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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c3c22c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #55950 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55950) diff --git a/old/55950-8.txt b/old/55950-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c7c330e..0000000 --- a/old/55950-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8437 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Madcap Cruise, by Oric Bates - -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/license - - -Title: A Madcap Cruise - -Author: Oric Bates - -Release Date: November 12, 2017 [EBook #55950] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MADCAP CRUISE *** - - - - -Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -A MADCAP CRUISE - -BY ORIC BATES - -[Illustration: Logo] - -_Boston and New York_ -HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY -The Riverside Press, Cambridge -1905 - - -COPYRIGHT 1905 BY ORIC BATES -ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - -_Published March 1905_ - - -TO -MY FATHER - - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Contents - - -_Chapter_ _Page_ - I. The Cardinal Points 1 - - II. The Fog comes in 19 - - III. It blows Southeast 36 - - IV. It blows Northwest 50 - - V. Land Ho! 64 - - VI. Dinner Ashore 81 - - VII. Luncheon Aboard 104 - - VIII. A Change of Tactics 129 - - IX. The Doldrums 147 - - X. Mr. Wrenmarsh, the Extraordinary 163 - - XI. A Lone-Hand Game 199 - - XII. At Vergil's Tomb 228 - - XIII. A Bid for the Odd Trick 240 - - XIV. Clearing the Decks 250 - - XV. In the Cattewater 263 - - XVI. Storm! 288 - - XVII. Facing the Music 310 - -XVIII. Epilude 327 - - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - -A MADCAP CRUISE - - - - -Chapter One - -THE CARDINAL POINTS - - -"It strikes me," said Jerrold Taberman, "that we are booked for -everlasting fame, win or lose. We'll either sail down the ages as a -brace of heroes, or as the most egregious pair of donkeys that ever -botched a job." - -"Well, Jerry," returned his companion, smiling, "you've as much to do -with making the thing a success as I have. I hope you realize the -responsibility." - -The young men chuckled in concert at the thought of all that was -involved in this remark, although they looked, not at each other, but -out over the sea. - -It was early twilight in the last week of the month of May. The two -speakers were standing on a little jetty that ran out into a small and -all but landlocked harbor of an island in East Penobscot Bay. Both were -evidently in the earlier twenties, both were dressed in such canvas -working-suits as are worn by the sailors in our navy, and both were, at -half a glance, gentlemen. - -The second speaker, John Castleport, was tall and dark. His face, with -its prominent features and keen brown eyes, was rather striking than -handsome. He stood looking southward to where, in the fading light, the -Atlantic shouldered away to the west as if with a hidden purpose of its -own. In his hand he held a pair of powerful binoculars, and despite his -smile he had the air of being pretty seriously in earnest. - -Taberman contrasted curiously with his host. He was short and thickset, -with blue eyes and fair hair which showed a tendency to curl. As he -stood with shoulders turned to the wind, the square collar of his canvas -jumper was blown against his round pate, and made a background for his -tanned face. He held a briar drop-pipe between his teeth, and his hands -were thrust deep into his trousers pockets. Working his pipe into the -corner of his mouth, he spoke again. - -"Hope this breeze won't trouble the old gentleman," he remarked, casting -a glance at the billowing double-headers that were driving by aloft. - -The wind shrilled by the watchers on the jetty, clear, strong, and -salt. - -"Guess not," replied Castleport; "anything short of a hurricane's a -sailing-wind for him. He's a mettlesome old chap." - -"That's right enough. Can't have him spoiling our game by being late, -you know. Let's go up; it's getting beastly chilly." - -They turned and walked along the pier. At the point where it met the -shore stood a small boathouse. Thence the ground, covered with a stunted -growth of spruce and fir, and the inevitable New England boulders, rose -abruptly. Directly in the line of the jetty the shingled roof of a small -house showed above the trees. To the westward, in the dimming afterglow -of the sunset, the Camden Hills stood out luminous, purple, yet rimmed -with a thread of golden fire. Away to the east, clad in soberer colors, -rose Mt. Desert, a mass of shadowy greens and blues. The steepness of -the path they were ascending soon cut off from the view of the young men -these beauties and grandeurs, which, however, they were probably not in -a mood to dwell upon; and a minute's walking brought them to the door of -the house, a small affair with high-pitched roof and broad veranda. Its -shingles were almost the color of the dark evergreens that encircled -the clearing in which it stood; its windows reflected with a vacant and -glassy stare the fast-fading light. Castleport opened the door for his -guest, and followed him into the living-room. - -The darkness seemed the greater from its contrast with what light yet -remained outside, and not until Taberman had put a match to the pile of -old shingles and light driftwood in the wide fireplace could they see -fairly. The crimson glow showed a room some twenty feet square, with -windows on two sides,--the south and east. The joists and sheathing were -of planed spruce, left unpainted. The big Mexican fireplace of brick -occupied the northwestern corner; in the middle of the room stood -conspicuously a round deal table, covered with a litter of pipes, -tobacco, magazines, and nautical hardware; between the two eastern -windows, below a box-like cabinet which was attached to the wall, was a -smaller table with a square top, piled with books and charts. Beneath -the southern windows was placed a heavy desk with a faded baize top, the -cloth ink-stained and full of holes due to moths and carelessly handled -cigars. Of the happy-go-lucky assortment of chairs which completed the -furniture of the room, no large portion was in an entirely unbroken -condition, but all evidently were meant for service and ease. The walls -of the room were decorated with devices in scallop-shells and a few -unframed water-colors of the impressionist type. A large chart of -Penobscot Bay was tacked to the inside of the door, and a venerable -flintlock musket hung below a battered quadrant over the chimneypiece. -Everything was simple almost to rudeness, yet the place gave at once and -most strongly the impression of comfort and good-fellowship. - -Castleport laid his binoculars on the desk, and, stepping to a door on -his right, opened it and called out:-- - -"Oh, Gonzague?" - -"Sair?" promptly replied some one from beyond the short passage into -which he looked. - -"Dinner when you're ready, Gonzague." - -"A' right, sair." - -Taberman had seated himself by the fire, and here Castleport joined him. -Each filled and lighted a pipe, and together they stared at the flames -roaring up the wide chimney. The smaller sticks already began to fall -apart, pitching outward or dropping between the dogs, and for some -moments the young men watched them in silence. At length, as Taberman -flung a fresh stick into the flames, Castleport spoke, half to himself. - -"What a lesson it'll be to the old chap! My aunt! He'll grind his teeth -to powder!" - -"Tooth-powder, eh?" queried the other with a grin. "But we must be sure -we have the laugh on the right side. It isn't merely the getting away -with the Merle that's the joke; it's the hanging on to her and bringing -her back safe." - -"That's true enough," assented Castleport; "but with pluck and luck and -an eye to the three L's, we ought to manage." - -"You'd better go over the whole plan for me, Jack; you haven't given me -half the details, and I'd like to know the latest version. It's -certainly important to have everything perfectly understood beforehand." - -"All right; I'll go over the whole business after dinner, old man. We -will act the conspirators rehearsing their villainy; but let's wait for -food. I hate discussions on an empty stomach." - -"Correct; here's Gonzague now." - -A tall, gray-haired man, with a much-bronzed face, came in and began to -clear away the litter on the round table. He had a rugged, -weather-beaten countenance, with prominent features and luminous black -eyes. Beneath his big, hooked nose a large white mustache, stiff and -curled like that of a walrus, half hid a firm, full-lipped mouth. A -native of Provence,--soldier, sailor, cook, and deck-hand,--old Gonzague -Mairecalde had led sixty-odd years of exciting and polyglot existence, -the last three of which had been spent in Castleport's service. Dressed -in blue flannel trousers and an immaculate white jacket, the old man -moved noiselessly about, swiftly disposing of the things on the table. -He seemed to have a place for everything, and the lightest tread and -deftest hands imaginable. Having cleared away, he went out, and soon -reappeared with linen and service. In a short time the table was ready -for the bringing in of the food. - -"A' ready, sair?" asked Gonzague, tugging at his mustache with his bony -fingers. - -"Two minutes," answered Jack. "Come on, Jerry; let's scrub up." - -In ten minutes they were seated before a dinner plain but hearty, well -cooked and appetizingly served. They were apparently not at all troubled -by any incongruity between their rough and not over-fresh sailor clothes -and the snowy napery and the silver on which the fire threw dancing and -wavering lights. On the walls opposite the fireplace mute, shadowy -grotesques helped each other to huge supplies from dishes of vague -outline and uncertain size, plied dark forks and spoons with ogre-like -gusto, or with heads thrown back and crooked elbows drank like trolls -from enormous tankards. - -After dinner the table was cleared, a jug of ale was placed upon it, -with a plate of ship-biscuit and a supply of tobacco. It was the theory -of Castleport that the climate of the Island was English enough to -warrant this nightly attack upon the October, of which his uncle, who -owned the Island, kept always a butt in the cellar. In truth, the fresh -coolness of the air at night, the pleasant blaze of the fire, the -agreeable scent of burning tobacco, made a tankard or two of ale seem -hardly to need an excuse of any sort. - -With the table pulled forward so that its edge came between them, their -pipes lit, their feet stretched out comfortably toward the hearth, the -pair of friends smoked for a time in silence, until at last Jack, after -refilling and relighting his pipe with great deliberation, broke into -speech. - -"Before I go into the details of this job," he observed, "there's one -thing I have to say. It's a waste of breath for me to talk until I know -you're with me. I haven't done anything more than to ask you off-hand, -old man; now I'd like you to say seriously whether you'll come on this -cruise with me or not. I hate to be so horribly businesslike, Jerry, -especially in the matter of a lark; but in--er--larking on this scale, -things have got to be put on a definite basis,--be perfectly understood, -as you said before dinner." - -Taberman gave his companion a sidelong glance, and began to smile. The -smile grew into an audible chuckle; and this in its turn developed into -a laugh increasing to a jovial roar. - -"You solemn old pirate," he cried, "what sort of a quitter do you take -me for? I'll give you any kind of a promise you like, provided--_semper -more equitis_, you know--Can't bind myself to cut throats, scuttle -ships, fly the jolly roger, et cetera. What's your form of oath, eh? Do -we drink each other's blood out of a skull, or what?" - -There was a boyish exuberance about Jerrold Taberman, a debonair -abandon, which he never could outgrow. It accorded well with his -youthful face and careless mien, which made him so marked a contrast to -his friend. Castleport, although impulsive and disposed to jollity as -only a hale and hearty young man of twenty-two can be, was, on the -whole, of a temperament the reverse of boisterous. He responded frankly -to Jerry's outburst. - -"Well, old man," said he, "there's nothing more needed than your word -that you'll go, and stick it out to the end. I knew you would, Jerry. -Confound it, give us your flipper!" - -In his enthusiasm he caught Taberman's hand and wrung it heartily, being -evidently moved more by some inner consciousness of the weighty nature -of the scheme he was about to outline than by anything that had actually -been said between them. Jerry laughed, and returned the grip with -interest. - -"And now," continued Castleport, "I'll let you have particulars galore. -I'll tell you the beginning of it first: how the idea came to me. About -three weeks ago I decided I'd go abroad,--I wrote you, you remember. -Well, I went to Uncle Randolph, and asked him for a letter of credit. -That's what comes of the pleasant arrangement by which all my property's -in trust till I'm twenty-five! Beastly nuisance!" - -"Of course it is," assented his companion. "It's queer your father made -such a will. However," he added, as if with the feeling that he was -perhaps touching upon delicate ground, "that's neither here nor there. -Heave ahead." - -"You know why I wanted to go," Jack went on, "and so"-- - -"Slow up a bit," interrupted the other, mischief shining in his eyes; -"why should you want to go particularly?" - -"Confound you!" retorted Castleport. "You know perfectly well! Do you -think it's any fun to be here when--when"-- - -"When Miss Marchfield's on the other side," finished Jerry, with the air -of enjoying a huge joke. - -Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat, leaned forward to rap the ashes -out of his pipe on the firedog, and then looked at his friend seriously. - -"I won't be roughed, Jerry," he said. "You know perfectly well I'm dead -in earnest about her, and I'll thank you to let up." - -"All right, Jack; I beg your pardon; but I would like to ask one thing. -It's not exactly my business, of course, but really it's something I'd -like to know in connection with this scheme." - -"Fire away," Castleport said rather grimly. - -"Well, then, what I want to know is why the President's so set against -your marrying Katrine Marchfield?" - -"It isn't time to talk of marrying," Jack returned somewhat stiffly. -"She may have something to say to that." - -"Of course, old fellow; but you know what I mean. What's his objection -to your trying?" - -"I don't see how that affects the cruise, exactly, but I don't mind -telling you; only of course I shouldn't want it talked about. It's so -unreasonable, and honestly I should hate to seem to be giving Uncle -Randolph any sort of a black eye." - -"I shouldn't repeat it, Jack; but you needn't say anything if you'd -rather not." - -"It's only that it looks as if Uncle Randolph was infernally obstinate -and cranky, and he really isn't. He hadn't any reason to give me, that -amounted to anything. He talked about Katrine's not having any money; -but of course that's all poppy-cock. I've got a good bit myself when I -come into it, and he's always told me I should have all his. Of course -Katrine hasn't much, though she'll have something, I suppose, from her -aunt." - -"Aunt?" - -"Why, Mrs. Fairhew. Katrine's traveling with her now. She's the only -near relative Katrine has." - -"But if it isn't money"-- - -"No, it isn't that. The truth is--I heard it from Mrs. Fairhew once; I -wasn't sure then, and I'm not now, whether she knew quite how much she -was telling me, and meant it for a warning, or not. I'm half inclined to -think she did." - -"But what was it?" inquired Jerry, as Jack paused to meditate, with his -eyes fixed earnestly on the fire. - -"Oh, Uncle Randolph had some sort of a row with Katrine's father when -they were young men. I fancy it was about a girl, for I know there was -one somewhere along about that time. I've heard father speak of it, and -say it altered Uncle Randolph's whole life. Anyway, there was some sort -of a scrap, and Uncle Randolph never forgave it." - -"Humph!" was Taberman's comment. "It's rather crotchety of him to vent -his spite on Miss Marchfield." - -"Of course it is," Castleport answered, "but he's not so bad as it -looks. He's been awfully good to me all my life." - -A brief pause followed, in which both were probably reflecting upon the -character of Randolph Drake, one of Boston's prominent men, president of -one of the largest banks, and trustee of a dozen important corporations; -a man whose chief aim in life was, apparently, making money, whose -amusement was yachting. It was in connection with this sport that he had -a few years before bought the island and put up the house in which his -motives were now being discussed. The place served as a shooting-box or -as a base of supplies, and was provided with a trig little harbor -exactly adapted for the accommodation of the President's yacht, the -Merle. - -"After all," Jack said at length, "Uncle Randolph really cares more for -me than he does for anything else in the world." - -"And so when he suspected that you were going abroad to try to marry the -daughter of his old enemy, he wouldn't supply the funds." - -"He can't seem to get it into his head that I am grown up, anyhow," -grumbled Jack. "I've made up my mind now that I'll convince him that I -am." - -"Why in the world didn't you borrow the money, Jack? That would have -been easy enough." - -"Well, when I came of age I made Uncle Randolph a sort of a promise that -I wouldn't borrow. He put it that it would be evading the intent of my -father's will; and of course it would. Anyway, Uncle Randolph himself -put a bigger idea into my head. It took me one day and two nights, -mostly without sleep, to think it out, and then I got hold of you." - -"How did he suggest it?" - -"He was really sorry for me; I could see that. Only he had the air of -feeling I was so young that any other cake would do as well as the one -I wanted. The very day that he refused to let me go abroad, he suggested -that I come down here with Gonzague and some friend or other. He thought -that if I fooled round the bay until he came to pick me up on the Merle, -I should get over my wish to go abroad. He said I was run down, needed -change, and so on. He's coming June 5, and plans to go on down to the -Provinces. Then he said that after he had had his cruise on the Merle I -might perhaps like to have her a week or two myself. It was a mighty -great concession, let me tell you. When I think of taking the boat, I'm -half ashamed of myself, the old gentleman's so rum fond of her." - -"And that put the notion into your head?" - -"Yes, only not at the moment. I said to myself that if I was going to -cruise in the Merle I'd like to go across in her; but it wasn't till -that night, just as I was turning in, that the idea of getting her now -and running off came to me. It fairly bowled me over!" - -"I should think it might!" laughed Taberman. - -"At first it seemed the easiest thing in the world. Then I began to -think of objections, and as fast as I got one out of the way another -popped up. I've worked at it like a prize puzzle. I've got my crew -picked out, I've planned how to get possession of the yacht and to get -rid of her old crew; and then--Hurrah for the Mediterranean!" - -"Oh, Jacko, you devil!" cried Taberman. "I wouldn't have believed you -had it in you! Do you really think we can do it?" - -"Do it! Of course we'll do it. Didn't I tell you I'd got my crew -already? Ten strappers, not counting Gonzague." - -"Did Gonzague kick?" - -"Gonzague? Did you ever consider, Tab, those eyes of his, with that nose -and mouth?" - -"No," Jerry responded, "I've never given his features any especial -critical overhauling." - -"_Saracen!_" Jack said, lowering his voice. "When you see that -combination in a Spaniard or a Provençalese, it spells Moorish marauder -every time. He doesn't know it, I fancy; but there's good old ripe -Moorish pirate blood in him, and it came sizzling to the top the moment -I broached the scheme. Besides, Gonzague would have his throat cut for -me any time." - -"That's so, but he's as honest an old soul as there is above ground." - -"Of course I told him, and I told the crew, that it was a lark. You -know I've knocked about Penobscot Bay ever since I got out of the -nursery. Everybody knows me, and at Isle au Haut I've been so much that -I'm almost like one of their own pals to the natives. I got hold of my -men pretty easily. Of course they look on me as the same as the -President's son; and they were willing enough to leave the fishing for -better wages than they could earn anywhere else. They all like me, and -so of course they all take advantage of me in the way of wages." - -"I confess I don't see where your economy comes in, Jacky," observed -Taberman, giving a poke to the wasting fire. "I don't know much about -expenses, but I should think it would cost as much to hire a crew as to -go without one." - -Castleport grew grave and moved a little impatiently. - -"There's a question for a casuist," he said. "I'm taking these men off -on the trust that Uncle Randolph will let me pay them when I get home. -It's a deuced sight more like borrowing than I wish it were, though of -course my allowance comes in; but I'm bound that he shall get it into -his head that I'm no longer in leading-strings, and"-- - -Taberman looked at him affectionately and comprehendingly. - -"That'll be all right, old man," he said consolingly. "We'll get out of -that somehow. I'd like to see the President's face when he finds he's -left high and dry down here and the Merle has flitted across the -Atlantic without him." - -"Oh, he won't be here. We'll capture the yacht at North Haven. I'll show -you the whole scheme to-morrow on the chart. I've brought down more than -a thousand for this coast and the Mediterranean! Now let's get to bed. -It's only a week or so that we have left to sleep with a clear -conscience." - -Taberman rose from his seat, then without warning suddenly slapped his -knees with his hands and burst into a roar of laughter. - -"Oh, by George," he cried, "what a jolt it'll be for Uncle Randolph!" - -"That's the cream of the whole thing," responded Jack, joining in the -laugh. "He'll be so surprised to find out that I'm grown up." - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Two - -THE FOG COMES IN - - -The Casino at North Haven is a curious little box, known -locally--possibly from its situation at the end of a fairly long -wharf--as the "Fo'c'sle." It has but one room, paneled with imitation -Japanese carvings, and having an attractive divan-like seat in a wide -bay-window, where one may lounge and watch the vessels passing through -the Thoroughfare. Outwardly the building is very plain, its two -prominent features being the bay-window, which looks south, and a flight -of outside stairs on the west which lead to a little nest of a balcony -half hidden under the gable-end of the roof above this window. - -The balcony is so covered by the peak of the roof that its interior is -not visible from the wharf, and a person sitting on the settle at the -back of it can be seen only from a boat some distance out on the water. - -The Casino is little used, and although the caretaker unlocks the door -each morning, the place is more generally deserted than not. The -subscribers who come down to the wharf to start for rowing or sailing -sometimes step in, wait for friends, or use the place as a storage for -extra wraps; sometimes a riotous group of children holds brief but noisy -possession; but after sunset the solitude is generally unbroken until -ten o'clock, when the caretaker comes to lock up for the night. If the -weather be bad, it is not unusual for the Casino to remain unvisited for -the entire day. It affords a convenient shelter when it is needed, -however, and its wharf, with a float on either side, makes a good -landing-place; and it is, in a word, one of the numerous class of things -which in this world are not constantly in demand, but which, when they -are wanted at all, are wanted badly. - -Here, on the evening of the fourth of June, Jerrold Taberman, wrapped in -a shapeless ulster,--for a thick fog was driving in from the -southeast,--sat awaiting his friend. Half an hour earlier Jack had gone -to get something to eat, and Jerry had agreed to meet him here. Taberman -was somewhat tired to-night, and beginning to feel the strain of three -crowded and exciting days in which he had had little time for anything -but action and sleep. The young men had completed their arrangements at -the Island, had left Gonzague in charge there, had notified the future -crew to report to the Provençalese on the evening of the third, and to -hold themselves in readiness to sail immediately on the arrival of the -Merle. The pair had then taken the big market-boat, a whitehall used for -bringing supplies from Isle au Haut, and with a couple of the most able -of the Isle au Haut men, selected beforehand, had sailed over to an -unfrequented cove in Vinal Haven, on the south side of the Thoroughfare. -There they encamped in hiding. They had reached their place of -concealment by night, and next afternoon had the satisfaction of seeing -the Merle come in from the westward and drop anchor just inside the -channel, off the "Fo'c'sle." - -"By Jove, isn't she a fine sight!" Castleport exclaimed -enthusiastically; and Jerry assented no less warmly. - -The Merle ran in under full sail, with a quartering breeze. Her clean -white hull, eighty-four feet on the water-line, her shining brasses, her -broad spread of snowy canvas, the easy run of her long counter, combined -to make a picture which, even personal interest aside, could not fail to -stir such enthusiasts as Jack and Tab. - -On the evening of the arrival of the Merle two gentlemen and three -ladies had gone on board, evidently to dine, as they did not leave until -nearly ten o'clock. Castleport and Taberman, lying concealed among the -bushes overgrowing a tiny promontory on Vinal Haven, had watched all -this through their night-glasses. Jack, whose eyes were as keen as a -hawk's, had even thought that he could distinguish who the visitors -were. With guests on board there was evidently nothing that the -conspirators could do but to watch, and when this was over they smoked a -good-night pipe together over their campfire, and for the hundredth time -fell to considering their chances of success. Behind them in the shadow -lay the two sailors, wrapped in their blankets and sleeping the sleep -which only the genuine mariner knows; Jack glanced at them as if he felt -that somehow he was personally responsible for carrying through the -enterprise for which they had been enlisted. - -"What the deuce shall we do if the President takes it into his head to -get under weigh for the island to-morrow?" Jerry demanded in a subdued -voice. - -"Oh, that's all right," Jack answered in the same key. "He won't. He's -fond of North Haven; it's an old stamping-ground of his, and he'll never -go on without having had at least one night's bridge here. That's part -of the cruise. Besides, it's going to be thick, or I'm a duffer." - -Thick it certainly was next day. The brisk southeasterly breeze that -blew through the Thoroughfare all day seemed to roll in white billows of -fog far more rapidly than it could take them out at the other end. The -strait acted as a sort of condenser, in which the mist became almost -tangibly more solid, until at nightfall it was, as one of Castleport's -men put it, "blacker 'n a tar-bucket." Under cover of the obscurity Jack -had had the market-boat reloaded with such necessities as they had -brought over for their camp, and rowed silently over to one of the -Casino floats. Here he and Taberman got out, and then the men, by his -orders, worked the boat into concealment between the spiles of the -wharf, there to await further orders, utterly invisible in the fog. - -The two arch-conspirators mounted the wharf, and for some time kept -watch to see if any one came ashore from the Merle; but as the time wore -on to half-past seven they concluded that the President must be dining -on board. Assured of this, Jack left Jerry to keep watch, and went up to -the village bakery for food, dinner for himself and his friend having -been forgotten in the midst of more important things. Tab, left alone -in the wet darkness, had mounted to the balcony, and there sat in gloomy -state, wondering if Jack were never coming back. He had no light by -which to see his watch, but since he had heard seven bells from the -Merle he felt sure that eight o'clock must be close at hand, when his -attention was caught by the sound through the fog of the quick -_thud-thud_, _thud-thud_ of oars against thole-pins. In an instant he -was thoroughly alert, his senses primitively acute, and his growing -sensation of vague depression utterly dispelled. He heard some one pull -hastily to the "Fo'c'sle;" the muffled chugging of the oar-blades as the -rower held water; the gentle slapping of the boat's wash against the -float; and then the clatter of the oars on the thwarts. Then by the dim -light of the lantern at the end of the pier he saw a man spring on to -the east float and secure his boat; give a quick, nervous tug at the -painter to be sure that it was fast, and disappear from the field of -vision which was bounded by the edge of the sloping roof. He fancied he -heard a murmur as if the newcomer spoke a word of encouragement to the -sailors in damp concealment under the wharf, and then had hardly time to -wonder where Jack had been in a boat, before Castleport had run lightly -up the plank from the float to the pier, and thence up the steps to -Tab's place of concealment. - -"Sit tight!" whispered Castleport breathlessly. - -"What's--" began Jerry. - -"Sh! We've the chance of a lifetime! I--I"--He gasped for breath, but -caught it with a great gulp, and hurried on. "I've been aboard, Tab! -Come in, man! Get back, get back!" He forced his friend into a seat in -the farthest corner of the little balcony, caught his breath again, and -began to chuckle. The sound of oars was again audible,--this time the -steady, measured stroke of a heavy boat well pulled. - -"Here's Uncle Randolph," cried Jack with a sort of whispered shout. -"Here's Uncle Randolph!" And seizing his friend by the shoulders, he -shook him and banged his head noiselessly against the wall for sheer -glee. - -"Stop, Jacko, stop it! Hold up, or by Jumbo I'll yell! Look there! Here -they are." - -As the pair hurried cautiously to look out over the edge of the balcony, -a large cutter, pulled by six men, came out of the fog into the dim -illumination of the pier-light. Three gentlemen in light overcoats were -visible in the stern-sheets, the one in the middle steering. A little -removed from the President and the two men who were evidently his -guests, sat one of the officers of the Merle. - -"Way enough," called the steersman in a sharp voice. - -"Oh, my aunt!" whispered Tab, giving Jack a nudge. "The President has -very little idea that he's made all the way in the Merle he's likely to -for one while." - -The cutter ran smoothly along beside the float. - -"In bows! Fend off, there!" - -At the word the oars were unshipped, and a couple of sailors caught the -rope which edged the staging. The cutter came to a stop. A seaman leaped -out and held the boat, the officer sprang to the float and presented an -arm for the President and his guests as they stepped to land. - -"We'll be down at eleven," the President said to the officer. "If you -want an hour or two ashore, there's some sort of a shindy going on -opposite the post office, I believe--dance or something. Mind you're -sharp on time for me, though." - -"All right, sir. Eleven o'clock it is, sir," returned the officer, -touching his cap deferentially as the three gentlemen turned away. - -"Great Scott!" cried Jack into Tab's ear in an excited whisper. "Do you -suppose the President's going to get rid of all those men for me -himself? Was ever such luck!" - -The boat still lay at the landing. The men began to discuss going -ashore, and every word was easily audible to the two watchers in the -balcony. - -"I vote we go," quoth he with the boat-hook. "It ain't every day the old -hunks gives us a chance to stretch a leg ashore." - -"It'll be dry, Tom," spoke up one in the boat. "Ye won't get so much as -a swig o' cider-water this side o' Bar Harbor." - -"Well, boys, let's try it, anyhow," advised the officer. "If it's dry -there, it's wet enough here." - -"That's right," responded another. "Damn yer slops, Bill, ye dude; the' -'re's good as mine, an' any togs is good enough for po'r Jack. Let's go -ashore an' take a look at these Thoryfare bewties." - -This seemed to settle it. The boat was made fast, and the men straggled -up the pier, talking and laughing as they went. - -Tab and Jack fairly hugged each other in delight at this development, -and then Jerry opened fire. - -"You said you'd been aboard," he began, "what"-- - -"When I left the bakery," Jack answered, without waiting for the -question to be finished, "I said to myself that the fog was so thick it -would be perfectly safe to take a boat and row out, on the chances that -I might find out something. I meant to get astern of the Merle and give -the wind a chance to bring me some of the talk aboard. I borrowed a -little pea-pod from the pier behind Staples', and out I went. When I got -to the yacht, I found I could lay alongside, for there wasn't a soul on -deck. I hauled off my jacket and hung it over the boat's side for a -fender, so she wouldn't make any noise, and took the painter in my fist. -Then I stood on the thwart and jumped for the rail on the port side." - -"You'd have made the devil of a mess if you'd missed it," commented -Jerry. - -"But I didn't. I got hold, but, Gad, I came near going overboard!" - -He stopped to laugh, this time fearlessly aloud, while Jerry chuckled. - -"I lay flat along the bulwark," Jack went on, "by the main rigging. The -skylight-covers were on, of course, but the frames were half up, and I -could get scraps of the talk in the cabin. The men Uncle Randolph's got -along with him are old Melford and Tom Bardale. I thought I'd die to -hear them go on. Old Melford was grumbling away,--he's always an awful -croaker, you know. He piped up once, and said it was just his luck to -have to suffer both fog and bridge when he came for solid cruising. -Uncle Randolph and Bardale both poo-poohed him, and asked him if he'd -rather play slap-Jack. The old boys are going to play bridge -somewhere,--I didn't find out where, but it doesn't matter; they're -settled, anyway. I didn't hear anything else, for I'd hardly time to -drop into the pea-pod and get out of the way of the men from the -fo'c'sle that came out to haul in the cutter on the boat-boom. I rushed -ashore as tight as I could pelt, and you saw the rest. This dance -business, too! Luck's with us!" - -He stopped, all but breathless. With one accord the pair started for the -stairs, and took their way to the pier, where the lantern made a dim and -watery illumination in the midst of the fog. Castleport seized Jerry by -the arm and led him to the edge of the pier. - -"With this wind," he said with great earnestness, "we'd best run out to -the westward, and beat along the south of Vinal Haven. We'll have more -sea-room, and with the weather as thick as this, I don't deny that even -that's risky enough." - -"It is a nasty night," Taberman assented with emphasis. "Are you for -going outside Wooden Ball Island?" - -"Tell that when we've got by Dogfish and the rest of 'em," replied Jack -briefly. "I mean to leave that to Dave, anyhow." - -"You're dead sure you want to do it, old man?" queried Tab with the air -of one who would not have asked the question had he not been confident -that the answer would be in the affirmative. - -"I'd do it ten times over just for the lark!" snorted Jack. "Now -then--business!" - -They descended the ladder to the eastern float, and Castleport called -out guardedly to the men who had all this time been lying concealed in -the market-boat under the wharf. A slight bumping, a muttered oath, the -rattle of an oar on the thwart, and then the nose of the boat emerged -from beneath the pier. A vigorous thrust with the boat-hook against one -of the outer stringers shot her up alongside the float. - -"All right?" inquired Jack. - -A stoutly built man of short stature standing in the bow of the boat -answered. - -"Right enough, sir; but a mite holler." - -"Well, Dave, we'll fix that in a spell," said Jack. "We've got a bit to -do first, though. Let's have your watch, Tab." - -He pulled out his own as he spoke, and took Jerry's with it in one hand. -Then with the other hand he struck a match, which he craftily sheltered -from the wind. - -"You're a minute fast of me, Jerry," he commented, throwing away the -match and returning the watch. "I say eight seventeen, and you say eight -eighteen. You and Jim take the market-boat and go over to the other -float. Take the Merle's cutter and tow her out to one of the moorings -off the club here. At eight forty-eight sharp,--just half an hour,--you -hail the Merle. Sing out like the deuce, and tell 'em to send a boat -ashore. I'll see that they send one, and that when they've left there'll -be nobody aboard but me. In about fifteen minutes from now a boat'll -come ashore, but you needn't mind her. Dave'll look out for that -business. Just you pick out some mooring a bit to windward of the direct -line between the yacht and the Casino, so they shan't spot you. When you -hear a boat coming in answer to your hail, you come out yourselves, and -tow the cutter. That you're to make fast astern the Merle. Got it all -clear?" - -"I guess so," Jerry answered. "I don't notice a boat till eight -forty-eight; then I hail, and when I hear a boat coming in answer I cut -out to the Merle. Give me some matches to see the time with. Well, good -luck, old man; be sharp, or you'll dish the whole game." - -With this parting caution Taberman stepped into the market-boat, while -Dave got out. Oars were not needed, but Jerry and the sailor easily -pulled the market-boat around by the spiles to the other float, where -they lay concealed in the rolling fog. - -"Now then, Dave," Jack said as they disappeared, "you and I are the ones -that are going to open this ball. You take me out, set me aboard just as -if you did that sort of thing regularly,--do you see? As if I'd paid you -a quarter for setting me aboard, you know. Then you row back. Here's a -boat that'll do," he broke off, pointing to a small whitehall boat made -fast to the staging. "Get in, and pull me out." - -The pair stepped into the little craft, and when Dave began rowing Jack -continued his instructions. - -"When you get back to the float," he said, "you just make this boat -fast, and hide under the shadow of those stairs on the outside of the -Casino--you know?" - -"Yes, sir." - -"Wait for a boat from the yacht with three or four men in it.--Pull on -your port oar a bit; that's good.--When they get ashore and go up the -wharf, you take their tender and rush her out to a mooring same as Mr. -Taberman's done. Do you see?" - -"Guess so, sir," was Dave's response. "Do you want me to catch the same -one?" - -"Any one'll do, provided it won't be seen by a boat pulling ashore from -the Merle. You won't have to go far to hide in this fog.--Little -stronger on your port oar again; tide's cutting you down.--When you hear -Mr. Taberman hailing, you stand by, and as soon as a boat goes by in -answer, you pull out to the yacht and make fast astern. Give her plenty -of painter; all she's got. Do you see now?" - -"I guess I do, sir. You're going to have a boat on every davit that way, -ain't you, sir?" - -"If it works," Jack answered in a low voice, for they were now under the -yacht's port quarter. - -Dave pulled around in silence to the steps on the starboard side. - -"Here we are, sir," he said in an even tone as he caught at the ladder -grating. - -The Merle, dimly visible by the foggy glow of her riding-light, was -pitching slightly in the chop, and the small dinghy bobbed up and down -beside her like a cork beside a floating spar. The waves slapped against -the yacht's sheer, wetting her top-sides with spray and poppling away -merrily under her counter. In the thick dimness her masts loomed up -almost supernaturally tall. - -"Hello aboard the Merle," shouted Castleport. - -"Hello?" answered a voice from forward, and in a moment a tall, burly -figure appeared on deck by the ladder. - -"What is it?" asked the tall man. "What d' you want?" - -"Hello, Camper," cried Jack, recognizing the voice as that of his -uncle's sailing-master. "Hello, Camper, don't you know me?" - -He sprang up the steps and gained the deck. - -"Why, Mr. Castleport," the skipper cried in a hearty tone, "whatever are -you doin' here? Thought you was over to the Island. How are you, sir?" - -"Cold," Jack answered with a laugh. "How's yourself? Fit as usual, I -suppose. President aboard?" - -"No, sir. He's gone ashore to some sort of a gatherin'. I never thought -to see you here, sir." - -"Oh, I came over to join the yacht here. I got tired of waiting. I -shan't want you any longer," he called down to the figure in the dinghy -below. "Much obliged." - -The dinghy and Dave melted into the blackness of the night. - -"Come below, Mr. Castleport, sir. You'll have a bracer?" the genial -sailing-master asked. "Nasty night, ain't it?" - -"It is that," Jack agreed, "but I'm in hopes there'll be a change soon." - -And smiling at the thought how truly the words expressed his secret -intent, he followed the worthy Camper below. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Three - -IT BLOWS SOUTHEAST - - -The saloon of the Merle was a spacious cabin, paneled in Cuban cedar. -Along both sides ran transoms cushioned in dark green corduroy, which -contrasted pleasantly with the red of the woodwork. On either side of -the companion-way were big closets, the doors of which, framing large -mirrors, opened forward against the after ends of the transoms. Both to -port and to starboard the cabin was lined with lockers for flags, -charts, and bottles, except where the recessed bookcases came in the -middle. Large nickeled Argand lamps to port and starboard on the for'ard -bulkhead illuminated the interior. Sheathed in cedar, the butt of the -schooner's mainmast stood in the fore part of the saloon; and aft from -it ran a mahogany table around which were placed some -comfortable-looking chairs. All in all, the impression of power and -grace which one received from regarding the outside of the Merle was -equaled by the feeling of comfort, and, indeed, almost of luxury, one -had upon viewing her below decks. - -It was in this pleasant retreat that Jack had settled himself in less -than a minute after his arrival on the yacht. The good skipper, who had -kept an almost fatherly eye on the youth ever since he was old enough to -"fist a rope," sat uneasily on the edge of the divan on the port side. -Jack, sprawled out on the opposite transom, lit a cigarette, and looked -up at the skylight. - -"My aunt! But I'm glad to be aboard again," he declared. "How is -everything? What sort of a run down did you have?" - -"Pretty fair, sir," returned the master. "We went to Marblehead, and -then to Portsmouth. Mr. Drake, he spent the time in seeing his friends. -Then we run to Portland, and then to Boothbay. We run in here yesterday. -Nothin' much to tell of on the cruise." - -"You've made schedule time," Jack commented. "You are here just when you -were due." - -"Yes, we got here," Camper assented, "though 't one time, when I see the -stores that had to come aboard, I doubted if we should get started for a -week." - -"More stores than usual?" queried Jack, with a little spark of interest -in his eye. - -"Well, Mr. Drake, he 'lowed that last year when we got becalmed down -the coast some of the provisions fell short, and he vowed he'd never get -caught in that shape again; so this time he's stocked up fit to do the -Nor'west Passage. He's got every kind of a thing to eat that man ever -put into tins, you may bet your life." - -"Trust him to have an eye to the galley," laughed Jack, reflecting how -satisfactory a complement to the plain provisions waiting at the Island -would be this extensive assortment of choice eatables. "Well, I'm for -sleeping aboard. Can you give me a lift with my luggage?" - -Everything he had said since he came on board had been preliminary to -this. His one chance of getting the sailing-master to a safe distance -lay in inducing Camper to go ashore on an errand. To this question the -skipper replied, Yankee fashion, with another. - -"Where is it, sir?" - -"Go to Mullin's and tell 'em you're from me;--you'd better do it -yourself, Camper;--and get them to give you a steamer-trunk and two -bags. Do you know the place? It's the only boarding-house there is in -the village. Anybody can tell you." - -"I know it, sir. 'Bout a cable's length up the road." - -"Yes; that's it. I don't think you'll find the trunk heavy," Jack went -on, with a secret inclination to speak very fast and a consciousness -that he must appear cool and deliberate. "Of course you'll take a couple -of men to tote it, but I don't like to send an ordinary seaman up -there." - -He wondered what he should reply if asked why not; but Camper, who had -long been trained under President Drake to habits of unquestioning -obedience, replied with perfect simplicity:-- - -"All right, sir, I'll have it aboard in half an hour. Your old -stateroom's all ready, I believe. You just ring for the steward if you -want anything, sir." - -"Thanks," responded Jack, taking a book from its place as he spoke, as -if with the intention of settling himself to read. - -Camper withdrew, and Jack listened eagerly till he heard footsteps on -the deck, the rattle of the davit-tackle, the splash of the boat -alongside, and then the rhythm of receding oars. The moment he was sure -of not being seen by the skipper he closed his book with a bang, flung -it on the table, looked at his watch, and went hurriedly on deck. In the -lee of the mainmast he paused to light a fresh cigarette, and then began -untying the cover of the mainsail, loosening the points and pulling -them through the grommets. As he worked his way aft, he suddenly -thought he heard the sound of oars. He stopped to make sure: there could -be no doubt of it; some one was pulling toward the Merle. In a flash -Jack saw his scheme ruined in any one of a thousand ways. He set his -teeth and ran over rapidly in his head the possibilities, but without -reaching any satisfactory conclusion. Then he walked aft, and putting -his hands on the rail, bent over the yacht's port quarter and peered -into the fog. With a feeling of relief he realized from the sound and -time of the strokes that the approaching boat was a small one, and was -pulled by one pair of oars only. He had hardly decided this when he -discerned the cause of his alarm, and almost laughed to see nothing more -formidable than a small pea-pod, pulled by a boy. The rower came -alongside and rested on his oars, while Jack watched him curiously. - -"Is that Mr. Drake's vessel?" inquired the boy. - -"Yes," Jack returned. "What's wanted?" - -"The postmaster said 'f I'd bring ye these letters ye'd give me a -quarter," replied the youthful oarsman. - -"Mr. Drake isn't aboard now," said Jack. - -"Well, ye c'n give me my quarter jes' the same," the boy rejoined. "I'll -let ye hev the letters, 'n' he'll make it right with ye later. He lef' -word this evenin' for his mail to be brung him every time it come, an' -'t was that foggy the Sylvy got in late from Rocklan', 'n' I couldn't -get roun' to bring it out before. 'Twan't sorted till after Mr. Staples -hed his supper." - -"All right," Jack said hastily. "Come alongside." - -He feared to create suspicion, and felt that the only thing to do at the -moment was to get rid of the boy. He gave the youth a quarter, and took -the letters in exchange, mentally saying to himself that he hoped they -were not of importance. The boy went pulling away as if in most unusual -elation, and Castleport, thrusting the letters into the breast pocket of -his coat, returned to his work. He had not quite finished untying the -points when he heard Jerry's hail from the mooring. - -"Merle, ahoy! Ho-ro aboard the Merle!" came booming through the fog in -Taberman's most stentorian tones. - -Jack placed himself in the companion-way as if just emerging from the -cabin, and waited for another hail. - -"Merle ahoy! Aho-o-o-y aboard the Merle!" again rang through the thick -night above the sound of the wind, the water, and the cordage. - -"Hallo-o-o!" bawled back Castleport. - -"Send ... boat ... ashore!" came the voice. - -Jerry was apparently able to outroar all the bulls of Bashan, and was -doing his worst. - -"Aye--oh!" Jack yelled in reply, and walked quickly forward. - -The steward had heard the rumpus, and was standing in the forecastle -companion. Capless, and wearing his white jacket, he gaped about like a -quizzical seal. - -"Some one hailing from the shore," said Jack shortly; "want a boat. -Don't know what you'll take unless you go in the longboat. Tell the -men." - -"Beg pardon, sir; there's only me and the cook and two hands aboard. -It'll take us all to pull the longboat." - -The steward had a slow, exasperating whine which always irritated Jack. - -"Then you'll have to take an oar," Jack responded roughly. "There's some -one ashore waiting, and I said I'd send a boat. Get a move on. I'll -watch ship." - -The steward went below grumbling, but soon reappeared with the cook and -the two hands. With some delay they got off in the longboat, pulling -wretchedly toward the shore and nagging at each other. As he stepped to -the foot of the mainmast to take the halyards off the pins, Jack -fervently thanked his stars for the heaviness of the boat and the -evident fact that both cook and steward were hopeless duffers with an -oar. He cleared the halyards with nervous fingers, stripped off the -cover of the mainsail, and undid the canvas stops with which it was -furled. Then he turned to the headsails, and had all clear before his -ear again caught the sound of oars. He ran aft, and called out -guardedly. Dave's voice answered him, and then he heard Taberman urging -his companion to quicken his stroke. In the mist Castleport could dimly -distinguish the heavy boats slowly nearing the yacht. It was all the men -could do to get them alongside and make them fast astern. Once this was -accomplished, all hands turned eagerly to the still harder labor of -getting the Merle under weigh. - -"Jim," ordered Castleport, "skip along for'ard and take down that -riding-light. Set it on deck so it won't show out-board. Dave, you get -up the boat-boom. Haul it right up, 'thout minding the guys! Lively, -now!" - -As Dave and Jim hurried forward to execute these orders, Jack himself -stepped aft, took off the binnacle-cover, and got the lamps lit and in -their places. - -"All hands for'ard on the anchor!" he sang out, rapping his shins on -the cockpit combings as he scrambled out and ran along the deck. "We'll -make sail when we get out the mudhook. 'F we try to get her mains'l up, -they'll hear us all over the place. We'll drop down under heads'ls. -Catch ahold there!" - -The Merle was riding at her port bower in some six fathoms of water. She -had out a good bit of scope, however, and between the eight hands which -gripped the quarter-inch chain and the anchor to which it was bent were -some ten fathoms to be "handed over." In the light of the big Fresnel -anchor-lantern upon the deck, the men, silent, rigid, braced back, -strained steadily. For a full half-minute there was no gain whatever, -but then one link of the chain came to the brazen lip of the hawse-hole -with a sharp rap. The men grunted and hissed, bringing every muscle into -play. Taberman was foremost on the chain. He faced the hawse-hole -squarely, his legs wide apart, and his head thrown back. His face, even -as seen by the white light of the Fresnel, was a dark brick-red, and out -of the left corner of his mouth his tongue protruded. Dave was behind -him, his left knee bent, and his right leg straight from toe to hip. He -hung on savagely, his face unnaturally blank; his hair, damp with fog -and sweat, clung to his brown forehead and temples. The third man was -Jim, lying back in a strange posture, as though the small of his back -were invisibly supported. His cheeks were white; his breathing was -inaudible. - -With a little salvo of metallic snaps a scant dozen links more came in. -Jack was last on the chain, and was separated from the man next him by a -space greater than that between any other pair, so that he could when -necessary take a turn of the slack about one of the brass-capped -bollards at his side. His body was tense and rigid, his face and -forehead full of odd puckers and lines. He was white at the lips, and -the corners of his mouth were drawn down. His nose moved nervously with -almost the suggestion of a rabbit's. One more link came in. - -"Better take it on the winch," gasped Jerry. - -"Damn it,--pull!" cried Jack. - -Jim grunted and Dave drew a breath through his closed teeth with a sharp -whistling sound. Suddenly the chain rattled in so quickly that they -could almost over-hand it. The Merle was moving at last. - -"Smartly!" Jack cried. "Smartly, and we'll make her trip it out -herself." - -The four hauled lustily. - -"Nigh up and down," called Jerry. - -Jack threw a couple of bights of the chain over the bollard, and held -it. The big yacht forged ahead slowly into the eye of the wind, carried -along by the impetus given her by the handing of the chain. The bits -creaked a little, the chain grew very taut and vibrant. The Merle -checked up and began to drift back. - -"Now then!" cried Jack. "Lay along!" - -Each one of them grasped the chain with a fierce vigor, as a man might -seize the throat of his enemy, while Jerry burst into an explosive -whaling chantey, and the men fell into time with its rhythm. - - - "Haul the bowline, the bowline, the bowline; - Haul the bowline, the bowline,--_Haul!_" - - -"Here she comes!" he shouted in the midst of a stave, as, all at once, -the anchor was broken out. - -Jack dropped his end of the chain and ran aft to mind the wheel, leaving -the men to take in the rest of the slack. The headsails were up in -stops, but before breaking them out it was necessary to lay the yacht -round on the port tack. As she was under sternway, Jack whirled the -spokes over to port, and so--for her steering-gear was -"balanced"--brought her head around to the southward. When he felt the -wind on his left cheek, he put his hand to his mouth and shouted. - -"Break out fore-staysail!" he bellowed. "Trim it a-weather!--Hang on to -the weather-sheet till she falls well off!" - -With a great slatting and booming of canvas the schooner payed off -rapidly. - -"Catch on to that port sheet there!" shouted Jack. "Port, I say, port! -Make fast! Not too flat! Give her all she'll use!" - -The Merle was now moving slowly before the wind. - -"Break out the jibs," ordered Jack, "both jibs! That's good. Make fast!" - -The wind had so freshened that the yacht began to move in earnest. At -this juncture voices, faint but frantic, were heard hailing from astern. - -"Merle ahoy! Ahoy-oy-oy! Show--light! A-hoy-oy-oy--'board the Merle!" - -"Hear the steward?" called Jack to Jerry, who was at work with the -head-sheet cleats. - -"Hear him!" laughed Jerry. "His music's a merry send-off." - -"Ahoy-oy-oy!" came the voice again, fainter and full of a dismayed -distress that made them both break out afresh into derisive laughter. -"Ahoy! Anchor! An-chor--Anch"-- - -The despairing wail died away on the freshening wind. - -"Hope they won't poke round in the fog all night looking for the Merle," -Jack said gayly. "I never did like that steward, though." - -A moment or two later, as the yacht was nearing the entrance of the -Thoroughfare, Jack called for Dave. The man came aft. - -"See here, Dave," Castleport asked, suddenly grown grave; "we've got -more weather than we counted on. Can you pilot this yacht round Vinal -Haven in this fog?" - -"Reck'n I kin, sir," Dave replied with pleasing assurance. "Man and boy -I've worked round these shores twelve years." - -"Very well, then,--come down here and take her. Her gear's balanced: put -the wheel over same way you want to swing her head. She's quick as a -flash. If you want the chart"-- - -But Dave shook his head with a grin. - -"Well, anyhow," said Jack, turning to leave him, "there's your compass." - -"That don't bother me none," replied the intrepid Dave, with a glance at -once scornful and defiant at the smart binnacle. "I go mos' gin'rally by -the smell," he added by way of explanation. - -"All right," laughed Jack. "Handle her carefully." - -"One thing, sir,--how much does she draw?" - -"Twelve feet," returned Jack. - -Then he stepped up on to the deck, and the Merle sped on into the black -night. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Four - -IT BLOWS NORTHWEST - - -With Dave as her Palinurus the Merle ran down the wind until she was -well outside the western entrance to the Thoroughfare. The headsails -were then dropped, the yacht was put into the wind, and the mainsail was -hoisted. The foresail was left furled, as the wind had freshened -considerably, and the schooner started on a southerly course on the port -tack. - -How Dave knew where he was or by what subtle instinct he was moved to -give the Merle now a spoke or two to starboard or again to port, were -mysteries as insoluble as complex. Taberman was lost in wonder at Dave's -cool assurance; but to Jack, who knew of old the marvelous way in which -the local fishermen handle their craft in the fog, the helmsman's skill, -if wonderful, was yet no new thing. - -The beat to the Island was not, however, without incident. Twice, as -they were tacking about in the thick fog, they ran close to wicked -ledges over which the slow seas just rolled without breaking. At another -point they came about just in time to avoid going ashore against a -precipitous cliff which loomed high in the mist. Near the end of the run -they worked into some shoal water where the uneasy heave and thrust of -the sea made the schooner reel and stagger madly, while all about them -was the thunder of unseen breakers. But in each and every peril Dave -kept his head completely and brought the Merle through in safety. - -The passage was a busy one. Three times they luffed up in open water, -and each time took a boat aboard. It was a difficult--almost a -perilous--operation, but the night was flying and the boats dragged -heavily. The foresail was made ready for hoisting, a reef being tucked -into it without its being raised. The port bower was taken aboard; -lanterns were got ready against the work which was to be done at the -Island; a careful survey was made of the places available for stowage. -Jack and Taberman made a list of the men, assigned watches and berths. -They agreed that Gonzague, as cook, steward, and general major-domo, -should have to himself the little cabin formerly occupied by the -steward. To the men they gave the berths of the old crew; and in -general arranged everything for the ocean voyage which had been left -for adjustment until they should be actually on board. The personal -effects of the President, his guests, the officers and the crew, they -made ready to leave at the Island. - -"How about clothes for the men?" Taberman asked. "I never thought of -that; and we should look like the deuce with a crew in fishermen's rigs. -The police of any harbor in the world would be after us." - -"The uniforms belong to the yacht," Jack answered. "They are cut for the -crew, but the men never own them." - -"Do you suppose those poor devils' traps will be safe at the Island?" - -"Safe as in a church." - -"But how'll they get 'em?" - -"Oh, by nine o'clock to-morrow morning the President will be on his way -to the Island if he has to buy the Sylvia to go on. Camper'll tell him I -ran away with the Merle, and he'll start to the Island to find me or get -track." - -So they talked until, about two in the morning, the yacht ran past -Hardwood Island, hauled her wind, and worked along to the southeast. -Suddenly through the fog a dull red gleam showed on the weather bow. - -"There's Gonzague's bonfire," Jack cried. "You've brought us through, -Dave, about as slick as anything ever was done in this world. 'Twas a -tough job, too." - -The main-peak was dropped to lessen the yacht's way, and as the red -flare became more distinct, the outer jibs were doused. Keeping the -shore close aboard on the port side, the Merle ran along toward the -ruddy blur of the fire, which was now seen to be burning at the end of a -point. As the boat neared this point, Jack seized the megaphone, and -putting the big cone to his lips, faced the fire, which was now abeam. - -"Hallo!" he roared. "Hallo, there! Gonzague!" - -A sudden and confused shouting out of the fog answered him. Then black -figures, silhouetted against the red brightness of the fire and waving -burning brands, ran to and fro with odd antics and caperings. - -"'Bout ship!" cried Dave. "'Ware boom! Douse the heads'ls!" - -The Merle came over on the other tack, and the staysail and jibs were -run down. The main-sheet was then so started as to spill the wind out of -the sail, and the yacht's way was quickly lessened. Having rounded the -point, the schooner moved ahead sluggishly, again passing the bonfire -on the port hand. - -"Stand by the anchor!" sang out Dave, as they ran by the end of the -jetty. - -"Hooray!" yelled a chorus of voices from the pier. "Hooray, Dave!" - -Dave twirled the wheel to starboard, and the Merle came slowly into the -eye of the wind, where he kept her until she seemed to be making -sternway. - -"Well enough!" he shouted. "Let her go!" - -And the anchor-chain rattled down in three and a half fathoms. - -It was after two o'clock, and still thick. The wind, however, was -hauling around to the southward, and the fog was beginning to thin a -little. The main-sheet had hardly been hauled aft when some of the men -were alongside in a boat. Jack stood by the steps, which had not been -taken aboard during the run, while Tab, standing by his side, held a -lantern. The first man aboard was Gonzague. Agile as an ape, for all his -years, the old Provençal ran up the steps and touched his cap smartly, -man-o'-war fashion. - -"I see you leaf in a great hoory, cap'n," he chuckled to Jack. "You 'av' -loosed de matting of de step-grating, eh?" - -"Yes, rather," laughed Jack. "Pile aboard there," he added, addressing -the men in the two boats now alongside. - -The new crew made their boats fast to the grating and came on board. - -"Now, then, all hands aft here for a minute," Jack ordered, when every -one was assembled on deck. - -He knew that with such men as he had been able to collect for this -expedition it was essential to bind them in some way. He had therefore -prepared a paper in which were five articles for them to sign, and he -was firmly resolved that unless they agreed to bind themselves, he would -not trust the President's schooner to their care. The men were resolute -in the face of danger, yet were unused to discipline; they were imbued -with a crude sense of loyalty, but were unruly and quick to take -offense; and unless they should consent at the outset to submit to his -authority, Jack knew that little dependence could be put upon them. - -He instinctively assumed an arbitrary air,--almost dropping half -consciously into the latent bully which lies hid in all strong -characters. Had he reasoned it out, he would have adopted much the same -tone as that which he took by instinct. These men, wild followers of -the sea, would scorn to be led, and were to be mastered only by one who -could browbeat and domineer,--who could, in their own word, "man-handle" -them. They responded to the primitive necessity of seeing force in the -man who is to command; and in showing his determination at the outset -Jack was displaying at least one characteristic of a proper leader of -men. - -He took from his pocket the list of names, and telling the men to answer -to the roll he read it off by the light of Tab's lantern. - -"Elihu Coombs?" he read. - -"Here," answered a thickset lad with a rugged and weather-beaten face. - -"Here, SIR!" said Jack sharply, as he check'd off the name. - -"Edward Turner?" - -"Here, sir," answered a quiet voice on the outer ring of the men. - -"Haskell Dwight?" - -"Here, sir." - -They were all aboard: ten men, exclusive of Jack, Jerry, and Gonzague. -When he had finished the list, Jack handed it to Jerry, and taking from -his pocket a second paper,--the simple articles he had written,--he -knocked the creases out of it with a back-handed rap, and then made a -short speech. - -"My men," he began, "I don't want to haul you into any game with your -eyes shut, so I've drafted articles for you to sign. Of course this -whole business is only a joke, but it's got a serious side to it too. -You can all see that plain enough; and it's my interest--and yours--to -see to it that we don't have to laugh out of the wrong side of our -mouths. - -"If you come on this cruise you'll sweat for your wages, now let me tell -you! I'm not for grinding any man,--most of you know what I am, for -you've seen me growing up from a kid,--but the yacht's got to be kept -up, and that means that every man-jack aboard has got to keep as neat as -a pin and not slight his job. - -"On the other hand, you men'll get a lot of experience in handling a -larger vessel than you've been used to; you'll have good grub; and -you'll see foreign ports. Top o' that, you draw good pay, and keep what -clothes you can save. - -"Now then, these are the articles that every man who sails with me has -got to put his name to." - -He read the whole paper, as distinctly and as impressively as he could. - -"Now," he concluded, "if any man here lacks the heart for this -business, let him clear out. The rest of you, step up and sign." - -Jack laid the paper on the companion-hatch, and produced a fountain-pen, -which he put beside it. Jerry was the first, in virtue of his position -as mate, to put down his name. He set down his lantern and scrawled his -signature at the foot of the articles in a hand that would have dwarfed -that of John Hancock. He passed the pen to Gonzague, who, laboriously -fisting it, wrote his name in a small, cramped hand, absurdly unlike the -characters above it. - -For an instant--an appreciable instant--the rest hung back. Jack's brown -eyes challenged theirs, and every one was very silent. That Castleport -was seconded by those who were obviously attached to him gave the men, -rather than confidence, an uneasy feeling of being another party, and -this prompted an instinctive caution almost like antagonism. Had things -been allowed to rest for a moment, the day might easily have been lost. -Discussion might have arisen to beget argument and discord, explanations -have been demanded, and the men have asked to be satisfied as to the -real grounds on which Castleport was to be justified in appropriating -his uncle's yacht and making off with it, a question which could hardly -have been answered so as to satisfy everybody. At this unrealized -crisis, old Gonzague quietly stepped among the men, passed a jest with -one of them in an undertone, and so equilibrium was restored. He at once -became one of them, and the vague idea of parties and opposition -vanished into thin air before the men had had time even to recognize it. -Dave stepped forward and signed, Jim followed him, and the rest of the -men came after. Jack had sounded all of them separately before unfolding -his plans, and the result was that not one of them drew back now. As the -last one laid down the pen, Castleport spoke. - -"Before we fall to work I don't think anybody'd mind a good glass of -grog; and while Gonzague's getting it, I just want to add one word to my -say. I know this gentleman, Mr. Jerrold Taberman, to be a good -navigator, and I've chosen him as my mate. Gonzague'll be cook and -steward, and A1 you'll find him. I'm bound to make things go as easy as -may be, and I will. I'm sure you'll do your duties, and you may bank on -my doing mine." - -The grog being brought, Tab proposed the captain's health, and the crew -drank it with enthusiasm. Jack emptied his glass to the "crew and a good -cruise;" and then the entire company went to work, loading and stowing. - -Under Jerry's orders part of the crew began to carry provisions from -the boathouse to the yacht, while under Jack's surveillance Gonzague and -two of the crew stored what the others brought out. Gun-tackle purchases -were rigged by the foremast to take the heavier cases aboard. The men -worked feverishly, and almost without sound, as if subdued by the fear -of being heard. At the end of a couple of hours the Merle had only to -fill her water-tanks and she would be ready for sea. The fog was by this -time so thin that in the dim light of the yet unrisen sun Jack, as he -stood in the rigging, could discern vaguely the form of the house on the -Island. As he was considering the weather, Gonzague, his face red with -exertion and his usually immaculate clothes stained and torn, came up -hastily. - -"Mistair Castleport, sair," he said, "I don' fin' any beeg funnel for de -watter-tank. Dey mus' always feel dem from de watter-boat 'ose,--stick -de en' into de deck-plate, I t'ink." - -"How's that?" exclaimed Jack. "No funnel?" - -The tender containing the first installments of the water-supply had -already left the jetty, and Jack fell hastily to considering how the -water was to be got out of the big unheaded casks into the tanks -without its being dribbled in by the dipperful. - -"Did you look everywhere?" he demanded. - -"I look in de peak and go all de way aft to de run," replied the -steward, "and all I find was de funnel in de kerosene-barrel. It ees too -small, and it do fair reek wid de pairfume of de oil, sair." - -"Is there any piping aboard? any hose?" Jack asked. "We might siphon -it." - -Gonzague shook his head, and at that moment the boat laden with water -came alongside. Jack leaned over the rail. - -"I say, Jerry," he called out, "there's no funnel to fill the tanks -with. How the deuce can we make water-stowage?" - -"Search me," returned Jerry with cheerful inelegance. "How should I -know? Might use the megaphone." - -"You're a genius!" roared Jack. "It'll do to a T!" - -The keys were found, the caps unscrewed from the deck-plates, and the -large papier-maché cone of the megaphone was set big-end-up over the -orifice. Two men held it by the rim, while others kept it brimming with -buckets of water bailed out of the casks. At the end of another hour -both tanks were filled and the caps screwed down. - -The Merle was ready for her long cruise. Jack was well satisfied with -the sufficiency of her stores, as in addition to the plain provisions -which he and Taberman had provided, the yacht had been most abundantly -victualed by the President for her summer's cruising. - -"Think of anything we've left, Jerry?" Jack asked. - -"The President?" Tab suggested. - -Jack's official seriousness went entirely to pieces at this suggestion, -but he turned to the steward with an air of business. - -"Have you got everything, Gonzague?" - -"Yes, sair. I t'ink de leest is feel," the old man responded, closely -regarding the dirty paper on which he had made his inventory and checked -off each article as it came on board. Each item in the list had a black -scratch beside it. - -"Well, then," the captain said, with a spark in his eye, "we're off!" - -He gave the word to clear the decks and to get under weigh. - -The wind had come around to the west, and was blowing fresh. They made -all sail, however, chancing the gusty squalls which they were likely to -meet off the high land of Isle au Haut, which they meant to leave on the -starboard. The fog had gone entirely, except for long ghostly wreaths -clinging to the dark green gullies of the Haut or encircling the distant -mountain-tops of Mt. Desert; and when the sun rose clear and fair, all -auspices seemed most cheeringly propitious. - -Jack took his departure from the Eastern Ear of the Haut, when it bore -west-northwest three miles. At four that afternoon, when he and Jerry -came on deck for time-sights, no land was to be seen. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Five - -LAND HO! - - -Some three weeks after the morning when the Merle left the Island, Jack -and Tab were sitting in the saloon, working out the sights they had just -taken for longitude. It was shortly after eight o'clock in the morning; -the air was warm, and had in it a suggestion of the south. Through the -open skylight came a shaft of light which cast a brilliant patch on the -green cushions on the port side of the cabin. As the yacht rolled or -pitched easily over the long seas, the patch of light moved about,--up, -down, fore, aft; now it glanced on the rich red sheathing, now on the -transom, and again on the big table. - -On the leeward side of this table the two men, dressed in canvas -trousers and blue flannel shirts, were seated with their work lying -before them. Between them lay several sheets of paper, parallel-rulers, -the log-book in its brown duck cover, a copy of Norie open at the -tables, and the American "Ephemeris." A large sheet-chart of the North -Atlantic, weighted with a pair of binoculars, was spread in front of -Jack. A heavy line, full of zigzags and acute angles, and running nearly -across this chart, represented the Merle's track. Presently Jack laid -down the pencil with which he had been figuring, and reaching out for -the "Epitome," turned to the table of functions. - -"Through?" asked Tab, without looking up. - -"'Most," returned Jack, running one finger down a column of figures as -he glanced first at his paper and then at the book. "I have it now," he -added, and after jotting down a number he pushed the volume over to Tab, -went to a cupboard on the port side, and brought back a case of -instruments. He took out a pair of long-legged dividers, and with these -and the parallel rulers he bent over the chart a minute or two, until -the silence was again broken by Jerry. - -"What d' you get?" he asked. - -"Nine-eighteen-fifteen," replied Jack. "What's yours?" - -"Nine-sixteen-nought," answered Tab. "Wait a shake, I'll average them;" -and he fell to figuring rapidly. "Mean is nine-seventeen-seven plus. -Prick it off, and let's see where we're at--the D. R. latitude's -thirty-six forty-eight." - -They bent together over the chart. Jack carefully manipulated rulers -and dividers, found the point, and marked it in red ink. - -"She's making just over six knots now," he said. "We ought to make old -Cape St. Vincent shortly. Let's put up these traps and go on deck." - -They stowed the things in their several lockers, and went out together. -The Merle was running along with a quartering breeze, under all lower -sails, sliding easily over the long swell on the port tack. - -"How about putting a lookout up aloft, Jack?" asked Tab. "We'll be -raising the land pretty soon--if we're anywhere right in our reckoning, -that is." - -"All right," agreed Jack. "Step down and get a pair of glasses; I fancy -Hunter has the best eyes of any of the men. I'll get hold of him." - -Jerry disappeared below, and Jack walked along the windward side. The -sea, rolling eastward in long, measured swells, reflected the sun from a -myriad of glancing ripples that gleamed and glittered in the morning -light. The sky, light blue and cloudless, looked like pale fire. On -board the schooner the brass-work, as she rose and dipped in the troughs -of the long seas, flashed and shone like burnished gold. The white -canvas caught the sunshine, while on the decks, still undried from their -recent scrubbing, the putty in the curving seams showed sharply white. -The four boats were inboard, turned bottom up and cross-lashed to the -rail. - -Castleport found the four men of the watch gathered in the peak, looking -over the bows. He came up and saw that they were watching a school of -dolphins that were keeping ahead of the yacht. The big fish seemed to -vibrate. They sounded and leaped clear of the water, flashing and -dripping with sparkling drops. A thousand colors rippled along their -backs, as they turned and swayed, and they swung ahead like the very -incarnation of frolic. - -The captain saw the man he wanted standing on the port side, and called -him to him. - -"Hunter," he said, "go aft to Mr. Taberman; he'll give you a pair of -glasses. Go aloft and keep a sharp lookout for land. We ought to raise -it on the port bow." - -The effect produced by this order was electrical. The four men whipped -around and stared at Jack and at each other. - -"Land!" exclaimed one with a foolish grin. "Land!" - -Hunter touched his duck hat and flew aft; Jack followed more leisurely. -In a couple of minutes Hunter was ensconced in the foretop, eagerly -scanning the eastern horizon. Castleport settled himself in the sun on -the leeward side of the cockpit, and filled his pipe. He had hardly -lighted it and taken half a dozen whiffs, when from aloft rang out the -magical cry, "Land!" - -"Where away?" shouted the captain, leaping to his feet just as Tab -appeared in the companion-way. - -"Have we raised it, Jack? Have we raised it?" Tab demanded excitedly. - -"Not yet, Tab. Just been sighted," returned Jack, peering up at the -fore-crosstrees, and awaiting the lookout's answer to his hail. - -"'Bout two points off the weather-bow," sang out Hunter from aloft. -"Just a low bank. Looks like cliffs through glasses!" - -"Come along, Tab!" cried Jack. "Let's go aloft and have a look at it." - -They made their way quickly along the deck, gained the weather-shrouds, -and ran up. The watch below had turned out, just as they were, -half-dressed and bareheaded. Two of the men had run out to the -bowsprit's end, and holding on to the topmast stay were looking over the -luff of the flying-jib. Old Gonzague, venerable as Vanderdecken, his -white hair stirred by the wind,--for he was as usual without a cap,--had -already gained the main-trees, where he stood shading his eyes with one -hand while he gripped the shrouds with the other. - -"Where is it?" demanded Jerry, when he and Jack had reached the trees. - -"There away, sir," Hunter answered, pointing as he passed the glasses to -the captain. - -With the unaided eye Jack and Jerry could discern, lying low on the -eastern rim of the horizon, a faint brownish streak. With one arm about -the topmast for support, Jack looked at the land through the glasses. At -first, owing to the oscillation of the mast, he could not keep the brown -streak in the field of vision, but in a moment he overcame this -difficulty, and was able to make out a length of cliff of nearly uniform -height, although split by numerous fjord-like bays. By its varied -color--for he could see that the ribbon of shore was splashed with reds -and blues--he decided that the land-fall was in the neighborhood of Cape -St. Vincent. - -"Have a look?" he asked, passing the glasses to Tab. "It's the Painted -Cape, fast enough,--or close to it." - -"What country is that, please, sir?" asked Hunter, in a tone almost of -awe. - -"Portugal," the captain answered. "Sou'-western point of the land. We'll -have Spain aboard before eight bells this afternoon." - -"By Grab, sir! Beg pardon, sir, but do them Portigee fishermen ye see to -Boothbay an' Boston, do they come from hereaway?" - -"Here or from the islands,--Cape Verde, the Canaries, or the Azores; -here for the most part. You may go below, if you want, Hunter." - -The man went, frequently pausing to look over his shoulder at the coast, -glimpses of which could now be caught from the deck between the rolls. - -After a brief consultation, the captain and the mate followed Hunter, -and went aft to consult the chart. As they passed along the deck, they -noted that all hands were much excited. These men, used as they were to -the sea, had been fishermen of the purely local sort, and it was -doubtful if any one of them save Gonzague had ever before been out of -sight of the high land of his native place; and here they were, in view -of a strange country where the people spoke outlandish jabber, and, for -all they knew to the contrary, went about in toggery as ridiculous as -that of the Chinese laundrymen at Green's Landing. Discussion became -all the more heated when Hunter came down and told them that the land -was one of the countless possessions belonging to the "Portigee king." -Frequent appeals were made to Gonzague, who had descended, and was the -centre of an excited group. As Tab remarked, it was a sight worth -remembering to see these self-contained New Englanders in such a state. - -Down below, Jack and Tab held a brief colloquy over the chart. They -calculated, if the wind held, to make the Straits at nightfall, and run -through by the aid of the lights on Cape Spartel and Tariffa. Having -settled this point, they went on deck and had the course changed -slightly. - -"By Jumbo!" cried Jerry, banging his fist on the deck as he stood in the -cockpit, "by Jumbo, I can't sleep a wink with this land in sight. -Portugal, too! By Jove, it's all very fine," he ran on, "for a _blasé_ -old globe-trotter like you to keep cool, but I'm fair dry with it all." - -Jack laughed, and reminded his friend of having lived in England and -France, and of having traveled not a little in northern Europe. - -"Pooh!" sniffed Tab. "That's not really doing anything; everybody does -that. And to think," he burst out, "that we brought ourselves! God bless -me, Jacko, I little thought when you crammed me with navigation in -vacation days aboard the old Luna that I'd ever use it all; really, that -is, as we have used it these three weeks past." - -"Well, I hope you're duly grateful," laughed Jack. "It may prove a -source of bread and butter if you're ever stranded." - - -All that day the Merle ran along gallantly over the bright seas, -occasionally passing ships of different nationalities bound in or out of -the Straits. At sundown, although the bold coast of Morocco was not yet -in sight, a lookout was sent aloft to watch for the light on Cape -Spartel. - -At a little before nine o'clock in the evening, the breeze had so died -down that the yacht hardly had steerage-way. Jack was asleep below; Tab -had charge of the deck. What air there was was soft and warm. It had -hauled around a couple of points against the sun, and was now fragrant -with a faint tellurian odor, which would have been imperceptible to a -landsman, but which was full of meaning to those who follow the sea. -Overhead the great stars blazed in lustrous serenity. Their images kept -appearing and vanishing on the now smooth and oily surface of the -restless sea. The only sounds were those of the water and the -cordage,--the sudden spanking of a big wave under the counter as the -yacht flung her nose starward; the occasional crashing of the great -booms and traveler-blocks as she righted suddenly after a heavy roll to -port or a lurch to starboard; the pattering of the reef-points against -the canvas; and the sharp reports made by the slatting of the lazy-jacks -against the sails. - -In the west, growing smaller and smaller in the distance, the receding -stern-light of an Italian steamship glimmered faintly. Taberman watched -it long after it kept sinking out of sight and again rising in the -weltering seas, and until it at last vanished as if quenched. He was -following out certain grim speculations as to the feelings of a forsaken -swimmer who should watch this star of his hope moving relentlessly away -into the west, grower fainter each time it emerged from the waves, -when-- - -"Light ho!" shouted the lookout from the darkness aloft. -"There's--light; 'bout--point--off--starb'd--bow!" - -"What kind?" hailed Jerry from the deck, straining his eyes to where, a -dim blot against the stars, the figure of the lookout could be discerned -standing by the rigging on the cross-trees. - -"Fixed white, red flash," called the man. - -"All right," shouted Jerry; and added in his ordinary tone of command -to the hands on deck: "Lay along, now! Trim in main-sheet a bit--well -enough. Now then, fore and head sheets. Good. That'll do.--We want to -get what air there is," he added to himself. - -Although the wind was slight, yet about the Straits is always a -strongish set of current. The surface current flows into the -Mediterranean continuously, and it kept setting the Merle steadily -ahead. When Taberman judged the light to be no more than five or six -knots away, he sent below to rouse the captain, who was asleep. When -Castleport came on deck, the bearing of the light was taken, the chart -consulted, and a slight change made in the course. It was now calm, and -the yacht, no longer steadied by the wind, rolled heavily. - -"We ought to see it air up before long," remarked Jack, after a short -silence. "It's so beastly calm now. When it's calm on one side of the -Straits, it's always blowing on the other. An Italian sea captain told -me there is always just so much air about here, and however much or -little is on one side, the balance is always kicking about on the -other." - -"Then we'll take the sticks out of her, once we're through the -Straits," Jerry responded with conviction. - -As the schooner entered the Straits, the blue-black sky to the eastward -became dimly albescent, and shortly a blood-red moon rose slowly behind -the inky mass of Monkey Mountain. The huge pile of rock, the more -impressive though the less famous of the Pillars of Hercules, loomed -vast, mysterious, and perdurable in the soft darkness. The waves, as the -face of the moon cleared, were lit with a gray light. - -Suddenly, as a long, smooth swell shouldered the yacht past the edge of -a small promontory, they opened out the lights of Tangiers on the -starboard beam. The moon as yet illuminated only the western half of the -scarped bowl in which lie the little villas which surround the town. The -scattered lights on the east side of the valley were accentuated by the -surrounding gloom. - -"There's Tangiers," cried Jack. "There's old Tangiers." - -"Those lights?" asked Jerry. "What sort of a place is it?" - -"Jolly little hole. All white and pink in the daytime, with red tile -roofs. Hot as Tophet, though. There's Tariffa, boy! That's Tariffa over -there." - -They excitedly discussed the points along their way. To Jerry it was -all new, but Jack had traveled a good deal about the Mediterranean, and -was well able to play the mentor. For an hour they talked, and the Merle -drifted with the current; but they had not passed out of the shadow of -Monkey Mountain before a faint breath of air stirred the headsails. It -came stealing down out of the upper canvas, hot and dry. - -"By Jove!" cried Jack, "we'll have all the wind we want in a bit. You -can tell how hard it is blowing outside the Straits by the distances it -reaches in." - -Then he raised his voice, and called to the watch,-- - -"Hello there! Clew up the topsails! Pass gaskets on them!" - -The men, who had a dog-like trust in the captain, obeyed quickly, though -from the remarks they interchanged _sotto voce_ it was easy to see that -the order puzzled them. When everything was made snug aloft, Jack had a -reef tucked in the main and foresails, and the outer headsails stowed. - -Still no wind. The schooner slowly moved along the edge of the great -shadow of the mountain, only her topmast trucks and the peak of her -mainsail silvered by the moonlight. - -A dull, hoarse whisper, faint and continuous, was now audible ahead. It -grew louder by very slow degrees, and Jerry, unused as he was to -Mediterranean weather, knew it for the roar of a mighty wind. In the -moonlight ahead the waters appeared troubled, the hard-heaving seas -being strangely and almost weirdly demarked from the calm in which the -Merle rolled forward languidly. All at once, as the yacht emerged from -the obscurity of the mountain's shadow, a sudden gust of warm air struck -her without warning, and heeled her lee-rail under. - -"Hard down!" roared Jack. - -Jerry leaped to the wheel, and it took all the force of himself and the -helmsman to put the helm hard-a-lee. The Merle righted, and being -unusually quick, flew into the eye of the wind. From the threshing sails -came a thunderous volley of heavy boomings. The sheet-blocks were -whipped to and fro with such violence that twice Jack saw red sparks -struck from the fore-traveler guard. Then, as suddenly as it had come, -the wind left, and it was only by the way she had gathered that the -helmsman could pay the yacht off. - -"We are going to catch it for fair," Jack said. "Best dowse the foresail -entirely, I fancy. Pass the word along to Gonzague to make all snug -below. Jerry, step into the cabin and make sure of the course from off -Ceuta to Port Mahon." - -"Right-o," answered Jerry briskly, diving down. - -"Get down the fores'l!" shouted the captain to the men. - -"Helm up a bit there--steady! That's the talk! Get all the stops -on.--Now then--make fast that sheet there." - -The Merle was hardly on her course again when a second squall struck -her. Her canvas having been reduced, however, the helmsman kept her -broadside to it. The yacht's strongest point was the quickness with -which she gathered way, and on this occasion, when nine tenths of her -class would simply have lain over and quivered, she rushed ahead with -the fury of an avenging goddess. When the hot flaw left her, she was at -the very last verge of the calm water. - -"Stand by the main-sheet to square off when she meets it!" shouted Jack. - -The men had hardly time to get to their stations before a third squall -caught the Merle and sent her tearing over the line into the full -strength of the wind. The air, hot from the desert, and laden with fine, -parching dust, sang in the shrouds and the running-rigging. It slashed -the salt spindrift in the smarting faces of the men. The seas grew -suddenly confounding in size; huge weltering masses--tons--of greenly -black water wallowed without rhythm all about the yacht, up as high as -the light-boards. To a landsman it would have seemed impossible that -thus scourged by the sirocco across these maddened seas the schooner -should escape destruction. - -The sheets were started, the yacht was paid off before the wind, and -began the last stretch of her run. Tab came on deck with the course, -staggering and holding on, and shouted it into Jack's ear. Jack nodded, -and gave orders for setting it, a fresh departure being taken from the -light on the mole at Ceuta. - -The Merle ran close in on the eastern side of Gibraltar. The great rock, -sheer and silver-gray in the moonlight, rose out of the raging seas -which ringed it about with a zone of roaring breakers. Grimly -self-reliant, it stood grand, silent, stupendous, unassailable in the -midst of the turmoil and uproar. As the yacht raced by, staggering under -her reefed canvas, Taberman regarded the rock, in face of which their -craft seemed a mere mote on the blast, with a feeling as near awe as it -is possible for buoyant youth to feel. He did not speak until the Merle -had swept past the rock-hewn fortress. Then he drew a deep breath and -bent over so that Jack could hear him amid the hissing of the sirocco. - -"That's immense, Jack, isn't it?" he said. - -Without taking his eyes from the throat of the mainsail he was watching -as a physician at a crisis watches the pulse of a patient, Jack nodded a -deep assent. - -At times the Merle seemed fairly to leap like a flying fish from one -wave-crest to the next in her northeasterly flight. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Six - -DINNER ASHORE - - -On a Thursday afternoon in the middle of July, the Merle dropped anchor -behind the inner mole of Nice. In her course northward from the Straits, -she had passed to the eastward of the Baleares, crossed the Gulf of -Lyons, and run smoothly into harbor before the same powerful wind that -had greeted her so boisterously on her entrance into the Middle Sea. - -The moment when the port officer came aboard had been a nervous one, but -the dapper little official had merely glanced at the yacht's papers, -complimented the captain on his seamanship, and then gone ashore without -a sign of suspicion. - -The yacht had no sooner been made trig and ship-shape, her sails stopped -with "harbor furl," the canvas covers on, the boats unlashed and swung -on the davits, the running-rigging coiled down, and the details proper -to coming into port attended to, than Jack, unable to put off going -ashore until the morrow, gave orders for the crew to turn out in their -best attire. Then with Taberman he went below to array himself for the -land. In Castleport's mind the idea of calling on Mrs. Fairhew and Miss -Marchfield, who he knew should now be in Nice, was paramount to all -else. He would see Mrs. Fairhew, he would see Katrine, and then--well, -then it would be time to consider. - -Once below, Jack and Jerry began the overhauling of their wardrobes, -doing their dressing half in their staterooms and half in the cabin, -that they might go on with afternoon tea at the same time. During the -voyage they had gone about most of the time in flannel shirts and duck -trousers, the only two rules in regard to toilet having been that they -should shave regularly, and that they should not come to dinner in -oilers, no matter what the weather. The first rule had been framed by -Jack; and Tab, as author of the second, had declared that he would -rather eat hardtack in his pajamas, than a six-course dinner in his -oilers. Now, as they stood in the doors of their staterooms examining -their shore clothing,--each holding, like the Hatter at the trial of the -Knave of Hearts, a teacup in his hand,--they had the air of being almost -surprised at finding themselves in possession of so many garments, or -of not knowing exactly what to do with them. - -"Got any extra duck trow-trows, Jack?" asked Jerry. "We made a great -mistake not shipping a laundress along with the other stores." - -"Hanging them up on the rigging to dry doesn't give them an extra fine -polish," Jack returned. "I have two pairs I've been saving for shore, -and I suppose I can sacrifice one of them on the altar of friendship." - -"That's truly noble of you," Tab said, coming over to Jack's cabin after -the clean ducks; "but it's all right. When we go ashore we'll take -Gonzague and a bag of things, and have some real washing done on land. -What's that official-looking envelope?" - -From the pocket of a coat which Castleport had thrown aside in his -search for the desired garment, a long blue envelope, still sealed, had -fallen to the floor. Jack pounced upon it, with an exclamation of -dismay. - -"Great guns!" he exclaimed. "It's Uncle Randolph's mail!" - -"It's what?" - -"Why," the captain explained, rummaging in the pocket from which the -letter had fallen and producing a couple of others, "I told you about -the boy's bringing out the letters to the Merle while she was changing -crews at North Haven." - -"You mean the letters the boy brought out for the President?" - -"Yes, damn it!" responded the other, regarding the letters with a -troubled brow. "This is a pretty kettle of fish. Uncle Randolph's -letters are apt to be important, and this one has a beastly official -look. It's sure to be something that couldn't wait. It's probably the -thing he was looking for when he gave orders to have his mail brought -out to him." - -"'If not delivered in five days return to R. B. Tillington, 57 State -Street, Boston,'" read Jerry over his shoulder. "Tillington's the -zinc-mine man, isn't he?" - -"Zinc, copper, gold,--any old thing that you can make a mining -speculation out of. I think he's a slippery old fraud, but he's hand in -glove with Uncle Randolph; or rather they have a lot of business -together. Uncle Randolph thinks Tillington wouldn't dare to play him -false, but he's an eely old beggar. Anyhow, this letter may mean the -making or the losing of a fortune for all I know. Gad! Running away with -his yacht is nothing to going off with his letters!" - -"I don't suppose it would do to mail them here?" suggested Jerry. - -"That would dish us all right," Jack answered. "It would give us away by -the postmark. Uncle Randolph isn't likely to think of our coming across. -He can't know we were provisioned, and he very likely thinks we are -still knocking about on the other side of the Atlantic." - -"He might find out about the stores by asking at the express offices and -that sort of thing." - -"Why should he, unless something puts the idea into his head?" - -"I suppose he wouldn't," Jerry assented thoughtfully. "How would it do -to return this letter to Tillington?" - -"Just as bad as to send it direct to Uncle Randolph. Once let them know -at home where we are, and we are done for fast enough." - -"Well," Taberman said, after a brief pause in which he had apparently -been summing up the situation in his mind, "the harm's done by this -time, anyway; and I don't see that there's anything for us but to stick -to our guns, blow high, blow low. We'll mail 'em when we get ready to go -back." - -Castleport regarded the letters in his hand gravely. - -"I suppose there's nothing else to do," he said slowly. "The Merle is -of course registered at Lloyd's, and he'd only have to cable over to -have us nabbed anywhere along the whole coast." - -"He may see the arrival in the shipping-lists as it is, I should think," -Jerry observed rather gloomily. - -"Of course; but we've got to run our chances on that. He's not very much -in the habit of studying the sailing-lists as far as I know, but he may -do it now. Anyway we've got to run for luck." - -"The luck has been pretty good so far," was Jerry's consoling -observation; "and I won't begin to distrust it now." - -The result of the conversation was that the letters were put carefully -away, and the two adventurers resolved not to worry about them. -Castleport admitted that the matter troubled him not a little, but he -was under the circumstances disposed to accept his comrade's very -sensible observation that after all the letters might be of no especial -importance. - -"You see," Jerry said, with a laugh, as he gulped down the last of his -tea, which had had time to become thoroughly cold, "we are really -pirates, and here you go bringing the conscience of a gentleman into the -business. None of that." - -Castleport laughed, and once more their attention was given to dressing -for the shore. - -No one aboard understood the care and manipulation of the small -steam-launch which the President used on state occasions, so they went -ashore in the big cutter, with six men to pull and old Gonzague in -charge. - -They landed at the quays, and left Gonzague to act as interpreter and -mentor to the men, while they took their way across the Quay Rosaglio -and along the narrow Rue Paglione. They came out soon upon the Promenade -des Anglais, thronged, in spite of the time of year, with foreigners of -many nationalities. Delicate French ladies in the latest fashions from -Paris, were here escorted by anæmic gentlemen looking absurdly out of -place in evening dress; vulgar Teutons in baggy trousers with impossibly -dowdy wives, legitimate evolutions from generations of sauerkraut and -beer; now and then an unmistakable "remittance man" from England, with -puffy eye-sockets and brutal face, accompanied by the companion paid by -some noble family to take charge of the prodigal till he drank himself -into a dishonored grave; the British cleric, too, with the inevitable -string of hopelessly dull daughters tagging after him like bobs on a -kite; swarthy Roumanians or Swabians; Russians deep-eyed and surrounded -by an almost palpable atmosphere of haughtiness; in a word, the -cosmopolitan crowd of a fashionable promenade of Southern Europe. -Through such a throng Jack and Jerry made their way toward the centre of -the foreign element of the better sort, the Hôtel des Anglais. - -As they reached their destination, Jack became visibly excited, and made -his way to the office with an air of determination vastly amusing to his -companion. He was on the point of asking for Mrs. Fairhew when he was -startled by a voice behind him. - -"Why, Mr. Castleport!" - -Her voice! Jack spun around like a teetotum. - -"Katrine--Miss Marchfield!" he cried. "How do you do? I--I-- You know, I -came here--this minute--I was just going to ask if you were here." - -"Well," laughed the lady, whose heightened color and shining eyes were -evidences of a pleasant excitement, "you see I am.