat as he had not felt it +before. + +It was hard to force himself to begin again after the short mid-day rest, +but he became a little more vigorous as the sun sank and the shadow of +the black cordillera lengthened across the valley. After dinner, when he +lounged on the veranda, the headache and lassitude returned, and he +listened to Jake's talk vacantly and soon went to bed. He knew he was not +well, but while malarial fever was not unusual in the neighborhood people +seldom took it in a virulent form, and as there was a good doctor at +Santa Brigida he determined to consult him when he had occasion to visit +the town. As it happened, a crane broke next day, and when evening came +he set off to inquire if new castings could be made for it in the Spanish +foundry. While he waited for an engine to take him down the line, Jake +announced his intention of coming. + +"I've never been round a Spanish town," he said. + +"You're not going round a Spanish town now, if I can prevent it," Dick +rejoined. "However, I suppose I can't order you off your father's +locomotive." + +Jake smiled. "You can resent my taking the line you hint at when I've +done so, but I guess one must make allowances. You're getting the fever +badly, partner." + +"It's the heat," Dick answered in an apologetic tone. "Anyhow, Santa +Brigida's a dirty, uninteresting place." + +"I expect your ideas of what's interesting are different from mine. +Concrete's all right in the daytime, though you can have too much of it +then, but you want to please your eye and relax your brain at night." + +"I was afraid of something of the kind. But here's the locomotive. Get +up, if you're coming." + +Dick was silent as the engine jolted down the track, for he was feverish +and his companion's talk irritated him. Besides, he had promised Ida +Fuller to take care of the lad and knew something of the license that +ruled in the city. Jake seemed to claim the supposititious privileges of +the artistic temperament, and there were wine-shops, gamblers, pretty +Creole girls with easy manners, and ragged desperados who carried knives, +in Santa Brigida. In fact, it offered too many opportunities for romantic +adventures. In consequence, Dick went to the Hotel Magellan, which they +reached after walking from the end of the line, and took Jake into the +bar. + +"You had better stop here; I won't be longer than I can help," he said. +"They'll make you a rather nice iced drink of Canary _tinto_." + +"Just so," Jake replied. "_Tinto's_ a thin, sour claret, isn't it? In New +York not long ago you could get iced buttermilk. Can't say I was fond of +it, but I reckon it's as exhilarating as the other stuff." + +Dick left him with some misgivings and went about his business. It was +eight o'clock in the evening and the foundry would be closed, but he knew +where the manager lived and went to his house, which was situated in the +older part of the city. He had not taken Jake because he had to pass some +of the less reputable cafés and gambling dens and thought it undesirable +that the lad should know where they were. The foundry manager was not at +home, but a languishing young woman with a thickly powdered face, who +called her mother before she conferred with Dick, told him where Don +Tomas had gone, and Dick set off again in search of the café she named. + +A half moon hung low in the clear sky, but, for the most part, its light +only reached a short distance down the white and yellow fronts of the +flat-topped houses. These got light and air from the central courtyard, +or patio, and the outer walls were only pierced by one or two very narrow +windows at some height from the ground. The openings were marked here and +there by a faint glow from within, which was often broken by a shadowy +female form leaning against the bars and speaking softly to another +figure on the pavement below. + +There were few street lamps, and in places the houses crowded in upon the +narrow strip of gloom through which Dick picked his way with echoing +steps. Most of the citizens were in the plaza, and the streets were quiet +except for the measured beat of the surf and the distant music of the +band. A smell of rancid oil and garlic, mingled with the strong perfumes +Spanish women use, hung about the buildings, but now and then a puff of +cooler air flowed through a dark opening and brought with it the keen +freshness of the sea. Once the melancholy note of a guitar came down from +a roof and somebody began to sing in a voice that quivered with fantastic +tremolos. + +Dick went carefully, keeping as far as possible away from the walls. In +Santa Brigida, all white men were supposed to be rich, and the honesty of +the darker part of its mixed population was open to doubt. Besides, he +had learned that the fair-skinned Northerners were disliked. They brought +money, which was needed, into the country, but they also brought machines +and business methods that threatened to disturb the tranquillity the +Latin half-breed enjoyed. The latter must be beaten in industrial strife +and, exchanging independence for higher wages, become subject to a more +vigorous, mercantile race. The half-breeds seemed to know this, and +regarded the foreigners with jealous eyes. For all that, Dick carried no +weapons. A pistol large enough to be of use was an awkward thing to hide, +and he agreed with Bethune that to wear it ostentatiously was more likely +to provoke than avoid attack. + +Once he thought he was followed, but when he stopped to look round, the +shadowy figure behind turned into a side street, and he presently found +the man he was in search of in a quiet café. He spent some time +explaining the drawings of the patterns that would be required before Don +Tomas undertook to make the castings, and then languidly leaned back in +his chair. His head had begun to ache again and he felt strangely limp +and tired. The fever was returning, as it did at night, but he roused +himself by and by and set off to visit the doctor. + +On his way he passed the casino and, to his surprise, saw Jake coming +down the steps. Dick frowned when they met. + +"How did you get in?" he asked. "It's the rule for somebody to put your +name down on your first visit." + +"So it seemed," said Jake. "There are, however, ways of getting over such +difficulties, and a dollar goes some distance in this country; much +farther, in fact, than it does in ours." + +"It's some consolation to think you've had to pay for your amusement," +Dick answered sourly. + +Jake smiled. "On the contrary, I found it profitable. You make a mistake +that's common with serious folks, by taking it for granted that a +cheerful character marks a fool." He put his hand in his pocket and +brought it out filled with silver coin. "Say, what do you think of this?" + +"Put the money back," Dick said sharply, for there was a second-rate +wine-shop not far off and a group of untidy half-breeds lounged about its +front. Jake, however, took out another handful of silver. + +"My luck was pretty good; I reckon it says something for me that I knew +when to stop." + +He jingled the money as he passed the wine-shop, and Dick, looking back, +thought one of the men inside got up, but nobody seemed to be following +them when they turned into another street. This was the nearest way to +the doctor's, but it was dark and narrow, and Dick did not like its look. + +"Keep in the middle," he warned Jake. + +They were near the end of the street when two men came out of an arch and +waited for them. + +"Have you a match, señor?" one who held a cigarette in his hand asked. + +"No," said Dick suspiciously. "Keep back!" + +"But it is only a match we want," said the other, and Jake stopped. + +"What's the matter with giving him one? Wait till I get my box." + +He gave it to the fellow, who struck a match, and after lighting his +cigarette held it so that the faint illumination touched Dick's face. + +"Thanks, señor," said the half-breed, who turned to his companion as he +added softly in Castilian: "The other." + +Dick understood. It was not Jake but himself who was threatened; and he +thought he knew why. + +"Look out for that fellow, Jake!" he cried. "Get back to the wall!" + +Jake, to Dick's relief, did as he was told, but next moment another man +ran out of the arch, and somebody in the darkness called out in +Castilian. Dick thought he knew the voice; but the men were behind him +now, and he turned to face them. The nearest had his hand at his ragged +sash, and Dick saw that he must act before the long Spanish knife came +out. He struck hard, leaning forward as he did so, and the man reeled +back; but the other two closed with him, and although his knuckles jarred +as a second blow got home, he felt a stinging pain high up in his side. +His breathing suddenly got difficult, but as he staggered towards the +wall he saw Jake dash his soft hat in the face of another antagonist and +spring upon the fellow. There seemed to be four men round them and one +was like Oliva, the contractor; but Dick's sight was going and he had a +fit of coughing that was horribly painful. + +He heard Jake shout and footsteps farther up the street, and tried to +lean against the house for support, but slipped and fell upon the +pavement. He could neither see nor hear well, but made out that his +assailants had slunk away and men were running towards Jake, who stood, +calling for help, in the middle of the street. Shortly afterwards a group +of dark figures gathered round and he heard confused voices. He thought +Jake knelt down and tried to lift him, but this brought on a stab of +burning pain and he knew nothing more. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +LA MIGNONNE + + +A cool sea breeze blew through the half-opened lattice, and a ray of +sunshine quivered upon the ocher-colored wall, when Dick awoke from a +refreshing sleep. He felt helplessly weak, and his side, which was +covered by a stiff bandage, hurt him when he moved, but his head was +clear at last and he languidly looked about. The room was spacious, but +rather bare. There was no carpet, but a rug made a blotch of cool green +on the smooth, dark floor. Two or three religious pictures hung upon the +wall and he noted how the soft blue of the virgin's dress harmonized with +the yellow background. An arch at one end was covered by a leather +curtain like those in old Spanish churches, but it had been partly drawn +back to let the air circulate. Outside the hooked-back lattice he saw the +rails of a balcony, and across the narrow patio a purple creeper spread +about a dazzling white wall. + +All this was vaguely familiar, because it was some days since Dick had +recovered partial consciousness, though he had been too feeble to notice +his surroundings much or find out where he was. Now he studied the room +with languid interest as he tried to remember what had led to his being +brought there. The scanty furniture was dark and old; and he knew the +wrinkled, brown-faced woman in black who sat by the window with a dark +shawl wound round her head. She had a place in his confused memories; as +had another woman with a curious lifeless face and an unusual dress, who +had once or twice lifted him and done something to his bandages. Still, +it was not of her Dick was thinking. There had been somebody else, +brighter and fresher than either, who sat beside him when he lay in +fevered pain and sometimes stole in and vanished after a pitiful glance. + +A bunch of flowers stood upon the table; and their scent mingled with the +faint smell of decay that hung about the room. Lying still, Dick heard +the leather curtain rustle softly in the draught, muffled sounds of +traffic, and the drowsy murmur of the surf. Its rhythmic beat was +soothing and he thought he could smell the sea. By and by he made an +abrupt move that hurt him as a voice floated into the room. It was +singularly clear and sweet, and he thought he knew it, as he seemed to +know the song, but could not catch the words and the singing stopped. +Then light footsteps passed the arch and there was silence again. + +"Who's that?" he asked with an energy he had not been capable of until +then. + +"_La mignonne_," said the old woman with a smile that showed her thick, +red lips and firm white teeth. + +"And who's Mignonne?" + +"_La, la!_" said the woman soothingly. "_C'est ma mignonne._ But you jess +go to sleep again." + +"How can I go to sleep when I'm not sleepy and you won't tell me what I +want to know?" Dick grumbled, but the woman raised her hand and began to +sing an old plantation song. + +"I'm not a child," he protested weakly. "But that's rather nice." + +Closing his eyes, he tried to think. His nurse was not a Spanish mulatto, +as her dark dress suggested. It was more likely that she came from +Louisiana, where the old French stock had not died out; but Dick felt +puzzled. She had spoken, obviously with affection, of _ma mignonne_; but +he was sure the singer was no child of hers. There was no Creole accent +in that clear voice, and the steps he heard were light. The feet that had +passed his door were small and arched; not flat like a negro's. He had +seen feet of the former kind slip on an iron staircase and brush, in +pretty satin shoes, across a lawn on which the moonlight fell. Besides, a +girl whose skin was fair and whose movements were strangely graceful had +flitted about his room. While he puzzled over this he went to sleep and +on waking saw with a start of pleasure Jake sitting near his bed. His +nurse had gone. + +"Hullo!" he said. "I'm glad you've come. There are a lot of things I want +to know." + +"The trouble is I've been ordered not to tell you much. It's a comfort to +see you looking brighter." + +"I feel pretty well. But can you tell me where I am and how I got there?" + +"Certainly. We'll take the last question first. Somebody tore off a +shutter and we carried you on it. I guess you know you got a dago's knife +between your ribs." + +"I seem to remember something like that," said Dick; who added with +awkward gratitude: "I believe the brutes would have killed me if you +hadn't been there." + +"It was a pretty near thing. Does it strike you as curious that while you +made yourself responsible for me I had to take care of you?" + +"You did so, anyhow," Dick remarked with feeling. "But go on." + +"Somebody brought a Spanish doctor, who said you couldn't be moved much +and must be taken into the nearest house, so we brought you here." + +"Where is 'here'? That's what I want to know?" + +"My orders are not to let you talk. We've changed our positions now; +you've got to listen. For all that, you ought to be thankful you're not +in the Santa Brigida hospital, which was too far away. It's three hundred +years old and smells older. Felt as if you could bake bricks in it, and +no air gets in." + +"But what were you doing at the hospital?" + +"I went to see a fellow who told me he'd been fired out of our camp. He +came up just after the dago knifed you, and knocked out the man I was +grappling with, but got an ugly stab from one of the gang. We didn't find +this out until we had disposed of you. However, he's nearly all right and +they'll let him out soon." + +"Ah!" said Dick. "That must be Payne, the storekeeper. But, you see, I +fired him. Why did he interfere?" + +"I don't know. He said something about your being a white man and it was +three to one." + +Dick pondered this and then his thoughts resumed their former groove. + +"Who's the mulatto woman in black?" + +"She's called Lucille. A nice old thing, and seems to have looked after +you well. When I came in she was singing you to sleep. Voice all gone, of +course, but I'd like to write down the song. It sounded like the genuine +article." + +"What do you mean by the 'genuine article'?" + +"Well, I think it was one of the plantation lullabies they used to sing +before the war; not the imitation trash fourth-rate composers turned out +in floods some years ago. That, of course, has no meaning, but the other +expressed the spirit of the race. Words quaint coon-English with a touch +of real feeling; air something after the style of a camp-meeting hymn, +and yet somehow African. In fact, it's unique music, but it's good." + +"Hadn't I another nurse?" Dick asked. + +Jake laughed. "I ought to have remembered that you're not musical. There +was a nursing sister of some religious order." + +"I don't mean a nun," Dick persisted. "A girl came in now and then." + +"It's quite possible. Some of them are sympathetic and some are curious. +No doubt, you were an interesting patient; anyhow, you gave the Spanish +doctor plenty trouble. He was rather anxious for a time; the fever you +had before the dago stabbed you complicated things." Jake paused and +looked at his watch. "Now I've got to quit. I had orders not to stay +long, but I'll come back soon to see how you're getting on." + +Dick let him go and lay still, thinking drowsily. Jake had apparently not +meant to answer his questions. He wanted to know where he was and had not +been told. It looked as if his comrade had been warned not to enlighten +him; but there was no reason for this. Above all, he wanted to know who +was the girl with the sweet voice and light step. Jake, who had admitted +that she might have been in his room, had, no doubt, seen her, and Dick +could not understand why he should refuse to speak of her. While he +puzzled about it he went to sleep again. + +It was dark when he awoke, and perhaps he was feverish or his brain was +weakened by illness, for it reproduced past scenes that were mysteriously +connected with the present. He was in a strange house in Santa Brigida, +for he remarked the shadowy creeper on the wall and a pool of moonlight +on the dark floor of his room. Yet the cornfields in an English valley, +through which he drove his motor bicycle, seemed more real, and he could +see the rows of stocked sheaves stretch back from the hedgerows he sped +past. Something sinister and threatening awaited him at the end of the +journey, but he could not tell what it was. Then the cornfields vanished +and he was crossing a quiet, walled garden with a girl at his side. He +remembered how the moonlight shone through the branches of a tree and +fell in silver, splashes on her white dress. Her face was in the shadow, +but he knew it well. + +After a time he felt thirsty, and moving his head looked feebly about the +room. A slender, white figure sat near the wall, and he started, because +this must be the girl he had heard singing. + +"I wonder if you could get me something to drink?" he said. + +The girl rose and he watched her intently as she came towards him with a +glass. When she entered the moonlight his heart gave a sudden throb. + +"Clare, Miss Kenwardine!" he said, and awkwardly raised himself on his +arm. + +"Yes," she said, "I am Clare Kenwardine. But drink this; then I'll put +the pillows straight and you must keep still." + +Dick drained the glass and lay down again, for he was weaker than he +thought. + +"Thanks! Don't go back into the dark. You have been here all the time? I +mean, since I came." + +"As you were seldom quite conscious until this morning, how did you +know?" + +"I didn't know, in a way, and yet I did. There was somebody about who +made me think of England, and then, you see, I heard you sing." + +"Still," she said, smiling, "I don't quite understand." + +"Don't you?" said Dick, who felt he must make things plain. "Well, you +stole in and out and sat here sometimes when Lucille was tired. I didn't +exactly notice you--perhaps I was too ill--but I felt you were there, and +that was comforting." + +"And yet you are surprised to see me now!" + +"I can't have explained it properly. I didn't know you were Miss +Kenwardine; but I felt I knew you and kept trying to remember, but I was +feverish and my mind wouldn't take your image in. For all that, something +told me it was really there already, and I'd be able to recognize it if I +waited. It was like a photograph that wasn't developed." + +"You're feverish now," Clare answered quietly. "I mustn't let you talk so +much." + +"You're as bad as Jake; he wouldn't answer my questions," Dick grumbled. +"Then, you see, I want to talk." + +Clare laughed, as if she found it a relief to do so. "That doesn't matter +if it will do you harm." + +"I'll be very quiet," Dick pleaded. "I'll only speak a word or two now +and then. But don't go away!" + +Clare sat down, and after a few minutes Dick resumed: "You passed my door +to-day, and it's curious that I knew your step, though, if you can +understand, without actually recognizing it. It was as if I was dreaming +something that was real. The worst of being ill is that your brain gets +working independently, bringing things up on its own account, without +your telling it. Anyhow, I remembered the iron steps with the glow of the +window through the curtain, and how you slipped--you wore little white +shoes, and the moonlight shone through the branches on your dress." + +He broke off and frowned, for a vague, unpleasant memory obtruded itself. +Something that had had disastrous consequences had happened in the quiet +garden, but he could not remember what it was. + +"Why did Lucille call you _ma mignonne_?" he asked. "Doesn't it mean a +petted child?" + +"Not always. She was my nurse when I was young." + +"Then you have lived here before?" + +"Not here, but in a country where there are people like Lucille, though +it's long ago. But you mustn't speak another word. Go to sleep at once!" + +"Then stay where I can see you and I'll try," Dick answered; and although +he did not mean to do so, presently closed his eyes. + +Clare waited until his quiet breathing showed that he was asleep, and +then crossed the floor softly and stood looking down on him. There was +light enough to see his face and it was worn and thin. His weakness moved +her to pity, but there was something else. He had remembered that night +in England, he knew her step and voice, and his rambling talk had caused +her a thrill, for she remembered the night in England well. Brandon had +shielded her from a man whom she had good ground for wishing to avoid. He +had, no doubt, not quite understood the situation, but had seen that she +needed help and chivalrously offered it. She knew he could be trusted and +had without much hesitation made her unconventional request. He had then +been marked by strong vitality and cheerful confidence, but he was ill +and helpless now, and his weakness appealed to her as his vigor had not +done. He was, in a way, dependent on her, and Clare felt glad this was +so. She blushed as she smoothed the coverlet across his shoulders and +then quietly stole away. + +There was no sea breeze next morning and the sun shone through a yellow +haze that seemed to intensify the heat. The white walls reflected a +curious subdued light that was more trying to the eyes than the usual +glare, and the beat of the surf was slow and languid. The air was still +and heavy, and Dick's fever, which had been abating, recovered force. He +was hot and irritable, and his restlessness did not vanish until Clare +came in at noon. + +"I've been watching for you since daybreak, and you might have come +before," he said. "Lucille means well, but she's clumsy. She doesn't help +one to be quiet as you do." + +"You're not quiet," Clare answered in a reproving tone. "Lucille is a +very good nurse; better than I am." + +"Well," said Dick in a thoughtful tone, "perhaps she is, in a way. She +never upsets the medicine on my pillow, as you did the last time. The +nasty stuff got into my hair----" + +Clare raised her hand in remonstrance. "You really mustn't talk." + +"I'm going to talk," Dick answered defiantly. "It's bad for me to keep +puzzling over things, and I mean to get them straight. Lucille's very +patient, but she isn't soothing as you are. It rests one's eyes to look +at you, but that's not altogether why I like you about. I expect it's +because you knew I hadn't stolen those plans when everybody else thought +I had. But then why did I tear your letter up?" + +Clare made an abrupt movement. She knew he must be kept quiet and his +brain was not working normally, but his statement was disturbing. + +"You tore it up?" she asked, with some color in her face. + +"Yes," said Dick in a puzzled voice, "I tore it all to bits. There was a +reason, though I can't remember it. In fact, I can't remember anything +to-day. But don't go off if I shut my eyes for a minute: it wouldn't be +fair." + +Clare turned her head, but except for this she did not move, and it was a +relief when after a few disjointed remarks his voice died away. She was +moved to pity, but for a few moments she had quivered in the grasp of +another emotion. It was obvious that Dick did not altogether know what he +was saying, but he had shown her plainly the place she had in his mind, +and she knew she would not like to lose it. + +Half an hour later Lucille came in quietly and Clare went away. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CLARE GETS A SHOCK + + +For a week the stagnant heat brooded over Santa Brigida, sucking up the +citizens' energy and leaving limp depression. Steaming showers that broke +at intervals filled the air with an enervating damp, and the nights were +worse than the days. No draught crept through the slits of windows into +the darkened houses, and the musty smell that characterizes old Spanish +cities gathered in the patios and sweltering rooms. + +This reacted upon Dick, who had a bad relapse, and for some days caused +his nurses grave anxiety. There was sickness in the town and the doctor +could spare but little time to him, the nursing sister was occupied, and +Dick was, for the most part, left to Clare and Lucille. They did what +they could; the girl with pitiful tenderness, the mulatto woman with +patience and some skill, but Dick did not know until afterwards that, in +a measure, he owed his life to them. Youth, however, was on his side, the +delirium left him, and after lying for a day or two in half-conscious +stupor, he came back to his senses, weak but with unclouded mind. He knew +he was getting better and his recovery would not be long, but his +satisfaction was marred by keen bitterness. Clare had stolen his papers +and ruined him. + +Point by point he recalled his visit to Kenwardine's house, trying to +find something that could be urged in the girl's defense and when he +failed seeking excuses for her; but her guilt was obvious. He hated to +own it, but the proof was overwhelming. She knew the power of her beauty +and had treated him as a confiding fool. He was not revengeful and had +been a fool, but it hurt him badly to realize that she was not what he +had thought. He hardly spoke to Lucille, who came in now and then, and +did not ask for Clare, as he had hitherto done. The girl did not know +this because she was taking the rest she needed after a week of strain. + +Jake was his first visitor next morning and Dick asked for a cigarette. + +"I'm well enough to do what I like again," he said. "I expect you came +here now and then." + +"I did, but they would only let me see you once. I suppose you know you +were very ill?" + +"Yes; I feel like that. But I dare say you saw Kenwardine. It looks as if +this is his house." + +"It is. We brought you here because it's near the street where you got +stabbed." + +Dick said nothing for a minute, and then asked: "What's Kenwardine doing +in Santa Brigida?" + +"It's hard to say. Like other foreigners in the town, he's probably here +for what he can get; looking for concessions or a trading monopoly of +some kind." + +"Ah!" said Dick. "I'm not sure. But do you like him?" + +"Yes. He strikes me as a bit of an adventurer, but so are the rest of +them, and he's none the worse for that. Trying to get ahead of dago +politicians is a risky job." + +"Is he running this place as a gambling house?" + +"No," said Jake warmly; "that's much too strong. There is some card play +evenings, and I've lost a few dollars myself, but the stakes are moderate +and anything he makes on the bank wouldn't be worth while. He enjoys a +game, that's all. So do other people; we're not all like you." + +"Did you see Miss Kenwardine when you came for a game?" + +"I did, but I want to point out that I came to see you. She walked +through the patio, where we generally sat, and spoke to us pleasantly, +but seldom stopped more than a minute. A matter of politeness, I imagine, +and no doubt she'd sooner have stayed away." + +"Kenwardine ought to keep her away. One wonders why he brought the girl +to a place like this." + +Jake frowned thoughtfully. "Perhaps your remark is justified, in a sense, +but you mustn't carry the idea too far. He's not using his daughter as an +attraction; it's unthinkable." + +"That is so," agreed Dick. + +"Well," said Jake, "I allow that our talking about it is in pretty bad +taste, but my view is this: Somehow, I don't think Kenwardine has much +money and he may feel he has to give the girl a chance." + +"To marry some gambling rake?" + +"No," said Jake sharply. "It doesn't follow that a man is trash because +he stakes a dollar or two now and then, and there are some pretty +straight fellows in Santa Brigida." Then he paused and grinned. "Take +yourself, for example; you've talent enough to carry you some way, and +I'm open to allow you're about as sober as a man could be." + +"As it happens, I'm not eligible," Dick rejoined with a touch of +grimness. "Kenwardine wouldn't think me worth powder and shot, and I've a +disadvantage you don't know of yet." + +"Anyhow, it strikes me you're taking a rather strange line. Kenwardine +let us bring you here when you were badly hurt, and Miss Kenwardine has +given herself a good deal of trouble about you. In fact, I guess you owe +it to her that you're recovering." + +"That's true, I think," said Dick. "I can't remember much about my +illness, but I've a notion that she took very good care of me. Still, +there's no reason I should give her further trouble when I'm getting +better, and I want you to make arrangements for carrying me back to the +dam. Perhaps a hammock would be the best plan." + +"You're not fit to be moved yet." + +"I'm going, anyhow," Dick replied with quiet resolution. + +After trying in vain to persuade him, Jake went away, and soon afterwards +Kenwardine came in. The light was strong and Dick noted the touches of +gray in his short, dark hair, but except for this he looked young and +athletic. His figure was graceful, his dress picturesque, for he wore +white duck with a colored silk shirt and red sash, and he had an easy, +good-humored manner. Sitting down close by, he gave Dick a friendly +smile. + +"I'm glad to find you looking better, but am surprised to hear you think +of leaving us," he said. + +"My work must be falling behind and Stuyvesant has nobody to put in my +place." + +"He sent word that they were getting on all right," Kenwardine remarked. + +"I'm afraid he was overstating it with a good motive. Then, you see, I +have given you and Miss Kenwardine a good deal of trouble and can't take +advantage of your kindness any longer. It would be an unfair advantage, +because I'm getting well. Of course I'm very grateful, particularly as I +have no claim on you." + +"That is a point you can hardly urge. You are a countryman, and your +cousin is a friend of mine. I think on that ground we are justified in +regarding you as an acquaintance." + +Dick was silent for a few moments. He felt that had things been different +he would have liked Kenwardine. The man had charm and had placed him +under a heavy obligation. Dick admitted this frankly, but could not stay +any longer in his house. He had, however, a better reason for going than +his dislike to accepting Kenwardine's hospitality. Clare had robbed him +and he must get away before he thought of her too much. It was an awkward +situation and he feared he had not tact enough to deal with it. + +"The truth is, I've no wish to renew my acquaintance with people I met in +England, and I went to America in order to avoid doing so," he said. "You +know what happened before I left." + +"Yes; but I think you are exaggerating its importance. After all, you're +not the only man who has, through nothing worse than carelessness, had a +black mark put against his name. You may have a chance yet of showing +that the thing was a mistake." + +"Then I must wait until the chance comes," Dick answered firmly. + +"Very well," said Kenwardine. "Since this means you're determined to go, +we must try to make it as easy as possible for you. I'll see the doctor +and Mr. Fuller." + +He went out, and by and by Clare came in and noted a difference in Dick. +He had generally greeted her as eagerly as his weakness allowed, and +showed his dependence on her, but now his face was hard and resolute. The +change was puzzling and disturbing. + +"My father tells me you want to go away," she remarked. + +"I don't want to, but I must," Dick answered with a candor he had not +meant to show. "You see, things I ought to be looking after will all go +wrong at the dam." + +"Isn't that rather egotistical?" Clare asked with a forced smile. "I have +seen Mr. Bethune, who doesn't look overworked and probably doesn't mind +the extra duty. In fact, he said so." + +"People sometimes say such things, but when they have to do a good deal +more than usual they mind very much. Anyhow, it isn't fair to ask them, +and that's one reason for my going away." + +Clare colored and her eyes began to sparkle. "Do you think we mind?" + +"I don't," Dick answered awkwardly, feeling that he was not getting on +very well. "I know how kind you are and that you wouldn't shirk any +trouble. But still----" + +"Suppose we don't think it a trouble?" + +Dick knitted his brows. It was hard to believe that the girl who sat +watching him with a puzzled look was an adventuress. He had made her +blush, and had come near to making her angry, while an adventuress would +not have shown her feelings so easily. The light that shone through the +window touched her face, and he noted its delicate modeling, the purity +of her skin, and the softness of her eyes. The sparkle had gone, and they +were pitiful. Clare had forgiven his ingratitude because he was ill. + +"Well," he said, "what you think doesn't alter the fact that I have given +you trouble and kept you awake looking after me at night. I wasn't always +quite sensible, but I remember how often you sat here and brought me cool +things to drink. Indeed, I expect you helped to save my life." He paused +and resumed in a voice that thrilled with feeling: "This wasn't all you +did. When I was having a very bad time before I left England and +everybody believed the worst, you sent me a letter saying that you knew I +was innocent." + +"You told me you tore up the letter," Clare remarked quietly. + +Dick's face got red. He had not taken the line he meant to take and was +obviously making a mess of things. + +"Are you sure I wasn't delirious?" + +"I don't think so. Did you tear up the letter?" + +He gave her a steady look, for he saw that he must nerve himself to face +the situation. It was unfortunate that he was too ill to deal with it +properly, but he must do the best he could. + +"I'll answer that if you'll tell me how you knew I was innocent." + +Clare looked puzzled, as if his manner had jarred; and Dick saw that she +was not acting. Her surprise was real. He could not understand this, but +felt ashamed of himself. + +"In a sense, of course, I didn't know," she answered with a touch of +embarrassment. "Still, I felt you didn't steal the plans. It seemed +impossible." + +"Thank you," said Dick, who was silent for the next few moments. He +thought candor was needed and had meant to be frank, but he could not +wound the girl who had taken care of him. + +"Anyhow, I lost the papers and that was almost as bad," he resumed +feebly. "When you get into trouble people don't care much whether you're +a rogue or a fool. You're in disgrace and that's all that matters. +However, I mustn't bore you with my grumbling. I'm getting better and +they want me at the dam." + +"Then I suppose you must go as soon as you are able," Clare agreed, and +began to talk about something else. + +She left him soon and Dick lay still, frowning. It had been a trying +interview and he doubted if he had come through it well, but hoped Clare +would make allowances for his being ill. He did not want her to think him +ungrateful, and had certainly no wish to punish her for what had happened +in the past. But she had stolen his papers and he must get away. + +He was taken away next morning, with the consent of the doctor, who +agreed that the air would be more invigorating on the hill. Clare did not +come down to see him off and Dick felt strangely disappointed, although +she had wished him a quick recovery on the previous evening. Kenwardine, +however, helped him into his hammock and after the carriers started went +back to the room where Clare sat. He noted that although the sun was hot +the shutter was not drawn across the window, which commanded the street. + +"Well," he said, "Mr. Brandon has gone and on the whole that's a relief." + +"Do you know why he went so soon?" Clare asked. + +Kenwardine sat down and looked at her thoughtfully. He was fond of Clare, +though he found her something of an embarrassment now and then. He was +not rich and ran certain risks that made his ability to provide for her +doubtful, while she had no marked talents to fall back upon if things +went against him. There was, however, the possibility that her beauty +might enable her to make a good marriage, and although Kenwardine could +not do much at present to forward this plan he must try to prevent any +undesirable entanglement. Brandon, for example, was not to be thought of, +but he suspected Clare of some liking for the young man. + +"Yes," he said, "I know and sympathize with him. In fact, I quite see why +he found it difficult to stay. The situation was only tolerable while he +was very ill." + +"Why?" + +Kenwardine meant to tell her. It was better that she should smart a +little now than suffer worse afterwards. + +"As soon as he began to get better Brandon remembered that we were the +cause of his misfortunes. You can see how this complicated things." + +"But we had nothing to do with them," Clare said sharply. "What made him +think we had?" + +"It's not an illogical conclusion when he imagines that he lost his +papers in our house." + +Clare got up with a red flush in her face and her eyes sparkling. "It's +absurd!" she exclaimed. "He must have been delirious when he said so." + +"He didn't say so in as many words; Brandon has some taste. But he was +perfectly sensible and intended me to see what he meant." + +The girl stood still, trembling with anger and confusion, and Kenwardine +felt sorry for her. She was worse hurt than he had expected, but she +would rally. + +"But he couldn't have been robbed while he was with us," she said with an +effort, trying to understand Dick's point of view. "He hadn't an +overcoat, so the plans must have been in the pocket of his uniform, and +nobody except myself was near him." + +She stopped with a gasp as she remembered how she had slipped and seized +Dick. In doing so her hand had caught his pocket. Everything was plain +now, and for a few moments she felt overwhelmed. Her face blanched, but +her eyes were hard and very bright. + +Kenwardine left her, feeling that Brandon would have cause to regret his +rashness if he ever attempted to renew her acquaintance, and Clare sat +down and tried to conquer her anger. This was difficult, because she had +received an intolerable insult. Brandon thought her a thief! It was plain +that he did so, because the change in his manner bore out all her father +had said, and there was no other explanation. Then she blushed with shame +as she realized that from his point of view her unconventional behavior +warranted his suspicions. She had asked him to come into the garden and +had written him a note! This was horribly foolish and she must pay for +it, but she had been mistaken about his character. + +She had, as a rule, avoided the men she met at her father's house and had +shrunk with frank repugnance from one or two, but Brandon had seemed +different. Then he had watched for her when he was ill and she had seen +his heavy eyes get brighter when she came into the room. Now, however, +she understood him better. She had some beauty and he had been satisfied +with her physical attractiveness, although he thought her a thief. This +was worse than the coarse admiration of the men she had feared. It was +unthinkably humiliating, but her anger helped her to bear the blow. After +all, she was fortunate in finding out what Brandon was, since it might +have been worse had the knowledge come later. There was a sting in this +that rankled, but she could banish him from her thoughts now. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +DICK KEEPS HIS PROMISE + + +Twinkling points of light that pierced the darkness lower down the hill +marked the colored laborers' camp, and voices came up faintly through the +still air. The range cut off the land breeze, though now and then a +wandering draught flickered down the hollow spanned by the dam, and a +smell of hot earth and damp jungle hung about the veranda of Dick's iron +shack. He sat near a lamp, with a drawing-board on his knee, while Jake +lounged in a canvas chair, smoking and occasionally glancing at the sheet +of figures in his hand. His expression was gloomily resigned. + +"I suppose you'll have things ready for us in the morning," Dick said +presently. + +"François' accounts are checked and I'm surprised to find them right, +but I imagine the other calculations will not be finished. Anyhow, it +won't make much difference whether they are or not. I guess you know +that!" + +"Well, of course, if you can't manage to do the lot----" + +"I don't say it's impossible," Jake rejoined. "But beginning work before +breakfast is bad enough, without going on after dinner. Understand that I +don't question your authority to find me a job at night; it's your object +that makes me kick." + +"We want the calculations made before we set the boys to dig." + +"Then why didn't you give me them when I was doing nothing this +afternoon?" Jake inquired. + +"I hadn't got the plans ready." + +"Just so. You haven't had things ready for me until after dinner all this +week. As you're a methodical fellow that's rather strange. Still, if you +really want the job finished, I'll have to do my best, but I'm going out +first for a quarter of an hour." + +"You needn't," Dick said dryly. "If you mean to tell the engineer not to +wait, he's gone. I sent him off some time since." + +"Of course you had a right to send him off," Jake replied in an injured +tone. "But I don't quite think----" + +"You know what your father pays for coal. Have you reckoned what it costs +to keep a locomotive two or three hours for the purpose of taking you to +Santa Brigida and back?" + +"I haven't, but I expect the old man wouldn't stand for my running a +private car," Jake admitted. "However, it's the only way of getting into +town." + +"You were there three nights last week. What's more, you tried to draw +your next month's wages. That struck me as significant, though I'd +fortunately provided against it." + +"So I found out. I suppose I ought to be grateful for your thoughtfulness +but can't say I am. I wanted the money because I had a run of wretched +luck." + +"At the casino?" + +"No," said Jake, shortly. + +"Then you were at Kenwardine's; I'll own that's what I wanted to prevent. +He's a dangerous man and his house is no place for you." + +"One would hardly expect you to speak against him. Considering +everything, it's perhaps not quite in good taste." + +Dick put down the drawing-board and looked at him steadily. "It's very +bad taste. In fact, I find myself in a very awkward situation. Your +father gave me a fresh start when I needed it badly, and agreed when your +sister put you in my charge." + +"Ida's sometimes a bit officious," Jake remarked. + +"Well," Dick continued, "I promised to look after you, and although I +didn't know what I was undertaking, the promise must be kept. It's true +that Kenwardine afterwards did me a great service; but his placing me +under an obligation doesn't relieve me from the other, which I'd incurred +first." + +Somewhat to his surprise, Jake nodded agreement. "No, not from your point +of view. But what makes you think Kenwardine _is_ dangerous?" + +"I can't answer. You had better take it for granted that I know what I'm +talking about, and keep away from him." + +"As a matter of fact, it was Miss Kenwardine to whom you owed most," Jake +said meaningly. "Do you suggest that she's dangerous, too?" + +Dick frowned and his face got red, but he said nothing, and Jake resumed: +"There's a mystery about the matter and you know more than you intend to +tell; but if you blame the girl for anything, you're absolutely wrong. If +you'll wait a minute, I'll show you what I mean." + +He went into the shack and came back with a drawing-block which he stood +upon the table under the lamp, and Dick saw that it was a water-color +portrait of Clare Kenwardine. He did not know much about pictures, but it +was obvious that Jake had talent. The girl stood in the patio, with a +pale-yellow wall behind her, over which a vivid purple creeper trailed. +Her lilac dress showed the graceful lines of her slender figure against +the harmonious background, and matched the soft blue of her eyes and the +delicate white and pink of her skin. The patio was flooded with strong +sunlight, but the girl looked strangely fresh and cool. + +"I didn't mean to show you this, but it's the best way of explaining what +I think," Jake said with some diffidence. "I'm weak in technique, because +I haven't been taught, but I imagine I've got sensibility. It's plain +that when you paint a portrait you must study form and color, but there's +something else that you can only feel. I don't mean the character that's +expressed by the mouth and eyes; it's something vague and elusive that +psychologists give you a hint of when they talk about the _aura_. Of +course you can't paint it, but unless it, so to speak, glimmers through +the work, your portrait's dead." + +"I don't quite understand; but sometimes things do give you an impression +you can't analyze," Dick replied. + +"Well, allowing for poor workmanship, all you see here's harmonious. The +blues and purples and yellows tone, and yet, if I've got the hot glare of +the sun right, you feel that the figure's exotic and doesn't belong to +the scene. The latter really needs an olive-skinned daughter of the +passionate South; but the girl I've painted ought to walk in the +moonlight through cool forest glades." + +Dick studied the picture silently, for he remembered with disturbing +emotion that he had felt what Jake suggested when he first met Clare +Kenwardine. She was frank, but somehow remote and aloof; marked by a +strange refinement he could find no name for. He was glad that Jake did +not seem to expect him to speak, but after a few moments the latter +wrapped up the portrait and took it away. When he came back he lighted a +cigarette. + +"Now," he said, "do you think it's sensible to distrust a girl like that? +Admitting that her father makes a few dollars by gambling, can you +believe that living with him throws any taint on her?" + +Dick hesitated. Clare had stolen his papers. This seemed impossible, but +it was true. Yet when he looked up he answered as his heart urged him: + +"No. It sounds absurd." + +"It is absurd," Jake said firmly. + +Neither spoke for the next minute, and then Dick frowned at a disturbing +thought. Could the lad understand Clare so well unless he loved her? + +"That picture must have taken some time to paint. Did Miss Kenwardine +often pose for you?" + +"No," said Jake, rather dryly; "in fact, she didn't really pose at all. I +had trouble to get permission to make one or two quick sketches, and +worked up the rest from memory." + +"Yet she let you sketch her. It was something of a privilege." + +Jake smiled in a curious way. "I think I see what you mean. Miss +Kenwardine likes me, but although I've some artistic taste, I'm frankly +flesh and blood; and that's not quite her style. She finds me a little +more in harmony with her than the rest, but this is all. Still, it's +something to me. Now you understand matters, perhaps you won't take so +much trouble to keep me out of Santa Brigida." + +"I'll do my best to keep you away from Kenwardine," Dick declared. + +"Very well," Jake answered with a grin. "You're quite a good sort, though +you're not always very smart, and I can't blame you for doing what you +think is your duty." + +Then he set to work on his calculations and there was silence on the +veranda. + +Dick kept him occupied for the next week, and then prudently decided not +to press the lad too hard by finding him work that obviously need not be +done. If he was to preserve his power, it must be used with caution. The +first evening Jake was free he started for Santa Brigida, though as there +was no longer a locomotive available, he got two laborers to take him +down the line on a hand-car. After that he had some distance to walk and +arrived at Kenwardine's powdered with dust. It was a hot night and he +found Kenwardine and three or four others in the patio. + +A small, shaded lamp stood upon the table they had gathered round, and +the light sparkled on delicate green glasses and a carafe of wine. It +touched the men's white clothes, and then, cut off by the shade, left +their faces in shadow and fell upon the tiles. A colored paper lantern, +however, hung from a wire near an outside staircase and Jake saw Clare a +short distance away. It looked as if she had stopped in crossing the +patio, but as he came forward Kenwardine got up. + +"It's some time since we have seen you," he remarked. + +"Yes," said Jake. "I meant to come before, but couldn't get away." + +"Then you have begun to take your business seriously?" + +"My guardian does." + +"Ah!" said Kenwardine, speaking rather louder, "if you mean Mr. Brandon, +I certainly thought him a serious person. But what has this to do with +your coming here?" + +"He found me work that kept me busy evenings." + +"With the object of keeping you out of mischief?" + +"I imagine he meant something of the kind," Jake admitted with a chuckle. +He glanced round, and felt he had been too frank, as his eyes rested on +Clare. He could not see her face, but thought she was listening. + +"Then it looks as if he believed we were dangerous people for you to +associate with," Kenwardine remarked, with a smile. "Well, I suppose +we're not remarkable for the conventional virtues." + +Jake, remembering Dick had insisted that Kenwardine was dangerous, felt +embarrassed as he noted that Clare was now looking at him. To make things +worse, he thought Kenwardine had meant her to hear. + +"I expect he really was afraid of my going to the casino," he answered as +carelessly as he could. + +"Though he would not be much relieved to find you had come to my house +instead? Well, I suppose one must make allowances for the Puritan +character." + +"Brandon isn't much of a Puritan, and he's certainly not a prig," Jake +objected. + +Kenwardine laughed. "I'm not sure this explanation makes things much +better, but we'll let it go. We were talking about the new water supply. +It's a harmless subject and you ought to be interested." + +Jake sat down and stole a glance at Clare as he drank a glass of wine. +There was nothing to be learned from her face, but he was vexed with +Kenwardine, who had intentionally involved him in an awkward situation. +Jake admitted that he had not dealt with it very well. For all that, he +began to talk about the irrigation works and the plans for bringing water +to the town, and was relieved to see that Clare had gone when he next +looked round. + +As a matter of fact, Clare had quietly stolen away and was sitting on a +balcony in the dark, tingling with anger and humiliation. She imagined +that she had banished Brandon from her thoughts and was alarmed to find +that he had still power to wound her. It had been a shock to learn he +believed that she had stolen his papers; but he had now warned his +companion against her father and no doubt herself. Jake's manner when +questioned had seemed to indicate this. + +By and by she tried, not to make excuses for Brandon, but to understand +his point of view, and was forced to admit that it was not unreasonable. +Her father now and then allowed, or perhaps encouraged, his guests to +play for high stakes, and she had hated to see the evening gatherings of +extravagant young men at their house in England. Indeed, she had eagerly +welcomed the change when he had offered to take her abroad because +business necessitated his leaving the country. Things had been better at +Santa Brigida, but after a time the card playing had begun again. The men +who now came to their house were, however, of a different type from the +rather dissipated youths she had previously met. They were quieter and +more reserved; men of experience who had known adventure. Still, she +disliked their coming and had sometimes felt she must escape from a life +that filled her with repugnance. The trouble was that she did not know +where to find a refuge and could not force herself to leave her father, +who had treated her with good-humored indulgence. + +Then she began to wonder what was the business that had brought him to +Santa Brigida. He did not talk about it, but she was sure it was not +gambling, as Brandon thought. No doubt he won some money from his +friends, but it could not be much and he must lose at times. She must +look for another explanation and it was hard to find. Men who did not +play cards came to the house in the daytime and occasionally late at +night, and Kenwardine, who wrote a good many letters, now and then went +away down the coast. There was a mystery about his occupation that +puzzled and vaguely alarmed her, and she could turn to nobody for advice. +She had refused her aunt's offer of a home and knew it would not be +renewed. They had cast her off and done with her. Getting up presently +with a troubled sigh, she went to her room. + +In the meantime, Jake stayed in the patio with the others. A thin, dark +Spaniard, who spoke English well, and two Americans occupied the other +side of the table; a fat German sat nearly opposite the Spaniard and next +to Jake. The heat made them languid and nobody wanted to play cards, +although there was a pack on the table. This happened oftener than +Brandon thought. + +"It's a depressing night and an enervating country," Kenwardine remarked. +"I wonder why we stay here as we do, since we're apt to leave it as poor +as when we came. The people are an unstable lot, and when you've spent +your time and energy developing what you hope is a profitable scheme, +some change of policy or leaders suddenly cuts it short." + +"I guess that explains why we _are_ here," one of the Americans replied. +"The South is the home of the dramatic surprise and this appeals to us. +In the North, they act by rule and one knows, more or less, what will +happen; but this gives one no chances to bet upon." + +The fat German nodded. "It is the gambler's point of view. You people +take with pleasure steep chances, as they say, but mine act not so. The +system is better. One calculates beforehand what may happen and it is +provided for. If things do not go as one expects, one labors to change +them, and when this is not possible adopts an alternative plan." + +"But there always is a plan, Señor Richter!" the Spaniard remarked. + +Richter smiled. "With us, I think that is true. Luck is more fickle than +a woman and we like not the surprise. But our effort is to be prepared +for it." + +"You're a pretty hard crowd to run up against," said the other American. + +Jake, who had taken no part in the recent talk, and leaned languidly back +in his chair, turned his head as he heard footsteps in the patio. They +were quick and decided, as if somebody was coming straight towards the +table, but they stopped suddenly. This seemed strange and Jake, who had +caught a glimpse of a man in white clothes, looked round to see if +Kenwardine had made him a sign. The latter, however, was lighting his +pipe, but the Spaniard leaned forward a little, as if trying to see +across the patio. Jake thought he would find this difficult with the +light of the lamp in his eyes, but Richter, who sat opposite, got up and +reached across the table. + +"With excuses, Don Sebastian, but the wine is on your side," he said, and +filled his glass from the decanter before he sat down. + +In the meantime the man who had come in was waiting, but seemed to have +moved, because Jake could only see an indistinct figure in the gloom. + +"Is that you, Enrique?" Kenwardine asked when he had lighted his pipe. + +"_Sí, señor_," a voice answered, and Kenwardine made a sign of +dismissal. + +"_Bueno!_ You can tell me about it to-morrow. I am engaged now." + +The footsteps began again and when they died away Kenwardine picked up +the cards. + +"Shall we play for half an hour?" he asked. + +The others agreed, but the stakes were moderate and nobody took much +interest in the game; and Jake presently left the house without seeing +anything more of Clare. He felt he had wasted the evening, but as he +walked back to the line he thought about the man whom Kenwardine had sent +away. He did not think the fellow was one of the servants, and it seemed +strange that Richter should have got up and stood in front of Don +Sebastian when the latter was trying to see across the patio. Still, +there was no apparent reason why the Spaniard should want to see who had +come in, and Jake dismissed the matter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE RETURN FROM THE FIESTA + + +The sure-footed mules, braced hard against the weight of the carriage, +slid down a steep descent across slippery stones when Clare, who wondered +what would happen if the worn-out harness broke, rode into Adexe. +Gleaming white houses rose one above another among feathery palms, with a +broad streak of darker green in their midst to mark the shady alameda. +Behind, the dark range towered against the sky; in front lay a +foam-fringed beach and the vast blue sweep of dazzling sea. Music came up +through the languid murmur of the surf, and the steep streets were filled +with people whose clothes made patches of brilliant color. The carriage +jolted safely down the hill, and Clare looked about with interest as they +turned into the central plaza, where the driver stopped. + +"It's a picturesque little town and I'm glad you brought me," she said. +"But what does the fiesta they're holding celebrate?" + +"I don't know; the first landing of the Spaniards, perhaps," Kenwardine +replied. "Anyhow, it's a popular function, and as everybody in the +neighborhood takes part in it, I came with the object of meeting some +people I do business with. In fact, I may have to leave you for a time +with the wife of a Spaniard whom I know." + +When coming down the hillside Clare had noticed a sugar mill and an ugly +coaling wharf that ran out into the bay. Two steamers lay not far off, +rolling gently on the glittering swell, and several lighters were moored +against the wharf. Since she had never heard him speak of coal, she +imagined her father's business was with the sugar mill, but he seldom +talked to her about such matters and she did not ask. He took her to an +old, yellow house, with tarnished brass rails barring its lower windows +and a marble fountain in the patio, where brilliant creepers hung from +the balconies. The soft splash of falling water was soothing and the +spray cooled the air. + +"It is very pretty," Clare said while they waited. "I wish we could make +our patio like this." + +"We may be able to do so when Brandon and his friends bring us the +water," Kenwardine replied with a quick glance at the girl. "Have you +seen him recently?" + +"Not for three or four weeks," said Clare. + +There was nothing to be learned from her face, but Kenwardine noted a +hint of coldness in her voice. Next moment, however, a stout lady in a +black dress, and a thin, brown-faced Spaniard came down to meet them. +Kenwardine presented Clare, and for a time they sat on a balcony, talking +in a mixture of French and Castilian. Then a man came up the outside +staircase and took off his hat as he turned to Kenwardine. He had a +swarthy skin, but Clare carelessly remarked that the hollows about his +eyes were darker than the rest of his face, as if they had been +overlooked in a hurried wash, and his bare feet were covered with fine, +black dust. + +"Don Martin waits you, señor," he said. + +Kenwardine excused himself to his hostess, and after promising to return +before long went away with the man. + +"Who is Don Martin, and does he own the coaling wharf?" Clare asked. + +"No," said the Spaniard. "What makes you imagine so?" + +"There was some coal-dust on his messenger." + +The Spaniard laughed. "Your eyes are as keen as they are bright, +señorita, but your father spoke of business and he does not deal in +coal. They use it for the engine at the sugar mill." + +"Could I follow him to the mill? I would like to see how they extract the +sugar from the cane." + +"It is not a good day for that; the machinery will not be running," said +the Spaniard, who looked at his wife. + +"I meant to take you to the cathedral. Everybody goes on the fiesta," the +lady broke in. + +Clare agreed. She suspected that her father had not gone to the sugar +mill, but this did not matter, and she presently left the house with her +hostess. The small and rather dark cathedral was crowded, and Clare, who +understood very little of what went on, was impressed by the close rows +of kneeling figures, while the candles glimmering through the incense, +and the music, had their effect. She came out in a thoughtful mood, +partly dazzled by the change of light, and it was with something of a +shock she stopped to avoid collision with a man at the bottom of the +steps. It was Brandon, and she noted that he looked well again, but +although they were face to face and he waited with his eyes fixed on her, +she turned away and spoke to her companion. Dick crossed the street with +his hand clenched and his face hot, but felt that he had deserved his +rebuff. He could not expect Miss Kenwardine to meet him as a friend. + +An hour or two later, Kenwardine returned to the house with Richter, the +German, and said he found he must drive to a village some distance off to +meet an official whom he had expected to see in the town. He doubted if +he could get back that night, but a sailing barquillo would take +passengers to Santa Brigida, and Clare could go home by her. The girl +made no objection when she heard that two French ladies, whom she knew, +were returning by the boat, and stayed with her hostess when Kenwardine +and Richter left. Towards evening the Spaniard came in and stated that +the barquillo had sailed earlier than had been announced, but a steam +launch was going to Santa Brigida with some friends of his on board and +he could get Clare a passage if she would sooner go. Señor Kenwardine, +he added, might drive home by another road without calling there again. + +Half an hour later Clare went with him to the coaling wharf, where a +launch lay at some steps. A few people were already on board, and her +host left after putting her in charge of a Spanish lady. The girl +imagined that he was glad to get rid of her, and thought there was +something mysterious about her father's movements. Something he had not +expected must have happened, because he would not have brought her if he +had known he could not take her home. It was, however, not a long run to +Santa Brigida, by sea, and the launch, which had a powerful engine, +looked fast. + +In another few minutes a man came down the steps and threw off a rope +before he jumped on board. Taking off his hat to the passengers, he +started the engine and sat down at the helm. Clare did not see his face +until the launch was gliding away from the wharf, and then hid her +annoyance and surprise, for it was Brandon. His eyes rested on her for a +moment as he glanced about the boat, but she saw he did not expect +recognition. Perhaps she had been wrong when she passed him outside the +cathedral, but it was now too late to change her attitude. + +The water was smooth, the sun had sunk behind the range, and a warm +breeze that ruffled the shining surface with silky ripples blew off the +shore. The rumble of the surf came in a deep undertone through the throb +of the engine, and the launch sped on with a frothy wave curling at her +bows. Now and then Clare glanced quickly at the helmsman, who sat with +his arm thrown round the tiller. She thought he looked disturbed, and +felt sorry, though she told herself that she had done the proper thing. + +After a time the launch swung in towards the beach and stopped at a rude +landing behind a reef. Houses showed among the trees not far off and +Clare thought this was the pueblo of Arenas. Then she was disturbed to +see that all her companions were going to land. When the Spanish lady +said good-by she got up, with the idea of following the rest, but Dick +stopped her. + +"Do you expect Mr. Kenwardine to meet you?" he asked. + +"No. I was told the launch was going to Santa Brigida, but didn't know +that she was yours." + +Dick eyes twinkled. "I am going to Santa Brigida and the boat is one we +use, but my colored fireman refused to leave the fiesta. Now you can't +stay at Arenas, and I doubt if you can get a mule to take you home, +because they'll all have gone to Adexe. But, if you like, we'll go ashore +and try." + +"You don't think I could find a carriage?" Clare asked irresolutely, +seeing that if she now showed herself determined to avoid him, it would +be humiliating to be forced to fall back upon his help. + +"I don't. Besides, it's some distance to Santa Brigida over a rough, +steep road that you'd find very awkward in the dark, while as I can land +you in an hour, it seems unnecessary for you to leave the boat here." + +"Yes," said Clare, "perhaps it is." + +Dick threw some coal into the furnace, and restarted the launch. The +throb of the engine was quicker than before, and when a jet of steam blew +away from the escape-pipe Clare imagined that he meant to lose no time. +She glanced at him as he sat at the helm with a moody face; and then away +at the black hills that slid past. The silence was embarrassing and she +wondered whether he would break it. On the whole, she wanted him to do +so, but would give him no help. + +"Of course," he said at length, "you needn't talk if you'd sooner not. +But you gave me the cut direct in Adexe, and although I may have deserved +it, it hurt." + +"I don't see why it should hurt," Clare answered coldly. + +"Don't you?" he asked. "Well, you have the right to choose your +acquaintances; but I once thought we were pretty good friends and I +mightn't have got better if you hadn't taken care of me. That ought to +count for something." + +Clare blushed, but her eyes sparkled and her glance was steady. "If we +are to have an explanation, it must be complete and without reserve. Very +well! Why did you change when you were getting better? And why did you +hint that I must know you hadn't stolen the plans?" + +Dick studied her with some surprise. He had thought her gentle and +trustful, but saw that she burned with imperious anger. It certainly was +not acting and contradicted the supposition of her guilt. + +"If I did hint anything of the kind, I must have been a bit light-headed," +he answered awkwardly. "You get morbid fancies when you have fever." + +"The fever had nearly gone. You were braver then than you seem to be +now." + +"I suppose that's true. Sometimes a shock gives you pluck and I got a +nasty one as I began to remember things." + +Both were silent for the next few moments. Clare's pose was tense and her +look strained, but her anger had vanished. Dick thought she was calmer +than himself, but after all, she was, so to speak, on her defense and her +part was easier than his. He had forgiven her for robbing him; Kenwardine +had forced her to do so, and Dick regretted he had not hidden his +knowledge of the deed she must have hated. It was bodily weakness that +had led him to show his suspicion, but he knew that if they were to be +friends again no reserve was possible. As Clare had said, the explanation +must be complete. It was strange, after what had happened, that he should +want her friendship, but he did want it, more than anything else. Yet she +must be told plainly what he had thought her. He shrank from the task. + +"What did you remember?" Clare asked, forcing herself to look at him. + +"That I had the plans in the left, top pocket of my uniform when I +reached your house; I felt to see if they were there as I came up the +drive," he answered doggedly. "Soon afterward, you slipped as we went +down the steps into the garden and in clutching me your hand caught and +pulled the pocket open. It was a deep pocket and the papers could not +have fallen out." + +"So you concluded that I had stolen them!" Clare said in a cold, strained +voice, though her face flushed crimson. + +"What else could I think?" + +Then, though she tried to hide the breakdown, Clare's nerve gave way. She +had forced the crisis in order to clear herself, but saw that she could +not do so. Dick's statement was convincing; the papers had been stolen +while he was in their house, and she had a horrible suspicion that her +father was the thief. It came with a shock, though she had already been +tormented by a vague fear of the truth that she had resolutely refused to +face. She remembered the men who were at the house on the eventful night. +They were somewhat dissipated young sportsmen and not remarkable for +intelligence. None of them was likely to take part in such a plot. + +"You must understand what a serious thing you are saying," she faltered, +trying to doubt him and finding that she could not. + +"I do," he said, regarding her with gravely pitiful eyes. "Still, you +rather forced it out of me. Perhaps this is a weak excuse, because I had +meant to forget the matter." + +"But didn't you want to clear yourself and get taken back?" + +"No; I knew it was too late. I'd shown I couldn't be trusted with an +important job; and I'd made a fresh start here." + +His answer touched the girl, and after a quick half-ashamed glance, she +thought she had misjudged him. It was not her physical charm that had +made him willing to condone her offense, for he showed none of the bold +admiration she had shrunk from in other men. Instead, he was +compassionate and, she imagined, anxious to save her pain. + +She did not answer and turning her head, vacantly watched the shore slide +past. The mountains were growing blacker, trails of mist that looked like +gauze gathered in the ravines, and specks of light began to pierce the +gloom ahead. They marked Santa Brigida, and something must still be said +before the launch reached port. It was painful that Brandon should take +her guilt for granted, but she feared to declare her innocence. + +"You were hurt when I passed you at Adexe," she remarked, without looking +at him. "You must, however, see that friendship between us is impossible +while you think me a thief." + +"I must try to explain," Dick said slowly. "When I recovered my senses at +your house after being ill, I felt I must get away as soon as possible, +though I ought to have remembered only that you had taken care of me. +Still, you see, my mind was weak just then. Afterwards I realized how +ungratefully I had behaved. The plans didn't matter; they weren't really +of much importance, and I knew if you had taken them, it was because you +were forced. That made all the difference; in a way, you were not to +blame. I'm afraid," he concluded lamely, "I haven't made it very clear." + +Clare was moved by his naïve honesty, which seemed to be guarded by +something finer than common sense. After all, he had made things clear. +He owned that he believed she had taken the plans, and yet he did not +think her a thief. On the surface, this was rather involved, but she saw +what he meant. Still, it did not carry them very far. + +"It is not long since you warned Mr. Fuller against us," she resumed. + +"Not against you; that would have been absurd. However, Jake's something +of a gambler and your father's friends play for high stakes. The lad was +put in my hands by people who trusted me to look after him. I had to +justify their confidence." + +"Of course. But you must understand that my father and I stand together. +What touches him, touches me." + +Dick glanced ahead. The lights of Santa Brigida had drawn out in a broken +line, and those near the beach were large and bright. A hundred yards +away, two twinkling, yellow tracks stretched across the water from the +shadowy bulk of a big cargo boat. Farther on, he could see the black end +of the mole washed by frothy surf. There was little time for further talk +and no excuse for stopping the launch. + +"That's true in a sense," he agreed with forced quietness. "I've done you +an injustice, Miss Kenwardine; so much is obvious, but I can't understand +the rest just yet. I suppose I mustn't ask you to forget the line I +took?" + +"We can't be friends as if nothing had happened." + +Dick made a gesture of moody acquiescence. "Well, perhaps something will +clear up the matter by and by. I must wait, because while it's difficult +now, I feel it will come right." + +A minute or two later he ran the launch alongside a flight of steps on +the mole, and helping Clare to land went with her to her house. They said +nothing on the way, but she gave him her hand when he left her at the +door. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +COMPLICATIONS + + +It was dark outside the feeble lamplight, and very hot, when Dick sat on +his veranda after a day of keen activity in the burning sun. He felt +slack and jaded, for he had had difficult work to do and his dusky +laborers had flagged under the unusual heat. There was now no touch of +coolness in the stagnant air, and although the camp down the valley was +very quiet a confused hum of insects came out of the jungle. It rose and +fell with a monotonous regularity that jarred upon Dick's nerves as he +forced himself to think. + +He was in danger of falling in love with Clare Kenwardine; indeed, he +suspected that it would be better to face the truth and admit that he had +already done so. The prudent course would be to fight against and +overcome his infatuation; but suppose he found this impossible, as he +feared? It seemed certain that she had stolen his papers; but after all +he did not hold her accountable. Some day he would learn more about the +matter and find that she was blameless. He had been a fool to think +harshly of her, but he knew now that his first judgment was right. Clare, +who could not have done anything base and treacherous, was much too good +for him. This, however, was not the subject with which he meant to occupy +himself, because if he admitted that he hoped to marry Clare, there were +serious obstacles in his way. + +To begin with, he had made it difficult, if not impossible, for the girl +to treat him with the friendliness she had previously shown; besides +which, Kenwardine would, no doubt, try to prevent his meeting her, and +his opposition would be troublesome. Then it was plainly desirable that +she should be separated from her father, who might involve her in his +intrigues, because there was ground for believing that he was a dangerous +man. In the next place, Dick was far from being able to support a wife +accustomed to the extravagance that Kenwardine practised. It might be +long before he could offer her the lowest standard of comfort necessary +for an Englishwoman in a hot, foreign country. + +He felt daunted, but not altogether hopeless, and while he pondered the +matter Bethune came in. On the whole, Dick found his visit a relief. + +"I expect you'll be glad to hear we can keep the machinery running," +Bethune said as he sat down. + +Dick nodded. Their fuel was nearly exhausted, for owing to strikes and +shortage of shipping Fuller had been unable to keep them supplied. + +"Then you have got some coal? As there's none at Santa Brigida just now, +where's it coming from?" + +"Adexe. Four big lighter loads. Stuyvesant has given orders to have them +towed round." + +"I understood the Adexe people didn't keep a big stock. The wharf is +small." + +"So did I, but it seems that Kenwardine came to Stuyvesant and offered +him as much as he wanted." + +"Kenwardine!" Dick exclaimed. + +Bethune lighted his pipe. "Yes, Kenwardine. As the wharf's supposed to be +owned by Spaniards, I don't see what he has to do with it, unless he's +recently bought them out. Anyhow, it's high-grade navigation coal." + +"Better stuff than we need, but the difference in price won't matter if +we can keep the concrete mill going," Dick remarked thoughtfully. "Still, +it's puzzling. If Kenwardine has bought the wharf, why's he sending the +coal away, instead of using it in the regular bunkering trade?" + +"There's a hint of mystery about the matter. I expect you heard about the +collier tramp that was consigned to the French company at Arucas? Owing +to some dispute, they wouldn't take the cargo and the shippers put it on +the market. Fuller tried to buy some, but found that another party had +got the lot. Well, Stuyvesant believes it was the German, Richter, who +bought it up." + +"Jake tells me that Richter's a friend of Kenwardine's." + +"I didn't know about that," said Bethune. "They may have bought the cargo +for some particular purpose, for which they afterwards found it wouldn't +be required, and now want to sell some off." + +"Then Kenwardine must have more money than I thought." + +"The money may be Richter's," Bethune replied. "However, since we'll now +have coal enough to last until Fuller sends some out, I don't know that +we have any further interest in the matter." + +He glanced keenly at Dick's thoughtful face; and then, as the latter did +not answer, talked about something else until he got up to go. After he +had gone, Dick leaned back in his chair with a puzzled frown. He had met +Richter and rather liked him, but the fellow was a German, and it was +strange that he should choose an English partner for his speculations, as +he seemed to have done. But while Kenwardine was English, Dick's papers +had been stolen at his house, and his distrust of the man grew stronger. +There was something suspicious about this coal deal, but he could not +tell exactly what his suspicions pointed to, and by and by he took up the +plan of a culvert they were to begin next morning. + +A few days later, Jake and he sat, one night, in the stern of the launch, +which lay head to sea about half a mile from the Adexe wharf. The +promised coal had not arrived, and, as fuel was running very short at the +concrete mill, Dick had gone to see that a supply was sent. It was late +when he reached Adexe, and found nobody in authority about, but three +loaded lighters were moored at the wharf, and a gang of peons were +trimming the coal that was being thrown on board another. Ahead of the +craft lay a small tug with steam up. As the half-breed foreman declared +that he did not know whether the coal was going to Santa Brigida or not, +Dick boarded the tug and found her Spanish captain drinking caña with +his engineer. Dick thought one looked at the other meaningly as he +entered the small, hot cabin. + +"I suppose it's Señor Fuller's coal in the barges, and we're badly in +want of it," he said. "As you have steam up, you'll start soon." + +"We start, yes," answered the skipper, who spoke some English, and then +paused and shrugged. "I do not know if we get to Santa Brigida to-night." + +"Why?" Dick asked. "There's not very much wind, and it's partly off the +land." + +The half-breed engineer described in uncouth Castilian the difficulties +he had had with a defective pump and leaking glands, and Dick, who did +not understand much of it, went back to his launch. Stopping the craft a +short distance from the harbor, he said to Jake: "We'll wait until they +start. Somehow I don't think they meant to leave to-night if I hadn't +turned them out." + +Jake looked to windward. There was a moon in the sky, which was, however, +partly obscured by driving clouds. The breeze was strong, but, blowing +obliquely off the land did not ruffle the sea much near the beach. A long +swell, however, worked in, and farther out the white tops of the combers +glistened in the moonlight. Now and then a fresher gust swept off the +shadowy coast and the water frothed in angry ripples about the launch. + +"They ought to make Santa Brigida, though they'll find some sea running +when they reach off-shore to go round the Tajada reef," he remarked. + +"There's water enough through the inside channel." + +"That's so," Jake agreed. "Still, it's narrow and bad to find in the +dark, and I expect the skipper would sooner go outside." Then he glanced +astern and said, "They're coming out." + +Two white lights, one close above the other, with a pale red glimmer +below, moved away from the wharf. Behind them three or four more +twinkling red spots appeared, and Dick told the fireman to start the +engine half-speed. Steering for the beach, he followed the fringe of +surf, but kept abreast of the tug, which held to a course that would take +her round the end of the reef. + +When the moon shone through he could see her plunge over the steep swell +and the white wash at the lighters' bows as they followed in her wake; +then as a cloud drove past, their dark hulls faded and left nothing but a +row of tossing lights. By and by the launch reached a bend in the +coastline and the breeze freshened and drew more ahead. The swell began +to break and showers of spray blew on board, while the sea got white +off-shore. + +"We'll get it worse when we open up the Arenas bight," said Jake as he +glanced at the lurching tug. "It looks as if the skipper meant to give +the reef a wide berth. He's swinging off to starboard. Watch his smoke." + +"You have done some yachting, then?" + +"I have," said Jake. "I used to sail a shoal-draught sloop on Long Island +Sound. Anyway, if I'd been towing those coal-scows, I'd have edged in +near the beach, for the sake of smoother water, and wouldn't have headed +out until I saw the reef. It will be pretty wet on board the scows now, +and they'll have had to put a man on each to steer." + +Dick nodded agreement and signed the fireman to turn on more steam as he +followed the tug outshore. The swell got steadily higher and broke in +angry surges. The launch plunged, and rattled as she swung her screw out +of the sea, but Dick kept his course abreast of the tug, which he could +only distinguish at intervals between the clouds of spray. Her masthead +lights reeled wildly to and fro, but the low red gleam from the barges +was hidden and he began to wonder why her captain was steering out so +far. It was prudent not to skirt the reef, but the fellow seemed to be +giving it unnecessary room. The lighters would tow badly through the +white, curling sea, and there was a risk of the hawsers breaking. +Besides, the engineer had complained that his machinery was not running +well. + +A quarter of an hour later, a belt of foam between them and the land +marked the reef, and the wind brought off the roar of breaking surf. Soon +afterwards, the white surge faded, and only the tug's lights were left as +a long cloud-bank drove across the moon. Jake stood up, shielding his +eyes from the spray. + +"He's broken his rope; the coal's adrift!" he cried. + +Dick saw the tug's lights vanish, which meant that she had turned with +her stern towards the launch; and then two or three twinkling specks some +distance off. + +"He'd tow the first craft with a double rope, a bridle from his +quarters," he said. "It's strange that both parts broke, and, so far as I +can make out, the tail barge has parted her hawser, too." + +A whistle rang out, and Dick called for full-speed as the tug's green +light showed. + +"We'll help him to pick up the barges," he remarked. + +The moon shone out as they approached the nearest, and a bright beam +swept across the sea until it touched the lurching craft. Her wet side +glistened about a foot above the water and then vanished as a white surge +lapped over it and washed across her deck. A rope trailed from her bow +and her long tiller jerked to and fro. It was obvious that she was adrift +with nobody on board, and Dick cautiously steered the launch towards her. + +"That's curious, but perhaps the rest drove foul of her and the helmsman +lost his nerve and jumped," he said. "I'll put Maccario on board to give +us the hawser." + +"Then I'll go with him," Jake offered. "He can't handle the big rope +alone." + +Dick hesitated. It was important that they should not lose the coal, but +he did not want to give the lad a dangerous task. The barge was rolling +wildly and he durst not run alongside, while some risk would attend a +jump across the three or four feet of water between the craft. + +"I think you'd better stop here," he objected. + +"I don't," Jake answered with a laugh. "Guess you've got to be logical. +You want the coal, and it will take us both to save it." + +He followed the fireman, who stood, balancing himself for a spring, on +the forward deck, while Dick let the launch swing in as close as he +thought safe. The man leapt and Dick watched Jake with keen anxiety as +the launch rose with the next comber, but the lad sprang off as the bows +went up, and came down with a splash in the water that flowed across the +lighter's deck. Then Dick caught the line thrown him and with some +trouble dragged the end of the hawser on board. He was surprised to find +that it was not broken, but he waved his hand to the others as he drove +the launch ahead, steering for the beach, near which he expected to find +a passage through the reef. + +Before he had gone far the tug steamed towards him with the other barges +in tow, apparently bound for Adexe. + +"It is not possible to go on," the skipper hailed. "Give me a rope; we +take the lighter." + +"You shan't take her to Adexe," Dick shouted. "We want the coal." + +Though there was danger in getting too close, the captain let the tug +drift nearer. + +"We bring you the lot when the wind drops." + +"No," said Dick, "I'll stick to what I've got." + +He could not catch the captain's reply as the tug forged past, but it +sounded like an exclamation of anger or surprise, and he looked anxiously +for the foam upon the reef. It was some time before he distinguished a +glimmer in the dark, for the moon was hidden and his progress was slow. +The lighter was big and heavily laden, and every now and then her weight, +putting a sudden strain on the hawser, jerked the launch to a standstill. +It was worse when, lifting with the swell, she sheered off at an angle to +her course, and Dick was forced to maneuver with helm and engine to bring +her in line again, at some risk of fouling the hawser with the screw. He +knew little about towing, but he had handled small sailing boats before +he learned to use the launch. The coal was badly needed and must be taken +to Santa Brigida, though an error of judgment might lead to the loss of +the barge and perhaps of his comrade's life. + +The phosphorescent gleam of the surf got plainer and the water smoother, +for the reef was now to windward and broke the sea, but the moon was +still covered, and Dick felt some tension as he skirted the barrier. He +did not know if he could find the opening or tow the lighter through the +narrow channel. The surf, however, was of help, for it flashed into +sheets of spangled radiance as it washed across the reef, leaving dark +patches among the lambent foam. The patches had a solid look, and Dick +knew that they were rocks. + +At length he saw a wider break in the belt of foam, and the sharper +plunging of the launch showed that the swell worked through. This was the +mouth of the channel, and there was water enough to float the craft if he +could keep off the rocks. Snatching the engine-lamp from its socket, he +waved it and blew the whistle. A shout reached him and showed that the +others understood. + +Dick felt his nerves tingle when he put the helm over and the hawser +tightened as the lighter began to swing. If she took too wide a sweep, he +might be unable to check her before she struck the reef, and there seemed +to be a current flowing through the gap. Glancing astern for a moment, he +saw her dark hull swing through a wide curve while the strain on the +hawser dragged the launch's stern down, but she came round and the +tension slackened as he steered up the channel. + +For a time he had less trouble than he expected; but the channel turned +at its outer end and wind and swell would strike at him at an awkward +angle, when he took the bend. As he entered it, the moon shone out, and +he saw the black top of a rock dangerously close to leeward. He waved the +lantern, but the lighter, with sea and current on her weather bow, forged +almost straight ahead, and the straining hawser dragged the launch back. +Reaching forward, Dick opened the throttle valve to its limit, and then +sat grim and still while the throb of the screw shook the trembling hull. +Something would happen in the next half minute unless he could get the +lighter round. Glancing back, he saw her low, wet side shine in the +moonlight. Two dark figures stood aft by the tiller, and he thought the +foam about the rock was only a fathom or two away. + +The launch was hove down on her side. Though the screw thudded furiously, +she seemed to gain no ground, and then the strain on the hawser suddenly +slackened. Dick wondered whether it had broken, but he would know in the +next few seconds; there was a sharp jerk, the launch was dragged to +leeward, but recovered and forged ahead. She plunged her bows into a +broken swell and the spray filled Dick's eyes, but when he could see +again the foam was sliding past and a gap widened between the lighter's +hull and the white wash on the rock. + +The water was deep ahead, and since he could skirt the beach and the wind +came strongly off the land, the worst of his difficulties seemed to be +past. Still, it would be a long tow to Santa Brigida, and bracing himself +for the work, he lit his pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE MISSING COAL + + +Early next morning Dick stood in front of the Hotel Magellan, where he +had slept for a few hours after his return, and was somewhat surprised to +see that Jake had got up before him and was talking to a pretty, +dark-skinned girl. She carried a large bunch of flowers and a basket of +fruit stood close by, while Jake seemed to be persuading her to part with +some. + +Dick stopped and watched them, for the glow of color held his eye. Jake's +white duck caught the strong sunlight, while the girl's dark hair and +eyes were relieved by the brilliant lemon-tinted wall and the mass of +crimson bloom. Her attitude was coquettish, and Jake regarded her with an +ingratiating smile. After a few moments, however, Dick went down the +street and presently heard his comrade following him. When the lad came +up, he saw that he had a basket of dark green fruit and a bunch of the +red flowers. + +"I thought you were asleep. Early rising is not a weakness of yours," he +said. + +"As it happens, I didn't sleep at all," Jake replied. "Steering that +unhandy coal-scow rather got upon my nerves and when she took the awkward +sheer as we came through the reef the tiller knocked Maccario down and +nearly broke my ribs. I had to stop the helm going the wrong way +somehow." + +Dick nodded. It was obvious that the lad had been quick and cool at a +critical time, but his twinkling smile showed that he was now in a +different mood. + +"You seem to have recovered. But why couldn't you leave the girl alone?" + +"I'm not sure she'd have liked that," Jake replied. "It's a pity you have +no artistic taste, or you might have seen what a picture she made." + +"As a matter of fact, I did see it, but she has, no doubt, a half-breed +lover who'd seriously misunderstand your admiration, which might lead to +your getting stabbed some night. Anyhow, why did you buy the flowers?" + +"For one thing, she was taking them to the Magellan, and I couldn't stand +for seeing that blaze of color wasted on the guzzling crowd you generally +find in a hotel dining-room." + +"That doesn't apply to the fruit. You can't eat those things. They +preserve them." + +"Eat them!" Jake exclaimed with a pitying look. "Well, I suppose it's the +only use you have for fruit." He took a stalk fringed with rich red bloom +and laid it across the dark green fruit, which was packed among glossy +leaves. "Now, perhaps, you'll see why I bought it. I rather think it +makes a dainty offering." + +"Ah!" said Dick. "To whom do you propose to offer it?" + +"Miss Kenwardine," Jake replied with a twinkle; "though of course her +proper color's Madonna blue." + +Dick said nothing, but walked on, and when Jake asked where he was going, +answered shortly: "To the telephone." + +"Well," said Jake, "knowing you as I do, I suspected something of the +kind. With the romance of the South all round you, you can't rise above +concrete and coal." + +He followed Dick to the public telephone office and sat down in the box +with the flowers in his hands. A line had recently been run along the +coast, and although the service was bad, Dick, after some trouble, got +connected with a port official at Arenas. + +"Did a tug and three coal barges put into your harbor last night?" he +asked. + +"No, señor," was the answer, and Dick asked for the coal wharf at Adexe. + +"Why didn't you call them first?" Jake inquired. + +"I had a reason. The tug was standing to leeward when she left us, but if +her skipper meant to come back to Santa Brigida, he'd have to put into +Arenas, where he'd find shelter." + +"Then you're not sure he meant to come back?" + +"I've some doubts," Dick answered dryly, and was told that he was +connected with the Adexe wharf. + +"What about the coal for the Fuller irrigation works?" he asked. + +"The tug and four lighters left last night," somebody answered in +Castilian, and Dick imagined from the harshness of the voice that one of +the wharf-hands was speaking. + +"That is so," he said. "Has she returned yet?" + +"No, señor," said the man. "The tug----" + +He broke off, and there was silence for some moments, after which a +different voice took up the conversation in English. + +"Sorry it may be a day or two before we can send more of your coal. The +tug's