--Oh, Mr. Taberman, -how do you do? I'm delighted to see you." - -"How are you?" responded Jerry, taking her slim hand in his own hard -paw. "It's awfully jolly to see you here. How's Mrs. Fairhew? Well, I -hope." - -"Yes, thank you," answered Katrine. "She's never better than when she's -traveling, you know." - -Miss Katrine Marchfield was one of those girls who, though not -beautiful, are more than pretty. She was too attractive to be fairly -disposed of by being credited with mere prettiness; yet she had not -fully that quality, august and indefinable, which confers upon the -fortunate possessor real beauty. She was slightly above medium height, -and could now, having been out for a couple of winters, carry herself -exquisitely. A beautiful figure could not have been denied her by the -most envious rival; and her fairly broad shoulders, always drawn well -back, gave her a charming air of delicately athletic power. Her face, at -first merely piquant,--perhaps from the slight arching of her eyebrows -and the wholly delightful way in which she carried her head,--showed at -a second glance, by the height of the forehead, the clear chiseling of -the features, and the intelligent sympathy of the gray eyes, a true and -sensitive nobility of nature which gave to her countenance a charm at -once fine and abiding. Her eyes Jack--and for that matter a score of -adoring youths--considered her greatest beauty. They were at times -thoughtful, at others sparkling with vivacity. Now and then they might -be surprised in a quickly vanishing expression wistful or even almost -sad, as if some deeper self looked out but did not will to be seen. A -mouth small, the upper lip a trifle fuller than the under; a nose almost -Greek; and above the high forehead a cloud of dusky brown hair,--these -physical attributes, with a sympathetic temperament and a mind sensible -yet deliciously feminine, a pleasant voice and a delightful laugh, had -won for Katrine Marchfield more conquests than could be boasted by many -an older woman of really marked beauty. - -Her relations with Jack Castleport, whether she had admitted it to -herself or not, had for some time been greatly different from those she -held with any one else. They had met at a dinner shortly after Katrine, -for two years doubly orphaned, had come from Philadelphia to live with -her widowed aunt, Mrs. Fairhew, in Boston. After meeting Katrine, -Castleport had taken to calling at Mrs. Fairhew's, at first nominally to -see the aunt and later frankly to see the niece. He was at this time a -Junior at Harvard, and a popular man on both sides of the river; the -acquaintance during his Senior year had ripened into friendship, and the -most important feature of Class Day for Jack was the presence of Miss -Marchfield; he had thought more of her in the audience than of the -dignitaries on the platform when on Commencement Day he had taken his -degree; and what with dancing with Katrine, driving with Katrine, and -dreaming of Katrine for the winter which lay between Harvard and this -summer, he had come to measure the uses of life chiefly as they might -help to make her care for him or to reveal to him what were her feelings -toward him. - -For a moment or two the three Americans stood talking near the desk of -the hotel. Then Miss Marchfield stepped forward and dropped into the -mail-box some letters she was carrying. - -"If you'll excuse me one minute," she said, "I'll send for Aunt Anne, -and see about dinner. Of course you'll stay to dine?" - -"Delighted," Jack said. "That is," he added, "if it's all right for us -in these clothes. You see, we stupidly came off without evening togs." - -"That's all right," Katrine returned; and went away smiling. - -Jack looked after her with an expression which made Jerry smile. - -"Gad! She's looking ten times better than when she left home," Tab said -in an undertone. - -"She always does," the captain responded with fervent fatuousness. "She -can't help it, you know. God bless me," he added with equal fervor and -absurdity, "it's worth coming over steerage just to hear her voice!" - -"Well, you _are_ hit!" commented his friend; and then, seeing a shade -come over Jack's face, he laid his hand on his friend's shoulder, and -added: "Don't mind my chaff, old man. I really wish you all kinds of -luck." - -Jack gave him a flash of sympathy and understanding, and then turned his -head aside. - -"Pity we haven't got evening slops," Jerry remarked, by way of changing -the conversation; "but I suppose we'll do, seeing the way we came over, -and all that." - -"I'm not worrying about clothes," returned the captain of the Merle. -"Men wear all sorts of things traveling. I'm thinking what Mrs. -Fairhew'll say about our being here in the yacht without Uncle -Randolph." - -"What's your game if we're quizzed about the President?" - -"I'm hanged if I really know," Jack returned; "but I've got to pull it -through somehow, and you'll have to follow my lead." - -He had time to say no more, for Katrine came forward to rejoin them, and -before she had reached the friends, Mrs. Fairhew appeared. - -Mrs. Fairhew was a striking woman of some forty years, of medium -height, with quick and alert bearing, with the unmistakable air of a -well-bred woman of the world. A widow of some six years, she still, -except upon occasions of particular state, wore black,--from devotional -feeling, according to her friends, and, according to the captious, -because it so well became her. Between her and her niece existed a -subtle and baffling likeness, but in what it consisted one would have -found it well-nigh impossible to say. Of good birth, perfect breeding, -and a wide social experience, she possessed also an intellect naturally -good and improved by careful training; while for her rare good taste she -was perhaps equally indebted to nature and to a somewhat old-fashioned -training in whatever is best in the English classics. With these good -gifts and graces and a perfect poise, she combined whatever is most -admirable in the best type of American gentlewoman. - -"Mr. Castleport," she said, giving that gentleman her hand with gracious -cordiality, "this is an unexpected pleasure! How do you do, Mr. -Taberman. I am very glad to see you both." - -Greetings were exchanged, and then, after a moment's chatting, the men -gave over their hats to an attendant, and the party went into the -dining-room. On account of the season, the number of people at the -hotel was comparatively small, and the huge _salle à manger_, with its -slim pilasters and its long French windows, its tubs of palmetto and -oleander, might have impressed Jack and Jerry as rather barn-like and -forsaken had either been in the mood to find anything in their -surroundings unsatisfactory. The four made their way to a small square -table in an alcove, behind which stood a tall, round-shouldered waiter -in an antediluvian dress-suit. Jack put Katrine into her chair and was -placed next her, and with much pleasant talk the party began dinner. - -The fish was served before any mention was made of the President. Then -Jack suddenly found himself in dangerous waters, owing to a random -remark from Mrs. Fairhew. - -"And Mr. Drake?" she asked. "What a pity he didn't come too. I suppose -he couldn't get away." - -"Not on the Merle," responded Jack. "It takes a long time to cross on -such a small boat." - -Jerry watched his friend closely to detect signs of embarrassment, but -was able to perceive nothing more than a faint flush in the brown -cheeks. He recalled the captain's words about following his lead, and at -this point, in his own picturesque phraseology, "shoved in his oar." - -"Besides," he said glibly, with a secret mischievous glee at feeling -Jack's anxious eye upon him, "it's so hard to get the President away -from his everlasting bridge,--_Pons Asinorum_, I call it. When we left -North Haven he was so absorbed in his game that he didn't even see us -off." - -"I didn't know he was so attached to cards," Mrs. Fairhew commented, -with a smile. "As you have the yacht, Mr. Taberman, you should at least -speak well of the bridge that has brought you over." - -"Did Mr. Drake put you two in charge of his sailing-master, Mr. -Taberman?" asked Katrine, with a suspicion of a glance at Jack, as if -she meant to tease him. - -"No," returned Jerrold. "Jack and I did the navigating; he's a past -master, I assure you." - -"Yes," rejoined Katrine, "but I should have fancied he would have had -some one that was--Well, some one with a professional experience, you -know." - -"If the idea struck him he didn't mention it," put in Jack. "If it -occurred to him after we left, I can't tell, as I haven't heard from -him." - -"Haven't heard from him!" exclaimed Mrs. Fairhew in mild surprise. -"Haven't you been to your bankers?" - -"Haven't been anywhere except at this hotel," Jack returned sturdily; -and then added: "It was after bank hours when we came ashore." - -"Of course you cabled him your arrival?" - -"Mercy! I might have done that, mightn't I? Upon my word, it never -occurred to me." - -"Thoughtful of you," Katrine commented demurely. - -"Well, I did get some letters ready to send to him," Jack protested, -while Jerry grinned broadly. - -"Got them ready! How like a man!" laughed Mrs. Fairhew. "A woman would -have had them ready before she saw land, and had them mailed by the time -the anchor was down." - -"So did Jack have them ready," put in Jerry imperturbably. - -"Then it's doubly dreadful that they are not posted," retorted Mrs. -Fairhew. - -Jack leaned forward and settled a pink candle-shade that threatened a -conflagration, and by a comment on the inflammability of these table -ornaments managed to bring the conversation into safer channels. - -In the course of the talk it transpired that the ladies had no very -definite plans, except that Mrs. Fairhew had determined, despite the -heat of the Italian summer, to visit an old school friend, whose -husband was vice-consul at Naples. - -"I fancy," she said, "that we shall go straight to Genoa. I'm going to -make Katrine work, and to see that she does her duty by the galleries -and things,--Florence and all the Tuscan cities, you know. Then Rome and -the Campagna. It will be dreadfully hard on us both, I dare say, but we -shall be upheld by the proud consciousness of doing our best." - -She made a little gesture of comical despair, and her niece laughed. - -"It would doubtless be intolerable to either of you without the other," -said Jerry in one of his boyishly elaborate attempts to be gallant. - -Mrs. Fairhew regarded him with a glance well-bred though quizzical, but -evidently perceived that he was completely sincere in his desire to say -something agreeable, and smiled, although less broadly than Katrine, who -showed in her amusement a row of beautiful teeth. - -"Won't it be pretty hot in the south?" asked Jack. "I've never been in -Naples in summer, nor south of Rome, in fact; but I've always been told -that it is too torrid for foreigners." - -"Oh, we are used to it," Mrs. Fairhew returned. "Besides, it is after -all the English that have spread the stories about Italy's being so -hot. They've been kept at so low a temperature all their lives by their -horrid fogs that they're the greatest babies imaginable about climate." - -"I fancy you're right," assented Jack. "At all events, as you are used -to all climates, and as Miss Marchfield comes from Philadelphia"-- - -"Oh, but I've never been there in summer," Katrine broke in. "And, -besides, I've lived in Boston so long that"-- - -"That you can stand anything?" interrupted Jerry in turn. - -"I think I can," laughed Katrine. - -Mrs. Fairhew toyed with her coffee-spoon thoughtfully a moment; then she -looked up at Jack. - -"Where are you bound, Mr. Castleport?" she asked. - -"I don't know," Jack answered quite frankly. "I think we shall probably -coast along--Monaco, Bordighera, and Mentone, you know; and then go to -Genoa. Then perhaps we'll see Elba and Naples and Capri. After that we -must start for home. Nothing is settled with us." - -"I detest Monaco," Mrs. Fairhew said, with some irrelevance. - -"Why?" inquired Jack, with a smile. "Does the gambling offend the -Puritan that is in every Bostonian?" - -"It certainly does," was the reply, "though my aversion isn't entirely a -matter of conscience. I bought it on the spot for a thousand francs." - -"That was awfully dear," remarked Jerry. "It would have been much -cheaper to be born with it." - -"As in your case?" asked the lady, raising her eyebrows a little and -smiling. - -"Oh, one can't inherit all the virtues!" responded Taberman with the -greatest seriousness. - -"Most certainly not," laughed Mrs. Fairhew. "At least I had not that -good fortune." - -"Nature left you one to get for yourself, because she knew you'd do it -so easily," Tab said gallantly. - -"Really," cried the lady, "you are evidently determined to overwhelm me, -Mr. Taberman. Compliments drop from your lips like the traditional -showers of pearls." - -"There are frogs too in that fairy story," suggested Jack. - -"Oh, Mr. Castleport," declared Katrine, coming to the rescue of Jerry, -"that is simply brutal." - -"Of course it's brutal," retorted Jack, willfully twisting her meaning, -"but he keeps it up all the same." - -Jerry tried to defend himself by charging Jack with never being able to -appreciate a compliment unless he were himself the subject, and so they -drifted lightly from one bit of good-natured raillery to another. Now -and then a more serious note was struck, and through it all the spirit -of the party was more kindly and friendly than could be pictured by any -words in which they might have tried to express it. - -When dinner was over, they went for a short stroll on the promenade. It -naturally happened that Mrs. Fairhew walked with Taberman, and that Jack -and Katrine strolled on together some little distance behind. - -"You don't know," said Jack, for the fourth or fifth time that evening, -but with an evident sincerity which might have excused even further -repetition, "how good it is to see you again." - -"Yes," Katrine responded with a carelessness too complete to be entirely -genuine, "I suppose that it must be pleasant for you to see any one -after being cooped up in a boat for five or six weeks." - -"That's not at all what I meant," he returned pointedly, and with a -little vexation. - -"Perhaps not; but it's practically what you said." - -"I said it gave me pleasure to see you," Jack insisted, with a daring -emphasis on the final pronoun. - -"Oh, a compliment!" she exclaimed, as if the thought had just struck -her. - -"You may take it as such," he replied rather grumpily. "It's the -feminine attitude toward everything." - -Katrine was silent a moment, examining with an appearance of the -greatest interest the ground at her feet. - -"How queer you are this evening," she said at length. - -"Am I?" he retorted. "Well, I suppose if I'm only amusing into the -bargain that's all that's necessary." - -Another brief interval of silence intervened, and then he remarked -blunderingly:-- - -"I suppose it makes very little difference to you whether you see any -one while you're here." - -"What an atrocious reflection on my efforts to be entertaining," she -laughed. - -"Oh," he said savagely, "that's a nice meaning to twist out of my words! -You know I don't mean that." - -"You seem to have some difficulty in saying what you do mean this -evening," Katrine commented mockingly. - -Jack laughed uneasily, with that absurdly tragic air possible only to a -young man much in love. - -"See here," he asked explosively, "why do you think I came over here?" - -"I'm sure I can't say, Mr. Castleport," she replied, with a touch of -coolness. "I never was good at riddles. Don't you think we had better -catch up with Aunt Anne and Mr. Taberman?" - -And greatly to his own disgust, and perhaps, could he but have known the -truth, to the secret disappointment of Katrine, Jack acted upon her -suggestion without a word more. - -As they were taking leave of the ladies at the hotel a little later, -Jerry broke out with a clumsily worded invitation that they should on -the morrow go for a sail on the Merle. - -"You are really very good, Mr. Taberman," Mrs. Fairhew said, "but I 'm -afraid it's only half an invitation, for Mr. Castleport doesn't second -it." - -"I certainly do," Jack responded. "I was hesitating only because I -didn't think the yacht, just in from an ocean voyage, was exactly in -trim. I wasn't sure it was fair to invite you." - -"I think we can put up with anything that is amiss in that line," Mrs. -Fairhew answered, smiling. "What do you say, Katrine? Would you like to -go?" - -"Very much, Aunt Anne," her niece said, with a quick little glance at -Jack, a sort of bird-twinkle of the eyes, "if we shall not be too -intrusive." - -"Capital!" cried Jack, whose good nature had returned, and who was -anxious to make amends for his fit of pique. "I'll call for you in the -morning at about noon, if that will suit you. We shall want a little -time to get the yacht in trim." - -"Any time after ten will do for us," Mrs. Fairhew answered. "Don't, I -beg, bother too much about making things neat. I know how necessary -disorder is to the real happiness of you men." - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Seven - -LUNCHEON ABOARD - - -Noon. - -The famous promenade was deserted, and all the foreigners who were able -were safe in the coolest retirement of their little pink and white -villas. A warm off-shore breeze wandered through the silent streets of -Nice, came to the water-front, and there, as if alarmed by the noise and -bustle of the few sailors and fishermen whom the heat had not driven -from the quays, grew brisker and fled away southward over the sea. - -Down one of the smaller streets between the Hôtel des Anglais and the -Porta Vecchia, Mrs. Fairhew and her niece, escorted by Jack, were making -their way. Miss Marchfield, dressed in a simple gown of white, looked -deliciously rosy under her red sunshade. Mrs. Fairhew walked in the -narrow strip of shadow next the wall; Katrine was between her and Jack, -who, owing to the straitness of the sidewalk, picked his way--to the -evident amusement of Miss Marchfield--along the kennel. As Katrine was -fond of him, she paradoxically took unfailing delight in seeing him -humiliated, always provided, of course, that no one other than herself -was the author of the discomfort. The three were nearing the water-front -when the elder lady broke a silence of some minutes' duration. - -"I hope the yacht is not very much farther, Mr. Castleport," she -ventured. - -"No," Jack answered, "she's at the foot of the next street. 'Twas -awfully stupid of me not to have got hold of a fiacre, but it seems so -short a distance for me to walk that I didn't think." - -"I wonder why a yacht is always _she_ and _her_," observed Katrine. "Why -not _it_?" - -"Oh, the reason's plain enough," was Jack's answer. "Yachts have two -characteristics that are thoroughly feminine,--caprice and beauty." - -"It is good of you to temper the aspersion on my sex with a compliment," -Katrine returned. - -"It is obliging in me," Jack assented; "but politeness requires that I -should stretch a point, since you are my guest." - -"I am sorry to put you to the inconvenience," she said. - -"Of being polite? Thank you!" - -"Do you know, I'm sorry that your uncle is not here, Mr. Castleport," -said Mrs. Fairhew, as they turned the corner. "It is all very well to -have an old woman for a chaperon, but it is rather hard on you and Mr. -Taberman not to have some older man to talk to me." - -"Oh, you mustn't depreciate your charm at the expense of your age," Jack -cried. - -"Very pretty," laughed Mrs. Fairhew; "but your uncle"-- - -"Ouch!" exclaimed Jack, making a fine show of stubbing the toe of his -rubber-soled shoe against a projecting paving-stone. - -"What did you say?" inquired Katrine, with an air of mild interest. - -"Nothing. I stubbed my toe on that beastly stone," answered Jack, with a -feeling of satisfaction that the President was once more shelved. "Now," -he added, "the boat is just here." - -A small but motley crowd was scattered along the water-front: bronzed -fishermen, with close-cropped hair and long earrings, carrying osier -baskets of shining sardines from their boats to their little carts; fat, -raucous-voiced women, with red or yellow scarves pinned across their -bosoms; lean-shanked 'longshoremen, too old for the sea this many a day; -brown sailors, picking their way among the piles of iridescent -fish,--liver-colored squid and flabby octopi; half-naked boys, -outrageous and beautiful; with a miscellaneous sprinkling of human -flotsam and jetsam, as if the sea had cast them up battered and damaged. -Over all floated a distracting hubbub, made up of the rattling of -cart-wheels on the flags, the shrill cries of the venders, the calls of -the lads, the songs of the fishermen, and a medley of oaths, jests, -curses, directions, questions, and all sorts of vociferous shoutings. - -Both the ladies drew closer to Jack, who, masterfully making his way -through the press, piloted them across the quay. At the landing-steps -they found Jerry and the Merle's cutter, the object of the staring -curiosity and admiration of the wharf-rats and the loungers of the -docks. - -"Good-morning, Mr. Taberman. Have we kept you waiting long?" asked Mrs. -Fairhew. - -Tab had been broiling for half an hour, but was too courteous to say so. -He responded cheerily, then helped the ladies aboard, and established -them in the sheets. Jack took the tiller-lines, word was given, and the -men fell to pulling. The breeze was fresher and cooler on the water; it -made the ripples dance and glitter in the sunshine, and kept playfully -curling the ensign at the stern of the cutter about Jack's head. -According to previous instructions, the watch on the Merle got up anchor -on seeing the cutter leave the quay, and were now holding the yacht in -the wind's eye. When the boat came alongside, the ladies were handed -aboard, the guest-salute was fired, the cutter was hoisted to the -davits, and the yacht was paid off. - -They ran out past the old battery and the lighthouse on the outer mole, -and coasted along to the westward. In the bright sunlight the numerous -dwellings--villas, hotels, and _pensions_--showing among the green -foliage of the trees looked very gay and attractive. The sea was dimpled -with laughter. The breeze, although it gave promise of freshening, was -now only strong enough to make the schooner, which was carrying all -sail, heel gracefully as she slipped along. The day was perfect for -light sailing. - -At one o'clock old Gonzague, his linen jacket dazzling in its whiteness -and his snowy hair brushed back from his high forehead, served luncheon. -Jack sat by Mrs. Fairhew on the starboard side, with Katrine and Jerry -opposite. Gonzague had outdone himself for the occasion. A Provençal by -birth, he knew the culinary value of all the wares--to foreign eyes so -puzzlingly useless and hopelessly inedible--displayed in Mediterranean -markets. The dishes which appeared on the table made Jack and Tab stare: -fresh sardines broiled and served with some mysterious sauce of which -they tried in vain to guess the ingredients; something which Katrine -pronounced delicious until she discovered it to be cuttlefish, and then -could not be prevailed upon to taste further; a salad which had lettuce -as its obvious foundation, but which was fragrant with a dozen strange -and piquant herbs; ripe citrons and limes; figs and bullaces; and a -wonderful fruity sherbet for dessert. - -"Do you generally fare like this on board the Merle?" Mrs. Fairhew -inquired. "If you do, I should like to come here to board while you are -in harbor." - -"Not much," returned Jerry bluntly. "This is all Gonzague's gallantry to -you ladies. As a rule he gives us only pork and beans." - -"Dear me," she commented. "That's pretty hard fare." - -"Do you really have to live on pork and beans on a cruise?" asked -Katrine. - -"Jerry was only speaking figuratively," explained Jack, with a laugh. -"Of course we do better than that. The only time we really suffered was -in a bit of a shake-up we had on the way over. The second week out we -had a blow, and had to live on hardtack and coffee for three days." - -"And Gonzague must have stood on his head to make the coffee, too," put -in Tab. - -"Was it really so bad as that?" asked Katrine. "I mean," she explained -as the others laughed, "did it really blow so hard he couldn't cook -things?" - -"Well," responded Taberman, "for forty hours we had it so hard we jolly -well thought we'd have to cut." - -"Cut?" queried Mrs. Fairhew. - -"Yes, the sticks, you know," Jack explained. - -From the expression on her face it was abundantly evident that the lady -did not know, but she said nothing. She had but the most casual -acquaintance with nautical affairs, and made no pretense of -understanding the speech of mariners; and she was always willing to let -a matter of this sort go, rather than to submit to a lengthy exposition. - -Katrine, on the other hand, while of course not proficient in the art of -handling yachts, knew enough to appreciate that when cutting away the -masts had been contemplated, things must have been at a pass really -dangerous. Now she made no comment, but she gave a swift glance at -Jack, that had in it much of the admiration which Desdemona felt at the -recital of the perils through which Othello had borne himself bravely. -Jack happened to catch her eye; she flushed and turned to Jerry. - -"Don't you tire of it all?" she asked. "I should think that to have the -monotony broken only by danger in which you can't have any rest or -comfort would be dreadfully wearisome." - -"Oh, it's great sport!" cried Tab heartily. "Besides, you know, there -are no end of things to do." - -"Such as what?" inquired Mrs. Fairhew. "I've always found the ocean -voyage the most boresome thing about traveling, although I'm a perfectly -good sailor." - -"Oh," said Jerry, with a flourish of his cigarette,--for coffee had been -served and the ladies had permitted smoking,--"there are rope-ends to be -attended to, and gear changed, and all that sort of thing, besides -seeing that the men go over the brasswork properly every day; and there -is taking sights, and making reckonings, and all sorts of things." - -"But I thought the men did all the work on the ropes and things." - -"So they do," Jack said, with a smile; "but it is our business to tell -them what to do and to see that they do it. You must remember that we -are the ship's officers." - -"We have to look things over all the time," Jerry added. "Just before we -went ashore to-day I saw a thing that'll have to be attended to as soon -as we get back at anchor. The fore-peak halyards are 'most chafed -through where they reeve through the block on the cap." - -"Dear me!" said Mrs. Fairhew. "Is it dangerous?" - -"Not in the least dangerous," Jack returned reassuringly. "Is it really -bad, Tab?" - -"Oh, well, I fancy it'll hold; leastways if there's no sudden strain on -it. The rope's new enough; but it jammed there the other day, you -remember." - -"Well, let's go on deck," suggested the captain. "It's such a gorgeous -day, it's a shame to miss any of it." - -On coming up they found that the wind had so freshened that the -fore-topsail and staysail had been struck, as well as the outer jib. - -"We can run on till about four o'clock," Castleport said, "and have -plenty of time to run back with this wind." - -They still held to the westward, keeping about a mile off shore, now -and then passing fishing craft, headed for Nice, their big lateen sails -shining in the sunlight. Jack, watching Katrine keenly, read her delight -and enjoyment in her eyes, and could see how she responded to the beauty -of the day, the picturesqueness of the shore, the exhilaration of the -wind, and the sparkling sea. At eight bells they had tea _au Russe_ on -deck, and before they had finished drinking it the Merle was put about -and headed for the harbor. - -They had hardly gone a knot before they fell in with a large black yawl -flying the English colors and the burgee of the Royal Yacht Squadron. -She was sailing easily along under all lower canvas, her black hull -lifting gracefully over the sloping seas at about two cable-lengths -ahead. She was in cruising rig, with no boom to her mainsail, yet was so -large that her spread of canvas was at half a glance much greater than -that of the Merle. She crossed the schooner's bows, and then, luffing -occasionally, waited until the American yacht was on her beam. - -"Looks's though she wanted something of us," remarked Jerry. "Will you -take another look at her, Miss Marchfield?" And he handed her the -glasses. - -"She is a beauty!" exclaimed Katrine, regarding the yawl through the -binoculars. "I can see her name now. I-s-i-s Isis, of--of Plymouth. -Don't you want to look at her, Aunt Anne?" - -Mrs. Fairhew took the glasses with the air of a person doing a favor, -and stared at the yawl in a perfunctory manner. - -"What an absurd bobtail of a sail that is set 'way back," she observed. -"It looks quite like a deformity." - -"That's for balance in heavy weather," said Jerry, with gusto. "Hadn't -we better salute, Jack?" - -"I suppose so," was the answer. "See; he's fallen off. Means to give us -a run for it, I fancy." - -The Merle dipped her ensign, and the Englishman returned the salute in -kind. - -"I say," cried Jerry, "they're setting their topsail. They want a race -in earnest." - -"They've an able boat, to carry all sail when it's breezed up like -this," commented Jack, giving the black yawl a critical look. - -"Come!" urged Tab. "Let's take a brace and give 'em a run for their -money. We can beat 'em all right enough, both sides of the Atlantic." - -Jack looked first at Katrine and then at her aunt. - -"Would you mind?" he asked. - -"Mind?" cried Mrs. Fairhew, "I shouldn't mind it the least in the -world--especially if we beat them." - -"All right," shouted Tab, leaping boyishly out of his wicker chair. -"We'll show 'em! Watch along!" he roared to the crew. - -"Sway up on the main-peak halyards there," sang out Jack, who had also -started up quickly. "That's good! Fore-peak now--that'll do! Set -fore-topsail there--haul away! Good enough! All hands up to windward!" -Then he turned to the helmsman. "I'll take her," he said. "You get up to -windward with the rest." - -The man handed the helm over to him, and the race began. - -The yawl was on the windward beam, and both she and the schooner were -carrying so much sail as now and again to be heeled lee rail under. At -the end of twenty minutes the American boat seemed to be drawing ahead, -although the Englishman, his red flag blowing out from his maintop, was -still to windward. - -Katrine and her aunt had abandoned their chairs for the weather transom -of the cockpit. Katrine was thoroughly alive to the excitement of this -impromptu contest, while Mrs. Fairhew's well-bred face wore a smile -which might be taken to signify either her superiority to such a -youthful means of enjoyment or confidence in the power of the Merle to -outstrip her rival. - -Jack, his strong, shapely hands grasping the spokes of the wheel, -glanced only from the sails aloft to the yawl and back again. Katrine -watched him furtively. His keen, eager pose, wholly free from -self-consciousness and suggestive of power and vigilant activity, his -masterful management of his craft,--she noted them all, and felt a -certain pleasure in them, as if in some way she were responsible for -them. - -"Think we'll come 'round, Jerrold," said the captain. - -He gave a rapid succession of orders as he twirled the spokes to port. -The Merle came about on the other tack, the men got to stations on the -weather side, and the ladies changed their places. - -"Now we'll see how much we've gained on them," said Jerry, half to the -guests and half to himself. - -They drove toward the shore in the roughening sea, the port runway being -now covered with a thin sheet of hissing green water. Up forward an -occasional wave would come slap against the yacht's shoulder with a -sound like a rifle-shot. The Isis crossed their bows at a distance so -little ahead of them that her name and hail could be read easily -without the aid of a glass. - -"We're outfooting them, Jack. We'll have 'em cold in twenty minutes!" -cried Tab enthusiastically. - -"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched," laughed Katrine. - -"Oh, but we can't help doing 'em," he responded. "We'll have 'em so -walloped that they'll go into dry-dock for a month." - -"You'd better rap on wood, Mr. Taberman," cautioned Mrs. Fairhew, with a -smile. "I don't wish to be a croaking raven, but surely they're ahead -now." - -Mrs. Fairhew had, as the race went on, grown more and more alert. Her -eyes had in them the spark of a genuine lover of sport, and all the -womanly love of contest and conquest showed in the eagerness of her pose -and air. - -"Of course they're ahead," Jerry answered; "but we have the wind of them -by a good deal." - -"I hope that means something," the lady commented, with a movement of -the head half eager, half humorous, "but I confess that it is all Greek -to me." - -Jerry began to explain, but before he could make things clear to the -lady's unnautical mind, the yacht came about again to the port tack. -The Merle was then so far to weather of the yawl that Jack ordered the -sheets to be started a trifle. - -"Now then, Jerry, here's where we overhaul them," Jack cried exultingly. -"Just set the balloon-jib outside the headsails. I think she'll stand -it." - -"Want the staysail?" asked the mate. - -"No--'twould spoil her helm," returned the captain. "Jump along, old -man." - -The change was effected as quickly as might be, and the yacht's speed -was visibly increased. - -"That yawl's better on the wind than off," the captain commented. "We're -picking up on 'em now like smoke." - -After an hour's chase and half an hour's jockeying off the mouth of the -port, the Merle was about to run in when the English yacht luffed up and -crossed the schooner's bows. Both boats were close-hauled, but the -American was on the starboard tack and had the right of way. The -helmsman of the Isis gave Jack his choice of running the yawl down or -luffing himself. Jack chose the latter alternative; although naturally -angry at such an unsportsmanlike trick, he could not take risks with his -uncle's yacht, least of all with the ladies on board. The Englishman did -not spare him, but first blanketed him, and then, putting his helm up -and leaving the Merle with a small ledge frothing to leeward, forced the -schooner about. Under his tan Jack grew white with indignant anger. He -was not the man to lose his temper in his pastimes, but he had a strong -sense of justice, a thorough contempt for trickery, and he was quick to -resent a deliberate outrage of this sort. The performance was so -evidently premeditated on the part of the Isis that it amounted to a -most flagrant insult, a cold-blooded piece of sporting caddishness. The -only remedy possible under the circumstances was a desperate one, but in -his state of mind he did not hesitate. - -"Stand by to jibe!" he roared. "Cast off the topsail halyards! Now aft -on the sheets!" - -It was blowing too hard for jibing with safety even under reduced cloth, -and barring staysail and topsails, the Merle was under full canvas. - -"My God!" exclaimed Jerry to the winds, as he tumbled aft to help on the -sheet, "he'll pull the sticks out of her! Something's bound to go!" - -Jack held the wheel hard up, and the schooner swung steadily off. The -booms rushed over the decks, fetched up with a crash, and then swung out -as the men payed off the sheets. The lee rail went clean under, and for -a second or two unpleasant and portentous creakings and groanings -filled the air. The men flew about with wonderful dexterity, while the -two ladies held on to each other to avoid being pitched headlong. - -"Are any of your teeth shaken out, Katrine?" Mrs. Fairhew inquired, when -they were able once more to sit up. "All mine were loosened by that -awful jerk." - -"They are all safe, Aunt Anne," Katrine cried, her voice vibrant with -delighted excitement. "Isn't it splendid?" - -Her hair was blowing about her face, her eyes were shining, her cheeks -were flushed; and Jack, though his swift glance merely caught a view of -her as it flashed up to the sails, carried the alluring picture in his -mind for many a day. The thought of it was for the time being instantly -crowded out of his mind as he caught sight of the rigging. As the Merle -had leaped ahead, the fore-peak halyards, which had not been started -before the yacht was jibed, had parted. The gaff hung nearly at right -angles to the boom, and the sail was being strained out of shape. The -captain was so upset that in his rage he was guilty of swearing before -ladies. - -"What shall we do?" sang out Jerry. - -Jack's cry had called his attention to the mishap, and he had run -forward. - -"Really this grows exciting," remarked Mrs. Fairhew, as if she were at -the theatre. - -"Oh, what a shame! what a shame!" wailed Katrine, looking despairingly -up at the drooping gaff. - -"Get some half-inch on it!" shouted Jack, almost beside himself at -having been bullied into this predicament. "Take it out as far as you -can! Reeve it through the cap-block first. Move along there! Smartly!" - -"All right!" cried Tab; and in the same moment, with a coil of new rope -over his shoulder, and followed by one of the men, he ran up the weather -rigging. - -On reaching the cross-trees, Tab passed the end of his rope through the -block on the masthead cap and fastened it to his belt. Then he swung -himself down to the jaws of the gaff and lay out along the spar. The big -stick threshed about wildly, threatening to snap him into the sea at -every fling. Slowly and painfully he worked his way out. He clung on -desperately, so that it seemed like a conscious fight between himself -and the plunging spar whether he should be shaken off. It was like a -man's trying to tame a bucking horse, only a hundred times more -exciting, and Katrine grew pale as she watched, while even Mrs. Fairhew -set her lips closely. The three minutes it took Jerry to reach the -peak-halyard block seemed to every person on the Merle all but -interminable. Twice he nearly fell,--once at the outset when he slipped, -and again when he had to crawl around the throat halyards between rolls. -The second time he was actually thrown off the spar, but fortunately he -held his grip on the halyards. The next lurch of the yacht playfully -tossed him into the air, and he was lucky enough to regain his position -on the spar. - -Getting to the peak-block, he unknotted the rope from his belt, passed -it about the spar, and took a "timber-hitch." He then slowly worked his -way back, and eventually reached the cross-trees in safety. The nervous -tension had been so strong that when the men saw him coming down the -ratlines they fell to cheering lustily, Gonzague, his white hair ruffled -by the wind, waving his arms and out-shouting the whole of them. They -speedily got hold of the jury halyard, and even before Jerry had reached -the deck, the gaff was again well raised, and the topsail set. - -In the mean time the Isis had in her turn got into difficulties. It is -poor business jockeying among reefs, and the yawl had been forced to -come about, luff up, and drift sternwards until her chances of beating -the Merle were utterly gone. The fact seemed to be that the English -captain had counted upon the Merle's not daring to jibe, and so had been -too clever by half. - -Jerry came aft, very red in the face, and with the customary twinkle in -his eye. The ladies were evidently greatly impressed by his feat, and -Jack, who of course understood more clearly than they how dangerous the -task had been, took one hand off the wheel and wrung Jerry's. - -"Awfully sorry, old man," he said. "But I was so hot at that Englishman -I lost my head for a minute." - -"Oh, go 'long!" returned Jerry, grinning. "Don't you suppose I was hot -myself?" - -He dropped on to a seat beside Mrs. Fairhew, to recover his breath. - -"Mr. Taberman," said that lady, "I'm an old woman,"--it was one of Mrs. -Fairhew's idiosyncrasies to call attention thus whimsically to the fact -that she looked hardly more than thirty,--"I'm an old woman, and -consequently I disapprove of rashness; but I don't mind saying that I -like your pluck." - -She looked at him in a curious way, as if he were an amusing case of -arrested development, but her glance was full of kindliness. - -"Thank you," Tab answered, with a smile which was too confused not to -be almost a grin. "It's more a sound wind than pluck, I assure you." - -"It was perfectly magnificent!" Katrine cried. "You're a perfect hero!" - -They all laughed, more perhaps from the nervous reaction after the -strain than from any especial amusement, and Jerry blushed more than -ever. - -"I'm afraid you're inclined to make a mountain out of a molehill," he -said. "We don't allow heroics aboard here, you know. Jack did the -only"-- - -"That'll do, Jerry," called Jack from the wheel. - -"All right, captain," Tab returned, laughing. "Under orders." - -"Oh, but that's not fair," cried Katrine. "If Mr. Castleport played the -hero too, we want to know all about it." - -"I'll masthead that mate if he goes on talking about his superior -officer," Jack threatened. "See, the Isis has given the whole thing up." - -"She'd better," commented Jerry, "though I don't see that she had -anything left to give." - -The yawl was well astern now. Her sailing-master had for a little time, -in a vain endeavor to overtake his rival, pinched his boat unmercifully, -so that with her nose in the wind's eye her sails were every now and -then a-shiver. Now she had evidently accepted the inevitable, and was -making quietly for an anchorage. - -"Tell us about Mr. Castleport," Katrine said to Jerry in an undertone. - -"Oh," returned Tab, "he stuck to the wheel over forty-eight hours when -we had that blow we were talking about. It was a magnificent thing to -do, and I think he saved us from everlasting smash. Of course he -pooh-poohs the idea, but Jack's never willing to have anybody say he's -done anything big. He's as modest as he is stunning," he ended warmly, -throwing at the captain a glance of admiration and affection. - -Katrine made no audible comment, but her glance followed his, and had -Jack intercepted her look at that moment, he might have felt his heart -beat more briskly. - -The superior speed of the Merle, aided by the poor tactics of the -skipper of the Isis, who seemed to lose his head when he found he was -beaten, gave the American so much the lead that the schooner had dropped -her anchor a minute or two before the yawl rounded the inner mole. - -"I never had so splendid a sail in my life," Katrine said. - -"I was sure you would beat that other boat, Mr. Castleport," Mrs. -Fairhew told him, "and I confess I enjoyed seeing you do it." - -"I couldn't be so rude as to let you ladies be beaten in a race," the -captain responded, laughing. - -"Of course not," put in Jerry; "no gentleman would let a lady be -beaten." - -"What an atrocious pun!" cried Katrine; "and Mr. Taberman looks actually -wistful for fear we shouldn't see it." - -"Well," her aunt said, moving toward the ladder, where the cutter was in -waiting, "it has been a delightful day, and we are greatly obliged." - -While the ladies were being pulled ashore, and before Jack and Jerry had -returned, everything on the Merle was put in order. Just as they went -below to dress for going ashore for dinner, a boat from the yawl came -alongside with a note for the "Captain of the Merle; sch. Y't." Gonzague -brought it to Castleport, who looked at it, and then read it aloud to -Jerry. - - - YAWL YACHT ISIS. Y. S. - - Lord Merryfield presents his compliments to the gentleman who - handled the Merle in such a masterly fashion this afternoon, and - requests the honor of his presence at dinner on board the Isis this - evening at six bells, A. T. It will be an additional pleasure to - Lord Merryfield if the gentleman who so pluckily rose to the - occasion in the matter of a parted halyard will accompany the - captain of the Merle. - - R. S. V. P. - - NICE, July 17, 1902. - - -"Rot!" said Jerry inelegantly. "Let me answer it." - -"Get out!" responded Jack. "I think I can settle him." - -He got out the President's most elaborate stationery, and after some -meditation and the destruction of one or two epistles which would not go -quite to suit him, he handed to Jerry the following:-- - - - SCH. YT. MERLE, E. Y. C. - - Captain John Castleport and Mr. Jerrold Taberman present their - compliments to Lord Merryfield and regret that, owing to a previous - engagement, it is impossible for them to accept the invitation so - kindly tendered to them. Captain Castleport further desires - earnestly to express his opinion in regard to having been forced - about by the Y. Yt. Isis this afternoon when he had the right of - way; and to say that he considers such a manoeuvre so - unsportsmanlike and insulting that it should be impossible in a - gentleman's race. As the injured party, he ventures to remind Lord - Merryfield that the only reparation that can be made is the - severest reprimanding of the sailing-master, or whoever was - responsible for this inexcusable expedient. - - NICE, July 17, 1902. - - -"You see," Jack explained, "we let him know what we think of that -caddish trick without being in the least rude ourselves. Of course the -chances are that he was responsible for the thing himself, and there we -have him on the hip." - -"I suppose it's all right," grumbled Jerry. "You know best; but if I 'd -written it, I should have told him straight out that I thought him a -damned cad!" - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Eight - -A CHANGE OF TACTICS - - -As they sat that evening in the garden of the hotel drinking their -after-dinner coffee, which the gentlemen accompanied with cigarettes, -they discussed the news from home contained in a batch of letters Mrs. -Fairhew and her niece had found awaiting them on their return from the -yacht. The announcement of an engagement, rumors of flirtations which -might end in others, the latest gossip about people they all knew, were -mingled with chat about an extraordinary yacht race at Northeast Harbor, -a Russian princess at Nahant, an automobile accident at Lenox, and a -fresh divorce at Newport. - -"Everything else," Mrs. Fairhew said at length, "is simply nothing at -all in comparison to a piece of business news I received. Have you heard -of the Tillington failure?" - -"What!" cried Jack. "R. B. Tillington?" - -"Yes. Their own notice was with the other mail this afternoon," she -responded. "Liabilities something like a third of a million and their -assets nothing." - -"How in the world did it happen?" asked Tab. "I knew they had a lot to -do with mines, and of course those are always risky; but Tillington -always had the name of being awfully clever." - -"Perhaps he was too clever," Jack suggested. - -"Clever or not," Mrs. Fairhew said, "he has come to grief, and, I am -ashamed to confess, he has lost some money for me." - -"I am very sorry for that," Jack responded. "I'll wager you'll have -plenty of distinguished company. I'm awfully afraid Uncle Randolph got -his fingers burned. He's had dealings with Tillington for ever so long. -I never took kindly to the man myself, but Uncle Randolph had a great -opinion of his business sagacity." - -"I'll wager Mrs. Fairhew's bound to be in good company even in -misfortune," Jerry declared with his usual somewhat clumsy gallantry. - -Mrs. Fairhew smiled, and made a little sweeping gesture with her fan as -if the subject were a disagreeable one and should be waved aside. - -"Even that," she said, "doesn't soothe my wounded vanity. The money I've -lost is fortunately not very much, but I pride myself on my business -head, and I made this investment in spite of the advice of my banker. -Think how he will chuckle! I'd rather have lost three times as much on -an investment he selected." - -"How thoroughly feminine!" Jack laughed. - -"Of course you can't understand," Katrine struck in. "I agree with Aunt -Anne entirely. Of course one would rather lose money than to give a man -a chance to crow over her." - -The talk was thus drawn into the inexhaustible discussion of feminine -and masculine characteristics, that topic about which revolves two -thirds of all the small talk of the world. Then it drifted back to the -personal news of the letters. - -"I don't think Billy Rafton's to be congratulated," announced Tab -emphatically, in reference to a recent wedding. "Edna Leighton has -plenty of money of course, and is a stunning girl and all that; but -she's so horribly ambitious that she won't give poor Billy a minute's -peace." - -"And Billy is one of the most quiet men alive," put in Jack. - -"Ambitious?" queried Katrine. "How? I've known her pretty well, and to -me she always seemed nice. Certainly she's clever." - -"So she is clever," Jerry assented; "but of course that'll make it -harder for Billy to stand out against her." - -"She naturally would have the instinct to get ahead in the world," -commented Castleport. "Her mother was a Farquhar." - -"Mr. Castleport," remonstrated Mrs. Fairhew, "that remark is too -feminine to be worthy of you." - -"Do you regret that I didn't leave it for you to say?" he asked saucily. -"I know you entirely agree with me." - -"Her father, Stephen Leighton," Mrs. Fairhew continued, making no answer -but a hardly perceptible smile to his statement, "was a thoroughly -charming man and of very good family. You can't deny that, Mr. -Castleport." - -"I haven't any wish to. I'm not trying to run down Edna -Leighton--Rafton, that is." - -"I always thought," began Katrine. Then she stopped, with an involuntary -movement of the eyes in the direction of Taberman. - -"Oh, I was hit there once," Tab said jovially, "if that's what you mean. -I got over it at a boat race." - -They all laughed, and the topic seemed exhausted, when the elder lady -said:-- - -"We shall have sight of them at Florence, I suppose. They are to be at -the Villa Foscagni for the summer. It belongs to the Raftons." - -"When do you expect to get there?" Tab inquired carelessly. - -"Florence? In five or six days." - -"Five or six days!" cried Jack. "Why, when do you leave here?" - -"To-morrow afternoon," answered Katrine in a tone of which the -indifference might have struck Jack as a little overdone had he not been -too perturbed to notice. - -"Why--but--" Jack began; "I had no idea"-- - -"Did you fancy we were here for the summer?" queried Katrine with demure -interest. - -The hint of teasing in her tone brought Castleport to himself. Half his -social success lay in the fact that he was not easily disconcerted. - -"As Mrs. Fairhew was good enough to tell me her plans," he returned -coolly, "I naturally understood that you were to leave here before long, -but I admit I hadn't thought you would go so soon." - -"You see," Mrs. Fairhew explained, "we really must get on. Katrine has -to do museums and things, as I told you. When I was a girl it wouldn't -have been thought respectable for a girl to come out before she'd seen -the Pitti and Uffizzi; but it's all different now." - -"What nonsense, Aunt Anne! I don't believe you'd seen the galleries -yourself when you came out." - -"Indeed I had. I'll make you read all the finest print in the -guide-books if you are impertinent. We take," she added, turning to -Castleport, "the 3.08 for Genoa." - -Jack was by nature quick and resolute; and before Mrs. Fairhew had got -to this remark he had conceived a plan, and resolved to follow it out. -Gravely regarding the thicket of oleanders behind Miss Marchfield, yet -with the tail of his eye on the face of Jerry, which was alternately -lighted and obscured as his cigarette glowed or waned, the captain -remarked coolly:-- - -"That's a curious coincidence." - -"Coincidence?" repeated Mrs. Fairhew questioningly. - -"It would seem so," Jack almost drawled. "You said the 3.08, didn't you? -How far do you go? All the way to Genoa?" - -"Yes. What is there extraordinary about that?" - -"Why, nothing much," returned Jack in a brisker tone, throwing away the -butt of his cigarette; "only--yes--that's the very train I go on -myself. Same destination, too, unless I decide to stop at Bordighera." - -There naturally was a sensation at this unexpected announcement. Katrine -drew in her breath audibly; in the very nick of time Jerry caught -himself in the act of saying profanely what he would be; Mrs. Fairhew -closed her fan quickly, but she was too much mistress of herself to give -any indication of her feelings beyond a little quick laugh. - -"I had not remembered that you spoke of going," she said. - -"No?" Jack said politely. - -"But," gasped Jerry, "I say--you know, I say"-- - -Evidently his feelings were too much for him, and he collapsed. So -sudden a move on the part of Jack was sure to disconcert his -slower-witted comrade, and the captain had fortunately been prepared by -previous experiences for some mental confusion on the part of the mate. - -"Yes, Jerry?" he asked. - -"Nothing--I--I don't remember what I was going to say," murmured the -bewildered Tab. - -"Really," observed Mrs. Fairhew, "it hadn't occurred to me that you -could or would leave the yacht. What becomes of her?" - -"Oh, you don't doubt Jerry, do you? He's going to take her in charge." - -Once determined upon his plan, Jack felt it best to carry matters off -with a high hand. He did not in the least care whether Mrs. Fairhew and -Katrine suspected that his resolution to go on by land had been taken on -the spot or not; but he liked to play the game well, and to put a good -face on things. He spoke as though his mind had been made up long -before, although all the time his brain was working with furious energy, -as he tried to shape the scheme thoroughly and to foresee all possible -contingencies. To give over to Jerry the care of the President's yacht -was a bold stroke, but he said to himself that he was confident his -friend was entirely competent to manage her for the comparatively short -run to Naples; and his thought nimbly disposed of objection after -objection as they rose in his mind. - -Rapid as had been his decision, it was less wild than it might seem; and -by the time he spoke again Jack had all the details pretty well -mastered. - -"Do you leave the Merle here?" inquired Mrs. Fairhew. - -Katrine, Jack noted, had said nothing, but he had heard that quick, -indrawn breath, and he did not believe that her silence arose from -indifference. - -"Oh, no; Jerry's going to take her to Naples," was Castleport's cool -reply. - -It was to Tab's credit that at this astounding piece of intelligence he -did not make a violent demonstration; but he was not unaccustomed to the -rapidity with which Jack came to a decision, and he had before been -trained in accepting what his captain said. Now he only dropped his -cigarette, and on picking it up put the lighted end between his lips, -spluttered and smothered a profane comment, and hurled the offending -butt as far as he could. - -"Have another?" asked Jack, unruffled, as he pushed his case across the -little table by which they were sitting. - -"Thank you, no!" replied Tab with quite unnecessary emphasis. - -"You've no need to touch your lips with fire, Mr. Taberman," Mrs. -Fairhew observed, opening and closing her fan in a way which she had -when amused; "you have been sufficiently eloquent in compliments ever -since you arrived. May we hope, then," she went on, turning to -Castleport, "for the pleasure of your company on the journey?" - -"If you and Miss Marchfield do not object, I shall be delighted." - -"It will be a great pleasure to me. Of course I can't speak for -Katrine." - -Jack turned to look at Katrine. On her face the soft light of a Japanese -lantern fell between a couple of trees, but she at once moved so that -the shadows hid her expression. - -"Nothing could please me more, Aunt Anne, than that you should be -pleased," she responded. - -"Then you had better bring Mr. Taberman and your luggage ashore, and -come to luncheon to-morrow," the aunt said, rising. "In that way we can -take our time and be comfortable. Does that suit your plans, Mr. -Castleport?" - -Jack detected the suspicion of mirth in her voice, but he felt that if -she had disapproved she would not only have shown no amusement but that -she was clever enough to have thwarted his scheme. - -"I don't want to abuse your hospitality," he said. - -"Oh, we shall make you useful as an escort, and get enough service out -of you on the journey to pay that," spoke Katrine, with the air of -feeling that she had been too noticeably silent. - -"We're only too delighted to come, of course," Jerry said with boyish -enthusiasm. "Anybody'd be glad of a chance to lunch with you, Mrs. -Fairhew." - -"Your compliments are rather direct, Mr. Taberman," that lady answered -with a laugh. "We'll say 1.30, then. That will give us plenty of time. I -hate to be hurried; it is so undignified." - -As Mrs. Fairhew had risen the others were of course on their feet, and -as Jack stood aside for Katrine to pass him, the elder lady took his -arm. By this she detained him an instant, until her niece and Jerry were -a few yards away. When they approached the door of the hotel and it was -light enough for him to see her clearly, she dropped his arm; and as he -turned his face toward her at the movement, she regarded him through her -lorgnette with a look quizzical though kindly. - -"You are a clever boy," she said after a little, and with a peculiar -faint stress on the adjective. "Do you want to marry my niece?" - -Jack of course recognized that the question would never have been asked -had there been any doubt of the answer, and even in the confusion of the -moment he had a dim perception that Mrs. Fairhew was, with kindly whim, -helping him to ask her sanction to his wooing. He felt his cheeks grow -hot, but he faced his inquisitor frankly, and he spoke with a manner -which though instinctively subdued was full of energy and feeling. - -"You know I do," he said. "You know I'd die the worst of deaths for -her. I--As God's above me," he burst out, breaking off and feeling -himself strangle with his emotion, "I'll win her or die trying! I--I-- -Of course I want to marry her! What do you suppose I came to Europe -for?" - -Mrs. Fairhew's face softened, for no true woman could have heard the -passion of his voice unmoved; but she laughed at the sudden change with -which he ended. - -"I hope you may succeed," she said softly. "I think you will." Then she -took his arm again, and spoke in her ordinary voice: "Come, we must go -in." - - -"Now, then, Jack, in the name of heaven," demanded Jerry, as soon as he -and the captain were out of hearing of the ladies, "what is this awful -josh of yours about leaving the yacht?" - -"I'll tell you when we get aboard," his friend answered. "Don't bother -me now; I'm thinking." - -Tab snorted contemptuously, and in silence the pair held on until they -reached the quay. The cutter awaited them, and still in silence they -were pulled out to the Merle. There was not a breath of wind now; the -stars blazed brilliantly above them, and not a cloud-blot was to be -seen. In a stillness broken only by the rhythmical oar-strokes the pair -watched the myriad star-points which dotted the heavens as they had -adorned it centuries before when old Nice was new Nicæa, and some brown -Sicilian pilot may have gazed up at them and made haven by their -faithful guidance. - -No sooner were they aboard than Gonzague came to ask if they would have -supper. - -"Oh, I don't know," Jack answered, still in a dream from the spell of -Mrs. Fairhew's words. - -"Well, I do," put in Jerry. "We'll have some caviare sandwiches, -Gonzague, and a glass of sherry." - -The supper was eaten almost in silence, and it was not until Gonzague -had taken away the things and left them with pipes lighted that the -inevitable explanation was reached. - -"Now then?" said Tab impatiently. - -His face wore a sober expression, full of expectancy, but not without a -hint of annoyance and reproach. Jack blew a large smoke-ring at him, and -laughed to see how in dodging it Jerry kept his solemnity unchanged. - -"Well, Tab," he began, "I don't suppose it's necessary to say that the -idea of leaving the yacht never came into my head till I knew Mrs. -Fairhew and Katr--Miss Marchfield were off to-morrow." - -"Heave ahead," grumpily retorted Jerry. "Don't mind me. Of course I -shall be delighted to be left alone on the yacht." - -"Come, cheer up, old man," Jack exhorted. "Don't be grouchy. I'm awfully -sorry to leave you; but of course it's only for a little while, and we -shall both have compensations. I hope I shall be coming nearer -to--to--well, to something definite, you know; and you'll have the Merle -to do what you jolly well please with." - -"That's all very well, of course," Tab responded, his face relaxing a -little; "but what's your game? We've beastly little money, you know; and -this shore cruise of yours is bound to sop up a lot of tin." - -"We've money enough to carry us through," Jack declared. "I'll go to -Genoa, of course. I know Italy pretty well, and I can make myself -useful,--sort of 'guide, philosopher, and friend,' and courier all in -one. When they go on to Naples,--well, from something Mrs. Fairhew said -to-night, I think I shan't have any difficulty going on to Naples with -them. A man's a handy article in traveling, you see, especially if he -knows the language." - -Jerry regarded the captain as if his slower wits found it somewhat hard -to follow the swift flights of his friend's mind. - -"But the Merle?" he objected. "It's bad enough for you to be skylarking -about the world with the President's yacht, but when it comes to turning -it over to me--Why, the old gentleman would throw five hundred fits at -the bare idea." - -"Oh, I'll trust you there," Jack said lightly, consciously trying to -make his confidence as flattering as possible. "You can manage, and do -as you please for the next month. Who ever heard of a mate that didn't -jump at the chance of taking command for a while. I'd advise you to -stop, say, at Elba, if you're for doing the sights. Then, if you like, -while you're on the Napoleonic tack, you might run 'round to Ajaccio. -It's an out-of-the-way place, rather, but it's jolly when you get there. -As for Elba, I've never been ashore there, though I've passed it and -know the chap that owns it. I'll give you a letter in case you want to -go ashore." - -"But, Jack--Damn it!" broke out Jerry, as if exasperated by the very -feasibility of his friend's sudden change of tactics, "I can't speak a -word of their blessed lingo!" - -"Pooh! Your French will carry you about well enough, and if worst comes -to worst, you can fall back on Gonzague. At Naples you'll find them -speaking English all over the lot." - -"Jack Castleport, you're certainly the damnedest man to handle I ever -came across," Jerry said in despairing tones. "A fellow might as well -try to bully-rag a sea-cow as to argue you out of any of your confounded -schemes." - -"That's because they're so good," laughed Jack. "You see their profound -wisdom carries me away so completely that objections can't touch me." -Then he stretched his hand across the table corner, and caught hold of -Jerry's. "I'm deuced sorry to give you the slip like this," he said, -"but you know the reason." - -The good-natured Tab melted at once. He returned the pressure of his -friend's hand and tried to quote - - - "But when a woman's in the case, - All other things, you know, give place;" - - -but made so hopeless a mess of it that he could only break out into one -of his boisterously jovial guffaws. - -"Well, by George," he cried, "if she only knew how devoted you are, -Jack, she'd let you wait a dog's age, just to try you." - -They spent an hour or so in arranging details, going over charts, -dividing their funds, and so on. Jack gave Tab addresses at Genoa, -Florence, and Rome by which he might be reached, and told him that at -Naples he should go to the Hôtel du Vesuve. On the twentieth of August -Jerry was to inquire for him there. These and other affairs having been -arranged, the pair smoked a final pipe, and turned in. - -Jack was very wakeful. He lay thinking of this and of that, restlessly -tossing about in his berth. Just as at last he was dropping off to -sleep, he was aroused by the voice of Jerry, who called softly across -the passage:-- - -"I say, Jack,--are you awake?" - -"Almost," replied Jack; "but I shouldn't have been, if you'd let me -alone." - -"I say, Jacko, do you fancy the President came a cropper in that -Tillington smashup?" - -"Don't know," Jack answered. "He's pretty shrewd, and Mrs. Fairhew would -have been likely to hear of it, I should think, if he had come seriously -to grief." - -"Well, you know, it struck me that perhaps that beastly letter from -Tillington might have been something important, and"-- - -"Oh, take a liver-pill!" interrupted Jack. "You've got an attack of -_Conscientia Novanglicana_." - -"What's that?" - -"Forerunner of nervous pros.," replied the captain with a chuckle. "Go -to sleep or you'll get it." - -"Well, good-night." - -"Good-night, boy." - -Silence again reigned, but Jack, once more aroused, threshed about -uneasily until far into the night. Resolutely as he might determine not -to think of the possible consequences of the carrying off of that big -blue letter, he could not prevent doubt from recurring constantly to his -mind, and something not so far removed from remorse mingled with his -thoughts of Katrine and of the delight of traveling in her company. He -was so long awake that on the next afternoon Mrs. Fairhew, when he had -installed her and her niece comfortably in a first-class compartment on -the 3.08 train, and they were beginning to see the olive groves and the -villas slip picturesquely past the windows, noted the shadows beneath -his eyes, and smiled to herself discreetly and unseen. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Nine - -THE DOLDRUMS - - -For two weeks the Merle had been lying at anchor at Naples. From Nice -she had run first to Elba; thence she had doubled north again and -rounded Corsica; she had touched at Calvi and Ajaccio; and lastly, -running through the Straits of Bonifacio, she had held on -east-southeasterly to her present anchorage off the Castle. - -Despite the novel pleasures of command, Taberman felt Jack's absence so -much as at times to be almost unhappy, even at times a little inclined -to be resentful. He was still too boyish not to feel that to leave a -yacht for a girl was the height of madness, if not of idiocy; and while -he was too loyal to Jack to confess this feeling even to himself, it -would at times rise in his mind, especially when he felt more than -usually lonely. On his arrival at any port Jerry experienced to the full -the excitement which even the oldest traveler feels in some degree at -entering a new town. Whenever the port officer appeared in his official -dignity, another sensation was added in the fear of detection and -apprehension. A reaction would set in with the departure of the easily -satisfied official, and Jerry would go mooning about with his hands in -his pockets, whistling some spiritless tune until the time came to get -up anchor and sail anew. - -At Naples, however, things went somewhat better with Jerry than at any -of his previous ports. In the first place even Jerry, unæsthetic as he -was, could not escape the magic of the beautiful bay and the -surroundings which opened up before him in the morning light as he -approached the city. He said to himself, half as if in excuse for being -so much pleased by mere scenery, that it looked as it should. It had, as -it were, kept faith with him; and its beauty was to him an honest -fulfillment of its fame. The gray cone of Vesuvius, palpably and -gratifyingly like the pictures, stood at the head of the bay, crowned -with an inky cloud of smoke. Away from it to the south stretched the -cliffs of blue Sorrento and bluer Capri, melting magically into a -background of hills or of the azure sky. On the north of the smoking -cone a stretch of shadow-wrought shore, and then Naples itself, from the -old Spanish fort on the water-front to the Castle of St. Elmo, long and -gray, crowning the summit of the ridge behind, and the stone-pines -silhouetted like palms against the sapphire sky. Naples, with its great -four-square houses of pink, and white, and yellow, heaped, as it were, -one above another; its red-tiled roofs, its terraces tricked out with -vines or fig-trees; Naples, with its church roofs of variegated tiles, -its long quays yellowish gray about the shore--Jerry could well have -believed himself in some enchanted picture city, a city which might -almost be expected to vanish suddenly if one should close the book it -graced. - -Behind the Government Mole were lying five Italian battleships, their -big red, white, and green flags floating over their sterns, and -everywhere over the liquid blue of the bay sailed fisher-craft and small -boats, gilded with the morning light. - -Scarcely was the Merle's anchor down than the yacht was surrounded by a -gay flotilla of boats, all laden with piles of fruit or vegetables, and -manned by crews as noisy as they were picturesque. Baskets heaped with -figs, great piles of green melons, lemons, citrons, plums, fresh -vegetables of all sorts, were there; and each ware was extolled by the -vendors with vociferous volubility, until the ears of Jerry fairly sang -with the din. From the crowding boats screamed blowsy, dark-eyed women -with brown oval faces and raiment of reds and yellows; boys with Greek -faces and slim bare arms yelled with shrill voices; doddering old men, -sitting in the stern-sheets of skiffs pulled by impish youngsters, waved -impotent hands and moved toothless mouths whose sounds were lost in the -feverish uproar; stalwart market-men, with brown, wrinkled faces and -hairy bosoms exposed, fought their way through the press, disregarding -age, sex, and condition in their effort to be nearest the possible -purchasers on the Merle; all around the yacht the piratical -water-peddlers made a floating Pandemonium, at which the Yankee crew -stared not only in surprise but with some appearance of not unnatural -alarm. - -As an opposing bulwark to this flood of southern vivacity, old Gonzague -alone stood as the spokesman of the yacht. Requested by Jerry to make -the vendors "stow their jaw," he laid about him right and left with a -profane volubility which outdid even that of the assailants. The old man -had not spoken Italian for so long that he might well be supposed to -have forgotten it, but the occasion found him splendidly adequate to all -the requirements of the situation. The Neapolitans raved and pleaded, -execrated and lowered their prices, with appeals to the Madonna and all -the saints to witness their honesty and their liberality; but once the -floodgates of Gonzague's Italian were opened, he dealt with them so -eloquently and so roundly, his objurgations were so much more -picturesque and more emphatic than any they could compass, that one by -one they drew away baffled, calling on high Heaven and the blessed -Virgin to protect them when Vesuvius should belch forth a torrent of -fire to overwhelm this blasphemous and impious _vecchiastro_. - -Gonzague was perhaps sustained under the volleys of curses which the -defeated bumboat men and women threw back at him, by the admiration with -which he was regarded by the crew of the Merle. They had come to idolize -the old man, and to look upon him with roughly affectionate wonder. The -beauty of the scenes through which they had been passing in the -Mediterranean had of course impressed them very little æsthetically, and -Naples with its matchless bay they saw only with the eyes of Isle au -Haut fishermen. They were, however, never tired of wonders. The -childlike sailor nature is always easily touched by the marvelous, and a -real volcano was something worth seeing. As long as the Merle was in -sight of Vesuvius they would hang over the rail and watch it for hours. -If the smoke ceased they would cluster together and discuss the -probable causes; they would talk of the mountain as if it were a -conscious monster, lying in wait for prey, whose every movement was to -be watched with a view to detecting the sinister design that must lie -behind it. When a great dun cloud would suddenly puff up from the cone, -the men would greet it with deep exclamations half of awe and half of -applause. Continually they beset Gonzague with questions, as if he were -the keeper or the high priest of this fiery monster. They apparently had -complete confidence that Gonzague could explain it all if he would. His -knowledge of the language and such use of it as he made in dispersing -the voluble rabble of vendors were exactly in the line of their -understanding, and they followed his every movement with an admiration -amusingly tinged with something not unlike uncouth reverence. - -On the afternoon of his arrival at Naples Taberman had gone ashore. He -had landed at the steamship quay, and passed half the night in an -aimless ramble. There is something about Naples at night which goes to -the head like wine; especially if the head is young and set on the -shoulders of one who has never before known the life of southern cities. -Jerry walked from the railroad station to the Public Gardens, and from -the Mola to the Hôtel Britannique upon the heights. He attempted no -systematic exploration, but simply wandered with no other object than -the simple delight of rambling. By daylight the picturesque streets; the -variegated rabble, ragged, dirty, beautiful, impudent, at once repulsive -and enchanting; the crooked, crowded ways that climb the hill; the -awnings, the heaps of fruit, the strange wares, the familiar air of the -family life which made of the streets a home, and seemed to turn all the -inhabitants of the town into one huge family; the unconsciously artistic -groups, the tumbling _bambini_, the women, bold, piquant, handsome, or -ugly with a hideousness of which Jerry had never conceived,--all these -things passed before him like the whirling shows of an opium dream. As -night fell, and the lights appeared, the scenes through which he went -half dazed and wholly delighted took on a new quality of the weird and -fantastic. The flaring lamps, the mysterious shadows, the blazing colors -which not even the night could subdue, the theatrical effects seen down -the narrow streets as on a stage set for opera, the inexhaustible -vivacity, which seemed not to diminish with the lateness of the hour, -all blended in an intoxicating experience such as Taberman had never -known, and indeed such as had never come into his liveliest fancy. - -The next day Jerry went ashore in the morning, and set himself to more -regular sight-seeing under the care of a professional guide. He went -over the famous Museum, saw Vergil's Tomb, Posilipo, Sanazar's house, -and Marti's _pozzo_. After a capital luncheon in one of the cafés in the -Arcade, he rejoined his guide, who took him to the Aquarium. On the way -they stopped at the Royal Palace and the Morro, Tab being duly impressed -by the grandeur of royalty and the majesty of the law. Continually he -wished that Jack were with him, for he had so fallen into the habit of -depending on Jack for opinions that without his friend his impressions -seemed to lack the clearness of sanction. When it came to the Aquarium, -however, not only did the things he had seen in his day's explorations -fade from his mind, but he was too delighted not to know exactly what he -felt. - -The Aquarium of Naples is by far the most wonderful in the world. It is -smaller and less elaborate than others, as, for instance, that of the -Trocadero, but it outranks all in interest and impressiveness. The -virtue of the place lies in its simplicity of construction and in the -rarity of its exhibits. A sense of restful shadow and coolness -succeeding to outside glare and heat; a dim greenish light in broad, -glass-faced tanks of sea-water; an odd feeling of being fathoms deep in -a tropical sea,--these are the sensations the visitor has first in this -wonderful home of strange fish in exile. - -Tab made the rounds half a dozen times before he could bring himself to -leave. Quite unscientific, but as enthusiastic as a boy, he stood in -front of each tank, and tried vainly to determine which was most -fascinating. Here were spiny lobster-like crustacea, spotted with a -dozen colors; there were beautiful fish with shining iridescent sides -and waving filmy, vaporous tails; one tank was inhabited by repulsive, -warty octopi, splotched with dull browns and plague-spots of ugly red, -which melted and slimed about, so disgusting that they seemed almost -obscene; from another a huge sea python, with body as large as the thigh -of a man and a head like that of a bald wolf, seemed to grin with -sinister, snarling face at Jerry, while all about the monster bloated -globe-fish and distorted marine shapes swam and circled; in a corner -tank a brood of asp-like fish, with skins that seemed of richest velvet, -dusky and wonderful in hue, lay heaped like incarnate poison; and near -by the angel-fish went waving and trailing their way about the sand. -Jerry was perhaps most impressed, however, by the mysterious life which -went on in a tank to which he came among the last. Thin, slow-waving -filaments of colorless jelly, crowned with diaphanous cups, not -differing greatly from the poppy-flower in shape; and near them other -forms, transparent, hardly more than condensed sea-water in appearance, -yet with slow pulsations, continuous and wonderful, of phosphoric -sparks,--as if one saw life itself throbbing rhythmically in the -pellucid hairs of jelly. - -Jerry had not been so completely happy since he parted from Jack. He -reveled in a boyish delight, and let no wonder of the place escape him. -He tipped the keeper to feed the octopi with young crabs, lowered on a -string; he took a smart electric shock from a morose torpedo which lay -sulkily in a small open tub with a pebbly bottom; he had the big -anemones and the coral-polyps "put to sleep," in the words of his -guide,--an operation consisting simply of the moving in the water of a -small stick which caused them to close in alarm; he did, in a word, -everything his guide could think of for him to do, and went away in the -end only half content to leave. - -After the Aquarium, Jerry turned a deaf ear to the alluring speeches of -the guide, the burden of whose song was all of curiosities unseen and of -pleasures untasted. He paid the importunate manikin, and made his way -back to the Merle. The truth was that he had seen something which -thoroughly pleased him, and after that it was impossible to return to -the perfunctory seeing of regulation sights which really did not take -hold of him in the least. - -Before the first week was ended, Jerry had visited Pompeii and Baiæ, and -what was to be seen of Herculaneum. He had made some purchases; and then -he began to wait about, ashore or aboard, for Jack. That gentleman had -written no response to Tab's letter announcing the arrival of the Merle -at Naples, and Jerry could only think of him as so absorbed in his -wooing as to have forgotten all about his friend. Some not unnatural -jealousy began to ferment in his mind, and did not add to his comfort. -By the advice of Gonzague he took the market-boat, and setting out early -one morning he sailed with a couple of the men across the bay to Capri, -where he passed the day. The only thing which cheered him on his lonely -expedition was a tarantella, which was danced for his diversion by a -romantic-looking _raggaza_, with black eyes and short petticoats. The -moonlight sail back would have pleased him more had it not been -necessary to keep the men rowing for two thirds of the way. On the -whole, Jerry could find nothing to please him on land or sea. - -The major part of the next week he had spent stretched out in a cane -_chaise longue_ in the cockpit, drinking iced sangaree and reading -Didron's _Artémise_. He had a fly stretched over the awning for -increased coolness, and the "dusters" put up to shut out the glare from -the water; there, like some melancholy monarch beneath his canopy, he -read, dozed, and grumbled--without even the satisfaction of any fit -audience--from morning to sundown. - -In the cool of the evening he usually went ashore, and one night he was -strolling along the water-front, stick in hand and his Panama set well -back on his head. As he passed the Hôtel du Vesuve, wondering when Jack -would arrive, a small figure moved quickly in front of him and bowed. At -first he was startled, but almost instantly he saw that it was the valet -de place who had gone about with him in the early days of his stay at -Naples. - -"Hello," said Jerry in surprise, yet not without a feeling of -satisfaction at finding even this apology for a companion. - -"_Buon' sera, signor_," responded the little man vivaciously. "How do? -You tek-a de night air? _É verament' un' bellissima notte._ It mek-a -cool, eh?" - -And he waved his arms expressively. - -He might have been thirty or thirty-five, and had coarse black hair, -with fiery eyes. He was not ill-looking, but his clothes were hopelessly -threadbare and his face pinched. He bore dark circles under his eyes, -and was in no way markedly different from others of his numerous and -futile class, who, with a smattering of French, German, or English, -struggle desperately for a livelihood by acting, not always very -virtuously, as guides for traveling _forestieri_. - -"You busy?" Jerry asked, a sudden thought striking him. - -"No--no," replied the Neapolitan, his face as eager as his tone. "What-a -you like see? Eh? Some of dose oder curiosities _forse_?" he asked with -a suggestive smile. - -"Thanks, no," Jerry returned dryly; "but if you aren't busy, I wish -you'd walk along with me. I'm bored--tired--'most to death, and I fancy -you might tell me how I may best kill time for the next few days." - -The little guide was delighted. He suggested a multitude of things which -might be done,--visits to Castellmare and Sorrento or Amalfi; wonders -the signor had neglected in the museum; the _pasta_ shops; and so on for -a variety of possible and impossible diversions. But still Taberman -shook his head. He wanted to be amused, but he was lonely and rather -homesick, so that while he regretted being so difficult, nothing -appealed to him. Finally, the guide, quite at his wit's end but still -bland, smiling, patient, obsequious, and apparently unruffled by the -careless way in which the American rejected all his suggestions one -after the other, mentioned Pesto. - -"Pesto?" queried Tab carelessly. "What is that?" - -"_Si!_ Pesto. It ees dere dey hav-a de gret-a temple; t'ree gret-a -temple, all put een de row-a,--_uno, due, tre_." And he held up three -fingers to make his statement at once clearer and more emphatic. - -"Temples? Real ones?" asked Jerry. "I mean are they old--Roman, that -is--or just churches?" - -"_Ma verament'_," laughed the valet de place, "_ci son' tre templi_; -bot-a dey not-a Roman; dey Gre'k. Fin-a, big-a temple; big-a like Hôtel -du Vesuve!" - -He waved his spread arms as if he would embrace the universe. Jerry -laughed at the little man's enthusiasm, but his interest was excited. - -"Greek, eh?" he said. "How far is it? How do you get there?" - -The guide explained volubly, told the time of trains to Pæstum, -declared that the trip was easily made in a day, and proffered his -services as escort. This Jerry declined, quite as much from motives of -economy as from any other reason; but he invited the little guide to sit -down at one of the small tables on the sidewalk before Zinfoni's, where -he furnished him with refreshments and made him repeat his account of -the temples, the details of the journey, and whatever information he -could furnish. Jerry was really lonely enough to be amused by the -company of the Neapolitan, and as he sat listening and watching the -people drifting past, he was soothed with the feeling of being not so -entirely alone. From Zinfoni's the pair sauntered down to the quay, -where they parted. The Italian was profuse in his thanks and -protestations, and Jerry was considerate enough to act in such a manner -as to make the little man think him the most affable of _Inglesi_. - -When he was aboard again, Jerry got out a chart, and after some -searching located Pæstum. As it was not too far from Naples to be -possible in a day, he determined upon the expedition. Jack was not due -for two or three days yet, and the time must be killed somehow. He -summoned Gonzague, ordered an early breakfast, told him he should be -absent all the next day, and that he should leave him in charge. He had -a sort of mild exhilaration at his boldness in thus venturing off into -the midst of a land whose language he could not speak, and he went to -bed that night with a great feeling of relief. The doldrums were over; -he had something to do to bridge the time until Jack came. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Ten - -MR. WRENMARSH, THE EXTRAORDINARY - - -On the following morning, as, a few minutes after nine, the southbound -train from Naples to Tarento drew out of the station, Taberman, winking -a little at the sudden glare of the sun, began to look about him. The -morning promised a hot day, and his comfort in traveling was likely to -be lessened by the fact that in the second-class compartment with him -were five Italians. They had already settled themselves back against the -cushions, turning upward sunburnt, perspiring faces, and allowing -themselves to be jolted by the train like so many dead-weights. Their -ugly straw hats, high-crowned and narrow-brimmed, were set on their -knees or wedged beside them on the seat; two of the travelers had gay -bandannas tucked into their collars about their throats. One man--a -pursy old codger in the corner--had lighted, after a mumbled "con -permesso," a long Virginia, which filled the compartment with a thin -blue haze and an acrid smell as of burning leather. - -The train rumbled along over a dubious roadbed, flanked by its -cinder-strewn berms; and Tab, looking through the window on his right, -recognized the line as that by which he had gone to Pompeii. At times -the train went close to where the curling ripples of the sapphirine bay -were breaking gently on the shore; sometimes it ran through small -hamlets, and again passed country places where the busy peasants were at -work in the rich vineyards, the orchards, or the tilled fields. - -At the end of half an hour, they stopped at Pompeii for a moment, and -Jerry, through the opposite window, recognized the station and the -paltry inn beyond. As the train drew out again, he caught brief glimpses -of the ancient city, dull red-brown walls among the silver-gray of the -olive-trees. - -The train sped on southward. It dipped into little vales, and wound its -way up and into the hills that ring themselves around the plain of -Pæstum. In an hour's time they pulled up at a small town on the left of -the track. Jerry made out the name of the station, enameled in big white -letters on a blue field, Battapaglia. The guard came by, unlocking the -compartment doors, and as the men in his compartment got out and left -their luggage behind them, Jerry concluded that here was to be a wait -of some minutes. He therefore followed the example of his fellow -travelers, and stepped down upon the sunny platform. It was very hot. -Tab mopped his face with his handkerchief and turned down the brim of -his Panama all around. - -"_Graniti, signor? Citron? Orang'?_" - -A small boy had singled him out, probably because he was the only -_forestiere_ on the platform, and was offering him syrupy drinks cooled -with cracked ice. For a soldo Tab secured a glass of sherbet, -fruit-juice and water half frozen and very delicious. It was so -refreshing that he bestowed an extra soldo on the vender in sheer -gratitude. The lad rewarded him with a curt "grazie," and a look half -grateful and half suspicious, and then hastened on to urge his wares on -other travelers. Jerry looked after him in amusement at the fringe made -by the tatters of his trousers, and in lazy admiration of the sinewy -brown arms left bare by the sleeveless cotton shirt and of the jaunty -poise of the curly head. - -The train still waited. - -Jerry lighted a cigarette and got into the shadow of the cars. Presently -a big express came thundering out of the pass in the hills with a roar, -and rushed away to southward on the main track. - -"_Pronto! Partenza! Partenza!_" cried the guard, with a blast of his -horn. - -The road was again clear, the express-mail having passed. The passengers -clambered aboard, and settled themselves in their former places. The old -man with the Virginia had purchased a copy of "Il Papagallo," though it -was a mystery how he could have got hold of it in such a place. He -clucked oilily as he read, occasionally calling the attention of his -nearest neighbor to some gaudy cartoon or some political pasquinade. -Jerry speculated in regard to what it might all be about, and was filled -with that vague sense of baffled irritation which comes from seeing -others enjoying jokes in a language one cannot understand. - -Mile after mile of level track, flanked by the interminable -cinder-covered berms. Once in a while the level was broken by clumps of -dusty cactus, ugly and forbiddingly aggressive in the sun. To the right, -beyond a flat, gorse-grown waste, relieved only by an occasional palm or -oleaster, Tab could discern the blue shimmer of the sea. To the left, he -could see only the same dull plain, bounded by bluish hills, which rose -about it like the seats of some titanic amphitheatre. Now and again two -or three buffaloes, their black hides caked with patches of yellow mud, -lay in their wallows or stood contemptuously indifferent to the noisy -train, which beside them seemed so impertinently modern. - -At last the train, with a screaming of gritty brakes on the wheels, and -the inevitable clanking and banging of cars and couplings, drew up -beside a tiny station on the right of the track. - -"Pesto! Pesto!" - -The guard unlocked the compartment door, and Jerry stepped out. The -station was smaller than any they had passed, and Tab smilingly -reflected that the lodge at the entrance of his father's place at Dedham -was bigger. He was the only passenger to alight, and no sooner was he -out than the guard, like an overgrown mechanical toy, called out his -"_Pronto! Partenza!_" blew his toy horn, and swung himself aboard again. -The long train, with bitter metallic complaint at being obliged to go -farther, drew past the little station, and rolled away toward a gap in -the southern hills, far beyond which lies Tarento. - -Taberman turned to the station master, a discouraged-looking individual -who stood on the platform with his truncheon tucked under his arm, -examining a batch of dispatches as if this were the first time such -papers had ever come under his notice. Jerry's Italian vocabulary was -limited to some score of words, with a few expressions, such as _dolce -far niente_ and the like, more ornamental than useful. As, however, he -could perceive no sign of any temples,--or town either, for the matter -of that,--he determined to question the _capo_. - -"_Bonn giorno_," he began with a painful sense of effort, but with a -mild self-congratulatory thrill at having said something in Italian. - -"_Buon' giorno_," responded the station master, turning a pair of dull -eyes and an emaciated face from the dispatches to Taberman. - -Jerry spoke French moderately well, and resolved to address the official -in that tongue, in the hope that the Italian might understand. - -"Peut-être vous parlez Français?" he began. - -"_Cosa?_" asked the Italian, obviously puzzled, as he stepped out of the -sun into the shadow of the little station. - -"What?" demanded Jerry in English, and with much the same puzzled air. - -"_Non capisco_," said the man, with a sort of dull finality. - -Conversation languished. Jerry felt himself pretty well baffled, yet he -had no choice but to go on with the unpromising attempt to elicit -information here, as no other human being was in sight. He considered a -moment, and then in an explosive tone, demanded:-- - -"_Templi?_" - -"_Bruto Inglise!_" murmured the _capo_ under his breath. "_Che volete?_" -he added aloud. - -"What?" asked Jerry, again scared over the dubious boundary of his -Italian into English. - -"_Non capisco_," repeated the Italian morosely, wetting his dingy -forefinger, and going over his papers for at least the third time. - -"Damn it!" cried Jerry, in complete exasperation, "if you say that again -I'll punch your head!" - -The other started back in such obvious terror that Tab hastened to -propitiate him by putting on quickly his most ingratiating smile, and -nodding as if he had made a merry joke. The other seemed reassured, -although he edged away a little, as if he were doubtful of the sanity of -this foreign brute; and Tab fell again to the effort to rally all the -words in his Italian vocabulary about one idea. - -"_Dove_," he began in one grand final attempt to wring information out -of this sullen and taciturn official, "_dove_"-- He was so pleased with -himself for having remembered the word that he came near forgetting all -the rest, but with a desperate rally, he went blundering on. "_Dove_, I -say, is--is--_la via per i templi_?" - -The _capo_ looked at him, apparently in mingled curiosity and disgust. -Then he beckoned him to the edge of the platform on the other side of -the station, whence stretched westward a ribbon of dust-heaped road. - -"_Ecco-la_" he ejaculated, waving his truncheon vaguely toward the -distance. - -"Ah," said Jerry, "_grazie_." - -As the _capo_ responded to this speech not at all, Tab set out on the -dusty road without more ado. The way was inches deep in loose, gray -dust, and spiny cacti bristled on either hand. Jerry had not gone far -before, turning a bend, he saw at no great distance ahead of him an -arched gateway through which the road passed. The arch, broken and -crumbled, was set in a ruined wall, which trailed away on either hand, -now rising to the height of something like a dozen feet, now razed to -the very ground. - -"That's a forlorn-looking piece o' work," commented Tab aloud. - -Had Jerry been blessed with the education of his forefathers, instead of -having brought out of school and college a hodgepodge smattering of -physics and economics, he might have known and reflected that the wall -he thus carelessly characterized had been standing some two thousand -years, and gloriously attested the puissance of old Rome. With no such -thought, however, he passed beneath the crumbling gateway and continued -his march. At some distance ahead he now perceived signs of life in the -shape of a few dwellings. - -As he looked at them he became aware of two horsemen, who were cantering -toward him on the crest of the little slope made by the road just inside -the old gateway. Their horses' hoofs stirred up light clouds of yellow -dust. Even at first glance the riders showed themselves to be ruggedly -dressed, and with something of a thrill Jerry noticed instantly that -slung across their shoulders they carried carbines. Wild tales of -brigands flashed confusedly through his brain, and especially a tale the -Neapolitan guide had related of the capture and murder at this very -place of an English gentleman and his wife. The guide had said that that -was sixteen years ago, but the place seemed so lonely, so remote, Tab's -ideas of rural Italy were so vague, the effect of the landscape and of -these wild figures was so startling as, riding toward him, they stood -out against the sky, that it was no wonder Jerry involuntarily cast a -quick glance around to note the lay of the land and to see if any -possible help were in sight in case of need. - -The horsemen rode down to him on a lazy lope. They were big, bronzed -fellows, smoking cigarettes, and riding with their feet out of the -stirrups. They nodded to him pleasantly and smiled, showing large white -teeth. They had about them, these big fellows, a look so engaging that -Tab was won at once, and the vague mist of his suspicions vanished like -smoke in air. He grinned to himself at the idea of brigands. - -"_Dove templi?