engines----" + +"Has she got back?" Dick demanded sharply. + +"Speak louder; I cannot hear." + +Dick did so, but the other did not seem to understand. + +"In two or three days. You have one lighter." + +"We have. I want to know if the tug----" + +"The damage is not serious," the other broke in. + +"Then I'm to understand she's back in port?" + +A broken murmur answered, but by and by Dick caught the words, "Not +longer than two days." + +Then he rang off, and pushing Jake's chair out of the way, shut the door. + +"It's plain that they don't mean to tell me what I want to know," he +remarked. "The first man might have told the truth, if they had let him, +but somebody pulled him away. My opinion is that the tug's not at Adexe +and didn't go there." + +They went back to the hotel, and Dick sat down on a bench in the patio +and lighted his pipe. + +"There's something very curious about the matter," he said. + +"When the tug left us she seemed to be heading farther off shore than was +necessary," Jake agreed. "Still, the broken water wouldn't matter so much +when she had the wind astern." + +"Her skipper wouldn't run off his course and lengthen the distance +because the wind was fair." + +"No, I don't suppose he would." + +"Well," said Dick, "my impression is that he didn't mean to start at all, +and wouldn't have done so if I hadn't turned him out." + +Jake laughed. "After all, there's no use in making a mystery out of +nothing. The people offered us the coal, and you don't suspect a dark +plot to stop the works. What would they gain by that?" + +"Nothing that I can see. I don't think they meant to stop the works; but +they wanted the coal. It's not at Adexe, and there's no other port the +tug could reach. Where has it gone?" + +"It doesn't seem to matter, so long as we get a supply before our stock +runs out." + +"Try to look at the thing as I do," Dick insisted with a frown. "I forced +the skipper to go to sea, and as soon as he had a good excuse his +tow-rope parted, besides which the last barge went adrift from the rest. +Her hawser, however, wasn't broken. It was slipped from the craft she was +made fast to. Then, though the tug's engines were out of order, she +steamed to leeward very fast and, I firmly believe, hasn't gone back to +Adexe." + +"I expect there's a very simple explanation," Jake replied. "The truth is +you have a rather senseless suspicion of Kenwardine." + +"I'll own I don't trust him," Dick answered quietly. + +Jake made an impatient gesture. "Let's see if we can get breakfast, +because I'm going to his house afterwards." + +"They won't have got up yet." + +"It's curious that you don't know more about their habits after living +there. Miss Kenwardine goes out with Lucille before the sun gets hot, and +her father's about as early as you are." + +"What does he do in the morning?" + +"I haven't inquired, but I've found him in the room he calls his office. +You're misled by the idea that his occupation is gambling." + +Dick did not reply, and was silent during breakfast. He understood Jake's +liking for Kenwardine because there was no doubt the man had charm. His +careless, genial air set one at one's ease; he had a pleasant smile, and +a surface frankness that inspired confidence. Dick admitted that if he +had not lost the plans at his house, he would have found it difficult to +suspect him. But Jake was right on one point; Kenwardine might play for +high stakes, but gambling was not his main occupation. He had some more +important business. The theft of the plans, however, offered no clue to +this. Kenwardine was an adventurer and might have thought he could sell +the drawings, but since he had left England shortly afterwards, it was +evident that he was not a regular foreign spy. It was some relief to +think so, and although there was a mystery about the coal, which Dick +meant to fathom if he could, nothing indicated that Kenwardine's trickery +had any political aim. + +Dick dismissed the matter and remembered with half-jealous uneasiness +that Jake seemed to know a good deal about Kenwardine's household. The +lad, of course, had gone to make inquiries when he was ill, and had +probably been well received. He was very little younger than Clare, and +Fuller was known to be rich. It would suit Kenwardine if Jake fell in +love with the girl, and if not, his extravagance might be exploited. For +all that, Dick determined that his comrade should not be victimized. + +When breakfast was over they left the hotel and presently met Clare, who +was followed by Lucille carrying a basket. She looked very fresh and cool +in her white dress. On the whole, Dick would sooner have avoided the +meeting, but Jake stopped and Clare included Dick in her smile of +greeting. + +"I have been to the market with Lucille," she said. "The fruit and the +curious things they have upon the stalls are worth seeing. But you seem +to have been there, though I did not notice you." + +"No," said Jake, indicating the flowers and fruit he carried. "I got +these at the hotel. The colors matched so well that I felt I couldn't let +them go, and then it struck me that you might like them. Dick warned me +that the things are not eatable in their present state, which is a pretty +good example of his utilitarian point of view." + +Clare laughed as she thanked him, and he resumed: "Lucille has enough to +carry, and I'd better bring the basket along." + +"Very well," said Clare. "My father was getting up when I left." + +Dick said nothing, and stood a yard or two away. The girl had met him +without embarrassment, but it was Jake she had addressed. He felt that he +was, so to speak, being left out. + +"Then I'll come and talk to him for a while," said Jake. "I don't know a +nicer place on a hot morning than your patio." + +"But what about your work? Are you not needed at the dam?" + +"My work can wait. I find from experience that it will keep for quite a +long time without shriveling away, though often it gets very stale. +Anyhow, after being engaged on the company's business for the most part +of last night, I'm entitled to a rest. My partner, of course, doesn't +look at things like that. He's going back as fast as he can." + +Dick hid his annoyance at the hint. It was impossible to prevent the lad +from going to Kenwardine's when Clare was there to hear his objections, +and he had no doubt that Jake enjoyed his embarrassment. Turning away, he +tried to forget the matter by thinking about the coal. Since Kenwardine +was at home, it was improbable that he had been at Adexe during the +night. If Clare had a part in her father's plots, she might, of course, +have made the statement about his getting up with an object, but Dick +would not admit this. She had helped the man once, but this was an +exception, and she must have yielded to some very strong pressure. For +all that, Dick hoped his comrade would not tell Kenwardine much about +their trip in the launch. + +As a matter of fact, Jake handled the subject with some judgment when +Kenwardine, who had just finished his breakfast, gave him coffee in the +patio. They sat beneath the purple creeper while the sunshine crept down +the opposite wall. The air was fresh and the murmur of the surf came +languidly across the flat roofs. + +"Aren't you in town unusually early?" Kenwardine asked. + +"Well," said Jake with a twinkle, "you see we got here late." + +"Then Brandon was with you. This makes it obvious that you spent a +perfectly sober night." + +Jake laughed. He liked Kenwardine and meant to stick to him, but although +rash and extravagant, he was sometimes shrewd, and admitted that there +might perhaps be some ground for Dick's suspicions. He was entitled to +lose his own money, but he must run no risk of injuring his father's +business. However, since Kenwardine had a share in the coaling wharf, he +would learn that they had been to Adexe, and to try to hide this would +show that they distrusted him. + +"Our occupation was innocent but rather arduous," he said. "We went to +Adexe in the launch to see when our coal was coming." + +"Did you get it? The manager told me something about the tug's engines +needing repairs." + +"We got one scow that broke adrift off the Tajada reef. They had to turn +back with the others." + +"Then perhaps I'd better telephone to find out what they mean to do," +Kenwardine suggested. + +Jake wondered whether he wished to learn if they had already made +inquiries, and thought frankness was best. + +"Brandon called up the wharf as soon as the office was open, but didn't +get much information. Something seemed to be wrong with the wire." + +"I suppose he wanted to know when the coal would leave?" + +"Yes," said Jake. "But he began by asking if the tug had come back safe, +and got no further, because the other fellow couldn't hear." + +"Why was he anxious about the tug?" + +Kenwardine's manner was careless, but Jake imagined he felt more interest +than he showed. + +"It was blowing pretty fresh when she left us, and if the scows had +broken adrift again, there'd have been some risk of losing them. This +would delay the delivery of the coal, and we're getting very short of +fuel." + +"I see," said Kenwardine. "Well, if anything of the kind had happened, I +would have heard of it. You needn't be afraid of not getting a supply." + +Jake waited. He thought it might look significant if he showed any +eagerness to change the subject, but when Kenwardine began to talk about +something else he followed his lead. Half an hour later he left the +house, feeling that he had used commendable tact, but determined not to +tell Brandon about the interview. Dick had a habit of exaggerating the +importance of things, and since he already distrusted Kenwardine, Jake +thought it better not to give him fresh ground for suspicion. There was +no use in supplying his comrade with another reason for preventing his +going to the house. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +JAKE GETS INTO DIFFICULTIES + + +Day was breaking, though it was still dark at the foot of the range, when +Dick returned wearily to his iron shack after a night's work at the dam. +There had been a local subsidence of the foundations on the previous +afternoon, and he could not leave the spot until precautions had been +taken to prevent the danger spreading. Bethune came with him to look at +some plans, and on entering the veranda they were surprised to find the +house well lighted and smears of mud and water upon the floor. + +"Looks as if a bathing party had been walking round the shack, and your +boy had tried to clean up when he was half-asleep," Bethune said. + +Dick called his colored servant and asked him: "Why are all the lights +burning, and what's this mess?" + +"Señor Fuller say he no could see the chairs." + +"Why did he want to see them?" + +"He fall on one, señor; t'row it wit' mucha force and fall on it again. +Say dozenas of _malditos sillas_. If he fall other time, he kill my +head." + +"Ah!" said Dick sharply. "Where is he now?" + +"He go in your bed, señor." + +"What has happened is pretty obvious," Bethune remarked. "Fuller came +home with a big jag on and scared this fellow. We'd better see if he's +all right." + +Dick took him into his bedroom and the negro followed. The room was very +hot and filled with a rank smell of kerosene, for the lamp was smoking +and the negro explained that Jake had threatened him with violence if he +turned it down. The lad lay with a flushed face on Dick's bed; his muddy +boots sticking out from under the crumpled coverlet. He seemed to be +fully dressed and his wet clothes were smeared with foul green slime. +There was a big red lump on his forehead. + +"Why didn't you put him into his own bed?" Dick asked the negro. + +"He go in, señor, and come out quick. Say no possible he stop. _Maldito_ +bed is damp." + +Bethune smiled. "There'll be a big washbasket for the _lavenderas_ +to-morrow, but we must take his wet clothes off." He shook Jake. "You've +got to wake up!" + +After a time Jake opened his eyes and blinked at Bethune. "All right! +You're not as fat as Salvador, and you can catch that chair. The fool +thing follows me and keeps getting in my way." + +"Come out," Bethune ordered him, and turned to the negro. "Where's his +pyjamas?" + +Salvador brought a suit, and Dick, who dragged Jake out of bed, asked: +"How did you get into this mess?" + +"Fell into pond behind the dam; not safe that pond. Put a shingle up +to-morrow, 'Keep off the grass.' No, that'sh not right. Let'sh try again. +'Twenty dollars fine if you spit on the sidewalk.'" + +Bethune grinned at Dick. "It's not an unusual notice in some of our +smaller towns, and one must admit it's necessary. However, we want to get +him into dry clothes." + +Jake gave them some trouble, but they put him in a re-made bed and went +back to the verandah, where Bethune sat down. + +"Fuller has his good points, but I guess you find him something of a +responsibility," he remarked. + +"I do," said Dick, with feeling. "Still, this is the first time he has +come home the worse for liquor. I'm rather worried about it, because it's +a new trouble." + +"And you had enough already?" Bethune suggested. "Well, though you're not +very old yet, I think Miss Fuller did well to make you his guardian, and +perhaps I'm to blame for his relapse, because I sent him to Santa +Brigida. François was busy and there were a number of bills to pay for +stores we bought in the town. I hope Fuller hasn't lost the money!" + +Dick felt disturbed, but he said, "I don't think so. Jake's erratic, but +he's surprised me by his prudence now and then." + +Bethune left soon afterwards, and Dick went to bed, but got up again +after an hour or two and began his work without seeing Jake. They did not +meet during the day, and Dick went home to his evening meal uncertain +what line to take. He had no real authority, and finding Jake languid and +silent, decided to say nothing about his escapade. When the meal was +finished, they left the hot room, as usual, for the verandah, and Jake +dropped listlessly into a canvas chair. + +"I allow you're more tactful than I thought," he remarked with a feeble +smile. "Guess I was pretty drunk last night." + +"It looked rather like it from your clothes and the upset in the house," +Dick agreed. + +Jake looked thoughtful. "Well," he said ingenuously, "I _have_ been on a +jag before, but I really don't often indulge in that kind of thing, and +don't remember drinking enough to knock me out. You see, Kenwardine's a +fastidious fellow and sticks to wine. The sort he keeps is light." + +"Then you got drunk at his house? I'd sooner have heard you were at the +casino, where the Spaniards would have turned you out." + +"You don't know the worst yet," Jake replied hesitatingly. "As I'm in a +very tight place, I'd better 'fess up. François doesn't seem to have +told you that I tried to draw my pay for some months ahead." + +"Ah!" said Dick, remembering with uneasiness what he had learned from +Bethune. "That sounds ominous. Did you----" + +"Let me get it over," Jake interrupted. "Richter was there, besides a +Spanish fellow, and a man called Black. We'd been playing cards, and I'd +won a small pile when my luck began to turn. It wasn't long before I was +cleaned out and heavily in debt. Kenwardine said I'd had enough and had +better quit. I sometimes think you don't quite do the fellow justice." + +"Never mind that," said Dick. "I suppose you didn't stop?" + +"No; I took a drink that braced me up and soon afterwards thought I saw +my chance. The cards looked pretty good, and I put up a big bluff and +piled on all I had." + +"But you had nothing; you'd lost what you began with." + +Jake colored. "Bethune had given me a check to bearer." + +"I was afraid of that," Dick said gravely. "But go on." + +"I thought I'd bluff them, but Black and the Spaniard told me to play, +though Kenwardine held back at first. Said they didn't want to take +advantage of my rashness and I couldn't make good. Well, I saw how I +could put it over, and it looked as if they couldn't stop me, until Black +brought out a trump I didn't think he ought to have. After that I don't +remember much, but imagine I turned on the fellow and made some trouble." + +"Can you remember how the cards went?" + +"No," said Dick awkwardly, "not now, and I may have been mistaken about +the thing. I believe I fell over the table and they put me on a couch. +After a time, I saw there was nobody in the room, and thought I'd better +get out." He paused and added with a flush: "I was afraid Miss Kenwardine +might find me in the morning." + +"You can't pay back the money you lost?" + +"I can't. The check will show in the works' accounts and there'll sure be +trouble if the old man hears of it." + +Dick was silent for a few moments. It was curious that Jake had tried to +defend Kenwardine; but this did not matter. The lad's anxiety and +distress were plain. + +"If you'll leave the thing entirely in my hands, I'll see what can be +done," he said. "I'll have to tell Bethune." + +"I'll do whatever you want, if you'll help me out," Jake answered +eagerly, and after asking some questions about his losses, Dick went to +Bethune's shack. + +Bethune listened thoughtfully to what he had to say, and then remarked: +"We'll take it for granted that you mean to see him through. Have you +enough money?" + +"No; that's why I came." + +"You must get the check back, anyhow," said Bethune, who opened a drawer +and took out a roll of paper currency. "Here's my pile, and it's at your +service, but it won't go far enough." + +"I think it will, with what I can add," said Dick, after counting the +bills. "You see, I don't mean to pay the full amount." + +Bethune looked at him and smiled. "Well, that's rather unusual, but if +they made him drunk and the game was not quite straight! Have you got his +promise not to play again?" + +"I haven't. What I'm going to do will make it awkward, if not impossible. +Besides, he'll have no money. I'll stop what he owes out of his pay." + +"A good plan! However, I won't lend you the money; I'll lend it Jake, +which makes him responsible. But your pay's less than mine, and you'll +have to economize for the next few months." + +"That won't matter," Dick answered quietly. "I owe Fuller something, and +I like the lad." + +He went back to his shack and said to Jake, "We'll be able to clear off +the debt, but you must ask no questions and agree to any arrangement I +think it best to make." + +"You're a good sort," Jake said with feeling; but Dick cut short his +thanks and went off to bed. + +Next morning he started for Santa Brigida, and when he reached +Kenwardine's house met Clare on a balcony at the top of the outside +stairs. Somewhat to his surprise, she stopped him with a sign, and then +stood silent for a moment, looking disturbed. + +"Mr. Brandon," she said hesitatingly, "I resented your trying to prevent +Mr. Fuller coming here, but I now think it better that he should keep +away. He's young and extravagant, and perhaps----" + +"Yes," said Dick, who felt sympathetic, knowing what her admission must +have cost. "I'm afraid he's also rather unsteady." + +Clare looked at him with some color in her face. "I must be frank. +Something happened recently that showed me he oughtn't to come. I don't +think I realized this before." + +"Then you know what happened?" + +"Not altogether," Clare replied. "But I learned enough to alarm and +surprise me. You must understand that I didn't suspect----" She paused +with signs of confusion and then resumed: "Of course, people of different +kinds visit my father on business, and sometimes stay an hour or two +afterwards, and he really can't be held responsible for them. The customs +of the country force him to be friendly; you know in Santa Brigida one's +office is something like an English club. Well, a man who doesn't come +often began a game of cards and when Mr. Fuller----" + +"Just so," said Dick as quietly as he could. "Jake's rash and not to be +trusted when there are cards about; indeed, I expect he's a good deal to +blame, but I'm now going to ask your father not to encourage his visits. +I've no doubt he'll see the reason for this." + +"I'm sure he'll help you when he understands," Clare replied, and after +giving Dick a grateful look moved away. + +Dick went along the balcony, thinking hard. It was obvious that Clare had +found the interview painful, though he had tried to make it easier for +her. She had been alarmed, but he wondered whether she had given him the +warning out of tenderness for Jake. It was probable that she really +thought Kenwardine was not to blame, but it must have been hard to +acknowledge that his house was a dangerous place for an extravagant lad. +Still, a girl might venture much when fighting for her lover. Dick +frowned as he admitted this. Jake was a good fellow in spite of certain +faults, but it was disturbing to think that Clare might be in love with +him. + +It was something of a relief when Kenwardine met him at the door of his +room and took him in. Dick felt that tact was not so needful now, because +the hospitality shown him was counterbalanced by the theft of the plans, +and he held Kenwardine, not Clare, accountable for this. Kenwardine +indicated a chair, and then sat down. + +"As you haven't been here since you got better, I imagine there's some +particular reason for this call," he said, with a smile. + +"That is so," Dick agreed. "I've come on Fuller's behalf. He gave you a +check the other night. Have you cashed it yet?" + +"No. I imagined he might want to redeem it." + +"He does; but, to begin with, I'd like to know how much he lost before he +staked the check. I understand he increased the original stakes during +the game." + +"I dare say I could tell you, but I don't see your object." + +"I'll explain it soon. We can't get on until I know the sum." + +Kenwardine took a small, card-scoring book from a drawer, and after a few +moments stated the amount Jake had lost. + +"Thank you," said Dick. "I'll pay you the money now in exchange for the +check." + +"But he lost the check as well." + +Dick hesitated. He had a repugnant part to play, since he must accuse the +man who had taken him into his house when he was wounded of conspiring to +rob a drunken lad. For all that, his benefactor's son should not be +ruined, and he meant to separate him from Kenwardine. + +"I think not," he answered coolly. "But suppose we let that go? The check +is worthless, because payment can be stopped, but I'm willing to give you +what Fuller had already lost." + +Kenwardine raised his eyebrows in ironical surprise. "This is a somewhat +extraordinary course. Is Mr. Fuller in the habit of disowning his debts? +You know the rule about a loss at cards." + +"Fuller has left the thing in my hands, and you must hold me responsible. +I mean to stick to the line I've taken." + +"Then perhaps you won't mind explaining on what grounds you take it." + +"Since you insist! Fuller was drunk when he made the bet. As you were his +host, it was your duty to stop the game." + +"The exact point when an excited young man ceases to be sober is +remarkably hard to fix," Kenwardine answered dryly. "It would be awkward +for the host if he fixed it too soon, and insulting to the guest." + +"That's a risk you should have taken. For another thing, Fuller states +that a trump was played by a man who ought not to have had it." + +Kenwardine smiled. "Doesn't it strike you that you're urging conflicting +reasons? First you declare that Fuller was drunk, and then that he was +able to detect clever players at cheating. Your argument contradicts +itself and is plainly absurd." + +"Anyhow, I mean to urge it," Dick said doggedly. + +"Well," said Kenwardine with a steady look, "I've no doubt you see what +this implies. You charge me with a plot to intoxicate your friend and +take a mean advantage of his condition." + +"No; I don't go so far. I think you should have stopped the game, but +Fuller accuses a man called Black of playing the wrong card. In fact, I +admit that you don't mean to harm him, by taking it for granted that +you'll let me have the check, because if you kept it, you'd have some +hold on him." + +"A firm hold," Kenwardine remarked. + +Dick had partly expected this, and had his answer ready. "Not so firm as +you think. If there was no other way, it would force me to stop payment +and inform my employer. It would be much better that Jake should have to +deal with his father than with your friends." + +"You seem to have thought over the matter carefully," Kenwardine +rejoined. "Well, personally, I'm willing to accept your offer and give up +the check; but I must consult the others, since their loss is as much as +mine. Will you wait while I go to the telephone?" + +Dick waited for some time, after which Kenwardine came back and gave him +the check. As soon as he got it Dick left the house, satisfied because he +had done what he had meant to do, and yet feeling doubtful. Kenwardine +had given way too easily. It looked as if he was not convinced that he +must leave Fuller alone. + +On reaching the dam Dick gave Jake the check and told him how he had got +it. The lad flushed angrily, but was silent for a moment, and then gave +Dick a curious look. + +"I can't deny your generosity, and I'll pay you back; but you see the +kind of fellow you make me out." + +"I told Kenwardine you left me to deal with the matter, and the plan was +mine," said Dick. + +Jake signified by a gesture that the subject must be dropped. "As I did +agree to leave it to you, I can't object. After all, I expect you meant +well." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE BLACK-FUNNEL BOAT + + +The breeze had fallen and the shining sea was smooth as glass when the +launch passed Adexe. Dick, who lounged at the helm, was not going there. +Some alterations to a mole along the coast had just been finished, and +Stuyvesant had sent him to engage the contractor who had done the +concrete work. Jake, who occasionally found his duties irksome, had +insisted on coming. + +As they crossed the mouth of the inlet, Dick glanced shorewards through +his glasses. The whitewashed coal-sheds glistened dazzlingly, and a +fringe of snowy surf marked the curve of beach, but outside this a belt +of cool, blue water extended to the wharf. The swell surged to and fro +among the piles, checkered with purple shadows and laced with threads of +foam, but it was the signs of human activity that occupied Dick's +attention. He noticed the cloud of dust that rolled about the mounds of +coal upon the wharf and blurred the figures of the toiling peons, and the +way the tubs swung up and down from the hatches of an American collier +until the rattle of her winches suddenly broke off. + +"They seem to be doing a big business," he remarked. "It looks as if that +boat had stopped discharging, but she must have landed a large quantity +of coal." + +"There's pretty good shelter at Adexe," Jake replied. "In ordinary +weather, steamers can come up to the wharf, instead of lying a quarter of +a mile off, as they do at Santa Brigida. However, there's not much cargo +shipped, and a captain who wanted his bunkers filled would have to make a +special call with little chance of picking up any freight. That must tell +against the place." + +They were not steaming fast, and just before a projecting point shut in +the inlet the deep blast of a whistle rang across the water and the +collier's dark hull swung out from the wharf. A streak of foam, cut +sharply between her black side and the shadowed blue of the sea, marked +her load-line, and she floated high, but not as if she were empty. + +"Going on somewhere else to finish, I guess," said Jake. "How much do you +reckon she has discharged?" + +"Fifteen hundred tons, if she was full when she came in, and I imagine +they hadn't much room in the sheds before. I wonder where Kenwardine gets +the money, unless his friend, Richter, is rich." + +"Richter has nothing to do with the business," Jake replied. "He was to +have had a share, but they couldn't come to a satisfactory agreement." + +Dick looked at him sharply. "How do you know?" + +"I really don't know much. Kenwardine said something about it one night +when I was at his house." + +"Did somebody ask him?" + +"No," said Jake, "I don't think so. The subject, so to speak, cropped up +and he offered us the information." + +Then he talked of something else and soon afterwards the coast receded as +they crossed a wide bay. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when +they reached the farthest point from land. There was no wind, and in the +foreground the sea ran in long undulations whose backs blazed with light. +Farther off, the gentle swell was smoothed out and became an oily expanse +that faded into the glitter on the horizon, but at one point the latter +was faintly blurred. A passing vessel, Dick thought, and occupied himself +with the engine, for he had not brought the fireman. Looking round some +time afterwards, he saw that the ship had got more distinct and picked up +his glasses. + +She was a two-masted steamer and, cut off by the play of reflected light, +floated like a mirage between sky and sea. After studying her for a +minute, Dick gave Jake the glasses. + +"It's a curious effect, but not uncommon on a day like this," he said. +"She's like the big Spanish boats and has their tall black funnel." + +"She's very like them," Jake agreed. "There's no smoke, and no wash about +her. It looks as if they'd had some trouble in the engine-room and she'd +stopped." + +Dick nodded and glanced across the dazzling water towards the high, blue +coast. He did not think the steamer could be seen from the land, and the +launch would, no doubt, be invisible from her deck, but this was not +important and he began to calculate how long it would take them to reach +a point ahead. Some time later, he looked round again. The steamer was +fading in the distance, but no smoke trailed behind her and he did not +think she had started yet. His attention, however, was occupied by the +headland he was steering for, because he thought it marked the +neighborhood of their port. + +He spent an hour in the place before he finished his business and started +home, and when they were about half-way across the bay the light began to +fade. The sun had sunk and the high land cut, harshly blue, against a +saffron glow; the sea was shadowy and colorless in the east. Presently +Jake, who sat facing aft, called out: + +"There's a steamer's masthead light coming up astern of us. Now I see her +side lights, and by the distance between them she's a big boat." + +Dick changed his course, because the steamer's three lights would not +have been visible unless she was directly following him and the launch's +small yellow funnel and dingy white topsides would be hard to +distinguish. When he had shut out one of the colored side lights and knew +he was safe, he stopped the engine to wait until the vessel passed. There +was no reason why he should do so, but somehow he felt interested in the +ship. Lighting his pipe, he studied her through the glasses, which he +gave to Jake. + +"She's the boat we saw before," he said. + +"That's so," Jake agreed. "Her engines are all right now because she's +steaming fast." + +Dick nodded, for he had marked the mass of foam that curled and broke +away beneath the vessel's bow, but Jake resumed: "It looks as if her +dynamo had stopped. There's nothing to be seen but her navigation lights +and she's certainly a passenger boat. They generally glitter like a +gin-saloon." + +The ship was getting close now and Dick, who asked for the glasses, +examined her carefully as she came up, foreshortened, on their quarter. +Her dark bow looked very tall and her funnel loomed, huge and shadowy, +against the sky. Above its top the masthead light shed a yellow glimmer, +and far below, the sea leapt and frothed about the line of hull. This +drew out and lengthened as she came abreast of them, but now he could see +the tiers of passenger decks, one above the other, there was something +mysterious in the gloom that reigned on board. No ring of light pierced +her long dark side and the gangways behind the rails and rows of +stanchions looked like shadowy caves. In the open spaces, forward and +aft, however, bodies of men were gathered, their clothes showing faintly +white, but they stood still in a compact mass until a whistle blew and +the indistinct figures scattered across the deck. + +"A big crew," Jake remarked. "Guess they've been putting them through a +boat or fire drill." + +Dick did not answer, but when the vessel faded into a hazy mass ahead he +started the engine and steered into her eddying wake, which ran far back +into the dark. Then after a glance at the compass, he beckoned Jake. +"Look how she's heading." + +Jake told him and he nodded. "I made it half a point more to port, but +this compass swivels rather wildly. Where do you think she's bound?" + +"To Santa Brigida; but, as you can see, not direct. I expect her skipper +wants to take a bearing from the Adexe lights. You are going there and +her course is the same as ours." + +"No," said Dick; "I'm edging in towards the land rather short of Adexe. +As we have the current on our bow, I want to get hold of the beach as +soon as I can, for the sake of slacker water. Anyway, a big boat would +keep well clear of the shore until she passed the Tajada reef." + +"Then she may be going into Adexe for coal." + +"That vessel wouldn't float alongside the wharf, and her skipper would +sooner fill his bunkers where he'd get passengers and freight." + +"Well, I expect we'll find her at Santa Brigida when we arrive." + +They looked round, but the sea was now dark and empty and they let the +matter drop. When they crossed the Adexe bight no steamer was anchored +near, but a cluster of lights on the dusky beach marked the coaling +wharf. + +"They're working late," Dick said. "Can you see the tug?" + +"You'd have to run close in before you could do so," Jake replied. "I +expect they're trimming the coal the collier landed into the sheds." + +"It's possible," Dick agreed, and after hesitating for a few moments held +on his course. He remembered that one can hear a launch's engines and the +splash of torn-up water for some distance on a calm night. + +After a time, the lights of Santa Brigida twinkled ahead, and when they +steamed up to the harbor both looked about. The American collier and a +big cargo-boat lay with the reflections of their anchor-lights quivering +on the swell, but there was no passenger liner to be seen. A man came to +moor the launch when they landed, and Jake asked if the vessel he +described had called. + +"No, señor," said the man. "The only boats I know like that are the +Cadiz liners, and the next is not due for a fortnight." + +"Her model's a pretty common one for big passenger craft," Jake remarked +to Dick as they went up the mole. "Still, the thing's curious. She wasn't +at Adexe and she hasn't been here. She certainly passed us, steering for +the land, and I don't see where she could have gone." + +Dick began to talk about something else, but next morning asked +Stuyvesant for a day's leave. Stuyvesant granted it and Dick resumed: "Do +you mind giving me a blank order form? I'm going to Adexe, and the +storekeeper wants a few things we can't get in Santa Brigida." + +Stuyvesant signed the form. "There it is. The new coaling people seem an +enterprising crowd, and you can order anything they can supply." + +Dick hired a mule and took the steep inland road; but on reaching Adexe +went first to the sugar mill and spent an hour with the American +engineer, whose acquaintance he had made. Then, having, as he thought, +accounted for his visit, he went to the wharf and carefully looked about +as he made his way to the manager's office. + +A few grimy peons were brushing coal-dust off the planks, their +thinly-clad forms silhouetted against the shining sea. Their movements +were languid, and Dick wondered whether this was due to the heat or if it +was accounted for by forced activity on the previous night. A neatly +built stack of coal stood beside the whitewashed sheds, but nothing +suggested that it had been recently broken into. Passing it carelessly +Dick glanced into the nearest shed, which was almost full, though its +proximity to deep water indicated that supplies would be drawn from it +before the other. Feeling rather puzzled, he stopped in front of the next +shed and noted that there was much less coal in this. Moreover, a large +number of empty bags lay near the entrance, as if they had been used +recently and the storekeeper had not had time to put them away. + +Two men were folding up the bags, but, by contrast with the glitter +outside, the shed was dark, and Dick's eyes were not accustomed to the +gloom. Still he thought one of the men was Oliva, the contractor whom +Stuyvesant had dismissed. Next moment the fellow turned and threw a +folded bag aside, after which he walked towards the other end of the +shed. His movements were leisurely, but he kept his back to Dick and the +latter thought this significant, although he was not sure the man had +seen him. + +As he did not want to be seen loitering about the sheds, he walked on, +feeling puzzled. Since he did not know what stock the company had held, +it was difficult to tell if coal had recently been shipped, but he +imagined that some must have left the wharf after the collier had +unloaded. He was used to calculating weights and cubic quantities, and +the sheds were not large. Taking it for granted that the vessel had +landed one thousand five hundred tons, he thought there ought to be more +about than he could see. Still, if some had been shipped, he could not +understand why it had been taken, at a greater cost for labor, from the +last shed, where one would expect the company to keep their reserve +supply. He might, perhaps, find out something from the manager, but this +would need tact. + +Entering the small, hot office, he found a suave Spanish gentleman whom +he had already met. The latter greeted him politely and gave him a cigar. + +"It is not often you leave the works, but a change is good," he said. + +"We're not quite so busy and I promised to pay Allen at the sugar mill a +visit," Dick replied. "Besides, I had an excuse for the trip. We're short +of some engine stores that I dare say you can let us have." + +He gave the manager a list, and the Spaniard nodded as he marked the +items. + +"We can send you most of the things. It pays us to stock goods that the +engineers of the ships we coal often want; but there are some we have not +got." + +"Very well," said Dick. "I'll fill up our form for what you have and you +can put the things on board the tug the first time she goes to Santa +Brigida." + +"She will go in three or four days." + +Dick decided that as the launch had probably been seen, he had better +mention his voyage. + +"That will be soon enough. If our storekeeper had told me earlier, I +would have called here yesterday. I passed close by on my way to Orava." + +"One of the peons saw your boat. It is some distance to Orava." + +"The sea was very smooth," said Dick. "I went to engage a contractor who +had been at work upon the mole." + +So far, conversation had been easy, and he had satisfactorily accounted +for his passing the wharf, without, he hoped, appearing anxious to do so; +but he had learned nothing yet, although he thought the Spaniard was more +interested in his doings than he looked. + +"The collier was leaving as we went by," he resumed. "Trade must be good, +because she seemed to have unloaded a large quantity of coal." + +"Sixteen hundred tons," said the manager. "In war time, when freights +advance, it is wise to keep a good stock." + +As this was very nearly the quantity Dick had guessed, he noted the man's +frankness, but somehow imagined it was meant to hide something. + +"So long as you can sell the stock," he agreed. "War, however, interferes +with trade, and the French line have reduced their sailings, while I +expect the small British tramps won't be so numerous." + +"They have nothing to fear in these waters." + +"I suppose they haven't, and vessels belonging to neutral countries ought +to be safe," said Dick. "Still, the Spanish company seem to have changed +their sailings, because I thought I saw one of their boats yesterday; but +she was a long way off on the horizon." + +He thought the other gave him a keen glance, but as the shutters were +partly closed the light was not good, and the man answered carelessly: + +"They do not deal with us. Adexe is off their course and no boats so +large can come up to the wharf." + +"Well," said Dick, who believed he had admitted enough to disarm any +suspicion the other might have entertained, "doesn't coal that's kept +exposed to the air lose some of its heating properties?" + +"It does not suffer much damage. But we will drink a glass of wine, and +then I will show you how we keep our coal." + +"Thanks. These things interest me, but I looked into the sheds as I +passed," Dick answered as he drank his wine. + +They went out and when they entered the first shed the Spaniard called a +peon and gave him an order Dick did not catch. Then he showed Dick the +cranes, and the trucks that ran along the wharf on rails, and how they +weighed the bags of coal. After a time they went into a shed that was +nearly empty and Dick carefully looked about. Several peons were at work +upon the bags, but Oliva was not there. Dick wondered whether he had been +warned to keep out of sight. + +As they went back to the office, his companion looked over the edge of +the wharf and spoke to a seaman on the tug below. Her fires were out and +the hammering that came up through the open skylights indicated that work +was being done in her engine-room. Then one of the workmen seemed to +object to something another said, for Dick heard "No; it must be +tightened. It knocked last night." + +He knew enough Castilian to feel sure he had not been mistaken, and the +meaning of what he had heard was plain. A shaft-journal knocks when the +bearings it revolves in have worn or shaken loose, and the machinery must +have been running when the engineer heard the noise. Dick thought it +better to light a cigarette, and was occupied shielding the match with +his hands when the manager turned round. A few minutes later he stated +that as it was a long way to Santa Brigida he must start soon and after +some Spanish compliments the other let him go. + +He followed the hill road slowly in a thoughtful mood. The manager had +been frank, but Dick suspected him of trying to show that he had nothing +to hide. Then he imagined that a quantity of coal had been shipped since +the previous day, and if the tug had been at sea at night, she must have +been used for towing lighters. The large vessel he had seen was obviously +a passenger boat, but fast liners could be converted into auxiliary +cruisers. There were, however, so far as he knew, no enemy cruisers in +the neighborhood; indeed, it was supposed that they had been chased off +the seas. Still, there was something mysterious about the matter, and he +meant to watch the coaling company and Kenwardine. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +DICK GETS A WARNING + + +On the evening of one pay-day, Dick took a short cut through the +half-breed quarter of Santa Brigida. As not infrequently happens in old +Spanish cities, this unsavory neighborhood surrounded the cathedral and +corresponded in character with the localities known in western America as +"across the track." Indeed, a Castilian proverb bluntly plays upon the +juxtaposition of vice and bells. + +Ancient houses rose above the dark and narrow street. Flakes of plaster +had fallen from their blank walls, the archways that pierced them were +foul and strewn with refuse, and a sour smell of decay and garbage +tainted the stagnant air. Here and there a grossly fat, slatternly woman +leaned upon the rails of an outside balcony; negroes, Chinamen, and +half-breeds passed along the broken pavements; and the dirty, +open-fronted wine-shops, where swarms of flies hovered about the tables, +were filled with loungers of different shades of color. + +By and by Dick noticed a man in clean white duck on the opposite side of +the street. He was a short distance in front, but his carriage and the +fit of his clothes indicated that he was a white man and probably an +American, and Dick slackened his pace. He imagined that the other would +sooner not be found in that neighborhood if he happened to be an +acquaintance. The fellow, however, presently crossed the street, and when +he stopped and looked about, Dick, meeting him face to face, saw with +some surprise that it was Kemp, the fireman, who had shown him an +opportunity of escaping from the steamer that took them South. + +Kemp had turned out a steady, sober man, and Dick, who had got him +promoted, wondered what he was doing there, though he reflected that his +own presence in the disreputable locality was liable to be misunderstood. +Kemp, however, looked at him with a twinkle. + +"I guess you're making for the harbor, Mr. Brandon?" + +Dick said he was, and Kemp studied the surrounding houses. + +"Well," he resumed, "I'm certainly up against it now. I don't know much +Spanish, and these fool dagos can't talk American, while they're packed +so tight in their blamed tenements that it's curious they don't fall out +of the windows. It's a tough proposition to locate a man here." + +"Then you're looking for somebody?" + +"Yes. I've tracked Payne to this _calle_, but I guess there's some +trailing down to be done yet." + +"Ah!" said Dick; for Payne was the dismissed storekeeper. "Why do you +want him?" + +"I met him a while back and he'd struck bad luck, hurt his arm, for one +thing. He'd been working among the breeds on the mole and living in their +tenements, and couldn't strike another job. I reckoned he might want a +few dollars, and I don't spend all my pay." + +Dick nodded, because he understood the unfortunate position of the white +man who loses caste in a tropical country. An Englishman or American may +engage in manual labor where skill is required and the pay is high, but +he must live up to the standards of his countrymen. If forced to work +with natives and adopt their mode of life, he risks being distrusted and +avoided by men of his color. Remembering that Payne had interfered when +he was stabbed, Dick had made some inquiries about him, but getting no +information decided that he had left the town. + +"Then he's lodging in this street," he said. + +"That's what they told me at the wine-shop. He had to quit the last place +because he couldn't pay." + +"Wasn't he with Oliva?" Dick inquired. + +"He was, but Oliva turned him down. I allow it was all right to fire him, +but he's surely up against it now." + +Dick put his hand in his pocket. "If you find him, you might let me know. +In the meantime, here's five dollars----" + +"Hold on!" said Kemp. "Don't take out your wallet here. I'll fix the +thing, and ask for the money when I get back." + +Dick left him, and when he had transacted his business returned to the +dam. An hour or two later Kemp arrived and stated that he had not +succeeded in finding Payne. The man had left the squalid room he occupied +and nobody knew where he had gone. + +During the next week Dick had again occasion to visit the harbor, and +while he waited on the mole for a boat watched a gang of peons unloading +some fertilizer from a barge. It was hard and unpleasant work, for the +stuff, which had a rank smell, escaped from the bags and covered the +perspiring men. The dust stuck to their hot faces, almost hiding their +color; but one, though equally dirty, looked different from the rest, and +Dick, noting that he only used his left arm, drew nearer. As he did so, +the man walked up the steep plank from the lighter with a bag upon his +back and staggering across the mole dropped it with a gasp. His heaving +chest and set face showed what the effort had cost, and the smell of the +fertilizer hung about his ragged clothes. Dick saw that it was Payne and +that the fellow knew him. + +"You have got a rough job," he remarked. "Can't you find something +better?" + +"Nope," said the man grimly. "Do you reckon I'd pack dirt with a crowd +like this if I could help it?" + +Dick, who glanced at the lighter, where half-naked negroes and mulattos +were at work amid a cloud of nauseating dust, understood the social +degradation the other felt. + +"What's the matter with your arm?" he asked. + +Payne pulled up his torn sleeve and showed an inflamed and half-healed +wound. + +"That! Got it nipped in a crane-wheel and it doesn't get much better. +Guess this dirt is poisonous. Anyway, it keeps me here. I've been trying +to make enough to buy a ticket to Jamaica, but can't work steady. As soon +as I've put up two or three dollars, I have to quit." + +Dick could understand this. The man looked gaunt and ill and must have +been heavily handicapped by his injured arm. He did not seem anxious to +excite Dick's pity, though the latter did not think he cherished much +resentment. + +"I tried to find you when I got better after being stabbed," he said. "I +don't quite see why you came to my help." + +Payne grinned sourly. "You certainly hadn't much of a claim; but you were +a white man and that dago meant to kill. Now if I'd held my job with +Fuller and you hadn't dropped on to Oliva's game, I'd have made my little +pile; but I allow you had to fire us when something put you wise." + +"I see," said Dick, with a smile at the fellow's candor. "Well, I +couldn't trust you with the cement again, but we're short of a man to +superintend a peon gang and I'll talk to Mr. Stuyvesant about it if +you'll tell me your address." + +Payne gave him a fixed, eager look. "You get me the job and take me out +of this and you won't be sorry. I'll make it good to you--and I reckon I +can." + +Dick, who thought the other's anxiety to escape from his degrading +occupation had prompted his last statement, turned away, saying he would +see what could be done, and in the evening visited Stuyvesant. Bethune +was already with him, and Dick told them how he had found Payne. + +"You felt you had to promise the fellow a job because he butted in when +the dagos got after you?" Stuyvesant suggested. + +"No," said Dick with some embarrassment, "it wasn't altogether that. He +certainly did help me, but I can't pass my obligations on to my employer. +If you think he can't be trusted, I'll pay his passage to another port." + +"Well, I don't know that if I had the option I'd take the fellow out of +jail, so long as he was shut up decently out of sight; but this is worse, +in a way. What do you think, Bethune?" + +Bethune smiled. "You ought to know. I'm a bit of a philosopher, but when +you stir my racial feelings I'm an American first. The mean white's a +troublesome proposition at home, but we can't afford to exhibit him to +the dagos here." He turned to Dick. "That's our attitude, Brandon, and +though you were not long in our country, you seem to sympathize with it. +I don't claim it's quite logical, but there it is! We're white and +_different_." + +"Do you want me to hire the man?" Stuyvesant asked with an impatient +gesture. + +"Yes," said Dick. + +"Then put him on. If he steals anything, I'll hold you responsible and +ship him out on the next cement boat, whether he wants to go or not." + +Next morning Dick sent word to Payne, who arrived at the dam soon +afterwards and did his work satisfactorily. On the evening of the first +pay-day he went to Santa Brigida, but Dick, who watched him in the +morning, noted somewhat to his surprise, that he showed no signs of +dissipation. When work stopped at noon he heard a few pistol shots, but +was told on inquiring that it was only one or two of the men shooting at +a mark. A few days afterwards he found it necessary to visit Santa +Brigida. Since Bethune confined his talents to constructional problems +and languidly protested that he had no aptitude for commerce, much of the +company's minor business gradually fell into Dick's hands. As a rule, he +went to the town in the evening, after he had finished at the dam. While +a hand-car was being got ready to take him down the line, Payne came up +to the veranda, where Dick sat with Jake. + +"You're going down town, Mr. Brandon," he said. "Have you got a gun?" + +"I have not," said Dick. + +Payne pulled out an automatic pistol. "Then you'd better take mine. I +bought her, second-hand, with my first pay, but she's pretty good. I +reckon you can shoot?" + +"A little," said Dick, who had practised with the British army revolver. +"Still I don't carry a pistol." + +"You ought," Payne answered meaningly, and walking to the other end of +the veranda stuck a scrap of white paper on a post. "Say, suppose you try +her? I want to see you put a pill through that." + +Dick was surprised by the fellow's persistence, but there is a +fascination in shooting at a target, and when Jake urged him he took the +pistol. Steadying it with stiffened wrist and forearm, he fired but hit +the post a foot below the paper. + +"You haven't allowed for the pull-off, and you're slow," Payne remarked. +"You want to sight high, with a squeeze on the trigger, and then catch +her on the drop." + +He took the pistol and fixed his eyes on the paper before he moved. Then +his arm went up suddenly and the glistening barrel pointed above the +mark. There was a flash as his wrist dropped and a black spot appeared +near the middle of the paper. + +"Use her like that! You'd want a mighty steady hand to hold her dead on +the mark while you pull off." + +"Sit down and tell us why you think Mr. Brandon ought to have the +pistol," Jake remarked. "I go to Santa Brigida now and then, but you +haven't offered to lend it me." + +Payne sat down on the steps and looked at him with a smile. "You're all +right, Mr. Fuller. They're not after you." + +"Then you reckon it wasn't me they wanted the night my partner was +stabbed? I had the money." + +"Nope," said Payne firmly. "I allow they'd have corralled the dollars if +they could, but it was Mr. Brandon they meant to knock out." He paused +and added in a significant tone: "They're after him yet." + +"Hadn't you better tell us whom you mean by 'they'?" Dick asked. + +"Oliva's gang. There are toughs in the city who'd kill you for fifty +cents." + +"Does that account for your buying the pistol when you came here?" + +"It does," Payne admitted dryly. "I didn't mean to take any chances when +it looked as if I was going back on my dago partner." + +"He turned you down first, and I don't see how you could harm him by +working for us." + +Payne did not answer, and Dick, who thought he was pondering something, +resumed: "These half-breeds are a revengeful lot, but after all, Oliva +wouldn't run a serious risk without a stronger motive than he seems to +have." + +"Well," said Payne, "if I talked Spanish, I could tell you more; but I +was taking my siesta one day in a dark wine-shop when two or three +hard-looking peons came in. They mayn't have seen me, because there were +some casks in the way, and anyhow, they'd reckon I couldn't understand +them. I didn't very well, but I heard your name and caught a word or two. +Their _patron_ had given them some orders and one called him Don Ramon. +You were to be watched, because _mirar_ came in; but I didn't get the +rest and they went out soon. I lay as if I was asleep, but I'd know the +crowd again." Payne got up as he concluded: "Anyway, you take my gun, and +keep in the main _calles_, where the lights are." + +When he had gone Jake remarked: "I guess his advice is good and I'm +coming along." + +"No," said Dick, smiling as he put the pistol in his pocket. "The trouble +is that if I took you down there I mightn't get you back. Besides, there +are some calculations I want you to make." + +Lighting his pipe, he took his seat on the hand-car and knitted his brows +as two colored laborers drove him down the hill. Below, the lights of +Santa Brigida gleamed in a cluster against the dusky sea, and he knew +something of the intrigues that went on in the town. Commercial and +political jealousies were very keen, and citizens of all ranks fought and +schemed against their neighbors. The place was rank with plots, but it +was hard to see how he could be involved. Yet it certainly began to look +as if he had been stabbed by Oliva's order, and Oliva was now employed at +the Adexe coaling wharf. + +This seemed to throw a light upon the matter. Something mysterious was +going on at Adexe, and perhaps he had been incautious and had shown his +suspicions; the Spaniards were subtle. The manager might have imagined he +knew more than he did; but if it was worth defending by the means Payne +had hinted at, the secret must be very important, and the plotters would +hesitate about betraying themselves by another attempt upon his life so +long as there was any possibility of failure. Besides, it was dangerous +to attack a foreigner, since if he were killed, the representative of his +country would demand an exhaustive inquiry. + +While Dick pondered the matter the hand-car stopped and he alighted and +walked briskly to Santa Brigida, keeping in the middle of the road. When +he reached the town, he chose the wide, well-lighted streets but saw +nothing suspicious. After transacting his business he ventured, by way of +experiment, across a small dark square and returned to the main street by +a narrow lane, but although he kept a keen watch nothing indicated that +he was followed. Reaching the hand-car without being molested, he +determined to be cautious in future, though it was possible that Payne +had been deceived. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +JAKE EXPLAINS MATTERS + + +The sun had sunk behind the range when Clare Kenwardine stood, musing, on +a balcony of the house. Voices and footsteps reached her across the +roofs, for Santa Brigida was wakening from its afternoon sleep and the +traffic had begun again in the cooling streets. The girl listened +vacantly, as she grappled with questions that had grown more troublesome +of late. + +The life she led often jarred, and yet she could find no escape. She +hoped she was not unnecessarily censorious and tried to argue that after +all there was no great harm in gambling, but rarely succeeded in +convincing herself. Then she had deliberately thrown in her lot with her +father's. When she first insisted on joining him in England, he had, for +her sake, as she now realized, discouraged the plan, but had since come +to depend upon her in many ways, and she could not leave him. Besides, it +was too late. She had made her choice and must stick to it. + +Yet she rebelled against the feeling that she had brought a taint or +stigma upon herself. She had no women friends except the wives of one or +two Spanish officials whose reputation for honesty was not of the best; +the English and American women left her alone. Most of the men she met +she frankly disliked, and imagined that the formal respect they showed +her was due to her father's hints. Kenwardine's moral code was not +severe, but he saw that his guests preserved their manners. Clare had +heard the Spaniards call him _muy caballero_, and they knew the outward +points of a gentleman. While she pondered, he came out on the balcony. + +"Brooding?" he said with a smile. "Well, it has been very dull lately and +we need cheering up. Suppose you send Mr. Fuller a note and ask him to +dinner to-morrow? He's sometimes amusing and I think you like him." + +Clare braced herself for a struggle, for it was seldom she refused her +father's request. + +"Yes," she said, "I like him, but it would be better if he didn't come." + +Kenwardine gave her a keen glance, but although he felt some surprise did +not try to hide his understanding of what she meant. + +"It looks as if you knew something about what happened on his last +visit." + +"I do," Clare answered. "It was rather a shock." + +"One mustn't exaggerate the importance of these things," Kenwardine +remarked in an indulgent tone. "It's difficult to avoid getting a jar now +and then, though I've tried to shield you as much as possible. Fuller's +young and high-spirited, and you really mustn't judge his youthful +extravagance too severely." + +"But don't you see you are admitting that he shouldn't come?" Clare +asked, with some color in her face. "He _is_ young and inexperienced, and +your friends are men of the world. What is safe for them may be dangerous +for him." + +Kenwardine pondered. Fuller was an attractive lad, and he would not have +been displeased to think that Clare's wish to protect him might spring +from sentimental tenderness. But if this were so, she would hardly have +been so frank and have admitted that he was weak. Moreover, if she found +his society congenial, she would not insist on keeping him away. + +"You are afraid some of the others might take advantage of his rashness?" +he suggested. "Can't you trust me to see this doesn't happen?" + +"It did happen, not long ago. And you can't go very far; one can't be +rude to one's guests." + +"Well," said Kenwardine, smiling, "it's kind of you to make an excuse for +me. On the whole, of course, I like you to be fastidious in your choice +of friends, but one should temper severity with sense. I don't want you +to get as exacting as Brandon, for example." + +"I'm afraid he was right when he tried to keep Fuller away." + +"Right in thinking my house was unsafe for the lad, and in warning him +that you and I were unfit for him to associate with?" + +Kenwardine studied the girl. She looked distressed, and he thought this +significant, but after a moment or two she answered steadily: + +"After all, Brandon had some grounds for thinking so. I would much sooner +you didn't urge me to ask Jake Fuller." + +"Very well," said Kenwardine. "I don't want you to do anything that's +repugnant; but, of course, if he comes to see me, I can't send him off. +It isn't a matter of much importance, anyhow." + +He left her, but she was not deceived by his careless tone. She thought +he meant to bring Fuller back and did not see how she could prevent this, +although she had refused to help. Then she thought about the plans that +Brandon had lost at their house in England. They had certainly been +stolen, for she could not doubt what he had told her, but it was painful +to admit that her father had taken them. She felt dejected and lonely, +and while she struggled against the depression Lucille came to say that +Jake was waiting below. + +"Tell him I am not at home," Clare replied. + +Lucille went away and Clare left the balcony, but a few minutes later, +when she thought Jake had gone, she went down the stairs and met him +coming up. He stopped with a twinkle of amusement. + +"I sent word that I was not at home," she said haughtily. + +"You did," Jake agreed in an apologetic tone. "It's your privilege, but +although I felt rather hurt, I don't see why that should prevent my +asking if your father was in." + +Clare's indignation vanished. She liked Jake and was moved by his +reproachful look. She determined to try an appeal. + +"Mr. Fuller," she said, "I would sooner you didn't come to see us. It +would be better, in several ways." + +He gave her a curious, intent look, in which she read sympathy. "I can't +pretend I don't understand, and you're very brave. Still, I'm not sure +you're quite just, to me among others. I'm a bit of a fool, but I'm not +so rash as some people think. Anyhow, if I were, I'd still be safe enough +in your house. Sorry, but I can't promise to stop away." + +"It would really be much better," Clare insisted. + +"Would it make things any easier for you?" + +"No," said Clare. "In a sense, it could make no difference to me." + +"Very well. I intend to call on your father now and then. Of course, you +needn't see me unless you like, though since I am coming, your keeping +out of the way wouldn't do much good." + +Clare made a gesture of helpless protest. "Why won't you be warned? Can't +you understand? Do you think it is easy for me to try----" + +"I don't," said Jake. "I know it's very hard. I think you're mistaken +about the necessity for interfering; that's all." Then he paused and +resumed in a different tone: "You see, I imagine that you must feel +lonely at times, and that you might need a friend. I dare say you'd find +me better than none, and I'd like to know that I'll have an opportunity +of being around if I'm wanted." + +He gave her a quiet, respectful glance, and Clare knew she had never +liked him so much. He looked trustworthy, and it was a relief to note +that there was no hint of anything but sympathy in his eyes and voice. He +asked nothing but permission to protect her if there was need. Moreover, +since they had been forced to tread on dangerous ground, he had handled +the situation with courage. She might require a friend, and his honest +sympathy was refreshing by contrast with the attitude of her father's +companions. Some were hard and cynical and some were dissipated, but all +were stamped by a repugnant greediness. They sought something: money, the +gratification of base desires, success in dark intrigue. Jake with his +chivalrous generosity stood far apart from them; but he must be saved +from becoming like them. + +"If I knew how I could keep you away, I would do so, but I can, at least, +see you as seldom as possible," she said and left him. + +Jake knitted his brows as he went on to Kenwardine's room. He understood +Clare's motive, and admitted that she meant well, but he was not going to +stop away because she thought this better for him. There was, however, +another matter that demanded his attention and he felt awkward when +Kenwardine opened the door. + +"It's some time since you have been to see us," the latter remarked. + +"It is," said Jake. "Perhaps you can understand that I felt rather shy +about coming after the way my partner arranged the matter of the check." + +"He arranged it to your advantage, and you ought to be satisfied. Mr. +Brandon is obviously a business man." + +Jack resented the polished sneer. "He's a very good sort and I'm grateful +to him; but it doesn't follow that I adopt his point of view." + +"You mean his views about the payment of one's debts?" + +"Yes," said Jake. "I don't consider the debt wiped out; in fact, that's +why I came. I want to make good, but it will take time. If you will ask +your friends to wait----" + +Kenwardine looked at him with an ironical smile. "Isn't this a change of +attitude? I understood you claimed that you were under a disadvantage +through being drunk and suspected that the game was not quite straight." + +"I was drunk and still suspect Black of crooked play." + +"It's rather a grave statement." + +"I quite see that," said Jake. "However, I deserved to lose for being +drunk when I was betting high, and don't hold you accountable for Black. +You'd take steep chances if you guaranteed all guests." + +Kenwardine laughed. "You're remarkably frank; but there's some truth in +what you say, although the convention is that I do guarantee them and +their honor's mine." + +"We'll keep to business," Jake replied. "Will you tell your friends I'll +pay them out in full as soon as I can?" + +"Certainly. Since they thought the matter closed, it will be a pleasant +surprise, but we'll let that go. Mr. Brandon obviously didn't consult +your wishes, but have you any idea what his object was in taking his very +unusual line?" + +"Yes," said Jake; "if you press me, I have." + +"He thought he would make it awkward for you to come here, in fact?" + +"Something like that." + +"Then you mean to run the risk?" + +"I'm coming, if you'll allow it," Jake answered with a twinkle. "The risk +isn't very great, because if I lose any more money in the next few +months, the winners will not get paid. The old man certainly won't stand +for it if I get into debt." + +Kenwardine pushed a box of cigarettes across. "I congratulate you on your +way of making things clear, and now we understand each other you can come +when you like. Have a smoke." + +Jake took a cigarette, but left soon afterwards to do an errand of +Bethune's that had given him an excuse for visiting the town. Then he +went back to the dam, and after dinner sat outside Dick's shack, +pondering what Clare had said. She had, of course, had some ground for +warning him, but he did not believe yet that Kenwardine meant to exploit +his recklessness. It would not be worth while, for one thing, since he +had never had much money to lose and now had none. Besides, Kenwardine +was not the man to take a mean advantage of his guest, though Jake could +not say as much for some of his friends. Anyhow, he meant to go to the +house because he felt that Clare might need his help. He did not see how +that might be, but he had a half-formed suspicion that she might have to +suffer on her father's account, and if anything of the kind happened, he +meant to be about. + +Yet he was not in love with her. She attracted him strongly, and he +admitted that it would be remarkably easy to become infatuated, but did +not mean to let this happen. Though often rash, he had more sense and +self-control than his friends believed, and realized that Clare was not +for him. He could not tell how he had arrived at this conclusion, but +there it was, and he knew he was not mistaken. Sometimes he wondered with +a twinge of jealousy what she thought of Brandon. + +By and by he roused himself from his reflections and looked about. There +was no moon and a thin mist that had stolen out of the jungle drifted +past the shack. A coffee-pot and two cups stood upon a table near his +chair, and one cup was half empty, as Dick had left it when he was +unexpectedly summoned to the dam, where work was going on. The veranda +lamp had been put out, because Jake did not want to read and a bright +light would have attracted moths and beetles, but Dick had left a lamp +burning in his room, and a faint illumination came through the curtain on +the open window. Everything was very quiet except when the ringing of +hammers and the rattle of a crane rose from the dam. + +Looking farther round, Jake thought he distinguished the blurred outline +of a human figure in the mist, but was not surprised. Some ironwork that +made a comfortable seat lay near the shack and the figure had been there +before. For all that, he imagined the man was wasting his time and +keeping an unnecessary watch. Then his thoughts again centered on Clare +and Kenwardine and some time had passed when he looked up. Something had +disturbed him, but he could not tell what it was, and on glancing at the +spot where he had seen the figure he found it had gone. + +Next moment a board in the house creaked softly, as if it had been +trodden on; but the boards often did so after a change of temperature, +and Jake sat still. Their colored servant had asked leave to go down to +the camp and was perhaps now coming back. One had to be careful not to +give one's imagination too much rein in these hot countries. Payne seemed +to have done so and had got an attack of nerves, which was curious, +because indulgence in native caña generally led to that kind of thing, +and Payne was sober. Moreover, he was of the type that is commonly called +hard. + +Jake took out a cigarette and was lighting it when he heard a swift, +stealthy step close behind him. He dropped the match as he swung round, +pushing back his canvas chair, and found his eyes dazzled by the sudden +darkness. Still he thought he saw a shadow flit across the veranda and +vanish into the mist. Next moment there were heavier footsteps, and a +crash as a man fell over the projecting legs of the chair. The fellow +rolled down the shallow stairs, dropping a pistol and then hurriedly got +up. + +"Stop right there, Pepe!" he shouted. "What were you doing in that room?" + +Nobody answered and Jake turned to the man, who was rubbing his leg. + +"What's the trouble, Payne?" he asked. + +"He's lit out, but I reckon I'd have got him if you'd been more careful +how you pushed your chair around." + +"Whom did you expect to get?" + +"Well," said Payne, "it wasn't Pepe." + +"Then why did you call him?" + +"I wanted the fellow I was after to think I'd made a mistake." + +Jake could understand this, though the rest was dark. Pepe was an Indian +boy who brought water and domestic stores to the shack, but would have no +excuse for entering it at night. + +"I allow he meant to dope the coffee," Payne resumed. + +This was alarming, and Jake abruptly glanced at the table. The intruder +must have been close to it and behind him when he heard the step, and +might have accomplished his purpose and stolen away had he not struck the +match. + +"He hadn't time," he answered. "We had better see what he was doing in +the house." + +Payne put away his pistol and they entered Dick's room. Nothing seemed to +have been touched, until Jake placed the lamp on a writing-table where +Dick sometimes worked at night. The drawers beneath it were locked, but +Payne indicated a greasy finger-print on the writing-pad. + +"I guess that's a dago's mark. Mr. Brandon would wash his hands before he +began to write." + +Jake agreed, and picking up the pad thought the top sheet had been +hurriedly removed, because a torn fragment projected from the leather +clip. The sheet left was covered with faint impressions, but it rather +looked as if these had been made by the ink running through than by +direct contact. Jake wrote a few words on a scrap of paper and pressing +it on the pad noted the difference. + +"This is strange," he said. "I don't get the drift of it." + +Payne looked at him with a dry smile. "If you'll come out and let me +talk, I'll try to put you wise." + +Jake nodded and they went back to the veranda. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +DON SEBASTIAN + + +When they returned to the veranda Payne sat down on the steps. Jake +picked up his chair and looked at him thoughtfully. + +"Now," he said, "I want to know why you have been prowling about the +shack at night. You had better begin at the beginning." + +"Very well. I guess you know I was put off this camp soon before you +came?" + +"I heard something about it," Jake admitted. + +Payne grinned as if he appreciated his tact, and then resumed: "In the +settlement where I was raised, the old fellow who kept the store had a +cheat-ledger. When somebody traded stale eggs and garden-truck for good +groceries, and the storekeeper saw he couldn't make trouble about it +without losing a customer, he said nothing but scored it down against the +man. Sometimes he had to wait a long while, but sooner or later he +squared the account. Now that's my plan with Don Ramon Oliva." + +"I see," said Jake. "What have you against him?" + +"To begin with, he got me fired. It was a thing I took my chances of and +wouldn't have blamed him for; but I reckon now your father's cement +wasn't all he was after. He wanted a pull on me." + +"Why?" + +"I haven't got that quite clear, but I'm an American and could do things +he couldn't, without being suspected." + +"Go on," said Jake, in a thoughtful tone. + +"Well, for a clever man, he made a very poor defense when your partner +spotted his game; seemed to say if they reckoned he'd been stealing, he'd +let it go at that. Then, when he'd got me and found I wasn't the man he +wanted, he turned me down. Left me to live with breeds and niggers!" + +"What do you mean by your not being the man he wanted?" + +Payne smiled in a deprecatory way. "I allow that I was willing to make a +few dollars on the cement, but working against white men in a dago plot +is a different thing." + +"Then there is a plot?" + +"Well," said Payne quietly, "I don't know much about it, but something's +going on." + +Jake lighted a cigarette while he pondered. He was not surprised that +Payne should talk to him with confidential familiarity, because the +situation warranted it, and the American workman is not, as a rule, +deferential to his employer. The fellow might be mistaken, but he +believed that Oliva had schemed to get him into his power and work upon +his wish for revenge. Jake could understand Oliva's error. Payne's moral +code was rudimentary, but he had some racial pride and would not act like +a treacherous renegade. + +"I begin to see how your account against Oliva stands," he remarked. "But +is that the only entry in your book?" + +"I guess not," Payne replied. "Mr. Brandon's name is there, but the entry +is against myself. It was a straight fight when he had me fired, and he +took me back when he found I was down and out." + +Jake nodded. "You have already warned Brandon that he might be in some +danger in the town." + +"That's so. Since then, I reckoned that they were getting after him +_here_, but we were more likely to hold them up if they didn't know we +knew. That's why I called out to show I thought it was Pepe who was in +the shack." + +"Very well," said Jake. "There's nothing more to be done in the meantime, +but you'd better tell me if you find out anything else." + +Payne went away and when Dick came in Jake took him into his room and +indicated the blotter. + +"Have you torn off the top sheet in the last few days?" + +"I don't remember doing so, but now I come to look, it has been torn +off." + +"What have you been writing lately?" + +"Orders for small supplies, specifications of material, and such things." + +"Concrete, in short?" Jake remarked. "Well, it's not an interesting +subject to outsiders and sometimes gets very stale to those who have to +handle it. Are you quite sure you haven't been writing about anything +else?" + +"I am sure. Why do you ask?" + +"Because, as you see, somebody thought it worth while to steal the top +sheet of your blotter," Jake replied. "Now perhaps I'd better tell you +something I've just learned." + +He related what Payne had told him and concluded: "I'm puzzled about +Oliva's motive. After all, it could hardly be revenge." + +"No," said Dick, with a thoughtful frown, "I don't imagine it is." + +"Then what does he expect to gain?" + +Dick was silent for a few moments with knitted brows, and then asked: +"You have a Monroe Doctrine, haven't you?" + +"We certainly have," Jake agreed, smiling. "We reaffirmed it not long +ago." + +"Roughly speaking, the Doctrine states that no European power can be +allowed to set up a naval base or make warlike preparations in any part +of America. In fact, you warn all foreigners to keep their hands off?" + +"That's its general purport; but while I support it patriotically, I +can't tell you exactly what it says. Anyhow, I don't see what this has to +do with the matter." + +"Nor do I, but it seems to promise a clue," Dick answered dryly. He +frowned at the blotter and then added: "We'll leave it at that. I've some +vague suspicions, but nothing to act upon. If the thing gets any plainer, +I'll let you know." + +"But what about Payne? Is he to hang around here nights with his gun?" + +"No," said Dick, "it isn't necessary. But there'd be no harm in our +taking a few precautions." + +He stretched his arms wearily when Jake left him, for he had had a tiring +day and had now been given ground for anxious thought. He had not +troubled much about Oliva while he imagined that the fellow was actuated +by a personal grudge, but his antagonism began to look more dangerous. +Suppose the Adexe coaling station was intended to be something of the +nature of a naval base? Munitions and other contraband of war might be +quietly sent off with fuel to fighting ships. Richter, the German, had +certainly been associated with Kenwardine, who had made an opportunity +for telling Jake that they had disagreed. Then suppose the owners of the +station had learned that they were being spied upon? Dick admitted that +he might not have been as tactful as he thought; and he was employed by +an influential American. The Americans might be disposed to insist upon a +strict observance of the Monroe Doctrine. Granting all this, if he was to +be dealt with, it would be safer to make use of a half-breed who was +known to have some ground for hating him. + +Dick, however, reflected that he was taking much for granted and his +suppositions might well be wrong. It was unwise to attach too much +importance to a plausible theory. Then he could not expose Kenwardine +without involving Clare, and saw no means of separating them. Besides, +Kenwardine's position was strong. The officials were given to graft, and +he had, no doubt, made a skilful use of bribes. Warnings about him would +not be listened to, particularly as he was carrying on a thriving +business and paying large sums in wages in a country that depended on +foreign capital. + +Then Dick got up with a frown. His head ached and he was tired after +working since sunrise in enervating heat. The puzzle could not be solved +now, and he must wait until he found out something more. + +For the next two or three evenings he was kept busy at the dam, where +work was carried on after dark, and Jake, taking advantage of this, went +to Santa Brigida one night when he knew the locomotive would be coming +back up the line. Nothing of importance happened at Kenwardine's, where +he did not see Clare, and on his return he took a short cut through a +badly-lighted part of the town. There was perhaps some risk in this, but +Jake seldom avoided an adventure. Nothing unusual happened as he made his +way through the narrow streets, until he reached a corner where a noisy +group hung about the end house. As the men did not look sober, he took +the other side of the street, where the light of a lamp fell upon him. + +His close-fitting white clothes distinguished him from the picturesque +untidiness of the rest, and when somebody shouted, "_Un Gringo!_" one or +two moved across as if to stop him. Jake walked on quickly, looking +straight in front without seeming to notice the others, in the hope of +getting past before they got in his way, but a man dressed like a +respectable citizen came round the corner and the peons ran off. Since +the appearance of a single stranger did not seem to account for this, +Jake wondered what had alarmed them, until he saw a rural guard in white +uniform behind the other. When the man came up the _rurale_ stopped and +raised his hand as if he meant to salute, but let it fall again, and Jake +imagined that the first had given him a warning glance. He knew the thin, +dark-faced Spaniard, whom he had met at Kenwardine's. + +The man touched Jake's shoulder and drew him away, and the lad thought it +strange that the _rurale_ went on without asking a question. + +"I don't know that the peons meant to make trouble, but I'm glad you came +along, Don Sebastian," he said. + +"It is an honor to have been of some service, but it looks as if you were +as rash in other matters as you are at cards," the Spaniard answered. +"These dark _calles_ are unsafe for foreigners." + +"So it seems, but I'm afraid it will be a long time before I'm worth +robbing," Jake replied, and then remembered with embarrassment that the +other was one of the party whose winnings he had not yet paid. + +Don Sebastian smiled, but said suavely: "For all that, you should not +take an unnecessary risk. You have been attacked once already, I think?" + +"Yes, but it was my partner who got hurt." + +"That is one of the ironies of luck. Señor Brandon is sober and +cautious, but he gets injured when he comes to protect you, who are +rash." + +"He's what you say, but I didn't know you had met him," Jake replied. + +"I have heard of him; you foreigners are talked about in the cafés. They +talk much in Santa Brigida; many have nothing else to do. But have you +and Señor Brandon only been molested once?" + +Jake hesitated for a moment. He liked the man and on the whole thought he +could be trusted, while he imagined that he was not prompted by idle +curiosity but knew something. Besides, Jake was often impulsive and +ready, as he said, to back his judgment. + +"We were only once actually attacked, but something rather curious +happened not long ago." + +"Ah!" said Don Sebastian, "this is interesting, and as I know something +of the intrigues that go on in the city it might be to your advantage to +tell me about it. There is a quiet wine-shop not far off." + +"Would it be safe to go in?" Jake asked. + +"I think so," his companion answered, smiling. + +Jake presently followed him into a small, dimly lighted room, and noted +that the landlord came to wait on them with obsequious attention. Two +peons were drinking in a corner, but they went out when the landlord made +a sign. Jake thought this curious, but Don Sebastian filled his glass and +gave him a cigarette. + +"Now," he said, "we have the place to ourselves and you can tell your +story." + +Jake related how a stranger had stolen into their shack a few days ago, +and Don Sebastian listened attentively. + +"You do not think it was one of the peons employed at the dam?" he +suggested. + +"No," said Jake. "Anyhow, Payne seemed satisfied it wasn't." + +"He would probably know them better than you. Do you keep money in the +house?" + +"Very little. We lock up the money for wages in the pay-office safe. +Anyhow, I'm not sure the fellow came to steal." + +"If he did so, one would not imagine that he would be satisfied with +blotting-paper," Don Sebastian agreed. "You said there was some coffee on +the table." + +"There was. Payne reckoned the fellow meant to dope it. What do you +think?" + +"It is possible, if he had ground for being revengeful. Some of the +Indians from the mountains are expert poisoners. But why should anybody +wish to injure your comrade?" + +"I didn't suggest that he wished to injure Brandon. He might have meant +to dope me." + +Don Sebastian smiled. "That is so, but on the whole I do not think it +probable. Do you know of anybody whom your friend has harmed?" + +Jake decided to tell him about Oliva. He was now convinced that Don +Sebastian knew more than he admitted and that his interest was not +unfriendly. Besides, there was somehow a hint of authority in the +fellow's thin, dark face. He showed polite attention as Jake narrated the +events that had led to Oliva's dismissal, but the lad imagined that he +was telling him nothing he had not already heard. + +"The motive may have been revenge, but as Señor Brandon was stabbed that +ought to satisfy his enemy. Besides, these people are unstable; they do +not even indulge in hatred long. Do you know if your comrade has taken +any part in political intrigue?" + +"It's most unlikely; he would make a very poor conspirator," Jake +replied. + +"Then have you heard of any señorita, or perhaps a half-breed girl who +has taken his fancy?" + +"No," said Jake. "Dick is not that kind." + +He thought Don Sebastian had been clearing the ground, eliminating +possibilities to which he did not attach much weight, and waited with +interest for his remarks. + +"Well," said the Spaniard, "I think you and the man, Payne, should watch +over your friend, but it might be better if you did not tell him you are +doing so or ask him any questions, and I would sooner you did not mention +this interview. If, however, anything suspicious happens again, it might +be an advantage if you let me know. You can send word to me at the +hotel." + +"Not at Kenwardine's?" + +Don Sebastian gave him a quiet glance, but Jake thought it was keenly +observant and remembered how, one night when a messenger entered +Kenwardine's patio, Richter, the German, had stood where he obstructed +the Spaniard's view. + +"No," he said, "I should prefer the hotel. Will you promise?" + +"I will," Jake answered impulsively. "However, you seem to suggest that I +should leave my partner to grapple with this thing himself and I don't +like that. If he's up against any danger, I want to butt in. Dick's no +fool, but there are respects in which he's not very keen. His mind's +fixed on concrete, and when he gets off it his imagination's sometimes +rather weak----" + +He stopped, feeling that he must not seem to censure his friend, and Don +Sebastian nodded with a twinkle of amusement. + +"I think I understand. There are, however, men of simple character and no +cunning who are capable of going far and sometimes surprise the friends +who do not know them very well. I cannot tell if Señor Brandon is one of +these, but it is not impossible. After all, it is often the clever man +who makes the worst mistakes; and on the whole I imagine it would be +wiser to leave your comrade alone." + +He got up and laid his hand on Jake's arm with a friendly gesture. "Now I +will put you on your way, and if you feel puzzled or alarmed in future, +you can come to me." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +DICK MAKES A BOLD VENTURE + + +Some delicate and important work was being done, and Stuyvesant had had +his lunch sent up to the dam. Bethune and Dick joined him afterwards, and +sat in the shade of a big traveling crane. Stuyvesant and Dick were hot +and dirty, for it was not their custom to be content with giving orders +when urgent work was going on. Bethune looked languid and immaculately +neat. His speciality was mathematics, and he said he did not see why the +man with mental talents should dissipate his energy by using his hands. + +"It's curious about that French liner," Stuyvesant presently remarked. "I +understand her passengers have been waiting since yesterday and she +hasn't arrived." + +"The last boat cut out Santa Brigida without notice," Bethune replied. +"My opinion of the French is that they're a pretty casual lot." + +"On the surface. They smile and shrug where we set our teeth, but when +you get down to bed-rock you don't find much difference. I thought as you +do, until I went over there and saw a people that run us close for +steady, intensive industry. Their small cultivators are simply great. I'd +like to put them on our poorer land in the Middle West, where we're +content with sixteen bushels of wheat that's most fit for chicken feed to +the acre. Then what they don't know about civil engineering isn't worth +learning." + +Bethune made a gesture of agreement. "They're certainly fine engineers +and they're putting up a pretty good fight just now, but these Latins +puzzle me. Take the Iberian branch of the race, for example. We have +Spanish peons here who'll stand for as much work and hardship as any +Anglo-Saxon I've met. Then an educated Spaniard's hard to beat for +intellectual subtlety. Chess is a game that's suited to my turn of mind, +but I've been badly whipped in Santa Brigida. They've brains and +application, and yet they don't progress. What's the matter with them, +anyway?" + +"I expect they can't formulate a continuous policy and stick to it, and +they keep brains and labor too far apart; the two should coordinate. But +I wonder what's holding up the mail boat." + +"Do they know when she left the last port?" Dick, who had listened +impatiently, asked with concealed interest. + +"They do. It's a short run and she ought to have arrived yesterday +morning." + +"The Germans can't have got her. They have no commerce-destroyers in +these waters," Bethune remarked, with a glance at Dick. "Your navy +corralled the lot, I think." + +Dick wondered why Bethune looked at him, but he answered carelessly: "So +one understands. But it's strange the French company cut out the last +call. There was a big quantity of freight on the mole." + +"It looks as if the agent had suspected something," Stuyvesant replied. +"However, that's not our affair, and you want to get busy and have your +specifications and cost-sheets straight when Fuller comes." + +"Then Fuller is coming back!" Dick exclaimed. + +"He'll be here to-morrow night. I imagined Bethune had told you about the +cablegram he sent." + +"He didn't; I expect he thought his getting a scratch lunch more +important," Dick replied, looking at his watch. "Well, I must see +everything's ready before the boys make a start." + +He went away with swift, decided steps through the scorching heat, and +Stuyvesant smiled. + +"There you have a specimen of the useful Anglo-Saxon type. I don't claim +that he's a smart man all round, but he can concentrate on his work and +put over what he takes in hand. You wouldn't go to him for a brilliant +plan, but give him an awkward job and he'll make good. I expect he'll get +a lift up when Fuller has taken a look round." + +"He deserves it," Bethune agreed. + +Though the heat was intense and the glare from the white dam dazzling, +Dick found work something of a relief. It was his habit to fix his mind +upon the task in which he was engaged; but of late his thoughts had been +occupied by Clare and conjectures about the Adexe coaling station and the +strange black-funnel boat. The delay in the French liner's arrival had +made the matter look more urgent, but he had now an excuse for putting +off its consideration. His duty to his employer came first. There were +detailed plans that must be worked out before Fuller came and things he +would want to know, and Dick sat up late at night in order to have the +answers ready. + +Fuller arrived, and after spending a few days at the works came to Dick's +shack one evening. For an hour he examined drawings and calculations, +asking Jake a sharp question now and then, and afterwards sent him away. + +"You can put up the papers now," he said. "We'll go out on the veranda. +It's cooler there." + +He dropped into a canvas chair, for the air was stagnant and enervating, +and looked down at the clustering lights beside the sea for a time. Then +he said abruptly: "Jake seems to know his business. You have taught him +well." + +"He learned most himself," Dick answered modestly. + +"Well," said Fuller with some dryness, "that's the best plan, but you put +him on the right track and kept him there; I guess I know my son. Has he +made trouble for you in other ways?" + +"None worth mentioning." + +Fuller gave him a keen glance and then indicated the lights of the town. + +"That's the danger-spot. Does he go down there often?" + +"No. I make it as difficult as possible, but can't stop him altogether." + +Fuller nodded. "I guess you used some tact, because he likes you and +you'd certainly have had trouble if you'd snubbed him up too hard. +Anyway, I'm glad to acknowledge that you have put me in your debt. You +can see how I was fixed. Bethune's not the man to guide a headstrong lad, +and Stuyvesant's his boss. If he'd used any official pressure, Jake would +have kicked. That's why I wanted a steady partner for him who had no +actual authority." + +"In a sense, you ran some risk in choosing me." + +"I don't know that I chose you, to begin with," Fuller answered with a +twinkle. "I imagine my daughter made me think as I did, but I'm willing +to state that her judgment was good. We'll let that go. You have seen +Jake at his work; do you think he'll make an engineer?" + +"Yes," said Dick, and then recognizing friendship's claim, added bluntly: +"But he'll make a better artist. He has the gift." + +"Well," said Fuller, in a thoughtful tone, "we'll talk of it again. In +the meantime, he's learning how big jobs are done and dollars are earned, +and that's a liberal education. However, I've a proposition here I'd like +your opinion of." + +Dick's heart beat as he read the document his employer handed him. It was +a formal agreement by which he engaged his services to Fuller until the +irrigation work was completed, in return for a salary that he thought +remarkably good. + +"It's much more than I had any reason to expect," he said with some +awkwardness. "In fact, although I don't know that I have been of much +help to Jake, I'd sooner you didn't take this way of repaying me. One +would prefer not to mix friendship with business." + +"Yours is not a very common view," Fuller replied, smiling. "However, I'm +merely offering to buy your professional skill, and want to know if +you're satisfied with my terms." + +"They're generous," said Dick with emotion, for he saw what the change in +his position might enable him to do. "There's only one thing: the +agreement is to stand until the completion of the dam. What will happen +afterwards?" + +"Then if I have no more use for you here, I think I can promise to find +you as good or better job. Is that enough?" + +Dick gave him a grateful look. "It's difficult to tell you how I feel +about it, but I'll do my best to make good and show that you have not +been mistaken." + +"That's all right," said Fuller, getting up. "Sign the document when you +can get a witness and let me have it." + +He went away and Dick sat down and studied the agreement with a beating +heart. He found his work engrossing, he liked the men he was associated +with, and saw his way to making his mark in his profession, but there was +another cause for the triumphant thrill he felt. Clare must be separated +from Kenwardine before she was entangled in his dangerous plots, and he +had brooded over his inability to come to her rescue. Now, however, one +obstacle was removed. He could offer her some degree of comfort if she +could be persuaded to marry him. It was obvious that she must be taken +out of her father's hands as soon as possible, and he determined to try +to gain her consent next morning, though he was very doubtful of his +success. + +When he reached the house, Clare was sitting at a table in the patio with +some work in her hand. Close by, the purple creeper spread across the +wall, and the girl's blue eyes and thin lilac dress harmonized with its +deeper color. Her face and half-covered arms showed pure white against +the background, but the delicate pink that had once relieved the former +was now less distinct. The hot, humid climate had begun to set its mark +on her, and Dick thought she looked anxious and perplexed. + +She glanced up when she heard his step, and moving quietly forward he +stopped on the opposite side of the table with his hand on a chair. He +knew there was much against him and feared a rebuff, but delay might be +dangerous and he could not wait. Standing quietly resolute, he fixed his +eyes on the girl's face. + +"Is your father at home, Miss Kenwardine?" he asked. + +"No," said Clare. "He went out some time ago, and I cannot tell when he +will come back. Do you want to see him?" + +"I don't know yet. It depends." + +He thought she was surprised and curious, but she said nothing, and +nerving himself for the plunge, he resumed: "I came to see you in the +first place. I'm afraid you'll be astonished, Clare, but I want to know +if you will marry me." + +She moved abruptly, turned her head for a moment, and then looked up at +him while the color gathered in her face. Her expression puzzled Dick, +but he imagined that she was angry. + +"I am astonished. Isn't it a rather extraordinary request, after what you +said on board the launch?" + +"No," said Dick, "it's very natural from my point of view. You see, I +fell in love with you the first time we met; but I got into disgrace soon +afterwards and have had a bad time since. This made it impossible for me +to tell you what I felt; but things are beginning to improve----" + +He stopped, seeing no encouragement in her expression, for Clare was +fighting a hard battle. His blunt simplicity made a strong appeal. She +had liked and trusted him when he had with callow but honest chivalry +offered her his protection one night in England and he had developed fast +since then. Hardship had strengthened and in a sense refined him. He +looked resolute and soldierlike as he waited. Still, for his sake as well +as hers, she must refuse. + +"Then you must be easily moved," she said. "You knew nothing about me." + +"I'd seen you; that was quite enough," Dick declared and stopped. Her +look was gentler and he might do better if he could lessen the distance +between them and take her hand; he feared he had been painfully +matter-of-fact. Perhaps he was right, but the table stood in the way, and +if he moved round it, she would take alarm. It was exasperating to be +baulked by a piece of furniture. + +"Besides," he resumed, "when everybody doubted me, you showed your +confidence. You wrote and said----" + +"But you told me you tore up the letter," Clare interrupted. + +Dick got confused. "I did; I was a fool, but the way things had been +going was too much for me. You ought to understand and try to make +allowances." + +"I cannot understand why you want to marry a girl you think a thief." + +Pulling himself together, Dick gave her a steady look. "I can't let that +pass, though if I begin to argue I'm lost. In a way, I'm at your mercy, +because my defense can only make matters worse. But I tried to explain on +board the launch." + +"The explanation wasn't very convincing," Clare remarked, turning her +head. "Do you still believe I took your papers?" + +"The plans were in my pocket when I reached your house," said Dick, who +saw he must be frank. "I don't know that you took them, and if you did, I +wouldn't hold you responsible; but they were taken." + +"You mean that you blame my father for their loss?" + +Dick hesitated. He felt that she was giving him a last opportunity, but +he could not seize it. + +"If I pretended I didn't blame him, you would find me out and it would +stand between us. I wish I could say I'd dropped the papers somewhere or +find some other way; but the truth is best." + +Clare turned to him with a hot flush and an angry sparkle in her eyes. + +"Then it's unthinkable that you should marry the daughter of the man whom +you believe ruined you. Don't you see that you can't separate me from my +father? We must stand together." + +"No," said Dick doggedly, knowing that he was beaten, "I don't see that. +I want you; I want to take you away from surroundings and associations +that must jar. Perhaps it was foolish to think you would come, but you +helped to save my life when I was ill, and I believe I was then something +more to you than a patient. Why have you changed?" + +She looked at him with a forced and rather bitter smile. "Need you ask? +Can't you, or won't you, understand? Could I marry my victim, which is +what you are if your suspicions are justified? If they are not, you have +offered me an insult I cannot forgive. It is unbearable to be thought the +daughter of a thief." + +Dick nerved himself for a last effort. "What does your father's character +matter? I want you. You will be safe from everything that could hurt you +if you come to me." He hesitated and then went on in a hoarse, determined +voice: "You must come. I can't let you live among those plotters and +gamblers. It's impossible. Clare, when I was ill and you thought me +asleep, I watched you sitting in the moonlight. Your face was wonderfully +gentle and I thought----" + +She rose and stopped him with a gesture. "There is no more to be said, +Mr. Brandon. I cannot marry you, and if you are generous, you will go." + +Dick, who had been gripping the chair hard, let his hand fall slackly and +turned away. Clare watched him cross the patio, and stood tensely still, +fighting against an impulse to call him back as he neared the door. Then +as he vanished into the shadow of the arch she sat down with sudden +limpness and buried her hot face in her hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE OFFICIAL MIND + + +On the evening after Clare's refusal, Dick entered the principal café at +Santa Brigida. The large, open-fronted room was crowded, for, owing to +the duty, newspapers were not generally bought by the citizens, who +preferred to read them at the cafés, and the _Diario_ had just come in. +The eagerness to secure a copy indicated that something important had +happened, and after listening to the readers' remarks, Dick gathered that +the French liner had sunk and a number of her passengers were drowned. +This, however, did not seem to account for the angry excitement some of +the men showed, and Dick waited until a polite half-breed handed him the +newspaper. + +A ship's lifeboat, filled with exhausted passengers, had reached a bay +some distance along the coast, and it appeared from their stories that +the liner was steaming across a smooth sea in the dark when a large +vessel, which carried no lights, emerged from a belt of haze and came +towards her. The French captain steered for the land, hoping to reach +territorial waters, where he would be safe, but the stranger was faster +and opened fire with a heavy gun. The liner held on, although she was +twice hit, but after a time there was an explosion below and her colored +firemen ran up on deck. Then the ship stopped, boats were hoisted out, +and it was believed that several got safely away, though only one had so +far reached the coast. This boat was forced to pass the attacking vessel +rather close, and an officer declared that she looked like one of the +Spanish liners and her funnel was black. + +Dick gave the newspaper to the next man and sat still with knitted brows, +for his suspicions were suddenly confirmed. The raider had a black +funnel, and was no doubt the ship he had seen steering for Adexe. An +enemy commerce-destroyer was lurking about the coast, and she could not +be allowed to continue her deadly work, which her resemblance to the +Spanish vessels would make easier. For all that, Dick saw that anything +he might do would cost him much, since Clare had said that she and +Kenwardine must stand together. This was true, in a sense, because if +Kenwardine got into trouble, she would share his disgrace and perhaps his +punishment. Moreover, she might think he had been unjustly treated and +blame Dick for helping to persecute him. Things were getting badly +entangled, and Dick, leaning back in his chair, vacantly looked about. + +The men had gathered in groups round the tables, their dark faces showing +keen excitement as they argued with dramatic gestures about international +law. For the most part, they looked indignant, but Dick understood that +they did not expect much from their Government. One said the English +would send a cruiser and something might be done by the Americans; +another explained the Monroe Doctrine in a high-pitched voice. Dick, +however, tried not to listen, because difficulties he had for some time +seen approaching must now be faced. + +He had been forced to leave England in disgrace, and his offense would be +remembered if he returned. Indeed, he had come to regard America as his +home, but patriotic feelings he had thought dead had awakened and would +not be denied. He might still be able to serve his country and meant to +do so, though it was plain that this would demand a sacrifice. Love and +duty clashed, but he must do his best and leave the rest to luck. Getting +up with sudden resolution, he left the café and went to the British +consulate. + +When he stopped outside the building, to which the royal arms were fixed, +he remarked that two peons were lounging near, but, without troubling +about them, knocked at the door. There was only a Vice-Consul at Santa +Brigida, and the post, as sometimes happens, was held by a merchant, who +had, so a clerk stated, already gone home. Dick, however, knew where he +lived and determined to seek him at his house. He looked round once or +twice on his way there, without seeing anybody who seemed to be following +him, but when he reached the iron gate he thought a dark figure stopped +in the gloom across the street. Still, it might only be a citizen going +into his house, and Dick rang the bell. + +He was shown on to a balcony where the Vice-Consul sat with his Spanish +wife and daughter at a table laid with wine and fruit. He did not look +pleased at being disturbed, but told Dick to sit down when the ladies +withdrew. + +"Now," he said, "you can state your business, but I have an appointment +in a quarter of an hour." + +Dick related his suspicions about the coaling company, and described what +he had seen at Adexe and the visit of the black-funnel boat, but before +he had gone far, realized that he was wasting his time. The Vice-Consul's +attitude was politely indulgent. + +"This is a rather extraordinary tale," he remarked when Dick stopped. + +"I have told you what I saw and what I think it implies," Dick answered +with some heat. + +"Just so. I do not doubt your honesty, but it is difficult to follow your +arguments." + +"It oughtn't to be difficult. You have heard that the French liner was +sunk by a black-funnel boat." + +"Black funnels are common. Why do you imagine the vessel you saw was an +auxiliary cruiser?" + +"Because her crew looked like navy men. They were unusually numerous and +were busy at drill." + +"Boat or fire drill probably. They often exercise them at it on board +passenger ships. Besides, I think you stated that it was dark." + +Dick pondered for a few moments. He had heard that Government officials +were hard to move, and knew that, in hot countries, Englishmen who marry +native wives sometimes grow apathetic and succumb to the climatic +lethargy. But this was not all: he had to contend against the official +dislike of anything informal and unusual. Had he been in the navy, his +warning would have received attention, but as he was a humble civilian he +had, so to speak, no business to know anything about such matters. + +"Well," he said, "you can make inquiries and see if my conclusions are +right." + +The Vice-Consul smiled. "That is not so. You can pry into the coaling +company's affairs and, if you are caught, it would be looked upon as an +individual impertinence. If I did anything of the kind, it would reflect +upon the Foreign Office and compromise our relations with a friendly +state. The Adexe wharf is registered according to the laws of this +country as being owned by a native company." + +"Then go to the authorities and tell them what you know." + +"The difficulty is that I know nothing except that you have told me a +somewhat improbable tale." + +"But you surely don't mean to let the raider do what she likes? Her next +victim may be a British vessel." + +"I imagine the British admiralty will attend to that, and I have already +sent a cablegram announcing the loss of the French boat." + +Dick saw that he was doubted and feared that argument would be useless, +but he would not give in. + +"A raider must have coal and it's not easy to get upon this coast," he +resumed. "You could render her harmless by cutting off supplies." + +"Do you know much about international law and how far it prohibits a +neutral country from selling coal to a belligerent?" + +"I don't know anything about it; but if our Foreign Office is any good, +they ought to be able to stop the thing," Dick answered doggedly. + +"Then let me try to show you how matters stand. We will suppose that your +suspicions were correct and I thought fit to make representations to the +Government of this country. What do you think would happen?" + +"They'd be forced to investigate your statements." + +"Exactly. The head of a department would be asked to report. You probably +know that every official whose business brings him into touch with it is +in the coaling company's pay; I imagine there is not a foreign trader +here who does not get small favors in return for bribes. Bearing this in +mind, it is easy to understand what the report would be. I should have +shown that we suspected the good faith of a friendly country, and there +would be nothing gained." + +"Still, you can't let the matter drop," Dick insisted. + +"Although you have given me no proof of your statements, which seem to be +founded on conjectures, I have not said that I intend to let it drop. In +the meantime I am entitled to ask for some information about yourself. +You look like an Englishman and have not been here long. Did you leave +home after the war broke out?" + +"Yes," said Dick, who saw where he was leading, "very shortly +afterwards." + +"Why? Men like you are needed for the army." + +Dick colored, but looked his questioner steadily in the face. + +"I was in the army. They turned me out." + +The Vice-Consul made a gesture. "I have nothing to do with the reason for +this; but you can see my difficulty. You urge me to meddle with things +that require very delicate handling and with which my interference would +have to be justified. No doubt, you can imagine the feelings of my +superiors when I admitted that I acted upon hints given me by a stranger +in the employ of Americans, who owned to having been dismissed from the +British army." + +Dick got up, with his face firmly set. + +"Very well. There's no more to be said. I won't trouble you again." + +Leaving the house, he walked moodily back to the end of the line. The +Vice-Consul was a merchant and thought first of his business, which might +suffer if he gained the ill-will of corrupt officials. He would, no +doubt, move if he were forced, but he would demand incontestable proof, +which Dick feared he could not find. Well, he had done his best and been +rebuffed, and now the temptation to let the matter drop was strong. To go +on would bring him into conflict with Kenwardine, and perhaps end in his +losing Clare, but he must go on. For all that, he would leave the +Vice-Consul alone and trust to getting some help from his employer's +countrymen. If it could be shown that the enemy was establishing a secret +base for naval operations at Adexe, he thought the Americans would +protest. The Vice-Consul, however, had been of some service by teaching +him the weakness of his position. He must strengthen it by carefully +watching what went on, and not interfere until he could do so with +effect. Finding the locomotive waiting, he returned to his shack and with +an effort fixed his mind upon the plans of some work that he must +superintend in the morning. + +For the next few days he was busily occupied. A drum of the traveling +crane broke and as it could not be replaced for a time, Dick put up an +iron derrick of Bethune's design to lower the concrete blocks into place. +They were forced to use such material as they could find, and the gang of +peons who handled the chain-tackle made a poor substitute for a steam +engine. In consequence, the work progressed slowly and Stuyvesant ordered +it to be carried on into the night. Jake and Bethune grumbled, but Dick +found the longer hours and extra strain something of a relief. He had now +no leisure to indulge in painful thoughts; besides, while he was busy at +the dam he could not watch Kenwardine, and his duty to his employer +justified his putting off an unpleasant task. + +One hot night he stood, soaked with perspiration and dressed in soiled +duck clothes, some distance beneath the top of the dam, which broke down +to a lower level at the spot. There was no moon, but a row of blast-lamps +that grew dimmer as they receded picked out the tall embankment with jets +of pulsating flame. Glimmering silvery gray in the light, it cut against +the gloom in long sweeping lines, with a molded rib that added a touch of +grace where the slope got steeper towards its top. This was Dick's +innovation. He had fought hard for it and when Jake supported him +Stuyvesant had written to Fuller, who sanctioned the extra cost. The rib +marked the fine contour of the structure and fixed its bold curve upon +the eye. + +Where the upper surface broke off, two gangs of men stood beside the +tackles that trailed away from the foot of the derrick. The flame that +leaped with a roar from a lamp on a tripod picked out some of the figures +with harsh distinctness, but left the rest dim and blurred. Dick stood +eight or nine feet below, with the end of the line, along which the +blocks were brought, directly above his head. A piece of rail had been +clamped across the metals to prevent the truck running over the edge. +Jake stood close by on the downward slope of the dam. Everything was +ready for the lowering of the next block, but they had a few minutes to +wait. + +"That rib's a great idea," Jake remarked. "Tones up the whole work; it's +curious what you can do with a flowing line, but it must be run just +right. Make it the least too flat and you get harshness, too full and the +effect's vulgarly pretty or voluptuous. Beauty's severely chaste and I +allow, as far as form goes, this dam's a looker." He paused and indicated +the indigo sky, flaring lights, and sweep of pearly stone. "Then if you +want color, you can revel in silver, orange, and blue." + +Dick, who nodded, shared Jake's admiration. He had helped to build the +dam and, in a sense, had come to love it. Any defacement or injury to it +would hurt him. Just then a bright, blinking spot emerged from the dark +at the other end of the line and increased in radiance as it came +forward, flickering along the slope of stone. It was the head-lamp of the +locomotive that pushed the massive concrete block they waited for. The +block cut off the light immediately in front of and below it, and when +the engine, snorting harshly, approached the edge of the gap somebody +shouted and steam was cut off. The truck stopped just short of the rail +fastened across the line, and Dick looked up. + +The blast-lamp flung its glare upon the engine and the rays of the +powerful head-light drove horizontally into the dark, but the space +beyond the broken end of the dam was kept in shadow by the block, and the +glitter above dazzled his eyes. + +"Swing the derrick-boom and tell the engineer to come on a yard or two," +he said. + +There was a patter of feet, a rattle of chains, and somebody called: +"_Adelante locomotura!_" + +The engine snorted, the wheels ground through the fragments of concrete +scattered about the line, and the big dark mass rolled slowly forward. It +seemed to Dick to be going farther than it ought, but he had ascertained +that the guard-rail was securely fastened. As he watched the front of the +truck, Jake, who stood a few feet to one side, leaned out and seized his +shoulder. + +"Jump!" he cried, pulling him forward. + +Dick made an awkward leap, and alighting on the steep front of the dam, +fell heavily on his side. As he clutched the stones to save himself from +sliding down, a black mass plunged from the line above and there was a +deafening crash as it struck the spot he had left. Then a shower of +fragments fell upon him and he choked amidst a cloud of dust. Hoarse +shouts broke out above, and he heard men running about the dam as he got +up, half dazed. + +"Are you all right, Jake?" he asked. + +"Not a scratch," was the answer; and Dick, scrambling up the bank, called +for a lamp. + +It was brought by a big mulatto, and Dick held up the light. The +last-fitted block of the ribbed course was split in two, and the one that +had fallen was scattered about in massive broken lumps. Amidst these lay +the guard-rail, and the front wheels of the truck hung across the gap +above. There was other damage, and Dick frowned as he looked about. + +"We'll be lucky if we get the broken molding out in a day, and I expect +we'll have to replace two of the lower blocks," he said. "It's going to +be an awkward and expensive job now that the cement has set." + +"Is that all?" Jake asked with a forced grin. + +"It's enough," said Dick. "However, we'll be better able to judge in the +daylight." + +Then he turned to the engineer, who was standing beside the truck, +surrounded by excited peons. "How did it happen?" + +"I had my hand on the throttle when I got the order to go ahead, and let +her make a stroke or two, reckoning the guard-rail would snub up the car. +I heard the wheels clip and slammed the link-gear over, because it looked +as if she wasn't going to stop. When she reversed, the couplings held the +car and the block slipped off." + +"Are you sure you didn't give her too much steam?" + +"No, sir. I've been doing this job quite a while, and know just how smart +a push she wants. It was the guard-rail slipping that made the trouble." + +"I can't understand why it did slip. The fastening clamps were firm when +I looked at them." + +"Well," remarked the engineer, "the guard's certainly in the pit, and I +felt her give as soon as the car-wheels bit." + +Dick looked hard at him and thought he spoke the truth. He was a steady +fellow and a good driver. + +"Put your engine in the house and take down the feed-pump you were +complaining about. We won't want her to-morrow," he said, and dismissing +the men, returned to his shack, where he sat down rather limply on the +veranda. + +"I don't understand the thing," he said to Jake. "The guard-rail's heavy +and I watched the smith make the clamps we fixed it with. One claw went +over the rail, the other under the flange of the metal that formed the +track, and sudden pressure would jamb the guard down. Then, not long +before the accident, I hardened up the clamp." + +"You hit it on the back?" + +"Of course. I'd have loosened the thing by hitting the front." + +"That's so," Jake agreed, somewhat dryly. "We'll look for the clamps in +the morning. But you didn't seem very anxious to get out of the way." + +"I expect I forgot to thank you for warning me. Anyhow, you know----" + +"Yes, I know," said Jake. "You didn't think about it; your mind was on +your job. Still, I suppose you see that if you'd been a moment later +you'd have been smashed pretty flat?" + +Dick gave him a quick glance. There was something curious about Jake's +tone, but Dick knew he did not mean to emphasize the value of his +warning. It was plain that he had had a very narrow escape, but since one +must be prepared for accidents in heavy engineering work, he did not see +why this should jar his nerves. Yet they were jarred. The danger he had +scarcely heeded had now a disturbing effect. He could imagine what would +have happened had he delayed his leap. However, he was tired, and perhaps +rather highly strung, and he got up. + +"It's late, and we had better go to bed," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE CLAMP + + +When work began next morning, Jake asked Dick if he should order the +peons to search for the clamps that had held the guard-rail. + +"I think not," said Dick. "It would be better if you looked for the +things yourself." + +"Very well. Perhaps you're right." + +Dick wondered how much Jake suspected, particularly as he did not appear +to be searching for anything when he moved up and down among the broken +concrete. Half an hour later, when none of the peons were immediately +about, he came up with his hand in his pocket and indicated a corner +beside a block where there was a little shade and they were not likely to +be overlooked. + +"I've got one," he remarked. + +When they sat down Jake took out a piece of thick iron about six inches +long, forged into something like the shape of a U, though the curve was +different and one arm was shorter than the other. Much depended on the +curve, for the thing was made on the model of an old-fashioned but +efficient clamp that carpenters sometimes use for fastening work to a +bench. A blow or pressure on one part wedged it fast, but a sharp tap on +the other enabled it to be lifted off. This was convenient, because as +the work progressed, the track along the dam had to be lengthened and the +guard fixed across a fresh pair of rails. + +Taking the object from Jake, Dick examined it carefully. He thought he +recognized the dint where he had struck the iron, and then, turning it +over, noted another mark. This had been made recently, because the +surface of the iron was bright where the hammer had fallen, and a blow +there would loosen the clamp. He glanced at Jake, who nodded. + +"It looks very suspicious, but that's all. You can't tell how long the +mark would take to get dull. Besides, we have moved the guard two or +three times in the last few days." + +"That's true," said Dick. "Still, I wedged the thing up shortly before +the accident. It has stood a number of shocks; in fact, it can't be +loosened by pressure on the back. When do you _think_ the last blow was +struck?" + +"After yours," Jake answered meaningly. + +"Then the probability is that somebody wanted the truck to fall into the +hole and smash the block." + +"Yes," said Jake, who paused and looked hard at Dick. "But I'm not sure +that was all he wanted. You were standing right under the block, and if I +hadn't been a little to one side, where the lights didn't dazzle me, the +smashing of a lot of concrete wouldn't have been the worst damage." + +Dick said nothing, but his face set hard as he braced himself against the +unnerving feeling that had troubled him on the previous night. The great +block had not fallen by accident; it looked as if somebody had meant to +take his life. The cunning of the attempt daunted him. The blow had been +struck in a manner that left him a very slight chance of escape; and his +subtle antagonist might strike again. + +"What are you going to do about it?" Jake resumed. + +"Nothing," said Dick. + +Jake looked at him in surprise. "Don't you see what you're up against?" + +"It's pretty obvious; but if I ask questions, I'll find out nothing and +show that I'm suspicious. If we let the thing go as an accident, we may +catch the fellow off his guard." + +"My notion is that you know more than you mean to tell. Now you began by +taking care of me, but it looks as if the matter would end in my taking +care of you. Seems to me you need it and I don't like to see you playing +a lone hand." + +Dick gave him a grateful smile. "If I see how you can help, I'll let you +know. In the meantime, you'll say nothing to imply that I'm on the +watch." + +"Well," said Jake, grinning, "if you can bluff Stuyvesant, you'll be +smarter than I thought. You're a rather obvious person and he's not a +fool." + +He went away, but Dick lighted a cigarette and sat still in the shade. He +was frankly daunted, but did not mean to stop, for he saw that he was +following the right clue. His reason for visiting the Adexe wharf had +been guessed. He had been watched when he went to the Vice-Consul, and it +was plain that his enemies thought he knew enough to be dangerous. The +difficulty was that he did not know who they were. He hated to think that +Kenwardine was a party to the plot, but this, while possible, was by no +means certain. At Santa Brigida, a man's life was not thought of much +account, and it would, no doubt, have been enough if Kenwardine had +intimated that Dick might cause trouble; but then Kenwardine must have +known what was likely to follow his hint. + +After all, however, this was not very important. He must be careful, but +do nothing to suggest that he understood the risk he ran. If his +antagonists thought him stupid, so much the better. He saw the difficulty +of playing what Jake called a lone hand against men skilled in the +intricate game; but he could not ask for help until he was sure of his +ground. Besides, he must find a way of stopping Kenwardine without +involving Clare. In the meantime he had a duty to Fuller, and throwing +away his cigarette, resumed his work. + +Two or three days later he met Kenwardine in a café where he was waiting +for a man who supplied some stores to the camp. When Kenwardine saw Dick +he crossed the floor and sat down at his table. His Spanish dress became +him, he looked polished and well-bred, and it was hard to think him a +confederate of half-breed ruffians who would not hesitate about murder. +But Dick wondered whether Clare had told him about his proposal. + +"I suppose I may congratulate you on your recent promotion? You certainly +deserve it," Kenwardine remarked with an ironical smile. "I imagine your +conscientiousness and energy are unusual, but perhaps at times rather +inconvenient." + +"Thanks!" said Dick. "How did you hear about the matter?" + +"In Santa Brigida, one hears everything that goes on. We have nothing +much to do but talk about our neighbors' affairs." + +Dick wondered whether Kenwardine meant to hint that as his time was +largely unoccupied he had only a small part in managing the coaling +business, but he said: "We are hardly your neighbors at the camp." + +"I suppose that's true. We certainly don't see you often." + +This seemed to indicate that Kenwardine did not know about Dick's recent +visit. He could have no reason for hiding his knowledge, and it looked as +if Clare did not tell her father everything. + +"You have succeeded in keeping your young friend out of our way," +Kenwardine resumed. "Still, as he hasn't your love of work and sober +character, there's some risk of a reaction if you hold him in too hard. +Jake's at an age when it's difficult to be satisfied with cement." + +Dick laughed. "I really did try to keep him, but was helped by luck. We +have been unusually busy at the dam and although I don't know that his +love for cement is strong he doesn't often leave a half-finished job." + +"If you work upon his feelings in that way, I expect you'll beat me; but +after all, I'm not scheming to entangle the lad. He's a bright and +amusing youngster, but there wouldn't be much profit in exploiting him. +However, you have had some accidents at the dam, haven't you?" + +Dick was immediately on his guard, but he answered carelessly: "We broke +a crane-drum, which delayed us." + +"And didn't a truck fall down the embankment and do some damage?" + +"It did," said Dick. "We had a big molded block, which cost a good deal +to make, smashed to pieces, and some others split. I had something of an +escape, too, because I was standing under the block." + +He was watching Kenwardine and thought his expression changed and his +easy pose stiffened. His self-control was good, but Dick imagined he was +keenly interested and surprised. + +"Then you ran a risk of being killed?" + +"Yes. Jake, however, saw the danger and warned me just before the block +fell." + +"That was lucky. But you have a curious temperament. When we began to +talk of the accidents, you remembered the damage to Fuller's property +before the risk to your life." + +"Well," said Dick, "you see I wasn't hurt, but the damage still keeps us +back." + +"How did the truck run off the line? I should have thought you'd have +taken precautions against anything of the kind." + +Dick pondered. He believed Kenwardine really was surprised to hear he had +nearly been crushed by the block; but the fellow was clever and had begun +to talk about the accidents. He must do nothing to rouse his suspicions, +and began a painstaking account of the matter, explaining that the +guard-rail had got loose, but saying nothing about the clamps being +tampered with. Indeed, the trouble he took about the explanation was in +harmony with his character and his interest in his work, and presently +Kenwardine looked bored. + +"I quite understand the thing," he said, and got up as the man Dick was +waiting for came towards the table. + +The merchant did not keep Dick long, and he left the café feeling +satisfied. Kenwardine had probably had him watched and had had something +to do with the theft of the sheet from his blotting pad, but knew nothing +about the attempt upon his life. After hearing about it, he understood +why the accident happened, but had no cause to think that Dick knew, and +some of his fellow conspirators were responsible for this part of the +plot. Dick wondered whether he would try to check them now he did know, +because if they tried again, they would do so with Kenwardine's tacit +consent. + +A few days later, he was sitting with Bethune and Jake one evening when +Stuyvesant came in and threw a card, printed with the flag of a British +steamship company, on the table. + +"I'm not going, but you might like to do so," he said. + +Dick, who was nearest, picked up the card. It was an invitation to a +dinner given to celebrate the first call of a large new steamship at +Santa Brigida, and he imagined it had been sent to the leading citizens +and merchants who imported goods by the company's vessels. After glancing +at it, he passed it on. + +"I'll go," Bethune remarked. "After the Spartan simplicity we practise at +the camp, it will be a refreshing change to eat a well-served dinner in a +mailboat's saloon, though I've no great admiration for British cookery." + +"It can't be worse than the dago kind we're used to," Jake broke in. +"What's the matter with it, anyhow?" + +"It's like the British character, heavy and unchanging," Bethune replied. +"A London hotel menu, with English beer and whisky, in the tropics! Only +people without imagination would offer it to their guests; and then +they've printed a list of the ports she's going to at the bottom. Would +any other folk except perhaps the Germans, couple an invitation with a +hint that they were ready to trade? If a Spaniard comes to see you on +business, he talks for half an hour about politics or your health, and +apologizes for mentioning such a thing as commerce when he comes to the +point." + +"The British plan has advantages," said Stuyvesant. "You know what you're +doing when you deal with them." + +"That's so. We know, for example, when this boat will arrive at any +particular place and when she'll sail; while you can reckon on a French +liner's being three or four days late and on the probability of a +Spaniard's not turning up at all. But whether you have revolutions, wars, +or tidal waves, the Britisher sails on schedule." + +"There's some risk in that just now," Stuyvesant observed. + +Bethune turned to Jake. "You had better come. The card states there'll be +music, and the agent will hire Vallejo's band, which is pretty good. +Guitars, mandolins, and fiddles on the poop, and señoritas in gauzy +dresses flitting through graceful dances in the after well! The +entertainment ought to appeal to your artistic taste." + +"I'm going," Jake replied. + +"So am I," said Dick. + +Jake grinned. "That's rather sudden, isn't it? However, you may be needed +to look after Bethune." + +An evening or two later, they boarded the launch at the town mole. The +sea was smooth and glimmered with phosphorescence in the shadow of the +land, for the moon had not risen far above the mountains. Outside the +harbor mouth, the liner's long, black hull cut against the dusky blue, +the flowing curve of her sheer picked out by a row of lights. Over this +rose three white tiers of passenger decks, pierced by innumerable bright +points, with larger lights in constellations outside, while masts and +funnels ran up, faintly indicated, into the gloom above. She scarcely +moved to the lift of the languid swell, but as the undulations passed +there was a pale-green shimmer about her waterline that magnified the +height to her topmost deck. She looked unsubstantial, rather like a +floating fairy palace than a ship, and as the noisy launch drew nearer +Jake gave his imagination rein. + +"She was made, just right, by magic; a ship of dreams," he said. "Look +how she glimmers, splashed with cadmium radiance, on velvety blue; and +her formlessness outside the lights wraps her in mystery. Yet you get a +hint of swiftness." + +"You know she has power and speed," Bethune interrupted. + +"No," said Jake firmly, "it's not a matter of knowledge; she appeals to +your imagination. You feel that airy fabric must travel like the wind." +Then he turned to Dick, who was steering. "There's a boat ahead with a +freight of señoritas in white and orange gossamer; they know something +about grace of line in this country. Are you going to rush past them, +like a dull barbarian, in this kicking, snorting launch?" + +"I'll make for the other side of the ship, if you like." + +"You needn't go so far," Jake answered with a chuckle. "But you might +muzzle your rackety engine." + +Dick, who had seen the boat, gave her room enough, but let the engine +run. He imagined that Jake's motive for slowing down might be +misunderstood by the señoritas' guardian, since a touch of Moorish +influence still colors the Spaniard's care of his women. As the launch +swung to starboard her red light shone into the boat, and Dick recognized +Don Sebastian sitting next a stout lady in a black dress. There were +three or four girls beside them, and then Dick's grasp on the tiller +stiffened, for the ruby beam picked out Clare's face. He thought it wore +a tired look, but she turned her head, as if dazzled, and the light +passed on, and Dick's heart beat as the boat dropped back into the gloom. +Since Kenwardine had sent Clare with Don Sebastian, he could not be +going, and Dick might find an opportunity for speaking to her alone. He +meant to do so, although the interview would not be free from +embarrassment. Then he avoided another boat, and stopping the engine, +steered for the steamer's ladder. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +THE ALTERED SAILING LIST + + +When dinner was over, Dick sat by himself in a quiet spot on the liner's +quarter-deck. There was a tall, iron bulwark beside him, but close by +this was replaced by netted rails, through which he caught the pale +shimmer of the sea. The warm land-breeze had freshened and ripples +splashed against the vessel's side, while every now and then a languid +gurgle rose from about her waterline and the foam her plates threw off +was filled with phosphorescent flame. A string band was playing on the +poop, and passengers and guests moved through the intricate figures of a +Spanish dance on the broad deck below. Their poses were graceful and +their dress was picturesque, but Dick watched them listlessly. + +He was not in a mood for dancing, for he had been working hard at the dam +and his thoughts were disturbed. Clare had refused him, and although he +did not accept her decision as final, he could see no way of taking her +out of her father's hands, while he had made no progress towards +unraveling the latter's plots. Kenwardine was not on board, but Dick had +only seen Clare at some distance off across the table in the saloon. +Moreover, he thought she must have taken some trouble to avoid meeting +him. + +Then he remembered the speeches made by the visitors at dinner, and the +steamship officers' replies. The former, colored by French and Spanish +politeness and American wit, eulogized the power of the British navy and +the courage of her merchant captains. There was war, they said, but +British commerce went on without a check; goods shipped beneath the red +ensign would be delivered safe in spite of storm and strife; Britannia, +with trident poised, guarded the seas. For this the boldly-announced +sailing list served as text, but Dick, who made allowances for exuberant +Latin sentiment, noted the captain's response with some surprise. + +His speech was flamboyant, and did not harmonize with the character of +the man, who had called at the port before in command of another ship. He +was gray-haired and generally reserved. Dick had not expected him to +indulge in cheap patriotism, but he called the British ensign the meteor +flag, defied its enemies, and declared that no hostile fleets could +prevent his employers carrying their engagements out. Since the man was +obviously sober, Dick supposed he was touting for business and wanted to +assure the merchants that the sailings of the company's steamers could be +relied upon. Still, this kind of thing was not good British form. + +By and by Don Sebastian came down a ladder from the saloon deck with +Clare behind him. Dick felt tempted to retire but conquered the impulse +and the Spaniard came up. + +"I have some business with the purser, who is waiting for me, but cannot +find my señora," he explained, and Dick, knowing that local conventions +forbade his leaving Clare alone, understood it as a request that he +should take care of her until the other's return. + +"I should be glad to stay with Miss Kenwardine," he answered with a bow, +and when Don Sebastian went off opened a deck-chair and turned to the +girl. + +"You see how I was situated!" he said awkwardly. + +Clare smiled as she sat down. "Yes; you are not to blame. Indeed, I do +not see why you should apologize." + +"Well," said Dick, "I hoped that I might meet you, though I feared you +would sooner I did not. When I saw you on the ladder, I felt I ought to +steal away, but must confess that I was glad when I found it was too +late. Somehow, things seem to bring us into opposition. They have done so +from the beginning." + +"You're unnecessarily frank," Clare answered with a blush. "Since you +couldn't steal away, wouldn't it have been better not to hint that I was +anxious to avoid you? After all, I could have done so if I had really +wanted." + +"I expect that's true. Of course what happened when we last met couldn't +trouble you as it troubled me." + +"Are you trying to be tactful now?" Clare asked, smiling. + +"No; it's my misfortune that I haven't much tact. If I had, I might be +able to straighten matters out." + +"Don't you understand that they can't be straightened out?" + +"I don't," Dick answered stubbornly. "For all that, I won't trouble you +again until I find a way out of the tangle." + +Clare gave him a quick, disturbed look. "It would be much better if you +took it for granted that we must, to some extent, be enemies." + +"No. I'm afraid your father and I are enemies, but that's not the same." + +"It is; you can see that it must be," Clare insisted; and then, as if +anxious to change the subject, went on: "He was too busy to bring me +to-night so I came with Don Sebastian and his wife. It is not very gay in +Santa Brigida and one gets tired of being alone." + +Her voice fell a little as she concluded, and Dick, who understood +something of her isolation from friends of her race, longed to take her +in his arms and comfort her. Indeed, had the quarter-deck been deserted +he might have tried, for he felt that her refusal had sprung from wounded +pride and a sense of duty. There was something in her manner that hinted +that it had not been easy to send him away. Yet he saw she could be firm +and thought it wise to follow her lead. + +"Then your father has been occupied lately," he remarked. + +"Yes; he is often away. He goes to Adexe and is generally busy in the +evenings. People come to see him and keep him talking in his room. Our +friends no longer spend the evening in the patio." + +Dick understood her. She wanted to convince him that Kenwardine was a +business man and only gambled when he had nothing else to do. Indeed, her +motive was rather pitifully obvious, and Dick knew that he had not been +mistaken about her character. Clare had, no doubt, once yielded to her +father's influence, but it was impossible that she took any part in his +plots. She was transparently honest; he knew this as he watched her color +come and go. + +"After all, I don't think you liked many of the people who came," he +said. + +"I liked Jake," she answered and stopped with a blush, while Dick felt +half ashamed, because he had deprived her of the one companion she could +trust. + +"Well," he said, "it isn't altogether my fault that Jake doesn't come to +see you. We have had some accidents that delayed the work and he has not +been able to leave the dam." + +He was silent for the next few minutes. Since Clare was eager to defend +Kenwardine, she might be led to tell something about his doings from +which a useful hint could be gathered, and Dick greatly wished to know +who visited his house on business. Still, it was impossible that he +should make the girl betray her father. The fight was between him and +Kenwardine, and Clare must be kept outside it. With this resolve, he +began to talk about the dancing, and soon afterward Jake came up and +asked Clare for the next waltz. She smiled and gave Dick a challenging +glance. + +"Certainly," he said with a bow, and then turned to Jake. "As Miss +Kenwardine has been put in my charge, you must bring her back." + +Jake grinned as he promised and remarked as they went away: "Makes a good +dueña, doesn't he? You can trust Dick to guard anything he's told to +take care of. In fact, if I'd a sister I wanted to leave in safe +hands----" He paused and laughed. "But that's the trouble. It was my +sister who told him to take care of me." + +Dick did not hear Clare's reply, but watched her dance until Don +Sebastian's wife came up. After that he went away, and presently strolled +along the highest deck. This was narrower than the others, but was +extended as far as the side of the ship by beams on which the boats were +stowed. There were no rails, for passengers were not allowed up there; +but Dick, who was preoccupied and moody, wanted to be alone. The moon had +now risen above the mountains and the sea glittered between the shore and +the ship. Looking down, he saw a row of boats rise and fall with the +languid swell near her tall side, and the flash of the surf that washed +the end of the mole. Then, taking out a cigarette, he strolled towards +the captain's room, which stood behind the bridge, and stopped near it in +the shadow of a big lifeboat. + +The room was lighted, and the door and windows were half open because the +night was hot. Carelessly glancing in, Dick saw Don Sebastian sitting at +the table with the captain and engineer. This somewhat surprised him, for +the purser transacted the ship's business and, so far as he knew, none of +the other guests had been taken to the captain's room. He felt puzzled +about Don Sebastian, whom he had met once or twice. The fellow had an air +of authority and the smaller officials treated him with respect. + +Something in the men's attitude indicated that they were talking +confidentially, and Dick thought he had better go away without attracting +their attention; but just then the captain turned in his chair and looked +out. Dick decided to wait until he looked round again, and next moment +Don Sebastian asked: "Have you plenty coal?" + +"I think so," the engineer replied. "The after-bunkers are full, but I'd +have taken a few extra barge-loads here only I didn't want any of the +shore peons to see how much I'd already got." + +Dick did not understand this, because coal was somewhat cheaper and the +facilities for shipping it were better at the boat's next port of call, +to which it was only a two-days' run. Then the captain, who turned to Don +Sebastian, remarked: + +"Making the sailing list prominent was a happy thought, and it was lucky +your friends backed us up well by their speeches. You saw how I took +advantage of the lead they gave me, but I hope we haven't overdone the +thing." + +"No," said Don Sebastian thoughtfully; "I imagine nobody suspects +anything yet." + +"Perhaps you had better clear the ship soon, sir," said the engineer. +"Steam's nearly up and it takes some coal----" + +The room door slipped off its hook and swung wide open as the vessel +rolled, and Dick, who could not withdraw unnoticed, decided to light his +cigarette in order that the others might see that they were not alone. As +he struck the match the captain got up. + +"Who's that?" he asked. + +"One of the foreign passengers, I expect; the mates can't keep them off +this deck," the engineer replied. "I don't suppose the fellow knows +English, but shall I send him down?" + +"I think not. It might look as if we were afraid of being overheard." + +Dick held the match to his cigarette for a moment or two before he threw +it away, and as he walked past noted that Don Sebastian had come out on +deck. Indeed, he thought the man had seen his face and was satisfied, +because he turned back into the room. Dick went down a ladder to the deck +below, where he stopped and thought over what he had heard. It was plain +that some precautions had been taken against the risk of capture, but he +could not understand why Don Sebastian had been told about them. + +By and by he thought he would speak to the purser, whom he knew, and went +down the alleyway that led to his office. The door was hooked back, but +the passage was narrow and a fat Spanish lady blocked the entrance. She +was talking to the purser and Dick saw that he must wait until she had +finished. A man stood a few yards behind her, unscrewing a flute, and as +a folded paper that looked like music stuck out of his pocket he appeared +to belong to the band. + +"But it is Tuesday you arrive at Palomas!" the lady exclaimed. + +"About then," the purser answered in awkward Castilian. "We may be a +little late." + +"But how much late?" + +"I cannot tell. Perhaps a day or two." + +"At dinner the captain said----" + +"Just so. But he was speaking generally without knowing all the +arrangements." + +Dick could not see into the office, but heard the purser open a drawer +and shuffle some papers, as if he wanted to get rid of his questioner. + +"It is necessary that I know when we arrive," the lady resumed. "If it is +not Tuesday, I must send a telegram." + +The purser shut the drawer noisily, but just then a bell rang overhead +and the whistle blew to warn the visitors that they must go ashore. + +"Then you must be quick," said the purser. "Write your message here and +give it to me. You need not be disturbed. We will land you at Palomas." + +The lady entered the office, but Dick thought her telegram would not be +sent, and a moment later the captain's plan dawned on him. The ship would +call at the ports named, but not in the order stated, and this was why +she needed so much coal. She would probably steam first to the port +farthest off and then work backward, and the sailing list was meant to +put the raider off the track. The latter's commander, warned by spies who +would send him the list, would think he knew where to find the vessel at +any particular date, when, however, she would be somewhere else. Then +Dick wondered why the musician was hanging about, and went up to him. + +"The sobrecargo's busy," he said in English. "You'll be taken to sea +unless you get up on deck." + +"I no wanta el sobrecargo," the man replied in a thick, stupid voice. +"The music is thirsty; I wanta drink." + +The second-class bar was farther down the alleyway, and Dick, indicating +it, turned back and made his way to the poop as fast as he could, for he +did not think the man was as drunk as he looked. He found the musicians +collecting their stands, and went up to the bandmaster. + +"There's one of your men below who has been drinking too much caña," he +said. "You had better look after him." + +"But they are all here," the bandmaster answered, glancing round the +poop. + +"The man had a flute." + +"But we have no flute-player." + +"Then he must have been a passenger," said Dick, who hurried to the +gangway. + +After hailing his fireman to bring the launch alongside, he threw a quick +glance about. The shore boatmen were pushing their craft abreast of the +ladder and shouting as they got in each other's way, but one boat had +already left the ship and was pulling fast towards the harbor. There +seemed to be only one man on board besides her crew, and Dick had no +doubt that he was the flute-player. He must be followed, since it was +important to find out whom he met and if, as Dick suspected, he meant to +send off a telegram. But the liner's captain must be warned, and Dick +turned hastily around. The windlass was rattling and the bridge, on which +he could see the captain's burly figure, was some distance off, while the +passage between the gangway and deckhouse was blocked by the departing +guests. + +The anchor would probably be up before he could push his way through the +crowd, and if he was not carried off to sea, he would certainly lose +sight of the spy. Writing a line or two on the leaf of his pocket-book, +he tore it out and held it near a Creole steward boy. + +"Take that to the sobrecargo at once," he cried, and seeing the boy stoop +to pick up the note, which fell to the deck, ran down the ladder. + +He had, however, to wait a minute while the fireman brought the launch +alongside between the other boats, and when they pushed off Don +Sebastian, scrambling across one of the craft, jumped on board. He smiled +when Dick looked at him with annoyed surprise. + +"I think my business is yours, but there is no time for explanations," he +said. "Tell your man to go full speed." + +The launch quivered and leaped ahead with the foam curling at her bows, +and Dick did not look round when he heard an expostulating shout. Jake +and Bethune must get ashore as they could; his errand was too important +to stop for them, particularly as he could no longer see the boat in +front. She had crossed the glittering belt of moonlight and vanished into +the shadow near the mole. Her occupant had had some minutes' start and +had probably landed, but it might be possible to find out where he had +gone. + +"Screw the valve wide open," Dick told the fireman. + +The rattle of the engine quickened a little, the launch lifted her bows, +and her stern sank into the hollow of a following wave. When she steamed +up the harbor a boat lay near some steps, and as the launch slackened +speed Dick asked her crew which way their passenger had gone. + +"Up the mole, señor," one answered breathlessly. + +"It is all you will learn from them," Don Sebastian remarked. "I think we +will try the _telegrafia_ first." + +There was no time for questions and Dick jumped out as the launch ran +alongside the steps. Don Sebastian stopped him when he reached the top. + +"In Santa Brigida, nobody runs unless there is an earthquake or a +revolution. We do not want people to follow us." + +Dick saw the force of this and started for the telegraph office, walking +as fast as possible. When he looked round, his companion had vanished, +but he rejoined him on the steps of the building. They went in together +and found nobody except a languid clerk leaning on a table. Don Sebastian +turned to Dick and said in English, "It will be better if you leave this +matter to me." + +Dick noted that the clerk suddenly became alert when he saw his +companion, but he waited at a few yards' distance and Don Sebastian said: +"A man came in not long since with a telegram. He was short and very dark +and probably signed the form Vinoles." + +"He did, señor," said the clerk. + +"Very well. I want to see the message before it is sent." + +"It has gone, señor, three or four minutes ago." + +Don Sebastian made a gesture of resignation, spreading out his hands. +"Then bring me the form." + +Dick thought it significant that the clerk at once obeyed, but Don +Sebastian, who stood still for a moment, turned to him. + +"It is as I thought," he said in English, and ordered the clerk: "Take us +into the manager's room." + +The other did so, and after shutting the door withdrew. Don Sebastian +threw the form on the table. + +"It seems we are too late," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE WATER-PIPE + + +Dick sat down and knitted his brows as he studied his companion. Don +Sebastian was a Peninsular Spaniard and in consequence of a finer type +than the majority of the inhabitants of Santa Brigida. Dick, who thought +he could confide in him, needed help, but the matter was delicate. In the +meantime, the other waited with a smile that implied that he guessed his +thoughts, until Dick, leaning forward with sudden resolution, picked up +the telegram, which was written in cipher. + +"This is probably a warning to somebody that the vessel will not call at +the ports in the advertised order," he said. + +"I imagine so. You guessed the captain's plan from what you heard outside +the room?" + +"Not altogether, but it gave me a hint. It looks as if you recognized me +when I was standing near the lifeboat." + +"I did," said Don Sebastian meaningly. "I think I showed my confidence in +you." + +Dick nodded, because it was plain that the other had enabled him to go +away without being questioned. + +"Very well; I'll tell you what I know," he said, and related how he had +found the man with the flute loitering about the purser's door. As he +finished, Don Sebastian got up. + +"You made one mistake; you should have given your note to an Englishman +and not a young Creole lad. However, we must see if the steamer can be +stopped." + +He led the way up a staircase to the flat roof, where Dick ran to the +parapet. Looking across the town, he saw in the distance a dim white +light and a long smear of smoke that trailed across the glittering sea. +He frowned as he watched it, for the ship was English and he felt himself +responsible for the safety of all on board her. He had done his best, +when there was no time to pause and think, but perhaps he had blundered. +Suppose the Creole boy had lost his note or sent it to somebody ashore? + +"We are too late again," Don Sebastian remarked as he sat down on the +parapet. "Well, one must be philosophical. Things do not always go as one +would wish." + +"Why didn't you warn the captain that his plan was found out, instead of +jumping into the launch?" Dick asked angrily. + +Don Sebastian smiled. "Because I did not know. I saw a man steal down the +ladder and thought he might be a spy, but could not tell how much he had +learned. If he had learned nothing, it would have been dangerous for the +captain to change his plan again and keep to the sailing list." + +"That's true," Dick agreed shortly. His chin was thrust forward and his +head slightly tilted back. He looked very English and aggressive as he +resumed: "But I want to know what your interest in the matter is." + +"Then I must tell you. To begin with, I am employed by the Government and +am in the President's confidence. The country is poor and depends for its +development on foreign capital, while it is important that we should have +the support and friendship of Great Britain and the United States. +Perhaps you know the latter's jealousy about European interference in +American affairs?" + +Dick nodded. "You feel you have to be careful. But how far can a country +go in harboring a belligerent's agents and supplying her fighting ships, +without losing its neutrality?" + +"That is a difficult question," Don Sebastian replied. "I imagine the +answer depends upon the temper of the interested country's diplomatic +representatives; but the President means to run no risks. We cannot, for +example, have it claimed that we allowed a foreign power to buy a coaling +station and use it as a base for raids on merchant ships." + +"Have the Germans bought the Adexe wharf?" + +Don Sebastian shrugged. "_Quién sabe?_ The principal has not a German +name." + +"Isn't Richter German?" + +"Richter has gone. It is possible that he has done his work. His friend, +however, is the head of the coaling company." + +"Do you think Kenwardine was his partner? If so, it's hard to understand +why he let you come to his house. He's not a fool." + +The Spaniard's dark eyes twinkled. "Señor Kenwardine is a clever man, +and it is not always safer to keep your antagonist in the dark when you +play an intricate game. Señor Kenwardine knew it would have been a +mistake to show he thought I suspected him and that he had something to +conceal. We were both very frank, to a point, and now and then talked +about the complications that might spring from the coaling business. +Because we value our trade with England and wish to attract British +capital, he knew we would not interfere with him unless we had urgent +grounds, and wished to learn how far we would let him go. It must be +owned that in this country official suspicion can often be disarmed." + +"By a bribe? I don't think Kenwardine is rich," Dick objected. + +"Then it is curious that he is able to spend so much at Adexe." + +Dick frowned, for he saw what the other implied. If Kenwardine had to be +supplied with money, where did it come from? It was not his business to +defend the man and he must do what he could to protect British shipping, +but Kenwardine was Clare's father, and he was not going to expose him +until he was sure of his guilt. + +"But if he was plotting anything that would get your President into +trouble, he must have known he would be found out." + +"Certainly. But suppose he imagined he might not be found out until he +had done what he came to do? It would not matter then." + +Dick said nothing. He knew he was no match for the Spaniard in subtlety, +but he would not be forced into helping him. He set his lips, and Don +Sebastian watched him with amusement. + +"Well," said the latter, "you have my sympathy. The señorita's eyes are +bright." + +"I cannot have Miss Kenwardine mentioned," Dick rejoined. "She has +nothing to do with the matter." + +"That is agreed," Don Sebastian answered, and leaned forward as he added +in a meaning tone: "You are English and your life has been threatened by +men who plot against your country. I might urge that they may try again +and I could protect you; but you must see what their thinking you +dangerous means. Now I want your help." + +Dick's face was very resolute as he looked at him. "If any harm comes to +the liner, I'll do all I can. But I'll do nothing until I know. In the +meantime, can you warn the captain?" + +Don Sebastian bowed. "I must be satisfied with your promise. We may find +the key to the telegram, and must try to get into communication with the +steamer." + +They went down stairs together, but the Spaniard did not leave the office +with Dick, who went out alone and found Bethune and Jake waiting at the +end of the line. They bantered him about his leaving them on board the +ship, but although he thought Jake looked at him curiously, he told them +nothing. + +When work stopped on the Saturday evening, Jake and Dick went to dine +with Bethune. It was getting dark when they reached a break in the dam, +where a gap had been left open while a sluice was being built. A +half-finished tower rose on the other side and a rope ladder hung down +for the convenience of anybody who wished to cross. A large iron pipe +that carried water to a turbine, however, spanned the chasm, and the +sure-footed peons often used it as a bridge. This required some agility +and nerve, but it saved an awkward scramble across the sluice and up the +concrete. + +"There's just light enough," Jake remarked, and balancing himself +carefully, walked out upon the pipe. + +Dick followed and getting across safely, stopped at the foot of the tower +and looked down at the rough blocks and unfinished ironwork in the bottom +of the gap. + +"The men have been told to use the ladder, but as they seldom do so, it +would be safer to run a wire across for a hand-rail," he said. "Anybody +who slipped would get a dangerous fall." + +They went on to Bethune's iron shack, where Stuyvesant joined them, and +after dinner sat outside, talking and smoking. A carafe of Spanish wine +and some glasses stood on a table close by. + +"I've fired Jose's and Pancho's gangs; they've been asking for it for +some time," Stuyvesant remarked. "In fact, I'd clear out most of the +shovel boys if I could replace them. They've been saving money and are +getting slack." + +The others agreed that it might be advisable. The half-breeds from the +hills, attracted by good wages, worked well when first engaged, but +generally found steady labor irksome and got discontented when they had +earned a sum that would enable them to enjoy a change. + +"I don't think you'd get boys enough in this neighborhood," Bethune said. + +"That's so. Anyhow, I'd rather hire a less sophisticated crowd; the +half-civilized _Meztiso_ is worse than the other sort, but I don't see +why we shouldn't look for some further along the coast. Do you feel like +taking the launch, Brandon, and trying what you can do?" + +"I'd enjoy the trip," Dick answered with some hesitation. "But I'd +probably have to go beyond Coronal, and it might take a week." + +"That won't matter; stay as long as it's necessary," Stuyvesant said, for +he had noticed a slackness in Dick's movements and his tired look. +"Things are going pretty well just now, and you have stuck close to your +work. The change will brace you up. Anyhow, I want fresh boys and +Bethune's needed here, but you can take Jake along if you want company." + +Jake declared that he would go, but Dick agreed with reluctance. He felt +jaded and depressed, for the double strain he had borne was beginning to +tell. His work, carried on in scorching heat, demanded continuous effort, +and when it stopped at night he had private troubles to grapple with. +Though he had been half-prepared for Clare's refusal, it had hit him +hard, and he could find no means of exposing Kenwardine's plots without +involving her in his ruin. It would be a relief to get away, but he might +be needed at Santa Brigida. + +Bethune began to talk about the alterations a contractor wished to make, +and by and by there was a patter of feet and a hum of voices in the dark. +The voices grew louder and sounded angry as the steps approached the +house, and Stuyvesant pushed back his chair. + +"It's Jose's or Pancho's breeds come to claim that their time is wrong. I +suppose one couldn't expect that kind of crowd to understand figures, but +although François' accounts are seldom very plain, he's not a grafter." + +Then a native servant entered hurriedly. + +"They all come, señor," he announced. "Pig tief say Fransoy rob him and +he go casser office window." He turned and waved his hand threateningly +as a big man in ragged white clothes came into the light. "_Fuera, puerco +ladron!_" + +The man took off a large palm-leaf hat and flourished it with ironical +courtesy. + +"Here is gran escandolo, señores. _La belle chose, verdad!_ Me I have +trent' dollar; the grand tief me pay----" + +Stuyvesant signed to the servant. "Take them round to the back corral; we +can't have them on the veranda." Then he turned to Dick. "You and Bethune +must convince them that the time-sheets are right; you know more about +the thing than I do. Haven't you been helping François, Fuller?" + +"I'm not a linguist," Jake answered with a grin. "When they talk French +and Spanish at once it knocks me right off my height, as François +sometimes declares." + +They all went round to the back of the house, where Bethune and Dick +argued with the men. The latter had been dismissed and while ready to go +wanted a grievance, though some honestly failed to understand the +deductions from their wages. They had drawn small sums in advance, taken +goods out of store, and laid off now and then on an unusually hot day, +but the amount charged against them was larger than they thought. For all +that, Bethune using patience and firmness pacified them, and after a time +they went away satisfied while the others returned to the veranda. + +"Arguing in languages you don't know well is thirsty work, and we'd +better have a drink," Bethune remarked. + +He pushed the carafe across the table, but Dick picked up his glass, +which he had left about half full. He was hot and it was a light Spanish +wine that one could drink freely, but when he had tasted it he emptied +what was left over the veranda rails. + +Bethune looked surprised, but laughed. "The wine isn't very good, but the +others seem able to stand for it. I once laid out a mine ditch in a +neighborhood where you'd have wanted some courage to throw away a drink +the boys had given you." + +"It was very bad manners," Dick answered awkwardly. "Still, I didn't like +the taste----" + +He stopped, noticing that Jake gave him a keen glance, but Stuyvesant +filled his glass and drank. + +"What's the matter with the wine?" he asked. + +Dick hesitated. He wanted to let the matter drop, but he had treated +Bethune rudely and saw that the others were curious. + +"It didn't taste as it did when I left it. Of course this may have been +imagination." + +"But you don't think so?" Stuyvesant rejoined. "In fact, you suspect the +wine was doped after we went out?" + +"No," said Dick with a puzzled frown; "I imagine any doping stuff would +make it sour. The curious thing is that it tasted better than usual but +stronger." + +Stuyvesant picked up the glass and smelt it, for a little of the liquor +remained in the bottom. + +"It's a pity you threw it out, because there's a scent mine hasn't got. +Like bad brandy or what the Spaniards call _madre de vino_ and use for +bringing light wine up to strength." + +Then Bethune took the glass from him and drained the last drops. "I think +it _is madre de vino_. Pretty heady stuff and that glass would hold a +lot." + +Stuyvesant nodded, for it was not a wineglass but a small tumbler. + +"Doping's not an unusual trick, but I can't see why anybody should want +to make Brandon _drunk_." + +"It isn't very plain and I may have made a fuss about nothing," Dick +replied, and began to talk about something else with Jake's support. + +The others indulged them, and after a time the party broke up. The moon +had risen when Dick and Jake walked back along the dam, but the latter +stopped when they reached the gap. + +"We'll climb down and cross by the sluice instead of the pipe," he said. + +"Why?" Dick asked. "The light is better than when we came." + +Jake gave him a curious look. "Your nerve's pretty good, but do you want +to defy your enemies and show them you have found out their trick?" + +"But I haven't found it out; that is, I don't know the object of it yet." + +"Well," said Jake rather grimly, "what do you think would happen if a +drunken man tried to walk along that pipe?" + +Then a light dawned on Dick and he sat down, feeling limp. He was +abstemious, and a large dose of strong spirit would, no doubt, have +unsteadied him. His companions would notice this, but with the obstinacy +that often marks a half-drunk man he would probably have insisted on +trying to cross the pipe. Then a slip or hesitation would have +precipitated him upon the unfinished ironwork below, and since an obvious +explanation of his fall had been supplied, nobody's suspicions would have +been aroused. The subtlety of the plot was unnerving. Somebody who knew +all about him had chosen the moment well. + +"It's so devilishly clever!" he said with hoarse anger after a moment or +two. + +Jake nodded. "They're smart. They knew the boys were coming to make a row +and Stuyvesant wouldn't have them on the veranda. Then the wine was on +the table, and anybody who'd noticed where we sat could tell your glass. +It would have been easy to creep up to the shack before the moon rose." + +"Who are _they_?" + +"If I knew, I could tell you what to do about it, but I don't. It's +possible there was only one man, but if so, he's dangerous. Anyhow, it's +obvious that Kenwardine has no part in the matter." + +"He's not in this," Dick agreed. "Have you a cigarette? I think I'd like +a smoke. It doesn't follow that I'd have been killed, if I had fallen." + +"Then you'd certainly have got hurt enough to keep you quiet for some +time, which would probably satisfy the other fellow. But I don't think +we'll stop here talking; there may be somebody about." + +They climbed down by the foot of the tower and crossing the sluice went +up the ladder. When they reached their shack Dick sat down and lighted +the cigarette Jake had given him, but he said nothing and his face was +sternly set. Soon afterwards he went to bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE LINER'S FATE + + +Next morning Dick reviewed the situation as he ate his breakfast in the +fresh coolness before the sun got up. He had got a shock, but he was +young and soon recovered. His anger against the unknown plotter remained +fierce, but this was, in a sense, a private grievance, by which he must +not be unduly influenced. It was plain that he was thought dangerous, +which showed that he was following the right clue, and he had determined +that the raiding of ships belonging to Britain or her allies must be +stopped. Since he had gone to the representative of British authority and +had been rebuffed, he meant to get Fuller to see if American suspicions +could be easier aroused, but he must first make sure of his ground. In +the meantime, Don Sebastian had asked his help and he had given a +conditional promise. + +Dick decided that he had taken the proper course. Don Sebastian held +Kenwardine accountable and meant to expose him. This was painful to +contemplate for Clare's sake, but Dick admitted that he could not shield +Kenwardine at his country's expense. Still, the matter was horribly +complicated. If Kenwardine was ruined or imprisoned, a serious obstacle +in Dick's way would be removed, but it was unthinkable that this should +be allowed to count when Clare must suffer. Besides, she might come to +hate him if she learned that he was responsible for her father's +troubles. But he would make the liner's fate a test. If the vessel +arrived safe, Kenwardine should go free until his guilt was certain; if +she were sunk or chased, he would help Don Sebastian in every way he +could. + +For three or four days he heard nothing about her, and then, one hot +morning, when Stuyvesant and Bethune stood at the foot of the tower by +the sluice examining some plans, Jake crossed the pipe with a newspaper +in his hand. + +"The _Diario_ has just arrived," he said. "I haven't tried to read it +yet, but the liner has been attacked." + +Dick, who was superintending the building of the sluice, hastily +scrambled up the bank, and Stuyvesant, taking the newspaper, sat down in +the shade of the tower. He knew more Castilian than the others, who +gathered round him as he translated. + +The liner, the account stated, had the coast in sight shortly before dark +and was steaming along it when a large, black funnel steamer appeared +from behind a point. The captain at once swung his vessel round and the +stranger fired a shot, of which he took no notice. It was blowing fresh, +the light would soon fade, and there was a group of reefs, which he knew +well, not far away. The raider gained a little during the next hour and +fired several shots. Two of the shells burst on board, killing a seaman +and wounding some passengers, but the captain held on. When it was +getting dark the reefs lay close ahead, with the sea breaking heavily on +their outer edge, but he steamed boldly for an intricate, unmarked +channel between them and the land. In altering his course, he exposed the +vessel's broadside to the enemy and a shot smashed the pilot-house, but +they steered her in with the hand-gear. The pursuer then sheered off, but +it got very dark and the vessel grounded in a position where the reef +gave some shelter. + +Nothing could be done until morning, but as day broke the raider +reappeared and had fired a shot across the reef when a gunboat belonging +to the state in whose territorial waters the steamer lay came upon the +scene. She steamed towards the raider, which made off at full speed. Then +the gunboat took the liner's passengers on board, and it was hoped that +the vessel could be re-floated. + +"A clear story, told by a French or Spanish sailor who'd taken a passage +on the ship," Bethune remarked. "It certainly didn't come from one of the +British crew." + +"Why?" Jake asked. + +Bethune smiled. "A seaman who tells the truth about anything startling +that happens on board a passenger boat gets fired. The convention is to +wrap the thing in mystery, if it can't be denied. Besides, the ability to +take what you might call a quick, bird's-eye view isn't a British gift; +an Englishman would have concentrated on some particular point. Anyhow, I +can't see how the boat came to be where she was at the time mentioned." +He turned to Dick and asked: "Do you know, Brandon?" + +"No," said Dick, shortly, "not altogether." + +"Well," resumed Bethune, "I've seen the antiquated gunboat that came to +the rescue, and it's amusing to think of her steaming up to the big +auxiliary cruiser. It's doubtful if they've got ammunition that would go +off in their footy little guns, though I expect the gang of half-breed +cut-throats would put up a good fight. They have pluck enough, and the +country they belong to can stand upon her dignity." + +"She knows where to look for support," Stuyvesant remarked. "If the other +party goes much farther, she'll get a sharp snub up. What's your idea of +the situation?" + +"Something like yours. We can't allow the black eagle to find an eyrie in +this part of the world, but just now our Western bird's talons are blunt. +She hasn't been rending the innocents like the other, but one or two of +our former leaders are anxious to put her into fighting trim, and I dare +say something of the kind will be done. However, Brandon hasn't taken +much part in this conversation. I guess he's thinking about his work!" + +Dick, who had been sitting quiet with a thoughtful face, got up. + +"I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes, Stuyvesant." + +"Very well," said the other, who turned to Bethune and Jake. "I don't +want to play the domineering boss, but we're not paid to sit here and fix +up international politics." + +They went away and Stuyvesant looked at Dick who said, "I ought to start +in the launch to-morrow to get the laborers you want, but I can't go." + +"Why?" + +Dick hesitated. "The fact is I've something else to do." + +"Ah!" said Stuyvesant. "I think the understanding was that Fuller bought +all your time." + +"He did. I'm sorry, but----" + +"But if I insist on your going down the coast, you'll break your +agreement." + +"Yes," said Dick with embarrassment. "It comes to that." + +Stuyvesant looked hard at him. "You must recognize that this is a pretty +good job, and you're not likely to get another without Fuller's +recommendation. Then I understand you were up against it badly when he +first got hold of you. You're young and ought to be ambitious, and you +have your chance to make your mark right here." + +"It's all true," Dick answered doggedly. "Still, I can't go." + +"Then it must be something very important that makes you willing to throw +up your job." + +Dick did not answer and, to his surprise, Stuyvesant smiled as he +resumed: "It's England first, with you?" + +"How did you guess? How much do you know?" Dick asked sharply. + +"I don't know very much. Your throwing out the wine gave me a hint, +because it was obvious that somebody had been getting after you before, +and there were other matters. But you're rather young and I suspect +you're up against a big thing." + +"I'm afraid I can't tell you about it yet, if that is what you mean." + +"Very well. Stay here, as usual, if you like, or if you want a week off, +take it. I'll find a suitable reason for not sending you in the launch." + +"Thanks!" said Dick, with keen gratitude, and Stuyvesant, who nodded +pleasantly, went away. + +Dick sent a note to Don Sebastian by a messenger he could trust, and soon +after dark met him, as he appointed, at a wine-shop on the outskirts of +the town, where they were shown into a small back room. + +"I imagine you are now satisfied," the Spaniard said. "The liner has been +chased and people on board her have been killed." + +"I'm ready to do anything that will prevent another raid. To some extent, +perhaps, I'm responsible for what has happened; I might have stopped and +seen the mate or captain, but then I'd have lost the man I was after. +What do you think became of my note?" + +Don Sebastian looked thoughtful. "The boy may have lost it or shown it to +his comrades; they carry a few Spanish stewards for the sake of the +foreign passengers, and we both carelessly took too much for granted. We +followed the spy we saw without reflecting that there might be another on +board. However, this is not important now." + +"It isn't. But what do you mean to do with Kenwardine?" + +"You have no cause for troubling yourself on his account." + +"That's true, in a way," Dick answered, coloring, though his tone was +resolute. "He once did me a serious injury, but I don't want him hurt. I +mean to stop his plotting if I can, but I'm going no further, whether +it's my duty or not." + +The Spaniard made a sign of comprehension. "Then we need not quarrel +about Kenwardine. In fact, the President does not want to arrest him; our +policy is to avoid complications and it would satisfy us if he could be +forced to leave the country and give up the coaling station." + +"How will you force him?" + +"He has been getting letters from Kingston; ordinary, friendly letters +from a gentleman whose business seems to be coaling ships. For all that, +there is more in them than meets the uninstructed eye." + +"Have you read his replies?" + +Don Sebastian shrugged. "What do you expect? They do not tell us much, +but it looks as if Señor Kenwardine means to visit Kingston soon." + +"But it's in Jamaica; British territory." + +"Just so," said the Spaniard, smiling. "Señor Kenwardine is a bold and +clever man. His going to Kingston would have thrown us off the scent if +we had not known as much as we do; but it would have been dangerous had +he tried to hide it and we had found it out. You see how luck favors us?" + +"What is your plan?" + +"We will follow Kenwardine. He will be more or less at our mercy on +British soil, and, if it seems needful, there is a charge you can bring +against him. He stole some army papers." + +Dick started. "How did you hear of that?" + +"Clever men are sometimes incautious, and he once spoke about it to his +daughter," Don Sebastian answered with a shrug. "Our antagonists are not +the only people who have capable spies." + +The intrigue and trickery he had become entangled in inspired Dick with +disgust, but he admitted that one could not be fastidious in a fight with +a man like his antagonist. + +"Very well," he said, frowning, "I'll go; but it must be understood that +when he's beaten you won't decide what's to be done with the man without +consulting me." + +Don Sebastian bowed. "It is agreed. One can trust you to do nothing that +would injure your country. But we have some arrangements to make." + +Shortly afterwards Dick left the wine-shop, and returning to the camp +went to see Stuyvesant. + +"I want to go away in a few days, perhaps for a fortnight, but I'd like +it understood that I'd been sent down the coast in the launch," he said. +"As a matter of fact, I mean to start in her." + +"Certainly. Arrange the thing as you like," Stuyvesant agreed. Then he +looked at Dick with a twinkle. "You deserve a lay-off and I hope you'll +enjoy it." + +Dick thanked him and went back to his shack, where he found Jake on the +verandah. + +"I may go with the launch, after all, but not to Coronal," he remarked. + +"Ah!" said Jake, with some dryness. "Then you had better take me; anyhow, +I'm coming." + +"I'd much sooner you didn't." + +"That doesn't count," Jake replied. "You're getting after somebody, and +if you leave me behind, I'll give the plot away. It's easy to send a +rumor round the camp." + +Dick reflected. He saw that Jake meant to come and knew he could be +obstinate. Besides, the lad was something of a seaman and would be useful +on board the launch, because Dick did not mean to join the steamer +Kenwardine traveled by, but to catch another at a port some distance off. + +"Well," he said, "I suppose I must give in." + +"You've got to," Jake rejoined, and added in a meaning tone: "You may +need a witness if you're after Kenwardine, and I want to be about to see +fair play." + +"Then you trust the fellow yet?" + +"I don't know," Jake answered thoughtfully. "At first, I thought +Kenwardine great, and I like him now. He certainly has charm and you +can't believe much against him when he's with you; but it's somehow +different at a distance. Still, he knew nothing about the attacks on you. +I saw that when I told him about them." + +"You told him!" Dick exclaimed. + +"I did. Perhaps it might have been wise----" + +Jake stopped, for he heard a faint rustle, as if a bush had been shaken, +and Dick looked up. The moon had not yet risen, thin mist drifted out of +the jungle, and it was very dark. There was some brush in front of the +building and a belt of tall grass and reeds grew farther back. Without +moving the upper part of his body, he put his foot under the table at +which they sat and kicked Jake's leg. + +"What was that about Adexe?" he asked in a clear voice, and listened +hard. + +He heard nothing then, for Jake took the hint and began to talk about the +coaling station, but when the lad stopped there was another rustle, very +faint but nearer. + +Next moment a pistol shot rang out and a puff of acrid smoke drifted into +the veranda. Then the brushwood crackled, as if a man had violently +plunged through it, and Jake sprang to his feet. + +"Come on and bring the lamp!" he shouted, running down the steps. + +Dick followed, but left the lamp alone. He did not know who had fired the +shot and it might be imprudent to make himself conspicuous. Jake, who was +a few yards in front, boldly took a narrow path through the brush, which +rose to their shoulders. The darkness was thickened by the mist, but +after a moment or two they heard somebody coming to meet them. It could +hardly be an enemy, because the man wore boots and his tread was quick +and firm. Dick noted this with some relief, but thought it wise to take +precautions. + +"Hold on, Jake," he said and raised his voice: "Who's that?" + +"Payne," answered the other, and they waited until he came up. + +"Now," said Jake rather sharply, "what was the shooting about?" + +"There was a breed hanging round in the bushes and when he tried to creep +up to the veranda I plugged him." + +"Then where is he?" + +"That's what I don't know," Payne answered apologetically. "I hit him +sure, but it looks as if he'd got away." + +"It looks as if you'd missed. Where did you shoot from?" + +Payne beckoned them to follow and presently stopped beside the heap of +ironwork a little to one side of the shack. The lighted veranda was in +full view of the spot, but there was tall brushwood close by and behind +this the grass. + +"I was here," Payne explained. "Heard something move once or twice, and +at last the fellow showed between me and the light. When I saw he was +making for the veranda I put up my gun. Knew I had the bead on him when I +pulled her off." + +"Then show us where he was." + +Payne led them forward until they reached a spot where the brush was +broken and bent, and Jake, stooping down, struck a match. + +"I guess he's right. Look at this," he said with shrinking in his voice. + +The others saw a red stain on the back of his hand and crimson splashes +on the grass. Then Dick took the match and put it out. + +"The fellow must be found. I'll get two or three of the boys I think we +can trust and we'll begin the search at once." + +He left them and returned presently with the men and two lanterns, but +before they set off he asked Payne: "Could you hear what we said on the +veranda?" + +"No. I could tell you were talking, but that was all. Once you kind of +raised your voice and I guess the fellow in front heard something, for it +was then he got up and tried to crawl close in." + +"Just so," Dick agreed and looked at Jake as one of the men lighted a +lantern. "He was nearer us than Payne. I thought Adexe would draw him." + +They searched the belt of grass and the edge of the jungle, since, as +there were venomous snakes about, it did not seem likely that the +fugitive would venture far into the thick, steamy gloom. Then they made a +circuit of the camp, stopping wherever a mound of rubbish offered a +hiding-place, but the search proved useless until they reached the head +of the track. Then an explanation of the man's escape was supplied, for +the hand-car, which had stood there an hour ago, had gone. A few strokes +of the crank would start it, after which it would run down the incline. + +"I guess that's how he went," said Payne. + +Dick nodded. The car would travel smoothly if its speed was controlled, +but it would make some noise and he could not remember having heard +anything. The peons, however, frequently used the car when they visited +their comrades at the mixing sheds, and he supposed the rattle of wheels +had grown so familiar that he had not noticed it. + +"Send the boys away; there's nothing more to be done," he said. + +They turned back towards the shack, and after a few minutes Jake +remarked: "It will be a relief when this business is over. My nerves are +getting ragged." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +THE SILVER CLASP + + +It was about eleven o'clock on a hot morning and Kenwardine, who had +adopted native customs, was leisurely getting his breakfast in the patio. +Two or three letters lay among the fruit and wine, but he did not mean to +open them yet. He was something of a sybarite and the letters might blunt +his enjoyment of the well-served meal. Clare, who had not eaten much, sat +opposite, watching him. His pose as he leaned back with a wineglass in +his hand was negligently graceful, and his white clothes, drawn in at the +waist by a black silk sash, showed his well-knit figure. There were +touches of gray in his hair and wrinkles round his eyes, but in spite of +this he had a look of careless youth. Clare, however, thought she noticed +a hint of preoccupation that she knew and disliked. + +Presently Kenwardine picked out an envelope with a British stamp from +among the rest and turned it over before inserting a knife behind the +flap, which yielded easily, as if the gum had lost its strength. Then he +took out the letter and smiled with ironical amusement. If it had been +read by any unauthorized person before it reached him, the reader would +have been much misled, but it told him what he wanted to know. There was +one word an Englishman or American would not have used, though a Teuton +might have done so, but Kenwardine thought a Spaniard would not notice +this, even if he knew English well. The other letters were not important, +and he glanced at his daughter. + +Clare was not wearing well. She had lost her color and got thin. The +climate was enervating, and Englishwomen who stayed in the country long +felt it more than men, but this did not quite account for her jaded look. + +"I am afraid you are feeling the hot weather, and perhaps you have been +indoors too much," he said. "I must try to take you about more when I +come back." + +"Then you are going away! Where to?" + +Kenwardine would have preferred to hide his destination, but since this +would be difficult it seemed safer not to try and there was no reason why +his household should not know. + +"To Jamaica. I have some business in Kingston, but it won't keep me +long." + +"Can you take me?" + +"I think not," said Kenwardine, who knew his visit would be attended by +some risk. "For one thing, I'll be occupied all the time, and as I must +get back as soon as possible, may have to travel by uncomfortable boats. +You will be safe with Lucille." + +"Oh, yes," Clare agreed with languid resignation. "Still, I would have +liked a change." + +Kenwardine showed no sign of yielding and she said nothing more. She had +chosen to live with him, and although she had not known all that the +choice implied, must obey his wishes. For all that, she longed to get +away. It had cost her more than she thought to refuse Dick, and she felt +that something mysterious and disturbing was going on. Kenwardine's +carelessness had not deceived her; she had watched him when he was off +his guard and knew that he was anxious. + +"You don't like Santa Brigida?" he suggested. "Well, if things go as I +hope, I may soon be able to sell out my business interests and leave the +country. Would that please you?" + +Clare's eyes sparkled with satisfaction. Now there was a prospect of its +ending, she could allow herself to admit how repugnant the life she led +had grown. She had hated the gambling, and although this had stopped, the +mystery and hidden intrigue that followed it were worse. If her father +gave it all up, they need no longer be outcasts, and she could live as an +English girl ought to do. Besides, it would be easier to forget Dick +Brandon when she went away. + +"Would we go back to England?" she asked eagerly. + +"I hardly think that would be possible," Kenwardine replied. "We might, +however, fix upon one of the quieter cities near the Atlantic coast of +America. I know two or three that are not too big and are rather +old-fashioned, with something of the charm of the Colonial days, where I +think you might find friends that would suit your fastidious taste." + +Clare tried to look content. Of late, she had longed for the peaceful, +well-ordered life of the English country towns, but it seemed there was +some reason they could not go home. + +"Any place would be better than Santa Brigida," she said. "But I must +leave you to your letters. I am going out to buy some things." + +The sun was hot when she left the patio, but there was a strip of shade +on one side of the street and she kept close to the wall, until turning a +corner, she entered a blaze of light. The glare from the pavement and +white houses was dazzling and she stopped awkwardly, just in time to +avoid collision with a man. He stood still and she looked down as she saw +that it was Dick and noted the satisfaction in his eyes. + +"I'm afraid I wasn't keeping a very good lookout," he said. + +"You seemed to be in a hurry," Clare rejoined, half hoping he would go +on; but as he did not, she resumed: "However, you generally give one the +impression of having something important to do." + +Dick laughed. "That's wrong just now, because I'm killing time. I've an +hour to wait before the launch is ready to go to sea." + +"Then you are sailing somewhere along the coast," said Clare, who moved +forward, and Dick taking her permission for granted, turned and walked by +her side. + +"Yes. I left Jake at the mole, putting provisions on board." + +"It looks as if you would be away some time," Clare remarked carelessly. + +Dick thought she was not interested and felt relieved. It had been +announced at the irrigation camp that he was going to Coronal to engage +workmen, in order that the report might reach Kenwardine. He had now an +opportunity of sending the latter misleading news, but he could not make +use of Clare in this way. + +"I expect so, but can't tell yet when we will be back," he said. + +"Well," said Clare, "I shall feel that I am left alone. My father is +going to Kingston and doesn't know when he will return. Then you and Mr. +Fuller----" + +She stopped with a touch of embarrassment, wondering whether she had said +too much, but Dick looked at her gravely. + +"Then you will miss us?" + +"Yes," she admitted with a blush. "I suppose I shall, in a sense. After +all, I really know nobody in Santa Brigida; that is, nobody I like. Of +course, we haven't seen either of you often, but then----" + +"You liked to feel we were within call if we were wanted? Well, I wish I +could put off our trip, but I'm afraid it's impossible now." + +"That would be absurd," Clare answered, smiling, and they went on in +silence for the next few minutes. + +She felt that she had shown her feelings with raw candor, and the worst +was that Dick was right. Though he thought she had robbed him, and was +somehow her father's enemy, she did like to know he was near. Then there +had been something curious in his tone and he had asked her nothing about +her father's voyage. Indeed, it looked as if he meant to avoid the +subject, although politeness demanded some remark. + +"I am going shopping at the Almacen Morales," she said by and by, giving +him an excuse to leave her if he wished. + +"Then, if you don't mind, I'll come too. It will be out of this blazing +sun, and there are a few things Jake told me to get." + +It was a relief to enter the big, cool, general store, but when Clare +went to the dry-goods counter Dick turned aside to make his purchases. +After this, he strolled about, examining specimens of native +feather-work, and was presently seized by an inspiration as he stopped +beside some Spanish lace. Clare ought to wear fine lace. The intricate, +gauzy web would harmonize with her delicate beauty, but the trouble was +that he was no judge of the material. A little farther on, a case of +silver filigree caught his eye and he turned over some of the articles. +This was work he knew more about, and it was almost as light and fine as +the lace. The design was good and marked by a fantastic Eastern grace, +for it had come from the Canaries and the Moors had taught the Spaniards +how to make it long ago. After some deliberation, Dick chose a belt-clasp +in a box by itself, and the girl who had been waiting on him called a +clerk. + +"You have a good eye, señor," the man remarked. "The clasp was meant for +a sample and not for sale." + +"Making things is my business and I know when they're made well," Dick +answered modestly. "Anyhow, I want the clasp." + +The clerk said they would let him have it because he sometimes bought +supplies for the camp, and Dick put the case in his pocket. Then he +waited until Clare was ready and left the store with her. He had bought +the clasp on an impulse, but now feared that she might not accept his +gift. After a time, he took it out. + +"This caught my eye and I thought you might wear it," he said with +diffidence. + +Clare took the open case, for at first the beauty of the pattern seized +her attention. Then she hesitated and turned to him with some color in +her face. + +"It is very pretty, but why do you want to give it to me?" + +"To begin with, the thing has an airy lightness that ought to suit you. +Then you took care of me and we were very good friends when I was ill. +I'd like to feel I'd given you something that might remind you of this. +Besides, you see, I'm going away----" + +"But you are coming back." + +"Yes; but things might happen in the meantime." + +"What kind of things?" Clare asked in vague alarm. + +"I don't know," Dick said awkwardly. "Still, disturbing things do happen. +Anyhow won't you take the clasp?" + +Clare stood irresolute with the case in her hand. It was strange, and to +some extent embarrassing that Dick should insist upon making her the +present. He had humiliated her and it was impossible that she could marry +him, but there was an appeal in his eyes that was hard to deny. Besides, +the clasp was beautiful and he had shown nice taste in choosing it for +her. + +"Very well," she said gently. "I will keep it and wear it now and then." + +Dick made a sign of gratitude and they went on, but Clare stopped at the +next corner and held out her hand. + +"I must not take you any farther," she said firmly. "I wish you a good +voyage." + +She went into a shop and Dick turned back to the harbor where he boarded +the launch. The boat was loaded deep with coal, the fireman was busy, and +soon after the provisions Dick had bought arrived, steam was up. He took +the helm, the engine began to throb, and they glided through the cool +shadow along the mole. When they met the smooth swell at the harbor mouth +the sea blazed with reflected light, and Dick was glad to fix his eyes +upon the little compass in the shade of the awning astern. The boat +lurched away across the long undulations, with the foam curling up about +her bow and rising aft in a white following wave. + +"I thought of leaving the last few bags of coal," Jake remarked. "There's +not much life in her and we take some chances of being washed off if she +meets a breaking sea." + +"It's a long run and we'll soon burn down the coal, particularly as we'll +have to drive her hard to catch the Danish boat," Dick replied. "If we +can do that, we'll get Kenwardine's steamer at her last port of call. +It's lucky she isn't going direct to Kingston." + +"You have cut things rather fine, but I suppose you worked it out from +the sailing lists. The worst is that following the coast like this takes +us off our course." + +Dick nodded. After making some calculations with Don Sebastian's help, he +had found it would be possible to catch a small Danish steamer that would +take them to a port at which Kenwardine's boat would arrive shortly +afterwards. But since it had been given out that he was going to Coronal, +he must keep near the coast until he passed Adexe. This was necessary, +because Kenwardine would not risk a visit to Jamaica, which was British +territory, if he thought he was being followed. + +"We'll make it all right if the weather keeps fine," he answered. + +They passed Adexe in the afternoon and boldly turned seawards across a +wide bay. At sunset the coast showed faintly in the distance, obscured by +the evening mist, and the land breeze began to blow. It was hot and +filled with strange, sour and spicy smells, and stirred the sea into +short, white ripples that rapidly got larger. They washed across the +boat's half-immersed stern and now and then splashed on board at her +waist; but Dick kept the engine going full speed and sat at the tiller +with his eyes fixed upon the compass. It was not easy to steer by, +because the lurching boat was short and the card span in erratic jerks +when she began to yaw about, swerving off her course as she rose with the +seas. + +The night got very dark, for the land-breeze brought off a haze, but the +engine lamp and glow from the furnace door threw an elusive glimmer about +the craft. White sea-crests chased and caught her up, and rolling forward +broke between the funnel and the bows. Water splashed on board, the +engine hissed as the spray fell on it, and the floorings got wet. One +could see the foam on deck wash about the headledge forward as the bows +went up with a sluggishness that was the consequence of carrying an extra +load of coal. + +The fireman could not steer by compass, and after a time Jake took the +helm from his tired companion. Dick lay down under the side deck, from +which showers of brine poured close beside his head, but did not go to +sleep. He was thinking of Clare and what he must do when he met her +father. It was important that they should catch Kenwardine's boat, since +he must not be allowed to land and finish his business before they +arrived. In the meanwhile, he listened to the measured clank of the +engine, which quickened when the top blade of the screw swung out. So +long as she did not lift the others she would travel well, but by and by +he heard a splash in the crank-pit and called to the fireman, who started +the pump. + +Day broke in a blaze of fiery splendor, and the dripping launch dried. +The coast was near, the sea got smooth, and the tired men were glad of +the heat of the red sun. By and by the breeze died away, and the long +swell heaved in a glassy calm, glittering with silver and vivid blue. +When their clothes were dry they loosed and spread the awning, and a +pungent smell of olive oil and coffee floated about the boat as the +fireman cooked breakfast. After they had eaten, Dick moved a bag or two +of coal to trim the craft and sounded the tank, because a high-pressure +engine uses a large quantity of fresh water. Then he unrolled a chart and +measured the distance to their port while Jake looked over his shoulder. + +"We ought to be in time," he said. "The advertisement merely stated that +the boat would sail to-day, but as she didn't leave the last port until +yesterday and she'd have some cargo to ship, it's unlikely that she'll +clear before noon." + +"It might have been safer to telegraph, booking two berths. These little +boats don't often miss a chance of picking up a few dollars, and the +skipper would have waited." + +"I thought about that; but the telegram would have shown what we were +after if Kenwardine has bribed somebody in the office, which is +possible." + +"You seem convinced he has had an important part in these attacks on +merchant ships," Jake said thoughtfully. + +"It's hard to doubt." + +"The man's by way of being a friend of mine and took you into his house +when you were in some danger of bleeding to death. I'm not sure that he's +guilty, and now I've come with you, am going to see he gets fair play; +but if you can prove your charge, you may do what you like with him. I +think we'll let it go at that." + +Dick nodded. "In the first place, we must make our port, and it's lucky +we'll have smooth water until the sea breeze gets up." + +Telling the fireman he could go to sleep, he moved about the engine with +an oilcan and afterwards cleaned the fire. Then he lay on the counter +with his hand on the helm while the launch sped across the glassy sea, +leaving a long wake astern. The high coast ahead got clearer, but after a +time dark-blue lines began to streak the glistening water and puffs of +wind fanned the men's faces. The puffs were gratefully fresh and the heat +felt intolerable when they passed, but by and by they settled into a +steady draught and the dark lines joined, until the sea was all a glowing +ultramarine. Then small ripples splashed about the launch and Dick +glanced ahead. + +"She's steaming well," he said as he listened to the steady snort of the +exhaust and humming of the cranks. "It's lucky, because there's some +weight in the wind." + +Some hours later, when the sea was flecked with white, they closed with a +strip of gray-green forest that seemed to run out into the water. The +launch rolled and lurched as the foam-tipped combers hove her up and the +awning flapped savagely in the whistling breeze. Away on the horizon, +there was a dingy trail of smoke. Presently Jake stood up on deck, and +watched the masts that rose above the fringe of trees. + +"There's a black-top funnel like the Danish boat's, and a flag with red +and white on it, but it's hanging limp. They don't feel the breeze +inside." + +He jumped down as Dick changed his course, and they passed a spit of +surf-washed sand, rounded the last clump of trees, and opened up the +harbor mouth. The sunshine fell upon a glaring white and yellow town, and +oily water glittered between the wharf and the dark hulls of anchored +vessels, but Dick suddenly set his lips. He knew the Danish boat, and she +was not there. + +"She's gone," said Jake with a hint of relief in his voice. "That was her +smoke on the skyline." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +ROUGH WATER + + +As soon as they entered port, Dick and Jake went to the office of a +Spanish shipbroker, who offered them his polite sympathy. + +"We had very little cargo here, and when he heard there was some dyewood +at San Ignacio the captain steamed off again," he explained. + +"What sort of a port is San Ignacio, and how far is it?" Dick asked. + +"It is an _aldea_ on the shore of a lagoon, with a wharf that small boats +can reach, about forty miles from here." + +"Then they take the dyewood off in boats? If there is much of the stuff, +it would be a long job." + +"That is so, señor. The boats can only reach the wharf when the tide is +high. At other times, the cargo must be carried down through the mud." + +"Have you a large chart of this coast?" + +The broker brought a chart and Dick studied it for some minutes, making +notes in his pocket-book. Then he looked up. + +"Where can I get fresh water?" + +The broker asked how much he wanted and after taking some paper money +gave him a ticket. + +"There is a pipe on the wharf and when the peon sees the receipt he will +fill your tanks." + +Dick thanked him and going out with Jake found their fireman asleep in a +wine-shop. They had some trouble in wakening the man and after sending +him off to get the water, ordered some wine. The room was dirty and +filled with flies, but the lattice shutters kept out the heat and they +found the shadow pleasant after the glare outside. Jake dropped into a +cane chair with a sigh of content. He felt cramped and stiff after the +long journey in the narrow cockpit of the plunging launch, and was +sensible of an enjoyable lassitude. It would be delightful to lounge +about in the shade after refreshing himself with two or three cool +drinks, but he had misgivings that this was not what Dick meant to do. +When he had drained a large glass of light, sweet wine, he felt +peacefully at ease, and resting his head on the chair-back closed his +eyes. After this he was conscious of nothing until Dick said: "It's not +worth while to go to sleep." + +"Not worth while?" Jake grumbled drowsily. "I was awake all last night. +It's quiet and cool here and I can't stand for being broiled outside." + +"I'm afraid you'll have to. We start as soon as Maccario has filled the +tank." + +Jake roused himself with a jerk. Dick leaned forward wearily with his +elbow on the table, but he looked resolute. + +"Then you haven't let up yet? You're going on to the lagoon?" + +"Certainly," said Dick. "The Danish boat has an hour's start, but she +only steams eight or nine knots and it will take some time to load her +cargo." + +"But we can't drive the launch hard. The breeze is knocking up the sea." + +"We'll try," Dick answered, and Jake growled in protest. His dream of +rest and sleep, and perhaps some mildly exciting adventure when the +citizens came out in the cool of the evening, had been rudely banished. +Moreover, he had had another reason for being philosophical when he +thought his comrade baulked. + +"It's a fool trick. She won't make it if the sea gets bad." + +Dick smiled dryly. "We can turn back if we find her getting swamped. It +looks as if you were not very anxious to overtake Kenwardine." + +"I'm not," Jake admitted. "If you're determined to go, I'm coming, but +I'd be glad of a good excuse for letting the matter drop." + +Somewhat to his surprise, Dick gave him a sympathetic nod. "I know; I've +felt like that, but the thing can't be dropped. It's a hateful job, but +it must be finished now." + +"Very well," Jake answered, getting up. "If we must go, the sooner we +start the better." + +The launch looked very small and dirty when they looked down on her from +the wharf, and Jake noted how the surf broke upon the end of the +sheltering point. Its deep throbbing roar warned him what they might +expect when they reached open water, but he went down the steps and +helped Dick to tighten some bearing brasses, after which a peon threw +down their ropes and the screw began to rattle. With a few puffs of steam +from her funnel the launch moved away and presently met the broken swell +at the harbor mouth. Then her easy motion changed to a drunken lurch and +Jake gazed with misgivings at the white-topped seas ahead. + +She went through the first comber's crest with her forefoot in the air +and the foam washing deep along the tilted deck, while the counter +vanished in a white upheaval. Then it swung up in turn, and frames and +planking shook as the engine ran away. This happened at short intervals +as she fought her way to windward in erratic jerks, while showers of +spray and cinders blew aft into the face of her crew. + +Dick drove her out until the sea got longer and more regular, when he +turned and followed the coast, but the flashing blue and white rollers +were now on her beam and flung her to lee as they passed. Sometimes one +washed across her low counter, and sometimes her forward half was buried +in a tumultuous rush of foam. The pump was soon started and they kept it +going, but the water gathered in the crank-pit, where it was churned into +lather, and Jake and Maccario relieved each other at helping the pump +with a bucket. They were drenched and half blinded by the spray, but it +was obvious that their labor was needed and they persevered. + +Stopping for breath now and then, with his back to the wind, Jake glanced +at the coast as the boat swung up with a sea. It made a hazy blur against +the brilliant sky, but his eyes were smarting and dazzled. There was a +confusing glitter all around him, and even the blue hollows they plunged +into were filled with a luminous glow. Still he thought they made +progress, though the launch was drifting to leeward fast, and he told +Dick, who headed her out a point or two. + +"This is not the usual sea breeze; it's blowing really fresh," he said. +"Do you think it will drop at sundown?" + +"I'm not sure," Dick replied, shading his eyes as he glanced at the +windward horizon. + +"Then suppose it doesn't drop?" + +"If the sea gets dangerous, we'll put the helm up and run for shelter." + +"Where do you expect to find it?" + +"I don't know," Dick admitted. "There are reefs and shoals along the +coast that we might get in behind." + +Jake laughed. "Well, I guess this is a pretty rash adventure. You won't +turn back while you can see, and there are safer things than running for +a shoal you don't know, in the dark. However, there's a point one might +get a bearing from abeam and I'll try to fix our position. It might be +useful later." + +Stooping beside the compass, he gazed at the hazy land across its card, +and then crept under the narrow foredeck with a chart. He felt the bows +sweep upwards, pause for a moment, and suddenly lurch down, but now the +sea was long and regular, the motion was rhythmic. Besides, the thud and +gurgle of water outside the boat's thin planks were soothing and +harmonized with the measured beat of the screw. Jake got drowsy and +although he had meant to take another bearing when he thought he could +double the angle, presently fell asleep. + +It was getting dark when he awoke and crept into the cockpit. There was a +change in the motion, for the launch did not roll so much and the combers +no longer broke in showers of spray against her side. She swung up with a +swift but easy lift, the foam boiling high about her rail, and then +gently slid down into the trough. It was plain that she was running +before the wind, but Jake felt that he must pull himself together when he +looked aft, for there is something strangely daunting in a big following +sea. A high, white-topped ridge rolled up behind the craft, roaring as it +chased her, while a stream of spray blew from its curling crest. It hid +the rollers that came behind; there was nothing to be seen but a hill of +water, and Jake found it a relief to fix his eyes ahead. The backs of the +seas were smoother and less disturbing to watch as they faded into the +gathering dark. When the comber passed, he turned to Dick, who stood, +alert and highly strung, at the helm. + +"You're heading for the land," he said. "What are you steering by?" + +"I got the bearing of a point I thought I recognized on the chart before +I lost sight of the coast. There's a long reef outshore of it, with a +break near the point. If we can get through, we might find shelter." + +"Suppose there's something wrong with your bearing, or you can't make +good your course?" + +"Then there'll be trouble," Dick answered grimly. "We'll have the reef to +lee and she won't steam out again." + +Jake put a kettle on the cylinder-top and took some provisions from a +locker. He was hungry and thought he might need all the strength he had, +while he did not want to look at the sea. The pump was clanking hard, but +he could hear the water wash about under the floorings, and the launch +was very wet. Darkness fell as he prepared a meal with the fireman's +help, and they ate by the dim light of the engine-lamp, while Dick, to +whom they handed portions, crouched at the helm, gazing close into the +illuminated compass. Sometimes he missed the food they held out and it +dropped and was washed into the pump-well, but he ate what he could +without moving his eyes. + +Since he must find the opening in the reef, much depended on his steering +an accurate course, but this was difficult, because he had to bear away +before the largest combers. Moreover, the erratic motion of a short boat +in broken water keeps the compass-card rocking to and fro, and long +practise is needed to hit the mean of its oscillations. As a matter of +fact, Dick knew he was leaving much to luck. + +After a time, they heard a hoarse roar. Since the sound would not carry +far to windward, they knew the reef was close ahead, but where the +opening lay was another matter. Dick had no guide except the compass, and +as the launch would probably swamp if he tried to bring her round head to +sea, he must run on and take the risk. By and by, Jake, straining his +eyes to pierce the gloom, called out as he saw a ghostly white glimmer to +starboard. This was the surf spouting on the reef and if it marked the +edge of the channel, they would be safe in going to port; if not, the +launch would very shortly be hurled upon the barrier. + +Dick stood up and gazed ahead. The white patch was getting plainer, but +he could see nothing else. There was, however, a difference in the +motion, and the sea was confused. He ordered the engine to be slowed, and +they ran on until the belt of foam bore abeam. They must be almost upon +the reef now, or else in the channel, and for the next minute or two +nobody spoke. If they had missed the gap, the first warning would be a +shock, and then the combers that rolled up behind them would destroy the +stranded craft. + +She did not strike; the surf was level with her quarter, and Jake, +thrusting down a long boathook, found no bottom. In another minute or two +the water suddenly got smooth, and he threw down the boathook. + +"We're through," he said in a strained voice. "The reef's astern." + +"Try the hand-lead," Dick ordered him, as he changed his course, since he +was apparently heading for the beach. + +Jake got four fathoms and soon afterwards eighteen feet, when Dick +stopped the engine and the launch rolled upon the broken swell. A dark +streak that looked like forest indicated the land, and a line of foam +that glimmered with phosphorescent light ran outshore of them. Now they +were to lee of the reef, the hoarse clamor of the surf rang about the +boat. Unfolding the chart, they studied it by the engine-lamp. It was on +too small a scale to give many details, but they saw that the reef ran +roughly level with the coast and ended in a nest of shoals near a point. + +"We could ride out a gale here," Jake remarked. + +"We could, if we wanted," Dick replied. + +Jake looked at him rather hard and then made a sign of resignation. +"Well, I guess I've had enough, but if you're going on---- How do you +reckon you'll get through the shoals ahead?" + +"I imagine some of them are mangrove islands, and if so, there'll be a +channel of a sort between them. In fact, the chart the broker showed me +indicated something of the kind. With good luck we may find it." + +"Very well," said Jake. "I'm glad to think it will be a soft bottom if we +run aground." + +They went on, keeping, so far as they could judge, midway between reef +and beach, but after a time the lead showed shoaling water and Jake used +the boathook instead. Then the sky cleared and a half-moon came out, and +they saw haze and the loom of trees outshore of them. Slowing the engine, +they moved on cautiously while the water gradually got shallower, until +glistening banks of mud began to break the surface. Then they stopped the +engine, but found the launch still moved forward. + +"I imagine it's about four hours' flood," Dick remarked. "That means the +water will rise for some time yet, and although the current's with us now +I think we can't be far off the meeting of the tides." + +Jake nodded. In places of the kind, the stream often runs in from both +ends until it joins and flows in one direction from the shoalest spot. + +"Then we ought to find a channel leading out on the other side." + +They let the engine run for a few minutes until the boat touched bottom +and stuck fast in the mud. The wind seemed to be falling and the roar of +the surf had got fainter. Thin haze dimmed the moonlight and there were +strange splashings in the water that gently lapped about the belts of +mud. The stream stopped running, but seeing no passage they waited and +smoked. + +"If we can get out on the other side, we oughtn't to be very far from the +lagoon," Jake suggested. + +Presently there was a faint rippling against the bows and the launch +began to swing round. + +"The tide's coming through from the other end," said Dick. "We may find a +channel if we can push her across the mud." + +For half an hour they laboriously poled her with a long oar and the +boathook between the banks of mire. Sometimes she touched and stuck until +the rising water floated her off, and sometimes she scraped along the +bottom, but still made progress. They were breathless and soaked with +perspiration, while the foul scum that ran off the oar stained their damp +clothes. Then Jake's boathook sank a foot or two deeper and finding the +depth as good after a few vigorous pushes, they started the engine. + +Sour exhalations rose from the wake of the churning screw and there was a +curious dragging feel in the boat's motion, as if she were pulling a body +of water after her, but this was less marked when Jake found three or +four feet, and by and by he threw down the pole and they went half-speed +ahead. After a time, the mangroves outshore got farther off, the air +smelt fresher, and small ripples broke the surface of the widening +channel. They went full-speed, the trees faded, and a swell that set her +rocking met the boat, although there still seemed to be a barrier of sand +or mud between her and open sea. + +Giving Jake the helm, Dick crawled under the foredeck, where the +floorings were drier than anywhere else, and lay smoking and thinking +until day broke. The light, which grew brighter rapidly, showed a +glistening line of surf to seaward and mangrove forest on a point ahead. +Beyond this there seemed to be an inlet, and then the shore curved out +again. As they passed the point Dick stood up on deck and presently saw +two tall spars rise above the mist. A few minutes later, the top of a +funnel appeared, and then a sharp metallic rattle rang through the haze. + +"We're in the lagoon," he said. "That's the Danish boat and she hasn't +finished heaving cargo on board." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +KENWARDINE TAKES A RISK + + +Shortly after the launch entered the lagoon, the Danish boat hove her +anchor and steamed out to sea. Dick, who had engaged a half-breed pilot +to take the launch home, lounged in a canvas chair under the poop awning. +His eyes were half closed, for the white boats and deckhouses flashed +dazzlingly in the strong light as the steamer lurched across the vivid +swell of the Caribbean. The cigarette he languidly held had gone out, and +his pose was slack. + +He was physically tired and his brain was dull, but he was conscious of +lethargic satisfaction. For a long time he had been torn between his love +for Clare and his duty to his country. His difficulties were further +complicated by doubts of Kenwardine's guilt, but recent events had +cleared these up. It was, on the whole, a relief to feel that he must now +go forward and there need be no more hesitation and balancing of +probabilities. The time for that had gone and his course was plain. He +must confront Kenwardine with a concise statement of his share in the +plot and force from him an undertaking that he would abandon his +traitorous work. + +This might be difficult, but Dick did not think he would fail. Don +Sebastian, who perhaps knew more than he did, was to meet him at a Cuban +port, and the Spaniard could be trusted to handle the matter with skill. +There was no direct communication between Santa Brigida and Kingston, but +steamers touched at the latter place when making a round of other ports, +which would enable Dick and his ally to join Kenwardine's boat at her +last call. If either of them had gone on board at Santa Brigida, +Kenwardine would have left the ship at the next port. + +Since he had sailed on an English steamer, bound for British territory, +he would be subject to British law when they met, and they could, if +needful, have him arrested. Dick admitted that this ought to be done to +begin with, but had not decided about it yet. He would wait and be guided +by events. The British officials might doubt his story and decline to +interfere, but Kenwardine could not count on that, because Don Sebastian +was armed with credentials from the President of a friendly state. + +Dick, however, dismissed the matter. He was tired in mind and body, and +did not mean to think of anything important until he met Kenwardine. By +and by his head grew heavy, and resting it on the back of his chair, he +closed his eyes. When Jake came up, followed by a steward carrying two +tall glasses of frothing liquor, he saw that his comrade was fast asleep. + +"You can put them down," he told the steward. "I'm thirsty enough to +empty both, but you can bring some more along when my partner wakes." + +After this he took a black seaman, who was making some noise as he swept +the poop, by the arm and firmly led him to the other side of the deck. +Then he drained the glasses with a sigh of satisfaction, and lighting a +cigarette, sat down near Dick's feet. He did not mean to sleep, but when +he got up with a jerk as the lunch bell rang he saw Dick smiling. + +"Have I been sitting there all this time?" he asked. + +"No," said Dick. "You were lying flat on deck when I woke up an hour +ago." Then he indicated the two glasses, which had rolled into the +scupper channel. "I shouldn't be surprised if those accounted for it." + +"Perhaps they did," Jake owned, grinning. "Anyhow, we'll have some more, +with a lump of ice in it, before we go down to lunch." + +The Danish boat met fine weather as she leisurely made her way across the +Caribbean, and after an uneventful voyage, Dick and Jake landed at a port +in Cuba. The British steamer from Santa Brigida had not arrived, but the +agent expected her in the evening, and they found Don Sebastian waiting +them at a hotel he had named. When it was getting dark they walked to the +end of the harbor mole and sat down to watch for the vessel. + +Rows of the lights began to twinkle, one behind the other, at the head of +the bay, and music drifted across the water. A bright glow marked the +plaza, where a band was playing, but the harbor was dark except for the +glimmer of anchor-lights on the oily swell. The occasional rattle of a +winch, jarring harshly on the music, told that the Danish boat was +working cargo. A faint, warm breeze blew off the land, and there was a +flicker of green and blue phosphorescence as the sea washed about the end +of the mole. + +"I wonder how you'll feel if Kenwardine doesn't come," Jake said +presently, looking at Dick, who did not answer. + +"He will come," Don Sebastian rejoined with quiet confidence. + +"Well, I guess he must know he's doing a dangerous thing." + +"Señor Kenwardine does know, but he plays for high stakes and takes the +risks of the game. If it had not been necessary, he would not have +ventured on British soil, but since he was forced to go, he thought the +boldest plan the safest. This is what one would expect, because the man +is brave. He could not tell how far my suspicions went and how much +Señor Brandon knew, but saw that he was watched and if he tried to hide +his movements he would betray himself. It was wiser to act as if he had +nothing to fear." + +"As he was forced to go, his business must be important," Dick said +thoughtfully. "This means he must be dealt with before he lands at +Kingston. If we allowed him to meet his confederates there, the mischief +would be done, and it might be too late afterwards to stop them carrying +out their plans." + +Don Sebastian gave him a quiet smile. "One might learn who his +confederates are if he met them. It looks as if you would sooner deal +with our friend on board." + +"I would," Dick said steadily. "His plotting must be stopped, but I'm +inclined to think I'd be content with that." + +"And you?" the Spaniard asked, turning to Jake. + +"I don't know that Kenwardine is in the worst of the plot. He was a +friend of mine and it's your business to prove him guilty. I mean to +reserve my opinion until you make your charges good." + +"Very well," said Don Sebastian. "We'll be guided by what happens when we +see him." + +They let the matter drop, and half an hour later a white light and a +green light crept out of the dark to seawards, and a faint throbbing grew +into the measured beat of a steamer's screw. Then a low, shadowy hull, +outlined by a glimmer of phosphorescence, came on towards the harbor +mouth, and a rocket swept up in a fiery curve and burst, dropping colored +lights. A harsh rattle of running chain broke out, the screw splashed +noisily for a few moments and stopped, and a launch came swiftly down the +harbor. + +"The port doctor!" said Dick. "There's some cargo ready, and she won't +sail for three or four hours. We had better wait until near the last +moment before we go on board. If our man saw us, he'd take alarm and +land." + +Don Sebastian agreed, and they went back to the hotel, and stayed there +until word was sent that the last boat was ready to leave the mole. They +took their places with one or two more passengers, and as they drew near +the steamer Dick looked carefully about. Several shore boats were hanging +on to the warp alongside and a cargo barge lay beside her quarter. It was +obvious that she would not sail immediately, and if Kenwardine saw them +come on board, he would have no trouble in leaving the vessel. If he +landed, he would be in neutral territory, and their hold on him would be +gone. To make things worse, a big electric lamp had been hung over the +gangway so as to light the ladder. + +Dick could not see Kenwardine among the passengers on deck, and getting +on board as quietly as possible, they went down the nearest companion +stairs and along an alleyway to the purser's office. A number of rooms +opened on to the passage, and Dick had an uncomfortable feeling that +chance might bring him face to face with Kenwardine. Nobody met them, +however, and they found the purser disengaged. + +"If you have a passenger list handy, you might let me see it," Dick said +as he took the tickets. + +The purser gave him a list, and he noted Kenwardine's name near the +bottom. + +"We may as well be comfortable, although we're not going far," he +resumed. "What berths have you left?" + +"You can pick your place," said the purser. "We haven't many passengers +this trip, and there's nobody on the starboard alleyway. However, if you +want a hot bath in the morning, you had better sleep to port. They've +broken a pipe on the other side." + +A bath is a luxury in the Caribbean, but white men who have lived any +time in the tropics prefer it warm, and Dick saw why the passengers had +chosen the port alleyway. He decided to take the other, since Kenwardine +would then be on the opposite side of the ship. + +"We'll have the starboard rooms," he said. "One can go without a bath for +once, and you'll no doubt reach Kingston to-morrow night." + +"I expect so," agreed the purser. "Still, we mayn't be allowed to steam +in until the next morning. They're taking rather troublesome precautions +in the British ports since the commerce-raider got to work." + +Dick signed to the others and crossed the after well towards the poop in +a curiously grim mood. He hated the subterfuge he had practised, and +there was something very repugnant in this stealthy tracking down of his +man, but the chase was nearly over and he meant to finish it. Defenseless +merchant seamen could not be allowed to suffer for his squeamishness. + +"Don Sebastian and I will wait in the second-class smoking-room until she +starts," he said to Jake. "I want you to lounge about the poop deck and +watch the gangway. Let us know at once if you see Kenwardine and it looks +as if he means to go ashore." + +He disappeared with his companion, and Jake went up a ladder and sat down +on the poop, where he was some distance from the saloon passengers. +Kenwardine was less likely to be alarmed at seeing him, but he did not +like his part. The man had welcomed him to his house, and although he had +lost some money there, Jake did not believe his host had meant to plunder +him. After all, Dick and Don Sebastian might be mistaken, and he felt +mean as he watched the gangway. A hint from him would enable Kenwardine +to escape, and it was galling to feel that it must not be given. Indeed, +as time went on, Jake began to wish that Kenwardine would learn that they +were on board and take alarm. He was not sure he would warn Dick if the +fellow tried to steal away. + +In the meanwhile, the pumps on board a water-boat had stopped clanking +and she was towed towards the harbor. The steamer's winches rattled as +they hove up cargo from the barge, but Jake had seen that there was not +much left and she would sail as soon as the last load was hoisted in. +Lighting a cigarette, he ran his eye along the saloon-deck. A few +passengers in white clothes walked up and down, and he studied their +faces as they passed the lights, but Kenwardine was not among them. A +group leaned upon the rails in the shadow of a boat, and Jake felt angry +because he could not see them well. The suspense was getting keen, and he +wished Kenwardine would steal down the ladder and jump into a boat before +he could give the alarm. + +There was, however, no suspicious movement on the saloon-deck, and Jake, +walking to the rail, saw the peons putting the last of the barge's cargo +into the sling. It came up with a rattle of chain, and the barge sheered +off. Somebody gave an order, and there was a bustle on deck. In another +few minutes Kenwardine's last chance of escape would be gone, because a +British ship is British territory, and her captain can enforce his +country's laws. + +Jake threw away his cigarette and took out another when the whistle blew +and the windlass began to clank. Although the anchor was coming up, two +boats hung on to the foot of the ladder, and he could not be expected to +see what was going on while he lighted his cigarette. Kenwardine was +clever, and might have waited until the last moment before making his +escape, with the object of leaving his pursuers on board, but if he did +not go now it would be too late. The clank of the windlass stopped, and +Jake, dropping the match when the flame touched his fingers, looked up. A +group of dark figures were busy on the forecastle, and he saw the captain +on the bridge. + +"All clear forward, sir!" a hoarse voice cried, and somebody shouted: +"Cast off the boats!" + +Then there was a rattle of blocks as the ladder was hoisted in, and the +deck quivered as the engines began to throb. Jake heard the screw slowly +flounder round and the wash beneath the poop as the steamer moved out to +sea, but there was nobody except their colored crews on board the boats +that dropped astern. Kenwardine had had his chance and lost it. He had +been too bold and now must confront his enemies. + +Jake went down the ladder and found Dick waiting at the door of the +second-class saloon. + +"He's on board," he said. "I'm sorry he is. In fact, I'm not sure I'd +have told you if he'd tried to light out at the last moment." + +Dick gave him a dry smile. "I suspect that Don Sebastian didn't trust you +altogether. He left me, and I shouldn't be surprised to learn that he had +found a place where he could watch the gangway without being seen." + +A few minutes later, the Spaniard crossed the after well. "Now," he said, +"we must decide when we ought to have our interview with Señor +Kenwardine, and I think we should put it off until just before we land." + +"Why?" Jake asked. "It would be much pleasanter to get it over and have +done with it." + +"I think not," Don Sebastian answered quietly. "We do not know how Señor +Kenwardine will meet the situation. He is a bold man, and it is possible +that he will defy us." + +"How can he defy you when he knows you can hand him over to the British +authorities?" + +"That might be necessary; but I am not sure it is the British authorities +he fears the most." + +"Then who is he afraid of?" + +"His employers, I imagine," Don Sebastian answered with a curious smile. +"It is understood that they trust nobody and are not very gentle to those +who do not serve them well. Señor Kenwardine knows enough about their +plans to be dangerous, and it looks as if he might fail to carry their +orders out. If we give him too long a warning, he may escape us after +all." + +"I don't see how he could escape. You have him corralled when he's under +the British flag." + +Don Sebastian shrugged as he indicated the steamer's low iron rail and +the glimmer of foam in the dark below. + +"There is one way! If he takes it, we shall learn no more than we know +now." + +He left them, and Jake looked at Dick. "It's unthinkable! I can't stand +for it!" + +"No," said Dick very quietly; "he mustn't be pushed too far. For all +that, his friends can't be allowed to go on sinking British ships." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +THE LAST ENCOUNTER + + +Dick awoke next morning with a feeling of nervous strain that got worse +as the day wore on. By going down to the saloon immediately the +breakfast-bell rang and making a hurried meal, he and his companions +avoided meeting Kenwardine, and, after bribing a steward, were given +lunch with the second-class passengers. Two difficulties were thus got +over, but the time passed heavily while they kept out of sight in quiet +corners of the after well, and Dick found it a relief when a friendly +engineer invited him below. Here he spent some hours, smoking and +watching the machinery, while the fingers of the clock on the bulkhead +crawled with painful slowness round the dial. + +When he went up on deck the bold ridge of the Blue Mountains rose above +the dazzling sea, but the lower slopes were veiled in haze and he could +not tell how far the land was off. A mate informed him that they would +have the coast close aboard at dusk, but did not think anybody would be +allowed to land until the morning. Struck by a thought, Dick asked if any +passenger boats were likely to be in port, and the mate replied that a +Spanish liner would leave for Brazil soon after they arrived, but he knew +of no vessel going north for the next few days. Then, after giving Dick +some advice about the choice of a hotel, he went away. + +Towards sunset the sea-breeze dropped and the mist gathered thicker about +the hills. Faint puffs of hot wind began to blow off the land, which +faded suddenly as darkness rolled down. A thin haze drifted out across +the water and the speed slackened as the vessel closed with the shore. +Then dim lights blinked out ahead, the engines stopped, and a detonating +rocket burst high up in the sky. Soon afterwards a steam launch came off, +and the purser stopped near Dick on his way to his room. + +"We are going in, but will have to wait until the agent gets formal +permission from the guardship's commander, who must see our papers +first," he said. "As this may take some time, perhaps you had better dine +on board." + +When the bell rang Dick and his companions went to the saloon. There were +not many passengers, and the room was nearly empty, but as they entered +Dick saw Kenwardine at the bottom of a table. He glanced up as he heard +their footsteps, and with an abrupt movement turned his revolving chair +partly round. Next moment, however, he looked at Dick coolly, and after a +nod of recognition went on with his dinner. Don Sebastian indicated a +table between Kenwardine and the door, and they sat down. + +Jake played with his food, and Dick had not much appetite, although he +partook of the dishes set before him, because he wanted an excuse for +occupying the table until Kenwardine had finished. The latter showed no +anxiety to get away and now and then kept the steward waiting while he +studied the menu. Dick, who envied his coolness, thought it indicated one +of two things: Kenwardine knew he was beaten and was philosophically +resigned, or had some plan by which he hoped to baffle his pursuers. Now +and then Dick looked at Don Sebastian inquiringly, but the Spaniard +answered with an enigmatic smile. + +In the meantime, the passengers went away to pack or get ready for a run +ashore, and at last the saloon was empty except for Dick's party and +Kenwardine. Then Don Sebastian crossed the floor and bowed to the latter. + +"It would be a favor if you will take a glass of wine with us," he said. + +"Certainly," said Kenwardine, getting up, and Don Sebastian, who gave an +order to a steward, led the way to a corner table where they would not be +disturbed. + +"You were, perhaps, surprised to see us, señor," he resumed, when the +others joined them. + +"I was," Kenwardine admitted. "Still, I suppose I ought to have been +prepared for something of the kind." + +Don Sebastian bowed. "One may understand that as a compliment?" + +"Perhaps it is, in a sense. But I certainly did not expect to meet Mr. +Fuller. We are told that his people mean to preserve a strict +neutrality." + +Jake colored. "I'd have stood out if you had kept your dago friends off +my partner. That's what brought me in; but I'm still trying to be as +neutral as I can." + +"Señor Fuller has informed us that he means to see you get fair play," +Don Sebastian interposed. + +"Well, he has my thanks for that, and my sympathy, which I think he +needs," Kenwardine rejoined with a twinkle. "There's no doubt that he +owes Mr. Brandon something, and I flatter myself that he rather liked me. +It must have been embarrassing to find that he couldn't be friends with +both. However, you had better tell me what you want. My clothes are not +packed, and I must land as soon as possible, because I have some business +to transact to-night." + +"I am afraid you will be unable to do so," Don Sebastian said politely. + +"Why?" + +"The explanation is rather long, but, to begin with, you no doubt know I +was ordered to watch you." + +"I must admit that I suspected something very like it." + +"The President imagined you might become dangerous to the neutrality of +the State, and I learned enough to show that he was right." + +"What did you learn?" + +Don Sebastian smiled. "I will be frank and put down my cards. I would not +do so, señor, if I thought you could beat them." + +He began a concise account of the discoveries he had made; showing +Kenwardine's association with the German, Richter, and giving particulars +about the purchase of the Adexe coaling wharf. Jake leaned forward with +his elbows on the table, listening eagerly, while Dick sat motionless. +Part of what he heard was new to him, but the Spaniard's statements could +not be doubted, and he envied Kenwardine's nerve. The latter's face was, +for the most part, inscrutable, but now and then he made a sign of +languid agreement, as if to admit that his antagonist had scored a point. + +"Well," he said when the other finished, "it is a story that might do me +harm, and there are parts I cannot deny; but it is not complete. One +finds awkward breaks in it. For example, you do not show how the raider +got coal and information from the Adexe Company." + +"I think Señor Brandon can do so," said Don Sebastian, who turned to +Dick. + +Taking his cue from the Spaniard, Dick related what he had noted at the +coaling wharf and learned about the movements of the tug when the +auxiliary cruiser was in the neighborhood. His account to some extent +filled the gaps that Don Sebastian's narrative had left, but now he came +to put the different points together and consider them as a whole, their +significance seemed less. He began to see how a hostile critic would look +at the thing. Much of his evidence was based upon conjecture that might +be denied. Yet, while it was not convincing, it carried weight. + +There was a pause when he finished, and Jake was conscious of a strong +revulsion of feeling as he studied his companions. In a way, the thin, +dark-faced Spaniard and tranquil Englishman were alike. Both wore the +stamp of breeding and were generally marked by an easy good humor and +polished wit that won men's confidence and made them pleasant companions. +But this was on the surface; beneath lay a character as hard and cold as +a diamond. They were cunning, unscrupulous intriguers, who would stick at +nothing that promised to serve their ends. Jake knew Kenwardine now, and +felt angry as he remembered the infatuation that had prevented his +understanding the man. + +Then he glanced at Dick, who sat waiting with a quietly resolute look. +Dick was different from the others; he rang true. One could not doubt his +rather naïve honesty, but in spite of this there was something about him +that made him a match for his scheming opponent. Kenwardine, of course, +had courage, but Dick was armed with a stern tenacity that made him +careless of the hurt he received. Now, though he had nothing to gain and +much to lose, he would hold on because duty demanded it. The contrast +between them threw a lurid light upon Kenwardine's treachery. + +Then the latter said: "You have stated things clearly, Brandon, but, +after all, what you offer is rather plausible argument than proof. In +fact, you must see that your evidence isn't strong enough." + +"It's enough to justify our handing you to the military officers in +Kingston, who would, no doubt, detain you while they made inquiries." + +"Which you don't want to do?" + +"No," said Dick shortly. "But I may be forced." + +"Very well. This brings us back to the point we started from," Kenwardine +replied and turned to Don Sebastian. "What is it you want?" + +"To know where Richter is, and who supplied him with the money he paid +for the coaling business." + +"Then I'm sorry I cannot tell you, and you certainly wouldn't get the +information by having me locked up, but perhaps I can meet you in another +way. Now it's obvious that you know enough to make it awkward for me to +carry on the Adexe wharf, and my help is necessary for the part of the +business you object to. If I retire from it altogether, you ought to be +satisfied." + +The Spaniard did not answer, and while he pondered, the beat of a +launch's engine came in through the open ports. Kenwardine lighted a +cigarette, spending some time over it, and as he finished the launch ran +alongside. There were footsteps on deck, and a few moments later a +steward entered the saloon. + +"We are going in," he announced. "Will you have your luggage put on +deck?" + +"You can take ours up," said Don Sebastian, who indicated Kenwardine. +"Leave this gentleman's for the present." + +Kenwardine did not object, but Jake, who was watching him, thought he +saw, for the first time, a hint of uneasiness in his look. Then Don +Sebastian got up. + +"I must think over Señor Kenwardine's suggestion, and you may want to +talk to him," he said, and went out. + +When he had gone, Kenwardine turned to Dick. "There's a matter I would +like to clear up; I had nothing to do with the attempts that seem to have +been made upon your life. In fact, I suspected nothing of the kind until +you told me about the accident at the dam, but Fuller afterwards showed +me that it was time to interfere." + +"That's true," said Jake. "Anyhow, I gave him a plain hint, but as he +didn't seem able to stop the accidents, I put Don Sebastian on the +track." + +"You can't with any fairness make me accountable for the actions of +half-breeds who hold life very cheap and meant to keep a paying job," +Kenwardine resumed, addressing Dick. "You knew what kind of men you had +to deal with and took the risk." + +"It's hard to see how a white man could make use of such poisonous +colored trash," Jake remarked. "But I expect you don't want me, and I'll +see what Don Sebastian is doing." + +He left them, and there was silence for a few moments until the screw +began to throb and they heard the wash of water along the steamer's side. +Then Kenwardine said quietly, "Fuller has tact. There's a matter that +concerns us both that has not been mentioned yet. I'll clear the ground +by stating that although our Spanish friend has not decided what he means +to do, I shall not go back to Santa Brigida. I imagine this will remove +an obstacle from your way." + +"Thanks for the lead," Dick answered. "I resolved, some time ago, to +marry Clare if she would have me, though I saw that it would mean +separating her from you." + +"And yet you believed she stole your papers!" + +"I thought she did," Dick answered doggedly. "Still, I didn't blame her." + +"You blamed me? But you ought to be satisfied, in one respect, because +Clare and I are separated, and I'll own that I'm anxious about her +future. Had things gone well, I would have tried to keep her away from +you; in fact, I did try, because I frankly think she might have made a +better marriage. For all that, if you are determined and she is willing, +you have my consent. You will probably never be very rich, but I could +trust Clare to you." + +"I am determined." + +"Very well. I can tell you something you may be glad to hear. Clare did +not rob you, nor did I." + +Dick looked at him with keen relief. "Then who took the plans?" + +"Your cousin. The pocket they were in was unbuttoned when he took hold of +you and hurried you out of the house. He brought them to me afterwards, +but I saw they were not valuable and destroyed them." + +It was impossible to doubt the statement, and Dick flushed with shame and +anger as he realized that his absurd and unjust suspicion of Clare had +prevented his seeing who the real culprit was. Clare had accidentally +torn his pocket loose, the bulky envelope must have been sticking out, +and Lance had noticed it as he hustled him across the hall. + +"Yes; Lance took the plans!" he exclaimed hoarsely. "But why?" + +"It looks as if you hadn't heard from home. Your cousin has stepped into +your place. I imagine he had always envied it, and didn't hesitate when +he saw an opportunity of getting rid of you." + +Dick was silent for a few moments and his face was very hard. He heard +the crew hurrying about the deck, and a winch rattle as the hatches were +lifted. The vessel would soon be in port, and Kenwardine's fate must be +decided before they went ashore; but the man looked very cool as he +leaned back in his chair, languidly waiting. + +"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Dick asked sternly. + +"I should have thought my object was plain enough," Kenwardine replied. +"I didn't want Clare to marry a badly paid engineer. Things are different +now and I admit that you have stood a rather severe test. I'll give you +two letters; one to Clare, advising her to marry you, and the other +stating how your cousin stole the plans, which you can use in any way you +like. Before writing them, I'd like to see Fuller for a minute or two. +You needn't hesitate about it, because I don't mean to victimize him in +any way. In fact, I want to tell him something to his advantage." + +Dick went out, and when he had sent Jake down, leaned upon the steamer's +rail lost in thought. It had been a shock to learn of his cousin's +treachery, but this was balanced by the relief of knowing that Clare was +innocent. Indeed, he grew hot with shame as he wondered how he had +suspected her. He felt angry with Kenwardine for keeping him in the dark +so long, but his indignation was tempered by a touch of grim amusement. +Since the fellow was ambitious for Clare, he must have regretted having +destroyed the plans when he learned that Dick's father was rich, but +after conniving at the theft he could not put matters right. Now, when +his career was ended, he was willing, for his daughter's sake, to clear +Dick's name and help him to regain the station he had lost. But Dick was +not sure he wished to regain it just yet. He had been turned out of the +army; his father, who had never shown much love for him, had been quick +to believe the worst; and he was bound for a time to a man who had +befriended him. + +Presently he looked about. Lights were opening out in twinkling lines as +the steamer moved shoreward, and a splash of oars came out of the gloom. +Dick vacantly noted that several boats were approaching, and then a winch +rattled and Don Sebastian, who had come up quietly, touched his arm. A +chain sling swung past beneath a moving derrick, and as they crossed the +deck to get out of the way he saw a steamer close by. Her windlass was +clanking as she shortened her cable and he supposed she was the Spanish +boat the mate had spoken of, but he followed his companion and listened +to what he had to say. Then as the anchor was let go he thought Jake +ought to have come back and went to look for him. He found the lad +leaning against the deckhouse, smoking a cigarette. + +"Where's Kenwardine?" he asked. + +"I left him in the saloon. He gave me two letters for you and a useful +hint about some debts of mine." + +"Never mind that! How long is it since you left him?" + +"Quite five minutes," Jake answered coolly. + +Struck by something in his tone, Dick ran below and found no luggage in +Kenwardine's room. None of the stewards whom he asked had seen him for +some time, and a hasty search showed that he was not on deck. Dick went +back to Jake. + +"Do you know where the fellow is?" he asked sharply as Don Sebastian came +up. + +"If you insist, I imagine he's on board the Spanish boat," Jake answered +with a chuckle. "As she seems to have her anchor up, I guess it's too +late for us to interfere." + +A sharp rattle of chain that had rung across the water suddenly stopped +and Dick saw one of the steamer's colored side-lights slowly move. It was +plain that she was going to sea. + +"Since we had been passed by the doctor, there was nothing to prevent the +shore boats coming alongside, and I believe one or two did so before we +quite stopped," Jake resumed. "They were, no doubt, looking for a job, +and the ladder was already lowered." + +"Then you knew Kenwardine meant to steal away?" + +"I didn't know, but thought it likely," Jake replied with some dryness. +"On the whole, it was perhaps the best thing he could do. What's your +opinion, Don Sebastian?" + +The Spaniard smiled. "I think the President will be satisfied that it was +the simplest way out of the difficulty." + +"Well," said Jake, "here are your letters, Dick. Perhaps we had better +see about getting ashore." + +They moved towards the gangway, past the hatch where some heavy cases +were being hoisted up, and Dick carefully put the letters in his pocket. +This distracted his attention from what was going on, and when he heard a +warning shout he stepped back a moment too late. A big case swung forward +beneath a derrick-boom and struck his shoulder. Staggering with the blow, +he lost his balance and plunged down the hatch. He was conscious of a +heavy shock, a sudden, stinging pain, and then remembered nothing more. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +RICHTER'S MESSAGE + + +It was a hot evening and Clare sat at a table in the patio, trying to +read. The light was bad, for buzzing insects hovered about the lamp, but +the house had not cooled down yet and she wanted to distract her troubled +thoughts. Footsteps and voices rose from the street outside, where the +citizens were passing on their way to the plaza, but the sounds were +faint and muffled by the high walls. The house had been built in times +when women were jealously guarded and a dwelling was something of a fort. +Now, with the iron gate in the narrow, arched entrance barred, the girl +was securely cut off from the exotic life of the city. + +This isolation was sometimes a comfort, but it sometimes jarred. Clare +was young, and fond of cheerful society, and the iron gate had its +counterpart in another barrier, invisible but strong, that shut her out +from much she would have enjoyed. She often stood, so to speak, gazing +wistfully between the bars at innocent pleasures in which she could not +join. Kenwardine, in spite of his polished manners, was tactfully avoided +by English and Americans of the better class, and their wives and +daughters openly showed their disapproval. + +At length Clare gave up the attempt to read. She felt lonely and +depressed. Nobody had been to the house since Kenwardine left, and Dick +and Jake were away. She did not see Dick often and he was, of course, +nothing to her; for one thing, he was in some mysterious way her father's +enemy. Still, she missed him; he was honest, and perhaps, if things had +been different---- + +Then she turned her head sharply as she heard the click of a bolt. This +was strange, because Lucille had locked the gate. She could not see it in +the gloom of the arch, but it had certainly opened. Then as she waited +with somewhat excited curiosity a dark figure appeared on the edge of the +light, and she put down her book as Richter came forward. He made very +little noise and stopped near the table. + +"How did you get in?" she asked. + +Richter smiled. "You have forgotten that Herr Kenwardine gave me a key." + +"I didn't know he had," Clare answered. "But won't you sit down?" + +He moved a chair to a spot where his white clothes were less conspicuous, +though Clare noted that he did so carelessly and not as if he wished to +hide himself. Then he put a small linen bag on the table. + +"This is some money that belongs to Herr Kenwardine; you may find it +useful. It is not good to be without money in a foreign town." + +Clare looked at him with alarm. He was fat and generally placid, but his +philosophical good humor was not so marked as usual. + +"Then you have heard from my father?" + +"Yes. I have a cablegram. It was sent in a roundabout way through other +people's hands and took some time to reach me. Herr Kenwardine left +Kingston last night." + +"But there is no boat yet." + +Richter nodded. "He is not coming to Santa Brigida. I do not think that +he will come back at all." + +For a moment or two Clare felt unnerved, but she pulled herself together. +She realized now that she had long had a vague fear that something of +this kind would happen. + +"Then where has he gone? Why didn't he write to me?" she asked. + +"He has gone to Brazil and will, no doubt, write when he arrives. In the +meantime, you must wait and tell people he is away on business. This is +important. You have some money, and the house is yours for a month or +two." + +"But why has he gone? Will you show me the cablegram?" + +"You could not understand it, and it might be better that you should not +know," Richter answered. Then he paused and his manner, which had been +friendly and sympathetic, changed. His short hair seemed to bristle and +his eyes sparkled under his shaggy brows as he resumed: "Herr Kenwardine +was forced to go at the moment he was needed most. Your father, +fräulein, is a bold and clever man, but he was beaten by a blundering +fool. We had confidence in him, but the luck was with his enemies." + +"Who are his enemies?" + +"The Englishman, Brandon, is the worst," Richter answered with keen +bitterness. "We knew he was against us, but thought this something of a +joke. Well, it seems we were mistaken. These English are obstinate; often +without imagination or forethought, they blunder on, and chance, that +favors simpletons, is sometimes with them. But remember, that if your +father meets with misfortunes, you have Brandon to thank." + +The color left Clare's face, but she tried to brace herself. + +"What misfortunes has my father to fear?" + +Richter hesitated, and then said deprecatingly: "I cannot be as frank as +I wish. Herr Kenwardine's work was most important, but he failed in it. I +know this was not his fault and would trust him again, but there are +others, of higher rank, who may take a different view. Besides, it will +be remembered that he is an Englishman. If he stays in Brazil, I think he +will be left alone, but he will get no money and some he has earned will +not be sent. Indeed, if it were known, fräulein, I might be blamed for +paying you this small sum, but I expect you will need it." + +He got up, as if to go, but Clare stopped him. + +"You will come back as soon as you know something more and tell me what +to do." + +Richter made an apologetic gesture. "That will be impossible. I ran some +risk in coming now and leave Santa Brigida to-night in a fishing boat. +You will stay in this house, as if you expect your father back, until you +hear from him. He will send you instructions when he lands." + +Then the kitchen door across the patio opened and a bucket clinked. +Richter stepped back into the shadow and Clare looked round as an +indistinct figure crossed the tiles. When she looked back Richter had +gone and she heard the splash of water. She sat still until the servant +went away and then sank down limply in her chair. She was left alone and +unprotected except for old Lucille, in a foreign town where morals were +lax and license was the rule. The few English and Americans whose help +she might have asked regarded her with suspicion, and it looked as if her +father would be unable to send for her. + +This was daunting but it was not the worst. Richter had vaguely hinted at +Kenwardine's business, which was obviously mysterious. She saw where his +hints led, but she would not follow up the clue. Her father had been +ruined by Brandon, and her heart was filled with anger, in which she +found it some relief to indulge. Dick had long been their enemy and +thought her a thief, while the possibility that he was justified in the +line he had taken made matters worse. If she was the daughter of a man +dishonored by some treason against his country, she could not marry Dick. +She had already refused to do so, but she did not want to be logical. It +was simpler to hate him as the cause of her father's downfall. The latter +had always indulged her, and now she understood that he would land in +Brazil penniless, or at least impoverished. Since he was accustomed to +extravagance, it was painful to think of what he might suffer. + +Then she began to speculate about Richter's visit. He had come at some +risk and seemed sorry for her, but he had urged her to stay in the house, +as if she expected her father to return. This could be of no advantage to +the latter, and she wondered whether the man had meant to make use of her +to divert suspicion from himself and his friends. It seemed uncharitable +to think so, but she was very bitter and could trust nobody. + +After a time she got calm, and remembering that she had her own situation +to consider, counted the money in the bag. It was not a large sum, but +with economy might last for a few weeks, after which she must make some +plans. She was incapable of grappling with any fresh difficulty yet, but +she must brace her courage and not break down, and getting up with a +resolute movement she went into the house. + +On the morning after his fall, Dick came to his senses in a shaded room. +He heard a shutter rattle as the warm breeze flowed in, and noted a +flickering patch of light on the wall, but found with some annoyance that +he could not see it well. His head was throbbing and a bandage covered +part of his face. His side was painful too, and he groaned when he tried +to move. + +"Where am I?" he asked a strange man, who appeared beside his bed, and +added in an injured tone: "It looks as if I'd got into trouble again." + +"You had a narrow escape," the other answered soothingly. "You cut your +head badly and broke two of your ribs when you fell down the steamer's +hold. Now you're in hospital, but you're not to talk." + +"I'll get worse if you keep me quiet," Dick grumbled. "How can you find +out things that bother you, unless you talk?" + +"Don't bother about them," said the doctor. "Have a drink instead." + +Dick looked at the glass with dull suspicion. "I don't know, though I'm +thirsty. You see, I've been in a doctor's hands before. In fact, I seem +to have a gift for getting hurt." + +"It's cool and tastes nice," the other urged. "You didn't rest much last +night and if you go to sleep now we'll try to satisfy your curiosity +afterwards." + +Dick hesitated, but took the glass and went to sleep soon after he +drained it. When he awoke the light had vanished from the wall and the +room was shadowy, but he saw Jake sitting by the bed. A nurse, who put a +thermometer in his mouth and felt his pulse, nodded to the lad as if +satisfied before she went away. Dick's head was clearer, and although the +movement hurt him he resolutely fixed his uncovered eye on his companion. + +"Now," he said, "don't tell me not to talk. Do you know why they've fixed +this bandage so that it half blinds me?" + +Jake looked embarrassed. "There's a pretty deep cut on your forehead." + +"Do you suppose I can't feel it? But I want to know why they're not +satisfied with tying my forehead up? You may as well tell me, because I'm +not going to sleep again. It looks as if I'd slept all day." + +"The cut runs through your eyelid and the doctor thinks it wiser to be +careful." + +"About my eye?" + +"It's just a precaution," Jake declared. "There's really nothing the +matter, but he thought it would be better to keep out the strong light." + +"Ah!" said Dick, who was not deceived, and was silent for the next few +moments. Then he resumed in a rather strained voice: "Well, let's talk +about something else. Where's Don Sebastian?" + +"I haven't seen him since lunch, but he spent the morning interviewing +the British authorities." + +"Do you think he told them to send after Kenwardine?" + +"No," said Jake with a twinkle, "I rather think he's put them off the +track, and although he had to give them a hint out of politeness, doesn't +want them to know too much. Then there's only an old-fashioned cruiser +here and I understand she has to stop for a guardship. In fact, Don +Sebastian seems to imagine that Kenwardine is safe so long as he keeps +off British soil. However, an official gentleman with a refined taste in +clothes and charming manners called at our hotel and is coming to see you +as soon as the doctor will let him." + +Next morning Dick saw the gentleman, who stated his rank and then asked a +number of questions, which Dick did not answer clearly. He was glad that +his bandaged head gave him an excuse for seeming stupid. He had done his +part, and now Kenwardine could do no further harm, it would be better for +everybody if he got away. After a time, his visitor observed: + +"Well, you seem to have rendered your country a service, and I expect you +will find things made smooth for you at home after our report upon the +matter has been received." + +"Ah!" said Dick. "It looks as if you knew why I left." + +The gentleman made a sign of assent. "Your Spanish friend was discreet, +but he told us something. Besides, there are army lists and _London +Gazettes_ in Kingston." + +Dick was silent for a few moments, and then said: "As a matter of fact, I +am not anxious to go home just yet." + +"Are you not?" the other asked with a hint of polite surprise. "I do not +think there would be much difficulty about a new commission, and officers +are wanted." + +"They're not likely to want a man with one eye, and I expect it will come +to that," Dick said grimly. + +His visitor was sympathetic, but left soon afterwards, and Dick thought +he was not much wiser about Kenwardine's escape than when he came. Two or +three weeks later he was allowed to get up, although he was tightly +strapped with bandages and made to wear a shade over his eyes. When he +lay in the open air one morning, Jake joined him. + +"We must get back to Santa Brigida as soon as we can," he said. "They're +planning an extension of the irrigation scheme, and the old man and Ida +are coming out. The doctor seems to think you might go by the next boat +if we take care of you. But I'd better give you Kenwardine's letters. We +took them out of your pocket the night you got hurt, and I've been +wondering why you haven't asked for them." + +"Thanks," Dick answered dully. "I don't know that I'll use them now. I'll +be glad to get back and dare say I can do my work with one eye." + +"You'll soon have both," Jake declared. + +"It's doubtful," said Dick. "I don't think the doctor's very sanguine." + +On the whole, he was relieved when Jake left, because he found it an +effort to talk, but the thoughts he afterwards indulged in were gloomy. +His broken ribs did not trouble him much, but there was some risk of his +losing his eye. He had helped to expose and banish Kenwardine, and could +not ask Clare to marry him after that, even if he were not half blind and +disfigured. Besides, it was doubtful if he would be able to resume his +profession or do any useful work again. The sight of the uninjured eye +might go. As a matter of fact, the strain he had borne for some time had +told upon his health and the shock of the accident had made things worse. +He had sunk into a dejected, lethargic mood, from which he had not the +vigor to rouse himself. + +A week later he was helped on board a small French boat and sailed for +Santa Brigida. He did not improve with the sea air, as Jake had hoped, +and for the most part avoided the few passengers and sat alone in the +darkest corner he could find. Now and then he moodily read Kenwardine's +letters. He had at first expected much from them. They might have removed +the stain upon his name and the greatest obstacle between himself and +Clare; but he no longer cared much about the former and the letters were +useless now. For all that, he put them carefully away in a leather case +which he carried in an inside pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +IDA INTERFERES + + +On his return to Santa Brigida, Dick went to see a Spanish oculist, who +took a more hopeful view than the Kingston doctor, although he admitted +that there was some danger of the injury proving permanent. Dick felt +slightly comforted when he learned that the oculist was a clever man who +had been well known in Barcelona until he was forced to leave the city +after taking part in some revolutionary plot. He was, however, unable to +resume his work, and while he brooded over his misfortunes a touch of the +malaria he had already suffered from hindered his recovery. One of the +effects of malaria is a feeling of black depression. He was feebly +struggling against the weakness and despondence when Fuller arrived and +soon afterwards came to see him. Dick, who was sitting in the darkest +corner of the veranda, had got rid of his bandage; but an ugly, livid +mark crossed his forehead to the shade above his eyes and his face looked +worn. Fuller talked about the dam for a time, and then stopped and looked +hard at his silent companion. + +"I imagined all this would interest you, but you don't say much." + +"No," said Dick. "You see, it's galling to listen to plans you can't take +part in. In fact, I feel I ought to resign." + +"Why?" + +"It looks as if it may be a long time before I can get to work and I may +never be of much use again." + +"Well, I suppose it's natural that you should feel badly humped, but you +don't know that you'll lose your eye, and if you did, you'd do your work +all right with the other. However, since you started the subject, I've +something to say about our contract. If the new scheme we're negotiating +goes through, as I think it will, I'll have to increase my staff. Should +I do so, you'll get a move up and, of course, better pay for a more +important job." + +Dick, who was touched by this mark of confidence, thanked him awkwardly, +and although he felt bound to object that he might be unable to fill the +new post, Fuller stopped him. + +"All you have to do is to lie off and take it easy until you get well. I +know a useful man when I see him and it won't pay me to let you go. When +I've fixed things with the President I'll make you an offer. Now +Stuyvesant's waiting for me and I understand my daughter is coming to see +you." + +He went away and soon afterwards Ida Fuller came in. Dick rather +awkwardly got her a chair, for his shade, which was closely pulled down, +embarrassed him, but she noticed this, and his clumsiness made a strong +appeal. She liked Dick and had some ground for being grateful to him. For +half an hour she talked in a cheerful strain and Dick did his best to +respond, but she saw what the effort cost and went away in a thoughtful +mood. + +Ida Fuller had both sympathy and self-confidence, and when things went +wrong with her friends seldom felt diffident about trying to put them +right. In consequence, she took Jake away from the others, whom her +father had asked to dinner that evening. + +"What's the matter with Dick Brandon?" she asked. + +"It's pretty obvious. His trouble began with broken ribs and may end with +the loss of his eye; but if you want a list of his symptoms----" + +"I don't," said Ida. "Does his trouble end with the injury to his eye?" + +Jake gave her a sharp glance. "If you insist on knowing, I admit that I +have my doubts. But you must remember that Dick has a touch of malaria, +which makes one morbid." + +"But this doesn't account for everything?" + +"No," said Jake, who lighted a cigarette, "I don't think it does. In +fact, as I know your capabilities and begin to see what you're getting +after, there's not much use in my trying to put you off the track." + +Ida sat down in a canvas chair and pondered for a minute or two. + +"You know Miss Kenwardine; if I recollect, you were rather enthusiastic +about her. What is she like?" + +Jake's eyes twinkled. "You mean--is she good enough for Dick? He'll be a +lucky man if he gets her, and I don't mind confessing that I thought of +marrying her myself only she made it clear that she had no use for me. +She was quite right; I'd have made a very poor match for a girl like +that." + +Ida was not deceived by his half-humorous manner, for she remarked +something that it was meant to hide. Still, Jake had had numerous love +affairs that seldom lasted long. + +"Have you been to see her since you came back?" she asked. + +"Yes," said Jake. "After helping to drive her father out of the country, +I knew it would be an awkward meeting, but I felt I ought to go because +she might be in difficulties, and I went twice. On the whole, it was a +relief when I was told she was not at home." + +"I wonder whether she would see me?" + +"You're pretty smart, but I suspect this is too delicate a matter for you +to meddle with." + +"I'll be better able to judge if you tell me what you know about it." + +Jake did so with some hesitation. He knew his sister's talents and that +her object was good, but he shrank from betraying his comrade's secrets. + +"I think I've put you wise, but I feel rather mean," he concluded. + +"What you feel is not important. But you really think he hasn't sent her +Kenwardine's letter?" + +Jake made a sign of agreement and Ida resumed: + +"The other letter stating that his cousin stole the plans is equally +valuable and his making no use of it is significant. Your partner's a +white man, Jake, but he's foolish and needs the help of a judicious +friend. I want both letters." + +"I've warned you that it's a dangerous game. You may muss up things." + +"Then I'll be responsible. Can you get the letters?" + +"I think so," Jake replied with an embarrassed grin. "In a way, it's a +shabby trick, but if he will keep papers in his pocket after getting one +lot stolen, he must take the consequences." + +"Very well," said Ida calmly. "Now we had better go in before the others +wonder why we left them." + +Next morning Clare sat in the patio in very low spirits. No word had come +from Kenwardine, and her money was nearly exhausted. She had heard of +Dick's return, but not that he was injured, and he had kept away. This +was not surprising and she did not want to meet him; but it was strange +that he had not come to see her and make some excuse for what he had +done. He could, of course, make none that would appease her, but he ought +to have tried, and it looked as if he did not care what she thought of +his treachery. + +Then she glanced up as Ida came in. Clare had seen Ida in the street and +knew who she was, but she studied her with keen curiosity as she +advanced. Her dress was tasteful, she was pretty, and had a certain stamp +of refinement and composure that Clare knew came from social training; +but she felt antagonistic. For all that, she indicated a chair and waited +until her visitor sat down. Then she asked with a level glance: "Why have +you come to see me?" + +"I expect you mean--why did I come without getting your servant to +announce me?" Ida rejoined with a disarming smile. "Well, the gate was +open, and I wanted to see you very much, but was half afraid you wouldn't +let me in. I owe you some apology, but understand that my brother is a +friend of yours." + +"He was," Clare said coldly. + +"Then he has lost your friendship by taking Dick Brandon's part?" + +Clare colored, but her voice was firm as she answered: + +"To some extent that is true. Mr. Brandon has cruelly injured us." + +"He was forced. Dick Brandon is not the man to shirk his duty because it +was painful and clashed with his wishes." + +"Was it his duty to ruin my father?" + +"He must have thought so; but we are getting on dangerous ground. I don't +know much about the matter. Do you?" + +Clare lowered her eyes. Since Richter's visit, she had had disturbing +doubts about the nature of Kenwardine's business; but after a few moments +she asked in a hard, suspicious voice: "How do you know so much about Mr. +Brandon?" + +"Well," said Ida calmly, "it's plain that I'm not in love with him, +because if I were, I should not have tried to make his peace with you. As +a matter of fact, I'm going to marry somebody else before very long. +However, now I think I've cleared away a possible mistake, I'll own that +I like Dick Brandon very much and am grateful to him for the care he has +taken of my brother." + +"He stopped Jake from coming here," Clare rejoined with a blush. + +"That is so," Ida agreed. "He has done a number of other things that got +him into difficulties, because he thought it right. That's the kind of +man he is. Then I understand he was out of work and feeling desperate +when my father engaged him, he got promotion in his employment, and I +asked him to see that Jake came to no harm. I don't know if he kept his +promise too conscientiously, and you can judge better than me. But I +think you ought to read the letters your father gave him." + +She first put down Kenwardine's statement about the theft of the plans, +and Clare was conscious of overwhelming relief as she read it. Dick knew +now that she was not the thief. Then Ida said: "If you will read the +next, you will see that your father doesn't feel much of a grievance +against Brandon." + +The note was short, but Kenwardine stated clearly that if Clare wished to +marry Brandon he would be satisfied and advised her to do so. The girl's +face flushed as she read and her hands trembled. Kenwardine certainly +seemed to bear Dick no ill will. But since the latter had his formal +consent, why had he not used it? + +"Did Mr. Brandon send you with these letters?" she asked as calmly as she +could. + +"No, I brought them without telling him, because it seemed the best thing +to do." + +"You knew what they said?" + +"I did," Ida admitted. "They were open." + +Clare noted her confession; but she must deal with matters of much +greater importance. + +"Then do you know why he kept the letters back?" + +Ida hesitated. If Clare were not the girl she thought, she might, by +appealing to her compassion, supply her with a reason for giving Dick up, +but if this happened, it would be to his advantage in the end. Still she +did not think she was mistaken and she must take the risk. + +"Yes," she said. "I feel that you ought to understand his reasons; that +is really why I came. It looks as if you had not heard that shortly after +he met your father Dick fell down the steamer's hold." + +Clare made an abrupt movement and her face got anxious. "Was he hurt?" + +"Very badly. He broke two ribs and the fever he got soon afterwards +stopped his getting better; but that is not the worst. One of his eyes +was injured, and there is some danger that he may lose his sight." + +It was plain that Clare had got a shock, for she sat in a tense attitude +and the color left her face; but Ida saw that she had read her character +right and taken the proper course. Indeed, she wondered whether she had +not unnecessarily harrowed the girl's feelings. + +"Now," she resumed, "you understand why Dick Brandon kept back the +letters. It is obvious that he loves you, but he is disfigured and may +have to give up his profession----" + +She stopped, for Clare's face changed and her eyes shone with a gentle +light. + +"But what does that matter?" she exclaimed. "He can't think it would +daunt me." + +Ida rose, for she saw that she had said enough. "Then perhaps you had +better show him that you are not afraid. If you will dine with us this +evening at the dam, you will see him. Jake will come for you and bring +you back." + +When she left a few minutes later she had arranged for the visit, and +Clare sat still, overwhelmed with compassionate gentleness and relief. +Her father did not blame Dick and there was no reason she should harden +her heart against him. He knew that she was innocent, but he was tied by +honorable scruples. Well, since he would not come to her, she must go to +him, but she would do so with pride and not false shame. It was clear +that he loved her unselfishly. By and by, however, she roused herself. As +she was going to him, there were matters to think about, and entering the +house she spent some time studying her wardrobe and wondering what she +would wear. + +That evening Dick sat on the veranda of his shack, with a shaded lamp, +which he had turned low, on the table close by. His comrades were dining +at Fuller's tent and he had been asked, but had made excuses although he +was well enough to go. For one thing, it hurt him to sit in a strong +light, though the oculist, whom he had seen in the morning, spoke +encouragingly about his eye. Indeed, Dick had begun to think that there +was now no real danger of its having received a permanent injury. For all +that, he was listless and depressed, because he had not got rid of the +fever and malaria is generally worse at night. He had been cautioned not +to read and his cigarette had a bitter taste. There was nothing to do but +wait until Jake came home. Now he thought of it, Jake had accepted his +excuses rather easily. + +By and by, he heard the lad's voice and footsteps on the path. Jake was +returning early and there was somebody with him, but Dick wished they had +left him alone. He rose, however, as Ida came up the steps and into the +light, which did not carry far. Dick imagined there was another person as +well as Jake in the shadow behind. + +"Jake brought me over to see his last sketches and I'm going in to +criticize them," she said. "As you couldn't come to us, I've brought you +a visitor, whom you know." + +Dick felt his heart beat as he saw Clare. She was dressed in white, and +the silver clasp gleamed against a lavender band at her waist. It was +significant that she wore it, but he could not see her face clearly. Then +Ida beckoned Jake. + +"Come along; I want to look at the drawings." + +They went into the house, and Dick made an effort to preserve his +self-control. Clare moved into the light and he saw her color rise, +though her eyes were very soft. + +"Why didn't you tell me you were ill?" she asked with gentle reproach. + +He hesitated, trying to strengthen his resolution, which he knew was +breaking down, and Clare resumed: + +"Besides, I don't think you should have kept that letter back." + +Dick instinctively pulled out the leather case, and started as he saw +there was nothing inside. + +"It's gone. You have seen it?" he stammered. + +"I've seen them both," Clare answered with a smile. "Doesn't this remind +you of something? I'm afraid you're careless, Dick." + +The color rushed into his face. "If you have seen those letters, you know +what a suspicious fool I've been." + +"That doesn't matter. You're convinced at last?" Clare rejoined with a +hint of pride. + +"In a sense, I always was convinced. If I'd seen you take the wretched +plans, I wouldn't have held you accountable. Because you took them, it +couldn't have been wrong." + +Clare blushed, but looked at him with shining eyes. "I wanted to hear you +say it again. But it wasn't that letter--I mean the one about the +plans--that brought me." + +Then the last of Dick's self-control vanished and with a half conscious +movement he held out his hands. Clare came forward and next moment she +was in his arms. + +Some time later he felt he must be practical and said in a deprecatory +tone: "But you must try to understand what you are doing, dear, and the +sacrifices you must make. Things aren't quite as bad as they looked, but +I can't go home just yet and may always be a poor engineer." He indicated +the galvanized-iron shack. "You will have to live in a place like this, +and though I think my eye will get better, there's the scar on my +face----" + +Clare gave him a quiet smiling glance. "That doesn't matter, Dick, and I +never really had a home." She paused and added gently: "But I shall have +one now." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRANDON OF THE ENGINEERS*** + + +******* This file should be named 25923-8.txt or 25923-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/9/2/25923 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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