_" he asked, returning their salutation. - -The big men smiled more broadly, and one of them replied in French. - -"Vous ne parlez pas beaucoup d'italien?" he asked in a pleasant voice. - -"Ne pas de tout!" responded Jerry heartily, with a laugh. - -Having found some one with whom he could talk, he at once began a lively -conversation. He found the two men to be the custodians appointed by the -government to look after the temples and to collect the fees of -travelers. They explained that at this season it was extremely rare for -a visitor to appear, and that they were therefore not particular about -being exactly at their posts. They had heard some rumor of the discovery -of antiques by peasants, and were setting out to investigate. They -explained, however, that the chances of finding out anything were very -small; the peasants all held together, and would all lie for one -another. Jerry inferred, moreover, that they were by no means anxious to -make discoveries. It was part of their duty to investigate such a rumor, -for the government claimed the right to have a hand in the disposal of -any treasure-trove; but the custodians seemed to have a good deal of -sympathy with the wretched peasants, who tried to conceal anything they -might find, in order to sell it for a fraction of its value to any stray -_forestiere_ who might appear. Now that a visitor had come, one of the -men went alone on this errand, and the custode who spoke French returned -toward the temples, which were near at hand, that he might formally take -Tab's lira at the gate. - -The Italian walked his horse beside Taberman past the two or three -ruinous and apparently deserted houses, and in a few minutes the pair -came to where their road ended in a broad turnpike which ran at right -angles to it. On the other side of this turnpike, a little distance to -his left, Jerry saw the ruins of a couple of temples, and beyond them -the sea. His guide disregarded them, and led him to the right hand, -where, a hundred yards or so along the highway, they came to a square -two-story building of gray rubble. On its dingy front was painted in -black letters the word "Osteria." - -"V'là l'auberge," announced the jovial custodian. "If Michu is fatigued, -he can get eggs and polenta within. The wine is rough, but not so bad as -the water. This way, Michu." - -And leaving his horse to crop the rank grass by the doorway, he strode -into the building, Tab following. - -The inn was a poor place, even for southern Italy. The floor was of -trampled clay; the walls were unfinished within as without, but like the -ceiling, from which hung bunches of garlic and black and dusty herbs, -they were garnished with abundant cobwebs and a generous coating of soot -and dirt. At the back of the room was a counter, above which a grimy -sign announced the right of the proprietor to sell salt and tobacco. In -the left-hand corner of the back of the place was one of the altar-like -ranges of Italy, upon which glowed a minute heap of charcoal. Tab smiled -to find himself recognizing its use from its resemblance to the -cooking-places he had seen in the ruins of Pompeii, and reflected, with -the superiority of a youth born in a young land, upon the conservatism -which keeps its kitchen arrangements practically the same as they were -two thousand years ago. The room was lighted simply by the door through -which the visitors had entered. Another doorway at the left simply -yawned blackly like the mouth of a cavern. The furniture consisted of a -small square table and three stools. Over the entire place was spread an -appearance of squalor and neglect, depressing, but in key with the air -of poverty and of deadness which had been more evident to Tab with every -step he had taken in Pæstum. - -The room was empty when they entered it, but after the custode had -bellowed lustily once or twice for "Angelo," the innkeeper appeared -suddenly. He was a little man doubled up as if with rheumatism, and with -a face as yellow as a dried lemon. On seeing Taberman he croaked -something to the custode, and bowed to his guest again and again, -rubbing his hands and all but losing his crooked balance with each -genuflection. - -With the air of an archduke ordering a banquet for his retainers, -Jerry's companion gave some rapid instructions to the innkeeper, told -the Michu to make the place his own, and then departed to attend to his -horse and other trifles, saying that he would be back in half an hour. - -Tab seated himself on a stool to await his luncheon. His host puttered -about the altar, occasionally mumbling to himself, like the devotee of -some Stygian power making sacrifice. Jerry was watching him with -amusement, and wondering what would be the outcome of his incantations -in the way of food, when on a sudden the doorway was darkened, and a man -entered the room. At a glance Jerry saw that the newcomer was, like -himself, a traveler. The stranger was of medium height, rather inclined, -hardly to stoutness, but certainly to plumpness; he was well -proportioned, with broad shoulders, but had a carriage curiously -shuffling and insignificant. He held a stiff-brimmed straw hat in his -hand, and Tab could see, where the outer light fell upon his crown, that -his hair was slightly touched with gray. His face, Jerry decided, would -have been handsome, had it not been marred by two deep lines from the -nostrils to the corners of the mouth, which gave an appearance of -sinister suspicion not without a hint of selfish cruelty. Except for a -very silky mustache, he was clean-shaven. - -The traveler threw Taberman a quick, almost furtive glance, and then, -turning to the innkeeper, addressed that individual sharply in Italian. -The crooked host bowed furiously, made apologetic and deprecatory -gestures with the rapidity of a mountebank, skipped about in feverish -excitement, and jerked his head more and more frantically. The -gentleman--for he seemed one--continued his objurgations unappeased by -all these demonstrations, and ended by swearing roundly in English. - -"Oh!" exclaimed Taberman involuntarily. - -The stranger turned to him. - -"I beg your pardon," he said in a curious sing-song voice with a -markedly rising inflection, "but this brute has not prepared my -luncheon. Do you mind sharing the table with me?" - -"Not the least in the world," replied Jerry. "I'm sure it will give me -great pleasure." - -"Good," said the stranger. "I see you are an American," he flung out as -an addition. - -"I am," returned Taberman, feeling a simple pride in the fact. - -"Thank God I'm not," remarked the stranger. His voice showed no trace of -truculence; it was murmured as if to himself. Before Jerry had time to -explode the gentleman continued: "I'm English. What does that mean? -Celt, Angle, Saxon, and ages of tradition--ages of it. By the bye, you -mustn't mind the things I say, you know; your pernicious self-respect -would force you to resent them if you did. May I ask your name?" - -"My name is Taberman," Jerry replied, struggling with a mingling of -indignation, amazement, and amusement, "Jerrold Taberman. I live in -Boston." - -"Dedham rather," returned the other easily. "I knew a Taberman when I -was in college. Curious chap. I-- My name's Wrenmarsh, Gordon Wrenmarsh. -Fact is, I was an American, but I couldn't stand the place. Bostonians -have good manners; but New York is a vile spot. So is Boston; that is-- -Well, perhaps you see the difference." - -The tricks this extraordinary man played with his voice were -astonishing, and as he went on talking he quite dizzied Tab by the -cryptic, baffling nature of his nervous speeches. He had, too, a curious -and disconcerting habit of displaying great emotional intensity--opening -his eyes to their greatest extent and distending his nostrils--in -dealing with trifles of the slightest consequence; while whenever, as -happened once or twice in the course of the luncheon, they touched even -remotely on subjects of really vital importance, the extraordinary Mr. -Wrenmarsh fairly oozed indifference. His conduct was so thoroughly -strange that once or twice Jerry felt a puzzled doubt whether the man -were entirely sane. - -"I'll tell you," said Mr. Wrenmarsh, when their slight repast was over, -"we'll do the temples together. I've been camping in this abominable -hole of an _osteria_ for over a week, so that I know them pretty well. -One of them is in my period, moreover." - -Jerry looked at him as if to ask if the stranger claimed to be a -contemporary of the ruins. - -"Your period?" he echoed confusedly. - -"Yes; you see, I'm an archæologist--collector, in fact. Hello; here's -the custode." - -The custodian entered as Mr. Wrenmarsh spoke, and Taberman had somehow -the idea that the look he gave the Englishman was not very friendly. - -"Ah, Michu, have you found a friend?" he asked in his queer French. - -"I don't know," Jerry returned, with a half laugh. - -"Well," responded the Italian, "if Michu is ready to see the temples, I -am waiting." - -"Bien," responded Jerry; and then turning to the archæologist, he asked, -"Are you coming?" - -"Of course," the Englishman answered. "Never mind this custode; he's -only an ignorant pig." - -Jerry secretly felt that, ignorant or not, the big Italian, with his -merry face and open smile, would be a much more companionable guide than -the eccentric collector; but without comment he paid the reckoning, and -they set out. They went down the road to a gate, paid a lira each to the -custode, and entered upon a field of ploughed land, planted with maize. -The Italian, who had more and more the air of not liking the Englishman, -made some remarks to the effect that Michu l'Anglaise was a very learned -man, and one much better fitted to explain the marvels of ancient -architecture than he, a plain man who had had to pick up his education -in the army. On these grounds he excused himself and went into a little -lodge, while the others walked on to the temples which stood before -them, ideal in their beauty. - -The two pushed their way across the field and entered the nearest -temple. Jerry's was not an impressionable nature, and in one way to him -these august colonnades meant little; yet despite a certain sophomoric -exuberance which he had never outgrown, his nature was fundamentally too -refined to fail to respond to the silent grandeur of this solemn harmony -in stone. The roofless enclosure, after all the indignities a score of -centuries had been able to inflict upon it, possessed still a nobility -and a beauty which seemed almost personal and conscious. One feels in -seeing the ruins at Pæstum as if a certain inherent and indestructible -loveliness would pervade the very stones were they thrown down to the -last one; and while the columns stand, the place is one to make the -visitor catch his breath with admiration and almost with awe. Taberman -did not analyze, and indeed he was instinctively so occupied in -concealing from his companion how profoundly he was impressed as to have -little attention left for introspection; but he was more deeply stirred -than he could have conceived possible. - -He walked about with Mr. Wrenmarsh, who talked along in his curious -voice, expatiating upon styles and orders, influence and epochs, with -all sorts of things of which Jerry understood at best not more than a -quarter; until at last, instead of going on to the neighboring temple, -the strangely assorted pair sat down on the western steps of the ruin -through which they had come. Taberman looked away westward, where the -rim of the sea shone like a fillet of molten silver. For some time -neither spoke; but at length Mr. Wrenmarsh broke in upon Tab's train of -thought with a question. - -"Are you traveling alone?" he asked quite suddenly. - -Taberman explained that he had come over from America in a yacht. It is -to be feared that it was vanity which led him to make the unlucky -addition that he was in command of her until his friend should rejoin -him at Naples. - -"Ah," commented the archæologist, with a new appearance of interest; -"you're cruising." - -"Yes," said Jerry. - -The spell of the temple was upon him, and he had no inclination to talk. -He was conscious of a half-defined desire to have this stranger take -himself off, and not bother him further with questions. - -"And what do you suppose I am doing here?" queried the collector in a -tone of almost fierce intensity. - -"Why," Jerry responded rather absently, "I supposed you were studying or -something." - -"Why, yes, to be sure I am; haven't I told the custode so?" chuckled Mr. -Wrenmarsh. His laughter was as extraordinary as his speech and manner. -He would double up as if with a sort of a spasm and snigger gastrically. -"But that's not all," he went on, as Jerry turned to look at him -questioningly; "that's not all. I'm doing something else. I'm waiting." - -"What for?" asked Taberman, seeing that he was expected to speak. - -"Help," replied Wrenmarsh laconically. - -"Help?" repeated Jerry blankly. - -"Yes, help; waiting. Collecting is nothing but waiting anyway,--waiting -for news, waiting for funds, waiting for auctions, waiting for old -countesses to die, waiting for some fool of a peasant to discover -something; waiting, waiting, waiting all along the line. It's the man -who waits with his ears and eyes open and his mouth shut that gets what -he wants. He's the man." - -"But--but what sort of help do you want now?" Tab inquired. - -He was sympathetic by nature, and this extraordinary individual had -aroused not only his curiosity, but in some mysterious manner stimulated -him to a desire to be of service. He had come to Pæstum for amusement. -He felt that in meeting the collector he had been amply repaid. The -unwonted emotion which had been stirred by the temple melted in his -boyish heart before the warmer human interest which the collector -aroused, and it was perhaps with some unrealized relief at getting back -to more familiar levels of feeling that he now began to enter into the -affairs of his companion. It came over him that he was being appealed -to, and he was ready to take the position that if any aid of his could -bring relief to Mr. Wrenmarsh, that eccentric gentleman should no longer -need to go on waiting for help. - -"I'll tell you the whole business," said the archæologist, in a sudden -burst of frankness. "You look trustworthy. I've been here ten -days--waiting. I've written, of course, for help; but it doesn't seem to -come. Three weeks ago I was in Naples, and heard--no matter how--that -somewhere down here a lot of good stuff had turned up. I kept coming -down here daily until, by dint of discreet questions--discretion's the -backbone of the game--I found out what had happened. A peasant here had -been spading over some ground. One day the earth sunk suddenly under -him, and down he went into a hole. He found, as soon as he could get his -wits together, that he had broken through the roof of an ancient _cella_ -of some sort. He got out without much trouble, pulled himself together, -and did what any peasant would know enough to do,--covered the place -with brush and dirt so that no news of the thing should get to the -custodi. Then he went on with his spading." - -"Without investigating?" asked Jerry, full of interest. - -Mr. Wrenmarsh looked at him curiously. - -"Of course," he responded. "If he had let his curiosity get the better -of him, or his tongue wag, he'd be a good deal poorer than he is at -present. They are stupid louts, these peasants, but they do learn -enough not to take the government into their confidence when they find -anything. They know that they'd get nothing out of it if they did. -Besides, they are as stolid as buffaloes. They can wait well enough." - -"But what did he find?" demanded Taberman, his interest thoroughly -aroused by this tale of treasure-trove, which appealed to every boyish -and every adventurous fibre in him. - -"He went by night with a lantern and a couple of panniers. He filled his -baskets twice, filled them with priceless things in a perfect -condition--beautiful kylixes and glass bowls. There's one that measures -at least half a metre across the top. Think of that! Why, it's the -finest glass I've ever seen or heard of! It's the finest glass there -is!" - -"Great Scott!" cried Jerry, alive with excitement. "It must be awfully -old!" - -"Old!" retorted Wrenmarsh with scorn; "do you know where you are?" - -Jerry twisted his head to look up at the tall columns and broken -pediment above him, on the pinkish-gray stones of which the afternoon -sun fell with loving warmth. - -"Yes, of course," he said. "But what did he do with the things?" - -"I kept at him till I wormed the whole business out of him," the -collector answered, "and I bought his things--damn him!" - -He brought out the objurgation with amazing vigor; then stopped and -stared gloomily before him. - -"Well?" said Jerry. "What are you waiting for? More?" - -"More!" exploded the collector, disgust and indignation in his face. -"Man, I've got hold of a collection that is all but unique! More! Don't -you see--I can't get away with it! Piece by piece I could run it out of -the country, but I don't dare to leave anything behind me. If only my -men were at hand--but they're not, they're not. One's off the track in -the T road, and the other's in America." - -He passed his hand before his eyes with a gesture so expressive that it -was even more impassioned than his tone. - -Taberman was moved, both by the enthusiasm of this man for his work and -by the exciting romance of the finding of this treasure. He knew vaguely -of the laws that forbade the taking of works of art out of Italy and -Greece, but he had no conception that they were strictly enforced. It -gave him a new sensation to be thus brought in contact with the actual -working of a statute which was aimed to prevent a man from removing his -own possessions from one country to another. He had been too well -brought up under a high protective tariff to have any moral scruples -about smuggling anything. A Mugwump atmosphere had acted upon the -natural inclination of youth to defy authority, and had bred in Jerry -the feeling that smuggling, however little its true nature was -appreciated in high places, was really in its essence a maligned virtue. -In the present instance, moreover, the boyish feeling that what one owns -is his to do what he chooses with despite all fiats of principalities, -potentates, and powers, helped to make the idea of this especial case of -an attempt to defy the laws one of particular merit. He gave himself -eagerly to considering how it could be done. - -"Can't you take your traps to Naples, and ship 'em from there?" he at -last demanded of the archæologist. - -"You don't understand, I'm afraid," replied the other. "My reputation in -itself compels me to lie close. Besides that, there's the awkward -problem of the octroi and the export examinations. I couldn't take the -things into Naples without running into the one, or out of it without -getting afoul of the other. They'd be no end sharp in examining -anything I tried to pass. I'm hideously notorious in Italy." His pride -in this last statement was entirely evident, but Jerry was impressed by -the deeds of archæological daring which were implied in such a -reputation. "I simply can't get these things away without help," he -continued. "I've written and telegraphed to every mortal I can count -on,--there are only five or six of them,--and not one of them can help -me out just now. Meanwhile I starve on eggs and polenta, under the -suspicious eyes of the custodi--damn 'em! They'd have got me a week ago -if they'd had any brains." - -"Upon my word," cried Jerry, the idea suddenly striking him for the -first time, "it's extraordinary you should tell me all this, and I a -stranger." - -"I count on your helping me," responded Mr. Wrenmarsh in keenly incisive -tones. - -"My helping you!" ejaculated Tab in amazement. "What in the world have I -to do with the business?" - -"You practically said so," returned the collector. "At least your face -did." He looked at Jerry, and then turned away to the brown expanse of -plain in a manner so stricken and so reproachful that Taberman could not -help feeling convicted of consummate wickedness. "I counted on you," he -added, in a tone of profoundest pathos. - -Jerry was completely nonplussed. He felt that he was being played with; -he was angrily conscious that the whole affair was no concern of his, -and that he had no business to be dragged into it. Yet he felt no less -but rather more keenly that he could not endure the imputation of having -encouraged a man in difficulties with a hope of assistance and of having -then refused to fulfill them. His youthful blood, moreover, was stirred -by the flavor of adventure which came alluringly to his inner sense. For -a moment there was a strained silence, and then it was broken by Tab. - -"You've mistaken my interest for something else, I'm afraid," he said, -trying to speak lightly, and feeling that he was making a mess of it. -"It never even occurred to me that I could help you out of this blessed -muss; and I don't see that there's anything I can do anyway, except to -keep mum about it. Of course that I'd do anyway." - -"No use," retorted the archæologist. "If you can help me and won't, -after my taking you into my confidence, you--you ruin me." - -"Hmm," Jerry observed rather coldly, "that's too subtle for me. I fail -to see it in that light. You're no worse off than you were before." - -"I'm sure, Mr. Tableman"-- - -"Taberman," Jerry corrected. - -"Pardon me, Mr. Taberman; but you don't see the _catena logica_ by which -I arrive at my conclusions!" Mr. Wrenmarsh, both in speech and gestures, -was momentarily growing more and more theatrical. "Suppose you should, -knowing my story and the law against taking works of art out of the -country, tell my case to the police. What then?" - -"It would be the trick of a blackguard, of course," Jerry replied -promptly, "but"-- - -"_Momento!_" interrupted the other, holding up his hand. "Now suppose -things to be as they are, and you learn that the custodi are on my -track"-- - -"They've heard something of the find," interposed Jerry; "they told me -that." - -"There! You see!" Wrenmarsh said, with a gesture which seemed to appeal -to all humanity to bear witness that in whatever he had said he had been -completely right. "Suppose, now, that you have--with perfect security to -yourself, mind--a chance to give me a friendly word of warning, and -don't do it. What then?" - -"Why," Tab answered, feeling every moment more and more as if he were -being snarled up in a web, "it would be, in such a case as you suppose, -a pretty shabby trick, of course. At the same time"-- - -"Wait a bit," cried Mr. Wrenmarsh, again interrupting him, and growing -visibly more excited still; "wait a bit. I want you to consider the -present case. You say yourself the secret is leaking out, and of course -every moment makes my danger greater. With practically no bother and -with absolute safety you can help me out of the whole tangle. If you -don't, I shall be caught; I shall lose this incomparable treasure and -all the money I paid for it,--and that's no small sum, let me tell -you,--and all because you, my forlorn hope that I've confided in _in -rebus angustis_, won't devote twenty-four hours of your time to saving -your own self-respect. By Jove!" he cried, starting to his feet, "if you -don't help me you betray me as much as if you went straight to the -custodi with my story." - -"Sit tight!" cried Jerry, startled by the violence of the other's -demonstration. "Sit tight!" - -"Will you help me?" demanded Mr. Wrenmarsh, his brown eyes blazing. -"Will you help--help me to dodge these Italian robbers and get my -things--my antiquities that I have paid for with hard cash--out of this -rotten country? Will you help, or will you desert me, and take sides -with those that are waiting to rob me?" - -"By George, I've a mind to try!" incautiously ejaculated Jerry, for the -moment carried off his balance by the enthusiasm and the persuasive -personality of the other. - -"Good man!" cried the antiquarian in a rapture; "good man! I knew you -would. We'll beat 'em! I"-- - -"Hold your horses a bit!" put in Tab hastily, taken aback by the force -Wrenmarsh gave to his unconsidered words. "Go slow, please. I may -have"-- - -"Oh, that's all right," returned the collector impetuously. "We'll take -a turn down the road, and plan it all out. I can think better when I'm -walking--sort of peripatetic, you see. Ha, ha!--and it'll look queer if -you don't go down to see the other temple. Come on." - -Mr. Wrenmarsh made his way toward the road, trampling impetuously over -the wild thyme and the acanthus, while Taberman followed in a mixture of -amused amazement and indignation, but with a full determination to -expostulate. He found, however, that he was not allowed any opportunity -for remonstrance. Every sentence he began was choked off with some fresh -exclamation of gratitude from the collector, or by some burst of -delight that out of the skies, as it were, he had fallen to be the -savior of the perplexed archæologist. By the time they had walked around -the third temple, which stands at some distance from the other two, -Taberman had given up protesting. He merely listened to his companion's -bewildering flow of talk, and felt as if he were being drawn into a -whirlpool. He was helped by his own secret delight at the thought of -having a share in a real adventure, and perhaps pushed on by a boyish -shame at the idea of seeming to draw back and to fail another in an -extremity. He had not much chance to speak,--but he soon found that what -he did say was in the line of his having accepted the position into -which Mr. Wrenmarsh had been endeavoring to force him. - -As they returned from the third temple they found the custode beside the -fountain which stood across the road from the inn. He was trying to -teach his horse to shake hands. - -"Ah, Michu," the Italian said as they came up to him; "I hope you were -pleased with the temples." - -"Much," Taberman assured him. "They are magnificent." - -Seeing his companion fee the man, he in turn slipped a coin into the -brown hand. His conscience gave him a little twinge at the thought of -plotting to outwit this frank, big creature; but he reflected instantly -that the matter was entirely impersonal, and it was not in a -tariff-hating youth like Jerry to have any scruples over tricking the -Italian government in a matter of this sort. - -"How long would it take you to sail down here from Naples?" asked -Wrenmarsh, as they took the road toward the station. - -Tab considered. - -"Five or six hours with a good breeze," was his conclusion. - -Mr. Wrenmarsh wrinkled his brows and quickened his pace. Those -uncomfortable lines from the nostrils to the corners of his mouth -deepened, and he half shut his eyes. After a little meditation he spoke -again. - -"Very good," he said decisively. "This is the way we'll put the thing -through. You go back to Naples now. Be off the shore here by eleven -o'clock, and send a boat ashore for me and my boxes. They're rather big, -and fairly heavy; and they've got to be handled tenderly. I couldn't get -proper means of packing the things, and I've had to take what there was. -Once we get the stuff on board, we must run back so as to be in Naples -by sunrise. Does that suit you?" - -"You seem to be running this cruise," laughed Jerry. "I suppose it's all -right; but there's one thing I must know. There's no chance of getting -the yacht into a scrape, is there?" - -"Oh, no danger whatever." - -"You're sure?" Tab insisted. "It wouldn't be exactly pleasant to get my -friend's boat confiscated, you know, or into any sort of a mess of that -kind." - -"Bosh!" retorted Mr. Wrenmarsh brusquely. "You may make your mind easy. -The worst that could happen is that I might lose my things. But we must -walk a bit faster, if you're to get your train." - -"It's better to say to-morrow night," Tab remarked, as they took their -way down the road and beneath the old Roman arch. "You see I might be -late in getting back, and"-- - -"Of course, of course," interrupted the collector. "You can't count on -getting here to-night. To-morrow night, of course." - -At the station the _capo_ was standing almost where Jerry had left him, -looking at the hills. When the two came up, he merely turned his head -and nodded. - -"The _facchino_ must be doing ticket-duty," the collector remarked. -"We'll go in and get your ticket." - -A tall, yellow, broken-looking man was behind the little wicket in the -ticket-office, puttering with some sort of repair work on a shelf. Mr. -Wrenmarsh addressed him in Italian. The man took a blue and green ticket -from a pigeon-hole on the wall, placed it under the stamp, on the knob -of which he then brought down his fist with a nervous bang. Instantly he -broke out into a violent exclamation. - -"_Sacro sangue della Madonna!_" he shouted, and began to rave -hysterically. - -"What's the matter?" asked Taberman. "What is he saying?" - -"He is cursing quite well," returned the archæologist coolly. "His hand -was unsteady, and he's broken the stamp. He wants to know what will -become of him when the _capo_ finds the punch is broken." - -"Is he tight?" inquired Jerry inelegantly. - -"Oh, he's only bally-rotten with malaria. Look at his face." - -"Tell him he ought to take some quinine," suggested Taberman, genuinely -sorry for the wretched-looking fellow. - -Mr. Wrenmarsh interpreted, but the Italian replied in a tone of mingled -despair and contempt, and went out to show the broken punch to his -superior. - -"What does he say?" asked Jerry. - -"Says he took twenty-four grains this noon," answered Wrenmarsh, -chuckling as if it were funny. - -"Gad!" exclaimed Tab. "No wonder his hand shook. What a country!" - -"You say that?" returned the other. "You may remember that I'm tied to -it till I can get my things out." - -They went out to the platform, and at the moment the train came in. -Jerry took his seat in an empty compartment, and the collector stood -outside the window. - -"You'll surely come?" asked Mr. Wrenmarsh, in a voice almost -threatening. - -"I can't see that I should," Taberman returned; "but wind and weather -permitting, I suppose I shall." - -"I can't attempt to argue with you here," the other said; "but -mind--you'll come." - -"_Pronto! Pronto!_" called the guard in his hoarse sing-song. - -"I shall come," Jerry said reassuringly. "You may bet on it." - -"_Partenza! Partenza!_" the guard bawled, blowing his horn. - -"Good-by. Don't miss it!" cried Wrenmarsh, giving Jerry's hand a -farewell grip. - -"To-morrow night," returned Taberman. - -"I show a light," the collector vociferated, running along the platform -beside the now moving train, and repeating the details he had already -arranged. "A white light." - -"Right-o!" shouted Taberman, as the train bore him beyond the reach of -further communication. - -He threw himself back into the corner of the compartment, and all the -way to Naples he kept wondering over and over what there was about Mr. -Wrenmarsh that had induced him to promise to have a share in a scheme so -mad. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Eleven - -A LONE-HAND GAME - - -On the morning after his return Jerry rose at an hour comfortably late, -took a swim, shaved, and having finished his breakfast, sat down to -write a short note to Jack. As the captain might put in an appearance at -any moment now, Taberman did not wish to go away from Naples without -leaving some explanation and a hint as to his whereabouts. He found the -letter somewhat difficult to write, since to give Jack a satisfactory -reason for his errand to Pæstum, especially in brief space, was no easy -task. He had been more or less troubled ever since his preposterous -promise to Mr. Wrenmarsh; but now that he was confronted with the -difficulty of making his course appear rational to Jack, he felt himself -so completely a fool that he groaned as he wrote, and then tore up the -note, with a curse. On the whole, he decided to say no more than that he -had gone to take a short run down the coast, as he was bored at Naples. - -He went ashore with the note himself, and leaving the cutter at the -quay to wait for him, he set out on foot for the Hôtel du Vesuve, where -Jack was to report on his arrival. The morning was already well -advanced, and the heat was becoming fervent; but Jerry, freshened by his -recent swim, went blithely on his way. At the hotel he said to the -porter that he wished to leave a letter for a gentleman who was soon to -arrive, and produced his note. The official glanced at the -superscription, and observed that the traveler was already there. - -Jerry stared at him dumfounded. - -"Arrived?" he gasped. "When?" - -"He came on the night train from Rome," replied the porter, whose -English was almost as good as that of Taberman. "He came on the train -that gets in at half-past eight in the morning. He is escorting two -ladies. They are now at breakfast." - -Tab stood for a moment plunged in perplexity. This unexpected arrival of -Jack made his scheme of aiding Wrenmarsh dreadfully difficult, and -perhaps even impossible. He felt himself pledged, however, and he -reflected that whatever were Jack's plans the captain would hardly -hinder him from keeping a promise which he had made on the strength of -the supposition that the Merle was to be in his hands a full month. Jack -had come back before his time, but Tab said to himself that this would -surely make no difference in his fulfilling his obligations to the -archæologist. - -He asked for the breakfast party, and was shown into the carefully -shaded dining-room where they were seated. Hearty greetings followed, -and he sat and talked with them while they finished their repast. - -All three looked a bit fagged. Even Mrs. Fairhew, accustomed as she was -to European travel of all sorts, had dark circles under her keen eyes. -She was dressed, not according to her wont in black, but in a soft gray -which well set off her brilliant complexion, so that in spite of the -look of fatigue she appeared much as she had when the travelers had met -at Nice. Jack was clad in a suit of white linen, with a collarless -jacket such as is worn by naval officers in hot climates. His hair had -been recently cut, and in such a manner as to cause each separate spike -along the parting to stand up in stiff defiance. Jerry politely told him -he looked more like a criminal than usual, but Miss Marchfield protested -rather indignantly. In Katrine Jerry seemed to detect more alteration -than in the others. Her air had grown more sedate, as if the widening -of her mental horizon had, even in these few weeks, given her a new -maturity and self-poise. The heat had perhaps told on her more than on -the others, but in spite of some appearance of fatigue she had an air of -joyous alertness which showed her buoyant and happy. - -"How is it that you are here so soon?" Taberman asked, after a minute of -general talk. "I thought you'd be late, if anything." - -"There was a good deal of sickness at Rome," Jack answered, "and when a -man died of typhoid fever in the very hotel we were at, it seemed time -to move on." - -Mrs. Fairhew gave a little shudder. - -"Only fancy," she said,--"we knew nothing about it until he had been -dead an hour. They told us after breakfast yesterday morning. It was -rather unpleasant, you'll grant." - -"It must have been ghastly," agreed Tab, "but I hope you'll do better in -Naples. It has at least the advantage of being on the sea." - -"And of being one of the dirtiest places in Italy," she responded -grimly. "However, I'm not one to borrow trouble, and we'll trust in the -sea air." - -"You're really becoming amphibious, Mr. Taberman," Katrine observed, -with a smile. "I half fancy that if you were blindfolded you could -smell your way to the water like a turtle." - -"The man that piloted the Merle from North Haven to the Island said he -went by smell," responded Jerry. - -He caught Jack's eye as he spoke, and cast down his glance in confusion. -Mrs. Fairhew regarded him curiously. - -"How did Mr. Drake like that sort of a pilot?" she asked. - -"He didn't hear the remark," Jack put in hastily. "Uncle Randolph -wouldn't have approved of that sort of work, I rather fancy." - -Jerry made a grimace, and echoed the sentiment, but he added that Dave -was really an excellent sailor, and that personally he'd trust the -fellow's sense of smell sooner than he would the skill of most pilots. -The dangerous moment passed without further allusion to the President, -and the talk turned to other matters. - -"Is there any one here we know?" inquired Mrs. Fairhew. "I suppose it is -hardly possible at this time of year." - -"I don't believe there is," answered Tab, "unless," he added, a sudden -thought striking him, "you know where Pæstum is?" - -"Certainly. I've been looking forward with dread to dragging Katrine -down there to see the temples, though really the time of year ought to -excuse us." - -"Well, there's a sort of Anglo-American lunatic archæologist down there, -named Wrenmarsh. Have you ever heard of him? He has relatives in Boston, -I understood him." - -Mrs. Fairhew set down the coffee-cup she was just raising to her lips, -and looked at Jerry with a keen glance in which amusement and surprise -seemed to be mingled. - -"What is his Christian name?" she asked. - -"Gordon." - -"Gordon Wrenmarsh at Pæstum! Well, the world is small, and he might be -anywhere,--at least anywhere where he was not expected to be. Did you -never hear of him? But no, you wouldn't; you're too young. He is one of -my contemporaries, and he has been on this side of the water for ever so -long." - -"Is it possible?" Jerry cried gallantly. "I shouldn't have suspected -that he was so young!" - -"Nobody can mistake you when you wish to pay a compliment," she said, -with a smile that had in it a tinge of satire. "But did you really see -Gordon Wrenmarsh? I haven't heard of him for years. What is he doing? At -one time he was a friend of Mr. Fairhew; they were in the same class at -Harvard." - -She showed a genuine interest, Jerry thought; and at any rate this -seemed to him a good time to prepare Jack for the plan evolved between -him and the archæologist, so he launched forth on the narrative of his -visit to Pæstum. He did not particularize, but he did not hesitate to -say that the archæologist had chanced upon a rich find which he was -guarding in the hope of running it safely out of the country. - -"Why shouldn't he take it out of the country if he's bought it?" Katrine -asked, with an air of interest. - -"The Italian law says he shan't," Jack answered, with a smile. - -"Why, if it's his, he has a right to do what he pleases, I should -think," she responded. - -"But there's a law against carrying works of art out of the country." - -"What a horrid, unjust law!" she protested. "If they were mine, I'd take -them out; you may be sure of that." - -"I'd help you," Jack assured her lightly. - -Jerry was secretly so pleased at this passage that he endeavored to keep -the conversation in the same line by inquiring of Mrs. Fairhew further -particulars about the strange creature with whom he had made tryst. - -"Was Mr. Wrenmarsh always as peculiar as he is now?" he asked. - -"I'm not able to tell you that," she returned, "as I have no means of -knowing how much he has changed; but when I knew him he was the most -extraordinary creature. He was always offended if people didn't notice -his eccentricities, and if they did he jibed at their provincialism. He -said he had to become an Englishman because our civilization was so -crude, and he never forgave Bostonians for being so little concerned by -his change of nationality." - -"You seem to have picked up rather a choice acquaintance, Jerry," -observed Jack good-naturedly. - -"Oh, Mr. Wrenmarsh became utterly impossible," Mrs. Fairhew continued. -"He really had a lot of ability, and I'm told that now he's done some -remarkable things in getting antiques for the British Museum. His own -people couldn't get on with him at all." - -"What an extraordinary creature he must be!" commented Katrine. "Did you -take him for a wild man, Mr. Taberman, when you found him wandering -about among the ruins of Pæstum?" - -"No," Jerry returned, rather regretting that he had continued the talk -about Mr. Wrenmarsh. "He came into the little hovel of an inn there -while I was trying to get something to eat." - -"Well, anyway I hope he'll get his things safe," she added. "They're -his, and the government has no right to interfere with him." - -"I hope he may," Tab responded rather dispiritedly. - -Breakfast being ended, the ladies betook themselves to their rooms to -rest after the fatigues of their night of travel. - -"If I were a billionaire," Mrs. Fairhew observed, "I would never go -anywhere by night except on my own private car. All sleepers are an -abomination, and I hate the thought of who may have been in the -compartment when I have to sleep in it. I hope we shall see you at -dinner, Mr. Taberman?" - -"Thank you," Jerry answered, "but I have business to-night. I assure you -I regret it tremendously." - -"Well," the lady returned over her shoulder as she departed, "at least -we shall expect to see you to-morrow; and I hope you'll leave us Mr. -Castleport. - -"Glad to," laughed Jerry, with a nod; and the men were left to -themselves. - -Jerry turned quickly to Jack the moment they were alone, with a look of -earnestness and concern in his face. - -"Cap'n," he said urgently, "come somewhere where we can talk, will you? -We've got heaps to say, and my time's precious." - -"Jerry," cried the other, catching him by the arm, "something has -happened to the Merle!" - -"Not a thing, Jacko. She is as right as a trivet, but I'm in a hurry. -Come on!" - -"Hurry?" echoed Jack, following him in evident disquiet; "what in the -world's up? It can't be mutiny, and if the yacht's all right, I don't -see"-- - -"I'll explain," Taberman responded. "I know a jolly little place just -round the corner. Come on." - -Jack suffered himself to be led to a small café which bore the rather -incongruously ambitious name _Albergo del Sole_, and which displayed on -the yellowish wall above its entrance a rising sun, blood-red and most -magnificent as to its rays. At one of the little tables which covered -the sidewalk before this establishment, the pair took their places. Tab -produced his cigarette-case and ordered a glass of vermouth as he -offered his friend a smoke. Jack, with a hardly perceptible compression -of the lips which showed that he was controlling his impatience and -waiting for Tab to speak, rolled his cigarette between his thumb and -forefinger to loosen it, tapped it on the table-top, and lighted it with -great deliberation. Jerry did the same, but with evident nervousness. - -"Jack," said he, "I have been, and gone, and done it, for fair!" - -"What?" inquired Jack in a tone mildly incisive. - -"Well, you see--it's this way," Tab answered. "Of course I haven't -really done anything yet, but I think I'm bound to, and if you don't -think so--Well, you can see it'll be devilish hard on me as well as -him." - -Jack blew a smoke-ring, and looked at Jerry with a queer smile. - -"It must be something pretty bad, Jerry," he said, "if you don't dare -tell me what it is." - -Jerry looked at him a minute, and then broke into a grin. - -"Why," he said, more at his ease, "it's that damned archæologist, that -bedlamite Wrenmarsh I was talking about at the hotel. Well, not having -anything else to do, I went down to Pæstum to see the temples and kill -time, and I fell into his clutches. I had a lot of talk with him, or he -did with me. He knows a pile about the temples, and he did the showman -in great shape. Incidentally he told me all about his own affairs. I -didn't ask him, mind you. He just did it off his own bat. I couldn't -help that, now could I?" - -"I don't see how you could," Jack assented; "and no more do I see why -you should want to." - -"Why, a chap down there--a Dago peasant, you know--has turned up a -dreadful mess of stuff Wrenmarsh has bought. I told you all that at -breakfast." - -"Yes," Jack said imperturbably. - -"You see, Wrenmarsh turned to and bought the whole slithering lot of it, -and he's just crazy over it; but as I said at the hotel, he's up against -the government, and he doesn't know how under the heavens he's going to -get the loot out of Italy." - -"Great Scott, Tab, did you undertake to run his things out of the -country for him? In the Merle, too?" cried Jack, at last showing some -consternation. - -"It's not quite so bad as that," Jerry protested; "but I did tell him -I'd help him out of Pæstum and up here. Naples is all I agreed to. -That's all he asked." - -Castleport smoked in silence a moment, looking decidedly grave. - -"Jack, old man," Jerry said pleadingly, "I've been an awful ass, but the -way that beastly Wrenmarsh snarled me up with his talk was perfectly -inconceivable. He'd have talked the tail off a brass monkey. He kept -appealing to my sense of honor and heaven knows what, until I felt that -I'd be a perfect cad not to help him." - -"That's all right, Tab," Jack answered thoughtfully. "It's only the -Merle--I should hate awfully to get her into a mess." - -"He assured me that nothing could happen to her, and I don't think he'd -lie." - -"Well, if that's so, there's no great harm done, old man. What are you -worrying over?" - -"I'm not worrying at all, Jacko, if you don't object to my keeping my -word. Just continue my letters of marque until to-morrow. I promised him -I'd go down this afternoon. You will be in command, of course, now -you're here; but I'd hate to think of the poor wretch waiting down there -in the marshes for me--it's an awful place for malaria!--and I not -coming at all." - -"Oh, I shan't interfere," Jack said quickly. "I had made up my mind to -stay on shore one night more anyway, and I really gave you the yacht -till the twentieth. You shall run this thing yourself; but, by Jove, to -think of Uncle Randolph's Merle in business like that!" - -"We started out to be pirates anyway," laughed Jerry, "and we haven't -lived up to our reputation so far. Well, I'll try it. I shall be rid of -the beggar by ten o'clock to-morrow, wind and weather permitting. It's -awful good of you, old man. I thought you'd think I was a bally-ass to -let myself be bamboozled that way; but when he was talking to me I felt -as if he was being awfully bully-ragged, and I ought to help him out." - -"Of course," was Jack's response. "Didn't you notice how Katrine had -exactly the same feeling, just from your telling about it?" - -Tab felt like winking to himself, but he preserved a grave countenance, -and only asked,-- - -"What will you tell Mrs. Fairhew about the Merle's being away?" - -"Oh, that 's simple enough. I'll tell her you wanted to visit Pæstum -again, and you can say afterward that you ran across Wrenmarsh and -brought him up to Naples. Twig it?" - -"Clear as a bell. Come down and see me off." - -He sprang from his chair with animation, greatly relieved that the -captain had not prevented him from carrying out his plan. As Jack rose -also, Jerry laid his hand affectionately on his shoulder. - -"It's awfully good of you, old man," he said. - -"Nonsense. It's a mighty little thing to do for you, when you came -across the Atlantic for me." - -"Oh, rats!" Tab rejoined inelegantly. "I came for the fun of it." - -They paid the reckoning, and made their way to the quay, where for an -hour and a half the boat had been waiting for Jerry. The men were -lolling about in the stray corners of shade available, smoking and -sleepily exchanging occasional remarks; but at the sight of the captain -they woke up at once. - -"Here's the skipper," cried one, jumping to his feet and saluting. - -The others followed his example with alacrity, and Jack could not but be -gratified by the unmistakable pleasure they showed at seeing him again. - -"How are you, boys?" he said cheerily. "Glad to see you all. You seem to -be in fighting trim, the whole lot of you." - -"We're bang up, sir," responded Dave, with a grin. "'Tain't the kind o' -weather we left home in, sir." - -"Not exactly," Jack responded laughingly, as he took his place in the -stern-sheets; "but I hope you don't miss the fog too much. Oars!" - -Jack stayed on the Merle for an hour and a half, reading the log and -exchanging with Jerry all the news that either could rake up. Gonzague -made errands into the cabin evidently for the purpose of feasting his -eyes on his master, and beamed with delight at every word Castleport -spoke to him. When the old man found that the captain had not come to -remain, he looked so doleful that Castleport rallied him about not -liking Tab as a skipper. - -"Eet ees not dat," Gonzague responded, with eloquent hands and -shoulders; "he ees fine as de seelk, but--but Mistaire Taberman he ees -not zee capataine you." - -Jerry was anxious to make an early start for Pæstum, as the wind was -light, so Jack took his leave with hearty wishes for a prosperous run. -Jerry went with him to the steps. - -"By the way, Jack," he asked in an undertone, as the captain was about -to descend to take his place in the cutter, "are congratulations in -order?" - -Castleport looked away from his friend toward where, across the bay, in -a dim haze of purple, stood Capri. Then he glanced quickly into Jerry's -eyes. - -"I--I haven't said anything to her," he answered simply. - -He ran down the steps to the cutter. Gonzague himself had taken the -boat-hook to hold the craft steady. Castleport put his hand kindly on -the old man's shoulder. - -"Good-by, Gonzague," he said. "I'm coming aboard for keeps to-morrow. -Good-by, Jerry." - -"Good-by, and--good luck," called Tab in reply, as the cutter started -away. - - -It lacked a quarter of an hour to twelve that night when the Merle hove -to a cable's length off Pæstum. The wind had freshened at sundown, and -was blowing a smart breeze from the west. Jerry had the cutter lowered, -and, leaving Gonzague in charge, with stringent orders to keep the yacht -lying where she was, had himself pulled toward the shore. The men had no -notion what was going on, but they obeyed orders with a prompt alacrity -which showed that they felt that something of unusual import was in this -business. When the cutter was within about a hundred feet of the shore, -Tab ordered the men to lie on their oars, and keep watch for a light. In -silence and utter darkness, for though the stars were shining there was -no moon, they tossed about in the black troughs of the sea for twenty -minutes. Then Dave uttered a guarded exclamation. - -"There's a light, sir," he said. "See, there it is again." - -"Lay her head for it, and pull!" commanded Jerry, feeling as if he were -in a pirate novel. "No noise, mind!" - -The light had appeared for an instant some two or three hundred feet up -the shore from the point off which the cutter lay rolling. They pulled -quietly for the spot, the oars sounding softly, the water lapping the -bows of the boat, and the wind bringing to their ears the muffled rote -as of a sand beach. - -"Let her run," ordered Tab in an undertone. "Can you see the light?" - -For a minute they rolled in darkness as before, and then again sighted -the signal, this time straight in shore. Jerry felt his heart beat as he -gave the order to run in, and a consciousness of romantic adventure, -lawless and wild, was like a sweet and exhilarating flavor in his mouth. -Such a deed on his native shores would have had an atmosphere of secret -villany about it, but here, in alien waters, on a foreign coast, under -the darkness of night, the romantic side was intensified a -thousand-fold. A whimsical feeling flitted through the back of his head -that he ought to be dressed differently for such an occasion; that he -should have had a shaggy black beard, a red sash stuck full of pistols, -and half a dozen cutlasses disposed promiscuously about his person. He -was not without a fleeting consciousness that some time he might at -home, to the old crowd of college boys, find a keen joy in telling of -this night, and--But the light flashed out again, this time so near that -the cutter lay full in the middle of the dark, fire-sprinkled path it -illumined; and Jerry's entire mind was called back to the business in -hand. He could in the light see the cheeks of the men in front of him as -they swayed with their rowing, the brass rowlocks of the cutter, and the -dripping blades of the oars. He strained his eyes toward the land, but -was blinded by the glare into which he looked; and on the instant a -voice, eager but subdued, hailed from the shore some twenty feet away. - -"Hallo! Are you there, Mr. Taberman?" - -"Here all right," answered Jerry. "Eyes in the boat!" he added sharply -to the men, every one of whom except Dave had turned to look ashore. -"Three good strokes now: Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!... Let her run!" - -The nose of the cutter ground on a sand-beach; the bowsman sprang ashore -with the painter and held her, while Jerry clambered forward, steadying -himself with a hand on the shoulder of the rowers. On leaping to the -land, he was confronted by Mr. Wrenmarsh. That gentleman shifted the -lantern he held from his right hand to his left, and shook hands with -Taberman fervently. - -"You're just in time," he said hurriedly. "We haven't a second to lose. -The boxes are right here on the edge of the grass. Come on with your -men. It'll take four of them for that biggest box." - -Jerry called the four men who were nearest, and telling the rest to -stand by, he hurried up the beach. In the sand, by the light of the -lantern with which the archæologist came after him, he saw the print of -wheels leading up to a pile of rude wooden cases. Three of them were of -moderate size, but the fourth looked to Tab huge in the semi-darkness. - -"How big is that thing?" he asked, touching it with his foot. - -"Don't kick it!" Wrenmarsh responded quickly and sharply. "It's only -about a metre square and half as deep. I couldn't make it any smaller." - -Jerry whistled with dismay. - -"We may lose it overboard on the way to the Merle," he remarked cruelly. -Then without heeding the dismayed exclamation of the collector, he -ordered the men to take that first. "Put it as far astern as you can," -he said. "I'm afraid you'll have to wade in with it." - -"For God's sake hurry," cried Wrenmarsh. "I know that beastly carter has -put the custodi up to the job by this time. Only don't drop that case!" -he added, running along by the side of the bearers with the lantern -swinging wildly to and fro and bumping against his legs. - -The case was evidently pretty heavy, and the men breathed deep as they -carried it across the loose sand. By dint of the men's wading in beside -the cutter the big box was safely deposited in the stern-sheets, and the -sailors went back for a new load. A second box was stowed without -trouble, but as the two others, which were fortunately the smallest, -were being lifted by two men each, Wrenmarsh clutched Taberman by the -arm. - -"Look there!" he cried. "Look there! Quick, men! For God's sake, quick!" - -Not more than a hundred yards away on the beach to the southward was an -advancing lantern. Suddenly it stopped. - -"What is it?" asked Tab. - -The men, spurred on by Wrenmarsh, were fairly running across the sand, -and Tab skurried along with them toward the boat. - -"Hurry! Hurry!" was the breathless response of Wrenmarsh. "It's the -custodi and the police--those cursed _carabinieri_! I told you the -carter'd sell me out." - -It was only a minute before the men had reached the boat, and hurriedly -stowed the boxes they carried. Taberman and Wrenmarsh scrambled in, and -Jerry, sitting in a distorted and cramped position behind the big box, -got hold of the lines. The men pushed off, and got into their places -anyhow. Just as Tab opened his lips to order the men to give way, a -peremptory voice came to them from the shore to the south. The light had -not advanced from where they had seen it stop, but it had gone waving -wildly up and down the beach as if the bearers had encountered some -impassable obstacle and sought in vain for a place which would allow a -passage. - -"_Aspetta!_" bawled the voice. "_Aspetta nel nomme del Re!_" - -"What's that?" asked Jerry. - -"They're calling us to stand--in the king's name," Mr. Wrenmarsh -returned with sullen nervousness. - -"Head the boat 'round," cried Tab. "Why the devil don't they come down -if they want us?" - -"I can't imagine," the collector answered. - -"Perhaps they're afraid of us; but I don't think that can be it." - -"_Aspetta!_" thundered the voice on shore more savagely. "_Aspetta o -tiriamo!_" - -"By Jove! The sands!" cried Wrenmarsh. "There's a brook there--the -bottom's quicksand. They daren't try to cross." - -"Quicksand?" echoed Tab. "How'd they come there, then?" - -"They must have thought we were on the other side of the stream. They've -come up on the wrong bank, and now they can't get over." - -Bang! There was a quick, loud report, and Jerry heard the _wht_ of a -carbine ball close astern. - -"Great Scott!" he shouted. "Douse that glim! Pull! Pull!" - -Wrenmarsh seized the lantern and dipped it overboard, an effective if -irregular way of quenching it. - -Bang! Bang! Two more shots. One of the men, Hunter, pulling on the third -thwart, afterward swore that he felt the wind of the second bullet. - -Bang! - -"Pull hard, men! Steady!" cried Jerry. - -A man of race and training, while in a crisis of this sort he feels more -excitement than his thicker-skinned fellows, displays more outward -coolness. Social development means the power of self-control, especially -when any sense of responsibility is involved. Taberman was inwardly wild -with the stirring emotions of an experience such as he not only had -never encountered but of which he had heard in a hundred ways which lent -associations to heighten the effect; yet he did not lose for a moment -his sense of having the men to care for. He kept his head, and called -the stroke for the rowers. They showed by their tendency to pull wildly -how near they were to demoralization, and Jerry urged them to steadiness -with language of the most picturesque emphasis. - -Bang! Bang! Bang! Three shots. At the third there was a sharp rap, as if -the cutter had been hit by a pebble, and a queer little squeak of -splintering wood. Tab started up, but instantly sat down again, catching -at the yoke-line he had half let fall. - -"Close call," Wrenmarsh said nervously. - -"Yes," Jerry answered laconically. "Stroke! Stroke! Steady!" - -At the instant he had heard the sound of the ball on the wood of the -boat, he had felt a sharp twinge in his left arm, as if the muscle had -been suddenly tweaked off the bone by a pair of white-hot pincers. The -pain was exquisite, but he forced himself to keep calm, and beyond the -first involuntary spring he gave no indication that he had been hit. In -a sort of double consciousness he kept saying to himself that he -wondered how severe the hurt was, and at the same time he seemed to be -lifted by sheer will and excitement above even the physical feeling of -the moment. - -"Steady!" he said, and was queerly conscious of a sort of exultation -that his voice was so strong and natural. "We're 'most out of range." - -Other shots followed, but they splashed harmlessly astern. The darkness -was a shelter, and although the carbines flashed again and again from -the shore, no more damage was done on board the cutter. Ahead of them -Tab, holding himself together grimly, saw the red and green -sailing-lights of the Merle, and realized that at the sound of the -firing Gonzague must have run the yacht in shore. - -"Ahoy!" Jerry called. - -Tears of pain suffused his eyes in spite of him, and made the colored -lights big and blurry, as if they were the glaring orbs of some huge -dragon. - -"Hollá!" came Gonzague's voice. "A'right, sair!" and with a deafening -boom of canvas the schooner luffed up. - -Jerry put his right arm behind him, his left hanging limply, and -getting hold of the rudder-yoke he laid the cutter alongside the yacht. -He and Wrenmarsh got up to the deck, a davit was turned out-board as a -crane and the boxes hoisted, and then the boat slung up. - -Faint and savage with pain, Jerry still fought with himself to keep up, -and to fulfill his duties as commander. He remembered that his order for -the Merle to lie to where she was had been disregarded; and though he -was inwardly glad that the yacht had been brought to meet the cutter, he -felt that discipline was discipline, and he was in no mood to let any -infringement of orders go unnoted. He called Gonzague. - -"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded fiercely. "Didn't I give -orders to keep the yacht hove to till I came out?" - -"Yes, sair," Gonzague answered contritely, stroking his stiff white -mustache with nervous fingers, "bot I heer de shotin' ashore, an'"-- - -"That made no difference. I'm ashamed that an old seaman like you should -disobey orders simply because he heard a row ashore. Go forward. I shall -mark you in the log." - -The old man took himself off without a word. However much he was likely -to feel the sting of this reproof, he was not the man to fail to -respect the mate for it, and of this Tab might be assured when he had -the calmness to think things over. - -Jerry gave the helmsman the course for Naples, and the Merle swung off -on her return. Then he started to go below, but now that the need of -immediate action was over he suddenly turned sick and dizzy. He put out -his uninjured arm with a quick clutch at Mr. Wrenmarsh. - -"Give me--your arm," he said weakly. "I'm--I'm hit, you know, and things -go round." - -"Hit!" echoed the collector. "Where? Is it serious?" - -"Arm," answered Jerry. "Help me get below." - -The archæologist supported Jerry to the companion, and then almost -carried him down the steps. He tried to place him on the transom, but -Taberman stubbornly walked half the length of the cabin, and sank into a -chair by the table. His lips seemed to him queerly stiff as he twisted -them into a wry smile. - -"Mustn't bleed on the cushions, y' know," he said feebly. "Call -Gonzague." - -Wrenmarsh shouted the name explosively, hovering solicitously over -Jerry, and in a moment the Provençal appeared. Jerry made a mighty -effort to pull himself together. - -"Here, Gonzague," he said, "get the medicine-chest, and strip my coat -off. I've got to be fixed. I want some hot water and a b. and s. Beg -your--pardon," he added, turning slowly to Mr. Wrenmarsh, and confusedly -wishing that the cabin would not turn so much faster than he could. "I'm -forgetting. This gentleman's to have Jack's--the captain's stateroom. -Will you have anything to drink? 'Fraid I'm poor host, but"-- - -"No, no," cried the archæologist. "That's all right. The brandy, -Gonzague, quick!" - -A brandy and soda put fresh life into Jerry, who still tried to be -polite, and protested that the collector should not bother. - -"You'll find me a first-class chirurgeon," responded the other. "Where's -the medicine-chest, Gonzague?" - -He proved remarkably ready and efficient and kindly withal. He stripped -off Jerry's jacket and cut away the shirt-sleeve, to discover a two-inch -sliver of African oak from the gunwale of the cutter stabbed into a -jagged hole in the forearm. He probed and cut and trimmed with the skill -of a trained surgeon, while Jerry, pale and with set teeth, bore it all -with Spartan firmness until everything was over, and then, as he tried -to rise when the last bandage was in place, fainted dead away. - -When the plucky mate had been brought round and stowed away in his -berth, Gonzague again took charge of the Merle, and dropped her anchor -once more in the harbor of Naples at about eight o'clock in the morning. - -Just before Mr. Wrenmarsh turned in for the night, he put his head into -the door of Jerry's stateroom to ask if he could do anything for him. - -"No, thank you," Jerry returned. "Much obliged; but the man by my door -will hear if I want anything. I'm all right now. I'm jolly much obliged -to you for fixing me up." - -"'Pon my word, Table--Taberman, you're the most extraordinary man for a -Bostonian I ever saw. Good-night." - -"Good-night," Jerry responded. Then he chuckled, and added, "But -Boston's full of better men than I am, if you'd only stayed there to see -'em." - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Twelve - -AT VERGIL'S TOMB - - -"I never could touch it," Katrine said, with an emphatic shake of her -head. "I should think a baby brought up on goat's milk would run round -and bleat. Why, I think the idea of it is horrid!" - -Her eyes sparkled and her whole air was full of a delicious animation, -so that it was no wonder Jack threw back his head and laughed, as much -in sheer admiration as from amusement. He was in high spirits this -morning, the excitement of a mighty resolve stirring in his blood. - -"How do you know that you haven't been having goat's milk at the hotel?" -he demanded. "Aren't you afraid you'll begin to break out in a baa -yourself all of a sudden?" - -"Why, how rude you are!" she cried, her dimples deepening and shoaling. -"Of course they wouldn't dare to give it to us, and we should know it if -they did!" - -The young people were being driven in a Neapolitan _vettura_ to the -tomb of Vergil. Jack had mentioned the spot that morning at breakfast as -being well worth a visit, if only for the view, and said that the ladies -ought to see it. Mrs. Fairhew had, for reasons perhaps not wholly -unconnected with remembrances of her own youth and the late Mr. Fairhew, -declined to make the jaunt, on the score that it was too hot and that -she had a thousand trifles to attend to. She had refused her niece's -prompt offer of assistance, and so left that young woman free to accept -Jack's invitation that she take the drive with him. - -Their talk was light enough, the lighter because Jack at least hardly -dared to venture to be serious lest he betray how terribly in earnest he -was. The sight of a little flock of goats, which had scattered at the -pistol-like crack of their driver's whip, had given them a theme for a -moment. The agile brown animals skipped along the gutters, assailed by -the effervescent profanity of their conductor, a half-naked, slim-limbed -lad browner than the beasts themselves; and with more detonations of the -whiplash the carriage whirled up the hill with hardly diminished speed -as the grade grew steeper. Through picturesque, squalid streets, braver -in their poverty than many a splendid thoroughfare, through nooks that -seemed to be private courtyards with entire families disposed about -them, the carriage took its way noisily; it turned now to the left, now -to the right, continually ascending; it brought them to the top of -narrow ways down which they looked as through a kaleidoscope gleaming -with a confusion of gay colors; it seemed about to land them on the roof -of some building which lay directly before them, and then at the last -moment whisked around some unseen corner and carried them still higher. - -"Isn't it wonderful," Katrine said. "I never saw such a city. I feel -almost as if we were in a flying-machine,--we keep going up so and see -such wonderful sights all the time. Oh, do look down that street! Did -you ever see such colors?" - -"It is stunning," Castleport answered, his eyes on her face. - -"You didn't look at it at all," she said half pouting, as the carriage -whirled them past. - -"Oh, I could see it all in your eyes," he returned. "You don't know what -excellent mirrors they are." - -"What nonsense! How silly you are this morning!" - -Her color deepened, however, and Jack did not feel that his remark had -missed fire. He smiled to himself, and just then the carriage brought -up with a jerk on the left side of the way, in front of a small green -door in a gray retaining-wall. Over the door was printed in black -letters: _Tomba di Virgilio_. - -"Here we are," Jack said. - -He got out with the field-glasses he had brought, and extended his hand -to assist Katrine. She hardly touched his arm with her finger-tips, but -the air was electric, and he felt the thrill like a pulse of warm blood -from head to foot. He did not speak to the driver, but with a manner -that made that piratical Neapolitan regard him with a new respect simply -ordered him in the sign-language of the town to remain in waiting. A -soldier came slouching out of a shop near by wherein he was evidently -lounging, took the prescribed gate-fees, and then opened the narrow -door. This disclosed a staircase, strait and steep, cut from the living -rock, which led upward and to the right. - -They climbed the stone stairs without speaking, but at the top the -wonderful beauty of the view which burst upon them called from Katrine -an involuntary exclamation of surprise and delight. Below them, -red-roofed and multi-colored, Naples lay bathed in the strong white -light of the southern sun; beyond, marvelously blue and ruffled by a -gentle breeze, the waters of the bay flashed and sparkled; and beyond -again, farther yet, stood purple Capri and the piled-up southern shore, -luminous and mistily azure. To the eastward, brooding and tragic, yet -with a thrilling beauty of its own in softly flowing curves and wavering -outline, showed Vesuvius, and stupendous as it was, seemed crouching -sinister and awful, the incarnation of pitiless power. - -Jack focused the glasses, and handed them to Katrine. Then he began to -point here and there, showing her the different things of interest -visible from the spur of the hill on which they were standing. As she -was looking toward the Mole and the New Harbor, suddenly she uttered a -little cry of surprise. - -"There's the Merle," she said. "I'm sure it is. At least she's flying -the American flag." - -"Yes," Jack responded. "That's she, fast enough." - -"Doesn't it seem like a bit of home to see her down there?" Katrine went -on. "I think it was perfectly wonderful that Mr. Drake let you take her -this summer." - -Jack gave a quick movement of the shoulders, and then set his lips -together more firmly. - -"I shall have to tell her the whole thing," he thought to himself. Aloud -he said, "I shouldn't have been here when you were if it hadn't been -for having the Merle." - -"I suppose not," she answered, and the change in her tone showed most -clearly that she understood in the words more than met the ear. - -After they had stood for a time in admiration of the magnificent view -before them, they turned to go to the tomb, twenty yards away. The -uneven path, bordered by beautiful wild poppies and violets, was shaded -by gnarled fig and plum trees. A splendid stone-pine rose superb on the -left, crowned by its dome-shaped cluster of branches. - -"Oh," Katrine cried, "it's perfectly beautiful, isn't it? It makes you -feel solemn, it's so lovely." - -"Yes," he assented, and unwonted emotion left him with no word to add. - -"Just look at those flowers," she went on. "What a pity it is that we -don't have them like that at home." - -"It's a fitting place for Vergil to be buried in, isn't it?" Jack said. -"I thought you would like it." - -"It is a place I shall remember all my life," she replied. Her eyes met -his as she spoke, and her glance fell with quick consciousness. Before -he could speak, she added hurriedly, "Is this the tomb?" - -"Yes," he answered, entirely undisturbed by any chilling scholastic -doubts on the subject, "this is the tomb." - -Before them was a lowly structure of old rubble, four square, and a -narrow door, at which the path, with a sudden dip, came to an end. - -"Will you go in?" he said, standing aside. - -Katrine entered, and he followed. The place was as simple within as -without. The floor seemed to be of beaten earth; the single room, or -_cella_, was lighted by a small window, and it contained only two or -three cinerary urns of dark red clay, which leaned against the wall -opposite the door. Above these, in brown letters on a tablet of white -marble, was an inscription set there by the Academy of France. - -The pair stood silent for a minute, Katrine reading the tablet, and -Jack, his head bared, standing beside her. As she turned her head she -caught for a second time his glance. She colored, and moved quickly to -the small window. - -"Isn't the view wonderful!" she said, as if she had caught at the first -words that came into her mind. - -"Yes," he returned absently. "Fine, isn't it?" - -She looked a moment out of the window, and then, avoiding his eyes, she -turned back to the Latin distich cut in the tablet, and by tradition -assigned to Vergil himself:-- - - - Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc - Parthenope. Cecini pascua, rura, duces. - - -"You'll think I am unspeakably stupid," she said, "but I confess I -cannot make it out. 'Mantua gave me birth,' I can read that." - -"'The Calabrian winds carried me away,'" Jack went on. - -"Oh, yes; but I don't understand the Parthenope." - -"That's Naples," he answered. "'Naples holds me.'" - -"Oh, is that it? I know the rest. 'I sang pastures, fields, leaders.'" - -"Good! You shall have an A in the examination in spite of Parthenope," -he assured her. "Perhaps 'heroes' is a better word for _duces_, though." - -"I'm afraid I don't deserve an A," she laughed, "but I am satisfied if I -pass at all." - -As they came out of the tomb Jack picked a spray from the beautiful -laurel growing beside the entrance, and held it out to her. She took it -with a murmured word of thanks, and put it in her gown. Not far away on -the right of the path was a rude seat or bench, shaded by fig and olive -trees, and partially screened from the path by dwarf plums. It was -slightly higher than the way by which they had come. - -"Here," Jack said, "let's go up and rest a bit. The view is worth -seeing." - -They turned to the seat and took their places in silence. The view was -not perceptibly different from that which they had on the path, but as -Jack looked at Katrine and Katrine cast down her eyes, this was not a -matter which they were likely to notice. - -"Katrine," the captain began,--for they had come, almost by insensible -degrees, to call each other by their Christian names,--"I've got to tell -you something. It isn't altogether pleasant for me, but it's only fair -that you should know." - -She looked up at him in evident surprise and with some disquiet. - -"Why, what is it?" she asked. "I hope it isn't anything really -terrible." - -He hesitated, and began to scrape the ground with his foot nervously. - -"I--er--Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly how to tell you so you -won't be too hard on me," he answered frankly. - -"Is it so bad?" she queried in a tone which showed some concern under -its assumed lightness. - -"What in the world have you been doing? You haven't been murdering -anybody, I hope." - -"What would you say," asked Jack, "what would you think of a man that -acted like this? Suppose a case. Suppose the chap was, in the first -place, in America. Suppose he had a friend, a friend he cared a lot -about, one he thought more of than anybody else in the world, and that -friend was on this side. Suppose the man's property was all tied up,--in -trust, you know,--and he'd promised not to borrow, so he couldn't -honorably raise the money to come over unless his trustee would let him. -The trustee, we'll say, is a nice old fellow,--really nice, you know, -only rather crotchety,--who wouldn't hear a word of the chap's going." - -He stopped as if for encouragement, and Katrine, with evident -appreciation of this, murmured, "Yes, I understand." - -"And suppose," Castleport went on, a new hesitancy coming into his -voice, "that this trustee--of course the chap is his nearest relative, -you know--has an able schooner yacht. Now if the chap simply couldn't -stand it, but captured that yacht--not violently, of course, but by -stratagem,--and came over to see his friend, and to ask her"-- - -"Why, Jack Castleport!" cried Katrine, with eyes open to their widest. -"You don't mean that you ran away with the Merle! I never can believe -it!" - -"It's true, though," he responded. "Do you blame me so very much?" - -Her glance dropped before his, and her manner instantly lost its -boldness. - -"I--Why, of course that depends," she murmured. - -"Depends on what?" - -"On--how--how necessary it was for him to see his friend." - -"Oh," Jack cried. "I had to see her! You know I had to come, Katrine! I -had to tell you I love you, and I stole Uncle Randolph's yacht because -he wouldn't let me come any other way. I had to come." - -He sprang up in his excitement, and stood before her, his hands twisting -each other in a way odd enough for one of so much self-control. - -"You must have known how I cared for you, Katrine. I couldn't tell you -without making a clean breast of this, but don't be too hard on me. I -had to come." - -She flashed up at him the merest hair's-breadth of a glance, and with -her hands pressed to her bosom, said softly, "I never could have -forgiven you if you hadn't come." - -He simply stooped over and took her unceremoniously in his arms, and it -was several moments before she had breath and presence of mind to -protest. - -"Heavens!" she cried with mock terror. "Am I in the arms of a pirate? -Jack, I never knew anything so shocking in my life! How could you do -it?" - -"I had to get across the Atlantic to you," he answered, as if that were -an excuse all-sufficient. - -And the sun shone down on the sea and on Vesuvius and on Vergil's tomb, -and on that which is more enduring than all these,--the sweetness of -young love. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Thirteen - -A BID FOR THE ODD TRICK - - -While the captain was looking with Katrine down on the Merle, as the -yacht lay quietly at anchor in the harbor, a notable conversation was -taking place on board. At no very early hour Tab had risen, tubbed with -difficulty, and, with some aid, got into his clothes. His left arm was -stiff and very sore, but beyond that he felt no discomfort. His -magnificent physique, improved by the hardy life he had been leading, -saved him from any consequences more serious; so that the archæologist, -who was in capital spirits, rallied him on the prodigious appetite he -displayed at breakfast. - -"I have to eat double to make up for the blood I lost last night," Jerry -said, with a grin. "I find there's nothing for the appetite like a -regular brush with the police. I've found it so before, when I was in -college." - -After breakfast the two went on deck, and seated under the awning, with -the beautiful bay before them and a soft air to bring a delicious -coolness, they talked over the adventure of the previous night. Then -from this they branched off to more general matters. Mr. Wrenmarsh was a -man of wide experience and of good observation, and was well informed on -almost every topic the talk touched upon. His tricks and eccentricities -had been for the time being laid aside, or showed only as a flavor of -personality piquant and attractive. Jerry found himself soothed and -entertained, although, remembering his previous experience with the -collector, he was not without a feeling that Wrenmarsh had a propensity -to use speech as a squid does his ink, to conceal his course, and so -wondered what the collector had still to gain. Wrenmarsh suddenly took -to intricate and unintelligible sentences without warning and equally -without apparent excuse, when Jerry brought him back to earth with a -question what he intended to do next. - -"Do?" exclaimed Wrenmarsh, as if shocked and astonished by such an -inquiry. "Of course I shan't think of setting foot on shore again till I -get to England." - -Jerry hardly suppressed an instinctive whistle, and for a brief instant -he had nothing to say; but after all he was not without a shrewdness of -his own. He was still chagrined to remember that the archæologist had -played upon him once for his own purposes, and he had at least learned -that in dealing with this man it was necessary to be cautious. - -"To England?" he repeated in a voice so casual as to rouse Wrenmarsh and -to tickle himself inwardly. "How do you go?" - -"Go?" once more echoed the other. "With you, of course." - -"Oh, are we going to England?" Jerry asked more carelessly than before. - -"Surely you are," Wrenmarsh retorted with some sharpness. - -"Are we really?" was Jerry's comment. A refrain from a song in a Pudding -play popped into his head, and he hummed it in derision hardly -disguised,-- - - - "You surprise me!" - - -"Will you--er--say that again?" asked the collector most courteously. - -"Oh, quite unnecessary," Tab returned, not to be trapped into an -apology. "It was only a bit of a song." - -He was filled with a pleasant feeling that he was bothering the -collector, astute as that person was, and he determined, as the -circumstances certainly were in his favor, to hold his own with him -this time at least. - -"I don't think you have a very clear view of the case," Wrenmarsh said, -after a moment of silent musing with contracted brow. "If you had, you'd -see that it isn't possible for me to go ashore now, after that beastly -business of last night. I assure you, I'm awfully sorry for that mess. -There's another thing,--I couldn't get those boxes ashore from the yacht -without their being examined, and then there'd be the devil of a row." - -"That must have occurred to you before you left Pæstum," Jerry remarked -with coolness. - -Mr. Wrenmarsh did not move a muscle. - -"So it did," he said blandly; "but of course I knew it must have been -evident to you also." - -Jerry laughed in spite of himself at the cool impudence of this. - -"I confess that it wasn't," he responded. - -"Even if it wasn't," the other went on, as smoothly as ever, "I never -for an instant supposed that when once you'd started out to help me, -you'd funk. That is a contingency, I confess, never occurred to my mind. -I thought you were made of different stuff. You were clear game last -night." - -Jerry looked at his guest and burst into deep-throated laughter. - -"Well, for clean cheek!" he cried. "Do you think I'm going to tote you -about in a yacht I don't own for the rest of my life?" - -"Would you like to?" asked the collector, with a fresh aspect of -interest. "Because in the Ægean Sea I've a"-- - -"Whatever it is, please keep it to yourself, or you'll insist that I -promised to help you with it," interrupted Tab grimly. "As for going to -England in the present case, that's quite out of the question. What are -you going to do? If you stay on board, you'll land in Boston." - -Mr. Wrenmarsh's face took on for an instant a look distinctly ugly. It -suddenly occurred to Taberman that the collector was in rather an evil -plight,--worse, indeed, than that from which the Merle had rescued him. - -"Surely you're not serious?" Wrenmarsh asked slowly. - -"I think I am," Jerry responded pleasantly. "What are you going to do?" - -"Damn!" the other broke out explosively, lying back in his chair and -running his fingers through his gray-sprinkled locks. - -Jerry was too soft-hearted not to be touched by the other's perplexity, -but an involuntary movement of sympathy which he made happened to give -him a painful twinge in the arm, and he hardened his heart. There was a -silence of some minutes, during which he tried to make out from the face -of his companion what thoughts were passing behind that mask. Suddenly -the cloud lifted from the face of Wrenmarsh, and he flashed a bright -glance on Jerry. - -"Bless me," he cried gayly. "I might have thought! -Plutus--Mammon--filthy lucre! But how extraordinary in an American--not -to ask for it, you know! What'll you take for it?" - -"For what?" responded Tab, not catching his drift. - -He had a dreadful feeling that by becoming incomprehensible, the other -might be getting the better of him. - -"What's to pay for a passage of myself and my boxes to--let us say -Plymouth?" - -Indignation for the instant flared up in Jerry. - -"This is not a passenger ship," he responded brusquely. - -"Oh, of course not, my dear fellow; but as every man has his price, I -suppose a yacht has too." - -Common-sense and indignation worked together now to keep Taberman from -an angry retort. It flashed upon him that here was a chance, one in a -thousand, to pay off the hands of the Merle without troubling the -President; it was a chance, too, to score off this cheeky archæologist. -Taberman had already noted that Wrenmarsh was a penurious soul who hated -to part with money, and he felt something of the godly joy of the -departing Israelites when Moses announced the project for the spoiling -of the Egyptians. England was not such an impossible distance off. They -might take the Great Circle track home. Surely if Jack-- - -"Don't you see my position, Mr. Wrenmarsh?" he asked. "I haven't the -power to dispose of the Merle. I'm simply in charge of her while the -captain's ashore, don't you see? Still"-- - -He paused dramatically. - -"Well?" ejaculated Wrenmarsh, apparently keeping his gaze fixed in the -closest interest on the red sails of a big felucca that was standing in -toward the Mole. - -"Well, I think I might be right in making a sort of conditional--a -purely conditional"--he repeated the word for caution, wondering if he -ought to make it any stronger--"arrangement. It wouldn't be valid -without the sanction of the captain. You see that, of course." - -"Well?" repeated the other. - -"Do you see--merely conditional?" insisted Taberman. - -"Yes, I suppose so," assented the other grudgingly. - -"I might make a sort of conditional arrangement, then, to go to -Plymouth, or perhaps to any other English port not too much out of the -way, for a consideration of"--He paused again. - -"Ten pounds," suggested the archæologist. - -"Two hundred," said Jerry coolly. - -He could have hugged himself with joy at the sound of his own voice -naming the sum in such a matter-of-fact fashion. He knew well enough -that but for the enormous handicap which circumstances had put upon the -archæologist he would have had no chance whatever to outmanoeuvre him, -but this he did not bother to reflect on at the moment and might have -had scruples about if he had. He gave himself up to the delight of -feeling that he had distinctly the better of the man who had so carried -him off his feet at Pæstum, and who had involved him in an affair of the -seriousness of which Jerry had had good reason to meditate in the times -in the night when his arm kept him awake. It was certainly something to -have the upper hand now; and two hundred pounds, which he had named -almost at random, multiplied itself in his head into a most satisfactory -number of dollars. - -"Two hundred pounds!" cried out the archæologist, nearly jumping out of -his chair. - -His affected surprise was dramatic, but unfortunately for its effect it -was overdone, so that even Jerry felt it to be theatrical. - -"Shall we call it two hundred and fifty?" the mate asked, enjoying -himself more every minute. - -"Two hundred and fifty devils!" shouted Wrenmarsh, who appeared more -irritated, it seemed to Jerry, on account of being outmanoeuvred than -because the price was so high. - -"Not devils--pounds," Tab responded, smiling at his own wit. - -"Leave off the two hundred," begged the collector. - -"The agreement is only conditional anyway," Jerry said, with something -of an air, "but if it seems to you fairer, we'll leave off the fifty, -and call it an even two hundred--one for you and one for those precious -boxes, to be paid on arrival. I'm not a Neapolitan. Will you go ashore -here or wait for the captain?" - -"I'll wait for the captain, Mr. Taberman," Wrenmarsh replied. He -glowered across the bay for a moment, and then added, "He may not be so -infernally exorbitant as you are." - -Jerry smiled secretly to himself, and resolved that at least Jack should -be persuaded to make no easier terms. Then he went to write a note to -summon the captain to come aboard to consider this proposition of taking -a passenger. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Fourteen - -CLEARING THE DECKS - - -When Jack appeared on the Merle, rather late that afternoon, Jerry met -him by the steps, his arm in a sling. - -"Good heavens, Tab," cried the captain, "what's the matter? What have -you done to your arm, boy?" - -"Nothing much," Jerry answered. "Just got a little piece of the cutter -in it in a night engagement. What the deuce kept you so long?" - -"But was it last night?" Jack insisted. "Did you get into trouble?" - -"We were under fire," Jerry laughed; "but I had the only casualty." - -"The devil you did! What sort of a trap did your infernal Englishman -lead you into?" - -"That's just what I want to tell you before you see him. What in the -world made you so late? I've been waiting all the afternoon." - -The captain's face grew radiant. - -"Well, you see," he returned, with a little laugh in his throat, "time -passed so quickly, and Katrine and I had so much to talk about"-- - -"Jacko! You've done it!" shouted Tab, loud enough to be heard from one -end of the yacht to the other. - -The captain grinned warmly, and nodded with sparkling eyes. - -"Oh, good man!" cried Tab, wringing his hand. "Good old Jack! Long life -and all happiness to you, you dear old pirate!" - -His words tumbled out helter-skelter, and his honest blue eyes were -moist with pure joy at his friend's happiness. He admired Miss -Marchfield from the bottom of his heart, and Jack was the dearest friend -he could ever have. He rejoiced as sincerely and as warmly as if the -good fortune of the captain had been his own. - -"Thank you, old man," laughed Jack, bubbling over with good spirits; -"but if it hadn't been for you, I--I'd never have done it." - -"Tush!" flouted Jerry. "Don't talk bosh! It was only a matter of time -anyway. But I'm glad it's all right." - -They had been standing at the head of the steps, and now the captain -moved along the deck. - -"What did you send for me to come out in such a hurry for?" he -inquired. - -"Hurry!" ejaculated Jerry. "Do you call this coming out in a hurry? If -it hadn't been that you left a born diplomat in charge, you might have -lost two hundred pounds by being so slow." - -"Two hundred pounds?" the other echoed. "What on earth are you talking -about?" - -"Come into the cabin before you go aft," was Jerry's answer. "I want to -tell you about that." - -"And about your arm, old man. What is the matter with you?" - -"That's part of it," Tab returned, as they went below together. "I'm -trying among other things to recover damages." - -When some little time later the two friends came on deck and went aft to -where the guest was sitting, Jack was in full possession of the whole -situation. - -"Jack, Mr. Gordon Wrenmarsh; Mr. Wrenmarsh, Captain John Castleport," -Jerry said. - -"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wrenmarsh," Jack said, extending his hand. - -He was evidently in the best of humor. His spirits on that day could -hardly be other than at their highest, and he had been vastly amused by -Jerry's plan of raising funds to pay off the men. - -"Thanks," responded the archæologist. "I was afraid the pleasure was -largely mine. I've been expecting you all day." - -"Well," Jack said, seating himself comfortably, "I am here at last. I am -sorry if I kept you waiting. You might have arranged anything with Mr. -Taberman, though." - -"I tried to," Mr. Wrenmarsh responded dryly, "but he seemed to me so -unpractical in his ideas that I thought it better to wait for you." - -"I hope you won't find me unsatisfactory in the same way," Jack -returned. "At least I am practical enough to know that in this weather -it will be more comfortable if we have something." - -He summoned Gonzague, and the trio were soon furnished with tall glasses -of sangaree, which they sipped with relish. - -"Mr. Taberman has suggested,--though I fancy he's half in jest," began -the collector, when these preliminaries had been attended to, "that two -hundred pounds is a fair price for such a trivial service as running up -to England and landing me and my boxes." - -"I am glad you think the matter trivial," observed Jack, with a smile; -"it makes it so much easier for me to say that I do not find it -convenient to go to England at all." - -"Oh, I say now," Wrenmarsh responded, with a sudden keen glance at Jack -as if he were surprised at the quickness with which his remark had been -met and turned against him; "of course you'll go to England. That was -settled long ago, you know." - -"Was it? I supposed that I, as captain of the Merle, had some voice in -such a matter." - -"Of course nothing was settled," broke in Jerry. "I made a conditional -arrangement--entirely conditional, mind you--with Mr. Wrenmarsh that you -would take him to England." - -"Yes; that is what I said," the collector asserted imperturbably. "Only -the price that you named"-- - -"Seems to me a very reasonable one," interpolated Jack. - -"Not seriously?" Wrenmarsh said, evidently determined not to show that -he was at all ruffled. "Only consider, if I go ashore here, I may get--I -might become a national complication. And you wouldn't want to be mixed -up in that sort of a thing," he added, with a chuckle. "An international -complication," he murmured to himself, as if the idea appealed so -strongly to his vanity that he was half tempted to be put on land at -once to take up the part. Then he recalled his wandering thoughts, and -looked Captain Castleport in the eye. "If you land me in any country -except England, I am quite done for, as you Americans would say. It -stands to reason if there is any paying to be done, you should pay me -for keeping you out of a scrape; for of course if I go ashore it will be -known that the Merle ran away from the _carabinieri_ at Pæstum, and"-- - -"Rubbish!" interrupted Jack brusquely. "Don't talk that kind of -poppy-cock! Even if there were any truth in it, it wouldn't be decent -for you to say so after getting the Merle into the scrape." - -"And giving me your word that the yacht was in no possible danger," put -in Jerry indignantly. - -"Oh, no real danger, of course," Wrenmarsh said hurriedly, "only it -might be unpleasant for you, and you might not like to be detained." - -"Why must you go to England?" asked Castleport. "Why not to Malta or -Cyprus or Korfu even? They're protectorates and English ground." - -"The sun never sets, you know," responded Wrenmarsh, with his -extraordinary ventral chuckle. "The truth is they won't do. Korfu and -Cyprus would be as bad for me as Naples, on account of my reputation. -I'm known to have run out a lot of things, you see. Gibraltar or Malta -would suit me well enough--if it weren't for the same reason. There -isn't a hotel on the entire shores of the Mediterranean that I could put -up at with those boxes in safety." - -"I hardly suppose I'm expected to take that too literally," Jack said, -with a smile. - -He reflected a moment. He could see that the collector certainly had -good reason for wishing to remain on the yacht, and that it could not -but be of very great convenience to him to be taken to England. He was -no less convinced from what Jerry had told him that the antiquities -which the archæologist had on board must be worth thousands of pounds, -and that their possessor could afford to pay well for their safety. He -was thoroughly stirred up, moreover, by the thought of the episode of -the night before. That Jerry should have been put in actual peril of his -life by Wrenmarsh for his own purposes was to Jack so outrageous that he -was half tempted to order the collector and his boxes off the Merle at -once to take his chances with the officials on the quays of Naples. As -Jerry had planned reprisals along another line, however, and as after -all Jack could not have brought himself to desert a man in extremity, -the captain determined to go on as they had begun. - -"Two hundred pounds strikes me as fair enough," he said. - -"Too much--too much! Make it fifty," responded Wrenmarsh. - -"Two hundred!" repeated Jack. - -"I'm sorry; I can't do that," the collector said, with a great show of -decision. "You'll have to take me to Malta. What'll you do that for?" - -"Three hundred," Jack returned quietly, although he could not refrain -from a secret exchange of glances with Jerry. - -"What!" the other cried, in an exaggerated shriek. "A run like that? -Three hundred pounds! It's not a twentieth the distance to England." - -"That's so," was the captain's answer, "but you see we should have a -good deal less value in your company. Besides, you'd get your boxes _ex -territorio_ a great deal quicker." - -He had by this time become so interested in the game he was playing that -the beating of the collector seemed in itself a thing worth straining -every nerve to gain. - -"They're _ex territorio_ now," Mr. Wrenmarsh said, "as they're on a -foreign yacht. But no matter about that. What'll you take to set me over -to Gibraltar?" - -"Oh, that would cost you three hundred and fifty, because there you're -so much nearer England than you'd be at Malta." - -He glanced again at Jerry, with an inward chuckle at the utter -balderdash he was talking and a consciousness how closely it resembled -the nature of the arguments with which Wrenmarsh had beguiled Tab. For a -minute there was silence, and then the archæologist spoke angrily. - -"You're too commercial," he said, with an unconcealed sneer. "I see no -way in which we can come to an agreement. I never was equal to trading -with a dollar-getting Yankee." - -Tab started and looked to hear Jack break out at an insult so gross, but -the captain merely smiled. - -"As you are our guest," he said, "there's no chance for me to answer you -properly, but you must remember we're not looking for a job. Shall I -send you ashore now, or would it suit you to take a boat with me in half -an hour? Or perhaps," he added, his manner most elaborately courteous, -"on account of your boxes, it would suit you better to be set ashore -after dark." - -"Give you one hundred pounds," the collector said, still fighting, and -ignoring the captain's words entirely. - -"We need not go on with the wrangle," Jack said, rising. "I'm not -bargaining with you. If it's worth two hundred pounds to you, all right. -If it isn't, we'll part here, and hope you have the gratitude to -appreciate what has already been done for you at the risk of Mr. -Taberman's life. Come, we've wasted too much time over this already." - -"Do you think my time isn't worth anything?" cried the -other,--apparently losing all control of his temper. "I've wasted too -much already. Get up your damned anchor, you mercenary Yankee"-- - -"Come, sir!" broke in Jack sharply, "apologize at once! At once! You -have been insulting us this half hour like an utter cad, and I've made -all the allowances I'm equal to." - -The collector regarded him with furious eyes, but seemed struggling with -himself until he could command his manner and his voice. - -"I--I beg your pardon," he said in a hard tone. Then he added, in a -voice softer and more grave, "Indeed, I beg your pardon most sincerely. -My cursed temper got the better of me. Does your offer still hold?" - -"If you wish," Jack answered stiffly. - -"Then--two hundred pounds--I accept it. Two hundred pounds sterling, to -be paid on our safe arrival in port at Plymouth." He sighed, and put -out his hand to the captain. "Will you pardon my tongue?" he asked. - -There was more ingenuousness in this trifling act than in anything Tab -or Jack had yet seen in him. The real man seemed for a moment to show; -and as Jack accepted the collector's apology and took his hand, Jerry -had a fleeting glimpse--short as a flash of changing light--of another -and franker Wrenmarsh, accustomed to hide under a veil of shams and -mockeries made necessary by his difficult vocation. - -Wrenmarsh then asked if he might have some letters mailed ashore, and -Jack offered to take them himself in half an hour's time. While the -collector was below writing these, the captain and the mate talked -things over on deck. Tab had to congratulate Jack again, and over and -over, fairly beaming with delight whenever he thought of the happy stage -to which affairs had been brought. When he discovered that the captain -had confessed the lifting of the Merle, he was for a moment -disconcerted. - -"Oh, Jacko, how could you give that away?" he cried. - -"I had to be honest," Jack replied, and added, with a little shade of -unconscious patronage, "You'll see how it is yourself, old man, when it -comes your turn. You have to make a square deal, of course." - -"Yes, I s'pose so," assented the mate humbly. "I hope she won't tell -Mrs. Fairhew." - -"Oh, we told her together," Jack stated cheerfully. "Katrine thought -we'd better. I'm glad I did, too; for she's written home about meeting -us, and it's sure to get round to Uncle Randolph sooner or later." - -"How did she take it?" - -"Oh, do you know," returned Jack, laughing at the remembrance of his -talk with Mrs. Fairhew, "I think she was more bothered that she hadn't -guessed it than she was shocked at us. She couldn't help letting me see -that she thought it an awfully good joke on Uncle Randolph. She said she -should write to him to-day and remind him that she'd often told him he -tried to keep me in leading strings. She said she did have a suspicion -from your jocoseness when we first came over that there was some joke -about our coming, but we parried her questions so well she forgot all -about it. She said nobody could have dreamed of anything so -preposterous, so of course she didn't guess it." - -"Didn't she say it was on account of her age she didn't see through us?" -queried Jerry, with a grin. - -"By Jove, she did; and then turned it off by saying she never supposed -a Marchfield would be engaged to a pirate. She says, though, that I've -got to cut back at once. She won't have me going about with Katrine in a -stolen yacht." - -"It's time to start anyway. It'll be getting late by the time we're -across, and if she's written home, the sooner the Merle is in Boston -harbor the better. I suppose we can get off in a week?" - -"We go to-morrow," Jack answered calmly. - -"To-morrow! Great Scott! What are we sitting here for? There are oceans -of things to be done." - -"Of course we can get stores at Plymouth if we need to, and I've already -ordered a lot of things to come out to-night. We have to get Wrenmarsh -safe, of course, and that'll take some time." - -"He's a windfall," commented Jerry. - -"And like most windfalls, not entirely sound? Tell Gonzague to fix up -the stateroom Bardale had, the one next mine. I must get ashore now; -she'll be waiting. You're to come to dinner." - -"I'll come fast enough. Oh, you bully old pirate, I'm awfully glad for -you!" - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Fifteen - -IN THE CATTEWATER - - -The Merle was at anchor off Plymouth. - -By the round brass ship's clock placed over the passageway door, in the -saloon, Jerry could see that it was a little after ten o'clock. The -yacht had come to anchor in the small hours, and the gentlemen had in -consequence slept late. The dull light of an English morning in -September came through the big skylight, and showed the captain, the -mate, and Mr. Wrenmarsh lingering over their breakfast. - -"On my word, Mr. Wrenmarsh," said Tab, "we'll be sorry to lose you. -You've been aboard so long and your"--he almost blurted out -"eccentricities," but fortunately had the unusual luck to stop in time -to substitute a better word--"your--er--conversation has such--er--has -been so very entertaining, that is, that we're sure to miss you." - -"Ah, well," said the collector, "I'm in hopes that you've improved so -much by contact with me that you'll be able to entertain each other." - -"Wouldn't you like to take passage across?" suggested Jack. - -"Your rates are too high," the other rejoined grimly. "Gonzague, _'n' -altro bicchier' d' aqua fresca_." - -The old steward, who had come in while Jerry was speaking, served the -archæologist with the ready alacrity which marked all he did, and then -departed with a handful of dishes. - -"Why do you always speak to Gonzague in Italian?" inquired Jerry. "You -said yesterday that you always had a reason for everything you do." - -"Oh," the guest returned, fixing his eyes not on the questioner but on -the ceiling above him, "I speak to him in Italian because he understands -it." - -"But he isn't an Italian," Tab objected. - -"No, but then I'm not either." - -"But he understands English, French, and Spanish, for the matter of -that," Jerry persisted. - -Whenever Wrenmarsh began to talk in this whimsical fashion, Taberman had -always a teasing desire to push him into a corner. - -"Ah, but, my dear fellow," Wrenmarsh replied, unaccountably addressing -Jack, and making his words seem more distraught by one of his most -earnest, almost burning glances, "I do not speak Spanish, you see." - -"Then why not French or English?" - -"Because they're so different," returned the collector. - -"Why, what rot!" Jerry burst out rudely; then as usual he added -apologetically, "I beg your pardon, but I'm afraid I don't follow you." - -"Oh, no; I suppose not," Mr. Wrenmarsh rejoined with much sweetness. He -rose, and with an entire change of manner, added briskly, "Well, I'm -ready. As I wish to catch the eleven thirty-four for London, we must -make haste; otherwise I shouldn't have time to take Mr. Castleport to -the bank, and settle my financial obligations. Can we get ashore?" - -"Yes," answered Jack, rising also. "The cutter's ready, and your boxes -are on board. By the by, you said you'd tell me how you dodge--pardon -the word, we use it on the other side--the customs." - -"Simplest thing in the world," returned Wrenmarsh, lighting a cigarette. -"Address my boxes to a good friend of mine in the British Museum. They -go through the customhouse as things for the museum, you know." - -"Does your friend do that sort of thing as a business?" inquired Jerry -with a laugh. "I wish you'd give me his name, so I could come that -game." - -"His name is Gordon Wrenmarsh," said the collector quietly; "but his -charges are high. Shall we go?" - -"Yes," Jack responded. "It is high time we were off. I'm not anxious to -speed the parting guest, but a good send-off means an early start." - -Jerry left his place, and the three went on deck. The cutter, already -manned, was by the steps. The bleak English air struck chill and raw to -these men fresh from the warm sunshine of the Mediterranean. The harbor -and sound, crowded with shipping as they were, seemed flat and dull; the -Citadel, the Battery, the various docks and buildings were depressing. A -great volume of dun coal-smoke overhanging the "Three Towns," from the -Hamoaze to Sutton Pool, added to the general air of gloom. To cap all -this, the fog was coming in from seaward, and already its ghostly -echelons had floated past the north end of Drake Island. As the three -men came on deck the cutter was bobbing up and down in the wash of the -ferry which plies to and fro across the Cattewater, and which had just -gone heavily past. - -"Dear England!" ejaculated Mr. Wrenmarsh fervently under his breath in -the face of all this. Then turning to Taberman, "You're not coming -ashore with us?" - -Jerry shook his bare head, and gave an exaggerated shiver for reply. - -"No?" the collector said. "Well, we'll say good-by here, then. Lucky we -met, wasn't it? Those combinations--they make the world go round; stop -it sometimes. Good-by. Pity, great pity, you weren't at Oxford, Mr. -Taberman. It would have done you good, made a man of you." - -"Not if Harvard's failed to," retorted Jerry loyally. "Good-by, and good -luck. Hope we'll meet again some day." - -They shook hands, and Mr. Wrenmarsh and Jack descended to the waiting -cutter. - -"_Adio, Signor'_," called out old Gonzague, who was standing by the -main-rigging. - -"_A riverderla forse_" returned the collector from the stern-sheets of -the cutter. - -"_Il mondo è piccolo, Signor'. Spero_," answered the Provençal. - -"Oars!" cried Jack. "Bear away,--let fall,--ready,--pull." And the -cutter bore away the strange collector toward the shore of his adopted -country. - -Jerry watched the boat for a moment, his big heart not untouched by a -sympathetic friendliness for the lonely man, whose life seemed to him so -warped and melancholy. He half expected Wrenmarsh to look back to nod or -to wave his hand, but the collector's eyes were turned steadily to the -shore. It was chill on deck, and Tab went below. - -Gonzague was just taking away the last of the breakfast things. He set -his tray on the table, and approached the mate deferentially. - -"Mistaire Taberman, sair," he said, putting his hand in his pocket, and -drawing out a small square blue box and a note, "Mistaire Wrainmairsh he -geeve me de box and de lettair--also a crown in extrair dat I geeve dem -to you when he have leef." - -"Eh? what?" asked Jerry. "Oh, I see. Thank you." - -He sat down on the port transom, and opened the box. It contained a -small object carefully wrapped in tissue paper. He unfolded the paper, -and between his fingers a gold finger-ring slipped on to the green -corduroy cushion of the transom. - -"Great Scott!" he ejaculated. Then he picked it up and examined it -carefully. - -In a thin band of red gold was set a carnelian of beautiful tone, the -color of a red hyacinth blossom. The stone was oval, cut with an -exquisite design in intaglio. It represented a god holding a trident in -his left hand, and on his right a small winged figure. His right foot -rested on a stone, and he was gazing at the figure he held. The gem was -inscribed with the Greek letters [Greek: LIL]. - -Jerry tore open the note. It read as follows:-- - - - Really, my dear fellow, had you viewed me more as a friend and less - as a curiosity, you might have found it to your advantage. But to - the point. I hope you will wear the ring in memory of our little - escapade. The figure represents Poseidon, holding a victoriole in - his hand; and is, as the letters signify, designed to commemorate - the naval victory of Lilybæum (Capo Boao), in which some of the - original wearer's ancestors (more likely pretended than real) were - evidently supposed to have taken part. Of course the wearer, though - not the cutter, was a Roman; but you won't mind that. Not a bit. So - no one gets hurt--your arm, you know--in my behalf without cause to - remember the fact--pleasantly. The stone is by no means the best - that I obtained, but it seemed appropriate. Poseidon with a - victoriole--usually an attribute of Zeus Soter (see your - Furtwängler's A. G.)--is rare enough to give the thing value. - - With merriment, - - WRENMARSH. - - -"By Jove!" cried Jerry to himself, gloating over the ring, "what a calf -I was to that--that white man! By Gad, though, he was a stunner, and no -mistake!" - -He slipped the gold band on his finger. After a time of admiration he -took a book from the shelf, and tried to read; but every minute or two -he stopped to look again at the jewel. - -He had not turned many pages when he heard a boat alongside, and a -strange voice hailing. - -"Hallo," he thought. "I wonder what that is. It can't be the port -officer; we satisfied him at daybreak." - -He tossed aside his book, and went on deck. A shabby jolly-boat was -lying alongside. Jerry noted instantly and with consternation that she -was manned by six men in uniform, in charge of a burly old fellow -liberally adorned with brass buttons and gold braid, who looked to be -every inch a sea-dog. At a second glance Tab decided that these men were -not government employees, such as coast-guards, but belonged to some -sort of a company. With one stunning blow, sudden as the bursting of a -waterspout, the truth flashed over him; at the last, at the very last, -when they had escaped so long that they had practically ceased to think -of the danger, the agent of Lloyd's was upon them. - -"Hello there, what d'ye want?" called out the man doing anchor-watch. - -"Captain aboard?" demanded the burly officer in charge. - -"No," answered the hand suspiciously. "What will you have?" - -"I want to see the officer in charge, my spruce little sea-cook," -returned the big man genially; and the grating of the steps being handy, -without further ceremony he came aboard. - -The sailor keeping the deck, although of a slow and plodding -disposition, might have resented the coolness of the stranger, had Jerry -given him time; but with a commendable promptness and a sinking heart -the mate advanced. He told Jack afterward that he felt as if he were -leading a forlorn hope, and had not the remotest idea of what he had -better do or say. - -"I am in charge here," he said in a perfectly neutral voice. "What do -you want?" - -"You are Captain Castleport?" inquired the big man, giving Jerry a keen -glance not without a suspicion of kindly humor. - -He was a fine, strapping creature of perhaps forty-five or fifty, with -fair hair, and a large bushy beard tawny as a lion's mane. - -"Captain Castleport is ashore, sir. I am the mate." - -"Mr. Taberman, eh?" asked the other. "May I see you in private for a -minute or two, sir? I'm Lloyd's deputy inspector for Plymouth. I've been -hunting about in the fog for you these thirty minutes past. I thought -you were nigh out o' the Cattewater, over toward the Hoe." - -"Will you come below?" said Jerry grimly. - -Inwardly he groaned for the arrival of Jack. This was a task he felt -himself unable to deal with. Had the emergency called simply for -physical powers or for manual dexterity, the chances were large that he -could rise to the occasion; but in a pass where the demand was for -mental adroitness and nimble wits, Jerry knew the captain to be -infinitely his superior. He determined to devote himself to gaining -time, and to refrain from committing himself until his comrade should -come aboard. - -Jerry escorted the burly guest to the cabin without further speech, and -turned to ask him to be seated. The visitor at once drew over his -jovial face like a veil a serious expression, and regarded Taberman -with the greatest gravity. Unbuttoning the top of his serge jacket, he -thrust his hand into an inner pocket as if it were a dip-net, and -brought it up again full of dismally official-looking documents. - -"This is bad business, sir," he remarked, eyeing the mate as if to be -sure he was producing a proper impression. - -"Eh?" ejaculated Jerry, trying to look like consolidated innocence. - -"P'haps you'll be so good's to look these through, sir," the Englishman -went on, proffering his batch of papers. - -"Are they for me or the captain?" asked Taberman, fencing to gain time. - -"Why, as to that," the official replied, "I expect what they contain's -ekally to your int'rest and 'is." - -"Sit down, please," Jerry said, with a confused wave of the hand, which -seemed to invite the visitor to occupy all the seats in the cabin at -once. "You may be right, but I shouldn't want to look any important -papers over until the captain'd seen them." - -"Oh, that don't matter," the other said easily, as he settled himself in -a chair. "I don't think you 'ave any cause to mind, sir. You represent -'im aboard." - -"Yes," Jerry returned, obstinately determined that nothing should make -him go through the papers without Jack; "but if you're not too much -pressed for time, I'd much rather wait for the captain. He'll be here -presently." - -"Why, sir, for the matter o' that, I dunno's I've much to 'urry me this -mornin'; an' I must say I'd rather like a look at 'im. 'E must be a rare -one." - -"Then," Jerry said, with infinite relief, "we'll wait till he gets -aboard." - -He rang, and Gonzague appeared. The old Provençal stood stroking his -mustache and watching the Englishman furtively out of the corners of his -eyes, as if he appreciated the situation and hoped to have orders to -assist in throwing him overboard. The glance of the bluff Briton at the -same time lighted up in evident anticipation that the appearance of the -steward meant refreshments. - -"Gonzague, I'll have a little Scotch and soda. Will you take a glass of -anything, sir?" - -"Why, sir, seein' 's I 'ave to wait a bit, I'm not strong agin a finger -or two." - -"What will you have?" asked Jerry, enormously relieved to get on ground -so safe as that of playing the host. - -"I like red rum 's well 's most, sir," replied the other, his jolly eyes -twinkling. "It's sort o' oilin' to the in'ards." - -They were soon served, and Gonzague, on leaving the cabin, placed the -spirits and a siphon in most engaging proximity to the guest. Time -passed in the exchange of more or less nautical chit-chat for half an -hour or so; when, to the great comfort of Jerry, who had been listening -with one ear to the talk of his companion and with the other for the -coming of the captain, Jack's hail sounded outside. Jerry, listening -acutely, heard Castleport pause on deck, and at the companion-way caught -a syllable or two in the unmistakable tones of Gonzague, so that he -apprehended that the captain would come to the interview forewarned. - -The captain came briskly into the cabin, his blue pea-jacket beaded with -little globules of moisture from the fog, his hair damp and clinging to -his temples. - -"Hallo, Tab," he said. "The fog's as thick as it was the night we -started. Ah!" - -The exclamation cleverly conveyed the impression that he perceived the -guest for the first time, and apologized for not being prepared to meet -him. - -"Jack, this is Lloyd's deputy inspector, Mr. ----?" Jerry began, and -stopped with an interrogative inflection. - -"My name, sir, 's Tom Mainbrace." - -"Mr. Thomas Mainbrace," Jerry concluded his presentation. "Mr. -Mainbrace, Captain Castleport." - -"Pleased to know ye, cap'n," the Englishman said cheerfully, as Jack -bowed. "Yes, sir; I'm Lloyd's deputy inspector." - -"I saw your boat alongside," Jack returned pleasantly. "We haven't any -deputies aboard that need inspecting, though." - -"'Aven't ye?" the visitor asked, his eyes twinkling so that the laugh -with which he followed his words seemed a sort of overflow of their -merriment. "I kind o' thought there might be a deputy owner or som'thin' -o' the sort 'ere." - -Jack apparently tried to look grave, but ended by grinning in spite of -himself. He put out his hand and laid his fingers on the papers. - -"You have business with us?" he asked. - -"Yes, sir. The mate 'ere, 'e said 'e 'd rather not begin on it till you -come aboard, sir." - -"Quite right," Jack responded quietly. "Shall I read these papers?" - -"Yes, if ye'll be so good, sir," Mr. Mainbrace said seriously, and not -without a trace of regret in his jovial, weather-beaten face. - -The captain seated himself with deliberation, and began to read; the -Englishman applied himself afresh to his glass, and Taberman watched -closely for a lead. Jerry was not clear what line was to be taken in -this difficult situation, and was keenly anxious to back up the captain -in any way possible. To his surprise Jack began first to smile, then to -grin; from that to chuckle gleefully, and at last he broke out into -full-throated laughter. - -"By Jove!" he cried, striking his knee with the hand that held the -papers. "But that is one on Uncle Randolph, and no mistake!" - -The deputy inspector looked up with an expression of bewilderment, and -Jerry felt that he was no more enlightened as to what Jack had in mind -than was the guest. - -"What is it?" Tab asked. - -"Oh, we're run down at last! Think of our being nabbed at the last -moment, when we've done all we wanted to with the yacht!" And he fell to -laughing again, as if being caught red-handed in a pirated yacht were -the merriest jest in the world. - -Taberman was still completely bewildered, but he at least perceived that -Jack was bound to carry off the matter with laughter; and by way of -assisting as well as he could, he began also to laugh. He took the -papers, and glanced at them enough to see that one was a letter from -Lloyd's, containing a notification of the Merle's disappearance, with a -description of the yacht and a specification of her captors; the other a -warrant for search and apprehension. He followed Jack's lead, and if his -efforts did not ring as true, he at least made more noise. - -"That's rich!" he roared. "Ha! Ha! Ha!" - -He thrust the papers back to the captain, who tossed them on the table, -and both together they broke out afresh. - -"Excuse our laughing," Jack said, turning to the inspector, who gazed -from one to the other as if he thought they had gone mad; "but really -it's too ripping!" - -"Ain't ye the parties?" demanded the official sternly. - -"Oh, we're the parties all fast enough; but--Well, now, look here. This -yacht belongs to my uncle, you see." - -"Yes, sir," replied the honest Mainbrace, evidently puzzled, as he would -have put it, to make out the other's numbers, but still Britannically -deferential to the nephew of a man who was able to own a yacht such as -the Merle. - -"Well, you see, I ran away with her because he wouldn't let me come -across, and he's had no good of her the whole summer. From your papers I -judge he looked for me on the other side six weeks before he notified -you at all. You see how much of the summer that leaves him; and now, -just as I'm starting to carry her back as fast as the wind will take -her, you step in and stop us." - -"Why, ye see, sir," began the inspector, evidently endeavoring to -accommodate himself to the new light thrown by the captain on the -situation, "the fact is 'e says 'e wants 'er in a 'urry." - -"He won't get her, then," Jack said with a grin. "By the time you've -red-taped her, and charged for her, and negotiated her, and sent her -over with a hired crew, it'll be December at the very earliest--to say -nothing of the twenty or thirty pounds he'll have to pay you and the -cost of the crew you send her over by. It is hard lines for Uncle -Randolph." - -"It is so," Jerry agreed, fervently glad to be at last in possession of -the way Jack meant to work. - -"I'm really sorry for Uncle Randolph," Jack continued, sobering down. -"But then, he might have trusted me to bring the Merle back." - -"Ye ain't takin' it too much to 'eart, are ye, sir?" queried the big -Englishman, with a look so humorous and quizzical that Jerry was seized -by a dreadful suspicion that the twinkling eyes saw through the whole -scheme of bluff. - -"Not I," Jack assented blithely; "though of course I'd rather have taken -the yacht home myself. What's the next move? Do you put us in irons, or -hang us to the crosstree-ends?" - -"Why, they sent word from Lloyd's," replied Mainbrace, with the -unmistakable grin of a man who regards himself as a humorist, "that the -owner said not to be too 'ard on ye. I expect 't'll be no worse nor -transportation for life." Then he put on a graver and more professional -look, and added, "I'm afraid we'll 'ave to be more serious, sir. Will ye -kindly show me your papers and the log? I suppose you 'ave 'em 'andy." - -"Certainly," the captain said, also assuming an official air. "Jerry, -will you give the inspector the papers? I'll get the log." - -The examination of the papers was a short matter, and then they took up -the log. It was at once evident that the Englishman had a keen curiosity -to discover what the young men had been doing with the Merle, and that -he was no less eager in his interest in all things nautical. Jerry sat -by in almost open-mouthed admiration to see how the captain took -advantage of both these characteristics. Jack could be most attractive, -and from the start it was evident that he was doing his best to please -Mr. Mainbrace. He explained all the manoeuvres of that memorable night -when the Merle had been spirited away in the fog, while the jolly face -of the deputy inspector became more and more radiant with each new -development of the story. The charts were produced, each detail of -seamanship carefully brought out, and the whole episode lived over -again. Jack warmed to his subject as he went on; Jerry threw in a word -now and then when the captain in his eagerness seemed in danger of -forgetting to mention some detail; the Englishman listened with chuckles -and with laughter which soon came to be devoid of the slightest pretense -of official dignity; and, in a word, the three became as merry and -companionable over the log as if they were all pirates together. -Mainbrace had been a sailor and a mate in his day, and showed the -keenest zest for every nautical experience. There is no surer bond of -comradeship than mutual love of the sea; and despite differences of -race, age, and social position, Jack, Jerry, and the deputy inspector -fraternized over the Merle's log as only sailors can. - -The log-book was read to the last entry. Over the account of the gale -the yacht had encountered on her way across the Atlantic Mainbrace -became as excited as if he had had a personal stake in the safety of the -Merle. His ejaculations became more and more emphatic and more and more -picturesque, and his rejoicing over the safe weathering of the storm -almost as fervid as if he had been in it himself. The race at Nice Jack -told of with as little reflection on the unsportsmanlike conduct of Lord -Merryfield as was possible; but the jovial countenance of Mainbrace -darkened, and he expressed an opinion of the absent nobleman which was -sufficiently tonic to satisfy even Taberman. Jack said afterward that by -the time they got through the log a quotation from "Horatius" popped -into his head, and he came very near breaking out with it:-- - - - With weeping and with laughter - Still is the story told. - - -To which Jerry replied that he couldn't think of quotations, he was so -carried away by the enthusiastic delight of the jolly old inspector and -the quaint ways in which it was expressed. - -When at last the record was closed, the conversation still at first ran -on the cruise, but soon it began to take a turn which made Jerry prick -up his ears anew. The inspector remarked, with an exceedingly droll -twinkle of his eyes, that duty was duty, but that he would be summarily -dealt with if he wouldn't feel bad to have to bear on hard on a couple -of fellows that had played the biggest joke he ever heard of in his -life, and had carried the whole thing through with so much cleverness -and grit. To this Jack responded that he was most appreciative of the -kindness of Mr. Mainbrace, but that of course duty was duty--although it -would really have been luck for the owner of the Merle, quite as much as -for himself and his mate, if the yacht could have gone on her way -uninterrupted. To this in turn Mainbrace gave his assent, and went on to -say that he must, of course, carry out instructions, and that he was -legally empowered to leave a keeper on board until he could come out -again to-morrow with directions he expected to receive from London. - -"Though I dunno," he added drolly, "'s it's safe to trust a man with ye. -Ye're cap'ble o' runnin' off with 'im." - -"We might," Jack responded brightly. "I wouldn't be responsible." - -"Or we might throw him overboard," suggested Jerry, with the broadest -possible grin. - -"Most o' my men kin swim some," Mainbrace retorted. "I should 'ave to -tell 'im 'f 'e got overboard to tow the yacht in shore." - -The jest was not of the first water, but they had got to a merry mood, -and it was properly laughed over. Then Mainbrace, in high good humor, -went on to say that he'd been so well treated, and he had so enjoyed the -log, that he thought on the whole he would not put a man in charge. He -added that it was late, and he must be on his way ashore now, but that -they might expect him out again to-morrow. - -"I'm sorry I 'ave to bother ye, gentlemen," he added, as they went on -deck. "I've been to sea myself too many years not to 'ate this bloody -red-tape business,--an' they do reel it off by the cable-length when -they 'ave 'arf a chance." - -The inspector's jolly-boat, the most appropriate of conveyances for the -jovial sea-dog, was still alongside. The fog had lightened somewhat, and -watery beams of the sun leaked through it overhead. As Mr. Mainbrace was -about to descend the steps to the boat, he paused a moment and pulled at -his thick beard as if meditating profoundly. - -"I'm 'most afraid if you gentlemen took it into your 'eads to give us -the slip we shouldn't know it on shore in this 'ere fog," he observed, -casting a queer, sidling glance at Jack. - -"It is trusting somewhat to luck to leave us," the captain responded -coolly, "and I want to say now that I appreciate your kindness in not -forcing a keeper on us." - -"Well, cap'n," continued the inspector, gazing out over the water with -the look of one who has no personal interest in the matter under -discussion, "I was goin' to say, if you get a good chance, you'd better -shift your berth. You'll find it kind o' snugger ridin' some ways along -to the west'ard, I expect. But you know best, o' course. All is, you're -in a tightish place here. I alers liked more sea-room myself. Good-day, -sir." - -"Good-day. Maybe you'll find we've shifted by to-morrow. If we have, -it'll be to westward." - -"I'll come out to-morrow," said the old sailor in his most official -manner. Then he looked from one to the other with his merriest twinkle -and an emphatic nod. "Duty is duty," he remarked. "Good-day, sirs." - -He turned to descend, but suddenly Jack arrested him. - -"Oh, you've forgotten your pipe," he said. - -"My pipe?" echoed Mainbrace, stopping short. - -"Yes, I'll get it." - -The captain dashed into the cabin, and reappeared with a silver-mounted -briarwood, colored just enough to suggest a comfortable chimney-corner -and a mind at ease. - -"You left it on the table," he said, presenting it to the big inspector. - -The other took it with an expression queerly compounded of surprise, -awkwardness, amusement, and delight. - -"Thank ye, sir," he said. "It's 'ansome of you to fetch it up -ye'self,--most 'ansome. I'm mortal fond o' that pipe." - -He regarded it affectionately a moment, and then stowed it away inside -his jacket. Then he turned again to go down to the waiting jolly-boat. - -"I'll come out to-morrow," he called up to them. "Duty is duty. -Good-day, sirs." - -"Good-day," they called in concert; and off went the deputy inspector -toward the hardly perceptible shore through the fog. - -"By George, he's a brick!" Jack cried. - -"Right-o," assented Jerry, "but it took you to cement him." - -"Atrocious! If you're going to pun like that you must be taken home to -your family at once. 'Duty is duty'! Did you see the solemn wink the -old fellow tipped me when he spoke of shifting to westward? I thought I -should burst out laughing on the spot, and give the whole thing away. -How's the water?" - -"Tanks chock-a-block. Gonzague had them filled from the water-boat this -morning. Did you get your money?" - -"Every pound of it. Wrenmarsh took me to the bank and identified me, and -was mighty nice about the whole thing. Provisions are O.K. Off we go. -Call the watch." - -"Yes, but see my ring first," Tab said, holding it out. - -In half an hour the Merle was changing her berth to the westward. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Sixteen - -STORM! - - -A gray sea, a gray sky, and the Mid-Atlantic Ocean in September. Over -the heaving waters the Merle, under reduced canvas, was staggering -westward on the port-tack with a stiff southerly breeze. Jack, clad in -his yellow oil-skins like the rest of the hands, was standing just -outside the cockpit on the windward side of the yacht. Jerry was asleep -below. Having had the early morning watch, he had turned in directly -after breakfast. The captain glanced aloft uneasily, and wondered if -they were going to encounter on their return such a gale as they had -weathered while going over. He reluctantly admitted to himself that -there was every appearance of dirty weather, and thought he had better -step below to take a look at the glass. - -He pushed back the companion, and descended. The cabin was stuffy and no -warmer than the air without. The racks were on the table, and the lamps -swung in erratic circles in their gimbals. The barometer, a beautifully -finished instrument of the columnar type, was placed against the -after-bulkhead of the saloon on the starboard beside a closet door, its -slender length enclosed in bronze. It gyrated wildly, in unison with the -Thom's list-indicator above it. Jack steadied the tube with his hand, -and looked anxiously to see if the mercury had fallen. - -"Good God!" he burst out. - -At eight bells that morning the vernier of the glass had been set at -29.32. With staring eyes, Jack saw that now, little more than two hours -later, the mercury had sunk to 27.09,--a drop portentous of a furious -gale. For one brief moment, in the face of approaching danger, and -filled with a quick sense of his great responsibility, he stood -appalled. He put his hand to his forehead as if he were dizzy and found -it hard to think. - -"How's the glass, Jack?" asked a voice beside him. He turned with -troubled eyes to see Tab in his pajamas, a freshly lighted cigarette -between his fingers. "What's the trouble?" the mate demanded instantly, -seeming bewildered at the captain's appearance. - -"What brought you out here?" the captain retorted, though why he should -have asked he could not have told. - -"Heard you exclaiming. What's the trouble?" - -"Look!" Jack answered, pointing to the glass. - -"All that!" gasped Jerry. - -"Get your togs on," was the only reply Jack offered. "Be quick, and come -on deck." - -Jerrold left him without a word, and padded off to his cabin. Jack reset -the vernier, and went out. To his disturbed mind it seemed as if in the -brief interval during which he had been below the whole appearance of -nature had grown more ominous. In five minutes Jerry was with him. - -"Well, Jack?" - -"I've made up my mind what to do," the captain announced. "It's going to -blow fit to take your hair out by the roots: that much is sure." - -Jerry nodded soberly, and looked his friend straight in the eye. - -"We'll have to lay-to before we see the end of this, and I'd rather do -so at sea-anchor 'n any other way. What do you think?" - -"That's right enough. I suppose we'd better make ready now?" - -"We sha'n't have much time when it does come. We must get a mess of -things together up for'ard fit to hold a liner. We'll need it." - -Jack got the hands together around the winch forward, and set them at -once, under his direction, to the making of the "sea-anchor." The -spinnaker-boom and the two shorter boat-booms were first lashed firmly -together with inch rope in a rough isosceles triangle. - -"Now," Jack ordered, "fetch the old staysail, and bend it on in the -frame." - -"How are you going to ballast the thing?" asked Tab. "It'll float flat -if you don't give it a sinker." - -"I fancy the market-boat's killock would be about the right thing if we -could get at it," Jack answered. "Do you know where"-- - -"Yes, yes," interrupted Jerry hastily. "It's with the rest of her gear. -I'll get it." And he went aft. - -Although the wind had not as yet increased in violence, Jack, standing -as he did almost at the peak of the vessel, felt the motion much more -than he had farther aft. The great gray-green seas heaved hard about the -plunging yacht, and every now and then she ran bowsprit under. She was a -rather dry boat, fortunately, of the "hollow bow" model, and in the -fifteen or twenty minutes that the men had been working on the anchor, -she had not taken any waves aboard. The spindrift, it is true, flew -across her by the bucketful, but the men, dressed in their oilers, -blinked the cold water out of their eyes and went on with their work. -Before Jerry returned, however, as the crew were bending the old -staysail to the triangular frame, the captain, to his consternation, saw -that the Merle was just working her way up the breast of a mighty hill -of water with all likelihood of burying herself in the rising wall of a -wave ahead. - -"'Ware water!" he shouted. - -The men dropped their work and caught at whatever was nearest at hand. -Some threw an arm about the bollard by the knighthead; some jumped for -the winch; two men got a tight grip on the large ring-bolts by the port -cat-heads; Jack himself leaped for the winch and put his right arm -around the drum. - -The Merle labored to the crest of the hill of water. It sank away -beneath her instantly, and she shot down the slope of the wave into the -trough of the sea with a headlong, staggering rush. Towering above her -was the roughened, foam-blotched face of the succeeding wave. She tried -bravely to climb it, but she was too near, the angle was too sharp; she -could not so quickly recover from the impetus of her downward plunge. -She seemed to tremble--to hesitate--for an instant, and then as if in -the courage of despair, to leap forward with a jerk into the very midst -of the flood as if she would force her way through its tons of swinging -sea-water. - -Jack went to the deck under the tremendous blow of the on-rushing wave -as if he had been struck down by a thunderbolt. He felt the shock, the -biting cold of the water, and then it seemed as if a giant had gripped -him with hands of ice and were trying to wrench him from his hold. He -clung on, drenched, bewildered, desperate, until he wondered if his arm -would be pulled out of its socket. He had a stifling sensation of having -been for hours without air; he felt as if he were being dragged by some -terrible power swiftly through the sea miles below the surface. On a -sudden he again felt the deck under him, and opened his eyes. The Merle -had forced her way through the wave, and they were again free. He -gasped, spluttered, and rose to his feet, the water streaming from him. -Inside the bulwarks to starboard the green, foam-mixed brine washed -about knee-deep, and was pouring with a hoarse gurgling out of the -scuppers forward. The "anchor" had been swept bodily aft as far as the -foremast, and there was jammed between the mast itself and the -weather-shrouds. Drenched and cursing, the men squelched their way aft, -dislodged the structure, and dragged it forward again. Luckily the -mishap, really a slight one of twenty seconds' duration, had wrought no -damage which could not be easily repaired, and so the crew took up their -work where they had left it. - -Jerry reappeared with the killock of the market-boat just as they got -into place once more. - -"Did you get wet?" he asked cheerily, with a broad grin which showed -that he saw what had happened. - -"What do you think?" burst out the captain hotly. "No; I got dry, damn -it!" - -"Did you really, though! Well, I thought you looked damp." - -Jack paid this boyish jest with a word that was sharp and a look that -was too near a grin not to take the sting from it. He took the killock -that Jerry had brought, and had the men make it fast to the lower point -of the kite-like frame where the short boat-booms met. To the ends of -the long spinnaker-boom he fastened lengths of strong inch Manilla, and -a piece somewhat shorter to the point where the killock was attached. -The captain meant that the "sea-anchor," when in the water, should ride -not exactly vertical, but that by the shorter line the weighted point -should be lifted a little toward the yacht as the Merle dragged back on -it. In the end of each of these lines a bow-line was bent, and through -the bights of them he had the rode bent and made fast. The whole -contrivance was then like a triangular kite weighted at the point made -by the shorter sides, and held by lines from the three corners joined on -the rode, which corresponded to the string. When the work was finished -Jack inspected it all carefully, and examined the fastenings. - -"It's a rough enough concern," he said to Jerry; "but it's stanch, and -if we have to use it, it'll do good service. Make it fast," he added to -the men. "Put on a couple of strong gaskets for stoppers. Come on, Tab; -I don't want another ducking." - -They went aft to the cockpit, and the captain started to go below. - -"I'll just take another look at that glass," he said. "It's well to keep -a"-- - -"Look!" cried Jerry suddenly, seizing him by the arm, and pointing away -to the southward. - -Jack's eyes followed the mate's arm. Afar off on the gloomy horizon, the -black sea below and the gray sky above were in one place welded together -by a wall of impenetrable haze. It was not much more than a spot, but -Jack at a glance took in its full significance, and knew that before the -Merle was a struggle that would try her strength and his seamanship to -the very utmost. He opened his mouth to speak, and closed his lips -firmly without a word. He looked a moment at the inky mist, and then -dashed below. In a couple of minutes he reappeared with a grim look on -his usually genial face. - -"Jerry," he said hurriedly, "I've been down and tried the storm-card on -the chart. If we keep on as she's going, we'll fetch up plumb in the -centre of this mess. The Merle wouldn't live there half an hour." - -"Well?" questioned Jerry. His face was sober, and had about it a -suggestion of a big, serious dog that watches its troubled master. "What -can we do?" - -"There is only one thing to do," Jack responded quickly, but with -absolute decision. "The centre bears southwesterly,--that's why our -wind's hauled 'round. We've got to put about and run into the heart of -that greasy streak yonder. It'll be a tough job, but not so bad as if we -were farther westward. When we get the wind westerly, we'll lay to. If -we do anything else, we'll be swept into the centre, sure's fate." - -"Can't we run it out?" Jerry asked desperately. "It'll be tremendous! -That blow we had coming over'll be pale beside it. Think, man!" - -"I have," Jack said shortly. "Ready 'bout ship!" he shouted. - -The men sprang to their places, although Jack could see that they threw -swift glances of surprise at him as they did so. The evidence, slight as -it was, that he was acting alone, and that he must see farther and more -wisely than the men under him, accustomed as they were to the sea, -imparted a new ring of command to his voice as he gave the necessary -orders. With some difficulty and with much uproar of booming canvas and -slatting ropes, the schooner came about, and Jack had her headed -straight for the black spot on the horizon. - -Jack hurried on preparations for the storm before them. He had sail -taken in and double-reefed; the "spitfire" jib set in place of the -larger forestaysail, and tarpaulins battened over the skylights. He put -the yacht as completely as possible in heavy-weather trim, to meet the -gale scudding along over the black sea toward them. - -He was none too soon, for the storm was not long in coming. The gray sky -above the yacht grew darker and darker, the sea about her more and more -"cobbly." The wind freshened rapidly, and veered more toward the west. -The Merle sailed on gallantly, the green waves breaking against her -weather shoulder, and the spindrift flying down the decks as she -slashed her way to windward. The tops of the great seas, as they heaved -themselves skyward, were snatched off by the gale, and sped in white -sheets down the wind. - -Jack was standing in the cockpit with Jerry. He was watching the weather -narrowly, and now and then, with a brief word or two, gave the -steersmen--for the wheel needed two of them--a command or a warning. The -force of the gale so increased that at the end of an hour and a half the -mainsail, though triple-reefed, was got down and furled, and the -forestaysail, which had been unbent to give place to the spitfire, was -set on the boom as a trysail. - -It had come on to rain, and the big drops were driven along almost in -horizontal lines. When they struck the face Jack felt as if he had been -pelted with hailstones. Mixed with the flying spindrift they filled the -air as if with a mist, blinding and fierce. - -Suddenly, as the yacht was dipping into the trough of a long sea, a -strong gust listed her over so that aft the green water rose on the -decks to within a fathom of the cockpit combings. A sharp report burst -out above all the roaring of the wind and the multitudinous clamor of -the waters. Jack looked up to see the trysail streaming out in tattered -ribbons, writhing and twisting like pale snakes in mad fury. The sight -inflamed him like a personal insult flung at him by the storm. He broke -out with a cry, and with a great oath swore he would see the Merle -through in spite of everything. - -"Tab," he shouted in the mate's ear, "get along forward on that -sea-anchor! Stand by to launch it. We don't want any more of this!" - -He saw Jerry gather the port watch,--for all the men had been on deck -for two hours past, clinging to whatever was nearest and alternately -watching the storm and the captain,--and with them scrabble forward, -making way by the help of whatever could be grasped. Their difficulty in -getting forward was to Jack like a sudden realization of the danger they -were in, and made him for the moment think of the men, whereas he had -before been conscious of nothing but of the yacht herself. He saw the -men gather about the "sea-anchor," swaying and pitching with the motion -of the bow, and Jerry turn to look for his signal. The yacht was -carrying such a strong lee-helm that the steersmen could not keep her -head to the wind, and Jack shouted and gesticulated frantically to Jerry -to get down the storm-jib, while at the same time he ordered the -starboard watch to unstop the mainsail. He was in deadly fear lest the -vessel should get clean broadside to the wind and that the decks would -be swept. - -"Unstop the mainsail!" he roared. "Show the peak! Douse the jib!" - -Again he motioned to Jerry, knowing that his voice would not be heard -forward. He saw Tab pause a moment, and then wave his arm in reply. To -his utter dismay, however, he saw the mate and the men with him stoop, -get hold of the "sea-anchor," and, tugging and stumbling, begin to haul -it up to the weather side. It flashed on Jack that his gestures had been -misunderstood, and his order to get down the jib mistaken for a command -to launch the "anchor." With a sickening plunge the Merle at that moment -coasted down a mighty wave, fell off, and lay broadside to the seas. For -a second he felt as if everything was lost. - -"Smartly!" he roared to the starboard watch, who were working for their -lives upon the main-boom. - -He gave them one glance, and started to rush forward, running recklessly -along, and feeling for his sheath-knife as he went. A quick lurch of the -yacht to port flung him off his feet, and shot him forward and to his -right. He instinctively flung out his hand, and clutched something -metallic. - -"'Ware water!" he mumbled, half stunned. - -A green shadow curled over him. There was a crashing roar to leeward. He -felt the yacht stagger and tremble, and suddenly and with an odd mental -twist he remembered vividly an earthquake shock he had once felt at -Patras. The shadow disappeared, a little water came slap! on his oilskin -jacket between the shoulders. The rest of the wave--tons and tons of -green water--had curled itself over him, and crashed on the decks to -leeward. - -He got to his feet unsteadily, and with a queer singing in his ears ran -forward. He threw a quick look to port as he ran. The force of the sea -had evidently been heaviest amidships, for he saw that for thirty feet -on the lee beam the rail had been burst out between the fore and main -rigging; two boats were gone, and the skylights, broken, yawned blackly. -Jack groaned inwardly, but did not stop. Pitching and staggering, he -made his way to the foremast. A sudden fling of the yacht threatened to -make him, as he afterward put it, "overshoot the mark" and tumble past -the halyards. Fortunately, however, he checked himself by catching at -the foretopsail-clewline as he was being pitched by, and he clung to it -desperately. He laid hold of the spitfire halyard. One quick glance at -the turns about the pin in the rack told him how much time he should -save by cutting the rope, and with a swift backdrawing of the sharp -sheath-knife he severed it. The fall of the halyard flew up aloft, -playfully dealing him a smart rap on the chin as it went; the sail ran -down in thunder, and blew away in shreds. The Merle began to rise, and -Jack felt a thrill of joyful relief to see that she was coming up into -the wind. The men aft had showed the peak of the mainsail, and the -schooner was feeling its effects. - -A few yards forward, Jerry and the port watch were still toiling over -the "sea-anchor." Twice they had tried to set it in position for -launching, and each time wind and sea had overmastered them. Jack, in an -agony lest the structure should be launched before the yacht was laid -about on the other tack, or at least so near the wind that the awkward -contrivance could be got over the bows to port, stumbled forward -shouting. - -"To port!" he roared. "Get it over to port!" - -He gripped Jerry by the arm. - -"The wrong tack!" he bellowed in the mate's ear. "Run it over to -leeward, and put it over when I wave my arm. Watch sharp!" - -"Aye!" shouted Tab, but Jack was already gone. - -Castleport stumbled aft much as he had gone forward, now climbing -laboriously up hill, now leaning back and struggling to keep himself -from rushing headlong down the sloping deck with an impetus that would -have carried him overboard. When he reached the cockpit, he dropped -inside almost spent. - -"Back the helm every time she rises!" he called to the men at the wheel. -"We want her to fall over!" - -"Aye, aye, sir." - -"Now, then,--over with her!" he cried, as the yacht rose. - -The men gave her all they dared. The effect was imperceptible. - -"Hold her!" shouted Jack. - -At the risk of their lives, the two helmsmen held her as the schooner -slid down the big slope of the wave, shivering as she went. As she rose, -the captain, with a laughing heart, saw that she would make it. He tore -off his "sou'-wester," and waved it frantically to Tab forward. Jerry -threw up his arm in reply; the big "sea-anchor" rose from the deck, and -went out on the port side. - -"Helm amidships!" sang out Jack. - -"Aye, aye, sir." - -The Merle began to drift back. - -"Watch along!" the captain roared again. "Gaskets on the mainsail!" - -The starboard watch began to wrestle with the heavy canvas which they -had partially freed from its bonds so short a time before. The sail was -made snug, and the Merle dragged back on her "anchor," and though she -plunged and tugged, pitched and rolled, still kept her sharp nose to the -wind. Through the mist of the stinging brine which the wind drove down -the decks in sheets, the captain saw the hands forward pay out some -forty fathoms of scope, and then, man by man, work their way aft. - -"I'm awfully sorry I--I made such a mess," Tab shouted in the captain's -ear as he reached him. - -"It's all right," returned Jack, aglow with a wild exultation. "It's all -right! No matter." - -The ominous belt of opaque mist which they had so shortly before seen on -the horizon was now all about them. The Merle and her crew were -enveloped in a shroud of rushing rain. It drove before the blast in -incredible torrents, and with a force that made them catch their breaths -chokingly whenever they faced it. The seas increased to frightful size. -Even to the sailors, bred on the sea, it seemed hardly possible that -the schooner could live in such surges. The cockpit, although -self-bailing, was kept flooded; in it the water, sloshing about with the -motion of the schooner, was as high as the transoms. The uproar of the -wind, singing on the ropes strung by its own force to tautness, was like -the shrieking of an immense and untuned harp. The crash of the waves -sounded like a continuous cannonade all about the yacht. The mingling of -sea and air produced a vertigo, as if everything was resolving again -into its original chaos. Yet in the midst of it all Jack felt his blood -sing in his veins with pure joy of the battle. - -Suddenly the captain remembered the broken skylights. He splashed out of -the cockpit, where he stood almost waist-deep in the jumping water, -steadied himself by the combings, and started forward. - -"Pumps!" he shouted. "Come!" - -He waved his arm to the men, and the yellow-clad figures detached -themselves in the mist and blurring rain from the points of vantage to -which they had clung, and dumb, obedient, followed him. - -The pumps were just abaft the foremast, and were of the semi-rotary -sort. The bars were fitted, and two of the men, swinging themselves -back and forth, back and forth, with a dull and dreary monotony, began -pumping as if they had become parts of a machine. A steady flow of water -came from the waste-pipe in a continuous stream. It spread out over the -deck to port and to starboard as the yacht swayed. It was full of -bubbles and flecks of froth, and was a sickly yellow in hue. - -Jack set the rest of the men to stretch new tarpaulins over the gaping -skylights, and then he went below to look at the glass. Drenched, -bruised, cold from his long fight with the storm and the hours which had -gone by without his having had food, he found himself, now that for the -moment action was not imperative, seized with a sort of terror at the -perils he had gone through. The instant reflection that worse might be -yet to come restored his courage. He could face whatever might befall as -long as he might act. - -The sight which met him in the once trig cabin was sufficiently -dispiriting. A thin sheet of water swashed softly about over the Turkish -carpet. It chuckled in dark places as if sentient and fully aware of the -impropriety of its being there. A locker door had burst open, and was -banging maddeningly. Farther forward, in the dark staterooms, similar -noises could be heard, with sounds which suggested that all sorts of -small things were being flung about. Everything was sopped with -sea-water and drenched by the beating rain: the transom-cushions, two of -which were skating about the cabin with the wicker deck-chairs; the -books on their shelves; the lockers, the mirrors, the sheathing, down -which large drops ran in dizzying zigzags,--in short, everything. The -sight gave Jack a feeling of discouragement worse than anything on -deck--even the tearing away of the bulwarks--had been able to produce. -He felt as if the cruel old ocean were mouthing the schooner as a beast -breaks the bones of its prey before devouring it. He drew in his breath -with fierce resolution, all his combative spirit aroused to fight to the -last gasp, and made his stumbling way to the barometer. He steadied it -with his hand, and read it. It stood at 27.04. This was a drop of only -.05 since his last observation, and the captain's face cleared a little. -If the glass had practically stopped falling, as apparently it had, the -hardest part of the gale would come soon, and be speedily over. The old -weather saw came into his head,-- - - - Long foretold, long last; - Short notice, soon past. - - -The relief, slight as it was, affected him so strongly that he almost -smiled. He reflected that the Merle was as well prepared to meet it as -under the circumstances she could be, and he had no real doubt of her -ability to ride it out, unless some unexpected accident disabled the -"sea-anchor." - -When he came on deck he was greeted by Tab, who had taken charge in his -absence, and who asked eagerly the state of the glass. Jack told him, -and drawing him into the companionway, where they could escape the wind -enough to talk, he added his reasons for thinking that a short time -might see them through the worst. - -"How are things below?" asked the mate. - -"Look!" the captain answered, with a sweep of his hand. - -Tab bent down and peered into the dismantled cabin. - -"The devil!" he cried in dismay. - -"Precisely--but it might be worse," returned Jack; "but by George, Tab!" -he burst out with sudden vehemence, "I--I'm glad I haven't got all this -to do over again. You don't know--can't imagine the strain of this sort -of thing." - -"Does your conscience get up like a cat with the wind?" laughed Jerry. - -"No, Tab," Jack answered soberly, "but the men, you know, and thinking I -took them into this when I'd no right to. Oh, rot! No matter, only I'm -jolly glad I ran off with the Merle before I realized all this. I -couldn't bring myself to do it again for"-- - -"Come on deck, Jacko," Tab said, after a brief silence in which with -eyes cast down awkwardly he had waited for the captain to continue. "I -know how you feel, but thank the Lord there's work to be done, and we'll -fight through all right. Besides, Gonzague's forward getting a ration of -some sort. We can't afford to miss that." - -He put out his hand, and Jack grasped it appreciatively, with a -half-conscious thanksgiving for the comfort of a friend. - -"Right you are!" the captain said heartily. "We're both of us ready for -a feed, I fancy." - -And out into the storm they went again, buoyant and ready. - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Seventeen - -FACING THE MUSIC - - -"Well," Tab said, "I'll see you as far as the door for fear you'll bolt. -You're a sight nearer funking than I ever saw you, Jacko. You must have -your nerve with you if you don't want to come out of the little end of -the horn." - -"I feel small enough to go through it," Jack retorted. - -"Oh, that's all right. Just take a brace, and"-- - -"Humph!" snorted the captain. "It's all well enough for you to snoozle -round and give me advice, but if you had to face Uncle Randolph -yourself, you wouldn't be so chipper, let me tell you!" - -The young men were crossing Atlantic Avenue not far from the East Boston -Ferry. They had at last, sea-weary and glad of land, made harbor on the -previous evening. Jack had hardly waited for the anchor to be down -before he had sent off in haste for his European letters, intrusting the -messenger to post a voluminous epistle on which he had written -industriously at intervals all the way over; and for half the night he -had read and reread Katrine's missives, giving Jerry tantalizing bits -now and then, with messages from Mrs. Fairhew enjoining him not again to -aid and abet Jack in any nefarious schemes. In the morning the crew had -been paid off generously, and given passages on the City of Rockland. -Then Gonzague had been left in charge of the yacht, and now, with -feelings curiously mixed, the captain was bound for the office of his -uncle for the inevitable reckoning with the owner of the stolen Merle. - -It was a bright, sharp morning, without a cloud in the sky. The air had -a clean crispness which went to the head like wine. The streets were -thronged and noisy. Heavy trucks rolled past the pair like batteries -moving into action; the Elevated thundered overhead with its rumbling -screech. The teamsters shouted profanely at their straining horses; a -fat policeman at the crowded crossing waved his arms like semaphores, -now holding up the traffic and again with commanding gesture sweeping it -along. The shrill voices of the newsboys rang out in mechanical -iteration of the leading sensations of the morning journals. - -"Oh," cried Tab, as they walked briskly up State Street, "how good it -is, isn't it, Jacko?" - -Jack was too much absorbed in the interview before him to do more than -nod mechanically. He could not at the moment bring himself up to the gay -mood of his friend. - -"There's no place like it after all," Jerry ran on, his honest, homely -face aglow with delight. "My word, you may talk about Italy and all the -rest of it till the crack of doom, but they can't hold a candle to good -old Boston! Blest if this isn't the best part of the whole cruise!" - -"Think so, do you?" asked Jack dryly. "It's funny, but the very reverse -was in my head. What the deuce," he burst out, "what the deuce am I -going to tell the President anyway?" - -"Oh, just give him the yarn off the reel," returned Tab, as if it were -all the simplest thing in the world. "You've got the log with you, -and--I say, do look at those pigeons! Aren't they jolly! Come, brace -up!" - -"Oh, yes," said Jack. "Brace up, of course--in the very mouth of the -lion's lair. Here's the building,--we're just about seventy feet under -Uncle Randolph's den. Brace up! The very thing, of course! So glad you -suggested it!" - -"Now, Jacko," protested Jerry, "you mustn't take things this way. Do -put some spirit into it. I'll leave you here; but if you want, I'll face -the music with you." - -"No, thank you," his friend said gravely; "I'll take the medicine -alone." - -"Well, that's what we decided last night when we threshed things out. Go -ahead. Bring the remains round to lunch, though. The Roundheads at one. -It's eleven now, and you've got two hours for the job of placating the -president. Come sure; for I shall be in a stew till I know how you two -get on together." - -"All right," Jack responded dispiritedly. - -"Good luck," Jerry said, stretching out his hand. - -"Thank you," Jack returned, giving Tab a hearty grasp. "So long." - -"One o'clock," Jerry repeated; and with a buoyant wave of the hand, he -went on his way up State Street. - -"Suppose he'll weep when he sees the Frog Pond," muttered Jack to -himself with a wan smile. "Wish I felt half as chipper." - -He went to the elevator, and pressed the electric button. The big cage -came down, the boy clashed the door, and Jack went in as he might have -mounted the steps to a scaffold. - -"Mr. Drake's," he said briefly, moistening his lips, and wondering why -they seemed so stiff and dry. - -Deposited on the proper floor, he tucked the brown log-book more tightly -under his arm, and approached his uncle's office. - -"I must have time," he said to himself. "I haven't thought this business -out for a cent." - -He turned on his heel, and walked slowly down the marble-flagged -corridor past the glazed doors of half a dozen offices. Then he stopped -with sudden resolution. - -"Damn it! Be a man!" he adjured himself. "This won't do." - -He walked resolutely up to the door, and entered his uncle's outer -office. A typewriter was clicking busily at one desk, and various clerks -were scratching away assiduously. Several people were seated about, -evidently waiting to speak with Mr. Drake. Even as Jack entered, the -door opened, and a man came out from the inner room. The head clerk -nodded to Jack, but regarded him curiously. - -"How do you do, Mr. Castleport?" he said. - -"Can I see my uncle?" Jack asked, returning his salutation, and he added -to himself, "He knows all about the Merle. I can tell by his looks." - -"He's pretty busy this morning," the clerk answered, "but I'll tell him -you're here. Of course he'll see you as soon as he can." - -Jack took a seat and waited until the next man came out of the inner -office. Then the head clerk went in, and in a moment returned with a -queer look on his face. "Mr. Drake says these men are here by -appointment," he reported, "and he cannot see you till they are gone." - -"All right," Jack answered, reflecting ruefully that he was not -accustomed to be thus kept waiting in his uncle's office. "I am in no -hurry." - -He settled himself in his chair, feeling that he could have borne -anything better than this delay, and half tempted now to give it up, and -beat a retreat. He saw one man after another go into the inner room, and -after a time return and go away. He crossed and recrossed his legs with -an impatient feeling that he had never sat in so uncomfortable a chair. -He tried to beguile the time by reading the log, but first he opened to -the account of the lifting of the Merle, and then to the story of how -her bulwarks were torn away by the storm. He fell to thinking how good -Uncle Randolph had always been to him, and every minute felt more and -more like a wretch for having left the old gentleman stranded at North -Haven. The time grew longer and longer, and every moment more -intolerable as the second hour began to drag its slow length after the -first. Then he noticed that only one man remained to delay his -interview, and so completely was he demoralized that he felt that he -would have given anything in the world to be excused from the trial -before him. It seemed to him that the last man but one did his business, -whatever it was, in an amazingly short time; and he all but bolted when -the last went to his appointment. If he could get away and think things -over once more, he might perhaps be able to devise some sort of excuse -more plausible than anything he had to offer; and he all but started to -his feet to fly when the door opened to let out the only visitor who had -stood between him and the dreaded encounter with the president. - -"Mr. Drake will see you now, sir," said the office boy. - -Jack got to his feet as if by automatic action, and felt them drag him -forward against his will. Another instant, and the door had closed -behind him; he stood in the inner office. With a tremendous effort--an -effort which was almost physical--to pull himself together, he looked up -at his uncle. - -He saw a slight gentleman, dressed in a well-fitting suit of gray, -looking out of one of the windows with his back to the door. The office -was high enough to command a view of the harbor, shining blue in the sun -beyond the clusters of roofs and chimneys. Mr. Drake stood for a moment -as if examining the view for the first time, while Jack wondered whether -this unconsciousness of his presence was real, or was of a piece with -the infliction of the long wait. Then the President turned to him, and -bowed formally, as if to a stranger. His face wore a curious look of -weariness and patience which somehow reminded Jack of his father. The -high forehead was wrinkled with a line or two that Jack did not -remember, and the curly hair was surely more thickly streaked with gray. - -"Well, sir?" Mr. Drake said in a tone hard and even. - -"Well, Uncle Randolph," said Jack, confused, "I--I'm here." - -"So I see," remarked the President. "Is that what you came to say?" - -Jack felt that the interview promised to be even worse than he had -feared. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably, and studied the figures in -the rug. Then he looked up at the face of the elder man, and something -in it smote him to the heart. - -"Uncle Randolph," he said suddenly, "I suppose it's pretty late to say -anything of the sort, but--but something that happened on the way over -made me see that--made me see what a blackguard I'd been to steal the -Merle as I did. I don't think apologies are much good, anyway, -especially after you've had all the fun. It's a good deal like trying to -sneak out of consequences, but I--I really mean most sincerely that I'm -beastly sorry." - -Mr. Drake did not move a muscle of his keen, well-bred face, but into -his eyes came some faint glint of humor which made Jack stop in -confusion. - -"Are you done, sir?" his uncle asked. - -"I'm not quite through, sir," Jack said in a sort of desperate humility. -"I--I--that is"--He floundered for a moment, and then went on with a -rush, "I may as well explain that I'm not sorry one way; that is--I -can't honestly say I wish I hadn't taken the Merle, for I--you know I'm -engaged to Miss Marchfield, and I never could have been except--that is, -unless I'd got over there. I can't be sorry for that." - -"No?" queried Mr. Drake, raising his brows. "You are not thinking, -perhaps, what is the price I have paid for the privilege of -congratulating you on this engagement. I have no son, and from the day -your father died I have made one of you. You deceive me, humiliate me in -the eyes of my guests, make me the joke of my club, leave me high and -dry at North Haven"-- - -Sad and sorry as Jack really was, he could not help the impulse that -made him see the chance, and murmur under his breath,-- - -"I didn't think anything could be high and dry in the sort of fog we -went off in." - -His uncle gave a slight cough, as if he were strangling an inclination -to laugh, and then went on in the same even voice as before. - -"Of course I can't expect you to have any feeling about the way I felt -about your tricking me, any more than of the anxiety I went through when -the Merle disappeared, and I didn't know whether you were on top of the -sea or under it." - -"I--I never thought of that," stammered Jack, feeling his cheeks grow -hot. - -"No, I suppose not. Nor how I enjoyed the storm you must have been in on -the way home. Lloyd's people sent me word of your giving them the slip -at Plymouth." - -"But they let us," Jack put in eagerly, seizing with avidity at any -point which seemed to afford him a chance to defend himself. "I didn't -think, Uncle Randolph, and I'm afraid I've been a beastly cad to you. I -am sorry to the very bottom of my heart." - -The President took a quick stride forward and clapped one hand on his -nephew's shoulder, while with the other he grasped warmly the hand Jack -put out swiftly to meet him. - -"There, Jack," he said, "that's all I want. You don't know what we old -fools go through worrying over you young ones. Perhaps it's just as well -you don't." - -He gave Jack's hand a vigorous shake, and then turned away to blow his -own nose with equal violence. Jack himself felt hot in the eyes, but he -had no words which seemed adequate to the situation. - -"Sit down," his uncle said, waving him to a chair, and then going to his -desk. He took from a pigeon-hole some letters and papers. "I have -several things to say to you. Mrs. Fairhew writes a very spicy letter -when she wants to." - -"I should think she might, sir. She can be spicy when she talks." - -"She says I didn't know you were grown-up, Jack." - -Jack blushed at the remembrance, vivid and sharp, of his declaration to -Jerry that he would make his uncle realize that he had come to man's -estate. - -"Oh, ho," said Mr. Drake, regarding him keenly, but with humorous eyes, -"you thought so too, did you? Of course you did! Well, I know it now, -and I've been an old fool. I congratulate you, Jack, with all my heart. -If Miss Marchfield is like her mother"--He broke off as if his thought -had got the better of his speech. "If she is all that Mrs. Fairhew says -she is, you have a treasure, my boy. Don't ever run off with her yacht." - -"I never mean to repeat that performance with anybody," Jack declared -stoutly, again shaking hands fervently. "You've always been awfully good -to me, Uncle Randolph, and I've never done anything for you." - -"Hum, perhaps not that you know of," the other replied, with a humorous -lift of his eyebrows; "but we sometimes do good when we think we're -doing harm. Read this." - -He held out a long blue envelope, much stamped and written upon, and -provided with both American and English postage-stamps. Jack knew it at -a glance as the one he had taken from the messenger that foggy night at -North Haven, had found in the pocket of his coat at Nice, and had after -much cogitation remailed at Plymouth. In the upper left-hand corner was -the notice to return to R. B. Tillington, if not delivered in five -days, and the Boston address written in his own hand. He drew out the -letter and read:-- - - - MY DEAR DRAKE,--You and I have known the ins and outs of the market - for so many years that we ought to appreciate both the danger of - getting into an unsound stock and the foolishness of letting the - real thing go by for the want of a little courage. I think you are - not likely to have forgotten what Orrington said in the club last - week about Orion Copper, or that I told you I meant to sift that - thing to the very bottom. Well, I have been looking it up with a - microscope ever since. I enclose three or four copies of - letters,--this is all confidential, of course; you would know that - without my saying so, but the thing's too important not to be - particular about. I write to you because I've got to have somebody - share the thing, and I think you can raise the money without - putting anybody on the scent. Besides that, we have always got on - well together, I believe in your luck, and I want somebody to stand - with me in running the whole thing. There's nothing less than - millions in it if we can get control at once. Sell anything,--I'm - selling _everything_ myself,--and get in on the ground floor of - Orion. If I had known just where to hit you, I'd have got you to - town to investigate for yourself; but I've wasted a small fortune - already telegraphing to every damned port on the coast I could - think of. You'll find wires waiting at every place you put into. - Orion's bound to be the coming financial constellation. B. B., - Mellington, Foster, and two or three others have blundered into it - just by bull luck, but they haven't got enough stock to hurt us if - you'll stand by me. - - Yours for Orion, - R. B. T. - - -Jack read in steadily increasing consternation. - -"Good heavens!" he said. "Did I make you lose the chance? Did you get -the telegrams?" - -"I got them, but they referred me to the letter, and I was too upset -about the Merle to pay much attention. Then I went over to the island, -and stayed there three or four days; so that by the time I did get a -letter--a second one--the whole thing was over." - -"Was that what broke Tillington?" Jack asked, feeling as if his escapade -had destroyed half the financial world. - -"It saved me from going with him," Mr. Drake returned, with a smile. -"See here." He extended a lot of newspaper cuttings, and then drew them -back. "Never mind, though," he went on. "There's no need of going into -the particulars. The whole thing was a trap from beginning to end. If -you made a fool of me, Jack, by running off with the Merle, it isn't a -circumstance to the fool I'd have made of myself if I'd got that letter. -If it hadn't been for that perfectly heartless and entirely inexcusable -performance of yours, we'd both of us be beggars at this blessed moment. -We came so near it that I can't read that sign downstairs, 'Beggars and -Peddlers not Allowed,' without thinking how near I was to having it -forbid me my own office." - -"Do you really mean it, Uncle Randolph?" Jack asked half breathlessly. - -"I do mean it, my boy, though I'm afraid the moral of it all's pretty -crooked. I had been led in with a cleverness that gives me cold shivers. -That talk at the club that I'd heard as if by accident had all been -planned out, and so on for a lot more things I won't go into. -Mellington's blown his brains out, and poor old Foster isn't up to -anything but cadging for drinks at the club, and telling how he was -roped in when he was drunk, poor old fellow! I was so sure of Orion that -I'd have put in the last dollar of yours or mine I could have laid -hands on! I feel like a humbug when men congratulate me on knowing -enough to keep out of the mess." - -"And I saved you?" cried Jack, bending forward with boyish eagerness. - -"Yes, you rascally jackanapes; but small credit to you!" - -Jack sent the log up into the air, and, bounding to his feet, caught it -as it fell. - -"Whoop!" he shouted. "Oh, how glad I am old Tillington wrote that letter -and I carried it off!" - -The President laughed with responsive joyousness, but reminded his -ebullient nephew that there were clerks in the other room. He began to -ask questions about the voyage, but the clock struck one and Jack -recalled the fact that Taberman was waiting for him at the Roundheads, -and probably was on tenterhooks for his news. - -"You'll come to luncheon, won't you, sir?" he pleaded. - -"That'll look well," retorted his uncle with humorous derision. -"Everybody knows about your running off with the Merle--Bardale couldn't -hold his tongue--and I shall be accused of condoning a felony." - -Nevertheless they set out arm in arm for the club, and as they went the -President informed his secretary that he should not be back at the -office that afternoon. - -"We shall want to run over the log," he explained to Jack as they waited -for the elevator. "I've no doubt it will make you blush to have me read -it, but I'm going to." - -"I brought it for you," Jack answered, with a grin of pure joy. "Do you -mind waiting a minute, while I send a cable to Katrine? She was awfully -anxious to know how hard you'd be on me." - -"Now she'll think I've no backbone at all. Well, when you played me that -trick, Jack, I felt terribly old and alone; but I think I am a little -bit younger now you're back, and prepared to behave yourself." - -"Wait till you've read the log," laughed Jack, "and you'll think you're -in your teens!" - -[Illustration: Decoration] - - - - -Chapter Eighteen - -EPILUDE - - -Jack, who had been dining at Mrs. Fairhew's, was taking leave of Katrine -one evening a few weeks before the day set for the wedding. The farewell -had all the characteristic deliberateness which has marked the unwilling -separation of engaged couples from time immemorial, and was to-night -prolonged more than usual by his teasing refusal to answer a question. - -"Do tell me what the great secret is between you and Mr. Drake, Jack," -she begged. "I think you are perfectly horrid!" - -He looked down into her face and laughed softly. - -"You're not," he returned. "You're perfectly stunning to-night." - -"Of course I am," she retorted, laughing and pouting; "but you can't put -me off with a compliment. If you hadn't meant to tell me, you wouldn't -have spoken about it at all; and I think you've teased me enough. What -is it about the President and you?" - -She touched the tips of her fingers to his cravat, as if she were -straightening it, whereas she was probably only exerting instinctively -her privilege of proprietorship in Jack and his belongings. - -"Well," he laughed, "you have borne it beautifully, and I've had you -crazy with curiosity till I don't dare put off telling you. But you'll -probably lie awake half the night thinking about it." - -"That depends upon how important it is." - -"I expect to be paid for telling you," he declared with a look that made -her flush. - -"I should think you might be generous enough to tell me for nothing," -she responded; but her dimples deepened. - -He stooped forward quickly, and kissed her. Then he took both her hands -in his, and stood caressing them while he went on. - -"The news is this," he said. "We've got to change our plans for the -wedding journey from stem to stern." - -"Why, Jack! What do you mean?" - -"It's a fact, dear," he went on, assuming an expression of profound -regret which was too obviously artificial to be depressing. - -"But why?" - -"Because--Are you ready for a great shock? Wouldn't you like me to -support you in case you couldn't bear it?" - -"Don't be silly," she urged, with an adorable smile. "Because what?" - -"Because Uncle Randolph has given us the Merle as a wedding present. He -told me this afternoon, so that we should have time to shape our plans -accordingly." - -"Oh, dear Jack!" - -"Splendid of him, isn't it? How would it strike you to have the Merle -sent over and to take a whole year in her on the Mediterranean?" - -"Oh, that would be too beautiful!" Katrine cried. - -She clasped her hands, and looked up at him with loving brave eyes. Her -first thought was of his pleasure, and instantly followed the reflection -that she was making her first sacrifice; for her quick mind foresaw that -Jack on a yacht, with duties in which he delighted, would probably be -less wholly hers than in the travel by land which they had arranged. She -smiled wonderfully, and for the first time in their engagement she bent -forward of her own accord, and offered him her lips. - - -The Riverside Press - -_Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co._ - -_Cambridge, Mass., U. S. 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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/license - - -Title: A Madcap Cruise - -Author: Oric Bates - -Release Date: November 12, 2017 [EBook #55950] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MADCAP CRUISE *** - - - - -Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="center"><a name="cover.jpg" id="cover.jpg"></a><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p class="bold2">A Madcap Cruise</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt="title page" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<h1>A MADCAP<br />CRUISE</h1> - -<p class="bold2"><span class="smcap">By</span> ORIC BATES</p> - -<p class="space-above"> </p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/titlepagelogo.jpg" alt="logo" /></div> - -<p class="bold space-above"><i>Boston and New York</i><br /> -HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY<br />The Riverside Press, Cambridge<br />1905</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center">COPYRIGHT 1905 BY ORIC BATES<br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Published March 1905</i></p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center">TO</p> - -<p class="center">MY FATHER</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i007.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2>Contents</h2> - -<table summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="left"><span class="smaller"><i>Chapter</i></span></td> - <td><span class="smaller"><i>Page</i></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>I.</td> - <td class="left"> The Cardinal Points</td> - <td><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>II.</td> - <td class="left"> The Fog comes in</td> - <td><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>III.</td> - <td class="left"> It blows Southeast</td> - <td><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IV.</td> - <td class="left"> It blows Northwest</td> - <td><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>V.</td> - <td class="left"> Land Ho!</td> - <td><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VI.</td> - <td class="left"> Dinner Ashore</td> - <td><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VII.</td> - <td class="left"> Luncheon Aboard</td> - <td><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>VIII.</td> - <td class="left"> A Change of Tactics</td> - <td><a href="#Page_129">129</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>IX.</td> - <td class="left"> The Doldrums</td> - <td><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>X.</td> - <td class="left"> Mr. Wrenmarsh, the Extraordinary</td> - <td><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XI.</td> - <td class="left"> A Lone-Hand Game</td> - <td><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XII.</td> - <td class="left"> At Vergil's Tomb</td> - <td><a href="#Page_228">228</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIII.</td> - <td class="left"> A Bid for the Odd Trick</td> - <td><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XIV.</td> - <td class="left"> Clearing the Decks</td> - <td><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XV.</td> - <td class="left"> In the Cattewater</td> - <td><a href="#Page_263">263</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVI.</td> - <td class="left"> Storm!</td> - <td><a href="#Page_288">288</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVII.</td> - <td class="left"> Facing the Music</td> - <td><a href="#Page_310">310</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>XVIII.</td> - <td class="left"> Epilude</td> - <td><a href="#Page_327">327</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i009.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<p class="bold2">A MADCAP CRUISE</p> - -<h2><span>Chapter One</span> <span class="smaller">THE CARDINAL POINTS</span></h2> - -<p>"It strikes me," said Jerrold Taberman, "that we are booked for -everlasting fame, win or lose. We'll either sail down the ages as a -brace of heroes, or as the most egregious pair of donkeys that ever -botched a job."</p> - -<p>"Well, Jerry," returned his companion, smiling, "you've as much to do -with making the thing a success as I have. I hope you realize the -responsibility."</p> - -<p>The young men chuckled in concert at the thought of all that was -involved in this remark, although they looked, not at each other, but -out over the sea.</p> - -<p>It was early twilight in the last week of the month of May. The two -speakers were standing on a little jetty that ran out into a small and -all but landlocked harbor of an island in East Penobscot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> Bay. Both were -evidently in the earlier twenties, both were dressed in such canvas -working-suits as are worn by the sailors in our navy, and both were, at -half a glance, gentlemen.</p> - -<p>The second speaker, John Castleport, was tall and dark. His face, with -its prominent features and keen brown eyes, was rather striking than -handsome. He stood looking southward to where, in the fading light, the -Atlantic shouldered away to the west as if with a hidden purpose of its -own. In his hand he held a pair of powerful binoculars, and despite his -smile he had the air of being pretty seriously in earnest.</p> - -<p>Taberman contrasted curiously with his host. He was short and thickset, -with blue eyes and fair hair which showed a tendency to curl. As he -stood with shoulders turned to the wind, the square collar of his canvas -jumper was blown against his round pate, and made a background for his -tanned face. He held a briar drop-pipe between his teeth, and his hands -were thrust deep into his trousers pockets. Working his pipe into the -corner of his mouth, he spoke again.</p> - -<p>"Hope this breeze won't trouble the old gentleman," he remarked, casting -a glance at the billowing double-headers that were driving by aloft.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p><p>The wind shrilled by the watchers on the jetty, clear, strong, and -salt.</p> - -<p>"Guess not," replied Castleport; "anything short of a hurricane's a -sailing-wind for him. He's a mettlesome old chap."</p> - -<p>"That's right enough. Can't have him spoiling our game by being late, -you know. Let's go up; it's getting beastly chilly."</p> - -<p>They turned and walked along the pier. At the point where it met the -shore stood a small boathouse. Thence the ground, covered with a stunted -growth of spruce and fir, and the inevitable New England boulders, rose -abruptly. Directly in the line of the jetty the shingled roof of a small -house showed above the trees. To the westward, in the dimming afterglow -of the sunset, the Camden Hills stood out luminous, purple, yet rimmed -with a thread of golden fire. Away to the east, clad in soberer colors, -rose Mt. Desert, a mass of shadowy greens and blues. The steepness of -the path they were ascending soon cut off from the view of the young men -these beauties and grandeurs, which, however, they were probably not in -a mood to dwell upon; and a minute's walking brought them to the door of -the house, a small affair with high-pitched roof and broad veranda. Its -shingles were almost the color of the dark <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>evergreens that encircled -the clearing in which it stood; its windows reflected with a vacant and -glassy stare the fast-fading light. Castleport opened the door for his -guest, and followed him into the living-room.</p> - -<p>The darkness seemed the greater from its contrast with what light yet -remained outside, and not until Taberman had put a match to the pile of -old shingles and light driftwood in the wide fireplace could they see -fairly. The crimson glow showed a room some twenty feet square, with -windows on two sides,—the south and east. The joists and sheathing were -of planed spruce, left unpainted. The big Mexican fireplace of brick -occupied the northwestern corner; in the middle of the room stood -conspicuously a round deal table, covered with a litter of pipes, -tobacco, magazines, and nautical hardware; between the two eastern -windows, below a box-like cabinet which was attached to the wall, was a -smaller table with a square top, piled with books and charts. Beneath -the southern windows was placed a heavy desk with a faded baize top, the -cloth ink-stained and full of holes due to moths and carelessly handled -cigars. Of the happy-go-lucky assortment of chairs which completed the -furniture of the room, no large portion was in an entirely unbroken -condition, but all evidently were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> meant for service and ease. The walls -of the room were decorated with devices in scallop-shells and a few -unframed water-colors of the impressionist type. A large chart of -Penobscot Bay was tacked to the inside of the door, and a venerable -flintlock musket hung below a battered quadrant over the chimneypiece. -Everything was simple almost to rudeness, yet the place gave at once and -most strongly the impression of comfort and good-fellowship.</p> - -<p>Castleport laid his binoculars on the desk, and, stepping to a door on -his right, opened it and called out:—</p> - -<p>"Oh, Gonzague?"</p> - -<p>"Sair?" promptly replied some one from beyond the short passage into -which he looked.</p> - -<p>"Dinner when you're ready, Gonzague."</p> - -<p>"A' right, sair."</p> - -<p>Taberman had seated himself by the fire, and here Castleport joined him. -Each filled and lighted a pipe, and together they stared at the flames -roaring up the wide chimney. The smaller sticks already began to fall -apart, pitching outward or dropping between the dogs, and for some -moments the young men watched them in silence. At length, as Taberman -flung a fresh stick into the flames, Castleport spoke, half to himself.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p><p>"What a lesson it'll be to the old chap! My aunt! He'll grind his teeth -to powder!"</p> - -<p>"Tooth-powder, eh?" queried the other with a grin. "But we must be sure -we have the laugh on the right side. It isn't merely the getting away -with the Merle that's the joke; it's the hanging on to her and bringing -her back safe."</p> - -<p>"That's true enough," assented Castleport; "but with pluck and luck and -an eye to the three L's, we ought to manage."</p> - -<p>"You'd better go over the whole plan for me, Jack; you haven't given me -half the details, and I'd like to know the latest version. It's -certainly important to have everything perfectly understood beforehand."</p> - -<p>"All right; I'll go over the whole business after dinner, old man. We -will act the conspirators rehearsing their villainy; but let's wait for -food. I hate discussions on an empty stomach."</p> - -<p>"Correct; here's Gonzague now."</p> - -<p>A tall, gray-haired man, with a much-bronzed face, came in and began to -clear away the litter on the round table. He had a rugged, -weather-beaten countenance, with prominent features and luminous black -eyes. Beneath his big, hooked nose a large white mustache, stiff and -curled like that of a walrus, half hid a firm, full-lipped mouth. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -native of Provence,—soldier, sailor, cook, and deck-hand,—old Gonzague -Mairecalde had led sixty-odd years of exciting and polyglot existence, -the last three of which had been spent in Castleport's service. Dressed -in blue flannel trousers and an immaculate white jacket, the old man -moved noiselessly about, swiftly disposing of the things on the table. -He seemed to have a place for everything, and the lightest tread and -deftest hands imaginable. Having cleared away, he went out, and soon -reappeared with linen and service. In a short time the table was ready -for the bringing in of the food.</p> - -<p>"A' ready, sair?" asked Gonzague, tugging at his mustache with his bony -fingers.</p> - -<p>"Two minutes," answered Jack. "Come on, Jerry; let's scrub up."</p> - -<p>In ten minutes they were seated before a dinner plain but hearty, well -cooked and appetizingly served. They were apparently not at all troubled -by any incongruity between their rough and not over-fresh sailor clothes -and the snowy napery and the silver on which the fire threw dancing and -wavering lights. On the walls opposite the fireplace mute, shadowy -grotesques helped each other to huge supplies from dishes of vague -outline and uncertain size, plied dark forks and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> spoons with ogre-like -gusto, or with heads thrown back and crooked elbows drank like trolls -from enormous tankards.</p> - -<p>After dinner the table was cleared, a jug of ale was placed upon it, -with a plate of ship-biscuit and a supply of tobacco. It was the theory -of Castleport that the climate of the Island was English enough to -warrant this nightly attack upon the October, of which his uncle, who -owned the Island, kept always a butt in the cellar. In truth, the fresh -coolness of the air at night, the pleasant blaze of the fire, the -agreeable scent of burning tobacco, made a tankard or two of ale seem -hardly to need an excuse of any sort.</p> - -<p>With the table pulled forward so that its edge came between them, their -pipes lit, their feet stretched out comfortably toward the hearth, the -pair of friends smoked for a time in silence, until at last Jack, after -refilling and relighting his pipe with great deliberation, broke into -speech.</p> - -<p>"Before I go into the details of this job," he observed, "there's one -thing I have to say. It's a waste of breath for me to talk until I know -you're with me. I haven't done anything more than to ask you off-hand, -old man; now I'd like you to say seriously whether you'll come on this -cruise with me or not. I hate to be so horribly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> businesslike, Jerry, -especially in the matter of a lark; but in—er—larking on this scale, -things have got to be put on a definite basis,—be perfectly understood, -as you said before dinner."</p> - -<p>Taberman gave his companion a sidelong glance, and began to smile. The -smile grew into an audible chuckle; and this in its turn developed into -a laugh increasing to a jovial roar.</p> - -<p>"You solemn old pirate," he cried, "what sort of a quitter do you take -me for? I'll give you any kind of a promise you like, provided—<i>semper -more equitis</i>, you know—Can't bind myself to cut throats, scuttle -ships, fly the jolly roger, et cetera. What's your form of oath, eh? Do -we drink each other's blood out of a skull, or what?"</p> - -<p>There was a boyish exuberance about Jerrold Taberman, a debonair -abandon, which he never could outgrow. It accorded well with his -youthful face and careless mien, which made him so marked a contrast to -his friend. Castleport, although impulsive and disposed to jollity as -only a hale and hearty young man of twenty-two can be, was, on the -whole, of a temperament the reverse of boisterous. He responded frankly -to Jerry's outburst.</p> - -<p>"Well, old man," said he, "there's nothing more needed than your word -that you'll go, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> stick it out to the end. I knew you would, Jerry. -Confound it, give us your flipper!"</p> - -<p>In his enthusiasm he caught Taberman's hand and wrung it heartily, being -evidently moved more by some inner consciousness of the weighty nature -of the scheme he was about to outline than by anything that had actually -been said between them. Jerry laughed, and returned the grip with -interest.</p> - -<p>"And now," continued Castleport, "I'll let you have particulars galore. -I'll tell you the beginning of it first: how the idea came to me. About -three weeks ago I decided I'd go abroad,—I wrote you, you remember. -Well, I went to Uncle Randolph, and asked him for a letter of credit. -That's what comes of the pleasant arrangement by which all my property's -in trust till I'm twenty-five! Beastly nuisance!"</p> - -<p>"Of course it is," assented his companion. "It's queer your father made -such a will. However," he added, as if with the feeling that he was -perhaps touching upon delicate ground, "that's neither here nor there. -Heave ahead."</p> - -<p>"You know why I wanted to go," Jack went on, "and so"—</p> - -<p>"Slow up a bit," interrupted the other, mischief shining in his eyes; -"why should you want to go particularly?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p><p>"Confound you!" retorted Castleport. "You know perfectly well! Do you -think it's any fun to be here when—when"—</p> - -<p>"When Miss Marchfield's on the other side," finished Jerry, with the air -of enjoying a huge joke.</p> - -<p>Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat, leaned forward to rap the ashes -out of his pipe on the firedog, and then looked at his friend seriously.</p> - -<p>"I won't be roughed, Jerry," he said. "You know perfectly well I'm dead -in earnest about her, and I'll thank you to let up."</p> - -<p>"All right, Jack; I beg your pardon; but I would like to ask one thing. -It's not exactly my business, of course, but really it's something I'd -like to know in connection with this scheme."</p> - -<p>"Fire away," Castleport said rather grimly.</p> - -<p>"Well, then, what I want to know is why the President's so set against -your marrying Katrine Marchfield?"</p> - -<p>"It isn't time to talk of marrying," Jack returned somewhat stiffly. -"She may have something to say to that."</p> - -<p>"Of course, old fellow; but you know what I mean. What's his objection -to your trying?"</p> - -<p>"I don't see how that affects the cruise, exactly, but I don't mind -telling you; only of course I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> shouldn't want it talked about. It's so -unreasonable, and honestly I should hate to seem to be giving Uncle -Randolph any sort of a black eye."</p> - -<p>"I shouldn't repeat it, Jack; but you needn't say anything if you'd -rather not."</p> - -<p>"It's only that it looks as if Uncle Randolph was infernally obstinate -and cranky, and he really isn't. He hadn't any reason to give me, that -amounted to anything. He talked about Katrine's not having any money; -but of course that's all poppy-cock. I've got a good bit myself when I -come into it, and he's always told me I should have all his. Of course -Katrine hasn't much, though she'll have something, I suppose, from her -aunt."</p> - -<p>"Aunt?"</p> - -<p>"Why, Mrs. Fairhew. Katrine's traveling with her now. She's the only -near relative Katrine has."</p> - -<p>"But if it isn't money"—</p> - -<p>"No, it isn't that. The truth is—I heard it from Mrs. Fairhew once; I -wasn't sure then, and I'm not now, whether she knew quite how much she -was telling me, and meant it for a warning, or not. I'm half inclined to -think she did."</p> - -<p>"But what was it?" inquired Jerry, as Jack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> paused to meditate, with his -eyes fixed earnestly on the fire.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Uncle Randolph had some sort of a row with Katrine's father when -they were young men. I fancy it was about a girl, for I know there was -one somewhere along about that time. I've heard father speak of it, and -say it altered Uncle Randolph's whole life. Anyway, there was some sort -of a scrap, and Uncle Randolph never forgave it."</p> - -<p>"Humph!" was Taberman's comment. "It's rather crotchety of him to vent -his spite on Miss Marchfield."</p> - -<p>"Of course it is," Castleport answered, "but he's not so bad as it -looks. He's been awfully good to me all my life."</p> - -<p>A brief pause followed, in which both were probably reflecting upon the -character of Randolph Drake, one of Boston's prominent men, president of -one of the largest banks, and trustee of a dozen important corporations; -a man whose chief aim in life was, apparently, making money, whose -amusement was yachting. It was in connection with this sport that he had -a few years before bought the island and put up the house in which his -motives were now being discussed. The place served as a shooting-box or -as a base of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>supplies, and was provided with a trig little harbor -exactly adapted for the accommodation of the President's yacht, the -Merle.</p> - -<p>"After all," Jack said at length, "Uncle Randolph really cares more for -me than he does for anything else in the world."</p> - -<p>"And so when he suspected that you were going abroad to try to marry the -daughter of his old enemy, he wouldn't supply the funds."</p> - -<p>"He can't seem to get it into his head that I am grown up, anyhow," -grumbled Jack. "I've made up my mind now that I'll convince him that I -am."</p> - -<p>"Why in the world didn't you borrow the money, Jack? That would have -been easy enough."</p> - -<p>"Well, when I came of age I made Uncle Randolph a sort of a promise that -I wouldn't borrow. He put it that it would be evading the intent of my -father's will; and of course it would. Anyway, Uncle Randolph himself -put a bigger idea into my head. It took me one day and two nights, -mostly without sleep, to think it out, and then I got hold of you."</p> - -<p>"How did he suggest it?"</p> - -<p>"He was really sorry for me; I could see that. Only he had the air of -feeling I was so young that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> any other cake would do as well as the one -I wanted. The very day that he refused to let me go abroad, he suggested -that I come down here with Gonzague and some friend or other. He thought -that if I fooled round the bay until he came to pick me up on the Merle, -I should get over my wish to go abroad. He said I was run down, needed -change, and so on. He's coming June 5, and plans to go on down to the -Provinces. Then he said that after he had had his cruise on the Merle I -might perhaps like to have her a week or two myself. It was a mighty -great concession, let me tell you. When I think of taking the boat, I'm -half ashamed of myself, the old gentleman's so rum fond of her."</p> - -<p>"And that put the notion into your head?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, only not at the moment. I said to myself that if I was going to -cruise in the Merle I'd like to go across in her; but it wasn't till -that night, just as I was turning in, that the idea of getting her now -and running off came to me. It fairly bowled me over!"</p> - -<p>"I should think it might!" laughed Taberman.</p> - -<p>"At first it seemed the easiest thing in the world. Then I began to -think of objections, and as fast as I got one out of the way another -popped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> up. I've worked at it like a prize puzzle. I've got my crew -picked out, I've planned how to get possession of the yacht and to get -rid of her old crew; and then—Hurrah for the Mediterranean!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Jacko, you devil!" cried Taberman. "I wouldn't have believed you -had it in you! Do you really think we can do it?"</p> - -<p>"Do it! Of course we'll do it. Didn't I tell you I'd got my crew -already? Ten strappers, not counting Gonzague."</p> - -<p>"Did Gonzague kick?"</p> - -<p>"Gonzague? Did you ever consider, Tab, those eyes of his, with that nose -and mouth?"</p> - -<p>"No," Jerry responded, "I've never given his features any especial -critical overhauling."</p> - -<p>"<i>Saracen!</i>" Jack said, lowering his voice. "When you see that -combination in a Spaniard or a Provençalese, it spells Moorish marauder -every time. He doesn't know it, I fancy; but there's good old ripe -Moorish pirate blood in him, and it came sizzling to the top the moment -I broached the scheme. Besides, Gonzague would have his throat cut for -me any time."</p> - -<p>"That's so, but he's as honest an old soul as there is above ground."</p> - -<p>"Of course I told him, and I told the crew,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> that it was a lark. You -know I've knocked about Penobscot Bay ever since I got out of the -nursery. Everybody knows me, and at Isle au Haut I've been so much that -I'm almost like one of their own pals to the natives. I got hold of my -men pretty easily. Of course they look on me as the same as the -President's son; and they were willing enough to leave the fishing for -better wages than they could earn anywhere else. They all like me, and -so of course they all take advantage of me in the way of wages."</p> - -<p>"I confess I don't see where your economy comes in, Jacky," observed -Taberman, giving a poke to the wasting fire. "I don't know much about -expenses, but I should think it would cost as much to hire a crew as to -go without one."</p> - -<p>Castleport grew grave and moved a little impatiently.</p> - -<p>"There's a question for a casuist," he said. "I'm taking these men off -on the trust that Uncle Randolph will let me pay them when I get home. -It's a deuced sight more like borrowing than I wish it were, though of -course my allowance comes in; but I'm bound that he shall get it into -his head that I'm no longer in leading-strings, and"—</p> - -<p>Taberman looked at him affectionately and comprehendingly.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p><p>"That'll be all right, old man," he said consolingly. "We'll get out of -that somehow. I'd like to see the President's face when he finds he's -left high and dry down here and the Merle has flitted across the -Atlantic without him."</p> - -<p>"Oh, he won't be here. We'll capture the yacht at North Haven. I'll show -you the whole scheme to-morrow on the chart. I've brought down more than -a thousand for this coast and the Mediterranean! Now let's get to bed. -It's only a week or so that we have left to sleep with a clear -conscience."</p> - -<p>Taberman rose from his seat, then without warning suddenly slapped his -knees with his hands and burst into a roar of laughter.</p> - -<p>"Oh, by George," he cried, "what a jolt it'll be for Uncle Randolph!"</p> - -<p>"That's the cream of the whole thing," responded Jack, joining in the -laugh. "He'll be so surprised to find out that I'm grown up."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i027.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Two</span> <span class="smaller">THE FOG COMES IN</span></h2> - -<p>The Casino at North Haven is a curious little box, known -locally—possibly from its situation at the end of a fairly long -wharf—as the "Fo'c'sle." It has but one room, paneled with imitation -Japanese carvings, and having an attractive divan-like seat in a wide -bay-window, where one may lounge and watch the vessels passing through -the Thoroughfare. Outwardly the building is very plain, its two -prominent features being the bay-window, which looks south, and a flight -of outside stairs on the west which lead to a little nest of a balcony -half hidden under the gable-end of the roof above this window.</p> - -<p>The balcony is so covered by the peak of the roof that its interior is -not visible from the wharf, and a person sitting on the settle at the -back of it can be seen only from a boat some distance out on the water.</p> - -<p>The Casino is little used, and although the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>caretaker unlocks the door -each morning, the place is more generally deserted than not. The -subscribers who come down to the wharf to start for rowing or sailing -sometimes step in, wait for friends, or use the place as a storage for -extra wraps; sometimes a riotous group of children holds brief but noisy -possession; but after sunset the solitude is generally unbroken until -ten o'clock, when the caretaker comes to lock up for the night. If the -weather be bad, it is not unusual for the Casino to remain unvisited for -the entire day. It affords a convenient shelter when it is needed, -however, and its wharf, with a float on either side, makes a good -landing-place; and it is, in a word, one of the numerous class of things -which in this world are not constantly in demand, but which, when they -are wanted at all, are wanted badly.</p> - -<p>Here, on the evening of the fourth of June, Jerrold Taberman, wrapped in -a shapeless ulster,—for a thick fog was driving in from the -southeast,—sat awaiting his friend. Half an hour earlier Jack had gone -to get something to eat, and Jerry had agreed to meet him here. Taberman -was somewhat tired to-night, and beginning to feel the strain of three -crowded and exciting days in which he had had little time for anything -but action and sleep. The young men had completed their arrangements<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> at -the Island, had left Gonzague in charge there, had notified the future -crew to report to the Provençalese on the evening of the third, and to -hold themselves in readiness to sail immediately on the arrival of the -Merle. The pair had then taken the big market-boat, a whitehall used for -bringing supplies from Isle au Haut, and with a couple of the most able -of the Isle au Haut men, selected beforehand, had sailed over to an -unfrequented cove in Vinal Haven, on the south side of the Thoroughfare. -There they encamped in hiding. They had reached their place of -concealment by night, and next afternoon had the satisfaction of seeing -the Merle come in from the westward and drop anchor just inside the -channel, off the "Fo'c'sle."</p> - -<p>"By Jove, isn't she a fine sight!" Castleport exclaimed -enthusiastically; and Jerry assented no less warmly.</p> - -<p>The Merle ran in under full sail, with a quartering breeze. Her clean -white hull, eighty-four feet on the water-line, her shining brasses, her -broad spread of snowy canvas, the easy run of her long counter, combined -to make a picture which, even personal interest aside, could not fail to -stir such enthusiasts as Jack and Tab.</p> - -<p>On the evening of the arrival of the Merle two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> gentlemen and three -ladies had gone on board, evidently to dine, as they did not leave until -nearly ten o'clock. Castleport and Taberman, lying concealed among the -bushes overgrowing a tiny promontory on Vinal Haven, had watched all -this through their night-glasses. Jack, whose eyes were as keen as a -hawk's, had even thought that he could distinguish who the visitors -were. With guests on board there was evidently nothing that the -conspirators could do but to watch, and when this was over they smoked a -good-night pipe together over their campfire, and for the hundredth time -fell to considering their chances of success. Behind them in the shadow -lay the two sailors, wrapped in their blankets and sleeping the sleep -which only the genuine mariner knows; Jack glanced at them as if he felt -that somehow he was personally responsible for carrying through the -enterprise for which they had been enlisted.</p> - -<p>"What the deuce shall we do if the President takes it into his head to -get under weigh for the island to-morrow?" Jerry demanded in a subdued -voice.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's all right," Jack answered in the same key. "He won't. He's -fond of North Haven; it's an old stamping-ground of his, and he'll never -go on without having had at least<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> one night's bridge here. That's part -of the cruise. Besides, it's going to be thick, or I'm a duffer."</p> - -<p>Thick it certainly was next day. The brisk southeasterly breeze that -blew through the Thoroughfare all day seemed to roll in white billows of -fog far more rapidly than it could take them out at the other end. The -strait acted as a sort of condenser, in which the mist became almost -tangibly more solid, until at nightfall it was, as one of Castleport's -men put it, "blacker 'n a tar-bucket." Under cover of the obscurity Jack -had had the market-boat reloaded with such necessities as they had -brought over for their camp, and rowed silently over to one of the -Casino floats. Here he and Taberman got out, and then the men, by his -orders, worked the boat into concealment between the spiles of the -wharf, there to await further orders, utterly invisible in the fog.</p> - -<p>The two arch-conspirators mounted the wharf, and for some time kept -watch to see if any one came ashore from the Merle; but as the time wore -on to half-past seven they concluded that the President must be dining -on board. Assured of this, Jack left Jerry to keep watch, and went up to -the village bakery for food, dinner for himself and his friend having -been forgotten in the midst<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> of more important things. Tab, left alone -in the wet darkness, had mounted to the balcony, and there sat in gloomy -state, wondering if Jack were never coming back. He had no light by -which to see his watch, but since he had heard seven bells from the -Merle he felt sure that eight o'clock must be close at hand, when his -attention was caught by the sound through the fog of the quick -<i>thud-thud</i>, <i>thud-thud</i> of oars against thole-pins. In an instant he -was thoroughly alert, his senses primitively acute, and his growing -sensation of vague depression utterly dispelled. He heard some one pull -hastily to the "Fo'c'sle;" the muffled chugging of the oar-blades as the -rower held water; the gentle slapping of the boat's wash against the -float; and then the clatter of the oars on the thwarts. Then by the dim -light of the lantern at the end of the pier he saw a man spring on to -the east float and secure his boat; give a quick, nervous tug at the -painter to be sure that it was fast, and disappear from the field of -vision which was bounded by the edge of the sloping roof. He fancied he -heard a murmur as if the newcomer spoke a word of encouragement to the -sailors in damp concealment under the wharf, and then had hardly time to -wonder where Jack had been in a boat, before Castleport had run lightly -up the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> plank from the float to the pier, and thence up the steps to -Tab's place of concealment.</p> - -<p>"Sit tight!" whispered Castleport breathlessly.</p> - -<p>"What's—" began Jerry.</p> - -<p>"Sh! We've the chance of a lifetime! I—I"—He gasped for breath, but -caught it with a great gulp, and hurried on. "I've been aboard, Tab! -Come in, man! Get back, get back!" He forced his friend into a seat in -the farthest corner of the little balcony, caught his breath again, and -began to chuckle. The sound of oars was again audible,—this time the -steady, measured stroke of a heavy boat well pulled.</p> - -<p>"Here's Uncle Randolph," cried Jack with a sort of whispered shout. -"Here's Uncle Randolph!" And seizing his friend by the shoulders, he -shook him and banged his head noiselessly against the wall for sheer -glee.</p> - -<p>"Stop, Jacko, stop it! Hold up, or by Jumbo I'll yell! Look there! Here -they are."</p> - -<p>As the pair hurried cautiously to look out over the edge of the balcony, -a large cutter, pulled by six men, came out of the fog into the dim -illumination of the pier-light. Three gentlemen in light overcoats were -visible in the stern-sheets, the one in the middle steering. A little -removed from the President and the two men who were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> evidently his -guests, sat one of the officers of the Merle.</p> - -<p>"Way enough," called the steersman in a sharp voice.</p> - -<p>"Oh, my aunt!" whispered Tab, giving Jack a nudge. "The President has -very little idea that he's made all the way in the Merle he's likely to -for one while."</p> - -<p>The cutter ran smoothly along beside the float.</p> - -<p>"In bows! Fend off, there!"</p> - -<p>At the word the oars were unshipped, and a couple of sailors caught the -rope which edged the staging. The cutter came to a stop. A seaman leaped -out and held the boat, the officer sprang to the float and presented an -arm for the President and his guests as they stepped to land.</p> - -<p>"We'll be down at eleven," the President said to the officer. "If you -want an hour or two ashore, there's some sort of a shindy going on -opposite the post office, I believe—dance or something. Mind you're -sharp on time for me, though."</p> - -<p>"All right, sir. Eleven o'clock it is, sir," returned the officer, -touching his cap deferentially as the three gentlemen turned away.</p> - -<p>"Great Scott!" cried Jack into Tab's ear in an excited whisper. "Do you -suppose the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>President's going to get rid of all those men for me -himself? Was ever such luck!"</p> - -<p>The boat still lay at the landing. The men began to discuss going -ashore, and every word was easily audible to the two watchers in the -balcony.</p> - -<p>"I vote we go," quoth he with the boat-hook. "It ain't every day the old -hunks gives us a chance to stretch a leg ashore."</p> - -<p>"It'll be dry, Tom," spoke up one in the boat. "Ye won't get so much as -a swig o' cider-water this side o' Bar Harbor."</p> - -<p>"Well, boys, let's try it, anyhow," advised the officer. "If it's dry -there, it's wet enough here."</p> - -<p>"That's right," responded another. "Damn yer slops, Bill, ye dude; the' -'re's good as mine, an' any togs is good enough for po'r Jack. Let's go -ashore an' take a look at these Thoryfare bewties."</p> - -<p>This seemed to settle it. The boat was made fast, and the men straggled -up the pier, talking and laughing as they went.</p> - -<p>Tab and Jack fairly hugged each other in delight at this development, -and then Jerry opened fire.</p> - -<p>"You said you'd been aboard," he began, "what"—</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p><p>"When I left the bakery," Jack answered, without waiting for the -question to be finished, "I said to myself that the fog was so thick it -would be perfectly safe to take a boat and row out, on the chances that -I might find out something. I meant to get astern of the Merle and give -the wind a chance to bring me some of the talk aboard. I borrowed a -little pea-pod from the pier behind Staples', and out I went. When I got -to the yacht, I found I could lay alongside, for there wasn't a soul on -deck. I hauled off my jacket and hung it over the boat's side for a -fender, so she wouldn't make any noise, and took the painter in my fist. -Then I stood on the thwart and jumped for the rail on the port side."</p> - -<p>"You'd have made the devil of a mess if you'd missed it," commented -Jerry.</p> - -<p>"But I didn't. I got hold, but, Gad, I came near going overboard!"</p> - -<p>He stopped to laugh, this time fearlessly aloud, while Jerry chuckled.</p> - -<p>"I lay flat along the bulwark," Jack went on, "by the main rigging. The -skylight-covers were on, of course, but the frames were half up, and I -could get scraps of the talk in the cabin. The men Uncle Randolph's got -along with him are old Melford and Tom Bardale. I thought I'd die to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> -hear them go on. Old Melford was grumbling away,—he's always an awful -croaker, you know. He piped up once, and said it was just his luck to -have to suffer both fog and bridge when he came for solid cruising. -Uncle Randolph and Bardale both poo-poohed him, and asked him if he'd -rather play slap-Jack. The old boys are going to play bridge -somewhere,—I didn't find out where, but it doesn't matter; they're -settled, anyway. I didn't hear anything else, for I'd hardly time to -drop into the pea-pod and get out of the way of the men from the -fo'c'sle that came out to haul in the cutter on the boat-boom. I rushed -ashore as tight as I could pelt, and you saw the rest. This dance -business, too! Luck's with us!"</p> - -<p>He stopped, all but breathless. With one accord the pair started for the -stairs, and took their way to the pier, where the lantern made a dim and -watery illumination in the midst of the fog. Castleport seized Jerry by -the arm and led him to the edge of the pier.</p> - -<p>"With this wind," he said with great earnestness, "we'd best run out to -the westward, and beat along the south of Vinal Haven. We'll have more -sea-room, and with the weather as thick as this, I don't deny that even -that's risky enough."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p><p>"It is a nasty night," Taberman assented with emphasis. "Are you for -going outside Wooden Ball Island?"</p> - -<p>"Tell that when we've got by Dogfish and the rest of 'em," replied Jack -briefly. "I mean to leave that to Dave, anyhow."</p> - -<p>"You're dead sure you want to do it, old man?" queried Tab with the air -of one who would not have asked the question had he not been confident -that the answer would be in the affirmative.</p> - -<p>"I'd do it ten times over just for the lark!" snorted Jack. "Now -then—business!"</p> - -<p>They descended the ladder to the eastern float, and Castleport called -out guardedly to the men who had all this time been lying concealed in -the market-boat under the wharf. A slight bumping, a muttered oath, the -rattle of an oar on the thwart, and then the nose of the boat emerged -from beneath the pier. A vigorous thrust with the boat-hook against one -of the outer stringers shot her up alongside the float.</p> - -<p>"All right?" inquired Jack.</p> - -<p>A stoutly built man of short stature standing in the bow of the boat -answered.</p> - -<p>"Right enough, sir; but a mite holler."</p> - -<p>"Well, Dave, we'll fix that in a spell," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> Jack. "We've got a bit to -do first, though. Let's have your watch, Tab."</p> - -<p>He pulled out his own as he spoke, and took Jerry's with it in one hand. -Then with the other hand he struck a match, which he craftily sheltered -from the wind.</p> - -<p>"You're a minute fast of me, Jerry," he commented, throwing away the -match and returning the watch. "I say eight seventeen, and you say eight -eighteen. You and Jim take the market-boat and go over to the other -float. Take the Merle's cutter and tow her out to one of the moorings -off the club here. At eight forty-eight sharp,—just half an hour,—you -hail the Merle. Sing out like the deuce, and tell 'em to send a boat -ashore. I'll see that they send one, and that when they've left there'll -be nobody aboard but me. In about fifteen minutes from now a boat'll -come ashore, but you needn't mind her. Dave'll look out for that -business. Just you pick out some mooring a bit to windward of the direct -line between the yacht and the Casino, so they shan't spot you. When you -hear a boat coming in answer to your hail, you come out yourselves, and -tow the cutter. That you're to make fast astern the Merle. Got it all -clear?"</p> - -<p>"I guess so," Jerry answered. "I don't notice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> a boat till eight -forty-eight; then I hail, and when I hear a boat coming in answer I cut -out to the Merle. Give me some matches to see the time with. Well, good -luck, old man; be sharp, or you'll dish the whole game."</p> - -<p>With this parting caution Taberman stepped into the market-boat, while -Dave got out. Oars were not needed, but Jerry and the sailor easily -pulled the market-boat around by the spiles to the other float, where -they lay concealed in the rolling fog.</p> - -<p>"Now then, Dave," Jack said as they disappeared, "you and I are the ones -that are going to open this ball. You take me out, set me aboard just as -if you did that sort of thing regularly,—do you see? As if I'd paid you -a quarter for setting me aboard, you know. Then you row back. Here's a -boat that'll do," he broke off, pointing to a small whitehall boat made -fast to the staging. "Get in, and pull me out."</p> - -<p>The pair stepped into the little craft, and when Dave began rowing Jack -continued his instructions.</p> - -<p>"When you get back to the float," he said, "you just make this boat -fast, and hide under the shadow of those stairs on the outside of the -Casino—you know?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p><p>"Wait for a boat from the yacht with three or four men in it.—Pull on -your port oar a bit; that's good.—When they get ashore and go up the -wharf, you take their tender and rush her out to a mooring same as Mr. -Taberman's done. Do you see?"</p> - -<p>"Guess so, sir," was Dave's response. "Do you want me to catch the same -one?"</p> - -<p>"Any one'll do, provided it won't be seen by a boat pulling ashore from -the Merle. You won't have to go far to hide in this fog.—Little -stronger on your port oar again; tide's cutting you down.—When you hear -Mr. Taberman hailing, you stand by, and as soon as a boat goes by in -answer, you pull out to the yacht and make fast astern. Give her plenty -of painter; all she's got. Do you see now?"</p> - -<p>"I guess I do, sir. You're going to have a boat on every davit that way, -ain't you, sir?"</p> - -<p>"If it works," Jack answered in a low voice, for they were now under the -yacht's port quarter.</p> - -<p>Dave pulled around in silence to the steps on the starboard side.</p> - -<p>"Here we are, sir," he said in an even tone as he caught at the ladder -grating.</p> - -<p>The Merle, dimly visible by the foggy glow of her riding-light, was -pitching slightly in the chop,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> and the small dinghy bobbed up and down -beside her like a cork beside a floating spar. The waves slapped against -the yacht's sheer, wetting her top-sides with spray and poppling away -merrily under her counter. In the thick dimness her masts loomed up -almost supernaturally tall.</p> - -<p>"Hello aboard the Merle," shouted Castleport.</p> - -<p>"Hello?" answered a voice from forward, and in a moment a tall, burly -figure appeared on deck by the ladder.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" asked the tall man. "What d' you want?"</p> - -<p>"Hello, Camper," cried Jack, recognizing the voice as that of his -uncle's sailing-master. "Hello, Camper, don't you know me?"</p> - -<p>He sprang up the steps and gained the deck.</p> - -<p>"Why, Mr. Castleport," the skipper cried in a hearty tone, "whatever are -you doin' here? Thought you was over to the Island. How are you, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Cold," Jack answered with a laugh. "How's yourself? Fit as usual, I -suppose. President aboard?"</p> - -<p>"No, sir. He's gone ashore to some sort of a gatherin'. I never thought -to see you here, sir."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I came over to join the yacht here. I got tired of waiting. I -shan't want you any longer,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> he called down to the figure in the dinghy -below. "Much obliged."</p> - -<p>The dinghy and Dave melted into the blackness of the night.</p> - -<p>"Come below, Mr. Castleport, sir. You'll have a bracer?" the genial -sailing-master asked. "Nasty night, ain't it?"</p> - -<p>"It is that," Jack agreed, "but I'm in hopes there'll be a change soon."</p> - -<p>And smiling at the thought how truly the words expressed his secret -intent, he followed the worthy Camper below.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i044.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Three</span> <span class="smaller">IT BLOWS SOUTHEAST</span></h2> - -<p>The saloon of the Merle was a spacious cabin, paneled in Cuban cedar. -Along both sides ran transoms cushioned in dark green corduroy, which -contrasted pleasantly with the red of the woodwork. On either side of -the companion-way were big closets, the doors of which, framing large -mirrors, opened forward against the after ends of the transoms. Both to -port and to starboard the cabin was lined with lockers for flags, -charts, and bottles, except where the recessed bookcases came in the -middle. Large nickeled Argand lamps to port and starboard on the for'ard -bulkhead illuminated the interior. Sheathed in cedar, the butt of the -schooner's mainmast stood in the fore part of the saloon; and aft from -it ran a mahogany table around which were placed some -comfortable-looking chairs. All in all, the impression of power and -grace which one received from regarding the outside of the Merle was -equaled by the feeling of comfort, and, indeed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> almost of luxury, one -had upon viewing her below decks.</p> - -<p>It was in this pleasant retreat that Jack had settled himself in less -than a minute after his arrival on the yacht. The good skipper, who had -kept an almost fatherly eye on the youth ever since he was old enough to -"fist a rope," sat uneasily on the edge of the divan on the port side. -Jack, sprawled out on the opposite transom, lit a cigarette, and looked -up at the skylight.</p> - -<p>"My aunt! But I'm glad to be aboard again," he declared. "How is -everything? What sort of a run down did you have?"</p> - -<p>"Pretty fair, sir," returned the master. "We went to Marblehead, and -then to Portsmouth. Mr. Drake, he spent the time in seeing his friends. -Then we run to Portland, and then to Boothbay. We run in here yesterday. -Nothin' much to tell of on the cruise."</p> - -<p>"You've made schedule time," Jack commented. "You are here just when you -were due."</p> - -<p>"Yes, we got here," Camper assented, "though 't one time, when I see the -stores that had to come aboard, I doubted if we should get started for a -week."</p> - -<p>"More stores than usual?" queried Jack, with a little spark of interest -in his eye.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p><p>"Well, Mr. Drake, he 'lowed that last year when we got becalmed down -the coast some of the provisions fell short, and he vowed he'd never get -caught in that shape again; so this time he's stocked up fit to do the -Nor'west Passage. He's got every kind of a thing to eat that man ever -put into tins, you may bet your life."</p> - -<p>"Trust him to have an eye to the galley," laughed Jack, reflecting how -satisfactory a complement to the plain provisions waiting at the Island -would be this extensive assortment of choice eatables. "Well, I'm for -sleeping aboard. Can you give me a lift with my luggage?"</p> - -<p>Everything he had said since he came on board had been preliminary to -this. His one chance of getting the sailing-master to a safe distance -lay in inducing Camper to go ashore on an errand. To this question the -skipper replied, Yankee fashion, with another.</p> - -<p>"Where is it, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Go to Mullin's and tell 'em you're from me;—you'd better do it -yourself, Camper;—and get them to give you a steamer-trunk and two -bags. Do you know the place? It's the only boarding-house there is in -the village. Anybody can tell you."</p> - -<p>"I know it, sir. 'Bout a cable's length up the road."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p><p>"Yes; that's it. I don't think you'll find the trunk heavy," Jack went -on, with a secret inclination to speak very fast and a consciousness -that he must appear cool and deliberate. "Of course you'll take a couple -of men to tote it, but I don't like to send an ordinary seaman up -there."</p> - -<p>He wondered what he should reply if asked why not; but Camper, who had -long been trained under President Drake to habits of unquestioning -obedience, replied with perfect simplicity:—</p> - -<p>"All right, sir, I'll have it aboard in half an hour. Your old -stateroom's all ready, I believe. You just ring for the steward if you -want anything, sir."</p> - -<p>"Thanks," responded Jack, taking a book from its place as he spoke, as -if with the intention of settling himself to read.</p> - -<p>Camper withdrew, and Jack listened eagerly till he heard footsteps on -the deck, the rattle of the davit-tackle, the splash of the boat -alongside, and then the rhythm of receding oars. The moment he was sure -of not being seen by the skipper he closed his book with a bang, flung -it on the table, looked at his watch, and went hurriedly on deck. In the -lee of the mainmast he paused to light a fresh cigarette, and then began -untying the cover of the mainsail, loosening the points and pulling -them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> through the grommets. As he worked his way aft, he suddenly -thought he heard the sound of oars. He stopped to make sure: there could -be no doubt of it; some one was pulling toward the Merle. In a flash -Jack saw his scheme ruined in any one of a thousand ways. He set his -teeth and ran over rapidly in his head the possibilities, but without -reaching any satisfactory conclusion. Then he walked aft, and putting -his hands on the rail, bent over the yacht's port quarter and peered -into the fog. With a feeling of relief he realized from the sound and -time of the strokes that the approaching boat was a small one, and was -pulled by one pair of oars only. He had hardly decided this when he -discerned the cause of his alarm, and almost laughed to see nothing more -formidable than a small pea-pod, pulled by a boy. The rower came -alongside and rested on his oars, while Jack watched him curiously.</p> - -<p>"Is that Mr. Drake's vessel?" inquired the boy.</p> - -<p>"Yes," Jack returned. "What's wanted?"</p> - -<p>"The postmaster said 'f I'd bring ye these letters ye'd give me a -quarter," replied the youthful oarsman.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Drake isn't aboard now," said Jack.</p> - -<p>"Well, ye c'n give me my quarter jes' the same," the boy rejoined. "I'll -let ye hev the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>letters, 'n' he'll make it right with ye later. He lef' -word this evenin' for his mail to be brung him every time it come, an' -'t was that foggy the Sylvy got in late from Rocklan', 'n' I couldn't -get roun' to bring it out before. 'Twan't sorted till after Mr. Staples -hed his supper."</p> - -<p>"All right," Jack said hastily. "Come alongside."</p> - -<p>He feared to create suspicion, and felt that the only thing to do at the -moment was to get rid of the boy. He gave the youth a quarter, and took -the letters in exchange, mentally saying to himself that he hoped they -were not of importance. The boy went pulling away as if in most unusual -elation, and Castleport, thrusting the letters into the breast pocket of -his coat, returned to his work. He had not quite finished untying the -points when he heard Jerry's hail from the mooring.</p> - -<p>"Merle, ahoy! Ho-ro aboard the Merle!" came booming through the fog in -Taberman's most stentorian tones.</p> - -<p>Jack placed himself in the companion-way as if just emerging from the -cabin, and waited for another hail.</p> - -<p>"Merle ahoy! Aho-o-o-y aboard the Merle!" again rang through the thick -night above the sound of the wind, the water, and the cordage.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>"Hallo-o-o!" bawled back Castleport.</p> - -<p>"Send ... boat ... ashore!" came the voice.</p> - -<p>Jerry was apparently able to outroar all the bulls of Bashan, and was -doing his worst.</p> - -<p>"Aye—oh!" Jack yelled in reply, and walked quickly forward.</p> - -<p>The steward had heard the rumpus, and was standing in the forecastle -companion. Capless, and wearing his white jacket, he gaped about like a -quizzical seal.</p> - -<p>"Some one hailing from the shore," said Jack shortly; "want a boat. -Don't know what you'll take unless you go in the longboat. Tell the -men."</p> - -<p>"Beg pardon, sir; there's only me and the cook and two hands aboard. -It'll take us all to pull the longboat."</p> - -<p>The steward had a slow, exasperating whine which always irritated Jack.</p> - -<p>"Then you'll have to take an oar," Jack responded roughly. "There's some -one ashore waiting, and I said I'd send a boat. Get a move on. I'll -watch ship."</p> - -<p>The steward went below grumbling, but soon reappeared with the cook and -the two hands. With some delay they got off in the longboat, pulling -wretchedly toward the shore and nagging at each other. As he stepped to -the foot of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> mainmast to take the halyards off the pins, Jack -fervently thanked his stars for the heaviness of the boat and the -evident fact that both cook and steward were hopeless duffers with an -oar. He cleared the halyards with nervous fingers, stripped off the -cover of the mainsail, and undid the canvas stops with which it was -furled. Then he turned to the headsails, and had all clear before his -ear again caught the sound of oars. He ran aft, and called out -guardedly. Dave's voice answered him, and then he heard Taberman urging -his companion to quicken his stroke. In the mist Castleport could dimly -distinguish the heavy boats slowly nearing the yacht. It was all the men -could do to get them alongside and make them fast astern. Once this was -accomplished, all hands turned eagerly to the still harder labor of -getting the Merle under weigh.</p> - -<p>"Jim," ordered Castleport, "skip along for'ard and take down that -riding-light. Set it on deck so it won't show out-board. Dave, you get -up the boat-boom. Haul it right up, 'thout minding the guys! Lively, -now!"</p> - -<p>As Dave and Jim hurried forward to execute these orders, Jack himself -stepped aft, took off the binnacle-cover, and got the lamps lit and in -their places.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p><p>"All hands for'ard on the anchor!" he sang out, rapping his shins on -the cockpit combings as he scrambled out and ran along the deck. "We'll -make sail when we get out the mudhook. 'F we try to get her mains'l up, -they'll hear us all over the place. We'll drop down under heads'ls. -Catch ahold there!"</p> - -<p>The Merle was riding at her port bower in some six fathoms of water. She -had out a good bit of scope, however, and between the eight hands which -gripped the quarter-inch chain and the anchor to which it was bent were -some ten fathoms to be "handed over." In the light of the big Fresnel -anchor-lantern upon the deck, the men, silent, rigid, braced back, -strained steadily. For a full half-minute there was no gain whatever, -but then one link of the chain came to the brazen lip of the hawse-hole -with a sharp rap. The men grunted and hissed, bringing every muscle into -play. Taberman was foremost on the chain. He faced the hawse-hole -squarely, his legs wide apart, and his head thrown back. His face, even -as seen by the white light of the Fresnel, was a dark brick-red, and out -of the left corner of his mouth his tongue protruded. Dave was behind -him, his left knee bent, and his right leg straight from toe to hip. He -hung on savagely, his face unnaturally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> blank; his hair, damp with fog -and sweat, clung to his brown forehead and temples. The third man was -Jim, lying back in a strange posture, as though the small of his back -were invisibly supported. His cheeks were white; his breathing was -inaudible.</p> - -<p>With a little salvo of metallic snaps a scant dozen links more came in. -Jack was last on the chain, and was separated from the man next him by a -space greater than that between any other pair, so that he could when -necessary take a turn of the slack about one of the brass-capped -bollards at his side. His body was tense and rigid, his face and -forehead full of odd puckers and lines. He was white at the lips, and -the corners of his mouth were drawn down. His nose moved nervously with -almost the suggestion of a rabbit's. One more link came in.</p> - -<p>"Better take it on the winch," gasped Jerry.</p> - -<p>"Damn it,—pull!" cried Jack.</p> - -<p>Jim grunted and Dave drew a breath through his closed teeth with a sharp -whistling sound. Suddenly the chain rattled in so quickly that they -could almost over-hand it. The Merle was moving at last.</p> - -<p>"Smartly!" Jack cried. "Smartly, and we'll make her trip it out -herself."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p><p>The four hauled lustily.</p> - -<p>"Nigh up and down," called Jerry.</p> - -<p>Jack threw a couple of bights of the chain over the bollard, and held -it. The big yacht forged ahead slowly into the eye of the wind, carried -along by the impetus given her by the handing of the chain. The bits -creaked a little, the chain grew very taut and vibrant. The Merle -checked up and began to drift back.</p> - -<p>"Now then!" cried Jack. "Lay along!"</p> - -<p>Each one of them grasped the chain with a fierce vigor, as a man might -seize the throat of his enemy, while Jerry burst into an explosive -whaling chantey, and the men fell into time with its rhythm.</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"Haul the bowline, the bowline, the bowline;</div> -<div>Haul the bowline, the bowline,—<i>Haul!</i>"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"Here she comes!" he shouted in the midst of a stave, as, all at once, -the anchor was broken out.</p> - -<p>Jack dropped his end of the chain and ran aft to mind the wheel, leaving -the men to take in the rest of the slack. The headsails were up in -stops, but before breaking them out it was necessary to lay the yacht -round on the port tack. As she was under sternway, Jack whirled the -spokes over to port, and so—for her steering-gear was -"balanced"—brought her head around to the southward.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> When he felt the -wind on his left cheek, he put his hand to his mouth and shouted.</p> - -<p>"Break out fore-staysail!" he bellowed. "Trim it a-weather!—Hang on to -the weather-sheet till she falls well off!"</p> - -<p>With a great slatting and booming of canvas the schooner payed off -rapidly.</p> - -<p>"Catch on to that port sheet there!" shouted Jack. "Port, I say, port! -Make fast! Not too flat! Give her all she'll use!"</p> - -<p>The Merle was now moving slowly before the wind.</p> - -<p>"Break out the jibs," ordered Jack, "both jibs! That's good. Make fast!"</p> - -<p>The wind had so freshened that the yacht began to move in earnest. At -this juncture voices, faint but frantic, were heard hailing from astern.</p> - -<p>"Merle ahoy! Ahoy-oy-oy! Show—light! A-hoy-oy-oy—'board the Merle!"</p> - -<p>"Hear the steward?" called Jack to Jerry, who was at work with the -head-sheet cleats.</p> - -<p>"Hear him!" laughed Jerry. "His music's a merry send-off."</p> - -<p>"Ahoy-oy-oy!" came the voice again, fainter and full of a dismayed -distress that made them both break out afresh into derisive laughter. -"Ahoy! Anchor! An-chor—Anch"—</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p><p>The despairing wail died away on the freshening wind.</p> - -<p>"Hope they won't poke round in the fog all night looking for the Merle," -Jack said gayly. "I never did like that steward, though."</p> - -<p>A moment or two later, as the yacht was nearing the entrance of the -Thoroughfare, Jack called for Dave. The man came aft.</p> - -<p>"See here, Dave," Castleport asked, suddenly grown grave; "we've got -more weather than we counted on. Can you pilot this yacht round Vinal -Haven in this fog?"</p> - -<p>"Reck'n I kin, sir," Dave replied with pleasing assurance. "Man and boy -I've worked round these shores twelve years."</p> - -<p>"Very well, then,—come down here and take her. Her gear's balanced: put -the wheel over same way you want to swing her head. She's quick as a -flash. If you want the chart"—</p> - -<p>But Dave shook his head with a grin.</p> - -<p>"Well, anyhow," said Jack, turning to leave him, "there's your compass."</p> - -<p>"That don't bother me none," replied the intrepid Dave, with a glance at -once scornful and defiant at the smart binnacle. "I go mos' gin'rally by -the smell," he added by way of explanation.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p><p>"All right," laughed Jack. "Handle her carefully."</p> - -<p>"One thing, sir,—how much does she draw?"</p> - -<p>"Twelve feet," returned Jack.</p> - -<p>Then he stepped up on to the deck, and the Merle sped on into the black -night.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i058.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Four</span> <span class="smaller">IT BLOWS NORTHWEST</span></h2> - -<p>With Dave as her Palinurus the Merle ran down the wind until she was -well outside the western entrance to the Thoroughfare. The headsails -were then dropped, the yacht was put into the wind, and the mainsail was -hoisted. The foresail was left furled, as the wind had freshened -considerably, and the schooner started on a southerly course on the port -tack.</p> - -<p>How Dave knew where he was or by what subtle instinct he was moved to -give the Merle now a spoke or two to starboard or again to port, were -mysteries as insoluble as complex. Taberman was lost in wonder at Dave's -cool assurance; but to Jack, who knew of old the marvelous way in which -the local fishermen handle their craft in the fog, the helmsman's skill, -if wonderful, was yet no new thing.</p> - -<p>The beat to the Island was not, however, without incident. Twice, as -they were tacking about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> in the thick fog, they ran close to wicked -ledges over which the slow seas just rolled without breaking. At another -point they came about just in time to avoid going ashore against a -precipitous cliff which loomed high in the mist. Near the end of the run -they worked into some shoal water where the uneasy heave and thrust of -the sea made the schooner reel and stagger madly, while all about them -was the thunder of unseen breakers. But in each and every peril Dave -kept his head completely and brought the Merle through in safety.</p> - -<p>The passage was a busy one. Three times they luffed up in open water, -and each time took a boat aboard. It was a difficult—almost a -perilous—operation, but the night was flying and the boats dragged -heavily. The foresail was made ready for hoisting, a reef being tucked -into it without its being raised. The port bower was taken aboard; -lanterns were got ready against the work which was to be done at the -Island; a careful survey was made of the places available for stowage. -Jack and Taberman made a list of the men, assigned watches and berths. -They agreed that Gonzague, as cook, steward, and general major-domo, -should have to himself the little cabin formerly occupied by the -steward. To the men they gave the berths of the old crew; and in -general<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> arranged everything for the ocean voyage which had been left -for adjustment until they should be actually on board. The personal -effects of the President, his guests, the officers and the crew, they -made ready to leave at the Island.</p> - -<p>"How about clothes for the men?" Taberman asked. "I never thought of -that; and we should look like the deuce with a crew in fishermen's rigs. -The police of any harbor in the world would be after us."</p> - -<p>"The uniforms belong to the yacht," Jack answered. "They are cut for the -crew, but the men never own them."</p> - -<p>"Do you suppose those poor devils' traps will be safe at the Island?"</p> - -<p>"Safe as in a church."</p> - -<p>"But how'll they get 'em?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, by nine o'clock to-morrow morning the President will be on his way -to the Island if he has to buy the Sylvia to go on. Camper'll tell him I -ran away with the Merle, and he'll start to the Island to find me or get -track."</p> - -<p>So they talked until, about two in the morning, the yacht ran past -Hardwood Island, hauled her wind, and worked along to the southeast. -Suddenly through the fog a dull red gleam showed on the weather bow.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p><p>"There's Gonzague's bonfire," Jack cried. "You've brought us through, -Dave, about as slick as anything ever was done in this world. 'Twas a -tough job, too."</p> - -<p>The main-peak was dropped to lessen the yacht's way, and as the red -flare became more distinct, the outer jibs were doused. Keeping the -shore close aboard on the port side, the Merle ran along toward the -ruddy blur of the fire, which was now seen to be burning at the end of a -point. As the boat neared this point, Jack seized the megaphone, and -putting the big cone to his lips, faced the fire, which was now abeam.</p> - -<p>"Hallo!" he roared. "Hallo, there! Gonzague!"</p> - -<p>A sudden and confused shouting out of the fog answered him. Then black -figures, silhouetted against the red brightness of the fire and waving -burning brands, ran to and fro with odd antics and caperings.</p> - -<p>"'Bout ship!" cried Dave. "'Ware boom! Douse the heads'ls!"</p> - -<p>The Merle came over on the other tack, and the staysail and jibs were -run down. The main-sheet was then so started as to spill the wind out of -the sail, and the yacht's way was quickly lessened. Having rounded the -point, the schooner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> moved ahead sluggishly, again passing the bonfire -on the port hand.</p> - -<p>"Stand by the anchor!" sang out Dave, as they ran by the end of the -jetty.</p> - -<p>"Hooray!" yelled a chorus of voices from the pier. "Hooray, Dave!"</p> - -<p>Dave twirled the wheel to starboard, and the Merle came slowly into the -eye of the wind, where he kept her until she seemed to be making -sternway.</p> - -<p>"Well enough!" he shouted. "Let her go!"</p> - -<p>And the anchor-chain rattled down in three and a half fathoms.</p> - -<p>It was after two o'clock, and still thick. The wind, however, was -hauling around to the southward, and the fog was beginning to thin a -little. The main-sheet had hardly been hauled aft when some of the men -were alongside in a boat. Jack stood by the steps, which had not been -taken aboard during the run, while Tab, standing by his side, held a -lantern. The first man aboard was Gonzague. Agile as an ape, for all his -years, the old Provençal ran up the steps and touched his cap smartly, -man-o'-war fashion.</p> - -<p>"I see you leaf in a great hoory, cap'n," he chuckled to Jack. "You 'av' -loosed de matting of de step-grating, eh?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, rather," laughed Jack. "Pile aboard there," he added, addressing -the men in the two boats now alongside.</p> - -<p>The new crew made their boats fast to the grating and came on board.</p> - -<p>"Now, then, all hands aft here for a minute," Jack ordered, when every -one was assembled on deck.</p> - -<p>He knew that with such men as he had been able to collect for this -expedition it was essential to bind them in some way. He had therefore -prepared a paper in which were five articles for them to sign, and he -was firmly resolved that unless they agreed to bind themselves, he would -not trust the President's schooner to their care. The men were resolute -in the face of danger, yet were unused to discipline; they were imbued -with a crude sense of loyalty, but were unruly and quick to take -offense; and unless they should consent at the outset to submit to his -authority, Jack knew that little dependence could be put upon them.</p> - -<p>He instinctively assumed an arbitrary air,—almost dropping half -consciously into the latent bully which lies hid in all strong -characters. Had he reasoned it out, he would have adopted much the same -tone as that which he took by instinct.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> These men, wild followers of -the sea, would scorn to be led, and were to be mastered only by one who -could browbeat and domineer,—who could, in their own word, "man-handle" -them. They responded to the primitive necessity of seeing force in the -man who is to command; and in showing his determination at the outset -Jack was displaying at least one characteristic of a proper leader of -men.</p> - -<p>He took from his pocket the list of names, and telling the men to answer -to the roll he read it off by the light of Tab's lantern.</p> - -<p>"Elihu Coombs?" he read.</p> - -<p>"Here," answered a thickset lad with a rugged and weather-beaten face.</p> - -<p>"Here, <span class="smaller">SIR</span>!" said Jack sharply, as he check'd off the name.</p> - -<p>"Edward Turner?"</p> - -<p>"Here, sir," answered a quiet voice on the outer ring of the men.</p> - -<p>"Haskell Dwight?"</p> - -<p>"Here, sir."</p> - -<p>They were all aboard: ten men, exclusive of Jack, Jerry, and Gonzague. -When he had finished the list, Jack handed it to Jerry, and taking from -his pocket a second paper,—the simple articles he had written,—he -knocked the creases out of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> it with a back-handed rap, and then made a -short speech.</p> - -<p>"My men," he began, "I don't want to haul you into any game with your -eyes shut, so I've drafted articles for you to sign. Of course this -whole business is only a joke, but it's got a serious side to it too. -You can all see that plain enough; and it's my interest—and yours—to -see to it that we don't have to laugh out of the wrong side of our -mouths.</p> - -<p>"If you come on this cruise you'll sweat for your wages, now let me tell -you! I'm not for grinding any man,—most of you know what I am, for -you've seen me growing up from a kid,—but the yacht's got to be kept -up, and that means that every man-jack aboard has got to keep as neat as -a pin and not slight his job.</p> - -<p>"On the other hand, you men'll get a lot of experience in handling a -larger vessel than you've been used to; you'll have good grub; and -you'll see foreign ports. Top o' that, you draw good pay, and keep what -clothes you can save.</p> - -<p>"Now then, these are the articles that every man who sails with me has -got to put his name to."</p> - -<p>He read the whole paper, as distinctly and as impressively as he could.</p> - -<p>"Now," he concluded, "if any man here lacks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> the heart for this -business, let him clear out. The rest of you, step up and sign."</p> - -<p>Jack laid the paper on the companion-hatch, and produced a fountain-pen, -which he put beside it. Jerry was the first, in virtue of his position -as mate, to put down his name. He set down his lantern and scrawled his -signature at the foot of the articles in a hand that would have dwarfed -that of John Hancock. He passed the pen to Gonzague, who, laboriously -fisting it, wrote his name in a small, cramped hand, absurdly unlike the -characters above it.</p> - -<p>For an instant—an appreciable instant—the rest hung back. Jack's brown -eyes challenged theirs, and every one was very silent. That Castleport -was seconded by those who were obviously attached to him gave the men, -rather than confidence, an uneasy feeling of being another party, and -this prompted an instinctive caution almost like antagonism. Had things -been allowed to rest for a moment, the day might easily have been lost. -Discussion might have arisen to beget argument and discord, explanations -have been demanded, and the men have asked to be satisfied as to the -real grounds on which Castleport was to be justified in appropriating -his uncle's yacht and making off with it, a question which could hardly -have been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>answered so as to satisfy everybody. At this unrealized -crisis, old Gonzague quietly stepped among the men, passed a jest with -one of them in an undertone, and so equilibrium was restored. He at once -became one of them, and the vague idea of parties and opposition -vanished into thin air before the men had had time even to recognize it. -Dave stepped forward and signed, Jim followed him, and the rest of the -men came after. Jack had sounded all of them separately before unfolding -his plans, and the result was that not one of them drew back now. As the -last one laid down the pen, Castleport spoke.</p> - -<p>"Before we fall to work I don't think anybody'd mind a good glass of -grog; and while Gonzague's getting it, I just want to add one word to my -say. I know this gentleman, Mr. Jerrold Taberman, to be a good -navigator, and I've chosen him as my mate. Gonzague'll be cook and -steward, and A1 you'll find him. I'm bound to make things go as easy as -may be, and I will. I'm sure you'll do your duties, and you may bank on -my doing mine."</p> - -<p>The grog being brought, Tab proposed the captain's health, and the crew -drank it with enthusiasm. Jack emptied his glass to the "crew and a good -cruise;" and then the entire company went to work, loading and stowing.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p><p>Under Jerry's orders part of the crew began to carry provisions from -the boathouse to the yacht, while under Jack's surveillance Gonzague and -two of the crew stored what the others brought out. Gun-tackle purchases -were rigged by the foremast to take the heavier cases aboard. The men -worked feverishly, and almost without sound, as if subdued by the fear -of being heard. At the end of a couple of hours the Merle had only to -fill her water-tanks and she would be ready for sea. The fog was by this -time so thin that in the dim light of the yet unrisen sun Jack, as he -stood in the rigging, could discern vaguely the form of the house on the -Island. As he was considering the weather, Gonzague, his face red with -exertion and his usually immaculate clothes stained and torn, came up -hastily.</p> - -<p>"Mistair Castleport, sair," he said, "I don' fin' any beeg funnel for de -watter-tank. Dey mus' always feel dem from de watter-boat 'ose,—stick -de en' into de deck-plate, I t'ink."</p> - -<p>"How's that?" exclaimed Jack. "No funnel?"</p> - -<p>The tender containing the first installments of the water-supply had -already left the jetty, and Jack fell hastily to considering how the -water was to be got out of the big unheaded casks into the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> tanks -without its being dribbled in by the dipperful.</p> - -<p>"Did you look everywhere?" he demanded.</p> - -<p>"I look in de peak and go all de way aft to de run," replied the -steward, "and all I find was de funnel in de kerosene-barrel. It ees too -small, and it do fair reek wid de pairfume of de oil, sair."</p> - -<p>"Is there any piping aboard? any hose?" Jack asked. "We might siphon -it."</p> - -<p>Gonzague shook his head, and at that moment the boat laden with water -came alongside. Jack leaned over the rail.</p> - -<p>"I say, Jerry," he called out, "there's no funnel to fill the tanks -with. How the deuce can we make water-stowage?"</p> - -<p>"Search me," returned Jerry with cheerful inelegance. "How should I -know? Might use the megaphone."</p> - -<p>"You're a genius!" roared Jack. "It'll do to a T!"</p> - -<p>The keys were found, the caps unscrewed from the deck-plates, and the -large papier-maché cone of the megaphone was set big-end-up over the -orifice. Two men held it by the rim, while others kept it brimming with -buckets of water bailed out of the casks. At the end of another hour -both tanks were filled and the caps screwed down.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p><p>The Merle was ready for her long cruise. Jack was well satisfied with -the sufficiency of her stores, as in addition to the plain provisions -which he and Taberman had provided, the yacht had been most abundantly -victualed by the President for her summer's cruising.</p> - -<p>"Think of anything we've left, Jerry?" Jack asked.</p> - -<p>"The President?" Tab suggested.</p> - -<p>Jack's official seriousness went entirely to pieces at this suggestion, -but he turned to the steward with an air of business.</p> - -<p>"Have you got everything, Gonzague?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sair. I t'ink de leest is feel," the old man responded, closely -regarding the dirty paper on which he had made his inventory and checked -off each article as it came on board. Each item in the list had a black -scratch beside it.</p> - -<p>"Well, then," the captain said, with a spark in his eye, "we're off!"</p> - -<p>He gave the word to clear the decks and to get under weigh.</p> - -<p>The wind had come around to the west, and was blowing fresh. They made -all sail, however, chancing the gusty squalls which they were likely to -meet off the high land of Isle au Haut, which they meant to leave on the -starboard. The fog<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> had gone entirely, except for long ghostly wreaths -clinging to the dark green gullies of the Haut or encircling the distant -mountain-tops of Mt. Desert; and when the sun rose clear and fair, all -auspices seemed most cheeringly propitious.</p> - -<p>Jack took his departure from the Eastern Ear of the Haut, when it bore -west-northwest three miles. At four that afternoon, when he and Jerry -came on deck for time-sights, no land was to be seen.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i007.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Five</span> <span class="smaller">LAND HO!</span></h2> - -<p>Some three weeks after the morning when the Merle left the Island, Jack -and Tab were sitting in the saloon, working out the sights they had just -taken for longitude. It was shortly after eight o'clock in the morning; -the air was warm, and had in it a suggestion of the south. Through the -open skylight came a shaft of light which cast a brilliant patch on the -green cushions on the port side of the cabin. As the yacht rolled or -pitched easily over the long seas, the patch of light moved about,—up, -down, fore, aft; now it glanced on the rich red sheathing, now on the -transom, and again on the big table.</p> - -<p>On the leeward side of this table the two men, dressed in canvas -trousers and blue flannel shirts, were seated with their work lying -before them. Between them lay several sheets of paper, parallel-rulers, -the log-book in its brown duck cover, a copy of Norie open at the -tables, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>American "Ephemeris." A large sheet-chart of the North -Atlantic, weighted with a pair of binoculars, was spread in front of -Jack. A heavy line, full of zigzags and acute angles, and running nearly -across this chart, represented the Merle's track. Presently Jack laid -down the pencil with which he had been figuring, and reaching out for -the "Epitome," turned to the table of functions.</p> - -<p>"Through?" asked Tab, without looking up.</p> - -<p>"'Most," returned Jack, running one finger down a column of figures as -he glanced first at his paper and then at the book. "I have it now," he -added, and after jotting down a number he pushed the volume over to Tab, -went to a cupboard on the port side, and brought back a case of -instruments. He took out a pair of long-legged dividers, and with these -and the parallel rulers he bent over the chart a minute or two, until -the silence was again broken by Jerry.</p> - -<p>"What d' you get?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Nine-eighteen-fifteen," replied Jack. "What's yours?"</p> - -<p>"Nine-sixteen-nought," answered Tab. "Wait a shake, I'll average them;" -and he fell to figuring rapidly. "Mean is nine-seventeen-seven plus. -Prick it off, and let's see where we're at—the D. R. latitude's -thirty-six forty-eight."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p><p>They bent together over the chart. Jack carefully manipulated rulers -and dividers, found the point, and marked it in red ink.</p> - -<p>"She's making just over six knots now," he said. "We ought to make old -Cape St. Vincent shortly. Let's put up these traps and go on deck."</p> - -<p>They stowed the things in their several lockers, and went out together. -The Merle was running along with a quartering breeze, under all lower -sails, sliding easily over the long swell on the port tack.</p> - -<p>"How about putting a lookout up aloft, Jack?" asked Tab. "We'll be -raising the land pretty soon—if we're anywhere right in our reckoning, -that is."</p> - -<p>"All right," agreed Jack. "Step down and get a pair of glasses; I fancy -Hunter has the best eyes of any of the men. I'll get hold of him."</p> - -<p>Jerry disappeared below, and Jack walked along the windward side. The -sea, rolling eastward in long, measured swells, reflected the sun from a -myriad of glancing ripples that gleamed and glittered in the morning -light. The sky, light blue and cloudless, looked like pale fire. On -board the schooner the brass-work, as she rose and dipped in the troughs -of the long seas, flashed and shone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> like burnished gold. The white -canvas caught the sunshine, while on the decks, still undried from their -recent scrubbing, the putty in the curving seams showed sharply white. -The four boats were inboard, turned bottom up and cross-lashed to the rail.</p> - -<p>Castleport found the four men of the watch gathered in the peak, looking -over the bows. He came up and saw that they were watching a school of -dolphins that were keeping ahead of the yacht. The big fish seemed to -vibrate. They sounded and leaped clear of the water, flashing and -dripping with sparkling drops. A thousand colors rippled along their -backs, as they turned and swayed, and they swung ahead like the very -incarnation of frolic.</p> - -<p>The captain saw the man he wanted standing on the port side, and called -him to him.</p> - -<p>"Hunter," he said, "go aft to Mr. Taberman; he'll give you a pair of -glasses. Go aloft and keep a sharp lookout for land. We ought to raise -it on the port bow."</p> - -<p>The effect produced by this order was electrical. The four men whipped -around and stared at Jack and at each other.</p> - -<p>"Land!" exclaimed one with a foolish grin. "Land!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p><p>Hunter touched his duck hat and flew aft; Jack followed more leisurely. -In a couple of minutes Hunter was ensconced in the foretop, eagerly -scanning the eastern horizon. Castleport settled himself in the sun on -the leeward side of the cockpit, and filled his pipe. He had hardly -lighted it and taken half a dozen whiffs, when from aloft rang out the -magical cry, "Land!"</p> - -<p>"Where away?" shouted the captain, leaping to his feet just as Tab -appeared in the companion-way.</p> - -<p>"Have we raised it, Jack? Have we raised it?" Tab demanded excitedly.</p> - -<p>"Not yet, Tab. Just been sighted," returned Jack, peering up at the -fore-crosstrees, and awaiting the lookout's answer to his hail.</p> - -<p>"'Bout two points off the weather-bow," sang out Hunter from aloft. -"Just a low bank. Looks like cliffs through glasses!"</p> - -<p>"Come along, Tab!" cried Jack. "Let's go aloft and have a look at it."</p> - -<p>They made their way quickly along the deck, gained the weather-shrouds, -and ran up. The watch below had turned out, just as they were, -half-dressed and bareheaded. Two of the men had run out to the -bowsprit's end, and holding on to the topmast stay were looking over the -luff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> of the flying-jib. Old Gonzague, venerable as Vanderdecken, his -white hair stirred by the wind,—for he was as usual without a cap,—had -already gained the main-trees, where he stood shading his eyes with one -hand while he gripped the shrouds with the other.</p> - -<p>"Where is it?" demanded Jerry, when he and Jack had reached the trees.</p> - -<p>"There away, sir," Hunter answered, pointing as he passed the glasses to -the captain.</p> - -<p>With the unaided eye Jack and Jerry could discern, lying low on the -eastern rim of the horizon, a faint brownish streak. With one arm about -the topmast for support, Jack looked at the land through the glasses. At -first, owing to the oscillation of the mast, he could not keep the brown -streak in the field of vision, but in a moment he overcame this -difficulty, and was able to make out a length of cliff of nearly uniform -height, although split by numerous fjord-like bays. By its varied -color—for he could see that the ribbon of shore was splashed with reds -and blues—he decided that the land-fall was in the neighborhood of Cape -St. Vincent.</p> - -<p>"Have a look?" he asked, passing the glasses to Tab. "It's the Painted -Cape, fast enough,—or close to it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p><p>"What country is that, please, sir?" asked Hunter, in a tone almost of -awe.</p> - -<p>"Portugal," the captain answered. "Sou'-western point of the land. We'll -have Spain aboard before eight bells this afternoon."</p> - -<p>"By Grab, sir! Beg pardon, sir, but do them Portigee fishermen ye see to -Boothbay an' Boston, do they come from hereaway?"</p> - -<p>"Here or from the islands,—Cape Verde, the Canaries, or the Azores; -here for the most part. You may go below, if you want, Hunter."</p> - -<p>The man went, frequently pausing to look over his shoulder at the coast, -glimpses of which could now be caught from the deck between the rolls.</p> - -<p>After a brief consultation, the captain and the mate followed Hunter, -and went aft to consult the chart. As they passed along the deck, they -noted that all hands were much excited. These men, used as they were to -the sea, had been fishermen of the purely local sort, and it was -doubtful if any one of them save Gonzague had ever before been out of -sight of the high land of his native place; and here they were, in view -of a strange country where the people spoke outlandish jabber, and, for -all they knew to the contrary, went about in toggery as ridiculous as -that of the Chinese laundrymen at Green's Landing. Discussion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> became -all the more heated when Hunter came down and told them that the land -was one of the countless possessions belonging to the "Portigee king." -Frequent appeals were made to Gonzague, who had descended, and was the -centre of an excited group. As Tab remarked, it was a sight worth -remembering to see these self-contained New Englanders in such a state.</p> - -<p>Down below, Jack and Tab held a brief colloquy over the chart. They -calculated, if the wind held, to make the Straits at nightfall, and run -through by the aid of the lights on Cape Spartel and Tariffa. Having -settled this point, they went on deck and had the course changed -slightly.</p> - -<p>"By Jumbo!" cried Jerry, banging his fist on the deck as he stood in the -cockpit, "by Jumbo, I can't sleep a wink with this land in sight. -Portugal, too! By Jove, it's all very fine," he ran on, "for a <i>blasé</i> -old globe-trotter like you to keep cool, but I'm fair dry with it all."</p> - -<p>Jack laughed, and reminded his friend of having lived in England and -France, and of having traveled not a little in northern Europe.</p> - -<p>"Pooh!" sniffed Tab. "That's not really doing anything; everybody does -that. And to think," he burst out, "that we brought ourselves! God bless -me, Jacko, I little thought when you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> crammed me with navigation in -vacation days aboard the old Luna that I'd ever use it all; really, that -is, as we have used it these three weeks past."</p> - -<p>"Well, I hope you're duly grateful," laughed Jack. "It may prove a -source of bread and butter if you're ever stranded."</p> - -<p class="space-above">All that day the Merle ran along gallantly over the bright seas, -occasionally passing ships of different nationalities bound in or out of -the Straits. At sundown, although the bold coast of Morocco was not yet -in sight, a lookout was sent aloft to watch for the light on Cape -Spartel.</p> - -<p>At a little before nine o'clock in the evening, the breeze had so died -down that the yacht hardly had steerage-way. Jack was asleep below; Tab -had charge of the deck. What air there was was soft and warm. It had -hauled around a couple of points against the sun, and was now fragrant -with a faint tellurian odor, which would have been imperceptible to a -landsman, but which was full of meaning to those who follow the sea. -Overhead the great stars blazed in lustrous serenity. Their images kept -appearing and vanishing on the now smooth and oily surface of the -restless sea. The only sounds were those of the water and the -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>cordage,—the sudden spanking of a big wave under the counter as the -yacht flung her nose starward; the occasional crashing of the great -booms and traveler-blocks as she righted suddenly after a heavy roll to -port or a lurch to starboard; the pattering of the reef-points against -the canvas; and the sharp reports made by the slatting of the lazy-jacks -against the sails.</p> - -<p>In the west, growing smaller and smaller in the distance, the receding -stern-light of an Italian steamship glimmered faintly. Taberman watched -it long after it kept sinking out of sight and again rising in the -weltering seas, and until it at last vanished as if quenched. He was -following out certain grim speculations as to the feelings of a forsaken -swimmer who should watch this star of his hope moving relentlessly away -into the west, grower fainter each time it emerged from the waves, -when—</p> - -<p>"Light ho!" shouted the lookout from the darkness aloft. -"There's—light; 'bout—point—off—starb'd—bow!"</p> - -<p>"What kind?" hailed Jerry from the deck, straining his eyes to where, a -dim blot against the stars, the figure of the lookout could be discerned -standing by the rigging on the cross-trees.</p> - -<p>"Fixed white, red flash," called the man.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p><p>"All right," shouted Jerry; and added in his ordinary tone of command -to the hands on deck: "Lay along, now! Trim in main-sheet a bit—well -enough. Now then, fore and head sheets. Good. That'll do.—We want to -get what air there is," he added to himself.</p> - -<p>Although the wind was slight, yet about the Straits is always a -strongish set of current. The surface current flows into the -Mediterranean continuously, and it kept setting the Merle steadily -ahead. When Taberman judged the light to be no more than five or six -knots away, he sent below to rouse the captain, who was asleep. When -Castleport came on deck, the bearing of the light was taken, the chart -consulted, and a slight change made in the course. It was now calm, and -the yacht, no longer steadied by the wind, rolled heavily.</p> - -<p>"We ought to see it air up before long," remarked Jack, after a short -silence. "It's so beastly calm now. When it's calm on one side of the -Straits, it's always blowing on the other. An Italian sea captain told -me there is always just so much air about here, and however much or -little is on one side, the balance is always kicking about on the -other."</p> - -<p>"Then we'll take the sticks out of her, once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> we're through the -Straits," Jerry responded with conviction.</p> - -<p>As the schooner entered the Straits, the blue-black sky to the eastward -became dimly albescent, and shortly a blood-red moon rose slowly behind -the inky mass of Monkey Mountain. The huge pile of rock, the more -impressive though the less famous of the Pillars of Hercules, loomed -vast, mysterious, and perdurable in the soft darkness. The waves, as the -face of the moon cleared, were lit with a gray light.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, as a long, smooth swell shouldered the yacht past the edge of -a small promontory, they opened out the lights of Tangiers on the -starboard beam. The moon as yet illuminated only the western half of the -scarped bowl in which lie the little villas which surround the town. The -scattered lights on the east side of the valley were accentuated by the -surrounding gloom.</p> - -<p>"There's Tangiers," cried Jack. "There's old Tangiers."</p> - -<p>"Those lights?" asked Jerry. "What sort of a place is it?"</p> - -<p>"Jolly little hole. All white and pink in the daytime, with red tile -roofs. Hot as Tophet, though. There's Tariffa, boy! That's Tariffa over -there."</p> - -<p>They excitedly discussed the points along their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> way. To Jerry it was -all new, but Jack had traveled a good deal about the Mediterranean, and -was well able to play the mentor. For an hour they talked, and the Merle -drifted with the current; but they had not passed out of the shadow of -Monkey Mountain before a faint breath of air stirred the headsails. It -came stealing down out of the upper canvas, hot and dry.</p> - -<p>"By Jove!" cried Jack, "we'll have all the wind we want in a bit. You -can tell how hard it is blowing outside the Straits by the distances it -reaches in."</p> - -<p>Then he raised his voice, and called to the watch,—</p> - -<p>"Hello there! Clew up the topsails! Pass gaskets on them!"</p> - -<p>The men, who had a dog-like trust in the captain, obeyed quickly, though -from the remarks they interchanged <i>sotto voce</i> it was easy to see that -the order puzzled them. When everything was made snug aloft, Jack had a -reef tucked in the main and foresails, and the outer headsails stowed.</p> - -<p>Still no wind. The schooner slowly moved along the edge of the great -shadow of the mountain, only her topmast trucks and the peak of her -mainsail silvered by the moonlight.</p> - -<p>A dull, hoarse whisper, faint and continuous,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> was now audible ahead. It -grew louder by very slow degrees, and Jerry, unused as he was to -Mediterranean weather, knew it for the roar of a mighty wind. In the -moonlight ahead the waters appeared troubled, the hard-heaving seas -being strangely and almost weirdly demarked from the calm in which the -Merle rolled forward languidly. All at once, as the yacht emerged from -the obscurity of the mountain's shadow, a sudden gust of warm air struck -her without warning, and heeled her lee-rail under.</p> - -<p>"Hard down!" roared Jack.</p> - -<p>Jerry leaped to the wheel, and it took all the force of himself and the -helmsman to put the helm hard-a-lee. The Merle righted, and being -unusually quick, flew into the eye of the wind. From the threshing sails -came a thunderous volley of heavy boomings. The sheet-blocks were -whipped to and fro with such violence that twice Jack saw red sparks -struck from the fore-traveler guard. Then, as suddenly as it had come, -the wind left, and it was only by the way she had gathered that the -helmsman could pay the yacht off.</p> - -<p>"We are going to catch it for fair," Jack said. "Best dowse the foresail -entirely, I fancy. Pass the word along to Gonzague to make all snug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -below. Jerry, step into the cabin and make sure of the course from off -Ceuta to Port Mahon."</p> - -<p>"Right-o," answered Jerry briskly, diving down.</p> - -<p>"Get down the fores'l!" shouted the captain to the men.</p> - -<p>"Helm up a bit there—steady! That's the talk! Get all the stops -on.—Now then—make fast that sheet there."</p> - -<p>The Merle was hardly on her course again when a second squall struck -her. Her canvas having been reduced, however, the helmsman kept her -broadside to it. The yacht's strongest point was the quickness with -which she gathered way, and on this occasion, when nine tenths of her -class would simply have lain over and quivered, she rushed ahead with -the fury of an avenging goddess. When the hot flaw left her, she was at -the very last verge of the calm water.</p> - -<p>"Stand by the main-sheet to square off when she meets it!" shouted Jack.</p> - -<p>The men had hardly time to get to their stations before a third squall -caught the Merle and sent her tearing over the line into the full -strength of the wind. The air, hot from the desert, and laden with fine, -parching dust, sang in the shrouds and the running-rigging. It slashed -the salt spindrift<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> in the smarting faces of the men. The seas grew -suddenly confounding in size; huge weltering masses—tons—of greenly -black water wallowed without rhythm all about the yacht, up as high as -the light-boards. To a landsman it would have seemed impossible that -thus scourged by the sirocco across these maddened seas the schooner -should escape destruction.</p> - -<p>The sheets were started, the yacht was paid off before the wind, and -began the last stretch of her run. Tab came on deck with the course, -staggering and holding on, and shouted it into Jack's ear. Jack nodded, -and gave orders for setting it, a fresh departure being taken from the -light on the mole at Ceuta.</p> - -<p>The Merle ran close in on the eastern side of Gibraltar. The great rock, -sheer and silver-gray in the moonlight, rose out of the raging seas -which ringed it about with a zone of roaring breakers. Grimly -self-reliant, it stood grand, silent, stupendous, unassailable in the -midst of the turmoil and uproar. As the yacht raced by, staggering under -her reefed canvas, Taberman regarded the rock, in face of which their -craft seemed a mere mote on the blast, with a feeling as near awe as it -is possible for buoyant youth to feel. He did not speak until the Merle -had swept past the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> rock-hewn fortress. Then he drew a deep breath and -bent over so that Jack could hear him amid the hissing of the sirocco.</p> - -<p>"That's immense, Jack, isn't it?" he said.</p> - -<p>Without taking his eyes from the throat of the mainsail he was watching -as a physician at a crisis watches the pulse of a patient, Jack nodded a -deep assent.</p> - -<p>At times the Merle seemed fairly to leap like a flying fish from one -wave-crest to the next in her northeasterly flight.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i089.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Six</span> <span class="smaller">DINNER ASHORE</span></h2> - -<p>On a Thursday afternoon in the middle of July, the Merle dropped anchor -behind the inner mole of Nice. In her course northward from the Straits, -she had passed to the eastward of the Baleares, crossed the Gulf of -Lyons, and run smoothly into harbor before the same powerful wind that -had greeted her so boisterously on her entrance into the Middle Sea.</p> - -<p>The moment when the port officer came aboard had been a nervous one, but -the dapper little official had merely glanced at the yacht's papers, -complimented the captain on his seamanship, and then gone ashore without -a sign of suspicion.</p> - -<p>The yacht had no sooner been made trig and ship-shape, her sails stopped -with "harbor furl," the canvas covers on, the boats unlashed and swung -on the davits, the running-rigging coiled down, and the details proper -to coming into port attended to, than Jack, unable to put off going<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -ashore until the morrow, gave orders for the crew to turn out in their -best attire. Then with Taberman he went below to array himself for the -land. In Castleport's mind the idea of calling on Mrs. Fairhew and Miss -Marchfield, who he knew should now be in Nice, was paramount to all -else. He would see Mrs. Fairhew, he would see Katrine, and then—well, -then it would be time to consider.</p> - -<p>Once below, Jack and Jerry began the overhauling of their wardrobes, -doing their dressing half in their staterooms and half in the cabin, -that they might go on with afternoon tea at the same time. During the -voyage they had gone about most of the time in flannel shirts and duck -trousers, the only two rules in regard to toilet having been that they -should shave regularly, and that they should not come to dinner in -oilers, no matter what the weather. The first rule had been framed by -Jack; and Tab, as author of the second, had declared that he would -rather eat hardtack in his pajamas, than a six-course dinner in his -oilers. Now, as they stood in the doors of their staterooms examining -their shore clothing,—each holding, like the Hatter at the trial of the -Knave of Hearts, a teacup in his hand,—they had the air of being almost -surprised at finding themselves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> in possession of so many garments, or -of not knowing exactly what to do with them.</p> - -<p>"Got any extra duck trow-trows, Jack?" asked Jerry. "We made a great -mistake not shipping a laundress along with the other stores."</p> - -<p>"Hanging them up on the rigging to dry doesn't give them an extra fine -polish," Jack returned. "I have two pairs I've been saving for shore, -and I suppose I can sacrifice one of them on the altar of friendship."</p> - -<p>"That's truly noble of you," Tab said, coming over to Jack's cabin after -the clean ducks; "but it's all right. When we go ashore we'll take -Gonzague and a bag of things, and have some real washing done on land. -What's that official-looking envelope?"</p> - -<p>From the pocket of a coat which Castleport had thrown aside in his -search for the desired garment, a long blue envelope, still sealed, had -fallen to the floor. Jack pounced upon it, with an exclamation of -dismay.</p> - -<p>"Great guns!" he exclaimed. "It's Uncle Randolph's mail!"</p> - -<p>"It's what?"</p> - -<p>"Why," the captain explained, rummaging in the pocket from which the -letter had fallen and producing a couple of others, "I told you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> about -the boy's bringing out the letters to the Merle while she was changing -crews at North Haven."</p> - -<p>"You mean the letters the boy brought out for the President?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, damn it!" responded the other, regarding the letters with a -troubled brow. "This is a pretty kettle of fish. Uncle Randolph's -letters are apt to be important, and this one has a beastly official -look. It's sure to be something that couldn't wait. It's probably the -thing he was looking for when he gave orders to have his mail brought -out to him."</p> - -<p>"'If not delivered in five days return to R. B. Tillington, 57 State -Street, Boston,'" read Jerry over his shoulder. "Tillington's the -zinc-mine man, isn't he?"</p> - -<p>"Zinc, copper, gold,—any old thing that you can make a mining -speculation out of. I think he's a slippery old fraud, but he's hand in -glove with Uncle Randolph; or rather they have a lot of business -together. Uncle Randolph thinks Tillington wouldn't dare to play him -false, but he's an eely old beggar. Anyhow, this letter may mean the -making or the losing of a fortune for all I know. Gad! Running away with -his yacht is nothing to going off with his letters!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p><p>"I don't suppose it would do to mail them here?" suggested Jerry.</p> - -<p>"That would dish us all right," Jack answered. "It would give us away by -the postmark. Uncle Randolph isn't likely to think of our coming across. -He can't know we were provisioned, and he very likely thinks we are -still knocking about on the other side of the Atlantic."</p> - -<p>"He might find out about the stores by asking at the express offices and -that sort of thing."</p> - -<p>"Why should he, unless something puts the idea into his head?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose he wouldn't," Jerry assented thoughtfully. "How would it do -to return this letter to Tillington?"</p> - -<p>"Just as bad as to send it direct to Uncle Randolph. Once let them know -at home where we are, and we are done for fast enough."</p> - -<p>"Well," Taberman said, after a brief pause in which he had apparently -been summing up the situation in his mind, "the harm's done by this -time, anyway; and I don't see that there's anything for us but to stick -to our guns, blow high, blow low. We'll mail 'em when we get ready to go -back."</p> - -<p>Castleport regarded the letters in his hand gravely.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p><p>"I suppose there's nothing else to do," he said slowly. "The Merle is -of course registered at Lloyd's, and he'd only have to cable over to -have us nabbed anywhere along the whole coast."</p> - -<p>"He may see the arrival in the shipping-lists as it is, I should think," -Jerry observed rather gloomily.</p> - -<p>"Of course; but we've got to run our chances on that. He's not very much -in the habit of studying the sailing-lists as far as I know, but he may -do it now. Anyway we've got to run for luck."</p> - -<p>"The luck has been pretty good so far," was Jerry's consoling -observation; "and I won't begin to distrust it now."</p> - -<p>The result of the conversation was that the letters were put carefully -away, and the two adventurers resolved not to worry about them. -Castleport admitted that the matter troubled him not a little, but he -was under the circumstances disposed to accept his comrade's very -sensible observation that after all the letters might be of no especial -importance.</p> - -<p>"You see," Jerry said, with a laugh, as he gulped down the last of his -tea, which had had time to become thoroughly cold, "we are really -pirates, and here you go bringing the conscience of a gentleman into the -business. None of that."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p><p>Castleport laughed, and once more their attention was given to dressing -for the shore.</p> - -<p>No one aboard understood the care and manipulation of the small -steam-launch which the President used on state occasions, so they went -ashore in the big cutter, with six men to pull and old Gonzague in -charge.</p> - -<p>They landed at the quays, and left Gonzague to act as interpreter and -mentor to the men, while they took their way across the Quay Rosaglio -and along the narrow Rue Paglione. They came out soon upon the Promenade -des Anglais, thronged, in spite of the time of year, with foreigners of -many nationalities. Delicate French ladies in the latest fashions from -Paris, were here escorted by anæmic gentlemen looking absurdly out of -place in evening dress; vulgar Teutons in baggy trousers with impossibly -dowdy wives, legitimate evolutions from generations of sauerkraut and -beer; now and then an unmistakable "remittance man" from England, with -puffy eye-sockets and brutal face, accompanied by the companion paid by -some noble family to take charge of the prodigal till he drank himself -into a dishonored grave; the British cleric, too, with the inevitable -string of hopelessly dull daughters tagging after him like bobs on a -kite; swarthy Roumanians or Swabians; Russians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> deep-eyed and surrounded -by an almost palpable atmosphere of haughtiness; in a word, the -cosmopolitan crowd of a fashionable promenade of Southern Europe. -Through such a throng Jack and Jerry made their way toward the centre of -the foreign element of the better sort, the Hôtel des Anglais.</p> - -<p>As they reached their destination, Jack became visibly excited, and made -his way to the office with an air of determination vastly amusing to his -companion. He was on the point of asking for Mrs. Fairhew when he was -startled by a voice behind him.</p> - -<p>"Why, Mr. Castleport!"</p> - -<p>Her voice! Jack spun around like a teetotum.</p> - -<p>"Katrine—Miss Marchfield!" he cried. "How do you do? I—I— You know, I -came here—this minute—I was just going to ask if you were here."</p> - -<p>"Well," laughed the lady, whose heightened color and shining eyes were -evidences of a pleasant excitement, "you see I am.—Oh, Mr. Taberman, -how do you do? I'm delighted to see you."</p> - -<p>"How are you?" responded Jerry, taking her slim hand in his own hard -paw. "It's awfully jolly to see you here. How's Mrs. Fairhew? Well, I -hope."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p><p>"Yes, thank you," answered Katrine. "She's never better than when she's -traveling, you know."</p> - -<p>Miss Katrine Marchfield was one of those girls who, though not -beautiful, are more than pretty. She was too attractive to be fairly -disposed of by being credited with mere prettiness; yet she had not -fully that quality, august and indefinable, which confers upon the -fortunate possessor real beauty. She was slightly above medium height, -and could now, having been out for a couple of winters, carry herself -exquisitely. A beautiful figure could not have been denied her by the -most envious rival; and her fairly broad shoulders, always drawn well -back, gave her a charming air of delicately athletic power. Her face, at -first merely piquant,—perhaps from the slight arching of her eyebrows -and the wholly delightful way in which she carried her head,—showed at -a second glance, by the height of the forehead, the clear chiseling of -the features, and the intelligent sympathy of the gray eyes, a true and -sensitive nobility of nature which gave to her countenance a charm at -once fine and abiding. Her eyes Jack—and for that matter a score of -adoring youths—considered her greatest beauty. They were at times -thoughtful, at others sparkling with vivacity. Now and then they might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> -be surprised in a quickly vanishing expression wistful or even almost -sad, as if some deeper self looked out but did not will to be seen. A -mouth small, the upper lip a trifle fuller than the under; a nose almost -Greek; and above the high forehead a cloud of dusky brown hair,—these -physical attributes, with a sympathetic temperament and a mind sensible -yet deliciously feminine, a pleasant voice and a delightful laugh, had -won for Katrine Marchfield more conquests than could be boasted by many -an older woman of really marked beauty.</p> - -<p>Her relations with Jack Castleport, whether she had admitted it to -herself or not, had for some time been greatly different from those she -held with any one else. They had met at a dinner shortly after Katrine, -for two years doubly orphaned, had come from Philadelphia to live with -her widowed aunt, Mrs. Fairhew, in Boston. After meeting Katrine, -Castleport had taken to calling at Mrs. Fairhew's, at first nominally to -see the aunt and later frankly to see the niece. He was at this time a -Junior at Harvard, and a popular man on both sides of the river; the -acquaintance during his Senior year had ripened into friendship, and the -most important feature of Class Day for Jack was the presence of Miss -Marchfield; he had thought more of her in the audience than of the -dignitaries<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> on the platform when on Commencement Day he had taken his -degree; and what with dancing with Katrine, driving with Katrine, and -dreaming of Katrine for the winter which lay between Harvard and this -summer, he had come to measure the uses of life chiefly as they might -help to make her care for him or to reveal to him what were her feelings -toward him.</p> - -<p>For a moment or two the three Americans stood talking near the desk of -the hotel. Then Miss Marchfield stepped forward and dropped into the -mail-box some letters she was carrying.</p> - -<p>"If you'll excuse me one minute," she said, "I'll send for Aunt Anne, -and see about dinner. Of course you'll stay to dine?"</p> - -<p>"Delighted," Jack said. "That is," he added, "if it's all right for us -in these clothes. You see, we stupidly came off without evening togs."</p> - -<p>"That's all right," Katrine returned; and went away smiling.</p> - -<p>Jack looked after her with an expression which made Jerry smile.</p> - -<p>"Gad! She's looking ten times better than when she left home," Tab said -in an undertone.</p> - -<p>"She always does," the captain responded with fervent fatuousness. "She -can't help it, you know. God bless me," he added with equal fervor and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> -absurdity, "it's worth coming over steerage just to hear her voice!"</p> - -<p>"Well, you <i>are</i> hit!" commented his friend; and then, seeing a shade -come over Jack's face, he laid his hand on his friend's shoulder, and -added: "Don't mind my chaff, old man. I really wish you all kinds of -luck."</p> - -<p>Jack gave him a flash of sympathy and understanding, and then turned his -head aside.</p> - -<p>"Pity we haven't got evening slops," Jerry remarked, by way of changing -the conversation; "but I suppose we'll do, seeing the way we came over, -and all that."</p> - -<p>"I'm not worrying about clothes," returned the captain of the Merle. -"Men wear all sorts of things traveling. I'm thinking what Mrs. -Fairhew'll say about our being here in the yacht without Uncle -Randolph."</p> - -<p>"What's your game if we're quizzed about the President?"</p> - -<p>"I'm hanged if I really know," Jack returned; "but I've got to pull it -through somehow, and you'll have to follow my lead."</p> - -<p>He had time to say no more, for Katrine came forward to rejoin them, and -before she had reached the friends, Mrs. Fairhew appeared.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew was a striking woman of some forty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> years, of medium -height, with quick and alert bearing, with the unmistakable air of a -well-bred woman of the world. A widow of some six years, she still, -except upon occasions of particular state, wore black,—from devotional -feeling, according to her friends, and, according to the captious, -because it so well became her. Between her and her niece existed a -subtle and baffling likeness, but in what it consisted one would have -found it well-nigh impossible to say. Of good birth, perfect breeding, -and a wide social experience, she possessed also an intellect naturally -good and improved by careful training; while for her rare good taste she -was perhaps equally indebted to nature and to a somewhat old-fashioned -training in whatever is best in the English classics. With these good -gifts and graces and a perfect poise, she combined whatever is most -admirable in the best type of American gentlewoman.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Castleport," she said, giving that gentleman her hand with gracious -cordiality, "this is an unexpected pleasure! How do you do, Mr. -Taberman. I am very glad to see you both."</p> - -<p>Greetings were exchanged, and then, after a moment's chatting, the men -gave over their hats to an attendant, and the party went into the -dining-room. On account of the season, the number<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> of people at the -hotel was comparatively small, and the huge <i>salle à manger</i>, with its -slim pilasters and its long French windows, its tubs of palmetto and -oleander, might have impressed Jack and Jerry as rather barn-like and -forsaken had either been in the mood to find anything in their -surroundings unsatisfactory. The four made their way to a small square -table in an alcove, behind which stood a tall, round-shouldered waiter -in an antediluvian dress-suit. Jack put Katrine into her chair and was -placed next her, and with much pleasant talk the party began dinner.</p> - -<p>The fish was served before any mention was made of the President. Then -Jack suddenly found himself in dangerous waters, owing to a random -remark from Mrs. Fairhew.</p> - -<p>"And Mr. Drake?" she asked. "What a pity he didn't come too. I suppose -he couldn't get away."</p> - -<p>"Not on the Merle," responded Jack. "It takes a long time to cross on -such a small boat."</p> - -<p>Jerry watched his friend closely to detect signs of embarrassment, but -was able to perceive nothing more than a faint flush in the brown -cheeks. He recalled the captain's words about following his lead, and at -this point, in his own picturesque phraseology, "shoved in his oar."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><p>"Besides," he said glibly, with a secret mischievous glee at feeling -Jack's anxious eye upon him, "it's so hard to get the President away -from his everlasting bridge,—<i>Pons Asinorum</i>, I call it. When we left -North Haven he was so absorbed in his game that he didn't even see us -off."</p> - -<p>"I didn't know he was so attached to cards," Mrs. Fairhew commented, -with a smile. "As you have the yacht, Mr. Taberman, you should at least -speak well of the bridge that has brought you over."</p> - -<p>"Did Mr. Drake put you two in charge of his sailing-master, Mr. -Taberman?" asked Katrine, with a suspicion of a glance at Jack, as if -she meant to tease him.</p> - -<p>"No," returned Jerrold. "Jack and I did the navigating; he's a past -master, I assure you."</p> - -<p>"Yes," rejoined Katrine, "but I should have fancied he would have had -some one that was—Well, some one with a professional experience, you -know."</p> - -<p>"If the idea struck him he didn't mention it," put in Jack. "If it -occurred to him after we left, I can't tell, as I haven't heard from -him."</p> - -<p>"Haven't heard from him!" exclaimed Mrs. Fairhew in mild surprise. -"Haven't you been to your bankers?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p><p>"Haven't been anywhere except at this hotel," Jack returned sturdily; -and then added: "It was after bank hours when we came ashore."</p> - -<p>"Of course you cabled him your arrival?"</p> - -<p>"Mercy! I might have done that, mightn't I? Upon my word, it never -occurred to me."</p> - -<p>"Thoughtful of you," Katrine commented demurely.</p> - -<p>"Well, I did get some letters ready to send to him," Jack protested, -while Jerry grinned broadly.</p> - -<p>"Got them ready! How like a man!" laughed Mrs. Fairhew. "A woman would -have had them ready before she saw land, and had them mailed by the time -the anchor was down."</p> - -<p>"So did Jack have them ready," put in Jerry imperturbably.</p> - -<p>"Then it's doubly dreadful that they are not posted," retorted Mrs. -Fairhew.</p> - -<p>Jack leaned forward and settled a pink candle-shade that threatened a -conflagration, and by a comment on the inflammability of these table -ornaments managed to bring the conversation into safer channels.</p> - -<p>In the course of the talk it transpired that the ladies had no very -definite plans, except that Mrs. Fairhew had determined, despite the -heat of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Italian summer, to visit an old school friend, whose -husband was vice-consul at Naples.</p> - -<p>"I fancy," she said, "that we shall go straight to Genoa. I'm going to -make Katrine work, and to see that she does her duty by the galleries -and things,—Florence and all the Tuscan cities, you know. Then Rome and -the Campagna. It will be dreadfully hard on us both, I dare say, but we -shall be upheld by the proud consciousness of doing our best."</p> - -<p>She made a little gesture of comical despair, and her niece laughed.</p> - -<p>"It would doubtless be intolerable to either of you without the other," -said Jerry in one of his boyishly elaborate attempts to be gallant.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew regarded him with a glance well-bred though quizzical, but -evidently perceived that he was completely sincere in his desire to say -something agreeable, and smiled, although less broadly than Katrine, who -showed in her amusement a row of beautiful teeth.</p> - -<p>"Won't it be pretty hot in the south?" asked Jack. "I've never been in -Naples in summer, nor south of Rome, in fact; but I've always been told -that it is too torrid for foreigners."</p> - -<p>"Oh, we are used to it," Mrs. Fairhew returned. "Besides, it is after -all the English that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> have spread the stories about Italy's being so -hot. They've been kept at so low a temperature all their lives by their -horrid fogs that they're the greatest babies imaginable about climate."</p> - -<p>"I fancy you're right," assented Jack. "At all events, as you are used -to all climates, and as Miss Marchfield comes from Philadelphia"—</p> - -<p>"Oh, but I've never been there in summer," Katrine broke in. "And, -besides, I've lived in Boston so long that"—</p> - -<p>"That you can stand anything?" interrupted Jerry in turn.</p> - -<p>"I think I can," laughed Katrine.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew toyed with her coffee-spoon thoughtfully a moment; then she -looked up at Jack.</p> - -<p>"Where are you bound, Mr. Castleport?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"I don't know," Jack answered quite frankly. "I think we shall probably -coast along—Monaco, Bordighera, and Mentone, you know; and then go to -Genoa. Then perhaps we'll see Elba and Naples and Capri. After that we -must start for home. Nothing is settled with us."</p> - -<p>"I detest Monaco," Mrs. Fairhew said, with some irrelevance.</p> - -<p>"Why?" inquired Jack, with a smile. "Does<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> the gambling offend the -Puritan that is in every Bostonian?"</p> - -<p>"It certainly does," was the reply, "though my aversion isn't entirely a -matter of conscience. I bought it on the spot for a thousand francs."</p> - -<p>"That was awfully dear," remarked Jerry. "It would have been much -cheaper to be born with it."</p> - -<p>"As in your case?" asked the lady, raising her eyebrows a little and -smiling.</p> - -<p>"Oh, one can't inherit all the virtues!" responded Taberman with the -greatest seriousness.</p> - -<p>"Most certainly not," laughed Mrs. Fairhew. "At least I had not that -good fortune."</p> - -<p>"Nature left you one to get for yourself, because she knew you'd do it -so easily," Tab said gallantly.</p> - -<p>"Really," cried the lady, "you are evidently determined to overwhelm me, -Mr. Taberman. Compliments drop from your lips like the traditional -showers of pearls."</p> - -<p>"There are frogs too in that fairy story," suggested Jack.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Castleport," declared Katrine, coming to the rescue of Jerry, -"that is simply brutal."</p> - -<p>"Of course it's brutal," retorted Jack, willfully twisting her meaning, -"but he keeps it up all the same."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p><p>Jerry tried to defend himself by charging Jack with never being able to -appreciate a compliment unless he were himself the subject, and so they -drifted lightly from one bit of good-natured raillery to another. Now -and then a more serious note was struck, and through it all the spirit -of the party was more kindly and friendly than could be pictured by any -words in which they might have tried to express it.</p> - -<p>When dinner was over, they went for a short stroll on the promenade. It -naturally happened that Mrs. Fairhew walked with Taberman, and that Jack -and Katrine strolled on together some little distance behind.</p> - -<p>"You don't know," said Jack, for the fourth or fifth time that evening, -but with an evident sincerity which might have excused even further -repetition, "how good it is to see you again."</p> - -<p>"Yes," Katrine responded with a carelessness too complete to be entirely -genuine, "I suppose that it must be pleasant for you to see any one -after being cooped up in a boat for five or six weeks."</p> - -<p>"That's not at all what I meant," he returned pointedly, and with a -little vexation.</p> - -<p>"Perhaps not; but it's practically what you said."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p><p>"I said it gave me pleasure to see you," Jack insisted, with a daring -emphasis on the final pronoun.</p> - -<p>"Oh, a compliment!" she exclaimed, as if the thought had just struck -her.</p> - -<p>"You may take it as such," he replied rather grumpily. "It's the -feminine attitude toward everything."</p> - -<p>Katrine was silent a moment, examining with an appearance of the -greatest interest the ground at her feet.</p> - -<p>"How queer you are this evening," she said at length.</p> - -<p>"Am I?" he retorted. "Well, I suppose if I'm only amusing into the -bargain that's all that's necessary."</p> - -<p>Another brief interval of silence intervened, and then he remarked -blunderingly:—</p> - -<p>"I suppose it makes very little difference to you whether you see any -one while you're here."</p> - -<p>"What an atrocious reflection on my efforts to be entertaining," she -laughed.</p> - -<p>"Oh," he said savagely, "that's a nice meaning to twist out of my words! -You know I don't mean that."</p> - -<p>"You seem to have some difficulty in saying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> what you do mean this -evening," Katrine commented mockingly.</p> - -<p>Jack laughed uneasily, with that absurdly tragic air possible only to a -young man much in love.</p> - -<p>"See here," he asked explosively, "why do you think I came over here?"</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I can't say, Mr. Castleport," she replied, with a touch of -coolness. "I never was good at riddles. Don't you think we had better -catch up with Aunt Anne and Mr. Taberman?"</p> - -<p>And greatly to his own disgust, and perhaps, could he but have known the -truth, to the secret disappointment of Katrine, Jack acted upon her -suggestion without a word more.</p> - -<p>As they were taking leave of the ladies at the hotel a little later, -Jerry broke out with a clumsily worded invitation that they should on -the morrow go for a sail on the Merle.</p> - -<p>"You are really very good, Mr. Taberman," Mrs. Fairhew said, "but I 'm -afraid it's only half an invitation, for Mr. Castleport doesn't second -it."</p> - -<p>"I certainly do," Jack responded. "I was hesitating only because I -didn't think the yacht, just in from an ocean voyage, was exactly in -trim. I wasn't sure it was fair to invite you."</p> - -<p>"I think we can put up with anything that is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> amiss in that line," Mrs. -Fairhew answered, smiling. "What do you say, Katrine? Would you like to -go?"</p> - -<p>"Very much, Aunt Anne," her niece said, with a quick little glance at -Jack, a sort of bird-twinkle of the eyes, "if we shall not be too -intrusive."</p> - -<p>"Capital!" cried Jack, whose good nature had returned, and who was -anxious to make amends for his fit of pique. "I'll call for you in the -morning at about noon, if that will suit you. We shall want a little -time to get the yacht in trim."</p> - -<p>"Any time after ten will do for us," Mrs. Fairhew answered. "Don't, I -beg, bother too much about making things neat. I know how necessary -disorder is to the real happiness of you men."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i112.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Seven</span> <span class="smaller">LUNCHEON ABOARD</span></h2> - -<p>Noon.</p> - -<p>The famous promenade was deserted, and all the foreigners who were able -were safe in the coolest retirement of their little pink and white -villas. A warm off-shore breeze wandered through the silent streets of -Nice, came to the water-front, and there, as if alarmed by the noise and -bustle of the few sailors and fishermen whom the heat had not driven -from the quays, grew brisker and fled away southward over the sea.</p> - -<p>Down one of the smaller streets between the Hôtel des Anglais and the -Porta Vecchia, Mrs. Fairhew and her niece, escorted by Jack, were making -their way. Miss Marchfield, dressed in a simple gown of white, looked -deliciously rosy under her red sunshade. Mrs. Fairhew walked in the -narrow strip of shadow next the wall; Katrine was between her and Jack, -who, owing to the straitness of the sidewalk, picked his way—to the -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>evident amusement of Miss Marchfield—along the kennel. As Katrine was -fond of him, she paradoxically took unfailing delight in seeing him -humiliated, always provided, of course, that no one other than herself -was the author of the discomfort. The three were nearing the water-front -when the elder lady broke a silence of some minutes' duration.</p> - -<p>"I hope the yacht is not very much farther, Mr. Castleport," she -ventured.</p> - -<p>"No," Jack answered, "she's at the foot of the next street. 'Twas -awfully stupid of me not to have got hold of a fiacre, but it seems so -short a distance for me to walk that I didn't think."</p> - -<p>"I wonder why a yacht is always <i>she</i> and <i>her</i>," observed Katrine. "Why -not <i>it</i>?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, the reason's plain enough," was Jack's answer. "Yachts have two -characteristics that are thoroughly feminine,—caprice and beauty."</p> - -<p>"It is good of you to temper the aspersion on my sex with a compliment," -Katrine returned.</p> - -<p>"It is obliging in me," Jack assented; "but politeness requires that I -should stretch a point, since you are my guest."</p> - -<p>"I am sorry to put you to the inconvenience," she said.</p> - -<p>"Of being polite? Thank you!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p><p>"Do you know, I'm sorry that your uncle is not here, Mr. Castleport," -said Mrs. Fairhew, as they turned the corner. "It is all very well to -have an old woman for a chaperon, but it is rather hard on you and Mr. -Taberman not to have some older man to talk to me."</p> - -<p>"Oh, you mustn't depreciate your charm at the expense of your age," Jack -cried.</p> - -<p>"Very pretty," laughed Mrs. Fairhew; "but your uncle"—</p> - -<p>"Ouch!" exclaimed Jack, making a fine show of stubbing the toe of his -rubber-soled shoe against a projecting paving-stone.</p> - -<p>"What did you say?" inquired Katrine, with an air of mild interest.</p> - -<p>"Nothing. I stubbed my toe on that beastly stone," answered Jack, with a -feeling of satisfaction that the President was once more shelved. "Now," -he added, "the boat is just here."</p> - -<p>A small but motley crowd was scattered along the water-front: bronzed -fishermen, with close-cropped hair and long earrings, carrying osier -baskets of shining sardines from their boats to their little carts; fat, -raucous-voiced women, with red or yellow scarves pinned across their -bosoms; lean-shanked 'longshoremen, too old for the sea this many a day; -brown sailors, picking their way<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> among the piles of iridescent -fish,—liver-colored squid and flabby octopi; half-naked boys, -outrageous and beautiful; with a miscellaneous sprinkling of human -flotsam and jetsam, as if the sea had cast them up battered and damaged. -Over all floated a distracting hubbub, made up of the rattling of -cart-wheels on the flags, the shrill cries of the venders, the calls of -the lads, the songs of the fishermen, and a medley of oaths, jests, -curses, directions, questions, and all sorts of vociferous shoutings.</p> - -<p>Both the ladies drew closer to Jack, who, masterfully making his way -through the press, piloted them across the quay. At the landing-steps -they found Jerry and the Merle's cutter, the object of the staring -curiosity and admiration of the wharf-rats and the loungers of the -docks.</p> - -<p>"Good-morning, Mr. Taberman. Have we kept you waiting long?" asked Mrs. -Fairhew.</p> - -<p>Tab had been broiling for half an hour, but was too courteous to say so. -He responded cheerily, then helped the ladies aboard, and established -them in the sheets. Jack took the tiller-lines, word was given, and the -men fell to pulling. The breeze was fresher and cooler on the water; it -made the ripples dance and glitter in the sunshine, and kept playfully -curling the ensign at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> stern of the cutter about Jack's head. -According to previous instructions, the watch on the Merle got up anchor -on seeing the cutter leave the quay, and were now holding the yacht in -the wind's eye. When the boat came alongside, the ladies were handed -aboard, the guest-salute was fired, the cutter was hoisted to the -davits, and the yacht was paid off.</p> - -<p>They ran out past the old battery and the lighthouse on the outer mole, -and coasted along to the westward. In the bright sunlight the numerous -dwellings—villas, hotels, and <i>pensions</i>—showing among the green -foliage of the trees looked very gay and attractive. The sea was dimpled -with laughter. The breeze, although it gave promise of freshening, was -now only strong enough to make the schooner, which was carrying all -sail, heel gracefully as she slipped along. The day was perfect for -light sailing.</p> - -<p>At one o'clock old Gonzague, his linen jacket dazzling in its whiteness -and his snowy hair brushed back from his high forehead, served luncheon. -Jack sat by Mrs. Fairhew on the starboard side, with Katrine and Jerry -opposite. Gonzague had outdone himself for the occasion. A Provençal by -birth, he knew the culinary value of all the wares—to foreign eyes so -puzzlingly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> useless and hopelessly inedible—displayed in Mediterranean -markets. The dishes which appeared on the table made Jack and Tab stare: -fresh sardines broiled and served with some mysterious sauce of which -they tried in vain to guess the ingredients; something which Katrine -pronounced delicious until she discovered it to be cuttlefish, and then -could not be prevailed upon to taste further; a salad which had lettuce -as its obvious foundation, but which was fragrant with a dozen strange -and piquant herbs; ripe citrons and limes; figs and bullaces; and a -wonderful fruity sherbet for dessert.</p> - -<p>"Do you generally fare like this on board the Merle?" Mrs. Fairhew -inquired. "If you do, I should like to come here to board while you are -in harbor."</p> - -<p>"Not much," returned Jerry bluntly. "This is all Gonzague's gallantry to -you ladies. As a rule he gives us only pork and beans."</p> - -<p>"Dear me," she commented. "That's pretty hard fare."</p> - -<p>"Do you really have to live on pork and beans on a cruise?" asked -Katrine.</p> - -<p>"Jerry was only speaking figuratively," explained Jack, with a laugh. -"Of course we do better than that. The only time we really suffered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> was -in a bit of a shake-up we had on the way over. The second week out we -had a blow, and had to live on hardtack and coffee for three days."</p> - -<p>"And Gonzague must have stood on his head to make the coffee, too," put -in Tab.</p> - -<p>"Was it really so bad as that?" asked Katrine. "I mean," she explained -as the others laughed, "did it really blow so hard he couldn't cook -things?"</p> - -<p>"Well," responded Taberman, "for forty hours we had it so hard we jolly -well thought we'd have to cut."</p> - -<p>"Cut?" queried Mrs. Fairhew.</p> - -<p>"Yes, the sticks, you know," Jack explained.</p> - -<p>From the expression on her face it was abundantly evident that the lady -did not know, but she said nothing. She had but the most casual -acquaintance with nautical affairs, and made no pretense of -understanding the speech of mariners; and she was always willing to let -a matter of this sort go, rather than to submit to a lengthy exposition.</p> - -<p>Katrine, on the other hand, while of course not proficient in the art of -handling yachts, knew enough to appreciate that when cutting away the -masts had been contemplated, things must have been at a pass really -dangerous. Now she made no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> comment, but she gave a swift glance at -Jack, that had in it much of the admiration which Desdemona felt at the -recital of the perils through which Othello had borne himself bravely. -Jack happened to catch her eye; she flushed and turned to Jerry.</p> - -<p>"Don't you tire of it all?" she asked. "I should think that to have the -monotony broken only by danger in which you can't have any rest or -comfort would be dreadfully wearisome."</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's great sport!" cried Tab heartily. "Besides, you know, there -are no end of things to do."</p> - -<p>"Such as what?" inquired Mrs. Fairhew. "I've always found the ocean -voyage the most boresome thing about traveling, although I'm a perfectly -good sailor."</p> - -<p>"Oh," said Jerry, with a flourish of his cigarette,—for coffee had been -served and the ladies had permitted smoking,—"there are rope-ends to be -attended to, and gear changed, and all that sort of thing, besides -seeing that the men go over the brasswork properly every day; and there -is taking sights, and making reckonings, and all sorts of things."</p> - -<p>"But I thought the men did all the work on the ropes and things."</p> - -<p>"So they do," Jack said, with a smile; "but it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> is our business to tell -them what to do and to see that they do it. You must remember that we -are the ship's officers."</p> - -<p>"We have to look things over all the time," Jerry added. "Just before we -went ashore to-day I saw a thing that'll have to be attended to as soon -as we get back at anchor. The fore-peak halyards are 'most chafed -through where they reeve through the block on the cap."</p> - -<p>"Dear me!" said Mrs. Fairhew. "Is it dangerous?"</p> - -<p>"Not in the least dangerous," Jack returned reassuringly. "Is it really -bad, Tab?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, I fancy it'll hold; leastways if there's no sudden strain on -it. The rope's new enough; but it jammed there the other day, you -remember."</p> - -<p>"Well, let's go on deck," suggested the captain. "It's such a gorgeous -day, it's a shame to miss any of it."</p> - -<p>On coming up they found that the wind had so freshened that the -fore-topsail and staysail had been struck, as well as the outer jib.</p> - -<p>"We can run on till about four o'clock," Castleport said, "and have -plenty of time to run back with this wind."</p> - -<p>They still held to the westward, keeping about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> a mile off shore, now -and then passing fishing craft, headed for Nice, their big lateen sails -shining in the sunlight. Jack, watching Katrine keenly, read her delight -and enjoyment in her eyes, and could see how she responded to the beauty -of the day, the picturesqueness of the shore, the exhilaration of the -wind, and the sparkling sea. At eight bells they had tea <i>au Russe</i> on -deck, and before they had finished drinking it the Merle was put about -and headed for the harbor.</p> - -<p>They had hardly gone a knot before they fell in with a large black yawl -flying the English colors and the burgee of the Royal Yacht Squadron. -She was sailing easily along under all lower canvas, her black hull -lifting gracefully over the sloping seas at about two cable-lengths -ahead. She was in cruising rig, with no boom to her mainsail, yet was so -large that her spread of canvas was at half a glance much greater than -that of the Merle. She crossed the schooner's bows, and then, luffing -occasionally, waited until the American yacht was on her beam.</p> - -<p>"Looks's though she wanted something of us," remarked Jerry. "Will you -take another look at her, Miss Marchfield?" And he handed her the -glasses.</p> - -<p>"She is a beauty!" exclaimed Katrine, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>regarding the yawl through the -binoculars. "I can see her name now. I-s-i-s Isis, of—of Plymouth. -Don't you want to look at her, Aunt Anne?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew took the glasses with the air of a person doing a favor, -and stared at the yawl in a perfunctory manner.</p> - -<p>"What an absurd bobtail of a sail that is set 'way back," she observed. -"It looks quite like a deformity."</p> - -<p>"That's for balance in heavy weather," said Jerry, with gusto. "Hadn't -we better salute, Jack?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose so," was the answer. "See; he's fallen off. Means to give us -a run for it, I fancy."</p> - -<p>The Merle dipped her ensign, and the Englishman returned the salute in -kind.</p> - -<p>"I say," cried Jerry, "they're setting their topsail. They want a race -in earnest."</p> - -<p>"They've an able boat, to carry all sail when it's breezed up like -this," commented Jack, giving the black yawl a critical look.</p> - -<p>"Come!" urged Tab. "Let's take a brace and give 'em a run for their -money. We can beat 'em all right enough, both sides of the Atlantic."</p> - -<p>Jack looked first at Katrine and then at her aunt.</p> - -<p>"Would you mind?" he asked.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p><p>"Mind?" cried Mrs. Fairhew, "I shouldn't mind it the least in the -world—especially if we beat them."</p> - -<p>"All right," shouted Tab, leaping boyishly out of his wicker chair. -"We'll show 'em! Watch along!" he roared to the crew.</p> - -<p>"Sway up on the main-peak halyards there," sang out Jack, who had also -started up quickly. "That's good! Fore-peak now—that'll do! Set -fore-topsail there—haul away! Good enough! All hands up to windward!" -Then he turned to the helmsman. "I'll take her," he said. "You get up to -windward with the rest."</p> - -<p>The man handed the helm over to him, and the race began.</p> - -<p>The yawl was on the windward beam, and both she and the schooner were -carrying so much sail as now and again to be heeled lee rail under. At -the end of twenty minutes the American boat seemed to be drawing ahead, -although the Englishman, his red flag blowing out from his maintop, was -still to windward.</p> - -<p>Katrine and her aunt had abandoned their chairs for the weather transom -of the cockpit. Katrine was thoroughly alive to the excitement of this -impromptu contest, while Mrs. Fairhew's well-bred face wore a smile -which might be taken to signify<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> either her superiority to such a -youthful means of enjoyment or confidence in the power of the Merle to -outstrip her rival.</p> - -<p>Jack, his strong, shapely hands grasping the spokes of the wheel, -glanced only from the sails aloft to the yawl and back again. Katrine -watched him furtively. His keen, eager pose, wholly free from -self-consciousness and suggestive of power and vigilant activity, his -masterful management of his craft,—she noted them all, and felt a -certain pleasure in them, as if in some way she were responsible for -them.</p> - -<p>"Think we'll come 'round, Jerrold," said the captain.</p> - -<p>He gave a rapid succession of orders as he twirled the spokes to port. -The Merle came about on the other tack, the men got to stations on the -weather side, and the ladies changed their places.</p> - -<p>"Now we'll see how much we've gained on them," said Jerry, half to the -guests and half to himself.</p> - -<p>They drove toward the shore in the roughening sea, the port runway being -now covered with a thin sheet of hissing green water. Up forward an -occasional wave would come slap against the yacht's shoulder with a -sound like a rifle-shot. The Isis crossed their bows at a distance so -little ahead of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> them that her name and hail could be read easily -without the aid of a glass.</p> - -<p>"We're outfooting them, Jack. We'll have 'em cold in twenty minutes!" -cried Tab enthusiastically.</p> - -<p>"Don't count your chickens before they're hatched," laughed Katrine.</p> - -<p>"Oh, but we can't help doing 'em," he responded. "We'll have 'em so -walloped that they'll go into dry-dock for a month."</p> - -<p>"You'd better rap on wood, Mr. Taberman," cautioned Mrs. Fairhew, with a -smile. "I don't wish to be a croaking raven, but surely they're ahead -now."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew had, as the race went on, grown more and more alert. Her -eyes had in them the spark of a genuine lover of sport, and all the -womanly love of contest and conquest showed in the eagerness of her pose -and air.</p> - -<p>"Of course they're ahead," Jerry answered; "but we have the wind of them -by a good deal."</p> - -<p>"I hope that means something," the lady commented, with a movement of -the head half eager, half humorous, "but I confess that it is all Greek -to me."</p> - -<p>Jerry began to explain, but before he could make things clear to the -lady's unnautical mind, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> yacht came about again to the port tack. -The Merle was then so far to weather of the yawl that Jack ordered the -sheets to be started a trifle.</p> - -<p>"Now then, Jerry, here's where we overhaul them," Jack cried exultingly. -"Just set the balloon-jib outside the headsails. I think she'll stand -it."</p> - -<p>"Want the staysail?" asked the mate.</p> - -<p>"No—'twould spoil her helm," returned the captain. "Jump along, old -man."</p> - -<p>The change was effected as quickly as might be, and the yacht's speed -was visibly increased.</p> - -<p>"That yawl's better on the wind than off," the captain commented. "We're -picking up on 'em now like smoke."</p> - -<p>After an hour's chase and half an hour's jockeying off the mouth of the -port, the Merle was about to run in when the English yacht luffed up and -crossed the schooner's bows. Both boats were close-hauled, but the -American was on the starboard tack and had the right of way. The -helmsman of the Isis gave Jack his choice of running the yawl down or -luffing himself. Jack chose the latter alternative; although naturally -angry at such an unsportsmanlike trick, he could not take risks with his -uncle's yacht, least of all with the ladies on board. The Englishman did -not spare him, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> first blanketed him, and then, putting his helm up -and leaving the Merle with a small ledge frothing to leeward, forced the -schooner about. Under his tan Jack grew white with indignant anger. He -was not the man to lose his temper in his pastimes, but he had a strong -sense of justice, a thorough contempt for trickery, and he was quick to -resent a deliberate outrage of this sort. The performance was so -evidently premeditated on the part of the Isis that it amounted to a -most flagrant insult, a cold-blooded piece of sporting caddishness. The -only remedy possible under the circumstances was a desperate one, but in -his state of mind he did not hesitate.</p> - -<p>"Stand by to jibe!" he roared. "Cast off the topsail halyards! Now aft -on the sheets!"</p> - -<p>It was blowing too hard for jibing with safety even under reduced cloth, -and barring staysail and topsails, the Merle was under full canvas.</p> - -<p>"My God!" exclaimed Jerry to the winds, as he tumbled aft to help on the -sheet, "he'll pull the sticks out of her! Something's bound to go!"</p> - -<p>Jack held the wheel hard up, and the schooner swung steadily off. The -booms rushed over the decks, fetched up with a crash, and then swung out -as the men payed off the sheets. The lee rail went clean under, and for -a second or two <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>unpleasant and portentous creakings and groanings -filled the air. The men flew about with wonderful dexterity, while the -two ladies held on to each other to avoid being pitched headlong.</p> - -<p>"Are any of your teeth shaken out, Katrine?" Mrs. Fairhew inquired, when -they were able once more to sit up. "All mine were loosened by that -awful jerk."</p> - -<p>"They are all safe, Aunt Anne," Katrine cried, her voice vibrant with -delighted excitement. "Isn't it splendid?"</p> - -<p>Her hair was blowing about her face, her eyes were shining, her cheeks -were flushed; and Jack, though his swift glance merely caught a view of -her as it flashed up to the sails, carried the alluring picture in his -mind for many a day. The thought of it was for the time being instantly -crowded out of his mind as he caught sight of the rigging. As the Merle -had leaped ahead, the fore-peak halyards, which had not been started -before the yacht was jibed, had parted. The gaff hung nearly at right -angles to the boom, and the sail was being strained out of shape. The -captain was so upset that in his rage he was guilty of swearing before -ladies.</p> - -<p>"What shall we do?" sang out Jerry.</p> - -<p>Jack's cry had called his attention to the mishap, and he had run -forward.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p><p>"Really this grows exciting," remarked Mrs. Fairhew, as if she were at -the theatre.</p> - -<p>"Oh, what a shame! what a shame!" wailed Katrine, looking despairingly -up at the drooping gaff.</p> - -<p>"Get some half-inch on it!" shouted Jack, almost beside himself at -having been bullied into this predicament. "Take it out as far as you -can! Reeve it through the cap-block first. Move along there! Smartly!"</p> - -<p>"All right!" cried Tab; and in the same moment, with a coil of new rope -over his shoulder, and followed by one of the men, he ran up the weather -rigging.</p> - -<p>On reaching the cross-trees, Tab passed the end of his rope through the -block on the masthead cap and fastened it to his belt. Then he swung -himself down to the jaws of the gaff and lay out along the spar. The big -stick threshed about wildly, threatening to snap him into the sea at -every fling. Slowly and painfully he worked his way out. He clung on -desperately, so that it seemed like a conscious fight between himself -and the plunging spar whether he should be shaken off. It was like a -man's trying to tame a bucking horse, only a hundred times more -exciting, and Katrine grew pale as she watched, while even Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> Fairhew -set her lips closely. The three minutes it took Jerry to reach the -peak-halyard block seemed to every person on the Merle all but -interminable. Twice he nearly fell,—once at the outset when he slipped, -and again when he had to crawl around the throat halyards between rolls. -The second time he was actually thrown off the spar, but fortunately he -held his grip on the halyards. The next lurch of the yacht playfully -tossed him into the air, and he was lucky enough to regain his position -on the spar.</p> - -<p>Getting to the peak-block, he unknotted the rope from his belt, passed -it about the spar, and took a "timber-hitch." He then slowly worked his -way back, and eventually reached the cross-trees in safety. The nervous -tension had been so strong that when the men saw him coming down the -ratlines they fell to cheering lustily, Gonzague, his white hair ruffled -by the wind, waving his arms and out-shouting the whole of them. They -speedily got hold of the jury halyard, and even before Jerry had reached -the deck, the gaff was again well raised, and the topsail set.</p> - -<p>In the mean time the Isis had in her turn got into difficulties. It is -poor business jockeying among reefs, and the yawl had been forced to -come about, luff up, and drift sternwards until her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> chances of beating -the Merle were utterly gone. The fact seemed to be that the English -captain had counted upon the Merle's not daring to jibe, and so had been -too clever by half.</p> - -<p>Jerry came aft, very red in the face, and with the customary twinkle in -his eye. The ladies were evidently greatly impressed by his feat, and -Jack, who of course understood more clearly than they how dangerous the -task had been, took one hand off the wheel and wrung Jerry's.</p> - -<p>"Awfully sorry, old man," he said. "But I was so hot at that Englishman -I lost my head for a minute."</p> - -<p>"Oh, go 'long!" returned Jerry, grinning. "Don't you suppose I was hot -myself?"</p> - -<p>He dropped on to a seat beside Mrs. Fairhew, to recover his breath.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Taberman," said that lady, "I'm an old woman,"—it was one of Mrs. -Fairhew's idiosyncrasies to call attention thus whimsically to the fact -that she looked hardly more than thirty,—"I'm an old woman, and -consequently I disapprove of rashness; but I don't mind saying that I -like your pluck."</p> - -<p>She looked at him in a curious way, as if he were an amusing case of -arrested development, but her glance was full of kindliness.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p><p>"Thank you," Tab answered, with a smile which was too confused not to -be almost a grin. "It's more a sound wind than pluck, I assure you."</p> - -<p>"It was perfectly magnificent!" Katrine cried. "You're a perfect hero!"</p> - -<p>They all laughed, more perhaps from the nervous reaction after the -strain than from any especial amusement, and Jerry blushed more than -ever.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid you're inclined to make a mountain out of a molehill," he -said. "We don't allow heroics aboard here, you know. Jack did the -only"—</p> - -<p>"That'll do, Jerry," called Jack from the wheel.</p> - -<p>"All right, captain," Tab returned, laughing. "Under orders."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but that's not fair," cried Katrine. "If Mr. Castleport played the -hero too, we want to know all about it."</p> - -<p>"I'll masthead that mate if he goes on talking about his superior -officer," Jack threatened. "See, the Isis has given the whole thing up."</p> - -<p>"She'd better," commented Jerry, "though I don't see that she had -anything left to give."</p> - -<p>The yawl was well astern now. Her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>sailing-master had for a little time, -in a vain endeavor to overtake his rival, pinched his boat unmercifully, -so that with her nose in the wind's eye her sails were every now and -then a-shiver. Now she had evidently accepted the inevitable, and was -making quietly for an anchorage.</p> - -<p>"Tell us about Mr. Castleport," Katrine said to Jerry in an undertone.</p> - -<p>"Oh," returned Tab, "he stuck to the wheel over forty-eight hours when -we had that blow we were talking about. It was a magnificent thing to -do, and I think he saved us from everlasting smash. Of course he -pooh-poohs the idea, but Jack's never willing to have anybody say he's -done anything big. He's as modest as he is stunning," he ended warmly, -throwing at the captain a glance of admiration and affection.</p> - -<p>Katrine made no audible comment, but her glance followed his, and had -Jack intercepted her look at that moment, he might have felt his heart -beat more briskly.</p> - -<p>The superior speed of the Merle, aided by the poor tactics of the -skipper of the Isis, who seemed to lose his head when he found he was -beaten, gave the American so much the lead that the schooner had dropped -her anchor a minute or two before the yawl rounded the inner mole.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p><p>"I never had so splendid a sail in my life," Katrine said.</p> - -<p>"I was sure you would beat that other boat, Mr. Castleport," Mrs. -Fairhew told him, "and I confess I enjoyed seeing you do it."</p> - -<p>"I couldn't be so rude as to let you ladies be beaten in a race," the -captain responded, laughing.</p> - -<p>"Of course not," put in Jerry; "no gentleman would let a lady be -beaten."</p> - -<p>"What an atrocious pun!" cried Katrine; "and Mr. Taberman looks actually -wistful for fear we shouldn't see it."</p> - -<p>"Well," her aunt said, moving toward the ladder, where the cutter was in -waiting, "it has been a delightful day, and we are greatly obliged."</p> - -<p>While the ladies were being pulled ashore, and before Jack and Jerry had -returned, everything on the Merle was put in order. Just as they went -below to dress for going ashore for dinner, a boat from the yawl came -alongside with a note for the "Captain of the Merle; sch. Y't." Gonzague -brought it to Castleport, who looked at it, and then read it aloud to Jerry.</p> - -<blockquote><p class="right"><span class="smcap">Yawl Yacht Isis</span>, R. Y. S.</p> - -<p>Lord Merryfield presents his compliments to the gentleman who -handled the Merle in such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> masterly fashion this afternoon, and -requests the honor of his presence at dinner on board the Isis this -evening at six bells, A. T. It will be an additional pleasure to -Lord Merryfield if the gentleman who so pluckily rose to the -occasion in the matter of a parted halyard will accompany the -captain of the Merle.</p> - -<p> R. S. V. P.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Nice</span>, July 17, 1902.</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Rot!" said Jerry inelegantly. "Let me answer it."</p> - -<p>"Get out!" responded Jack. "I think I can settle him."</p> - -<p>He got out the President's most elaborate stationery, and after some -meditation and the destruction of one or two epistles which would not go -quite to suit him, he handed to Jerry the following:—</p> - -<blockquote><p class="right"><span class="smcap">Sch. Yt. Merle</span>, E. Y. C.</p> - -<p>Captain John Castleport and Mr. Jerrold Taberman present their -compliments to Lord Merryfield and regret that, owing to a previous -engagement, it is impossible for them to accept the invitation so -kindly tendered to them. Captain Castleport further desires -earnestly to express his opinion in regard to having been forced -about by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> the Y. Yt. Isis this afternoon when he had the right of -way; and to say that he considers such a manœuvre so -unsportsmanlike and insulting that it should be impossible in a -gentleman's race. As the injured party, he ventures to remind Lord -Merryfield that the only reparation that can be made is the -severest reprimanding of the sailing-master, or whoever was -responsible for this inexcusable expedient.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Nice</span>, July 17, 1902.</p></blockquote> - -<p>"You see," Jack explained, "we let him know what we think of that -caddish trick without being in the least rude ourselves. Of course the -chances are that he was responsible for the thing himself, and there we -have him on the hip."</p> - -<p>"I suppose it's all right," grumbled Jerry. "You know best; but if I 'd -written it, I should have told him straight out that I thought him a -damned cad!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i009.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Eight</span> <span class="smaller">A CHANGE OF TACTICS</span></h2> - -<p>As they sat that evening in the garden of the hotel drinking their -after-dinner coffee, which the gentlemen accompanied with cigarettes, -they discussed the news from home contained in a batch of letters Mrs. -Fairhew and her niece had found awaiting them on their return from the -yacht. The announcement of an engagement, rumors of flirtations which -might end in others, the latest gossip about people they all knew, were -mingled with chat about an extraordinary yacht race at Northeast Harbor, -a Russian princess at Nahant, an automobile accident at Lenox, and a -fresh divorce at Newport.</p> - -<p>"Everything else," Mrs. Fairhew said at length, "is simply nothing at -all in comparison to a piece of business news I received. Have you heard -of the Tillington failure?"</p> - -<p>"What!" cried Jack. "R. B. Tillington?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. Their own notice was with the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> mail this afternoon," she -responded. "Liabilities something like a third of a million and their -assets nothing."</p> - -<p>"How in the world did it happen?" asked Tab. "I knew they had a lot to -do with mines, and of course those are always risky; but Tillington -always had the name of being awfully clever."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps he was too clever," Jack suggested.</p> - -<p>"Clever or not," Mrs. Fairhew said, "he has come to grief, and, I am -ashamed to confess, he has lost some money for me."</p> - -<p>"I am very sorry for that," Jack responded. "I'll wager you'll have -plenty of distinguished company. I'm awfully afraid Uncle Randolph got -his fingers burned. He's had dealings with Tillington for ever so long. -I never took kindly to the man myself, but Uncle Randolph had a great -opinion of his business sagacity."</p> - -<p>"I'll wager Mrs. Fairhew's bound to be in good company even in -misfortune," Jerry declared with his usual somewhat clumsy gallantry.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew smiled, and made a little sweeping gesture with her fan as -if the subject were a disagreeable one and should be waved aside.</p> - -<p>"Even that," she said, "doesn't soothe my wounded vanity. The money I've -lost is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>fortunately not very much, but I pride myself on my business -head, and I made this investment in spite of the advice of my banker. -Think how he will chuckle! I'd rather have lost three times as much on -an investment he selected."</p> - -<p>"How thoroughly feminine!" Jack laughed.</p> - -<p>"Of course you can't understand," Katrine struck in. "I agree with Aunt -Anne entirely. Of course one would rather lose money than to give a man -a chance to crow over her."</p> - -<p>The talk was thus drawn into the inexhaustible discussion of feminine -and masculine characteristics, that topic about which revolves two -thirds of all the small talk of the world. Then it drifted back to the -personal news of the letters.</p> - -<p>"I don't think Billy Rafton's to be congratulated," announced Tab -emphatically, in reference to a recent wedding. "Edna Leighton has -plenty of money of course, and is a stunning girl and all that; but -she's so horribly ambitious that she won't give poor Billy a minute's -peace."</p> - -<p>"And Billy is one of the most quiet men alive," put in Jack.</p> - -<p>"Ambitious?" queried Katrine. "How? I've known her pretty well, and to -me she always seemed nice. Certainly she's clever."</p> - -<p>"So she is clever," Jerry assented; "but of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> course that'll make it -harder for Billy to stand out against her."</p> - -<p>"She naturally would have the instinct to get ahead in the world," -commented Castleport. "Her mother was a Farquhar."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Castleport," remonstrated Mrs. Fairhew, "that remark is too -feminine to be worthy of you."</p> - -<p>"Do you regret that I didn't leave it for you to say?" he asked saucily. -"I know you entirely agree with me."</p> - -<p>"Her father, Stephen Leighton," Mrs. Fairhew continued, making no answer -but a hardly perceptible smile to his statement, "was a thoroughly -charming man and of very good family. You can't deny that, Mr. -Castleport."</p> - -<p>"I haven't any wish to. I'm not trying to run down Edna -Leighton—Rafton, that is."</p> - -<p>"I always thought," began Katrine. Then she stopped, with an involuntary -movement of the eyes in the direction of Taberman.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I was hit there once," Tab said jovially, "if that's what you mean. -I got over it at a boat race."</p> - -<p>They all laughed, and the topic seemed exhausted, when the elder lady -said:—</p> - -<p>"We shall have sight of them at Florence, I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> suppose. They are to be at -the Villa Foscagni for the summer. It belongs to the Raftons."</p> - -<p>"When do you expect to get there?" Tab inquired carelessly.</p> - -<p>"Florence? In five or six days."</p> - -<p>"Five or six days!" cried Jack. "Why, when do you leave here?"</p> - -<p>"To-morrow afternoon," answered Katrine in a tone of which the -indifference might have struck Jack as a little overdone had he not been -too perturbed to notice.</p> - -<p>"Why—but—" Jack began; "I had no idea"—</p> - -<p>"Did you fancy we were here for the summer?" queried Katrine with demure -interest.</p> - -<p>The hint of teasing in her tone brought Castleport to himself. Half his -social success lay in the fact that he was not easily disconcerted.</p> - -<p>"As Mrs. Fairhew was good enough to tell me her plans," he returned -coolly, "I naturally understood that you were to leave here before long, -but I admit I hadn't thought you would go so soon."</p> - -<p>"You see," Mrs. Fairhew explained, "we really must get on. Katrine has -to do museums and things, as I told you. When I was a girl it wouldn't -have been thought respectable for a girl<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> to come out before she'd seen -the Pitti and Uffizzi; but it's all different now."</p> - -<p>"What nonsense, Aunt Anne! I don't believe you'd seen the galleries -yourself when you came out."</p> - -<p>"Indeed I had. I'll make you read all the finest print in the -guide-books if you are impertinent. We take," she added, turning to -Castleport, "the 3.08 for Genoa."</p> - -<p>Jack was by nature quick and resolute; and before Mrs. Fairhew had got -to this remark he had conceived a plan, and resolved to follow it out. -Gravely regarding the thicket of oleanders behind Miss Marchfield, yet -with the tail of his eye on the face of Jerry, which was alternately -lighted and obscured as his cigarette glowed or waned, the captain -remarked coolly:—</p> - -<p>"That's a curious coincidence."</p> - -<p>"Coincidence?" repeated Mrs. Fairhew questioningly.</p> - -<p>"It would seem so," Jack almost drawled. "You said the 3.08, didn't you? -How far do you go? All the way to Genoa?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. What is there extraordinary about that?"</p> - -<p>"Why, nothing much," returned Jack in a brisker tone, throwing away the -butt of his cigarette; "only—yes—that's the very train I go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> on -myself. Same destination, too, unless I decide to stop at Bordighera."</p> - -<p>There naturally was a sensation at this unexpected announcement. Katrine -drew in her breath audibly; in the very nick of time Jerry caught -himself in the act of saying profanely what he would be; Mrs. Fairhew -closed her fan quickly, but she was too much mistress of herself to give -any indication of her feelings beyond a little quick laugh.</p> - -<p>"I had not remembered that you spoke of going," she said.</p> - -<p>"No?" Jack said politely.</p> - -<p>"But," gasped Jerry, "I say—you know, I say"—</p> - -<p>Evidently his feelings were too much for him, and he collapsed. So -sudden a move on the part of Jack was sure to disconcert his -slower-witted comrade, and the captain had fortunately been prepared by -previous experiences for some mental confusion on the part of the mate.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Jerry?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Nothing—I—I don't remember what I was going to say," murmured the -bewildered Tab.</p> - -<p>"Really," observed Mrs. Fairhew, "it hadn't occurred to me that you -could or would leave the yacht. What becomes of her?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, you don't doubt Jerry, do you? He's going to take her in charge."</p> - -<p>Once determined upon his plan, Jack felt it best to carry matters off -with a high hand. He did not in the least care whether Mrs. Fairhew and -Katrine suspected that his resolution to go on by land had been taken on -the spot or not; but he liked to play the game well, and to put a good -face on things. He spoke as though his mind had been made up long -before, although all the time his brain was working with furious energy, -as he tried to shape the scheme thoroughly and to foresee all possible -contingencies. To give over to Jerry the care of the President's yacht -was a bold stroke, but he said to himself that he was confident his -friend was entirely competent to manage her for the comparatively short -run to Naples; and his thought nimbly disposed of objection after -objection as they rose in his mind.</p> - -<p>Rapid as had been his decision, it was less wild than it might seem; and -by the time he spoke again Jack had all the details pretty well -mastered.</p> - -<p>"Do you leave the Merle here?" inquired Mrs. Fairhew.</p> - -<p>Katrine, Jack noted, had said nothing, but he had heard that quick, -indrawn breath, and he did not believe that her silence arose from -indifference.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, no; Jerry's going to take her to Naples," was Castleport's cool -reply.</p> - -<p>It was to Tab's credit that at this astounding piece of intelligence he -did not make a violent demonstration; but he was not unaccustomed to the -rapidity with which Jack came to a decision, and he had before been -trained in accepting what his captain said. Now he only dropped his -cigarette, and on picking it up put the lighted end between his lips, -spluttered and smothered a profane comment, and hurled the offending -butt as far as he could.</p> - -<p>"Have another?" asked Jack, unruffled, as he pushed his case across the -little table by which they were sitting.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, no!" replied Tab with quite unnecessary emphasis.</p> - -<p>"You've no need to touch your lips with fire, Mr. Taberman," Mrs. -Fairhew observed, opening and closing her fan in a way which she had -when amused; "you have been sufficiently eloquent in compliments ever -since you arrived. May we hope, then," she went on, turning to -Castleport, "for the pleasure of your company on the journey?"</p> - -<p>"If you and Miss Marchfield do not object, I shall be delighted."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p><p>"It will be a great pleasure to me. Of course I can't speak for -Katrine."</p> - -<p>Jack turned to look at Katrine. On her face the soft light of a Japanese -lantern fell between a couple of trees, but she at once moved so that -the shadows hid her expression.</p> - -<p>"Nothing could please me more, Aunt Anne, than that you should be -pleased," she responded.</p> - -<p>"Then you had better bring Mr. Taberman and your luggage ashore, and -come to luncheon to-morrow," the aunt said, rising. "In that way we can -take our time and be comfortable. Does that suit your plans, Mr. -Castleport?"</p> - -<p>Jack detected the suspicion of mirth in her voice, but he felt that if -she had disapproved she would not only have shown no amusement but that -she was clever enough to have thwarted his scheme.</p> - -<p>"I don't want to abuse your hospitality," he said.</p> - -<p>"Oh, we shall make you useful as an escort, and get enough service out -of you on the journey to pay that," spoke Katrine, with the air of -feeling that she had been too noticeably silent.</p> - -<p>"We're only too delighted to come, of course," Jerry said with boyish -enthusiasm. "Anybody'd be glad of a chance to lunch with you, Mrs. -Fairhew."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p><p>"Your compliments are rather direct, Mr. Taberman," that lady answered -with a laugh. "We'll say 1.30, then. That will give us plenty of time. I -hate to be hurried; it is so undignified."</p> - -<p>As Mrs. Fairhew had risen the others were of course on their feet, and -as Jack stood aside for Katrine to pass him, the elder lady took his -arm. By this she detained him an instant, until her niece and Jerry were -a few yards away. When they approached the door of the hotel and it was -light enough for him to see her clearly, she dropped his arm; and as he -turned his face toward her at the movement, she regarded him through her -lorgnette with a look quizzical though kindly.</p> - -<p>"You are a clever boy," she said after a little, and with a peculiar -faint stress on the adjective. "Do you want to marry my niece?"</p> - -<p>Jack of course recognized that the question would never have been asked -had there been any doubt of the answer, and even in the confusion of the -moment he had a dim perception that Mrs. Fairhew was, with kindly whim, -helping him to ask her sanction to his wooing. He felt his cheeks grow -hot, but he faced his inquisitor frankly, and he spoke with a manner -which though instinctively subdued was full of energy and feeling.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p><p>"You know I do," he said. "You know I'd die the worst of deaths for -her. I—As God's above me," he burst out, breaking off and feeling -himself strangle with his emotion, "I'll win her or die trying! I—I— -Of course I want to marry her! What do you suppose I came to Europe for?"</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew's face softened, for no true woman could have heard the -passion of his voice unmoved; but she laughed at the sudden change with -which he ended.</p> - -<p>"I hope you may succeed," she said softly. "I think you will." Then she -took his arm again, and spoke in her ordinary voice: "Come, we must go in."</p> - -<p class="space-above">"Now, then, Jack, in the name of heaven," demanded Jerry, as soon as he -and the captain were out of hearing of the ladies, "what is this awful -josh of yours about leaving the yacht?"</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you when we get aboard," his friend answered. "Don't bother -me now; I'm thinking."</p> - -<p>Tab snorted contemptuously, and in silence the pair held on until they -reached the quay. The cutter awaited them, and still in silence they -were pulled out to the Merle. There was not a breath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> of wind now; the -stars blazed brilliantly above them, and not a cloud-blot was to be -seen. In a stillness broken only by the rhythmical oar-strokes the pair -watched the myriad star-points which dotted the heavens as they had -adorned it centuries before when old Nice was new Nicæa, and some brown -Sicilian pilot may have gazed up at them and made haven by their -faithful guidance.</p> - -<p>No sooner were they aboard than Gonzague came to ask if they would have -supper.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't know," Jack answered, still in a dream from the spell of -Mrs. Fairhew's words.</p> - -<p>"Well, I do," put in Jerry. "We'll have some caviare sandwiches, -Gonzague, and a glass of sherry."</p> - -<p>The supper was eaten almost in silence, and it was not until Gonzague -had taken away the things and left them with pipes lighted that the -inevitable explanation was reached.</p> - -<p>"Now then?" said Tab impatiently.</p> - -<p>His face wore a sober expression, full of expectancy, but not without a -hint of annoyance and reproach. Jack blew a large smoke-ring at him, and -laughed to see how in dodging it Jerry kept his solemnity unchanged.</p> - -<p>"Well, Tab," he began, "I don't suppose it's necessary to say that the -idea of leaving the yacht<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> never came into my head till I knew Mrs. -Fairhew and Katr—Miss Marchfield were off to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"Heave ahead," grumpily retorted Jerry. "Don't mind me. Of course I -shall be delighted to be left alone on the yacht."</p> - -<p>"Come, cheer up, old man," Jack exhorted. "Don't be grouchy. I'm awfully -sorry to leave you; but of course it's only for a little while, and we -shall both have compensations. I hope I shall be coming nearer -to—to—well, to something definite, you know; and you'll have the Merle -to do what you jolly well please with."</p> - -<p>"That's all very well, of course," Tab responded, his face relaxing a -little; "but what's your game? We've beastly little money, you know; and -this shore cruise of yours is bound to sop up a lot of tin."</p> - -<p>"We've money enough to carry us through," Jack declared. "I'll go to -Genoa, of course. I know Italy pretty well, and I can make myself -useful,—sort of 'guide, philosopher, and friend,' and courier all in -one. When they go on to Naples,—well, from something Mrs. Fairhew said -to-night, I think I shan't have any difficulty going on to Naples with -them. A man's a handy article in traveling, you see, especially if he -knows the language."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>Jerry regarded the captain as if his slower wits found it somewhat hard -to follow the swift flights of his friend's mind.</p> - -<p>"But the Merle?" he objected. "It's bad enough for you to be skylarking -about the world with the President's yacht, but when it comes to turning -it over to me—Why, the old gentleman would throw five hundred fits at -the bare idea."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I'll trust you there," Jack said lightly, consciously trying to -make his confidence as flattering as possible. "You can manage, and do -as you please for the next month. Who ever heard of a mate that didn't -jump at the chance of taking command for a while. I'd advise you to -stop, say, at Elba, if you're for doing the sights. Then, if you like, -while you're on the Napoleonic tack, you might run 'round to Ajaccio. -It's an out-of-the-way place, rather, but it's jolly when you get there. -As for Elba, I've never been ashore there, though I've passed it and -know the chap that owns it. I'll give you a letter in case you want to -go ashore."</p> - -<p>"But, Jack—Damn it!" broke out Jerry, as if exasperated by the very -feasibility of his friend's sudden change of tactics, "I can't speak a -word of their blessed lingo!"</p> - -<p>"Pooh! Your French will carry you about well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> enough, and if worst comes -to worst, you can fall back on Gonzague. At Naples you'll find them -speaking English all over the lot."</p> - -<p>"Jack Castleport, you're certainly the damnedest man to handle I ever -came across," Jerry said in despairing tones. "A fellow might as well -try to bully-rag a sea-cow as to argue you out of any of your confounded -schemes."</p> - -<p>"That's because they're so good," laughed Jack. "You see their profound -wisdom carries me away so completely that objections can't touch me." -Then he stretched his hand across the table corner, and caught hold of -Jerry's. "I'm deuced sorry to give you the slip like this," he said, -"but you know the reason."</p> - -<p>The good-natured Tab melted at once. He returned the pressure of his -friend's hand and tried to quote</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>"But when a woman's in the case,</div> -<div>All other things, you know, give place;"</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>but made so hopeless a mess of it that he could only break out into one -of his boisterously jovial guffaws.</p> - -<p>"Well, by George," he cried, "if she only knew how devoted you are, -Jack, she'd let you wait a dog's age, just to try you."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p><p>They spent an hour or so in arranging details, going over charts, -dividing their funds, and so on. Jack gave Tab addresses at Genoa, -Florence, and Rome by which he might be reached, and told him that at -Naples he should go to the Hôtel du Vesuve. On the twentieth of August -Jerry was to inquire for him there. These and other affairs having been -arranged, the pair smoked a final pipe, and turned in.</p> - -<p>Jack was very wakeful. He lay thinking of this and of that, restlessly -tossing about in his berth. Just as at last he was dropping off to -sleep, he was aroused by the voice of Jerry, who called softly across -the passage:—</p> - -<p>"I say, Jack,—are you awake?"</p> - -<p>"Almost," replied Jack; "but I shouldn't have been, if you'd let me -alone."</p> - -<p>"I say, Jacko, do you fancy the President came a cropper in that -Tillington smashup?"</p> - -<p>"Don't know," Jack answered. "He's pretty shrewd, and Mrs. Fairhew would -have been likely to hear of it, I should think, if he had come seriously -to grief."</p> - -<p>"Well, you know, it struck me that perhaps that beastly letter from -Tillington might have been something important, and"—</p> - -<p>"Oh, take a liver-pill!" interrupted Jack.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> "You've got an attack of -<i>Conscientia Novanglicana</i>."</p> - -<p>"What's that?"</p> - -<p>"Forerunner of nervous pros.," replied the captain with a chuckle. "Go -to sleep or you'll get it."</p> - -<p>"Well, good-night."</p> - -<p>"Good-night, boy."</p> - -<p>Silence again reigned, but Jack, once more aroused, threshed about -uneasily until far into the night. Resolutely as he might determine not -to think of the possible consequences of the carrying off of that big -blue letter, he could not prevent doubt from recurring constantly to his -mind, and something not so far removed from remorse mingled with his -thoughts of Katrine and of the delight of traveling in her company. He -was so long awake that on the next afternoon Mrs. Fairhew, when he had -installed her and her niece comfortably in a first-class compartment on -the 3.08 train, and they were beginning to see the olive groves and the -villas slip picturesquely past the windows, noted the shadows beneath -his eyes, and smiled to herself discreetly and unseen.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i027.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Nine</span> <span class="smaller">THE DOLDRUMS</span></h2> - -<p>For two weeks the Merle had been lying at anchor at Naples. From Nice -she had run first to Elba; thence she had doubled north again and -rounded Corsica; she had touched at Calvi and Ajaccio; and lastly, -running through the Straits of Bonifacio, she had held on -east-southeasterly to her present anchorage off the Castle.</p> - -<p>Despite the novel pleasures of command, Taberman felt Jack's absence so -much as at times to be almost unhappy, even at times a little inclined -to be resentful. He was still too boyish not to feel that to leave a -yacht for a girl was the height of madness, if not of idiocy; and while -he was too loyal to Jack to confess this feeling even to himself, it -would at times rise in his mind, especially when he felt more than -usually lonely. On his arrival at any port Jerry experienced to the full -the excitement which even the oldest traveler feels in some degree at -entering a new town. Whenever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> the port officer appeared in his official -dignity, another sensation was added in the fear of detection and -apprehension. A reaction would set in with the departure of the easily -satisfied official, and Jerry would go mooning about with his hands in -his pockets, whistling some spiritless tune until the time came to get -up anchor and sail anew.</p> - -<p>At Naples, however, things went somewhat better with Jerry than at any -of his previous ports. In the first place even Jerry, unæsthetic as he -was, could not escape the magic of the beautiful bay and the -surroundings which opened up before him in the morning light as he -approached the city. He said to himself, half as if in excuse for being -so much pleased by mere scenery, that it looked as it should. It had, as -it were, kept faith with him; and its beauty was to him an honest -fulfillment of its fame. The gray cone of Vesuvius, palpably and -gratifyingly like the pictures, stood at the head of the bay, crowned -with an inky cloud of smoke. Away from it to the south stretched the -cliffs of blue Sorrento and bluer Capri, melting magically into a -background of hills or of the azure sky. On the north of the smoking -cone a stretch of shadow-wrought shore, and then Naples itself, from the -old Spanish fort on the water-front to the Castle of St. Elmo, long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> and -gray, crowning the summit of the ridge behind, and the stone-pines -silhouetted like palms against the sapphire sky. Naples, with its great -four-square houses of pink, and white, and yellow, heaped, as it were, -one above another; its red-tiled roofs, its terraces tricked out with -vines or fig-trees; Naples, with its church roofs of variegated tiles, -its long quays yellowish gray about the shore—Jerry could well have -believed himself in some enchanted picture city, a city which might -almost be expected to vanish suddenly if one should close the book it -graced.</p> - -<p>Behind the Government Mole were lying five Italian battleships, their -big red, white, and green flags floating over their sterns, and -everywhere over the liquid blue of the bay sailed fisher-craft and small -boats, gilded with the morning light.</p> - -<p>Scarcely was the Merle's anchor down than the yacht was surrounded by a -gay flotilla of boats, all laden with piles of fruit or vegetables, and -manned by crews as noisy as they were picturesque. Baskets heaped with -figs, great piles of green melons, lemons, citrons, plums, fresh -vegetables of all sorts, were there; and each ware was extolled by the -vendors with vociferous volubility, until the ears of Jerry fairly sang -with the din. From the crowding boats screamed blowsy, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>dark-eyed women -with brown oval faces and raiment of reds and yellows; boys with Greek -faces and slim bare arms yelled with shrill voices; doddering old men, -sitting in the stern-sheets of skiffs pulled by impish youngsters, waved -impotent hands and moved toothless mouths whose sounds were lost in the -feverish uproar; stalwart market-men, with brown, wrinkled faces and -hairy bosoms exposed, fought their way through the press, disregarding -age, sex, and condition in their effort to be nearest the possible -purchasers on the Merle; all around the yacht the piratical -water-peddlers made a floating Pandemonium, at which the Yankee crew -stared not only in surprise but with some appearance of not unnatural -alarm.</p> - -<p>As an opposing bulwark to this flood of southern vivacity, old Gonzague -alone stood as the spokesman of the yacht. Requested by Jerry to make -the vendors "stow their jaw," he laid about him right and left with a -profane volubility which outdid even that of the assailants. The old man -had not spoken Italian for so long that he might well be supposed to -have forgotten it, but the occasion found him splendidly adequate to all -the requirements of the situation. The Neapolitans raved and pleaded, -execrated and lowered their prices, with appeals to the Madonna and all -the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> saints to witness their honesty and their liberality; but once the -floodgates of Gonzague's Italian were opened, he dealt with them so -eloquently and so roundly, his objurgations were so much more -picturesque and more emphatic than any they could compass, that one by -one they drew away baffled, calling on high Heaven and the blessed -Virgin to protect them when Vesuvius should belch forth a torrent of -fire to overwhelm this blasphemous and impious <i>vecchiastro</i>.</p> - -<p>Gonzague was perhaps sustained under the volleys of curses which the -defeated bumboat men and women threw back at him, by the admiration with -which he was regarded by the crew of the Merle. They had come to idolize -the old man, and to look upon him with roughly affectionate wonder. The -beauty of the scenes through which they had been passing in the -Mediterranean had of course impressed them very little æsthetically, and -Naples with its matchless bay they saw only with the eyes of Isle au -Haut fishermen. They were, however, never tired of wonders. The -childlike sailor nature is always easily touched by the marvelous, and a -real volcano was something worth seeing. As long as the Merle was in -sight of Vesuvius they would hang over the rail and watch it for hours. -If the smoke ceased they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> would cluster together and discuss the -probable causes; they would talk of the mountain as if it were a -conscious monster, lying in wait for prey, whose every movement was to -be watched with a view to detecting the sinister design that must lie -behind it. When a great dun cloud would suddenly puff up from the cone, -the men would greet it with deep exclamations half of awe and half of -applause. Continually they beset Gonzague with questions, as if he were -the keeper or the high priest of this fiery monster. They apparently had -complete confidence that Gonzague could explain it all if he would. His -knowledge of the language and such use of it as he made in dispersing -the voluble rabble of vendors were exactly in the line of their -understanding, and they followed his every movement with an admiration -amusingly tinged with something not unlike uncouth reverence.</p> - -<p>On the afternoon of his arrival at Naples Taberman had gone ashore. He -had landed at the steamship quay, and passed half the night in an -aimless ramble. There is something about Naples at night which goes to -the head like wine; especially if the head is young and set on the -shoulders of one who has never before known the life of southern cities. -Jerry walked from the railroad station to the Public Gardens, and from -the Mola<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> to the Hôtel Britannique upon the heights. He attempted no -systematic exploration, but simply wandered with no other object than -the simple delight of rambling. By daylight the picturesque streets; the -variegated rabble, ragged, dirty, beautiful, impudent, at once repulsive -and enchanting; the crooked, crowded ways that climb the hill; the -awnings, the heaps of fruit, the strange wares, the familiar air of the -family life which made of the streets a home, and seemed to turn all the -inhabitants of the town into one huge family; the unconsciously artistic -groups, the tumbling <i>bambini</i>, the women, bold, piquant, handsome, or -ugly with a hideousness of which Jerry had never conceived,—all these -things passed before him like the whirling shows of an opium dream. As -night fell, and the lights appeared, the scenes through which he went -half dazed and wholly delighted took on a new quality of the weird and -fantastic. The flaring lamps, the mysterious shadows, the blazing colors -which not even the night could subdue, the theatrical effects seen down -the narrow streets as on a stage set for opera, the inexhaustible -vivacity, which seemed not to diminish with the lateness of the hour, -all blended in an intoxicating experience such as Taberman had never -known, and indeed such as had never come into his liveliest fancy.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p><p>The next day Jerry went ashore in the morning, and set himself to more -regular sight-seeing under the care of a professional guide. He went -over the famous Museum, saw Vergil's Tomb, Posilipo, Sanazar's house, -and Marti's <i>pozzo</i>. After a capital luncheon in one of the cafés in the -Arcade, he rejoined his guide, who took him to the Aquarium. On the way -they stopped at the Royal Palace and the Morro, Tab being duly impressed -by the grandeur of royalty and the majesty of the law. Continually he -wished that Jack were with him, for he had so fallen into the habit of -depending on Jack for opinions that without his friend his impressions -seemed to lack the clearness of sanction. When it came to the Aquarium, -however, not only did the things he had seen in his day's explorations -fade from his mind, but he was too delighted not to know exactly what he felt.</p> - -<p>The Aquarium of Naples is by far the most wonderful in the world. It is -smaller and less elaborate than others, as, for instance, that of the -Trocadero, but it outranks all in interest and impressiveness. The -virtue of the place lies in its simplicity of construction and in the -rarity of its exhibits. A sense of restful shadow and coolness -succeeding to outside glare and heat; a dim greenish light in broad, -glass-faced tanks of sea-water;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> an odd feeling of being fathoms deep in -a tropical sea,—these are the sensations the visitor has first in this -wonderful home of strange fish in exile.</p> - -<p>Tab made the rounds half a dozen times before he could bring himself to -leave. Quite unscientific, but as enthusiastic as a boy, he stood in -front of each tank, and tried vainly to determine which was most -fascinating. Here were spiny lobster-like crustacea, spotted with a -dozen colors; there were beautiful fish with shining iridescent sides -and waving filmy, vaporous tails; one tank was inhabited by repulsive, -warty octopi, splotched with dull browns and plague-spots of ugly red, -which melted and slimed about, so disgusting that they seemed almost -obscene; from another a huge sea python, with body as large as the thigh -of a man and a head like that of a bald wolf, seemed to grin with -sinister, snarling face at Jerry, while all about the monster bloated -globe-fish and distorted marine shapes swam and circled; in a corner -tank a brood of asp-like fish, with skins that seemed of richest velvet, -dusky and wonderful in hue, lay heaped like incarnate poison; and near -by the angel-fish went waving and trailing their way about the sand. -Jerry was perhaps most impressed, however, by the mysterious life which -went on in a tank to which he came among the last. Thin, slow-waving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> -filaments of colorless jelly, crowned with diaphanous cups, not -differing greatly from the poppy-flower in shape; and near them other -forms, transparent, hardly more than condensed sea-water in appearance, -yet with slow pulsations, continuous and wonderful, of phosphoric -sparks,—as if one saw life itself throbbing rhythmically in the -pellucid hairs of jelly.</p> - -<p>Jerry had not been so completely happy since he parted from Jack. He -reveled in a boyish delight, and let no wonder of the place escape him. -He tipped the keeper to feed the octopi with young crabs, lowered on a -string; he took a smart electric shock from a morose torpedo which lay -sulkily in a small open tub with a pebbly bottom; he had the big -anemones and the coral-polyps "put to sleep," in the words of his -guide,—an operation consisting simply of the moving in the water of a -small stick which caused them to close in alarm; he did, in a word, -everything his guide could think of for him to do, and went away in the -end only half content to leave.</p> - -<p>After the Aquarium, Jerry turned a deaf ear to the alluring speeches of -the guide, the burden of whose song was all of curiosities unseen and of -pleasures untasted. He paid the importunate manikin, and made his way -back to the Merle.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> The truth was that he had seen something which -thoroughly pleased him, and after that it was impossible to return to -the perfunctory seeing of regulation sights which really did not take -hold of him in the least.</p> - -<p>Before the first week was ended, Jerry had visited Pompeii and Baiæ, and -what was to be seen of Herculaneum. He had made some purchases; and then -he began to wait about, ashore or aboard, for Jack. That gentleman had -written no response to Tab's letter announcing the arrival of the Merle -at Naples, and Jerry could only think of him as so absorbed in his -wooing as to have forgotten all about his friend. Some not unnatural -jealousy began to ferment in his mind, and did not add to his comfort. -By the advice of Gonzague he took the market-boat, and setting out early -one morning he sailed with a couple of the men across the bay to Capri, -where he passed the day. The only thing which cheered him on his lonely -expedition was a tarantella, which was danced for his diversion by a -romantic-looking <i>raggaza</i>, with black eyes and short petticoats. The -moonlight sail back would have pleased him more had it not been -necessary to keep the men rowing for two thirds of the way. On the -whole, Jerry could find nothing to please him on land or sea.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p><p>The major part of the next week he had spent stretched out in a cane -<i>chaise longue</i> in the cockpit, drinking iced sangaree and reading -Didron's <i>Artémise</i>. He had a fly stretched over the awning for -increased coolness, and the "dusters" put up to shut out the glare from -the water; there, like some melancholy monarch beneath his canopy, he -read, dozed, and grumbled—without even the satisfaction of any fit -audience—from morning to sundown.</p> - -<p>In the cool of the evening he usually went ashore, and one night he was -strolling along the water-front, stick in hand and his Panama set well -back on his head. As he passed the Hôtel du Vesuve, wondering when Jack -would arrive, a small figure moved quickly in front of him and bowed. At -first he was startled, but almost instantly he saw that it was the valet -de place who had gone about with him in the early days of his stay at -Naples.</p> - -<p>"Hello," said Jerry in surprise, yet not without a feeling of -satisfaction at finding even this apology for a companion.</p> - -<p>"<i>Buon' sera, signor</i>," responded the little man vivaciously. "How do? -You tek-a de night air? <i>É verament' un' bellissima notte.</i> It mek-a -cool, eh?"</p> - -<p>And he waved his arms expressively.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p><p>He might have been thirty or thirty-five, and had coarse black hair, -with fiery eyes. He was not ill-looking, but his clothes were hopelessly -threadbare and his face pinched. He bore dark circles under his eyes, -and was in no way markedly different from others of his numerous and -futile class, who, with a smattering of French, German, or English, -struggle desperately for a livelihood by acting, not always very -virtuously, as guides for traveling <i>forestieri</i>.</p> - -<p>"You busy?" Jerry asked, a sudden thought striking him.</p> - -<p>"No—no," replied the Neapolitan, his face as eager as his tone. "What-a -you like see? Eh? Some of dose oder curiosities <i>forse</i>?" he asked with -a suggestive smile.</p> - -<p>"Thanks, no," Jerry returned dryly; "but if you aren't busy, I wish -you'd walk along with me. I'm bored—tired—'most to death, and I fancy -you might tell me how I may best kill time for the next few days."</p> - -<p>The little guide was delighted. He suggested a multitude of things which -might be done,—visits to Castellmare and Sorrento or Amalfi; wonders -the signor had neglected in the museum; the <i>pasta</i> shops; and so on for -a variety of possible and impossible diversions. But still Taberman<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> -shook his head. He wanted to be amused, but he was lonely and rather -homesick, so that while he regretted being so difficult, nothing -appealed to him. Finally, the guide, quite at his wit's end but still -bland, smiling, patient, obsequious, and apparently unruffled by the -careless way in which the American rejected all his suggestions one -after the other, mentioned Pesto.</p> - -<p>"Pesto?" queried Tab carelessly. "What is that?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Si!</i> Pesto. It ees dere dey hav-a de gret-a temple; t'ree gret-a -temple, all put een de row-a,—<i>uno, due, tre</i>." And he held up three -fingers to make his statement at once clearer and more emphatic.</p> - -<p>"Temples? Real ones?" asked Jerry. "I mean are they old—Roman, that -is—or just churches?"</p> - -<p>"<i>Ma verament'</i>," laughed the valet de place, "<i>ci son' tre templi</i>; -bot-a dey not-a Roman; dey Gre'k. Fin-a, big-a temple; big-a like Hôtel -du Vesuve!"</p> - -<p>He waved his spread arms as if he would embrace the universe. Jerry -laughed at the little man's enthusiasm, but his interest was excited.</p> - -<p>"Greek, eh?" he said. "How far is it? How do you get there?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p><p>The guide explained volubly, told the time of trains to Pæstum, -declared that the trip was easily made in a day, and proffered his -services as escort. This Jerry declined, quite as much from motives of -economy as from any other reason; but he invited the little guide to sit -down at one of the small tables on the sidewalk before Zinfoni's, where -he furnished him with refreshments and made him repeat his account of -the temples, the details of the journey, and whatever information he -could furnish. Jerry was really lonely enough to be amused by the -company of the Neapolitan, and as he sat listening and watching the -people drifting past, he was soothed with the feeling of being not so -entirely alone. From Zinfoni's the pair sauntered down to the quay, -where they parted. The Italian was profuse in his thanks and -protestations, and Jerry was considerate enough to act in such a manner -as to make the little man think him the most affable of <i>Inglesi</i>.</p> - -<p>When he was aboard again, Jerry got out a chart, and after some -searching located Pæstum. As it was not too far from Naples to be -possible in a day, he determined upon the expedition. Jack was not due -for two or three days yet, and the time must be killed somehow. He -summoned Gonzague, ordered an early breakfast, told him he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> should be -absent all the next day, and that he should leave him in charge. He had -a sort of mild exhilaration at his boldness in thus venturing off into -the midst of a land whose language he could not speak, and he went to -bed that night with a great feeling of relief. The doldrums were over; -he had something to do to bridge the time until Jack came.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i007.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Ten</span> <span class="smaller">MR. WRENMARSH, THE EXTRAORDINARY</span></h2> - -<p>On the following morning, as, a few minutes after nine, the southbound -train from Naples to Tarento drew out of the station, Taberman, winking -a little at the sudden glare of the sun, began to look about him. The -morning promised a hot day, and his comfort in traveling was likely to -be lessened by the fact that in the second-class compartment with him -were five Italians. They had already settled themselves back against the -cushions, turning upward sunburnt, perspiring faces, and allowing -themselves to be jolted by the train like so many dead-weights. Their -ugly straw hats, high-crowned and narrow-brimmed, were set on their -knees or wedged beside them on the seat; two of the travelers had gay -bandannas tucked into their collars about their throats. One man—a -pursy old codger in the corner—had lighted, after a mumbled "con -permesso," a long Virginia, which filled the compartment with a thin -blue haze and an acrid smell as of burning leather.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p><p>The train rumbled along over a dubious roadbed, flanked by its -cinder-strewn berms; and Tab, looking through the window on his right, -recognized the line as that by which he had gone to Pompeii. At times -the train went close to where the curling ripples of the sapphirine bay -were breaking gently on the shore; sometimes it ran through small -hamlets, and again passed country places where the busy peasants were at -work in the rich vineyards, the orchards, or the tilled fields.</p> - -<p>At the end of half an hour, they stopped at Pompeii for a moment, and -Jerry, through the opposite window, recognized the station and the -paltry inn beyond. As the train drew out again, he caught brief glimpses -of the ancient city, dull red-brown walls among the silver-gray of the -olive-trees.</p> - -<p>The train sped on southward. It dipped into little vales, and wound its -way up and into the hills that ring themselves around the plain of -Pæstum. In an hour's time they pulled up at a small town on the left of -the track. Jerry made out the name of the station, enameled in big white -letters on a blue field, Battapaglia. The guard came by, unlocking the -compartment doors, and as the men in his compartment got out and left -their luggage behind them, Jerry concluded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> that here was to be a wait -of some minutes. He therefore followed the example of his fellow -travelers, and stepped down upon the sunny platform. It was very hot. -Tab mopped his face with his handkerchief and turned down the brim of -his Panama all around.</p> - -<p>"<i>Graniti, signor? Citron? Orang'?</i>"</p> - -<p>A small boy had singled him out, probably because he was the only -<i>forestiere</i> on the platform, and was offering him syrupy drinks cooled -with cracked ice. For a soldo Tab secured a glass of sherbet, -fruit-juice and water half frozen and very delicious. It was so -refreshing that he bestowed an extra soldo on the vender in sheer -gratitude. The lad rewarded him with a curt "grazie," and a look half -grateful and half suspicious, and then hastened on to urge his wares on -other travelers. Jerry looked after him in amusement at the fringe made -by the tatters of his trousers, and in lazy admiration of the sinewy -brown arms left bare by the sleeveless cotton shirt and of the jaunty -poise of the curly head.</p> - -<p>The train still waited.</p> - -<p>Jerry lighted a cigarette and got into the shadow of the cars. Presently -a big express came thundering out of the pass in the hills with a roar, -and rushed away to southward on the main track.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p><p>"<i>Pronto! Partenza! Partenza!</i>" cried the guard, with a blast of his -horn.</p> - -<p>The road was again clear, the express-mail having passed. The passengers -clambered aboard, and settled themselves in their former places. The old -man with the Virginia had purchased a copy of "Il Papagallo," though it -was a mystery how he could have got hold of it in such a place. He -clucked oilily as he read, occasionally calling the attention of his -nearest neighbor to some gaudy cartoon or some political pasquinade. -Jerry speculated in regard to what it might all be about, and was filled -with that vague sense of baffled irritation which comes from seeing -others enjoying jokes in a language one cannot understand.</p> - -<p>Mile after mile of level track, flanked by the interminable -cinder-covered berms. Once in a while the level was broken by clumps of -dusty cactus, ugly and forbiddingly aggressive in the sun. To the right, -beyond a flat, gorse-grown waste, relieved only by an occasional palm or -oleaster, Tab could discern the blue shimmer of the sea. To the left, he -could see only the same dull plain, bounded by bluish hills, which rose -about it like the seats of some titanic amphitheatre. Now and again two -or three buffaloes, their black hides caked with patches of yellow mud, -lay in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> their wallows or stood contemptuously indifferent to the noisy -train, which beside them seemed so impertinently modern.</p> - -<p>At last the train, with a screaming of gritty brakes on the wheels, and -the inevitable clanking and banging of cars and couplings, drew up -beside a tiny station on the right of the track.</p> - -<p>"Pesto! Pesto!"</p> - -<p>The guard unlocked the compartment door, and Jerry stepped out. The -station was smaller than any they had passed, and Tab smilingly -reflected that the lodge at the entrance of his father's place at Dedham -was bigger. He was the only passenger to alight, and no sooner was he -out than the guard, like an overgrown mechanical toy, called out his -"<i>Pronto! Partenza!</i>" blew his toy horn, and swung himself aboard again. -The long train, with bitter metallic complaint at being obliged to go -farther, drew past the little station, and rolled away toward a gap in -the southern hills, far beyond which lies Tarento.</p> - -<p>Taberman turned to the station master, a discouraged-looking individual -who stood on the platform with his truncheon tucked under his arm, -examining a batch of dispatches as if this were the first time such -papers had ever come under his notice. Jerry's Italian vocabulary was -limited to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> some score of words, with a few expressions, such as <i>dolce -far niente</i> and the like, more ornamental than useful. As, however, he -could perceive no sign of any temples,—or town either, for the matter -of that,—he determined to question the <i>capo</i>.</p> - -<p>"<i>Bonn giorno</i>," he began with a painful sense of effort, but with a -mild self-congratulatory thrill at having said something in Italian.</p> - -<p>"<i>Buon' giorno</i>," responded the station master, turning a pair of dull -eyes and an emaciated face from the dispatches to Taberman.</p> - -<p>Jerry spoke French moderately well, and resolved to address the official -in that tongue, in the hope that the Italian might understand.</p> - -<p>"Peut-être vous parlez Français?" he began.</p> - -<p>"<i>Cosa?</i>" asked the Italian, obviously puzzled, as he stepped out of the -sun into the shadow of the little station.</p> - -<p>"What?" demanded Jerry in English, and with much the same puzzled air.</p> - -<p>"<i>Non capisco</i>," said the man, with a sort of dull finality.</p> - -<p>Conversation languished. Jerry felt himself pretty well baffled, yet he -had no choice but to go on with the unpromising attempt to elicit -information here, as no other human being was in sight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> He considered a -moment, and then in an explosive tone, demanded:—</p> - -<p>"<i>Templi?</i>"</p> - -<p>"<i>Bruto Inglise!</i>" murmured the <i>capo</i> under his breath. "<i>Che volete?</i>" -he added aloud.</p> - -<p>"What?" asked Jerry, again scared over the dubious boundary of his -Italian into English.</p> - -<p>"<i>Non capisco</i>," repeated the Italian morosely, wetting his dingy -forefinger, and going over his papers for at least the third time.</p> - -<p>"Damn it!" cried Jerry, in complete exasperation, "if you say that again -I'll punch your head!"</p> - -<p>The other started back in such obvious terror that Tab hastened to -propitiate him by putting on quickly his most ingratiating smile, and -nodding as if he had made a merry joke. The other seemed reassured, -although he edged away a little, as if he were doubtful of the sanity of -this foreign brute; and Tab fell again to the effort to rally all the -words in his Italian vocabulary about one idea.</p> - -<p>"<i>Dove</i>," he began in one grand final attempt to wring information out -of this sullen and taciturn official, "<i>dove</i>"— He was so pleased with -himself for having remembered the word that he came near forgetting all -the rest, but with a desperate rally, he went blundering on. "<i>Dove</i>, I -say, is—is—<i>la via per i templi</i>?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p><p>The <i>capo</i> looked at him, apparently in mingled curiosity and disgust. -Then he beckoned him to the edge of the platform on the other side of -the station, whence stretched westward a ribbon of dust-heaped road.</p> - -<p>"<i>Ecco-la</i>" he ejaculated, waving his truncheon vaguely toward the -distance.</p> - -<p>"Ah," said Jerry, "<i>grazie</i>."</p> - -<p>As the <i>capo</i> responded to this speech not at all, Tab set out on the -dusty road without more ado. The way was inches deep in loose, gray -dust, and spiny cacti bristled on either hand. Jerry had not gone far -before, turning a bend, he saw at no great distance ahead of him an -arched gateway through which the road passed. The arch, broken and -crumbled, was set in a ruined wall, which trailed away on either hand, -now rising to the height of something like a dozen feet, now razed to -the very ground.</p> - -<p>"That's a forlorn-looking piece o' work," commented Tab aloud.</p> - -<p>Had Jerry been blessed with the education of his forefathers, instead of -having brought out of school and college a hodgepodge smattering of -physics and economics, he might have known and reflected that the wall -he thus carelessly characterized had been standing some two thousand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -years, and gloriously attested the puissance of old Rome. With no such -thought, however, he passed beneath the crumbling gateway and continued -his march. At some distance ahead he now perceived signs of life in the -shape of a few dwellings.</p> - -<p>As he looked at them he became aware of two horsemen, who were cantering -toward him on the crest of the little slope made by the road just inside -the old gateway. Their horses' hoofs stirred up light clouds of yellow -dust. Even at first glance the riders showed themselves to be ruggedly -dressed, and with something of a thrill Jerry noticed instantly that -slung across their shoulders they carried carbines. Wild tales of -brigands flashed confusedly through his brain, and especially a tale the -Neapolitan guide had related of the capture and murder at this very -place of an English gentleman and his wife. The guide had said that that -was sixteen years ago, but the place seemed so lonely, so remote, Tab's -ideas of rural Italy were so vague, the effect of the landscape and of -these wild figures was so startling as, riding toward him, they stood -out against the sky, that it was no wonder Jerry involuntarily cast a -quick glance around to note the lay of the land and to see if any -possible help were in sight in case of need.</p> - -<p>The horsemen rode down to him on a lazy lope.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> They were big, bronzed -fellows, smoking cigarettes, and riding with their feet out of the -stirrups. They nodded to him pleasantly and smiled, showing large white -teeth. They had about them, these big fellows, a look so engaging that -Tab was won at once, and the vague mist of his suspicions vanished like -smoke in air. He grinned to himself at the idea of brigands.</p> - -<p>"<i>Dove templi?</i>" he asked, returning their salutation.</p> - -<p>The big men smiled more broadly, and one of them replied in French.</p> - -<p>"Vous ne parlez pas beaucoup d'italien?" he asked in a pleasant voice.</p> - -<p>"Ne pas de tout!" responded Jerry heartily, with a laugh.</p> - -<p>Having found some one with whom he could talk, he at once began a lively -conversation. He found the two men to be the custodians appointed by the -government to look after the temples and to collect the fees of -travelers. They explained that at this season it was extremely rare for -a visitor to appear, and that they were therefore not particular about -being exactly at their posts. They had heard some rumor of the discovery -of antiques by peasants, and were setting out to investigate. They -explained, however, that the chances of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> finding out anything were very -small; the peasants all held together, and would all lie for one -another. Jerry inferred, moreover, that they were by no means anxious to -make discoveries. It was part of their duty to investigate such a rumor, -for the government claimed the right to have a hand in the disposal of -any treasure-trove; but the custodians seemed to have a good deal of -sympathy with the wretched peasants, who tried to conceal anything they -might find, in order to sell it for a fraction of its value to any stray -<i>forestiere</i> who might appear. Now that a visitor had come, one of the -men went alone on this errand, and the custode who spoke French returned -toward the temples, which were near at hand, that he might formally take -Tab's lira at the gate.</p> - -<p>The Italian walked his horse beside Taberman past the two or three -ruinous and apparently deserted houses, and in a few minutes the pair -came to where their road ended in a broad turnpike which ran at right -angles to it. On the other side of this turnpike, a little distance to -his left, Jerry saw the ruins of a couple of temples, and beyond them -the sea. His guide disregarded them, and led him to the right hand, -where, a hundred yards or so along the highway, they came to a square -two-story building of gray rubble. On its dingy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> front was painted in -black letters the word "Osteria."</p> - -<p>"V'là l'auberge," announced the jovial custodian. "If Michu is fatigued, -he can get eggs and polenta within. The wine is rough, but not so bad as -the water. This way, Michu."</p> - -<p>And leaving his horse to crop the rank grass by the doorway, he strode -into the building, Tab following.</p> - -<p>The inn was a poor place, even for southern Italy. The floor was of -trampled clay; the walls were unfinished within as without, but like the -ceiling, from which hung bunches of garlic and black and dusty herbs, -they were garnished with abundant cobwebs and a generous coating of soot -and dirt. At the back of the room was a counter, above which a grimy -sign announced the right of the proprietor to sell salt and tobacco. In -the left-hand corner of the back of the place was one of the altar-like -ranges of Italy, upon which glowed a minute heap of charcoal. Tab smiled -to find himself recognizing its use from its resemblance to the -cooking-places he had seen in the ruins of Pompeii, and reflected, with -the superiority of a youth born in a young land, upon the conservatism -which keeps its kitchen arrangements practically the same as they were -two thousand years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> ago. The room was lighted simply by the door through -which the visitors had entered. Another doorway at the left simply -yawned blackly like the mouth of a cavern. The furniture consisted of a -small square table and three stools. Over the entire place was spread an -appearance of squalor and neglect, depressing, but in key with the air -of poverty and of deadness which had been more evident to Tab with every -step he had taken in Pæstum.</p> - -<p>The room was empty when they entered it, but after the custode had -bellowed lustily once or twice for "Angelo," the innkeeper appeared -suddenly. He was a little man doubled up as if with rheumatism, and with -a face as yellow as a dried lemon. On seeing Taberman he croaked -something to the custode, and bowed to his guest again and again, -rubbing his hands and all but losing his crooked balance with each -genuflection.</p> - -<p>With the air of an archduke ordering a banquet for his retainers, -Jerry's companion gave some rapid instructions to the innkeeper, told -the Michu to make the place his own, and then departed to attend to his -horse and other trifles, saying that he would be back in half an hour.</p> - -<p>Tab seated himself on a stool to await his luncheon. His host puttered -about the altar, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>occasionally mumbling to himself, like the devotee of -some Stygian power making sacrifice. Jerry was watching him with -amusement, and wondering what would be the outcome of his incantations -in the way of food, when on a sudden the doorway was darkened, and a man -entered the room. At a glance Jerry saw that the newcomer was, like -himself, a traveler. The stranger was of medium height, rather inclined, -hardly to stoutness, but certainly to plumpness; he was well -proportioned, with broad shoulders, but had a carriage curiously -shuffling and insignificant. He held a stiff-brimmed straw hat in his -hand, and Tab could see, where the outer light fell upon his crown, that -his hair was slightly touched with gray. His face, Jerry decided, would -have been handsome, had it not been marred by two deep lines from the -nostrils to the corners of the mouth, which gave an appearance of -sinister suspicion not without a hint of selfish cruelty. Except for a -very silky mustache, he was clean-shaven.</p> - -<p>The traveler threw Taberman a quick, almost furtive glance, and then, -turning to the innkeeper, addressed that individual sharply in Italian. -The crooked host bowed furiously, made apologetic and deprecatory -gestures with the rapidity of a mountebank, skipped about in feverish -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>excitement, and jerked his head more and more frantically. The -gentleman—for he seemed one—continued his objurgations unappeased by -all these demonstrations, and ended by swearing roundly in English.</p> - -<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Taberman involuntarily.</p> - -<p>The stranger turned to him.</p> - -<p>"I beg your pardon," he said in a curious sing-song voice with a -markedly rising inflection, "but this brute has not prepared my -luncheon. Do you mind sharing the table with me?"</p> - -<p>"Not the least in the world," replied Jerry. "I'm sure it will give me -great pleasure."</p> - -<p>"Good," said the stranger. "I see you are an American," he flung out as -an addition.</p> - -<p>"I am," returned Taberman, feeling a simple pride in the fact.</p> - -<p>"Thank God I'm not," remarked the stranger. His voice showed no trace of -truculence; it was murmured as if to himself. Before Jerry had time to -explode the gentleman continued: "I'm English. What does that mean? -Celt, Angle, Saxon, and ages of tradition—ages of it. By the bye, you -mustn't mind the things I say, you know; your pernicious self-respect -would force you to resent them if you did. May I ask your name?"</p> - -<p>"My name is Taberman," Jerry replied, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>struggling with a mingling of -indignation, amazement, and amusement, "Jerrold Taberman. I live in -Boston."</p> - -<p>"Dedham rather," returned the other easily. "I knew a Taberman when I -was in college. Curious chap. I— My name's Wrenmarsh, Gordon Wrenmarsh. -Fact is, I was an American, but I couldn't stand the place. Bostonians -have good manners; but New York is a vile spot. So is Boston; that is— -Well, perhaps you see the difference."</p> - -<p>The tricks this extraordinary man played with his voice were -astonishing, and as he went on talking he quite dizzied Tab by the -cryptic, baffling nature of his nervous speeches. He had, too, a curious -and disconcerting habit of displaying great emotional intensity—opening -his eyes to their greatest extent and distending his nostrils—in -dealing with trifles of the slightest consequence; while whenever, as -happened once or twice in the course of the luncheon, they touched even -remotely on subjects of really vital importance, the extraordinary Mr. -Wrenmarsh fairly oozed indifference. His conduct was so thoroughly -strange that once or twice Jerry felt a puzzled doubt whether the man -were entirely sane.</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you," said Mr. Wrenmarsh, when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> their slight repast was over, -"we'll do the temples together. I've been camping in this abominable -hole of an <i>osteria</i> for over a week, so that I know them pretty well. -One of them is in my period, moreover."</p> - -<p>Jerry looked at him as if to ask if the stranger claimed to be a -contemporary of the ruins.</p> - -<p>"Your period?" he echoed confusedly.</p> - -<p>"Yes; you see, I'm an archæologist—collector, in fact. Hello; here's -the custode."</p> - -<p>The custodian entered as Mr. Wrenmarsh spoke, and Taberman had somehow -the idea that the look he gave the Englishman was not very friendly.</p> - -<p>"Ah, Michu, have you found a friend?" he asked in his queer French.</p> - -<p>"I don't know," Jerry returned, with a half laugh.</p> - -<p>"Well," responded the Italian, "if Michu is ready to see the temples, I -am waiting."</p> - -<p>"Bien," responded Jerry; and then turning to the archæologist, he asked, -"Are you coming?"</p> - -<p>"Of course," the Englishman answered. "Never mind this custode; he's -only an ignorant pig."</p> - -<p>Jerry secretly felt that, ignorant or not, the big Italian, with his -merry face and open smile, would be a much more companionable guide than -the eccentric collector; but without comment he paid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> the reckoning, and -they set out. They went down the road to a gate, paid a lira each to the -custode, and entered upon a field of ploughed land, planted with maize. -The Italian, who had more and more the air of not liking the Englishman, -made some remarks to the effect that Michu l'Anglaise was a very learned -man, and one much better fitted to explain the marvels of ancient -architecture than he, a plain man who had had to pick up his education -in the army. On these grounds he excused himself and went into a little -lodge, while the others walked on to the temples which stood before -them, ideal in their beauty.</p> - -<p>The two pushed their way across the field and entered the nearest -temple. Jerry's was not an impressionable nature, and in one way to him -these august colonnades meant little; yet despite a certain sophomoric -exuberance which he had never outgrown, his nature was fundamentally too -refined to fail to respond to the silent grandeur of this solemn harmony -in stone. The roofless enclosure, after all the indignities a score of -centuries had been able to inflict upon it, possessed still a nobility -and a beauty which seemed almost personal and conscious. One feels in -seeing the ruins at Pæstum as if a certain inherent and indestructible -loveliness would pervade the very stones<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> were they thrown down to the -last one; and while the columns stand, the place is one to make the -visitor catch his breath with admiration and almost with awe. Taberman -did not analyze, and indeed he was instinctively so occupied in -concealing from his companion how profoundly he was impressed as to have -little attention left for introspection; but he was more deeply stirred -than he could have conceived possible.</p> - -<p>He walked about with Mr. Wrenmarsh, who talked along in his curious -voice, expatiating upon styles and orders, influence and epochs, with -all sorts of things of which Jerry understood at best not more than a -quarter; until at last, instead of going on to the neighboring temple, -the strangely assorted pair sat down on the western steps of the ruin -through which they had come. Taberman looked away westward, where the -rim of the sea shone like a fillet of molten silver. For some time -neither spoke; but at length Mr. Wrenmarsh broke in upon Tab's train of -thought with a question.</p> - -<p>"Are you traveling alone?" he asked quite suddenly.</p> - -<p>Taberman explained that he had come over from America in a yacht. It is -to be feared that it was vanity which led him to make the unlucky<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> -addition that he was in command of her until his friend should rejoin -him at Naples.</p> - -<p>"Ah," commented the archæologist, with a new appearance of interest; -"you're cruising."</p> - -<p>"Yes," said Jerry.</p> - -<p>The spell of the temple was upon him, and he had no inclination to talk. -He was conscious of a half-defined desire to have this stranger take -himself off, and not bother him further with questions.</p> - -<p>"And what do you suppose I am doing here?" queried the collector in a -tone of almost fierce intensity.</p> - -<p>"Why," Jerry responded rather absently, "I supposed you were studying or -something."</p> - -<p>"Why, yes, to be sure I am; haven't I told the custode so?" chuckled Mr. -Wrenmarsh. His laughter was as extraordinary as his speech and manner. -He would double up as if with a sort of a spasm and snigger gastrically. -"But that's not all," he went on, as Jerry turned to look at him -questioningly; "that's not all. I'm doing something else. I'm waiting."</p> - -<p>"What for?" asked Taberman, seeing that he was expected to speak.</p> - -<p>"Help," replied Wrenmarsh laconically.</p> - -<p>"Help?" repeated Jerry blankly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, help; waiting. Collecting is nothing but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> waiting anyway,—waiting -for news, waiting for funds, waiting for auctions, waiting for old -countesses to die, waiting for some fool of a peasant to discover -something; waiting, waiting, waiting all along the line. It's the man -who waits with his ears and eyes open and his mouth shut that gets what -he wants. He's the man."</p> - -<p>"But—but what sort of help do you want now?" Tab inquired.</p> - -<p>He was sympathetic by nature, and this extraordinary individual had -aroused not only his curiosity, but in some mysterious manner stimulated -him to a desire to be of service. He had come to Pæstum for amusement. -He felt that in meeting the collector he had been amply repaid. The -unwonted emotion which had been stirred by the temple melted in his -boyish heart before the warmer human interest which the collector -aroused, and it was perhaps with some unrealized relief at getting back -to more familiar levels of feeling that he now began to enter into the -affairs of his companion. It came over him that he was being appealed -to, and he was ready to take the position that if any aid of his could -bring relief to Mr. Wrenmarsh, that eccentric gentleman should no longer -need to go on waiting for help.</p> - -<p>"I'll tell you the whole business," said the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> archæologist, in a sudden -burst of frankness. "You look trustworthy. I've been here ten -days—waiting. I've written, of course, for help; but it doesn't seem to -come. Three weeks ago I was in Naples, and heard—no matter how—that -somewhere down here a lot of good stuff had turned up. I kept coming -down here daily until, by dint of discreet questions—discretion's the -backbone of the game—I found out what had happened. A peasant here had -been spading over some ground. One day the earth sunk suddenly under -him, and down he went into a hole. He found, as soon as he could get his -wits together, that he had broken through the roof of an ancient <i>cella</i> -of some sort. He got out without much trouble, pulled himself together, -and did what any peasant would know enough to do,—covered the place -with brush and dirt so that no news of the thing should get to the -custodi. Then he went on with his spading."</p> - -<p>"Without investigating?" asked Jerry, full of interest.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenmarsh looked at him curiously.</p> - -<p>"Of course," he responded. "If he had let his curiosity get the better -of him, or his tongue wag, he'd be a good deal poorer than he is at -present. They are stupid louts, these peasants, but they do<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> learn -enough not to take the government into their confidence when they find -anything. They know that they'd get nothing out of it if they did. -Besides, they are as stolid as buffaloes. They can wait well enough."</p> - -<p>"But what did he find?" demanded Taberman, his interest thoroughly -aroused by this tale of treasure-trove, which appealed to every boyish -and every adventurous fibre in him.</p> - -<p>"He went by night with a lantern and a couple of panniers. He filled his -baskets twice, filled them with priceless things in a perfect -condition—beautiful kylixes and glass bowls. There's one that measures -at least half a metre across the top. Think of that! Why, it's the -finest glass I've ever seen or heard of! It's the finest glass there -is!"</p> - -<p>"Great Scott!" cried Jerry, alive with excitement. "It must be awfully -old!"</p> - -<p>"Old!" retorted Wrenmarsh with scorn; "do you know where you are?"</p> - -<p>Jerry twisted his head to look up at the tall columns and broken -pediment above him, on the pinkish-gray stones of which the afternoon -sun fell with loving warmth.</p> - -<p>"Yes, of course," he said. "But what did he do with the things?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p><p>"I kept at him till I wormed the whole business out of him," the -collector answered, "and I bought his things—damn him!"</p> - -<p>He brought out the objurgation with amazing vigor; then stopped and -stared gloomily before him.</p> - -<p>"Well?" said Jerry. "What are you waiting for? More?"</p> - -<p>"More!" exploded the collector, disgust and indignation in his face. -"Man, I've got hold of a collection that is all but unique! More! Don't -you see—I can't get away with it! Piece by piece I could run it out of -the country, but I don't dare to leave anything behind me. If only my -men were at hand—but they're not, they're not. One's off the track in -the T road, and the other's in America."</p> - -<p>He passed his hand before his eyes with a gesture so expressive that it -was even more impassioned than his tone.</p> - -<p>Taberman was moved, both by the enthusiasm of this man for his work and -by the exciting romance of the finding of this treasure. He knew vaguely -of the laws that forbade the taking of works of art out of Italy and -Greece, but he had no conception that they were strictly enforced. It -gave him a new sensation to be thus brought in contact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> with the actual -working of a statute which was aimed to prevent a man from removing his -own possessions from one country to another. He had been too well -brought up under a high protective tariff to have any moral scruples -about smuggling anything. A Mugwump atmosphere had acted upon the -natural inclination of youth to defy authority, and had bred in Jerry -the feeling that smuggling, however little its true nature was -appreciated in high places, was really in its essence a maligned virtue. -In the present instance, moreover, the boyish feeling that what one owns -is his to do what he chooses with despite all fiats of principalities, -potentates, and powers, helped to make the idea of this especial case of -an attempt to defy the laws one of particular merit. He gave himself -eagerly to considering how it could be done.</p> - -<p>"Can't you take your traps to Naples, and ship 'em from there?" he at -last demanded of the archæologist.</p> - -<p>"You don't understand, I'm afraid," replied the other. "My reputation in -itself compels me to lie close. Besides that, there's the awkward -problem of the octroi and the export examinations. I couldn't take the -things into Naples without running into the one, or out of it without -getting afoul of the other. They'd be no end sharp in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> examining -anything I tried to pass. I'm hideously notorious in Italy." His pride -in this last statement was entirely evident, but Jerry was impressed by -the deeds of archæological daring which were implied in such a -reputation. "I simply can't get these things away without help," he -continued. "I've written and telegraphed to every mortal I can count -on,—there are only five or six of them,—and not one of them can help -me out just now. Meanwhile I starve on eggs and polenta, under the -suspicious eyes of the custodi—damn 'em! They'd have got me a week ago -if they'd had any brains."</p> - -<p>"Upon my word," cried Jerry, the idea suddenly striking him for the -first time, "it's extraordinary you should tell me all this, and I a -stranger."</p> - -<p>"I count on your helping me," responded Mr. Wrenmarsh in keenly incisive -tones.</p> - -<p>"My helping you!" ejaculated Tab in amazement. "What in the world have I -to do with the business?"</p> - -<p>"You practically said so," returned the collector. "At least your face -did." He looked at Jerry, and then turned away to the brown expanse of -plain in a manner so stricken and so reproachful that Taberman could not -help feeling convicted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> of consummate wickedness. "I counted on you," he -added, in a tone of profoundest pathos.</p> - -<p>Jerry was completely nonplussed. He felt that he was being played with; -he was angrily conscious that the whole affair was no concern of his, -and that he had no business to be dragged into it. Yet he felt no less -but rather more keenly that he could not endure the imputation of having -encouraged a man in difficulties with a hope of assistance and of having -then refused to fulfill them. His youthful blood, moreover, was stirred -by the flavor of adventure which came alluringly to his inner sense. For -a moment there was a strained silence, and then it was broken by Tab.</p> - -<p>"You've mistaken my interest for something else, I'm afraid," he said, -trying to speak lightly, and feeling that he was making a mess of it. -"It never even occurred to me that I could help you out of this blessed -muss; and I don't see that there's anything I can do anyway, except to -keep mum about it. Of course that I'd do anyway."</p> - -<p>"No use," retorted the archæologist. "If you can help me and won't, -after my taking you into my confidence, you—you ruin me."</p> - -<p>"Hmm," Jerry observed rather coldly, "that's too subtle for me. I fail -to see it in that light. You're no worse off than you were before."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p><p>"I'm sure, Mr. Tableman"—</p> - -<p>"Taberman," Jerry corrected.</p> - -<p>"Pardon me, Mr. Taberman; but you don't see the <i>catena logica</i> by which -I arrive at my conclusions!" Mr. Wrenmarsh, both in speech and gestures, -was momentarily growing more and more theatrical. "Suppose you should, -knowing my story and the law against taking works of art out of the -country, tell my case to the police. What then?"</p> - -<p>"It would be the trick of a blackguard, of course," Jerry replied -promptly, "but"—</p> - -<p>"<i>Momento!</i>" interrupted the other, holding up his hand. "Now suppose -things to be as they are, and you learn that the custodi are on my -track"—</p> - -<p>"They've heard something of the find," interposed Jerry; "they told me -that."</p> - -<p>"There! You see!" Wrenmarsh said, with a gesture which seemed to appeal -to all humanity to bear witness that in whatever he had said he had been -completely right. "Suppose, now, that you have—with perfect security to -yourself, mind—a chance to give me a friendly word of warning, and -don't do it. What then?"</p> - -<p>"Why," Tab answered, feeling every moment more and more as if he were -being snarled up in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> a web, "it would be, in such a case as you suppose, -a pretty shabby trick, of course. At the same time"—</p> - -<p>"Wait a bit," cried Mr. Wrenmarsh, again interrupting him, and growing -visibly more excited still; "wait a bit. I want you to consider the -present case. You say yourself the secret is leaking out, and of course -every moment makes my danger greater. With practically no bother and -with absolute safety you can help me out of the whole tangle. If you -don't, I shall be caught; I shall lose this incomparable treasure and -all the money I paid for it,—and that's no small sum, let me tell -you,—and all because you, my forlorn hope that I've confided in <i>in -rebus angustis</i>, won't devote twenty-four hours of your time to saving -your own self-respect. By Jove!" he cried, starting to his feet, "if you -don't help me you betray me as much as if you went straight to the -custodi with my story."</p> - -<p>"Sit tight!" cried Jerry, startled by the violence of the other's -demonstration. "Sit tight!"</p> - -<p>"Will you help me?" demanded Mr. Wrenmarsh, his brown eyes blazing. -"Will you help—help me to dodge these Italian robbers and get my -things—my antiquities that I have paid for with hard cash—out of this -rotten country?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> Will you help, or will you desert me, and take sides -with those that are waiting to rob me?"</p> - -<p>"By George, I've a mind to try!" incautiously ejaculated Jerry, for the -moment carried off his balance by the enthusiasm and the persuasive -personality of the other.</p> - -<p>"Good man!" cried the antiquarian in a rapture; "good man! I knew you -would. We'll beat 'em! I"—</p> - -<p>"Hold your horses a bit!" put in Tab hastily, taken aback by the force -Wrenmarsh gave to his unconsidered words. "Go slow, please. I may -have"—</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's all right," returned the collector impetuously. "We'll take -a turn down the road, and plan it all out. I can think better when I'm -walking—sort of peripatetic, you see. Ha, ha!—and it'll look queer if -you don't go down to see the other temple. Come on."</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenmarsh made his way toward the road, trampling impetuously over -the wild thyme and the acanthus, while Taberman followed in a mixture of -amused amazement and indignation, but with a full determination to -expostulate. He found, however, that he was not allowed any opportunity -for remonstrance. Every sentence he began was choked off with some fresh -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>exclamation of gratitude from the collector, or by some burst of -delight that out of the skies, as it were, he had fallen to be the -savior of the perplexed archæologist. By the time they had walked around -the third temple, which stands at some distance from the other two, -Taberman had given up protesting. He merely listened to his companion's -bewildering flow of talk, and felt as if he were being drawn into a -whirlpool. He was helped by his own secret delight at the thought of -having a share in a real adventure, and perhaps pushed on by a boyish -shame at the idea of seeming to draw back and to fail another in an -extremity. He had not much chance to speak,—but he soon found that what -he did say was in the line of his having accepted the position into -which Mr. Wrenmarsh had been endeavoring to force him.</p> - -<p>As they returned from the third temple they found the custode beside the -fountain which stood across the road from the inn. He was trying to -teach his horse to shake hands.</p> - -<p>"Ah, Michu," the Italian said as they came up to him; "I hope you were -pleased with the temples."</p> - -<p>"Much," Taberman assured him. "They are magnificent."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p><p>Seeing his companion fee the man, he in turn slipped a coin into the -brown hand. His conscience gave him a little twinge at the thought of -plotting to outwit this frank, big creature; but he reflected instantly -that the matter was entirely impersonal, and it was not in a -tariff-hating youth like Jerry to have any scruples over tricking the -Italian government in a matter of this sort.</p> - -<p>"How long would it take you to sail down here from Naples?" asked -Wrenmarsh, as they took the road toward the station.</p> - -<p>Tab considered.</p> - -<p>"Five or six hours with a good breeze," was his conclusion.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenmarsh wrinkled his brows and quickened his pace. Those -uncomfortable lines from the nostrils to the corners of his mouth -deepened, and he half shut his eyes. After a little meditation he spoke -again.</p> - -<p>"Very good," he said decisively. "This is the way we'll put the thing -through. You go back to Naples now. Be off the shore here by eleven -o'clock, and send a boat ashore for me and my boxes. They're rather big, -and fairly heavy; and they've got to be handled tenderly. I couldn't get -proper means of packing the things, and I've had to take what there was. -Once we get the stuff<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> on board, we must run back so as to be in Naples -by sunrise. Does that suit you?"</p> - -<p>"You seem to be running this cruise," laughed Jerry. "I suppose it's all -right; but there's one thing I must know. There's no chance of getting -the yacht into a scrape, is there?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no danger whatever."</p> - -<p>"You're sure?" Tab insisted. "It wouldn't be exactly pleasant to get my -friend's boat confiscated, you know, or into any sort of a mess of that -kind."</p> - -<p>"Bosh!" retorted Mr. Wrenmarsh brusquely. "You may make your mind easy. -The worst that could happen is that I might lose my things. But we must -walk a bit faster, if you're to get your train."</p> - -<p>"It's better to say to-morrow night," Tab remarked, as they took their -way down the road and beneath the old Roman arch. "You see I might be -late in getting back, and"—</p> - -<p>"Of course, of course," interrupted the collector. "You can't count on -getting here to-night. To-morrow night, of course."</p> - -<p>At the station the <i>capo</i> was standing almost where Jerry had left him, -looking at the hills. When the two came up, he merely turned his head -and nodded.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p><p>"The <i>facchino</i> must be doing ticket-duty," the collector remarked. -"We'll go in and get your ticket."</p> - -<p>A tall, yellow, broken-looking man was behind the little wicket in the -ticket-office, puttering with some sort of repair work on a shelf. Mr. -Wrenmarsh addressed him in Italian. The man took a blue and green ticket -from a pigeon-hole on the wall, placed it under the stamp, on the knob -of which he then brought down his fist with a nervous bang. Instantly he -broke out into a violent exclamation.</p> - -<p>"<i>Sacro sangue della Madonna!</i>" he shouted, and began to rave -hysterically.</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" asked Taberman. "What is he saying?"</p> - -<p>"He is cursing quite well," returned the archæologist coolly. "His hand -was unsteady, and he's broken the stamp. He wants to know what will -become of him when the <i>capo</i> finds the punch is broken."</p> - -<p>"Is he tight?" inquired Jerry inelegantly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, he's only bally-rotten with malaria. Look at his face."</p> - -<p>"Tell him he ought to take some quinine," suggested Taberman, genuinely -sorry for the wretched-looking fellow.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p><p>Mr. Wrenmarsh interpreted, but the Italian replied in a tone of mingled -despair and contempt, and went out to show the broken punch to his -superior.</p> - -<p>"What does he say?" asked Jerry.</p> - -<p>"Says he took twenty-four grains this noon," answered Wrenmarsh, -chuckling as if it were funny.</p> - -<p>"Gad!" exclaimed Tab. "No wonder his hand shook. What a country!"</p> - -<p>"You say that?" returned the other. "You may remember that I'm tied to -it till I can get my things out."</p> - -<p>They went out to the platform, and at the moment the train came in. -Jerry took his seat in an empty compartment, and the collector stood -outside the window.</p> - -<p>"You'll surely come?" asked Mr. Wrenmarsh, in a voice almost -threatening.</p> - -<p>"I can't see that I should," Taberman returned; "but wind and weather -permitting, I suppose I shall."</p> - -<p>"I can't attempt to argue with you here," the other said; "but -mind—you'll come."</p> - -<p>"<i>Pronto! Pronto!</i>" called the guard in his hoarse sing-song.</p> - -<p>"I shall come," Jerry said reassuringly. "You may bet on it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p><p>"<i>Partenza! Partenza!</i>" the guard bawled, blowing his horn.</p> - -<p>"Good-by. Don't miss it!" cried Wrenmarsh, giving Jerry's hand a -farewell grip.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow night," returned Taberman.</p> - -<p>"I show a light," the collector vociferated, running along the platform -beside the now moving train, and repeating the details he had already -arranged. "A white light."</p> - -<p>"Right-o!" shouted Taberman, as the train bore him beyond the reach of -further communication.</p> - -<p>He threw himself back into the corner of the compartment, and all the -way to Naples he kept wondering over and over what there was about Mr. -Wrenmarsh that had induced him to promise to have a share in a scheme so mad.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i044.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Eleven</span> <span class="smaller">A LONE-HAND GAME</span></h2> - -<p>On the morning after his return Jerry rose at an hour comfortably late, -took a swim, shaved, and having finished his breakfast, sat down to -write a short note to Jack. As the captain might put in an appearance at -any moment now, Taberman did not wish to go away from Naples without -leaving some explanation and a hint as to his whereabouts. He found the -letter somewhat difficult to write, since to give Jack a satisfactory -reason for his errand to Pæstum, especially in brief space, was no easy -task. He had been more or less troubled ever since his preposterous -promise to Mr. Wrenmarsh; but now that he was confronted with the -difficulty of making his course appear rational to Jack, he felt himself -so completely a fool that he groaned as he wrote, and then tore up the -note, with a curse. On the whole, he decided to say no more than that he -had gone to take a short run down the coast, as he was bored at Naples.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p><p>He went ashore with the note himself, and leaving the cutter at the -quay to wait for him, he set out on foot for the Hôtel du Vesuve, where -Jack was to report on his arrival. The morning was already well -advanced, and the heat was becoming fervent; but Jerry, freshened by his -recent swim, went blithely on his way. At the hotel he said to the -porter that he wished to leave a letter for a gentleman who was soon to -arrive, and produced his note. The official glanced at the -superscription, and observed that the traveler was already there.</p> - -<p>Jerry stared at him dumfounded.</p> - -<p>"Arrived?" he gasped. "When?"</p> - -<p>"He came on the night train from Rome," replied the porter, whose -English was almost as good as that of Taberman. "He came on the train -that gets in at half-past eight in the morning. He is escorting two -ladies. They are now at breakfast."</p> - -<p>Tab stood for a moment plunged in perplexity. This unexpected arrival of -Jack made his scheme of aiding Wrenmarsh dreadfully difficult, and -perhaps even impossible. He felt himself pledged, however, and he -reflected that whatever were Jack's plans the captain would hardly -hinder him from keeping a promise which he had made on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> strength of -the supposition that the Merle was to be in his hands a full month. Jack -had come back before his time, but Tab said to himself that this would -surely make no difference in his fulfilling his obligations to the -archæologist.</p> - -<p>He asked for the breakfast party, and was shown into the carefully -shaded dining-room where they were seated. Hearty greetings followed, -and he sat and talked with them while they finished their repast.</p> - -<p>All three looked a bit fagged. Even Mrs. Fairhew, accustomed as she was -to European travel of all sorts, had dark circles under her keen eyes. -She was dressed, not according to her wont in black, but in a soft gray -which well set off her brilliant complexion, so that in spite of the -look of fatigue she appeared much as she had when the travelers had met -at Nice. Jack was clad in a suit of white linen, with a collarless -jacket such as is worn by naval officers in hot climates. His hair had -been recently cut, and in such a manner as to cause each separate spike -along the parting to stand up in stiff defiance. Jerry politely told him -he looked more like a criminal than usual, but Miss Marchfield protested -rather indignantly. In Katrine Jerry seemed to detect more alteration -than in the others. Her air had grown more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>sedate, as if the widening -of her mental horizon had, even in these few weeks, given her a new -maturity and self-poise. The heat had perhaps told on her more than on -the others, but in spite of some appearance of fatigue she had an air of -joyous alertness which showed her buoyant and happy.</p> - -<p>"How is it that you are here so soon?" Taberman asked, after a minute of -general talk. "I thought you'd be late, if anything."</p> - -<p>"There was a good deal of sickness at Rome," Jack answered, "and when a -man died of typhoid fever in the very hotel we were at, it seemed time -to move on."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew gave a little shudder.</p> - -<p>"Only fancy," she said,—"we knew nothing about it until he had been -dead an hour. They told us after breakfast yesterday morning. It was -rather unpleasant, you'll grant."</p> - -<p>"It must have been ghastly," agreed Tab, "but I hope you'll do better in -Naples. It has at least the advantage of being on the sea."</p> - -<p>"And of being one of the dirtiest places in Italy," she responded -grimly. "However, I'm not one to borrow trouble, and we'll trust in the -sea air."</p> - -<p>"You're really becoming amphibious, Mr. Taberman," Katrine observed, -with a smile. "I half<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> fancy that if you were blindfolded you could -smell your way to the water like a turtle."</p> - -<p>"The man that piloted the Merle from North Haven to the Island said he -went by smell," responded Jerry.</p> - -<p>He caught Jack's eye as he spoke, and cast down his glance in confusion. -Mrs. Fairhew regarded him curiously.</p> - -<p>"How did Mr. Drake like that sort of a pilot?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"He didn't hear the remark," Jack put in hastily. "Uncle Randolph -wouldn't have approved of that sort of work, I rather fancy."</p> - -<p>Jerry made a grimace, and echoed the sentiment, but he added that Dave -was really an excellent sailor, and that personally he'd trust the -fellow's sense of smell sooner than he would the skill of most pilots. -The dangerous moment passed without further allusion to the President, -and the talk turned to other matters.</p> - -<p>"Is there any one here we know?" inquired Mrs. Fairhew. "I suppose it is -hardly possible at this time of year."</p> - -<p>"I don't believe there is," answered Tab, "unless," he added, a sudden -thought striking him, "you know where Pæstum is?"</p> - -<p>"Certainly. I've been looking forward with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> dread to dragging Katrine -down there to see the temples, though really the time of year ought to -excuse us."</p> - -<p>"Well, there's a sort of Anglo-American lunatic archæologist down there, -named Wrenmarsh. Have you ever heard of him? He has relatives in Boston, -I understood him."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Fairhew set down the coffee-cup she was just raising to her lips, -and looked at Jerry with a keen glance in which amusement and surprise -seemed to be mingled.</p> - -<p>"What is his Christian name?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Gordon."</p> - -<p>"Gordon Wrenmarsh at Pæstum! Well, the world is small, and he might be -anywhere,—at least anywhere where he was not expected to be. Did you -never hear of him? But no, you wouldn't; you're too young. He is one of -my contemporaries, and he has been on this side of the water for ever so -long."</p> - -<p>"Is it possible?" Jerry cried gallantly. "I shouldn't have suspected -that he was so young!"</p> - -<p>"Nobody can mistake you when you wish to pay a compliment," she said, -with a smile that had in it a tinge of satire. "But did you really see -Gordon Wrenmarsh? I haven't heard of him for years. What is he doing? At -one time he was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> friend of Mr. Fairhew; they were in the same class at -Harvard."</p> - -<p>She showed a genuine interest, Jerry thought; and at any rate this -seemed to him a good time to prepare Jack for the plan evolved between -him and the archæologist, so he launched forth on the narrative of his -visit to Pæstum. He did not particularize, but he did not hesitate to -say that the archæologist had chanced upon a rich find which he was -guarding in the hope of running it safely out of the country.</p> - -<p>"Why shouldn't he take it out of the country if he's bought it?" Katrine -asked, with an air of interest.</p> - -<p>"The Italian law says he shan't," Jack answered, with a smile.</p> - -<p>"Why, if it's his, he has a right to do what he pleases, I should -think," she responded.</p> - -<p>"But there's a law against carrying works of art out of the country."</p> - -<p>"What a horrid, unjust law!" she protested. "If they were mine, I'd take -them out; you may be sure of that."</p> - -<p>"I'd help you," Jack assured her lightly.</p> - -<p>Jerry was secretly so pleased at this passage that he endeavored to keep -the conversation in the same line by inquiring of Mrs. Fairhew further -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>particulars about the strange creature with whom he had made tryst.</p> - -<p>"Was Mr. Wrenmarsh always as peculiar as he is now?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"I'm not able to tell you that," she returned, "as I have no means of -knowing how much he has changed; but when I knew him he was the most -extraordinary creature. He was always offended if people didn't notice -his eccentricities, and if they did he jibed at their provincialism. He -said he had to become an Englishman because our civilization was so -crude, and he never forgave Bostonians for being so little concerned by -his change of nationality."</p> - -<p>"You seem to have picked up rather a choice acquaintance, Jerry," -observed Jack good-naturedly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Wrenmarsh became utterly impossible," Mrs. Fairhew continued. -"He really had a lot of ability, and I'm told that now he's done some -remarkable things in getting antiques for the British Museum. His own -people couldn't get on with him at all."</p> - -<p>"What an extraordinary creature he must be!" commented Katrine. "Did you -take him for a wild man, Mr. Taberman, when you found him wandering -about among the ruins of Pæstum?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p><p>"No," Jerry returned, rather regretting that he had continued the talk -about Mr. Wrenmarsh. "He came into the little hovel of an inn there -while I was trying to get something to eat."</p> - -<p>"Well, anyway I hope he'll get his things safe," she added. "They're -his, and the government has no right to interfere with him."</p> - -<p>"I hope he may," Tab responded rather dispiritedly.</p> - -<p>Breakfast being ended, the ladies betook themselves to their rooms to -rest after the fatigues of their night of travel.</p> - -<p>"If I were a billionaire," Mrs. Fairhew observed, "I would never go -anywhere by night except on my own private car. All sleepers are an -abomination, and I hate the thought of who may have been in the -compartment when I have to sleep in it. I hope we shall see you at -dinner, Mr. Taberman?"</p> - -<p>"Thank you," Jerry answered, "but I have business to-night. I assure you -I regret it tremendously."</p> - -<p>"Well," the lady returned over her shoulder as she departed, "at least -we shall expect to see you to-morrow; and I hope you'll leave us Mr. -Castleport.</p> - -<p>"Glad to," laughed Jerry, with a nod; and the men were left to -themselves.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p><p>Jerry turned quickly to Jack the moment they were alone, with a look of -earnestness and concern in his face.</p> - -<p>"Cap'n," he said urgently, "come somewhere where we can talk, will you? -We've got heaps to say, and my time's precious."</p> - -<p>"Jerry," cried the other, catching him by the arm, "something has -happened to the Merle!"</p> - -<p>"Not a thing, Jacko. She is as right as a trivet, but I'm in a hurry. -Come on!"</p> - -<p>"Hurry?" echoed Jack, following him in evident disquiet; "what in the -world's up? It can't be mutiny, and if the yacht's all right, I don't -see"—</p> - -<p>"I'll explain," Taberman responded. "I know a jolly little place just -round the corner. Come on."</p> - -<p>Jack suffered himself to be led to a small café which bore the rather -incongruously ambitious name <i>Albergo del Sole</i>, and which displayed on -the yellowish wall above its entrance a rising sun, blood-red and most -magnificent as to its rays. At one of the little tables which covered -the sidewalk before this establishment, the pair took their places. Tab -produced his cigarette-case and ordered a glass of vermouth as he -offered his friend a smoke. Jack, with a hardly perceptible compression -of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> lips which showed that he was controlling his impatience and -waiting for Tab to speak, rolled his cigarette between his thumb and -forefinger to loosen it, tapped it on the table-top, and lighted it with -great deliberation. Jerry did the same, but with evident nervousness.</p> - -<p>"Jack," said he, "I have been, and gone, and done it, for fair!"</p> - -<p>"What?" inquired Jack in a tone mildly incisive.</p> - -<p>"Well, you see—it's this way," Tab answered. "Of course I haven't -really done anything yet, but I think I'm bound to, and if you don't -think so—Well, you can see it'll be devilish hard on me as well as -him."</p> - -<p>Jack blew a smoke-ring, and looked at Jerry with a queer smile.</p> - -<p>"It must be something pretty bad, Jerry," he said, "if you don't dare -tell me what it is."</p> - -<p>Jerry looked at him a minute, and then broke into a grin.</p> - -<p>"Why," he said, more at his ease, "it's that damned archæologist, that -bedlamite Wrenmarsh I was talking about at the hotel. Well, not having -anything else to do, I went down to Pæstum to see the temples and kill -time, and I fell into his clutches. I had a lot of talk with him, or he -did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> with me. He knows a pile about the temples, and he did the showman -in great shape. Incidentally he told me all about his own affairs. I -didn't ask him, mind you. He just did it off his own bat. I couldn't -help that, now could I?"</p> - -<p>"I don't see how you could," Jack assented; "and no more do I see why -you should want to."</p> - -<p>"Why, a chap down there—a Dago peasant, you know—has turned up a -dreadful mess of stuff Wrenmarsh has bought. I told you all that at -breakfast."</p> - -<p>"Yes," Jack said imperturbably.</p> - -<p>"You see, Wrenmarsh turned to and bought the whole slithering lot of it, -and he's just crazy over it; but as I said at the hotel, he's up against -the government, and he doesn't know how under the heavens he's going to -get the loot out of Italy."</p> - -<p>"Great Scott, Tab, did you undertake to run his things out of the -country for him? In the Merle, too?" cried Jack, at last showing some -consternation.</p> - -<p>"It's not quite so bad as that," Jerry protested; "but I did tell him -I'd help him out of Pæstum and up here. Naples is all I agreed to. -That's all he asked."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p><p>Castleport smoked in silence a moment, looking decidedly grave.</p> - -<p>"Jack, old man," Jerry said pleadingly, "I've been an awful ass, but the -way that beastly Wrenmarsh snarled me up with his talk was perfectly -inconceivable. He'd have talked the tail off a brass monkey. He kept -appealing to my sense of honor and heaven knows what, until I felt that -I'd be a perfect cad not to help him."</p> - -<p>"That's all right, Tab," Jack answered thoughtfully. "It's only the -Merle—I should hate awfully to get her into a mess."</p> - -<p>"He assured me that nothing could happen to her, and I don't think he'd -lie."</p> - -<p>"Well, if that's so, there's no great harm done, old man. What are you -worrying over?"</p> - -<p>"I'm not worrying at all, Jacko, if you don't object to my keeping my -word. Just continue my letters of marque until to-morrow. I promised him -I'd go down this afternoon. You will be in command, of course, now -you're here; but I'd hate to think of the poor wretch waiting down there -in the marshes for me—it's an awful place for malaria!—and I not -coming at all."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I shan't interfere," Jack said quickly. "I had made up my mind to -stay on shore one night more anyway, and I really gave you the yacht<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> -till the twentieth. You shall run this thing yourself; but, by Jove, to -think of Uncle Randolph's Merle in business like that!"</p> - -<p>"We started out to be pirates anyway," laughed Jerry, "and we haven't -lived up to our reputation so far. Well, I'll try it. I shall be rid of -the beggar by ten o'clock to-morrow, wind and weather permitting. It's -awful good of you, old man. I thought you'd think I was a bally-ass to -let myself be bamboozled that way; but when he was talking to me I felt -as if he was being awfully bully-ragged, and I ought to help him out."</p> - -<p>"Of course," was Jack's response. "Didn't you notice how Katrine had -exactly the same feeling, just from your telling about it?"</p> - -<p>Tab felt like winking to himself, but he preserved a grave countenance, -and only asked,—</p> - -<p>"What will you tell Mrs. Fairhew about the Merle's being away?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, that 's simple enough. I'll tell her you wanted to visit Pæstum -again, and you can say afterward that you ran across Wrenmarsh and -brought him up to Naples. Twig it?"</p> - -<p>"Clear as a bell. Come down and see me off."</p> - -<p>He sprang from his chair with animation, greatly relieved that the -captain had not prevented him from carrying out his plan. As Jack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> rose -also, Jerry laid his hand affectionately on his shoulder.</p> - -<p>"It's awfully good of you, old man," he said.</p> - -<p>"Nonsense. It's a mighty little thing to do for you, when you came -across the Atlantic for me."</p> - -<p>"Oh, rats!" Tab rejoined inelegantly. "I came for the fun of it."</p> - -<p>They paid the reckoning, and made their way to the quay, where for an -hour and a half the boat had been waiting for Jerry. The men were -lolling about in the stray corners of shade available, smoking and -sleepily exchanging occasional remarks; but at the sight of the captain -they woke up at once.</p> - -<p>"Here's the skipper," cried one, jumping to his feet and saluting.</p> - -<p>The others followed his example with alacrity, and Jack could not but be -gratified by the unmistakable pleasure they showed at seeing him again.</p> - -<p>"How are you, boys?" he said cheerily. "Glad to see you all. You seem to -be in fighting trim, the whole lot of you."</p> - -<p>"We're bang up, sir," responded Dave, with a grin. "'Tain't the kind o' -weather we left home in, sir."</p> - -<p>"Not exactly," Jack responded laughingly, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> he took his place in the -stern-sheets; "but I hope you don't miss the fog too much. Oars!"</p> - -<p>Jack stayed on the Merle for an hour and a half, reading the log and -exchanging with Jerry all the news that either could rake up. Gonzague -made errands into the cabin evidently for the purpose of feasting his -eyes on his master, and beamed with delight at every word Castleport -spoke to him. When the old man found that the captain had not come to -remain, he looked so doleful that Castleport rallied him about not -liking Tab as a skipper.</p> - -<p>"Eet ees not dat," Gonzague responded, with eloquent hands and -shoulders; "he ees fine as de seelk, but—but Mistaire Taberman he ees -not zee capataine you."</p> - -<p>Jerry was anxious to make an early start for Pæstum, as the wind was -light, so Jack took his leave with hearty wishes for a prosperous run. -Jerry went with him to the steps.</p> - -<p>"By the way, Jack," he asked in an undertone, as the captain was about -to descend to take his place in the cutter, "are congratulations in -order?"</p> - -<p>Castleport looked away from his friend toward where, across the bay, in -a dim haze of purple, stood Capri. Then he glanced quickly into Jerry's -eyes.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p><p>"I—I haven't said anything to her," he answered simply.</p> - -<p>He ran down the steps to the cutter. Gonzague himself had taken the -boat-hook to hold the craft steady. Castleport put his hand kindly on -the old man's shoulder.</p> - -<p>"Good-by, Gonzague," he said. "I'm coming aboard for keeps to-morrow. -Good-by, Jerry."</p> - -<p>"Good-by, and—good luck," called Tab in reply, as the cutter started -away.</p> - -<p class="space-above">It lacked a quarter of an hour to twelve that night when the Merle hove -to a cable's length off Pæstum. The wind had freshened at sundown, and -was blowing a smart breeze from the west. Jerry had the cutter lowered, -and, leaving Gonzague in charge, with stringent orders to keep the yacht -lying where she was, had himself pulled toward the shore. The men had no -notion what was going on, but they obeyed orders with a prompt alacrity -which showed that they felt that something of unusual import was in this -business. When the cutter was within about a hundred feet of the shore, -Tab ordered the men to lie on their oars, and keep watch for a light. In -silence and utter darkness, for though the stars were shining there was -no moon, they tossed about in the black<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> troughs of the sea for twenty -minutes. Then Dave uttered a guarded exclamation.</p> - -<p>"There's a light, sir," he said. "See, there it is again."</p> - -<p>"Lay her head for it, and pull!" commanded Jerry, feeling as if he were -in a pirate novel. "No noise, mind!"</p> - -<p>The light had appeared for an instant some two or three hundred feet up -the shore from the point off which the cutter lay rolling. They pulled -quietly for the spot, the oars sounding softly, the water lapping the -bows of the boat, and the wind bringing to their ears the muffled rote -as of a sand beach.</p> - -<p>"Let her run," ordered Tab in an undertone. "Can you see the light?"</p> - -<p>For a minute they rolled in darkness as before, and then again sighted -the signal, this time straight in shore. Jerry felt his heart beat as he -gave the order to run in, and a consciousness of romantic adventure, -lawless and wild, was like a sweet and exhilarating flavor in his mouth. -Such a deed on his native shores would have had an atmosphere of secret -villany about it, but here, in alien waters, on a foreign coast, under -the darkness of night, the romantic side was intensified a -thousand-fold. A whimsical feeling flitted through the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> back of his head -that he ought to be dressed differently for such an occasion; that he -should have had a shaggy black beard, a red sash stuck full of pistols, -and half a dozen cutlasses disposed promiscuously about his person. He -was not without a fleeting consciousness that some time he might at -home, to the old crowd of college boys, find a keen joy in telling of -this night, and—But the light flashed out again, this time so near that -the cutter lay full in the middle of the dark, fire-sprinkled path it -illumined; and Jerry's entire mind was called back to the business in -hand. He could in the light see the cheeks of the men in front of him as -they swayed with their rowing, the brass rowlocks of the cutter, and the -dripping blades of the oars. He strained his eyes toward the land, but -was blinded by the glare into which he looked; and on the instant a -voice, eager but subdued, hailed from the shore some twenty feet away.</p> - -<p>"Hallo! Are you there, Mr. Taberman?"</p> - -<p>"Here all right," answered Jerry. "Eyes in the boat!" he added sharply -to the men, every one of whom except Dave had turned to look ashore. -"Three good strokes now: Stroke! Stroke! Stroke!... Let her run!"</p> - -<p>The nose of the cutter ground on a sand-beach; the bowsman sprang ashore -with the painter and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> held her, while Jerry clambered forward, steadying -himself with a hand on the shoulder of the rowers. On leaping to the -land, he was confronted by Mr. Wrenmarsh. That gentleman shifted the -lantern he held from his right hand to his left, and shook hands with -Taberman fervently.</p> - -<p>"You're just in time," he said hurriedly. "We haven't a second to lose. -The boxes are right here on the edge of the grass. Come on with your -men. It'll take four of them for that biggest box."</p> - -<p>Jerry called the four men who were nearest, and telling the rest to -stand by, he hurried up the beach. In the sand, by the light of the -lantern with which the archæologist came after him, he saw the print of -wheels leading up to a pile of rude wooden cases. Three of them were of -moderate size, but the fourth looked to Tab huge in the semi-darkness.</p> - -<p>"How big is that thing?" he asked, touching it with his foot.</p> - -<p>"Don't kick it!" Wrenmarsh responded quickly and sharply. "It's only -about a metre square and half as deep. I couldn't make it any smaller."</p> - -<p>Jerry whistled with dismay.</p> - -<p>"We may lose it overboard on the way to the Merle," he remarked cruelly. -Then without heeding the dismayed exclamation of the collector, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> -ordered the men to take that first. "Put it as far astern as you can," -he said. "I'm afraid you'll have to wade in with it."</p> - -<p>"For God's sake hurry," cried Wrenmarsh. "I know that beastly carter has -put the custodi up to the job by this time. Only don't drop that case!" -he added, running along by the side of the bearers with the lantern -swinging wildly to and fro and bumping against his legs.</p> - -<p>The case was evidently pretty heavy, and the men breathed deep as they -carried it across the loose sand. By dint of the men's wading in beside -the cutter the big box was safely deposited in the stern-sheets, and the -sailors went back for a new load. A second box was stowed without -trouble, but as the two others, which were fortunately the smallest, -were being lifted by two men each, Wrenmarsh clutched Taberman by the -arm.</p> - -<p>"Look there!" he cried. "Look there! Quick, men! For God's sake, quick!"</p> - -<p>Not more than a hundred yards away on the beach to the southward was an -advancing lantern. Suddenly it stopped.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" asked Tab.</p> - -<p>The men, spurred on by Wrenmarsh, were fairly running across the sand, -and Tab skurried along with them toward the boat.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p><p>"Hurry! Hurry!" was the breathless response of Wrenmarsh. "It's the -custodi and the police—those cursed <i>carabinieri</i>! I told you the -carter'd sell me out."</p> - -<p>It was only a minute before the men had reached the boat, and hurriedly -stowed the boxes they carried. Taberman and Wrenmarsh scrambled in, and -Jerry, sitting in a distorted and cramped position behind the big box, -got hold of the lines. The men pushed off, and got into their places -anyhow. Just as Tab opened his lips to order the men to give way, a -peremptory voice came to them from the shore to the south. The light had -not advanced from where they had seen it stop, but it had gone waving -wildly up and down the beach as if the bearers had encountered some -impassable obstacle and sought in vain for a place which would allow a -passage.</p> - -<p>"<i>Aspetta!</i>" bawled the voice. "<i>Aspetta nel nomme del Re!</i>"</p> - -<p>"What's that?" asked Jerry.</p> - -<p>"They're calling us to stand—in the king's name," Mr. Wrenmarsh -returned with sullen nervousness.</p> - -<p>"Head the boat 'round," cried Tab. "Why the devil don't they come down -if they want us?"</p> - -<p>"I can't imagine," the collector answered.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p><p>"Perhaps they're afraid of us; but I don't think that can be it."</p> - -<p>"<i>Aspetta!</i>" thundered the voice on shore more savagely. "<i>Aspetta o -tiriamo!</i>"</p> - -<p>"By Jove! The sands!" cried Wrenmarsh. "There's a brook there—the -bottom's quicksand. They daren't try to cross."</p> - -<p>"Quicksand?" echoed Tab. "How'd they come there, then?"</p> - -<p>"They must have thought we were on the other side of the stream. They've -come up on the wrong bank, and now they can't get over."</p> - -<p>Bang! There was a quick, loud report, and Jerry heard the <i>wht</i> of a -carbine ball close astern.</p> - -<p>"Great Scott!" he shouted. "Douse that glim! Pull! Pull!"</p> - -<p>Wrenmarsh seized the lantern and dipped it overboard, an effective if -irregular way of quenching it.</p> - -<p>Bang! Bang! Two more shots. One of the men, Hunter, pulling on the third -thwart, afterward swore that he felt the wind of the second bullet.</p> - -<p>Bang!</p> - -<p>"Pull hard, men! Steady!" cried Jerry.</p> - -<p>A man of race and training, while in a crisis of this sort he feels more -excitement than his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>thicker-skinned fellows, displays more outward -coolness. Social development means the power of self-control, especially -when any sense of responsibility is involved. Taberman was inwardly wild -with the stirring emotions of an experience such as he not only had -never encountered but of which he had heard in a hundred ways which lent -associations to heighten the effect; yet he did not lose for a moment -his sense of having the men to care for. He kept his head, and called -the stroke for the rowers. They showed by their tendency to pull wildly -how near they were to demoralization, and Jerry urged them to steadiness -with language of the most picturesque emphasis.</p> - -<p>Bang! Bang! Bang! Three shots. At the third there was a sharp rap, as if -the cutter had been hit by a pebble, and a queer little squeak of -splintering wood. Tab started up, but instantly sat down again, catching -at the yoke-line he had half let fall.</p> - -<p>"Close call," Wrenmarsh said nervously.</p> - -<p>"Yes," Jerry answered laconically. "Stroke! Stroke! Steady!"</p> - -<p>At the instant he had heard the sound of the ball on the wood of the -boat, he had felt a sharp twinge in his left arm, as if the muscle had -been suddenly tweaked off the bone by a pair of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>white-hot pincers. The -pain was exquisite, but he forced himself to keep calm, and beyond the -first involuntary spring he gave no indication that he had been hit. In -a sort of double consciousness he kept saying to himself that he -wondered how severe the hurt was, and at the same time he seemed to be -lifted by sheer will and excitement above even the physical feeling of -the moment.</p> - -<p>"Steady!" he said, and was queerly conscious of a sort of exultation -that his voice was so strong and natural. "We're 'most out of range."</p> - -<p>Other shots followed, but they splashed harmlessly astern. The darkness -was a shelter, and although the carbines flashed again and again from -the shore, no more damage was done on board the cutter. Ahead of them -Tab, holding himself together grimly, saw the red and green -sailing-lights of the Merle, and realized that at the sound of the -firing Gonzague must have run the yacht in shore.</p> - -<p>"Ahoy!" Jerry called.</p> - -<p>Tears of pain suffused his eyes in spite of him, and made the colored -lights big and blurry, as if they were the glaring orbs of some huge -dragon.</p> - -<p>"Hollá!" came Gonzague's voice. "A'right, sair!" and with a deafening -boom of canvas the schooner luffed up.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p><p>Jerry put his right arm behind him, his left hanging limply, and -getting hold of the rudder-yoke he laid the cutter alongside the yacht. -He and Wrenmarsh got up to the deck, a davit was turned out-board as a -crane and the boxes hoisted, and then the boat slung up.</p> - -<p>Faint and savage with pain, Jerry still fought with himself to keep up, -and to fulfill his duties as commander. He remembered that his order for -the Merle to lie to where she was had been disregarded; and though he -was inwardly glad that the yacht had been brought to meet the cutter, he -felt that discipline was discipline, and he was in no mood to let any -infringement of orders go unnoted. He called Gonzague.</p> - -<p>"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded fiercely. "Didn't I give -orders to keep the yacht hove to till I came out?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, sair," Gonzague answered contritely, stroking his stiff white -mustache with nervous fingers, "bot I heer de shotin' ashore, an'"—</p> - -<p>"That made no difference. I'm ashamed that an old seaman like you should -disobey orders simply because he heard a row ashore. Go forward. I shall -mark you in the log."</p> - -<p>The old man took himself off without a word. However much he was likely -to feel the sting of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> this reproof, he was not the man to fail to -respect the mate for it, and of this Tab might be assured when he had -the calmness to think things over.</p> - -<p>Jerry gave the helmsman the course for Naples, and the Merle swung off -on her return. Then he started to go below, but now that the need of -immediate action was over he suddenly turned sick and dizzy. He put out -his uninjured arm with a quick clutch at Mr. Wrenmarsh.</p> - -<p>"Give me—your arm," he said weakly. "I'm—I'm hit, you know, and things -go round."</p> - -<p>"Hit!" echoed the collector. "Where? Is it serious?"</p> - -<p>"Arm," answered Jerry. "Help me get below."</p> - -<p>The archæologist supported Jerry to the companion, and then almost -carried him down the steps. He tried to place him on the transom, but -Taberman stubbornly walked half the length of the cabin, and sank into a -chair by the table. His lips seemed to him queerly stiff as he twisted -them into a wry smile.</p> - -<p>"Mustn't bleed on the cushions, y' know," he said feebly. "Call -Gonzague."</p> - -<p>Wrenmarsh shouted the name explosively, hovering solicitously over -Jerry, and in a moment the Provençal appeared. Jerry made a mighty -effort to pull himself together.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p><p>"Here, Gonzague," he said, "get the medicine-chest, and strip my coat -off. I've got to be fixed. I want some hot water and a b. and s. Beg -your—pardon," he added, turning slowly to Mr. Wrenmarsh, and confusedly -wishing that the cabin would not turn so much faster than he could. "I'm -forgetting. This gentleman's to have Jack's—the captain's stateroom. -Will you have anything to drink? 'Fraid I'm poor host, but"—</p> - -<p>"No, no," cried the archæologist. "That's all right. The brandy, -Gonzague, quick!"</p> - -<p>A brandy and soda put fresh life into Jerry, who still tried to be -polite, and protested that the collector should not bother.</p> - -<p>"You'll find me a first-class chirurgeon," responded the other. "Where's -the medicine-chest, Gonzague?"</p> - -<p>He proved remarkably ready and efficient and kindly withal. He stripped -off Jerry's jacket and cut away the shirt-sleeve, to discover a two-inch -sliver of African oak from the gunwale of the cutter stabbed into a -jagged hole in the forearm. He probed and cut and trimmed with the skill -of a trained surgeon, while Jerry, pale and with set teeth, bore it all -with Spartan firmness until everything was over, and then, as he tried -to rise when the last bandage was in place, fainted dead away.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p><p>When the plucky mate had been brought round and stowed away in his -berth, Gonzague again took charge of the Merle, and dropped her anchor -once more in the harbor of Naples at about eight o'clock in the morning.</p> - -<p>Just before Mr. Wrenmarsh turned in for the night, he put his head into -the door of Jerry's stateroom to ask if he could do anything for him.</p> - -<p>"No, thank you," Jerry returned. "Much obliged; but the man by my door -will hear if I want anything. I'm all right now. I'm jolly much obliged -to you for fixing me up."</p> - -<p>"'Pon my word, Table—Taberman, you're the most extraordinary man for a -Bostonian I ever saw. Good-night."</p> - -<p>"Good-night," Jerry responded. Then he chuckled, and added, "But -Boston's full of better men than I am, if you'd only stayed there to see -'em."</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i058.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Twelve</span> <span class="smaller">AT VERGIL'S TOMB</span></h2> - -<p>"I never could touch it," Katrine said, with an emphatic shake of her -head. "I should think a baby brought up on goat's milk would run round -and bleat. Why, I think the idea of it is horrid!"</p> - -<p>Her eyes sparkled and her whole air was full of a delicious animation, -so that it was no wonder Jack threw back his head and laughed, as much -in sheer admiration as from amusement. He was in high spirits this -morning, the excitement of a mighty resolve stirring in his blood.</p> - -<p>"How do you know that you haven't been having goat's milk at the hotel?" -he demanded. "Aren't you afraid you'll begin to break out in a baa -yourself all of a sudden?"</p> - -<p>"Why, how rude you are!" she cried, her dimples deepening and shoaling. -"Of course they wouldn't dare to give it to us, and we should know it if -they did!"</p> - -<p>The young people were being driven in a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>Neapolitan <i>vettura</i> to the -tomb of Vergil. Jack had mentioned the spot that morning at breakfast as -being well worth a visit, if only for the view, and said that the ladies -ought to see it. Mrs. Fairhew had, for reasons perhaps not wholly -unconnected with remembrances of her own youth and the late Mr. Fairhew, -declined to make the jaunt, on the score that it was too hot and that -she had a thousand trifles to attend to. She had refused her niece's -prompt offer of assistance, and so left that young woman free to accept -Jack's invitation that she take the drive with him.</p> - -<p>Their talk was light enough, the lighter because Jack at least hardly -dared to venture to be serious lest he betray how terribly in earnest he -was. The sight of a little flock of goats, which had scattered at the -pistol-like crack of their driver's whip, had given them a theme for a -moment. The agile brown animals skipped along the gutters, assailed by -the effervescent profanity of their conductor, a half-naked, slim-limbed -lad browner than the beasts themselves; and with more detonations of the -whiplash the carriage whirled up the hill with hardly diminished speed -as the grade grew steeper. Through picturesque, squalid streets, braver -in their poverty than many a splendid thoroughfare, through nooks that -seemed to be private <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>courtyards with entire families disposed about -them, the carriage took its way noisily; it turned now to the left, now -to the right, continually ascending; it brought them to the top of -narrow ways down which they looked as through a kaleidoscope gleaming -with a confusion of gay colors; it seemed about to land them on the roof -of some building which lay directly before them, and then at the last -moment whisked around some unseen corner and carried them still higher.</p> - -<p>"Isn't it wonderful," Katrine said. "I never saw such a city. I feel -almost as if we were in a flying-machine,—we keep going up so and see -such wonderful sights all the time. Oh, do look down that street! Did -you ever see such colors?"</p> - -<p>"It is stunning," Castleport answered, his eyes on her face.</p> - -<p>"You didn't look at it at all," she said half pouting, as the carriage -whirled them past.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I could see it all in your eyes," he returned. "You don't know what -excellent mirrors they are."</p> - -<p>"What nonsense! How silly you are this morning!"</p> - -<p>Her color deepened, however, and Jack did not feel that his remark had -missed fire. He smiled to himself, and just then the carriage brought -up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> with a jerk on the left side of the way, in front of a small green -door in a gray retaining-wall. Over the door was printed in black -letters: <i>Tomba di Virgilio</i>.</p> - -<p>"Here we are," Jack said.</p> - -<p>He got out with the field-glasses he had brought, and extended his hand -to assist Katrine. She hardly touched his arm with her finger-tips, but -the air was electric, and he felt the thrill like a pulse of warm blood -from head to foot. He did not speak to the driver, but with a manner -that made that piratical Neapolitan regard him with a new respect simply -ordered him in the sign-language of the town to remain in waiting. A -soldier came slouching out of a shop near by wherein he was evidently -lounging, took the prescribed gate-fees, and then opened the narrow -door. This disclosed a staircase, strait and steep, cut from the living -rock, which led upward and to the right.</p> - -<p>They climbed the stone stairs without speaking, but at the top the -wonderful beauty of the view which burst upon them called from Katrine -an involuntary exclamation of surprise and delight. Below them, -red-roofed and multi-colored, Naples lay bathed in the strong white -light of the southern sun; beyond, marvelously blue and ruffled by a -gentle breeze, the waters of the bay flashed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> sparkled; and beyond -again, farther yet, stood purple Capri and the piled-up southern shore, -luminous and mistily azure. To the eastward, brooding and tragic, yet -with a thrilling beauty of its own in softly flowing curves and wavering -outline, showed Vesuvius, and stupendous as it was, seemed crouching -sinister and awful, the incarnation of pitiless power.</p> - -<p>Jack focused the glasses, and handed them to Katrine. Then he began to -point here and there, showing her the different things of interest -visible from the spur of the hill on which they were standing. As she -was looking toward the Mole and the New Harbor, suddenly she uttered a -little cry of surprise.</p> - -<p>"There's the Merle," she said. "I'm sure it is. At least she's flying -the American flag."</p> - -<p>"Yes," Jack responded. "That's she, fast enough."</p> - -<p>"Doesn't it seem like a bit of home to see her down there?" Katrine went -on. "I think it was perfectly wonderful that Mr. Drake let you take her -this summer."</p> - -<p>Jack gave a quick movement of the shoulders, and then set his lips -together more firmly.</p> - -<p>"I shall have to tell her the whole thing," he thought to himself. Aloud -he said, "I shouldn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> have been here when you were if it hadn't been -for having the Merle."</p> - -<p>"I suppose not," she answered, and the change in her tone showed most -clearly that she understood in the words more than met the ear.</p> - -<p>After they had stood for a time in admiration of the magnificent view -before them, they turned to go to the tomb, twenty yards away. The -uneven path, bordered by beautiful wild poppies and violets, was shaded -by gnarled fig and plum trees. A splendid stone-pine rose superb on the -left, crowned by its dome-shaped cluster of branches.</p> - -<p>"Oh," Katrine cried, "it's perfectly beautiful, isn't it? It makes you -feel solemn, it's so lovely."</p> - -<p>"Yes," he assented, and unwonted emotion left him with no word to add.</p> - -<p>"Just look at those flowers," she went on. "What a pity it is that we -don't have them like that at home."</p> - -<p>"It's a fitting place for Vergil to be buried in, isn't it?" Jack said. -"I thought you would like it."</p> - -<p>"It is a place I shall remember all my life," she replied. Her eyes met -his as she spoke, and her glance fell with quick consciousness. Before -he could speak, she added hurriedly, "Is this the tomb?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p><p>"Yes," he answered, entirely undisturbed by any chilling scholastic -doubts on the subject, "this is the tomb."</p> - -<p>Before them was a lowly structure of old rubble, four square, and a -narrow door, at which the path, with a sudden dip, came to an end.</p> - -<p>"Will you go in?" he said, standing aside.</p> - -<p>Katrine entered, and he followed. The place was as simple within as -without. The floor seemed to be of beaten earth; the single room, or -<i>cella</i>, was lighted by a small window, and it contained only two or -three cinerary urns of dark red clay, which leaned against the wall -opposite the door. Above these, in brown letters on a tablet of white -marble, was an inscription set there by the Academy of France.</p> - -<p>The pair stood silent for a minute, Katrine reading the tablet, and -Jack, his head bared, standing beside her. As she turned her head she -caught for a second time his glance. She colored, and moved quickly to -the small window.</p> - -<p>"Isn't the view wonderful!" she said, as if she had caught at the first -words that came into her mind.</p> - -<p>"Yes," he returned absently. "Fine, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>She looked a moment out of the window, and then, avoiding his eyes, she -turned back to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> Latin distich cut in the tablet, and by tradition -assigned to Vergil himself:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere, tenet nunc</div> -<div>Parthenope. Cecini pascua, rura, duces.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>"You'll think I am unspeakably stupid," she said, "but I confess I -cannot make it out. 'Mantua gave me birth,' I can read that."</p> - -<p>"'The Calabrian winds carried me away,'" Jack went on.</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes; but I don't understand the Parthenope."</p> - -<p>"That's Naples," he answered. "'Naples holds me.'"</p> - -<p>"Oh, is that it? I know the rest. 'I sang pastures, fields, leaders.'"</p> - -<p>"Good! You shall have an A in the examination in spite of Parthenope," -he assured her. "Perhaps 'heroes' is a better word for <i>duces</i>, though."</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I don't deserve an A," she laughed, "but I am satisfied if I -pass at all."</p> - -<p>As they came out of the tomb Jack picked a spray from the beautiful -laurel growing beside the entrance, and held it out to her. She took it -with a murmured word of thanks, and put it in her gown. Not far away on -the right of the path was a rude seat or bench, shaded by fig and olive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> -trees, and partially screened from the path by dwarf plums. It was -slightly higher than the way by which they had come.</p> - -<p>"Here," Jack said, "let's go up and rest a bit. The view is worth -seeing."</p> - -<p>They turned to the seat and took their places in silence. The view was -not perceptibly different from that which they had on the path, but as -Jack looked at Katrine and Katrine cast down her eyes, this was not a -matter which they were likely to notice.</p> - -<p>"Katrine," the captain began,—for they had come, almost by insensible -degrees, to call each other by their Christian names,—"I've got to tell -you something. It isn't altogether pleasant for me, but it's only fair -that you should know."</p> - -<p>She looked up at him in evident surprise and with some disquiet.</p> - -<p>"Why, what is it?" she asked. "I hope it isn't anything really -terrible."</p> - -<p>He hesitated, and began to scrape the ground with his foot nervously.</p> - -<p>"I—er—Well, to be honest, I don't know exactly how to tell you so you -won't be too hard on me," he answered frankly.</p> - -<p>"Is it so bad?" she queried in a tone which showed some concern under -its assumed lightness.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p><p>"What in the world have you been doing? You haven't been murdering -anybody, I hope."</p> - -<p>"What would you say," asked Jack, "what would you think of a man that -acted like this? Suppose a case. Suppose the chap was, in the first -place, in America. Suppose he had a friend, a friend he cared a lot -about, one he thought more of than anybody else in the world, and that -friend was on this side. Suppose the man's property was all tied up,—in -trust, you know,—and he'd promised not to borrow, so he couldn't -honorably raise the money to come over unless his trustee would let him. -The trustee, we'll say, is a nice old fellow,—really nice, you know, -only rather crotchety,—who wouldn't hear a word of the chap's going."</p> - -<p>He stopped as if for encouragement, and Katrine, with evident -appreciation of this, murmured, "Yes, I understand."</p> - -<p>"And suppose," Castleport went on, a new hesitancy coming into his -voice, "that this trustee—of course the chap is his nearest relative, -you know—has an able schooner yacht. Now if the chap simply couldn't -stand it, but captured that yacht—not violently, of course, but by -stratagem,—and came over to see his friend, and to ask her"—</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p><p>"Why, Jack Castleport!" cried Katrine, with eyes open to their widest. -"You don't mean that you ran away with the Merle! I never can believe -it!"</p> - -<p>"It's true, though," he responded. "Do you blame me so very much?"</p> - -<p>Her glance dropped before his, and her manner instantly lost its -boldness.</p> - -<p>"I—Why, of course that depends," she murmured.</p> - -<p>"Depends on what?"</p> - -<p>"On—how—how necessary it was for him to see his friend."</p> - -<p>"Oh," Jack cried. "I had to see her! You know I had to come, Katrine! I -had to tell you I love you, and I stole Uncle Randolph's yacht because -he wouldn't let me come any other way. I had to come."</p> - -<p>He sprang up in his excitement, and stood before her, his hands twisting -each other in a way odd enough for one of so much self-control.</p> - -<p>"You must have known how I cared for you, Katrine. I couldn't tell you -without making a clean breast of this, but don't be too hard on me. I -had to come."</p> - -<p>She flashed up at him the merest hair's-breadth of a glance, and with -her hands pressed to her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>bosom, said softly, "I never could have -forgiven you if you hadn't come."</p> - -<p>He simply stooped over and took her unceremoniously in his arms, and it -was several moments before she had breath and presence of mind to -protest.</p> - -<p>"Heavens!" she cried with mock terror. "Am I in the arms of a pirate? -Jack, I never knew anything so shocking in my life! How could you do -it?"</p> - -<p>"I had to get across the Atlantic to you," he answered, as if that were -an excuse all-sufficient.</p> - -<p>And the sun shone down on the sea and on Vesuvius and on Vergil's tomb, -and on that which is more enduring than all these,—the sweetness of -young love.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i089.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Thirteen</span> <span class="smaller">A BID FOR THE ODD TRICK</span></h2> - -<p>While the captain was looking with Katrine down on the Merle, as the -yacht lay quietly at anchor in the harbor, a notable conversation was -taking place on board. At no very early hour Tab had risen, tubbed with -difficulty, and, with some aid, got into his clothes. His left arm was -stiff and very sore, but beyond that he felt no discomfort. His -magnificent physique, improved by the hardy life he had been leading, -saved him from any consequences more serious; so that the archæologist, -who was in capital spirits, rallied him on the prodigious appetite he -displayed at breakfast.</p> - -<p>"I have to eat double to make up for the blood I lost last night," Jerry -said, with a grin. "I find there's nothing for the appetite like a -regular brush with the police. I've found it so before, when I was in -college."</p> - -<p>After breakfast the two went on deck, and seated under the awning, with -the beautiful bay before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> them and a soft air to bring a delicious -coolness, they talked over the adventure of the previous night. Then -from this they branched off to more general matters. Mr. Wrenmarsh was a -man of wide experience and of good observation, and was well informed on -almost every topic the talk touched upon. His tricks and eccentricities -had been for the time being laid aside, or showed only as a flavor of -personality piquant and attractive. Jerry found himself soothed and -entertained, although, remembering his previous experience with the -collector, he was not without a feeling that Wrenmarsh had a propensity -to use speech as a squid does his ink, to conceal his course, and so -wondered what the collector had still to gain. Wrenmarsh suddenly took -to intricate and unintelligible sentences without warning and equally -without apparent excuse, when Jerry brought him back to earth with a -question what he intended to do next.</p> - -<p>"Do?" exclaimed Wrenmarsh, as if shocked and astonished by such an -inquiry. "Of course I shan't think of setting foot on shore again till I -get to England."</p> - -<p>Jerry hardly suppressed an instinctive whistle, and for a brief instant -he had nothing to say; but after all he was not without a shrewdness of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> -his own. He was still chagrined to remember that the archæologist had -played upon him once for his own purposes, and he had at least learned -that in dealing with this man it was necessary to be cautious.</p> - -<p>"To England?" he repeated in a voice so casual as to rouse Wrenmarsh and -to tickle himself inwardly. "How do you go?"</p> - -<p>"Go?" once more echoed the other. "With you, of course."</p> - -<p>"Oh, are we going to England?" Jerry asked more carelessly than before.</p> - -<p>"Surely you are," Wrenmarsh retorted with some sharpness.</p> - -<p>"Are we really?" was Jerry's comment. A refrain from a song in a Pudding -play popped into his head, and he hummed it in derision hardly -disguised,—</p> - -<p class="center">"You surprise me!"</p> - -<p>"Will you—er—say that again?" asked the collector most courteously.</p> - -<p>"Oh, quite unnecessary," Tab returned, not to be trapped into an -apology. "It was only a bit of a song."</p> - -<p>He was filled with a pleasant feeling that he was bothering the -collector, astute as that person was, and he determined, as the -circumstances certainly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> were in his favor, to hold his own with him -this time at least.</p> - -<p>"I don't think you have a very clear view of the case," Wrenmarsh said, -after a moment of silent musing with contracted brow. "If you had, you'd -see that it isn't possible for me to go ashore now, after that beastly -business of last night. I assure you, I'm awfully sorry for that mess. -There's another thing,—I couldn't get those boxes ashore from the yacht -without their being examined, and then there'd be the devil of a row."</p> - -<p>"That must have occurred to you before you left Pæstum," Jerry remarked -with coolness.</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenmarsh did not move a muscle.</p> - -<p>"So it did," he said blandly; "but of course I knew it must have been -evident to you also."</p> - -<p>Jerry laughed in spite of himself at the cool impudence of this.</p> - -<p>"I confess that it wasn't," he responded.</p> - -<p>"Even if it wasn't," the other went on, as smoothly as ever, "I never -for an instant supposed that when once you'd started out to help me, -you'd funk. That is a contingency, I confess, never occurred to my mind. -I thought you were made of different stuff. You were clear game last -night."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p><p>Jerry looked at his guest and burst into deep-throated laughter.</p> - -<p>"Well, for clean cheek!" he cried. "Do you think I'm going to tote you -about in a yacht I don't own for the rest of my life?"</p> - -<p>"Would you like to?" asked the collector, with a fresh aspect of -interest. "Because in the Ægean Sea I've a"—</p> - -<p>"Whatever it is, please keep it to yourself, or you'll insist that I -promised to help you with it," interrupted Tab grimly. "As for going to -England in the present case, that's quite out of the question. What are -you going to do? If you stay on board, you'll land in Boston."</p> - -<p>Mr. Wrenmarsh's face took on for an instant a look distinctly ugly. It -suddenly occurred to Taberman that the collector was in rather an evil -plight,—worse, indeed, than that from which the Merle had rescued him.</p> - -<p>"Surely you're not serious?" Wrenmarsh asked slowly.</p> - -<p>"I think I am," Jerry responded pleasantly. "What are you going to do?"</p> - -<p>"Damn!" the other broke out explosively, lying back in his chair and -running his fingers through his gray-sprinkled locks.</p> - -<p>Jerry was too soft-hearted not to be touched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> by the other's perplexity, -but an involuntary movement of sympathy which he made happened to give -him a painful twinge in the arm, and he hardened his heart. There was a -silence of some minutes, during which he tried to make out from the face -of his companion what thoughts were passing behind that mask. Suddenly -the cloud lifted from the face of Wrenmarsh, and he flashed a bright -glance on Jerry.</p> - -<p>"Bless me," he cried gayly. "I might have thought! -Plutus—Mammon—filthy lucre! But how extraordinary in an American—not -to ask for it, you know! What'll you take for it?"</p> - -<p>"For what?" responded Tab, not catching his drift.</p> - -<p>He had a dreadful feeling that by becoming incomprehensible, the other -might be getting the better of him.</p> - -<p>"What's to pay for a passage of myself and my boxes to—let us say -Plymouth?"</p> - -<p>Indignation for the instant flared up in Jerry.</p> - -<p>"This is not a passenger ship," he responded brusquely.</p> - -<p>"Oh, of course not, my dear fellow; but as every man has his price, I -suppose a yacht has too."</p> - -<p>Common-sense and indignation worked together now to keep Taberman from -an angry retort. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> flashed upon him that here was a chance, one in a -thousand, to pay off the hands of the Merle without troubling the -President; it was a chance, too, to score off this cheeky archæologist. -Taberman had already noted that Wrenmarsh was a penurious soul who hated -to part with money, and he felt something of the godly joy of the -departing Israelites when Moses announced the project for the spoiling -of the Egyptians. England was not such an impossible distance off. They -might take the Great Circle track home. Surely if Jack—</p> - -<p>"Don't you see my position, Mr. Wrenmarsh?" he asked. "I haven't the -power to dispose of the Merle. I'm simply in charge of her while the -captain's ashore, don't you see? Still"—</p> - -<p>He paused dramatically.</p> - -<p>"Well?" ejaculated Wrenmarsh, apparently keeping his gaze fixed in the -closest interest on the red sails of a big felucca that was standing in -toward the Mole.</p> - -<p>"Well, I think I might be right in making a sort of conditional—a -purely conditional"—he repeated the word for caution, wondering if he -ought to make it any stronger—"arrangement. It wouldn't be valid -without the sanction of the captain. You see that, of course."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p><p>"Well?" repeated the other.</p> - -<p>"Do you see—merely conditional?" insisted Taberman.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I suppose so," assented the other grudgingly.</p> - -<p>"I might make a sort of conditional arrangement, then, to go to -Plymouth, or perhaps to any other English port not too much out of the -way, for a consideration of"—He paused again.</p> - -<p>"Ten pounds," suggested the archæologist.</p> - -<p>"Two hundred," said Jerry coolly.</p> - -<p>He could have hugged himself with joy at the sound of his own voice -naming the sum in such a matter-of-fact fashion. He knew well enough -that but for the enormous handicap which circumstances had put upon the -archæologist he would have had no chance whatever to outmanœuvre him, -but this he did not bother to reflect on at the moment and might have -had scruples about if he had. He gave himself up to the delight of -feeling that he had distinctly the better of the man who had so carried -him off his feet at Pæstum, and who had involved him in an affair of the -seriousness of which Jerry had had good reason to meditate in the times -in the night when his arm kept him awake. It was certainly something to -have the upper hand now; and two hundred pounds, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> he had named -almost at random, multiplied itself in his head into a most satisfactory -number of dollars.</p> - -<p>"Two hundred pounds!" cried out the archæologist, nearly jumping out of -his chair.</p> - -<p>His affected surprise was dramatic, but unfortunately for its effect it -was overdone, so that even Jerry felt it to be theatrical.</p> - -<p>"Shall we call it two hundred and fifty?" the mate asked, enjoying -himself more every minute.</p> - -<p>"Two hundred and fifty devils!" shouted Wrenmarsh, who appeared more -irritated, it seemed to Jerry, on account of being outmanœuvred than -because the price was so high.</p> - -<p>"Not devils—pounds," Tab responded, smiling at his own wit.</p> - -<p>"Leave off the two hundred," begged the collector.</p> - -<p>"The agreement is only conditional anyway," Jerry said, with something -of an air, "but if it seems to you fairer, we'll leave off the fifty, -and call it an even two hundred—one for you and one for those precious -boxes, to be paid on arrival. I'm not a Neapolitan. Will you go ashore -here or wait for the captain?"</p> - -<p>"I'll wait for the captain, Mr. Taberman," Wrenmarsh replied. He -glowered across the bay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> for a moment, and then added, "He may not be so -infernally exorbitant as you are."</p> - -<p>Jerry smiled secretly to himself, and resolved that at least Jack should -be persuaded to make no easier terms. Then he went to write a note to -summon the captain to come aboard to consider this proposition of taking -a passenger.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i112.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Fourteen</span> <span class="smaller">CLEARING THE DECKS</span></h2> - -<p>When Jack appeared on the Merle, rather late that afternoon, Jerry met -him by the steps, his arm in a sling.</p> - -<p>"Good heavens, Tab," cried the captain, "what's the matter? What have -you done to your arm, boy?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing much," Jerry answered. "Just got a little piece of the cutter -in it in a night engagement. What the deuce kept you so long?"</p> - -<p>"But was it last night?" Jack insisted. "Did you get into trouble?"</p> - -<p>"We were under fire," Jerry laughed; "but I had the only casualty."</p> - -<p>"The devil you did! What sort of a trap did your infernal Englishman -lead you into?"</p> - -<p>"That's just what I want to tell you before you see him. What in the -world made you so late? I've been waiting all the afternoon."</p> - -<p>The captain's face grew radiant.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p><p>"Well, you see," he returned, with a little laugh in his throat, "time -passed so quickly, and Katrine and I had so much to talk about"—</p> - -<p>"Jacko! You've done it!" shouted Tab, loud enough to be heard from one -end of the yacht to the other.</p> - -<p>The captain grinned warmly, and nodded with sparkling eyes.</p> - -<p>"Oh, good man!" cried Tab, wringing his hand. "Good old Jack! Long life -and all happiness to you, you dear old pirate!"</p> - -<p>His words tumbled out helter-skelter, and his honest blue eyes were -moist with pure joy at his friend's happiness. He admired Miss -Marchfield from the bottom of his heart, and Jack was the dearest friend -he could ever have. He rejoiced as sincerely and as warmly as if the -good fortune of the captain had been his own.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, old man," laughed Jack, bubbling over with good spirits; -"but if it hadn't been for you, I—I'd never have done it."</p> - -<p>"Tush!" flouted Jerry. "Don't talk bosh! It was only a matter of time -anyway. But I'm glad it's all right."</p> - -<p>They had been standing at the head of the steps, and now the captain -moved along the deck.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p><p>"What did you send for me to come out in such a hurry for?" he -inquired.</p> - -<p>"Hurry!" ejaculated Jerry. "Do you call this coming out in a hurry? If -it hadn't been that you left a born diplomat in charge, you might have -lost two hundred pounds by being so slow."</p> - -<p>"Two hundred pounds?" the other echoed. "What on earth are you talking -about?"</p> - -<p>"Come into the cabin before you go aft," was Jerry's answer. "I want to -tell you about that."</p> - -<p>"And about your arm, old man. What is the matter with you?"</p> - -<p>"That's part of it," Tab returned, as they went below together. "I'm -trying among other things to recover damages."</p> - -<p>When some little time later the two friends came on deck and went aft to -where the guest was sitting, Jack was in full possession of the whole -situation.</p> - -<p>"Jack, Mr. Gordon Wrenmarsh; Mr. Wrenmarsh, Captain John Castleport," -Jerry said.</p> - -<p>"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Wrenmarsh," Jack said, extending his hand.</p> - -<p>He was evidently in the best of humor. His spirits on that day could -hardly be other than at their highest, and he had been vastly amused by -Jerry's plan of raising funds to pay off the men.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p><p>"Thanks," responded the archæologist. "I was afraid the pleasure was -largely mine. I've been expecting you all day."</p> - -<p>"Well," Jack said, seating himself comfortably, "I am here at last. I am -sorry if I kept you waiting. You might have arranged anything with Mr. -Taberman, though."</p> - -<p>"I tried to," Mr. Wrenmarsh responded dryly, "but he seemed to me so -unpractical in his ideas that I thought it better to wait for you."</p> - -<p>"I hope you won't find me unsatisfactory in the same way," Jack -returned. "At least I am practical enough to know that in this weather -it will be more comfortable if we have something."</p> - -<p>He summoned Gonzague, and the trio were soon furnished with tall glasses -of sangaree, which they sipped with relish.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Taberman has suggested,—though I fancy he's half in jest," began -the collector, when these preliminaries had been attended to, "that two -hundred pounds is a fair price for such a trivial service as running up -to England and landing me and my boxes."</p> - -<p>"I am glad you think the matter trivial," observed Jack, with a smile; -"it makes it so much easier for me to say that I do not find it -convenient to go to England at all."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, I say now," Wrenmarsh responded, with a sudden keen glance at Jack -as if he were surprised at the quickness with which his remark had been -met and turned against him; "of course you'll go to England. That was -settled long ago, you know."</p> - -<p>"Was it? I supposed that I, as captain of the Merle, had some voice in -such a matter."</p> - -<p>"Of course nothing was settled," broke in Jerry. "I made a conditional -arrangement—entirely conditional, mind you—with Mr. Wrenmarsh that you -would take him to England."</p> - -<p>"Yes; that is what I said," the collector asserted imperturbably. "Only -the price that you named"—</p> - -<p>"Seems to me a very reasonable one," interpolated Jack.</p> - -<p>"Not seriously?" Wrenmarsh said, evidently determined not to show that -he was at all ruffled. "Only consider, if I go ashore here, I may get—I -might become a national complication. And you wouldn't want to be mixed -up in that sort of a thing," he added, with a chuckle. "An international -complication," he murmured to himself, as if the idea appealed so -strongly to his vanity that he was half tempted to be put on land at -once to take up the part. Then he recalled his wandering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> thoughts, and -looked Captain Castleport in the eye. "If you land me in any country -except England, I am quite done for, as you Americans would say. It -stands to reason if there is any paying to be done, you should pay me -for keeping you out of a scrape; for of course if I go ashore it will be -known that the Merle ran away from the <i>carabinieri</i> at Pæstum, and"—</p> - -<p>"Rubbish!" interrupted Jack brusquely. "Don't talk that kind of -poppy-cock! Even if there were any truth in it, it wouldn't be decent -for you to say so after getting the Merle into the scrape."</p> - -<p>"And giving me your word that the yacht was in no possible danger," put -in Jerry indignantly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no real danger, of course," Wrenmarsh said hurriedly, "only it -might be unpleasant for you, and you might not like to be detained."</p> - -<p>"Why must you go to England?" asked Castleport. "Why not to Malta or -Cyprus or Korfu even? They're protectorates and English ground."</p> - -<p>"The sun never sets, you know," responded Wrenmarsh, with his -extraordinary ventral chuckle. "The truth is they won't do. Korfu and -Cyprus would be as bad for me as Naples, on account of my reputation. -I'm known to have run out a lot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> of things, you see. Gibraltar or Malta -would suit me well enough—if it weren't for the same reason. There -isn't a hotel on the entire shores of the Mediterranean that I could put -up at with those boxes in safety."</p> - -<p>"I hardly suppose I'm expected to take that too literally," Jack said, -with a smile.</p> - -<p>He reflected a moment. He could see that the collector certainly had -good reason for wishing to remain on the yacht, and that it could not -but be of very great convenience to him to be taken to England. He was -no less convinced from what Jerry had told him that the antiquities -which the archæologist had on board must be worth thousands of pounds, -and that their possessor could afford to pay well for their safety. He -was thoroughly stirred up, moreover, by the thought of the episode of -the night before. That Jerry should have been put in actual peril of his -life by Wrenmarsh for his own purposes was to Jack so outrageous that he -was half tempted to order the collector and his boxes off the Merle at -once to take his chances with the officials on the quays of Naples. As -Jerry had planned reprisals along another line, however, and as after -all Jack could not have brought himself to desert a man in extremity, -the captain determined to go on as they had begun.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p><p>"Two hundred pounds strikes me as fair enough," he said.</p> - -<p>"Too much—too much! Make it fifty," responded Wrenmarsh.</p> - -<p>"Two hundred!" repeated Jack.</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry; I can't do that," the collector said, with a great show of -decision. "You'll have to take me to Malta. What'll you do that for?"</p> - -<p>"Three hundred," Jack returned quietly, although he could not refrain -from a secret exchange of glances with Jerry.</p> - -<p>"What!" the other cried, in an exaggerated shriek. "A run like that? -Three hundred pounds! It's not a twentieth the distance to England."</p> - -<p>"That's so," was the captain's answer, "but you see we should have a -good deal less value in your company. Besides, you'd get your boxes <i>ex -territorio</i> a great deal quicker."</p> - -<p>He had by this time become so interested in the game he was playing that -the beating of the collector seemed in itself a thing worth straining -every nerve to gain.</p> - -<p>"They're <i>ex territorio</i> now," Mr. Wrenmarsh said, "as they're on a -foreign yacht. But no matter about that. What'll you take to set me over -to Gibraltar?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, that would cost you three hundred and fifty, because there you're -so much nearer England than you'd be at Malta."</p> - -<p>He glanced again at Jerry, with an inward chuckle at the utter -balderdash he was talking and a consciousness how closely it resembled -the nature of the arguments with which Wrenmarsh had beguiled Tab. For a -minute there was silence, and then the archæologist spoke angrily.</p> - -<p>"You're too commercial," he said, with an unconcealed sneer. "I see no -way in which we can come to an agreement. I never was equal to trading -with a dollar-getting Yankee."</p> - -<p>Tab started and looked to hear Jack break out at an insult so gross, but -the captain merely smiled.</p> - -<p>"As you are our guest," he said, "there's no chance for me to answer you -properly, but you must remember we're not looking for a job. Shall I -send you ashore now, or would it suit you to take a boat with me in half -an hour? Or perhaps," he added, his manner most elaborately courteous, -"on account of your boxes, it would suit you better to be set ashore -after dark."</p> - -<p>"Give you one hundred pounds," the collector said, still fighting, and -ignoring the captain's words entirely.</p> - -<p>"We need not go on with the wrangle," Jack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> said, rising. "I'm not -bargaining with you. If it's worth two hundred pounds to you, all right. -If it isn't, we'll part here, and hope you have the gratitude to -appreciate what has already been done for you at the risk of Mr. -Taberman's life. Come, we've wasted too much time over this already."</p> - -<p>"Do you think my time isn't worth anything?" cried the -other,—apparently losing all control of his temper. "I've wasted too -much already. Get up your damned anchor, you mercenary Yankee"—</p> - -<p>"Come, sir!" broke in Jack sharply, "apologize at once! At once! You -have been insulting us this half hour like an utter cad, and I've made -all the allowances I'm equal to."</p> - -<p>The collector regarded him with furious eyes, but seemed struggling with -himself until he could command his manner and his voice.</p> - -<p>"I—I beg your pardon," he said in a hard tone. Then he added, in a -voice softer and more grave, "Indeed, I beg your pardon most sincerely. -My cursed temper got the better of me. Does your offer still hold?"</p> - -<p>"If you wish," Jack answered stiffly.</p> - -<p>"Then—two hundred pounds—I accept it. Two hundred pounds sterling, to -be paid on our safe arrival in port at Plymouth." He sighed, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> put -out his hand to the captain. "Will you pardon my tongue?" he asked.</p> - -<p>There was more ingenuousness in this trifling act than in anything Tab -or Jack had yet seen in him. The real man seemed for a moment to show; -and as Jack accepted the collector's apology and took his hand, Jerry -had a fleeting glimpse—short as a flash of changing light—of another -and franker Wrenmarsh, accustomed to hide under a veil of shams and -mockeries made necessary by his difficult vocation.</p> - -<p>Wrenmarsh then asked if he might have some letters mailed ashore, and -Jack offered to take them himself in half an hour's time. While the -collector was below writing these, the captain and the mate talked -things over on deck. Tab had to congratulate Jack again, and over and -over, fairly beaming with delight whenever he thought of the happy stage -to which affairs had been brought. When he discovered that the captain -had confessed the lifting of the Merle, he was for a moment -disconcerted.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Jacko, how could you give that away?" he cried.</p> - -<p>"I had to be honest," Jack replied, and added, with a little shade of -unconscious patronage, "You'll see how it is yourself, old man, when it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> -comes your turn. You have to make a square deal, of course."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I s'pose so," assented the mate humbly. "I hope she won't tell -Mrs. Fairhew."</p> - -<p>"Oh, we told her together," Jack stated cheerfully. "Katrine thought -we'd better. I'm glad I did, too; for she's written home about meeting -us, and it's sure to get round to Uncle Randolph sooner or later."</p> - -<p>"How did she take it?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, do you know," returned Jack, laughing at the remembrance of his -talk with Mrs. Fairhew, "I think she was more bothered that she hadn't -guessed it than she was shocked at us. She couldn't help letting me see -that she thought it an awfully good joke on Uncle Randolph. She said she -should write to him to-day and remind him that she'd often told him he -tried to keep me in leading strings. She said she did have a suspicion -from your jocoseness when we first came over that there was some joke -about our coming, but we parried her questions so well she forgot all -about it. She said nobody could have dreamed of anything so -preposterous, so of course she didn't guess it."</p> - -<p>"Didn't she say it was on account of her age she didn't see through us?" -queried Jerry, with a grin.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p><p>"By Jove, she did; and then turned it off by saying she never supposed -a Marchfield would be engaged to a pirate. She says, though, that I've -got to cut back at once. She won't have me going about with Katrine in a -stolen yacht."</p> - -<p>"It's time to start anyway. It'll be getting late by the time we're -across, and if she's written home, the sooner the Merle is in Boston -harbor the better. I suppose we can get off in a week?"</p> - -<p>"We go to-morrow," Jack answered calmly.</p> - -<p>"To-morrow! Great Scott! What are we sitting here for? There are oceans -of things to be done."</p> - -<p>"Of course we can get stores at Plymouth if we need to, and I've already -ordered a lot of things to come out to-night. We have to get Wrenmarsh -safe, of course, and that'll take some time."</p> - -<p>"He's a windfall," commented Jerry.</p> - -<p>"And like most windfalls, not entirely sound? Tell Gonzague to fix up -the stateroom Bardale had, the one next mine. I must get ashore now; -she'll be waiting. You're to come to dinner."</p> - -<p>"I'll come fast enough. Oh, you bully old pirate, I'm awfully glad for you!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i009.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Fifteen</span> <span class="smaller">IN THE CATTEWATER</span></h2> - -<p>The Merle was at anchor off Plymouth.</p> - -<p>By the round brass ship's clock placed over the passageway door, in the -saloon, Jerry could see that it was a little after ten o'clock. The -yacht had come to anchor in the small hours, and the gentlemen had in -consequence slept late. The dull light of an English morning in -September came through the big skylight, and showed the captain, the -mate, and Mr. Wrenmarsh lingering over their breakfast.</p> - -<p>"On my word, Mr. Wrenmarsh," said Tab, "we'll be sorry to lose you. -You've been aboard so long and your"—he almost blurted out -"eccentricities," but fortunately had the unusual luck to stop in time -to substitute a better word—"your—er—conversation has such—er—has -been so very entertaining, that is, that we're sure to miss you."</p> - -<p>"Ah, well," said the collector, "I'm in hopes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> that you've improved so -much by contact with me that you'll be able to entertain each other."</p> - -<p>"Wouldn't you like to take passage across?" suggested Jack.</p> - -<p>"Your rates are too high," the other rejoined grimly. "Gonzague, <i>'n' -altro bicchier' d' aqua fresca</i>."</p> - -<p>The old steward, who had come in while Jerry was speaking, served the -archæologist with the ready alacrity which marked all he did, and then -departed with a handful of dishes.</p> - -<p>"Why do you always speak to Gonzague in Italian?" inquired Jerry. "You -said yesterday that you always had a reason for everything you do."</p> - -<p>"Oh," the guest returned, fixing his eyes not on the questioner but on -the ceiling above him, "I speak to him in Italian because he understands -it."</p> - -<p>"But he isn't an Italian," Tab objected.</p> - -<p>"No, but then I'm not either."</p> - -<p>"But he understands English, French, and Spanish, for the matter of -that," Jerry persisted.</p> - -<p>Whenever Wrenmarsh began to talk in this whimsical fashion, Taberman had -always a teasing desire to push him into a corner.</p> - -<p>"Ah, but, my dear fellow," Wrenmarsh replied, unaccountably addressing -Jack, and making his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> words seem more distraught by one of his most -earnest, almost burning glances, "I do not speak Spanish, you see."</p> - -<p>"Then why not French or English?"</p> - -<p>"Because they're so different," returned the collector.</p> - -<p>"Why, what rot!" Jerry burst out rudely; then as usual he added -apologetically, "I beg your pardon, but I'm afraid I don't follow you."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no; I suppose not," Mr. Wrenmarsh rejoined with much sweetness. He -rose, and with an entire change of manner, added briskly, "Well, I'm -ready. As I wish to catch the eleven thirty-four for London, we must -make haste; otherwise I shouldn't have time to take Mr. Castleport to -the bank, and settle my financial obligations. Can we get ashore?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," answered Jack, rising also. "The cutter's ready, and your boxes -are on board. By the by, you said you'd tell me how you dodge—pardon -the word, we use it on the other side—the customs."</p> - -<p>"Simplest thing in the world," returned Wrenmarsh, lighting a cigarette. -"Address my boxes to a good friend of mine in the British Museum. They -go through the customhouse as things for the museum, you know."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p><p>"Does your friend do that sort of thing as a business?" inquired Jerry -with a laugh. "I wish you'd give me his name, so I could come that -game."</p> - -<p>"His name is Gordon Wrenmarsh," said the collector quietly; "but his -charges are high. Shall we go?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," Jack responded. "It is high time we were off. I'm not anxious to -speed the parting guest, but a good send-off means an early start."</p> - -<p>Jerry left his place, and the three went on deck. The cutter, already -manned, was by the steps. The bleak English air struck chill and raw to -these men fresh from the warm sunshine of the Mediterranean. The harbor -and sound, crowded with shipping as they were, seemed flat and dull; the -Citadel, the Battery, the various docks and buildings were depressing. A -great volume of dun coal-smoke overhanging the "Three Towns," from the -Hamoaze to Sutton Pool, added to the general air of gloom. To cap all -this, the fog was coming in from seaward, and already its ghostly -echelons had floated past the north end of Drake Island. As the three -men came on deck the cutter was bobbing up and down in the wash of the -ferry which plies to and fro across the Cattewater, and which had just -gone heavily past.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p><p>"Dear England!" ejaculated Mr. Wrenmarsh fervently under his breath in -the face of all this. Then turning to Taberman, "You're not coming -ashore with us?"</p> - -<p>Jerry shook his bare head, and gave an exaggerated shiver for reply.</p> - -<p>"No?" the collector said. "Well, we'll say good-by here, then. Lucky we -met, wasn't it? Those combinations—they make the world go round; stop -it sometimes. Good-by. Pity, great pity, you weren't at Oxford, Mr. -Taberman. It would have done you good, made a man of you."</p> - -<p>"Not if Harvard's failed to," retorted Jerry loyally. "Good-by, and good -luck. Hope we'll meet again some day."</p> - -<p>They shook hands, and Mr. Wrenmarsh and Jack descended to the waiting -cutter.</p> - -<p>"<i>Adio, Signor'</i>," called out old Gonzague, who was standing by the -main-rigging.</p> - -<p>"<i>A riverderla forse</i>" returned the collector from the stern-sheets of -the cutter.</p> - -<p>"<i>Il mondo è piccolo, Signor'. Spero</i>," answered the Provençal.</p> - -<p>"Oars!" cried Jack. "Bear away,—let fall,—ready,—pull." And the -cutter bore away the strange collector toward the shore of his adopted -country.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p><p>Jerry watched the boat for a moment, his big heart not untouched by a -sympathetic friendliness for the lonely man, whose life seemed to him so -warped and melancholy. He half expected Wrenmarsh to look back to nod or -to wave his hand, but the collector's eyes were turned steadily to the -shore. It was chill on deck, and Tab went below.</p> - -<p>Gonzague was just taking away the last of the breakfast things. He set -his tray on the table, and approached the mate deferentially.</p> - -<p>"Mistaire Taberman, sair," he said, putting his hand in his pocket, and -drawing out a small square blue box and a note, "Mistaire Wrainmairsh he -geeve me de box and de lettair—also a crown in extrair dat I geeve dem -to you when he have leef."</p> - -<p>"Eh? what?" asked Jerry. "Oh, I see. Thank you."</p> - -<p>He sat down on the port transom, and opened the box. It contained a -small object carefully wrapped in tissue paper. He unfolded the paper, -and between his fingers a gold finger-ring slipped on to the green -corduroy cushion of the transom.</p> - -<p>"Great Scott!" he ejaculated. Then he picked it up and examined it -carefully.</p> - -<p>In a thin band of red gold was set a carnelian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> of beautiful tone, the -color of a red hyacinth blossom. The stone was oval, cut with an -exquisite design in intaglio. It represented a god holding a trident in -his left hand, and on his right a small winged figure. His right foot -rested on a stone, and he was gazing at the figure he held. The gem was -inscribed with the Greek letters ΛΙΛ [Greek: LIL].</p> - -<p>Jerry tore open the note. It read as follows:—</p> - -<blockquote><p>Really, my dear fellow, had you viewed me more as a friend and less -as a curiosity, you might have found it to your advantage. But to -the point. I hope you will wear the ring in memory of our little -escapade. The figure represents Poseidon, holding a victoriole in -his hand; and is, as the letters signify, designed to commemorate -the naval victory of Lilybæum (Capo Boao), in which some of the -original wearer's ancestors (more likely pretended than real) were -evidently supposed to have taken part. Of course the wearer, though -not the cutter, was a Roman; but you won't mind that. Not a bit. So -no one gets hurt—your arm, you know—in my behalf without cause to -remember the fact—pleasantly. The stone is by no means the best -that I obtained, but it seemed appropriate. Poseidon with a -victoriole—usually an attribute of Zeus Soter (see your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> -Furtwängler's A. G.)—is rare enough to give the thing value.</p> - -<p class="right">With merriment,<span class="s3"> </span><br /><span class="smcap">Wrenmarsh</span>.</p></blockquote> - -<p>"By Jove!" cried Jerry to himself, gloating over the ring, "what a calf -I was to that—that white man! By Gad, though, he was a stunner, and no -mistake!"</p> - -<p>He slipped the gold band on his finger. After a time of admiration he -took a book from the shelf, and tried to read; but every minute or two -he stopped to look again at the jewel.</p> - -<p>He had not turned many pages when he heard a boat alongside, and a -strange voice hailing.</p> - -<p>"Hallo," he thought. "I wonder what that is. It can't be the port -officer; we satisfied him at daybreak."</p> - -<p>He tossed aside his book, and went on deck. A shabby jolly-boat was -lying alongside. Jerry noted instantly and with consternation that she -was manned by six men in uniform, in charge of a burly old fellow -liberally adorned with brass buttons and gold braid, who looked to be -every inch a sea-dog. At a second glance Tab decided that these men were -not government employees, such as coast-guards, but belonged to some -sort of a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>company. With one stunning blow, sudden as the bursting of a -waterspout, the truth flashed over him; at the last, at the very last, -when they had escaped so long that they had practically ceased to think -of the danger, the agent of Lloyd's was upon them.</p> - -<p>"Hello there, what d'ye want?" called out the man doing anchor-watch.</p> - -<p>"Captain aboard?" demanded the burly officer in charge.</p> - -<p>"No," answered the hand suspiciously. "What will you have?"</p> - -<p>"I want to see the officer in charge, my spruce little sea-cook," -returned the big man genially; and the grating of the steps being handy, -without further ceremony he came aboard.</p> - -<p>The sailor keeping the deck, although of a slow and plodding -disposition, might have resented the coolness of the stranger, had Jerry -given him time; but with a commendable promptness and a sinking heart -the mate advanced. He told Jack afterward that he felt as if he were -leading a forlorn hope, and had not the remotest idea of what he had -better do or say.</p> - -<p>"I am in charge here," he said in a perfectly neutral voice. "What do -you want?"</p> - -<p>"You are Captain Castleport?" inquired the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> big man, giving Jerry a keen -glance not without a suspicion of kindly humor.</p> - -<p>He was a fine, strapping creature of perhaps forty-five or fifty, with -fair hair, and a large bushy beard tawny as a lion's mane.</p> - -<p>"Captain Castleport is ashore, sir. I am the mate."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Taberman, eh?" asked the other. "May I see you in private for a -minute or two, sir? I'm Lloyd's deputy inspector for Plymouth. I've been -hunting about in the fog for you these thirty minutes past. I thought -you were nigh out o' the Cattewater, over toward the Hoe."</p> - -<p>"Will you come below?" said Jerry grimly.</p> - -<p>Inwardly he groaned for the arrival of Jack. This was a task he felt -himself unable to deal with. Had the emergency called simply for -physical powers or for manual dexterity, the chances were large that he -could rise to the occasion; but in a pass where the demand was for -mental adroitness and nimble wits, Jerry knew the captain to be -infinitely his superior. He determined to devote himself to gaining -time, and to refrain from committing himself until his comrade should -come aboard.</p> - -<p>Jerry escorted the burly guest to the cabin without further speech, and -turned to ask him to be seated. The visitor at once drew over his -jovial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> face like a veil a serious expression, and regarded Taberman -with the greatest gravity. Unbuttoning the top of his serge jacket, he -thrust his hand into an inner pocket as if it were a dip-net, and -brought it up again full of dismally official-looking documents.</p> - -<p>"This is bad business, sir," he remarked, eyeing the mate as if to be -sure he was producing a proper impression.</p> - -<p>"Eh?" ejaculated Jerry, trying to look like consolidated innocence.</p> - -<p>"P'haps you'll be so good's to look these through, sir," the Englishman -went on, proffering his batch of papers.</p> - -<p>"Are they for me or the captain?" asked Taberman, fencing to gain time.</p> - -<p>"Why, as to that," the official replied, "I expect what they contain's -ekally to your int'rest and 'is."</p> - -<p>"Sit down, please," Jerry said, with a confused wave of the hand, which -seemed to invite the visitor to occupy all the seats in the cabin at -once. "You may be right, but I shouldn't want to look any important -papers over until the captain'd seen them."</p> - -<p>"Oh, that don't matter," the other said easily, as he settled himself in -a chair. "I don't think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> you 'ave any cause to mind, sir. You represent -'im aboard."</p> - -<p>"Yes," Jerry returned, obstinately determined that nothing should make -him go through the papers without Jack; "but if you're not too much -pressed for time, I'd much rather wait for the captain. He'll be here -presently."</p> - -<p>"Why, sir, for the matter o' that, I dunno's I've much to 'urry me this -mornin'; an' I must say I'd rather like a look at 'im. 'E must be a rare -one."</p> - -<p>"Then," Jerry said, with infinite relief, "we'll wait till he gets -aboard."</p> - -<p>He rang, and Gonzague appeared. The old Provençal stood stroking his -mustache and watching the Englishman furtively out of the corners of his -eyes, as if he appreciated the situation and hoped to have orders to -assist in throwing him overboard. The glance of the bluff Briton at the -same time lighted up in evident anticipation that the appearance of the -steward meant refreshments.</p> - -<p>"Gonzague, I'll have a little Scotch and soda. Will you take a glass of -anything, sir?"</p> - -<p>"Why, sir, seein' 's I 'ave to wait a bit, I'm not strong agin a finger -or two."</p> - -<p>"What will you have?" asked Jerry, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>enormously relieved to get on ground -so safe as that of playing the host.</p> - -<p>"I like red rum 's well 's most, sir," replied the other, his jolly eyes -twinkling. "It's sort o' oilin' to the in'ards."</p> - -<p>They were soon served, and Gonzague, on leaving the cabin, placed the -spirits and a siphon in most engaging proximity to the guest. Time -passed in the exchange of more or less nautical chit-chat for half an -hour or so; when, to the great comfort of Jerry, who had been listening -with one ear to the talk of his companion and with the other for the -coming of the captain, Jack's hail sounded outside. Jerry, listening -acutely, heard Castleport pause on deck, and at the companion-way caught -a syllable or two in the unmistakable tones of Gonzague, so that he -apprehended that the captain would come to the interview forewarned.</p> - -<p>The captain came briskly into the cabin, his blue pea-jacket beaded with -little globules of moisture from the fog, his hair damp and clinging to -his temples.</p> - -<p>"Hallo, Tab," he said. "The fog's as thick as it was the night we -started. Ah!"</p> - -<p>The exclamation cleverly conveyed the impression that he perceived the -guest for the first time, and apologized for not being prepared to meet -him.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p><p>"Jack, this is Lloyd's deputy inspector, Mr. ——?" Jerry began, and -stopped with an interrogative inflection.</p> - -<p>"My name, sir, 's Tom Mainbrace."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Thomas Mainbrace," Jerry concluded his presentation. "Mr. -Mainbrace, Captain Castleport."</p> - -<p>"Pleased to know ye, cap'n," the Englishman said cheerfully, as Jack -bowed. "Yes, sir; I'm Lloyd's deputy inspector."</p> - -<p>"I saw your boat alongside," Jack returned pleasantly. "We haven't any -deputies aboard that need inspecting, though."</p> - -<p>"'Aven't ye?" the visitor asked, his eyes twinkling so that the laugh -with which he followed his words seemed a sort of overflow of their -merriment. "I kind o' thought there might be a deputy owner or som'thin' -o' the sort 'ere."</p> - -<p>Jack apparently tried to look grave, but ended by grinning in spite of -himself. He put out his hand and laid his fingers on the papers.</p> - -<p>"You have business with us?" he asked.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir. The mate 'ere, 'e said 'e 'd rather not begin on it till you -come aboard, sir."</p> - -<p>"Quite right," Jack responded quietly. "Shall I read these papers?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, if ye'll be so good, sir," Mr. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>Mainbrace said seriously, and not -without a trace of regret in his jovial, weather-beaten face.</p> - -<p>The captain seated himself with deliberation, and began to read; the -Englishman applied himself afresh to his glass, and Taberman watched -closely for a lead. Jerry was not clear what line was to be taken in -this difficult situation, and was keenly anxious to back up the captain -in any way possible. To his surprise Jack began first to smile, then to -grin; from that to chuckle gleefully, and at last he broke out into -full-throated laughter.</p> - -<p>"By Jove!" he cried, striking his knee with the hand that held the -papers. "But that is one on Uncle Randolph, and no mistake!"</p> - -<p>The deputy inspector looked up with an expression of bewilderment, and -Jerry felt that he was no more enlightened as to what Jack had in mind -than was the guest.</p> - -<p>"What is it?" Tab asked.</p> - -<p>"Oh, we're run down at last! Think of our being nabbed at the last -moment, when we've done all we wanted to with the yacht!" And he fell to -laughing again, as if being caught red-handed in a pirated yacht were -the merriest jest in the world.</p> - -<p>Taberman was still completely bewildered, but he at least perceived that -Jack was bound to carry off the matter with laughter; and by way of -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>assisting as well as he could, he began also to laugh. He took the -papers, and glanced at them enough to see that one was a letter from -Lloyd's, containing a notification of the Merle's disappearance, with a -description of the yacht and a specification of her captors; the other a -warrant for search and apprehension. He followed Jack's lead, and if his -efforts did not ring as true, he at least made more noise.</p> - -<p>"That's rich!" he roared. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"</p> - -<p>He thrust the papers back to the captain, who tossed them on the table, -and both together they broke out afresh.</p> - -<p>"Excuse our laughing," Jack said, turning to the inspector, who gazed -from one to the other as if he thought they had gone mad; "but really -it's too ripping!"</p> - -<p>"Ain't ye the parties?" demanded the official sternly.</p> - -<p>"Oh, we're the parties all fast enough; but—Well, now, look here. This -yacht belongs to my uncle, you see."</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," replied the honest Mainbrace, evidently puzzled, as he would -have put it, to make out the other's numbers, but still Britannically -deferential to the nephew of a man who was able to own a yacht such as -the Merle.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p><p>"Well, you see, I ran away with her because he wouldn't let me come -across, and he's had no good of her the whole summer. From your papers I -judge he looked for me on the other side six weeks before he notified -you at all. You see how much of the summer that leaves him; and now, -just as I'm starting to carry her back as fast as the wind will take -her, you step in and stop us."</p> - -<p>"Why, ye see, sir," began the inspector, evidently endeavoring to -accommodate himself to the new light thrown by the captain on the -situation, "the fact is 'e says 'e wants 'er in a 'urry."</p> - -<p>"He won't get her, then," Jack said with a grin. "By the time you've -red-taped her, and charged for her, and negotiated her, and sent her -over with a hired crew, it'll be December at the very earliest—to say -nothing of the twenty or thirty pounds he'll have to pay you and the -cost of the crew you send her over by. It is hard lines for Uncle -Randolph."</p> - -<p>"It is so," Jerry agreed, fervently glad to be at last in possession of -the way Jack meant to work.</p> - -<p>"I'm really sorry for Uncle Randolph," Jack continued, sobering down. -"But then, he might have trusted me to bring the Merle back."</p> - -<p>"Ye ain't takin' it too much to 'eart, are ye, sir?" queried the big -Englishman, with a look so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> humorous and quizzical that Jerry was seized -by a dreadful suspicion that the twinkling eyes saw through the whole -scheme of bluff.</p> - -<p>"Not I," Jack assented blithely; "though of course I'd rather have taken -the yacht home myself. What's the next move? Do you put us in irons, or -hang us to the crosstree-ends?"</p> - -<p>"Why, they sent word from Lloyd's," replied Mainbrace, with the -unmistakable grin of a man who regards himself as a humorist, "that the -owner said not to be too 'ard on ye. I expect 't'll be no worse nor -transportation for life." Then he put on a graver and more professional -look, and added, "I'm afraid we'll 'ave to be more serious, sir. Will ye -kindly show me your papers and the log? I suppose you 'ave 'em 'andy."</p> - -<p>"Certainly," the captain said, also assuming an official air. "Jerry, -will you give the inspector the papers? I'll get the log."</p> - -<p>The examination of the papers was a short matter, and then they took up -the log. It was at once evident that the Englishman had a keen curiosity -to discover what the young men had been doing with the Merle, and that -he was no less eager in his interest in all things nautical. Jerry sat -by in almost open-mouthed admiration<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> to see how the captain took -advantage of both these characteristics. Jack could be most attractive, -and from the start it was evident that he was doing his best to please -Mr. Mainbrace. He explained all the manœuvres of that memorable night -when the Merle had been spirited away in the fog, while the jolly face -of the deputy inspector became more and more radiant with each new -development of the story. The charts were produced, each detail of -seamanship carefully brought out, and the whole episode lived over -again. Jack warmed to his subject as he went on; Jerry threw in a word -now and then when the captain in his eagerness seemed in danger of -forgetting to mention some detail; the Englishman listened with chuckles -and with laughter which soon came to be devoid of the slightest pretense -of official dignity; and, in a word, the three became as merry and -companionable over the log as if they were all pirates together. -Mainbrace had been a sailor and a mate in his day, and showed the -keenest zest for every nautical experience. There is no surer bond of -comradeship than mutual love of the sea; and despite differences of -race, age, and social position, Jack, Jerry, and the deputy inspector -fraternized over the Merle's log as only sailors can.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p><p>The log-book was read to the last entry. Over the account of the gale -the yacht had encountered on her way across the Atlantic Mainbrace -became as excited as if he had had a personal stake in the safety of the -Merle. His ejaculations became more and more emphatic and more and more -picturesque, and his rejoicing over the safe weathering of the storm -almost as fervid as if he had been in it himself. The race at Nice Jack -told of with as little reflection on the unsportsmanlike conduct of Lord -Merryfield as was possible; but the jovial countenance of Mainbrace -darkened, and he expressed an opinion of the absent nobleman which was -sufficiently tonic to satisfy even Taberman. Jack said afterward that by -the time they got through the log a quotation from "Horatius" popped -into his head, and he came very near breaking out with it:—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>With weeping and with laughter</div> -<div class="i1">Still is the story told.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>To which Jerry replied that he couldn't think of quotations, he was so -carried away by the enthusiastic delight of the jolly old inspector and -the quaint ways in which it was expressed.</p> - -<p>When at last the record was closed, the conversation still at first ran -on the cruise, but soon it began to take a turn which made Jerry prick -up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> his ears anew. The inspector remarked, with an exceedingly droll -twinkle of his eyes, that duty was duty, but that he would be summarily -dealt with if he wouldn't feel bad to have to bear on hard on a couple -of fellows that had played the biggest joke he ever heard of in his -life, and had carried the whole thing through with so much cleverness -and grit. To this Jack responded that he was most appreciative of the -kindness of Mr. Mainbrace, but that of course duty was duty—although it -would really have been luck for the owner of the Merle, quite as much as -for himself and his mate, if the yacht could have gone on her way -uninterrupted. To this in turn Mainbrace gave his assent, and went on to -say that he must, of course, carry out instructions, and that he was -legally empowered to leave a keeper on board until he could come out -again to-morrow with directions he expected to receive from London.</p> - -<p>"Though I dunno," he added drolly, "'s it's safe to trust a man with ye. -Ye're cap'ble o' runnin' off with 'im."</p> - -<p>"We might," Jack responded brightly. "I wouldn't be responsible."</p> - -<p>"Or we might throw him overboard," suggested Jerry, with the broadest -possible grin.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p><p>"Most o' my men kin swim some," Mainbrace retorted. "I should 'ave to -tell 'im 'f 'e got overboard to tow the yacht in shore."</p> - -<p>The jest was not of the first water, but they had got to a merry mood, -and it was properly laughed over. Then Mainbrace, in high good humor, -went on to say that he'd been so well treated, and he had so enjoyed the -log, that he thought on the whole he would not put a man in charge. He -added that it was late, and he must be on his way ashore now, but that -they might expect him out again to-morrow.</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry I 'ave to bother ye, gentlemen," he added, as they went on -deck. "I've been to sea myself too many years not to 'ate this bloody -red-tape business,—an' they do reel it off by the cable-length when -they 'ave 'arf a chance."</p> - -<p>The inspector's jolly-boat, the most appropriate of conveyances for the -jovial sea-dog, was still alongside. The fog had lightened somewhat, and -watery beams of the sun leaked through it overhead. As Mr. Mainbrace was -about to descend the steps to the boat, he paused a moment and pulled at -his thick beard as if meditating profoundly.</p> - -<p>"I'm 'most afraid if you gentlemen took it into your 'eads to give us -the slip we shouldn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> know it on shore in this 'ere fog," he observed, -casting a queer, sidling glance at Jack.</p> - -<p>"It is trusting somewhat to luck to leave us," the captain responded -coolly, "and I want to say now that I appreciate your kindness in not -forcing a keeper on us."</p> - -<p>"Well, cap'n," continued the inspector, gazing out over the water with -the look of one who has no personal interest in the matter under -discussion, "I was goin' to say, if you get a good chance, you'd better -shift your berth. You'll find it kind o' snugger ridin' some ways along -to the west'ard, I expect. But you know best, o' course. All is, you're -in a tightish place here. I alers liked more sea-room myself. Good-day, -sir."</p> - -<p>"Good-day. Maybe you'll find we've shifted by to-morrow. If we have, -it'll be to westward."</p> - -<p>"I'll come out to-morrow," said the old sailor in his most official -manner. Then he looked from one to the other with his merriest twinkle -and an emphatic nod. "Duty is duty," he remarked. "Good-day, sirs."</p> - -<p>He turned to descend, but suddenly Jack arrested him.</p> - -<p>"Oh, you've forgotten your pipe," he said.</p> - -<p>"My pipe?" echoed Mainbrace, stopping short.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I'll get it."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p><p>The captain dashed into the cabin, and reappeared with a silver-mounted -briarwood, colored just enough to suggest a comfortable chimney-corner -and a mind at ease.</p> - -<p>"You left it on the table," he said, presenting it to the big inspector.</p> - -<p>The other took it with an expression queerly compounded of surprise, -awkwardness, amusement, and delight.</p> - -<p>"Thank ye, sir," he said. "It's 'ansome of you to fetch it up -ye'self,—most 'ansome. I'm mortal fond o' that pipe."</p> - -<p>He regarded it affectionately a moment, and then stowed it away inside -his jacket. Then he turned again to go down to the waiting jolly-boat.</p> - -<p>"I'll come out to-morrow," he called up to them. "Duty is duty. -Good-day, sirs."</p> - -<p>"Good-day," they called in concert; and off went the deputy inspector -toward the hardly perceptible shore through the fog.</p> - -<p>"By George, he's a brick!" Jack cried.</p> - -<p>"Right-o," assented Jerry, "but it took you to cement him."</p> - -<p>"Atrocious! If you're going to pun like that you must be taken home to -your family at once. 'Duty is duty'! Did you see the solemn wink<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> the -old fellow tipped me when he spoke of shifting to westward? I thought I -should burst out laughing on the spot, and give the whole thing away. -How's the water?"</p> - -<p>"Tanks chock-a-block. Gonzague had them filled from the water-boat this -morning. Did you get your money?"</p> - -<p>"Every pound of it. Wrenmarsh took me to the bank and identified me, and -was mighty nice about the whole thing. Provisions are O.K. Off we go. -Call the watch."</p> - -<p>"Yes, but see my ring first," Tab said, holding it out.</p> - -<p>In half an hour the Merle was changing her berth to the westward.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i007.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Sixteen</span> <span class="smaller">STORM!</span></h2> - -<p>A gray sea, a gray sky, and the Mid-Atlantic Ocean in September. Over -the heaving waters the Merle, under reduced canvas, was staggering -westward on the port-tack with a stiff southerly breeze. Jack, clad in -his yellow oil-skins like the rest of the hands, was standing just -outside the cockpit on the windward side of the yacht. Jerry was asleep -below. Having had the early morning watch, he had turned in directly -after breakfast. The captain glanced aloft uneasily, and wondered if -they were going to encounter on their return such a gale as they had -weathered while going over. He reluctantly admitted to himself that -there was every appearance of dirty weather, and thought he had better -step below to take a look at the glass.</p> - -<p>He pushed back the companion, and descended. The cabin was stuffy and no -warmer than the air without. The racks were on the table, and the lamps -swung in erratic circles in their gimbals. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> barometer, a beautifully -finished instrument of the columnar type, was placed against the -after-bulkhead of the saloon on the starboard beside a closet door, its -slender length enclosed in bronze. It gyrated wildly, in unison with the -Thom's list-indicator above it. Jack steadied the tube with his hand, -and looked anxiously to see if the mercury had fallen.</p> - -<p>"Good God!" he burst out.</p> - -<p>At eight bells that morning the vernier of the glass had been set at -29.32. With staring eyes, Jack saw that now, little more than two hours -later, the mercury had sunk to 27.09,—a drop portentous of a furious -gale. For one brief moment, in the face of approaching danger, and -filled with a quick sense of his great responsibility, he stood -appalled. He put his hand to his forehead as if he were dizzy and found -it hard to think.</p> - -<p>"How's the glass, Jack?" asked a voice beside him. He turned with -troubled eyes to see Tab in his pajamas, a freshly lighted cigarette -between his fingers. "What's the trouble?" the mate demanded instantly, -seeming bewildered at the captain's appearance.</p> - -<p>"What brought you out here?" the captain retorted, though why he should -have asked he could not have told.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p><p>"Heard you exclaiming. What's the trouble?"</p> - -<p>"Look!" Jack answered, pointing to the glass.</p> - -<p>"All that!" gasped Jerry.</p> - -<p>"Get your togs on," was the only reply Jack offered. "Be quick, and come -on deck."</p> - -<p>Jerrold left him without a word, and padded off to his cabin. Jack reset -the vernier, and went out. To his disturbed mind it seemed as if in the -brief interval during which he had been below the whole appearance of -nature had grown more ominous. In five minutes Jerry was with him.</p> - -<p>"Well, Jack?"</p> - -<p>"I've made up my mind what to do," the captain announced. "It's going to -blow fit to take your hair out by the roots: that much is sure."</p> - -<p>Jerry nodded soberly, and looked his friend straight in the eye.</p> - -<p>"We'll have to lay-to before we see the end of this, and I'd rather do -so at sea-anchor 'n any other way. What do you think?"</p> - -<p>"That's right enough. I suppose we'd better make ready now?"</p> - -<p>"We sha'n't have much time when it does come. We must get a mess of -things together up for'ard fit to hold a liner. We'll need it."</p> - -<p>Jack got the hands together around the winch forward, and set them at -once, under his direction,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> to the making of the "sea-anchor." The -spinnaker-boom and the two shorter boat-booms were first lashed firmly -together with inch rope in a rough isosceles triangle.</p> - -<p>"Now," Jack ordered, "fetch the old staysail, and bend it on in the -frame."</p> - -<p>"How are you going to ballast the thing?" asked Tab. "It'll float flat -if you don't give it a sinker."</p> - -<p>"I fancy the market-boat's killock would be about the right thing if we -could get at it," Jack answered. "Do you know where"—</p> - -<p>"Yes, yes," interrupted Jerry hastily. "It's with the rest of her gear. -I'll get it." And he went aft.</p> - -<p>Although the wind had not as yet increased in violence, Jack, standing -as he did almost at the peak of the vessel, felt the motion much more -than he had farther aft. The great gray-green seas heaved hard about the -plunging yacht, and every now and then she ran bowsprit under. She was a -rather dry boat, fortunately, of the "hollow bow" model, and in the -fifteen or twenty minutes that the men had been working on the anchor, -she had not taken any waves aboard. The spindrift, it is true, flew -across her by the bucketful, but the men, dressed in their oilers, -blinked the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> cold water out of their eyes and went on with their work. -Before Jerry returned, however, as the crew were bending the old -staysail to the triangular frame, the captain, to his consternation, saw -that the Merle was just working her way up the breast of a mighty hill -of water with all likelihood of burying herself in the rising wall of a -wave ahead.</p> - -<p>"'Ware water!" he shouted.</p> - -<p>The men dropped their work and caught at whatever was nearest at hand. -Some threw an arm about the bollard by the knighthead; some jumped for -the winch; two men got a tight grip on the large ring-bolts by the port -cat-heads; Jack himself leaped for the winch and put his right arm -around the drum.</p> - -<p>The Merle labored to the crest of the hill of water. It sank away -beneath her instantly, and she shot down the slope of the wave into the -trough of the sea with a headlong, staggering rush. Towering above her -was the roughened, foam-blotched face of the succeeding wave. She tried -bravely to climb it, but she was too near, the angle was too sharp; she -could not so quickly recover from the impetus of her downward plunge. -She seemed to tremble—to hesitate—for an instant, and then as if in -the courage of despair, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> leap forward with a jerk into the very midst -of the flood as if she would force her way through its tons of swinging -sea-water.</p> - -<p>Jack went to the deck under the tremendous blow of the on-rushing wave -as if he had been struck down by a thunderbolt. He felt the shock, the -biting cold of the water, and then it seemed as if a giant had gripped -him with hands of ice and were trying to wrench him from his hold. He -clung on, drenched, bewildered, desperate, until he wondered if his arm -would be pulled out of its socket. He had a stifling sensation of having -been for hours without air; he felt as if he were being dragged by some -terrible power swiftly through the sea miles below the surface. On a -sudden he again felt the deck under him, and opened his eyes. The Merle -had forced her way through the wave, and they were again free. He -gasped, spluttered, and rose to his feet, the water streaming from him. -Inside the bulwarks to starboard the green, foam-mixed brine washed -about knee-deep, and was pouring with a hoarse gurgling out of the -scuppers forward. The "anchor" had been swept bodily aft as far as the -foremast, and there was jammed between the mast itself and the -weather-shrouds. Drenched and cursing, the men squelched their way aft, -dislodged the structure, and dragged it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> forward again. Luckily the -mishap, really a slight one of twenty seconds' duration, had wrought no -damage which could not be easily repaired, and so the crew took up their -work where they had left it.</p> - -<p>Jerry reappeared with the killock of the market-boat just as they got -into place once more.</p> - -<p>"Did you get wet?" he asked cheerily, with a broad grin which showed -that he saw what had happened.</p> - -<p>"What do you think?" burst out the captain hotly. "No; I got dry, damn -it!"</p> - -<p>"Did you really, though! Well, I thought you looked damp."</p> - -<p>Jack paid this boyish jest with a word that was sharp and a look that -was too near a grin not to take the sting from it. He took the killock -that Jerry had brought, and had the men make it fast to the lower point -of the kite-like frame where the short boat-booms met. To the ends of -the long spinnaker-boom he fastened lengths of strong inch Manilla, and -a piece somewhat shorter to the point where the killock was attached. -The captain meant that the "sea-anchor," when in the water, should ride -not exactly vertical, but that by the shorter line the weighted point -should be lifted a little toward the yacht as the Merle dragged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> back on -it. In the end of each of these lines a bow-line was bent, and through -the bights of them he had the rode bent and made fast. The whole -contrivance was then like a triangular kite weighted at the point made -by the shorter sides, and held by lines from the three corners joined on -the rode, which corresponded to the string. When the work was finished -Jack inspected it all carefully, and examined the fastenings.</p> - -<p>"It's a rough enough concern," he said to Jerry; "but it's stanch, and -if we have to use it, it'll do good service. Make it fast," he added to -the men. "Put on a couple of strong gaskets for stoppers. Come on, Tab; -I don't want another ducking."</p> - -<p>They went aft to the cockpit, and the captain started to go below.</p> - -<p>"I'll just take another look at that glass," he said. "It's well to keep -a"—</p> - -<p>"Look!" cried Jerry suddenly, seizing him by the arm, and pointing away -to the southward.</p> - -<p>Jack's eyes followed the mate's arm. Afar off on the gloomy horizon, the -black sea below and the gray sky above were in one place welded together -by a wall of impenetrable haze. It was not much more than a spot, but -Jack at a glance took in its full significance, and knew that before the -Merle was a struggle that would try her strength and his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> seamanship to -the very utmost. He opened his mouth to speak, and closed his lips -firmly without a word. He looked a moment at the inky mist, and then -dashed below. In a couple of minutes he reappeared with a grim look on -his usually genial face.</p> - -<p>"Jerry," he said hurriedly, "I've been down and tried the storm-card on -the chart. If we keep on as she's going, we'll fetch up plumb in the -centre of this mess. The Merle wouldn't live there half an hour."</p> - -<p>"Well?" questioned Jerry. His face was sober, and had about it a -suggestion of a big, serious dog that watches its troubled master. "What -can we do?"</p> - -<p>"There is only one thing to do," Jack responded quickly, but with -absolute decision. "The centre bears southwesterly,—that's why our -wind's hauled 'round. We've got to put about and run into the heart of -that greasy streak yonder. It'll be a tough job, but not so bad as if we -were farther westward. When we get the wind westerly, we'll lay to. If -we do anything else, we'll be swept into the centre, sure's fate."</p> - -<p>"Can't we run it out?" Jerry asked desperately. "It'll be tremendous! -That blow we had coming over'll be pale beside it. Think, man!"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p><p>"I have," Jack said shortly. "Ready 'bout ship!" he shouted.</p> - -<p>The men sprang to their places, although Jack could see that they threw -swift glances of surprise at him as they did so. The evidence, slight as -it was, that he was acting alone, and that he must see farther and more -wisely than the men under him, accustomed as they were to the sea, -imparted a new ring of command to his voice as he gave the necessary -orders. With some difficulty and with much uproar of booming canvas and -slatting ropes, the schooner came about, and Jack had her headed -straight for the black spot on the horizon.</p> - -<p>Jack hurried on preparations for the storm before them. He had sail -taken in and double-reefed; the "spitfire" jib set in place of the -larger forestaysail, and tarpaulins battened over the skylights. He put -the yacht as completely as possible in heavy-weather trim, to meet the -gale scudding along over the black sea toward them.</p> - -<p>He was none too soon, for the storm was not long in coming. The gray sky -above the yacht grew darker and darker, the sea about her more and more -"cobbly." The wind freshened rapidly, and veered more toward the west. -The Merle sailed on gallantly, the green waves breaking against her -weather shoulder, and the spindrift flying down<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> the decks as she -slashed her way to windward. The tops of the great seas, as they heaved -themselves skyward, were snatched off by the gale, and sped in white -sheets down the wind.</p> - -<p>Jack was standing in the cockpit with Jerry. He was watching the weather -narrowly, and now and then, with a brief word or two, gave the -steersmen—for the wheel needed two of them—a command or a warning. The -force of the gale so increased that at the end of an hour and a half the -mainsail, though triple-reefed, was got down and furled, and the -forestaysail, which had been unbent to give place to the spitfire, was -set on the boom as a trysail.</p> - -<p>It had come on to rain, and the big drops were driven along almost in -horizontal lines. When they struck the face Jack felt as if he had been -pelted with hailstones. Mixed with the flying spindrift they filled the -air as if with a mist, blinding and fierce.</p> - -<p>Suddenly, as the yacht was dipping into the trough of a long sea, a -strong gust listed her over so that aft the green water rose on the -decks to within a fathom of the cockpit combings. A sharp report burst -out above all the roaring of the wind and the multitudinous clamor of -the waters. Jack looked up to see the trysail streaming out in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> tattered -ribbons, writhing and twisting like pale snakes in mad fury. The sight -inflamed him like a personal insult flung at him by the storm. He broke -out with a cry, and with a great oath swore he would see the Merle -through in spite of everything.</p> - -<p>"Tab," he shouted in the mate's ear, "get along forward on that -sea-anchor! Stand by to launch it. We don't want any more of this!"</p> - -<p>He saw Jerry gather the port watch,—for all the men had been on deck -for two hours past, clinging to whatever was nearest and alternately -watching the storm and the captain,—and with them scrabble forward, -making way by the help of whatever could be grasped. Their difficulty in -getting forward was to Jack like a sudden realization of the danger they -were in, and made him for the moment think of the men, whereas he had -before been conscious of nothing but of the yacht herself. He saw the -men gather about the "sea-anchor," swaying and pitching with the motion -of the bow, and Jerry turn to look for his signal. The yacht was -carrying such a strong lee-helm that the steersmen could not keep her -head to the wind, and Jack shouted and gesticulated frantically to Jerry -to get down the storm-jib, while at the same time he ordered the -starboard watch to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> unstop the mainsail. He was in deadly fear lest the -vessel should get clean broadside to the wind and that the decks would -be swept.</p> - -<p>"Unstop the mainsail!" he roared. "Show the peak! Douse the jib!"</p> - -<p>Again he motioned to Jerry, knowing that his voice would not be heard -forward. He saw Tab pause a moment, and then wave his arm in reply. To -his utter dismay, however, he saw the mate and the men with him stoop, -get hold of the "sea-anchor," and, tugging and stumbling, begin to haul -it up to the weather side. It flashed on Jack that his gestures had been -misunderstood, and his order to get down the jib mistaken for a command -to launch the "anchor." With a sickening plunge the Merle at that moment -coasted down a mighty wave, fell off, and lay broadside to the seas. For -a second he felt as if everything was lost.</p> - -<p>"Smartly!" he roared to the starboard watch, who were working for their -lives upon the main-boom.</p> - -<p>He gave them one glance, and started to rush forward, running recklessly -along, and feeling for his sheath-knife as he went. A quick lurch of the -yacht to port flung him off his feet, and shot him forward and to his -right. He instinctively flung out his hand, and clutched something -metallic.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p><p>"'Ware water!" he mumbled, half stunned.</p> - -<p>A green shadow curled over him. There was a crashing roar to leeward. He -felt the yacht stagger and tremble, and suddenly and with an odd mental -twist he remembered vividly an earthquake shock he had once felt at -Patras. The shadow disappeared, a little water came slap! on his oilskin -jacket between the shoulders. The rest of the wave—tons and tons of -green water—had curled itself over him, and crashed on the decks to -leeward.</p> - -<p>He got to his feet unsteadily, and with a queer singing in his ears ran -forward. He threw a quick look to port as he ran. The force of the sea -had evidently been heaviest amidships, for he saw that for thirty feet -on the lee beam the rail had been burst out between the fore and main -rigging; two boats were gone, and the skylights, broken, yawned blackly. -Jack groaned inwardly, but did not stop. Pitching and staggering, he -made his way to the foremast. A sudden fling of the yacht threatened to -make him, as he afterward put it, "overshoot the mark" and tumble past -the halyards. Fortunately, however, he checked himself by catching at -the foretopsail-clewline as he was being pitched by, and he clung to it -desperately. He laid hold of the spitfire halyard. One quick<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> glance at -the turns about the pin in the rack told him how much time he should -save by cutting the rope, and with a swift backdrawing of the sharp -sheath-knife he severed it. The fall of the halyard flew up aloft, -playfully dealing him a smart rap on the chin as it went; the sail ran -down in thunder, and blew away in shreds. The Merle began to rise, and -Jack felt a thrill of joyful relief to see that she was coming up into -the wind. The men aft had showed the peak of the mainsail, and the -schooner was feeling its effects.</p> - -<p>A few yards forward, Jerry and the port watch were still toiling over -the "sea-anchor." Twice they had tried to set it in position for -launching, and each time wind and sea had overmastered them. Jack, in an -agony lest the structure should be launched before the yacht was laid -about on the other tack, or at least so near the wind that the awkward -contrivance could be got over the bows to port, stumbled forward -shouting.</p> - -<p>"To port!" he roared. "Get it over to port!"</p> - -<p>He gripped Jerry by the arm.</p> - -<p>"The wrong tack!" he bellowed in the mate's ear. "Run it over to -leeward, and put it over when I wave my arm. Watch sharp!"</p> - -<p>"Aye!" shouted Tab, but Jack was already gone.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p><p>Castleport stumbled aft much as he had gone forward, now climbing -laboriously up hill, now leaning back and struggling to keep himself -from rushing headlong down the sloping deck with an impetus that would -have carried him overboard. When he reached the cockpit, he dropped -inside almost spent.</p> - -<p>"Back the helm every time she rises!" he called to the men at the wheel. -"We want her to fall over!"</p> - -<p>"Aye, aye, sir."</p> - -<p>"Now, then,—over with her!" he cried, as the yacht rose.</p> - -<p>The men gave her all they dared. The effect was imperceptible.</p> - -<p>"Hold her!" shouted Jack.</p> - -<p>At the risk of their lives, the two helmsmen held her as the schooner -slid down the big slope of the wave, shivering as she went. As she rose, -the captain, with a laughing heart, saw that she would make it. He tore -off his "sou'-wester," and waved it frantically to Tab forward. Jerry -threw up his arm in reply; the big "sea-anchor" rose from the deck, and -went out on the port side.</p> - -<p>"Helm amidships!" sang out Jack.</p> - -<p>"Aye, aye, sir."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p><p>The Merle began to drift back.</p> - -<p>"Watch along!" the captain roared again. "Gaskets on the mainsail!"</p> - -<p>The starboard watch began to wrestle with the heavy canvas which they -had partially freed from its bonds so short a time before. The sail was -made snug, and the Merle dragged back on her "anchor," and though she -plunged and tugged, pitched and rolled, still kept her sharp nose to the -wind. Through the mist of the stinging brine which the wind drove down -the decks in sheets, the captain saw the hands forward pay out some -forty fathoms of scope, and then, man by man, work their way aft.</p> - -<p>"I'm awfully sorry I—I made such a mess," Tab shouted in the captain's -ear as he reached him.</p> - -<p>"It's all right," returned Jack, aglow with a wild exultation. "It's all -right! No matter."</p> - -<p>The ominous belt of opaque mist which they had so shortly before seen on -the horizon was now all about them. The Merle and her crew were -enveloped in a shroud of rushing rain. It drove before the blast in -incredible torrents, and with a force that made them catch their breaths -chokingly whenever they faced it. The seas increased to frightful size. -Even to the sailors, bred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> on the sea, it seemed hardly possible that -the schooner could live in such surges. The cockpit, although -self-bailing, was kept flooded; in it the water, sloshing about with the -motion of the schooner, was as high as the transoms. The uproar of the -wind, singing on the ropes strung by its own force to tautness, was like -the shrieking of an immense and untuned harp. The crash of the waves -sounded like a continuous cannonade all about the yacht. The mingling of -sea and air produced a vertigo, as if everything was resolving again -into its original chaos. Yet in the midst of it all Jack felt his blood -sing in his veins with pure joy of the battle.</p> - -<p>Suddenly the captain remembered the broken skylights. He splashed out of -the cockpit, where he stood almost waist-deep in the jumping water, -steadied himself by the combings, and started forward.</p> - -<p>"Pumps!" he shouted. "Come!"</p> - -<p>He waved his arm to the men, and the yellow-clad figures detached -themselves in the mist and blurring rain from the points of vantage to -which they had clung, and dumb, obedient, followed him.</p> - -<p>The pumps were just abaft the foremast, and were of the semi-rotary -sort. The bars were fitted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> and two of the men, swinging themselves -back and forth, back and forth, with a dull and dreary monotony, began -pumping as if they had become parts of a machine. A steady flow of water -came from the waste-pipe in a continuous stream. It spread out over the -deck to port and to starboard as the yacht swayed. It was full of -bubbles and flecks of froth, and was a sickly yellow in hue.</p> - -<p>Jack set the rest of the men to stretch new tarpaulins over the gaping -skylights, and then he went below to look at the glass. Drenched, -bruised, cold from his long fight with the storm and the hours which had -gone by without his having had food, he found himself, now that for the -moment action was not imperative, seized with a sort of terror at the -perils he had gone through. The instant reflection that worse might be -yet to come restored his courage. He could face whatever might befall as -long as he might act.</p> - -<p>The sight which met him in the once trig cabin was sufficiently -dispiriting. A thin sheet of water swashed softly about over the Turkish -carpet. It chuckled in dark places as if sentient and fully aware of the -impropriety of its being there. A locker door had burst open, and was -banging maddeningly. Farther forward, in the dark staterooms, similar -noises could be heard, with sounds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> which suggested that all sorts of -small things were being flung about. Everything was sopped with -sea-water and drenched by the beating rain: the transom-cushions, two of -which were skating about the cabin with the wicker deck-chairs; the -books on their shelves; the lockers, the mirrors, the sheathing, down -which large drops ran in dizzying zigzags,—in short, everything. The -sight gave Jack a feeling of discouragement worse than anything on -deck—even the tearing away of the bulwarks—had been able to produce. -He felt as if the cruel old ocean were mouthing the schooner as a beast -breaks the bones of its prey before devouring it. He drew in his breath -with fierce resolution, all his combative spirit aroused to fight to the -last gasp, and made his stumbling way to the barometer. He steadied it -with his hand, and read it. It stood at 27.04. This was a drop of only -.05 since his last observation, and the captain's face cleared a little. -If the glass had practically stopped falling, as apparently it had, the -hardest part of the gale would come soon, and be speedily over. The old -weather saw came into his head,—</p> - -<div class="center"><div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<div>Long foretold, long last;</div> -<div>Short notice, soon past.</div> -</div></div></div> - -<p>The relief, slight as it was, affected him so strongly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> that he almost -smiled. He reflected that the Merle was as well prepared to meet it as -under the circumstances she could be, and he had no real doubt of her -ability to ride it out, unless some unexpected accident disabled the -"sea-anchor."</p> - -<p>When he came on deck he was greeted by Tab, who had taken charge in his -absence, and who asked eagerly the state of the glass. Jack told him, -and drawing him into the companionway, where they could escape the wind -enough to talk, he added his reasons for thinking that a short time -might see them through the worst.</p> - -<p>"How are things below?" asked the mate.</p> - -<p>"Look!" the captain answered, with a sweep of his hand.</p> - -<p>Tab bent down and peered into the dismantled cabin.</p> - -<p>"The devil!" he cried in dismay.</p> - -<p>"Precisely—but it might be worse," returned Jack; "but by George, Tab!" -he burst out with sudden vehemence, "I—I'm glad I haven't got all this -to do over again. You don't know—can't imagine the strain of this sort -of thing."</p> - -<p>"Does your conscience get up like a cat with the wind?" laughed Jerry.</p> - -<p>"No, Tab," Jack answered soberly, "but the men, you know, and thinking I -took them into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> this when I'd no right to. Oh, rot! No matter, only I'm -jolly glad I ran off with the Merle before I realized all this. I -couldn't bring myself to do it again for"—</p> - -<p>"Come on deck, Jacko," Tab said, after a brief silence in which with -eyes cast down awkwardly he had waited for the captain to continue. "I -know how you feel, but thank the Lord there's work to be done, and we'll -fight through all right. Besides, Gonzague's forward getting a ration of -some sort. We can't afford to miss that."</p> - -<p>He put out his hand, and Jack grasped it appreciatively, with a -half-conscious thanksgiving for the comfort of a friend.</p> - -<p>"Right you are!" the captain said heartily. "We're both of us ready for -a feed, I fancy."</p> - -<p>And out into the storm they went again, buoyant and ready.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i027.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Seventeen</span> <span class="smaller">FACING THE MUSIC</span></h2> - -<p>"Well," Tab said, "I'll see you as far as the door for fear you'll bolt. -You're a sight nearer funking than I ever saw you, Jacko. You must have -your nerve with you if you don't want to come out of the little end of -the horn."</p> - -<p>"I feel small enough to go through it," Jack retorted.</p> - -<p>"Oh, that's all right. Just take a brace, and"—</p> - -<p>"Humph!" snorted the captain. "It's all well enough for you to snoozle -round and give me advice, but if you had to face Uncle Randolph -yourself, you wouldn't be so chipper, let me tell you!"</p> - -<p>The young men were crossing Atlantic Avenue not far from the East Boston -Ferry. They had at last, sea-weary and glad of land, made harbor on the -previous evening. Jack had hardly waited for the anchor to be down -before he had sent off in haste for his European letters, intrusting the -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>messenger to post a voluminous epistle on which he had written -industriously at intervals all the way over; and for half the night he -had read and reread Katrine's missives, giving Jerry tantalizing bits -now and then, with messages from Mrs. Fairhew enjoining him not again to -aid and abet Jack in any nefarious schemes. In the morning the crew had -been paid off generously, and given passages on the City of Rockland. -Then Gonzague had been left in charge of the yacht, and now, with -feelings curiously mixed, the captain was bound for the office of his -uncle for the inevitable reckoning with the owner of the stolen Merle.</p> - -<p>It was a bright, sharp morning, without a cloud in the sky. The air had -a clean crispness which went to the head like wine. The streets were -thronged and noisy. Heavy trucks rolled past the pair like batteries -moving into action; the Elevated thundered overhead with its rumbling -screech. The teamsters shouted profanely at their straining horses; a -fat policeman at the crowded crossing waved his arms like semaphores, -now holding up the traffic and again with commanding gesture sweeping it -along. The shrill voices of the newsboys rang out in mechanical -iteration of the leading sensations of the morning journals.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p><p>"Oh," cried Tab, as they walked briskly up State Street, "how good it -is, isn't it, Jacko?"</p> - -<p>Jack was too much absorbed in the interview before him to do more than -nod mechanically. He could not at the moment bring himself up to the gay -mood of his friend.</p> - -<p>"There's no place like it after all," Jerry ran on, his honest, homely -face aglow with delight. "My word, you may talk about Italy and all the -rest of it till the crack of doom, but they can't hold a candle to good -old Boston! Blest if this isn't the best part of the whole cruise!"</p> - -<p>"Think so, do you?" asked Jack dryly. "It's funny, but the very reverse -was in my head. What the deuce," he burst out, "what the deuce am I -going to tell the President anyway?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, just give him the yarn off the reel," returned Tab, as if it were -all the simplest thing in the world. "You've got the log with you, -and—I say, do look at those pigeons! Aren't they jolly! Come, brace -up!"</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," said Jack. "Brace up, of course—in the very mouth of the -lion's lair. Here's the building,—we're just about seventy feet under -Uncle Randolph's den. Brace up! The very thing, of course! So glad you -suggested it!"</p> - -<p>"Now, Jacko," protested Jerry, "you mustn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> take things this way. Do -put some spirit into it. I'll leave you here; but if you want, I'll face -the music with you."</p> - -<p>"No, thank you," his friend said gravely; "I'll take the medicine -alone."</p> - -<p>"Well, that's what we decided last night when we threshed things out. Go -ahead. Bring the remains round to lunch, though. The Roundheads at one. -It's eleven now, and you've got two hours for the job of placating the -president. Come sure; for I shall be in a stew till I know how you two -get on together."</p> - -<p>"All right," Jack responded dispiritedly.</p> - -<p>"Good luck," Jerry said, stretching out his hand.</p> - -<p>"Thank you," Jack returned, giving Tab a hearty grasp. "So long."</p> - -<p>"One o'clock," Jerry repeated; and with a buoyant wave of the hand, he -went on his way up State Street.</p> - -<p>"Suppose he'll weep when he sees the Frog Pond," muttered Jack to -himself with a wan smile. "Wish I felt half as chipper."</p> - -<p>He went to the elevator, and pressed the electric button. The big cage -came down, the boy clashed the door, and Jack went in as he might have -mounted the steps to a scaffold.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span></p><p>"Mr. Drake's," he said briefly, moistening his lips, and wondering why -they seemed so stiff and dry.</p> - -<p>Deposited on the proper floor, he tucked the brown log-book more tightly -under his arm, and approached his uncle's office.</p> - -<p>"I must have time," he said to himself. "I haven't thought this business -out for a cent."</p> - -<p>He turned on his heel, and walked slowly down the marble-flagged -corridor past the glazed doors of half a dozen offices. Then he stopped -with sudden resolution.</p> - -<p>"Damn it! Be a man!" he adjured himself. "This won't do."</p> - -<p>He walked resolutely up to the door, and entered his uncle's outer -office. A typewriter was clicking busily at one desk, and various clerks -were scratching away assiduously. Several people were seated about, -evidently waiting to speak with Mr. Drake. Even as Jack entered, the -door opened, and a man came out from the inner room. The head clerk -nodded to Jack, but regarded him curiously.</p> - -<p>"How do you do, Mr. Castleport?" he said.</p> - -<p>"Can I see my uncle?" Jack asked, returning his salutation, and he added -to himself, "He knows all about the Merle. I can tell by his looks."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p><p>"He's pretty busy this morning," the clerk answered, "but I'll tell him -you're here. Of course he'll see you as soon as he can."</p> - -<p>Jack took a seat and waited until the next man came out of the inner -office. Then the head clerk went in, and in a moment returned with a -queer look on his face. "Mr. Drake says these men are here by -appointment," he reported, "and he cannot see you till they are gone."</p> - -<p>"All right," Jack answered, reflecting ruefully that he was not -accustomed to be thus kept waiting in his uncle's office. "I am in no -hurry."</p> - -<p>He settled himself in his chair, feeling that he could have borne -anything better than this delay, and half tempted now to give it up, and -beat a retreat. He saw one man after another go into the inner room, and -after a time return and go away. He crossed and recrossed his legs with -an impatient feeling that he had never sat in so uncomfortable a chair. -He tried to beguile the time by reading the log, but first he opened to -the account of the lifting of the Merle, and then to the story of how -her bulwarks were torn away by the storm. He fell to thinking how good -Uncle Randolph had always been to him, and every minute felt more and -more like a wretch for having left the old gentleman stranded at North<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> -Haven. The time grew longer and longer, and every moment more -intolerable as the second hour began to drag its slow length after the -first. Then he noticed that only one man remained to delay his -interview, and so completely was he demoralized that he felt that he -would have given anything in the world to be excused from the trial -before him. It seemed to him that the last man but one did his business, -whatever it was, in an amazingly short time; and he all but bolted when -the last went to his appointment. If he could get away and think things -over once more, he might perhaps be able to devise some sort of excuse -more plausible than anything he had to offer; and he all but started to -his feet to fly when the door opened to let out the only visitor who had -stood between him and the dreaded encounter with the president.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Drake will see you now, sir," said the office boy.</p> - -<p>Jack got to his feet as if by automatic action, and felt them drag him -forward against his will. Another instant, and the door had closed -behind him; he stood in the inner office. With a tremendous effort—an -effort which was almost physical—to pull himself together, he looked up -at his uncle.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p><p>He saw a slight gentleman, dressed in a well-fitting suit of gray, -looking out of one of the windows with his back to the door. The office -was high enough to command a view of the harbor, shining blue in the sun -beyond the clusters of roofs and chimneys. Mr. Drake stood for a moment -as if examining the view for the first time, while Jack wondered whether -this unconsciousness of his presence was real, or was of a piece with -the infliction of the long wait. Then the President turned to him, and -bowed formally, as if to a stranger. His face wore a curious look of -weariness and patience which somehow reminded Jack of his father. The -high forehead was wrinkled with a line or two that Jack did not -remember, and the curly hair was surely more thickly streaked with gray.</p> - -<p>"Well, sir?" Mr. Drake said in a tone hard and even.</p> - -<p>"Well, Uncle Randolph," said Jack, confused, "I—I'm here."</p> - -<p>"So I see," remarked the President. "Is that what you came to say?"</p> - -<p>Jack felt that the interview promised to be even worse than he had -feared. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably, and studied the figures in -the rug. Then he looked up at the face of the elder man, and something -in it smote him to the heart.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p><p>"Uncle Randolph," he said suddenly, "I suppose it's pretty late to say -anything of the sort, but—but something that happened on the way over -made me see that—made me see what a blackguard I'd been to steal the -Merle as I did. I don't think apologies are much good, anyway, -especially after you've had all the fun. It's a good deal like trying to -sneak out of consequences, but I—I really mean most sincerely that I'm -beastly sorry."</p> - -<p>Mr. Drake did not move a muscle of his keen, well-bred face, but into -his eyes came some faint glint of humor which made Jack stop in -confusion.</p> - -<p>"Are you done, sir?" his uncle asked.</p> - -<p>"I'm not quite through, sir," Jack said in a sort of desperate humility. -"I—I—that is"—He floundered for a moment, and then went on with a -rush, "I may as well explain that I'm not sorry one way; that is—I -can't honestly say I wish I hadn't taken the Merle, for I—you know I'm -engaged to Miss Marchfield, and I never could have been except—that is, -unless I'd got over there. I can't be sorry for that."</p> - -<p>"No?" queried Mr. Drake, raising his brows. "You are not thinking, -perhaps, what is the price I have paid for the privilege of -congratulating you on this engagement. I have no son, and from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> day -your father died I have made one of you. You deceive me, humiliate me in -the eyes of my guests, make me the joke of my club, leave me high and -dry at North Haven"—</p> - -<p>Sad and sorry as Jack really was, he could not help the impulse that -made him see the chance, and murmur under his breath,—</p> - -<p>"I didn't think anything could be high and dry in the sort of fog we -went off in."</p> - -<p>His uncle gave a slight cough, as if he were strangling an inclination -to laugh, and then went on in the same even voice as before.</p> - -<p>"Of course I can't expect you to have any feeling about the way I felt -about your tricking me, any more than of the anxiety I went through when -the Merle disappeared, and I didn't know whether you were on top of the -sea or under it."</p> - -<p>"I—I never thought of that," stammered Jack, feeling his cheeks grow -hot.</p> - -<p>"No, I suppose not. Nor how I enjoyed the storm you must have been in on -the way home. Lloyd's people sent me word of your giving them the slip -at Plymouth."</p> - -<p>"But they let us," Jack put in eagerly, seizing with avidity at any -point which seemed to afford him a chance to defend himself. "I didn't -think, Uncle Randolph, and I'm afraid I've been a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> beastly cad to you. I -am sorry to the very bottom of my heart."</p> - -<p>The President took a quick stride forward and clapped one hand on his -nephew's shoulder, while with the other he grasped warmly the hand Jack -put out swiftly to meet him.</p> - -<p>"There, Jack," he said, "that's all I want. You don't know what we old -fools go through worrying over you young ones. Perhaps it's just as well -you don't."</p> - -<p>He gave Jack's hand a vigorous shake, and then turned away to blow his -own nose with equal violence. Jack himself felt hot in the eyes, but he -had no words which seemed adequate to the situation.</p> - -<p>"Sit down," his uncle said, waving him to a chair, and then going to his -desk. He took from a pigeon-hole some letters and papers. "I have -several things to say to you. Mrs. Fairhew writes a very spicy letter -when she wants to."</p> - -<p>"I should think she might, sir. She can be spicy when she talks."</p> - -<p>"She says I didn't know you were grown-up, Jack."</p> - -<p>Jack blushed at the remembrance, vivid and sharp, of his declaration to -Jerry that he would make his uncle realize that he had come to man's -estate.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, ho," said Mr. Drake, regarding him keenly, but with humorous eyes, -"you thought so too, did you? Of course you did! Well, I know it now, -and I've been an old fool. I congratulate you, Jack, with all my heart. -If Miss Marchfield is like her mother"—He broke off as if his thought -had got the better of his speech. "If she is all that Mrs. Fairhew says -she is, you have a treasure, my boy. Don't ever run off with her yacht."</p> - -<p>"I never mean to repeat that performance with anybody," Jack declared -stoutly, again shaking hands fervently. "You've always been awfully good -to me, Uncle Randolph, and I've never done anything for you."</p> - -<p>"Hum, perhaps not that you know of," the other replied, with a humorous -lift of his eyebrows; "but we sometimes do good when we think we're -doing harm. Read this."</p> - -<p>He held out a long blue envelope, much stamped and written upon, and -provided with both American and English postage-stamps. Jack knew it at -a glance as the one he had taken from the messenger that foggy night at -North Haven, had found in the pocket of his coat at Nice, and had after -much cogitation remailed at Plymouth. In the upper left-hand corner was -the notice to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> return to R. B. Tillington, if not delivered in five -days, and the Boston address written in his own hand. He drew out the -letter and read:—</p> - -<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">My Dear Drake</span>,—You and I have known the ins and outs of the market -for so many years that we ought to appreciate both the danger of -getting into an unsound stock and the foolishness of letting the -real thing go by for the want of a little courage. I think you are -not likely to have forgotten what Orrington said in the club last -week about Orion Copper, or that I told you I meant to sift that -thing to the very bottom. Well, I have been looking it up with a -microscope ever since. I enclose three or four copies of -letters,—this is all confidential, of course; you would know that -without my saying so, but the thing's too important not to be -particular about. I write to you because I've got to have somebody -share the thing, and I think you can raise the money without -putting anybody on the scent. Besides that, we have always got on -well together, I believe in your luck, and I want somebody to stand -with me in running the whole thing. There's nothing less than -millions in it if we can get control at once. Sell anything,—I'm -selling <i>everything</i> myself,—and get in on the ground floor of -Orion. If I had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> known just where to hit you, I'd have got you to -town to investigate for yourself; but I've wasted a small fortune -already telegraphing to every damned port on the coast I could -think of. You'll find wires waiting at every place you put into. -Orion's bound to be the coming financial constellation. B. B., -Mellington, Foster, and two or three others have blundered into it -just by bull luck, but they haven't got enough stock to hurt us if -you'll stand by me.</p> - -<p class="right">Yours for Orion,<span class="s3"> </span><br />R. B. T.</p></blockquote> - -<p>Jack read in steadily increasing consternation.</p> - -<p>"Good heavens!" he said. "Did I make you lose the chance? Did you get -the telegrams?"</p> - -<p>"I got them, but they referred me to the letter, and I was too upset -about the Merle to pay much attention. Then I went over to the island, -and stayed there three or four days; so that by the time I did get a -letter—a second one—the whole thing was over."</p> - -<p>"Was that what broke Tillington?" Jack asked, feeling as if his escapade -had destroyed half the financial world.</p> - -<p>"It saved me from going with him," Mr. Drake returned, with a smile. -"See here." He extended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> a lot of newspaper cuttings, and then drew them -back. "Never mind, though," he went on. "There's no need of going into -the particulars. The whole thing was a trap from beginning to end. If -you made a fool of me, Jack, by running off with the Merle, it isn't a -circumstance to the fool I'd have made of myself if I'd got that letter. -If it hadn't been for that perfectly heartless and entirely inexcusable -performance of yours, we'd both of us be beggars at this blessed moment. -We came so near it that I can't read that sign downstairs, 'Beggars and -Peddlers not Allowed,' without thinking how near I was to having it -forbid me my own office."</p> - -<p>"Do you really mean it, Uncle Randolph?" Jack asked half breathlessly.</p> - -<p>"I do mean it, my boy, though I'm afraid the moral of it all's pretty -crooked. I had been led in with a cleverness that gives me cold shivers. -That talk at the club that I'd heard as if by accident had all been -planned out, and so on for a lot more things I won't go into. -Mellington's blown his brains out, and poor old Foster isn't up to -anything but cadging for drinks at the club, and telling how he was -roped in when he was drunk, poor old fellow! I was so sure of Orion that -I'd have put in the last dollar of yours or mine I could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> have laid -hands on! I feel like a humbug when men congratulate me on knowing -enough to keep out of the mess."</p> - -<p>"And I saved you?" cried Jack, bending forward with boyish eagerness.</p> - -<p>"Yes, you rascally jackanapes; but small credit to you!"</p> - -<p>Jack sent the log up into the air, and, bounding to his feet, caught it -as it fell.</p> - -<p>"Whoop!" he shouted. "Oh, how glad I am old Tillington wrote that letter -and I carried it off!"</p> - -<p>The President laughed with responsive joyousness, but reminded his -ebullient nephew that there were clerks in the other room. He began to -ask questions about the voyage, but the clock struck one and Jack -recalled the fact that Taberman was waiting for him at the Roundheads, -and probably was on tenterhooks for his news.</p> - -<p>"You'll come to luncheon, won't you, sir?" he pleaded.</p> - -<p>"That'll look well," retorted his uncle with humorous derision. -"Everybody knows about your running off with the Merle—Bardale couldn't -hold his tongue—and I shall be accused of condoning a felony."</p> - -<p>Nevertheless they set out arm in arm for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> club, and as they went the -President informed his secretary that he should not be back at the -office that afternoon.</p> - -<p>"We shall want to run over the log," he explained to Jack as they waited -for the elevator. "I've no doubt it will make you blush to have me read -it, but I'm going to."</p> - -<p>"I brought it for you," Jack answered, with a grin of pure joy. "Do you -mind waiting a minute, while I send a cable to Katrine? She was awfully -anxious to know how hard you'd be on me."</p> - -<p>"Now she'll think I've no backbone at all. Well, when you played me that -trick, Jack, I felt terribly old and alone; but I think I am a little -bit younger now you're back, and prepared to behave yourself."</p> - -<p>"Wait till you've read the log," laughed Jack, "and you'll think you're -in your teens!"</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p> - -<div class="center"><img src="images/i058.jpg" alt="Decoration" /></div> - -<h2><span>Chapter Eighteen</span> <span class="smaller">EPILUDE</span></h2> - -<p>Jack, who had been dining at Mrs. Fairhew's, was taking leave of Katrine -one evening a few weeks before the day set for the wedding. The farewell -had all the characteristic deliberateness which has marked the unwilling -separation of engaged couples from time immemorial, and was to-night -prolonged more than usual by his teasing refusal to answer a question.</p> - -<p>"Do tell me what the great secret is between you and Mr. Drake, Jack," -she begged. "I think you are perfectly horrid!"</p> - -<p>He looked down into her face and laughed softly.</p> - -<p>"You're not," he returned. "You're perfectly stunning to-night."</p> - -<p>"Of course I am," she retorted, laughing and pouting; "but you can't put -me off with a compliment. If you hadn't meant to tell me, you wouldn't -have spoken about it at all; and I think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> you've teased me enough. What -is it about the President and you?"</p> - -<p>She touched the tips of her fingers to his cravat, as if she were -straightening it, whereas she was probably only exerting instinctively -her privilege of proprietorship in Jack and his belongings.</p> - -<p>"Well," he laughed, "you have borne it beautifully, and I've had you -crazy with curiosity till I don't dare put off telling you. But you'll -probably lie awake half the night thinking about it."</p> - -<p>"That depends upon how important it is."</p> - -<p>"I expect to be paid for telling you," he declared with a look that made -her flush.</p> - -<p>"I should think you might be generous enough to tell me for nothing," -she responded; but her dimples deepened.</p> - -<p>He stooped forward quickly, and kissed her. Then he took both her hands -in his, and stood caressing them while he went on.</p> - -<p>"The news is this," he said. "We've got to change our plans for the -wedding journey from stem to stern."</p> - -<p>"Why, Jack! What do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"It's a fact, dear," he went on, assuming an expression of profound -regret which was too obviously artificial to be depressing.</p> - -<p>"But why?"</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p><p>"Because—Are you ready for a great shock? Wouldn't you like me to -support you in case you couldn't bear it?"</p> - -<p>"Don't be silly," she urged, with an adorable smile. "Because what?"</p> - -<p>"Because Uncle Randolph has given us the Merle as a wedding present. He -told me this afternoon, so that we should have time to shape our plans -accordingly."</p> - -<p>"Oh, dear Jack!"</p> - -<p>"Splendid of him, isn't it? How would it strike you to have the Merle -sent over and to take a whole year in her on the Mediterranean?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, that would be too beautiful!" Katrine cried.</p> - -<p>She clasped her hands, and looked up at him with loving brave eyes. Her -first thought was of his pleasure, and instantly followed the reflection -that she was making her first sacrifice; for her quick mind foresaw that -Jack on a yacht, with duties in which he delighted, would probably be -less wholly hers than in the travel by land which they had arranged. She -smiled wonderfully, and for the first time in their engagement she bent -forward of her own accord, and offered him her lips.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>The Riverside Press</p> - -<p class="center"><i>Electrotyped and printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.</i></p> - -<p class="center"><i>Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.</i></p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Madcap Cruise, by Oric Bates - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A MADCAP CRUISE *** - -***** This file should be named 55950-h.htm or 55950-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/5/9/5/55950/ - -Produced by Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -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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